The earliest account, upon record, of Mr. Wesley's preaching in Yorkshire, is to be found in his journal, under date of May 26th, 1742, when he preached, at noon, on the top of Birstal-hill, to several hundreds of plain people; and again at eight o'clock, on the side of Dewsburymoor. He arrived at Birstal the preceding evening, and his account of Nelson, at this time, deserves transcribing, as it develops the simple way in which John commenced his successful ministerial labours :"Hearing he was at home," says Mr. Wesley, "I sent for him to our inn; whence he immediately carried me to his house, and gave me an account of the strange manner wherein he had been led on, from the time of our parting at London. He had full business there, and large wages. But, from the time of his finding peace with God, it was continually upon his mind that he must return (though he knew not why) to his native place. He did so, about Christmas, in the year 1740. His relations and acquaintance soon began to enquire, what he thought of this new faith; and whether he believed there was any such thing as man's knowing that his sins were forgiven. John told them point blank, that this new faith, as they called it, was the old faith of the Gospel; and that he himself was as sure his sins were forgiven, as he could be of the shining of the sun. This was soon noised abroad; more and more came to enquire concerning these strange things. Some put him upon the proof of the great truths which such enquiries naturally led him to mention; and thus he was brought, unawares, to quote, explain, compare, and enforce several parts of Scripture. This he did at first sitting in his house, till the company increased so that the house could not contain them. Then he stood at the door, which he was commonly obliged to do, in the evening, as soon as he came from work. God immediately set his seal to what was spoken; and several believed, and, therefore, declared, that God was merciful also to their unrighteousness, and had forgiven all their sins."

Mr. Wesley, also, in his "Short History of the People called Methodists," adverts to the above-mentioned visit, and thus speaks of the beneficial results of the labours of this faithful soldier of Christ :-" In May, on the repeated invitation of John Nelson, who had been for some time calling sinners to repentance, at Birstal, and the adjoining towns in the West Riding of Yorkshire, I went to Birstal, and found his labour had not been in vain. Many of the greatest profligates in all the country were now changed. Their blasphemies were turned to praise. Many of the most abandoned drunkards were now sober; many Sabbathbreakers remembered the Sabbath to keep it holy. The whole town wore a new face. Such a change did God work by the artless testimony of one plain man! And from thence his word sounded forth to Leeds, Wakefield, Halifax, and all the West Riding of Yorkshire."*

In June 1742, Mr. Wesley preached both at Halifax and Sheffield; but does not appear to have preached at Leeds until April of the following year; in which year, his brother Charles also preached here. The account of the preaching of the latter is related by Dr. Whitehead, as

Batty, imbibed Sandemanian principles, which led to excommunications and unpleasant disputes. The consequence was, that out of upwards of eighty flourishing churches in this and other counties, only thirteen remained! Mr. Ingham was brother-in-law to the Countess of Huntingdon, as he married Lady Margaret Hastings.-Lady Huntingdon's Life, vol. i. p. 242, 274-5.

* Wesley's Works, vol. xiii, p. 276.

follows:-" May 29th, he informs us, that not a year before, he had come to Leeds, and found no man who cared for the things of God. But, (he observes) a spark has now fallen in this place also, and it will kindle a great flame. I met the infant society, about fifty in number, most of them justified, and exhorted them to walk circumspectly. At seven o'clock, I stood before Mr. Shent's door, and cried to thousands, 'Ho! every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters.' The word took place. They gave diligent heed to it, and seemed a people prepared for the Lord."*

The way for the visits of both the Wesleys, and the preparation of the ground for a blessed harvest at Leeds, seems to have been made a few months before, by the exertions of William Shent, and the bold indefatigable Stone-Mason of Birstal. The pious reader, I am sure, will be pleased with an extract from the interesting Journal or Life of the latter of these useful men. "About this time (1742) William Shent was converted, and there began to be an uproar in Leeds about his saying he knew his sins were forgiven. Some, however, believed his report, and had a desire to hear for themselves; neither could he be content to eat his morsel alone, for his heart panted for the salvation of all his neighbours. The Christmas following, he desired me to go and preach at Leeds; but, when I gave notice of it to the Society, they advised me not to go till we had kept a day of fasting and prayer. So we humbled ourselves before the Lord on the Friday, and on Sunday night I went to Leeds, several of the brethren accompanying me. As we were going over the bridge, we met two men, who said to me,- If you attempt to preach in Leeds, you must not expect to come out again alive, for there is a company of men that swear they will kill you.' I said, they must ask my Master's leave; for if he has any more work for me to do, all the men in the town cannot kill me till I have done it.' When we got to brother Shent's, he had provided a large house to preach in, and it was well filled with people. As soon as I got upon the stairs, I felt an awful sense of God rest upon me, and the people behaved as people that feared God, and received the word with meekness."

Some idea of the time when the seed of the word was first sown by a Methodist Ministry in the principal towns of Yorkshire, may be gathered by recording Mr. Wesley's first visit, or preaching, at such places. This, however, will not determine the time precisely. Societies existed in some places, as in Birstal, Leeds, &c., before Mr. Wesley preached for them; but they could not have existed any great length of time, for Mr. W. being almost incessantly travelling, he would not be long before he paid them a visit, at least, places of much importance. Mention has been already made of the time when Mr. Wesley first visited Birstal, Dewsbury, Halifax, Sheffield, and Leeds. The next principal places in chronological order were Wakefield, in 1745; Keighley, in 1746; Haworth, in 1747; Wakefield, 1748; York and Hull, in 1752; Rotherham, 1753; and Scarborough, in 1759.

No complete list of circuits and number of members was published until the year 1767; from which list it will be scen, that Yorkshire was early distinguished for its hearty reception and encouragement of Methodism, The list, also, will show where the Methodists were principally located at that time, and how many counties in the kingdom, not to say towns, were then destitute of a Methodist Ministry.

* Whitehead's Life of (C.) Wesley, vol. i. p. 244.

At the Conference in 1767, the question, what numbers are in the Society, is thus answered:

The above Circuits, as far as they relate to England, embrace only eighteen counties, leaving twenty-two without a single Circuit; and of the twenty-six Circuits in England at this time, seven, or nearly onethird, it will be observed, belong to Yorkshire, Birstal Circuit containing the largest number of members of any in the county, a fact which forms no bad eulogium of the ministerial labours of John Nelson, and his noble coadjutors. Nor does the fact of Haworth Circuit standing the next in point of number in this county, speak less in favour of the laborious Vicar of the place, and of "Grimshaw's men," as they were then called, Paul Greenwood and Jonathan Maskew. Of the seventy-three itinerant Preachers at that time in England, twenty-two were stationed in Yorkshire; and of the number of members in the United Kingdom, 7226, approaching upon one third of the whole, belonged to this county.

Some few veterans in Methodism are now living, who were living eighty years ago, the period to which we have adverted; and though it will be a little irrelevant to the title and design of this article to contrast the state of Methodism now, in 1847, with its state in 1767, yet, if the contrast tends to kindle one of the best feelings of the Christian's heart, that of adoring gratitude for what God has wrought, the writer is persuaded the irrelevancy will be forgiven.

In 1767, there were in Great Britain and Ireland only 41 Circuits, 101 Preachers in active service, two supernumeraries, and 25,911 members.

In the United Kingdom at the present time (1847), the whole of the Methodist Body,* comprising the Old and New Connexions, the Primitives, and Wesleyan Association, will be found to have nine hundred and six Circuits and Missionary Stations; eighteen hundred and eighteen Ministers and Missionaries in full service, besides two hun

In this statement, the Methodists in the West of England, called Bible Christians, are excepted, not knowing their number. They are reported to have 391 chapels; and thought to be about 12 or 14,000 members.

dred and twenty-four supernumerary and superannuated Preachers, who are partially employed in Ministerial labours; and four hundred and eighty-four thousand four hundred and forty-eight accredited members. In 1767, the Methodists had no Missions abroad; nor more than a single society in the United States, which was formed the previous year in New York by Philip Embury, a Local Preacher from Ireland. Now, the various sections of the Methodist Church have five hundred and twenty-six Missionaries employed abroad, in different parts of the world and upwards of one hundred and six thousand members. Methodism, in the United States, has spread more rapidly than in our native land. Our elder brethren have, for some reason, ceased to publish in their Minutes the statistics of American Methodism; but the following account is taken from printed and authentic documents. 1773, the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States had only ten Preachers, and eleven hundred and sixty members; but, in 1844, they had four thousand two hundred and eighty-two Circuit Preachers, beside three hundred and thirty-nine supernumeraries; and one million one hundred and seventy-one thousand three hundred and fifty-six members! Looking at the progress of Methodism, both at home and abroad, we may, indeed, gratefully ask, "what hath God wrought" within the period of a man's life? There are also the "Protestant Methodists " in the United States, said to have four hundred regular Ministers, and sixty thousand members.

In

To return again to Methodism in Yorkshire. This county is deeply indebted, under God, to many of its own sons for the spread of Methodism during the latter half of the last century. Among the early Methodist preachers, to whom Yorkshire gave birth, may be mentioned the names of J. Nelson, sen., Maskew, Stainforth, Lee, Mitchell, Hanson, Pawson, T. Taylor, J. Brown, Storey, Rogers, and Rhodes. To these may be added the names of Atmore, Barber, Benson, Bradburn, Hopper, Hanby, Hopkins, Mather, Percival, Thom, J. Wood, and Wrigley, who, if not born in the county, yet by various appointments to different Circuits in it, were eminently useful in preaching those doctrines of the Gospel which form the distinguishing peculiarities of a Methodist ministry. Some of these men, at the hazard of their lives by infuriated mobs, preached the word of salvation; and of all it may emphatically be said, that they laboured in the Yorkshire vineyard of Methodism. Now, others, by the Providence and grace of God, have entered into their labours; and may both the sowers and reapers finally rejoice together in the kingdom of their Heavenly Father. I do not mention either the living or deceased ministers, whose labours have been useful in this county, during the present century; but leave it for some chronicler, at a future time, to record their worthy names and deeds.

From the year 1767, to the time of Mr. Wesley's death in March, 1791, Methodism gradually extended. At the previous Conference in 1790, there were seventeen Circuits in this county; forty-five Circuit Preachers; and sixteen thousand one hundred and twenty-nine Members.

It will appear from the annexed table, that there are now two hundred and seventy-two ministers in active service, to which may be added about forty supernumerary and superannuated ministers, who occasionally labour in the word and doctrine; and ninety-eight thousand four hundred and sixty members.