Wesley Corpus

I did not mention one J--n H----n, a weaver, who was at Baldwinstreet the night before. He was (I understood) a man of a regular life and conversation, one that constantly attended the public prayers and sacrament, and was zealous for the Church, and against dissenters of every denomination. Being informed that people fell into strange fits at the societies, he came to see and judge for himself. But he was less satisfied than before; insomuch that he went about to his acquaintance, one after another, till one in the morning, and laboured above measure to convince them it was a delusion of the devil. We were going home, when one met us in the street and informed us, that J. n H was fallen raving mad. It seems he had sat down to dinner, but had a mind first to end a sermon he had borrowed on “Sal- vation by Faith.” In reading the last page, he changed colour, fell off a ; % May, 1739. ] REV. J. WESLEY’S JOURNAL. | 131 his chair, and began screaming terribly, and beating himself against the ground. The neighbours were alarmed, and flocked together to the house. Between one and two I came in, and found him on the floor, the room being full of people, whom his wife would have kept without ; but he cried aloud, “* No; let them all come, let all the world see the just judgment of God.” Two or three men were holding him as well as they could. He immediately fixed his eyes upon me, and, stretching out his hand, cried, “ Ay, this is he, who I said was a deceiver of the people. But God has overtaken me. I said, it was all a delusion, but this is no delusion.” He then roared out, “O thou devil! Thou cursed devil! Yea, thou legion of devils! Thou canst not stay. Christ will cast thee out. I know his work is begun. Tear me to pieces, if thou wilt; but thou canst not hurt me.” He then beat himself against the ground again ; his breast heaving at the same time, as in the pangs of death, and great drops of sweat trickling down his face. We all betook ourselves to prayer. His pangs ceased, and both his body and soul were set at liberty.