94 II is tout of Methodism 



important work of preaching; but he kept it for a 

 fortnight, and then sent it back, with a guinea for the 

 loan of it, telling him that he had divided it into two, 

 and had preached it morning and evening to his con- 

 gregation. When the good Bishop Benson announced 

 in his visitation charge that he would ordain none 

 under three and twenty, his heart leaped for joy; but 

 the bishop, on the recommendation of Lady Selwyn, 

 sent for him to the palace, and told him that he had 

 heard of his character, and liked his behavior at 

 church, and, inquiring his age, said to him, "Not- 

 withstanding I have declared I would not ordain any 

 one under three and twenty, yet I shall think it my 

 duty to ordain you whenever you come for holy or- 

 ders." He was afraid to hold out any longer, lest he 

 should fight against God, and came to the resolution 

 to offer himself for ordination on the 20th of June, 

 1736. On that day he wrote : 



I hope the good of souls will be my only principle of action. Let 

 come what will— life or death — I shall henceforward live like one 

 who this day, in the presence of men and angels, took the holy sac- 

 rament upon the profession of being inwardly moved by the Holy 

 Ghost to take upon me that ministration in the Church. I can call 

 heaven and earth to witness that when the bishop laid his hand upon 

 me I gave myself up to be a martyr for Him who hung upon the 

 cross for me. I have thrown myself blindfold, and I trust without 

 reserve, into his almighty hands. 



The next Sunday, June 27, he preached a notable 

 sermon — the first of upward of eighteen thousand 

 during his life— in the Church of St. Mary de Crypt, 

 on " The Necessity and Benefit of Beligious Society," 

 to a crowded congregation, made up of old men, who 

 were the associates of his father; aged women, who 

 knew him when an infant in his mother's arms; topers 

 not a few, whom, as a blue-aproned tapster, he had 



