Whitefield's labours during the seven weeks he spent at Bristol and in its neighbourhood were marvellous; but the most picturesque were those among the Kingswood colliers. It would be superfluous, it would be wearisome, to describe Kingswood and its ignorant and rude inhabitants, at the period now in question. This has been done so often, that Methodist readers already know all that Methodist writers have to tell on such a subject. Still, Whitefield's first services in this benighted neighbourhood cannot be omitted; for, in reality, Kingswood was the rough cradle in which Methodism was first rocked and nursed. Here it was, on February 17, that Whitefield, for the first time, dared to be so irregular as to preach in the open air, his congregation consisting of upwards of two hundred persons. Altogether he preached about twenty sermons, from February 17 to April 2, in different parts of Kingswood, including Hannam Mount, Rose Green, and the Fish Ponds. Most of these were scenes of solemn grandeur. On February 23, when he estimated his congregation at from four to five thousand, he writes: "The sun shone very bright, and the people, standing in such an awful manner round the mount, in the profoundest silence, filled me with holy admiration." Two days later, he says: "At a moderate computation, there were above ten thousand people present. The trees and hedges were full. All was hush when I began, and God enabled me to preach for an hour, with great power, and so loud that all (I was told) could hear me. Blessed be God! Mr. B----n spoke right when he said, 'The fire is kindled in the country, and all the devils in hell shall not be able to quench it.'" On March 18,[188] at Rose Green, he calculated his congregation at not less than twenty thousand, and remarks, "To behold such crowds stand about us in such awful silence, and to hear the echo of their singing, is very solemn and surprising. My discourse continued for near an hour and a half." At the same place, on April 1, "There were twenty-four coaches and an exceeding great number of other people, besides the colliers, both on foot and horseback." Such was his success among the begrimed Kingswood colliers, that, before he left, they gave him £20 in money, and promised £40 in subscriptions, towards the erection of a Charity School, which he wished to build for the instruction of their children. He writes:-- "March 29. Were I to continue here, I would endeavour to settle schools all over the Wood, and also in other places, as Mr. Griffith Jones has done in Wales. I have but just time to set it on foot. I hope God will bless the ministry of my honoured friend, Mr. John Wesley, and enable him to bring it to good effect. It is a pity so many little ones as there are in Kingswood should perish for lack of knowledge."