the Gospel into several country towns. Mr. Wesley came to Tyrrel's-Pass, where he soon met a large and well-disposed congregation. "Few such feasts (says he) have I had since I left England; it refreshed my body more than meat or drink. God has begun a great work here. The people of Tyrrel's-Pass were wicked to a proverb: swearers, drunkards, Sabbathbreakers, thieves, &c. from time immemorial. But now the scene is changed; not an oath is heard, nor a drunkard seen among them; aperto vivitur horto. They are returned from darkness to light, and near one hundred are joined in Society.

February 11th, Mr. Wesley, J. Healy, and five others set out for Athlone, where, it is probable, notice had been given of their coming. On the road some persons overtook them, running in great haste, and one horseman riding full speed. It soon appeared that the Roman Catholics had laid a plan to do them some violent mischief, if not to murder them, at the instigation of their Priest, Father Terril, who had sounded the alarm the Sunday before. They spoke of their designs with so much freedom, that a report of them reached Athlone, and a party of dragoons being quartered there, were ordered out to meet Mr. Wesley and his friends on the road, and conduct them safe to the town. But of this they were ignorant; and being earlier than was expected, the Romanists were not assembled in full force, nor did the dragoons meet them at that distance from town which was intended. They rode on, suspecting nothing, till within about half a mile of Athlone, when, rising up a hill, several persons appeared at the top of it, and bid them turn back. "We thought them in jest, (says Mr. Wesley) till the stones flew," one of which knocked J. Healy off his horse, and laid him senseless on the ground;

and

and it was with great difficulty the Romanists were hindered from murdering him. The number of these barbarians was soon greatly increased, and though the Protestants began to rise upon them, they kept their ground till the dragoons appeared, when they immediately fled. Mr. Wesley and his little company, their wounded friend having recovered his senses, were now conducted in safety to Athlone, where the soldiers flocked about them with great affection, and the whole town expressed the greatest indignation at the treatment they had met with. J. Healy was put under the care of a surgeon, and at length recovered of his wounds,

February 15, Mr. Wesley returned to Dublin, aud continued his labours with great success, the Society being greatly increased, and many testifying publicly, that they had received the knowledge of salvation by the remission of their sins, under his word. March 8, his brother, Mr. John Wesley, arrived from England, which gave him a release from his present situation. He did not, however, leave Dublin till the 20th, when he entered the packet-boat at two o'clock in the afternoon, and by three the next day reached Holyhead, from whence he wrote to his brother as follows:

Teneo te Italiam!

Per varios casus, per tot discrimina rerum

"In twenty-five hours exactly, as before, the Lord brought us hither. To describe our voyage were, renovare dolorem. But here we are, after all, God be praised, even God that heareth prayer. Thanks, in the second place, to our praying brethren. The Lord return it into their bosom. But let them pray on for us, and we for them. And I pray the Father, in the

the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, to send down his blessing and his spirit on all you who are now assembled together, and hear this read. Peace be unto you, even the peace that passeth all understanding. Look for it every moment! receive it this-and go in peace to that heavenly country, whither we are hastening to meet you!"

Intending to visit Mr. Gwynne's family at Garth in Wales, he took horse the next morning, and by three in the afternoon came to Baldon-Ferry. Here he observes, "We overfilled the small old boat, so that, Gemuit sub pondere Cymba sutilis, et multam accepit rimosa paludem."* The wind being strong, and the waves high, in the middle of the channel his young horse took fright, and they had a very narrow escape from being overset. But a gracious Providence attended him; he came safe to land, and on the 25th, in the evening reached Garth; but great fatigue, bad weather, and continual pain, had so weakened him, that when he came into the house, he fell down totally exhausted.

Mr. Wesley had already conceived a great regard for Mr. Gwynne's family, and particularly for Miss Sarah Gwynne. A kind of embryo-intention of making proposals of marriage, had dwelt in his mind for some time. He had mentioned it to his brother in Dublin, who neither opposed nor encouraged him in the matter. During his present stay at Garth, his embryointention ripened into more fixed resolution; but still he thought it necessary to take the advice of his friends. After he had been a short time in London, he went to Shoreham, and opened all his heart to Mr. Perronet,

who

"The frail patched vessel groaned under the weight; and, being leaky, took in plenty of water."

who advised him to wait. Much prayer was made, and every prudential step was taken which his friends could suggest; and here the business rested for the present.

August 13, Mr. Wesley arrived again in Dublin, and on the 17th set out on horseback for Cork, which he reached on the 20th, notwithstanding the incessant rains, the badness of the roads, and wretched accommodations at the inns.* The next day, being Sunday, he went out to the Marsh at five in the morning, and found a congregation of some thousand persons. He preached from, Thus it is written, and thus it behoved Christ to suffer, &c. They devoured every word with an eagerness beyond description. "Much good, (he says) has been already done in this place; outward wickedness has disappeared, and outward religion succeeded it. Swearing is seldom heard in the streets, and churches and altars are crowded, to the astonishment of our adversaries. Yet some of our Clergy, and all the Catholic Pricsts take wretched pains to hinder their people from hearing us.

"At five in the evening, I took the field again, and such a sight I have rarely seen. Thousands and thousands had been waiting some hours; Protestants and Romanists, high and low. The Lord endued my soul, and body also, with much strength to enforce the faithful saying, 'That Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.' I cried after them for an hour, to the utmost extent of my voice, yet without hoarseness or weariness. The Lord, I believe, hath much people in this city. Two hundred are already joined in a Society. At present we pass through honour and good report. The chief persons of the town favour us: no wonder, then, that the common people are quiet. We pass and repass

Experience has proved, that travellers on the Dublin and Cork road

fare now much better than in Mr. Wesley's day.

repass the streets, pursued only by their blessings. The same favourable inclination is all round the country: wherever we go, they receive us as angels of God, Were this to last, I would escape for my life to America."

"I designed to have met about two hundred persons who have given me their names for the Society; but such multitudes thronged into the house, as occasioned great confusion. I perceived it was impracticable, as yet, to have a regular Society, Here is, indeed, an open door; such as was never set before me till now: even at Newcastle the awakening was not so general, The congregation last Sunday was computed to be ten thousand. As yet there is no open opposition. The people have had the word two months, and it is not impossible but their love may last two months longer, before any number of them rise to tear us in pieces.

"I met a neighbouring Justice of the Peace, and had much serious conversation with him. He seems to have a great kindness for religion, and determined to use all his interest to promote it. For an hour and an half I continued to call the poor blind beggars to Jesus. They begin to cry after him on every side; and we must expect to be rebuked for it.-Waited on the Bishop at Rivers-Town, and was received with great affability by himself and family. After dinner rode back to Cork, and drank tea with some well disposed Quakers, and borrowed a volume of their dying sayings. A standing testimony that the life and power of God was with them at the beginning; as it might be again, were they humble enough to confess their want of it."-" How amiable (remarks Doctor Whitehead) is the candour of Mr. Wesley, when contrasted with the bigotry of others, who, in their great zeal for ceremonies, have contended that the Friends ought not to be acknowledged as

Christians,