My dear friend Time and circumstances did not permit me on Tuesday evening, when I saw you at Barrowden, to do anything more than merely acknowledge the receipt of your letter. I take this opportunity, therefore, to write a few lines in answer to it. I am exceedingly sorry that this fresh root of bitterness has sprung up to trouble us; but I feel glad that it did not originate in me…. Read More

My dear friend, Isaac Harrison I am glad that I did not go to Leicester this last visit in vain. I felt encouraged by the good attendance all the times I preached, and the great attention shown by the people. I felt also some little liberty, and had ground to hope that the Lord was with me of a truth. I believe I can say I delivered my conscience, whether men would… Read More

My dear friend, Isaac Harrison I purpose, if the Lord wills, to leave Oakham for Leicester on Tuesday morning by the coach, and intend to bring my wife and little girl with me. We think of getting down at the turnpike at Belgrave, as I did before, but as I have to preach that evening we shall sleep at the chapel-house. I have been but poorly since I came home, and was… Read More

My dear friend, Isaac Harrison I am sorry that I shall not be able to be with you on Lord’s-day, April 21st. I am sorry it should happen so; but I cannot leave my people here wholly unprovided for. You may expect me, however, (D.V.) for the 14th; and it is my present intention to go on the Friday afternoon previous by Pettifer’s coach. I wish I could have had the pleasure… Read More

My dear Sir, Few greater afflictions can befall the people of God than the removal of a faithful and beloved pastor. It generally happens, if he has been long going in and out before them, at his decease the candlestick is removed with him; I fear that this may prove to be the case at _____ with the spiritual hearers of the late Mr. _____. Affection and respect cannot be transferred to… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I am glad you did not stand upon ceremony with me, and wait until I answered your first letter. I seem slower at writing letters than ever. Unless the heart indites a good matter the tongue is not the pen of a ready writer; and my heart just now seems to be inditing (“boiling or bubbling up,” margin Psalm 45:1) anything and everything but a good matter…. Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I think sometimes that no one professing to fear the Lord can be more tempted, tried, and exercised, than I am with sin. Unbelief, infidelity, and blasphemy, obscenity, and powerful lusts, are continually worrying my poor soul. At times, I feel quite cut up and cut down with the power and prevalence of these monsters. When entangled and cast down by these sins I have cried to… Read More

My dear friend, Beecher I was glad to read your experimental letter, as I have many trials and temptations, both as regards myself and the ministry; and a word of encouragement is now and then desirable. No one can know the mighty power of sin and the horrible love that there is to it in our carnal mind unless he has been beset by some temptation, and that at times night and… Read More

It is with great reluctance that I bring forward any matters relating to myself; and yet to disarm (if possible) enemies, and to afford some explanation to friends, I have thought it best to publish the following correspondence. It relates to the publication of my portrait—a circumstance most repugnant to my feelings, and a matter to me of unmixed annoyance and regret. J. C. Philpot. ——————– My dear friend If I may… Read More

My dear friend, John Grace I am much obliged to you for your kind and affectionate letter, and for the unpublished letter by Huntington which it contained. It is a very acceptable gift for the Standard, and I will (D.V.) take an early opportunity of getting it inserted. I feel with you that no man’s writings (always excepting our favourite Hart’s hymns) seem to possess the savour, unction, and power of Huntington’s…. Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I hope I may say I am, through mercy, mending somewhat under the treatment I am passing through here. The doctors give me encouragement to believe that I shall eventually recover; but they say it will be a work of time, and that I must give up all ideas of preaching for a considerable period. I think they consider me in a very critical state, and that… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin Knowing that I am poorly, you will not expect a long letter from me. Still I will (D.V.) try and write a few lines. As regards my health, I am much the same; if anything, perhaps, a little better. But all serious afflictions of the lungs are in themselves so perilous, as well as uncertain, that I cannot say much about my health. My mind much fluctuates… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I hope I may say I am gradually mending. Still, it is very slow; indeed, scarcely perceptible, and the time of year is against me. The inflammation, I hope, is slowly subsiding, but until that is fully removed I cannot recover strength, nor can I preach without danger of bringing it on again. It tries my mind to be thus laid aside in many ways. I hope… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I was truly sorry to learn that you had been so seriously ill; but at the same time was equally glad to hear you were better. . . . In the autumn of 1822 I had, when a youth at College, a most severe attack of inflammation of the lungs. Indeed, the physician said that few survived so severe an attack; but I soon got round again… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I have been very poorly with the influenza, and, indeed, kept my bed nearly four days. I am now, through mercy, better, but still tender against the cold. . . In my illness I seemed to have little else but the workings of my most miserable self, with little power to read, or pray, or think upon anything spiritual or divine. Oh what a poor, helpless, miserable… Read More

My dear friend, John Grace I hope that by this time you are fully recovered from your fall, and have had additional proof that, if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without your heavenly Father, much less the body of John Grace. How much better, my dear friend, to fall from a scaffold, and break a couple of ribs, than fall into sin and break all your bones! There is no… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin If I delay much longer to write you will think I have fulfilled the old saying, “Out of sight out of mind,” or that something has occurred, as illness, to prevent me. I am glad, however, to say that neither of these causes has prevented; for, as regards the former, I can say, I never felt a better union with you since we first knew one another;… Read More

Dear Friend I shall be very glad to have any or all of the late Mr. Gadsby’s letters which you can furnish me with. They generally contain much of the fullness and sweetness of the gospel, and in most cases are well backed with such views of and glimpses at man’s deeply and dreadfully fallen nature as prove him to have been well and experimentally acquainted with both sides of the question…. Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin When I tell you that my poor sister, Mrs. Watts, is dead, you will not be surprised at the paper on which I write. She departed on Lord’s-day morning about 8:30. She was a great sufferer both in body and mind, believing herself to be a reprobate and filled with condemnation and despair. We have, however, some hope that her poor soul is not lost, as three… Read More

My dear George Isbell I am truly glad to learn that my dear mother and sister have been supported under this heavy trial and affliction; and I hope they may still find that as their day so is their strength. It is a great mercy to be supported in and under the first outbreak of trouble when the heart is too full to find relief in giving vent to its feelings. The… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I hope I may say I am better. I preached here last Lord’s-day morning, and went up and prayed in the meeting in the afternoon, and did not seem much fatigued by the exertion. As all tell me how much better I am looking, I cannot help believing what they say. I think, too, that I am getting flesh on my bones, which is perhaps more favourable… Read More

My dear friend, Joseph Parry I hope I may say I am through mercy better in health. I have partially resumed the work of the ministry, having commenced to preach once on the Lord’s-day. I seemed shut up and embarrassed the first Lord’s-day that I spoke here; but had somewhat more life, liberty, and feeling at Oakham. I seemed favoured with a little of the spirit of prayer while going there by… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin. I am much as I was in health, and do not seem to gain much strength at present. I still continue to preach once on the Lord’s-day, and for the last three weeks have also spoken here on Thursday evenings. The friends at Oakham all seemed to hear well on Lord’s-day. The day was fine, the congregation large, and I was enabled a little to speak on… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I believe you have long found, by painful experience, that it is impossible to do anything according to the word and will of God without trouble before, in, or after. To serve God in any way is a bitter-sweet. Sometimes conscience, sometimes Satan, sometimes the world, sometimes an evil heart, sometimes foe, and sometimes friend cause trouble. If we are let alone to have our own way,… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin We arrived here safely, through mercy, on Tuesday evening, and found my mother looking pretty well. Friend D. is supplying at the chapel, but is not very well attended. I was there last evening, but there were very few hearers. Truth is pretty much fallen in the streets, as regards these three towns, with a population more than eighty thousand. It seems strange that there should be… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin It is a mercy amid all one’s coldness, deadness, and hardness sometimes to feel a little revival, and to be blessed in speaking of the Lord’s people. It encourages us to go on in spite of all opposition within and without. I think more of the value and blessedness of the preached gospel than I once did. It often stirs up prayer, shows where we have been… Read More

My dear friend, Joseph Parry You will be very sorry to hear that our poor friend M’Kenzie is dangerously ill. He broke a blood vessel on Saturday last, and brought up much blood, and had a return of the same on Monday. The doctor says it is from the lungs, which makes it all the more dangerous. He may not be immediately removed; but I would greatly fear the ultimate event, as… Read More

My dear Tiptaft I consider poor Mrs. C.’s case a very trying one, and one very difficult indeed to pronounce any decided opinion upon. Say, for instance, that we gave it as our decided advice that she should stay away from chapel; that would seem shunning the cross. Say, that we advised her still to go, and she should lose her life in consequence, painful reflections might be cast upon us. Such… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin We were well attended at Leicester. Many, I am told, could not get into the chapel in the evening. I hope it was a good day, as I had a spirit of prayer on the Saturday, and a text came with some sweetness to my mind; and I had some liberty and sweetness in speaking. There is quite a spirit of hearing there. I baptized here the… Read More

My dear friend, Joseph Parry I reached home safely, through mercy, on the Friday, to dinner, and found my dear wife and little family pretty well. I preached at Wellingborough Thursday evening, 24th. If “like priest like people,” be a true saying, I would fear there was not much life, power, or feeling in the congregation; and I felt but little in my own soul. My words seemed to rebound upon me… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin It seems that troubles and trials still await me, and what is to be their end or outcome, I know not. I was thinking the other day that either Satan must hate me very much, or that there must be something in me very wrong, for many seem to rise up against me. And having so much besides in me which causes condemnation and fear, and the… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin We had a church-meeting here, on Lord’s-day, and received two candidates for baptism. They were both well received, being well known to the friends and hearers almost ever since I came to Oakham; but one gave a blessed testimony, being now in the sweet enjoyment of the love of God, so that she could speak of the Lord having blessed her soul not once or twice, but… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I never came to London more unwillingly. I left Oakham very poorly, and weak in body and tried in mind, and called myself a thousand fools to have made the engagement. But hitherto the Lord has helped me, and I hope the poor and the needy may have reaped some little benefit from my trials and exercises. I hope the Lord was with me on Lord’s-day, and… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I believe on the main points of experimental truth and vital godliness we see eye to eye, and feel heart to heart, and this makes us cleave to each other in affection and esteem. I am quite sick of the generality of Calvinistic professors, and I believe we may read their charter in Ezekiel 34 — especially the ministers. But I leave them. Time and circumstances will… Read More

My dear friend, Thomas Godwin I was so poorly on Saturday night, and coughed so much during the night, that I almost despaired of being able to preach at all. I was sharply tried, for as I seemed to see the Lord’s hand so plainly in my going to Lakenheath, it would have been very trying and mysterious if I could not preach, and I knew it would not only be a… Read More

My dear Mr. Beecher From various causes I have not been able to attend earlier to your kind and friendly letter. I think sometimes that Satan, seeing the Lord has blessed my ministry, is doing all he can to overthrow it. The doctrine and the experience cannot be overthrown; and therefore attempts are being made to overthrow the author. And what more ready way than to say that he borrows what he… Read More

My dear Friend, Joseph Parry, It is a mercy that where the Lord has begun a good work He will carry it on, and bring it to perfection. If it were not so, what hope could there be for such poor, dark, dead wretches, who can no more revive themselves, than they can quicken their own souls? And when we have no trials or temptations, or at least not heavy ones, how… Read More

My dear Friend, Thomas Godwin My (lack of writing), I can assure you, has not arisen from lack of friendship and affection. Since I have had so many enemies and so many ‘treacherous friends’, I have only more valued and cleaved to my few real friends. But writing is to me a great burden generally, and thus I keep putting it off until at last conscience compels me to make the attempt…. Read More

My dear Friend, Thomas Godwin You must not measure my feelings towards you by the frequency of my letters. Letter-writing to me is usually quite a task; unless there is something which I much wish to communicate, I go to it as a schoolboy to his homework. But I have felt for the last few days desirous to drop you a few lines. I hope on the whole we had a pretty… Read More

My dear Friend, Thomas Godwin Before the February number of The Gospel Standard came out, I saw that I had laid myself open to attack upon the point which you so kindly and faithfully name, and sent a partial correction to the office; but the letter being delayed to the morning mail, the Standard was already on the printing machine. My meaning was, that the body of Christ was not natural in… Read More

My dear Friend, Thomas Godwin I am glad you are coming our way, but am sorry your stay will be so short. It generally takes a little time before we get into the marrow of anything. The bone, you know, lies pretty deep in the flesh, and the marrow deeper still. We need an evening together, and a little oil on the heart and tongue, such as we had, I hope, once… Read More

My dear Friend, Thomas Godwin I would have answered your kind and friendly letter before, had not my time been so much occupied. I have been down to Stoke, to pay the last mark of respect and affection to my poor dear mother. She died early on Thursday morning, the 13th. I left home on Monday, slept at Exeter that night, and reached Stoke Tuesday evening. I found Mrs. Isbell better than… Read More

My dear Duncan Mathieson I have indeed reason to bless the Lord for the way in which in His mysterious providence and grace He has condescended to spread and bless my little productions. And this because I have never attempted to spread them myself, and have no pecuniary interest in them. It is indeed mysterious that they should have reached your remote district, and especially so that your first knowledge of them… Read More

My dear Friend, Mr. Godwin I think sometimes when I am gone and carnal feelings buried in my grave, my writings and sermons will be more understood than they are now; and I hope I have a place in the hearts and affections of some of God’s people. You may depend upon it there are some of the right sort of people at Oakham and Stamford. I felt once at the ordinance… Read More

My dear Friend, Miss Richmond I hope, if the Lord wills, and health and strength be given, to speak a little at Stadham on Thursday evening, the 23rd, on my way home. If your sister at Sutton Courtney would do me the kindness of meeting us with her sociable at the station, we could spend an hour or two with her before proceeding to Stadham; and I think Mrs. Philpot would like… Read More

My dear Friend, Mr. Godwin You seem favoured with two great blessings — health of body and health of soul. Such blessings are they, that without them life is not life. I wish you may long enjoy both, and be made a blessing for many years to the Church of God. I am, through mercy, better. I preached at Oakham in the morning last Lord’s-day, and spoke in the afternoon from the… Read More