Wesley Corpus

O Jemmy, you do not know yourself. You cannot bear to be continually steeped in poison --in the esteem and praise of men; therefore I tremble at your stay in Dublin. It is the most dangerous place for you under heaven! All I can say is, God can preserve you in the fiery furnace, and I hope He will.--I am, dear Jemmy, Yours affectionately. To his Wife [24] NEWLYN, September 5, 1768. MY DEAR LOVE,--I can make allowances for faintness and weakness and pain. I remember when it was my own case at this very place, and when you spared no pains in nursing and waiting upon me, till it pleased God to make you the chief instrument of restoring my strength. [For this illness at Newlyn in July 1753, see Journal, iv. 77. The 'we' in the entries for July 12 and 18 evidently included his wife, to whom he had been married rather more than two years. It was apparently the beginning of the serious illness which sent him into retirement at Lewisham, where he wrote his own epitaph on Nov. 26.] I am glad you have the advice of a skilful physician. But you must not be surprised or discouraged if you do not recover your strength so soon as one might wish, especially at this time of the year. What is chiefly to be desired is that God may sanctify all His dispensations to you: that all may be means of your being more entirely devoted to Him whose favour is better than strength or health or life itself.--I am, dear Molly, Your ever affectionate Husband. To Lady Maxwell [25] REDRUTH, September 9, 1768.