There is no doubt that at this time Schwartz was feeling the effect of his long life of incessant work, and in his letters to his friends he asks their prayers that more strength may be given him. He tells that while at present in no position of pain, his weakness is great and that speaking or walking so fatigue him that he can hardly stand. He has spent so many years in the work, under a trying climate, without any furlough, that it is no wonder that he begins to fail under the burden of a labour he has borne so long. Not that he complained; Schwartz was one of those men who consider themselves last and scorn to make much of either their physical pains or their difficult circumstances. He dismisses the question of his illness with almost an apology for referring to it.
“Enough of this, age comes upon me, I have no reason therefore to wonder at weakness. If the mind be sound all is well, the rest we shall quit when we enter into the grave. That will cure all our bodily indispositions.... Our time is short. Within some days I have sojourned in this country thirty-four years. The end of my journey is, even according to the course of nature, near. May I not flag! May my last days be my best!”
Few missionaries either then or since have preached so many sermons, every one worked out with so much carefulness and so rich in thought. And yet he had no time to prepare in the ordinary sense; he never wrote out his sermons and was content with putting on a piece of paper the principal points of his discourse, which was otherwise quite extempore. From one of these notes a brief extract will be interesting; he is speaking on the condition of a believer and how love, his favourite theme, must be paramount in his heart. “Let us now represent a person truly believing in Jesus and united to Him, washed from his sins, strengthened by His Spirit, and cheered with the hope of an unspeakably glorious crown hereafter. Being endowed with such a gracious faith and lively hope, what shall he do? What will be the effect of such a faith or hope? Love towards God and all men. A person that is blessed with such faith and hope cannot but love God and all mankind and that from the bottom of his heart. He looks upon God as his Father who has loved him in an unspeakable manner, who sent His only begotten Son into the world for his eternal happiness, who has called him out of darkness into marvellous light, who has blessed him with pardon, peace and hope, and this heartily inclines him to love Him sincerely and ardently. The conclusion which St. John draws from the love of God towards us is very natural. ‘We love him because he first loved us.’ Such a Christian will esteem and venerate, adore and praise God, keep His commandments, His Sabbath Day, His word. Love will teach him all this. His soul and body he will present as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable unto God, which will be his reasonable service. Such an one will not be conformed to this world but transformed by the renewing of his mind, that he may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God. Whether he eats or drinks, or whatever he does, he will endeavour to do it to the glory of God.
“Let us seriously examine our hearts and lives whether we have loved God in such a manner. Have we venerated Him and His Divine Name above all? Have we delighted in Him so as to renounce sinful pleasures? Have we endeavoured to glorify God or to promote the honour of His Name among those with whom we live? Have we worshipped Him privately and publicly, in such a manner as to inspire others with devotion? Have we kept the Lord’s Day in a holy manner?
“And as he loves God he will likewise love his neighbour, and that not only externally but from his heart. The sense of the love of God will be to him instead of a thousand commandments. He will love the souls of his fellow creatures, the ignorant he will instruct by word and example, the wicked he will endeavour to convert and lead them into the path of pity; the poor and afflicted he will assist, nourish and comfort, according to the ability which God hath given him. He will take care not to offend or injure his neighbour, either in his fortune or his name. So that backbiting, envy, strife, malice will be far from him, and all this will flow from a principle of faith and hope.
“What a happiness it would be if all Christians were actuated by such love or desire of making others happy here and hereafter!
“Let us therefore ask you seriously before that God who knows your hearts and ways, do you love your neighbours sincerely? Is it the bent of your lives not only to honour your God but likewise to make your fellow creatures happy? Have you showed a tender regard to their eternal welfare? You see thousands before your eyes sitting in darkness and the shadow of death. Have you endeavoured at least by your example to convince them of the purity and excellence of your religion? Have you discouraged vice and wickedness or have you promoted it and so laid a stumbling block before your ignorant and careless fellow-creatures? Have you assisted the poor and needy in their distressful circumstances or have you been regardless of their misery?
“Let us examine our hearts seriously and whatever we find in our behaviour to have been against the will of God let us immediately repent of it and beg forgiveness in the name of Jesus Christ. Cultivate these three principles, faith, hope, and love, and you will glorify God, enjoy true happiness and edify your fellow-creatures—which God grant!”
Travelling into Tinnevelley, we find Schwartz busy establishing a Christian church at Palamcotta where a number of converts had gathered together and with the help of some English gentlemen had built a little church, and here he preached to a good congregation, with eighty persons, to whom he administered the Sacrament. He is not, however, unmindful of the need of discipline and some elements in the church were rather unsatisfactory. “But this,” he adds, “is no more than what are usually united together, wheat and chaff.”
The worldliness of the European residents was always a disturbing aspect in the eyes of Schwartz, and writing to his friend Mr. Chambers on 20th July, 1785, he speaks of these things, knowing that his correspondent as an earnest Christian will appreciate what he says: