Wesley Corpus

our brethren at the Foundery. Thur. 22.--I began expounding where my brother had left off, viz. at the fourth chapter of the First Epistle of St.John. He had not preached the morning before ; nor intended to d>it any more. ‘The Philistines are upon thee, Samson.” But the Lord is not “ departed from thee.” He shall strengthen thee yet again, and thou shalt be “ avenged of them for the loss of thy eyes.” Sun. 25.--I enforced that great command, “ As we have opportunity, let us do good unto all men:” and in the evening, those solemn words, “ Take heed, brethren, lest there be in any of you an evil heart of unbelief, in departing from the living God.” Wed. 28.--Our old friends, Mr. Gambold and Mr. Hall, came to see my brother and me. The conversation turned wholly on silent prayer, and quiet waiting for God; which, they said, was the only possible way te attain living, saving faith. Sirenum voces, et Circes pocula nésti ? (Know’st thou the’ enchanted cup, and Siren’s song?) . Was there ever so pleasing a scheme? But where is it written? Not in any of those books which I account the Oracles of God. 1 allow, if there is a better way to God than the scriptural way, this is it. But the prejudice of education so hangs upon me, that I cannot think there | is. I must therefore still wait in the Bible-way, from which this differs as light from darkness. Fri. 30.--I preached in the morning, on, “Then shall they fast in those days ;” and in the afternoon spent a sweet hour in prayer with some hundreds of our society. Sun. Feb. 1.--A private letter, wrote to me by Mr. Whitefield, having been printed without either his leave or mine, great numbers ot copies were given to our people, both at the door and in the Foundery itself. Having procured one of them, I related (after preaching) the naked fact to the congregation, and told them, “I will do just what I believe Mr. Whitefield would, were he here himself.” Upon which I {ore it in pieces before them all. Every one who had received it, did the same. So that in two minutes there was not a whole covv left. Ah! poor Ahithophel ! Ibi omnis effusus labor ! (So all the labour’s lost !])