purchased an old foundry for his head-quarters. A room in Fetter Lane became the centre where they held prayer meetings, discussions of their spiritual state, and love feasts, in imitation of the old Agapè of ancient times. It was all known and approved by Dr. Gibson, Bishop of London, the members of the Society were constant Church-goers and communicants, and the brothers took part in the service, and preached in the churches in London. Whitfield of course joined them, and after reporting himself to the Archbishop and Bishop of London, and the Georgian Committee, he was appointed to the parish of Savannah in Georgia, and received Ordination from Dr. Benson, Bishop of Gloucester.

Near Bristol lay a tract of country, called King's Wood, belonging to one of the Bristol parishes, but three or four miles from the Church. It was full of coal mines, and the colliers had hitherto been left in a state of heathen ignorance and neglect.

Whitfield's heart was moved towards them, and on February 17th, 1739, he resolved to address them. It was a Saturday, when in gown and bands he took his stand on a mound at Rose Green and addressed all who would hear, to the number of two hundred.

The Chancellor of the Diocese sent for him, and told him that the clergy in the diocese were forbidden to lend him their pulpits, and read to him the canons forbidding ministers to preach in private houses.

'Is there not also a canon forbidding the clergy to play at cards, or frequent taverns?' asked Whitfield.

To this there was no answer but a threat of excommunication if Whitfield continued to preach without a license; but the open fields were not within the Chancellor's jurisdiction, and the second audience at Rose Green amounted to 2000, the third almost doubled the number. A man had already said that Mr. Whitfield preached like a lion, his voice reached the hosts, thronging the hedges and trees, and their singing was indeed the voice of a multitude. To hosts of these the proclamation of the Saviour was absolutely new, and Whitfield could see the white channels made in their grimed faces by their tears.

He urged on Wesley to follow his example, but there was much demur. However, John came to King's Wood, and was present when Whitfield was received by the colliers with ardent endeavours at a collection for building a school for their children.

A piece of ground was promised, and a stone laid on which Whitfield knelt and prayed.

Wesley, after seeing the effect of Whitfield's preaching, and recollecting that the Sermon on the Mount was an instance of field preaching, resolved, as he called it, to make himself most vile, and then began his course of open-air preaching.

The terrors of judgment, and the saving necessity of faith were a foremost feature in these discourses, and the effect in various cases under John Wesley's preaching was to produce hysterical agonies, amounting to convulsions, and these became infectious and imitative. John thought them the wrestling of the Spirit with Satan, ending in faith, assurance, and peace being attained; but Charles and Whitfield greatly mistrusted them, especially when Charles, seeing a woman working herself up into a paroxysm, told her he did not think the better of her for it, whereupon she subsided.

The brothers at this time did not believe themselves to have received the full assurance of faith, though they acted devoutly in faith. Charles was constantly going to the prisons to comfort and give hope to the men under sentence of death, often going to Tyburn in the cart with them, and John awakening multitudes with his preaching. The intense joy of assurance that their sins were forgiven for the sake of their faith in Christ was the point they strained for. And Charles first attained it, John, not long after, suddenly declared, when at supper with his friends the Hutton family, that he felt this confidence, and that he was a Christian.'

'I'm sure, Mr. Wesley,' said Mrs. Hutton, 'that if you are only just now a Christian, you must have been a great hypocrite, for you always made us believe you one.'

Old Mrs. Wesley, now past seventy, declared that she had never before heard of the present forgiveness of sins, till, while in the act of receiving the Holy Communion, as the Cup was being administered to her, a sudden sense of certainty of the forgiveness of her sins for the Blessed Saviour's sake flashed over her, and remained with her. Well, indeed, might it do so, with such an aged saint as herself; the fallacy lay in supposing that the granting of such absolute assurance was the essential proof of saving faith, without which persons were in a kind of external state.

Her son Samuel, the wisest of the brothers, saw and grieved at this exclusive teaching. I am bereft of both my brothers,' he

wrote. 'Must my mother follow too.... I am not afraid the Church should excommunicate Jack, but that he should excommunicate the Church.' And this was what in effect happened, though not till much later. Samuel died only three weeks after writing this letter, and John, as he grew older and past his first enthusiasm, wrote that he had come to preach assurance as a privilege, but not as an absolute essential to salvation.

Still John and Charles leant on the Church, and knew that no faith was real and trustworthy which did not manifest itself in obedience to her moral law and resort to her ordinances. The error was that the conscious crisis of conversion was absolutely necessary to all who had been baptized in infancy and lived faithfully. Thus, when generations had grown up in their peculiar teaching, without their original Catholic foundation, it was shown that these feelings were supposed to be more necessary than Sacraments, and the authority of the Church was overthrown so that a schism which the Wesleys never intended was formed.

The great mass of English people under the neglect of the clergy and the evil examples around were in a condition in which the zealous preaching of repentance was most truly needful, and almost all the most earnest of the clergy recognised it. Archbishop Secker was their warm friend, so was the Bishop of London, Bishop Benson of Bristol, and many parochial clergy, admitted them to minister in their churches, and were willing that they should preach in the fields or churchyards. Besides the preaching at Bristol they had begun at Blackheath, Moorfields, and Kennington, where throngs upon throngs crowded to hear them, were awakened to a sense of sin, by their fervid exhortations, and many became deeply, passionately repentant, and believed earnestly.

The first opponents were that rabble, 'the lewd fellows of the baser sort,' who hate and dread all that rebukes sin. They howled, pelted, and raised riots, which the Justices of the Peace, who were often rude ungodly squires, charged upon the Methodists; and if they did not encourage the violence, did nothing to hinder it.

STROLLING PLAYERS.

A HARMONY OF CONTRASTS.

BY CHARLOTTE M. YONGE AND CHRISTABEL R. COLERIDGE.

'It takes all sorts to make a world.'

CHAPTER XXXII.

THE YORKSHIREMAN'S MAGNANIMITY.'

CLARENCE, somewhat cheered by his cousin's encouragement, got into the sitting-room on the next morning in time to see Juliet arrive at the theatre for an extra rehearsal with Alaric of the evening performance. He watched her slight figure in its dark tweed dress come rapidly up the street alone, and make her way though the passengers. It was market day, and the town was full, and his lover's imagination pictured her, alone, on her way to her work, on many another day, or days that would be cold and dismal, amid crowds that would be rough and careless, while he Mr. Lambourne was out, and he was left to watch the theatre doors as he lay on his sofa by the window, until his not very profitable reflections were startled away by the sudden announcement of Sir Lewis Willingham,' who entered, looking hurried and anxious.

I hope I'm not disturbing you too early,' he said; 'but here is a very awkward piece of business, in which perhaps you may be able to advise us. Buckley has never gone home. Here's a frantic letter from his father, besides half a dozen absurd bills which he has left behind him. He has been so thick with Clinton lately, that I thought he might know something of his proceedings, so I looked him up; he's mostly sober at this time of day. However, I could get nothing out of him.'

'He's an uncommon bad lot,' said Clarence. Had Buckley any money?'

'Five pounds which the Major was ass enough to lend him. My wife says she hopes he will have to beg his way back to Ousehaven in rags and tatters. I believe the best thing would be to leave him to come to his senses, but I don't know what line his father will take, and there'll be misery at his home.'

'It's unlucky,' said Clarence; but they won't hear of my going back to London till the end of next week at earliest. Howard will have to take the first rehearsal for me. I suppose Clinton wouldn't come up here to be pumped. Let me see. Where had he a London engagement last year? Oh, at the Duchess. I know a man there; I'll send a line and tell him to look out. Could you find some writing things for me on that table? Thanks. It's bad to be one armed as well as one legged, but I can manage.' He pencilled two or three lines, and directed Lewis how to address them, adding, 'Buckley's a good-looking fellow. If Clinton has given him a leg up, he might get taken on. Any way, I should think he would apply there.'

Clarence leant back, as if a little tired with the effort of writing, then said, 'There's another thing. About Dolph, my uncle was quite in earnest with his offer. Are you willing for the boy to accept it?'

'Needs must,' said Lewis. 'The ladies see that there is no use in clipping his wings, and, for my part, I haven't so high an opinion of the Ousehaven shop-boy, as to think he'll be worse off at the Planet, than in their company.'

'Then,' said Clarence, 'I think I can arrange for him to be safely lodged. I'll see about it, when I go up. I think he had better not come till after Christmas. My uncle generally has a second piece running, which varies, and I'll get him on in that. We shall then be in working order.'

'All right, that gives time to prepare his mind, and his clothes. I must be off now, Armytage has got all the Rotherwood party coming over to see us. He's going to give a great tea fight in the green room, and let the young ladies peep behind the scenes. Will Mr. and Mrs. Lambourne join us? I think Mrs. Lambourne spoke of wishing to meet Miss Merrifield.'

'I'll tell them,' said Clarence. Then he paused and said, in a different tone, 'They kindly insist on carrying me off with them as soon as Randall's operation is over. Alaric is very anxious about that. The Planet reopens on the 1st of December. The fate of our first piece means a great deal for me, as well as for my