To Mary Tooth at Madeley. When they parted in London at the house of Mr Moor [possibly Henry Moore, the Wesleyan minister, with whom Tooth is known to have stayed during visits to London], Boyce was unwell and her condition worsened after a few days. She was confined to her bed and had little hope of survival. Worried that she was becoming a burden on the people with whom she was staying, she begged them to put her into a hospital but they refused, insisting that they would do what they could for her 'a poor sick stranger'. She prays that God may reward their kindness. Mr Moor came to visit her and again may God reward him.
Spiritual matters are discussed.
Since they parted, Tooth has been much on her mind and she would have been very glad to have had the opportunity of spending more time with her. Spiritual matters are discussed. During Boyce's time in London she was most grieved by what she saw and heard among the profane. 'They feed each other with flattery and roll it as a sweet morsel under their tongue. I hate this deceitful food…'
Boyce preached only once in London during this visit. It was announced for her that she would preach at Hart's Lane Chapel but she finally had to get Miss Burger to supply her place. Boyce left London as soon as she could get a seat on a coach and with great difficulty finally reached home at her 'humble cottage'. Here she could be alone and have time for reading, prayer and writing, which was impossible in almost every other place. She does not know what Tooth thinks but her experience is that she feels uncomfortable unless she has a quiet time each day for such activities. She is still subject to a great deal of pain and 'have many thorns in the flesh those messengers of Satan'. Perhaps she needs such trials to keep her humble lest she thinks too much of herself to give the Lord his due. Spiritual matters are discussed.
Boyce feels that her work is not yet done. She has been engaged in her public labours for forty-three years and when she looks back she can see so many defects that she wonders why the Master tolerated her. Spiritual matters are discussed in detail.
'I see a day of trouble at hand. For more than twelve months I warned the people both in publick and private but I seemed to most as one that mocked so like the prophet Jeremiah…I mourn day and night for the sins of the daughter of my people..' Spiritual matters are discussed in detail with particular reference to the experiences of the prophet Jeremiah and God's punishment of the sinful and care of the righteous.
'We are God's servants and carry his mark in our foreheads. We are not ashamed of Him before men but bear a publick testimony for Jesus though few believe we [women preachers?] are called to do this but God himself is judge…his word is not a sealed book to us. He will give us more light and knowledge in the scriptures for our own comfort and the benefit of those to whom we preach…'
Tooth should give her kind love to that woman she mentioned who speak in public. They all should help one another and may the Lord bless and own both her and Tooth.
[Martha] Gregson was grieved that she had not spoken with Tooth - she sends her love. Gregson and her husband are in better health.
When Tooth has it in mind to write, she should do so direct to the widow Mrs Boyce at Mr Cotten's in South Lopsham, Norfolk.
Note
- Sarah Boyce [nee Mallet] (c.1764-c.1843) was converted under Methodist influence at the age of seventeen and began to preach early in 1786. She worked chiefly in East Anglia but also travelled elsewhere. She accompanied John Wesley during a visit to Norwich and corresponded with him several times. Boyce was subject to trances and felt under a strong conviction to preach the word of God. Despite the restrictions placed on women preachers after Wesley's death, correspondence preserved in the Methodist Archives proves that she was openly preaching, often in Methodist chapels, to within a few years of her death. Source: Fletcher-Tooth collection at the MARC and Dictionary of Evangelical Biography, edited by Donald Lewis (1995) #di Martha Gregson (d.1839) was the eldest daughter of Revd. John Twells, Anglican vicar of Cawston with Rockland in Norfolk. She was converted under Methodist influence and became deeply involved in the Methodist cause in her native county as a preacher and promoter of schools and chapels. She was a close friend of the preacher Sarah Boyce and during the last period of her life the two shared a house and exercised what was effectively a joint ministry. Her husband was Revd. W. Gregson of Saham-Toney in Norfolk. Despite his Anglican orders he appears to have been sympathetic to her activities. Source: Methodist Magazine 1841, pp.326-327 and Fletcher-Tooth collection at the MARC