Poor: As Hearers. John Wesley always preferred the middling and lower classes to the wealthy. He said, “If I might choose, I should still, as I have done hitherto, preach the gospel to the poor.” Preaching in Monktown church, a large old, ruinous building, he says, “I suppose it has scarce had such a congregation during this century. Many of them were gay, genteel people, so I spoke on the first elements of the gospel, but I was still out of their depth. Oh, how hard it is to be shallow enough for a polite audience!”: Anecdotes of the Wesleys.