I am appointed. When I know what Sunday in May I can preach at Ealing (a parish for which I shall always preserve a true regard) for the benefit of the Sunday Schools, &c. &c. I will inform you, that you may give what notice you think proper in your part of the parish, as I purpose to preach in the afternoon of the same day, and with the same views, at Brentford Chapel. Whenever you are disposed to turn towards Chelsea, we shall be glad of the pleasure of seeing you. I remain, dear Madam, With much regard and esteem, Your faithful friend and servant, C. STURGESS. TO THE SAME. St. Mary's Reading, 1802. My dear Madam, I am leaving Reading for Chelsea this morning, and will not delay any longer returning you our best thanks for your truly Christian letter upon our late grievous less. It is indeed a heavy stroke; but I hope God enables us to support ourselves under it with due submission to his blessed will. Thank God, we are all tolerably well, but must long feel. My dear son was an excellent young man, and that is a great consolation to us to trust, that he is happy in a better state. I have a great loss in him likewise of a curate. If you know any respectable clergyman in priest's orders, and likely to be zealous and active in the discharge of the duties of a large parish, with a good voice and a strong constitution, perhaps you would favour me with a line to Chelsea. a temporary curate here till then. I have May every blessing, temporal and spiritual, attend you and all your family. With our united regards and good wishes, I remain, dear Madam, Your faithful and afflicted friend, C. STURGESS. TO THE REV. MR. STURGESS. Dear and Rev. Sir, Brentford, Feb. 2, 1805. I am extremely concerned that I should have appeared in the least degree remiss and inattentive, where I owe and feel, so much respect and esteem. Your kind visit to me, has not been forgotten, I can assure you: I have thought and talked much of the sincere and great pleasure it afforded me; and had not the intention of waiting upon you at Chelsea the first opportunity been constantly alive in my mind, I should have addressed you by letter; but, for a great part of the interval that has elapsed, the weather has been so cold that I was fearful of going out, excepting to the Chapel, where I have repeatedly caught cold; so that I really have scarcely been without side my garden walls since I had the pleasure of seeing you here. Believe me, my excellent and revered friend, the sentiments of esteem with which your pious and exemplary conduct inspired me, when I had the happiness and advantage of being your parishioner, remain indelibly fixed; and my best wishes and my prayers have followed you since your removal. It was with the highest pleasure I perused your letter to my son; to see your hand again so steady, indicates, I hope, a considerable recovery of your strength; and I hope I shall sometimes be favoured with a few lines from you myself. My son will write and thank you for the good counsel you are so kind as to give him, but allow me to add my thanks also. The times, my dear Sir, are such as call for great exertions from the parochial clergy, and I trust they are made in many places; but, alas, in many others, there is great neglect. My dear son I hope will continue attentive to his duty; and among other circumstances, to stimulate his exertions, keep your example in view. What satisfaction must you have had during your long illness, in the reflection, that while you were capable of actual duty, you la boured faithfully in the vineyard. May the remainder of your life be crowned with the choicest blessings, which God bestows upon his approved ministers. I beg, my good Sir, that you will present my kindest respects, with those of my family, to Mrs. Sturgess, and the young ladies, and accept them yourself; and that, you will believe me, with every sentiment of esteem, Your faithful and obedient Friend and Servant, S. TRIMMER. Madam, TO MRS. TRIMMER. Reclory, Loddington, It is with the truest concern that I am to comply with the request of my sister-in-law, Mrs. Sturgess, in communicating to you the melancholy event which took place here on Monday, in the death of my good brother, her husband. I have so long known the value he so justly set on your friendship and good opinion, as well as on the correspondence with you, that I have a satisfaction in assuring you of his retaining and expressing a sense of it to his latest hours. He had such an anxious desire to revisit again his native neighbourhood, that he set out on Easter Tuesday, having himself officiated in part at the altar on Sunday, and had passed some days here in apparent health, and cheerful spirits. On Monday, a few moments before our dinner hour, he was seized with an illness, which proved of the apoplectic kind, and in less than half an hour defeated all endeavours to apply medical aid. Mrs. Sturgess and Miss H- are enabled, through the goodness of Providence, to support themselves better under so heavy and sudden a calamity, from their long preparation for it, than if the change had taken place from a firmer state of health. I beg leave to take this opportunity of expressing the sincere respect I have always entertained for yourself, and the pleasure I have in hearing of your son receiving a mark of the Bishop of London's well-judged disposal of preferment. I am, Madam, Your very faithful, humble Servant, E. JONES, VOL. II. E |