William Rogers, Philadelphia, to unnamed correspondent [Thomas Williams], London, 27 February 1796.

Phil.a Feb.y 27. 1796

My dear Sir,

  On the 22.d ult: I wrote to the Rev. M.r Button, by the Sally, Cap.t Weaks, in which I enclosed N.o 1. of a bill of exchange for £32 Sterl.g—£20 of which I requested him, on receiving, to pay into the hand of M.r John Gill—and the remaining £12 to keep untill further orders—I hope the whole has gotten safe to London. I now forward N.o 2 of the same tenor to date, which be so obliging as to deliver yourself to Mr Button.—

  In my letter to him I mentioned the unwearied pains I took in order to find out the Box, which your agreeable favor of Oct.r 26. 95. authorized me to expect from him—I have enquired & searched a number of times since the Sally sailed—but in vain!—A Disappointment indeed!—as I very much want to see the Historic Defence, with the pamphlets you mention—the Box certainly could never have been sent, or I must have come by this time to some knowledge of it—I greatly hope now, when it does arrive, that I shall find the Vol.s put into blue boards, as this will save me very considerable trouble—I would just inform you here that your esteemed favor came to hand Jany 14, nearly 3 months after date—When the Historic defence arrives I will in your name present a Copy to the respectable library of Phil.a—& another to that of R. Island College.

  I shall use my endeavors to prevent a republication of it in this City—but this I am fearful will be a difficult task as “Self Interest here, as in Europe, is the governing passion still”—the 2.d part of Paine’s Age of Reason has not, to my knowledge, yet arrived in America—It need not be worse than the 1st p.t—If it be, it must be devilish indeed!—Dont fail in sending me the 2.d part of the age of infidelity.

  You may have a small view of my thoughts respecting the Missionary Society by perusing a short preface to the enclosed Acc.t of the Same, extracted from the Baptist Reg.r—M.r Ustick thought a few words addressed to the American Reader necessary, & I undertook to give them.

  I feel myself highly flattered in what you intimate relative to your 2.d Vol.—but why profess yourself under such a weight of obligation to me!—I cannot divine what I have done to merit such a compliment—as it is paid, accept my thanks therefore, but be assured, it might have been dedicated to a thousand other persons whose influence in spreading so valuable a publication ought principally to have been considered.—

  In general it is a very dead time among our churches in the middle States of America, & for ought I know to the contrary, in the Eastern & Southern States likewise—Oh for the outpourings of Jehovah’s Spirits—

  The time to favor Zion, if I understand the Scriptures, certainly draweth nigh—let us pray for this auspicious event—how happy will our world then be compared with what it now is!

  What increasing esteem I subscribe myself, very dear Sir, your’s most affectionately,

                                                      W.m Rogers

P.S. Please to present my Christian love to M.r Button & show him this hasty scrawl. Do you know the Rev. Morgan J. Rhees—he was married last Monday Evening to a young Lady of our Society, of pleasing prospects as to fortune.—The portrait of the Presid.t of the U. S. is called an exact likeness.

Text: Timothy Whelan, Baptist Autographs in the John Rylands University Library of Manchester, 1741-1845 (Macon: Mercer University Press, 2009), pp. 79-82 (annotated version); also Eng. MS. 371, fol. 105, John Rylands University Library of Manchester. William Rogers (1751-1824) was pastor of the First Baptist church in Philadelphia (1772-75) and professor of oratory and English literature at the College of Philadelphia (and later the University of Pennsylvania), 1789-1811. Thomas Williams (1755-1839) was a London Calvinistic preacher (Independent), bookseller, and author of An Historic Defence of Experimental Religion; in which the Doctrine of Divine Influences is Supported by the Authority of Scripture, and the Experience of the Wisest and Best Men in all Ages and Countries, 2 vols. (London: T. Heptinstall and William Button, 1795). ]The Library Company of Philadelphia is the oldest lending library in America, founded by Benjamin Franklin and several other leading citizens of Philadelphia in 1731. Rhode Island College, now Brown University, was founded by William Staughton, a Bristol Baptist College graduate, in 1764. A copy of Williams’s Historic Defence is still owned by the library of Brown University (shelfmark CE W67) and bears the following inscription:  “In testimony of persevering regard, this excellent defence of experimental religion, consisting of 2 vols., is presented for the library of Brown University, State of R. Island. By Wm. Rogers. Univy of Pennsa. Octr 16. 1805.” I am indebted to Dr. Bruce Graver of Providence College for this inscription. Others referenced above include Thomas Paine (1737-1809); Thomas Ustick (1753-1803), senior pastor at Philadelphia’s First Baptist Church (1782-1803); Morgan Rhees (1760-1804), Welsh Baptist who emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1794; and George Washington.