Today besides being Empire Day is the bicentenary of the conversion oí John Wesley, and consequently is taken as the anniversary ai the founding of the Methodist Church. It was at a meeting in Aldersgate Street in London during the reading of Martin Luther's "Preface to the Epistle to the Romans shortly before 9 pin. that Wesley found his heart strangely warmed towards the doctrines of Christ, and as Mr. Lecky the historian points out "it is scarcely an exaggeration io say that the scene which took place at that humble meeting in Aldersgate Street forms an epoch in English history." Wesle$'s mission in life was to take religion to the people. As the churches were closed against him he writes we! could scarcely reconcile myself to this strange way of preaching in the fields....having been all my life (until very lately) so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin, if it had not been done li church." The story of Wesley's progress through England is one of continual success and of boundless energy, for it is reported that he travelled as much as 5,000 miles a year, preaching no fewer than 15 sermons a week. He occasionally had encounters with hostile mobs, but his tact and courage never failed.him. He made it his rule always to look the mob in the face, and many delightful stories are told of how he won his way by the skilful appeals he made to the better feelings of the crowd. But his- supreme gift was his capacity for orga tion. and the early success of his church wa undoubtedly due to the manner in which he was able to avail himself of circumstances and the suggestions of those around him which he thought suitable of adoption. He wove all these things into one harmonious whole, inspired, his preachers and his people with his own spin and made everything subordinate to his overmastering purpose, the spread of spirit tual holiness throughout the land.
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.