[304] The words in the original are given in full. [305] See memoirs of Toplady, prefixed to his works, 1857 edit. [306] _Christian Miscellany_, 1849, p. 84. [307] Memoirs of Benson, by Macdonald, p. 75. [308] _Methodist Magazine_, 1814, p. 508. [309] Manuscript. [310] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 383. [311] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 296. [312] _Christian Miscellany_, 1850, p. 54. [313] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785. [314] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 608. [315] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 33. [316] _Methodist Magazine_, 1823, p. 134. [317] Wesley’s Works, vol. iv., p. 107. [318] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 407. [319] Taylor was opposed to the magazine. In his unpublished diary, he writes: “1777. December 14--I wrote a long letter to Mr. Wesley concerning the _Arminian Magazine_, which I am persuaded will do hurt, and no good.” 1779. Age 76 The year 1779 was one of national alarm. The remarkable trials of Admiral Keppel and Sir Hugh Palliser occasioned fierce debates in parliament. Lord North and his colleagues were accused of being intermeddling, shortsighted, and incapable. American agents were busy with Irish malcontents; and armed associations, not the most loyal, were formed in Dublin and throughout the country. The Spanish ambassador quitted London, after delivering to the secretary of state a hostile manifesto. The ministry proposed, that the militia should be doubled. Press warrants were issued in all directions, and press gangs actively employed in increasing the navy. France was jubilant. England rang with reports of invasion, and of new Spanish armadas, more terrible than that sent against Queen Elizabeth. Gibraltar was threatened; and so was Jersey. Paul Jones, at the head of a squadron manned by French and Americans, and desperadoes from various other countries, menaced the whole of the eastern coast of England, from Flamborough Head to the Frith of the Tay. Lord North’s parliamentary majorities were dwindling. George III. had no decisive victories to report. It was asserted that the American war had already added sixty-three millions to the national debt; and Charles Fox declared that treachery, and not ignorance, must have prevailed in the national councils to reduce the country to its present miserable condition. England throughout was in a panic.