Great and good men have long upheld this grand conclusion.  But, alas! such is too often our bigotry, or ignorance, or selfishness, that we try to divorce religious and moral from natural truth, as if they were inconsistent and in positive antagonism one to the other,—­a true catholic spirit (oh that the word ‘catholic’ had not been so horribly abused by the foul deeds of men!) teaching us that all truths are linked together, and that all art and science, and all material discoveries (each held in its proper place and subordination), may be used to minister to the diffusion of Christian truth among men, with all its blessed fruits of peace and good-will.  This is, I believe, your faith, as I see it shining out in your deeds, and set forth in the pages of your work on Southern Africa, which I have studied through from beginning to end with sentiments of reverence and honor for the past and good hopes for the future.

“What a glorious prospect is before you! the commencement of the civilization of Africa, the extension of our knowledge of all the kingdoms of nature, the production of great material benefits to the Old World, the gradual healing of that foul and fetid ulcer, the slave-trade, the one grand disgrace and weakness of Christendom, and that has defiled the hands of all those who have had any dealings with it; and last, but not least—­nay, the greatest of all, and the true end of all—­the lifting up of the poor African from the earth, the turning his face heavenward, and the glory of at length (after all his sufferings and all our sins) calling him a Christian brother.  May our Lord and Saviour bless your labors, and may his Holy Spirit be with you to the end of your life upon this troubled world!

“I am an old man, and I shall (so far as I am permitted to look at the future) never see your face again.  If I live till the 22d of March I shall have ended my 73d year, and not only from what we all know from the ordinary course of nature, but from what I myself know and feel from the experience of the two past years, I am assured that I have not long to live.  How long, God only knows.  It grieves me not to have seen you again in London, and I did hope that you might yourself introduce me to your wife and children.  I hear that a farewell dinner is to be given you on Saturday, and greatly should I rejoice to be present on that occasion, and along with many other true-hearted friends wish you ‘God-speed.’  But it must not be.  I am not a close prisoner to my room, as I was some weeks past, but I am still on the sick list, and dare not expose myself to any sudden change of temperature, or to the excitement of a public meeting.  This is one of the frailties of old age and infirm health.  I have gone on writing and writing more than I intended.  Once for all, God bless you! and pray (though I do not personally know them) give my best and Christian love to your dear wife (Ma-Robert she was called, I think, in Africa) and children.  Ever gratefully and affectionately yours,

     “A.  SEDGWICK.”