Page:Republican Court by Rufus Griswold.djvu/220

Congregational ministers of the city — Ezra Stiles, James Dana, Jonathan Edwards, Samuel Wales, and Samuel Austin — all men of eminent reputations, also addressed him, saying, in reference to his recent illness, "We most sincerely rejoice in the kind and gracious providence of God, who has been pleased to preserve your life during your late dangerous sickness, and to restore you to such a degree of health as gives us this opportunity to express our joy, and affords us the most pleasing hopes that your strength may be firmly reestablished." To the governor and to the clergy he made appropriate replies, and to the latter observed: "The tender interest you have taken in my personal happiness, and the obliging manner in which you express yourselves on the restoration of my health, are so forcibly impressed on my mind as to render language inadequate to the utterance of my feelings. If it shall please the Great Disposer of events to listen to the pious supplication which you have presented in my behalf, I trust the remainder of my days will evince the gratitude of a heart devoted to the advancement of those objects which receive the approbation of Heaven, and promote the happiness of our fellow men. My prayers are offered at the throne of Grace for your happiness and that of the congregations committed to your care." The next day he attended divine service at Trinity Church in the morning, and at the Congregational church of Dr. Edwards in the afternoon. The Governor, the Lieutenant Governor, the Speaker of the House of Representatives, the Treasurer, and Roger Sherman, dined with him.

Accompanied by a troop of cavalry, and a large number of citizens on horseback, he left New Haven on Monday morning, and the same evening arrived at Hartford, where he was received in an appropriate manner by the public authorities and by the people. On Tuesday he visited the manufacturing establishments of that city, and on Wednesday proceeded on his journey.