Conversing Criminally - Historic Collections
Letter from Richard Durley, c. 1740s (possibly Buckinghamshire).
[On reverse, ‘Richard Durley (the elder) [^]Born July 15. 1723. Died Oct. 21. 1777 to his “Sister”, Date (?)]
Dear Sister
This Comes To Let you Know That I are well As I Hope You Are And my Brother John And the Rest of your Famely Likewise Hoping You Are not Negligent In your Duty Towards God For you Must or at Least I hope you Do Know That Doing your Duty To your Self and your Famely Is not suficent Which I Am afraid There be To many of That Opinion That If Thay Provide Food And Raiment For There Children Thay Do well Enough But If They Do no More There Duty is not Performed For we are so Naturaly prone to Evil In our youth that without Great Care Taking by Them That are Over us we Run Inocently into Sin Therefore To Prevent The Same To Keep Them as near as Possible out of The hearing of It Hoping you do not Forget The Mean Thing of Insturction To your Children which Being So Comon a Thing Thay Do Not do So Real a Valu on it as It is worthy of That Is ye Church Catechism It Being a Thing if well Searshed out We Ought to have a more Valu for it than Most of us have But the Chife Thing is which I hope you are not Ignorant of That is to Perform your own Duty Towards God Which Thing Must be Continualy Practised by hearing and Reading of That which is good For we have so much Writen before us For our Learning That if we Diligently Read and Mind is The Means whereby we may have Knowledg For our own Good And The Insturction of Others and Them That Belong unto us And one Thing I Whould have you to Read which Which [sic] is very Instructive That is our Blessed Savours Serment upon the Mount being ye 5 ye 6 & 7th Chapters of Matthew also ye 55 & 56 Chapters of Isaigh and ye 91 Psalm So These & many more Such Insturctions may be Found if Looked for If you Look you will Sertainly Find As you may Read Seek & ye shall Find Knock & it shall be Opened unto you Likewise with Reading do not neglect ye Duty of Prayer for we ought to Count That Time Lost which is no Imployed in one or other of These Dutys for In our Business we may Pray if not Read if it never so Little That Little being a means to prepare your Heart for More if it is no more Than Lord have Mercy on me & saying That often will be of Great Benefite to you so Let all The notises of ye Times Pasing away Such as ye Clock Stricking & ye night Coming & Such Like Stir us up To The Duty of Prayer if it is no more Than ye Sentenc above Mentioned No more at Present From your Loving Brother
Richd Durly
Letter from Richard Durley, c. 1740s (possibly Buckinghamshire).
[On reverse, ‘Richard Durley (the elder) [^]Born July 15. 1723. Died Oct. 21. 1777 to his “Sister”, Date (?)]
Dear Sister
This Comes To Let you Know That I are well As I Hope You Are And my Brother John And the Rest of your Famely Likewise Hoping You Are not Negligent In your Duty Towards God For you Must or at Least I hope you Do Know That Doing your Duty To your Self and your Famely Is not suficent Which I Am afraid There be To many of That Opinion That If Thay Provide Food And Raiment For There Children Thay Do well Enough But If They Do no More There Duty is not Performed For we are so Naturaly prone to Evil In our youth that without Great Care Taking by Them That are Over us we Run Inocently into Sin Therefore To Prevent The Same To Keep Them as near as Possible out of The hearing of It Hoping you do not Forget The Mean Thing of Insturction To your Children which Being So Comon a Thing Thay Do Not do So Real a Valu on it as It is worthy of That Is ye Church Catechism It Being a Thing if well Searshed out We Ought to have a more Valu for it than Most of us have But the Chife Thing is which I hope you are not Ignorant of That is to Perform your own Duty Towards God Which Thing Must be Continualy Practised by hearing and Reading of That which is good For we have so much Writen before us For our Learning That if we Diligently Read and Mind is The Means whereby we may have Knowledg For our own Good And The Insturction of Others and Them That Belong unto us And one Thing I Whould have you to Read which Which [sic] is very Instructive That is our Blessed Savours Serment upon the Mount being ye 5 ye 6 & 7th Chapters of Matthew also ye 55 & 56 Chapters of Isaigh and ye 91 Psalm So These & many more Such Insturctions may be Found if Looked for If you Look you will Sertainly Find As you may Read Seek & ye shall Find Knock & it shall be Opened unto you Likewise with Reading do not neglect ye Duty of Prayer for we ought to Count That Time Lost which is no Imployed in one or other of These Dutys for In our Business we may Pray if not Read if it never so Little That Little being a means to prepare your Heart for More if it is no more Than Lord have Mercy on me & saying That often will be of Great Benefite to you so Let all The notises of ye Times Pasing away Such as ye Clock Stricking & ye night Coming & Such Like Stir us up To The Duty of Prayer if it is no more Than ye Sentenc above Mentioned No more at Present From your Loving Brother
Richd Durly