religion and
finance, it was embodied in the General Rules, which were drawn up and
signed by Mr. Wesley, 1st May, 1743; but in which there is no mention
made of class-meeting, or of the duty of any member to meet in class. In
his "Plain Account of the People called Methodists," Mr. Wesley thus
states the origin of the office of class-leader and the institution of
class-meetings.

At length (says he,) while we were thinking of quite another thing, we
struck upon a method for which we have had cause to bless God ever
since. I was talking with several of the Society in Bristol (Feb. 15,
1742,) concerning the means of paying the debts there, when one stood
up, and said, 'Let every member of the Society give a penny a week till
all are paid.' Another said, 'But many of them are poor, and cannot
afford to do it.' 'Then,' said the other, 'put eleven of the poorest
with me, and if they can give anything, well: I will see them weekly;
and if they can give nothing, I will give for them as well as for
myself. And each of you will call upon eleven of your neighbours weekly,
receive what they give, and make up what is wanting.' It was done. In a
little while some of these informed me, they found such and such an one
did not live as he ought. It struck me immediately, This is the very
thing we have wanted so long. I called together the Leaders of the
classes (so we used to term them and their companies,) and desired that
each would make particular inquiry into the behaviour of those whom he
saw weekly. They did so. Many disorderly walkers were detected. Some
turned from the evil of their ways. Some were put away from us. Many saw
it with fear, and rejoiced in God with reverence. As soon as possible,
the same method was used in London, and in all other places. The
following is Mr. Wesley's account of the first appointment of
class-leaders in London, extracted from his Journal, Thursday, March 25,
1742: I appointed several earnest and sensible men to meet me, to whom I
showed the great difficulty I had long found of knowing the people who
desired to be under my care. After much discourse, they all agreed there
could be no better way to come to a sure, thorough knowledge of each
person, than to divide them into classes, like those at Bristol, under
the inspection of those in whom I could confide. This was the origin of
our classes at London, for which I can never sufficiently praise God;
the unspeakable usefulness of the institution h