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 of men. All who know you will ever respect you, not only as the relict of Dr. Ryland, but as the distinguished individual who entitled herself to his gratitude by such a series of unremitting attentions and kind offices (the remembrance of which must be a source of melancholy pleasure) as will doubtless draw down a blessing from Him to whom he was dear. It is my earnest prayer, that the God who reveals himself as the father of the fatherless and the husband of the widow, may take you under his especial protection, and supply you with those rich and ineffable consolations which are neither few nor small. We have the word of Him that cannot lie, to assure us that "all things shall work together for good to them that love God." That you may feel more of his sustaining hand, and of his blissful presence, is, dear Madam, the earnest prayer of 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 stayed at Kettering, in order to preach for the mission, which I did morning and evening. The letters from you ought, in all reason, to Mr. Tozer was one of the deacons of the church at Broadmead. have been sent forward; but this was impracticable, because my whole family were, at the same time, on an excursion for their health. I hope you will be so good as to accept this as a sufficient apology for my apparent neglect. Had I been guilty of any voluntary one, towards a friend whom I so highly esteem, I should never forgive myself. It is impossible for me to hear the favourable opinion which you and the rest of my friends entertain of me, without being deeply sensible of their kindness. I feel myself most unworthy of such an expression of their regard; the consciousness of which, while it enhances my gratitude, impairs my pleasure. Could I see my way clear to leave Leicester, I should still tremble at the thought of being placed in a situation in which I must necessarily sustain a comparison with your late beloved and lamented pastor. In an affair of so much magnitude, I should wish to avoid whatever might wear the appearance of precipitance; and, on that account, should the church at Broadmead see fit to give me an invitation to the pastoral office, I should wish to be allowed some time, before I give a decisive answer. On some very obvious accounts, I should prefer Bristol, perhaps, to any other situation; and the state of the church at Leicester is far from being precisely as I could wish. Still the aspect of things is brightening; the clouds, I trust, are beginning to disperse; and an important step has already been taken towards the restoration of mutual confidence and affection. I feel at present inclined to believe it is my duty to stay at Leicester. I wish most earnestly to be directed from above, and that the few remaining years of my life (if any are allotted me) may be passed where they may best subserve the best of causes. I am not at all given to change : I have long fixed it in my mind that it was the design of Heaven that I shall finish my days here; and, had nothing occurred to disturb our tranquillity, I should not have indulged a thought to the contrary. I do most earnestly bespeak an interest in your prayers, that my way may be directed of the Lord; and that "for me to live may be Christ and to die gain." Pecuniary considerations, as you suspect, will have little influence in guiding my determination. I beg to be most affectionately remembered to all inquiring friends, and remain, dear Sir, Your affectionate Friend and Brother, LXXVII. ROBERT HALL. TO THE SAME. My very dear Friend, Leicester, August 11, 1825. I should have sooner written to you, but on two accounts: first, the almost ceaseless interruptions I have met with since my return from London, which have kept me in a perpetual hurry; and, second, my inability, even at present, to give you the satisfaction you wish by a decisive answer. Sensible, as I deeply am, of the unmerited tokens of respect shewn me by my Bristol friends, and solicitous, if possible, to comply with all their wishes, I still feel difficulties in the way, which I know not how to surmount. The church at Leicester is much agitated on the occasion, and have evinced great unanimity in their resolution to adopt the speediest and most effectual measures, in order to remove the principal source of my uneasiness. There appears to be but one feeling pervading the church and congregation. What success may attend their efforts to restore peace, God only knows; but, should they be successful, I shall find it very difficult to separate myself from them. To inflict the pain it would occasion to many excellent persons and kind friends, would cost me a conflict for which I feel myself little prepared. In truth the motives for staying in my present situation, and the motives for relinquishing it, are so equally balanced, that I am kept still in a state of suspense; and am habitually under some apprehension, that, whatever choice I make, I shall be apt to repent not having made an opposite one. It is certainly a humbling consideration not to be able to come to a speedier decision; but I feel the weight of the affair, and that the consequences of it, both to myself and others, will probably be greater than can result from any future step in my life. I earnestly implore an interest in your prayers, that the Lord would be pleased to direct me, and that, wherever the bounds of my habitation may be fixed, "Christ may be magnified in my body, whether by my life or my death." The greatest annoyance of my life, for some years past, has arisen from not being able to command my time, particularly in the |