Wesley Corpus

Some years since we had a small society here; but a Local Preacher took them to himself: Only two or three remained, who from time to time pressed our Preachers to come again; and, to remove the objection, that there was no place to preach in, with the help of a few friends they built a convenient preaching-house. Thursday, I opened it in the evening; the congregation was large, and perfectly well behaved; and I cannot but hope, that, after all the stumbling blocks, there will be a people here, who will uniformly adorn the Gospel of Christ. On Friday I returned to London. Monday, DECEMBER 5, and so the whole week, I spent every hour I could spare, in the unpleasing but necessary work of going through the town, and begging for the poor men who had been employed in finishing the new chapel. It is true, I am not obliged to do this ; but if I do it not, nobody else will. Sun. 11.--I strongly enforced St. James's beautiful descrip tion of “the wisdom from above.” How hard is it to fix, even on serious hearers, a lasting sense of the nature of true religion! Let it be right opinions, right modes of worship, or anything, rather than right tempers | Thur. 22.--I preached at Highgate. Considering how Jan. 1786.] JOURNAL. 325 magnificent a place this is, I do not wonder so little good has been done here. For what has religion to do with palaces 2 Sun. 25.--(Being Christmas-Day.) I preached at the new chapel early in the morning, and in the evening; about eleven at West-Street. Monday, 26. I baptized a young woman brought up an Anabaptist; and God bore witness to his ordinance, filling her heart, at the very time, with peace and joy unspeakable. This week I endeavoured to point out all the errata in the eight volumes of the Arminian Magazine. This must be done by me: Otherwise several passages therein will be unintelligible. Sun. JANUARY 1, 1786.-We began that solemn service, the renewing of our covenant with God, not in the evening as heretofore, but at three in the afternoon, as more convenient for the generality of people. And God was with us of a truth. Mon. 9.--At leisure hours this week, I read the Life of Sir William Penn, a wise and good man.