Recollections

^r-^,^^ -^^-^V /^^-rvCy RECOLLECTIONS OP SIXTY-THREE YEARS OF METHODIST LIFE BY THOMAS HAYES lôtttrott: PUBLISHED FOB THE AUTHOR BY CHARLES H. KELLY 25 AND 27, CITY ROAD, AND 26, PATERNOSTER ROW, E.G. 1902 RESPECTFULLY AND GRATEFULLY TO R. THURSFIELD SMITH, ESQ., J.P. AND HIS FAMILY OF HIGHFIELD HOUSE, WHITCHURCH, SALOP. PREFACE QEVERAL of my friends have urged me to give ^ to the public some of the recollections of my Methodist life. Whether they were wise in doing so, or whether I was wise in carrying out their suggestion, remains to be seen. When it was first hinted to me I quite ridiculed the idea of " writing a book," it seemed so preposterous. But the idea has clung to me, and the result is now given to the public with fear and trembling. The late Dr. Punshon suggested to me, years ago, to write some of the memories of my life, for publication in the Methodist Recorder, of which at that time he was editor. I said in reply that I was sure I could write nothing that would be worth reading; but my judgment has been over ruled, and, though I did not contribute anything to that influential journal during the editorship of Dr. Punshon, I have been an occasional con tributor since, by the kindness of the Eev. Nehemiah Curnock, its present able and genial editor. Some of the jottings which have seen the vi PREFACE light in the Recorder and in the Wesleyan Methodist Church Record will be found again in these pages, but the far greater part of the material appears for the first time. THOMAS HAYES. 50 BROKE ROAD, DALSTON, N.E., October 1902. *^* On pages 20 and 22 it is stated that the Centenary Hall stood on the site of the old "London Tavern." TMs I find is an error, I should have said it was the "City of London Tavern." The old "London Tavern" stood on the opposite side in Bishopsgate Street, between Numbers 122 and 124. It was here that the historic meeting to found the Bible Society was held, early in 1804. CONTENTS CHAP. PAGE I. EARLY DAYS 1 II. INTRODUCTION TO THE OLD WESLEYAN MISSION HOUSE . .14 III. THE CENTENARY HALL . .19 IV. THE MISSION HOUSE MUSEUM . .24 V. MISSIONARY RETROSPECT, 1837-1850 . 31 VL MISSIONARY RETROSPECT, 1851-1860 . 62 VII. MISSIONARY RETROSPECT, 1861-1871 . 85 VIII. MISSIONARY RETROSPECT, 1872-1882 . .112 IX. THE ALLAN LIBRARY .... 141 X. WESLEY'S CHAPEL AND HOUSE, AND HACKNEY ROAD CHAPEL AND SCHOOL . .160 XI. THE CONFERENCE OFFICE .... 166 XII. JOTTINGS OF A METHODIST BOOK - WORM AND ANTIQUARIAN . .176 XIII. MEN I HAVE KNOWN . .197 RECOLLECTIONS OF SIXTY-THREE YEARS OF METHODIST LIFE CHAPTER I EARLY DAYS TWAS born at Chelsea in 1824, "when George -•- the Fourth was King." The days of my boyhood were stirring times, when political feeling ran high. Much disaffection both to monarch and Government was shown by the people, and the country was far from happy and prosperous. The working-man then had a very hard time: wages were low, every requisite of life was expensive and heavily taxed, travelling was difficult and costly, and could be indulged in only by those who were in easy circumstances, others being compelled to trudge afoot. Many years of war, chiefly with France, had added to our National Debt such a load as I suppose no country ever had to bear before. The population of London then was about 2 METHODIST RECOLLECTIONS one million six hundred thousand persons, about one-third of the number of those living to-day; and during my'lifetime the area of London has increased to an extent commensurate with the increase of the population. It is recorded that an American visiting London for the first time expressed himself as being greatly disappointed with the newness of everything. He said he had read of London as a place of importance in Roman, Saxon, and Norman times, but the place he saw was as new as New York. I can sympathise with this visitor, for it seems to me that I have seen almost half the metropolis built or rebuilt during my lifetime. Large districts which in the days of my boyhood were cornfields, meadows, gardens, and rural lanes, are now completely covered with houses. The little section of north-east London where most of my life has been passed has shared in these changes. I have even now a vivid recollection of the orchards and fruit grounds which preceded the building Of Broke Road, Dalston, where I live. The manners and customs, too, of London have vastly changed since 1824. Think of London <f7. I "^"'' ^''' introduced the policeman (called after him ''Peelers" or "Bobbies") bein. protected by a lot of fppKi. i^ ôîîes ) Demg boy I have Lard th L^S^ "T' ^^ ' droning out the time and hf it olT ° ''*""" -"Pa.twoo'eloe..anda.o ;i:r,^-^;- EARL Y DAYS 3 wanted to be awakened from sleep to receive this information ? It was one of the sports of our fast young men at that time to topple over the watch- box with the poor old Charley inside. Knocker- wrenching was also a fashionable sport with some of our young gentry. It is hard to realise now, but at that time prize-fighting and bull-baiting, as well as dog and cock-fighting, were unchecked by the authorities, and were vastly enjoyed by the rabble. In these days of electric lighting it seems at times difficult to recall the London of my boyhood, when only the main thoroughfares were lighted by gas, and many of the smaller thoroughfares were lit up by oil lamps, which only served to make dark ness visible. Many of the by-streets were regarded, and not without reason, as being too dangerous to be traversed by night. It is a little curious to note in London, however, how that the old and new are brought together; and a good illustration of this is now to be seen in Finsbury Square, where a house which is lighted by electric lamps has on its railings a large iron extinguisher into which the links carried by the footmen were thrust after " milord " and " milady " had gone indoors. In those early days Finsbury Square consisted of residences, not offices, as most of the houses now are. Then, again, the only way to get a light was by striking together flint and steel, and applying a brimstone match as soon as a spark struck the tinder. I have yet in my little museum part of the old 4 METHODIST RECOLLECTIONS family tinder-box which I used so often as a lad. These old-fashioned utensils, which were not con sidered worth preserving, are now valued as curiosities. In my very early boyhood I remember on one occasion I wanted to know the time, but, after striking with flint and steel in vain, through the tinder, I suppose, being damp, I sallied out from the house in the pitch-dark with my unlighted candle in hand, climbed up the nearest lamp-post, and obtained a light, to find on my return that it was three o'clock in the morning. We have certainly improved in our methods of getting a light. The dashing of the Royal Mail coaches through London was then one of the sights of the metropolis. They were painted red, each drawn by four splendid horses, with coachman and guard in scarlet. Often have I waited at the corner of Kingsland Road, near Shoreditch Church, a few minutes after eight o'clock in the evening, to see four of the coaches rush past conveying the mails to the north of England. Railways, too, were very far from being general at that time. My first railway journey was to Folkestone before the station there was finished, and we had to alight by the side of the rails. On that journey the Parliamentary, or penny-a-mile, travellers had to travel in open trucks, exposed to steam, smoke, and weather. To call them carriages would be a misnomer. I have seen the Norwich and Norfolk coach at Christmas - time crammed inside and out with geese, turkeys, etc., for EARLY DAYS 5 Christmas fare, this load paying better than con veying passengers. At the same period of the year the large space in front of the Great Eastern Railway (then the Eastern Counties Railway) in Shoreditch, which was the headquarters before the grand station was built in Liverpool Street, was covered in with tarpaulins, crowded with counters and clerks and Christmas fare. It was a strange sight in the dark wintry days of Christmas. The first London railway was the old Greenwich line, opened in 1836, when I was twelve years old. Omnibuses were first run in 1829. I remember a sort of steam omnibus running along part of City Road, and I remember, too, its coming to grief on entering the yard. The death of George the Fourth took place in 1830, but I was then too young to attach much importance to it. The first event I do remember was the passing of the great Reform Bill in 1832, —not that I was at all interested in that important measure, but I recollect in connection with it that my brothers and I made small blocks of clay in which to stick the candles for the illumination which followed. I remember also that most of the houses were lighted up, and that the few which were left unilluminated had their windows smashed by people filled with patriotism, mischief, or drink, or all three in unholy combination.

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