JOURNAL I. FROM HIS EMBARKING FOR GEORGIA, OCTOBER 14. 1735, TUESDAY, Oct. 14, 1735, Mr. Benjamin Ingham, of Queen's College, Oxford, Mr. Charles Delamotte, son of a merchant in London, who had offered himself some days before, my brother Charles Wesley and myself took boat for Gravesend, in order to embark for Georgia. Our end in leaving our native country was not to avoid want (God having given us plenty of temporal blessings) nor to gain the dung or dross of riches or honour; but singly this: to save our souls, to live wholly to the glory of God. In the afternoon we found the Simonds off Gravesend, and immediately went on board. Wednesday and Thursday we spent with one or two of our friends partly on board and partly on shore, in exhorting one another to shake off every weight, and to run with patience the race set before us. Friday 17, I began to learn German, in order to converse with the Moravians, six and twenty of whom we had on board. On Sunday, the weather being fair and calm, we had the morning-service on quarter deck. I now first preached extempore, and then administered the Lord's Supper to six or seven communicants. A little flock. May God increase it! Monday 20, Believing the denying ourselves even in the smallest instances, might. by the blessing of God be helpful to us, we wholly left off the use of flesh and wine, and confined ourselves to vegetable food, chiefly rice and biscuit. In the afternoon David Nitchman, bishop of the Moravians, and two others began to learn English. O may we be, not only of one tongue, but of one mind and of one heart! Tuesday 21, We sailed from Gravesend. When we were past about half the Goodwin Sands, the wind suddenly failed. Had the calm continued till ebb, the ship had probably been lost; but the gale sprung up in an hour, and carried us into the Downs. We now began to be a little regular. Our common way of living was this: From four in the morning till five, each of us used private prayer; from five to seven we read the Bible together, carefully comparing it (that we might not lean to our own understanding) with the writings of the earliest ages. At seven we breakfasted. At eight were the public prayers. From nine till twelve I usually learned German, and Mr. Delamotte, Greek. My brother wrote sermons, and Mr. Ingham instructed the children. At twelve we met to give an account to one another what we had done since our last meeting and what we designed to do before our next. About one we dined. The time from dinner to four, we spent in reading to those whom each of us had taken in charge, or in speaking to them seriously, as need required. At four were the evening prayers; when either the second lesson was explained (as it always was in the morning) or the children were catechised and instructed before, the congregation. From five to six we again used private prayer. From six to seven I read in our cabin to two or three of the passengers (of whom there were about eighty English on board) and each of my brethren to a few more in theirs. At seven I joined with the Germans in their public service; while Mr. Ingham was reading between the decks to as many as desired to hear. At eight we met again to exhort and instruct one another. Between nine and ten we went to bed, where neither the roaring of the sea, nor the motion of the ship, could take away the refreshing sleep which God gave us. Friday 24, Having a rolling sea, most of the passengers found the effects of it. Mr. Delamotte was exceeding sick for several days: Mr. Ingham for about half an hour. My brother's head ached much. Hitherto it has pleased God, the sea has not disordered me at all; nor have I been hindered one quarter of an hour from reading, writing, composing, or doing any business I could have done on shore. During our stay in the Downs, some or other of us went as often as we had opportunity on board the ship that sailed in company with us, where also many were glad to join in prayer and hearing the word. Friday 31, We sailed out of the Downs. At eleven at night I was waked by a great noise. I soon found there was no danger; but the bare apprehension of it gave me a lively conviction what manner of men those ought to be who are every moment on the brink of eter nity. Saturday, Nov. 1, We came to St. Helen's harbour, and the next day into Cowe's Road. The wind was fair, but we waited for the man of war which was to sail with us. This was a happy opportunity of instructing our fellow-travellers. May he whose seed we sow, give it the increase! Sunday 16, Thomas Hird, and Grace his wife, with their children, Mark, aged 21, and Phebe, about 17, late Quakers, were, at their often repeated desire, and after careful instruction, admitted to bap tism. Thursday 20, We fell down into Yarmouth Roads; but the next day were forced back to Cowes. During our stay here, there were several storms; in one of which two ships in Yarmouth Roads were lost. The contrary winds gave my brother an opportunity of complying with the desire of the Minister of Cowes, and preaching there three or four times. The poor people flocked together in great numbers. We distributed a few little books among the most serious of them, which they received with all possible expressions of thankfulness. Friday 21, One recovering from a dangerous illness, desired to be instructed in the nature of the Lord's supper. I thought it concerned her to be first instructed in the nature of Christianity; and accordingly fixt an hour a day to read with her in Mr. Law's Treatise on Christian Perfection. Sunday 23, At night I was waked by the tossing of the ship and roaring of the wind, and plainly shewed, I was unfit, for I was unwilling to die. Tuesday, Dec 2, I had much satisfaction in conversing with one that was very ill and very serious. But in a few days she recovered from her sickness and from her seriousness together, Sunday 7, Finding nature did not require so frequent supplies as we had been accustomed to, we agreed to leave off suppers; from doing which we have hitherto found no inconvenience. Wednesday 10, We sailed from Cowes, and in the afternoon past the Needles. Here the ragged rocks, with the waves dashing and foaming at the foot of them, and the white side of the island rising to such a height, perpendicular from the beech, gave a strong idea of Him that spanneth the heavens, and holdeth the waters in the hollow of his hand! To day I spoke closely on the head of religion, to one I had talked with once or twice before. Afterwards she said, with many tears, "My mother died when I was but ten years old. Some of her last words were, Child fear God, and though you lose me you shall never want a friend.' I have now found a friend when I most wanted, and Icast expected one." From this day to the 14th, being in the Bay of Biscay, the sea was very rough. Mr. Delamotte and many others were more sick than ever: Mr. Ingham a little; I not at all. But the 14th being a calm day, most of the sick were cured at once. Thurs, 18, One who was big with child, in a high fever, and almost wasted away with a violent cough, desired to receive the Holy Communion before she died. At the hour of her receiving, she began to recover, and in a few days was entirely out of danger. Sunday 21, We had fifteen communicants, which was our usual number on Sundays; on Christmas-Day we had nineteen; but on New-year's Day, fifteen only. * Thursday, Jan. 15, 1736, Complaint being made to Mr. Oglethorpe, of the unequal distribution of the water among the passengers, he appointed new officers to take charge of it. At this the old ones and their friends were highly exasperated against us, to whom they imputed the change. But the fierceness of man shall be turned to thy praise. Saturday 17, Many people were very impatient at the contrary wind. At seven in the evening they were quieted by a storm. It rose higher and higher till nine. About nine the sea broke over us from stem to stern; burst through the windows of the state cabin, where three or four of us were, and covered us all over, though a bureau sheltered me from the main shock. About eleven I lay down in the great cabin, and in a short time fell asleep, though very uncertain whether I should wake alive, and much ashamed of my unwillingness to die. O how pure in heart must he be, who would rejoice to appear before God at a moment's warning! Toward morning, He rebuked the winds and the sea, and there was a great calm. 1 Sunday 18, We returned God thanks for our deliverance, of which a few appeared duly sensible. But the rest (among whom were most of the sailors) denied we had been in any danger. I could not have believed that so little good would have been done by the terror they were in before. But it cannot be that they should long obey God from fear, who are deaf to the motives of love. Friday 23, In the evening, another storm began. In the morning it increased, so that they were forced to let the ship drive. I could not but say to myself, How is it that thou hast no faith? Being still unwilling to die. About one in the afternoon, almost as soon as I had stept out of the great cabin door, the sea did not break as usual, but came with a full, smooth tide over the side of the ship. I was vaulted over with water in a moment, and so stunned, that I scarce expected to lift up my head again, till the sea should give up her dead. But, thanks be to God, I received no hurt at all. midnight the storm ceased. About Sunday 25, At noon our third storm began. At four it was more violent than any before. Now indeed we could say, The waves of the sea were mighty and raged horribly. They rose up to the heavens above, and clave down to hell beneath. The winds roared round about us, and (what I never heard before) whistled as distinctly as if it had been a human voice. The ship not only rocked to and fro with the utmost violence, but shook and jarred with so uequal, grating a motion, that one could not but with great difficulty keep hold on any thing, nor stand a moment without it. Every ten minutes came a shock against the stern or side of the ship, which one would think should dash the planks in pieces. At this time, a child, privately baptized before, was brought to be received into the church. It put me in mind of Jeremiah's buying the field, when the Chaldeans were on the point of destroying Jerusalem, and seemed a pledge of the mercy GoD designed to shew us, even in the land of the living. We spent two or three hours after prayers in conversing suitably to the occasion, confirming one another in a calm submission to the wise, holy, gracious will of God. And now a storm did not appear so terrible as before. Blessed be the God of all consolation! At seven I went to the Germans. I had long before observed, the great seriousness of their behaviour. Of their humility they had given a continual proof, by performing those servile offices for the other passengers, which none of the English would undertake; for which they desired, and would receive no pay, saying, "It was good for their proud hearts," and "Their loving Saviour had done more for them." And every day had given them occasion of shewing a meekness which no injury could move. If they were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again and went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth. There was now an opportunity of trying whether they were delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of pride, anger, and revenge. In the midst of the psalm wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the main sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in between the decks, as if the great deep had already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English. The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them afterwards, "Were you not afraid?” He answered, “I thank God, No." I asked, " But were not your women and children afraid?" He replied mildly, "No; our women and children are not afraid to die." From them I went to their crying trembling neighbours, and pointed out to them the difference, in the hour of trial, between him that feareth God, and him that feareth him not. At twelve the wind fell. This was the most glorious day which I have hitherto seen. Monday 26, We enjoyed the calm. I can conceive no difference, comparable to that between a smooth and a rough sea, except that which is between a mind calmed by the love of God, and one torn up by the storms of earthly passions. Thursday, January 29, About seven in the evening, we fell in with the skirts of a hurricane. The rain as well as the wind was extremely violent. The sky was so dark in a moment, that the sailors could not so much as see the ropes, or set about furling the sails. The ship must, in all probability have overset, had not the wind fell as suddenly as it rose. Toward the end of it, we had that appearance on each of the masts, which, it is thought, the ancients called Castor and Pollux. It was a small ball of white fire, like a star. The mariners say, it appears either in a storm (and then commonly upon the deck) or just at the end of it: and then it is usually on the masts or sails. Friday 30, We had another storm, which did us no other harm, than splitting the fore-sail. Our bed being wet, I laid me down on the floor and slept sound till morning. And I believe, I shall not find it needful to go to bed, as it is called, any more. Sunday, February 1, We spoke with a ship of Carolina: and Wednesday 4, came within soundings. About noon the trees were visible from the mast, and in the afternoon from the main deck. In the evening lesson were these words, A great door and effectual is opened. O let no one shut it! Thursday, February 5, between two and three in the afternoon, God brought us all safe into the Savannah River. We cast anchor near Tybee Island, where the groves of pines, running along the shore, made an agreeable prospect, shewing, as it were, the bloom of spring in the depth of winter. Friday 6, About eight in the morning, we first set foot on American ground. It was a small, uninhabited island, over against Tybee. Mr. Oglethorpe led us to a rising ground, where we all kneeled down to give thanks. He then took boat for Savannah. When the rest of the people were come on shore, we called our little flock together to |