THE LEEK-SEED CHAPEL.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume I, Issue 85, 13 June 1866, Page 3

THE LEEK-SEED CHAPEL.

Soon after the promulgation of Methodism in England, it spread with great rapidity over the counties of Devon and Cornwall, and especially among the miners and lower orders. For a long period after its introduction the clergy and higher orders of society inthe West of England manifested a degree of dislike to the new doctrines which can scarcely be imagined in these days of modern toleration. It was thought by many young gentlemen good sport to break the windows and nail up the doors of a Methodist chapel. The robbery of a Wesleyan Preacher as a spree by two 3 r oung gentlemen became the subject of judicial investigation, and the frolicsome young men had to pay dearly for their joke. Among the uninstructed Local Preachers was one known by the name ofthe "Old Gardener." "This old man was no common character, indeed he was quite an original, and by far the most popular preacher among the disciples of John Wesley in that vicinity. He kept a smiill nursery garden about two miles from the town of St. A , working hard at his occupation as a gardener by d.iy, and praying and preaching to his fellow-sinners, as he called them, in the evening. He lived in the poorest manner, giving away all the surplus Of his earnings in charity, distributing Bibles, and promoting to the utmost of his ability the extension of Methodism. His complexion was a sort of dirty dark iron-grey, and his whole appearance lean and grotesque. Although extremely ignorant, he possessed no small degree of cunning, and great personal courage. Of this, the following incident affords ample evidence. The " Old Gardener " was once subjected to a burglary and an attempt at robbery. He lived with his wife in a small and somewhat dilapidated cottage not far from the high road. Three young " squires " who had just finished their studies at the University, and who all dispised and .hated Methodism, having heard that the old man had been recently making a collection to build a Methodist chapel, thought it would be a good frolic to rob him temporarily of the proceeds of his collection. The result of the frolic is hest related in the words of one of them. " We set out," said he, "upon oar expedition with blackened faces, on a dark night a little before. twelve o'clock. We had dined late, and all of us had Dutch as well as Cornish courage ; yet I confess, when it came to the point, I felt myself a coward. I began to reflect that it was but a dastardly frolic to frighten a poor old man and his wife inthe dead of the night. '•The clock struck twelve. 'Now comes the witching time of night,' exclaimed Tom. '"Don't let us frighten the poor couple out of their wits,' said I. " ' No," said Ryder, 'we will be gentle robbers — gentle as Robin Hood and little John.' " I said that I would rather travel back then proceed. ' Recollect,' said 1, ' the old fellow is an old soldier, as well as a saint, aud fears nothing human.' "' Nonsense,' exclaimed Ryder, 'here goes.' " He pressed the feeble door ofthe coi tage in which the old man resided ; it immediately gave way and flew open. We entered and found ourselves in a sort of kitchen. To our great surprise there was a light shining from a'ninner room. This made us hesitate. "'Who is out there at this time of night?' exclaimed a hoarse voiee from within. I knew it to be the unmistakable voice of the ' Old Gardener.' " ' Give us your money, and no harm shall befall you,' said Tom, ' but we must have your money.' " - The Lord will be my defence,' rejoined the ' Old Gardener.' ' You shall have no money from me, all in the house is the Lord's — take it if you dare ! ' '"We must and will have it,' said we, as we entered the inner room, after taking the precaution of fastening the chamber door as we entered. -•' We soon wished we had suffered it to remain open, as you will see. '•Now consider us face to face witli the 'Old Gardener ;' aud a pretty sight we presented. Three ruffians (ourselves,) with white wagoners' frocks and blackened faces. Before us the 'Old Gardener,' sitting on the side of his bed. He wore a red worsted night cap, a chock shirt, and a flannel jacket ; his iron grey face, fringed with a. grizzle beard, looking as cool and and undismayed as if he had been in the pulpit, preaching, A table was by the side of the bed, and immediately in front of him, ou a large deal table was an open Bible, close to which we observed, to our horror, a heap of gunpowder, large enough to olow up a castle. A candle was burning on the table, and'the old fellow had a steel in one hand and a large flint in the other. Wc were all three completely paralysed. The wild, iron-faced, determined look ofthe ' Old Gardener,' the candle, the flint and the steel, and the great heap of powder, absolutely froze our blood, and made cowards of us all. The gardener saw the impression he had made. " ' What do you want to rob and murder?' exclaimed he, ' You had better join with me in a prayer, miserable sinners that you are ! Repent, and you may be saved. You wiil soon be in another world ." " Ryder first recovered his speech. " ' Please to hear me, Mr. Gardener. I feel that we have been wrong, aud if we may depart, we will make reparation, and give you all the money we have in our pockets.' *' We laid our purses on the table before him. " ' The Lord has delivered you into my hands. It was so revealed to me in a dream. We shall all be soon in another world. Pray, let us pray." And down he fell upon his knees, close to the table, with the candle burning and the ugly flint, and steal in his hand. He prayed and prayed. At last he appeared exhausted. He stopped aud eyed the purses ; and then emptied one of them out on the table. He appeared surprised, and I thought, gratified, at the largeness of its contents. We now thought we should have leave to retire ; but to our dismay, the ' Old Gardener' said, — " ' Nbw we will praise God by singing the Hundredth Psalm.'

mmmm ■■- m iiiwh mmmmmm mmmm. —iiiii ■_. —___p_i — i_iii»— pmwipi —WTO mmmm. IIItT " This was agony to us all. After the Psalm, the old man took up the second purse ; and while he was examining its contents. Ryder who was close behind Tom and myself, whispered softly. — " ' I have unfastened the door ; when you hear me move, make a rush.' " The •' Old Gardener ' then, pouring out the contents of the second purse exclaimed : — " ' Why there is almost enough to build our new house 'of God ! Letme seewbat tlie third contains.' " He took up the third purse. ' " Now !' whispered Ryder, ' make a rush.' "We did so, and at the same moment heard 'the old fellow hammering away with flint and steel. We expected to be instantly blown into fragments. The front door, however, flew open before us ; the next step found ourselves in the garden. The night was pitchy dark. We rushed blindly through the nursery ground, scrambled through "brambles and prickly shrubs, ran our heads against trees, then forced ourselves through a thicket hedge. At last, with scratched faces, torn hands and tattcre'd clothes, we tumbled over a bank into the high road. " Our horses were soon found, and we galloped to Ryder's residence. Lights were procured and we sat down. We were black, ragged, and dirty. We looked at each other, and, in spite of our miserable adventure, roared with laughter. '" We may )au;_h,' exclaimed -Tom, 'but -if thi.adventure is blown, and we are found out, Cornwall will be too- hot for us for the next seven years. We have made a pretty night of it. We have lost -eur money ; being obliged to -pretend to pray for two long hours before a great heap of gunpowder ; while that iron -faced, ugly, red-capped brute threatened u? all with an immediate passage into eternity ! And our money forsooth, must go to build a Methodistmeeting house ! Bah ! It is truly horrible. The fellow has played- the old soldier on us with a vengeance, and we shall be the laughing stock of -the whole country.' " The affair was not yet ended. Reports were spread that three men, disguised as black demons, with horns and tails, had entered the cottage of the ' Old Gardener,' who had not 011I3'- terrified them, but frightened them out of a good sum of money, whieh he intended to devote to the building of a new Methodist meeting-house It was given out that on .the following Sunday the ' Old Gardener ' intended to preach a sermon, and afterwards solicit subscriptions for the meeting-house, when he would relate the remarkable manner in which he had been providentially assisted with funds for the building. Our -mortification was complete. Tom, whose hatred of Methodism was intense, declared he ' would blow up the meeting-house as soon as it was built. Our curiosity, however, was excited, and we all three determined to hear our adventure of the night related by the ' Old Gardener,' if we could contrive to fce present without being suspected. Sunday : evening arrived. The meeting-house was crammed to suffocation, and with the dim lights then hurningun the. chapel we had no difficulty in concealing ourselves The sermon was short, but the statement of our ad ventures was related most minutely and'-circum-stantially in the old man's quaint, homely, and humorous phraseology. This evening he seemed to excel hicnself, and -was exultingly humorous. The old fellow's face glowed with delight and satisfaction. ' I never,' said he, ' saw black faces pray -with greater devotion. I have some doubt, however/ he slyly observed, 'if their .prayers were quite heavenward. They sometimes turned towards. the door, but a little lifting of the flint and steel kept them quiet. " He then added, with a knowing shake of the head and an exulting laugh. ' Buj they had not smelt powder like the old soldier whom they came to rob. No, no, it was a Large heap — ay, large enough to frighten Old General Clive himself. The candle was lighted, the Hint and steal was ready. You may ask my friends, il I myself was not afraid. No, no, my dear friends,' shouted he, ' this large heap of apparent gunpowder -was — it was my stock, my whole year's stock of leek (onion) seed !' " The whole congregation somewhat irreverently laughed ; even the saints almost shouted ; manv elapped their hands. I was for the moment stupefied by the announcement, but at last could hardly suppress my own laughter. '• We subscribed to the fund to avoid suspicion, and left the meeting. After the sermon we joined each other, but could not speak. We could barely chuckle, ' Leek-seed,' and then roared with laughter. ••It "was a good joke, though not exactly to our taste. It has, however, more than once .served for subsequent amusement. " The chapel was built with the money collected by the gardener. Time and circumstance now induce me to think that there has been no detriment to morality or religion by the erection of the meetinghouse which the High Church party named 'The Leek-seed Chapel.' "St. James's Magazine. _