I was very glad to get your letter, and hear something of you, and most glad to hear you were getting on happily at. It is a comfort too that these converts stand fast. It is a great thing in these days, though I console myself sometimes with the thought that the Lord looks to one out of four bringing forth fruit.... The interest in the word and the desire to hear seems general, and more striking as in the midst of the infidelity and superstition which lifts up its head so boldly: but the Lord is above it all.
As to my movements: as at present, my departure would be on August 11th, at Liverpool. I may have a week before to visit on the way. I am not going to Canada, but to the States, though attached to the brethren in Canada from having early labored among them: they are in the ordinary stream now, launched and the crew on board, proportionately a fair supply of laborers, and blessing. In the States it is really only in my last two visits that anything really American began, and the doors are very open; so, despite my age, I go out there again, though I crave quiet here a little, and a clear testimony is needed.
On the Continent we have much to be thankful for; there is generally progress, in some places a good deal, while all around is breaking up; and in parts of France where they were somewhat asleep, they are rousing up a little. The breaking up is extraordinary. In Geneva the State has abolished the ordination of pastors....
Affectionately yours in the Lord.
London,
1874.