He accepted the offer; and an extract from a letter to his wife, when on a journey, will show the motives under which he acted in this important step.
Hawkshead, 6 mo.

28, 1817.
MY VERY PRECIOUS DEAR, When I wrote thee last, my time and feelings would not permit me to say much on our impending prospect of leaving Barnsley; but since then this very important subject has obtained my most serious and weighty consideration, and I am now free to communicate to thee my feelings, in order that thou mayest weigh them duly and compare them with thy own while we are separated.

In the first place, in taking such a step, we must be reconciled to sacrifice our present comfortable home, our relations and friends--in short, all that may seem near and dear to us as to the outward.

With respect to our spiritual prospect, I must confess, if any service is designed for me in the Church militant, I have sometimes apprehended it might be within the compass of our present Particular and Monthly Meetings; but should this be ordered otherwise in best wisdom, I trust I shall be relieved from the oppressive feeling, and in a short time see my way clear.

On the other hand, if this change takes place, we have a probability of a comfortable living, and of being relieved from the extreme anxiety attendant on trade, when the whole responsibility rests on our own shoulders.
H.R.