8 LIFE OF DA VID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D. 



The outbreak of the opium war with China compelled him reluctantly 

 to abandon his cherished intention of proceeding to that country, but he 

 was happily led to turn his thoughts to South Africa, where the successful 

 labours of Mr. (now Dr.) Robert Moffat were attracting the attention of the 

 Christian public in this country. In September, 1838, he was summoned to 

 London to undergo an examination by the directors of " The London Mis- 

 sionary Society," after which he was sent on probation to a missionary 

 training establishment, conducted by the Rev. Mr. Cecil, at Chipping Ongar, 

 in Essex. There he remained until the early part of 1840, applying himself 

 with his wonted diligence to his studies, and testifying his disregard for hard 

 labour by taking more than his full share of the work of the establishment : 

 such as grinding the corn to make the household bread, chopping wood, 

 gardening operations, etc., etc. ; part of the training at Chipping Ongar 

 being a wise endeavour to make the future missionaries able to shift for 

 themselves in the uncivilized regions in which they might be called upon 

 to settle. 



At Chipping Ongar he indulged his habit of making long excursions 

 in the country round ; and on one occasion he walked to and from London, 

 a distance of fifty miles in one day, arriving late at night completely 

 exhausted, as he had hardly partaken of any food during the entire journey. 

 From his earliest years, up to his attaining manhood, his training, both 

 mental and physical, had been of the best possible kind to fit him for the 

 great career which lay before him ; which may be said to have had its 

 commencement when he landed at Cape Town in 1840. 



