Asahel Feb 2 [18]85 Ansd Feb 28 [18]85 No 5 St Johns St Portsmouth Feb 2 [18]85 Dear Father, It is now nearly eleven oclock at night, rather an unseemely hour to start letter writing is it not, but as the old adage goes it is better late than never, even though it be eleven oclock. I have just returned from sister Chambers who lives in another part of the tow[n]. God has certainly blessed me with a few godod friends to admin- ister to my wants and ...

2 years. No mother could ^feel^ more solicitous for the welfare of her son than this kind soul is for me; she insists upon my coming down nearly every night to supper and to spend the evening and as it is about the only place where I can pass a nice quiet evening I very often avail myself of the opportunity thus afforded. She wished me to remember her kindly to my parents, which I promised to do. I feel well in my labors of late and do not let home matters bother ...

3 long as they are amight to keep me. I feel to praize God every day of my life for this experiance which well be of lasting bennefit to me. I am sincerely thankful that from my earliest recolection I have ben taught the way of life, and when I look on my past life and see what some of it has ben and remember how neare I have ben on more than one occa- sion, to the brink of ruin it fairly makes me shudder, and It seems that there must have ben some power ...

4 endeavour day by day to sense the importance of my calling. It is very often the case that people look with envy upon those men who act as embassadors for a temporal governments, sutch as the US Minister to England, but I look upon it as a much greater honor to represent to the kingdom of God and "I would not exchange my station for the thone of England's Queen" There is qute a bitter feeling manifested here betwen the Catholics and Protesta- nts it is ...

5 to behold. The Church of England and the Catholic Church have their line layed so close together that it would appear to the casual oberserver that they were both runing for the same depot; and it looks as if they would soon be annealed together. The Rev C Stirl- ing deliverd a bold address on this subject last evening, in this place. Perhaps a brief synopsis of the same would not be wholy uninteresting to you from the fact that it paints in vivid colors the feeling that ex- ists between Protestant ^notabely ...

6 was divines of the Methodist frate- rnity. In these days, he said, when P Protestantism was becoming so unfashionable and the Church of the nation was apostatising from that faith which their fathers so valued and slaid down their lives to mai- ntain, he rejoiced that they had a Protestant instituion in Portsmouth whos object was the defense of those true protestant principles which they hoped to hand down to the coming generation. He then proceded to trace the Political and esclesiastical hstory of the country ^from the Reformation^ down to the present day. Queen

7 pment of Protestantism, and would so no accede to the moderate demands of the Puritan party; hence all the trouble and mischief which after- ward resulted, and those grevious trials to which the nation was subjected in the present day, never did England stand higher among the nations of the world than she did under the rule of Oliver Cromwell. Every successive administration from 1829 to the present day, no matter of what party, had ben brought on its knees before the Popish faction and concession after concesian had ben ...

8 repeated action the country had reached a terrible crisis. They knew not what was about to take place in the political world, but they did know that God had taken from England her power and she was no longer mistress of the seas. Popery was in ^the^ ascendency in both houses of parliament and elsewhere in the state Reffering to Dr- he declined to recognise him as cardinal-manning he said that that man, whom the govern- ment of the country delighted to have and who was brought into closest association with the Heir ...

9 make it a matter of earnest prayer that night that God would rais up a man who should rool back the tide of Popery, and restore to the country the constitution which it enjoyed in 1829. The lecturer said he wanted to see the Roman Catholic turned out of Parlimentery again. He wanted to see every Roman Catholic chaplain dismissed from the army and navy, and from their gaols and workhouses and to see all Roman Catholic's disfranchised. They should never allow Roman Catholics to be spoken of as fellow-subjects, they might be fellow-countrymen but ...

10 Rome. He said that Papacy had obtained sutch a hold in the country that it could not be got rid of, except by a tremendous struggle involving perhaps a civil war. He advocated that they should eliminate from the book of cannon prayer every one of those passages which seemed to afford a foothold to those who were raising that terrible superstructure of Romanism The Protestant clergy had not done their duty in the matter, for Romanism in the church would have ben stifled if all the clergy had gone to the ...

11 Church while this continued. And now if 50 beneficed clergy would associate with him, and 10,000 laymen would support them, he was ready to take this step, and if no attention were paid to their demand, to assist in forming a real Protestant church, which should rise phoenix like on the ruins of the present Romanised establishment. Applaus was freely bestowed during the lecturers remarks. Your letters bearing dates Dec 23nd 26th and 30th also Jan 15th came duly to hand and the contents perused with interest. The photo's were in London ...

12 conference, they are very nice and I fully appreciate your kindness in sending them to me. I have only one of nine left and I thought of sending that to Nellie, As they are not taken very well I will get some more drawn and send you some, they take them here quite cheap being only 1.25 pr dy. I wrote till two oclock last night and then retired, it is now the 3rd the twenty second ani- versaryof my birthday and just nine months since I landed in England. I am ...