on account of his earnestness and rough eloquence, he was sometimes regarded with distrust because of his youthful and unclerical appearance and manner. One good man, who generally entertained the preacher on his visits, was so annoyed at the sight of "a mere lad" "travelling the circuit, that he sent young Bradburn to take his meals and sleep in the garret with the apprentices." After the morning sermon, however, which surprised and delighted all who heard it, "he was judged worthy to sit in the preacher's chair" at the table of his host, and at night was allowed to sleep in the "prophet's chamber." In September of that year he was not a little surprised to find himself appointed by the Conference as a regular "travelling preacher on the Liverpool circuit." It was about this time he had his first interview with John Wesley. The veteran evangelist's simple and kindly manner affected the young preacher deeply, and his advice was wonderfully like him: "Beware," said Wesley, holding young Bradburn by the hand, "beware of the fear of man; and be sure you speak flat and plain in preaching." [13] See Benson's "Life of Fletcher." [14] "Religion in England under Queen Anne and the Georges." By John Stoughton, D.D., vol. ii. pp. 158, 159. Hodder & Stoughton. In these early days of Methodism, when the denomination was undergoing the process of rapid growth, it was impossible to wait for men, to meet the urgent need of the churches, who had gone through a regular process of ministerial education and training. Such as had the requisite character and the gift of speech were "called out" and placed over churches in a manner that would not have been tolerated in later times, when colleges had come to be established. Yet the work done by men of Bradburn's stamp was genuinely apostolic, and served, under the divine blessing, to lay broad and deep the foundations of that Wesleyan denomination which, in the present day, yields to none of the so-called "sects" in the culture and moral power of its ministry. It is not to be supposed that the fluent young shoemaker was insensible to his need of education. The first year's work in Lancashire taxed his mental resources severely, and set him wondering many times whether he should be able to go on preparing new sermons in order to preach repeatedly to the same congregation. It was consequently an immense relief to him when the year came to an end, and he found that the Conference at Leeds had set him down for an entirely new field of labor, at Pembroke, in South Wales.[15]