JULY 11
Build all the preaching-houses, if the ground will permit, in the octagon form. It is best for the voice, and, on many accounts more commodious than any other. Let the roof arise one-third of the breadth; this is the true proportion. Have windows and doors enough; and let all the windows be sashed, opening downward. Let there be no tub-pulpit, but a square projection, with a long seat behind. Let there be no backs to the seats, which should have aisles on each side, and be parted in the middle by a rail running along, to divide the men from the women.
Minutes of Conversations, 1744
If we could bring all our preachers, itinerant and local, uniformly and steadily to insist on those two points, Christ dying for us, and Christ reigning in us, we should shake the trembling gates of hell.
Letter, 28th December, 1774
