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November 2, 1795 letter from Abraham Hepworth to Thomas Haweis

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Title	November 2, 1795 letter from Abraham Hepworth to Thomas Haweis
Post Date	November 2, 1795
Author	Hepworth, Abraham (1771-1855)
Recipient	Haweis, Thomas (1734-1820)
Date	1795-11-02
Physical Description	4 pp. total; 3 pp. text; 1 p. address
Dimensions	35.4 x 22 cm
Location (Box, Folder)	Box 1, File 69
Address To	at his house adjoining his chapel, Spafields, London
Country To	England
Address From	Grafham [, Cambs]
Country From	England
Transcriber	Gareth Lloyd
Plain Text Transcription	From Abraham Hepworth in Graffham, Huntingdonshire, to T.H. at Spa Fields in London. Some time having elapsed since he replied to T.H’s kind letter, he is worried that his letter may not have reached its destination. He is particularly concerned as he is not completely confident that Spa Fields is in London. Hepworth will therefore send this second letter. T.H.’s last letter made him rather uneasy as he is naturally of ‘weak frame and low spirits, which too often get the better of my faith and which at present is no less weak than my body.’ Hepworth was very unhappy to hear that the bishops have started to exclude those who ‘from their evangelical sentiments, they shall, at a venture, brand with the name of Methodists.’ This treatment must inevitably have an impact on ‘every serious preacher who is liable to be held from that line of duty [in] which God has placed him…’ This is however the Lord’s doing and Hepworth believes that at this crucial juncture, God has some ‘grand work’ to perform. It may be presently hidden from sight, but it is enough to know that the Lord is omnipotent and omniscient. Hepworth’s reasons for wanting to obtain full orders (Hepworth must at this time only have been in possession of deacon's orders) includes the probability that Sir Robert Bernard, the late patron of Hepworth’s father’s living, has left the next presentation to Hepworth junior. Should Hepworth’s father die soon (he is in fragile health) before the removal of the present Bishop of Lincoln and if Hepworth were not in full orders, he would not be given the appointment. In T.H.’s last, he said that if Hepworth could get a presentation to a curacy from the Lord Chancellor, that would inevitably lead to the granting of full priest’s orders, but Hepworth has no friend who could speak to the Lord Chancellor on his behalf. Perhaps, T.H. could procure the help of some of his friends to this end. He has been told that either Lord Dartmouth or [William] Wilberforce would be the most appropriate people to achieve this end, but he is not acquainted with either of them. Hepworth would certainly value T.H.’s help in this matter. Hepworth is going for a few months to be the curate for the Cambridge University Professor of Civil Law (a clergyman of the right sort - All members of academic staff had at this time to be ordained clergymen and most would have held parishes where most of the duties would have been undertaken by curates.) at Weatherfield in Essex, which appointment he can quit at one months notice, so that if T.H. can come up with anything in the interim, it would not be a great obstacle. He will arrive in Weatherfield in about two weeks time. Hepworth has this afternoon read a kind letter from T.H.’s curate Mr [Charles] Chew offering him a curacy in Lincolnshire, but as it is in the diocese of the Bishop of Lincoln, he is unable to take it. Hepworth is hoping to preach for [Charles] Simeon at Cambridge next Thursday night. He has read in the [Evangelical?] Magazine of T.H.’s recent noble activities. (1 sheet, 3p.) 2 November 1795 William Legge (1731-1801), 2nd Earl of Dartmouth, was educated at Westminster School and Oxford. He occupied several important political positions including President of the Board of Trade and Secretary of State for the Colonies, in which capacity he played a major role in the American War of Independence. He apparently possessed little administrative ability but was admired for his honest and amiable nature. A close friend of the Countess of Huntingdon, his strong attachment to the Methodists earned him the nickname 'The Psalmsinger'.
Notes	Abraham Hepworth (1771-1855) was born in Graffham, Huntingdonshire. He was educated at Corpus Christi Cambridge and served a curacy in Yorkshire before commencing a long ministry as Vicar of St Luke’s in Manchester. In 1843 he moved to become the rector of Ingoldisthorpe in Norfolk where he spent his remaining years.
Digitization Date	Digitized: 2012
Digitization Process	Digitization process: Derivatives resized at 4030 pixels in height or width
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