of my head, it would have saved him all further
trouble. But every time the blow was turned aside, I know not how; for I
could not move to the right hand or left.... Another came rushing through
the press, and raising his arm to strike, on a sudden let it drop, and
only stroked my head, saying, 'What soft hair he has!' ... The very first
men whose hearts were turned were the heroes of the town, the captains of
the rabble on all occasions, one of them having been a prize-fighter at
the bear-gardens....

"By how gentle degrees does God prepare us for His will! Two years ago, a
piece of brick grazed my shoulders. It was a year after that the stone
struck me between the eyes. Last month I received one blow, and this
evening two, one before we came into the town, and one after we were gone
out; but both were as nothing: for though one man struck me on the breast
with all his might, and the other on the mouth with such a force that the
blood gushed out immediately, I felt no more pain from either of the blows
than if they had touched me with a straw."(375)

The Methodists of those early days--people as well as preachers--endured
ridicule and persecution, alike from church-members and from the openly
irreligious who were inflamed by their misrepresentations. They were
arraigned before courts of justice--such only in name, for justice was rare
in the courts of that time. Often they suffered violence from their
persecutors. Mobs went from house to house, destroying furniture and
goods, plundering whatever they chose, and brutally abusing men, women,
and children. In some instances, public notices were posted, calling upon
those who desired to assist in breaking the windows and robbing the houses
of the Methodists, to assemble at a given time and place. These open
violations of both human and divine law were allowed to pass without a
reprimand. A systematic persecution was carried on against a people whose
only fault was that of seeking to turn the feet of sinners from the path
of destruction to the path of holiness.

Said John Wesley, referring to the charges against himself and his
associates: "Some allege that the doctrines of these men are false,
erroneous, and enthusiastic; that they are new and unheard-of till of
late; that they are Quakerism, fanaticism, popery. This whole pretense has
been already cut up by the roots, it having been shown at large that every
branch of this doctrine is the plain doctrine of Scripture int