hat God condescends to receive him--blessed be
God! My dear Egerton, although we have had great difficulties and many
trials to contend with, yet the Lord has stood by us, and by His
goodness and mercy He has kept us from sinking under them, by pointing
out ways and means for our escape, and He has brought our aged Father to
the knowledge of Jesus Christ, our Lord. Oh, my dear brother, let us
praise the name of God forever, who hath dealt so bountifully with us.
Mother is much better than when you were here. Father and Mother send
their love to you. May the Lord give you good speed, and crown your
labours with success in the saving of souls.

_April 3rd._--With a view to throw an incidental light upon the personal
influence which prompted Dr. Ryerson to controvert certain statements
made by Archdeacon Strachan,[19] I quote a letter which Dr. Ryerson's
brother William wrote to him from York, on the 1st, as follows:--

I send you a pamphlet containing Dr. Strachan's defence before the
Legislative Council. If I had time I would write a reply, at least to a
part of it. I think you had better write a full answer to it. You will
perceive that the Doctor's defence consists in telling what he told
certain gentlemen in England and what they told him. The misstatements
and contradictions with which he has been charged, he has not noticed.
Such as that "the Church is rapidly increasing, and spreading over the
whole country, and that the tendency of the population is towards the
Church of England, and that the instructions of dissenters are rendering
people hostile to our institutions, civil and religious." He says: "It
is said I have offended the Methodists." Who told him so? I presume it
must have been his own conscience. If you write a full answer would it
not be better to do it in the form of letters, addressed to the doctor,
and signed by your real name? Write in a candid, mild, and kindly style,
and it will have a much more powerful effect upon the mind of the
public. Do not cramp yourself, but write fully, seriously, and
effectually.

Dr. Ryerson's reflections upon the peculiar difficulties of his
itinerant life at this time are recorded in his diary, under date of
April 13th, as follows:--

No situation of life is without its inconveniences; but, perhaps,
the Methodist itinerant Preacher is more exposed to privations than
most others. His home is everywhere, and amongst persons of every
description;