_Philadelphia, Nov. 10, 1739._
_Dear Mr. S――――_,
I Love an _Israelite_ indeed, I love a catholic spirit destitute
of guile; you I am persuaded are thus minded. The LORD hath highly
favoured you: he hath given you a meek and quiet spirit. My heart
hath been knit to you, ever since GOD first brought us together. Oh
pray, that what I admire in another, I may imitate myself, and have
the graces of JESUS CHRIST stamped upon my heart. It fills me with
confusion, whenever I consider how far I am from his likeness. Alas!
What would become of me, was I to be saved by any thing within myself.
Blessed be GOD, the LORD JESUS is my whole righteousness. By virtue
of that I know I am justified, I believe I shall be sanctified, and
am assured I shall be everlastingly redeemed: for GOD loved me with
an everlasting love. Oh, dear Sir, the prospect of an hereafter fills
my soul with comfort. Then shall I have enough of your company, and of
the other children of GOD. The LORD give me patience to wait till my
blessed change cometh. He often gives me such foretastes of the glory
to be revealed in us, that I want to leap my seventy years. But in
a degree, I may say with my blessed master, “I have a cup to drink
of, and a baptism to be baptized with.” Dear Mr. _S――――_ will see me
humbled, I believe, as much as once exalted; I look for “Away with him,
away with him,” every day. Then, I trust, I shall begin in earnest to
be a disciple of JESUS CHRIST. Even in such an hour, I believe dear
Mr. _S――――_ will dare own
His affectionate though most unworthy friend,
brother and servant,
_G. W._