Wesley Corpus

You now add to the rest the following instance: ‘One John Haydon, a man of a regular life and conversation, being informed that people fell into strange fits at the Societies, came to see and judge for himself. But he was still less satisfied than before; insomuch that he went about to his acquaintance one after another, and labored 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 John Haydon was fallen raving mad. It seems he had sat down to dinner, but had a mind first to end the sermon on Salvation by Faith. In reading the last page, he changed color, fell off his chair and began screaming terribly and beating himself against the ground. The neighbors were alarmed, and flocked into the house. I came in and found him upon 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 cried, “Aye, 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.’ (Journal, ii. 189-91.) If you had pleased, you might have added from the next paragraph, ‘Returning to John Haydon, we found his voice was lost and his body weak as that of an infant; but his soul was in peace, full of love, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.’