Diary of Ralph Josselin (Private Collection)

22.4.1649 (Sunday 22 April 1649)

document 70004045

April: 22 This week the lord was good and merciful to me, and mine in our peace, plenty, and health, my navel has continued well through gods goodness about 6 weeks, and yet I have travailed, sweat, and taken cold, I am exercised with a pose, and wheezing in the night, as if my chest, and head, were full of rheum, god in his due time will put an end to these illnesses, but through mercy, they do not much take me off from my employment, this week I had experience of gods mercy to me, not being lead into some temptations as formerly, Lord I am very apt to sin in many things against thee, oh keep me for thy name sake. I did not much in any of my studies this week, but only against the lords day, my wife held up her head beyond expectation, this week another family afflicted with the smallpox and we hitherto preserved blessed be his name, this is the fourth family in the town thus dealt with, and yet not any have died. the season was clear, dry, windy, warm and sometimes cool, a most comfortable seed time, the lord was good to me in the Sabbath, in the duties and exercises of the same, the preaching and expounding the word, my subject was about the future glory of the church of Jesus Christ here in this world: