you be if, as in all other respects, so in this important one, you are found to have walked with God.

To sum up all in a brief sentence: your strength must be the grace of God; your animating principle, his love; your aim, his glory; your rule, his word; your encouragement, his favour, and the hope of his everlasting glory. Above all, "singleness of eye," purity of intention, combined with firmness of resolution, and steady decision, must be continually preserved. "If thine eye be single," said Christ himself, "thy whole body shall be full of light." Obscurities and difficulties in the paths of personal piety arise, for the most part, from defectiveness on this point. We become confused when we secretly desire, scarcely willing to acknowledge it to ourselves, to reconcile the world and religion, the service of Mammon with the service of God, seeking objects which may be properly called our own, instead of yielding ourselves to him with that devotedness and submission which ought to be unreserved and entire. The path on which we must walk with God always has its own characteristics, when we are perfectly willing to perceive them; but when an incipient wish to walk in another springs up, even before it is fully formed, our attention becomes distracted, by being for the moment diverted. We look at some other object, and find ourselves asking, "Can I not move towards this?" and so is the shining gate of the kingdom of heaven, which Christ has opened to all believers, and which stands at the end of our path, withdrawn from our immediate view. There are many who, for the moment, hesitate, and say, "Is this allowable?" wishing to find it so ; "Can I consistently pursue this?" wishing to be able to argue out an affirmative reply; who nevertheless recover from their hesitancy, detect the device of their foe, and escape the snare laid for them. And yet, would it not be safer, better, more for our own true good, more for the glory of God, to live, as it were, in a higher dispensation, never coming into doubt concerning the way, by never losing sight of the prize, and aiming so to secure it, that, in the midst of the variety of duty, we may still be able to say, "THIS ONE THING I DO?"

And it is not to a low state that our covenant God calls us: He who commands us to walk before him, likewise commands, "BE THOU PERFECT!

INTOLERANCE REBUKED.

(To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

ABOUT forty years ago, in a small village of Lincolnshire, there dwelt a poor labouring man, of the name of Robert Kent, who rented a thatched cottage, with mud-walls, and about an acre of meadow land, upon which he supported a cow for the use of his family. This little farm was all the world to him; and he envied not the greater possessions of other men. Having been brought to know the grace of God in truth, he opened his house for Methodist preaching, and once a month afforded a night's lodging to an itinerant Evangelist and his horse. A society was soon formed, the members of which held their weekly meetings in Robert's cottage. None of them had much of this world's good; but they knew and loved their Saviour; they loved one another for His sake; and they offered to God a spiritual worship. The introduction of Methodist preaching and discipline, however, was felt by the farmers and the Clergyman to be an offensive innovation upon the habits of the parish; and Robert was given

VOL. III.-FOURTH SERIES.

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to understand that when the steward came to receive the yearly rents, an attempt would be made to obtain his ejectment from the cottage, and exclusion from the neighbourhood; so that the people might be freed from the annoyance of Methodist hymns, prayer-meetings, and sermons. This was no unmeaning threat; for, on the arrival of the steward, vehement complaints were preferred against Robert on account of his Methodistical doings. Of this he was aware; and when the time of his appearance before the steward came, he went with a palpitating heart, to pay the money which he owed, and to defend himself as he might be able. It may be doubted whether Nehemiah prayed more sincerely, in the silence of his heart, when he was about to prefer a request in behalf of his country to a heathen King, (Neh. i. 5—11,) than did this devout peasant when he felt that the subsistence of his family and the cause of his Saviour were both at stake. After waiting for some time, his name was announced, and he was ushered into the presence of the man in authority; who said, “Your rent is." "Yes, Sir, and I have brought the money." After it had been counted, and was found to be correct, a dialogue to the following effect took place :

“I understand, Robert, that you have opened your house for Methodist preaching; and that it is licensed accordingly?"

“Yes, Sir ; for I have received great good to my own soul from the preaching of the Methodists; and I was wishful that my neighbours should have the same benefit."

"At what times are your religious services held ?"

“A Travelling Preacher comes and preaches to us once a month, on the Tuesday evening. On the Sunday morning we have a prayer-meeting; and in the afternoon one of the Local Preachers comes and gives us a sermon."

“I am glad to receive this account, Robert; and I hope that you will not be discouraged by any opposition you may meet with. Some of the farmers have complained to me concerning you, and have wished me to turn you out of your house; but I have reproved them sharply, and expect to hear no more from them on that subject. While I stay, I shall attend your meetings myself; and before I leave I will speak to the Clergyman, and charge him not to disturb you. I have instructions to raise the rents of all the tenants in the parish, and must therefore raise yours ; but I am so pleased to find you a religious man, and concerned for the good of your neighbours, that I shall only raise your rent a few shillings yearly. Go on, Robert, in the good way that you have chosen, and be not afraid.” The feelings of this poor man, on his return, may be easily conceived; and I have never forgotten the hallowed glee with which he related to me what had occurred, when I next went to his humble dwelling to preach Christ to him and his pious companions. He has doubtless long since finished his course, and passed to those abodes of security and peace, "where the wicked cease from troubling, and the weary are at rest.” I confess that I have a profound respect for the memory of those "village Hampdens," who have gained for the labouring poor of their respective localities the free exercise of their religious rights, against the men of power, who would have kept them in mental bondage and darkness. The cause of true religion, and even that of religious liberty, in this country, owes much to the zeal, the fortitude, the self-denial of men in humble life, who have nobly risked all that they had for the honour of their Saviour, and the salvation of redeemed souls. A SEXAGENARIAN.

139

METHODISM IN FORMER DAYS.

No. XXII.-OSMOTHERLY.

(To the Editor of the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine.)

THE traveller, gazing on some mighty river as it urges its majestic flow, is scarcely able to repress the instinctive wish to ascertain its source, to trace its various windings, to mark its tributary streams. A similar desire actuates the Christian, when visiting any spot where from generation to generation the river of the "water of life" has flowed. To him, it proves a source of highest interest to note the honoured men, through whose immediate agency He, with whom is the "fountain of life," conveyed the life-giving stream; he loves to trace its varied progress; he rejoices in the fertility and verdure attendant on its course. Marking thus the onward career of the ever-blessed Gospel, and recognising in its success the hand of Him who "causeth" his servants" to triumph," and "maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge in every place," we seem to tread on holy ground. In the contemplation of the past, with its scenes of patient toil and triumph; in the anticipated glories of "another country," where "the Christian's journey ends,” the mind is sweetly drawn aside from earth, and with feelings of intense desire do we look forward to the purity and blessedness of that better land.

The design of the present paper is to place before the attention of your readers a spot, little, indeed, among the sections of our Israel, yet somewhat conspicuous in the history of Methodism; and where, in the establishment and spread of evangelical truth, much may be noted in illustration of the especial grace and providence of God.

The village of Osmotherly is situate in the North Riding of the county of York. The surrounding locality was anciently known by the name of "Tibby Dale," and has ever been famed for its romantic and beautiful scenery, such as gives the wished-for inspiration to the poet's pen, whilst creating in humbler minds a feeling of rustic delight more easily comprehended than defined.

Few places in our sea girt isle can claim a higher antiquity than that of which this village boasts: strong presumptive evidence is, indeed, furnished of its having existed from the time of the Saxon Heptarchy; for at least a thousand years, successive generations have peopled this romantic spot. The following tradition, as to the origin of its name, whether its correctness be fully substantiated or no, wears, at least, the impress of probability. During the Saxon Heptarchy, when the collection of mudbuilt cottages, then forming the village, was termed Tibby, or Tivoy, Dale, a wife of one of the Northumbrian Kings dreamed, that on a certain day she and her son Oz would certainly be drowned. Naturally wishful to avert such a catastrophe, she, at the time specified, went, in company with her son, to the top of Roseberry, a pyramidal hill, near Stokesley, the highest, it is asserted, in the county of York. The sun shone bright, and Oz with his mother, overcome by fatigue and heat, fell asleep. Whilst thus reposing, a spring gushed out on the very spot where they lay, and the dream of the mother was fatally realized. The bodies of the unfortunate pair were subsequently discovered, and brought for interment to Tibby Dale, distant twelve miles. From this circumstance, it is said, the Dale was designated Osmotherly, a contraction of the words, Oz-and-his-mother's-lay,

or field. The heads of Oz and his mother, carved in stone, are still exhibited in the wall of the parish church.

Osmotherly, as to its Methodistic reminiscences, must also be regarded as an ancient spot, having, at an early period of his career, been honoured with frequent visits from the venerated Wesley. Within seven years of the time that he himself had realized the blessedness of those to whom "faith is imputed for righteousness," Mr. Wesley, at the united request of a Quakeress and a Romish Priest, is found at Osmotherly, proclaiming to an attentive congregation, most of whom were Papists, "the righteousness of God, which is by faith of Jesus Christ unto all and upon all them that believe."

There resided at this period in Osmotherly a Roman Catholic Priest, by name John Adams, or Watson; he being known by both designations. Having violated the law of his Church, which in the true spirit of antichrist forbids her Priests to marry, Adams was placed under ecclesiastical censure, and deprived of his salary as Priest; retaining, however, the house in which he had resided, together with a small landed property contiguous thereto : these he kept possession of till the period of his death; but, such was the jeopardy in which he lived, that for several years he was, in fact, a prisoner in his own house; his doors being, from necessity, bolted day and night. Having heard, notwithstanding his seclusion, singular accounts of the new sect that had recently sprung up, and being informed that Mr. Wesley was then at Newcastle, he resolved, despite the long and toilsome journey, railways being unthought of, and coaches in that neighbourhood nearly as great a rarity, to travel thither, and hear for himself, whether the things which he had heard were so or not. His interview with Mr. Wesley is thus referred to by the latter in his Journal : "Thursday, March 28th, 1745. A gentleman called at our house, who informed me his name was Adams; that he lived about forty miles from Newcastle, at Osmotherly, in Yorkshire; and had heard so many strange accounts of the Methodists, that he could not rest till he came to inquire for himself. I told him he was welcome to stay as long as he pleased, if he could live on our lenten fare. He made no difficulty of this, and willingly stayed till the Monday se'nnight following, when he returned home, fully satisfied with his journey." On Monday, April 15th, a week after Adams had returned home, Mr. Wesley started on his journey southward. He had met the Newcastle society at half-past four in the morning, preached at Chester-le-Street at eight, passed through Darlington onward to Northallerton, where he preached in the evening at the inn. Here Mr. Adams and several of his friends waited upon Mr. Wesley, to invite him to Osmotherly; when, notwithstanding the fatigues of the day, this man of God, ever "about his Father's business," "instant in season, and out of season," cheerfully complies with their request, and, almost at the midnight hour, stands forth as the herald of salvation, enforcing the truth by which we live. "In the evening," records he, "I preached at the inn, in Northallerton, where Mr. Adams, and some of his neighbours, met me. On his saying he wished I could have time to preach in his house at Osmotherly, I told him I would have time, if he desired it; and ordered our horses to be brought out immediately. We came thither between nine and ten. It was about an hour before the people were gathered together.* It was

In a letter to his brother Charles, bearing date, Leeds, April 23d, 1745, Mr. Wesley states, that he preached in a large chapel, which belonged, a few years since, to a convent of Franciscan Friars."

after twelve before I lay down; yet, through the blessing of God, I felt no weariness at all. Tuesday, April 16th. I preached at five, on Rom. iii. 22, to a large congregation, part of whom had sat up all night, for fear they should not wake in the morning. Many of them, I found, either were, or had been, Papists. O, how wise are the ways of God! How am I brought, without any care or thought of mine, into the centre of the Papists in Yorkshire! O that God would arise and maintain his own cause, and all the idols let him utterly abolish! After sermon an elderly woman asked me abruptly, 'Dost thou think water-baptism an ordinance of Christ?' I said, What saith Peter? Who can forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who have received the Holy Ghost, even as we?' I spoke but little more, before she cried out, 'It is right! It is right! I will be baptized.' And so she was, the same hour." This good woman, Elizabeth Tyerman by name, was the Quakeress at whose request, in conjunction with Mr. Adams, Mr. Wesley had proceeded from Northallerton to her own village. The rite was performed at the house of her son-in-law, Michael Snowden, who shortly after was appointed a Leader in the little society at Osmotherly. In keeping with the providential manner in which the steps of Mr. Wesley had been directed to this locality, he found a people "prepared of the Lord;" many of whom could truly say, "Thy words were found, and I did eat them; and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart."

Two other visits were paid by Mr. Wesley to Osmotherly in the year 1745; one in the month of September, and the other a few weeks afterwards. On the former occasion he observes, "I saw the poor remains of the old chapel on the brow of the hill, as well as those of the Carthusian monastery, called Mount Grace, which lay at the foot of it. The walls of the church, of the cloister, and some of the cells, are tolerably entire; and one may still discern the partitions between the little gardens, one of which belonged to every cell. Who knows but some of the poor, superstitious Monks who once served God here according to the light they had, may meet us, by and by, in that house of God 'not made with hands, eternal in the heavens?""

Mr. Wesley's fourth visit to Osmotherly occurred in the year 1747. On Saturday, February 28th, he reached Thirsk, from whence, having preached in a vacant house, at five P.M., and again the morning following at six, he proceeded to Osmotherly; and arrived just as the Minister, who lived some miles off, came into town. "I sent my service to him," says Mr. Wesley, "and told him, if he pleased, I would assist him either by reading Prayers or preaching. On receiving the message, he came to me immediately, and said he would willingly accept of my assistance. As we walked to church, he said, 'Perhaps it would fatigue you too much to read Prayers and preach too.' I told him, No; I would choose it, if he pleased; which I did accordingly. After service was ended, Mr. D. said, ‘Sir, I am sorry I have not a house here to entertain you. Pray let me know whenever you come this way.' Several asking where I would preach in the afternoon, one went to Mr. D. again, and asked if he was willing I should preach in the church. He said, 'Yes; whenever Mr. Wesley pleases.' We had a large congregation at three o'clock. Those who in time past had been the most bitter gainsayers, seemed now to be melted into love. All were convinced we are no Papists. How wisely does God order all things in their season!" The name of the Clergyman who treated Mr. Wesley with such marked respect was Dyson, then resident at Carlton, in Cleve