(Vol. iii., pp. 477. 508.; Vol. iv., p. 25.)
Having been acquainted with Mr. Hone, when a bookseller in the Strand
(the firm, I think, was Hone and Bone), who published several catalogues
of scarce works in poetry and the drama, I feel some interest in the
question raised upon his religious principles. It was no doubt this
avocation which gave to Mr. Hone that extensive circle of information,
which enabled him to conduct those amusing publications, _The Every-day
Book_, _The Year Book_, and _The Table Book_. In what way my
schoolfellow Charles Lamb became acquainted with Mr. Hone I know not;
but I frequently heard him speak of his misfortunes, and I was witness
to his endeavours to relieve his difficulties, by requesting his
acquaintance to visit the coffee-house which Mrs. Hone opened in
Gracechurch Street. I may communicate hereafter some information upon
the intimacy which existed between Charles Lamb and Mr. Hone; my present
note being confined to some more extensive and interesting pieces of
information relative to Mr. Hone's conversion from infidelity to the
pure principles of Christianity, than are furnished by MR. WILLIAM
BARTON. For this purpose I transcribe a letter of Mr. Hone's,
descriptive of his conversion, the cause which led to it, and his
earnest desire to impress upon the public mind his sincerity in the
change which had taken place. A more touching picture of real
conviction, and of a renewed state of mind, is not perhaps upon record,
and cannot too extensively be made known. The letter appeared a few
years ago in the _Churchman's Penny Magazine_, vol. ii. p. 154., with
the initials "T. H."
"Dear Sir,
"Your kindness towards me, and the desire you express of becoming
serviceable to me, require that I should be explicit as regards
the circumstances under which we met, a little time ago, and have
since conversed on. I think my statement should be in writing, and
hence this letter.
"It has pleased the Almighty, to have dealings with me for several
years, until, by His Holy Spirit, I have been brought from
darkness to light; to know HIM, through faith in Christ; to rest
in His love, as in the cleft of a rock, safe from the storms and
afflictions of the world. To acquaint all who ever heard of my
name, with this mighty change of heart, has long been my desire;
and it seems to me, that I ought not to exercise my restored
faculties without tendering their first fruits as an humble
offering to the promotion of His cause, by testifying of His great
mercy. It has been my frequent and earnest prayer to God to enable
me to do this, as His doing; to seek nothing but honour to His
holy name, and in the fear of Him, and Him only, without regard to
the praise or dispraise of man--come from what quarter it may--to
have my soul possessed in patience; to wait and be still, as a
mere instrument in His hands, made willing in the day of His
power, to do His work. If it be His work, He will bless it: I pray
that it may be. Now, in this matter, and in this view of it,
self-seeking and personal gratification are out of the question.
The desire to engage in it is the most earnest wish of my heart;
but my heart was submitted to God, and in submission to Him, it
seeks to do His will, to do the will of my Saviour, as my Lord and
my God, who has done all things for me, and will do all things
well. I believe He has put the desire into my heart to do this
homage to His sovereignty, as a subject of His kingdom. To do it
has been the ruling purpose of my mind: as an instance of it, let
me mention, that I have been frequently asked by autograph
collectors to write something in their albums. For the last two
years I have done nothing in this way, till the 3rd of last month,
a lady having brought in her album the night before, I remembered
it was my birth-day, and wrote the following lines:
"'The proudest heart that ever beat
Hath been subdued in me;
The wildest will that ever rose
To scorn Thy cause, and aid Thy foes,
Is quell'd, my God, by Thee.
"'Thy will, and not my will, be done;
My heart be ever Thine:
Confessing Thee, the mighty Word,
My Saviour Christ, my God, my Lord,
Thy Cross shall be my sign.'
"These lines, I thought, would be ill placed among contributions
of different import: I therefore wrote them at the end of my
Bible, and put some others, of a religious and kindly admonitory
tendency, in the lady's album. Not even in the albums can I write
without manifesting, that to please is less my object than to
acknowledge the goodness of God. Well, then, my dear Sir, in this
respect you may gather, in some degree, how it is with me, and how
God has wrought upon my mind, and operates upon it to the end I
speak of. When His hand struck me as for death, it was in a house
of prayer, and whilst being carried from the place in men's arms
as for dead, He lifted my heart to His throne of grace. During the
loneliness of what seemed to be my dying bed, and the discomfort
of my awful infirmity, and the ruin of my house, and family, and
property, He was with me, and comforted me; and hitherto He has
helped me, and I bless His holy name; my faith in Him is unshaken,
and He keeps me constantly to himself; and despite of worldly
affections, and nature's fear, I depend on Him and the workings of
His providence, that He will never leave me nor forsake me. It has
never entered my mind, even as a shadow, that I can do anything
for Him; but what He enables me to do, I will do to His glory. In
the dark seasons of the hidings of His face, I would wait on Him
who waited for me while I resisted the drawings of His love; and
when I sit in the light of His countenance, I would stand up and
magnify His name before the people. And now, that He has
wonderfully raised me up, after a long season of calamity, to the
power of using my pen, I pray that He may direct it to tell of His
mercy to me, and by what way He has brought me to acknowledge Him,
'the Lord our righteousness,' 'God blessed for ever,' at all
times, and in all places, where there may be need of it. I trust I
may never be ashamed to declare His Name; but readily exemplify,
by His help, the courage and obedience of a Christian man, and, as
a good soldier of Christ, fight the good fight with the sword of
the Spirit.
"May God grant me grace to do His will, is my humble supplication.
I am,
"Dear Sir,
"Yours most sincerely,
"WM. HONE."
The foregoing letter may perhaps be considered too pharasaical; but when
is added to it the following note by Mr. Hone, relating the afflictions
which had overtaken him, and well nigh overwhelmed him, it cannot appear
surprising that when he sought comfort and relief from where alone they
are to be found, his heart overflowed with thankfulness and praise.
I find the subjoined notice to his readers in Hone's _Table Book_, vol.
ii. p. 737.:--
"Note.
"Under severe affliction I cannot make up this sheet as I wish.
This day week my second son was brought home with his skull
fractured. To-day intelligence has arrived to me of the death of
my eldest son.
"The necessity I have been under of submitting recently to a
surgical operation on myself, with a long summer of sickness to
every member of my family, and accumulated troubles of earlier
origin, and of another nature, have prevented me too often from
satisfying the wishes of readers, and the claims of
correspondents. I crave that they will be pleased to receive this
as a general apology, in lieu of particular notices, and in the
stead of promises to effect what I can no longer hope to
accomplish, and forbear to attempt.
"WM. HONE.
"December 12. 1827."