Wesley Corpus

MY DEAR SISTER,--By our intercourse with a beloved friend it often pleases God to enlighten our understanding. But this is only the second point: to warm the heart is a greater blessing than light itself. And this effect I frequently find from your letters. The Lord repay it sevenfold into your own bosom! Do you still remain in the persuasion that you shall not live beyond three-and-twenty [See letter of Dec. 31. She died at the age of thirty-three.] Do you remember when or how it began Does it continue the same, whether your health is worse or better What a mercy is it that death has lost its sting! Will this hinder any real or substantial happiness Will it prevent our loving one another Can Death's interposing tide Spirits one in Christ divide Surely no! Whatever comes from Him is eternal as Himself. --My dear sister, adieu! To Miss Dale, At the Orphan House, Newcastle-upon-Tyne . To William Orpe [16] LONDON, November 13, 1765. MY DEAR BROTHER,--You must in no wise return to your father's; it would be at the price of your soul. You have already made the experiment, and you made it long enough, till you had wellnigh quenched the Spirit. If you should leap into the furnace again, how would you expect that God would bring you out As to your temptation concerning preaching, it is nothing uncommon. Many have had it as well as you, and some of them for a time gave place to the devil and departed from the work. So did John Catermole; so did James Morgan: but God scourged them back again. Do not reason with the devil, but pray, wrestle with God, and He will give you light. --I am Your affectionate brother. To Mr. Will. Orpe, At Mr. Dickenson's, Near the Dolphin, In Birmingham. To Thomas Rankin LONDON, November 18, 1765. DEAR TOMMY,--You have satisfied me with regard to the particulars which I mentioned in my letter from Cornwall. Only one thing I desire you to remember: never sit up later than ten o'clock--no, not for any reason (except a watch-night), not on any presence whatsoever. In general, I desire you would go to bed about a quarter after nine.