were dated from this place[1]. Mr. Preston remained there till 1814, when he removed to Aspeden, as will be explained hereafter.
For some years yet, Thomas Thomason was a fellow-labourer with Simeon, and won in the affection of that holy man, a place second only to that of Henry Martyn. Probably Simeon regarded Martyn more than any man he ever met, but next after him, he esteemed Thomas Thomason. There are more letters extant of Simeon's addressed to Thomas Thomason, and overflowing with affection, than to any other of his many correspondents. Thomason's preaching attracted the admiration of so eminent a judge as Simeon, who declared that it abounded with 'divine unction.' For some time, Henry Martyn was joint curate with Thomason under Simeon, and then accepted a chaplaincy under the East India Company, an acceptance which became memorable in the annals of Christendom. This example powerfully affected Thomason, who in 1808 became one of the East India Company's Chaplains, and set sail for Bengal, accompanied by his wife and their son James, then four years old. Among their fellow-passengers were Mr. and Mrs.William Grant, who became specially related to the Thomasons, as will be seen hereafter.
After some four months, in the usual course with a prosperous voyage, the ship entered the Bay of Bengal. Early in the morning she struck on a reef, off the eastern coast of the Bay, and in a few
- ↑ See Lord Macaulay's Life by Trevelyan, pp. 39 to 51.
