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Letter to Mrs. M. Doddridge

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Title	Letter to Mrs. M. Doddridge
Post Date	May 3, 1794
Author	Wesley, Sarah, 1759-1828
Recipient	Doddridge, Mrs. M.
Date	1794-05-03
Physical Description	4 pgs total; 3 pgs text; 1 pg address
Dimensions	21 x 34 cm
Location (Box, File)	Box 1, File 25
Address To	Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire
Country To	England
Transcriber	Wanda Smith
Transcription	[Addressed] To Mrs M. Doddridge Tewkesbury Glocestershire My dear friend Your kind letter has just reached me. So many circumstances and indeed events have fallen out since I received your former favor as would not only excuse but justify a silence wherein I am much the loser. But first I must return you my cordial thanks for the account of your niece’s safe delivery. Your solicitude and affection on all occasions is well known, and my sincerest congratulations I beg you will present to Mrs Humphrys. My youngest brother is married. It was long, too long kept a secret from us. I have been in the country visiting his wife. He has a lovely boy seven months old and in whom I fancy I can spy some strong traces of my beloved father. Mrs Samuel Wesley is in ill health, and I have promised to accompany her to the Hot Wells. This has retarded all my determinations as she is yet unfixed about it. And I think, my dear friend, it will not be possible to wait upon you till the autumn--at least I should keep you in uncertainty three weeks longer, and it is better to decide thus than to prevent any agreeable plans of your own. Therefore favor me with your kind letters, with you affectionate wishes, with your valued friendship till we meet, which I trust will be in this world before we rejoice in another. My mind has been a good deal agitated with domestic occurrences as you will imagine. My brother Samuel has many excellent and intellectual qualities. May he be happy in the choice of very early youth! I have just now received a letter from the priest whom you have kindly interested yourself concerning the brother of my friend, Madame Berthe. He has flown to Holland, and the accounts he gives of his undaunted countrymen is really alarming. He must soon fly to England as there is much danger for a conscientious priest anywhere but here. Courtray [Courtrai] is taken and other towns; the Republican armies are passing on to Menin and meditating a descent on Ostend. Alas! what avails our partial victories advantages so magnified in our Gazettes! We may extend slaughter but cannot hope for conquest! I should rejoice in any measures which accelerated peace, but much doubt if it be not prolonged by desperation on side and obstinacy on the other. The word of a persecuted emigrant is good authority, and he is near the spot and witnesses such scenes of carnage that he can have no motive for mis-representation. He knows not whether his amiable sister Berthe is alive, not having heard from her since July last. Often do I recollect the many agreeable days I passed with her. They were peaceful and sweet! My distress at leaving France, where I did not remain three months, was inexplicable and prophetic! My attachment to people whose merits I could not be said to know, though I believed, was as extraordinary. Yet I am inclined to think that many of our sympathies which in this stage of existence seem only sources of fruitless anxiety will be explained and perfected in another. Probably the spirits of the departed are actively employed in averting evil and imparting good, in rewarding Kindnesses, and mitigating Sorrows. The thought is consoling, and adds a sacredness to friendship and a pleasure to piety. Yes, my dear Mrs Doddridge, I will hope that in some renewed state you will receive better stronger marks of gratitude and affection than it can now be testified by Your S Wesley May 3, 1794. Our kindest respects to your good family [Two postscripts written on either side of the address panel:] Mrs Brace called on me the other day and enquired with much interest after yourself. She is in astonishing health, strength, and spirits. Let me hear from you soon; meanwhile, if I procure a frank I shall not wait for the form of punctual answers.
Digital Resource Type	Image
Digitization Date	Digitized: 2003
Digitization Process	Digitization process: Derivatives resized at 4037 pixels high or wide
Digital Publisher	Bridwell Library, Special Collections; Perkins School of Theology; Southern Methodist University
Rights	Permission to publish materials must be obtained from the Head of Special Collections of the Bridwell Library
Decade	1790-1799