May 24, 1871
My Darling Maggie,
With a thousand fold of love to you, believe me, my dearest Maggie . . . [and a] kiss.
Your affectionate husband,
Bert
May 30, 1871
My own darling wife,
I never felt your absence more than I have for the last few days—and more especially now it seems, when separated from every familiar face and alone amid these scenes of surpassing loveliness. I do not seem able to enjoy anything fully from the ever-present sense of the want of one whom I always think of as the sharer of every pleasure.
June 4, 1871
Next to the thought of Him, sometimes I fear more than that of Him, the love of you and the thought of you [are] present to my mind; and I can assure you: you might be in great danger of being spoiled, if you only could contrive to slip away from Hamilton on ethereal wings and hover near enough to see and know all that goes on in my heart.
June 18, 1871
. . . Meanwhile, I just close this or it will be too heavy. So, with a thousand kisses to you and the dear, dear children. I am, my darling Maggie,
Your ever-affectionate Bertie
Later in 1871
I often wonder exactly what the apostle meant by “Christ dwelling in our hearts by faith.” But I have lately come to see that it just means Christ dwelling in our affections. Christ loved, and you know what it is to have any dear friend in your heart. Their form, their features, their character, their goodness, their acts of kindness, nobleness, and goodness are all in your memory and affections—and engraved most tenderly on your heart.
Thus I have you in my heart. I can assure you with almost painful fondness, and I am sure I am thus in yours. Now it is by a kind of faith that this is so. We are far apart. We do not see each other, but yet we are no less present to each other’s love and actually indwelling in each other’s hearts. Now let us just transfer all [of] this to Jesus. In the same sense the apostle prays that Christ may dwell in our hearts—not actually present, but present to the mind and affections—loved, having a place in our tenderest feelings.
Your ever-affectionate Bertie
Excerpted from love letters from Alliance founder A. B. Simpson to his beloved wife, Margaret, circa 1871