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a brief outline of what passed; and most earnestly wish you every degree of success in your labours to maintain the truth as it is in Jesus.

I am, dear and Rev. Sir,

With very high esteem, your affectionate Friend, ROBERT HALL.

N. B.-Permit me to return my most sincere thanks for your admirable defence of the divinity of our Lord Jesus Christ, against Belsham: it will benefit the church, I trust, as long as the English language lasts.

LXXXIII.

TO W. B. GURNEY, ESQ.

ON THE DEATH OF MRS. GURNEY.

My dear Friend,

Bristol, August 25, 1827.

It is a very few days since I heard the very melancholy intelligence of the removal of dear Mrs. Gurney; and I was not willing to obtrude on the sacred privacy of grief till its first agitation was in some measure subsided. Most deeply is this stroke felt, and long will continue to be so, by that very large circle of which she was the ornament and delight; but how much more severe the stroke on him who was united to her by the tenderest of earthly ties! To me the information was like a thunderclap: it was so sudden, and so unexpected, that I could scarcely persuade myself it was a reality; it seems now like one of those frightful visions of the night which vanish at the return of dawn.

Alas! how fresh in my mind is the figure of the dear deceased, presiding in the social circle with that inimitable ease, elegance, and grace, which captivated every heart:-changed now, and clouded for ever with the shades of death! Never was a victim snatched by the great destroyer, more beloved, or more lamented.

But why should I dwell on what is so distressing to remember, rather than advert to the brighter side of this melancholy picture? You, my dear friend, have lost the richest of earthly blessings in a most admirable and amiable wife; but grace has completed its triumph in adding to the celestial choir one more spirit of "the just made perfect.' Bright as she shone in her earthly sphere, her light was dim and obscure, compared to that which now invests her. Her pure and celestial spirit has ascended to its native seat, where she "bears the name of her God on her forehead, and serves him day and night in his temple." Your loss, my dear friend, is her unspeakable gain; and your mind is too generous, in your calmest moments, to wish her hurled from her celestial elevation. Let a few more months and years revolve, and you will be reunited, to part no more; the days of your mourning will be ended; the Lord will be to you (as he is already to the dear deceased) your everlasting light, and your God your glory."

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I hope you will not suffer the excess of grief so to absorb your mind as to shut out the consolations of piety, or the claims of duty. It is my earnest prayer that God himself may comfort you, and that

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he may be pleased so to sanctify this most heavy trial, that, though "faint," you may be "still pursuing;" and that, though you " sow in tears," you may" reap in joy."

I beg to be most affectionately remembered to every branch of your family, as well as to all inquiring friends; and remain, with deep concern, Your affectionate and sympathizing Friend,

ROBERT HALL.

LXXXIV.

TO EBENEZER FOSTER, ESQ.

My dear Sir,

Bristol, Jan. 29, 1829.

I safely received your favour of the 20th instant. It gives me great pleasure to infer, from your letter, that the health of your family, and particularly of your elder brother, is in a tolerable state.

The death of Mrs. must have been felt very severely by your excellent consort, to whom I beg to express a deep and sincere sympathy. I was greatly affected when I heard of it, and shall ever carry with me a grateful and affectionate sense of the uniform kindness with which she treated me, as well as of the many amiable and interesting traits of her character. It would have given me pleasure to have been informed what were her views and feelings in the prospect of eternity: I hope she exhibited that state of mind, on the approach of that awful crisis, which must prevent surviving friends from "sorrowing as those who have no hope." I have lately heard, with much concern, of the alarm

ing illness of my dear friend [Nutter?];—but have rejoiced to learn subsequently, that considerable hopes are entertained of his recovery. While events of this nature present a striking commentary on the solemn declaration that "all flesh is grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of the field," it is consoling to remember that "the word of the Lord endureth for ever;" and that, by the preaching of the gospel, it is more extensively promulgated than ever.

The intelligence you have just given me of the rapid extension of evangelical religion in Cambridge, is highly gratifying; nor can I entertain any serious apprehension of ultimate injury resulting from thence to the dissenting interest. If something like competition should have the effect of giving increased momentum to the exertions of both parties, the public may be benefited, and both improved.

With respect to my health, I can say little that I could wish to say. Some small abatement of the violence and frequency of my old complaint has, I think, of late, been experienced: but it is very inconsiderable; and the last night it prevented me getting a wink of sleep until after seven o'clock this morning. On this account, I can speak with no sort of confidence of my intended visit to Cambridge, further than this, that I feel a most anxious desire of enjoying it, and that nothing but absolute necessity will prevent me from making the attempt; and, as travelling on the outside is much the easiest to me, it will not be prudent to undertake it till the summer is tolerably advanced. I have little intelligence to communicate worthy of your attention.

I continue to be very happy with my people, from whom I daily receive every demonstration of affection and respect. Our attendance is as good as I could wish; and we have added to the Baptist Church,* during the last year, twenty-seven, and six are standing candidates for baptism. For these tokens of divine presence I desire to be thankful. Mrs. Hall and my family are, through mercy, as well as usual; and join with me in most affectionate regards to every branch of your family, and to the Cambridge circle of friends in general. I beg to be most affectionately remembered to dear Mr.

and to assure him of my deep sympathy with him under his heavy and irreparable loss. It is my fervent and sincere prayer it may be sanctified. I remain, my dear Sir,

Your obliged and affectionate Friend,

ROBERT HALL.

LXXXV.

TO JAMES NUTTER, ESQ., SHELFORD, NEAR

CAMBRIDGE.

My very dear Friend,

Bristol, Feb. 16, 1829.

I heard with much concern of your late alarming illness, and, with a proportionate degree

* To render this phrase intelligible to some readers, it may be proper to observe, that in the congregation at Broadmead there are two classes of persons who are associated in church-fellowship: one consists of those only who have been baptized in adult age, on a confession of faith; while the other consists jointly of such and of pedobaptists. The former are "strict communion baptists," and constitute the baptist church: the latter furnish an example of "mixed communion."-ED.

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