Wesley Corpus

They then sat down on the grass, being full as private as in the House; and many spoke their experience quite freely. But the rain obliged us to break off our meeting sooner than we intended. It began in the evening, before I had finished the hymn, but stopped in two or three minutes, and left us a fair and tolerably pleasant evening. Sat. 16.--I went on to Dungannon; but the town seemed to be in an uproar. One would have thought Bedlam had broke loose. The cause was this:--A cock-fight was at hand. A gentleman asked the Presbyterian Minister for the use of his meeting-house; but he gave a reason for his denial, viz., that Mr. Hall, one of the society, had said he had played at cards all 384 REv. J. Wesley’s [June, 1787. night; (which, it seems, was true;) and therefore he could not allow him to come into his meeting-house. So we removed all the benches out of our own; and it contained most of the congregation. I preached there again in the evening, and then held a love-feast; at which many were greatly comforted. Sun. 17.--We knew not what to do at Armagh; The rain would not suffer us to preach in the avenue; and our House would not contain half of the congregation, many of whom came from far. The best shift we could make was to squeeze into the House as many as possible, and keep both the windows and doors open; by which means many more could hear. In the evening the Seceders (who would think it?) freely gave me the use of their large meeting-house. It was filled from end to end: But a wise young gentleman observed, that I had quite mistook my subject; my sermon being calculated for the vulgar, not for gentlefolks. I permitted as many as our House would contain to stay at the meeting of the society; and gave them a plain account of the Methodists, both as to their rise, principles, and practice. Mon.