Wesley Corpus

Wednesday, 30. I rode to a little town called New-Mills, in the High Peak of Derbyshire. I preached at noon in their large new chapel, which (in consideration that preaching-houses have need of air) has a casement in every window, three inches square ! That is the custom of the country ! In the evening and the following morning I brought strange things to the ears of many in Manchester, concerning the government of their families, and the education of their children. But some still made that very silly answer, “O, he has no children of his own l” Neither had St. Paul, nor (that we know) any of the Apostles. What then? Were they, therefore, unable to instruct parents? Not so. They were able to instruct every one that had a soul to be saved. Sat. APRIL 2.--I preached at Little-Leigh, and in the evening at Chester. At eight in the morning, Easter-Day, I took my old stand, in the little Square, at St. Martin’s Ash. The people were as quiet as in the House. While I stayed here I corrected Miss Gilbert’s Journal,--a masterpiece in its kind. What a prodigy of a child ! Soon ripe, and soon gone ! Tues. 5.--About noon I preached at Warrington; I am afraid, not to the taste of some of my hearers, as my subject led me to speak strongly and explicitly on the Godhead of Christ. But that I cannot help; for on this I must insist, as the foundation of all our hope. Wed. 6.--About eleven I preached at Wigan, in a place near the middle of the town, which I suppose was formerly a play-house. It was very full and very warm. Most of the congregation were wild as wild might be; yet none made the least disturbance. Afterwards, as I walked down the street, they stared sufficiently; but none said an uncivil word. In the evening we had an huge congregation at Liverpool: But some pretty, gay, fluttering things did not behave with so much good manners as the mob at Wigan. The congregations in general were quite well-behaved, as well as large, both morning and evening; and I found the society both more numerous and more lively than ever it was before. Sun. 10.--I rode to Prescot, eight miles from Liverpool, and came thither just as the church began.