is a pleasure which I ought to suppress, and rather
to reflect, with unfeigned humility, how unworthy I was of such regards
from such a person, and of that divine goodness which gave me such a
friend in him. I shall, therefore, only add two general remarks, which
offer themselves from several of his letters. The one is, that there is
in some of them, as our freedom increased, an agreeable vein of humour
and pleasantry, which shows how easy religion sat upon him, and how far
he was from placing any part of it in a gloomy melancholy, or stiff
formality. The other is, that he frequently refers to domestic
circumstances, such as the illness or recovery of my children, &c., which
I am surprised how a man of his extensive and important business could so
distinctly bear upon his mind. But his memory was good, and his heart
was yet better; and his friendship was such, that nothing which sensibly
affected the heart of one whom he honoured with it, left his own but
slightly touched. I have all imaginable reason to believe that in many
instances his prayers were not only offered for us in general terms, but
varied as our particular situation required. Many quotations might verify
this; but I decline troubling the reader with an enumeration of passages
in which it was only the abundance of friendly sympathy that gave this
truly great as well as good man so cordial a concern.

After this correspondence, carried on for the space of about three years,
and some interviews which we had enjoyed at different places, he came to
spend some time with us at Northampton, and brought with him his lady
and his two eldest children. I had here an opportunity of taking a much
nearer view of his character, and surveying it in a much greater variety
of lights than before; and my esteem for him increased in proportion to
these opportunities. What I have written with respect to his conduct in
relative life, was in a great measure drawn from what I now saw; and I
shall mention here some other points in his behaviour which particularly
struck my mind, and likewise shall touch on his sentiments on some topics
of importance which he freely communicated to me, and which I have
remarked on account of that wisdom and propriety which pervaded them.

CHAPTER X.

DEVOTION AND CHARITY.

There was nothing more observable in Colonel Gardiner than the exemplary
gravity, composure, and reverence with which he attended public worship.
Copious as he was in