He hoped that he would be able to go through the necessary preparation without help from any quarter.
This was the more commendable, because in addition to the theological qualifications of a missionary, he determined to aquire those of a medical practitioner.

The idea of medical missions was at that time comparatively new.

It had been started in connection with missions to China, and it was in the prospect of going to that country that Livingstone resolved to obtain a medical education.

It would have been comparatively easy for him, in a financial sense, to get the theological training, but the medical education was a costly affair.

To a man of ordinary ideas, it would have seemed impossible to make the wages earned during the six months of summer avail not merely for his support then, but for winter too, and for lodgings, fees, and books besides.