To Mr. C——.
Lisbon, March 30, 1754.
Very dear Sir,
THIS leaves me pretty well satisfied (not to say surfeited) with the ecclesiastical curiosities of Lisbon. This day fortnight we arrived; and the country being in want of rain, and it being Lent season, we have been savoured with frequent processions, and several extraordinary pieces of scenery. Alas! to what lengths will superstition run! And how expensive is the pageantry of a false religion! Blessed be God for being born in England! Blessed be God for being born again, and thereby being taught to worship the Father in spirit and in truth! This, my dear Sir, I believe is your happy portion; and therefore if it should be our lot never to meet here any more, I am persuaded nothing can prevent our meeting in a blissful country hereafter. O that we may be kept from flagging in the latter stages of our road! I am confounded, when I think what a drone I have been, and daily wonder why the Lord employs such a worthless wretch.—Surely it must be, that in me he may shew all long-suffering. Help me, my dear friend, to praise him. Lisbon air seems healthy for the body; and what I have seen and heard I trust will benefit my soul. Be pleased to remember me to Mrs. C——, your son, and all enquiring friends. You will not forget to visit my widow wife. Blessed be God, her Maker is her husband, and ere long we shall all sit down together at the feast, the marriage supper of the Lamb. In a believing prospect of this, I subscribe myself, very dear Sir,
Yours, &c. in our common Lord,
G. W.
LETTER MXXXIV.
To Mr. F——.
Lisbon, March 31, 1754.