It was at this period that Colne was made the head of what Thomas Taylor called “a snug circuit”; though the circuit embraced the entire region constituting the Todmorden, Bacup, Haslingden, Blackburn, Burnley, Preston, Garstang, Lancaster, Clitheroe, and Padiham circuits of the present day. Taylor was the assistant of the circuit before it was made so _snug_, and was Wesley’s companion at the time of the Colne catastrophe. In his voluminous unpublished diary, he tells us, that at Otley, Wesley not only preached, but made a collection for his London chapel; at Bingley, he preached in the parish church; at Keighley, after preaching, Wesley stood on one side of the path and Taylor on the other, and, with their hats in their hands, collected upwards of £7 for the new chapel in City Road; at Colne, Taylor was with Wesley in the pulpit when the gallery fell. He writes: “Oh, what a scene ensued. The dismal shrieks of those whose limbs were broken, or who were otherwise injured, and the cries of the women for their children, were terrible. Happily no lives were lost, and much less damage done than might have been expected. As soon as the confusion was abated, Mr. Wesley preached out of doors; but the catastrophe prevented many from hearing.”[287] Wesley proceeded to Derby, where, strangely enough, another accident occurred, which might have been as serious as that at Colne. An hour before the congregation assembled in the chapel, part of the roof fell in; the people, however, rushed to hear, despite the doubtful state of the flimsy edifice; and, among others permanently benefited by Wesley’s ministry, was Catherine Spencer, who, for sixty-four years, adorned her religious profession by “a meek and quiet spirit,” and who died at the age of eighty-six, in 1843.[288] Wesley got back to London on June 21, and, a week later, wrote: “June 28--I have now completed my seventy-fourth year, and, by the peculiar favour of God, I find my health and strength, and all my faculties of body and mind, just the same as they were at four-and-twenty.” A man, on his birthday, frequently reviews the past, sifts the present, and reflects upon the future. At this period Wesley wrote as follows to his legal friend, Walter Churchey, of Brecon, the birthplace of Thomas Coke. “MY DEAR BROTHER,--At present, I am very safe; for I am a good many pounds, if not scores of pounds, worse than nothing. In my will, I bequeath no money but what may happen to be in my pocket when I die. “Dr. Coke promises fair, and gives us reason to hope, that he will, bring forth, not only blossoms, but fruit. He has hitherto behaved exceeding well, and seems to be aware of his grand enemy--applause. He will likewise be in danger from offence. If you are acquainted with him, a friendly letter might be of use, and would be taken kindly. He now stands on slippery ground, and is in need of every help. “I am your affectionate brother,