After his wife left him for the last time, a famous English preacher wrote in his diary Latin words to the effect that he hadn't told her to leave and he wasn't going to ask her to come back. Who was he?

bull19007

samuel peyps. Spelling probably wrong Feb 26 08, 1:27 AM

queproblema

Good thinking on the diary part, but Pepys wasn't a preacher. Feb 26 08, 1:34 AM

purrrr

John Donne was a preacher...although his wife didn't exactly leave him, she died. Probably not what you meant. Feb 26 08, 4:27 PM

queproblema

No, this man lived well after Donne and a bit after Pepys. Very well known, and remembered almost entirely as a preacher. Feb 26 08, 7:01 PM

queproblema

This man, never a gripping speaker, was an unsuccessful missionary to North America but preached as many as five times a day to throngs of the poor and unchurched in England. Feb 29 08, 1:59 AM

purrrr

George Whitefield? His wife died before he did, and it seemed an unhappy union. http://www.geocities.com/johncharlesryle/ecl/ecl-gw01.html Feb 29 08, 10:34 PM

queproblema

Now you're getting close. He was contemporaneous with Whitefield. But besides having major doctrinal differences with the one I have in mind, Whitefield was an actor with such exquisite elocution David Garrick said he could melt an audience by merely saying the word "Mesopotamia." This one was a priest and the son of a priest, and a practical man who instead of urging men to shun mammon, told them to earn as much as they could and then save and give as much as they could. Mar 01 08, 12:10 AM

purrrr

John Wesley http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Wesley I had looked at him earlier but missed the part about his wife leaving him. I found Whitefield through him actually...silly me. Even if I am incorrect, I always learn lots researching the answers to your questions! Mar 01 08, 3:30 AM

queproblema

Yay for Purrrr! You got it. Here's the diary entry: "1771. Jan. 23. For what cause I know not to this day, my wife set out for Newcastle, purposing 'never to return.' Non eam reliqui: non dimisi: non revocabo.(I did not desert her: I did not send her away: I will not recall her.)" http://www.btinternet.com/~glynhughes/squashed/wesleyjournal.htm And here's the "rest of the story": http://www.wfn.org/1998/11/msg00155.html Mar 01 08, 12:15 PM