“‘Difficulties!’ If thou hast any, I shall gladly share them with thee, and think myself well repaid with the pleasure of praying and praising with thee, and for thee. Therefore, do not talk of struggling through alone. I charge thee, by thy faithfulness, let me be alone as little time as thou canst.
“‘Three thousand pounds’ with thee! My dear, if thou art mine, and canst live in our cottage here, praising and blessing God, I shall rejoice more than Mephibosheth, when, through joy, he said, ‘Let Ziba take all, forasmuch as my lord the king is come back in peace’ (2 Sam. xix. 30). Let not thy wisdom, Polly, make thee suspect and surmise evil. Let thy charity make thee hope all things for thy friends.
“I thank thee for that believing sentence,—‘But, all shall be right.’ The worst thy friends can do is to keep thy money, which I look upon as dung and dross in comparison of thee. Ah Polly! with the treasure of thy friendship, and the unsearchable riches of Christ, how rich thinkest thou I am? Count—cast up—but thou wilt never make out the amazing sum.
“So thou wilt keep ‘two years’ from me to bring me some money! Oh, Polly! that is a saying more worthy of Change Alley than of the paradise of love. Let me comfort thee a little. If thou lovest me half as much as I do thee, thou wilt think thyself rich. Thou art worth to me a million; and cannot I be worth thy £5,000?
“I embrace thee in spirit, and more than mix my soul with thine. Farewell!
“J. Fletcher.”
The two letters referred to in this sweethearting epistle, and addressed to Miss Bosanquet’s uncle, Claudius Bosanquet, Esq., and to her brother, S. Bosanquet, Esq., were the following:—
“To Claudius Bosanquet, Esq.
“Madeley, September 22, 1781.
“Sir,—Permit a stranger to claim some moments of the time you consecrate to your neighbours’ happiness and the welfare of your own family.