minister!"

Mr. Wesley, neither frightened nor excited, quietly asked one of his
friends to bring in the ringleader of the mob. The man came in, anger
and fierceness in his eyes. But, somehow, as soon as he stood in the
presence of that calm, Christ-like man, all his passion went out of him.
Mr. Wesley then asked him to bring in two or three of his roughest
companions. The angry men came in. They had wanted to get at the
minister, now they had the chance. But once inside that room, they found
they could not touch him. They felt the presence of God's protecting
angel, and peace took the place of passion, and friendliness the place
of hatred. Getting Mr. Wesley between them, these strange, new friends
made a way for him through the mob outside the house.

Then, standing on a chair, Mr. Wesley spoke to the crowd.

"You wanted me," he said. "Here I am. Now what do you want me for?"

"We want you to go with us to the magistrate," they cried.

"I will go with you with all my heart," he replied.

So away went the brave ambassador for Christ, accompanied by hundreds of
the roughest men and women in Wednesbury.

It was two miles to the magistrate's house, and before they had got
half-way the night came on, and it began to rain very heavily. This made
most of the people turn back and hurry home, but two hundred or more
kept together round Mr. Wesley.

Some of the men ran on first to tell the magistrate they'd got the
Methodist preacher. Instead of seeming pleased, the magistrate said:

"What have I to do with Mr. Wesley? Take him back again." So he sent
them off, and went to bed.

By and by the crowd came up to the house, and knocked at the door. When
the magistrate's son went to them and asked what was the matter, they
said:

"Why, please, sir, these Methodists sing psalms all day, and make folks
get up at five o'clock in the morning, and what would your worship
advise us to do?"

"To go home and be quiet," replied the gentleman.

Finding they could get no help from this magistrate, they hurried poor
Mr. Wesley off to another. This gentleman, too, had gone to bed, and so
the mob could do nothing else but go home.

However, before they had got very far they were joined by another rough
mob from a neighbouring town; and then, in the rain and the darkness,
the two mobs started fighting and knocking each other down. It was no
use Mr. Wesley trying to speak, for the shouting and noise was like the
roaring of the sea