Wesley Corpus

Excuse me, my dear Sally, if I do not stay so long, if I write a line before I come to Bristol, and remember the condition you are in. Write to Nancy Bolton without delay. You gave me much satisfaction when I was with you both yesterday and the day before. And yet I felt a good deal of pain for you, lest you should lose the desires which God has given you, surrounded as you are with those who hardly consider whether there is any God or devil. Oh what a strange, unaccountable creature is man while he is following his own imaginations! Is this silly, laughing, trifling animal born for eternity Is this he that was made an incorruptible picture of the God of glory he that was born to live with angels and archangels and all the company of heaven And is it thus that he is preparing to meet Him that is coming in the clouds of heaven What a fool, what a blockhead, what a madman is he that forgets the very end of his creation! Look upon such in this and no other view, however lively, good-natured, well-bred, and choose you your better part! Be a reasonable creature! Be a Christian! Be wise now and happy for ever! --My dear Sally, adieu. To Mrs. Bennis[22] BRISTOL, August 31, 1772. MY DEAR SISTER,--MY health is not worse, but rather better. Your account of the Society in Waterford is pleasing. Continue to exercise your talent amongst them, and you will be a gainer by it. You need not dispute or reason about the name which belongs to the state you are in. You know what you have; be thankful for it. You know what you want-- zeal, liveliness, stability, deliverance from wandering imaginations; well, then, ask, and they shall be given. The way into the holiest is open through the blood of Jesus. You have free access through Him. To Him your every want In instant prayer display; Pray always, pray and never faint, Pray, without ceasing pray! See, help while yet you ask is given!--I am, dear sister, Your affectionate brother. To Philothea Briggs BRISTOL, August 31, 1772.