Last words of the faithful
Charles Wesley
Died 29 March 1788 · London, aged 80
Charles Wesley, who wrote thousands of hymns including Hark the Herald Angels Sing and Love Divine All Loves Excelling, died in London on 29 March 1788. In his final days, too weak to write, he dictated a last six line verse to his wife Sarah. It is his final composition.
The last words
The story behind them
The number usually given is six thousand hymns, and the real figure may be higher. He wrote them on horseback, in the street, after arguments, on the anniversaries of things. If you have sung in an English speaking church you have sung Charles Wesley, whether or not you noticed his name.
In March 1788 he was eighty and dying, and could no longer hold a pen. He asked his wife Sarah to come and take something down. What he gave her was six lines, and the first of them does not flinch: in age and feebleness extreme, who shall a helpless worm redeem?
Six thousand hymns, and the last one is a question and an answer.
Then the answer, which is the only one he had ever really written about: Jesus, my only hope Thou art, strength of my failing flesh and heart. And then the line that is almost a request for permission: O could I catch a smile from Thee, and drop into eternity. He died on 29 March. He had spent sixty years putting words in other people's mouths so they could sing what they could not say, and at the end he needed somebody else to hold the pen while he did it one last time for himself.
What they died for, you can meet
None of these people died for an idea. They died holding onto a Person, convinced that death was not the end because he had already walked out of a tomb. The Living Bread is a quiet place to meet that same Jesus, read the Gospels for yourself, and ask your honest questions.
Jesus Christ is Lord.
Frequently asked questions
- What was the last hymn Charles Wesley wrote?
- A six line verse dictated to his wife Sarah shortly before his death in March 1788, beginning 'In age and feebleness extreme, who shall a helpless worm redeem?' and ending 'O could I catch a smile from Thee, and drop into eternity!'
- How many hymns did Charles Wesley write?
- Commonly estimated at around six thousand, including Hark the Herald Angels Sing, Love Divine All Loves Excelling, and Christ the Lord Is Risen Today.
- How is the last hymn preserved?
- His wife Sarah took it down at his bedside, and the family preserved it. It appears in the early biographies and in collections of his hymns.
