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hope & fear, bloom & decay. It certainly does accord well with our obvious wants & our desires. We hope its fitness will be apparent to all. We have not sought this labor to gratify any questionable feeling. We did not seek it at all. We would fair have avoided it. We were content as we were, for the time.
But the providence of God has imposed this task on us now, & in these circumstances. We could not not defer, nor avoid it, without seeming recreant to our duty to Heaven, nor without doing violence to the needs of our own souls; since a place of worship is one of the necessities of our Christian life, power, and influence. We can do little without it, for the benefit of those whom we wish to reach. For, not we alone, but this whole community is to reap all those temporal advantages which Christianity scatters with a liberal hand around her temples; and, we trust; also, that many whom we know not now as devoted to Christ
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Shall here, in answer to prayer, by the ministration of the divine word, thro [through], the energy of the Holy Spirit, be renovated in character, & made alive unto God. It must be the power & presence of C. [Christ] that shall make this house sacred, & ever dear to all true hearts. For that presence we pray.
To begin this enterprise has required in us some faith – I we trust that faith is not to fail. We have relied, we hope, first on God; secondly, on ourselves; & thirdly on the good-will [goodwill] of this community. We have not relied in vain; & shall not. Our success has been quite up to the measure of our endeavors, so far. We have yet much to do. But God seems saying, "Speak unto the people that they go forward". We cannot flag; we must not falter. For, great is the work to be done O, Christians, by you & me! Now wide waves the harvest! How inviting the field! What promise beckons us on! What re-wards await the patient well-doer! For the earnest child of duty, what delights doth the future embosom! Upward ye builders! Forward, ye man of God! A holy enthusiasm glow in your bosoms; a sacred fire burn in your hearts; a more than mortal energy bear you through! ~
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Dec 31st 1855
Will Mr Benton please accept this slight token of regard from the Sunday school class of Mrs Tozer & Miss S. Williams
Lousia Peletz) Ada Cloutman - Martha Warner) Martha Woods - Mary Jane Slober.) Ellen Ancaney - Francis Donner, Hannah Hermans Georgianna Donner, Catherine Peters - Eliza Donner - Clara Peters - Ellenor Smith, Mary Nash - Hannah Smith, [names with ) grouped together]
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Sacramento 20 November 1856
Dear Sir
The undersigned, Young Men of your Congregation, desirous of making Some acknwledgement [acknowledgement] to one who has endeared himself to them by his constant and faithful labors, and especially by his able and interesting Courses of Lectures, beg your acceptance of the accompanying purse and contents ~
With it please accept the assurance of the high estimation in which we hold you, as a Gentleman, as a Clergyman, and as a Friend ~
With great Respect We Remain Sincerely Yours
Lucius A. Booth [name circled] Edward B. Kenyon John McNeill John Arnold J. E. Perkins Geo. H. Weaver [George H. Weaver]