draw him down from his elevated abode, to this vale of sorrow and affliction. The stroke was not entirely sudden and unexpected: a long series of attacks and infirmities must, no doubt, have contributed to familiarize your mind to the event. Remember, my dear Madam, that the separation is but for a season; our dear friend is not lost, but preferred to an infinitely higher state, where he is awaiting your arrival. To me, his removal will long be a source of deep regret; for where shall I find a friend equally amiable, tender, and constant?* I beg to be most affectionately remembered to each of your dear children, earnestly praying that their father's God may be their God. Wishing and praying that you may be favoured with the richest consolations of religion, I remain, my dearest Madam, Your affectionate Friend, Mr. Langdon and Mr. Hall had been fellow-students at Bristol; and ever after cherished for each other the warmest esteem and affection. -ED. LXXII. TO J. B. WILLIAMS, ESQ. SHREWSBURY. Dear Sir, Leicester, March 29, 1825. Some apology is necessary for not having sooner acknowledged your very kind present of your new and highly-improved edition of the admirable Philip Henry, whom you have the honour, I find, of enumerating among your ancestors. It is a descent with which you have more reason to be satisfied, than if you could trace your pedigree from the Plantagenets. I waited only until I had time to renew my acquaintance with the Life of that amiable man, and to form an estimate of the improvements it has derived from diligent researches. I have not yet entirely completed the volume; but I am now busy in doing so, and have read enough to satisfy myself of the great obligations you have conferred on the public, by this excellent work. The additional documents and letters, by which you have enriched and enlarged the original narrative, constitute a treasure of wisdom and piety, for which you are entitled to the warm acknowledgements of every christian reader, and especially of every dissenter. May a double portion of his spirit descend on the rising generation of ministers! The labour and research requisite for furnishing such a repast, must have been great; but not more so, I dare say, than the pleasure you derived from the consciousness of benefit on the public. It conferring so important a Permit me to thank you, most sincerely, for the favour you have done me, by the bestowment of so valuable a present. 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, his meekness, tenderness, devotedness to God, and zeal for the interests of truth and holiness, will long endear him to the christian world, and make 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? I 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, |