_Ibid._, p. 149. Footnote 137: _Ibid._, p. 153. Footnote 138: _Ibid._, p. 174. Footnote 139: _Ibid._, p. 176. Footnote 140: _Ibid._, p. 192. Footnote 141: _Ibid._, p. 211. Footnote 142: _Ibid._, p. 214. Footnote 143: _Ibid._, p. 254. Footnote 144: _Ibid._, p. 351. ----- All this affords ample proof that the old religious societies, begun in 1677, still existed; and there cannot be a doubt that it was a knowledge of their usefulness that led John Wesley to institute his united societies in 1739. He tells us that, about that time, persons who had been awakened to a sense of their sin and danger, by the preaching of himself and his brother Charles, came to them for religious counsel and consolation. He writes:—“We advised them: ‘Strengthen you one another—talk together as often as you can, and pray earnestly with and for one another, that you may endure to the end, and be saved.’ They replied, ‘But we want you likewise to talk with us.’ So I told them, ‘If you will all of you come together every Thursday evening, I will gladly spend some time with you in prayer, and give you the best advice I can.’ Thus,” he adds, “arose what was afterwards called _a society_; a very innocent name, and very common in London, for any number of people associating themselves together. They united themselves in order to pray together, to receive the word of exhortation, and to watch over one another in love, that they might help each other to work out their salvation.”[145] A few days after this society was formed, some of the members expressed a determination to make a quarterly subscription to assist Wesley to pay for the lease of the Foundry, and a steward was appointed to receive the money;[146] and very soon after that, the society was divided into smaller companies called “classes,” consisting of about twelve persons each, and one of whom was styled “the leader.”[147] ----- Footnote 145: Wesley’s _Works_, vol. viii. p. 240. Footnote 146: _Ibid._, p. 299. Footnote 147: _Ibid._, p. 259. -----