The roar would have made any words of Wesley's
at first quite inaudible. As the outcry was in some
degree lulled he addressed those within hearing, but
to little purpose ; and amid these shrieking furious
savages was hurried from one end of the town to the
other. His guides hurried and dragged him down
a steep hill slippery with wet coal dust. Yet he, a
small man, was able to keep his footing against the
attempts of some hundreds tugging so hard at his
clothes to throw him down that one flap was left in
their hands. A man behind him aimed many blows
at his head with a bludgeon, any one of which might
have stunned him, but all were turned aside by the
unsteadiness of the assailant — Wesley himself being
jammed in between his conductors, and unable to move
to the right or the left. Twice indeed he was struck,
once with such violence that the blood gushed from
his mouth, but he ' felt no more pain from the blow
than if I had been touched with a straw.' Another
man, rushing up as if to strike him, let his hand rest
gently on his abundant hair, and only said, ' What soft
hair he has ! ' There were fierce outcries of ' Knock

T 2



2/6 JOHN WESLEY. [CHAP.
