caught him by the horns, and twisted him on his back, setting my right foot on his neck, in the presence of a thousand people; and I bid them cry to Jesus, assuring them, that what they had seen me do, he would enable them to do. When I awoke, I was in a sweat, and my body was as much fatigued, as if I had been at hard labour; but my soul was filled with joy.

A little after this, as I was reading the Scriptures, a letter came to me; I saw it was not from my wife; then I said, “I fear here is bad news." Upon opening it, I found my daughter was dead, whom I formerly idolized; my son was so ill that his life was despaired of; my wife had fallen from a horse, and was lamed; my father-in-law was dead, and my mother was sick. It then came to my mind, that when I was at the sacrament, I made a free-will offering to the Lord, of my body and soul, wife and children, and all that was near and dear to me; but I thought, how shall I bear it, now the Lord has taken them at my hand? I went to prayer, and found my heart wholly resigned to the will of God. Then it came to me, " Let the dead bury their dead; but follow thou me." I began to read again; and the people of the house where I was, scolded me, because I did not weep, wring my hands, and stamp as they did, at the loss of a child; saying, I was a hard-hearted father. I replied, "I cannot tell how to chuse what is best; but God cannot err."

The May following I was ordered to take some men, and go to Lord Onslow's near Guildford, in Surry, to do a piece of work that would last all summer. This was heavy tidings; for I thought I was but weak in faith, and should be deprived of hearing Mr. Wesley, and have no one to converse with. I desired to be excused, but all in vain. I believe I should have left my master, but I thought it would be unjust to leave him in such a busy time, when he had kept me employed all that hard winter. However, it made me cry to the Lord to go with me, and protect me from both my inward and outward enemies. And he was gracious to me, enabling me to reprove all that sinned in my presence; so that a young gentleman said to some of the

men,

men," Of what religion is your foreman? Is he a Baptist, or is he a Quaker?" They replied, "No, Sir, he is of the Church of England." He said, "He may tell you so; but he is no Churchman: for you can hardly speak at table, but he is reproving us: and if he says but one word, we cannot persuade him to drink a glass more." I overheard him, though he did not see me ; and said, "Sir, you give a bad character of the Church of England, if you say a man cannot be a Churchman that reproves others for cursing and swearing, and refuses to drink to excess."

One day the Speaker of the House of Commons came to visit my Lord; and taking a view of the work, he asked me many questions about it, which I answered as well as I could. He said, "This is a fine house, and a fine estate of land about it! But what will it signify? For a piece of land, six feet long and three broad, will fit me shortly." He then fetched a deep sigh, went away, and walked alone among the trees.

While I was at Guildford I had several conversations. with some Baptists. But, alas! their religion lay in notions; I found no true experience among them. I reasoned with them about the necessity of the New Birth, and contended with many other sects, that all religion, without the life of Christ manifested in us, would profit us nothing at

last.

I heard that some who were called serious people, said: I was a dangerous man to converse with; and others. shunned my company after I had talked with them. Then I thought I would leave off reproving and reasoning, for I made myself to be abhorred. I cried out, "Lord, shew me what is thy will in this matter," then laid me down in great heaviness. That night I dreamt I saw a tall young person in a white vesture, whose face shone like the sun, standing at the foot of my bed, who said unto me, " Arise, and praise the Lord." I thought a great light shone round my bed, by which I saw myself defiled from the top of my head to the sole of my foot; and answered, "How can such an unclean creature shew forth the praises of God?"?

Then

Then I thought he shewed me a river, as clear as crystal, with fine green grass growing at the bottom thereof, in which he bade me wash me clean. I thought I went at his bidding; and as soon as my feet were dipped in the water, the filth dropped from my whole body; nevertheless, the water was not defiled by it, at which I was surprised. When I came to the middle of the river, it was deeper than I was high, and I knew I could not swim; yet my soul was so filled with the sense of God's love, that my head was kept above water. I then thought I spread my hands like a man who is going to swim, and as I laboured to swim, I lose up out of the water, and was carried as on the wings of an eagle above the clouds, and cried, "Hosannah to the King of Heaven." And though asleep, I sung so loud that I waked the people of the house. I now resolved to reprove again, and seemed to do it with more authority than before, and my words began to stick to some, and cause them to reform their lives.

About Michaelmas I came back to London; and several that used to attend Mr. Wesley's preaching at Kenning ton Common and Moorfields, who had also joined with him in the Foundery, came to see me; at which. I was surpris ed, having no correspondence with them, any farther than speaking one to another, as we went from place to place to hear him preach. At their first coming, I thought it was the thing I longed for; often wishing that I had some christian friends to converse with. They said they heard I was come to town, and the love they bore me made them come to see me. I answered, "I thank you; pray how does my good friend Mr. Wesley do?" They replied, "We do not know; poor dear man, he is wandering in the dark; but we hope our Saviour will open his eyes, and

let him see that he is a blind leader of the blind." Their words were as a sword running through my liver; and made me cry out, "Lord, have mercy upon him! What is the matter with him?" They answered, "Poor dear man, he is under the law, and does not know the privilege of the gospel himself; therefore he preaches law and works." I said, "Then he is strangely altered since I left London; for when I was in town he preached repentance towards

God,

God, and faith in our Lord Jesus; teaching the necessity of both as clearly from Scripture as any man in England could, and shewing the fruits of faith as plain as possible for any man to do; and I found his word to be more blessed to me than any man's I ever heard in my life." They told me, that " I had never heard the gospel in my life, except I had heard the Brethren that preached in FetterLane; for they were the men that were to come to lead them into true stillness." I said, "What do you mean by true stillness?" They replied, "It is to cease from our own works, such as fasting and prayer, reading the Bible, and running to church and sacrament, and wholly to rely on the blood and wounds of the Lamb." I said, “I do not know that ever I heard either of the Mr. Wesleys bid any man trust in prayer, or reading, or going to sacrament, or giving of alms, for salvation, either in the whole or in part. "But they answered, "Why doth he teach men to do these things, if they are not to be saved by them!" I replied, "If I understand Mr. Wesley right, he only speaks of them as Christ and his Apostles spake of them, that is, to wait in them as a beggar waits for a morsel at a man's door. I never spoke to Mr. Wesley in my life; therefore I know not what he believes, any farther than by his preaching." They told me, that most of the people, who had followed him before I left London, had forsaken him, and were become happy sinners now; and wished I would go and hear the Brethren, for Mr. Wesley was only a John Baptist, to go before and prepare them for the Brethren to build up. Adding, "If you go to hear him, he will bring you into bondage, and you will never be happy till you are free from the law; for we were never happy till we left him, and went to hear Mr. Molther, and till then we were under the law." I replied, Pray, were you not converted before you left Mr. Wesley?" They answered, "Yes, we had gone thro' a great deal of trouble, and found great peace and joy, knowing our sins were forgiven. But when we heard Mr. Molther, we found we were yet under the law; for he shewed the privilege of the gospel, and we found we had not such a privilege for

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if

if we broke the law in any little matter we were quite unhappy, or if we neglected to pray, or missed a sermon or two, then we were uneasy; but now we are happy, for the Lamb hath done all for us." I said, "Though he hath done his part, yet the Apostle teaches us to work out our salvation with fear and trembling; and we are bid to pray always, and search the Scriptures. And St. Paul fasted often, and kept his body in subjection, lest, when he had preached to others, himself should be a cast-away. But you are become wiser than the Apostle, and have got another gospel; tho' he said, if he or an angel from hea ven should preach another gospel, let him be accursed. I am afraid you are deceived, and are seeking a happiness that is separated from holiness; if so, you are led away by a deceiving spirit, for if you commit sin, and break the righteous law of God, and still continue happy, without any conviction that God is offended with you, your consciences are seared as with a hot iron." They answered, "You are a poor unhappy man, and as blind as Mr. Wesley ;" and so left me, without either praying with me or for me.

When I came to reason about what they had said, and to compare it with the words of our Lord and his Apostles, I saw their scheme of salvation was as contrary to that of Christ as darkness is to light. This drove me to prayer, and made me double my diligence in reading the Bible.

In a few days after, two more, that were a little acquainted with me, came to see me: I asked them, How Mr. Wesley was?" They said, they did not know, for they did not hear him now. I asked, "Why do you not?" They replied, "He denieth the faith of the gospel." I said, "I am sorry for it; but I hope you are only wrong informed." They answered, "We have heard ourselves." I replied, "What do you call the faith of the gospel?" They said, "Predestination and Election." I told them, I thought that was not the faith of the gospel; but it was rather for every one to believe in his heart, that he is a fallen spirit by nature, a child of wrath, and by practice a heir of hell; and that the eternal Son of God, cut of love

to