88 History of Methodism 



horses, if lie would go by land, which he gladly ac- 

 cepted. He went with him twenty miles, and sent his 

 servant to guide him the other twenty to his house. 

 Here he found a young negro of unusual intelligence, 

 to whom he gave Christian instruction, which was re- 

 ceived with fixed attention, so that the next day all was 

 accurately remembered. On Sunday he preached at 

 Ponpon Chapel twice, on 1 Cor. xiii., describing at 

 large Christian charity, or love, to a congregation that 

 came from eight to twelve miles to hear his discourses. 

 On Wednesday he visited Mr. Belinger's plantation, 

 at Chulifinny, where he was detained by rain till Fri- 

 day, and was sent forward on that day by Mr. Belin- 

 ger, under the guidance of a negro lad, to Purysburg, 

 from whence he went to Savannah on Saturday, the 

 30th. By conversation with the lad that went with 

 him, who was both capable of instruction and anxious 

 to learn, and with the negroes on Mr. Belinger's plan- 

 tation—one of whom told him that when he was at 

 Ashley Ferry he went to church every Sunday, and 

 that if there was any church within five or six miles 

 of him, buried as he then was in the woods, although 

 he was lame and could not walk, yet he would crawl 

 thither — Mr. Wesley's interest in the religious welfare 

 of this race was greatly intensified, and he then laid 

 down the plan of instruction which was adopted a hun- 

 dred years afterward by the South Carolina Confer- 

 ence, and made the basis of all missionary operations 

 among the negroes: "One of the easiest and shortest 

 ways to instruct the American negroes in Christianity 

 would be, first, to inquire after and find out some of 

 the most serious of the planters; then, having inquired 

 of them which of their slaves were best inclined, and 

 understood English, to go to them from plantation to 



