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take care that she prove no hinderance to my studies, and that I do not place so much confidence in her consent as to be undone in case of a disappointment.

I have nothing to add but that I desire an answer by Mr. Some, and should be glad to hear whether your brother in Yorkshire has recovered from his late indisposition. My humble service to your good lady and all other friends. I am,

Reverend Sir,

Your most obliged Servant,

P. DODDRIDGE.

TO MR. MASSEY *.

Burton, Feb 1, 1724.

I HAVE SO great a respect for good Mr. Massey, and have received so many favours from him, that I cannot dispute the least of his commands. Therefore, though transcribing sermons into long hand be a work that I am not at all fond of, as soon as I understood it to be his pleasure I immediately set about it.

I here send you that which I preached last Lord's day at Harborough, which is transcribed almost verbally as it stands in my notes, though its length obliged me to leave out a portion in the pulpit. I am sensible, sir, that there is room for many improve. Enclosing a Sermon.

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ments, and that it needs much correction. Such as it is, however, I beg you to accept it; and I hope you will remember that it is one of the first sermons I ever made, and designed for a plain congregation in the country. As you were pleased to desire a copy with some earnestness, I am willing to hope that the sermon was of use to you in the delivery, and I heartily pray that, by the blessing of God, those good impressions may be revived upon its perusal. In return, sir, I earnestly beg a remembrance in your prayers, to the effect that God would so assist me in my private studies and public ministrations, that I may be made a useful instrument in the church of Christ, and that at length we may meet each other before the throne of our gracious Redeemer, whom having not seen we Love;-and in whom, though now we see him not, yet believing, we rejoice, with joy unspeakable and full of glory. I am, with the sincerest respect,

Dear Sir,

Your most obliged and most humble Servant,

PHILIP DODDRIDGE.

P.S. My humble service to the young gentleman your son, and be pleased to tell him, that I hope for the happiness of a more intimate acquaintance. I should be glad of a line or two by Mr. Some, if either he or you should have time to write.

I hope, sir, that my sending you this sermon will not be interpreted as though I slighted that invita

tion which I lately declined. I assure you that I have no such intention, and am fully convinced that it will be best for both sides to entertain no further thoughts of the affair; and I hope the providence of God will provide much better for you. My humble service to Mr. Francis.

DEAR CLIO,

TO MRS. HANNAH CLARK.

Feb. 2, 1724.

I AM very sorry for your late indisposition, and for those remaining symptoms which you discover in your last letter. I know your temper does not incline you to groundless suspicion; and that if your imagination had not been disordered with a fever, you would never have dreamed of that alteration in my carriage which you mention with so much resentment. I do most seriously assure you, that it is all romance, and that at this very moment I love you as well as ever I did in my life, and with a tenderness which I know not how to express. If I have not lately written to you so frequently as I used to do, the only reason is, because I have had ten times more business than I ever had in my life, and my heart is so full, that when I begin a letter to you, I never know when to conclude. I hope you will at least be convinced of your error, when I tell you that I write oftener to you than to any other friend that I have in the world, except to your brother at

St. Albans, whom I have frequently occasion to consult on business.

It gives me a great deal of uneasiness to hear you say that it seemed a punishment to me to be with you when I was in town. Can you really think me

so stupid, or so ungrateful? Unkind Clio! I hope that by this time you have recovered the use of your reason, and that you will quickly ask my pardon, which upon a promise of amendment, I may be persuaded to grant.

The reason why I did not call upon you the Wednesday night after I saw you was simply because I did not come to town till between four and five, and I was obliged to visit a dying relation in Hanover Square, with whom I stayed most of the evening. I had some other business in Bloomsbury and in Holborn, so that I could not have been with you till nine o'clock. I could not have slept in Trinity Lane, because I was to set out for Northampton at two the next morning; and to have called upon you only for a moment would have been but a disturbance to you, and have renewed the sorrow of parting in me, which was the only punishment I ever met with from you, till I received this barbarous letter, which I did not care to repeat. I would not for the world say any thing so rude to Clio, but really if I were writing to my sister, I should be ready to refer her to Proverbs, xviii. 13*. Pray look them out.

* "He that answereth a matter before he heareth it, it is folly and shame unto him."

I heartily thank you for the pleasure you express at the thoughts of my coming to Town. If inclination had been to determine, you had certainly seen me in London long ago; but I had very important reasons for my refusal, not indeed such as you insinuate, for I hope Clarinda will never have so much undue influence over me as to determine my conduct in an affair of that solemn nature: yet I acknowledge that I love her heartily, and have been applying to the grand business with a great deal of diligence, and I hope with some success. I have indeed no thoughts of marrying very soon, and whenever I come to take that master-work in hand, I hope I shall remember the important article of a provision for a family; for I have a mortal aversion to the cares of the world, and am fully convinced that it is impossible for the most agreeable woman it contains to preserve her beauty or good humour, if she has nothing to subsist upon but compliments and kisses. I perceive, madam, that you are entering into that most honourable estate, and I heartily wish you a great deal of comfort and success. I am surprised at the news you send me about Mr. Jacomb, and cannot forbear imprecating a double vengeance upon my guilty head, if I should ever prove as inconstant to my dear Clarinda as he has been to his agreeable Sarcassa. May I then be doomed to the arms of a haggard widow! twice as old, and twice as rich, without even the comfort of having the children of my wife to laugh in my face, and call me their young papa!

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