was kept till they put five more of our friends into the water. Then they came, and took me out again, and carried me to a great pond, which was railed in on every side, being ten or twelve feet deep. Here four men took me by my legs and arms, and swung me backward and forward. For a moment I felt the flesh shrink; but it was quickly gone. I gave myself up to the Lord, and was content his will should be done. They swung me two or three times, and then threw me as far as they could into the water. The fall and the water soon took away my senses, so that I felt nothing more. But some of them were not willing to have me drowned. So they watched till I came above water, and then, catching hold of my clothes with a long pole, made shift to drag me

out.

"I lay senseless for some time. When I came to myself, I saw only two men standing by me. One of them helped me up, and desired me to go with him. He brought me to a little house, where they quickly put me to bed. But I had not lain long before the mob came again, pulled me out of bed, carried me into the street, and swore they would take away one of my limbs, if I would not promise to come there no more. I told them, I can promise no such thing.' But the man that had hold of me promised for me, and took me back into the house, and put me to bed again.

"Some of the mob then went to the Minister again, to know what they must do with me. He told them, 'You must take him out of the parish.' So they came, and took me out of bed a second time. But I had no clothes to put on; my own being wet, and also covered with paint. But they put an old coat about me, took me about a mile, and set me upon a

little hill. They then shouted three times, 'God save the King, and the devil take the Preacher!'

"Here they left me pennyless and friendless: for no one durst come near me. And my strength was nearly gone; so that I had much ado to walk or even to stand. But from the beginning to the end my mind was in perfect peace. I found no anger or resentment, but could heartily pray for my persecutors. But I knew not what to do, or where to go. Indeed, one of our friends lived three or four miles off. But I was so weak and ill, that it did not seem possible for me to get so far. However, I trusted in God, and set out; and at length I got to the house. The family did every thing for me that was in their power: they got me clothes, and whatever else was needful. I rested four days with them, in which time my strength was tolerably restored. Then I went into the Circuit, where I met with more persecution. As I was preaching in a certain village in the Fen, the mob came into the house, and broke through the congregation, in order to pull me down; but the good woman of the house took me into the parlour, and stood in the door with a great kitchenpoker in her hand, and told the mob, the first man that came near the door, she would knock him down. As she was very big with child, and near the time of her travail, this, with the sight of the great poker, kept them off, so that they could not get at me. However, they stayed for some time, and then left the house without doing much harm. After they were gone, I gave an exhortation, went to prayer, and then went to bed in peace. In the midst of this persecution, many were brought to the saving knowledge of God. And as the sufferings of Christ abounded, so our consolations by Christ abounded

G

also. As to the lions at Wrangle, an appeal to the Court of King's Bench made both them and the Minister quiet as lambs." *

Some of Mr. Wesley's early Preachers were men of strong intellect, and attained to considerable eminence in sacred scholarship. Thomas Olivers, originally a shoemaker, and a young man of profligate habits, became not only an excellent Christian, but an able and powerful Preacher. He wrote several polemical tracts, which reflect great credit upon his theological attainments, and his ability as a reasoner. The fine hymn, beginning,

"The God of Abraham praise,"

was his composition; and also the beautiful and appropriate tune which is set to the hymn,

"Lo, He comes, with clouds descending,"

in Mr. Wesley's "Sacred Harmony." Thomas Walsh Mr. Wesley declares to have been the best biblical scholar with whom he was ever acquainted. Though he died at the early age of twenty-eight, yet, says Mr. Wesley, "if he was questioned concerning any Hebrew word in the Old, or any Greek word in the New, Testament, he would tell, after a little pause, not only how often the one or the other occurred in the Bible, but also what it meant in every place. Such a master of biblic knowledge I never saw before, and never expect to see again." + Others of them were well acquainted with the English Scriptures, with Christian theology, and especially with the nature of personal religion; and that they * Lives of Early Methodist Preachers, vol. i. pp. 74-77. † Works, vol. vii. p. 54.

were able and effective Preachers, is attested by the fruit of their labours in every part of the land.

INSTITUTION OF AN ITINERANT MINISTRY.

WHEN the Wesleys began to preach the doctrine of salvation by faith, they did not confine their ministrations to any particular town, much less to any one congregation. From London Mr. John Wesley, as we have already seen, extended his labours to Bristol, Kingswood, and Bath; and, in the course of a very few years, he visited the most populous towns and districts in England; especially Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Nottingham, and the most thicklypeopled parts of Yorkshire, Staffordshire, and Cornwall. His brother Charles breathed the same spirit of holy zeal and enterprise, and followed in the same path of shame and glory with equal boldness and fidelity. Personal ease and honour they appear never to have thought of. Life itself was with them of no account, except as it was employed in bringing souls to Christ. The want of what others would have deemed suitable places to preach in, was to them no difficulty. When the churches were closed against them, they were ready to deliver their evangelical message in a private house, in a barn, in a public road, in the market-place, in a field; as our blessed Lord preached on a mountain, upon a plain, and in the fishing-boat of Simon Peter. Preaching two or three times a day, and travelling with great rapidity, their voices were soon heard in the length and breadth of the land. The neglected populace of London, the Papists of Ireland, the miners of Cornwall, the colliers of Kingswood, of Staffordshire, and of the north, with the keelmen of the Tyne, engaged the especial sympathy and shared the

labours of these apostolic men. After a few years, Charles became a family-man, and confined his ministry chiefly to London and Bristol. John's itinerancy continued, without abatement, to the end of his protracted life.

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The ministry which was assigned to their fellowlabourers was of a somewhat similar kind. Every one of them was required to be a Travelling Preacher." The country was divided into Circuits, to each of which two or three regular Itinerants were generally appointed. Some of the Circuits were, at first, very extensive, embracing a whole county, and in some cases a considerably larger space; but they became more contracted as the work spread, and the preaching-places and societies were multiplied. Still, however, the Preachers were required to visit in rotation the several towns, villages, and hamlets which were committed to their care, usually preaching every evening at least, during the week, teaching also from house to house, visiting the sick, mecting the societies, and every where maintaining the discipline to which the whole body was pledged. From these stations the Preachers were liable to be removed every year; and they seldom remained in any of them more than two years in succession. The same order is observed to this day. Thus the various talents of the Preachers were brought to bear upon the different congregations, the peculiar tastes of all were gratified, and the interest of novelty was rendered subservient to the cause of religion. Careless persons, who would not hear a Preacher with whose name they were familiar, would often attend the ministry of a stranger; and many, in this manner, were converted from the error of their way.