“MY DEAR SIR,—Your letter was not put into my hands till eight days after my arrival in London. I carried the enclosed to its address, and passed three hours with a modern prodigy,—_an humble and pious countess_. I went with trembling, and in obedience to your orders; but I soon perceived a little of what the disciples felt when Christ said to them, ‘_It is I, be not afraid._’ “Her ladyship proposed to me something of what you hinted to me in your garden,—namely, to celebrate the communion sometimes at her house of a morning, and to preach when occasion offered,—in such a manner, however, as not to restrain my liberty, nor to prevent me assisting you, or preaching to the French refugees; and that only till Providence should clearly point out the path in which I should go. Charity, politeness, and reason accompanied her offer; and I confess, in spite of the resolution, which I had almost _absolutely_ formed, to fly the houses of the great, without even the exception of the Countess’s, I found myself so greatly changed, that I should have accepted, on the spot, her ladyship’s proposal; but my engagement with you withheld me; and, after thanking her, I said, when I had reflected on her obliging offer, I would do myself the honour of waiting upon her again. “Nevertheless, two difficulties stand in my way. Will it be consistent with the poverty of spirit, which I seek? Can I accept an office for which I have such small talents? And shall I not dishonour the cause of God, by stammering out the mysteries of the Gospel in a place where the most approved ministers of the Lord have preached with so much power, and so much success? What think you? “I give myself up to your judicious counsels. I feel myself unworthy of them; much more still of the appellation of _friend_, with which you honour me. You are an _indulgent father_ to me, and the name of _son_ suits me better than that of _brother_.”[53] Footnote 53: Letters, 1791, p. 98.