At the Barracks

Thur 18 Feb 1768: Having been importunately pressed thereto, I rode (through a keen east wind) to Chatham. About six in the evening, I preached at the barracks in what they call ‘the Church’. It is a large room in which the chaplain reads prayers and preaches now and then. It was soon as hot as an oven through the multitude of people, some hundreds of whom were soldiers. And they were ‘all ear’, as Mr. Boston says, scarce allowing themselves to breathe. Even between five and six the next morning, the room was warm enough. I suppose upwards of two hundred soldiers were a part of the audience. Many of these are already warring a good warfare, knowing in whom they have believed.