The last words came as a shock to Percy, who wondered what kind of sinful life could be lived by a boy under seven in a respectable home. But the congregation saw nothing incongruous in it; they shouted "Amens" and "Hallilujah" as the speaker paused, then listened, many groaning aloud as he went on to tell of his "fall from grace". His parents moved from Derry into the country where there were no Methodists, and he drifted with other boys into attending cock-fights, and horse races on Sundays. At sixteen he was bound out for three years to learn his trade at a muslin factory. The hours there were long, and the work and confinement very hard to a boy accustomed to the indulgence of home. "I felt like Israel in Egypt in bondage under taskmasters," he said quaintly, "but in my dungeon I saw the Cloud, the Pillar, the Rock, the quails and the manna that I had rejected, and I hungered for them. I joined the Methodist Society as a probationer, I read the Bible daily on my knees, I retired for prayer seven times a day, I fasted entirely every Friday, and kept close watch over my words and conduct, hoping to find peace with God. The persecutions of my shopmates were hot and heavy, but I was convinced I must be singular, I felt it was life or death--death to live after the flesh. Mental distress and severe fasting reduced me to a skeleton, and my master kindly sent me home on a visit, but it was my soul that was suffering, I felt I had sinned beyond the mercy of God. I was tempted to give up. If God could not pardon me I had better know the worst of my case at once, by putting an end to my miserable life. I took a rope to an old warehouse one night, fixed it to a beam, and made a noose." He paused dramatically, and his audience leaned forward with excited faces. All the colour and passion that raised their lives from grayness was in the unseen world. The excitement that outsiders sought in theatre and lurid novel, in war and gambling for high stakes, the early Methodist found in these soul-conflicts with the Enemy. In a wonderfully soft voice Ferguson continued, "As clear as if spoken I heard the words, 'Pray first'. I instantly fell on my face, crying to God for Christ's sake to have mercy on me--on vile and wretched me. In a moment the rock was smitten, and I rested on Christ. I threw myself in the Blood of the Atonement crying--'Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.' In a moment hope took the place of despair. I had peace with God. I loved God above all things. Christ was the altogether lovely."