Feb 1, Sun- We had an exceedingly solemn season, both morning and evening. It seemed indeed as if the skies poured down righteousness on all that lifted their hearts to God.

 

Monday the 2^nd, and the following days, I spent in meeting the classes. Friday the 6^th, being the quarterly day for meeting the local preachers, between twenty and thirty of them met at West Street, and opened their hearts to each other.

 

Feb 1, Sunday

 

4 prayed, Letters; 8 the preachers; 9.30 prayers, Isai. lvii. I, 2! Communion; 1 dinner, sleep, prayed; the leaders, buried, tea, prayed; 5 prayers, I cor. xiii. 13! Society; 8 supper, prayer; 9.30.

 

Monday 2

 

 4 prayed, I Cor. xv. 23, select society, class, tea, class; 1 dinner; 2 class; 4.30 tea, class, Luke ix. 62, class, coach; 8.30 supper, within, prayer; 9.30.

 

Tuesday 3

 

4 Prayed, letters, class, tea, 1 dinner, class; 5 tea, conversed, prayer, on business, prayed; 6.30 I cor. xv. 33, on business, letters; 8 supper, within, prayer; 9.30.

 

Wednesday 4[1]

 

4 prayed, letters; 6 class, tea, class; 1 dinner, conversed; 2 class, letters; 4 prayed, class; 5 tea, conversed, prayer; 6 writ narrative, within; 8 supper, conversed, prayer; 9-11.

 

Thursday 5

 

4 prayed, letters; 6 class, tea, class; 1 dinner, within, 2 class; 5 tea, prayed; 6 on business; 6.30 prayers, Matt. v. 6! the bands! supper, prayer; 9.30.

 

Friday 6

 

4 Prayed, letters; 6 class, tea, class; 1 at brother Wo[o]ll[e]y’s, class, tea; 5 prayed, letters; 6.30 the local preachers, supper; 8.30 I Tim. Vi. 20, chaise; 10.30.

 

Taking the opportunity of having them altogether at the watch-night, I strongly insisted on St. Paul’s advice to Timothy, ‘Keep that which is committed to thy trust’; particularly the doctrine of Christian Perfection, which God has peculiarly entrusted to the Methodists.

 

Wed. 11[2]-1 went to Brentford, and found the society still alive, and increasing both in strength and number.

 

Saturday 7[3]

 

5.15 Prayed, chaise; 7 class, tea, letters; 9 class; 1 dinner,; 2 class; 4 prayed, class, tea, conversed; 6 prayers, Mark xii. 32, writ society supper; 9 Pen[ry], on business; 9.30.        

 

Sunday 8

 

4 Letters, Chapel; 9 prayers, Matt. xx. 15! Communion; 1 dinner, con­versed; 2.30 sleep, prayed, the leaders; 3.30 prayers, 2 Cor. v. I, etc., society, coach; 7 society; 8 supper, conversed, prayer; 9.30.

 

Monday 9[4]

 

Prayed, I Cor. xv. 32! select society; 7 class, tea, class; 11 letters, select  society; 1 dinner; 2 class,  tea, conversed, prayed; 6.30 2 Cor. v. I, etc.! the bands, conversed; 9.30.

 

Tuesday 10

 

4 Prayed, I Cor. xv. 32, class, tea, class; 1 dinner, visited; 2.30 class; 4.30 conversed, tea, class; 6.30 Mark xii. 32! supper, prayer; 9.30.

 

Wednesday 11

 

4 Prayed, letters, class, tea, class; 1 dinner, conversed, prayer; 4 chaise, Brentford, tea; 6 Mark xii. 32! class, supper, prayer; 9.30.

 

                        2 Cor. vi. I; Mark xii. 32.

 

Thur. 12.[5]- I preached once more at Chelsea, where there is at length a fair and promising prospect.[6]

 

Fri. 13.[7]-1 took a view of that noble building, Chelsea College,[8] and all the parts of it. It is designed to lodge five hundred old soldiers, who are furnished with all things needful for life and godliness.

 

Sun. 15. - We had the usual blessing at Spitalfields.

 

 Mon. 16. -I went to Dorking. I scarce find any society in England like this. Year after year it seems at one stay, neither increasing nor decreasing; only if one or two die, one or two are quickly added to fill up the number.

 

Thursday 12

 

4 Prayed, letters; 6 Phil. iii. 13, chaise; 8.15 Brompton, tea, conversed, prayer; 10 at sister Griff[ith’s], letters; 2 dinner, conversed, tea, prayed, Job xxii. 21! the c1ass; 8 supper, conversed, prayer; 9.30.

 

Friday 13

 

4 Prayed, Mag.; 8 tea, prayer, Mag., letters; 12.30 Chelsea! 2 at brother Atw[ood’s], together, dinner, prayer, coach; 4 at home, letters; 5 tea, B[oo]k Stew[ard], Quarterly Meeting; 8 supper, within, prayer; 9.30.

 

Saturday 14

 

4 Prayed, letters; 8 tea, prayer, letters; 12.30 visited; 1 dinner, conversed, prayer; 3 writ narrative, prayed; 5 tea, conversed, prayer; 6.30 prayers, Psa. lxxiii. 14! communion; 7.45 supper; 8.15 Pen[ry], on business; 9.30.

 

Sunday 15

 

4 Prayed, writ narrative; 8 Sp[italfields]; 9,30 prayers, Lu. viii. 14! Communion; 1 dinner; 2.30 sleep, prayed; 3 the leaders, tea, prayed, 5 prayers, Gen. vi. 3! society, letters; 8 supper, prayer; 9.30. 

 

Monday 16

 

4 Prayed, Psa. lxxiii. 14! tea; 6.15 chaise; 8.45 Eph. i. 9, chaise; 12 Dorking, Mag.; 2 dinner, conversed; 3 Mag.; 5 prayed, tea; 6 Matt. v. 6! communion, supper, conversed, prayer; 10.30.

 

Tues. 17. -I examined the society at Deptford, and preached there in the evening.

 

Wed. 18. -I retired into the country to finish my writings.[9]

 

Sun. 22. -God was eminently present with us at West Street Chapel, both in the morning and evening.

 

Tuesday 17

 

4 Prayed, Mag., 6 Heb. ii. I! class, tea, prayer; 8.15 chaise; 1.15 D[eptfor]d, at brother Phillips’s, dinner, within; 3 class; 4.15 tea, class; 6.30 Mark xii. 32, society; 8 at Mr. Liev[re’s], supper, prayer; 9.30.

 

Wednesday 18

 

4 Prayed, texts; 7 tea, within; 7.30 chaise; 8.30 at home, on business letters; 12.30 chaise; 2 K[enti]sh town, dinner, conversed; 3 read narrative, prayed; 5 tea, conversed, prayer, read, sermon; 7 prayed; 7.45 supper, conversed; 9 prayer; 9.30.

 

Thursday 19

 

4 Prayed, letters, read sermon; 8 tea, conversed, prayer, writ Will; 1 dinner, together, letters; 1.15 within, letters, prayed; 4 Lambe[th], prayed, letter, tea, conversed, prayed; 6.30 Heb. xii. 28! coach; 8.30 Kentish town, supper, within, prayer; 9.30.

 

Friday 20[10]

 

4 Prayed, Jos[eph Bradford] read, sermons; 7 letters; 8 tea, conversed, prayer, letters, writ narrative; 11 coach; 12 at brother Mortimer’s, Ham[pstea]d, letter; 1 dinner, within; 2 letters; 1 dinner, letters; 3 walk; 4 prayed; 5 tea, conversed, letters; 7 Gal. vi. 14! 8 supper, conversed, prayer; 10.

 

Saturday 21

 

4 Prayed, sermon, letters: 8 tea, conversed, prayer, chaise; 9.30 N[orth] Green, letters; 1 dinner, conversed; 2 letters, [-], conversed, prayer, letters, prayed; 5 visited, tea, conversed; 6 prayers, Gal. v. I! communion; 8 supper, conversed, Pen[ry], on business; 9.30.

 

I Cor. xv. 35! Mark xii. 32.

 

Sunday 22

 

4 Prayed, on business, walk, Chapel; 9.30 prayers, I Cor. xiii. 13! com­munion; 1 dinner, conversed; 2.30 sleep, prayed; 3 the leaders, prayers, Gal. v. I! tea, society, coach, society; 7.30 visited, supper, conversed; 9.30.

 

Tues. 24. -Mr. W[ilberforce][11] called upon me, and we had an agreeable and useful conversation. What a blessing is it to Mr. P[itt] to have such a friend as this![12]  In the evening I expounded part of the Second Lesson, Eph. iii.

 

Wednesday the 25th was the day which I had ordered all our brethren in Great Britain and Ireland to observe with fasting and prayer, for the recovery of His Majesty’s health. But we had the satisfaction to hear that, before we asked (unless in private), He answered; insomuch that the time intended for humiliation turned into a time of thanksgiving; and both at five, at nine, at one, and in the evening, we were most employed in praises.[13]

 

Monday 23

 

4 Prayed, Gal. v. 5! select society, tea, on business, coach; 9 Chappel, texts; 12 select society, dinner, together, prayer, texts, prayed; 5 tea, conversed, prayer, prayed; 6.30 Gal. vi. 15, supper, the bands, within; 9.15.

 

Tuesday 24

 

4 Prayed, Gal. v. 5! texts; 7 tea, conversed, prayer; 8 texts, letter, Mr. Willberf[orce], within! read narrative; 2 at Mr. Galloway’s, dinner, within; 4.30 tea, conversed, Committee, prayed; 6.30 prayers,

 

        Eph. i. 13, the leaders; 8 supper, conversed, prayer; 9.30.

 

Ash Wednesday 25

 

4 Prayed, [-] Journal; 9 ordained Tho[mas] Rankin, Hen[ry] Moore, within; 10 prayers, Matt. vi. 17, communion, within, coach; 1 dinner, conversed, prayer; 3.30 at home, prayed; 5 tea, conversed,

 

prayer; 6 prayers, Eph. ii. 8! communion, supper, conversed, prayer; 9.30 ill.

 

Thursday 26

 

5.30 Prayed; 7 on business; 7.30 tea, conversed, prayer; 8.30 tea, con­versed, prayer, on business; 11 letters; 1 at brother White’s, dinner, within; 3.30 prayed; 4 tea, conversed, visited; 5.45 prayed; 6.30 prayers, Eph. iii. 14, etc.! the bands; 8 supper, conversed, prayer; 9.30.

 

Friday 27

 

4 Prayed, Rom. xiii. I, 2, letters; 8.30 ordained Hen[ry] Moore and Tho[mas] Rankin[14]; 9 prayer; 10 letters;  12 the females, prayer; 2.30 dinner; 4 visited; 5 tea, conversed, prayer, letters; 6 Eph. v. 3! [-], society; 7.30 on business; 8 supper, conversed, prayer; 9.30.

 

Saturday 28[15]

 

4 Prayed, letters, writ narrative, on business; 8 the preachers, meditated, on business; 9.30 prayers, Matt. iv. 10! communion, on business; 1 at brother Wheeler’s, dinner, conversed, prayer; 2.15 within to some, sleep; 3 tea, conversed; 4 prayed, prayers, 2 Cor. vi. I! 5 society; 6 supper, within to many, prayer; 6.45 at the Inn; 7 mail coach, with brothers Bailey, Lane, Jos[eph Bradford]; 10 sleep.

 

Lu. viii. 14.

  

---

 

[1] On Feb. 4 he wrote from London to Mrs. Patience Whereat  (nee Ellison), his great-niece, who, sometime after her marriage, left the Calvinists and returned to the Methodists, as appears from the list of the members in possession of Mrs. Hall, of Bristol (new ed. Wesley letters)

 

[2] He wrote from London to Walter Churchey on the publication of his book: 

 

‘I suppose everyone that loves King George loves Mr. Pitt’ (Tyerman’s Life of Wesley, vol. iii. p. 580); on the same day to Joseph Taylor, Nottingham, anticipating that, after his own death, ‘several of our preachers will leave the Church’ (new ed. Wesley Letters).

 

[3]On the 7th he wrote from London to Mrs. Tighe, at whose request he had sat four times to Mr. Romney, ‘picture finished.’ With her consent he will employ an engraver [Spilsbury] (W.H.S. vol. vii. p. 123). On, or about, the same date he wrote to Abraham Cafe (or Case) on the death of his wife (W. H.S. vol. vii p, 123).

 

[4] He wrote to Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers, with whom he hopes to lodge while in Cork (Works, vol. xiii. p. 86).

 

[5] On the 12th he wrote from London to Thomas Roberts (W.M. Mag. 1837, p.10).

 

[6] About this time the Methodists, who had previously worshipped in an upper room in Upper Hospital Row, secured at an annual rental of ten guineas one of the dancing-rooms of the recently closed Ranelagh Gardens, afterwards one of the levee rooms (Meth. Rec. Dec, 18, 1902).

 

[7] On the 13th he wrote from London to Joseph Taylor, in Nottingham, directing him to make specific inquiries in a case of discipline, hoping, if he can get ‘to the bottom of his affair,’ to be of some real service to the wrong-doer (new ed. Wes­ley Letters).

 

[8] Built by Sir Christopher Wren, with its ‘quadrangle of two hundred foote square.’ With its garden, the hospital covers about forty acres of ground.

 

[9] On Feb. 20 Wesley executed his will, which he had been preparing on Jan. 8 and 9 (see Diary; also below, App. No. XXXII.). On Feb. 21 he wrote to ‘My dear sister’ (Miss Sally Mallet) (new ed. Wesley Letters).

 

[10] He wrote from London to Miss Bolton, of Witney. He is anxious about her brother, and amused at the prophecy of a young woman who foretold his death in March and his inability to preach for two months before his death! (new ed. Wesley Letters).

 

[11]Wilberforce writes: ‘I called on John Wesley, a fine old fellow.’ Exactly two years later, Feb. 24, 1791, Wesley wrote his famous letter to Wilberforce.

 

[12] Their friendship ‘survived all the jars of public life, and the strain of a widening diversity of religious views.’ See Life of Wilberforce. They rest close to each other at Westminster.

 

[13] The ill-health of George III was mental. He was suffering from an attack of insanity, and the question of a  regency threatened to precipitate a constitutional crisis. William Pitt, the second son of the ‘great commoner’ who died Earl of Chatham, was Prime Minister at a remarkably early age. The leader of the Opposition was Charles James Fox, an eloquent man, and an able debater, but a gambler, and the boon companion of George, Prince of Wales. The King used to blame Fox for making the Prince a bad son, the opponent of his father, a gambler, deeply in debt. Notwithstanding the Royal Marriage Act, the Prince had married Mrs. Fitzherbert, a Roman Catholic. Fox contended that, as a matter of right, the Prince of Wales should be Regent with full kingly powers. This would mean the dismissal of Pitt, and the appoint­ment of Fox as Prime Minister. Pitt maintained that only Parliament could appoint a Regent. He introduced a Bill appointing the Prince of Wales, but with important restrictions to the exercise of his power. While the Bill was under debate, the King was restored to mental health, to the great joy of the nation. After the American War George III became not only popular but beloved, and by none of his subjects more than by John Wesley. He loved him for the purity of his morals, his domestic virtues, and the simple habits of his life.

 

[14] See below, p. 505, for facsimile of Henry Moore’s ordination certificate. The original is preserved at Headingley College

 

[15] He wrote from London to Mr. Tegart, merchant, Waterford, respecting a preacher’s appointment-one of the comparatively few letters in which he signs himself John Wesley (new ed. Wesley Letters). On the same day be Wrote to George Holder on correct numbers, best accounts of remarkable

 

men, and subscribers to the Magazine (Works, vol. xiii. p. 113).