Wesley Corpus

I rode to Windsor, and, after preaching, examined the members of the society. The same I did at Reading in the evening ; at Wycomb, on Tuesday; and on Wednesday, at Brentford. In the afternoon I preached to a little company at Wandsworth, who had just begun to seek God: but they had a rough setting out; the rabble gathering from every side, whenever they met together, throwing dirt and stones, and abusing both men and women in the grossest manner. They complained of this to a neighbouring magistrate, and he promised to do them justice ; but Mr. C. walked over to his house, and spoke so much in favour of the rioters, that they were all discharged. It is strange, that a mild, humane man could be persuaded, by speaking quite contrary to the truth, (means as badras the end,) to encourage a merciless rabble in outraging the innocent. A few days after, Mr. C. walking over the same field, dropped down, and spoke no more! Dec. 1748. REV. J. WESLEY'S JOURNAL. 445 Surely the mercy of God would not suffer a wellemenning 11 man to be any longer a tool to persecutors. I set out for Leigh, in Essex. It had rained hard in the former part of the night, which was succeeded by a sharp frost ; so that most of the road was like glass ; and the north-east wind set just in our face. However, we reached Leigh by four in the afternoon. Here was once a deep open harbour; but the sands have long since blocked it up, and reduced a once flourishing town to a small ruinous village. I preached to most of the inhabitants of the place in the evening; to many in the morning, and then rode back to London.