_To the Reverend Mr. J――――._
_London, August 11, 1748._
_My very dear Mr. J――――_,
YOUR kind letter, which I received but yesterday, having been taking
a little tour in the country, both grieved and pleased me. Glad was I
to find, that my dear old friend had not forgotten me, and yet sorry
as it were, that I had not wrote to him first. I was just going to put
pen to paper, when yours was brought to my hands. I read it with joy,
and now embrace the first opportunity of answering it with the greatest
pleasure. These words concerning our LORD have always been weighty
on my heart, “Having loved his own, he loved them unto the end.”
They therefore that are most like him, will be most steady in their
friendship, and not very readily given to change. O my dear Sir, what
has the Redeemer done for us since we used to take such sweet counsel
together at _Oxford_! Blessed be his name for giving you a heart still
to preach among poor sinners the unsearchable riches of CHRIST. May
you go on and prosper, and, maugre all opposition, see Dagon fall every
where before the ark. As for me, I am a poor worthless pilgrim, and
thought long ere now to be with him, who has loved and given himself
for me.――But it seems I am not yet to die, but live. O that it may
be to declare the work of the LORD! I think this is the thirteenth
province I have been in within this twelvemonth, in each of which our
LORD has been pleased to set his seal to my unworthy ministry. I came
from _Bermudas_ last, where I left many souls seeking after JESUS of
_Nazareth_. In _London_, _Bristol_, _Gloucester_, and _Wales_, the
glorious _Emmanuel_, since my arrival, has appeared to his people. In
about a fortnight I purpose leaving town again in order to go a circuit
of about five hundred miles. I need not desire you to pray for me; I
need not tell you how glad I shall be whenever opportunity offers, to
see you face to face. In the mean while, let us correspond by letter.
May JESUS bless it to us both! I return cordial respects to Lady
_M――――_. I pray the LORD to bless her and her little nursery. For the
present adieu. I am, my very dear Mr. _J――――_,
Ever yours,
_G. W._