Upon coming into the Circuit we found all the people mourning the loss of that eminently faithful servant of God, the Rev. William Grimshaw, who had died in April that year. Many, very many had, I am inclined to think, put that excellent man in God's place, and seriously thought that the prosperity of the work entirely depended upon him. Hence they thought, "Now he is gone, all is over with us; we shall surely come to nothing." God, we know, is a jealous God, and will not have us to ascribe that to any creature, which we ought to ascribe to Him alone. As the people, I am satisfied, did this, the Lord called His faithful servant away; and, it was very remarkable, the work prospered wonderfully, and I believe there was much more good done in that Circuit in that one year than had been done in seven years before that time. In Keighley, also, and the neighbourhood, there was a glorious revival of the work of God, such as no one then living could remember to have seen. It seemed as if the word of God could carry all before it, and men, women, and children were converted on all sides.
Thomas Jackson, ‘The Early Methodist Preachers’, Volume 4, p28.
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