i 4 DA VID LIVINGSTONE. [chap. i. 



a ground of hope within, rejecting meanwhile the only 

 true hope of the sinner, the finished work of Christ, till 

 at length his convictions were effaced, and his feelings 

 blunted. Still his heart was not at rest ; an unappeased 

 hunger remained, which no other pursuit could satisfy. 



In these circumstances he fell in with Dick's Philo- 

 sophy of a Future State. The book corrected his error, 

 and showed him the truth. "I saw the duty and in- 

 estimable privilege immediately to accept salvation by 

 Christ. Humbly believing that through sovereign mercy 

 and grace I have been enabled so to do, and having felt 

 in some measure its effects on my still depraved and 

 deceitful heart, it is my desire to show my attachment 

 to the cause of Him who died for me by devoting my 

 life to His service." 



There can be no doubt that David Livingstone's heart 

 was very thoroughly penetrated by the new life that now 

 flowed into it. He did not merely apprehend the truth 

 — the truth laid hold of him. The divine blessing flowed 

 into him as it flowed into the heart of St. Paul, St. 

 Augustine, and others of that type, subduing all earthly 

 desires and wishes. What he says in his book about 

 the freeness of God's grace drawing forth feelings of 

 affectionate love to Him who bought him with His blood, 

 and the sense of deep obligation to Him for his mercy, 

 that had influenced, in some small measure, his conduct 

 ever since, is from him most significant. Accustomed to 

 suppress all spiritual emotion in his public writings, he 

 would not have used these words if they had not been 

 very real. They give us the secret of his life. Acts 

 of self-denial that are very hard to do under the iron law 

 of conscience become a willing service under the glow of 

 divine love. It was the glow of divine love as well as the 

 power of conscience that moved Livingstone. Though he 

 seldom revealed his inner feelings, and hardly ever in the 

 language of ecstasy, it is plain that he was moved by a 



