The various stories circulated of his strange nervous affections, or father it should be said, of his intellectual derangement, appear to have been the fabrications of the designing, and only to have obtained belief with the credulous. “I take upon me, and feel myself happy,” says his biographer and friend, Dr. Gibbons, “to aver, that these reports were utterly false, and I do this from my own knowledge of him for several years, and some of them the years of his decay; from the express declaration of his amanuensis, who was ever with him, and above all from that of Mrs. Elizabeth Abney, who lived in the same family with him thirty-six years.” But his constitution was broken, and his nervous system considerably disordered and debilitated, by the frequent and heavy strokes of illness, and his intense exertions of mind, especially in his youth[9]. He was for several years together greatly distressed with insomnia, or continued wakefulness. Very often he could obtain no sleep for several nights successively except such as was forced by medical preparations; and not unfrequently even opiates lost their virtue, and only served to aggravate his malady. It is wonderful how, with such a weak frame and so many shocks rapidly succeeding each other, he was able to maintain such equanimity of temper, and vigour of intellect: The state of his mind through all the decays of nature, his humble confidence and his joy gave the decisive stamp of reality to his hopes and exemplified the sublime attainments of which we are capable in this vale of imperfection and sorrow. His superiority to the pressures of sickness, and his triumphant assurance of the love of God are beautifully expressed in his own devout soliloquy which he entitles Thoughts and Meditations in a long sickness, 1712-1713. Yet, gracious God, amidst these storms of nature, Thine eyes behold a sweet and sacred calm Reign through the realms of conscience. All within Lies peaceful, all compos’d. ’Tis wondrous grace Keeps off thy terrors from this humble bosom. Though stain’d with sins and follies, yet serene In penitential peace, and chearful hope, Sprinkled and guarded with atoning blood. Thy vital smiles, amidst this desolation, Like heav’nly sun-beams hid behind the clouds, Break out in happy moments, with bright radiance Cleaving the gloom, the fair celestial light Softens and gilds the horrors of the storm, And richest cordials to the heart conveys.