the consciousness of conferring so important a benefit on the public. Permit me to thank you, most sincerely, for the favour you -have done me, by the bestowment of so valuable a present. It were highly desirable, that more such biographies of the illustrious dead, improved and enlarged as this, might be given to the public; if it had no other fruit, than to withdraw their attention a little from that farrago of periodical trifles, by which the public mind is dissipated, and its taste corrupted. I am extremely concerned to hear the melancholy account your letter contains, of the situation of your dear and honoured father, at the same time that I feel grateful to you for the communication. I had heard previously that he was supposed to be in a declining state; but, little imagining he was so ill, your letter gave me a violent shock. With God all things are possible; and who can tell but the Lord may yet raise him up, and assign him more work to do before he is taken to his eternal reward? It is my earnest wish and prayer, that such may be the result. His loss will be most deeply felt, not only by his afflicted family, but by a very numerous circle of friends, and by the church of God at large. For himself, all is and will be well; nothing can possibly befall him, but what will be highly to his advantage. A man of a more eminently holy and devoted spirit than that of your dear father, it has never been my lot to witness, and very, very few, who made any approach to him. I feel, in the prospect of his removal, much for the family, the academy, and the church. You, my dear Sir, together with your very excellent mother and sisters, will be the objects of a deep and extensive sympathy: but God, whose ways, though mysterious, are always gracious and merciful towards them that fear him, will, I doubt not, sustain and support you under this afflicting stroke, and cause it afterward to work the peaceable fruits of righteousness. His prayers will draw down innumerable blessings on those who were nearest and dearest to him; for who can doubt that the prayers of such a man must avail much? The impression of his example, and the memory of his virtues, will suggest a most powerful motive to constancy, patience, and perseverance, in the ways of God. You will never cease to bless God for having bestowed upon you such a parent. His humility, meekness, tenderness, devotedness to God, and zeal for the interests of truth and holiness, will long endear him to the christian world, and make I his name like the odour of precious ointment. What, in the event of your dear father's removal, will become of the academy and the church? tremble to think of the consequences: never, surely, could he have been spared with more serious injury to the most important interests! May the eyes of all of us be [turned] to God for his direction and blessing! I should have written to your dear father himself, but feared it might agitate and disturb him. I beg you to remember me to him in the most earnest, respectful, and affectionate terms, and assure him of a deep interest in my feeble prayers. I beg, also, to be most affectionately remembered to your dear mother, sisters, and every part of the family. That the God of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, may take your dear father under the cover of his wings,-and should he walk through the valley and shadow of death, afford him his rod and his staff, and that this most affecting visitation may be sanctified for the eternal benefit of all the parties concerned,is, my dear Sir, the earnest prayer of Your most affectionate and sympathizing Friend, ROBERT HALL. LXXIV. TO MR. J. E. RYLAND. (EXTRACT.) Leicester, May 29, 1825. It gives me much pleasure, but no surprise, to hear that the end of your dear father was emphatically peace. What else, or what less, could be expected from such a life? As he was one of the brightest examples of holiness on earth, no doubt great is his reward in heaven. May it be your happiness, my dear Sir, and mine, to follow, though at a humble distance, so bright a pattern. May we not be slothful, but followers of them who, through faith and patience, inherit the promises. I need not repeat how much I feel for your dear mother, and the whole bereaved family. It is, indeed, an irreparable loss; but such is the tenure of all earthly bliss. May we be enabled to lay hold on eternal life! LXXV. TO MRS. RYLAND. ON THE DEATH OF DR. RYLAND. Permit me, my dear Madam, to ex press the deep sympathy I, in common with innumerable others, feel for you under your irreparable loss. The magnitude of it none can adequately estimate but yourself: but it is consoling to reflect, that you are not called to sorrow as those that have no hope; that, on the contrary, our loss is his unspeakable gain. And the time is short: a very few years will put an end to all our sorrows; and, if we are the Lord's, will reunite us to all those whom we have most loved upon earth. As you have been highly distinguished by the blessing of possessing such a companion for life, so it is no inconsiderable honour to have contributed so essentially and so long to the felicity of the best Your affectionate and sympathizing Friend, LXXVI. TO MR. ARTHUR TOZER,* BRISTOL. IN REFERENCE TO MR. HALL'S REMOVAL TO BROADMEAD. My dear Friend, Leicester, July 19, 1825. I am very sorry your kind letters have remained unanswered so long: it was the consequence of their arriving while I was absent from home. I did not arrive at Leicester till last Saturday, having * Mr. Tozer was one of the deacons of the church at Broadmead. |