Augustus Toplady, Broad Hembury, to George Flower, Cannon Street, London, 8 April 1774.

Longer Time is usually allowed, for the payment of large debts, than of trivial ones.  By Parity of Argument, a Delay of Correspondence, on the Side of him who has receiv’d great epistolary obligations; is the more venial, on that very Account.  If my valuable & valued Friend will not admit this Reasoning to be Fair; I must own, that I have nothing better, to urge, in Extenuation of my having so long omitted to thank Him for his last welcome & much esteemed Favor.-Yet, as some Degree of Imperfection is connected with every Thing human; I must likewise confess, that I cannot extend my thanks, for those Strokes of undue Panegyric, with wch, Dear Sir, your kind partiality so profusely honors me.  Sincerely I say it (may it be said once for all), that I wd much rather be told of my Faults, than of those supposed Excellencys wch the extreme Benevolence of my Friends is so ready to place to my Account.  Candor & Politeness, like Your’s, first illuminate every Object, on wch they shine; & then ascribe, to the Object itself, those communicated Rays, of wch it is no more than the humble & obliged Receiver.

Let me now advert to a superior subject; & thank you for the improving Particulars, so kindly forwarded, concerning the lamented decease of our honor’d & deserving Friend, the late truly excellent Mr Hitchin: that amiable & precious Man of God, whose Grace was as solid, as his Parts were shining.  His steady Faith, & his calm, unruffled Departure, amid such circumstances of bodily Pain; can only be attributed to that Everlasting Love, & to that Atoning Blood, wch made Him more than Conqueror.-Looking, the other Day, into my Book of occasional Collections, I found two Remarks, wch dropped from Mr Hitchin, in a conversation I had with him, July 18, 1769; & wch were well worthy of being preserved from Oblivion.  They run, verbatim, thus.

“The greater our sanctification is, & the more advanced we are in Holiness; the more we shall feel our Need of Free Justification.”

“An Architect cannot say, to his Rule, to his Line, or other Instruments, ‘Go, build an House.’ He must, first, take them into his own Hand, e’er the wished-for Effect will follow.  What are Ministers of God, but mere Instruments?  And, if ever they are usefull  in building up the Church of X, ‘tis His own Hand must make them so.”

Such improving Observations, as these; such valuable Reliques, of Saints indeed; are too precious, to be lightly forgot.  May they be engraven on our Hearts!

I rejoice to hear of Dear Mr Ryland (senr)’s Liberty & Sweetness, in his Ministrations to Mr Hitchin’s widow’d flock.  Our Northampton Friend is an Israelite without Guile: & he is among those, who stand highest in my Regard.  He blames me, for seldom writing to him: but, was I to correspond regularly with even my first-rate Favorites, I shd do nothing more than write Letters from Morning to Night.-In Heaven, we shall be All together, forever & ever.

Make my affectionate Respects acceptable to Dear Mrs Flower, to your enchanting Daughter, & to the Young Gentlemen.  Grace, Mercy, & Peace; bright Evidences, sweet Experiences, & growing Holiness; be your Portion, their Portion, & the Portion of

                        Your Affectionate Servant in X

                                                            Augs: Toplady

Text: Thomas Raffles Collection, Eng. Ms. 344, fol. 77, John Rylands University Library of Manchester.