Philip Doddridge, Northampton, to John Lowe, Bramhall, near Stockport, 26 January 1741/2.

Northampton 26. 1741/2

Dear Sir

         I cannot satisfy my self any longer to defer acquainting you wh what I was at first unwilling to alarm you wh I mean ye bad state of your good Sons Health. A violent Cold the beginnings of wh he did not regard so cautiously as Prudence wd have required sometime since settled on his Lungs occasioned a Decay of appetite & other Symptoms & want of sleep a sharpness of Breath made me very uneasy[;] at length wh much Importunity I persuaded him to call in ye Advice of the Physician who has now attended him about a Fortnight. We thought him rather better last week but he is somewhat altered for the worse within these last two Days & on ye whole I look upon ye Case as so hazardous that I thought it absolutely necessary to acquaint you wh it.

         I can assure you Sir that great Care has been taken of him that he might want neither proper Food suitable to his Low State nor careful Nursing & as it has happened that my wife who miscarried about three weeks ago has been confined ever since to a Chamber near his wh an excellent Nurse to attend her Mr Law has shared wh her in those comfortable Things & in that Attendance wh suited her in those Circumstances. And his obliging thankful Temper joined wh ye Early Apprehension wh she had of ye Dangerous Nature of his Illness has engaged her to some more than ordinary watchfulness over him & I can truly say that if he had been her own Brother I see not how she could have been more tender of him.

         I would hope on ye whole Sir ye Case is not desperate but it is so bad that I judged it my Duty to send you this information both that your prayers may form wh ours wh are very earnestly presented to God on his Account & also that you may be preparing to make him a Visit if Circumstances should require it[.]

         However Sir I wd not urge your coming immediately you shall here [sic] again in a Week & then I will send your Bill wh on this melancholy occasion is a pretty large one tho ye Doctors Fees have only been ½ a Guinea each other Day. Expences in these Circumstances are unavoidable but I do all I conveniently can to moderate them & ye Assistance of my wifes Nurse & ye tender Love of his Fellow pupils each of whom waits on him like a Brother & one or another almost continually has saved the Charge of a Nurse for him wh otherwise must have been provided.

         I must conclude Sir wh mentioning one thing wh has given me great Comfort under ye Deep Concern wh his dangerous Illness occasions & it is this. It seems to have led him into some deeper Reflections on religion than he had ever before entertained, & he appears wh a much more affectionate Sense of the Truth & Importance of some Doctrines of ye Gospel wh tis too fashionable to pour Contempt upon than he once had. Thus if God spares his Life will have in all probability a very happy Effect on his future Ministry & if God should remove him will be ye best support to him & his Surviving Friends. I must now conclude wh his Duty & our Services to your self Mrs Lowe & ye rest of ye Family & wh ye assurances of my paternal Care of him wh is ye best proof I can give of being

                                 Dear Sir

                                             Your affectionately sympathizing Friend

                                                         & humble Servant

                                                                     P Doddridge

Your Son is rather better this Morning

Address: To Mr Lowe at Bramhall |to  To be left at Stockport (wh Mr Joshua Worthington) | near Manchester | Lancashire | Turn at Towcester

Postmark: Towcester

Note: (in unknown hand) From Dr Doddridge

Text: ENG. MSS. 369, no. 39(b), Raffles Collection, John Rylands Library, Manchester; noted in Nuttall, Calendar, p. 144.