London, December 10, 1794

DEAR SIR,

We have no reason to be much grieved, if the world speaks any or all manner of evil of us, provided it be falsely, and especially if it be on account of our christian profession. Rather we may rejoice, for so they treated the prophets and apostles that were before us, yea, our Lord himself. Jer. xxxvii. 14. Acts xxiv. 5. Luke xxiii. 5. We may apply Peter’s words, 1 Pet. ii. 20. I think with you, that considering what a world we live in, the preservation of our characters is no less an evidence of the Lord’s providential care over us, than the preservation of our persons from the many harms to which we are daily exposed.

]yir. ****’s letter is, as you say, a curiosity: I hope it is the only one of the kind that I shall have occasion to see. However, if the epent of his last misconduct was sanctified to bring his heart back to the Lord, it is well with him now. I think we have warrant to hope that his faith and repentance were sincere. If we have not all deserved to be hanged for breaking human laws, we have all deserved much worse as transgressors of the law of our nature. The way to heaven sometimes lies by the gallows, and I fear that the path from a bed of state much more frequently tends downwards. For my own part, if my pocket was full of stones, I have no right to throw one at the greatest backslider upon earth. I have either done as bad or worse than he, or I certainly should, if the Lord had left me a little to myself; for I am made of just the same materials: if there be any difference, it is wholly of grace.

I pray the Lord to bless you in all things. I am

Your affectionate,
J. N.