XXVIII. "I believe the goodness of your nature, and the friendship you have always borne me, will receive with kindness the last office of your friend. I am in health enough of body, and, through the mercy of God, in Jesus Christ, well disposed in mind. This I premise, that you may be satisfied that what I write proceeds not from any fantastic terror of mind, but from a sober resolution of what concerns myself, and earnest desire to do you more good after my death, than mine example (God of his mercy pardon the badness of it!) in my lifetime may do you harm. I will not speak aught of the vanity of this world; your own age and experience will save that labour: but there is a certain thing that goeth up and down in the world, called religion, dressed, and pretended fantastically, and to purposes bad enough, which yet by such evil dealings loseth not its being. The great good God hath not left it without a witness, more or less, sooner or later, in every man's bosom, to direct us in the pursuit of it; and for the avoiding those inextricable disquisitions and entanglements our own frail reasons would perplex us withal, God in his infinite mercy hath given us his holy word, in which, as there are many things hard to be understood, so there is enough plain and easy to quiet our minds, and direct us concerning our future being. I confess to God and you, I have been a great neglecter, and, I fear, despiser of it: God of his infinite mercy pardon me the dreadful fault! But when I retired myself from the noise and deceitful vanity of the world, I found no true comfort in any other resolution than what I had from thence: I commend, from the bottom of my heart, the same to your, I hope, happy use. Dear Hugh, let us be more generous, than to believe we die as the beasts that perish; but with a christian, manly, brave resolution, look to what is eternal. I will not trouble you further. The only great God, and holy God, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, direct you to a happy end of your life, and send us a joyful resurrection! So prays your true friend, "Marlborough."