Wesley Corpus

Sun. 21.--I preached at seven, in a much larger house, which was. just taken, near St. Martin’s church; as eminent a part of the town as Drury-lane is in London, or as the Horse Fair was in Bristol. At church Mr. L preached a strong, plain, useful sermon, upon the faith of Abraham. At one I began preaching again, on, “ We preach not ourselves, but Christ Jesus the Lord.” But the house not containing half the congregation, I was obliged to stand at the door, on one side of a kind of square, large enough to contain ten or twelve thousand people. I had a few hours before spoken to the captain of a vessel, with whom I proposed to sail for Dublin; and the wind being fair, I knew not whether I should stay to preach another sermon in Chester. I find it useful to be in such a state of suspense, wherein I know not what will be the next hour, but lean absolutely on His disposal, who knoweth and ruleth all things well. At four I preached in the Square, to a much larger congregation, among whom were abundance of gentry. One man screamed and hallooed as loud as he could; but none seconded or regarded him. The rest of the congregation were steadily serious, from the beginning to the end. Mon. 22.--We walked round the walls of the city, which are something more than a mile and three quarters in circumference. But there are many vacant spaces within the walls, many gardens, and a good deal of pasture ground: so that I believe Newcastle-upon-Tyne, within the walls, contains at least a third more houses than Chester. The greatest convenience here is what they call “ the Rows ;” that is, covered galleries, which run through the main streets on each side, from east to west, and from north to south; by which means one may walk both clean and dry in any weather, from one end of the city to the other. I preached at six in the evening, in the Square, to a vast multitude, rich and poor. The far greater part, the gentry in particular, Were seriously and deeply attentive; though a few of the rabble, most of them drunk, laboured. much to make a disturbance. One might July, 1752. ] REV. J. WESLEY’S JOURNAL. 539