Wesley Corpus

But how can we secure their sitting apart there? A. I must do it myself. If I come into any new House, and see the men and women together, I will immediately go out. I hereby give public notice of this: Pray let it be observed. Q. 66. But there is a worse indecency than this creeping in among us,--talking in the preaching-houses, before and after service. How shall this be cured ? A. Let all the Preachers join as one man, and the very next Sunday they preach in any place, enlarge on the impropriety of talking before or after service, and strongly exhort them to do it no more. In three months, if we are in earnest, this vile practice will be banished out of every Methodist congre gation. Let none stop till he has carried his point. Q. 67. Is there not another shocking indecency frequently practised by filthy men against the wall of a preaching-house; enough to make any modest woman blush? A. There is: But I beg any one who sees another do this will give him a hearty clap on the back. Q. 68. Complaint has been made that sluts spoil our houses. How may we prevent this? A. Let none that has spoiled one, ever live in another. But what a shame is this! A Preacher's wife should be a pattern of cleanliness in her person, clothes, and habitation. Let nothing slatternly be seen about her; no rags, no dirt, no litter. And she should be a pattern of industry; always at work, either for herself, her husband, or the poor. I am not willing any should live in the Orphan-House at Newcastle, or any preaching-house, who does not conform to this rule. Q. 69. It has been complained also, that people crowd into the Preachers' houses, as into coffee-houses, without any invita tion. Is this right? A. It is utterly wrong. Stop it at once. Let no person come into the Preacher's house, unless he wants to ask a question. Q. 70. May any new preaching-houses be built? A. Not unless, (1.) They are proposed at the Conference: No, nor (2.) Unless two-thirds of the expense be subscribed. And if any collection be made for them, it must be made between the Conference and the beginning of February. Q. 71.