_To Mrs. A. D._
_On board the Minerva, Feb. 20, 1741._
_My dear Sister_,
MY conscience almost reproaches me, that
I have not wrote to you often, nor full enough; accept this as an
acknowledgement of my fault. I am sorry for it. We are now about a
thousand miles off _England_. I hope this will provoke you to send me
a letter immediately after my arrival. I find _Luther_’s observation
to be true: “Times of reformation are times of confusion;” as yet the
churches in _America_ are quiet, but I expect a sifting time ere long.
My family in _Georgia_ was once sadly shaken, but now, blessed be GOD,
it is settled, and, I hope, established in the doctrines of grace.
Your name is precious among them. I wish you would send them a long
letter. Your book on _walking with GOD_ has been blessed to one Mr.
_B――――_, and others in _South-Carolina_. It hath also been serviceable
to a dear friend now with me, as also to myself. I cannot well tell
you what great things are doing abroad. I have a scene of sufferings
lying before me; I expect shortly to cry out with the spouse, “Look
not upon me, because I am black, because the sun hath looked upon me,
my mother’s children were angry with me.” My LORD’s command, now, I
believe, is, “Take the foxes, the little foxes that spoil the vines;
for our vines have tender grapes.”――Help me by your prayers. It is an
ease thus to unbosom one’s self to a friend, and an instance of my
confidence in you. O, my dear Sister, I am less than the least of all
saints, I am the chief of sinners, and yet JESUS loves me, and sheds
his love abroad in my heart abundantly by the Holy Ghost. I have been
much assisted in composing some gospel sermons, which I intend for the
press. I have sought the LORD by prayer and fasting, and he assures
me, that he will be with me. Whom then should I fear? Hitherto we
have had an extraordinary passage, praise the LORD. Herewith I send
you a letter from one of the children which GOD has given me: He
will rejoice to receive a line from you. If possible, I hope, tho’
you are in the decline of life, to see you face to face before I
leave _England_. I should be glad to hear how you are as to worldly
circumstances; if I can help you in any degree, freely command
Your affectionate friend, brother, and servant in CHRIST,
_G. W._