country belonging to the Creek Indians, and possessing a population of about 25,000 souls. We cannot minutely follow the thread of the mission in Georgia: suffice it to say that it was hardly successful, and removed but few of the prejudices which caused the Chief Tomochichi to exclaim," Christian much drunk! Christian beat men! Christian tell lies! Devil Christian! Me no Christian!"

But Wesley's insisting on intolerant discipline, on immersion in baptism, and on other severities, hindered the good work. The preacher also began to de. part more and more from the practices of the church. At Frederica, too, whither Charles Wesley had gone, great confusiou arose out of his attempts at reform, and injudicious zeal. In 1737 Charles returned to England. John refrained from marrying Sophia Causton, the niece of the chief magistrate, in deference, it is said, to the decision of the Moravian brethren, to whom he proposed the question, whether he should or should not unite himself to that young lady. Other accounts state that the match was broken off by Miss C. in consequence of his eccentricities; and she soon after became the wife of a Mr. Williamson. Wesley seems at this period of his life to have been both intolerant and untractable. For some cause or other he repelled Mrs. Williamson from the communion table. For this and for scandal he was indicted. The prosecution, however, was not promptly followed up, and af. ter waiting several months for trial, he quitted the scene of his distress. His passage homeward from Charleston was tempestuous, and spent in strict self-ex amination he landed at Deal, after an absence of two years and four months. It is curious, that Whitfield sailed from the Downs for Georgia only a few hours before the vessel in which Wesley was, cast anchor; the ships passed in sight, but neither knew that his friend was on the deck of that at which he gazed.

"But when Wesley landed he learn ed that his coadjutor was on board the vessel in the offing: it was still possi

ble to communicate with him; and Whitfield was not a little surprised at receiving a letter which contained these words: "When I saw God by the wind which was carrying you out brought me in, I asked counsel of God. His answer you have inclosed." The inclosure was a slip of paper, with this sentence," Let him return to London." Wesley doubting, from his own experience, whether his friend could be so usefully employed in America as ia England, had referred the question to chance, in which at that time he trusted implicitly; and this was the lot* which he bad drawn."

Whitfield had, during the absence of Wesley, made many proselytes in Eng

land.

He began his preachings at Gloucester, and preached afterwards to enthusiastic multitudes in London, Bristol, and other places; but he left all for America.

"It is therefore apparent, that tho' the Wesleys should never have existed, Whitfield would have given birth to Methodism :-and now when Whit field, having excited this powerful sensation in London, had departed for Georgia, to the joy of those who dreaded the excesses of his zeal, no sooner had he left the metropolis, than Wesley arrived there, to deepen and widen the impression which Whitfield had made. Had their measures been con certed, they could not more entirely The first sermon have accorded.

these which Wesley preached was upon strong words: If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature;' and though he himself had not yet reached the same stage in his progress as his more ardent coadjutor, the discourse was so high strained, that be was informed he was not to preach again in that pulpit.

"This was on the second day after On the next his arrival in London. Sunday he preached at St. Andrew's, Holborn, and there also was informed

* This remarkable instance of Wesley's predi lection for the practice of sortilege, is not noticed

by either of his biographers. Whitfield himself re lates it, in a letter published at the time of their separation.

In the wards all whom he should converse with; that he would labour after continual seriousness, not willingly indulg ing in any the least levity of behaviour, nor in laughter, no, not for a moment; and that he would speak no word, and take no pleasure, which did not tend to the glory of God. In this spirit he began to exhort the hostess or the servants at an inn, the chance company with whom he was sat at meat, and the traveller with whom he fell in on the road; if a passing salutation were exchanged, a word of religious exhortation was added."

that he was to preach no more. course of the week he went to Oxford, whither Peter Boehler accompanied him, and where he found only one of the little Society which he had formed there; the rest having been called to their several stations in the world. During these days he conversed much with the Moravian, but says that he understood him not; and least of all when he said, Mi frater, mi frater, excoquenda est ista tua Philosophia. Ere long, being with his mother at Salisbury, and preparing for a journey to his brother Samuel, at Tiverton, he was recalled to Oxford by a message that Charles was dying there of a pleurisy: setting off immediately upon this mournful summons, he found him recovering, and Peter Boehler with him. Boehler possessed one kind of philosophy in a higher degree than his friend: the singularity of their appearance and manner excited some mockery from the undergraduates, and the German, who perceived that Wesley was annoyed by it chiefly on his account, said, with a smile, Mi frater non adhæret vestibus, it does not even stick to our clothes.' This man, a person of no ordinary powers of mind, became Wesley's teacher it is no slight proof of his commanding intellect, that he was listened to as such; and by him, in the hands of the great God,' says Wesley, I was clearly convinced of unbelief, of the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved.' A scruple immediately occurred to him, whether he ought not leave off preaching, for how could he preach to others who had not faith himself? consulted whether he should leave it off, Boehler was and answered, By no means.' 'But what can I preach?' said Wesley. The Moravian replied, Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you have it, you will preach faith.' Accordingly he began to preach this doctrine, tho,

he

says, work.

his soul started back from the

"He had a little before resolved, and written down the resolution as a covenant with himself, that he would use absolute openness and unreserve to

after this period was to resort to extemWesley's first important alteration poraneous prayer. Between 40 or 50, agreeing to meet weekly and draw up now (1738) congregated in London, the fundamental rules of their society, "in obedience to the command of God by St. James, and by the advice of Peter Boehler."

eral bands or little companies, none They were to be divided into sevconsisting of fewer than five, or more than ten persons; in these bands every one in order engaged to speak as freely, plainly, and concisely as he could, the real state of his heart, with his several temptations and deliverances since the last meeting. On Wednesday evenings, at eight o'clock, all the bands were to have a conference, beginning and ending with hymns and prayer. Any person who desired admission into this society was to be asked, what were his motives, whether he would be entirely open, using no kind of reserve, and whether he objected to any of the every one present who felt any objecrules. When he should be proposed, tion to his admission, should state it fairly and fully; they who were received on trial were to be formed into distinct bands, and some experienced person chosen to assist them; and if no objection appeared to them after two months, they might then be admitted day was to be observed as a day of into the society. Every fourth Saturgeneral intercession; and on the Sunday sevennight following, a general lovefeast should be held, from seven till tep

From the Monthly Magazine, March, 1820. LETTERS FROM THE HAVANNAH.

NO. II.*

very frequently those sacred mysteries in Europe. An additional amusement is, to survey, in the groups, a marchioness or a countess seated between a Spanish monk and a Dutch seaman, that waft to her, from the right and left, the fragrant fumes of their cigarres.

which so delighted our good forefathers. I have witnessed the triumph of the Ave-Maria, tragi-comedy, which closes with the sudden appearance, in the midst of the theatre, of a chivalrous worthy, mounted on a real horse, shaking at the end of a lance the bloody head of an infidel.

This horrid exhibition excited a titter of enjoyment in all the spectators. The ladies in particular seemed to be bighly entertained-no fainting fits, no nervous attacks. How could a mere fiction agonize the blunt feelings of women hardened by the spectacles of bull-fights, and almost every day meeting with the dead body of some human being who has been assassinated? The ball and gaming-rooms are about a quarter of a league from the city; and you proceed to them through an avenue, at the end of which appears a little pedestrian statue of Charles III. with proportions but meagre, and a conformity of costume which throws over the monarch an appearance rather grotesque.

I had almost forgotten to mention, that, close to the statue, and on the high road, you see a block of marble rudely sculptured, surmounted with the bust of Christopher Columbus. It is a sort of shapeless mass of that great man, the design abandoned almost as soon as projected, the posture, lying in the dust at the feet of a king, is a pretty significant emblem of the ungrateful treatment he experienced from the husband of Isabella.

Five or six hundred volantes convey the ladies and gentlemen to the ballrooms. These carriages can only be compared, in point of elegance, to the most ordinary post-chaises; they are drawn by a couple of horses, with a black postillion mounted on one of them. On entering the ball-rooms, you perceive that dancing is but a secondary object of the assembly; the first apartments that you cross are supplied with tables covered with gold and silver; and immense sums are lost and gained here with a rapidity and a degree of phlegm unknown

2F

ATHENEUM VOL. 7.

Here the vicious tendency of gambling is not soured by public opinion; there is the priest, the noble, the magistrate, the merchant, all sitting in public, about a board of green cloth, with as much indifference as we can appro'priate to the most trivial actions. The father of a family goes to place his wife and daughters in the dancing rooms, and then returns to the gaming-room; all this is in the order of their manners, and no sense of public morals or decorum seems to be hurt by it. Nor does the slightest disgrace attach to the bankers that hold the gaming-money, for some of these bankers are members of the most illustrious families in the colony. It is true that the laws and the ordonnances of the governors hold out threatening penalties against gaming, but those who are to put the laws in execution find it to their advantage to screen the offenders with their protection. They give the governor and the intendant to understand that gaming is a necessary evil; and it should seem that they back their assertions with weighty reasons, as the doors are always kept open, and they play, one might almost say, in the open air.

But now for the dancing apartment. It is decorated with taste and elegant simplicity a hundred wax-candles reflect their sparkling lustre on the women seated at one end of the room. Your entrance is the most favourable moment to catch the illusion; large black eyes, a physiognomy full of expression, and the handsomest little feet in the world, would in any country excite an emotion in the breast even of a stoic; but he would be quite astonished to find also a soul and senses.

At the other end of the room are the men, alike seated, but throughout the ball, the two confronting parties do not mingle; there are certain chevaliers of honour who accommodate the dancers