My father George Lackington was a journeyman fhoemaker, who had incurred the difpleafare of my grandfather for marrying my mother, whofe maiden name was Joan Trott. She' was the daughter of a poor weaver in Wellington; a good honeft man, whofe end was remarkable, though not very fortunate: in the road between Taunton and Wellington he was found drowned in a ditch, where the water fcarcely covered his face. He was, 'tis conjectured, Drunk when he died.

This happened fome years before the marriage of my father and mother.'

The pictures of low life that follow are neither uninftructive nor uninterefting: that of Mr. L.'s mother fupporting eleven children by her own labour, working nineteen hours in twenty-four, and living upon vegetables, while the furnished her numerous offspring with rather better fare, is more pleafing than any fcene in a fentimental novel. Mr. L.'s boyith years are fpent in mifchievous tricks, and crying applepyes: then follow apparitions, with inftances evincing their fallacy. Our author is then an almanac-feller, and at fourteen is bound an apprentice to a fhoemaker. Soon after he commences methodift; and in this perfuafion he remained fome years. His fcattered accounts of this fect form the beft articles in his book. Let us begin with Mr. L.'s own converfion:

I foon made a little progrefs in reading; and in the meant time I also went to the methodist meeting, to hear one Thomas Bryant, known in Taunton by the name of the damnation preacher; (he had juft left off cobling foles of another kind). Ilis fermon frightened me most terribly. I foon after went to hear an old Scotchman; and he affured his congregation, that they would be damn'd, and double-damn'd, and treble-damn'd, and damn'd for ever, if they died without what he called faith. This marvellous doctrine, and noify rant and enthufiafm, foon worked on my paffions, and made me believe myself to be really in the damnable condition that they reprefented and in this miferable ftate I continued for about a month, being all that time unable to work myfelf up to the proper key. At last, by finging and repeating enthufiaftic amorous hymns, and prefumptuously applying particular texts of fcripture, I got my imagination to a proper pitch, was born again in an instant, became a very great favour ite of heaven, and was as familiar with the Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, as any old woman in Mr. Wefley's connection.'

Our author foon after gave the following specimen of his complete enthusiasm:

• Hitherto

* Hitherto I had not frequented the methodist meetings by the confent or knowledge of my mafter and mistress; nor had my zeal been fo great as make me violate their commands. But my zeal increased much fafter than my knowledge, and I foon difregarded their orders, and without hesitation ran away to hear a methodistical fermon as often as I could find opportunity. One Sunday morning at eight o'clock, my miftrefs feeing her fons fet off, and knowing that they were gone to a methodist meeting, determined to prevent me from doing the fame, by locking the door, which the accordingly did; on which, in a fuperftitious mood, I opened the Bible for direction what to do (ignorant methodists often practife the fame prefumptuous method); and the first words I read were thefe: " He has given his angels charge concerning thee, left at any time thou shouldest dash thy foot against a stone." This was enough for me. So without a moment's hefitation, I ran up two pair of stairs to my room, and out of the window I leaped, to the great terror of my poor miftrefs. I got up immediately, and ran about three hundred yards towards the meeting-houfe: but alas! I could run no further; my feet and ancles were most intolerably bruised, so that I was , obliged to be carried back and put to bed, and it was more than a month before I recovered the ufe of my limbs. I was ignorant. enough to think (I mention it with horror and remorfe !) that the Lord had not used me very well, and refolved not to put fo much truft in him for the future.'

The account of the prayer-meetings and of the love-feafts, in which the elect have buns to eat, which are broken between brother and fifter, and water to drink, prefents curious pictures of fanaticifm. We are happy, however, to find that the latter ceremonies begin about feven o'clock in the evening, and laft only until nine, or after. The odd inftitution of watch-nights, claffes, bands, and felect bands, we fhall communicate in our author's own words; and hope that the fin→ gularity of the fubject will excufe the length of the extract:

The watch-night begins about feven o'clock. They fing hymns, pray, preach, fing and pray again; then exhort, fing and pray alternately, until twelve o'clock; and then they depart in peace, according to the word.

Mr. Welley, in every place where his people were numerous, had divided them into claffes, confifting of twelve or fourteen brothers or fifters. Sometimes men and women meet together in the fame clafs, (as they call it); and other claffes confifted of all men or all women. Each of thefe claffes had one in it, who was called the leader. In fuch claffes, where men and women meet together, the leader was always a brother; and fo of courfe when

the clafs confifted of men alone. But in the women's claffes a fifter was always the leader.

When they met together, the leader firft gave out an hymn, which they all fang: after the hymn they all kneeled down, and their leader made extemporary prayer; after which they were feated; and when the leader had informed them of the ftate of his own mind, he enquired of all prefent, one after another, how they found the ftate of their fouls. Some he found were full of faith and affurance; others had dreadful doubts and fears; fome had horrid temptations; others complained of a lukewarm state, &c. To each of these the leader gave a word of comfort or of correction, in the best manner he was able. They then fang and prayed again. This laited about one hour. And every one in Mr. Wesley's connection did, or was expected to meet, each in his own clafs, once in a week. In these claffes each made a weekly contribution towards the general fupport of the preachers, &c. Such as were very poor contributed a penny per week, others twopence, and fome who could afford it fix-pence. This money was entered in a book kept for that purpose; and one in every class, called the fteward, had the care of the cash.

I now come to speak of the bands, which confifted only of juftified perfons; that is, fuch as had received the affurance of their fins being pardoned. In the claffes, both the awakened (as they call them) and the justified, and even those that were made perfect, met all together, as did the married and the fingle, and often men and women. But none were admitted into any band but fuch as were at least in a justified state, and the married of each fex met by themselves, and the fingle by themselves. About ten was the number generally put in one band: all these must belong to and meet in fome clafs, once a week, when not hindered by fickness, &c. and they were also to meet weekly in their band. When met, they firft fung, then made a fhort prayer: that done, the band-leader informed them of the state of his mind dur ing the last week, &c. He then made enquiry into the state of all present, and each related what had paffed fince they laft met; as, what vifitations they had received from God, what temptations from the devil, the flesh, &c. and it is a maxim among them, that by expofing to one another what the devil has particularly tempted them to commit, will make the old fellow more careful how he tempts, when he knows that all his fecrets will be told the next meeting.'

• Mr. Wesley instituted another kind of private meeting for the highest order of his people, called the select bands; to which none were admitted but fuch as were fanctified, or made perfect in love, and freed from all the remains of fin. But as I never

pro

profeffed perfection, I was not permitted to enter into this holy

of holies.

Four times every year, new tickets are distributed to all Mr. Welley's people throughout the three kingdoms. Their ticket is a very small flip of paper, with a text of scripture on it, which is exchanged every quarter for fome other text. Such as are only in a clafs have a different text from fuch as are in a band, so that no one can be admitted into any general meeting of the bands appointed by any of the preachers, when he intends to give them an exhortation, nor into any particular band, by a common fociety ticket. On the common tickets are fuch texts as these : Now is the accepted time-Awake, thou that fleepeft; and fuch like. But thofe for the bands are in a higher ftrain; as, Be ye perfect, as your heavenly Father is perfect ;-or, Go on unto perfection;-Ye are children of the light;-Your bodies are tem→ ples of the Holy Ghost and other texts of a fimilar tendency.”

Mr. I.. leaves the methodists, and goes to Bristol. After fome infignificant adventures, we at length (letter xvi.) find him arrived in London in Auguft 1774, where he is still a fhoemaker, and again a methodist: but in Letter xxii. he narrates his final relinquishment of that fect.

Having begun to think rationally, and reason freely on religious matters, you may be fure I did not long remain in Mr. Wefley's fociety; and what is remarkable, I well remember that, fome years before, Mr. Wefley told his fociety in Broadmead, Bristol, in my hearing, that he never could keep a bookseller fix months in his flock. He was then pointing out the danger that attended close reasoning in matters of religion and spiritual concerns, in reading controverfies, &c. At that time I had not the leaft idea of my ever becoming a bookfeller: but I no fooner began to give fcope to my reafoning faculties than the above remarkable affertion occurred to my mind.'

At his preceding accounts of the methodists, the reader may fmile; but at the following fentence, which Mr. L. produces from a pamphlet written against Mr. Fletcher by Mr. R. Hill, he may tremble:

David flood as completely juftified in the everlasting righteoufness of Christ, at the time when he caufed Uriah to be murdered, and was committing adultery with his wife, as he was in any part of his life. For all the fins of the elect, be they more or be they lefs, be they paft, prefent, or to come, were for ever So that every one of those elect stand spotlefs in the

done away.

fight of God.'

In Letter XXIV. the methodists are again treated tragically and comically; but not to exceed upon this fubject, we CRIT. REV. N. AR. (IV.) Jan. 1792.

P

fhall

hall only obferve, that Mr. L. juftly points out the danger of al fowing methodist preachers to attend condemned malefactors, as by their fanatical converfation, vifionary hymns, bold and impious applications of fcripture, &c. many horrid criminals have been worked into raptures, and have left the world rather as martyrs than with the exemplary contrition of public offenders. In the comic ftyle we have methodift figns, not figns of grace, but figns of fale; as, Rumps and burs fold here, and baked fheep's heads every night, if the Lord permit.' 'Tripe and cow-heels fold here as ufual, except on the Lord's day, which the Lord help me to keep.' Roger Tuttel, by God's grace, and mercy, kills rats and moles.' The danger of Mr. Wefley's book, called Primitive Phyfic, which is full of erroneous and hazardous receipts, is well pointed out by our author; who, in the fame letter, observes the increase of the Swedenborgians; a fet certainly more manly and rational than that of the methodists.

We now return to confider Mr. L. in his proper character, that of an induftrious bookfeller. In June 1775 he opened a fhop, or rather a ftall, of books, and leather, worth about five pounds, in Featherstone-ftreet, in the parish of St. Luke. Soon after he entered into partnership with Mr. Denis, an oilman, in 1778, who advanced money in proportion to Mr. L.'s ftock of books. Their firft catalogue was published in 1779: but Mr. Denis foor abandoned the partnership, being afraid that Mr. L.'s pufhing fpirit might lead him into rifques. In 1780 our author firft refolved to give no credit in his bufinefs, and was thus enabled to underfell other booksellers; a plan to which he owes great part of his fuccefs: but perhaps the fituation of his shop, and the want of a bookseller with a large ftock in that end of the town, contributed to his good for

tune.

We fhall extract one other paffage from his work, as relating to a subject of which he must be a good judge:

• Before I conclude this letter, I cannot help obferving, that the fale of books in general has increased prodigiously within the laft twenty years. According to the best eftimation I have been able to make, I fuppofe that more than four times the number of books are fold now than were fold twenty years fince. The poorer fort of farmers, and even the poor country people in general, who before that period spent their evenings in relating tories of witches, ghofts, hobgoblins, &c. now fhorten the nights by hearing their fons and daughters read tales, romances, &c. and on entering their houses, you may fee Tom Jones, Roderick Random, and other entertaining books, ftuck up on their bacon racks, &c. and if John goes to town with a load of hay, he is

charged