He himself says that "his name was up about
the country for preaching people mad:" it is true that in the eyes of
the profane Methodism itself was madness; but he goes on to say
"whether it is owing to the sedentary life the women live here, poring
over their (lace) pillows for ten or twelve hours every day, and
breathing confined air in their crowded little rooms, or whatever may
be the immediate cause, I suppose we have near a dozen in different
degrees disordered in their heads, and most of them I believe truly
gracious people." He surmises that "these things are permitted in
judgment, that they who seek occasion for cavilling and stumbling may
have what they want." Nevertheless there were in him not only force,
courage, burning zeal for doing good, but great kindness, and even
tenderness of heart. "I see in this world," he said, "two heaps of
human happiness and misery; now if I can take but the smallest bit from
one heap and add it to the other I carry a point--if, as I go home, a
child has dropped a half-penny, and by giving it another I can wipe
away its tears, I feel I have done something.
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