GOD GLORIFIED IN HIS WORKS OF PROVIDENCE AND GRACE. A REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF IT, IN THE VARIOUS AND SIGNAL DELIVERANCES, THAT EVIDENTLY APPEAR TO BE WROUGHT FOR MRS. MERCY WHEELER OF PLAINFIELD; WHO WAS RESTORED FROM EXTREME IMPOTENCE, AND LONG CONFINEMENT. PUBLISHED AT THE DESIRE OF MANY

Hartford, Connecticut: Elisha Babcock, 1798. Third edition. Pamphlet. Good. 12mo., 6.3 in. x 4.4 in., pp. 59. Stitched paper covers. Rubbing to extremities. Several closed tears to fore-edges and pages 51-60. Creases and thumbing to bottom right corner. Hand-stitched thread repair to two inch closed tear on rear board. Previous owner's signature to front free endpaper, dated 1865. While worn, all text is clearly legible. Further accounts by Lord, dated June 20, 1752, and Dec. 6, 1771; pp. 49-51 "Redemption," p. 52-56; "The three warnings," pp. 56-59, in verse

Mercy Wheeler (1718-1819) was confined to her bed from the age of eight to twenty-five after a childhood malarial fever. Though her body wasted away and she lost her voice entirely, in brief moments of strength, she called on others—especially young people—to learn from her suffering. She proclaimed through her writing that though life is fragile and short, God is faithful even through illness. Her story caused quite a stir as leaders of the Great Awakening debated the Holy Spirit's role in the church.  In early 1743, when Wheeler was 25, her condition slowly began to improve. She could sit up in bed and move a bit with crutches, but was still too weak to walk unassisted. In May of that year, she asked a local Congregationalist minister, Hezekiah Lord (1698-1761), to preach at her family's house. Wheeler became confident God would do something incredible, repeating the words of John 11:40—"If thou wouldst believe, thou shouldst see the glory of God"—as she waited for Lord to arrive. When he came he preached on Isaiah 57:15—"to revive the spirit of the humble."  As she listened Wheeler believed God meant these words especially for her. Affected by this conviction, she began to shake involuntarily. Attendees carried her back to her bed, convinced that she needed rest. After a brief moment of doubt, Wheeler became even more confident that God was healing her.  She stood up. Her disconnected tendons and atrophied muscles filled with new strength, and she walked around the room several times. As astonished witnesses watched, Wheeler yelled, "Bless the Lord Jesus, who has healed me!" (She lived to the age of 100.) Wheeler's dramatic healing occurred amid what historians call the Great Awakening, a series of religious revivals that began in the 1730s and continued throughout the century across North America, Britain, and continental Europe. (from Christian History Institute).