Torial Joss

Perhaps it was not to be expected that there would be a constant supply of men who would perform the itinerant ministry and confront the mob and defy dangers as the Wesleys, Harris, Cennick, Humphreys, Adams, Whitefield and others had done.

Nevertheless, new men were steadily being raised up of the Lord. Among the godly men who arose within the Evangelical Party in the Church of England there may be mentioned John Newton, the converted slave trader, Walter Shirley, a relative of lady Huntingdon, and Augustus Toplady, a scholar and poet. But these men did no itinerate and chose rather to devote themselves to devout and vigorous labours within their own parishes—labours that were rich in spiritual power and much bless of the Lord.

One was a former sea-captain, Torial Joss (1731-1797). Joss's youth had been spent in much suffering - first as a sailor, then at the hands of the press-gang, and finally as a French prisoner of war. His first knowledge of the Gospel came by overhearing some persons talk about their conversion, which was followed up by his reading Bunyan. Thus he came to know the Lord and amidst terrible persecutions that followed he proved unflinching in his stand for righteousness. 

For a time he was associated with one of Wesley's Societies in a sea-port village and there did some preaching. Later he became captain of his own ship and because of his bold Christian witness the sailors termed it 'The Pulpit'. 

As the years passed Joss became strong in the Lord. He gained a knowledge of the Scriptures and was known as a powerful and courageous Christian. 

When Joss was thirty-four Whitefield had him preach at the Tabernacle. It was immediately evident that the hand of the Lord was upon him and Whitefield urged him to quit the sea and devote himself to Christian work. Determined, however, to take such a step only at the unmistakable call of God, Joss waited for nearly a year, and then, assured of the divine leading, became one of Whitefield's assistants. Tyerman says: 

'In London his congregations were crowds, and his sermons full of converting power. Four or five months every year he spent in itinerating, regularly visiting Bristol, Gloucestershire and South Wales... In Wales, especially, the people followed him in multitudes, and on Sundays would travel twenty miles to hear him.'

Dallimore, A. (1980). Last Labours in Britain. In George Whitefield. The Life and Times of the great evangelist of the 18th century revival (Vol. 2, pp. 466–467). Banner of Truth Trust.