Joseph Barker." But they got so used to me
dying and destroying myself in time, that they took such matters more
calmly, especially as I always came again, and appeared no worse for the
terrible deaths through which I had been made to pass.
For a year or two my enemies published a periodical called _The Beacon_,
every page of which they filled with malignant slanders. The loss of
members exasperated them past measure. The danger which threatened the
Connexion drove them mad. They took up evil reports respecting me
without consideration. They looked on all I did with an evil eye, and
recklessly charged me with wicked devices which had no existence but in
their own disturbed imaginations. One charged me with having acted
inconsistently with my views with regard to the use of money, and
another with having acted inconsistently with my belief with regard to
baptism. Any tale to my discredit was welcome, and the supply of
slanderous tales seemed infinite. They wrested my words, they belied my
deeds, they misinterpreted my motives, they misrepresented the whole
course of my life, and the whole texture of my character.
One of the pitiful slanders circulated by my enemies was the following.
My custom was, when I went out to lecture, or to preach anniversary
sermons, to charge only my coach fares, rendering my services gratis.
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