Wesley's Power as a Preacher.
WESLEY'S own temperament was rather cold, and he had probably from that cold and calm nature, and the great self-control and presence of mind which he possessed, the power to awe, subdue, and thrill, an audience. While Whitefield, on many occasions, preached, dissolved in tears, and so moved vast numbers, the strong and determined will of Wesley was almost electrical in its influence and even frightful in its effects on the assemblages he preached before. Frequently, when he had concluded his discourse, the whole of his congregation appeared to be riveted to the ground, and not a person moved till he had retired. We have perhaps the best proof of Wesley's power over an audience, and the extraordinary effect of his preaching, in an incident he himself records in his journal. The account of it is rather comical to read. On one occasion a long wall, built of loose stones, on which many of his hearers were seated, suddenly gave way, and fell down; it did not produce any interruption of his discourse, or divert the attention of his audience. “None of those who had fallen,” he observes, “screamed; and none being hurt, they appeared sitting at the bottom just as they had sat at the top.”—Atlantic Monthly.