Wesley Corpus

In the Whitehall and London Evening Post, Saturday, February 18, was a paragraph with some mistakes, which it may not be amiss to ectify. ‘“ By a private letter from Staffordshire, we have advice of an 308 REV. J. WESLEY’S JOURNAL. [Feb. 1744. insurrection of the people called Methodists,”--the insurrection was not of the people called Methodists, but against them,--* who upon some pretended insults from the Church party,’ --they pretended no insults from the Church party; being themselves no other than true members of the Church of England; but were more than insulted by a mixed multitude of church-goers, (who seldom, if ever, go near a church,) Dissenters, and Papists,--“ have assembled themselves in a riotous manner.”--Here is another small error persone. Many hundreds of the mob did assemble themselves in a riotous manner, having given public notice several days before, (particularly by a paper set up in Walsal market place,) that on Shrove Tuesday they intended to come and destroy the Methodists, and inviting all the country to come and join them. ‘ And having committed several outrages,”--without ever committing any, they have suffered all manner of outrages for several months past,--* they proceeded at last to burn the house of one of their adversaries.” --Without burning any house or making any resistance, some hundreds of them, on Shrove Tuesday last, had their own houses broken up, their windows, window cases, beds, tools, goods of all sorts, broke all to pieces, or taken away by open violence ; their live goods driven off, themselves forced to fly for their lives, and most of them stripped of all they had in the world. Ever since the 20th of last June the mob of Walsal, Darlaston, and Wednesbury, hired for that purpose by their betters, have broke open their poor neighbours’ houses at their pleasure, by night and by day ; extorted money from the few that had it; took away or destroyed their victuals and goods; beat and wounded their bodies ; threatened their lives; abused their women, (some in a manner too horrible to name,) and openly declared they would destroy every Methodist in the country : the Christian country, where his majesty’s innocent and loyal subjects have been so treated for eight months ; and are now, by their wanton persecutors, publicly branded for rioters and incendiaries !