76 History of Methodism 



which, as brought forward by them, were most incon- 

 sistent and untenable. His parishioners complained 

 of his too rigid adherence to all parts of the rubric 

 of the Church of England: instances of which were 

 his declining to baptize healthy children except by 

 immersion, and his refusing to admit John Martin 

 Bolzius, one of the holiest men in the province, to the 

 Lord's Supper because he was a Dissenter, unless he 

 would submit to be rebaptized. But he then thought 

 this to be his duty, and it was vain to attempt to move 

 him. Afterward, when God taught him better, he 

 confessed his mistaken zeal, and remarked, " Have I 

 not been finely beaten with my own staff? " 



The society or class-meeting introduced at Savannah, 

 in April, 1736, was not new in the Church of England. 

 It had its origin, as early as 1667, in the successful 

 ministrations of Dr. Horneck, a pious clergyman in 

 London, and Mr. Smithies, Lord's - day morning lect- 

 urer at Cornhill; and when Mr. Wesley was born there 

 were forty of these societies in the metropolis, and 

 not a few elsewhere, both in England and Ireland. 

 Persons feeling the burden of their sins, and seeking 

 counsel as to the best means of securing the blessings 

 of salvation, were advised by their ministers to meet 

 together weekly for pious conversation, and rales were 

 drawn up for the better regulation of these meetings. 

 By the rules they were required to discourse only on 

 such subjects as tended to practical holiness, and to 

 avoid controversy. It was, indeed, through these so- 

 cieties still existing, though not in the state of former 

 vigor and activity, that the Wesleys gained access to 

 the masses of the people, since they did not fall into 

 condemnation under the Conventicle Act. 



When Mr. Ingham came to Savannah from Frederica, 



