room, and is the largest but one in the whole town. The first evening I preached there, the congregation was confiderable, and received the word with great decency, and great attention. Whilft I was pointing out to the unregenerate, the fallacioufness of all their hopes, and the impoffibility of reverfing the decree," Except a man be born again, he cannot fee the kingdom of God," and feriously enquiring of them whether they had: found out fome new golpel as their directory, a: poor Negro-woman cried out, "I am fure you are a new Prieft." The fecond evening the great room and all the piazzas around it were crowded with people. I believe there were four hundred Whites prefent, the largest number of Whites I ever preached to at one time in the West-Indies, and about two hundred Negroes, there being no room, I think, for more. After I had preached about ten minutes, a company of gentlemen, inflamed with liquor, began to be very noify: till at laft, the noife ftill increafing, they cried out "Down with him, down with him." then preffed forwards through the crowd in order to feize me, crying out again, "Who feconds that fellow ?" On which my new, but gallant friend Mr. Bull, ftepped forth between the rioters and me, faying, "I fecond him against men and devils." A lady alfo of great worth, who in her younger years had been a member of our Society in London, but through the various viciffitudes of life was now a refident of Jamaica, who had lately been dangerously ill, and during her illness, when all her former religious impreffions returned with all their weight to her mind, had received a clear manifeftation of the pardoning love of God-notwithstanding all the delicacy of her fex, and her own peculiar amiableness of difpofition, ftood up, and reasoned with the rioters on the impropriety of their con They duct. duct. They now, I believe, were convinced that nine out of ten of the congregation difapproved of their behaviour, and gave up the conteft, ftill crying as they defcended the ftair-cafe, "Down with him, down with him." The Spirits of the congregation were fo deranged by this unhappy incident, that I gave out a hymn, and then chofe a new text, and preached a fermon, with fome degree of liberty, I blefs God, to a ferious, attentive audience. Having now received a meffage from the Captain of the brig in which I had taken a paffage for Charleston, defiring me to repair to PortRoyal in order to go on board, I returned to that little town, where I preached three fermons, which many of the white people attended, the Blacks in that place not feeming to regard the gospel. I am fully fatisfied that great good might be done in this island, if the gospel was regularly preached here with power.. A fmall Society of awakened perfons might even at present be formed both among the Whites and Blacks in Kingston. Indeed this valuable and populous ifland demands and deferves much of our attention and exertions, as it probably contains above 300,000 inhabitants, the flaves alone, in the year 1768, amounting to 217,000; and in Kingston only they have been nearly doubled fince that time. This I must add in honour of the island, that I never vifited any place either in Europe or America, in which the gofpel was not preached, where I received fo many civilities as I did in Jamaica, four or five families of property having opened to me their houfes, and, very evidently, their hearts alfo, and affured me that any Miffionaries we shall in future send to that ifland, hall be welcome to beds and every thing their houles afford. On On the 24th of February I landed at Charleflon. Mr. Abury had arrived there feveral days before from the North in order to meet me; but fet off three hours before I landed to be prefent at the Conference in Georgia. The next day I followed, and riding in two days as much as he had in three, overtook him. The first day we rode forty-seven miles, for about two miles of which our horses were up to their bellies in water, with two great invifible ditches on the right and left. Our Elder ftationed at Charleflon, accompanied me. One of the grandest objects to be feen in this country, is the fires in the woods in the fpring. The inhabitants fet fire to the grafs and little fhrubs, in order to burn up the dry leaves which cover the ground, that the grafs which grows up afterwards may be acceffible to the cattle. Late one evening I faw the most aftonishing illumination, I think, I ever beheld in my life, whilft I was travelling through the woods. I feemed furrounded with great, extenfive fires: and question whether the King of France's Stag-hunt in his Forest by night, which he fometimes has given to his nobility, would be more wonderful or entertaining to a philofophic eye. Sometimes the fire catches the Oozing turpentine of the pine-trees, and blazes to the very top. I have feen old, rotten pine-trees all on fire: the trunks, and the branches (which looked like fo many arms,) were full of visible fire and made a molt grotesque appearance. The weather was as cold, as it had been, according to the information of the people, in any part of the winter, and was felt by me juft come from the torrid zone, with peculiar feverity. Although I clothed myfelf almost from top to toe with flannel, I could but just bear the cold. We had congregations all the way, after I inet Mr. Afbury; but our journeys in the back parts of South Carolina. and Georgia were frequently very trying. Sometimes we loft our way. In one inftance we loftTM twenty twenty-one miles. A great part of the way we had nothing in the houfes of the Planters but bacon and eggs, and Indian corn bread. Mr. Afbury brought with him tea and sugar, without which we fhould have been badly off indeed. In feveral places we were obliged to lie on the floor, which indeed I regarded not, though my bones were a little fore in the morning. The Preachers in Europe know but little, in the prefent ftate of Methodism, of the trials of two thirds of the Preachers on this Continent. And yet in (what I believe to be) a proper view of things, the people in this country enjoy greater plenty and abundance of the mere neceffaries of life, than those of any country I ever knew, perhaps any country in the world. For I have not in my three vifits to this Continent, in all of which I have rode about 5,600 miles, either met with, or heard of, any white men, women or children, that have not had as much bacon, Indian corn, and fuel for fire, as they wanted, and an abundance to spare: nor are they badly off for clothing. The great revival however, and the great rapidity of the work of God, the peculiar confolations of God's Spirit which he has favoured me with, and the retirement I met with in these vaft Forefts, far overbalanced every trial. Many other circumstances alfo amply compenfated for the difagreeable parts of my journey. Sometimes a moft noble Vista of half a mile or a mile in length, would open between the lofty Pines. Sometimes the tender fawns and hinds would fuddenly appear, and, on feeing or hearing us, would glance through the woods, and vanish away. Frequently indeed we were obliged to lodge in houfes built with round logs, and open to every blast of wind, and fometimes were under the neceffity of fleeping three in a bed. Often we rode fixteen or eighteen miles without feeing a house, or human creature but ourselves, and often were obliged to ford very deep deep and dangerous rivers, or creeks (as they are here called.) Many times we ate nothing from feven in the morning till fix in the evening; tho' fometimes we carried refreshments with us, and partook of our temperate repaf on ftumps of trees in the woods near fome spring or ftream of water.. On the 9th of March we began our Conference in Georgia. Here we agreed (as we have ever fince, in each of the Conferences) that Mr. Wefley'sname fhould be inferted at the head of our small annual Minutes, and alfo in the form of difcipline: in the small Minutes as the fountain of our Epis, copal office, and in the form of difcipline as the father of the whole work under the divine guidance. To this all the Conferences have cheer. fully and unanimously agreed. We have 2,011 in Society in the state of Georgia: the increase in the last year has been 784. At this Conference we agreed to build a College in Georgia; and our principal friends in this ftate have engaged to purchase at least 2,000 acres of good land for its fupport for this purpose there was 12,500 pounds. weight of Tobacco fubfcribed in one congregation, which will produce, clear of all expences, about 100l. fterling. We have engaged to erect it, God. willing, within five years, and do moft humbly intreat Mr. Welley to permit us to name it Wesley-College, as a memorial of his affection for poor Georgia, and of our great refpect for him. On the 17th we opened our Conference in Charleston, for the state of South Carolina. My congregations were very large in this city, as well as Mr. Afbury's, and great liberty the Lord was pleased to give me. We were bitterly attacked in. the public papers, but our mild answer, I believe, did us more fervice, than the illiberal attempts of our perfecutors did us hurt. In this State we have 8,377 in Society: the increase is 907. In my way from this city I preached three fermons in a small town called George-Town, in the Court-house, where most of the principal people of the neigh bourhood |