it had come, with its enclosure, at the time when he was
not only guilty of conduct unbecoming a disciple, but indulging hard
thoughts of his heavenly Father. He went out to walk alone, and was so
deeply wrought on by God's goodness and his own ingratitude that he
knelt behind a hedge, and, though in snow a foot deep, he forgot himself
for a half-hour in praise, prayer, and self-surrender.

Yet so deceitful is the human heart that a few weeks later he was in
such a backslidden state that, for a time, he was again both careless
and prayerless, and one day sought to drown the voice of conscience in
the wine-cup. The merciful Father gave not up his child to folly and
sin. He who once could have gone to great lengths in dissipation now
found a few glasses of wine more than enough; his relish for such
pleasures was gone, and so was the power to silence the still small
voice of conscience and of the Spirit of God.

Such vacillations in Christian experience were due in part to the lack
of holy associations and devout companionships. Every disciple needs
help in holy living, and this young believer yearned for that spiritual
uplift afforded by sympathetic fellow believers. In vacation times he
had found at Gnadau, the Moravian settlement some three miles from his
father's residence, such soul refreshment, but Halle itself supplied
little help. He went often to church, but seldom heard the Gospel, and
in that town of over 30,000, with all its ministers, he found not one
enlightened clergyman. When, therefore, he could hear such a preacher as
Dr. Tholuck, he would walk ten or fifteen miles to enjoy such a
privilege. The meetings continued at Mr. Wagner's house; and on the
Lord's day evenings some six or more believing students were wont to
gather, and both these assemblies were means of grace. From Easter,
1827, so long as he remained in Halle, this latter meeting was held in
his own room, and must rank alongside those little gatherings of the
"Holy Club" in Lincoln College, Oxford, which a hundred years before had
shaped the Wesleys and Whitefield for their great careers. Before George
Muller left Halle the attendance at this weekly meeting in his room had
grown to twenty.

These assemblies were throughout very simple and primitive. In addition
to prayer, singing, and reading of God's word, one or more brethren
exhorted or read extracts from devout books. Here young Muller freely
opened his heart to others, and through their