| (seq. 38)[fol. 1r]
No 15. [My letter paper is at Dorch.] Milton, May 13th 1796.
My dear friend,
Your's of the 25th ult. I
did not receive till last evening. Tho old it had not
lost its flavor. It did good, like a medicine. By cur-
ing me of the hypo', it cheered my Spirits. I thank
you kindly, that you take So feeling a part in what
most highly interests me. I never doubted the Sin-
cerity of your friendship. Every interview, every letter
is an acceptable pledge of its continuance from
you, & increases its ardor in my breast. May it be
as lasting, as my wishes! May it equal "the love of
women!" The expressions of it you manifest by
your anxiety for my welfare seem peculiarly
seasonable at this eventful period of my life. You
desire me to write a circumstantial account of my-
self, since our last union of souls. It is a barren sub-
ject. A dull tedious uniformity has run through
every week. But, stop. I have passed through some
of the most interesting scenes of a minister's life.
A family of reputation & respectability has lost three
promising children, of the years of 16, 9, & 3. Three
of their remaining children were reduced to the very
brink of the grave. Their disorder was the throat distem-
per. It has since entered two other families; but has left
no victims. This distressed family live three miles
from my lodgings. I visited them often, & enjoyed a
melancholy kind of pleasure in pouring into their
afflicted bosoms the balm of consolation. In the heat
of feeling I threw together a few desultory thoughts
on resignation, wh proved the most popular discourse | (seq. 38)[fol. 1r]
No 15. [My letter paper is at Dorch.] Milton, May 13th 1796.
My dear friend,
Your's of the 25th ult. I
did not receive till last evening. Tho old it had not
lost its flavor. It did good, like a medicine. By cur-
ing me of the hypo', it cheered my Spirits. I thank
you kindly, that you take So feeling a part in what
most highly interests me. I never doubted the Sin-
cerity of your friendship. Every interview, every letter
is an acceptable pledge of its continuance from
you, & increases its ardor in my breast. May it be
as lasting, as my wishes! May it equal "the love of
women!" The expressions of it you manifest by
your anxiety for my welfare seem peculiarly
seasonable at this eventful period of my life. You
desire me to write a circumstantial account of my-
self, since our last union of souls. It is a barren sub-
ject. A dull tedious uniformity has run through
every week. But, stop. I have passed through some
of the most interesting scenes of a minister's life.
A family of reputation & respectability has lost three
promising children, of the years of 16, 9, & 3. Three
of their remaining children were reduced to the very
brink of the grave. Their disorder was the throat distem-
per. It has since entered two other families; but has left
no victims. This distressed family live three miles
from my lodgings. I visited them often, & enjoyed a
melancholy kind of pleasure in pouring into their
afflicted bosoms the balm of consolation. In the heat
of feeling I threw together a few desultory thoughts
on resignation, wh proved the most popular discourse |
EN