Sally Wesley before she was scarred by smallpox.Sing to the Prince of life and peace
Let every tongue my Saviour bless
So strong to help in danger’s hour,
So present in His healing power,
And from the margin of the grave
So good a dying worm to save.Can I forget the solemn day
When grappling with my foe I lay?
O’er my weak flesh from foot to head
The loathsome leprosy was spread,
The foulest plague our race can feel,
The deadliest fruity of sin and hell.The poison boil’d in every vein,
The fire broke out in raging pain,
I sunk oppress’d through all my powers,
With bruises, wounds and putrid sores,
My body racked in every part,
And sick to death my fainting heart.Jesus beheld my last distress,
And turn’d the current of disease,
He stopp’d my spirit on the wing,
And chased away the grisly king;
His wonder-working arm I own,
And give the praise to God alone.He in the kind physician came,
(Bow all to Jesus’ balmy name!)
Amidst my weeping friends He stood,
And mix’d the cordial with His blood,
Display’d His head-reviving art,
And pour’d his life into my heart.Brought from the gates of death, I give
My life to Him by whom I live;
Raised from a restless bed of pain,
I render Him my strength again,
And only wait to prove His grace,
And only breathe to breath His praise.—Charles Wesley
This hymn was written a few years after Charles Wesley’s wife Sally nearly died of smallpox. (They lost their toddler son to this disease at the same time.) It’s a thanksgiving hymn I’ll never have occasion to sing—and that’s something to be thankful for, too.
Kim Shay’s post quoting Richard Baxter reminded me of Charles and Sally Wesley. In the quote, Baxter advises men not to put too much value on physical beauty when seeking a wife, but to “[b]ear in mind what work the pox or any other withering sickness will make with that silly beauty you so admire.”
According to Michael Haykin, after she recovered from small pox, Sally Wesley’s face was “deeply marred” by scars, and she “looked twice her age.” If you’re curious about the damage small pox can do to the skin (I’ll admit I was.), here’s a photo.
Charles Wesley, by the way, continued to call his wife beautiful, even with the pox scars.
I recommend Michael Haykin’s lecture on the marriage of Charles and Sally Wesley. (There’s also a transcript, if you prefer reading to listening.)