S. W. SINGER.

Mickleham, July 28. 1851.

THE LATE MR. WILLIAM HONE.
(Vol. iii., pp. 477. 508.; Vol. iv., p. 25.)

Having been acquainted with Mr. Hone, when a bookseller in the Strand (the firm, I think, was Hone and Bone), who published several catalogues of scarce works in poetry and the drama, I feel some interest in the question raised upon his religious principles. It was no doubt this avocation which gave to Mr. Hone that extensive circle of information, which enabled him to conduct those amusing publications, The Every-day Book, The Year Book, and The Table Book. In what way my schoolfellow Charles Lamb became acquainted with Mr. Hone I know not; but I frequently heard him speak of his misfortunes, and I was witness to his endeavours to relieve his difficulties, by requesting his acquaintance to visit the coffee-house which Mrs. Hone opened in Gracechurch Street. I may communicate hereafter some information upon the intimacy which existed between Charles Lamb and Mr. Hone; my present note being confined to some more extensive and interesting pieces of information relative to Mr. Hone's conversion from infidelity to the pure principles of Christianity, than are furnished by MR. WILLIAM BARTON. For this purpose I transcribe a letter of Mr. Hone's, descriptive of his conversion, the cause which led to it, and his earnest desire to impress upon the public mind his sincerity in the change which had taken place. A more touching picture of real conviction, and of a renewed state of mind, is not perhaps upon record, and cannot too extensively be made known. The letter appeared a few years ago in the Churchman's Penny Magazine, vol. ii. p. 154., with the initials "T. H."

"Dear Sir,

"Your kindness towards me, and the desire you express of becoming serviceable to me, require that I should be explicit as regards the circumstances under which we met, a little time ago, and have since conversed on. I think my statement should be in writing, and hence this letter.

"It has pleased the Almighty, to have dealings with me for several years, until, by His Holy Spirit, I have been brought from darkness to light; to know HIM, through faith in Christ; to rest in His love, as in the cleft of a rock, safe from the storms and afflictions of the world. To acquaint all who ever heard of my name, with this mighty change of heart, has long been my desire; and it seems to me, that I ought not to exercise my restored faculties without tendering their first fruits as an humble offering to the promotion of His cause, by testifying of His great mercy. It has been my frequent and earnest prayer to God to enable me to do this, as His doing; to seek nothing but honour to His holy name, and in the fear of Him, and Him only, without regard to the praise or dispraise of man—come from what quarter it may—to have my soul possessed in patience; to wait and be still, as a mere instrument in His hands, made willing in the day of His power, to do His work. If it be His work, He will bless it: I pray that it may be. Now, in this matter, and in this view of it, self-seeking and personal gratification are out of the question. The desire to engage in it is the most earnest wish of my heart; but my heart was submitted to God, and in submission to Him, it seeks to do His will, to do the will of my Saviour, as my Lord and my God, who has done all things for me, and will do all things well. I believe He has put the desire into my heart to do this homage to His sovereignty, as a subject of His kingdom. To do it has been the ruling purpose of my mind: as an instance of it, let me mention, that I have been frequently asked by autograph collectors to write something in their albums. For the last two years I have done nothing in this way, till the 3rd of last month, a lady having brought in her album the night before, I remembered it was my birth-day, and wrote the following lines:

"'The proudest heart that ever beat

Hath been subdued in me;

The wildest will that ever rose