Dear Sir,
HOW thankful ought I to be to him, whose mercy endureth for ever! God has commanded a physician (once a notorious deist, but through grace converted at my last visit in New-England) to receive me here. Worthy Colonel P——, who lives at the very mouth of the harbour, on seeing our ship, went with some other friends in his own boat to invite and conduct me to his princely habitation. But God appointed otherwise. In about half an hour after my arrival, I was put to bed, racked with a nervous cholic, and convulsed from the waste down to my toes. A total convulsion was immediately apprehended.
My wife and friends stood weeping by,
In tears resolv’d to see me die.
Filled with divine consolation, I begged them not to be shocked. My Saviour whispered that all was well, and therefore I desired them not to be surprized if I should be totally convulsed, or be suffered in a delirium to speak things that were wrong. Many, many of God’s dearest children, through the infirmities which crazy constitutions more especially are liable to, have been called to drink such a bitter cup before me. But an all-compassionate Redeemer disappointed our fears, and exceeded our strongest expectations. Apprehended convulsions were kept off; and though I was so weak as not to be able to bear the sound of a tread of the foot, or the voice of friends who came to see and pray with me, yet my heart was kept in perfect peace. After undergoing, for about four days, fomentations and exercises of different kinds, by having my feet put into warm water, &c. nature was relieved, and what I had taken four days before came away hardly discoloured. After this, whilst carried about by my tender nurse and a servant, still racked with pain, and like an helpless child, I could only say, “Look and learn what a poor creature I am.” The scene affects me yet. May it never be forgotten! I must retire, and leave enlarging to another opportunity. In the mean while, assure yourself of my being, though less than the least of all,
Yours, &c.
G. W.
LETTER DLXII.
To Mr. ——.