“1. That none shall be permitted to preach in any of our societies, till he be examined, both as to grace and gifts; at least, by the assistant, who, sending word to us, may, by our answer, admit him a _local_ preacher. “2. That such preacher be not immediately taken from his trade, but be exhorted to follow it with all diligence. “3. That no person shall be received as a travelling preacher, or be taken from his trade, by either of us alone, but by both of us conjointly, giving him a note under both our hands. “4. That neither of us will re-admit a travelling preacher laid aside, without the consent of the other. “5. That, if we should ever disagree in our judgment, we will refer the matter to Mr. Perronet. “6. That we will entirely be patterns of all we expect from every preacher; particularly of zeal, diligence, and punctuality in the work; by constantly preaching and meeting the society; by visiting yearly Ireland, Cornwall, and the north; and, in general, by superintending the whole work, and every branch of it, with all the strength that God shall give us. We agree to the above written, till this day next year, in the presence of Mr. Perronet. “JOHN WESLEY, CHARLES WESLEY.”[157] This was a momentous epoch in Methodist history. The Wesleys were well aware, that pulpits mould pews. “Like priest, like people,” is a proverb not older than it is true. Perhaps, we cannot do better than conclude the matter with an extract from a long letter, which Wesley wrote to a friend, just before the year was ended. “LONDON, _December 20, 1751_. “MY DEAR FRIEND,—I think the right method of preaching is this. At our first beginning to preach at any place, after a general declaration of the love of God to sinners, and His willingness that they should be saved, to preach the law, in the strongest, the closest, the most searching manner possible. “After more and more persons are convinced of sin, we may mix more and more of the gospel, in order to beget faith, to raise into spiritual life those whom the law hath slain. I would not advise to preach the law without the gospel, any more than the gospel without the law. Undoubtedly, both should be preached in their turns; yea, both at once, or both in one. All the conditional promises are instances of this. They are law and gospel mixed together.