THE KING’S BUSINESS
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from Scarborough, and in the evening I preached in the table-pew to a few friends, and when I had done, the members of the church gave me the right hand of fellow ship, and bid me go and preach the Gospel, and wished me success in the name of the Lord. So I returned home, and the next Lord’s day I ascended thé pulpit for the first time, and preached twice that day, and on the Wednesday evening following; and hav ing obtained help of God, I have continued to do so unto this day. At this time we agreed among ourselves to collect twopence each, every Lord’s day, in order to raise a fund to pay the expenses of rent, seats, and candles for the meeting house ; and though I had nothing for preaching, I paid my twopence every Lord’s day after I had done preaching. At last the brethren thought it was not right that I should both preach and pay, and having nothing for preach ing, so I left off paying, but still preached for nothing, for some time longer. The first money that I "received for preaching; was £2 14s 6d from the Baptist fund in London. In 1770 we were increased to fifteen mem bers at Scarborough, and as attending at Bridlington occasioned both fatigue and ex pense, we applied for our dismission from that church, in order to be formed into a church at Scarborough. This was approved of by the church at Bridlington; and on January 20, 1771, ..we received our dismis sion from that church; and in April of the same year I was ordained pastor over the little church at Scarborough, consisting of fifteen members, of whom the greatest part are fallen asleep in the Lord, only two re maining, one man and myself. The ordina tion was performed by Mr. Gaukrogers and David Kinghorn, of Bishop-Burton, twenty- three miles west of Beverley. On May 2, 1771, I administered the Lord’s Supper for the first time, and also that day added one to the church. About this time I became acquainted with the Rev. John King, vicar of Middleton, about twenty miles from- Scarborough. This gentleman was a Gospel minister, and a very pious
man. I went once a year to see him, and preached in his house as long as he was at Middleton; but he removed from thence to Hull and died there. He was a very great friend of mine; from him I have received both books, money, and clothes. As I was a native of Malton, and my parents at this time alive, I went every year to see them, and preached in the old Presbyterian meeting house, which was then without a minister. One time when I went over,and was going down the street, I met an old man whom I knew, and as soon as he came to me he took me by the collar and called me a villain, and said if he had a fire he would burn me. I asked him what harm I had done him. He said, “Thou villaih, thou hast ruined my son,” I then asked him what harm I had done to his son. He ,said, “Thou villain, thou hast made a Methodist of him.” I said, “Well, if that be ruining your son, I .am determined .to ruin every one so if I can.” We soon had a crowd about us, and they cried out, “Set him up to preach; set him up to preach.” I said, “There is great need to preach: you are all under the lash of the law for stopping me in the public street, and threatening to burn me ; but if you do not repent, you will burn in hell fire very soon.” They stood and stared, and I left them. The reason of this behavior of the old man was as follows : He had a son who was a sailor out of the port of Scarborough; this young man and I were very intimate, and it pleased God to make me the instrument of his conversion. The next - year I went to Malton, and in the same street I met the old man again, and as soon as he came to me he put out his hand and very kindly asked me how I did, and. if I was going to preach. I told him 1 was. He said, “With the leave of God I will come and hear thee.” He did so, but what the effect of it was I know not, for I never saw him more. However, it gave me great pleasure to think that the poor old man and I parted friends; this brought into my mind the saying of the wise man Solomon: “When a man’s ways
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