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 OF THE 
 
 Theological Seminary, 
 
 PRINCETON, N. J. 
 
 BV 3269 ,T55 *S27 1833 ' 
 Sargent, John, 1780-1833 
 The life of the Rev. T.T* 
 Thomason . 
 
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 A DONATION 
 
 
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 THE LIFE 
 
 OP THE 
 
 REV. T. T. THOMASON, M.A. 
 
Extract from the late edition of the Memoirs of 
 Henry Martyn, hy the American Editor, 
 
 " The names of few will be recorded in the annals 
 of India, who have conferred greater benefits upon it 
 than Mr. Thomason ; and the Christian Philanthro- 
 pist, when surveying the widely-extended territories 
 of this vast continent, and reflecting over those who 
 have counted not their lives dear unto themselves, 
 that they might plant the standard of the Cross, amid 
 the countless myriads of fallen but immortal spirits 
 who inhabit it, will at once associate in his mind, 
 with Kiernander, and Swartz, and Bro^vn, and 
 Buchanan, and Martyn, and Heber, the name of 
 Thomason, as a no less true friend to the cause of 
 the Redeemer." B. 
 
THE LIFE 
 
 OF THE 
 
 EEV. T. T. THOMASON, M. A. 
 
 LA-TE CHAPLAIN TO THE HON. EAST INDIA COMPANY. 
 
 y BY THE 
 
 REV. J. SARGENT, M.A. 
 
 RECTOR OF LAMNGTON, 
 
 AUTHOR OF THE MEMOIR OF HENRY MARTYN, 
 
 GvfAv s'x^V. HESIOD. 
 
 NEW-YORK: 
 
 D. APPLETON & CO. NO. 200 BROADWAY, 
 
 AND FOR SALE BY BOOKSELLERS GENERALLY THROUGHOUT 
 THE UNITED STATES. 
 
 1833. 
 
NEW-YORK: 
 
 R. & G. S. WOOD, PRINTERS, 261 PEARI^STREE J. 
 
DEDICATION. 
 
 TO THE REV. CHARLES SIMEON, M.A. 
 
 SENIOR FELLOW OF KING's COLLEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 My dear Friend 
 
 Allow me, without your knowledge 
 and concurrence, to inscribe this memoir with 
 your name. Honoured and beloved as it was 
 by Mr. Thomason, the propriety of the inscription 
 will be readily acknowledged. Other reasons 
 influence me on this occasion. By you it was 
 that, many years ago, I was induced to prepare 
 for the public a life of Henry Martyn. You 
 again have now pressed upon me the present 
 work, which, though like the former, inadequately 
 executed, may prove, I trust, not wholly unac- 
 
W DEDICATION. 
 
 ceptable to the Church of Christ, nor through 
 his aid unprofitable. To you above all, under 
 God, it is mainly to be attributed, that I am able 
 to appreciate the exalted principles which were 
 the pole-star of those characters I have endeav- 
 oured to delineate. More than this, I will not 
 say from respect to the delicacy of your feelings ; 
 less I could not have said without injustice to 
 my own. 
 
 I remain, my dear Friend, 
 
 Your most grateful and affectionate, 
 
 JOHN SARGENT. 
 
 Lavington, March 20, 1833. 
 

 if^ 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 Birth — Early Education — First serious impressions — 
 Voyage to the West Indies . . page 13 
 
 CHAPTER H. 
 
 Acquaintance loith Mrs, Thornton — Examination by 
 Mr, Foster and Mr. Cecil — Sent by the Elland 
 Society to Chesham — Mr* darkens character as 
 Tutor page 26 
 
 CHAPTER HI. 
 
 Enters at Magdalen, Cambridge — His college friends^ 
 lifcj and tutors — Profits by the ministry of 
 
VUl CONTENTS. 
 
 Mr. Simeon — His trials — Mr. Clarice's death — 
 Visit to Mr. Venn — J^orrisian 'prize gained — 
 Thinks of leaving college for the East Indies — 
 Determination changed by the death of a near 
 relation — Completes his academical studies — His 
 degree page 46 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 Reads for Holy Orders — In losing the JVorrisian prize, 
 displays an excellent spirit — His successful com- 
 petitor — Temporary settlement at Baldoch — Ordi- 
 nation as Deacon — Undertakes the Curacies of 
 Trinity Church and Stapleford — Becomes Fellow 
 and Lecturer at Queen^s College^ — Introduced to 
 Joseph Milner — Commencement of Church Mis- 
 sionary Society — Stands for Lectureship in Hully 
 and Mastership of Grammar School — Chosen Tu- 
 tor at Queen's — Collegiate perils — Revisits Ches- 
 ham — Mournful reflections — Ordained Priests- 
 Marriage — Loses Mrs. Thornton . page 80 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 Domestic happiness at Shelford — Mr. Sowerhy — Pupils 
 — His object in taking them and principles as In- 
 structor — Repays the Elland Society — Obtains two 
 JVorrisian prizes — Mr. Simeon's account of his mi- 
 nisti^ — Antinomians opposed successfully — Clerical 
 meetings — Severe cifflictions — Resolves to preach 
 to the Heathen — Origin of this resolution — Letters 
 
CONTENTS. IX 
 
 on this subject — Invitation to South Shields — His 
 appointment to a Chaplainship at Calcutta 
 
 page 113 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 Leaves England — Funchal — Shipwreck — Arrival at 
 Calcutta page 144 
 
 CHAPTER Vn. 
 
 Affecting reception by Mr. Brown and members of the 
 Old Church — Admirable letter to Mr, Simeon, 
 concerning his shipwreck — Mr. Simeon^s reply-^ 
 Ministrations and emploijments — Thoughts on 
 writing sermons — Bible Society at Calcutta — 
 Indian climate and habits — Illness — Interview with 
 H. Martyn .... page 167 
 
 CHAPTER VHI. 
 
 Progress of Bible Society — Baptism of Abdool Messee 
 "^Ministry prospers — Serampore fire — Sickness 
 and death of Mr. Brown — Death of Henry Martyn 
 ■'—Incessant labours — Messrs. Judson and JS'ewell 
 —^Proceedings in Parliament concerning Indian 
 Missions — Lord Moira Governor- General — Inef" 
 fectual application in behalf of American Mission^ 
 uries — Their solemn protest-^ Commissioned to 
 draw up a plan for general education page 197 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 Accompanies Lord Mnra as chaplain through the 
 province — Feelings at Benares — Presses ike edu- 
 cation of the natives on Lord JVEoira — Tender and 
 exalted recollections at Cawnpore — Admonishes the 
 Governor-General for violating the Sabbath — 
 Visits Delhi — Hears with pleasure of Bishop 
 Middleton's arrival . . . page 229 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Reunion imth his flock — Distress at SabaVs apostacy 
 — Termination of SabaVs career — Founds the 
 Orphan Institution — Reproved by one of his flock 
 — His great meekness — Prepares young pteoplefor 
 confirmation— Hindoo college — School Book So- 
 ciety — Church Missionary Society in Calcutta — 
 Oriental litei^ary pursuits — Active co-operation 
 with the Bishop .... page 254 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 Bishoph College at C ilcufta — Version of the Old Tes- 
 tament into Hindostanee — Cautious measures ap- 
 proved by J\Tr. Simeon — Most affecting incident — 
 Death of Bishop Middleton — Letter concerning the 
 last hours of the Chief Justice of Bengal — Arrival 
 of Bishop Heber — Advancement to the cathedral — 
 
CONTENTS. Xi 
 
 The Bishop^s opinion of Mr. Thomason — Eindemic 
 at Calcutta — JWrs. Thomason^s health declines — 
 Passage taken for England — Communications 
 between Mr. Thomason and his congregations- 
 Commendations of the Bishop and Governor-Gen^ 
 eral in council .... page 285 
 
 CHAPTER XII. . 
 
 Death of Mrs. Thomason — Return to England — 
 * Ministry at Cheltenham — Painful mentcd struggle 
 — Decides on going back to Calcutta — Forced to 
 quit India again for the Mauritius — His last 
 incomparable letter to his mother — His death and 
 character page 328 
 
A MEMOIR. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 The Rev. Thomas Thomason was born at Ply- 
 mouth, the seventh of June, 1774; and until 
 the fifth year of his age, Hved under the care 
 of a mother, who, within a year after his birth, 
 became a widow. His father, for the purpose 
 of augmenting a scanty income, left England for 
 the West Indies ; and, not long after his .arrival 
 there, w^as carried off by the fever so prevalent 
 in that climate. His mother had intended to 
 follow her husband to St. Vincents ; but was 
 doomed to shed the bitter tears of distress and 
 desolation over the head of a fatherless child, 
 whom it was her sole and anxious concern to 
 nurse and educate. Circumstances affecting as 
 these, rarely fail to heighten the reciprocations 
 of fondness between parents and children: nor 
 was this observation ever more fully verified than 
 in the present instance. 
 
 2 
 
14 MEMOIR OF THE .JP, 
 
 Having left Devonshire for London, four years 
 after her bereavement, Mrs. Thomason placed 
 her son in a school at Greenwich, under the 
 superintendence of Mr. Bakewell. There, to 
 adopt her own words, ' the affectionate care of one 
 of the tutors over the spiritual instruction of one 
 who was my world of happiness, was beyond 
 all praise.' For sometime, nothing appeared in 
 this boy, notwithstanding these Christian endea- 
 vours, beyond sweetness of temper, quickness 
 of apprehension, docility, and diligence. 'My 
 views of happiness,' he himself states, on a re- 
 view of this period, ' were those of my school- 
 fellows, and never stretched further than a juvenile 
 game, or the pleasure of spending a month every 
 half-year with my friends.' 
 
 In his ninth year, a marked blessing descended 
 on his tutor's unremitting exertions, and he 
 began to shew so much spirituality of feeling, 
 and such decision of character, as to constitute 
 this a distinct era in his life. ' Frequent questions 
 on the scriptures, and application of them to 
 mankind and to himself, so affected him, that he 
 saw himself to be a sinner, far from God and hap- 
 piness, and he felt that his whole dependance must 
 be on the mercy of God, through Christ.' He thus 
 describes the alteration in his sentiments and 
 conduct ; nor was change ever more clear. From 
 scarcely knowing any joy beyond that of boyish 
 
,% 
 
 REV. THOM\S THOMASON. 15 
 
 pastimes, he would then take pleasure in holding 
 communion with Him who is invisible, during 
 those intervals which were allotted to relaxation 
 and amusement. ' I began,' (he writes) ' to find 
 confidence in prayer: and in proportion as I 
 did so, happiness ; and this happiness was so 
 great, that I bore contempt without murmuring :' 
 for though Mr. Bakewell, and one of the other 
 masters in this institution, favored whatever was 
 excellent, the current of the school itself set 
 strongly in an opposite direction. Hif5 corres- 
 pondence with his mother also, young as he then 
 was, bore immediate marks of his altered opin- 
 ions ; and, at length, it issued — so wonderful 
 are the ways, so marvellous the grace of God — 
 in her maternal love and anxiety being largely 
 repaid by lasting spiritual benefit. And, though 
 of so tender an age, he w^as not without desires 
 of one day becoming a minister. * I longed,' 
 he says, * to impart to others the happiness I felt 
 myself 
 
 An extract from a letter, written soon after his 
 twelfth year, will shew that the seeds of real re- 
 ligion, did not lie merely upon the surface of his 
 mind, but had become radicated in his affections. 
 
 October 9, 1786. 
 * Eternity ! — what a word, when you con- 
 
 sider it is eternity. 1 hope you and I, and our 
 
16 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 >ff. 
 
 parents and relations will be among the blessed. 
 God is to be praised for his bountiful and ever- 
 lasting goodness to us — it is bountiful, because 
 he is good to us when we most want it ; and 
 everlasting, because he will never leave it off. — 
 If you can — tell me of any love greater than 
 offering up a Son for vile wretches, — if you can, 
 tell me ; — but it will be a hard thing for you to 
 do it. What love ! what amazing love ! ' 
 
 That classical studies had not been neglected, 
 whilst the mind was raised to high and heavenly 
 things, a distinction which at this time awaited 
 him, affords abundant evidence. The Society 
 for the encouragement of Arts and Sciences in 
 the Adelphi, having offered a silver medal to 
 that youth who could write and speak the best 
 Latin, young Thomason entered the lists, and 
 was pronounced the successful candidate. 
 
 The transition from the state of a scholar to 
 that of a teacher, is rapid sometimes, and pre- 
 mature ; it was so in the case of this youth; for 
 at the age of thirteen we find him engaged in 
 the work of tuition at Deptford. In this employ- 
 ment he continued till Midsummer 1789 ; when 
 being a proficient in the French tongue, and 
 Dr. Coke wanting an interpreter in ttiat language, 
 he was persuaded to accompany the Doctor in 
 that capacity to the West Indies. 
 
 That this appointment was favorable in a 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 17 
 
 pecuniary point of view cannot be questioned, 
 nor will those most alive to any evils incident 
 to the Wesleyan system, deny that a young person 
 witnessing what has been compared by Paley 
 to the habits of the early Christians, was not 
 devoid of many valuable aids to piety, though he 
 might be exposed also to some disadvantages. 
 As diseases generally seize upon the feeble and 
 peccant part of the human frame, so is it with 
 the mind. When its temperament is morbid, 
 the infection of error is readily imbibed. One 
 of this stamp, especially before a full develope- 
 ment of character, would have been more ready 
 to imitate defects than excellences. But the 
 judgment of this youth, plastic as it might be 
 supposed to be, was so solid, and his whole 
 turn of thinking of so sober a cast, that he re- 
 ceived nothing but unalloyed benefit from his 
 temporary connexion with Dr. Coke. 
 
 In an account of his voyage to the West Indies, 
 drawn up ' for his own improvement, and his 
 mother's satisfaction,' — his every purpose and 
 every action had some respect to her — we have 
 these remarks, which, if, like the letter quoted 
 before, they occasionally betray the boy, do 
 throughout exhibit the Christian. 
 
 * October 25, 1789. — As soon as we came to 
 Greenwich, I could not help giving an affec- 
 tionate farewell look to that place where I spent 
 
18 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 SO much time, and received those instructions of 
 which I now reap the advantage. 
 
 * Monday, 27. — I spent a few heavenly moments 
 in reading Mrs. Rowe's Meditations and Dr. 
 Watt's Poems. I thought if my mother knew 
 but half the spiritual happiness I felt, how would 
 it cheer her spirit. 
 
 ' Friday, November 7. — I cannot help pitying 
 those who remain ill, (some of the missionaries,) 
 
 Mr. and , but what a recompense will 
 
 they receive when instruments in the hands of 
 God, of converting many to righteousness. May 
 God increase the desires / already have of being an 
 assistant in that blessed work, and effect the object 
 of my desires. 
 
 * Saturday, 8. — Wind still against us. I found 
 myself peculiarly happy. I can pass over the 
 Atlantic without fear. I have no reason to fear. 
 
 'Sunday, 9. — Was deep in thought to-day. 
 Death presented itself to my imagination. This 
 led me thoroughly to examine whether I was 
 prepared for that solemn change. Stricken with 
 shame, I fell on my knees, and if ever I prayed 
 earnestly, I did then. 
 
 * Tuesday, 18, — A very tempestuous day. The 
 ship rolls prodigiously. Take away from me, O 
 Lord, the fear of dying. 
 
 ' Tuesday, 25. — Was pensive during the day 
 with regai'd to futurity, but being warned to take 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 19 
 
 no thought for the morrow, I desisted from 
 further anxieties. 
 
 * Thursday, December 4. — This morning we 
 came in sight of land. O, with what pleasure did 
 I view the long-wished-for Barbadoes ! With what 
 ecstacy did I view the plains and mountains. O, 
 that I may not forget God in the midst of my 
 happiness. Surely, my dearest mother, you cannot 
 help being sensible of my joy. Praise God with 
 me for bringing me safe to Barbadoes, after a 
 voyage of five weeks and four days.' 
 
 A youth between fifteen and sixteen in the 
 West Indies, could want no topics of excitement 
 by day or by night. The wonders of another 
 hemisphere would not allow his curiosity and 
 surprise a moment's slumber. Cocoa-nut trees 
 and humming-birds by day, fire-flies and mus- 
 quitoes by night, were either his pleasure or 
 torment. But these obtained the least portion 
 of his regard. Matters of high interest rivetted 
 his attention, and awakened his concern. 
 
 At St. Vincent's he proceeds : ' We were hos- 
 pitably received. Mrs. was particularly kind 
 
 to me, declaring she would make some litde 
 amends for my want of a mother, by doing all 
 in her power to make me happy. 
 
 * December 14. — We set off on our way to the 
 Caribbs. The Negro villages as we passed had a 
 very odd appearance : they look like so many 
 
20 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 brown heaps of dirt ; they are made of straw, 
 lightly thatched : they are wretched hovels, but 
 the order in which they are built makes amends. 
 We had a tremendous mountain to pass, so rugged 
 we could not even lead our horses, till a company 
 of Caribbs, the first we had met, lent us their 
 cutlasses to cut open a way. After having passed 
 this mountain, we came to a beautiful plain, 
 seven miles long ; this may be termed the Ca- 
 ribbean coast. Our route lay along the sandy 
 beach, close to the sea shore. Here the Caribb 
 children, all naked, met us by the hundred. 
 The freedom they made with the boisterous 
 ocean is astonishing ; they would rush into it 
 with all the composure imaginable ; at the ap- 
 proach of a wave, they would dive under, and 
 not appear till the raging billow had spent its 
 force, when their fleecy locks would be seen 
 again like so many little black rocks. Our 
 astonished Caribbs seemed very glad to see us, 
 and by their tender and frequent huzzas, wel- 
 comed us to their yet unseen habitations. What 
 struck me most was their warlike appearance; 
 they all carried cudasses, knives, and guns. 
 They delighted me much by the generosity 
 of spirit they possessed. Their savage look 
 and warlike appearance, were made up by the 
 simplicity and cheerfulness they manifested. 
 They are docile. I heard two of them read 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 21 
 
 and spell, and the progress they had made 
 astonished me.' 
 
 On their return from the Caribb country, which 
 they left with much regret, they set sail for 
 Dominica, where, after a tedious passage, they 
 arrived December 19. Here the sight of the slave 
 population called into painful action the passions 
 of pity and righteous indignation, in one to whom 
 scenes of oppression being new were therefore the 
 more revolting. He thus winds up his comments 
 on the state of his degraded fellow-creatures. 
 * There is, it is true, some alleviation of their 
 misery : they are not sensible of their unhappy 
 condition ; but this insensibility increases, or ought 
 to increase, our compassion. How came they to 
 be insensible of their condition ? they were born 
 so — How came they to be born so ? Their parents 
 were slaves, and so the genealogy proceeds till at 
 last the unhappy creatures are found to have been 
 torn from their native country, and deprived of 
 friends and happiness.' 
 
 The following exhibition in Antigua proved a 
 balm to Christian feelings wounded deeply by the 
 wrongs of humanity. 
 
 By noon we arrived at our destined place, where 
 was a congregation of 1200 blacks. They were 
 seated on benches on a small declivity. The Doctor 
 stood on a chair under a shed, and preached to 
 them on Phil. iii. 20. The negroes wept much. 
 
23^ MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 Visiting the Dutch island of Eustatius, they 
 encountered an edict worthy of the days of 
 Dioclesian. This was its tenor: — If any white 
 person shall be found praying with his brethren, 
 for the first offence he shall be fined fifty pieces of 
 eight ; for the second, one hundred ; for the third, 
 he shall be whipped, his goods confiscated, and 
 he banished. If a coloured person shall be found 
 praying, for the first offence he shall receive 
 thirty-nine lashes; for the second, he shall be 
 fined, whipped, and banished: but if a slave, he 
 shall be whipped every time. 
 
 Notwithstanding this atrocious law, it is delight- 
 ful to know that the party were received into 
 the house of one who was willing to risk his 
 character and means of subsistence, out of love 
 to his Saviour, and to those who appeared in 
 his name. ' Surely,' said one of those who 
 were received under his hospitable roof, 'the 
 Lord will prove his rock and shield, and will 
 abundantly reward him in the day of accounts 
 at the end of time.' To the blacks who crowded 
 about the house, a sermon was delivered, on 
 the text, " I am not ashamed of the gospel of 
 Christ ;" but the preacher was soon obliged to 
 quit the island. 
 
 From St. Kitt's, whither they returned, they 
 proceeded to Saba. This island was under Dutch 
 government, but very different from that of St. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 23 
 
 Eustatius. There all was kindness and cor- 
 diality, peace and loveliness. The neatness of 
 the town and its beautiful regularity was an agree- 
 able sight; it is built on a delightful terrace — 
 screened on all sides from the winds by lofty 
 mountains, except on the side opposite the sea- 
 shore where it is exposed to the refreshing fannings 
 of the breeze. The governor treated those who 
 then visited the island most courteously ; he him- 
 self, with the authorities of the place, attended 
 the prayers and sermon in the evening, on which 
 occasion many infants were brought for baptism, 
 whose beauty seems to have made an impression 
 similar to that of the English of old on the 
 Romans. * They were of beauty such as w^e had 
 not seen before — their color more angelic than 
 mortal.' Such is his description of Saba, and 
 substantially no doubt it is correct, yet the 
 vividness of the delineation may possibly have 
 been heightened by unconscious reference to 
 St. Eustatius, and by recollection of the counte- 
 nance of the Caribbs and negroes. 
 
 After the tranquil and sacred delights of Saba — 
 at Jamaica a sight was witnessed from the recital 
 of which, making as it does part and parcel of a 
 system of atrocity, one ' turns for relief to some 
 ordinary wickedness.' 
 
 'We breakfasted at the plantation on balm tea 
 and Indian bread, a repast at the best not very 
 
24 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 agreeable. But how was my appetite lessened 
 by what happened during the meal ! The over- 
 seer had ordered a slave to walk our horse till we 
 went away. He did so, and permitted him now 
 and then to crop a mouthful of grass. The over- 
 seer observing him, called the under-overseer and 
 ordered him a dozen lashes. Detestable cruelty! 
 how did it shock my feelings. I could hear the 
 whip resounding from afar, whilst the miserable 
 sufferer gave a loud and heart-rending groan in 
 the intervals of striking. I hastened to leave the 
 hated spot, and my return was attended with as 
 much melancholy as my departure was attended 
 with pleasure. 
 
 Of his merciful preservation from the deep 
 before quitting Jamaica, we have this grateful and 
 graphic recital : — 
 
 " We set off in our canoe to our brig with the 
 intention of sailing that night ; the evening was 
 stormy and it was almost dark. The water was 
 very rough — our canoe small. When about half 
 way, I observed the water poured in with great 
 violence. The wind and rain increased. The 
 canoe was within three inches of being full : our 
 consternation was great; and I firmly believe 
 if the Keeper of Israel, who neither slumbers 
 nor sleeps, had not been with us, I had not been 
 now in existence.' By very great exertions, and 
 baling out the water, they at length reached 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 25 
 
 their vessel. * We arrived,' he says, * and praised 
 the God of our salvation. And who such a God 
 as he ! The same yesterday, to-day, and for ever. 
 I hope I shall never forget his care over me while 
 I live. My situation was as dangerous as possi- 
 ble ; a boat almost full of water, loaded with men, 
 striving against wind, rain, and sea. But "the 
 waters saw thee, O God, the waters saw thee, 
 and were afraid." God supported us ; he said to 
 the sea, " Thus far shalt thou go, and no further." 
 The ocean obeyed the voice of its Almighty So- 
 vereign. Did we feel ourselves sinking ? Yes- — 
 and we felt God raising us up. Did we feel the 
 watery bed open to receive us ? We felt also a 
 potent deliverer to protect. Praise the Lord, O 
 our souls : while we live we will praise the Lord. 
 As long as we have our being we will give thanks 
 unto our God.' 
 
 Breathing a hope that his journal would not 
 be unacceptable to his mother, for whom it had 
 been prepared, he closes it thus — 'The keeper 
 of Israel neither slumbers nor sleeps: he hath 
 watched over me and preserved me ; — come then, 
 expressive silence, muse his praise.' 
 
26 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 In tracing the course of individuals as well as 
 nations, we should mark the springing of the 
 original fountain and the influx of each tribu- 
 tary stream: and, above all, we should notice 
 that which commands especial admiration — the 
 concurrence of God's providence with his grace. 
 
 How he, whose life is before us, became ac- 
 quainted with scriptural truth, we have heard : 
 we are now to learn how the way was levelled for 
 his admission into that sphere where, according to 
 his earliest hopes and confirmed purposes, he was 
 to impart to others the doctrines which he had 
 learnt, experienced, and exemplified himself. 
 
 An honoured instrument in compassing this end 
 was, a lady of the name of Thornton, to whom he 
 became known soon after his return from the 
 West Indies. Her aflfection for him was almost 
 maternal. It was warm and unvaried ; shining 
 upon him with a steady lustre from the morning 
 of his mature and active existence to the close 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 27 
 
 of her own declining days. And to this, like 
 the statue in the rays of the rising sun, his soul 
 was ever responsive to the deepest tones of ardent 
 gratitude. 
 
 That sound discrimination was evinced in cher- 
 ishing his inclination towards the ministry, will 
 be conceded without difficulty. His remarks 
 abroad are indications of a wisdom, at his age, by 
 no means ordinary, and of a piety still more rare. 
 The meekness and firmness he displayed under 
 the ridicule of his school-fellows, shewed that he 
 had not adopted notions only, but had become the 
 recipient of vital principles. The mockery of 
 associates, coming down on the head of a sufferer 
 who * abates not a jot of heart or hope, but presses 
 right onward,' is no slight test of character. How 
 little disposed he was to play the coward in the 
 Christian warfare may be seen in a letter which 
 he wrote at this time to a relation and cotempo- 
 rary, with whom religion was a foi-mal, cold, 
 periodical exhibition, rather than a matter of heart- 
 felt universal practice ; armour to be laid up and 
 gazed upon rather than a shield worn always on 
 the arm. The questions he puts in reply to 
 charges of excessive strictness, are so pertinent 
 and pungent, they are plied so like a battery when 
 the engineer has found the range, that it must 
 have required no little dexterity to elude their 
 force. 
 
28 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 * You intimate that religion is not needful for us 
 at all times. Going to church, prayers morning and 
 evening, grace before and after meals, you observe, 
 are all very w^ell. You say you recommend going 
 to church. Why so! *May not a man stay 
 away?' You tell me *No.' Permit me to ask 
 your reason for so thinking. ' Is it not because 
 you think that you have a soul to save, a heaven 
 to obtain ; and that by so doing you will save 
 your soul and obtain heaven. But is there not 
 the same soul to be saved and the same heaven 
 to obtain, in church and out of church, in doors 
 and out of doors, in our business and out of our 
 business : grant me this, and you must allow that 
 devotion is necessary in church and out of 
 church, in doors and out of doors, in your busi- 
 ness and out of it; and that prayer is to be 
 exercised, not only at particular times and places, 
 but habitually, continually, always ; because habi- 
 tually, continually, always, we have a soul to 
 save and a heaven to obtain.' 
 
 At Elland, in Yorkshire, a society existed — it 
 still lives, and is vigorous in well-doing — the sole 
 object of which was, the highly important one 
 of spreading a fostering wing over those aspirants 
 to the ministry of the church of England whose 
 means were not sufficient to enable them to take 
 the necessary degree at the university. By the 
 advice of Mrs. Thornton, application was now 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 29 
 
 made to this institution, the transcendant utility 
 of which will be at once seen, when it is known 
 that neither the subject of this memoir, nor many 
 others who have been, and who now are ornaments 
 of our church, would ever, in all probability have 
 become her ministers, but for support derived 
 from that source. The late Rev. Henry Foster, 
 and the Rev. Richard Cecil, were deputed by 
 the directors of the Elland fund to examine the 
 pretensions of the young man who now presented 
 himself before them. Two fitter men for the 
 discharge of this important trust could not have 
 been selected : the one of no mean talents, and 
 eminent in every eye but his own for spirituality : 
 the other, to intellectual powers of great compass 
 and originality, joining what was still more valu- 
 able in an examiner, a standard and practice singu- 
 larly pure and apostolical. 
 
 Those who pass through life with a smooth 
 current and favourable gale, little think of their 
 endurances who have to stem the stream. ' Have 
 I money or lands ? Have I any present advan- 
 tages ? — My portion is small, and my hopes and 
 prospects rest all in the hands of that Almighty 
 Being who has hitherto kept me. Without this 
 assurance my comfort would be at a very low 
 ebb.' Such was the expression of his feelings, 
 who was compelled to have recourse to Christian 
 
 friends for his maintenance at college ; and who, 
 3* 
 
30 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 not without some perturbation, yet with implicit 
 reliance upon his Heavenly Father, awaited his 
 examination, and its decisive result. What passed 
 on this occasion, he hias recorded ; and as it is 
 illustrative of his sentiments, and those of a class 
 of ministers then held in high contempt, and still 
 much misunderstood, it may be well to refer to 
 this record. 
 
 * The chief topics of inquiry with Mr. Foster 
 and Mr. Cecil, were sudden impulses and sin- 
 less perfection. As to Calvinism and Arminian- 
 ism, the points I chiefly expected to be men- 
 tioned, how agreeably I was deceived when 
 Mr. Foster remarked, ' that if St. Paul, so 
 great an apostle, said, — " here we know in 
 part" — how much more nmy we ; — he was de- 
 cided for himself, and would let others think 
 for themselves.' 
 
 . * Mr. Cecil asked me, — ' What is your reason 
 for preferring the church establishment to Mr. 
 Wesley's connection.' I observed, ' From the 
 first moment of my having any views to 
 the ministry, they have been directed to the 
 church ; which might arise from my having 
 been a constant attendant on the service of the 
 church, when at School, and the pleasure I then 
 felt in it. These views, and this esteem for the 
 church, have remained with me. The excellence 
 of its economy strengthens me in the preference ; 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 31 
 
 added to which, it is the establishment of the 
 kingdom.' 
 
 * I should be glad to know,' said Mr. C, * what 
 you think of perfection?' *I told him I thought 
 perfection consisted in being blameless in life 
 and conversation, and in setting the affections on 
 things above ; and that, to that I was continu- 
 ally aspiring.' 
 
 *But,' said Mr. C, *many believe and profess 
 more.' * I told him so it seemed. For Mr. 
 Foster mentioned having heard Dr. Coke preach, 
 that whilst one evil thought remained in the 
 soul, it was not born of God. But I never heard 
 him preach or profess it.' 
 
 ' And with regard to the Calvinists and Ar- 
 minians, — whose opinions do you follow V 
 
 ' Indeed, sir,' said I, ' I have never read a book 
 on the subject, except the Bible, in my life. I 
 have always made it a point to leave those things ; 
 as I think it productive of evil io dive into intri- 
 cacies which can never be perfectly cleared.' 
 
 * You think,' said he, * very rightly ; I have 
 acted in the same manner myself. I make it a 
 point never to handle these things in public. 
 But you say you have read the Bible, — what 
 views do you gather from the Bible V 
 
 * Sir,' said I, ' my views, as gathered from the 
 Bible, are simply these, — " God so loved the 
 world, that he gave his only begotten Son that 
 
32 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 whosoever believeth in him should not perish, 
 but have everlasting life." ' 
 
 The period of suspense between the report 
 of the examiners, and the determination of the 
 society, for some unexplained cause, lasted long. 
 
 It was not till the spring of 1791 that, after 
 an interview with one of the directors of the 
 Elland Institution, his final acceptance was sig- 
 nified. ' I am accepted,' he w^rites to his mother, 
 March 18, 1791 ; — ' no doubt your heart over- 
 flows with gratitude. I am sure mine does. Mr. 
 Atkinson is quite a father to me ; the kindness 
 I have experienced in Leeds far eclipses all 
 other favours. " Bless the Lord, O my soul ! 
 and all that is within me, bless his holy name." 
 ' Though his voice be not audible,' (as Judge 
 Hale observes,) ' nor the directions he gives 
 perceptible to sense, yet it is as real as if 
 we heard the voice saying, "This is the way, 
 walk ye in it." ' 
 
 The agency of God in human affairs is dis- 
 cernible on every side. But next to the case 
 of nations, those mighty waters, on which the 
 breath of man makes so slight an impression, and 
 upon which God moves so sensibly, it is pecu- 
 liarly evident in such an instance as that before 
 us ; — the son of a mother left in the desolation 
 of widowhood. There the Father of the father- 
 less, and the God of the widow, makes his love 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 33 
 
 SO legible, that those who are the least observant 
 of providence, cannot but read the lines. Where 
 was this orphan ever placed in which some one 
 was not raised up to exercise towards him a dis- 
 position almost parental ? 
 
 In the suitableness and kindness of the con- 
 ductor of those studies which were to prepare 
 Mr. Thomason for college, these observations are 
 fully substantiated. A clergyman of the name 
 of Clark, of Chesham Bois, in Buckingham- 
 shire, at the recommendation of the Elland So- 
 ciety, who were to pay simply for his board, 
 agreed to instruct him without any remuneration. 
 For this task he was well qualified. Time had 
 indeed laid the weight of seventy years upon 
 his head, but his strength of body and mind 
 were unimpaired; and the warmth of his heart, 
 glowing with love to God and man, was unabated. 
 But two of his pupils, the one writing at the 
 time, the other taking an extended retrospect, 
 shall depict their tutor. — 
 
 'April 16, 1791. 
 'He is past the age of man,' Mr. Thomason 
 writes, ' yet as vigorous as ever. Every Sunday 
 morning he preaches and reads all the prayers, 
 at a church distant nine miles from this place ; 
 he reads the prayers and preaches at this church 
 in the afternoon; and expounds in his own 
 
34 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 house in the evening. His earnestness and love 
 for souls are so great, I look at him, and hear 
 him with admiration. In conversation, his 
 cheerfulness and vivacity can be compared to 
 nothing but that of a person of eighteen. He 
 abounds in tales and humour ; and they are 
 made channels of instruction. Tv^o children^ 
 whom he boards in his ow^n house, declare they 
 never were so happy as in his company. In his 
 school he is equally pleasing. The more ques- 
 tions his pupils ask, the better he is pleased; 
 and he will not let us pass over one word till 
 it is well understood. It is a pleasure to be 
 taught by such a master, and a satisfaction to 
 carry to him the fruits of our labour.' 
 
 *That venerable and truly excellent minister, 
 the late Mr. Clark,' — to adopt the description 
 and the very words of one* who writes with a 
 warmth and freshness of feeling, which no lapse 
 of years can impair — 'for nearly half a century 
 was the learned and indefatigable tutor of some 
 of the most distinguished men, both as laymen 
 and clergymen, of the times in which he lived. 
 It having been my privilege to receive his last 
 instructions as a tutor, I could not prevail upon 
 myself to omit the opportunity of recording the 
 respect I feel for the memory of one of the most 
 
 * The Rev. Charles Jerram, Vicar of Chobham. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 35 
 
 learned, humble, and useful men of the last 
 century, and the rather so as he was not only 
 the beloved and highly venerated tutor of my 
 friend, Mr. Thomason, but one of the most efficient 
 agents in the revival of religion in our church 
 towards the middle and conclusion of the last 
 century. Many clergymen whom I could name 
 of the most decided piety and popular talents, 
 but most of whom along with this esteemed tutor 
 have now entered into rest, received both their 
 education and their deepest religious impressions 
 under his roof.' 
 
 In a fellow student, whose destination was simi- 
 lar to his own, Mr. Thomason found as much reason 
 to congratulate himself as in his instructor. The 
 first beams of the morning sun shone upon their 
 united labours, before which they bent their knees 
 together in prayer, and hfted up their voice in 
 praise. Social devotion closed the day. The 
 place where these two friends pursued their 
 combined studies was well adapted to such an 
 occupation, presenting nothing to distract their 
 attention beyond rural sights and rural sounds; 
 and so harmoniously did they pass their time, 
 that the only assignable ground of difference 
 between them was, that the one enjoyed highly^ 
 the other had no love whatever for the song of 
 the nightingale. 
 
 In addition to the usual plan of preparatory 
 
36 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 reading, the study of Hebrew, more unaccount- 
 ably neglected in England than in any other 
 country, was at Chesham pursued perseveringly . 
 Utter ignorance of the language in which the 
 Old Testament is written, is by scholars amongst 
 ourselves as unblushingly avowed, as an irritable 
 temper, or a defective memory, amongst men 
 in general. To be unacquainted with a Greek 
 idiom or dialect, carries with it some disgrace ; 
 but not to know the most elemental parts of the 
 Hebrew tongue, is no deduction from literary 
 reputation : and yet, " Hebrasi bibunt fontes ; 
 Graeci rivos ; Latini paludes." As India at this 
 time, had never occurred as a probable field of 
 exertion, the secret guidance of God should be 
 recognized in directing a future translator of the 
 Scriptures to a tutor who 'was reckoned,' says 
 Mr. Jerram, 'an excellent Hebrew scholar and 
 biblical critic, and by the late Mr. Romaine was 
 called the Solomon of his age.' Without a funda- 
 mental knowledge in that branch of literature, 
 Mr. Thomason it is obvious must ever have been 
 incompetent to effect, satisfactorily, any version 
 of the Old Testament. 
 
 The ardour of these students, at this critical 
 period of their lives, was so strong, that the 
 expectation of a new companion, w^hose powers 
 of application were questionable, produced in 
 their bosoms no small discomposure. 'A lazy 
 
REV. THOMAS TKOMASON. 37 
 
 companion,' said one of them, * would much pain 
 me ; we are seldom in bed at half-past four in 
 the morning, a practice I find agreeable as well 
 
 as profitable. We fear that will not apply, 
 
 not get up early, and not maintain love, three 
 grand articles with us.' 
 
 The following extracts from letters to his 
 mother, from January to March 1792, will shew 
 with what a Christian elevation of mind the em- 
 ployments of this youth were pursued. 
 
 * Your last letter to me gave me great comfort 
 and pleasure : it was full of advice. I thank Mr. 
 D. likewise for advice such as I have reason to 
 be thankful, has not been wholly neglected. I 
 never expect fully and completely to observe it ; to 
 do this a much more pure, faithful, and vigorous 
 soul than mine should be engaged with all its 
 powers. Disorderly affections, wandering passions, 
 unholy desires, unite their forces in my heart and 
 prevent it from oflfering that continued incense 
 of prayer and praise which its Maker requires. 
 Yesterday I was exceedingly favoured. In the 
 morning I heard Mr. S. preach, at Great Missen- 
 den, from these words, " The blood of Jesus 
 Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin." In the 
 afternoon Mr. Clark took in hand the whole 
 Lord's prayer, which he paraphrased, or rather 
 commented on, in a masterly manner. In the 
 4 
 
38 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 evening we heard him expound, when he consid- 
 ered among many other verses, that one, which 
 is a part of our Saviour's prayer for his apostles, 
 " I pray not that thou wouldest take them out 
 of the world, but that thou wouldest keep them 
 from the evil." Ah ! thought I, that is the grand 
 point, to be kept from the world, from its evils, 
 its vanities, its snares. The means of grace are 
 very precious : the wearied they refresh, the 
 bewildered they guide, to the mourners they 
 administer comfort, the careless they awaken ; 
 will they not rise up in judgment against us, 
 unless received in the spirit of thankfulness and 
 prayer 1 
 
 'Jan. 13, 1792. 
 * I have been employed in making a new collec- 
 tion of Hebrew roots ; for which purpose my 
 little red book is useful. I consider it a great 
 blessing to have time for these things ; they are 
 the comforts of my life : but when I consider how 
 very small a thing might put it out of my power 
 to employ my moments in such a manner, my 
 enjoyments cannot fail of being accompanied with 
 an awe mingled with gratitude. A fall — a bruise 
 — disease — infirmity of any kind, might in a 
 moment incapacitate body and mind for studious 
 inquiries. I often think of this, and the thought 
 causes me to lift up my heart to God.' 
 
REV. TH03IAS THOMASON. 3§ 
 
 'Feb, 17, 1792. 
 ' Mr. Clark has been with us and given us 
 some rules which I copied down from his own 
 mouth. Being dressed in the morning, let each 
 meditate on the divine perfections ; his depend- 
 ance upon God — his obligations to obey him. 
 Let each recollect his own particular defects or 
 weaknesses, and wherein he is most likely to fail 
 in the duties which he owes to God and man ; 
 remembering his reliance on the Redeemer for 
 the forgiveness of his sins, and for power to dis- 
 charge every duty. Having meditated on these 
 subjects, let each separately apply himself to God 
 in prayer ; begging that he may have more en- 
 larged views of the extent of God's laws, and 
 of his own sins, whether in temper, words, or 
 actions ; intreating for an increase of dependance 
 on the Redeemer in every office, and for ability 
 to discharge every duty, and to suppress every 
 wrong temper. Thus runs our preceptor's ad- 
 vice. O that we may be enabled to follow it! 
 The word of God — our own consciences — our 
 parents — our tutor, unite in teaching us the neces- 
 sity of meditation and prayer ; and shall we after 
 all neglect it ? May we receive grace to with- 
 stand every opposition, and to love the Lord with 
 all our hearts ! May our hearts be submissive 
 and humble ; our actions Christian and be- 
 coming ; our woi'ds gentle and loving. My dear 
 
40 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 mother, let this letter put an end to all anxiety 
 on our account. Fear not, we shall be blessed 
 while we are careful to pray for a blessing.' 
 
 * March 5, 1792. 
 * How ought I to make it my continual prayer, 
 that God would so sanctify my aims, that I may 
 be enabled in all things to behave as becometh a 
 person whose profession is to be sacred. I feel 
 much the importance of a greater conformity to 
 the will of God. Shall I, who am to stand up 
 between God and man, behave in a manner which 
 shews my contempt of him whose messenger I 
 pretend to be ? How dreadful the consequence 
 of this ! The profession which a minister makes 
 is very awful ; he professes to be called by the 
 common Maker and Redeemer of all, on an 
 errand which concerns the salvation of all ; this 
 call he professes to be moved to by the Holy 
 Spirit ; this profession presupposes a knowledge 
 of the efficacy of that redemption which he 
 preaches. He professes that he has felt the hap- 
 piness of God's children, and of a life devoted 
 to the service of God. How careful, then, ought 
 such a person to be not to offend God or man; 
 how vigilant should he be, lest by giving way, 
 and consenting to the evil of his own heart, he 
 should be led into actions disgraceful to him, both 
 as a learner and teacher of good things. Every 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 
 
 41 
 
 atjtion of such a person is exposed to peculiar 
 scrutiny; and every sin, no doubt, will be pun- 
 ished with peculiar weight. His employment 
 makes him as a city set upon a hill, which cannot 
 be hid ; his life, therefore, should be such as will 
 bear the most accurate observation and notice, 
 and the principles of his life such as will bear 
 the searching of God's omniscience, who sits as 
 a refiner's fire on every soul of man. O, who is 
 equal to this? Cleanse thou me, O God, from 
 my secret faults. See what sin there is in me, 
 and dispel it by the operations of thy Holy Spirit. 
 Make me to love thee more and serve thee better, 
 that when thou in thy providence shalt call me 
 to speak in thy name, I may, having myself ex- 
 perienced the happiness which results from being 
 at peace with thee, be enabled to commend this 
 happiness to those whom thou mayest commit to 
 my care. 
 
 ' I am well persuaded that nothing would tend 
 to make me so truly happy, or so consistent in 
 practice, as a continued sense of my own no- 
 thingness and sinfulness. Whether it be through 
 the inconstancy of youth, or a temptation pecu- 
 liarly strong to me, so it is that I am continually 
 forgetting this. Highmindedness will find its 
 way into my soul, and disturb my peace. What 
 have I to boast of? Surely nothing; I have 
 sinned much, and have been forgiven much; I 
 4* 
 
42 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 do Still sin, and am still forgiven ; shall I be 
 proud ? My dear mother, do not forget to pray 
 for me, that my strength to withstand evil may 
 be increased, that I may improve in the know- 
 ledge and love of God, and that his peace, which 
 passeth all understanding, may enlighten the 
 natural darkness of my soul, and be my safe- 
 guard against the world, the flesh, and the 
 devil.' 
 
 In the spring of the year 1792, it was resolved 
 by those who undertook the concerns of the 
 Elland Society, to send one of these fellow- 
 students to the University of Oxford ; the other, 
 whose life is under review, to Magdalen College, 
 Cambridge. How little do many know who enter 
 these institutions, with what spiritual trepidation, 
 with what tears and prayers, they are launched into 
 a sea, the shores of which are strewed with the ribs 
 of vessels, wrecked and stranded. Happy those 
 who have Christian advisers at such a moment, 
 happy above all those who tremble for themselves. 
 It will readily be supposed, that the person who 
 had been so conducive to the important step about 
 to be taken, would not stand so aloof at the pre- 
 sent juncture. He accordingly received a letter 
 from Mrs. Thornton, " shewing the greate st in- 
 terest in his happiness: cautioning him much 
 against the workings of pride and self-will, where 
 he then was, and at Cambridge, for there he was 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 43 
 
 warned that"" he would find much temptation.' 
 
 * Indeed the prospect before me,' he observed, 
 
 * requires much circumspection : a false step at 
 my first entrance may embitter a whole three 
 year's residence. How easy a matter to forget 
 God ! How easy to connect myself with persons 
 who care not for God, nor the things of God ! 
 How happy will it be if I should find grace, and 
 come oft' conqueror ! May I be enabled, knowing 
 my ^Masters will, to do it I May my life be 
 regulated by a proper rule and conducted in a 
 proper spirit ! ' The privileges possessed bv those 
 to whom Mr. Clark became a minister, instructor, 
 and friend were inestimable, nor were any of 
 those committed to his charge more sensible 
 of these advantages, than he who was now about 
 to quit the woods of Chesham for the banks of 
 the Cam. ' What a pattern,' he exclaimed, ' for 
 our imitation have we in him. Oh, that w^e may 
 be strengthened to walk in his steps ! His pre- 
 cepts, his advice, his assistance in our studies, 
 spiritual as well as temporal, make him exceed- 
 ingly beloved. He travels as usual to Loud- 
 water, old as he is. I cannot help reverencing 
 and admiring his character ; he has not only spent 
 his hfe in the ministry, but in sending others into 
 the ministry. What can be more honorable — it 
 is being doubly honorable.' 
 
 With such an example before him, the very 
 
44 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 opposite to those persons who are described 
 by St. Augustine, as * strepentes vocibus muti 
 moribus ; ' his notions of personal hohness became 
 daily more distinct and influential, and he was 
 led to these resolutions — ' O that I may be enabled, 
 day by day, to act as a dying creature ! May I 
 improve in the knowledge and love of God, and 
 make every thing subservient to the one great 
 end ! I am determined, with God's assistance, 
 to begin afresh. I am determined, by his grace 
 assisting me, to devote my powers to Him ; and 
 work, act, think, speak, and live for Him. No- 
 thing is worth a thought but how" I may please 
 Him, and this is worth all my thoughts.' 
 
 At the moment of his departure from Chesham 
 for Cambridge, joy at the prospects then opening 
 before him was absorbed in grief at quitting the 
 abode of his incomparable tutor ; * Cui nee facilitas 
 auctoritatem, nee gravitas amorem diminuit.' His 
 connection with Mr. Clark had been one of the 
 prime blessings of his existence — its dissolution 
 was proportionably trying. He bid farewell to 
 him with a heavy heart, and in bidding it in a 
 Christian point of view, might well have addressed 
 him in these exquisite lines : 
 
 * Me tibi supposui teneros tu suscipis annos, 
 Socratico, Cornute, sinu — tunc fallere solers 
 Apposita intortos extendit regula mores, 
 Et premitur ratione animus vincique laborat, 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 45 
 
 Artificemque tuo ducit sub poUice vultum. 
 Tecum etenim longos memini consumere soles, 
 Et tecum primas epulis decerpere noctes ; 
 Unum opus et requiem pariter disponimus ambo, 
 Atque verecunda laxamus seria mensi.' 
 
 The following translation, by a poetical friend, 
 is not unworthy the original. 
 
 ' I, placed beneath thy guidance, found a rest 
 For my young years in thy Socratic breast. 
 Thy sapient sway my erring will subdued. 
 And gently won me to the right and good. 
 My soul no more could reason's force withstand, 
 But took new features from thy plastic hand. 
 'Twas sweet with thee to spend the summer day. 
 Sweet on thy words to feast the night away : 
 Our toil, our rest was one ; one modest food 
 Relax'd our labours and our powers renew'd.' 
 
 Of the last walk he took with him he says, — 
 the relation of tutor and pupil being on the point 
 of termination, ' our walk together was very affect- 
 ing ; he gave me his parting blessing : he told 
 me he had no doubt we should again meet with 
 everlasting joy upon our heads. 'Watch strictly,' 
 said he, ' over your heart ; be much in praye r 
 cleave closely to God. Pray for spiritual discern- 
 ment, that you may have a clear perception of the 
 path you should walk in. Pray to ^yalk in that 
 way in spite of all opposition ; thus knowing and 
 doing the will of God, you must be happy.' 
 
46 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 Few persons ever entered the university under 
 circumstances more friendly to mental cultivation 
 and religious improvement than he who, in the 
 month of October, 1792, was followed by many 
 a prayer from Chesham to Cambridge. The 
 plant which, in that retired spot, had been so 
 assiduously tended, was removed to a place where 
 the blasts were rude — but where it was still care- 
 fully protected. 
 
 At Magdalen, the college where Mr. Thomason 
 was fixed, many young men of sterling piety, 
 some of whom possessed undoubted talents, asso- 
 ciating on Christian principles, became a reciprocal 
 support to each other. This band of students, 
 strong as it then was, not very long afterwards 
 was strengthened by the accession of Mr. Jerram 
 to their number. His delineation of days de- 
 lightful from communion with God, and diligence 
 in appropriate duties will be read with lively, 
 perhaps with sympathetic interest ; and not the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 47 
 
 less so because the whole passage breathes the 
 spirit of those lines of inimitable tenderness — 
 
 * Gluo desiderio veteres revocamus amores 
 Atque olim amissas flemus amicitias !' 
 
 Mr. Jerram thus strikingly illustrates this period 
 of Mr. Thomason's life. 
 
 ' It became my lot to form, chiefly through 
 Mr. Thomason, a connexion of some of the 
 most excellent, and a few of the most distin- 
 guished members of the university ; and I shall 
 ever retain a strono; sense of the happiness and 
 benefit I derived from their society. In convers- 
 ing with him on the various branches of literature 
 pursued at Cambridge, I could not help observing 
 the proficiency he appeared to have made both 
 in the classics and mathematics. For though I 
 was not a competent judge of the extent of his 
 attainments, I was sufficiently read in both these 
 departments to convince me that he must possess 
 both considerable talent and quickness to have 
 enabled him at that early age, greatly to surpass 
 all I had hitherto met with of his own standing. 
 He wrote Latin with great ease and correctness, 
 and occasionally with elegance ; and he had 
 taken considerable pains to acquire as much as 
 he could of the style of Cicero. For this pur- 
 pose he had described the whole of his Ofiices, 
 and had committed a considerable portion of them 
 
48 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 to memory. But I was most struck with his 
 intimate acquaintance with the original languages 
 of the Holy Scriptures. He had read the Greek 
 Testament so often, and with so much care, it 
 was scarcely possible to mention a passage in 
 English for which he could not immediately quote 
 the original. In Hebrew I had only recently 
 commenced my studies, and therefore could form 
 but an inadequate opinion of his attainments in 
 it, but I have reason to believe they were of no 
 ordinary talent. He had the Hebrew Bible 
 divided into several small volumes, and was never 
 without one of them in his pocket. His usual 
 relaxation from his severer studies was his read- 
 ing of this, and every fragment of his time was 
 gathered up for the purpose of adding to his 
 stores of biblical knowledge. It is not, therefore, 
 surprising, that with this taste and continued per- 
 severance, he arrived at considerable eminence in 
 sacred literature : perhaps few in his day sur- 
 passed him in his knowledge of the text of scrip- 
 ture. It happened very fortunately for myself 
 that rooms W'ere vacant contiguous to those of Mr. 
 Thomason, on my first entrance on a college life ; 
 and eventually that of a third set of rooms were 
 taken possession of by our mutual and highly 
 esteemed friend, Mr. Cocker, the late vicar of 
 Bunny, in Nottinghamshire, so that we occupied 
 the whole of the second floor of one of the college 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 49 
 
 staircases. I mention this as leading to a con- 
 nexion, the most delightful and profitable I had 
 ever formed ; and I have reason to suppose that 
 the gratification, if not the benefit, of this college 
 friendship was mutual. Our intimacy became so 
 close, that I beheve scarcely any person who 
 knew us ever mentioned the name of one of us 
 without associating the name of the other two 
 with it. Very pleasantly, indeed, did nearly four 
 years pass away in this uninterrupted friendship ; 
 and when, some years after our separation to 
 different and distant spheres, we met unexpect- 
 edly, college associations immediately burst on 
 our minds, and we enjoyed, indeed, a mutual 
 feast.' 
 
 Of these two friends, now both in heaven, the 
 remaining friend on earth adds — ' Mr. C. pos- 
 sessed considerable quickness of parts, the greatest 
 kindness of heart, an original vein of humour, 
 a keen sense of the ludicrous, an uncommonly 
 even and cheerful temper ; the whole regulated 
 by the highest religious principles and Christian 
 piety. There was in him such a combination 
 of qualities, as rendered it impossible to know 
 him without esteeming him, or to be on terms 
 of intimacy with him without loving him. It 
 was in his society that Mr. Thomason and myself 
 enjoyed not only a very great degree of social 
 pleasure, but a more than ordinary share of Chris- 
 
 5 
 
50 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 tian communion. Many and happy were the 
 seasons we spent together in reading the scrip- 
 tures and in prayer, and now and then, when we 
 could do it without the risk of drawing upon us 
 invidious notice, we heightened our social plea- 
 sures by singing our favourite psalms and hymns 
 Mr. Thomason was but a bad singer, but de- 
 lighted exceedingly in the performance, and was 
 always the first to propose it. I can truly say, 
 — and I am sure both of my friends, could their 
 sentiments now, alas ! be obtained, would heartily 
 join with me, — that these engagements were not 
 only the happiest, but the most profitable of our 
 college occupations. They greatly tended to relax 
 the weariness of the same routine of reading; 
 they counteracted the chilling efiect of abstract 
 studies, and the unchristian tendency of Pagan 
 literature and profane mythology : they elevated 
 our minds and feelings above secular pursuits ; 
 they kept alive the spark of Christian piety ; they 
 fixed our thoughts on our future and holy des- 
 tination ; they prepared us for that part of our 
 approaching ministerial functions, which are of all 
 others the most difficult to perform, and yet are 
 of indispensable importance, when we should be 
 called upon to comfort such as were in sorrow, 
 to direct those that were perplexed about their 
 spiritual state, and to pray with those whose 
 difficulties and peculiar circumstances of trial 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 51 
 
 required more direct and appropriate notice than 
 could be anticipated by any preconceived form 
 of devotion. Nor did these exercises rob us 
 of any of that time which we felt it our duty to 
 devote to our literary pursuits. On the contrary, 
 they gave a sensitiveness to our conscience, and 
 an edge to our sense of duty which forbade us to 
 neglect the course of studies prescribed by our 
 academic superiors. 
 
 *It was Mr. Thomason's custom to rise about 
 five in the morning, and as our rooms were nearly 
 contiguous, we alternately lit our respective fires, 
 and applied ourselves to reading in the same 
 room. Our terms of intimacy were so familiar 
 we were constantly in the habit of using each 
 other's rooms, books, or whatever either of us 
 wanted that the other had, without the least 
 ceremony. Pleasanter days than these I never 
 spent ; they remind me of that happy state when 
 the first Christians had all things common, parted 
 their goods as each of them had need, and con- 
 tinued daily with one accord eating their bread 
 with gladness and singleness of heart and praising 
 God.' 
 
 This exalted tone of piety, and this effective 
 train of study, were aided and directed by the 
 tutors of Magdalen, the Rev. Mr. Parish con- 
 ducting the mathematical, the Rev. Mr. Jowett 
 the classical department ; the one profound in 
 
52 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 abstruse science, the other celebrated for scholar- 
 ship and taste : both patrons and promoters of that 
 rehgion which bears the nearest affinity to that 
 of the Reformation. 
 
 Besides these advantages within the precincts 
 of the college, others of invaluable advantage pre- 
 sented themselves in the public ministry and 
 private superintendence of the Rev. C. Simeon 
 of King's College. In him Mr. Thomason found 
 the fidelity of a devoted pastor ; the affection of a 
 father and a friend. Of these benefits he thank- 
 fully availed himself: and the grateful remem- 
 brance of them to his dying hour was indelible. 
 Mr. Simeon's exertions, especially, in behalf of 
 those who were intended for the ministry, were 
 great and incessant. The sight or even the anti- 
 cipation of spiritual progress in any one who, in 
 after life, * was to teach and premonish the Lord's 
 family,' was to him an overflowing recompense for 
 all his labors. " Hoc est quod unum est pro labo- 
 ribus tantis." 
 
 In a letter to Mrs. Thornton, Mr. Thomason 
 makes this report. ' Mr. Simeon watches over us 
 as a shepherd over his sheep. He takes delight in 
 instructing us — and has us continually at his 
 rooms. He has nothing to do with us as it respects 
 our situation at college. His Christian love and 
 zeal prompt him to notice us.' — ' God has heaped 
 upon me,' he says, in strains that gladdened a mo- 
 
REV. THOMA.S THOBIASON. 53 
 
 ther's heart, ' more favours than ever. He seems 
 to aim at subduing my heart to his sway by brighter 
 and brighter discoveries of his goodness. Mr. 
 Simeon has invited me to his Sunday evening 
 lectures. This I consider one of the greatest 
 advantages I ever received. The subject of his 
 lectures is natural and revealed religion. These 
 he studies and puts together with much pains and 
 attention. He reads the fruit of his labors to us, 
 and explains it. We write after him. He then 
 dismisses us with prayer.' 
 
 Of Mr. Simeon — designating him justly, as 
 highly venerable and beloved, — Mr. Jerram also 
 says, ' I cannot pass over this opportunity of ac- 
 knowledging my debt of obligation to this truly 
 estimable friend. We were admitted often to his 
 rooms, and enjoyed regular lectures from him on 
 various topics connected with the ministry to 
 which we were looking forward ; and I cannot 
 help ascribing to these occasions much of the 
 little good that has resulted from my official 
 labours. His directions on the composition of ser- 
 mons were invaluable, and I owe to him whatever 
 I have obtained of ease in preparing many hun- 
 dreds of discourses for the pulpit.' 
 
 What a contrast are works of this description, — 
 so disinterested, beneficent, and eminently profit- 
 able as Mr. Simeon's — to pitiful frivolities, angry 
 disputations, the curious nothings of useless specu- 
 5* 
 
54 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 lation, all those learned trifles and vain-glorious 
 popular displays, which have wrung, from lips 
 parched and quivering in dissolution, those words 
 of shame, self-reproach, and agony — ' eheu ! vitani 
 perdidi nihil agendo laboriose,' — or what is said to 
 have been the dying exclamation of a famous Irish 
 preacher — "Speak not to me of my sermons — 
 alas! I was fiddling whilst Rome was burning." 
 
 The subjoined sentiments, selected from his 
 letters within this period, shew how far Mr. Thom- 
 ason had prospered under his spiritual instructor. 
 
 * Oh ! that I had more of the spirit of a little 
 child to receive the impressions of the Spirit as 
 the wax receives that of the seal. Vain men 
 endeavour to dig a grave for truth, as if the 
 eternal principle could be hidden ; but if they 
 cannot hide truth, truth will cause them to wish 
 to hide themselves.' 
 
 * It gave me much concern to hear of Mr. D — 's 
 illness. I long to know whether he is better. 
 The brightest sun has a gloom when it rises upon 
 affliction and disease. Time drags his chariot 
 wheels heavily whilst the languid spirits, worn 
 down with the infirmities of the body, can scarcely 
 look around where the prospect is not clouded, 
 or perhaps extended without bounds. It gave 
 me great joy when I heard the comfortable state 
 of his mind. What an invaluable blessing is 
 peace I To purchase for the soul of man this 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOMASON. 55 
 
 happiness, the Son of God was crucified once, — 
 to keep it, man must crucify himself daily.' 
 
 * I httle thought that was so ill. Although 
 
 she is at a time of life which loudly bespeaks 
 the nearness of death, yet the intimation strikes 
 me with sorrow and amazement. I sincerely 
 hope that her mind is prepared to meet her God, 
 and that the wedding-ring she in her affection 
 leaves me as a dying present, is an emblem of the 
 marriage -of the Lamb into which she has entered. 
 What a blessed thing to partake of that happi- 
 ness ! — to be one with him and he with us ? The 
 confines of eternity are truly solemn : we are 
 every moment drawing nearer to it ; who can tell 
 whether our approach will prove a day's journey 
 only. What need for continual examination ! Every 
 day should give us a lesson on the necessity of 
 being much in prayer and holy exercises. What 
 happiness to have at our dying moments the 
 consolation that Christ has died, and through his 
 death our sins are blotted out, and that a way 
 is opened for us into the holy of holies. The 
 Christian may stand unmoved at the drawn 
 dagger of death and defy its point. Stand un- 
 moved, did I say ? He will rather rejoice in the 
 full assurance of hope ; and stretching out his 
 hand with rapture will cry out, " Come, Lord 
 Jesus, come quickly." — You have pressed home 
 no doubt the truths of religion: you have not 
 
56 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 omitted to probe the heart, and to represent 
 Christ crucified. Believe that there is indeed a 
 fountain opened for sin and uncleanness, and that 
 the fountain is a fountain of life. Believe — have 
 confidence, do not despond. Remember the 
 thief upon the cross. Christ is the same as he 
 then was. He has the same love and power — 
 the same glories — the same paradise in store for 
 those who embrace his mercy. Perhaps ere this 
 her soul is fled ; if I never more see her dear 
 face, God's will be done.' 
 
 These communications, the last especially, were 
 made, it is evident, under keen emotion. They 
 exhibit acute suffering ; yet of such a character 
 that w^e may well account him happy who en- 
 dured. At moments like these it is that any 
 additional grief descends not simply with its own 
 weight, but with an augmented pressure. Hence 
 at the retirement of Mr. Jowett from Magdalen — 
 a tutor justly venerated ; and at the departure 
 from that college of a young man lately married, 
 on a distant mission, the pupil and the friend 
 was more than usually susceptible of sorrowful 
 impressions. To estimate the loss of a pious and 
 able tutor few are competent ; but when hand 
 is grasped by hand, and the eyes and heart 
 overflow, and there is almost a rehearsal of death, 
 all possessed of common feeling can appreciate 
 the demand made upon our sensibilities. * Our 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 57 
 
 sorrow,' he says of the former, ' causes us to 
 anticipate the moment, and to fancy him already 
 snatched from us. I do not know what our httle 
 society will do when our protector is gone. The 
 loss of Mr. Jowett will be severely felt. Of the 
 latter we found them sitting down to their last 
 meal at the inn, and we gave them great comfort 
 by the interview. They had bid farewell to their 
 friends ; it was like rising from the dead to them. 
 O how delighted they were ! We on our parts 
 were as much so at causing their aching hearts to 
 feel emotions of joy at such a moment. We went 
 on board ; and when the anchor was weighed 
 took a tender farewell. They followed us with 
 their eyes, and beckoned with their hands and 
 hats, till their sails and ours going different ways 
 carried us out of sight of each other.' 
 
 But of all the trials mercifully commissioned 
 from above, one of the heaviest was yet behind. 
 Towards the close of the year 1793, Mr. Clark 
 was called unto the joy of his Lord; he died 
 full of years and of grace, — ripe and ready for 
 a blessed immortality. Many poor men to whom 
 he had dispensed the bread that perisheth, and 
 that which endureth to everlasting life; many 
 poor scholars whom he had trained up to tread 
 the path heavenward, and to proclaim the truths 
 of the glorious gospel of the blessed God, — either 
 in person or spirit were heart-felt mourners at 
 
58 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 his grave. Let one of these who yielded to no 
 other in love for the living, or regret for the de- 
 parted, describe this good man's holy unwearied 
 activity in life, in death his hopes brightening as 
 the clouds became more dense and dark. * For 
 the space of half a century he carried on his 
 ministerial labours with a zeal and fidelity of which 
 we have very few examples. He sent forth many 
 able ministers into the church. His life was a 
 living sermon : few ever left his company unedi- 
 fied. It was his delight to dwell upon the truths 
 of Christianity in the most familiar conversation. 
 His house was a refuge to those in distress. In- 
 tent on the work of reclaiming sinners, he did 
 not shun to declare the whole counsel of God. 
 He placed his whole happiness in the service 
 of his Master. On his death-bed the doctrines 
 he had enforced were seen in action: during a 
 painful fortnight he did not cease to speak to his 
 friends in a most affectionate instructive manner. 
 He looked upon life with contempt — upon death 
 with serenity — upon heaven with rapture.' 
 
 ' It was my privilege,' Mr. Jerram says, * not 
 only to receive his last instructions as a tutor, 
 but to attend upon him constantly in his final 
 illness ; and to witness his blessed death as a 
 Christian. And it is scarcely possible to con- 
 ceive anything more solemn, instructive, and 
 interesting than this last scene. His patience 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 59 
 
 under excruciating pains, — his meekness of tem- 
 per, — his deep humility, — his thankfulness for 
 every little attention, — his never- varying cheer- 
 fulness; and, above all, his unshaken confidence 
 in the mercy of God through Jesus Christ, in- 
 spiring him with a hope full of immortality, filled 
 all who were privileged like myself to attend 
 him, as he passed through the valley of the shadow 
 of death, with admiration, and thankfulness to God 
 who had bestowed such grace, and such support 
 and consolation in such trying circumstances.' 
 
 When first taken ill, Sept. 17, 1793— to refer 
 to a statement drawn up at the time by Mr. 
 Jerram, whose favoured station was by the bed- 
 side of his dying tutor, an honour in which, had 
 it been possible, Mr. Thomason would thankfully 
 have participated — ' Such a shock as this,' said 
 the sinking yet victorious Christian minister, 'at 
 my advanced age, must materially affect my con- 
 stitution ; and it is most likely that this disorder 
 will take me off". I can now be but of little use 
 to any body, and therefore not much loss will be 
 sustained by my death.' To Mrs. C. he spoke 
 much of his expected dissolution, said he thought 
 he should soon see his son ; and added, ' when 
 will the happy time come that I shall be released ?' 
 
 * Sept. 20. — Speaking of the sermon he had 
 preached the Sunday before, (which was the last 
 he ever delivered,) from 1 Thess. v. 18, "In 
 
60 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 every thing give thanks, for this is the vv^ill of God 
 in Christ Jesns concerning you," he said, "I can 
 now say, from experience, that there is as much 
 reason to thank God for the afflictions he sends 
 us, as for anything else. I can bless God for 
 laying me upon this bed of sickness, and am 
 thankful for it." The above was intended to be 
 a supplementary discourse to one he had preached 
 the preceding Lord's day, from Psalm ciii. 2, 
 " Bless the Lord, O my soul ! and forget not all 
 his benefits." The design of his last sermon was 
 to show that afflictions and crosses were amongst 
 the number of those blessings which call for 
 gratitude. Among other things he took occasion 
 to exclaim against the vanity and folly of anxiously 
 pursuing worldly objects, and instanced, in par- 
 ticular, the pursuit of knowledge. What he said 
 upon this point seemed to be principally intended 
 for his students. As he had just alluded to this 
 sermon, I took occasion to thank him for the hint, 
 and hoped I should be able, to profit by it. " Ah," 
 replied he, " I did not intend its application to 
 you alone, but also to myself. So much vanity 
 generally attends the attainment of a little learn- 
 ing, that it requires great watchfulness to guard 
 against it." ' 
 
 ' Sept. 2L— I found Mr. R. of C, his son Mr. 
 J. C, and Z. weeping at his bed-side. His dis- 
 order at that time appeared to be almost despe- 
 
HEV. THOMAS THOMASON. 61 
 
 rate. He had been speaking to them, I believe, 
 before I entered the room ; but he then addressed 
 us individually. To Mr. R. he said, " I know 
 Mr. R. is a good man, and I doubt not, but I 
 shall meet him in heaven." To Z. he said, he 
 looked upon him as his own child, and exhorted 
 him with the greatest affection, to flee from 
 those vices and folHes into which most young 
 men run. " Avoid them, pass not by them, turn 
 from them and flee away." In this address to Z. 
 he seemed particularly affected, and drew his 
 cap over his face to weep. When he turned to 
 his son, his heart seemed too full for utterance. 
 They clasped hands, and bedewed each other 
 plentifully with tears. He appeared to be in an 
 agony of soul for the happiness of his son. Only 
 those who were present can form an idea of the 
 affecting scene. After this, he prayed earnestly 
 for Mr. , that God would make him a faith- 
 ful and useful minister of the gospel, and that 
 he would soon provide for him in his church. 
 He then enlarged much on the great necessity 
 there was for ministers to guard against ambition. 
 " The ministers of the gospel," said he, " have 
 great reason to watch against pride, vanity, and 
 many other diabolical sins ; and to beware of 
 preaching in anger or opposition." Here he 
 expatiated a good deal upon the abasement and 
 humiliation of Jesus Christ. " The Redeemer," 
 6 
 
62 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 said he, " was spit upon, buffetted, crowned with 
 thorns, and crucified for such poor sinful and un- 
 worthy creatures as we are." This topic seemed 
 to fire his soul with gratitude and love to God his 
 Saviour.' 
 
 ' Sept. 22. — Speaking to two of his friends, who 
 had been educated by him, and for whom he had 
 a particular affection, he recommended mutual 
 affection between them. " I have not been your 
 father," said he, " but I have been in some mea- 
 sure your nurse." One of them lamenting their 
 distance from each other, Mr. C. said, " That is 
 nothing where spirits are united. Whether bodies 
 touched, or were ten thousand miles apart, was 
 of little consequence : the union of spirit is every 
 thing." From this he took occasion to mention 
 the temptations which arise, even from the kind- 
 ness of friends. " The kindness of friends I 
 enjoy at this time in a very great degree. They 
 not only do every thing by night and by day for 
 me, but do it with the utmost cheerfulness, which 
 makes the obligation still greater. But from 
 hence arises a temptation. What is it ? Why, I 
 am tempted to look for my happiness in my friends, 
 and in what they can do for me, which is wrong. 
 1 desire to love and esteem them most sincerely ; 
 but I should look for happiness only in God. 
 Here all my hopes should centre, that God may 
 be all in all. What a poor helpless creature am 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. DO 
 
 I! to think that He who made the heavens and 
 angels and all worlds, whose power is beyond 
 all bounds, that this great Being should con- 
 descend to take notice of me, a poor contemptible 
 worm lying here ! " 
 
 ' Sept. 23. — During the whole of the day, he 
 was attended by many of his poor distressed 
 sheep, whose hearts were deeply affected with 
 the apprehension of soon losing their spiritual 
 guide. He conversed with them by four or five 
 at a time, parcelling them into proper classes, 
 that " each might have a portion of meat in due 
 season." There being eight of them in the house 
 together, their names were mentioned to him, one 
 of whom he wished to speak to by himself. 
 " The rest," said he, " I hope are the real fol- 
 lowers of the Redeemer." I intimated that I 
 hoped the person he had objected to, was a serious 
 man ; because he had sat so many years under 
 his preaching. " Yes," replied Mr. C. " he has : 
 but don't you know that there are many stones in 
 the church aisle, which have been there many 
 years, and that they are stones still ? " Being 
 afraid that speaking so much would exhaust and 
 weaken him, he was desired to spare himself a 
 little. He answered, " I can preach best now." 
 
 * Mr. R. of A. had been mentioning a patient 
 whom he attended, who was so peevish and dis- 
 contented, that he could scarcely prevail upon her 
 
64 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 to follow any of his prescriptions. " I thought " 
 said he to Mr. C. " she formed a perfect contrast 
 with you." — " Ah ! " replied Mr. C. " whatever 
 there is in me, I owe entirely to my Redeemer." 
 " I think," said Mr. R. " there is a good deal in 
 a person's natural disposition." — " Natural dis- 
 position ! " rejoined Mr. C. " I am naturally as 
 irritable as any man. But when I find anger or 
 passion, or any other evil temper arise in my 
 mind, immediately I go to my Redeemer, and 
 confessing my sins I give myself up to be managed 
 by him. This is the way I have taken to get the 
 mastery of my passions." 
 
 * During the night he slept a good deal, and a 
 little after sun-rising, he desired us to draw up 
 the window curtains. We were afraid the light 
 would be too powerful for him at the first, and 
 drew them up but a little way. "Draw them to 
 the top," cried he, " the light refreshes me." He 
 then looked through the window with inexpressible 
 pleasure in his countenance, and exclaimed, " The 
 sun shines upon every tree and plant; and the Sun 
 of Righteousness shines upon me." 
 
 ' Sept 27. — I sat with him a considerable time. 
 He was very weak, and could not speak without 
 difliculty. I quoted that verse out of the 23d 
 Psalm, " Though I walk through the valley of 
 the shadow of death, &c." He answered, " Yes, 
 he will be with me. What are all my suflferings. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 65 
 
 when compared with the Redeemer's ! When in 
 his agony he sweat great drops of blood ! What 
 love was this ! " Here his speech began to fail, 
 and he intimated that it pained him to speak, but 
 wished he was able. 
 
 ' Sept. 28. — Being restless, and unable to lie in 
 an easy posture, he said, "This is the way to 
 happiness. Through much tribulation we must 
 enter into the kingdom of heaven." 
 : J Sept. 29. — To a person sitting up with him he 
 said, " When I am gone, I suppose my people 
 will go some one way, and some another. The 
 Lord grant that they may be not disjoined from 
 Christ." ' 
 
 Thus sustained by the omnipotent Redeemer to 
 the last — and to the last exhibiting the power 
 of faith in his every sentiment and in his whole 
 demeanour; this great and good man found the 
 iron gate of death opened with no grating and 
 appalling sound, but easily and as by an angel's 
 hand, and he passed into the paradise of God. 
 
 During the two years Mr. Thomason had been 
 at college, his demeanour and industry were such 
 as amply to justify the wisdom of expending on 
 his education a sum, which could not be incon- 
 siderable, however prudently managed. But, 
 hitherto misconceiving the line of his duty, he 
 had not read mathematics with ardour ; nor was 
 it till the end of his second year, that the advice 
 6* 
 
66 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of a friend, seconded by that of Mr. Simeon, 
 corrected the error. Without, therefore, neg- 
 lecting what conduced to personal and ministerial 
 usefulness, he began to bestow on Newton an 
 intense application : never had he doubted but 
 that the religious student may serve God in those 
 avocations in which the mind, for a while, seems 
 absorbed ; but, sent to college, as he had been, 
 by others, expressly to prepare for holy orders, 
 it had been a question of conscience w4th him, 
 whether he ought to abstract so much time from 
 the study of divinity, as would be necessary to 
 supply any hope of his shining as a star of lustre 
 and magnitude in the academic firmament. No 
 sooner was his mind set right on this head, than 
 he addressed himself to his work with an energy 
 which, had it animated him from the first, might 
 have carried him, notwithstanding the powerful 
 competition of that year, to the point of supreme 
 elevation on which Henry Martyn afterwards 
 planted his foot. 
 
 A college life, especially when studious, is as 
 uniform, and as little fertile in topics of general 
 interest, as the plains of the Pampas. The mo- 
 notony of it is not badly represented in these 
 
 words to his mother. 'You give a picture 
 
 of domestic ease. I have only to say, I am 
 writing close by the fire, alone in my room ; the 
 river under my window flowing calmly; — ^the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 67 
 
 trees making a gentle noise ; — the bells tolling ; — 
 the night dark.' By what can this dull uniform- 
 ity be relieved, but by the diversity of characters 
 that crowd an arena like that of Cambridge ? 
 
 An interview with an American, with whom 
 he had been at school, whose family had known 
 prosperity, but were now reduced to poverty, who 
 yet could ' rejoice in that he was now made 
 low,' summoned up sensations that are seldom 
 roused from their recesses in the human breast. 
 * What made this story remarkable,' he says, * is 
 that since we were at school, I have crossed the 
 Atlantic, and travelled over America, his native 
 country; and yet after all this, notwithstanding 
 the then flourishing state of his family, we are 
 met at Cambridge, — pensioners on the same 
 bounty, — partakers of the same bread, — sup- 
 ported by the same friends, — laboring for the 
 same ends.' 
 
 Collision with a rigid adherent to system in re- 
 ligion, he mentions, likewise, as producing a variety, 
 though not of the most pleasing kind, in the tran- 
 quil tenor of his days. He was a man given to the 
 scholastic, synthetical mode of reading the scrip- 
 tures, instead of adopting the popular analytical 
 method: he was ever trying to occupy heights 
 where the ground is slippery, and the atmos- 
 phere too rarified for respiration; Mr. Thoma- 
 son, on the other hand, preferred a lower, safer, 
 
68 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and more habitable region of the mountain, loving 
 most of all those valleys w^here the footsteps of 
 the flock are distinctly visible. 
 
 His account of this person and of himself 
 when brought into contact with him, is this — 
 "With many amiable qualities, he is a very 
 high Calvinist, and makes the most rigid tenets 
 not only important, but necessary to salvation. 
 It has always been a matter of surprise to me 
 that religious people are led into these errors. 
 The marrow of the Gospel is to believe in Jesus 
 Christ: and the life of religion is to have him 
 formed in us as the hope of glory. For my 
 part, what the Bible says, I must believe; and 
 what I cannot reconcile, I leave. There are diffi- 
 culties on both sides ; but this is certain, and 
 agreed on all hands, that they who go to Christ 
 "shall in nowise be cast out." This is a com- 
 fortable text, and I have often pleaded the promise 
 on my knees before God ; a promise which opens 
 the door of heaven to a lost race, and shews us 
 a reconciled God, smiling upon us with the 
 tenderness and love of a father." 
 
 Allied to these sensations, were those arising 
 from the refusal of ordination to an acquaintance 
 of his own college, against whose conduct no- 
 thing could be alleged, except that he was 
 enrolled in Magdalen, by whose gates the 
 martyr Bilney was wont in olden time to pass 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 69 
 
 on visits of mercy to the castle, and within 
 whose walls Bilney's doctrines were then pre- 
 valent. The master of the college generously 
 took up the young man's cause, but his defence 
 and remonstrances were unavailing. To relate 
 this, without an expression of thankfulness in 
 comparing that period with the present, would 
 be unpardonable. May it never happen that a 
 follower of Cranmer, Latimer, and Herbert, is 
 rejected from serving at our altars ! Far too 
 admirable is the Church of England to be en- 
 dangered by such rejections. 
 
 Of a visit he made, in company with two 
 college friends, one of whom died the Sunday 
 after his ordination, to Mr. Venn, the author of 
 that admirable work the Complete Duty of Man, 
 Mr. Thomason speaks with unusual interest. All 
 that fell from the lips of that holy man, then 
 languishing in body, but in soul rejoicing like a 
 strong man to run a race, was listened to with 
 wonder and avidity by these young collegians. 
 The expression that sank into Mr. Thomason's 
 mind was, ' In what a state should I now be had 
 I only the Socinians' God to trust to.' Mr. Jer- 
 ram to this day retains an unfading remembrance 
 of that most instructive and encouraging inter- 
 view. 'We obtained a letter of introduction from 
 Mr. Simeon, and I shall never forget the sensa- 
 tion which this visit produced. It was one of the 
 
TO MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 most memorable days of my life, and I believe 
 my friend Thomason viewed it in the same light. 
 Mr. Venn appeared to us all as a being of a 
 superior order— eminently a man of God. His 
 love of piety — his lofty conceptions of the gran- 
 deur of the Christian religion, and the extent 
 of his ultimate triumphs — his unbounded con- 
 fidence in God — his exalted views of the impor- 
 tance and dignity of the Christian ministry — his 
 ardent feelings and animated countenance — his 
 glowing eloquence and affectionate address — his 
 extensive acquaintance with the wisest and best 
 men of the last generation, and his inexhaustible 
 stores of anecdote filled us all with admiration, 
 and left an impression on my mind which has not 
 yet been effaced, and which for many months 
 after the interview was as fresh and vivid as at 
 the time it was produced. This extraordinary 
 man did not die like common Christians. The 
 late Mr. Robinson of Leicester told me that he 
 visited Mr. Venn in his last illness, and began 
 to speak to him, to use Mr. Robinson's words, 
 *in my poor way.' O, exclaimed Mr. Venn, 
 that is poor comfort, brother, here is the passage 
 I build on, " Who hath spoiled principalities and 
 powers, and hath made a shew of them openly, 
 triumphing over them in it." These words he 
 uttered with an energy and animation peculiar to 
 himself, His mini was filled w^ith the contera« 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 71 
 
 plation of a triumph, and he anticipated nothing 
 less than soon meeting a victorious Saviour, who 
 shall tread all enemies under his feet.' 
 
 That Mr. Thomason did not lose sight of higher 
 objects, v^hen he concentrated his intellectual 
 powers, and bent their focus on mathematics, is 
 plain from what he says of his success in the 
 schools. "I passed through them with much 
 more honor than I could have expected, consider- 
 ing the great disadvantages under which I labour. 
 I find it necessary to be on my guard. The Lord 
 keep me watchful and humble, and enable me, 
 when engaged in worldly business, to be fervent 
 in heavenly affections." In the same spirit of 
 lowliness and self-recollection he, this year, re- 
 ceived information of his having obtained the 
 Norrisian prize. His essay was to prove " That 
 the holy scriptures, rightly understood, do not 
 give encouragement to enthusiasm or supersti- 
 tion : " and it was pronounced the best, as one 
 of the judges told him, amidst many others 
 of eminent merit. The reward was a gold medal 
 and books. In announcing to Mrs. Thornton this 
 event, which filled him with joy, and cast a 
 bright and broad light on his future prospects, 
 * Blessed be his name,' he says, 'he has given 
 me to know that of all human attainments, none 
 is capable of giving happiness. Nor is any wor- 
 thy the name of wisdom. The fear of the Lord, 
 
72 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 that is wisdom, and to depart from evil is un- 
 derstanding/ And to his mother he writes, 
 'Against all expectations I have succeeded, and 
 I rejoice ; I know what pleasure it will give you, 
 and it is my delight to add to your comforts. 
 It will be a testimony to Mrs. Thornton and to 
 the society who have sent me here, that I havo 
 not misspent my time.' 
 
 An extract or two from such an essay can 
 afford no adequate idea of it as a composition ; it 
 is like producing detached stones as specimens 
 of architectural design ; but they may serve to 
 shew his general tone of sentiment. — "God is 
 love — language could go no further. And this 
 revelation of his love is as great a demonstration 
 of it as is probable to conceive. Conscious of a 
 depraved nature, the creature would, without such 
 a condescension on the part of the Deity, tremble 
 at approaching hira. Awed by the terrors of his 
 majesty, he would not dare to look upward. But 
 when the Deity vouchsafes to reveal his mercy, 
 and offers the most convincing argument of love 
 that could be devised, by the gift of his only Son, 
 he begins to entertain hopes of acceptance with so 
 merciful a being, and is gradually led on from the 
 terrors of slavish fear to a sense of his favour and 
 expectation of his glory. 
 
 ** Whatever professions are made, or hopes enter- 
 tained, unless they are attended by a conscien- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 73 
 
 tious discharge of our duty, the scripture pro- 
 nounces them a delusion. All idle dreams of 
 future happiness, and groundless hopes of reward 
 are reprobated. Our conduct* is the only test of 
 our sincerity. 
 
 "Christianity is much misunderstood. Many 
 suppose it productive of melancholy: but this 
 arises from not observing the genuine tendency 
 of the scriptures. It is calculated to establish, 
 not to destroy, our happiness : to fill us with that 
 peace that flows from a hope of immortality ; not 
 to alarm our fears and embitter our lives. Enthu- 
 siasm is as pointedly reprobated as superstition. 
 Our religion must be reasonable, consistent, 
 uniform : our faith must jstand on a solid founda- 
 tion that can bear the severest scrutiny: it must 
 be confirmed by the fullest conviction of our 
 judgment." 
 
 These brief selections are sufficient to disprove 
 the errors cherished concerning that school of 
 divinity in which Mr. Thomason had been brought 
 up. Can plainer testimonies be adduced against 
 whatever is visionary and unsound in opinion, 
 unholy in practice. Yet to some or other of these 
 extremes, to both not unfrequently, persons of Mr. 
 Thomason's stamp are accused of tending. Pre- 
 judice breathes and sees and hears in an atmos- 
 phere of its own ; could it once be dragged or 
 allured into a purer air, it would expire. 
 7 
 
74 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 At the commencement of the last, the deci- 
 sive term, Mr. Thomason's studies received so 
 serious an interruption, that had he been 
 endued with less mental elasticity, it must 
 have proved fatal to all hopes of honor in the 
 Senate House. It v^as a proposal from the late 
 Charles Grant, Esq. "Magnum et venerabile 
 nomen," to fill the Mission Church at Calcutta. 
 This call Mr. Thomason, acting in the spirit of 
 the words ' non magna relinquo, magna sequor,' 
 was not unwilling to obey. The agitation of this 
 question, requiring as it did much anxious thought, 
 could not but fail of obstructing a course of reading. 
 Newton was first partially then wholly laid aside. 
 It was introductory also to a step influential in the 
 highest degree on his future liappiness. To the 
 idea of parting with her son, agoniznjg under any 
 aspect, his mother could not be reconciled unless 
 an union were affected, promising a substitution 
 in a distant land for her tenderness and care over 
 him in England. To Carlise therefore he went 
 to solicit the hand of one for whom he had long 
 cherished a warm though secret attachment ; but 
 no sooner had he obtained her consent, and his 
 mother at an immense expense of feeling had 
 agreed to surrender him, than apprehensions 
 arose that an Indian climate might be detrimental 
 to Miss F.'s delicate health. These fears, com- 
 binded with some reluctance on her part to leave 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 75 
 
 England, caused him to waver in his design : and 
 an event occurring shortly after, afflictive to him 
 beyond any previous dispensation, to his mother 
 absolutely overwhelming, he resolved to decline 
 the appointment, which was then offered to Mr. 
 Buchanan of Queen's College, and by him [ac- 
 cepted. 
 
 Upon this decision Mr. Jerram remarks with 
 his usual ability, and w^ith the discriminating 
 judgment of a wisely observant Christian, ' Here 
 we cannot but notice the wisdom and goodness 
 of divine Providence in so over-ruling events as 
 to bring about the best final results. Had Mr. 
 Thomason accepted the chaplaincy he would 
 have been a very faithful and efficient minister 
 of the gospel, and have done much good. But I 
 question whether at that time it would have 
 extended much beyond the immediate sphere 
 of his labours. He was young, decidedly pious, 
 devoted and active, and must have been a bless- 
 ing wherever he was stationed. He had an 
 extraordinary facility in learning languages, and 
 would have become an eminent oriental scholar, 
 and in all probability India would .have been 
 eminently benefitted by his translations of the 
 Scriptures into more than one of their vernacular 
 tongues. But I do not think he would have 
 exercised a commanding influence, nor formed 
 any very comprehensive plans for the benefit 
 
76 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 of that vast continent, nor have entered at all 
 in that almost boundless field in which Dr. 
 Buchanan rendered himself so eminently con- 
 spicuous, and which he cultivated with such great 
 advantage" to the millions of India. 
 
 'Of all the literary and pious men which 
 Cambridge at that time possessed — few, perhaps 
 none, had the peculiarly appropriate qualifications 
 of Dr. Buchanan for that important station. His 
 mind was calm, intellectual, and comprehensive. 
 His manners reserved, dignified, commanding. His 
 literary attainments were considerable, and gave 
 promise of great increase. He sought, acquired, 
 and effectually sustained a place in the society 
 of the most learned men in the University : even 
 whilst an undergraduate, there was an elevation 
 about him which left younger men of inferior 
 talents and attainment, but ill at ease in his 
 presence. His very appearance conveyed the 
 idea of a person destined to do things at which 
 others would never aim, and to carry measures 
 on a scale of magnitude to which few would find 
 themselves equal, or dream of accomplishing. 
 When it is added, that Dr. Buchanan was as 
 eminent for his piety — as distinguished for his 
 talents — as simple in his manners as he was 
 dignified in his appearance — as single in heart as 
 comprehensive in mind — as attentive in the dis- 
 charge of very humble duties as he was active in 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 77 
 
 planning and vigorous in executing schemes for 
 Christianizing the immense population of India, — 
 no doubt will be felt that the loss of Mr. Thoma- 
 son's labours at that particular crisis was more 
 than compensated by those of Dr. Buchanan.' 
 
 Under the affliction which contributed mainly 
 to cut the thread of Mr. Thomason's designs and 
 left the situation he would have filled, open to 
 Dr. Buchanan, he expresses himself in this 
 strain of submissive suffering. 
 
 ' My soul is pained to the quick. I hope that 
 it is not all over, and that these eyes may see her 
 once more. She is perpetually on my heart — 
 chained to it with links of adamant. I cannot 
 express my peculiar fondness for her, and the 
 pain I have felt, — it is like wrenching away a 
 part of myself The sword has passed through 
 my soul. It seems almost a dream that my 
 beloved M. should be snatched away : it appears 
 too dreadful to be true. But I remember, I 
 shall go to her — this is the balm that infuses 
 comfort. You and I shall go to her ; and how 
 shall we find her, weak and helpless ? exposed to 
 disease and death? Nay, healed of all infirmities, 
 possessed of all perfections. How shall we find 
 her employed? Her business is praise, — and this 
 will be our business too ; wherefore let us comfort 
 one another.' 
 
 Having thus poured out his sorrows and conso- 
 7* 
 
78 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 lations, in a subsequent communication he writes 
 to his mother — 'M — is no more, — but I am 
 restored to you. Yes, I was resolved you should 
 not lose tw^o of your children at once, and have 
 entirely given up the thought of leaving the king- 
 dom. The death of M. has decided the point. 
 All my friends here rejoice at my determination.' 
 
 His mjnd having been checked in that close 
 attention requisite for obtaining a distinguished 
 degree at Cambridge, his spirits exquisitely 
 wounded, he addressed himself again to the 
 arduous business of attempting to recover his lost 
 ground. *You would pity me if you knew 
 how hardly I am driven,' was his account of 
 himself in the midst of his breathless efforts 
 — his vehement contention at the end of the 
 year 1795: yet he could * bless God that his 
 affections w^ere not engrossed with his studies ; 
 and that he was enabled, in some measure, to go 
 through his daily occupations as God's servant.' 
 
 Here we have religion producing its legitimate 
 results, imparting a lustre and a fragrancy to 
 ordinary employments, sanctifying — elevating — 
 controuling — sustaining. Who can doubt but 
 that the mind thus poised and balanced was 
 able to exert itself with new alacrity and with 
 increased effect. The station Mr. Thomason 
 attained after the usual examination was that of 
 fifth wrangler, a position most honourable in itself, 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 79 
 
 and in a relative sense meriting a stronger desig- 
 nation. But whatever its value, when tried by a 
 standard purely intellectual, if a Christian esti- 
 mate be adopted, its worth will be immeasurably 
 enhanced. It was sought as for God; it was 
 received in a spirit, which under total failure 
 would have prevented the excitement of feverish 
 irritation, or the collapse of sullen disappoint- 
 ment ; and which in the moment of exultation, 
 humbly referred success to the goodness of God, 
 and devoutly consecrated it to his glory. 
 
80 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER IV. 
 
 If ever the sands of life may be termed golden, 
 those are so which pass in the interval between 
 taking an academical degree, and entering holy 
 orders. Time, ever precious, acquires then a 
 tenfold value ; — would that our universities were 
 solicitous to turn it to that account of which it is 
 susceptible. Schools of the prophets amongst the 
 Jews, kindred institutions in the early Chris- 
 tian church, are admired, but not imitated. 
 That the bow which has been long and tightly 
 strung, requires relaxation ; that midnight lamps 
 and studious seclusion should be succeeded by 
 the sunshine of cheerful scenes, commends itself 
 at once as reasonable. But let not the conces- 
 sion be abused. Many choosing the ministry, 
 as they choose heaven, because the least excep- 
 tionable of other alternatives, mis-spend this 
 invaluable period in foreign or domestic dissipa- 
 tion ; and then rush into the clerical office with- 
 out those indispensable pre-requisites, sound 
 knowledge and Christian love. He will not thus 
 approach the heavenly function who is truly 
 called to it of God. Such had been Mr. Thorn- 
 
REV. THOMAS TH03IAS0N. 81 
 
 asoii's education, so completely had the study 
 of divinity made a part of it, that an appearance 
 before the bishop immediately after his degree, 
 would not, in his case, have been precipitate. 
 In Mr. Clark, in his college tutors, in Mr. Simeon 
 above all, he had been greatly assisted in becom- 
 ing a "workman that needeth not be ashamed." 
 All their aids were so many incitements to dili- 
 gence still greater, at this important juncture. 
 We find him, accordingly, making a scriptural 
 digest of all passages connected with his sacred 
 vocation : reading the word of God in the original 
 tongues ; translating part of it (the book of Job) ; 
 making himself master of Josephus in Greek; 
 and acquainting himself with* those admirable 
 compositions, the Homilies of the Church of Eng- 
 land, which, if perused attentively by all who 
 think of becoming ministers to the Church of 
 England, would teach them that doctrine which the 
 church expects her bishops, priests, and deacons 
 at all times to inculcate ; for to maintain that 
 the framers of our Articles intended to bind the 
 men of this and of every age, to predicate the 
 exclusive suitableness of the Homilies to the times 
 in which theij were composed^ is an absurdity and 
 subterfuge admitting few parallels. In addition 
 to all this, under the guidance of Professor Car- 
 lisle, he bent himself to the acquisition of Arabic. 
 For the Norrisian prize also b© again was a com" 
 
82 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 petitor ; and though unsuccessful, and not uncon- 
 scious of disappointment, was the first to com- 
 municate the news of victory to the friend from 
 whom he had sustained the defeat. 
 
 From the pen of Mr. Jerram, this very friend, 
 we have the account of what took place at this 
 moment of friendly rivalry. And as it is an 
 observation as old as the days of Martial, a 
 remark too often verified under the light of the 
 gospel, that whilst generosity from one friend 
 towards another is not unfrequent, whilst money 
 or even lands may be liberally bestowed, conces- 
 sion to intellectual superiority is yielded grudgingly 
 and rarely, Mr. Jerram's recital will be read with 
 a pleasing perception of the commanding power 
 of Christian principles. 
 
 " In connection with our religious studies, 
 Thomason and myself had thought it right to 
 enter the list of candidates, during two successive 
 years, for the annual Norrisian prize : which 
 consists of a gold medal and some books, for the 
 best essay on some moral or religious subject 
 given out by the professor. And I allude to this 
 simply to illustrate a fine trait in my friend's 
 character. In the first of our attempts, Thom- 
 ason obtained the prize, and in the second I 
 was his successful rival. On the latter occasion 
 some considerable delay took place in announcing 
 to whom the medal was adjudged. We had 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 83 
 
 heard indeed that it was again destined to our 
 College, and we hoped it would find its way up 
 our stair-case. I happened one morning to be 
 looking out of my window^ and saw one of the 
 university beadles entering our court and ap- 
 proaching our part of it. He ascended our stair- 
 case, came near my door, passed by it, and pro- 
 ceeded to Thomason's. I will not conceal my 
 feelings at that moment, nor deny that I instantly 
 fell on my knees to beseech God to preserve me 
 from envying the success of my dear friend and to 
 enable me to rejoice in it. I had scarcely risen 
 when Thomason hastened into my room, followed 
 by the beadle, and with a gladness of heart which 
 I shall never forget, told me that the prize was 
 awarded to me, and that the beadle, not knowing 
 my room, had called at his and asked where he 
 could find me. I sincerely believe my friend 
 could scarcely have rejoiced more had he a second 
 time succeeded. I may add that on two or three 
 future occasions he wrote for and obtained the 
 prize." Nor was this, in Mr. Thomason, the 
 mere ebullition of the moment. In the same 
 noble spirit of disinterestedness and affection he 
 wrote to his mother and apprized her of the result. 
 *I have lost the prize: Jerram has got it. I am 
 not mortified ; it is still in the family, a young 
 man of the same college, of the same church and 
 profession, I have had it once, it ill becomes me 
 
84 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 to murmur.' More admirable surely than any 
 medal of gold ; more graceful and ennobling than 
 all the favours universities can bestow, was this 
 mutual self-denying friendship. Difficult it is to 
 determine to which of these two Christian friends 
 these lines were most strictly applicable — 
 
 * Nee quo candidior laudes aut la^tior alter 
 Promovet alterius — propriasve modeslior audit.' 
 
 The society which had carried Mr. Thomason 
 through his college career, was now obliged to 
 leave him wholly to his own resources ; and he was 
 at first like those parasitical plants from which the 
 props have been withdrawn. Happily for him 
 the credit of his degree was not an empty sound ; 
 of substantial use was it at this moment. In the 
 spring of 1796 an offer of a private tutorship was 
 accepted by him at Baldock ; where, in a situa- 
 tion of comfort, profit, and usefulness, prosecuting 
 an employment so easy as not to interfere with 
 his more appropriate studies, he was fixed till his 
 ordination. From this retreat he looked back with 
 admiring thankfulness ; forward with animated 
 affiance. 'My soul,' he could affirm, 'has been 
 much blessed, and I have been enabled to live more 
 in a state of prayer than I ever remember to have 
 done. I long to know more of the power of re- 
 ligion, and to realize the things of eternity ; — 
 blessed be God for what he has done for me in 
 this respect. My birth-day was distinguished by 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 8# 
 
 nothing but a firm determination to give myself 
 more unreservedly to God, with the divine assist- 
 ance. When I look back and consider what has 
 been done for me, I am like a traveller at the foot 
 of the Alps, — he sees mountains above mountains, 
 — I see mercy beyond mercy.' 
 
 To his mother at Totness, the place of her 
 first and fondest recollections, he wrote from 
 Baldock, — ' Tracing back the events of twenty 
 years, what mercies and afflictions have you re- 
 ceived. You have been very destitute, but the 
 goodness of God hath followed you ; and the 
 greatest of all mercies is, he hath brought you to 
 fear Him, and separated you from the world. 
 Take a retrospect of the days and months of 
 affliction, and how is the prospect brightened by 
 God's causing you to love him, his ways and his 
 word. You stand in Totness as upon Pisgah. 
 Behind you is the wilderness ; before you is 
 the land of promise, to which I trust you are 
 hastening.' 
 
 The month of October, the time for Mr. 
 Thomason's ordination, drawing near, in imitation 
 of the highest and holiest example, he set 
 apart a season for fasting and prayer. A week 
 was devoted by him 'to entreat the Lord to 
 prepare him for the work of the ministry, and 
 to give him a more lively zeal for his glory in 
 deadness to the world, and such a delightful and 
 8 
 
86 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 animating view of his beauty and sufficiency as 
 Redeemer, as should fill his soul with love and 
 praise.' The approaching examination by the 
 Bishop of Ely could not be at all formidable to 
 one whose mind, like his, was well stored with 
 divinity : but an ordeal of another kind he did 
 dread. Prepossessed, unhappily, as the Bishop 
 had been against Mr. Simeon, no young man, 
 who had been an attendant at Trinity Church, 
 could escape suspicion at Ely. A letter, indeed, 
 from his lordship, highly commendatory of his 
 Norrisian prize essay, in some measure allayed 
 these apprehensions, until his admission to an 
 interview with the bishop, when they were re- 
 doubled, and rejection seemed inevitable. But 
 the sun struggled through the clouds ; explana- 
 tion was accepted, misconceptions gave way, and 
 the bishop, expressing his good opinion of Mr. 
 Simeon's intentions, conceding his right to judge 
 for himself on the points of difference, and satis- 
 fied also with the competency of Mr. Thomason, 
 laid his hands upon his head Oct. 16, 1796, 
 and gave him his commission as deacon. And 
 if, when viewing the cathedral as he did some 
 months before, these were his reflections and 
 prayers, " To be a carnal priest is no trifling 
 matter. I earnestly pray God to take me out 
 of the world if his omniscient eye foresees that I 
 shall dishonour him by the unfaithful exercise of 
 
REV. THOMA.S THOMASON. 87 
 
 SO holy a profession :' With what awe and abase- 
 ment did he kneel before the altar and join in 
 that affecting silent prayer which is succeeded 
 by the burst of supplicatory song, in which the 
 congregation suddenly unite ! ' I cannot give you 
 an idea of what I felt as I entered the cathedral : 
 and now that I am returned, I have a w^eight on 
 my mind I cannot describe. If I have been 
 hasty and forw^ard in undertaking so holy an 
 office, I pray the Lord to pardon me, and to qual- 
 ify me for the work that lies before me ; then 
 shall I preach as in the presence of the Judge 
 of quick and dead.' 
 
 Thus did he unbosom himself to his mother, 
 whose joy as well as Mrs. Thornton's on this occa- 
 sion may be imagined by those who have tasted a 
 felicity purer than any that has its rise on earth. 
 Their plans, counsels, prayers, had been crowned 
 with a rnarked blessing. The seed had been cast 
 abroad, the harvest reaped. The object of their 
 unceasing affection was now a minister of the 
 church of England, and the satisfaction derived 
 from this event was greatly enhanced by the 
 circumstances under which he commenced his 
 ministry. The curacy of Trinity Church, Cam- 
 bridge, and that of Stapleford, about five miles 
 distant from that town, were committed to him ; 
 he w-as there a fellow-labourer with Mr. Simeon, 
 and this w^as justly deemed by them no small 
 
88 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 advantage to a young minister just beginning his 
 clerical course. 
 
 'The reflection that one is standing up in the 
 presence of God, speaking for eternity to im- 
 mortal souls who are hearing for eternity, has a 
 solemn effect. I find, however, that it brings 
 with it peculiar temptations. I have to struggle 
 with many inward trials, to which before I was a 
 stranger.' These are his remarks on the more 
 public exercises of his function in which he com- 
 plains of not finding that comfort he expected. 
 In another branch of his ministry it was far other- 
 wise : his aptitude in teaching the young was 
 unusual ; the work of catechising, therefore, was 
 proportionably pleasant. What to many is an 
 effort, to him was a work as easy and gratifying 
 as it appears to have been to Bishop Andrews, 
 who is thus described by our great poet — 
 
 ' Caelestique animos saturantem rore tenellos 
 Grande salutiferae religionis opus.' 
 
 If to represent the bishop as finding pleasure in 
 the humble work of catechising, were no poetical 
 fiction ; equally true was it, that the curate of 
 Stapleford was not less diligent or less delighted 
 with that occupation. He was in the habit 
 of reaching the village at six in the morning, 
 and bestowing two hours in instructing the chil- 
 dren before church. — Such was the tenor of his 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMPSON. 
 
 89 
 
 ministerial life ; and that it was progressively holy 
 and happy, his observations at the close of the 
 year indicate : ' My sermons are not written 
 without much study and prayer. Preaching on 
 the Parables is useful to myself and acceptable 
 to my hearers. At Stapleford the congregation 
 increases ; the children go on exceedingly well ; 
 my friends inform me my voice and manner of 
 preaching improve. I am glad to hear this, as 
 it is a matter of importance in this place. I bless 
 God my view^s of the great business in which I 
 am engaged, and my desires to devote myself to 
 God and his cause are stronger than ever.' 
 
 No one was ever more elevated above all 
 undue regard for money than the subject of this 
 memoir; he never could be unworthily attracted 
 by the coin sticking in the mire.* A certain 
 style of living, however, w^as necessary at Cam- 
 bridge, which he had not the means of main- 
 taining. The consideration moved him sensibly, 
 for it threatened a dissolution of his connection 
 wdth Mr. Simeon and his flock, tow^ards all of 
 whom he entertained a growing attachment and 
 interest. Whilst this matter was pressing heavily 
 on his mind, a fellowship and lectureship provi- 
 dentially became vacant at Queen's College, for 
 which he lost no time in offering himself as a 
 
 * Persius, Sat. v. line HI. 
 
 8* 
 
90 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 candidate. Dec. 29, 1796, he says, * / am wait- 
 ing as calmly as possible for the determination at 
 Queen's College, which will take place next 
 Tuesday week. I leave my affairs in the hands 
 of God. He knows what is best for me, and will 
 bring it to pass. It is an important interval with 
 me: the decision of that day will determine my 
 situation in life. If I should not go to Queen's, 
 which is highly probable, it is certain I cannot 
 live any longer in college. It seems a time for God 
 to work, and I trust he will work and influence the 
 decision in such a way as shall extricate me.' 
 God heard his prayer and gave him occasion to 
 exclaim, ' How much has a single week brought 
 forth ; a state of prosperity is always dangerous, 
 but doubly so when it succeeds one of adversity. 
 In a moment I was raised from a dependant pre- 
 carious subsistence, to one of independence. The 
 more I consider it, the more I am astonished at 
 the goodness of God. When I look around and 
 survey my comforts, so suitable to my situation 
 as a minister and as a student, I am lost in 
 wonder : the Lord is indeed good ; Oh ! that I 
 could love him more.' 
 
 Chosen to a fellowship and assistant tutor-ship 
 in Queen's College, the year 1797 opened on Mr. 
 Thomason fraught with benefits more than ade- 
 quate to his wants and wishes, but bringing on 
 its wings new and untried burdens, for he had to 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 91 
 
 give lectures daily in Mathematics and in Classics. 
 A collegiate atmosphere is sometimes injurious to 
 the play of the natural affections, and still oftener 
 has it a withering effect on those which are pastoral. 
 Many merge the minister in the tutor : far more 
 in earnest are they in sharpening the intellects 
 of young men to come off conquerors in the senate 
 house than in desiring to see Christians victors over 
 the world, and sinners brought out of darkness into 
 marvellous light. That the ministers of Jesus Christ 
 may serve the Lord in this department many have 
 given incontestible proofs. May the writer be 
 allowed a moment's digression to allude to one, the 
 late Rev. T. Loyd, formerly tutor of King's College. 
 The path he trode was one of peculiar sanctity : 
 in him was the meekness of wisdom. With talents 
 of an exalted order, with spirituality of a cast still 
 more uncommon, such was his humility that a 
 child might lead him. Yet, when conscience 
 demanded it, he could assume a determined front, 
 exhibiting a fixedness of purpose similar to his 
 who, in a moment of perplexity and peril, uttered 
 those memorable words, ' Here I stand, God help 
 me.'* Many of his pupils rise up and call 
 him blessed — he does so who bears this feeble 
 but faithful testimony to his worth. In a spirit 
 congenial to his, Mr. Thomason engaged in the 
 
 * Luther. 
 
92 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 toils and duties incumbent upon him. In them 
 he had a single eye to God, from them he re- 
 turned with a spring of gladness to the more 
 sacred parts of his calling. To have his pupils 
 ' do worthily in Ephratah and become famous in 
 Israel', was not with him a matter of indif- 
 ference but of hearty desire, and of persevering 
 endeavour. Yet how much more intensely did he 
 long to hear that sinners were impressed under 
 his sermons ; and how much more vivid was his 
 satisfaction at learning, as he now did for the first 
 time, that one of his auditors had been impressed 
 deeply by a discourse which he had preached on 
 the parable of the lost piece of silver. This year 
 England lung with joy for one of our great naval 
 victories ; and readily as he could sympathize in 
 national weal or woe, much more readily did he 
 participate in those sensations which cast either 
 a light or a shadow, upon the pathway of 
 the poor. At Lord Duncan's achievement, to- 
 gether with all his countrymen, he rejoiced: but 
 when he witnessed, as he did at this period 
 of his parochial visitations, the last enemy sig- 
 nally subdued in the chamber of sickness and 
 dissolution, he rejoiced more than those who 
 divide the spoil. 
 
 In the autumn of this year, Mr. Thomason 
 visited Carlisle, and on his way thither he renewed 
 his intercourse with Mr. Atkinson of Leeds, the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 93 
 
 principal manager of the Elland fund, whose con- 
 duct towards him had been, from the very first, 
 paternal. At Carlisle he was introduced by the 
 Dean to his brother, that eminent servant of God, 
 the author of the History of the church of Christ. 
 Of him he could say, 'tantum vidi.' But the 
 interview, brief as it was, w^as calculated to infix 
 an abiding impression ; for shortly after this Mr. 
 Milner exchanged the tabernacle in which he had 
 here groaned for the glorious liberty of the chil- 
 dren of God. This was a time of great privation 
 to our church, mere than one bright luminary in 
 our ecclesiastical heavens being darkened. Mr. 
 Cadogan, in the early part of this year, Mr. 
 Milner, in the latter, were consigned to the tomb. 
 Yet, as if to repair these desolations, at His bid- 
 ding who restores the face of the earth, the seeds 
 of the Church Missionary Society were cast into 
 the ground and began to vegetate. 'You do not 
 perhaps know the business, he wrote to his 
 mother, 'that brought Mr. Simeon to London. 
 He went to consult Mr. Wilberforce about insti- 
 tuting a missionary society. The committee is 
 already appointed, they will meet in November, 
 a plan will be submitted to the public, and solici- 
 tations made for subscriptions.' Behold here the 
 germ of that institution, the design of which is 
 identical with that which brought the Son of God 
 from heaven, and which, if contrasted with anv 
 
94 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 project terminating on this side the grave, is as 
 the sun shining in the circuit of the heavens com- 
 pared with those flickering sparks that glitter and 
 vanish in the embers serving only to amuse the 
 child. What this society has already done v^ill 
 be known in eternity : and there, alas ! will it be 
 known also what it might have effected had no 
 corrupt formality, no spurious charity, no worldly 
 apathy, no unauthorized speculation, no mistaken 
 prejudices, curtailed its exertions. 
 
 By Mr. Milner's death a lectureship at Hull, 
 as well as the Mastership of the Grammar-school 
 in that, town, became vacant. Mr. Thomason's 
 friends, therefore, recommended his offering him- 
 self as his successor, and the Dean of Carlisle 
 threw his powerful interest into the balance sus- 
 pended between Mr. Thomason and a fellow 
 of St. John's. The scale inclined eventually 
 against Mr. Thomason, the inclination being de- 
 termined by a single vote given, as was afterwards 
 learnt, by mere caprice. ' I begin to be more 
 reconciled to my late disappointment. I see it is 
 the will of God, and am contented ; my situation 
 here is in all respects most important; would I 
 were more sensible of my privileges, and more 
 careful to improve them.' Thus in the last month 
 of the year 1797, did he comment on his failure : 
 proving how habitual was his recognition of the 
 inspired declaration, ' The lot is cast into 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 95 
 
 the lap, but the whole disposing of it is of the 
 Lord.' 
 
 In the year 1798, the tutorship in Queen's Col- 
 lege was consigned to Mr. Thomason. Two public 
 and two private lectures, consequently, were his 
 daily allotment of duty, and in the necessary ab- 
 sence of Mr. Simeon, five sermons also in the week 
 devolved upon him. No one could long bear up 
 under fatigue so exhausting, nor would he in the 
 present altered circumstances of the university 
 have been subjected to the labour of five sermons, 
 though he might still have been exposed to that 
 of four lectures. It can hardly be credited how 
 difficult it was in those days to obtain a substitute 
 in Mr. Simeon's church. Those who worshipped 
 there were supposed to have left common sense, 
 discretion, sobriety, attachment to the establish- 
 ment, a love for the liturgy, and almost whatever 
 else is true and of good report, in the vestibule. 
 What an abandonment of reputation then was 
 it to officiate there, and what wonder if Mr. 
 Simeon being absent, upon Mr. Thomason alone 
 the weekly supply of five sermons should have 
 rested. It was while sustaining this ministerial 
 pressure, that a letter reached him, from the pen 
 of his earliest friend and adviser, replete with 
 salutary cautions respecting the temptations inci- 
 dent to his station. Eagle eyed for him on all 
 occasions, she might have feared the effects of 
 
96 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 excess in writing sermons and in preaching. She 
 might have been alarmed lest he should be casting 
 the net so often as to allow no time for mending it. 
 She might have dreaded a rapid, heartless fluency, 
 superseding that unction and solidity, that pathos 
 and solemnity of address, when the preacher 
 speaks, as if he saw the face of God. But it was 
 danger on another quarter that she seems chiefly 
 to have apprehended. That spirit of worldly 
 self-indulgence, which not only may co-exist with, 
 but which often grows out of literary labours. 
 ' Dear Mrs. Thornton has written me a loner 
 
 o 
 
 letter, the pages crowded, the expressions exceed- 
 ingly friendly. She cautions me to be circum- 
 spect, to be aware of dead calms that come over 
 the Christian in his way heaven-ward. I have 
 only one weapon to use — Prayer.' What have we 
 here but a verification of the Proverb — " As an 
 ear-ring of gold, and an ornament of fine gold, so 
 is a wise reprover to an obedient ear." A tutor 
 and a minister receives meekly and gratefully the 
 advice of an aged Christian woman. How de- 
 monstrative of the high tone of religious practice 
 in both parties. To warn Mr. Thomason of snares 
 in his path, or of faults in his conduct, was to rise 
 the higher in his estimation and attachment : 
 he was not one of that class who are loud in 
 their confessions of depravity and fallibility, and 
 yet in point of fact lay claim to exemption from 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 97 
 
 all actual errors : knowing he was in the midst 
 of many dangers, he welcomed any admonition 
 that, under God, might contribute to his security. 
 'How much I am obliged to you,' he writes in 
 reply, * for your long and kind letter ! It came at 
 a time when I greatly stood in need of something 
 to awaken me to a sense of the great importance 
 of my situation here, and of the diligence with 
 which I should prosecute my work. I wish to 
 consider the ministry as the primary object I 
 should keep in view, and the work of a tutor as a 
 part, a very important part, of that primary object. 
 If it were not for this, I should be labouring over 
 my lectures as a shoemaker over his last, con- 
 sidering it merely as a drudgery to which I am 
 called : but by considering it a part of the minis- 
 terial labour, I not only go through it with plea- 
 sure, but I endeavour the more to aim at the 
 communication of what is truly useful. 
 
 There are reasons for fearing the ' mathematical 
 religion' which so prevails here. However, I do 
 not find this to be my besetting danger. There 
 are other things connected with college infinitely 
 more poisonous than this, — at least to me. Here 
 is every thing that can contribute to the ease and 
 comfort of life. Whatever pampers the appetite 
 and administers fuel to sloth and indolence is to 
 be found in abundance. Nothing is left to want 
 or desire. Here is the danger, this is the hor- 
 
 9 
 
98^ MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 rible precipice : when you think of me, think 
 of this danger, and fear this fear above all 
 others.' 
 
 In the vacation of this summer, Mr. Thomason 
 visited the spot where the ground-work of his 
 unexpected prosperity had been laid. And how 
 could the sight of Chesham fail of bringing the 
 past and the present into most affecting contrast. 
 Had Mr. Clark not been numbered amongst the 
 dead, his return there would have been attended 
 with pleasure unmixed. The scene would have 
 resembled the summer sea, when gently agitated 
 by the breeze, it seems to smile with its un- 
 numbered waves : but that place now presented 
 another appearance ; the surface of things there 
 was dark and perturbed. Memory was painfully 
 active at Chesham : Emotions were awakened 
 within its borders, which he must have lived a 
 very short time in this world of woe, or to very 
 little purpose, who cannot comprehend. He thus 
 gives us the impression which local recollections 
 produced on his heart. 'I preached at Missen- 
 den, where I used to attend on Sunday in the 
 morning. The common I crossed and recrossed : it 
 is a sweet spot : but a gloom pervades the neigh- 
 bourhood. I visited the rooms where I have spent 
 so many hours ; the walks I have so often trod- 
 den ; the woods where I have wandered with so 
 much pleasure. But every thing I saw appeared to 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 99 
 
 mourn their loss. If such be Chesham without 
 the presence of Mr. Clark, what would the uni- 
 verse be without God — what my soul without the 
 influence of his spirit. I went to Amersham to 
 visit my old school-fellow, and we walked to 
 Chesham. Hitherto I had seen the place alone : 
 how were my feelings increased when in com- 
 pany with one who, like myself, loved and 
 admired Mr. Clark, and who, like myself, had 
 not visited the scene of his youthful labours for 
 several years. R. and I always read together; 
 we studied the same books with a constancy that 
 surprises me when I look back. Do you re- 
 member that walk, that lane, that gate ? We could 
 only ask such questions all the way. We came 
 to my lodgings ; of the family one is a soldier, 
 another dead, the rest scattered; except those 
 too young to know their wants or how to relieve 
 them. The father and mother could only tell us 
 what we had seen engraven on every house and 
 tree, that since our dear tutor was removed the 
 glory of the place was gone. We walked on 
 through the fields, to that spot where we have so 
 often heard our tutor hold forth a remedy to a 
 wretched world. At Bois church we stopped to 
 meditate on the past and to weep. When we 
 stood over the vault where the dear ashes were 
 deposited, we were almost overpowered. We 
 looked at the grass with which the place was 
 
100 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 overgrown, and sighed. I ran to the window 
 of the chancel to see my old seat, and returned to 
 the grave. At length we tore ourselves away.' 
 
 Reflections such as these evince beyond con- 
 tradiction that whatever the tendency of worldly 
 happiness to deteriorate the religious principle, 
 whatever that of collegiate pursuits, to deaden sen- 
 sibility, neither of these effects had followed in 
 the case before us. Here we have nature in its 
 genuine actings, grace in its purity and power. 
 
 At the close of this year, 1798, Mr. Thomason 
 was admitted to the oflJice of a presbyter in the 
 Church of England by Dr. Cornwallis, bishop 
 of Litchfield and Coventry. In his set work as 
 deacon he had been sanctified in holiness and 
 had well performed that preparatory ofiice. His 
 Sundays had been to him days of spiritual re- 
 freshment, and for them he could bless God. The 
 ignorance that prevailed around him he did not 
 witness without many a sigh ; nor did those sighs 
 resemble the yawnings of oscitancy, they led to 
 labour and to prayer. In these petitions, his 
 country, then threatened from without and within, 
 as well as the church and neighborhood in im- 
 mediate contact with him, had a share. Every 
 Monday morning a meeting was held in Cambridge 
 to entreat God in behalf of the nation, endan- 
 gered by the rejection of Mr. Wilberforce's mo- 
 tion for the abolition of the slave trade, by the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 101 
 
 profanation of the sabbath, and by many other 
 grievous sins : amongst these suppUcants Mr. 
 Thomason gladly bent his knees. * I am engaged 
 in the service of one who can give strength to 
 the weak, and light to the ignorant. He has 
 strengthened me, and I trust will be with me to 
 the end.' With prayers for himself of this nature, 
 grounded in humility, and crowned with merciful 
 answers, he stretched forth his hand towards the 
 staves of the ark: — more than ever conscious 
 of the height of the dignity, as well as of the 
 arduousness of the duty to which he had been 
 called ; deeply convinced that ' there was nothing 
 noble in a clergyman but a burning zeal for the 
 salvation of souls, nor anything mean in him but 
 idleness and a worldly spirit:'* in lowliness 
 acknowledging "who is sufficient for these things," 
 yet upheld by the cheering assurance, " Lo I am 
 with you always," he prepared for his ordination. 
 Aaron, before he was invested with the priest- 
 hood, lay seven days at the door of the tabernacle 
 of the congregation^ and before he ministered to 
 the people, he made an application of the atone- 
 ment to himself. Mr. Thomason was of a similar 
 spirit ; nor could words better express his state 
 of mind, — his contrition, — confidence, and conso- 
 lation, than the hymn, entitled ' Aaron^ by George 
 Herbert. 
 
 * Law quoted by Dr. Johnson. 
 
 9* 
 
102 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 This important ecclesiastical step was followed 
 by one of a domestic character. In the month 
 of January, 1799, Mr. Thomason was united to 
 Miss Fawcet, of Scaleby Castle, a union con- 
 ducive as much to his spiritual as to his temporal 
 happiness. In her he found an affectionate sharer 
 in all his joys and cares ; a cordial coadjutor in 
 his parochial employments. * Vixerunt mira con- 
 cordia per mutuam caritatem et invicem se ante- 
 ponendo.' Such was the tenor of their lives from 
 the altar to the grave. One thing I may men- 
 tion, (to the honour of Mr. and Mrs. Thomason,)' 
 Mr. Simeon writes, 'that in all the ten years I 
 lived under their roof, I never heard on any occa- 
 sion an angry word from either of them ; nor ever 
 saw a different countenance in either of them 
 towards the other, or in either of them towards 
 me.' Concerning her at a later period, another 
 friend who had good opportunities of information, 
 testifies, — ' She was ever active, but never hur- 
 ried ; — her collectedness, self-possession, and 
 power of diverting her mind ^om one set of cares 
 to impose it on another, were, I should think, 
 unparalleled. Self seemed annihilated, — she lived 
 for the happiness of others; wherever she went 
 she was hailed as 
 
 One richlj' blessing and so richly blessed.' 
 
 From these testimonies we may pronounce Mr. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 103 
 
 Thomason 'richly blessed' in her whom he brought 
 with him from the North to Cambridge. 
 
 Dr. Buchanan's advice to married persons, ' to 
 be tenderly communicative with each other on 
 spiritual subjects,' was in perfect harmony with 
 the views and conduct of this Christian couple. 
 Every morning and evening, according to a rule 
 laid down, they engaged together in private devo- 
 tional reading ; so anxious were they, to use 
 the words of one of them, ' to improve the time 
 they were to be together on earth in securing a 
 better habitation and more glorious union in 
 heaven.' That their household was ordered upon 
 Christian principles it is almost needless to state ; 
 the family altar was erected and honoured : the 
 pupils under Mr. Thomason's care, and the serv- 
 ants under his roof, were assembled around it as 
 often as the day began and closed. There they 
 heard what God the Lord had spoken in his holy 
 word — there they praised him for their common 
 mercies, and prayed to him under a sense of their 
 common necessities. 
 
 It is the remark of a divine in days departed, 
 that events bright and joyous are followed 
 frequently by others of a lowering aspect. Expe- 
 rienqe sanctions the observation — conscience 
 . discerns the reasonableness and goodness of the 
 appointment. When the firmament over us is 
 serene and the hours seem too short for our 
 
104 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 felicity, our affections are ready to cleave to earth 
 rather than soar to heaven. Hov^^ needful then 
 that clouds should cover the expanse, and that 
 our heavenly Father should speak, commanding 
 us to hear his beloved Son, in whom He is well 
 pleased. Often had Mrs. Thornton proved a 
 monitor, faithful and effectual, to Mr. Thomason. 
 Repeatedly had she called him — never in vain, 
 from the turbid and uncertain streams of created 
 comforts to the pure and perennial fountain of 
 living waters. Her admonitions, delivered in the 
 spirit of love, were received and acted upon in 
 a correspondent temper. But now from the 
 chamber of sickness and decay she addressed 
 the object of her Christian and beneficent care 
 in another manner. Her illness commenced 
 shortly after his marriage, — her death, or rather 
 translation into life, quickly followed. These 
 were events, eloquent in proclaiming in Mr. 
 Thomason's ears the poverty and frailty of human 
 joys, the all-satisfying and endearing nature of 
 those pleasures which flow from that throne 
 whence angels drink in their pure and never- 
 ending felicity. Of the concluding portion of the 
 life of this most excellent lady, an account has 
 been drawn up, and blended as her name is Avith 
 that of Mr. Thomason, pre-eminent as she was ' 
 as a servant of Jesus, the writer of these pages 
 gratefully avails himself of the permission granted 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 105 
 
 him of enriching the memoir of one whom Mrs. 
 Thornton loved and befriended, with some of her 
 dying testimonies. No reader it is hoped will 
 deem them irrelevant: no Christian will fail of 
 appreciating their exalted spirituality. 
 
 In January, 1799, the year and the month 
 of Mr. Thomason's accession of earthly bliss, 
 Mrs. Thornton was removed to Bath in a state 
 of languishing, from which she never recovered. 
 Arriving there, she observed that * she had left 
 home under a sentence of death, but that she felt 
 a sweet composure, being in her Lord's hands.' — 
 Her complaints increasing, in the presence of 
 some friends w^ho came to visit her, she was 
 enabled to testify that ' she had not followed 
 cunningly devised fables, but blessed realities, 
 which then yielded divine support. My illness, 
 said she, has been a pleasant time. I am thankful 
 that I am not to live here always. I look forward 
 with joy to the world to come. I have thought 
 much of, and have felt great nearness to, my 
 friends who have already gained the port. It 
 often seems as if a group of them were ready to 
 receive me. Blessed be God, I can readily leave 
 all my dear friends and relatives, if he call me. 
 My children I dearly love, but I am willing to 
 leave them. I hope they will follow me to 
 heaven. I have endeavoured to recommend the 
 best things, and can only lament that I have not 
 
106 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 set them a better example. But if any infirmity 
 or sin they have seen in me have proved a hin- 
 derance to them, I pray God to take the remem- 
 brance of it from their mind, and enable them 
 to look to the perfect pattern.' — A few days after, 
 breaking out in the words of Isaiah, " Comfort 
 ye, comfort ye, my people, saith your God, speak 
 ye comfortably to • Jerusalem," (Isaiah xl. 1.) 
 she proceeded in this strain, ' What condescension 
 in God, thus to address his creatures ! The Bible 
 is the best book. It is the truth. Lately I have 
 read little else ; and should I live, it shall be my 
 one book. It contains every thing. I feel my 
 weakness, and it calls upon me to trust in the 
 Lord Jehovah, for in him is everlasting strength. 
 I do not know what our Lord is about to do with 
 me. I grow weaker ; if he takes me home, it 
 will be from the evil to come. If he should spare 
 me, I trust it will be to bring me to a nearer 
 acquaintance with himself.' — Having desired a 
 friend to read Isaiah xxvith, and pray with her : 
 * It seemed,' said she, ' like worshipping before the 
 throne. How near is earth to heaven V One of 
 her daughters, who was nursing her, received 
 from her lips this deeply touching address, 'You 
 have nursed me affectionately, and now you are 
 called to an affecting scene, a dying mother 
 parting with a child she dearly loves. After I 
 am gone, and you retire in secret to weep, per- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 107 
 
 haps your mother may be looking on. I charge 
 you, and your dear sisters, let not a thought enter 
 your minds, that you have neglected any thing 
 that could have been done for me. You have all 
 been kind, I have had every attention shown that 
 could have been given. The liOrd bless you all ! 
 I hope you will always love each other. Do not 
 expect too much from each other, then you will 
 live in love;' and after a short silence, 'the 
 mystery of the cross contains our all of good. 
 Our Redeemer, our great Deliverer, is our Surety 
 and our Peace. He hath broken down the par- 
 tition-wall. / have no hope, no plea, hut, Lord, 
 thou hast died;'' and to her daughter, ' Oh M. 
 he must be your salvation : expect only to be 
 saved through him ! ' Her husband, who had 
 hastened to her from a distance, in the midst of 
 his sorrow was welcomed and cheered with this 
 triumphant assurance, 
 
 ' Not a doubt doth arise to darken my skies, 
 Or hide for a moment ray God from my eyes.' 
 
 All her daughters, collected around her, had 
 the high privilege of hearing their mother thus 
 address them : ' Faith apprehends realities. Faith 
 opens the w^orld to come. This life is but the 
 beginning of our existence. When we begin to 
 live here, we begin to die ; and when we die (in 
 the faith) we enter into a full enjoyment of the 
 
108 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 blessed realities which faith now apprehends. Oh 
 may the Holy Spirit impress these truths upon 
 your hearts, my dear children ! Without his influ- 
 ence, all is nothing.' Then, leaning her head back, 
 she said, 'Lord! now take me to thyself. Let 
 me depart in peace according to thy word, for 
 mine eyes have seen thy salvation. Lord Jesus 
 receive my spirit.' Again they listened to these 
 animating words. ' God has been better to me 
 than my fears. You little expected to see your 
 dying mother with so little fear. I have had 
 many fears, (alluding to a complaint which threat- 
 ened her with painful consequences for many 
 years,) but my Lord has been good to me. My 
 fears drove me to prayer; and what pain I did 
 feel, has often drawn me nearer to my God. Dr. 
 L. brought me good news when he told me I was 
 going home to ray God. Lord, suffer me not to be 
 impatient ; thy time is best, thy will be done ! ' 
 When informed that Mrs. F. had sent her kind 
 sympathizing love, she was a while silent ; and 
 then said, * Did Mrs. F. send a message to me ? ' 
 On being answered ' Yes,' she said, ' I love her : 
 the very hearing of her name revives me. We 
 know little of the value of love here, to what we 
 shall in eternity.' To a young friend who visited 
 her, she uttered this humble, solemn, awakening 
 exhortation, " You see me weak in body, but my 
 mind is vigorous. Though I do not think any 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 109 
 
 thing I am able to say can have much vs^eight 
 as coming from me, yet I wished to see you. 
 Yours is a singular family. God has given great 
 talents to you all, and it is true wisdom to know 
 the part we are called to act, and to fulfil it. We 
 are little aware of the loss we shall sustain if we 
 do not properly fill up the place for which we are 
 fitted. I have had awful views of this, such views 
 as have influenced my intentions. I have aimed 
 at using what was committed to me, to the glory 
 of God : and though I have fallen far short of my 
 aim, yet I am now thankful that my endeavours 
 were directed to what, at this important moment, 
 my mind fully approves. I am a weak helpless 
 creature, and do not speak because I have filled 
 my place, or done the work assigned me. No, 
 I have only aimed at it. I speak because of the 
 sluggishness of my nature, and because I wish every 
 one had a proper sense of the increasing enjoy- 
 ment they may gain by a right use of their time 
 and talents. The necessity of this appears from 
 the apostle's words. Press towards the mark ; 
 covet earnestly the best gifts: and from our 
 Lord's account of the ten virgins. They were all 
 intrusted with talents, all had light, and all had 
 gifts, but five were wise and five were foolish. 
 The former improved, the latter neglected their 
 talents. You are engaged in a good work, may 
 you go on and prosper. If he that giveth a cup 
 10 
 
no MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of cold water shall not lose his reward, the service 
 of those who seek the spiritual good of their 
 fellow creatures shall surely be remembered. 
 God is faithful : I am a poor worm, but I have 
 found him so beyond what I have hoped. Often 
 in my chamber have I prayed, 
 
 'When pain o'er my weak flesh prevails, 
 With saint-hke patience arm my breast ; 
 When wounding grief my soul assails, 
 In lowly weakness may I rest.' 
 
 'I have had a strong assurance that it would 
 be so ; insomuch that I have often returned to 
 my knees to thank God for what I believed he 
 would do. 1 have often poured forth my soul 
 in prayer respecting the hour which now draws 
 near. I had reason to believe he would be with 
 me ; and now he is answering my faith. Does it 
 not amount to a certainty? Spiritual things are 
 realities. Faith produces effects. God is faithful 
 to his word.' Then turning to her children, she 
 said, ' My dear children, let no one cheat you 
 out of immortality.' 
 
 Of one who in his early days used to leave all 
 the comforts of life to go to seek lost sinners, 
 she remarked, ' If we leave our comfortable 
 homes, warm fire-sides, and go to seek souls, 
 or to hear the word of God, it will hear reflecting 
 on in such an hour as this I am passing through.* 
 Near midnight she was in great pain, and prayed 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. Ill 
 
 most fervently that our Lord would take her to 
 himself. Complaining of the room being dark, 
 and being told that there were candles in it, and 
 that it was owing to her illness that she did 
 not see the light, ' I am glad you tell me so,' 
 said she ; ' I hope it is a proof that I am not far 
 from my heavenly inheritance. I hope, if one 
 of my natural senses is closed, it is a prelude 
 to my spiritual senses being more fully opened ; 
 perhaps it may be soon. ' Her desire was fulfilled 
 not long after this. With the w^ords of the Lord's 
 prayer on her lips and in her heart, she slept 
 in Jesus, and made one of the countless company 
 in heaven. In her natural as well as spiritual 
 character there was something extraordinary. Re- 
 markable also were the means of her conversion. 
 At the age of nineteen she received her first abiding 
 religious impressions from attending the daily pray- 
 ers at Westminster Abbey. Her heavenly Father 
 employed the solemn words of our excellent church 
 service enriched with ' the pealing organ and full- 
 voiced choir,' to awaken her to^ serious inquiry 
 after salvation. She is described as having pos- 
 sessed a good understanding, a strong memory, 
 and a vigorous mind, much improved by reading 
 and reflection. She is also said to have had a pecu- 
 liar talent of raising the tone of conversation, of 
 checking levity, of drawing out the powers 
 of strong minds, and raising those of the weak, 
 
112 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and to have manifested a striking elevation and 
 dignity, combined with simpUcity, in her manner 
 and language. She lived, it is truly added, as 
 becometh a saint, aiming to regulate her temper 
 and conduct by the precepts and examples of her 
 Lord ; and she died as becometh a Christian, 
 renouncing her own righteousness, and simply re- 
 lying upon Him who was made sin for us, though 
 he "knew no sin, that we might be made the 
 righteousness of God in him." 
 
 * What a friend have I lost ! ' was the mournful 
 reflection of Mr. Thomason. ' Not a day passes 
 but I think of her with grateful recollection, and 
 of the mercies I have received through her. My 
 earnest prayer is, that I may be directed in that 
 way in which she was so anxious I should be 
 found.' 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON 
 
 113 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 The Spring of the year 1800 opened upon Mr. 
 Thomason with an accumulation of joys and com- 
 forts. He was united to a woman of singular 
 sweetness and piety ; was acquainted for the first 
 time, with the new and thrilling delight of a 
 parent ; was admitted to the highest order in the 
 ministry, to which he looked forward ; was settled 
 in. a pleasant village, the simple-minded inhabi- 
 tants of which were attached to him personally and 
 for his work's sake : to crown all, he had for a very 
 frequent inmate Mr. Simeon, endeared to him 
 more and more by kindnesses without end and 
 of every degree, by those substantial acts, for the 
 occasions of which love is wont to w-ait with a 
 look of vigilance and delicacy of tact peculiar to 
 itself, by those also which constitute the daily 
 and ordinary currency of familiar intercourse. 
 Nor was this all ; — for in Mr. Simeon he had before 
 him a living example of an elevated description, 
 ever seeming to suggest this is not your rest, you 
 are not come to the land of which the Lord God 
 has said, " He w^ill give it you." 
 10* 
 
114 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 ' Do you remember a very pleasant spot, where 
 there are two bridges, and you have a sweet view 
 on both sides ? Close to that spot is our mansion ; 
 the walks extend down to the river. A more 
 beautiful place I never saw : it is the garden of 
 Cambridgeshire. When I look around me, it seems 
 a dream : I can scarcely persuade myself it belongs 
 to me. If you think of me between the hours of 
 twelve and two, you may imagine me walking in 
 the shrubbery with my little Hebrew Bible in my 
 hand. Should the sun be very hot, depend upon 
 it, I have taken my seat under the shade of a 
 thick chesnut ; there I endeavour to collect my 
 thoughts, and stir myself up to diligent improve- 
 ment and application of the word of God. But, 
 alas ! I find it easier to admire the landscape 
 around me, than to raise my heart to Him who 
 made it ; easier to thank him for the walks and 
 gardens, than to besiege a throne of grace for 
 spiritual blessings : yet these are what I earnestly 
 long for, and without which my soul cannot be 
 satisfied. Mr. Simeon has a room on the ground 
 floor, which opens into a delightful pleasure gar- 
 den, surrounded by a wall, where he can walk 
 privately, in which he so much delights. One 
 door of his room opens into my study, so that we 
 are as near each other as possible. His friendship 
 I must name amongst my chief blessings : he is 
 more and more dear to us, as indeed he ought to 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 115 
 
 be; his kindness to us is wonderful. It quite 
 overpowers me when I think of it. I hope we 
 shall provoke one another more and more to abound 
 in the work of the Lord. O how short is the time ! 
 I am sure there is no time for idleness : would to 
 God that the preciousness of each passing hour 
 might be more deeply impressed upon my mind. 
 
 ' It has pleased God to send us pious servants ; 
 indeed our domestic comforts are invaluable ; our 
 seasons of family prayer are seasons of refresh- 
 ment. I have found my own mind stirred up to 
 make them as profitable as possible.' 
 
 Who can read these accounts, the overflowings 
 of a son's heart into a mother's bosom, without 
 confessing that it would have been difficult to 
 point out any spot where more real bliss, earthly 
 and heavenly, was concentred than at Shelford. 
 Could the walls of that house speak, and were 
 the trees in those grounds vocal, they could tell of 
 many hymns sung, of many prayers poured forth, 
 of much divine meditation and discourse, con- 
 cerning the things pertaining to the kingdom of 
 God. Who remembers not the heavenly con- 
 versation between St. Augustine and Monica, 
 just before her admission to glory ? Communica- 
 tions of this sublime and spiritual nature, passed 
 often within that favoured enclosure. 
 
 In addition to these various enjoyments, Mr. 
 Thomason possessed at this moment the gratifi- 
 
116 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 cation of having a new and most valuable fellow- 
 labourer in the ministry at Cambridge. The Rev. 
 Mr. Sowerby, who had reached the extreme sum- 
 mit of mathematical merit, and who afterwards 
 sustained the office of moderator with singular 
 satisfaction to the students, and no small credit 
 to himself, became at this time an assistant to 
 Mr. Simeon in Trinity Church. Once he had 
 beheld that church through a fallacious medium. 
 A prediction that he himself would one day officiate 
 there would have been deemed by him an absurd- 
 ity so improbable as to be ludicrous — so offensive 
 as to be almost an insult. 
 
 On one occasion he did venture within its 
 walls, and returning with a conscience in some 
 degree roused, and with a mind at once reflecting 
 and resisting, he met providentially with a friend, 
 who with combined ability, discretion, affection, 
 and eventual success, combated his objections. 
 *He called upon me one Sunday evening,' this 
 friend relates, ' a few weeks before his degree, 
 and began to tell me of a sermon which he had 
 heard at Mr. Simeon's, where he had gone chiefly 
 from curiosity. I assured him that he had mis- 
 understood Mr. Simeon — that his report was alto- 
 gether incorrect — that it arose from his never 
 having considered the subject at all. This led to 
 a long discussion, during which he became very 
 calm and serious, and much interested ; we went 
 
REV. TH03IAS THOMASON. 117 
 
 down to supper in the hall continuing our conver- 
 sation, but so much were we engaged in it, we 
 stopped in the court, (I could point out the 
 very place,) and were so deep in discussion that 
 we lost our suppers ; the result was, that I under- 
 took to produce a series of scriptural passages 
 which should show what Mr. Simeon did mean, 
 and lohich woidd prove that he ivas right. In two 
 or three days I did so, and in two or three days 
 more he told me he had been much struck by 
 our conversation, and by the passages which I 
 had put into his hand ; that this was a subject 
 which demanded thoughtful inquiry ; that he had 
 not then leisure, as degree time w^as just upon 
 him, but that he would examine the scriptures 
 carefully after his degree. He went into Cum- 
 berland in the summer, and at length came a 
 letter telling me that he saw his error, and that 
 the doctrine of Mr. Simeon was the truth of God's 
 word.' 
 
 Short was that course on which Mr. Sowerby, 
 in conjunction with Mr. Thomason, now entered. 
 The hidden and inextinguishable sparks of con- 
 sumption were burning within ; and that disease, 
 after no very long delay, manifested itself, proving 
 to be an angel charged to introduce the Christian 
 sufferer to a state of being for which his meetness 
 was most clear : for who loved more unfeignedly 
 than he ? — who whilst he was able, preached more 
 
118 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 faithfully those truths which tend to * humble the 
 sinner, to exalt the Saviour, and to promote holi- 
 ness?'* So soon did Mr. Sowerby sink, that 
 when Mr. Thomason was hastening to his final 
 destination, that friend who had been instrumental 
 in leading him into the way of peace witnessed 
 the proof of that peace on the bed of languishing, 
 and in a dying hour, and found that indeed it 
 passed all understanding. ' Throughout the whole 
 of his illness,' he states 'his Christian patience and 
 Christian fortitude were very conspicuous : not a 
 complaint escaped him ; and when a concern was 
 expressed at the length and severity of his suffer- 
 ings, he . replied by observing that he ought rather 
 to be thankful as he had been favoured with time 
 for reviewing his past life, and had derived benefit 
 from affliction. His strength was so much ex- 
 hausted, he seldom spake except in monosyllables ; 
 but the little he could articulate shewed how well 
 he was prepared for his approaching change. So 
 long as he was able to read, the Bible was almost 
 constantly in his hand, and he frequently appeared 
 to be engaged in prayer. The fourteenth and 
 seventeenth chapters of St. John were peculiarly 
 pleasing to him. On the night preceding his 
 
 * See Mr. Simeon's admirable preface to his * Helps to 
 Composition,' in which, with a firm hand and an enlightened 
 eye, he holds the balances of the sanctuary between the Calvinist 
 and the Arminian. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 119 
 
 death he was almost perpetually employed in 
 devotion. In the morning he hastily caught the 
 hand of an attendant who was standing by his bed, 
 and smiling, pointed to a chair, adding the word 
 * down,' — in an instant the awful change began to 
 take place, and, without a sigh or a groan, he 
 breathed his last.' 
 
 Mr. Thomasons clerical salary, liberal as it 
 was in itself, was slender relatively, — he had 
 of course lost his fellowship, and the principal 
 part of his wife's dowry were her numerous ex- 
 cellences. An attempt therefore to prosecute his 
 ministerial labours, without continuing those of a 
 tutor, seemed scarcely practicable. Other reasons 
 also besides those of prudence were in action ; 
 and if St Paul were to be admired w^hilst occupied 
 in making tents, that he might not be burden- 
 some to the Corinthians, similar motives will 
 render Mr. Thomason worthy of admiration when 
 engaged in the w^ork of education. ' To-morrow 
 we sit down to our school-work. I feel a sort 
 of tremor over me, looking forward to the labors 
 of the half-year.' Thus he writes ; — and in en- 
 countering this toil, his generous spirit had other 
 views beyond those of mere maintenance. Re- 
 membering what a sum had been expended upon 
 himself — calling to mind the wants of young men 
 involved in those anxious exigencies which he 
 had experienced — he resolved to repay the whole 
 
120 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of what had been advanced for his support ; and 
 long before he left England these noble resolutions 
 were fulfilled to the very utmost. Having saved 
 above four hundred pounds, not to exonerate him- 
 self from the burden of an obligation, but to enjoy 
 the luxury of performing what is lovely and of 
 good report, he replaced the money in the hands 
 of the managers of the Elland Institution, with 
 a willing consciousness that a debt still remained 
 that could not be cancelled. 
 
 The principles on which Mr. Thomason en- 
 gaged in the toils of tutorship have been deve- 
 loped ; a real Christian himself, he was a Christian 
 instructor. The system pursued in many instances, 
 by preceptors calling themselves Christians, is 
 the purest paganism. His plan was conducted 
 with an honest sense of what was due to the 
 parent who placed a child under his care, with 
 a still more serious conviction of his responsibility 
 to God. Concerning one of his pupils he thus 
 expresses himself—' He is one out of twelve pre- 
 cious souls committed to my charge. I sink under 
 my work, and feel as if the task of forming the 
 tender mind to principles of religion were an 
 Herculean labour too mighty for so feeble an arm 
 as mine. But I am endeavouring to look upward 
 for them and for myself, and pray that the Lord 
 would pardon what has been amiss and strengthen 
 my extreme weakness.' 
 
REV. TH03IAS THOMASON. 121 
 
 Notwithstanding his labours in the pupil-room, 
 hi s frequent visits to the sick-chamber, his public 
 lectures weekly to the people at large, and those 
 free and familiar ones which he was in the habit 
 of giving to the children, Mr. Thomason found 
 time to write again for the Norrisian prizes, during 
 the first two years of his residence at Shelford. 
 His first essay was to shew Uhat the Christian 
 religion bus in its effects been favourable to 
 human happiness," — his second was to prove ' that 
 the differences of opinion amongst Christians 
 was no proof against Christianity :' both were 
 successful. 
 
 That ministerial employment was Mr. Thoma- 
 son's primary concern, — that he possessed a 
 pastor's heart, no one can better testify than 
 Mr. Simeon, who, concerning the fervent love 
 and persevering energy of his fellow-worker, bears 
 this striking testimony : his words are — ' The 
 parishes in which Mr. and Mrs. Thomason were 
 able to exert their mfiuence seemed as their own 
 family, — schools of industry, as well as other 
 schools, were established by them — the poor and 
 the sick were visited and relieved — all that 
 Christian love could plan and devise was planned 
 and executed with the tenderest assiduity and 
 most unwearied constancy. If I were to fix on 
 one thing more than another, where Mr. Thoma- 
 son was at home, it was in his Sunday evening 
 11 
 
 3!: 
 
122 
 
 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 and Tuesday evening lectures in his school-room. 
 There the poor were permitted to come, and he 
 was a father amongst his children, or a pastor 
 amongst his flock. In his addresses there was 
 an unrivalled simplicity and divine unction, which 
 left a savour that is not forgotten to this hour. 
 The name of Thomason in Shelford and Staple- 
 ford is remembered like that of Swartz in Tanjore 
 and Trichenopoly, and I doubt not but to all 
 eternity many will have reason to bless God for 
 his affectionate ministrations.' 
 
 Though Mr. Thomason's field of exertion lay 
 principally in Shelford, and in another village at 
 no great distance, he was still in the habit of 
 preaching often in Trinity Church, Cambridge. 
 The congregation there every year was increased 
 by an accession of young men, who in defiance of 
 frowns on the one hand, and of ridicule on the 
 other, persisted in their attendance, where they 
 first perhaps perceived the clear radiance of truth, 
 or were taught at least to walk in its light. 
 There in the year 1802 ministerial vigilance was 
 eminently needed, and was eminently exhibited. 
 To beguile any who might be unstable, an An- 
 tinomian preacher came to Cambridge, and 
 spread his net. In vain however was that net 
 spread. The ministers appointed to watch over 
 those upon whom the attempt was made, held 
 that heresy in the most intense abomination, 
 
REV. THOMA.S THOMASON. 123 
 
 and they well understood how to contend against 
 it, 'If a libertine preach free grace,' says 
 Baxter, * do you preach it up more effectually 
 than he, — be much upon it, and make it more 
 glorious on right grounds than he can do on his 
 wrong.' 
 
 Thus was error, in this instance, opposed and 
 vanquished : the perverter of truth, found none, 
 or scarcely any whom he could pervert in that 
 flock over which Mr. Simeon, Mr. Martyn, and 
 Mr. Thomason, were jealous with a godly jeal- 
 ousy, lest any should be corrupted from the 
 simplicity that is in Christ : he soon therefore 
 departed to some other spot, where the shep- 
 herds, being less faithful or less wise, the wolf 
 with the wool around him might gain admission 
 to the fold. 
 
 Meetings of Christians, for the purposes of 
 mutual encouragement and information, are ob- 
 viously so excellent, that they have been recom- 
 mended by some who my be supposed to verge 
 to the extreme of caution. ' I see no reason,' 
 says Mr. Nelson, in his preface to the Festivals 
 and Fasts of the Church of England, * Why men 
 may not meet and consult together to improve 
 one another in Christian knowledge, and by 
 mutual advice take measures how best to further 
 their own salvation, as well as promote that of 
 their neighbours, when the same liberty is taken 
 
124 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 for the improvement of trade, and for carrying on 
 the pleasures and diversions of life.' 
 
 The blessed results of social prayer — and perusal 
 of the word of God — of intercommunity of senti- 
 ment amongst those who have the same sacred 
 and most awful charge — the benefits of discussing 
 difficulties of interpretation and conduct — of com- 
 municating common fears and hopes — infirmi- 
 ties and temptations — comforts and supports 
 — to be understood fully must be experienced. 
 Yet there is something, one should think, upon 
 the very surface of such a design, sufficient to 
 secure it from the suspicion of an empty assump- 
 tion of authority or of contemptuous pretences to 
 sanctity. The practice commends itself at once 
 as congenial to the genius of the church of Eng- 
 land, and to the general spirit of Christianity. But 
 the more primitive, unexceptionable, and spiii- 
 tually beneficial any proceeding may be, the 
 more surely does it give rise to marked opposition 
 or unkind insinuation, from that class who are full 
 of incessant alarms lest false fire should inflame 
 the zeal of others, but are seldom apprehensive 
 lest the frost should get into their own charity. 
 
 At these clerical meetings Mr. Thomason be- 
 came a regular attendant with increasing interest 
 and profit. One of the first at which he was 
 present, was to him more than commonly grati- 
 fying : as the clergy assembled under the roof of his 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 125 
 
 old and beloved college friend, Mr. Jerram. 
 Having tasted the pleasures of this intercourse, 
 he was not long in opening his own house for the 
 reception of his brethren ; many of whom came 
 from a great distance, deeming their trouble 
 repaid amply by this conference of minds, this 
 communion of hearts. ' One of my most pleasing 
 recollections of him,' Dr. Steinkopff writes, ' is my 
 meeting him about twenty-five years ago, when 
 he was curate of Shelford. At his house a clerical 
 meeting was held once a year, which was at- 
 tended by about fifteen or twenty clergymen. 
 Being privileged to be one of the occasional 
 visitors, I cannot describe the benefit, instruction, 
 and happiness which I enjoyed. It was . the 
 delight of Mr. and Mrs. Thomason to receive their 
 Christian friends, and a spirit of devotion, peace- 
 ful serenity, and Christian cheerfulness prevailed 
 in their hospitable mansion, which has left an 
 indelible impression on my mind.' 
 
 It is observable that one of the heaviest afflic- 
 tions that ever descended upon Jacob, came upon 
 him after he had reformed the disorder of his 
 household at Bethel, when his tent was pitched 
 beyond the tower of Edar. Some sorrows are to 
 correct the offences, others to invigorate the 
 graces of the children of God. Under this latter 
 aspect, it ought not to seem strange that Mr 
 Thomason, for the first three years of his abode 
 II* 
 
126 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 at Shelford, was exercised with severe domestic 
 trials. ' Three successive springs,' he writes in 
 Feb. 1803, ' God has visited us with the rod ; 
 surely these afflictions spring not out of the dust : 
 may they be sanctified to us both! O that we 
 may become more alive to God !' One of these 
 dispensations was the death of an infant son, of 
 which he thus pathetically and piously speaks. — 
 ' Our dearest child was buried in the church-yard 
 near the house. The mother can see the endeared 
 spot from the little window in the parlour as she 
 sits at work. There its remains are deposited. 
 Who can tell the agony of separation but those who 
 have felt it. Well, it is now past, and we can 
 adore the hand, I hope, that strikes our comforts 
 dead.' These visitations were of a quickening 
 nature, as in a peculiar sense were some others 
 which, in the midst of his earthly joys, cried 
 loudly in his ears, " All flesh is grass, and all the 
 goodliness thereof as the flower of the field." Of 
 this number were the early removal of two sons 
 of Mr. Hey, of Leeds, one of whom had been 
 curate to Mr. Simeon, and the decease of his 
 father-in-law : but these were Christian deaths ; 
 declaring most intelligibly, " the word of our God 
 endui-eth for ever." 
 
 Nothing, till the year 1805, occurred to disturb 
 the peaceful uniformity of Mr. Thomason's days, 
 during the whole of which he may be described 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 127 
 
 as being at the palm trees and wells of Elim. 
 With the exception of the trials that have been 
 mentioned, his happiness was unusually great : 
 so much so that he suspected it had in some 
 measure encroached upon the temper befitting a 
 pilgrim and stranger. Often whilst walking in 
 the grounds that so charmed him at Shelford, did 
 he think of those who were enduring hardness 
 for Christ, preaching his name amidst privations 
 and perils ; and he would accuse himself of a dis- 
 position to softness and self-indulgence. There 
 were two proximate causes of a revival of that 
 missionary spirit in Mr. Thomason, which had 
 nearly carried him out of England before he took 
 his degree. One of these was a review he under- 
 took, in the Christian Observer, of Nott's Bampton 
 Lectures, which necessarily led to a close consi- 
 deration of Wesley's and Whitfield's devotedness 
 in their Saviour's service ; — for after every abate- 
 ment which candour must concede or prejudice 
 may demand, their determination of soul in the 
 highest cause was entire and amazing: the other 
 was the intended departure of Henry Martyn 
 from his native land, to preach the gospel to 
 those wretched men who had never heard the 
 joyful sound. 
 
 The previous year Mr. Thomason had enrolled 
 himself a member in the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society, then beginning its glorious and 
 
1*28 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 gigantic career; this year he resolved under 
 God, with the Bible in his hand, and his Saviour 
 in his heart, to go where the darkness was dense, 
 and the sphere extensive for the diffusion of hght. 
 In the spring of 1805, Mr. Simeon visited Lon- 
 don, to impart Mr. Thomason's intentions to Mr. 
 Grant ; but at that time there was no opening 
 towards the East Indies, where it was thought 
 most advisable for him either to accompany or 
 to follow Henry Marty n. 
 
 A resolution such as Mr. Thomason had now 
 adopted was manifestly one of sharp conflict, and 
 sacrifice. The following extracts from his letters 
 shew that the cost was heavy, but that it was 
 counted humbly and deliberately, both by him- 
 self and by those whom the measure most sen- 
 sibly affected. Referring to the Review of Nott's 
 Lectures, March 6, 1805, he thus addressed his 
 mother — 
 
 'One good effect has already been produced 
 on my mind, — an increased and painful sense 
 that I am doing nothing to any good purpose. 
 The reading the life and labours of those ex- 
 cellent ministers, fills me with admiration of their 
 zeal, and with shame that I am such a blank 
 in creation. My sphere is contracted, and I long 
 for a more extensive field of labour. God has 
 given me an education and a spirit, I trust, 
 which might render me far more useful in the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 129 
 
 church than I now am. Where my present 
 thoughts will lead me, I know not; but I look 
 round upon this lovely spot with all the indif- 
 ference of a man who would, with the greatest 
 cheerfulness, part with all if a situation of greater 
 usefulness, however laborious, should offer itself. 
 Here I am. 'Lord, what wilt thou have me 
 to do ? ' 
 
 * But more of this at a future time ; in the 
 mean time let us both remember, — you, that you 
 have frequently devoted me to God, — and I, that 
 I have professedly done so for years, — and that, 
 as a redeemed creature, I ought to be present- 
 ing my body a living sacrifice to God.' 
 
 To her who was ready again to give up her 
 son, but whose heart was rent with inexpressible 
 pangs at the very thought of it, Mr. Simeon 
 wrote in terms of sympathy most tender, and 
 self-renunciation unreserved. 
 
 *Your letter fills me with deep concern, and 
 I am extremely anxious to remove as far as 
 possible, the load from your mind. To convey 
 on paper all that I have to say, would be tedious. 
 I have judged it better, therefore, to set off in- 
 stantly, for the purpose of making known to you 
 every thing that has arisen, and precisely as it 
 has arisen ; and at the same time, to mention 
 some circumstances which, in all probability, will 
 operate to prevent the execution of the plan your 
 
130 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 son proposed when he saw you last. From the 
 beginning I have endeavoured to yield to no 
 bias, but to suggest every thing as it occurred 
 to my mind. I have, in this respect, manifested 
 disinterestedness, at all events ; for next to your- 
 self there certainly is no person living who would 
 feel his loss so much as I. Indeed, I can 
 scarcely yield to you in this particular ; for 
 though your sensibilities are beyond all compar- 
 ison more exquisite than mine, and your be- 
 reavement would be more pungent, your habits 
 of life would remain the same ; whereas mine 
 would be wholly changed. I should lose not 
 only a dear friend, but the friend with whom 
 I live in daily habits of communion : the friend 
 that is as my own soul. I know no loss that 
 would come so near to my feelings, or leave such 
 a blank in my life. Should I be called to bear 
 the loss, I hope that grace will be given me 
 suitably to improve it. I trust that you also, 
 if such an event should take place, will be 
 enabled to adopt the resolution of a widowed 
 lady, who lost her only three children, one 
 after the other, in quick succession, " I see that 
 God is determined to have my whole heart, and 
 so he shall." ' 
 
 The humility which pervades the following 
 letter from Mr. Thomason to his mother, written 
 on Easter-day, 1805, cannot be misunderstood 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 131 
 
 by the Christian reader; nor need any one be 
 told that however Mr. Simeon concurred with 
 the writer in the interpretation of God's provi- 
 dence at the present juncture, he dissented 
 wholly from his self-condemnatory reflections 
 and inferences. 
 
 ' Yesterday evening Mr. Simeon communicated 
 the result of his communication with Mr. Grant. 
 The inference is so decisive in his mind and mine, 
 that I do not lose a moment in informing you of 
 it. It appears evident that a minister who is not 
 calculated for usefulness at home, will never be- 
 come useful abroad ; and that change of place 
 or employment cannot of itself quicken the soul 
 which for eight years has been sleeping over 
 its labours. I feel the truth of this more deeply 
 than I can express, but not a thousandth part 
 so deeply as I should. Having now dismissed 
 all thoughts of foreign service, I hope to give 
 myself wholly to the work that is before me. 
 May God enable me to live more to him, lest, 
 after having preached to others, I myself should 
 be a cast-away. 
 
 'No one could act a more friendly part than 
 Mr. Simeon has done ; and now that it has 
 pleased God to set at rest the painful question 
 which has agitated your mind, I hope you will 
 soon be restored to perfect health.' 
 
 Notwithstanding the door of missionary labour 
 
132 3IEM0IR OP THE 
 
 was closed upon Mr. Thomason for the present, in 
 which he acquiesced meekly, as being the will of 
 God ; it is impossible not to contemplate him now 
 under a new aspect — waiting like one of those 
 angels, who, at God's 'bidding,' post over sea and 
 land, listening to the first intimation from on high 
 to go wherever he might be sent. If the chains of 
 local attachment had bound him too strongly to 
 Shelford, they were now snapped asunder ; if his 
 affections had wound themselves too closely round 
 any thing earthly, the roots were loosened, and 
 he was ready to be removed and fixed wherever 
 it might seem good to God. This spirit, so be- 
 coming one who in profession is separated to the 
 Gospel, was not likely to suffer depression ; but, 
 on the contrary, to become more exalted by a 
 visit which soon after his offer to Mr. Grant he 
 paid to an eminently Christian friend, with whom, 
 in conjunction with Mr. Jerram, he had taken 
 sweet counsel in the cheerful spring of life. 
 Under his roof, he passed many days of the 
 purest enjoyment ; nor was this lessened because 
 it was of that class of pleasures which have a 
 grave and sober tint, rather than those which 
 display more gaudy and glowing hues. With 
 some this category of the mind has no connec- 
 tion whatever with happiness ; they have yet to 
 learn that the poet was not feigning when he 
 wrote, 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 13^ 
 
 The broad unfeeling mirth that folly wears, 
 Less pleases far than virtue's very tears. 
 
 Of his friend and himself, he says, ' we have had 
 many a pleasant conversation on times past and 
 have recollected our years at college with much 
 interest. O that I could follow the example of 
 Philip Henry, who writes thus in his diary when 
 he records a visit to the University. ' I wept this 
 day over my University sins.' Much cause have 
 I to do so when I recollect the many privileges 
 I have enjoyed, and the little improvement I have 
 made of them. You will, I hope, think of me 
 next Saturday, and pray that this returning anni- 
 versary may be a season of deep humiliation and 
 sincere repentance. I would wish to begin a new 
 life. Lord, pardon what is past, and strengthen 
 me for what is to come.' 
 
 The description he gives of his friend's habita- 
 tion, of his manner of life and ministry, particularly 
 of one who was a close imitator of those women 
 who laboured with St. Paul in the gospel, is such, 
 that the enemies of the Church of England would 
 howl for vexation of spirit, were there a counter- 
 part to it in every parish in the kingdom. — 'A 
 sweeter spot I never saw. The vicarage is plea- 
 santly situate, with a grass plot and shrubbery in 
 front, and the beautiful spire of the church at the 
 end. The house within is neatness and elegance ; 
 and what is better than all, Mr. and Mrs. C. are 
 12 
 
134 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 wholly given up to the work of God, which pros- 
 pers in an uncommon manner all around. Such a 
 revival has not been known for a long while; 
 yesterday I preached to the dear people. There 
 were at least 200 ; * it was a lovely sight, and God 
 was with us of a truth. Many, many tears were 
 shed, and we were all of us much refreshed. 
 My text was John iii. 14 — 21. I have never seen 
 a people of so much simplicity. In conversation 
 they are unaffected ; there is nothing of party or 
 system in any thing they say, — they utter the plain 
 unsophisticated truths of practical religion. This 
 is a most striking feature of their character; at 
 first it puzzles one, their expressions differ so 
 much from those of more refined Christians ; but 
 on closer acquaintance they evidently manifest 
 the genuine temper and experience of Christians. 
 We are exceedingly delighted with the place ; 
 here we see a country parish as it ought to be : 
 were all parishes thus attended to, what a happy 
 nation would this be ! Mrs. C. is a singular 
 woman: hearty, zealous, active, always ready to 
 every good work. She enters with all her soul 
 into the work. In the morning she shuts herself 
 up in the church for an hour ; when she puts the 
 candles into their place, sweeps the pavement, 
 places the stools in order, and makes all ready 
 for the evening service. The church under her 
 
 * It was on a week-day. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 135 
 
 hand is such a picture of neatness as you scarcely 
 ever saw. In the evening again, an hour before 
 we begin, she goes to the church with a basket 
 full of hymn-books on her arm and takes her seat 
 by the church door. There she directs the poor 
 people to their places, gives out hymns, and spends 
 the time in some pious exercise till the hour of 
 service ; on entering the church all is order and 
 silence, but you feel the pulse of the people the 
 moment service begins, — it is like heaven below.' 
 
 After such an exhibition, how could Mr. Thom- 
 ason fail to find the pulse of true piety beat 
 more strongly and steadily within him ? such was 
 the case also after an interview which he had 
 during this excursion with an aged Moravian 
 minister. ' In our way,' he tells his mother, ' we 
 passed within a mile of the small Moravian settle- 
 ment in Yorkshire. My fellow travellers passed 
 on, but I could not resist the temptation; so I 
 turned in by myself. Having heard much of 
 Dr. Planta, a pious old minister, I inquired for 
 him, and was received with much kindness and 
 affection. He is a Swede, and practised medi- 
 cine at court in his early years, but determining 
 to devote himself to a better employment, he went 
 to the West Indies; there he continued above 
 twenty years, preaching the gospel with great 
 success, till the bad state of his health compelled 
 him to return to England. He is now between 
 
136 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 eighty and ninety years of age ; his teeth are 
 gone, his voice falters, his appetite fails, and he 
 is evidently drawing near to the eternal state; 
 but the vigour of his soul is unabated ; it is im- 
 possible for me to describe adequately the fervour, 
 the simplicity, and the love which he manifests 
 in his whole deportment. He shewed me all 
 round the settlement ; informed me of their regu- 
 lations, and gave me a long account of God's 
 dealings with his soul from the beginning. It 
 was very profitable, and I bless God for the visit 
 that I had ; his parting words were, * It is not 
 probable we shall see each other again in this 
 world, but I trust we shall in a better, and I am 
 sure we shall if you continue with Christ.'' I 
 partook of his spare dinner, and could not but 
 admire the content and peace which reigned 
 throughout the humble habitation. You will not 
 blame me for turning aside. I have seen no sight 
 so lovely, so encouraging, and so edifying in all 
 my journey.' 
 
 Mr. Thomason's resolutions to tear himself from 
 Shelford, with all its comforts and beauties, when- 
 ever it might seem to be the will of God, was 
 again put to the test at the end of 1806. An 
 opportunity of engaging in a very large and 
 most laborious sphere at South Shields presented 
 itself, upon which, without loss of time, but not 
 without a serious struggle with himself, he deter- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 137 
 
 mined to enter, should the choice of those who 
 had the nomination fall upon him. Little less than 
 the spirit of a missionary was requisite to make 
 him renounce the retirement, the simplicity, and 
 all the nameless delights and associations of Shel- 
 ford, for a place characterized by noise and dirt, 
 and by the wretchedness and ignorance of a dense 
 population. * I have looked again over the barren 
 hills, and smoke, and dirt, and feel that the con- 
 sideration of 15,000 souls outweighs every thing.' 
 These were the expressions of his self-devotion : 
 knowing ' how arduous it was to become the 
 minister in a town so populous and opulent, where 
 the minds of men were either immersed in busi- 
 ness, or degraded to the lowest state of vulgarity 
 and profaneness ; ' he argued thus with himself, — 
 ' there are many who are reconciled to live here 
 all their days in the pursuit of wealth, and shall 
 not the love of Christ and the honour of souls 
 engage me in the same self-denial? When a door 
 is opened for the extension of His kingdom, shall 
 a minister of Christ say, 1 will not enter it, because 
 the country is dreary, and the place is full of filth 
 and wretchedness ? God forbid ! Here I am ; 
 if it please God to fix me here, I shall be con- 
 tented to live and die amongst them. These things 
 move me not ; the only thing that moves me, is 
 a fear lest I should not bring a right spirit to the 
 great work.* This determination to devote him- 
 12* 
 
138 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 self to South Shields was not weakened by the 
 ardent and Christian sahitation of a ship-builder 
 there, who, after his first sermon, thus accosted 
 him, ' I have heard you, Sir, with very great 
 satisfaction ; you are the man, and we must have 
 you ; for if you are ours, 1 am convinced you will 
 do your utmost endeavours to make us Cod's.' 
 All appeared for a while to be in accordance with 
 these honest and hearty wishes ; but an opponent 
 of dissimilar sentiments and conduct ultimately 
 triumphed. As soon as the decision was known, 
 the unsuccessful candidate returned to the house 
 of the warm-hearted shipwright, where after the 
 silence of grief for some time, the master of the 
 house and those around him burst into tears — 
 * with a heavy heart,' said he, ' I bid them farewell : 
 it has pleased God to disappoint them and me — 
 His will be done.' Many, many, were the plans 
 formed, and projects contemplated — he wrote to 
 a friend not long after the occurrence, ' in a 
 moment the illusion vanished ; why should I feel 
 a moment's hesitation in acquiescing ? To my 
 shame be it spoken, there was for a season some- 
 thing of rebellion within me. The tears of the 
 people when we parted led me to cry out, T>ord ! 
 why is it so ? But it is now over, and J can with 
 thankfulness and praise stay where God has 
 placed me ; with thankfulness do I say — rather 
 let me say with wonder. Yes, it is all wonder 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOMASON. 139 
 
 that I should be permitted to serve Him in any 
 way, and more especially that I should desire to do 
 it in the gospel of his Son.' 
 
 Had Mr. Thomason been stationed at South 
 Shields, it would probably have been a final 
 measure. India in that ca'^e would have lost 
 the benefit of his invaluable labours. Scarcely 
 also was there a moment when he could be 
 less spared at Shelford and Cambridge, than at 
 the beginning of 1807, for at this very period Mr. 
 Simeon's chest became so affected by over-exer- 
 tion, that to the deep sorrow of a most affectionate 
 flock, he was compelled to desist from giving 
 public instruction. That voice so long heard in 
 Cambridge — to so many heard to their everlasting 
 salvation — was now silent. Abstinence from 
 ministerial duty being the indispensable remedy, 
 Mr. Thomason received, not without much pain, 
 nor without some trepidation, this communication 
 from Mr. Simeon : — ' 1 wish you to prepare to stand 
 up in Trinity Church on Sunday evening ; in the 
 morning 1 wish to preach, whatever may be the 
 state of my body, because it may be that — but I 
 forbear. This only I will say, that my soul is 
 joyful in the prospect of suffering, as well as 
 doing the will of God. I do find I am getting 
 nearer to God,^ and 1 do believe I shall get great 
 good to my soul from this interval of leisure. 
 What if the Lord should be saying, " Set thine 
 
140 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 house in order." I bless His name, that I am glad 
 to receive that saying from him, and to address 
 myself to that work. I feel truly thankful to God, 
 that I shall have nothing to do on the fast day, but 
 to spend it in humiliation and prayer. 
 
 That the minister on whom Mr. Simeon's work 
 now mainly devolved, found that difficulty in 
 obtaining assistance, to which allusion has been 
 made, is evident from this statement, with the com- 
 ment. ' P — was to have preached for me at Trinity 
 Church ; he thought, however, that in his circum- 
 stances it would not be prudent : may I ever be 
 delivered from such prudence ! ' 
 
 It was not till the spring of the next year that 
 Mr. Thomason's long meditated design of conse- 
 crating his powers through life to the service of 
 his God and Saviour in a distant land, was brought 
 to maturity. 
 
 He thus imparted the state of things, and that of 
 his own feelings, to his mother. 
 
 ' March 4, 180S, 
 ' My acceptance of the appointment has not yet 
 come before the Court of Directors, yet I cannot 
 help feeling that the event will assuredly be 
 brought about. I own that the more I consider the 
 various leadings of divine Providence, and reflect 
 on the unwearied tenor of my former wishes and 
 plans, comparing them with what I now feeJ, 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 141 
 
 the more am I convinced that such a change of 
 my situation will be accomplished. And I think, 
 my dear mother, when you reflect on the course 
 of my life from the beginning, on the singular 
 manner in which I was led to devote myself to 
 the ministerial work, on the course of providence 
 by which the matter was brought about, and 
 above all, on the earnest and repeated desire I 
 have felt again and again for this particular desti- 
 nation, especially when you think that the work 
 of my heart has been uniformly prevented by one 
 great obstacle, and that this is now entirely 
 removed, I think you will conclude that the 
 time appears to be come. The same person who 
 was once decidedly adverse, so as not to hear of 
 it without tears, is now happy in the thought 
 of it. She no longer thinks of the sea, nor of the 
 climate, but counts it a privilege and an honour 
 to be exposed in such a cause. For my own part, 
 it appears to be of great consequence to the work 
 of God, that help should be applied in that quarter 
 where it is most wanted, and that where most 
 lasting good can be done, ministers should labour. 
 Now certainly God is doing a great work in 
 India. The labourers are few, and the field 
 amazingly extensive : they want men who will 
 work, and whose habits are such as to render 
 them useful workmen in a business where appli- 
 cation and study are much wanted. In this 
 
142 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 respect, my habits and inclinations are favourable 
 It will be a pleasure to me to acquire their lan- 
 guages, which are so much studied in Bengal, 
 the acquisition of which is so important to useful- 
 ness, and my heart leans to that part of the world 
 with the same desire it did just before I entered 
 into orders. / consider that what others expose 
 themselves to for lucre and worldly honours, minis- 
 ters ougM to endure for nobler ends. 
 
 'All this I am sure meets with corresponding 
 feelings, my dear mother, in your own mind. 
 You have again and again given me up to God, 
 and I have no doubt you will be supported on the 
 present occasion. What an honour and happiness 
 there is in making sacrifices for Christ's sake. I 
 am sure the more we are enabled to do this, the 
 more solid peace shall we enjoy, and the more 
 shall we know him to be a good master. I trust 
 that you will be fitted for every trial, and strength- 
 ened to do and suffer the whole will of God.' 
 
 Filial affection of the intensity of Mr. Thom- 
 ason's subordinated, as we behold it in this letter, 
 to the love of an unseen Saviour, and to a concern 
 for the souls of his fellow-creatures, far off* and 
 unknown, is a spectacle for angels. In little more 
 than a month after he had written it, he was^ 
 studying Persian under a moonshee at Hertford ; 
 having received his appointment to the mission 
 church at Calcutta, he was making use of every 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 143 
 
 effort to acquire a language so important in Hin- 
 dostan, and panted to be at his post. 
 
 Thus to adopt his own reflections and words, 
 ' I have commenced the laborious and important 
 work — laborious indeed it will be, but I set about 
 it with unspeakable pleasure, and I trust that God 
 will help me in it. The prospect of spending my 
 strength and my life in the work of the ministry, 
 where help is so much wanted, and the field of 
 labour extensive, is indeed delightful.' 
 
144 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER VI. 
 
 It is well that junctures such as that in which 
 Mr. Thomason was placed in the summer of 1808 
 are of rare occurrence. When the spot of fond 
 recollections is to disappear for ever, when well 
 known and beloved scenes are to be exchanged 
 for new and untried ones, when our habits are to 
 be broken up, when the face of social life is to 
 undergo a total alteration, and friends and relatives 
 are to be seen for the last time, the mind, musing 
 upon many things, sustains a load which affects the 
 mortal tabernacle, and this in return reacts upon 
 the mind, and increases its pressure. The Chris- 
 tian indeed rolls his every burden upon Christ, 
 and for the evil of each day finds His grace sufli- 
 cient. But he did not divest himself of his sen- 
 sibilities when he put on the Lord Jesus Christ. 
 Nor does he desire to have them deadened, but 
 directed when he approaches him in supplication : 
 hence tears and farewells affect him deeply, w^hen 
 dangers and difficulties do not move him. The 
 feeling that pervades the following letters is 
 eminently Christian and most natural, but the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 145 
 
 human nature of the Christian could not bear fre- 
 quent repetitions of such excitement. 
 
 From St. Johns, in the Isle of Wight, Mr. Thom- 
 ason thus addressed his brother-in-law, the Rev. 
 J. Fawcett. 
 
 June 8, 1808. 
 
 * Through the goodness of God we all arrived 
 here last night in perfect safety. The ship lies at 
 the distance of two miles, we wait only for a fair 
 wind. 
 
 * Yesterday all our affairs were completely 
 arranged, and in the evening we united all to- 
 gether in prayer, commending each other to the 
 grace of God. It was remarkable I yesterday 
 entered my 35th year : The same day closed my 
 labours in England, and a new career opens upon 
 me with a new year. I am sure, my dear brother, 
 you will pray that the Lord may give me a new 
 spirit, and fit me for the arduous and important 
 work that is before me.' 
 
 Then after naming many dear relatives as 
 remembered by him, he adds — 
 
 *They and their children, you and your chil- 
 dren, and many more with many more children — 
 how numerous the company of dear friends — how 
 many we have to pray for ! how many will pray 
 for us ! Blessed be God that we can pray for each 
 other. I bear in mind the Sunday morning's 
 13 
 
146 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 engagements, and heartily join in your prayers — 
 may they not only be remembered but performed 
 with spirituality. 
 
 * How much we should enjoy your company at 
 this time ! Never have I felt more the happiness 
 of Christian society and Christian fellowship — 
 thanks be to God for ever, that we can and do 
 enjoy it. 
 
 * You will be happy to hear that* my mother was 
 much supported at the trying hour. We retired 
 together for prayer, and the Lord was with us 
 of a truth, and when we rose from our knees, we 
 joined in the parting embrace almost with smiles 
 on our countenance. I verily believe that, for a 
 moment, joy and thankfulness were the predomi- 
 nant feelings of our hearts. But it was afterwards 
 very bitter. The next morning I felt a greater 
 depression than I could have expected. But God 
 is good : I have found him to be so. The parting 
 has now taken place, and painful as it is we can 
 rejoice.' 
 
 ' At some seasons,' his mother wrote on the eve 
 of his departure, *I am so oppressed I cannot 
 command myself. I sorrow most of all that I 
 shall see that dear face no more for ever, and only 
 in proportion as I feel a sense of the divine pre- 
 sence, can my mind bear this deprivation. I see 
 * the suitableness of my dear son's character for 
 such a situation. I cannot doubt a moment that 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 147 
 
 whatever the Lord does must be right, and excel- 
 lent, and sure, and good — but I exquisitely feel his 
 loss; I wish and desire to call upon myself to 
 look beyond this vale of tears to that celestial 
 hill where God has prepared for himself a city — 
 when once entered there all tears will be wiped 
 away from our eyes for ever. They expect to sail 
 to-morrow. God's will be done.' 
 
 From her son when the vessel was actually 
 under weigh, and England was beginning ' to 
 lessen in the lingering eye,' she received these 
 parting lines — 
 
 Tr avers under weigh, June 10, 1808. 
 ' My dearest mother, 
 ' This morning we were summoned on board. 
 The wind has become fair and we are proceeding 
 out to sea. Our dear and honoured friend, Mr. 
 Simeon, accompanied us to the vessel, and is now 
 with us. We all retired to our cabin, and united 
 in prayer, desiring to consecrate this spot to God, 
 and to commit ourselves and all the ship's com- 
 pany to his gracious care. Blessed be God we 
 know what it is to draw nigh to him, and we 
 feel but one concern — that we may glorify Him in 
 this world, and enjoy him in the next. O it is an 
 unspeakable mercy to part with a good hope that 
 we shall one day meet where sorrow and parting 
 shall be no more. 
 
148 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 * I hope, my dearest mother, you still experience 
 the gracious support of our heavenly Father. 
 When I look back at this moment I can discern 
 innumerable mercies vouchsafed to us both in 
 times past. This is the greatest trial we ever had 
 — who knows what joy we may hereafter find in 
 this trial ? Who knows what joy may be reaped 
 by thousands? What abundant cause of thank- 
 fulness shall w^e have, if by temporal sacrifices 
 many should become partakers of everlasting 
 happiness. This indeed will be a rich reward. 
 
 * I leave you, with many dear and tender friends ; 
 above all, with a gracious God who has guided, 
 preserved, and blessed you, from the beginning 
 even till now. To his gracious keeping I commit 
 you, humbly hoping and believing that he will 
 supply your every want out of the riches of his 
 grace in Christ Jesus. May He be your portion, 
 your shield, and your exceeding great reward I 
 Amen. Amen.' 
 
 ' Adored be the name of God,' were the heartfelt 
 expressions of the friend who accompanied him to 
 the ship, » for so uniting our hearts in love.' For a 
 long time I could not look up — but at last I 
 cast an eye of grief and aflfection towards your 
 ship, and repeated it at intervals till you were 
 about fifteen miles oflf; then finding you were 
 almost out of sight, I went down into the cabin. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 149 
 
 I arrived at home at twelve o'clock at night — 
 thankful that I had been permitted to enjoy in our 
 separation a pledge that we should meet again at 
 the right hand of God. Our love will be there 
 the same — it is the expression of it only, that will 
 be different. 
 
 * The wind has changed — were it to blow hard, 
 you would be driven back again. Shall I appear 
 unkind if I say I should be grieved to see you ? 
 Though I would not for a great deal have lost the 
 opportunity of parting with you as I did, I would not 
 willingly pass through it again ; a few such scenes 
 would speedily wear and enfeeble my frame. Yet 
 for your sake, more than my own, I wish you not 
 to be delayed in your voyage. 
 
 * June 12. Sunday. I am just come from the 
 table of my blessed Lord, where 1 have been 
 commemorating his dying love with much comfort 
 to my soul. The minister repeated the words to 
 every individual, so that between receiving the 
 sacred elements and returning to the public office, 
 I had above half an hour to remember you and 
 your children, the Captain and the passengers, 
 the Captain's widowed wife and your dear 
 honoured mother, Mr. Martyn and many others.' 
 
 The Travers East Indiaman sailed on the 10th 
 of June, 1808, and in fourteen days, the weather 
 constantly fine, the sea smooth, the wind favour- 
 able, Mr. Thomason reached Madeira. And if 
 13» 
 
150 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 in this passage his sufferings were not of the same 
 keen description as Henry Martyn's ; let it be 
 remembered, that though he left behind him a 
 mother for whom his affection was most ardent — 
 he carried with him a beloved wife and children ; 
 nor let the effect of local association, a tender and 
 deeply rooted attachment, and of sensibilities 
 singularly acute in H. Martyn's case, be forgotten. 
 At Funchal, how could he witness the tawdry 
 vanities and sickly superstitions of popery without 
 many a sigh ? Fain would he have escaped from 
 what he beheld in the churches and in the streets, 
 from the abuses of revelation, God's best gift to 
 man, to contemplate the works of God, which are 
 so stupendous in that island. Yet even amidst the 
 grandeur and simplicity of rocks and precipices, 
 he found the taint of that odious corruption which 
 usurps the exclusive title of Christianity. *In 
 the bosom of the mountains, (it is his own descrip- 
 tion of a tour round the island,) and in the sides 
 of the rocks, wherever the least soil could be dis- 
 covered, the vines are planted. They seem to 
 grow out of the rocks — the best grapes are the 
 produce of these crags. The vine is encouraged 
 at the expense of every thing else. We have not 
 seen half a mile square of fiat country. The ravine 
 bursts upon the sight after a long and tedious 
 climbing and fills the mind with admiration and 
 awe. Imagine a vast hollow, whose depth alarms 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 151 
 
 the observer, whose sides are formed by immense 
 rocks of most fantastic shapes. In the bottom is 
 a chapel, and a priest hves in an adjoining house. 
 Alas ! the poor people ; they are sunk in supersti- 
 tion which debases their minds, and bends them 
 down in almost brutal ignorance.' The Roman 
 Catholic Religion, to be known fully, must be 
 seen where its tendencies are completely devel- 
 oped. In Protestant countries, that mother of 
 abominations, that mistress of witchcraft, is on her 
 good behaviour ; but in other places she throws off 
 the mask, and unblushingly proffers the cup of her 
 incantations. There under the tonsure the sneer 
 of incredulity is often detected ; the vqry counte- 
 nances of men who walk with their tapers and 
 their relics in a vain show, seemed to say what one 
 of their forefathers is reputed to have avowed — 
 this fable of ours has turned to a good account. 
 Where the Roman Catholic faith is daring and 
 without disguise it is, that a just sense of our 
 obligations to those great men our Reformers is to 
 be acquired. Into what depths would not our own 
 island have been sunk, but for the writings and 
 translations of the Scriptures, the preaching, the 
 prayers, the lives and deaths of those men of God. 
 Madeira about five years before Mr. Thomason 
 visited it had been desolated by a terrific tempest 
 and inundation. But where the light is darkness, 
 judgments do but increase that darkness. The 
 
152 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 films that cover the mental eye become thicker 
 and more impenetrable. To appease the wrath 
 of God the image of the I^ady of the Mountain 
 was solemnly removed to the cathedral. The 
 bishop with all the ecclesiastics, the principal inhab- 
 itants, and the people, proceeded to a mountain 
 to bring the Lady of the Mountain to the Funchal. 
 Though the distance was tw^o miles, when the 
 bishop entered the church on the eminence, the 
 people had hardly cleared the city. Drums were 
 beat and guns fired, illuminations closed the day. 
 When the English afterwards took the island, 
 which being under the protection of the Lady of 
 the Mountain, was deemed impregnable, it was 
 attributed to her having taken offence because her 
 repose had been disturbed. Enthusiasm possesses 
 a resilliency equal to any pressure : the superin- 
 cumbent weight of common sense, observation, 
 and experience, fails to crush it, and serves only to 
 increase its spring and reaction. 
 
 His curiosity satiated, his mind pained and dis- 
 gusted, and with no appropriate task calling for 
 delay, Mr. Thomason was not sorry when the sails 
 were unfurled that were to waft him to the place 
 of his destination. Yet as the chain of distance 
 from England lengthened at every blast, his heart 
 could not but suffer from some of those perturba- 
 tions to which nature is alive, and which the grace 
 of God alone can calm and sanctify. On opening a 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 
 
 153 
 
 picture of his beloved friend, Mr. Simeon, which 
 he had not before seen, he was melted into tears 
 again and again. 'We have looked and wept, 
 wept and looked. These are not tears he truly 
 says, of worldly sorrow, but spiritual joy ; we 
 weep for more of his spirit, we thank God for the 
 love and union that subsists between us, which we 
 humbly hope will keep us one for ever and ever.* 
 
 In the early part of the month of November, 
 after a voyage of above five months, and of singu- 
 lar serenity, ' a long interval crowded with mercies 
 beyond all that can be expressed,' Mr. Thomason 
 and those sailins; with him began to look and long 
 for the shores of Hindostan. But before their feet 
 could press that land now not distant, and before 
 their hands could grasp those of their Christian 
 brethren awaiting their arrival, the Lord who doth 
 whatsoever he pleases in heaven and earth, and who 
 doth all things well, had in reserve for them a trial 
 of portentous magnitude. On the coast of Pegu, 
 early on the morning of the 7th of November, the 
 Travers struck upon some hidden rocks, and soon 
 after the crew had escaped from her, with the 
 exception of sixteen poor creatures who could not 
 be removed, was swallowed up in the waves. 
 The horrors of that terrific event, the perils 
 encountered between leaving the wreck and 
 reaching the other ships, and all the varied emo- 
 tions to which the scenes of danger and deliverance 
 
154 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 gave birth, it would be injustice to the talent and 
 tenderness, and above all to the faith, patience, 
 ardent thankfulness of Mr. Thomason, to recount 
 in any but his own words : they are from a letter 
 to his mother. 
 
 ' Nov. 13, 1808, Off the Sand Heads. 
 * "O be thankful unto the Lord, for he is gracious, 
 and his mercy endureth for ever." Let the re- 
 deemed of the Lord say so ; *' Bless the Lord, O 
 my soul, and all that is within me bless his holy 
 name.'* You will read the narrative of the Lord's 
 mercies to us with tears of joy and thankfulness. 
 Our voyage had been singularly propitious, from 
 Madeira down the coast of South America, to the 
 Cape of Good Hope, and from thence to the Bay 
 of Bengal. We had fine weather all the way ; no 
 gales to alarm, no calms to detain us. I was 
 chiefly occupied in a diligent study of the Persian 
 language, Mrs. T. in instructing the children : our 
 days passed quickly and profitably. But whatever 
 may have taken place during the voyage, the 
 conclusion of it has been marked by so signal an 
 interposition of divine Providence, that we have 
 neither time nor inclination to fix our mind on any 
 other object. How will your heart be filled with 
 thankfulness, and your lips show forth his praise, 
 when you hear that the unworthy writer of the 
 following narrative, with his beloved wife and 
 
REV. THOaiAS THOMASON. 155 
 
 children, have been almost miraculously saved 
 from destruction. 
 
 ' Whilst events are still fresh in my recollection, 
 and in order that they may ever continue so, I will 
 endeavour to relate that most wonderful deliver- 
 ance from shipwreck, by which God has been 
 pleased to preserve my wife and family, with many 
 other persons. Early in the morning of the 7th, 
 we approached Cape Negrais. Soundings were 
 made, which left us no room to apprehend any 
 immediate danger. At half-past four they were 
 twenty-one fathoms ; which, being certified to the 
 captain, he immediately came on deck, and gave 
 orders for heaving the ship to. The words were 
 scarcely pronounced, when the ship struck upon a 
 rock. At this time the Earl Spencer was so near, 
 the captain hailed and cried out, they were amongst 
 breakers. The Earl Spencer providentially escaped, 
 and actually passed over the reef without striking, 
 but our own ship, notwithstanding every exertion, 
 continued to strike with violence. The first shock 
 brought down the mizen top-mast ; the wind 
 then blowing fresh. In a moment a cry of distress 
 was raised, which was heard by the Spencer, and 
 which it very soon appeared was not made with- 
 out reason. The passengers and all the ship's 
 company were soon upon deck, and saw with the 
 deepest anguish the danger in which they were. 
 I had previously gone down and informed Mrs. T. 
 
156 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 that the ship had struck, and that none but God 
 could save us. The heeling of the ship was now tre- 
 mendous, and the blows continued, till the rudder 
 was broken with an awful crash, that seemed to 
 portend that the ship should immediately go to the 
 bottom. Who but those who have actually borne 
 a part in such scenes can conceive the dreadful 
 sensations thus produced. We endeavoured to 
 commit ourselves to the mercy of God, and then 
 Mrs. Thomason snatching up our dear J. followed 
 
 by Mrs. , with O , repaired on deck. 
 
 Here the confusion was extreme. Through the 
 mercy of God the wind soon moderated ; a cir- 
 cumstance which gave time to take proper mea- 
 sures for saving the crew. The mainmast was 
 first cut down, which fell over the side. After, the 
 foremast was cut away, and we were thus left a 
 mere hull, which was momentarily coming to 
 pieces; at this critical juncture, the cutter unfor- 
 tunately went a-drift ; the jolly-boat was dispatched 
 after it, and in the mean time the crew were all 
 employed in clearing and launching the long-boat. 
 This was a long and difficult operation, but as all 
 our lives depended on its success, the men exerted 
 themselves to the utmost. Before they had fairly 
 raised it from its place the ship's back was 
 broken, and at this moment I felt that nothing 
 but a miracle could save us. I lifted up my heart 
 to God, and exhorted Mrs. Thomason to do so too. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 157 
 
 I committed myself and all my concerns to Him. 
 Meanwhile, a squall of wind and rain caused the 
 ship to beat violently ; we all stood on the deck 
 drenched to the skin, looking with anxious impa- 
 tience to the launch of the long-boat. The ladies 
 and children having been roused suddenly from 
 their beds, were wet and half naked, and most 
 pitiable objects. I ran down into my cabin to 
 secure something from the wreck which I might 
 preserve, if saved from destruction, as a memorial. 
 In vain I sought in the confusion of the moment 
 for my pocket-bible ; at length, hastily snatching 
 up my Hebrew psalter, with a volume of the Greek 
 Testament, and my mother's last and valued 
 present, the Golden Treasury, I put them into my 
 bosom, and flew^ to my dear Mrs. Thomason and 
 the children on the deck. In passing through the 
 cabin to the ladder, it was painful to hear the rush- 
 ing of the water in the hold, and to see the decks 
 giving way, and the boxes floating about on all 
 sides. Arrived on the deck, I remained with my 
 
 dear B , and had the pleasure of seeing the 
 
 long-boat launched into the water. The captain 
 then called for the ladies, who were one by one 
 conveyed into the boat by a rope. The gen- 
 tlemen followed, and the crew, to the number 
 of ninety-one : more could not be admitted with 
 safety. In the cutter were eighteen, in the jolly 
 boat eleven. A sail was hastily thrown into the 
 14 
 
158 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 boat, and we left the wreck with mingled sensa- 
 tions of joy, regret, and apprehension. New 
 dangers indeed were now before us. Our consorts 
 were out of sight, and though we could see 
 the land from the ship, it was at a great distance ; 
 our boat was crowded, the sea high, the weather 
 boisterous, and the shore when reached, barbarous 
 and inhospitable. This was a trying situation. 
 How little did we think a few hours before, that 
 we should in such circumstances cast a longing 
 lingering look on the Travers. The wreck afforded 
 a distressing spectacle ; we turned our heads from 
 the scene, and looked before us, and committed 
 ourselves to the guidance of Providence. Danger- 
 ous as our situation was, I found it extremely 
 difficult to realize the nearness of death. I kept 
 lifting up my heart to God, and relied on his 
 gracious protection. We had brought a little sail 
 from the wreck, which, with the help of our oar, 
 kept our boat before the wind. It was about 
 seven o'clock when we committed ourselves to 
 the boat ; soon after, a heavy squall of rain came 
 on, which rendered our situation still more gloomy 
 and distressing. At the end of an hour and a half 
 we saw the other two ships at a great distance, 
 and they, after we perceived them, made sail from 
 us. This was a distressing moment, as our last 
 resource seemed to fail us. Meanwhile a tre- 
 mendous squall involved us in darkness, and 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 159 
 
 drenched us with sheets of water. The boat 
 shipped much water, and it was extremely diffi- 
 cult on account of her being so heavy loaded, to 
 keep her before the wind ; at length, however, by 
 the good providence of God, the weather cleared 
 up, and we saw the other two ships heave to, in 
 order to receive us. This was a cheering sight, 
 and with inexpressible joy we looked toward them, 
 and thanked God as we observed the lessening 
 distance. However, a third heavy squall came 
 on, and hid them from our view : through this we 
 were preserved by the same gracious Providence, 
 and as we approached the E. Spencer, we saw the 
 poop and deck covered with spectators, beholding 
 our progress, and longing to receive us. Passing 
 under the stern, I felt quite overpowered : it was 
 indeed an affecting sight. Above a hundred" 
 fellow-creatures rescued from a watery grave, were 
 joyfully received aboard, cheered by the loud and 
 cordial congratulations of their deliverers. It was 
 a feast to the benevolent captain of the E. Spen- 
 cer and the crew, to be instrumental in the pre- 
 servation of so many lives, and it was on our part 
 a deliverance never to be forgotten. The continued 
 emotions of joy, surprise, cordiality, gratitude, 
 cannot be described ; the thing must be seen to be 
 felt. It was half-past ten when we arrived at the 
 ship, having been three hours and a half exposed 
 in an open boat on a heavy sea, during which time 
 
im 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 we had sailed about ten miles. Before we arrived, 
 a gentleman on board the E. Spencer saw the 
 Travers break in the middle, and the fore part 
 go down. It afterwards blew very hard, and there 
 can be no doubt but that before the afternoon, 
 every vestige had disappeared. I have omitted to 
 say that my dear E. awakened by the violence 
 of the shock immediately fell on her knees, and 
 prayed with much earnestness that God would 
 pardon her soul. It was with difficulty she could 
 be torn from the bed. On deck she renewed her 
 cries, saying, " Let me die with papa. Lord, for- 
 give my sins for Christ's sake." B's agitation at 
 first was very great, afterwards it subsided. We 
 stood all by one another, and solemnly gave our- 
 selves up to God : and neither then, nor now, nor 
 at any preceding moment, did we feel the smallest 
 regret at having left our native country. I had 
 almost forgotten to mention the attention of pas- 
 sengers towards us. One of them ran hastily down 
 and recovered my watch, the alarum which you 
 gave me several years ago, and which will be one 
 hundred times more valuable than ever. That, 
 with the trifling articles above-mentioned, are all 
 the riches that remain to us. When we were 
 obliged to leave several of our fellow-creaiures on 
 board, it was out of the question to encumber a 
 boat already overloaded. One of the servants 
 seeing Mrs. Thomason standing in the heavy 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 
 
 161 
 
 rain, without shoes or stockings, approached her, 
 saying * You have no shoes ; take mine.' I never 
 can forget this. Another brought her a coat, a 
 third a blanket for J. and a coat for E. But I 
 cannot convey an adequate idea of the scene.' 
 
 To Mr. Simeon, from Calcutta, Mr. Thomason 
 wrote on the all-absorbing subject of his most 
 providential escape somewhat more fully, having 
 then had more time to collect his thoughts. 
 
 * December 5, 1808. 
 ' Here we are by the good providence of our 
 God at the wished- for haven. June 10th we left 
 Portsmouth. Nov. 19 we arrived at Calcutta; 
 but we have arrived in a way we did not expect, 
 not only ovei- the waters, but through them. On 
 the morning of Nov. 7 — a morning much to be 
 remembered by us — the Travers struck upon a 
 rock, and in a short time was a complete wreck. 
 The ships in company escaped in all haste from 
 the scene of danger, and were soon out of sight. 
 We ivere left, not to the mercy of the ivinds and 
 waves, but to the mercy of God, who marvellously 
 interposed, and brought us off in safety. As we 
 entered the bay of Bengal, after a delightful voyage, 
 in which we had not been seriously incommoded 
 by winds or worn out with calms, the wind obliged 
 us to go to the eastward and pass by two of the 
 Nicobar Islands, and sail to Bengal by the inward 
 14* 
 
MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 passage. In coming out of that passage, though 
 the navigation is dangerous, off Cape Negrais, the 
 southernmost point of Ava is Diamond Island, 
 then in a southerly direction, Drowned Island, 
 the Cocos Preparis, the Andamans. Between 
 Diamond Island and Drowned Island is a reef of 
 rocks, and by some mistake of the Captain's we 
 got among them. At five o'clock, Monday morn- 
 ing, Nov. 7, the ship struck. I had just dressed 
 myself, and was actually proceeding towards the 
 deck, when just as I had fairly reached it a tre- 
 mendous blow, which almost overset the ship, 
 clearly shewed us the nature of our situation. In 
 a moment all the ship's crew were assembled on 
 deck. I went down in haste to B. and informed 
 her of the disaster, and we hastened up together. 
 She had nothing on her but a counterpane, and 
 the dear children each a sheet. We clung together 
 near the round house, and lifted up our hearts to 
 God. It was an awful scene, every countenance 
 was filled with terror and despair. Thus in one 
 short moment they had exchanged their peaceful 
 slumbers, for all the horrors of threatening destruc- 
 tion. The ship continued to strike violently ; one 
 mast was cut away after another. The guns 
 were thrown overboard, and every hand was 
 employed in clearing and launching the boat. 
 This was our only resource, and now the long- 
 boat was let down into the sea, checked as it was 
 
REV. THOiMAS THOMASON. 163 
 
 by spars, and unaided by tackle, though the loss 
 of the masts is at this time a subject of surprise, 
 even to naval men of experience. Through the 
 good providence of God, this was at length 
 effected, and when the ship was filled with water, 
 and all the lower decks blown up; when the 
 stern post was gone, and all the after-cabin dashed 
 into one ; when the back of the ship was broken, 
 and she was fast sinking in the middle, we saw 
 the long boat safely launched into the deep. The 
 ladies were let down by haul lines, one by one, 
 then the children, and the gentlemen passengers, 
 until ninety-three persons had crowded into the 
 long-boat, and we seemed ready to sink. In the 
 cutter were eighteen, in the jolly-boat eleven, in 
 all one hundred and twenty-two. Six Europeans 
 were left, seven China men, and three Lascars. 
 
 * In the boat we had to encounter new perils ; no 
 ships were in sight, the land at a great distance, 
 and we had neither oars nor sail to steady us ; the 
 sea seemed every instant ready to swallow us up. 
 This interval of twenty minutes was very critical, 
 for the wind was fresh, and the boat unmanage- 
 able, from the crowd of persons that overloaded 
 it. At length the sail was hoisted, and after 
 going before the wind near one hour and a half, 
 we saw at a great distance the other two ships. 
 After encountering three heavy squalls, and 
 escaping many dangerous seas, we arrived, through 
 
1€4 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the mercy of God, safe on board the E. Spencer, 
 Captain Heming, where we were received with 
 transports of joy, and treated with most affec- 
 tionate kindness. Major and Mrs. Welch gave 
 Mrs. Thomason and myself half of their cabin. 
 We reached our friends half naked, without one 
 earthly comfort, stripped of our all except the 
 rags on our back. 
 
 " They who are wise will observe these things" 
 — not vaguely and generally, but with a watchful, 
 humble, grateful particularity. In this spirit Mr. 
 Thomason wrote to his mother, drawing up for her 
 and for himself, an inventory of his mercies, and 
 marking distinctly the links and component parts 
 of this signal providence. 
 
 ' In the late wonderful event there were many 
 circumstances that marked the interposition of 
 Divine Providence, and deserve particular notice. 
 
 * The ship did not strike in the dead of night, 
 when the difficulties opposing our escape, would, 
 humanly speaking, have been insupportable. 
 
 * After she struck, the wind abated for nearly 
 an hour, otherwise the ship could not have been 
 kept together long enough to launch the boats. 
 
 • * The masts fell to the leeward ; had they 
 fallen to the windward, the ship would have 
 swung oft' the rocks, and instantly sunk. 
 
 ' When the wind blew fresh again the ship 
 kept together till the boats were launched. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 165 
 
 ' The launching of the long-boat was effected 
 under all the circumstances of a heavy sea, a 
 rolling ship, no masts to which to fasten the 
 tackle — by mere dint of muscle, all uniting in the 
 work, and wondering at the effects of their united 
 labour. 
 
 ' After being launched, it was not swamped, 
 dashed as it was amongst the masts and spars of 
 the wreck. 
 
 ' Crowded as we were, we were not upset 
 between leaving the ship and hoisting the sail. 
 
 * We were preserved through a perilous navi- 
 gation of four hours ; and brought to the Earl 
 Spencer not only without loss of life, but without 
 injury to our persons. 
 
 ' The Captain and officers conducted themselves 
 with coolness, intrepidity, and good order. 
 
 * It becomes us to acknowledge God in these 
 matters. O that the remembrance of his mercy 
 may be ever with us ! Praise God with us, and 
 pray with us that this may tend to the furtherance 
 of the gospel.' 
 
 Mr. Simeon's comment on his friend's preserva- 
 tion, is too appropriate and characteristic to be 
 omitted. 
 
 ' How deep and mysterious are the ways of 
 God ! — that you should be made willing to 
 transport yourself and family, and all you had to 
 the shores of India, and then be landed on these 
 
166 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 shores, glad to escape with your very lives ! You 
 vievv^ the calamity in its true light. I adore my 
 God for giving you so just a view of it. God has 
 said to you, as to the first-born of Egypt, I have 
 spared your lives, and you shall be mine. I trust 
 it is not the wish of either of you that a commu- 
 tation of the Levites should ever take place. You 
 are well contented and happy, that his service 
 should be your one employment — himself your 
 only portion. I was much comforted to find that 
 in the midst of your danger and distress, not a 
 thought of regret ever assailed your minds. Here 
 is the comfort of being in the Lord^s way. We 
 are prepared for every event. I am persuaded 
 that God has had designs of good towards the 
 people of Calcutta. The exercises of love to 
 which your necessities have called them will, I 
 hope, be matured to a habit, and such an attach- 
 ment be formed as shall endure to all eternity,' 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 167 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 Mr. Thomason's arrival at Calcutta gladdened 
 the heart of numbers in that city — who re- 
 ceived him as from the dead, especially that of 
 Mr. Brown, who welcomed him as he had done 
 H. Martyn before, with all the cordiality of 
 Christian love. His first interview with that 
 eminent servant of the Redeemer, he thus touch- 
 ingly narrates. ' We both sat down, but it was 
 long before my tears suffered me to speak. They 
 were tears, as I told him, not of sorrow, but of joy 
 and thankfulness, wonder and praise. He told us 
 to look around the walls — the furniture and the 
 house were ours. It was a house built in faith 
 and prayer as the residence of a missionary, out 
 of the contributions of a number of poor persons 
 who, many years past, had subscribed towards a 
 fund for the support of the gospel, and united their 
 prayers that God would send them a minister. 
 Need I say that every chair and table spoke to us 
 with a voice that thrilled through our hearts and 
 overwhelmed us. Truly we could then praise 
 God for our shipwreck. Wc could see a good 
 
16§ MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 reason for the dispensation. It was plain that 
 God had thrown us upon this praying people, that 
 he had cast us from the rest of the world, and laid 
 us under the obligations of Christian love, in order 
 that we may be devoted to the sacred charge 
 of feeding his sheep. He has placed us in cir- 
 cumstances where every thing is actually the 
 fruit of faith and love, in order to teach us that 
 we have but one thing to do. Mr. Brown intro- 
 duced us into the church and vestry, where many 
 had assembled the evening before, to thank God 
 for our deliverance, and pray for a blessing on the 
 minister preserved to them. Since we came here, 
 we have had nothing to do of a worldly nature ; 
 all care has been taken from us by our Christian 
 friends. Think not of our hardships, losses, 
 dangers, but of the honour He has put upon us in 
 sending us to a praying people — sending us with 
 loss of all, to persons who supply our wants with 
 tears of thankfulness; let not a thought of assisting 
 us enter your minds — know all of you, we stand in 
 need of nothing hut your prayers : these we implore,'' 
 The second Sunday after landing at Calcutta, 
 Mr. Thomason commenced his ministry at the old 
 church from the text, " Knowing the terrors of the 
 Lord, we persuade men." Mr. Brown also the 
 same day preached a thanksgiving sermon for the 
 greatest part of the crew of the Travers, few 
 of whom, however, attended the sermon, and fewer 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMPSON. 169 
 
 Still the sacrament administered the succeeding 
 Sunday by Mr. Thomason, with express reference 
 to their signal deliverance* At the table of the 
 Lord, four only, exclusively of Mr. Thomason's 
 family, were present. Such ground is there so 
 often for that sorrowful exclamation : "Were there 
 not ten cleansed ? — where are the nine ? " 
 
 Whatever Mr. Thomason's temporal privations 
 might have amounted to, we have seen enough to 
 collect that he had not endured the greatest of all 
 losses, that of the benefit mercifully intended by 
 his sufferings. A perusal of the following letter 
 written five months after his shipwreck, to Mr. 
 Simeon, (to which extracts from his reply are 
 appended,) will confirm the conviction that he was 
 a spiritual gainer, and that incalculably, by his 
 sweeping disaster. Both letters expose the very 
 inmost fibres of affectionate hearts ; both exhibit 
 the powerful influences of the grace of God. 
 
 My beloved and honoured friend, 
 * What shall I say to you. The request with 
 which your letter concludes is in unison with all 
 the feelings of my heart. I may well have some- 
 thing appropriate to say to one who has loved 
 so much, and to whom we are all bound by so many 
 ties of obligation and love. We have received 
 two letters from you, both of which have cheered 
 us more than words can express. The tears of 
 15 
 
170 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 affection you have shed for us, are not, I hopCj 
 totally lost upon us, though we are very, very un- 
 worthy of the love you bear towards us. Accept 
 of our most affectionate acknowledgments for every 
 expression of love, every friendly admonition, 
 every tender petition for our welfare. It has often 
 comforted and warmed our hearts when we reflect 
 on the interest we bear in your prayers. One 
 evidence I have, that my heart is not altogether 
 insensible, is my daily grief and sorrow that the 
 warm and lively feelings expressed in your letter, 
 do not meet with a more corresponding glow 
 in my own heart. O wretched heart ! inexpres- 
 sibly unworthy the least of God's mercies ; I do 
 chide myself, and take the shame of my coldness 
 and ingratitude towards God, and towards you. 
 I pray God to kindle the flame of love in me, that 
 the fire may be burning brighter and brighter 
 upon the altar every day. It is not animal affec- 
 tion I deplore the want of, but Christian affection 
 — ^Jioly love, that love that gives earnestness to 
 prayer, and which brings us into the happy 
 enjoyment of Christian communion at a throne 
 of grace, though separated 16,000 miles from each 
 other. Here it is that the ardour of your affection 
 meets with so wretched a return, and here it is 
 that I find daily cause for humiliation and grief. 
 I have taken your letters in my hand — walked 
 after sunset on the roof of our church, and wept. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 171 
 
 In feeble and sorrowful accents I have endeavoured 
 to confess all my vileness before God. For ever 
 blessed be his name, the vilest may find mercy; 
 and that one v^^ord expresses the one thing which 
 I want. Sure none will have such great cause to 
 bless God for his pardoning mercy and his saving 
 grace as myself. With respect to the actual state 
 of my own mind, I can only say, as I think I did 
 in my last to you from Mr. Brown's house — that 
 I hope I am beginning to understand the gracious 
 dealings of God, and to feel the unspeakable im- 
 portance of my situation as a minister of the 
 Gospel of Jesus Christ. I bless God the shipwreck 
 has not been wholly forgotten, though I only feel 
 beginning to improve it. If the Lord himself had 
 not been on our side, even such a mercy would 
 have been wholly forgotten. Experience shews 
 us that except he give us grace to improve his 
 dispensations, no judgments, no mercies, no warn- 
 ings, will avail any thing. In our almost miracu- 
 lous escape from the deep, God has given us a 
 new and impressive call, for which we have reason 
 to bless his name ; but more especially have we 
 reason to bless him for not having suffered it to 
 escape from our wTetched hearts. It has in some 
 measure led us to renewed earnestness and deep 
 humiliation before God, and now at the end of five 
 months I feel a growing sense of gratitude to the 
 Lord for having brought us to India in the way he 
 
172 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 has. Many of our friends at home have pitied us^ 
 but indeed it is a great matter of joy. I value it 
 as a most precious jev^^el, and would not on any 
 account recover from the deep v^^hat we have lost, 
 even were it in my power. The Lord moves in a 
 mysterious way, but all his doings are in faithful- 
 ness and mercy. We were coming to India flushed 
 with hope, full of ardour and sanguine expecta- 
 tions, much animal fervour, and an amazing 
 portion of self-sufficiency. He casts us upon a 
 rock ; it was a hard blow and it spoke loudly, 
 * Mind what you are about.' We were richly fur- 
 nished with books and stores of various kinds ; he 
 takes them all from us ; sends us here as cast-aways, 
 completely stripped of every thing but our trust in 
 him and hope in his word. Blessed be his name, 
 1 say again and again, that he gives us also a 
 heart to think of these things, and to pray for a 
 right improvement of them. The searchings of 
 heart on this occasion have been very salutary 
 though painful ; and we can testify to the praise 
 of his grace, that we are labouring with new ear- 
 nestness, new zeal, new love, new thankfulness, 
 to live wholly for God. And now, my dearly 
 beloved friend, you have expressed a wish to 
 hear something appropriate, what can I say to 
 you ? What can I communicate to you but the 
 actual workings of my heart ? You will reasonably 
 expect that such an introduction to India ought to 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 173 
 
 be accompanied with important effects on my own 
 mind, and ought to lead to a new and more devoted 
 surrender of myself to the Lord. I beseech you 
 when you write express freely your views upon 
 this subject. Tell me what effects ought to follow 
 from a dispensation of this nature. I charge you 
 before God as you value the cause of your blessed 
 Redeemer, and desire to promote it, to put me in 
 mind of these things with authority. Ask whether 
 I am living more nearly to God : remind me of this 
 very request I am now making, that I may be 
 stirred up to diligent self-examination, lest I be put 
 to shame before God and man. I pray God that 
 his blessing may rest upon you, both in your public 
 and private, and in all your social duties: to all 
 the dear people at Shelford and Cambridge, present 
 my Christian love. I look back upon my ministry 
 amongst them with deep shame and grief of heart. 
 I have injured them all, and I shall never be able 
 to express this to them in person. I cannot but 
 do it before God, and implore God for my innu- 
 merable neglects and want of spiritual zeal and 
 faithfulness whilst amongst them. I never loved 
 them so much as at this moment, and never so 
 earnestly desired their spiritual welfare. 
 
 ' If it please God to spare my life, I hope to give 
 some efficient aid in translations. At present of 
 course I can do nothing, but others are doing won- 
 ders. Honoured and beloved Martyn, whose face 
 15* 
 
174 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 we are not likely to see for a long time, is doing, as 
 always, great things.' 
 
 Fro3i Mr. S'lmeon to Mr. Thomason. 
 
 ' I cannot express what refreshment your long 
 letter was to my soul. The length of time between 
 one month after your arrival and the month of 
 February was so great as to cause painful appre- 
 hensions. But your letter at last made amends 
 for all. There was one part in particular that 
 quite overcame me, and for a time deprived me of 
 utterance. Your mention of our dear brother 
 Martyn: a great length of time had intervened 
 since any letter had arrived from him : the last 
 gave a bad account of his health. His only sur- 
 viving sister died about eight months ago, and I 
 began to fear that he was dead also. The sight 
 of his name and of his restoration to health was 
 such a cause for gratitude, that I instantly fell on 
 my knees to bless and adore my God. 
 
 * If my emotions have been less strong respecting 
 you, they have not been less sincere or less affec- 
 tionate. Indeed the two first times I read your 
 letter, my sensations were quite strong enough for 
 my weak frame to sustain. As it contained nothing 
 which our dear friends and people ought not to 
 hear, I permitted it to be read, being myself 
 present to make observations ; it is needless to 
 mention what universal joy and gratitude it excited. 
 
REV. THOMAS TH03IAS0N. 175 
 
 * Bui how shall I answer your letter where you 
 bid me to charge you in the name of our Almighty 
 Father, and to put questions to you in my own 
 particular way. Alas ! I want to be charged my- 
 self, and am but little qualified to charge others: 
 and if questions when put to me I must answer 
 them by hanging down my head and covering my 
 face with shame. As to the question you ask 
 respecting the improvement you should make of 
 the deliverance vouchsafed you, I know of no 
 words whereby to express it better than "i(o be 
 Jiumhled in thankfulness before God.'''' I can in 
 some little measure tell you how it has been with 
 me in some very recent deliverances on horseback. 
 I had most confidently put myself in God's hands, 
 and he most graciously preserved me : in return 
 for which I could not help saying in the words of 
 David that all my bones should praise him. I 
 could not help putting forth first one limb, then 
 another, stretching them forth to him, and receiv- 
 ing them afresh from him, and devoting them 
 afresh to him. Thus then I think it may be with 
 you ; you may receive yourself afresh from him, 
 and devote yourself in all your powers and facul- 
 ties afresh to him. When you see dear Mrs. 
 Thomason and your children, receive them from 
 the Lord afresh, tell them they are his, and that 
 you give them up to him. The state of mind 
 which under your circumstances I should wish to 
 
176 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 retain is that of humble grateful adoration. It was 
 but Tuesday last I preached on the first petition 
 of the Lord's prayer; and though commentators 
 generally interpret it as merely supplicatory, I 
 could not but consider it as Eucharistic. I have 
 found at all times when my soul has been in a 
 better frame, that admiring and adoring acknow- 
 ledgments have preceded supplications, and that I 
 dared not ask for more till I had rendered my 
 acknowledgments for past favours. This I feel to 
 be my state, when I awake, if I am at all in a 
 proper frame, and the object which, whether in 
 your situation or my own, I should wish to attain, 
 would be to have my soul abidingly in this state.' 
 
 Mr. Thomason's services in the church began at 
 eight in the morning, and again at eight in the 
 evening of the sabbath-day, an arrangement which 
 diminished fatigue, and exempted him even in the 
 hot season from overpowering exhaustion. On 
 Thursday evenings he had a service ; and on 
 Saturday evenings he assembled the children in 
 the church, accompanied by their parents and 
 friends. Another evening of the week was 
 allotted to visiting those who were decidedly reli- 
 gious: they met together at different houses for 
 the purpose of hearing the Scriptures expounded, 
 and prayer. But the state of society was adverse, 
 he wrote to Mr. Simeon, ' to the progress of the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 177 
 
 gospel. In addition to the common difficulties 
 arising from the character of the hearty there are 
 obstacles here which are tremendous. The civil 
 servants of the company hold the highest rank; 
 you may call them the nobility — then come the 
 merchants, the shop-keepers, the half-casts. 
 These form so many circles of distinction, and so 
 many sorts of pride, which have a sad effect in 
 checking a free intercourse among the people. 
 With certain unavoidable exceptions, these do not 
 mix together, and will hardly be seen together. 
 The religious people I have found in Calcutta, 
 have retained these prejudices. The bringing 
 them to worship God in the same room, has beea 
 a strange thing among them : our regular congre- 
 gation at the Old Church is much smaller than 
 you would expect, — not more than 250 on an 
 average ; on the week-day, 100 ; but you are to 
 recollect, there are no servants in this number. 
 The church would contain 450.' 
 
 ' You have no idea in England, (he writes after 
 a somewhat longer residence in India,) of the 
 peculiar difficulties which oppose the progress 
 of the gospel in this place. They are prodigious, 
 and in the highest degree discouraging; arising 
 partly from the nature of the climate, and partly 
 from the nature of society, and chiefly from the 
 close intercourse with the wretched natives, who 
 are more degraded than you can imagine, and who 
 
178 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 have the entire charge of children, and manage- 
 ment of household matters. The natives swarm 
 around us, and corrupt the minds of children 
 from the earliest years. To an Englishman, the 
 effect of their example, and the contagion of their 
 language and practices, cannot be adequately 
 represented. The natives become mothers of a 
 progeny, notorious for bad morals and weak 
 minds. Some favourable exceptions, but only a 
 few, can be mentioned. Religion alone raises 
 them — this gives a solidity of character — they 
 become trusty and well-behaved. These form a 
 great majority of our congregations. The number 
 of rich people and company's servants who come 
 to church is comparatively small. The better 
 fiort of people send their children home at five or 
 six; until then, they are undej* the charge of 
 native servants, and their minds are poisoned as 
 far as they can be at that tender age. The parting 
 from them is heart-breaking. They part with 
 them very often never to see them more. This 
 produces a sad derangement in society. There is 
 no such thing as a domestic circle. The olive 
 branches round the table, so delightful in England, 
 are unknown. The children cannot even speak 
 their mother tongue ; they have to learn English 
 on their way home. There is a dissolution of all 
 the tender, amiable, cheering household virtues. 
 These observations apply to the far greater number 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 179 
 
 amongst us. Some there are who diligently labour 
 against these disadvantages. They live retired, 
 and do all they can to counteract the influence 
 of the native servants. If very conscientious, they 
 may succeed ; but -the instances are very rare — 
 the sacrifice of liberty and pleasure are so great. 
 The business of a minister lies in encouraging those 
 who are making some endeavours for the good of 
 their families ; in assisting and presiding over their 
 efforts — but the progress must be slow. It is a 
 fixed rule with us, that the children are always in 
 the presence of one amongst us. We never suffer 
 them, not for a moment, to have any intercourse 
 with the servants alone.' 
 
 In less than half a year, Mr. Thomason's con- 
 gregation increased, and considerable interest 
 in religion was excited, and instances of decided 
 impression came to the knowledge of the minister. 
 * Not even in Cambridge,' he testified, ' have I 
 witnessed such deep and solemn attention to the 
 word of God.' 
 
 Having made considerable progress in Persian 
 during the voyage, Mr. Thomason gave himself, in 
 addition to his ministerial employments, to the 
 study of Hindoostanee and Arabic. The plan 
 of the day was this, *We rise very early, and 
 return from our morning rides by six ; at half-past 
 six we have family prayer ; at seven we breakfast. 
 Between that and two, I am in my study ; at two 
 
180 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 we dine ; at three I am in my study again till five, 
 then we have family prayer ; from six till nine or 
 ten is occupied in riding and visiting friends ; in 
 private parties and public duties. I have found it 
 necessary to decline all invitations to dinner, 
 without exception. This has enabled me to be 
 regular, and very retired without giving offence.' 
 
 * I feel every day,' he concludes, ' increasingly 
 thankful to God, for having opened a door in his 
 providence to bring me to India. I thank God for 
 having brought me to a place where labourers are 
 so much wanted, and where there is so much to 
 be done, especially that he gives me a heart for 
 the wOrk, and many encouraging tokens of his 
 presence. Our week-day meetings in private 
 houses would rejoice your heart. If we could 
 transport you here for one month, how it would 
 rejoice us I But, alas ! we are parted never to 
 meet again here. Yet, why do I say alas ! when 
 it is the will of God. I retract the word. Let 
 me rather look forward in humble hope, that we 
 shall meet together at the throne of God. I am 
 ashamed to say, Pray for me ; because my 
 conscience reproaches me with so much ingrat- 
 itude and neglect towards you : yet I do say 
 it again and again.' 
 
 In his ministry, Mr. Thomason had made one 
 alteration — for reasons which he himself furnishes 
 — he exchanged extemporaneous for written dis- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 181 
 
 courses. After saying, Blessed be God, I hope 
 the work prospers in my own heart; I love my 
 work and my post; he thus explains his motives 
 for this change. * You will think perhaps it is no 
 proof of this, that I have left off extemporary 
 preaching, and that it looks rather like a want 
 of zeal. But first, I look with shame upon 
 my extemporary preaching; many things were 
 said without thought — without knowledge — with- 
 out experience — without proof — without judgment. 
 I earnestly wish to weigh, and examine, and pray 
 over all that is delivered in public. I would fain 
 set out anew in this high and holy calling. 
 Secondly, the people here are prejudiced against 
 extemporary preaching; they have been always 
 used to written discourses, and it is desirable to 
 remove every im.pediment, be it what it may. 
 Thirdly, the exertion of extemporary preaching is 
 vastly greater in this country than in England. 
 But I am more and more convinced, that it mat- 
 ters little how we preach, so that we carry with us 
 into the pulpit the presence of God, and preach 
 and pray in the Holy Ghost.' 
 
 So favourably had Mr. Thomason's labours been 
 received, that before the lapse of six months it was 
 expedient to enlarge his church ; and though the 
 days as they rolled on were scarcely distinguish- 
 able from each other, in the prosecution of the work 
 of each day, he had the most perfect enjoyment. 
 16 
 
182 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 In either hemisphere it would have been difficult 
 to have discovered a happier man ; so much in 
 error are they, who deem never-ceasing vanity, 
 and stimulants of every description, necessary 
 ingredients in their cup of joy. One comfort 
 indeed was wanting ; a minister of congenial sen- 
 timents stationed near him,* with whom he might 
 have unreserved intercourse, and take that counsel 
 which is truly sweet. He had not forgotten his 
 intimate personal communications with Mr. 
 Simeon, neither were the comforts of the clerical 
 meetings in England obliterated from his recollec- 
 tion ; he longed for something of this sort in India, 
 and not the less so on learning, that his brethren, 
 at their last meeting at Shelford, had in their 
 prayers commended him and his flock to the grace 
 of God. " I need not say," wrote one then pre- 
 sent, " how universally or how tenderly you were 
 remembered by us ; your absence caused a painful 
 blank. Our separation was peculiarly solemn and 
 affectionate ; we took leave of each other, rather 
 with our eyes than with our tongues, hoping, if 
 spared to another year again to participate in this 
 feast of love. I could not but contrast this meeting 
 with that of another society ; the composed, the 
 meek, the tender serenity of the one, with the 
 tumultuous bustle of the other." 
 
 ♦ Mr. Brown was living at Aldeen, at some distance from Calcutta. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 183 
 
 The fellow-labourers with whom Mr. Thomason 
 was in unison, and for whose society he sighed, 
 were those who could sympathise with the lowly 
 and sublime sentiments developed in the following 
 letter to Mr. Simeon. 
 
 ' A letter from , received this day, contain- 
 ing an account of your last clerical meeting at 
 Shelford, has filled our hearts with thankfulness, 
 a glowing thankfulness and joyful recollection of 
 past scenes: I may add also with joyful antici- 
 pations of that happy period, when the redeemed 
 of the Lord shall be assembled, never more to be 
 separated, never more to be harassed by their spir- 
 itual enemies. We would always thus connect the 
 future with the past : while we think of the mercies 
 received, and the social harmony and christian 
 love of that favoured place, we would look for- 
 ward to that better place. Then we grieve no 
 longer at the thought of never seeing you again in 
 the flesh ; we feel a glow of animation and grati- 
 tude in the hope of meeting beyond the grave. 
 Let me thank you, and all the dear friends assem- 
 bled on that occasion. The tender expression, and 
 sympathizing tears, and earnest prayers, and 
 devout thanksgivings, which then abounded for us, 
 vile unworthy creatures, demand a humiliating 
 soul, and devout acknowledgment both to God 
 and to you. And they have it. We feel abased 
 
184 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 and we feel thankful. D — told us every thing 
 minutely, and enabled us to meet with you, and 
 to pray with you, and to converse with you all; 
 but still more to weep for ourselves ; for indeed 
 we feel that your love is sadly thrown away. 
 
 ' You know the nature of regular employment in 
 the pulpit ; the word of God does not appear to 
 be very rapidly advancing, yet we hear of much 
 that encourages us. The work of catechising seems 
 to promise good. But we want the outpouring of 
 the Spirit ; and until the spirit be poured upon us 
 from on high, no very great good can take place 
 amongst us : we are praying for this ; without this 
 we may toil all night and catch nothing. O that 
 the preacher may catch the sacred fire, and the 
 people rejoice and be glad ! 
 
 ' I find our Thursday evenings profitable times. 
 We are going through the gospel of St. John : the 
 congregation does not much exceed one hundred 
 and fifty people. But they come to hear plain 
 truths, and we often find the Lord is with us indeed. 
 We are in the sixth chapter — the bread of life. My 
 subject this evening includes these two verses, 
 " He that eateth my flesh and drinketh my blood, 
 dwelleth in me, and I in him. As the living 
 Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father, so 
 he that eateth me, even he shall live by me." 
 What can a poor empty creature say of the fulness 
 there is in Jesus ? what can I say of Jesus dwell- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 185 
 
 ing in me, and my dwelling in Jesus? O how we 
 fritter away these passages, if we are not living 
 nigh to God, and enjoying the glorious knowledge 
 of the gospel in daily dependence on the Re- 
 deemer. This I want very much, very lamentably, 
 and my people will be meagerly fed. That word 
 "dwelleth in me, and I in them," fills my soul 
 with wonder, and abases me to the dust. I would 
 know it, and feel it, but know^ not how. I would 
 speak of it and recommend it, but have no heart 
 for the marvellous theme. Will God in very deed 
 dwell in this diseased polluted heart ? Does He 
 dwell there? — and can I, a vile and wretched 
 sinner, be said to dwell in him ? Though I 
 scarcely dare say, Yes, yet I fain would come 
 and cast myself upon the Saviour. It is my only 
 refuge and hope, and if this reposing of the soul 
 in Jesus, be indeed to eat his flesh, and drink his 
 blood, I would now do it, yea, I must do it. 
 Still I cannot lay hold of that word — " dwelleth in 
 me, and I in him." I feel very remote from this ; 
 it is too high, I cannot reach it. I feel like a 
 blind man leading the blind. My comfort lies in 
 the freeness and sovereignty of God's grace ; for 
 while it gives strong meat to those who are full 
 grown, it administers milk to the babe. 
 
 ' My dear and honoured brother, you know not 
 how very far I am from being a minister of the 
 gospel. I am no gospel minister, for I know it 
 16* 
 
186 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 not I sit down and pen some miserable thoughts 
 on Scripture, and occupy a certain portion of time 
 in talking about the love of God, and the suffi- 
 ciency of Jesus, and the work of the Spirit ; but 
 it is sad trifling with myself and my hearers. Sur- 
 prising is that blindness which hides from me the 
 glory of the gospel, and that unbelief which puts 
 it away from my soul, and that dishonesty which 
 starts from the presence of a holy God, and 
 excludes me, if I may so say, from the holy of 
 holies: but where am I wandering, — this is very 
 unprofitable to you. O my brother, pardon me, 
 and weep over me, and pray for me. One good 
 end will be answered by this communication, you 
 will know better how to pray for me. I want, for 
 myself and people, more of the simplicity of the 
 gospel. I want to come to Christ and bring them 
 with me : I long for the time when the glory 
 of the Redeemer, and fulness of this salvation 
 shall so occupy my mind, that in studying and 
 preaching I may have no other object in view, but 
 speak always out of the abundance of the heart. 
 
 ' There are great snares attending our technical 
 tnode of sermon-making. Though I speak to 
 a man famous for Helps to Composition, I speak 
 the truth, and know the danger of this *art of 
 preaching ; ' we are apt to chalk out our work, and 
 cut and prune, and then what a judicious, fine, 
 persuasive discourse is this ! And oftentimes our 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 
 
 187 
 
 love of Christ and of souls evaporates in our neat 
 exordium, and luminous distribution and close 
 application to the sermon. I am ashamed, and 
 tired, and sick, heart-sick of this. I have smarted 
 for it, and do every day. 
 
 'Martyn tells me he has begun to preach 
 to the natives at his new station. The poor 
 and maimed he refers to Sunday for relief. 
 When collected, he knows not how to dismiss 
 them without speaking a word about the bread 
 of life. But he gives a poor account of them. 
 The discouragements are greater than you can 
 imagine. It seems as if the line of duty con- 
 sisted in waiting and watching in a prepared state 
 for opportunities that offer, than in going forth 
 and talking to them as missionaries. When and 
 how such opportunities may be expected, I know 
 not. The Lord send them, and give us grace to 
 improve them. If the tide flows, the ship will 
 sail.' 
 
 It will readily be believed that the month of 
 November, in the year 1809, did not return to 
 Mr. Thomason without a special commemoration 
 of mercies. In a letter dated ' November 8, Banks 
 of the Hooghly,' expression was thus given to the 
 emotions of his soul, animated by deep gratitude 
 to God and love to man. 
 
 ' The time, and situation, and circumstances 
 of the present moment are all so interesting, that 
 
188 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 my full heart knows not how to commence the 
 present communication. It is the day after the 
 memorable 7th of November, which we have been 
 spending together in retirement, six miles down 
 the river, at the house of a friend. Yesterday we 
 endeavoured to recall to our minds the event 
 of that day, and were enabled, blessed be God, 
 to humble ourselves before him in some measure, 
 and to encourage ourselves and our beloved chil- 
 dren anew in his service. It was to us a solemn 
 and profitable day. The situation is on the banks 
 of that river to which we came through such a 
 mysterious train of providences, and along which 
 we proceeded naked and destitute to the place 
 of our destination. The circumsta7ices too, under 
 which I write, are peculiar. At family prayer 
 "we had renewed our vows of yesterday, and had 
 withdrawn into my study, and were conversing 
 together in the most serious manner, when letters 
 from Europe were put into our hands, containing 
 all the affectionate congratulations, sympathies, 
 prayers, and praises of our beloved friends. How 
 affecting a close to the profitable scene ! My 
 mother's feelings were anticipated — so were yours : 
 but your kind and tender expressions far exceed 
 any thing we looked for, and fill us with an 
 overwhelming sense of the undeserved goodness 
 of God.' 
 
 Marked as this, and the next year was, by 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 189 
 
 losses of Indiamen, more than usually frequent 
 and terrible, Mr. Thomason's thanksgivings to 
 the God of his mercies, could not but be height- 
 ened by contrast. One very awful case spread 
 gloom over the settlement ; it was that of a vessel 
 homeward bound in which was a chaplain return- 
 ing to England with a large fortune. He had 
 been unhappily led into an opposition to the early 
 ministry of Mr. Martyn, and had preached against 
 him and his irrefragible statements of divine truth. 
 That the €ross was his sole anchor at the last, is a 
 hope to which charity would fondly cling. 
 
 By a capture of one of our traders, Mr. Thoma- 
 son, as far as his comforts, and his sensibilities too 
 were concerned, was a sufferer. Notwithstanding 
 Ms positive injunctions to his friends to confine the 
 expressions of their love to prayers, they had sent 
 him out a variety of books, accompanied by other 
 tokens of attstchmcnt. But the ship, singular to 
 relate, was captured by the French, recaptured 
 and finally taken again. On this disappointment 
 he comments in this heavenly strain — ' It seems as 
 though God would complete the weaning he has 
 begun ; and we bless him for it. Every thing by 
 which England could be remembered is swept 
 away: but what is above all price, the bond of 
 love is increased a thousand fold ; we are more 
 one with you in spirit ; more closely united in 
 Christ, more endeared by the common interest we 
 
190 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 feel at the throne of grace, and the common pros- 
 pect of glory.' 
 
 Those who know not with what ill-ominous 
 forebodings, and with what a torpedo-touch, every 
 attempt to lift up the torch of revelation in India 
 had been invariably met, can but inadequately 
 conceive the joy of those who loved the Bible, 
 when, as was the case this year, 1810, the foun- 
 dation of a Society was laid in Calcutta for the dis- 
 persion of the word of life through the length and 
 breadth of that benighted land. On this occasion 
 Mr. Thomason was not backward, either to rejoice, 
 to contribute, or to act. 
 
 Some members of council, the Commander in 
 Chief, and the Judges, as well as other influential 
 persons, engaged to promote this holy cause. By 
 ignorance, adopting the semblance and tone of 
 oracular wisdom, all attempts of this nature had 
 been denounced, as fraught with 'extreme peril 
 to our Indian empire. But the darkness was 
 beginning to pass away, and with it all the phan- 
 toms of the night. That noble institution, in 
 its commencement and progress, has awakened a 
 most salutary interest in many a bosom and as to 
 native prejudices, they have slept on tranquilly, 
 or if roused for a moment, it has been to relapse 
 into slumber still more profound. So will it be 
 with respect to the immolation of widows : so 
 will it be also when the hand of power shall be 
 
' REV. THOMA.S THOMASON. 191 
 
 lifted up to crush the rites of Juggernaut, the 
 toleration of which by a Christian government, 
 is an abomination as palpable and odious as 
 the very service of the idol by the heathen 
 worshippers. 
 
 For the greater part of two years Mr. Thomason 
 was almost as strong to labour in India as in 
 England, but the second hot season made a sensi- 
 ble impression on his health. He thus describes 
 the Indian year : — April : it is the middle of the 
 hot season, we have fiery days and stormy nights. 
 Thus it has pleased a gracious Providence to tem- 
 per the severities of the climate. If the hot days 
 were to continue long we should sink at once. 
 When the refreshing winds fail us, the sultriness 
 is almost insupportable. Then comes a storm that 
 cools the air. Then the heat returns. Then the 
 lull. Then again the storm for several days suc- 
 cessively. We rise to go forth and inhale the cool 
 of the morning and rejoice. About June comes 
 the rainy season for two months. This refreshes 
 us. From the middle of August to the middle of 
 October the clouds having poured forth their con- 
 tents, the country is soaked. The winter having 
 . left us, the heat of the sun draws forth the mois- 
 ture, and we live almost in a hot bath. All nature 
 seems to droop — man, beast, and vegetable sym- 
 pathize with each other. Were this season to be 
 prolonged, few could endure it. About the middle 
 
192 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of October we have sharp mornings and bracing 
 airs. Thus the years go round ! 
 
 During the period he speaks of as so trying, 
 he began to droop so much, that he was com- 
 pelled to suspend his ministerial duties for six 
 weeks, and betake himself to a pinnace on 
 the river. Under this attack, or rather when 
 recovering from it, on the still bosom of the river 
 he communed closely with his own heart, and 
 often did he lift an eye strong in faith and glisten- 
 ing in penitence, towards his Redeemer. 
 
 Dating his letter Chinsurah, October 1, 1810, 
 he writes—' We are thirty miles up the river : this 
 change has been rendered necessary by the state 
 of my health, which began to suffer during the 
 last rainy season. I have spent a month on the 
 water. 1 went to the mouth of the river for sea 
 air, and then proceeded up the river. Through 
 the great mercy of God this has been very useful. 
 God only knows what is to be the end of all our 
 attacks, and what the term of our lives. To be 
 in his hands who has the keys of death and hell is 
 an unspeakable privilege. 1 feel it to be so, and 
 rejoice. The climate has begun evidently to affect 
 me, and it will be necessary for me to contract my 
 exertions of body and mind. The constant em- 
 ployment of mind in this country is unfavourable 
 to health and even dangerous. Before 1 was laid 
 by, I began to visit the hospital once a week, 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 193 
 
 from which little labour some good has sprung 
 up. But we are all in a low state, our proceed- 
 ings are slow and infantine. The reflections which 
 have passed in my mind during my excursion on 
 the water have been rather of a discouraging na- 
 ture. Yet though discouraging — the discovery of 
 the truth painful as it is at the time, may be an 
 unspeakable blessing. Who knows but that the 
 discovery of my own barrenness and manifold 
 neglects by the blessing of God may lead to more 
 enlarged usefulness in his church. I have lately 
 had much to think of, much to mourn over, much 
 to pray for, and much, very much, to be thankful 
 for. And now with renewed strength of body I 
 would fain take up my charge again in a new 
 spirit. 
 
 * We are become weaned from all Europe expec- 
 tations. The losses by capture and shipwreck of 
 late have made the heart sick. You cannot con- 
 ceive the general mourning that has been produced 
 amongst us. It has been dangerous to mention 
 the missing ships in company, lest the heart of 
 some bereaved parent or husband should be made 
 sad. 
 
 * After being laid low from official engagements 
 for six weeks, it was not without the greatest 
 emotion I resumed my labours. It has pleased 
 God to teach me something by shipwreck, but he 
 has taught me more by bodily affliction. The 
 
 17 
 
194 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 danger and alarm then was temporary, but illness 
 gives many opportunities of serious reflection. I 
 have had long seasons of pain and depression, 
 which have I trust, through the mercy of God, 
 been sanctified to my soul. I have seen much of 
 the unbelief, pride, impatience, and dishonesty of 
 my heart. Here I am beginning my work as it 
 were again, and I pray God to enable me by his 
 good spirit to press forward toward the mark of 
 the prize of my high calling. 
 
 ' We have never yet seen Mr. Marty n, but hope 
 to be gratified in the course of a few months. He 
 has at length determined to try the sea air. He 
 has been brought very low.' 
 
 The meeting which Mr. Tho mason had so long 
 and ardently desired, as Mr. Martyn's health 
 declined rapidly, took place sooner than was 
 expected. At the time Mr. Thomason was seek- 
 ing restoration of strength from the breezes on the 
 Hooghly, Mr. Martyn was committing himself to 
 the Ganges on his voyage to Calcutta. November 
 the 3d Mrs. Thomason writes — ' Dear, dear Martyn 
 arrived, and we had the unspeakable delight of 
 seeing his face. The agitation I felt during the 
 whole morning was such as I never experienced 
 in India. Joy and sorrow alternately. Joy to 
 see him, sorrow for the occasion. In three or four 
 weeks he leaves us to go to sea for his health. He 
 is much altered, is thin and sallow, but he has the 
 
REV. THOBIAS THOMASON. 195 
 
 same loving heart. No tongue can tell w^hat a 
 refreshment the sight of him has been to us. I 
 should be thankful to be his nurse if he would 
 remain with us ; but one would wish him to try 
 every means, hoping that God may yet spare him 
 for a few years. — Martyn and I are both writing 
 under the same roof.' Her husband adds, address- 
 ing Mr. Simeon, 'This bright and lovely jewel 
 first gratified our eyes on Saturday last. He is on 
 his way to Arabia in pursuit of health and know- 
 ledge. You know his genius, and what gigantic 
 strides he takes in every thing. He has some 
 great plan in his mind, of which I am no compe- 
 tent judge. But as far as I do understand, the 
 object is far too grand for our short life, and much 
 beyond his feeble and exhausted frame. Feeble 
 indeed it is ! how fallen and changed ! his com- 
 plaint lies in the lungs, and appears to be incipient 
 consumption. But let us hope the sea air will 
 revive him, and that change of place and pursuit 
 may do him essential service, and continue his 
 life many years. In all other respects he is ex- 
 actly the same as he was: he shines in all the 
 dignity of love, and seems to carry about him such 
 a heavenly majesty as impresses the mind beyond 
 all description. But if he talks much, though in 
 a low voice, he sinks and you are reminded of his 
 being dust and ashes. — It would have filled your 
 eyes with tears to have seen dear when she 
 
196 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 saw him ; you know her smile and hearty counte- 
 nance, and eyes darting good-nature, but you 
 never saw them so called forth. We were all 
 filled with joy unspeakable, and blessed God for 
 the rich opportunity of loving intercourse. I im- 
 mediately put into his hand your long and affec- 
 tionate letter, in order that you might be of the 
 party. Martyn read it in the corner of the sofa, 
 
 sat by him, and I sat looking on : so the 
 
 letter was read and the tears flowed.' 
 
 Mr. Martyn's visit to Calcutta was as ointment 
 and perfume that rejoiceth the heart, in the family 
 of Mr. Thomason and of Mr. Brown. The Church 
 of God in that city also, derived lasting benefit 
 from his residence amongst them, transient as it 
 was. His sermon on behalf of the Bible Society 
 was of eminent service. His labours have revived 
 all. Mr. Thomason says, 'Our assemblies at 
 church are greater than ever was known : on 
 Christmas-day there were above 1200. The 
 hearts of many have been made glad ; he will 
 embark in a few days.' In a few hours after this 
 was written, Mr. Martyn had sailed for Persia, — 
 To spare the feelings of his brethren, as well as 
 his own, he departed suddenly without bidding 
 them farewell. As an angel of love and mercy 
 he had appeared amongst them — as an angel he 
 may be said to have vanished out of their sight. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 
 
 197 
 
 CHAPTER VIII. 
 
 The Calcutta Bible Society which in the previous 
 year had been framed and prepared, this year 
 commenced its navigation of charity. Well might 
 the friends of Christianity in the east call on 
 all that is within them to bless God's holy 
 name, when the first committee met ; Mr. 
 Harrington the chief judge of the native court, 
 being president ; Mr. Brown, secretary. The 
 day of their assembling, the 1st of February, 
 1811, was a day far more worthy of record than 
 any of those which shine on political considerations 
 in the annals of Indostan. 
 
 *We begin to see already,' Mr. Thomason 
 writes the following month, * effects of the opera- 
 tions of the Institution. An interest about the 
 Bible is excited — questions are asked — remarks 
 are made — misrepresentations abound, and the 
 thing is discussed — where all was a dead calm. 
 Men are attacked — they repel the blow. This 
 leads them to look into the Bible and its evidences. 
 It is delightful to observe the reaction and its 
 
 effects. Could you but spend one month and 
 
 17* 
 
198 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 examine the characters of our committee, you 
 would adore the providence of God who fashioneth 
 all their hearts. You cannot conceive how tremb- 
 lingly alive we have been during the organization 
 of this good work — there was so much to be 
 apprehended from the fears, indifference, and 
 prejudices of men. Great and marvellous are the 
 works of God : let us rejoice and be glad. It is 
 impossible to describe the joy I feel in contem- 
 plating the probable harvest of knowledge, piety, 
 and happiness which will arise from this institution 
 in this quarter of the globe. It gives greater 
 stability to our proceedings than the most splendid 
 conquests. Two other events of an exhilarating 
 character occurred not long after, both connected, 
 as was the establishment of this society, with the 
 name and labours of H. Martyn. Abdool Messee, 
 the keeper of the jewels of the king of Oude, hav- 
 ing listened to Mr. Martyn's public Hindoostanee 
 preaching in the open air at Caunpore, had dis- 
 covered the pearl of great price ; and his baptism 
 took place at Calcutta on Whitsunday. * Last 
 Sunday was a happy day,' Mr. Thomason wrote 
 with gladness of heart, 'and Mr. Brown, bap- 
 tised in my church an adult Mussulman. The 
 man had long given satisfactory evidence of his 
 conversion. His heart was first touched under 
 the ministry of dear Martyn. Hearing that a 
 sermon was preached in the Hindoostanee Ian- 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOIVIASON. 11)9 
 
 guage, Shoikt Sjilfih, (tfiat w.-is fiis nuriie) tliought 
 he would attend. IIo wont and was caugiit in 
 the net. The preacher began witfi reproof, and 
 ended witli the eonsolation of the gospel. The 
 holy strain of the former part of the discourse 
 filled him with solemn awe, and the gracious 
 promises of the latter, witfi a longing desire to 
 become ac(juaint(;d with Christ. He went away 
 serious. In reading over and writing out the 
 Persian translations of the gospels, his under- 
 standing became more fully informed, and his 
 heart more toucherl with the truths of God. lie 
 chosfi them, renouncing all his former errors, and 
 determined at all everits to be a servant of Jesus. 
 Without any solicitation from others, he soon dis- 
 covered that it was necessary he should be 
 baptised, and accordingly made application to 
 Martyn. After proper instruction and a full trials 
 at the end of fifteen months from his first hearing 
 Martyn, he was baptised. We gave notice to 
 those who were likely to be interested in the 
 matter, and a goodly number were assembled. 
 We shall not soon forget the day. We are full 
 of joy and hope. The work has been entirely 
 of (iod. Our new brother, now called Abdool 
 Mcissce, the servant of Christ, is humble and 
 grave, and quiet in his behaviour, and there seems 
 every reason to hope he will adorn his profession. 
 May such scenes become frequent amongst us !' 
 
200 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 The other cheering occurrence was this : — Mr. 
 Martyn's Hindoostanee New Testament was com- 
 mitted to the press. Concerning this great work 
 Mr. Thomason thus speaks : 
 
 ' The slip of paper inserted in one of your 
 
 letters concerning an observation of Dr. , 
 
 on Martyn's nicety of style, surprised me much. 
 It is not like the judgment of a scholar and critic. 
 Would not the Professor be ashamed of a false 
 concord or bad idiom in addressing the university ? 
 How can we be too attentive to these proprieties ? 
 How can we hope that any translation of the 
 Scriptures shall survive the lapse of ages, unless 
 the style be carefully attended to ? Bad style is 
 like bad poetry, soon forgotten or despised. 
 Accuracy and elegance combine to form a stand- 
 ard which is itself a great means of preserving 
 languages from decay. Martyn is justified by ex- 
 perience. He has in his Hindoostanee translation 
 of the New Testament finished a work which will 
 last, for it is a model of elegant writing as well as 
 of faithful translation ; it is so faithful as to repre- 
 sent with scrupulous accuracy the whole meaning ; 
 yet not so elegant, but that any one acquainted 
 with the language, can read it with ease. That 
 honoured and beloved labourer is now at Shiraz, 
 busied about a Persian translation of the New Tes- 
 tament. What may we not expect from him if God 
 should be pleased to spare his life a few years V 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOMASON. 201 
 
 To crown this felicity, Mr. Thomason had the 
 inexpressible joy of seeing his ministry prosper. 
 The vineyard from the first had given a pleasant 
 smell, and the fig-tree had put forth its buds; 
 fruit also was visible — now to the vivid satisfaction 
 of the patient labourer it was more abundant. ' It 
 would fill your heart,' he tells Mr. Simeon, ' with 
 joy to see us here. Whatever reason we have had 
 formerly to see the hand of God in our coming to 
 India, has been greatly increased of late. New 
 scenes of usefulness open ; my hands are now 
 quite full, and through mercy, I see the gradual 
 operation of a gospel ministry. Some persons 
 of late have been brought to a serious concern for 
 their souls. Those who were once scoflfers, hear 
 and weep, and endeavour to promote the cause 
 they formerly despised; and our own people, 
 which is a great mercy, and received as an answer 
 to prayer, are more united amongst each other.' — 
 All this w^as the more encouraging, because no 
 one could have a more lively sense than Mr. 
 Thomason, of the weight of his oflice, of the 
 arduousness of its execution, and of the obstacles 
 that beset a minister in India. On these subjects 
 he again disclosed his sentiments to Mr. Simeon : 
 * I feel the necessity of a close and diligent reading 
 of the Scriptures. It is impossible to occupy the 
 teacher's chair with advantage to our hearers, 
 except we are very much engaged in experimental 
 
202 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 reading of the Scriptures ourselves. O what trea- 
 sures are to be found in the word of God. Blessed 
 be God for a little sense of them ! — would that I 
 could give my whole heart and soul to them. But 
 I am as yet only on the surface of things ; this 
 at the age of thirty-seven. God knoweth I de- 
 plore my ignorance, and count myself to be a mere 
 novice, and feel unspeakably unworthy to preach 
 Christ to lost sinners. I want to have my heart 
 warmed with his love. But oh, my exceeding 
 vileness and hardness of heart ! Were I not 
 assured of your tender affection, I could not write 
 thus : at such a distance we ought to communi- 
 cate with each other in strains of grateful praise 
 and love. To which, with all my unprofitableness, 
 I am led, when I think of the amazing riches of 
 his grace. 
 
 'Now, my beloved brother, go on to write to 
 me. I never needed so much the kind commu- 
 nications of a Christian friend and brother, — The 
 state of society here, and the state of the climate, 
 oppose difficulties which you can hardly appre- 
 ciate if described. The climate has influence 
 upon one's natural sloth in a thousand ways ; and 
 society is so constituted, that we are opposed at 
 every step by the pride of rank and office, and 
 colour, to a degree surpassing all conception. 
 Had I chosen to live here in the state and dignity 
 of chaplain, my path would have been easy, but 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 203 
 
 in the attempt at a parochial line of labour, 
 the difficulties are prodigious. I find my heart 
 sick sometimes and learn the drift of that 
 verse in Ecclesiastes, " that which is crooked 
 cannot be made straight." In England, different 
 classes coalesce easily: here, even after religion 
 has its decided hold on a man, he remembers his 
 little insulated sphere, and finds it hard to be 
 cordial with those who are above him, or with 
 those who are beneath him : not with those above 
 him, the pride of the great produces a reaction 
 in the lower order; not with those below him, 
 for obvious reasons. To relieve myself from 
 such painful inconsistencies, I find the best 
 practical remedy is to be much in company 
 with the most wretched, the diseased, the 
 poor, the sick and dying. These are thankful 
 to hear the words of life. I have much comfort 
 at times with the poor invalid soldiers in the 
 hospital. About fifty attend, and I visit them 
 twice, on Tuesday and Friday evenings. With 
 respect to the sick — the miserable sick people in 
 this truly miserable place — I mourn over myself 
 and them; I go rather with the hope of good 
 to myself than to them. So rich is the mercy 
 of God, and so precious the service of our master, 
 some of the happiest moments I enjoy are in going 
 to, or returning from, these unhappy creatures.' 
 The years 1812 and 1813 were to Mr. Thoma- 
 
204 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 son years of mourning beyond experience or 
 expression. Sorrow upon sorrow rolled in on 
 him — his only consolation was to look upwards 
 through the window in the ark, which did not allow 
 his eye to rest upon the swelling waves. The 
 year 1812 was ushered in by an earthquake, of 
 which he says, ' It was preceded by a loud noise, 
 the house shook ; the oil in the lamps on the walls 
 was thrown out ; the birds made a frightful noise ; 
 the natives ran from their houses, calling on the 
 names of their gods ; the sensation is most awful ; 
 we read the forty-sixth psalm. This fearful 
 prodigy was succeeded by that desolating 
 disaster, the Serampore fire. I could scarcely 
 believe the report; it was like a blow on the 
 head which stupifies. I flew to Serampore to 
 witness the desolation. The scene was indeed 
 affecting. The immense printing office, two 
 hundred feet long, and fifty broad, reduced to a 
 mere shell. The yard covered with burnt quires 
 of paper, the loss in which article was immense. 
 Carey walked with me over the smoking ruins. 
 The tears stood in his eyes. * In one short even- 
 ing,' said he, ' the labours of years are consumed. 
 How unsearchable are the ways of God ! I had 
 lately brought some things to the utmost perfec- 
 tion, of which they seemed capable, and con- 
 templated the missionary establishment with, 
 perhaps, too much self- congratulation. The 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON, 205 
 
 Lord has laid me loio, that I may look mjore simply 
 to him^ 'Who could stand in such a place,' he 
 asks, ' at such a time, with such a man, without 
 feelings of sharp regret, and solemn exercise of 
 mind. I saw the ground strewed with half- 
 consumed paper, on which in the course of a 
 very few months, the words of life would have 
 been printed. The metal under our feet amidst 
 the ruins was melted into mis-shapen lumps — the 
 sad remains of beautiful types consecrated to the 
 service of the sanctuary. All was smiling and 
 promising a few hours before — now all is vanished 
 into smoke and converted into rubbish !' — adding 
 with self-application, — ' Return now to thy books, 
 regard God in all thou doest. Learn Arabic with 
 humility. Let God be exalted in all thy plans, 
 and purposes, and labours ; he can do without thee.' 
 Another severe affliction was the rapidly de- 
 clining health, and subsequent death of that 
 eminent servant of the Lord, Mr. Brown, who 
 for the space of seven and twenty years . had 
 preached the pure, unadulterated gospel of his 
 Redeemer, and had been an ornament, intellec- 
 tually and spiritually to the Church of England. 
 He was the father of the Bible Society in India, 
 and to him it was owing, that H. Martyn, who 
 venerated and loved him, brought the Hindoos- 
 tanee version to a successful termination. He 
 began to sicken in the spring, and before the hot 
 18 
 
206 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 season had expended its strength and fury, he 
 was where the sun could not light on him, nor 
 any heat, and was led by the Lamb to the living 
 fountains of waters. To Mr. Thomason was 
 assigned the task of preaching his funeral ser- 
 mon. Concerning Mr. Brown's disinterestedness, 
 Mr. Thomason, who from happy consciousness 
 could well estimate this attractive quality, taking 
 his text from John iv. 35 — 38. observes, he 
 possessed a soul superior to sordid views — in 
 proof of this we appeal to his labour in this 
 church. It was well known he undertook its 
 duties without any prospect of pecuniary emolu- 
 ment, and continued to preach Christ here during 
 the long period of twenty-four years, under great 
 discouragements, without the smallest remuneration 
 for his labours, except what arose from his love 
 to the work, and the hope of gathering fruit unto 
 eternal life. So far from being enriched by the 
 church, he was ever forward in contributing to its 
 support. His memory is blessed. He now 
 receiveth his wages. 
 
 Those who are acquainted with Mr. Brown's 
 labours, have seen an example of patient con- 
 tinuance in well doing. He maintained his post 
 here, under circumstances that would have dis- 
 mayed others who possessed not the same humble 
 dependence upon God. The attendance at first 
 consisted of no more than two or three families ; 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 207 
 
 stiJl this faithful servant kept his course, and he 
 lived to see much encouraging fruit of his labours. 
 About two months before his decease, he wrote 
 in pencil some recollections, which contain an 
 account of the consolations he enjoyed in his low 
 estate. — ' March 22. Prostration of strength to the 
 utmost degree, without the least check to the 
 disease. I feel myself to be sinking fast. I said 
 my times are in thy hand. I ascended into the 
 chamber of the divine attributes, and had a pleasing 
 assurance that Jehovah is good : that great is the 
 Lord, and of great power, and that his under- 
 standing is infinite, and I rejoiced in his sove- 
 reignty. He made me sensible that for aught I 
 know, that very day was the best for my dissolu- 
 tion. I was persuaded that if it were his w ill, that 
 very day were best in all respects, how much 
 soever appearances might be contrary : that it 
 would be best for my soul, whose dealings I could 
 commit to Christ, and even the best for my family, 
 dark and very stormy as the dispensation must 
 appear within, and awfully afflictive. Thus my 
 view of God in Christ, delivered me from depres- 
 sion of mind ; from all fear that hath torment, and 
 from apprehension of evil of every kind, both with 
 respect to mind, body, and estate. I could trust 
 all confidently with God. Nor was the adversary 
 permitted to assault me for a moment. Isa. lix. 9. 
 assures me of mercy infinite : " as the heavens are 
 
208 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than 
 your ways, and my thoughts than your thoughts.'* 
 
 My crimes are great, but not surpass, 
 The power and glory of thy grace. 
 Great God, thy nature hath no bound, 
 So let thy pardoning love be found. 
 
 * The glory of Christ and his kingdom occupied 
 iny thoughts: my heart prayed, thy kingdom 
 come. Thou art worthy, liOrd, to receive all 
 glory, and honour, and power. Come, Lord Jesus, 
 come quickly, with power and great glory ; come 
 to be glorified in thy saints, and to be admired in 
 all those that believe. Thus have I been sup- 
 ported and cheered during the whole period of my 
 failing strength. " O give thanks unto the Lord, 
 for his mercy endureth for ever." 
 
 ' My excessive weakness, and subsequent trials 
 commenced on Palm Sunday, and continued all 
 the week. The Saviour's progress through the 
 week of his passion was the comforting subject 
 of my meditations. I thought over all the circum- 
 stances of the gospel history with thankfulness. 
 Every fact, and every word, the work of every 
 day, were precious to me, and I kept my thoughts 
 to the business of each day, particularly to the 
 transactions of Thursday and Friday — the supper 
 — the agony — the cross. Precious are the thoughts 
 of these things. The Lord Jesus the Son of God, 
 died for sinners, that he might take away the sting 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMPSON. 209 
 
 of death, and procure for us the hope of a joyful 
 resurrection. Easter day — my strength scarcely 
 returned ; my heart rejoiced in him who is the 
 resurrection and the life. My only prayer was, 
 that I might see his glory, and speak of him, and 
 that he w ould glorify himself in me, in my soul 
 and body, living and dying. March 30. Easter 
 Monday — I was asked if I could hear good news, 
 and was told of the formation of a Bible Society 
 in Ceylon. I could not refrain from tears of joy. 
 I called for the Hebrev/ Psalter, and heard the 
 103d Psalm deliberately read over. Then I 
 turned back to the 20th verse. " Bless the Lord, 
 
 ye angels of his that excel in strength." This 
 
 1 repeated the whole day, calling on the angels 
 who excel in strength, for as yet I had little or 
 none to praise Jehovah. 
 
 ' The Hebrew Psalter has been very precious 
 to me. The 130th w^as deeply interesting, above 
 all the penitential psalms. I paused at the 
 8th verse of the 143d Psalm. 1 found there 
 what I wanted ; there I fixed and fastened, and 
 greatly blessed and answered were the words 
 which the Lord the spirit enabled me to reiterate 
 in the ears of my Advocate with the Father. 
 Cause me to know the way wherein I should 
 walk, for 1 lift up my soul to thee. My prayer 
 through the whole of my sickness has been, that 
 if my life be spared a little longer, it might be 
 18* 
 
210 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 wholly consecrated and devoted to the glor\' of 
 God : but I know not the way, and could promise 
 nothing of myself, but only in the strength and 
 grace of Christ. I discovered the way in which, 
 if God enabled me to walk, then will my prayer 
 be answered. Psalms xxxvii. 31. " The law of 
 his God is in his heart, none of his steps shall 
 slide." This I perceive to be the only infallible 
 rule for safe and sure walking. The law of holi- 
 ness in the heart : the law written in the heart by 
 the Spirit of the Lord. All must be a heavenly 
 gift, coming down from the Father of mercies. 
 I have said nothing about the comfort some pro- 
 fess to derive from the reflection of their having 
 done well. God has not put it into my mouth to 
 say Here am I, a profitable servant, worthy of 
 the kingdom of heaven ; but to cry, " God be 
 merciful to me, a sinner." When, Lord, have we 
 come up to our duties ; loved thee as thou 
 requirest ; sened thee as w^e ought, or done any 
 thing worthy of thy notice or reward ? * 
 
 In an address to one of his people, twelve 
 years ago is the following record — ' Upon a care- 
 ful review of the doctrines I have taught from the 
 pulpit, I find them to agree with Scripture and 
 experience, and 1 have no doubt of their truth. 
 They are as the sun before me, and it is all 
 my desire to live and die with them. Thougii I 
 speak of doctrines, there is but one doctrine, out 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOMASOX. 211 
 
 of which all the rest arise. I know nothing but 
 Jesus Christ and him crucified. JTc is the foun- 
 dation, the corner stone, the way, the truth, the 
 life, the hope, the refuge, the bread of life, the 
 consolation of Israel. O sweet name of Jesus ! 
 says 8t. Bernard, it is honey in the mouth, 
 melody in the ears, and healing to the heart. 
 This doctrine can only be learnt by experience, 
 and all our experience can only teach us this 
 doctrine ; all within us and without us is folly, 
 and vanity, and death. Sin has poisoned every 
 enjoyment. By reason of the curse, the whole 
 world has become a desert and void, in which 
 the soul is prone to seek rest, and can find none. 
 Sin has defiled the image of Cod, and opened the 
 door of the temple to every aliomination. What 
 can support us under these views, but Jesus 
 Christ crucified ? Here is wrath turned to grace. 
 The world wears a new face ; all things which 
 were against us, become for us, working together 
 for our good. The ills and the comforts of life, 
 all turn to lasting advantage. A weight of glory 
 is the fruit of every affliction, all is ours if we 
 are Christ's.' 
 
 Mr. Brown had not long entered into his rest, 
 when another affliction which had been suspended 
 unseen, like tempestuous clouds at midnight, 
 throughout the close of the year 1812, burst, in the 
 early part of the succeeding year, upon the Indian 
 
212 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 church. At Tocat, October 16, 1812, Henry 
 Mnrtyn expired, amidst strangers to his faith and 
 to his name. The tidings of this event so unex- 
 pected, so irreparable, so affecting in itself, in its 
 circumstances, and its consequences, saddened the 
 spirits of numbers in Calcutta, amongst whom Mr. 
 Thomason might be described as the chief and 
 niost heart-stricken mourner. A greater grief on 
 personal and general considerations he could not 
 have endured. He knew w^ell that when Heniy 
 Martyn sunk into his gra , a great man had fallen 
 in Israel. He felt keenly that the head of an en- 
 deared friend and brother was then low in the dust. 
 * Few,' he justly and emphatically exclaimed, ' have 
 reason to mourn individually as I have : with him 
 I hoped to spend my days in mutual deliberation 
 and united labour. Here in a short time he would 
 have been fixed, and hence w^e neither of us would 
 have wished to stir a foot. He has often said it 
 to me. I fondly counted on his return full fraught 
 with health and Arabic. On this his heart was 
 set, though not for itself It has pleased God to 
 remove him to the rest for which he had been 
 panting, and from which nothing but the love of 
 his work here would willingly have detained him. 
 With his presence in Calcutta, the Persian and 
 Arabic versions would have proceeded with spirit ; 
 he was so eminently qualified with all needful 
 endowments for a good translator. The great 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. S13 
 
 Head of the church lives, that is our consolation. 
 I have learnt more than ever what that Scripture 
 means, "Crease ye from man, whose breath is in 
 his nostrils." ' 
 
 *We are deeply wounded,' are his words in 
 another letter ; ' His walk was so grand, his labours 
 so important, his attainments so rare ! O how 
 fondly we counted upon his future labours ! hovr 
 the heart leaped for joy at the thought of Martyn's 
 successful career in Persia, and hoped-for return 
 to Calcutta. Here he hoped to return and spend 
 his days, having often said to us there was no spot 
 in the world so dear to him as Calcutta ; we res- 
 gponded with affection to his notes of love, and 
 panted with eager desire to see him. Often have 
 our petitions been offered up at our social meet- 
 ings for his preservation and success. Once espe- 
 cially the conversation at table was wholly 
 engrossed with Martyn, and the prayers which 
 followed were unusually fervent. The very nett 
 day we heard of the termination of his career. 
 
 ' You can judge ( t was a letter to Mr. Simeon) 
 of the extent of my disappointment and depth of 
 my sorrow. Here I had hoped to spend the 
 remainder of my days with that honoured minister, 
 participating his labours, administering to his 
 comforts, and roused by his example. But it has 
 pleased the great Head of the church to take him 
 to himself— it hath pleased Him, and dare we 
 
214 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 repine ? No event within my recollection has filled 
 me with so much sorrow, and caused so hard a 
 conflict between faith and unbelief, from which 
 I have learnt much of the idolatry of the heart, 
 and of its rebellious opposition to the will 
 of God. We idolized this rare creature : so the 
 Lord has removed him, and taught us more simple 
 dependence upon himself. The experience has 
 been bitter, the ultimate fruit I hope will be sweet 
 Our great Head remains, and He shall see of the 
 travail of His soul and be satisfied. If He is satis- 
 fied we may well be so ; who knows how He may 
 bless us in our bereaved state ? 
 
 * Where are all those zealous young men who 
 assembled in your Town Hall and helped forward 
 your Biblical Associations? O that they would 
 take the map of India in their hands.. O that the 
 Lord would dispose their hearts to look upon this 
 immense country with Christian tenderness and 
 compassion. — The labourers must be disposed 
 to cheerfulness — a melancholy turn of mind is 
 highly unfavourable in India. The climate itself 
 depresses more than you can conceive. In all 
 your estimates of characters let cheerfulness be 
 considered an essential requisite. 
 
 * The Government have of late been remarkably 
 strict in lookincp after missionaries. The result of 
 a long correspondence has been, the dismissing of 
 some from the country ; and this in the age of tole- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 215 
 
 ranee ! At an enormous expense these good people 
 are going home, whose resources are all drawn 
 from the pockets of the poor.' 
 
 Mr. Thomason's veneration as well as affection 
 for Mr. Martyn was exalted, and was equalled only 
 by the low opinion his humility led him to enter- 
 tain of himself. On hearing shortly before his 
 friend's decease that their two names had been 
 joined at a public meeting in England, he thus 
 expressed himself. ' A few days ago I was favoured 
 with the sight of a London paper, which gave an 
 account of the 8th anniversary of the Bible Society. 
 It was impossible to express what I felt on this 
 occasion. Joy, thankfulness, wonder, praise — the 
 heart labours — all words are weak to convey the 
 effects of these good tidings in this distant land. 
 One thing only I do truly lament, that my name 
 should have been coupled with Martyn's in Mr. 
 Simeon's speech. It was a very unbecoming union 
 of names. Pray let all who love me be silent. 
 My desire is that they would not mention my 
 name. Why may I not be gratified ? I have no 
 right to be mentioned with that honoured servant 
 of God. I am ashamed to think of it, and scarcely 
 know how to lift up my head. God be merciful 
 to me, and give me a heart for His work. O that 
 my soul could rise up to meet the occasion, and 
 that there were some little correspondence between 
 my diligence and the need there is for diligence.' 
 
'216 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 From the period of Mr. Brown's lamented 
 departure in 1812, till the close of the succeeding 
 year, when Mr. Thomason obtained, after count- 
 less difficulties, an assistant in his church, his 
 labours were unusually great. Pastoral concerns, 
 his prime and most pleasant employment, were 
 prosecuted assiduously; from these, nothing was 
 suffered to divert him, but unhappily there was no 
 one to share the burden. Besides these duties he 
 was engaged in revising the Arabic version of the 
 scriptures, with Sabat, and in conducting through 
 the press H. Martyn's Hindoostanee New Testa- 
 ment. He executed also, at the desire of the 
 government, the office of Examiner in Arabic, in 
 the college at Fort William ; and as if this were 
 not enough, he was preparing futher work for him- 
 self by inviting the Church Missionary Society to 
 place two missionaries in his house, whom he 
 undertook to instruct gratuitously in oriental litera- 
 ture. But the project, that, of all others, lay 
 nearest his heart, was the establishment of native 
 schools ; and, as a preparatory step, a school for 
 schoolmasters. Earnestly intent as he was upon 
 the advancement of the religion of Jesus Christ in 
 India, it will readily be supposed that amongst 
 those who were wounded at the measure dealt out 
 to those eminent servants of Christ, the American 
 missionaries, Messrs. Judson and Newell, by our 
 East Indian government at the end of 1812, no one 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 217 
 
 was more deeply affected than Mr. Thomason. 
 Calm and placid, and almost imperturbable in 
 his temper — to see those men of God peremptorily 
 dismissed from a land of idolatry, blindness, and 
 pollution, was to him a trial of patience inexpres- 
 sibly severe. They had turned their backs upon 
 their native country, they had passed through 
 many a peril, and endured many a pang, to 
 impart the gospel to our beniglited fellow-sub- 
 jects; but after a short residence in India, and 
 after a conduct against which nothing could be 
 excepted, they were summarily ordered to depart. 
 Whilst the priests of the foul and debasing rites 
 of Juggernaut were countenanced, the revenue 
 being increased by their abominations, these self- 
 denying, devoted servants of the Redeemer, were 
 driven from those shores to which love alone, 
 of the most exalted order and of the purest 
 description, had brought them. Not long, how- 
 ever, after the shameful dismission of these 
 Christian ministers, the friends of true religion 
 in England, to the unspeakable joy of Mr. 
 Thomason, and of all others of the same spirit in 
 the east, rose up as one man to claim permission 
 of the government to make known the Saviour's 
 name in those dark and neglected territories. 
 On the renewal of the East India Company's 
 charter, the tables of the two Houses of Parlia- 
 ment were loaded with petitions to that effect. 
 19 
 
218 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Testimonies also were given at the bar of the 
 House of Commons most favourable to the 
 petitioners. On the opposite side, ideal phantas- 
 magoric figures, were exhibited to alarm and 
 deter; but these disappeared gradually as the 
 light was let in on that darkened part of the stage. 
 Lord Teignmouth, formerly governor-general of 
 India, stood forth, an able and most powerful 
 witness for India, showing on the one hand 
 England's incontestable obligations, and on the 
 other, the security in which they might be 
 fulfilled. The Marquis of Wellesley also in the 
 House of Lords, advocated all prudent attempts 
 to promote Christianity in the east. His speech 
 was calculated to convince all who were not 
 steeled against conviction. ' With regard to 
 missionaries, he never knew of any danger arising 
 from them ; he never heard of any convulsions or 
 alarms produced by them. Some of them were 
 learned men, and were employed in the college of 
 Bengal. He had always considered them as a 
 quiet, discreet, and learned body; and he had 
 employed them in the education of youth, and 
 translations ; more particularly in translating the 
 Scriptures into the eastern languages.' 
 
 Of the plan of native schoolmasters, Mr. Thom- 
 ason says with warmth and energy, but with the 
 coolness of considerate wisdom, * This school 
 would be a noble establishment. I despair of 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 219 
 
 seeing any great good done in a place where the 
 objects of ignorance and vice are innunnerable, 
 until some such institution has been formed. But 
 I fear it would not suit the adventurous and grand 
 and dashing spirit of the age. The good people 
 of England would suppose that a free school 
 containing 1000 children, must be tenfold more 
 productive than one containing 24 children, not 
 considering the great importance of having one 
 schoolmaster, they would suppose the money 
 almost wasted. Schoolmasters must be made 
 here, not in England. Those in England expect 
 more pay, and can bear less fatigue, and must be 
 formed here after their arrival. Much is to be 
 learned before they can labour here efficiently. 
 The thing to be most earnestly prayed for is, that 
 government would support this establishment. It 
 would be a noble item of expenditure. The 
 benefit would be distant, at present scarcely per- 
 ceptible, but future generations would arise and 
 call us blessed. This plan has been long in my 
 mind. It is far from being new, but in this place 
 the application of it to practice is very difficult, 
 arising partly from localities which it is not 
 easy to explain to an European, and partly from 
 the indolent spirit of the place, and partly 
 from the great paucity of efficient labourers. 
 The Lord reigneth, let the earth rejoice ; sure 
 we are, that good that is done upon earth, he 
 
220 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 doeth it, and when he acts, none can stay his 
 hand; 
 
 Mr. Thomason's feelings, which had been so 
 much hurt on account of the usage of the Amer- 
 ican missionaries, were soothed by a vote of the 
 government in the year 1813, of a kind quite new 
 in India, and supplying an auspicious omen of a 
 policy congenial with the character of a nation 
 professedly Christian. Thirteen of the most 
 respectable people in Calcutta, signed a public 
 address to government, petitioning for the Bible 
 in behalf of the Malays. ' Thanks be to God,' he 
 exclaimed, *for this great thing, great and novel 
 in India: whatever you may all feel about this 
 matter, who are surrounded on all sides with 
 Tigorous societies, and zealous combinations of 
 Christians. The government in reply, acknow- 
 ledged that the thing was laudable and important, 
 and promised 10,000 Rupees, about £1250, in 
 aid of the printing an edition of the Malay Bible. 
 To be very earnest on spiritual subjects, and to 
 wait patiently, is no common attainment. In the 
 genuine spirit of humiliation, Mr. Thomason, 
 seeing at present but little good effected amongst 
 the heathen in Calcutta, whilst he continued 
 praying for that city, reverted often for con- 
 solation to Agra. There, together with Abdool 
 Messee's exertions, his friend and brother Mr. 
 Corrie's efforts were stamped with marked success. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 221 
 
 Concerning Mr. Corrie and his labours he uses 
 these terms : ' He wins all hearts, European as 
 well as native. My soul greatly rejoiceth in the 
 good that is doing there, and when I look around 
 and see the comparatively barren fields of Calcutta, 
 I rejoice in the waving crops of Agra. You have 
 scarcely an idea of his valuable qualities and 
 fitness for Indian labour. He is patient, humble, 
 mild, full of love, always alive to his work, apt 
 to teach, ever on the look out, richly furnished 
 with argument and exhortation and holy unction. 
 Having seen much of him lately, now he is at a 
 distance, the remembrance of him is sweet. His 
 very image does me good. Abdool is another 
 Corrie, with a prodigious store of eloquence and 
 practical wisdom.' 
 
 The appearance of a new Governor General in 
 India has a sensible effect upon the still surface of 
 an Indian life. Nor is the excitement it occasions 
 of short continuance ; it requires time before things 
 can subside into their ordinary quiescence. Like 
 steel filings when the magnet is introduced, at such 
 a moment all is motion and attraction ; multitudes 
 are considering the aspect it may have on their 
 own private interests; others are enquiring, their 
 affections being set on things above, what will be 
 its bearing on questions of everlasting moment. 
 In the middle of October, 1813, the Earl of Moira 
 arrived at Fort William; and whilst the guns 
 19* 
 
222 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 were announcing that, he was in the midst of those 
 he was to govern, Mr. Thomason with many other 
 Christians was revolving whether a revocation 
 might be obtained of that cruel edict which had 
 expelled some missionaries, and had driven 
 others to the outskirts of the empire. * Our new 
 Governor General,' 'Mr. Thomason says, 'is 
 arrived. Hope is revived. His language will 
 not I hope be altered by the climate of India. 
 He comes with noble intentions and great prom- 
 ises. What he will do cannot be conjectured — 
 but he is about to be put to a hard trial. The 
 late Governor having peremptorily ordered all the 
 missionaries away who came from America, they 
 went to Bombay. There a government order fol- 
 lowed them, commanding Sir Evan Nepean to send 
 them off by the first opportunity. Sir Evan is 
 their friend, but cannot resist authority. Mr. 
 XJdney, Dr. Carey, and myself, are about to pre- 
 pare a memorial to the new government on the 
 subject, entreating permission for the missionaries 
 to reside quietly in the country. We should not 
 have chosen so early and strong a test of Lord 
 Moira's principles, if we had been left to our own 
 judgment. But the ship in which the dear mission- 
 aries are ordered away is on the point of sailing. 
 If speedy exertion be not made, they will be gone. 
 May it please God to touch the heart of the 
 Governor General and incline him to comply with 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOMASON. 2*23 
 
 our request ! They are good men, full of zeal, ripe 
 for usefulness — the harvest great. The expense 
 of their journeying already is enormous — what a 
 reproach that a Christian government should turn 
 them back, and sport with the best interests of its 
 subjects ! 
 
 Ineffectual was this earnest appeal of Christian 
 brethren. Messrs. Nott and Hall were compelled 
 to leave India, and whilst withdrawing from a 
 land which was not worthy of them, they put 
 forth this vindication of their characters and 
 principles. It was addressed to Sir Evan Nepean. 
 
 " We looked upon the heathen — and alas ! 
 though so many had passed away, three-fourths of 
 the inhabitants of the globe had not been told 
 that Jesus " had tasted death for every man." 
 We saw them following their fathers in successive 
 millions to eternal death. The view was over- 
 whelming — the convictions of our own duty were 
 as clear as noon — and our desire was ardent to 
 bear to the dying heathen, the glad tidings 
 of great joy. Affected and convinced as we 
 were — though fastened to our country by the 
 strongest ties ; though we had aged parents to 
 comfort, and beloved friends to enjoy ; though 
 urged by affectionate congregations to stay and 
 preach the gospel to them — we were compelled 
 to leave all, and come to this land with the 
 prospect of no temporal advantage, but with the 
 
224 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 prospect, nay certainty, of much temporal loss 
 and even suffering, should our lot be cast under 
 a heathen government. We were determined to 
 deliver our message, at the hazard of every per- 
 sonal convenience of suffering, trusting in God, 
 who guides the ways of all men, and willing to 
 abide his allotments. 
 
 " Confident as we are of none other but the best 
 intentions, we most earnestly hope, and anxiously 
 desire and pray, that the time may not be distant, 
 when we shall be freed from the painful duty 
 of vindicating ourselves, and then shall enter 
 with joy and thanksgiving upon that work for 
 which we are already strangers and pilgrims, and 
 have no certain dwelling-place ; but the matter 
 rests with God : on him we will endeavour quietly 
 and patiently to wait ; to him we will look to 
 bear us through our present trials, to publish his 
 own gospel to the dying heathen, and to honour 
 his dishonoured Son among all nations.'' 
 
 Mr. Thomason's efforts proving to be without 
 avail, they left this solemn expostulation with the 
 Governor of Bombay, not as an individual, but 
 as the organ of an authority in their judgment 
 at variance with the injunctions of Christ. It 
 was written in the spirit of the apostles, who 
 'departed from the council;' and could scarcely 
 be read by those in power, without raising the 
 thrilling emotions of admiration, regret, and shame. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 225 
 
 "We would solemnly appeal to your Excel- 
 lency's conscience, and ask, Does not your 
 Excellency believe that it is the v^ill of Christ, 
 that his gospel should be preached to these 
 heathens? Do you not believe that we have 
 given a credible testimony that we are ministers 
 of Christ, and have come to this country to preach 
 His gospel Would not prohibiting us from 
 preaching here be a known resistance to his will 1 
 Can you justify such an exercise of your power 
 to your God and final Judge ? 
 
 "It is our ardent wish that your Excellency 
 would compare most, seriously such an exercise 
 of civil authority with the general spirit and tenor 
 of our Saviour's commands. We most earnestly 
 entreat you not to send us away from these 
 heathens. We entreat you by the time and money 
 already expended on our mission ; by the Chris- 
 tian hopes and prayers attending it, we entreat 
 you by the spiritual misery of the heathen daily 
 perishing before your eyes ; we entreat you by 
 the blood of Jesus, which was shed to redeem 
 them ; as ministers of Him who has all power in 
 heaven and earth, and who with his farewell and 
 ascending voice, commanded his ministers to go 
 and teach all nations, we entreat you not to pro- 
 hibit us from teaching these heathens. By all 
 the principles of our holy religion by which you 
 hope to be saved, we entreat you not to prevent 
 
226 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 US from preaching the same religion to these per- 
 ishing idolaters. By all the solemnities of the 
 judgment day, when your Excellency must meet 
 your heathen subjects before God's tribunal, we 
 entreat you not to hinder us from preaching to 
 them that gospel, which is able to prepare them, 
 as well as you, for that awful day." 
 
 Mr. Thomason's interference in behalf of these 
 men of God, though unsuccessful, was far from 
 prejudicing him in the eyes of the Governor 
 General. He often attended the mission-church, 
 notwithstanding its unfashionable character, and 
 appointed its minister to perform stated service at 
 Barrackpoor, his own country residence ; he fixed 
 upon him also to accompany him as chaplain in a 
 journey of state through the provinces ; and as a 
 yet further proof of the manner in which he appre- 
 ciated his talents and judgment, he commissioned 
 him in the early part of 1814 to draw up and sub- 
 mit to the government a plan for the education of 
 the Indian population. He granted permission 
 likewise to Mr. Thomason to have the labours of 
 his assistant made permanent^ a measure which he 
 more highly prized than any personal favour in 
 the power of the Governor General to grant. 
 
 * Public and private duties,' he WTites, * in- 
 crease upon me. Where there is too much 
 burden, part must be neglected, and very 
 much imperfectly sustained. I see so many 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 227 
 
 things undone, and so many things ill-done, I am 
 continually sighing for help. Relief I trust is near. 
 This important field of labour will not, I hope, be 
 left unprovided with labourers. It seems strange 
 that young men have not been more ready to fol- 
 low up the work of God in India. Perhaps the 
 danger of the sea and climate are overrated. They 
 are not so fordmidable as timid people consider 
 them. But even if they were, when we see them 
 continually encountered in the pursuit of honour 
 and wealth, it is somewhat reproachful that pious 
 students of the ministry should be deterred. Last 
 Thursday I finished my lectures on St. John ; — 
 I have been four years and a-half in going through 
 that edifying gospel ; and I may add, with thank- 
 fulness to the great Head of the Church, not with- 
 out many cheering tokens of his presence. Our 
 congregation on Thursday evening evidently im- 
 proves. On Sunday evenings too we are well 
 filled, in the mornings we have a regular congre- 
 gation. Whilst the power of religion is progressive 
 among Europeans, it is matter of great joy to see 
 that the work prospers in different parts of the 
 country. The Scriptures are in continual motion, 
 in different languages and with increasing success. 
 To God be the glory. It is surprising how all 
 domestic arrangements on your side of the water 
 and ours dwindle into insignificance. It seems a 
 matter of unspeakable indifference whether our 
 
228 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 children are in town or country, in India or 
 in England, or what becomes of them and our- 
 selves, provided we are all at our posts, serving 
 the Lord in our respective spheres, living to his 
 glory, and labouring for his cause. Then all 
 prospers. We sometimes feel however as if we 
 should like to have all things our own way — many 
 Martyns — a host of Corries — daily conversions.' 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 229 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 The expedition of the Governor General through 
 British India, which vs^as conducted upon a scale 
 of more than common magnificence, could not but 
 supply matter of continual interest to Mr. Thom- 
 ason, but the true Christian — still more the Christ- 
 ian minister and missionary beholds all around 
 him, as he does all within, in the light of the word 
 of God. What to the king of old appeared a 
 golden image, to the prophet was as four beasts 
 coming out of a tempestuous ocean. Many cir- 
 cumstances conspired to make Mr. Thomason 
 undertake this voyage of eight hundred miles, 
 succeeded by a journey of fifteen hundred. 
 Change of scene and of climate was likely to 
 prove exhilarating and reviving ; new and less 
 fatiguing duties were advantageous — his church 
 was to undergo repair, his flock was superintended 
 by one in whom he had confidence ; and he ex- 
 pected, not without reason, in accompanying the 
 Governor General, to obtain much information 
 concerning the education of the natives, and to 
 enjoy the most favourable opportunities of urg- 
 20 
 
230 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 ing his lordship's attention to their wretched 
 condition. He could not, however, leave an 
 affectionate people for the long period contem- 
 plated without pain ; of w^hich, perhaps, he was 
 more than usually susceptible, from a recent 
 excitement of his sensibilities in sending his 
 eldest son to England. Concerning that event, 
 he thus expresses himself — ' The bracing air of 
 Europe we hope will do him good ; how greatly 
 shall I rejoice, if he should prove willing, and 
 qualified to follow his father to India, and labour 
 here in the gospel. But this is with the Lo>d. 
 / dare not plan ; hut blessed be God, I can 'pray. 
 I cannot convey to you what his poor mother felt ; 
 my own pangs seem to have been forgotten in her's. 
 O it was a bitter parting ! However, it is now 
 over, and we both acquiesce in the step as wise 
 and proper. It is one of the greatest parental 
 duties to send him home — can a parent then 
 hesitate?' 
 
 To his mother at Chatpoor Ghaut, June 23, 
 1814, Mr. Thomason thus writes when on the 
 point of commencing his projected tour ; * Whilst 
 Mr. Robertson takes care of my church, I am 
 proceeding on a new work, under very new cir- 
 cumstances. The Governor's party is very large ; 
 near 500 boats attended him. He is splendid and 
 stately, and his march through the country 
 will be more magnificent than that of any pre- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 231 
 
 ceding Governor. The opportunity of seeing 
 the country, and conversing with every person 
 of intelligence and piety may be highly important. 
 I mean to keep the grand object in view, the 
 formation and execution of school plans. Sabat, 
 the translator, accompanies me ; our Arabic version 
 therefore continues, and the proof sheets follow us 
 up the country. My public ministerial work will 
 be one service on Sundays, in the family boat of 
 the Governor General, to which the party will 
 have access. Corrie has been again attacked with 
 his old complaint. He wrote to me a fortnight 
 ago, begging my advice as to his going home. I 
 could not hesitate to recommend the measure; 
 strongly as we shall feel and mourn, yet for as 
 much as the work of Christ is the most blessed 
 of all works, it is fit that he should flee, that his 
 precious life may be prolonged for future good. 
 I expect we shall meet on the river; when we 
 come to his widowed church at Agra, we shall 
 find sorrow, where we looked for joy. Corrie 
 goes, who is the leader, the pattern, the father. 
 O, when shall we see more labourers arrive in our 
 vineyard ! Yet we rejoice in the Lord's presence, 
 and believing that he acts in a manner to us invis- 
 ible and inscrutable, we can look to him through 
 the gloom, and go forward with hope. I felt 
 much at parting with the dear people ; the aflfec- 
 tion of many was called forth. On the last two 
 
232 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Thursdays evenings, I have been taking leave; 
 conceiving that the important concern for us all 
 is to see that we have the grace of God in truth, 
 and walk consistently with such a profession, I 
 spoke on the parable of the virgins for the former 
 subject, on that of the talents for the latter, con- 
 cluding on Sunday with a sermon on following 
 peace and holiness. On these occasions I have 
 delivered my whole soul, and now looking back on 
 my ministry, I mourn over its unprofitableness. O 
 that the blessing of God may come down on Mr. 
 Robertson, and prosper his ministry ! separate in 
 body, I am still with him and his flock in spirit ; 
 if spared to return to my charge, may I come to 
 it in more life, and love, and earnestness.' 
 
 On the 7th of August, beyond Monghir, he 
 thus addressed J. Sherer, Esq. one of his congre- 
 gation at Calcutta, for whom his Christian love 
 had an unusual ardency. 'Mr. Simeon's letter 
 contains an account of the death of our dear friend, 
 Dr. Jo we It, whose loss cast a mournful solemnity 
 over the anniversary of the Bible Society. That 
 very interesting account I sent by Sabat, who left 
 
 me at Monghir. — The divinity of Dr. is very 
 
 poor indeed; we are justified by faith alone, but 
 then the good works are foreseen, and therefore 
 grace imparted ! — The intelligence from home is 
 most gratifying. Young men are continually com- 
 ing forward, but no Martyn. It is surprising India 
 
REV. THOiVIAS THOMASON. 233 
 
 should be so little thought of by our young students. 
 The intelligence of Dr. Middleton's appointment 
 is interesting to us. His work on the Greek Arti- 
 cle is of the first order ; surely the author of such 
 a work will be an episcopal man in the true sense 
 of the word. At Monghir I was asked to preach 
 in the evening for the benefit of the station. A 
 few invalids attended, and a band of eight or ten 
 European residents. We were detained a week, 
 the weather wet and gloomy, and all beginning to 
 feel the effects of a very unwholesome spot. We 
 were anchored in a low marshy place, at a dis- 
 tance from the hills. The rapidity of the current 
 at the Bastion point was not to be encountered 
 by the Goon-ropes, and some were obliged to 
 wait. I can ill describe the vexation and dis- 
 content, and complainings of almost all in the 
 fleet. It was indeed a sufficiently dull week, 
 where there were no resources. What a mercy 
 to be relieved from the tedium and disgust to 
 which we find so many a prey. Here we are in 
 one little cabin, cheerful and happy, and con- 
 stantly employed. When we are engaged in our 
 morning and evening readings, the heart over- 
 flows with thankfulness for the distinguishing 
 blessings God confers upon us, in having given us 
 a love for his word, and a desire after a remem- 
 brance of his name. We sung together this 
 
 morning, the hymn so obnoxious to Dr. , and 
 
 20* 
 
234 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 could rejoice in the thought, that the fountain is 
 opened to us guilty, polluted sinners. The defile- 
 ment of sin is not more felt, because the glory of 
 God is not more seen. One glimpse of his holy 
 character will make us Hq low in the dust. I 
 have heard of thee by the hearing of the ear, but 
 now mine eye seeth thee ; but fallen man is with- 
 out God in the world ; how great is the blessing 
 to have his authority in some measure restored, 
 and his throne set up in the heart. I hear Mr. 
 Robertson is not quite well, pray tell me the truth ; 
 he must not be overworked. I am within call — 
 whenever you say ' it is time to come back, the 
 church wants you,' I shall apply for dismissal. 
 
 The moral and religious condition of the country 
 which Mr. Thomason was traversing, kindled in 
 his bosom, almost at every new reach of the river, 
 and at every resting place at night, an increase of 
 that compassionate zeal which had led him before 
 he left Calcutta, to draw up and present to the 
 Govenor General a plan for the instruction of the 
 Hindoos. His comments written between Mirza- 
 pore and Alhahabad are these : — 
 
 * In ascending the Ganges, and visiting the 
 towns and villages on its banks, we see the 
 enormous population of degraded beings with 
 our eyes. The first place of importance was 
 Moorshedabad, the once famous metropolis of 
 Bengal, an immense city swarming with inhabit- 
 
REV. THOMAS TH03IAS0N. 235 
 
 tants, but exhibiting the sad marks of decayed 
 greatness. Oh, it was an affecting sight to look 
 around at the countless throngs, and observe 
 moral, political, and religious degradation, without 
 one cheering symptom of improvement. We have 
 annihilated the political importance of the natives, 
 stripped them of their power, and laid them 
 prostrate, without giving them any thing in 
 return. They possess neither learning, nor emu- 
 lation, nor power. Every spring of action seems 
 deadened ; they wallow in the filth of a sense- 
 less and impure religion, without any prospect 
 of deliverance. You can conceive nothing 
 more wretched than Hindoo towns and villages. 
 Nothing like architecture, except in their temples ; 
 the streets narrow and dirty, the houses inex- 
 pressibly mean, teeming with inhabitants whose 
 appearance is disgusting in the extreme. At 
 Benares, I ventured to visit the shrine held so 
 sacred. It was an oppressive sight. The avenues 
 to it are narrow, crowded with Brahmins and 
 bulls : the symbols of their impure religion, meet 
 the eye in every corner ; and the horrid din of the 
 Brahmins, and Fakeers, and bulls, and beggars, 
 and bells, was too much to be endured. I 
 hastened from the place, as from Pandaemonium, 
 and thanked God for the gospel. If I do not 
 return to my charge with more of a missionary 
 spirit, it will be my own fault. To behold such 
 
236 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 a mass of putrified matter, and not be concerned 
 about providing the means of life and health, is 
 criminal in the extreme. Blessed be God for 
 some little zeal. Had I obtained nothing more 
 than an increased sense of the importance of 
 ministerial labour, I should be richly repaid.' 
 
 Mr. Thomason had not sailed long with Lord 
 Moira before he perceived with no little regret, 
 that, instead of being more earnest respecting 
 education in proportion as he beheld accumulated 
 proofs of its necessity, he became, in appearance, 
 less alive to it as a matter of excellent policy, and 
 imperious obligation. The outline of the plan 
 that had been proposed w^as, that schools should 
 be established in every part of India ; one prin- 
 cipal one in every district for the instruction of the 
 natives in the English language and science ; 
 under the school, and subordinate to the master, 
 village schools, where the children should be 
 instructed to read and write in their own language. 
 The books to be selections from the moral and 
 sacred writings of Christians, Mahometans, and 
 Hindoos. To supply the district schools, that 
 there should be a school for schoolmasters in 
 Calcutta, under the direction of a man of science 
 and literature, the whole to be under a head, 
 called Agent for the superintendence of schools 
 throughout India. 
 
 Concerning this plan, Lord Moira bad ex- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 237 
 
 pressed himself as highly pleased, and held out 
 a hope, that with some modifications, it might be 
 adopted. But good intentions suffer strange 
 syncopes: mysterious under-currents often carry 
 away stately vessels from their bearings : so it was 
 in this instance. Influential persons at Calcutta 
 exerted an adverse power on the Governor 
 General's mind, and in vain did Mr. Thomason 
 attempt to counteract this influence, and to revive 
 first impressions. * I endeavoured,' he says * in 
 the most solemn manner, to rouse the governor 
 to a sense of the importance of the crisis, and 
 of the high duties to which he was called. I look 
 around and see a vast ocean, in the truest and 
 most affecting sense of Homer's epithet, barren 
 of all good.' 
 
 An example of Indian munificence exhibited at 
 this time at Benares, formed a humiliating contrast 
 to English supineness. By it Mr. Thomason was 
 at once shamed and cheered : ' Near a celebrated 
 Hindoo tank, I have seen,' he says, * the foun- 
 dation of Jay Narraiii's School; he met me 
 there, and shewed me the grounds, large and 
 pleasantly situate : close by the house was a 
 path, along which 120,000 Hindoos passed every 
 week to bathe. He now says he is ready to pay 
 the money for the school in the Company's paper, 
 if the Governor w^ill guarantee its application, 
 and place it under the direction of the collector, 
 
238 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 to be paid regularly to the school-master.' Will 
 it be credited that this largeness of heart, 
 though admired in the highest quarter, was never- 
 theless suspected. The relation between rulers 
 and subjects in arbitrary and anomalous govern- 
 ments, are so disturbed and brought into so 
 morbid a condition, that attempts to act aright on 
 either side, tend to awaken dormant jealousies. 
 It seems that they must distrust analogy and 
 experience, before they can trust each other.' 
 
 At Cawnpore, the magnificence of the Governor 
 General's retinue was emulated and augmented 
 by. that of an Eastern Nabob, who appeared on 
 the other side the river with a large encampment. 
 The two territories were joined together by a 
 bridge of boats, and over the subjected waters 
 of the Ganges, trains of mighty elephants and 
 costly presents were passing and re-passing. But 
 for all this pageantry Mr. Thomason had no eyes. 
 He was on the very spot where Martyn lived 
 and laboured: his house with the long line of 
 aloes leading to it, was in sight ; his past course 
 of devotedness unto death, his present never-dying 
 joys filled his thoughts : the vision that appeared 
 to the mental eye was shadowy, but not unsub- 
 stantial ; and all the fascinations of pomp vanished 
 before it. What are Nabobs and governors of 
 mighty empires compared with one such minister 
 serving the Lord on earth with all humility, 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 239 
 
 amidst tears and temptations, and then " walking 
 high in salvation, and the climes of bliss." 
 
 * In these sandy plains I have been tracing again 
 and again the days of Martyn. Close by me is the 
 house that dear minister occupied, leading to 
 which is the gloomy line of aloes spoken of by 
 Mrs. Sherwood. On the other side of the 
 Ganges is the Nabob with a large encampment, 
 between whom and the Governor General, the 
 civilities are numerous. 
 
 * But how poor are the trappings of royalty, and 
 the pomps and vanities of the world ! All who 
 take a near view of the grandeur of earthly 
 monarchs, discern its intrinsic nothingness ; yet 
 they follow it, pant after it, worship it. Awfully 
 is the soul fallen from its original character : we 
 catch at straws when we ought to be holding fast 
 the crown of life. 
 
 ' O for Martyn's humility and love : (he after- 
 wards wrote,) those who knew him can bear 
 testimony to the truth of his Christian walk. His 
 standard of every duty was the highest, and his 
 feelings of joy, sorrow, love, most intense ; whilst 
 his conversation was always in heaven, the sa- 
 vour of his holy disposition was as ointment 
 poured forth. Many parts of his experience can 
 only be appreciated by those who enter deeply 
 into the divine life. In proportion as we discern 
 what is spiritual in its excellence and glory, we 
 
!;i40 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 shall understand his lowly self-abasing reflections 
 on what he observed within. He was transported 
 by a glory, of which common Christians only 
 obtain a glimpse. And O how is all ex- 
 plained, when we behold him entering his closet, 
 and holding communion with God with such 
 delight, such unwearied constant enjoyment! 
 Woe unto us if we do not pray more, live more 
 above the world, and deny ourselves more, and 
 love Christ more. Are we not hoping to see him 
 in a happier state : the Lord quicken us, and 
 enable us to go forward, " laying aside every 
 weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset us, 
 let us run with patience the race that is set 
 before us." ' 
 
 Leaving Cawnpore, Mr. Thomason began what 
 to him was a novel and strange mode of life ; 
 marching and living in tents. The party proceeded 
 by easy stages twelve miles a day, rising by 
 gun-fire, when it was quite dark in the morning, 
 they arrived at their ground a little after sunrise. 
 * Conceive,' as he says, describing his journey, — 
 *an immense plain, on which are scattered thou- 
 sands of villages, a few principal towns without 
 variety, and a vast multitude of inhabitants: 
 when you have seen one village or town, you 
 have seen all, they are without any of those marks 
 of opulence, civilization, or elegance which delight 
 the English traveller. Those persons who are 
 
RE.V. THOMAS THOMASON. 241 
 
 distinguished for their wealth, are few, and they 
 shun the presence of Europeans : their manners 
 and their dress are similar to those of their infe- 
 riors : the effect of Enghsh superiority is of the 
 most gloomy nature.' 
 
 It was not long after entering upon the second 
 part of this expedition, that Mr. Thomason's 
 zeal, fidelity, and boldness, as well as his wisdom 
 and discretion, were signally put to the proof. 
 He soon discovered to his sorrow, that the 
 Governor General when travelling, paid no regard 
 to the Christian Sabbath. As his Chaplain, there- 
 fore, he deemed it incumbent on him, to notice 
 this violation of the day of rest. Perceiving, 
 however, when he had hoped his suggestions 
 had been attended to, and his object attained, 
 that arrangements were making on the Saturday 
 for moving the next day ; his conscience told him 
 that he should be wanting in allegiance to the 
 Lord of the Sabbath, if yielding to natural inclina- 
 tions, he offered no remonstrance. Painful 
 therefore as the measure was, he hesitated not to 
 adopt it. The reply was, his dismissal from, the 
 camp. The rigour of this stern and haughty 
 step, was indeed tempered by an intimation from' 
 the Secretary, that an apology would be accepted. 
 To apologize when in error, was as congenial to 
 Mr. Thomason's conciliating disposition, as it was 
 to his religious principles : but in this case 
 21 
 
242 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 apology was out of the question. Yet as explana- 
 tion was both admissible and becon^ing, he 
 instantly wrote to the Governor General, '^ex- 
 pressing his surprise at this order, but his readi- 
 ness at the same time to comply with it ; adding 
 that he felt as strongly as ever the importance of 
 the subject, and thought it the duty of a minister 
 of religion, to explain his views when the honour 
 of God and interests of religion ivere concerned ; 
 but that he lamented, that any thing should have 
 appeared in the expression of his sentiments that 
 was thought disrespectful. Thus did he unite 
 deference for the authority of the Governor, and 
 courtesy towards him as man, with deference to 
 the paramount authority of God, and uncom- 
 promising integrity. 
 
 The Governor General was satisfied, and for a 
 time respect was paid to the sabbath-day. 
 
 To what dangers, as well as inconvenience, a 
 separation from the main party would have led, 
 may be seen in this statement. 'Even on our 
 line of march, we are subject to depredation. 
 The camel with his Lordship's table was taken 
 by Decoits two nights ago ; and a little before, 
 three camels : we dread single travelling, which 
 even on the river would be dangerous, if the 
 news from the armies continues as unfavourable 
 as it has been. Who can tell what is before us ? 
 the war-trumpet has sounded.' From thoughts 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 243 
 
 of war and rumours of war, Mr. Thomason's mind 
 was withdrawn delightfully at Kurnall. There 
 he found some artillery men, from a number who 
 knew Mr. Corrie and loved him. These Christian 
 soldiers came to Mr. Thomason's tent for prayer 
 and exposition of the Scriptures, and (said he 
 who ministered amongst them) — 'even in this 
 jungle, we could rejoice together in remembrance 
 of the love of Christ. All the places, (he added) 
 where troops are usually stationed, are empty. 
 There is nothing to amuse a traveller who does 
 not hunt : however, I hope my time is not wholly 
 lost ; my little Hindoostanee church has lately 
 received an accession by one of the converts from 
 Agra, a pious humble Christian : we are now a 
 little company, and spend many a happy hour 
 together over the Scriptures. With these beloved 
 fellow travellers, I am often solaced amidst the 
 sickening frivolities of the camp. Since we left 
 Hindostan, Sunday has not been observed as a 
 day of rest ; yet the Governor halts to get ready 
 for a tiger hunt. The kingdoms of this world 
 will have their own pursuits and enjoyments, they 
 are not those of the kingdom of Christ. The 
 experience I have had of this, will, I trust, be 
 useful to me, and certainly, intercourse with 
 native schools, and daily Hindoostanee preach- 
 ing, have contributed much to enlarge my heart 
 towards the perishing heathen. Corrie's fatherly 
 
244 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 attention to his flock was truly lovely. Nothing 
 of an abiding nature can be done without love, 
 that love w^hich arises from Christian prin- 
 ciples, and is kept up by close walking with 
 God. I pray for more of it. By love God 
 works with us, and by love we must work with 
 others. Enoch's walk was a walk of love. Some- 
 times I try to analyse in a practical way, this 
 one word, love, and find it full of affecting 
 truths. We know little about it. Humility, 
 holiness, faith, hope, gratitude, all these working 
 in their degree, dilate the contracted heart. In 
 proportion to the intenseness of them, is the 
 intenseness of our love. Where there is nothing 
 of them, all that looks like love is selfish, de- 
 praved, earthly principle. I could prove this, 
 and do so to myself every day. I see a vast quan- 
 tity of rubbish, spurious love, animal warmth, 
 sanguine self-complacency, self-righteous exer- 
 tion, usurping the place of love, wearing its garb, 
 talking its language. Is this wonderful, when 
 there is so much pride? The first step in the 
 ladder is humility. The Lord help us to gain 
 it, and to go step by step, till we have got to the 
 region of love.' 
 
 On the 6th of March, 1815, Mr. Thomason 
 completed the least pleasing part of his journey, 
 and again embarked on board a vessel at Caun- 
 pore, finding the tranquillity of floating down the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 245 
 
 Ganges pleasant, after the bustle of a camp, and 
 the din of tent pins and camels. He then had 
 leisure to look back at events and places, and 
 thus depicts the desolation he had witnessed. 
 
 ' To have once taken the tour of the Bengal 
 provinces, will be of great advantage in future 
 operations. But there is nothing to tempt a 
 second visit. To a feeling heart, the prospect 
 of desolation is most distressing. The country 
 affords much to gratify a naturalist, and an 
 antiquarian ; but the pursuits of such persons 
 require time and leisure. We only passed through, 
 and saw the immense plains of Hindostan, in 
 all their nakedness, the dire effects of those 
 contentions, which for centuries have depopulated 
 the country, and covered its face with ruins. ' The 
 ruins of Delhi are of surprising extent, reaching 
 sixteen miles or more ; a sickening sight ! O it 
 made us sad to go through the awful scene of 
 desolation. Mosques, temples, houses, all in 
 ruins ; piles of stones, broken pillars, domes, 
 crumbling walls, covered the place. The imperial 
 city presents nothing but the palace to give an 
 idea of its greatness, and only appears grand 
 from the magnificent wall with which it is sur- 
 rounded, which still retains its beauty — being 
 built of hard stone. Within is poverty and 
 departed grandeur — all is going to decay. The 
 famous hall of audience remains, built of marble, 
 2i* 
 
246 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 richly inlaid with stones sufficiently beautiful to 
 realize all our expectations. We saw in the 
 gardens the reigning prince, the poor represent- 
 ative of Timur's house. He was taking an airing, 
 carried on a Tonjoh — (a chair borne on shoulders) 
 preceded by a train of attendants bawling out his 
 titles; he bowed to us, and appeared an intelli- 
 gent man. The courts of the palace — the attend- 
 ants- — the offices of the servants — all gave an 
 appearance of wretchedness one could not behold 
 without a sigh.' 
 
 From Allahabad, March 12, 1815, the following 
 letter was written by Mr. Thomason to that friend 
 whom distance and space seemed to bring into 
 closer union. A vigorous pulse of piety beats 
 through the whole of it. 
 
 To THE Rev. Mr. Simeon. 
 ' Since I wrote last, our hearts have been made 
 glad by many of your most welcome and affec- 
 tionate letters. ... I proceed to give some account 
 of my progress. In my last I talked about school 
 plans, and the object of my accompanying Lord 
 Moira. I had a poor account to give. The 
 prospect was far from encouraging ; nor has it 
 much improved. I mentioned having seen an 
 answer sent from the Council at Calcutta. That 
 answer afforded decisive evidence of the present 
 temper of the majority in the Indian Government, 
 
REV. THOxAIAS THOMASON. 24T 
 
 and led me to think that nothing would be done 
 in this country until the command reach us from 
 home. I see no reason to alter this opinion ; 
 trifling half measures may be set on foot sufficient 
 to satisfy conscience, but wholly inadequate to 
 the country's wants. In our long march the 
 subject was often discussed; many plans have 
 been proposed, and his lordship who seems bent 
 on doing something, has been at last drawn to a 
 plan for schools of industry, which seem to take 
 with him surprisingly. A plan of this nature was 
 proposed to Council many years ago, but laid by 
 in the records of the police office, out of which 
 
 it was lately drawn and presented to , by 
 
 the superintendent of police. It suggests the 
 establishment of schools of industry for vagabonds, 
 thieves, and criminals of all descriptions, some- 
 thing like our Philanthropic Society at home. 
 This is good as far as it goes. To employ the 
 time well, is to keep out of mischief, and if habits 
 of industry are acquired much has been done. 
 But is this all? Suppose fifty such schools to be 
 established through the country, shall we have 
 provided for the existing wants of the people? 
 Shall we have done all that a Christian parental 
 government ought to have done? Are we to 
 fritter away our plans of teaching into a plan for 
 workhouses? In answer to these questions they 
 will say that instruction will form a part of the 
 
248 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 plan ; that the children will be taught to read and 
 write. But this is only to silence the anxious 
 objector, the real thing aimed at in such institu- 
 tions is labour ; the subordinate object, instruction, 
 will become a mere nominal part of the establish- 
 ment. If we would reform effectually, we must 
 instruct, and if we would instruct effectually, we 
 must have institutions in which instruction holds 
 the principal place. Greatly shall I lament to 
 see our funds, small and inadequate as they are, 
 wasted upon schools of industry. Such schools 
 will not raise this fallen, fallen race ; they will 
 not strike at the root of the evil, they will leave 
 the natives in the state of degradation in which 
 they now lie. I can only raise a feeble voice, but 
 this, as long as I have power and opportunity to 
 speak, I must do. 
 
 * In the discussion of these subjects, and con- 
 versations with different persons through the 
 country, our journeying has come to an end. From 
 Lucknow we proceeded to Bareilli, thence to 
 Moorshedabad and Hurdwar. This last is a most 
 interesting spot. It is a pass in the northern 
 frontier mountains through which the Ganges in a 
 few insignificant streams flows into the plains of 
 Hindostan. At this place the water is remarkably 
 pure, and an annual fair is held, which is resorted 
 to by Hindoos to a vast amount (near a million it 
 has been thought) for ablution in the sacred 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 
 
 249 
 
 stream. The spot is romantic and beautiful ; very 
 interesting it was to view the Ganges rolling 
 between the mountains, and contemplating its 
 progressive and mighty increase in a course of near 
 1400 miles. Is this the majestic Ganges, we 
 asked, which flows so deeply and widely, and 
 waters the thirsty plains of India ? At Hurdwar 
 we spent Christmas day, and for the first time I 
 beheve the death of Christ was commemorated by 
 a Christian congregation at that celebrated spot, 
 which is as the throne of Satan. Amidst all my 
 ministerial discouragements, I thanked God and 
 took courage. Who knows what rapid progress 
 may be made by the Gospel, which appears now 
 flowing hke the Ganges at Hurdwar, but may 
 perhaps ere long fill the earth with gladness. 
 
 ' The thermometer on Christmas day at sunrise 
 was as low as 27, a degree of cold we had not ex- 
 perienced since we left England. On two or 
 three occasions afterwards it was at 25. From 
 Hurdwar we proceeded, with the majestic snowy 
 mountains of Nepaul in view as we travelled 
 through Kirnaul and Nansi (crossing the Jumjna) 
 to the imperial city of Delhi — from Delhi to 
 Murat and Agra. Before we arrived at Agra 
 it was settled that Lord Moira would not return 
 to Calcutta till next cold weather. I requested 
 permission, therefore to return home; and his 
 lordship having given us leave to do so, we 
 
250 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 proceeded straight to Duttyghur, where we 
 took to our boat, in which we are proceeding down 
 the river towards Calcutta : we hope in three 
 days to arrive at Benares. We had a pleasant 
 parting with his Lordship ; he expressed his hope 
 to me that something would result from the infor- 
 mation we had collected on the journey, and that 
 the hints which had been furnished would be 
 gathered up and become productive of some bene- 
 ficial plans of instruction, of the need of which he 
 felt as much assured as ever. On the whole I felt 
 as if my connection with this party had not been 
 without its use. I have had frequent opportunities 
 of suggesting what appeared advisable, and now 
 part from them with a promise of communicating 
 from time to time what may be interesting in my 
 department. Having now seen all the principal 
 stations and principal people in these parts, I 
 return much better qualified to judge of many 
 things than I could have been if I had continued 
 in Calcutta. But schools have not yet been 
 formed. The prospect indeed has become darker 
 rather than otherwise. For want of the true 
 rallying point, philanthropic benevolence sinks 
 before the opposition and indifference which 
 oppose efficient plans of usefulness. 
 
 ' The Nepaul war broke out at Lucknow, and 
 the first operation was disastrous ; it produced the 
 loss of General Gillepsie, one of our ablest gene- 
 
HEV. THOMAS THOMASON. 251 
 
 rals. The despised Goorkahs are formidable ene- 
 mies, and the contest is Hkely to prove very arduous. 
 
 * Whilst we were harassed with bad news from 
 the armies, the paper announced the arrival of Dr. 
 Middleton, our bishop. Here is a man of peace 
 come amongst us for works of peace. Even in 
 troublous times our Jerusalem may be built. All 
 the accounts have been favourable. He has com- 
 menced with a noble confession of his principles 
 and motives for coming to India. Our friends 
 have been made glad and have gladdened us by 
 their accounts. 
 
 ' I hope to know him soon, and pray that my 
 report may be such as will give you joy. You 
 have made us glad with your notice of a new- 
 chaplain. Oh that it may please God to regard 
 us with compassion, and incline the hearts of his 
 servants to come over and help us. We want 
 learning as well as piety. It would make your 
 heart ache to go through this land. Whoever 
 comes, must make up his mind to labour, and 
 prepare for discouragement. I cannot use flat- 
 tering speeches to allure my brethren. They 
 must be prepared to fight battles, and must 
 expect disappointments. India is a scene of 
 peculiar trial. Our hopes are often blasted ; 
 if we are very sanguine and impatient, we must 
 smart for it We must learn to plough in hope, 
 to wait, to pray, and to believe. Adversaries 
 
252 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 abound whose mouths are ever open, and who 
 have many grounds of offence in the fickleness 
 of professors, and instability of the native converts. 
 The trial is sharp, and such as the gospel only 
 can carry us through. We have had a fresh 
 cause of grief in the relapse of Sabat. I never 
 thought well of him. He left me at Monghir, 
 after completing the New Testament ; on his 
 return to Calcutta, he published a book against 
 the Christian religion. I have as yet only seen 
 the title page. He calls it Sabatean proofs of the 
 truth of Islamism, and falsehood of Christianity ; 
 he pretends to pull down the pillars of our 
 faith, and in a pompous page has expressed all 
 the bitterness, and arrogance, and profaneness 
 of his character, declaring that he has printed the 
 book, not ' for any private emolument, but as a 
 free-will offering to God.' It is a public and 
 bitter avowal of his hypocrisy in all his dealings 
 with us, and the scandal occasioned, is greater 
 than you can imagine. Those who were inclined 
 to favour our attempts with the natives, are many 
 of them prejudiced. The bishop is grieved. 
 I have learned some useful lessons ; to be cautious 
 in judging — to be backward in praising — above 
 all, to be careful how we publish the tidings 
 of our operations. 
 
 ' We need much divine wisdom, and holy dis- 
 cernment. It is not to be conceived by those 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 253 
 
 who are connected with them, how expert the 
 natives are in every art of deception. I hope we 
 shall guard against talking of Abdool Messeh. 
 With every hope of his being a real Christian, it 
 is prudent to say little. I pray that he may be 
 kept in humility, and in active labour, until our 
 brother return to us. Abdool needs Corrie, and 
 so does the church at large. A fitter instrument 
 for leading on the native converts, for winning 
 the affections of the people, and carrying on mis- 
 sionary labours, can hardly be found. They 
 speak of him at Agra with tears : his loce has won 
 them all. He was, humanly speaking, their stay 
 and centre of union. This and every other care, 
 I desire to leave to our gracious Head : to whom 
 every disappointment should draw us more closely. 
 To him as the good Shepherd, I desire to look 
 for all my strength, and for all my fruitfulness, 
 and to him I commit yourself and people, all of 
 t/oM, and all of us^ evermore." 
 
 22 
 
234 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 Me. Thomason's reunion with his flock at Cal- 
 cutta, at the end of May, 1815, was an event 
 of mutual joy to himself and them. ' All our 
 old feelings were more than renewed. I was 
 received with a cordiality I ought never to forget. 
 Surely I am bound to this people by ties, which 
 can be broken only by death, or rather by bonds 
 of love, which death will only strengthen.* Such 
 were his heart-felt expressions on rejoining his 
 congregation. An additional satisfaction did he 
 enjoy in welcoming to India a clergyman* of 
 sentiments and spirit congenial to his own. He 
 had left England with a wife and eight children, 
 that he might devote himself and them to the 
 service of his Redeemer, in that land of pagan 
 ignorance. The sight of such a man in such a 
 country, an answer to many a fervent prayer, 
 was a ground for ardent thanksgiving. His con- 
 tinuance likewise at Calcutta, during the year 
 of his arrival was a seasonable succour to Mr. 
 
 » The Rev. Mr. Fisber. 
 
KEV. THOMAS THOMA.SON. 255 
 
 Thomason, whilst the attendants at the Mission 
 Church rejoiced in another faithful witness for 
 the truth amongst them. Some drawback to 
 these gratifications was the refusal of the Bishop 
 to open and consecrate the Mission Church: 
 the disappointment was the greater, because Mr. 
 Thomason had confidently calculated upon his 
 Lordship's compliance with his desires, and 
 because the reason alleged for refusal, that the 
 patronage was vested in individuals, and not in 
 the company, (an opinion no doubt most con- 
 scientiously entertained,) carried with it no con- 
 viction of its soundness to Mr. Thomason's judg- 
 ment ; nor is it to be questioned, had such sen- 
 timents constantly and universally prevailed, that 
 few churches would have been erected in our 
 land. But vexations are comparative. This, 
 though not slight, dwindled into nothing con- 
 trasted with the keen anguish, occasioned by 
 those remarks with which Calcutta rung, con- 
 cerning Sabat's virulent attack on that faith, from 
 which he had apostatized. The eflfect of his 
 treatise on the Mahometan mind, might, it was 
 feared, be very unfavourable ; that of the apos- 
 tacy itself on numbers calling themselves Chris- 
 tians, was instantly and extensively prejudicial. 
 It increased the innate enmity of the natural heart 
 against that spirituality in religion, which con- 
 tains its very root, and flower, and fruit, that 
 
256 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 without which it is dead and worthless ; it 
 increased and strengthened suspicions against 
 native converts ; it gave birth to fiercer invectives 
 against Missionaries, and more contemptuous 
 ridicule of their exertions. As when Judas acted 
 the traitor — Ananias the liar — Simon Magus the 
 refined hypocrite — so it was when Sabat daringly- 
 departed from the nominal profession of the 
 truth. The righteous sorrowed, the unrighteous 
 triumphed : yet wisdom was justified of her chil- 
 dren. Happily for Mr. Thomason and the inhabit- 
 ants of Calcutta, the apostate soon deserted 
 Bengal for a distant settlement. There, after no 
 long interval, political intrigues brought him to 
 an appalling end. A British officer, Colonel Mac 
 Innes, resident at Penang, has detailed the ter- 
 mination of his career. The account was printed 
 in French at Geneva, in an appendix to the 
 translation to the memoir of H. Martyn's life, 
 and by the friendly consent of the author, himself 
 a friend of Mr. Thomason, is inserted here. 
 
 ' I became personally acquainted with Sabat 
 at Penang, a little after his public abjuration of 
 Christianity in Bengal. This deplorable act was 
 followed by an unsuccessful trading voyage to 
 Rangoon, after which he reappeared at Penang, 
 with the wreck of his fortune, in hope of better 
 success. 
 
 * During his stay in this island, I had the 
 
JREV. THOMAS THOMASON. 257 
 
 opportunity of knowing him thoroughly. I saw 
 in him a disappointed man, uneasy and agitated 
 in his mind. He attributed all the distress of his 
 soul, to the grief he felt for having abandoned 
 Christianity. He desired to receive again this 
 holy religion, as the only means of reconciling 
 himself with God. He declared that he had not 
 had a moment's peace since (at the instigation 
 of Satan) he had published his attack upon 
 Revelation, an attack which he called his '■had 
 work.' He told me also, that what had led him to 
 this fatal step, was the desire of revenging himself 
 upon an individual to whom he thought an 
 attack upon Christianity would be more painful 
 than any personal injury ; but he had no sooner 
 executed this detestable project (he added) than 
 he felt a horror of the action, and now he only 
 valued his life that he might be able to undo the 
 pernicious tendency of his book, which he thought 
 would be great in Mahometan countries. He 
 never spoke of Mr. Martyn without the most 
 profound respect, and shed tears of grief whenever 
 he recalled how severely he had tried the patience 
 of this faithful servant of God. He mentioned 
 several anecdotes to show with what extraordinary 
 sweetness Martyn had borne his numerous provo- 
 cations. " He was less a man (he said) than an 
 angel from heaven." His apostacy had excited 
 much observation in the East ; there appeared in 
 22* 
 
258 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the Penang Gazette an article which announced 
 the arrival and the opinions of this famous person, 
 but which expressed at the same time the appre- 
 hension that was generally entertained of his sin- 
 cerity. Sabat no sooner read this article than 
 without being offended by the little regard that 
 seemed to be paid to his veracity, he wrote him- 
 self to the Editor. He affirmed that according to 
 the general report he did indeed profess Chris- 
 tianity anew, and he declared that it was his 
 intention to consecrate the remainder of his days 
 to the advancement of this holy religion in the 
 world. In conformity with these declarations 
 rather than lodge with a Mahometan, he went to 
 stay at the house of an Armenian Christian named 
 Johannes, a respectable merchant who had known 
 him at the time of his baptism at Madras. While 
 there he every evening read and expounded the 
 Scriptures to the great satisfaction of his host, 
 who was a very worthy man, but very inferior to 
 Sabat in talents and knowledge, especially of the 
 holy Scriptures. In this last respect I imagine 
 few men have surpassed Sabat. 
 
 'But in spite of these promising appearances 
 he continued to frequent the Mosque, where he 
 worshipped indiscriminately with all the other 
 Mahometans. When the inconsistency of such 
 conduct was represented to him he cited the 
 example of Nicodemus, who although a disciple 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 
 
 259 
 
 of Jesus, persevered in the public profession of 
 Judaism, believing that thus he could better serve 
 his Lord and Master, and this policy had never 
 been blamed. Sometimes he reviewed the argu- 
 ments in favour of Mahometanism as if to display 
 his talents in defending a thesis which was mani- 
 festly untenable. He alleged amongst other 
 things the promise of our Lord to send the Com- 
 forter, which the Mahometans not without some 
 appearance of reason (he said) applied to their 
 prophet. But soon forced to abandon this refuge 
 as well as every other, he confessed, though with 
 manifest repugnance, that Mahometanism only 
 owed its success to fraud and violence, and that 
 Mahomet himself deserved no better name than 
 that of an impostor. During his stay at Penang, 
 this island was visited by a Malay prince, 
 Jouhuroolalim king of the neighbouring state of 
 Acheen, (in the island of Sumatra,) from whence 
 a revolt of his subjects had obliged him suddenly 
 to flee. A great number of his subjects disgusted 
 at seeing their prince associating with Europeans, 
 wearing their dress, and imitating their dissolute 
 manners, invited Seyyed Hosyn, a rich merchant 
 of Penang, who had some pretensions to the 
 throne, to come and assert his claims, and help 
 them to depose Jouhuroolalim. Seyyed Hosyn, 
 too far advanced in years to accept the offer for 
 himself, made over the claims of the family to his 
 
260 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 son, who under the name of Syfoolalim (sword of 
 the universe) went to Acheen, and soon reduced 
 the king to extremity. It was then that Jouhu- 
 roolalim appeared at Penang, as we have seen, in 
 order to procure arms and provisions to recom- 
 mence the struggle. Sabat offered his services to 
 Jouhuroolalim, with no other end as he assured 
 me than to discover and profit by any favourable 
 opportunity that should ofter of introducing Chris- 
 tianity among the Acheenois, a nation which is 
 particularly intractable and ferocious, and many 
 of whom were cannibals. The imposing and even 
 engaging manners which he could assume, his 
 reputation as a man of talents, and the high esteem 
 which the Indian nations have for Arabian auxilia- 
 ries, on account of their courage and intrepidity, 
 procured him a favourable reception from Jouhu- 
 roolalim, in a moment when adversity had 
 estranged from him all his European favourites. 
 Sabat accompanied this prince to Acheen, where 
 he soon gained such an ascendancy as to manage 
 all public affairs, and was regarded by his adver- 
 saries as the greatest obstacle to their final 
 triumph. But, as months rolled away without 
 producing any decisive event, and the issue of 
 the struggle appeared still doubtful and distant, 
 Sabat resolved to retire. Whilst occupied in 
 effecting his retreat he fell into the hands of 
 Syfoolalim, who gave orders that he should be 
 
REV. THOaiAS THOMASON. 261 
 
 strictly imprisoned on board a vessel, and after 
 having made him suffer severely, he was tied up in 
 a sack, and thrown into the sea. 
 
 * During his detention Sabat had written sepa- 
 rately several notes to Johannes and me, calling 
 on us to observe, that it was with his own blood 
 that he had traced the characters, his enemies 
 refusing him the usual materials. In these notes, 
 written some in Persian, the others in bad Eng- 
 hsh, he recited his sufferings, which he wished us 
 to consider as the consequence of his attachment 
 to Christianity, and that he was in some sense a 
 martyr. Being a Malay interpreter belonging to 
 the local government, I was the organ of commu- 
 nication with the states connected with Penang. 
 In addressing himself to me therefore, Sabat hoped 
 to obtain the intervention of the government in his 
 favour ; as however he was not a British subject, 
 and possessed no right to the protection of our 
 government, he was disappointed in his expecta- 
 tion. Without loss of time I made use of my 
 private influence with Seyyed Hosyn to ameliorate 
 the captivity of Sabat, if I could not procure his 
 enlargement. But his intriguing and dangerous 
 character was too much dreaded to admit of his 
 freedom, till public tranquillity was re-established. 
 All that I could obtain was a promise that his life 
 should be held sacred, that Hosyn would write to 
 his son not to make any attempt against it, and 
 
262 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 that he would mitigate the sufferings of his cap- 
 tivity. Whether the request of the father never 
 reached the son, or whether the latter was only 
 more embittered against Sabat by these effects in 
 his favour cannot be known, but I had not the 
 success I had desired, and some time after we 
 learnt that the days of the unfortunate captive 
 had been violently terminated by the frightful 
 death that has been mentioned.' 
 
 The narrator of the last scene in Sabat's earthly 
 existence concludes with a hope that the peni- 
 tence which was signified in words and signed 
 with the unhappy captive's blood, did indeed 
 emanate from his very heart. Charity would 
 gladly welcome the faintest ray that pierced or 
 seemed to pierce the gloom of such a death as 
 that. He who fathoms the abyss of the human 
 heart, may in his omniscience discern some pearls 
 of sincerity, penitence, and faith, where to the 
 eye of man all is darkness and despair. But 
 apprehensions of tremendous import will force 
 themselves on the mind ; there is " a certain 
 fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indigna- 
 tion which shall consume the adversaries." '^ It 
 is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the 
 living God." 
 
 A grateful relief it must have proved to Mr. 
 Thomason's mind, and a pledge of brighter days 
 for India, to have been engaged in the summer 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 263 
 
 of this year, in preparing the young of his flock 
 for confirmation, a rite from which so many have 
 dated the commencement of a course, pleasant and 
 peaceful, in proportion to its devotedness, but 
 which for centuries had not been administered in 
 any Indian church, based solely on the word of 
 God. Cheering likewise in the extreme, was it 
 to one who lived but to be instrumental in dif- 
 fusing blessings to others, to succeed in founding 
 an estabHshment for which many an orphan in 
 this and after ages will bless his memory. 
 
 The heart of an orphan Mr. Thomason himself 
 knew : and he had drank also into his spirit, 
 who said " I will not leave you comfortless." 
 ' The history of the design and state of the 
 religious and charitable institutions of Calcutta,' 
 in referring to the Female Orphan Institution, 
 contains this statement : — ' This most interesting 
 institution, owes its origin to the vigilant benev- 
 olence of the Rev. Mr. Thomason : the destitute 
 condition of the female orphans of the European 
 soldiers belonging to the King's regiments, 
 attracted his notice and commisseration. De- 
 prived of their natural protectors, and left to the 
 casual mercy of successive individuals, if they 
 escaped the dangers of infancy, they were ex- 
 posed to the corrupting influence of scenes of 
 profligacy. To preserve such friendless children 
 from contamination, Mr. Thomason proposed to 
 
S64 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the community the establishment of the Female 
 Orphan Asylum, July 1, 1815.' 
 
 In the march and triumph of every species 
 of benevolence, calumny is an attendant. It was 
 so in this instance : *some persons misconceived, 
 others maligned the project: at length however 
 its merits were discovered, and it became ' a 
 peculiar favourite with all classes of Europeans.' 
 Fourteen thousand rupees in donations, and seven 
 thousand in casual subscriptions, ere long were 
 received ; and of orphans admitted, the number 
 rose from ten to above seventy ; a spacious house 
 too and grounds were purchased. The Hmitation 
 of the asylum to the legitimate offspring of Euro- 
 peans, was one of the features in the asylum that 
 gave offence, and a correspondence of a trying 
 description w^as the consequence. To the pious 
 but erroneous address of one of the congregation, 
 who deemed himself and his half-cast brethren 
 aggrieved by some remarks on legitimacy, Mr. 
 Thomason replied with admirable temper and 
 with humility, such as a high tone of religion 
 alone can produce. The letter of remonstrance 
 is inserted with but little curtailment, in order 
 that the spirit of the answer may be fully appre- 
 ciated. A day is coming, when to have written 
 such a letter as that of the minister rebuked, will 
 be of far greater moment than to have achieved 
 wonders unparalleled in literature or arms. 
 
rev. thomas thomason. 265 
 
 * Reverend Sir, 
 * After mature consideration, I have prevailed on 
 myself to undertake the arduous task of addressing 
 a person of your sacred office. It must grieve you 
 exceedingly as a Christian and a minister to learn 
 that your late conduct has been productive of much 
 mischief. It has caused contention and uneasiness, 
 and the hearts of the righteous have been perplexed 
 to see such inconsistency in a character so deserv- 
 edly revered hitherto. I sincerely trust you do not 
 need a remembrance of the obligations attached 
 to the ministerial office ; you had always possessed 
 a shepherd's heart as well as a shepherd's eye. 
 Whence then flows your present defection to the 
 majority of your flock ? What have we done to 
 merit such severe reflections on a subject beyond 
 our power to remedy ? instead of oil, you pour 
 vinegar on our wounded hearts. The bounds of 
 our habitation were fixed by an omnipotent arm, 
 nor were we in any degree accessory to our own 
 existence. If sin is the cause of your dislike, you 
 ought then as a faithful minister to strike at the 
 fountain head of the torrent of iniquity so preval- 
 ent here ; apparently, the fear of man draws a 
 veil over the authors of our misery. The poor 
 descendants of their shame and sin are unjustly 
 held forth as public spectacles of universal con- 
 tempt and derision. Could you not pursue an 
 23 
 
266 MKMOIU OF THE 
 
 object truly noble, and bestow your charity on 
 those you deemed most worthy, without wound- 
 ing the feelings of those from whom it is your 
 pleasure to withhold it? Allow me, Reverend 
 Sir, to add, that in this instance you have acted 
 unadvisedly. Beware of the insidious instigations 
 of those whose censorious conduct and harsh 
 judgment of others have always been a source 
 of scandal to the cause they profess, and have at 
 length led our dear pastor into an error, from 
 which we pray he may soon be extricated. " Woe 
 unto the world because of offences," by which the 
 disciples of Christ, (though poor and despised) 
 are discouraged and entangled ; but when minis- 
 ters by their uncharitable behaviour are the cause 
 of such offences, whereby the weak-hearted are 
 stumbled and sent back to feed on the husks, 
 they bring guilt on themselves, and a deadness 
 and inefFicacy on their labours, and their usefulness 
 slackens. Those ministers especially, who out 
 of love to the souls of their fellow-sinners, have 
 determined not to confine their scene of action 
 within the limits of their own native land, but to 
 extend their labours of love to this inhospitable 
 clime, should come to us divested of all narrow 
 prejudices (which a liberal mind should scorn to 
 retain) against our country, our colour, and our 
 manners, lest the operation of human frailty in that 
 respect should prove a stumbling-block to many. 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOMASON. 267 
 
 * Permit me to trespass a little further on your 
 putiencc. If the ditrusion of knowledge is uni- 
 versally allowed to be of the greatest utility in 
 the promotion of civilization, as well as in raising 
 the tone of morals in societies and individuals, 
 why then should Mr. Thomason decree the 
 country -ijorn unworthy of so great a blessing? Is 
 the turpitude of iniquity more inherent in them 
 than the rest of Adam's fallen race? If so, where 
 is then the necessity of the Female Penitentiary, 
 the Magdalen, or tlie Foundling Hospital in your 
 own country. If nature in them is superior to 
 others, does not education constitute the dis- 
 parity ? If so, why then deem it a grievance that 
 the country-born should enjoy the benefits of the 
 same tuition as the children of the Europeans? 
 8ince the groat Creator of the universe has not 
 withholden the endowment of the same mental 
 powers, shall mortal man draw a line, and pro- 
 hibit the cultivation of those faculties, which may 
 render us useful members of society ? Your own 
 personal knowledge of many of our race must in 
 a great measure point out the Ikllacy of such 
 opinions. Do not many of them adorn their 
 Christian profession by a consistent walk ? and 
 iiave not many sealed the testimony of divine 
 truth with their exi)iring breath? one but very 
 lately. Have not your own pulpit doctrines been 
 the reverse of those sentiments that are now 
 
268 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 disseminated far and wide ? To all the charges 
 preferred against our race, I plead guilty, humbly 
 conscious that the seed of every sin, lies deep in 
 our breasts ; and if they have not been reduced 
 into action, it is entirely of grace ; but then the 
 records of divine truth pronounce all under this 
 sentence, " There is none righteous, no, not one." 
 Where is boasting then ? it is excluded. Let us 
 drop the subject, and humbly wait our appointed 
 time ; it fast approaches, and ere long all shall be 
 levelled in the dust. Till then, 
 
 I remain, Reverend Sir, 
 
 Your humble Servant, 
 
 ASIATICUS.' 
 
 Mr. Thomason's reply. 
 
 *I know not how to express to you adequately 
 my obligations for your truly Christian letter. 
 The piety, the affection, the respect, the humility 
 which it breathes deeply affect me. You have 
 with great delicacy and feeling touched every 
 string which can move the heart of a minister who 
 is at all alive to his important calling. I thank 
 God my heart is not altogether insensible to those 
 feelings, and I feel happy in the opportunity now 
 afforded of doing all in my power to remove the 
 misconceptions upon which your letter is founded. 
 
 * I say not this without much searching of heart 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASOX. 
 
 269 
 
 on the subject, and prayer that I may be led to a 
 clear discovery of my own motives, as well as the 
 path of duty on this painful occasion. Were I 
 really guilty of that defection from the majority 
 of my flock, and those severe reflections on the 
 class of persons alluded to in your letter, I should 
 not know how to appear again in your presence 
 as your pastor ; for it peculiarly becomes us to 
 follow his example, whose tender mercies are over 
 all his works, who is no respecter of persons, who 
 has commissioned us to preach the gospel to all, 
 and to spread the unsearchable riches of Christ 
 with an equal hand, as far as we ourselves are 
 acquainted with them, to high and low, rich and 
 poor, one with another. 
 
 * Conscious of these sentiments, I have said 
 above, after much self-examination, that your 
 aflfectionate address to me is founded on miscon- 
 ception ; for it supposes me either to have lost 
 those feelings of regard which I once had for all 
 indiscriminately, or never to have possessed them. 
 
 * That any thing said or done by me should 
 have given occasion for such a misconception, I 
 shall consider always as one of the greatest 
 calamities of my life ; for I desire, above all 
 things, to live for the gospel of Christ, and such 
 a misunderstanding must prove a great barrier to 
 my future usefulness, if it be not removed. But 
 as my heart acquits me, which your letter has 
 
 23* 
 
270 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 led me closely to examine, and that with many- 
 tears, I cannot but feel a strong hope that the 
 same Christian principles and feelings which 
 pervade yoin^ address to me, will accompany you 
 in reading tliis address to tjou, which is intended 
 as a simple and affectionate explanation of w^hat 
 has passed. 
 
 ' The thought of a European Female Asylum, 
 was suggested not by any proud or censorious 
 individuals, but by an actual view of the state 
 of things in our progress up and down the country. 
 The destitute condition of those orphans presented 
 itself to us on so many occasions, and was men- 
 tioned by so many persons acquainted with the 
 King's regiments, that we could not but consider 
 them as peculiar objects of compassion ; and the 
 reasons mentioned in the proposals for an Asylum 
 occurred very forcibly to my mind, as constituting 
 the grounds of a new institution for the reception 
 of such orphans. I can truly say, as before God, 
 that my only motive in this selection was charity 
 to the most distressed and most exposed. A large 
 institution for the reception of orphans was never 
 contemplated ; the object appearing too great, 
 and not so immediately necessary. This seemed 
 to afford a limited sphere of important usefulness 
 which might be occupied without any very ex- 
 tensive support. Other advantages besides that 
 of bestowing charity, did afterwards appear con- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 271 
 
 nected with the plan ; the most important was, 
 the prevention as far as its operation should 
 extend, of the forming of connections with native 
 Hindoo and Mussulman women. In performing 
 any thing, however trifling, which strikes at the 
 fountain of the torrent of iniquity, it appeared 
 that so far important good was done to society. 
 And though I confess the clause in the proposals 
 respecting these connections does admit of a 
 collateral interpretation of another kind, yet the 
 general reasoning clearly shows that the thing 
 aimed at was the encouragement of a legitimate 
 offspring. This, I am quite sure, was all I 
 intended ; and grieved I am to find that the least 
 handle should have been given to £iny other 
 construction. The reflections connected with the 
 existing establishments were meant solely in 
 reference to those institutions, not at all as general 
 remarks universally applicable ; nor were they 
 intended to be brought before the public. In the 
 proposals when published, nothing was intended 
 to appear which could oflend the nicest feelings, 
 or be construed by the remotest interpretation into 
 an uncharitable reflection on others. 
 
 * When therefore you say ' Could you not 
 pursue an object truly noble and bestow your 
 charity on those you deemed most worthy without 
 wounding the feelings of those from whom it is 
 your pleasure to withhold it,' my answer is. 
 
272 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 *that I could, — that I ought to have done so, — 
 that it was my full intention to do so.' But as 
 contrary to all my wishes, that has been made 
 public which was communicated only to a few, it 
 remains for me now to acknowledge my fault, 
 which I do with real sorrow, humbling myself 
 before God and before you. I lament exceedingly 
 that a case which originated in charity and in a 
 sense of duty should have been connected with 
 any thing calculated to give offence to one of the 
 least of Christ's flock ; and I feel (what you in 
 your allusion to that scripture tenderly left out) 
 " that it were better a mill-stone were hung 
 about my neck and I was cast into the sea, than " 
 that I should offend one of the least of these 
 little ones." 
 
 ' May I not hope that I shall be forgiven by 
 them ? Does it not belong to the character of the 
 little ones of Christ's flock to forgive, especially 
 when the intention to give offence is solemnly 
 disclaimed, and unfeigned sorrow is expressed for 
 having occasioned the offence ? I might appeal, 
 before you who have known me so long, to my 
 past life, to the whole tenour of my ministerial 
 conduct. I might ask also whether I do not 
 hold in great honour, and esteem, and affection, 
 many of those persons on whom you suppose me 
 to have cast reflection ; and whether I am not in 
 habits of close pastoral friendship with them ? 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 273 
 
 Could I intentionally wound them whom I regard 
 amongst the chief props of my ministry, and my 
 most valued friends ? But I dare not look back 
 on what is past ; being fully sensible that the 
 claims of my people on my love and fidelity, have 
 never been discharged as they ought to have 
 been. I see so much that has been defective, 
 so much that has been inconsistent, so much that 
 has been defiled, that I can only acknowledge my 
 transgressions, and cast myself on the tender 
 mercies of my God. Nor dare I promise any 
 thing for the future, for I have no strength to 
 promise, but can only say that I hope with God's 
 gracious assistance, to convince all who are 
 pastorally connected with me, "how greatly I 
 long after them in the bowels of Jesus Christ." 
 Let me intreat you to aid me, not only by your 
 prayers, but by your labours of love. If there 
 be any thing of a corresponding return of aflfection 
 in you, this breach must be soon healed. Allow 
 me therefore, to charge you as you value the 
 ministry of the gospel, as you desire the welfare 
 of immortal souls, and would promote the honour 
 of your God, not to yield to the tempter. He 
 wishes to separate the flock. Be it our care, by 
 all practicable means as much as lieth in us, to 
 keep together, to soften, to alleviate, to rectify, 
 to heal, and in one word to love. Oh, let us 
 cover all with the mande of love; "that love 
 
274 MEMOIIl OF THE 
 
 which suffereth long, and is kind, which beareth 
 all things, believeth all things, hopeth all things, 
 endureth all things." 
 
 * Once more, accept of my thanks for your 
 truly Christian letter, and for the opportunity 
 which it has given me of assuring you that I am 
 Your affectionate friend and minister, 
 
 Thomas Thomason.' 
 
 That days of new and unwonted lustre were 
 about to dawn on India, the least sanguine might 
 anticipate, when in two successive years the Chris- 
 tian youth were seen preparing to receive con- 
 firmation from their Bishop, and the Hindoo 
 population of the same age were assembled for 
 instruction in English literature, in an institution 
 originated and maintained by wealthy and learned 
 natives. Such an establishment without having 
 any direct bearing on the promotion of Chris- 
 tianity, could not but be ultimately conducive 
 to it ; nor was its existence in Calcutta unimport- 
 ant, proving as it did every hour of its duration, 
 that the fears of worldly-minded alarmists were 
 spectres of their own imagination. Mr. Thomason 
 has furnished an account of this society ; which, 
 however, indebted it might have been to one, who 
 had long combated prejudices adverse to its 
 obJ3ct, and had urged Education incessantly on the 
 consciences of those in authority, "tarried not for 
 
REV. TII03IAS THOMASON. 275 
 
 man, nor waited for the sons of men." Its forma- 
 tion was sudden and unexpected ; and so solid 
 was it, that when some of its supports were 
 removed violently and prematurely, it still stood 
 erect and unshaken. ' I must enlarge on a subject 
 hastily mentioned in my last letter, the Hindoo 
 College. The great subject of schools for natives 
 has been gradually opening since I returned from 
 my journey with Lord Moira. The subject has 
 not only been discussed by Europeans, but at 
 length gained the attention of the natives. I have 
 been several times applied to by them, and 
 intreated to prepare a plan for a College for the 
 Hindoos. But grown wiser by experience, I 
 have constantly declined moving myself, referring 
 them to the Chief Justice, as the most efficient 
 promoter of their wishes. I discovered that 
 government are afraid of chaplains engaging in a 
 work of education. At length some of the prin- 
 cipal natives applied to Sir E. East, entreating 
 him to assist them, and requesting his patronage. 
 He consented — called a meeting of the rich 
 natives — formed a Committee — chose secretaries. 
 Sir Edward was desired to be president. Mr. 
 Harrington vice-president. They accepted the 
 offer. In the meantime our timid Governor, 
 apprehensive that the appearance of the Chief 
 Justice and Mr. Harrington at the head of the 
 college, might be construed into an attempt of 
 
276 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Government to convert the natives, signified to 
 Mr. Harrington tiiat he should withdraw. He 
 did so, and Sir Edward East also, to the great 
 surprise and grief of those who had embarked in 
 the work. Notwithstanding this unpropitious 
 circumstance, the matter went on. The plan of 
 the college has been digested after much consul- 
 tation, and it will be adopted by a general meet- 
 ing of the Committee. Subscriptions to the 
 amount of 10,000Z. have been received, and 
 hopes are entertained that more will flow in, 
 when the plan shall be promulgated. The object 
 is precisely that which I described in the plan 
 submitted to Lord Moira : to instruct the natives 
 in the English language, literature, and sciences. 
 It will be divided into two parts, the school and 
 the college ; the former preparatory to the latter. 
 The professed object of the college is to open all 
 the treasures of the English language to the inhabi- 
 tants of India. One hundred pupils only will 
 be admitted at first. Is not all this wonderful ! 
 You in England wonder at Buonaparte at St. 
 Helena. We in India at a Hindoo college in 
 Bengal. I do most unfeignedly rejoice in all my 
 disappointment. It was good that Lord Moira 
 declined to act, and that the Government were 
 unwilling to attend to my proposal. The same 
 thing has now been done more unobjectionably. 
 The natives have proposed the thing, they have 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 277 
 
 entreated the Government to allow them to do 
 of themselves and amongst themselves what I had 
 suggested to be done by Government as a part of 
 its duty. Thus no suspicion can be excited, all is 
 fair and open, even our enemies themselves being 
 judges. Now let this engine begin its work, and 
 may our gracious God command His blessing ! 
 So great is the conviction that clergymen should 
 have nothing to do with the college, the bishop's 
 subscription has been for the present declined. 
 The Secretary chosen for the college is a constant 
 hearer of mine, a candid, affectionate friend, 
 admirably suited for managing natives ; he will 
 act as superintendent. On the whole, nothing 
 could have happened more favourably. The 
 Europeans look on with contempt or surprise. 
 They who despise the plan are more hostile than 
 the Indians themselves : they who wonder 
 scarcely know how to believe what they hear and 
 see. Even the few who approve are not aware 
 of what is going forward : they have no idea of 
 the magnitude of what they are commencinor. For 
 my own part, I feel solemnized with a sense of 
 what God has done, and with the expectation of 
 what He is doing.' 
 
 Such was the origin and consummation of a 
 
 work which will form an epoch in Indian history, 
 
 inasmuch as on Indian character, it must have 
 
 powerful and permanent effects. A suggestion 
 
 24 
 
278 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of the possibility of such a project twenty years 
 before, would have been treated as chimerical in 
 the extreme; its achievement in 1816 surpassed 
 the expectations of those who were most ardent in 
 desiring the diffusion of knowledge in the east. The 
 boast of pagan politicians that they commanded 
 events, is as directly opposed to experience, as it 
 is to revelation. When was it more clearly seen 
 that man is only a dependant, secondary agent, 
 than in the construction of the Hindoo College? 
 It might seem that Lord Moira had only to waive 
 the sceptre of power, and that such a college 
 would have risen as by magic ; but so little did he 
 dare to attempt anything of the sort, that he 
 could not divest himself of official trepidation 
 when it appeared ; yet favouring education as 
 he did, the fact could neither be concealed, nor 
 transpire without beneficial result. Mr. Thom- 
 ason who had been deputed to draw up a plan 
 for the instruction of the people, met with no 
 immediate success ; yet his preparation of the 
 plan, his persevering advocacy of education, his 
 ventilation of the question through the length 
 and bread of the land, his advice finally to the 
 natives when they put themselves in motion, 
 could not but be signally influential. Others 
 likewise in different modes and degrees were 
 instrumental towards this design ; but blind must 
 he be who does not discern here a superior wis- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 279 
 
 dom presiding, without which nothing would 
 have been accomphshed. 
 
 The Hterary union of Hindoos in Calcutta led 
 soon to a combination amongst Christians, in 
 which Mr. Thomason, if not a prime mover, was 
 at least an efficient agent. It was termed the 
 School-book Society ; its object being to furnish 
 the natives with books proper for elementary 
 instruction. But more direct measures for over- 
 throwing the strong holds of Heathenism were 
 in action. In the year 1817, the Church Mis- 
 sionary Society gained a firm position, and 
 presented an extended and bold front in Calcutta. 
 Mr. Thomason became its secretary in the com- 
 mencement of that year ; and towards its conclu- 
 sion, he speaks with animation and joy of 
 Missionary Meetings in his Church, and amongst 
 his congregation, in which as a matter of almost 
 necessary consequence, the number of serious 
 hearers multiplied. 
 
 Feh. 24. We have this account; — * We have 
 begun our missionary operations in print ; for 
 the first time two of our highest civilians 
 shew their faces to the Indian public in con- 
 nection with a professedly missionary institu- 
 tion. The Lord be praised ! The secretary- 
 ship has just devolved upon me, and more than 
 employs me ; I cannot get through all my 
 work.' In the month of October of the same 
 
280 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 year : * We have established a monthly missionary 
 prayer-meeting at my church. Missionary com- 
 munications are read, and prayer is offered up for 
 missionary prosperity. Ten years ago, such an 
 event vi^ould have thrown the settlement into an 
 uproar.' Under this accession of duty it was 
 no wonder, especially as his assistant had been 
 removed from him by the Bishop, that he should 
 be more than ever importunate with his Christian 
 friends in England for help. His labours in fact 
 were such as nothing but an unusual increase 
 of work and dearth of workmen would have 
 justified. As a translator, he completed a version 
 of the Psalms into Persian, not knowing probably 
 that the same thing had been done by H. Martyn, 
 at Sheraz ; he was engaged also in the revision 
 of the Arabic Old Testament ; on him also, 
 the printing of the Arabic New Testament, as 
 well as of H. Martyn's Persian New Testament, 
 devolved. These duties were superadded to his 
 pastoral employments, and almost daily demands 
 were made upon him by the various Committees 
 of religious, charitable, or literary societies ; so 
 that he may justly be described as in " labours 
 abundant." I am filled with astonishment,' he 
 says, ' at the opening scenes of usefulness, — send us 
 labourers — send us faithful laborious labourers. 
 Being obliged to undertake so many departments, 
 renders me sadly inefficient. Preaching, trans- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 281 
 
 lating, writing letters, attending committees, all is 
 feebly and anprofitably done.' 
 
 The view which the Bishop took of the Church 
 of England Missionaries in India precluded Mr. 
 Thomason, however oppressed, from obtaining 
 relief from their services. Though regularly 
 ordained ministers of the church of England, they 
 were not permitted to officiate in any of the 
 churches, an inhibition which as the Bishop made 
 it imperative on Mr. Thomason to administer the 
 sacrament to numerous communicants separately 
 and individually, was • peculiarly trying. Some 
 aid he did receive, and with it no small measure 
 of spiritual refreshment, on Mr. Corrie's return to 
 India in the middle of 1817 ; in Mr. Parson also, 
 who was statedly fixed at the Presidency, he had 
 a brother indeed. But long was the period during 
 which he had to sustain a pressure which could 
 not but be attended with ultimate injury to his 
 health, and which no doubt undermined his 
 constitution. The noble and Christian efforts 
 which in the succeeding year 1818, Bishop 
 Middleton made in behalf of India, rendered 
 Mr. Thomason's occupation still more onerous. 
 He could not see his diocesan putting forth his 
 energies for the benefit of millions of heathen, 
 without endeavouring to second them to the 
 utmost, not merely by the cheapest of all modes 
 of co-operation, pecuniary contribution, and by 
 24* 
 
282 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 the most spiritual of all — fervent supplications — 
 but also by vigorous personal exertion. He 
 tasked himself w^ith the acquisition of the 
 Bengalee language, that he might be in a better 
 condition to take part in his Lordship's design 
 of imparting Christian knowledge to an immense 
 population ; and, in compliance with his views, 
 engaged to edit Euclid in Arabic. 
 
 ' To the joy of many,' he writes, ' our Bishop 
 has come forward in behalf of the heathen. The 
 public was moved — a School Committee formed — 
 a noble fund raised for school purposes ! What 
 could the heart desire more ? We are not 
 straightened for means or for patronage, we want 
 only instruments. As a member of the School 
 Committee, I have felt it my duty to rise to the 
 great occasion, and have laid my shoulders to the 
 work and have for some time past been busily 
 employed in learning the Bengalee language, 
 organizing schools, examining classes, looking out 
 for teachers. The Bishop's chaplain is the only 
 one who takes an active part in our Committee. 
 He is in fact the secretary ; but as he always 
 travels with the Bishop, he leaves me to act for 
 him as secretary to the Diocesan Committee ; 
 and thus I have for months together the concerns 
 of the Society for Promoting Christian knowledge 
 upon my hands. Now that they have come 
 publicly forward in the cause of the heathen, 
 
REV. THOMAS TIIOMASON. 283 
 
 I rejoice and feel it -an honour to serve them. By 
 throwing in all nny little influence, and using all 
 my exertion for them, I am enabled to help for- 
 ward a mighty instrument of good ; and truly it is 
 a matter of rejoicing that the great and gay 
 amongst us have been forward to give their silver 
 and gold at the call of the Bishop. I am the 
 more particular in detailing this, as my services 
 will do so much in the line of that Society that 
 some persons at a distance might be tempted to 
 think I had deserted the Church Missionary 
 Society. In the prevalence of party spirit, which 
 so unhappily exists, it is very hard to reason with 
 peifect Christian liberality. It is a matter of little 
 consequence who does the good, provided good 
 be done ; and when our own church comes for- 
 ward, and summons the public to help, it appears 
 to me the call of duty and honour to rally round 
 her. Should we not spring round her to assist 
 with our labour, and prayers, and influence ? 
 My own decided opinion is, that the Church 
 Missionary Society should give up to the Bishop 
 all the schools that he will accept ; his Society 
 would be greatly helped forward by the supply 
 of materials ready manufactured, and the Church 
 Missionary Society would have its funds dis- 
 posable for direct missionary work. But we 
 want men — that precious commodity. The same 
 individuals are too much divided in their attention. 
 
284 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Meanwhile our dissenting brethren are accu- 
 mulating fast around us. At this moment we have 
 ten dissenting ministers of different kinds con- 
 stantly labouring in Calcutta — their presses are 
 at work — their legs — their lungs — all are engaged 
 in the great and good cause,' 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON 285 
 
 CHAPTER XL 
 
 He who had seen with interest and thankfulness 
 the rise and progress of the Hindoo College, could 
 not but rejoice exceedingly in that splendid project 
 of Bishop Middleton, the institution of a college for 
 missionaries at Calcutta, which was made public 
 in 1819, and which, with an internal administra- 
 tion correspondent to" its grand design, will be 
 fraught with benefits to India beyond human 
 calculations. About the time this plan transpired, 
 Mr. Thomason himself began to carry on an 
 arduous and admirable work, of which H. Martyn 
 had laid a foundation — the translation of the 
 Old Testament into Hindoostanee. A rough and 
 incomplete manuscript left by H. Martyn, was in 
 Mr. Thomason's possession, who undertook not 
 simply to revise — that would not have sufficed — 
 but to recast the version, a task to which few 
 could bring a competent slock of oriental learning 
 — fewer still an adequate share of self-denying 
 perseverance. The Arabic and Persian versions 
 which had occupied Mr. Thomason were now off 
 his hands, and he was able to give himself 
 
286 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 wholly to the Hindoostanee Old Testament; and 
 is it too much to affirm that next to the honour 
 put upon these holy men of old, who spake as 
 they were moved by the Holy Ghost, and who 
 were the medium of an inspired communication 
 to their fellow creatures — is that of faithfully 
 transferring the words of infallibility into the 
 language of some vast and populous nation, to 
 which the living oracles of God are unknown? 
 Translation it is that openeth the window to let 
 in the light — that breaketh the shell that we may 
 eat the kernel — that putteth aside the curtain that 
 we may look into the most holy place — that 
 removeth the cover of the well, that we may come 
 by the water : we desire, say our translators* — 
 that the scripture may speak like itself in the 
 language of Canaan, that it may be understood 
 even by the very vulgar. With sentiments and 
 motives analogous to these, Mr. Thomason entered 
 upon his great undertaking in behalf of the in- 
 habitants of Hindoostan. 
 
 At the dawn of the year 1820, a liberal grant 
 from the government of £300 per annum, to 
 the Orphan Asylum, was most cheering to Mr. 
 Thomason. Great was his encouragement also 
 in finding the heart and mind of bis valued 
 friend Mr. Simeon in perfect unison with his 
 
 ♦ See Preface to the Bible. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 287 
 
 own in all he had done and was then doing. 
 By him he was thus animated to persist in 
 his course. ' Every work in which you engage 
 is so much to my heart and mind, that my soul 
 appears to be cast into the very same mould with 
 yours. I cannot approve of the egotism of the 
 Christian world — if that disposition savour of zeal, 
 it does not breathe love. Why should w^e be 
 pleased with nothing but what suits our own 
 taste.' Referring then to Mr. Thomason's cautious 
 method of proceeding ; he adds in commendation 
 of it — ' could not Jehovah have revealed every 
 thing as plainly by Moses, as by the Lord Jesus ? 
 Could not our blessed Lord have spoken more 
 intelligibly than by parables, and Paul have 
 gone at once to perfection, instead of dwelling so 
 much on the first principles of the oracles of 
 God ? But the object was to give that, which in 
 existing circumstances, was fittest for the recip- 
 ients. With such examples before us, let us not 
 be grieved, if we be blamed for treading in their 
 steps. The Christian community amongst you, 
 as well as the native population, needed caution 
 and sobriety to be exercised towards them. 
 The concurrence of the Christian world will pave 
 the way for still further exertions, and accelerate 
 your ultimate objects far more than any prema- 
 ture efforts of your own. I trust the time is not 
 far distant, when multitudes of the natives will 
 
MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 " drink water with joy out of the wells of salva- 
 tion." The transmission of another child to 
 England this year, — that sacrifice on the altar 
 of affection, which Christian parents in India 
 must make, — inflicted many a pang in the bosoms 
 of Mr. and Mrs. Thomason ; but never, perhaps, 
 were their bosoms so acutely wounded, never 
 certainly by any event out of the immediate circle 
 of their own relations, as by a disaster in the 
 following year. Ever ready to open his house and 
 heart to the distressed, Mr. Thomason who, not 
 long before, had adopted into his family an 
 orphan child, now received under his roof a 
 widow, whose bereavement was bitter almost 
 beyond former precedent. The narrative he has 
 given can scarcely be read, notwithstanding the in- 
 terval that has occurred of time and that of space, 
 without an unusual demand upon the reader's sen- 
 sibilities. " Captain C is with us. Mrs. 
 
 is also arrived ; but, alas ! the mention of her 
 name is so connected with sorrow and deep 
 affliction, that our hearts are torn with the recol- 
 lection. She came here a few days ago; her 
 husband had come down the country a few weeks 
 before, and had occupied the same room which is 
 
 now filled by Captain C ; he proceeded down 
 
 the river to meet her, and arrived at Saugur, 
 where the ships anchor. A gale springing up, 
 he proceeded to Kedgeree ; but before he reached 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 289 
 
 it, his vessel was upset ! He and his friend, 
 Captain — —, who accompanied him, have not 
 since been heard of. The last that was seen 
 of them, as related by one of the survivors was, 
 that he was on the hen-coop floating amongst the 
 waves. It blew hard. In the night it was a 
 hurricane. Two persons only, out of twenty-six, 
 reached the shore. Since that, four others were 
 drifted to the land, at a place nearly twenty miles 
 from the spot where the accident happened. 
 Two died immediately on landing. They had 
 floated two days and one night, tossed about by 
 the tides. The two survivors relate, that when 
 they last saw the two gentlemen, they were taking 
 oflf their clothes on the hen-coop. The bad 
 weather that followed, and the days that have 
 since elapsed, leave no hope. Only two days 
 
 after the catastrophe, the ship with Mrs. on 
 
 board, stood into the river from sea. On that 
 very day we heard of the event. Mrs. Thomason 
 determined to go down the river to meet Mrs. 
 
 . She arrived here. It was a dreadful 
 
 scene. I never witnessed such heart-rending 
 agony. It was long before she could weep. We 
 are striving by every tender and aflfectionate 
 attention, to assist this poor widow in her distress. 
 Never has this settlement been more generally 
 aflfected, as on this sad occasion. The circum- 
 stance of the case came home to every bosom, 
 25 
 
290 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 A wife anxiously advancing to rejoin her hus- 
 band — the husband eagerly proceeding to embrace 
 his wife, and in his eagerness, running to his 
 destruction ! On Sunday morning I endeavoured 
 to call the attention of the congregation to that 
 great, and universal, and sudden surprise which 
 will take place in the days of the Son of man, 
 — as I above said, was some weeks near me. I 
 had many opportunities of seeing him in private. 
 We all perceived an evident change in him 
 for the better ; he took pleasure in good reading, 
 and loved to join in good conversation. The 
 change was attributable under God, to letters 
 received from his own wife whilst in England ; 
 she had received much good, and wrote in a strain 
 that was unusual. These letters drew his atten- 
 tion to religious books long neglected, and he was 
 under considerable religious impression when he 
 came to us. He opened his mind to me — spoke 
 of having too much neglected the most important 
 concerns, and consulted me about his future 
 course ; at this juncture the arrival of the wished- 
 for ship was announced. Events of this kind 
 dissipate the thoughts of the most grave — it 
 cannot be a surprise then, that he should have 
 been taken up in engaging a house, getting a 
 boat, and setting off to the ship. Some days 
 before the ship could be expected, he hastened 
 his departure. It was the time of the year when 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 291 
 
 great caution should have been used, because it 
 was at the breaking up of the Monsoon. He 
 promised he would go no farther than Diamond 
 harbour ; but the fineness of the weather tempted 
 him, and he proceeded to the mouth of the river, 
 and we have seen him no more ! The recollec- 
 tion of his manifestly altered character has 
 been a source of comfort to us — he was always 
 mild, amiable, diffident, good-tempered — but 
 on this occasion he was serious, and I cannot 
 but entertain a strong hope that the Lord may 
 have been graciously preparing his mind for an 
 event which he himself so little foresaw. Who 
 can tell what passed whilst he was cHnging to 
 the hen-coop ? It is consoling to know that 
 the Lord is gracious and all-sufficient, and I 
 dwell with real delight on the circumstances of 
 our late intercourse.' 
 
 Few deaths can be conceived of a more tenderly 
 affecting character than this, which was followed 
 by two others singularly impressive in the next and 
 the succeeding year — and which, like the former, 
 spoke to all in accents unusually piercing. The 
 one was the decease of the Bishop of Calcutta, 
 the other that of the Chief Justice of Bengal. 
 Of Bishop Middleton, Mr. Thomason remarks — 
 * he lived to do much good — good of a progressive 
 character — the College originated with him, which 
 promises to be of vast importance to India. He 
 
393 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 died after an illness of four or five days only. 
 Yesterday week the clergy dined with him — he 
 was cheerful as usual — had just returned to his 
 house after it had undergone a thorough repair, 
 and seemed to bid fair for a long life, being a 
 remarkably athletic man. His disease was fever. 
 He had been greatly injured in many ways — few 
 only knew how to appreciate him. I saw his 
 body after dissection ; the doctor could discover 
 no physical cause for his death. It was a humil- 
 iating sight — my heart sunk within me. It 
 was an awful spectacle — a flood of light seemed 
 to burst in upon my soul whilst I looked, I 
 pray that the lessons of that scene may not be 
 forgotten. Mrs. Thomason has been all day with 
 Mrs. Middleton to assist and be useful — she goes 
 with equal cheerfulness and serenity to the high 
 and low — her value is known by all.' 
 
 The death-bed of Sir Henry Blosset, the 
 Chief Justice, Mr. Thomason attended minis- 
 terially ; and for the sake of a near relation in 
 England, drew up an account of that most striking 
 scene. The insertion of large extracts from his 
 recital, it would be unpardonable to omit. They 
 teach the Christian parent what may be expected 
 from continuance in prayer; they exhibit the 
 Redeemer as the Prince of life in the very midst 
 of the valley of the shadow of death. 
 
REV. THOMAS TH03IAS0N. 293 
 
 Calcutta, February '2nd, 1823. 
 ' Dear Madam, 
 
 * It is not without emotions of a very conflicting 
 nature that I am induced to address you. Mr. 
 
 "P 's more full communication will have 
 
 apprised you, I trust, of our heavy loss. It is fit 
 that one so well known to you, and so affection- 
 ately attached to the deceased, should be the 
 first to open to you the sad tidings, before a 
 stranger ventures into your presence. Having 
 heard from him the sad story, you will be better 
 prepared to receive the consolation, which I would 
 fain strive to administer. Few are privileged, 
 dear Madam, as you are, with such well grounded 
 motives for rejoicing in their affliction. Having 
 been called upon to visit your late respected 
 and beloved brother in his last illness, and having 
 promised before his departure to make known to 
 you the state of his mind, I shall endeavour to 
 recal the particulars of my ministerial attendance 
 upon him. 
 
 ' On Tuesday the 28th of January, I was 
 requested in a letter written by his servant, but 
 in his own name, to attend him whenever it 
 might be convenient. The circumstance of the 
 communication being written by another, con- 
 vinced me that Sir Henry must be seriously 
 indisposed, I waited upon him immediately, and 
 found him upon his couch, greatly altered in his 
 25* 
 
294 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 appearance. His disorder had attacked him with 
 amazing violence, and was of a nature to pull 
 down the patient speedily. He received me with 
 a solemn and earnest expression of regard and 
 of interest on the occasion of our interview, which 
 I can never forget. It greatly affected my mind. 
 After some preliminary remarks on the sudden- 
 ness of the attack, and the mysterious nature of 
 his illness ; he entered immediately on the great 
 subject of God's dealings with him from the 
 beginning, spoke with much humihty and many 
 tears of his past life, and seemed overwhelmed 
 with a sense of the goodness of God to him. 
 Turning round, he observed that his excellent 
 mother having been known to me, I could well 
 appreciate the honour conferred upon him, and 
 the blessing he enjoyed in having such a parent. 
 The remembrance of her piety and maternal love, 
 caused him to weep abundantly. Recovering 
 himself, he said that ' he could not affirm he was 
 not somewhat depressed ; it was fit he should 
 be ; perhaps there was no state of mind more 
 salutary; it would be well for us if we were 
 oftener in such a state,' and he could from his 
 heart declare, that though he knew much to 
 humble him, and make him sad, yet he felt the 
 mercy of God so greatly to exceed his own 
 demerits, that he could not but feel overwhelmed 
 with a sense of it. 
 
REV. THOMAS TK031AS0N. 295 
 
 *He was then led to mention as the greatest 
 blessing, Ms voyage to India. He looked back 
 upon it with peculiar thankfulness. It was what 
 he needed. A voyage by sea was highly calcu- 
 lated to impress the mind with seriousness. He 
 had found this to be a season of solemn recol- 
 lection, and of religious enjoyment. In the retire- 
 ment of his cabin, he had enjoyed more of God 
 than ever before ; and though it was unusually 
 prolonged, he felt sorry when it came to an end. 
 He could bless God for all his afflictions, and 
 could testify that they had been his richest 
 mercies, adding, that he had experienced the 
 fulfilment of that promise in Isaiah xxx. 20, 21, 
 which he repeated with great distinctness and 
 solemnity from beginning to end. It was very 
 edifying to observe the tone and manner with 
 which he called to mind the words of the promise. 
 " Though the Lord give you the bread of adver- 
 sity, and the waters of affliction, yet shall not thy 
 teachers be removed into a corner any more, but 
 thine eyes shall see thy teachers, and thine ear 
 shall hear a word behind thee, saying, This is the 
 way, walk ye in it ; when ye turn to the right 
 hand, and when ye turn to the left." 
 
 *The impression upon my mind was, that the 
 voyage was a season of great spiritual improve- 
 ment to him, during which his heart was strength- 
 ened, and his religious principles took deeper 
 
^96 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 root, and his soul was ripened into that maturity 
 of Christian knowledge and experience, which was 
 so conspicuous in him here. 
 
 ' The conversation then turned on the mysteri- 
 ousness of God's dealings in bringing him to 
 India, and then laying him on a bed of sickness, 
 w^hich, in all probability, would be the bed of 
 death. He had hoped if it had pleased God to 
 allow him time, to use the influence of his situa- 
 tion in advancing religion, and especially in 
 encouraging the many institutions which had 
 been formed for the benefit of this country ; but 
 the very serious aspect of his sickness had put a 
 stop to all his plans, and had led him to examine 
 his motives strictly, and to feel that he was 
 nothing. His anxious desire was now to acknow- 
 ledge the hand of God, in the exercise of entire 
 patience and resignation to his holy will. After 
 some further conversation on this topic, at his 
 request I prayed with him, having previously read 
 a portion of the twelfth chapter of the Hebrews, 
 referred to in the order for the " visitation of the 
 sick." He was visibly impressed with a solemn 
 and thankful sense of that passage ; that the 
 Father of spirits chastens us for our profit, that 
 we may be partakers of his holiness, and added his 
 fervent Amen, that it might be so with him. 
 
 * The above is but an outline of our conver- 
 sation ; the particulars of which, you who so well 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 297 
 
 knew him, can easily supply. It is impossible to 
 convey adequately the solemn pathos, the tone 
 of tenderness, the dignity and humility with 
 which he spoke. 
 
 ' On the following day, Wednesday the 29th, I 
 again visited him. He complained of great pain, 
 and said that his disorder was still a mystery. 
 He did not know how it would terminate, but 
 one thing we know, He "doeth all things well, 
 and in whatever it may end, it must end welly 
 His countenance was illumined with an expres- 
 sion of cheerfulness, w^hen he said this, which 
 plainly showed the inward composure of his 
 mind. 
 
 ' The season not being favourable for conversa- 
 tion, I left him, with a promise of renewing my 
 call in the evening. 
 
 *At nine in the evening I found him in bed 
 much reduced and exhausted. He could not 
 converse. It was not desirable that he should. 
 I read the 103d Psalm, making such little 
 remarks as seemed suited to his circumstances, 
 and prayed with him. After prayer, he spoke 
 of receiving the sacrament It was his particular 
 wish, he said, not to defer it too long. He 
 thought an early time should be fixed. It was an 
 ordinance he much enjoyed, and he should be 
 sorry that it were delayed, for he feared he might 
 be too much weakened by his disease (which was 
 
298 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 rapidly reducing his strength) to enjoy it» Look- 
 ing at Dr. S., he begged him to fix a time. It 
 was agreed that it might take place on the next 
 or following day. I should have observed that 
 the little he spoke, indicated a very happy frame 
 of mind. On my relating to him an anecdote 
 of a poor afflicted woman in England, who, though 
 long and sorely exercised by various trials, could 
 rejoice in her afflictions, and even expressed her 
 conviction that in one sense a state of affliction 
 was preferable to present happiness in heaven, 
 because it was not without its strong present 
 consolations, and was working out a far more 
 exceeding and eternal w^eight of glory ; he was 
 much delighted with the story, and said with 
 great emphasis, that it reminded him of a beau- 
 tiful passage in the life of Mr. Pearce. 
 
 'Singing, as I wade to heaven, 
 Sweet affliction: sweet affliction.'* 
 
 * On Thursday morning I again called. He 
 received me with an affectionate welcome, and 
 expressed much thankfulness for being thus 
 assisted in collecting his thoughts, and fixing 
 them on spiritual things, from which he felt 
 himself much drawn aside by his bodily infirmi- 
 ties. I read the 14th of John, and prayed: — 
 
 * Gluoted from a hymn in a storm, in the Life of Pearce. 
 
REV. TH03iAS THOMASON. 299 
 
 the words, "that where I am, there ye may be 
 also," appeared to comfort him greatly. 
 
 * On the night of Thursday, I found him greatly 
 exhausted. My time with him was very short. 
 I read a few of the first verses of John xv. and 
 prayed. The same remark applies to my visit 
 of Friday morning. The disorder had made fear- 
 ful ravages on his frame. He suffered much, yet 
 in this his low estate, it was edifying to observe 
 how much he was refreshed by the 130th Psalm, 
 and a few words of prayer. I should observe 
 that in all these visits (after the first) his body 
 was so evidently tried by his complaint, that he 
 was little capable of conversation. My study 
 was to speak so as not to elicit answers, to suggest 
 such thoughts as his case required, and pray for a 
 blessing. 
 
 ' About two o'clock on Friday, I received a mes- 
 sage from the doctor that he was sinking fast, and 
 it was desirable the sacrament should be no longer 
 delayed. This ordinance, to which he had looked 
 forward with so much earnestness, was accordingly 
 administered about half-past three. It was a 
 memorable occasion. I pray that all of us who 
 were present may long retain it in our hearts. 
 We ought consider it a great privilege, that we 
 were permitted to witness such a scene. It was 
 necessary to curtail the service as much as possi- 
 ble. I began with the prayer " we do not pre- 
 
300 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 sume to come to this thy table," — «Sz:c. It would 
 have greatly affected and dehghted you, could 
 you have witnessed the fervour, and humihty, 
 and holy enjoyment of the ordinance manifested 
 by your honoured brother on this occasion. His 
 frame was greatly emaciated, but his soul seemed 
 to rise superior to all earthly things, and to feed 
 on Christ with faith and thanksgiving, whilst he 
 partook of the elements. In order to shorten the 
 service, which I feared might prove burthensome, 
 I proceeded to the benediction : after the prayer, 
 leaving out the hymn of praise, " Glory be to 
 God on high, &c." He immediately noticed the 
 omission, and interrupted me, pronouncing him- 
 self, with great animation, the whole of that 
 beautiful service, as long as his voice would 
 admit. 
 
 * We were all greatly affected : I cordially 
 thanked him for noticing the omission, and with 
 tears of joy we concluded the service together. It 
 was a season peculiarly impressive. I felt happy 
 in having given occasion to a movement on his 
 part, which so decidedly proved that his mind 
 was entirely collected, and that he entered into 
 the spirit of the ordinance as a solemn act of 
 thanksgiving and worship, an eucharistical ser- 
 vice to Christ. 
 
 * The ordinance being concluded, he requested 
 me to draw the chair close to his couch, and sit 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 301 
 
 down, at the same time intimating his wish that all 
 others might withdraw. 
 
 * He then most affectionately put out his hand 
 and entreated me to pray for him that he might 
 be delivered from all false confidence, adding, that 
 he felt much peace, but that when he reflected 
 on his past life, he could not but feel a trembling 
 sense of his demerits ; that he trusted in the 
 mercy of God through Christ, but that, at such a 
 season, and in a matter of such importance, he 
 felt it necessary to pray against false confidences. 
 He repeated this eocjiression loith great earnest' 
 ness. I replied that God would not disappoint 
 the hope which is founded on the merits of his 
 Son, and that the Scripture w^as peculiarly 
 adapted to convey comfort to all, who, under a 
 trembling sense of their sinfulness, cast themselves 
 on the mercy of God. He said, ' That is true, I 
 am perfectly satisfied on that point. My views 
 are strong and clear. I have no cloud, no doubt, 
 and long to be with my God and Saviour. O when 
 will the time come ? To this time I have looked 
 forward, O God, thou knowest. It does not take 
 me by surprise : I have been preparing for it. 
 For some years past I have been endeavouring to 
 withdraw from the world ; avoiding as much as 
 possible all new connections, and labouring to be 
 ready for my summons. I greatly long for my 
 rest.' Here he dwelt with great delight on the 
 26 
 
302 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 blessedness of being with God, varying and re- 
 iterating his expressions, sometimes in broken 
 accents, at others more distinctly. I observed 
 that he was now in a state to appreciate those 
 beautiful lines of C. Wesley, written when he 
 supposed himself dying. 'What are the lines?' 
 he said, * repeat them.' I began, 
 
 In age and feebleness extreme, 
 Who shall a sinful worm redeem ? 
 
 and was then proceeding to the line, 
 
 O let me catch one glimpse from thee ; 
 
 but here he took me up, and with great fervour 
 himself repeated two important lines which I had 
 missed. 
 
 Jesus, my joy and strength thou art: 
 The comfort of my drooping heart. 
 O let me catch one smile from thee, 
 Then drop into Eternity. 
 
 He was refreshed by these lines, and entered with 
 great delight on another hymn, 
 
 Jesus, lover of my soul, &c. &c. 
 
 We repeated these verses together, and every now 
 and then he helped my memory, till we came to 
 the end, in which he joined with great emphasis 
 of tone and manner. 
 
 Spring thou up within my heart — rise to all Eternity. 
 
 * Here I expressed my thankfulness to God for 
 the support vouchsafed to him at so trying a 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMA.SON. 303 
 
 time ; and observed that it was a new instance 
 of the Lord's tender mercy, in that when he most 
 needed comfort, his consolation should be so 
 strong, adverting at the same time to my first 
 interview, when he was comparatively depressed. 
 He said it was indeed a merciful dispensation, but 
 that violent disorders naturally deaden the ex- 
 pressions of one's feelings. He had abundant 
 reason to bless God for all his dealings. ' Yes,' 
 I said, ' he has not dealt with us according to our 
 deserts,' ' Not according to my deserts ' — he em- 
 phatically said, ' I am sure ; you know not how I 
 have sinned against him. But I can see mercy,' 
 he continued, after a pause, *in all the w^ay by 
 which I have been led, and a gracious reason for 
 every trial with which he has visited me. All is 
 wonderful, surely goodness and mercy have fol- 
 lowed me all the days of my life, and / shall 
 dwell in the house of God for ever.'' These last 
 words he uttered with uplifted hands, and great 
 fervour of tone. The scene was grand ! I ob- 
 served that the sorrow and regret of the occasion 
 was absorbed, and I could only rejoice in the 
 comfort he felt at such a trying season. The 
 hearts of many, I said, would be confirmed by the 
 account, especially of his friends at home, to whom 
 I should make a point of communicating what I 
 had witnessed. He then spoke, dear madam, 
 with great tenderness of you, ' He had one 
 
304 MEaiOIR OF THE 
 
 beloved sister,' he said, * who would be comforted 
 to hear about him.' I promised to write, and 
 asked, what shall I say to her ? Have you any 
 thing to communicate in particular? He said, 
 * Nothing; but tell her this, that I die happy/ 
 He spoke here with peculiar deliberation, and then 
 added, * What can you say more ? ' After a pause 
 he said again, ' Tell her to follow after and find me 
 out.' As nearly as I can recollect his words, this 
 was his message, delivered in a sententious style, 
 and cheerful tone of voice, like one who knows 
 where he has built his hopes, and the ground on 
 which he stands. He spoke much on the delight 
 of meeting you in heaven, and his beloved 
 mother, but here his disorder became very 
 troublesome. ' I can bear no more,' he said, and 
 most affectionately seized my hand and kissed it. 
 I too bid him a tender adieu, kissing his forehead 
 and cheek. 
 
 * It was grievous to part with him ! But blessed 
 be God, we sorrow not as those without hope. 
 Having committed him with mingled feelings of 
 joy and sorrow to God, I w^ithdrew% observing 
 that death was not only deprived of its sting — it 
 was swallowed up in victory. 
 
 * About ten minutes after, Mr. went to 
 
 him, and he heard him say, ' Blessed be God — I 
 have peace with God through Jesus Christ.' 
 
 * Dearest madam, I feel for your loss. The 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 305 
 
 tender affection with which your brother spoke 
 of you and your family, has drawn my heart 
 towards you in sympathy. Yet I am sure, you 
 will rejoice in the consolation, and I trust you 
 will be encouraged to go forward, in hope of the 
 same victory. The grace given to your honoured 
 brother is also offered to ijou, to me. O that we 
 may not fall short of it ! Such bereavements 
 are irreparable in this world. But Christ is all- 
 sufficient ; " the same yesterday, to-day, and for 
 ever." May he be the strength of our heart, and 
 our portion for ever ! 
 
 ' Yours, my dear madam, in much sympathy 
 and Christian condolence, 
 
 Thomas Thomason.' 
 
 An Extract from a letter to the Rev. Mr. 
 Thomason from Sir H. Blossett's Medical 
 Attendant. 
 
 ' My dear Sir, 
 
 * As you had many personal interviews with 
 our late respected friend, I did not think that any 
 thing which came under my observation could add 
 much to your satisfaction. I shall, however, as 
 you requested, now mention such things as were 
 talked of in your absence. 
 
 * On the Thursday morning he mentioned to 
 you that he looked to have some portion of Scrip- 
 
306 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 ture read occasionally : I therefore in the course 
 of the day offered to read any portion that he 
 wished. He immediately mentioned in succes- 
 sion the 27th and 29th Psalms, and the 4th and 
 5th chapters of St. Paul's first epistle to the 
 Thessalonians, repeating always the beginning of 
 the first verses ; which being read, he repeated 
 these words frequently, " Comfort your heart 
 
 with these things," and addressing Messrs. 
 
 and myself, began to speak of the advantages 
 of a religious life. He observed that there was no 
 need for shew or eccentricity, but a sincere regard 
 to the ordinances of God, especially the attentive 
 perusal of the Scriptures, with prayer to God for 
 his blessing, and the supply of our wants, — that it 
 was only by setting God ever before us, that we 
 could expect success in this life, and enjoy that 
 peace and consolation which the world knows 
 not of. He said more to this effect, but the above 
 is the substance of what he did say, and nearly 
 in his ow^n words. 
 
 * On expressing my conviction that he could 
 with David say, " Yet halh he made with me an 
 everlasting covenant, well-ordered in all things, 
 and sure:" He said "this is all my salvation, and 
 all my desire. 
 
 'During the whole of Saturday, he seemed 
 very anxious to know when I thought he should 
 depart. And once after, inquiring very particu- 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 307 
 
 larly, and mentioning the state of his feelings, I 
 gave him my opinion, when he said, * a few hours 
 then will now free me from trouble ; and I hope 
 Mr. S. that you will never withhold the light of 
 divine truth from any of your patients. It is the 
 only source of comfort in life and in death. What 
 could I have done without this support? And 
 what the condition of those who live without God 
 and have no hope in their death ! In prosperity I 
 have been too regardless of my eternal concerns : 
 but blessed be God for bringing me to this state.' 
 
 * Soon after this he prayed for all his relations, 
 and those who were about him, for you and for 
 M. and for all Christians, and for the con- 
 version of the heathen, especially those of this 
 land. About two hours before his death, inquiring 
 about the state of his pulse, I told him that 
 it was almost imperceptible. ' It will soon then 
 beat,' said he ' in the blood of the everlasting 
 covenant.' ' 
 
 It was not long after the death of the Chief 
 Justice that Mr. Thomason, for the first and last 
 time in his life, found himself involved most 
 reluctantly in public controversy. A ' collatio 
 signorum' occurred unhappily betv/een the Com- 
 mittee of the Church Missionary Society and 
 one or two members of the Christian Knowledge 
 Society. To revive the topics in dispute would 
 be as unchristian as it would be uninteresting. 
 
308 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 Suffice it to say, that it was well for both sides 
 that to Mr. Thomason the vindication of the pro- 
 ceedings of the Church Missionary Society was 
 committed : his pen was singularly free from gall, 
 and the hand that directed it was not feeble. 
 
 In tlie midst of these conflicting discussions 
 Bishop Heber arrived to restore harmony and to 
 diffuse happiness. Never perhaps was any eccle- 
 siastical ruler more acceptable than he — men of all 
 grades in society and of every diversity of senti- 
 ment gladly recognized his superintendence. To 
 an endeared Christian friend,* whose absence from 
 India to Mr. Thomason personally was such a 
 chasm as scarcely any thing could close, he had 
 written on this subject — ' I am full of joy at the 
 prospect of seeing him.' To Mr. Simeon — 'I was 
 much gratified and many were made happy by 
 your account. May he come to us in the fulness 
 of the blessing of the Gospel of Christ ! We pray 
 for him : and we pray for ourselves that we may 
 receive him in a right spirit. May he see nothing 
 in us to damp and discourage him, but every thing 
 by which his hands may be strengthened and his 
 heart comforted !' When the Bishop actually 
 arrived on Indian ground, his words are — ' We 
 have heard his voice, and know his mind, and are 
 full of thankfulness.' 
 
 * J. W. Sherer, Esq. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 309 
 
 Bishop Heber's appointment of Mr. Corrie 
 to the Archdeaconry, to which another had 
 nearly been elevated, (the step would have been 
 complete but for the firm, respectful, and season- 
 able remonstrance of Mr. Parson,) was gratifying 
 in the highest degree to all who prized the golden 
 doctrines of the reformation, and to none more 
 than to Mr. Thomason, who himself shortly after 
 received a substantial proof of the Bishop's 
 favourable regard and good will, in an advance- 
 ment to the cathedral. Concerning Mr. Thomason, 
 at that moment the Bishop writing to one of his 
 most intimate and valued friends in England,* ex- 
 presses himself thus — ' Your friend Thomason is a 
 very good and a very learned man — a child in 
 gentleness and facility of disposition — the most 
 unsuspicious being possible — inclined to think well 
 of every body — he is an excellent preacher :' 
 adding concerning his removal to the cathedral, 
 * Mr. Thomason is a most useful and necessary 
 accession to the cathedral. I do not see any symp- 
 toms of the dispersion of his flock — though many 
 doubtless follow him to the cathedral. The 
 congregation of the old church, which was first 
 formed by Mr. Brown, is slill spoken of by many 
 persons in Calcutta as made up of ' the evangelical 
 party' A few years ago there was an avowed 
 
 * J. Thornton, Esq, 
 
310 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and impenetrable boundary line between them and 
 the frequenters of the cathedral. The preacher 
 of the old church was hardly acknowledged 
 as a member of the same community. His 
 brother chaplains, and those who attended his 
 ministry, would as soon have gone to mass as to 
 St. John's. The amiable temper and moderation 
 of Thomason — the excellent terms on which he 
 latterly was with Bishop Middleton — the similarity 
 of his opinions with those of the late senior 
 chaplains, have for some time back brought the 
 parties nearer to each other. To the affairs of the 
 Church Missionary Society, I have paid con- 
 siderable attention, and have great reason to he 
 satisfied with the manner in which they are con- 
 ducted, as well as personally with the Committee, 
 and all the 7nissionaries whom I have seen^ 
 
 ' I believe the bishop and the government,' Mr. 
 Thomason wrote whilst his designation to the 
 Cathedral was in suspense, ' will conclude, in 
 considering my church as a separate exclusive 
 church, and call my junior to the cathedral. If 
 this should be the case, it is my determination 
 to acquiesce in the decision, as the appointment 
 of providence, and to make no movement in the 
 way of appeal or complaint.' Doubly gratifying 
 was advancement thus received. On many 
 accounts the decision was pleasant ; a station in 
 the cathedral produced closer contact with the 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 311 
 
 Bishop, it opened also a more extensive inter- 
 course with the lower classes, affording employ- 
 ment more distinctly parochial than before. 
 
 * Two months have elapsed,' he writes, March, 
 1824, ' since I have been fixed in the Cathedral, 
 and I am thankful to give a good report of the 
 event, as far as I can yet judge. The change 
 has been in some respects great, in others 
 scarcely perceptible. We live in the same house, 
 and amongst the same people. I am still in the 
 pulpit of the old church once a week, and when 
 I am not there, it is occupied by one who feeds 
 them with the bread of life. In the meantime I 
 am myself engaged in a new sphere on the 
 Sundays ; at the Cathedral I have a very differ- 
 ent congregation to deal with, and may I have 
 reason to speak as I ought to speak. I have 
 much additional work in attending to the poor, 
 and looking after our free school, with all the 
 occasional duties of this city. It is a large field 
 of parochial labour. My daily prayer is for 
 grace to follow up these duties with a truly 
 pastoral heart. My avocations oblige me to 
 be more with men, hearing their troubles, and 
 bearing with their perverseness, and I feel the 
 want of what is called pastoral theology. One 
 of our Lutheran Missionaries tells me this makes 
 a prominent part of their education for the min- 
 istry.' From the strain of these remarks, it might 
 
312 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 be imagined Mr. Thomason was standing on the 
 threshold of his ministerial vocation, instead of 
 being as he was, eminently versed in pastoral 
 theology, apt to teach both publicly and from 
 house to house ; but 'real humility has a high 
 standard and exalted motives, and is ever ready 
 to consider the measure of actual accomplishment 
 low and disproportionate. No one was in less 
 peril than himself, of being drawn aside by any 
 consideration from the sacred and appropriate 
 offices of a Christian minister. 
 
 The autumn of this year was remarkable for 
 an epidemic of a singular character ; it raged in 
 Calcutta, and Mr. Thomason was one of those who 
 were laid low by the complaint. ' The fever,' 
 he says, ' scarcely lasted thirty-six hours, but the 
 prostration of strength was great, and the pains 
 in the limbs harassing. You may judge of the 
 general distress,' he wrote, ' when you hear that 
 whole families were prostrate at once : parents, 
 children, servants, so that in many instances, 
 there was no one to administer food and med- 
 icine, and hired servants were obtained by the 
 day, as they could be found. What added to 
 the calamity, was, that the medical men were 
 laid low. One physician had the business of 
 three or four. The dispensers of medicine at the 
 Company's store-house were affected one after 
 another, until the dispensary was shut up for 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 313 
 
 want of persons to make up the prescriptions, 
 and we were sent to other places for medicine 
 where we could find it. The throng of servants 
 was such at the dispensaries, that we could not 
 obtain any medicine until after two, three, or 
 four hours attendance, the people within being 
 unable to make them up with sufficient expe- 
 dition. About one in twenty or thirty only have 
 escaped sickness. It seems to have rendered the 
 place more salubrious, for last week when it was 
 my turn to attend at the burying ground, I had 
 scarcely one funeral, which, in this most sickly 
 month of the year, is unprecedented.' 
 
 When Mr. Thomason left England for India, 
 he did so in a spirit of prayer and deliberate 
 self-denial : it was his fixed intention that the 
 step should be final, and notwithstanding those 
 thoughts which often would force themselves 
 across the expanse of ocean, * surmounting the 
 nightly wave,' especially when beloved friends 
 had their faces turned towards a spot where an 
 aged, honoured, and endeared mother was living, 
 he would have persisted in the resolution of 
 remaining in India, if, in the year 1825 it had not 
 been too apparent that Mrs. Thomason's health 
 was gradually declining, and that the only human 
 hope of her restoration was to be found in 
 exchanging a climate, where the air without is 
 often like a blast furnace, whilst that within 
 27 
 
314 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 imparts a sepulchral sensation, for the breezes 
 of the sea, and the invigorating atmosphere of 
 her native land. In the month of June there- 
 fore, 1825, he determined on her account solely, 
 to return to England, and in the month of Octo- 
 ber his passage homew^ard was engaged. Preca- 
 rious however as was the state of Mrs. Thomason's 
 health ; it would scarcely have been deemed by 
 him a reason sufficient to justify the desertion 
 of his post, had he not found in Mr. Good, who 
 arrived from England, one on whom he could 
 with entire satisfaction devolve his official cares 
 and labours : concerning this valuable and oppor- 
 tune supply, and in reference to his conflicting 
 feehngs at this most anxious juncture, his expres- 
 sions of gratitude and dependance on his God, 
 were as usual, those of a Christian of elevated 
 attainments. 
 
 ' Mr. Good has been a week with us, he 
 brought many letters, and could tell us of what he 
 saw ; he has delighted us ; we cannot be too thank- 
 ful for such a treasure, and receive him as a gift 
 from God, for the promotion of his work in this 
 place. His removal here has removed all remain- 
 ing troubles concerning the old church. My 
 mind is now entirely at rest on that subject. I 
 see and admire the over-ruling hand of Provi- 
 dence, and can now leave India without a pang. 
 The ministry at the Cathedral however appears 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMA.SON. 315 
 
 more and more important, and my translation 
 work is greatly in arrears ; I fear it will not be in 
 my power to finish the translations of the Hin- 
 dostanee Old Testament, by the end of the year. 
 I know not how to leave so important a work 
 undone. Mr. Good opened his commission at 
 the Cathedral, in a faithful discourse from " We 
 
 preach Christ crucified." Mr. N , one of 
 
 our most zealous friends, wrote me the following 
 note. * I think I may say from my heart, " a 
 day in thy courts is better than a thousand." Let 
 me c ; gratulate you myself, and this community. 
 You may tell Mr. Simeon that there was one of 
 your congregation to-day also felt a degree of 
 gratitude and thankfulness towards him for his 
 gift, and to God who prompted him to give, that 
 is hardly communicable : considering the number 
 of pious and able ministers lately arrived, and 
 coming to India, principally through his instru- 
 mentality, the prospect is brightening indeed.' 
 
 Mr. Thomason's relation to those amongst 
 whom he had so long laboured in Calcutta, 
 spiritual and primitive as it was, could not but 
 be affectionate in a degree inconceivable to those 
 who are wedded to a vain world, and attached to 
 mere forms : in parting for a limited period, their 
 sorrow was unfeigned and mutual, when therefore 
 a separation of an unlimited extent was near and 
 unavoidable, their grief was commensurate. His 
 
316 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 approaching departure gave birth to the following 
 reciprocal communications of respect, attachment, 
 and regret. Happy those who " know them that 
 are over them in the Lord, and admonish them^ 
 and who esteem them very highly in love for their 
 works' sake," happy above all, those who are thus 
 esteemed. 
 
 To the Rev. Thomas Thomason — from some of 
 the members of the congregation at the Old Church, 
 Calcutta. 
 
 'Reverend and Beloved Sir, 
 * On the occasion of your approaching depar- 
 ture from India, after a sojourn of more than 
 seventeen years ; we, the congregation of the 
 Old Church, the chief field of your important 
 labours for fifteen years of that period, cannot 
 suffer such an event to pass by in silence. We 
 should do violence to our feelings, were we to 
 suppress the expression of our sincere and heart- 
 felt regret at the necessity under which you are 
 called to leave us. Most of us can associate in 
 our memories, recollections of the saving proofs 
 of your ministrations. Now, reverend and beloved 
 Sir, as we are not to hear your voice again, 
 (we hope for a season only, but some of us, per- 
 haps, never here below,) it behoves us as members 
 of a church, when we have profited by your 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 317 
 
 labour of love, to make known to you our grate- 
 ful acknowledgments, for the spiritual light and 
 knowledge we have derived from your preaching 
 to us the blessed truths of the gospel ; for, should 
 we, your congregation refuse to speak, the very 
 stones of the Old Church would cry out of the 
 walls, and the beam out of the timber would 
 answer it. From your very first discourse preached 
 at the Old Church, " knowing the terrors of the 
 Lord," you have persuaded us. As an ambas- 
 sador of Christ, you have besought, you earnestly 
 besought us to be reconciled to God, and to flee 
 from the wrath to come : you have pointed out to 
 us the Lamb of God who taketh away the sins 
 of the world ; and praised be our Lord and 
 Saviour Jesus Christ, whose sole glory you have 
 had in view under your labours, many who have 
 been moved from the church militant here on 
 earth, have, before they fell asleep in Jesus, 
 afforded abundant proofs that they had been 
 prepared to join the church triumphant above ! 
 Your series of discourses on the 11th of Hebrews; 
 on the Gospel of St. John and St. Matthew ; on 
 the Historical portions of the Old Testament ; on 
 the Parables; on the Commandments; on the 
 Liturgy ; on part of the Revelations, on Con- 
 science ; and latterly on the Psalms, are all well 
 remembered by us. Many of your powerful 
 discourses are fresh in our memories, and we 
 27* 
 
318 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 trust, indelibly engraven on our hearts. We 
 cannot forbear noticing a few of your most impres- 
 sive and heart-searching addresses from the Old 
 Church pulpit, the one delivered from the text, 
 " Be sure your sins will find you out." Another 
 on the excuses for not coming to the marriage 
 supper. A third on the text, " He that being 
 often reproved hardeneth his neck, shall sud- 
 denly be destroyed, and that without remedy." 
 A fourth on the fall of our first parents. A fifth 
 on the call of God to Abraham to sacrifice his 
 only son Isaac — with many others. Indeed the 
 time would fail us, if we were to recount many 
 of your appeals to our hearts and consciences, 
 which, in a manner still reverberate in our ears. 
 We shall in this place advert more particularly 
 to one of your affectionate addresses to the Old 
 Church congregation, delivered on New Year's 
 Day, 1816, as being quite suitable to our present 
 .purpose, and to the avowed object of this address. 
 The text was taken from the 4th chapter of 
 Amos, and the Tith verse, " Prepare to meet 
 thy God." You said, " My dear brethren, we have 
 often met together in this house: the years roll 
 round, and life sinks apace; our connexion 
 together as minister and people has subsisted now 
 more than seven years; I feel my own heart 
 deeply impressed with the importance of the 
 relation which unites us, and hope you will bear 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 319 
 
 with me in saying this, on an occasion when, by 
 the providence of God, we are assembled to con- 
 sider how we may best improve the year which 
 this day opens upon us. Can we better improve 
 it, than by carrying our thoughts forward to that 
 great day when we shall meet together at the 
 bar of judgment, when minister and people shall 
 meet their God? The thought of this meeting, 
 which we are quite sure must take place, ought 
 to lead us all to inquire into the preparation we 
 have made for it. I say, we are quite sure of it, 
 we cannot get rid of the thought if we would. 
 Every day hastens forward that solemn event. 
 It will be a meeting without any disguise on 
 either side — a meeting in which we shall be 
 perfectly known to God and to each other— a 
 meeting in which every soul will be deeply inter- 
 ested, and unless we are prepared for it, it will 
 be a meeting of unutterable anguish. Two ques- 
 tions I would propose for present consideration : 
 First, with what feelings shall we meet each 
 other on that day? Secondly, with what feel- 
 ings shall we meet God V Again, ' Many a 
 precious hour of our lives has been spent in this 
 place ; many a precious passage has been brought 
 before us out of the word of God : promises, 
 warnings, expostulations, threatenings, precepts, 
 exhortations, have been the subject of our medi- 
 tations. Some of your ministers, dear and 
 
320 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 honoured servants of God, have been removed by 
 death : others have laboured amongst you, and 
 are nov^ absent at their respective posts. Inroads 
 have been made in the congregation by death, 
 and now we who are spared to consider the 
 lapse of years, should consider ourselves called 
 upon to serious self-examination, and faithful 
 dealing with ourselves. 
 
 " Are there not many who must testify, if they 
 would speak the truth, that they have received 
 no profit. As ignorant of divine things, as much 
 strangers to the power, as much in bondage to 
 sin and the world as they were. Surely, your 
 meeting with your ministers must be a painful 
 one. They will be a swift witness against you 
 in that day, if you die in your present condition. 
 Are there not others who have declined from the 
 ways of God, who neither have the comfort they 
 once enjoyed, nor do they manifest the same 
 fruitfulness. I am sure there is a marked differ- 
 ence in their attendance at the house of God. 
 They used to attend both on Sundays and week 
 days. Now they only come on Sundays, and 
 very often but once on that blessed day." 
 
 ' Such are the faithful appeals to hearers which 
 touch their hearts, and lead them to self-examina- 
 tion, humiliation, and contrition. Those who 
 have had ears to hear, have heard your well- 
 known voice. Surely, how beautiful upon a 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 321 
 
 benighted land are the feet of him that bringeth 
 good tidings, that publisheth peace, that bringeth 
 good tidings of good, that publisheth salvation ! 
 
 ' On your first arrival amongst us, you com- 
 menced a round of pastoral visits to the families 
 of many of the Old Church congregation. These 
 parochial visits led to the adoption of social 
 worship amongst families where such a practice 
 had not been observed before, whilst they added 
 fresh fervour and earnestness amongst those with 
 whom family worship had been already established. 
 And we have heard that your first visit of this 
 kind to one of your Old Church congregation 
 and his family, — on an occasion when you selected 
 for the meditation of the evening, the fourth 
 chapter of St. John's gosp' 1, wherein is recorded 
 the story of the woman of Samaria coming to 
 Jacob's well, to draw water, and the conference 
 she had with our Saviour, has been remembered 
 with thankfulness in that family to this day. 
 
 * We cannot omit noticing another branch 
 of your early labours on your first arrival in 
 Calcutta. We allude to your catechetical lectures 
 to the younger part of your flock, on a Saturday 
 evening. Numbers of your juvenile disciples 
 (most of whom have now grown to years of dis- 
 cretion) have profited by your instructions to them, 
 and through Divine grace the good seed sown has 
 not been unproductive, but brought forth fruit 
 
323 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 unto repentance and to a godly life ; some an 
 hundred fold, some sixty, and some thirty. You 
 have been a foster-father to them, and they duly 
 appreciate your tender solicitude towards their 
 spiritual welfare and eternal interests. 
 
 ' And now, beloved and dear sir, we bid you 
 an affectionate farewell ! A farewell which is 
 poignantly felt in the very inmost recesses of our 
 hearts. In the year 1808 you came to us, and 
 now in this year 1826, you are about to depart 
 from us ! May he who " manages the seas" 
 conduct the Thomas Grenville with safety to her 
 destined haven, and may yourself and your dear 
 wife, who has verily been a Dorcas amongst us, 
 fuii of good works and alms deeds which she had 
 done, be conveyed speedily into the bosom of your 
 revered mother, and all near and dear to you in 
 your native land. Should you again come back 
 to us (which God grant that you may) how many 
 will you not miss ! Many who have walked with 
 you in the house of God and taken sweet counsel 
 together, will have gone before us to the heavenly 
 Jerusalem, where ministers and people will one 
 day all surround the throne of Him that sitteth 
 upon the throne and of the Lamb for ever. 
 Should it be otherwise, we intreat your prayers 
 for us, that " our conversation be as it becometh 
 the gospel of Christ, that whether you come and 
 see us or else be absent, you may hear of our 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 3*23 
 
 affairs, that we stand fast in one spirit, with one 
 mind, striving together in the faith of the gospel." 
 
 ' Since we may not see you face to face again, 
 it would be a satisfaction to us to behold your 
 likeness, and we intreat you therefore, to sit for 
 your portrait at any time and at any place most 
 convenient to yourself. Once more, dear and 
 beloved sir, farewell ! The grace of our Lord 
 Jesus Christ be with your spirit. Amen.' 
 
 To this valedictory address, which, though 
 ardent in language, was insufficient to convey the 
 grateful emotions of those whose names were 
 affixed to it, Mr. Thomason, writing from the 
 vessel, which was carrying him to the mouth of 
 the Hooghly, returned this answer : 
 
 * Beloved brethren, 
 * I am at a loss adequately to express my feel- 
 ings on the perusal of your affectionate address. 
 It has in a manner brought before me the whole 
 period which has elapsed since I entered on my 
 charge at the Old Church, and excited recollec- 
 tions of occasions wherein our hearts have been 
 mutually engaged in sweet counsel, in Christian 
 fellowship, and in public worship ; occasions most 
 important to us all, and hereafter to be accounted 
 for ! The retrospect is to me a subject of deep 
 humiliation. For though I can truly say that it 
 
324 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 has been felt a great privilege to have been 
 permitted to minister unto you so long, it is my 
 grief that my ministry has not been more faithful 
 and edifying, and that it has been in many respects 
 lamentably defective ; so that on a review^ of the 
 past, I do most deeply feel my need of forgive- 
 ness, and can only find relief by casting myself 
 on the boundless mercy of God, even the un- 
 searchable riches of his grace in and through 
 Jesus Christ. 
 
 * Yet the retrospect is also a subject of heartfelt 
 thankfulness to God, arising out of the hope that 
 the ministry has not been wholly unprofitable. My 
 spirit has been greatly refreshed in witnessing 
 your serious attention to the word preached, and 
 the practical fruits which have from time to time 
 appeared in the congregation. It is a great com- 
 fort to have to do with a willing, attentive, and 
 affectionate people ; I have enjoyed that comfort 
 long ; and the pang of separation from you is deep. 
 But how is the separation alleviated by the consid- 
 eration that my poor labours are still remembered 
 by you with thankfulness to God, in reference to 
 the solid practical results adverted to in your 
 address ; in your mentioning these results, and in 
 the Christian sentiments with which they have 
 been accompanied, I recognize fruits which cannot 
 but comfort the heart of a Christian minister. To 
 God be ascribed the glory of all the good which 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 325 
 
 may have been received 1 He is pleased to use 
 the weakest instruments for the accomplishment 
 of his gracious purposes, that so the excellency of 
 the power may appear to be of God, and not of 
 man. 
 
 * Another consideration greatly comforts me at 
 this time, arising from the character of the minis- 
 try with which you are now blessed. It is an 
 unspeakable consolation to know that you possess 
 ministers who abound in the work of the Lord. I 
 leave you under the care of pastors who feed you 
 with knowledge, and who carry on all those public 
 and private labours by which churches are at once 
 edified, adorned, and enlarged. May they be long 
 continued to you, and see much fruit of their 
 ministry ; and may the Lord grant you a succes- 
 sion of such ministers, and pour out his Holy Spirit 
 to give efficacy to the word. 
 
 * I have been reminded by yourselves, in a most 
 touching manner, of the fittest subject for our 
 mutual consideration on the present occasion ; and 
 would now, at parting, reiterate the exhortation to 
 you and myself, "Prepare to meet thy God." 
 These separations on earth should forcibly draw 
 our attention to the great day when we shall meet 
 around the throne of God. Pray I beseech you, 
 
 for me, that in the retirement of the ship, this may 
 
 be my daily work, as / hope to pray for you. The 
 
 removals which take place here, are comparatively 
 
 28 
 
326 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 of little moment. Are we seriously preparing for 
 the great removal, when we must all appear before 
 the judgment seat of Christ ? Have we personally 
 and individually taken refuge in him, by hearty 
 repentance, and triiefaith'l O let us follow up this 
 inquiry, remembering that he that believeth on the 
 Son hath everlasting life ; but he that believeth 
 not the Son shall not see life, but the wrath of 
 God abideth on him ! God grant that we may be 
 found of him in peace, and may the very God of 
 peace sanctify us wholly; and may our whole 
 spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless 
 unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. 
 
 ' I have only to add, that the kind request con- 
 veyed at the end of your letter has been already 
 anticipated, through the friendship of Mr. Har- 
 rington, to whom I refer you. And now, beloved 
 brethren, farewell, the God of peace who brought 
 again from the dead our Lord Jesus Christ, that 
 great Shepherd of the Sheep through the blood of 
 the everlasting covenant, make you perfect in 
 every good work to do his will, working in you 
 that which is well pleasing in his sight, through 
 Jesus Christ, to whom be glory for ever and ever. 
 Amen. So prays your most affectionate minister 
 and friend, 
 
 Thomas Thomason/ 
 ' On hoard the Pilot Schooner, 
 
 20th Feb. 1826.' 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 327 
 
 In addition to these animating and affecting 
 testimonies of love, others of a description by no 
 means usual, did honour to the subject of this 
 memoir, on quitting the scene of his devoted 
 ministry. 
 
 ' The encomiums which your Lordship has so 
 justly passed,' the Governor General in council 
 wrote to the Bishop, ' on Mr. Thomason's exem- 
 plary discharge of his ministerial functions, and his 
 active and beneficent attention to most of the useful 
 and charitable institutions of this city, meet with 
 the most ready and entire concurrence of the 
 Governor General in Council. Mr. Thomason's 
 services in the cause of religious charity and 
 general usefulness have been so extensively benefi- 
 cial, that the regret of the government for his 
 departure from India will be shared by every 
 member of the community who has witnessed 
 his indefatigable exertions amongst all classes of 
 persons within the sphere of his influence and 
 example.' 
 
328 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 CHAPTER XII. 
 
 Mr. Thomason's hope of conveying his beloved 
 wife to England, and beholding her languid eye 
 again lighted up with health, for a time increased 
 — but it soon vanished, or rather was exchanged 
 for that hope — the vitality of which is apparent 
 in death. The clouds of sorrow which then 
 descended on him, were dark in the extreme ; but 
 gleams of light, visible to the eye of faith, parted 
 them asunder. 
 
 On Easter-day, 1826, with the keenest anguish, 
 yet not without the most animating confidence, 
 he imparted to his son in India the afflicting 
 intelligence that on earth he would see his 
 mother's face no more. 
 
 Easter-day, March 26, 1826. 
 * I feel it right to lose no time in communi- 
 cating to you the sad intelligence of our common 
 loss. It has pleased God, whose ways are un- 
 searchable, to defeat our sanguine hopes. He 
 has taken to himself your most beloved parent. 
 
REV. THOMAS TH03IAS()N. 329 
 
 Assured as I am that it is simply solidly true 
 that she is with Christ, it is yet with anguish 
 of heart that I record our irreparable bereavement. 
 O that I might have been spared the pain of this 
 afflicting communication. But it is the will of 
 God, and I desire to submit with resignation to 
 the disposal of infinite wisdom. About midnight 
 on Good Friday, she w^as seized with the agonies 
 of dissolution, which were greatly protracted ; she 
 did not breathe her last till near ten o'clock the 
 following morning. About ten minutes before 
 ten on Saturday morning, her spirit took its flight. 
 O the unutterable anguish of this sad — sad scene ; 
 sad to us — but she has joined the innumerable 
 company of glorified spirits and angels — she died 
 in the Lord. Three days before her death she 
 expressed to me a strong hope that God would 
 raise her up to be a comfort to her husband 
 and children ; " but what if it should please him 
 to dispose otherwise," I said ; ' then,' said she 
 'his will be done!' She added expressions of 
 dependance on her Saviour, but complained that 
 her heart was dull and sluggish. Conversation 
 was highly injurious, I could only read with her 
 at intervals, with a few words of prayer. To a 
 question whether the Saviour comforted her, she 
 said, ' he does.' Her countenance indicated that 
 she was much exercised in prayer. On Saturday 
 evening her precious remains were committed to 
 28* 
 
330 ME3I0IR OF THE 
 
 the deep. The evening was still, and all was sol- 
 emn ; the service was read by dear S , whose 
 
 brotherly tenderness and sympathy I cannot 
 adequately describe. Being myself overwhelmed 
 by the bereavement, I was unable to perform 
 that last service ; but I saw from a distance the 
 coffin dropped into the sea, and heard the words, 
 ' We commit her body to the deep, to be turned 
 into corruption, looking for the resurrection of the 
 body (when the sea shall give up her dead) and 
 the life of the world to come through our Lord 
 Jesus Christ, who at his coming shall change 
 our vile body, that it may be like unto his glorious 
 body, according to the mighty working, whereby 
 he is able to subdue all things to himself.' O my 
 beloved boy, I cannot tell you the consolation 
 afforded by that hope. I earnestly trust it will 
 be as a healing balm to your own heart. I felt 
 comfort in the thought that the whole Christian 
 world were celebrating the death and resurrection 
 of Christ. She was committed to the deep on 
 Easter even, when we commemorate the Saviour's 
 lying in the grave, thus consecrating it as the 
 place of repose for his faithful followers, previous 
 to the great and joyful day of resurrection. I 
 must not forget one circumstance that made an 
 indelible impression upon my heart. Before she 
 took to her bed, your beloved mother sat and 
 read a few hymns. She came at last to the hymn 
 
RET. THOMAS TIIOMASON, 331 
 
 O God, our help in ages past, 
 
 Our hope for years to come, 
 Our shelter from the stormy blast 
 
 And our eternal home. 
 
 and never can I forget the sweet affectionate tone 
 of her voice. She was deeply affected. In read- 
 ing the second verse her voice faltered ; however 
 she continued to get through, till she came to 
 the verse 
 
 In every scene of life and death. 
 
 Thy promise is our trust, 
 And this shall be our children's song, 
 
 When we are cold in dust. 
 
 In reading these last lines she w^as quite over- 
 powered. God grant this hope may be realized ! 
 my heart springs toward you all with a new 
 tenderness. I can only in deep anguish commit 
 you to God, who I trust will provide for you all 
 needful good. If you seek him, he will be found 
 of you — if you forsake him, he will cast you off for 
 ever ; seek him earnestly then ; read your Bible 
 more, I beseech you, with prayer for divine 
 teaching. This will consecrate all your other 
 labours, and will be a fruitful source of happiness 
 to you here and hereafter.' 
 
 In losing her of whose death he could write 
 with a mind perturbed with grief, yet calm with 
 resignation, he lost one eminent for meekness, 
 lowliness, spirituality, and love, who had indeed 
 
OOlii MEMOIR or THE 
 
 been ' a Dorcas in good works.' The Orphan 
 Institution (the fact is narrated by a friend * who 
 knew its truth) was the pecuhar charge of Mrs. 
 Thomason, the favourite object of her maternal 
 sohcitude ; nor has it ever fallen to my lot to 
 visit, either in my own, or in any foreign coun- 
 tr\% a similar establishment where arrangements 
 and internal economy appeared so perfect in 
 reference to the spiritual or temporal interests 
 of its inmates.' 
 
 Sometime after its formation, the mistress was 
 removed, and an epidemic attacked several of the 
 children. Mrs. Thomason, unwilling to trust the 
 orphans to native management, left the com- 
 forts of her home, and acted for some weeks as 
 the sole guardian, nurse, and mother, of these 
 poor cliildren.' — Of an affectionate, lovely spirit 
 herself, 'she naturally cared ' for the present and 
 endless welfare of destitute children, and amongst 
 such was she gladly found — seeking w^ith the 
 tenderest assiduity to repair as far as possible, 
 the most desolating of all privations. 
 
 Well might her husband rise up and call her 
 blessed when in the midst of his family and 
 household : well might he possess an assurance 
 without a cloud that whilst the deep closed round 
 about her lifeless body, her spirit through the 
 
 ♦ C. B. Elliot, Esq. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMPSON. 333 
 
 might and merit of Jesus was walking in its up- 
 rightness above the skies. 
 
 Mr. Thomason's return to England like many- 
 events that occur in life — was varied by the 
 strongest lights and shades. To his great joy he 
 found a mother; but he had lost a wife, to his 
 indescribable anguish. ' Oh ! it has been a trying 
 dispensation,' he said, ' far beyond what I could 
 have expected, whilst I only knew the sorrow from 
 report. She entered into rest — I was left in a 
 state of desolation no language can express. O 
 may I ever remember the impressions and emo- 
 tions, the tears and prayers, the sorrows, the joys, 
 and mercies, and judgments of the voyage.' 
 
 After visiting Cambridge and Scaleshy Castle in 
 the autumn of 1826, places where memory was 
 acutely active, Mr. Thomason, when the year 
 was on the wane, bent himself again to his minis- 
 terial services, in the town of Cheltenham, a 
 sphere of no common extent and importance. 
 There he gave himself continually to prayer and 
 the ministry of the word ; and remembering, as in 
 India, a maxim taking its date from the days of 
 Jerome, * that a minister easily subjects himself to 
 contempt who never refuses invitations to dinner 
 however frequent,' adopting the other extreme, he 
 determined to live in perfect retirement, except 
 when professional duty called him forth. His 
 ministry in that place received the dew of that 
 
334 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 blessing he implored in prayer. Of this the fol- 
 lowing communication from a member of Queen's 
 College, Cambridge, furnishes one interesting 
 evidence. 
 
 * When passing by one of the night coaches from 
 Cheltenham to London, my fellow traveller was a 
 gentleman with two children in deep mourning. 
 They were returning to their home in a remote 
 part of France which they had left just five weeks 
 before. We soon found that though entire strangers, 
 there was a common ground on which we could 
 meet as old friends. He told me that he and 
 his wife had passed their lives in entire ignorance 
 of the gospel, and of the reality of religion. Cir- 
 cumstances, apparently fortuitous, had brought 
 them on a visit to Cheltenham, and they had 
 happened to hear Mr. Thomason preach. His 
 sermon powerfully arrested their attention. A day 
 or two after, his wife caught a cold, sickenec^, 
 and in three wrecks died. In her illness she sent 
 for Mr. Thomason. The gospel was new to them, 
 and they seemed to have received it with the 
 simplicity of little children. The dying woman 
 was convinced from Mr. Thomason's unwearied 
 assiduous earnestness in visiting, and his whole 
 manner so beaming with love, that there must be 
 reality in his religion — and she died peacefully 
 resting on her Saviour's bosom. Her husband 
 was returning " on his way rejoicing," even to his 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 335 
 
 desolate home, blessing God for providing a mes- 
 sage of mercy for them, and for having drawn 
 them so many hundred miles to hear it.' 
 
 During his abode at Cheltenham, Mr. Thomason 
 describes his paternal feelings as called into 
 delightful exercise by the sight of all his children 
 around him, his son from India having joined him. 
 He speaks also of being much moved at receiving 
 at the altar on one occasion many whose names 
 were on his heart before he left England, or had 
 been engraven there when absent from his country 
 in a remote land. 
 
 At Cheltenham, as in India, the cause of the 
 heathen engaged his affections and energies. 
 Besides attending meetings of his clerical breth- 
 ren, and collecting communicants for instruction 
 before the administration of the sacrament, he held 
 monthly assemblies also, in aid of the Church 
 Missionary Society. Nor was the Society for the 
 Propagation of the Gospel forgotten. At the 
 Bishop of Litchfield's desire, he was a successful 
 advocate in its behalf at Eccleshall. In addition 
 to which exertions he accompanied his valued 
 friend and brother Dr. Steinkopff into the West 
 of England in support of the British and Foreign 
 Bible Society ; esteeming it an especial favour to 
 plead in behalf of that noble institution at 
 Plymouth, where he first drew his breath. 
 
 In the beginning of the year 1828, Mr, 
 
336 ME3IOIR or THE 
 
 Thomason was involved in severe internal conflict. 
 At Cheltenham the field was large, and the seed 
 was scattered widely, with hope of much increase; 
 but how few labourers were there amongst the 
 heathen ! and how could the version of the Hin- 
 doostanee Old Testament be perfected in England? 
 Such thoughts arose, and after many a struggle 
 with himself, he arrived, as he imagined, at a decis- 
 ion, and wrote to communicate it to his mother ; 
 but on taking his letter to the post, (let the rela- 
 tion sink him in the reader's estimation if it he 
 possible) his resolution he confesses wholly forsook 
 him. At length he was reconciled to the sacrifice, 
 ' after waverings and decisions, decisions and 
 waverings,' he wrote, ' I am reconciled to go back 
 to India. After a sore conflict I have offered 
 myself for the post.' To replace him however in 
 his former situation was unprecedented, and but 
 for his high character the situation could not have 
 been obtained. ' It was not without difficulty I 
 prevailed, (they are the words of the Chairman of 
 the East India Company,) the objections were 
 founded on general principles. It must be gratify- 
 ing to you to learn what I have the greatest 
 pleasure in stating, that high satisfaction was felt 
 and expressed by the Court at large, on the pros- 
 pect of the Company having again the benefit 
 of your se-i'vices in the territories committed to 
 their charge.' 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 337 
 
 This measure fixed, another remained to be 
 taken. In the unanimous opinion of all Mr. 
 Thomason's relations and friends, before he revis- 
 ited India, a marriage with a person in whom 
 proper age, temper, sense, and piety combined, 
 was most expedient. To Miss Dickenson of 
 Liverpool, therefore, in whom all these qualifica- 
 tions centered, he was married with the cordial 
 concurrence of his whole family. Brief indeed 
 was this union, but Mr. Thomason never ceased 
 to be filled with thankfulness to the God of his 
 mercies that it had been contracted. 
 
 Before leaving England for ever, Mr. Thomason 
 visited Cambridge, with what effect, as far as 
 India was concerned, may be seen in the fol- 
 lowing recital of an interview with some young 
 students. It is from the pen of one who was 
 himself present. 
 
 * During Mr. Thomason's last visit to Cambridge, 
 (1828,) about twenty undergraduates were invited 
 to join a farewell party to him at the Rev. H. 
 Parish's rooms. After breakfast he spent an 
 hour in giving us a view of the preparatory studies, 
 the duties, privations, and joys of a chaplain and 
 of a missionary in India. Most of us, I believe, 
 must date any distinct ideas w^e may have on the 
 subject, from that conversation. His graphic 
 views of the necessities of India — his statements 
 from experience of the blessedness of the work, 
 29 
 
338 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 kindled a missionary flame in many ; whilst his 
 solemn warnings against secularity of motive, and 
 unadvised hastiness in deciding, were well fitted 
 to damp any thing of mere animal fervour, or 
 temporary excitement. 
 
 ' When about to part, the Rev. W. B took 
 
 his hand and said, ' Christian brother, we bid you 
 God speed,' and gave him a parting blessing. 
 Mr. T. shook each of us by the hand, and said, 
 *I know not your faces, but I shall be glad to 
 see you in India ; or, if not in India, I shall hope 
 to meet and recognize all of you in that great day.' 
 
 'Few of us will forget his countenance at the 
 close of our meeting. Two of the party have since 
 gone to India as chaplains ; but they did not see 
 Mr. Thomason.' 
 
 *As the time approaches, I feel as if I were 
 taking a last farewell, anticipating the hour of 
 death, and the depression is sometimes great. 
 But I clearly see the path of duty. If God be 
 our God, he can and will make up every loss. I 
 desire to make him my dwelling-place, and to 
 expect all happiness and strength from him.' Such 
 was the utterance of his emotions towards the end of 
 June, 1828 when he was to leave England for ever. 
 
 After a parting more trying than that which 
 rent his heart asunder nearly twenty years before, 
 because more certainly final, Mr. Thomason com- 
 menced his voyage, and in little more than four 
 
REV. TH03IAS THOMASON. 339 
 
 months re-entered the scene of his Indian labours. 
 But it was suffering and death, not Hfe and action, 
 that the Lord, whose ways are not as man's ways, 
 appointed. 
 
 The following letter which he wrote to his mother 
 from the river Hooghly, shews to what a trial he 
 was subjected, and in what a spirit he was enabled 
 to sustain it. 'Returning as he did to what he 
 considered his post in this place,' Archdeacon 
 Corrie observed in his sermon on his death, ' and 
 finding the Almighty thwarting as it were all his 
 designs, which he had intended for the advance- 
 ment of divine truth and the salvation of souls in 
 this land, he was at first perplexed and anxious 
 ^t the meaning of the afflictive dispensation. But 
 by faith and prayer, and self-examination, he was 
 at length enabled to repose in the divine mercy 
 in a Saviour, and attained to a comfortable per- 
 suasion, that patience would have its perfect work 
 in him.' Let the readers of this letter to his 
 mothei', the last he ever wrote to her, say whether 
 this hope was falsified — what deep workings 
 of humiliation — what strong faith — what love — 
 what submission to the will of his God — what 
 justifying of him in an allotment so grievous to 
 flesh and blood, are manifest ! Who can peruse 
 it without exclaiming, 'blessed is the man whom 
 Thou chastenest, O Lord, and teachest him out of 
 thy law.' 
 
340 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 River Hooghly, April 7, 1829. 
 * Whilst proceeding down the river to the Isle 
 of France, let me sit down and give you some 
 tidings of myself in my own handwriting. Almost 
 ever since my arrival, I have been under medical 
 treatment, having brought a complaint with me, 
 (which proved to be water in the chest,) which 
 brought me very low, even to the borders of the 
 grave. My sufferings were great day and night, 
 and the medical attendant had no hope of my 
 recovery. It pleased God, however, in a wonder- 
 ful manner to bless the means used ; but the 
 ■process has so emaciated my frame, that it was 
 absolutely necessary I should seek complete 
 restoration by change of climate. A ship being 
 at hand sailing for the Mauritius, preparations 
 were made without loss of time, and we are now^ 
 on our way down the river. The progress of my 
 convalescence has been astonishing. So great is 
 the goodness of God ! The six w^orst months in 
 Calcutta, are now beginning ; so that it were 
 impossible (humanly speaking) for a frame 
 reduced like mine, to gather strength, except by 
 removing to a more bracing air and climate. The 
 doctors are decidedly opposed to my residing any 
 longer in India. Much will depend on the nature 
 and degree of recovery. If it should please 
 God to raise me up again, I see not why I should 
 
REV. T1I03IAS THOMASON. 341 
 
 not make another attempt. Yet, at the present 
 moment I find it impossible to decide. May I 
 be directed for the best — and my spared life, 
 wherever spent (if it be spared) exhibit the fruit 
 of this affliction. Through these painful months 
 I have been much exercised in mind ; and when in 
 the near prospect of eternity, could at no time rise 
 to any great joy. My soul, through the mercy of 
 God, could cast itself upon the Saciour, and there 
 repose. But Oh ! how in the retrospect of my 
 past life, did I see cause to weep ; and in what 
 an affecting manner were the sins of my youth 
 and more advanced age set before me ! How was 
 I shocked at the foolish chattering, and the defiled 
 superficial statements with which the deep things 
 of God had been handled ! Very great and glo- 
 rious they then appeared to me, and I pray that 
 the impression may be deep and permanent. I 
 seemed to have heard of God only with the 
 hearing of the ear, and now that mine eye 
 saw him more nearly, I abhorred myself. 
 During this whole season of suffering, great was 
 the mercy of God to me. The attendance of 
 my wife and children was most touching; and 
 the keen solicitude expressed by the members 
 of the congregation was soothing to the heart. 
 Though I felt myself to be utterly unworthy of 
 their love, yet I could not but consider it as an 
 evidence that my labour had not been altogether 
 29* 
 
342 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 vain. I could appeal to the heart-searching God, 
 as to the sincerity of my heart, in desiring rather 
 to be taken away at once, than to go on in the 
 same superficial, unprofitable way I had hitherto 
 done. If it please him to restore me to work, I 
 pray that the fruit of this visitation may appear. 
 Little did I think when I last wrote from this 
 neighbourhood, that I should so soon be com- 
 pelled to retrace my steps. It seemed on reach- 
 ing the sand heads, and hearing of the state 
 of things, that I had come back* to Calcutta in 
 the very moment of time, that nothing could be 
 more seasonable, nothing more indicative of prov- 
 idential guidance; that I was, in short, just the 
 person that was wanted to fill up the gap. Thou 
 blind fool, said God, go hack again, and know that 
 my work wants you not. So I interpret the pro- 
 vidence by which I am sent back from the place 
 to which my heart had clung. God will do his 
 work with hallowed instruments. I pray that he 
 may sanctify and make me meet for his work, 
 and feel that he is righteous in all his ways, and 
 holy in all his works. In the retirement of this 
 cabin, I trust the Lord will deepen his work in 
 my heart. After going so far to unite my son 
 and daughter in marriage, I feared, I quite 
 expected to be removed from them before the 
 ceremony was performed. Two days after, we 
 hastened back to Calcutta, in order that I might 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 343 
 
 obtain the best medical help. Arrived at Cal- 
 cutta, I for the first time learned the real nature 
 of my complaint. Though I perceive you 
 become increasingly weak, yet your spirits are 
 supported, and you continue to enjoy in your 
 usual way the manifold blessings of God. Beloved 
 and honoured Mr. Simeon will read this, and 
 pray that my spared life may be consecrated anew 
 to God.' ^ 
 
 The voyage to the Mauritius proved benefi- 
 cial to Mr. Thomason, and she who accompanied 
 him had brighter hopes of his recovery ; but when 
 the anchor was dropped at Port Louis, June 7, 
 which proved to be his birth-day, alarms and 
 fears greatly exceeded favourable expectations. 
 For himself, he was ' quietly waiting the Lord's 
 will in a humble, patient, thankful peace of mind, 
 full of praise, yet lying low at the feet of Jesus.' 
 And on Sunday June 21, twelve days after land- 
 ing in the Isle of France, his earthly tabernacle 
 was dissolved, and his spirit numbered amongst/ 
 the just made perfect. 
 
 *0n Saturday morning the 20th,' it is from 
 her pen who watched over him with unre- 
 mitting tenderness, " his cough and breathing 
 became worse, which intimated that his change 
 was drawing near ; he requested me to read 
 the appointed Psalms for the morning, (as was 
 my frequent custom,) the first of which being 
 
344 ME:iioia of the 
 
 the 102d, he said, 'how descriptive of my 
 case.' On Sunday he had a very suffering day, 
 but his mind was composed, he was quite sen- 
 sible his end was approaching, and his frequent 
 prayer was for patience : yet indeed he was an 
 example of patient suffering : tow'ards the evening 
 I perceived evident signs of approaching disso- 
 lution, and therefore requested a Christian friend 
 to be with me at the closing scene; he can bear 
 witness with myself, to the firm faith and strong 
 hope which disarmed death of its sting, and shed 
 a holy quiet and peace around. 
 
 'Many sweet expressions we heard from his 
 dying lips, in the midst of severe bodily agony, 
 such as the following, ' This is a dark valley, but 
 there's light at the end.' " Thanks be unto God 
 for his unspeakable gift." '*Lord Jesus, receive 
 my spirit." ' Lord give me patience, may 
 patience have its perfect work.' " When thou 
 hadst overcome the sharpness of death, thou 
 didst open the kingdom of heaven to all believ- 
 ers." About three o'clock in the morning, he 
 inquired what time it was, and when told, he 
 replied, ' I thought I should have been far away 
 before this.' He complained of a sharp pain in his 
 heels, and also at the back of his head, which 
 reminded of the first great blessed promise 
 vouchsafed to fallen man. He seemed to watch 
 the progress of death as it advanced up his cold 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 345 
 
 legs. He asked why there was not a candle in 
 the room, on being told there was, he said, ' Oh, 
 then, I am losing my sight, for it appears dark.' 
 After a slight convulsion, I saw his change was 
 near, and said to him, ' The Lord is coming 
 quickly,' he replied with a smile, ' I hope so.' 
 Shortly after this his heart ceased to beat, his 
 spirit fled, and he entered the joy of the Lord.' 
 
 * During the voyage from Calcutta to this island, 
 (the narrative proceeds,) a period of nine weeks, 
 in which that season of the year was included, 
 wherein we commemorate our Saviour's Death, 
 Resurrection, and Ascension, he read twice over 
 the Harmony of the Gospels, which, as he intently 
 perused, he frequently said, ' I have been feast- 
 ing on the bread of life.' He appeared sometimes 
 to be absent from all earthly scenes ; so elevated 
 was his soul with meditation on the boundless 
 love of God in Christ, which was heightened by 
 a deep sense of his own vileness : indeed, this 
 characteristic much increased as he ripened for 
 glory : he lamented his great defect in every 
 relative duty, in his ministerial office especially; 
 and in deep humility of heart used to break out in 
 the publican's prayer, and frequently said, ' I 
 cast myself on the boundless mercy of God. I 
 throw myself at my Saviour's feet ; if I perish, I 
 perish there.' 
 
 ' He was very earnest in his petitions at the 
 
346 
 
 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 throne of grace for the spiritual welfare of India, 
 for the coming of Christ's kingdom, and the 
 fulfilment of those prophecies relating to it. He 
 left an affectionate farewell to those most dear to 
 him, in the following words, — * To my dearest 
 mother, give my most affectionate love, and may 
 her last days be her best days. To my very dear 
 Mr. Simeon say, I feel unworthy of the great 
 love he has at all times honoured me with. Oh 
 may his bow abide in strength, and may he be, if 
 possible, still more useful in his age.' 
 
 After this account of Mr. Thomason's death, 
 and the previous memoir of his life, a delineation 
 of his character may perhaps be superfluous. Let 
 the reader, however, allow the attempt ; granting 
 to the writer this concession, that what he says he 
 honestly believes to be true. He would not deliber- 
 ately overcharge a single statement. He would in 
 fairness turn the medal if he could. He knew little 
 of Mr. Thomason personally ; his acquaintance 
 with him is from letters and friends, from neither 
 of which sources can he obtain any information 
 which in balancing his qualities can be placed on 
 the unfavourable side. 
 
 Of one of the Fathers of the Church, it was 
 said, * that he thundered in public, and light- 
 ened in private.' Nothing of this kind can be 
 predicted of Mr. Thomason : his excellences 
 were of another description ; their lustre was 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 347 
 
 soft and mild, calculated to attract, rather than 
 to dazzle and confound. Viewed intellectu- 
 ally, his capacity was not an ordinary one : 
 these two sinews of the mind, attention and 
 retention, he possessed in much perfection. His 
 power of acquiring languages, and imbibing 
 science, was remarkable. ' His talents were 
 characterized rather by quickness of apprehension 
 than originality of thought ; by a facility in 
 making himself acquainted with discoveries, than 
 by pursuing them to their ultimate results.' Such 
 is Mr. Jerram's guage of his mental strength, 
 from which few readers, it is conceived, wmII 
 dissent materially. 
 
 For sweetness of temper and simplicity of spirit, 
 he was distinguished. ' There was not a shadow 
 of guile or of artifice in him,' are Mr. Jerram's 
 words — ' he w'ns as transparent as glass, his very 
 countenance and manner invited freedom.' This 
 artlessness continued through life in its earliest and 
 freshest fragrancy. With some it is a flower that 
 closes at noon, and droops at least toward evening ; 
 with him the petals were expanded, and the 
 odours emitted till his sun w^ent down. This 
 childlike openness may have given rise to mis- 
 conceptions — it may have furnished a handle to 
 misrepresentations. Yet how preferable, with 
 all its weaknesses and disadvantages, to sus- 
 picious reserve or artful concealment ! Hilarity 
 
348 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 and cordiality of feeling are generally found 
 in this combination — they were so here. Apathy 
 did not chill his affections, nor did gloom settle 
 as a cloud upon his mind. There was in him 
 an uncommon absence of selfish propensities. 
 Generosity was the very sunshine of his soul, 
 irradiating his whole spirit and conduct. To an 
 undue love for money, he had the noblest supe- 
 riority. With what vivid pleasure did he reim- 
 burse the Elland Society, as he repaid also the 
 Evangelical fund in India what had been ex- 
 pended on him, when he arrived in that destitute 
 condition. Sums of no small magnitude he con- 
 tributed towards orphans, adopting one into his 
 family, and subscribing munificently towards that 
 institution for orphans, of which he was the foun- 
 der. To all who were desolate and distressed, he 
 was bountiful, not only according to his power, but 
 beyond his power. Were excess in any thing attri- 
 butable to him, it would be with respect to his libe- 
 rality ; for so largely did he give, and so little did 
 he save, that the expenses of his compulsory and 
 distressing voyage to England very nearly ex- 
 hausted his funds. Bountifulness is sometimes 
 tarnished by a tenacity for supposed rights, and 
 by a readiness to resent imaginary wrongs. Mr. 
 Thomason was naturally gentle and yielding ; when 
 God's grace therefore sanctified and directed this 
 disposition, few were more detached from enmity 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 349 
 
 in all its modifications. Smarting under the 
 unkindness of a companion in early life, he took 
 the first opportunity of speaking well of him, 
 having found by experience that the exercise of 
 kindly feeling tended to sustain and strengthen 
 the habit. In later life, when wounded most 
 acutely and undeservedly, having dispatched an 
 account drawn up with great moderation to a 
 confidential friend, he quickly followed it up by 
 a letter expressive of anxiety, lest a word should 
 have been uttered with acrimony. Love towards 
 man was a prominent part of his original tem- 
 perament ; and when this was grafted into that 
 stock of all that is excellent, the love of God in 
 Christ, abundant and delightful fruits were pro- 
 duced. What but this led him so frequently to 
 the houses of the poor, and made the instruction 
 of little children so pleasant to him ? What but 
 this exalted his avocations as a student and tutor 
 and refined as well as augmented his domestic 
 joys ? This it was that caused him to excel as 
 a master, a husband, a father, a friend, above all, 
 as a son ; for when did filial piety ever shine 
 more brightly and more constantly than in him? 
 The principle of divine love it was, that controlled 
 his passions, directed his faculties, and deter- 
 mined the whole man for God. In possession 
 of every earthly gratification at Shelford, when 
 he seemed to hear that voice, " Get thee out 
 30 
 
350 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 from thy country and thy kindred," his obedience 
 was prompt and unhesitating; without lingering 
 or looking back, he went forth amongst the 
 heathen in the spirit of an evangelist. How 
 patiently did he bear all the trials and discourage- 
 ments, all the heat and burthen of Indian labour — 
 finding spiritual support in that very work which 
 undermined his constitution, and brought him 
 ultimately to his grave. In heavenly love, truly 
 he resembled those * trees that are full of sap — 
 even the cedars of Lebanon, which the Lord hath 
 planted,' and those who estimate greatness by 
 that test — * Ille vere magnus est qui magnam habet 
 caritaterh' — which, be it remembered, is the scrip- 
 tural assay, will not refuse him the denomination 
 of a great man. Such a title he himself would 
 have repudiated and disclaimed ; for if ever man 
 was humble, he was so — unaffectedly — deeply — 
 increasingly. Those vices which pollute the 
 springs of life, and which impart to the dregs of 
 earthly existence an inexpressible bitterness, 
 he had mercifully escaped ; his boyhood was 
 devoted to God — his youth was unspotted — his 
 after life conspicuous for sancity — yet whose 
 confessions more contrite? whose reliance on the 
 Saviour of the lost more simple? Realizing 
 to his peace and comfort his privileges as a 
 believer in Christ Jesus, he could never forget 
 that he was in himself a being deeply fallen, and 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 351 
 
 continually offending: aspiring after perfection 
 with his whole heart, he was on that very account 
 so much the more conscious that ' the Httle fruit he 
 had in hoHness,' accepted as it was of God for 
 Christ's sake, was in itself corrupt, and unsound ;' 
 he ' challenged nothing for it, he put no trust in it.' 
 Before man too, as well as God, he was lowly — 
 what undissembled pain in his breast did the 
 union of his own name with that of Henry 
 Martyn on one occasion create ! Martyn's name 
 he thought could not be too honourably and fre- 
 quently remembered ; his own could not be too 
 much disregarded and forgotten. Towards his 
 first diocesan, with whom he did not concur in 
 points of doctrine — his deference was as complete 
 as was consistent with a paramount uncomprom- 
 ising obedience to his own conscience. What 
 he was as a minister, that parting address from 
 his flock at Calcutta, after an experience of his 
 watchful care for seventeen years, declares and 
 proves. Jesus Christ the Son of God in all his 
 mediatorial and essential glory, was the grand 
 subject of his preaching from the commencement 
 to the conclusion of his course. As a preacher, 
 no one could be more exempt than he from that 
 sinful morbid appetite for popularity which, 
 however highly esteemed by men, is an abomi» 
 nation in the sight of God. It is aflirming much, 
 yet it is no exaggeration to affirm, that he had 
 
352 MEMOIR OF THE 
 
 not a spark of that most odious of all hateful corrup- 
 tions, MINISTERIAL ENVY. Had any one obtained 
 in his church at Calcutta more acceptance than 
 himself, he would not have been tortured by 
 contemptible jealousies, rather would he have 
 glorified God in the endowments and success 
 of a brother beloved in the Lord. It is almost 
 needless to say, that the externals of a morality 
 vicious, because unprincipled, the sallies of a 
 vain, corrupt, intrusive imagination, that talk of 
 the lips that tendeth only to penury, the masked 
 pretences of a hypocritical profession, Mr. Thom- 
 ason spurned as so many forms of godliness 
 without its power. He could well distinguish 
 also, and knew how to press the fundamental 
 verities of the everlasting gospel. Practically 
 accordant was his teaching with that admirable 
 exhortation of Baxter * — ' If we can teach Christ 
 to our people, we teach them all. Get them well 
 to heaven and they will have knowledge enough. 
 The plainest and most commonly acknowledged 
 truths ai'e what men live most upon : these are 
 the great instruments in destroying sin and raising 
 the heart to God. To remember that one thing is 
 needful will take us off from needless ornaments 
 and unprofitable controversies. Many other things 
 are desirable to be known, but these must be 
 known, or else our people are undone for even 
 
 * Reformed Pastor. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 353 
 
 Necessity should be a great disposer of a minister's 
 studies and labours. If we were sufficient for 
 every thing, we might undertake every thing ; but 
 life is short and we are dull. Eternal things are 
 necessary, and the souls that depend on our 
 teaching are precious.' Mr. Thomason fed those 
 committed to his charge with that bread of life — 
 he called them to that water of life — which were 
 the daily sustenance and refreshment of his own 
 soul. Personal and ministerial religion in him 
 were well combined. No one was more vigilant 
 than he in maintaining that due and proper 
 adjustment between devotional meditation and 
 study within, and active employment without, in 
 the neglect of which, no minister can prosper in 
 his own soul, or in his ministry. 
 
 In dealing with those committed to his care, 
 he justly merited that high commendation, ' maluit 
 videri invenisse bones quam fecisse.' Amongst his 
 people he was gentle as a nurse that cherisheth her 
 own children. Truth in his mouth could not lose 
 its native keenness ; but as employed by him, its 
 edge did not lacerate ; its point was sharp but 
 not envenomed. He had no tendency to asperity ; 
 it was foreign to his nature : his danger lay prob- 
 ably in an opposite direction, the fear of dis- 
 pleasing others. Yet so completely in God's 
 strength had he triumphed over himself, that he 
 would not suffer a Governor General of India to 
 
a54 
 
 MEMOIR OP THE 
 
 violate the Sabbath without offering a remon- 
 strance ; and continually was he forcing into the 
 light of his conscience the obligations of England 
 to the people of Hindostan. With all his zeal, he 
 was neither precipitate nor pertinacious ; on the 
 contrary, he was prudent and circunnspect ; wit- 
 ness his adoption of written for extemporaneous 
 discourses, when he thought they awakened preju- 
 dice ; and especially his measured caution in all he 
 designed for the benefit of India. 
 
 Archdeacon Robinson, in giving to the public 
 the last days of Bishop Heber, records this testi- 
 mony of the Bishop.* 
 
 ' He talked this evening much about Thomason, 
 for whom he has a high respect and regard. He 
 frequently mentions the difl[iculty, the impossi- 
 bility of supplying his place in Calcutta, in the 
 pulpit, in the schools, in the study, and (which he 
 thinks in the present fermenting state of public 
 feeling in the church more important than any) in 
 that general pervading influence of just and 
 steady judgment in the members who are per- 
 sonally attached to him.' 
 
 The rank he occupied as an oriental scholar and 
 translator of the Scriptures was very high. In 
 Persian, Arabic, Hindoostanee, and Hebrew 
 above all, his erudition has seldom been surpassed ; 
 
 ♦ See Last Days of Bishop Heber. 
 
REV. THOMAS THOMASON. 355 
 
 and in effecting a version of the greater portion 
 of the Old Testament into one of the most widely 
 diffused languages of the East, in proclaiming the 
 truth as it is in Jesus in season and out of season ; 
 fulfilling gladly the ministry he had received, he 
 consecrated his time and talents to what he 
 justly deemed the sublimest ends: Had all the 
 distinctions that stimulate the exertions of the 
 ambitious, that crown their efforts, inflate their 
 imaginations, or colour their dreams, been within 
 his grasp, he would have accounted them as the 
 chaff of the summer threshing-floor, the foam 
 upon the wave, compared with the unmerited 
 honour of being allowed and enabled by God to 
 be a messenger of mercy to mankind ; an instru- 
 ment of communicating the word of life to myriads 
 in the region of the shadow of death. 
 
 What Mr. Thomason performed could not have 
 been accomplished, had not his mind been im- 
 pressed with the solemn and habitual recollection, 
 that ^^opportunity is the flower of time ;^^ and 
 that the moments as they passed should be 
 redeemed for God. Even when at school, such 
 was his diligence and self-denial, that he would 
 save the slender pittance of his pocket money 
 to buy oil that he might read Hebrew in the 
 evening, and whatever he undertook in after life 
 was done in fervency of spirit for the honour of 
 God. That ^inertise dulcedo* which is so fasci- 
 
356 MEMOIR OF THE REV. T. THOMA.SON. 
 
 nating and so deadly, either for him had slight 
 allurements, or they were fully overcome. No 
 loiterer was he in his sacred vocation : he was the 
 very opposite ; a labourerer, cheerful, patient, per- 
 severing, his heart lifted up to the Lord — his hand 
 upon the plough — his eye on the furrow. And 
 now in the presence of the Lord of the harvest, 
 he reaps the blissful fruit of his unwearied labours, 
 angels and the redeemed rejoicing in his joy, and 
 and all with one accord ascribing incessant praises 
 to the God of grace and glory. 
 
 ^- 
 
 THE END. 
 
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