{66c} The birth
of the sect in Lincolnshire may be said to date from his visit to
Epworth, in 1742.

In 1743 he divided the whole county into two sections, or circuits, the
eastern and western. Of the eastern Grimsby was the head; this included
Horncastle, and gradually comprised some 15 other subsidiary centres,
extending from Grimsby and Caistor in the north, to Holbeach in the
south.

His earliest recorded visit to Horncastle was in 1759, when he addressed
a large concourse of people in a yard, supposed to be that of the Queen's
Head Inn, near the Market Place, on April 4th and 5th. On July 18th,
1761, he again preached here, and on July 18th, 1774, he addressed, as
his journal states, "a wild unbroken herd." On July 6th, 1779, he says
"I took my usual stand in the Market Place, Horncastle, the wild men were
more quiet than usual, Mr. Brackenbury, J.P., of Raithby Hall, standing
near me." This Mr. Robert Carr Brackenbury remained his firm friend
through life; and we may here add that he granted to Wesley the use of
his hay loft at Raithby for religious services, further securing the use
of it in perpetuity, by his will, to the Wesleyan body, so that the
curious anomaly has occurred that, when the hall was bought in 1848, by
the Rev. Edward Rawnsley, the house became the residence of an Anglican
clergyman, yet bound to allow the loft over his stable to be used for
nonconformist worship. In recent years the stable has been unused as
such and the loft made more comfortable, being furnished with seats,
pulpit, &c

Wesley, throughout his life, generally visited Horncastle every two
years, his death occurring on March 2nd, 1791. There is in Westminster
Abbey a mural memorial of John and Charles Wesley, having within a
medallion, the bust-sized effigies of the two brothers, beneath which is
inscribed the saying of Wesley, "The best of all is God with us." Below
this, within a panel, is a representation of John Wesley, preaching from
his father's tomb in Epworth churchyard. Beneath are two more quotations
from his own words, "I look upon all the world as my parish," and "God
buries His workmen, but carries on His work." At the head of the slab is
the inscription "John Wesley, M.A., born June 17th, 1703, died March 2nd,
1791. Charles Wesley, M.A., born December 18th, 1708, died March 29th,
1788."

The growth of the society was not rapid, and for some years was subject
to fluctuations. In 1769 Grimsby had 56 m