Whom faith pursues, and eager hope discerns,
In yon bright chariot, as a cherub borne
On wings of love, to uncreated realms
Of deathless joy, and everlasting peace.’”[[371]]
On the day Charles Perronet died, Wesley was in Bristol, and wrote:—
“1776. August 12.—I found Mr. Fletcher a little better, and proposed his taking a journey with me to Cornwall; nothing being so likely to restore his health as a journey of four or five hundred miles. But his physician would in no wise consent, so I gave up the point.”[[372]]
Instead of going to Cornwall Fletcher returned to Madeley, where he wrote two letters to his friend, James Ireland, Esq., from which the following are extracts:—
“Madeley, August 18, 1776. My breast is very weak, but, if it please God, it will in time recover strength. Mr. Greaves will take all the duty upon himself, and I shall continue to take rest, exercise, and the food which was recommended to me. The Lord grant me to rest myself on Christ, to exercise myself in charity, and to feed upon the bread of life, which God has given us in Jesus Christ.
“I thank you, my dear friend, for all your favours and all your attention to me. What returns shall I make? I will drink the cup of thanksgiving, and I will bless the name of the Lord. I will thank my dear friend and wish him all the temporal blessings he conferred upon me, and all those spiritual ones which were not in his power to bestow. Live in health; live piously; live content; live in Christ; live for eternity; live to make your wife, your children, your servants, your neighbours happy. And may the God of all grace give back a hundredfold to you and your dear wife all the kindnesses with which you have loaded me.”[[373]]
“Madeley, August 24, 1776. My dear friend, I have received the news of your loss, and of the gain of your younger daughter. She has entered into port, and has left you on a tempestuous sea. I recommend to Mrs. Ireland the resignation of David when he lost his son; and do you give her the example. The day of death is preferable to that of our birth; with respect to infants, the maxim of Solomon is indubitable. 0 what an honour is it to be the father and mother of a little cherub who hovers round the throne of God in heavenly glory!