The man who had this notable experience would not have been singled
out, even by those who knew him intimately in early manhood, as the
one most likely to achieve the results which we are to review. The
qualities casually observed by acquaintances were in his case those
which men do not ordinarily associate with success. A study of his
private journal and letters manifests traits which are corroborated
by many who knew him personally. He was a man of deep piety. He
was scrupulous regarding the outward appearance of religion, yet
more so concerning his inner life. He was verily a man of God. His
mental nature had a strong inclination to introspection, which led
to self-depreciation and self-distrust. He recoiled from a new
venture until he became convinced that it was the will of God;
then, though still distrusting his own ability, he laid hold of the
task with a simplicity of faith and a devotion to duty which made
him invincible. It is an example of how the Holy Spirit, when fully
occupying a man’s heart, enlarges and fortifies his native capacity
until the one who is small in his own esteem becomes a giant.
That habit of introspection may have been due in part to the
austere idea of religion which prevailed at the time; at any rate
it gave him a somber demeanor. The solemn side of life seems
mostly before him, although his associates found a playfulness and
jocularity about him that offset his soberness. Only thirty years
of age when he left home, yet from the first his letters to his
father read more like the letters of a father to a son. But deeper
and stronger than either of these traits was his tender sympathy.
It was more than a sympathy of sentiment; it was a sympathy that
caused him to share the sufferings of others. Concerning his
medical work he said: “When I cannot relieve, I suffer.” This
eagerness to relieve pain led him to a forgetfulness of his own
interests which his physique marvellously endured.
Then, too, he had a timidity which at times amounted to phobism
and made it difficult for him to reach a decision and even caused
him to appear fickle in purpose. But fortunately, along with that
weakness he had a courage which nerved him to face any hostility or
danger with a daring which compelled opposition to give way; and
by that quality he carried through many a venture which for a time
seemed doomed to failure. Humble to a point of self-abnegation,
at times he was as lordly as a monarch in the exercise of the
prerogatives of the liberty of the gospel; and beyond a doubt it
was his refusal to imitate oriental truculence before provincial
officials which inspired that class with respect for the rights
of the foreigner. Among the Siamese who still remember him, he is
spoken of as “_the man with the gentle heart_.”