Historical Writings

English revivalist George Whitefield observed in a letter: 'It is a very uncommon thing to be rooted and grounded in the love of Jesus. I find persons may have the idea, but are far from having the real substance.'

Philip Embury (1728-1773) arrived in New York the first Methodist clergyman to come over from England.in America.

Death of Mrs. Johnston, a missionary to the West Indies.

Samuel Leigh arrives in Sydney, Australia, on the Hebe. He is Australia's first Methodist missionary.

Birth of Mary A. Lathbury, American Sunday School leader and poet. Daughter of a Methodist preacher, two of Lathbury's poems later became popular hymns: "Break Thou the Bread of Life" and "Day is Dying in the West."

Birth of Frederick J. Foakes-Jackson, Anglican theologian. His numerous publications centered around church history. His best-remembered work is "The Beginnings of Christianity, Part I: The Acts of the Apostles" (5 volumes, 1919-33).

Pope Pius IX issues an encyclical in which he says, "We and you know, that those who lie under invincible ignorance as regards our most Holy Religion, and who, diligently observing the natural law and its precepts, which are engraven by God on the hearts of all, and prepared to obey God, lead a good and upright life, are able, by the operation of the power of divine light and grace, to obtain eternal life."

Death by drowning of Joseph M. Scriven, Plymouth Brethren hymnwriter, author of the hymn "What a Friend We Have in Jesus." Because he is plagued by failing health, a meager income, and prolonged depression, his friends suspect his death may have been suicide. He had spent his life performing menial work for the underprivileged and destitute. A man of frequent misfortune, his plans for marriage had twice been destroyed by tragedy: in Ireland, a bride-to-be drowned the evening before their wedding; in Canada, a second fiancée fell ill and died suddenly before their scheduled wedding.

Death of William Walsham How. An Anglican clergyman, he had written the hymns "We Give Thee but Thine Own" and "For All the Saints." Bishop How had done much work among the poor in East London, where he was known as the "poor man's bishop."

Orthodox priest Nicholas Vasilyevich Biryukov is arrested by the Cheka and will be executed because of his opposition to the Communists whom he had described as enemies of the church.

English apologist C.S. Lewis wrote in a letter: 'We ought to give thanks for all fortune: if it is good, because it is good; if bad, because it works in us patience, humility, contempt of this world and the hope of our eternal country.

Induction of Joseph Abiodun Adetiloye as vicar and provost of the cathedral church of St. James, Ibadan, Nigeria. He will go on to become the sixth primate of the Nigerian Anglican Communion.

A federal judge hands down a ruling for Jerry Falwell's ministry that says "As far as this court can determine there is no evidence of intentional wrongdoing by the Thomas Road Baptist Church." The Securities and Exchange Commission had accused the church of fraud and claimed it could never repay its bonds.