The Wesley Center Online: Wesley's Letters: 1781a (2024)

LONDON, January 2, 1781.

MY DEAR NANCY, -- It is a great step toward Christian resignation to be thoroughly convinced of that great truth that there is no such thing as chance in the world; that fortune is only another name for Providence, only it is covered Providence. An event the cause of which does not appear we commonly say ‘comes by chance.’ Oh no: it is guided by an unerring hand; it is the result of infinite wisdom and goodness. Such are all the afflictive circ*mstances that have followed you in a constant succession almost from your childhood. He that made the Captain of your salvation perfect through sufferings has called you to walk in the same path, and for the same end -- namely, that you may ‘learn obedience’ (more full, inward obedience, a more perfect conformity to His death) ‘by the things that you suffer.’ [See letter of June 22, 1780.]

I have no objection at all to your spending a little time with our dear friends at Caerleon. [See letters of Nov. 29, 1774 (to Sarah James) and March 8, 1782.] I believe it might be a means of confirming your bodily health as well as of refreshing your spirit. And I doubt not God would by you invigorate their resolution to devote themselves wholly to Him. A little while, and He will wipe all tears from your eyes; and there shall be no more sorrow or crying; neither shall there be any more pain! but you shall hear the great voice out of heaven saying, ‘The tabernacle of God is with men; and God Himself shall be with them and be their God!’ Still love and pray for, my dear Nancy,

Your ever affectionate brother.

To Miss Bolton, In Witney,

Oxfordshire.

LONDON, January 3, 1781.

DEAR SIR, -- I had no great desire to see Lord George Gordon, [Wesley visited him at the Tower on Dec. 19, 1780. See Journal, vi. 301, for another account of their conversation.] fearing he wanted to talk to me about political matters; but when he sent a second and a third time, I wrote a line to Lord North, asking whether he had any objection to my seeing him. He answered immediately, ‘None in the world; but it lies properly with the Secretary of State.’ I then enclosed Lord North's letter in a line to Lord Stormont, who the next day sent me a warrant to see him.

In our whole conversation I did not observe that he had the least anger or resentment to any one. He appeared to be in a very desirable spirit, entirely calm and composed. He seemed to be much acquainted with the Scripture both as to the letter and the sense of it. Our conversation turned first upon Popery, and then upon experimental religion. I am in great hopes this affliction will be sanctified to him as a means of bringing him nearer to God. The theory of religion he certainly has. May God give him the living experience of it!

I hope you do not drop your correspondence with Mr. Brackenbury, Perhaps he never had greater need of you. I did not expect he would receive any more good from me. I can only commend him to God. I am glad you are so agreeably situated at Macclesfield. Mr. Simpson is indeed an agreeable man. [See letter of Aug. 1, 1780.] And I know very few young women in England who are equal to Hetty Roe. Peace be with you and yours! -- I am, dear sir,

Your very affectionate servant.

To the Rev. Mr. Collins, At the Rev.

Mr. Simpson’s, In Macclesfield, Cheshire.

LONDON, January 6, 1781.

DEAR NEDDY, -- That is a doubt with me too whether you do right in preaching to twelve or fifteen persons. [Jackson was Assistant in the Dales in 1780-1.] I fear it is making the gospel too cheap, and will not therefore blame any Assistant for removing the meeting from any place where the congregation does not usually amount to twenty persons.

You cannot be too diligent in restoring the bands. No Society will continue lively without them. But they will again fly in pieces if you do not attend to them continually. [See letter of Oct. 24, 1788.]

I go to Ireland in spring. I shall not . . . otherwise I shall.

Your friend and brother.

To Edwal. Jackson, In Barnard Castle,

County Durham.

CITY ROAD, January 25, 1781.

DEAR SIR, -- Yesterday, looking over the Monthly Review for last October, at page 307, I read the following words:

Sir William's vindication [Lieut-General Sir William Howe had criticized Galloway’s Letters to a Nobleman, and cast serious reflections upon him. See Green’s Bibliography, No. 352; and letters of June 8, 1780, and Aug. 18, 1790.] (of his own conduct) is not a feeble attempt to rescue his reputation from the obloquy thrown upon it. Mr. Galloway’s book is here answered paragraph by paragraph, and several misrepresentations of important facts and circ*mstances proved.

I cannot quite agree with this. I think (1) no unjust obloquy has been thrown upon it; (2) that his vindication is a very feeble attempt to justify his conduct; (3) that he has not answered in a satisfactory manner any one paragraph of Mr. Galloway’s book; and (4) that he has not proved any misrepresentation of any one important fact or circ*mstance.

I think also that the account he gives of Mr. Galloway is a very feeble attempt to blacken his character; for a full confutation whereof I refer the candid reader to his own answer. As to the scurrility Sir William speaks of, I see not the least trace of it in anything Mr. G. has published. He is above it. He is no ‘venal instrument of calumny’; he abhors calumny as he does rebellion. But let him answer for himself; read only the tracts here referred to, and then condemn him if you can. -- I am, dear sir,

Yours, &c.

PS. -- I have been frequently attacked by the Monthly Reviewers, but did not answer because we were not on even ground; but that difficulty is now over: whatever they object in their Monthly Review I can answer in my monthly Magazine; and I shall think it my duty so to do when the objection is of any importance.

NEAR LONDON, February 10, 1781.

DEAR SAMMY, -- I did not doubt but you would agree with the people of Sheffield. [Rogers was Assistant at Sheffield, with Bardsley as third preacher.] They are a lively and affectionate people. I am glad you were so successful in your labor of love for them. That assistance was very seasonable.

That misunderstanding, which was troublesome for a season, may now be buried for ever. I am perfectly well satisfied, both of the honesty and affection, both of Brother Woodcroft and Brother Birks. [Samuel Birks, of Thorpe. See for portrait of him, aged ninety-five, Methodist Mug. 1825, p. 718; and Everett’s Methodism in Sheffield.] So Satan’s devices are brought to naught.

I doubt not but James Rogers and you recommend our books in every place, and the Magazines in particular, which will be a testimony for me when I am no more seen. -- I am, dear Sammy,

Your affectionate brother.

LONDON, February 10, 1781.

My DEAR BROTHER, -- Brother Johns has been with me this morning. I believe you will have peace long before he gets his estate. You have now a fair prospect. It really seems as if God had inclined the hearts of the magistrates to do you justice. I know no attorney to be depended on like Mr. Bold, of Brecon. The Conference will consider the expense.

Continue instant in prayer, and God will give you quietness. --I am

Your affectionate brother.

LONDON. February 20, 1781.

MY DEAR NANCY, -- Yesterday I returned from a little tour through Norfolk, and had the pleasure of finding your letter. You know I feel with you and for you. But I am almost at a loss to understand what trials can sit so heavy upon you! You are with those whom you love and who love you. You have in general tolerable health. You have no husband, no children to perplex you. How came you to be so weighted down with care Think aloud, my dear, my much-loved friend. Explain yourself. Be as particular as you please. You need not fear my telling others. You have known me since you were little more than a child. Has Neddy [Her brother. See letters of May 8, 1774, and Sept. 9, 1781, to her.] no hope of getting out of his trouble Is his farm rented above its value Is it on his sake only that you grieve Or are other trials added to this

By all means accept the providential invitation to Bristol. My dear Nancy, adieu.

On Monday se’nnight I set out for Bath and Bristol. On Monday, March 8 [5], I hope to be at Newbury; on Monday, 15th, [Monday was March 19, and that evening he preached at Stroud, and on the 20th at Worcester. See next letter.] at Stroud; on Tuesday the x6th at Worcester. You will contrive to be with me where you can.

I do not find any fault with you at present. Only I am afraid you are not careful enough of your health. Otherwise I rejoice that I have confidence in you in all things. -- I am, my dear Nancy,

Your ever affectionate brother.

To Miss Bolton, In Witney,

Oxfordshire.

LONDON, February 20, 1781.

DEAR TOMMY, -- I am glad to hear so good an account of Mr. Abraham. [See letters of Nov. 4, 1780, and May 8, 1781.] I hope to be at Dublin in April; and if he goes on well till then, it is not improbable he and you and I may return to England together.

A few days in March (till Monday the 19th) I purpose to spend in and about Bristol. I then go slowly through Gloucestershire and Staffordshire to Manchester, which I hope to reach on March the 29th.

Do all the good you can to our poor brethren in Ireland while you stay among them.~I am, dear Tommy,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

BRISTOL, March 11, 1781.

MY DEAR NANCY, -- As it is not convenient for you to meet me here, I hope to have the pleasure of seeing you at Stroud on the 19th instant. I expect to be there between one and two in the afternoon. May God give us an happy meeting! -- I am, my dear friend,

Yours most affectionately.

To Miss Bolton, In Witney, Oxfordshire.

BRISTOL, March 13, 1781.

MY DEAR MISS MORGAN, -- I wonder at you; I am surprised at your steadiness. How is it possible that you should retain any regard for me when your lot is so frequently cast among them who think they do God service by saying all manner of evil of me I do not impute this to natural generosity (little good is owing to nature), but to His grace who has kept you from your infancy, and who now upholds you in the slippery paths of youth. I trust He will still enable you to be

Against example singularly good. [Paradise Lost, xi. 809: ‘against example good.’]

By a prudent mixture of reading, meditation, prayer, and conversation you may improve your present retirement. But you must add every day more or less exercise (as your strength permits) in the open air. And why should you not add that truly Christian diversion, visiting the poor, whether sick or well Who knows but our Lord sent you to Wotton on purpose to save some souls alive

A letter which I lately received from Yorkshire informs me, ‘Our friends think Miss Ritchie is in a dying condition.’ If she continue so till I come to Manchester, I shall step over to see her. I should never think much of going an hundred miles to see either her or you.

A line from you will always be acceptable to, my dear Miss Morgan,

Your affectionate servant.

To Miss Morgan, Rev. Rowland Hill, Wotton-under-Edge.

BIRMINGHAM, March 25, 1781.

MY DEAR SISTER,--I always loved you since I knew you; but lately more than ever, because I believe you are more devoted to God and more athirst for His whole image. [He had been at Worcester on the 20th and 21st.] I have been seriously considering your case, and I will tell you my thoughts freely. Your body frequently presses down your spirit by reason of your nervous disorder. What, then, can be done, in order to lessen at least, if not to remove it Perhaps it may be entirely removed if you can take advice. And I think you can by God's assistance. I advise you: (1) Sleep early: never sit up later than ten o'clock for any business whatever--no, not for reading or prayer; do not offer murder for sacrifice. (2) Rise early: never lie more than seven hours, unless when you lie-in. (3) Beware of Satan transformed into an angel of light: he can hurt you no other way, as your heart is upright toward God and you desire to please Him in all things. (4) Take advice, as far as you possibly can, of Brother Knapp; two are better than one: he loves you tenderly, and God will often give him light for you!

I wish you to be always full of faith and love and a pattern to all that are round about you. -- I am, my dear sister,

Your affectionate brother.

[March 27, 1781.]

MY DEAR MISS LOXDALE, -- You remind me of my dear Miss Ritchie, and seem to breathe the same spirit. Both Miss Eden and our friends at Broadmarston have spoken to me concerning you, so that I promised myself a great deal of satisfaction in conversing with you; but I find it cannot be.

To-morrow we are appointed to preach at Burslem, then Congleton, Macclesfield, Stockport, and Manchester, where I am to stop till Tuesday; when I go forward, God permit, to Chester, Liverpool, and Ireland. As we cannot yet have an opportunity of being together, I wish you would write freely. Your heart is toward me as mine is toward thee: there need be no reserve between us. I hope you will always ‘think aloud’ whenever you speak or write to me. -- My dear Miss Loxdale,

Yours in tender affection.

MANCHESTER, March 31, 1781.

MY DEAR BROTHER, -- That should be always upon your mind, to carry the gospel into new places. There is room still for enlarging our borders, particularly in Holderness.

I am in doubt whether anything will much avail Sister Harrison till she takes the quicksilver and aqua sulphurata. But John Floyd [Floyd, then preacher at Birstall. See letter of March 15, 1777.] tells me elixir of vitriol does just as well as the aqua sulphurata. -- I am

Your affectionate friend and brother.

MANCHESTER, March 31, 1781.

MY DEAR SALLY, -- The expression of ‘eating and drinking unworthily’ has one, and only one, meaning affixed to it by St. Paul, who is the only inspired writer that uses that expression. He means by it that particular sin of which the Corinthians were then guilty -- the snatching one before another his own supper, so that one was hungry and another was drunken. Now, it is certain you are in no danger of this any more than of committing murder. Deadness, coldness, wandering thoughts of various kinds are totally distinct from it. And now, when the worst of these occur, you may answer with pious Kempis, ‘Go, go, thou unclean spirit. These are not my thoughts but thine, and thou shalt answer for them to God.’ [Imitation, 111. vi.]

God is now aiming, in all His dealings with you, to bring you to a knowledge of yourself as one in whom by nature dwells no good thing. And this He is particularly pursuing when you approach His Table. Were He to give you at that time remarkable joy or sweetness, it would not answer His design; neither were He to give you much contrition and brokenness of heart. Therefore He leaves you in great measure to your own dull, unfeeling heart, that you may know yourself in order to know Him. But nevertheless this is the way; walk thou in it, and in due time you shall reap if you faint not.

But you must needs have some companions in the way; for how can one be warm alone [See letter of Nov. 15, 1780.] I wish you to be acquainted with Miss Johnson, [ Mary Johnson. See Stevenson’s City Road Chapel, p. 504; and letter of April 12.]’ who lodges in Oxford Street at No. 368, and meets in Mrs. Thackeray’s class. She is deeply mourning after God, whom she once knew and loved. She is of a tender, sensible temper; and I am certain your spirits would quickly take acquaintance with each other. You want a friend of your own sex and nearly your own age, and I know not one in London that would fit you better.

I pray God that you may resolutely choose Him for your portion; and am, my dear Sally,

Yours affectionately.

MANCHESTER. April 2, 1781.

DEAR JOSEPH, -- Although our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our conscience that we walk in simplicity and godly sincerity, this no way contradicts, ‘God forbid that we should glory save in the cross of Christ.’ In all, and after all,

His passion alone, the foundation we own;

And pardon we claim,

And eternal redemption, in Jesus's name.

How admirably pardon and holiness are comprised in that one word ‘grace’! Mercy and strength! So are our justification and sanctification woven together.

I hope your sermons will do good. But why do not you publish your poems I think you can make verses as fast as John Murlin [Murlin was his colleague at Leeds, and published this year his Sacred Hymns on Various Subjects.]; yea, indeed, if need were, stans pede in uno. [Standing on one foot, or standing at ease. See Horace’s Satires, iv. 10.] I commend Sister Benson for her care of her mother. One can never do too much for a parent. -- I am, dear Joseph,

Your affectionate brother.

NEAR CHESTER, April 5, 1781.

MY DEAR MISS CLARKSON, -- Mr. Floyd [John Floyd. See letter of March 31.] informs me that you had sent me a letter, and wondered that I did not answer. You might well wonder, for it is a rule with me to answer every letter I receive. It would be particularly strange if I had not answered you, because I have so peculiar a regard for you. I love you because I believe you are upright of heart and because you are a child of affliction. I felt a near union of [heart] with you when I saw you last. I love to hear of you and to hear from you. Mr. Floyd tells me you have finished. the Six Letters; if you have, I shall be glad to see them. He tells me, too (if I understand him right), that you are attempting to turn the Death of Abel into verse. This will be an heavy work, such as will require a deal of time and patience. Yet if you begin, I trust our Lord will give you resolution to bring it to a conclusion. If I live to return to England, [He was not able to go to Ireland. See letter of Feb. 20.] I shall hope for the pleasure of a farther acquaintance with you.

Wishing you an heart wholly devoted to God, I remain, my dear sister,

Yours affectionately.

To Miss Clarkson, At Mr. Francis Scot's, In Wakefield, Yorkshire.

CHESTER, April 7, 1781.

DEAR SAMMY, -- I advise Betsy every morning to swallow very gently a spoonful or two of warm water as soon as she rises. I believe this will ease her morning cough. And I advise her every night, when she lies down, to put a little stick licorice (scraped like horse-radish) between her gum and the cheek that lies uppermost. This will suspend the evening cough for half an hour or more. Then she may spit it out. But she must needs add daily exercise, which (till she is stronger) should be that of a wooden horse -- that is, a long plank suspended on two tressels.

Now, Sammy, for almighty faith! -- I am

Your affectionate friend and brother.

To John Valton

WARRINGTON, April 9, 1781.

MY DEAR BROTHER, -- As I have. made a beginning, as the men and women are already separated in the chapel at Manchester, I beg that Brother Brocklehurst [See letter of Oct. 1, 1780, to Valton.] and you will resolutely continue that separation. This is a Methodist rule, not grounded on caprice, but on plain, solid reason; and it has been observed at Manchester for several years: neither upon the whole have we lost anything thereby. By admitting the contrary practice, by jumbling men and women together, you would shut me out of the house; for if I should come into a Methodist preaching when this is the case, I must immediately go out again. But I hope this will never be the case; I think you have more regard for

Your affectionate friend and brother.

To Mr. Valton, at the Preaching-house,

Manchester.

In his absence to be given to Mr.

Brocklehurst.

LIVERPOOL, April 10, 1781.

MY DEAR HETTY, -- Many of our brethren and sisters in London, during that great outpouring of the Spirit, [In 1762. See Works, xi. 406.] spoke of several new blessings which they had attained. But after all, they could find nothing higher than pure love, on which the full assurance of hope generally attends. This the inspired writings always represent as the highest point; only there are innumerable degrees of it. The plerophory (or full assurance) of faith is such a clear conviction that I am now in the favor of God as excludes all doubt and fear concerning it. The full assurance of hope is such clear confidence that I shall enjoy the glory of God as excludes all doubt and fear concerning this. And this confidence is totally different from an opinion that 'no saint shall fall from grace.' It has no relation to it. Bold, presumptuous men often substitute this base counter in the room of that precious confidence. But it is observable the opinion remains just as strong while men are sinning and serving the devil as while they are serving God. Holiness or unholiness does not affect it in the least degree. Whereas, the giving way to anything unholy, either in life or heart, clouds the full assurance of hope; which cannot subsist any longer than the heart cleaves steadfastly to God.

I am persuaded the storm which met us in the teeth and drove us back was not a casual but a providential thing; therefore I lay aside the thought of seeing Ireland at present. [See letters of Feb. 20 (to Thomas Rutherford) and April 12.] -- I am, my dear Hetty,

Always yours in tender affection.

LIVERPOOL, April 12, 1781.

DEAR SALLY, -- In an hour or two I expect to embark, the wind being just come fair [See previous letter and that of May 8.]; so I snatch time to write two or three lines, whether I should live to write to you again or no.

Almost every one that begins to observe that strange truth, ‘The whole world lieth in the wicked one,’ feels the natural wish, Oh that I had the wings of a dove, that I might flee away from it and be at rest! But it is not a wilderness that can give rest any more than a populous city. ‘God hath made our heart for Himself, and it cannot rest till it resteth in Him.’ [St. Augustine's Confessions, i.] You want only that one point, love--to love Him because He first loved us. And who knows how soon you may find this For the kingdom of God is at hand! What if it should be opened in your heart to-day, while you are reading this

Miss Johnson [Mrs. Edwards had a famous school in Lambeth. See Journal, vi. 218, vii. 344; and letter of March 31 to his niece.] writes me word that she is flown away. She is removed to Westminster. She is now one of the teachers in Mrs. Edwards’s boarding-school; but if I see London again, I shall bring you acquainted.

Peace be with your spirit! -- I am, dear Sally,

Affectionately yours.

CHESTER, April 15, 1781.

I snatch a few moments to write to my dear Miss Loxdale, although I have not time to write as I would. [See letter of March 27.]

The trials which you have lately undergone were all instances of the goodness of God, who permitted them merely for your profit, that you might be the more largely the partaker of His holiness. You know our blessed Lord Himself as man ‘learned obedience by the things that He suffered’; and the last lesson which He learned upon earth was that ‘Father, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.’

Never imagine, my dear friend, that your letters to me can be too frequent or too long -- I may add, or too free. Nothing endears you to me so much as your artless simplicity. I beg you would always write just what you feel without disguise, without reserve. Your heart seems to be just as my heart. I cannot tell that I ever before felt so close an attachment to a person I had never seen. Surely it is the will of our gracious Lord that there should be a closer union between you and

Yours in tender affection.

CARMARTHEN, May 8, 1781.

DEAR TOMMY, -- You do well to break up fresh ground. We are ‘sent to disciple all mankind.’ If Mr. Abraham continues as he is, I shall be glad after a while to have him nearer me. [See letters of Feb. 20, 1781 (to Rutherford), and Feb. 20, 1782.]

After tossing up and down two days and two nights in a violent storm, finding it impossible to proceed, our captain was glad to take shelter in Holyhead harbor. I believed it to be the hand of God, and was content. So I give over the hope of seeing Dublin for the present; but I do not despair of seeing Londonderry within this month, if I should find an opportunity of getting over to the Isle of Man two or three weeks hence.--I am, dear Tommy,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

I expect to be at Whitehaven before the end of this month.

MANCHESTER, May 17, 1781.

MY DEAR BROTHER, -- Two days and two nights we were buffering the waves, with the furious wind right ahead. We then with difficulty got into Holyhead harbor; and finding the wind continued as it was, we saw Providence was against us, and turned back to England. I am now going to the Isle of Man, and may very possibly step over from thence to Ulster. [See previous letter.]

You should continue electricity as often as you have opportunity, and use as frequently as possible the diet drink [The drink was made of half a pound of fresh shaved lignum vitae with half an ounce of senna. See Primitive Physick, No. 178; and for electrical treatment, letter of July 13, 1774, to Ann Bolton.] in the Primitive Physick under that title ‘For Scorbutic Sores’; I believe it will dry up that humor gently and very safely.

If Providence brings me to Ireland, I shall not fail to let you know as soon as I am landed. -- I am

Yours affectionately.

To Mr. Bredin, At Mr. Danl. Keeling's,

In Athlone, Ireland.

WARRINGTON, May 21, 1781.

DEAR JOSEPH. -- As I have not leisure myself, I am exceeding glad that you have entered into the lists with Mr. Atkinson. And I am in hopes you will ' reply at large' to all his cavils and objections. If he cites anything from me, you should answer simply, ‘I never undertook to defend every sentiment of Mr. Wesley’s. He does not expect or desire it. He wishes me and every man to think for himself.’

If you remember, I do not insist on the term ‘impression.’ I say again, I will thank any one that will find a better; be it ‘discovery,’ ‘manifestation,’ ‘deep sense,’ or whatever it may. That some consciousness of our being in favor with God is joined with Christian faith I cannot doubt; but it is not the essence of it. A consciousness of pardon cannot be the condition of pardon.

But I am still more glad that you have some thoughts of answering that pernicious book of poor Mr. Madan. Analyse it first with the postscript; then overturn it thoroughly from the beginning to the end. You may steer between the extremes of too much roughness and too much smoothness. And see that you are plain enough for women and pretty gentlemen. I allow you an hundred pages. -- I am, dear Joseph,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

WARRINGTON, May 21, 1781.

MY DEAR SISTER,--As you are now one of my family, and indeed by a nearer tie than when you were only a member of the Society, I rejoice in doing you any service or giving you any satisfaction that I can. I therefore take the first opportunity of acquainting you that I will appoint Mr. Benson for Leeds the ensuing year. [That means for a second year.] I trust he will be more useful there than ever, and I doubt not but you will strengthen his hands in God. If you desire anything of me that is in my power, you may be assured it will not be refused by, my dear sister,

Your affectionate brother.

PS. -- I am now going to Whitehaven.

WARRINGTON, May 21, 1781.

MY DEAR SISTER, -- I have wrote to Mr. Pawson, [The Assistant at Bristol.] and am in hopes that Keynsham will be neglected no more. I did not expect you would meet with any trial of this kind; but it is well to be prepared for all.

When Molly Maddern taught a few children at Kingswood, [John Maddern was English master at Kingswood School in 1760.] I saw a truly Christian school. To make the children Christians was her first care; afterwards they were taught what women need to learn. I saw another Christian school at Leytonstone, under the care of Miss Bosanquet. I do not remember I discovered any defect either in the former or the latter; I observed nothing done which I wished to be omitted, nothing omitted which I wished to have done.

May I speak without reserve I verily think I may. I hoped to see a third Christian school at Publow [The Owens’ School. See Journal, vi. 335-6; and letter of July 17 to Miss Bishop.]; and I did so for a season. But I cannot say that for some years it has quite answered my expectations. ‘What, then, was the matter’ I can hardly tell. I do not know how to express it. I did not see the simplicity which I saw at first. More of the world seemed to be crept in. Good breeding I love; but how difficult is it to keep it quite clear of affectation and of a something which does not well agree with that mind which was in Christ!

I want your children to be trained up quite in the manner that Miss Bosanquet's were. Although they were very genteel, yet there was something in their whole manner which told you they belonged to another world. Mrs. Castleman [See letter of Aug. 4, 1775.] was one of Molly Maddern's scholars. You see, she is genteel; yet she is a Christian.

Make Christians, my dear Miss Bishop, make Christians! Let this be your leading view. Make such Christians as Miranda, [Law’s Serious Call, chap. viii.: ‘A sober, reasonable Christian.’ ‘She thinks that the trying herself every day by the doctrines of Scripture is the only possible way to be ready for her trial at the last day.’] as Miss Ritchie; such as Miss March was l Let everything else which you teach be subordinate to this. Mind one thing in all! Let it be said of the young women you educate,

Grace was in all her steps, heaven in her eye,

In all her gestures sanctity and love. [Milton’s Eve, Paradise Lost, viii. 488-9: ‘In every gesture dignity and love.’]

But what power do you want to execute this! Ask, and it shall be given you! May you not have the earnest of it this moment -- I am, my dear Miss Bishop,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

To Miss Bishop, At her Boarding School,

In Keynsham, Near Bristol.

WHITHAVEN, May 26, 1781.

MY DEAR BROTHER, -- I prepared the new edition of the Primitive Physick for the press before I left London. It lies in the corner of the upper drawer of my bureau. I have placed all the additions exactly. See that they be not displaced. If I do not step over to Ireland from the Isle of Man, I call at York; otherwise not.

You see, God will work if we do not struggle out of His embrace; and the more labor the more blessing.

I think the 'Instructions for comforting Afflicted Consciences' in the eighth volume of the [Christian] Library are excellent. I believe Robert Bolton [See letter of Oct. 14, 1757.] there answers all your questions: (1) None have a right to say their sins are forgiven if they have not faith in Christ; and (2) None that has faith in Christ need doubt of this. But they will doubt if they have but little faith. In these faith is but a glimmering light; yet we must not discourage them. Perhaps it is to them especially St. John says, ‘These things have I written unto you, that ye may know (most assuredly) that ye have eternal life,’ without all doubt and fear. (3) Faith may subsist for a time with very little joy, especially if there was little sorrow before. (4) It is very possible to mistake joy for faith, and then certainly we shall trust in joy instead of Christ. (5) The promises are the most strengthening and comforting truths in all the oracles of God; particularly (to believers in Christ) the promises of full sanctification. They are designed for this very thing, to strengthen the weak and to comfort the feeble-minded. -- I am

Your affectionate brother.

You may direct your next hither.

To Mr. Atlay, In the City Road,

London.

WHITEHAVEN, May 26, 1781.

DEAR ZACHARY, -- You should always write to me without reserve. I observe nothing much amiss in your behavior. Truth and love you may hold fast, and courtesy will increase insensibly. Godfathers promise only that they ‘will see the child be taught, as soon as he is able to learn, what he ought to do in order to this soul’s health.’ And this it is certain they may perform. You did not read that little tract [Serious Thoughts concerning Godfathers and Godmothers. See Works, x. 506-9; Green's Bibliography, No. 157.] with sufficient care, otherwise you could not but have seen this.

I commend you for being exceeding wary with respect to marriage. St. Paul’s direction is full and clear: ‘If thou mayest be free, use it rather.’ ‘Art thou loosed from a wife Seek not a wife.’ [See letter of Dec. 7, 1782.] Two of our small tracts you should read with much prayer -- Thoughts on a Single Life and A Word to Whom it may Concern. You need not be backward to write when you have opportunity. There is no fear of my thinking your letters troublesome. -- I am

Your affectionate brother.

WHITEHAVEN, May 28, 1781.

DEAR MATTY, -- There is hardly a father in England that can furnish three persons who after so many years are so young as my brother and you and me.

Line out our lives to His glory. [Haliburton. See Journal, vi. 318n.]

WHITEHAVEN, May 28, 1781.

MY DEAR SALLY, -- Here I am, waiting for a passage to the Isle of Man. Which way I shall steer from thence I know not. But I believe Providence will direct me either to the North of Ireland or to Newcastle-upon-Tyne.

In taking away your expectation of worldly happiness God has been exceeding gracious to you. It is good for you that you have seen affliction and been disappointed of your hope. The removal of Mr. Waller into a better world may be another blessing to you: as is everything which disengages us from transient things and teaches us to five in eternity. If we were first to resign our will to God in order to be in favor with Him, our case would be desperate: nay, but you shall first be conscious of His favor, and then be resigned to Him. First, believe! Christ died for you. He bore your sins. He loves you freely. Come, take Him! His favor! His peace! His love! But without money, without price! Leave all you have and are behind I Then all things are ready. Why not now -- I am, my dear Sally,

Yours in tender affection.

To Miss Wesley, In Chesterfield Street,

Marybone, London.

DOUGLAS, ISLE OF MAN, June 10, 1781.

MY DEAR MISS LOXDALE, -- I had much hope that at my last return to Shrewsbury [Where Miss Loxdale’s father, Joseph Loxdale, lived.0] I should have seen you. But we are in the hands of Him who knows what is best for every one that trusts in Him; and if our meeting be hindered for a season, when those hindrances are removed it will be the more blessed to us. That man of God, Gregory Lopez, observes of himself that the large manifestations of God with which he was favored at first overpowered his body and nearly suspended his under-standing--nay, took away the use of his senses; but that after a time they neither interrupted the one nor the other, nor disturbed the operation of any of his faculties. I think, if those manifestations which you had had been continued, the case would have been the same with you; they would no longer have overwhelmed you as they did at first, but have flowed with a calm, even stream.

Many years since, Madame Bourignon’s Works were put into my hands, particularly the treatises you mention, and her Exterior and Interior Life, written by herself. It was easy to see that she was a person dead to the world and much devoted to God; yet I take her to have been very many degrees beneath both Mr. De Renty and Gregory Lopez; nay, I do not believe she had so much Christian experience as either David Brainerd or Thomas Walsh. What makes many passages, both in her life and writings, so striking is that they are so peculiar; they are so entirely her own, so different from everything which we have seen or read elsewhere. But this is in reality not an excellence, but a capital defect. I avoid, I am afraid of, whatever is peculiar, either in the experience or the language of any one. I desire nothing, I will accept of nothing, but the common faith and common salvation; and I want you, my dear sister, to be only just such a common Christian as Jenny Cooper was. [See letter of June 25, 1782; and for Jane Cooper, that of Sept. 1765.] The new expressions of Madame Bourignon [Antoinette Bourignon (1616-80), the French Mystic. For Wesley's translation of ‘Come, Saviour, Jesus, from above,’ see Telford's Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated, pp. 311-12.] naturally tended to give you a new set of ideas. They would surely set your imagination at work, and make you fancy wonderful things; but they were only shadows. I cannot doubt in the least but either Mr. ----- or you or your sister has experienced more of the life of faith and deeper communion with the Father and the Son than ever she did in her life. As I apprehend your mind must be a little confused by reading those uncommon treatises, I wish you would give another deliberate reading to the Plain Account of Christian Perfection; and you may be assured there is no religion under heaven higher or deeper than that which is there described. But it is certainly possible to have your mind as well as your heart continually stayed upon God. This you did experience for some time, and you should be continually expecting to receive it again. ‘Ask, and it shall be given’:

For all the promises are sure

To persevering prayer.

I wrote to Mr. Fletcher some time since, [Fletcher had written to Miss Bosanquet a letter about marriage, which she received on June 8. That accounts for the delay in his reply to Wesley; to whom he wrote, however, on June 24. Fletcher had begun a correspondence with Miss Loxdale in May. See Wesley’s Designated Successoro p. 463; and letter of June 27.] and wonder I have had no answer. I hope you will always write without reserve, my dear Miss Loxdale, to

Your truly affectionate.

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, June 16, 1781.

DEAR SAMMY, -- Brother Sharp's proposal is reasonable; I have no objection at all to it.

We have no supernumerary preachers: except John Furz, who is so from old age. If John Oliver lives till the Conference, and desires it, I suppose he may be upon the same footing. The more exercise he uses, winter or summer, the more health he will have. I can face the north wind at seventy-seven better than I could at seven-and-twenty. But if you moan over him, you will kill him outright. John Booth is fixed in his own circuit. A word in your ear! I am but half pleased with Christopher Hopper's proceedings. I do not admire fair-weather preachers.

You must stop local preachers who are loaded with debt. There are few healthier places in England than Keighley. Neither Dublin nor Cork is to compare to it. But have a care, or you will kill Betsy! Do not constrain God to take her away! -- I am, dear Sammy,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, June 16, 1781.

DEAR JOSEPH, -- The contrary [winds continued] so long that I am [much behind] in my plan. I did [not reach this plaice till an hour or [two ago, and mus]t not leave it before [Sunday the 24th. In] consequence of this [I preach in York] on Wednesday the 27th and a[t Selby on Thur]sday 28. On Friday [the 29th (I hope to re]ach) Thorne, and preach [at noon, and Cro]wle evening, Epwor[th also; and if I] can, at Upperthorpe a[nd at Misterton].

Your affection[ate friend and brother].

NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, June 19, 1781.

DEAR SIR, -- I am glad Mrs. Foley and you join hand in hand, striving together for the hope of the gospel. Undoubtedly your way will lie through honor and dishonor, through evil report and good report. But I trust you will not be ashamed of the gospel of Christ, the power of God unto salvation. He that shall come will come, and will not tarry; and He will bruise Satan under your feet. It may be I shall be able about the middle of August to spend one night at Birmingham. Fight on and conquer! -- I am, with love to Mrs. Foley,

Your affectionate brother.

To Mr. Ambrose Foley, At Quinton,

Near Birmingham.

LONDON, June 22, 1781.

DEAR BILLY, -- I am glad Sister Webb found grace at the last. It was objected to the preaching (1) that few attended yet; (2) that it interfered with the church service. If so, it is best to let it drop. Talk with Brother Walker about building at Newport. There seems a probability of doing good in the Isle, if all of you set your shoulders to the work. Ask John Walker why he did not consult you concerning the building, which he ought to do in everything. Let no more, however, be bought than absolutely necessary. The more labor the more blessing! -- I am, dear Billy,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

To Mr. Tunney, At the Preaching-house,

Sarum.

THIRSK, June 26, 1781.

DEAR JERRY, -- Direct your answer to London. I agreed with William Redstone to finish the work for threescore pounds. I thought I had sent fifty of it, and have some thirty-five to remain. Beside the hundred pounds which I shall procure from the Conference, I purpose giving another hundred out of my own pocket. I think they would ride a free horse to death. Speak plain to Brother Ward and Foster, [Henry Foster, admitted on trial in 1780, was the fourth preacher in Cornwall East. See letter of June 22, 1785; and for Nathaniel Ward, that of Oct. 12, 1780.] and tell them from me, ‘Unless you can and will leave off preaching long, I shall think it my duty to prevent your preaching at all among the Methodists.’ -- I am, dear Jerry,

Your affectionate friend and brother.

To Mr. Brettell, At Mr. Walter's.

Hatter, In Plymouth.

THIRSK, June 27, 1781.

DEAR BROTHER, -- This is the last day of my seventy-eighth year; and (such is the power of God) I feel as if it were my twenty-eighth. [The original is endorsed by Charles, ‘B[rother], July 27, 1781. Young as at 28.’]

My Journal is ready for Joseph [Joseph Bradford, his traveling companion.] to transcribe. I wonder why it is that we hear nothing from Madeley. [See letter of June 10.] Sure, prejudice has not stepped in, or Calvinism!

I find no fault with your answer to the gentlemen. But you must expect they will reply (at least in their hearts), Hic nigrae succus loliginis! [Horace’s Satires, I. iv. 100: ‘the juice of the black cuttlefish.’] Nay, perhaps they will find, ‘You are .inclined to Popery!’

Next Saturday I expect to be at Epworth, the second at Boston, the third at Sheffield. I take the opportunity of a broken year to visit those parts of Lincolnshire which I have not seen before but once these twenty years.

From several I have lately heard that God has blessed your preaching. See your calling!

Cease at once to work and live!

Peace be with all your spirits!

THORNE, June 28, 1781.

MY DEAR SISTER, -- Is it not a true saying (though in an Apocryphal writer) that ‘a friend is made for adversity’ If, then, you found ‘troublesome times,’ [Her journal for 1781 speaks of ‘painful trials’ and ‘many bitters.’ See letter of Nov. 17.] were not those the very times when you should have wrote to me Perhaps the troubles then would have soon been over, which for want of this lasted so much longer. If you do not love all the children of God, you are wrong; but it is also wrong to love them all equally. We ought to love with a far more endeared affection those to whom we are united in Christian fellowship, even though ten to fifty of these walk unworthy their profession or even draw back as a dog to his vomit. Let each of these bear his own burden. But do not love the rest ever the less, for His sake. If you judge it would be a means of easing or strengthening your mind, you may tell me what has tried you. You know I love you and put the best construction upon every word you say. See that you be not weary of well doing. In due time you shall reap if you faint not! -- I am, my dear sister, Your affectionate brother.

THORNE, NEAR EPWORTH, June 29, 1781.

DEAR PATTY,--I should have been at Epworth to-night, but our friends here interrupted me. Now, if you was but with me, I could show you Crowle and Belton and the great sycamore-tree and my father's tomb. But since an hundred and fifty miles lie between us, we must be content.

It is well if Robert Lee [Boswell mentions Mrs. Hall as one of the company at dinner at Dr. Johnson's on Easter Sunday, April 15, 1781. Robert Lee told Wesley on Feb. 5, 1763, that he should stay in the London Society no longer. See Journal, v. 5.] does not turn poor Mrs. Sherriff’s head! It is no wonder she wears an high cap now. To be sure he tells her how well she looks! and how pretty she is! And how can she be so uncivil as not to believe him However, you did well to take her out of his hands.

I am surprised that you could not find a lodging near the City Road. A little while, and we shall need none of these lodgings. I do not expect to see London before my usual time. -- I am, dear Patty,

Your affectionate friend and Brother.

Editor's Introductory Notes

[1] Yewdall was now in Swansea, and had a difficult task in hand. Hugh Bold, the first Methodist Steward at Brecon, was four times bailiff of the town. Lady Huntingdon proposed that the chapel in Free Street on the left side of the road leading to Watton should be reserved for the use of her students at Trevecca; but Bold at once secured it for the Methodists. Wesley had given 48o towards building it, and for nearly twenty years he and his preachers supplied it. See Wesley’s Veterans, iii. 229-30; Young’s Methodism in Wales, pp. 135-6.

[2] Wesley on March 30 opened Oldham Street Chapel, Manchester, on the site now occupied by the Central Hall. He set sail for Ireland on April x2, but was driven into Holyhead by storms.

[3] While staying with Rowland Hill at Wotton-under-Edge, Miss Morgan wrote to Miss Ritchie in April: ‘Mr. Wesley writes me word that he wishes you to husband the little strength you have more than you do.’ Miss Ritchie had returned from the Hot Wells, Bristol, still infirm in health. See Bulmer's Memoirs, pp. 84-5; and letter of February 20, 1780.

[4] Wesley had preached at Pebworth on March 22. The Edens of Broadmarston lived a mile away, and were Wesley’s intimate friends. Henry Eden’s son, the Rev. Thomas Eden, Vicar of Ilminster, had married the eldest sister of Miss Ann Loxdale. Ann married Dr. Thomas co*ke in i8ix, but died a year afterwards. She belonged to a good family in Shrewsbury, and was zealous in good works. She had been a Methodist upwards of thirty years. See W.H.S. v. 96.

[5] At the Bristol Conference in August 1780 a committee was appointed to consider charges made by Dr. co*ke that Benson held Arian views. The members were clearly of opinion that the charge was not proved. co*ke offered to ask Benson's pardon before all the preachers, and they shook hands together. Benson wrote to thank Wesley ‘for the manner in which you behaved to me at the last Conference; and I am also indebted to many of my brethren for the favorable construction they put upon my sentiments and the Christian moderation they manifested towards me.’ He spoke of the opportunity to preach ‘on the Lord's Day, often, to thousands. If I did not labor to improve such happy occasions for advancing the kingdom of Christ, I should expect to see my candlestick removed out of its place, and myself cut off from the true vine as an unfruitful branch and cast into the fire of endless torments -- punishment I should richly deserve.’ In his Journal for April 5 Benson refers to Luther’s works, and adds: ‘It is, by the grace of God, more than ever my intention to direct my preaching this way; fearing in time past I have insisted, not indeed too much upon holiness, but too little upon that faith which alone produceth holiness.’ See manuscript Life, pp. 1072, 1122.

[6] Miss Clarkson married Mr. Tapp, an Independent minister, and died a few months later, on October 6, 1781, aged twenty-six. ‘She was always delicate.’ The Death of Abel (1758), an idyllic heroic prose poem then popular, was by Solomon Gessner (1730-88), the Zurich bookseller, poet, engraver, and painter. Wesley read it on November 6, 1762. Gessner also published a series of letters on landscape painting. See Journal, iv. 538; W.H.S. iv. 16, 136.

[7] Bradburn’s Journal for February 28, 1781, shows how anxious he was about his wife: ‘I am confounded and miserable to see her so weak; but what can helpless love do I would lay down my life to rescue hers. O Lord, if ever Thou didst hear me, hear me now, and spare her to me, for Christ’s sake.’ He writes cheerfully on March 31 about her restoration. See Memoirs, p. 80.

[8] Wesley sailed for Ireland from Liverpool on April 12; but the vessel was driven into Holyhead by a violent storm. He took the opportunity to visit those parts of Wales which he could not see in the ordinary course, and on May 30 crossed over to Douglas. He did not get to Ireland till 1783. See Journal, vi. 312-22; and letter of April 12.

[9] On February 1 Benson began a letter to Myles Atkinson, a clergyman at Leeds, on Justifying Faith. They had discussed the subject at Benson's house. Atkinson regarded this faith as a complex principle including a measure at least of love and holiness. The assurance of pardon he thought lay rather in the new character and blessed fruits wrought by the Spirit's operations than in that direct witness of the Spirit followed by His fruits, for which Benson contended. See manuscript Lifr, p. 1116; and for Atkinson, Journal, vi. 233n.

Benson’s Journal shows that between May 12 and 31 he had been reading Madan on Polygamy. He thought ‘his reasoning very fallacious.’ ‘Upon the whole, I fear it is a pernicious book, and will do much hurt.’ Benson’s criticisms appeared in the Arrninian Magazine for 1783-4, in twenty-four parts. For Wesley's approval of his reply, see letter of March 30, 1782.

[10] She had married one of Wesley’s ablest and most trusted preachers, and this welcome into the family must have given her much pleasure. See letter of December 29, 1779.

[11] Atlay was the Book Steward. The twentieth edition of Primitive Physick was published by Paramore in 1781. The little chapel at Lonan, near Laxey, Isle of Man, has a memorial tablet over the door stating that Wesley preached there in 1781.

[12] Elizabeth Gwynne, Mrs. Charles Wesley's sister, married James Wailer, lace merchant, of London, on December 4, 1750. Their son, Thomas Waller, died on May 11, 1781, in his thirtieth year. See Charles Wesley's memorial verses in his Journal, ii. 403-6:

A daily death through life he died,

In weakness, weariness, and pain,

By many a sharp affliction tried,

His faith did every cross sustain.

[13] Hopper was at Colne, and Booth in Cornwall West. Oliver was at Epworth, and at the Conference of 1781 became Bradburn's colleague at Bradford. Furz (born in 1717) was a supernumerary at Leicester, and Jacob Rowell at Yarm.

[14] This fragment of a letter was sent by Dr. J. A. Faulkner, of Drew Theological Seminary. The words enclosed in brackets are an attempt to supply the missing portion, the right-hand side of the original having been torn away. Harper at the time was Assistant at Epworth.

[15] On March 18, 1778, Foley had invited Wesley to preach at Quinton, where he had for some years frequently read Wesley's Sermons to a considerable company. Wesley preached there on March 24, 1781. See Wesleyan Methodist Magazine, April I9o2; W.H.S. v. 92-3; and letters of February 26, 1782, and February 24, 1783.

[16] Tunney was the Assistant at Salisbury, and Walker the third of the four preachers. Wesley opened the chapel in Town Lane, Newport, on October 10, 1781. The site cost 107 11s. 6d.; the building, 465 1s. 10d. Wesley gave 10; and other contributions, &c., raised the total to 129 15s. 2d. There had been a Methodist Society in Newport for thirty years, which met in a loft that had been used as an auction-room. See Journal, vi. 337; Dyson’s Methodism in the Isle of Wight, pp. 108-11.

Edited by Michael Mattei 2001 Wesley Center for Applied Theology. All rights reserved. No for-profit use of this text is permitted without the express, written consent of the Wesley Center for Applied Theology of Northwest Nazarene College, Nampa, Idaho 83686 USA. Contact the webmaster for permission.