to
increase any particular party. A few words more of this kind passed, and
he then left me, drove on before us, and presently turned off from the
turnpike road into a little bye road in the wood, where he stopped and
read the tract which I had given him, which was, "The conversion of the
jailer at Philippi." I went on as before with the work, not tried in
spirit, but yet my nerves were much affected by it. We meant only to
have gone that day as far as Darmstadt, the capital of Hesse-Darmstadt,
but I engaged the driver 15 miles further, to Frankfort-on-the-Main, in
order that we might be out of the dominion of Hesse-Darmstadt, if
through the mail-guard, or the last-mentioned person, who, to judge from
his dress, was a government officer, the matter should be coming before
the magistrates. At Frankfort we arrived after ten on Saturday evening,
Sept. 20th, having now been able for 3 days to go on with the service.
The next day, being the Lord's day, we purposed to rest at Frankfort
which we much needed for body and spirit, especially also for the sake
of asking the Lord's blessing upon the work up till then, and to ask
guidance for our future steps, mud His help and blessing for what
remained of our work. We had intended, before we left Stuttgart, to go
to Eisleben, such a distance from Frankfort, as would require 4 or 5
days more travelling, and then all the way back to Cologne. But on
account of what had occurred the two previous days, we now began again
to consider our steps, whether we should go on still further or not.
Nature wished to get back to England at once. Nature shrank greatly from
the continuance of this service. But after having strengthened ourselves
in God, we came to the conclusion, that our first purpose was of God,
and that we ought not to alter our plans, except we saw it most clearly
to be the will of God; we therefore purposed (as we could only look upon
the desire of discontinuing our tour as a temptation), to go on with our
service, till by the order of the police we were prohibited. Blessed be
God who enabled us to triumph over the temptation! But to Him is all the
praise due; for had He not strengthened us in that hour, we should have
been as those who, having put their hand to the plough, draw it back. I
now set about making arrangements for the journey, as the carriage and
horses, which I had engaged for the three previous days, had to return
to Stuttgart. Our prayer was for another suitable d