"I sleep but little, very little," said he, in a letter dated January 27, 1739. "Had I a thousand hands, I could employ them all. I scare know what it is to have an idle moment. I thank you for blessing God on my behalf. I want a thousand tongues to praise Him. He still works by me more and more. Subscriptions for erecting an orphan house come in apace. On Monday seven-night, God willing, I set out for Bristol, with Mr. Seward. Mr. Howel Harris and I are correspondents, blessed be God! May I follow him as he does Jesus Christ! How he outstrips me!"
As Messrs. Seward and Harris will occupy a somewhat prominent position in the ensuing pages, a brief account of them may be acceptable.
William Seward, together with his brothers, Thomas, Benjamin, and Henry, were natives of Badsey, a hamlet about two and a half miles from Evesham, and were men of independent property. Thomas was a clergyman of the Church of England, and will be mentioned hereafter. Little is known respecting Benjamin, excepting that he spent some years at Cambridge, was unimpeachable in his morals, was converted in the spring of 1739,[166] and occasionally employed himself in composing hymns. The following was appended to an 8vo. pamphlet, published in the year of his conversion, and entitled "The Conduct and Doctrine of the Rev. Mr. Whitefield vindicated." Though lacking poetic merit, it is not without interest as exhibiting the spirit of one of Whitefield's great admirers:—
"Come, blessed Jesus, quickly come,
And mark the bright celestial way;
Within my breast erect Thy throne,
Nor let me faint through long delay.
I'm weary of these earthly toys,
The world, and all its flattering charms;
My heart pants after purer joys,
And Christ alone my bosom warms.
With coldness and contempt, I view
These vain, these transitory scenes;
Since faith hath form'd my soul anew,
And wak'd me from Egyptian dreams.
Methinks a ray of heavenly light
Already darts upon my soul;
Methinks the promis'd land's in sight;
My heart's the needle, Christ the pole.
What though, for pageantry and state,
Others to earthly treasures trust,
And, aiming falsely to be great,
Like the vile serpents lick the dust:
My hope, my treasure, and my rest—
My all-sufficiency's above;
The kingdoms of the world possess'd
Are vain without my Saviour's love."
Henry Seward, the eldest of the brothers, was married to a Baptist wife, and was, as will be seen, a violent opposer of the Methodists.