CHAPTER V.

AFTER the Conference of 1812, Mr. Newton repaired to the London West Circuit, to which he was appointed, under the superintendency of the Rev. John Barber, with Mr. Reece also as his colleague. The house which he and his family occupied, adjoined the Hinde street chapel, near Manchester square, the chapel having been but recently erected. The present commodious chapel in Great Queen street, Lincoln's Inn Fields, had not then been built. The place which was then occupied by the congregation there, and which was regarded as the head of the circuit, was far too small for the people who desired to attend. The change was very great from the rough mountain-scenery of Holmfirth, and the plain manners of the people there, to the west end of London, presenting a profusion of wealth and fashion, where gentlemen and ladies, with their glittering equipages, and attended by liveried servants, were seen moving in all directions; but he was as well qualified to address a London audience, as a congregation of farmers' laborers, or of men and women rushing from the crowded factories of Yorkshire; and he well knew that there is but one way of salvation open to all.

When he entered upon his ministry in London, he found the congregations accustomed to a mode of worship somewhat different from that in which he had hitherto taken part as a Methodist preacher. In the circuits where he had labored, he was accustomed only to extemporary prayer in the public service of God; but in most of the London chapels be found the Liturgy of the Church of England used in the forenoon of

every Lord's day. To him this was a novelty, but no inconvenience, and no offence, but rather an agreeable variety, and a means of edification. The Liturgy recommended itself to his ear and his taste by the rhythm of its periods, and the force of its diction; and it recommended itself still more to his heart by the evangelical sentiments which it embodies, and the spirit of pure and elevated devotion by which it is pervaded. The comprehensiveness of its petitions in behalf of all classes of the human race, embracing every form of suffering humanity, gave expression to the expansive charity of his sanctified heart; and in the use of this "form of sound words" he felt himself able, from Sabbath to Sabbath, to worship God "in spirit and in truth." At this period he contracted such a love for the Liturgy, that in future life it afforded him a sincere satisfaction to be appointed to circuits where the people were accustomed to the use of it.*

In London his ministry was as highly appreciated as it was in other places, so that his congregations were large the people gave him every proof of their affectionate esteem, and not a few were, by God's blessing upon his faithful preaching, turned from sin to righteousness. Yet London was less acceptable to him as a station than the other places where he had labored. Being the centre of connectional operations, numerous committees were held there, which he was expected to attend. These occupied much time, and diverted his

* [We have before us a copy of the Liturgy of the Church of England, judiciously abridged and revised by Mr. Wesley, in 1784, for the Methodist Episcopal Church in the United States. The General Conference, we believe, never enjoined or interdicted its use; and as it was left optional with the Church, it soon went into desuetude-with the exception of the Sacramental, Matrimonial, Burial, and Ordination services, the use of which is required by the Discipline.-AMERICAN EDITOR.]

attention from preaching, and from the work of pulpit-preparation, in which, above all things, his soul delighted. The fact is, he never had that aptitude for the details of business in which some men excel. He felt that he was made for action, rather than for deliberation, and that the duties of the pulpit were his special forte and calling. He did attend the meetings of committees, as in duty bound, having in them a trust to execute; but he was always glad to escape from them to employment which was more congenial to his taste.

In London he entered upon his brilliant career as a speaker at public meetings. At that time the Wesleyan missions were advocated only from the pulpit, and by means of private and personal application; but the British and Foreign Bible Society was then in successful operation, and was gradually rising into notice. Its adversaries were numerous and formidable, and its efficient advocates comparatively few; and yet it was felt that the greatest possible publicity ought to be given to its simple plan and its sublime purpose. Mr. Butterworth was an efficient member of its managing committee, and one of its most enlightened and zealous friends. By his influence Mr. Newton was engaged in its holy service, so far as his other duties would permit ; and, upon the platform of its meetings, he was no unworthy associate of its secretaries, the generous and eloquent Owen, the able, devout, and faithful Hughes and Steinkopff. For some years afterwards Mr. Newton was in the habit of visiting even distant places to attend important meetings of this noble institution. In many instances he did this at the request of his friend Mr. Butterworth, that zealous philanthropist being answerable for the expense of travelling.

In those times it is well known that Dr. Coke, notwithstanding the multiplicity of his engagements, not only submitted to the humble office of a missionary collector, but, to his honor be it spoken, was the only missionary collector in the

Methodist connection. He was accustomed, in London, and in the provincial towns which he visited, to wait upon such persons as were likely to aid him in his plans for evangelizing the heathen, being usually accompanied by a minister, or such other friend as he could persuade to sacrifice the requisite time. Mr. Newton had the honor and pleasure of attending that very excellent man in this "drudgery of charity," as it has been appropriately called. To save time, and prevent an unnecessary waste of physical strength, the Doctor and his companion generally rode in a hackney-coach. When they had succeeded in obtaining a subscription, the Doctor was careful to inform the donor that the vehicle which conveyed him and his friend from place to place was provided at his own expense, and was not paid for out of the contributions of the public.

With Dr. Coke Mr. Newton could not but feel a lively sympathy. He had been first introduced to him in Howden, and was deeply impressed with the disinterestedness and zeal of the Doctor, who had, from the time of their origin, during the life of Mr. Wesley, borne the principal care and responsibility of the Methodist missions. Having crossed the Atlantic Ocean eighteen times for missionary purposes, and being sixtysix years of age, he meditated the establishment of a Wesleyan mission in India. His friends attempted to dissuade him from the enterprise, reminding him of the importance of his services as the superintendent of the missions already in existence, his great age, and the difficulty of providing the pecuniary means. He heard all their objections; offered, if it were necessary, to advance six thousand pounds out of his own private resources for the object; and, bursting into tears, he indistinctly articulated, "If you will not let me go to India, you will break my heart!" In these circumstances, further opposition was deemed vain, and the minutes of the Conference of 1813 include the

following entry:-"The Conference authorizes and appoints Dr. Coke to undertake a mission to Ceylon and Java; and allows him to take with him six preachers for that purpose, exclusively of one for the Cape of Good Hope."

Under this sanction, the Doctor prepared for his departure, and, accompanied by six faithful men, who had offered themselves for this service, embarked at Portsmouth at the end of the year, followed by the prayers and blessings of thousands; many of whom, however, while they admired his zeal and disinterestedness, seriously apprehended that the undertaking would be a failure.

Of these events Mr. Newton was no indifferent spectator; and there can be no doubt that his intercourse with Dr. Coke at this time, and his observance of the spirit of that extraordinary man, tended much to fix his attention upon the state of the heathen, and upon the duty of Christians to attempt their evangelization, and thus to kindle in his generous heart that intense and burning desire for the universal spread of the gospel which was a prime element in his character to the end of his life.

When he had spent two years in London, the friends there, as it might be expected, were anxious to secure his continuance among them; but this he rather declined, for the reason which has been already stated, and also on account of Mrs. Newton's health. It was his desire, therefore, in submission to his brethren in Conference assembled, to leave the metropolis, and take an appointment in the country. His feeling on this subject was generally known; and he was never again appointed to a London circuit.

Before he left the metropolis, he had an opportunity of witnessing there a scene of unprecedented hilarity. The power of Napoleon Bonaparte was broken; the terrible and protracted war, which had inflicted indescribable miseries upon