History of Methodism. 157 



falsehood abroad, and in some measure gained his 

 point. The people became almost afraid to hear the 

 preachers, lest they should be infected with Method- 

 ism. The awakened and converted, however, began 

 to be gathered into societies, and numbered at the end 

 of the first year thirty-five whites and twenty-three 

 colored in Charleston. In letters to Mr. Wesley, Mr. 

 Allen says: 



It was now ( June 1785 ) too late in the summer to proceed to 

 Georgia; I therefore paid my friends and spiritual children a visit 

 at Anson, in North Carolina, and formed what is now called Great Pe- 

 dee Circuit, where many hundreds flocked to hear the word of the 

 Lord, and many were truly awakened. In autumn I paid my friends 

 another visit in Anson, where some, who had backslidden after my 

 first coming among them, were deeply distressed. One night at 

 ColonelJackson's we had a most affecting season ; many were deeply 

 distressed, but in particular tw o of the Colonel's daugh t ers and a 

 s ister of Mrs. Spencer, whose husband was one of the judges of the 

 Superior Court. These after we had retired to bed continued with 

 such cries and groans that we could not rest, and after awhile we 

 arose and continued in prayer and exhortation till near two o'clock, 

 when God heard our petitions and sent the Comforter. In the course 

 of this tour we had crowded assemblies to hear, and many were 

 deeply wrought upon. In September I returned with my dear com- 

 panion in travels and sufferings, John Mason, to Cainhoy, where 

 we found the work going on in the hearts of our friends. We spent 

 some time with them and in Charleston, and then took our journey to 

 the North. We visited our friends again on Pedee and the Yadkin, 

 where God gave us some gracious seasons. At the Conference of 

 1786 , held at Salisbury, I was appointed to take charg e of Pede e 

 and Santee circuits, in the former of which we had a blessed ingath- 

 ering of souls, and in the latter God set a few seals to my feeble 

 labors. I spent some time also in North Carolina, where we had 

 very happy meetings, some falling to the earth, and others crying to 

 God to have mercy on their souls. 



While Mr. Allen was thus cultivating the northern, 

 Mr. Hickson was equally active in developing the 

 southern portion of this field, so that in 1786 the 



