Another reason why Mr. Wesley had more time than most people was, because he
NEVER WASTED A MINUTE,
and though he did so much work, he was _never in a hurry_. He used to say, "I have no time to be in a hurry." Hurry you know does not always mean speed; when things are done in a hurry they are often only half done, and have to be done all over again.
You remember how the miners at Kingswood collected money and built a school for their children. Well, about ten years afterwards, another school was built at Kingswood for the children of the travelling preachers. These preachers had not much time to look after their families themselves, being so much away from home, and they wanted their boys and girls to be taught to read their Bibles and to learn to love Jesus. They had some dreadfully strict rules at this boarding school, which my readers would not have liked at all, and which I am afraid the children there did not like either, for I have heard that some of the boys ran away. They had to go to bed every night at eight o"clock, and what was worse, get up every morning at four. Then every little boy and girl, unless they were poorly, had to fast every Friday, that is, they were not allowed to have anything to eat all day until three o"clock.
But I had better not tell you any more of these dreadful rules, only you may be very thankful that you are living in these days, when you have much better times than the boys and girls who lived 150 years ago.
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CHAPTER x.x.xII.
A visit to Ireland.--The sack that did not contain potatoes.--The bogie man.--What the sack did contain.--The prayer-meeting in the barn.--Mr.
Charles Wesley gets married.--And so does Mr.
John.--Two n.i.g.g.e.rs who became missionaries.
IN 1749 Mr. Wesley paid a visit to Ireland, where already he had many followers. His brother Charles had visited there two years before, and was a great favourite, for the Irish people love music, and would always go to hear his hymns.
In many places in Ireland the Methodists were treated quite as badly as they were in our own country; but the same angel of the Lord that protected them in England followed them across the Irish sea.
There is a funny story told of how they were once saved from a band of rough men. The Roman Catholics persecuted them so much at Wexford that they were obliged to hold their meeting secretly in a barn. Once, one of their persecutors got to know the night they were having a meeting, and told his companions he would hide himself in the barn before the service began, and then when it commenced he would open the door to them. They thought this was a splendid idea. So the man went to the barn, and there found an old sack or bag, big enough for him to get into. Into this he crept, and by and by the people began to come, and the service commenced. First, they sang a hymn; and somehow the man in the bag enjoyed it so much, he quite forgot what he had come into the barn for.
He listened until the hymn was finished, and then he listened to the prayer that followed, and after that he could not listen any more. He couldn"t get out of the bag, and he couldn"t do anything but groan and cry. G.o.d, through the hymn and the prayer, had touched his heart, and he felt himself to be the greatest sinner in Ireland.
So he groaned and groaned, and at last some of the congregation heard him. They looked towards the place where the mysterious sound came from, but could see nothing except what looked like a sack of potatoes. Still the groaning went on, and some of the people got frightened, and were quite sure there was a bogie in the barn. At last one or two ventured to go nearer to the sack, then some one peeped in, and the poor trembling Irishman was discovered. He confessed to his purpose in hiding himself, told them G.o.d had stopped him in his evil plan, and begged them to pray for him. So the service was turned into a prayer-meeting, the man was converted, and became one of the best Methodists in Wexford.
Some of my readers will be wondering if Mr. John or Mr. Charles Wesley were ever married, and if they had any boys and girls of their own. Just before Mr. Wesley went to Ireland in 1749, he married his brother Charles to the daughter of a Welsh gentleman, and Mr. Wesley, himself, was married two years later to a lady who was a widow. You will be sorry to hear that this lady was not at all nice; she treated her husband most unkindly, and made him very unhappy. Though Mr. Wesley was so fond of children, he never had any of his own. Mr. Charles had eight, but only three lived to grow up. His wife was a good, kind lady, and they were very happy. He did not travel about so much after he was married, but spent a great deal of his time writing his beautiful hymns.
These two brothers always remained the best of friends. In one of his letters, Charles wrote to John: "I wish we could be oftener together; it might be better for us both. Let us be useful in our lives, and at our death not divided."
Before I close this chapter I want to tell you of the first two black men who were converted through the preaching of a Methodist.
Living at Wandsworth, a little place near London where Mr. Wesley had gone to preach, was a gentleman named Nathaniel Gilbert. He had come from the West Indies, where he employed a great many negroes. Two of these negroes he had brought over to England with him, and when Mr.
Wesley paid a visit to Mr. Gilbert, and preached in his house, these two black men were converted. When they returned to the West Indies, they, along with Mr. Gilbert, preached the gospel of Jesus Christ to the dark people in those far-away islands.
"Shall we, whose souls are lighted With wisdom from on high, Shall we to men benighted The lamp of life deny?
Salvation, oh, salvation, The joyful sound proclaim, Till earth"s remotest nation Has learnt Messiah"s name."
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CHAPTER x.x.xIII.
Runaway horses.--Two frightened little girls.--A terrible moment.--Safe.--Psalm xci. 11, 12.--Mr.
Wesley has a birthday.--A funny receipt for keeping young.
ONE more story of how the angel that shut the lions" mouths for Daniel took care of G.o.d"s dear servant, John Wesley. He was staying at Newcastle with a Methodist named Mr. Smith, who had married his step-daughter. One day a party of them drove to a village a few miles off. In the carriage there was Mr. Wesley and a friend, Mr. and Mrs.
Smith and their two little girls. When they had driven about two miles and were just at the top of a hill, suddenly the horses took fright, and dashed down the steep road. The poor coachman was thrown off the box, and the horses tore away at full speed, sometimes swerving to the edge of a ditch on one side of the road, then back again to a ditch on the other, but never once going over. When a cart came along, instead of running into it, the carriage pa.s.sed as if the driver had been on the box.
At the bottom of the hill was a narrow bridge, which it seemed impossible the panting horses could cross safely. But exactly down the middle they went, swerving neither to the right or left. Then up the hill on the other side they dashed, pa.s.sing many people on the road, but every one afraid to stop their mad career. Near the top of this hill was a gate, which led into a farmer"s yard. The gate stood open, and turning sharp, the horses ran through without even touching gate or post. The gate on the other side of the yard was shut, and the terrified people in the carriage thought the horses would now be checked. Instead of that, they rushed through, breaking it up as if it had only been a spider"s web, and galloped on through the corn-field.
The two little girls had been almost too frightened to speak, now they clung to Mr. Wesley, crying out: "Oh grandpapa, save us! save us!" Mr.
Wesley, who says he felt no more afraid than if he had been sitting in his study, just calmly said to them: "Nothing will hurt you, dears; don"t be afraid." The horses galloped madly on, till they came to the edge of a steep precipice. Would they go over? What would they do? Oh, what a terrible moment of suspense.
A gentleman on horseback seeing their danger, just galloped across the track of the frightened animals. This acted like magic; they stood still at once, and every one was safe. A few minutes more and they would have been dashed to pieces. When they turned back into the road they found the coachman coming to meet them, and no worse for his fall.
Did not G.o.d keep His promise to the man who had "set his love upon Him"?
"_He shall give His angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways: they shall bear thee up in their hands, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone._"--Psalm xci. 11, 12.
Mr. Wesley was an old man when this happened, just seventy-two; it was in June, and his birthday was on the 17th. But he was so strong and well, not at all like an old man. Listen to what he says of himself: "This is my birthday, the first day of my seventy-second year, and I am wondering how it is that I am just as strong as I was thirty years ago.
Indeed, I am better than I was then; I can see better, and my nerves are firmer. The grand cause is "the good pleasure of G.o.d." But three special things have helped to keep me young:
_First_--Getting up at 4 o"clock every morning for fifty years.
_Second_--Preaching every morning at five o"clock.
_Third_--Travelling by sea or land 4,500 miles in every year."
These are funny things to keep any one young, are they not? I am afraid if to follow these rules is the only way to keep young, most of my readers will be content to grow old.
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CHAPTER x.x.xIV.
Little Mary and what she did with her money.--Caught on the stairs.--Cheered by the children.--Boys and girls converted.