Wesley Corpus

These meetings he attended, with the utmost diligence, to the very Thursday before his illness. In order to encourage the children, his method was to give them little Hymn-Books, pointing them to some friend or neighbour, who would teach them the hymns, and instruct them to sing. The little creatures were greatly taken with this new employment; insomuch that many of them would scarce allow themselves time to eat or sleep, for the desire they had of learning their lessons. At every meeting, after inquiring who had made the greatest proficiency, he distinguished them by some little reward. 3. In the instructing of children, one great difficulty is, to draw and fix their attention. He had a singular gift for doing this, by making advantage of any incident that offered. One day, while he had a considerable number of children before him in the preaching-house, as he was persuading them to mind what they were about, and to remember the text which he was going to mention, just then a robin flew into the house, and their eyes were presently turned after him. “Now,” said he, “I see you can attend to that robin. Well, I will take that robin for my text.” He then gave them an useful lecture on the harmlessness of that little creature, and the tender care of its Creator. 4. When he observed that the number of children, instead of falling off, as was expected, increased continually, he wrote some proposals to the parish, which were received with the greatest unanimity. Many of the rich, as well as the trading people, lent their helping hand, not only to defray the expense of teachers, but also to raise a convenient house in Coalbrook-Dale for the instruction of the numerous children that were on that side of the parish. 5. The proposal was as follows:-"Our national depravity turns greatly on these two hinges, the profanation of the Lord’s day, and the neglect of the education of children. Till some way is found of stopping up these two great inlets of wickedness, we must expect to see our workhouses filled with aged parents forsaken by their prodigal children, with wives forsaken by their faithless husbands, and with the wretched offspring of lewd women and drunken men.