An ACCOUNT 
OF THE 
UNITED SOCIETY 
FOR 
Visiting and Relieving the SICK
Instituted in the Year, 1777. 
NOW HELD 
in the WILLOW-WALK, St. Agnes Le Clair,
Near the TABERNACLE, Moorfields;
Lately held in TYSON-STREET, Bethnal-Green. 
“In earnest we would bear in Mind, 
"The Poor, the Sick, the Long-confin’d, 
“With such we sympathize; 
“To such we feel Compassion move, 
"To such we would appear in Love, 
"And wipe their weeping Eyes.” 
LONDON: 
Printed for the said Society, by R. HAWES, 
Bookseller and Stationer No. 40, Dorset-Street. 
Spitalfields, MDCCLXXXIII. 



The Recommendation. 
Among many other Subscribers to 
this Institution are the following 
Ministers of the Gospel, who have 
not only given us their Money as 
a Token of their Approbation, but 
have earnestly recommended the 
same to the Patronage of others. 
The Rev. Mr. Berridge, 
Rev. Mr. Hill, 
Rev. Dr. Peckwell, 
Rev. Mr. Joss, 
Rev. Mr. M. Wilkes. 
Rev. Mr. West, 
Rev. Mr. Durant. 



THE 
INTRODUCTION. 
This Institution having had the 
Approbation of, and been recom- 
mended by several Ministers of the 
Gospel, and also having received re- 
peated Subscriptions from several bene- 
volent Gentlemen, to assist us in carrying 
on the Lord’s Work, We need not mul- 
tiply Words to shew the Necessity and 
Utility of such an Institution. But we 
think it our Duty to give the Subscri- 
bers to this Charity every Information 
in our Power, in what manner their Mo- 
ney is disposed of, and likewise to in- 
form them, that the Lord has been gra- 
ciously pleased to bless our Visits to the 
Souls of several of our Fellow Sinners, 
3 by

VI  INTRODUCTION, 
by making us instrumental in bringing 
them to the Knowledge of Salvation,
and in comforting and building up many 
of God’s dear Children, who were cast 
down in their Souls; likewise in restor- 
ing some who had backslidden from 
God.— These things we trust is what 
we have most in view, as no Member 
has any temporal Benefit whatever; yet 
we desire to acknowledge, to the Glory 
of God, that we find it very profitable 
to our own Souls. Our Calls to visit 
are very numerous, and the Distresses 
of the Sick, Industrious Poor, are in 
many Cases very great: We therefore 
humbly solicit the Continuance and 
further Support of those Gentlemen 
who have already subscribed to this 
Charity--Subscriptions will also be 
thankfully received from others who are 
desirous to relieve the Distresses of the 
sick, industrious Poor. We hope the 
Lord will ever keep us watchful againist 
every Abuse, and humbly look unto 
him for a Blessing. 		
AN

AN 
ACCOUNT, &c. 
THE Manner in which this Society 
had its Origin was as follows: 
Six Christian Friends used to meet 
in Rotation at each other’s House 
for Prayer and Singing, on a Lord’s-Day 
Afternoon, during which time they had fre- 
quent Calls to visit sick People, in order to 
pray by them; and frequently seeing great 
Distress, Compassion excited to relieve them, 
and sometimes to give more than was pru- 
dent, being working men themselves. (Du- 
ring this manner of Meeting we desire to 
notice one particular Circumstance: Being 
one Day in Prayer together, a Person in the 
House overhearing, the Lord was pleased to 
make it the means of their Conversion.) 
They continued to meet in this manner 
for several Months, frequently making Col- 
lections amongst themselves and Friends:- 
But in order to have something before-hand 
to

(8) 
to take with them when the Lord was pleas- 
ed to call them, and to make it more easy 
to themselves, they thought it good to fol- 
low the Apostle’s Advice, to lay by some- 
thing on the first Day of the Week. They 
therefore commenced a Society on the fourth 
Day of May, 1777, and agreed that each 
Member should pay at least One Penny per 
Week. 
In answer to Prayer, others soon joined 
them, so that in the remainder of that Year 
the Number of Visits amounted to Fifty-one, 
and the Sum distributed among the Distressed 
was 5l. 17s. 
In the Year 1778, the Number of Visits 
was One Hundred and Eleven, and 101. 12s. 
was given to the Distressed. 
In the Year 1779, the Number of Visits 
was One Hundred and Forty-seven,—given 
to the Distressed, 121. 17s. 6d. 
In the Year 1780, the Number of Visits 
was Two Hundred and Ninety-five; and 
the Sum given to the Distressed, a.8l. IS. 6d. 
In the Year 1781, the Number of Visits 
was Three Hundred and Ninety-two, and 
39l. 19s. was given to the Distressed. 
Towards the End of this Year (our Mo- 
ney frequently coming far short, being oblig- 
ed to leave many deserving Cases unrelieved) 
we made application to several Gentlemen 
to assist us by Subscription, but not being 
very well known, and our Institution not 
very well understood, we obtained but four 
Sub-	

(9) 
Subscribers this Year, yet the Hope of doing 
Good to others, encouraged us to continue 
our Applications for Subscribers. 
Accordingly, in the beginning of the 
Year 1782, after having got the Recom- 
mendations of several Ministers, we spent 
a whole Day in making Applications for 
Subscribers, when we had different Success 
at different Places; some spoke rather roughly 
to us, others received us kindly, gave us 
their Subscriptions freely, approved of our 
Plan, and wished us Success, amongst whom 
were six Persons who generously subscribed 
a Guinea each, and several others have since 
favoured us with their Subscriptions, which 
has much increased the Usefulness of this 
Society. 
In the Month of October, we received a 
Ten Pound Note, inclosed in a Letter from 
a Gentleman, whose Benevolence the Poor 
have ofttimes happily experienced, wherein 
he was pleased to say, "he much approved 
of our Proceedings, and hoped a Covenant 
God would be with us, and make us instru- 
mental of much Good to the Bodies and 
Souls of many.” 
By the kind Assistance of Subscribers, and 
our own weekly Collections, the Number 
of Visits this Year, 1782, to Objects sick 
and in Distress, was Nine Hundred and 
Seventy-five; and the Sum of 112l. 15s. 
was given to the same, from Two to Four 
Shillings each, according to the Number of 
the Family and greatness of the Distress.— 
Thus	

(10) 
Thus hath the Lord been pleased to own 
and bless our weak Endeavours: To His 
Name be all the Praise. 
With regard to the Spiritual Good this 
Society have been instrumental in doing, as 
weak Instruments in the Hands of the Lord, 
it is not in our Power to give a full account 
of, for it is said, "Cast thy Bread upon 
"the Waters, for thou shalt find it after 
"many Days”— yet we have thought it 
right to relate a few Cases, well known to 
many amongst us, for the Satisfaction and 
Encouragement of the Subscribers to this 
Society in general. 
The first Fruit of our Labour of Love 
was a poor lame Woman in Keate-Street, Spi— 
talfields, who was called by the Instrumen- 
tality of this Society about a Month before 
her Death; she was a Woman who before 
lived an immoral Life, so that the Change 
which Divine Grace made in her was evi- 
dently seen by those about her; her Words 
a little before her Death were very expressive 
of the Love of God which she experienced 
in her Soul, and with Wonder and Admi- 
ration at what the Lord had done for her, 
she died very happy in the Faith of Jesus 
Christ. 
A Man and his Wife, and two Children, 
sick with a Fever, who lived in Whitehall-
Yard,	

(11 )
Yard, Bethnal-Green, were visited by the 
Members of this Society, during their Sick- 
ness; the Lord was pleased to take both the 
Children by Death, and to bring both the 
Man and his Wife to the Knowledge of 
Salvation, by the Visitors from this Society, 
The same Man, after his Conversion, called 
on an old Companion in sin, to persuade 
him to go with him to hear the Word of 
God, who complied with the same, where 
the Lord was pleased to meet with him. It 
also pleased God, soon after his Conversion, 
to afflict this Man with Sickness, which 
ended in his Death: During his Sickness, 
he was visited by this Society, and in visiting 
the Husband, the Lord was pleased to make 
us instrumental in bringing the Wife to the 
Knowledge of Himself, who is now a Mem- 
ber of this Society. 
A poor Woman in a Decline, in Crompton- 
Street Clerkenwell, was visited by the Mem- 
bers of this Society; she was very ignorant 
in spiritual Things; when asked what Hope 
she had for Eternity? She said, she had 
said her Prayers, and done many good things, 
and that God was merciful, therefore con- 
cluded all was well.” She was told that 
God was just and Righteous, as well as mer- 
ciful; and if she had not kept the whole 
Law, she was under the Curse of it, with 
many other things, which the Lord was 
pleased to follow by Conviction, which 
ended in her Conversion. A little before her 
Death she desired her Friends to let the 
Society	


(12)
Society know that they were the Means of 
bringing her to the Knowledge of Salvation. 
She died very happy. 
A young Man, in a deep Consumption, 
was visited by the Members of this Society 
he was very ignorant of the Way of Salva- 
tion; the Hope he gave us of Eternity was 
that he was not so bad as many others, and 
that he depended on God for Mercy; he 
was told with respect to his Goodness, that 
he was a Sinner in the Sight of God, and 
no better than the vilest; which he said, he 
could not believe; but the Lord was pleased 
to bless the Exhortation, and convince him
that he was a great Sinner, which made him
cry earnestly for Salvation: The Lord was 
pleased to satisfy the Desire of his Soul, and 
he died very happy in the Faith of Jesus 
Christ. 
A poor Woman, in Wells-Street, Oxford 
Street, was visited by the Members of this 
Society; she lay many Weeks ill in a De- 
cline, was repeatedly visited for several 
Weeks, and the Lord owned and blessed 
our Visits, and made us instrumental in 
bringing her to the Knowledge of Salvation;
She died, and left a good Testimony behind
her, that she is gone to be with Jesus. 
A poor Man, in Haberdashers Almshouse 
was visited by this Society: He acknow- 
ledged he was very ignorant of God and his 
Ways; said he had been a great Sinner; h, 
was told of the awful Consequence of Sin, 
and at the same time that Christ was the 
only	


(13)
only Saviour of lost Sinners, that there was 
Redemption through his Blood, the Forgive- 
ness of Sins. In visiting him afterwards, 
he said God had bless our Visit to his Soul, 
and we have reason to believe he died in the 
Lord. A little before his Death he said, 
“I wish I could believe,” and that he hoped 
God would appear unto him as his recon- 
ciled Father in Christ. The last Word he 
was heard to say was, "Lord, save me, or 
I perish.” 
The last Person we would now mention,
was a Woman in Slaughter-Street, Bethnal- 
Green, called by the Instrumentality of this 
Society about ten Weeks before her Death: 
It was not long after the Lord convinced 
her of Sin, before he appeared to her as a 
God of Love in Christ Jesus; her Disease 
was a Consumption; at times she laboured 
under great Pain of Body, but she enjoyed 
much of the Presence of God. We found 
it very good to our own Souls to visit her. 
A little before her Death she was asked, if 
Christ was still precious? she said, “He 
was more and more precious to her Soul, 
and that she could say with the Apostle, 
that she had a Desire to depart, to be with 
Christ.” She died very easy, and very happy 
in the Lord; and she acknowledged several 
times, that this Society was the only Means 
of bringing her to the Knowledge of the 
Lord. 
Others, we have reason to hope, are now 
under saving Conviction of Sin, and are 
B seeking 


(14)
seeking the Lord in Sincerity: Among 
whom is an aged Widow, Ninety-one Years 
of Age. 
"Christian, wouldst thou in Grace excel, 
Wouldst thou enlarge thy Store? 
Use what thou hast with liberal Zeal, 
And God will give thee more. 
“Let not thy sacred Talents lie 
Conceal’d beneath the Ground, 
But bless thy Fellow-Christians, by 
The Treasures thou hast found. 
"Comfort the Feeble and Oppress’d, 
With Tokens of thy Love, 
Then shall thy Soul be well refresh’d. 
And water’d from above. 
“Shew kind Affection, special Care, 
To the afflicted Poor; 
Give freely what thou hast to spare. 
And God will give thee more. 
"The liberal Heart, the liberal Hand 
Jehovah deigns to bless 
By such he will most surely stand. 
And keep them from Distress*." 
For further Particulars respecting the 
Manner in which this Society is conducted, 
we submit to the Subscribers the Perusal of 
the following Rules. 
* The above Verses were wrote by an afflicted Young 
Woman: See “Songs in the Night,” lately published. 

(15) 
RULES and ORDERS 
TO BE OBSERVED BY THE MEMBERS 
OF THIS SOCIETY, 
I. 
THAT Every Person desirous of becom- 
ing a Member of this Society, shall 
be recommended by one of the Members 
thereof, and the Stewards then acting shall 
ask the said Member concerning the Walk 
and Conversation of the Person recom- 
mended. 
II. 
That every Person, at his or her Entrance 
shall pay Three-pence, and Three-pence for a 
Book of Orders, &c. 
III. 
That this Society shall admit as many 
Members of Brothers and Sisters as may be 
B2 inclined

(16)
inclined to enter, provided they are those 
we have reason to think are sseking the 
Lord in Sincerity, 
IV. 
That Twelve of the Members shall serve 
(by Election) as a Managing Committee, 
for six Months, to meet the last Thursday in 
each Month, at Eight o’Clock in the Even- 
ing, or oftener if found needful, to transact 
such Business as they think necessary for the 
Good of this Society, the Result of which 
Business shall be said before the Society, the 
Lord’s-Day following, for their Approba- 
tion: And if any Member of this Society 
shall have any thing to relate which does 
not immediately concern the Business of the 
Lord’s-Day, they shall apply to the said 
Committee, at their aforesaid Meeting, or 
when they shall appoint, so as the Business
of the Lord’s Day may not be impeded. 
V.
That Six of the Committee shall be cho— 
sen every Quarter, in the following manner: 
On every general quarterly Meeting, the 
Members then present shall be separately 
called upon by the Clerk, beginning at the 
senior Member, if they chose to stand Can- 
didates, untill the Number of Twelve. 
But if that Number should not offer them- 
selves, then the senior Member of the last 
Committee shall nominate such Member or 
Members as he thinks fit. 
VI. That

(17) 
VI. 
That Four of the Committee, in Rota- 
tion shall meet every Lord’s-Day, to act as 
Stewards, Two to receive the Monies paid 
in, and Two to receive Petitions from those 
Members who have been called to visit the 
Sick, and seen their Distress; and the said 
Stewards shall visit those whole Petitions are 
accepted, or appoint some others in their 
room, and shall act as they see meet (so far 
as the following Rule will admit), and the 
Stewards or others shall the next time they 
attend the Society give some Account of the 
Objects they visited. 
VII.
That not less than Two Shillings shall be 
given to any Object presented to this Socie- 
ty, nor more, except there is Ten Shillings 
in the Box, then they may give Two Shillings 
and Sixpence; if Fifteen Shillings in the Box, 
"Three Shillings; if Twenty Shillings or more 
in the Box, then Four Shillings, if Necessity 
requires it. And every Member shall pay 
into the Box, at least One Penny per Week, 
or more if they think proper. 
VIII. 
That any Member or Members having 
Objects of Distress to present for Relief to 
this Society for themselves or others, shall 
be in the Society-Room by Three o’Clock, 
and shall produce a plain, written Direction,
where

(18)
where the said Objects of Distress may easily 
be found; and no Object of Distress shall 
be presented for Relief in any other Mem- 
ber’s Name, but in the Name of the Mem- 
ber, who first presented the same during 
that Illness.
IX. 
That the Steward shall ask every Peti- 
tioner, by what Providence of God they 
were called to visit the Object they present? 
and if it can be proved that the said Object 
was sought after, he shall not be relieved: 
But if any Dispute should arise concerning 
any Matters of this Society, it shall imme- 
diately be put to a Ballot. 
X. 
That as in some Cases it may not be pro- 
per for the Stewards to visit, therefore they 
shall be at Liberty to nominate Two of the 
Sisters, whom they think proper, to visit in 
their room. 
XI. 
That no Member shall receive any Fee or 
Reward, nor any temporal Relief from the 
Society, on any Pretence whatever. 
XII. 
That no Petition shall be accepted for the 
Relief of Lying-in Women, except they 
have lain in one Month.
XIII. That

(19) 
XIII.
That the Monies subscribed and collected 
shall be given only to those who are sick and 
in Distress, whether Professors or otherwise, 
Persons in Workhouses and Hospitals ex- 
cluded. 
XIV. 
That the Hours of Meeting be from Two 
to Four on the Lord’s-Day Afternoon; at 
which time the Meeting to be opened and 
concluded with Prayer. 
XV. 
That if any Member hears or knows any 
thing immoral in his Brother or Sister, they 
shall in Love reprove them alone; they not 
regarding the Reproof, the Thing then to 
be communicated to Two Brothers or Sis- 
ters, and if that has not the desired Effect, 
they shall then be presented to a general 
Meeting; after which if they continue har-
dened, they shall be excluded the Society. 
XVI.
That those Members who neglect clear- 
ing the Book on the first Lord’s-Day in the 
Month, shall be deprived of the Liberty of 
presenting any Person for Relief during the 
said Month. 
XVII. 
That there shall be a Feast of Love annu- 
ally on Christmas-Day, when the Accounts 	
of

(20)
of this Society shall be reported to the Soci- 
ety at large; at which time all who are feri- 
ously inclined may be admitted; at the 
Conclusion of which a Collection shall be 
made for the Benefit of the Box. 
N.B. Subscriptions are received at the 
Society-Room, or by the Clerk or Stewards 
of this Society, on their producing the Sub- 
scription Book of this Society. 
Any Person inclined to bequeath 
a Legacy to this Society, by his last 
Will, is desired to do it in the follow- 
ing Form. 
--Item, I give and bequeath unto 
A. B. and C. D. the Sum of upon 
Trust, to the Intent that they or one of them do 
pay the same to the Clerk (for the time being) 
of a Society, who now call themselves "The 
UNITED SOCIETY for Visiting and Relieving 
the Sick,” Insituted in the Year 1777, which 
does, or lately did, meet in the Willow-Walk, 
St. Agnes le Clair, near the Tabernacle, Moor- 
Fields; which said Sum I desire may be applied 
towards carrying on the charitable Designs of the 
said Society. 
FINIS.