DCXXI.-To the Same. MY DEAR SISTER, February 11, 1772. I AM glad you have had an opportunity of spending a little time with that lovely company. The day I leave Bristol, (Monday, March 9,) I hope to be at Stroud myself. You are not sent thither for nothing, but in order to do, as well as to receive, good; and that not to one family only, or to those four of your acquaintance; nay, but you have a message from God, (you and Eden too,) to all the women in the society. Set aside all evil shame, all modesty, falsely so called. Go from house to house; deal faithfully with them all; warn every one; exhort every one. God will everywhere give you a word to speak; and his blessing therewith. Be you herein a follower of Nancy Bolton, as she is of Christ. In doing and bearing I have great hope for Sally James. In the company which commonly surrounds her, it is best to use reserve. And this is apt to form a habit, which it is not easy to conquer, even with those she loves well; but I trust she will conquer this and every enemy. Perhaps we shall soon rejoice with her. It is good that you may be emptied, that you may be filled. But how is this, that you have never given me an hour's pain since I was first acquainted with you? Do you intend to be always going forward, without standing still, or going backward at all? The good Lord enable you so to do, and all those that are with you! So fulfil the joy of Yours affectionately. DCXXII-To the Same. MY DEAR SISter, Aberdeen, May 1, 1772. SALLY JAMES is a letter in my debt. I have had but one letter from her since I left Bristol: And that I answered almost as soon as I received it. I a little wondered at not hearing from you; but as I know both the constancy and tenderness of your affection, there was no danger of my imputing it to ingratitude. I think your present exercise, though it is one of the most trying, is one of the most profitable which a good providence could prepare for you. And it will probably be one means of plucking a brand out of the burning; of saving a soul alive. O what would not one do, what would not one suffer, for this glorious end! You certainly have good reason to hope; for any that feels himself a sinner will hardly perish: More especially if he sees where to look for help, and is willing to give up every plea beside. You are never to put repentance and faith asunder; the knowledge of your emptiness and His fulness. Naked, and blind, and poor, and bare, But at the same instant, (such is the mystery of Christian experience,) you can say, "Jesus, I all things have in thee!" Our blessed Lord carries on his work in our souls, by giving us either to do or to suffer. Hitherto you are led most in the latter of these ways. I expect, when you have more to do for Him, you shall suffer less. Every morning, and frequently in the day, you are very near to, My dear Sister, Your affectionate brother. DCXXIII-To the Same. MY DEAR SISTER, Yarm, June 16, 1772. THAT remedy mentioned in the "Primitive Physic" (the manna dissolved in a decoction of senna) hardly ever fails to relieve in the severest bilious colic, within twelve or fourteen minutes. Warm lemonade (so stupid are they who forbid acids in these cases) frequently gives ease in half a minute. And I have known this to take place in such inveterate complaints as would yield to no other remedy. We are sure, the means which our blessed Lord uses to conform us to his image are (all circumstances considered) the very best; for He cannot but do all things well: Therefore, when ever it pleases Him to send affliction, then affliction is best. Yet we must not imagine He is tied down to this, or that he cannot give any degree of holiness without it. We have reason to believe, from the earliest records, that St. Paul suffered a thousand times more than St. John. And yet one can hardly doubt but St. John was as holy as he, or any of the Apostles. Therefore, stand ready for whatsoever our Lord shall send; but do not require him to send you affliction. Perhaps he will take another way; he will overpower your whole soul with peace, and joy, and love; and thereby work in you a fuller conformity to himself than you ever experienced yet. You have ;-hold fast there,All's alike to me, so I HAVING finished, for the present, my business at Leeds, I am come thus far on my journey to Bristol. But I must take Haverford-West in the way thither; so that I do not expect to be there till the 30th instant. How many blessings may you receive in the mean time, provided you seek them in the good old way wherein you received the Lord Jesus Christ! So walk in him still. Beware of striking into new paths! of being wise above that is written! Perhaps we may find sweetness in the beginning; but it would be bitterness in the latter end. O my sister, my friend, I am afraid for you! I doubt you are stepping out of the way. When you enter into your closet, and shut the door, and pray to your Father who seeth in secret; then is the time to groan, to Him who reads the heart, the unutterable prayer. But to be silent in the congregation of his people is wholly new, and therefore wholly wrong. A silent meeting was never heard of in the Church of Christ for sixteen hundred years. I intreat you to read over, with much prayer, that little tract, "A Letter to a Quaker." I fear you are on the brink of a precipice, and you know it not. The enemy has put on his angel's face, and you take him for a friend. Retire immediately! Go not near the tents of those dead, formal men, called Quakers! Keep close to your class, to your band, to your old teachers: They have the words of eternal life! Have any of them offended you? Has any stumbling-block been laid in your way? Hide nothing from, My dear Molly, Yours in affection. DCXXV.-To Mr. James Bogie. MY DEAR BROTHER, London, October 11, 1788. It is an excellent plan: The sooner you put it in execution, the better; only see that you be all punctual to follow one another exactly. Let not a little hinderance or inconvenience put you out of your way, suppose a shower of rain or snow. Press on! Break through! Take up your cross, each of you, and follow your Master; so shall the world and the devil fall under your feet. DEAR JEMMY, I am, dear Jemmy, Your affectionate friend and brother. DCXXVI. To the Same. Leeds, August 1, 1789. YOUR division of Scotland into the three southern circuits is exceedingly well judged. You will see, by the Minutes of the Conference, that it is put into execution. I trust, in a few months' time, to see thorough Methodist discipline both in Glasgow, Ayr, and Dumfries; and pray do not forget Greenock. I have letters thence, asking for help. Let not any poor souls perish for lack of knowledge, if it be in your power to prevent it. I am, dear Jemmy, Your affectionate friend and brother. DCXXVII.-Mr. John Watson. MY DEAR BROther, Dublin, April 25, 1783. YESTERAY I received yours from Perth. If brother M'Lean has been able to do any good at Perth, or Dunkeld, it would be worth while to take a room. But truly I think, if the Highlanders will not pay for their own room, they are not worthy of preaching. To labour, and pay for our labour, is not right before God or man. Are you able to undertake a circuit? You may address your next to London. I am Your affectionate brother. DCXXVIII.-To Mr. George Flamank, Officer of Excise, in Plymouth. MY DEAR BRETHREN, Portaferry, June 7, 1789. "HEAVINESS may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning." I hope to set out for the west immediately after the Conference; and probably I shall bring with me one or two men of peace, by whom all these misunderstandings will be removed. "In your patience," meantime, "possess ye your souls." And those that suffer all will surely conquer all. I am, my dear brethren, Your affectionate brother. DCXXIX.-To Mr. Abraham Orchard, of Bath. DEAR BROTHer, 1783. You have reason to be thankful to God for enabling you to set out in his good way; and, if you would go on therein, remember that you cannot walk alone. Therefore, your wisdom is, not to think much of shame, or the fear of any temporal matter, to connect yourself in the closest manner you can with those you believe to be the children of God. A form of prayer used in private may be of considerable use; only now and then, at the beginning, or middle, or end of it, you may break out a little, and speak a few words just according to the present temper of your mind. When your sins are forgiven, you will surely be sensible of it; and "every one that seeketh, findeth." But it will be given you without money and without price, you know not how soon! Perhaps now! I am Yours affectionately. |