He desired, in bis own mind, to retire to Oxford to his beloved obscurity, but Divine Providence ordered otherwise; and John Wesley was detained in London and importuned to preach these new doctrines, in vari- ous churches, thrice every Sunday, and on week-days also. One source of attraction was that he had recent- ly returned from America, which was considered a far country; and he related some of his experience in the course of his discourses. Multitudes flocked to hear him, and soon the churches were unable to hold the crowds which assembled. In a short time, partly be- cause of the large assemblies and partly owing to the new doctrines, he was excluded from one church, then from another, till at length he was shut out of all the churches. Not daring to be silent, after a short struggle between honor and conscience, he made a virtue of ne- cessity, and preached in the open air — first in IMoorfields, London, then at Kennington, and in many other parts of England.
Thousands upon thousands of persons — in some in- stances ten thousand, in others twenty thousand, and even more as computed by Mr. Wesley himself, and re- corded by him in his Journals — attended his out-door services. This step was not taken in any spirit of an- tagonism to the Church ; quite the contrary. During one month in 1739, both John and Charles Wesley had interviews with the bishop of Gloucester, Gibson, bishop of London, and Potter, archbishop of Canterbury, to talk over their conduct; and with kindlv results in each
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case. Mr. Whltefield, also, had similar interviews with bishops respecting his preaching in the open air. It is plain, therefore, that the resistance these three clergy- men met with did not proceed from the heads of the Established Chnrch, but from those of the clergy who were at ease in their comfortable livings, and who saw that their quiet enjoyment would be broken if the pro- ceedings of these evangelists were not stopped. Hence it was that many newspapers and magazines were used by those clergymen to slander and misrepresent the work of the Wesleys and Whitetield.
During the summer and autumn of 1739, there were witnessed by thousands of persons most remarkable man- ifestations of divine power at many of the open-air ser- vices conducted by Jolm Wesley. The preaching of George Whitefield and Charles Wesley, at the same pe- riod and to the same congregations, was quite as faith- ful and even more impassioned, at times, than was John Wesley's; but it was to the preaching of John Wesley only that those special manifestations were given. At London and at Bristol, on various occasions and at di- vers places, during the six months preceding the forma- tion of the United Societies, scores of persons were smit- ten down under his preaching, in the open air and in small meetings in rooms; such signs had never been before witnessed since apostolic times. Mr. W^esley himself wrote : " More and more of the people were cut to the heart, and came to me all in tears, inquiring with the utmost eagerness what they must do to be saved." These penitents were counted by scores and hundreds during the autumn of 1739; and it was the witnessing of the deep agony of spirit and anguish of heart that awakened the sj'mpathy of two gentlemen, who attend- ed the preaching at ISIoorfields, to provide a place of shelter for those poor stricken ones.
Northward of the preaching ground at Moorfields — only a few hundred yards, but surrounded by fields — the Old Gunnery, or foundry for cannon, had stood in ruins for more than twenty years. Mr. Wesley was pressed to take the premises into his own hands; but he had to decline them, having no funds. Mr. Ball and Mr. Wat- kins, two kindly disposed friends, finding that the ten- ancy could be secured for £115, loaned that sum to Mr. Wesley ; but, as the place was a vast heap of ruinous buildings, a large additional sum had to be spent to fit it up as a place for religious worship. The roofless building, with tottering walls, was first used by Mr. AVes- ley on Sunday evening, Nov. 11, 1739. The cost of fit- ting up the Foundry for worship was about £800, which sum was paid in three years by small subscriptions from many friends who had shared in the blessings which came with the preached word.
The exact date of the origin of Methodism is not known ; but it was within the three weeks embraced within the last week in November and the tirst fourteen days of December in 1739. A large number of persons had been converted within six months, who had been joined to the Moravians. In Mr. Wesley's works are found several allusions made by him to that period. The two following passages convey the clearest account we have : " In the latter end of the year 1739, eight or ten persons came to me in London, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin and earnestly groaning for re- demption. They desired I would spend some time with them in prayer and advise them how to flee from the wrath to come. That we might have more time for this great work, I appointed a day when they might all come together, which, from thenceforward, they did ev- ery Thursday, in the evening. To these, and as many more as desired to join with them, I gave those advices which I judged most needful for them; and we always concluded our meetings with prayer suited to their sev- eral necessities. This was the rise of the United Soci- ety; first in London, then in other places." The first meetings were class-meetings, and John Wesley was the leader. In another extract we find the following addi- tional details: '• Tlie first evening about twelve persons