"The Wesleyan Army at War with the Devil"

The Wesleyan Army at War with the Devil.
Preston, Lancashire: John Harkness, [ca. 1850]. (BRB0066)

Published by John Harkness, a provincial English printer who specialized in popular street literature, this single-sheet ballad compares the Methodist movement to a victorious army: “The Wesleyan Army in one are combined, to war with the Devil, the foe of mankind.” Included within the Methodist ranks are the travelling preachers who are “victorious wherever they go,” missionaries who recruit around the world, class leaders who “drill” young soldiers, and choristers who “sing of salvation and victory complete.”