Now! Then! John Nelson, one of the first Methodist preachers, finds the welcome from gaoler James Barber at Leeds prison superior to the accommodation

6 May 1744: John Nelson, one of the first Methodist preachers, finds the welcome from gaoler James Barber at Leeds prison superior to the accommodation

John Nelson. 1833. Extract from the Journal of John Nelson. New York: B. Waugh and T. Mason. Get it:

Excerpt

About five in the morning they took me out, and we were guarded to Leeds, and stood in the street till ten. Hundreds flocked to see me. Some said, “It is a shame to send a man for a soldier for speaking the truth; for many of our neighbours that followed the Methodists, and were as wicked before as any people in the town, are now like new creatures: for we don’t hear an ill word come out of their mouths.” Others cried, “I wish they were all hanged out of the way, for they make people go mad: and we cannot get drunk or swear, but every fool must correct us, as if we were to be taught by them. But I hope they will now be brought to nought, for that is one of the worst of them.” Just as the church began, I was guarded to jail, and the others ordered to the alehouse. The jail keeper here was very civil; for he let my friends come in several times to see me. I thought of the Pilgrim’s Progress; for hundreds of people in the street stood and looked at me through the iron grate, and were ready to fight about me. Several would have given bail for me if they would let me out; but I was told that a hundred pounds was refused, which was offered by a stranger for me. I am too notorious a criminal to be allowed such favours; for Christianity is a crime which the world can never forgive. At night, I believe a hundred of our friends were with me in the jail together. We sung a hymn, and prayed. I gave an exhortation, and so parted. But Mr H. was not willing that I should lie on stinking straw, and sent me a bed to lie on. I find the time is not yet come for me to be hated of all men for Christ’s sake.

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To facilitate reading, the spelling and punctuation of elderly excerpts have generally been modernised, and distracting excision scars concealed. My selections, translations, and editions are copyright.

Abbreviations

Comment

James Wardell gives the date and the name of the gaoler, the latter apparently on the authority of Nelson, though I can’t find it; no idea where he got the date, but 6 May 1744 was a Sunday:

The old prison of the Borough, (originally situate in that part of Briggate, lately called “Cross Parish,”) was removed to the south side of Kirkgate in 1655; it was a most wretched place, and contained five or six dark and miserable apartments, without even a sewer or a fire place, in addition to which, the windows thereof were not even glazed. It was remarked by the philanthropic Howard in reference to this building, that an hour was too long to remain in such a place. Yet it was here, that John Nelson, one of the first Methodist preachers, was confined on the 6th May, 1744, when passing through the town, after having been illegally impressed for a soldier: the name of the gaoler, who, (according to Nelson’s Journal,) kindly permitted above one hundred of his friends to visit him the same night in the gaol, was “James Barber,” late “an Innholder in this Burrough.” Opposite the prison was the common bakehouse which had existed from an early period, but the privileges with which it was invested, have, together with the building, long ago ceased to exist (Wardell 1846).

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Original

About five in the morning they took me out, and we were guarded to Leeds, and stood in the street till ten. Hundreds flocked to see me. Some said, “It is a shame to send a man for a soldier for speaking the truth; for many of our neighbours that followed the Methodists, and were as wicked before as any people in the town, are now like new creatures: for we don’t hear an ill word come out of their mouths.” Others cried, “I wish they were all hanged out of the way, for they make people go mad: and we cannot get drunk or swear, but every fool must correct us, as if we were to be taught by them. But I hope they will now be brought to nought, for that is one of the worst of them.”
As I was standing, a jolly well-dressed woman came up to me, and put her face almost to mine, and said, “Now, Nelson, where is thy God? thou saidst at Shent’s door, as thou wast preaching, thou wast no more afraid of his promise failing than thou wast of dropping through the heart of the earth.” I replied, “Look in the 7th chapter of Micah, and the 8th and 10th verses.”
Just as the church began, I was guarded to jail, and the others ordered to the alehouse. The jail keeper here was very civil; for he let my friends come in several times to see me. I thought of the Pilgrim’s Progress; for hundreds of people in the street stood and looked at me through the iron grate, and were ready to fight about me. Several would have given bail for me if they would let me out; but I was told that a hundred pounds was refused, which was offered by a stranger for me. I am too notorious a criminal to be allowed such favours; for Christianity is a crime which the world can never forgive.
At night, I believe a hundred of our friends were with me in the jail together. We sung a hymn, and prayed. I gave an exhortation, and so parted. But Mr. H. was not willing that I should lie on stinking straw, and sent me a bed to lie on. I find the time is not yet come for me to be hated of all men for Christ’s sake. I pray God to give me strength for that day! glory be to his holy name; hitherto his grace is sufficient for me, and I hang upon his promise for strength in my next trials.

442 words.