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Thus, thus we bestow
Our moments below,

And singing remove,

With all the redeem'd, to the Sion above:
There, there we shall stand
With our harps in our hand,
Interrupted no more,

And eternally sing, and rejoice, and adore.

The watch-night services which were conducted by Mr. Charles Wesley in those times were usually seasons of great solemnity and power. Amidst the silence of the night, and in the absence of riotous people and triflers, he and his fellowworshippers anticipated the sound of the trumpet which shall awake the dead, and proclaim the appearance of the almighty Judge. His prayers, and impressive addresses to the people, with the appropriate hymns which they unitedly sang at his dictation, seemed to bring them near to the day of the Lord; and they rejoiced before him with the deepest reverence. The following well-known hymns were all composed to be sung upon these occasions :

and,

Thou Judge of quick and dead;

Ye virgin souls, awake;

Join all ye ransom'd sons of grace;
Oft have we pass'd the guilty night;

How happy, gracious Lord, are we,
Divinely drawn to follow thee,
Whose hours divided are
Betwixt the mount and multitude;
Our day is spent in doing good,

Our night in praise and prayer!

CHAPTER XIII.

THE state of the country was now alarming. Charles Stuart, the grandson of James II., having attempted without success, to land a French army on the coast of Kent, for the purpose of regaining the British crown, made his appearance in Scotland, where many of the disaffected clans flocked to his standard. The task of resisting him was confided to General Cope, who had the command of the royal army; but his plans were weakly laid, and feebly executed; so that Charles was in a little while master of Edinburgh. He soon after defeated the King's troops at the battle of Preston-pans, where the brave Colonel Gardiner lost his life. This youthful claimant of the British crown was a man of genteel and graceful appearance, affable and engaging in his manners, and of an enterprising spirit. His professions to all classes of people were, of course, liberal and flattering; but he was a tool of the Papacy, and a pensioner upon France; so that, were he to succeed in his project, it was easy to perceive that genuine liberty, both civil and religious, would be no more. Popery and arbitrary power, an iron despotism in Church and State, would have been the sad inheritance of a people who enjoyed constitutional freedom in a higher degree than any other nation whatever. The Pretender's progress and success in Scotland, therefore, filled all sound and intelligent Protestants with just alarm.

In this feeling both the Wesleys participated. They had already put into extensive circulation several loyal and Protestant publications, both in prose and verse, adapted to the exigency of the times; they enforced the duty of loyalty wherever they went; they called upon their societies in all places to unite in prayer for the preservation of the reigning Monarch, and the establishment of his throne; and they urged upon all their congregations the necessity of repentance, as the only means of averting the impending judgments of God, and of obtaining national tranquillity. The follow

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ing selections from the journal of Charles will show the strength of his attachment to the Protestant King, with whose mild and constitutional sway the nation was blessed ; and the manner in which he laboured to sanctify the public danger. He was still in Wales.

"Sept. 6th, 1745. At the hour of intercession we found an extraordinary power of God upon us, and close communion with our absent brethren. Afterwards I found, by letters from London, that it was their solemn fast-day. The night we passed in prayer. I read them my heavy tidings out of the north. The lion is come up from his thicket; and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way.'

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"Sept. 8th. The spirit of supplication was given us in the society for His Majesty King George; and in strong faith we asked his deliverance from all his enemies and troubles.

"Sept. 9th. My three weeks' delightful confinement ended, and I returned to Cardiff.

Sept. 11th. I rose after a restless night, with a fever upon me; but was forced to take my bed again. How gladly would I have been taken from the evil to come! but, alas! my sufferings are scarcely begun.

"Sept. 14th. My fever left me, and my strength so far returned, that I could sit a horse, with one behind me. Almost as soon as we set out my supporter and I were thrown over the horse's head, but neither hurt. My lameness was much mended by three or four days' rest.

"Sept. 22d. I preached at Wenvo, 'that ye may be found of Him in peace;' then at Fonmon, on that great and terrible day of the Lord. His fear was mightily upon us: but at the society his love constrained and quite overpowered us. For two hours we wept before the Lord, and wrestled for our Sodom. We shall hear of these prayers another day.

"Sept. 25th. After a tedious and dangerous passage, I got to shore, and soon after to Bristol. I heard the news confirmed of Edinburgh being taken by the rebels; and saw all around in deep sleep and security. I warned our children with great affection. Our comforts we expect will increase with our danger.

"Sept. 26th. Tidings came, that General Cope was cut off,* with all his army. The room was crowded in the evening. I warned them, with all authority, to flee to the mountains; escape to the strong tower; even the NAME of Jesus; and seemed to have strong faith that the Romish Antichrist shall never finally prevail in these kingdoms.

"Sept. 29th. My subject at Kingswood was, 'Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, I will also keep thee in the hour of temptation,' &c.; at Bristol, 'Fear God, and honour the King.'

"Oct. 8th. Having left the society fully warned, I rode to Bath, and exhorted them also to meet God in the way of his judgments. At noon I preached repentance and faith at the Cross, to the people of Road. They drank in every word. When I said, 'Put away the evil of your doings,' several cried out, 'We will, we will!' When I said, 'Be drunk no more; swear no more;' they answered, 'I will not swear; I will not be drunk again as long as I live!' The alehousekeepers, and profligate young men, are the most exemplary in their repentance. I dined at the 'Squire's, who seemed amazed, and half-converted, at their change. I preached at four to a barn-full of simple, hungry, seeking souls. They sunk under the hammer, and melted before the fire of the word. Oct. 9th. I met them again in the barn, and wept with them that wept. All were stirred up, and made haste to escape into the ark, because of the stormy wind and tempest.

me.

"After preaching in Bath a woman desired to speak with She had been in our society, and in Christ, but lost her grace through the spirit of offence, left the fellowship, and fell by little and little into the depth of vice and misery. I called Mrs. Naylor to hear her mournful account. She had lived some time at a wicked house in Avon-street; confessed it was hell to her to see our people pass to the preaching; knew not what to do, or how to escape. We bade her fly for her life, and not once look behind her. Mrs. Naylor kept her with herself till the morning, and then carried her with us in the coach to London, and delivered her to the care of

In those times correct intelligence travelled slowly. General Cope was not "cut off" in the battle here referred to. He was defeated, and many of his men were slain; but he escaped.

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our sister Davey. 'Is not this a brand plucked out of the fire?'

"Oct. 13th. I warned them earnestly, both at the chapel and the Foundery, of the impending storm.

"Oct. 17th. We had twenty of our brethren from Flanders to dine with us at the Foundery, and rejoiced in the distinguishing grace of God towards them.

"Nov. 8th. I preached first in front of the camp near Dartford. gave diligent heed to the word.

Bexley church, then in the
Many of the poor soldiers
One of the most reprobate

was pricked in the heart, and entered the society.

"Nov. 9th. A regiment passing by our door, I took the opportunity of giving each soldier a book. All, excepting one, received them thankfully.

"Nov. 10th. I expounded Psalm xlvi. with great enlargement. An officer was present, and by his tears confessed the emotion of his heart.

"Nov. 11th. We had some of our brethren of the army at the select society, and solemnly commended them to the grace of God before they set out to meet the rebels. They were without fear, or disturbance, knowing the hairs of their head are all numbered, and nothing can happen but by the determinate counsel of God.

"Dec. 6th. In reading my brother's last Appeal I was drawn out into fervent prayer for him, myself, and all the children whom God hath given us.".

The concluding part of Mr. John Wesley's "Earnest Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion" was finished at this time, and appears to have been read by Charles in manuscript. It is a powerful and an impressive work, written with great force of argument, and yearning pity for the souls of ignorant and wicked men. The doctrines which the author and his brother taught are here explained and defended, with the means which they adopted to effect a revival of pure Christianity. A paragraph at the close shows that, notwithstanding the national danger, the Methodist Preachers were still persecuted with unrelenting severity. Dr. Borlase, in Cornwall, was not the only clerical Magistrate who abused his authority to gratify his prejudices.

"Just now," says Mr. Wesley, "on the 4th of this instant December, the Reverend Mr. Henry Wickham, one of His

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