454 MEMOIRS OF MR BOSTON. in midit ofyour plunges; and it is with fome difficulty, in that refpe&, that -I can lay them to your hand. However, you may confider, that what of that nature is done, it is for a companion in tribulation, &c. I am, with tender refpe&s, very D. Sir, yours rnoft affe&ionately. My wife continues as formerly ; but the prayers at M n I found íhe had remarkably reaped the benefit of; for which we delire to praife, and thereby be encouraged to hope. Auguft 26. 1727. (12) V. D. Sir, Yefterday I had yours, together withnews- papers, and a letter from P. Hamilton ; íbme account of which you will meet with in the inclofed to Mr Gordon; which I commit to your care, for the forwarding of it to him. You will perhaps think ftrange of my writing in the inclofed, that paffage anent prayers with refpe& to that affair. I confidered ere I did it; and judging him that acknowledgeth the Lord in his ways, as well as I, and that it might be of ufe for exciting and encouraging him for his part of the work he has undertaken, and that it may abide the cenfure of the learned, being Chriftians, I gave that general ac- count of the thing. As for Prof. Gordon's differing from me in the matter of expreffing the dignity of the accents, by marks of our own ftigmatology ;, hedoes not refute it fimply, butonly that always, and every where, they are to be expreffed by the fame marks ; and this depends upon the quettion, Whether the value of theaccents is ambulatory, or fixed ; in which there is a main dif- ference betwixt Wafmuth and the MS. ; the former holding it tobe ambulatory ; lb that e. g. ArLINACH may be expreffed by a colon in one verfe, but in another only by a comma, the latter holding it to be fixed. This I have no doubt of, and I hope if will make its way through prejudices by the divine bleffing. I find Mrs G. has had a trial by the way home. I rejoice that the was pitied of nur gracious God, and that her fon recovered. That is the difcipline of our father's family, by which they are conformed to the image of Chrift, that he may appear the firft- born among many brethren. It fincerely touches me to hear, thatyour wife's affli&ion is contiuned, and for the time growing worfe, fo that you fear the iffue. I underftand that very well, through long experience of fuch fears, not only of late years, but even formerly. That is a vanity that attendsall our earthly en- joyments ; the more dear they are to us, the more piercingfears and forrows arife to us from fear of lofing them : but, I hope your Father will flay his rough wind in the day of his eált wind ; and your Lord, Head, and Hufband, who is at the helm, will carry you fafe even where two feas meet. Our broken fhip has
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