We have already seen that Mr Wesley was seriously involved in debt. During his attendance at convocation he seems to have received considerable assistance. In a letter to Archbishop Sharpe, dated August 7, 1702, he mentions several sums which he had received from eminent persons: the Dean of Exeter, £10; Dr Stanley, £10; Archbishop of Canterbury, £10, 10s.; and, he adds:—“Even my lord Marquis of Normanby, by my good lady’s solicitations succeeding your Grace’s, did verily and indeed, with his own hand, give me twenty guineas, and my lady five. With these and other sums I made up about £60, and came home joyful enough,—thanked God,—paid as many debts as I could,—quieted the rest of my creditors,—took the management of my house into my own hands,—and had ten guineas left to take my harvest.”[[160]]
What is meant by the last sentence but one, I hardly know. It is difficult to regard it as a reflection on the household management of his wife. Probably, on account of his wife’s feeble health, his domestic matters had been managed by his servant; but, be that as it might, the rector now, perhaps unwisely, took the management himself.
Still, however, the current of life was far from flowing smoothly. Soon after the removal from the miserable hut at South Ormsby to the spacious parsonage at Epworth, the rector’s barn fell down, and had to be rebuilt; and now, on July 31st, 1702, another disaster occurred, which was more serious than the former.
Mr Wesley shall tell his own story in the letter to Archbishop Sharpe already quoted. He writes:—“On the last of July 1702, a fire broke out in my house, by some sparks which took hold of the thatch, and consumed about two-thirds of it before it could be quenched. I was at the lower end of the town visiting a sick person, and went thence to R. Cogan’s. As I was returning, they brought me the news. I got one of his horses, rode up, and heard, by the way, that my wife, children, and books were saved; for which God be praised, as well as for what He has taken. They were all together in my study, and the fire under them. When it broke out, Mrs Wesley got two of the children in her arms, and ran through the smoke and fire; but one of them was left in the hurry, till the other cried for her, when the neighbours ran in, and got her out through the fire, as they did my books, and most of my goods; this very paper among the rest, which I afterwards found, as I was looking over what was saved.
“I find it is some happiness to have been miserable, for my mind has been so blunted with former misfortunes, that this scarce made any impression upon me. I shall go on, by God’s assistance, to take my tithe; and, when that is in, to rebuild my house, having, at last, crowded my family into what is left, and not missing many of my goods.
“I humbly ask your Grace’s pardon for this long, melancholy story, and leave to subscribe myself your Grace’s ever obliged and most humble servant, S. Wesley.”
It is a somewhat singular circumstance that the sheet of paper on which this letter was written, was one on which he had begun a letter to the archbishop six days before the fire broke out. About four square inches of the lower corner of the fly-leaf was burnt, and the whole was stained by the water that helped to put out the flames.
The good archbishop, to whom this account was sent, came forward both with his purse and influence; and this produced the following touching and characteristic letter:—
“Epworth, March 20, 1703.
“My Lord,—I have heard that all great men have the art of forgetfulness, but never found it in such perfection as in your lordship: only it is in a different way from others; for most forget their promises, but your Grace those benefits you have conferred. I am pretty confident your Grace neither reflects on, nor imagines how much you have done for me; nor what sums I have received by your lordship’s bounty and favour; without which I had been, ere this, moulding in a jail, and sunk a thousand fathoms below nothing.