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    same paternal care . I cannot call to mind the great goodness of God to me in past years of life , without astonishment and gratitude . ' —* But what I am most thankful for is , that God hath been pleased

    to purge away the scales of error and prejudice , and to lead me into the light of evangelical truth . What an inexhaustible source of vigour and comfort has this been ! 'AlggLlJlQW-J ^ lJi cheerful s ^ ason-of you £ E ~ cKiIIe 3 ~ ariH"depressed by the gloomy doctrine of Calvin ! But the snare is broken , and I have escaped . And all my religious views and feelings are now of the most sublime and delightful kind . '

    'April 26 , 1821 . —I am now in my seventy-second year . I am surprised to find that old age possesses so many attractions and enjoyments . I hardly recollect any year in my life in which I have had more real , solid enjoyment than during the last . ' ' Into thy hands I commit myself , 0 Lord God of truth . Prepare me for thy whole will . Dispose of thy aged , and I would say , of thy devoted servant , in the way which thou knowest to be best . On thy infinite mercy , and on that alone , I rely . Amen , Amen . '

    Wednesday , Jan . 1 , 1823 . —The sequel of this day has been melancholy beyond example . My old , dear , and approved friend , Dr . Samuel Pett , died after a very short but severe illness . My own loss is indescribable and irreparable . I have shed very few tears , for my calamity is not to be expressed or relieved by those natural emblems of grief . I feel like one wjiohas lost his . only friend , the confident of his heart , whom he consulted in all his difficulties , to whom he opened his whole mind , to whose advice and assistance he looked forward on ever }

    emergency ; who , he hoped , would receive his dymg breath , and to whom he left the disposal of his affairs after his decease . To be thus torn away in the midst of life , at fifty-eight , by this sudden , awful , unexpected stroke ! O God ! what isman in his best estate ¦? To whom now can 1 look ? Who will be my counsellor , who will attend the couch of sickness , who will close my eyes , who will dispose of my affairs ? Dr . Pett was as a brother , a . second self . He came to Daventry at the age of sixteen , in Nov ., 1781 . He was my first , my favourite pupil . He was every one ' s

    favourite . I used to visit his family ; he married my relation . We almost always lived near each .. other . Pie often visited me since I left Hackney , and , as years advanced , mutual ease and confidence advanced with them . And now he is gone ! At veniet felicius cevum : quando iterum tecum , sim modo dignus , ero . Dear friend , farewell ! 1 have one friend left , who , I trust , will never forsake me ; and in due time , through grace , we shall meet again where virtuous friends meet and part no more . O glorious hope ! Thanks be to God for his unspeakable gift !'

    Glory be to the God and Father of all mankind , that he brought his diligent and faithful servant out of darkness into his marvellous light ; that he delivered his spirit from the yoke of bondage , and caused it to rejoice in the glorious liberty of the children of God ! * Even so ; Father , for so it seemed good in thy sight . '

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    DIARY OF THE REV . t . BELSHAM . 135

• Citation
  • Monthly Repository (1806-1838) and Unitarian Chronicle (1832-1833), May 1, 1833, page 135, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/mruc/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2613/page/7/