Untitled - the Digital Library of Georgia

126 GEORGIA AND GEORGIANS
ing. The whole, therefore, contains a minute account of the way in
which Wesley spent every hour of every day during the time embraced
in the record. The first entry is dated Saturday, May 1, 1736 [Old
Style] ; the last is dated February 11,1737. Wesley relates in his printed
journal that he 'first set foot on American ground,' Friday, February
6, 1736, entering upon his ministry in Savannah on Sunday, March 7,
of the same year; and on Friday, December 2,- 1737, he continued, 'I
shook off the dust of my feet and left Georgia, after having preached the
gospel there—not as I ought but as I was able—one year and nearly
nine months.' He' took his final leave of America on the twenty-second.
This record therefore relates to the greater part of the time spent by
him as a missionary in Georgia. .
"In the journal, the entries for the day begin at four o'clock in the
morning, and end at nine o'clock at night; and, also every hour of the
day is inserted, whether the writer was on land or sea. The dates are
given at the head of each page with the utmost exactness. The handwrit
ing is neat and clear, and resembles that found in Wesley's later manu
scripts. It was all written with a quill pen, on good paper, and with
durable ink. The book is stained with oil or sea water, for he carried
it with him on his voyages during his stay in America, several of such
voyages being mentioned in the book. In one passage he uses the short
hand of Byrom's system, which he learned as early as 1731. The book
shows that he was often attacked by ailments which ordinary mortals
would have regarded as severe. Again and again he is seized with 'chol-
ick,' which he sometimes spells with and sometimes without the 'k.' The
first registered attack was on May 5th. It was on this date he met with
trouble by declining to baptize a child because the mother refused to
have it dipped. Wesley dined there, and 'took a glass of spirit and
water to cure me of the cholick.' He abstained from spirituous liquors,
'unless in cases of extreme necessity' or 'at a wedding feast.'
"On one occasion he suffered from an attack of 'St. Anthony's fire,'
which 'smarted much.' He was also attacked by 'shocking headaches,'
intermittent fever, violent and protracted nausea, dysentery, and boils.
He was also occasionally deprived o£ sleep by the attacks of nocturnal
insects. He had often to take 'physick,' and was frequently 'in pain' or
'sick.' The only robust exercise he took was 'walking' or 'felling trees,'
or 'nailing pales.' References are made to different places about Savan
nah, such as Frederica and Thunderbolt, and to the different people
whom he chanced to meet. He speaks of Tomo-chi-chi and the Indians.
"While in Savannah, Mr. Wesley acquired German, Spanish and Italian.
He prepared while there a small volume of seventy-four pages, with the
title-page: 'A Collection of Psalms and Hymns. Charles-town: printed
by Lewis Timothy.' This was the first Methodist hymn-book ever pub
lished."
On a bluff, near the seashore, nine miles from Savannah, is situated
Bethesda, one of the noblest memorials in existence to the great English
divine, the mature flower of whose genius was devoted to the establish
ment of this orphan house in what was then a remote wilderness of the
New World. It is the oldest organized charity in America, a record