he
waters. I believe hymn 59 was composed by Mr. Wesley as he stood on
Land's End; this is one of the verses:

"Lo! on a narrow neck of land,
'Twixt two unbounded seas I stand,
Secure, insensible;
A point of time, a moment's space,
Removes me to that heavenly place,
Or shuts me up in hell."

But we are getting on too fast, and must go back to the days when Mr.
Wesley was _not_ an old man. All his time was spent in preaching up and
down the country, starting fresh societies, and encouraging old ones;
and almost everywhere he and his helpers met with abuse and rough
treatment.

In Manchester, which was even then a large and important town, Mr.
Wesley preached to several thousands of people in the open air. At this
meeting, his hearers either got tired of listening or they took offence
at what he said, for, before he had finished, they threatened to bring
out the fire-engine and squirt water upon him if he did not stop.

At Hull, on his first visit in 1752, lumps of earth and stones were
thrown at him while he was preaching; and when the service was over, the
mob followed him, shouting, hooting, and throwing stones until he
reached his lodging.

Though Mr. Wesley could be as brave as a lion when it was necessary, he
could also be as gentle as a lamb. Once, when he was preaching at
Dewsbury, a man rushed up to him in a terrible rage, and struck him with
all his might on the side of his face. It was such a hard blow that poor
Mr. Wesley could not keep the tears from coming into his eyes. Instead
of striking the man back or using angry words, he just did what Christ
said we should do, he turned his other cheek (Matt. v. 39). The enraged
man was so surprised at such unexpected gentleness, that he turned away
and hid his face with shame, and was ever after one of the Methodists'
greatest friends. Once he even risked his life to save one of their
chapels from being destroyed.

Another time, when Mr. Wesley was at Falmouth in Cornwall, he called to
see an invalid lady. The mob heard where he was, and surrounded the
house, shrieking out: "Bring out the Canorum! Where is the Canorum?"
This was a nickname which the Cornishmen had given the Methodists. With
sticks and stones the mob tried to break open the front door of the poor
sick lady's house; and while they were doing this, all the people in the
house escaped by the backway, except Mr. Wesley and a