God, who sees all things from the beginning, had been preparing other messengers who should go forth to preach the glad tidings, when the voice of Whitefield was heard no more. It was in the year that Whitefield died, that one of the most remarkable of these new preachers was sent forth into the highways and hedges. To tell you his history, I must go back to the year 1761. You have seen how God had raised up witnesses to preach Christ from amongst all sorts of people. Self-righteous clergymen, learned men from Oxford and Cambridge, Cornish miners, soldiers and sailors, rough north-country laborers, and Irish Papists; but, perhaps, the most unlikely of all places in which to find a Methodist preacher, would be amongst the Eton boys; yet it was an Eton boy whom God now called forth to this post of honor.
It was in the Christmas holidays of 1761, that a large party were gathered at the old Manor House of Hawkstone, in Shropshire. This beautiful old place, standing amongst wooded hills, wild rocks, and deep green valleys, belonged to Sir Rowland Hill, the father of five sons, and two daughters. Richard and John, the two eldest sons, were grown up at the time of which I am telling you, Rowland and Robert were Eton school-boys, and little Bryan was still in the nursery; the two sisters, Jane and Elizabeth, were a little older than Rowland. The schoolboys, Rowland especially, were full of fun, and kept the whole family alive by their pranks. Old Sir Rowland and Lady Hill, who were very fond of their mischievous boy, were amused by his tricks, and glad to make the holidays a merry time for all the party; but there were two of the family who loved Rowland in a different way. They thought of the great eternity which lay before him, and longed that his soul might be saved. These two were Richard and Jane.
It was little more than two years since Richard had learned the love of Christ. He knew how dark and dreary are the ways of Satan and the world, and how blessed and happy is the way that leadeth unto life. He longed to see his brothers walking in it, for their own sake, and yet more, for Christ’s sake. Richard talked much to his brothers, during those holidays, of Christ and salvation. He read the Bible with them, and prayed for them. When they went back to Eton, he wrote them long letters, which I would copy for you, were there not a fear of making this history too long. He told them what a glorious and blessed thing it is to know the love of Christ, and what an awful thing to be cast out forever and ever from the presence of God. Robert was struck by what his brother wrote, but he feared the mockery of his schoolfellows; he would have liked to serve two masters. Rowland turned to Christ with his whole heart, and gladly wrote to his brother to say that he was Christ’s, and that Christ was his. You can believe what joy Richard and Jane felt when Rowland’s letter came; but it was not only to Richard and Jane that Rowland thus confessed Christ. God gave him courage and faithfulness to speak plainly and fearlessly to the boys around. He told them gladly all that God had done for him—he entreated them to come themselves to Christ for forgiveness and life. You may well believe that he was laughed at and despised by most of the boys; this, however troubled him but little, except for the sake of the boys who did it, for it harmed nobody but themselves. Some of the boys listened to what he had to say, and it mattered not to Rowland Hill that he was abused for thus “setting up to be a Methodist,” when he saw that one boy after another was brought to repentance and faith in Christ. These boys agreed to meet together regularly for prayers, and reading the Bible, and they, in their turn, spoke of Christ to their schoolfellows, and thus the work of God was carried on in the midst of the ungodliness of Eton. It needed courage in the boys who thus openly confessed Christ; but nothing gives courage so much as faith in God. If you think that a really Christian boy is a weak-minded coward, or that he will become more of an old woman than a boy, you are greatly mistaken. There is no such cure for cowardice and weakness of character as a real belief in Christ, and love to His cause. The boys, who had been saved through Rowland’s conversations, were deeply thankful to him, and he had the happiness, many years after, of finding that they were still following Christ faithfully.
But Rowland had very soon great troubles and trials. When he went home for the holidays, he found that all his family, except Richard and Jane, were extremely angry at his “new opinions.” “Often,” he says, “I walked up and down the terrace at Hawkstone weeping bitterly, because I was considered a disgrace to my family; but it was for the cause of my God.” But at Hawkstone he had at least the comfort of talking to some of the poor people who had been brought to know God through the labors of Richard and Jane. “I have here many opportunities,” he wrote to Jane during the Midsummer holidays, “of conversing with the children of God, as well as of hearing the gospel; whereas at Eton I hear nothing but the oaths and blasphemies of the children of darkness.” It was a great grief to Rowland when Jane was away from home, as she often was during the holidays. At Easter he did not always come home, for in those days the journey to Shropshire was a great undertaking. He then spent his Easter holidays in London. He wrote to Jane from London, describing how there had been dancing and all sorts of gaiety on the occasion of his cousin’s birthday. He was allowed to go up to his room after tea, and spend the evening alone writing to his sister. He told her how he had enjoyed his holidays in some respects, for he had been able to go to the Methodist preaching, especially Mr. Romaine’s, and a kind friend (Mr. Jones) had given a general invitation to the Christian boys from Eton, who constantly met at his house. They were also invited by good Mr. Romaine to a Bible-reading at his house at 8 o’clock in the morning. “Every word,” wrote Rowland, “which comes from Mr. Romaine’s mouth ought to be writ in letters of gold upon our hearts.” He had met with many Christian friends, and was thankful for their love and kindness. “All the family of God,” he writes, “are kind to us, and surely His loving-kindness is better than life itself. What favor is better than the favor of the Lord? Is the friendship of the world to be compared to His friendship? No, no, give me Christ, and I will despise 10,000 worlds, for He is all, more than all. But, oh wonder of wonders, how came I to enjoy His friendship? Oh, that I could therefore praise and love my God, who hath loved me with an everlasting love, and made Himself a curse that I might be blessed.”