Wesley Corpus

but in elegance and variety, I verily believe it equals, if not exceeds, any place of the size in Europe. In the evening I expounded to a select company of very honourable ladies, Matt. vii. 24 ; Miss Loten interpreting for me sentence by sentence : And I know not but God might bless this poorway of preaching to the Dutch, as he did that to the Indians by David Brainerd. Sat. 26. I had a long conversation with a gentlemanwhom almost all the religious world take for a madman. I do not know that I have found one of so deep experience since I left London. I have no doubt of his being perfected in love : He has aclear witness of it, and has had many years, without any interruption. I had now an opportunity of being throughly informed concerning the University of Utrecht. As the young gentlemen are scattered over this town, and live without the least control, they do anything, or nothing, as they please ; and as they have no tutors, they have none to check them. Most of them lounge from morning to night, doing nothing, or 348 REV. J. WESLEY'S [Sept. 1786. doing worse. Well,bad as they are, Oxford and Cambridge are not Utrecht yet. Sun. 27. I attended the Service at the English church ; where about thirty persons were present. At five in the even- ing I believe I had eighty or ninety hearers ; and I hadmuch liberty of speech among them. I cannot doubt but some ofthem found the word of God tobe sharper than a two-edged sword. After Service I went once more to Mr. Loten's. Both Mrs. Loten and he came to town on purpose to see me ; otherwise, he could find little comfort there, during the present state of affairs. The Burghers have all agreed to depose their Burgo- masters, and elect new ones in their stead ; who are to-morrow to take an oath on a scaffold erected in the open market-place, not to the Prince of Orange, but to the city of Utrecht. To this end, theyhad displaced all the Prince's Guards, and placed Burghers at all the gates. It is thought the example will spread ; and it will not be strange if all Holland should soon be a field of blood.