DR. JOHN D. GOBMAN. 31 



In his last letter to Dr. Best, of Cincinnati, with 

 whom he had long maintained an affectionate cor- 

 respondence, he writes : 



"It gives me great happiness to learn that you have 

 been taught, as well as myself, to fly to the Rock of 

 Ages for shelter against the afflictions of this life, 

 and for hopes of eternal salvation. But for the hopes 

 afforded me by an humble reliance on the all-suffi- 

 cient atonement of our blessed Redeemer, I should 

 have been the most wretched of men. But I trust 

 that the afflictions I have endured have been sancti- 

 fied to my awakening, and to the regeneration of my 

 heart and life. May we, my dear friend, persist to 

 cling to the only sure support against all that is evil 

 in life and all that is fearful in death ! " 



Dr. Best's circumstances were in several respects 

 similar to those of his friend Godnian : like him, he 

 had been a disbeliever in the Christian religion, and 

 like him had been brought by a careful examination 

 of its evidences to a perception and an acknowledg- 

 ment of the truth. He too was at this time languish- 

 ing in consumption, which brought him to the grave 

 a few months after Dr. Godman ; and like him he 

 was supported and animated by the precious faith of 

 the gospel, and yielded up his spirit in hope and 

 peace. 



Professor Sewall,* from whose account much of 

 this memoir has been derived, remarks : " In the 



* "An Introductory Lecture delivered November 1st, 

 1830, by Thomas Sewall, M. D., Professor of Anatomy and 

 Physiology in the Columbian College, District of Columbia/' 



