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diff --git a/old/69582-0.txt b/old/69582-0.txt deleted file mode 100644 index 8002c35..0000000 --- a/old/69582-0.txt +++ /dev/null @@ -1,24131 +0,0 @@ -The Project Gutenberg eBook of The Life and Times of the Rev. John -Wesley, Volume I (of 3), by Luke Tyerman - -This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere in the United States and -most other parts of the world at no cost and with almost no restrictions -whatsoever. You may copy it, give it away or re-use it under the terms -of the Project Gutenberg License included with this eBook or online at -www.gutenberg.org. If you are not located in the United States, you -will have to check the laws of the country where you are located before -using this eBook. - -Title: The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, Volume I (of 3) - Founder of the Methodists - -Author: Luke Tyerman - -Release Date: December 19, 2022 [eBook #69582] - -Language: English - -Produced by: Brian Wilson, Les Galloway, MFR and the Online Distributed - Proofreading Team at https://www.pgdp.net (This file was - produced from images generously made available by The - Internet Archive/American Libraries.) - -*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE -REV. JOHN WESLEY, VOLUME I (OF 3) *** - - - - Transcriber’s Notes - -Obvious typographical errors have been silently corrected. All -other spelling and punctuation remains unchanged. - -Italics are represented thus _italic_. - - - - - [Illustration: JOHN WESLEY, M.A. - - AGED FORTY. - - From a scarce Engraving published in 1743. - - Engraved by J. Cochran.] - - - - - THE - - LIFE AND TIMES - - OF THE - - REV. JOHN WESLEY, M.A., - - Founder of the Methodists. - - BY THE - - REV. L. TYERMAN, - - AUTHOR OF “THE LIFE AND TIMES OF REV. S. WESLEY, M.A.,” - (_Father of the Revds. J. and C. Wesley_). - - IN THREE VOLUMES. - - VOL. I. - - [Illustration] - - NEW YORK: - HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, - FRANKLIN SQUARE. - - 1872. - - - - -PREFACE. - - -Six Lives of Wesley have been already published, besides sketches -almost innumerable. What then justifies the present writer in -publishing another? - -Hampson’s, ready for the press when Wesley died, is extremely meagre, -and was the work of an angry writer. Coke and Moore’s, issued in 1792, -was a hasty publication, written _currente calamo_, to get possession -of the market; and, like most things done in haste, was exceedingly -imperfect. Whitehead’s, dated 1793-6, was composed in the midst of -disgraceful contentions, and was tinged with party feeling. Southey’s, -printed in 1820, has literary charms; but, unintentionally, is full -of errors, and, for want of dates and chronological exactitude, is -extremely confusing. Moore’s, published in 1824, is the fullest -and most reliable; but, to a great extent, it is a mere reprint of -Whitehead’s, given to the public about thirty years previously. -Watson’s, issued in 1831, was not intended to supersede larger -publications, but was “contracted within moderate limits, and” avowedly -“prepared with special reference to general readers.” - -These are the chief Lives of Wesley. Smaller ones are too numerous to -be mentioned; and, besides that, they are not _lives_, but _sketches_. - -The publications of Hampson, of Coke and Moore, of Whitehead, and -of Moore, have long been out of print. Two Lives are still on -sale,—Southey’s and Watson’s; but the former is defective in details, -and is incorrect and misleading; and the latter, as already stated, was -never meant to occupy the place of a larger work. - -It has long been confessed that a Life of Wesley, worthy of the man, -is a desideratum. Hampson, Coke, Moore, and Whitehead used, with a -sparing hand, the materials which were already accessible to all, and -added a few original papers, for the preservation of which every one -feels grateful. Southey acknowledges that he “had no private sources -of information”; and, in the list of books from which his materials -were chiefly taken, we find nothing but what is in the hands of most -Methodist students. Watson says, he had “the advantage of consulting -unpublished papers”; but it is not injustice to Watson, to say that -very few of these “unpublished papers” were embodied in his book. - -This is not ill natured depreciation of previous biographers, all of -whom I revere, and wish to honour. But any ordinary reader, who will -take the trouble, may easily perceive, that the Lives of Wesley that -have been published, during the last seventy-six years, have contained -no additional information worth naming. - -In this interval, Wesley has yearly been growing in historic fame, -until he is now, among all parties,—Churchmen, Methodists and -Dissenters, papists, protestants and infidels, statesmen, philosophers -and men of letters,—one of the greatest and most interesting studies -of the age. The world wishes to know something more respecting the -man, who, under God, was the means of bringing about the greatest -reformation of modern times. Since the publications of Whitehead, -Coke and Moore—his literary executors—innumerable letters and other -manuscripts have come to light; but no subsequent biographer has used -them. Besides, in the magazines, newspapers, broadsheets, pamphlets, -tracts, and songs, published during Wesley’s lifetime, there is a mine -of biographical material incalculably rich; but, hitherto, no one has -taken the trouble to delve and to explore it. - -Ought this apathy and negligence to continue longer? Is it right to -keep the world, the church, and especially the Methodists, in ignorance -of what exists concerning one of the most remarkable men that ever -lived? I think not; and, hence, as no one else attempted it, I have -done my best to collect these scattered facts, and to give them to the -public in the following volumes. - -For seventeen years, materials have been accumulating in my hands. -My own mass of original manuscripts is large. Thousands of Methodist -letters have been lent to me. Hundreds, almost thousands, of -publications, issued in Wesley’s lifetime, and bearing on the great -Methodist movement, have been consulted. Many of Wesley’s letters, -hitherto published only in periodicals, or in scarce books, have been -used; and not a few that, up to the present, have never yet appeared -in print. To mention all who have rendered me generous assistance is -almost impossible; but I cannot deny myself the pleasure of naming the -late Rev. Joseph Entwisle, Mr. Joseph Miller, of Newcastle, Mr. George -Stevenson, of Paternoster Row, and last, but not least, the Rev. Elijah -Hoole, D.D., for the ready access he gave me to the collection of -manuscripts in the Wesleyan Mission House. - -My greatest difficulty has been, not the want of materials, but that -of making selections, and of giving in a condensed form all that I -thought important. Nothing, likely to be of general interest, has been -withheld. Nothing, derogatory to the subject of these memoirs, has been -kept back. Whatever else the work may be, it is _honest_. - -I have tried to make Wesley his own biographer. I have not attempted -what may be called the _philosophy_ of Wesley’s life. I leave that to -others. As a rule, intelligent readers wish only to be possessed of -facts. They can form their own conclusions; and care but little about -the opinions of those by whom the facts are collected and narrated. -The temptation to moralise has oft been great; but I have tried to -practise self denial. Wesley was not a _designing_ man: cunning he had -none: he was a man of one idea: his sole aim was to save souls. This -was the philosophy of his life. All his actions had reference to this. -He had no preconceived plans; and, hence, it is needless to speculate -about his motives. The man is best known by what he _did_; not by what -philosophers may suspect he _thought_. Holding these opinions, my one -object has been to collect, collate, and register unvarnished facts; -and I hope I have not altogether failed. - -Much that is false, or erroneous, concerning Wesley, has been -published; and it would have been an easy task to have refuted not a -few of the statements which even Methodists as well as others have -been accustomed to receive without gainsaying; but I had no room for -this. Besides, I had no wish to assume the part of a controversialist. -Comparison will show, that, in several instances, I differ from -previous biographers; but I would rather that the reader should -discover this for himself, than that I should state it. It may savour -of unpardonable temerity to disagree with the distinguished men who -have gone before me; but, if attacked, I am prepared to defend the -ground that I have taken. To avoid encumbering the margin, I have -omitted thousands of references; but I have them, and can give them, if -required. - -The work has been arduous; but it has been a work of love. I have not -done what I wished, but what I could. A more literary and philosophic -writer might have been employed; but no labour has been spared in -pursuit of facts, and there has been no tampering with honour and -honesty in stating them. - -The Portrait inserted in Vol. I. is taken from an exceedingly scarce -engraving, published in 1743, and made from a painting by J. Williams. -It is more than probable that this was the first likeness of Wesley -ever taken. - -I only add, that I hope the reader will find the general Index at the -end of Vol. III. to be accurate and useful. - - L. TYERMAN. - - CLAPHAM PARK, - _July 5th, 1870_. - - - - - GENERAL CONTENTS. - - -INTRODUCTION. - -Methodism, its Greatness—Christianity during the first two -centuries—Lutheran Reformation—Statistics of “_Wesleyan_” -Methodism—Welsh Calvinistic Methodists—Countess of Huntingdon’s -Connexion—Methodist New Connexion—Band Room Methodists—Primitive -Methodists—Bible Christians—Primitive Methodists in Ireland—United -Methodist Free Churches—Wesleyan Reform Union—Other Methodist -Bodies—Methodists in America—Other Churches benefited by -Methodism—Sunday Schools—Bible Society—London and Church Missionary -Societies—Tract Societies—Dispensaries—Strangers’ Friend -Society—Chapels—Newspapers—An immense Organisation, and its Results 1-13 - - -CHAPTER I. - -WESLEY AT HOME, AT SCHOOL, AND AT COLLEGE. - -1703-1725. - -Wesley’s Birth—The Wesley Family—Fire at Epworth—Teaching -of Wesley’s Mother—Wesley’s Seriousness—Wesley at the -Charterhouse—Ambition—Backsliding—Ghosts—Original Letter—Wesley at -Oxford—A thankful Janitor—Wesley Ill and in Debt—Original Letters—Dr. -Cheyne—Original Letters—Wesley wishes to become a Minister—Letters -respecting this—Wesley finds his _first religious_ Friend—Thomas à -Kempis and Jeremy Taylor—Wesley begins his Journal—Turning point in -Wesley’s history—Original Letter—Other Letters 15-41 - - -CHAPTER II. - -WESLEY’S ORDINATION, ETC. - -1725-1729. - -State of England—Dr. Potter—Wesley and Voltaire—Wesley’s First Sermon—A -Funeral Sermon—Elected Fellow of Lincoln College—Letter from his -Father—Letters to his Brother Samuel—At Epworth and Wroote—Writing -Poetry and Hymns—Elected Greek Lecturer—His _first_ Convert—Robert -Kirkham—Courtship—William Law—Methodist Doctrines—The Mystics—Wesley -becomes M.A.—Gets rid of unprofitable Friends—Plan of Studies—Becomes -his father’s Curate—Ordained a Priest—Wroote—Wesley recalled to Oxford - 42-59 - -CHAPTER III. - -OXFORD METHODISM, ETC. - -1729-1735. - -Distinguished Men—National Immorality—Methodism needed—Infidelity at -Oxford—First Methodists at Oxford—Their Daily Life—Nicknames—Gambold on -Wesley—A Starving Girl—Early Rising—Earnest Piety—Wesley has the offer -of a Curacy—His Correspondence with Mary Granville—A Query—Wesley’s -Walk to Epworth—Methodist Sacramentarian Theory—Letter from Mr. -Clayton—Methodism attacked in _Fogg’s Weekly Journal_—First printed -Defence of Methodism—Wesley’s Sermon before the University—First -Publication—Female Methodists at Oxford—High Churchism—Wesley -urged to become his father’s Successor—Correspondence respecting -this—Wesley’s last Letter from his Father—Application for Epworth -Rectory—Whitefield—Wesley’s Publications 60-107 - - -CHAPTER IV. - -MISSION TO GEORGIA. - -1735-1737. - -Dispersion of Oxford Methodists—James Hutton—Dr. -Burton—Oglethorpe—Emigrants to Georgia—Saltzburghers—Other -Georgian Emigrants—America in 1735—Wesley’s Reasons for going to -Georgia—Letter to his Brother Samuel—Fellow Voyagers—Daily Life on -Shipboard—Detention at Cowes—Covenant in the Isle of Wight—Ingham -on the Moravians—The Voyage—Savannah—Indians of Georgia—Spangenberg -meets Wesley—Tomo-Chichi—Wesley on the Moravians—Begins his Ministry -in Georgia—A large Parish—C. Wesley and Ingham in hot water—Wesley -and Delamotte at Frederica—C. Wesley returns to England—Original -Letters to Wesley from Richard Morgan, Sir John Thorold, and William -Chapman—Wesley on the Mystics—Delamotte’s School—Ingham’s Return -to England—Wesley on Missionaries—Oglethorpe in Trouble—Original -Letters to Wesley—Wesley’s cheerful Religion—Life at Savannah—A Bad -Woman—Wesley goes Barefoot—Whitefield thinks of becoming Bishop—Wesley -wants Helpers—Thomas Causton—Miss Hopkey—Unfriendly Rumours—Extracts -from Wesley’s unpublished Journal—Proposed Marriage—High Churchism—An -Excommunication—Wesley Arrested—Letter to Mrs. Williamson—Extracts -from Wesley’s private Journal—List of Grievances—Further Facts -from Wesley’s manuscript Journal—Findings of the Jury—Wesley -Superseded—Immense Labours—Great Excitement in Savannah—Wesley’s -Farewell Sermons—Departure—In a Swamp—Companions—Sets sail for -England—Storms encountered—Wesley on Conversion, Faith, etc.—Wesley’s -Mission to Georgia not a Failure 108-170 - -CHAPTER V. - -WESLEY IN TRANSITION. - -1738. - -Whitefield goes to Georgia—He returns to England—Crime -and Criminals—Wesley’s Labours in 1738—Wesley _almost a -Christian_—Doctrines which Wesley was taught by Bohler—When and -how was Wesley converted?—Peter Bohler—Wesley in heaviness—His -Sermon on “Salvation by Faith”—Doctrines which gave birth -to Methodism—Wesley in search of Truth—A petulant Letter to -William Law—Further Correspondence—Moravian Follies—Mrs. Hutton -and her Lodgers—Correspondence with Samuel Wesley—Strange -Confessions—Wesley in a Labyrinth—He becomes a member of the -Moravian Society—Rules of Fetter Lane Society—Wesley goes to -Germany—Watteville—Cologne—Marienborn—Wesley, under Zinzendorf’s -management, turns gardener—Herrnhuth—Christian David—Experiences of -Herrnhuthers—Their Daily Life—Wesley returns to London—Letters to -the Herrnhuthers and Zinzendorf—Wesley and Bishop Gibson—William -Warburton—First Sermons against the Methodists—Wesley’s Rules for Band -Societies—His first Hymn-Book 171-211 - - -PART II. - -1739. - -London in 1739—Moorfields—Metropolitan Depravity—Provincial -ditto—Religious Revival in New England—Howel Harris and the Revival -in Wales—Great Religious Movement in Scotland—Wesley shut out of -Churches—Unpublished Letter from Wesley to Whitefield—A _Fracas_ at St. -Margaret’s, Westminster—Whitefield begins Out-door Preaching—Remarkable -Lovefeast in Fetter Lane—A Conference at Islington—Haziness—Interviews -with Bishops—Wesley’s Labours in London—Answers to Prayer—Original -Letter from Whitefield to Wesley—Wesley becomes an Out-door -Preacher—Sermons preached by Wesley in 1739—Reasons assigned -for Out-door Preaching—Methodist Congregations—“Beau” Nash and -Wesley—Persecution—The _Scots Magazine_—Rev. Ralph Skerrett, -D.D.—Rev. John Wilder, M.A.—Rev. Charles Wheatley, M.A.—Rev. -Henry Stebbing, D.D.—Rev. Joseph Trapp, D.D.—Rev. Tristam Land, -M.A.—Whitefield Abused—Rev. Josiah Tucker—Bishop Gibson—Whitefield’s -Reply to Gibson—Wesley and the Bishop of Bristol—Another Attack on -Whitefield—The _Weekly Miscellany_—“The Methodists, a Burlesque -Poem”—Rev. James Bate, M.A.—Doddridge on the Methodists—Rev. -Joseph Williams, of Kidderminster, and C. Wesley—“Religious -Societies”—Strange Scenes at Bristol, Kingswood, and London—Whitefield -respecting them—C. Wesley Condemns them—Rev. Ralph Erskine and others, -concerning them—Wesley’s Opinion—Kingswood—Kingswood School—First -Methodist Chapel Built—The London Foundery—John Cennick, Methodism’s -first Lay Preacher—Lay Preaching—Partly unpublished Letter from -Whitefield to Wesley—Moravian Heresies—First Methodist Society -Founded—Adventures—Differences between Wesley and the Clergy—Wesley and -his Mother—Death of Wesley’s Brother, Samuel—Wesley’s Publications in -1739 213-291 - - -1740. - -Wesley Robbed—Visit to the Thieves—Strange Occurrences at -Bristol—Happy Deaths—The Wesleys at Bristol and Kingswood—Philip -Henry Molther—Letters by Molther and James Hutton—Work done by -the Moravians—Hutton attacks Wesley—Wesley and the Moravians—Rev. -George Stonehouse—Original Letter from Ingham to Wesley—Moravian -Disputes—Wesley Expelled from Moravian Pulpits—Wesley’s Letter to -the Herrnhuthers—Another Bone of Contention—Unpublished Letter -from Whitefield to Wesley—Calvinian Correspondence—Wesley’s Sermon -on “Free Grace”—Pamphlets for and against it—Howel Harris on -Calvinism—Whitefield’s Answer to “Free Grace”—Whitefield and Wesley -separate—Anti-Methodist Publications—Thomas Whiston, A.B.—Rev. -Zachary Grey, LL.D.—Aquila Smyth—The _Weekly Miscellany_—Rev. -Alexander Garden—“The Expounder Expounded”—“The Imposture of Methodism -Displayed”—Other Publications—Dr. Daniel Waterland—Μεθοδεια—Brutal -Treatment—Wesley’s Success and Activity—First Watch-night -Meeting—Wesley’s Publications in 1740 292-335 - - -1741. - -Whitefield Itinerating—C. Wesley and the Moravians—Wesley among the -Moravians in the Midland Counties—Interview with Zinzendorf—Lady -Huntingdon and C. Wesley—Methodism’s first Martyr—Whitefield in -Trouble—Wesley and John Cennick—The first Methodist Schism—The first -Methodist Newspaper—Wesley’s Calvinistic Concessions—Attempted -Reunion—Wesley and his Societies—Methodist Visitors—Methodist -Tickets—Triumphant Deaths—Persecution—The _Scots Magazine_—The -_Gentleman’s Magazine_—The _Weekly Miscellany_—Proposed Methodist -Edifice on Blackheath—Horrible Outrages—Wesley Preaches before -Oxford University—Seriously Ill—Pamphlets against Methodism—William -Fleetwood—Joseph Hart—Arthur Bedford, M.A.—Wesley’s -Publications in 1741 336-368 - -1742. - -Wesley’s Defence of his Lay Preachers—Whitefield Preaching in -Moorfields—Wesley and Whitefield Reunited—Bitter Attacks on Whitefield -in Scotland—Rev. Henry Piers—Formation of Methodist Classes—Wesley’s -first Visit to the North—Miss Cooper—Wesley at Bristol—Newcastle -on Tyne in 1742—Wesley Preaching there—At Epworth—Wesley and John -Whitelamb—Death of Wesley’s Mother—Charles Caspar Graves—C. Wesley -forms a Methodist Society at Newcastle—Wesley’s “Orphan House”—Dross -mixed with Gold—Persecution—Wesley’s Publications in 1742—Methodist -Singing 369-400 - - -1743. - -Incidents in Wesley’s Travels—Organisation of Calvinistic -Methodists—Newcastle Circuit—Comedy turned into Tragedy—Wesley -repelled from the Lord’s Supper—A Magdalen at Grimsby—Terrible -Riots in Staffordshire—“Honest Munchin”—Cornwall—C. Wesley at St. -Ives—A Trine Conference proposed—Wesley Pastoralizing—Two more -London Chapels taken—Methodist Stewards—Methodist Income—Letter -from Wesley to his Sister Emily—Persecutions—Wesley to a northern -Pamphleteer—Rev. John Andrews, M.A.—“A fine Picture of Enthusiasm”—“The -Methodist Unmasked”—Rules of the Methodist Societies—“Thoughts on -Marriage”—“Instructions for Children”—“Earnest Appeal” 401-436 - - -1744. - -Whitefield’s Labours—Threatened French Invasion—Methodist -Loyalty—Troubles—First Methodist Conference—Wesley’s Last -Sermon before the Oxford University—Dr. Kennicott on Wesley—Cornish -Persecution—Bishop Gibson attacks the Methodists—The -Rev. Thomas Church’s “Expostulatory Letter”—Foul Foamings -of a “Gentleman of Pembroke College”—Bishop of Lichfield’s -“Charge against Enthusiasm”—Presentment at Brecon Assizes—A -Three Months’ Journey—Scene in Laneast Church—Strange and -stirring Incidents—Wesley’s Lay Preachers—Christian Perfection—Rules -of Band Societies—Wesley’s Publications in 1744—Wesley -on Revivals of Religion 437-469 - - -1745. - -Persecution in Cornwall—Persecution in other places—Rev. John Maud, -M.A.—The _Craftsman_—Rev. Dr. Stebbing—Dr. Zachary Grey again—The -Moravians publicly disown Wesley—Rev. Thomas Church, A.M.—Wesley on -the Moravians—William Cudworth—A Rough Journey—Wesley’s Manifesto -defining his relationship to Church and State—A Popish Priest becomes -Wesley’s Guest—Methodism in Osmotherley—A Cornish Termagant—Terrible -National Excitement—Panic at Newcastle—Wesley’s Letter to the -Mayor of Newcastle—Troops on Newcastle Moor—Wesley preaching to -Soldiers—Wesley’s High Churchism—Conference of 1745—Wesley’s -Publications in 1745—Wesley on the Sacrament, the Sabbath, Swearing, -Drunkenness, etc.—Wesley unawares becomes Rich 470-505 - - -1746. - -Whitefield ranging in American Woods—C. Wesley jubilant in -Labour and Danger—John Nelson at Nottingham—Lord King makes -Wesley a Dissenter—Wesley attends the Conference of the -Calvinistic Methodists—Vincent Perronet—A Ten Days’ Ride—Wesley -accused of Falsehood—Methodist Preachers—Books to be read by -them—Antinomianism—Settlement of Methodist Chapels—Wesley forms -a “Tea”-total Society—Twelve young men in Wales—Wesley opens a -Dispensary—Conference of 1746—An Autobiographical Hymn—Wesley’s -Publications in 1746 506-534 - - -1747. - -Letter from Whitefield to Wesley on Union—Howel Harris—Joseph -Williams—Thomas Adams—James Relly—Herbert Jenkins—John -Edwards—Persecution at Devizes—Wesley going North—Grace Murray—Jeannie -Keith—Methodism’s first “Theological Institution”—Wesley coming -South—William Darney’s Societies—Methodism begun in Manchester—John -and Alice Crosse—Methodism at Northwich—Rev. R. T. Bateman—Wesley’s -“Poor House”—Wesley’s Foundery School—Wesley’s Lending Society—Wesley’s -huge Income—Conference of 1747—Wesley in Cornwall—Methodism begun -in Ireland—Swaddlers—Poor Lodgings—Irish Hymn-Book—Westley Hall’s -Infamy—Wesley’s Publications in 1747 535-564 - - - - -INTRODUCTION. - -_METHODISM: ITS GREATNESS._ - - -IS it not a truth that Methodism is the greatest fact in the history of -the church of Christ? Methodism has now existed one hundred and thirty -years. Is there any other system that has spread itself so widely in an -equal period? We doubt it. - -In the first two centuries of the Christian era, during a great part -of which men were blessed with plenary inspiration, and miracles were -wrought, the Christian religion sprung up in Judæa, Samaria, and -Galilee. Churches were raised at Antioch, in the beautiful isle of -Cyprus, in the neighbouring provinces of Pamphylia, and Pisidia, and -Lycaonia, and Galatia, and Phrygia, and, in fact, throughout Asia Minor -in general. Berea, Philippi, Thessalonica, Athens, Corinth, and other -cities in Greece, were visited with the light of truth. Christianity -then spread through a large portion of other parts of the Roman empire, -and reached as far as even Lyons in France. - -This was marvellous success; but, as it respects geographical extent, -the spread of Methodism is more marvellous. The Roman empire embraced -the whole of the places above mentioned. It extended three thousand -miles in length and two thousand miles in breadth, and comprised the -most fertile and best cultivated part of the known world. Its limits -were the Atlantic on the west; the Rhine and Danube on the north; -the Euphrates on the east; and the deserts of Arabia and Africa on -the south. This was a vast area; but, compared with that over which -Methodism has spread itself during the last hundred and thirty years, -it is insignificantly small. If Methodism does not exist in Palestine, -Asia Minor, Arabia, Greece, or Egypt, it exists in Britain, France, -Germany, Switzerland, Italy, Spain, Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and -Africa: and, passing to other regions which the Romans never trod, -it has long since entered India and Ceylon; it has already won its -triumphs in the flowery land of the Chinese; it has a vast multitude of -adherents in Australia, and the islands of the Pacific Ocean; in the -West Indies its converts are numbered by tens of thousands; while in -America it has diffused its blessings from the most remote settlements -of Canada in the north to the Gulf of Mexico in the south, and from -Nova Scotia in the east to California in the west. - - “See how great a flame aspires, - Kindled by a spark of grace; - Jesu’s love the nations fires, - Sets the kingdoms on a blaze.” - -Take another epoch of the church’s history—the Reformation, begun by -Luther, in the year 1517. This immense revival of truth and godliness, -in the midst of a corrupted church, established itself in many parts -of the German empire, where it continues to the present day. It was -propagated in Sweden by one of Luther’s disciples, Olaus Petri. In -Denmark, it was spread by Martin Reinard and Carlostadt. In France, -it found a patroness in Margaret, Queen of Navarre. In Switzerland, -John Calvin became famous as one of its great apostles. It made -considerable progress in Spain, Hungary, Bohemia, and Poland. In the -Netherlands, upwards of a hundred thousand persons were cruelly put to -death because of their embracing it. In all the provinces of Italy, -but more especially in the territories of Venice, Tuscany, and Naples, -great numbers of people, of all ranks, were led by it to express an -aversion to the Papal yoke. In Spain, not a few embraced it, and even -Charles V. himself is presumed to have died a Protestant. In England, -Henry VIII. unintentionally helped it forward by usurping the chair of -church supremacy, hitherto occupied by his holiness the Pope; while -his only son, King Edward VI., was its brightest ornament, and, in -some respects, its most effectual support. In Ireland, George Brown, -Archbishop of Dublin, pulled down images, destroyed relics, and purged -the churches within his diocese from superstitious rites. While in -Scotland, John Knox, a disciple of Calvin, launched his thunders -against the Vatican, until he shook it to its base; and, at last, -Queen Elizabeth, by an army, put an end to Popery in the whole of the -Caledonian kingdom. - -This was a glorious and wide-spread work, the blessed results of which -will be felt to the latest generations. But compare it with Methodism, -and say which, in the same number of years, made the greater progress, -and established itself in the widest extent of country. It is no -disparagement to the Protestant Reformation to affirm that, in this -respect, Methodism is immensely its superior. - -Look at this religious system as it now exists. The “Methodist,” or -parent “Conference,” employs in Great Britain and Ireland 1782 regular -ministers. Besides these, there were, in 1864, in England only, 11,804 -lay preachers, preaching 8754 sermons every sabbath-day. In the same -year, the number of preaching places in England only, was 6718, and -the number of sermons preached weekly, by ministers and lay preachers -combined, was 13,852.[1] To these must be added the lay preachers, -preaching places, etc., in Wales, Scotland, Ireland, Shetland, and the -Channel Islands. The number of church members in Great Britain and -Ireland is 365,285, with 21,223 on trial; and, calculating that the -hearers are three times as numerous as the church members, there are -considerably more than a million persons in the United Kingdom who are -attendants upon the religious services of the _parent_ Conference of -“the people called Methodists.” Some idea of their chapel and school -property may be formed from the fact that, during the last seven years, -there has been expended, in Great Britain only, in new erections and -in reducing debts on existing buildings, £1,672,541; and, towards -that amount of expenditure, there has been actually raised and paid -(exclusive of all Connexional collections, loans, and grants) the sum -of £1,284,498. During the ten years, from 1859 to 1868 inclusive, there -was raised for the support of the foreign missions of the Connexion -£1,408,235; and, if to this there be added the amount of the Jubilee -Fund, we find more than a million and a half sterling contributed -during the decade for the sustenance and extension of the Methodist -work in foreign lands. The missions now referred to are carried on -in Ireland, France, Switzerland, Germany, Italy, Gibraltar, India, -Ceylon, China, South and West Africa, the West Indies, Canada, Eastern -British America, Australia, and Polynesia. In these distant places, -the committee having the management of the missions employ 3798 paid -agents, including 994 who are regularly ordained, and are wholly -engaged in the work of the Christian ministry. Besides these, there are -about 20,000 agents of the Society (as lay preachers, etc.), who are -rendering important service gratuitously; while the number of church -members is 154,187, and the number of attendants upon the religious -services more than half a million. Space prevents a reference to the -other institutions and funds of British Methodism, except to add that, -besides 174,721 children in the mission schools, the parent Connexion -has in Great Britain 698 day-schools, efficiently conducted by 1532 -certificated, assistant, and pupil teachers, and containing 119,070 -scholars; also 5328 Sunday-schools, containing 601,801 scholars, taught -by 103,441 persons who render their services gratuitously; and that the -total number of publications printed and issued by the English Book -Committee only, during the year ending June 1866, was four millions -one hundred and twenty-two thousand eight hundred, of which nearly two -millions were periodicals, and more than a quarter of a million were -hymn-books. - -These statistics are significant of great facts. At a moderate -computation, there are at least two millions of persons regularly -worshipping in the chapels, schools, etc., of the original body of “the -people called Methodists.” - -Leaving what is sometimes called the “Old Connexion,” we proceed to -glance at the _branches_ of the Methodist family. - -_The Welsh Calvinistic Methodists._—The societies of this section of -Methodists were founded by Howel Harris, an early friend and companion -of Wesley and Whitefield, and principally exist in Wales. At the census -of 1851, they had 828 chapels, capable of accommodating about 212,000 -persons, and which had cost nearly a million sterling. In 1853 they -had 207 ministers, 234 lay preachers, and 58,577 church members. _The -Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion._—In 1748 Whitefield became the -chaplain of the Countess of Huntingdon, who, by his advice, assumed -a kind of leadership over his followers, erected chapels, engaged -ministers or laymen to officiate in them, and afterwards founded -a college at Trevecca, in Wales, for the education of Calvinistic -preachers. At her death, the college was transferred to Cheshunt, and -there it still exists. Although the name “Connexion” continues to be -used, the Congregational polity is practically adopted; and, of late -years, several of the congregations have become, in name as well as -virtually, Congregational churches. The number of chapels, mentioned in -the census of 1851, as belonging to this Connexion, was 109, containing -accommodation for 38,727 persons, and the attendance on the census -Sunday was 19,159.[2] - -_The Methodist New Connexion_ was formed in the year 1797; the -principal, if not only difference, between it and the parent body, -being the different degrees of power allowed in each communion to the -laity. At the Conference of 1869, the New Connexion had, at home and -abroad, 260 ministers, and 35,706 church members. - -_The Band Room Methodists_ had their origin in Manchester, in 1806. -Their chief leaders were John and E. Broadhurst, Holland Hoole, -Nathaniel Williamson, and Thomas Painter. Of the earnestness of these -godly men there can be no question; but, as in the case of many who -have been called revivalists, their zeal was often boisterous and -irregular, and sometimes obstinate. Their meetings were chiefly held in -what was known as the Band Room, in North Street. Their chief faults -were admitting persons to band meetings without showing their society -tickets; having penitent benches and noisy prayer-meetings; holding -cottage services; and, lastly and especially, acting independently -of leaders’ meetings. The Band Room Methodists still exist; but are -now called, “The United Free Gospel Churches.” They hold annual -conferences; have fifty-nine churches, chiefly in Lancashire and -Yorkshire; and differ from the parent Connexion, not in doctrines, but -in having no paid ministers. - -_The Primitive Methodists_ sprang up in Staffordshire in 1810. The -doctrines they teach are precisely similar to those of the original -Connexion. At the conference of 1868 they had, at home and abroad, 943 -ministers, about 14,000 lay preachers, nearly 10,000 classleaders, -3360 connexional chapels, 2963 rented chapels and rooms for religious -worship, 3282 Sunday-schools, above 40,000 Sunday-school teachers, -258,857 Sunday-school scholars, and 161,229 church members. - -_The Bible Christians_, sometimes called “Bryanites,” were founded -by William O’Bryan, a Wesleyan local preacher, in Cornwall, in 1815. -They principally exist in Cornwall and the West of England, but also -have mission stations in the Channel Islands, the United States, -Canada, Prince Edward’s Island, and Australia. Like the parent -Connexion they have class-meetings, circuits, district-meetings, and -a Conference. Their statistics, for 1869, are about 700 chapels and -300 other preaching places, 254 ministers, 1759 lay preachers, 44,221 -Sunday-school scholars, 8913 Sunday-school teachers, and 26,241 full -and accredited church members. - -_The Primitive Methodists in Ireland_ seceded from the parent body in -1817. At that time the Irish Conference, at the urgent request of many -of the Irish societies, agreed that the ministers in full connection -should administer the sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper, in -circuits making proper application to that effect. This occasioned -great commotion. A number of leaders and local preachers assembled at -Clones, in the beginning of 1817, and formed themselves into a separate -Connexion, the only difference between them and their quondam friends -being, that their ministers should not administer baptism and the -Lord’s supper, but should leave their societies at perfect liberty to -partake of those sacraments in the churches to which they respectively -belonged. In 1816 there were in Ireland 28,542 members of society; -but in two years, and in consequence of this senseless schism, that -number was reduced to 19,052. The new body took the name of Primitive -Methodists, and still continue a separated people on the one principle -already mentioned. In 1861, they had in Ireland, 61 circuits, 85 -ministers, and 14,247 members of society. - -_The United Methodist Free Churches_ are an amalgamation of three -different secessions from the original Connexion, 1. The Protestant -Methodists, who were formed into a distinct body in 1828, when upwards -of 1000 members separated from the Leeds societies, because of the -proceedings of the special district-meeting convened to settle the -disputes arising out of the introduction of an organ into Brunswick -Chapel. 2. The Wesleyan Methodist Association, which sprung out of -the controversy in 1834, concerning the then proposed Theological -Institution. 3. The Reformers, who were expelled, or who seceded, -during the terrible agitation which occurred in 1849. These amalgamated -bodies have, in 1869, ministers, 312; lay preachers, 3445; chapels, -1228; Sunday-scholars, 152,315; church members, 68,062. - -_The Wesleyan Reform Union_ consists of those Reformers of 1849 who -refused to amalgamate with the United Methodist Free Churches. In -1868, the Union had 20 ministers, 608 lay preachers, 276 chapels and -preaching places, 580 classleaders, 18,475 Sunday-scholars, and 9393 -church members. - -The above comprise all the Methodist bodies now existing in the United -Kingdom. Some others have occasionally sprung up, such as the _Tent -Methodists_, the _Independent Methodists_, etc.; but they are now -either extinct or incorporated with other churches. Not reckoning the -Band Room Methodists, nor the Countess of Huntingdon’s Connexion, and -making a moderate _estimate_ of the Sunday-school scholars belonging -to the Welsh Calvinistic Methodists and to the Primitive Methodists in -Ireland, we arrive at the following results. - -┌─────────────────────────┬────────────┬─────────────┬─────────────────┐ -│ │ │ Number of │ Number of │ -│ │ Number of │ church │ Sunday-school │ -│ Denomination. │ ministers. │ members. │ scholars. │ -├─────────────────────────┼────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────────┤ -│ Wesleyan Methodists │ 3157 │ 557,995 │ 776,522 │ -│ Welsh Calvinistic ditto │ 207 │ 58,577 │ 80,000 about│ -│ New Connexion ditto │ 260 │ 35,706 │ 50,000 about│ -│ Primitive ditto │ 943 │ 161,229 │ 258,857 │ -│ Ditto (Ireland) ditto │ 85 │ 14,247 │ 20,000 about│ -│ Bible Christians │ 254 │ 26,241 │ 44,221 │ -│ United Methodist Free │ │ │ │ -│ Churches │ 312 │ 68,062 │ 152,315 │ -│ Wesleyan Reform Union │ 20 │ 9,393 │ 18,475 │ -│ ├────────────┼─────────────┼─────────────────┤ -│ Totals │ 5238 │ 931,450 │ 1,400,390 │ -└─────────────────────────┴────────────┴─────────────┴─────────────────┘ - - -Marvellous, however, as the success of Methodism has been in the -United Kingdom, it has been far more marvellous in the United States. -There it holds and preaches precisely the same doctrines as are held -and preached in England. There, as here, it is intensely loyal; and, -during the late terrific war, sent a hundred thousand white, and -seventy-five thousand, black troops into the field of battle under the -loyal flag. It is dotting the whole of the vast American continent with -its church edifices, and has perhaps the most powerful religious press -of which the world can boast. Let the reader ponder the significance -of the following statistics for the year 1869, taken from the _New -York Christian Advocate_, and referring exclusively to _the Methodist -Episcopal Church North_. - - Bishops 10 - Travelling preachers 8,830 - Local preachers 10,340 - Total ministerial force 19,179 - Lay members in full connection 1,114,712 - Lay members on probation 184,226 - Total lay membership 1,298,938 - Number of church edifices 12,048 - Number of parsonages 3,963 - Value of church edifices $47,253,067 - Value of parsonages $6,862,230 - Total value of churches and parsonages $54,115,297 - Number of Sunday-schools 16,393 - Number of officers and teachers 184,596 - Number of scholars 1,179,984 - -In connection with its schools, there are libraries containing more -than two millions and a half of books. Its Book Concern has about -thirty cylinder power-presses in constant operation; and about 2000 -different books on its catalogue, besides tracts, etc., and 14 -periodicals, with an aggregate circulation of more than twelve millions -every year. It also has a great Missionary Society, with prosperous -missions in China, India, Africa, Bulgaria, Germany, Switzerland, -Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and other places. - -The returns for _the Methodist Episcopal Church South_, in 1869, are -2581 ministers, 3951 lay preachers, and 535,040 church members. - -_The Methodist Episcopal Church_ in Canada has 216 ministers, 224 lay -preachers, and 20,000 members. - -Besides the above, there are other Transatlantic Methodists, as:—1. -The African Methodist Episcopal Church, which, in 1867, had 14 -annual Conferences, 673 chapels, 509 travelling preachers, 727 local -preachers, 130,950 members, 33,134 Sunday-school scholars, and 40,716 -volumes in Sunday-school libraries. 2. The Methodist Protestant Church, -with about 90,000 members. 3. The American Wesleyan Methodists, with -above 20,000 members. 4. The German Methodists, with 46,000 members. -5. Three or four smaller sects, which need no further notice. The -aggregate membership of these several Methodistic bodies may be fairly -estimated at about 300,000, and their ministers and preachers at 5000. - -These are startling figures; put together in an abbreviated form, they -stand as follows:— - - -┌───────────────────────┬────────────────┬────────────┬───────────────┐ -│ │ Ministers │ │ │ -│ │ exclusive of │ Church │ Sunday-school │ -│ │local preachers.│ members. │ scholars. │ -├───────────────────────┼────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────┤ -│ Great Britain, │ │ │ │ -│ including Missions │ 5238 │ 931,450 │ 1,400,390 │ -│ American Methodist │ │ │ │ -│ Episcopal Church │ │ │ │ -│ North │ 8840 │ 1,114,712 │ 1,179,984 │ -│ Ditto South │ 2581 │ 535,040 │ say 500,000 │ -│ Ditto Canada │ 216 │ 20,000 │ say 20,000 │ -│ Other American │ │ │ │ -│ Methodists │ 5000 │ 300,000 │ say 300,000 │ -│ ├────────────────┼────────────┼───────────────┤ -│ Totals │ 21,875 │ 2,901,202 │ 3,400,374 │ -└───────────────────────┴────────────────┴────────────┴───────────────┘ - - -Some of these figures are _estimated_ numbers, and are so given; the -others are statistics officially reported. Put the matter in another -form. Is it too much to calculate Methodist _hearers only_ at the rate -of twice the number of Methodist church members? If not, the estimated -result is as follows: - - Church members throughout the world 2,901,202 - Sunday scholars 3,400,373 - Hearers only 5,802,404 - ───────── - Total 12,103,979 - -We thus make a total of more than twelve millions of persons receiving -Methodist instruction, and, from week to week, meeting together in -Methodist buildings for the purpose of worshipping Almighty God. The -statement is startling, but the statistics given entitle it to the -fullest consideration. - -But rightly to estimate the results of Methodism during the last -hundred and thirty years, there are other facts to be remembered. - -Who will deny, for instance, that Methodism has exercised a potent and -beneficial influence upon other churches: Episcopal, Presbyterian, -Independent, and Baptist churches have all been largely indebted -to Methodism, either directly or indirectly, for many of the best -ministers and agents they have ever had. It is a remarkable fact -that, during Wesley’s lifetime, of the 690 men who acted under him -as itinerant preachers, 249 relinquished the itinerant ministry. -These 249 _retirers_ included not a few of the most intelligent, -energetic, pious, and useful preachers that Wesley had. Some left him -on the ground of health; others began business, because as itinerant -preachers they were unable to support their wives and families; but a -large proportion became ordained ministers in other churches. In some -instances, the labours of these men, and their brother Methodists, -led to marvellous results. To give but one example,—David Taylor, -originally a servant of Lady Huntingdon, was one of Wesley’s first -preachers, but afterwards left the work. Taylor, however, was the -means of converting Samuel Deacon, an agricultural labourer; and the -two combined were the instruments, in the hands of God, of raising up -a number of churches in Yorkshire and the midland counties, which, -in 1770, were organised into the New Connexion of General Baptists; -and that Connexion, seventy years afterwards, in 1840, comprised 113 -churches, having 11,358 members, a foreign missionary society, and two -theological academies.[3] - -_Sunday-schools_ are now an important appendage of every church, and -have been a benefit to millions of immortal souls; but it deserves to -be mentioned that Hannah Ball, a young Methodist lady, had a Methodist -Sunday-school at High Wycombe fourteen years before Robert Raikes -began his at Gloucester; and that Sophia Cooke, another Methodist, -who afterwards became the wife of Samuel Bradburn, was the first who -suggested to Raikes the Sunday-school idea, and actually marched with -him, at the head of his troop of ragged urchins, the first Sunday they -were taken to the parish church. - -The first _British Bible Society_ that existed, “The Naval and -Military,” was projected by George Cussons, and organised by a small -number of his Methodist companions. The _London Missionary Society_ -originated in an appeal from Melville Horne, who, for some years, was -one of Wesley’s itinerant preachers, and then became the successor -of Fletcher as vicar of Madeley. The _Church Missionary Society_ was -started by John Venn, the son of Henry Venn the Methodist clergyman. -The first _Tract Society_ was formed by John Wesley and Thomas Coke, -in 1782, seventeen years before the organisation of the present great -Religious Tract Society in Paternoster Row—a society, by the way, -which was instituted chiefly by Rowland Hill, and two or three other -Calvinistic Methodists. It is believed that the first _Dispensary_ that -the world ever had was founded by Wesley himself in connection with the -old Foundery, in Moorfields. The _Strangers’ Friend Society_, paying, -every year, from forty to fifty thousand visits to the sick poor of -London, and relieving them as far as possible, is an institution to -which Methodism gave birth in 1785. - -_Building churches_ is one of the great features of the age. -Unfortunately, England has had no religious worship census since -1851; but even then, according to the tables of Horace Mann, Esq., -Methodism had, in England and Wales only, 11,835 places of worship, -with 2,231,017 sittings. In America, according to the census of 1860, -Methodism nine years ago provided church accommodation for 6,259,799, -which was two and a quarter millions more than was provided by any -other church whatever. - -The _public press_ is one of the most powerful institutions of the -day. England has four Methodist newspapers; Ireland, one; France, -one; Germany, one; India, one; China, one; Australia, two; Canada and -British America, five; and the United States about fifty. - -Let the reader think of twelve millions of people at present enjoying -the benefits of Methodist instruction; let him think of Methodism’s -21,875 ordained ministers, and of its tens of thousands of lay -preachers; let him think of the immense amount of its church property, -and of the well-nigh countless number of its church publications; -let him think of millions of young people in its schools, and of its -missionary agents almost all the wide world over; let him think of its -incalculable influence upon other churches, and of the unsectarian -institutions to which it has given rise; and then let him say whether -the bold suggestion already made is not strictly true, viz., that -“_Methodism is the greatest fact in the history of the church of -Christ_.” - -Here we have an immensely ramified church organisation, everywhere -preaching the same momentous doctrines, and aiming at the same great -purpose. A day never passes without numbers of its converts being -admitted into heaven; and without many a poor wayward wanderer being -brought by it into the fold of Christ on earth. Thousands of its -temples are daily open; and “prayer,” by its churches, in one quarter -of the globe or in another, is “made continually.” It has belted the -entire planet with its myriad agents, who—in English, French, Dutch, -German, and Italian; in the various dialects and tongues of Africa, -India, and China; and in the newly formed languages of the Feegee and -the Friendly Islands—are calling to the nations, “Ho, every one that -thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, -buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without -price.” - -In England, it has had much to do with the almost incredible changes -that have taken place in English society during the last hundred -years. In Ireland, with Popery so rampant, a people so poor, and -emigration so vast, it has some five or six hundred chapels, besides -having many hundreds of small congregations in cottages, court-houses, -market-places, and village-greens. In Australia, it has more church -sittings than any other Christian community, the Church of England not -excepted; and has, at least, one twelfth of the colonists attending its -places of religious worship. In America, it has become the dominant -popular faith of the country, with its standard planted in every -city, town, and almost every village of the land, and is building -chapels at the rate of nearly two every day.[4] In the early period -of its history, it had its fair share of persecution, and was, to an -extent sufficient one would think to satisfy its founders, pelted and -hooted by vulgar mobs, mistreated by magistrates and courts, reviled -by religionists, and assailed by swarms of pamphleteers; it has had -no national endowments, and has had no favour from parliamentary -legislation; it has had no assistance from the State, and has been -looked upon with supercilious contempt by what, in England, is called -“the Church;” and yet despite all this, there is hardly a nation where -its influence has not been felt; and instead of finding it maimed and -lame and injured by fighting its past battles and winning its past -victories; or weak and palsied and inactive on account of approaching -age, it has never been more vigorous, by the blessing of God, than it -is at present; and is putting into motion an amount of machinery the -ultimate results of which no man’s mind can grasp. - -Is all this concerning Methodism strictly true? We believe it is, and -hence we believe that the life of Methodism’s founder is a subject well -worth knowing. Who was he? What was he? Who were his companions? When -and where and how did he pass his time? We will try to show. - - - - - THE LIFE AND TIMES - OF - THE REV. JOHN WESLEY, M.A. - - - - - CHAPTER I. - - _WESLEY AT HOME, AT SCHOOL, AND AT COLLEGE._ - - 1703-1725. - - -[Sidenote: 1703] - -JOHN WESLEY was born at Epworth, in the county of Lincoln, on the 17th -of June, 1703,[5] and was the son of Samuel and Susannah Wesley, the -former being the learned, laborious, and godly rector of the Epworth -parish from about the year 1696 to his death in 1735. The Wesley family -consisted of nineteen children, but, of these, nine died in infancy. -The name of one of the dead infants was John, and the name of another -Benjamin; and when the subject of this biography was born, his mother -united the two names by calling him John Benjamin. Second names are of -little use, and are often troublesome, and probably for this reason -Wesley’s second name was one which he never used.[6] - -When Wesley was born, Queen Anne was commencing the twelve years of -English sovereignty which some have regarded as the Augustan age of -English learning. War was raging on the continent, and, at home, an -embittered fight was being fought between fiery Churchmen and fierce -Dissenters. Anne warmly favoured the high church party; and to augment -Church livings, gave out of the royal income “the first-fruits and the -tenths,” amounting to £16,000 a year. While Wesley was yet an infant, -the Whigs raised the cry of “the Church in danger,” but Parliament -passed a resolution that the cry was unfounded, and that those who gave -it birth were enemies to the queen, the Church, and the kingdom. Five -years after this, Dr. Sacheverell preached his firebrand sermon in St. -Paul’s Cathedral, and threw the nation into a state of unparalleled -excitement, the ultimate result of which was, the Tories became more -powerful than ever; and Queen Anne, in meeting her Parliament in 1710, -no longer condescended to use the word _toleration_ in reference to -Dissenters, but spoke of _indulgence_ to be allowed “to scrupulous -consciences,” while, after a long continued struggle, the high church -party succeeded in passing the obnoxious bill against occasional -conformity. All this occurred during Wesley’s childhood. - -At the time of Wesley’s birth, his brother Samuel was a sprightly -boy, thirteen years of age, and a few months afterwards was sent to -Westminster School, where he became distinguished for his scholarship -and genius, and soon obtained a host of literary friends, from Lord -Oxford, the Mecænas of his age, down to Addison, Atterbury, Pope, and -Prior. Emilia Wesley, so gifted and so beautiful, was a year younger -than Samuel, and was developing her exquisite sensibility and taste -under the mental and moral cultivation of her mother. The ill-fated -Susannah was a frolicsome child, eight years old. Mary, already -deformed by an early sickness and the carelessness of her nurse, had -arrived at the age of seven, and was fast becoming the favourite of -her father’s family. The almost unequalled Mehetabel was six, and was -so advanced in learning that two years afterwards she read the New -Testament in Greek. Anne was yet an infant; and Martha, Charles, and -Keziah were still unborn. - -In the year of Wesley’s nativity, his father was writing his “History -of the Old and New Testament, in Verse;” and also had the pleasure -or mortification (we hardly know which) of having his pamphlet on -Dissenting academies surreptitiously published by a man to whom it had -long before been sent as a private letter. Before Wesley was three -years old his father was ruthlessly thrust into gaol for debt; and -before he was six the parsonage was destroyed by fire. When the fire -occurred, his brother Charles was an infant not two months old, and he, -with John, three of their sisters, and their nurse, were all in the -same room, and fast asleep. Being aroused, the nurse seized Charles, -and bid the others follow. The three sisters did as they were bidden, -but John was left sleeping. The venerable rector counted heads, and -found John was wanting. At the same instant, a cry was heard. The -frantic father tried to ascend the burning stairs, but found it to be -impossible. He then dropped upon his knees in the blazing hall, and -despairing of the rescue of his child, commended him to God. Meanwhile -John had mounted a chest and was standing at the bedroom window. Quick -as thought, one man placed himself against the wall, and another stood -upon his shoulders, and just a moment before the roof fell in with a -fearful crash the child was rescued through the window, and safely -“plucked as a brand from the burning” house. - -Our information respecting Wesley’s childhood is extremely limited. If -we strip off all the luxuriant verbiage in which imaginative writers -have indulged, the naked facts are the following. - -Wesley, like all the other members of his father’s family, was indebted -for his elementary education to his mother. The principles upon which -she acted were unique. When the child was one year old, he was taught -to fear the rod, and, if he cried at all, to cry in softened tones. -Wesley long afterwards, in his sermon on the education of children, -enforces his mother’s practice, urging parents never to give a child -a thing for which it cries, on the ground that to do so would be a -recompence for crying, and he would certainly cry again. - -Another of Mrs. Wesley’s principles of action was to limit her children -to three meals a day. Eating and drinking between meals was strictly -prohibited. All the children were washed and put to bed by eight -o’clock, and, on no account, was a servant to sit by a child till it -fell asleep. - -The whole of the Wesley children were taught the Lord’s Prayer as -soon as they could speak, and repeated it every morning and every -night. Rudeness was never seen amongst them; and on no account were -they allowed to call each other by their proper names without the -addition of brother or sister, as the case might be. Six hours a day -were spent at school; and loud talking, playing, and running into the -yard, garden, or street, without permission, was rigorously forbidden. -None of them, except Kezzy, was taught to read till five years old, -and then only a single day was allowed wherein to learn the letters of -the alphabet, great and small—a task which all of them accomplished -except Mary and Anne, who were a day and a half before they knew them -perfectly. Psalms were sung every morning when school was opened, and -also every night when the duties of the day were ended. In addition to -all this, at the commencement and close of every day, each of the elder -children took one of the younger and read the Psalms appointed for the -day and a chapter in the Bible, after which they severally went to -their private devotions. - -Mrs. Wesley, assisted by her husband, seems to have been the sole -instructor of her daughters, and also of her sons, until the latter -were sent to school in London; and never was there a family of children -who did their teacher greater credit. - -From early childhood, John was remarkable for his sober and studious -disposition, and seemed to feel himself answerable to his reason and -his conscience for everything he did. He would do nothing without first -reflecting on its fitness and propriety. If asked, out of the common -way of meals, to have, for instance, a piece of bread or fruit, he -would answer with the coolest unconcern, “I thank you; I will think -of it.” To argue about a thing seemed instinctive, and was carried to -such a length that on one occasion his father almost chid him, saying, -“Child, you think to carry everything by dint of argument; but you -will find how little is ever done in the world by close reasoning.” -“I profess, sweetheart,” said the rector in a pet to Mrs. Wesley, “I -profess, sweetheart, I think our Jack would not attend to the most -pressing necessities of nature, unless he could give a reason for -it.”[7] - -With all this meditative reasoning, there was mixed devotion. It is a -remarkable fact, scarce paralleled, that such was his consistency of -conduct, that his father admitted him to the communion table when he -was only eight years old;[8] and he himself informs us that, until he -was about the age of ten, he had not sinned away that “washing of the -Holy Ghost,” which he received in baptism.[9] - -Between the age of eight and nine the small-pox attacked him; but he -bore the terrible affliction with manly and Christian fortitude. At the -time, his father was in London, and his mother writing him remarks: -“Jack has borne his disease bravely, like a man, and indeed like a -Christian, without complaint.”[10] - -This is all that is known respecting Wesley during his childhood years -at Epworth. Imagination might conjure up his early thinkings, passions, -and attachments, the localities he loved to visit, and the sports, fun, -and frolic in which he occasionally indulged; but history, on such -subjects, is entirely silent; and for want of its honest statements we -look at him in the grave and sober aspect in which facts present him. - -While yet a child, only ten and a half years old, Wesley passed -from under the tutelage of his accomplished mother, and became a -pupil at the Charterhouse, London. For his son’s admission into this -distinguished school, the Epworth rector was indebted to the friendly -services of the Duke of Buckingham, at that time the Lord Chamberlain -of the royal household.[11] - -The privilege was great, and, to the day of his death, John Wesley -loved the place of his early education, and was accustomed to walk -through its courts and grounds once every year. He was not without -hardships; but he bore them bravely. Among other acts of cruelty, the -elder boys were accustomed, in addition to their own share of animal -food, to take by force that which was apportioned to the younger -scholars; and, in consequence of this, for a considerable part of the -five years that young Wesley spent at the Charterhouse, the only solid -food he got was bread. There was one thing, however, which contributed -to his general flow of health,—namely, his invariably carrying out a -strict command which his father gave him, to run round the Charterhouse -garden three times every morning. It is good for a man “to bear the -yoke in his youth,” and Wesley learned, as a boy, to suffer wrongfully -with a cheerful fortitude, and to submit to the cruel exactions of his -elder tyrants without acquiring either the cringing of a slave or a -despot’s imperious temper. - -Wesley entered the school as the poor child of an impoverished parish -priest, and had to endure wrongs and insults neither few nor small; -but, though he was only sixteen years of age when he left, he had, by -his energy of character, his unconquerable patience, his assiduity, and -his progress in learning, acquired a high position among his fellows. -An old Methodist pamphlet[12] relates an anecdote, to the effect that -the Rev. A. Tooke,[13] master of the school, was struck with the fact -that, though Wesley was remarkably advanced in his studies, yet he -constantly associated with the inferior classes, and was accustomed -to harangue a number of the smaller boys surrounding him. On one -occasion Tooke broke in upon him in the midst of an oration, and -interrupted him, by desiring him to follow him into a private room. -Wesley reluctantly obeyed, and the master, addressing him, asked how -it was that he was so often found among the boys of the lower forms, -and sought not the company of the bigger boys, who were his equals? To -which the young orator replied, “Better to rule in hell than to serve -in heaven.” - -This story was given by “an old member of society,” on what he calls -“the most authentic authority,” for the purpose of showing that Wesley, -even as a boy, was ambitious. Be it so. What then? Is ambition always, -and under all circumstances, a thing to be denounced? Ambition is -widely different from vanity, a paltry passion of petty minds; neither -is it necessarily accompanied with the use of improper means to attain -its object. Ambition is common to the human species. There are but few -without it, and who are not desirous of distinguishing themselves in -the circle in which they live. You see the passion in the aristocratic -noble toiling after a distinction which he desires to win; and you -equally see it in the poorest mechanic, who strives to surround himself -with poor admirers, and who delights in the superiority which he -enjoys over those who are, in some respects, beneath him. Besides, as -a rule, a man’s ambition is always in correspondence with his other -tastes, and faculties, and powers. Dr. Johnson wisely remarks, that -“Providence seldom sends any into the world with an inclination to -attempt great things, who have not abilities likewise to perform them;” -and Addison, an equally thoughtful student of human nature, observes -that “Men of the greatest abilities are most fired with ambition; and, -on the contrary, mean and narrow minds are the least actuated by it.” -To account for this may be difficult, but none will deny its truth. -Perhaps the difference may be occasioned by a man’s consciousness of -his own capacities making him despair of attaining positions which -others reach; or perhaps, which is more likely still, Providence, in -the very framing of his mind, has freed him from a passion, which would -be useless to the world, and a torment to himself. - -On such grounds, then, we are quite prepared to argue that, even -allowing the above anonymous story to be strictly true, and allowing -also that it proves that Wesley as a boy was animated with ambition, -there is nothing in it which, for a moment, detracts from Wesley’s -honour and honest fame. - -We wish that this were the only thing to be alleged against him during -his Charterhouse career. Unfortunately there is another fact far more -serious; for Wesley, while at this seat of learning, lost the religion -which had marked his character from the days of infancy. He writes -concerning this period of his history: “Outward restraints being -removed, I was much more negligent than before, even of outward duties, -and almost continually guilty of outward sins, which I knew to be such, -though they were not scandalous in the eye of the world. However, I -still read the Scriptures, and said my prayers morning and evening. -And what I now hoped to be saved by was,—1. Not being so bad as other -people. 2. Having still a kindness for religion. And, 3. Reading the -Bible, going to church, and saying my prayers.”[14] - -Terrible is the danger when a child leaves a pious home for a public -school. John Wesley entered the Charterhouse a saint, and left it a -sinner. - -It was during his residence at this celebrated school, that the -mysterious and preternatural voices were heard in his father’s house. -The often told story need not be repeated; but there can be no question -that its influence upon himself was powerful and important. He took -the trouble of obtaining minute particulars from his mother, from his -four sisters, Emily, Mary, Susannah, and Anne, and from Robin Brown. -He likewise transcribed his father’s diary, containing an account of -the disturbances;[15] thereby showing the intense interest he felt -in the affair. In fact, it would seem that, from this period, Wesley -was a firm believer in ghosts and apparitions. In his twentieth year, -we find him writing to his mother, in the gravest manner possible, -concerning what he calls “one of the most unaccountable stories he -had ever heard;”—namely, that of a lad in Ireland, who ever and anon -made an involuntary pilgrimage through the aerial regions, and feasted -with demigods _in nubibus_. In the same letter, Wesley relates an -adventure of his own; for, while walking a few days previously in the -neighbourhood of Oxford, he had observed a forlorn looking house, -which he found was unoccupied by mortals because it was haunted -by ghosts. Wesley tells his mother that he purposes to visit this -forsaken dwelling, and to assure himself whether what he had heard was -true. He further relates that a Mr. Barnesley, and two other of his -fellow-students, had recently seen an apparition in a field adjoining -Oxford, and that it had since been ascertained that Barnesley’s -mother died in Ireland at the very moment when the spectre had been -witnessed.[16] - -Thus, at this early period of his history, Wesley’s mind, wisely or -unwisely, superstitiously or otherwise, was full of the supernatural; -and to the calm judgment of his philosophic mother he submits his -facts for her opinion. Three weeks afterwards she wrote:[17]— - - “DEAR JACKY,—The story of Mr. Barnesley has afforded me many - curious speculations. I do not doubt the fact; but I cannot - understand why these apparitions are permitted. If they were - allowed to speak to us, and we had strength to bear such - converse,—if they had commission to inform us of anything - relating to their invisible world that would be of any use to - us in this,—if they would instruct us how to avoid danger, - or put us in a way of being wiser and better, there would be - sense in it; but to appear for no end that we know of, unless - to frighten people almost out of their wits, seems altogether - unreasonable.” - -This was not a solution of Wesley’s difficulty. It was rather making -mystery more mysterious. The young student was full of anxious inquiry. -Isaac Taylor thinks that the strange Epworth episode so laid open -Wesley’s faculty of belief, that ever after a right of way for the -supernatural was opened through his mind; and, to the end of life, -there was nothing so marvellous that it could not freely pass where -“Old Jeffrey” had passed before it. Taylor adds: “Wesley’s most -prominent infirmity was his wonder-loving credulity; from the beginning -to the end of his course this weakness ruled him.” Other opportunities -will occur of testing the truthfulness of Taylor’s statement; but -here it may be observed, that for young Wesley to have regarded the -noises at Epworth with indifference would have been irreligious and -irrational. A metaphysician, vain of his philosophic powers, like -Isaac Taylor, may “deal with occult folk, such as Jeffrey, huffingly -and disrespectfully;” and may pretend to “catch in the Epworth -ghost a glimpse of an idiotic creature” belonging to some order of -invisible beings “not more intelligent than apes or pigs,” and which, -by some “mischance, was thrown over its boundary, and obtained leave -to disport itself among things palpable, and went to the extent of -its tether in freaks of bootless mischief;” but, in broaching such a -theory, Isaac Taylor, wishing to be witty, makes himself ridiculous. -John Wesley believed the noises to be supernatural; and Southey, as -great an authority as Taylor, defends his belief; and argues that such -occurrences have a tendency to explode the fine-spun theories of men -who deny another state of being, and to bring them to the conclusion -that there are more things in heaven and earth than are dreamt of in -their philosophy. We have little doubt that the Epworth noises deepened -and most powerfully increased Wesley’s convictions of the existence of -an unseen world; and, in this way, exercised an important influence -on the whole of his future life. His notion,[18] that the disturbance -was occasioned by a messenger of Satan, sent to buffet his father for -a rash vow alleged to have been made fifteen years before, has been -shown to be utterly unfounded;[19] but the impressions it produced, or -rather strengthened, respecting invisible realities, were of the utmost -consequence in moulding his character, and in making him one of the -most earnest preachers of the Christian’s creed that ever lived. - -During Wesley’s residence at the Charterhouse, his brother Samuel was -the head usher of Westminster School; and in 1719, Wesley seems, for -a time, to have become his brother’s guest. Charles was now a pupil -under Samuel’s tuition; and the latter, writing to his father, says: -“My brother Jack, I can faithfully assure you, gives you no manner of -discouragement from breeding your third son a scholar. Jack is a brave -boy, learning Hebrew as fast as he can.”[20] - -In the following year, Wesley was elected to Christ Church, Oxford, -one of the noblest colleges in that illustrious seat of learning, and -here he continued until after his ordination in 1725. In reference -to this period, he writes: “I still said my prayers, both in public -and private; and read, with the Scriptures, several other books of -religion, especially comments on the New Testament. Yet I had not -all this while so much as a notion of inward holiness; nay, went -on habitually and, for the most part, very contentedly, in some or -other known sin; though with some intermission and short struggles, -especially before and after the holy communion, which I was obliged to -receive thrice a year.”[21] - -Such was Wesley during the first five years he spent at Oxford. He -maintained the reputation for scholarship which he had acquired -at school; but there was no alteration in his moral and religious -character. He said his prayers and read good books, as perhaps -most Oxford students did; but, like others, he lived in sin, even -habitually, except about thrice a year, when he was compelled to -receive the sacrament. No doubt, like all the Wesley family, he was a -gay and sprightly companion, and full of wit and humour. He began to -amuse himself occasionally with writing verses, a specimen of which is -given by Dr. Whitehead and is reproduced by Joseph Nightingale. The -verses are six in number, and are merely the translation of a Latin -poem respecting a young lady to whom he gives the name of Cloe. As -Juno had a favourite peacock and Venus a favourite dove, so Cloe had a -favourite flea, whose bliss in being allowed to crawl over the young -lady’s person the poet makes it his business to describe. Henry Moore -is angry with Dr. Whitehead for having given the verses publicity; but -certainly without a cause. Had the piece been written by Wesley in -advanced life it might have deserved censure; but being written when he -was scarcely beyond his teens, it is only what a smart young fellow, -full of vivacity, might be expected to produce. - -When Wesley went to Oxford his health was far from being vigorous and -robust. He was frequently troubled with bleeding at the nose. In a -letter to his mother, in 1723, he tells her that lately, while walking -in the country, he had bled so violently that he was almost choked, -nor could he at all abate the hæmorrhage till he stripped himself and -leaped into the river. - -He also had to struggle with financial difficulty, and was not -unfrequently in debt. He sometimes had to borrow; and, more than -once, when requesting that his sisters would write to him, playfully -remarks, that, though he was “so poor, he would be able to spare the -postage for a letter now and then.” His friends were kind to him, and -his tutors were considerate. Soon after his entrance, his tutor, Mr. -Wigan, retired to one of his country livings, and was succeeded by Mr. -Sherman, who kindly told him that he would make his fees as low as -possible.[22] Of course he had the £40 per annum, which belonged to -him as a Charterhouse scholar; but this, with the utmost economy, was -hardly sufficient to meet all the expenses of a young Oxford student. -These financial embarrassments are often referred to in the subsequent -correspondence. - -The following is from an unpublished letter, written by his mother. - - “WROOTE, _August 19, 1724_. - - “DEAR JACK,—I am uneasy because I have not heard from you. I - think you don’t do well to stand upon points, and to write only - letter for letter. Let me hear from you often, and inform me of - the state of your health, and whether you have any reasonable - hopes of being out of debt. I am most concerned for the good, - generous man that lent you ten pounds, and am ashamed to beg a - month or two longer, since he has been so kind as to grant us - so much time already. We were amused with your uncle’s coming - from India; but I suppose these fancies are laid aside. I wish - there had been anything in it, for then perhaps it would have - been in my power to have provided for you. But if all things - fail, I hope God will not forsake us. We have still His good - providence to depend on, which has a thousand expedients to - relieve us beyond our view. - - “Dear Jack, be not discouraged; do your duty; keep close - to your studies, and hope for better days. Perhaps, - notwithstanding all, we shall pick up a few crumbs for you - before the end of the year. - - “Dear Jacky, I beseech Almighty God to bless thee! - - “SUSANNAH WESLEY.” - -The following also, from another unpublished letter by his mother, -refers to the same subject. - - “WROOTE, _September 10, 1724_. - - “DEAR JACKY,—I am nothing glad that Mr.—— has paid himself out - of your exhibition; for though I cannot hope, I do not despair, - of my brother’s coming, or, at least, remembering me where he - is. - - “The small-pox has been very mortal at Epworth most of this - summer. Our family have all had it except me, and I hope God - will preserve me from it. - - “I heartily wish you were in orders, and could come and serve - as one of your father’s curates. Then I should see you often, - and could be more helpful to you than it is possible to be at - this distance.” - -We subjoin an extract from another letter, written shortly after the -above, and for the first time published in the _Wesleyan Times_ of -January 29, 1866. - - - JOHN WESLEY TO HIS MOTHER. - - “OXON, _November 1, 1724_. - - “DEAR MOTHER,—We are most of us now very healthy at Oxford, - which may be in some measure owing to the frosty weather we - have had lately. Fruit is so very cheap that apples may be - had almost for fetching; and other things are both plentiful - and good. We have, indeed, something bad as well as good, for - a great many rogues are about the town, insomuch that it is - exceedingly unsafe to be out late at night. A gentleman of my - acquaintance, standing at the door of a coffee-house about - seven in the evening, had no sooner turned about, but his cap - and wig were snatched off his head, and, though he followed - the thief a great distance, he was unable to recover them. I - am pretty safe from such gentlemen; for unless they carried me - away, carcass and all, they would have but a poor purchase. - - “The chief piece of news with us is concerning the famous Jack - Sheppard’s escape from Newgate, which is indeed as surprising - as most stories I have heard. - - “I suppose you have seen the famous Dr. Cheyne’s ‘Book of - Health and Long Life,’ which is, as he says he expected, very - much cried down by the physicians. He refers almost everything - to temperance and exercise, and supports most things with - physical reasons. He entirely condemns eating anything salt - or high-seasoned, as also pork, fish, and stall-fed cattle; - and recommends for drink two pints of water and one of wine in - twenty-four hours, with eight ounces of animal, and twelve of - vegetable food in the same time. The book is chiefly directed - to studious and sedentary persons. - - “I should have writ before now had I not had an unlucky cut - across my thumb, which almost jointed it, but is now nearly - cured. I should be exceedingly glad to keep a correspondence - with my sister Emily if she were willing, for I believe I have - not heard from her since I have been at Oxford. I have writ - once or twice to my sister Sukey too, but have not had an - answer either from her or my sister Hetty, from whom I have - more than once desired the Poem of the Dog. I should be glad to - hear how things go on at Wroote, which I now remember with more - pleasure than Epworth; so true it is, at least in me, that the - persons, not the place, make home so pleasant. - - “The scantiness of my paper obliges me to conclude with begging - yours and my father’s blessing on - - “Your dutiful son, - “For Mrs. Wesley, at Wroote, “JOHN WESLEY.” - “To be left at the Post-office, in Bawtry, Nottinghamshire.” - -Dr. Cheyne, mentioned in the preceding letter, was educated at -Edinburgh, where his habits were temperate and sedentary; but, -proceeding to London, he associated with a number of young gentry, -to retain whose friendship it was necessary to indulge to the utmost -in table luxuries. The result was, Cheyne became nervous, scorbutic, -short-breathed, lethargic and listless; and was so enormously fat -as to be nearly thirty-three stones in weight. His life became an -intolerable burden, and, to cure himself, he adopted a milk and -vegetable diet, by means of which he recovered his strength, activity, -and cheerfulness. He became the author of several interesting works, -one of which was the book just noticed. Wesley, to a great extent, -adopted Cheyne’s prescription, and forty-six years after he read his -book at Oxford, wrote: “How marvellous are the ways of God! How has -He kept me even from a child! From ten to thirteen or fourteen, I had -little but bread to eat, and not great plenty of even that. I believe -this was so far from hurting me, that it laid the foundation of lasting -health. When I grew up, in consequence of reading Dr. Cheyne, I chose -to eat sparingly, and to drink water. This was another great means -of continuing my health, till I was about seven-and-twenty. I then -began spitting of blood, which continued several years. A warm climate -[Georgia] cured this. I was afterwards brought to the brink of death by -a fever; but it left me healthier than before. Eleven years after, I -was in the third stage of a consumption; in three months it pleased God -to remove this also. Since that I have known neither pain nor sickness, -and am now healthier than I was forty years ago.”[23] Cheyne became -one of Wesley’s favourites, and no wonder. After reading his “Natural -Method of Curing Diseases,” he designates it one of the most ingenious -books he had ever seen; but adds, “What epicure will ever regard it? -for the man talks against good eating and drinking!”[24] Cheyne died -in 1745, calmly giving up his soul to God, says Wesley, without any -struggle, either of body or mind. - -Except the statement, that his _carcass_ was the only property he had, -Wesley makes not the least allusion, in the foregoing letter, to his -pecuniary embarrassments. Naturally enough, his mother was more anxious -than himself. Hence the following letter, hitherto unpublished, written -within a month afterwards. - - “WROOTE, _November 24, 1724_. - - “DEAR JACKY,—I have now three of your letters before me - unanswered. I take it very kindly that you write so often. I - am afraid of being chargeable, or I should miss few posts, it - being exceeding pleasant to me, in this solitude, to read your - letters, which, however, would be pleasing anywhere. - - “Your disappointment, in not seeing us at Oxon, was not of such - consequence as mine in not meeting my brother in London; not - but your wonderful curiosities might excite a person of greater - faith than mine to travel to your museum to visit them. It is - almost a pity that somebody does not cut the wezand of that - keeper to cure his lying so enormously. - - “I wish you would save all the money you can conveniently - spare, not to spend on a visit, but for a wiser and better - purpose,—to pay debts, and make yourself easy. I am not without - hope of meeting you next summer, if it please God to prolong - my mortal life. If you then be willing, and have time allowed - you to accompany me to Wroote, I will bear your charges, as God - shall enable me. - - “I hope, at your leisure, you will oblige me with some more - verses on any, but rather on a religious subject. - - “Dear Jack, I beseech Almighty God to bless you. - - “SUSANNAH WESLEY.” - -Mrs. Wesley’s brother, referred to in the foregoing letter, was in the -service of the East India Company; and, the public prints having stated -that he was returning to England in one of the company’s ships, Mrs. -Wesley proceeded to London to await his arrival, and to welcome him. -The information, however, was untrue, and both she and her son John -were doomed to a disappointment. Samuel, at the time, had a broken leg, -and had invited John to meet his mother at Westminster. John jocosely -congratulates Samuel, that, like the Dutch seaman who broke his leg by -a fall from the mainmast of his ship, he might thank God that he had -not broken his neck also; and then he adds that his mother’s letter -had made him weep for joy, for the two things he most wished for of -almost anything in the world, were again to see his mother, and to see -Westminster.[25] - -Wesley was still in debt, a fact which gave his mother great anxiety. -His father also, as usual, was embarrassed, and yet, though offended -at his son’s want of thrift, did his utmost to afford him help. The -following are painfully interesting letters, and one of them is now for -the first time published— - - “_January 5, 1725._ - - “DEAR SON,—Your brother will receive £5 for you next Saturday, - if Mr. S—— is paid the £10 he lent you; if not, I must go to - H——, but I promise you I shan’t forget that you are my son, if - you do not that I am - - “Your loving father, - - “SAMUEL WESLEY.” - - “WROOTE, _January 26, 1725_. - - “DEAR SON,—I am so well pleased with your decent behaviour, - or, at least, with your letters, that I hope I shall have no - occasion to remember any more some things that are past; and - since you have now for some time bit upon the bridle, I will - take care hereafter to put a little honey upon it, as oft as - I am able; but then it shall be of my own mere motion, as the - last £5 was, for I will bear no rivals in my kingdom. - - “Your affectionate father, - - “SAMUEL WESLEY.”[26] - -Some will blame the writer for publishing such letters, on the ground -that they cast shadows on young Wesley’s character; but it ought to be -borne in mind that the work of a biographer is not to hide facts, but -to publish them. Why such an unwillingness to look at the specks as -well as sunshine in John Wesley’s history? Is it necessary, in order -to establish the high position which has been assigned to Wesley, that -the reader should be made to think that from first to last he was _sui -generis_, and altogether free from the infirmities, faults, and sins -of ordinary men? If it were, we would rather lower the position than -pervert the facts; but we maintain, that no such necessity exists. -When we say, that from the age of eleven to the age of twenty-two, -Wesley made no pretensions to be religious, and, except on rare -occasions, habitually lived in the practice of known sin, we only say -what is equally true of many of the greatest, wisest, and most godly -men that have ever lived. The fact is humiliating, and ought to be -deplored; but why hide it in one case more than in another? Wesley soon -became one of the holiest and most useful men living; but, except the -first ten years of his childhood, he was up to the age of twenty-two, -by his own confession, an habitual, if not profane and flagrant sinner; -and to his sin, he added the inconvenient and harassing infirmity of -his honest but imprudent father, and thoughtlessly contracted debts -greater than he had means to pay. His letters are without religious -sentiments, and his life was without a religious aim. We yield to no -man living in our high veneration of Wesley’s character; but, at the -same time, we cannot hide it from ourselves and others, that, being -human, he was frail, and, like all his fellows, had need to repent as -in dust and ashes, and to seek, through Christ, the forgiveness of his -sins and a change of heart. - -But leaving this, we turn to another important matter. There is no -evidence to show, that, when Wesley went to Oxford, he intended or -wished to become a minister of the Established Church; it might be so, -but it might be otherwise. It is true that, by obtaining ordination, he -would become entitled to one of the Church livings at the disposal of -the Charterhouse governors; but Wesley was far too noble and too high -principled to seek admission into so sacred an office as the Christian -ministry merely to secure for himself a crust of bread. He might intend -to devote himself, like his brother Samuel, to tutorship; or he might -contemplate some other mode of maintenance. Certain it is, that it was -not until about the beginning of 1725, when he had been more than four -years at college, that he expressed a wish to become a minister of -Christ. The matter was properly submitted to his parents, and both gave -him the best advice they could. - -His father told him that his principal motive for entering the ministry -must be, not, “as Eli’s sons, to eat a piece of bread,” but the glory -of God, and the good of men; and that, as a qualification for its -sacred functions, he ought to have a thorough knowledge of the Holy -Scriptures in their original languages. He was, however, not in haste -for his going into orders, and would give him further advice at some -future time. - -On February 23, 1725, his mother wrote to him as follows:— - - “DEAR JACKY,—The alteration of your temper has occasioned me - much speculation. I, who am apt to be sanguine, hope it may - proceed from the operations of God’s Holy Spirit, that by - taking away your relish of sensual enjoyments, He may prepare - and dispose your mind for a more serious and close application - to things of a more sublime and spiritual nature. If it be so, - happy are you if you cherish those dispositions, and now, in - good earnest, resolve to make religion the business of your - life; for, after all, that is the one thing that strictly - speaking is necessary, and all things else are comparatively - little to the purposes of life. I heartily wish you would now - enter upon a serious examination of yourself, that you may - know whether you have a reasonable hope of salvation; that is, - whether you are in a state of faith and repentance or not, - which you know are the conditions of the gospel covenant on - our part. If you are, the satisfaction of knowing it would - abundantly reward your pains; if not, you will find a more - reasonable occasion for tears than can be met with in a tragedy. - - “Now I mention this, it calls to mind your letter to your - father about taking orders. I was much pleased with it, and - liked the proposal well; but it is an unhappiness almost - peculiar to our family, that your father and I seldom think - alike. I approve the disposition of your mind, and think the - sooner you are a deacon the better; because it may be an - inducement to greater application in the study of practical - divinity, which I humbly conceive is the best study for - candidates for orders. Mr. Wesley differs from me, and would - engage you, I believe, in critical learning, which, though - accidentally of use, is in nowise preferable to the other. - I earnestly pray God to avert that great evil from you of - engaging in trifling studies to the neglect of such as are - absolutely necessary. I dare advise nothing: God Almighty - direct and bless you! I have much to say, but cannot write you - more at present. I long to see you. We hear nothing of H—— - which gives us some uneasiness. We have all writ, but can get - no answer. I wish all be well—Adieu! - - “SUSANNAH WESLEY.”[27] - -Three weeks after this, his father wrote to him, saying that he was now -inclined to his entering orders without delay, and exhorting him to -prayer and study in reference to such a step, promising that he would -struggle hard to obtain the money for the needful expenses. - -Meanwhile, his sister Emilia wrote him a long letter, from which the -following extracts are taken:— - - “WROOTE, _April 7, 1725_. - - “DEAR BROTHER,—Whether you will be engaged before thirty, or - not, I cannot determine; but, if my advice be worth listening - to, never engage your affections before your worldly affairs - are in such a posture that you may marry soon. The contrary - practice has proved very pernicious in our family. I know you - are a young man encompassed with difficulties, and have passed - through many hardships already, and probably must through many - more before you are easy in the world; but, believe me, if ever - you come to suffer the torment of a hopeless love, all other - afflictions will seem small in comparison of this. - - “I know not when we have had so good a year, both at Wroote and - at Epworth, as this year; but instead of saving anything to - clothe my sister or myself, we are just where we were. A noble - crop has almost all gone, beside Epworth living, to pay some - part of those infinite debts my father has run into, which are - so many, that were he to save £50 a year, he would not be clear - in the world this seven years. One thing I warn you of: let not - my giving you this account be any hindrance to your affairs. If - you want assistance in any case, my father is as able to give - it now as any time these last ten years; nor shall we be ever - the poorer for it. - - “I have quite tired you now; pray be faithful to me. Let me - have one relation that I can trust. Never give a hint to any - one of aught I write to you; and continue to love your unhappy - but affectionate sister, - - “EMILIA WESLEY.”[28] - -Wesley now began to apply himself with diligence to the study of -divinity. He writes: “When I was about twenty-two, my father pressed -me to enter into holy orders. At the same time the providence of God -directing me to Kempis’s ‘Christian’s Pattern,’ I began to see that -true religion was seated in the heart, and that God’s law extended to -all our thoughts as well as words and actions. I was, however, angry at -Kempis for being too strict; though I read him only in Dean Stanhope’s -translation. Yet I had frequently much sensible comfort in reading -him, such as I was an utter stranger to before. Meeting likewise with -a religious friend, which I never had till now, I began to alter -the whole form of my conversation, and to set in earnest upon a new -life. I set apart an hour or two a day for religious retirement. I -communicated every week. I watched against all sin, whether in word or -deed. I began to aim at, and to pray for, inward holiness. So that now, -doing so much and living so good a life, I doubted not that I was a -good Christian.”[29] - -What a confession! It was eleven years since Wesley left the parental -roof; but he never had a _religious friend_ till now. No wonder he had -gone astray. - -Having written to his mother, stating some of the difficulties which -he had found in Kempis, she, on the 8th June, 1725, sent him a long -letter, which, however adapted to an enlightened Christian, was -useless, if not misleading, to an anxious inquirer not yet converted. -The entire letter is before us, containing, besides a large amount of -Christian casuistry, some family affairs of painful interest. These we -pass over, and merely give an extract in reference to Kempis:— - - “I have Kempis by me; but have not read him lately. I cannot - recollect the passages you mention; but, believing you do him - justice, I do positively aver that he is extremely in the wrong - in that impious, I was about to say blasphemous, suggestion, - that God, by an irreversible decree, has determined any man to - be miserable even in this world. His intentions, as Himself, - are holy, just, and good; and all the miseries incident to men - here or hereafter proceed from themselves. I take Kempis to - have been an honest weak man, that had more zeal than knowledge. - - “Your brother has brought us a heavy reckoning for you and - Charles. God be merciful to us all! Dear Jack, I earnestly - beseech Almighty God to bless you. Adieu! - - “SUSANNAH WESLEY.” - -Ten days after the date of his mother’s letter, he wrote to her again, -as follows:— - - “_June 18, 1725._ - - “You have so well satisfied me as to the tenets of Thomas à - Kempis, that I have ventured to trouble you again on a more - dubious subject. Dr. Taylor, in his ‘Holy Living and Dying,’ - says, ‘Whether God has forgiven us or no, we know not; - therefore, be sorrowful for ever having sinned.’ This seems to - contradict his own words in the next section, where he says - that ‘by the Lord’s supper all the members are united to one - another, and to Christ the Head. The Holy Ghost confers on us - the graces necessary for, and our souls receive the seed of, an - immortal life.’ Now surely these graces are of not so little - force as that we cannot perceive whether we have them or not. - If we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us (which He will not do - unless we are regenerate), certainly we must be sensible of it. - If we can never have any certainty of our being in a state of - salvation, good reason it is that every moment should be spent, - not in joy, but in fear and trembling; and then, undoubtedly, - in this life we are of all men the most miserable. God deliver - us from such a fearful expectation as this!”[30] - -We thus find young Wesley carefully reading Thomas à Kempis and Jeremy -Taylor, and groping after two of the great doctrines which afterwards -distinguished his ministry: God’s love to _all_, and the privilege -of living in a state of conscious salvation. These and other topics -puzzled him, and yet he seemed to have an almost instinctive knowledge -of what is truth. We have seen his mother’s sentiments concerning -Kempis. His father, on the 14th of July following, observes that -though Kempis has gone to an extreme in teaching the doctrine of -self-mortification, yet, considering the age in which he wrote, there -was no need to be surprised at this. And then he adds: “Making some -grains of allowance, he may be read to great advantage. Notwithstanding -all his superstition and enthusiasm, it is almost impossible to peruse -him seriously, without admiring, and in some measure imitating, his -heroic strains of humility and piety and devotion.” - -The books of Kempis and Taylor seem to have been the first on practical -divinity that Wesley read, and, to the day of his death, were held -in high esteem. Kempis’s “Pattern” was one of the first books that -Wesley published; and an extract from Taylor’s work forms a part of -his “Christian Library.” In his estimation, Taylor was a man of the -sublimest piety, and one of the greatest geniuses on earth;[31] and -Kempis is always spoken of in terms of high respect. What were the -results of Wesley’s reading? - -1. To this incident we are indebted for Wesley’s long continued record -of the events and exercises of his daily life. In the preface to his -first journal, dated September 20, 1740, he states, that about fifteen -years ago (1725), in pursuance of an advice given by Bishop Taylor in -his “Rules for Holy Living and Dying,” he began to take a more exact -account than he had done before of the manner wherein he spent his -time, writing down how he had employed every hour. The practice thus -begun was uninterruptedly continued until his death, and issued in -giving to the world one of the most interesting works in the English -language; a work not only containing the best history of the great -reformer, and of the rise and growth of the Methodist movement, but -sparkling with the most racy remarks respecting men, books, places, -science, witches, ghosts, and almost everything with which the writer -came in contact. - -2. Another, and far more important result of reading Kempis and -Taylor, was an entire change of life. He writes respecting Kempis’s -“Pattern:” “When I met with it in 1726,[32] the nature and extent of -inward religion, the religion of the heart, now appeared to me in a -stronger light than ever it had done before. I saw that giving even all -my life to God (supposing it possible to do this, and go no further) -would profit me nothing, unless I gave my heart, yea, all my heart, to -Him. I saw that simplicity of intention, and purity of affection, one -design in all we speak and do, and one desire ruling all our tempers, -are indeed the wings of the soul, without which she can never ascend to -God. I sought after this from that hour.”[33] - -Again, in reference to Taylor’s “Holy Living and Dying,” he observes: -“In reading several parts of this book, I was exceedingly affected; -that part in particular which relates to purity of intention. Instantly -I resolved to dedicate all my life to God,—all my thoughts, and words, -and actions,—being thoroughly convinced there was no medium; but that -every part of my life (not some only) must either be a sacrifice to -God, or myself, that is, in effect, the devil.”[34] - -Here, then, we have the turning-point in Wesley’s history. It was not -until thirteen years after this, that he received the consciousness of -being saved through faith in Christ; but from this time, his whole aim -was to serve God and his fellowmen, and to get safe to heaven. No man -could be more sincere, earnest, devout, diligent, and self-denying; and -yet, during this lengthened period, he lived and laboured in a mist. - -His father was £350 in debt; but was now resolved to do his utmost to -obtain ordination for his son. He urged him to master St. Chrysostom -and the articles; and sent his “Letter to a Curate,” in manuscript, to -assist him in his preparations; and also wrote to the Bishop of Lincoln -in his favour.[35] Meanwhile his mother tried to solve some of his -scruples respecting the article on predestination;[36] and wrote him a -long letter, not hitherto published, from which we give the following -extracts:— - - “Wroote, _July 21, 1725_. - - “DEAR JACKEY,—Though I have a great deal of unpleasant - business, am infirm, and but slow of understanding, yet it is - a pleasure to me to correspond with you on religious subjects; - and, if it be of the least advantage to you, I shall greatly - rejoice. I know little or nothing of Dr. Taylor’s ‘Holy Living - and Dying,’ having not seen it for above twenty years; but - I think it is generally well esteemed. I cannot judge of - the rules you suppose impracticable; but I will tell you my - thoughts of humility as briefly as I can.” - -Here follow her remarks on humility. She continues:— - - “He is certainly right, that there is but one true repentance, - for repentance is a state not a transient act; and this state - begins in a change of the whole mind from evil to good, and - contains, in some sense, all the parts of a holy life.[37] - Repentance, in Scripture, is said to signify the whole of - obedience, as faith often includes repentance, and all the - subsequent acts of religion: ‘Repent, and thy sins shall be - forgiven thee;’ ‘Believe, and thou shalt be saved.’ If, after - this change, we fall into the contrary state—a state of wilful - impenitence—which is nothing less than a total apostasy—the - Scripture is plain; ‘There remaineth no more sacrifice for - sin;’ no place is left for repentance; for, by this formal - renunciation of our most holy faith, we ‘crucify afresh the Son - of God, and put Him to an open shame.’ But this is not the case - of those who never were converted; or of such who, having been - converted, fall nevertheless sometimes into their old sins, - through the fault of their nature, or the stress of temptation. - - “I don’t well understand what he means by saying, ‘Whether - God has forgiven us or no, we know not.’ If he intends such - a certainty of pardon as cannot possibly admit of the least - doubt or scruple, he is infallibly in the right; for such an - absolute certainty we can never have till we come to heaven. - But if he means no more than that reasonable persuasion of - the forgiveness of sins, which a true penitent feels when he - reflects on the evidences of his own sincerity, he is certainly - in the wrong, for such a firm persuasion is actually enjoyed by - man in this life. - - “The virtues which we have by the grace of God acquired, are - not of so little force as he supposes; for we may surely - perceive when we have them in any good degree. But when our - love to God, and faith in the Lord Jesus are weak (for there - is a great inequality in our lives); when, though we strive - against our sins, we have not so far overcome but that we - sometimes relapse into them again,—in such a case we shall be - often doubtful of our state. But when, by the assistance of the - Holy Spirit, we have made a considerable progress in religion, - and when habits of virtue are confirmed; when we find little - disturbance from any exorbitant appetite, and can maintain - an even tenour of life,—we shall be easy, and free from all - torment, doubts, or fears of our future happiness; for perfect - love will cast out fears. - - “I am entirely of your opinion, that whenever we worthily - communicate, with faith, humility, etc., our sins are forgiven, - and will never rise in judgment against us if we forsake them. - The Scripture is so clear and express in this case, that I - think none can question the pardon of his sins if he repent, - except such as do not believe it. - - “But if you would be free from fears and doubts concerning your - future happiness, every morning and evening commit your soul - to Jesus Christ, in a full faith in His power and will to save - you. If you do this seriously and constantly, He will take - you under His conduct; He will guide you by His Holy Spirit - into the way of truth, and give you strength to walk in it. - He will dispose of the events of God’s general providence to - your spiritual advantage; and if, to keep you humble and more - sensible of your dependence on Him, He permit you to fall into - lesser sins, be not discouraged; for He will certainly give you - repentance, and safely guide you through all the temptations of - this world, and, at the last, receive you to Himself in glory. - - “Your father has written lately to you about your business. I - heartily wish you success, for I am greatly troubled at your - unhappy circumstances. I can do nothing at present but pray for - you. Dear Jack, I beseech Almighty God to bless you. - - “SUSANNAH WESLEY.” - -Part of Wesley’s reply to his mother’s letter is as follows:— - - “_July 29, 1725._ - - “That we can never be so certain of the pardon of our sins as - to be assured they will never rise up against us, I firmly - believe. We know that they will infallibly do so if ever we - apostatize, and I am not satisfied what evidence there can be - of our final perseverance, till we have finished our course. - But I am persuaded we may know if we are now in a state of - salvation, since that is expressly promised in the Holy - Scriptures to our sincere endeavours, and we are, surely, able - to judge of our own sincerity. - - “What shall I say of predestination? An everlasting purpose of - God to deliver some from damnation, does, I suppose, exclude - all from that deliverance who are not chosen. And if it was - inevitably decreed from eternity that such a determinate part - of mankind should be saved, and none beside them, a vast - majority of the world were only born to eternal death, without - so much as a possibility of avoiding it. How is this consistent - with either the Divine justice or mercy? Is it merciful to - ordain a creature to everlasting misery? Is it just to punish - man for crimes which he could not but commit? That God should - be the author of sin and injustice (which must, I think, be the - consequence of maintaining this opinion), is a contradiction - to the clearest ideas we have of the Divine nature and - perfections.”[38] - -If the ideas of Wesley and his mother, on the way of attaining -salvation, had been as scriptural as his ideas on general redemption, -both would have been in a holier and happier frame of mind. - -Wesley’s religion already made him the subject of contemptuous sneers. -Hence the following from his father:— - - “WROOTE, _August 2, 1725_. - - “DEAR SON,—If you be what you write I shall be happy. As to - the gentlemen candidates you mention, does anybody think the - devil is dead, or asleep, or that he has no agents left? Surely - virtue can bear being laughed at. The Captain and Master - endured something more for us before He entered into glory, and - unless we track His steps, in vain do we hope to share that - glory with Him. - - “Nought else but blessing from your loving father, - - “SAMUEL WESLEY.” - -Wesley was still in doubt in reference to several matters which had -occurred to him during his late religious reading; and to relieve his -doubts, his mother sent him some of the ablest letters she ever penned. -The subjoined is taken from a long epistle now before us, and only part -of which has heretofore been published:— - - “WROOTE, _August 18, 1725_. - - “DEAR JACKEY,—Divine faith is an assent to whatever God has - revealed to us, because He has revealed it. And this is that - virtue of faith which is one of the two conditions of our - salvation by Jesus Christ. But this matter is so fully and - accurately explained by Bishop Pearson (under ‘I Believe’) that - I shall say no more of it. - - “I have often wondered that men should be so vain as to amuse - themselves with searching into the decrees of God, which no - human wit can fathom, and do not rather employ their time and - powers in working out their salvation. Such studies tend more - to confound than to inform the understanding, and young people - had better let them alone. But since I find you have some - scruples concerning our article, Of Predestination, I will tell - you my thoughts of the matter. If they satisfy not, you may - desire your father’s direction, who is surely better qualified - for a casuist than I. - - “The doctrine of predestination, as maintained by the rigid - Calvinists, is very shocking, and ought to be abhorred, because - it directly charges the most high God with being the author of - sin. I think you reason well and justly against it; for it is - certainly inconsistent with the justice and goodness of God - to lay any man under either a physical or moral necessity of - committing sin, and then to punish him for doing it. - - “I firmly believe that God, from eternity, has elected some to - eternal life; but then I humbly conceive that this election - is founded on His foreknowledge, according to Romans viii. - 29, 30. Whom, in His eternal prescience, God saw would make - a right use of their powers, and accept of offered mercy, - He did predestinate and adopt for His children. And that - they may be conformed to the image of His only Son, He calls - them to Himself, through the preaching of the gospel, and, - internally, by His Holy Spirit; which call they obeying, - repenting of their sins and believing in the Lord Jesus, He - justifies them, absolves them from the guilt of all their sins, - and acknowledges them as just and righteous persons, through - the merits and mediation of Jesus Christ. And having thus - justified, He receives them to glory—to heaven. - - “This is the sum of what I believe concerning predestination, - which I think is agreeable to the analogy of faith; since it - does in nowise derogate from the glory of God’s free grace, - nor impair the liberty of man. Nor can it with more reason - be supposed that the prescience of God is the cause that so - many finally perish, than that one knowing the sun will rise - to-morrow is the cause of its rising.” - -John Wesley substantially adopted his mother’s predestinarian views, -as may be seen in his sermon on the text which she expounds in the -foregoing letter; but his notions of that faith by which a sinner -is justified were, at present, like those of his mother, vague and -general, and far from being clear. - -The time for Wesley’s ordination was now approaching, and the money -question again rose up like a spectre, and required attention. His -father writes:— - - “BAWTRY, _September 1, 1725_. - - “DEAR SON,—I came hither to-day because I cannot be at rest - till I make you easier. I could not possibly manufacture any - money for you here sooner than next Saturday. On Monday I - design to wait on Dr. Morley, and will try to prevail with - your brother to return you £8 with interest. I will assist you - in the charges for ordination, though I am myself just now - struggling for life. This £8 you may depend on the next week, - or the week after. - - “Your affectionate father, - “SAMUEL WESLEY.”[39] - -Difficulties were overcome, and Wesley, having prepared himself with -the most conscientious care for the ministerial office, was ordained -deacon on Sunday, September 19th, 1725. - - - - -CHAPTER II. - -_WESLEY’S ORDINATION, ETC._ - - -[Sidenote: 1725 Age 22] - -What was the state of things about the time of Wesley’s ordination? -Wesley entered the Charterhouse in the year Queen Anne died. George -I., Elector of Hanover, took her place. Endless intrigues in favour of -the Pretender sprung up; and Bolingbroke fled to him on the Continent, -and became his Secretary of State. Ormond gave magnificent fêtes at -Richmond, and gathered around him the most fiery of the Jacobites, -and the most intolerant of the high church party, till he also found -it expedient to follow Bolingbroke’s example, and secretly escape to -France. The clergy, in many instances, preached sermons and published -pamphlets in which the temper, orthodoxy, and religion of King George -were not painted in the brightest colours, and in which they hesitated -not to say that England would soon be eaten up by Hanoverian rats and -other foreign vermin. Rumours of invasion and of insurrection became -general, and, about a year after George’s coronation, the Chevalier -landed in Scotland, to take possession of what he called his kingdom. - -The history of this adventure is too well known to be repeated here. -Suffice it to observe, that Parliament set a price on the Pretender’s -head, by offering a reward of £100,000 for his arrest. In Scotland, -King George’s troops were put to live in free quarters, in the houses -and upon the estates of Jacobites. In England, gaols were crowded with -nonjuring Protestants, high church divines, and Popish squires, monks, -and priests; while the Chevalier, like his poltroon father, fled from -danger, and left thousands of his hot-headed followers to pay a fearful -penalty for their rash adherence to him. Plotters, however, still -plotted; among the chief of whom was Bishop Atterbury, the friend and -patron of Wesley’s brother Samuel. The prelate was arrested, was tried -in the House of Lords, was deprived of his bishopric, was banished from -his country, entered the service of the Pretender, and became his -confidential agent. - -These were times of terrible upheaving, and, surrounded by such -commotions, young Wesley quietly pursued his scholastic studies, first -in the Charterhouse, London, and afterwards in Christ Church College, -Oxford. In the year in which Wesley went to Oxford, the South Sea -bubble burst, and, by its gambling, knavish madness, the nation was -involved in the most disgraceful kind of bankruptcy. About the same -period, Parliament were discussing bills to authorize bishops and -county magistrates to summon Dissenting ministers to quarter sessions -to subscribe to a declaration of the Christian faith; and, upon their -refusal, to deprive them of the benefit of the Act of Toleration; -while, oddly enough, at the same time, Walpole, the prime minister, -was endeavouring to satisfy the squeamish demand to omit from the -“affirmation” of the Quakers the words,—“In the presence of Almighty -God”—a demand which Atterbury resisted to the uttermost, insisting that -such an indulgence was not due to “a set of people who were hardly -Christians.” - -Wesley was ordained a deacon by Bishop Potter, the son of a Yorkshire -linen-draper; a man of great talent, and immense learning,—somewhat -haughty and morose, and yet highly esteemed by a great portion of his -contemporaries,—a high churchman, who maintained that episcopacy was -of Divine institution, and yet one who cherished a friendly feeling -towards the first Methodists, saying concerning them, “These gentlemen -are irregular; but they have done good; and I pray God to bless them.” -To the day of his death, Wesley held Potter in high esteem, calling -him “a great and good man”; and, in a sermon written as late as the -year 1787, mentioning an advice which the bishop had given him half -a century before, and for which he had often thanked Almighty God, -namely, “That if he wished to be extensively useful, he must not spend -his time in contending for or against things of a disputable nature, -but in testifying against notorious vice, and in promoting real, -essential holiness.”[40] - -It is a somewhat remarkable circumstance that, just about the time -of Wesley’s ordination, Voltaire was expelled from France, and fled -to England, where he published his celebrated “Henriade,” a work -which was patronized by George I., and which yielded a profit that -laid the foundation of the infidels future fortune. During a long -life, he and Wesley were contemporaneous, and, perhaps, of all -the men then living, none exercised so great an influence as the -restless philosopher and the unwearied minister of Christ. No men, -however, could be more dissimilar. Wesley, in person, was beautiful; -Voltaire was of a physiognomy so strange, and lighted up with fire so -half-hellish and half-heavenly, that it was hard to say whether it -was the face of a satyr or a man. Wesley’s heart was filled with a -world-wide benevolence; Voltaire, though of gigantic mind, scarcely had -a heart at all,—an incarnation of avaricious meanness, and a victim to -petty passions. Wesley was the friend of all and the enemy of none; -Voltaire was too selfish to love, and when forced to pay the scanty -and ill-tempered homage which he sometimes rendered, it was always -offered at the shrine of rank and wealth. Wesley had myriads who loved -him; Voltaire had numerous admirers, but probably not a friend. Both -were men of ceaseless labour, and almost unequalled authors; but while -the one filled the land with blessings, the other, by his sneering and -mendacious attacks against revealed religion, inflicted a greater curse -than has been inflicted by the writings of any other author either -before or since. The evangelist is now esteemed by all whose good -opinions are worth having; the philosopher is only remembered to be -branded with well-merited reproach and shame. - -Wesley’s first sermon was preached at South Leigh, a small village -three miles from Witney. Forty-six years afterwards he preached in the -same place, when there was one man present who had been a member of his -first congregation.[41] - -Another of his early sermons was delivered at Epworth, January 11, -1726, at the funeral of John Griffith, a hopeful young man, son of -one of the Epworth parishioners. The text was 2 Samuel xii. 23, and -the subject of the brief sermon was the folly of indulging grief, -except on account of sin. Funeral sermons, in the common acceptation -of the word, the young preacher denounces, for they had been so often -prostituted to a mere flattery of the dead that now they were no longer -capable of serving good purposes. “It is of no service to the dead,” -says he, “to celebrate his actions, since he has the applause of God -and His holy angels, and his own conscience. And it is of little use -to the living, since he who desires a pattern may find enough proposed -as such in the sacred writings.” For such reasons, Wesley, already -laconic, reduces all that he has to say of John Griffith into a single -sentence. “To his parents he was an affectionate, dutiful son; to his -acquaintance an ingenuous, cheerful, good-natured companion; and to me -a well-tried, sincere friend.”[42] - -In a little more than two months after the delivery of this sermon, -Wesley was elected fellow of Lincoln College.[43] The election took -place March 17th, 1726. In this affair, his brother Samuel rendered -him considerable assistance; his mother, with a full heart, thanked -Almighty God for his “good success;”[44] and his father wrote him as -follows:— - - “DEAR MR. FELLOW ELECT OF LINCOLN,—I have done more than I - could for you. On your waiting on Dr. Morley[45] with this, - he will pay you £12. You are inexpressibly obliged to that - generous man. The last £12 pinched me so hard, that I am forced - to beg time of your brother Sam till after harvest, to pay him - the £10 that you say he lent you. Nor shall I have as much as - that, perhaps not £5, to keep my family till after harvest; and - I do not expect that I shall be able to do anything for Charles - when he goes to the university. What will be my own fate God - only knows. _Sed passi graviora._ Wherever I am, my Jack is - fellow of Lincoln. I wrote to Dr. King, desiring leave for you - to come one, two, or three months into the country, where you - shall be gladly welcome. Keep your best friend fast; and, next - to him, Dr. Morley; and have a care of your other friends, - especially the younger. All at present from your loving father, - - “SAMUEL WESLEY.”[46] - -Writing to his brother Samuel, Wesley says:— - - “LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXON, _April 4, 1726_. - - “DEAR BROTHER,—My father very unexpectedly, a week ago, sent me - a bill on Dr. Morley for £12, which he had paid to the rector’s - use at Gainsborough; so that now all my debts are paid, and - the expenses of my treat defrayed; and I have still above £10 - remaining. If I could have leave to stay in the country till - my college allowance commences, this money would abundantly - suffice me till then. - - “I never knew a college besides ours, whereof the members - were so perfectly well satisfied with one another, and so - inoffensive to the other part of the university. All the - fellows I have yet seen are both well-natured and well-bred; - men admirably disposed as well to preserve peace and good - neighbourhood among themselves, as to preserve it wherever else - they have any acquaintance. - - “I am, etc., - “JOHN WESLEY.”[47] - -The following, which was also addressed to his brother Samuel, is -amusing. Wesley was so poor that he could ill afford to employ a barber -to cut and dress his hair, even when his mother wished it, and when he -himself thought it might improve his personal appearance. - - “My mother’s reason for my cutting off my hair is because she - fancies it prejudices my health. As to my looks, it would - doubtless mend my complexion to have it off, by letting me get - a little more colour, and perhaps it might contribute to my - making a more genteel appearance. But these, till ill health - is added to them, I cannot persuade myself to be sufficient - grounds for losing two or three pounds a year. I am ill enough - able to spare them. - - “Mr. Sherman says there are garrets, somewhere in Peckwater, to - be let for fifty shillings a year; that there are some honest - fellows in college, who would be willing to chum in one of - them; and that, could my brother but find one of these garrets, - and get acquainted with one of these honest fellows, he might - possibly prevail upon him to join in taking it; and then if he - could but prevail upon some one else to give him £7 a year for - his own room, he would gain almost £6 a year clear, if his rent - were well paid. He appealed to me whether the proposal was not - exceedingly reasonable? But as I could not give him such an - answer as he desired, I did not choose to give him any at all. - - “Leisure and I have taken leave of one another. I propose to be - busy as long as I live, if my health is so long indulged me. In - health and sickness I hope I shall ever continue with the same - sincerity, - - “Your loving brother, - “JOHN WESLEY.”[48] - -Charles Wesley had just removed from Westminster School to the -university, being elected to the same college as that in which his -brother had spent the last six years. John obtained leave of absence -from Lincoln College, and spent the summer at Epworth and Wroote with -his venerated parents. Here he usually read prayers and preached twice -every sabbath; pursued his studies with the greatest diligence; and -conversed with his father and mother on many of the chief topics of -practical religion, noting in his diary such of their rules and maxims -as appeared to him important.[49] While here, he wrote his paraphrase -on the 104th Psalm,—a production of genius fully showing that if Wesley -had cultivated his poetic talents he might easily have attained to -no inferior position among the bards of Britain. The following is an -extract:— - - “Thou, brooding o’er the realms of night, - The’ unbottomed infinite abyss, - Bad’st the deep her rage surcease, - And saidst, _Let there be light!_ - Ethereal light Thy call obeyed, - Glad she left her native shade, - Darkness turned his murmuring head, - Resigned the reins, and trembling fled.”[50] - -“Make poetry your diversion,”[51] said Wesley’s mother, “but not your -business;” and because he acted on this advice his poetical pieces are -comparatively few. It is well known, however, that some of the noblest -hymns in the Wesleyan hymn-book were written by John Wesley’s pen. What -can exceed, in poetic grandeur, the three hymns beginning with the -line:— - - “Father of all, whose powerful voice,” etc. - -Or the two hymns commencing with:— - - “O God, Thou bottomless abyss,” etc. - -Or the hymn beginning:— - - “O God, of good the’ unfathomed sea,” etc. - -Or again:— - - “O God the Son, in whom combine,” etc. - -Or again:— - - “Jesus, whose glory’s streaming rays,” etc. - “Now I have found the ground wherein,” etc. - “Jesus, Thy blood and righteousness,” etc. - “Thee will I love, my strength, my tower,” etc. - -Or again, the two hymns commencing with:— - - “Commit thou all thy griefs,” etc. - -Or again:— - - “Thou hidden love of God, whose height,” etc. - -Let it be granted that these and others were translations; but still -it must be ceded that the words, if not the thoughts, are Wesley’s; -and that never, in uninspired language, is God adored and praised in -loftier or more sacred strains than in the singing of the hymns above -mentioned. Apart from his numerous hymn-books, Wesley, at different -times, published five volumes of poetry, and, to the day of his death, -read it with the richest relish. - -Wesley returned to Oxford on the 21st of September, 1726, and resumed -his studies. His literary character was now established at the -university. All parties acknowledged him to be a man of talents and -of learning; while his skill in logic was known to be remarkable. The -result was, though he was only in the twenty-third year of his age, and -had not yet taken a master’s degree, he was, within two months after -his return from Epworth, on November 7th, elected Greek lecturer and -moderator of the classes. - -At the commencement of the year 1727, Wesley, in a letter,[52] tells -his mother that he had drawn up for himself a scheme of studies, and -had “perfectly come over to her opinion, that there are many truths it -is not worth while to know. If we had a dozen centuries of life allowed -us, we might, perhaps, be pardoned for spending a little time upon such -curious trifles; but, with the small pittance of life we have, it would -be great ill husbandry to spend a considerable part of it in what makes -neither a quick nor a sure return.” Wesley adds, that, about the time -of his ordination, he had, while watching with a college friend a young -lady’s funeral, attempted to make his friend a Christian. From that -time this youth was exceedingly serious; and a fortnight ago had died -of consumption. Wesley was with him three days before his decease, and -on the Sunday following, in accordance with his friend’s desire while -living, he did him the last good office that he could by preaching his -funeral sermon. Here was _Wesley’s first convert_. - -Another friend must be introduced, not so serious as the sight of a -funeral has a tendency to make us, but a sprightly young collegian, -more vivacious than religious, who, in 1729, became one of the first -four Methodists that met together to read the Greek Testament,[53] and -whose portrait occupies a place in the large and beautiful engraving -of “The Rev. John Wesley and his Friends at Oxford.” The following -letter is valuable only as it tends to show that Wesley, and some of -his college friends, were not yet so intensely religious as they became -soon after. - - “STANTON, _February 2, 1727_. - - “With familiarity I write, Dear Jack.—On Friday night last I - received your kind accusation. You generously passed by, or - pardoned, all insipid or impertinent expressions; but I am - condemned for brevity before I could put forth my defence. - My plea is, I writ yours, as likewise one to Harry Yardley, - of equal importance, in the space of three hours. My letter - was really longer than yours by Scripture proof; for you writ - scarce much out of your abundance of thoughts; whereas I writ - all that I thought of, and thought of all I could write. I - have not the presumption to compare my expressions or style - with yours, because there I am excelled beyond all degrees of - comparison. - - ‘For when you write, smooth elocution flows; - But when Bob scrawls, rough ignorance he shows.’ - - I am just going down to a dinner of calves’ head and bacon, - with some of the best green cabbages in the town. I wish I - could send you a plate of our entertainment while it is hot. We - have just tapped a barrel of admirable cider. - - “2 o’clock. I am come up again with a belly-full, _sufficit_. - Your most deserving, queer character,—your worthy personal - accomplishments,—your noble endowments of mind,—your little and - handsome person,—and your obliging and desirable conversation, - have been the pleasing subject of our discourse for some - pleasant hours. You have often been in the thoughts of M. B., - which I have curiously observed, when with her alone, by inward - smiles and sighs and abrupt expressions concerning _you_. Shall - this suffice? I caught her this morning in an humble and devout - posture on her knees. I am called to read a _Spectator_ to my - sister Capoon. I long for the time when you are to supply - my father’s absence. Keep your counsel, and burn this when - perused. You shall have my reasons in my next. I must conclude, - and subscribe myself, your most affectionate friend, and - _brother_ I wish I might write, - - “ROBERT KIRKHAM.”[54] - -The above somewhat frothy epistle indicates an important fact, that -Wesley was in love with Miss Betty, Kirkham’s sister, or, at all -events, that Kirkham wished to have him for a brother. Nothing more is -known of this incipient courtship, except that in a letter to Wesley, -dated five days after Kirkham’s, and written by Martha Wesley, it is -said, “When I knew that you were just returned from Worcestershire, -where I suppose you saw your _Varanese_, I then ceased to wonder at -your silence, for the sight of such a woman, ‘so known, so loved,’ -might well make you forget me. I really have myself a vast respect for -her, as I must necessarily have for one that is so dear to you.” Wesley -soon became far too much immersed in more serious things to have time -to think of wooing. He writes:— - -“Removing to another (Lincoln) college, I began to see more and more -the value of time. I applied myself closer to study. I watched more -carefully against actual sins. I advised others to be religious, -according to that scheme of religion by which I modelled my own life. -But meeting now with Mr. Law’s ‘Christian Perfection’ and ‘Serious -Call,’ although I was much offended at many parts of both, yet they -convinced me more than ever of the exceeding height and breadth and -depth of the law of God. The light flowed in so mightily upon my -soul, that everything appeared in a new view. I cried to God for -help, resolved, as I had never done before, not to prolong the time -of obeying Him. And by my continued endeavour to keep His whole law, -inward and outward, to the utmost of my power, I was persuaded that -I should be accepted of Him, and that I was even then in a state of -salvation.”[55] - -William Law will have to be noticed hereafter. Suffice it to remark -now, that, after obtaining a fellowship at Emanuel College, Cambridge, -and officiating as a curate in the metropolis, he refused to take the -oaths prescribed by parliament on the accession of George I., lost -his fellowship, left the pulpit, and became tutor to Edward Gibbon, -father of the renowned historian. He was now resident at Putney, and -is described as rather above the middle size, stout but not corpulent, -with broad shoulders, grey eyes, round visage, well-proportioned -features, an open countenance, and rather inclined to be merry than -mournful. His “Christian Perfection” was first published in 1726, -just before Wesley read it; and, in strong, clear, racy language, -maintains that Christianity requires a change of nature, a renunciation -of the world and worldly tempers, self-denial and mortification, in -short, a life perfectly devoted to the service of God. Clergymen are -reminded that it is far more important to visit the poor and sick, -and to be wholly occupied in the cure of souls, than in studying the -old grammarians. Vain books and stage entertainments are denounced in -the strongest terms; and a close imitation of the life and example -of Christ Jesus is enforced with the utmost earnestness. The work -throughout is one of the most intensely religious books in the English -language; and had it shown the way of attaining holiness as clearly -as it enforces the practice of it, it would in all respects have -been unequalled. The “Serious Call” is a kindred book, and written -in the same earnest and pungent style. “It is,” wrote Wesley, within -eighteen months of his decease,—“It is a treatise which will hardly be -excelled, if it be equalled, in the English tongue, either for beauty -of expression, or for justness and depth of thought.”[56] - -The effect produced upon Wesley,[57] by reading these two invaluable -books, was immense. “I was convinced,” says he “more than ever of -the impossibility of being half a Christian, and determined to -be all devoted to God, to give Him all my soul, my body, and my -substance.”[58] - -Wesley’s intentions were as sincere and pure as grace could make them; -but his ideas of Christian truth were confused, misty, erroneous. He -was spending several hours every day in reading the Scripture in the -original tongues; and yet he tells us that it was not until years -after this that he became convinced of the great truths, which, above -all other truths, gave rise to the societies of the people called -Methodists. These truths he himself has specified in the following -terms:—“The justification, whereof our articles and homilies speak, -means present forgiveness, pardon of sins, and consequently acceptance -with God. I believe the condition of this is faith; I mean, not -only that without faith we cannot be justified, but also that, as -soon as any one has true faith, in that moment he is justified. -Good works follow this faith, but cannot go before it; much less -can sanctification, which implies a continued course of good works, -springing from holiness of heart. - -“Repentance must go before faith, and fruits meet for it, if there be -opportunity. By repentance, I mean conviction of sin, producing real -desires and sincere resolutions of amendment; and by ‘fruits meet for -repentance,’ I mean forgiving our brother, ceasing from evil and doing -good, using the ordinances of God, and in general obeying Him according -to the measure of grace which we have received. But these I cannot as -yet term good works; because they do not spring from faith and the love -of God. - -“By salvation I mean, not barely deliverance from hell, or going to -heaven, but a present deliverance from sin, a restoration of the -soul to its primitive health, its original purity; a recovery of the -Divine nature; the renewal of our souls after the image of God, in -righteousness and true holiness, in justice, mercy, and truth. This -implies all holy and heavenly tempers, and by consequence, all holiness -of conversation. - -“Faith is the sole condition of this salvation. Without faith we cannot -thus be saved; for we cannot rightly serve God unless we love Him. And -we cannot love Him unless we know Him; neither can we know Him unless -by faith. - -“Faith, in general, is a Divine, supernatural evidence, or conviction -of things not seen; that is, of things past, future, or spiritual. -Justifying faith implies, not only a Divine evidence, or conviction, -that God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto Himself; but a sure -trust and confidence that Christ died for my sins; that He loved me and -gave Himself for me. And the moment a penitent sinner believes this, -God pardons and absolves him. - -“And as soon as his pardon or justification is witnessed to him by the -Holy Ghost, he is saved. He loves God and all mankind. He has the mind -that was in Christ, and power to walk as He also walked. From that time -(unless he makes shipwreck of the faith) salvation gradually increases -in his soul. - -“The Author of faith and salvation is God alone. He is the sole Giver -of every good gift, and the sole Author of every good work. There is -no more of power than of merit in man; but as all merit is in the Son -of God, in what He has done and suffered for us, so all power is in -the Spirit of God. And therefore every man, in order to believe unto -salvation, must receive the Holy Ghost. This is essentially necessary -to every Christian, in order to have faith, peace, joy, and love. Whoever -has these fruits of the Spirit cannot but know and feel that God has -wrought them in his heart.” - -The reader has here, in Wesley’s own words, a summary of all the -doctrines which technically may be termed the doctrines of the _first -Methodists_. It was the preaching of these doctrines, and of these -only, that created Methodism in 1739. And, to be faithful to the -principles of their founder, the Methodists of this, and of every age -succeeding, _must_, MUST make these the _chief_ doctrines of their -ministry. Wesley preached other truths besides these: but these were -the truths which distinguished him from his fellows; which gave birth -to the system that bears his name; and which he always made _prominent_ -in his sermons and in his books, to the end of life. Methodism will -sink and deservedly become extinct, when it ceases to proclaim, as its -_greatest_ dogmas, the above summary of Methodistic doctrines, drawn up -by Wesley himself in 1744. - -This summary is introduced here because, notwithstanding his deep -religious feeling, his pure intentions, and his strict morality, the -doctrines it embraces were doctrines of which Wesley remained strangely -ignorant for nearly thirteen years after his ordination, in 1725. He -writes: “It was many years after I was ordained deacon, before I was -convinced of the great truths above recited. During all that time, I -was utterly ignorant of the nature and condition of justification. -Sometimes I confounded it with sanctification (particularly when I -was in Georgia); at other times I had some confused notion about the -forgiveness of sins; but then I took it for granted the time of this -must be either the hour of death, or the day of judgment. I was equally -ignorant of the nature of saving faith; apprehending it to mean no more -than a ‘firm assent to all the propositions contained in the Old and -New Testaments.’”[59] - -Such, at this period, were Wesley’s views of Christian truth, -principally derived from his mother, from Thomas à Kempis, Jeremy -Taylor, and William Law. Some have charged him with embracing the -mystic divinity, but, except so far as the mystic writers denied the -doctrine of justification by faith, the charge is unfounded. In reply -to this accusation, Wesley writes: “It is true that, for a while, I -admired the _mystic writers_. But I dropped them, even before I went to -Georgia; long before I knew or suspected anything as to justification -by faith. Therefore all that follows of my ‘making my system of -divinity more commodious for general use,’ having no foundation, -falls to the ground at once. I never was ‘in the way of mysticism’ at -all.”[60] - -Wesley took his degree of Master of Arts, on February 14, 1727. In his -disputation for this he acquired considerable reputation; delivering -three lectures on the occasion, one “De Anima Brutorum;” a second, “De -Julio Cæsare;” and a third, “De Amore Dei.” These early orations seem -to be entirely lost. - -Another step taken by Wesley, about the same period, was to rid himself -of unprofitable friends. He writes: “When it pleased God to give me -a settled resolution to be not a _nominal_, but a _real_ Christian -(being then about twenty-two years of age), my acquaintance were as -ignorant of God as myself. But there was this difference: I knew my -own ignorance; they did not know theirs. I faintly endeavoured to -help them, but in vain. Meantime, I found, by sad experience, that -even their _harmless_ conversation, so called, damped all my good -resolutions. I saw no possible way of getting rid of them, unless it -should please God to remove me to another college. He did so, in a -manner utterly contrary to all human probability. I was elected fellow -of a college where I knew not one person. I foresaw abundance of people -would come to see me, either out of friendship, civility, or curiosity; -and that I should have offers of acquaintance new and old: but I had -now fixed my plan. I resolved to have no acquaintance by chance, but by -choice; and to choose such only as would help me on my way to heaven. -In consequence of this, I narrowly observed the temper and behaviour of -all that visited me. I saw no reason to think that the greater part of -these truly loved or feared God: therefore, when any of them came to -see me, I behaved as courteously as I could; but to the question, ‘When -will you come to see me?’ I returned no answer. When they had come a -few times, and found I still declined returning the visit, I saw them -no more. And, I bless God, this has been my invariable rule for about -three-score years. I knew many reflections would follow; but that did -not move me, as I knew full well it was my calling to go through evil -report and good report.”[61] - -Thus did Wesley free himself from trifling companions. About the same -time, some one proposed to him a well endowed school in Yorkshire, and -suggested, as an inducement for him to accept it, that it was situated -“in a little vale, so pent up between two hills” that it was scarcely -accessible; a place where he could “expect little company from without, -and within none at all.”[62] This school was either never offered, or, -if it was, the offer was declined. - -Wesley now laid down a plan of study, and closely followed it. Mondays -and Tuesdays he devoted to the Greek and Roman classics, historians and -poets; Wednesdays, to logic and ethics; Thursdays to Hebrew and Arabic; -Fridays to metaphysics and natural philosophy; Saturdays to oratory and -poetry, chiefly composing; and Sundays, to divinity. In intermediate -hours, he perfected himself in the French language, which he had -begun to learn two or three years before; sometimes amused himself -with experiments in optics; and in mathematics studied Euclid, Keil, -and Sir Isaac Newton. First, he read an author regularly through, and -then transcribed into a commonplace book such passages as he thought -important or beautiful. In this way he greatly increased his stock of -knowledge and inured himself to hard working. - -His father was now sixty-five years of age, and was already palsied; -his mother also was in exceedingly ill health; and hence, in August, -1727, he removed to Lincolnshire, for the purpose of officiating as his -father’s curate at Epworth and at Wroote; and here, with the exception -of about three months, he remained until November, 1729. - -The details of this period of two years and a quarter in Wesley’s -history are few. His life at Epworth and Wroote was doubtless the -ordinary every-day sort of life of an earnest country parish clergyman. -Fortunately, one of his sermons, preached during the time that he was -his father’s curate, has been preserved, and is important as showing -how, from the very commencement of his ministry, he rigidly adhered to -the principle of preaching the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but -the truth. The text is 2 Corinthians ii. 17, and the subject of the -sermon is that of “corrupting the word of God.” Among corrupters he -notices:—1. Those who introduce “into it human mixtures, and blend with -the oracles of God impure dreams, fit only for the mouth of the devil.” -2. Those who mix it “with false interpretations.” 3. Those who do not -add to it but take from it, “washing their hands of stubborn texts, -that will not bend to their purposes, or that too plainly touch upon -the reigning vices of the places where they live.” Those who do not -corrupt the word of God “preach it genuine and unmixed,” unimpaired and -in all its fulness. “They speak with plainness and boldness, and are -not concerned to palliate their doctrine to reconcile it to the tastes -of men. They will not, they dare not, soften a threatening so as to -prejudice its strength; neither represent sin in such mild colours as -to impair its native blackness.”[63] - -Here we have Wesley, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, displaying -the same conscientious fidelity and unflinching boldness, which so -strikingly characterized the whole of his future ministry. - -In July, 1728, Wesley repaired to Oxford, where, on Sunday, September -22, he was ordained priest by Dr. Potter, who had ordained him deacon -in 1725. Nine days afterwards, he returned to his curacy at Wroote, -where, as already stated, he continued preaching and fulfilling other -ministerial duties until November 22, 1729. - -What were the results of Wesley’s preaching? Wesley himself shall tell -us. He writes: “I preached much, but saw no fruit of my labour. Indeed, -it could not be that I should; for I neither laid the foundation of -repentance, nor of believing the gospel; taking it for granted that -all to whom I preached were believers, and that many of them needed -no repentance.”[64] Let Christian ministers be admonished. Is it not -a fact—a general, if not universal fact—that where these doctrines -are not preached all other preaching is almost, if not altogether, -useless? Christ’s ministry throughout was in perfect accordance with -its commencement, when following John the Baptist, as His high herald, -He cried, “Repent ye, and believe the gospel.” This kind of preaching -is always useful. Would to God we had more of it at the present day! - -Wroote was a wretched place. Wesley says it was “surrounded with -bogs;”[65] and, according to Samuel, his brother, the parsonage was -roofed with thatch and made lively by the mingled music of “kittens -and whelps,” “pigs and porkets,” “bellowing kine and bleating lambs, -quacking ducks and fluttering hens.” Describing his father’s presence -there, he writes:— - - “Methinks I see you striving all - Who first shall answer to his call, - Or lusty Nan or feeble Moll, - Sage Pat, or sober Hetty; - To rub his cassock’s draggled tail, - Or reach his hat from off the nail, - Or seek the key to draw his ale, - When damsel haps to steal it; - - To burn his pipe, or mend his clothes, - Or nicely darn his russet hose, - For comfort of his aged toes, - So fine they cannot feel it.”[66] - -The church was a small brick building, and the population, even as -late as 1821, was under three hundred. The people were, says Mehetabel -Wesley, “unpolished wights,” as “dull as asses,” and with heads “as -impervious as stones.” - -Such were Wesley’s parish and parishioners—not exactly the place where -a poetical genius and classic scholar was likely to luxuriate; and -yet there is no reason to entertain a doubt that Wesley was happy in -his new sphere of labour. He loved retirement, and here he had it. It -is not improbable that, for many a long year, Wroote would have been -his residence, had not the rector of Lincoln College wished to have -him back to Oxford. This gentleman had rendered such service to the -Wesley family that the venerable father used to say, “I can refuse him -nothing.”[67] Accordingly, the following letter, by Dr. Morley, was -irresistible. - - “_October 21, 1729._ - - “At a meeting of the society, just before I left college, to - consider the proper method to preserve discipline and good - government, it was, in the opinion of all present, judged - necessary that the junior fellows, who should be chosen - moderators, shall in person attend the duties of their office, - if they do not prevail with some of the fellows to officiate - for them. We all thought it would be a great hardship on Mr. - Fenton to call him from a perpetual curacy; yet this we must - have done, had not Mr. Hutchins been so kind to him and us as - to engage to supply his place in the hall for the present year. - Mr. Robinson would as willingly supply yours, but the serving - of two cures, about fourteen miles from Oxford, makes it, he - says, impossible to discharge the duty constantly. We hope - it may be as much for your advantage to reside at college as - where you are, if you take pupils, or can get a curacy in the - neighbourhood of Oxon. Your father may certainly have another - curate, though not so much to his satisfaction; yet we are - persuaded that this will not move him to hinder your return to - college, since the interests of the college and obligation to - statute require it.” - -And so, because Fenton had a perpetual curacy, too good to be given -up; and because Robinson, in his two parishes, had as much work as he -could do, Wesley was forcibly removed from Wroote, and brought back -to Oxford to fulfil his functions as a fellow. No time was lost. He -returned to Oxford on November 22, 1729, and here continued until he -embarked for Georgia on the 14th of October, 1735. - - - - -CHAPTER III. - -_OXFORD METHODISM, ETC._ - - -[Sidenote: 1729 Age 26] - -Wesley returned to Oxford shortly after the coronation of George II. -In some respects this was an age of giants. Bolingbroke, though a rake -and an infidel, was a man of exalted powers and of splendid eloquence. -Walpole, more than any other man, was the means of keeping the British -crown on the heads of the house of Hanover. The Earl of Granville, by -his brilliant talents, raised himself to the highest offices of state; -though, thinking ignorance the best security for obedience, he opposed -the education of the poor, and disliked the propagation of Christ’s -religion in the colonies. Chesterfield was a gambler and a _roué_, but, -as Johnson said, “he was also a wit among lords, and a lord among wits.” - -In the Church, Atterbury, though a Jacobite, passionate, ambitious, -and double dealing, was also talented, learned, and eloquent. Whiston, -though extremely heterodox, was a man of great ability. Gibson, Bishop -of London, was one whose piety was equal to his erudition. Hoadly, -Bishop of Winchester, has, not without reason, been pronounced “the -greatest dissenter that ever wore a mitre.” Sherlock was famous for his -pulpit power. The head of Waterland was “an immense library, where the -treasures of learning were arranged in such exact order that whatever -he or his friends wanted he could produce at once.” To these might be -added Butler, Secker, Warburton, and others. - -Among the Dissenters we find Edmund Calamy, Isaac Watts, Nathaniel -Lardner, and Philip Doddridge. - -Among men of science and of letters, Edmund Halley was exploring the -starry heavens; and Sir Hans Sloane was revelling among the plants -and flowers of earth. Nicholas Saunderson, blind from childhood, was -lecturing upon optics; Roubiliac was making marble almost breathe, and -Handel composing his immortal oratorios. Tindal was pouring out his -streams of erudite infidelity. Daniel De Foe was still living. Bentley -was at the zenith of his literary fame. Jonathan Swift was playing the -part of a clever ecclesiastical buffoon. Edward Young was pondering -poetry among the tombs of his own churchyard. Pope was employing his -accomplished genius, surrounded by the beauties of his lovely retreat -at Twickenham. Gay was composing comedies with more ability than -ambition. Richardson, afterwards the novelist, was writing “indexes, -prefaces, and honest dedications.” Savage was penning beautiful ideas -amid tavern riots and cellar filth. Thomson, so lazy as to be a fit -occupant for his own “Castle of Indolence,” was suffering his eye to -roll in a fine frenzy among the beauties of the “Seasons;” and Samuel -Johnson was preparing himself to be the Jupiter of letters, and to rule -the literary world. - -Greatness unfortunately does not always give birth to goodness. -“Never,” says a modern writer,[68] “has century risen on Christian -England so void of soul and faith as that which opened with Queen Anne, -and which reached its misty noon beneath the second George—a dewless -night succeeded by a sunless dawn. There was no freshness in the -past, and no promise in the future. The Puritans were buried, and the -Methodists were not born. The philosopher of the age was Bolingbroke, -the moralist was Addison, the minstrel was Pope, and the preacher was -Atterbury. The world had the idle, discontented look of the morning -after some mad holiday, and, like rocket-sticks and the singed paper -from last night’s squibs, the spent jokes of Charles and Rochester lay -all about, and people yawned to look at them. The reign of buffoonery -was past, but the reign of faith and earnestness had not commenced.” - -Let it not be said that this is modern imagination. Bishops are, or -ought to be, sober minded men, and to one of these we refer the reader -for a testimony concerning the moral and religious state of England -during the period of which we are now writing. The Bishop of Lichfield, -in 1724, in a sermon before the Society for the Reformation of Manners, -said:— - -“The Lord’s day is now the devil’s market day. More lewdness, more -drunkenness, more quarrels and murders, more sin is contrived and -committed on this day than on all the other days of the week together. -Strong liquors are become the epidemic distemper of this great city. -More of the common people die of consumptions, fevers, dropsies, -cholics, palsies, and apoplexies, contracted by the immoderate use of -brandies and distilled waters, than of all other distempers besides, -arising from other causes. Sin, in general, is grown so hardened -and rampant, as that immoralities are defended, yea, justified on -principle. Obscene, wanton, and profane books find so good a market as -to encourage the trade of publishing them. Every kind of sin has found -a writer to teach and vindicate it, and a bookseller and hawker to -divulge and spread it.” - -These were not rash and random statements. From the report of the -society before which the bishop preached, it appears that in that very -year, 1724, the society had prosecuted not fewer than 2723 persons -for lewd, profane, drunken, and gambling practices; and that during -the last thirty-three years the number of their prosecutions had been -89,393. - -From the literature of the period, we learn that gin-drinking in -the great towns of England had become a mania; the sellers of this -pernicious spirit announcing on their signboards that they would make -a man drunk for a penny, and find him straw on which to lie till he -recovered the use of his lost faculties. In 1736 every sixth house in -London was a licensed grogshop, and parliament, to check the evil, -enacted that all intoxicating spirits should pay a duty of £1 per -gallon, and every victualler £50 per annum for his licence. - -In the higher classes of society, the taint left by Charles II and his -licentious court still festered. Among the lower classes, laziness -and dishonesty were next to universal. Superstition flourished almost -as vigorously as it had done in the middle ages, and nearly every -old mansion in England was haunted by a ghost, and almost every -parish tormented by a witch. In the metropolis, Ranelagh and Vauxhall -were the resorts of thousands, of the upper strata of society; and -puppetshows, hops, balls, prize-fights, merry meetings, cockfights, and -badger-baitings furnished entertainment for the masses. In the rural -districts, rustic squires found their greatest enjoyment in hunting -foxes, and in gorging venison, and guzzling sack; while the peasantry -relieved the monotony of their daily toils at wakes and fairs, and in -wrestling, cudgel playing, and foot racing. - -Extravagance was the order of the day. Scarcely one family in ten -kept within its income. The grand controversy then, as now, was, who -should _out-dress_, _out-drink_, or _out-eat_ his neighbour. Citizens -and young tradesmen, whose ancestors would have fainted at the sight -of drawing-rooms, were the chief visitors at plays and masquerades; -and even shopkeepers were seen wearing long wigs and swords, velvet -breeches and hunting caps. Families, who were oftentimes resolved -into committees on ways and means to pay a butcher’s bill, paraded -themselves in attire the most pompous, and adorned with the richest -brocades and jewels. London swarmed with ruined rakes and broken -traders, who contrived to live in the best society by reciting scraps -of poetry, singing licentious songs, and retailing drunken puns and -quibbles. In fact, all ranks and classes seemed to be corrupted to the -core. “A sinful nation, a people laden with iniquity, a seed of evil -doers; children that are corrupters; the whole head is sick, and the -whole heart faint; from the sole of the foot even unto the head, there -is no soundness in it, but wounds, bruises, and putrifying sores.” - -What was done to improve this state of things? From a report of the -charity schools, we learn that, in 1715, there were, throughout the -kingdom, 1193 schools for the education of the children of the poor, -containing 26,920 scholars. In other words, and to say nothing of other -churches, there are at present in the Wesleyan-Methodist day-schools of -England four times more scholars than there were in all the schools for -primary education throughout the kingdom in 1715. - -Turning from schools to churches, there is no amelioration of the dark -picture. The Church, which ought to have reformed the nation, needed -to be reformed itself. The Dissenters complained of their ministers -conforming to the Establishment, but comforted themselves with thinking -that the apostates were mainly young fops and dandies. The three -Dissenting denominations, Presbyterians, Independents, and Baptists, -considered themselves the great barriers to the doctrine of passive -obedience to the crown, and of submission to the priestly encroachments -of the Church. They maintained that they had greatly contributed to -the interests of the Protestant succession, and had promoted a better -observance of the sabbath, and the more frequent preaching of the high -church clergy; but still they lamented that numbers of their ministers -were immoral, negligent, and insufficient; that they devoted too much -time to the fashionable study of the classics, and read their sermons -instead of preaching them. They also complained of their children -being sent to high church schools, and of the artful caballing of -their congregations in appointing ministers to vacant pastorates. (See -“Observations upon the Present State of the Dissenting Interest.” -London: 1731.) - -The clergy of the Established Church! What of them? Bishop Burnet, in -1713, wrote: “Our ember weeks are the burden and grief of my life. The -much greater part of those who come to be ordained are ignorant to a -degree not to be apprehended by those who are not obliged to know it. -The easiest part of knowledge is that to which they are the greatest -strangers; I mean the plainest parts of the Scriptures. They can give -no account, or at least a very imperfect one, of the contents even of -the gospels, or of the catechism itself.” - -This is a doleful picture, but there was more than this. The -dissensions in the Church of England then were quite as violent as -dissensions now. The high church clergy were moral, and many of them -talented and learned, but they were as intolerant as intolerance could -make them. Of course, they held that none were ministers of Christ -except those who had been _episcopally_ ordained; and hence they held -that all sacraments administered by Dissenters were invalid, and all -Dissenting churches in a state of sin and damnation. They boldly -preached the doctrine of a proper sacrifice being made in the Christian -eucharist, and most furiously contended for the Divine right of kings, -and the kindred dogma of passive obedience. Many of them, in heart at -least, were Jacobites, and, while promising allegiance, regarded King -George as a usurper, and branded those of their brethren who differed -from them with opprobrium. Endless were the pamphlets published, and -fierce were the feuds of those who ought to have dwelt together in -unity. The foulest sins were made sinless by intemperate zeal for the -Pretender, and the fairest virtues were besmeared in those who showed a -friendly feeling for Dissenters. A man might be drunken and quarrelsome -all the week, but if on Sunday he bowed to the altar and cursed King -William he was esteemed a saint. He might cheat everybody, and pay -nobody, but if he drank health to the royal orphan, hated King George, -and abhorred the Whigs, his want of probity was a peccadillo scarce -worth noticing. On the other hand, a man might be learned, diligent, -devout, and useful, but if he opposed the Pretender and Popery, or if -he thought the Dissenters should not be damned, he was at once set down -as heterodox, and, according to his importance, became a target for the -poisoned shafts of high church malice. - -Such, in brief, was the state of things when God raised up the -Methodists. The court of England was corrupt to its very core, and -the people were too faithful imitators of a bad example. Popery was -intriguing, Dissenters were declining, and the Church was full of fiery -and drunken feuds. Reformers, like the Methodists, were needed. Without -them, or others of a kindred spirit, the nation must have sunk into an -inconceivable depth of depravity, and social and political degradation. -In estimating the benefits which have accrued from the great Methodist -movement, the reader must think not only of the good effected but of -the ill averted. - -Methodism arose in Oxford, and not before it was needed, even there. -When Wesley returned to the university in 1729, the vice-chancellor, -the heads of houses and proctors, issued an edict, which was posted in -most of the college halls, to the effect that certain members of the -university had of late been in danger of being corrupted by the wicked -and blasphemous notions of the advocates of pretended human reason -against Divine revelation; and that therefore it was a matter of the -utmost consequence that the college tutors should use double diligence -in explaining to their respective pupils the articles of religion and -their Christian duty, and in recommending to them the frequent and -careful reading of the Scriptures, and such other books as might serve -more effectually the orthodox faith and sound principles. - -The Dean of Christ Church, however, where Charles Wesley was a tutor, -was so much a friend to infidelity, that he forbade the posting of this -edict in his college hall, forgetting that there was One higher than -himself, who, in that very college, had already begun to raise one of -the strongest barriers against the spread of this pernicious evil. - -A few months afterwards, on the 4th of July, 1730, it was announced -in _Fogg’s Weekly Journal_, that one of the principal colleges in -Oxford had of late been infested with Deists, and that three Deistical -students had been expelled, and a fourth had had his degree deferred -two years, during which he was to be closely confined in college, and, -among other things, was to translate Leslie’s “Short and Easy Method -with the Deists.” - -Wesley was now a tutor in Lincoln College, and presided in the hall -as Moderator in the disputations, six of which were held weekly; and, -by this, he acquired the remarkable expertness in arguing, and in -discerning and pointing out well concealed and plausible fallacies, -which distinguished him to the end of life. He writes: “In November, -1729, the then Rector of Lincoln College, Dr. Morley, sent for me -to Oxford, to take pupils, eleven of whom he put under my care -immediately. In this employ I continued[69] till 1735, when I went as -a _missioner_ to Georgia.” Several of Wesley’s pupils were among the -first Oxford Methodists. - -The Methodist movement, however, was begun not by Wesley, but by his -brother Charles. When the latter was elected to Christ Church, in 1726, -he was a sprightly, rollicking young fellow, with more genius than -grace; John spoke to him about religion, but Charles answered, “What, -would you have me to be a saint all at once!” This was an unfavourable -beginning; but, while John was serving as his father’s curate at -Epworth and at Wroote, Charles began to attend the weekly sacrament, -and induced two or three other students to attend with him. On John’s -return from Lincolnshire, he heartily united with his brother and his -friends. The regularity of their behaviour led a young collegian to -call them Methodists; and “as the name,” says Wesley, “was new and -quaint, it clave to them immediately, and, from that time, all that had -any connection with them were thus distinguished.”[70] - -The name was not new. Wesley says “it was given in allusion to an -ancient sect of physicians, of the time of the Emperor Nero, who taught -that almost all diseases might be cured by a specific _method_ of diet -and exercise.”[71] This might be so, and yet it is a curious fact that -the name was in use in England long before it was applied to Wesley and -his friends. In 1693 a pamphlet was published with the title, “A War -among the Angels of the Churches: wherein is shewed the Principles of -the New Methodists in the great point of Justification. By a Country -Professor of Jesus Christ.” And even as early as 1639, in a sermon -preached at Lambeth the following perfumed eloquence occurs:—“Where are -now our Anabaptists, and plain pack-staff Methodists, who esteem all -flowers of rhetoric in sermons no better than stinking weeds, and all -elegance of speech no better than profane spells?” - -The two young gentlemen who, with Wesley and his brother Charles, were -first called Methodists, were Robert Kirkham, already mentioned on -a previous page, and William Morgan.[72] To these were subsequently -added, George Whitefield, John Clayton, J. Broughton, Benjamin Ingham, -James Hervey, John Whitelamb, Westley Hall, John Gambold, Charles -Kinchin, William Smith, and Messrs. Salmon, Wogan, Boyce, Atkinson, and -others.[73] - -What shall we say of these Oxford Methodists? - -William Morgan’s career was brief and painful; he was the first -Methodist who passed the pearly gates of the celestial city. Charles -Kinchin, a lovely character, soon followed him. Charles Wesley, in -his incomparable hymns, left behind him one of the noblest legacies -that an uninspired man ever bequeathed to the Christian church. George -Whitefield was the prince of preachers—a glorious emblem of the -apocalyptic angel flying through the midst of heaven with the good -tidings of great joy unto all people. And James Hervey will be loved -and honoured as long as there are men to appreciate the highest order -of Christian piety and the most mellifluent compositions in the English -language. - -The history of the Oxford Methodists is not, however, an unspotted -one. Clayton’s high churchism was not an excellency to be admired. -Broughton’s usefulness was crippled and cut short by his imperfect, -stunted, stereotyped views of Christian truth. Westley Hall, though -we hope he died a penitent, was, throughout the greatest part of his -vicious life, an unmitigated scamp. John Whitelamb sunk down into an -ecclesiastical village drone. Gambold, though good, was visionary, and -throughout life was injured by his Moravian maggots. And Ingham, for -many years one of the most successful of evangelists, through the ill -judged connections that he formed, died beneath a cloud. But, with -all these drawbacks, the reader is challenged to produce a band of -godly friends, whose lives and labours have, upon the whole, issued -in such an amount of blessing to mankind as that which has resulted -from the lives and labours of the students who, in 1735, were known -as “Oxford Methodists.” They were widely scattered; their views were -different; they were often brought into painful collision with each -other; but, with the one or two exceptions mentioned, they were all -sincere, earnest, laborious, successful ministers of Christ; and five -or six of them must for ever occupy a high position in the history of -the Christian church. Clayton shunned the Wesleys; Broughton opposed -them; Ingham left them; Hervey, though with Christian courtesy, wrote -against them; Gambold, at one period, hesitated not to say that he was -ashamed of them; and even Whitefield, for a little while, was alienated -from them; but we earnestly hope and have little doubt that they have -all long been re-united in that blessed world where friends are free -from misconceptions, and where the din of controversial strife does not -exist—a world where all churches are merged into one grand Church, the -members of which make one vast, happy, and harmonious family, and sing -in the same ceaseless tune the same great song for ever—the song of -Moses and of the Lamb. - -Of the Methodists, three were tutors in colleges; and the rest were -bachelors of arts, or undergraduates. All were of one judgment and -of one heart; and all tenacious of order to the last degree, and -observant, for conscience sake, of every rule of the Church, and every -statute both of the university and of their respective colleges. They -all thought themselves orthodox in every point, firmly believing, not -only the three creeds, but whatsoever they judged to be the doctrine -of the Church of England, as contained in her articles and homilies. -Practically, they had all things common; and no one was allowed to want -what another had the ability to spare.[74] Wesley was nicknamed “the -Curator of the Holy Club,” and not a few branded him a “crack-brained -enthusiast”; and yet others acknowledged that though his views and -doctrines were peculiar his piety was unimpeachable; and Mr. Gerard, -the bishop’s chaplain, dared to express an opinion to George Lascelles, -one of his revilers, that he “would one day be a standard-bearer of -the Cross, either in his own country or beyond the seas.”[75] Charles -Wesley paid the utmost deference to his brother, and all the Methodists -acknowledged his fitness to be their chief director. This was not -surprising, for, confessedly, he had more learning and experience than -the others; and was blessed with such activity and steadiness that -he was always gaining ground, and losing none. Every affair was well -considered before he propounded it, and all his decisions were made in -the fear of God, without passion, or self-confidence. His countenance -also wore an air of authority; and yet there was no assumption of -super-eminence; but all were allowed to speak their minds with the -utmost freedom, and no one was a more respectful listener than himself. -Hence it was, that, whatever proposals he submitted, they were readily -adopted, and the brotherhood was as perfect as unity of sentiment and -feeling could make it. - -Every night they met together,[76] to review what each had done -during the day, and to consult what should be done the day following; -their meetings always commencing with prayer, and ending with a frugal -supper. Their plans of action were various. Some conversed with young -students, and endeavoured to rescue them from evil company, and to -encourage them in a sober and studious life. Others undertook the -instruction and relief of impoverished families; others the charge of -some particular school, and others of the parish workhouse. Some or -other of them went daily to the Castle, and to the city prison, reading -in the chapel, to as many of the prisoners as would attend, books -like the “Christian Monitor” and the “Country Parson’s Advice to his -Parishioners,” and then summing up the reading in a few sentences easy -to be remembered. On the introduction of a new prisoner, they would -subject him to the most searching examination as to whether he bore -malice towards his prosecutors or others, and whether he repented of -his sins, and used private prayer, and received the sacrament. Out of -their own scanty means, and by quarterly contributions from others, -they raised a fund to purchase books, medicines, and other necessaries -for the prisoners, and to release those who were confined for debts -of small amount. They read prayers at the Castle on most Wednesdays -and Fridays, preached a sermon to the prisoners every Sunday, and -administered the sacrament once a month. One of the schools which they -visited was a school which Wesley himself had founded, the mistress -of which he paid, and some, if not all, of the children of which he -clothed. - -In all this the world saw nought but oddity and folly, and called these -hardworking and godly students “Bible bigots,” and “Bible moths;” -but, in the midst of all, Wesley calmly pursued the path which he had -marked out for himself and his friends. Gambold, in a letter written -whilst Wesley was in Georgia, tells us that Wesley at Oxford was always -cheerful but never arrogant. By strict watchfulness, he beat down the -impetuosity of his nature into a childlike simplicity. His piety was -nourished by continual communion with God, for he thought prayer to -be his greatest duty; and often did Gambold see him come out of his -closet of devotion with a serenity of countenance that was next to -shining. The secret consolations of God seldom left him, and never -but in a posture of strong and longsuffering faith. In him there were -no idle cravings, no chagrin or sickliness of spirit. Slanders never -ruffled him, and his chief fear was lest he should grow proud of this -conformity to his great Master. Coming home from long journeys, where -he had been in different companies, he would calmly resume his usual -employments, as if he had never left them. Himself setting an example, -he urged upon his associates method, diligence, and early rising. His -hours for private devotion were from five to six o’clock every morning -and every night. Every day he noted in a diary what had been his chief -employments; and one day every week he set apart for writing letters to -his friends.[77] - -His charity to the poor was limited only by the means at his command. -One cold winter’s day, he tells us, a young girl, whom the Methodists -kept at school, called upon him in a state nearly frozen, to whom he -said, “You seem half-starved; have you nothing to wear but that linen -gown?” The poor girl said, “Sir, this is all I have.” Wesley put his -hand in his pocket, but found it nearly empty. The walls of his chamber -however were hung with pictures, and these now became his accusers. -“It struck me,” says he, “will thy Master say, ‘Well done, good and -faithful steward’? thou hast adorned thy walls with the money which -might have screened this poor creature from the cold! O Justice! O -Mercy! Are not these pictures the blood of this poor maid?”[78] To -say the least, this story shows the intense conscientiousness of the -man, and his dread of spending anything upon himself which might have -been spent more properly upon the poor. He says it was the practice of -all the Oxford Methodists to give away each year all they had after -providing for their own necessities; and then, as an illustration, he -adds, in reference to himself, “One of them had thirty pounds a year. -He lived on twenty-eight, and gave away forty shillings. The next year -receiving sixty pounds, he still lived on twenty-eight, and gave away -thirty-two. The third year he received ninety pounds, and gave away -sixty-two. The fourth year he received a hundred and twenty pounds; -still he lived as before on twenty-eight, and gave to the poor all the -rest.”[79] - -Wesley at Oxford was as conscientious in the use of time as he was in -the use of money. Finding that he awoke every night about twelve or -one o’clock, he concluded that this arose from his lying longer in bed -than nature needed; and, to satisfy himself, he procured an alarum -which aroused him next morning at seven, an hour earlier than he rose -the day previous; but still he lay awake again at night. The second -morning his alarum roused him up at six; and the third at five; but -notwithstanding this he still lay awake when he ought to have been fast -asleep. The fourth morning, by means of his alarum, he got up at four, -and now wakefulness was unknown to him. Sixty years after adopting this -expedient to ascertain how much sleep his nature needed, he wrote, “By -the grace of God, I have risen at four o’clock ever since; and, taking -the year round, I don’t lie awake a quarter of an hour together in a -month.”[80] - -The Bible now, as ever afterwards, was Wesley’s book of books. -He writes: “In 1729, I began not only to read, but to study, the -Bible, as the one, the only standard of truth, and the only model -of pure religion. Hence, I saw, in a clearer and clearer light, the -indispensable necessity of having ‘the mind which was in Christ,’ -and of ‘walking as Christ also walked.’ I considered religion as an -entire inward and outward conformity to our Master. Nor was I afraid of -anything more than of bending this rule to the experience of myself, or -of other men; or of allowing myself in any the least disconformity to -our grand Exemplar.”[81] - -Such was Wesley in 1729. What about his friends? To some extent, -their principles and practice may be learnt from the scheme of -self-examination they adopted. They tried to act upon the principle -of doing nothing without a previous perception that it was the will -of God. Every morning and every evening they spent an hour in private -prayer. They always prayed in going in and out of church. Three days -every week, though separate from each other, they, at the same hour, -prayed in concert. In secret devotion they frequently stopped short to -observe if they were using proper fervour, and, before concluding in -the name of Christ, they adverted to the Saviour now interceding on -their behalf at the right hand of God, and offering up their prayers. -They habituated themselves to the use of ejaculations for humility, -faith, hope, and love; used a collect every day at nine, twelve, and -three o’clock; and each one said aloud, in his own room, a grace -before and after eating. They embraced every possible opportunity of -doing good, and of preventing, removing, or lessening evil. They tried -to spend an hour every day in speaking to men directly on religious -things, never relinquishing the objects of their attention till -they were positively repelled, and always, before addressing them, -trying to learn, as far as possible, their tempers, way of life, and -peculiar hindrances. In order to converse usefully, they planned every -conversation before they went into company; and considered what subject -would be most useful, and how to prosecute it.[82] They persuaded all -they could to attend public prayers, sermons, and sacraments; and, -in general, to obey the laws of the church catholic, the Church of -England, the state, the university, and their respective colleges. -They refrained from thinking or speaking unkindly of any one; and used -intercession for their friends on Sundays, for their pupils on Mondays, -for those who particularly desired it on Wednesdays and Fridays, -and for the family with whom they lodged every day.[83] They also -communicated at Christ Church once a week.[84] - -They had one, and only one, rule of judgment, with regard to all their -tempers, words, and actions—namely, the oracles of God, and were one -and all determined to be Bible Christians. The book which, next to the -holy Scripture, was of the greatest use to them, in settling their -judgment as to the grand point of justification by faith, was the Book -of Homilies.[85] - -They were tenacious, not only of all the doctrines of the Church of -England, but of all her discipline, to the minutest points, and were -scrupulously strict in observing the rubrics and canons. In short, -“they were,” says Wesley, “in the strongest sense, high churchmen.”[86] - -Many of their proceedings were ecclesiastically irregular, though -religiously right; and Wesley, fearful of doing evil even while doing -good, wrote to his brother Samuel and to his father for advice. Samuel -replied that, though there might be some things concerning which he was -dubious, yet he would choose to follow his two brothers to the grave -rather than they should abandon their course of piety, and especially -that relating to the prisoners in the Castle.[87] The venerable rector, -in his reply, said, “As to your designs and employments, what can I say -less than _Valde probo_; and that I have the highest reason to bless -God that He has given me two sons together at Oxford, to whom He has -granted grace and courage to turn the war against the world and the -devil?” At the same time, however, he advised them to obtain consent -to visit the prisoners from the chaplain, who had charge of them, and -likewise to seek the approbation of their bishop. This advice was -adopted; the chaplain commended their design; and the bishop expressed -himself as highly pleased with their undertaking.[88] - -At the commencement of the year 1730, Wesley had the offer of a curacy, -eight miles from Oxford, for three or for six months, at the rate of -£30 a year; and this he readily accepted, not only because it opened to -him a field of usefulness, but also because it enabled him to retain -his horse, when he began to feel that he must sell it; for if he had -not a horse of his own he must hire one to ride to his cure on Sundays, -and the _hire_ would be quite as expensive as the _keep_.[89] - -It was in the same year that he begun his remarkable correspondence -with Mary Granville, afterwards the celebrated wife and widow of the -Very Rev. Dr. Delany, Dean of Down, in Ireland. Mary Granville, while -living in Gloucestershire, became acquainted with Sarah, daughter of -the Rev. Lionel Kirkham, of Staunton; and, ever after, the two ladies -were the most devoted friends.[90] We have already seen that Wesley was -a visitor of the Kirkhams; and that, in 1726, a warm-hearted intimacy -existed between him and one of the young ladies of that family, whose -pet name, among her friends, was “Varanese.” It is almost certain -that it was here Wesley was first introduced to the remarkable woman -above-mentioned. Their correspondence with each other was conducted -in feigned names, Wesley calling himself “Cyrus,” and Mary Granville -calling herself “Aspasia,” that being the name by which she was often -designated by her most intimate acquaintance.[91] The first letter from -“Aspasia” is dated “August 28th, 1730.” She writes:— - - “SIR,—I think myself extremely obliged to you for the favour of - the sermon and the letters. I received them safe last week, and - should sooner have made my acknowledgments for them, but that - I have been engaged with so much company since my return from - dear, delightful Staunton, that, till this moment, I have not - had time to express my gratitude for the elegant entertainment - I have had, not only from the manuscripts, but in recollecting - and repeating the conversation you and your brother made so - agreeable, which I hope will soon be renewed. If you have any - affairs that call you to Gloucester, don’t forget that you have - two pupils, who are desirous of improving their understanding; - and that friendship has already taught them to be, sir, your - most sincere, humble servants. My companion joins me in all I - have said, as well as in service to Araspes.”[92] - -The companion referred to was probably Mary Granville’s mother (with -whom also Wesley corresponded),[93] or her beloved friend, Sarah -Kirkham. Araspes was most likely a feigned name for Wesley’s brother -Charles. On the fly-leaf of the letter there is a postscript, in the -handwriting of Mary Granville’s sister, whose pet name was Selina, -telling Wesley that Aspasia was about to visit Bath, and that, if he -designed to wait upon her, he had best write to her to ascertain her -movements. He is further told that “Varanese” (see Robert Kirkham’s -letter, p. 50) had sent him a letter by the carrier about a fortnight -ago, and wished to know whether it had come safe to hand. - -Mary Granville, at this period, was the widow of Alexander Pendarves, -Esq., and was three years older than Wesley. As a member of the -Lansdowne family, she had moved in the most fashionable circles -of London society, and was now a frequent attendant at ridottos, -masquerades, operas, and other amusements: but, in the midst of all, -she maintained an unblemished character; evinced talents and virtues of -an exceedingly high order; was received at court during each successive -reign; and, to the day of her death, was honoured with the notice and -confidence of George III. and his Queen Charlotte. Are we justified -in inferring, from the language employed in the postscript of the -above letter, that Wesley was thinking of making Mary Granville (or -rather Mrs. Pendarves) his wife? Or that there was some intrigue among -his friends, to bring about an interview at Bath, and to initiate a -correspondence which might ripen into something more than an ordinary -intimacy between friends? A correspondence was now begun which lasted -for four years, from August 1730 to July 1734. Mrs. Pendarves, however, -remained in widowhood until 1743, when she married Dr. Delany. A few -extracts, from some of Wesley’s letters to this distinguished lady, may -cast some light upon the questions we have ventured to suggest, and -will also help to illustrate his character at this important period of -his history. - - “_November 25, 1730._ - - “O that our friendship (since you give me leave to use that - dear word) may be built on a firm foundation. For want of - humility, I cannot follow you as I would. I must be left behind - in the race of virtue. I am sick of pride: it quite weighs my - spirit down. O, pray for me, that I may be healed. I have the - greater dependence on your intercession, because you know what - you ask. Every line of your last shows the heart of the writer, - where, with friendship, dwells humility. Ours, dear Aspasia, - it is to make acknowledgments; upon us lie the obligations of - gratitude. If it be a fault to have too harmonious a soul, - too exquisite a sense of elegant, generous transports, then, - indeed, I must own there is an obvious fault both in Selina - and Aspasia. If not, I fancy one may easily reconcile whatever - they think or act to the strictest reason; unless it be their - entertaining so favourable a thought of their most obliged and - most faithful—CYRUS.” - - “_Innocents’ Day, 1730._ - - “Should one, who was as my own soul, be torn from me, it would - be best for me. Surely if you were called first, mine eyes - ought not to overflow because all tears were wiped away from - yours. But I much doubt whether self-love would not be found - too strong for a friendship, which I even now find to be less - disinterested than I hitherto imagined. Is it a fault to desire - to recommend myself to those who so strongly recommend virtue - to me? Tell me, Aspasia,—tell me, Selina,—if it be a fault that - my heart burns within me, when I reflect on the many marks of - regard you have already shown.” - -Aspasia made an inquiry of Wesley, couched in the following terms:— - - “Every Sunday evening, a gentleman in this town has a concert - of music. I am invited there to-night, and design to go. I - charge you, on the friendship you have professed for me, to - tell me your sincere opinion about it, and all your objections. - For, if I am in error by going, you ought to prevent my doing - so again.” - -Wesley replied:— - - “Far be it from me to think that any circumstance of life - shall ever give the enemy an advantage over Aspasia. He, who - has overcome the world and its princes, shall give His angels - charge over her to keep her in all her ways. - - “To judge whether any action be lawful on the sabbath or no, - we are to consider whether it advances the end for which the - sabbath was ordained. Now, the end for which the sabbath was - ordained is the attainment of holiness. Whatever, therefore, - tends to advance this end is lawful on this day. Whatever does - not tend to advance this end is not lawful on this day.” - -Mary Granville spent the summer of 1731 principally in London, and, to -a great extent, in the family of Richard Colley, Esq., who, three years -before, had succeeded to the estates of his cousin Garrett Wesley, -Esq., of the county of Meath, and had assumed the name and arms of -Wesley, and who, in 1746, was created Baron of Mornington. One day -would be spent in boating upon the Thames, the Duchess of Ancaster -affording them high amusement by singing, or rather catterwauling, -a piece out of the “Beggars’ Opera”; the next day in witnessing the -working of her friend Wesley’s orrery, and in representing Lady -Shelburn at the baptism of a baby; another day in a jaunt to Greenwich. -Then we find her attending court; and then sitting by the side of -Hogarth, while painting a picture of the Wesley family, and obtaining a -promise that he would give her instructions in drawing. In the midst of -all this fashionable, fluttering kind of life, John Wesley, at Oxford, -was writing her frequent letters. - -Under the date of June 19, he says:— - - “If Providence has used me as an instrument of doing any good - to Aspasia, I had almost said, ‘I have my reward.’ The thought - of having added anything to your ease will make many of my - hours the happier. I am extremely glad to find you among those - few who are yet concerned for the honour of their Master; and - cannot but congratulate you upon your wise choice. ‘If we - suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him,’” - -A month later, he writes:— - - “I have been charged with being _too strict_; with carrying - things too far in religion, and laying burdens upon myself, - if not on others, which are neither necessary nor possible - to be borne. Do not blame me, Aspasia, for using every means - to find whether I am thus guilty or no; and particularly for - appealing to the judgment of one who, in this, is not likely - to be prejudiced in my favour. Those among whom your lot is - chiefly cast are not accused of too much strictness. Whatever - other ill weeds may flourish there, a court is not a fit soil - for these. Give me leave, then, to lay freely before you what - my sentiments in this point are, and to conjure you to tell me - which of them you disapprove.” - -By return of post, on July 21, Aspasia answers:— - - “The imputation thrown upon you is a most extraordinary one. - But such is the temper of the world, when you have no vice to - feed their spleen with, they will condemn the highest virtue. - O Cyrus, how noble a defence you make! and how are you adorned - with the beauty of holiness! You really are in a state to be - envied. How ardently do I wish to be as resigned and humble - as yourself. As you say, my lot is fallen among those who - cannot be accused of too much strictness in religion; so far - from that, they generally make an open profession of having no - religion at all; and I cannot observe my fellow-creatures in - such manifest danger without feeling an inexpressible concern.” - -Three days later, on July 24, Wesley writes:— - - “I am extremely happy in having your approbation, where I am - most careful to be approved. Give me the censure of the many, - the praise of the few. I have all the advantages that outward - circumstances can afford. _I_ spend, day by day, many hours - in those employments that have a direct tendency to improve - me. _You_ can rarely have one, wherein to pursue that great - work with the full bent of your mind. _I_ have scarce any - acquaintance in the world, who is not either apt to teach or - willing to learn. _You_ are entangled among several who can - plead for themselves little more than that they do no hurt. And - would to God even that plea would hold! I much fear it will - not. Is it no hurt to rob you of your time, for which there is - no equivalent but eternity? Must Aspasia ever submit to this - insupportable misfortune? Every time a gay wretch wants to - trifle away a part of that invaluable treasure which God has - lent him, shall he force away also a part of hers? Surely there - is a way to escape. The God whom you serve point it out to - you!”[94] - -Aspasia, in other words Mrs. Delany, spent the winter of 1731 in -Ireland. On the 11th of March, 1732, writing to her sister from Dublin, -she says:— - - “Cyrus, by this time, has blotted me out of his memory, or, - if he does remember me, it can only be to reproach me. What - can I say for myself, in having neglected so extraordinary a - correspondent? I only am the sufferer, but I should be very - sorry to have him think my silence proceeded from negligence. I - declare it is want of time.”[95] - -Twelve months after this, while still in Ireland, in another letter to -her sister, she remarks:— - - “As for the ridicule Cyrus has been exposed to, I do not at all - wonder at it. Religion, in its plainest dress, suffers daily - from the insolence and ignorance of the world; then how should - that person escape, who dares to appear openly in its cause? He - will meet with all the mortifications such rebels are able to - give, which can be no other than that of finding them wilfully - blinding themselves, and running headlong into the gulf of - perdition; a melancholy prospect for the honest-hearted man who - earnestly desires the salvation of his fellow-creatures.”[96] - -Here we close these specimens of correspondence. How are they to be -interpreted? When begun, John Wesley was a young man, twenty-seven -years of age, a fellow and tutor of a college, profoundly pious, and -the leader of the Oxford Methodists. His fair correspondent was a -young widow, only three years older than himself, the niece of Lord -Lansdowne, opulent, talented, accomplished, beautiful, a favourite at -court, and an intimate friend of the gentleman who had succeeded to -the estates of Garrett Wesley, who had wished to make Wesley’s brother -Charles his heir.[97] Did Wesley correspond with Aspasia merely for the -improvement of himself in piety and knowledge? And did she correspond -with Wesley merely because she sympathised with the principles and -practices of the Oxford Methodists? To say the least, this is extremely -doubtful. Mary Granville was a talented and accomplished woman, but, -in that respect, Wesley was greatly her superior. She was moral, -and, upon the whole, religious; but her life, among her aristocratic -friends, was fluttering and empty when compared with the intensely -religious life of Wesley and his friends at Oxford. The correspondence -is a puzzle. There is nothing that is sickly or merely sentimental; -but, on both sides, there is an endearment which perplexes. Was Wesley -enamoured? And was he groping his way to something else than ordinary -friendship? Did Mary Granville experience a reciprocity of feeling? And -was the reproach, which began to be heaped upon the Oxford Methodists, -the means of quenching it? We know not. But, supposing such conjectures -to be true, what then? Was Wesley inconsistent with his principles, or -unpardonably ambitious in longing for such an alliance? Or did Mary -Granville at all demean herself in reciprocating Wesley’s feelings? -We think otherwise. Mary Granville ultimately married Patrick Delany, -who, except that he had become rich by already marrying a wealthy -widow, was, in no respect, the superior of John Wesley; and, in point -of birth, was greatly his inferior; for, while the one was a son of an -eminently learned clergyman of the Established Church, the other was -the son of a servant to an Irish judge. The suspicions above mentioned -are reasonable, though perhaps not true; and they naturally lead the -contemplative reader to inquire, if Cyrus had married Aspasia, would -Oxford Methodism have grown into what it afterwards became? If, to use -Wesley’s words, Charles Wesley had “a fair escape” when he declined to -become Garrett Wesley’s heir, had not Wesley himself “a fair escape” -when his letters to the intimate friend of Garrett Wesley’s successor -ended as they did? - -This is an episode. We return to the Methodism of the Oxford Methodists. - -In 1731, Wesley and his brother began the practice of conversing with -each other in Latin when by themselves, and this they continued to the -end of life. In the same year, a meeting was held by several of the -senior graduates, to consult on the readiest way to stop the progress -of the Methodist movement; and it was soon publicly reported that the -censors were about to blow up the _Godly Club_. In April, Wesley, -accompanied by his brother, set out on foot for Epworth; and, after -a three weeks’ visit walked the same distance back, having made two -discoveries: 1. That four or five and twenty miles is an easy and safe -day’s journey in hot weather as well as cold; and, 2. That it was easy -to read as they walked, for a distance of ten or a dozen miles, without -feeling either faint or weary. By this lengthened pedestrian tour they -had been freed from all superfluous humours, and were not now in the -slightest danger of an attack of gout. During their brief absence, -however, their “little company” had “shrunk into almost none at all; -for Mr. Morgan was sick at Holt; Mr. Boyce at his father’s house at -Barton; Mr. Kirkham was about to leave to become his uncle’s curate; -and another young gentleman of Christ Church had returned to the ways -of the world, and studiously shunned their company.”[98] - -In August, Wesley, writing to one of his pupils, says:— - - “You, who have not the assurance of a day to live, are not - wise if you waste a moment. The shortest way to knowledge - seems to be this: 1. To ascertain what knowledge you desire - to attain. 2. To read no book which does not in some way tend - to the attainment of that knowledge. 3. To read no book which - does tend to the attainment of it, unless it be the best in - its kind. 4. To finish one before you begin another. 5. To - read them all in such order, that every subsequent book may - illustrate and confirm the preceding.”[99] - -In the meantime Wesley had begun observing the Wednesday and Friday -fasts, commonly observed in the ancient church, tasting no food -whatever till three in the afternoon. Some of his friends had left -him; but he still diligently strove against all kinds of sin; omitted -no sort of self-denial which he thought lawful; carefully used, both -in public and in private, all the means of grace; and embraced every -opportunity of doing good.[100] - -In 1732, he wrote a sermon on the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, for -the use of his pupils, in which he shows the duty of all Christians -to communicate as often as they can. He asserts that, with “the -first Christians, the Christian sacrifice was a constant part of the -Lord’s day service; and that, for several centuries, they received -it almost daily; four days a week always, and every saint’s day -beside.” He further asserts that the Church of England has taken “all -possible care that the sacrament be duly administered, wherever the -Common-Prayer is read, every Sunday and holiday in the year;” and that -those who do not receive it, at least thrice in a year, are liable to -excommunication.[101] - -In the same month (February) in which Wesley wrote his sermon, his -mother addressed to him a letter from which we extract the following:— - - “The young gentleman you mention seems to me to be in the right - concerning the real presence of Christ in the sacrament. I - own, I never understood by the _real presence_ more than what - he has elegantly expressed, that ‘the Divine nature of Christ - is then eminently present, to impart, by the operation of His - Spirit, the benefits of His death to worthy receivers,’ And - surely, the Divine presence of our Lord, thus applying the - virtue and merits of the great atonement to each true believer, - makes the consecrated bread more than a sign of Christ’s body; - since, by His so doing, we receive not only the sign, but with - it the thing signified—all the benefits of His incarnation and - passion. But still, however this Divine institution may seem to - others, to me it is full of mystery.”[102] - -To this Wesley replied as follows:— - - “_February 28, 1732._ - - “One consideration is enough to make me assent to your judgment - concerning the holy sacrament; which is, that we cannot allow - Christ’s human nature to be present in it, without allowing - either con- or trans-substantiation. But that His Divinity is - so united to us then, as He never is but to worthy receivers, - I firmly believe, though the manner of that union is utterly a - mystery to me.”[103] - -Such was the sacramentarian theory of the high church Oxford Methodists -in 1732. - -In the same letter, Wesley introduces another subject, showing that, -after all, his earnest piety was not unmixed with morbidness. He -continues:— - - “To all who give signs of their not being strangers to the mind - of Christ, I propose this question,—and why not to you rather - than any? shall I quite break off my pursuit of all learning - but what immediately tends to practice? I once desired to - make a fair show in language and philosophy; but it is past; - there is a more excellent way; and, if I cannot attain to any - progress in the one, without throwing up all thoughts of the - other, why, fare it well! Yet a little while, and we shall all - be equal in knowledge, if we are in virtue.” - -This was simply silly and absurd; for, on the same principle, a man -ought to give up business, because business does not “immediately tend -to the practice of piety.” - -It has been already stated that, during Wesley’s brief visit to -Epworth, in 1731, the Oxford Methodists were greatly scattered. In -the spring of 1732, their forces were recruited by the adhesion of -Mr. Clayton, and Mr. Broughton, and half-a-dozen pupils belonging to -himself, his brother, and Mr. Clayton. Six evenings every week were -spent, from six to nine o’clock, partly in reading and considering the -Greek Testament, and partly in close conversation.[104] - -In the month of July, Wesley, being in London, paid a visit to the -Rev. William Law, at Putney, and commenced a friendship which lasted -for several years. From this period, he began to read the “Theologia -Germanica,” and other mystic writings, with what results will be seen -hereafter. On the 3rd of August, he was made a member of “The Society -for the Propagation of Christian Knowledge;” and, during his stay in -London, received from Mr. Clayton a long letter, which will help to -give the reader an insight into the difficulties and daily life of -the Oxford Methodists. It was first published in the _Wesleyan Times_ -newspaper, of September 24, 1866. - - “OXON, _August 1, 1732_. - - “REV. AND DEAR SIR,—I cannot but think it an extraordinary - providence, that, when we had lost our best advocate and - patron, all opposition against us should immediately cease. - Since you left us, nobody has thought it worth while to attack - either Mr. Smith or me, or to endeavour to remove us from those - principles wherein you, by the grace of God, have fixed us. Mr. - Smith goes out of town to-morrow, and so will be entirely out - of danger from the fellows of Lincoln. He seems to be forearmed - against the temptations which may possibly arise from strange - company and from travelling. My little flock at Brazenose are, - God be praised, true to their principles. Bocardo,” [a room - over the north gate of the city used as a debtors’ prison,] - “I fear, grows worse upon my hands: they have done nothing - but quarrel ever since you left us. They carried matters so - high on Saturday, that the bailiff was sent for, who ordered - Tomlyn to be fettered, and put into the dungeon. The Castle - is, I thank God! in much better condition. All the felons were - acquitted, except Salmon, who is to be tried at Warwick; and - the sheep-stealer, who is burnt in the hand and is a great - penitent. Jempro is discharged, and I have appointed Harris to - read to the prisoners in his stead. Two of the felons likewise - have paid their fees and are gone out, both of them able to - read mighty well. There are only two in the gaol who want this - accomplishment,—John Clanville, who reads but moderately, and - the horse-stealer who cannot read at all, though he knows all - his letters and can spell most of the monosyllables. I hear - them both read three times a week; and, I believe, Salmon - hears them so many times daily. The woman, who was a perfect - novice, spells tolerably; and so does one of the boys; and - the other makes shift to read with spelling every word that - is longer than ordinary. They can both say their catechism - to the end of the commandments, and can likewise repeat the - morning and evening prayers for children in Ken’s Manual. I - have been twice at the school, namely, on Tuesday and Saturday - last; and intend to go again as soon as I have finished this - letter. The children all go on pretty well, except one, who, - I find, truants till eleven o’clock in a morning. I have - obtained leave to go to St. Thomas’s workhouse twice a week. I - am sure the people much need instruction, for there is hardly - a soul can read in the whole house. Pray, do not forget a few - Common-Prayer Books for the Castle. - - “You cannot imagine the pleasure it is for me to know that you - are engaged every morning in prayer for me. I wish for nine - o’clock more eagerly than ever I did before; and, I think, I - begin to perceive what is meant by that union of souls which - is so much talked of in Pere Malebranche and Madam Bourignon. - Mr. Hall is not yet come home; so that I am pretty much taken - up with the poor people and the prisoners. I thank God, I - have fully conquered my affection for a morning nap, and rise - constantly by five o’clock, and have the pleasure to see - myself imitated by the greatest part of my pupils. I have made - Mr. Clements a proselyte to early rising, though I cannot to - constant communion. May God prosper all your designs of doing - good in London. - - “I am, Rev. and dear Sir, - “Your affectionate friend and obedient humble servant, - - “J. CLAYTON.” - -The lull in the opposition to the Oxford Methodists was of short -continuance. A month after the date of Mr. Clayton’s letter, Wesley had -to mourn the death of his friend Morgan, and to defend himself against -the accusation that Morgan had hastened his death by the rigorous -fasting, which he had practised at Wesley’s recommendation.[105] -Wesley’s long letter fully satisfied Morgan’s father, who expressed -himself as almost wishing to be one of the Oxford Methodists himself, -and as ready to vindicate them from any calumny or aspersion that might -be cast upon them.[106] There were others, however, of a different -mind, for a fortnight after Mr. Morgan wrote thus to Wesley, an article -appeared in _Fogg’s Weekly Journal_, to the effect that there were, -in the Oxford University, a number of persons who, in order “to live -up to the principles of Christianity had doomed themselves to absurd -and perpetual melancholy;” and that “these sons of sorrow designed -to make the whole place a monastery.” The writer continues: “These -Methodists pretend to great refinements, as well as to what regards -the speculative, as the practical part of religion; and have a very -near affinity to the Essenes among the Jews, and the Pietists in -Switzerland. The chief hinge, on which their whole scheme of religion -turns, is, that no action whatever is indifferent; and hence they -condemn several actions as bad, which are not only allowed to be -innocent, but laudable, by the rest of mankind. They avoid, as much -as possible, every object that may affect them with any pleasant or -grateful sensations. All social entertainments and diversions are -disapproved of; and, in endeavouring to avoid luxury, they not only -exclude what is convenient, but what is absolutely necessary for the -support of life; fancying, (as is thought,) that religion was designed -to contradict nature. They neglect and voluntarily afflict their -bodies, and practise several rigorous and superstitious customs, which -God never required of them. All Wednesdays and Fridays are strictly -to be kept as fasts; and blood let once a fortnight, to keep down the -carnal man. At dinner, they sigh for the time they are obliged to spend -in eating. Every morning to rise at four o’clock, is supposed a duty; -and to employ two hours a day in singing of psalms and hymns, is judged -an indispensable requisite to being a Christian. In short, they -practise everything contrary to the judgment of other persons, and -allow none to have any (religion) but those of their own sect, which is -the farthest from it. - -“As these Methodists have occasioned no small stir in Oxford, so there -has not been wanting a variety of conjectures about them. Some are -apt to ascribe their gloomy and disconsolate way of life to want of -money; thus being denied the enjoyment of those pleasures they chiefly -desire, they are weighed down by an habitual sorrow; and it is certain -that their founder took formerly no small liberty in indulging his -appetites. Others tax their characters with hypocrisy, and suppose them -to use religion only as a veil to vice; and, indeed, if we should give -credit to the several tales related of them, their greatest friends -would be ashamed to stand in their defence. Others judge that their way -of life is owing to enthusiasm, madness, and superstitious scruples. -Among their own party, they pass for religious persons, and men of -extraordinary parts; but they have the misfortune to be taken by all, -who have ever been in their company, for madmen and fools.” - -Such are some of the scandalous charges contained in this precious -epistolary morsel,—we believe the first attack ever made upon the -Methodists in the public prints. The entire letter is before us; but -only a part of it is quoted,—first because there is a great amount of -empty and ungrammatical verbiage unworthy of being admitted into what -was, at that period, perhaps the most literary and respectable paper -published—_Fogg’s Weekly Journal_; and secondly because there is one -paragraph, which, despite its verbosity, is so loathsomely impure, that -it would be a sin against both God and man to reproduce it. - -The letter was published in _Fogg’s Journal_, on December 9th, 1732; -and, within two months after, it was answered in an octavo pamphlet of -thirty pages, entitled, “The Oxford Methodists: Being some account of a -society of young gentlemen in that city, so denominated; setting forth -their rise, views, and designs; in a letter from a gent, near Oxford, -to his friend in London. Printed for J. Roberts, price 6_d._” The -second edition of this first defence of Methodism, published in 1738 -“with very great alterations and improvements,” is that from which the -following extracts are taken. - -The writer says that he knew nothing of the Methodists till his friend -requested him to make inquiry concerning them. On doing this, he was -first of all told that they were “miserable enthusiasts and zealots;” -and he found that almost every one, with whom he conversed, had a -prejudice against them; and yet, notwithstanding this, he was unable -to learn that the least slur had been cast upon their moral behaviour, -except that “they pretended to be more pious than their neighbours,” -and that “they put a gloomy and melancholy face upon religion, and -affected greater austerities and exemplariness than the doctrines of -the gospel demanded.” - -The writer continues; after he “had heard all that could be said -against them by their enemies,” he “thought it was but fair to inquire -of their friends what could be said in their favour.” He found it, -however, difficult to meet with any who would acknowledge himself to be -a friend; and hence he was obliged to seek his information from one of -the Methodists themselves. It is probable that Wesley was the Methodist -thus consulted; but, be that as it may, a full account was given of the -origin of Methodism at the end of the year 1729, and of its progress -to the present time. The writer adds: “The gentleman assured me, that -they” (the Methodists) “were so diffident of themselves, especially -when they found a spirit of contemptuous raillery stirred up against -them, that they took advice from time to time of a worthy and venerable -gentleman, a near relation of one of them, who had much knowledge and -experience of the world; and that they formed their conduct upon his -advice; and, upon the encouragement he gave them, they were determined, -at all events, to persevere in the course they had begun.” - -The “near relation,” referred to in this extract, was Wesley’s father; -and the extract is of vast importance as tending to confirm the -opinion that the “father of the Wesleys”—the noble-hearted rector of -Epworth—deserves more credit for the organisation and establishment -of Oxford Methodism than the Methodists and the Church have ever yet -awarded him. Several of his “encouraging epistles” were shown to the -inquiring writer of the pamphlet before us, and gave him “a high -notion of the piety and good sense of the venerable author.” “How -happy,” he writes, “are these sacramentarians, these Methodists, these -enthusiasts, as their enemies call them, to have so very excellent a -director! and how much are they to be commended for submitting their -conduct and designs to so pious and experienced a judge.” - -He then proceeds: “There are three points to which these gentlemen -think themselves obliged to adhere—1. That of visiting and relieving -the prisoners and the sick, and giving away Bibles, Common-Prayer -Books, and the ‘Whole Duty of Man’; and of explaining the catechism to -the children of poor families, and of dropping a shilling or so to such -families where they deem it needful. 2. That of weekly communion. 3. -That of observing strictly the fasts of the Church, which has caused -some to call them ‘Supererogation Men.’” - -After this, the writer proceeds to notice the accusations contained -in the letter published in _Fogg’s Weekly Journal_, and, as far as -necessary, replies to them. - -Such is an outline of the first defence of Methodism ever published. - -Wesley, in 1733, composed two sermons full of a great doctrine, which -had well-nigh been forgotten—the absolute need of the influences of -the Holy Ghost to convert the soul. It is a gross mistake to imagine -that this, with its cognate truths, was not discovered and embraced by -Wesley until his meeting with Peter Bohler in 1738. Take the following -extracts from the first of the sermons above mentioned, and which was -preached at St. Mary’s, Oxford, before the university, on January 1st, -1733.[107] - -“The circumcision of the heart is that habitual disposition of soul, -which, in the sacred writings, is termed holiness; and which directly -implies the being cleansed from sin, from all filthiness both of flesh -and spirit; and, by consequence, the being endued with those virtues -which were also in Christ Jesus; the being so renewed in the image of -our mind, as to be perfect as our Father in heaven is perfect.” - -Here we have propounded, in the plainest terms, as early as the year -1733, Wesley’s famous doctrine of Christian perfection. “This sermon,” -said he, in 1765, “contained all that I now teach concerning salvation -from all sin, and loving God with an undivided heart.”[108] - -In the same sermon he tells us that, “without the Spirit of God we -can do nothing but add sin to sin; it being as impossible for us even -to think a good thought without His supernatural assistance, as to -create ourselves, or to renew our whole souls in righteousness and true -holiness. He alone can quicken those who are dead unto God, and breathe -into them the breath of Christian life.” - -We are further taught that this holiness of heart is to be obtained -“alone by faith, which is not only an unshaken assent to all that -God hath revealed in Scripture, but in particular to those important -truths,—‘Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners,’—‘He bare -our sins in His own body on the tree,’—‘He is the propitiation for our -sins; and not for ours only, but also for the sins of the whole world.’” - -Then follows: “Those who are thus, by faith, born of God, have also -strong consolation through hope. This is the next thing which the -circumcision of the heart implies; even the testimony of their own -spirit, with the Spirit which witnesses in their hearts, that they are -the children of God.” - -Then, as if intended to answer one of the false accusations which had -appeared in _Fogg’s Weekly Journal_ only three weeks before, and to -justify one of the practices there condemned, he tells his reverend -and learned auditors that this heart religion “does not forbid us, as -some have strangely imagined, to take pleasure in anything but God; -to suppose this, is to suppose the Fountain of holiness is directly -the author of sin; since He has inseparably annexed pleasure to the -use of those creatures which are necessary to sustain the life He has -given us.” But, at the same time, “every good soldier of Christ will -not only renounce the works of darkness, but every appetite too, and -every affection, which is not subject to the law of God. Vain hope! -that a child of Adam should ever expect to see the kingdom of Christ -and of God, without striving, without agonizing first, to enter in at -the strait gate,—without a constant and continued course of general -self-denial.” - -“This,” adds Wesley, “is God’s short and plain account of true religion -and virtue. Other sacrifices from us He would not; but the living -sacrifice of the heart He hath chosen. Let it be continually offered -up to God through Christ, in flames of holy love. And let no creature -be suffered to share with Him; for He is a jealous God. His throne -will He not divide with another; He will reign without a rival. Be no -design, no desire admitted there, but what has Him for its ultimate -object. This is the way wherein those children of God once walked, who, -being dead, still speak to us.”[109] - -Such then were the principles held by Wesley and the Oxford Methodists, -in 1733. From these he never varied; and dark will be the day when they -are either abandoned or forgotten by his followers. - -The other sermon, written in 1733, was founded upon the text, “Grieve -not the Holy Spirit of God, whereby ye are sealed unto the day of -redemption.” Here again we are told that the Holy Spirit “is the great -Fountain of holiness to His church. From Him flows all the grace and -virtue, by which the stains of guilt are cleansed, and we are renewed -in all holy dispositions, and again bear the image of our Creator. He -is the immediate Minister of God’s will upon earth, and transacts all -the great affairs of the church of Christ.”[110] - -Precious truths are truths like these. Without them the church, no -matter how learned, rich, respectable, and ritualistic, is utterly -powerless in converting men. With them, nothing is impossible; for, in -such a case, the church has, for the accomplishment of its purposes, -not only the resources of man, but the omnipotence of God. - -In the same year, 1733, Wesley issued his first printed production, “A -Collection of Forms of Prayer for every day in the Week.” These prayers -were originally intended for the use of his college pupils; but the -reader may also gather from them some of the principles and aims of the -Oxford Methodists. - -They longed for the love of God to be the sole actuating power in the -use they made of their understanding, affections, senses, health, time, -and talents; that God might always be present to their minds; that they -might ever have awful thoughts of Him, and never mention His holy and -reverend name, unless on just, solemn, and devout occasions; nor even -then, without acts of adoration; and that they might glorify Him by -every thought of their hearts, every word of their tongues, and every -work of their hands, and by professing His truth, even to the death, if -it should please Him to call them to it. - -They wished to be made all kindness and benignity, all goodness and -gentleness, all meekness and longsuffering; and to be filled with the -whole spirit of humility, and to have it the constant, ruling habit -of their minds. They dreaded applause, and desired never to speak a -word that might tend to their own praise, unless the good of others -required it. They endeavoured to abstain from all pleasures which did -not prepare them for taking pleasure in God. - -They acted upon the principle of excluding none from their charity, -who were the objects of God’s mercy. They embraced all occasions to -assist the needy, to protect the oppressed, to instruct the ignorant, -to confirm the wavering, to exhort the good, and to reprove the wicked. -They wished to look upon the failings of their neighbours as if they -were their own; and never revealed them but when charity required, and -then with tenderness and compassion. - -Space forbids further reference to these prayers. Suffice it to say -that, for reverential feeling, simplicity and beauty of expression, -scriptural sentiment, Christian benevolence, and earnest longings for -the highest holiness; for adoration, penitence, deprecation, petition, -thanksgiving, and intercession,—they have no superiors, perhaps hardly -any equals, in the English language. They are little known, and less -used; but would be of great service to thousands of Methodists, if -sometimes employed as an aid in their private devotions. - -In January, 1733, Wesley set out on horseback for Epworth, to see his -father, whose health was failing; and, on his way, had a narrow escape, -by his horse falling over a bridge, not far from Daventry. His parents -suggested to him the propriety of using means to obtain the Epworth -living; but he was deterred from acquiescing in the proposal, by a -conviction that, “if he could stand his ground at Oxford, and approve -himself a faithful minister of Christ, through evil report and good -report, there was no place under heaven where he was so likely to make -improvement in every good work.”[111] - -In May, he again went to Epworth, visiting, on the way, his friend -Clayton, at Manchester, where he spent a sabbath, and preached thrice, -in three different churches. On his return to Oxford, in June, he -found the ill effects of his absence; for three of his own pupils and -the whole of Mr. Clayton’s had abandoned the Methodists; and, instead -of finding seven-and-twenty communicants at St. Mary’s, he now found -not more than five. His friends were deserting him, and his enemies -triumphing over him; but, in the midst of all, he stood unmoved. “My -friends,” says he, “were either trifling or serious: if triflers, fare -them well; a noble escape: if serious, those who are more serious are -left, whom the others would rather have opposed than forwarded in the -service they have done, and still do, us. As for reputation, though -it be a glorious instrument of advancing our Master’s service, yet -there is a better than that—a clean heart, a single eye, a soul full -of God.”[112] “The thing that gives offence here is the being singular -with regard to time, expense, and company. Ill men say all manner of -evil of me, and good men believe them. There is a way, and there is -but one, of making my peace. God forbid I should ever take it. I have -as many pupils as I need, and as many friends; when more are better -for me, I shall have more. If I have no more pupils after these are -gone from me, I shall then be glad of a curacy near you; if I have, I -shall take it as a signal to remain here. What I do is this; when I am -entrusted with a person who is first to understand and practise, and -then to teach, the law of Christ, I endeavour to show him what that -law is. When he appears seriously sensible of this, I propose to him -the means God hath commanded him to use, in order to that end; and a -week, or a month, or a year after, as the state of his soul seems to -require it, the several prudential means recommended by wise and good -men. Only two rules it is my principle to observe in all cases; first, -to begin, continue, and end all my advices in the spirit of meekness; -and secondly, to add to meekness long suffering; in pursuance of a rule -which I fixed long since, never to give up any one till I have tried -him at least ten years.”[113] - -These are significant facts. Methodism at Oxford was organised in -1729. Two years after, while Wesley and his brother were at Epworth, -it dwindled into almost nothing; and two years later still, when it -had increased to seven-and-twenty communicants, during another brief -Epworth visit it was almost utterly destroyed, for the seven-and-twenty -were reduced to five. All this goes to show that Wesley was the soul of -this mighty movement, and that without him it would have been dissolved -and become extinct. - -It is far from certain that the seven-and-twenty communicants, just -mentioned, were all collegians. On the contrary, there is strong -presumptive proof that they were not; and, indeed, that some of them -were ladies. One of them seems to have been Miss Potter, probably the -bishop’s daughter, concerning whom Clayton writes to Wesley, in a -letter dated “Manchester, September 10, 1733,” as follows:— - - “Poor Miss Potter! I wonder not that she is fallen. Where - humility is not the foundation, the superstructure cannot be - good. And yet I am sorry to hear the tidings of her, especially - that she has a great man for her confessor, who dissuades her - from constant communion. I am sure she has great occasion to - use all the means of grace which Providence provides for her. - I would not persuade you to leave off reading with her. Who - knows whether you may not raise her again to the eminence - from which she has fallen? At least, though she neglect the - weightier matters of the law, yet keep up in her that reverend - respect she bears it, even by the ‘tithing of mint and anise - and cummin.’”[114] - -Whether there were other ladies besides this one, included in the -seven-and-twenty Methodist communicants, it is impossible to say; but -none were included in the five. The five poor Methodists remaining, -not reckoning Wesley himself, nor Morgan who was dead, nor Clayton who -was removed to Manchester, nor Whitelamb who was gone to Wroote, were -doubtless Charles Wesley, Benjamin Ingham[115] and James Hervey (both -of whom joined them in 1733), John Gambold, and, probably, Charles -Kinchin. All honour to such names! They kept the fire burning when it -was in danger of going out. Wesley was their master spirit; but they -were faithful and willing co-workers. - -Mr. Clayton, in the letter just quoted, refers to confession and to -constant communion. Did the Oxford Methodists recommend confession? -It would seem they did; hence the following extract from a long, -unpublished letter, written at this period, and addressed to Wesley, by -his sister Emily:— - - “To lay open the state of my soul to you, or any of our clergy, - is what I have no inclination to at present; and, I believe, I - never shall. I shall not put my conscience under the direction - of mortal man, frail as myself. To my own master I stand or - fall. Nay, I scruple not to say, that all such desire in you, - or any other ecclesiastic, seems to me like church tyranny, and - assuming to yourselves a dominion over your fellow-creatures, - which was never designed you by God.... I farther own that I do - not hold frequent communion necessary to salvation, nor a means - of Christian perfection. But do not mistake my meaning; I only - think communing every Sunday, or very frequently, lessens our - veneration for that sacred ordinance, and, consequently, our - profiting by it.” - -Two other extracts from letters, belonging to this period, may be -useful as illustrative of Oxford Methodism. In the month of July, 1733, -Mr. Clayton, then resident in Manchester, wrote to Wesley as follows:— - - “As to your question about Saturday, I can only answer it by - giving an account of how I spend the day. I do not look upon - it as a preparation for Sunday, but as a festival itself; - and, therefore, I have continued festival prayer, for the - three primitive hours, and for morning and evening, from the - Apostolical Constitutions, which, I think, I communicated - to you whilst I was at Oxford. I look upon Friday as my - preparation for the celebration of both the sabbath and the - Lord’s day; the first of which I observe much like a common - saint’s day, or as one of the inferior holidays of the Church. - I have, I bless God! generally contrived to have the eucharist - celebrated on Saturdays as well as other holidays, for the use - of myself and the sick people whom I visit. - - “I was at Dr. Deacon’s when your letter came to hand, and we - had a deal of talk about your scheme of avowing yourselves as - a society, and fixing upon a set of rules. The Doctor seemed - to think you had better let it alone; for to what end would - it serve? It would be no additional tie upon yourselves; and - perhaps would be a snare for the consciences of those weak - brethren who might chance to come among you. Observing the - stations” [the fast on Wednesdays and Fridays] “and weekly - communion are duties which stand upon a much higher footing - than a rule of society; and they who can set aside the command - of God and the authority of the Church will hardly, I doubt, be - tied by the rules of a private society. - - “As to the mixture” [of water with sacramental wine] “Mr. - Colley told me it was constantly used at Christ Church. - However, if you have reason to doubt it, I would have you - inquire; but I cannot think the want of it a reason for not - communicating. If I could receive where the mixture was used, - I would; and, therefore, I used to prefer the Castle to Christ - Church; but if not I should not think myself any further - concerned in the matter than as it might be in my power to get - it restored.”[116] - -Again, in another letter, dated “Manchester, September 10, 1733,” Mr. -Clayton writes:— - - “How should I direct my instructor in the school of Christ! - However, I must be free to tell you my sentiments of what - you inquire about. On Wednesdays and Fridays I have, for - some time past, used the Office for Passion Week, out of - Spinckes’s Devotions, and bless God for it. I have found it - very useful to excite in me that love of God, and that sorrow - for having offended Him, which make up the first main branch - of repentance. Refer your last question to Mr. Law; I dare not - give directions for spending that time which I consume in bed, - nor teach you, who rise at four, when I indulge myself in sleep - till five.”[117] - -These are important letters, not only as exhibiting the religious -earnestness of Wesley and his friends, but as affording a glimpse -of the high churchism of the Oxford Methodists. Wesley seriously -contemplated the formation of a society, who should strictly observe -saint days, holidays, and Saturdays, besides other ritualistic -practices, down to superstitious admixture of sacramental wine with -water. In truth, these were ardent spirits. Visiting prisons, and -teaching children; rising at five every morning; praying for each -other and for their friends; and observing the weekly communion, are -things which all will regard with commendation: but the other were -silly, popish practices, not only unauthorised and useless, but too -much resembling the pernicious nonsense of the high church party of -the present day to receive the approval of those who have learned to -be thankful for the inestimable blessings of the great Protestant -reformation. - -The health of Wesley’s father was now extremely feeble; and it became -an anxiously discussed family question whether Wesley should be his -father’s successor. Samuel was first urged to use means to obtain -the next presentation of the Epworth rectory; but he positively -declined doing so, and directed his father’s attention to John. The -correspondence on this subject extends over the whole of the year -1734. The Epworth living was valuable, as may be judged by the fact -that, though then worth only £200 per annum, it is now, through the -relative changes that have taken place in the value of money and the -price of food, worth near £1000.[118] The dying rector had been at -great expense in improving the parsonage and its premises. Here he had -diligently and faithfully laboured as an earnest parish minister for -nearly forty successive years. Here most of his nineteen children had -been born. Here he was about to die himself; and here he was anxious -that his wife should die. John was pressed to secure the living, and -thereby secure a continuance of the old homestead for his mother and -his unmarried sisters. His brother Samuel allowed that at Oxford he -would have “more friends, more freedom from care, and more Divine -ordinances than he could have elsewhere;” but then at Oxford he was -“despised,” and therefore could “do no good there.” To this John -answered: “1. A Christian will be despised anywhere. 2. No one is a -Christian till he is despised. 3. His being despised will not hinder -his doing good, but much further it, by making him a better Christian. -4. Another can supply my place at Epworth better than at Oxford, and -the good done here is of a far more diffusive nature; inasmuch as it is -a more extensive benefit to sweeten the fountain than to do the same to -particular streams.”[119] - -In writing to his father, he put the case thus: “The question is not -whether I could do more good to others there or here; but whether -I could do more good to myself: seeing wherever I can be most holy -myself, there I can most promote holiness in others. But I can improve -myself more at Oxford than at any other place,” etc. - -To this his father properly replied that our main consideration in -choosing a course of life “is not dear self, but the glory of God, and -the different degrees of promoting it.”[120] - -John agreed to this; but argued that “that course of life tends most -to the glory of God, wherein we can most promote holiness in ourselves -and others;” and that at Oxford he had several advantages for doing -this which were almost peculiar to the place. 1. He could always have -at hand half-a-dozen friends, nearly of his own judgment, and engaged -in the same studies; persons who had wholly and absolutely devoted -themselves to God, and who denied themselves and took up their cross -daily. 2. He could not only have as much, but as little company as -he pleased; for he had no trifling visitors, except about an hour in -a month, when he invited some of the fellows to breakfast. 3. He was -entirely free from worldly cares, for his income was ready for him on -stated days, and all he had to do was to count it and carry it home. -4. He had the privilege of public prayer twice a day, and of weekly -communion. 5. At Oxford there was room for charity in all its forms; -poor families to be relieved; children to be educated; workhouses and -prisons to be visited; and the schools of the prophets, where tender -minds were to be formed and strengthened. 6. He had the joint advice -of many friends in any difficulty that might arise; the good bishop -and vice-chancellor to supply his want of experience; and a fund, -which this year would amount to near £80, to supply the bodily wants -of the poor, and thereby prepare their souls to receive instruction. -In addition to all this, he alleges that the care of two thousand -souls at Epworth would crush him; and that, were he to abandon all -his Oxford advantages, he would not be able to stand his ground for a -single month against intemperance in sleeping, eating, and drinking; -against irregularity in study; against a general lukewarmness in -his affections, and remissness in his actions; against softness and -self-indulgence, directly opposite to that discipline and hardship -which become a soldier of Jesus Christ.[121] - -The letter from which the above is taken is dated December 10, 1734. -His brother Samuel wrote a fortnight later, saying that his father -had told him John was unalterably resolved not to accept the living, -even if he could get it. Samuel protests against the decision, and -says that in Wesley’s arguments he can see his love to himself, but he -cannot see his love to his neighbour. Besides, he was not at liberty -to resolve against undertaking a cure of souls, having been solemnly -engaged to do this at his ordination. Charles might be silly enough to -vow he would not depart from Oxford, and thereby avoid orders; but the -faith of John was already plighted to the contrary; and the idea scarce -ever entered the head of any Christian but his own, that a parish -priest cannot attain to the highest perfection possible on this side -heaven.[122] - -Wesley’s reasons and arguments were doubtless well intended; but they -were feeble, sophistical, and inconclusive. It is easy to imagine that -they would be painful both to his father and family; and it seems -impossible to excuse them except upon the ground that God had elected -him for another kind of work, and that by an unseen power he was -prevented realising his father’s wishes. Wesley’s father died April -25, 1735, and the Epworth living passed into other hands; but before -proceeding farther, we give the last letter Wesley received from him. - -The venerable rector was now anxiously employed in the publication of -his grand folio volume of 600 pages, “_Dissertationes in Librum Jobi_,” -and had requested his son to assist him with the engravings for it. - - “EPWORTH, _January 21, 1735_. - - “DEAR SON,—About an hour since, your letter of the 13th - instant came to hand, and indeed not before I had need of it, - especially when I considered how extremely weak I was, and - found myself grow sensibly weaker every day. My people have - been very kind to me during my long illness, which has brought - me now so low that I cannot walk half-a-dozen times about my - chamber; but then I am often refreshed with seeing Mr. Hale’s - noble present of books to me lying in my window, near half of - which I have already spread in my parish, some to those who - came to see me, and to others I have sent them, and with very - good effect, many having read them, and some lent them to - others. A spirit of Christianity, beyond what I have hitherto - known, seems to be raised among them; one proof of which is in - the greater frequency of the sacraments. Nor is Mr. Whitelamb - wanting in any part of his duty, though I am not able to preach - or give the sacrament to them myself, except one day, and that - with his assistance. - - “And now let us go on to matter of less moment, though I hope - not quite frivolous. Had I had all Mr. Rivington’s advice at - first, all my plates and cuts would have been done before - this, and that with less expense, and to greater perfection. - The agreement you have made with the engraver seems to be - very reasonable. Whether the cuts are to be done on sheets - or half sheets I leave to you and Mr. Rivington; but I would - have leviathan’s rival, that is, the whale, as well as the - crocodile. As for the elephant, he is so common that he need - not be added. I am glad the tombs want no more than retouching, - and especially that Mr. Garden is not ill pleased with them. - ‘Job in Adversity’ I leave to your direction, as likewise the - frontispiece, which Mr. Virtue is doing, who now duns me pretty - hard for money for it; and I have writ him lately to send me - word what he will charge for the whole when it is finished, - and what he desires in part, with a promise to send him some - money by the first opportunity I have of doing it. As for poor - Pentapolis, it must even shift as it can, though my heart is - pretty much in it, and I have taken a little pains about it. - This I must likewise leave with you; but cannot you send me a - copy of the drawings before they are engraven, that I may weigh - them, as is proper? As for Job’s horse, I cannot for my life - imagine how I shall get him into my Lord Oxford’s stable,—I - mean, get liberty to inscribe it to him, unless you yourself - would speak to my Lord Duplin about it. Have you yet found any - news of ‘_De Morbo Jobi_,’ which has been so long incognito? - Or, is there anything else that you find wanting? I heartily - commend you and your brother to God, and am this evening - - Your affectionate father, - SAMUEL WESLEY.”[123] - -Wesley endorsed this characteristic letter from his father with the -words, “The last I received from him.” Thirteen weeks afterwards, the -venerable man rested from his cares and earthly labours. - -On June 11, 1734, Wesley preached before the university what his -brother Charles calls “his Jacobite sermon,” for which he was “much -mauled and threatened.” He was prudent enough, however, before -preaching it, to get the vice-chancellor to read and approve of it, -and hence was able to set “Wadham, Merton, Exeter, and Christ Church” -objectors at defiance. - -He then set out for Epworth, accompanied by Westley Hall, who proposed -marriage to his sister Keziah, greatly to the satisfaction of all the -parties concerned, except Hall’s own mother. On his return to Oxford, -he spent some time in London, chiefly in consulting Mr. Law about one -of his pupils, referred to in Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 46; but -also partly in putting through the press his father’s “Dissertations on -the Book of Job.”[124] - -About the same period, he began the practice of reading as he rode on -horseback,—a practice he continued nearly forty years. He also made -frequent excursions to different parts of the country, often on foot; -and, during the year, walked more than a thousand miles, constantly -preaching on the sabbath, and already acting the part of an itinerant. -His walking, preaching, reading, studying, visiting, and fasting -began to affect his health; he lost his strength, and frequently spat -blood.[125] On the 16th of July, while asleep in bed, he had such an -attack of bleeding as led him to exclaim: “O God, prepare me for Thy -coming, and then come when Thou wilt!” His friends became alarmed; -and his mother wrote letters blaming him for neglecting his health. A -physician was called in, his advice adopted, and gradually the well -worn devotee regained his lost vigour.[126] - -Though Wesley’s letter to his father, dated December 10, 1734, seemed -to decide the question respecting his seeking to obtain the Epworth -living, his brother Samuel, during the correspondence arising out -of it, started an idea which, ghost like, haunted Wesley for months -afterwards, and which, we incline to think, had considerable influence -in inducing him to change his views, and ultimately to go to Georgia. - -Samuel, on Christmas-day, 1734, wrote as follows:—“You are not at -liberty to resolve against undertaking a cure of souls. You are -solemnly engaged to do it before God, and His high-priest, and His -Church. Are you not ordained? Did you not deliberately and openly -promise to instruct, to teach, to admonish, to exhort those committed -to your charge? Did you equivocate then with so vile a reservation, as -to purpose in your heart that you would never have a charge? It is not -a college, it is not an university; it is the _order of the Church_, -according to which you were called.”[127] - -This was touching Wesley in a tender place. On conscientious grounds, -he had already refused to apply for the Epworth living; and yet here -his brother Samuel maintains that on conscientious grounds, he is bound -not to bury himself at Oxford, but to undertake a cure of souls, either -at Epworth or somewhere else. His faith is plighted. Before God and His -Church he has sworn to be, not a tutor, but a minister of Christ. What -was the effect of this? In December, 1734, Wesley refused to apply for -his father’s living; and yet, ten months afterwards, he left Oxford and -set sail to Georgia. What occurred during this brief interval? - -In January, 1735, Wesley wrote to Samuel, saying:—“I do not, nor ever -did, resolve against undertaking a cure of souls. There are four -cures belonging to our college, and consistent with a fellowship. I -do not know but I may take one of them at Michaelmas. Not that I am -clearly assured that I should be false to my engagement, were I only to -instruct and exhort the pupils committed to my charge. But of that I -should think more. I desire your full thoughts upon the whole, as well -as your prayers.”[128] - -To this Samuel replied, February 8, 1735:—“_The order of the Church_ -stakes you down, and the more you struggle you will be held the faster. -If there be such a thing as truth, I insist upon it, you must, when -opportunity offers, either perform that promise, or repent of it.”[129] - -In answer, five days afterwards, John remarked:—“Your last argument is -either _ignoratio elenchi_, or implies these two propositions: 1. ‘You -resolve against any parochial cure of souls.’ 2. ‘The priest who does -not undertake the first parochial cure that offers is perjured.’ Let us -add a third: ‘The tutor who, being in orders, never accepts of a parish -is perjured.’ And then I deny all three.”[130] - -Samuel’s reply was as follows:—“An ordained tutor, who accepts not a -cure, is perjured; alter the term into ‘who resolves not to accept,’ -and I will maintain it, unless you can prove either of these two: (1) -there is no such obligation at taking orders; (2) this obligation is -dispensed with. Both which I utterly deny.”[131] - -On the 4th of March John replied:—“I had rather dispute with you, -if I must dispute, than with any man living; because it may be done -with so little expense of time and words. You think I engaged myself -at my ordination to undertake the cure of a parish. I think I did -not. However, I own I am not the proper judge of the oath I then -took; accordingly, the post after I received yours, I referred it to -‘the high-priest of God,’ before whom I contracted that engagement, -proposing this single question to him,—Whether I had, at my ordination, -engaged myself to undertake the cure of a parish or no. His answer runs -in these words: ‘It doth not seem to me that, at your ordination, you -engaged yourself to undertake the cure of any parish, provided you can, -as a clergyman, better serve God and His Church in your present or some -other station.’ Now, that I can, as a clergyman, better serve God and -His Church in my present station, I have all reasonable evidence.”[132] - -Wesley’s father died within two months after this; and yet, during -this short interval, Wesley seems to have been induced to lay aside -his scruples and to apply for the Epworth living. He applied, but he -was not successful. This is a bold assertion to be made in the teeth -of statements directly opposite; statements made and repeated and -re-repeated, without dispute, for more than the last seventy years: but -before the reader rejects it, let him ponder the significance of the -following letter, written by Wesley’s friend, Broughton, and published, -for the first time, in the _Wesleyan Times_, of October 28, 1861:— - - “LONDON, _April 15, 1735_. - - “REV. AND DEAR SIR,—The same evening I received the favour of - yours, I waited on St. John, promising myself a kind reception. - He rejoiced with me to hear that your father was yet alive; but - did not close readily with me in attempting what, if crowned - with success, might prove a means of making our declining - friend end his days in peace. What shall we say for so sudden, - so unwished for a change? Oh, put not your trust in princes! - St. John disowns his giving me any encouragement to promise - you hopes of success. Did I then write you an untruth? If his - charge be just, I did; but his words were, ‘though he had - solicited the Bishop of London and Sir Robert on behalf of - another, not for Epworth, yet he would be glad to serve Mr. - Wesley.’ But where is the obstacle? Why, my lord of London, - who is usually consulted by the minister of state on such - occasions, spoke some disadvantageous things of you once in - the presence of St. John. But I could not but observe to our - friend that the misrepresented strictness of life, which gave - occasion for these disadvantageous things to be spoken of you, - was so far from being an objection to your being favoured by - a Christian bishop, that I humbly hoped it would turn to your - good account, inasmuch as over exactness of behaviour was the - sign of a tender and well regulated mind. But I cannot here - help thinking, ‘_Tros Tyriusve illi nullo discrimine agetur_.’ - St. John thinks the Bishop of Oxford can be your friend. Yes, - I told him, my lord might give you a favourable word, if - asked; but I did not think the interest in his lordship was - so prevalent as to make him bestir himself on your behalf. - However, if you judge it proper to write to the bishop, I will - wait upon him, and do the best I can to serve my dear friend. - - “Could your father’s book be presented to the queen soon? It - might do good. Do you know any great man about the court? The - king is not so difficult (I hope), if one could get a hearty - friend to espouse you. My interest in the speaker is not - powerful enough to bring about so desired a work; yet if there - was any other great man to befriend you, a serviceable hint - might be dropped. I doubt not but our good and loving God will - order this and everything else for your great and best good. - This is the wish and prayer of, dear sir, - - “Yours most sincerely, - - “J. BROUGHTON.” - -Broughton was now curate at the Tower, in London.[133] Henry St. -John, Viscount Bolingbroke, was a politician of great ability and -power. Sir Robert Walpole was prime minister. The Bishop of London was -the celebrated Edmund Gibson. The Epworth living was a gift of the -crown. Bear these facts in mind, and the above epistle will be easily -interpreted. - -Wesley’s objections to leave Oxford being overcome, probably by the -hard facts and logic of his brother Samuel, he took steps to become his -father’s successor. Broughton, who was evidently a man of influence -and position, was employed to secure the help of Bolingbroke; and -Bolingbroke had promised to use his endeavours to serve Wesley; but, -on being pressed to fulfil his promise, shrank from doing so, on the -ground that he had heard Gibson speak disparagingly of Wesley in -Walpole’s presence; and, as the next presentation of the Epworth living -was, _ipso facto_, at the disposal of these two dignitaries, it was -almost useless to bring before them Wesley’s wish. - -Broughton suggests two other steps to be taken, which might be of -service in securing the living: (1) that the good services of the -Bishop of Oxford be solicited; and (2) that the dying rector’s -“Dissertations on the Book of Job,” dedicated to Queen Caroline, might -be presented to her majesty as soon as possible. To adopt the second of -these suggestions was impracticable, as the work was only in the course -of being printed, and the first opportunity of presenting a copy to the -queen did not occur until six months after the rector’s death. Whether -the first was carried out we have no means of knowing. - -The reader will excuse these lengthy observations, on the ground -that they help to clear up what has always been a somewhat painfully -mysterious chapter in Wesley’s history. It is not true that he could -not be induced to apply for his father’s living. Indirectly, at least, -he did apply, but failed; and, remembering this, the wonder is not so -great that a few months afterwards he embarked for Georgia.[134] - -Little more remains to be said before accompanying Wesley on his -mission. - -It was in the midst of this correspondence respecting the Epworth -rectory, that George Whitefield was introduced to Wesley’s -acquaintance, and became one of the Oxford Methodists.[135] Three years -before, Whitefield had been admitted a servitor of Pembroke College, -and had begun to pray and sing psalms five times every day. He longed -to be acquainted with the Methodists, and often watched them passing, -through ridiculing crowds, to receive the sacrament at St. Mary’s; but -he was a poor youth, the servitor of other students, and shrunk from -obtruding himself upon their notice. At length, a woman, in one of -the workhouses, attempted to cut her throat; and Whitefield sent an -apple-seller, attached to Pembroke College, to inform Charles Wesley -of her condition; and this led Charles to invite him to breakfast -next morning. He was now introduced to the rest of the Methodists, -and adopted all their rules. The master of his college threatened to -expel him. Some of the students shot at him their shafts of ridicule; -others threw dirt at him; and others took away their pay from him. -Being in great distress about his soul, he lay whole days prostrate -on the ground, in silent or vocal prayer; he chose the worst sort of -food; he fasted twice a week; he wore woollen gloves, a patched gown, -and dirty shoes; and, as a penitent, thought it unbecoming to have his -hair powdered. Like all his brother Methodists, he observed Lent with -the greatest severity, eating no flesh during the six weeks, except -on Saturdays and Sundays. On the other days, his only food was coarse -bread, and sage tea without sugar. Abstinence and inward conflicts -brought on illness; but, after about seven weeks, he was enabled -to lay hold on Christ by a living faith, was filled with peace and -joy, and became probably by far the most happy member of the Oxford -brotherhood.[136] - -Mention has been already made of the first of Wesley’s -publications,—his “Forms of Prayer,” printed in 1733. In 1735 he issued -three others. - -First, “A Sermon on the Trouble and Rest of Good Men, preached at St. -Mary’s, Oxford, on Sunday, September 21st, and published at the request -of several of the hearers.” London: C. Rivington. 1735. This sermon, -in two respects, is remarkable; (1) for its un-Wesleyan theology; (2) -for its boldly bearding Methodist persecutors in their head-quarters. -The preacher tells his hearers that “perfect holiness is not found -on earth; but death will destroy, at once, the whole body of sin, -and therewith its companion—pain.” Two years before, in his sermon -on “The Circumcision of the Heart,” Wesley had given a beautiful -definition of “holiness;” but here he teaches that this holiness is not -attainable in life; not until the hour of death; a different doctrine -this to that which he afterwards embodied in his “Plain Account of -Christian Perfection.” But however much the preacher lacked theological -correctness, there was no lack of heroic daring: remembering that, for -six years past, he and his associates had been the constant butt of -collegiate scorn and ridicule, and that his present congregation, in -a great degree, consisted of those who had thought it a privilege to -make themselves witty at his expense; one cannot but admire his pluck -in telling them, face to face, that, “as at first, he that was born -after the flesh persecuted him that was born after the Spirit, even so -it is now, and so it must be, till all things are fulfilled. Despisers -were now multiplied upon the earth, who feared not the Son, neither the -Father; but blasphemed the Lord and His Anointed; either reviling the -whole of His glorious gospel, or making Him a liar as to some of the -blessed truths revealed therein. But in heaven good men are hid from -the scourge of the tongue. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the prophets -do not revile, or separate them from their company. They are no longer -despitefully used, and persecuted; neither do they groan under the hand -of the oppressor. In a word, in heaven there is no earthly or sensual, -no devilish spirit; none who do not love the Lord their God with all -their heart.” - -The second of Wesley’s publications, in 1735, was “The Christian’s -Pattern; or, a Treatise of the Imitation of Christ. Written originally -in Latin by Thomas à Kempis. With a Preface containing an Account -of the Usefulness of this Treatise. Compared with the original, and -corrected throughout. By John Wesley, M.A.” London: C. Rivington. Of -this work he, at the same time, published two editions,—one in 8vo, 319 -pages, with five engravings; and the other in 24mo, 344 pages, with a -frontispiece. - -His third publication was a manuscript written by his father, and was -entitled, “Advice to a Young Clergyman. By a Divine of the Church of -England.” 12mo, 76 pages. - -We now bid adieu to Oxford. We have seen Methodism at its -fountain-head; we must hereafter trace it, in its streams of blessing, -all the wide world over. The principles and practices of Oxford -Methodism may easily be gathered from the present chapter. Nothing has -been omitted, nothing exaggerated, and nothing altered. The system was -cradled in a storm, and more than once, even at Oxford, was in danger -of perishing. At least twice, during Wesley’s absence, it was all but -wrecked; and, from names casually mentioned, we incline to think its -permanently established converts were much less numerous than its -timid, time serving backsliders. At all events, but for the ministry of -the two Wesleys, of Whitefield, Ingham, Hervey, and Gambold, the memory -of Oxford Methodism might, without public loss, have been buried in -oblivion. As it is, no English historian can ignore it. In its results -it is one of the greatest facts in church annals. At Oxford, it was far -from perfect. It was misty, austere, gloomy, and forbidding; but it was -intensely sincere, earnest, and self denying. Its principles and its -aims may substantially be summed up in the words of Wesley himself, -written forty years afterwards:— - -“Two young men, without a name, without friends, without either power -or fortune, set out from college with principles totally different -from those of the common people, to oppose all the world, learned and -unlearned; and to combat popular prejudices of every kind. Their first -principle directly attacked all the wickedness; their second, all -the bigotry in the world. Thus they attempted a reformation, not of -opinions (feathers, trifles not worth naming), but of men’s tempers and -lives; of vice in every kind; of everything contrary to justice, mercy, -or truth. And for this it was, that they carried their lives in their -hands; and that both the great vulgar and the small looked upon them as -mad dogs, and treated them as such.”[137] - -Let us follow them. - - - - -CHAPTER IV. - -_MISSION TO GEORGIA. 1735‒””””1737._ - - -[Sidenote: 1735 Age 32] - -WESLEY’S father died on the 25th of April, 1735. - -Immediately after that event, the chief of the Oxford Methodists were -widely scattered: Gambold was a clergyman at Stanton-Harcourt; Ingham -became a curate in Essex; Whitefield, though not ordained, went on -an evangelistic tour to Gloucester, Bristol, and other places;[138] -Broughton was chaplain at the Tower; and the two Wesleys repaired to -the metropolis, where they were the guests of James Hutton, or rather -of James Hutton’s father, in Westminster. - -Mr. Hutton was now in the twentieth year of his age. At Oxford he had -met with the Wesley brothers, and had invited them to visit him. His -father was an ordained clergyman of the Church of England; but, not -being able to take the oaths at the accession of George I., he had -resigned his Church preferments, and now kept a boarding school in a -house next door to that of Wesley’s brother Samuel. Here, on Sunday -evenings, the venerable man held meetings, at which he read, and -prayed, and sung with penitents; and here Wesley preached a sermon on -“One thing is needful,” which was the means of converting both James -Hutton and his sister.[139] - -Just at this juncture, Dr. John Burton, of Corpus Christi College, -Oxford, was evincing great interest in the colonisation of Georgia. -Three years before, he had preached and published a sermon, with an -appendix on the state of the Georgian settlement. He now met with -Wesley in London, and introduced him to Oglethorpe, who strongly urged -the high church Methodist to undertake a mission to the infant colony. -Wesley took counsel with his brother Samuel; asked the advice of -William Law; and went to Manchester to consult his friends Clayton and -Byrom. Thence he proceeded to Epworth, and laid the proposal before his -widowed mother, who replied: “Had I twenty sons, I should rejoice if -they were all so employed.” - -On September 8 Dr. Burton wrote to him pressing him to consent to go. -The doctor told him that “plausible and popular doctors of divinity -were not the men wanted for Georgia; for the ease, luxury, and levity -in which they were accustomed to indulge disqualified them for such a -work.” He and the Georgian trustees wished for men who were “inured -to contempt of the ornaments and conveniences of life, to bodily -austerities, and to serious thoughts;” and such he considered Wesley. - -Ten days after the date of this letter Wesley accepted the proposal, -and Burton expressed his pleasure, and added, “You have too much -steadiness of mind to be disturbed by the light scoffs of the idle -and profane.”[140] In another long letter (hitherto unpublished), -dated Eton College, September 28, 1735, Dr. Burton, after reminding -Wesley that he will have a fine opportunity for usefulness during -the voyage to Georgia, proceeds to recommend him, on his arrival, to -visit from house to house, and preach everywhere. He tells him that -“some of the colonists are ignorant, and most of them are disposed to -licentiousness.” He adds: “You will find abundant room for the exercise -of patience and prudence, as well as piety. One end for which we were -associated was the conversion of negro slaves. As yet, nothing has been -attempted in this way; but a door is opened. The Purisburghers have -purchased slaves; they act under our influence; and Mr. Oglethorpe will -think it advisable to begin there. You see the harvest truly is great. -With regard to your behaviour and manner of address, you will keep in -mind the pattern of St. Paul, who became ‘all things to all men that he -might gain some.’ In every case, distinguish between what is essential -and what is merely circumstantial to Christianity; between what is -indispensable and what is variable; between what is of Divine and what -is of human authority. I mention this, because men are apt to deceive -themselves in such cases; and we see the traditions and ordinances of -men frequently insisted on with more vigour than the commandments of -God to which they are subordinate.” - -This was good advice, and, in Wesley’s case, not unneeded. Sixteen days -after the date of Dr. Burton’s letter, Wesley embarked, taking with -him five hundred and fifty copies of a treatise on the Lord’s Supper, -besides other books,—“the gift of several Christian friends for the use -of the settlers in Georgia.”[141] - -James Edward Oglethorpe was the third son of Sir Theophilus Oglethorpe, -of Godalming, Surrey. At a suitable age he entered the army, and became -secretary and aide-de-camp to Prince Eugene. In 1722 he succeeded -to his father’s estate, and obtained a seat in parliament, which he -retained nearly thirty years. From the first, he showed himself to be -a steady and faithful friend of humanity. These were days of harsh -government. The gallows was the penalty for petty thefts; and each -year, at least four thousand unhappy men in Great Britain were immured -in prison for the misfortune of being poor. A small debt was quite -enough to expose a struggling man to a perpetuity of imprisonment; and -an indiscreet bargain doomed many a well-meaning, miserable dupe to -lifelong confinement. Oglethorpe obtained a parliamentary committee, to -inquire into the state of prisons; the result of which was that a large -number of debtors were released from confinement, and restored to light -and to liberty. Being released, it was a serious question what to do -with them. - -It so happened that, though the whole of the eastern seaboard of -America seemed to be already parcelled out among companies and -colonists, there was still remaining a comparatively small strip of -country, intervening between South Carolina and Florida, and situated -between the river Alatamaha on the south and the river Savannah on -the north, and having a sea-coast stretching a distance of sixty or -seventy miles. This strip of land was a wilderness over which England -held only a nominal jurisdiction; but it occurred to Oglethorpe and -his friends to plant in this sunny clime those children of misfortune -whom they had released from prison, but who were still without food -and shelter. Accordingly, on the 9th of June, 1732, a charter was -obtained from George II., erecting this thin slice of America into -the province of Georgia, and appointing Oglethorpe and twenty other -gentlemen (of whom Dr. Burton was one) trustees to hold the same -for a period of one and twenty years, “in trust for the poor.” The -benevolence of England was aroused. The trustees set an example of -princely liberality by their private subscriptions; the Bank of England -presented a donation of £10,000; an equal amount was voted by the House -of Commons; and the total sum raised, with but little effort, and -almost without solicitation, was £36,000. Within five months after the -signing of the charter, the first company of emigrants, one hundred -and twenty in number, set sail, with Oglethorpe as their commander, -and the Rev. Henry Herbert, a clergyman of the Established Church, as -their minister. At the commencement of the month of February, 1733, -the colonists reached the high bluff on which Savannah is now erected, -and encamped near the edge of the river. The streets of the intended -town were laid out with the greatest regularity; and the houses were -to be constructed on one model,—each a frame of sawn timber, measuring -sixteen feet by twenty-four, its sides to be enclosed with unplaned -boards, and its floor to be of rough deals, and its roof of shingle. -Each freeholder was allotted fifty acres of ground, five of which were -near Savannah, and the remaining forty-five farther off. Thus began -the commonwealth of Georgia. The humane reformer of prison life was -already the father of a state. A large number of Indians met him to -make an alliance with his colony; the meeting was friendly; to each -chief he gave a laced coat, a hat, and a shirt; and to their attendants -gunpowder, bullets, linen, tobacco, pipes, tape, and eight kegs of rum, -to carry home as presents to their respective towns. In a letter, -dated June 9, 1733, Oglethorpe states that a door was opened for the -conversion of the Indians; and nothing seemed to be wanting but a -minister who understood their language: in action and expression, they -were masters of eloquence, and many of their speeches were equal to -those which scholars most admire in the Greek and Roman writings.[142] - -The next company of emigrants belonged to a different class. About -a year before the charter for the Georgian colony was granted, a -remarkable revival of religion took place at Saltzburg, in Germany. -By merely reading the Bible, above twenty thousand people were led -to renounce Popery and to embrace the Reformed religion. The popish -priests complained to the Archbishop of Saltzburg that these Protestant -converts assembled in various places, and sang hymns and offered -prayers. The archbishop published an edict prohibiting such assemblies, -upon pain of fines, corporal punishments, and even death itself. The -new converts, however, still assembled as before; and now his serene -highness the archbishop let loose his partisans, and commenced a -murderous persecution, which drove thousands of innocent, unoffending, -godly people into exile. Numbers were dragged to prison; some were led -about with ropes round their necks; others had their hands so tightly -tied with cords behind their backs that the blood spurted from their -finger ends. The archbishop’s soldiers struck some of them in the face -with their fists, calling them “heretic dogs and hell-hounds.” One poor -fellow was fined seventy florins for singing a Protestant psalm of -praise. Protestant preachers were called “murderers, buffle-heads, and -children of the devil;” and the Protestant doctrine was stigmatised as -“faith for swine and stinking goats.” Every one who embraced Luther’s -doctrines “would be roasted in hell;” and the moment any one read his -books the reader “became an offering to the devil.”[143] - -What was the result? The Society for the Propagation of the Gospel -in Foreign Parts heard of these poor persecuted Protestants, and -proposed to them to emigrate to Georgia. Thousands of them had fled -from Saltzburg; and others were still in prison there, fed with bread -and water, and employing themselves in praying and singing psalms. -Large numbers were taken into service by Protestants at Augsburg and -other places; and one section of the fugitives embraced the proposal -just mentioned, and on October 31, 1733, set out for Georgia. After a -discourse, prayer, and benedictions, and well supplied with Bibles, -hymns, catechisms, and books of devotion, they began their pilgrimage, -one wagon conveying all the chattels that they had, and two others -their feebler companions and their little ones. We need not stop to -tell the charities that cheered them on their journey,—how they entered -Frankfort, two by two, in solemn procession, singing sacred songs,—and -how they were joined at Rotterdam by the preachers Bolzius and Gronau, -both disciplined in piety at the Orphan House of Professor Francke. Six -days brought them to Dover, where several of the Georgian trustees met -them and provided for their wants; and on January 8, 1734, they set -sail, singing the “Te Deum” and praising God with both lips and hearts. - -The Saltzburghers arrived in Georgia in the month of March, met with -Oglethorpe, and chose a settlement twenty-one miles from Savannah, -where there were “rivers, little hills, clear brooks, cool springs, -a fertile soil, and plenty of grass.” At Charlestown, where they -first landed, they ascertained that in the province of Carolina there -were thirty thousand negroes, all of them slaves, working six days -in the week for their owners without pay, and allowed to work on the -Sundays for themselves. Near Savannah, they found a beautiful garden -of ten acres, already planted with thriving orange-trees, olives, -mulberries, figs, peaches, cabbages, peas, and pulse. The spot which -they had chosen as their settlement, and to which they gave the name of -Ebenezer, was surrounded by vast forests of cedars, walnuts, cypresses, -and oaks, with wild vines running to the top of the highest trees. -As to game, there were eagles, turkeys, roebucks, goats, deer, wild -cows, horses, hares, partridges, and buffaloes without number. The -Saltzburghers built tents made of the bark of trees, constructed roads -and bridges, set up religious services, were furnished with domestic -utensils and with cattle, and were soon a prosperous community. - -In April Oglethorpe returned to England, bringing with him Tomo-chichi -and other Indians, to invigorate the confidence of England in the -destiny of Georgia. Parliament continued its benefactions, the king -expressed interest in a province which bore his name, and the youngest -child of England’s colonial enterprise won universal favour. - -The next company of emigrants were a number of Scotch Highlanders, -who founded New Inverness, in Darien; the next a number of Moravians, -of whom more anon; and the next after that, the company with whom -Wesley sailed. Wesley’s predecessor in Georgia was the Rev. Samuel -Quincy,[144] a native of Massachusetts, but educated in England. Mr. -Quincy wishing to return to England, the Society for the Propagation of -the Gospel in Foreign Parts sent Wesley as his successor, at a salary -of £50 a year.[145] The chief object in founding the colony was to grow -flax and hemp, to breed silkworms, and to raise raw silk.[146] The -common seal of the corporation had on one side a group of silkworms at -their toils, with the motto, _Non sibi, sed aliis_; and on the other, -two figures reposing on urns, emblematic of the boundary rivers; and -between them the genius of “Georgia Augusta,” with the cap of liberty -on her head, a spear in one hand, and the horn of plenty in the other. -It must be added that in this young community ardent spirits were -prohibited, and the introduction of slavery forbidden. - -The Transatlantic colonies existing in 1735 were nothing more than a -mere fringe skirting the eastern coast of that vast continent. The -Spaniards were in Florida; the English in Georgia, the Carolinas, -Virginia, Maryland, Pennsylvania, and New England; and the French in -Canada. This was all. Excepting these few feeble colonial settlements, -the whole of the immense American continent—which, measuring from New -York to California, and from Lake Superior to New Orleans, extends in -one direction 3300 miles and in the other 1300 miles—was one vast, -rich, but uncultivated wilderness, the home of myriads of birds and -beasts, and sparsely inhabited by savage Indians. Bancroft enumerates -above forty Indian tribes, or nations, embracing about 180,000 souls, -whose wigwams and hunting grounds were all situated on the eastern side -of the Mississippi. The men were warriors, and the women labourers. -Their education was acquired solely in the school of nature, and their -chief almanac was the flight of birds, announcing the progress of the -seasons. They kept no herds, and were never shepherds, but depended -for their food on the chase, the fisheries, and a little farming. -Their scanty clothing was made of skins, and their feet protected by -soft mocassins. Their principal ornaments were strings of shells, the -fairest feathers of the turkey, the skin of the rattlesnake, and an -enemy’s scalp. Their skins were oft tattooed; and, when making visits, -they painted themselves gloriously, delighting especially in vermilion. -They worshipped an unseen power pervading everything, which they called -the Great Spirit, and had their sorcerers, medicine men, and prophets. -Faith in the spirit world, as revealed by dreams, was universal; and -festivals in honour of the dead were frequent. - -What became of these Indians? and where are their descendants? To -answer these questions would be to pass through scenes of horror -without a parallel, and to write a history of blood. - -Such was America in 1735. What is it now, and what is likely to be its -future? Who could have imagined that, in one hundred and thirty years, -this huge wilderness would be transformed into one of the greatest -nations upon earth; and that the Methodism, begun at Savannah, would -pervade the continent, and, ecclesiastically considered, become the -mightiest power existing? But we must now return to Wesley and his -Georgian mission. - -In a letter, dated October 10, 1735, Wesley gives his reasons for going -to Georgia. He writes:— - - “My chief motive is the hope of saving my own soul. I hope to - learn the true sense of the gospel of Christ by preaching it - to the heathen. They have no comments to construe away the - text; no vain philosophy to corrupt it; no luxurious, sensual, - covetous, ambitious expounders to soften its unpleasing truths. - They have no party, no interest to serve, and are therefore fit - to receive the gospel in its simplicity. They are as little - children, humble, willing to learn, and eager to do, the will - of God. - - “A right faith will, I trust, by the mercy of God, open the way - for a right practice; especially when most of those temptations - are removed which here so easily beset me. It will be no small - thing to be able, without fear of giving offence, to live on - water and the fruits of the earth. An Indian hut affords no - food for curiosity, no gratification of the desire of grand, or - new, or pretty things. The pomp and show of the world have no - place in the wilds of America. - - “Further: I hope from the moment I leave the English shore, - under the acknowledged character of a teacher sent from God, - there shall be no word heard from my lips but what properly - flows from that character; and the same faithfulness I hope - to show in dispensing my Master’s goods, if it please Him to - send me to those who, like His first followers, have all things - common. What a guard is here against that root of evil, the - love of money, and all the vile attractions that spring from it! - - “I then hope to know what it is to love my neighbour as - myself, and to feel the powers of that second motive to visit - the heathens, even the desire to impart to them what I have - received,—a saving knowledge of the gospel of Christ. I have - been a grievous sinner from my youth up, and am yet laden with - foolish and hurtful desires; but I am assured, if I be once - converted myself, God will then employ me both to strengthen my - brethren, and to preach His name to the gentiles. - - “I cannot hope to attain the same degree of holiness here, - which I may there. I shall lose nothing I desire to keep. I - shall still have food to eat, and raiment to put on; and, if - any man have a desire of other things, let him know that the - greatest blessing that can possibly befall him is, to be cut - off from all occasions of gratifying those desires which, - unless speedily rooted out, will drown his soul in everlasting - perdition.”[147] - -Exception may fairly be taken to some of the sentiments contained in -this letter. The Indians were not the docile children that Wesley -imagined; nor is it true that life in heathendom is more favourable to -the attainment of holiness than life in Christendom: but we neither -have space nor wish to criticise Wesley’s views, our chief object being -to represent him as he represents himself. - -Wesley went on board the _Simmonds_, off Gravesend, on October 14, -1735; and, the day following, he wrote a characteristic letter, -(probably his last before leaving the English waters,) to his brother -Samuel, who was now head master of the school at Tiverton. After -telling him that, two days before, he had presented to the queen his -father’s “Dissertations on the Book of Job,” and had received “many -good words and smiles,” he continues:— - - “Elegance of style is not to be weighed against purity of - heart; therefore, whatever has any tendency to impair that - purity is not to be tolerated, much less recommended, for - the sake of that elegance. But of this sort are most of the - classics usually read in great schools: many of them tending - to inflame the lusts of the flesh, and more to feed the lust - of the eye and the pride of life. I beseech you therefore, - by the mercies of God, who would have us holy as He is holy, - that you banish all such poison from your school; and that you - introduce, in their place, such Christian authors as will work - together with you in building up your flock in the knowledge - and love of God. For assure yourself, dear brother, you are - even now called to the converting of heathens as well as I. So - many souls are committed to your charge by God, to be prepared - for a happy eternity. You are to instruct them, not only in the - beggarly elements of Greek and Latin; but much more, in the - gospel. You are to labour with all your might to convince them, - that Christianity is not a negation, or an external thing, but - a new heart, a mind conformed to that of Christ, ‘faith working - by love,’”[148] - -Two days after writing the above, Wesley, in order to converse with -his German fellow-passengers, began to study that language; and three -days later, believing that self-denial might be helpful to his piety, -he wholly left off the use of flesh and wine, and confined himself to -a vegetable diet, chiefly rice and biscuit. This he continued during -the whole of his residence in Georgia; but on his return to England, -for the sake of some who thought he made it a point of conscience, he -resumed his former mode of living, and practised it to the end of life, -except during a two years’ interim, when he again became vegetarian and -teetotaler, because Dr. Cheyne assured him that this was the only way -to “be free from fevers.”[149] - -Wesley is on board—who are the chief of his fellow voyagers? His -brother Charles, Benjamin Ingham, James Edward Oglethorpe, Charles -Delamotte, and David Nitschmann. Two others had intended going, namely, -Westley Hall and Matthew Salmon; and both had been recently ordained -with reference to the Georgian mission. At the last moment, however, -Salmon’s friends pounced upon him, and sent him, almost forcibly, to -his parental home in Cheshire; while Hall, who had actually hired -a coach to carry him and his wife (Wesley’s sister) to Gravesend, -where the ship was lying, received, as he was about to start, the -intelligence that his family were not only opposed to his embarking, -but had procured him a Church benefice. This so changed his missionary -views and feelings, that he instantly countermanded the order for the -coach, put aside all his luggage and preparations for the mission, -and, hastening to General Oglethorpe, told him he had resolved not to -go.[150] - -Of Charles Wesley nothing need be said; his fame is everywhere. -Benjamin Ingham was a young Yorkshireman, twenty-three years of age, -and, for the last three months, had been preaching in the villages -surrounding the metropolis with singular success. “Fast, and pray,” -wrote Wesley at the beginning of September: “fast and pray; and then -send me word whether you dare go with me to the Indians.” Ingham at -first thought there were heathens enough at home; but, a fortnight -after, he acceded to Wesley’s proposal; and, with as pure and devoted a -heart as ever throbbed in missionary’s bosom, away he went to convert -the Indians in America. - -Oglethorpe has been already mentioned. Suffice it to add, that though -chivalrous in the highest degree, and the very soul of benevolence and -honour,—though brave and loyal, and full of enthusiastic feeling,—he -was irascible and sometimes rash, talkative, tinged with vanity, and -somewhat boastful. Like many other public men, he became the victim -of unmerited censure and injudicious praise. The last thirty years of -his life were chiefly spent in the society of literary and learned -men. He died in 1785; and Hannah More, in a letter dated a year before -his death, spoke of him thus: “He is much above ninety years old, and -the finest figure you ever saw. He perfectly realises all my ideas of -Nestor. His literature is great, his knowledge of the world extensive, -and his faculties as bright as ever. He is quite a _preux chevalier_, -heroic, romantic, and full of the old gallantry.” - -Charles Delamotte was a young man of twenty-one, the son of a Middlesex -magistrate; and was so attached to Wesley, that when he heard he was -about to embark for Georgia he determined to go with him, and to act -as his servant. His father, naturally enough, strongly objected, -and offered to settle him in a handsome business; but the youth was -obstinate, and after obtaining a partial consent from his parents and -family, set sail with Wesley, lived with him, served under him as a son -in the gospel, did much good, and endured great hardships for the sake -of Christ. On his return to England, he became a Moravian, settled at -Barrow-upon-Humber, where he spent a long life of piety and peace, and -died in 1796.[151] - -David Nitschmann was born in Moravia, and was now in the sixtieth year -of his age. In 1720 a remarkable revival of religion took place in the -town where David lived; but, by the intervention of the Jesuits, the -meetings of the new converts were prohibited, and many who attended -them were imprisoned in stables, cellars, and other offensive places. -A police officer entered Nitschmann’s house, where one hundred and -fifty of these godly people were assembled, and seized all the books -within his reach. The congregation at once struck up a stanza of one of -Luther’s hymns:— - - “If the whole world with devils swarmed, - That threatened us to swallow, - We will not fear, for we are armed, - And victory will follow.” - -Twenty persons, including David, all heads of respectable families, -were arrested and sent to gaol. For three days David was deprived of -food, and was so cruelly ironed that the blood spurted from his nose -and mouth, and oozed from his very pores. After some time, he escaped -from his horrid dungeon, and fled for safety to his Moravian friends at -Herrnhut. David was now a Moravian bishop, and, accompanied by about -thirty Moravians, was on his way to visit the congregations of the -Brethren in Georgia. - -Such were the chief of Wesley’s fellow voyagers. As already stated, -they embarked at Gravesend on October 14, 1735; but it was not -until December 10 that they fairly started.[152] First of all, they -encountered a storm in the Downs; then, on arriving at Cowes, they had -to await the man-of-war that was to be their convoy. - -The rules which Wesley and his friends observed during their long -voyage were as follows:—From four in the morning till five, they -employed in private prayer. From five to seven, they read the Bible -together, carefully comparing what they read with the writings of the -earliest ages. At seven, they breakfasted. At eight, they had public -prayers and expounded the lesson. From nine to twelve, Wesley usually -learned German, Delamotte studied Greek and navigation, Charles Wesley -wrote sermons, and Ingham gave instruction to the twelve children on -board. At twelve, they met together for mutual prayer, and to report -progress. About one, they dined; and from the time of dinner till four -in the afternoon, they read or spoke to certain of the passengers of -whom they had respectively taken charge. At four, they had evening -prayers, and either expounded the lesson, or catechized and instructed -the children in the presence of the congregation. From five to six was -again spent in private prayer. From six to seven they read, each in his -own cabin, to three different detachments of the English passengers, of -whom about eighty were on board. At seven, Wesley joined the Moravians -in their public service; while Ingham read, between the decks, to as -many as desired to hear. At eight, the four faithful friends met in -private to exhort and instruct each other; and, between nine and ten, -they went to bed without mats and blankets, where neither the roaring -of the sea nor the rocking of the ship could rob them of refreshing -rest.[153] - -While detained at Cowes, Wesley, after careful instruction, baptized -four unbaptized Quakers.[154] Charles Wesley, being known to the -minister of the town, preached several times in the parish church -to large congregations; and, in the house of a poor woman, read to -the crowds which flocked to hear him. In other respects also their -detention was productive of good; for a gentleman who scoffed at -religion left the ship; the second mate, who was an insolent and ill -natured fellow, was expelled; and a young man was received on board, -who, for his piety, had been turned adrift by his rich parents, and had -been praying incessantly that he might be directed to a place where he -could have the advantage of public prayers and the holy sacrament. - -On November 3, while walking in the Isle of Wight, the four friends -agreed upon the following resolutions, which they solemnly subscribed:— - - “IN the name of God, Amen! We, whose names are underwritten, - being fully convinced that it is impossible, either to - promote the work of God among the heathen, without an entire - union among ourselves, or that such a union should subsist, - unless each one will give up his single judgment to that of - the majority, do agree, by the help of God:—first, that none - of us will undertake anything of importance without first - proposing it to the other three;—secondly, that whenever our - judgments differ, any one shall give up his single judgment - or inclination to the others;—thirdly, that in case of an - equality, after begging God’s direction, the matter shall be - decided by lot. - - JOHN WESLEY, - CHARLES WESLEY, - BENJAMIN INGHAM, - CHARLES DELAMOTTE.”[155] - -Of the Moravians on board, Ingham, in a long letter to his mother, -wrote as follows:—“They are a good, devout, peaceable, and -heavenly-minded people; and almost the only time you know they are in -the ship is when they are harmoniously singing the praises of the great -Creator, which they constantly do twice a day. Their example was very -edifying. They are more like the primitive Christians than any church -now existing, for they retain both the faith, practice, and discipline -delivered by the apostles. They have regularly ordained bishops, -priests, and deacons. Baptisms, confirmation, and the eucharist are -duly administered. Discipline is strictly exercised, without respect -of persons. They all submit themselves to their pastors in everything. -They live together in perfect love and peace, having for the present -all things common. They are more ready to serve their neighbours -than themselves. In business they are diligent, in all their dealings -strictly just; and in everything they behave themselves with meekness, -sweetness, and humility.” - -From the same letter we learn that, on October 18, Wesley and Ingham -began to read the Old Testament together; and, at the rate of between -nine and ten chapters daily, finished it before they arrived at -Georgia. On the day following, Wesley commenced preaching without -notes; and during the passage, in a series of sermons, he went through -the whole of our Saviour’s sermon on the mount, and, every sabbath, had -a weekly sacrament. - -The voyage, from Cowes to the Savannah river, was made in fifty-seven -days. Oglethorpe seems to have acted with great kindness. On one -occasion, when some of the officers and gentlemen on board took -liberties with Wesley and his friends, Oglethorpe indignantly -exclaimed, “What mean you, sirs? Do you take these gentlemen for -tithe-pig parsons? They are gentlemen of learning and respectability. -They are my friends, and whoever offers an affront to them insults -me.”[156] This was quite enough, and, ever after, the poor Methodists -were treated with respect. Oglethorpe was irritable, but noble-hearted -and generous. Wesley, hearing an unusual noise in the general’s cabin, -entered to inquire the cause; on which the angry soldier cried: “Excuse -me, Mr. Wesley; I have met with a provocation too great to bear. This -villain, Grimaldi, an Italian servant, has drunk nearly the whole -of my Cyprus wine, the only wine that agrees with me, and several -dozens of which I had provided for myself. But I am determined to be -revenged. The rascal shall be tied hand and foot, and be carried to -the man-of-war; for I never forgive.” “Then,” said Wesley with great -calmness, “then I hope, sir, you never sin.” Oglethorpe was confounded, -his vengeance was gone, he put his hand into his pocket, pulled out a -bunch of keys, and threw them at Grimaldi, saying, “There, villain! -take my keys, and behave better for the future.”[157] - -The voyage to Georgia was not without danger. On the 17th of January, -the sea broke over the ship, and, shaking it from stem to stern, -brought down the mainyard upon the decks, and dashed through the cabin -windows. Six days after, an immense wave vaulted over Wesley’s head, -and drenched him to the skin. Two days later, the winds roared, and -the ship rocked to and fro with the utmost violence. The sea sparkled -and smoked as if on fire, and the air literally blazed with lightning. -The mainsail was torn to tatters, and the companion swept away.[158] -Just at the time this occurred, the Moravians were engaged in their -evening service, and were singing a psalm of praise. As usual, Wesley -was with them. The English passengers began screaming; but the Germans -calmly continued singing. Wesley was struck with this, and asked one -of them, after the service was concluded, “Were you not afraid?” He -answered, “I thank God, no.” Wesley asked again, “But were not your -women and children afraid?” “No,” replied the Moravian, “our women and -children are not afraid to die.” From the Moravians Wesley went among -the terror-struck English, and pointed out the difference between him -that feareth God and him that feareth Him not; and then concludes his -account of the storm by saying, “This was the most glorious day which -I had ever seen.” Eleven days after, on February 5, 1736, they safely -cast anchor in the Savannah river, and were welcomed by the firing -of cannon, and by all the freeholders, constables, and tithingmen, -presenting arms; while Oglethorpe’s first act was to give orders to -provide materials to build a church.[159] - -Savannah was now a town of about forty houses,[160] standing on a flat -bluff, rising forty or fifty feet above the crescent river flowing at -its base. On the eastern side of the town was a swamp, on the west a -wood, and on the south a forest of pines, fourteen miles in length. The -principal buildings were a courthouse, which served also for a church, -a log-built prison, a storehouse, a public mill for grinding corn, -and a residence for the trustees’ steward. All the houses were of the -same size. There were still standing the four beautiful pines, under -which Oglethorpe encamped when he landed with the first settlers, and -which for nearly a twelvemonth he used as a sleeping place. At the -distance of about half a mile was a small Indian town, in which large -numbers of the Creek nation were occasionally accustomed to assemble. -The climate was exceedingly salubrious, the land rich, and the water -good.[161] Every male emigrant was allowed a watch coat, a musket, a -bayonet, a hatchet, a hammer, a hand saw, a shovel, a hoe, a gimlet, -a knife, an iron pot, a pair of pothooks, and a frying-pan: also for -his maintenance, during the first year, 312 lbs. of beef or pork, 104 -of rice, 104 of Indian corn or peas, 104 of meal, one pint of strong -beer per day, 52 quarts of molasses, 16 lbs. of cheese, 12 of butter, -eight oz. of spice, 12 lbs. of sugar, four gallons of vinegar, 24 lbs. -of salt, 12 quarts of lamp oil, one lb. of cotton thread, and 12 lbs of -soap. Proportionate allowances were made to women and children.[162] -Such facts will help the reader to imagine the kind of home and society -which Wesley had in Georgia. - -The only other towns in Georgia, even when Wesley came back to England, -were Frederica, in St. Simon’s Island, one hundred miles south of -Savannah; Darien, the settlement of the Scotch Highlanders, at a -distance of about eighty miles; New Ebenezer, consisting of sixty huts, -nineteen miles; Highgate and Hampstead, with fourteen families, four -or five miles southwest, and Thunderbolt, with three families, six -miles southeast. Such were the English settlements in Georgia. All the -rest of that large territory was woods, swamps, and prairies, the home -of savage Indians, and of savage beasts. The Georgian Indians had no -literature, no religion, and no civil government. Every one did what -was right in his own eyes; and, if his neighbour felt aggrieved, he -would warily do his best to shoot him, scalp him, or cut off his ears. -All of them, except perhaps the Choctaws, were gluttons, drunkards, -thieves, and liars; implacable, unmerciful, murderers of fathers, -murderers of mothers, murderers of their own children. Husbands, -strictly speaking, the women had none, for the men left their so called -wives at pleasure; and the wives, in return for such desertion, would -cut the throats of all the children they had had by their faithless -swains. The Choctaws possessed a large extent of land, eight or nine -hundred miles west of Savannah, had many well inhabited towns, and six -thousand warriors. The Chicasaws, dwelling among meadows, springs, and -rivers, six or seven hundred miles in the interior, had ten towns, and -about nine hundred fighting men,—all of them eating, drinking, and -smoking almost day and night, extremely indolent except in war, and -torturing and burning their prisoners with the most fiendish cruelty. -The Cherokees lived in a mountainous, fruitful, and pleasant country, -three or four hundred miles from Savannah, had fifty-two towns, and -above three thousand men of war. The Uchees had only one small town, -near two hundred miles distant from the Savannah settlement, and were -hated by most and despised by all the other Indian tribes, for their -cowardice and superlative diligence in thieving. The Creeks were -located at a distance of about four hundred miles, had a well watered -country, and fifteen hundred fighting men, and, of all the Indians, -were the most infected with the insatiate love of drink, as well -as other European vices. In such a country John Wesley lived, from -February 5, 1736, to December 2, 1737. - -One of the first to meet Wesley on the shores of Georgia was the well -known Moravian elder, August Gottlieb Spangenberg. Wesley asked his -advice how to act in his new sphere of labour. Spangenberg replied, -“My brother, I must first ask you one or two questions. Have you the -witness within yourself? Does the Spirit of God bear witness with -your spirit, that you are a child of God?” Wesley was surprised at -such questions. They were new to him. He was at a loss how to answer. -Spangenberg continued, “Do you know Jesus Christ?” This was easier, -and Wesley answered, “I know He is the Saviour of the world.” “True,” -said Spangenberg; “but do you know He has saved _you_?” Wesley was -again perplexed, but answered, “I hope He has died to save me.” -Spangenberg only added, “Do you know yourself?” Wesley replied, “I -do.” An odd conversation, leaving Spangenberg in doubt respecting the -real conversion of the Oxford priest, and leading Wesley to think of -doctrines which took him more than the next two years to understand. - -Nine days after his arrival, Wesley and his friends were visited by -Tomo-Chichi (whom Oglethorpe had brought to England some time before) -and half-a-dozen other Indians. Informed of their arrival, the young -clergymen met them in their gowns and cassocks. The chief bid them -welcome, said he would assemble the great men of his nation, and -expressed a wish that they would teach his children; while his wife -gave them a jar of milk, as emblematic of her wish that they might feed -the Indians with milk, for they were but children, and a jar of honey, -with the hope that the missionaries would be sweet to them.[163] - -Ingham and Charles Wesley went off with Oglethorpe to lay out the town -of Frederica; and Wesley and Delamotte, having no house of their own to -live in, lodged, during the first month, with Spangenberg, Nitschmann, -and other Moravian friends. Thus, from morning to night, were they -mixed up with these godly people, and had ample opportunity to observe -their spirit and behaviour. Wesley writes: “They were always employed, -always cheerful themselves, and in good humour with one another; -they had put away all anger, and strife, and wrath, and bitterness, -and clamour, and evil speaking; they walked worthy of the vocation -wherewith they were called, and adorned the gospel of our Lord in all -things.” Wesley was present at the election and ordination of Anton -Seifart[164] as a bishop for Georgia, the simplicity and solemnity -of the service making him almost forget the seventeen hundred years -between, and imagine himself in one of those assemblies where form and -state were not, but Paul the tentmaker or Peter the fisherman presided, -with the demonstration of the Spirit and of power. Who can estimate the -influence of such intercourse in moulding the subsequent character and -life of this inquiring missionary? - -Mr. Quincy, Wesley’s predecessor, having now removed to Carolina, -Wesley took possession of the wood-built rectory, and, on March 7th, -commenced his ministry at Savannah by preaching a sermon from 1 -Corinthians xiii. 3, in which he introduced two death-bed scenes,—that -of his father at Epworth, and another which he had witnessed at -Savannah, and which was “a spectacle worthy to be seen of God and -angels and men.”[165] He officiated at nine in the morning, at twelve, -and again in the afternoon;[166] and announced his design to administer -the sacrament on every Sunday and on every holiday. - -A few days subsequent to this, writing to his mother, he remarked:—“We -are likely to stay here some months. The place is pleasant beyond -imagination, and exceeding healthful. I have not had a moment’s illness -of any kind since I set my foot upon the continent; nor do I know any -more than one of my seven hundred parishioners who is sick at this -time. Many of them indeed are, I believe, very angry already; for a -gentleman, no longer ago than last night (March 17), made a ball; but -the public prayers happening to begin about the same time, the church -was full, and the ballroom so empty that the entertainment could not -go forward. I should be heartily glad if any poor and religious men or -women of Epworth or Wroote would come over to me. General Oglethorpe -would give them land enough, and provisions gratis, till they could -live on the produce of it.”[167] - -Wesley, in this letter, evidently considers the whole of the Georgian -settlements as his parish; for, so far from Savannah having at this -time a population of seven hundred souls, there was scarcely that -number in the whole of the settlements put together. Georgia was his -parish; for, Mr. Quincy being gone, he was the only minister of the -Church of England inducted into ministerial work in the Georgian -territory. Charles Wesley was Oglethorpe’s secretary; and though -Benjamin Ingham had gone with a few colonists to where Frederica was to -stand, Frederica itself as yet did not exist. Besides, Ingham’s visit -was intended to be but temporary, his mind being fully fixed upon a -mission to the Indians. Indeed, this was Wesley’s purpose also. Their -only object in quitting England was, not to preach to the colonists, -but to the Indians; and the reason why Wesley had begun to preach to -the English at Savannah was because Mr. Quincy, the minister of the -English, had left the colony, and they were now as sheep without a -shepherd; and also because, through the French on the one hand and the -Spaniards on the other, the Indians were at present in great confusion, -and had become so excited by French and Spanish plots and treachery -that it was not only dangerous to go among them, but, as Tomo-Chichi -told Wesley and his friends at the interview already mentioned, they -seemed determined not to hear “the great word” which the white man had -to teach.[168] In these two facts we find the reason, and the only -reason, why Wesley’s object in going to Georgia was not fulfilled; and -why, instead of preaching to the Indians in the woods, he spent his -time in preaching to the English at Savannah. - -The commencement of Wesley’s ministry was auspicious. A fortnight after -preaching his first sermon, he wrote to his brother Charles as follows: -“I have hitherto no opposition at all; all is smooth, and fair, and -promising. Many seem to be awakened; all are full of respect and -commendation. We cannot see any cloud gathering. But this calm cannot -last: storms must come hither, too; and let them come, when we are -ready to meet them.”[169] - -Wesley had lived so long in the tempest of opposition that it is no -wonder he felt it strange to find himself in the midst of an unbroken -calm, surrounded by nothing but “respect and commendation.” This was a -new experience, but it was soon ended. - -Charles Wesley and Ingham were already in hot water at Frederica, and -the latter hurried off to Savannah for advice. It was only three weeks -since Wesley had there commenced his ministry; yet he had already -established daily morning and evening public prayers, and a weekly -communion; he had also formed a society, which met on Wednesday, -Friday, and Sunday nights, to read and pray and sing psalms together; -and Delamotte had begun to teach a few orphan children.[170] This was -a vigorous beginning, but now Wesley and Delamotte had to hasten to -Frederica, leaving Ingham to supply their place in the best way he -could. - -Charles had been baptizing children by trine immersion, and -endeavouring to reconcile scolding women. Some of these termagants -had prejudiced Oglethorpe against him, and the poor secretary was now -treated with coldness, and even charged with mutiny. A woman, whose -husband had been put into confinement, blamed him for being the cause -of it, and threatened to be revenged upon him, by “exposing his d——d -hypocrisy and his prayers four times a day by beat of drum.”[171] While -all the others were provided with boards to sleep upon, he was left to -sleep upon the ground. His few well-wishers became afraid to speak to -him, and even his washerwoman refused in future to wash his linen. - -Wesley and Delamotte left Savannah on April 4, and returned on April -20; having spent ten days on the voyage, and six in settling the -miserable squabbles that had sprung up among the palmetto huts of -Frederica. - -On the day of his arrival, Wesley wrote to Oglethorpe as follows:— - - “SAVANNAH, _April 20, 1736_. - - “SAVANNAH never was so dear to me as now. I found so little - either of the form or power of godliness at Frederica, that I - am sincerely glad I am removed from it. There is none of those - who did run well whom I pity more than Mrs. Hawkins.[172] Her - treating me in such a manner would indeed have little affected - me, had my own interests only been concerned. I have been used - to be betrayed, scorned, and insulted, by those I had most - laboured to serve. But when I reflect on her condition, my - heart bleeds for her.” - -Wesley then refers to the accusation against his brother, to the effect -that, by the frequency of his public prayers, he prevented the men -attending to their proper work, and interrupted the progress of the -town and colony. He shows the absurdity of this, by stating that, both -at Frederica and Savannah, not more than seven minutes were spent in -reading the public morning and evening prayers. Fourteen minutes daily, -in two public services, could hardly be considered an unreasonable -taxation of the people’s time. Wesley writes: “These cannot be termed -long prayers: no Christian assembly ever used shorter.” And then he -naively informs Oglethorpe that these short prayers had no repetitions -in them! We should think not![173] - -Within a month after his return to Savannah, Wesley began to carry -out his high church principles. He refused to baptize a child of Mr. -Parker’s, second bailiff of the town, because the parents objected to -its being dipped. On Sundays, he divided the public prayers, according -to the original appointment of the Church; reading the morning service -at five; the communion office and a sermon at eleven; and the evening -service at three. He also commenced visiting his parishioners in order, -from house to house, setting apart for this purpose three hours every -day. - -He had no sooner begun, however, than his brother, wearied with his -life at Frederica, and full of abhorrence at the false-heartedness of -the people,[174] unexpectedly presented himself at Savannah. Places -were exchanged, and John and Delamotte instantly started off to the -forsaken flock. They arrived at Frederica on May 22nd, and remained -until June 23rd. During this brief visit, Wesley read the commendatory -prayer over Mrs. Germain, at the point of death; made Mr. Lassel’s -will; arranged a small society-meeting, like that which had been -organised at Savannah; and reproved an officer of a man-of-war for -swearing. One of his congregation said to him: “I like nothing you do; -all your sermons are satires upon particular persons. Besides, we are -Protestants: but as for you, we cannot tell what religion you are of. -We never heard of such a religion before; we know not what to make of -it. And then your private behaviour: all the quarrels that have been -here since your arrival have been because of you; and there is neither -man nor woman in the town who minds a word you say.” The next day -Wesley returned to Savannah. - -He was no sooner back than a large party of Indians came, including -several chiefs and an interpreter, with whom he had several interviews. -He now hoped that a door was opened for the fulfilment of his intention -to be a missionary among the heathen; but when he informed Oglethorpe -of his purpose, the general objected, on the ground that there was -great danger of his being taken or killed by the French, and that it -was inexpedient to leave Savannah without a minister. Wesley answered -that, though the trustees of Georgia had appointed him to the office of -minister of Savannah, this was done without his solicitation, desire, -or knowledge; and that he should not continue longer than until his way -was opened to go among the Indians. And so the matter ended. - -On the 26th of July, after spending a little more than five months -in Georgia, his brother Charles embarked for England. At the same -time, Wesley went again to ill-natured Frederica, where he spent the -next twelve weeks. Here he read, with Delamotte, Bishop Beveridge’s -“_Pandectæ Canonum Conciliorum_,” and became more convinced than ever -that both particular and general councils may err. He set up a small -library; and as several Germans, through not understanding the English -tongue, were unable to join in the public service, he agreed to meet -them every day at noon, in his own house, where, in their own language, -he expounded to them a chapter of the New Testament, and prayed with -them. Finding, however, that his prospects of doing good at Frederica -became less and less, he returned to Savannah on the 31st of October, -where he continued until the beginning of 1737. - -Meanwhile, Wesley’s friends in England did not forget him. The -following was from his old acquaintance, Mr. Morgan, and is now for the -first time given to the public. - - “OXON, _November 27, 1735_. - - “DEAR SIR,— ... Be pleased to let Mr. Ingham know that I - intend going to Yorkshire, if not hindered by my father. God - has made Mr. Dickison the instrument of awakening his landlord - and landlady. I read to them at Mr. Fox’s an hour every other - day, in the Bishop of Man’s Catechism. Mr. Fox and his wife, - especially the former, are most zealous Christians; and are - earnestly bent on going to Georgia. So is Mr. Dickison, who - is ‘an Israelite indeed in whom there is no guile.’ I do not - doubt but we shall be able to send you a colony of thorough - good Christians. I have undertaken the care of Bocardo. I go - there three days in the week, and Mr. Broughton a fourth. I - read every Sunday night to a cheerful number of Christians at - Mr. Fox’s. I could say a great deal respecting our meetings, - etc.; but I am obliged to steal even this time from the holy - Scriptures, in which I find more and more comfort every day. - Indeed, the Lord’s kingdom increaseth apace. My love to your - brother, and Mr. Ingham, and Mr. Delamotte; and best respects - to Mr. Oglethorpe. I should be very glad if you could spare me - some of your prayers, or anything else which may be of service - to me. - - “I am, your brother in Christ Jesus, - “RICHARD MORGAN. - - “To the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, in Georgia.” - -Another unpublished letter lies before us, written by Sir John Thorold, -and breathing a most Christian spirit. Omitting what is purely -sentimental, we give the following extracts:— - - “LONDON, ST. JAMES’S PALACE, _May 24, 1736_. - - “DEAR SIR,—I am unwilling to lose the opportunity of writing - to you, by Capt. Thompson, and inquiring after the welfare of - yourself, your brother, Mr. Ingham, Mr. Delamotte, and the - whole colony of Georgia. I have read the journal of your voyage - to that new settlement, and can, with pleasure, discern the - footsteps of Divine Providence towards you.... Our dear friend - Mr. Broughton is curate at the Tower, and has undertaken to - preach to the poor prisoners in Ludgate every Tuesday in the - afternoon. Mr. Whitefield and Mr. Hervey propose to enter into - holy orders this next ordination. May they become burning and - shining lights in the Church! Sir John Phillips has been, for - several weeks, hindered from attending the societies, by reason - of sickness and infirmities. He piously allows Mr. Whitefield - £20 per annum. Several of Mr. Broughton’s late parishioners at - Cowley forget not the assembling of themselves together. Your - friends at Oxford continue to exhort and edify one another. - Tell me what progress you make in spiritualizing your flock; - and what probability there is of the Lord opening the door of - faith to the Indians.... May the God of love keep you all knit - together in the bond of charity, and may you at last receive a - beautiful crown at the Lord’s hand, and enter amongst angels - and archangels, to sing everlasting songs of praise to the Lord - Almighty. I desire your prayers for me and mine. - - “J. THOROLD.” - -The next was from James Hutton:— - - “_September 3, 1736._ - - “DEAR SIR,—I am this day twenty-one years old. Mr. Whitefield - has taken orders, and is in town to supply Mr. Broughton’s - places at the Tower and Ludgate prison. Mr. Broughton reads - prayers every night to a religious society that meet in Wapping - chapel. Mr. Morgan is obliged by his father’s orders to study - physic at Leyden, where the name of Wesley stinks as well as - at Oxford. I had the happiness of seeing your good mother, - who came to town, in her way from Gainsborough, to Mr. Hall - first, and thence very soon to Tiverton. Mr. Law visited her - at Gainsborough, and again at London. Your mother desired her - blessing to you, and would have wrote, but had no time. She - prayed for you and blessed you. If all matters relating to - receiving your fellowship are not exact, write fresh ones, - and send over. Take care to inquire carefully and strictly - concerning the mission of the Moravian bishop. I will make what - inquiries I can. A great deal depends upon the validity of - ordinations.”[175] - -At the same time, Hervey at Oxford wrote:—“I am still a most weak -corrupt creature. But, blessed be the unmerited mercy of God, and -thanks be to your never-to-be-forgotten example, that I am what I am! -You have been both a father and a friend to me. I heartily thank you, -as for all other favours, so especially for teaching me Hebrew.”[176] - -William Chapman, a student of Pembroke College, wrote as follows:—“Your -kind concern and repeated endeavours for my spiritual good, while -at Oxford, will not suffer me to think that you have utterly lost -all remembrance of me. I sit every evening with Mr. Hervey, that -great champion of the Lord of hosts, and read five times a week to -a religious society in St. Ebbs’ parish. God and the angels be with -you!”[177] - -Wesley, before leaving England, had begun to read the mystics, and -on November 23, 1736, addressed a long letter to his brother Samuel, -showing that, though he had been in danger of embracing their -bewildering heresies, he had now abandoned them. He writes:— - - “I think the rock on which I had the nearest made shipwreck of - the faith was the writings of the mystics: under which term I - comprehend all, and only those, who slight any of the means of - grace. I have drawn up a short scheme of their doctrines, and - beg your thoughts upon it, as soon as you can conveniently. - Give me them as particularly, fully, and strongly as your time - will permit. They may be of consequence, not only to all this - province, but to nations of Christians yet unborn. - - “‘All means are not necessary for all men: therefore each - person must use such means, and such only, as he finds - necessary for him. When the end is attained the means cease.’ - - “‘Men utterly divested of free will, of self-love, and - self-activity, are entered into the passive state, and enjoy - such a contemplation as is not only above faith, but above - sight—such as is entirely free from images, thoughts, and - discourse, and never interrupted by sins of infirmity, or - voluntary distractions. They have absolutely renounced their - reason and understanding; else they could not be guided by a - Divine light. They seek no clear or particular knowledge of - anything, but only an obscure, general knowledge, which is far - better.’ - - “‘Having thus attained the end, the means must cease. Hope is - swallowed up in love. Sight, or something more than sight, - takes the place of faith. All particular virtues they possess - in the essence, and therefore need not the distinct exercise - of them. They work likewise all good works essentially, not - accidentally, and use all outward means, only as they are moved - thereto.’ - - “‘Public prayer, or any forms, they need not; for they pray - without ceasing. Sensible devotion in any prayer they despise; - it being a great hindrance to perfection. The Scripture - they need not read; for it is only His letter, with whom - they converse face to face. Neither do they need the Lord’s - supper; for they never cease to _remember_ Christ in the most - acceptable manner.’” - -Such was the mystified balderdash which Wesley had been in danger of -adopting. He concludes his letter thus:— - - “May God deliver you and yours from all error, and all - unholiness! My prayers will never, I trust, be wanting for you. - I am, dear brother, my sister’s and your - - “Most affectionate brother, - “JOHN WESLEY.”[178] - -At the end of the year 1736, Wesley and Delamotte set out, on foot, -to Cowpen, missed their way, walked through a cypress swamp, with the -water breast high, and slept on the ground in their wet clothes, which -during the night were frozen, and in the morning were white as snow. -They then started for Frederica, fell short of provisions, used bear’s -flesh, and proved it to be wholesome. Arriving on January 5, 1737, they -found the people, as they expected, cold and heartless. Wesley’s life -was repeatedly threatened; and, after spending twenty more days in this -unhappy place, he departed from Frederica for ever. In his passage to -Savannah he read a volume containing the works of Nicholas Machiavel, -and formed the deliberate opinion, “that if all the other doctrines of -devils, which have been committed to writing, were collected together -in one volume, it would fall short of this; and that should a prince -form himself by this book, so calmly recommending hypocrisy, treachery, -lying, robbery, oppression, adultery, whoredom, and murder of all -kinds, Domitian or Nero would be an angel of light compared to that -man.” - -Wesley had now been fifty-two weeks in America, twenty-four of which -he had spent at Savannah, and the rest at Frederica and at other -places between the two. He remained forty-six weeks longer. How was he -occupied? And what were his troubles? - -Delamotte was teaching between thirty and forty children at Savannah -to read, write, and cast accounts, and Wesley catechized them every -Saturday and Sunday afternoon. Every sabbath he had three public -services, at five in the morning, twelve at mid-day, and three in the -afternoon; and then at night as many of his parishioners as desired it -met at his house, with whom he spent an hour in prayer, singing, and -mutual exhortation. A similar meeting was held in the same place every -Wednesday night, and selecter ones on all the other evenings of the -week. - -There being no immediate prospect of commencing a mission among the -heathen, Wesley, Delamotte, and Ingham consulted together, and agreed -that the last mentioned should return to England; and accordingly, -after spending exactly fifty-five weeks in Georgia, he embarked for -home, having literally done next to nothing either for the colonists or -the Indians, with the exception of composing, in Dr. Byrom’s shorthand, -a catalogue of half the words in the Indian language,[179] in a house -built for him near the Indian town, a few miles from Savannah. The -chief object of sending Ingham to England was to obtain more help for -the colonists. In a letter dated February 16, 1737, and addressed to a -friend in Lincoln College, Oxford, Wesley writes:— - - “There is great need that God should put it into the hearts of - some, to come over to us, and labour with us in His harvest. - But I should not desire any to come unless on the same views - and conditions with us; without any temporal wages, other than - food and raiment, the plain conveniences of life. For one or - more, in whom was this mind, there would be full employment in - the province: either in assisting Mr. Delamotte or me, while we - were present here; or in supplying our places when abroad; or - in visiting the poor people in the smaller settlements as well - as at Frederica, all of whom are as sheep without a shepherd. - - “By these labours of love might any that desired it be trained - up for the harder task of preaching the gospel to the heathen. - The difficulties he must then encounter God only knows; - probably martyrdom would conclude them. But those we have - hitherto met with have been small. Persecution, you know, is - the portion of every follower of Christ, wherever his lot is - cast; but it has hitherto extended no farther than words with - regard to us, unless in one or two inconsiderable instances. - Still, every man that would come hither ought to be willing and - ready to embrace the severer kinds of it.”[180] - -Meanwhile, Oglethorpe’s troubles had begun. From a letter which Wesley -wrote to him, on February 24, 1737, we learn that Sir Robert Walpole -had turned against the general, and parliament had resolved to make -a strict scrutiny into Georgian affairs. The trustees had charged -Oglethorpe with misapplying moneys, and with abusing his entrusted -power. Wesley adds: “Perhaps in some things you have shown you are but -a man: perhaps I myself may have a little to complain of: but oh what -a train of benefits have I received to lay in the balance against it! -I bless God that ever you was born. I acknowledge His exceeding mercy -in casting me into your hands. I own your generous kindness all the -time we were at sea. I am indebted to you for a thousand favours here. -Though all men should revile you, yet will not I.”[181] - -Sinister rumours were circulated in reference to Wesley, as well as -Oglethorpe. Hence the following hitherto unpublished letter, endorsed -by Wesley thus:—“The Trustees’ Letter, June 17, 1737, fully acquitting -me:”— - - “_Trustees of Georgia to the Rev. J. Wesley._ - - “GEORGIA OFFICE, _June 15, 1737_. - - “SIR,—The Rev. Mr. Burton has this day laid before the trustees - a letter from you to them, dated Savannah, March 4, 1737, - wherein you express a concern that they should receive an - accusation of your embezzling any part of their goods, and - likewise a desire to know the name of your accuser. - - “The trustees have ordered me to assure you, that they are very - much surprised at any apprehensions you have of such accusation - being brought before them. No complaint of any kind has been - laid before them relating to you. They have never as a board, - nor has any of them privately, heard of one; nor have they the - least suspicion of any ground for one. They would not (if they - had received any) form a judgment of you without acquainting - you with the accusation, and the name of the accuser. At - the same time, they believe you will think it reasonable to - let them know who has informed you that any such accusation - has been brought before them, and that, for the future, you - will not believe nor listen to any private informations or - insinuations, that must make you uneasy, and may lead you to - distrust the justice of the trustees, and the regard they have - for you. - - “The trustees are very sensible of the great importance of - the work you have engaged in; and they hope God will prosper - the undertaking, and support you in it; for they have much at - heart, not only the success of the colony in general, but the - progress of piety among the people, as well as the conversion - of the Indians. They are very glad to find that Mr. Causton - has seconded your endeavours to suppress vice and immorality, - and that a reformation gains ground, as you observe it does. - The trustees will take into consideration your application in - favour of Robert Haws, and have a regard to it. - - “I am, sir, your most obedient servant, - “BENJAMIN MARTIN, _Secretary_.” - -The following letter, also now first published, refers to the same -subject, besides containing other information which we hope will be -found not devoid of interest. It was addressed to “The Rev. Mr. John -Wesley, at Savannah, in Georgia:”— - - “OSSET, _October 19, 1737_. - - “DEAR BROTHER,—By your silence one would suspect that you - were offended at my last letter. Am I your enemy because I - tell you the truth? But perhaps I was too severe. Forgive me - then. However, I am sure that, by soaring too high in your own - imaginations, you have had a great downfall in your spiritual - progress. Be lowly, therefore, in your own eyes. Humble - yourself before the Lord, and He will lift you up. I do assure - you it is out of pure love, and with concern, that I write. I - earnestly wish your soul’s welfare. O pray for mine also. The - Lord preserve you! - - “Could you, think you, live upon the income of your fellowship? - If you can, do. The trustees are indeed very willing to support - you, and they take it ill that anybody should say you have been - too expensive. But the Bishop of London (as I have heard), - and some others, have been offended at your expenses. And not - indeed altogether without reason, because you declared at your - leaving England that you should want scarcely anything. I just - give you these hints. Pray for direction, and then act as you - judge best. - - “Charles is so reserved: I know little about him: he neither - writes to me, nor comes to see me: what he intends is best - known to himself. Mr. Hutton’s family go on exceedingly well. - Your friend Mr. Morgan (I hear) either has, or is about - publishing a book, to prove that every one baptized with water - is regenerate. All friends at Oxford go on well. Mr. Kinchin, - Mr. Hutchins, Mr. Washington, Bell, Turney, Hervey, Watson, - are all zealous. Mr. Atkinson labours under severe trials in - Westmoreland; but is steady, and sincere, and an excellent - Christian. Dick Smith is weak, but not utterly gone. Mr. - Robson, and Grieves, are but indifferent: the latter is married - to a widow, and teaching school at Northampton. Mr. Thompson, - of Queen’s, has declared his resolution of following Christ. - - “Remember me to Mr. Wallis, Mark Hind, and the Davison family, - Mrs. Gilbert Mears, Mr. Campbell, Mr. and Mrs. Burnside, Mr. - and Mrs. Williamson. - - “Yours in Christ, - “BENJAMIN INGHAM.” - -Wesley’s ideas of religion, at this period, may be gathered from the -following extracts from a letter, dated “Savannah, March 28, 1737,” and -addressed to “William Wogan, Esq., in Spring Gardens, London.”[182] - - “I entirely agree with you, that religion is love, and peace, - and joy in the Holy Ghost; that, as it is the happiest, so - it is the cheerfulest thing in the world; that it is utterly - inconsistent with moroseness, sourness, severity, and indeed - with whatever is not according to the softness, sweetness, and - gentleness of Christ Jesus. I believe it is equally contrary - to all preciseness, stiffness, affectation, and unnecessary - singularity. I allow, too, that prudence, as well as zeal, is - of the utmost importance in the Christian life. But I do not - yet see any possible case wherein trifling conversation can be - an instance of it. In the following scriptures I take all such - to be flatly forbidden: Matt. xii. 36; Eph. v. 4, and iv. 29; - Col. iv. 6. - - “That I shall be laughed at for this, I know; so was my Master. - I am not for a stern, austere manner of conversing. No: let all - the cheerfulness of faith be there, all the joyfulness of hope, - all the amiable sweetness—the winning easiness of love. If we - must have art, ‘_Hic mihi erunt artes_.’” - -Again, in another letter, written to Mrs. Chapman a day later, he says:— - - “You seem to apprehend that I believe religion to be - inconsistent with cheerfulness, and with a social friendly - temper. So far from it, that I am convinced, as true religion - cannot be without cheerfulness, so steady cheerfulness cannot - be without true religion. I am equally convinced that religion - has nothing sour, austere, unsociable, unfriendly in it; but - on the contrary, implies the most winning sweetness, the most - amiable softness and gentleness. Are you for having as much - cheerfulness as you can? So am I. Do you endeavour to keep - alive your taste for all the truly innocent pleasures of life? - So do I. Do you refuse no pleasure but what is a hindrance to - some greater good, or has a tendency to some evil? It is my - very rule. In particular, I pursue this rule in eating, which - I seldom do without much pleasure. I know it is the will of - God, that I should enjoy every pleasure that leads to my taking - pleasure in Him, and in such a measure as most leads to it. We - are to do nothing but what, directly or indirectly, leads to - our holiness; and to do every such thing with this design, and - in such a measure as may most promote it. - - “I am not mad, my dear friend, for asserting these to be the - words of truth and soberness; neither are any of those, either - in England or here, who have hitherto attempted to follow - me. I am and must be an example to my flock; not indeed in - my prudential rules, but, in some measure, in my spirit and - life and conversation. Yet all of them are, in your sense of - the word, unlearned, and most of them of low understanding; - and still not one of them has been, as yet, in any case of - conscience which was not solved. As to the nice distinctions - you speak of, it is you, my friend, who are lost in them. - We have no need of nice distinctions; for I exhort all, and - dispute with none. I feed my brethren in Christ, as He giveth - me power, with the pure, unmixed milk of the word; and those - who are as little children receive it, not as the word of man, - but as the word of God.”[183] - -These are important letters, as tending to refute the commonly received -opinion, that, at this period of his history, Wesley was morose, sour, -gloomy, and in fact thought that cheerfulness was inconsistent with -religion. His views and some of his practices might seem to many to be -peculiar; but he was a cheerful and happy man, even amid the vigils, -fastings, and solitudes of Georgia. Some of his views were novel, but -they were not incompatible with happiness. He writes: “When I first -landed at Savannah, a gentlewoman said, ‘I assure you, sir, you will -see as _well dressed_ a congregation on Sunday as most you have seen -in London.’ I did so; and soon after I took occasion to expound those -scriptures which relate to dress; and all the time that I afterward -ministered at Savannah, I saw neither gold in the church, nor costly -apparel, but the congregation in general was almost constantly clothed -in plain clean linen or woollen.”[184] This wears an aspect of -anchorite severity, but still Wesley and his plain-robed followers were -happy. - -In April, 1737, Wesley began to learn the Spanish language, in order to -converse with his Jewish parishioners. Easter being in the same month, -he “had every day in this great and holy week a sermon and the holy -communion.” Finding that a clergyman in Carolina had been marrying some -of his (Wesley’s) parishioners, without either banns or licence, he set -out for Charlestown to put a stop to such proceedings. Mr. Garden, the -Bishop of London’s commissary, assured him he would take care no such -irregularity should be committed for the future. At Garden’s request, -Wesley preached a sermon on, “whatsoever is born of God overcometh the -world”; which led a man of education and character to object—“Why if -this be Christianity, a Christian must have more courage than Alexander -the Great.” - -Returning to Savannah, in the month of May, Wesley found one of his -congregation, who had been exemplarily religious, turned a deist; and -expressed the opinion that bad a religion as Popery is, no religion is -worse; and that a baptized infidel is twofold worse than even a bigoted -papist. This was only one of Wesley’s trials. A wicked woman, whom he -had offended, decoyed him into her house, threw him down, and, with her -scissors, cut off from one side of his head the whole of those long -locks of auburn hair, which he had been accustomed to keep in the most -perfect order. After this, he preached at Savannah with his hair long -on one side and short on the other, those sitting on the side which -had been cut observing, “What a cropped head of hair the young parson -has.”[185] - -At Whitsuntide, four of his scholars, after being instructed daily -for several weeks, were admitted to the Lord’s table, and many of the -other children evinced a remarkable seriousness in their behaviour -and conversation. This was doubtless a cause of great joy both to -Wesley and his friend Delamotte, each of whom taught a school, and, -like all schoolmasters, met with discouragements. A part of the boys -in Delamotte’s school wore stockings and shoes, and the others not. -The former ridiculed the latter. Delamotte tried to put a stop to this -uncourteous banter, but told Wesley he had failed. Wesley replied, “I -think I can cure it. If you will take charge of my school next week I -will take charge of yours, and will try.” The exchange was made, and on -Monday morning Wesley went into school barefoot. The children seemed -surprised, but without any reference to past jeerings Wesley kept them -at their work. Before the week was ended, the shoeless ones began to -gather courage; and some of the others, seeing their minister and -master come without shoes and stockings, began to copy his example, -and thus the evil was effectually cured.”[186] - -In the early summer of 1737, Whitefield wrote to Wesley, telling him -of his success in England. A young country lad had brought him a peck -of apples seven miles upon his back, as a token of gratitude for the -benefit he had derived from Whitefield’s ministry, and had such a sense -of the Divine presence that he walked, for the most part, with his hat -off his head. God was also moving on the hearts of some young ladies. -Whitefield continues:— - - “The devil, I find, has a particular spite against weekly - communion; but I am in hope we shall have the sacrament - administered every Sunday at the cathedral. It would have been - mentioned to the bishop ere now, but Oxford friends advised to - defer it till next summer. - - “But now I have mentioned the bishop: alas! how should I - tremble to tell you how I have been continually disturbed with - thoughts, that I, a worm taken from a common public-house, - should, ere I die, be one myself. Your earnest prayers, surely, - will not be wanting for me, that I may not split on that most - dangerous of all rocks—worldly ambition. Parsonages, I believe, - are providing for me; but I trust Satan will never catch me by - pluralities, or induce me to take upon me anything inconsistent - with the duty of a disciple of Jesus Christ. I hope our friends - all continue steadfast and zealous at Oxford. My love to the - young merchant, whose example I hope we shall all be enabled - to follow, if God requires our assistance in Georgia. O may - you go on and prosper, and, in the strength of God, make the - devil’s kingdom shake about his ears! I received benefit by - your father’s ‘Advice to a Young Clergyman.’”[187] - -Whitefield’s dream about being made a bishop is amusing; and yet -Providence and grace made him greater than a bishop. - -Wesley still felt intensely anxious respecting the heathen. In July he -met a Frenchman, who had lived several months among the Chicasaws, and -wrote to Dr. Humphreys as follows:—[188] - - “Concerning the conversion of the heathen, where is the seed - sown, the _sanguis martyrum_? Do we hear of any who have sealed - the faith with their blood in all this vast continent? Or do - we read of any church flourishing in any age or nation without - this seed first sown there? Give me leave, sir, to speak my - thoughts freely. When God shall put it into the hearts of some - of His servants, whom He hath already delivered from earthly - hopes and fears, to join hand in hand in this labour of love; - when out of these He shall have chosen one or more, to magnify - Him in the sight of the heathen by dying, not with a stoical - or Indian indifference, but blessing and praying for their - murderers, and praising God in the midst of flame with joy - unspeakable and full of glory, then the rest, waxing bold by - their sufferings, shall go forth in the name of the Lord God, - and by the power of His might cast down every high thing that - exalteth itself against the faith of Christ. Then shall ye see - Satan, the grand ruler of this New World, as lightning fall - from heaven!” - -Oh for missionaries like these! Wesley’s notions are right. Men going -merely because others send them, or men going merely to obtain a -livelihood, are not the men to convert the inhabitants of lands like -Africa, India, Japan, and China. To make an impression there, men must -be animated with the martyrs’ spirit. Church history, including the -history of missions, affords abundant proof of this. Mere duty-doing -ministers are bad enough in England, but they are vastly worse when -among the heathen. Money spent upon them there is worse than wasted; -for their cold perfunctory labours produce, upon the whole, a bad -effect instead of good. The greatest boon the church could now receive -from the hands of God would be a multiplication of ministers and -missionaries like those which Wesley was sighing for in Georgia. - -From Wesley’s private manuscript journal, we learn that in July, by -going from house to house, he took a census of his parishioners, and -computed that there were in Savannah 518 inhabitants, of whom 149 -were under sixteen years of age. Frederica was without a minister, -though three hundred acres of land had been granted by the trustees -for a church establishment in that unhappy town.[189] Other places -with scanty populations were equally destitute. New Ebenezer had the -Moravians; and Darien had Mr. M’Leod, a serious, resolute, and pious -Presbyterian: but this seems to have been all the ministerial agency -existing in Georgia. Hence the following letter, addressed by Wesley to -his friends at Oxford:— - - “SAVANNAH, _September 8, 1737_. - - “... Long since, I begun to visit my parishioners in order, - from house to house; but I could not go on two days longer. The - sick were increasing so fast as to require all the time I had - to spare—from one to five in the afternoon. Nor is even that - enough to see them all, as I would do, daily. In Frederica and - all the smaller settlements here are above five hundred sheep - almost without a shepherd. What a single man can do is neither - seen nor felt. Where are ye who are very zealous for the Lord - of hosts? Who will rise up with me against the wicked? Whose - spirit is moved within him to prepare himself for publishing - glad tidings to those on whom the Sun of Righteousness never - yet arose? Do you ask what you shall have? Why, all you desire: - food to eat, raiment to put on, a place where to lay your head, - and a crown of life that fadeth not away! Do you seek means - of building up yourselves in the knowledge and love of God? I - know of no place under heaven where there are more than in this - place. Does your heart burn within you to turn many others to - righteousness? Behold, the whole land, thousands of thousands - are before you! I will resign to any of you all or any part of - my charge. Choose what seemeth good in your own eyes. There are - within these walls children of all ages and dispositions. Who - will bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord, - till they are meet to be preachers of righteousness? Here are - adults from the farthest parts of Europe, and Asia, and the - inmost kingdoms of Africa; add to these the known and unknown - nations of this vast continent, and you will indeed have a - great multitude which no man can number.”[190] - -While Wesley was thus longing for help, events were transpiring, by -which he himself within three months was driven out of Georgia, and -obliged to return to England. This was the closing scene in Wesley’s -missionary life, and though a painful one it must not be shirked. All -the facts in the writer’s possession shall be given, and the reader -shall have materials to form his own opinion. The chief actors in the -scene, besides Wesley himself, were Sophia Christiana Hopkey, Thomas -Causton, and William Williamson. - -Causton was one of the first company of emigrants, and landed in -Georgia with Oglethorpe, in February, 1733. He was a man of no -substance, and his character was not as good as it might have been. -In fact, he left England in disgrace, having practised a fraud upon -the public revenue. He was naturally proud, covetous, cunning, -and deceitful. By his clever rascality he wriggled himself into -Oglethorpe’s favour, and, on the arrival of the few emigrant gaol-birds -in the Savannah river, was appointed a sort of dictator of the infant -settlement, and had charge of the stores which the trustees sent over -for the use of the colonists. We have already seen that, even when -Wesley left for England at the end of the year 1737, the inhabitants of -Savannah were not more than 518 in number, of whom only 369 were adult -males and females. This was no large kingdom; but Thomas Causton was -a large man, because he was at the head of it. Indeed, the molehill -empire seems to have magnified itself to the utmost extent possible, by -the introduction of law, the establishment of courts, the appointment -of officers, the election of juries, and the adoption of everything -else within its power which was likely to make it a pompous minikin -miniature of the great system of government at home. Causton was “chief -magistrate,” and of course a “chief” had subordinates under him. There -was a recorder, also a bailiff. There were constables, and tithingmen, -and other great functionaries, all armed with solemn authority to -rule, govern, and keep in order, first themselves, and then about five -hundred men, women, and children, including John Wesley the Oxford -priest, and Charles Delamotte the merchant master of almost a ragged -school. - - “The ocean is in tempest tossed, - To waft a feather and to drown a fly.” - -Of all the great powers, however, in this log-built village of five -hundred souls, Thomas Causton, in his own estimation, and in fact, was -greatest. The other Tom Thumb magistrates were ciphers in his august -presence. Sometimes, indeed, he would ask their opinion in public on -the state matters of the great city of Savannah; but it was principally -to have the pleasure of uttering an opinion of his own, directly -opposite to theirs. Juries he threatened without the least compunction, -and especially when their verdicts disagreed with his inclinations. -As his power increased, so did his pride, haughtiness, and cruelty. -The court in which this fraudulent refugee—we beg his pardon, this -“chief magistrate”—expounded law and dispensed justice, was guarded -by eight freeholders, with an officer to direct their movements, all -armed with guns and bayonets. Seated, in such high dignity, and so far -above his fellows, upon the judicial bench, it was beneath his office -to sit uncovered; and hence he almost invariably wore his hat, even -when administering an oath. Should any foolish wight be bold enough -to oppose, in the least degree, his arbitrary proceedings, the “chief -magistrate” at once threatened the impudent recusant with the stocks, -the whipping-post, and a lodging in the log-house prison. Even his -fellow officials were treated with scant respect. In December, 1734, -the trustees sent a Mr. Gordon from England, to act as magistrate; -but Causton, not liking a compeer, refused him provisions from the -store, and he was obliged to leave. Indeed, Causton, who had sufficient -cleverness to induce Oglethorpe, despite his roguery in England, to -make him magistrate in Savannah, seems to have used the same worldly -cunning in allowing none to be his subordinates except those whom he -could, with the utmost ease, twist to his own purposes. Mr. Bailiff -Parker, mentioned in Wesley’s journal, had nothing to support himself -and his large family, except what he earned by his daily labour as a -sawyer. He was a man of no education, and was an absolute slave to -liquor. Another bailiff was a man of the name of Daru, nearly seventy -years old, and crazed in both body and mind; and another was R. -Gilbert, who could neither read nor write. Causton’s despotic career -was of short duration. The same grand jury which found, under Causton’s -guidance, ten bills against Wesley, immediately proceeded to examine -the official doings of their own illustrious “chief magistrate;” and -found charges against him, to the effect that he had grossly abused -his power as keeper of the public stores, and that he had hindered -people settling on the lands that the trustees had allotted them. These -and other charges, dated September 1, 1737, were sent to England; and -the result was—Causton, in October, 1738, was turned out of all his -offices, and the store was sold to pay the trustees’ debts; Causton’s -certified accounts were refused by the trustees as incorrect; William -Williamson was made recorder, and Henry Parker (the drunken uneducated -sawyer above mentioned) was made first magistrate; and, finally, -Causton, the great man who prosecuted Wesley, and drove him from -Georgia, settled down at Oxstead, three miles from Savannah; and there, -we hope, he lived a more honest life than he had done in England.[191] - -Sophia Christiana Hopkey was the niece of Thomas Causton’s wife. -William Williamson, who became her husband, was a young adventurer, who -arrived in Georgia a short time after Wesley did.[192] And now, with -these explanations, let us look at the miserable business, which, in a -life of Wesley, cannot be omitted. - -Wesley landed in Georgia on February 5, 1736, and seems at once to have -become acquainted with Miss Hopkey. Oglethorpe, Charles Wesley, Ingham, -and fifty other settlers set out immediately for Frederica. The young -lady went with them; and, on March 22, Wesley wrote to his brother -concerning her as follows: “I conjure you, spare no time, no address -or pains, to learn the true cause of the former distress of my friend. -I much doubt you are in the right. God forbid that she should again, -in like manner, miss the mark. Watch over her; keep her as much as -possible. Write to me, how I ought to write to her.”[193] - -Miss Hopkey was a young lady of good sense, and elegant in person -and manners. She was introduced to Wesley as a sincere inquirer -after salvation, and soon took every possible opportunity of being -in his company, and requested him to assist her in studying French. -Oglethorpe also did his best to help on a courtship. Meanwhile, Wesley -was seized with fever, which confined him for nearly a week; and the -young lady (who would hardly allow Delamotte to do anything for his -friend) attended him night and day. She even consulted Oglethorpe what -kind of female dress Wesley liked the best, and therefore came always -dressed in white, neatly and simply elegant. Young Delamotte began -to be suspicious, and asked Wesley if he meant to marry Miss Hopkey. -Delamotte’s question puzzled Wesley, but, perceiving that Delamotte was -prejudiced against the lady, he waived an answer. The next step taken -was to consult David Nitschmann, the Moravian bishop. Nitschmann’s -answer was: “Marriage is not unlawful; but whether it is now expedient -for you, and whether this lady is a proper wife for you, ought to -be maturely weighed.” Wesley’s perplexity was increased, and he now -resolved to submit the matter to the elders of the Moravian church. -When he entered the house where they were met together, he found -Delamotte in the midst of them. On naming his business, Nitschmann -said: “We have considered your case; will you abide by our decision?” -After some hesitation, Wesley replied, “I will.” “Then,” said -Nitschmann, “we advise you to proceed no further in the matter!” Wesley -answered, “The will of the Lord be done!” “From this time,” says Henry -Moore, “he avoided everything that tended to continue the intimacy with -Miss Hopkey, and behaved with the greatest caution towards her.”[194] - -The whole of this is painfully ludicrous. Mr. Moore, in a manuscript -letter before us, says that he had the account from Wesley’s own lips, -and that he is not aware that it was ever given to any one except -himself. He adds that Dr. Coke knew nothing of it, and that Wesley -refrained from publishing the whole of the affair in his printed -journal, _chiefly_ through tenderness to General Oglethorpe. It might -be so; but we greatly doubt the correctness of Moore’s assertion, -that, from the time Wesley consulted the Moravian elders, he “avoided -everything that tended to continue the intimacy.” Wesley was in love, -and, like all lovers, he did, not wicked, but foolish things. Let us -look at some other facts. - -At this period, the summer of 1736, Wesley’s method of preaching, and -his manner of life, excited great attention in the small settlement -of Savannah; and there were not a few who charged him with making the -people idle by summoning them so frequently to public prayers. His more -than ordinary friendship with Miss Hopkey was also a subject of common -conversation.[195] He was looked upon as a Roman Catholic—(1) Because -he rigidly excluded all Dissenters from the holy communion, until they -first gave up their faith and principles, and, like Richard Turner -and his sons, submitted to be rebaptized by him; (2) Because Roman -Catholics were received by him as saints; (3) Because he endeavoured -to establish and enforce confession, penance, and mortification; -mixed wine with water at the sacrament; and appointed deaconesses in -accordance with what he called the Apostolic Constitutions.[196] He -was, in point of fact, a Puseyite, a hundred years before Dr. Pusey -flourished. - -Miss Hopkey was put under his ghostly care. She was one of his early -morning congregation, and constantly went to his lodgings, in order -to be further instructed.[197] He fell in love with her; and there -can be little doubt that he made proposals to marry her, and, if his -own inclinations had been carried out, the marriage would have been -completed.[198] The following extracts are taken from his unpublished -journal. - - 1736. October 16.—Frederica. “Poor Miss Sophy was scarce the - shadow of what she was when I left her. I endeavoured to - convince her of it, but in vain. And to put it effectually out - of my power to do so, she was resolved to return to England - immediately. I tried to divert her from her fatal resolution - of going to England, and, after several fruitless attempts, - I at length prevailed. Nor was it long before she more than - recovered the ground she had lost.” - - “October 25.—I took boat for Savannah with Miss Sophy.” - - “In the beginning of December, I advised Miss Sophy to sup - earlier, and not immediately before she went to bed. She did - so, and on this little circumstance what an inconceivable train - of consequences depend. Not only— - - ‘All the colour of my remaining life’ - - for her; but perhaps all my happiness too, in time and in - eternity.” - - “February 5, 1737.—One of the most remarkable dispensations of - Providence towards me began to show itself this day. For many - days after, I could not at all judge which way the scale would - turn; nor was it fully determined till March 4th, on which day - God commanded me to pull out my right eye; and, by His grace, - I determined to do so: but, being slack in the execution, on - Saturday, March 12th, God being very merciful to me, my friend - performed what I could not.” - -What is the meaning of this? Two other extracts from the same journal -will show. - - “March 7.—I walked with Mr. Causton to his country lot, and - plainly felt that, had God given me such a retirement with the - companion I desired, I should have forgot the work for which I - was born, and have set up my rest in this world.” - - - “March 8.—Miss Sophy engaged herself to Mr. Williamson, a - person not remarkable for handsomeness, neither for greatness, - neither for wit, or knowledge, or sense, and least of all for - religion; and on Saturday, March 12th” [four days after!] “they - were married at Purrysburg,—this being the day which completed - the year from my first speaking to her. What Thou doest, O God, - I know not now, but I shall know hereafter.” - -Such is Wesley’s own statement. The disappointment was a most painful -blow. Forty-nine years after, he wrote, in reference to this event, “I -remember when I read these words in the church at Savannah, ‘Son of -man, behold, I take from thee the desire of thine eyes with a stroke,’ -I was pierced through as with a sword, and could not utter a word more. -But our comfort is, He that made the heart can heal the heart.”[199] He -also wrote to his brother Samuel at the time, who replied, “I am sorry -you are disappointed in the match, because you are very unlikely to -find another.”[200] - -With this evidence before us, it is difficult to give credence to Henry -Moore’s assertion, “that Wesley never allowed himself to _determine_ -on a marriage with Miss Hopkey.”[201] But in addition to all this, -there is the testimony of the young lady herself, contained in her -affidavit, given to the Savannah court, and which Wesley inserts in -the private journal already mentioned. In that document she avers that -she was committed to the care of Mr. John Wesley, the missionary, by -her relatives; that he proposed marriage to her; and that he further -proposed that, as she might not like his present wandering way of life, -he would settle in Savannah. She adds that, about three days before -she married Williamson, she was visited by Wesley, who urged her to -tell him whether she had not been overpersuaded or forced to agree to -marry Williamson by her friends, and whether such a marriage might not -still be prevented. He also added that, if there was anything in his -way of life (by which she understood him to mean fastings and other -mortifications), which she disliked, he would make all these things -easy to her, in case she would consent to marry him. - -Such is the substance of Sophy’s statement. How is it possible, in -the face of all this, to believe Henry Moore’s statement, that there -was no intimacy between Wesley and Miss Hopkey, from the time that he -consulted the Moravian elders? - -We grudge the space that has been devoted to this subject; but perhaps -the following reasons will be accepted by the reader, as an apology for -the tax upon his patience. - -1. The matter, though trivial in itself, has been made important by -the conflicting statements of the biographers. Mr. Moore says Wesley -never came to the determination to marry her. Dr. Whitehead says he did -intend to marry her. Southey agrees with Whitehead; Mr. Watson presumes -that Mr. Moore is a better authority than Dr. Whitehead; Mr. Jackson -seems to think the same. We have given all the facts within our reach, -and leave the reader to form his own opinion. - -2. Though the courtship of young people is an ordinary, commonplace -sort of thing, inconceivably great events were dependent upon the -result of this. John Wesley was thirty-three years old, and was -perfectly justified in seeking to obtain a wife; neither is there -anything to be found fault with in his intercourse with Miss Hopkey, -unless it was his silly simplicity in asking the opinion, if not -consent, of the Moravians. The young lady, also, was beautiful, and -accomplished, and, to all human appearance, pious. Her uncle was a -respectable rascal; but that was no fault of hers. We know nothing to -her prejudice before she became a wife, except that it might have been -more decorously prudent if she had allowed Delamotte to nurse Wesley -in his fever instead of doing it, day and night, herself; and that -there was certainly an impetuous haste, not to be commended, in her -marrying Mr. Williamson only four days after he first proposed to her. -Excepting this, the friendship, courtship, or whatever else the reader -likes to call it, between Wesley and his “poor Sophy” seems to have -been sincere, pure, honourable, and, in the opinion of Oglethorpe, who -was not ill qualified to judge, desirable. But, supposing the courtship -had ended in marriage, is it likely that we should ever have heard of -Wesley at Bristol, Kingswood, Kennington Common, and Moorfields? Is -it likely that there would ever have been any “United Societies of -the People called Methodists”? Should we have ever heard of either the -Methodism of the past or present? Perhaps an equally great work might -have been witnessed; but the great Head of the church must have wrought -it by other agencies and means; for had John Wesley married Sophia -Christiana Hopkey, the probability is that, instead of returning to -England and beginning the greatest religious revival of modern times, -he would have settled in Georgia, and, like another Xavier, have spent -a most spiritual and devoted life in converting Indian and other kinds -of heathen. The results of such a life might have been glorious. Who -can tell what might have been its influence upon the civilisation and -perpetuation of the nobly formed aboriginal inhabitants of the vast -American continent? Would America, in the decline of the nineteenth -century, have been inhabited by European strangers, or by educated, -civilised, hardworking, prosperous descendants of the wild Indians -of the woods? These are useless questions, because questions none of -us can answer; but the mere suggestion of such points will serve to -show that Wesley’s courtship in Georgia was pregnant with infinite -momentousness. “The Lord reigneth; let the earth rejoice; let the -multitude of isles be glad: clouds and darkness are round about Him; -righteousness and judgment are the habitation of His throne” (Ps. -xcvii. 1, 2). - -3. Then a third reason, for dwelling at so great a length on Wesley’s -courtship, is, that the courtship was very improperly mixed up with the -subsequent troubles which led to his almost forceful departure from -the Georgian colony. But this brings us to the remainder of Wesley’s -Georgian history, which shall now be given as succinctly as possible. - -We have already seen that Wesley was an extreme ritualist. He himself, -nearly a dozen years subsequent to his flight from Georgia, gives us a -specimen of his high church bigotry and intolerance. Having inserted in -his journal a beautiful letter written to him by John Martin Bolzius, -he, under the date of September, 1749, remarks: “What a truly Christian -piety and simplicity breathe in these lines! And yet this very man, -when I was at Savannah, did I refuse to admit to the Lord’s table, -because he was not baptized; that is, not baptized by a minister who -had been episcopally ordained. Can any one carry high church zeal -higher than this? How well have I been since beaten with mine own -staff!”[202] - -Wesley still paid pastoral attentions to Mrs. Williamson as one of his -parishioners. Her not too accomplished husband took umbrage at this, -and, eight days after her marriage, forbade her attending his place -of worship, or ever to speak to him again.[203] Notwithstanding this -interdict, however, we find her on the 3rd of July at a sacramental -service, at the conclusion of which Wesley mentioned certain things -which he thought reprovable in her behaviour. This made her extremely -angry, and, three days later, Causton, accompanied by the bailiff -and the recorder, came to demand an explanation. Wesley gave his -visitors to understand that, in the execution of his office, and -acting without respect of persons, he might find it necessary to repel -one of Causton’s family from the holy communion. He further told the -“chief magistrate” what the people of Savannah were saying against -his magisterial proceedings.[204] All this made the coming storm more -threatening. - -Some weeks elapsed; and then, on August 7, five months after her -marriage, Wesley refused to allow Mrs. Williamson to join in the -Lord’s supper. The next day, Mr. Recorder issued a warrant for the -apprehension of “John Wesley, clerk,” and commanding the constables -and tithingmen to bring him before one of the bailiffs of Savannah, -to answer the complaint of William Williamson for defaming his wife, -and refusing to administer to her the sacrament of the Lord’s supper, -in a public congregation, without cause; “by which the said William -Williamson was damaged one thousand pounds sterling.” - -Wesley was arrested and brought before Mr. Bailiff Parker and Mr. -Recorder Christie. His answer to the charge was, “that the giving or -refusing the Lord’s supper being a matter purely ecclesiastical, he -could not acknowledge their power to interrogate him concerning it.” -The bailiff told him he must appear at the next Savannah court; and -Williamson demanded bail for his appearance, but the officials ruled -that Wesley’s word was in itself sufficient. - -Two days later, Causton called on Wesley, and demanded that he should -send to Mrs. Williamson, in writing, “the reasons for repelling her -before the whole congregation.” Wesley complied, and wrote as follows:— - - “_To Mrs. Sophia Williamson._ - - “At Mr. Causton’s request, I write once more. The rules whereby - I proceed are these:— - - “‘So many as intend to be partakers of the holy communion shall - signify their names to the curate, at least some time the day - before.’ This you did not do. - - “‘And if any of these have done any wrong to his neighbours, by - word or deed, so that the congregation be thereby offended, the - curate shall advertise him, that in anywise he presume not to - come to the Lord’s table until he hath openly declared himself - to have truly repented.’ - - “If you offer yourself at the Lord’s table on Sunday, I will - advertise you (as I have done more than once) wherein you have - done wrong. And when you have openly declared yourself to have - truly repented, I will administer to you the mysteries of God. - - “_August 11, 1737._ - - “JOHN WESLEY.” - -On receiving this, Causton began to read, to as many of the people -as he could collect together, extracts from the letters which Wesley -had written to himself or to his niece, from the beginning of their -acquaintance, adding comments of his own, to Wesley’s disadvantage. -Others of Causton’s family were assiduous in their endeavours to -convince their neighbours that Wesley had repelled Mrs. Williamson from -the communion because she had refused to marry him. In the midst of -all this Wesley writes: “I sat still at home, and, I thank God, easy, -having committed my cause to Him, and remembering His word, ‘Blessed is -the man that endureth temptation; for when he is tried he shall receive -the crown of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love -Him.”[205] - -Meanwhile, Causton desired Mr. Burnside, the trustees’ secretary, to -sign a certificate to the effect that Mrs. Williamson had been for -ten months past as constant a communicant as any other, and that she -had been of unblamable behaviour. Mr. Burnside said he could not sign -it with a safe conscience, knowing it to be false. Upon which Causton -severely reproached him, and discharged him from his employment. -However, a number of names were procured to the certificate, though, -Wesley adds, the first part of it was shamefully untrue, for Mrs. -Williamson had omitted communicating nine times in three months; in -other words, had only communicated once a month instead of once a -week.[206] - -The Savannah court was to sit on August 22, a fortnight after -Wesley’s arrest; and Causton employed his utmost power, and art, and -application, in prejudicing the persons who were to form the grand -jury. His table was free to the whole of them. Whatever they desired -from the public stores was delivered to them. Old misunderstandings -were forgotten, and nothing was too much to be done or promised for men -who, a week before, were unable, from such a source, to procure even a -crust of bread. - -Six days previous to the opening of the court, Wesley, at the request -of several of his communicants, read a short statement of the case, -after the evening prayers, in the open congregation.[207] - -At length the great day of trial, in this Lilliputian kingdom, came. -The grand jury consisted of forty-four of the illustrious inhabitants, -about a fifth part of the adult male population of Savannah. One was -a Frenchman, ignorant of the English language; one a papist; one a -professed infidel; three were Baptists; sixteen or seventeen others -were Dissenters; and of the rest, several had personal quarrels against -Wesley, and had openly vowed revenge. - -Causton gave a long and earnest charge to the jury, “to beware of -spiritual tyranny, and to oppose the new, illegal authority which was -usurped over their consciences.” Mrs. Williamson’s affidavit was read, -the substance of which has been already given, with the exception that, -after her marriage, Wesley took every opportunity to force upon her -his private discourse, and terrified her by telling her that her soul -would be in danger, if she did not spend her time, and converse with -him, in the same manner, as she did before her marriage.[208] - -Causton then delivered to the grand jury a paper, entitled “A List of -Grievances,” pretending to show that the Rev. John Wesley “deviates -from the principles and regulations of the Established Church in many -particulars inconsistent with the happiness and prosperity of this -colony,” as:— - - “1. By inverting the order and method of the liturgy. - - “2. By altering such passages as he thinks proper in the - version of the psalms, publicly authorised to be sung in the - church. - - “3. By introducing into the church, and service at the altar, - compositions of psalms and hymns not inspected or authorised by - any proper judicature. - - “4. By introducing novelties, such as dipping infants, etc., in - the sacrament of baptism, and refusing to baptize the children - of such as will not submit to his innovations. - - “5. By restricting the benefits of the Lord’s supper to a - small number of persons, and refusing it to all others who - will not conform to a grievous set of penances, confessions, - mortifications, and constant attendance at early and late hours - of prayer, very inconsistent with the labours and employment of - this colony. - - “6. By administering the sacrament of the Lord’s supper to - boys ignorant and unqualified; and that notwithstanding of - their parents and nearest friends remonstrating against it, and - accusing them of disobedience and other crimes. - - “7. By refusing to administer the holy sacrament to well - disposed and well living persons, unless they should submit to - confessions and penances for crimes, which they utterly refuse, - and whereof no evidence is offered. - - “8. By venting sundry uncharitable expressions of all who - differ from him; and not pronouncing the benediction in church, - until all the hearers, except his own communicants, are - withdrawn. - - “9. By teaching wives and servants that they ought absolutely - to follow the course of mortifications, fastings, and diets, - and two sets of prayers prescribed by him; without any regard - to the interests of their private families, or the commands of - their respective husbands and masters. - - “10. By refusing the Office of the Dead to such as did not - communicate with him, or by leaving out such parts of the - service as he thought proper. - - “11. By searching into and meddling with the affairs of private - families, by means of servants and spies employed by him for - the purpose, whereby the peace both of public and private life - is much endangered. - - - “12. By calling himself ‘ordinary,’ and thereby claiming - a jurisdiction which is not due to him, and whereby we - should be precluded from access to redress by any superior - jurisdiction.”[209] - -How did the grand jury deal with these charges? - -First of all, Mrs. Williamson was called, but acknowledged, in the -course of her examination, that she had no objection to Wesley’s -behaviour previous to her marriage. After her, Mr. and Mrs. Causton -were examined; the former confessing that, if Wesley had asked his -consent to marry his niece, he would not have refused it.[210] Ten -other witnesses were put into the box, and several of Wesley’s letters -to Mrs. Williamson were read.[211] - -Some days were spent in sifting the business; and then, on September 1, -a majority of the jurymen agreed to the following indictments:— - -1. That, after the 12th of March last, the said John Wesley did several -times privately force his conversation to Sophia Christiana Williamson, -contrary to the express desire and command of her husband; and did -likewise write and privately convey papers to her, thereby occasioning -much uneasiness between her and her husband. - -2. That, on the 7th of August last, he refused the sacrament of the -Lord’s supper to Sophia Christiana Williamson, without any apparent -reason, much to the disquiet of her mind, and to the great disgrace and -hurt of her character. - -3. That he hath not, since his arrival in Savannah, emitted any public -declaration of his adherence to the principles and regulations of the -Church of England. - -4. That, for many months past, he has divided on the Lord’s day the -order of morning prayer, appointed to be used in the Church of England, -by only reading the said morning prayer and the litany at five or six -o’clock, and wholly omitting the same between the hours of nine and -eleven o’clock, the customary time of public morning prayer. - -5. That, about the month of April, 1736, he refused to baptize, -otherwise than by dipping, the child of Henry Parker, unless the said -Henry Parker and his wife would certify that the child was weak and -not able to bear dipping; and added to his refusal, that, unless the -said parents would consent to have it dipped, it might die a heathen. - -6. That, notwithstanding he administered the sacrament of the Lord’s -supper to William Gough, about the month of March, 1736, he did, within -a month after, refuse the sacrament to the said William Gough, saying -that he had heard that William Gough was a Dissenter. - -7. That in June, 1736, he refused reading the Office of the Dead over -the body of Nathaniel Polhill, only because Nathaniel Polhill was not -of his opinion; by means of which refusal the said Nathaniel Polhill -was interred without the appointed Office for the Burial of the Dead. - -8. That, on or about the 10th of August, 1737, he, in the presence of -Thomas Causton, presumptuously called himself “Ordinary of Savannah,” -assuming thereby an authority which did not belong to him. - -9. That in Whitsun-week last he refused William Aglionby to stand -godfather to the child of Henry Marley, giving no other reason than -that the said William Aglionby had not been at the communion table with -him. - -10. That, about the month of July last, he baptized the child of Thomas -Jones, having only one godfather and godmother, notwithstanding that -Jacob Matthews did offer to stand godfather.[212] - -Such were the findings of the majority of the grand jury. The minority -of twelve, including three constables and six tithingmen, drew up and -signed a document, and transmitted it “to the honourable the trustees -for Georgia,” to the following effect:— - -1. That they were thoroughly persuaded that the charges against Mr. -Wesley were an artifice of Mr. Causton’s, designed rather to blacken -the character of Mr. Wesley than to free the colony from religious -tyranny, as he had alleged. - -2. That it did not appear that Mr. Wesley had either spoken in private -or written to Mrs. Williamson since the day of her marriage, except one -letter, which he wrote on the 5th of July, at the request of her uncle, -as a pastor, to exhort and reprove her. - -3. That, though he did refuse the sacrament to Mrs. Williamson on the -7th of August last, he did not assume to himself any authority contrary -to law, for every person intending to communicate was bound to signify -his name to the curate, at least some time the day before; which -Mrs. Williamson did not do; although Mr. Wesley had often, in full -congregation, declared he did insist on a compliance with that rubric, -and had before repelled divers persons for non-compliance therewith. - -4. That, though he had not in Savannah emitted any public declaration -of his adherence to the principles and regulations of the Church of -England, he had done this, in a stronger manner than by a formal -declaration, by explaining and defending the three creeds, the -thirty-nine articles, the whole Book of Common Prayer, and the -homilies; besides a formal declaration is not required, but from those -who have received institution and induction. - -5. That though he had divided, on the Lord’s day, the order of morning -prayer, this was not contrary to any law in being. - -6. That his refusal to baptize Henry Parker’s child, otherwise than by -dipping, was justified by the rubric. - -7. That, though he had refused the sacrament to William Gough, the said -William Gough (one of the twelve jurors who signed the document sent -to the trustees) publicly declared that the refusal was no grievance -to him, because Mr. Wesley had given him reasons with which he was -satisfied. - -8. That, in reference to the alleged refusal to read the burial service -over the body of Nathaniel Polhill, they had good reason to believe -that Mr. Wesley was at Frederica, or on his return thence, when Polhill -was interred; besides Polhill was an anabaptist, and desired, in his -lifetime, that he might not be buried with the office of the Church of -England. - -9. That they were in doubt about the indictment concerning Wesley -calling himself “Ordinary of Savannah,” not well knowing the meaning of -the word. - -10. That, though Mr. Wesley refused to allow William Aglionby to stand -godfather to the child of Henry Marley, and Jacob Matthews to stand -godfather to the child of Thomas Jones, he was sufficiently justified -by the canons of the Church, because neither Aglionby nor Matthews had -certified Mr. Wesley that they had ever received the holy communion. - -Such were the findings of his foes and of his friends: the only -difference, as to fact, between the majority of thirty-two and the -minority of twelve, is that which relates to Mrs. Williamson and -Nathaniel Polhill. The minority declare that it is not true that Mr. -Wesley did _several times_ privately force his conversation to Sophia -Williamson after her marriage; and that they have good reason to -believe that it is not true that he refused to read the burial service -over Nathaniel Polhill, because, at the time of the burial, he was -absent from Savannah. All the other alleged facts are admitted, but are -also justified. How did Wesley meet the indictments? - -On September 2, the day after they were presented and were read to -the people, he appeared in court, and spoke to this effect:—“As to -nine of the ten indictments against me, I know this court can take no -cognisance of them, they being matters of an ecclesiastical nature. -But that concerning my speaking and writing to Mrs. Williamson is of a -secular nature; and this, therefore, I desire may be tried here where -the facts complained of were committed.”[213] - -In this Wesley was unquestionably right. His conduct as a priest of the -Church of England might be, as it doubtless was, arrogant, foolish, -offensive, intolerant; but the petty magisterial court at Savannah had -no more right to try him for his high church practices than an Old -Bailey judge and jury have to try the half-fledged papistical rectors, -curates, and incumbents, who are playing such fantastic tricks in the -Protestant churches of old England at the present day. They had a right -to try him on the matter mentioned by himself, inasmuch as it was -alleged that Mrs. Williamson had been injured in her character, and, on -that account, her husband demanded damages to the extent of £1000. - -Wesley was prepared to answer this indictment, and moved for an -immediate hearing; but the court evaded his request, and postponed the -hearing to its next sitting. From September 1, when the indictments -were first presented, to the end of November, when Wesley made known -his intention to return to England, he seems to have attended not -fewer than seven different sittings of the court, asking to be tried -on the charge affecting the character of Mrs. Williamson; but all to -no purpose. The fact is, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, after having stabbed -him, were about to set sail to England,[214] and their contemplated -absence was made a pretext for not proceeding with the trial. There -can be little doubt that the whole affair was as the twelve jurors -believed, a device of Thomas Causton, to gratify his spite, and, by -annoyances, to drive Wesley from the colony. - -Six days after the majority of the grand jury presented their -indictments, Mr. Dixon, chaplain to a company of soldiers at Frederica, -called on Wesley, and informed him that the magistrates of Savannah -had given him authority to perform ecclesiastical offices in the -town; and that he should begin to do so the day following, by reading -prayers, preaching, and administering the Lord’s supper. Accordingly, -on September 8, the bell was rung, and Mr. Dixon read prayers and -preached, in Wesley’s church, to Mr. Causton, Mr. and Mrs. Williamson, -and about half-a-score other persons. He announced that he had intended -to administer the holy communion, but some of his communicants were -indisposed. He would, however, read prayers and preach every Thursday, -and would administer baptism to as many children as might be brought -for that purpose. This was _ipso facto_ a setting aside of Wesley; or, -at all events, it was an arbitrary appointment of another clergyman to -fill his place. - -On the Sunday following, September 11, Wesley preached from, “It must -needs be that offences come;” and then proceeded to read a paper which -he had read before, on the day he began his ministry at Savannah, and -in which he had apprised his congregation:—1. That he must admonish -every one of them, not only in public, but from house to house. 2. That -he could admit none to the holy communion without previous notice. 3. -That he should divide the morning service in compliance with the first -design of the Church. 4. That he should obey the rubric by dipping in -baptism all children who were well able to endure it. 5. That he should -admit none who were not communicants to be sureties in baptism. 6. That -though, in general, he had all the authority which was entrusted to -any one within the province, yet he was only a servant of the Church of -England,—not a judge, and therefore obliged to keep the regulations of -that Church in all things.[215] - -On succeeding Sundays, he read to the congregations the homilies, and -then began reading Dr. Rogers’s eight sermons, as an antidote against -the poison of infidelity. Up to the present, he had no intention of -leaving the colony. Indeed, as lately as the 7th of June last, he had -written to his sister Keziah, and had made her an offer to come and -live with him at Savannah;[216] but, as soon as it was known that -Williamson and his wife were about to start for England, Delamotte -urged that Wesley ought to go as well, in order to prevent, or remove, -the misrepresentations which they were likely to make. This was on -September 9;[217] and, a month later, Wesley took counsel with his -friends on the same subject. They were unanimously of opinion “that he -ought to go, but not yet;” and accordingly he abandoned his purpose for -the present. - -Meanwhile, he commenced three kinds of services which he had not before -attempted. He offered to read prayers, and to expound the Scriptures, -in French, every Saturday afternoon, to the French families settled -at Highgate, five miles from Savannah, which offer was thankfully -accepted. The French at Savannah heard of this, and requested he would -do the same for them, with which request he willingly complied. He also -began to read prayers and expound in German, once a week, to the German -villagers of Hampstead. - -His Sunday labour, during the few weeks that he yet remained in -Savannah, was as follows:—1. English prayers from five o’clock to -half-past six. 2. Italian prayers at nine. 3. A sermon and the holy -communion, for the English, from half-past ten to about half-past -twelve. 4. The service for the French at one, including prayers, -psalms, and Scripture exposition. 5. The catechizing of the children at -two. 6. The third English service at three. 7. After this, a meeting in -his own house for reading, prayer, and praise. 8. At six, the Moravian -service began, which he was glad to attend, not to teach, but learn. - -Thus things proceeded until November 22, when Causton sent for Wesley -and showed him an affidavit, sworn on September 15, to the effect that -he had called Causton a liar and a villain; but, with characteristic -duplicity, said he had not sent _this_ affidavit to the trustees,—a -statement, which, in fact, was both true and false, for although he -had not sent _this_ affidavit he had sent a _copy_ of it. Causton -bitterly added, that the last court held in Savannah had reprimanded -him as “an enemy to and a hinderer of the public peace.” “Both,” says -an eye-witness, “displayed warmth of temper; but Causton was most -vehement. They parted with mutual civilities.”[218] - -This caused Wesley to again consult his friends about the propriety of -his leaving the colony. He saw that at present there was no possibility -of instructing the Indians; neither had he as yet found or heard of any -Indians who had the least desire of being instructed. Thus the great -reason of his leaving England was not realised. Then, as to Savannah, -he had never engaged himself, either by word or letter, to stay there a -day longer than he should judge convenient. And, further, he now saw a -probability of doing more service to the unhappy colonists by going to -England, than he could do by remaining in Georgia; for there he could, -without fear or favour, report to the trustees the state in which the -colony was placed. All his friends agreed with him; and accordingly, -next morning, he called on Causton, and told him he “designed to set -out for England immediately, and placarded an advertisement in the -great square” of the unbuilt town to the same effect. - -Savannah was in great excitement. Causton had his partisans, and so had -Wesley his. Scandal was plentiful. Wesley’s congregations dwindled, and -were now extremely thin. Mr. Stephens, the secretary of the trustees at -Savannah, relates[219] that, in November, he heard Wesley preach on “Is -it lawful to give tribute unto Cæsar or not?” from which he discoursed -largely on the duties of magistrates, and on the obedience which was -due to them; setting forth how far it was consistent with Christian -liberty for people to insist upon their rights, when they found -themselves oppressed by inferior magistrates exercising a discretionary -authority which exceeded their commission. Stephens adds, that the -congregation was very poor, and that he found that the magistrates -and many of the principal inhabitants had of late wholly absented -themselves from church. - -On November 20, Wesley preached from the text, “Jesus wept.” Stephens -writes: “He showed himself a good casuist; but his metaphysical -discourse would have been better adapted to a learned audience than -such a poor thin congregation as his, who stood in need of plain -doctrine.” - -On November 27, he preached from Acts xx. 26, 27. Stephens, who was -present, says: “He enforced the practice of all Christian duties most -pathetically, which he was well qualified to do. Some people imagined, -from the choice of the text, that he meant it as a sort of farewell -sermon; but it did not appear so from any particular expressions -employed.” - -No sooner was it known that Wesley meant to embark for England, than -Williamson issued an advertisement that he had brought an action -against him for £1000 damages; and that if any one assisted his escape -from the colony, he would prosecute such accomplice with the utmost -rigour of the law.[220] The magistrates also sent for Wesley, and told -him he must not leave the province till he had answered the indictments -against him. Wesley replied that he had already attended seven sessions -of the court to answer them, and had not been permitted. They then -requested him to sign a kind of bond, engaging him, under a penalty of -£50, to appear at their court when he should be required; and added -that Mr. Williamson also demanded that he should give bail to answer -his action. Wesley replied that he would give neither any bond, nor any -bail at all; and so he left them. In the afternoon of the same day they -published an order requiring all the officers and sentinels to prevent -his leaving the province, and forbidding any person to assist him in -doing so. - -He was now a prisoner at large, and the same evening, after public -prayers, he set out in a boat for Purrysburg, distant about twenty -miles, and thus left Savannah and Georgia for ever.[221] - -Arriving at Purrysburg early in the morning of December 3, Wesley -and the four men who had assisted in his escape, and had rowed him -to Purrysburg, set out on foot to Port Royal. Tramping their way -through trackless forests, they came to a large swamp, around which -they wandered for three weary hours. Then they had to force their way -through an almost impassable thicket. They had now been trudging from -an hour before sunrise in the morning till nearly sunset at night, and -had not tasted food, except a gingerbread cake, which Wesley happened -to have in his pocket. They were faint and weary, and no wonder. -Thrusting a stick into the ground, and finding its end moist, two of -them set to work digging with their hands, and, at about three feet -depth, obtained water. They thanked God, drank, and were refreshed. The -month was December, and the night cold; but there was no complaining; -and, having commended themselves to God, they lay down on the ground, -close together, and Wesley, at least, slept till near six in the -morning. - -The next day was Sunday; but the bewildered fugitives started again, -and after three more days of weary wandering reached Port Royal. -Delamotte joined them on Thursday, December 8, when, taking a boat, -they all set sail for Charlestown. This was no comfortable steamer, -but a small watercraft, without covering, and impelled by oars. Four -days were spent in making the passage, the winds were contrary, and -their provisions short; but, cold and hungry, they arrived in safety on -Tuesday, December 13.[222] - -Wesley and Delamotte, with the exception of a few brief days, had not -been parted for the last six-and-twenty months: but on December 22 -the former set sail for England; the latter, for a season, was left -behind. One of Wesley’s fellow passengers was a young gentleman, who -had been one of his parishioners at Savannah; and another was Eleanor -Hayes, who became one of the first Methodists in London, and of whom an -interesting notice may be found in the _Methodist Magazine_ for 1867. -It was impossible for Wesley to live an idle life. During the voyage, -he began instructing two negro lads and the cabin-boy in the principles -of the Christian religion. On Sundays, at least, he had morning and -evening prayers. He finished his abridgment of De Renty’s Life; and he -read and explained to a poor Frenchman a chapter in the New Testament -every morning. When in mid-ocean they encountered a terrific storm, -which gave Wesley an opportunity of speaking faithfully to all on board -about their eternal interests. On February 1 they landed at Deal, the -day after George Whitefield had set sail for the very settlement which -Wesley had been obliged to leave. - -During the passage Wesley had ample time for self-examination, and -wrote as follows:— - - “By the most infallible of proofs, inward feeling, I am - convinced— - - “1. Of unbelief; having no such faith in Christ as will prevent - my heart being troubled. - - “2. Of pride, throughout my life past; inasmuch as I thought I - had what I find I have not. - - “3. Of gross irrecollection; inasmuch as in a storm I cry to - God every moment, in a calm not. - - “4. Of levity and luxuriancy of spirit; appearing by my - speaking words not tending to edify, but most by my manner of - speaking of my enemies.” - -He adds:— - - “I went to America to convert the Indians; but oh, who shall - convert me? I have a fair summer religion. I can talk well; - but let death look me in the face, and my spirit is troubled. - I think, verily, if the gospel be true, I am safe: for I not - only have given, and do give, all my goods to feed the poor; - and not only give my body to be burned, drowned, or whatever - God shall appoint for me; but I follow after charity, if haply - I may attain it. I now believe the gospel is true. I show my - faith by my works,—by staking my all upon it. I would do so - again and again, a thousand times, if the choice were still to - make. Whoever sees me sees I would be a Christian. But in a - storm, I think, ‘What if the gospel be not true? Then thou art - of all men most foolish. For what hast thou given thy goods, - thy ease, thy friends, thy reputation, thy country, thy life? - For what art thou wandering over the face of the earth—a dream! - a cunningly devised fable?’ Oh, who will deliver me from this - fear of death? A wise man advised me some time since, ‘Be still - and go on.’ Perhaps this is best, to look upon it as my cross.” - -After landing in England, he penned another remarkable paper, which -has often been cited without a quotation of the notes he appended in -after years.[223] He asserts that when he went to America, to convert -the Indians, he was not himself converted; but in the appended note he -adds, “I am not sure of this.” Neither are we. By his conscientious -severity in comparing himself with the standard of a perfect Christian, -as contained in the New Testament, and by his imperfect and mystified -views of the scriptural plan of salvation, he might deprive himself of -the filial confidence and joy belonging to a child of God; but we dare -not affirm that he was a child of wrath because he was without the joy. -On the same principle, thousands of us would be children one day, but -not the next. Wesley’s assertion was too strong; in after life he felt -it so; and those who quote it ought, in all fairness, to add what he -himself appended. - -In another part of the same document he says of himself: “Alienated as -I am from the life of God, I am a child of wrath, an heir of hell.” But -the note he attached to this, in subsequent years, is, “I believe not”; -and if not a child of wrath, then in his opinion, and after mature -reflection, he had a right to think himself a child of grace and an -heir of heaven. - -Another of his notes is: “I had even then the faith of a servant, -though not that of a son;” and that the reader may know what -interpretation to put upon such words, we give the following extract -from one of Wesley’s own sermons:— - - “But what is the faith which is properly saving? It is such a - Divine conviction of God, and the things of God, as, even in - its infant state, enables every one that possesses it to fear - God and work righteousness. And whosoever, in every nation, - believes thus far, is accepted of Him. He actually is, at that - very moment, in a state of acceptance. But he is at present - only a _servant_ of God, not properly a _son_. Meanwhile let - it be well observed that the wrath of God no longer abideth - on him. Nearly fifty years ago, when the preachers, commonly - called Methodists, began to preach that grand scriptural - doctrine, salvation by faith, they were not sufficiently - apprised of the difference between a servant and a child of - God. In consequence of this, they were apt to make sad the - hearts of those whom God had not made sad. For they frequently - asked those who feared God, ‘Do you know that your sins are - forgiven?’ And upon their answering ‘No,’ immediately replied, - ‘Then you are a child of the devil.’ No; that does not follow. - It might have been said (and it is all that can be said with - propriety), ‘Hitherto you are only a _servant_, you are not a - _child_ of God. You have already great reason to praise God - that He has called you to His honourable service. Fear not, - continue crying unto Him, and you shall see greater things than - these!’ And, indeed, unless the servants of God halt by the - way, they will receive the adoption of sons. They will receive - the _faith_ of the children of God, by His _revealing_ His only - begotten Son in their hearts. Thus, the faith of a child is, - properly and directly, a Divine conviction, whereby every child - of God is enabled to testify, ‘The life that I now live I live - by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for - me.’ And whosoever hath this, the Spirit of God witnesseth with - his spirit, that he is a child of God. This then it is, that - properly constitutes the difference between a servant of God - and a child of God.”[224] - -Let those who have been accustomed to cite Wesley’s hasty and -incautious condemnation of himself, on his return from Georgia, read it -again in the light of his own appended notes, and in the light of this -extract from a sermon written by himself nearly fifty years afterwards; -and they will then have a more correct idea of Wesley’s religious state -at Oxford and in America, and will also be better fitted to understand -what is meant by what is called his conversion on the 24th of May, -1738. This matter, however, must be resumed in its proper place. - -Wesley, in Georgia, was accepted of God through Christ; but, to cite -his own words at the conclusion of his own condemnatory document, he -wanted “a sure trust and confidence in God, that, through the merits of -Christ, his sins were forgiven.” “I want,” says he, “that faith which -none can have without knowing that he hath it.” - -Wesley, according to his own explanation, had long been in a _saved_ -state (though he knew it not); but he was far from being perfect, -either in spirit or behaviour. No man could be more sincere or earnest; -but it is hoped that few ministers of equal learning, wisdom, and -sanctity make greater blunders than were made by him at Savannah. There -can be little doubt that he had ecclesiastical authority for most, -if not all, his priestly practices; and so have the half papistical -priests and ritualists of the present day. But as England now is right -in resisting the introduction of rites and ceremonies, fasts and -feasts, confessions and penances, absolutions and interdicts, savouring -more of the man of sin than of the word of God,—so Savannah then was -right in resisting similar innovations attempted to be introduced by -the extremely high church priest, fresh from the society of the Oxford -Methodists. If we are right in denouncing _ritualism_ now, Savannah -was right in denouncing _ritualism_ then. If the thing is offensive -and obnoxious here, it was equally offensive and obnoxious there; -and if no other end had been answered by Wesley’s mission to America -than knocking out of him his high church nonsense, the good effected -would have been an ample compensation for two dangerous voyages of six -thousand miles, and for all the discomforts of living two-and-twenty -months, in a log-built hut, among almost homeless emigrants, who had -taken with them to the swamps and woods of Georgia more covetousness -than courtesy, more rudeness than rank, more quarrelsomeness than -quietude, and more conceit than common sense. - -Wesley has been blamed for repelling Mrs. Williamson from the -communion; and if he had nothing more to allege against her than the -offence that, since her marriage, she had come to sacrament once a -month only, instead of once a week, he deserves to be blamed. It was a -rash proceeding, utterly unwarranted; and both she and her husband did -right in resisting it. So far we agree with Wesley’s censors; but we -cannot agree with them in saying that the great, if not only, reason -of his repelling her was revenge arising out of her refusal to marry -him. There is not a particle of evidence in proof of that. Five months -had elapsed since her marriage; and, again and again, during that -interval, he had administered to her the holy communion. The repulse -was, on his part, a strictly conscientious, not a revengeful act; but -though conscientious, it was, to say the least, mistaken, and deserves -censure instead of praise. Mr. Moore says that, about three months -after Mrs. Williamson’s marriage, Wesley saw things in her conduct -which induced him to bless God for his deliverance in not marrying her, -and that these things were noted in his private journal never printed. -We have not the slightest wish to defend the lady where she deserves -censure: but fairness compels us to say that we have seen the private -journal; but neither in it, nor elsewhere, have we met with anything -charged against her more serious than what has been already mentioned -in the present far too lengthy chapter. Dissimulation is the strongest -word Wesley has used concerning her; and this is used in reference to -something which happened three months after she was married, and of -which no explanation is given.[225] Miss Hopkey, like Wesley himself, -was not so good as she might have been; but that is not a sufficient -reason why Wesley’s biographers should insinuate, if not assert, that -she was worse than she really was. - -Wesley’s mission to America seemed a failure! But was it so? When -Whitefield arrived, he wrote: “The good Mr. John Wesley has done in -America is inexpressible. His name is very precious among the people; -and he has laid a foundation that I hope neither men nor devils will -ever be able to shake. Oh that I may follow him as he has followed -Christ.”[226] - -Wesley himself observes:— - - “Many reasons I have to bless God for my having been carried - to America, contrary to all my preceding resolutions. Hereby, - I trust, He hath in some measure ‘_humbled me and proved me, - and shown me what was in my heart_.’ Hereby, I have been taught - to ‘_beware of men_.’ Hereby, God has given me to know many of - His servants, particularly those of the church of Herrnhuth. - Hereby, my passage is open to the writings of holy men, in - the German, Spanish, and Italian tongues. All in Georgia have - heard the word of God, and some have believed and begun to - run well. A few steps have been taken towards publishing the - glad tidings both to the African and American heathens. Many - children have learned how they ought to serve God, and to be - useful to their neighbour. And those whom it most concerns have - an opportunity of knowing the state of their infant colony, - and laying a firmer foundation of peace and happiness to many - generations.”[227] - -These are no mean results to be realised in about two -years,—self-knowledge, caution, acquaintance with the church that was -to help him to clearer views of the plan of salvation, the acquisition -of three European languages, the unprecedented fact of preaching Christ -to _all_ the widely scattered inhabitants of an English colony, steps -taken to evangelise negroes and Indians, many children religiously -educated, and the way prepared for promoting the prosperity of Georgia -to the end of time! - - - - -CHAPTER V. - -_WESLEY IN TRANSITION._ 1738. - - -[Sidenote: 1738 Age 35] - -Whitefield left England the day before Wesley reached it. He landed -in Georgia on the 7th of May, 1738, and remained sixteen weeks; and -then set out again for his own country, where he arrived on November -30. A flying visit, but not a fruitless one. Having been ordained -by Bishop Benson in June, 1736, he began his unparalleled preaching -career with a sermon in the church of St. Mary de Crypt, Gloucester, -where he had been baptized, and where he first received the sacrament -of the Lord’s supper. Some of his congregation mocked, but most were -powerfully impressed. The bishop was informed that the sermon had -driven fifteen persons mad; the worthy prelate hoped the madness would -be abiding. Whitefield was a stripling of twenty-one; but wherever he -went crowds flocked to hear him. At Bristol, the whole city seemed -alarmed; Quakers, Baptists, Presbyterians, and sectarians of all kinds, -ran after him; and churches were as full on week days as they had used -to be on Sundays. Wesley wrote to his Oxford friends, asking help for -Georgia. Whitefield was preaching as often as four times a day, and -had become so famous that Raikes, of Gloucester, and others, thought -it an enrichment of their newspapers to insert accounts of his doings; -but his friend Wesley needed help, and that was quite enough to make -him treat as trifles the praises of the multitudes who ran after him. -Just at the time when Wesley was compelled to leave Georgia, Whitefield -repaired to London to embark for it. During his brief detention, in -less than three months, he preached in London above a hundred sermons, -and collected above a thousand pounds for charity schools and for the -poor. When he set sail, he read prayers and preached twice every day; -and such was his influence on board, that the very soldiers stood out -before him to say their catechism like little children. - -The day after his arrival at Savannah, Causton and the magistrates sent -word that they would wait upon him; but he chose rather to wait upon -them, and was treated with as much deference as Wesley had been treated -with disrespect. He began to visit from house to house, catechized, -read prayers morning and evening, and expounded the two second lessons -every day. He found Tomo-Chichi, the Indian chief, on a blanket, thin -and meagre, and evidently dying. At Hampstead and Highgate he followed -Wesley’s example, and read prayers once a week, though the population -of the former village consisted of only three men, one woman, and seven -children. He also visited Thunderbolt, a village of three families -consisting of sixteen persons, and preached to them. He likewise opened -a girls’ school at Savannah. He paid a few days’ visit to Frederica, -where there was now a population of about one hundred and twenty; and -read prayers and preached, under a large tree, to more than could have -been expected. He also visited the Saltzburghers at Ebenezer, and found -two such pious ministers as he had not often seen. - -Four months having been thus spent, he set out for England, the -Savannah people bidding adieu to him with tearful eyes, and begging -that he would soon return. He landed in Ireland in November, where -mayors and bishops vied with each other in inviting him to their -mansions and palaces, and where he also took the opportunity of -visiting the cabins of Irish peasants, in one of which, twenty feet -long and twelve broad, there were a man, his wife and three children, -two pigs feeding, two dogs, and several geese, a great fire, and the -master of the family threshing corn. - -On reaching London, he found that those who had been awakened by -his preaching a year ago had “grown strong men in Christ, by the -ministrations of his dear friends and fellow labourers, John and -Charles Wesley.” The old doctrine of justification by faith only -had been much revived; societies had been instituted at Fetter Lane -and other places; and Whitefield ended the eventful year of 1738 by -preaching and expounding, during the last week of it, not fewer than -seven-and-twenty times.[228] - -Let us now turn to Wesley. He landed at Deal early in the morning of -February 1; and at once resumed his work in England, by reading prayers -and preaching at the inn. After breakfast, he set out for London, and, -reaching Faversham at night, he again read prayers and expounded the -second lesson to a few who were called Christians, but who were more -savage in their behaviour than the wildest Indians he had ever met. His -next halting place was Blendon, where the family of his friend Charles -Delamotte gave him a hearty welcome. On the evening of February 3, he -arrived in London; and, without delay, visited Oglethorpe, and waited -upon the Georgian trustees; gave to them a written account why he had -left the colony; and returned to them the instrument whereby they had -appointed him minister of Savannah. - -Wesley was too earnest to take a holiday. Time with him was too -important for any part of it to be spent in idleness. Reaching -London on Friday, he resumed preaching on Sunday; and, for the next -fifty-three years, never ceased, and never lagged, in this important -work, except when serious sickness occasionally laid upon him a brief -embargo. - -And, certainly, if England ever needed earnest, enthusiastic labourers, -it was now. During this very year of 1738, not fewer than fifty-two -criminals were hanged at Tyburn; and within the last two years about -12,000 persons had been convicted, within the Bills of Mortality, of -smuggling gin, or of selling it without the £50 per annum licence. -Sunday traffic had become such a nuisance in London and its suburbs, -that even the court of aldermen interfered, and commanded the marshals, -and all constables, beadles, and other public officers, to use their -best endeavours to suppress it. They were also to apprehend all -shoeblacks cleaning shoes in the public streets; and to take notice -of all vintners, ale and coffee house keepers, barbers, and others, -who exercised their ordinary trades on Sundays. A committee of the -House of Lords “to examine into the causes of the present notorious -immorality and profaneness,” stated, in their report, that they had -sufficient grounds to believe that a number of loose and disorderly -persons had of late formed themselves into a club, under the name of -_Blasters_, and were using means to induce the youth of the kingdom to -join them. The members of this impious club professed themselves to be -votaries of the devil, offered prayers to him, and drank his health. -They also had been heard to utter “the most daring and execrable -blasphemies against the sacred name and majesty of God; and to use -such obscene, blasphemous, and before unheard of expressions as the -Lords’ committee think they cannot even mention, and therefore they -pass them over in silence.” The same committee further reported, that -“of late years there had appeared a greater neglect of religion and -of all things sacred—a greater neglect of Divine worship, both public -and private, and of the due observance of the sabbath, than had ever -before been known in England. There was a want of reverence to the laws -and to magistrates, and of a due subordination in the several ranks -and degrees of the community. There was an abuse of liberty, a great -neglect in education, and a want of care in training children, and in -keeping servants in good order; while idleness, luxury, gambling, and -an excessive use of spirituous and intoxicating liquors had grown into -an alarming magnitude.” The report concludes by recommending that the -bishops be desired, at their visitations, to particularly charge the -clergy to exhort the people to a more frequent and constant attendance -at Divine services; and that visitors of the universities and of -schools require the fellows and masters carefully to instruct the youth -committed to their care, in the principles of religion and morality; to -which recommendation the House of Lords agreed. - -One month, in 1738, was spent by Wesley in his homeward voyage from -America. Three others were spent in Germany. During the remaining eight -he preached in various parts of England, at least, eighty times. One -of his sermons was delivered in the cabin of a ship, two were preached -in workhouses, eleven in Oxford castle, one in Oxford Bocardo, one -in Lincoln College chapel, one in Manchester, one at Windsor, one at -Stanton-Harcourt, two in Newgate prison, and the remainder principally -in twenty-six different churches in the metropolis. His sermon at St. -John the Evangelist’s “offended many of the best in the parish.” His -first discourse at St. Lawrence’s was “an open defiance of that mystery -of iniquity which the world calls ‘prudence,’” and gave great offence. -A sermon at Oxford castle was chiefly addressed to a man condemned -to die, and who, on the same day, found the forgiveness of his sins, -and shortly after went to the gallows “enjoying perfect peace.” At one -of his sermons in Newgate prison, nine persons were present who had -recently received sentence of death—two for murdering their wives, one -for filing guineas, two for burglary, and four for robberies. These -wretched creatures, and two others previously condemned, were all -executed at Tyburn, on November 8;[229] and, at their earnest desire, -Wesley and his brother, on the day of execution, went to Newgate “to do -the last good office” to them. Charles preached; the malefactors wept; -and some of them, at least, were filled with “the peace of God which -passeth all understanding.” Wesley writes: “It was the most glorious -instance I ever saw of faith triumphing over sin and death.” - -The great event in Wesley’s history, during the year 1738, was his -conversion. Something has been said already on this momentous subject; -but other facts and explanations must now be given. Let us try to -answer the questions following:— - -1. What was the religious state, and what were the religious views, of -Wesley previous to his conversion? 2. What were the doctrines he was -taught by Peter Bohler? 3. When was he converted? and how? - -1. Wesley’s religious state and views previous to his conversion. - -He was _almost a Christian_.[230] He most rigorously abstained from -everything which the gospel of Christ prohibits, and cheerfully -practised everything which it enjoins. He avoided every form of -profanity, and every word or look that, directly or indirectly, tended -to uncleanness. He equally avoided detraction, backbiting, talebearing, -evil speaking, and idle words. He was no railer, brawler, or scoffer -at the faults or infirmities of others, but continually endeavoured to -live peaceably with all men. He laboured and suffered for the benefit -of many. He reproved the wicked, instructed the ignorant, confirmed -the wavering, quickened the good, and comforted the afflicted. He used -all the means of grace, and at all opportunities: he attended public -service every day; he communicated every week; he constantly used -family prayer; he had set times daily for private devotions. All this -was done from a sincere and hearty desire to serve God and to do His -will. In all his conversation and in all his actions—in all he did -and in all he left undone, his only motive was a design to please and -honour God. He declares that he went thus far for many years, and yet -that all this time he was only _almost a Christian_.[231] - -He held no principles but what he believed to be revealed in the word -of God; and, in the interpretation of that word he always judged the -most literal sense to be the best, unless when the literal sense of -one scripture contradicted some other. He firmly believed in a change -wrought in the heart by the Holy Spirit, and called a person thus -changed “regenerated, born again, and a new creature.” In all other -cases, he endeavoured to express spiritual things in spiritual words, -though he was not ignorant that such words and their hidden meaning -were treated by the unconverted as jargon and cant.[232] - -He had many remarkable answers to prayer, especially when he was in -trouble; and he had many sensible comforts—short anticipations of the -life of faith. He had a Divine conviction of God and of the things -of God; and firmly believed in Jesus Christ as the Saviour of the -world.[233] He was, at least, a _servant_ of God, _and was accepted -of Him_;[234] and yet all this while he was beating the air, and was -seeking to establish his own righteousness, instead of submitting to -the righteousness of Christ which is by faith. He delighted in the law -of God, after the inner man; and yet he was carnal, sold under sin. -Every day he was constrained to cry out, “What I do I allow not: for -what I would I do not; but what I hate that I do. To will is present -with me; but how to perform that which is good, I find not.” He was -fighting with sin continually, but not always conquering. Before, -he had _willingly_ served sin; now it was _unwillingly_; but still -he served it. He fell, and rose, and fell again. Sometimes he was -overcome, and in heaviness; sometimes he overcame, and was in joy. -Once he had foretastes of the terrors of the law; but now he had -foretastes of the comforts of the gospel. For above ten years there was -in him this struggle between nature and grace; and yet he was still -only striving with, not freed from, sin; neither had he the witness of -the Spirit with his spirit that he was a child of God; nor indeed could -he, for he “sought it not by faith, but, as it were, by the works of -the law.”[235] - -Such is Wesley’s description of himself; and this, when added to what -has been previously said concerning his religious career at Oxford, -will be a sufficient answer to the first of the three questions -proposed. - -2. The second is, what were the doctrines which Wesley was taught by -Peter Bohler? - -In the storm which Wesley encountered in his voyage from Georgia, he -found himself in fear of death; and was convinced that the cause of it -was unbelief; and that the gaining a true living faith was the “one -thing needful” for him. - -Peter Bohler told him that true faith in Christ was inseparably -attended by—(1) dominion over sin; and (2) constant peace, arising from -a sense of forgiveness. Wesley was amazed, and regarded this as a new -gospel; for if this was so, it was clear that he was without true faith -in Christ, because he was without its inseparable fruits. He was not -willing to be convinced of this. He disputed with all his strength, -and laboured to prove that there might be faith without the two fruits -mentioned, and especially the second. Bohler referred him to the Bible -and to experience. Wesley consulted the Bible, and when he had set -aside the glosses of men he was bound to acknowledge that Bohler was -correct. Still he hesitated to believe that any “experience” could be -adduced in favour of Bohler’s doctrine. The next day Bohler brought -to him three persons, all of whom testified of their own personal -experience that a true living faith in Christ is inseparable from a -sense of pardon for all past, and freedom from all present, sins. They -also added, with one mouth, that this faith is the gift, the free gift -of God; and that He will surely give it to every one who earnestly and -perseveringly prays for it. - -At subsequent interviews with Bohler, another doctrine was forced -on Wesley, namely, that this saving faith in Christ is given in a -moment; and that in an instant a man is turned from sin and misery -to righteousness and joy in the Holy Ghost. Wesley kicked against -this also; and Bohler again referred him to the Scriptures and -to experience. Wesley searched the Scriptures; and, to his utter -astonishment, he found there were scarcely any instances of other -than _instantaneous_ conversions. Still he had one retreat left, -and told Bohler that, though “God wrought thus in the first ages of -Christianity, times now were changed.” To meet this objection, Bohler, -the day after, turned to his _experience_ test, and brought to Wesley -several living witnesses, who testified that God had given them, in -a moment, such a faith in Christ as translated them out of darkness -into light, out of sin and fear into holiness and happiness. Wesley -writes: “Here ended my disputing. I could now only cry out, ‘Lord, help -Thou my unbelief.’ I was now thoroughly convinced; and, by the grace -of God, I resolved to seek this faith unto the end—(1) By absolutely -renouncing all dependence, in whole or in part, upon my own works of -righteousness; on which I had really grounded my hope of salvation, -though I knew it not, from my youth up. (2) By adding to the constant -use of all the other means of grace continual prayer for this very -thing—justifying, saving faith, a full reliance on the blood of Christ -shed for me; a trust in Him as my Christ, as my sole justification, -sanctification, and redemption.”[236] - -These then were the great doctrines which Peter Bohler brought to the -hearing of John Wesley. They were new to him; but finding them to be -scriptural, and also corroborated by living experience, he at once -believed them. He went to the Delamotte family at Blendon, and there -spake clearly and fully concerning them. Mr. Broughton and his brother -Charles were present. The former objected, and the latter became so -much offended, that in anger he left the room, telling his brother that -his newfangled doctrines were mischievous.[237] Wesley also wrote to -his brother Samuel on the same subject, on the 4th of April, declaring -that he had seen, so far as it could be seen, very many persons -changed, in a moment, from the spirit of horror, fear, and despair, to -the spirit of hope, joy, and peace; and from sinful desires, till then -reigning over them, to a pure desire of doing the will of God.[238] - -We proceed to the third question,— - -3. When and how was Wesley converted? His first interview with Bohler -was on February 7, 1738; and, from that time till the 4th of May, -when Bohler left London for Carolina, he embraced every opportunity -of conversing with him. They went in company to Oxford, and to Mr. -Gambold, at Stanton-Harcourt. The man of erudition, and of almost -anchorite piety, sat at the feet of this godly German like a little -child, and was content to be thought a fool that he might be wise. -“My brother, my brother,” said Bohler, “that philosophy of yours must -be purged away;” and purged away it was. Wesley thought that, being -without faith, he ought to leave off preaching. But Bohler replied: -“By no means. Preach faith till you have it; and then, because you -have it, you will preach it;” and, on the 6th of March, he began to -preach accordingly. Meanwhile several of his friends, as his brother -Charles, Mr. Gambold, and Mr. Stonehouse, vicar of Islington, had -embraced the doctrine of salvation by faith only; and two, Whitefield, -and Mr. Hutchins, of Pembroke College, had experienced it.[239] Charles -Wesley also, on Whit-Sunday, May 21, was made a partaker of the same -great blessing. At the time, he was ill of pleurisy, and his brother -and some other friends came to him, and sang a hymn of praise to the -Holy Ghost; and, after they were gone, he was enabled to exercise that -faith in Christ of the want of which he had been recently convinced, -and was filled with love and peace. Wesley himself was still a mourner. -His heart was heavy. He felt that there was no good in him; and that -all his works, his righteousness, and his prayers, so far from having -merit, needed an atonement for themselves. His mouth was stopped. He -knew that he deserved nothing but wrath; and yet he heard a voice, -saying, “Believe, and thou shalt be saved;” “he that believeth is -passed from death unto life.” Three more days of anguish were thus -passed; and then, on May 24, at five in the morning, he opened his -Testament on these words: “There are given unto us exceeding great -and precious promises, that by these ye might be partakers of the -Divine nature.” On leaving home, he opened on the text, “Thou art -not far from the kingdom of God.” In the afternoon, he went to St. -Paul’s Cathedral, where the anthem was full of comfort. At night, he -went to a society-meeting in Aldersgate Street, where a person read -Luther’s preface to the epistle to the Romans, in which Luther teaches -what faith is, and also that faith alone justifies. Possessed of it, -the heart is “cheered, elevated, excited, and transported with sweet -affections towards God.” Receiving the Holy Ghost, through faith, the -man “is renewed and made spiritual,” and he is impelled to fulfil the -law “by the vital energy in himself.” While this preface was being -read, Wesley experienced an amazing change. He writes: “I felt my -heart strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone, -for salvation; and an assurance was given me, that He had taken away -my sins, even mine, and saved me from the law of sin and death; and I -then testified openly to all there, what I now first felt in my heart.” -Towards ten o’clock, a troop of friends took him to his brother; they -sang a hymn with joy; and then parted with a prayer.[240] - -To add to this would be folly. The questions proposed have been -answered from Wesley’s own writings. For ten years he had believed -in Christ, but never believed as he did now. He had been intensely -pious; but now he possessed power over himself and sin which he had not -possessed before. He had practised religion; but now he experienced -its bliss. According to his own sermon, written nearly half a century -subsequent to this, he was, as a _servant_ of God, _accepted_, and was -_safe_; but now he _knew_ it, and was _happy_ as well as _safe_. There -was sunshine in his soul, which lit up his face, and which turned the -severe ascetic, for a season at least, into a joyful saint. - -Having given, as briefly and as clearly as we can, an account of the -way in which Wesley, after ten years of earnest prayer, rigorous -fasting, and self-sacrificing piety, was brought into the blissful -enjoyment of a conscious salvation, this may be a fitting place to -notice the man, by whose instrumentality he was taught the nature and -fruits of saving faith. - -Peter Bohler was born at Frankfort, on the last day of the year 1712. -He was educated in the university of Jena, where he also studied -theology. When sixteen years of age, he joined the Moravians; and -when twenty-five, he was ordained for the work of the ministry by -Count Zinzendorf, this being the first time that the count exercised -his episcopal functions. Immediately after his ordination, Bohler set -out for London, on his way to Carolina; and here it was that Wesley -first met him. Wesley introduced him to James Hutton, and procured him -lodgings. Charles Wesley began to teach him English; and a tailor, of -the name of Viney, interpreted his Latin addresses in the Moravian -meetings. Questions were asked him, and he simply answered them from -the Holy Scriptures. His exposition of saving faith was new, even to -the London Moravians; and, “to their astonishment, they saw, for the -first time, that he who believeth in Jesus hath everlasting life; -and it was with indescribable joy that they embraced the doctrine of -justification through faith in Christ, and of freedom by it from the -dominion and guilt of sin.”[241] Marvellous blessings attended Bohler’s -interpreted discourses; and a work was begun, says Wesley, “such as -will never come to an end, till heaven and earth pass away.” - -“I travelled,” writes Bohler to Zinzendorf, “with the two brothers, -John and Charles Wesley, from London to Oxford. The elder, John, -is a good-natured man: he knew he did not properly believe on the -Saviour, and was willing to be taught. His brother, with whom you -often conversed a year ago, is at present very much distressed in his -mind, but does not know how he shall begin to be acquainted with the -Saviour. Our mode of believing in the Saviour is so easy to Englishmen, -that they cannot reconcile themselves to it; if it were a little more -artful, they would much sooner find their way into it. Of faith in -Jesus they have no other idea than the generality of people have. They -justify themselves; and, therefore, they always take it for granted, -that they believe already, and try to prove their faith by their works, -and thus so plague and torment themselves that they are at heart very -miserable.”[242] - -These are weighty words on the simplicity of saving faith, and well -deserve pondering by both the ministers and members of the church at -the present day. - -Wesley had found peace with God; but, for the encouragement of new -converts, let it be remembered that his joy in the Holy Ghost was not -unbroken. The same night, he “was much buffeted with temptations, which -returned again and again.” The day after, “the enemy injected a fear” -that the change was not great enough, and therefore that his faith was -not real. On May 26, his “soul continued in peace, but yet in heaviness -because of manifold temptations.” On the 27th, there was a want of joy, -which led him to resolve to spend the time of every morning, until -he went to church, in unceasing prayer. On the 31st, he “grieved the -Spirit of God, not only by not watching unto prayer, but likewise by -speaking with sharpness, instead of tender love, of one who was not -sound in the faith. Immediately God hid His face, and he was troubled -and in heaviness till the next morning.” But, in the midst of all, he -kept waiting upon God continually, read the New Testament, conquered -temptations, and gained increasing power to trust and to rejoice in God -his Saviour. He had to fight; but he was not, as formerly, subdued. - -He went to Oxford; but the whole of his old Methodist friends were now -dispersed. Here he preached his celebrated sermon in St. Mary’s, before -the university, on the text, “By grace are ye saved, through faith;” -a sermon which, in November following, was published by James Hutton, -pp. 25, price threepence. In this discourse, he showed that the faith -through which we are saved is not barely the faith of a heathen, who -believes that God is, and that He is a rewarder of them that diligently -seek Him; nor, secondly, is it the faith of a devil, who, in addition -to the faith of a heathen, believes that Jesus is the Son of God, the -Christ, the Saviour of the world; nor, thirdly, is it barely the faith -which the apostles had while Christ was yet upon earth, although they -so believed in Christ as to leave all and follow Him, had power to -work miracles, and were sent to preach; but, fourthly, “it is a full -reliance on the blood of Christ,—a trust in the merits of His life, -death, and resurrection,—a recumbency upon Him as our atonement and our -life, as given for us and living in us; and, in consequence hereof, a -closing with Him and cleaving to Him, as our wisdom, righteousness, -sanctification, and redemption, or, in one word, our salvation.” - -The salvation obtained by such a faith is described as being a -salvation—(1) From the guilt of all past sin; (2) From servile fear; -(3) From the power of sin. The man having it is pardoned; he has the -witness of the Spirit that he is a child of God; he is born again; and -he lives without sin. - -Wesley further answers objections to this doctrine, and shows that to -preach salvation by faith only is not to preach against holiness and -good works; neither does it lead men into pride, nor drive them to -despair. He maintains that never was the preaching of this doctrine -more seasonable than now, and that nothing else can effectually prevent -the increase of the popish delusion. It was this which drove Popery out -of the kingdom, and it is this alone that can keep it out. - -This remarkable sermon was preached eighteen days after Wesley’s -conversion—not on June 18, as is stated in Wesley’s collected works, -but on June 11. Well would it be if, at the present day, the same great -doctrine were as plainly preached as Wesley preached it. For want of -it, the church is gliding into a sort of religious scepticism; and -this, above all things else, would prove a check to the spread of the -popish errors and practices, which are too successfully setting at -defiance all the wisdom and power of man to prevent their triumph. - -In the same year Wesley published another sermon, “On God’s Free -Grace,”[243] in which he gave equal prominence to another great Bible -truth, namely, that “the grace or love of God, whence cometh our -salvation, is _free in all_, and _free for all_.” And then, in defence -of himself as a good Churchman, he issued a small 12mo pamphlet of -sixteen pages, entitled “The Doctrine of Salvation, Faith, and Good -Works: extracted from the Homilies of the Church of England.” Here he -shows that the doctrine of that Church is, that the sinner is justified -by faith only; and yet this faith does not exclude repentance, -hope, love, and fear of God; but shuts them out from the office of -justifying. “So that, although they be all present together in him -that is justified, yet they justify not altogether.” “Neither does -faith shut out good works, necessary to be done afterwards; but we are -not to do them with the intent of being justified by doing them.” He -further shows that “justification is the office of God only,—a blessing -which we receive of Him by His free mercy, through the only merits of -His beloved Son.” He adds: “the right and true Christian faith is not -only to believe that holy Scripture and the articles of our faith are -true, but also to have a sure trust and confidence to be saved from -everlasting damnation by Christ; whereof doth follow a loving heart -to obey His commandments.” He maintains further that, without this -true saving faith, the works we do cannot be good and acceptable in -the sight of God. “Faith giveth life to the soul, and they are as much -dead to God who want faith, as they are to the world whose bodies want -souls. Without faith all we do is but dead before God, be it ever so -glorious before man.” - -Such then were the great doctrines which Wesley grasped, and began to -preach in 1738. It was the preaching of these doctrines that gave birth -to the greatest revival of religion chronicled in the history of the -church of Christ. From such doctrines Wesley never wavered; and God -forbid that they should ever be abandoned, or even partially neglected, -by any of Wesley’s successors. They are not Moravian whims, or the -fancies of fanatics. They are a great deal more than even Bible truths -of subordinate importance. They are essentially and vitally connected -with man’s salvation both here and hereafter, and no church has ever -prospered except in proportion as its ministers have prominently and -faithfully taught and enforced them in their congregations. - -It may reasonably be asked how was it that Wesley—the son of a most -able divine of the Church of England, and himself a man of extensive -learning, and a devoted student of Christian truth—how was it, that -he lived so long without a knowledge of one of the greatest, and yet -most clearly taught doctrines of the holy Bible, the doctrine of the -sinner’s salvation by faith alone? Wesley himself tells us: from early -life he had been warned against the papistical error of laying too -much stress on outward works. After this, he read certain Lutheran -and Calvinist authors, whose confused and indigested expositions -magnified faith to such an amazing size that it quite hid all the -rest of the commandments. In this labyrinth he was bewildered. He -wished, on the one hand, to avoid the popish doctrine of salvation by -works; but, in doing this, he was beset, on the other hand, with an -uncouth hypothesis concerning salvation by faith, which he found it -impossible to reconcile either with Scripture or common sense. From -these well meaning but wrong headed writers, he turned to authors -like Beveridge, Nelson, and Jeremy Taylor, by whom his difficulties -were, to some extent, relieved; but even these he found interpreting -Scripture in different ways, and he was nearly as much confused as -ever. After this, he was taught that he ought to interpret the Bible -by the general teachings of the ancient church. Adopting this rule, -he, for a season, made antiquity a co-ordinate rather than subordinate -rule with Scripture, and, by extending his antiquity principle too far, -his confusion of mind became greater instead of less. He then became -acquainted with the Mystics, whose “noble descriptions of union with -God, and internal religion, made everything else appear mean and flat;” -yet here again, on reflection, he found that he was wrong. Mysticism -was nothing like the religion which Christ and His apostles lived and -taught.[244] Thus was this sincere and earnest inquirer after truth led -to and fro in a wilderness of perplexing entanglements, until Peter -Bohler took him by the hand, and led him as a contrite sinner to the -cross of Christ. - -Ten days before his conversion, Wesley wrote a somewhat petulant letter -to William Law, telling him that he did so in obedience to what he -considered the call of God. He informs him that, for two years, he had -been preaching after the model of his “Serious Call,” and “Christian -Perfection,” and that the result had been to convince the people that -the law of God was holy, but that, when they attempted to fulfil it, -they found themselves without power. Wesley declares that he himself -was in this state, and might have groaned in it till he died if he had -not been directed to Peter Bohler. He then proceeds:— - - “Now, sir, suffer me to ask, how will you answer it to our - common Lord, that you never gave me this advice? Did you never - read the Acts of the Apostles, or the answer of Paul to him - who said, ‘What must I do to be saved?’ Or are you wiser than - he? Why did I scarce ever hear you name the name of Christ? - Never so as to ground anything upon faith in His blood? Who is - this who is laying another foundation? If you say you advised - other things as preparatory to this, what is this but laying a - foundation below the foundation? If you say you advised them - because you knew that I had faith already, verily you knew - nothing of me. I know that I had not faith, unless the faith of - a devil, the faith of Judas: that speculative, notional, airy - shadow, which lives in the head not in the heart. But what is - this to the living, justifying faith in the blood of Jesus? - the faith that cleanseth from sin, that gives us to have free - access to the Father; to rejoice in hope of the glory of God; - to have the love of God shed abroad in our hearts by the Holy - Ghost, which dwelleth in us, and the Spirit itself bearing - witness with our spirits that we are the children of God? - - “I beseech you, sir, by the mercies of God, to consider deeply - and impartially whether the true reason of your never pressing - this upon me was not this—that you had it not yourself? Whether - that man of God [Bohler] was not in the right, who gave this - account of a late interview he had with you? ‘I began speaking - to him of faith in Christ: he was silent. Then he began to - speak of mystical matters. I spake to him of faith in Christ - again: he was silent. Then he began to speak of mystical - matters again. I saw his state at once.’” - -Wesley then adds that Bohler thought the state of Law to be a dangerous -one; and intimates that Bohler’s opinion was of great consequence, -because he had the Spirit of God; and finally, he concludes his not too -courteous epistle with: “Once more, sir, let me beg you to consider -whether your extreme roughness, and morose and sour behaviour, at least -on many occasions, can possibly be the fruit of a living faith in -Christ?”[245] - -This was an uncalled for, rough, morose attack upon a man of the -greatest ability, of distinguished though mistaken piety, whose works -Wesley had read with the highest admiration, whose advice Wesley -had sought, and who was nearly old enough to be Wesley’s father. Law -replied to it in a letter dated May 19, 1738. After some withering -sarcasm, in reference to Wesley having written his letter in obedience -to the call of God, Law proceeds to say:— - - “You have had a great many conversations with me, and you never - were with me for half an hour without my being large upon that - very doctrine, which you make me totally silent and ignorant - of. The second time I saw you I put into your hands the little - book of the German theology, and said all that I could in - recommendation of the doctrine contained in it. If that book - does not plainly lead you to Jesus Christ, I am content to know - as little of Christianity as you are pleased to believe; or - if you are for stripping yourself naked of your own works, or - righteousness, further than that book directs, I had rather you - were taught that doctrine by any one else than by me. Above a - year ago, I published a book against the ‘Plain Account of the - Sacrament,’ etc. You may perhaps be too much prejudiced against - me to read it; but, as you have made yourself a judge of the - state of my heart, and of my knowledge in Christ, you ought to - have seen that book to help you to make a right judgment of my - sentiments. What I have there written I judge to be well timed - after my former discourses. I have been governed through all - that I have written and done by these two common, fundamental, - unchangeable maxims of our Lord: ‘_Without Me ye can do - nothing:_’ ‘_If any man will come after Me or be My disciple, - let him take up his cross and follow Me._’ If you are for - separating the doctrine of the cross from faith in Christ, or - following Him, you have numbers and names enough on your side, - but not me.” - -Law continues: “Let me advise you not to be too hasty in believing that -because you have changed your language you have changed your faith. The -head can as easily amuse itself with a living and justifying faith in -the blood of Jesus as with any other notion; and the heart which you -suppose to be a place of security, as being the seat of self-love, is -more deceitful than the head.” - -A lengthened correspondence followed, which Mr. Law concluded -thus:—“Who made me your teacher? or can make me answerable for any -defects in your knowledge? You sought my acquaintance; you came to me -as you pleased, and on what occasion you pleased, and to say to me what -you pleased. If it was my business to put this question to you, and if -you have a right to charge me with guilt for the neglect of it, may you -not much more reasonably accuse them who have authoritatively charge -over you? Did the Church in which you are educated put this question -to you? Did the bishop who ordained you either deacon or priest do this -for you? Did the bishop who sent you a missionary to Georgia require -this of you? Pray, sir, be at peace with me.”[246] - -This was a miserable squabble, into which Wesley foolishly rushed, -and out of which he came not victorious, but vanquished. It was an -unfortunate commencement of a new Christian life, and led to an -estrangement between two great and good men, which ought never to have -existed. No doubt, the theology of William Law was defective; but to -charge him with the guilt of Wesley’s want of faith, and to accuse -him of extremely rough, morose, and sour behaviour, was a deplorable -outrage against good manners. - -But this was not the only unpleasantness which now sprang up. The -Moravian movement and the new conversions began to attract great -attention and to create some alarm. As might naturally be expected, -amid so much excitement, there was a mixture of extravagance. The -sister of Mr. Bray dreamed that at night she heard a knock at her door, -and on opening it saw a person dressed in white. She asked him who he -was, and he answered, “I am Jesus Christ.” She awoke in a fright, but a -day or two after was filled with faith, and was commanded by an unseen -power to go to Charles Wesley, who was ill, and assure him from Christ -of his recovery of soul and body. In a prayer-meeting a Mr. Verding -declared that he had just seen, as it were, a whole army rushing by him -and bearing the broken body of Christ; a sight which was overpowering, -and cast him into a cold sweat. A young man, as he entered St. -Dunstan’s church to receive the sacrament, was met by Christ carrying -His cross in His hands: and a woman dreamed that a ball of fire fell -upon her, and fired her soul. Samuel Wesley, of Tiverton, to whom these -things were related, justly deemed them “downright madness;” and, in -his anger, went so far as to wish that those “canting fellows,” as he -called the Moravians, “who talked of _indwellings_, _experiences_, -_getting into Christ_,” etc., had been somewhere else.[247] - -The chief cause of anxiety, however, arose from Mrs. Hutton’s -description of her two lodgers. She relates that, when the two Wesleys -returned from Georgia, she received and treated them with the utmost -love and tenderness; but John was now “turned a wild enthusiast.” While -her husband was reading to a number of people in his study a sermon of -Bishop Blackall’s, John Wesley stood up and told the company that, five -days ago, he was not a Christian. Mr. Hutton was thunderstruck, and -said, “Have a care, Mr. Wesley, how you despise the benefits received -by the two sacraments;” but Wesley repeated his declaration, upon which -Mrs. Hutton answered, “If you have not been a Christian ever since I -knew you, you have been a great hypocrite, for you made us all believe -that you were one.” To this Wesley replied that, “When we renounce -everything but faith and get into Christ, then, and not till then, have -we any reason to believe that we are Christians.” - -Mrs. Hutton, in writing an account of all this to Samuel Wesley, adds -that her two children had so high an opinion of Wesley’s sanctity and -judgment that they were in great danger of being drawn into his “wild -notions;” that Wesley had “abridged the life of one Halyburton, a -Presbyterian teacher in Scotland,” and that her son had designed to -print it, but she and her husband had forbidden him to promote such -“rank fanaticism;” and that all his converts were “directed to get an -assurance of their sins being pardoned,” and to expect this in “an -instant.” She acknowledges that the two Wesleys “are men of great parts -and learning;” but they were now under a “strange delusion;” and she -entreats their brother Samuel to stop this “wildfire,” if he can. - -Samuel Wesley’s reply is dated, “Tiverton, June 17, 1738.” He writes:— - - “I am sufficiently sensible of yours and Mr. Hutton’s kindness - to my brothers, and shall always acknowledge it. Falling into - enthusiasm is being lost with a witness; and, if you are - troubled for two of your children, you may be sure I am so for - two whom I may, in some sense, call _mine_. What Jack means by - his not being a Christian till last month, I understand not. - Had he never been in covenant with God? Then, as Mr. Hutton - observed, baptism was nothing. Had he totally apostatized from - it? I dare say not; and yet he must either be unbaptized, or an - apostate, to make his words true. - - “If renouncing everything but faith means rejecting all merit - of our own good works, what Protestant does not do that? Even - Bellarmine on his death-bed is said to have renounced all - merits but those of Christ. But if this renouncing regards - good works in any other sense, as being unnecessary, it is - wretchedly wicked. - - “I hope your son does not think it as plainly revealed that - he shall print an enthusiastic book, as it is, that he should - obey his father and his mother. God deliver us from visions - that shall make the law of God vain! I pleased myself with the - expectation of seeing Jack; but now I am afraid of it. I know - not where to direct to him, or where he is. I will write to - Charles as soon as I can. In the meantime I heartily pray God - to stop the progress of this lunacy.”[248] - -Samuel asked his brother what he meant by being made a Christian. John -replied:— - - “By a Christian, I mean one who so believes in Christ as that - sin hath no more dominion over him; and, in this obvious sense - of the word, I was not a Christian till the 24th of May last - past. Till then sin had dominion over me, although I fought - with it continually; but, from that time to this, it hath not. - Such is the free grace of God in Christ. If you ask me, by what - means I am made free? I answer, by faith in Christ; by such - a sort or degree of faith as I had not till that day. Some - measure of this faith, which bringeth salvation or victory over - sin, and which implies peace and trust in God through Christ, - I now enjoy by His free mercy; though in very deed it is in me - but as a grain of mustard seed. For the ‘πληροφορια - πιστεως,—the seal of the Spirit, the love of God shed abroad - in my heart, and producing joy in the Holy Ghost, joy which - no man taketh away, joy unspeakable and full of glory,’—this - witness of the Spirit I have not; but I wait patiently for it. - I know many who have already received it; and, having seen and - spoken with a cloud of witnesses abroad,[249] as well as in my - own country, I cannot doubt but that believers who wait and - pray for it will find these scriptures fulfilled in themselves. - My hope is, that they will be fulfilled in me. I build on - Christ, the Rock of Ages.”[250] - -The reader will observe here a strange confession, which has seldom, -if ever, been noticed. The letter, from which the above is taken, was -written October 23, 1738, five months after Wesley’s conversion; and -yet he here distinctly states that, as yet, he was not possessed of -the witness of the Spirit; but was waiting for it. This is contrary -to the commonly received notion, and yet it is in perfect accordance -with a remarkable entry in his journal, under the date of October -14. He there most carefully examines his religious state by comparing -it with the text, “If any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old -things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.” In many -respects, he judged himself a new creature; but, in others, he feared -that he was not. Earthly desires often arose within him, though he was -enabled to put them under his feet through Christ strengthening him. -To some extent, he possessed longsuffering, gentleness, meekness, and -temperance; but he had to complain of his want of love, peace, and joy. -He writes:— - - “I cannot find in myself the love of God, or of Christ. Hence - my deadness and wanderings in public prayer: hence it is that, - even in the holy communion, I have frequently no more than a - cold attention. Again, I have not that joy in the Holy Ghost; - no settled, lasting joy. Nor have I such a peace as excludes - the possibility either of fear or doubt. When holy men have - told me I had no faith, I have often doubted whether I had - or no. And these doubts have made me very uneasy, till I was - relieved by prayer and the holy Scriptures. Yet, upon the - whole, although I have not yet that joy in the Holy Ghost, - nor the full assurance of faith,—much less am I, in the full - sense of the words, ‘in Christ a new creature,’—I nevertheless - trust that I have a measure of faith, and am ‘accepted in the - Beloved;’ I trust ‘the handwriting that was against me is - blotted out,’ and that I am ‘reconciled to God’ through His - Son.” - -There is another entry, similar to this, under the date of December 16; -and again, on January 4, 1739, he uses even stronger language:— - - “My friends affirm I am mad, because I said I was not a - Christian a year ago. I affirm, I am not a Christian now. - Indeed, what I might have been I know not, had I been faithful - to the grace then given, when, expecting nothing less, I - received such a sense of the forgiveness of my sins as till - then I never knew. But that I am not a Christian at this day, I - as assuredly know, as that Jesus is the Christ. For a Christian - is one who has the fruits of the Spirit of Christ, which (to - mention no more) are love, peace, joy. But these I have not. I - have not any love of God. I do not love either the Father or - the Son. Do you ask, how do I know whether I love God, I answer - by another question, ‘How do you know whether you love me?’ - Why, as you know whether you are hot or cold. You feel this - moment that you do or do not love me. And I feel this moment - I do not love God; which therefore I know, because I feel it. - And I know it also by St. John’s plain rule, ‘If any man love - the world, the love of the Father is not in him.’ For I love - the world. I desire the things of the world, some or other of - them; and have done all my life. I have always placed some - part of my happiness in some or other of the things that are - seen, particularly in meat and drink, and in the company of - those I loved. For many years, I have been, yea, and still am, - hankering after a happiness, in loving and being loved by one - or another. And in these I have, from time to time, taken more - pleasure than in God. - - “Again, joy in the Holy Ghost I have not. I have now and then - some starts of joy in God; but it is not that joy. For it is - not abiding. Neither is it greater than I have had on some - worldly occasions. So that I can in nowise be said to ‘rejoice - evermore;’ much less to ‘rejoice with joy unspeakable and full - of glory.’ - - “Yet again: I have not ‘the peace of God;’ that peace, - peculiarly so called. The peace I have may be accounted for - on natural principles. I have health, strength, friends, a - competent fortune, and a composed, cheerful temper. Who would - not have a sort of peace in such circumstances? But I have none - which can, with any propriety, be called ‘a peace which passeth - all understanding.’ - - “From hence I conclude, though I have given, and do give, all - my goods to feed the poor, I am not a Christian. Though I have - endured hardship, though I have in all things denied myself and - taken up my cross, I am not a Christian. My works are nothing; - my sufferings are nothing; I have not the fruits of the Spirit - of Christ. Though I have constantly used all the means of grace - for twenty years, I am not a Christian.” - -This is extremely puzzling; but we are bound to give it as we find -it. It may be said that Wesley merely says, that “one who had had the -form of godliness many years wrote these reflections;” but, comparing -them with the two entries under the dates of October 14 and December -16, 1738, and with his letter to his brother Samuel, dated October -30, it would be folly to contend that he was not relating his own -experience. The reader must form his own opinion, and grapple with the -difficulties, thus presented, as he best can. Wesley acknowledges, -in the above extract, that, some months before, he “received such a -sense of the forgiveness of his sins as till then he never knew;” and -yet here we find him full of doubt, and writing the bitterest things -against himself. - -Let us pursue his correspondence with his brother Samuel a little -farther. Wesley held the doctrine of the Spirit’s witness; though -he asserts he did not yet experience it. Samuel, in a letter dated -November 15, 1738, asks his brother “whether he will own or disown, -in terms, the necessity of a sensible information from God of -pardon?”[251] This was not a fair putting of the question. Wesley -had defined the πληροφορια πιστεως, or witness of the Spirit, as “the -love of God shed abroad in the heart, producing joy which no man -taketh away; joy unspeakable and full of glory:” but his brother here -changes the term _witness_, and what it meant, to the term “_sensible -information_,” that is, information received through the senses, thus -connecting with the witness visions and voices, and other Moravian -follies at that time rampant. - -A fortnight later Wesley replied to this:— - - “I believe every Christian, who has not yet received it, should - pray for the witness of God’s Spirit that he is a child of God. - This witness, I believe, is necessary for my salvation. How far - invincible ignorance may excuse others I know not. But this, - you say, is delusive and dangerous, because it encourages and - abets idle visions and dreams. It may do this accidentally, but - not essentially; but this is no objection against it; for, in - the same way, weak minds may pervert to an idle use every truth - in the oracles of God. Such visions, indeed, as you mention are - given up; but does it follow that visions and dreams in general - are bad branches of a bad root? God forbid. This would prove - more than you desire.”[252] - -In answer, Samuel, on December 13, declares that his brother -misinterprets the witness of the Spirit, and refers him to a sermon -of Bishop Bull’s in proof. John replies, that Bishop Bull’s sermon is -full of gross perversions of Scripture; and adds: “I find more persons, -day by day, who experience a clear evidence of their being in a state -of salvation; but I never said this continues equally clear in all, as -long as they continue in a state of salvation.”[253] - -Samuel’s answer is dated Tiverton, March 26, 1739, in which he argues -that the witness of the Spirit is not necessary to salvation; and -refers, in proof of this, to the case of baptized infants, and to -persons of a gloomy constitution.[254] - -Nine days afterwards, Wesley re-asserted that he had seen many persons -changed in a moment from the spirit of horror, fear, and despair, to -the spirit of hope, joy, and peace; and from sinful desires, till -then reigning over them, to a pure desire of doing the will of God. -He also knew that this great change, in several persons, had been -wrought either in sleep, or during a strong representation, to the eye -of their minds, of Christ, either on the cross, or in glory. He also -argues, that his brother’s reference to infants and persons of a gloomy -constitution fails to sustain his point; because no kind of assurance -is essential to the salvation of infants; and persons of a gloomy -constitution, so far from being doomed to die without the assurance, -have, to his own certain knowledge, even when almost mad, been brought -in a moment into a state of firm, lasting peace and joy.[255] - -Other letters might be quoted; but enough has been said to show the -views which Wesley now held concerning the witness of the Spirit. He -believed the witness was necessary to his own salvation; and, yet, he -declares he has it not. He asserts that he has known instances in which -it has been granted in dreams; but he does not insist that dreams are -an essential medium. The whole affair is puzzling. On May 24, 1738, he -“received such a sense of the forgiveness of sins as till then he never -knew;” and yet, months afterwards, he declares, in the most explicit -terms, that he was now living without the enjoyment of the Spirit’s -witness. How is this discrepancy to be explained? Had he lost the sense -of forgiveness which he received on May 24? Or was he attaching to -the witness of the Spirit a signification too high? If he had not the -witness at the beginning of 1739, when did he obtain it afterwards? All -these questions will naturally occur to the thoughtful reader; but they -are more easily asked than answered. - -The simple truth seems to be, that while Wesley heard much among the -Moravians that was scriptural, he also heard much that was otherwise; -and paid more attention to their experiences, both in England and in -Germany, than was desirable, or for his good. His high opinion of the -people’s piety made it easy to believe even many of their foolish -statements. He got into a labyrinth, and could hardly tell where he -was. Months before, he had believed on Christ to the saving of his -soul; and yet now he bitterly exclaims that he is not a Christian. -He was, for a season, bewildered with the brightness of great truths -bursting for the first time on his vision, and with the distracting -glare of religious testimonies—new, but yet earnest and sincere—of -great importance, and yet mixed with much that was fanatical and -foolish. Out of such a maze this earnest man had to find his way as he -best could. We know his subsequent career, and we know the doctrines -that he taught. The mists of early education, and the vapours of -Moravian imagination, were soon scattered by the bright sunshine which -was shed upon him; and in the midst of which, to the end of his career, -he was wont to live, and to testify, “The testimony of the Spirit is -an inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God directly -witnesses to my spirit that I am a child of God; that Jesus Christ hath -loved me, and given Himself for me; and that all my sins are blotted -out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God.”[256] - -Wesley had been brought into strange communion with Moravians in his -voyage to Georgia. At Savannah he had met with Spangenberg. On his -return to London he found Bohler, and was induced to become a member of -the first Moravian society, founded at Fetter Lane. The rules of that -society are before us, entitled, “Orders of a Religious Society meeting -in Fetter Lane; in obedience to the command of God by St. James, and -by the advice of Peter Boehler, May 1, 1738.” These rules provide for -a meeting of the members once a week, to confess their faults one to -another, and to pray for one another that they may be healed. A month -later, it was agreed that the persons thus meeting in _society_ should -be divided into _bands_, of not fewer than five or more than ten; -and that some one in each band should be desired to interrogate the -rest, and should be called the leader. Each band was to meet twice a -week; every person was to come punctually at the hour appointed; every -meeting was to begin and end with singing and prayer; and all the bands -were to have a conference every Wednesday night. Any person absenting -himself from his band-meeting, without some extraordinary reason, -was to be first privately admonished, and if he were absent a second -time, to be reproved before the whole society. Any member, desiring -or designing to take a journey, was first to have, if possible, the -approbation of the bands; and all who were in clubs were requested to -withdraw their names from such associations. Any one desiring to be -admitted was to be asked his reasons for this, and whether he would be -entirely open, using no kind of reserve, least of all in the case of -love or courtship. Every fourth Saturday was to be observed as a day -of general intercession, from twelve to two, from three to five, and -from six to eight o’clock; and, on one Sunday in every month, a general -lovefeast was to be held from seven till ten at night. In order to a -continual intercession, every member was to choose some hour, either of -the day or night, to spend in prayer, chiefly for his brethren; and, in -order to a continual fast, three of the members were to fast every day, -Sundays and holidays excepted, and spend as much of the day as possible -in retirement from business and in prayer. Each person was to pay to -the leader of his band, at least once a month, what he could afford -towards the general expenses; and any person not conforming to the -rules of the society, after being thrice admonished, was to be expelled. - -Naturally enough, Wesley wished to know something more of the singular -people with whom he had been brought in contact; and accordingly, three -weeks after his conversion, he started for their chief settlement at -Herrnhuth, in Germany. One of his companions was his friend Ingham, and -another was John Toltschig,[257] one of the first fugitives who fled to -Herrnhuth from the fierce persecution in Moravia in 1724. - -At Rotterdam, Dr. Koker, a physician, treated them with kindness; but -at Gondart several of the inns refused to entertain them, and it “was -with difficulty they at last found one which did them the favour to -take their money for their meat and drink, and the use of two or three -bad beds.” - -On June 16, they arrived at Ysselstein, the home of Baron Watteville, -who had been a fellow student of Count Zinzendorf, and one of the young -gentlemen, at the academy in Halle, who about the year 1717 had formed -an association called “The Order of the Grain of Mustard Seed,” the -object of which was to promote the conversion of Jews and heathen. - -At the time of Wesley’s visit Watteville was at the head of “a few -German brethren and sisters, and about eight” English Moravians, who -were living in three or four small houses, till one should be built -large enough to contain them all. Wesley and his friends spent a day -with them “in hearing the wonderful work which God was beginning to -work over all the earth,” and in making prayer to Him, “and giving -thanks for the mightiness of His kingdom.” - -Proceeding to Amsterdam, Wesley and his companions were received with -great courtesy by Mr. Decknatel, a minister of the Mennonists, and -Dr. Barkhausen, a Muscovite physician. Here they spent four days, and -attended several society meetings, where “the expounding was in high -Dutch.” - -On Sunday, June 26, they reached Cologne, “the ugliest, dirtiest city” -Wesley had ever seen. The cathedral he describes as “mere heaps upon -heaps; a huge, misshapen thing, without either symmetry or neatness -belonging to it.” Some will doubtless differ from Wesley’s judgment -concerning this magnificent though unfinished pile, so venerated for -its sanctity, derived from the monkish stories of the reliques of the -eleven thousand virgins and of the three eastern kings. Coming out of -it, one of Wesley’s companions scrupled to take off his hat as a popish -procession passed, when a papist cried, “Knock down the Lutheran dog,” -a mandate which would probably have been put into execution if the -offender had not made a timely escape from the zealot’s fury. - -Embarking on the majestic Rhine, four days and nights were spent in -reaching Mayence, the boat in which Wesley travelled being drawn -by horses. This, however, gave him ample time to admire the almost -unequalled beauties of one of the finest rivers in the world. Arriving -faint and weary at Frankfort, they were refused admittance, because -they had no passports. It so happened, however, that Peter Bohler’s -father was resident in the city; and, by his interposition, they -procured an entrance, and were treated in the most friendly manner. - -On Tuesday, July 4, they came to Marienborn, (about thirty-five miles -from Frankfort,) in the neighbourhood of which Zinzendorf, two years -before, had taken up his residence in an old, ruinous castle called -Ronneburg, and where he had established schools for poor children, -whom he fed and clothed at his own expense. Here also he had formed -a missionary congregation, consisting of forty students from Jena, -most of whom became ministers either in Europe or in missions to the -heathen.[258] The Moravian family altogether consisted of about ninety -persons, all living in a large house rented by Zinzendorf. Here Wesley -spent a fortnight, conversing with the brethren in Latin or English, -listening to the sermons of the count, and attending conferences and -intercession meetings. Writing to his brother Samuel, he says: “God has -given me at length the desire of my heart. I am with a church whose -conversation is in heaven; in whom is the mind that was in Christ, and -who so walks as He walked. As they have all one Lord and one faith, -so they are all partakers of one Spirit—the spirit of meekness and -love, which uniformly and continually animates all their conversation. -I believe, in a week, Mr. Ingham and I shall set out for Herrnhuth, -about three hundred and fifty miles hence. Oh pray for us, that God -would sanctify to us all those precious opportunities.”[259] It is an -odd fact, however, that while Ingham was allowed to partake of the -holy communion, Wesley was not, because “the congregation saw him to -be _homo perturbatus_, and that his head had gained an ascendancy over -his heart”; and also because “they were desirous not to interfere with -his plan of effecting good as a clergyman of the English Church.”[260] -Peculiar reasons—but we give them as we find them. Hampson, in his -life of Wesley, relates that Zinzendorf, who regarded him as a pupil, -ordered him one day to dig in the garden; and after Wesley had been -there for some time working in his shirt, and when he was in a high -state of perspiration, the lordly count commanded him to enter a -carriage that was waiting, to pay a visit to a neighbouring noble. -Wesley naturally wished to wash his hands and to put on his coat; but -his preceptor forbade him, saying, “You must be simple, my brother!” -This was a full answer to all remonstrance, and Wesley was simple -enough to obey the mandate of a man who, while professing great -humility, sometimes allowed the pretensions of his feudal pride to set -aside the meekness of his professed piety. - -On the 19th of July, Wesley again set out, and on reaching Weimar -was brought before the duke, who asked his object in journeying to -Herrnhuth. Wesley answered, “To see the place where the Christians -live;” upon which the duke looked hard, but permitted him to go. On -arriving at Halle, “the King of Prussia’s tall men,” who kept the -gates, sent him and his friends backwards and forwards, from one gate -to another, for nearly two long hours before they were admitted. Here -he inspected, with the greatest interest, the Orphan House of August -Herman Francke, in which six hundred and fifty children were wholly -resident, and three thousand taught. At Leipsig, the gentlemen of -the university treated him with respect and kindness. At Meissen, -two things surprised him—the extremely beautiful china ware; and the -congregation in the church, where the women wore huge fur caps in the -shape of Turkish turbans; the men sat with their hats on their heads at -the prayers as well as at the sermon, and the parson was decorated with -a habit bedecked with gold and scarlet, and with a vast cross on both -his back and breast. At Dresden, Wesley was carried from one official -to another, with impertinent solemnity, for above two hours, before he -was suffered to settle at his inn; and greatly wondered that common -sense and common humanity allowed such a senseless, inhuman usage of -strangers. - -Wesley arrived at the Moravian settlement at Herrnhuth on August 1, and -found it consisting of about a hundred houses built on a rising ground. -The principal erection was the orphan house, in the lower part of which -was the apothecary’s shop, and in the upper the chapel, capable of -containing six or seven hundred people. Here he spent nearly the next -fortnight. - -The day after his arrival, he attended a lovefeast of the married -women; and on every day, at eleven, a Bible conference, at which was -read a portion of Scripture in the original. He was also present -at a conference for strangers, when several questions concerning -justification were resolved. He embraced all opportunities of -conversing with the most experienced of the brethren, concerning the -great work which God had wrought within them; and with the teachers and -elders concerning their church discipline. - -On the Sunday, after the evening service, all the unmarried women, -according to their usual custom, walked round the town, singing -praise, with instruments of music; and then, on a small hill, at a -little distance from it, knelt in a circle and joined in prayer; after -which they joyously repaired to their respective homes. - -Four times Wesley heard Christian David preach, and also received from -his own lips his private history. The boyhood of this remarkable man -was spent in tending sheep, and his youth and early manhood partly -at the carpenter’s bench, and partly in the soldier’s tent. He was -a zealous papist, and crawled on his knees before images, performed -penances, invoked departed saints, and went the whole round of -Romish vagaries. He was twenty years old before he had even seen a -Bible; after this, it became nearly the only book he read. The Bible -convinced him of the errors of Popery, and he resolved to join the -Lutherans. At the age of twenty-seven, he began to preach to his -countrymen; numbers were converted by his artless sermons; persecution -followed; the converts fled; and Herrnhuth was founded. Christian -David continued preaching in Moravia, until his preaching became the -topic of conversation in houses, streets, roads, and markets, and -the whole country was thrown into a state of great excitement. The -people assembled at each other’s houses to sing hymns and to read the -Bible. Shepherds chanted the praises of their Redeemer as they kept -their flocks; servants at their work talked of nothing but His great -salvation; and children on village greens poured out their fervent -prayers before Him. Many were imprisoned; others were thrust into -cellars and made to stand in water till they were well-nigh frozen; -not a few were loaded with irons and obliged to work as convicts; -and a whole host were condemned to pay heavy fines. All this arose -out of the preaching of the unlettered preacher whom Wesley heard at -Herrnhuth,—the _Bush Preacher_, as he was called by the persecuting -priests and jesuits of Moravia,—the man who, five years previous to -Wesley’s present visit, conducted the first missionaries to Greenland, -and who, though but a poor mechanic, preached to the court of the -king of Denmark as he went,—an itinerant evangelist of no mean order, -having paid eleven gospel visits to Moravia, three to Greenland, and -many others to Denmark, England, and Holland, besides visiting all the -Moravian congregations throughout the whole of Germany,—a man who, -when he happened to be at home at Herrnhuth, and not engaged in active -services for the church, always followed his trade as a carpenter, -and secured the respect and love of both young and old,—a man who -often made mistakes, but was always ready to confess his errors when -pointed out to him,—deeply devoted to the work of Christ, and living -in the closest communion with Him,—shunning no toil, and fearing no -danger,—reading the Bible continually, and never tiring of its precious -truths,—his sermons wanting in polish, but not in power,—for more than -thirty years an itinerant, out-door German preacher,—and who in 1751, -at the age of sixty, went triumphantly to heaven.[261] - -Such was the preaching mechanic whom Wesley, the scholar and the -priest, embraced every opportunity of hearing during his Herrnhuth -visit,—a fair specimen of scores in England whom Wesley, during the -next half-century, employed in the same glorious work. The philosopher -may sneer at the sight of one of the most distinguished fellows of -Lincoln College sitting in the Herrnhuth chapel and in the carpenter’s -cottage, to be taught by a man like this; but let it be remembered that -while the Oxford student, in letters, was immeasurably superior to the -German mechanic, the German mechanic was as much superior to the Oxford -student in the science of saving truth; and besides that, he spoke not -only from clear convictions, but from personal experience. Even now -many a man, profoundly learned in languages and in philosophy, might -receive knowledge more important than any he already has, if he would -condescend to imitate Wesley’s example, and stoop to be taught by some -poor itinerating preacher, who, though a wayfaring man, and in all -other things a fool, is yet “wise unto salvation through faith which is -in Christ Jesus.” - -The four sermons which Wesley heard Christian David preach were -peculiarly appropriate to his present religious state. It is a notable -fact, however, that instead of instructing Wesley to expect the witness -of the Spirit immediately, he taught him “that many are children of -God and heirs of the promises, long before they are comforted by the -abiding witness of the Spirit, melting their souls into all gentleness -and meekness; and much more before they are pure in heart from all -self-will and sin.” Christian David told Wesley, in private, that he -had “the forgiveness of sins, and a measure of the peace of God, for -many years before he had that witness of the Spirit which shut out -all doubt and fear.” This is not _Wesleyan_ doctrine; but it was the -doctrine which Wesley was taught in Germany, and which helped to keep -him in that doubting and fearing state in which we have already seen -him. - -Wesley elicited the religious experience of Michael Linner, the oldest -member of the church, which was to the effect that Michael believed to -the saving of his soul two years before he received the full assurance -of faith; though he admitted that the more usual method is for the -Holy Spirit “to give, in one and the same moment, the forgiveness of -sins, and a full assurance of that forgiveness.” David Nitschmann, one -of the four public teachers of the Herrnhuth community, told Wesley -that, for years after he was delivered from the bondage of sin, he was -troubled with doubts and fears. Martin Döber stated: “It is common for -persons to receive justification through faith in the blood of Christ -before they receive the full assurance of faith, which God many times -withholds till He has tried whether they will work together with Him in -the use of the first gift.” Augustine Neusser said he could not tell -the hour or day when he first received the full assurance that his sins -were pardoned; for it was not given at once, but grew within him by -degrees. David Schneider’s experience was substantially the same; but -it is right to add, that the experience of others was of a brighter -kind, and confirmative of the scriptural doctrine that, when sins are -forgiven, the Spirit, at the same moment, gives the assurance of it. - -Wesley eagerly listened to the recital of these religious experiences -at Herrnhuth, and became bewildered; and hence those puzzling -declarations concerning his own religious state, even down to the -beginning of 1739, which have been already given. The truth is, both -Wesley and the Moravians seemed to confound the doctrine of the -Spirit’s witness with the doctrine of sanctification. Because they -were not, for a season, wholly sanctified, they declare that they had -not the witness of the Spirit or the full assurance of faith. The -following, for instance, is Arvid Gradin’s description of that witness -or assurance: “Repose in the blood of Christ; a firm confidence in God, -and persuasion of His favour; serene peace and steadfast tranquillity -of mind, with a deliverance from every fleshly desire, and from every -outward and inward sin.” This is a beautiful description of what the -Methodists mean by entire sanctification; but Wesley, taught by the -Herrnhuth Moravians, confounded it, for a time, with what he called -“the witness of the Spirit,—full assurance of faith;” the result being -the use of language, in reference to himself, quite sufficient to -perplex the modern Methodist, who, without paying attention to these -Moravian facts, contents himself with merely comparing the lucid -language of Wesley’s sermons with the confused and confusing language -of those parts of Wesley’s journal to which we are now adverting. - -Wesley spent nearly a fortnight among the Herrnhuth Christians. He -writes:—“I would gladly have spent my life here. Oh when shall this -Christianity cover the earth, as the waters cover the sea?” The -population was divided into about ninety bands, each of which met twice -at least, but most of them three times, a week, to “confess their -faults one to another, and to pray for one another that they might -be healed.” The rulers of the church had a conference every week, -purely concerning the state of souls; and another every day on the -outward matters of the church. Once a week, there was a conference for -strangers; at which any one might be present, and propose questions -or doubts which he desired to have resolved. The children and young -people were taught reading, writing, arithmetic, Latin, Greek, Hebrew, -French, English, history, and geography. Every morning at eight, -the community had singing, Scripture exposition, and commonly short -prayer; and the same at eight in the evening, concluding each service -with the kiss of peace. On Sundays, service began at six; at nine, -they had public worship at Bertholdsdorf; at one, the members of -the church were divided into fourteen classes, to each of which was -addressed a separate exhortation; at four, there was service again at -Bertholdsdorf; and at eight, the usual nightly service; after which the -young men went round the town singing songs of praise; and thus the -day was ended. On the first Saturday of every month, the Lord’s supper -was administered: when, from ten till two, the eldest spoke with each -communicant in private, concerning his or her spiritual experience; -at two, they dined, and then washed one another’s feet; after which -they sung and prayed; about ten at night, they received the communion -in silence without any ceremony; and continued without speaking, till -midnight, when they parted. The second Saturday was occupied as the -solemn prayer-day for the children. The third was a day of general -intercession and thanksgiving. And the fourth was the great monthly -conference of all the superiors of the church. For the last eleven -years, they had kept up a perpetual intercession, which had never -ceased day or night, by different companies spending in succession -an hour every day in prayer for themselves and for other churches. -Marriage was highly reverenced, and no young people were allowed to -be affianced without being placed for a time with married persons, -who instructed them how to behave in their contemplated new relation. -Casting lots was used both in public and private, to decide points -of importance, when the reasons on each side appeared to be of equal -weight. The time usually spent in sleep was from eleven at night till -four in the morning; three hours a day were allowed for meals; leaving -sixteen for work and sacred services. - -Such was Herrnhuth in 1738, the cradle of the modern Moravian -church,—the Jerusalem of the United Brethren. At present it has about -a thousand inhabitants, is well built, well paved, and scrupulously -clean; having in its centre a large square, in which stands the hall -for worship, at the original consecration of which Zinzendorf offered -the striking prayer, “May God prevent this house standing longer than -it continues to be a dwelling place of love and peace to the praise of -the Redeemer!” On one side of the square is what was once the residence -of Zinzendorf, now the depôt of Moravian archives; on another, the -house of the unmarried brethren; and on a third, the village inn, the -property of the community. Connection with the brotherhood, except in -special cases conceded by their church authorities, is a condition of -residence in the town; and up to 1848, by the laws of Saxony, any one -who forsook the faith could be compelled to sell whatever property he -had within its boundaries. This is now altered, and the only compulsion -that can be exercised is of a moral character. Still, even yet, with -the exception of the government officials, and a few privileged -individuals, the entire community are members of the Moravian church. -Here sprang up that wondrous brotherhood, which, whilst other churches -were surrendering the great doctrines of the cross, devoted its life -and energies to their world-wide propagation, and, with a faith -which to some seemed presumption, and a love which approached to the -character of a reverential friendship, went among slumbering peoples -and savage races, insisting on the necessity of personal faith in a -personal Redeemer, and declaring that life in Christ is the highest -life of man.[262] - -Wesley left Herrnhuth on August 12, and reached London on Saturday, -September 16. He at once resumed his work by preaching thrice the next -day, and afterwards expounding in the Minories. On Monday, he rejoiced -to meet with the Moravian society at Fetter Lane, which had increased -from ten members to thirty-two; and, on Tuesday, he went to the -condemned felons in Newgate, and preached to them a free salvation. - -A month subsequent to his return, he wrote as follows to his Herrnhuth -friends:— - - “To the church of God which is in Herrnhuth, John Wesley, an - unworthy presbyter of the church of God in England, wisheth - all grace and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. Glory be to God, - even the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! for giving me to be - an eye-witness of your faith and love and holy conversation in - Christ Jesus. We are endeavouring here to be followers of you, - as ye are of Christ. Fourteen have been added to us since our - return, so that we have now eight bands, all of whom seek for - salvation only in the blood of Christ. As yet, we have only - two small bands of women; the one of three, the other of five - persons. But here are many others, who only wait till we have - leisure to instruct them how they may most effectually build up - one another in the faith and love of Him who gave Himself for - them. - - “Though my brother and I are not permitted to preach in most of - the churches in London, yet there are others left, wherein we - have liberty to speak the truth as it is in Jesus. Likewise, - every evening, and on set evenings in the week, at two several - places, we publish the word of reconciliation, sometimes to - twenty or thirty, sometimes to fifty or sixty, sometimes to - three or four hundred persons, met together to hear it. We - begin and end all our meetings with singing and prayer; and we - know that our Lord heareth prayer, having more than once or - twice received our petitions in that very hour. - - “Nor hath He left Himself without other witnesses of His grace - and truth. Ten ministers I know now in England, who lay the - right foundation, ‘the blood of Christ cleanseth us from all - sin.’ Over and above whom I have found one Anabaptist, and one, - if not two, of the teachers among the Presbyterians here, who I - hope love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, and teach the way - of God in truth.”[263] - -There are three facts in the above quotation which deserve notice:—1. -That Wesley was thoroughly identified with the London Moravians. 2. -That there were other clergymen besides himself who were evangelical. -3. That he still retained his high church nonsense, and made a -difference between Church of England “_ministers_,” and Anabaptist and -Presbyterian “_teachers_.” This last was pitiable folly, perhaps not to -be wondered at, and yet deserving to be despised. - -About the same time, Wesley wrote to Zinzendorf at Marienborn, thanking -him and his countess for their kindness, and then adding:— - - “I did not return hither at all before the time; for though a - great door and effectual had been opened, the adversaries had - laid so many stumbling-blocks before it, that the weak were - daily turned out of the way. Numberless misunderstandings had - arisen, by means of which the way of truth was much blasphemed; - and, hence, had sprung anger, clamour, bitterness, evil - speaking, envyings, strifes, railings, evil surmises; whereby - the enemy had gained such an advantage over the little flock, - that ‘of the rest durst no man join himself to them.’ But it - has now pleased our blessed Master to remove, in great measure, - these rocks of offence. The word of the Lord again runs and is - glorified; and this work goes on and prospers. Great multitudes - are everywhere awakened, and cry out, ‘What must we do to - be saved?’ The love and zeal of our brethren in Holland and - Germany, particularly at Herrnhuth, have stirred up many among - us, who will not be comforted till they also partake of the - great and precious promises. I hope to see them at least once - more, were it only to speak freely on a few things which I did - not approve, perhaps because I did not understand them.”[264] - -The last sentence requires explanation. Notwithstanding his general -admiration of the German Moravians, their sun was not without spots, -for there were sundry things with which Wesley was not satisfied. What -were they? Wesley himself shall answer. The following is an unfinished -letter, written to the Moravians at Marienborn and Herrnhuth, a few -days only after Wesley’s return from Germany, but which was never sent:— - - “MY DEAR BRETHREN,—I cannot but rejoice in your stedfast faith, - in your love to our blessed Redeemer, your deadness to the - world, your meekness, temperance, chastity, and love of one - another. I greatly approve of your conferences and bands; of - your methods of instructing children; and, in general, of your - great care of the souls committed to your charge. - - “But of some other things I stand in doubt, which I will - mention in love and meekness. - - “Is not the count all in all among you? - - “Do you not magnify your own church too much? - - “Do you not use guile and dissimulation in many cases? - - “Are you not of a close, dark, reserved temper and - behaviour?”[265] - -These were weighty accusations, and will claim attention hereafter. - -Within five weeks after Wesley had returned from Germany, he and his -brother Charles waited upon Dr. Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London, to -answer the complaints he had heard against them, to the effect that -they preached an absolute assurance of salvation. Gibson was a man -of great natural abilities, a laborious student, and also pious; but -he was occasionally betrayed into intolerance, and sometimes evinced -more zeal for the rights of the Church than discretion. So great was -his ecclesiastical power, that Sir Robert Walpole was accustomed to be -reproached with allowing him the authority of a pope: “And a very good -pope he is,” replied the premier. The two Wesleys being introduced to -him, he said, “If by assurance you mean an inward persuasion, whereby -a man is conscious in himself, after examining his life by the law -of God, and weighing his own sincerity, that he is in a state of -salvation, and acceptable to God, I don’t see how any good Christian -can be without such assurance.” The Wesleys meant more by “assurance” -than this; but the doctrine, so far as it went, was one which they -themselves preached. The next point discussed was the charge that -they were Antinomians, because they preached justification by faith -only. To this they replied, “Can any one preach otherwise, who agrees -to our church and the Scriptures?” A third charge was that they had -administered baptism to persons dissatisfied with the lay baptism which -they had already received. Wesley answered, with more high church -bigotry than scriptural enlightenment, that “if a person dissatisfied -with lay baptism,” or, in other words, Dissenters’ baptism, “should -desire episcopal, he should think it his duty to administer it.” -Wesley next inquired of his lordship if “his reading in a religious -society made it a conventicle;” and whether “religious societies are -conventicles.” To the latter question the bishop answered, “I think -not; but I determine nothing;” and he recommended them to read the acts -and laws on the subject for themselves. They then requested that he -would not, in future, receive an accusation against them, but at the -mouth of two or three witnesses. He said, “No, by no means; and you may -have free access to me at all times.” They thanked his lordship, and -departed.[266] - -This was the first muttering of the storm soon to burst upon them. -William Warburton was not yet a bishop, but he was already a vigorous -and well known writer, and rector of Brand Broughton, in Lincolnshire. -This hot-headed parson was one of the first to fall foul upon the poor -Methodists. Writing to Des Maizeaux, in 1738, he says:— - - “What think you of our new set of fanatics, called the - Methodists? There is one Wesley, who told a friend of mine, - that he had lived most deliciously last summer in Georgia, - sleeping under trees, and feeding on boiled maize, sauced with - the ashes of oak leaves; and that he will return thither, and - then will cast off his English dress, and wear a dried skin, - like the savages, the better to ingratiate himself with them. - It would be well for virtue and religion if this humour would - lay hold generally of our overheated bigots, and send them to - cool themselves in the Indian marshes.” - -In another letter, written in the same year to Dr. Birch, he says:— - - “A couple of these Methodists, of whom Wesley was one, - travelling into this neighbourhood on foot, took up their - lodging with a clergyman of their acquaintance. The master of - the house going into their chamber in the morning to salute - them, perceived a certain vessel full of blood, and, on asking - the occasion, was told it was _their method_, when the blood - grew rebellious, to draw it off by breathing a vein; that they - had been heated with travel, and thought it proper to cool - themselves.”[267] - -Such are specimens of the foul falsehoods which malignant men already -circulated concerning Wesley and his companions. But, besides this, the -Methodist movement began to be noticed by the pulpit. The Rev. Tipping -Silvester, M.A., Fellow of Pembroke College, Oxford, and Lecturer of -St. Bartholomew the Great, London, preached a sermon on regeneration -before the university of Oxford, at St. Mary’s, on February 26, which, -without mentioning the names of the Methodist leaders, was evidently -meant to be an antidote to one of their distinguished doctrines. The -sermon was published, 8vo, twenty-eight pages, and on the title page -was “recommended to the religious societies.” The chief point in the -sermon is that infants are born again in baptism. - -Another sermon, on “The Doctrine of Assurance,” was delivered on August -13, in the church of St. Lawrence Jewry, by the Rev. Arthur Bedford, -M.A., chaplain to his royal highness Frederick Prince of Wales. This -also, with an appendix, was published, 8vo, thirty-nine pages, and -had an extensive circulation. It was avowedly intended to refute the -doctrine of “those who had of late asserted that they who are not -assured of their salvation, by a revelation from the Holy Ghost, are -in a state of damnation.” The preacher argues that this assurance “is -given to very few, and perhaps only to such whom God calls either to -extraordinary services, or to extraordinary sufferings.” He further -argues that to profess to have received such an assurance savours of -spiritual pride, and cannot but produce bad results. - -These were the first sermons published against the doctrines of -Methodism, and both of them were extremely temperate when compared with -others following. - -At the end of the year 1738, Wesley drew up a set of rules for the -regulation of the Moravian band societies, some of which were -certainly more inquisitive than wise. Eleven questions, to be proposed -to candidates for admission, were, upon the whole, unexceptionable; -but five others, to be asked of every member at every weekly meeting, -savour far too much of the popish confessional to be admired. We give -them as an indication of the still unhealthy tone of Wesley’s piety:— - -“1. What known sins have you committed since our last meeting? - -“2. What temptations have you met with? - -“3. How were you delivered? - -“4. What have you thought, said, or done, of which you doubt whether it -be sin or not? - -“5. Have you nothing you desire to keep secret?”[268] - -No doubt, such questions were put with the best intentions; but the -thing looked like a prurient prying into secrets which properly belong -alone to a man and his Maker. - -The whole of Wesley’s publications, during 1738, have been already -noticed, except “A Collection of Psalms and Hymns,” eighty-four pages, -12mo. This small volume was published without the name of either -printer or author; but it contains ample internal evidence of its -origin. Its publication was contemplated immediately after Wesley’s -return from Georgia; and hence the following extract from a letter -written by Dr. Byrom to Charles Wesley, on the 3rd of March, 1738. - - “As your brother has brought so many hymns translated from the - French, you will have a sufficient number, and no occasion to - increase them by the small addition of Mademoiselle Bourignon’s - two little pieces. I desire you to favour my present weakness, - if I judge wrong, and not to publish them. - - “I do not at all desire to discourage your publication. But - when you tell me you write, not for the critic, but for the - Christian, it occurs to my mind that you might as well write - for _both_; or in such a manner that the critic may, by your - writing, be moved to turn Christian, rather than the Christian - turn critic. I should be wanting, I fear, in speaking freely - and friendly upon this matter, if I did not give it as my - humble opinion that, before you publish, you might lay before - some experienced Christian critics the design which you are - upon. But I speak this with all submission. It is very likely - that, in these matters, I may want a spur more than you want a - bridle.”[269] - -The book was probably intended for the use of the Moravian bands and -other religious societies’ meetings in London, with which Wesley was -more or less connected. It contains seventy psalms and hymns; but it is -a remarkable fact that not one of them seems to have been written by -Wesley’s brother Charles. One each is contributed by Addison, Dryden, -and Lord Roscommon. One is from the Church liturgy, and one anonymous. -Three are by Bishop Ken; four by Norris; six by Herbert; thirteen by -Tate and Brady; thirty-three by Watts; and six are translations by -Wesley himself. The book was never reprinted; but it formed the basis -of another hymn-book, published three years after, in which exactly -one-half of its psalms and hymns were embodied.[270] It was the -first[271] of about forty hymnologies published by the two brothers -during the next half-century, and which, as priceless gems, were -scattered broadcast among the first Methodists. - -With Wesley’s first hymn-book we close the first section of his -history. - - - - -PART II. - -1739. - - -[Sidenote: 1739 Age 36] - -London in 1739 was widely different from what it is at present. The -population, including Westminster and all the parishes within the -Bills of Mortality, was about 600,000, or a fifth of the population -now. London Bridge was the only highway across the majestic Thames -that the Londoners possessed; and that was covered with antique -houses, from end to end, forming a sort of picturesque extension of -Gracechurch Street, from the Middlesex to the Surrey shore,—a narrow, -darksome, and dangerous thoroughfare with an arched gateway at each -end of it, generally bristling with spikes, and often adorned with -the heads of traitors. The site of the present Mansion House was -a fruit market, having on one side of it a row of shady trees and -on the other a conduit, surmounted by an equestrian statue of King -Charles II. Islington, Hoxton, Hackney, and Bethnal Green were country -villages. On the Surrey side, all beyond the King’s Bench prison was -fields and open country. The Elephant and Castle stands where the -small hamlet of Newington then stood. Walworth, Camberwell, Brixton, -Peckham, and Clapham were rural haunts, far from the hum and noise -of the great city. Even Lambeth was a vast conglomerated garden, -extending from Kennington Common to what is now Westminster Bridge. -Eastward—Blackwall, Poplar, Bow, and Stepney were somewhat distant -collections of scattered houses, surrounded respectively by fields and -gardens. Westward—Chelsea, Knightsbridge, Marylebone, and Tottenham -Court were all in open country. Even Belgravia was a farm of arable and -pasture land; while all the space, between Westminster and what is now -Vauxhall Bridge, was a dreary tract of stunted, dusty, trodden grass, -the resort of badgerbaiters and other rampant blackguards, and known -by the name of Tothill Fields. - -Moorfields, the scene of Wesley’s earliest evangelistic labours, and -where he opened his Foundery meeting-house, was what would now-a-days -be called a park, laid out in grass plots, intersected by broad gravel -walks, and the favourite resort of citizens seeking exercise and -recreation. Beneath a row of well grown elms was what the promenaders -designated “the city mall,” and which in the smartness of its company -often rivalled the mall of St. James’s Park. Here might be seen wives -and daughters flaunting in all their finery and displaying their charms -to city maccaronis, whose hats were cocked diagonally, and who gave -themselves quite as many airs as the aristocratic coxcombs in the royal -grounds. Under the trees were booths, whose fans, toys, trinkets, and -confectionery found ready purchasers; while on the grass plots were -erected mountebank diversions for the amusement of the people. - -What a contrast between London then and London now! And yet, even then, -London was thought to be dangerously too large. An able writer, in one -of the magazines for 1762, argued that great cities are perilous to a -nation’s welfare; and in proof quoted Nineveh, Babylon, Persepolis, -Tyre, Carthage, Rome, Athens, Memphis, Baalbec, Palmyra, Thebes, -Jerusalem, etc. He contended that it was pernicious policy to suffer -the eighth part of an entire nation to live in one crowded town; for -when so many myriads lived on ground which produced nothing they were -under the necessity of living by their wits—that is, by sharping and -over-reaching, and by inventing idle and vicious amusements. Hence -it was that in London there was such a multiplication of playhouses, -operas, ridottos, and masquerades; and that almost one-half of some of -the London parishes was converted into brothels by bawds and pimps. The -anonymous alarmist was doubtless treated with contempt, but his theory -deserves attention. - -London was great, but it was wicked. And no wonder. Riches in the case -of nations, as in the case of individuals, often lead to extravagance -and luxury. Thus it was in England, in the reign of the second George. -Superb edifices rose up on every hand, almost vieing with the palaces -of princes. Carriages, glittering with gold and crystal, rattled -over city pavements with the utmost ostentation. Ridottos, balls, -masquerades, and midnight banquets, were of constant occurrence. -Every night innumerable lamps illuminated public gardens, where hosts -of fashionable and licentious fops might be seen lolling in gilded -alcoves, killing time, and lulling their senses into an indolent -oblivion. Arrayed in masks and the strangest dresses, gamblers, actors, -and prostitutes mingled with persons of riches and of rank, and, amid -the din of music and of dancing, conversed obscene discourse, and -whispered indecent slanders. All classes caught the contagion, and -even the tables of shopkeepers and mechanics were covered with costly -dainties. Clerks and apprentices, servant-maids and cooks, decked -themselves in apparel equal to that of their masters and mistresses; -and finical sparks deemed it their privilege and right to frequent -taverns, clubs, and theatres, adorned with the finest clothes, perukes, -and jewellery. - -What resulted from all this? Extravagance created greater wants than -the people had means to meet. Patrimonial estates, and the gains of -honest business were not enough to satisfy newly engendered appetites; -and hence men appealed to an infernal sorceress, to correct, forsooth, -the errors made in distributing the gifts of Providence. To eke out -means which were found too scanty to gratify licentious and luxurious -passions, robbery was made polite, and gambling an every day duty. -Idleness threw the dice, and Folly built them into castles; Avarice -clutched at gold, but Fraud, with a sly and quick conveyance, snatched -it from his hand. Even ladies laid wagers at home, while their lords -gambled abroad; and dice began to rattle on the costermonger’s barrow -as well as upon the hazard tables of the noble and the rich. Money -was looked upon as omnipotent; and the more men got the more they -wanted, and especially when it was spent upon their own indulgences. An -avaricious, mercenary spirit became general, and chiefly for the sake -of vain display and sensual pleasures. - -Poverty treads in the footsteps of extravagance. There were more -equipages kept, and yet more taxes for the poor imposed; more -diversions, and yet more want; more ladies of taste, and yet fewer -housewives; more pomp, and yet less hospitality; more expense, and yet -less frugality. In 1744, the grand jury of the county of Middlesex made -a presentment to the effect, that “the advertisements in the newspapers -were seducing the people to places for the encouragement of luxury, -extravagance, and idleness; and that, by this means, families were -ruined, and the kingdom dishonoured; and that, unless some superior -authority put a stop to such riotous living, they feared it would lead -to the destruction of the nation.” - -The town abounded with men who regarded honour, honesty, and virtue -as the merest phantoms;—men with whom promises were not binding, -obligations were nullities, and impudence a duty;—dastards who might -slander their neighbours, ridicule their superiors, be saucy to their -equals, insolent to their inferiors, and abusive to all; to-day -spaniels, to-morrow bullies, and at all times cowards; to whom learning -was a burden, and books were baubles; vice being their delight, and -virtue their aversion; demons in disguise, all order and symmetry -without, and yet all rancour and rottenness within. - -The country was an apt imitator of the vices of the town. There the -squire, having, by idleness and bad company, forgotten the little -learning he acquired at college, too often devoted himself to drinking -and debauchery; while the common people were ignorant, superstitious, -brutal, and bad behaved. Workmen entered into combinations to extort -higher wages than their labour merited, or than their masters could -afford; and even parliament had to pass enactments limiting the -salaries of tailors. Smuggling was enormous; and, in 1744, it was -calculated that, in the county of Suffolk only, not fewer than 4,500 -horses were employed in carrying merchandise of a contraband character. - -This dark picture might easily be enlarged, not from posterior -writings, or even from the religious publications of the period, but -from periodicals, magazines, and newspapers, which had no temptation to -represent the customs, manners, usages, and vices of the age in a worse -aspect than was warranted by facts. Wesley, as will be seen hereafter, -used strong and startling language; but there is nothing in Wesley’s -writings which exceeds the hideous delineations found in the popular -literature published contemporaneously by other impartial and mere -worldly writers, who are above suspicion. The _Weekly Miscellany_ for -1732 broadly asserts that the people were engulfed in voluptuousness -and business; and that a zeal for godliness looked as odd upon a man -as would the antiquated dress of his great grandfather. It states that -freethinkers were formed into clubs, to propagate their tenets, and to -make the nation a race of profligates; and that atheism was scattered -broadcast throughout the kingdom. It affirms that it was publicly -avowed that vice was profitable to the state; that the country would -be benefited by the establishment of public stews; and that polygamy, -concubinage, and even sodomy were not sinful. - -In many respects the reign of the second George bore a striking -resemblance to the present day. There was unexampled wealth, followed -by luxury, display, dissipation, gambling, irreligion, and wickedness. -The pastoral letters of Bishop Gibson, published at this period, show -that most pernicious efforts were put forth to undermine religion, -and to make men infidels. One class of writers laboured to set aside -all Christian ordinances, the Christian ministry, and a Christian -church. Another so allegorized the meaning of the miracles of Christ, -as to take away their reality. Others displayed the utmost zeal for -natural religion in opposition to revealed; and all, or most, under the -pretence of pleading for the liberties of men, ran into the wildest -licentiousness. Reason was recommended as a full and sufficient guide -in matters of religion, and the Scriptures were to be believed only as -they agreed or disagreed with the light of nature. - -The same causes give birth to the same effects. Things reproduce -themselves. The words of Solomon are as truthful now as when he wrote -them,—“The thing that hath been, it is that which shall be; and that -which is done is that which shall be done: and there is no new thing -under the sun.” - -By reviving religion, Methodism saved the nation more than a hundred -years ago; and now that the nation presents the same aspect, to a -great extent, as it presented then, and is threatened with the same -disasters, is it not certain that nothing but an agency analogous to -the Methodism then raised up will be found sufficient to check the -progress of antiquated errors now revived; to stem the aboundings of -licentiousness; and to make men feel that wealth is given, not to be -spent in display and luxury, but in honouring God, and in promoting the -happiness of the human race? - -The revival of religion, which occurred about the time when Methodism -commenced its marvellous career, was a world-wide one. - -The Moravian movement in Germany has been already noticed. - -In America, the work began in 1729, the very year in which the Oxford -Methodists formed their first society. The Rev. Jonathan Edwards -fanned the fire into a holy flame by preaching the grand old doctrine -of “justification by faith alone.” In the town of Northampton, New -England, containing two hundred families, there was scarcely a single -person at the beginning of the year 1735 who was not deeply convinced -of sin, and earnestly seeking salvation; and from day to day, for -months, there were undeniable instances of genuine conversion. Almost -every house was a house of prayer, and, in all companies, Christ was -the theme of public conversation. The revival which commenced at -Northampton spread throughout the greater part of the colony. All sorts -of people,—high and low, rich and poor, wise and unwise, moral and -immoral,—simultaneously became the subjects of the Spirit’s strivings, -and were converted. This remarkable movement took place only a few -months before Wesley set sail for Georgia, and continued for several -years afterwards. Mr. Edwards published a narrative of its most -striking incidents; and also his “Thoughts” as to “the way in which it -ought to be acknowledged and promoted;” and from these two invaluable -treatises we collect the following facts. - -In many instances, conviction of sin and conversion were attended with -intense physical excitement. Numbers fell prostrate on the ground, -and cried aloud for mercy. The bodies of others were convulsed and -benumbed. As chaos preceded creation, so in New England confusion went -before conversion. The work was great and glorious, but was accompanied -with noise and tumult. Men literally _cried_ for mercy; but the loudest -outcries were not so loud as the shrieks of Voltaire or Volney, -when the prospect of eternity unmanned them. Stout-hearted sinners -trembled; but not more than philosophers at the present day would do, -if they had equally vivid views of the torments of the damned to which -sin exposes them. There were groanings and faintings; transports and -ecstasies; zeal sometimes more fervid than discreet; and passion not -unfrequently more powerful than pious; but, from one end of the land -to the other, multitudes of vain thoughtless sinners were unmistakably -converted, and were made new creatures in Christ Jesus. Frolicking, -night walking, singing lewd songs, tavern haunting, profane speaking, -and extravagance in dress, were generally abandoned. The talk of the -people was about the favour of God, an interest in Christ, a sanctified -heart, and spiritual blessedness here and hereafter. The country was -full of meetings of persons of all sorts and ages to read, pray, and -sing praises. Oftentimes the people were wrought up into the highest -transports of love, joy, and admiration, and had such views of the -Divine perfections, and the excellencies of Christ, that, for five or -six hours together, their souls reposed in a kind of sacred elysium, -until the body seemed to sink beneath the weight of Divine discoveries, -and nature was deprived of all ability to stand or speak. Connected -with all this, there were no enthusiastic impulses, or supposed -revelations, but trembling reverence, the mildest meekness, and warmest -charity. To use Edwards’ own language, “The New Jerusalem, in this -respect, had begun to come down from heaven, and perhaps never were -more of the prelibations of heaven’s glory given upon earth.” - -Of course there were men who opposed and maligned this blessed work of -God’s Holy Spirit; or, at all events, did their utmost to discredit -it by exposing, as they thought, the infirmities of those who were -the chief agents used in promoting it. Ministers were blamed for -their earnestness in voice and gesture, and for addressing themselves -rather to the passions of their hearers than their reason. Others were -censured for preaching the terrors of the law too frequently, and for -frightening the people with hell-fire discourses. Objections were -raised against so much time being spent in religious meetings; though -the objectors had been significantly silent when the selfsame persons -had formerly spent quite as much time, and even more, in taverns, -and in sinful pleasures. Some were disgusted at the new converts so -passionately warning, inviting, and entreating others to be saved. Some -found fault with so much singing, forgetting that singing is one of the -great employments of the beatified in heaven; and others found equal -fault with children being allowed to meet together to read and pray, -thus, unintentionally perhaps, resembling the priests and scribes, -who were sore displeased when the children saluted Christ by shouting -“Hosannah in the highest!” Thus did men mutter discontent when they -ought to have sung praises; and not a few fell into the sin of those -in olden times, who said concerning Christ, “He casteth out devils by -Beelzebub, the prince of devils.” - -At the very time that this marvellous religious revival broke out in -America, a similar work was begun in Wales. Howel Harris was born at -Trevecca in 1714, and, a few months before the Wesleys went to Georgia, -found the forgiveness of sins, and was made unutterably happy by a -Divine assurance of his adoption into the family of God. The Wesleys, -however, had no acquaintance with him, nor he with them. While they -were on the ocean he left his home in Wales, and entered the university -from which they had so recently departed; but here he was so distressed -with collegiate immoralities, that, after keeping but a single term, -he returned to his native hills, and, without orders, began at once -to preach the salvation which he himself experienced. It is a curious -fact, not generally noticed, that the first lay preacher, in the great -Methodist movement, was Howel Harris. He commenced preaching in Wales -just when the Wesleys and Ingham commenced in Georgia; and, before -Wesley reached Bristol in 1739, had been the means of a most glorious -work being wrought in the neighbouring principality. Up to this period -the morals of the Welsh were deplorably corrupt; and in this respect -there was no difference between rich and poor, ministers and people; -gluttony, drunkenness, and licentiousness were general. In the pulpits -of parish churches the name of Christ was hardly ever uttered; and, in -1736, there were only six Dissenting chapels throughout the whole of -northern Wales. - -Harris first commenced visiting from house to house in his own native -parish, and in neighbouring ones. Then the people flocked together, -and, almost without knowing it, he began to preach. The magistrates and -clergy threatened him; but their threats failed to silence him. For -a maintenance, he set up a school, and meantime continued preaching. -Numbers were convinced of sin, and these the young preacher, only -twenty-two years of age, formed into small societies analogous to -those of which he had read in Dr. Woodward’s History. At the end of -1737, persecuting malice ejected him from his school; but, as in other -instances so in this, it overshot its mark; for this, instead of -silencing the preacher, made him preach more than ever. He now gave -himself entirely to the work of an evangelist, and henceforth generally -delivered three or four, and sometimes five or six, sermons every day -to crowded congregations. A wide-spread reformation followed. Public -diversions became unfashionable, and religion became the theme of -common conversation. A few began to help him, of whom the venerable -Rev. Griffith Jones was the most prominent. In 1737, this devoted -clergyman instituted his movable free schools; and a letter published -in the _Glasgow Weekly History_, of 1742, describes him as “one of the -most excellent preachers in Great Britain.” Not a few of the teachers -in his peripatetic schools became Methodist preachers; and certainly -their travels as instructors, as well as his own preaching tours, -prepared the way for the Methodist itinerant ministry. - -Thus was Howel Harris an itinerant preacher at least a year and a half -before Whitefield and Wesley were; and, as the brave-hearted herald -of hundreds more who were to follow after him, he met the fiercest -persecutions with an undaunted soul and an unflinching face. Parsons -and country squires menaced him, and mobs swore and flung stones and -sticks at him; but he calmly pursued his way, labouring almost alone -in his own isolated sphere until he met with Whitefield in the town of -Cardiff, in 1739. Whitefield says he found him “a burning and shining -light; a barrier against profanity and immorality; and an indefatigable -promoter of the gospel of Christ. During the last three years, he had -preached almost twice every day, for three or four hours together; -and, in his evangelistic tours, had visited seven counties, and had -established nearly thirty societies; and still his sphere of action was -enlarging daily.” - -Almost contemporaneous with this marvellous work across the Atlantic -and in Wales, was another across the Tweed, in Scotland. The facts -following are taken from “A Faithful Narrative, written by James Robe, -A.M., Minister of the Gospel at Kilsyth,” and printed in 1742. - -For years past, there had been a sensible decay in the life and power -of godliness in Scotland; but, in 1740, Mr. Robe began to preach -upon the doctrine of regeneration. Meanwhile, a glorious revival of -the work of God occurred at Cambuslang; and, on April 25, 1741, at -Kilsyth. Sixteen children began to hold prayer-meetings in the town of -Kirkintilloch, and the godly excitement became general. On every hand -were heard cries, groans, and the voice of weeping. On the 16th of May, -above thirty persons were awakened under the ministry of Mr. Robe, -and, in a short time after, hundreds were converted in the country -round about. Drunkenness, and swearing, and other flagrant sins were -instantly abandoned; family worship was set up; meetings for prayer -were established; and the people generally flocked to the house of God. -Young converts held prayer-meetings in fields, barns, schoolhouses, -and the manses of their ministers. Cambuslang, Kilsyth, Campsie, -Kirkintilloch, Auchinloch, St. Ninians, Gargunnock, Calder, Badernock, -Irvine, Long Dreghorn, Kilmarnock, Larbert, Dundee, Bothwell, Muthill, -Edinburgh, Glasgow, and other towns, villages, and parishes were -visited with a most gracious outpouring of God’s Holy Spirit; and -scenes of mercy were witnessed quite as striking as those which were -occurring simultaneously both in England and America. Not a few of the -converts, about one sixth of the whole, suffered such distress of mind, -and were under such powerful religious influence, that they not only -cried and shrieked aloud, but trembled, fainted, and were convulsed -in their bodies most mysteriously—exhibiting the same physical -affections as the converts in New England; and this evoked considerable -opposition, and led the Associate Presbytery at Dunfermline, to -pronounce the movement a “delusion, and the work of the grand -deceiver.” Some were seized with such trembling that their friends -had to render them support. Many of the females went into hysterics. -Numbers, on finding peace, broke forth into rapturous weeping, and -had their countenances so lit up with serenity and brightness, that -their neighbours declared they had obtained not only new hearts, but -new faces. A few, but not many, professed to have visions of hell, of -heaven, of the devil, and of Jesus. - -The writer gives these facts as he finds them. Mr. Robe, in his -narrative, extending over hundreds of pages, endeavours to show that -such effects were not without precedents, and quotes a great number -of similar instances which had occurred, in different places, from -the time of the Reformation downwards. It is no part of our purpose -either to explain, justify, or condemn them. We shall shortly find the -same kind of effects following the preaching of Wesley in England. At -present, the reader is merely reminded of the wondrous and glorious -fact, that the great Methodist revival of religion, begun in 1739, -stood not alone; for God, in His sovereign mercy, was working works -quite as great in Germany, America, and Scotland. The revival in -Germany gave birth to the heroic, martyr-like Moravian church. That -in America greatly prepared the way for Whitefield, and for the first -Methodist missionaries to that huge continent. That in Scotland -revived the almost expiring piety of the kirk across the border; and, -doubtless, greatly contributed to the devout and increasing energy and -zeal evinced by the different churches there from that day to this. -And that in Wales has issued in results equally remarkable. God the -Spirit is omnipresent, and can give a universal revival of truth and -godliness as easily as a local one. It is, also, a significant fact, of -vast importance, that the whole of these great revivals were begun by -preaching the same kind of truth. Christian David, the carpenter, begun -the work in Moravia by preaching the doctrine of salvation by simple -faith in Christ; and so did Jonathan Edwards in America. The revival at -Kilsyth sprang out of Mr. Robe’s sermons on regeneration; and no one -need be told that these were the doctrines which formed the staple of -Wesley’s and Whitefield’s sermons in Great Britain. This is the truth -pre-eminently needed by man, in all ages, and in all lands; and this -is the truth which, wherever preached, is always honoured, by being -made the means of man’s salvation. - -At the close of the year 1738, Wesley was almost uniformly excluded -from the pulpits of the Established Church. During the whole of 1739, -the only churches in which he was allowed to preach, were Basingshaw, -Islington, St. Giles’, and St. Katherine’s churches, London; and the -churches at Dummer, Clifton, Runwick, and St. Mary’s in Exeter. The -first two months of the year were spent in the metropolis; but, with -the exception of expounding in a few private houses, Wesley had to -content himself with preaching not more than half-a-dozen sermons. In -the month of March, he set out for Oxford, and wrote the following -hitherto unpublished letter to his friend Whitefield. The letter is -long, but full of interest. - - “_March 16, 1739._ - - “MY DEAR BROTHER,—On Thursday, the 8th instant, we breakfasted - at Mr. Score’s, Oxford, who is patiently waiting for the - salvation of God. Thence we went to Mrs. Campton’s, who has - set her face as a flint. After we had spent some time in - prayer, Mr. Washington came with Mr. Gibbs, and read several - passages out of Bishop Patrick’s Parable of the Pilgrim, to - prove that we were all under a delusion, and that we were to - be justified by faith and works. Charles Metcalfe withstood - him to the face. After they were gone, we again besought our - Lord, that He would maintain His own cause. Meanwhile, Mr. - Washington and Mr. Watson were going about to all parts, and - confirming the unfaithful; and at seven, when I designed to - expound at Mrs. Campton’s, Mr. Washington was got there before - me, and was beginning to read Bishop Bull against the witness - of the Spirit. He told me he was authorized by the minister of - the parish to do this. I advised all who valued their souls - to depart; and, perceiving it to be the less evil of the two, - that they who remained might not be perverted, I entered - directly into the controversy, touching both the cause and - fruits of justification. In the midst of the dispute, James - Mears’s wife began to be in pain. I prayed with her when Mr. - Washington was gone; and then we went down to sister Thomas’s. - In the way, Mrs. Mears’s agony so increased, that she could not - avoid crying out aloud in the street. With much difficulty, we - got her to Mrs. Shrieve’s, where God heard us, and sent her - deliverance, and where her husband also was set at liberty soon - after. Presently Mrs. Shrieve fell into a strange agony both - of body and mind; her teeth gnashed together; her knees smote - each other; and her whole body trembled exceedingly. We prayed - on; and, within an hour, the storm ceased; and she now enjoys - a sweet calm, having remission of sins, and knowing that her - Redeemer liveth. - - “At my return to Mrs. Fox’s, I found our dear brother Kinchin - just come from Dummer. We rejoiced, and gave thanks, and - prayed, and took sweet counsel together; the result of which - was, that instead of setting out for London, as I designed, on - Friday morning, I set out for Dummer, there being no person to - supply the church on Sunday. At Reading I found a young man, - Cennick by name, strong in the faith of our Lord Jesus. He - had begun a society there the week before; but the minister - of the parish had now well-nigh overturned it. Several of the - members of it spent the evening with us, and it pleased God to - strengthen and comfort them. - - “On Saturday morning, our brother Cennick rode with me, whom - I found willing to suffer, yea, to die for his Lord. We came - to Dummer in the afternoon: Miss Molly was weak in body, but - strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Surely - her light ought not thus to be hid under a bushel. She has - forgiveness, but not the witness of the Spirit; perhaps because - our dear brother Kinchin seems to think them inseparable. - - “On Sunday morning we had a large and attentive congregation. - In the evening, the room at Basingstoke was full, and my mouth - was opened. We expected much opposition, but had none at all. - - “On Monday, Mrs. Cleminger being in pain and fear, we prayed, - and her Lord gave her peace. About noon we spent an hour or two - in conference and prayer with Miss Molly; and then set out in a - glorious storm; but I had a calm within. We had appointed the - little society at Reading to meet us in the evening; but the - enemy was too vigilant. Almost as soon as we were out of the - town, the minister sent, or went, to each of the members, and - began arguing and threatening, and utterly confounded them, so - that they were all scattered abroad. Mr. Cennick’s own sister - did not dare to see us, but was gone out on purpose to avoid it. - - “On Tuesday I came to Oxford again, and from Mrs. Fox’s went - to Mrs. Campton’s. I found the minister of the parish had been - there before me, to whom she had plainly declared, that she had - never had a true faith in Christ till a week ago. After some - warm and sharp expressions, he told her he must repel her from - the holy communion. Finding she was not convinced, even by that - argument, he left her calmly rejoicing in God her Saviour. - - “At six in the evening, we were at Mrs. Fox’s society; about - seven at Mrs. Campton’s: the power of the Lord was present at - both, and all our hearts were knit together in love. - - “The next day we had an opportunity to confirm most, if not - all, the souls which had been shaken. In the afternoon, I - preached at the Castle. We afterwards joined together in - prayer, having now Charles Graves added to us, who is rooted - and grounded in the faith. We then went to Mr. Gibbs’s room, - where were Mr. Washington and Mr. Watson. Here an hour was - spent in conference and prayer, but without any disputing. At - four in the morning I left Oxford. God hath indeed planted and - watered: O may He give the increase. - - “I am, etc., - - “JOHN WESLEY.” - -Thus did the expelled minister employ his time and energies. The -churches were shut against him; but he found work in cottages. -Half-a-dozen sermons in church pulpits in three months! No wonder that -Wesley escaped to Bristol. Silence to such a man was intolerable. -Priests and their parasites had gagged him in the metropolis, and he -now started for a new sphere of labour. - -His friend Whitefield, during the first five weeks of the year, -was more fortunate, and managed to preach about thirty sermons in -consecrated edifices in and about London. How long this permission -might have lasted, it is difficult to determine; but, at the beginning -of February, Whitefield, like a flaming seraph, set off to Bath and -Bristol. Perhaps his departure thither was hastened by a fracas which -occurred only three days before at St. Margaret’s, Westminster, where -he yielded to the pressure of the crowd, and preached, despite the -opposition of the minister and his church officers.[272] Be that as it -may, the news of the disturbance, published in the _Weekly Miscellany_, -got to the west of England before him; and, on his arrival, all the -churches were closed against him. In a few days, however, Mr. Penrose -granted him the pulpit of St. Werburgh’s; and Mr. Gibbs the pulpit of -St. Mary Redcliff. The chancellor of Bristol interfered, and threatened -that, if he continued to preach or expound in the diocese without -licence, he should first be suspended and then expelled. This was -the turning point. To muzzle Whitefield was impossible; and hence, -being shut out of the Bristol churches, away he went, on February 17, -and preached, in the open air, to two hundred colliers at Kingswood. -This was the boldest step that any of the Methodists had yet taken; -and perhaps none of them but the impulsive, large-hearted Whitefield -would have had sufficient courage to be the first in such a shocking -departure from Church rules and usages. The Rubicon was passed. A -clergyman had dared to be so irregular as to preach in the open air, -and God had sanctioned the irregularity by making it a blessing. At the -second Kingswood service, Whitefield says he had two thousand people to -hear him; and at the third, four thousand; while, at the fifth service, -the four thousand were increased to ten. These were marvellous crowds -to assemble out of doors in the bleak months of February and March. No -wonder that Whitefield’s soul took fire. He declares he never preached -with greater power than now. One day, he would take his stand on Hannam -Mount; another, on Rose Green; and another at the Fishponds. Then he -ran off to Cardiff, and preached in the town hall; and then to Bath, -and preached on the town common. Then we find him preaching to about -four thousand at Baptist Mills; and, on March 18, his congregation at -Rose Green was estimated at not less than twenty thousand, to whom he -preached nearly an hour and a half.[273] A gentleman lent him a large -bowling-green in the heart of Bristol, and here he preached to seven -or eight thousand people. In the village of Publow, several thousands -assembled to hear him; and, at Coal-pit Heath and other places, the -crowds were quite as great. All this transpired within six weeks, and, -at nearly all these strange and enormous gatherings, Whitefield made a -collection for his orphan house in Georgia. His soul expanded with his -marvellous success. He wished to try the same experiment elsewhere; and -hence he sent for Wesley to act as his Bristol and Kingswood successor. -Wesley arrived at Bristol on Saturday, March 31; and, the next day, -heard Whitefield at the Bowling-green, Rose Green, and Hannam Mount, -and was thus introduced to the vast congregations which Whitefield -bequeathed to his godly care. He was once again ungagged, and, during -the nine months from March to December, preached and expounded almost -without ceasing. - -Whitefield, on leaving Wesley at Bristol, made his way to London, -preaching to assembled thousands at Gloucester and other places. The -churches in the metropolis were all closed against him; but Moorfields -and Kennington Common were still open; and here, to congregations -consisting of tens of thousands, he rapturously proclaimed the glad -tidings of salvation. In one instance, he computed his Kennington -congregation at fifty thousand, to whom he preached an hour and a -half. Eighty coaches were present, besides great numbers of people on -horseback. On another occasion, his collection for the orphan house in -Georgia amounted to upwards of £47, of which £16 were in half-pence. -At another time, the concourse in Moorfields numbered nearly sixty -thousand; and, at every service, he seems to have made collections for -Georgia, himself acting as one of the collectors. He then made a short -preaching excursion to Hertford, Northampton, and Bedford, where the -stairs of a windmill served him for a pulpit. On returning to town, -he received letters from Scotland, telling him that Ralph Erskine had -turned field preacher, and had had a congregation of fourteen thousand -people. In June, Wesley came to London to see him, and preached at -Blackheath to twelve or fourteen thousand people, “the Lord giving -him,” writes Whitefield, “ten thousand times more success than He has -given me.” An embargo unexpectedly laid on shipping detained him in -England a few weeks longer, during which he visited Hertfordshire, -Essex, Gloucestershire, and other places. In July, he joined his friend -Wesley in Bristol, and acknowledged that the congregations were much -more serious and affected than when he had left them three months -before. The Kingswood colliers, instead of cursing and swearing, now -made the woods ring with their hymns of praise. At length, in the month -of August, Whitefield set sail for America, where we must leave him -until his return to England, in March, 1741. - -Charles Wesley passed most of the year 1739 in London and its -neighbourhood. His brother and his friends urged him to settle at -Oxford; but he refused, without further direction from God. He preached -in churches as long as he was permitted; and, when prohibited, followed -the example of Whitefield and his brother. - -For a moment, we must retrace our steps. As already stated, Wesley -himself spent the first two months of 1739 in London. How was he -occupied? On New Year’s day, he was present at a remarkable lovefeast -in Fetter Lane, which continued until three o’clock in the morning, -and which consisted of himself, his brother, his clerical friends -Whitefield, Ingham, Hall, Kinchin, and Hutchings, and about sixty -Moravians. At the hour mentioned, the power of God came upon them -so mightily, that many cried out for exceeding joy, others fell -prostrate on the ground, and all joined in singing, “We praise Thee, -O God; we acknowledge Thee to be the Lord.” But even this marvellous -manifestation of the majesty of God failed to remove Wesley’s doubts -and fears; for, three days afterwards, we find him writing the -bitterest things against himself, and concluding with the words, -“Though I have constantly used all the means of grace for twenty years, -I am not a Christian.” - -The day after, January 5, seven of the despised Methodist clergymen -(probably the seven just mentioned), held a conference at Islington, -on several matters of great importance, and, after prayer and fasting, -determined what they were in doubt about, by casting lots. “We parted,” -says Whitefield, “with a full conviction that God was going to do great -things among us;”[274] a conviction which was soon verified. - -On January 7, they held another lovefeast at Fetter Lane, and spent the -whole night in prayer and thanksgiving.[275] - -January 25, Wesley baptized five adults at Islington, and makes a -strange distinction, which shows that his views of the scriptural -doctrine of salvation were still hazy and confused. He writes: “Of the -adults I have known baptized lately, only one was at that time born -again, in the full sense of the word; that is, found a thorough inward -change by the love of God filling her heart. Most of them were only -born again in a lower sense; that is, received the remission of their -sins.” Let the reader compare this with a passage in Wesley’s sermon on -“The Great Privilege of those that are Born of God,” and he will mark -the difference. - - “It has been frequently supposed, that the being born of God - was all one with the being justified; that the new birth and - justification were only different expressions, denoting the - same thing: it being certain, on the one hand, that whoever is - justified is also born of God; and on the other, that whoever - is born of God is also justified; yea, that both these gifts - of God are given to every believer in one and the same moment. - In one point of time his sins are blotted out, and he is born - again of God. But though it be allowed, that justification and - the new birth are, in point of time, inseparable from each - other, yet are they easily distinguished, as being not the - same, but things of a widely different nature. Justification - implies only a relative, the new birth a real, change. God in - justifying us does something _for_ us; in begetting us again, - He does the work _in_ us. The one restores us to the favour, - the other to the image, of God. The one is the taking away the - guilt, the other the taking away the power, of sin; so that, - although they are joined together in point of time, yet they - are of wholly distinct natures.” - -Nothing can be more scriptural, or more clearly expressed than this; -but comparison with the extract from his journal, above given, shows -that, even in 1739, Wesley was far from being “a scribe instructed unto -the kingdom of heaven.” He still had much both to learn and to unlearn; -but it was a happy fact, that he was docile and eager to be taught. -Four days after baptizing the adults at Islington, he sat up till near -one in the morning with Whitefield and two other clergymen, earnestly -listening to a midnight discussion concerning the doctrine of the new -birth.[276] - -During the month of February, he had three separate interviews -with bishops of the Established Church. On the 6th, he went with -Whitefield to the Bishop of Gloucester, to solicit a subscription -for Georgia.[277] On the 21st, he and his brother Charles waited on -Potter, Archbishop of Canterbury, who showed them great affection; -spoke mildly of Whitefield; cautioned them to give no more umbrage -than necessary; to forbear exceptionable phrases; and to keep to the -doctrines of the Church. They told him they expected persecution; but -would abide by the Church till her articles and homilies were repealed. -From Potter, they proceeded direct to Gibson, Bishop of London, who -denied that he had condemned them, or even heard much about them. -Whitefield’s Journal, he said, was tainted with enthusiasm, though -Whitefield himself was a pious, well meaning youth. He warned them -against Antinomianism, and dismissed them kindly.[278] - -On the day after their interview with the Bishop of Gloucester, -Whitefield, shut out of the London churches, set off on his tour -to Bristol. Three weeks later, Wesley wrote him an account of his -proceedings in London. - - “_February 26, 1739._ - - “MY DEAR BROTHER,—Our Lord’s hand is not shortened amongst us. - Yesterday I preached at St. Katherine’s, and at Islington, - where the church was almost as hot as some of the society rooms - used to be.[279] The fields, after service, were white with - people praising God. About three hundred were present at Mr. - S——’s; thence I went to Mr. Bray’s; thence to Fetter Lane; - and, at nine, to Mr. B——’s, where also we wanted room. To-day - I expound in the Minories at four; at Mrs. W——’s at six; and - in Gravel Lane, Bishopsgate, at eight. On Wednesday, at six, we - have a noble company of women, not adorned with gold or costly - apparel, but with a meek and quiet spirit. At the Savoy, on - Thursday evening, we have usually two or three hundred, most - of them, at least, thoroughly awakened. On Friday, Mr. A——’s - parlour is more than filled; as is Mr. P——’s room twice - over.”[280] - -This extract will give the reader an idea of Wesley’s weekly labours -in London, up to the time that he set out for Bristol. Every day had -its day’s work. It was impossible for such a man to be idle: work was -essential to his happiness, and almost to his existence. - -Already the people began to have faith in the power of his piety and -prayers. The parents of a lunatic besought his intercessions on behalf -of their afflicted son, who, for five years past, had been in the -habit of beating and tearing himself, putting his hands into the fire, -and thrusting pins into his flesh. Wesley and his friends yielded to -the request on February 17; and, from that time, the poor creature, -though not fully freed from his calamitous affliction, had more rest -than he had had for two years before. On the same day, a middle aged, -well dressed woman, at a society-meeting in Beech Lane, was seized as -with the agonies of death. For three years, her friends had accounted -her mad, and had bled and blistered her accordingly. Wesley prayed -with her, and, five days after, she was victoriously delivered, and -in a moment was filled with love and joy.[281] Within a fortnight, a -third instance, somewhat similar, took place at Oxford, whither Wesley -had gone for a brief visit. Hearing of a woman who was most violently -opposed to the Methodist revival, he went to her and argued with her. -This enraged her more and more. Wesley broke off the dispute, and began -to pray. In a few minutes, the woman fell into an extreme agony, both -of body and soul; and soon after cried out with the utmost earnestness, -“Now I know I am forgiven for Christ’s sake;” and, from that hour, set -her face as a flint to declare the faith which before she persecuted. - -We have already seen that, at the beginning of the month of March, -Wesley made a tour to Oxford, and while there wrote to Whitefield the -long letter which has been already given. On his return to London, he -received a most urgent request from Whitefield to proceed to Bristol -without delay. Wesley hesitated; Charles objected; and the society at -Fetter Lane disputed; but, at length, the matter was decided by casting -lots. Wesley reached Bristol on March 31, and on April 2 Whitefield -left, summing up the results of his first six weeks of out-door -preaching thus: “Many sinners have been effectually converted, and all -the children of God have been exceedingly comforted. Several thousands -of little books have been dispersed among the people; about £200 -collected for the orphan house; and many poor families relieved by the -bounty of my friend Mr. Seward. And what gives me the greater comfort -is the consideration that my dear and honoured friend Mr. Wesley is -left behind to confirm those that are awakened; so that I hope, when I -return from Georgia, to see many bold soldiers of Jesus Christ.”[282] - -The next day he wrote to Wesley the following, which is now for the -first time given to the public:— - - _“April 3, 1739._ - - “HONOURED SIR,—Yesterday I began to play the madman in - Gloucestershire, by preaching on a table in Thornbury Street. - To-day I have exhorted twice; and by-and-by shall begin a third - time; nothing like doing good by the way. Be pleased to go to - Kingswood, and forward the good work as much as possible. I - desire you would open any letters that come directed for me, - and send me a line to Gloucester. I wish you all the success - imaginable in your ministry; and I pray God that my Bristol - friends may grow in grace under it. Parting from them has - struck a little damp upon my joy; but God will quickly revisit, - - “Honoured sir, your unworthy loving servant, - “GEORGE WHITEFIELD. - - “The Rev. Mr. John Wesley, at Mr. Grevil’s, - “Wine Street, Bristol.” - -On the day of Whitefield’s departure, at four in the afternoon, Wesley -ventured to follow his friend’s example, and for the first time in -England dared to preach in the open air. His text was appropriate and -striking, Isaiah lxi. 1, 2. The place was “a little eminence in a -ground adjoining to the city.” His feeling was deep. He says: “I could -scarce reconcile myself at first to this strange way of preaching in -the fields; having been all my life, till very lately, so tenacious of -every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought -the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church.” - -Such were the prejudices and the feelings of the man who, for between -fifty and sixty years proved himself the greatest out-door preacher -that ever lived. - -With the exception of a brief visit to London in June, September, -and November, and of a short tour into Wales and another to Exeter, -Wesley spent the whole of his time, from April to the end of 1739, in -Bristol and its immediate neighbourhood. Though there are considerable -gaps in Wesley’s journal, during which we lose sight of his texts -and sermons, it is not too much to say that he delivered at least -five hundred discourses and expositions in the nine months of which -we speak; and it is a noticeable fact that only eight of these were -delivered in churches,—six in the church at Clifton, one at Runwick, -and one at Exeter. His preaching plan was as follows:—an exposition to -one or other of the Bristol societies every night, and preaching every -Sunday morning, and every Monday and Saturday afternoon. At Kingswood, -including Hannam Mount, Rose Green, and Two Mile Hill, he preached -twice every sabbath, and also every alternate Tuesday and Friday. At -Baptist Mills, he preached every Friday; at Bath, once a fortnight, on -Tuesday; and at Pensford, once a fortnight, on Thursday. - -Another point is worth noticing. His chief, almost his only aim, was -to explain to the people the plan of scriptural salvation; for, as -may easily be seen, almost all his texts have an immediate bearing on -this the greatest of all pulpit topics. Saved himself, his whole soul -was absorbed in a grand endeavour to expound the truth which, above -all other truths, is the means of saving sinners. “The points,” he -writes, “I chiefly insisted upon were four: first, that orthodoxy, or -right opinions, is, at best, but a very slender part of religion, if -it can be allowed to be any part at all; that neither does religion -consist in negatives, in bare harmlessness of any kind; nor merely in -externals, in doing good, or using the means of grace, in works of -piety, or of charity: that it is nothing short of, or different from, -the mind that was in Christ; the image of God stamped upon the heart; -inward righteousness, attended with the peace of God and joy in the -Holy Ghost. Secondly, that the only way to this religion is repentance -towards God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ. Thirdly, that by -this faith, he that worketh not, but believeth on Him that justifieth -the ungodly, is justified freely by His grace through the redemption -which is in Christ Jesus. And, lastly, that being justified by faith, -we taste of the heaven to which we are going; we are holy and happy; -we tread down sin and fear, and sit in heavenly places with Christ -Jesus.”[283] - -He further tells us that the reasons which induced him to begin -preaching in the open air were—1. That he was forbidden, as by a -general consent, though not by any judicial sentence, to preach in any -church. 2. That the rooms in which he preached could not contain a -tenth part of the people that were earnest to hear. Hence, he adds, he -determined to do in England what he had often done in a warmer climate; -namely, when the house would not contain the congregation, to preach in -the open air; and never had he seen a more awful sight than when, on -Rose Green, or the top of Hannam Mount, some thousands of people were -calmly joined together in solemn waiting upon God. He had no desire or -design to preach in the open air till he was forbidden to preach in -churches. It was no matter of choice, neither of premeditation. Field -preaching was a sudden expedient, a thing submitted to rather than -chosen; and submitted to, because he thought preaching even thus better -than not preaching at all; first, in regard to his own soul, because a -dispensation of the gospel being committed to him, he did not dare not -to preach the gospel; and secondly, in regard to the souls of others, -whom he everywhere saw seeking death in the error of their life.[284] - -Some of his friends urged him to settle in college, or to accept a cure -of souls: to whom he replied:— - - “I have no business at college, having now no office and no - pupils; and it will be time enough to consider whether I - ought to accept a cure of souls when one is offered to me. On - scriptural grounds, I do not think it hard to justify what - I am doing. God, in Scripture, commands me, according to my - power, to instruct the ignorant, reform the wicked, confirm the - virtuous. Man forbids me to do this in another’s parish; that - is, in effect, not to do it at all, seeing I have now no parish - of my own, nor probably ever shall. Whom then shall I hear? God - or man? If it be just to obey man rather than God, judge ye. I - look upon all the world as my parish; thus far I mean, that, - in whatever part of it I am, I judge it meet, right, and my - bounden duty to declare unto all that are willing to hear, the - glad tidings of salvation.” - -Such was the position taken by Wesley and his friends. Their chief, -their only business was to save souls. For this they had a world-wide -commission. Nothing short of this could satisfy the yearnings of their -nature. Unlike the old Puritans and others, they had no attacks to make -on the despotic measures of the court and Church. “In their bosoms -there was no rankling grudge against authorities; there was no particle -of that venom which, wherever it lodges, infects and paralyses the -religious affections.”[285] Their sole quarrel was, not with church or -state authorities, but with sin and Satan; and their sole object was, -not to make proselytes, but to save sinners. - -Their congregations, says James Hutton, “were composed of every -description of persons, who, without the slightest attempt at order, -assembled, crying ‘Hurrah!’ with one breath, and with the next -bellowing and bursting into tears on account of their sins; some -poking each other’s ribs, and others shouting ‘Hallelujah.’ It was a -jumble of extremes of good and evil; and so distracted alike were both -preachers and hearers, that it was enough to make one cry to God for -His interference. Here thieves, prostitutes, fools, people of every -class, several men of distinction, a few of the learned, merchants, -and numbers of poor people who had never entered a place of worship, -assembled in crowds and became godly.”[286] - -Of course, persecution followed. “We continued,” says Wesley, “to -call sinners to repentance in London, Bristol, Bath, and a few other -places; but it was not without violent opposition, both from high and -low, learned and unlearned. Not only all manner of evil was spoken -of us, both in private and public, but the beasts of the people were -stirred up almost in all places to knock these mad dogs on the head at -once. And when complaint was made of their savage, brutal violence, no -magistrate would do us justice.”[287] - -The following may be taken as specimens of the opposition met with in -1739. On one occasion, Wesley had obtained permission to preach in -Pensford church; but, just as he was setting out, he received a letter, -saying that the minister had been informed that he was mad, and that, -therefore, the permission was withdrawn. Not being allowed to occupy -the church, Wesley took his stand in the open air; but in the midst of -prayer, two men, hired for the purpose, began to sing ballads, which -obliged Wesley and his friends to begin to sing a psalm, so as to drown -one noise by another. - -Another incident must be given. Bath, at that period, was perhaps the -most fashionable city in England; and the most renowned man in Bath -was Richard, commonly called “Beau,” Nash. This accomplished rake, now -sixty-five years old, was the son of a glass manufacturer in Wales, and -was expelled from Jesus College, Oxford, for his intrigues and wild -adventures. At the age of thirty, he was without a fortune, and without -talents for acquiring one; and hence, to the end of life, became a -gamester. The visit of Queen Anne to Bath, in 1703, had made the city -the favourite resort of people of distinction, and, ever after, the -amusements of the place were put under the direction of a master of -the ceremonies, this sovereignty of the city being decreed to Nash by -all ranks of residents and visitors. King of Bath, he had rules posted -in the pump-room, from which even royalty itself was not allowed to -deviate. He prescribed the dresses in which ladies and gentlemen were -to appear at balls, and imperatively fixed the number of dances to be -danced. He himself wore a monstrously large white hat, and usually -travelled in a post chaise, drawn by six grey horses, honoured with -outriders, footmen, French horns, and every other appendage of a -pretentious coxcomb. He lived by gambling, and scattered money with -as much indifference as he won it. The city of which he was the dandy -king was full of fashionable rogues. “Nothing,” says the _Weekly -Miscellany_ of that period, “nothing was to be seen in it but play and -the preparations for it. Persons of all characters, distinctions, and -denominations sat down to cards from morning till night, and from night -till morning; and those who disagreed in everything else agreed in -this.” - -On visiting Bath, Wesley was told that Nash meant to interfere, and was -entreated not to attempt to preach. Wesley, however, was not the man -to yield to a swaggering rake. He had gone to preach, and preach he -would, and did; the threatenings of Nash having made his congregation -much larger than was expected. Besides the poor, he had many of the -rich and great. Soon after Wesley began his sermon, the “Beau,” in his -immense white hat, appeared, and asked by what authority he dared to -do what he was doing now. Wesley replied, “By the authority of Jesus -Christ, conveyed to me by him who is now Archbishop of Canterbury, when -he laid his hands upon me, and said, ‘Take thou authority to preach the -gospel.’” “But this,” said Nash, “is a conventicle, and contrary to -act of parliament.” “No,” answered Wesley, “conventicles are seditious -meetings; but here is no sedition: therefore, it is not contrary to act -of parliament.” “I say it is,” cried the man of Bath; “and, besides, -your preaching frightens people out of their wits.” “Sir,” said Wesley, -“did you ever hear me preach?” “No.” “How then can you judge of what -you never heard?” “I judge,” he answered, “by common report.” “Common -report,” replied Wesley, “is not enough. Give me leave to ask you, sir, -is not your name Nash?” “It is,” he said. “Sir,” retorted Wesley, “I -dare not judge of you by common report.” The master of ceremonies was -worsted, and, after a pause, simply asked what the people wanted; upon -which an old woman begged Wesley to allow her to answer him, and, amid -her taunts, the resplendent king of the pump-room sneaked away. - -No wonder that the Methodists were opposed. Their preaching, their -doctrine, and their whole behaviour were novel. “Being convinced,” -writes Wesley, “of that important truth, which is the foundation of -all real religion, that ‘by grace we are saved through faith,’ we -immediately began declaring it to others. Indeed, we could hardly speak -of anything else, either in public or private. It shone upon our minds -with so strong a light, that it was our constant theme. It was our -daily subject, both in verse and prose; and we vehemently defended it -against all mankind. But, in doing this, we were assaulted and abused -on every side. We were everywhere represented as mad dogs, and treated -accordingly. We were stoned in the streets, and several times narrowly -escaped with our lives. In sermons, newspapers, and pamphlets of all -kinds, we were painted as unheard of monsters. But this moved us not; -we went on testifying salvation by faith both to small and great, and -not counting our lives dear unto ourselves, so we might finish our -course with joy.”[288] - -Wesley here mentions the attacks made upon them by the press. The -following are specimens:— - -The _Scots Magazine_, for 1739, remarks that “Whitefield and the two -Wesleys offend against the rules of the Christian church, by preaching -in opposition to the opinions and instructions of the bishops.” “The -Wesleys,” continues this Scottish censor, “are more guilty than -Whitefield, because they are men of more learning, better judgment, -and cooler heads. Let them go over to their proper companies, their -favourites, the Dissenters, and utter their extemporary effusions in a -conventicle; but not be suffered in our churches hypocritically to use -our forms, which they despise. Let them carry their spirit of delusion -among their brethren, the Quakers. Let them preach up their election -and reprobation doctrines among the Calvinists; and their solifidian -tenets among the Antinomians. Let not such bold movers of sedition, and -ringleaders of the rabble, to the disgrace of their order, be regularly -admitted into those pulpits which they have taken with multitude and -with tumult, or, as ignominiously, by stealth.” - -The clergy also began to bestir themselves. On Trinity Sunday, a sermon -on regeneration was preached in the parish churches of Greenwich, -and of St. Peter the Poor, London, by the Rev. Ralph Skerret, D.D., -chaplain to the Earl of Grantham. The sermon, in 8vo, thirty-six pages, -was published; but is scarcely worth noticing. The Methodists, however, -are spoken of as “restless deceivers of the people, who make it their -daily business to fill the heads of the ignorant and unwary with wild, -perplexive notions.” - -Another sermon, preached before the university of Oxford, on August 5, -by the Rev. John Wilder, M.A., rector of St. Aldate’s, on “The Trial -of the Spirits,” brands the Methodists as “deceivers,” “babblers,” -“insolent pretenders,” “men of capricious humours, spiritual sleight, -and canting craftiness,” “novices in divinity,” casting “indecent, -false, and unchristian reflections on the clergy,” “newfangled -teachers, setting up their own fantastic conceits, in opposition to the -authority of God, and so bigoted to their wild opinions, and so puffed -up with pride and vanity at the success of their enthusiastic labours, -that they all appear fully disposed to maintain and defend their cause -by more than spiritual weapons, or to die martyrs for it.” - -On the 14th of October, the Rev. Charles Wheatley, M.A., vicar of -Furneux Pelham, Herts, preached in St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, a -sermon against the “new enthusiasts,” on “St. John’s test of knowing -Christ, and being born of Him.” The sermon, with notes, was published, -in 8vo, thirty-one pages, but was not calculated to augment the fame of -the honest and zealous churchman, who had already given to the public -two important ritualistic works, entitled, “A Rational Illustration -of the Book of Common Prayer,” and “An Historical Vindication of the -Fifty-fifth Canon.” Mr. Wheatley is less abusive than Mr. Wilder; -but yet he thinks it right to describe the Methodists as “rapturous -enthusiasts, preaching up unaccountable sensations, violent emotions, -and sudden changes;” and likewise “assuming to themselves, upon -all occasions, the peculiar language of the Holy Ghost; equalling -themselves to prophets and apostles; boasting of immediate -inspirations; and laying a blasphemous claim to greater miracles than -were ever wrought even by Christ Himself.” - -Another opponent, in 1739, was Henry Stebbing, a doctor of divinity, a -royal chaplain, and preacher to the Honourable Society of Gray’s Inn. -This gentleman published “A Caution against Religious Delusion,” in -the shape of “a sermon on the New Birth: occasioned by the pretensions -of the Methodists.” In this comparatively temperate production, the -Methodists are charged with “vain and confident boastings, and with -rash uncharitable censures;” with “gathering tumultuous assemblies to -the disturbance of the public peace, and with setting at nought all -authority and rule;” with “intruding into other men’s labours, and with -encouraging abstinence, prayer, and other religious exercises, to the -neglect of the duties of our station.” It is admitted that, when there -are “so many combinations for vice,” “religious societies for praying, -reading (if not expounding) the Scriptures, and singing psalms may be -of use for the encouragement of virtue;” but the danger is lest the -laymen, who were heads or leaders of these societies, should “grow -opinionated of themselves and fond of their own gifts, and should run -into wild fancies until the pale of the Church is too strait for them.” -Before the end of the year 1739, Stebbing’s sermon reached a sixth -edition. - -Another antagonist, more violent than Stebbing, was Joseph Trapp, D.D., -who published, in 1739, a pamphlet of sixty-nine pages, entitled, “The -Nature, Folly, Sin, and Danger of being Righteous over-much; with -a particular view to the Doctrines and Practices of certain Modern -Enthusiasts. Being the substance of four discourses lately preached in -the parish churches of Christ Church and St. Lawrence Jewry, London; -and St. Martin’s in the Fields, Westminster. By Joseph Trapp, D.D.” - -In this notable production, it is stated that, “for laymen to officiate -in reading prayers to any assembly, except their own families, -is an encroachment upon the office of those who are ordained to -holy functions; and for them to expound or interpret Scripture is -neither laudable nor justifiable, but tends to the confirmation, -not the removal, of ignorance.” For “a raw novice, though in holy -orders” (like Whitefield), “to take upon him, at his first setting -out, to be a teacher, not only of all the laity, in all parts of -the kingdom, but of the teachers themselves, the learned clergy, -many of them learned before he was born, is an outrage upon common -decency and common sense; the height of presumption, confidence, and -self-sufficiency; so ridiculous as to create the greatest laughter, -were it not so deplorable and detestable as to create the greatest -grief and abhorrence; especially when vast multitudes are so sottish -and wicked as, in a tumultuous manner, to run madding after him.” Trapp -insinuates that the Methodists “teach such absurd doctrines, and second -them with such absurd practices, as to give countenance to the lewd -and debauched, the irreligious and profane. In their own imagination, -their errors are the height of wisdom, and their vices the most perfect -virtues. They think themselves the greatest saints, when, in truth, -they are under strong delusion, in the bond of iniquity, and in the -gall of bitterness. They have set the nearest and dearest relations -at variance; disturbed the quiet of families; and thrown whole -neighbourhoods and parishes into confusion. They were half-dissenters -_in_ the Church, and more dangerous _to_ the Church, than those who -were total dissenters _from_ it.” “Methodism was nothing but a revival -of the old fanaticism of the last century; when all manner of madness -was practised, and all manner of villainy committed in the name of -Christ.” Its disciples, “like Solomon’s madman, cast firebrands, -arrows, and death; and send to hell (only because they are not of -their own frantic persuasion) millions of Christians much better than -themselves.” - -The author proceeds:—“For a clergyman of the Church of England to pray -and preach in the fields, in the country, or in the streets of the -city, is perfectly new, a fresh honour to the blessed age in which -we have the happiness to live. I am ashamed to speak upon a subject, -which is a reproach not only to our Church and country, but to human -nature itself. Can it promote the Christian religion to turn it into -riot, tumult, and confusion? to make it ridiculous and contemptible, -and expose it to the scorn and scoffs of infidels and atheists? To -the prevalence of immorality and profaneness, infidelity and atheism, -is now added the pest of enthusiasm. Our prospect is very sad and -melancholy. Go not after these impostors and seducers; but shun them as -you would the plague.” - -Such are fair specimens of the four fiery sermons preached by Dr. -Trapp. Hypocrites, enthusiasts, novelists, ignes fatui, and glaring -meteors are the best names which this reverend divine could find for -the poor, peaceable, and persecuted Methodists.[289] - -Another clerical adversary was “Tristam Land, M.A., late Fellow of -Clare Hall, in Cambridge, Curate of St. James, Garlickhith; and -Lecturer of the united parishes of St. Anthony and St. John Baptist.” -His sixpenny pamphlet of thirty pages was entitled, “A Letter to -the Rev. Mr. Whitefield, with a Letter addressed to the Religious -Societies.” Whitefield is attacked for teaching the doctrine, that -many are baptized without being born again; whereas Tristam Land -insists that, according to the teachings of the Church of England, -“all infants, at the time they are baptized, are sanctified with the -Holy Ghost; and that, though they may afterwards depart from the -grace given, and fall into sin, they are not to be commanded to be -baptized or born again a second time; for to be born more than once, -in a spiritual sense, is just as impossible as to be born twice in a -natural. All that can be done in this matter is to use the several -means of grace; or, in one word, as the Scripture expresses it, they -must be renewed again by repentance.” - -This reverend gentleman then proceeds to describe the Methodists as -“young quacks in divinity, running about the city, and taking great -pains to distract the common people, and to break the peace and unity -of the Church. They are like vain persons, who think themselves -handsome, and are apt to despise others; for looking upon themselves -as exquisite pictures of holiness and as patterns of piety, they -represent us (the clergy) as dumb dogs, profane, and carnally minded. -They talk much of the pangs of the new birth, their inward feelings, -experiences, and spiritual miracles; but their faith is an ill grounded -assurance, their hope an unwarrantable presumption, and their charity a -censoriousness and a contempt of their brethren of different sentiments -to themselves.” - -Good old Dr. Byrom, in a letter dated February 8, 1739, says, “The book -against Mr. Whitefield by Mr. Land is thought a weak piece.”[290] No -wonder. - -Besides these, there was published “An Expostulatory Letter to the Rev. -Mr. Whitefield;” also an octavo pamphlet of forty pages, entitled, -“Observations and Remarks on Mr. Seagrave’s conduct and writings, -in which his answer to the Rev. Dr. Trapp’s four sermons is more -particularly considered.” In this latter production, it is asserted -that Whitefield sinks the house of God into a playhouse, and turns -religion to a farce; that prostitutes swarm at his meetings, and there -make merchandise as at a country fair; that his congregations are -such as crowd to a Smithfield show; and that Whitefield himself is an -enthusiast, a blasphemer, and a wavering, wandering preacher of no -establishment, but nearly attached to the Dissenting communion, and -blending his sermons with a spice both of the Papist and Mahommedan. - -In a “Faithful Narrative” of Whitefield’s life and character, it is -stated that numberless lies and false reports have been raised in -London to vilify his character, and to stigmatise his followers; and -he was now branded as a mercenary knave. It was also reported that, in -Georgia, he had been imprisoned and personally chastised for making the -people mad with enthusiasm. - -An “Expostulatory Letter” to Whitefield, “and the rest of his brethren, -the Methodists of the Church of England,” octavo, forty pages, and -signed “E. B.,” charges them with departing from the rubric in -_sprinkling children_ at baptism, thus prostituting a holy ordinance, -and substituting an insignificant, unavailing thing, neither worthy -of God, nor beneficial to men. It also urges them to be _dipped_ -themselves, and thus become exemplars to others. - -Besides all these, an attack was made by a young man of -eight-and-twenty, curate of All Saints’, Bristol, the Rev. Josiah -Tucker, afterwards a doctor of divinity, and Dean of Gloucester. In -a Letter, dated June 14, 1739, he accuses Whitefield of propagating -“blasphemous and enthusiastic notions, which struck at the root of all -religion, and made it the jest of those who sat in the seat of the -scornful.” Wesley replied to this, and concludes by advising Tucker -not to meddle with controversy, for his talents were not equal to its -management. It would only entangle and bewilder him more and more. -Besides, there was no pleasure in answering a man whose head was not -adapted to the right directing of disputes.[291] - -The next onslaught was more authoritative and serious. On August 1, -1739, Edmund Gibson, Bishop of London, published his “Pastoral Letter,” -of fifty-five pages, “to the People of his Diocese; especially those -of the two great cities of London and Westminster: by way of Caution -against Lukewarmness on one hand, and Enthusiasm on the other.” -Two-thirds of this prelatical pamphlet are on enthusiasm, and are -levelled against the Methodists. Numerous extracts are given from -Whitefield’s Journal, to show—1. That these enthusiasts claim to -have _extraordinary communications_ with God, and more than ordinary -assurances of a special _presence_ with them. 2. That they have a -special and immediate _mission_ from God. 3. That they think and act -under the immediate guidance of a _Divine inspiration_. 4. That they -speak of their preaching and expounding, and the effects of them, as -the sole work of a _Divine power_. 5. That they boast of sudden and -surprising effects as wrought by the _Holy Ghost_ in consequence of -their preaching. 6. That they claim the spirit of _prophecy_. 7. That -they speak of themselves in the language, and under the character, -of _apostles_ of Christ, and even of _Christ_ Himself. 8. That -they profess to plant and propagate a _new gospel_, as unknown to -the generality of ministers and people, in a Christian country. 9. -That they endeavour to justify their own _extraordinary_ methods of -teaching, by casting unworthy reflections upon the parochial clergy, -as deficient in the discharge of their duty, and not instructing their -people in the true doctrines of Christianity. - -Thirteen days after the “Pastoral Letter” was published, Whitefield -wrote an answer to it, and, in a firm but quiet and respectful way, -replied to all the bishop’s allegations. He concludes by charging -Gibson with propagating a new gospel, because he asserts, that “good -works are a _necessary condition_ of our being justified in the sight -of God.” He maintains that _faith_ is the only necessary condition, and -that _good works_ are the necessary fruit and consequence. “This,” he -writes, “is the doctrine of Jesus Christ; this is the doctrine of the -Church of England; and it is, because the generality of the clergy of -the Church of England do not preach this doctrine, that I am resolved, -God being my helper, to continue instant in season and out of season, -to declare it unto all men, let the consequences, as to my own private -person, be what they will.” - -If the bishop really believed his accusations to be true, his pastoral -is a model of meek writing. On the other hand, Whitefield’s answer is -one of the smartest productions of his pen; its pith and point somewhat -reminding us of the terseness which characterized his friend Wesley. - -While Whitefield was skirmishing with the Bishop of London, Wesley -was having a brush with the Bishop of Bristol. First they discussed -the subject of faith as the only necessary condition of a sinner’s -justification before God. Then his lordship charged the Methodists -with “a horrid thing, a very horrid thing,” namely, “pretending -to extraordinary revelations and gifts of the Holy Ghost.” The -conversation concluded thus:— - -_Bishop._ “I hear you administer the sacrament in your societies.” - -_Wesley._ “My lord, I never did yet; and I believe I never shall.” - -_Bishop._ “I hear too, that many people fall into fits in your -societies, and that you pray over them.” - -_Wesley._ “I do so, my lord, when any show, by strong cries and tears, -that their soul is in deep anguish; and our prayer is often heard.” - -_Bishop._ “Very extraordinary indeed! Well, sir, since you ask my -advice, I will give it freely. You have no business here; you are not -commissioned to preach in this diocese. Therefore, I advise you to go -hence.” - -_Wesley._ “My lord, my business on earth is, to do what good I can. -Wherever, therefore, I think I can do most good, there must I stay, -so long as I think so. At present, I think I can do most good here; -therefore, here I stay. Being ordained a priest, by the commission -I then received, I am a priest of the church universal; and being -ordained as fellow of a college, I was not limited to any particular -cure, but have an indeterminate commission to preach the word of God -in any part of the Church of England. I conceive not, therefore, that -in preaching here by this commission I break any human law. When I am -convinced I do, then it will be time to ask, shall I obey God or man? -But if I should be convinced in the meanwhile that I could advance the -glory of God and the salvation of souls, in any other place more than -in Bristol, in that hour, by God’s help, I will go hence; which till -then I may not do.”[292] - -About the same time, a pamphlet of ninety-six pages was published, -entitled, “The Life of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield, by an Impartial -Hand.” Impartiality is pretended, but hostility is seen. The object -of the Life is evidently to make the subject of it a mark for the -shafts of ridicule. Accounts are given of the fracas in St. Margaret’s -church, Westminster, on Sunday, February 4. There is also “a method of -confession drawn up for the use of the women Methodists,” professedly -taken from the original in Whitefield’s or Wesley’s own handwriting, -and with which, it is alleged, the Deists are delighted. Among other -questions, to be asked, as often as occasion required, were the -following: “Are you in love? Whom do you love just now, better than -any other person in the world? Is not the person an idol? Does any -court you? How do you like him? How do you feel yourself when he comes, -when he stays, and when he goes away?” A full account is, likewise, -furnished of Joseph Periam, a young clerk to an attorney, who had been -converted, partly by reading Whitefield’s sermons on the new birth, and -whom his friends had put into a madhouse—(1) Because he fasted for near -a fortnight. (2) Because he prayed so as to be heard several storeys -high. (3) Because he had sold his clothes and given the money to the -poor. The Methodists are further charged with attempting to take away -the liberty of the press; Wesley is accused of placing his converts, -when delivered from their violent agitations and distortions, on an -eminence, for others to behold them; and Whitefield is charged with -saying, that he could produce two cobblers in Bristol, that knew more -of true Christianity than all the clergy in the city put together. His -Journals are designated rhapsodies and repetitions of spiritual pride, -vanity and nonsense; he is accused of wilful and notorious falsehood, -and of taking pleasure in being abusive and scurrilous. - -All this breathes fury; but the following taken from the _Weekly -Miscellany_ of July 21, 1739, surpasses it. The Methodist preacher -stands on an eminence with admiring and subscribing crowds about -him. He is young, which is good; looks innocent, which is better; and -has no human learning, which is best of all. He spreads his hands and -opens his lips as wide as possible. He talks of a sensible new birth; -good women around him come to his assistance; he dilates himself; -cries out; the hill swells into a mountain; and _parturiunt montes, -nascitur ridiculus mus_. Then there is a chorus of ten thousand sighs -and groans, deepened with the blowing of bassoons and horns. The -Methodists are mad enthusiasts who teach, for dictates of the Holy -Spirit, seditions, heresies, and contempt of the ordinances of God -and man. They are buffoons in religion, and mountebanks in theology; -creatures who disclaim sense and are below argument; visionary antics -in gowns and cassocks; so buffeted by the devil as to be qualified to -be confessors to the whole island; composing sermons as fast as they -can write, and speaking faster than they think; and forming societies -of females, who are to confess their love affairs one to another, and -to take care that there shall be a supply of new Methodists for future -generations. - -In the same year, appeared a pamphlet, of twenty-eight pages, entitled -“The Methodists; an Humorous, Burlesque Poem, addressed to the Rev. Mr. -Whitefield and his followers.” The frontispiece represents the great -preacher addressing an immense crowd on Kennington Common, while, on -the outskirts of the congregation, are coaches of all descriptions, and -a gibbet on which three condemned felons are hanging. Describing the -Methodists, the poem says:— - - “By rule they eat, by rule they drink, - Do all things else by rule, but think— - Accuse their priests of loose behaviour, - To get more in the laymen’s favour; - Method alone must guide ‘em all, - Whence Methodists themselves they call.” - -After this, the devil is represented as making a tour from Rome to -Oxford, in the course of which he stole the bigoted madness of a Turk, -and the wit of a modern atheist, both of which he drenched, dull and -deep, in a literary Dutchman’s brain, and then, making them his own, -and pulling off his horns, and shoeing his cloven foot, dressing -himself in a student’s gown, and using for the nonce a distorted -face, and, because of the piety of its nasal tones, a Noncon parson’s -nose, he introduced himself to the Oxford Methodists, and gave them -instructions how to act, so as to effect their purposes,—instructions -too lascivious to be reprinted. As a _very mild_ specimen of this -foul-mouthed poem, we give another description of the Methodists:— - - “All men of thought with laughter view, - Or pity, the mistaken crew; - Who, mad with Scripture, void of sense, - And thoughtless, novelists commence; - Swerve from the rules of mother Church, - And leave her basely in the lurch: - To holy _Holt_ they all repair, - There join in _folly_ and in prayer; - Next round the _gaols_ they hovering fly, - To plague the wretches ere they die; - And while the children lisp their praise, - ‘Bless ‘em!’ each good old woman says.” - -At the risk of exhausting the reader’s patience, we must notice another -anti-Methodist pamphleteer, who, in 1739, did his little best to -strangle the new-born system at its birth. This was a certain “James -Bate, M.A., Rector of St. Paul’s, Deptford; and formerly Chaplain to -His Excellency Horatio Walpole, Esq.” - -First of all, the redoubtable author gave to the world a pamphlet -of thirty-eight pages, bearing the title, “Methodism Displayed; or -Remarks upon Mr. Whitefield’s Answer to the Bishop of London’s Pastoral -Letter.” In this production, Whitefield is charged with causing numbers -of poor tradesmen to leave their families to starve, only to ramble -after himself; in dividing the word of God, he violently divides -text from context, and makes arrant nonsense of both; he shuffles -and prevaricates; treats the bishop with saucy sneers; is guilty of -flat falsehoods, disingenuous quirks, and mean evasions; perfidiously -tramples upon the canons of the Church; and flies in the face of his -diocesan with unparalleled pride and impudence. - -Not having exhausted all his wrath, the same reverend gentleman, -at the end of the year, issued another manifesto, of sixty-six -pages, entitled, “Quakero-Methodism; or a Confutation of the First -Principles of the Quakers and Methodists.” This was a dear shilling’s -worth, written in reply to a letter on Bate’s former pamphlet “by -T. S——y, Esq.” Bate asserts that the whole performance of the -“Quakero-Methodist” (as T. S——y is called) may be ranked under the -two heads of scurrility and sophistry; but as God, at whose altar he -serves, has forbid him to return railing for railing, he will give -no answer to the scurrility whatever. He then, notwithstanding this, -proceeds to accuse his adversary of having “troubled the public with -a load of stupidity, folly, and nonsense.” He alleges against him -“insipid sneers, like the grins of an idiot;” he tells him that “the -shortest cut for him to avoid writing nonsense is to lay down his pen;” -that his “whole stock of knowledge has been laid in at some expounding -house that was under the influence of the spirit of presumption, -ignorance, pride, and arrogance;” and that “his arguments have never -more than two gentle faults, false premises and a false conclusion.” -He says, Whitefield “chews” the charges of the Bishop of London, “just -as an ass mumbles a thistle, without either the courage to swallow it, -or the sense to lay it down;” and concludes by assuring his opponent -that he could have “goaded him with the sharpest, bitterest, and -severest sarcasms, and have scourged his spiritual pride with wholesome -severity;” but in mercy he has refrained from using such “a whip of -scorpions.” - -The magazines and newspapers of the period were filled with similar -abuse of the poor Methodists. The writer has examined most of them, -and has been struck with two facts:—(1) of those admitting letters and -articles against the Methodists, the fairest and most moderate was the -_Gentleman’s Magazine_; and (2) the bitterest and most violent was the -professedly religious _Weekly Miscellany_, a weekly folio sheet of four -pages. The following is a mild specimen from the latter, and refers not -only to the movements of Wesley and Whitefield in the south of England, -but of Ingham in the north. After accusing Whitefield of “behaviour -disgraceful to the Christian religion and to the ministerial office,” -the journalist proceeds to say that— - -“The clergy had all refused him their pulpits, and the lord mayor -the halls and markets of the city.” He was “a conceited boaster and -heterodox intruder; whose next performance was to be accompanied with -a chorus of ten thousand sighs and groans, deepened with bassoons. In -the approaching winter, the town would be entertained with harlequin -turned Methodist, by way of reprisals, since the Methodist had turned -harlequin. In Yorkshire, by the preaching of the Methodists, the spirit -of enthusiasm had so prevailed, that almost every man who could hammer -out a chapter in the Bible had turned an expounder of the Scripture, -to the great decay of industry, and the almost ruin of the woollen -manufacture, which seemed threatened with destruction for want of -hands to work it.” “Methodism has laid aside play-books and poems, -for Scripture phrases and hymns of its own composing. Its disciples -were never easy but when they were in a church, or expounding the -Bible, which they could do offhand, from Genesis to Revelation, with -great ease and power. They had given away their finery to tattered -beggars, resolving to wear the coarsest attire and to live upon the -most ordinary diet. They hired barns, where they met at six in the -evening; expounded, prayed, and sang psalms till towards ten; and then -had a lovefeast to communicate their experiences, especially as to love -affairs.” “Several fine ladies, who used to wear French silks, French -hoops of four yards wide, bob-wigs, and white satin smock petticoats, -were turned Methodists, and now wore stuff gowns, common night-mobs, -and plain bays for _Jennys_.” - -Numbers of similar extracts might be given from the newspapers and -periodicals of 1739; but the reader has had enough of scurrilous and -lying hodge-podge to satisfy the cravings of the greatest gossip. - -Such were the premonitory mutterings of the storm in which the -Methodist movement was cradled. Mobs threatened; newspapers, magazines, -and other periodicals fulminated their malicious squibs; prelates, -priests, and doctors of divinity became militant pamphleteers; but, -in the midst of all, Wesley and his friends calmly proceeded in their -glorious calling. Some even, who were animated with a friendly feeling -towards them, looked upon their course of conduct with alarm. Good Dr. -Doddridge, in a letter dated May 24, 1739, writes:— - - “I think the Methodists sincere; I hope some may be reformed, - instructed, and made serious by their means. I saw Mr. - Whitefield preaching on Kennington Common last week to an - attentive multitude, and heard much of him at Bath; but, - supposing him sincere and in good earnest, I still fancy that - he is but a _weak_ man—much too positive, says rash things, - and is bold and enthusiastic. I am most heartily glad to hear - that any _real_ good is done anywhere to the souls of men; but - whether these Methodists are in a right way—whether they are - warrantable in all their conduct,—whether _poor_ people should - be urged, through different persons successively, to pray from - four in the morning till eleven at night, is not clear to me; - and I am less satisfied with the high pretences they make to - the Divine influence. I think what Mr. Whitefield says and - does comes but little short of an assumption of inspiration or - infallibility.”[293] - -Another friend, Mr. T. Hervey, writing in the same month to Samuel -Wesley, at Tiverton, says, that he is anxious “to stop the spread -and prevalence of several very strange and pestilent opinions;” and -expresses the hope that this may be done effectually by the elder -brother of Wesley, whom he designates “the dear, but deluded man.” He -then proceeds to state that— - - “These pestilent opinions are—1. That the method of education, - the distinction, order, degrees, and even robes and habits - of the university are all anti-Christian. 2. That nothing is - taught in it but learning which opposes the power of God. 3. - That whoso is born of God is also taught of God, not in any - limited sense, but so as to render the use of all natural means - of no effect. 4. That all human learning, however said to be - sanctified of God, entirely disqualifies a man from preaching - the true gospel of Jesus Christ. 5. That none have a right to - preach, but such as are immediately called to it by the Holy - Ghost. 6. That an established ministry is a mere invention of - man. 7. That the Church of England and all its authority are - founded on and supported by a lie; and that all who receive a - power of preaching from it are in a state of slavery.”[294] - -This was a kind and well meant letter, but it was pregnant with -mistakes. Still it tends to show the enormous difficulties encountered -by the Methodists at the commencement of their history. Sometimes they -met a friend, though not often; and it is a pleasing duty to introduce -godly Joseph Williams, of Kidderminster, as one who sympathised with -their indefatigable endeavours to save the souls of their fellow men. -Under the date of September 17, 1739, he writes concerning the two -Wesleys, Whitefield, and Ingham:— - -“The common people flock to hear them, and, in most places, hear them -gladly. They commonly preach once or twice every day; and expound -the Scriptures in the evening to religious societies, who have their -society rooms for that purpose.” He then proceeds to give an account -of his hearing Charles Wesley preach at Bristol. Standing on a table, -in a field, the preacher, with eyes and hands lifted up to heaven, -prayed with uncommon fervour and fluency. “He then preached about an -hour in such a manner as I scarce ever heard any man preach. Though -I have heard many a finer sermon, yet I think I never heard any man -discover such evident signs of vehement desire” [to benefit his -hearers]. “With unusual fervour, he acquitted himself as an ambassador -for Christ; and although he used no notes, nor had anything in his hand -but a Bible, yet he delivered his thoughts in a rich, copious variety -of expression, and with so much propriety, that I could not observe -anything incoherent through the whole performance, which he concluded -with singing, prayer, and the usual benediction. - -“Afterward, I waited on him at Mr. Norman’s. He received me in a very -friendly manner. Before he would take any refreshment, he, with a -few friends that waited on him, sung a hymn, and then prayed for a -blessing, as at set meals. After tea, we sung another hymn; and then -I went with them to the religious society, and found the place so -thronged, that it was with great difficulty we reached the centre of -it. We found them singing a hymn; he then prayed; and proceeded to -expound the twelfth chapter of the gospel of St. John, in a sweet, -savoury, spiritual manner. This was followed by singing another hymn; -and he then prayed over a great number of bills presented by the -society, about twenty of which respected spiritual cases. Never did -I hear such praying. Never did I see or hear such evident marks of -fervency in the service of God. At the close of every petition, a -serious Amen, like a gentle, rushing sound of waters, ran through the -whole audience. Such evident marks of a lively fervent devotion, I was -never witness to before. If there be such a thing as heavenly music -upon earth, I heard it there. I do not remember my heart to have been -so elevated in Divine love and praise, as it was there and then, for -many years past, if ever. Notwithstanding some errors, which, as mere -men, they may be liable to, I cannot but believe that God is with them -of a truth, and hath raised them up in this day of general defection -from gospel purity, simplicity, and zeal, for signal service and -usefulness in His church.”[295] - -In a letter to Charles Wesley, written in the month of September, 1739, -Williams adds: “I heartily wish you God speed. I bless you in the name -of the Lord. Fear not what men can do unto you. With Him your judgment -is, and your reward with your God.”[296] - -Such a testimony from a man so devout, enlightened, and justly famed as -Joseph Williams, the Kidderminster carpet weaver, is quite as weighty -as any testimony of an opposite character from either Bishop Gibson, or -any priest or prelate then watching on the walls of Zion. - -We must now return to Wesley at Bristol. Every night he expounded to -societies. These were small gatherings of religious people, which -had continued meeting for godly purposes for about the last fifty -years;[297] for it is important to remember that the “Religious -Societies” formed in the days of Dr. Horneck, previous to the -abdication of King James, and again revived in the reign of Queen Mary, -were not confined to London and Westminster, but existed in different -towns throughout the kingdom. We find them in Oxford, Nottingham, -Gloucester, Bristol, Newcastle, Dublin, Kilkenny, and other places; and -all acting substantially according to the same rules and regulations. -They met to pray, sing psalms, and read the Scriptures together; and to -reprove, exhort, and edify one another by religious conference. They -also carried out designs of charity, such as supporting lectures and -daily prayers in churches, releasing imprisoned debtors, and relieving -the poor and sending their children to school. In 1737, Whitefield -preached “a sermon before the “Religious Societies” at one of their -general quarterly meetings in Bow church, London, from the text, -Ecclesiastes iv. 9–12, in which he strongly advocated the practice of -Christians meeting together for religious fellowship. “As coals,” says -he, “if placed asunder, soon go out, but if heaped together, enliven -each other, and afford a lasting heat;” so it is with Christians. - -Such were the “Religious Societies” which existed for more than -half-a-century before the formation of the “United Societies” of the -people called Methodists; and in whose rooms and meetings, in London, -Bristol, and elsewhere, Whitefield and the Wesley brothers, for a few -years, were accustomed to read and explain the Scriptures almost every -night. On arriving in Bristol, Wesley found such societies as these -assembling in Castle Street, in Gloucester Lane, in Weavers’ Hall, in -Nicholas Street, in the Back Lane, and in Baldwin Street, and at once -began expounding to them the Epistle to the Romans, and other portions -of the New Testament; and it is a remarkable fact that, with one or two -exceptions, all the scenes about to be mentioned took place in these -society meetings, or in private dwellings. We furnish them as we find -them. - - April 17. At Baldwin Street, we called upon God to confirm His - word. Immediately, one that stood by cried out aloud, with - the utmost vehemence, even as in the agonies of death. But we - continued in prayer, till a new song was put into her mouth, - a thanksgiving unto our God. Soon after, two other persons - were seized with strong pain, and constrained to roar for the - disquietude of their heart. But it was not long before they - likewise burst forth into praise to God their Saviour. The - last who called upon God, as out of the belly of hell, was - a stranger in Bristol; and, in a short space, he also was - overwhelmed with joy and love, knowing that God had healed his - backslidings. - - April 21. At Weavers’ Hall, a young man was suddenly seized - with a violent trembling all over, and, in a few minutes, sunk - to the ground. But we ceased not calling upon God, till He - raised him up full of peace and joy in the Holy Ghost. - - April 24. At Baldwin Street, a young man, after a sharp though - short agony, both of body and mind, found his soul filled with - peace, knowing in whom he had believed. - - April 26. At Newgate, I was led to pray that God would bear - witness to His word. Immediately one, and another, and another - sunk to the earth; they dropped on every side as thunderstruck. - One of them cried aloud. We besought God in her behalf, and - He turned her heaviness into joy. A second being in the same - agony, we called upon God for her also; and He spoke peace unto - her soul. In the evening, one was so wounded by the sword of - the Spirit, that you would have imagined she could not live a - moment. But immediately His abundant kindness was shown, and - she loudly sang of His righteousness. - - April 27. All Newgate rang with the cries of those whom the - word of God cut to the heart; two of whom were in a moment - filled with joy, to the astonishment of those that beheld them. - - April 30. While I was preaching at Newgate, a woman broke out - into strong cries and tears. Great drops of sweat ran down her - face, and all her bones shook; but both her body and soul were - healed in a moment. - - May 1. At Baldwin Street, my voice could scarce be heard amidst - the groanings of some, and the cries of others calling aloud - to Him that is mighty to save; and ten persons then began to - say in faith, “My Lord and my God!” A Quaker, who stood by, was - very angry, and was biting his lips, and knitting his brows, - when he dropped down as thunderstruck. The agony he was in - was even terrible to behold. We prayed for him, and he soon - lifted up his head with joy, and joined us in thanksgiving. A - bystander, John Haydon, a weaver, a man of regular life and - conversation, one that constantly attended the public prayers - and sacrament, and was zealous for the Church, and against - Dissenters, laboured to convince the people that all this was - a delusion of the devil; but next day, while reading a sermon - on “Salvation by Faith,” he suddenly changed colour, fell off - his chair, and began screaming, and beating himself against - the ground. The neighbours were alarmed, and flocked together. - When I came in, I found him on the floor, the room being full - of people, and two or three holding him as well as they could. - He immediately fixed his eyes on me, and said, “Ay, this is - he I said deceived the people. But God has overtaken me. I - said it was a delusion of the devil; but this is no delusion.” - Then he roared aloud, “O thou devil! thou cursed devil! yea, - thou legion of devils! thou canst not stay in me. Christ will - cast thee out. I know His work is begun. Tear me in pieces, if - thou wilt; but thou canst not hurt me.” He then beat himself - against the ground; his breast heaving, as if in the pangs of - death, and great drops of sweat trickling down his face. We all - betook ourselves to prayer. His pangs ceased, and both his body - and soul were set at liberty. With a clear, strong voice, he - cried, “This is the Lord’s doing; and it is marvellous in our - eyes. Blessed be the Lord God of Israel, from this time forth - for evermore.” I called again an hour after. We found his body - weak as that of an infant, and his voice lost; but his soul was - in peace, full of love, and rejoicing in hope of the glory of - God.[298] The women of our society met at seven, and, during - prayer, one of them fell into a violent agony; but soon after - began to cry out, with confidence, “My Lord and my God.” - - May 12. In the evening, three persons, almost at once, sunk - down as dead, having all their sins set in array before them; - but, in a short time, they were raised up, and knew that the - Lamb of God, who taketh away the sin of the world, had taken - away their sins. - - May 16. While I was declaring at Baptist Mills, “He was wounded - for our transgressions,” a middle aged man began violently - beating his breast. During our prayer, God put a new song into - his mouth. - - May 19. At Weavers’ Hall, a woman first, and then a boy, was - overwhelmed with sin, and sorrow, and fear. But we cried to - God, and their souls were delivered. - - May 20. In the evening God spoke to three whose souls were all - storm and tempest, and immediately there was a great calm. - - May 21. Although the people had seen signs and wonders, yet - many would not believe. They could not, indeed, deny the facts; - but they could explain them away. Some said, “These were - purely natural effects; the people fainted away only because - of the heat and closeness of the rooms.” Others were “sure it - was all a cheat; they might help it if they would. Else why - were these things only in their private societies?” To-day, - our Lord answered for Himself; for, while I was preaching, - He began to make bare His arm, not in a close room, neither - in private, but in the open air, and before more than two - thousand witnesses. One, and another, and another were struck - to the earth; exceedingly trembling at the presence of His - power. Others cried, with a loud and bitter cry, “What must - we do to be saved?” And, in less than an hour, seven persons, - wholly unknown to me till that time, were rejoicing, and - singing, and, with all their might, giving thanks to the God - of their salvation. In the evening, at Nicholas Street, I was - interrupted, almost as soon as I had begun to speak, by the - cries of one who strongly groaned for pardon and peace. Others - dropped down as dead. Thomas Maxfield began to roar out, and - beat himself against the ground, so that six men could scarcely - hold him. Except John Haydon, I never saw one so torn of the - evil one. Many others began to cry out to the Saviour of all, - insomuch that all the house, and, indeed, all the street for - some space, was in an uproar. But we continued in prayer, and - the greater part found rest to their souls. I think twenty-nine - in all had their heaviness turned into joy this day. - - June 15. At Wapping (London), many of those that heard began to - call upon God with strong cries and tears. Some sunk down, and - there remained no strength in them; others exceedingly trembled - and quaked; some were torn with a kind of convulsive motion in - every part of their bodies; and that so violently, that often - four or five persons could not hold one of them. I have seen - many hysterical and many epileptic fits; but none of them were - like these, in many respects. One woman was greatly offended, - being sure they might help it if they would; but she also - dropped down in as violent an agony as the rest. Twenty-six of - those who had been thus affected were filled with peace and joy. - - June 16. At Fetter Lane, some fell prostrate on the ground; - others burst out into loud praise and thanksgiving; and many - openly testified, there had been no such day as this since - January the first preceding. - - June 22. In the society (Bristol) one before me dropped down - as dead, and presently a second, and a third. Five others sunk - down in half an hour, most of whom were in violent agonies. - In their trouble, we called upon the Lord, and He gave us an - answer of peace. All, except one, went away rejoicing and - praising God. - - June 23. This evening another was seized with strong pangs; but - in a short time her soul was delivered. - - June 24. In the evening, a girl and four or five other persons - were deeply convinced of sin; and, with sighs and groans, - called upon God for deliverance. - - June 25. About ten in the morning J——e C——r, as she was - sitting at her work, was suddenly seized with grievous terrors - of mind, attended with strong trembling; but, at the society - in the evening, God turned her heaviness into joy. Five or six - others were also cut to the heart this day; and, soon after, - found Him whose hands made whole. - - June 26. Three persons terribly felt the wrath of God abiding - on them at the society this evening. But, upon prayer being - made on their behalf, He was pleased soon to lift up the light - of His countenance upon them. - - June 30. At Weavers’ Hall, seven or eight persons were - constrained to roar aloud; but they were all relieved upon - prayer, and sang praises unto our God, and unto the Lamb that - liveth for ever and ever. - - July 1. A young woman sunk down at Rose Green in a violent - agony both of body and mind: as did five or six persons, in - the evening, at the new room, at whose cries many were greatly - offended. The same offence was given in the morning by one at - Weavers’ Hall; and by eight or nine others at Gloucester Lane - in the evening. - -Here we pause. On June 25, Whitefield wrote to Wesley as follows:— - - “HONOURED SIR,—I cannot think it right in you to give so - much encouragement to those convulsions which people have - been thrown into, under your ministry. Was I to do so, how - many would cry out every night? I think it is tempting God - to require such signs. That there is something of God in it, - I doubt not. But the devil, I believe, interposes. I think - it will encourage the French Prophets, take people from the - written word, and make them depend on visions, convulsions, - etc., more than on the promises and precepts of the - gospel.”[299] - -Twelve days after, Whitefield was in Bristol, and Wesley wrote as -follows:— - - “July 7. I had an opportunity to talk with Mr. Whitefield of - those outward signs which had so often accompanied the work - of God. I found his objections were chiefly grounded on - gross misrepresentations of matters of fact. But next day he - had an opportunity of informing himself better; for, in the - application of his sermon, four persons sunk down close to him, - almost in the same moment. One of them lay without either sense - or motion. A second trembled exceedingly. The third had strong - convulsions all over his body, but made no noise, unless by - groans. The fourth, equally convulsed, called upon God, with - strong cries and tears. From this time, I trust, we shall all - suffer God to carry on His own work in the way that pleaseth - Him.” - -This was an important crisis. Without expressing any opinion respecting -these “signs,” as Wesley calls them, we cannot but admire Wesley’s -wish and hope that God may be allowed to work His own work in His own -way. Of all men living, Wesley was one of the least likely to desire -novelties like these; but he was wise enough, and reverent enough, -not to interpose when God was working, and to say, that, unless the -work was done after a certain fashion, he should object to its being -done at all. Some, in modern times, have been in danger of doing this. -Sinners have been undeniably converted; but because they have not been -converted at the times, or in the places, or by the instrumentalities -which men have chosen to commend, they have objected to such -conversions, and tacitly desired not to have them multiplied. This was -not Wesley’s way. He was one of the greatest sticklers for church order -and religious decorum; but he was not the man to protest, that, unless -God’s work was carried on in accordance with his own predilections, he -should object to it altogether. His words are golden ones, and worth -remembering by all his followers:—“_From this time, I trust, we shall -all suffer God to carry on His own work in the way that pleaseth Him._” - -Whitefield’s objections were silenced. He came, he saw, and he was -conquered. He writes, under date of July 7:— - - “I had a useful conference about many things with my honoured - friend Mr. John Wesley. I found that Bristol had great reason - to bless God for his ministry. The congregations I observed - to be much more serious and affected than when I left them; - and their loud and repeated Amens, which they put up to every - petition, as well as the exemplariness of their conversation - in common life, plainly show that they have not received the - grace of God in vain. Ye hypocrites, ye can discern the face - of the sky; but how is it that ye cannot discern the signs of - these times? That good, great good, is done is evident. What - is it but little less than blasphemy against the Holy Ghost - to impute this great work to delusion, and to the power of the - devil?”[300] - -We resume Wesley’s notices of what he designates the “signs” of the -work of God. - - July 23. On several evenings this week many were deeply - convinced; but none were delivered from that painful - conviction. I fear we have grieved the Spirit of the jealous - God, by questioning His work; and that, therefore, He is - withdrawn from us for a season. But He will return and - abundantly pardon. - - July 30. Two more were in strong pain, both their souls and - bodies being well-nigh torn asunder. But, though we cried unto - God, there was no answer. One of them cried aloud, though not - articulately, for twelve or fourteen hours; when her soul was - set at liberty. She was a servant, and her master forbid her - returning to his service, saying, he would have none in his - house who had received the Holy Ghost. - - August 5. Six persons at the new room were deeply convinced of - sin; three of whom were a little comforted by prayer. - - August 11. In the evening two were seized with strong pangs, as - were four the next evening, and the same number at Gloucester - Lane on Monday; one of whom was greatly comforted. - - August 14. Three at the new room this evening were cut to the - heart; but their wound was not as yet healed. - -A fortnight after this, Charles Wesley came to Bristol, and John -removed to London. The work still progressed at Bristol. In one -instance, a woman screamed for mercy, so as to drown Charles’s voice. -On another occasion, he “heard on all sides the sighing of them that -were in captivity.” “The Lord added to the church daily.” - -In London, numbers had been converted under the ministry of Charles -Wesley, Whitefield, and others; but there is no evidence to show that -there had been any “convulsions” like those at Bristol. It is also a -curious fact, that, though Wesley’s preaching on Kennington Common, in -Moorfields, and in other places in the metropolis, was crowned with -great success, there were hardly any instances of paralysing paroxysms -analogous to those already mentioned. When he returned to Bristol, in -October, we find a renewal of such cases. - - October 11. A woman showed the agony of her soul by crying - aloud to God for help. She continued in great torment all - night; but, while we were praying for her in the morning, God - delivered her out of her distress. - - October 12. I was under some concern, with regard to one or two - persons, who were tormented in an unaccountable manner; and - seemed to be indeed lunatic, as well as sore vexed. - - October 23. I was pressed to visit a young woman at Kingswood. - I found her on the bed, two or three persons holding her. - Anguish, horror, and despair, above all description, appeared - in her pale face. The thousand distortions of her whole body - showed how the dogs of hell were gnawing at her heart. The - shrieks intermixed were scarce to be endured. She screamed - out, “I am damned, damned; lost for ever! Six days ago you - might have helped me. But it is past. I am the devil’s now, - I have given myself to him: his I am, him I must serve, with - him I must go to hell; I will be his, I will serve him, I will - go with him to hell; I cannot be saved, I will not be saved. - I must, I will, I will be damned!” She then begun praying to - the devil. We began,—“Arm of the Lord, awake, awake!” She - immediately sank down as asleep; but, as soon as we left off, - broke out again, with inexpressible vehemence: “Stony hearts, - break! I am a warning to you. Break, break, poor stony hearts! - I am damned, that you may be saved. You need not be damned, - though I must.” She then fixed her eyes on the corner of the - ceiling, and said, “There he is. Come, good devil, come. You - said you would dash my brains out: come, do it quickly. I am - yours, I will be yours.” We interrupted her by calling again - upon God; on which she sunk down as before: and another young - woman began to roar out as loud as she had done. My brother now - came in, it being about nine o’clock. We continued in prayer - till past eleven; when God, in a moment, spoke peace into the - soul, first of the first tormented, and then of the other. And - they both joined in singing praise to Him who had “stilled the - enemy and the avenger.” - - October 25. I was sent for to one in Bristol, who was taken ill - the evening before. She lay on the ground furiously gnashing - her teeth, and after awhile roared aloud. It was not easy for - three or four persons to hold her, especially when the name - of Jesus was named. We prayed; the violence of her symptoms - ceased, though without a complete deliverance. In the evening, - I was sent for to her again. She began screaming before I - came into the room; then broke out into a horrid laughter, - mixed with blasphemy. One, who apprehended a preternatural - agent to be concerned in this, asking, “How didst thou dare - to enter into a Christian?” was answered, “She is not a - Christian—she is mine.” This was followed by fresh trembling, - cursing, and blaspheming. My brother coming in, she cried out, - “Preacher! Field preacher! I don’t love field preaching.” This - was repeated two hours together, with spitting, and all the - expressions of strong aversion. We left her at twelve, and - called again at noon next day. And now it was, that God showed - He heareth prayer. All her pangs ceased in a moment: she was - filled with peace, and knew that the son of wickedness was - departed from her. - - October 27. I was sent for to Kingswood again, to one of those - who had been so ill before. A violent rain began just as I set - out. Just at that time, the woman (then three miles off) cried - out, “Yonder comes Wesley, galloping as fast as he can.” When - I was come, she burst into a horrid laughter, and said, “No - power, no power; no faith, no faith. She is mine; her soul is - mine. I have her, and will not let her go.” We begged of God - to increase our faith. Meanwhile, her pangs increased more - and more; so that one would have imagined, by the violence of - the throes, her body must have been shattered to pieces. One, - who was clearly convinced this was no natural disorder, said, - “I think Satan is let loose. I fear he will not stop here,” - and added, “I command thee in the name of the Lord Jesus, to - tell if thou hast commission to torment any other soul.” It - was immediately answered, “I have. L——y C——r and S——h J——s.” - We betook ourselves to prayer again; and ceased not, till she - began, with a clear voice, and composed, cheerful look, to - sing, “Praise God, from whom all blessings flow.” - -The reader must be told that L——y C——r and S——h J——s lived at some -distance, and, at the time, were in perfect health. The day after, they -were affected in the same way as the poor creature just delivered. -Wesley writes:— - - October 28. I called at Mrs. J——s’, in Kingswood. L——y C——r - and S——h J——s were there. It was scarce a quarter of an hour - before the former fell into a strange agony; and, presently - after, the latter. The violent convulsions all over their - bodies were such as words cannot describe. Their cries and - groans were too horrid to be borne; till one of them, in a tone - not to be expressed, said, “Where is your faith now? Come, go - to prayers. I will pray with you.” We took the advice, and - poured out our souls before God, till L——y C——r’s agonies so - increased, that it seemed she was in the pangs of death. But, - in a moment, God spoke; and both her body and soul were healed. - We continued in prayer till past midnight, when S——h J——s’ - voice was also changed, and she began to call upon God. This - she did for the greatest part of the night. In the morning, we - renewed our prayers, while she was crying continually, “I burn! - I burn! O what shall I do? I have a fire within me. I cannot - bear it. Lord Jesus! help! Amen, Lord Jesus!” - -A few other cases occurred in 1739; and, notably, one on November -30, when seven persons were grievously tormented, and Wesley and his -friends continued in prayer from the time of evening service till nine -o’clock next morning, that is, for about fifteen hours, a case almost -unparalelled in the history of the church of Christ. - -These are strange and mysterious facts; and, what adds to the -strangeness, is that, excepting the cases in London, on June 15, -16, and September 17, 18, all of them occurred in Bristol and its -immediate neighbourhood. During the space of time which these extracts -cover, Wesley preached at Bath, Kennington Common, Moorfields, -Blackheath, Gloucester, Bradford, Wells, Oxford, and in several towns -in Wales, and other places; but scenes like those above described were -never witnessed except in Bristol. It is also a curious circumstance, -that, though the preaching of Charles Wesley and of Whitefield was -quite as faithful as the preaching of Wesley himself, and was far more -impassioned, yet no such “signs” seem to have been attendant on their -ministry as were attendant on his. Similar effects sometimes followed -the preaching of Cennick, during Wesley’s absence in London, but these -occurred also either at Kingswood or in Bristol. Writing to Wesley -under date of September 12, 1739, he says:— - - “On Monday night, I was preaching at the school on the - forgiveness of sins, when numbers cried out with a loud and - bitter cry. Indeed, it seemed that the devil and the powers of - darkness were come among us. My mouth was stopped. The cries - were terrifying. It was pitch dark; it rained much; and the - wind blew vehemently. Large flashes of lightning and loud claps - of thunder mingled with the screams and exclamations of the - people. The hurry and confusion cannot be expressed. The whole - place seemed to resemble the habitation of apostate spirits; - many raving up and down, and crying, ‘The devil will have me; I - am his servant! I am damned! My sins can never be pardoned! I - am gone, gone for ever!’ A young man was in such horrors, that - seven or eight persons could scarce hold him. He roared like a - dragon: ‘Ten thousand devils, millions, millions of devils are - about me!’ This continued three hours, and what a power reigned - amongst us! Some cried out with a hollow voice, ‘Mr. Cennick! - Bring Mr. Cennick!’ I came to all that desired me. They then - spurned me with all their strength, grinding their teeth, and - expressing all the fury that heart can conceive. Their eyes - were staring and their faces swollen, and several have since - told me, that when I drew near, they felt fresh rage, and - longed to tear me in pieces. I never saw the like, nor even the - shadow of it before. Yet I was not in the least afraid, as I - knew God was on our side.”[301] - -Such are the facts; nothing has been distorted, and nothing kept back. -They were occasionally repeated after the year 1739, but not often. A -few cases subsequently occurred in Bristol, and also in London, and in -Newcastle; but nearly all related in Wesley’s Journals are contained in -the extracts already given. - -What shall be said concerning them? For a hundred and thirty years, -they have been sneered at by Wesley’s enemies, and have also puzzled -Wesley’s friends. No such results attended Whitefield’s ministry, and -Whitefield himself regarded them with suspicion and dislike. Charles -Wesley, at Newcastle, in 1743, did his utmost to discourage them. He -writes:— - - “Many, no doubt, were, at our first preaching, struck down, - both soul and body, into the depth of distress. Their _outward - affections_ were easy to be imitated. Many counterfeits I - have already detected. The first night I preached here, half - my words were lost through their outcries. Last night, before - I began, I gave public notice that whosoever cried, so as to - drown my voice, should be carried to the farthest corner of - the room. But my porters had no employment the whole night; - yet the Lord was with us, mightily convincing of sin and of - righteousness. I am more and more convinced, the fits were a - device of Satan to stop the course of the gospel.”[302] - -Samuel Wesley was in great doubt respecting them, and, in a letter -dated September 3, 1739, asks:—“Did these agitations ever begin during -the use of any collects of the Church? or during the preaching of any -sermon that had before been preached within consecrated walls without -effect? or during the inculcating any other doctrine besides that of -your new birth?”[303] - -The Rev. Ralph Erskine wrote to Wesley thus: “Some of the instances -you give seem to be exemplified, in the outward manner, by the cases -of Paul and the gaoler, as also Peter’s hearers (Acts ii.). The last -instance you give of some struggling as in the agonies of death, is to -me somewhat more inexplicable, if it do not resemble the child of whom -it is said, that ‘when he was yet a coming, the devil threw him down -and tore him.’ I make no question, Satan, so far as he gets power, may -exert himself on such occasions, partly to mar and hinder the beginning -of the good work, in the persons that are touched with the sharp arrows -of conviction; and partly also to prevent the success of the gospel -on others. However, the merciful issue of these conflicts, in the -conversion of the persons thus affected, is the main thing.” - -Erskine proceeds to state, that they have something, in Scotland, -analogous to what had occurred in Bristol. Sometimes a whole -congregation, in a flood of tears, would cry out at once, so as to -drown the voice of the minister.[304] - -The Rev. William Hales, D.D., in his “Methodism Inspected,” accounts -for these paroxysms on “natural grounds; the sympathetic nature of -all violent emotions being well known to those who have studied the -physical and moral constitution of man.” - -Southey writes:— - - “A powerful doctrine, preached with passionate sincerity, - produced a powerful effect upon weak minds, ardent feelings, - and disordered fancies. There are passions which are as - infectious as the plague, and fear itself is not more so than - fanaticism. When once these bodily affections were declared to - be the throes of the new birth, a free licence was proclaimed - for every kind of extravagance; and when the preacher - encouraged them to throw off all restraint, and abandon - themselves before the congregation to these mixed sensations of - mind and body, the consequences were what might be anticipated.” - -Southey forgets that “powerful doctrine” was preached, with as -much “passionate sincerity,” by Whitefield and by Charles Wesley, -as by Wesley himself; but without the same effects. Besides, it is -untrue that Wesley ever “encouraged” the affected people “to abandon -themselves to these mixed sensations of mind and body.” - -The Rev. R. Watson writes:— - - “That cases of real enthusiasm occurred at this and subsequent - periods, is indeed allowed. There are always nervous, dreamy, - and excitable people to be found; and the emotion produced - among these would often be communicated by natural sympathy. - No one could be blamed for this, unless he had encouraged the - excitement for its own sake, or taught the people to regard - it as a sign of grace, which most assuredly Mr. Wesley never - did. Nor is it correct to represent these effects, genuine - and fictitious together, as peculiar to Methodism. Great and - rapid results were produced in the first ages of Christianity, - but not without ‘outcries,’ and strong corporeal as well as - mental emotions. Like effects often accompanied the preaching - of eminent men at the Reformation; and many of the Puritan - and Nonconformist ministers had similar successes in our own - country. In Scotland, and also among the grave Presbyterians of - New England, previous to the rise of Methodism, the ministry of - faithful men had been attended by very similar circumstances; - and, on a smaller scale, the same results have followed - the ministry of modern missionaries of different religious - societies in various parts of the world. It may be laid down as - a principle established by fact, that whenever a zealous and - faithful ministry is raised up, after a long, spiritual dearth, - the early effects of that ministry are not only powerful, but - often attended with extraordinary circumstances; nor are such - extraordinary circumstances necessarily extravagancies because - they are not common. It is neither irrational nor unscriptural - to suppose, that times of great national darkness and depravity - should require a strong remedy; and that the attention of the - people should be roused by circumstances which could not fail - to be noticed by the most unthinking. We do not attach primary - importance to secondary circumstances; but they are not to be - wholly disregarded. The Lord was not in the wind, nor in the - earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the still small voice; yet - that still small voice might not have been heard, except by - minds roused from their inattention by the shaking of the earth - and the sounding of the storm.” - -Isaac Taylor writes:— - - “These disorders resembled, in some of their features, the - demoniacal possessions mentioned in the gospel history. The - bodily agitations were perhaps as extreme in the one class - of instances as in the other; nevertheless, there is no real - analogy between the two. The demoniacs were _found_ in this - state by Christ where He went preaching; they did not _become - such_ while listening to Him. Besides, in no one instance - recorded in the Gospels or Acts, did demoniacal possession, or - any bodily agitations resembling it, come on as the initial - stage of conversion. How then are we to dispose of such cases? - Perhaps not at all to our satisfaction, except so far as this, - that they serve to render so much the more unambiguous the - distinction between themselves and those genuine affections - which the apostolic writers describe and exemplify.” - -What says Wesley himself? With due deference to the great names -quoted, we respect his testimony more than theirs: first, because he -was, in sobriety of feeling, in depth of learning, and in clearness -of judgment, at least their equal; and secondly, because his opinion -was pronounced after being an eye-witness, whilst theirs is founded -entirely upon the representations of others, and their own ideas of how -things ought to be. - -1. The cases were real, not pretended, and often ended in genuine -conversion. “You deny,” writes Wesley at the time, “You deny that -God does now work these effects; at least, that He works them in -this manner. I affirm both; because I have heard these things with -my own ears, and have seen them with my own eyes. I have seen very -many persons changed, in a moment, from the spirit of fear, horror, -despair, to the spirit of love, joy, and peace; and from sinful desire, -till then reigning over them, to the pure desire of doing the will of -God. I know several persons, in whom this great change was wrought in -a dream, or during a strong representation to the eye of their mind, -of Christ either on the cross, or in glory. This is the fact; let any -judge of it as they please.”[305] - -2. Why were these things permitted? Wesley says: “Perhaps it might be -because of the hardness of our hearts, unready to receive anything -unless we see it with our eyes and hear it with our ears, that God, in -tender condescension to our weakness, suffered so many outward signs of -the very time when He wrought this inward change to be continually seen -and heard among us. But although they saw ‘signs and wonders’ (for so I -must term them), yet many would not believe. They could not indeed deny -the facts; but they could explain them away.”[306] - -3. How were these extraordinary circumstances brought about? Wesley -again shall answer. Five years after—when he had heard all that -his enemies had to say—when such convulsive agitations no longer -happened—and when he had had sufficient time to test the genuineness -of these remarkable Bristol and Kingswood conversions, and to form a -calm judgment upon the whole, he wrote as follows:—“The _extraordinary_ -circumstances that attended the conviction or repentance of the -people may be easily accounted for, either on principles of reason -or Scripture. First, on principles of reason. For how easy is it -to suppose, that a strong, lively, and sudden apprehension of the -heinousness of sin, the wrath of God and the bitter pains of eternal -death, should affect the body as well as the soul, during the present -laws of vital union;—should interrupt or disturb the ordinary -circulations, and put nature out of its course? Yea, we may question, -whether, while this union subsists, it be possible for the mind to -be affected, in so violent a degree, without some or other of those -bodily symptoms following. Secondly, it is likewise easy to account -for these things on principles of Scripture. For when we take a view -of them in this light, we are to add to the consideration of natural -causes the agency of those spirits who still excel in strength, and, -as far as they have leave from God, will not fail to torment whom they -cannot destroy; _to tear_ those that _are coming_ to Christ. It is also -remarkable that there is plain Scripture precedent of every symptom -which has lately appeared.”[307] - -We have nothing more to add. Perhaps the reader will think that more -has been said than the thing deserved. We demur to that opinion. The -phenomena recorded are among the most remarkable in church history; -they are curious and mysterious; they have given rise to endless -critiques, both friendly and otherwise, and, for such reasons, merit -the space we have devoted to them. Dr. Hales’ doctrine of “the -sympathetic nature of all violent emotions,” though true, is not -sufficient to account for many of the instances related. Southey’s -opinion is flippant, and is based upon false assumptions. Watson’s is -of great importance, and, as contained at greater length in his Life of -Wesley, is the most elaborate discussion of the subject that has yet -been written. Isaac Taylor’s, to some extent, coincides with Wesley’s; -which, upon the whole, is the clearest, fullest, and the best. - -Other events, belonging to the year 1739, must now be noticed. - -Kingswood, so often mentioned, was formerly a royal chase, containing -between three and four thousand acres; but, previous to the rise of -Methodism, it had been gradually appropriated by the several lords -whose estates encircled it. The deer had disappeared, and the greater -part of the wood also; coal mines had been discovered, and it was now -inhabited by a race of people, as lawless as the foresters, their -forefathers, but far more brutal; and differing as much from the -people of the surrounding country in dialect as in appearance. They -had no place of worship; for Kingswood then belonged to the parish of -St. Philip, and was, at least, three miles distant from the parish -church.[308] The people were famous for neither fearing God nor -regarding man; and so ignorant of sacred things that they seemed but -one remove from the beasts that perish. They were utterly without -desire of instruction, as well as without the means of it. The place -resounded with cursing and blasphemy. It was filled with clamour -and bitterness, wrath and envyings, idle diversions, drunkenness, -and uncleanness;[309] a hell upon earth. Only fifteen weeks before -Whitefield’s first visit, the colliers had risen with clubs and -firearms, and gone from pit to pit threatening the lives of all the -workmen who would not join them in defeating the ends of justice, in -reference to a riot that had occurred a short time previously. At White -Hill, four mines were filled up; and carts, reels, and ropes belonging -to others were cut and burned. The soldiers were called out, and the -swarthy rioters ran away.[310] - -Kingswood was Whitefield’s first field-pulpit, for here, on February -17, 1739, he began his glorious career of out-door preaching. Within -six weeks after this, the day before Wesley came to Bristol, Whitefield -dined with the colliers, who contributed upwards of £20 towards the -erection of a school. Four days after this, the miners prepared him -another hospitable entertainment, after which he laid the foundation -stone, knelt upon it, and offered prayer, to which the colliers said, -“Amen.”[311] - -On the same day, Whitefield took his departure from Bristol, leaving -Wesley as his successor; and, with the exception of a visit of a week’s -duration in the month of July following, he was not at Kingswood -again during the next two years. Whitefield began the school at -Kingswood: the colliers gave upwards of £20; Whitefield collected -£40 in subscriptions; and, on two subsequent occasions, he made -collections for the same purpose, once when he preached his farewell -sermon at Bristol, on July 13, before embarking for America; and once -in Moorfields, when the sum of £24 9_s._ was contributed.[312] This -was all. The rest devolved on Wesley. He alone was responsible for the -payment of the debts incurred; and, for many months, wherever he went, -he begged subscriptions for the colliers’ school. The school itself -consisted of one large room, with four smaller ones for the teacher’s -residence, and was not completed till the spring of 1740.[313] The -object was to teach the children of the poor, first religion, and -then to read, write, and cast accounts; but Wesley also expected to -have “scholars of all ages, some of them grey-headed,” who were to -be taught, separate from the children, “either early in the morning, -or late at night,” so that their work might not be hindered by their -education.[314] - -Within six weeks after Whitefield laid the first stone of Kingswood -school, Wesley took possession of a piece of ground in the Horse -Fair, Bristol, and began to build a room large enough to contain the -societies of Nicholas Street and Baldwin Street. This was done without -the least apprehension or design of his being personally engaged, -either in the expense of the work, or in the direction of it; he having -appointed eleven trustees, by whom he supposed the burdens would be -borne. He soon found that he had made a great mistake. In a short time, -a debt was contracted of more than £150, whereas the subscriptions -of the trustees and of the two societies were not a quarter of that -amount. This debt devolved upon him. He had no money, nor any human -prospect or probability of procuring any; but he knew “the earth is the -Lord’s, and the fulness thereof,” and he dared to trust Him. Besides -this, Whitefield and other friends in London most strongly objected to -the building being the property of trustees, on the ground that Wesley -would be under their control; and, unless his preaching pleased them, -they might eject him from the house he himself had built. Whitefield -declared that, unless the trustship was destroyed, neither he nor his -friends would contribute anything towards the expenses. Wesley yielded; -the trustees were summoned; all agreed to the alteration; the deed was -cancelled; and Wesley became the sole proprietor. - -This, though insignificant at the time, was a matter of great -importance; for, in this manner, nearly all the chapels, erected in the -early part of his career, were vested in himself,—a thing involving -serious responsibility, which, however, was honourably fulfilled; for -trusts were afterwards created; and, by his “Deed of Declaration,” all -his interests in his chapels were transferred to his Legal Conference. - -Thus we find Wesley, with no income whatever, except the small -amount arising out of his Oxford fellowship, involved in what, to -a poor man, were two serious undertakings. But even this was not -all the burden that he took upon himself. He spent the beginning of -November in London; and whilst there, two gentlemen, then unknown to -him, came again and again, urging him to preach in a place called -the Foundery, near Moorfields. With much reluctance he consented. -He writes:—“Sunday, November 11, I preached at eight to five or six -thousand, on the spirit of bondage and the spirit of adoption; and, at -five in the evening, to seven or eight thousand, in the place which -had been the king’s foundery for cannon.”[315] He was then pressed to -take the place into his own hands. He did so. The purchase-money was -£115; but the place being “a vast, uncouth heap of ruins,” a large -sum additional to this had to be expended in needful repairs, in -building two galleries for men and women hearers respectively, and in -enlarging a room for the society to almost thrice its present size. -To meet this large expenditure, Ball, Watkins, and other friends lent -him the purchase-money; and offered to pay subscriptions, some four, -some six, and some ten shillings a year towards the liquidation of -the debt. In three years, these subscriptions amounted to about £480, -leaving however a balance of nearly £300, for which Wesley was still -responsible.[316] From this it would seem that the entire cost of the -old Foundery was about £800. - -This was the first Methodist meeting-house of which the metropolis -could boast, and a brief description of it may not be out of place. - -It stood in the locality called “Windmill Hill,” now known by the name -of Windmill Street, a street that runs parallel with City Road, and -abuts on the north-west corner of Finsbury Square. The building was -placed on the east side of the street, some sixteen or eighteen yards -from Providence Row; and measured about forty yards in front, from -north to south, and about thirty-three yards in depth, from east to -west. There were two front doors, one leading to the chapel, and the -other to the preacher’s house, school, and bandroom. A bell was hung -in a plain belfry, and was rung every morning at five o’clock for -early service, and every evening at nine for family worship; as well -as at sundry other times. The chapel, which would accommodate some -fifteen hundred people, was without pews; but, on the ground floor, -immediately before the pulpit, were about a dozen seats with back -rails, appropriated to female worshippers. Under the front gallery were -the free seats for women; and, under the side galleries, the free seats -for men. The front gallery was used exclusively by females, and the -side galleries by males. “From the beginning,” says Wesley, “the men -and women sat apart, as they always did in the primitive church; and -none were suffered to call any place their own, but the first comers -sat down first. They had no pews; and all the benches for rich and poor -were of the same construction.”[317] - -The bandroom was behind the chapel, on the ground floor, some eighty -feet long and twenty feet wide, and accommodated about three hundred -persons. Here the classes met; here, in winter, the five o’clock -morning service was conducted; and here were held, at two o’clock, on -Wednesdays and Fridays, weekly meetings for prayer and intercession. -The north end of the room was used for a school, and was fitted up -with desks; and at the south end was “The Book Room” for the sale of -Wesley’s publications. - -Over the bandroom were apartments for Wesley, in which his mother -died;[318] and, at the end of the chapel was a dwelling house for his -domestics and assistant preachers; while attached to the whole was a -small building used as a coach-house and stable.[319] - -Why was the building called the Foundery? Because, for a number of -years, it was used by the government in casting cannon. When Wesley -bought it, the edifice had been a ruin for about twenty years. In -1716, whilst recasting the injured guns taken from the French in the -successful campaigns of Marlborough, a terrible explosion blew off the -roof, shook the building, killed several of the workmen, burnt others, -and broke the limbs of not a few. This led to an abandonment of the -place, and the removal of the royal foundery to Woolwich.[320] The next -occupants were Wesley and the Methodists; and the echoes of prayer and -praise succeeded the clang of anvils and the roar of furnaces of fire. - -When first opened, it was described by Silas Told as “a ruinous -place, with an old pantile covering,” the structure to a great extent -consisting of “decayed timbers,” and the pulpit being made of “a few -rough boards.”[321] It may be interesting, to the curious reader, to -add, that a few years ago, the old Foundery bell, used in calling the -people to the five o’clock preaching, was still in existence, and was -attached to the school at Friar’s Mount, London; that, at the present -moment, the old Foundery pulpit is preserved at Richmond, and is -used by the Richmond students every week; and that the old Foundery -chandelier is now in use in the chapel at Bowes, in Yorkshire. - -This was really the cradle of London Methodism. Here Wesley began -to preach at the end of 1739. The character of the services held in -this rotten, pantile covered building may be learnt from Wesley’s -Works. Wesley began the service with a short prayer, then sung a hymn -and preached (usually about half an hour), then sung a few verses -of another hymn, and concluded with a prayer. His constant theme -was, salvation by faith, preceded by repentance, and followed by -holiness.[322] The place was rough and the people poor; but the service -simple, scriptural, beautiful. No wonder, that such a priest, shut out -of the elaborately wrought pulpits of the Established Church, and now -cooped up within a pulpit made of “_rough_ deal boards,” should be -powerful, popular, and triumphant. - -Passing from pulpits to preachers, we must venture here to correct -an error, which, from the first, seems to have been current in the -Methodist community. All Methodist historians have assumed that Thomas -Maxfield was Methodism’s first lay preacher; that is, the first who was -allowed to expound the Scriptures without being formally ordained to -that holy service. This is a mistake. Thomas Maxfield was not converted -until the 21st of May, 1739; and yet, a month after this, we find John -Cennick, the converted land surveyor, employed with Wesley’s sanction, -in preaching to the Kingswood colliers. - -Methodism’s first lay preacher deserves a passing notice. He has never -yet had justice done him, and we regret that limited space prevents -justice being rendered even here. - -John Cennick was the son of Quakers, and, from infancy, was taught to -pray every night and morning. At thirteen years of age, he went nine -times, from Reading to London, to be apprenticed to a trade, but all -to no purpose, except that he was taken on trial by a carpenter, who -refused to retain his services when the time was come for his being -bound. In 1735, John was convinced of sin, while walking in Cheapside, -and, at once, left off song singing, card playing, and attending -theatres. Sometimes he wished to go into a popish monastery, to spend -his life in devout retirement. At other times, he longed to live in -a cave, sleeping on fallen leaves, and feeding on forest fruits. He -fasted long and often, and prayed nine times every day. He was afraid -of seeing ghosts, and terribly apprehensive lest he should meet the -devil. Fancying dry bread too great an indulgence for so great a -sinner as himself, he began to feed on potatoes, acorns, crabs, and -grass; and often wished he could live upon roots and herbs. At length, -on September 6, 1737, he found peace with God, and went on his way -rejoicing. Like Howel Harris, he, at once, commenced preaching; and -also began to write hymns, a number of which Charles Wesley, in July, -1739, corrected for the press. - -We have already seen that, in March, 1739, Wesley and Cennick met at -Reading. Shortly after that, Whitefield proposed that Cennick should -become the master of the school in Kingswood, whose first stone was -laid in the month of May; and, on the 11th of June, off he set on -foot, from Reading to Bristol, sleeping all night in an old stable on -his way. On arriving there, he found that Wesley had gone to London; -but was invited to go to Kingswood to hear a young man (query, Thomas -Maxfield?) read a sermon to the colliers. The place for meeting was -under a sycamore tree, near the intended school. Four or five hundred -colliers were assembled, but the young reader had not arrived. Cennick -was requested to take his place; he reluctantly complied, preached -a sermon, and says, “The Lord bore witness with my words, insomuch -that many believed in that hour.” Cennick preached again on the day -following, and on the succeeding sabbath twice. - -Meanwhile Howel Harris came; and, on the ensuing Tuesday, Wesley. How -did Wesley receive the two lay preachers? Harris went to Wesley’s -lodgings. They fell upon their knees; and Harris writes, “He was -greatly enlarged in prayer for me, and for all Wales.” Full of holy -feeling, the Welsh evangelist crossed the channel, and found wider -doors of usefulness than ever. Cennick too was not restrained. He tells -us, that many of the people desired Wesley to forbid him; but, so far -from doing so, he encouraged him; and, thus encouraged, he preached -constantly in Kingswood and the neighbouring villages for the next -eighteen months, and sometimes supplied Wesley’s place in Bristol, when -he was absent, preaching in other towns.[323] - -Honour to whom honour is due. We repudiate the wish to take from -Maxfield a particle of fame, which of right belongs to him; but there -cannot be a doubt that John Cennick was one of Wesley’s lay preachers -before Maxfield was. Neither is there aught contradictory to this in -Wesley’s writings. It is true, that Wesley, after mentioning that the -first society was formed at the end of 1739, goes on to say: “After a -time, a young man, Thomas Maxfield, came and desired to help me as a -son in the gospel;”[324] but this is not opposed to the fact, that John -Cennick had already helped him at Kingswood, Bristol, and other places. -Myles thinks that it is probable, that Maxfield, Richards, and Westall -were all employed by Wesley in the beginning of the year 1740.[325] -Perhaps so; but we have already seen that Cennick was preaching, with -the approbation and encouragement of Wesley, as early as the month of -June, 1739.[326] - -This is not the place to pursue the footsteps of Methodism’s first lay -preacher. Suffice it to remark, though his career was comparatively -short, in zealous and successful labour it is difficult to equal it. -Cennick had his weaknesses; but, in deadness to the world, communion -with God, Christian courage, and cheerful patience, he had few -superiors. Despite his Calvinism and his differences with Wesley, we -admire and love the man. He died in 1755. - -Here then was another momentous step taken by the arch-Methodist. -Wesley had been bred within a strict ecclesiastical enclosure. He was -firm in his attachment to the principles and practices of the English -Church, and was far from being indifferent to the prerogatives of its -priests; but he was far too wise and reverent a man to say that the -salvation of the human family would be too dearly purchased if promoted -by a departure from church usages. Christianity, though conserved by -church order, does not exist for the sake of it. As a student of church -history, Wesley must have known that, again and again, unless order -had given way to a higher necessity, the gospel, instead of holding on -its way in its brightness and in its purity, would, long ere now, in -the hands of idolizers of ancient rules, have been extinguished in the -very path where it ought to have shed an unceasing flame. In no man was -there a greater combination of docility and courage; and hence, when -Wesley met with men like Cennick, full of fervent consciousness of the -reality, power, and blessedness of Christ’s religion; and employing a -style, terse from intensity of feeling, and copious from the fulness of -their theme,—no wonder that, instead of forbidding, he encouraged them -to preach the glorious truths, which they not merely understood, but -felt. - -This was a startling innovation; and, doubtless, horrified the -stereotyped ministries and priesthoods existing round about; but the -fields were white to the harvest, and the labourers were few; and -Wesley could not, durst not, forbid an increase to the staff, because -the added workers had not been trained in colleges, and came not in all -the priestly paraphernalia of surplices and hoods, gowns and bands. No -doubt he would have preferred the employment of clerics like himself; -but, in the absence of such, he was driven to adopt the measure which -we think the salvation of his system, and, in some respects, its glory. - -“I knew your brother well,” said Robinson, the Archbishop of Armagh, -when he met Charles Wesley at the Hotwells, Bristol: “I knew your -brother well; I could never credit all I heard respecting him and you; -but one thing in your conduct I could never account for, your employing -laymen.” “My Lord,” said Charles, “the fault is yours and your -brethren’s.” “How so?” asked the primate. “Because you hold your peace, -and the stones cry out.” “But I am told,” his grace continued, “that -they are unlearned men.” “Some are,” said the sprightly poet, “and so -the dumb ass rebukes the prophet.” His lordship said no more.[327] - -The following letter of Whitefield has not been previously printed so -fully as at present. As it was written at the time when Cennick began -preaching, it may appropriately be inserted here. Its references to -other matters are also deeply interesting. - - “LONDON, _June 25, 1739_. - - “HONOURED SIR,—I suspend my judgment of Brother Watkins’ and - Cennick’s behaviour till I am better acquainted with the - circumstances of their proceeding. I think there is a great - difference between them and Howel Harris. He has offered - himself thrice for holy orders; him therefore and our friends - at Cambridge I shall encourage: others I cannot countenance in - acting in so public a manner. The consequences of beginning to - teach too soon will be exceeding bad—Brother Ingham is of my - opinion. - - “I hear, honoured sir, you are about to print a sermon on - predestination. It shocks me to think of it; what will be the - consequences but controversy? If people ask me my opinion, - what shall I do? I have a critical part to act, God enable me - to behave aright! Silence on both sides will be best. It is - noised abroad already, that there is a division between you and - me. Oh, my heart within me is grieved! - - “Providence to-morrow calls me to Gloucester. If you will be - pleased to come next week to London, I think, God willing, to - stay a few days at Bristol. Your brother Charles goes to Oxon. - I believe we shall be excommunicated soon. May the Lord enable - us to stand fast in the faith; and stir up your heart to watch - over the soul of, honoured sir, - - “Your dutiful son and servant, - GEORGE WHITEFIELD. - - “To the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, at Mrs. Grevil’s, - a Grocer in Wine Street, Bristol.” - -We must proceed to another matter. Wesley writes:— - - “In the latter end of the year 1739, eight or ten persons came - to me in London, who appeared to be deeply convinced of sin, - and earnestly groaning for redemption. They desired, I would - spend some time with them in prayer, and advise them how to - flee from the wrath to come. That we might have more time for - this great work, I appointed a day when they might all come - together, which, from thenceforward, they did every Thursday, - in the evening. To these, and as many more as desired to join - with them, (for the number increased daily,) I gave those - advices, from time to time, which I judged most needful for - them; and we always concluded our meeting with prayer suited - to their several necessities. This was the rise of the United - Society, first in London, and then in other places.”[328] - -In another place, he writes:— - - “The first evening about twelve persons came; the next week, - thirty or forty. When they were increased to about a hundred, - I took down their names and places of abode, intending, as - often as it was convenient, to call upon them at their houses. - Thus, without any previous plan, began the Methodist Society in - England,—a company of people associating together to help each - other to work out their own salvation.”[329] - -No doubt the whole of this is strictly true; but there are other facts -to be remembered. - -By the preaching of the two Wesleys and of Whitefield, a large number -of persons in London had been converted; and most of these had been -incorporated in the Moravian bands. When Wesley went to Bristol, at the -end of March, the work in London devolved, to a great extent, on his -brother Charles. Disputes soon sprung up. On Easter day, Charles had -a conversation with Zinzendorf “about motions, visions, and dreams, -and was confirmed in his dislike to them.” On April 28, Whitefield -preached in Islington churchyard; and, after he had done, Bowers, a -Moravian, got up to speak. Charles Wesley says: “I conjured him not; -but he beat me down, and followed _his impulse_.” On the 16th of -May, a dispute arose, in the Moravian meeting at Fetter Lane, about -lay preaching. Many were zealous for it; but Whitefield and Charles -Wesley declared against it. In June, another Moravian, John Shaw, -“the self-ordained priest,” as Charles Wesley calls him, “was brimful -of proud wrath and fierceness”; and two others, Bowers and Bray, -whom Whitefield designated “two grand enthusiasts,” followed Charles -to Blendon, “drunk with the spirit of delusion.” In the Moravian -society, Shaw “pleaded for his spirit of prophecy”; and charged Charles -Wesley “with love of pre-eminence, and with making his proselytes -twofold more the children of the devil than they were before.” Many -misunderstandings and offences had crept in; and Wesley came from -Bristol to put things right. A humiliation meeting was held at Fetter -Lane; and “we acknowledged,” says Wesley, “our having grieved God by -our divisions; ‘one saying, I am of Paul; another, I am of Apollos’; by -our leaning again to our own works, and trusting in them, instead of -Christ; by our resting in those little beginnings of sanctification, -which it had pleased Him to work in our souls; and, above all, by -blaspheming His work among us, imputing it either to nature, to the -force of imagination and animal spirits, or even to the delusion of -the devil.” Things seem to have proceeded more smoothly till about -September, when, in the absence of the two Wesleys, “certain men -crept in among them unawares, telling them, that they had deceived -themselves, and had no true faith at all. ‘For,’ said they, ‘none has -any justifying faith, who has ever any doubt or fear, which you know -you have; or who has not a clean heart, which you know you have not; -nor will you ever have it, till you leave off running to church and -sacrament, and praying, and singing, and reading either the Bible, -or any other book; for you cannot use these things without trusting -in them. Therefore, till you leave them off, you can never have true -faith; you can never till then trust in the blood of Christ.’”[330] - -This was a serious heresy; and, on November 1, Wesley hurried up to -London to put a check to it. He acknowledges, that the Moravians -still held the grand doctrine of justification by faith; and that the -fruits of faith were “righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Ghost.” -He testifies, that they were free from the sins of swearing, theft, -gluttony, drunkenness, and adultery; that they had no diversions but -such as become saints; that they regarded not outward adorning, and -were not slothful in business. He confesses, that they fed the hungry, -and clothed the naked; that their discipline was scarce inferior to -that of the apostolic age; and, that every one knew and kept his proper -place; but, despite all this, he found them far from perfect. - -On first entering the society, he found Mr. Bray “highly commending -the being still before God; and speaking largely of the danger that -attended the doing of outward works, and of the folly of people running -about to church and sacrament.” - -On Sunday, November 4, the “society met at seven in the morning, and -continued silent till eight.” In the evening, at Fetter Lane, “some -of the brethren asserted in plain terms: 1. That, till they had true -faith, they ought to be still; that is, to abstain from the means of -grace, the Lord’s supper in particular. 2. That the ordinances are not -means of grace, there being no other means than Christ.” - -Three days later, Wesley had a long conference with Spangenberg, who -substantially avowed the same opinions. At night, the Fetter Lane -society sat an hour without speaking; and then there followed a warm -dispute, to prove that none ought to receive the Lord’s supper till -he had “the full assurance of faith.” Every day Wesley met with many -“who once knew in whom they had believed, but were now thrown into idle -reasonings, and were filled with doubts and fears. Many had left off -the means of grace, saying they must now cease from their own works, -and must trust in Christ alone; that they were poor sinners, and had -nothing to do but to lie at His feet.” - -Wesley did his utmost to correct this state of things, and then, on -November 21, went back to Bristol. On his way, he came to Wycombe, -where he unexpectedly met Mr. Gambold and a Mr. Robson. He writes: -“After much consultation and prayer, we agreed—1. To meet yearly at -London on the eve of Ascension day. 2. To fix then the business to be -done the ensuing year; where, when, and by whom. 3. To meet quarterly -there, as many as can; viz., on the second Tuesday in July, October, -and January. 4. To send a monthly account to one another, of what -God hath done in each of our stations. 5. To inquire whether Messrs. -Hall, Sympson, Rogers, Ingham, Hutchins, Kinchin, Stonehouse, Cennick, -Oxlee, and Brown will join with us herein. 6. To consider whether there -be any others of our spiritual friends, who are able and willing so -to do.”[331] This arrangement is important as indicative of Wesley’s -purpose at this early period of his history; but it was never put into -execution. The rupture with the Moravians made it a dead letter. - -Five weeks afterwards, he returned to London with a heavy heart. -“Scarce one in ten of the Moravians retained his first love; and most -of the rest were in the utmost confusion, biting and devouring one -another.” His soul was sick of their “sublime divinity.” He had a long -conversation with Molther, one of their ministers, and ascertained that -the difference between them was the following:— - -1. The Moravians held that there are no degrees of faith; and that no -man has any degree of it, before he has the full assurance of faith, -the abiding witness of the Spirit, or the clear perception that Christ -dwelleth in him. Wesley dissented from this. - -2. The Moravians taught that the way to attain faith is to wait for -Christ, and be still: that is, not to use the means of grace; not to go -to church; not to communicate; not to fast; not to use private prayer; -not to read the Scriptures; not to do temporal good; nor to attempt -doing spiritual good; because it was impossible for a man to use means -like these without trusting in them. Wesley believed just the opposite. - -3. The Moravians thought that in propagating faith, guile might be -used: (1) By saying what we know will deceive the hearers, or lead them -to think the thing which is not; (2) by describing things a little -beyond the truth, in order to their coming up to it; (3) by speaking as -if we meant what we did not mean. Wesley denounced all this. - -4. The Moravians believed that the fruits of their thus propagating -the faith in England were: (1) Much good had been done by it; (2) many -were unsettled from a false foundation; (3) many were brought into true -stillness; (4) some were grounded on the true foundation, who were -wrong before. Wesley, on the contrary, thought that very little good, -but much hurt, had been done, by such proceedings. - -This was the state of things when Wesley “began the first Methodist -society in England.” He was dissatisfied with his old Moravian friends, -and well he might. He had been prominent in the formation of their -society at Fetter Lane, on the 1st of May, 1738; but his hopes and -aspirations concerning it were blighted; and hence he formed another -society of his own. Moravian heresies had, in London at least, -corrupted the Moravian bands; numbers were offended; these and others -repaired to Wesley; Wesley took down their names, and met them every -Thursday evening for spiritual advice and prayer; success followed; and -the Methodist society was instituted. We must return to this subject in -the next chapter. - -Wesley spent most of the year 1739 in Bristol and the immediate -neighbourhood; but, at different times, he rendered important service -in other places. At Blackheath, he preached to twelve or fourteen -thousand people; and on Kennington Common to twenty thousand. In -Moorfields, he had a congregation of ten thousand. In Gloucester he -preached to seven thousand;[332] and in Bath, Bradford, and elsewhere, -to great multitudes. He also preached, at least once, in the mansion of -Lady Huntingdon, taking a bold text for such a fashionable audience: -“The cares of the world, and the deceitfulness of riches, and the -desires of other things, choke the word, and it becometh unfruitful.” - -He also met with some adventures and incidents worth mentioning. In -riding to Rose Green, his horse suddenly fell, and rolled over and -over. A gentleman, at Bradford, who had wished him good luck in -the name of the Lord, told him that his fellow collegians at Oxford -always considered him “a little crack-brained.” In one instance, the -pressgang came when he was in the middle of his sermon, and seized one -of his hearers. While preaching in Turner’s Hall, London, the floor -gave way, but fortunately the vault below was filled with hogsheads of -tobacco, so that the crowded congregation only sunk a foot or two, and -he proceeded without further interruption. At Oxford, he was grieved -to find that none now visited the workhouse and the prison, and that -the Methodist little school was about to be given up. At Stanley, on -a little green, he preached for two hours amid the darkness of an -October night. At Newport, he addressed “the most insensible, ill -behaved people” he had seen in Wales; one old man cursing and swearing -incessantly, and taking up a great stone to throw at him. The people of -Wales generally he found as ignorant of gospel truth as the Cherokee -Indians; and asks, “What spirit is he of, who had rather these poor -creatures should perish for lack of knowledge than that they should -be saved, even by the exhortations of Howel Harris, or an itinerant -preacher?” Words these well worth pondering; for they are added proof, -that Wesley, even as early as 1739, was not opposed to the employment -of lay evangelists. - -The principle upon which Wesley acted was to shrink from nothing that -he judged to be conducive to his being made a Christian.[333] On this -ground he went to Georgia, and to Germany; and says, “I am ready to -go to Abyssinia or China, or whithersoever it shall please God to -call me.” He was accused of being an enemy of the Church of England; -but maintained that he was not. The doctrines he preached were the -doctrines of the Church, as laid down in her prayers, articles, and -homilies. He allows that there were five points of difference between -him and many of the clergy; but he contends that _they_, not _he_, -were unfaithful to the Church. The points were these:—1. Those from -whom he differed spoke of justification, either as the same thing with -sanctification, or as something consequent upon it. He believed it to -be wholly distinct from sanctification, and necessarily antecedent -to it. 2. They spoke of good works as the cause of justification. He -believed the death and righteousness of Christ to be the whole and -sole cause of it. 3. They spoke of good works as existing previous to -justification. He believed that no good work is possible, previous to -justification, and therefore no good work can be a condition of it; -till we are justified we are ungodly, and incapable of good works; we -are justified by faith alone, faith without works, faith producing all -good works, yet including none. 4. They spoke of sanctification as if -it were an outward thing. He believed it to be an inward thing,—the -life of God in the soul of man; a participation of the Divine nature; -the mind that was in Christ. 5. They spoke of the new birth as -synonymous with baptism; or, at most, a change from a vicious to a -virtuous life. He believed it to be an entire change of nature, from -the image of the devil, wherein we are born, to the image of God; -a change from earthly and sensual to heavenly and holy affections. -“There is, therefore,” says he, “a wide, essential, fundamental, -irreconcilable difference between us. If they speak the truth as it is -in Jesus, I am found a false witness before God. But if I teach the way -of God in truth, they are blind leaders of the blind.”[334] He contends -that he “simply described the plain, old religion of the Church of -England, which was now almost everywhere spoken against, under the new -name of Methodism.”[335] - -Wesley was a great reader; and some of the most interesting entries -in his Journals are his critiques on books; but, in 1739, he seems to -have been too busy preaching to have had time for reading. The only -notice of this kind is the following: “1739, October 23. In riding to -Bradford, I read over Mr. Law’s book on the new birth. Philosophical, -speculative, precarious; Behmenish, void, and vain! ‘O what a fall is -there!’” This is a harsh reflection upon an old friend; but, about a -year and a half before, there had been the unfortunate quarrel with -William Law, already mentioned. See pp. 185‒8. - -Up to the present, Wesley’s mother had been his chief counsellor. -Immediately after his conversion in May, 1738, he went to Germany, -and returned to England in September. It so happened, that he and his -mother had no interview until nine months after this. Before he went to -Herrnhuth, he had related to her the particulars of his conversion, for -which “she heartily blessed God, who had brought him to so just a way -of thinking.” Meanwhile, however, she had been prejudiced against him, -and had entertained “strange fears concerning him, being convinced that -he had greatly erred from the faith.” This was not of long continuance. -Hence the following entry in Wesley’s journal:— - - “1739, September 3.—I talked largely with my mother, who told - me that, till a short time since, she had scarce heard such - a thing mentioned as the having God’s Spirit bearing witness - with our spirit: much less did she imagine that this was the - common privilege of all true believers. ‘Therefore,’ said she, - ‘I never durst ask for it myself. But two or three weeks ago, - while my son Hall was pronouncing these words, in delivering - the cup to me, “The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was - given for thee,” the words struck through my heart, and I knew - God, for Christ’s sake, had forgiven me all my sins.‘ “I asked - whether her father (Dr. Annesley) had not the same faith; - and whether she had not heard him preach it to others. She - answered, he had it himself; and declared, a little before his - death, that, for more than forty years, he had no darkness, no - fear, no doubt at all of his being accepted in the Beloved. - But that, nevertheless, she did not remember to have heard him - preach, no, not once, explicitly upon it: whence she supposed - he also looked upon it as the peculiar blessing of a few; not - as promised to all the people of God.”[336] - -Ever after this, Susannah Wesley resided chiefly in London, and -attended the ministry of her sons John and Charles. She heartily -embraced their doctrines, and conversed with the members of their -society. Hence the following from one of her letters to Charles, dated -December 27, 1739:— - - “Your brother, whom I shall henceforth call _Son Wesley_, - since my dear Sam is gone home, has just been with me, and - much revived my spirits. Indeed, I have often found that he - never speaks in my hearing without my receiving some spiritual - benefit. But his visits are seldom and short; for which I never - blame him, because I know he is well employed, and, blessed be - God, hath great success in his ministry. But, my dear Charles, - still I want either him or you; for, indeed, in the most - literal sense, I am become a little child, and need continual - succour. For these several days, I have had the conversation - of many good Christians, who have refreshed, in some measure, - my fainting spirits. I hope we shall shortly speak face to - face. But then, alas! when you come, your brother leaves me! - Yet that is the will of God, in whose blessed service you are - engaged; who has hitherto blessed your labours, and preserved - your persons. That He may continue so to prosper your work, and - protect you both from evil, and give you strength and courage - to preach the true gospel, in opposition to the united powers - of evil men and evil angels, is the hearty prayer of, dear - Charles, - - “Your loving mother, - “SUSANNAH WESLEY.”[337] - -Reference is made in the above extract to the death of Samuel Wesley, -which occurred on November 6, 1739, at the early age of forty-nine. Up -to the very last, he was strongly opposed to the Methodist movement of -his brothers. In a letter to his mother, written only seventeen days -before his death, he says:— - - “My brothers are now become so notorious, that the world will - be curious to know when and where they were born, what schools - bred at, what colleges of in Oxford, and when matriculated, - what degrees they took, and where, when, and by whom ordained. - I wish they may spare so much time as to vouchsafe a little - of their story. For my own part, I had much rather have them - picking straws within the walls, than preaching in the area of - Moorfields. - - “It was with exceeding concern and grief, I heard you had - countenanced a spreading delusion, so far as to be one of - Jack’s congregation. Is it not enough that I am bereft of both - my brothers, but must my mother follow too? I earnestly beseech - the Almighty to preserve you from joining a schism at the close - of your life, as you were unfortunately engaged in one at the - beginning of it. It will cost you many a protest, should you - retain your integrity, as I hope to God you will. They boast of - you already as a disciple. - - “They design separation. They are already forbidden all the - pulpits in London; and to preach in that diocese is actual - schism. In all likelihood, it will come to the same all over - England, if the bishops have courage enough. They leave off the - liturgy in the fields; and though Mr. Whitefield expresses - his value for it, he never once read it to his tatterdemalions - on a common. Their societies are sufficient to dissolve all - other societies but their own. Will any man of common sense, or - spirit, suffer any domestic to be in a band, engaged to relate - to five or to ten people everything, without reserve, that - concerns the person’s conscience, howmuchsoever it may concern - the family? Ought any married persons to be there, unless - husband and wife be there together? This is literally putting - asunder whom God hath joined together. - - “As I told Jack, I am not afraid the Church should - excommunicate him (discipline is at too low an ebb), but, that - he should excommunicate the Church. It is pretty near it. - Holiness and good works are not so much as _conditions_ of our - acceptance with God. Lovefeasts are introduced, and extemporary - prayers, and expositions of Scripture, which last are enough - to bring in all confusion; nor is it likely they will want any - miracles to support them. He only who ruleth the madness of the - people can stop them from being a formed sect. Ecclesiastical - censures have lost their terrors; thank fanaticism on the one - hand, and atheism on the other. To talk of persecution from - thence is mere insult. It is— - - “To call the bishop, Grey-beard Goff, - And make his power as mere a scoff - As Dagon, when his hands were off.”[338] - -Sixteen nights after writing the above, Samuel Wesley went to bed as -well as usual. At three next morning, he was seized with illness, -and, four hours afterwards, expired. John Wesley, at the time, was in -London, and Charles in Bristol; but, as soon as possible, they hastened -to Tiverton, where they rejoiced to hear that, several days before he -went hence, God had given to their brother a calm and full assurance of -his interest in Christ. - -In reviewing the events of the year 1739, it only remains to notice -Wesley’s publications. These were the following:— - -1. “An Abstract of the Life and Death of Mr. Thomas Halyburton. With -recommendatory Epistle by George Whitefield, and Preface by John -Wesley.” Oswald: London. 1739. - -Halyburton was a Scotchman, and was born in 1674. At the age of -twenty-six, he became a Presbyterian minister. Ten years afterwards, -he was appointed Professor of Divinity in the college of St. Andrews; -but almost immediately was seized with pleurisy, and died in the -thirty-seventh year of his age. - -Wesley’s preface is dated “London, February 9, 1739,” and the book -was published within a few weeks afterwards; for Wesley’s brother -Samuel, in a letter bearing date, April 16, 1739, says: “I have got -your abridgment of Halyburton; and, if it please God to allow me life -and strength, I shall demonstrate that the Scot as little deserves -preference to all Christians, as the book to all writings but those you -mention. There are two flagrant falsehoods in the very first chapter. -But your eyes are so fixed upon one point, that you overlook everything -else. You overshoot, but Whitefield raves.”[339] - -Wesley’s abridged Life of Halyburton is a beautifully written, and -most edifying book. Why did Wesley publish it? There can be but -little doubt that his chief reasons were:—1. Because it contains a -living exemplification of real religion. And 2. Because Halyburton’s -struggles, doubts, fears, and general experience, previous to his -finding peace with God, through faith in Christ, bear a striking -resemblance to the case of Wesley himself. After describing that the -kingdom of God, within us, is holiness and happiness, and that the way -of attaining it is a true and living faith, Wesley, in his preface, -says: “This work of God in the soul of man is so described in the -following treatise, as I have not seen it in any other, either ancient -or modern, in our own or any other language; so that I cannot but value -it, next to the holy Scripture, above any other human composition, -except only the ‘Christian’s Pattern,’ and the small remains of Clemens -Romanus, Polycarp, and Ignatius.” - -In the same preface, Wesley propounds thus early a doctrine, which -afterwards held a conspicuous place in the system of truth he taught. -In answering the objection, that “the gospel covenant does not promise -entire freedom from sin,” he writes: “What do you mean by the word -sin? Do you mean those numberless weaknesses and follies, sometimes -improperly termed sins of infirmity? If so, we shall not put off these -but with our bodies. But if you mean, it does not promise entire -freedom from sin, in its proper sense, or from committing it, this is -by no means true, unless the Scripture be false. Though it is possible -a man may be a child of God, who is not fully freed from sin, it does -not follow that freedom from sin is impossible; or that it is not to -be expected by all. It is described by the Holy Ghost as the common -privilege of all.” - -2. Another of Wesley’s publications, in 1739, was entitled: “Nicodemus; -or, a Treatise on the Fear of Man. From the German of Augustus Herman -Francke. Abridged by John Wesley.” Bristol: S. and F. Farley. 1739. - -The subject of the treatise was peculiarly adapted to Wesley’s present -position; and the whole is written in his best, nervous, clear, classic -style. - -3. Wesley’s third publication was two treatises of ninety-nine pages, -12mo; the first on Justification by Faith only; the second on the -Sinfulness of Man’s Natural Will, and his utter inability to do works -acceptable to God until he be justified and born again of the Spirit -of God: by Dr. Barnes. “With Preface, containing some account of the -author, extracted from the Book of Martyrs. By John Wesley.” - -This was another book congenial to Wesley’s present feelings; inasmuch -as it was full of the great doctrine, which was now the theme of his -daily ministry. - -4. Towards the end of 1739,[340] Wesley published his tract, entitled -“The Character of a Methodist.” He states, that the name of Methodists -is not one which they have taken to themselves, but one fixed upon them -by way of reproach, without their approbation or consent. The tract was -written at the urgent request of numbers of people, who were anxious -to know what were “the principles, practice, and distinguishing marks -of the sect which was everywhere spoken against.” The distinguishing -marks of a Methodist are, not his opinions, though the Methodists -are fundamentally distinguished from Jews, Turks, and infidels; from -Papists; and from Socinians and Arians: neither are the marks of a -Methodist “words or phrases:” nor “actions, customs, or usages of an -indifferent nature:” nor the laying of the whole stress of religion on -any single part of it. “A Methodist is one who has the love of God shed -abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghost given unto him; one who loves -the Lord his God with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with -all his mind, and with all his strength. He rejoices evermore, prays -without ceasing, and in everything gives thanks. His heart is full of -love to all mankind, and is purified from envy, malice, wrath, and -every unkind or malign affection. His own desire, and the one design of -his life is not to do his own will, but the will of Him that sent him. -He keeps not only some, or most of God’s commandments, but all, from -the least to the greatest. He follows not the customs of the world; -for vice does not lose its nature through its becoming fashionable. He -fares not sumptuously every day. He cannot lay up treasures upon earth -any more than he can take fire into his bosom. He cannot adorn himself, -on any pretence, with gold or costly apparel. He cannot join in any -diversion that has the least tendency to vice. He cannot speak evil of -his neighbour, no more than he can tell a lie. He cannot utter unkind, -or idle words. No corrupt communication ever comes out of his mouth. -He does good unto all men; unto neighbours and strangers, friends and -enemies.” “These,” says Wesley, “are the principles and practices of -our sect; these are the marks of a true Methodist. By these alone do -Methodists desire to be distinguished from other men.” - -Such were Methodists when Methodism was first founded in 1739. No -wonder God was with them, and honoured them with such success. Is John -Wesley’s Character of a Methodist descriptive of all the Methodists -living now? Would to God it were! - -5. Another of Wesley’s publications, in 1739, was entitled: “Hymns -and Sacred Poems. Published by John Wesley, M.A., Fellow of Lincoln -College, Oxford; and Charles Wesley, M.A., Student of Christ Church, -Oxford.” London: 12mo, pages 223. - -As this book has recently been reprinted by the Methodist Conference -Office, (“Wesley Poetry,” vol. i.,) a detailed description of its -contents is not necessary. Suffice it to remark, that, besides the -productions of his brother, the volume contains at least twenty -translations from the German by Wesley himself, and that these are -among the finest hymns the Methodists ever sing. In fact, with a few -exceptions, the hymns of the two Wesleys are the only productions in -the book worth having. Many are devout but literary rubbish, and -utterly unworthy of being used in public worship. Some of the poems are -passable; a few are beautiful; but others might have been left, without -any loss to the Christian public, in the limbo of oblivion. Had the -publication consisted only of John and Charles Wesley’s hymns, it would -have been one of the choicest productions ever printed; as in other -things, so in this, an admixture made it weak. - -6. It may be added, that it was probably in 1739 that Wesley published -an extract of his journal, from his embarking for Georgia, October 14, -1735, to his return to London, February 1, 1737; but of this we are not -certain, the first edition being without date. - -The substance of this has been already given, and hence we pass, at -once, to the year 1740. - - - - -1740. - - -[Sidenote: 1740 Age 37] - -The Moravian wranglings brought Wesley to the metropolis in 1739; and, -on the 3rd of January following, he left his friends, still “subverting -one another’s souls by idle controversies and strife of words;” and -came to Bristol on January 9. - -Here he purposed to remain; but within a month he was back to London. A -young surgeon, of the name of Snowde, had met in Bristol a man of the -name of Ramsey, who in a state of destitution and distress had applied -to Wesley for relief. Wesley employed him in writing and in keeping -accounts for him, and afterwards in teaching a school instituted by the -Bristol society.[341] Ramsey brought the young surgeon to hear Wesley -preach. Both were rascals, and availed themselves of an opportunity of -stealing £30 that had been collected towards building Kingswood school. -Snowde went off to London; fell in with his old acquaintance; committed -highway robbery; was arrested, tried, and condemned to die. While in -Newgate, awaiting the execution of his sentence, he wrote to a friend, -adjuring Wesley, “by the living God,” to come and see him before his -death. Wesley, who had been robbed so sacrilegiously, started off, -on a journey of more than two hundred miles, purposely to visit the -convict thief. He found him apparently penitent, and having only a week -to live. On the day before his sentence was to be executed, the poor -creature wrote:—“I trust God has forgiven me all my sins, washing them -away in the blood of the Lamb.” Next morning a reprieve was sent, and, -six weeks afterwards, he was ordered for transportation. Whether Wesley -assisted in obtaining the commutation of his sentence we have no means -of knowing;[342] but as soon as the affair was settled he returned -to Bristol; where, with the exception of a brief interval of about a -week’s duration, he continued until the month of June. The rest of the -year, excepting about three weeks, was spent in London. - -In Bristol, the work, in its outward aspects, was greatly altered. -Wesley writes:—“Convictions sink deeper and deeper; love and joy are -more calm, even, and steady.” - -Still there were a few instances similar to those that had occurred -in the previous year. On January 13, while he was administering the -sacrament at the house of a sick person in Kingswood, a woman “sunk -down as dead.” A week after, she was “filled with the love of God, -and with all peace and joy in believing.” On January 24, after he had -preached in Bristol, another woman caught hold of him, crying:—“I -have sinned beyond forgiveness. I have been cursing you in my heart, -and blaspheming God. I am damned; I know it; I feel it; I am in hell; -I have hell in my heart.” On April 3, the congregations in Bristol -were remarkably visited; and “the cries of desire, joy, and love -were on every side.” Five weeks after, another phase of excitement -was presented. The people began to laugh; and, though it was a great -grief to them, the laughing spirit was stronger than they were able -to resist. One woman, who was known to be no dissembler, “sometimes -laughed till she was almost strangled; then she broke out into -cursing and blaspheming; then stamped and struggled with incredible -strength, so that four or five could scarce hold her; then cried out, -‘O eternity, eternity! O that I had no soul! O that I had never been -born!’ At last, she faintly called on Christ to help her,” and her -excitement ceased. Most of the society were convinced, that those -who laughed had no power to help it; but there were two exceptions: -Elizabeth B—— and Anne H——. At length, says Wesley, “God suffered -Satan to teach them better. Both of them were suddenly seized in the -same manner as the rest, and laughed whether they would or no, almost -without ceasing. Thus they continued for two days, a spectacle to all; -and were then, upon prayer made for them, delivered in a moment.” - -What are we to think of this? Wesley attributes it to Satan, and, in -confirmation of his opinion, recites an instance which had occurred in -his own history while at Oxford. According to their custom on Sundays, -he and his brother Charles were walking in the meadows, singing psalms, -when all at once Charles burst into a loud fit of laughter. Wesley -writes:—“I asked him if he was distracted; and began to be angry. -But presently I began to laugh as loud as he; nor could we possibly -refrain, though we were ready to tear ourselves in pieces. We were -forced to go home without singing another line.” - -Amidst all this, however, there were happy deaths at Bristol. Margaret -Thomas died in the highest triumph of faith, her will swallowed up in -the will of God, and her hope full of immortality.[343] And one of the -Kingswood converts “longed to be dissolved and to be with Christ;” some -of her last words being, “I know His arms are round me; for His arms -are like the rainbow, they go round heaven and earth.” These were among -the first Methodists that entered heaven; and, no doubt, it was deaths -like theirs which prompted not a few of the triumphant funereal hymns -that gushed so exultingly from the poetic soul of Wesley’s brother. - -The New Room at Bristol, as the first Methodist meeting-house was -called, was now opened. Wesley expounded and preached daily, choosing -for exposition the Acts of the Apostles, and for sermons the greatest -texts of the New Testament. He was also one of the most active of -philanthropists. The severity of the frost in January threw hundreds -out of work, and reduced them to a state bordering on starvation; but -Wesley made collections, and fed a hundred, and sometimes a hundred -and fifty, hungry wretches in a day. He visited Bristol Bridewell, and -tried to benefit and to comfort poor prisoners, till the commanding -officer gave strict orders that neither Wesley nor any of his followers -should in future be admitted, because he and they were all atheists. -Of these same Bristol “atheists,” Wesley himself writes, “They were -indeed as little children, not artful, not wise in their own eyes, not -doting on controversy and strife of words; but truly determined to know -nothing save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” Such they were when -Wesley left them at the beginning of the month of June; and such his -brother found them. “O what simplicity,” remarks Charles Wesley, “is in -this childlike people! O that our London brethren would come to school -at Kingswood! These _are_ what they _pretend_ to be. God knows their -poverty; but they are rich.”[344] - -Unfortunately broils generally broke out where Charles was pastor. -This was his affliction, if not his fault. Before June was ended, he -began to “rebuke sharply” some who thought themselves elect. He also -read his journal to the bands “as an antidote to stillness.” When -some of the people cried out, he “bade them to be quiet.” He reproved -Hannah Barrow before the assembled society at Kingswood; and exercised -discipline upon others. All this might be proper and expedient; but it -was evidently of little use; for, when his brother returned to Bristol -on September 1, his first sermon was addressed to backsliders. He met -with one who had become wise far above what is written; and another who -had been lifted up with the abundance of joy God had given her, and -had fallen into blasphemies and vain imaginations. Later in the year, -he found many “lame and turned out of the way.” There were “jealousies -and misunderstandings.” There had been a Kingswood riot, on account -of the dearness of corn. Charles Wesley rushed into the midst of it, -and, finding a number of his converted colliers, who had been forced to -join the disturbers of the public peace, he “gleaned a few from every -company,” and “marched with them singing to the school,” where they -held a two hours’ prayer-meeting, that God would chain the lion. He -had to warn the people against apostasy. Some could not refrain from -railing. John Cennick, in December, told Wesley that he was not able -to agree with him, because he failed to preach the truth respecting -election. The predestinarians formed themselves into a party, “to -have a church within themselves, and to give themselves the sacrament -in bread and water.”[345] So that when Wesley, on December 26, went to -Kingswood, in order to preach at the usual hour, there was not more -than half-a-dozen of the Kingswood people to hear him, all the others -having become the followers of Calvinistic Cennick. - -There were other troubles in Bristol, in 1740. After several -disturbances in the month of March, the mob, on the 1st of April, -filled the street and court and alleys round the place where Wesley was -expounding, and shouted, cursed, and swore most fearfully. A number of -the rioters were arrested; and, within a fortnight, one of them had -hanged himself; a second was seized with serious illness, and sent to -desire Wesley’s prayers; and a third came to him, confessing that he -had been hired and made drunk to create disturbance, but, on coming to -the place, found himself deprived of speech and power. - -Concurrent with this unpleasantness, other parties used their utmost -endeavours to prejudice the mind of Howel Harris, gleaning up -idle stories concerning Wesley, and retailing them in Wales. “And -yet these,” says Wesley, “are good Christians! these whisperers, -talebearers, backbiters, evil speakers! Just such Christians as -murderers or adulterers!” The curate of Penreul averred, upon his -personal knowledge, that Wesley was a papist. Another man, a popish -priest named Beon, while Wesley was preaching in Bristol, cried out, -“Thou art a hypocrite, a devil, an enemy to the Church. This is -false doctrine. It is not the doctrine of the Church. It is damnable -doctrine. It is the doctrine of devils.” At Upton, the bells were rung -to drown his voice. At Temple church, the converted colliers, and even -Wesley’s brother Charles, were repelled from the sacramental table, -and threatened with arrest. William Seward, the friend and travelling -companion of George Whitefield, came to Bristol, and renounced the -friendship of the two Wesleys, “in bitter words of hatred;” and Mr. -Tucker preached against them, and condemned their irregularities in -reforming and converting men. - -So much respecting Bristol: let us turn to London. For the first five -months, in 1740, Charles Wesley was the pastor of the London Moravians -and Methodists, but conjoined with him was Philip Henry Molther, who -was the Moravian favourite. - -Molther was a native of Alsace, and a divinity student in the -university of Jena. In 1737, he became the private tutor of -Zinzendorf’s only son, and instructed him in French and music. On -the 18th of October, 1739, he arrived in London, on his way to -Pennsylvania. Bohler had left England; and the society in Fetter Lane -was under the care of the two Wesleys.[346] Being an ordained Moravian -minister, the people were anxious to hear Molther preach. At first, he -spoke to them in Latin, with the help of an interpreter; but shortly -was able to make himself understood in English. He was not satisfied -with the Fetter Lane Moravians, for, says he, they had “adopted many -most extraordinary usages.” The first time he entered their meeting, he -was alarmed and almost terror stricken at “their sighing and groaning, -their whining and howling, which strange proceeding they called the -demonstration of the Spirit of power.” Molther, however, soon became -extremely popular. Not only was the meeting-house in Fetter Lane filled -with hearers, but the courtyard as well. Within a fortnight after his -arrival, Wesley came from Bristol, “and the first person he met with -was one whom he had left strong in faith, and zealous of good works; -but who now told him, that Molther had fully convinced her she never -had any faith at all, and had advised her, till she received faith, to -be still, ceasing from outward works.” This was on November 1; and what -followed, to the end of 1739, has been related already. - -In January, 1740, Molther requested Wesley to furnish him with a -translation of a German hymn; and the magnificent one beginning, “Now I -have found the ground wherein,” was the result. For this, Molther, in a -letter dated January 25, 1740, thanks the translator, and says, “I like -it better than any other hymn I have seen in English.” He then adds:— - - “MY DEAR BROTHER,—I love you with a real love in the wounds of - my Redeemer; and whenever I remember England, and the labourers - in the kingdom of our Saviour therein, you come in my mind; and - I can but pray our Lord, that He may open to you the hidden - treasures of the mysteries of the gospel, which, as I have seen - by two of your discourses, you want to know and to experience - a little more in its depths. It is a blessed thing to preach - out of that fulness, and by experimental notions of the blood - of Christ. If you seek for this as an empty, poor sinner, it - undoubtedly will be given you, because it is only for such; and - when we cannot reach it with our desires, we may surely believe - that our hearts are not empty vessels. This is a very great and - important thing, and a mystery as well as all other things, - unless the Lord hath revealed them unto us. I wish that our - Saviour, for His own sake, may give you an entire satisfaction - in this matter, and fill up your heart with a solid knowledge - of His bloody atonement. My love to your brother Charles and - all your brethren. I am your affectionate and unworthy brother, - - “P. H. MOLTHER.”[347] - -From this vague and misty epistle, it is evident that the views of -Molther were not entertained by Wesley. For this we are thankful. Who -can tell what is meant by loving a man “in the wounds of the Redeemer”? -and by having the heart filled “up with a solid knowledge of His bloody -atonement”? With all his imperfections, Wesley had learned to express -his ideas in language much preferable to this. - -Molther remained in the metropolis till about September, 1740, when, -instead of proceeding to Pennsylvania as he intended, he was recalled -to Germany. During this ten months‘residence, his diligence was -exemplary, but its results disastrous. In the daytime, he visited from -house to house. At nights, he met the bands, and often preached. James -Hutton, in a letter to Zinzendorf, dated March 14, 1740, writes:— - - “MOST BELOVED BISHOP AND BROTHER,— - - “My heart is poor, and I feel continually, that the blood of - Christ will be a great gift, when I can obtain it to overstream - my heart. - - “At London, Molther preaches four times a week in English to - great numbers; and, from morning till night, he is engaged in - conversing with the souls, and labouring to bring them into - better order. They get a great confidence towards him, and many - of them began to be in great sorrow when they expected him to - be about to go away. I humbly beg you would leave him with - us, some time longer at the least. He continues very simple, - and improves exceedingly in the English language. The souls - are exceedingly thirsty, and hang on his words. He has had - many blessings. The false foundation many had made has been - discovered, and now speedily the one only foundation, Christ - Jesus, will be laid in many souls. - - “John Wesley, being resolved to _do_ all things himself, and - having told many souls that they were justified, who have since - discovered themselves to be otherwise, and having mixed the - works of the law with the gospel as _means_ of grace, is at - enmity against the Brethren. Envy is not extinct in him. His - heroes falling every day almost into poor sinners, frightens - him; but, at London, the spirit of the Brethren prevails - against him. In a conference lately, where he was speaking - that souls ought to go to church as often as they could, I - besought him to be easy and not disturb himself, and I would - go to church as often as he would meet me there; but he would - not insist on it. He seeks occasion against the Brethren, but - I hope he will find none in us. I desired him simply to keep - to his office in the body of Christ, _i.e._ to awaken souls in - preaching, but not to pretend to lead them to Christ. But he - will have the glory of doing all things. I fear, by-and-by, he - will be an open enemy of Christ and His church. His brother - Charles is coming to London, determined to oppose all such as - shall not use the means of grace, after his sense of them. I - am determined to be still. I will let our Saviour govern this - whirlwind. Both John Wesley and Charles are dangerous snares to - many young women. Several are in love with them. I wish they - were married to some good sisters; though I would not give them - one of mine, even if I had many. - - “In Yorkshire, Ingham and W. Delamotte are united to the - Brethren. Some thousand souls are awakened. They are a very - simple people. Some months will be necessary to bring them into - order, and Toltschig will not hurry as we Englishmen do. - - “At Oxford, some good souls at first could not be reconciled - with lay teaching, stillness, etc.; but now some will come to - Christ. About six are in a fine way. Fifty, or thereabouts, - come to hear Viney three times a week, and he gets their hearts - more and more. He is poor in spirit, and gradually returns to - first principles. - - “At Bristol, the souls are wholly under C. Wesley, who leads - them into many things, which they will find a difficulty - to come out of; for, at present, I believe, it will not be - possible to help them. First their leader must feel his heart, - or the souls must find him out. - - “In Wales, some thousands are stirred up. They are an - exceedingly simple and honest people, but they are taught the - Calvinistic scheme. However, the young man, Howel Harris, who - has been the great instrument in this work, is very teachable - and humble, and loves the Brethren. - - “My father and mother are in the same state, or rather in a - worse. My sister is much worse than ever. But, when grace can - be received, they will be blessed instruments, and bring great - glory to Him in whose heart’s blood I desire to be washed. - - “I am your poor, yet loving brother, and the congregation’s - child, - - “JAMES HUTTON.”[348] - -This is a long, loose letter; but important, as descriptive of the -Wesleys and of the work of God in general, from the standpoint of the -Moravians. They evidently thought themselves the prime, if not the -only, instruments in the present great revival; and this, excepting -Scotland, Wales, and Bristol, to a great extent, was true. The work -they had already done and contemplated was marvellous. A curious -letter, dated December, 1739, is published in Doddridge’s Diary and -Correspondence, vol. iii., p. 265, in which Zinzendorf addresses -Doddridge as “the very reverend man, much beloved in the bowels of the -blessed Redeemer, pastor of Northampton, and vigilant theologian.” -Recounting the triumphs of the gospel, he tells the Northampton pastor -that Switzerland has heard the truth; Greenland resounds with the -gospel; thirty Caffrarians had been baptized; and a thousand negroes in -the West Indies. Savannah, the Carolinas, Pennsylvania, Berbice, and -Surinam were expecting fruit; ten or fifteen heathen tribes in Virginia -were about to be visited; Ceylon and Lapland had both been reached; -the gospel was being preached in Russia; Wallachia was succoured; -Constantinople was blessed; through the whole of Germany the churches -were preparing for Christ; and the Brethren were about to go to the -East Indies, to Persian Magi, and to New York savages. All this had -been done within the last twenty years. The Moravians, like a hive of -bees, were all workers. By the grace of God, they had accomplished -wonders; and yet, in London at least, through false teaching, they -were in danger of being wrecked. The Wesleys tried to keep them right; -but, in doing so, incurred censure instead of receiving thanks. A long -extract from one of James Hutton’s letters has just been given; and -another must be added. He writes:— - - “John Wesley, displeased at not being thought so much of as - formerly, and offended with the easy way of salvation as - taught by the Brethren, publicly spoke against our doctrines - in his sermons, and his friends did the same. In June, 1740, - he formed his Foundery society, in opposition to the one which - met at Fetter Lane, and which had become a Moravian society. - Many of our usual hearers consequently left us, especially - the females. We asked his forgiveness, if in anything we had - aggrieved him, but he continued full of wrath, accusing the - Brethren that they, by dwelling exclusively on the doctrine - of faith, neglected the law, and zeal for sanctification. In - short, he became our declared opponent, and the two societies - of the Brethren and Methodists thenceforward were separated, - and became independent of each other.”[349] - -This is a painful subject; and hitherto, by both Moravian and Methodist -historians, has been touched with a tender hand; but men have a right -to know the foibles and follies of the good and great, as well as -the virtues and victories for which they have been wreathed with -honour. Besides, the recent publication of the memoirs of James Hutton -renders it requisite that something more should be said respecting the -squabbles of 1740. - -In the extracts just given, Hutton accuses Wesley of telling men that -they were justified when they were not; of envy; of being at enmity -against the Moravians; of being able to awaken sinners, but not to lead -them to the Saviour; of being a dangerous snare to young females; and -of being displeased at the decline of his popularity, and offended with -the Brethren’s easy method of salvation. Is all this true? Let us see. -The Moravian statements have been given with the utmost honesty; let -the reader take the Methodist statements on the other side. - -Be it borne in mind, that Wesley was one of the original members of -the Fetter Lane society, founded on the 1st of May, 1738; whereas -Molther was first introduced among them in the month of October, 1739. -Uneasiness and cavils sprung up immediately after Molther’s arrival; -and, before the year was ended, Wesley had to come twice from Bristol -to try to check germinating evils, and to put wrong things right. - -On New Year’s day, 1740, he writes: “I endeavoured to explain to -our brethren the true, Christian, scriptural stillness, by largely -unfolding these words, ‘Be still, and know that I am God.’” The day -after, he “earnestly besought them to ‘stand in the old paths.’ They -all seemed convinced, and cried to God to heal their backslidings.” -Wesley adds: “He sent forth such a spirit of peace and love, as we had -not known for many months before.” Next day, January 3, Wesley set out -for Bristol, and returned a month afterwards. He now found his old -friends pleading for “a reservedness and closeness of conversation,” -which perplexed him. He was told that “many of them, not content -with leaving off the ordinances of God themselves, were continually -troubling those that did not, and disputing with them, whether they -would or no.” He “expostulated with them, and besought them to refrain -from perplexing the minds of those who still waited for God in the ways -of His own appointment.” - -Thus he left them on the 3rd of March. Meanwhile, “poor perverted -Mr. Simpson” declared to Charles Wesley, that no good was to be -got by what he called the _means of grace_, neither was there any -obligation to use them; and that most of the Brethren had cast them -off. Charles, accompanied by Thomas Maxfield, called on Molther, who -talked “against running after ordinances. They parted as they met, -without prayer or singing; for the time for such exercises was past.” -Maxfield was scandalized, and Charles Wesley foresaw that a separation -was unavoidable. On Easter day, when preaching at the Foundery, he -appealed to the society, and asked, “Who hath bewitched you, that -you should let go your Saviour, and deny you ever knew Him?” A burst -of sorrow followed; but, on going to Mr. Bowers’, in the evening, to -meet the bands, the door was shut against him; and proceeding to Mr. -Bray’s, the brazier, he was threatened with expulsion from the Moravian -society. The day after, at Fetter Lane, Simpson reproved him for -mentioning himself in preaching, and for preaching up the ordinances. -He answered, that he should not ask him, or any of the Brethren, how -an ambassador of Christ should preach. He adds: “I went home, weary, -wounded, bruised, and faint, through the contradiction of sinners; -_poor_ sinners, as they call themselves,—these heady, violent, fierce -contenders for stillness. I could not bear the thought of meeting them -again.” Simpson said, “‘No soul _can_ be washed in the blood of Christ, -unless it first be brought to one in whom Christ is fully formed. But -there are only _two such ministers_ in London, Bell and Molther.’ -Is not this robbing Christ of His glory, and making His creature -_necessary_ to Him in His peculiar work of salvation? First perish -Molther, Bell, and all mankind, and sink into nothing, that Christ may -be all in all. A new commandment, called ‘_stillness_,’ has repealed -all God’s commandments, and given a full indulgence to corrupted -nature. The _still_ ones rage against _me_; for my brother, they _say_, -had consented to their pulling down the ordinances, and here come I, -and build them up again.” - -During the week, Simpson called upon Charles Wesley, and “laid down -his two postulatums:—1. The ordinances are not commands. 2. It is -impossible to doubt after justification.” In a society meeting, at -the Foundery, he further stated that “no unjustified person ought -to receive the sacrament; for, doing so, he ate and drank his own -damnation;” and J. Bray declared, that it was “impossible for any one -to be a true Christian out of the Moravian church.” - -Simpson wrote to Wesley wishing him to return to London; and, on -April 23, he came, and found confusion worse confounded than ever. -“Believers,” said Simpson, “are not subject to ordinances; and -unbelievers have nothing to do with them. They ought to be still; -otherwise they will be unbelievers as long as they live.” Wesley -writes: “After a fruitless dispute of about two hours, I returned home -with a heavy heart. In the evening, our society met; but it was cold, -weary, heartless, dead. I found nothing of brotherly love among them -now; but a harsh, dry, heavy, stupid spirit. For two hours, they looked -one at another, when they looked up at all, as if one half of them was -afraid of the other.” “The first hour passed in dumb show; the next in -trifles not worth naming.”[350] - -The two Wesleys went to Molther, who explicitly affirmed, that no one -has any faith while he has any doubt; and that none are justified till -they are sanctified. He also maintained, that, until men obtain clean -hearts and are justified, they must refrain from using the means of -grace, so called; but, after that, they are at perfect liberty to use -them, or to use them not, as they deem expedient. They are _designed -only_ for believers; but are not _enjoined_ even upon them. - -Wesley was at his wits’ end; numbers came to him every day, once full -of peace and love, but now plunged into doubts and fears. Just at this -juncture, his brother printed his fine hymn, of twenty-three stanzas, -entitled “The Means of Grace,” and circulated it “as an antidote to -stillness.”[351] “Many,” said Charles, “insist that a part of their -Christian calling is liberty _from_ obeying, not liberty _to_ obey. -‘The unjustified,’ say they, ‘are _to be still_; that is, not to search -the Scriptures, not to pray, not to communicate, not to do good, not to -endeavour, not to desire; for it is impossible to use means, without -trusting in them.’ Their practice is agreeable to their principles. -Lazy and proud themselves, bitter and censorious towards others, they -trample upon the ordinances, and despise the commands of Christ.” - -Wesley preached from the text, “Thou fool, that which thou sowest is -not quickened, except it die;” and “demonstrated to the society, that -the ordinances are both means of grace, and commands of God.”[352] -It was also probably at this period that he preached his able and -discriminating sermon on the same subject, and which is published in -his collected works. He specifies as the chief _means of grace_:—1. -Prayer. 2. Searching the Scriptures; which implies reading, hearing, -and meditating thereon. 3. Receiving the Lord’s supper. He allows, -however, that, if these _means_ are used as a kind of _commutation_ -for the religion they were designed to serve, it is difficult to find -words to express the enormous folly and wickedness of thus keeping -Christianity out of the heart by the very means which were ordained to -bring it in. All outward means whatever, if separate from the Spirit -of God, cannot profit the man using them. They possess no intrinsic -power; and God is equally able to work by any, or by none at all. -Wesley then proceeds to prove from Scripture, that, “all who desire the -grace of God are to wait for it in the means which He hath ordained; -in using, not in laying them aside.” He likewise answers the following -objections:—1. You cannot use these means without _trusting_ in them. -2. This is seeking salvation by works. 3. Christ is the only means of -grace. 4. The Scripture directs us to _wait_ for salvation. 5. God has -appointed another way—“Stand _still_, and see the salvation of God.” -Finally, Wesley concludes thus:—“1. Retain a lively sense that God -is above all means, and can convey His grace, either in or out of any -of the means which He hath appointed. 2. Be deeply impressed with the -fact, that there is no _power nor merit_ in any of the means. The _opus -operatum_, the mere work done, profiteth nothing. Do it because God -bids it. 3. In and through every outward thing, seek God alone, looking -singly to the _power_ of His Spirit, and the _merits_ of His Son.” -The whole sermon is intensely _Wesleyan_; full of keenly defined and -powerfully enforced Scripture truths. Let the reader read it: it will -benefit both his head and heart; and, perused in the light of these -painful facts, it possesses historic interest of great importance. Such -a sermon must have had a powerful influence at such a time, and bold -was the man, who, in the midst of such disputers, had the fidelity to -preach it. - -It was a time of great anxiety. The work in London was in danger of -being wrecked; and, more than that, some of Wesley’s oldest and most -trusted friends, in this afflictive emergency, proved unfaithful. - -The Rev. George Stonehouse, vicar of Islington, was converted in 1738, -chiefly through the instrumentality of Charles Wesley, who, for a time, -officiated as his curate. Many were the warm-hearted meetings, held, -by the first Methodists, in the vicar’s house. His affection for the -two Wesleys was great; and, in November 1738, when they were forsaken -by all their friends, and well-nigh penniless, he offered to find -them home and maintenance; and yet, six months afterwards, he yielded -to his churchwardens, and allowed Charles Wesley to be excluded from -his church. Imbibing Molther’s heresies, Stonehouse sold his living, -married the only daughter of Sir John Crispe, joined the Moravians, -and retired to Sherborne, in the west of England, where he fitted up a -place capable of accommodating five hundred people, in which to hold -Moravian meetings. In 1745, he had a lovefeast, the room being grandly -illuminated with thirty-seven candles adorned with flowers; and all the -sisters present being dressed in German fashion. Shortly after this, he -abandoned the Brethren altogether,[353] and appears henceforth to have -spent his days in inglorious _stillness_, enjoying the benefits of a -_quiet_ religion and a harmless life.[354] - -Wesley sought counsel of his friend Ingham, and received in reply the -following letter, full of piety and mistiness, and now for the first -time published. - - “OSSET, _February 20, 1740_. - - “MY DEAR BROTHER,—You ask, what are the marks of a person that - is justified, but not sealed? - - “I cannot give you any certain, infallible marks. One to whom - the Lord has given the gift of discerning could tell; but - without that gift none else can know surely. However, it may be - said, that justified persons are meek, simple, and childlike; - they have doubts and fears; they are in a wilderness state; - and, in this state, they are to be kept _still and quiet_, to - search more deeply into their hearts, so that they may become - more and more humble. They are likewise to depend wholly upon - Christ; and to be kept from confusion; for, if they come into - confusion, they receive inconceivable damage. - - “On the other hand, if they continue meek, gentle, still,—if - they search into their hearts, and depend on Christ, they will - find their hearts to be sweetly drawn after Him; they will - begin to loathe and abhor sin, and to hunger and thirst after - righteousness; they will get strength daily; Christ will begin - to manifest Himself by degrees; the darkness will vanish, and - the day-star will arise in their hearts. Thus they will go on - from strength to strength, till they become strong; and then - they will begin to see things clearly; and so, by degrees, they - will come to have the assurance of faith. - - “You ask whether, in this intermediate state, they are - ‘children of wrath,’ or ‘heirs of the promises’? - - “Without doubt, they are children of God, and in a state - of salvation. A child may be heir to an estate, before it - can speak, or know what an estate is; so we may be heirs of - heaven before we know it, or are made sure of it. However, the - assurance of faith is to be sought after. It may be attained; - and it will be, by all who go forward. - - “We must first be deeply humble and poor in spirit. We must - have a fixed and abiding sense of our own weakness and - unworthiness, corruption, sin, and misery. This it is to be a - _poor sinner_. - - “If I were with you, I would explain things more largely; but I - am a novice; I am but a beginner; a babe in Christ. If you go - amongst the Brethren, they are good guides; but, after all, we - must be taught of God, and have experience in our own hearts. - May the Spirit of truth lead us into all truth! - - “I am your poor, unworthy brother, - - “B. INGHAM. - - “Rev. John Wesley, at Mr. Bray’s, Brazier, - in Little Britain, London.” - -This is a curious letter, and will help to cast light on some of -the expressions which Wesley himself had used concerning his own -experience. As yet, the Methodists had much to learn. Meanwhile, Ingham -and Howel Harris came to London. Charles Wesley says, the latter, in -his preaching, proved himself a son of thunder and of consolation. -Cavilling, however, followed. Honest, plain, undesigning James Hutton -“was all tergiversation, and turned into a subtle, close, ambiguous -Loyola;” while Richard Bell, watch-case maker, seemed to think, that he -and Molther and another were all the church that Christ had in England. -A man of the name of Ridley rendered himself famous by saying, “You -may as well go to hell for praying as for thieving;” and John Browne -asserted, “If we read, the devil reads with us; if we pray, he prays -with us; if we go to church or sacrament, he goes with us.”[355] - -Ingham also, as well as Harris, “honestly withstood the deluded -Brethren; contradicted their favourite errors; and constrained them to -be _still_.” In the Fetter Lane society, he bore a noble testimony for -the ordinances of God; but the answer was, “You are blind, and speak -of the things you know not.” Wesley preached a series of sermons—1. -On the delusion, that “weak faith is no faith.” 2. On the bold -affirmation, that there is but one commandment in the New Testament, -namely, “to believe.” 3. On the point, that Christians are subject to -the ordinances of Christ. 4. On the fact, that a man may be justified -without being entirely sanctified. These discourses were followed by -five others, on reading the Scriptures, prayer, the Lord’s supper, and -good works. - -The result was increased commotion. Some said, “We believers are no -more bound to obey, than the subjects of the king of England are bound -to obey the laws of the king of France.” Bell declared that, for a -man not born of God to read the Scriptures, pray, or come to the -Lord’s table, was deadly poison. And Wesley, after a short debate, was -prohibited preaching at Fetter Lane. - -This brought matters to a crisis. Wesley had done all he could to -correct the growing errors; but Molther was a greater favourite than -Wesley; and the man, who had founded Fetter Lane society, was now, by -Moravian votes, commanded to go about his business, and to leave the -pulpit to his German superiors. - -The thing had become an intolerable evil; and, at all hazards, the -heresies must be checked. Substantially they may be reduced to two:—1. -That there are no degrees of faith; or, in other words, that there is -no justifying faith where there is any doubt or fear; or, in other -words (for we feel it difficult to gripe such an abortive dogma), -no man believes and is justified, unless, in the full sense of the -expression, he is sanctified, and is possessed of a clean heart. 2. -That to search the Scriptures, to pray, or to communicate, before we -have faith, is to seek salvation by works; and such works must be laid -aside before faith can be received. - -This is not the place to confute such errors. Suffice it to say, that, -before half-a-dozen years had passed, the London Moravians dropped the -very doctrines, for opposing which Wesley was expelled from preaching -in Fetter Lane. Their _stillness_ was declared to mean, that “man -cannot attain to salvation by his own wisdom, strength, righteousness, -goodness, merits, or works. When he applies for it, he must cast away -all dependence upon everything of his own, and, trusting only to the -mercy of God, through the merits of Christ, he must thus _quietly wait_ -for God’s salvation.”[356] This is a doctrine to which Wesley raised -no objection; but it was not the doctrine of Molther, Browne, Bell, -Bray, and Bowers, in 1740. Then as to the doctrine concerning degrees -in faith, it is right to add, that such a dogma was never taught by -the general authorities of the Moravian _church_; but it was taught by -Spangenberg, Molther, Stonehouse, and other Moravians in London,[357] -the result being the disastrous confusion to which we are now -adverting. Indeed, it is a notable fact, that, only two months after -the Fetter Lane disruption, Wesley himself clears the Moravian _church_ -from the aspersion, that it held such heresies. They were the spawn of -foolish fanatics, who regarded themselves Moravians, but were hardly -worthy of the name. On September 29, 1740, Wesley having stated what -the errors were, observes:—“In flat opposition to this, I assert: 1. -That a man may have a degree of justifying faith, before he is wholly -freed from all doubt and fear; and before he has, in the full, proper -sense, a new, a clean heart. 2. That a man may use the ordinances of -God, the Lord’s supper in particular, before he has such a faith as -excludes all doubt and fear, and implies a new, a clean heart. 3. I -further assert, that I learned this, not only from the English, but -also from the Moravian church; and I hereby openly and earnestly call -upon that church, and upon Count Zinzendorf in particular, to correct -me, and explain themselves, if I have misunderstood or misrepresented -them.” Wesley thus puts the blame on the right shoulders. It was not -the Moravian _church_, but a few of its foolish ministers and members, -at Fetter Lane, that circulated these heresies. - -What was the result? If the Fetter Lane society did not exclude Wesley -from their membership, they, on the 16th of July, expelled him from -their pulpit; and hence, four days afterwards, he went with Mr. Seward -to their lovefeast, and, at its conclusion, read a paper stating the -errors into which they had fallen, and concluding thus:—“I believe -these assertions to be flatly contrary to the word of God. I have -warned you hereof again and again, and besought you to turn back to the -‘law and the testimony.’ I have borne with you long, hoping you would -turn. But, as I find you more and more confirmed in the error of your -ways, nothing now remains, but that I should give you up to God. You -that are of the same judgment, follow me.” - -Without saying more, he then silently withdrew, eighteen or nineteen of -the society following him. - -Two days afterwards, he received a letter from one of the Brethren in -Germany, advising him and his brother to deliver up the “instruction -of poor souls” to the Moravians; “for you,” adds the writer, “only -instruct them in such errors, that they will be damned at last. St. -Peter justly describes you, who ‘have eyes full of adultery, and cannot -cease from sin;’ and take upon you to guide unstable souls, and lead -them in the way of damnation.” - -The day following, the seceding society, numbering about twenty-five -men and fifty women, met for the first time, at the Foundery, instead -of at Fetter Lane; and so the Methodist society was founded on July 23, -1740. - -A fortnight later, Wesley, “a presbyter of the church of God in -England,” wrote a long letter “to the church of God at Herrnhuth,” in -which he states, that, though some of the Moravians had pronounced him -“a child of the devil and a servant of corruption,” yet, he was now -taking the liberty of speaking freely and plainly concerning things -in the Moravian church which he deemed unscriptural. He enumerates -the heresies which have been so often mentioned. He tells them, that -a Moravian preacher, in his public expounding, said: “As many go to -hell by praying as by thieving.” Another had said, “I knew a man who -received a great gift while leaning over the back of a chair; but -kneeling down to give God thanks, he lost it immediately through doing -so.” He charges the Moravians with exalting themselves and despising -others, and declares, that he scarce ever heard a Moravian owning his -church or himself to be wrong in anything. They spoke of their church -as if it were infallible, and some of them set it up as the judge of -all the earth, of all persons and of all doctrines, and maintained that -there were no true Christians out of it. Like the modern Mystics, they -mixed much of man’s wisdom with the wisdom of God, and philosophised on -almost every part of the plain religion of the Bible. They talked much -against mixing nature with grace, and against mimicking the power of -the Holy Ghost. They cautioned the brethren against animal joy, against -natural love of one another, and against selfish love of God. “My -brethren,” concludes Wesley, “whether ye will hear, or whether ye will -forbear, I have now delivered my own soul. And this I have chosen to do -in an artless manner, that if anything should come home to your hearts, -the effect might evidently flow, not from the wisdom of man, but from -the power of God.” - -On September 1, Charles Wesley wrote to Whitefield in America, as -follows:— - - “The great work goes forward, maugre all the opposition of - earth and hell. The most violent opposers of all are our - own brethren of Fetter Lane, that were. We have gathered up - between twenty and thirty from the wreck, and transplanted - them to the Foundery. The remnant has taken root downward, - and borne fruit upwards. A little one is become a thousand. - They grow in grace, particularly in humility, and in the - knowledge of our Lord Jesus. Innumerable have been the devices - to scatter this little flock. The roaring lion is turned a - _still_ lion, and makes havoc of the church by means of our - spiritual brethren. They are indefatigable in bringing us off - from our ‘carnal ordinances,’ and speak with such wisdom from - beneath, that, if it were possible, they would deceive the very - elect. The Quakers, they say, are exactly right; and, indeed, - the principles of the one naturally lead to the other. For - instance, take our poor friend Morgan. One week he and his wife - were at J. Bray’s, under the teaching of the _still_ brethren. - Soon after, he turned Quaker, and is now a celebrated preacher - among them. All these things shall be for the furtherance of - the gospel.”[358] - -Whitefield’s reply to this is unknown; but on November 24 he wrote as -follows to James Hutton:— - - “I have lately conversed closely with Peter Bohler. Alas! - we differ widely in many respects; therefore, to avoid - disputations and jealousies on both sides, it is best to - carry on the work of God apart. The divisions among the - Brethren sometimes grieve, but do not surprise me. How can it - be otherwise, when teachers do not think and speak the same - things? God grant we may keep up a cordial, undissembled love - towards each other, notwithstanding our different opinions. O, - how I long for heaven! Surely, there will be no divisions, no - strife there, except who shall sing with most affection to the - Lamb that sitteth upon the throne. Dear James, there I hope to - meet thee.”[359] - -Here, for the present, we leave the London Moravians. We say, for the -present, for unfortunately we shall have to recur to them. - -The year 1740 was a year of troubles. A month previous to the Fetter -Lane secession, a man of the name of Acourt bitterly complained, that -he had been refused admission to the society-meeting, by order of -Charles Wesley, because he differed from the Wesleys in opinion. “What -opinion do you mean?” asked Wesley. He answered, “That of election. I -hold, a certain number is elected from eternity; and these must and -shall be saved; and the rest of mankind must and shall be damned; and -many of your society hold the same.” Here we have another bone of -contention. - -Up to the time of Whitefield’s visit to America, he and the Wesleys -had laboured in union and harmony, without entering into the discussion -of particular opinions; but now, across the Atlantic, Whitefield -became acquainted with a number of godly Calvinistic ministers, who -recommended to him the writings of the puritan divines, which he -read with great avidity, and, as a consequence, soon embraced their -sentiments. Secrecy was no part of Whitefield’s mental or moral nature. -With the utmost frankness, he wrote to Wesley, informing him of his new -opinions.[360] - -Wesley was the son of parents who held the doctrines of election and -reprobation in abhorrence. While at college, he had thoroughly sifted -the subject for himself, and, in letters to his mother, expressed his -views in the strongest language. Whitefield, on the contrary, was no -theologian. His heart was one of the largest that ever throbbed in -human bosom; but his logical faculties were small. When he read the -Calvinistic theory, he was not conversant with the arguments against -it; and hence, with his characteristic impulsiveness, he adopted -a creed, which far more powerful minds than his had not been able -to defend. Southey remarks, with great truthfulness, that, “at the -commencement of his career, Wesley was of a pugnacious spirit, the -effect of his sincerity, his ardour, and his confidence.” No wonder -then that these two devoted friends were soon at variance. - -One of Whitefield’s letters, dated June 25, 1739, has been already -given. The following is another, hitherto unpublished, written a week -later:— - - “GLOUCESTER, _July 2, 1739_. - - “HONOURED SIR,—I confess my spirit has been of late sharpened - on account of some of your proceedings; my heart has been quite - broken within me. I have been grieved from my soul, knowing - what a dilemma I am reduced to. How shall I tell the Dissenters - I do not approve of their doctrines, without wronging my - own soul? How shall I tell them I do, without contradicting - my honoured friend, whom I desire to love as my own soul? - Lord, for Thy infinite mercy’s sake, direct me so to act, as - neither to injure myself nor my friend! Is it true, honoured - sir, that brother Stock is excluded the society because he - holds predestination? If so, is it right? Would Jesus Christ - have done so? Is this to act with a catholic spirit? Is it - true, honoured sir, that the house at Kingswood is intended - hereafter for the brethren to dwell in, as at Herrnhuth? Is - this answering the primitive design of that building? Did the - Moravians live together till they were obliged by persecution? - Does the scheme at Islington succeed? As for brother Cennick’s - expounding, I know not what to say. Brother Watkin I think no - way qualified for any such thing. - - “Dear, honoured sir, if you have any regard for the peace of - the church, keep in your sermon on predestination. But you have - cast a lot. Oh! my heart, in the midst of my body, is like - melted wax. The Lord direct us all! Honoured sir, indeed, I - desire you all the success you can wish for. May you increase, - though I decrease! I would willingly wash your feet. God is - with us mightily. I have just now written to the bishop. Oh, - wrestle, wrestle, honoured sir, in prayer, that not the least - alienation of affection may be between you, honoured sir, and - your obedient son and servant in Christ, - - “GEORGE WHITEFIELD. - - “To the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, at Mrs. Grevil’s, - a grocer, in Wine Street, Bristol.” - -This was within three months from the time when Wesley, at Whitefield’s -request, began his career of out-door preaching at Bristol. Two months -later, Whitefield was, a second time, on his way to America. Wesley -wrote to him, opposing the doctrine of election, and also enforcing -the doctrine, that, though Christians can never be freed from “those -numberless weaknesses and follies, sometimes improperly termed sins of -infirmity,” yet it is the privilege of all to be saved “entirely from -sin in its proper sense, and from committing it.”[361] - -In reply, Whitefield wrote as follows:— - - “SAVANNAH, _March 26, 1740_. - - “MY HONOURED FRIEND AND BROTHER,—For once hearken to a - child, who is willing to wash your feet. I beseech you, by - the mercies of God in Christ Jesus our Lord, if you would - have my love confirmed towards you, write no more to me - about misrepresentations wherein we differ. To the best of - my knowledge, at present, no sin has _dominion_ over me; yet - I feel the strugglings of indwelling sin day by day. I can, - therefore, by no means, come into your interpretation of the - passage mentioned in your letter, and as explained in your - preface to Mr. Halyburton. If possible, I am ten thousand times - more convinced of the doctrine of _election_, and the _final_ - perseverance of those that are truly in Christ, than when I - saw you last. You think otherwise. Why then should we dispute, - when there is no probability of convincing? Will it not, in - the end, destroy brotherly love, and insensibly take from us - that cordial union and sweetness of soul, which I pray God may - always subsist between us? How glad would the enemies of the - Lord be to see us divided! How many would rejoice, should I - join and make a party against you! How would the cause of our - common Master suffer by our raising disputes about particular - points of doctrines! _Honoured sir_, let us offer salvation - freely to all by the blood of Jesus; and whatever light God has - communicated to us, let us freely communicate to others. I have - lately read the life of Luther, and think it in nowise to his - honour, that the last part of his life was so much taken up in - disputing with Zuinglius and others, who, in all probability, - equally loved the Lord Jesus, notwithstanding they might differ - from him in other points. Let this, dear sir, be a caution to - us. I hope it will to me; for, provoke me to it as much as you - please, I intend not to enter the lists of controversy with - you on the points wherein we differ. Only, I pray to God, that - the more you _judge me_, the more I may _love you_, and learn - to desire no one’s approbation, but that of my Lord and Master - Jesus Christ.”[362] - -Two months after this, Whitefield wrote again:— - - “CAPE LOPEN, _May 24, 1740_. - - “HONOURED SIR,—I cannot entertain prejudices against your - conduct and principles any longer, without informing you. The - more I examine the writings of the most experienced men, and - the experiences of the most established Christians, the more - I differ from your notion about not committing sin, and your - denying the doctrines of election and final perseverance of - the saints. I dread coming to England, unless you are resolved - to oppose these truths with less warmth than when I was there - last. I dread your coming over to America, because the work of - God is carried on here (and that in a most glorious manner), - by doctrines quite opposite to those you hold. Here are - thousands of God’s children, who will not be persuaded out of - the privileges purchased for them by the blood of Jesus. There - are many worthy experienced ministers, who would oppose your - principles to the utmost. God direct me what to do! Sometimes, - I think it best to stay here, where we all think and speak - the same thing. The work goes on without divisions, and with - more success, because all employed in it are of one mind. I - write not this, honoured sir, from heat of spirit, but out of - love. At present, I think you are entirely inconsistent with - yourself, and, therefore, do not blame me, if I do not approve - all you say. God Himself teaches my friends the doctrine of - election. Sister H—— hath lately been convinced of it; and, - if I mistake not, dear and honoured Mr. Wesley hereafter will - be convinced also. Perhaps I may never see you again, till we - meet in judgment; then, if not before, you will know, that - sovereign, distinguishing, irresistible grace brought you - to heaven. Then will you know, that God loved you with an - everlasting love; and therefore with lovingkindness did He draw - you. Honoured sir, farewell!”[363] - -A fortnight later, on the 7th of June, Whitefield, writing to James -Hutton, says:— - - “For Christ’s sake, desire dear brother Wesley to avoid - disputing with me. I think I had rather die, than see a - division between us; and yet how can we walk together, if we - oppose each other?”[364] - -He wrote again to Wesley as follows:— - - “SAVANNAH, _June 25, 1740_. - - “MY HONOURED FRIEND AND BROTHER,—For Christ’s sake, if - possible, never speak against election in your sermons. No - one can say, that I ever mentioned it in public discourses, - whatever my private sentiments may be. For Christ’s sake, let - us not be divided amongst ourselves. Nothing will so much - prevent a division as your being silent on this head. I am glad - to hear, that you speak up for an attendance on the means of - grace, and do not encourage persons who run, I am persuaded, - before they are called. The work of God will suffer by such - imprudence.”[365] - -On the 16th of July, Howel Harris wrote to Wesley:— - - “DEAR BROTHER JOHN,—Reports are circulated that you hold _no - faith_ without a full and constant assurance, and, that there - is no state of salvation without being wholly set at liberty - in the fullest sense of perfection. It is also said, that I - am carried away by the same stream, and, that many of the - little ones are afraid to come near me. Letters have likewise - informed me, that, the night you left London, you turned a - brother out of the society, and charged all to beware of him, - purely because he held the doctrine of election. My dear - brother, do not act in the stiff, uncharitable spirit which - you condemn in others. If you exclude him from the society and - from the fraternity of the Methodists, for such a cause, you - must exclude brother Whitefield, brother Seward, and myself. I - hope I shall contend with my last breath and blood, that it is - owing to special, distinguishing, and irresistible grace, that - those that are saved are saved. O that you would not touch on - this subject till God enlighten you! My dear brother, being a - public person, you grieve God’s people by your opposition to - electing love; and many poor souls believe your doctrine simply - because you hold it. All this arises from the prejudices of - your education, your books, your companions, and the remains of - your carnal reason. The more I write, the more I love you. I - am sure you are one of God’s elect, and, that you act honestly - according to the light you have.”[366] - -On the 9th of August, Wesley addressed Whitefield as follows:— - - “MY DEAR BROTHER,—I thank you for yours of May the 24th. The - case is quite plain. There are bigots both for predestination - and against it. God is sending a message to those on either - side. But neither will receive it, unless from one who is of - their own opinion. Therefore, for a time, you are suffered to - be of one opinion, and I of another. But when His time is come, - God will do what man cannot, namely, make us both of one mind. - Then persecution will flame out, and it will be seen whether we - count our lives dear unto ourselves, so that we may finish our - course with joy. I am, my dearest brother, ever yours, - - “JOHN WESLEY.”[367] - -In the same month, Whitefield wrote to Wesley:— - - “CHARLESTOWN, _August 25, 1740_. - - “MY DEAR AND HONOURED SIR,—Give me leave, with all humility, - to exhort you not to be strenuous in opposing the doctrines of - election and final perseverance; when, by your own confession, - you have not the witness of the Spirit within yourself, and - consequently are not a proper judge. I remember brother E—— - told me one day, that he was convinced of the perseverance of - saints. I told him, you were not. He replied, but ‘he will be - convinced when he has got the Spirit himself.’ Perhaps the - doctrines of election and of final perseverance have been - abused; but, notwithstanding, they are children’s bread, and - ought not to be withheld from them, supposing they are always - mentioned with proper cautions against the abuse of them. I - write not this to enter into disputation. I cannot bear the - thought of opposing you; but how can I avoid it, if you go - about, as your brother Charles once said, to drive John Calvin - out of Bristol. Alas! I never read anything that Calvin wrote. - My doctrines I had from Christ and His apostles. I was taught - them of God; and as God was pleased to send me out first, and - to enlighten me first, so, I think, He still continues to do - it. I find, there is a disputing among you about election and - perfection. I pray God to put a stop to it; for what good end - will it answer? I wish I knew your principles fully. If you - were to write oftener, and more frankly, it might have a better - effect than silence and reserve.”[368] - -A month later he wrote again as follows:— - - “BOSTON, _September 25, 1740_. - - “HONOURED SIR,—I am sorry to hear, by many letters, that you - seem to own a _sinless perfection_ in this life attainable. I - think I cannot answer you better, than a venerable minister - in these parts answered a Quaker: ‘Bring me a man that hath - really arrived to this, and I will pay his expenses, let him - come from where he will.’ I know not what you may think, but - I do not expect to say indwelling sin is destroyed in me, - till I bow my head and give up the ghost. There must be some - Amalekites left in the Israelites’ land to keep his soul in - action, to keep him humble, and to drive him continually to - Jesus Christ for pardon. I know many abuse this doctrine, and - perhaps wilfully indulge sin, or do not aspire after holiness, - because no man is perfect in this life. But what of that? - Must I assert, therefore, doctrines contrary to the gospel? - God forbid! Besides, dear sir, what a fond conceit is it to - cry up _perfection_, and yet cry down the doctrine of _final - perseverance_. But this, and many other absurdities, you will - run into, because you will not own _election_. And you will not - own _election_, because you cannot own it without believing the - doctrine of _reprobation_. What then is there in _reprobation_ - so horrid? I see no blasphemy in holding that doctrine, if - rightly explained. If God might have passed by all, He may - pass by some. Judge whether it is not a greater blasphemy to - say, ‘Christ died for souls now in hell.’ Surely, dear sir, - you do not believe there will be a general gaol _delivery_ of - damned souls hereafter. O that you would study the covenant of - grace! But I have done. If you think so meanly of Bunyan and - the puritan writers, I do not wonder that you think me wrong. I - find your sermon has had its expected success. It has set the - nation a disputing. You will have enough to do now to answer - pamphlets. Two I have already seen. O that you would be more - cautious in casting lots! O that you would not be too rash and - precipitant! If you go on thus, honoured sir, how can I concur - with you? It is impossible. I must speak what I know. About - spring you may expect to see, - - “Ever, ever yours in Christ, - “GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[369] - -Wesley’s sermon was already published. Let us look at it. It was -preached at Bristol; and, in some respects, was the most important -sermon that he ever issued. It led, as we shall shortly see, to the -division which Whitefield so devoutly deprecates; and also to the -organisation of Lady Huntingdon’s Connexion, and to the founding of the -Calvinistic Methodists in Wales; and, finally, culminated in the fierce -controversy of 1770, and the publication of Fletcher’s unequalled -“Checks;” which so effectually silenced the Calvinian heresy, that its -voice has scarce been heard from that time to this. Viewed in such a -light, the difference between Wesley and Whitefield was really one of -the greatest events in the history of Wesley and even of the religion -of the age. - -Wesley’s sermon, entitled “Free Grace,” was founded upon Romans viii. -32, and was printed as a 12mo pamphlet in twenty-four pages. Annexed -to it was Charles Wesley’s remarkable “Hymn on Universal Redemption,” -consisting of thirty-six stanzas of four lines each.[370] It is also a -noteworthy fact, that, notwithstanding its importance, it was never -included by Wesley in any collected edition of his sermons; and, in -his own edition of his works, it is placed among his controversial -writings. There is likewise a brief address to the reader, as follows:— - - “Nothing but the strongest conviction, not only that what is - here advanced is ‘the truth as it is in Jesus,’ but also that - I am indispensably obliged to declare this truth to all the - world, could have induced me openly to oppose the sentiments of - those whom I esteem for their works’ sake; at whose feet may I - be found in the day of the Lord Jesus! - - “Should any believe it his duty to reply hereto, I have only - one request to make,—let whatsoever you do be done in charity, - in love, and in the spirit of meekness. Let your very disputing - show, that you have ‘put on, as the elect of God, bowels of - mercies, gentleness, longsuffering,’ that even according to - this time it may be said, ‘See how these Christians love one - another.’” - -Having laid down the principle that God’s “free grace is free in all, -and free for all,” Wesley proceeds, with great acuteness, to define the -doctrine of predestination; namely, “Free grace in all is not free for -all, but only for those whom God hath ordained to life. The greater -part of mankind God hath ordained to death; and it is not free for -them. Them God hateth; and therefore, before they were born, decreed -they should die eternally. And this He absolutely decreed, because it -was His sovereign will. Accordingly, they are born for this, to be -destroyed body and soul in hell. And they grow up under the irrevocable -curse of God, without any possibility of redemption; for what grace -God gives, He gives only for this, to increase, not prevent, their -damnation.” - -Having effectually answered the objections of well meaning people, -who, startled at a doctrine so spectral, say, “This is not the -predestination which I hold, I hold only the election of grace,” he -sums up as follows:— - - “Though you use softer words than some, you mean the selfsame - thing; and God’s decree concerning the election of grace, - according to your account of it, amounts to neither more nor - less than what others call, ‘God’s decree of reprobation.’ - Call it therefore by whatever name you please, ‘election, - preterition, predestination, or reprobation,’ it comes in the - end to the same thing. The sense of all is plainly this,—by - virtue of an eternal, unchangeable, irresistible decree of - God, one part of mankind are infallibly saved, and the rest - infallibly damned; it being impossible that any of the former - should be damned, or that any of the latter should be saved.” - -This presents the doctrine in all its naked, hideous deformity; but it -is fair, and no Calvinian dexterity can make it otherwise. - -Wesley then proceeds to state the objections to such a doctrine:— - -1. It renders all preaching vain; for preaching is needless to them -that are elected; for they, whether with it or without it, will -infallibly be saved. And it is useless to them that are not elected; -for they, whether with preaching or without, will infallibly be damned. - -2. It directly tends to destroy that holiness which is the end of all -the ordinances of God; for it wholly takes away those first motives to -follow after holiness, so frequently proposed in Scripture, the hope of -future reward and fear of punishment, the hope of heaven and fear of -hell. - -3. It directly tends to destroy several particular branches of -holiness; for it naturally tends to inspire, or increase, a sharpness -of temper, which is quite contrary to the meekness of Christ, and leads -a man to treat with contempt, or coldness, those whom he supposes to be -outcasts from God. - -4. It tends to destroy the comfort of religion. - -5. It directly tends to destroy our zeal for good works; for what -avails it to relieve the wants of those who are just dropping into -eternal fire! - -6. It has a direct and manifest tendency to overthrow the whole -Christian revelation; for it makes it unnecessary. - -7. It makes the Christian revelation contradict itself; for it is -grounded on such an interpretation of some texts as flatly contradicts -all the other texts, and indeed the whole scope and tenour of Scripture. - -8. It is full of blasphemy; for it represents our blessed Lord as a -hypocrite and dissembler, in saying one thing and meaning another,—in -pretending a love which He had not; it also represents the most holy -God as more false, more cruel, and more unjust than the devil; for, -in point of fact, it says that God has condemned millions of souls to -everlasting fire for continuing in sin, which, for want of the grace He -gives them not, they are unable to avoid. - -Wesley sums up the whole thus:— - - “This is the blasphemy clearly contained in _the horrible - decree_ of predestination. And here I fix my foot. On this - I join issue with every asserter of it. You represent God - as worse than the devil. But you say, you will prove it by - Scripture. Hold! what will you prove by Scripture? that God is - worse than the devil? It cannot be. Whatever that Scripture - proves, it never can prove this; whatever its true meaning be, - this cannot be its true meaning. Do you ask, ‘What is its true - meaning then?’ If I say, ‘I know not,’ you have gained nothing; - for there are many scriptures, the true sense whereof neither - you nor I shall know till death is swallowed up in victory. But - this I know, better it were to say it had no sense at all, than - to say it had such a sense as this.” - -In Whitefield’s letter, already given, and dated September 25, 1740, -he states that already he had seen two pamphlets published against -Wesley’s sermon. One of these probably was the following: “Free Grace -Indeed! A Letter to the Reverend Mr. John Wesley, relating to his -sermon against absolute election, published under the title of Free -Grace. London: 1740. Price sixpence.” - -In a subsequent advertisement, Wesley writes, “Whereas a pamphlet, -entitled, ‘Free Grace Indeed!’ has been published against this sermon, -this is to inform the publisher that I cannot answer his tract till he -appears to be more in earnest; for I dare not speak of ‘the deep things -of God’ in the spirit of a prizefighter or a stageplayer.” - -With great respect for Wesley, we feel bound to say, that this is not -worthy of him. The pamphlet referred to is before us, and is written -with great ability, earnestness, and good temper. Wesley was not bound -to answer it; but he had no right thus to brand it. - -About the same time, another pamphlet was published, on the other side, -entitled, “The Controversy concerning Free-will and Predestination; -in a Letter to a Friend. Recommended to Mr. Whitefield and his -followers.” 8vo, pages 36. As the controversy continued, it waxed -warmer. Here Whitefield is spoken of as a man of “heated imagination, -and full of himself”; “very hot, very self-sufficient, and impatient of -contradiction”; “dogmatical and dictatorial” in his way of speaking, -and wont to finish his oracular deliverances “with his assuming air, -_Dixi_.” - -The pamphlet concludes with a verse which contains the pith of the -whole production:— - - “Why is this _wrangling world_ thus _tossed_ and _torn_? - _Free-grace_, Free-will, are both together born; - If God’s free grace rule _in_, and _over_ me, - His will is mine, and so my will is _free_.” - -In the month of October, Howel Harris took up the question, and wrote -to Wesley, telling him that preaching electing love brings glory to -God, and benefit and consolation to the soul. He adds: “Oh, when will -the time come when we shall all agree? Till then, may the Lord enable -us to bear with one another! We must, before we can be united, be -truly simple, made really humble and open to conviction, willing to -give up any expression that is not scriptural, dead to our names and -characters, and sweetly inclined towards each other. I hope we have, -in some measure, drank of the same Spirit, that we fight the same -enemies, and are under the same crown and kingdom. We travel the same -narrow road, and love the same Jesus. We are soon to be before the -same throne, and employed in the same work of praise to all eternity. -While, then, we are on the road, and meet with so many enemies, let us -love one another. And if we really carry on the same cause, let us not -weaken each other’s hands.”[371] - -In another letter, addressed to John Cennick, and dated October 27, -Harris writes in less temperate language:— - - “DEAR BROTHER,—Brother Seward tells me of his dividing with - brother Charles Wesley. He seems clear in his conviction, - that God would have him do so. I have been long waiting to - see if brother John and Charles should receive further light, - or be silent and not oppose election and perseverance; but, - finding no hope of this, I begin to be staggered how to act - towards them. I plainly see that we preach two gospels. My dear - brother, deal faithfully with brother John and Charles. If you - like, you may read this letter to them. We are free in Wales - from the hellish infection; but some are tainted when they come - to Bristol.”[372] - -In November, Whitefield wrote to Wesley as follows:— - - “PHILADELPHIA, _November 9, 1740_. - - “DEAR AND HONOURED SIR,—I received yours, dated March 11, this - afternoon. Oh that we were of one mind! for I am persuaded - you greatly err. You have set a mark you will never arrive at, - till you come to glory. O dear sir, many of God’s children are - grieved at your principles. Oh that God may give you a sight of - His free, sovereign, and electing love! But no more of this. - Why will you compel me to write thus? Why will you dispute? I - am willing to go with you to prison, and to death; but I am not - willing to oppose you. Dear, dear sir, study the covenant of - grace, that you may be consistent with yourself. Oh build up, - but do not lead into error, the souls once committed to the - charge of your affectionate, unworthy brother and servant, in - the loving Jesus, - - “G. WHITEFIELD.”[373] - -A fortnight later he wrote again to Wesley:— - - “BOHEMIA, MARYLAND, _November 24, 1740_. - - “DEAR AND HONOURED SIR,—Last night brother G—— brought me - your two kind letters. Oh that there may be harmony, and very - intimate union between us! Yet, it cannot be, since you hold - _universal redemption_. The devil rages in London. He begins - now to triumph indeed. The children of God are disunited - among themselves. My dear brother, for Christ’s sake, avoid - all disputation. Do not oblige me to preach against you; I - had rather die. Be gentle towards the——. They will get great - advantage over you, if they discover any irregular warmth in - your temper. I cannot for my soul unite with the _Moravian - Brethren_. Honoured sir, adieu! - - “Yours eternally in Christ Jesus, - “GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[374] - -Just at this time, Wesley was expounding Romans ix. at Bristol, where -Calvinism was becoming rampant in the society. Charles Wesley writes: -“Anne Ayling and Anne Davis could not refrain from railing. John -Cennick never offered to stop them. Alas, we have set the wolf to keep -the sheep! God gave me great moderation toward him, who, for many -months, has been undermining our doctrine and authority.”[375] - -The difference was continued by Whitefield writing his “Letter to the -Reverend Mr. John Wesley; in answer to his sermon, entitled ‘Free -Grace’;” with the motto attached, “When Peter was come to Antioch, I -withstood him to the face, because he was to be blamed.” - -The “Letter” is dated, “Bethesda, in Georgia, December 24, 1740.” -After reiterating his reluctance to write against Wesley, he proceeds -to state, that he now did so at the request of a great number of -persons, who had been benefited by his ministry. He accuses Wesley -of having propagated the doctrine of universal redemption, both in -public and private, by preaching and printing, ever since before his -last departure for America. He says that Wesley, while at Bristol, -received a letter, charging him with not preaching the gospel, because -he did not preach election. Upon this, he drew a lot; the answer -was, “_preach and print_;” and, accordingly, he preached and printed -against election. At Whitefield’s desire, he deferred publishing the -sermon until after Whitefield started for America, when he sent it out. -Whitefield asserts, that, if any one wished to prove the doctrine of -election and of final perseverance, he could hardly wish for a text -more fit for his purpose than that (Romans viii. 32) which Wesley -had chosen to disprove it. He charges him with giving an “equivocal -definition of the word _grace_,” and a “false definition of the word -_free_;” and adds: “I frankly acknowledge, I believe the doctrine of -reprobation, in this view, that God intends to give saving grace, -through Jesus Christ, only to a certain number; and that the rest -of mankind, after the fall of Adam, being justly left of God to -continue in sin, will at last suffer that eternal death, which is its -proper wages.” In reply to Wesley, he argues that, because preachers -know not who are elect, and who reprobate, they are bound to preach -promiscuously to all; that holiness is made a mark of election by all -who preach it; that the seventeenth article of the English Church -asserts, that the doctrine of “predestination and election in Christ is -full of unspeakable comfort to godly persons;” that dooming millions -to everlasting burnings is not an act of injustice, because God, for -the sin of Adam, might justly have thus doomed all; that God’s absolute -purpose of saving His chosen does not preclude the necessity of the -gospel revelation, or the use of any of the means through which He has -determined the decree shall take effect; that the doctrine of election -does not make the Bible contradict itself, for though it asserts, that -“the Lord is loving to every man, and His mercy is over all His works,” -the reference is to His _general_, not His _saving_ mercy; that it is -unjust to charge the doctrine of reprobation with blasphemy; and that, -on the other hand, the doctrine of universal redemption, as set forth -by Wesley, “is really the highest reproach upon the dignity of the Son -of God, and the merit of His blood;” and Whitefield challenges Wesley -to make good the assertion, “that Christ died for them that perish,” -without holding, as Peter Bohler had lately confessed in a letter, -“that all the damned souls would hereafter be brought out of hell;” for -“how can all be universally redeemed, if all are not finally saved?” - -In conclusion, he writes:— - - “Dear sir, for Jesus Christ’s sake, consider how you dishonour - God by denying election. You plainly make man’s salvation - depend not on God’s _free grace_, but on man’s _free will_. - Dear, dear sir, give yourself to reading. Study the covenant - of grace. Down with your carnal reasoning. Be a little child; - and then, instead of pawning your salvation, as you have done - in a late hymn-book, if the doctrine of _universal redemption_ - be not true; instead of talking of _sinless perfection_, as - you have done in the preface to that hymn-book; and instead - of making man’s salvation to depend on his own _free will_, - as you have in this sermon, you will compose a hymn in praise - of sovereign, distinguishing love; you will caution believers - against striving to work a perfection out of their own hearts, - and will print another sermon the reverse of this, and entitle - it ‘Free Grace _Indeed_’—free, because not free to all; but - free, because God may withhold or give it to whom and when He - pleases.”[376] - -About three weeks after the date of this letter, Whitefield set sail -for England, bringing his manuscript with him. On his arrival in -London, in March, 1741, he submitted it to Charles Wesley, who returned -it to the author, endorsed with the words: “Put up again thy sword into -its place.” The pamphlet, however, was published; and Whitefield gave -Wesley notice, that he was resolved publicly to preach against him and -his brother wherever he went. Wesley complained to Whitefield—1. That -it was imprudent to publish his letter, because it was only putting -weapons into the hands of those who hated them. 2. That, if he really -was constrained to bear his testimony on the subject, he might have -done it by issuing a treatise without ever calling Wesley’s name in -question. 3. That what he had published was a mere burlesque upon an -answer. 4. That he had said enough, however, of what was wholly foreign -to the question, to make an open, and probably irreparable, breach -between them. Wesley added:— - - “You rank all the maintainers of _universal redemption_ with - Socinians. Alas, my brother! Do you not know even this, that - Socinians allow no redemption at all? that Socinus himself - speaks thus, ‘_Tota redemptio nostra per Christum metaphora_’? - How easy were it for me to hit many other palpable blots, in - what you call an answer to my sermon! And how, above measure, - contemptible would you then appear to all impartial men, - either of sense or learning! But, I assure you, my hand shall - not be upon you. The Lord be judge between me and thee! The - general tenour, both of my public and private exhortations, - when I touch thereon at all, as even my enemies know, if they - would testify, is ‘Spare the young man, even Absalom, for my - sake!’”[377] - -David and Jonathan were divided. An immediate schism followed. Wesley -writes:—“In March, 1741, Mr. Whitefield, being returned to England, -entirely separated from Mr. Wesley and his friends, because he did not -hold the decrees. Here was the first breach, which warm men persuaded -Mr. Whitefield to make merely for a difference of opinion. Those who -believed universal redemption had no desire to separate; but those -who held particular redemption would not hear of any accommodation, -being determined to have no fellowship with men that were ‘in such -dangerous errors.’ So there were now two sorts of Methodists: those for -particular, and those for general, redemption.”[378] - -Here, for the present, we leave the subject; and turn to other matters. - -In 1740, as in 1739, the pamphlets published against Methodism were -many and malignant. One was entitled: “The important Doctrines of -Original Sin, Justification by Faith, and Regeneration, clearly stated -and vindicated from the misrepresentations of the Methodists. By Thomas -Whiston, A.B.” London: 1740. Pp. 70. Mr. Whiston is unknown to fame. -Wesley never noticed him; and, though his production is now before us, -an analysis of its contents would weary the reader without instructing -him. - -Another was, “The Quakers and Methodists compared. By the Rev. Zachary -Grey, LL.D., Rector of Houghton Conquest, in Bedfordshire,”—the -laborious author of more than thirty different publications, a man of -great ingenuity and research, but an acrimonious polemic, who died at -Ampthill, in 1766.[379] - -It is a curious fact, that Whitefield was far more violently attacked -than the Wesleys were. “Aquila Smyth, a layman of the Church of -England,” accuses him of having published two letters against -Archbishop Tillotson, “in the spirit of pride, envy, and malice;” and -of having “detracted the most valuable works of other men, in order to -aggrandize himself, and gain credit for his own weak, impudent, and -wicked performances.” His “behaviour exposes him to the scorn of every -reader;” and his “consummate impudence” is unequalled in the Christian -world. There “is a juggle between him and Wesley to deceive their -followers, and to prevent an inquiry into their corrupt and abominable -doctrine;” and, finally, after calling him “a brainsick enthusiast,” -Smyth declares, that Whitefield has taken up five thousand acres in -America, under the pretence of educating and maintaining such negroes -as may be sent to him; but really because he hopes to realise from -the transaction a more plentiful fortune than he could have gained in -England by five thousand years of preaching. - -So much for the spleen of Aquila Smyth. In the _Weekly Miscellany_, -edited by Mr. Hooker, there appeared, in several successive numbers, -fictitious dialogues between Whitefield and a country clergyman, the -object of which was to make Whitefield contemptible; and the whole -were finished with a promise from the editor, that he would abridge, -for the benefit of his subscribers, the history of the Anabaptists, -and would show that there is a near resemblance between them and their -descendants, the Methodists. - -The Rev. Alexander Garden, the Bishop of London’s commissary at -Charlestown, in America, published a series of six letters on -justification by faith and works, in which he accused Whitefield of -“self contradiction,” of “arrogant and wicked slander,” and of being -“so full of zeal that he had no room for charity.” He contemptuously -speaks of Whitefield’s “apparent shuffles,” “miserable distinctions,” -“mob harangues,” and “false and poisoned insinuations.” Whitefield -“deceives the people, and has no talent at proving anything”; he is “a -hare-brained solifidian, and runs about a mouthing”; he has “kindled -a fire of slander and defamation, which no devil in hell, nor jesuit -on earth, will ever make an effort to extinguish, but will fagot and -foment it with all their might”; “he dispenses to the populace in a -vehicle of cant terms, without sense or meaning”; and “in a mountebank -way, he fancies himself a young David, and that he has slain Goliath.” - -Whitefield was again severely handled “by a presbyter of the Church of -England,” in an able pamphlet of forty-four pages, entitled “A modest -and serious Defence of the Author of the Whole Duty of Man, from the -false charges and gross misrepresentations of Mr. Whitefield, and the -Methodists his adherents”; but this was a castigation which Whitefield -merited, for his ill judged and unneeded letter, published in the -_Daily Advertiser_ of July 3, 1740. - -The most violent attack of all was in an octavo pamphlet of -eighty-five pages, with the title, “The Expounder Expounded, by R——ph -J——ps——n, of the Inner Temple, Esq.” London. Some parts of this -disgraceful production are too filthy to be noticed; they must be -passed in silence. In other parts, Whitefield, for publishing his -journal, is charged with “saddling the world with one of the grossest -absurdities and impositions, that folly or impudence could invent”; -“his book is nothing but a continued account of his intimate union -and correspondence with the devil”; and he himself may be seen “upon -the hills and house-tops, like another Æolus, belching out his divine -vapours to the multitude, to the great ease of himself, and emolument -of his auditors.” “Charles Wesley lent him books at Oxford, which threw -his understanding off the hinges, and rendered him _enthusiastically_ -crazy”; at college he “deemed a lousy pate _humility_, foul linen was -_heavenly contemplation_, woollen gloves were _grace_, a patched gown -was _justification by faith_, and dirty shoes meant a _walk with God_. -In short, with him, religion consisted wholly in _nastiness_, and -heaven was easiest attacked from a _dunghill_.” These are the mildest -specimens we have been able to select from this cesspool of a perverted -intellect and a polluted heart. - -Another pamphlet, published in 1740, and consisting of eighty-four -pages, was entitled “The Imposture of Methodism displayed; in a letter -to the inhabitants of the parish of Dewsbury. Occasioned by the rise -of a certain modern sect of enthusiasts, called Methodists. By William -Bowman, M. A., vicar of Dewsbury and Aldbrough in Yorkshire, and -chaplain to the Right Honourable Charles, Earl of Hoptoun.” As yet, -neither the Wesleys nor Whitefield had been in Yorkshire; but Ingham -and William Delamotte were there, and had been the means of converting -a large number of the almost heathenised inhabitants of the west -riding. The reverend vicar tells his parishioners, that “an impious -spirit of enthusiasm and superstition has crept in among them, and -threatens a total ruin of all religion and virtue.” He himself has been -“an eye-witness of this monstrous madness, and religious frenzy, which, -like a rapid torrent, bears down everything beautiful before it, and -introduces nothing but a confused and ridiculous medley of nonsense and -inconsistency.” It was matter of thankfulness, “that the contagion, -at present, was pretty much confined to the dregs and refuse of the -people,—the weak, unsteady mob, always fond of innovation, and never -pleased but with variety;” but, then, the mob was so numerous in the -west of Yorkshire, that the danger was greater than was apprehended. -The author declines to determine whether “these modern visionaries, -like the Quakers, are a sect hatched and fashioned in a seminary of -Jesuits; or whether, like the German Anabaptists, they are a set of -crazy, distempered fanatics;” but certain it is, that their “enthusiasm -is patched and made up of a thousand incoherencies and absurdities, -picked and collected from the vilest errors and most pestilent follies, -of every heresy upon earth.” “Their teachers inculcate, that they are -Divinely and supernaturally inspired by the Holy Ghost, to declare -the will of God to mankind; and, yet, they are cheats and impostors, -and their pretended sanctity nothing but a trick and a delusion.” -They had been allowed to use the pulpits of the Church, “till, by -their flights and buffooneries, they had made the church more like a -bear-garden than the house of prayer; and the rostrum nothing else but -the trumpet of sedition, heresy, blasphemy, and everything destructive -to religion and good manners.” It was high time for the clergy to put -an end to their “pulpits being let out, as a stage, for mountebanks and -jack-puddings to play their tricks upon, and from thence to propagate -their impostures and delusions.” “These mad devotionalists held, that -it is lawful and expedient for mere laymen, for women, and the meanest -and most ignorant mechanics, to minister in the church of Christ, to -preach, and expound the word of God, and to offer up the prayers of the -congregation in the public assemblies.” They also taught, that “the -new birth consists in an absolute and entire freedom from all kind of -sin whatsoever;” and likewise “denounced eternal death and damnation -on all who cannot conform to their ridiculous ideas.” “Whilst adopting -to themselves the reputation of being the chief favourites of heaven, -the confidants and imparters of its secrets, and the dispensers of its -frowns and favours, they were really furious disciples of antichrist, -reverend scavengers of scandal, and filthy pests and plagues of -mankind.” Such are specimens of the meek language used by the reverend -vicar of Dewsbury. - -We have already noticed one production of the fiery and furious -Joseph Trapp, D.D., published in 1739. The publication of that -produced others, in 1740. One was entitled, “The true Spirit of the -Methodists, and their Allies, fully laid open; in an answer to six -of the seven pamphlets, lately published against Dr. Trapp’s sermons -upon being ‘Righteous over much’”: pp. 98. The anonymous author says, -that one of these six pamphlets is full of “false quotations, lies, -and slanders,” and concludes with “an ungodly jumble of railing and -praying.” The Methodists are branded as “crack-brained enthusiasts and -profane hypocrites.” “The criterions of modern saintship are the most -unchristian malice, lying, slander, railing, and cursing.” Whitefield -is pronounced “impious and ignorant.” The “false doctrines and -blasphemies of the Methodists, their field assemblies and conventicles -in houses, are contrary to the laws of God and man, of church and -state, and are tending to the ruin of both.” - -Another pamphlet, of 127 pages, was by Dr. Trapp himself, and entitled, -“A Reply to Mr. Law’s earnest and serious Answer (as it is called) -to Dr. Trapp’s discourse on being righteous over much.” The reverend -doctor, as inflammable as ever, pronounces the Methodists “a new sect -of enthusiasts, or hypocrites, or both; whose doctrines and practices -tend to the destruction of souls, are a scandal to Christianity, -and expose it to the scoffs of libertines, infidels, and atheists.” -This is not an unfair specimen of the whole 127 pages. William Law, -however, was far too stout an antagonist to be silenced by Dr. Trapp. -His “Serious Answer” to Trapp’s sermons, and his “Animadversions” -on Trapp’s reply, whilst written in the highest style of Christian -courtesy, are witheringly severe. They may be found in Wesley’s -collected publications, edit. 1772, vol. vi. - -Another doughty anti-Methodistic champion was the celebrated Dr. Daniel -Waterland, chaplain in ordinary to his majesty, canon of Windsor, -archdeacon of Middlesex, and vicar of Twickenham; one of the greatest -controversialists of the age, who died at the end of the year of which -we are writing, and whose collected works have since been published in -eleven octavo volumes. - -A few months before his death, Waterland preached two sermons, first -at Twickenham, and next at Windsor, on regeneration, which, without -mentioning the Methodists, were undeniably meant to serve as an -antidote to the doctrines they preached. These he published in the -form of an octavo pamphlet of fifty-six pages, accompanied by a mass -of notes in Latin, Greek, and English, from all sorts of authors. The -title of the pamphlet is, “Regeneration Stated and Explained, according -to Scripture and Antiquity, in a Discourse on Titus iii. 4, 5, 6;” -and its subject may be inferred from the following definition:—“The -new birth, in the general, means a spiritual change, wrought upon -any person by the Holy Spirit, in the use of baptism; whereby he is -translated from his natural state in Adam, to a spiritual state in -Christ.” Written from such a standpoint, the pamphlet of course was a -tacit condemnation of the doctrines of the Methodists. It is immensely -learned, but far from luminous; full of talent, but likewise full of -error; exceedingly elaborate, but, to an equal extent, bewildering. - -We shall mention only one other attack on Methodism and the Methodists -made at this period. This was a pamphlet of fifty-five pages, with -the title, “The Trial of Mr. Whitefield’s Spirit, in some remarks -upon his fourth Journal.” The author makes himself merry with the -discovery, that this new sect of enthusiasts, by taking to themselves -the name of _Methodist_, have unintentionally stigmatised themselves -with a designation which is branded in Scripture as evil. “The -word Μεθοδεια, or Methodism, is only used twice throughout the New -Testament (Ephesians iv. 14, and vi. 11), and in both places denotes -that cunning craftiness whereby evil men, or evil spirits, lie in -wait to deceive.” It is alleged that Wesley, Whitefield, and their -followers, “have taken an appellation, perhaps through a judicial -inadvertence, which the Spirit of God has peculiarly appropriated to -the adversary of mankind, and to those who are leagued with him in -enmity to the interests of righteousness and true holiness.” This was -an ingenious hit; the writer, however, forgetting or misstating the -fact, that the name of Methodists was not self-assumed, but imposed by -others. “Μεθοδευσαι δε εστι το απατησαι—to be a Methodist, says St. -Chrysostom, is to be beguiled.” And, from this, the author wishes the -inference to be deduced, that, because the new sect of enthusiasts were -called Methodists, they were all beguiled, and, of course, Wesley and -Whitefield were the great beguilers. The remainder of the pamphlet is -a critique on Whitefield’s Journals, which, it must be admitted, were -unguardedly expressed, and which, before being printed, ought to have -been revised by a kindred spirit, possessed of a soberer judgment than -Whitefield had. - -The Methodist persecutions of 1740 were chiefly of a literary kind. It -is true that Charles Wesley met with a rough reception at Bengeworth, -where Henry Seward called him “a scoundrel and a rascal”; directed -the mob to “take him away and duck him”; and actually seized him by -the nose and wrung it. This was bad enough, but the treatment of John -Cennick and his friends was even worse. While he was preaching at -Upton, in Gloucestershire, the mob assembled with a horn, a drum, and -a number of brass pans, and made a most horrid hubbub; the brass pans -being also used in beating the people’s heads. A man likewise put a -cat into a cage, and brought a pack of hounds to make them bark at it. -Another fellow and his wife, who kept an alehouse at Hannam, rode -through the congregation, thrashing the people with their whips, and -trampling them beneath their horses’ hoofs. Little children collected -dust, which their upgrown patrons cast upon Cennick, who was also -struck violently on the nose, and became a target at which to hurl dead -dogs and stones.[380] But even violent and contemptuous treatment like -this was not near so painful as the scurrilous attacks encountered -through the press. In this way, the persecution of the Methodists was -something more than a localised outburst of spleen and hate; for, in -all sorts of squibs, they were gibbeted, and exposed to ridicule, -throughout the kingdom. - -Wesley’s trials were not trifles; but, in the midst of all, he bravely -pursued the path of duty; and, after the final separation from his -foolish, fanatical friends at Fetter Lane, his labours in London were -attended with considerable success. On August 11, while forty or fifty -were praying and giving thanks at the Foundery, two persons began to -cry to God with a loud and bitter cry, and soon found peace. Five -days after, a woman, at Long Lane, fell down and continued in violent -agonies for an hour. In September, a great number of men forced their -way into the Foundery, and began to speak big, swelling words; but, -“immediately after, the hammer of the word brake the rocks in pieces.” -A smuggler rushed in and cursed vehemently; but, when Wesley finished -preaching, the man declared, before the congregation, that, henceforth, -he would abandon smuggling and give God his heart. - -Wesley’s efforts to do good were various. In London, he induced his -friends to contribute the clothing they could spare, and distributed it -among the poor of the Foundery society. In Bristol, besides visiting -numbers of people “ill of the spotted fever,” he took into his -Broadmead meeting-house twelve of the poorest people he could find, -who were out of work; and, to save them at once from want and from -idleness, employed them for four months in carding and spinning cotton. - -Wesley concluded this eventful year at Bristol, by holding a -watchnight meeting, proposed by James Rogers, a Kingswood collier, -noted among his neighbours for his playing on the violin, but who, -being awakened under the ministry of Charles Wesley, went home, burnt -his fiddle, and told his wife that he meant to be a Methodist. To -his death, James was faithful, and, besides many other important -services, was the first Methodist preacher that preached at Stroud in -Gloucestershire.[381] - -This was the first watchnight meeting among the Methodists. The people -met at half-past eight; the house was filled from end to end; and “we -concluded the year,” says Wesley, “wrestling with God in prayer, and -praising Him for the wonderful work which He had already wrought upon -the earth.” - -The meeting soon became a favourite one, and was held monthly. Wesley -writes: “Some advised me to put an end to this; but, upon weighing the -thing thoroughly, and comparing it with the practice of the ancient -Christians, I could see no cause to forbid it. Rather, I believed -it might be made of more general use.”[382] ‘The church, in ancient -times, was accustomed to spend whole nights in prayer, which nights -were termed _vigiliæ_, or vigils; and, sanctioned by such authority, -Wesley appointed monthly watchnights, on the Fridays nearest the full -moon, desiring that they, and they only, should attend, who could do it -without prejudice to their business or families. - -Little more remains to be said concerning 1740. During the entire year, -Wesley preached in only three churches, namely at Newbury, and at -Lanhithel, and Lantarnum, in Wales. His favourite text was Ephesians -ii. 8, showing that his mind and heart were still full of the glorious -truth, salvation by grace through faith in Christ. - -One of his publications has been already noticed. Another was a third -volume of hymns, pp. 209, by no means inferior to its predecessors in -poetic excellence, or Christian character. The book is also possessed -of considerable historic interest, containing, as it does, a long hymn -of twenty-two verses, descriptive of Charles Wesley’s history up to -this period; and likewise several hymns addressed to Whitefield; and -one “for the Kingswood colliers.” The volume consists of ninety-six -hymns and poems, only four of which are selected from other authors. -The preface is remarkable, giving a description of the man possessed -of a clean heart. He is freed from pride, self will, evil thoughts, -wandering thoughts, doubts, fears, etc. Wesley, a quarter of a century -afterwards, declared that this preface contains the strongest account -that he ever gave of Christian perfection; and admitted, that some -of the statements needed correction; especially, that the perfect -Christian is so “freed from self will as not to desire ease in pain;” -that, “in prayer, he is so delivered from wanderings, that he has no -thought of anything past, or absent, or to come, but of God alone,” -etc. Wesley never taught anything respecting Christian perfection, but -what was, either directly or indirectly, contained in this preface; but -some of its strong assertions he wished to modify.[383] - -Another publication, issued in 1740, was entitled, “Serious -Considerations concerning the Doctrines of Election and Reprobation. -Extracted from a late author.” 12mo, twelve pages. It is a condensed, -well argued tract on what had become a bone of contention between -Wesley and his friend Whitefield. The address to the reader is -beautiful: “Let us bear with one another, remembering it is -the prerogative of the great God to pierce through all His own -infinite schemes with an unerring eye, to surround them with an -all-comprehensive view, to grasp them all in one single survey, and to -spread a reconciling light over all their immense varieties. Man must -yet grapple with difficulties in this dusky twilight; but God, in His -time, will irradiate the earth more plentifully with His light and -truth.” - -Another of Wesley’s publications was a 12mo tract of nineteen pages, -with the title, “The Nature and Design of Christianity, extracted from -a late author” (Mr. Law); and another was Wesley’s second Journal, -extending from February 1 to August 12, 1738. 12mo, pp. 90. - -The year 1740, in Wesley’s history, was not marked with great -religious success; but it was one of the most eventful years in -his chequered life. There was a full and final separation from the -Moravians; there was the separate organisation of the Methodist society -at Moorfields; and there was the controversy with Whitefield. All these -matters will again demand attention. - - - - -1741. - - -[Sidenote: 1741 Age 38] - -With the exception of a week spent in the midland counties, about a -month at Oxford, and three weeks in Wales, Wesley divided the year -1741, in almost equal proportions, between London and Bristol. - -Whitefield arrived in England, from America, in the month of March; -and, finding his congregations at Moorfields and Kennington Common -dwindled down from twenty thousand to two or three hundred, he started -off to Bristol, where he remained till the end of May; when he came -back to London, and, on July 25, sailed thence to Scotland, writing -six-and-twenty pastoralizing letters on the way, and arriving at Leith -on July 30. The next three months were spent with the Erskines and -others, the leaders of the Seceders, who, in the year preceding, had -been solemnly expelled by the General Assembly, and had had their -relation to the national church formally dissolved. Whitefield’s career -of out-door preaching, and his success in Scotland, were marvellous. -All the time, however, he was burdened with an enormous debt, incurred -on account of his orphan house in Georgia, and was sometimes threatened -with arrest. On leaving Scotland, he proceeded direct to Wales, where, -on the 11th of November, he married a widow of the name of James, and -set up housekeeping with borrowed furniture, though, according to an -announcement in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_,[384] his wife had a fortune -of £10,000. The rest of the year he spent chiefly in Bristol and the -west of England.[385] - -Charles Wesley, of course, alternated with his brother, though he -preached far more at Bristol than in London. Ever and anon he composed -one of his grand funereal hymns, and not unfrequently met with amusing -adventures. In a Kingswood prayer-meeting, while he and others were -praying for an increase of spiritual children, a wild collier brought -four of his black-faced little ones, and threw the youngest on the -table, saying, “You have got the mother, take the bairns as well.” In -another instance, a woman came to him about her husband, who had been -to hear the _predestinarian_ gospel, returned home _elect_, and, in -proof of it, _beat his wife_. - -For some months, in the year 1741, Charles Wesley was in danger of -subsiding into Moravian _stillness_; and his brother wrote to him, “The -Philistines are upon thee, Samson, but the Lord is not departed from -thee.” Gambold also, and Westley Hall, were inoculated with the same -pernicious poison. Charles went off to Bristol, and on April 21 Wesley -addressed to him the following:— - - “I rejoice in your speaking your mind freely. O let our love be - without dissimulation! - - “As yet, I dare in nowise join with the Moravians: 1. Because - their whole scheme is mystical, not scriptural. 2. Because - there is darkness and closeness in their whole behaviour, and - guile in almost all their words. 3. Because they utterly deny - and despise self denial and the daily cross. 4. Because they, - upon principle, conform to the world, in wearing gold or costly - apparel. 5. Because they extend Christian liberty, in this and - many other respects, beyond what is warranted in holy writ. - 6. Because they are by no means zealous of good works; or, at - least, only to their own people. And, lastly, because they - make inward religion swallow up outward in general. For these - reasons chiefly, I will rather stand quite alone, than join - with them: I mean till I have full assurance, that they will - spread none of their errors among the little flock committed to - my charge. - - “O my brother, my soul is grieved for you; the poison is in - you: fair words have stolen away your heart. ‘No English man or - woman is like the Moravians!’ So the matter is come to a fair - issue. Five of us did still stand together a few months since; - but two are gone to the right hand, Hutchins and Cennick; and - two more to the left, Mr. Hall and you. Lord, if it be Thy - gospel which I preach, arise and maintain Thine own cause! - Adieu!”[386] - -In the month of May, a reunion of Wesley’s London society with the -Moravians at Fetter Lane was solemnly discussed; and all the bands -met at the Foundery, on a Wednesday afternoon, to ask God to give -them guidance. “It was clear to all,” writes Wesley, “even those who -were before the most desirous of reunion, that the time was not come: -(1) because the brethren of Fetter Lane had not given up their most -essentially erroneous doctrines; and, (2) because many of us had found -so much guile in their words, that we could scarce tell what they -really held, and what not.” - -Wesley entertained no bitterness towards the Moravians. He readily -acknowledges, that they had a sincere desire to serve God; that many -of them had tasted of His love that they abstained from outward sin; -and that their discipline, in most respects, was excellent: but, after -reading all their English publications, and “waiving their odd and -affected phrases; their weak, mean, silly, childish expressions; their -crude, confused, and undigested notions; and their whims, unsupported -either by Scripture or sound reason,”—he found three grand, unretracted -errors running through almost all their books, namely “universal -salvation, antinomianism, and a kind of new, reformed quietism.” No -wonder that the thought of reunion was abandoned. - -A month after the above meeting, at the Foundery, Wesley made a tour -among the Moravians, in the midland counties. Here Ingham had preached -with great success; and here Mr. Simpson, one of the Oxford Methodists, -had settled as a sort of Moravian minister. During the journey, Wesley -made an experiment which he had often been urged to make, namely that -of speaking to no one on sacred things, unless his heart was free to -it. The result was, that, for eighty miles together, he had no need to -speak at all; and he tells us that, instead of having crosses to take -up and bear, he commonly fell fast asleep; and all behaved to him, as -to a civil, good-natured gentleman. On reaching Ockbrook, where Simpson -lived, he found that though, a few months before, there had been a -great awakening all round about, three-fourths of the converts were -now backsliders. Simpson had drawn the people from the Church, and -had advised them to abandon devotion. He said, there was no Church of -England left; and that there was no scriptural command for family or -private prayer. The sum of his teaching was: “If you wish to believe, -be still; and leave off what you call the means of grace, such as -prayer and running to church and sacrament.” Mr. Graves, the clergyman -of the parish, having offered the use of his church to Wesley, the -latter preached two sermons, one on “the true gospel stillness”, and -the other from his favourite text—“By grace are ye saved, through -faith.” - -From Ockbrook, Wesley went to Nottingham, where he found further -evidences of backsliding. The room, which used to be crowded, was now -half empty; and the few who did attend the services, instead of praying -when they entered, sat down without any religious formality whatever, -and began talking to their neighbours. When Wesley engaged in prayer -among them, none knelt, and “those who stood chose the most easy and -indolent posture which they conveniently could.” One of the hymn-books, -published by the Wesleys, had been sent from London to be used in the -public congregations; but both that and the Bible were now banished; -and, in the place of them, lay the Moravian hymns and Zinzendorf’s -sixteen sermons. Wesley preached twice in this Moravian meeting; and -once in the market place, to an immense multitude, all of whom, with -two or three exceptions, behaved with great decorum. - -After spending a week at Markfield, Ockbrook, Nottingham, Melbourn, and -Hemmington, and also probably becoming acquainted with the Countess of -Huntingdon, who lived in this locality, Wesley returned to town, on the -16th of June, and, a fortnight after, went to Oxford, where he met his -old friend Mr. Gambold, who honestly told him, he was ashamed of his -company, and must be excused going to the Moravian meeting with him. - -At the beginning of September, Zinzendorf wished to have an interview, -and, at his request, Wesley went to Gray’s-inn Walk, a public -promenade, to meet him. Zinzendorf charged him with having changed his -religion; with having quarreled with the Brethren; and with having -refused to be at peace with them, even after they had asked his -forgiveness. In reference to Wesley’s doctrine of Christian perfection, -the count became furious. “This,” said he, “is the error of errors. I -pursue it through the world with fire and sword. I trample upon it. I -devote it to utter destruction. Christ is our sole perfection. Whoever -follows inherent perfection, denies Christ. All Christian perfection -is faith in the blood of Christ; and is wholly imputed, not inherent.” -Wesley asked, if they were not striving about words; and, by a series -of questions, got the obfuscated German to admit, “that, a believer -is altogether holy in heart and life,—that he loves God with all his -heart, and serves Him with all his powers.” Wesley continued: “I -desire nothing more. I mean nothing else by perfection, or Christian -holiness.” Zinzendorf rejoined: “But this is not the believer’s -holiness. He is not more holy if he loves more, or less holy, if he -loves less. In the moment he is justified, he is sanctified wholly; -and, from that time, he is neither more nor less holy, even unto death. -Our whole justification, and sanctification, are in the same instant. -From the moment any one is justified, his heart is as pure as it -ever will be.” Wesley asked again: “Perhaps I do not comprehend your -meaning. Do we not, while we deny ourselves, die more and more to the -world and live to God?” Zinzendorf replied: “We reject all self denial. -We trample upon it. We do, as believers, whatsoever we will, and -nothing more. We laugh at all mortification. No purification precedes -perfect love.”[387] And thus the conference ended. - -“The count,” said Mr. Stonehouse after reading the conversation, “is a -clever fellow; but the genius of Methodism is too strong for him.”[388] - -Zinzendorf accused Wesley of refusing to live in peace, even after the -Brethren had humbled themselves and begged his pardon. Wesley says -there is a mistake in this. Fifty or more Moravians spoke bitterly -against him; one or two asked his pardon, but did it in the most -careless manner possible. The rest, if ashamed of their behaviour at -all, managed to keep their shame a profound secret from him.[389] - -As to the count’s theory, that a man is wholly sanctified the moment -he is justified—a theory held by the Rev. Dr. Bunting, at all events, -at the commencement of his ministerial career[390]—we say nothing; but -there can be no question, that his sentiments respecting self denial, -and the right of believers to do or not to do what they like, are, in -a high degree, delusive and dangerous. We have here the very essence of -the antinomian heresy, and are thus prepared for an entry in Charles -Wesley’s journal:— - - 1741. September 6.—“I was astonished by a letter from my - brother, relating his conference with the apostle of the - Moravians. Who would believe it of Count Zinzendorf, that he - should utterly deny all Christian holiness? I never could, but - for a saying of his, which I heard with my own ears. Speaking - of St. James’s epistle, he said: ‘If it was thrown out of the - canon, I would not restore it.’” - -The heresy of such a man was of vast importance; for, in this same year -and month, September, 1741, Zinzendorf told Doddridge, that he had -“sent out, from his own family of Moravians, three hundred preachers, -who were gone into most parts of the world; and that he himself was now -become the guardian of the Protestant churches in the south of France, -sixty of which were assembling privately for worship.”[391] - -As already stated, Charles Wesley was in danger of falling into the -Moravian heresy. The following is an extract from a letter addressed to -Wesley by the Countess of Huntingdon, and dated October 24, 1741. - - “Since you left us, the _still ones_ are not without their - attacks. I fear much more for your brother than for myself, - as the conquest of the one would be nothing in respect to the - other. They have, by one of their agents, reviled me very much, - but I have taken no sort of notice of it. I comfort myself, - that you will approve a step with respect to them, which your - brother and I have taken: no less than his declaring open war - against them. He seemed under some difficulty about it at - first, till he had free liberty given him to use my name, as - the instrument, in God’s hand, that had delivered him from - them. I rejoiced much at it, hoping it might be the means of - working my deliverance from them. I have desired him to enclose - to them yours on Christian perfection. The doctrine therein - contained, I hope to live and die by; it is absolutely the most - complete thing I know. Your brother is also to give his reasons - for separating. I have great faith God will not let him fall; - for many would fall with him. His natural parts, his judgment, - and the improvement he has made, are so very far above the very - highest of them, that I should imagine nothing but frenzy had - seized upon him. - - “We set out a week ago for Donnington, and you shall hear from - me as soon as I arrive, and have heard how your little flock - goes on in that neighbourhood.”[392] - -Methodists will learn, from this interesting letter, that they owe a -debt of gratitude to the noble and “elect lady” of the midland counties. - -We turn to Whitefield. On his arrival from America, in the month of -March, he found his position far from pleasant. - -First of all, there was the melancholy death of his friend, William -Seward—really Methodism’s first martyr—a man of considerable property, -but of meagre education and inferior talent; Whitefield’s travelling -companion in his second voyage to Georgia, and who, at the time of -his being murdered, in Wales, was itinerating with Howel Harris in -Glamorganshire. At Newport, the mob had torn Harris’s coat to tatters, -stolen his wig, and pelted him and his companion with apples, stones, -and dirt. At Caerleon, rotten eggs were thrown in all directions, -Seward’s eye was struck, and, a few days after, he was entirely blind. -At Monmouth, their treatment was of the same kind as at Newport and -Caerleon; but Seward bravely cried, “Better endure this than hell.” -At length, on reaching Hay, a villain hit him on the head; the blow -was fatal; and William Seward went to inherit a martyr’s crown, at the -early age of thirty-eight, on October 22, 1741. - -Besides the death of Methodism’s protomartyr, there were other troubles -which Whitefield had to carry. He had an orphan family of nearly a -hundred persons to maintain; was above a thousand pounds in debt for -them; and was threatened with arrest on account of a bill for £350, -drawn, in favour of the orphan house by his dead friend, William -Seward, but which had not been met by him. James Hutton, who had been -his publisher, refused to have any further transactions with him. -“Many of my spiritual children,” he writes, “who, when I last left -England, would have plucked out their own eyes to have given me, are -so prejudiced by the dear Messrs. Wesleys’ dressing up of election in -such horrible colours, that they will neither hear, see, nor give me -the least assistance. Yea, some of them send threatening letters, that -God will speedily destroy me. As for the people of the world, they -are so embittered by my _injudicious_ and _too severe_ expressions -against Archbishop Tillotson, the author of the old Duty of Man, that -they fly from me as from a viper; and, what is worst of all, I am -now constrained, on account of our differing in principles, publicly -to separate from my dear, dear old friends, Messrs. John and Charles -Wesley.”[393] - -During his passage to England, Whitefield wrote to Charles Wesley as -follows: “My dear, dear brother, why did you throw out the bone of -contention? Why did _you_ print that sermon against predestination? -Why did you, in particular, affix your hymn and join in putting out -your late hymn-book? How can you say you will not dispute with me about -election, and yet print such hymns?” And then he proceeds to state, -that he had written an answer to Wesley’s sermon on free grace, and was -about to have it printed in Charlestown, Boston, and London.[394] - -About six weeks before his arrival in England, some one obtained a -copy of the letter he had sent to Wesley, under the date of September -25, 1740,[395] (an extract of which is given in the previous chapter, -page 316,) and had printed it without either his or Wesley’s consent, -and circulated it gratuitously at the doors of the Foundery. Wesley -heard of this; and, having procured a copy, tore it in pieces before -the assembled congregation, declaring that he believed Whitefield would -have done the same. The congregation imitated their minister’s example, -and, in two minutes, all the copies were literally torn to tatters. - -Three weeks after this, Wesley had to hurry off to Kingswood to allay -the turmoils there. He met the bands, but it was a cold uncomfortable -meeting. Cennick and fifteen or twenty of his friends had an interview -with Wesley, who accused them of speaking against him behind his -back. They replied that they had said nothing behind his back which -they would not say before his face; namely, that he preached up the -faithfulness of man, and not the faithfulness of God. - -After a lovefeast, held in Bristol on Sunday evening, February 22, -Wesley related to the Bristol Methodists, that many of their brethren -at Kingswood had formed themselves into a separate society, on account -of Cennick preaching doctrines different to those preached by himself -and his brother. Cennick, who was present, affirmed, that Wesley’s -doctrine was false. Wesley charged him with supplanting him in his own -house, stealing the hearts of the people, and, by private accusations, -dividing very friends. Cennick replied, “I have never privately accused -you.” Wesley, who, by some means, was possessed of a letter which -Cennick had recently addressed to Whitefield, answered: “My brethren, -judge;” and then began to read as follows:— - - “_January 17, 1741._ - - “MY DEAR BROTHER,—That you might come quickly, I have written - a second time. I sit solitary, like Eli, waiting what will - become of the ark. My trouble increases daily. How glorious did - the gospel seem once to flourish in Kingswood! I spake of the - everlasting love of Christ with sweet power; but now brother - Charles is suffered to open his mouth against this truth, - while the frighted sheep gaze and fly, as if no shepherd was - among them. O, pray for the distressed lambs yet left in this - place, that they faint not! Brother Charles pleases the world - with universal redemption, and brother John follows him in - everything. No atheist can preach more against predestination - than they; and all who believe election are counted enemies to - God, and called so. Fly, dear brother. I am as alone; I am in - the midst of the plague. If God give thee leave, make haste.” - -Cennick acknowledged the letter was his, that it had been sent to -Whitefield, and that he retracted nothing in it. The meeting got -excited, and Wesley adjourned the settlement of the business to -Kingswood on Saturday next ensuing. - -Here he heard all that any one wished to say, and then read the -following paper:— - - “BY many witnesses, it appears that several members of the - band society in Kingswood have made it their common practice - to scoff at the preaching of Mr. John and Charles Wesley; - that they have censured and spoken evil of them behind their - backs, at the very time they professed love and esteem to their - faces; that they have studiously endeavoured to prejudice other - members of that society against them; and, in order thereto, - have belied and slandered them in divers instances. - - “Therefore, not for their opinions, nor for any of them - (whether they be right or wrong), but for the causes above - mentioned, viz. for their scoffing at the word and ministers of - God, for their talebearing, backbiting, and evil speaking, for - their dissembling, lying, and slandering: - - “I, John Wesley, by the consent and approbation of the band - society in Kingswood, do declare the persons above mentioned - to be no longer members thereof. Neither will they be so - accounted, until they shall openly confess their fault, and - thereby do what in them lies, to remove the scandal they have - given.” - -This is a remarkable document It was hardly two years since Whitefield -and Wesley began to preach at Kingswood, and yet here we have a large -number of their converts charged with backbiting, lying, slandering, -and other crimes. “How is the gold become dim!” Were the former days -better than these? We doubt it. - -Here we also have the first Methodist expulsion; not for opinions, but -for sins; not by the sole authority and act of John Wesley, but “by the -consent and approbation” of the society, whose refractory members were -to be put away. Such was Methodism, at its beginning. - -Cennick, and those who sympathised with his sentiments, refused -to own that they had done aught amiss; and declared that, on many -occasions, he had heard both Wesley and his brother preach Popery. -Wesley gave them another week to think the matter over. They were still -intractable; and alleged that the _real_ cause of their expulsion was -their holding the doctrine of election. Wesley answered, “You know in -your conscience it is not. There are several predestinarians in our -societies both at London and Bristol, nor did I ever put any one out -of either because he held that opinion.” The result of the whole was, -Cennick and fifty-one others at once withdrew, and the remainder, -numbering about a hundred, still adhered to Wesley.[396] - -Such was the first schism in Methodist history,—John Cennick the -leader,—fifty of the Kingswood members its abettors,—and John Wesley -and a majority of the Kingswood society, the court enacting their -expulsion. - -The writer’s chief object is to furnish facts, and therefore he -refrains from comment on these transactions. No doubt Cennick was -sincere. After the risks he ran in preaching Christ, no one can doubt -his Christian earnestness: but, having come to Kingswood at Wesley’s -invitation, and having been employed by him as the teacher of his -school, and also as an evangelist among the surrounding colliers, it -would, at least, have been more courteous to have quietly retired from -his present sphere of action, when he found his views different from -those of his patron and his friend, than it was for him to pursue the -controversial and divisive course he did. John Cennick had a lion’s -courage and a martyr’s piety; but his passions sometimes mastered his -prudence, and, for want of the serpent’s wisdom, he often failed in -exhibiting the meekness of the dove. - -Whitefield arrived in London a few days after the Kingswood expulsion; -and Wesley, on the 25th of March, hastened off to meet him. Whitefield -told him they preached two different gospels, and that he was resolved -to preach against him and his brother wherever he preached at all. A -weekly publication, of four folio pages, entitled “The Weekly History; -or An Account of the most remarkable Particulars relating to the -present Progress of the Gospel,” was immediately started by J. Lewis, -Whitefield promising to supply him with fresh matter every week. This -was really the first Methodist newspaper ever published. Of course, -Calvinism was its inspiring genius. The principal contributors were -Whitefield, Cennick, Howel Harris, and Joseph Humphreys. - -The last mentioned was employed by Wesley as a sort of Moravian lay -preacher, as early as the year 1738,[397] and was greatly attached to -him. At this period, he was acting as Moravian minister at Deptford, -and wrote to Wesley as follows:— - - “DEPTFORD, _April 5, 1741_. - - “DEAR AND REVEREND SIR,—I think I love you better than ever. - I would not grieve you by any means, if I could possibly help - it. I think I had never more power in preaching than I had - this morning. And, if this is the consequence of electing - everlasting love, may my soul be ever filled with it!”[398] - -In another letter, of three weeks later date, addressed to “Mr. M——,” -he avows his belief in the doctrine of final perseverance, and proceeds -to say:— - - “The doctrine of sinless perfection in this life, I utterly - renounce. I believe the preaching of it has led many souls - into darkness and confusion. I believe those that hold it, - if children of God at all, are in a very legal state. I - believe those who pretend to have attained it are dangerously - ignorant of their own hearts. I also see that, if I incline - towards universal redemption any longer, I must also hold with - universal salvation.” - -He then adds: “Last Saturday I sent the following letter to the Rev. -Mr. J. Wesley.” - - “REVEREND SIR,—I would have been joined with you to all - eternity if I could; but my having continued with you so long - as I have has led me into grievous temptation; and I now think - it my duty no longer to join with you, but openly to renounce - your peculiar doctrines. I have begun to do it at London; and, - as the Lord shall enable me, will proceed to do it here at - Bristol. I feel no bitterness in my spirit, but love you, pray - for you, and respect you. - - “I am, sir, your humble servant and unworthy brother, - “JOSEPH HUMPHREYS.” - -The above letter was sent to the editor of the _Weekly History_ by -Whitefield, accompanied by the following note:— - - “I would have you print this letter with my last. If you - think it best, I would also have it printed in the _Daily - Advertiser_. I see the mystery of iniquity, that is working, - more and more. - - “Ever yours, - “G. WHITEFIELD.“[399] - -Humphreys and Cennick were now both at Kingswood, which was, for the -time being, the head quarters of the Calvinistic schism. Here, in the -month of April, the separatists got, from an old man, his copy of -Wesley’s treatise against predestination, and burnt it.[400] About -the same time, however, Wesley distributed a thousand copies among -Whitefield’s congregation, and a thousand more at the Foundery;[401] -and, in the same month, addressed the following characteristic letter -to his friend.[402] - - “_April, 1741._ - - “Would you have me deal plainly with you? I believe you would; - then, by the grace of God, I will. - - “Of many things I find you are not rightly informed; of others - you speak what you have not well weighed. - - “‘The society room at Bristol,’ you say, ‘ is adorned,’ How? - Why, with a piece of green cloth nailed to the desk; and two - sconces for eight candles each in the middle. I know no more. - Now, which of these can be spared I know not; nor would I - desire more adorning, or less. - - “But ‘lodgings are made for me and my brother,’ That is, in - plain English, there is a little room by the school, where I - speak to the persons who come to me; and a garret, in which a - bed is placed for me. And do you grudge me this? Is this the - voice of my brother, my son, Whitefield? - - “You say further, ‘that the children at Bristol are clothed - as well as taught,’ I am sorry for it, for the cloth is not - paid for yet, and was bought without my consent, or knowledge. - ‘But those at Kingswood have been neglected,’ This is not so, - notwithstanding the heavy debt that lay upon it. One master and - one mistress have been in the house ever since it was capable - of receiving them. A second master has been placed there some - months since; and I have long been seeking for two proper - mistresses; so that as much has been done, as matters stand, if - not more, than I can answer to God and man. - - “Hitherto, then, there is no ground for the heavy charge - of perverting your design for the poor colliers. Two years - since, your design was to build them a school. To this end, - you collected some money more than once; how much I cannot - say, till I have my papers. But this I know, it was not near - one-half of what has been expended on the work. This design you - then recommended to me, and I pursued it with all my might, - through such a train of difficulties as, I will be bold to - say, you have not met with in your life. For many months, I - collected money wherever I was, and began building, though - I had not then a quarter of the money requisite to finish. - However, taking all the debt upon myself, the creditors were - willing to stay; and then it was that I took possession of it - in my own name; that is, when the foundation was laid; and I - immediately made my will, fixing you and my brother to succeed - me therein. - - “But it is a poor case, that you and I should be talking thus. - Indeed, these things ought not to be. It lay in your power to - have prevented all, and yet to have borne testimony to what you - call ‘the truth.’ If you had disliked my sermon, you might have - printed another on the same text, and have answered my proofs, - without mentioning my name; this had been fair and friendly.” - -The two friends were thus at variance; but every candid reader must -honestly acknowledge, that Wesley triumphantly refutes Whitefield’s -petulant objections. - -Meanwhile, Whitefield’s adherents in the metropolis, within a few -days after his arrival, set to work to erect him a wooden building -near the Foundery, which they called “a Tabernacle, for morning’s -exposition.”[403] On April 25, he went to Bristol, where Charles -Wesley was officiating; and, three weeks after, wrote to a friend, -saying, “The doctrines of the gospel are sadly run down, and most -monstrous errors propagated. They assert, ‘that the very in-being of -sin must be taken out of us, or otherwise we are not new creatures,’ -However, at Bristol, error is in a great measure put a stop to.”[404] - -So Whitefield thought, and yet, at this very time, Charles Wesley was -preaching at Bristol and Kingswood, if possible, with greater power -than ever. In June, however, Whitefield began to collect money for a -rival meeting-house at Kingswood, and wished John Cennick to lay the -foundation immediately, but to take care not to make the building -either too large or too handsome.[405] - -Wesley and Whitefield were divided; but Howel Harris, with his warm -Welsh heart, tried to reunite them. In the month of October, Harris -had loving interviews with both Wesley and his brother, and wrote to -Whitefield, then in Scotland. Whitefield, easily moved in the path of -Christian love, immediately addressed to Wesley the letter following:— - - “ABERDEEN, _October 10, 1741_. - - “REVEREND AND DEAR BROTHER,—This morning I received a letter - from brother Harris, telling me how he had conversed with - you and your dear brother. May God remove all obstacles that - now prevent our union! Though I hold particular election, - yet I offer Jesus freely to every individual soul. You may - carry sanctification to what degrees you will, only I cannot - agree with you that the in-being of sin is to be destroyed - in this life. In about three weeks, I hope to be at Bristol. - May all disputings cease, and each of us talk of nothing but - Jesus and Him crucified! This is my resolution. I am, without - dissimulation, - - “Ever yours, - “G. WHITEFIELD.”[406] - -It was nearly two years after this that Wesley wrote the piece, in his -collected works, entitled, “Calvinistic Controversy” (vol. xiii., p. -478). He says:— - -“Having found for some time a strong desire to unite with Mr. -Whitefield, as far as possible, to cut off needless dispute, I wrote -down my sentiments, as plain as I could, in the following terms:— - -“There are three points in debate: 1. Unconditional election. 2. -Irresistible grace. 3. Final perseverance.” - -With regard to the first, Wesley expresses his belief, that God has -unconditionally elected certain persons to do certain work, and certain -nations to receive peculiar privileges; and allows, though he says -he cannot prove, that God “has unconditionally elected some persons, -thence eminently styled ‘the elect,’ to eternal glory;” but he cannot -believe, that all those, not thus elected to glory, must perish -everlastingly; or, that there is a soul on earth but what has the -chance of escaping eternal damnation. - -With regard to irresistible grace, he believes, that the grace which -brings faith, and, thereby, salvation, is irresistible at that moment; -and, that most believers may remember a time when God irresistibly -convinced them of sin, and other times when He acted irresistibly upon -their souls; but he also believes, that the grace of God, both before -and after these moments, may be, and hath been resisted; and that, in -general, it does not act irresistibly, but we may comply therewith, or -may not. In those eminently styled “the elect” (if such there be), the -grace of God is so far irresistible, that they cannot but believe, and -be finally saved; but it is not true, that all those must be damned -in whom it does not thus irresistibly work, or, that there is a soul -living who has not any other grace than such as was designed of God to -increase his damnation. - -With regard to final perseverance, he believes, “that there is a state -attainable in this life, from which a man cannot finally fall; and that -he has attained this, who can say, ‘Old things are passed away; all -things in me are become new;’ and, further, he does not deny, that all -those eminently styled ‘the elect’ will infallibly persevere to the -end.”[407] - -In reference to “the elect,” Henry Moore adds, that Wesley told him, -that, when he wrote this, he believed, with Macarius, that all who are -perfected in love are thus elect. - -The document from which the above is taken, was written in 1743. As -Mr. Jackson says, it “evidently leans too much towards Calvinism.” -It is valuable chiefly because it shows Wesley’s anxiety to be at -peace with Whitefield. The latter writes as though all the blame, in -reference to the rupture in their friendship, lay with Wesley; whereas -this was far from being true. Wesley honestly and firmly believed -the doctrine of general redemption; and, because he preached it, and -published a sermon in condemnation of the doctrines opposed to it, -Whitefield worked himself into a fume, and wrote his pamphlet, in which -he not only tries to refute Wesley’s teaching, but unnecessarily makes -a personal attack on Wesley’s character, and taunts him about casting -lots,—a wanton outrage, for which, in October, 1741, he humbly begged -his pardon.[408] The intolerant, excessive zeal was altogether on the -side of Whitefield. Wesley believed and preached general redemption; -but raised no objection to Whitefield believing and preaching election -and final perseverance. Instead of reciprocating this, Whitefield, -in his pamphlet, blustered; and, in his letters, whined, until the -difference of opinion disturbed their friendship, and led them to -build separate chapels, form separate societies, and pursue, to -the end of life, separate lines of action. One of Wesley’s friends -wished him to reply to Whitefield’s pamphlet. Wesley answered, “You -may read Whitefield against Wesley; but you shall never read Wesley -against Whitefield.”[409] In private, Wesley opposed Whitefield, but -in public never. On one occasion, when the two friends met in a large -social gathering, Whitefield mounted his hobby, and spoke largely and -valiantly in defence of his favourite system. Wesley, on the other -hand, was silent till all the company were gone, when, turning to the -spurred and belted controversial knight, he quietly remarked, “Brother, -are you aware of what you have done to-night?” “Yes,” said Whitefield, -“I have defended truth.” “You have tried to prove,” replied Wesley, -“that God is worse than the devil; for the devil can only _tempt_ a man -to sin; but, if what you have said be true, God _forces_ a man to sin; -and therefore, on your own system, God is worse than the devil.”[410] - -Thus the gulf between Wesley and Whitefield was immense. “It was -undesirable—indeed, it was impossible—that they should continue to -address, in turn, the same congregations; for such congregations would -have been kept in the pitiable condition of a ship, thrown on its beam -ends, larboard and starboard, by hurricanes driving alternately east -and west.”[411] - -Being separated from Whitefield and the Moravians, Wesley began to -purge and to organise the societies, which were now purely and properly -his own. At Bristol, he took an account of every person—(1) to whom -any reasonable objection was made; and (2) who was not known to and -recommended by some, on whose veracity he could depend. To those who -were sufficiently recommended, he gave tickets. Most of the rest he -had face to face with their accusers; and such as appeared to be -innocent, or confessed their faults and promised better behaviour, -were then received into the society. The others were put upon trial -again, unless they voluntarily expelled themselves. By this purging -process, about forty were excluded.[412] He also appointed stewards, -to receive and expend what was contributed weekly; and, finding the -funds insufficient, he discharged two of the Bristol schoolmasters, -retaining still, at Kingswood and Bristol unitedly, three masters and -two mistresses for the two schools respectively. - -In London, he adopted the same process, and set apart the hours from -ten to two, on every day but Saturday, for speaking with the bands and -other persons, that no disorderly walker, nor any of a careless or -contentious spirit, might remain among them; the result of which was -the society was reduced to about a thousand members.[413] Ascertaining -that many of the members were without needful food, and destitute -of convenient clothing, he appointed twelve persons to visit every -alternate day, and to provide things needful for the sick; also to -meet once a week to give an account of their proceedings, and to -consult what could be done further. Women, out of work, he proposed -to employ in knitting, giving them the common price for the work they -did, and then adding gratuities according to their needs. To meet -these expenses, he requested those who could afford it, to give a penny -weekly, and to contribute any clothing which their own use did not -require. - -Here we have a new Methodist agency employed. Wesley had already -permitted laymen to exhort and preach; he now authorised them to -pay pastoral visits among his people. At present, they were _mere -visitors_, and meetings analogous to the class-meetings of the present -day did not exist. The two Wesleys often addressed the societies apart, -after they had dismissed the general congregation. They also fixed -certain hours for private conversation; and now they appointed visitors -to visit those who through sickness, poverty, or other causes, were -not able to avail themselves of such assistance. This, as yet, was -all. In the present sense, bands and classes there were none, except -that each society, after the manner of the Moravians, was divided into -male and female, and, perhaps, married and unmarried, bands, all of -them watched over by Wesley or by his brother; and the sick and poor -among them visited by persons appointed to that office. In Bristol, -several members applied to Wesley for baptism, and he gave the bishop -notice to that effect, adding, that they desired him to baptize them -by immersion.[414] The Kingswood society, having been repelled from -the sacramental table at Temple church, Charles Wesley gave them the -sacrament in their own humble school; and, notwithstanding his high -churchism, declared that, under the circumstances, if they had not had -the school, he should have felt himself justified in administering -it in the wood. In London, some of the members communicated at St. -Paul’s, or at their own parish churches; but, during the autumn, on -five successive Sundays, Wesley availed himself of the offer of Mr. -Deleznot, a French clergyman, and used his small church, in Hermitage -Street, Wapping, in administering the Lord’s supper to five successive -batches of about two hundred members of his society (as many as the -place could well contain), until all the society, consisting of about a -thousand persons, had received it.[415] - -To the members at Bristol, and doubtless also at London, Wesley -gave _tickets_. On every ticket he wrote, with his own hand, the -member’s name, “so that,” says he, “the ticket implied as strong a -recommendation of the person to whom it was given as if I had wrote at -length, ‘I believe the bearer hereof to be one that fears God and works -righteousness.’” - -Wesley regarded these tickets as being equivalent to the επιστολαι -συστατικαι, “commendatory letters,” mentioned by the apostle, and -says they were of use: (1) because, wherever those who bore them -came, they were acknowledged by their brethren, and received with all -cheerfulness; (2) when the societies had to meet apart, the tickets -easily distinguished who were members and who were not; (3) they -supplied a quiet and inoffensive method of removing any disorderly -member; for, the tickets being changed once a quarter, and, of course, -no new ticket being given to such a person, it was hereby immediately -known that he was no longer a member of the community.[416] - -The writer is possessed of nearly a complete set of these society -tickets, from the first, issued about 1742, to those given a hundred -years afterwards. Many of them bear the autographs of John and Charles -Wesley, William Grimshaw, and other old Methodist worthies. The -earliest are wood and copper-plate engravings, printed on cardboard, -without any text of Scripture: some bearing the emblem of an angel -flying in the clouds of heaven, with one trumpet to his mouth, and a -second in his hand; and others of the Sun of Righteousness shining on a -phœnix rising out of fire. Some have a dove encircled with glory; and -others have no engraving whatever, but simply an inscription, written -by Charles Wesley, “August, 1746.” Some merely have the word “Society” -imprinted, with the member’s name written underneath; others have a -lamb carrying a flag; and others a tree with a broken stem, Jehovah -as a sun shining on it, and at its foot two men, one planting a new -cutting, and the other watering one already planted. Some represent -Christ in the clouds of heaven, with the cross in one hand and a crown -in the other; and others represent the Christian kneeling before an -altar, inscribed with the words, “Pray always and faint not.” One -represents Christ as washing a disciple’s feet; and another, with -a text of Scripture at the top, has four lines below, in which are -printed, “March 25, June 25, September 29, December 25,” with space -left opposite to each for writing the member’s name, and so making one -ticket serve for the four quarters of a year. One bears the impress -of an anchor and a crown; and another the image of old father Time, -hurrying along, with a scroll in his hand, inscribed with “Now is the -accepted time.” Some are printed with black ink, some with red, and -some with blue. About 1750, emblems gave place to texts of Scripture, -which have been continued from that time to this. - -The Methodist societies, as organised by Wesley, were thus fairly -started in 1741. Meanwhile, Methodism on earth began to swell the -inhabitants of heaven. At the very commencement of the year, Elizabeth -Davis, of London, after she was speechless, being desired to hold up -her hand if she knew she was going to God, immediately held up both. -Anne Cole, on being asked by Wesley, whether she chose to live or die, -answered: “I choose neither, I choose nothing. I am in my Saviour’s -hands, and I have no will but His.” Another of the London members, when -visited by Wesley, said: “I am very ill,—but I am very well. O, I am -happy, happy, happy! My spirit continually rejoices in God my Saviour. -Life or death is all one to me. I have no darkness, no cloud. My body -indeed is weak and in pain, but my soul is all joy and praise.” Jane -Muncy exclaimed: “I faint not, I murmur not, I rejoice evermore, and in -everything give thanks. God is ever with me, and I have nothing to do -but praise Him.” In Bristol, a woman in her dying agonies cried out: -“O, how loving is God to me! But He is loving to every man, and loves -every soul as well as He loves mine.” The last words of another were, -“Death stares me in the face, but I fear him not.” Hannah Richardson, -who was followed to her grave by the whole of the Bristol society, the -procession being pelted in the streets with dirt and stones, said: “I -have no fear, no doubt, no trouble. Heaven is open! I see Jesus Christ -with all His angels and saints in white. I see what I cannot utter or -express.” Sister Hooper cried, “I am in great pain, but in greater -joy.” Sister Lillington exclaimed, “I never felt such love before; -I love every soul: I am all love, and so is God.” Rachel Peacock -sang hymns incessantly, and was so filled with joy that she shouted: -“Though I groan, I feel no pain at all; Christ so rejoices and fills my -heart.”[417] And to all these may be added Keziah Wesley. In a letter -to his brother, dated March 9, 1741, Charles Wesley writes: “Yesterday -morning, sister Kezzy died in the Lord Jesus. He finished His work, and -cut it short in mercy. Full of thankfulness, resignation, and love, -without pain or trouble, she commended her spirit into the hands of -Jesus, and fell asleep.”[418] - -These were triumphs in the midst of troubles; for, besides the anxiety -and pain arising out of the differences with Whitefield and the -Moravians, Wesley, in 1741, had to encounter no inconsiderable amount -of unprincipled persecution. At Deptford, while he was preaching, -“many poor wretches were got together, utterly devoid both of common -sense and common decency, who cried aloud, as if just come from ‘among -the tombs.’” In London, on Shrove Tuesday, “many men of the baser -sort” mixed themselves with the female part of his congregation, and -behaved with great indecency. “A constable commanded them to keep the -peace, in answer to which they knocked him down.” In Long Lane, while -Wesley was preaching, the mob pelted him with stones, one of great -size passing close past his head. In Marylebone fields, in the midst -of his sermon, out of doors, missiles fell thick and fast on every -side. In Charles Square, Hoxton, the rabble brought an ox which they -endeavoured to drive through the congregation. A man, who happened to -be a Dissenting minister, after hearing him preach at Chelsea, asked, -“_Quid est tibi nomen?_” and, on Wesley not answering his impertinence, -the pedantic puppy turned in triumph to his friends, and said, “Ah! I -told you he did not understand Latin.” Among other slanders concerning -him, it was currently reported that he had paid a fine of £20, for -selling Geneva gin; that he kept in his house two popish priests; -that he had received large remittances from Spain, in order to make -a party among the poor; and that, as soon as the Spaniards landed, -he was to join them with twenty thousand men. It was also rumoured, -that, in Bristol, he had hanged himself, and had been cut down just -in time to save his life. The _Scots Magazine_, for August, had a -scurrilous article to the following effect. Above thirty Methodists -had been in Bedlam, and six were there at present. Wesley had set up, -at his Moorfields meeting-house, a number of spinning wheels, where -girls who had absconded from their homes, and servants who had been -discharged for neglecting their master’s business, were set to work, -and were allowed sixpence daily, the overplus of their earnings going -into Wesley’s pocket. Boys and girls mixed together, and were taught to -call each other brother and sister in the Lord. They had to greet each -other with a holy kiss, and to show the utmost affection and fondness, -in imitation of the primitive Christians. In the rooms adjoining the -spinning wheels were several beds, and when persons, in the Foundery -congregation, fell into fits, either pretended or real, they were -carried out and laid upon these beds, that Wesley might pray the evil -spirits out of them, and the good spirit into them, and thus convert -them. - -In refutation of this tissue of unmingled falsehoods, a writer says, -in the same magazine, that he had visited the Foundery, and found it -“an old open house, like the tennis court at Edinburgh;” but there were -no bedchambers, and no spinning wheels; and, consequently, no runaway -girls nor discarded menials. And, so far from above thirty Methodists -having been sent to Bedlam, the writer had made inquiry in London, and -was unable to hear of one.[419] - -The _Gentleman’s Magazine_, for the same year (page 26), has a -ridiculous letter, purporting to be from a Methodist to a clergyman, -in which the clergyman is charged with turning “the _Scripters_ upside -down,” and with calling the Methodists “_expownding infildelfels_.” -Appended to the letter are annotations, stating that, in a certain -barn, twenty or thirty Methodists rendezvous to hear a young -schoolmaster preach, pray, and sing Wesley’s hymns; and that, recently, -a mob of juveniles had chastised his ambition by throwing snowballs -at him; but the preaching pedagogue, instead of ceasing, had cheered -himself by singing hymns suitable to such adventurers; and a cobbler’s -wife had been so excited by his dissertations upon the pangs of the -new birth, that she imagined herself pregnant with devils, had been -delivered of two or three, but still felt others struggling within her. - -The _Weekly Miscellany_ tells its readers that, in the assemblies of -the expounding houses, lately erected in the outskirts of London by the -Methodists, any one, who conceits himself inwardly moved, immediately -sets up for a Scripture expounder. In a long article, it pretends to -show that the Methodist preachers are like the German Anabaptists—1. -Because they act contrary to the oaths they have taken. 2. Because -of their invectives against the clergy. 3. Because they are against -all rule and authority. 4. Because they let laymen and also women -preach. 5. Because they preach in the streets. 6. Because they denounce -vengeance and damnation against sinners. 7. Because they contend for -absolute perfection in this life. 8. Because they pretend to be always -guided by the Holy Ghost. And, 9. Because they hold the doctrine of -community of goods. - -The same abusive but vigorously written paper contains an attack -upon the poor Methodists, by Hooker, the editor, begun in the number -for March 14, and continued weekly until June 27, when this scolding -periodical came to a well deserved termination. The following are a few -selections:— - -March 28.—Wesley pretends to cast out spirits from those whom he -declares possessed of them; but he is “a grand, empty, inconsistent -heretic; the ringleader, fomenter, and first cause of all the -divisions, separations, factions, and feuds that have happened in -Oxford, London, Bristol, and other places where he has been.” - -April 25.—Wesley rebaptizes adults, on the ground that, _really_ they -have never been baptized before, the baptism of infants by sprinkling -being no true baptism in his esteem. When Whitefield returned from -Georgia, he preached at the Foundery, taking for his text, “O foolish -Galatians, who hath bewitched you?” For this he was immediately -excommunicated from the Foundery pulpit, lest the people should think -that Wesley was a conjuror. “Everybody allows that there are above -twenty, and some say forty, spinning wheels at the Foundery.” “Wesley -well knows how to breakfast with one of his devotees, dine with -another, and sup with a third, all of which retrenches the charges -of housekeeping at home. Those who sit in his gallery must subscribe -five shillings a quarter, and those who stand, a penny a week. He who -advances half-a-crown a quarter is admitted into the close society; and -he who doubles that amount becomes a member of the bands, where men and -women stay all night, but for what purpose is known only to God and to -themselves. The price for resolving cases of conscience is threepence -each. Wesley makes at least £50 by every edition of the hymns he -publishes; and thus, by his preaching, his bookselling, his workhouse, -his wheedling, and his sponging, it is generally believed that he gets -an income of £700 a year, and some say above £1000. This,” adds the -mendacious editor, “is priest-craft in perfection.” - -May 9.—The writer speculates concerning what is likely to be the end -of the Methodist movement. 1. Some think if the Methodists are let -alone, they will, as a matter of course, fall to pieces. 2. Others -think that the irreconcilable differences between Wesley and Whitefield -will effect their ruin; for Whitefield has set up a conventicle of -boards not far from Wesley’s Foundery; and while one calls the other -schismatic, the other in requital calls him a heretic. 3. Some think -that their congregations, by neglecting their business and their work, -will be reduced to beggary, and this, of course, will ruin all. 4. -Lastly, others think their conduct will be such that the government -will find it necessary to suppress them. - -June 13.—Proposes the erection of a Methodist edifice on Blackheath. -The foundation stone is to be the tombstone that prevented the -resurrection of Dr. Emes, the famous French prophet. The principal -entrance is to be adorned with statues of the most eminent -field-preachers. The hall is to be decorated with a piece, in which the -principal figure is to be Enthusiasm, sitting in an easy chair, and -just delivered of two beauteous babes, the one called Superstition, -and the other Infidelity. On her right hand must be a grisly old -gentleman with a cloven foot, holding the new born children in a -receiver, which the Pope has blessed, and gazing upon them with most -fatherly affection. The _pang room_ of the building is to be for the -accommodation of those seized with the pangs of the new birth. All -who run mad about election must be lodged in the _predestination -room_,—which, by the way, is likely to be well peopled, and therefore -must be large, as well as dark and gloomy, and must be adorned with -the evolutions, intricacies, and involutions of a rusty chain, held -at one end by the Methodistic founder, and at the other by the devil. -The _disputation room_ is, like a cockpit, to be round as a hoop, so -that the disputants may have the pleasure of disputing in a circle. -The _expounding room_ is to be adorned with a picture of the founder, -with a pair of scissors in one hand and a Bible in the other; a motto -over his reverend head, “Dividing the word of God;” and all round about -scraps of paper supposed to be texts newly clipped from the sacred -Scriptures. The _refectory_ is to have a painting to represent Wesley, -Whitefield, and C. Graves at supper, with Madam Bourignon presiding. -Near her must be an ass’s head boiled with sprouts and bacon; and, -at the other end of the table, a dish of owls roasted and larded. -Having already helped Whitefield to the jaw bone of the ass’s head, -and Wesley to the sweet tooth, she now gives Mr. Graves a spoonful -of the brains and a bit of tongue, which he receives with a grateful -bow. The foundation stone is to be laid on the first of April; and the -procession to the site are to sing, not the psalms of David, for they -are not half good enough, but a hymn of Wesley’s own composing. - -Ridicule like this was even worse than being pelted with brickbats and -rotten eggs. - -The two Wesleys and Whitefield were often roughly treated; and so -also was John Cennick, the Methodist Moravian. At Swindon, the mob -surrounded his congregation, rung a bell, blew a horn, and used a fire -engine in drenching him and them with water. Guns were fired over the -people’s heads, and rotten eggs were plentiful.[420] At Hampton, near -Gloucester, the rabble, chiefly soldiers, to annoy him, beat a drum -and let off squibs and crackers. For an hour and a half, hog’s wash -and fœtid water were poured upon him and his congregation, who all the -while stood perfectly still, in secret prayer, with their eyes and -hands lifted up to heaven.[421] At Stratton, a crowd of furious men -came, armed with weapons, clubs, and staves. Cudgels were used most -unmercifully. Some of his congregation had blood streaming down their -faces; others, chiefly women, were dragged away by the hair of their -head. Sylvester Keen spat in the face of Cennick’s sister, and beat -her about the head, as if he meant to kill her. The mob bellowed and -roared like maniacs; but Cennick kept on preaching and praying till he -was violently pulled down; when he and his friends set out for Lineham, -singing hymns, and followed by the crowd, who bawled—“You cheating dog, -you pickpocketing rogue, sell us a halfpenny ballad!”[422] - -In the midst of such treatment, Methodism went on its way, and -prospered. It is a remarkable fact, that, during 1741, there were no -_stricken_ cases, like those which occurred in 1739, excepting two -at Bristol; but there were many signal seasons of refreshing from -the presence of the Lord. A man, who had been an atheist for twenty -years, came to the Foundery to make sport, but was so convinced of sin, -that he rested not until he found peace with God. At Bristol, on one -occasion, “some wept aloud, some clapped their hands, some shouted, and -the rest sang praise.” In Charles Square, London, while a violent storm -was raging, “their hearts danced for joy, praising ‘the glorious God -that maketh the thunder.’” - -Two or three other important events, occurring in the year 1741, must -be noticed. - -At midsummer, Wesley spent about three weeks in Oxford. Here he -inquired concerning the exercises requisite in order to become a -Bachelor in Divinity. The Oxford Methodists were scattered. Out of -twenty-five or thirty weekly communicants, only two were left; and -not one continued to attend the daily prayers of the Church. Here he -met with his old friend, Mr. Gambold, who told him he need be under -no concern respecting his sermon before the university, which he -had come to preach, for the authorities would be utterly regardless -of what he said. Here also he had a conversation with Richard Viney, -originally a London tailor, but now the Oxford Moravian minister,—a -man, as James Hutton tells us, whose person, delivery, and bearing -prevented his sermons being acceptable to many, and yet a man, who, in -this same year, was elected president of the society in Fetter Lane. -Ultimately he removed to Broad Oaks, Essex, as the superintendent of -the Moravian school; then, by casting lots, was condemned as an enemy -of the work of God; and then joined Wesley’s society at Birstal, which -he so perverted, that they “laughed at all fasting, and self denial, -and family prayer,” and treated even John Nelson slightingly.[423] - -Wesley preached his sermon at St. Mary’s, on Saturday, July 25, to -one of the largest congregations he had seen in Oxford. His text -was: “Almost thou persuadest me to be a Christian;” and his two -divisions, (1) what is implied in being _almost_; and (2) what in being -_altogether_, a Christian. The sermon is one of the most faithful that -Wesley ever preached. It was printed by W. Strahan, 12mo, pages 21, and -was sold at twopence. - -It is almost certain, however, that this was not the sermon that Wesley -_meant_ to preach. After his decease, a mutilated manuscript in English -was found among his papers, dated “July 24, 1741” (a month before he -preached at Oxford), and also a copy of the same in Latin. This was a -discourse on the text, “How is the faithful city become an harlot!” -There can be no question that the sermon was written with the design -of being delivered before the university, and that, for some reason, -the design for the present was abandoned. The sermon, if preached, must -inevitably have brought upon the preacher the ire of his hearers. While -admitting that the university had some who were faithful witnesses of -gospel truth, Wesley alleges that, comparatively speaking, they were -very few. To say nothing of deists, Arians, and Socinians, some of the -chief champions of the faith were far from being faultless. Tillotson -had published several sermons expressly to prove that, not _faith -alone_, but _good works_, are necessary in order to justification; and -the great Bishop Bull had taken the same position. Wesley then proceeds -to attack the members of the university in a way, perhaps, not the most -prudent. He asks if it is not a fact, that many of them “believe that a -good moral man, and a good Christian, mean the same?” He continues:— - - “Scarcely is the form of godliness seen among us. Take any one - you meet; take a second, a third, a fourth, or the twentieth. - Not one of them has even the appearance of a saint, any more - than of an angel. Is there no needless visiting on the sabbath - day? no trifling, no impertinence of conversation? And, on - other days, are not the best of our conversing hours spent in - foolish talking and jesting, nay, perhaps, in wanton talking - too? Are there not many among us found to eat and drink with - the drunken? Are not even the hours assigned for study too - commonly employed in reading plays, novels, and idle tales? How - many voluntary blockheads there are among us, whose ignorance - is not owing to incapacity, but to mere laziness! How few, of - the vast number, who have it in their power, are truly learned - men! Who is there that can be said to understand Hebrew? Might - I not say, or even Greek? O what is so scarce as learning, save - religion!”[424] - -The remainder of this remarkable sermon is in the same strain. Its -allegations, we are afraid, were true; but the sermon was far too -personal to be prudent, and Wesley exercised a wise discretion in -exchanging it for the other. - -During the year 1741, while in Wales, Wesley was seized with a serious -illness. Hastening to Bristol, he was ordered, by Dr. Middleton, to go -to bed,—“a strange thing to me,” he writes, “who have not kept my bed -a day for five-and-thirty years.” A dangerous fever followed, and the -Bristol society held a fast and offered prayer. For eight days, he hung -between life and death; and, for three weeks, he was kept a prisoner, -when, contrary to the advice given him, he resumed his work, and began -to preach daily. - -This was a long interval of enforced retirement for a man of Wesley’s -active temperament; but it was not unprofitably spent. As soon as -he could, he began to read, and during his convalescence devoured -half-a-dozen works. He read “the life of that truly good and great man, -Mr. Philip Henry;” and “the life of Mr. Matthew Henry,—a man not to -be despised, either as a scholar or a Christian, though not equal to -his father.” He read “Mr. Laval’s ‘History of the Reformed Churches in -France;’ full of the most amazing instances of the wickedness of men, -and of the goodness and power of God.” He likewise read “Turretin’s -‘History of the Church,’ a dry, heavy, barren treatise.” He gave a -second perusal to “Theologia Germanica,” and asks, “O, how was it that -I could ever so admire the affected obscurity of this unscriptural -writer?” He also “read again, with great surprise, part of the -‘Ecclesiastical History of Eusebius,’” and says, “so weak, credulous, -thoroughly injudicious a writer have I seldom found.” - -Among the pamphlets published against Wesley, during 1741, was one -entitled: “The Perfectionists Examined; or, Inherent Perfection in -this Life, no Scripture Doctrine. By William Fleetwood, Gent.” 8vo, 99 -pages. Fleetwood asserts that, of all the open and professed enemies of -the gospel, the Methodists are the worst; “they are more destructive -to religion than the papists or Mahometans;” “by their artful -insinuations, and outward sanctity, they have drawn numbers of _silly -women_ after them; they plainly show themselves to be some of those of -whom the apostle Peter prophesied, ‘Such as bring in damnable heresies, -denying the Lord that bought them’”; “and are more like _French_ -enthusiasts, or rank papists, than true Christians.” The reader must -guess the rest. - -Another opponent was Joseph Hart, who published a small work on “The -Unreasonableness of Religion, being Remarks and Animadversions on Mr. -John Wesley’s Sermon on Romans viii. 32.” Of all the enemies Wesley -had, Joseph Hart was one of the most persisting, for he scarcely ever -preached without endeavouring, more or less, to explode Wesley’s -doctrines, as tending to lead the people into dangerous delusions.[425] - -Another pamphlet, octavo, 75 pages, published during the year 1741, was -entitled: “The Doctrine of Justification by Faith, stated according -to the Articles of the Church of England. By Arthur Bedford, M.A., -Chaplain to His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales.” This was written -at the request of “a member of the religious societies in London,” who -told the author, that, “there had been great disputes among them lately -concerning this doctrine; some having advanced faith so high, as to -make no necessity of a good life; and others having advanced works so -high, as to make faith to consist only in a general belief, that the -New Testament is the word of God.” The pamphlet is an able production, -and is temperately written. To most of its sentiments, Wesley himself -would have raised no objection. - -It only remains to notice Wesley’s own publications during 1741.[426] - -Probably the first was his sermon, entitled, “Christian Perfection.” He -writes: “I think it was in the latter end of the year 1740, that I had -a conversation with Dr. Gibson, then bishop of London, at Whitehall. He -asked me what I meant by perfection. I told him without any disguise -or reserve. When I ceased speaking, he said, ‘Mr. Wesley, if this be -all you mean, publish it to all the world,’ I answered, ‘My lord, I -will’; and accordingly wrote and published the sermon on Christian -perfection.”[427] - -The two divisions of this important sermon are: (1) in what sense -Christians _are not_, and (2) in what sense they _are_, _perfect_. -Wesley shows that no one is so perfect in this life, as to be free -from ignorance, from mistakes, from infirmities, and from temptations. -On the other hand, he proves that the perfect Christian is freed from -outward sin; from evil thoughts; and from evil tempers. The sermon is -elaborate, and has affixed to it Charles Wesley’s hymn on “The Promise -of Sanctification,” consisting of twenty-eight stanzas, and beginning -with the line,—“God of all power, and truth, and grace.” - -Another of Wesley’s publications was, “A Collection of Psalms and -Hymns.” Hitherto, all the hymn-books, except the first, had borne, on -the title-page, the names of both the brothers; but this has the name -of Wesley only. - -A third was, “A Dialogue between a Predestinarian and his Friend.” -12mo, eight pages. The object of this short tract is to show, -from the writings of Piscator, Calvin, Zanchius, and others, that -predestinarianism teaches, that God causes reprobates to sin, and -creates them on purpose to be damned.[428] - -Besides the above, Wesley published four abridgments from other works. - -1. “The Scripture Doctrine concerning Predestination, Election, and -Reprobation.” 12mo, 16 pages. - -2. “Serious Considerations on Absolute Predestination.” 12mo, 24 pages. -The tract proves, that the doctrine of absolute predestination is -objectionable: (1) because it makes God the author of sin; (2) because, -it makes Him delight in the death of sinners; (3) because, it is highly -injurious to Christ our Mediator; (4) because, it makes the preaching -of the gospel a mere mock and illusion; etc. - -3. “An Extract of the Life of Monsieur De Renty, a late Nobleman -of France.” 12mo, pages 67. De Renty usually rose at five o’clock; -communicated every day; and spent his time in devotion and doing good. -For several years he ate but one meal a day, and even that was scanty -and always of the poorest food. He often passed the night in a chair, -instead of in bed, or would lie down upon a bench in his clothes and -boots. He parted with several books, because richly bound; and carried -no silver about him, but for works of charity. When his mother took -from him a large portion of his property, he caused the _Te Deum_ to -be sung, beginning it himself. He was wont to say, “I carry about with -me ordinarily a plenitude of the presence of the Holy Trinity.” In -visiting the sick, he would kindle their fires, make their beds, and -set in order their little household stuff. His zeal for the salvation -of men was boundless. “I am ready,” said he, “to serve all men, not -excepting one, and to lay down my life for any one.” He established -numbers of societies at Caen and other places, for the purpose of -Christians assisting one another in working out both their own and -their neighbours’ salvation. He died at Paris, in the thirty-seventh -year of his age, on April 24, 1649. De Renty was, in Wesley’s -estimation, a model saint. - -4. The fourth and last abridgment published, in 1741, was entitled, -“Reflections upon the Conduct of Human Life, with reference to Learning -and Knowledge.” 12mo, pages 36. This was extracted from a work written -by Dr. John Norris, an old friend of Wesley’s father, and one of the -principal contributors to the _Athenian Gazette_.[429] - -The tract, throughout, is in a high degree rich and racy, and well -worth reading. It unquestionably contains the great principles which -guided Wesley in all his reading, writing, publishing of books, and -educational efforts in general. He considered all kinds of knowledge -useful; but, some being much more so than others, he devoted to them -time and attention accordingly; and made the whole subordinate to the -great purpose of human existence,—the glory of God, and the happiness -of man. We finish the present chapter with a few sentences culled from -the conclusion of this threepenny production:— - - “I cannot, with any patience, reflect, that, out of so short a - time as human life, consisting, it may be, of fifty or sixty - years, nineteen or twenty shall be spent in hammering out a - little Latin and Greek, and in learning a company of poetical - fictions and fantastic stories. If one were to judge of the - life of man by the proportion of it spent at school, one would - think the antediluvian mark were not yet out. Besides, the - things taught in seminaries are often frivolous. How many - excellent and useful things might be learnt, while boys are - thumbing and murdering Hesiod and Homer? Of what signification - is such stuff as this, to the accomplishment of a reasonable - soul? What improvement can it be to my understanding, to - know the amours of _Pyramus_ and _Thisbe_, or of _Hero_ and - _Leander_? Let any man but consider human nature, and tell me - whether he thinks a boy is fit to be trusted with Ovid? And - yet, to books such as these our youth is dedicated, and in - these some of us employ our riper years; and, when we die, - this makes one part of our funeral eulogy; though, according - to the principles before laid down, we should have been as - pertinently and more innocently employed all the while, if we - had been picking straws in Bedlam. The measure of prosecuting - learning is its usefulness to good life; and, consequently, all - prosecution of it beyond or beside this end, is impertinent - and immoderate. For my own part, I am so thoroughly convinced - of the certainty of the principles here propounded, that I - look upon myself as under almost a necessity of conducting - my studies by them, and intend to study nothing at all but - what serves to the advancement of piety and good life. I have - spent about thirteen years in the most celebrated university - in the world, in pursuing both such learning as the academical - standard requires, and as my private genius inclined me to; but - I intend to spend my uncertain remainder of time in studying - only what makes for the moral improvement of my mind, and the - regulation of my life. More particularly, I shall apply myself - to read such books as are rather persuasive than instructive; - such as warm, kindle, and enlarge the affections, and awaken - the Divine sense in the soul; being convinced, by every day’s - experience, that I have more need of heat than light; though - were I for more light, still I think the love of God is the - best light of the soul of man.” - -This is a long extract; but it is of some consequence, as furnishing -a key to the whole of Wesley’s literary pursuits—from this, the -commencement of his Methodist career, to the end of his protracted -life. His aim was not to shine in scholarship, but to live a life of -goodness. - - - - -1742. - - -[Sidenote: 1742 Age 39] - -Wesley now began to enlarge the sphere of his operations. Hitherto, -his only stated congregations had been at Kingswood, at Bristol, and -at the Foundery, London. For these, the ministrations of himself and -his brother were sufficient; but, as the work increased, new preachers -became needful. Cennick and Humphreys had both left him; but others -supplied their places. John Nelson came to London, was converted, and, -at the end of the year 1740, returned to Birstal in Yorkshire, where, -impelled by the love of Christ, and almost without knowing it, he -began to preach to his unconverted neighbours. Thomas Maxfield also, -one of the first converts in Bristol, and who, for a year or two, -seems to have travelled with Charles Wesley, perhaps in the capacity -of servant, being left in London, to meet during Wesley’s absence the -Foundery society, pray with them, and give them suitable advice, was -insensibly led from praying to preaching,—his sermons being accompanied -with such power, that numbers were made penitent and were converted. -Wesley, hearing of this irregularity, hurried back to London, for the -purpose of stopping it. His mother, living in his house, adjoining the -Foundery, said: “John, take care what you do with respect to that young -man, for he is as surely called of God to preach, as you are. Examine -what have been the fruits of his preaching, and hear him yourself.” The -Countess of Huntingdon also wrote: “Maxfield is one of the greatest -instances of God’s peculiar favour that I know. He is my astonishment. -The first time I made him expound, I expected little from him; but, -before he had gone over one fifth part of his discourse, my attention -was riveted, and I was immovable. His power in prayer, also, is very -extraordinary.”[430] - -Wesley was convinced, and the Rubicon was passed. “I am not clear,” -he writes under the date of April 21, 1741, “that brother Maxfield -should not expound at Greyhound Lane; nor can I as yet do without him. -Our clergymen” (Stonehouse, Hall, and others) “have miscarried full as -much as the laymen; and that the Moravians are other than laymen, I -know not.”[431] Wesley wrote again, about four years after employing -Maxfield:— - - “I am bold to affirm, that these unlettered men have help - from God for the great work of saving souls from death. But, - indeed, in the one thing which they profess to know, they are - not ignorant men. I trust there is not one of them, who is - not able to go through such an examination, in substantial, - practical, experimental divinity, as few of our candidates for - holy orders, even in the university, are able to do. In answer - to the objection, that they are laymen, I reply, the scribes - of old, who were the ordinary preachers among the Jews, were - not priests; they were not better than laymen. Yea, many of - them were incapable of the priesthood, being not of the tribe - of Levi. Hence, probably, it was, that the Jews themselves - never urged it as an objection to our Lord’s preaching, that - He was no priest after the order of Aaron; nor, indeed, could - be; seeing He was of the tribe of Judah. Nor does it appear - that any objected this to the apostles. If we come to later - times, was Mr. Calvin ordained? Was he either priest or deacon? - And were not most of those whom it pleased God to employ in - promoting the Reformation abroad, laymen also? Could that great - work have been promoted at all, in many places, if laymen had - not preached? In all Protestant churches, ordination is not - held a necessary pre-requisite of preaching; for in Sweden, in - Germany, in Holland, and, I believe, in every Reformed church - in Europe, it is not only permitted, but required, that, before - any one is ordained, he shall publicly preach a year or more - _ad probandum facultatem_. And, for this practice, they believe - they have an express command of God; ‘let those first be - proved, then let them use the office of a deacon, being found - blameless’ (1 Tim. iii. 10). Besides, in how many churches, in - England, does the parish clerk read one of the lessons, and - in some the whole service of the Church, perhaps every Lord’s - day? And do not other laymen constantly do the same thing in - our very cathedrals? which, being under the inspection of - the bishops, should be patterns to all other churches. Nay, - is it not done in the universities themselves? Who ordained - that singing man at Christ Church; who is likewise utterly - unqualified for the work, murdering every lesson he reads; not - endeavouring to read it as the word of God, but rather as an - old song?” - -Where is the priest, pretending that preaching belongs exclusively to -those in orders, who can answer such arguments as these? But Wesley’s -case was stronger than even this. He proceeds to relate that, after God -had used him and his brother clergymen, in several places, in turning -many from a course of sin to a course of holiness, the ministers of -these places, instead of receiving them with open arms, spoke of them -“as if the devil, not God, had sent them; and represented them as -fellows not fit to live,—papists, heretics, traitors, conspirators -against their king and country;” while the people, who had been -converted by their preaching, were “driven from the Lord’s table, -and were openly cursed in the name of God.” What could be done in a -case like this? “No clergyman would assist at all. The expedient that -remained was, to find some one among themselves, who was upright of -heart, and of sound judgment in the things of God; and to desire him -to meet the rest as often as he could, in order to confirm, as he was -able, in the ways of God, either by reading to them, or by prayer, or -by exhortation.” - -This was done, and God blessed it. “In several places, by means of -these unlettered men, not only those who had already begun to run well -were hindered from drawing back to perdition; but other sinners also, -from time to time, were converted from the error of their ways.” - -“This plain account,” continues Wesley, “of the whole proceeding, I -take to be the best defence of it. I know no scripture which forbids -making use of such help, in a case of such necessity. And I praise -God who has given even this help to those poor sheep, when ‘their own -shepherds pitied them not.’” - -Brave-hearted Wesley! The step he took was momentous; but he was a -match for all opposers; and marvellous is the fact that the very -Church, which so branded him for such a departure from Church order, -is now actually copying his example. Notable, in future years, will be -the incident, which has almost passed without being noticed, that, in -the month of May, 1869, in his own private chapel, at London House, -Dr. Jackson, Bishop of London, formally authorised eight laymen “to -read prayers, and to read and _explain_ the Holy Scriptures,” and “to -conduct religious services for the poor in schools, and mission rooms, -and in the open air,” in the London diocese, with the understanding -and agreement that their labours will be rendered gratuitously.[432] -Thus are even bishops treading in the once hated footsteps of the great -Methodist. - -In 1742, Wesley’s itinerating commenced in earnest. During the year, -he spent about twenty-four weeks in London and its vicinity; fourteen -in Bristol and the surrounding neighbourhood; one in Wales; and -thirteen in making two tours to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, taking, on his -way, Donnington Park, Birstal, Halifax, Dewsbury, Mirfield, Epworth, -Sheffield, and other towns and villages adjoining these. - -Whitefield spent the first two months in Bristol, Gloucester, and the -west of England, and the three following in London. He then went to -Scotland, where he continued until the end of October, when he returned -to London for the remainder of the year. - -Wesley and he were again friends. On April 23, Wesley writes: “I spent -an agreeable hour with Mr. Whitefield. I believe he is sincere in all -he says, concerning his earnest desire of joining hand in hand with all -that love the Lord Jesus Christ. But if, as some would persuade me, he -is not, the loss is all on his own side. I am just as I was. I go on my -way, whether he goes with me or stays behind.” - -This interview took place at Easter, a season of the year which -Moorfields was wont to keep with uproarious hilarity. On this occasion, -the spacious rendezvous was filled, from end to end, with mountebanks, -players, drummers, trumpeters, merryandrews, and menageries. Whitefield -mounted his field pulpit, and from twenty to thirty thousand people -flocked around him. He became a target, at which were hurled dirt, -dead cats, stones, and rotten eggs. A fool belonging to one of the -puppetshows attempted to lash him with a whip; and a recruiting -sergeant, with his drum and other musical instruments, marched through -his congregation; but Whitefield, for three hours, continued praying, -preaching, and singing; and then retired to the Tabernacle, with his -pocket full of notes from persons who had been awakened by his sermon, -and which were read amid the praises and acclamations of assembled -crowds. A thousand such papers had been sent to him; and three hundred -and fifty of the inquiring penitents were received into church -fellowship in a single day.[433] - -Wesley and Whitefield henceforth were divided, and yet united. Each -pursued his own separate course; but their hearts were one. Their -creeds were different; but not their aims. “Mr. Wesley,” writes -Whitefield in 1742, “I think is wrong in some things; but I believe he -will shine bright in glory. I have not given way to him, or to any, -whom I thought in error, no not for an hour; but I think it best not to -dispute, where there is no probability of convincing.”[434] And again, -in a letter to Wesley himself, on October 11, 1742, he says: “I had -your kind letter, dated October 5. In answer to the first part of it, I -say, ‘Let old things pass away, and all things become new.’ I can also -heartily say ‘Amen’ to the latter part of it—‘Let the king live for -ever and controversy die,’ It has died with me long ago. I thank you, -dear sir, for praying for me. I have been upon my knees praying for you -and yours, and that nothing but love, lowliness, and simplicity may be -among us!”[435] - -To the day of his death, Whitefield breathed this loving spirit, and -rejoiced to find reciprocal affection in his friend Wesley. After -this, we shall refrain from adverting to his history more than we find -needful,—not for want of admiration of his character and labours, but -because it is impossible, in casual notices, to do him justice. He -was still hounded as much as ever by the dogs of persecution. Though -he was now in Scotland, where, if anywhere, his Calvinistic doctrines -were likely to gain him favour, yet even there he met with virulent -opposers. Among other extremely bitter pamphlets published against him, -in 1742, was one printed at Edinburgh, “by a true lover of the Church -and country,” who represented him as taking upon himself “the office -of a thirteenth apostle,” and concluded his courteous outpouring thus: -“Let all good people beware of this stroller, for he will yet find a -way to wheedle you out of your money. He is as artful a mountebank -as any I know.” Another pamphlet, entitled “The Declaration of the -True Presbyterians, within the Kingdom of Scotland, concerning Mr. -George Whitefield and the work at Cambuslang,” begun as follows:—“The -declaration, protestation, and testimony of the suffering remnant of -the anti-popish, anti-Lutheran, anti-prelatic, anti-Whitefieldian, -anti-Erastian, anti-sectarian, true Presbyterian church of Christ -in Scotland;” and then this windy performance, of thirty-two pages, -proceeds to say that Whitefield is “an abjured, prelatic hireling, of -as lax toleration principles as any that ever set up for the advancing -the kingdom of Satan. He is a wandering star, who steers his course -according to the compass of gain and advantage.” A third publication, -issued in 1742, was, “A Warning against countenancing the ministrations -of Mr. George Whitefield, wherein is shown that Mr. Whitefield is no -minister of Jesus Christ; that his call and coming to Scotland are -scandalous; that his practice is disorderly and fertile of disorder; -and that his whole doctrine is, and his success must be, diabolical. -By Adam Gib, minister of the gospel at Edinburgh.” In this sweet -effusion of seventy-five pages, poor Whitefield is solemnly pronounced -to be “one of those false Christs, of whom the church is forewarned, -Matt. xxiv. 24.” After reviewing some of Whitefield’s tenets, Mr. -Adam Gib deliciously remarks: “in raking through this dunghill of Mr. -Whitefield’s doctrine, we have raised as much _stink_ as will suffocate -all his followers, that shall venture to draw near without stopping -their noses.” “The complex scheme of his doctrine is diabolical; it -proceeds through diabolical influence, and is applied unto a diabolical -use, against the Mediator’s glory and the salvation of men.” This was -pretty strong for a young man, twenty-nine years of age, and who, four -years afterwards, became the leader of the party known by the name of -Anti-burghers. We are prepared, by such pious venom, for the fact, -that, in the year following, when the “associate presbytery met for -renewing the national covenant of Scotland, and the solemn league and -covenant of the three nations,” they drew up and printed “a confession -of the sins of the ministry,” in which they humble themselves before -God, for not “timeously” warning the people against Whitefield; for -being “too remiss in their endeavours to prevent the sad effects -of his ministrations;” for being “too little affected by the -latitudinarian principles and awful delusions which he had propagated;” -and for not “crying to God, that He would rebuke the devourer, and cast -the false prophet and the unclean spirit out of the land.”[436] - -Despite all this, Whitefield cheerily pursued the path marked out by -Providence. Few men have been more entitled to the last beatitude in -our Saviour’s sermon, “Blessed are ye, when men shall revile you, and -persecute you, and shall say all manner of evil against you falsely, -for My sake.” - -It was through the timely interposition of Howel Harris, that the -friendship between Wesley and Whitefield was resumed. Towards this -warm-hearted Welshman Wesley cherished the most sincere affection, and, -on the 6th of August, 1742, wrote to him as follows:— - - “MY DEAR BROTHER,—I have just read yours, dated at Trevecca, - October 19, 1741. And what is it that we contend about? Allow - such a perfection as you have there described, and all further - dispute I account vain jangling and mere strife of words. As to - the other point, we agree: (1) that no man can have any power - except it be given him from above; (2) that no man can merit - anything but hell, seeing all other merit is in the blood of - the Lamb. For those two fundamental points, both you and I - earnestly contend; what need, then, of this great gulf to be - fixed between us? Brother, is thy heart with mine, as my heart - is with thine? If it be, give me thy hand. I am indeed a poor, - foolish, sinful worm; and how long my Lord will use me, I know - not. I sometimes think the time is coming when He will lay me - aside. For surely never before did He send such a labourer into - such a harvest. But, so long as I am continued in the work, let - us rise up together against the evil-doers; let us not weaken, - but strengthen one another’s hands in God. My brother, my soul - is gone forth to meet thee; let us fall upon one another’s - neck. The good Lord blot out all that is past, and let there - henceforward be peace between me and thee! - - “I am, my dear brother, ever yours, - “JOHN WESLEY.”[437] - -Another of Wesley’s friends, at this period, was the Rev. Henry Piers, -vicar of Bexley, a devoted man, who, through the instrumentality of -Charles Wesley and Mr. Bray, had found peace with God on the 10th of -June, 1738. He at once began to preach, with great fidelity, the -scriptural method of salvation; and such was his success, that in -August, 1739, Whitefield assisted him in administering the sacrament, -in Bexley church, to nearly six hundred communicants. Keziah Wesley -was an inmate of his house; and Wesley himself was a welcome visitor. -He was one of the six persons who composed Wesley’s first Conference, -in 1744; and one of the three who publicly walked with Wesley from the -church of St. Mary’s, Oxford, when he preached, for the last time, -before the university. - -In 1742, the vicar of Bexley was appointed to preach at Sevenoaks, -“before the right worshipful the Dean of the Arches, and the reverend -the clergy of the deanery of Shoreham, assembled in visitation.” The -text chosen by Mr. Piers was 1 Corinthians iv. 1, 2; and his object -was to show what doctrines ministers ought to preach, and also what -ought to be their tempers and behaviour. A letter to Wesley, written -May 24, three days after the sermon was delivered, states that, at -the beginning of his discourse, Piers was listened to with gravity; -but, while dwelling upon the doctrines of the Church, his reverend -auditors began to indulge in “shrewd looks and indignant smiles”; this -was followed with “laughter and loud whispers,” some of them saying, -“Piers is mad, crazy, and a fool.” When he came to the application of -his discourse, and asked whether the clergy preached such doctrines, -possessed such tempers, and led such lives, the ordinary would endure -it no longer, but beckoned to the apparitor to open his pew door, and -to the minister of Sevenoaks church to command Piers to stop. The -minister made a sign to the preacher, but without effect. The ordinary -then publicly desired Piers to pronounce the benediction, as the -congregation had already heard quite enough. Piers, however, still went -on; all the clergy, except one or two, walked out; and the preacher, -without further interruption, finished his discourse to an attentive -audience.[438] - -The sermon, though written by Mr. Piers, was, previous to its being -preached, revised by Wesley;[439] and, in September ensuing, was -published, price sixpence,[440] with a list of the books sold by Wesley -at the Foundery in Moorfields, inserted. The sermon, in point of fact, -was a joint production of Wesley and his friend. Any one, comparing -it with other sermons published by Mr. Piers, will perceive an -unmistakable difference in style, and force of expression. The sermon -was, to a great extent, Wesley’s; and, in this instance, Wesley was -almost preaching by proxy. - -Wesley longed for helpers; but, conscious that none would be useful -unless converted, he was careful in accepting offers. Of his friend -Piers he could have no doubt; but it was otherwise with respect to a -clergyman from America, who called upon him at the beginning of the -year, and “appeared full of good desires.” Wesley writes: “I cannot -suddenly answer in this matter; I must first know what spirit he is -of; for none can labour with us, unless he ‘count all things dung -and dross, that he may win Christ.’” With Wesley, neither learning, -nor talent, nor even orders, nor all combined, were sufficient to -induce him to accept a helper, unless there was also piety. Purity in -preachers is of more importance than either scholarship, or genius, or -both united. The former is an essential, without which no man ought to -preach; the latter are, at the best, but useful in helping a preacher -to preach successfully. - -In a certain sense, Methodist societies were begun in 1739; but it was -not until 1742 that they were divided into classes. In January, 1739, -the London society, which was really Moravian, and not Methodist, -consisted of about sixty persons. Three months after that, Wesley -went to Bristol, where “a few persons agreed to meet weekly, with the -same intention as those in London”; and these were soon increased -by “several little societies, which were already meeting in divers -parts of the city,” amalgamating with them. About the same time -similar societies were formed at Kingswood and at Bath.[441] These -religious communities grew and multiplied. At the beginning of 1742, -the London society alone, after repeated siftings, numbered about -eleven hundred members.[442] Hitherto, Wesley and his brother had -been their only pastors; but, on February 15, 1742, an accident led to -a momentous alteration. Nearly three years before, Wesley had built -his meeting-house in Bristol; but, notwithstanding the subscriptions -and collections made at the time to defray the expense, a large debt -was still unpaid. On the day mentioned, some of the principal members -of the Bristol society met together to consult how their pecuniary -obligations should be discharged. One of them stood up and said, “Let -every member of the society give a penny a week, till the debt is -paid.” Another answered, “Many of them are poor, and cannot afford to -do it.” “Then,” said the former, “put eleven of the poorest with me; -and if they can give anything, well; I will call on them weekly; and if -they can give nothing, I will give for them as well as for myself. And -each of you call on eleven of your neighbours weekly; receive what they -give, and make up what is wanting.” “It was done,” writes Wesley; “and -in a while, some of these informed me, they found such and such an one -did not live as he ought. It struck me immediately, ‘This is the thing, -the very thing, we have wanted so long.’” - -What was the result? Wesley called together these weekly collectors -of money to pay the debt on the Bristol chapel, and desired each, -in addition to collecting money, to make particular inquiry into -the behaviour of the members whom they visited. They did so. Many -disorderly walkers were detected; and thus the society was purged of -unworthy members.[443] - -Within six weeks after this, on March 25, Wesley introduced the -same plan in London; where he had long found it difficult to become -acquainted with all the members personally. He requested “several -earnest and sensible men to meet him,” to whom he explained his -difficulty. They all agreed that, “to come to a sure, thorough -knowledge of each member, there could be no better way than to divide -the society into classes, like those at Bristol.” Wesley, at once, -appointed, as leaders, “those in whom he could most confide”; and -thus, after an existence of three years, the Methodist societies were -divided into classes, in 1742. “This,” says Wesley, “was the origin -of our classes, for which I can never sufficiently praise God; the -unspeakable usefulness of the institution having ever since been more -and more manifest.”[444] - -At first, the leaders visited each member at his own house; but this -was soon found to be inconvenient. It required more time than the -leaders had to spare; and many members lived with masters, mistresses, -or relations, where it was almost impossible for such visits to be -made. Hence, before long, it was agreed, that each leader should meet -his apportioned members all together, once a week, at a time and place -most convenient for the whole. The leader began and ended each meeting -with singing and prayer, and spent about an hour in conversing with -those present, one by one.[445] - -Thus class-meetings began. Wesley writes, “It can scarce be conceived -what advantages have been reaped by this little prudential regulation. -Many now experienced that Christian fellowship, of which they had not -so much as an idea before. They began to bear one another’s burdens, -and naturally to care for each other’s welfare. And as they had daily -a more intimate acquaintance, so they had a more endeared affection -for each other. Upon reflection, I could not but observe, this is the -very thing which was from the beginning of Christianity. As soon as any -Jews or heathen were so convinced of the truth, as to forsake sin, and -seek the gospel of salvation, the first preachers immediately joined -them together; took an account of their names; advised them to watch -over each other; and met these κατηχουμενοι, _catechumens_, as they -were then called, apart from the great congregation, that they might -instruct, rebuke, exhort, and pray with them, and for them, according -to their several necessities.”[446] - -Such is Wesley’s own account of the origin of these weekly meetings. -Some of the old members were, at first, extremely averse to this new -arrangement, regarding it, not as a privilege, but rather a restraint. -They objected, that there were no such meetings when they joined the -society, and asked why such meetings should be instituted now. To this -Wesley answered, that he regarded class-meetings not essential, nor of -Divine institution, but merely prudential helps, which it was a pity -the society had not been favoured with from the beginning. “We are -always open to instruction,” says he to these complainants, “willing to -be wiser every day than we were before, and to change whatever we can -change for the better.” - -Another objection was, “There is no scripture for classes.” Wesley -replied, that there was no scripture against them; and that, in point -of fact, there was much scripture for them, namely, texts which -enjoined the substance of the thing, leaving indifferent circumstances -to be determined by reason and experience. - -The most plausible objection of all, however, was that which is often -urged at the present day. Wesley writes: “They spoke far more plausibly -who said, ‘The thing is well enough in itself; but the leaders have -neither gifts nor graces for such an employment.’ I answer—(1) Yet such -leaders as they are, it is plain God has blessed their labour. (2) If -any of these is remarkably wanting in gifts or grace, he is soon taken -notice of and removed. (3) If you know any such, tell it to me, not -to others, and I will endeavour to exchange him for a better. (4) It -may be hoped they will all be better than they are, both by experience -and observation, and by the advices given them by the minister every -Tuesday night, and the prayers (then in particular) offered up for -them.”[447] - -The appointment of these leaders was of vast importance; but it was -not sufficient. Wesley continues: “As the society increased, I found -it required still greater care to separate the precious from the vile. -In order to this, I determined, at least once in every three months, -to talk with every member myself, and to inquire at their own mouths, -whether they grew in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus -Christ. At these seasons, I likewise particularly inquire whether -there be any misunderstanding or difference among them; that every -hindrance of peace and brotherly love may be taken out of the way.”[448] - -Nothing need be added to this full account of the origin of the -class-meeting and the quarterly visitation of the Methodists. Wesley, -from the beginning, “recognised the scriptural distinction between -the church and the world. The men who possessed religion, and the men -who possessed it not, were not for a moment confounded. They might be -neighbours in locality, and friends in goodwill; but they were wide as -the poles asunder in sentiment. The quick and the dead may be placed -side by side; but no one can, for ever so short a period, mistake dead -flesh for living fibre. The church and the churchyard are close by; -but the worshippers in the one and the dwellers in the other are as -unlike as two worlds can make them. The circle within the circle, the -company of the converted, Wesley always distinguished from the mass of -mankind, and made special provision for their edification in all his -organisms.”[449] - -After the formation of classes, the next event in point of importance, -in the year 1742, was Wesley’s visit to the north of England. A -combination of circumstances led to this. - -John Nelson had been converted among the Methodists in London, and had -returned to Birstal, in Yorkshire, where Benjamin Ingham had already -founded a number of flourishing Moravian brotherhoods. Nelson began to -preach in the towns of Yorkshire; his labours were greatly blessed; -and many of the greatest profligates, blasphemers, drunkards, and -sabbath-breakers were entirely changed. John had often invited Wesley -to visit Yorkshire, and this was one of the reasons of his setting -out.[450] - -Another was, that the Countess of Huntingdon had earnestly urged him -to proceed to Newcastle, and to employ his best efforts to improve -the moral and religious condition of the colliers on the Tyne. The -letter, containing this request, has not been published, but is in the -possession of the Rev. James Everett. - -The countess was now resident at Donnington Park, the favourite home of -her noble husband, the Earl of Huntingdon, who, like herself, treated -ministers of Christ with every mark of polite attention. His sisters, -Lady Betty Hastings, and Lady Margaret, (who afterwards became the -wife of Ingham,) had been converted through the instrumentality of the -Methodists, and were now sincere and earnest Christians. Donnington -became a sort of rallying place for Christian ministers and Christian -people. Mr. Simpson and Mr. Graves, two converted clergymen, resided -in the neighbourhood. David Taylor, one of the servants of the Earl -of Huntingdon, had commenced preaching in the surrounding hamlets -and villages, and had begun a work which resulted in the forming of -the New Connexion of General Baptists. Miss Fanny Cooper, residing -with the countess, and dying of consumption, was greatly beloved by -Wesley, and wished to see him.[451] All these circumstances had to do -with his setting out for the midland counties, for Yorkshire, and for -Newcastle-upon-Tyne. - -On the 9th of January, Lady Huntingdon wrote to him, saying, that Miss -Cooper was waiting for the consolation of Israel with an indescribable -firmness of faith and hope. She had read his Journal, which he had sent -for her perusal, and thought there was nothing in it which ought to be -left out; and that the manner in which he spoke of himself could not be -mended.[452] - -In another letter, dated the 15th of March, she tells him that she is -sure he is a chosen vessel set for the defence of the gospel; that she -has given up the school at Markfield; that John Taylor is gone to be -an assistant to David Taylor, and to become a schoolmaster among the -people who had been converted; and that Mr. Graves had been blessed by -Wesley’s conversation, and greatly loved him.[453] - -In a third letter, dated ten days later, Wesley is informed that John -Taylor is about to wait upon him, and to say that, unless David Taylor -(who had contracted an ill judged marriage, and fallen into the German -stillness) transferred his flock to Wesley and his brother Charles, the -countess would withdraw from him her support and countenance. She adds: -“I would not trust David with the guidance of my soul, no, not for -worlds. I find he is going to build himself a room, and to break with -the ministers, and become a lay preacher. He has more pride than I ever -saw in man. If he will commit his poor sheep into your hands, I will -assist in the room, school, etc.; but else will I do nothing. You are -much mistaken about the bishops not reading what you publish; I know -they do. Let me know in your next if you approve what I have done about -David.”[454] - -Six weeks afterwards, Lady Huntingdon wrote again, saying that Miss -Cooper was at the point of death, and wished to see Wesley; and that -a horse had been ordered for John Taylor to go down with him.[455] -On receiving this, Wesley started almost immediately. He reached -Donnington Park on May 22; found Miss Cooper just alive; spent three -days with her and the countess, rejoicing in the grace of God; and then -set out for Birstal, still accompanied by John Taylor.[456] On arriving -at Birstal, Wesley went to an inn and sent for John Nelson; and John -came and carried him to his own humble home. Thus was the aristocratic -mansion exchanged for the mason’s cottage. Numbers had been converted -by John’s plain, blunt preaching; but, because he advised them to go to -church and sacrament, Ingham reproved him, and forbade the members of -his societies to hear him. - -Ingham, to some extent at least, had fallen into the dangerous -delusions of the Moravians. He had also exposed himself to suspicions -of another kind. Dr. Doddridge, in a letter written a fortnight -before Wesley’s visit to Birstal, says: “I am much surprised with a -book, called the ‘Country Parson’s Advice to a Parishioner,’ which is -circulated, with extreme diligence, by Ingham, and other Methodists in -our part of the country. It artfully disguises, but most evidently -contains and recommends, almost all the doctrines of popery, and none -more than that fatal one of consigning conscience and fortune into the -hands of the priesthood.[457] I am not hasty to smell out a Jesuit, -and ever thought the Methodists had more honesty than wisdom; but this -certain fact surprises me, and I should be glad of a key to it. It may -be said, that they have generally appeared men of plain understandings, -void of that art and learning necessary for missionaries; but all -plots require tools, and have underparts, nor may these always be let -into the whole design. On the whole, while they are diffusing such -sentiments, Protestantism and our free constitution may have as little -reason to thank them as learning and reason have already.”[458] - -Wesley preached, on May 26, at noon, on the top of Birstal hill; spent -the afternoon in conversing with Nelson’s converts; and, at eight -at night, preached on Dewsbury moor, two miles from Birstal, and, -in opposition to the Moravian tenets, “earnestly exhorted all who -believed, to wait upon God in His ways, and to let their light shine -before men.” - -His labours were not without success. One of his hearers was Nathaniel -Harrison, a young man twenty-three years of age, who soon after was -made circuit steward, an office which he filled for more than twenty -years, and during a long life encountered no small amount of brutal -persecution for the sake of his great Master. His father turned him -out of doors; his eldest brother horsewhipped him; and the mob hurled -missiles at his head, and, on one occasion, were literally bespattered -with his blood. Nathaniel Harrison was a happy Christian, and attained -to the age of eighty years before he died; he was wont to say, “My soul -is always on the wing, I only wait the summons.”[459] - -Another of Wesley’s hearers was John Murgatroyd, a weaver, who -became a member of the second class which was formed in Yorkshire; -was present when John Nelson was pressed for a soldier; and was one -of those brave-hearted Methodists who sang songs of praise at the -door of Nelson’s prison. He lived to have ten children, fifty-one -grandchildren, and twenty-one great grandchildren; and, after being -sixty-three years a Methodist, he peacefully breathed his last breath -at Wansford, in the east of Yorkshire, having, on the day before, -attended three public services, and sung the praises of his Saviour -with an animation which seemed to evince that he was exulting in the -hope of singing the new song in heaven.[460] - -Leaving Birstal, Wesley and John Taylor came to Newcastle on Friday, -May 28. - -This northern metropolis was then widely different to what it is at -present. Then the only streets, of any consequence, were Pilgrim -Street, Newgate Street, Westgate Street, the Side, and Sandgate. On -the south of Westgate Street there was nothing but open country. -Between Westgate Street and Newgate Street, the only buildings were the -vicarage and St. John’s church; whilst between Newgate Street and the -upper part of Pilgrim Street almost the only edifice was the house of -the Franciscan Friars. On the east of Pilgrim Street were open fields, -and on the north nothing but a few straggling houses. The town was -surrounded with a wall, having turrets, towers, and gates. On what is -now the centre of the town, stood the princely dwelling of Sir William -Blackett, environed with extensive pleasure grounds, adorned with trees -and statues. There were five churches: St. John’s, in which, besides -the Sunday services, there were public prayers three times every week; -St. Andrew’s, where, in addition to services on sabbaths, prayers were -read every Wednesday and Friday morning; Allhallows; St. Nicholas’s, -in which there was public service twice daily; and the church of -St. Thomas, at the entrance of the street on Newcastle bridge. The -Roman Catholics had a chapel at the Nuns; the Quakers a meeting-house -in Pilgrim Street, nearly opposite to the Pilgrim’s Inn; and the -Dissenters two or three chapels in different parts, and also a burial -ground near Ballast Hills.[461] - -As already stated, Wesley reached Newcastle on Friday night, the 28th -of May. The public house, in which he lodged, belonged to a Mr. Gun, -and stood a few yards northward of the site on which he built his -Orphan House. This, at the time, was open country, and about a mile -from busy, dirty, degraded Sandgate on the river side. On walking out, -after tea, he was surprised and shocked at the abounding wickedness. -Drunkenness and swearing seemed general, and even the mouths of little -children were full of curses. How he spent the Saturday we are not -informed; but, on Sunday morning, at seven,[462] he and John Taylor -took their stand, near the pump, in Sandgate, “the poorest and most -contemptible part of the town,” and began to sing the old hundredth -psalm and tune. Three or four people came about them, “to see what -was the matter;” these soon increased in number, and, before Wesley -finished preaching, his congregation consisted of from twelve to -fifteen hundred persons. When the service was ended, the people still -“stood gaping, with the most profound astonishment,” upon which Wesley -said: “If you desire to know who I am, my name is John Wesley. At five -in the evening, with God’s help, I design to preach here again.” - -Such was the commencement of Methodism in the north of England,—the -preacher the renowned John Wesley, doubtless dressed in full -canonicals, with plain John Taylor standing at his side,—the time seven -o’clock on a Sunday morning, in the beautiful month of May,—the place -Sandgate, crowded with keelmen and sailors, using, says Christopher -Hopper, “the language of hell, as though they had received a liberal -education in the regions of woe,”[463]—the song of praise the old -hundredth psalm, which, like the grand old ocean, is as fresh and as -full of music now as it was when it first was written,—and the text, -the very pith of gospel truth, “He was wounded for our transgressions, -He was bruised for our iniquities, the chastisement of our peace was -upon Him, and with His stripes we are healed.” - -Strict churchman as he was, there can be but little doubt, that Wesley -and his companion attended the morning and afternoon services in some -of the Newcastle churches; but at five o’clock, amid balmy breezes, -he again took his stand on the hill, by the side of the Keelman’s -Hospital. On one hand was the town with the fine old wall, fortified -with towers; on the other hand were fields, stretching away to Ouseburn -and Byker; behind him was the open country, dotted here and there with -fragrant gardens, Jesus’s Hospital, the workhouse, the charity school -of Allhallows church, and Pandon Hall, formerly the residence of the -Northumbrian kings; while just before him were the swarming hordes of -Sandgate, the crowded quay, and the river Tyne. The hill was covered -from its summit to its base. In Moorfields and on Kennington Common, -he had preached to congregations numbering from ten to twenty thousand -people; but his congregation here was the largest he had ever seen. -“After preaching,” he writes, “the poor people were ready to tread me -under foot, out of pure love and kindness.” With difficulty, he reached -his inn, where he found several of his hearers waiting his arrival. -They told him they were members of a religious society, which had -existed for many years, had a “fine library,” and whose “steward read -a sermon every Sunday.” They urged him to remain with them, at least, -a few days longer; but, having promised to be at Birstal on Tuesday -night, he was unable to consent. Accordingly, rising even before the -sun on Monday morning, he set out at three o’clock, rode about eighty -miles, and lodged at night at Boroughbridge. The next day, he came to -Birstal, holding a prayer-meeting at Knaresborough on the way; and at -night, surrounded by a vast multitude, conducted a religious service -of two hours and a half duration. In Birstal and its neighbourhood, he -spent the next three days, preaching at Mrs. Holmes’s, near Halifax, at -Dewsbury Moor, at Mirfield, and at Adwalton. - -He then set out for Epworth, and went to an inn, where an old servant -of his father’s and two or three poor women found him. The next day -being Sunday, he offered to assist Mr. Romley, the curate, either by -preaching or reading prayers; but his offer was declined, and a sermon -was offensively preached by Romley against enthusiasts. After the -service, John Taylor gave notice, as the people were coming out, that -Mr. Wesley, not being permitted to preach in the church, designed -to preach in the churchyard, at six o’clock. Accordingly, at that -hour, he stood on his father’s tombstone, and preached to the largest -congregation Epworth had ever witnessed. The scene was unique and -inspiriting,—a living son preaching on a dead father’s grave, because -the parish priest refused to allow him to officiate in a dead father’s -church. “I am well assured,” writes Wesley, “that I did far more good -to my Lincolnshire parishioners by preaching three days on my father’s -tomb, than I did by preaching three years in his pulpit.”[464] - -Contrary to his intention, he remained eight days at Epworth, and every -night used his father’s tombstone as his rostrum. He also preached at -Burnham, Ouston, Belton, Overthorp, and Haxey. Here religious societies -had been formed; but two men, John Harrison and Richard Ridley, had -poisoned them with the Moravian heresy, telling them that “all the -ordinances are man’s inventions, and that if they went to church or -sacrament, they would be damned.” One of them, at Belton, who once ran -well, now said “he saw the devil in every corner of the church, and in -the face of every one who went to it.” Still, a great work had been -wrought among them, and some of them had suffered for it. “Their angry -neighbours,” says Wesley, “had carried a whole wagon-load of these new -heretics before a magistrate. But when he asked what they had done, -there was a deep silence, for that was a point their conductors had -forgotten. At length, one said ‘they pretended to be better than other -people, and prayed from morning to night;’ and another said, ‘they have -_convarted_ my wife. Till she went among them she had such a tongue! -and now she is as quiet as a lamb!’ ‘Take them back, take them back,’ -replied the justice, ‘and let them convert all the scolds in the town.’” - -As already intimated, Wesley’s preaching on his father’s grave was -attended with amazing power. On one occasion, the people on every side -wept aloud; and on another, several dropped down as dead; Wesley’s -voice was drowned by the cries of penitents; and many there and then, -in the old churchyard, found peace with God, and broke out into loud -thanksgiving. A gentleman, who had not been at public worship of any -kind for upwards of thirty years, stood motionless as a statue. “Sir,” -asked Wesley, “are you a sinner?” “Sinner enough!” said he, and still -stood staring upwards, till his wife and servant, who were both in -tears, put him into his chaise, and took him home. - -John Whitelamb, Wesley’s brother-in-law, clergyman at Wroote, heard -him preach at Epworth, and wrote him, saying, “Your presence creates -an awe, as if you were an inhabitant of another world. I cannot think -as you do; but I retain the highest veneration and affection for you. -The sight of you moves me strangely. My heart overflows with gratitude. -I cannot refrain from tears, when I reflect, this is the man, who at -Oxford was more than a father to me; this is he, whom I have there -heard expound, or dispute publicly, or preach at St. Mary’s, with such -applause. I am quite forgotten. None of the family ever honour me with -a line! Have I been ungrateful? I have been passionate, fickle, a fool; -but I hope I shall never be ungrateful.”[465] - -On receiving this, Wesley hastened to visit his old friend; preached, -on his way, at Haxey; then again in Whitelamb’s church; and again, at -night, on his father’s tomb, to an immense multitude, the last service -lasting for about three hours. He writes, “We scarce knew how to part. -Oh, let none think his labour of love is lost because the fruit does -not immediately appear! Near forty years did my father labour here; but -he saw little fruit of all his labour. I took some pains among this -people too; and my strength also seemed spent in vain: but now the -fruit appeared. There were scarce any in the town on whom either my -father or I had taken any pains formerly, but the seed, sown so long -since, now sprung up, bringing forth repentance and remission of sins.” - -Thus, despite Mr. Romley’s railing at the enthusiast, his churchyard -became the scene of some of Wesley’s greatest triumphs. John Whitelamb, -writing to Charles Wesley, says: “I had the honour and happiness of -seeing and conversing with my brother John. He behaved to me truly like -himself. I found in him, what I have always experienced heretofore, the -gentleman, the friend, the brother, and the Christian.”[466] - -Wesley’s visit to Epworth was a memorable one; and it is not surprising -that artists have vied with each other in portraying it. Thousands of -Methodist homes have pictures of Wesley preaching on his father’s tomb; -and the scene itself, throughout all time, will be regarded as one of -the most striking incidents in Wesley’s history. Here, at Epworth, -Wesley’s venerable father had toiled, with exemplary diligence and -fidelity, for the long space of nine-and-thirty years; a man who, for -strength of mind and godly earnestness, had few superiors; and yet, a -man whose life was a perpetual worry of poverty and persecution. Here, -Wesley’s almost unequalled mother, during the whole of that period, -had been the sharer of her husband’s joys and sorrows. Here had been -nurtured a family, who, for genius, talent, and romantic history, must -always stand high among the remarkable households of mankind. The -family was now scattered. Seven years had elapsed since the father’s -death. Samuel, the eldest, and Keziah, the youngest of the children, -(that survived the days of infancy,) had since expired. And what about -the widowed mother? We shall soon see. - -Wesley left Epworth on the 14th of June; and, after preaching for four -days in Sheffield and the neighbourhood, he hastened to the Countess of -Huntingdon’s, and thence, by way of Coventry, Evesham, and Stroud, to -the city of Bristol, which he reached on June 28. - -Within a month after this, his venerable mother exchanged earth for -heaven. Hearing of her illness, he hastened from Bristol to London -to see her. Charles was absent, but her five daughters were with -her. Wesley writes: “I found my mother on the borders of eternity; -but she had no doubt or fear; nor any desire but to depart and to be -with Christ.” She died of gout,[467] on Friday, July 23. Early in the -morning, on awaking out of sleep, she cried, “My dear Saviour! Art -Thou come to help me at my last extremity?” In the afternoon, as soon -as the intercession meeting at the Foundery was ended, Wesley went to -her, and found her pulse almost gone, and her fingers dead. Her look -was calm, and her eyes were fixed upward. Wesley used the commendatory -prayer, and, with his sisters, sang a requiem to her parting soul. She -was perfectly sensible, but gasping for life. Within an hour, she died -without a struggle, groan, or sigh; and Wesley and his sisters stood -round her bed, and fulfilled her last request, uttered a little before -she lost her speech: “Children, as soon as I am released, sing a psalm -of praise to God.” The remains of this sainted lady were interred on -Sunday, August 1, in Bunhill-fields. An immense multitude was present; -Wesley performed the service; and then preached from Revelation xx. 12, -13. “It was,” says he, “one of the most solemn assemblies I ever saw, -or expect to see on this side eternity.”[468] - -Wesley spent the next three months in London and in Bristol, and in -journeying to and fro; his brother Charles labouring, at the same time, -at Newcastle and in the north. - -On the 18th of August, he met his brother and Charles Caspar Graves in -Bristol. Mr. Graves had been a student of St. Mary Magdalen College, -Oxford, and was one of the Oxford Methodists. Two years after the -Wesleys left for Georgia, the friends of Graves believed him to be -“stark mad,” and removed him from his college. He found peace with God -in 1738, and became an exceedingly zealous out-door preacher; but, -in 1740, he was persuaded, and almost coerced, to sign a paper to -the effect, that he now renounced the principles and practice of the -Methodists; that he was heartily sorry he had occasioned scandal by -attending their meetings; and that, in future, he should avoid doing so. - -For nearly two years, he acted accordingly; but, on meeting the Wesleys -in Bristol at the time above mentioned, he wrote to the fellows of St. -Mary Magdalen College, revoking the document he had been led to sign, -and declaring that he now looked upon himself “to be under no kind of -obligation to observe anything contained in that scandalous paper, so -unchristianly imposed upon him.” - -Immediately after this, Charles Wesley and Mr. Graves set off for the -north of England. Having spent a few days with John Nelson and his -Methodist friends at Birstal, they proceeded to Newcastle. Mr. Graves -returned to Birstal in about a fortnight; but Charles Wesley continued -among the colliers of the Tyne, formed the Newcastle society, and did -not return to London until his brother was ready to take his place in -the month of November following.[469] - -On his arrival, November 13, Wesley met, what he calls, “the wild, -staring, loving society;” he took them with him to the sacrament at -Allhallows church; he reproved some among them who walked disorderly; -and ascertained that few were thoroughly convinced of sin, and scarcely -any could witness that their sins were pardoned. Great power, however, -began to attend his preaching. On one occasion, six or seven dropped -down as dead; and, at another time, several of the genteel people were -constrained to roar aloud for the disquietness of their hearts. - -He extended his labours to the surrounding villages. At Whickham he -“spoke strong, rough words;” but none of the people seemed to regard -his sayings. At Tanfield Leigh, he preached “to a dead, senseless, -unaffected congregation.” At Horsley, notwithstanding a bitter frost, -he preached in the open air, the wind driving upon the congregation, -and scattering straw and thatch among them in all directions. - -In Newcastle, though the season was winter, he preached out of doors -as often as he could; and, at other times, in a room, in a narrow -lane, now Lisle Street, nearly opposite the site of Wesley’s Orphan -House. This “room,” or “tabernacle” (as it was also called) had been -built “by a fanatic of the name of Macdonald,” who had now removed to -Manchester.[470] It was the first Methodist meeting-house in the north -of England. - -The work accomplished was marvellous. It was only eight months since -Wesley entered Newcastle as a perfect stranger; and, yet, there were -now above eight hundred persons joined together in his society, -besides many others in the surrounding towns and villages who had been -benefited by his ministry. He writes: “I never saw a work of God, in -any other place, so evenly and gradually carried on. It continually -rose step by step. Not so much seemed to be done at any one time, as -had frequently been done at Bristol or London; but something at every -time.”[471] - -Among these northern converts, there were not a few, who subsequently -rendered important service to the cause of Christ; brave spirits who -deserve a niche in Methodistic history, but whom, for the present, we -are reluctantly obliged to pass in silence. - -Such a society being formed, a place for meeting became imperative. -Several sites were offered; one outside the gate of Pilgrim Street -was bought; and, on December 20, the foundation stone was laid; after -which Wesley preached, but, three or four times during the sermon, -was obliged to stop, that the people might engage in prayer and give -thanks to God. The building was calculated to cost £700; Wesley had -just twenty-six shillings towards this expenditure;[472] many thought -it would never be completed; but Wesley writes: “I was of another mind; -nothing doubting but, as it was begun for God’s sake, He would provide -what was needful for the finishing it.” - -This “clumsy, ponderous pile,” as John Hampson calls it, was then the -largest Methodist meeting-house in England. “Clumsy and ponderous” -we grant it was, but still a “pile” hallowed by associations far too -sacred to be easily forgotten. Here one of the first Sunday-schools -in the kingdom was established, and had not fewer than a thousand -children in attendance. Here a Bible society existed before the British -and Foreign Bible Society was formed. Here was one of the best choirs -in England; and here, among the singers, were the sons of Mr. Scott, -afterwards the celebrated Lords Eldon and Stowell.[473] Here was the -resting place of John Wesley’s first itinerants; and here colliers and -keelmen, from all parts of the surrounding country, would assemble, -and, after the evening service, would throw themselves upon the -benches, and sleep the few remaining hours till Wesley preached at five -next morning.[474] The “clumsy, ponderous” old Orphan House was the -head quarters of Methodism in the north of England. - -Within the last four years Wesley had built “the room” at Bristol, and -the school at Kingswood; and he had bought, and repaired, and almost -rebuilt “that vast, uncouth heap of ruins,” called “the Foundery.” He -began in Bristol without funds, but money had been furnished as he -needed it; and now, with £1 6_s._, he begun to erect a building to cost -£700. Three months after laying the foundation stone, in the inclement -month of March, while the building was yet without roof, doors, or -windows, Wesley opened it by preaching from the narrative of the rich -man and Lazarus; and, afterwards, amid bricks, mortar, and a builder’s -usual _débris_, held a watchnight, the light of a full moon probably -being the only illumination the damp, cold, unfinished building had, -and equinoctial gales and winter winds wafting the watchnight hymns of -these happy Methodists to a higher and holier world than this. Truly -the cradle in which Methodism was rocked by the hand of Providence was -often rough. - -Having begun the building, it was high time for Wesley to begin to find -means to pay for it. Accordingly, he arranged to leave his Newcastle -friends on the last day of 1742. He preached his farewell sermon—a -sermon of two hours’ continuance—in the open air; men, women, and -children hung upon him, and were unwilling to part with him; and, even -after he had mounted his horse and started on his journey, “a muckle -woman” kept her hold of him, and ran by his horse’s side, through thick -and thin, till the town was fairly left behind him. - -We thus find Methodism firmly rooted in Bristol, Kingswood, London, and -Newcastle; and, besides this, Wesley writes: “In this year many other -societies were formed in Somersetshire, Wiltshire, Gloucestershire, -Leicestershire, Warwickshire, and Nottinghamshire, as well as the -southern parts of Yorkshire.”[475] - -Not only were churches on earth multiplied, but additions were made -to the church in heaven. Mr. Dolman, who rarely failed to be at the -Foundery by five o’clock, died full of love, and peace, and joy in -believing. James Angel gave up his spirit to God in the full triumph of -faith. Mary Whittle cried out: “It is done, it is done! Christ lives -in me;” and died in a moment. Another female member of the London -society expired with the words, “I fear not death; it hath no sting -for me. I shall live for evermore.” Sarah Whiskin cried out, “My Lord -and my God!” fetched a double sigh, and died. John Woolley, a child of -thirteen years, threw his arms wide open, and said, “Come, come, Lord -Jesus! I am Thine;” and soon after breathed his last. And Lucy Godshall -died basking in the light of her Saviour’s countenance. All these -belonged to the London society. - -The purest gold is sometimes mixed with dross; and so it was with -Methodism. Some of the Foundery society fanatically talked of feeling -the blood of Christ running upon their arms, their breasts, their -hearts, and down their throats. Wesley met them, and denounced their -folly as the empty dreams of heated imaginations. Good John Brown, of -Tanfield Leigh, two or three days after his conversion, came riding -through Newcastle, hallooing and shouting, and driving all the people -before him; telling them that God had revealed to him that he should -be a king, and should tread all his enemies beneath his feet. Wesley -arrested him, and sent him home immediately, advising him to cry day -and night to God, lest the devil should gain an advantage over him. -These were rare exceptions, and were promptly checked. - -Two, who called themselves _prophets_, came to Wesley in London, -stating, that they were sent from God to say, he would shortly be -_born’d_ again; and that, unless he turned them out, they would stay -in the house till it was done. He gravely answered, that he would not -turn them out, and took them down into the room of the society. Here he -left them. “It was tolerably cold,” says he, “and they had neither meat -nor drink. However, there they sat from morning to evening, when they -quietly went away, and I have heard nothing from them since.” - -In 1742, persecution by means of the public press had, to some extent, -abated;[476] but mobs and vulgar-minded men were as violent as ever. At -Long Lane, in London, they threw large stones upon the house in which -Wesley was preaching, which, with the tiles, fell among the people, -endangering their lives. At Chelsea, burning substances were cast into -the room till it was filled with smoke. At Pensford, near Bristol, a -hired rabble brought a bull, which they had been baiting, and tried to -drive it among the people; and then, forcing their way to the little -table on which Wesley stood, they “tore it bit from bit,” with fiendish -vengeance. A similar outrage was perpetrated in the neighbourhood of -Whitechapel. The mob did their utmost to force a herd of cattle among -the congregation; and then threw showers of stones, one of which struck -Wesley between the eyes; but, wiping away the blood, he continued the -service as if nought had happened. At Cardiff, while Charles Wesley was -preaching, women were kicked, and their clothes set on fire by rockets, -thrown into the room among them; the desk in which the preacher stood -was dashed to pieces, and the Bible wrested from his hands, one of the -brutal persecutors solemnly declaring that, if he went straight to hell -for doing it, he would persecute the Methodists to his dying day.[477] - -In the midst of such violence, Wesley calmly pursued the path of duty, -praying, preaching, visiting the sick and dying, forming societies, -building chapels, reading, writing, and publishing. - -During the year, he read Dr. Pitcairn’s works,—“dry, sour, and -controversial;” Jacob Behmen’s Exposition of Genesis, the “most sublime -nonsense, inimitable bombast, fustian not to be paralleled, all of a -piece with his inspired interpretation of the word _tetragrammaton_; -Madame Guyon’s “Short Method of Prayer,” and “Les Torrents -Spirituelles,” from which “poor quietist” the Moravians had taken many -of their unscriptural expressions; “The Life of Ignatius Loyola,” “a -surprising book,” concerning “one of the greatest men that ever engaged -in supporting so bad a cause;” and “The Life of Gregory Lopez,” “a good -and wise, though much mistaken man.” - -Wesley’s publications, during 1742, were the following:— - -1. “A Companion for the Altar. Extracted from Thomas à Kempis.” 12mo, -24 pages. - -2. “An Extract of the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s Journal, from August 12, -1738, to November 1, 1739.” 12mo, 98 pages. - -3. “A Treatise on Christian Prudence. Extracted from Mr. Norris.”[478] -12mo, 35 pages. - -4. “A Collection of Hymns, translated from the German;” 36 pages. These -were twenty-four in number, and had previously been published in his -“Hymns and Sacred Poems.” - -5. “A Narrative of the Work of God, at and near Northampton in New -England. Extracted from Mr. Edwards’s Letter to Dr. Coleman.” 12mo, 48 -pages. - -6. “A Collection of Tunes set to Music, as they are commonly sung at -the Foundery.” Duodecimo, of thirty-six pages, containing forty-three -tunes for one voice only, some set in the treble and some in the tenor -clef.[479] - -Great revivals of religion have generally been attended by copious -productions of hymns of praise; and thus it was at the rise of -Methodism. This was emphatically the great era of hymn writing in the -English church. Watts, Doddridge, and Erskine poured forth the joys -of their converted hearts, and furnished lyric lines, which have been -used, in sacred worship, by millions. But of all the hymnists then -living, the Wesleys were the most remarkable. A competent authority -has estimated that, during Wesley’s lifetime there were published not -fewer than six thousand six hundred hymns from the pen of Charles -Wesley only.[480] Having furnished their societies with so many hymns, -no wonder that the Wesleys collected and furnished tunes. Their -religion made them happy; and happiness always finds vent in song. -The old Methodists were remarkable for their singing. Why? Because -their hearts throbbed with the “joy unspeakable and full of glory.” -Make a man happy, and he is sure to sing. Thus it was with Wesley and -the thousands who looked to him as their great leader. Naturally, the -Wesleys were full of poetry; and religion, so far from extinguishing -the fire, fanned it into a holy flame. Their taste in music may be -gathered from Wesley’s directions to his preachers. “Suit the tune -to the words. Avoid complex tunes, which it is scarcely possible to -sing with devotion. Repeating the same words so often, especially -while another repeats different words, shocks all common sense, -necessarily brings in dead formality, and has no more religion in it -than a Lancashire hornpipe. Sing no anthems. Do not suffer the people -to sing too slow. In every society, let them learn to sing; and let -them always learn our own tunes first. Let the women constantly sing -their parts alone. Let no man sing with them, unless he understands -the notes, and sings the bass, as it is pricked down in the book. -Introduce no new tunes till they are perfect in the old. Let no organ -be placed anywhere, till proposed in the Conference. Recommend our -tune-book everywhere; and if you cannot sing yourself, choose a person -or two in each place to pitch the tune for you. Exhort every one in the -congregation to sing, not one in ten only.”[481] - -Well would it be if Methodist ministers were to enforce such rules as -these, instead of leaving the most beautiful part of public worship, -as is too often done, to the irreligious whims and criminal caprice -of organists and choirs. No one can doubt the fact that, within the -last forty years, the singing in Methodist chapels has deteriorated -to an extent which ought to be alarming. The tunes now too generally -sung are intolerably insipid; and, as to any sympathy between them -and the inspiriting hymns of Charles Wesley, it would be preposterous -to say that a particle of such sympathy exists. Such singing may suit -the _classic_ taste of fashionable congregations assembled amid the -chilling influence of gothic decorations; but it bears no resemblance -whatever to the general outbursts of heartfelt praise, adoration, and -thanksgiving, which characterised the old Methodists. It is high time -for Methodist preachers to keep John Wesley’s rules respecting singing; -to substitute John Wesley’s tunes and others like them for the soulless -sounds now called classic music; and to feel that, before God and man, -they are as much responsible for the singing in sanctuaries as they are -for that part of public worship which consists of prayer. - -7. Wesley’s last publication, in 1742, was “The Principles of a -Methodist,” 12mo, 32 pages. This was written in reply to a pamphlet of -the Rev. Josiah Tucker, who had tried to show that the Methodists, in -the first instance, had been the disciples of William Law the mystic, -and then of the Moravians; and, that now their principles were a -perfect “medley of Calvinism, Arminianism, Quakerism, Quietism, and -Montanism, all thrown together.”[482] - -In reply to the charge of believing inconsistencies, Wesley remarks:—1. -That Mr. Law’s system of truth had never been the creed of the -Methodists. He himself was eight years at Oxford before he read any -of Mr. Law’s writings; and when he did read them, so far from making -them his creed, he had objections to almost every page. 2. That the -Germans, with whom he travelled to Georgia, infused into him no ideas -about justification, or anything else; for he came back with the same -notions he had when he went; but Peter Bohler’s affirmation that -true faith in Christ is always attended with “dominion over sin, and -constant peace from a sense of forgiveness,” and that “justification -was an instantaneous work,”—led him to make anxious inquiry, which -resulted in his conviction, that Bohler’s doctrine was true, and that, -notwithstanding all his past good performances, he himself was still -without true faith in Christ. 3. He repudiates the inconsistent creed -which Mr. Tucker puts into his mouth, and concludes as follows:—“I may -say many things which have been said before, and perhaps by Calvin -or Arminius, by Montanus or Barclay, or the Archbishop of Cambray; -but it cannot thence be inferred that I hold a ‘medley of all their -principles,—Calvinism, Arminianism, Montanism, Quakerism, Quietism, -all thrown together,’ There might as well have been added Judaism, -Mahommedanism, Paganism. It would have made the period rounder, and -been full as easily proved, I mean asserted; for no other proof is yet -produced.” - -This was Wesley’s first battle. In his “address to the reader,” he -remarks:— - - “I have often wrote on controverted points before; but not with - an eye to any particular person. So that this is the first time - I have appeared in controversy, properly so called. Indeed I - have not wanted occasion to do it before; particularly when, - after many stabs in the dark, I was publicly attacked, not by - an open enemy, but by my own familiar friend.” [Whitefield.] - “But I could not answer him. I could only cover my face and - say, Και συ εις εκεινων; και συ, τεκνον; ‘Art thou - also among them? art thou, my son?’ - - “I now tread an untried path, ‘with fear and trembling’; fear, - not of my adversary, but of myself. I fear my own spirit, lest - I ‘fall where many mightier have been slain.’ Every disputant - seems to think (as every soldier) that he may hit his opponent - as much as he can; nay, that he ought to do his worst to him, - or he cannot make the best of his own cause.” - -Wesley then denounces this mode of conducting controversy, and declares -that he wishes to treat Mr. Tucker and all opponents as he would treat -his own brother. In such a spirit, Wesley began his long continued, -perhaps unparalleled, controversial life.[483] - - - - -1743. - - -[Sidenote: 1743 Age 40] - -During the year 1743, Wesley spent about fourteen weeks in London, -ten in Bristol and its vicinity, thirteen in Newcastle and the -neighbourhood, three in Cornwall, and twelve in travelling chiefly to -the north of England. He was now a thorough itinerant; and itinerating -in England then was widely different from what it is at present. -Turnpike roads did not exist; and no stage coach went farther north -than the town of York.[484] Wesley travelled on horseback, reading as -he rode, and usually having one of his preachers with him. In a life -like this, there was much of both hardship and incident. For instance, -on New Year’s day, between Doncaster and Epworth, he met a man so -drunk that he could hardly keep his seat, but who, on discovering that -Wesley was his fellow traveller, cried out, “I am a Christian! I am a -Churchman! I am none of your Culamites!” And then, as if afraid that -Wesley might turn out to be the devil, away he went, as fast as his -horse could carry him. Twelve days after, on reaching Stratford upon -Avon, Wesley was requested to visit a woman of middle age, who, with -a distorted face, and a lolling tongue, had bellowed so horribly, in -the presence of the parish minister, that he pronounced her possessed -with demons. Wesley went, but, staring at her visitor, she said nothing -ailed her. After singing a verse or two, Wesley and his friends began -to pray. Just as he commenced, he felt as if he “had been plunged into -cold water,” and immediately there was a tremendous roar. The woman -was reared up in bed, her whole body moving, without bending either -joint or limb. Then it writhed into all kinds of postures, the poor -wretch still bellowing. Wesley, however, continued praying, until all -demoniacal symptoms ceased, and the woman began rejoicing and praising -God. On another occasion, in the month of April, while baiting his -horse at Sandhutton, he found sitting, in the chimney corner of the -public house, a good natured man, who was enjoying his grog with the -greatest gusto. Wesley began to talk to him about sacred things, having -no suspicion that he was talking to the parish priest. And yet so it -was; but the reverend tippler, instead of boiling over with offence, -begged his reprover to call upon him when he next visited his village. -In July, when he and John Downes reached Darlington, from Newcastle, -both their horses lay down and died; and, in August, when he was -leaving London for Bristol, his saddle slipped upon his horse’s neck; -he was jerked over the horse’s head; and the horse itself ran back to -Smithfield. Six days later, being in Exeter, he went to church both -morning and afternoon, and writes: “the sermon in the morning was quite -innocent of meaning; what that in the afternoon was, I know not; for -I could not hear a single sentence.” In October, when he was leaving -Epworth, he had to cross the Trent in a ferry boat; a terrible storm -was raging; and the cargo consisted of three horses and eight men and -women. In the midst of the river, the side of the boat was under water, -and the horses and men rolling one over another, while Wesley was laid -in the bottom, pinned down with a large iron bar, and utterly unable to -help himself. Presently, however, the horses jumped into the water, and -the boat was lightened, and came safe to land. Such were some of the -incidents Wesley met with in 1743. - -One of the first events in this memorable year was the organisation -of the Calvinistic Methodists in Wales. At a meeting held at Watford -(near Cardiff), on January 5 and 6, and at which there were present -four clergymen—Whitefield, Rowlands, Powell, and Williams, and three -laymen—Howel Harris, Joseph Humphreys, and John Cennick, it was agreed -that “public exhorters” should be employed, and that each “public -exhorter,” with the assistance of “private exhorters,” should take the -oversight of twelve or fourteen societies. Each “private exhorter” was -to inspect only one or two societies, and was to follow his ordinary -calling. Howel Harris was to be a general travelling superintendent; -and the clergymen were to itinerate as much as they were able. Each -society was to have a box, under the care of stewards, to receive -weekly contributions towards the support of the general work; and the -clergymen and exhorters were to meet in conference once, or oftener, -every year.[485] Thus Whitefield, Harris, Humphreys, and Cennick began -to _organise_ their societies before the Wesleys did. - -After an absence of seven weeks, Wesley returned to Newcastle, on -the 19th of February, and at once set to work to purge the society -of unworthy members. Since he left, on December 30, seventy-six had -forsaken the society; and sixty-four were now expelled, about eight -hundred still remaining. Of those who had voluntarily withdrawn -themselves, a large proportion were Dissenters, who left, because -otherwise their ministers refused to them the sacrament; thirty-three -because their husbands, wives, parents, masters, or acquaintance -objected; five because such bad things were said of the society; nine -because they would not be laughed at; one because she was afraid of -falling into fits; and fourteen for sundry other reasons. Among those -expelled, there were two for swearing; two for sabbath breaking; -seventeen for drunkenness; two for retailing spirituous liquors; three -for quarreling; one for beating his wife; three for wilful lying; -four for railing; one for laziness; and twenty-nine for lightness -and carelessness. Thus, within a few months after its formation, the -Newcastle society was purged of one hundred and forty of its members. - -Joined with Newcastle were a number of country places, at each of which -Wesley preached every week, excepting Swalwell, where he went only -once a fortnight. These were Horsley, Pelton, Chowden, South Biddick, -Tanfield, Birtley, and Placey. At Chowden, he found he had got into -the very Kingswood of the north; twenty or thirty wild children, in -rags and almost nakedness, flocking round about him. At Pelton, in the -midst of the sermon, one of the colliers began to shout amain from an -excess of joy; but their usual token of approbation was clapping Wesley -on the back. At Placey, the colliers had always been in the first rank -for savage ignorance and all kinds of wickedness. Every Sunday men, -women, and children met together to dance, fight, curse and swear, -and play at chuck ball, span farthing, or whatever came to hand; but, -notwithstanding this, when Wesley went among them, on the 1st of April, -and preached amid wind, sleet, and snow till he was encased in ice, -“they gave earnest heed to the things which were spoken.” - -In Newcastle, almost every night, there were scenes of great -excitement. Numbers dropped down, lost their strength, and were seized -with agonies. Some said, they felt as if a sword was running through -them; others thought a great weight upon them; others could hardly -breathe; and others felt as if their bodies were being torn to pieces. -“These symptoms,” says Wesley, “I can no more impute to any natural -causes, than to the Spirit of God. I can make no doubt, but it was -Satan tearing them, as they were coming to Christ. And hence proceeded -those grievous cries, whereby he might design both to discredit the -work of God, and to affright fearful people from hearing that word -whereby their souls might be saved.” - -Wesley left on April 7, and on the 30th of May was succeeded by his -brother. Charles put an end to these annoying fits, and says, “I am -more and more convinced it was a device of Satan to stop the course of -the gospel.” He preached to “a thousand wild people” at Sunderland. At -South Shields, his congregation consisted of “a huge multitude; many of -them very fierce and threatening”; while the churchwardens and others -tried to interrupt him by throwing dirt, and even money among the -people. The mob at North Shields, led on by the parish priest, roughly -saluted him; his reverence commanding a man to blow a horn, and his -companions to shout. - -Charles left on the 21st of June, and, eight days afterwards, -was succeeded by John. The society was further reduced, by fresh -backslidings, to about six hundred members. Wesley spent nearly three -weeks among them; formed a society out of “his favourite congregation -at Placey;” and then returned to London. - -He came again on October 31st, and found the following advertisement -was published:— - - “FOR THE BENEFIT OF MR. ESTE. - - By the Edinburgh Company of Comedians, on Friday, November 4, - - will be acted a Comedy, called - - THE CONSCIOUS LOVERS; - - To which will be added, a Farce, called, - - TRICK UPON TRICK, OR METHODISM DISPLAYED.” - -The day came; and about fifteen hundred people assembled in Moot Hall -to see the funny farce, some hundreds having to sit upon the stage. -Soon after the comedians began the first act of “The Conscious Lovers,” -the seats upon the stage broke down, and their occupants were left -sprawling in all directions. In the midst of the second act, all the -shilling seats gave a crack, and began to sink. The people shrieked, -and numbers ran away. When the third act was commencing, the entire -stage suddenly sunk about six inches, and the players precipitately -fled. At the end of the act, all the sixpenny seats, in a moment, -fell with an alarming crash, which caused cries on every side. Most -of the people had now left the hall, but, two or three hundred still -remaining, Este, who was to act the Methodist, came forward and told -them he was determined that the farce should be performed. While he was -speaking, the stage sunk six inches more; when the valorous comedian -and the remnant of his audience took to their heels in the utmost -confusion. The week after, however, the farce was acted, and hundreds -of people went again to see it. - -One or two incidents in connection with Wesley’s northern journeys may -be noticed here. - -While returning to the south, at the beginning of the year, he was, for -the first time in his life, repelled from the sacramental table. This -occurred at Epworth. Having preached, on his father’s tomb, to a large -congregation, gathered from the neighbouring towns, and it being the -sacramental Sunday, some of the people went to Romley, the curate, to -ask his permission to communicate; to whom the proud priest replied, -“Tell Mr. Wesley, I shall not give _him_ the sacrament; for he is not -_fit_.” Wesley writes, “How wise a God is our God! there could not have -been so fit a place under heaven, where this should befal me first, -as my father’s house, the place of my nativity, and the very place -where, ‘according to the straitest sect of our religion,’ I had so -long ‘lived a Pharisee.’ It was also fit, in the highest degree, that -he who repelled me from that very table where I had myself so often -distributed the bread of life, should be one who owed his all in this -world to the tender love which my father had shown to his, as well as -personally to himself.” - -While on his third journey to Newcastle, in 1743, Wesley paid his first -visit to the town of Grimsby. Here a woman—a magdalen, who was parted -from her husband—offered him a convenient place for preaching, and, -under his sermon, became a penitent. Wesley, after hearing her domestic -history, told her she must return instantly to her forsaken spouse. She -replied, her husband was at Newcastle, and she knew not how to reach -him. Wesley said, “I am going to Newcastle to-morrow morning. William -Blow is going with me; and you shall ride behind him.” This was an odd -arrangement, and perhaps not too prudent; but it was carried out. The -poor creature rode to Newcastle, sad and sombre; there she met her -husband; and, a short time after, was drowned at sea, while on her way -to Hull. - -The year 1743 will always be memorable for the riots in Staffordshire. -At this period, West Bromwich was an open common, covered with heath, -and burrowed with rabbit warrens. Wednesbury was a small country town, -irregularly built, the roads following ancient footways, and leaving -wide spaces unoccupied. One of these was called the “High Bullen,” -and was the place where bulls were baited. So extensively did this -barbarous sport prevail in the “black country,” that, in Tipton parish, -nineteen of these furious animals were baited at one of the annual -wakes. Wednesbury, however, was most celebrated for its cockfights. -Indeed, the Wednesbury “cockings,” as Charles Knight informs us, were -almost as famous as the races of the “Derby day” at the present time. -Recreations are an index to character, and sports, such as these, -reflected, as well as moulded, the moral condition of the people. - -Charles Wesley, accompanied by Mr. Graves, was the first Methodist who -preached at Wednesbury. This was in November, 1742.[486] His brother -followed in January, 1743, and spent four days among the people, -preached eight sermons, and formed a society of about one hundred -members.[487] Mr. Egginton, the vicar, was extremely courteous, told -Wesley he had done much good already, and he doubted not would do -much more, invited him to his house, and said the oftener he came the -better.[488] - -Wesley was followed by Mr. Williams, a Welshman, who, it is alleged, -vilified the clergy, and called them dumb dogs that could not bark. -After him came a bricklayer; then a plumber and glazier, both sent -from London; and, under their preaching, people fell down in fits, -and made strange hideous noises. Malice, spleen, and feuds sprung up. -The Methodists spoke ill natured things of their lawful minister, and -told the members of the Church of England, that they would all be -damned. These things, it is said, exasperated ignorant people, and -were the principal cause of the subsequent disturbances.[489] Wesley -paid a second visit to Wednesbury on the 15th of April, and says, “the -inexcusable folly of Mr. Williams had so provoked Mr. Egginton, that -his former love was turned into bitter hatred.” Wesley went to church, -where Egginton delivered, with great bitterness of voice and manner, -what Wesley pronounced, the most wicked sermon he ever heard; and, two -days afterwards, while he himself was preaching, a neighbouring parson, -who was extremely drunk, after using many unseemly and bitter words, -tried to ride over his congregation. - -Charles Wesley came on the 20th of May, and found the society increased -to above three hundred. “The enemy,” he writes, “rages exceedingly, and -preaches against them. A few have returned railing for railing; but the -generality have behaved as the followers of Christ.” A Dissenter had -given a piece of ground upon which to build a chapel, and Charles says, -“I consecrated it by a hymn.” He went to Walsal, accompanied by many -of the brethren, singing songs of praise. He preached from the steps -of the market house, the mob roaring, shouting, and throwing stones -incessantly. Many struck him, but none hurt him. - -Soon after this, while a small party of Wednesbury Methodists were -returning from Darlaston, singing hymns, the Darlaston mob began to -pelt them with stones and dirt; while the united mobs of Darlaston, -Walsal, and Bilston smashed the windows of most of the Methodist houses -in Wednesbury, Darlaston, and West Bromwich.[490] In some instances, -money was extorted, and in others furniture was broken, spoiled, or -stolen; and even pregnant women were beaten with clubs and otherwise -abused.[491] John Adams, John Eaton, and Francis Ward went to Walsal -for a warrant to apprehend the rioters. The magistrate, Mr. Persehouse, -told them they had themselves to blame for the outrage that had been -committed, and refused their application.[492] The mob hurled against -them all sorts of missiles, and when the magistrate was asked to quiet -these disturbers of the public peace, he swung his hat round his head, -and cried, “Huzza!” Mr. Taylor, the curate of Walsal, came, not to stop -the outrage, but to encourage the rioters in their violence. One of -them struck Francis Ward on the eye, and cut it so, that he expected -to lose his sight. He went into a shop and had it dressed, when the -ruffians again pursued him, and beat him most unmercifully. He escaped -into the public house, and was again fetched out, and dragged along the -street, and through the public kennels, till he lost his strength, and -was hardly able to stand erect. - -Wesley writes, June 18th: “I received a full account of the terrible -riots which had been in Staffordshire. I was not surprised at all, -neither should I have wondered if, after the advices they had so often -received from the pulpit, as well as from the episcopal chair, the -zealous high churchmen had rose and cut all that were Methodists in -pieces.” - -He immediately set out to assist the poor Methodists, as far as he -was able, and came to Francis Ward’s on the 22nd. After hearing the -statements of the people, he “thought it best to inquire whether there -could be any help from the laws of the land”; and rode to Counsellor -Littleton at Tamworth, to ask his opinion on the matter. - -The mob were still as violent as ever. On the very day before Wesley’s -arrival at Francis Ward’s, a large crowd came to the house of John -Eaton, who was a constable. John went to the door, with his constable’s -staff, and began to read the act of parliament against riots; but -stones flew so thick about his head, that he was obliged to leave off -reading and to retire. They then broke all his windows, destroyed the -door of his dwelling, and smashed his clock to pieces. On the same -day, two or three of the Methodists were singing a hymn in John Adams’ -house, when a pack of apprentices came and threw stones through the -windows. A mob destroyed Jonas Turner’s windows with a club, threw -three baskets full of stones to break his furniture, and ruthlessly -dragged him along the ground a distance of sixty yards. They went to -Mary Turner’s house, at West Bromwich, and hunted her and her two -daughters with stones and stakes, threatening to knock them on the -head, and to bury them in a ditch. They came to John Bird’s house, -felled his daughter, snatched money from his wife, and then broke ten -of his windows, besides destroying sash frames, shutters, chests of -drawers, doors, and dressers. They took Humphrey Hands by the throat, -swore they would be the death of him, gave him a great swing, and -hurled him on the ground. On rising, they struck him on the eye, and -again knocked him down. They then smashed all his windows, shivered -many of his household goods, and broke all the shelves, drawers, pots, -and bottles in his shop, and destroyed almost all his medicines. All -this happened within a day or two of Wesley’s coming to Francis Ward’s. -Indeed, at this very time, there were in and about Wednesbury more than -eighty houses, all of which had their windows damaged, and in many of -which not three panes of glass were left unbroken.[493] - -Counsellor Littleton assured Wesley they might have an easy remedy, if -they resolutely prosecuted, as the law directed; and doubtless this -encouraged John Griffiths and Francis Ward to apply, at the end of -June, to another magistrate for protection and redress; but, having -stated their case to his worship, he talked to them roughly, made game -of them, refused a warrant, and said, “I suppose you follow these -parsons that come about. I will neither meddle nor make.” - -For some time, preaching was suspended; and then came Messrs. Graves -and Williams, who, however, confined their preaching to private -houses.[494] At length, on October 20, Wesley himself again entered -this wild beasts’ den. At noon, he preached in the centre of the town, -and was not disturbed; but, two or three hours afterwards, while he -was writing at Francis Ward’s, the mob beset the house, and cried, -“Bring out the minister; we will have the minister!” At Wesley’s -request, three of the most furious came into the house, and, after the -interchange of a few sentences, were perfectly appeased. With these men -to clear the way, Wesley went out, and, standing in the midst of the -surging mob, asked them what they wanted with him. Some said, “We want -you to go with us to the justice.” Wesley replied, “That I will, with -all my heart”; and away they went. Before they had walked a mile, the -night came on, accompanied with heavy rain. Bentley Hall, the residence -of Mr. Lane, the magistrate, was two miles distant. Some pushed -forward, and told Mr. Lane, that they were bringing Wesley before his -worship. “What have I to do with Wesley?” quoth the magistrate; “take -him back again.” Presently the crowd came up, and began knocking for -admittance. A servant told them his master was in bed. The magistrate -declined to see them, but his son asked their business. A spokesman -answered, “To be plain, sir, if I must speak the truth, all the fault -I find with him is, that he preaches better than our parsons.” Another -said, “Sir, it is a downright shame; he makes people rise at five in -the morning to sing psalms.[495] What advice would your worship give -us?” “Go home,” said Lane, the younger, “and be quiet.” - -Finding it impossible to obtain an audience of Mr. Lane, they then -hurried Wesley to Walsal, to Mr. justice Persehouse. It was now about -seven o’clock, and, of course, was dark. Persehouse, however, also -refused to see them, on the ground that, like magisterial Mr. Lane, he -was gone to bed; and hence there was nothing for it but to trudge back -again. About fifty of the crowd undertook to be Wesley’s convoy; but, -before they had gone more than a hundred yards, the mob of Walsal ran -after them; some were pelted; others fled; and Wesley was left, alone -and unbefriended, in the hands of the victorious ruffians. Some tried -to seize him by the collar, and to pull him down. A big lusty fellow, -just behind him, struck him several times with an oaken club. Another -rushed through the crowd, lifted his arm to strike, but, on a sudden, -let it drop, and only stroked Wesley’s head, saying “What soft hair he -has!” One man struck him on the breast; and another on the mouth, with -such force, that the blood gushed out. He was dragged back to Walsal; -and, attempting to enter a large house, the door of which was standing -open, he was seized by the hair of the head, and hindered. He was then -paraded through the main street, from one end of Walsal to the other. -Here he stood, and asked, “Are you willing to hear me speak?” Many -cried, “No, no! knock out his brains; down with him; kill him at once!” -Wesley asked, “What evil have I done? which of you all have I wronged -in word or deed?” Again they cried, “Bring him away, bring him away!” -Wesley began to pray; and now a man, who just before headed the mob, -turned and said, “Sir, I will spend my life for you; follow me, and no -one shall hurt a hair of your head.” Two or three of his companions -joined him; the mob parted; and these three or four brave ruffians, the -captains of the rabble on all occasions, and one of them a prizefighter -in a bear garden, took Wesley and carried him safely through the -infuriated crowd. He writes: “a little before ten o’clock, God brought -me safe to Wednesbury; having lost only one flap of my waistcoat, and a -little skin from one of my hands. From the beginning to the end I found -the same presence of mind, as if I had been sitting in my own study. -But I took no thought for one moment before another; only once it came -into my mind, that, if they should throw me into the river, it would -spoil the papers that were in my pocket. For myself, I did not doubt -but I should swim across, having but a thin coat and a light pair of -boots.” - -It is right to add, that, in the midst of all these perils, there were -four brave Methodists who clung to Wesley, resolved to live or die with -him, namely, William Sitch, Edward Slater, John Griffiths, and Joan -Parks. When Wesley asked William Sitch, what he expected when the mob -seized them, William answered with a martyr’s spirit, “To die for Him, -who died for us.” And when Joan Parks was asked if she was not afraid, -she said: “No, no more than I am now. I could trust God for you, as -well as for myself.” - -Such was the beginning of Methodism in the “black country.” “The -heathen raged, and the people imagined a vain thing. But He that -sitteth in the heavens laughed; the Lord had them in derision.” -Human justice there was none; but Divine protection was sufficient. -Wesley was carried to the houses of Lane and Persehouse, but these -two magisterial worthies refused to see him; and yet, only eight days -before, they had the effrontery to issue the following proclamation, -which Wesley justly calls one of the greatest curiosities, of the kind, -that England had ever seen:— - - “_To all High Constables, Petty Constables, and other of His - Majesty’s Peace Officers, within the county of Staffordshire, - and particularly to the Constable of Tipton_:— - - “Whereas, we, His Majesty’s Justices of the Peace for the said - county of Stafford, have received information, that several - disorderly persons, styling themselves Methodist preachers, - go about raising routs and riots, to the great damage of His - Majesty’s liege people, and against the peace of our Sovereign - Lord the King. - - “These are in His Majesty’s name, to command you, and every - one of you, within your respective districts, to make diligent - search after the said Methodist preachers, and to bring him - or them before some of us His said Majesty’s Justices of the - Peace, to be examined concerning their unlawful doings. - - “Given under our hands and seals, this 12th day of October, - 1743. - - “J. LANE, - “W. PERSEHOUSE.”[496] - -It is a remarkable fact, however, that, notwithstanding Wesley’s rough -usage, and the pretentiously loyal proclamation of these two unjust -justices, Charles Wesley boldly bearded the lions in their den only -five days after his brother so miraculously escaped. He found the poor -Methodists “standing fast in one mind and spirit, in nothing terrified -by their adversaries.” He writes: “Never before was I in so primitive -an assembly. We sung praises lustily, and with a good courage; and -could all set our seal to the truth of our Lord’s saying, ‘Blessed are -they that are persecuted for righteousness’ sake.’ We assembled before -day to sing hymns of praise to Christ; and, as soon as it was light, -I walked down the town, and preached boldly on Revelation ii. 10. It -was a most glorious time. Our souls were satisfied as with marrow and -fatness, and we longed for our Lord’s coming to confess us before His -Father and His holy angels.”[497] - -Even this is not all. The clergyman at Darlaston was so struck with -the meek behaviour of the Methodists, in the midst of suffering, that -he offered to join the Wesleys in punishing the rioters;[498] while -“honest Munchin,” as he was called, the captain of the rabble, who -first came to Wesley’s help and rescued him, was so impressed with his -spirit and behaviour, that he immediately forsook his gang of godless -companions, joined the Methodists, and was received, by Charles Wesley, -as a member on trial, only five days after Wesley’s deliverance. “What -thought you of my brother?” asked Charles Wesley of “honest Munchin.” -“Think of him!” said he, “I thought he is a _mon_ of God; and God was -on his side, when so _mony_ of us could not kill one _mon_.” - -It may here be added, that “Munchin” was a nickname only,—a provincial -word expressive of coarse, brutal strength. The real name of Wesley’s -deliverer was George Clifton. He lived in a small house at the foot -of Holloway Bank, and never tired of telling, in after days, how -God stayed his hand, when he nearly took Wesley’s life. He died in -Birmingham, at the age of eighty-five, in the year 1789, and was buried -in St. Paul’s churchyard. It is a notable incident[499] that, while -Wesley’s persecutors passed quickly away, nearly all who took joyfully -the spoiling of their goods, lived, like “honest Munchin,” a long and -a peaceful life, and saw their children’s children walking in the fear -of God. - -Unfortunately, the “Staffordshire riots” did not terminate in October, -1743; and, in order to complete the summary, we must trespass, for a -moment, on the events of 1744. - -We learn from the pamphlet already quoted, “Papers giving an account of -the Rise and Progress of Methodism at Wednesbury and in other parishes -adjacent,” that, after the bold visit of Charles Wesley, Messrs. Graves -and Williams, who, for months past, had preached only in private -houses, now begun to preach publicly. At Christmas, Whitefield came -and spent several days in preaching in the streets with his accustomed -eloquence and power; and then, on February 2, 1744, Charles Wesley -again entered the field of action. Egginton, the Wednesbury vicar, -had drawn up a paper, and sent the crier to give notice, that all the -Methodists must sign it, or else their houses would be immediately -demolished. It was to this effect, “that they would never read, or -sing, or pray together, or hear the Methodist parsons any more.” -Several signed through fear; and every one who did was mulcted a penny -to assist in making the rabble drunk.[500] - -This was not more than about a month before Charles Wesley’s visit. -When he came, however, Egginton was dead; but, in the meantime, not a -Methodist in Darlaston had escaped the renewed violence of the vicar’s -godless mob, except two or three who had bought exemption by giving -their purses to the lawless gang. The windows of all the Methodists -were broken, neither glass, lead, nor frames remaining. Tables, chairs, -chests of drawers, and whatever furniture was not easily removable, -were dashed in pieces. Feather beds were torn to shreds, and the -feathers strewed about the rooms[501] in all directions. - -No craven-hearted parson would have ventured to preach to humanised -fiends like these; and yet these were pre-eminently the men whom the -Wesleys tried to benefit and save. At the risk of being murdered, they -fearlessly told them of their sin and danger. More than once they had -hazarded their lives; and now, Charles was in the midst of these -begrimed ruffians, as courageous as ever. He escaped, but the poor -Methodists were again made to suffer from the more than brutal violence -of their fiendish neighbours. - -One man’s wife, about Candlemas, was abused in a manner too horrible -to relate; and, because he tried to bring some of the recreants to -justice, his windows were broken; his furniture and tools destroyed; -all his wife’s linen was torn to tatters; his bed and bedstead were -cut; and his Bible and Prayer-Book pulled to pieces. On Shrove Tuesday, -the house of Francis Ward was forcibly entered, and all his goods -were stolen. John Darby’s house was broken open, his furniture and -five stalls of bees destroyed, and his poultry filched. Other houses -were plundered and injured in like manner. Some of the mob were armed -with swords, some with clubs, and some with axes. The outrages, if -possible, were even worse than those some months before. One man cut -Mary Turner’s bible into fragments with his axe. Another swore he would -beat out Mrs. Sheldon’s brains with her fire shovel. Joshua Constable -was attacked by an outrageous gang, his house, in part, pulled down, -his goods destroyed and stolen, and his wife violently and brutally -assaulted. For six days, in the early part of 1744, this lawless -riot lasted, and the damage done to the property of the Wednesbury -Methodists amounted to a serious sum. Applications for redress were -made to not fewer than three magistrates, but to no purpose. The -document, containing many of the above facts, was drawn up on February -26, 1744 when the persecuted Methodists remark:—“We keep meeting -together morning and evening, are in great peace and love with each -other, and are nothing terrified by our adversaries. God grant we may -endure to the end!”[502] - -Leaving the “black country,” we must pass to other scenes of fiendish -violence, and yet sacred triumph. - -Cornwall, at this period, was as imbruted as Staffordshire. Smuggling -was considered an honourable traffic, and the plunder of shipwrecked -mariners was accounted a lawful prize. Drunkenness was general; and -cockfighting, bullbaiting, wrestling, and hurling were the favourite -amusements of the people. Francis Truscott relates that, at the time -when the Wesleys first went to Cornwall, there was a village, about -five miles from Helstone, which was literally without a Bible, and -which had, no religious book whatever, except a single copy of the Book -of Common Prayer, kept at the public house. On one occasion, during -a terrific storm, when the people feared that the world was ending, -they fled in consternation to the tavern, that Tom, the tapster, might -secure them protection by reading them a prayer. Having fallen upon -their knees, Tom hastily snatched a well thumbed book; and began, with -great pomposity, to read about storms, wrecks, and rafts, until his -mistress, finding that some mistake was made, cried out, “Tom, that is -‘Robin Cruso’!” “No,” said Tom, “it is the Prayer-Book;” and on he went -until he came to a description of man Friday, when his mistress again -vociferated that she was certain Tom was reading “Robin Cruso.” “Well, -well,” said Tom, “suppose I am; there are as good prayers in ‘Robin -Cruso’ as in any other book”; and so Tom proceeded, till the storm -abated, and the conscience stricken company dispersed, complacently -believing that they had done their duty.[503] - -While the people, however, were thus generally sunk in ignorance and -vice, there were a few exceptions. Among these were Catherine Quick and -eleven others, at St. Ives, who frequently met together to pray, and -to read Burkitt’s Notes on the New Testament. This godly band of pious -people was visited by Captain Turner, a Methodist from Bristol; and -this led Catherine Quick and her associates to invite Wesley to visit -them.[504] - -Charles Wesley was the first to come. Entering St. Ives, on July 16, -Mr. Shepherd met him; the boys of the place gave him a rough salute; -and Mr. Nance made him his welcome guest. The day after his arrival, -he went to church, where the rector preached a railing sermon against -the Methodists, or, as he called them, “the new sect, enemies to the -Church, seducers, troublers, scribes, pharisees, and hypocrites.” -Immediately after being thus religiously regaled, Charles and his -godly inviters went to the church at Wednock, where Mr. Hoblin, the -curate, poured out such a hotch-potch of railing and foolish lies as -might have made even the devil blush. Charles told the preacher, that -he had been misinformed; upon which his reverence replied, with more -coarseness than courtesy, “You are a liar,” and then left him. On the -day following, when Charles Wesley went to the market house, at St. -Ives, and commenced singing the hundredth psalm, the mob began to beat -a drum and shout. Four days later, when he had just named his text, the -same unruly ruffians rushed upon his congregation, and threatened to -murder them. The sconces of the room were broken, the windows dashed -in pieces, and the shutters, benches, and, indeed, everything except -the walls, destroyed. They asseverated, that Charles Wesley should not -preach again, and lifted up their hands and clubs to strike him. The -women were beaten, dragged about, and trampled on without mercy; until, -at length, the rascals fell to quarreling among themselves, broke the -town clerk’s head, and left the room. Two days after, while preaching -at Wednock, the minister’s mob fell upon the congregation, and _swore_ -most horribly, that they would be revenged on them for their taking the -people from the church, and making such a disturbance on the sabbath -day. Sticks and stones were used, and ten cowardly ruffians attacked -one unarmed man, beat him with their clubs, and knocked him to the -ground. The day following, at St. Ives, the service was broken up by -the mob throwing eggs and stones, and swearing they would pull down the -walls of the room, whose windows, benches, and sconces they had already -ruthlessly destroyed. At Pool, on July 26, the churchwarden shouted, -and hallooed, and put his hat to Charles Wesley’s mouth to prevent his -preaching. - -All these outrages were principally prompted by the parsons, who -continually spoke of the Methodists as popish emissaries, and who, -to use the Rev. Mr. Hoblin’s fisticuff language, “ought to be driven -away by blows, and not by arguments.” At length, the mayor of St. Ives -appointed twenty new constables to suppress the rioters by force of -arms, “and plainly told Mr. Hoblin, the fire and fagot minister, that -he would not be perjured to gratify any man’s malice.” - -Charles Wesley came to St. Ives on the 16th of July, and set out, on -his return to London, on August 8, his brother having summoned him -to attend a conference with the adherents of Whitefield and with the -Moravians. In this way, his labours in Cornwall were interrupted; -but, a fortnight after, his brother, accompanied by John Nelson, John -Downes, and Mr. Shepherd, succeeded him. Nelson and Downes had but -one horse between them, and, hence, rode by turns. They reached St. -Ives on August 30, and found the society increased to about a hundred -and twenty, nearly a hundred of whom had found peace with God. John -Nelson began to work at his trade as a stonemason; and, as opportunity -permitted, preached at St. Just, the Land’s End, and other places. John -Downes fell ill of a fever, and was unable to preach at all. Wesley -and Nelson slept upon the floor, Wesley using Nelson’s top coat for -a pillow, and Nelson using Burkitt’s Notes on the New Testament for -his. One morning, at three o’clock, after using this hard bed for a -fortnight, Wesley turned over, clapped Nelson on the side, and jocosely -said: “Brother Nelson, let us be of good cheer, for the skin is off but -one side yet.” Their board also was as hard as their bed. They were -continually preaching; but “it was seldom,” says Nelson, “that any -one asked us to eat or drink. One day, as we returned from St. Hilary -Downs, Mr. Wesley stopped his horse to pick the blackberries, saying, -‘Brother Nelson, we ought to be thankful, that there are plenty of -blackberries; for this is the best country I ever saw for getting an -appetite, but the worst for getting food.’”[505] - -Wesley spent three weeks in Cornwall, leaving Nelson behind him. Upon -the whole, he had been kindly treated. The mob at St. Ives, it is true, -welcomed him with a loud huzza; and serenaded him before his window -with the harmless ditty:— - - “Charles Wesley is come to town, - To try if he can pull the churches down.” - -But, during his stay, the only act of violence he met with was, on one -occasion, when the mob burst into the room at St. Ives, and a ruffian -struck him on the head. - -On his way to Cornwall, and also on returning, Wesley preached at -Exeter, and visited a lad, and a clergyman in prison, both sentenced to -suffer death. His vast congregation “in that solemn amphitheatre,” as -he calls the castle yard, was such an one as he had rarely seen,—“void -both of anger, fear, and love.” He also preached at the cross in -Taunton, where a man, attempting to make disturbance, so exasperated -the congregation, that there was a general cry, “Knock the rascal -down, beat out his brains!” and Wesley had to interfere to prevent his -being roughly handled. He likewise paid a flying visit to the Isles -of Scilly, crossing the ocean in a fishing boat, and singing amid the -swelling waves:— - - “When passing through the watery deep, - I ask in faith His promised aid; - The waves an awful distance keep, - And shrink from my devoted head, - Fearless their violence I dare; - They cannot harm,—for God is there.” - -It has been already stated, that Charles Wesley was summoned from -Cornwall to attend a conference in London, consisting of the leading -men of the three communities,—the Arminian Methodists, the Calvinistic -Methodists, and the Moravians. The object of the conference was, -by mutual explanations and concessions, to cultivate a better -understanding with each other; so that the parties might avoid all -unnecessary collision, and unite, as far as was practicable, in -advancing what they believed to be the work of God. Wesley drew up a -statement of the questions at issue between himself and Whitefield, -with the concessions he was prepared to make.[506] Mr. Jackson says, -the project had its origin with Wesley,[507] and perhaps it had; but, -a year before this, John Cennick expressed a wish for the same sort -of meeting. In a letter to Whitefield’s wife, dated May 6, 1742, he -writes:—“I have had it much impressed upon my mind, that it would be -right in the sight of God, that all our preachers, all Mr. Wesley’s, -and all the Moravian brethren should meet together. Who knows but we -might unite? Or if not, we might consent in principles as far as we -can, and love one another. At least, I think all _our_ preachers -should meet, as the apostles did, often. I know it would be for good; -but I suspend my judgment to the elder brethren.”[508] - -It may thus be doubtful whether the proposal for the conference -originated with Wesley or with Cennick; but, through no fault of -Wesley’s, the proposal was abortive. To be present at the conference, -Wesley travelled from Newcastle; his brother came all the way from -Cornwall; and John Nelson trudged from Yorkshire. But Whitefield, who -was in London, seems to have declined the invitation; the Moravians -refused to come; and, though Spangenberg had promised to attend, he -left England instead of doing so; while James Hutton said, his brethren -had orders not to confer at all, unless the archbishop of Canterbury, -or the bishop of London, were also present.[509] - -This was the last attempt at union; but perhaps it suggested to -Wesley’s mind the idea of having conferences of his own, which he began -to hold twelve months afterwards. - -Not a little of the time of the two Wesleys was now employed in -pastoralizing the societies they had formed in London, Bristol, and -other places. In Bristol, in the month of January, Wesley spoke to each -member of society, and rejoiced in finding them neither barren nor -unfruitful in the knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. He did the same -at Kingswood, and remarks: “I cannot understand how any minister can -hope ever to give up his account with joy, unless (as Ignatius advises) -he knows all his flock by name; not overlooking the men servants and -maid servants.” In London, he and his brother began visiting the -society together, on February 2, which they continued from six in the -morning to six at night, until the visiting was completed. The same -practice was pursued at Newcastle. - -The London society now consisted of nineteen hundred and fifty members; -and, before the year was ended, it numbered two and twenty hundred. -This was a large church, gathered within the last four years, and -needing a more than ordinary amount of pastoral attention. The members -only, to say nothing of children, servants, and outside hearers, were -almost sufficient to fill the Foundery chapel twice over. More room -became imperative. Without this, it seemed to be impossible to extend, -or even to conserve the work. London had one Methodist chapel already; -before the year was ended, it had two others. - -In the month of May, Wesley had the offer of a chapel in West Street, -Seven Dials, which about sixty years before had been built by the -French Protestants. He accepted the offer, and opened the chapel, as -a Methodist place of worship, on Trinity Sunday, the first service -lasting from ten o’clock till three. At five, he preached again to -an immense congregation at the Great Gardens; then met the leaders; -and after them the bands; and yet, at ten o’clock at night, he was -less weary than when he began his enormous day’s work in the morning. -Here, when in London, he and his brother now regularly officiated on -Sunday mornings and evenings, read the liturgy, and administered the -sacraments. The Lord’s supper was celebrated at the morning service on -both the first and second Sundays of the month, and the attendance was -so numerous, that, in both instances, the service usually lasted at -least five hours. This was longer than even Wesley thought desirable, -and led him to divide the communicants into three divisions, so that -not more than about six hundred might communicate on the same occasion. -These were enormous gatherings, with which those of the present day -will hardly bear comparison. - -Three months after he took possession of the West Street chapel, Wesley -became the occupier of a third, which had been built in Bermondsey, -Southwark, by a Unitarian. Being vacant, Wesley took it. Some objected -to this. “What!” said a zealous woman, “what! will Mr. Wesley preach at -Snowsfields? Surely not! there is not such another place in London. The -people there are not men, but devils!” This was just the sort of reason -to induce Wesley, not to stay away, but go. Accordingly, on August 8, -he opened Snowsfields chapel by preaching from the words—“Jesus said, -They that be whole need not a physician, but they that are sick. I came -not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” - -Wesley did more than this for the London society. Visiting the sick -he regarded as an imperative Christian duty. Sending them help was not -enough. Besides, to neglect this was not only to neglect a duty, but -to lose a means of grace. “One great reason,” says Wesley, “why the -rich have so little sympathy for the poor, is, because they so seldom -visit them.” “All,” he adds, “who desire to escape the everlasting -fire, and to inherit the everlasting kingdom, are equally concerned, -according to their power, to practise this important duty.”[510] -Holding such sentiments, Wesley himself, throughout life, visited -the poor and the afflicted, to the utmost of his ability; but, of -course, as an itinerant evangelist, when he had done his best, much -was left untouched. Hence, in the year 1743, he appointed in London -visitors of the sick, as distinct office bearers in his society.[511] -Stewards had been appointed already, to receive the contributions of -the society, which amounted to nearly £8 per week; and to distribute -them, partly in repairing and paying for chapel premises, partly -in paying debts, partly in other necessary expenses, and partly in -relieving the afflicted and the poor. The stewards, seven in number, -were to be frugal; to have no long accounts; to give none, that asked -relief, either an ill word or an ill look; and to expect no thanks -from man. They met together every Thursday morning at six o’clock, -and distributed all the money paid to them up to the previous Tuesday -night; so that all receipts and disbursements were concluded within -the week. The stewards, however, soon found a difficulty with regard -to the afflicted. Some were ready to perish before they heard of them; -and, even when they became acquainted with their illness, being persons -generally employed in trade, they were unable to visit them as often as -they wished. To meet this deficiency, Wesley called together the whole -of the London society; showed how impossible it was for the stewards to -visit all the sick in all parts of the metropolis; desired the leaders -to be more careful in inquiring after sick cases, and in giving early -information concerning them; and then appealed to the assembled members -and asked for volunteers for this important work. Numbers cheerfully -responded, out of whom Wesley selected forty-six, whom he judged to -be of the most tender, loving spirit. He then divided London into -twenty-three districts, and arranged that the sick, in each district, -should be visited, by a couple of visitors, three times every week; and -that the visitors, besides inquiring into the state of the people’s -souls, should relieve those of them in want, and should present their -accounts to the stewards weekly. Wesley writes:— - - “Upon reflection, I saw how exactly, in this also, we had - copied after the primitive church. What were the ancient - deacons? What was Phœbe, the deaconess, but such a visitor of - the sick?” - -Four rules were to be observed:— - - “1. Be plain and open in dealing with souls. 2. Be mild, - tender, patient. 3. Be cleanly in all you do for the sick. 4. - Be not nice.” - -Wesley adds, five years afterwards:— - - “We have ever since had great reason to praise God for His - continued blessing on this undertaking. Many lives have been - saved, many sicknesses healed, much pain and want prevented or - removed. Many heavy hearts have been made glad, many mourners - comforted; and the visitors have found, from Him whom they - serve, a present reward for all their labour.”[512] - -The two thousand members of the London society contributed about £400 a -year, or, at the rate of a shilling per member per quarter. The Bristol -society consisted of seven hundred members, and, after the same ratio, -would contribute £140 per year. Eight hundred members at Newcastle -would raise £160; and the societies at Kingswood and other places -might give £100 additional: thus making the Methodist income, for -1743, something like £800. Out of this, all chapel expenses had to be -defrayed; a large proportion was given to the afflicted poor; something -was necessary for the contingent expenses of Wesley’s helpers; and the -remainder,—how much was it?—was perhaps given to the two Wesleys to -meet some of their own necessary wants. These were the men preying upon -the pockets of the poor, and making themselves a fortune out of other -people’s money! Such falsehoods were current, and were not entirely -disbelieved even by some of Wesley’s own relatives. - -Poor Emily Wesley, a classical scholar, and no mean poet,—after -teaching in a boarding school where she was ill used and worse paid, -and after marrying a poor Quaker, who did little for her, and soon left -her—was now a penniless and dependent widow, maintained entirely by her -two brothers, and living at the Foundery. Emily, in a petulant humour, -wrote to her brother John, accusing him of the want of kindness and of -natural affection, notwithstanding his reputed riches. John, in reply, -wrote one of his most pungent letters, of which the following is a -copy:— - - “NEWCASTLE, _June 30, 1743_. - - “DEAR EMILY,—Once, I think, I told you my mind freely before; - I am constrained to do so once again. You say, ‘From the time - of my coming to London, till last Christmas, you would not do - me the least kindness.’ Do I dream, or you? Whose house were - you in for three months, and upwards? By whose money were you - sustained? It is a poor case, that I am forced to mention these - things. - - “But, ‘I would not take you lodgings in fifteen weeks.’ No, nor - should I have done in fifteen years. I never once imagined, - that you expected _me_ to do this! Shall I leave the word of - God to serve tables? You should know I have quite other things - to mind; temporal things I shall mind less and less. - - “‘When I was removed you never concerned yourself about me.’ - That is not the fact. What my brother does, I do. Besides, I - myself spoke to you abundance of times, before Christmas last. - - “‘When I was at preaching, you would scarce speak to me.’ Yes; - at least as much as to my sister Wright, or, indeed, as I did - to any else at those times. - - “‘I impute all your unkindness to one principle you hold, that - natural affection is a great weakness, if not a sin.’ What is - this principle I hold? That natural affection is a sin? or that - adultery is a virtue? or that Mahommed was a prophet of God? - and that Jesus Christ was a son of Belial? You may as well - impute _all_ these principles to me as _one_. I hold one just - as much as the other. O Emmy, never let that idle, senseless - accusation come out of your mouth. - - “Do you hold that principle, ‘that we ought to be just (_i. - e._ pay our debts) before we are merciful’? If I held it, I - should not give one shilling for these two years, either to - you or any other. And, indeed, I have, for some time, stayed - my hand; so that I give next to nothing, except what I give to - my relations. And I am often in doubt with regard to that, not - whether natural affection be not a sin; but whether it ought - to supersede common justice. You know nothing of my temporal - circumstances, and the straits I am in, almost continually; so - that were it not for the reputation of my great riches, I could - not stand one week. - - “I have now done with myself, and have only a few words - concerning you. You are of all creatures the most unthankful - to God and man. I stand amazed at you. How little have you - profited under such means of improvement! Surely whenever - your eyes are opened, whenever you see your own tempers, with - the advantages you have enjoyed, you will make no scruple to - pronounce yourself, (whores and murderers not excepted,) the - very chief of sinners.—I am, etc., - - “JOHN WESLEY.”[513] - -This is a caustic letter; and yet John Wesley was a loving brother. -For nearly thirty years afterwards, Emily Harper was a resident in -the preachers’ house at West Street, was a constant attendant on the -ministry of her brothers, and died in peace, at the age of eighty, -about the year 1772. - -Much has been already related respecting the Methodist persecutions of -1743; but the whole has not been told. At Newcastle, three Dissenting -ministers agreed together to exclude all from the holy communion, -who would not refrain from attending Wesley’s ministry. One of them -publicly affirmed, that the Methodist preachers were all papists, and -that their doctrine was Popery. Another preached against them, and -said, “Many texts in the Bible are for them; but you ought not to mind -these texts; for the papists have put them in.” At Cowbridge, in Wales, -when Wesley attempted to preach, the mob shouted, cursed, blasphemed, -and threw showers of stones almost without intermission. At Bristol, -a clergyman preached, in several of the city churches, against the -_upstart_ Methodists; and was about to do so in the church of St. -Nicholas, when, after naming his text, he was seized with a rattling in -his throat, fell backward against the pulpit door, and, on the Sunday -following, expired. At Egham, Wesley went to church, and listened to -one of the most miserable sermons he ever heard; stuffed with dull, -senseless, improbable lies against those whom the parson complimented -with the title of “false prophets.” - -At Sheffield, the ministers of the town so inflamed the people, that -they were ready to tear the Methodists to pieces. An army officer -drew his sword, and presented it at Charles Wesley’s breast. The -meeting-house was ruthlessly demolished, and the mob encouraged by the -constable. The windows of Mr. Bennett’s house, in which Charles Wesley -lodged, were smashed to atoms; and stones flew thick and fast in all -directions. Near Barley Hall, a few miles from Sheffield, Charles -Wesley and David Taylor were assaulted with a storm of stones, eggs, -and dirt; David was wounded in the head and lost his hat; and the -clothes of his companion were besmeared with filth.[514] - -At Hampton, in Gloucestershire, the mob threatened to make aprons of -Whitefield’s gown; broke a young lady’s arm; threw Mr. Adams twice -into a pool of water; seized Whitefield for the purpose of casting -him into a pit of lime;[515] and, from four in the afternoon till -midnight, continued rioting, and declaring that no Anabaptists, etc., -should preach there, upon pain of being first put into a skin-pit, -and afterwards into a brook. Women were pulled down the stairs by the -hair of their heads; Mr. Williams was twice thrown into a hole full of -noisome reptiles and stagnant water, and was beaten, and dragged along -the kennel; while the Methodists, in general, were mobbed to such an -extent, that many expected to be murdered, and hid themselves in holes -and corners, to avoid their enemies. - -All this was bad enough; but there was something else, perhaps, quite -as painful. The press, in its attacks, became as virulent as ever. -Among other publications issued, was the following: “The Notions of -the Methodists fully disproved, with a Vindication of the Clergy of -the Church of England from their Aspersions. In two Letters to the -Rev. Mr. John Wesley. Newcastle: 1743.” In this precious morsel, of -near a hundred pages, the Methodists are branded as “conceited, vain -boasters,” and “ignorant, giddy, presumptuous enthusiasts.” Wesley is -accused of “compassing sea and land to gain proselytes”; of “making -unwarrantable dissensions in the Church”; and of “prejudicing the -people, wherever he came, against his brethren the clergy.” “You are,” -writes this northern pamphleteer, “guilty both of schism and rebellion, -which are two very grievous and damnable sins. You are the sower and -ringleader of dissension, endeavouring with unwearied assiduity to -set the flock at variance with their ministers and each other. You -assume to yourself great wisdom and high attainments in all spiritual -knowledge; but it requires no depth of understanding, to judge whether -your character and conduct suit that of the spiritually or carnally -wise man in St. James. You scruple not to accuse the clergy of almost -universally teaching devilish doctrine, and of being deceitful workers; -but, however you may boast of your conversions, you will in the end -render yourselves the ridicule of mankind. You go from one end of -the nation to another, lamenting the heresies of your brethren, and -instilling into the people’s minds, that they are led into errors -by their pastors; when the truth is, you are perverting them with -solifidian and antinomian blasphemies. Consider, sir, how wicked and -abominable in the sight of God it is for you to misrepresent your -brethren to the people, in this scandalous manner. The mischief is, -the giddy multitude, like the Athenians, love to spend their time in -nothing else but hearing some new thing. They are tired with the solid, -plain, and rational way of preaching they have been accustomed to in -the Church, and think it dry and insipid in comparison of the powerful -charms of that ecstatic eloquence, those highflown metaphors, those -pretty rhymes, those taking gestures, with which you tickle and bewitch -them. You give a deplorable account of the debt you have contracted -by the building of your meeting-houses; but unless you can bring -better proof than you have hitherto done, of the necessity there is to -give yourself all this trouble and expense, all wise and considerate -men, without any breach of charity, will look upon subscriptions for -carrying on your designs, as little less than picking the poor people’s -pockets, and robbing them of that which should maintain their families.” - -Such is a specimen of the malignant slanders cast upon Wesley by this -northern clergyman. - -It has been already stated, that the Rev. Henry Piers preached, in -1742, before the clergy of the deanery of Shoreham, a visitation -sermon, which Wesley revised, and which, at the time of its delivery, -gave great offence. The preacher chosen for this office, in 1743, -was of another stamp; and his sermon also was published, with the -following title: “Of Speaking as the Oracles of God. A Sermon, -preached before the Reverend the Clergy of the Deanery of Shoreham, at -the Visitation, held in the Parish Church of Farningham, on Thursday, -May 19, 1743. By John Andrews, M.A., Vicar of that Church.” 8vo, 30 -pages. The world would have sustained no loss, if Mr. Andrews’ sermon -had not been printed. The preacher sneers at the fancies of theological -empirics, in one paragraph, and, in the next, speaks of the doctrines -of “justification and regeneration as questions and strifes of words, -which profit not.” Mr. Piers’ visitation sermon is attacked on the -subject of faith; and the assembled clergy of the deanery of Shoreham -are officially informed, that “every one, that is rightly and duly -baptized, not only receives the outward ordinance, but the inward and -spiritual grace annexed to it.” - -Another pamphlet, published at this period, was, “A Fine Picture of -Enthusiasm, chiefly drawn by Dr. Scott; with an application to our -modern Methodists.” 40 pages. Dedicated to the Bishop of London. In -this miserable _morceau_, we are told, that “there are thousands -flocking after those enthusiasts, Whitefield and Wesley, who appear to -be deluding crowds of people into a passionate, mechanical religion.” -One of them, at least, is suspected to be a masked Jesuit; and both -have courted persecution, but have had a mortifying disappointment. -The singing of the Methodists is enchanting, and their tunes the most -melodious that ever were composed for church music; but their hymns -are irrational, and, like their prayers, dwell upon a word, or are -immediate addresses to the Son of God, and represent Him as much more -compassionate to the human race than God the Father ever was. “One of -these artful teachers,” says the writer, “has ordered the tickets for -his people to be impressed with the crucifix; and this, with their -_confessions_ and other customs, intimates a manifest fondness for the -orthodox institutions of the Church of Rome. These _modest_ teachers -have not failed to trumpet their own extraordinary piety and holiness, -as well as their extraordinary knowledge and illumination; and this -has been done with great effect among the people. Their doctrine has -very generally occasioned disorder in the passions of their hearers; -the screamings and convulsions common among them, in their public -assemblies, being called convictions. Vast numbers have gone melancholy -among them. Many have been led to quit their lawful and necessary -employment; to neglect their husbands, children, and families; and from -useful members in society have become mopes and visionaries, incapable -of pursuing their proper business, or of supporting themselves with -decency.” - -A fourth publication, belonging to the year 1743, was “The Progress -of Methodism in Bristol; or, the Methodist Unmasked: wherein the -doctrines, discipline, policy, divisions, and successes of that -novel sect are fully detected and properly displayed in Hudibrastick -verse, by an Impartial Hand. To which is added, by way of appendix, -the Paper-Controversy between Mr. Robert Williams, supported by -Thomas Christie, Esq., Recorder of Savannah, and the Rev. Mr. Wesley, -supported only by his own integrity and assurance. Together with -authentic extracts, taken from a late narrative of the state of -Georgia, relating to the conduct of that gentleman during his abode in -that colony. Bristol: 1743.” 16mo, 72 pages. - -Among other things, this mendacious pamphlet contains an affidavit, -sworn by Robert Williams before Stephen Clutterbuck, Mayor of Bristol, -to the effect, that two freeholders at Savannah became bail for -Wesley’s appearance at the sessions to take his trial, and that he -dishonourably escaped from the colony and left his bondsmen in the -lurch. To this Wesley replied: “Captain Robert Williams, you know in -your own soul, that every word of this is a pure invention, without -one grain of truth from the beginning of it to the end. What amends -can you ever make, either to God, or to me, or to the world? Into what -a dreadful dilemma have you brought yourself! You must either openly -retract an open slander, or you must wade through thick and thin to -support it, till that God, to whom I appeal, shall maintain His own -cause, and sweep you away from the earth.”[516] - -Whitefield and Wesley, in this scurrilous production, are accused of -preaching to get money, and of placing men with plates at each gate -and stile of the fields in which they harangued the people, to gather -collections for the Orphan House in Georgia and the Room in Bristol. -Wesley is charged with pretending to work miracles; for, upon a company -of women falling down before him, he first of all prays over them, then -sings a hymn, and then exorcises devils. In the midst of a most severe -winter, he had taken his converts, early in the morning, through frost -and snow, to the river Froom, at Baptist Mills, where, on the ice being -broken, he and they went into the water, where, with “limbs shuddering -and teeth _hackering_,” he baptized or dipped them. Class-meetings are -described, the leaders of which note the sins of those who confess to -them, register them in a book, and, in due season, “report them to -John, who admonishes one, reprimands another, and expels a third.” -At first, each member gave a penny, but now the _lowest_ payment was -twopence weekly. At present there were forty-eight classes in Bristol, -each class containing “an even dozen.” After the watchnight meetings at -Kingswood, - - “Men, boys, and girls, and women too, - Come strolling home at morning two:” - -and at the nightly lovefeasts, “the ghostly father and all his sons -draw near— - - “The pious sisters, wives, and misses, - And greet them well with holy kisses.” - -But enough of this. What did Wesley himself publish in 1743? - -1. “Nature, Design, and General Rules of the United Societies, -in London, Bristol, Kingswood, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne. -Newcastle-upon-Tyne: printed by John Gooding, on the Side. Price one -penny. 1743.” Twelve pages. - -This, the first edition of the “Rules,” is signed by John Wesley only, -and bears date February 23, 1743. A second edition was issued, signed -by both John and Charles Wesley, and dated May 1, 1743. The first -edition has annexed “A Prayer for those who are convinced of Sin,” -consisting of eighteen stanzas of four lines each, and from which is -taken the beautiful hymn, numbered 462, in the Wesleyan Hymn-Book, -and beginning with the line, “O let the prisoners‘mournful’ cries”; -a production admirably appropriate to the circumstances in which the -members of the first Methodist societies were placed. - -Societies cannot exist without rules. Up to the present, Wesley -had regulated his societies by _vivâ voce_ instructions and direct -authority; but, as the Methodists increased and multiplied, this became -more difficult, and hence the publication now mentioned. The Rules were -both written and published at Newcastle upon Tyne. Eleven days after -the date they bear, Wesley read them to the Newcastle society, and -desired the members seriously to consider whether they were willing -to observe them. The careful reader will remark the designation which -Wesley gives to his societies, as well as his description of their -“nature and design.” They are not “Wesleyan,” or “Methodist,” but -“United Societies.” As compared with the rules now in use, there are -a few variations in the original edition deserving of being noticed. -For instance, in the list of the leader’s duties, the first in order -was, to receive from each person in his class, once a week, what the -members were willing to give toward _the relief of the poor_. This -is now altered thus: “to receive what they are willing to give for -the _support of the gospel_.” The present rule forbidding “_brother_ -going to law _with brother_,” in the first and several subsequent -editions, simply read, “going to law.” To the original rule, “the -giving or taking things on usury,” has been added the words, “that -is, unlawful interest;” and to the rule prohibiting “uncharitable or -unprofitable conversation,” there was added, in the fourth edition, -published in 1744, “especially, speaking evil of ministers or those in -authority,” words now changed for “magistrates or ministers.” In the -list of things forbidden in the present Rules, is the important one, -“borrowing without a probability of paying; or taking up goods without -a probability of paying for them;” this is not in the first editions. -And among the duties enjoined is “_family_ and private prayer”; but in -the first edition the word _family_ is not found, though, in the fourth -edition, published twelve months afterwards, it was inserted. - -The curious reader will forgive these trifles. They are all the -variations found in the first edition of the Rules, as compared with -the Rules now in use. The Rules themselves are too well known to -require insertion. - -2. Another of Wesley’s publications, in 1743, was “A Word in Season; -or, Advice to a Soldier.” 12mo, six pages. This is a model tract, and -shows that, from the first, soldiers excited Wesley’s sympathy. - -3. “Thoughts on Marriage and Celibacy.” 12mo, twelve pages. A strange -production, substantially embodied in the piece in Wesley’s collected -works, entitled, “Thoughts on a Single Life” (see vol. xxiv., page -252, orig. edit.). What shall we say of this? Wesley admits, that -the popish doctrine forbidding to marry is a doctrine of devils, and -that a person may be as holy in a married as in a single state; but -he proceeds to show, that the happy few who have power to abstain -from marriage are free from a thousand nameless domestic trials which -are found sooner or later in every family. They are at liberty from -the greatest of all entanglements, the loving one creature above all -others; they have leisure to improve themselves; and, having no wife or -children to provide for, may give all their worldly substance to God. -Those highly favoured celibates are exhorted to prize the advantages -they enjoy, and to be careful to keep them; they are to avoid all -needless conversation, much more all intimacy with those of the other -sex; all softness and effeminacy; all delicacy and needless self -indulgence; and all sloth, inactivity, and indolence. They are to sleep -no more than nature requires; to use as much bodily exercise as they -can; to fast, and practise self denial; to wait upon the Lord without -distraction; and to give all their time and their money to God. On the -whole, without disputing whether the married or single life is the more -perfect state. Wesley concludes by adding, “We may safely say, Blessed -are they who abstain from things lawful in themselves, in order to be -more devoted to God.” - -Thirty years afterwards, when Wesley was twitted for marrying, after -expressing such opinions, he averred, that his opinions with regard -to the advantages of a single life were still unchanged; and that he -entered the married state “for reasons best known to himself.”[517] -This was a lame reply to a reasonable reflection on inconsistency. -Wesley’s tract was a mistake; or, if not, Wesley ought to have adopted -his own principles, and have lived and died a celibate. - -4. In July, 1743, Wesley wrote his “Instructions for Children,” which -reached a second edition in 1745, 12mo, 38 pages. Prefixed, was a -preface, addressed “to all parents and schoolmasters,” stating, that -a great part of the tract was translated from the French, and that it -contained “the true principles of the Christian education of children,” -and that these “should in all reason be instilled into them, as soon as -they can distinguish good from evil.” - -The first twelve lessons are a catechism, respecting God, the creation -and the fall of man, man’s redemption, the means of grace, hell, and -heaven. Then follow lessons how to regulate our desires, understanding, -joy, and practices. - -Repenting is defined as “being thoroughly convinced of our sinfulness, -guilt, and helplessness”; faith in Christ, as “a conviction that Christ -has loved _me_ and given Himself for _me_;” holiness, as “the love of -God and of all mankind for God’s sake.” Wesley asserts that “they who -teach children to love praise, train them for the devil”; and that -“fathers and mothers who give children everything they like, are the -worst enemies they have.” - -Wesley considered these “Instructions for Children,” extracted from -Abbé Fleury and M. Poiret, superior, “for depth of sense and plainness -of language, to anything in the English tongue.”[518] The Church -Catechism he declared to be “utterly improper for children of six or -seven years old,” and thought “it would be far better to teach them the -short catechism, prefixed to the ‘Instructions.’”[519] Accordingly, he -requested all his preachers to give children the “Instructions,” and to -encourage them in committing the book to memory; while they themselves -were to make it the subject of special study.[520] - -Wesley’s attention to children is proverbial. “When I was a child,” -said Robert Southey, “I was in a house, in Bristol, where Wesley was. -On running downstairs before him, with a beautiful little sister of my -own, he overtook us on the landing, when he lifted my sister in his -arms and kissed her. Placing her on her feet again, he then put his -hand upon my head, and blessed me; and I feel,” continued the bard, his -eyes glistening with tears, and yet in a tone of grateful and tender -recollection, “I feel as though I had the blessing of that good man -upon me still.”[521] - -In Wesley’s well known sermon on “Family Religion,” he lays it down -that “the wickedness of children is generally owing to the fault or -neglect of their parents.” The souls of children ought to be fed as -often as their bodies. Methodists are exhorted not to send their sons -“to any of the large public schools (for they are nurseries of all -manner of wickedness), but to a private school, kept by some pious man, -who endeavours to instruct a small number of children in religion and -learning together.” He raises the same objection to “large boarding -schools” for girls; for “in these seminaries, the children teach one -another pride, vanity, affectation, intrigue, artifice, and, in short, -everything which a Christian woman ought not to learn.” He adds: “I -never yet knew a pious, sensible woman, that had been bred at a large -boarding school, who did not aver, one might as well send a young maid -to be bred in Drury Lane.”[522] - -This is sweeping language; but at that period it was not without truth. - -5. Another of Wesley’s publications, in 1743, was, “A Practical -Treatise on Christian Perfection. Extracted from a late author.” 12mo, -115 pages. This was an abridgment of William Law’s pungent book, -published in 1726. - -6. Another was an abridgment of Bunyan’s “Pilgrim’s Progress,” 12mo, 49 -pages, price fourpence. Little did Wesley think that, within a hundred -years, the whole of the glorious dreamer’s immortal work would be sold -for a fourth of the price charged for his own fragment. - -7. Wesley’s last, and most important work, which reached a second -edition in the year it was published, was “An Earnest Appeal to Men of -Reason and Religion,” 12mo, 53 pages.[523] - -This was a clarion cry which created greater consternation than -ever in the camp of Wesley’s enemies. First of all, he describes -religion—the faith by which it is attained—and its reasonableness. -Then, turning from those who do not receive the Christian system to -those who say they do, he charges them, in the name of God, either to -profess themselves infidels, or to _be_ Christians; either to cast -off the Bible, or their sins. “A common swearer, a sabbath breaker, a -whoremonger, a drunkard, who says he believes the Scripture is of God, -is a monster upon earth, the greatest contradiction to his own, as -well as to the reason of all mankind.” After this, Wesley replies to -the objections raised against Methodist doctrines, and to the calumny, -that he and his coadjutors were papists in disguise, undermining the -Church, and making preaching the means of replenishing their purses. -It had been reported, that he received £1300 a year at the Foundery -only, over and above what he received from Bristol, Kingswood, -Newcastle, and other places. To this he answers, that the moneys given -by the Methodists never come into his hands at all; but are received -and expended by the stewards, in relieving the poor, and in buying, -erecting, or repairing chapels; and that, so far from there being any -overplus when this was done, he himself, at this moment, was in debt -to the amount of £650, on account of the meeting-houses in London, -Bristol, and Newcastle. He had “deliberately thrown up his ease, most -of his friends, his reputation, and that way of life which of all -others was most agreeable both to his natural temper and education; he -had toiled day and night, spent all his time and strength, knowingly -destroyed a firm constitution, and was hastening into weakness, pain, -diseases, death,—to gain a debt of six or seven hundred pounds.” Then -addressing himself to his brother clergy, he asks:— - - “For what price will you preach eighteen or nineteen times - every week; and this throughout the year? What shall I give you - to travel seven or eight hundred miles, in all weathers, every - two or three months? For what salary will you abstain from all - other diversions than the doing good, and the praising God? I - am mistaken if you would not prefer strangling to such a life, - even with thousands of gold and silver. - - “I will now simply tell you my sense of these matters, whether - you will hear or whether you will forbear. Food and raiment - I have; such food as I choose to eat, and such raiment as I - choose to put on: I have a place where to lay my head: I have - what is needful for life and godliness: and I apprehend this is - all the world can afford. The kings of the earth can give me - no more. For as to gold and silver, I count it dung and dross; - I trample it under my feet; I esteem it just as the mire of - the streets. I desire it not; I seek it not; I only fear lest - any of it should cleave to me, and I should not be able to - shake it off before my spirit returns to God. I will take care - (God being my helper), that none of the accursed thing shall - be found in my tents when the Lord calleth me hence. Hear ye - this, all you who have discovered the treasures which I am to - leave behind me; if I leave behind me £10,—above my debts and - my books, or what may happen to be due on account of them,—you - and all mankind bear witness against me, that I lived and died - a thief and a robber.” - -Wesley kept his word; for, within twelve months of his decease, he -closed his cash-book with the following words, written with a tremulous -hand, so as to be scarcely legible:—“For upwards of eighty-six years, I -have kept my accounts exactly; I will not attempt it any longer, being -satisfied with the continual conviction, that I save all I can, and -give all I can; that is, all I have.” - - - - -1744. - - -[Sidenote: 1744 Age 41] - -Wesley spent more than half of the year 1744 in London and its -immediate neighbourhood. He made about half-a-dozen visits to Bristol; -and three months were occupied in a tour to Cornwall, thence to -Yorkshire and Newcastle, and thence to London. - -Charles Wesley spent the year in London, Bristol, Cornwall, -Staffordshire, Yorkshire, Lincolnshire, at Newcastle, Nottingham, -Sheffield, and other intervening places. - -Whitefield commenced the year with rejoicing over the birth of his -firstborn,—a boy expected to be a minister, and publicly baptized in -the Tabernacle, where thousands, on the occasion, joined in singing -a doggrel hymn, written by an aged and doting widow. On the 8th of -February, this infant prodigy suddenly expired in the Bell Inn, -Gloucester, where Whitefield himself was born; and, after being taken -to the church in which Whitefield was baptized, first communicated, and -first preached, was then buried, Whitefield returning to London deeply -pondering the meaning of what he calls “this blessed riddle.” The next -four months were chiefly spent in the metropolis; after which he and -his wife repaired to Plymouth for the purpose of sailing to America. -Here they were detained for several weeks, waiting for the convoy in -whose company the voyage was to be attempted. During the interval, -Whitefield preached in the town and neighbourhood with great success, -and was nearly murdered by a villain, who beat him most unmercifully -with his golden-headed cane. At length, he set sail in company with -nearly one hundred and fifty ships; and, after not a few adventures, -landed in New England, at the end of October, but was so extremely ill, -that, for several weeks, he was almost incapable of preaching. In point -of fact, Whitefield preached but very little, during the year 1744, -except in London and in Plymouth, and in their respective vicinities. - -One of the chief events of 1744 was the threat of a French invasion. -On the 15th of February, the king sent a message to the houses of -parliament, to the effect, that he had received undoubted intelligence, -that the eldest son of the pretender to his crown was arrived in -France, and that preparations were being made to invade England. - -Parliament replied, that they looked upon such a design with the -greatest indignation and abhorrence, and would use every effort to -frustrate and defeat so desperate and insolent an attempt. - -Great excitement followed. The coast was watched with the utmost care. -A double guard was mounted at the Tower, and also at St. James’s. All -military officers were ordered to their posts of duty. Workmen in the -king’s yards were directed to wear arms and accoutrements, and to be -exercised every morning; and instructions were given to the militia -of the county of Kent, to assemble at the earliest notice.[524] The -Habeas Corpus act was suspended, and a proclamation was issued for a -general fast. All papists and reputed papists were forbidden to remain -within ten miles of the cities of Westminster and London. The Earl of -Barrymore was arrested and committed to the Tower, on the charge of -enlisting men for the Pretender. Loyal addresses were presented to the -king by the universities of Oxford and Cambridge, by the merchants -of London, by the convocation of the province of Canterbury, by the -Quakers, by the Protestant Dissenters, and by many others. The city -of Dublin offered a reward of £6000 for apprehending the Pretender, -or his son, either alive or dead, should they attempt to land in -Ireland; and sixty thousand fire arms and accoutrements were seized in -suspected houses in the southern parts of that island. War was declared -against France on the 29th of March, and the whole kingdom seemed to be -inflamed with martial ardour. - -How did this affect Wesley? Two days after the king informed parliament -of the threatened invasion, Wesley and his London society held a day -of solemn fasting and prayer. When the proclamation was published -requiring all papists to leave London, though he had appointed to go -out of town, he determined to stay, so as to cut off all occasion -of reproach; but on the 2nd of March (the last day mentioned in the -proclamation), while he was at a house in Spitalfields, a magistrate -and the parish officers came in search of papists. Wesley was glad of -the opportunity to explain the principles and the practices of the -Methodists. The searchers were satisfied, and Wesley was allowed to -depart in peace, a large mob merely gaping, staring, and hallooing -as loud as they were able. Some of his friends pressed him to write -an address to the king, on behalf of the Methodists. He did so, -and described them as “a people scattered and peeled, and trodden -underfoot; traduced as inclined to Popery, and consequently disaffected -to his majesty.” They were, however, “a part of the Protestant Church -established in these kingdoms; they detested the fundamental doctrines -of the Church of Rome; and were steadily attached to his majesty’s -royal person and illustrious house, and ready to obey him to the -uttermost, in all things which they conceived to be agreeable to the -written word of God.” “Silver and gold,” he adds, “most of us must -own, we have none; but such as we have we humbly beg your majesty to -accept, together with our hearts and prayers.” Charles Wesley objected -to the sending of this address _in the name of the Methodists_, because -it would constitute them a sect, or at least would _seem to allow_ -that they were a body distinct from the national Church. He wished his -brother to guard against this, and then, in the name of the Lord, to -address the king.[525] Upon further consideration the address was laid -aside. - -Wesley’s troubles were not ended. On the 20th of March, he received -a summons from the Surrey magistrates, to appear at the court at St. -Margaret’s Hill. He did so, and asked, “Has any one anything to lay to -my charge?” None replied; but, at length, one of the magistrates said, -“Sir, are you willing to take the oaths to his majesty, and to sign -the declaration against Popery?” Wesley replied, “I am”; which he did -accordingly, and was permitted to depart in peace. - -Why was this? Besides the general calumny cast upon the Methodists, -that they were papists, it was at this time currently reported, that -Wesley had recently been seen with the Pretender in France. Might not -this be the reason of the unnecessary and annoying summons to appear at -St. Margaret’s Hill? - -In the same month, a warrant was issued, by a magistrate of the west -riding of Yorkshire, to compel the attendance of five witnesses to -give evidence at Wakefield, that they had heard Charles Wesley speak -“treasonable words, as praying for the banished, or for the Pretender.” -At the time appointed, March 15, Charles himself appeared in the -magisterial court, and engaged to prove, that all the Methodists, “to -a man, were true members of the Church of England, and loyal subjects -of his majesty, King George”; and then desired their worships to -administer to him the oaths. All the summoned witnesses retracted -their accusations; and yet the Methodist itinerant was insulted at -the door of the magistrates’ room, for eight long hours, when Mr. -justice Burton, with consummate coolness, told him he might go, -for they had nought against him. “Sir,” said Charles, “that is not -sufficient: I cannot depart till my character is cleared. It is no -trifling matter. Even my life is concerned in the charge.” At length, -their worships reluctantly acknowledged, in explicit terms, that his -“loyalty was unquestionable”; and he took his leave for Birstal, where -the Methodists of the neighbourhood met him on a hill, and joined him -in singing “praises lustily, and with a good courage.” All this arose -out of one of the witnesses having heard him praying, on the 12th of -February, that “the Lord would call home His banished”; the words being -used, of course, in a sense purely spiritual. - -Other inconveniences and acts of violence arose out of the threatened -invasion of the French. John Slocomb, a poor baker’s boy, who was now -one of Wesley’s preachers in Cornwall, was arrested, under a press -warrant, and taken by his own uncle to prison, where he was kept a -week, and then brought before the commissioners, who, finding no -cause to punish or detain him, were obliged, at last, notwithstanding -all their threatenings, to let him go. In Nottingham, two other -preachers, John Healey and Thomas Westall, were similarly arrested, -the magistrates demanding their horses for the king’s service, and -refusing to believe they had none till they sent and searched. The -case of John Nelson is known to every one, and will ever stand as one -of the most sublime and tragic chapters in Methodistic history. John -Downes, another itinerant, while preaching at Epworth, was seized and -pressed for the king’s service, and sent as a prisoner to Lincoln -gaol. And then, to all these must be added the mournful case of Thomas -Beard, a quiet and peaceable man, who was torn from his trade, and wife -and children, in Yorkshire, and sent away as a soldier, for no other -crime, either committed or pretended, than that of calling sinners to -repentance; and who, while lodged in the hospital at Newcastle, died; -and, as one of the first martyrs among the Methodists, escaped from his -cruel enemies on earth, to the company of the beatified in heaven. - -Thus did the hot-headed friends of King George II. do their utmost to -make leal Methodists disloyal to the throne and house of Hanover; but -the effort failed; for, from first to last, more faithful subjects -than Wesley’s followers the throne of England has never had. “It is -my religion,” wrote Wesley, more than thirty years after this, “which -obliges me to put men in mind to be subject to principalities and -powers. Loyalty is with me an essential branch of religion, and which I -am sorry any Methodist should forget. There is the closest connection, -therefore, between my religious and political conduct; the selfsame -authority enjoining me to fear God, and to honour the king.”[526] - -Two events occurred, in the year 1744, which deserve special mention: -the first Methodist conference, and Wesley’s last university sermon. - -The conference began on Monday, June 25, and continued the five -following days. It was held at the Foundery, London; and consisted -of the two Wesleys, and four other clergymen, namely, John Hodges, -Henry Piers, Samuel Taylor, and John Meriton; also of four lay -preachers—Thomas Richards, Thomas Maxfield, John Bennet, and John -Downes.[527] - -Mr. Hodges was the rector of Wenvo, in Wales, a good man, who, from -the first, was friendly to the Methodists, and who showed his love for -Wesley, in 1758, by writing him a reproof for the tartness of some of -his controversial writings, and which Wesley had the honest manliness -to publish in his _Arminian Magazine_. - -Mr. Piers has been already noticed. Samuel Taylor was the great -great grandson of the celebrated Dr. Rowland Taylor, of Hadleigh, in -Suffolk, who was forcibly ejected from his church; whom Gardiner, from -the woolsack, addressed as “a knave, a traitor, and a villain”; whom -Bonner was about to strike with his crosier, and was only hindered by -Taylor telling him he would strike again; and who, amid the tears and -prayers of his afflicted flock, was put into a pitch barrel, by the -bloodthirsty papists, on the 9th of February, 1555, and was set on -fire, one zealous vagabond flinging a fagot at his head, and another -impatient ruffian cleaving his skull with a halbert, while he was -singing in the flames, “In God have I put my trust, I will not fear -what man can do unto me.” The descendant of this brave-hearted martyr -partook of his ancestor’s zealous and heroic spirit. He was vicar of -Quinton in Gloucestershire; but his heart was larger than his parish. -Like Wesley, he went out into the highways and hedges, and was a sharer -in the brutal persecutions of Wednesbury, Darlaston, and other places. -Richard Whatcoat, one of the first Methodist bishops in America, when -a child, sat under his ministry, and received impressions which he -never lost.[528] As a preacher, Mr. Taylor was zealous, pathetic, and -powerful. He died about the year 1750.[529] - -Mr. Meriton had been educated in one of the universities, and was now -a clergyman from the Isle of Man.[530] The last years of his life seem -to have been chiefly spent in accompanying the two Wesleys in their -preaching excursions, and in assisting them in the chapels they had -built. He died in 1753. - -Of the four lay members of the first Methodist conference, three -afterwards left Wesley, and became ministers of other churches. John -Downes was the only one who lived and died a Methodist. - -The day before the conference commenced was one to be remembered. -Besides the ordinary preaching services, a lovefeast was held, at which -six ordained ministers were present; and, during the day, the sacrament -was administered to the whole of the London society, now numbering -between two and three thousand members. At this grand sacramental -service five clergymen assisted. - -On the day following, the conference was opened, with solemn prayer, a -sermon by Charles Wesley, and the baptism of an adult, who there and -then found peace with God.[531] The three points debated were:—1. What -to teach. 2. How to teach. 3. How to regulate doctrine, discipline, and -practice. - -In reference to the first point, it was settled that, to be justified -is to be pardoned, and received into God’s favour; that faith, -preceded by repentance, is the condition of justification; that -repentance is a conviction of sin; that faith, in general, is a Divine, -supernatural _elenchos_ of things not seen; and that justifying faith -is a conviction, by the Holy Ghost, that Christ loved me, and gave -Himself for me; that no man can be justified and not know it; that the -immediate fruits of justifying faith are peace, joy, love, power over -all outward sin, and power to keep down inward sin; that wilful sin is -inconsistent with justifying faith; that no believer need ever again -come into condemnation; that works are necessary for the continuance -of faith, which cannot be lost but for want of them; and that St. Paul -and St. James do not contradict each other, when one says Abraham was -not justified by works, and the other that he was, because they do not -speak of the same justification, and because they do not speak of the -same works,—St. Paul speaking of works that precede faith, and St. -James of works that spring from it. - -The Conference further agreed, that Adam’s sin is imputed to all -mankind in the sense, that in consequence of such sin—(1) our bodies -are mortal; (2) our souls disunited from God, and of a sinful, devilish -nature; and (3) we are liable to death eternal. It was further -agreed, that the Bible never expressly affirms, that God imputes the -righteousness of Christ to any, but rather, that faith is imputed -to us for righteousness. At the same time, the Conference conceived -that, by the merits of Christ, all men are cleared from the guilt -of Adam’s actual sin; that their bodies will become immortal after -the resurrection; that their souls receive a capacity of spiritual -life, and an actual spark or seed thereof; and that all believers are -reconciled to God and made partakers of the Divine nature. - -Sanctification was defined, a renewal in the image of God, in -righteousness and true holiness; to be a _perfect Christian_ is to love -the Lord our God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength, implying -the destruction of all inward sin; and faith is the condition and -instrument by which such a state of grace is obtained. - -Proceeding to other matters, the Conference resolved to defend the -doctrine of the Church of England both by their preaching and living; -to obey the bishops in all things indifferent, and to observe the -canons as far as they could with a safe conscience; and, finally, to -exert themselves to the utmost not to entail a schism in the Church, -by their hearers forming themselves into a distinct sect; though they -agreed that they must not neglect the present opportunity of saving -souls, for fear of consequences which might possibly or probably -happen, after they were dead. - -The belief was expressed, that the design of God in raising up -the preachers, called Methodists, was to reform the nation, more -particularly the Church; and to spread scriptural holiness through -the land. It was decided that, wherever they preached, they ought to -endeavour to form societies, because where societies were not formed, -the preacher would not be able to give proper instructions to them -that were convinced of sin; nor the people to watch over one another -in love, bear one another’s burdens, and build up each other in faith -and holiness. It was stated, that the Methodists were divided into -four sections; namely, the united societies, the bands, the select -societies, and the penitents. The united societies, who were the most -numerous, consisted of awakened persons. The bands were selected from -these, and consisted of those who were supposed to have remission of -sins. The select societies were taken from the bands, and were composed -of those who seemed to walk in the light of God’s countenance. The -penitents were those who, for the present, were fallen from grace. -After this, the rules of the united societies, and of the bands, were -read. The rules of the select societies were the same as those of the -bands, with three additions:—1. That nothing spoken in their meetings -be spoken again. 2. That every member submit to his minister in all -indifferent things. 3. That, till they could have all things common, -every member should bring, once a week, all he could spare toward a -common stock. The penitents were left without rules. - -It was agreed, that lay assistants were allowable only in cases of -necessity. They were to expound every morning and evening; to meet the -united societies, the bands, the select societies, and the penitents, -once a week; to visit the classes once a quarter; to hear and decide -all differences; to put the disorderly back on trial, and to receive on -trial for the bands or society; to see that the stewards, the leaders, -schoolmasters, and housekeepers faithfully discharged their several -offices; and to meet the leaders and the stewards weekly, and to -examine their accounts. They were to be serious; to converse sparingly -and cautiously with women; to take no step towards marriage without -first acquainting Wesley or his brother clergymen; and to do nothing -as a _gentleman_, for they had no more to do with this character than -with that of a dancing master. They were to be ashamed of nothing but -sin; not of fetching wood, or drawing water; not of cleaning their own -shoes, or their neighbour’s. They were to take no money of any one, and -were to contract no debts without Wesley’s knowledge; they were not to -mend the rules, but keep them; to employ their time as Wesley directed, -and to keep journals, as well for Wesley’s satisfaction as for profit -to themselves.[532] - -It was decided, that they should preach most, where those of them -who were clergymen could preach in a church; where they could get -the greatest number of quiet and willing hearers; and where they had -most success. It was agreed, that field preaching had been used too -sparingly; that every alternate meeting of the society, in every place, -should be strictly private; and that at the other meeting strangers -might be admitted with caution, but not the same person above twice or -thrice. To improve the usefulness of classleaders, it was resolved that -each leader should be diligently examined, concerning his method of -meeting a class; that all of them should converse with the preachers, -as frequently and as freely as possible; that they should attend the -leaders’ meeting every week, bringing notes of all sick persons in -their classes; and that none should speak in the leaders’ meeting -but the preacher or the steward, unless in answer to a question. The -members were to be more closely examined, at the general visitation -of the classes; the married men and married women, and the single -men and single women were to be met apart once a quarter; and all -the members were to be visited at their own houses, at times fixed -for such a purpose. Tickets were to be given to none, till they were -recommended by a leader with whom they had met three months on trial; -and new members were to be admitted into the society only on the -Sunday following the quarterly visitation, their names being read on -the Sunday night previous. It was agreed, also that it was lawful for -Methodists to bear arms; and that they might use the law as defendants, -and perhaps in some cases as plaintiffs.[533] - -Other regulations were adopted, either at this or ensuing conferences, -as follows: preachers were to meet the children in every place, and -give them suitable exhortations; they were to preach expressly and -strongly against sabbath breaking, dram drinking, evil speaking, -unprofitable conversation, lightness, gaiety, or expensiveness of -apparel, and contracting debts without sufficient care to discharge -them; they were to recommend to every society, frequently and -earnestly, the books that Wesley published, as preferable to any other; -they were to use their best endeavours to extirpate smuggling, and also -bribery at elections; they were to speak to any that desired it, every -day after the morning and evening preaching. As often as possible, -they were to rise at four o’clock; to spend two or three minutes -every hour in earnest prayer; to observe strictly the morning and -evening hour of retirement; to rarely employ above an hour at a time -in conversation; to use all the means of grace; to keep watchnights -once a month; to take a regular catalogue of the societies once a -year; to speak freely to each other, and never to part without prayer. -They were never to preach more than twice a day, unless on Sundays or -extraordinary occasions; to begin and end the service precisely at the -time appointed; to always suit their subject to their congregations; -to choose the plainest texts possible, and to beware of allegorizing -and rambling from their texts. They were to avoid everything awkward or -affected, either in phrase, gesture, or pronunciation; to sing no hymns -of their own composing; to choose hymns proper for the congregation; -not to sing more than five or six verses at a time, and to suit the -tune to the nature of the hymns. After preaching, they were recommended -to take lemonade, candied orange peel, or a little soft, warm ale; and -to avoid late suppers, and egg and wine, as downright poison.[534] - -Here we find six clergymen and four lay preachers, not elaborating -an ecclesiastical structure, but carefully considering the greatest -truths of the Christian religion, and investigating the duties of its -preachers. Six days were spent in this important work. They desired -nothing, said Wesley, but to save their own souls and those that heard -them. Their doctrines, so simple and encouraging, were not the popular -theology of the age; but they were in the Scriptures, and what every -sinner needed. They little thought, that they were constructing a -platform which would survive their times, and originating a long series -of annual conferences which would become one of the most important -institutions in the world; a central power, conveying religious -benefits to every quarter of the globe, and serving as a model for -framing other similar institutions both at home and abroad. The -doctrines agreed upon are still the staple doctrines of the Methodist -communities, and the elements of Methodist discipline may be found in -the minutes of this the first Methodist conference. - -Leaving Wesley’s first conference, we pass to his last sermon before -the university of Oxford. - -The day appointed for the sermon was Friday, August 24, the anniversary -of St. Bartholomew, and occurred in Oxford race week. The duty came to -Wesley by rotation; and had he declined it, he must have paid three -guineas for a substitute. We have three accounts of this celebrated -sermon. From Charles Wesley we learn, that he and Mr. Piers and Mr. -Meriton were present at its delivery; that the audience was a large -one, and much increased by the racers; that the congregation gave the -utmost attention; that some of the heads of colleges stood during the -whole service, and fixed their eyes upon the preacher; and that, after -the sermon, the little band of four Methodist clergymen walked away in -form, none daring to join them.[535] - -Wesley’s own account is as follows:— - - “I preached, I suppose the last time, at St. Mary’s. Be it - so. I am now clear of the blood of these men. I have fully - delivered my own soul. The beadle came to me afterwards, and - told me the vice-chancellor had sent him for my notes. I sent - them without delay, not without admiring the wise providence of - God. Perhaps few men of note would have given a sermon of mine - the reading, if I had put it into their hands; but, by this - means, it came to be read, probably more than once, by every - man of eminence in the university.”[536] - - “I am well pleased that the sermon was preached on the very - day on which, in the last century, near two thousand burning - and shining lights were put out at one stroke. Yet what a wide - difference is there between their case and mine! They were - turned out of house and home, and all that they had; whereas I - am only hindered from preaching, without any other loss; and - that in a kind of honourable manner; it being determined that, - when my next turn to preach came, they would pay another person - to preach for me; and so they did, twice or thrice, even to the - time that I resigned my fellowship.”[537] - -The third account is by the celebrated Dr. Kennicott, who was, at this -period, in the twenty-fifth year of his age, and an undergraduate of -Wadham College. He had no sympathy with the Methodists, and yet he -appears to have been deeply impressed with Wesley’s sermon. He writes:— - - “All that are masters of arts, and on the foundation of any - college, are set down in a roll, as they take their degree; - and, in that order, preach before the university, or pay three - guineas for a preacher in their stead; and as no clergyman can - avoid his turn, so the university can refuse none; otherwise - Mr. Wesley would not have preached. He came to Oxford some - time before, and preached frequently every day in courts, - public houses, and elsewhere. On Friday morning, having held - forth twice in private, at five and at eight, he came to St. - Mary’s at ten o’clock. There were present the vice-chancellor, - the proctors, most of the heads of houses, a vast number of - gownsmen, and a multitude of private people, with many of - Wesley’s own people, both brethren and sisters. He is neither - tall nor fat; for the latter would ill become a Methodist. His - black hair, quite smooth, and parted very exactly, added to - a peculiar composure in his countenance, showed him to be an - uncommon man. His prayer was soft, short, and conformable to - the rules of the university. His text was Acts iv. 31. He spoke - it very slowly, and with an agreeable emphasis.” [Here follows - a description of the sermon.] “When he came to what he called - his plain, practical conclusion, he fired his address with so - much zeal and unbounded satire as quite spoiled what otherwise - might have been turned to great advantage; for, as I liked - some, so I disliked other parts of his discourse extremely. I - liked some of his freedom, such as calling the generality of - young gownsmen ‘a generation of triflers,’ and many other just - invectives. But, considering how many shining lights are here, - that are the glory of the Christian cause, his sacred censure - was much too flaming and strong, and his charity much too weak - in not making large allowances. But, so far from allowances, - he concluded, with a lifted up eye, in this most solemn form, - ‘It is time for Thee, Lord, to lay to Thine hand;’ words full - of such presumption and seeming imprecation, that they gave - an universal shock. This, and the assertion that Oxford was - not a Christian city, and this country not a Christian nation, - were the most offensive parts of the sermon, except when he - accused the whole body (and confessed himself to be one of the - number) of the sin of perjury; and for this reason, because, - upon becoming members of a college, every person takes an oath - to observe the statutes of the university, and no one observes - them in all things. Had these things been omitted, and his - censures moderated, I think his discourse, as to style, and - delivery, would have been uncommonly pleasing to others as well - as to myself. He is allowed to be a man of great parts, and - that by the excellent Dean of Christ Church (Dr. Conybeare); - for the day he preached, the dean generously said of him, ‘John - Wesley will always be thought a man of sound sense, though - an enthusiast.’ However, the vice-chancellor sent for the - sermon, and I hear the heads of colleges intend to show their - resentment.”[538] - -This obnoxious sermon was published a few weeks after it was preached, -and was advertised in the October magazines, price sixpence.[539] -Another edition was issued in the same year, at Newcastle on Tyne, -12mo, eighteen pages. - -In a preface to the reader, Wesley says, that he never intended to -print the latter part of the sermon; but “the false and scurrilous -accounts of it which had been published, almost in every corner of -the nation, now constrained him to publish the whole, just as it was -preached, that men of reason might judge for themselves.” - -The sermon has three divisions, and considers Christianity under three -distinct aspects—(1) As beginning to exist in individuals. (2) As -spreading from one to another. (3) As covering the earth. Of these -nothing need be said. That which gave offence was the “plain, practical -application,” which is quite one third of the entire discourse. The -following extracts will show what it was that gave the offence which -Oxford authorities never pardoned; and also the fidelity and Christian -courage of the preacher in uttering such sentiments before such a -congregation. - - “I beseech you, brethren, by the mercies of God, if ye do - account _me_ a madman or a fool, yet _as a fool bear with me_. - It is utterly needful, that some one should use great plainness - of speech towards you. It is more especially needful at _this_ - time; for who knoweth but it is the _last_? And who will use - this plainness, if I do not? Therefore I, even I, will speak. - And I adjure you, by the living God, that ye steel not your - hearts against receiving a blessing at _my_ hands. - - “Let me ask you then, in tender love, and in the spirit of - meekness, Is this city a _Christian_ city? Is _Christianity, - scriptural Christianity_, found here? Are we, considered as a - community of men, so filled with the Holy Ghost as to enjoy in - our hearts, and show forth in our lives, the genuine fruits of - that Spirit? Are all the magistrates, all heads and governors - of colleges and halls, and their respective societies, (not to - speak of the inhabitants of the town,) of one heart and soul? - Is the love of God shed abroad in our hearts? Are our tempers - the same that were in Christ? And are our lives agreeable - thereto? - - “In the fear, and in the presence of the great God, before - whom both you and I shall shortly appear, I pray you that are - in authority over us, whom I reverence for your office sake, - to consider, Are you filled with the Holy Ghost? Are ye lively - portraitures of Him whom ye are appointed to represent among - men? Ye magistrates and rulers, are all the thoughts of your - hearts, all your tempers and desires, suitable to your high - calling? Are all your words like unto those which come out of - the mouth of God? Is there in all your actions dignity and love? - - “Ye venerable men, who are more especially called to form the - tender minds of youth, are you filled with the Holy Ghost? with - all those fruits of the Spirit, which your important office so - indispensably requires? Do you continually remind those under - your care, that the one rational end of all our studies is - to know, love, and serve the only true God, and Jesus Christ - whom He hath sent? Do you inculcate upon them, day by day, - that without love all learning is but splendid ignorance, - pompous folly, vexation of spirit? Has all you teach an actual - tendency to the love of God, and of all mankind for His sake? - Do you put forth all your strength in the vast work you have - undertaken—using every talent which God hath lent you, and that - to the uttermost of your power? - - “What example is set them” [the youth] “by us who enjoy - the beneficence of our forefathers,—by fellows, students, - scholars,—more especially those who are of some rank and - eminence? Do ye, brethren, abound in the fruits of the - Spirit,—in lowliness of mind, in self denial and mortification, - in seriousness and composure of spirit, in patience, meekness, - sobriety, temperance, and in unwearied, restless endeavours - to do good, in every kind, unto all men? Is this the general - character of fellows of colleges? I fear it is not. Rather, - have not pride and haughtiness of spirit, impatience and - peevishness, sloth and indolence, gluttony and sensuality, and - even a proverbial uselessness, been objected to us, _perhaps_ - not always by our enemies, nor _wholly_ without ground? - - “Many of us are more immediately consecrated to God, called - to minister in holy things. Are we then patterns to the rest, - in word, in conversation, in charity, in spirit, in faith, in - purity? From what motives did we enter upon this office? Was it - with a single eye to serve God? Have we clearly determined to - give ourselves wholly to it? Do we forsake and set aside, as - much as in us lies, all worldly cares and studies? Are we apt - to teach? Are we taught of God, that we may be able to teach - others also? What are the seals of our apostleship? Who, that - were dead in trespasses and sins, have been quickened by our - word? Have we a burning zeal to save souls from death; so that, - for their sake, we often forget even to eat our bread? - - “Once more, What shall we say concerning the youth of this - place? Have _you_ either the form or the power of _Christian_ - godliness? Are you humble, teachable, advisable? or stubborn, - self willed, heady, and high-minded? Are you obedient to your - superiors as to parents? Or do you despise those to whom you - owe the tenderest reverence? Are you diligent in pursuing your - studies with all your strength, crowding as much work into - every day as it can contain? Rather, do you not waste day after - day, either in reading what has no tendency to Christianity, or - in gaming, or in—you know not what? Do you, out of principle, - take care to owe no man anything? Do you remember the sabbath - day to keep it holy? Do you know how to possess your bodies - in sanctification and in honour? Are not drunkenness and - uncleanness found among you? Yea, are there not of you, who - glory in their shame? Do not many of you take the name of God - in vain, perhaps habitually, without either remorse or fear? - Yea, are there not a multitude of you that are forsworn? Be - not surprised, brethren; before God and this congregation, I - own myself to have been of that number; solemnly swearing to - _observe all those customs_, which I then knew nothing of; and - _those statutes_, which I did not so much as read over, either - then or for some years after. What is perjury, if this is not? - - “May it not be one of the consequences of this, that so many - of you are a generation of triflers? triflers with God, with - one another, and with your own souls? How few of you spend, - from one week to another, a single hour in private prayer? - How few have any thought of God in the general tenour of your - conversation? Can you bear, unless now and then, in a church, - any talk of the Holy Ghost? Would you not take it for granted, - if one began such a conversation, that it was either hypocrisy - or enthusiasm? In the name of the Lord God almighty, I ask, - What religion are you of? Even the talk of _Christianity_ ye - cannot, will not bear. O my brethren! What a Christian city is - this? It is time for Thee, Lord, to lay to Thine hand. - - “For indeed, what probability, what possibility is there, - that Christianity, scriptural Christianity, should be again - the religion of this place? that all orders of men among us - should speak and live as men filled with the Holy Ghost? By - whom should this Christianity be restored? By those of you - that are in authority? Are you desirous it should be restored? - And do ye not count your fortune, liberty, life, dear unto - yourselves, so ye may be instrumental in restoring it? But - suppose ye have this desire, who hath any power proportioned - to the effect? Perhaps some of you have made a few faint - attempts, but with how small success? Shall Christianity then - be restored by young, unknown, inconsiderable men? I know not - whether ye yourselves would suffer it. Would not some of you - cry out, ‘Young man, in so doing thou reproachest us’? But - there is no danger of your being put to the proof; so hath - iniquity overspread us like a flood. Whom then shall God send? - The famine, the pestilence, or the sword, the last messengers - of God to a guilty land? The armies of the Romish aliens, to - reform us into our first love? Nay, rather, let us fall into - Thy hand, O Lord, and let us not fall into the hand of man!” - -This is not only the substance, but nearly the whole of the “plain, -practical application,” that created so much offence. Who can find -fault with it? Rather, who will not commend the bold preacher, -who, in such yearning accents, gave utterance to truths of the -highest consequence, but which perhaps no one but himself, in such a -congregation, durst have uttered? Would to God that pulpits had more -of this courageous, pitying fidelity, at the present day! Is it not a -fact, that preaching now-a-days consists so much of polite and pious -platitudes, that, so far from saving souls, it is almost powerless? The -age is too refined to tolerate preachers of the stamp of Luther, Knox, -and Wesley. The words of the prophets are, in this pretentiously polite -period of the church’s history, well worth pondering: “They have healed -the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; -when there is no peace.” “This is a rebellious people, lying children, -children that will not hear the law of the Lord; which say to the -seers, See not; and to the prophets, Prophesy not unto us right things; -speak unto us smooth things; prophesy deceits.” - -It was Wesley’s fidelity, far more than the novelty of his doctrines -and proceedings, that brought upon him the persecutions he encountered. -Of these, he and the Methodists had already had their share; but the -vials of the people’s wrath were far from being emptied. The outrages -in Staffordshire and other places have been already mentioned. “In -Cornwall,” says Wesley, “the war against the Methodists was carried -on with far more vigour than that against the Spaniards.” “At St. -Ives,” writes Henry Millard, “the word of God runs and is glorified; -but the devil rages horribly.” At Camborne, Thomas Westall was pulled -down while preaching in Mr. Harris’s house; was carried to Penzance, -where Dr. Borlase wrote a “mittimus” committing him to the house of -correction at Bodmin as a vagrant; and here he was kept till the next -quarter sessions, when the justices, then assembled, knowing a little -more of the laws of God and man than Dr. Borlase and his Penzance -_confrères_, declared his commitment to be illegal, and set him at -liberty. “For what pay,” asks Wesley, justly proud of his preachers, -“could we procure men to do this service,—to be always ready to go -to prison or to death?” Dr. Borlase was a man of unquestioned sense -and learning; but he was a bigot of the purest water. On his asking -Jonathan Reeves to point him out a man who had been the better for -hearing the Methodists, Jonathan pointed to John Daniel, then before -him. “Get along,” cried the doctor. “Get along; you are a parcel of -mad, crazy headed fellows;” and taking them by the shoulders, he thrust -them to the doors. After this, we find him issuing warrants for the -apprehension of Methodists; sending Thomas Maxfield to be a soldier; -and signing a warrant for the arrest of Wesley himself; yet all this -was not sufficient to prevent Wesley rendering to the Cornish bigot his -due share of literary praise. “I looked over,” writes Wesley, in 1757, -“Dr. Borlase’s Antiquities of Cornwall. He is a fine writer, and quite -master of his subject. He has distinguished, with amazing accuracy, the -ancient Saxon monuments from the more ancient Roman, and from those of -the Druids, the most ancient of all.”[540] The doctor died in 1772. - -Dr. Borlase was not alone; for his brother clergymen raged against -the Methodists without measure, and, in their sermons, retailed the -grossest lies concerning them. A poor woman complained to the mayor of -St. Ives of some one throwing a huge stone into her house, which fell -on a pillow within a few inches of her suckling child. His worship -damned her, and said she might go about her business. One of the clergy -told Jonathan Reeves, he wished the Bible were in Latin only, so that -none of the common people could read it.[541] The mob at St. Ives -saluted Wesley with stones and dirt; and pulled down the meeting-house, -“for joy that Admiral Matthews had beat the Spaniards.” It was a -gratifying fact, however, that, notwithstanding the fierceness of the -Cornish persecution, not more than three or four of the Methodists -turned cowardly deserters, while the rest, instead of being shaken, -were confirmed in their principles by the violence of their enemies. - -The press was still vigorously employed. An anonymous pamphlet, -entitled “Observations upon the Conduct and Behaviour of a certain -Sect usually designated by the name of Methodists,” 4to, pages 24, was -written by Dr. Gibson, and obtained considerable approval from his -brother bishops.[542] In this prelatical publication, the Methodists -are charged with setting government at defiance, by appointing public -places of religious worship, and by preaching in the open air, without -taking the prescribed oaths, and subscribing the declaration against -Popery. They broke the rules of the church of which they professed -themselves members, by going to other than their own parish churches to -receive the sacrament. Their doctrines and practices were a dis-service -to religion—1. Because they set the standard of religion so high, -that some were led to disregard religion altogether. 2. Because they -carried the doctrine of justification by faith alone to such a height, -as not to allow that the observance of moral duties is a condition of -being justified. 3. Because a due attendance on the public offices of -religion answered the purposes of devotion better than the “sudden -agonies, roarings, screamings, tremblings, ravings, and madness of -the Methodists.” 4. Because their exalted strains of religion led to -spiritual pride, and to contempt of their superiors. In short, the -irregular practices of the Methodists were of the like nature as those -which had so great a share in bringing in the religious confusions of -the last century. - -Whitefield replied to this pamphlet in two small quarto tracts, of -fourteen and twenty-four pages respectively. This evoked “A Serious -and Expostulatory Letter,” by the Rev. Thomas Church, M.A., vicar of -Battersea, and prebendary of St. Paul’s;[543] and also another letter, -of fifty pages, “by a Gentleman of Pembroke College, Oxford.” In the -latter production, the Methodists are censured for “suffering their -heated imaginations to mount to such an exalted pitch, that it hurries -them out of their senses, evaporates the religious spirit, and leaves -nothing but sensuality in the heated machine.” Whitefield’s answer -to “Observations on the Conduct and Behaviour of the Methodists” is -politely said to be “stuffed with the coaxing and wheedling of the -_woman_, the daring of the _rebel_, the pertness of the _coxcomb_, -the evasions of the _jesuit_, and the bitterness of the _bigot_.” -It is unblushingly affirmed, that the Methodists “can curse, rail, -and _berogue_ their antagonists, though in Scripture language, so -as hardly to be exceeded by any pope, or _spiritual bully_, that -ever yet appeared in Christendom.” They are a “rag-tag mob,” using -“lascivious and blasphemously languishing expressions when they talk -of the Redeemer’s love.” “They cant and blaspheme the Holy Spirit, and -appeal to starts and sallies of flesh and blood for the inspiration of -the Holy One.” They are “a set of creatures of the lowest rank, most -of them illiterate, and of desperate fortunes; cursing, reviling, and -showing their teeth at every one that does not approve of their frenzy -and extravagance.” Whitefield was “crafty and malicious enough to be -suspected of any wicked enterprise,—a person of wicked principles, -travelling over all counties, to establish newfangled societies”; and -he and his friends were “heads and spiritual directors of hot-brained -cobblers, all big with venom against the clergy of the Established -Church.” The author “trembles and shudders,” lest the Methodists should -be “betrayed, by their feelings and stretchings, into a bed of eternal -fire and brimstone, appointed for the reception of the lewd, the -concupiscent, and the blasphemous.” - -These are fair specimens of the foul foamings of this valiant defender -of Church and state. - -Another pamphlet, published in 1744, was “A Charge against Enthusiasm,” -delivered, in several parts of his diocese, by the Bishop of Lichfield; -and the object of which was to prove that “the indwelling and inward -witnessing of the Spirit in believers’ hearts, as also praying and -preaching by the Spirit, are all the _extraordinary gifts_ and -operations of the Holy Ghost, belonging only to the apostolical and -primitive times, and that, consequently, all pretensions to such -favours in these last days are vain and enthusiastical.” - -Another, published at a shilling, was “Remarks on Mr. J. Wesley’s last -Journal, by Thomas Church, A.M.,”[544] the prebendary of St. Paul’s -already mentioned. Mr. Church sums up his charges against Wesley thus: -“It is impossible for you to put an entire stop to the enormities of -the Moravians, while you still (1) too much commend these men; (2) hold -principles in common with them, from which these enormities naturally -follow; and, (3) maintain other errors more than theirs, and are -guilty of enthusiasm to the highest degree.” Mr. Church’s “Remarks,” -however, will have to be noticed in the next chapter. - -In addition to all this foam and fury against the Methodists, must -be mentioned an equally vile attack of another kind. At the Brecon -assizes, held in the month of August, the grand jury deemed it their -duty to make a presentment to the presiding judge to the following -effect: “that the Methodists held illegal meetings,” and that -their “preachers pretended to expound the Scriptures by virtue of -inspiration”; that, by this means, “they collected together great -numbers of disorderly persons, very much endangering the peace of -our sovereign lord the king; and that, unless their proceedings were -timely suppressed, they might endanger the peace of the kingdom in -general.” At all events, “the pretended preachers, or teachers, at -their irregular meetings, by their enthusiastic doctrines, very much -confounded and disordered the minds of his majesty’s good subjects”; -and this, “in time, might lead to the overthrowing of our good -government, both in Church and state.” Finally, the judge is requested, -if the authority of the present court was not sufficient for the -purpose, to apply to some superior authority, in order to put an end to -the “villainous scheme” of “such dangerous assemblies.”[545] - -Thus had Methodism to make its way through the opposition of vulgar -mobs, fiery priests, lampooning pamphleteers, unjust magistrates, and -grand juries. Gamaliel’s advice was set aside: “Refrain from these men, -and let them alone; for if this counsel or this work be of men, it will -come to nought: but if it be of God, ye cannot overthrow it; lest haply -ye be found even to fight against God.” - -Wesley’s longest journey, in 1744, was from London to Cornwall, thence -to Newcastle, and thence to London. Nearly three months were spent -upon this evangelistic tour: many hundreds of miles were traversed, -not by rail, or even in stage coaches, but on horseback, over the most -miserable roads, the rider sometimes battered with rain and hail for -hours together, and at others plunging through drifts of snow enough -to engulf both man and beast. About a hundred sermons were preached: -some, at Gwennap and at St. Stithian, to thousands upon thousands of -attentive hearers; some in public houses; some on village greens; and a -few in parish churches. - -One of the churches Wesley was permitted to occupy was at Laneast, in -Cornwall, of which Mr. Bennett was the aged clergyman. Another was at -Landau, in Wales. “Such a church,” says Wesley, “I never saw before. -There was not a glass window belonging to it; but only boards, with -holes bored here and there, through which a dim light glimmered. Yet -even here the light of God’s countenance has shone on many hearts.” In -the former of these churches a strange scene was witnessed in the month -of August. Charles Wesley was preaching “against harmless diversions,” -having three clergymen, Messrs. Meriton, Thompson, and Bennett, among -his auditors. “By harmless diversions,” exclaimed the preacher, “I -was kept asleep in the devils arms, secure in a state of damnation, -for eighteen years.” No sooner were the words uttered than Meriton -added aloud, “And I for twenty-five!” “And I,” cried Thompson, “for -thirty-five!” “And I,” said Bennett, the venerable minister of the -church, “and I for above seventy.” - -Strange and stirring incidents came across Wesley’s path. In his -father’s church, at Epworth, he heard Mr. Romley preach two of the -bitterest and falsest sermons he ever listened to. On proceeding to -Syke House, some of his friends met him and said a drunken mob was -awaiting his arrival, who would press all the men in the congregation -for soldiers. Others declared, the mob was just about to fire the -meeting-house, or pull it to the ground. Wesley calmly answered, -“Our only way is to make the best use of it while standing;” and, -accordingly, he entered it at once, and expounded the tenth chapter -of Matthew. At Durham, he met John Nelson and Thomas Beard, at that -time with their regiment, and took them to his inn, and said, “Brother -Nelson, lose no time; speak and spare not, for God has work for you to -do in every place where your lot is cast; and when you have fulfilled -His good pleasure, He will burst your bonds asunder, and we shall -rejoice together.”[546] At Chinley, in Derbyshire, lived a poor widow, -of the name of Godhard, with a family of four small children. At her -request, Wesley made Chinley a resting place, and preached. Finding the -widow’s house too small, he stood upon a chair near to a miller’s dam. -The miller, enraged at Wesley and his congregation daring to worship -in such proximity to his premises, let off the water for the purpose -of drowning Wesley’s voice. The effort was a failure; truth triumphed; -Chinley became a Methodist preaching place; and, in order to provide -the preachers when they called with a cup of tea, the poor widow and -her children set apart the whole of every Friday night for winding -bobbins, depositing the earnings, as a sacred treasure, in an old pint -mug, and never touching them except to meet the necessities of Wesley’s -itinerants when paying their gospel visits.[547] - -Already Wesley’s lay preachers had become a considerable host. In -different parts of the kingdom there were, at least, forty of these -devoted evangelists.[548] Some of them, as John Brown, of Newcastle, -David Taylor, John Downes, John Nelson, William Shepherd, John -Slocomb, Thomas Westall, Thomas Beard, John Haime, Thomas Richards, -John Bennet, and Thomas Maxfield, have been already mentioned. Besides -these, there were—John Haughton, originally a weaver, who, whilst -the mob, in the city of Cork, were burning Wesley in effigy, threw -up the window and began to preach to the people in the street; and -who, afterwards, obtained episcopal ordination and settled in the -sister country;—Jonathan Reeves, who was with Wesley when he laid the -first stone of the Orphan House at Newcastle, and who, after passing -through a great amount of persecution, became an ordained minister -of the Church of England, preached in London, and died in 1778, -testifying that all his hope was in Christ Jesus;—Enoch Williams, -pious, deeply devoted to his work, faithful and successful, and brought -to an untimely grave in 1744;—Thomas Williams, extremely popular as -a preacher; but haughty, revengeful, headstrong, and unmanageable; a -great favourite among the London young ladies; but a maligner of the -two Wesleys; expelled in 1744, but taken back on declaring, before -many witnesses, that the slanders he had propagated against Wesley -and his brother were grossly false; the man who introduced Methodism -into Ireland in 1747, but who was again expelled from the Methodist -society in 1755; and then, through the Countess of Huntingdon, obtained -episcopal ordination, and for several years acted as a clergyman in the -neighbourhood of High Wycombe;—Thomas Meyrick, a native of Cornwall, -educated for the law, a poet, but expelled from the Methodist connexion -in 1750, after which he became a clergyman of the Established Church, -and died, we fear, a drunkard, at Halifax, in 1770;—John Trembath, -one of Wesley’s most courageous preachers, though somewhat vain and -stubborn; then a farmer and a fibber; and, for a long series of years, -an impoverished vagabond, who died about 1794;—Alexander Coates, a -poor Scotch “laddie,” fond of books, who could speak in Gaelic, read -with fluency in Dutch and Danish, and had some acquaintance with -Hebrew, Greek, and Latin; the honoured instrument in the conversion -of Mr. Crosse, the well known Bradford vicar; one of the best of -men, and a most useful preacher, who died, at Newcastle, in 1765, -in perfect peace;—William Darney, another Scotchman, honest, bold, -impetuous, a rhymer, and painfully eccentric, but who was used by -Providence in converting Grimshaw, and who prided himself upon never -“_dabbing_ people with untempered mortar”;—Nicholas Gilbert, a man -of deep piety, and of great simplicity, possessed of considerable -talents, and pronounced by Wesley “an excellent preacher”;—Samuel -Larwood, who in 1754 became a Dissenting minister in the borough of -Southwark;—James Jones, one of the first fruits of Wesley’s ministry in -Staffordshire, as bold as a lion, and who built, at his own expense, -the first Methodist chapel at Tipton Green;—Joseph Jones, who left -the itinerancy in 1760, became a farmer in the county of Somerset, -and acted as a local preacher to the end of life;—Herbert Jenkins, -who afterwards became one of Whitefield’s preachers, and laboured in -the Tabernacle connexion;—John Maddern, a man of genuine piety, and a -lively, zealous preacher;—Henry Millard, who, after narrowly escaping -a violent death at the hands of a Cornish mob, fell a victim to an -attack of small pox, in 1746;—William Prior, of whom Charles Wesley, in -a manuscript letter now before us, dated 1755, writes: “William Prior -is ordained, without learning, interest, or aught but Providence to -recommend him”;—Robert Swindells, a man of great benevolence, who was -never heard to speak an unkind word of any one, had no enemy, and died -full of days, riches, and honour in 1783;—James Wheatley, of Norwich -notoriety, where he was often dragged by the hair of his head through -the streets of the city, built a large chapel, and became immensely -popular, but who ultimately died, beneath a cloud, in Bristol;—Francis -Walker, a native of Tewkesbury, pious, honest, and upright, his talents -small, but his preaching lively, zealous, and useful, an instrument -of great good to souls wherever he went, and who settled in the city -of Gloucester, where he died in peace. And to all these must be added -William Biggs, Thomas Crouch, John Hall, Thomas Hardwick, Francis -Scott, David Tratham, Thomas Willes, and William Holmes. - -Little more remains to be related concerning the year 1744. The -Newcastle society was increasingly earnest, there hardly being a -trifler left. The society at Bristol was not so perfect as it should -have been, many of the members crying out, “Faith, faith! Believe, -believe!” but making little account of the fruits of faith, either of -holiness or good works. The London society was poor, but generous. At -a single collection, in the month of February, they contributed nearly -fifty pounds to relieve the destitute around them, and which Wesley at -once laid out in buying clothes for those whom he knew to be diligent -and yet in want. A month later, they made a second collection of -about thirty pounds. A month later still, a third collection of about -six-and-twenty pounds; and to these three collections were added ninety -pounds more in the shape of private subscriptions; making altogether -£196 raised by the poor London Methodists, and employed in providing -clothing for three hundred and sixty persons. - -Already some of Wesley’s people began to profess Christian perfection; -but he was extremely cautious in receiving their testimony. At the end -of the year, he writes:— - - “I was with two persons who believe they are saved from all - sin. Be it so, or not, why should we not rejoice in the work - of God, so far as it is unquestionably wrought in them? For - instance, I ask John C——, ‘Do you always pray? Do you rejoice - in God every moment? Do you in everything give thanks? In loss? - In pain? In sickness, weariness, disappointments? Do you desire - nothing? Do you fear nothing? Do you feel the love of God - continually in your heart? Have you a witness in whatever you - speak or do, that it is pleasing to God?’ If he can solemnly - and deliberately answer in the affirmative, why do I not - rejoice and praise God on his behalf? Perhaps, because I have - an exceeding complex idea of sanctification, or a sanctified - man. And so, for fear he should not have attained all I include - in that idea, I cannot rejoice in what he has attained.” - -This is significant language. Wesley preached the doctrine; but he was -slow to believe those who professed to experience it; and it is a fact -more remarkable, that, so far as there is evidence to show, Wesley -never, to the day of his death, professed as much as this himself. -Hundreds, if not thousands, of his followers did; perhaps he himself -was restrained from doing so, by a dislike to high profession, or by a -conscientious fear, that he hardly reached the standard above set up. - -The thing occasioned him great anxiety. A short time before his death, -he wrote as follows:— - - “Four or five and forty years ago, I had no distinct views of - what the apostle meant by exhorting us to ‘leave the principles - of the doctrine of Christ, and go on to perfection;’ but two - or three persons in London, whom I knew to be truly sincere, - desired to give me an account of their experience. It appeared - exceeding strange, being different from any that I had heard - before. The next year, two or three more persons at Bristol, - and two or three at Kingswood, coming to me severally, gave - me exactly the same account of their experience. A few years - after, I desired all those in London who made the same - profession, to come to me all together at the Foundery, that - I might be thoroughly satisfied. I desired that man of God, - Thomas Walsh, to give us the meeting there. When we met, first - one of us, and then another, asked them the most searching - questions we could devise. They answered every one without - hesitation, and with the utmost simplicity, so that we were - fully persuaded, they did not deceive themselves. In the years - 1759 to 1762 their numbers multiplied exceedingly, not only in - London and Bristol, but in various parts of Ireland as well as - England. Not trusting to the testimony of others, I carefully - examined most of these myself; and, in London alone, I found - 652 members of our society who were exceeding clear in their - experience, and of whose testimony I could see no reason to - doubt. I believe no year has passed since that time, wherein - God has not wrought the same work in many others; and every one - of these (without a single exception) has declared, that his - deliverance from sin was _instantaneous_; that the change was - wrought in a moment. Had half of these, or one third, or one - in twenty, declared it was _gradually_ wrought in _them_, I - should have believed this, with regard to _them_, and thought - that _some_ were gradually sanctified and some instantaneously. - But as I have not found, in so long a space of time, a single - person speaking thus, I cannot but believe, that sanctification - is commonly, if not always, an _instantaneous_ work.”[549] - -This is a subject of vast importance, and will often recur in future -pages. Meanwhile, all will give Wesley credit for the utmost sincerity, -though some may doubt whether human experience is, in itself, -sufficient to settle and decide Christian doctrine. - -Wesley’s pen was, if possible, more busily employed than ever; not so -much in composing original productions, as in abridging and revising -the works of others. During the year 1744, he published the following:— - -1. The sermon preached before the Oxford university on August 24. - -2. An Extract from his Journal, from November 1, 1739, to September -3, 1741. With prefatory Letter to the Moravian Church, dated June 24, -1744; and two hymns annexed, on “The Means of Grace,” and “The Bloody -Issue,” both having reference to the Moravian controversy. - -3. The Rules of the Band Societies. These, as we have already seen, -were read at the conference held in June. During the year, they were -published in the form following:—“The Nature, Design, and General Rules -of the United Societies, in London, Bristol, Kingswood, and Newcastle -upon Tyne. The fourth edition. To which are subjoined the Rules of -the Band Societies. London: printed by William Strahan. 1744.” 12mo, -twelve pages. The _Rules_ of the band societies were the same as those -which Wesley had drawn up for the Moravian bands, in 1738. The band -society members were composed, as previously stated, of persons who -professed to have obtained the forgiveness of sins. They were middle -class Methodists; that is, in a more advanced state than the members of -the “United Societies,” but not so advanced as the “Select Societies.” -The questions to be proposed to every one before he was admitted were -to the following effect:—1. Have you forgiveness of sins? 2. Peace with -God? 3. The witness of the Spirit? 4. Is the love of God shed abroad -in your heart? 5. Has no sin dominion over you? 6. Do you desire to be -told of your faults? 7. Do you desire we should tell you whatsoever we -think, fear, or hear concerning you? 8. Is it your desire and design, -on this and all other occasions, to speak everything that is in your -heart, without exception, without disguise, and without reserve? - -The propriety of such questions will be doubted, and especially of -other five which had to be proposed at every meeting, and which have -been given in a previous chapter. (See page 210.) It would have been -no loss to Methodism or to the religious world, if these queries, -first drawn up by Wesley on Christmas day, 1738, had been allowed to -slumber in the shades of Moravian oblivion. At present, they are never -used; and though, in the first instance, they might be adapted to the -Moravian brotherhood, they are far too inquisitorial for Methodists. - -The bands had to meet once a week; and were bound to observe the -following “Directions”:— - -I. To abstain from evil, especially buying or selling on the sabbath; -tasting spirituous liquors; pawning; backbiting; wearing needless -ornaments, as rings, earrings, necklaces, lace, and ruffles; and taking -snuff or tobacco. - -II. To maintain good works,—especially almsgiving; reproving sin; -together with diligence, frugality, and self denial. - -III. To use all the ordinances of God; especially service at church, -and sacrament once a week; likewise every public meeting of the bands; -the ministry of the word every morning; private prayer every day; -reading the Scriptures at every vacant hour; and observing all Fridays -in the year as days of fasting or abstinence. - -4. Another of Wesley’s publications, in 1744, was “Modern Christianity -exemplified at Wednesbury, and other adjacent places in Staffordshire.” -12mo, twenty-eight pages. The substance of this pamphlet has been -already given in the account of the Staffordshire riots; but the prayer -at the end of it is too remarkable to be passed without notice. The -following is an extract:— - - “Lo, I come, if this soul and body may be useful to anything, - to do Thy will, O God. If it please Thee to use the power - Thou hast over dust and ashes, here they are to suffer Thy - good pleasure. If Thou pleasest to visit me either with pain - or dishonour, I will humble myself under it, and, through Thy - grace, be obedient unto death, even the death of the cross. - Hereafter no man can take away anything from me, no life, no - honour, no estate; since I am ready to lay them down, as soon - as I perceive Thou requirest them at my hands. Nevertheless, - O Father, if Thou be willing, remove this cup from me; but if - not, Thy will be done.” - -What was the spirit of the ancient martyrs if this was not? - -5. A fifth publication, “Hymns for Times of Trouble and Persecution” -(12mo, forty-seven pages), was issued in the names of “John and Charles -Wesley” unitedly. It contains thirteen hymns for times of trouble; -sixteen for times of persecution; and four to be sung in a tumult. - -The remainder of Wesley’s publications, during the present year, were -collections or abridgments of the works of other authors, namely:— - -1. “A Collection of Moral and Sacred Poems from the most celebrated -English authors.” Three volumes, 1024 pages, in 12mo. The work is -dedicated to “the right honourable the Countess of Huntingdon.” Wesley -truly observes, that there is nothing in the collection “contrary to -virtue; nothing that can in any way offend the chastest ear, or give -pain to the tenderest heart. Whatever is really essential to the most -sublime divinity, as well as the purest and most refined morality, -will be found therein. The most just and important sentiments are here -represented with all the ornaments both of wit and language, and in the -clearest, fullest, strongest light.” - -“There is,” writes Mr. Marriott,[550] “a circumstance little known -regarding this ‘Collection.’ A few months after the publication -of these volumes, Dodsley (the publisher) called upon Wesley for -reparation of a piracy, which the latter had unwittingly committed, and -for which he agreed to pay him £50.” This was done on February 8, 1745, -by payment of a £20 bank note, and a cheque for £30, payable in three -months. - -2. “A Brief Account of the occasion, process, and issue of a late -Trial at the Assize held at Gloucester, 3rd March, 1743. Between some -of the people called Methodists, Plaintiffs, and certain Persons of -Minchinhampton, in the said county, Defendants. Extracted from Mr. -Whitefield’s Letter. By John Wesley.” Twelve pages, 12mo. - -This was a sort of companion tract to “Modern Christianity at -Wednesbury.” Appended is “a prayer for his majesty King George,” in ten -verses of four lines each, which, in a somewhat altered form, is now -the 465th hymn in the Methodist Hymn-Book. - -3. “A Collection of Prayers for Families.” 12mo, 24 pages. - -Wesley considered family religion as indispensable to the preservation -and extension of the work of God. Some of the first Methodists -neglected it; and, as a consequence, their children shook off all -religion and abandoned themselves to wickedness.[551] “Family -religion,” said Wesley, twenty years after this, “is the grand -desideratum among the Methodists.”[552] - -To promote this, Wesley published his “Prayers for Families,” in 1744. -The prayers are only fourteen in number; that is, a prayer for every -morning and every evening during a single week; but anything more -devout, scriptural, appropriate, and religiously rich it would be -difficult to conceive. - -4. “The Case of John Nelson, written by himself. Published by John -Wesley.” 12mo, 36 pages. - -5. “An Extract of Count Zinzendorf’s Discourses on the Redemption of -Man by the Death of Christ.” 12mo, 78 pages. - -These loosely worded “Discourses,” sixteen in number, were first -published in 1740, in 12mo, two hundred and two pages. They were -all founded upon Luther’s explanation of the second article of the -Apostles’ creed; “I believe in Jesus Christ, His only Son our Lord.” - -6. “A Serious Call to a Holy Life. Extracted from a late author.” -12mo, 230 pages. This was an abridgment of the well known work of -William Law, and was printed by John Gooding, of Newcastle upon Tyne. -It consists of nineteen chapters, dwelling on Christian devotion; -the duties of all orders and ranks of men and women, of all ages, to -practise it; the happiness arising from doing so; and recommendations -in reference to it. - -It is impossible to give the reader, by any brief description here, an -adequate idea of this powerful and pungent book. He must read it for -himself. When will the young people of the present day, imbibing the -froth of sensational writing, learn that books, like wine, are none the -worse for being old? - -7. “The Life of God in the Soul of Man; or, the Nature and Excellency -of the Christian Religion.” 12mo, forty-eight pages. - -This was an extract from an excellent treatise, written by the Rev. -Henry Scougal, a Scottish minister, who died at the early age of -twenty-eight, in the year 1678. The book breathes the sublimest piety; -and, in style, is pure and elegant. - -8. “The Distinguishing Marks of a Work of the Spirit of God. Extracted -from Mr. Edwards, minister of Northampton, in New England.” 12mo, 48 -pages. - -By publishing this calm, pointed, argumentative treatise, Wesley made -its sentiments his own; and, from it, the reader may easily infer what -were Wesley’s opinions respecting the religious revival with which he -and his contemporaries were connected. (See page 218.) The following is -a synopsis of the answers to objections. - -It is no sign, that a work is not Divine, because it is carried on -in a way unusual and extraordinary. The Spirit is sovereign in His -operations. We ought not to limit God where He has not limited Himself. -Neither is a work to be judged by any effects on the bodies of men; -such as tears, trembling, groans, loud outcries, agonies, or faintings; -for there is reason to believe, that great outpourings of the Spirit, -both in the prophetic and apostolic ages, were not wholly without -these extraordinary effects. The same is true respecting religious -commotion among the people, for this is the natural result of such -a work. Further, though many of the converts may be guilty of great -imprudences and irregularities, neither is this a sign that the work -is not the work of God; for, in a mixed multitude of wise and unwise, -young and old, all under powerful impressions, no wonder that some -should behave themselves imprudently. It was thus in the apostolic -churches, and this is not unlikely to continue while weakness is one -of the elements of human nature. There may be errors in judgment, and -some delusions of Satan intermixed with the revival; but that is not -conclusive evidence, that the work in general is not the work of the -Holy Ghost. Some may fall away into scandalous practices; but, if we -look into church history, we shall find no instance of a great revival -of religion but what has been attended with such relapses. The work -may have been promoted by ministers strongly preaching the terrors of -the law; but what of that? If there really be a hell of dreadful and -never ending torments, ought not those exposed to it to be earnestly -warned of their fearful danger? For ministers to preach of hell, and -warn sinners to avoid it in a cold, careless, hesitating manner, is to -contradict themselves, and to defeat their own purposes. The manner in -which the thing is said is, in such a case, more effectual than the -words employed. It may be unreasonable to think of frightening a man to -heaven; but it is not unreasonable to endeavour to frighten him away -from hell. - -Such, in substance, were the sentiments to which Wesley affixed his -_imprimatur_ in 1744,—sentiments still worth pondering, because always -true. - -Great revivals may be, often are, and perhaps must be, attended with -circumstances which enlightened and sober minded Christians dislike; -but rather than be without revivals, where is the man who loves Christ -and the souls of sinners, who would not gladly crucify his own dislikes? - -Twelve months after this, in the year 1745, Wesley, appealing to men -of reason and religion, who were in doubt, whether the revival then -vouchsafed was the work of God, observed:—“You have all the proof -of this you can reasonably expect or desire. That, in many places, -abundance of notorious sinners are totally reformed, is declared -by a thousand eye and ear witnesses both of their present and past -behaviour. What would you have more? What pretence can you have for -doubting any longer? Do you delay fixing your judgment till you see a -work of God, without any stumbling block attending it? That never was -yet, nor ever will. ‘It must needs be that offences will come.’ And -scarce ever was there such a work of God before, with so few as have -attended this.”[553] - - - - -1745. - - -[Sidenote: 1745 Age 42] - -Whitefield, during the whole of the year 1745, was in America. Charles -Wesley spent about thirty-eight weeks in London; and about fourteen in -Bristol, Wales, and the west of England. Wesley himself was nearly five -months in London and its vicinity; about a month in Bristol and the -neighbourhood; two months were spent in a tour to Cornwall; and four -months in two journeys to Newcastle and the north of England. - -Persecution somewhat abated, especially in the form of printed attacks -and scandals; not because Methodism was less hated, but because the -attention of the country was turned to the dangers arising from the -invasion of the popish Pretender. - -In Cornwall, however, Thomas Maxfield was seized for a soldier, and -was put into the dungeon at Penzance. Edward Greenfield, of St. Just, -a tanner, with a wife and seven children, was arrested under a warrant -signed by Dr. Borlase. Wesley asked what objection there was to this -peaceable and inoffensive man. The answer was, “The man is well enough -in other things; but the gentlemen cannot bear his impudence. Why, -sir, he says he knows his sins are forgiven.” This Cornish persecution -was principally promoted by men like Borlase and Eustick. The latter -came with a warrant for Wesley’s arrest; but sneaked away from its -execution, like a blustering poltroon. While Wesley was preaching at -Gwennap, two men, raging like maniacs, rode into the midst of the -congregation, and began to lay hold upon the people. In the midst of -the disturbance, Wesley and his friends commenced singing; when Mr. B. -lost his patience, and bawled to his attendants, “Seize him, seize him. -I say, seize the preacher for his majesty’s service.” The attendants -not moving, he cursed them with the greatest bitterness, leaped off his -horse, caught hold of Wesley’s cassock, crying, “I take you to serve -his majesty.” Wesley walked with him for three quarters of a mile, -when the courage of the bumptious bravo failed him, and he was glad -to let the poor parson go. The day after this ignoble capture, Wesley -was at Falmouth, where the rabble surrounded the house in which he was -lodging, and roared, “Bring out the Canorum! Where is the Canorum?” (an -unmeaning word which the Cornish generally used instead of Methodist.) -They then forced open the outer door, and setting their shoulders to -the inner one, cried out, “Avast, lads, avast!” Away went all the -hinges; Wesley stepped into the midst of the privateering mob, and -asked one after another, “To which of you have I done any wrong? To -you? Or you? Or you?” All seemed speechless, until, thus questioning -his furious assailants, Wesley found himself in the open street, where -he cried to the assembled crowd, “Neighbours, countrymen! Do you desire -to hear me speak?” “Yes, yes,” they answered vehemently; “he shall -speak, he shall; no one shall hinder him!” Meanwhile, Mr. Thomas, the -clergyman, and some other gentlemen came up; Wesley was rescued; his -horse was sent before him to Penryn; he was despatched by water; and -an item of nine shillings and some odd pence appeared in the parochial -accounts “for driving the Methodists out of the parish.”[554] - -Wesley’s troubles, however, were not ended. His enemies ran along the -shore to receive him at his landing. Wesley there confronted them, and, -speaking to their leader, said, “I wish you a good night;” to which -the wretch replied, “I wish you were in hell,” and then turned away -with his companions. Wesley mounted his horse, and hurried forward to -Tolcarn, where he had to preach the same evening. On the way, five -well dressed horsemen were awaiting him, with a special warrant, from -the Helstone magistrates, for his arrest. He rode into the midst of -them, and announced who he was. A friendly clergyman, Mr. Collins, of -Redruth, accidentally came by, and told the gentlemen that he had known -Wesley at the Oxford university. Conversation followed, and Wesley was -allowed to proceed upon his journey; one of those who had come out for -his arrest telling him, that the reason of all this annoyance was, -that all the gentlemen round about affirmed, that, for a long time, he -had been in France and Spain; was now sent to England by the Pretender, -and was raising societies to join him at his coming. - -In the midst of all this, Wesley courageously rode to and fro, -preaching from, “Love your enemies;” “Watch and pray;” and, “All that -will live godly in Christ Jesus shall suffer persecution.” At Tolcarn, -while he was preaching, the mob assembled, and suddenly pushed him -from the high wall on which he was standing. At Trevonan, just after -he had begun his sermon, the constable and others came, and read the -proclamation against riots. At Stithians, the churchwardens seized one -of his hearers, and pressed him for a soldier. - -Whilst these outrages were being perpetrated in Cornwall, Richard Moss -was arrested at Epworth for preaching; but was delivered through the -interference of Mr. Maw, in whose house he prayed and sang hymns till -midnight; and then left for Robert Taylor’s, at Burnham, where he and -the Epworth Methodists continued praying and praising God, till about -four o’clock in the morning. At Betley, near Nantwich, a gentleman -threatened to hire a mob to pull down the Methodist meeting-house, -and to send all the Methodists for soldiers. At Bristol, a Methodist -backslider declared he would “make affidavit that he had seen Wesley -administer extreme unction to a woman, and give her a wafer, and say -that was her passport to heaven.”[555] At Woodley, in Cheshire, John -Bennet and three other Methodists were pressed for soldiers, most of -the press gang being Dissenters. The reverend Mr. Henry Wickham, one -of the magistrates for the west riding of Yorkshire, issued a warrant -to the constable of Keighley, “to convey the body of Jonathan Reeves -to his majesty’s gaol and castle of York;” the only crime of which -Jonathan was guilty being that of calling sinners to repentance; -though the reverend magistrate chose to describe him as “a spy among -us, and a dangerous man to the person and government of his majesty -King George.”[556] In Exeter, says _The London Evening Post_, for May -16, 1745, the Methodists had a meeting-house behind the Guildhall; -and, on May 6, the mob gathered at the door, and pelted those who -entered with potatoes, mud, and dung. On coming out, the congregation -were all beaten, without exception; many were trampled under foot; -many fled without their hats and wigs; and some without coats, or -with half of them torn to tatters. Some of the women were lamed, and -others stripped naked, and rolled most indecently in the kennel, -their faces being besmeared with lampblack, flour, and dirt. This -disgraceful mob consisted of some thousands of cowardly blackguards, -and the disturbance was continued till midnight. The same newspaper, in -its number issued on May 25, relates, with a sneer, that a Methodist -vagrant had been apprehended at Frome; that he was a person of “very -ill fame,” and was committed to prison; but another of the same sect, -“a Scotchman, a travelling apostle,” had succeeded him, and was meeting -with surprising success. He had already wrought several miracles, one -of which was making a deaf old woman hear angels playing on celestial -harps in the upper regions; and another was that of converting his -own oatmeal into cake, and transforming his water into wine. He also -cured distempers of the body as well as of the mind; though he often -killed the one with his drugs, to save the other with his doctrine. The -_Westminster Journal_ for June 8, 1745, narrates that a noted Methodist -preacher, named Tolly, had been pressed for a soldier in Staffordshire, -and had appeared before the magistrates, attended by many of his -“deluded followers of both sexes, who pretended he was a learned and -holy man; and yet, it appeared that he was only a journeyman joiner, -and had done great mischief among the colliers.” The poor luckless -joiner was, therefore, coupled to a sturdy tinker, and sent off to -Stafford jail. He had already been pressed once before, and the -Methodists had subscribed £40 to obtain his freedom, and were intending -to repeat the kindness; but the impeccable editor of the _Westminster -Journal_ hopes that the magistrates will be proof against golden -bribes; for “such wretches” as Tolly “are incendiaries in a nation,” -and greatly to be dreaded. - -These were the chief acts of violence committed against the Methodists -in 1745. As already stated, the press was still employed, though it -was not so bitter as it had been previously. Newspapers and magazines -found that news about the Pretender’s invasion was more taking with the -public than elaborated diatribes against Wesley and his friends. During -the year, however, there was published, by a clergyman unknown to fame, -an octavo pamphlet of eighty pages, with the title:—“An Apology for -the Clergy, in a Letter to a Gentleman of Fortune and great Reading, -lately turned Methodist and Hermit; wherein is shown the weakness of -those Objections, which Separatists in general pretend first induced -them to leave the Established Church, and to look out for better guides -somewhere else. By J. Maud, M.A., vicar of St. Neots, in the county of -Huntingdon.” Mr. Maud alleges, that there is a powerful confederacy -against the Church,—“a mixed multitude of Socinians, Presbyterians, -Independents, Quakers, Anabaptists, Antinomians, Meer Moralists, -Jesuits, Free Thinkers, and Methodists, and an infinite tribe of -nameless sects, all hallooed on by the vicar of Jesus Christ and his -creatures, to tear Christians to pieces, and to make sport for infidels -and atheists.” The pamphlet is a spirited defence of the clergy, whom -the “Methodist and Hermit” had libelled, and an attempt to show, that -it was no trivial matter to be a faultless minister of Christ in an age -when it was considered “a rude affront to any polite audience to tell -men of their faults, or so much as to mention these harsh and dreadful -sounding words, hell, damnation, devil, without a canting paraphrase, -or a formal apology.” - -A second pamphlet, published in 1745, was, “The Question, Whether it be -right to turn Methodist, considered in a Dialogue between two members -of the Church of England.” 8vo, 79 pages. The Methodists are branded as -“unskilful teachers, doing great mischief to the peace of the Church, -and to the souls of poor, ignorant people; by raising vain janglings -about regeneration; by resolving all religion into instantaneous faith, -and faith itself into impulses and mere animal sensations; by setting -aside all necessity for repentance; and by casting off _all_ works, -as unnecessary to salvation.” The pamphlet is ably written; but is -extremely false. - -Another attack on Methodism was one published in the _Craftsman_, of -June 22, and copied in the _London Magazine_ and other periodicals of -the period. It was, in fact, an onslaught upon the government of the -day, entitled “Ministerial Methodism, or Methodists in Politics;” but, -in castigating ministers of state, it grossly calumniates ministers -of Christ. The Methodists are an “unaccountable strange sect, whose -religion is founded on madness and folly.” They “hold, that there is no -justification by good works, but by faith and grace only; and hereby -banish that Divine part of our constitution, reason; and cut off the -most essential recommendation to heaven, virtue.” By this “depraved -doctrine” of “weak and, perhaps, designing teachers, misguided souls -are dangerously led astray.” The “men are far gone in their mad -principles of religion, suspend the hand of industry, become inactive, -and leave all to Providence, without exercising either their heads or -hands.” - -The article, though neatly written, was supremely silly: Wesley, at -the urgent request of his friends, answered it;[557] but the thing was -far more contemptible than some other attacks which had been allowed; -properly enough, to pass unnoticed. - -Another anti-Methodist publication, issued in 1745, was entitled, “An -Earnest and Affectionate Address to the People called Methodists.” -12mo, 47 pages. This was published by the Society for Promoting -Christian Knowledge, and was distributed gratuitously.[558] Its author, -an old antagonist, was the Rev. Dr. Stebbing.[559] Two editions -were exhausted in 1745, and a third sent out in 1746. It allows the -Methodists to be honest and well meaning; but they are “greatly imposed -upon,” and “ignorantly serve the designs of enthusiasm, and give -credit to the most extravagant and groundless pretences.” The writer -proceeds, with considerable ability, to examine the Methodist doctrines -of regeneration, justification by faith alone, and the operations of -the Holy Spirit; and concludes by saying that, though the Methodist -teachers at first were only distinguished by “a peculiar strictness -and regularity, and a decent observance of the rules of the Church, -it was not long that they kept within these bounds. Being admired -and followed, they became vain and conceited, and proceeded to open -censures and contempt of their brethren. They grew loud and furious in -their accusations and railings. They made most presumptuous pretences -to Divine communications and directions;” and, when “their errors -were pointed out, by some of the highest and most considerable of the -clergy, with all possible meekness and temper, their answers were saucy -and petulant. Fresh bitterness arose; more arrogant boasting; and more -uncharitable revilings. They seized a pulpit or two without leave; and, -in defiance of the law, exercised their ministry in fields and commons, -and other unlicensed places. They set aside and altered the liturgy at -their pleasure, and made use of extempore effusions of their own in the -public worship of God.” - -Such were some of the allegations brought against Wesley and his -friends at the instance of the Society for Promoting Christian -Knowledge. - -Another pamphlet, published in the same year, was “A Serious Address -to Lay-Methodists to beware of the false pretences of their Teachers. -With an Appendix containing an account of the fatal and bloody effects -of enthusiasm, in the case of the family of the Dutartres in South -Carolina, which was attended with the murder of two persons, and the -execution of four for those murders. By a Sincere Protestant.” 8vo, 29 -pages. - -This was a frothy composition, asserting that “the Methodist preachers -are wandering lights, gadding about with canting assurances, and -leading people into bogs of delusion.” Its author was Dr. Zachary -Grey, already mentioned (page 325) as the author of “The Quakers and -Methodists compared.”[560] - -Besides all these attacks, Wesley had to endure much Moravian -annoyance. At the commencement of the year, desiring to see once more -his old friend Gambold, he called at James Hutton’s, and there met -Mr. Simpson, “extremely gay, easy, and unconcerned;” “a new creature -indeed! but not in the gospel sense.” Mr. Simpson, unhappily, was -a specimen of others. The Moravians meant well; but they held and -preached the grand old doctrine of salvation by _faith only_, so -unguardedly that, as a matter of course, the rank weed of antinomianism -sprung out of the soil of Christian truth. Antinomianism, according -to Wesley, was now a torrent; not only in London but out of it. At -Bristol, Wesley writes, “the Antinomians had taken true pains to -seduce those who were showing their faith by their works; but they -reaped little fruit of their bad labour; for, upon the most diligent -inquiry, I could not find that seven persons out of seven hundred -had been turned out of the old Bible way.” Whitefield, writing from -America, remarks: “Antinomianism, I find, begins to show its head, -and stalk abroad. May the glorious Redeemer cause it to hide its head -again; and prevent His children’s spirits being embittered against -each other.”[561] In August, James Hutton, by order of Zinzendorf, -published, in the _Daily Advertiser_, an advertisement, declaring that -the Moravians had no connection with the two Wesleys; and subjoining -one of the count’s prophecies, that Wesley and his brother would “soon -run their heads against the wall.” To this Wesley simply said: “We -will not, if we can help it.” Dissensions also had sprung up among the -Unitas Fratrum themselves. Richard Viney had denounced Zinzendorf’s -“more than papal domination;” and large numbers of the Yorkshire -Moravians had sympathised with him. Zinzendorf was furious, and, in -February 1744, wrote from Germany as follows:— - - “I hereby declare, that I will have nothing more to do with - those English Brethren, who have been mixed up in Viney’s - rebellion. I disapprove of the absolution that is given to - such Corah spirits. I laugh at the English national self - righteousness in matters relating to our salvation. I desire - to be erased from the list of English labourers, and not to be - named among them, until all accomplices in the late revolt make - an acknowledgment in writing of their having been deceived by - Satan. - - “The well-known little fool and poor sinner, - - “LUDWIG.”[562] - -This was pitiful tomfoolery; the raging of a lilliputian and -disappointed pope. - -During the year, a 12mo pamphlet, of forty-one pages, was published, -with the title, “Extracts of Letters relating to Methodists and -Moravians. By a Layman;” in which the Moravians are censured—1. For -laying aside the use of their intellectual faculties in _religious -matters_. 2. For refusing to take oaths before a magistrate. 3. For -declining to take up arms in defence of their country, at the command -of the civil power. And, 4. For their praying to and praising so -constantly the Son of God, and so very seldom the Father. This was -supposed to be written by Sir John Thorold; but as it makes no attack -upon Wesley and his immediate followers it need not be farther noticed. - -Another, and more important publication, was the following:—“Remarks on -the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s last Journal, wherein he gives an account -of the tenets and proceedings of the Moravians, especially those in -England, and of the divisions and perplexities of the Methodists: -showing, by the concessions of Mr. Wesley himself, the many errors -relating to faith and practice, which have already arisen among these -deluded people; and, in a particular manner, explaining the very fatal -tendency of denying good works to be conditions of our justification. -In a letter to that gentleman. By Thomas Church, A.M., vicar of -Battersea, and prebendary of St. Paul’s.” 8vo, 76 pages. - -The pamphlet is calmly and ably written, and thus concludes: “The -consequences of Methodism, which have hitherto appeared, are bad enough -to induce you to leave it. It has introduced many disorders—Enthusiasm, -Antinomianism, Calvinism, a neglect and contempt of God’s ordinances -and almost all other duties, a great increase of our sects and -divisions, and, in fine, presumption and despair in greater abundance -than they were known before.” - -The letter is dated, November 3, 1744, and has the following -postscript:—“If you think proper to return any answer, I hope you will -attentively consider the points objected to you, and not put me off -with such a slight, superficial, declamatory thing as Mr. Whitefield, -without any regard to his own character or the importance of the -subject, published last year under the title of an answer to my letter -to him; in which he did not vouchsafe to consider any one argument I -had urged against him, and which no serious man could think deserved -any notice.” - -The “Remarks” deserved an answer. Wesley acknowledged, in after years, -that Church “wrote as a gentleman.”[563] “Mr. Church,” said he, in -1777, “was another kind of opponent than Mr. Rowland Hill; a gentleman, -a scholar, and a Christian; and as such he both spoke and wrote.”[564] - -Accordingly, first of all, Mr. Webb published a letter in vindication -of Wesley’s Journal, in reply to Mr. Church;[565] and then Wesley -himself issued a 12mo pamphlet of forty-six pages, entitled, “An Answer -to the Rev. Mr. Church’s Remarks on the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s last -Journal.” - -Wesley thus begins:—“Reverend sir,—My first desire and prayer to God -is, that I may live peaceably with all men: my next, that if I must -dispute at all, it may be with a man of understanding. Thus far, I -rejoice on the present occasion. I rejoice also, that I have confidence -of your sincerity, of your real desire to promote the glory of God, by -peace and goodwill among men. I am likewise thankful to God for your -calm manner of writing (a few paragraphs excepted); and yet more for -this,—that such an opponent should, by writing in such a manner, give -me an opportunity of explaining myself on those very heads whereon I -wanted an occasion so to do.” - -He then proceeds to say, that he wholly disapproved of the doctrines, -“that there are no degrees in faith; that, in order to attain faith, we -must abstain from all the ordinances of God; that a believer does not -grow in holiness; and that he is not obliged to keep the commandments -of God;” but, at the same time, he remarks, that he had already -cleared the _Moravian church_ from the charge of holding the first of -these doctrines; that, with respect to the ordinances of God, their -practice was better than their principle; and that he never knew a -Moravian, except Molther, who affirmed that a believer does not grow in -holiness. “Still,” he adds, “I am afraid their whole church is tainted -with quietism, universal salvation, and antinomian opinions.” “As a -church, they exalted themselves above measure, and despised others. -He had scarce heard one Moravian brother own his church to be wrong -in anything. Many of them he had heard speak of it, as if it were -infallible; and some of them had set it up as the judge of all the -earth, of all persons as well as doctrines. Some had said, there was no -true church but theirs, and that there were no true Christians out of -it. These were exceeding great mistakes; yet in as great mistakes holy -men had both lived and died;—Thomas à Kempis, for instance, and Francis -Sales.” He condemns them for “despising and decrying self denial; for -their extending Christian liberty beyond all warrant of holy writ; for -their want of zeal for good works; and, above all, for their using -guile;” but he wishes not to condemn all for the sake of some, and -expresses the belief that, next to some thousands in the Church of -England, that is mainly the Methodists, the Moravians, with whom he had -formed acquaintance, were, upon the whole, the best Christians in the -world. They had much evil among them, but more good. They were the most -self inconsistent people now existing; and yet he could not help but -speak of them with tender affection, were it only for the benefits he -had received from them; and, if the stumbling blocks above mentioned -were put away, he should desire union with them above all things under -heaven. - -After this, Wesley gives his latest thoughts upon justification by -faith alone, as published in his “Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and -Religion,” which will be noticed hereafter. - -In reply to Church’s assertion, that Wesley was guilty of enthusiasm to -the highest degree, Wesley remarks, that he is no more like Church’s -picture of an enthusiast than he is like a centaur. He made the word -of God the rule of all his actions, and no more followed any secret -impulse instead thereof, than he followed Mahommed or Confucius. He -rested not on ecstasies at all, for he never felt them; but judged of -his spiritual estate by the improvement of his heart and the tenour -of his life conjointly. He desired neither his dreams nor his waking -thoughts to be at all regarded, unless just so far as they agreed with -the oracles of God. - -Before leaving the Moravians, reference must be made to another -pamphlet, issued in 1745. “A Short View of the Difference between the -Moravian Brethren lately in England and the Rev. Mr. John and Charles -Wesley. Extracted chiefly from a late Journal. London: printed by W. -Strahan. Sold at the Foundery, etc. 1745.” 12mo, 24 pages. The pamphlet -is dated, May 20, 1745, and is signed by both the Wesleys. Appended -are six hymns bearing on the subject. The differences are contained -in ten propositions; but having been referred to so frequently in the -preceding pages, it is scarcely necessary to repeat them here. Suffice -it to say, that the publication of these “Differences” was probably -owing to the publication of Church’s remarks on Wesley’s Journal; and, -that it was one, if not the main, reason of Zinzendorf and Hutton -publishing, in the _Daily Advertiser_, that the Moravians had now no -connection with the Wesleys. Wesley, in his pamphlet, uses language -more than ordinarily strong. He pronounces several of the Moravian -dogmas “utterly false.” He declares, that Zinzendorf’s definition -of faith, namely, the historical knowledge that Christ has been a -man and suffered death for us, “is a proposition directly subversive -of the whole of the Christian revelation;” and that his doctrine, -that “a believer is not holy _in himself_, but in Christ only,” is -“a palpable self contradiction, and senseless jargon.” Zinzendorf’s -temper was touchy, and it is not surprising, that he resented Wesley’s -plain speaking, and commanded Hutton to publish the advertisement just -mentioned. - -The controversy still continued; and, during 1745, two other tracts -were published by Wesley. (1) “A Dialogue between an Antinomian and his -friend.” 12mo, 12 pages. (2) “A Second Dialogue between an Antinomian -and his friend.” 12mo, 12 pages. - -In both these tracts, the monstrousness of the Moravian and other -errors is mercilessly exposed and censured. “All that is really -uncommon in your doctrine,” says Wesley to his antinomian friend, “is -a heap of broad absurdities, in most of which you grossly contradict -yourselves, as well as Scripture and common sense. In the meantime, you -boast and vapour, as if _ye were the men, and wisdom should die with -you_. I pray God to humble you, and prove you, and show you what is in -your heart!” - -This was partly written in answer to a Dialogue that had been -published by William Cudworth, who was, for some years, a follower of -Whitefield, and then became minister of an Independent congregation, -in Margaret Street, London, and died in 1763.[566] The biographer of -the Countess of Huntingdon states, that Cudworth “died in the comforts -of the doctrines of grace, leaving behind him a character for eminent -holiness and integrity.”[567] Wesley’s description of the man is widely -different; but, if Wesley ever felt the least bitterness towards any -of his opponents, it was towards Cudworth. He describes him as an -Antinomian; an absolute, avowed enemy to the law of God, which he never -preached, or professed to preach, but termed all legalists who did. -With him, preaching the law was an abomination. He would preach Christ, -as he called it, but without one word either of holiness or good -works.[568] - -Mr. Cudworth will again cross our path. Suffice it to say here, that, -between him and Wesley, no love was lost. Affection for him was at -zero; and he abhorred Wesley “as much as he did the pope, and ten times -more than he did the devil.”[569] - -As already stated, Wesley made, during 1745, two journeys to Newcastle -and the north of England. - -The first of these was commenced on the 18th of February, and lasted -to the 11th of May. Richard Moss was his companion, and not a few were -the adventures with which they met. Locomotion was rendered extremely -difficult in consequence of snow. In some places, a thaw, succeeded by -a frost, had made the ground like glass; and often they were obliged to -walk, it being impossible to ride, their horses frequently falling, -even while they were leading them. At Gateshead Fell, the whole country -appeared a great pathless waste of white; and, but for an honest man -who became their guide, they knew not how to reach Newcastle. Wesley -writes:—“Many a rough journey have I had before, but one like this I -never had; between wind, and hail, and rain, and ice, and snow, and -driving sleet, and piercing cold: but it is past; these days will -return no more, and are therefore as though they had never been.” -This rough journey of two hundred and eighty miles was performed on -horseback, in six days, at the rate of nearly fifty miles a day. - -The besetting sin of the Newcastle Methodists was the being offended -with each other; and Wesley’s first work was to reconcile wrangling -neighbours. On the second Sunday after his arrival, a brutal bully, -who had been accustomed to abuse the Orphan House family, and to throw -stones at them, assaulted Wesley in Pilgrim Street, and cursed and -pushed him. The next day the following characteristic note was sent:— - - “ROBERT YOUNG,—I expect to see you between this and Friday, - and to hear from you, that you are sensible of your fault; - otherwise, in pity to your soul, I shall be obliged to inform - the magistrates of your assaulting me yesterday in the street. - - “I am, your real friend, - “JOHN WESLEY.” - -Robert Young immediately came, and meekly begged pardon, and promised -to amend his ways. - -On the 11th of March, Wesley wrote a long letter to a friend, giving -an account of the way in which the Methodist societies had sprung into -existence, and then stating succinctly the present position of himself -and his coadjutors. They were willing to make any concession, which -their conscience would permit, in order to heal the breach between -the clergy and themselves; but they could not desist from preaching -the doctrine of inward and present salvation, as attainable by faith -alone; nor could they promise not to preach in private houses, or -in the open air; for, as things were now circumstanced, this would -amount to a promise not to preach at all. They could not, with a safe -conscience, dissolve their societies, for they apprehended that many -souls would be lost thereby; neither could they advise the members one -by one, their number rendering this impossible. They could not suffer -those who walked disorderly still to mingle with the rest, because -evil communications corrupt good manners; nor could they discharge the -leaders, because it was through the leaders that disorderly walkers -were detected. While they were resolved to behave with reverence -towards the bishops of the Church, and with tenderness both to the -character and persons of the inferior clergy, they desired not to be -admitted to their pulpits, if they believed them to be preachers of -false doctrine, or had the least scruple of conscience concerning this; -but, at the same time, they desired that those clergymen who believed -their doctrines to be true, and had no scruple at all in the matter, -should not be either publicly or privately discouraged from inviting -them to preach in their churches. If any one thought them heretics or -schismatics, and deemed it his duty to preach or print against them, -be it so; they had not the least objection; but, before doing so, they -desired that he would calmly consider both sides of the question, -and not condemn them unheard. If they were guilty of either Popery, -sedition, or immorality, they desired no favour; but they also desired, -that senseless tales concerning them should not be credited without -proof. They desired not any preferment, favour, or recommendation, -from authorities either in Church or state; but they asked—1. That, if -anything material were laid to their charge, they might be permitted to -answer for themselves. 2. That the clergy and magistrates would hinder -their dependants from stirring up the rabble against them. And, 3. -That they would effectually suppress, and thoroughly discountenance, -all riots and popular insurrections, which evidently strike at the -foundation of all government, whether of Church or state. - -Such was Wesley’s position in 1745. Though the document was not -published in his Journal for eight years afterwards, it was, in fact, a -manifesto defining his relations to Church and state, and the course of -action he felt it his duty to pursue; and, viewed in such a light, it -is of great importance. - -During his stay at Newcastle, Wesley received and entertained a -strange visitor in his Orphan House. This was none other than a popish -priest. Twelve months before, a royal proclamation had been published, -ordering the laws against papists to be enforced, and commanding all -such religionists to depart from the cities of London and Westminster; -and likewise forbidding them to leave their country homes, in any -direction, for more than five miles’ distance. This proclamation was -occasioned by the preparations that were being made by the young -Pretender to invade Great Britain. Papists, and especially papistical -priests, were regarded, by the general public, with suspicion and -abhorrence. This was natural. Their disloyalty to the house of Hanover -was a well known fact; and their intrigues, in favour of the Stuart -family, were now culminating in the approaching invasion on behalf of -the eldest son of James II. Under such circumstances, it was a bold, we -think an imprudent, act for Wesley to make a priest of the Church of -Rome his guest. Still the visit led to results which, to the writer at -least, are interesting. - -The priest’s name was Adams, or Watson Adams. His home was at -Osmotherley (the author’s native place), a village of about a thousand -inhabitants, sixty miles south of Newcastle. The place had been famous -as a papistical settlement, and was still resorted to by not a few -adherents of that religion. The writer’s grandmother, for a long series -of years, walked, every Sunday morning, over a bleak, roadless moor, -full of bogs and pitfalls, a distance of at least twelve miles there -and back, for the purpose of attending, in Osmotherley chapel, the -reading of a few Latin prayers, not a word of which had she scholarship -enough to understand. Here had been an important convent of Franciscan -friars, the chapel of which was still standing. In the immediate -neighbourhood were the ruins of another popish edifice, known by the -name of “the Lady’s chapel”; and, within a mile, were the beautiful and -extensive remains of Mount Grace, a Carthusian priory, founded in 1396. - -Wesley’s account of the priest’s visit is as follows:— - - “March 28.—A gentleman called at our house, and said, that - he lived at Osmotherley, in Yorkshire; and had heard so many - strange accounts of the Methodists, that he could not rest - till he came to inquire for himself. I told him he was welcome - to stay as long as he pleased, if he could live on our Lenten - fare. He made no difficulty of this, and willingly stayed till - the Monday sennight following; when he returned home, fully - satisfied with his journey.” - -The odd acquaintance thus begun was perpetuated. A week after this -(on Easter Monday), Wesley began the day by preaching, at half-past -four o’clock, to a large congregation, including “many of the rich -and honourable.” He then set out for London, and, at eight o’clock, -preached in the open air, to “a large and quiet congregation,” at -Chester-le-street. Starting again, he reached Northallerton in the -evening, and made the inn his preaching place. The priest, Adams, and -some of his neighbours, including Elizabeth Tyerman, a Quakeress, -formed part of his congregation. The priest wished Wesley to come -and preach in his house at Osmotherley. The invitation was at once -accepted; Wesley mounted; and, travelling up hill and down hill, seven -miles more, reached the village a little before ten at night; having -ridden during the day, over execrable roads, a distance of at least -sixty miles, and preached thrice. Of course, at this season of the -year, it had long been dark; and, in a village so sequestered, most of -the inhabitants had retired to rest; but the priest and his friends -went round the place, and, arousing the people, succeeded, in about -an hour, in collecting a congregation in the chapel which formerly -belonged to the Franciscan friars. Wesley preached to them, and, after -midnight, went to bed, feeling, as he expressed it, “no weariness at -all.” At five in the morning, he preached again, on Romans iii. 22, -a sermon, in a popish chapel, on the great anti-popish doctrine of -justification by faith alone, part of the congregation having sat up -all night for fear they should not awake in sufficient time to hear -him. Many of them either were or had been papists, and one who was -present was the Quakeress already mentioned. After the sermon, this -unbaptized woman, abruptly addressing Wesley, asked, “Dost thou think -water baptism an ordinance of Christ?” Wesley replied, “What saith -Peter? ‘Who can forbid water, that these should not be baptized, who -have received the Holy Ghost even as we?’” Wesley adds: “I spoke but -little more, before she cried out, ‘’Tis right! ’tis right! I will be -baptized.’ And so she was, the same hour.“[570] - -On reaching Leeds, a week afterwards, Wesley wrote, as follows, to his -brother Charles. - - “LEEDS, _April 23, 1745_. - - “DEAR BROTHER,—It was time for me to give them the ground - at Newcastle, and to fly for my life. I grew more and more - honourable every day: the rich and great flocking to us - together, so that many times the room would not hold them. - Iniquity, for the present, hath stopped her mouth; and it is - almost fashionable to speak well of us. In all appearance, if - I had stayed a month longer, the mayor and aldermen would have - been with us.” - -He then proceeds to give an account of his journey to Northallerton, -where he found “a noble people, who received the word with all -readiness of mind”; and of his setting out for Osmotherley, where he -says: “I preached in a large chapel which belonged, a few years since, -to a convent of Franciscan friars. I found I was got into the very -centre of all the papists in the north of England. ‘_Commessatorem haud -satis commodum._’ This also hath God wrought.”[571] - -Thus began Methodism in Osmotherley, Wesley preaching the first -sermon, in a popish chapel, at eleven o’clock at night, having been -brought to the place by a popish priest and a Quaker woman. A society -was formed soon after, the original class papers and society book -of which, for 1750, and onwards, are still in existence. Four years -afterwards, a chapel was erected, which still stands, and which, up to -the year 1865, for the long period of one hundred and eleven years, -was uninterruptedly occupied as a Methodist place of worship, being, -with one exception (Coleford, in Somersetshire), the oldest Methodist -chapel in the world, continuously used as such. In it, the writer was -converted, and painfully he regrets that, in the present mania for new -chapels, the society, without the least necessity, were barbarous -enough to quit it for a more modern structure, not a whit more -adapted to their church necessities, and, of course, destitute of the -unequalled memories belonging to the ugly, but venerable pile, now, we -fear, left to rats and ruin. - -Osmotherley, nestled beneath moorland mountains, was one of Wesley’s -favourite haunts. Though seven miles from the direct road between -London and Newcastle, and a place difficult to reach, he paid at least -sixteen visits to the place to which he was so strangely introduced. -Nor did he forget or neglect his old friend, the popish priest. His -house, on some occasions, was Wesley’s home. When he visited him, in -1776, he found him “just quivering over the grave”; and, at his visit -a year later, he writes:—“I found my old friend was just dead, after -living a recluse life near fifty years. From one that attended him, I -learned that the sting of death was gone, and he calmly delivered up -his soul to God.” - -Leaving a place, for lingering too long at which the writer craves -forbearance, we must follow Wesley in his evangelistic wanderings. He -made his way to Sykehouse, to Epworth, and to Grimsby, at which last -mentioned town he preached to a “stupidly rude and noisy congregation, -encouraged thereto by a drunken alehouse keeper.” At Epworth, he -preached at the market cross, having most of the adults in the town -to hear him. He went to his father’s church, and there heard his old -acquaintance, John Romley, preach a sermon which, “from beginning to -end, was a railing accusation.” He returned to Leeds, Armley, Birstal, -and Bradford. - -Leaving the west riding, he made a tour in Lancashire, Cheshire, and -Derbyshire, and then came round to Sheffield, where he preached on the -floor of the Methodist meeting-house, “which the good Protestant mob -had just pulled down,” to the largest and one of the quietest Sheffield -congregations he had ever seen. He then made his way to Nottingham, -Wednesbury, and Birmingham, at the last of which places “stones and -dirt were flying from every side, almost without intermission, for near -an hour.” On Saturday, May 11, he got to London, from which he had been -absent about twelve weeks. Here he found things in an unsatisfactory -state. There were more than two thousand members, above two thirds -of whom were women.[572] “The sower of tares had not been idle. Many -were shaken; and some, who once seemed pillars, were moved from their -steadfastness.” Numbers were “hugely in love” with what Wesley calls, -“that solemn trifle, Robert Barclay’s Apology.” This he and his brother -read over with them. “Their eyes were opened; they saw Barclay’s -nakedness, and were ashamed.” - -Having employed a month in London, Wesley set out for Cornwall, where -he spent the next five weeks. The persecutions he encountered have -been related at the commencement of the present chapter. Suffice it to -remark here, that, during this Cornish tour, he did what he was rarely -permitted to do elsewhere; he preached in not fewer than four churches, -with the consent, or at the request, of their respective ministers. An -odd event also happened to him at St. Just, where, as he himself was -about to begin to preach, a kind of gentlewoman took his place, and -“scolded, screamed, spit, and stamped, wrung her hands and distorted -her face,” most violently. She had been bred a papist, and had been -rejoiced to hear that Wesley was one; but, being now undeceived and -disappointed, her anger was quite equal to what her joy had been. Like -a true philosopher, Wesley let the vociferous lady have all the talking -to herself, and “took no notice of her at all, good or bad.” Wesley -returned to London on August 16. - -Terrible was the national excitement which now existed. A few weeks -before, Charles Edward Stuart had embarked from Brittany, with about -fifty of his Scotch and Irish adherents, and had set up his standard in -Scotland, emblazoned with the motto, “_Tandem triumphans_.” On the 4th -of September, he proclaimed his father in the town of Perth; within a -fortnight, he entered Edinburgh; and, a few days afterwards, fought the -royal troops at Preston Pans, and was victorious. Under the pretentious -title of “regent of the kingdoms of England, Scotland, France, and -Ireland,” he marched his increasing forces to Carlisle, Lancaster, -Manchester, and Derby; and was then driven back to Scotland, where, on -April 16, 1746, was fought the decisive battle of Culloden. These brief -remarks will help to illustrate Wesley’s Journal. - -Five days after the proclamation of the Pretender, namely, on September -9, Wesley set out from London to Newcastle. On his way he called upon -Doddridge, the great Dissenter, and addressed his students. His purpose -was to go round by Epworth; but, “hearing of more and more commotions -in the north,” he hastened to Newcastle. At Leeds, the mob pelted him -and his society with dirt and stones, and were “ready to knock out -all their brains for joy that the Duke of Tuscany was emperor.” At -Osmotherley, he took occasion to visit the Carthusian priory, already -mentioned; and, after describing the walls, cells, and gardens, -expressed a sentiment which, however just, was at that time far from -being popular:—“Who knows but some of the poor superstitious monks, -who once served God here according to the light they had, may meet us, -by-and-by, in that house of God, ‘not made with hands, eternal, in the -heavens’?” On September 18, he reached Newcastle, in, what he calls, an -“acceptable time.” - -News had just arrived that the Pretender had entered Edinburgh. The -inhabitants were in the utmost consternation. Wesley at once commenced -preaching, selecting as his text, “Who can tell, if God will return, -and repent, and turn away from His fierce anger, that we perish not?” -The _Newcastle Courant_, for September 14 to September 21, is before -us, containing an account of an association of his majesty’s Protestant -subjects in Ireland, pledging their faith and honour, that they will, -at the hazard of their lives and fortunes, oppose the abominable and -unnatural rebellion now carried on in favour of the popish Pretender. -There is also an address to the king by seven hundred and thirty of -the merchants of London, and from the lord provost, magistrates, and -council of Edinburgh, to the same effect. - -The following loyal, if not finished, lines are published:— - - “Rouse, Britons, rouse, before it be too late, - Join heart and hand, or slavery is your fate; - Remember how your fathers bravely stood, - And neither spared their treasure, nor their blood, - Preserved your liberties, and Church, and state; - Your sons cry out, _Remember eighty-eight_.” - -The day after Wesley’s arrival, Mr. Ridley, the mayor, summoned all -the householders of Newcastle to meet him at the town hall, and to -sign an agreement, to the effect that they would hazard their goods -and lives, in defending the town against the common enemy. He ordered -the townsmen to be under arms, and to mount guard in turns. Pilgrim -Street gate, just outside of which was Wesley’s Orphan House, was -walled up; and Wesley and his society spent the day in fasting and in -prayer. The agreement submitted by the mayor, and which was signed by -eight hundred and thirteen inhabitants of the town, was, that they “do -voluntarily oblige themselves to appear in person, or to provide daily, -or when required, an able man to act in concert with his majesty’s -forces in the town, for the defence thereof, against all his majesty’s -enemies.”[573] As Wesley did not accompany the householders to meet the -mayor, he wrote to him the following letter:— - - “_To the Worshipful the Mayor of Newcastle._ - - “SIR,—My not waiting upon you at the town hall was not owing to - any want of respect. I reverence you for your office’ sake; and - much more for your zeal in the execution of it. I would to God, - every magistrate in the land would copy after such an example! - Much less was it owing to any disaffection to his majesty King - George. But I knew not how far it might be either necessary or - proper for me to appear on such an occasion. I have no fortune - at Newcastle: I have only the bread I eat, and the use of a - little room for a few weeks in the year. - - “All I can do for his majesty, whom I honour and love,—I think - not less than I did my own father,—is this: I cry unto God, - day by day, in public and in private, to put all his enemies - to confusion: and I exhort all that hear me to do the same; - and, in their several stations, to exert themselves as loyal - subjects; who, so long as they fear God, cannot but honour the - king. - - “Permit me, sir, to add a few words more, out of the fulness of - my heart. I am persuaded you fear God, and have a deep sense - that His kingdom ruleth over all. Unto whom then (I may ask - you), should we flee for succour, but unto Him whom, by our - sins, we have justly displeased? O, sir, is it not possible to - give any check to these overflowings of ungodliness? to the - open, flagrant wickedness, the drunkenness and profaneness, - which so abound, even in our streets? I just take leave to - suggest this. May the God whom you serve direct you in this, - and all things! This is the daily prayer of, sir, - - “Your obedient servant, for Christ’s sake, - “JOHN WESLEY.” - -This was written on September 21, on which day arrived the news of -General Cope’s disastrous defeat at Preston Pans. Newcastle was seized -with panic. Many of the opulent of the inhabitants fled with the utmost -precipitation, taking their most valuable effects with them. Wesley -writes:— - - “September 22.—The walls are mounted with cannon, and all - things prepared for sustaining an assault. Our poor neighbours, - on either hand, are busy in removing their goods. And most of - the best houses in our street are left without either furniture - or inhabitants. Those within the walls are almost equally busy - in carrying away their money and their goods; and more and more - of the gentry every hour ride southward as fast as they can. At - eight, I preached at Gateshead, in a broad part of the street, - near the popish chapel, on the wisdom of God in governing the - world.” - -Meanwhile, part of the Northumberland militia entered the town, namely, -about four hundred horse, and above two hundred foot,[574] all well -armed, and headed by the county gentlemen. Still the alarms continued, -and the storm seemed nearer every day. “Many,” says Wesley, “wondered -we would still stay without the walls; others told us, we must remove -quickly; for if the cannon began to play from the top of the gates, -they would beat all the house about our ears. This made me look how -the cannon on the gates were planted; and I could not but adore the -providence of God, for it was obvious—(1) they were all planted in such -a manner, that no shot could touch our house; (2) the cannon on Newgate -so secured us on one side, and those upon Pilgrim Street gate on the -other, that none could come near our house, either way, without being -torn in pieces.” - -Amid the most terrible alarms, Wesley continued preaching in Newcastle, -and visiting the country societies round about. On October 8 he wrote -the following characteristic letter to General Husk:— - - “A surly man came to me this evening, as he said, from you. He - would not deign to come upstairs to me, nor so much as into the - house; but stood in the yard till I came, and then obliged me - to go with him into the street, where he said, ‘You must pull - down the battlements of your house, or to-morrow the general - will pull them down for you.’ - - “Sir, to me this is nothing. But I humbly conceive it would - not be proper for this man, whoever he is, to behave in such a - manner to any other of his majesty’s subjects, at so critical a - time as this. - - “I am ready, if it may be for his majesty’s service, to pull - not only the battlements, but the house down; or to give up any - part of it, or the whole, into your excellency’s hands.” - -Besides the troops already mentioned, the town had been reinforced by -the entrance of six hundred Dutch soldiers, belonging to the regiment -of General de la Rocque; and gentlemen volunteers had become expert in -military exercise, especially the company with red and pink cockades. -All persons residing outside the walls were ordered to take their -ladders to the town’s yard, and their firearms to the mayor; and no -person was to fire a gun at night under pain of imprisonment. Two -hundred cannon were planted on the town walls; and the water gates on -the quay side were all built up with gun holes in them.[575] - -Wesley, supposing the danger was over for the present, started off, on -October 9, on a short tour to Epworth, leaving John Trembath to supply -his place. At Ferrybridge he was conducted to General Wentworth, who -read all the letters he had about him. At Doncaster, where he slept, or -rather wished to sleep, he was surrounded by drunken, cursing, swearing -soldiers. At Epworth, he had, for once, the satisfaction of hearing -Mr. Romley preach “an earnest, affectionate sermon”; while he himself -strongly exhorted the society to “fear God, and honour the king.” He -then returned to Newcastle, by way of Sheffield, Birstal, Leeds, and -Osmotherley, arriving on October 22, after an absence of thirteen days. - -Within a week, the right honourable Fieldmarshal Wade, and Prince -Maurice of Nassau, arrived with about nine thousand Dutch and English -soldiers, which, when added to General St. George’s dragoons, General -Sinclair’s Royal Scots, and other troops, made about fifteen thousand -men, all encamped upon Newcastle moor.[576] With such an influx, no -wonder that wickedness abounded. Wesley was horrified, and on October -26 sent to Mr. Ridley, the mayor, the following letter:— - - “SIR,—The fear of God, the love of my country, and the regard I - have for his majesty King George, constrain me to write a few - plain words to one who is no stranger to these principles of - action. - - “My soul has been pained day by day, even in walking the - streets of Newcastle, at the senseless, shameless wickedness, - the ignorant profaneness, of the poor men to whom our lives - are entrusted. The continual cursing and swearing, the wanton - blasphemy of the soldiers in general, must needs be a torture - to the sober ear, whether of a Christian or an honest infidel. - Can any that either fear God, or love their neighbour, hear - this without concern? especially if they consider the interest - of our country, as well as of these unhappy men themselves. - For can it be expected, that God should be on their side who - are daily affronting Him to His face? And if God be not on - their side, how little will either their number, or courage, or - strength avail? - - “Is there no man that careth for these souls? Doubtless there - are some who ought so to do. But many of these, if I am rightly - informed, receive large pay, and do just nothing. - - “I would to God it were in my power, in any degree, to supply - their lack of service. I am ready to do what in me lies, to - call these poor sinners to repentance, once or twice a day - (while I remain in these parts), at any hour, or at any place. - And I desire no pay at all for doing this; unless what my Lord - shall give at His appearing. - - “If it be objected (from our heathenish poet), ‘this conscience - will make cowards of us all,’ I answer, let us judge by matter - of fact. Let either friends or enemies speak. Did those who - feared God behave as cowards at Fontenoy? Did John Haime, the - dragoon, betray any cowardice, before or after his horse sunk - under him? Or did William Clements, when he received the first - ball in his left, and the second in his right arm? Or John - Evans, when the cannon ball took off both his legs? Did he not - call all about him, as long as he could speak, to praise and - fear God, and honour the king? as one who feared nothing, but - lest his last breath should be spent in vain. - - “If it were objected, that I should only fill their heads with - peculiar whims and notions; that might easily be known. Only - let the officers hear with their own ears; and they may judge - whether I do not preach the plain principles of manly, rational - religion. - - “Having myself no knowledge of the general, I took the liberty - to make this offer to you. I have no interest herein; but I - should rejoice to serve, as I am able, my king and country. If - it be judged, that this will be of no real service, let the - proposal die, and be forgotten. But I beg you, sir, to believe, - that I have the same glorious cause, for which you have shown - so becoming a zeal, earnestly at heart; and that therefore, I - am, with warm respect, sir,— - - Your most obedient servant, - “JOHN WESLEY.” - -The mayor sent a message, to the effect that he would communicate the -proposal to the general. We are not told whether the general gave his -consent or not; but, five days afterwards, we find Wesley, in the midst -of this huge encampment, preaching from, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, -come ye to the waters!” “None,” says he, “attempted to make the least -disturbance, from the beginning to the end. Yet I could not reach their -hearts. The words of a scholar did not affect them, like those of a -dragoon or a grenadier.” - -In such circumstances, Wesley honestly acknowledges, that a layman, -like John Haime, the brave dragoon, would have been more effective than -himself. This, however, did not discourage him. The day following, -he preached to the troops again. On this occasion, a lieutenant -endeavoured to raise disturbance; but, when Wesley had finished, tried -to make amends, by telling the soldiers that all that had been said was -very good. - -The next day, Saturday, November 2, his text was, “The Scripture hath -concluded all under sin, that the promise might be given to them that -believe;” and he now began to see some fruit of his labour. On the -Sunday, the camp was again his cathedral. Abundance of people flocked -together, horse and foot, rich and poor, to whom he declared, “There -is no difference; for all have sinned, and come short of the glory of -God.” He had long laid aside the German tongue, but, seeing a number -of Germans standing disconsolate at the skirts of the congregation, he -also addressed them, the poor troopers drinking in every word. - -This terminated his labours in the camp on Newcastle moor. The next -day he set out for London, and spoiled the Guy Fawkes holiday in -Leeds, by informing the magistrates that he had met several expresses, -sent to countermand the march of the army into Scotland; and that -the rebels had passed the Tweed, and were marching southward. The -hurry in the streets was quashed; bonfires were abandoned; and guns, -squibs, and crackers were no longer the playthings of the uproarious -crowd. Wesley proceeded on his journey, finding watchmen standing, -with great solemnity, at the end of almost every village through which -he passed. On entering Wednesbury, after it was dark, he was bogged -in a quagmire; the people came with candles; and, getting out, and -leaving them to disengage his horse, he hastened to Francis Ward’s, -and, bedaubed with mire, at once commenced preaching. On the 13th of -November he arrived safe in London, where he spent the rest of the -year, in preaching, and finishing his “Farther Appeal.” He gave away -some thousands of tracts among the common people; and his example was -immediately copied by others. The lord mayor ordered a large quantity -of papers, dissuading from cursing and swearing, to be printed, -and distributed to the trainbands; and on December 18, “An Earnest -Exhortation to Repentance” was given at all the church doors in London, -to every person who came out, and a copy left at the house of every -householder who happened to be absent. “I doubt not,” says Wesley, “but -God gave a blessing therewith.” - -Wesley’s old friend and brother-in-law, Westley Hall, was already a -waverer; and, at the end of 1745, wrote a long letter, urging the -two Wesleys to renounce the Church of England. Wesley’s reply is too -long for insertion here; but it contains, besides other facts, some -startling high church principles, which are well worth noting. He -writes:— - - “We believe it would not be right for us to administer either - baptism or the Lord’s supper, unless we had a commission so to - do from those bishops whom we apprehend to be in a succession - from the apostles.” - - “We believe there is, and always was, in every Christian church - (whether dependent on the bishop of Rome or not), an outward - priesthood, ordained by Jesus Christ, and an outward sacrifice - offered therein, by men authorised to act as ambassadors of - Christ, and stewards of the mysteries of God.” - - “We believe that the threefold order of ministers is not only - authorised by its apostolical institution, but also by the - written word.” - -We must take Wesley as we find him; but is it not surprising to see him -still tenaciously clinging, even in phraseology, to the doctrine of -apostolical succession, and the offering of an _outward sacrifice_ in -the church, by an outward priesthood? He proceeds:— - - “We allow, that many of the laws, customs, and practices of the - ecclesiastical courts are really indefensible; but we no more - look upon these filthy abuses, which adhere to our Church, as - part of the building, than we look upon any filth which may - adhere to the walls of Westminster Abbey as a part of that - structure.” - - “We will obey all the laws of that Church (such as we allow - the rubrics to be, but not the customs of the ecclesiastical - courts), so far as we can with a safe conscience; and, with the - same restriction, we will obey the bishops, as executors of - those laws; but their bare will, distinct from those laws, we - do not profess to obey at all.” - - “Field preaching is contrary to no law which we profess to - obey; nor are we clear, that the allowing lay preachers - is contrary to any such law. But if it is, this is one of - the exempt cases; one wherein we cannot obey with a safe - conscience.” - -We have here a key to much in Wesley’s remarkable career. His doctrine -of apostolical succession was a figment. His language concerning Church -of England _priests_ still offering an _outward sacrifice_ savoured -of the popish doctrine which all true Protestants reject, though, as -will shortly be shown, the view he held was different from what his -words express. His belief in the “threefold order of ministers” was -changed a few weeks afterwards. Field preaching and the employment of -lay preachers had much to do with making Methodism; and, without a -continuance of these, Methodism will not maintain its power and its -position. - -Wesley’s conference, in 1745, commenced at Bristol, on the 1st of -August, and was continued for five days following. Besides the two -Wesleys, there was but one clergyman, Mr. Hodges, present. There were -six itinerants: Thomas Richards, Samuel Larwood, Thomas Meyrick, -Richard Moss, John Slocomb, and Herbert Jenkins; and also one -gentleman, who was not a preacher at all, Marmaduke Gwynne, afterwards -the father-in-law of Wesley’s brother Charles. - -At the opening of the conference a principle was adopted, which ought -to be practised in all similar assemblies, namely, that every one -might speak freely whatever was in his heart, and that no one should -be checked, either by word or look, even though what he was saying was -entirely wrong.[577] In an assembly of equals, met for purposes of -deliberation and counsel, free speech like this is indispensable to -satisfactory results. - -During the first day of conference, the doctrine of justification was -reviewed; and it was agreed, that, while faith in Christ is the sole -condition of justification, repentance, that is, conviction of sin, -must go before faith, and (supposing there be opportunity for them) -fruits, or works meet for repentance, also. - -On the second day, the Conference discussed the doctrines of assurance, -of works done before justification, and of obedience. It was agreed -neither to discourage nor encourage dreams, though it was admitted, -that, by such means, saving faith is often given. On the subject of -sanctification, it was laid down, that inward sanctification begins -in the moment we are justified; that, from that time, the believer -gradually dies to sin, and grows in grace; and that the seed of all -sin remains in him, till he is sanctified throughout, in spirit, soul, -and body. This entire sanctification is not ordinarily given till a -little before death; but we ought to expect it sooner; for, though -the generality of believers are not sanctified till near death, and -though few of those to whom St. Paul wrote his epistles were so at the -time he wrote, and though he himself was not sanctified at the time of -writing his former epistles, this does not prove that we may not be -sanctified to-day. It was further agreed, that sanctification should -scarcely be preached at all to those who were not pressing forward; and -when it was, it should always be by way of promise,—by drawing, rather -than by driving. And, further, it was determined, that the _general_ -means which God has ordained for our receiving His sanctifying grace -are keeping all His commandments, denying ourselves, and taking up -our cross daily; and, that the _particular_ are prayer, searching the -Scriptures, communicating, and fasting. - -The Methodist reader will find something here hardly in harmony with -the decisions of the previous Conference, and with Wesley’s subsequent -teaching. Twenty years after this, in answer to the question, “What -shall we do, that this work of God may be wrought in us?” Wesley said:— - - “In this, as in all other instances, ‘by grace we are saved - through faith,’ Sanctification too is ‘not of works, lest - any man should boast,’ ‘It is the gift of God,’ and is to be - received by plain, simple faith. Suppose you are now labouring - to abstain from all appearance of evil, zealous of good works, - and walking diligently and carefully in all the ordinances - of God; there is then only one point remaining: the voice of - God to your soul is, ‘Believe, and be saved,’ First, believe - that God has _promised_ to save you from all sin, and to fill - you with all holiness. Secondly, believe that He is _able_ - thus to save to the uttermost all that come unto God through - Him. Thirdly, believe that He is _willing_ as well as able. - Fourthly, believe that He is not only able, but willing to do - it _now_! Not when you come to die, not at any distant time, - not to-morrow, but to-day. He will then enable you to believe, - _it is done_, according to His word; and then ‘patience shall - have its perfect work, that ye may be perfect and entire, - wanting nothing.’”[578] - -At the third day’s session, the Conference debated points of church -government. The question was asked, “Is episcopal, presbyterian, or -independent church government most agreeable to reason?” The answer -given was, that each is a development of the other. A preacher -preaches, and forms an _independent_ congregation; he then forms -another and another in the immediate vicinity of the first; this -obliges him to appoint _deacons_, who look on the first pastor as -their common father; and as these congregations increase, and as their -_deacons_ grow in years and grace, they need other subordinate deacons, -or helpers; in respect of whom they are called _presbyters_, or elders; -as their father in the Lord may be called the _bishop_, or overseer of -them all. To say the least, this solution is ingenious. - -With reference to Wesley’s assistants, fourteen in number, it was -resolved, that they had nothing to do but to save souls; and that, in -prosecuting this, they should, besides preaching every morning and -every night, spend from six o’clock till twelve every day in reading, -writing, and prayer; from twelve to five in visiting; and from five to -six in private communion with God. - -It was also determined what books should constitute the libraries for -Wesley’s own use, at London, Bristol, and Newcastle,—namely, eleven on -divinity; four on physic; two on natural philosophy; one (Whiston) on -astronomy; one (the Universal) on history; two (Spenser and Milton) in -poetry; sixteen in Latin; twelve in Greek; and one (Buxtorf’s Bible) in -Hebrew. - -While Wesley was thus conferring with his lay itinerants, he was, -unconsciously, corresponding with a man, who soon became the highest -dignitary in the Established Church. - -Thomas Secker was six years the senior of Wesley. His father was a -Dissenter, and he himself was designed for the Dissenting ministry. -Scruples of conscience prevented this, and young Secker resolved to -qualify himself for the practice of physic. At Leyden, he took the -degree of M.D.; but, on returning to England, in 1721, he entered -himself a gentleman commoner at Exeter College, Oxford; and, in the -year following, was ordained a deacon of the Church of England. In -1724, he became rector of the valuable living of Houghton-le-spring; -and, in 1725, married Bishop Benson’s sister. In 1733, he obtained the -rectory of St. James’s; and, the year after, was raised to the see of -Bristol. In 1737, he was translated to the diocese of Oxford; and, in -1758, was advanced to the primacy. - -In the month of May, 1745, this distinguished man commenced a long, -temperate, and able correspondence with Wesley, under the _alias_ of -John Smith. The correspondence was continued for nearly three years, -and was first published by Mr. Moore, in his Life of Wesley, in 1825. -Space forbids even an epitome of these able letters. They are full of -interest, intelligence, and piety; and do honour to the head and heart -of both the archbishop and the clerical itinerant. - -The only thing which remains, before leaving the year 1745, is to -notice Wesley’s publications. His answer to Church; his Dialogues -on Antinomianism; and his Short View of the Difference between the -Moravians and himself, have been already mentioned. The rest were -partly original, and partly abridgments from the works of others. - -1. “Thoughts concerning the present Revival of Religion in New England. -By Jonathan Edwards. Abridged by John Wesley.” 12mo, 124 pages. This -deeply interesting work was first published at Boston, in America, in a -volume of more than two hundred pages, and has been referred to already -in a previous chapter of the present book. - -2. “An Extract of Mr. Richard Baxter’s Aphorisms on Justification.” -12mo, 36 pages. The pamphlet is divided into forty-five propositions, -and, like all Baxter’s works, is full of Scripture truth, and well -worth reading. - -3. “Hymns on the Lord’s Supper; by John and Charles Wesley. With a -preface concerning the Christian Sacrament and Sacrifice. Extracted -from Dr. Brevint. By John Wesley.” 12mo, 166 pages. The hymns are -a hundred and sixty-six in number, and are distinguished by great -variety of thought and language. Several of the best are published -in the Methodist Hymn-book. An extract from Brevint, which, by -publishing, Wesley made his own, will help to explain his meaning in -the objectionable phraseology he employed in his letter to Westley Hall. - - “The Lord’s supper was chiefly ordained for a sacrament:—1. To - _represent_ the sufferings of Christ which are _past_, whereof - it is a _memorial_. 2. To _convey_ the first fruits of these - sufferings, in _present graces_, whereof it is a _means_. 3. - To _assure_ us of _glory to come_, whereof it is an infallible - _pledge_.” - - “The sacrifice, which by a _real_ oblation was not to - be offered more than once, is, by a devout and thankful - commemoration, to be offered up every day. The _sacrifice_ in - itself can never be repeated. Nevertheless, this sacrament, - by our remembrance, becomes a _kind of sacrifice_, whereby we - present before God the Father that precious oblation of His - Son once offered. To _men_, the holy communion is a _sacred - table_, where God’s minister is ordered to represent, from God - his Master, the passion of His dear Son, as still fresh, and - still powerful for their eternal salvation. And to _God_, it - is an _altar_, whereon men mystically present to Him the same - sacrifice, as still bleeding and sueing for mercy.” - -The remainder of Wesley’s publications, in 1745, were original: namely:— - -1. “An Earnest Persuasive to keep the Sabbath holy.” Four pages, 12mo. -This was afterwards reprinted as “A Word to a Sabbath-breaker.” - -Sabbath breaking, in the days of Wesley, was one of the crying sins -of England. “How many are they,” he wrote, “in every city, as well as -in this, who profane the sabbath with a high hand! How many in this, -that openly defy God and the king, that break the laws, both Divine and -human, by working at their trade, delivering their goods, receiving -their pay, or following their ordinary business, in one branch or -another, and ‘wiping their mouths and saying, I do no evil!’ How many -buy and sell on the day of the Lord, even in the open streets of this -city? How many open, or (with some modesty) half open their shops? -even when they have not the pretence of perishable goods; without any -pretence at all: money is their god, and gain their godliness. What -also are all these droves in the skirts of the town, that well-nigh -cover the face of the earth? till they drop one after another into the -numerous receptacles prepared for them in every corner. They drink -in iniquity like water. A whole army joins together, and, with one -consent, in the face of the sun, runs upon the thick bosses of God’s -buckler.”[579] - -This, written in 1745, is too true a picture of the state of things -at the present day. Wesley regarded national depravity as turning -chiefly on the two hinges of sabbath profanation, and the neglect of -the education of children. Till some way was found of stopping these -great inlets of wickedness, he had no hope of a general reformation. -“The religious observance of the sabbath,” he writes, “is the best -preservative of virtue and religion, and the neglect and profanation -of it is the greatest inlet to vice and wickedness.”[580] Holding such -views, no wonder that he published the pointed, pithy tract to which we -are now adverting. - -2. “Swear not at all, saith the Lord God of Heaven and Earth.” Four -pages, 12mo. This also was reprinted as “A Word to a Swearer.” Like -all Wesley’s tracts, it is a model well worthy of imitation. Profane -swearing was another of the senseless, stupid, shameless sins of the -period in which Wesley lived. In another of his publications, issued in -1745, he asks: “In what city or town, in what market or exchange, in -what street or place of public resort, is not the name of God taken in -vain, day by day? From the noble to the peasant, who fails to call upon -God in this, if in no other way? Whither can you turn, where can you -go, without hearing some praying to God for damnation, either on his -neighbour or himself? cursing those, without either fear or remorse, -whom Christ hath bought to inherit a blessing!”[581] - -3. “A Word in Season; or, Advice to an Englishman.” Twelve pages, 12mo. -This was published at the beginning of the rebellion, and shows what -would be the dreadful results if the Pretender should become king of -England by conquest. Popery would be established, and property would -be confiscated. “Who can doubt,” he asks, “but one who should conquer -England, by the assistance of France, would copy after the French rules -of government?” He continues:— - - “How dreadful then is the condition wherein we stand! On - the very brink of utter destruction! But why are we thus? - I am afraid the answer is too plain, to every considerate - man. Because of our sins; because we have well-nigh filled - up the measure of our iniquities. For what wickedness is - there under heaven, which is not found among us at this day? - Not to insist on sabbath breaking, thefts, cheating, fraud, - extortion, violence, oppression, lying, robberies, sodomies - and murders, which with a thousand unnamed villainies are - common to us and our neighbour Christians of Holland, France, - and Germany,—what a plentiful harvest we have of wickedness - almost peculiar to ourselves! For who can _vie with us_ in the - direction of courts of _justice_? In the management of public - _charities_? Or in the _accomplished_, barefaced wickedness, - which so abounds in our _prisons_, and _fleets_, and _armies_? - Who in _Europe_ can compare with the _sloth_, _laziness_, - _luxury_, and _effeminacy_ of the _English gentry_? Or with the - _drunkenness_, and stupid, senseless _cursing_ and _swearing_, - which are daily seen and heard in our streets? Add to all - these that open and professed _Deism_ and _rejection_ of the - gospel,—that _public_, _avowed_ apostasy from the Christian - faith, which reigns among the rich and great, and hath spread - from _them_ to _all_ ranks and orders of men, and made us a - people fitted for the _destroyer of the gentiles_.” - -This, under the circumstances then existing, was bold writing; but -Wesley was a bold man, and never shunned what he conceived to be his -duty because it was difficult and dangerous. - -4. “A Word to a Drunkard.” Four pages, 12mo. The following are the -opening sentences:— - - “Are _you_ a man? God made you a _man_; but you make yourself a - _beast_. Wherein does a _man_ differ from a _beast_? Is it not - chiefly in _reason and understanding_? But you throw away what - _reason_ you have. You strip yourself of your _understanding_. - You do all you can to make yourself a mere _beast_; not a - fool, not a madman only; but a _swine_, a poor filthy swine. - Go and wallow with them in the mire! Go, drink on, till thy - nakedness be uncovered, and shameful spewing be on thy glory! - O how honourable is a _beast_ of God’s making, compared to one - who makes himself a _beast_! But that is not all. You make - yourself a _devil_. You stir up all the devilish tempers that - are in you, and gain others which perhaps were not in you. You - cause the fire of anger, or malice, or lust to burn seven times - hotter than before.” - -5. It was also about this period, that Wesley wrote and published his -small tract (12mo, four pages), entitled, “A Word to an Unhappy Woman.” - -6. “Advice to the People called Methodists.” Twelve pages, 12mo. The -advices are five in number:—1. To consider, with deep and frequent -attention, the peculiar circumstances in which they stood; for their -name, their principles, and their strictness of life were _new_. -They were _newly united_ together,—a poor, low, and insignificant -people,—most even of their teachers being quite unlearned men. 2. Not -to imagine that they could avoid giving offence. 3. To consider deeply -with themselves, is the God whom we serve able to deliver us? 4. To be -true to their principles. 5. Not to talk much of what they suffered. - -7. Wesley’s last and most important publication was, “A Farther Appeal -to men of Reason and Religion.” 12mo, 106 pages. - -First of all, he gives a summary of the doctrines he teaches. He then -proceeds to meet the objection, that justification by faith alone is -not a scriptural doctrine, nor the doctrine of the Church of England. -He next replies to the accusations of the Bishop of London, in his -pamphlet, entitled, “Observations upon the Conduct and Behaviour of -the Methodists,” which had been sent to every clergyman in the London -diocese. Whitefield had already published an answer to this episcopal -production, in two letters, addressed “to the right reverend the -Bishop of London, and the other right reverend the bishops concerned -in the publication thereof;” and now Wesley undertakes the same -formidable task,—David against Goliath,—an outcast priest against a -whole bench of bishops. Wesley dissects the prelate’s pamphlet, and, -with a master’s brevity, refutes it bit by bit. He then replies to a -similar production, which has been already noticed, “The Notions of the -Methodists Disproved;” and after that proceeds to answer the “charge,” -lately published by the Lord Bishop of Lichfield and Coventry, Dr. -Smalbroke, a man of some ability, but not over skilled in logic, -who, in one of his best productions, “A Vindication of our Saviour’s -Miracles,” showed his weakness by calculating the precise number of -devils in the herd of Gadarenish swine. Wesley writes:— - - “I conceive, not only, that your lordship has _proved_ nothing - hitherto; but that, strictly speaking, you have not _attempted - to prove_ anything, having _taken for granted_ whatever came - in your way. What is become of your demonstration? Leave - it to the carmen and porters, its just proprietors; to the - zealous apple-women, that cry after me in the street, ‘This is - he that rails at the _Whole Dutyful_ of man.’ But let every - one that pretends to learning or reason be ashamed to mention - it any more. O my lord, whom have you represented as rank, - dreaming enthusiasts? as either deluded or designing men? - Not only Bishop Pearson, a man hitherto accounted both sound - in heart, and of good understanding; but likewise Archbishop - Cranmer, Bishop Ridley, Bishop Latimer, Bishop Hooper; and all - the venerable compilers of our liturgy and homilies: all the - members of both the houses of convocation, by whom they were - revised and approved: yea, King Edward, and all his lords and - commons together, by whose authority they were established! - And, with these _modern enthusiasts_, Origen, Chrysostom, and - Athanasius are comprehended in the same censure.” - -Wesley’s object in this important treatise may be gathered from its -concluding paragraph:— - - “I have now answered most of the current objections, - particularly such as have appeared of weight to religious or - reasonable men. I have endeavoured to show, first, that the - _doctrines_ I teach are no other than the great truths of the - gospel. Secondly, that though I teach them not as I _would_, - but as I _can_, yet it is in a _manner_ not contrary to law. - And thirdly, that the _effects_ of thus preaching the gospel - have not been such as was weakly or wickedly reported,—these - reports being mere artifices of the devil, to hinder the work - of God.” - -Up to the present, most of Wesley’s publications were small and cheap; -but they had an immense circulation, and not only paid expenses, but -left a profit. In a sermon, written in the year 1780, he naively -remarks: “Two-and-forty years ago, having a desire to furnish poor -people with cheaper, shorter, and plainer books, than any I had seen, -I wrote many small tracts, generally a penny apiece; and afterwards -several larger. Some of these had such a sale as I never thought of; -and, by this means, I unawares became rich. But I never desired or -endeavoured after it. And now that it is come upon me unawares, I lay -up no treasures upon earth; I lay up nothing at all. I cannot help -leaving my books behind me whenever God calls me hence; but, in every -other respect, my own hands will be my executors.”[582] - - - - -1746. - - -[Sidenote: 1746 Age 43] - -Whitefield and his wife spent the whole of the year 1746 in America. “I -love,” said he, “to range in the American woods, and sometimes think -I shall never return to England any more.”[583] Writing to Wesley, in -October, he remarks:— - - “The regard I have always had for you and your brother, - is still as great as ever; and I trust we shall give this - and future ages an example of true Christian love abiding, - notwithstanding difference in judgment. Why our Lord has - permitted us to differ as to some points of doctrine, will - be discovered at the last day. I have had the pleasure of - reading the continuance of your Appeal; and pray, that God - would prosper every labour of your pen and lip. I find that - antinomianism has been springing up in many places. I bless - God, you have made a stand against it. If you ask, how it is - with me, I answer, happy in Jesus, the Lord my righteousness. - If you ask, what I am doing,—ranging and hunting in the - American woods after poor sinners. If you ask, with what - success,—my labours were never more acceptable; and the door, - for fifteen hundred miles together, is quite open for preaching - the everlasting gospel. In Maryland and Virginia, people fly - to hear the word like doves to the windows. Congregations are - large, and the work is going on, just as it began and went on - in England. Notwithstanding the declining state of Georgia, the - orphan house is in a better situation than ever; and, in a year - or two, I trust it will support itself. Several of the great - and rich favour the Redeemer’s cause, and many of my professed - enemies are made to be at peace with me. O reverend and dear, - and very dear sir, be pleased to continue to pray for me, your - most affectionate, though unworthy, younger brother and servant - in Jesus Christ, - - “GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[584] - -Charles Wesley spent more than four months in London and its vicinity; -about six in Bristol, in Cornwall, and in the west of England; and -the last weeks of the year in a tour to Yorkshire and Newcastle. Like -a flaming seraph, his soul glowed with sacred love and music; and no -toil, danger, or persecution was too great to be encountered for -his Saviour. In Cornwall, it was rumoured, that he had brought the -Pretender with him; and the famous Mr. Eustick came with a warrant to -apprehend him: but, as usual, at the last moment, Eustick’s courage -failed him. At Shoreham, as soon as he commenced the service, the wild -rabble “began roaring, stamping, blaspheming, ringing the bells, and -turning the church into a bear garden.” At Hexham, while preaching in a -cockpit, Squire Roberts did his utmost to raise a mob; and two butlers, -in the employ of two magistrates, brought their cocks, and set them -fighting. In the midst of all, Charles was jubilant, and expressed the -gratitude of his heart in the following thanksgiving:— - - “All thanks be to God, - Who scatters abroad, - Throughout every place, - By the least of His servants, His savour of grace: - Who the victory gave, - The praise let Him have, - For the work He hath done; - All honour and glory to Jesus alone!”[585] - -Equal zeal and heroism characterized Wesley’s helpers. At Nottingham, -the mob surrounded the meeting-house, and threatened to pull it down. -John Nelson was seized by the constable for creating the riot, and was -taken to an alderman, the crowd following him with curses and huzzas. -The alderman asked his name, and said: “I wonder you cannot stay at -home; you see the mob won’t suffer you to preach in Nottingham.” John -replied, that he was not aware that Nottingham was governed by a mob, -most towns being governed by the magistrates; and then proceeded “to -set life and death before him.” “Don’t preach here,” said the alderman; -while the constable began to be uneasy, and asked how he was to dispose -of his prisoner. “Take him to your house,” quoth the alderman. The -constable desired to be excused; and, at length, was directed to -conduct Nelson back to the place from which he had brought him, and to -be careful he was not injured. “So,” says honest John, “he brought me -to our brethren again; and left us to give thanks to God for all His -mercies.” - -Wesley began the year 1746 by preaching in London at four o’clock in -the morning, a thing not often done by his successors. - -On January 20, he set out for Bristol, and on the road read a book -which greatly moulded his future character and course. Lord King was -the son of a grocer at Exeter, and the nephew of the celebrated Locke, -who left him half his library. At the age of twenty-two, in 1691, he -published, “An Inquiry into the Constitution, Discipline, Unity, and -Worship of the Primitive Church, that flourished three hundred years -after Christ; faithfully collected out of the extant writings of those -ages.” King was a rigid Dissenter; and the chief object of his learned -work was to prepare the way for that comprehension of the Dissenters -within the pale of the Established Church, which the Revolution of 1688 -was supposed likely to accomplish. After this, he rose to be Lord High -Chancellor of England, and died in 1734, leaving behind him a character -of great virtue and humanity, and of steady attachment to civil and -religious liberty. - -The above book by Lord King was Wesley’s companion on his way to -Bristol; and, after reading it, he wrote: “In spite of the vehement -prejudice of my education, I was ready to believe that this was a fair -and impartial draught; but, if so, it would follow, that bishops and -presbyters are essentially of one order, and that, originally, every -Christian congregation was a church independent of all others.” - -Thus, notwithstanding his strong affection for the Church of England, -we find Wesley, almost at the commencement of his Methodist career, -entertaining doubts respecting its ecclesiastical polity. The recorded -decisions of the Conference of 1745 plainly show, that he regarded his -preachers as deacons, and presbyters, and thought himself a scriptural -bishop. Lord King’s researches served to confirm these sentiments. In -the minutes of the conference held a year after this (1747), we find -the following questions and answers:— - - “_Q._ Does a church in the New Testament always mean a single - congregation? - - “_A._ We believe it does. We do not recollect any instance to - the contrary. - - “_Q._ What instance or ground is there then in the New - Testament for a _national_ church? - - “_A._ We know none at all. We apprehend it to be a merely - political institution. - - “_Q._ Are the three orders of bishops, priests, and deacons - plainly described in the New Testament? - - “_A._ We think they are; and believe they generally obtained in - the churches of the apostolic age. - - “_Q._ But are you assured, that God designed the same plan - should obtain in all churches, throughout all ages? - - “_A._ We are not assured of this; because we do not know that - it is asserted in Holy Writ. - - “_Q._ If this plan were essential to a Christian church, what - must become of all the foreign reformed churches? - - “_A._ It would follow, that they are no parts of the church of - Christ! A consequence full of shocking absurdity. - - “_Q._ In what age was the Divine right of episcopacy first - asserted in England? - - “_A._ About the middle of Queen Elizabeth’s reign. Till then - all the bishops and clergy in England continually allowed, and - joined in, the ministrations of those who were not episcopally - ordained. - - “_Q._ Must there not be numberless accidental varieties in the - government of various churches? - - “_A._ There must, in the nature of things. For, as God - variously dispenses His gifts of nature, providence, and grace, - both the offices themselves and the officers in each ought to - be varied from time to time. - - “_Q._ Why is it, that there is no determinate plan of church - government appointed in Scripture? - - “_A._ Without doubt, because the wisdom of God had a regard to - this necessary variety. - - “_Q._ Was there any thought of uniformity in the government of - all churches, until the time of Constantine? - - “_A._ It is certain there was not; and would not have been - then, had men consulted the word of God only.”[586] - -This is an important extract. Wesley loved the Church of England; but -who will say, that the views of Wesley were now identical with those -of the high church bigots of either past or present days! Their views -had been his; but he now renounced them. Lord King, the Dissenter, had -converted him. His principles, respecting ecclesiastical polity, were -changed. After this, we have no more nonsense concerning apostolical -succession. Indeed, in reference to this, Wesley wrote (in 1761): “I -never could see it proved; and I am persuaded I never shall.”[587] -It is not too much to say, that, from the time of reading the book -of Lord King, Wesley’s principles of ecclesiastical polity were -substantially the same as those of Dissenters. He still preferred -the Church of England, not because he thought it the only church, -but because, upon the whole, he thought it the best. In the above -extract, we have the principles deliberately adopted, which laid the -groundwork of his future proceedings. As a presbyter, in other words -a bishop, he employed preachers, and set them apart to the sacred -office. It is true, that it was not until nearly forty years after -this, that he began to use the imposition of hands; but that was a -mere _circumstance_, not the _essence_ of ministerial ordination. Mr. -Watson properly observes: “It has been generally supposed, that Mr. -Wesley did not consider his appointment of preachers as an _ordination_ -to the ministry; but only as an irregular employment of laymen in the -spiritual office of merely expounding the Scriptures in a case of moral -necessity. This is not correct. They were not appointed to expound or -preach merely, but were solemnly set apart to the pastoral office; nor -were they regarded by him as _laymen_, except when in common parlance -they were distinguished from the clergy of the Church.”[588] His usual -mode of _setting apart or ordaining_ to the ministry consisted of -a most rigid examination of the ministerial candidate on the three -points—Has he grace? Has he gifts? Has he fruit? preceded by fasting -and prayer; and followed by official and authoritative appointment -to ministerial work. For the present, the form of laying on of hands -was not employed; but it was thought of, and was discussed. Hence the -following extract from the minutes of the conference held in 1746:— - - “_Q._ Why do we not use more form and solemnity in receiving a - new labourer? - - “_A._ We purposely decline it—(1) Because, there is something - of stateliness in it. (2) Because, we would not make haste. We - desire barely to follow Providence, as it gradually opens.” - -It is granted that, for Wesley, after this, to fight so tenaciously for -the Church of England was inconsistent, but we take him as we find him. -Facts are facts; and we shall not attempt to blink them. Having founded -churches, or societies as he persisted in calling them, he proceeded to -provide and to _ordain_,—yes, to _ordain_ for them ministers. He was -a clergyman of the episcopal Church of England, with the views of a -Dissenter, and, acting accordingly, there was, of course, in his future -proceedings, much that was incongruous and perplexing. - -Wesley left London for Bristol, on January 20. Two days afterwards, -he attended, in the latter city, a conference of the Calvinistic -Methodists, at which there were present Howel Harris and eleven of -his preachers, and Wesley and four of his. Wesley seems to have been -president; at all events, his name stands first. The following are the -minutes:— - - “After prayer it was inquired:—(1) How we may remove any - hindrances of brotherly love which have occurred. (2) How we - may prevent any arising hereafter. It was feared that, in - consequence of Mr. Wesley’s preaching in Neath, there would be - a separation in the society. He answered, ‘I do not design to - erect a society at Neath, or any town in Wales, where there is - a society already, but to do all that in me lieth to prevent - any such separation.’ - - “We all agreed that, if we occasionally preached among each - other’s people, we should endeavour to strengthen and not to - weaken each other’s hands, and prevent any separation in the - several societies; and that a brother from Wesley’s society - should go with Harris to Plymouth and the west, to heal the - breach there made, and to insist on a spirit of love and its - fruits among the people. Agreed, that we should, on each side, - be careful to defend each other’s characters.”[589] - -This is beautiful, and sets an example worthy of being emulated by the -Methodist Conferences of the present day. It was but five or six years -since the Methodist schism had happened; and yet, under the magnanimous -management of Wesley and Howel Harris, here we find the two parties -met, not to fight, but to love each other. Differences are kept up -and perpetuated, not by greatness and goodness, but by despicable -ignorance and selfish meanness. Why should Ephraim envy Judah, and -Judah vex Ephraim? The two are brothers; and, as brethren, it would be -a goodly and pleasant sight to see them _dwelling together_ in unity. - -Wesley spent a month in Bristol and the neighbourhood; during which -period his brother Charles opened a chapel at Wapping;[590] and Wesley -himself received the following cautionary letter from a new clerical -acquaintance, and, ever afterwards, most confidential and trustworthy -friend. Vincent Perronet was now vicar of Shoreham, in the county of -Kent. A year and a half before, Wesley and Perronet had been brought -together by their mutual friend, the Rev. Henry Piers. Wesley writes: -“I hope to have cause of blessing God for ever for the acquaintance -begun this day.” The hope was realised. Wesley had no more faithful -friend than Vincent Perronet, who now wrote as follows:— - - _“February 7, 1746._ - - “MY DEAR FRIEND,—I make no apology for this trouble, because - I know that you will think it needs none. God hath raised you - up to propagate His spiritual kingdom in the hearts of men; - therefore, be careful how you frustrate this great design of - God. But will you not do this, if you injure your health? Or - can you labour in the vineyard of Christ, when your strength is - gone? Deny yourself, my dear friend, so far as is consistent - with your constant labour; but be cautious lest your self - denials should rob God or His children of what you have - undertaken for the service of both. Remember, that, if you - weaken your body by over mortifications, you render yourself so - far incapable of promoting the honour of the former, and the - happiness of the latter; and yet I know that each of these is - dearer to you than life itself. Let the Holy Spirit’s advice, - out of the mouth of a mortified apostle, to the abstemious - Timothy, be constantly before you. - - “I am, with great sincerity, my dear brother in Christ, your - most affectionate - - VINCENT PERRONET.”[591] - -At this period, advice like this, in Wesley’s case, was not unneeded. - -On February 17, when days were short and weather far from favourable, -he set out, on horseback, from Bristol to Newcastle, a distance of -between three and four hundred miles. The journey occupied ten weary -days. Brooks were swollen, and, in some places, the roads were -impassable, obliging the itinerant to go round about through fields. -At Aldridge Heath, in Staffordshire, the rain turned into snow, which -the northerly wind drove against him, and by which he was soon crusted -over from head to foot. At Leeds, the mob followed him, and pelted him -with whatever came to hand. Several of the missiles struck him, some on -the face, but none seriously hurt him. At Skircoat Green, he preached -to a congregation of Quakers; and at Keighley, found the snow so deep, -that he was obliged to abandon his intention of travelling through the -dales. He arrived at Newcastle on February 26. - -Here he found general sickness. Two thousand of the soldiers, -belonging to the encampment on the town moor, were already dead, and -the fever was still sweeping others away in troops. In Newcastle and -its neighbourhood, he spent the next eighteen days, preaching, on one -occasion, at Placey, out of doors, in the midst of a “vehement storm,” -which, however, the preacher and his “congregation regarded not.” - -While he was here, a letter was published in the _London Magazine_, -addressed “to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, in relation to some false -facts affirmed by him in his Farther Appeal.” A passage was quoted -in reference to the clergy putting no difference between the holy -and profane at the sacramental table; and it was declared, that the -quotation “contains almost as many falsehoods as it does lines.” Wesley -is further accused of “gross misrepresentations and uncharitable -reflections”; of being “base, unjust, and senseless”; of “crowding a -heap of untruths into a little room”; of being animated by “a blind and -rash zeal, and glad to catch at every pretence of making God the patron -and favourer of his cause.” - -A production so bitterly scurrilous scarcely deserved an answer; but, -as Wesley was slightly in error, he, like an honest man, frankly -confessed it. The following is his reply, published in the same -periodical. - - “_June 18, 1746._ - - “SIR,—I delayed answering your letter of March 18, till I could - be fully informed of the facts in question. - - “I said in the Farther Appeal, page 48, ‘Who dares repel one - of the greatest men in his parish from the Lord’s table, even - though he openly deny the Lord that bought him? Mr. Stonehouse - did this once; but what was the event? The gentleman brought an - action against him. And who was able and willing to espouse his - cause? He alone who took it into His own hands; and, before the - day when it should have been tried here, caused the plaintiff - to answer at a higher bar.’ - - “You (1) blame me for supposing that gentleman to be one who - openly denied the Lord that bought him; I mean, openly denied - the supreme Godhead of Christ. If he did not, I retract the - charge. - - “You say (2) that gentleman brought no action, nor commenced - any suit against Mr. Stonehouse. Upon stricter inquiry, I find - he did not; it was another gentleman, Mr. C—p—r. - - “You (3) observe, it was not the death of the plaintiff which - stopped the action; but before it proceeded to a trial, Mr. - Stonehouse thought fit to request it as a favour, that the - action might be stopped, promising not to do the like any more. - Mr. Stonehouse himself gives a different account; but whether - his or yours be the more just, is not material, since the - substance of what you observe is true, namely, ‘That it was not - the plaintiff’s death which stopped the action.’ - - “You add, ‘I would willingly hope, that you did not - deliberately design to impose upon the world.’ I did not; and - do, therefore, acknowledge the truth in as public a manner as - I am able, being willing, as far as in me lies, to make amends - for whatever injury I have done. - - “I am, sir, yours, - “JOHN WESLEY.” - -In the same month of March, another letter, of a different complexion, -was published in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_. The writer begins by -showing, that the years 48 and 88, in the last two centuries, at least, -if not longer, had been noted for great changes and revolutions. Thus, -in 1548, the Reformation was first completely established in England; -and, in 1588, the famous pretended invincible Spanish Armada made its -futile attempt to destroy the Protestantism of Great Britain. In 1648, -King Charles was condemned to death, and the gravest changes followed; -and, in 1688, occurred the flight of the last of the Stuart kings, and -the English Revolution. - -The writer then proceeds to ask, whether there is not something -remarkable “in the revival of the Moravians very nearly about the same -time with the rise of the Methodists in England; and of a sect of the -same kind in Scotland, by the field preaching of Erskine and others; -and of exactly the same in Wales by the preaching of Howel Harris; and -of something of the same nature in France, where the principal preacher -concerned had been executed by the royal will and pleasure. Is there -not,” the writer continues, “something very surprising in all these -peoples’ rising about the same time, and preaching, all of them, the -same doctrines, and yet all of them, and all their several intentions -of so doing, being previously unknown to each other?” - -The above coincidence was more than curious, and the author of the -letter suggests, that such facts and others, which he mentions, may -be “the dawning of some important religious change, or, at least, of -something very extraordinary, which the sacred womb of providence is -big with.” - -At the same time as the above, Wesley was engaged in an important -correspondence of another kind. Dr. Doddridge was exactly a year older -than his illustrious Methodist contemporary, was the pastor of a -Dissenting congregation at Northampton, and the principal of an academy -for the education of candidates for the Dissenting ministry. Up to the -present, Wesley had chiefly lived within the state-church enclosure; -but now, having become a convert to the principles of Lord King, he -overstepped the enchanted circle, and thought it no disgrace to commune -and mingle with Dissenters. Methodist preachers were multiplying. Few -of them had had the advantages of education and of reading. Their -knowledge, generally speaking, was confined to the first principles -of religion. These were the only subjects on which they either did, -or were able to converse. Of necessity, their preaching was solely on -the fundamental points of experimental and practical religion; and -hence, their unequalled success in awakening and converting sinners. -Preachers of education and diversified knowledge would, perhaps, not -have excluded these; but they would, to a large extent, have regaled -their hearers with other truths, which, though of great interest, were -insignificant in point of importance when compared with the few great -and grand cardinal doctrines which formed the staple of all the sermons -of Wesley’s first itinerants. The effect of this unadorned preaching -of the greatest of all verities was surprising. Under these untutored -discourses, people found themselves emerging out of thick darkness -into light, which St. Peter aptly describes as “_marvellous_.” -These were glorious results, and almost make one wish, that among -the cultivated and captivating preachers of the present day, who can -discourse most eloquently upon any subject, from Eve’s figleaves up -to Aaron’s wardrobe, or from the architecture of Noah’s ark down to -the whale that swallowed Jonah, there were a sprinkling of men whose -preaching powers, like those of Wesley’s first helpers, were confined -to an incessant utterance, in burning though somewhat boorish words, -of the glorious old truths now-a-days too much neglected,—Repentance -toward God, and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ, followed by the fruits -of righteousness, peace, and joy in the Holy Ghost. If sinners are to -be converted, these are the doctrines which _must_ be preached. Other -doctrines and truths may be interesting, useful, and instructive; these -are absolutely _saving_ and _essential_. - -Wesley was devoutly thankful for his uneducated but soul saving -preachers. Still, he saw that, as the Methodists increased in -knowledge, the preachers must keep pace with them. Without this, -though they might still be as successful as ever in converting -ignorant and rude sinners, they would be in danger of being neglected -and even despised by those who, in consequence of conversion, had -been greatly raised, in both an intellectual and social sense, above -their neighbours. In short, Wesley felt convinced that his preachers -must not only preach but read; and being persuaded, as a sort of -clerical Dissenter, that good things might be found even in Dissenting -Nazareths, he wrote to the most distinguished of all Dissenters -then existing, to make inquiry. Six months before, he had called on -Doddridge and had addressed his students; now, at Newcastle, in March, -1746, he addressed to him a letter, the nature of which may be gathered -from Doddridge’s answer. - - “_March 15, 1746._ - - “I am grieved and ashamed, that any hurry, public or private, - should have prevented my answering your obliging letter from - Newcastle; especially as it has a face of disrespect, where I - ought to express the very reverse, if I would do justice either - to you, or my own heart. But you have been used to forgive - greater injuries. I have unwillingly a guardianship affair - on hand, on account of which, I must beg your patience for a - little longer, as to the list of books you desire me to send - you. I presume the list you desire is chiefly theological. - Perhaps my desire of making it too particular has hindered me - from setting about it. But, if God permit, you shall be sure to - have it in a few weeks. - - “Let me know how you do, what your success is, and what your - apprehensions are. I fear we must have some hot flame to melt - us. Remember in your prayers, - - “Reverend and dear sir, - “Your affectionate brother and servant, - “P. DODDRIDGE.”[592] - -Three months later, Doddridge’s promise was fulfilled, in a long -letter, almost a little pamphlet, dated Northampton, June 18, 1746. He -writes— - - “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,—I set myself down, as well as I can, - to discharge my promise, and fulfil your request, in giving my - thoughts on that little collection of books, which you seem - desirous to make for some of your young preachers.” - -Then follow his recommendations, which we give in brief:— - - _Logic_—Carmichael, and Dr. Watts. - - _Metaphysics_—De Urce, Dr. Watts, and Le Clerc. - - _Ethics_—Puffendorf, and Hutcheson. - - _Jewish Antiquities_—Lewis, Reland, Calmet, and Prideaux. - - _Civil History_—Puffendorf, Turselme, and Lampe. - - _Natural Philosophy_—Rowning, Ray, Cotton Mather, and Derham. - - _Astronomy_—Watts, Jennings, and Wells. - - _Natural and Revealed Religion_—Carmichael, Synge, Clarke, - Gibson, Doddridge, Jefferies, Bullock, Conybeare, Leland, and - Chandler. - -He next proceeds to the chief subject, practical divinity, which -he thinks “ought to employ the greatest part of the care of every -preacher,” and adds:— - - “I will not presume, sir, to mention to you the divines of the - Established Church; but as I may reasonably conclude, that the - Puritans and the divines of the separation are less known to - you, you will pardon me, if I mention a few of them, and of the - chief pieces.” - -Then he gives the names of Bolton, Hall, Reynolds, Sibbes, Ward, -Jackson, Owen, Goodwin, Baxter, Bates, Flavel, Taylor, and Howe. He -continues:— - - “In recommending the writings of the Dissenters of the present - age, I would be more sparing; yet permit me to mention Evans, - Wright, Watts, Henry, Boyce, Bennett, Jennings, and Grosvenor. - And here, dear sir, I thought to have concluded my letter; but - it occurs to my mind, that I have said nothing of commentators. - I have recommended to my pupils Beza, Erasmus, Castellio, - Heinsius, Patrick, Lowth, Locke, Pierce, Benson, Ainsworth, - Hammond, Grotius, Brennius, Wells, Calvin, Poole, Le Clerc, and - Cradock. I might mention several considerable writers, that - illustrate Scripture, though not direct commentators, such as - Witsius, Saurin, Mede, Hallet, Edwards, Le Crene, Wolsius, - Raphelius, Vitringa, Boss, Elsner, and Lardner. But as the - critical study of Scripture is not so much intended in your - plan, perhaps you will think, I have gone a little out of the - way in mentioning so many upon this head. - - “I am afraid I have by this time thoroughly wearied you. It - only remains, that I most cordially recommend you and your - labours to the continued presence and blessing of God, and - subscribe myself, reverend and dear sir, your most affectionate - brother, and faithful humble servant, - - “P. DODDRIDGE.”[593] - -We return to Wesley. Accompanied by two of his preachers, John Downes, -and William Shepherd, he started from Newcastle for the south, on the -17th of March. When they had ridden between forty and fifty miles, -Downes was so ill that he was unable to proceed farther; and Wesley’s -horse was so lame, that it could scarcely walk. Wesley writes:—“By -riding thus seven miles, I was thoroughly tired, and my head ached more -than it had done for months. I then thought, ‘cannot God heal either -man or beast, by any means, or without any?’ Immediately, my weariness -and headache ceased, and my horse’s lameness in the same instant. Nor -did he halt any more either that day or the next. I here aver a naked -fact; let every man account for it as he sees good.” - -Coming to Nottingham, he says: “I had long doubted what it was which -hindered the work of God here. But, upon inquiry, the case was plain. -So many of the society were either triflers or disorderly walkers, that -the blessing of God could not rest upon them; so I made short work, -cutting off all such at a stroke, and leaving only a little handful, -who, as far as can be judged, were really in earnest to save their -souls.” - -At Wednesbury and Birmingham, the antinomian teachers had laboured -hard to corrupt the Methodists. One came to Wesley at Birmingham, and -the following colloquy ensued:— - - _Wesley._ “Do you believe you have nothing to do with the law - of God?” - - _Antinomian._ “I have not: I am not under the law; I live by - faith.” - - _W._ “Have you, as living by faith, a right to everything in - the world?” - - _A._ “I have: all is mine, since Christ is mine.” - - _W._ “May you then take anything you will anywhere—suppose out - of a shop, without the consent or knowledge of the owner?” - - _A._ “I may, if I want it; for it is mine: only I will not give - offence.” - - _W._ “Have you also a right to all the women in the world?” - - _A._ “Yes, if they consent.” - - _W._ “And is not that a sin?” - - _A._ “Yes, to him that thinks it is a sin; but not to those - whose hearts are free.” - -Horrible! No wonder, that Wesley wrote tracts against antinomian -teachers; and no wonder he adds, “Surely these are the firstborn -children of Satan!” - -Wesley reached Bristol on March 27; and, eleven days afterwards, laid -“the first stone of the new house at Kingswood;” preaching, on the -occasion, from the words, “For brass I will bring gold,” etc. (Isaiah -lx. 17–22.) - -He then hurried up to London, where in company with his friend, the -Rev. H. Piers, he visited a man who called himself a prophet. Wesley -says: “We were with him about an hour. But I could not at all think, -that he was sent of God: 1. Because he appeared to be full of himself, -vain, heady, and opinionated. 2. Because he spoke with extreme -bitterness, both of the king, and of all the bishops, and all the -clergy. 3. Because he aimed at talking Latin, but could not.” - -Having spent three weeks in London, Wesley, on the 4th of May, again -set out for Bristol; but on the 17th was back to London. Here his -first business was to settle the chapels in Bristol, Kingswood, and -Newcastle, upon seven trustees, reserving only to himself and his -brother, as he says, the liberty of preaching and lodging there. -This, however, was scarcely correct, so far at least as Newcastle was -concerned, and as the following synopsis of the trust deed will show. -The seven trustees, for the Orphan House there, were Henry Jackson, -weaver, and William Mackford, corndealer, both of Newcastle; John -Nelson, mason, of Birstal; John Haughton, weaver, of Chinley End; -Thomas Richards, late of Trinity College, Oxford; Jonathan Reeves, -baker, late of Bristol; and Henry Thornton, gentleman, of Grays Inn, -London. The trusts were:—1. That Wesley and his brother should have -the free use of the premises, and likewise any person or persons whom -they might nominate or appoint during their lifetime. 2. That, after -the death of the two Wesleys, the trustees should monthly or oftener -nominate and appoint one or more fit person or persons to preach in the -said house, in the same manner, as near as may be, as God’s holy word -was preached at present. 3. That a school should be taught on the said -premises, consisting of forty poor children, to be selected by Wesley -and his brother during their respective lives, and, after their death, -by the trustees. 4. That when, by any cause, the trustees were reduced -to three, they should fill up the vacancies, and make the number seven. -5. That, during their lifetime, the two Wesleys should have the sole -appointment and removal of the masters and mistresses of the school. -6. That every preacher or minister, appointed to the Orphan House, -should, as long as the appointment lasted, preach in the said house -every morning and every evening, as had been usual and customary to be -done.[594] - -Southey has fallen into an error as to the settlement of chapels. -He writes:—“Whenever a chapel was built, care was taken, that the -property should be vested, not in trustees, but in Mr. Wesley and -the Conference.” This is incorrect. From the first, the property of -Methodist chapels was always vested in trustees. It is true, that -Wesley reserved to himself the right of preaching in such chapels, and -of appointing others to preach therein; but, as Mr. Watson observes, -neither he nor the Conference had any more “property in the best -secured chapels, than in the poet laureate’s butt of sack.” Wesley -was glad to divest himself of such property, and to put it into the -hands of others. A year afterwards, he writes: 1747, March 19—“I -considered, ‘what would I do now, if I was sure I had but two days -to live?’ All outward things are settled to my wish; the houses at -Bristol, Kingswood, and Newcastle are safe; the deeds, whereby they -are conveyed to the trustees, took place on the 5th instant; my will -is made; what have I more to do, but to commend my soul to my merciful -and faithful Creator?” - -Having made arrangements in London for the settlement of his chapels, -Wesley turned his attention to another subject, upon which opinions -will differ. The number of members in the London society, on the -12th of April, 1746, was 1939, and the amount of their quarterly -contributions £113 9_s._,[595] upon an average, fourteen pence per -member. Considering the high price of money, and that nearly the whole -of the London Methodists were extremely poor, the amount subscribed -was highly creditable. Wesley, however, needed more than this, not for -himself but others, and propounded a somewhat novel plan for raising it. - -Tea was a costly luxury. It was first imported into England about the -year 1660, when an act of parliament was passed, imposing a duty of -eightpence on every gallon of the infusion sold in coffee houses. In -1664, the East India Company bought two pounds two ounces as a royal -present to his majesty King Charles II. It continued to be sold in -London for sixty shillings per pound till the year 1707; and, though -considerably cheaper in 1746, it was still a dear indulgence. Wesley -also believed its use to be injurious. - -He tells us that, when he first went to Oxford, with an exceeding good -constitution, and being otherwise in health, he was somewhat surprised -at certain symptoms of a paralytic disorder. His hand shook, especially -after breakfast; but he soon observed that, if for two or three days he -intermitted drinking tea, the shaking ceased. Upon inquiry, he found -tea had the same effect on others, and particularly on persons whose -nerves were weak. This led him to lessen the quantity he took, and to -drink it weaker; but still, for above six and twenty years, he was more -or less subject to the same disorder. - -In July, 1746, he began to observe, that abundance of the people of -London were similarly affected, some of them having their nerves -unstrung, and their bodily strength decayed. He asked them if they -were hard drinkers; they replied, “No, indeed, we drink scarce anything -but a little tea, morning and night.” He says: - - “I immediately remembered my own case, and easily gathered, - from many concurring circumstances, that it was the same case - with them. I considered, ‘what an advantage would it be to - these poor enfeebled people, if they would leave off what - so manifestly impairs their health, and thereby hurts their - business also! If they used English herbs instead of tea, they - might, hereby, not only lessen their pain, but in some degree - their poverty. How much might be saved in so numerous a body as - the Methodists, even in this single article of expense! And how - greatly is all that can possibly be saved, in every article, - wanted daily by those who have not even food convenient for - them! Some of the Methodists had not food to sustain nature; - some were destitute of necessary clothing; and some had not - where to lay their heads. The little weekly contributions were - barely sufficient to relieve the sick.’ I reflected ‘what - might be done, if ten thousand, or one thousand, or only five - hundred, would save all they could in this single instance, - and put their savings into the poor-box weekly, to feed the - hungry, and to clothe the naked!’ I thought further: ‘many - tell me to my face, I can persuade this people to anything. I - will make a fair trial. If I can persuade any number, many who - are now weak or sick will be restored to health and strength; - many will pay those debts which others, perhaps equally poor, - can but ill afford to lose; many will be less straitened in - their own families; many, by helping their neighbour, will lay - up for themselves treasures in heaven.’ Immediately it struck - me, ‘but example must go before precept; therefore, I must - not plead an exemption for myself, from a daily practice of - twenty-seven years: I must begin.’ I did so; the three first - days my head ached, more or less, all day long, and I was - half asleep from morning to night. The third day, my memory - failed, almost entirely. In the evening, I sought my remedy in - prayer; and next morning my headache was gone, and my memory - as strong as ever. And I have found no inconvenience, but a - sensible benefit, in several respects, from that day to this. - My paralytic complaints are all gone; my hand is as steady now - (1748) as it was at fifteen; and so considerable a difference - do I find in my expense, that, in only those four families at - London, Bristol, Kingswood, and Newcastle, I save upwards of - fifty pounds a year.” - -Having set the example, Wesley recommended the same abstinence to a few -of his preachers; and, a week later, to about a hundred of his people -whom he believed to be strong in faith; all of whom, with two or three -exceptions, resolved, by the grace of God, to make the trial without -delay. In a short time, he proposed it to the whole society. Objections -rose in abundance. Some said, “Tea is not unwholesome at all.” To -these, he replied that many eminent physicians had declared it was; and -that, if frequently used by those of weak nerves, it is no other than -a slow poison. Others said, “Tea is not unwholesome to me: why then -should I leave it off?” Wesley answered, “To give an example to those -to whom it is undeniably prejudicial, and to have the more wherewith -to feed the hungry and to clothe the naked.” Others said, “It helps my -health; nothing else will agree with me.” To such, Wesley’s caustic -reply was, “I suppose your body is much of the same kind with that -of your great grandmother; and do you think nothing else agreed with -her, or with any of her progenitors? What poor, puling, sickly things, -must all the English then have been, till within these hundred years! -Besides, if, in fact, nothing else will agree with you,—if tea has -already weakened your stomach, and impaired your digestion to such a -degree, it has hurt you more than you are aware. You have need to abhor -it as deadly poison, and to renounce it from this very hour.”[596] - -What was the result of Wesley’s attempt to form a _tea_-total society? -We can hardly tell; except that he himself abstained from tea for the -next twelve years, until Dr. Fothergill ordered him to resume its -use.[597] Charles Wesley began to abstain, but how long his abstinence -lasted we are not informed. About a hundred of the London Methodists -followed the example of their leader; and, besides these, a large -number of others began to be _temperate_, and to use less than they had -previously.[598] - -This was, to say the least, an amusing episode in Wesley’s laborious -life. All must give him credit for the best and most benevolent -intentions; and it is right to add, that, ten days after his proposal -was submitted to the London society, he had collected among his friends -thirty pounds for “a lending stock,” and that this was soon made up to -fifty, by means of which, before the year was ended, above two hundred -and fifty destitute persons had received acceptable relief. - -On July 20, Wesley set out for Bristol, where he spent the next -fortnight. While here he paid a visit to Oakhill, near Shepton Mallet, -where “the good curate” hired a drunken mob to make disturbance. -As soon as Wesley began preaching, the “drunken champions” began -“screaming out a psalm”; but Wesley says, “our singing quickly -swallowed up theirs. Soon after, their orator named a text, and -preached a sermon; his attendants meantime being busy in throwing -stones and dirt” at Wesley’s congregation. - -On August 10, Wesley went to Wales. He preached in Builth churchyard -to nearly all the inhabitants that the town contained. At Maesmennys, -Lanzufried, and Wenvo, he preached in the parish churches; and at -Cardiff in the castle yard. At Neath, he found twelve young men whom, -he says, he almost envied. They lived together in one house, and gave -away whatever they earned above the necessaries of life. Most of them -were predestinarians, but so little bigoted to their opinions, that -they would not suffer a predestinarian to preach among them, unless -he would avoid controversy. Here Wesley preached in the open street, -a gentleman and a drunken fiddler doing their best to interrupt his -service; but, none joining them, they were soon ashamed, and the -gentleman slunk away on one side, and the fiddler on the other. At -Margam, he had to have a Welsh interpreter; and at Leominster (to which -he went during his tour), he began preaching on a tombstone, on the -south side of the parish church, but was not allowed to finish. The -mob “roared on every side”; the bells were set a ringing; and then -the organ began to play amain. Wesley’s voice was drowned, and hence -he thought it advisable to remove to the corn market, where he had -a “quiet time,” and “showed what that sect is, which is ‘everywhere -spoken against.’” - -Returning to Bristol, he started, on September 1, for Cornwall. At -St. Just, he found the liveliest society in the county, and yet a few -of the members he was “obliged to reprove for negligence in meeting, -which,” says he, “is always the forerunner of greater evils.” At -Sithney, he preached by moonlight; and, at Gwennap, to an “immense -multitude,” a funeral sermon for Thomas Hitchins, from, “To me to live -is Christ, and to die is gain.” - -Having spent a fortnight among the Cornish Methodists, he set out, -on the 16th of September, for London, his brother meeting him at -Uxbridge, and becoming his escort to the capital.[599] - -After a week in London, he paid a visit to his friend Perronet, -preaching, on the way, at Sevenoaks, “to a large, wild company,” one of -whom cursed him bitterly. At Shoreham, he preached twice in Perronet’s -church; but says, “the congregation seemed to understand just nothing -of the matter.” The rest of the year was spent in the metropolis. - -It has been already stated, that Wesley, for conscience sake, was now -an abstainer from tea. Before the year expired, he went a step further. -He writes: December 29—“I resumed my vegetable diet (which I had now -discontinued for several years), and found it of use both to my soul -and body; but, after two years, a violent flux, which seized me in -Ireland, obliged me to return to the use of animal food.” - -Whatever may be thought about the wisdom of a man, of such active -habits, adopting such an abstemious, anchorite sort of diet, there can -be no question about the fact, that his motives were of the highest -and purest kind. He gave up tea, that he might benefit the poor; and, -contemporaneously with his resumption of a vegetable diet, he commenced -an institution, which, to say the least, was not then so popular and so -common as it is at present. He writes: “I mentioned my design of giving -physic to the poor. In three weeks about three hundred came.” Such is -the entry in his Journal. - -He had already provided a fund for relieving the necessities of the -poor by furnishing them with food and clothing; but something more -was requisite. Many of them were sick; their sufferings stirred his -sympathy; and yet he knew not how to help them. “At length,” he says, -“I thought of a kind of desperate expedient: ‘I will prepare and give -them physic myself.’ For six or seven and twenty years, I had made -anatomy and physic the diversion of my leisure hours; though I never -properly studied them, unless for a few months when I was going to -America, where I imagined I might be of some service to those who had -no regular physician among them. I applied to it again. I took into my -assistance an apothecary, and an experienced surgeon; resolving, at the -same time, not to go out of my depth, but to leave all difficult and -complicated cases to such physicians as the patients should choose. I -gave notice of this to the society; and, in five months, medicines were -occasionally given to above five hundred persons. Several of these I -never saw before; for I did not regard whether they were of the society -or not. In that time, seventy-one of these, regularly taking their -medicines, and following the regimen prescribed (which three in four -would not do), were entirely cured of distempers long thought to be -incurable. The whole expense of medicines, during this time, was nearly -forty pounds.”[600] - -This was a bold step, and exposed Wesley to animadversion. He was not -a legally qualified medical practitioner, and there were not wanting -those who were ready to brand him as a quack. His defence was, that the -poor were neglected; that physicians were often useless; and that his -own gratuitous treatment was successful. In a letter, published in the -_Bath Journal_, in 1749, he writes: “I do not know that any one patient -yet has died under my hands. If any person does, let him declare it, -with the time and circumstances.”[601] And, in another letter addressed -to Archbishop Secker, in 1747, four months after his dispensary was -opened, he remarks:— - - “For more than twenty years, I have had numberless proofs, - that regular physicians do exceeding little good. From a deep - conviction of this, I have believed it my duty, within these - four months last past, to prescribe such medicines to six or - seven hundred of the poor as I knew were proper for their - several disorders. Within six weeks, nine in ten of them, who - had taken these medicines, were remarkably altered for the - better; and many were cured of disorders under which they had - laboured for ten, twenty, forty years. Now, ought I to have let - one of these poor wretches perish, because I was not a regular - physician? to have said, ‘I know what will cure you; but I am - not of the college; you must send for Dr. Mead’? Before Dr. - Mead had come in his chariot, the man might have been in his - coffin. And when the doctor was come, where was his fee? What! - he cannot live upon nothing! So, instead of an orderly cure, - the patient dies; and God requires his blood at my hands.”[602] - -It was difficult to answer this, and Wesley was not the man to be -browbeaten from the path of duty by envious and angry members of the -healing profession. Indeed, his success was such, that, within two -months after opening his dispensary at the Foundery in London, he -instituted a second in Bristol, and writing to his friend and patron, -Mr. Ebenezer Blackwell, says, “Our number of patients increases -in Bristol daily. We have now upwards of two hundred. Many have -already desired to return thanks, having found a considerable change -for the better already. But we are at a great loss for medicines; -several of those we should choose being not to be had at any price in -Bristol.”[603] - -There are only two other matters, belonging to the year 1746, -which require attention; namely, Wesley’s conference, and Wesley’s -publications. - -The conference commenced in Bristol on the 12th of May, and lasted four -days.[604] Four clergymen were present—the two Wesleys, and Messrs. -Hodges and Taylor. Besides these, there were four itinerants, Messrs. -Reeves, Maxfield, Westall, and Willis; and also Thomas Glascot, of -whom we know nothing. As at former conferences, so at this, doctrines -were reviewed, and carefully guarded against error and abuse; and, -after this, points of discipline were discussed and settled. It was -agreed, that “the properest persons to be present,” at the annual -conferences, were—1. The preachers. 2. The most earnest and most -sensible of the bandleaders living in the town where the conference -was held. 3. Any pious and judicious stranger who might be visiting -the place. It was thought, that it might be useful to read one or -more of Wesley’s tracts at each conference, were it only to correct -errors, or to explain obscurities. Wesley’s helpers were defined to -be “extraordinary messengers, designed of God to provoke the others -to jealousy.” It was resolved, that those who believed themselves to -be called of God to preach should be strictly examined on the three -points, Have they grace, gifts, and fruit? and that those in whom -these three marks undeniably concurred should be allowed to have such -a call. It was thought that, at present, they were not preaching the -atonement so much as they did at first; and that the sermons which were -attended with the greatest blessing, were—“1. Such as were most close, -convincing, particular. 2. Such as had most of Christ, the Priest, the -Atonement. 3. Such as urged the heinousness of men’s living in contempt -or ignorance of Him.” It was determined, that a sufficient call of -Providence to a new place was an invitation from some worthy person, -and a probability of doing more good by going thither, than by staying -longer where they were. New members were to be admitted into the bands -and societies only once a quarter, their names having been previously -read at meetings of the existing members; and, at the same time, had to -be read the names of those excluded from the society. Directions were -given to guard against formality in public singing. Efforts were to be -employed to induce the people to attend the church; and, as an example -to the Bristol Methodists, it was agreed, that the Bristol preachers -should go to St. James’s church every Wednesday and Friday. The country -was divided into seven circuits, namely—1. London, including Brentford, -Egham, Windsor, Wycombe, and the three counties of Surrey, Kent, and -Essex. 2. Bristol, including the isle of Portland, and the counties -of Somerset, Wilts, Oxford, and Gloucester. 3. Cornwall. 4. Evesham, -embracing Shrewsbury, Leominster, Hereford, and all the places from -Stroud to Wednesbury. 5. Yorkshire, to which was to be attached the -six counties of Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottinghamshire, -Rutlandshire, and Lincolnshire. 6. Newcastle. 7. Wales. The present -assistants were Reeves, Bennet, Haughton, Nelson, Wheatley, Trembath, -Westall, Richards, Downes, Meyrick, Maxfield, and Walker. And to these, -perhaps, would be added, Jones, Larwood, and Cownley. Copies of the -minutes of the conferences were to be given only to those who were or -might have been present; but they were to be read to the stewards and -leaders of bands, the Sunday and Thursday following each conference. - -Such is a synopsis of the proceedings of the conference of 1746. - -Notwithstanding Wesley’s almost incessant travelling and preaching, -he still found time to write. Two of his publications, in 1746, were -partly his own, but principally his brother’s. - -First: “Hymns for those that seek, and those that have, Redemption in -the Blood of Jesus Christ.” 12mo, 68 pages. Twenty-eight of these hymns -are inserted in the Wesleyan Hymn-Book, and are among the finest that -the book contains. One of them, evidently written by Wesley himself, -begins with the line, “How happy is the pilgrim’s lot;” and though two -or three of the verses are not suitable for a mixed congregation to -sing, the whole is strikingly descriptive of Wesley’s own condition and -experience. He had no wife, and no children, and had just transferred -his chapels to trustees, and, hence, could sing what many in Methodist -congregations cannot. - - “I have no babes to hold me here; - But children more securely dear - For mine I humbly claim; - Better than daughters or than sons, - Temples Divine of living stones, - Inscribed with Jesu’s name. - - No foot of land do I possess, - No cottage in this wilderness - A poor, wayfaring man, - I lodge awhile in tents below; - Or gladly wander to and fro, - Till I my Canaan gain. - - I have no sharer of my heart, - To rob my Saviour of a part, - And desecrate the whole; - Only betrothed to Christ am I, - And wait His coming from the sky, - To wed my happy soul. - - Nothing on earth I call my own, - A stranger, to the world unknown, - I all their goods despise; - I trample on their whole delight, - And seek a country out of sight, - A country in the skies.” - -Second. The other joint publication was, “Hymns of Petition and -Thanksgiving for the Promise of the Father.” By John and Charles -Wesley. 12mo, 36 pages. These were thirty-two in number, and were -specially intended for use at Whitsuntide. Several of the best of them -are in the Methodist Hymn-Book.[605] - -Wesley’s other publications were the following:— - -1. “A Word of Advice to Saints and Sinners.” 12mo, 12 pages. - -2. “Lessons for Children. Part I.” 12mo, 76 pages; with a vignette on -the title-page of an angel on clouds, with a scroll in one hand, and -a trumpet in the other. The lessons are fifty-four in number, and are -almost entirely taken from the five books of Moses. Prefixed is an -address “to all parents and schoolmasters,” in which Wesley says:— - - “I have endeavoured in the following lessons to select the - plainest and most useful portions of Scripture; such as - children may the most easily understand, and such as it most - concerns them to know. These are set down in the same order, - and generally in the same words, wherein they are delivered - by the Spirit of God. Where an expression is less easy to - be understood, I have subjoined a word or two by way of - explication. I cannot but earnestly entreat you, to take good - heed, how you teach these deep things of God. Beware of that - common, but accursed way, of making children parrots, instead - of Christians. Regard not _how much_, but to how good purpose - they read. Turn each sentence every way, propose it in every - light, and question them continually on every point.” - -3. In the month of March, the Rev. Thomas Church, vicar of Battersea, -published another two shilling pamphlet, entitled, “Some further -Remarks on Mr. Wesley’s last Journal;”[606] and, in July,[607] Wesley -issued, “The Principles of a Methodist farther explained; occasioned -by the Reverend Mr. Church’s second letter to Mr. Wesley; in a second -letter to that gentleman.” 12mo, 79 pages. First of all, Wesley -takes up the case of the Moravians; and then explains his views of -justification, and of the faith and repentance preceding it. Next he -vindicates himself against the charge of violating the discipline of -the Church of England, and of his being an enthusiast. He declares his -belief, that, in points of importance, when the reasons brought on each -side appear to be of equal weight, it is right to decide the question -by casting lots; that there are still such persons as demoniacs, and -will be such as long as Satan is the god of this world; and that there -is nothing either in the Old Testament or the New which teaches, that -“miracles were to be confined within the limits of the apostolic or -the Cyprianic age, or, that God hath in any way precluded Himself from -working miracles, in any kind or degree, in any age to the end of -time.” The pamphlet must be read to be appreciated. It is _multum in -parvo_. - -In November, Wesley, for the first time, published a _volume_ of -sermons, price, in sheets, half-a-crown.[608] The title was, “Sermons -on Several Occasions;” and the book is the first of the _four volumes -of sermons_, which, with the Notes on the New Testament, were -afterwards constituted the perpetual standard of Methodist theology. -These are so widely and so well known that further description is -unneeded. The preface, however, deserves notice. It states that the -sermons contain the substance of what Wesley had been preaching during -the last eight years; and, that there was no point of doctrine, on -which he had been accustomed to speak in public, which was not here, -incidentally, if not professedly, laid before the reader. Wesley adds:— - - “Nothing here appears in an elaborate, elegant, or oratorical - dress. If it had been my desire or design to write thus, - my leisure would not permit. But, in truth, I, at present, - designed nothing less; for I now write, as I generally speak, - _ad populum_. I design plain truth for plain people; therefore, - of set purpose, I abstain from all nice and philosophical - speculations; from all perplexed and intricate reasonings; and, - as far as possible, from even the show of learning, unless - in sometimes citing the original Scripture. I have thought, - I am a creature of a day. I am a spirit come from God, and - returning to God. I want to know one thing,—the way to heaven. - God Himself has condescended to teach me the way. He hath - written it down in a book. O give me that book! At any price, - give me the book of God! I have it; here is knowledge enough - for me. Let me be _homo unius libri_. Here then I am, far from - the busy ways of men. I sit down alone: only God is here. In - His presence, I read His book; for this end, to find the way - to heaven. Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what - I read? I lift up my heart to the Father of lights, and ask - Him to let me know His will. I then search after and consider - parallel passages of Scripture. I meditate thereon with all the - attention and earnestness of which my mind is capable. If any - doubt still remains, I consult those who are experienced in the - things of God; and then the writings whereby, being dead, they - yet speak. And what I thus learn, that I teach.” - -This is very beautiful. Wesley was no copyist. He owed his theology -to no class of theologians, either ancient or modern,—Moravian or -otherwise. Peter Bohler and others might suggest truths like the grand -old doctrine of salvation by faith only; but before adopting them -Wesley went to the only pure fount of theology existing, and deduced -his creed, not from Bohler’s notions, but from the book of God. His -belief was thus founded upon a rock, and he felt it so. He declares, -that his mind is open to conviction; but, at the same time, he was -conscious that he had, not only human, but Divine authority for what he -taught. Let all divinity students copy his example. - -Wesley’s last publication, in 1746, was Parts II. and III. of his -“Farther Appeal to Men of Reason and Religion.” 12mo, 139 pages. In -some respects, this was one of the severest works that Wesley ever -committed to the press. With terrible power, he depicts the wickedness -of the nation,—forgetfulness of God and neglect of His holy ordinances, -swearing, perjury, sabbath breaking, drunkenness, lasciviousness, -speaking evil of dignities, and robbery. Attorneys are lashed as -being, in some instances, less honest than pickpockets; and the way in -which they whipped money out of their clients’ purses is so described, -that an unjust lawyer by whom Wesley himself had been victimised sent -him back half the amount he had extorted from him. The guardians of -public charities are charged with sacrilege. Lying was one of the -fashions of the day; and language was swollen with compliment. Pride -was rampant; and even cobblers, in London, thought themselves wiser -than secretaries of state, and coffee house disputers abler divines -than archbishops. Prisons were schools of vice, out of which prisoners -emerged fitted for any kind or degree of villainy, perfectly brutal and -devilish, thoroughly furnished for every evil word and work. In the -army, profanity was fearful. In the navy, almost every man-of-war was -a floating hell. The clergy were not free from the taint of lewdness -and drunkenness, from covetousness and idleness, from neglecting the -poor and flattering the rich. Presbyterians, in many instances, kept -a conscience void of offence, but they had among them drunkards, -gluttons, dishonest dealers, and extortioners. Baptists were far from -being faultless. Quakers affected great sanctity and simplicity, and -yet many of their women wore gold upon their very feet, and their men -might be seen with glittering canes and snuff-boxes, even in their -solemn assemblies; their female members were too strict to lay out -a shilling in a necklace, but not too strict to lay out fourscore -guineas in a repeating watch; in one kind of apron or handkerchief they -durst not expend twenty shillings, but in another sort would, expend -twenty pounds; they declined to touch a coloured ribbon, but would -cover themselves from head to foot in costly silk. Papists, Jews, and -infidels are castigated with equal severity; and with them the second -part of the Appeal concludes. - -The third Part commences with an account of the present revival of -religion, and of the brutal persecutions with which it had been -assailed. Then objections are answered. Wesley states, that he has -seven thousand persons in his societies, whose souls he could not -neglect without endangering his own salvation. He shows the difference -between other reformations of the church, and that with which he and -his contemporaries were identified, and concludes thus:— - - “The difference is wide between our case and the case of any - of those above mentioned. They _avowedly separated_ from the - church; we utterly _disavow_ any such design. They severely, - and almost continually, inveighed against the _doctrines_ and - _discipline_ of the church they left; we approve both the - _doctrines_ and _discipline_ of our church, and inveigh only - against _ungodliness_ and _unrighteousness_. They spent great - part of their time and strength in contending about externals - and circumstantials; we agree with you in both; so that - having no room to spend any time in such contentions, we have - one desire of spending and being spent, in promoting plain, - _practical religion_.” - -It is impossible, in a brief summary like this, to give an adequate -idea of these “Appeals,” the best defence of Methodism extant. They are -among the most elaborate of Wesley’s productions; giving a melancholy -view of the low state of religion and of public morals, when he and -his brother Methodists entered upon their extraordinary career of -ministerial labour; and containing a triumphant vindication of their -doctrines and proceedings. They all are pervaded with a spirit of great -seriousness, and display a mind deeply affected by the sins and follies -of mankind. - - - - -1747. - - -[Sidenote: 1747 Age 44] - -For a moment, let us look at Whitefield, who spent the year 1747 in -America. Wesley had written him on the subject of union; to which he -replied on the 11th of September, as follows:— - - “DEAR AND REVEREND SIR,—Not long ago I received your kind - letter, dated in February last. My heart is really for an - outward, as well as an inward union. Nothing shall be wanting - on my part to bring it about; but I cannot see how it can - possibly be effected, till we all think and speak the same - things. I rejoice to hear that you and your brother are more - moderate with respect to _sinless perfection_. Time and - experience, I believe, will convince you that, attaining such - a state in this life, is not the doctrine of the everlasting - gospel. As for _universal redemption_, if we omit on each side - the talking for or against reprobation, which we may fairly - do, and agree, as we already do, in giving an universal offer - to all poor sinners that will come and taste of the water of - life, I think we may manage very well. But it is difficult to - determine such matters at a distance. Some time next year, I - hope to see you face to face. I hope ere long to be delivered - from my outward embarrassments. I long to owe no man anything - but love. This is a debt, reverend sir, I shall never be able - to discharge to you, or your brother. Jesus will pay you all. - For His sake, I love and honour you very much, and rejoice as - much in your success as in my own. I cannot agree with you in - some principles, but that need not hinder love. What have you - done with the Moravian Brethren? Their affairs are in confusion - here. I think their foundation is too narrow for their - superstructure. I believe, in their plan, there are many plants - that our heavenly Father hath not planted. The Lord bless what - is right, and rectify what is wrong in them, in us, and in all. - O for heaven! where we shall mistake, judge, and grieve one - another no more. Continue to pray for us, and assure yourself, - that you are always remembered by, reverend and very dear sir, - your most affectionate, though unworthy younger brother and - willing servant for Christ’s sake, - - “GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[609] - -So much for Whitefield. What about his English coadjutors? Howel Harris -writes:— - - “Wales is like the garden of the Lord; many are awakened, and - fresh doors are opened. All the ministers and exhorters go - on heartily, and the presence and power of the Lord are still - more manifest. Hasten thy winged motion, oh glorious day! when - I shall see Paul and Barnabas, Luther and Calvin, and all the - saints, joining in one song, and not so much as remembering - that they ever differed. I have lately, at their own request, - discoursed three or four times before several gentlemen, - ladies of fashion, some magistrates, counsellors, attorneys, - and doctors in divinity, and they behaved well. I have been - all round South Wales, travelling often twenty, and sometimes - thirty miles a day, and preaching twice, besides settling and - conferring with the societies everywhere. I am about to begin a - round through North Wales, where I expect to be sent home, or - at least imprisoned. For ten days, my life will be in continual - danger.” - -Joseph Williams, of Kidderminster, relates, that he had recently -been on a preaching tour in Wales, and in Yorkshire. At Haworth, he -had taken a bed at the house of Grimshaw, with whom he held sweet -fellowship, from six o’clock at night till two o’clock next morning. -Grimshaw’s church was always crowded, and hundreds were not able to -get in at all. People flocked to hear him from all the neighbouring -towns, and as many as a hundred strangers were accustomed, on a Sunday, -to dine at the village inn. The surrounding clergy were caballing to -get him suspended; and, if they succeeded, he was resolved to become -at once an itinerant preacher. The landlord, at Colne, told Williams -that Grimshaw had preached in that town “damnation beyond all sense and -reason,” his sermon lasting two long hours; and that, “every week, and -almost every day, he preached in barns and private houses, and was a -great encourager of conventicles.” - -Thomas Adams says, he had been preaching in a barn at Gosport, and -that in the neighbourhood of Portsmouth the good work was prospering. -In Wilts, he had seen religion reviving. In Gloucestershire, his -labours had been blessed, and the meetings of the societies had been a -pentecost. When at Bristol there had been “a brave shaking among the -dry bones.” - -James Relly (who afterwards founded a sect called “Rellyan -Universalists,”) observes, that at Bristol he had examined the whole -society once a week, but the place had been “a furnace” to him. At -Bath, he had “particular freedom.” In Gloucestershire, he had been -preaching every day, and thrice on Sundays; and had found the people -“honest, simple, and hungering after the bread of life.” At Wednesbury, -he found his heart enlarged every time he preached. At Birmingham, he -had formed a society of twenty members, and had left them with great -regret. At Bromsgrove, he had preached in an Independent chapel, to a -congregation of “simple, loving souls.” At Tewkesbury, a furious mob -assaulted him, swore, cursed, laughed, pricked the congregation with -pins, threw handfuls of snuff among them, and brickbats and dirt; and -broke the windows of the house; but, in the midst of all, he continued -preaching for an hour. - -John Relly was witnessing “many inroads made in Satan’s kingdom,” and -he seldom preached without seeing conversions. - -Herbert Jenkins had been preaching in Scotland, and conversing with the -clergy, many of whom he pronounces to be “good men, and very powerful -preachers.” In Edinburgh, he had found nearly twenty societies, -including one composed of soldiers, who had fought at the battle of -Culloden. In the park, he had had a congregation of many thousands. -“At Glasgow,” says the _Scots Magazine_, “he was complimented with the -freedom of the city, and was entertained by the magistrates and by the -presbytery. He made no public collections as Whitefield did, and his -behaviour altogether was inoffensive and becoming.” - -John Edwards had made a tour through the midland counties, where “King -Jesus was getting Himself the victory.” He writes:—“Oh what times and -seasons we have had; souls fired with the love of God, and following -the word from place to place, horse and foot, like men engaged in a -war, determined to take the city by force of arms.” At Haverfordwest -and in Wales, multitudes flocked to hear him. - -Certain members of the Tabernacle society, in London, relate that the -place was generally full; and a gentleman at Plymouth writes, that “the -work goes on very comfortably there.”[610] - -These hints will suggest to the reader an idea of the work that was -being done by the preachers who propagated Whitefield’s doctrines. -All the letters, filling more than a hundred pages of the “Christian -History,” breathe the most ardent piety, and are full of gratitude, -hope, and exultation. - -Charles Wesley spent the first two months of 1747 in a journey from -Newcastle to Bristol. The next six months he made London and Bristol -the centre of his operations. The last four months of the year were -employed in Ireland. - -Wesley himself was travelling almost incessantly, and we must now try -to follow him. - -On January 11 he left London for Bristol. Reaching Devizes, he found -the town in the greatest uproar. Swelling words, oaths, curses, and -threatenings were abundant. Mr. Innys, the curate, who knew of Wesley’s -coming, had spent the day in visiting from house to house, to stir up -the people against him. He had also published an advertisement, in -the most public places in the town, of “An obnubilative, pantomime -entertainment, to be exhibited at Mr. Clark’s,” in whose house -Wesley had to preach. For the present, however, the high purpose of -the zealous curate was not realised. At the appointed hour, Wesley -commenced preaching. The well instigated mob were listeners, but they -were all dumb dogs, and attention sat on every face. - -Sixteen days afterwards, Wesley returned to this clerical preserve, -where he again found, that great efforts had been used to raise a -rabble, but, he writes, “it was lost labour; all that could be mustered -were a few straggling soldiers, and forty or fifty boys.” - -Wesley told his brother, “there was no such thing as raising a mob at -Devizes”; but Charles soon found it to be otherwise. Coming within a -month after, on February 24, a crowd awaited him, headed by “the chief -gentleman of the town,” while Mr. Innys, the energetic curate, stood -with them in the street, jumping for very joy. The reverend persecutor -had been more successful in organising ruffians to do his dirty work, -in the case of Charles, than he had been in the case of Wesley himself. -He had declared in the pulpit, as well as from house to house, that he -had heard Charles preach blasphemy before the university, and tell his -congregation, “If you don’t receive the Holy Ghost while I breathe upon -you, you will all be damned.” He had secured the services of two of -the chief men in the borough, Messrs. Sutton and Willy, both of them -Dissenters. The poor parson was so supremely happy, that he began to -dance. The church bells were rung backwards. Mrs. Philip’s house was -ransacked; the windows were smashed, and the shutters of the shop torn -down; the door was blocked up with a wagon; and lights were kindled to -prevent the preacher’s escaping. The mob then proceeded to the inn, -and seized the horses of Charles Wesley and his friend Meriton, and, -some hours afterwards, the poor animals were found in a pond, up to the -neck in water. A water engine was played into the house where Charles -was staying; the rooms were flooded; and the goods were spoiled. -The leader of the small society was thrown into a pool, and, almost -miraculously, escaped an untimely death. The son of the mayor had been -converted, and, instead of running away to sea, had joined the society. -His father was a coward, and had left the town, when he ought to have -remained in it; but his mother sent her maid, begging Charles Wesley -to disguise himself in a woman’s clothes, and endeavour to escape. At -length, the constable came, beseeching him to leave the town; and poor -Mr. Sutton and Mr. Willy began to fear the mob, which they and their -clerical friend Innys had been the means of raising, was becoming more -violent than might be safe. In the midst of this, Charles Wesley and -Mr. Meriton took the opportunity to get away; and, after escaping a -most murderous attack from a couple of bulldogs, not less savage than -the bloodthirsty villains which hounded them on, the two martyr like -ministers began singing the hymn commencing, “Worship, and thanks, and -blessing;” and thus, in a tone of triumph, made their way to Bath and -Bristol.[611] - -Strangely enough, Wesley was accustomed to choose the worst season -of the year for his most trying journey. Why? We cannot tell. Having -finished his visitation of the London classes, he set out, on the -16th of February, for Newcastle. A north wind blew so hard and keen, -that, when he and his companions got to Hatfield, they could scarcely -use either their hands or feet. In making their way to Baldock, they -encountered a storm of snow and hail, which drove so vehemently in -their faces, that sight was useless, and breathing almost impossible. -Next day, they had the greatest difficulty in keeping their horses on -their feet. The wind rose higher and higher, till it threatened to -overturn both man and beast. A storm of rain and hail drove through -their coats, great and small, boots, and everything; and, freezing as -it fell, their eyebrows were hung with icicles. On Stamford Heath, the -snow was lying in mountain drifts, which sometimes well-nigh swallowed -up both horses and riders; but, about sunset, they came, cold and -weary, to Brigg-Casterton. On the 18th, they were told, so much snow -had fallen in the night, that travelling was impracticable. Wesley -replied, “At least, we can walk twenty miles a day, with our horses -in our hands”; and off he set. The north-east wind was piercing; the -main road was impassable; Wesley was distracted with the toothache; -but, at five in the afternoon, they arrived at Newark. Next day, they -came to Epworth, where they rested the three days following; with -the exception, that, on Sunday Wesley preached twice in the humble -meeting-house, and once, after the evening prayers, at Epworth cross, -to most of the adult population of the town. - -The next three days were spent in an excursion to Grimsby and back -again to Epworth. Charles Wesley had been at the former town seven -weeks before, when the meeting-house was invaded by a mob of wild -creatures, almost naked, who ran about the place, attacking all they -met. Several caught at the preacher to drag him down, and one struck -at him. At length, they fell to fighting and beating each other, till, -in a few minutes, they literally drove themselves out of the very -room from which they meant to drive the poor Methodists; and one of -the ringleaders, armed with a great club, swore he would conduct the -minister to his lodgings, and forthwith led him through the drunken -rioters to brother Blow’s.[612] - -On this occasion, when Wesley himself came, “a young gentleman and -his companions” drowned Wesley’s voice, till a poor woman took up the -cause, and, by keenly and wittily reciting a few passages of the young -spark’s life, turned the laugh of his companions upon him, and obliged -him to skulk away discomfited. Next day, he came to ask Wesley’s -pardon, and thus, for some years, Methodist persecution at Grimsby -ceased. At Tetney, Wesley found the most remarkable society in England, -with Micah Elmoor for its leader. The members were all poor, and yet -each gave from eightpence to two shillings weekly,—certainly a large -amount, considering the rate of agricultural wages and the worth of -money. The members of the London society were not averaging more than -about a penny per week. Wesley was surprised at the difference, and -asked, “How is this?” To which Micah Elmoor replied, “All of us, who -are single persons, have agreed together, to give both ourselves and -all we have to God; and, by this means, we are able, from time to time, -to entertain all the strangers that come to Tetney; who often have no -food to eat, nor any friend to give them lodging.” - -On February 26, Wesley left Epworth, and proceeded northwards, -preaching, on his way, at Sykehouse, Acomb, Thirsk, and Osmotherley. At -the last mentioned place, where he had already found a friend in the -popish priest, the clergyman of the parish allowed him to preach twice -in the parish church. “The bitterest gainsayers,” says Wesley, “seemed -now to be melted into love. All were convinced we are no papists. How -wisely does God order all things in their season!” - -On the 2nd of March, he reached Newcastle. At this period, Grace Murray -had charge of the Orphan House family. More than once, she had been -an inmate; but she and sister Jackson, like rival queens in the same -establishment, were unable to agree, and, at least twice, Wesley had -had the unenviable task of reconciling two gossiping women, whose -religion made them proud and garrulous, rather than of “a meek and -quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price.” Grace’s -first husband was drowned in 1742, upon which she removed from London -to Newcastle, where she was appointed leader of several classes. Within -six months of her husband’s death, she became the sweetheart of John -Brydon, and it was commonly supposed they were about to marry, but, in -the long run, Grace declined the honour of John’s alliance. At the end -of 1745, she was made Orphan House keeper, and retained the office at -the time of Wesley’s visit, in 1747.[613] Unfortunately, we shall have -to recur to sister Murray at a subsequent period. - -Another inmate was Jeannie Keith, belonging to a respectable family of -the Keiths in Scotland. Being persecuted on account of her religious -principles, she fled to England, and took shelter in Wesley’s Orphan -House, where she went by the cognomen of “Holy Mary.” She was -afterwards married to James Bowmaker, a master builder at Alnwick, -who erected the first Methodist chapel in that town, and was the -grandfather of the Rev. James Everett. She had two children, and died -about the year 1752. It has generally been supposed, that Jeannie -Keith fell from grace, this opinion being founded upon an expression -in one of Wesley’s letters, written a year or two previous to her -death;[614] but the inference is hardly legitimate, and the thing -itself is incorrect. The writer is possessed of authentic manuscripts, -showing, that though Jeannie returned to the presbyterian religion, she -continued faithful to her great Master to the very last. A year only -before her death, she was diligently distributing the works of John and -Charles Wesley among her friends and relatives, including Lord and Lady -Saltoun; and the greatest crime that I can find alleged against her, is -that of rejoining the church of her childhood. An extract from one of -Jeannie’s letters to Wesley, in 1747, may be useful. - - “I bless God, that ever He brought me into this house. It is - like a little heaven to me. There is not only such love, but - such freedom among us, as I could not have believed would have - been so soon. I have never seen a thing, that I thought amiss - in any of the family, neither do they seem to think anything - wrong in me. I am as much entangled with the great ones of the - world as ever; and if they are not with me, I am with them. I - have great reasonings, whether to shake off all acquaintance - with them or not. I am surprised how they bear the plainness - of speech that I use; for with tears do I tell them the danger - that their souls are in. Oh! forget not your weak child, - - “JEANNIE KEITH.”[615] - -In another letter, dated November 1, 1748, and addressed to Wesley, she -writes:— - - “I think we never had a more blessed time in this house, since - it was a house. I know of nothing amiss betwixt sister Murray - and me; but we cannot be as one soul; for, you know, she must - have a little pre-eminence. I am exceeding willing that she - should; and so we live in great peace, and, I believe, in love. - I am still unwilling to take anything from anybody. I work out - of choice, having never yet learned how long a woman can be - idle and innocent. I do not murmur because I have not worldly - goods, or a little skin-deep beauty; but I am happy, because, - as long as God lives, I shall enjoy Him; so long as there is - a heaven, I shall possess it. If this thought cannot make me - happy, without anything else, I deserve to be miserable. - - “Your affectionate and loving child, - “JEANNIE KEITH.”[616] - -How many more refugee sisters there were in the Orphan House, we are -not informed; but we learn from the manuscript already quoted, that, -about this period, Christopher Hopper, Benjamin Wheatley, Edward -Dunstan, and Eleazer Webster, all of them either already or about to -become itinerants, were, more or less, Orphan House residents; and -it is probable, that these were some of the young men referred to in -the extracts following. The Orphan House was, at once, a place of -worship, a school for orphans, a refuge for the injured and oppressed, -the northern home of Wesley, and the “theological institution” of his -preachers. Wesley writes:— - - “March 2.—I rode to Newcastle. I found all in the house of - the same spirit; pouring out their souls to God many times in - a day together, and breathing nothing but love and brotherly - kindness.” - - “March 4.—This week I read over, with some young men, a - compendium of rhetoric, and a system of ethics. I see not, why - a man of tolerable understanding may not learn in six months - more of solid philosophy than is commonly learned at Oxford in - four (perhaps seven) years.” - -The old Orphan House was thus the first institution in which young -Methodist preachers received instructions for the efficient discharge -of their ministerial duties. Here Wesley himself studied. During this -very visit, he read “The Exhortations of Ephraem Syrus,” whose picture -of a broken and contrite heart had never been excelled since the days -of David,—and “The History of the Puritans;” after which he wrote:—“I -stand in amaze: first, at the execrable spirit of persecution which -drove those venerable men out of the Church, and with which Queen -Elizabeth’s clergy were as deeply tinctured as ever Queen Mary’s were; -secondly, at the weakness of those holy confessors, many of whom spent -so much of their time and strength in disputing about surplices and -hoods, or kneeling at the Lord’s supper.” - -It is a curious fact, that, though only little more than four years had -elapsed since the society at Newcastle was founded by Charles Wesley, -it was now reduced from above eight hundred members to four hundred. -Wesley, however, considered, according to the old proverb, that “the -half was more than the whole”; but if this were true, the whole must -have been a motley mass. - -Having spent seven weeks at Newcastle and in the neighbourhood, Wesley -set out, on Easter Monday, April 20, for London. In the evening, he -reached Osmotherley, where, after having ridden, at least, sixty miles, -and preached twice, he mounted a tombstone, and concluded the day by -a sermon from “The Lord is risen indeed.” Here John Nelson met him, -having just escaped from the hands of his murderous persecutors in the -vicinity of York. - -Proceeding to Thirsk, Wesley found the town full of holiday folks, -drinking, cursing, swearing, and cockfighting. Making his way to -Leeds and other towns in the west riding of Yorkshire, he visited the -Moravian settlement at Fulneck, which was now approaching completion. -“It stands,” says he, “on the side of a hill, commanding all the vale -beneath, and the opposite hill. The front is exceeding grand, though -plain, being faced with fine, smooth, white stone. The Germans suppose -it will cost about three thousand pounds; it is well if it be not -nearer ten. But that is no concern to the English Brethren; for they -are told, and believe, that all the money will come from beyond the -sea.” We shall find, in a subsequent chapter, that Wesley’s doubts -respecting the “ways and means” were not unfounded. - -At Keighley, Wesley ascertained that the small society of ten had -increased tenfold. He visited Grimshaw, and preached in Haworth -church. At Halifax, he addressed “a civil, senseless congregation,” -and baptized a Quaker. Meeting with William Darney, who, besides -converting Grimshaw, had been the means of forming a number of -societies among the mountains of Lancashire and Yorkshire, Wesley, -at his request, set out to visit those infant churches, at Roughlee, -Widdap, Stonesey Gate, and other places. While preaching one morning -at five o’clock, near New Church, in Rossendale, one of his hearers -was a young man, then in his twentieth year, who afterwards rose to a -high position,—John Butterworth, for more than fifty years the pastor -of a Baptist church, the author of a valuable concordance to the Holy -Scriptures, and the father of the late Joseph Butterworth, Esq., who -was long a distinguished Methodist in the metropolis, and a member of -the House of Commons. - -From Rossendale, Wesley proceeded to Manchester, where, on the 7th of -May, he preached at Salford cross. Within the last few months, a few -young men had formed themselves into a society, had rented a room, -and written a letter desiring the Wesleys to own them as brethren. -The “room” was a small apartment in a house built upon a rock on the -bank of the Irwell, on the north side of Blackfriars Bridge, at the -bottom of a large yard, known by the name of the “Rose and Crown -yard,” and which was filled with wood built, thatched cottages. The -house, containing the “preaching room” was three storeys high. The -ground floor was a joiner’s shop; the rooms in the middle story were -the residence of a newly married couple; the garret was the “room,” -and was itself also the home of a poor woman, who there plied her -spinning wheel, while her husband, in the same apartment, flung the -shuttle. Christopher Hopper, at one of the Manchester conferences, -referred to this little meeting-house, and said: “In 1749, I preached -in an old garret, that overhung the river, in the neighbourhood of -the old bridge. The coals were in one corner of the room, the looms -in another, and I was in danger of breaking my neck in getting up to -it. The congregation consisted of not more than from twenty to thirty -persons.”[617] Such was the cradle of Manchester Methodism, in 1747. -Wesley says, “their house would not contain a tenth part of the -people,”—and hence he went to Salford cross. - -While at Manchester, Wesley made his first visit to Boothbank. Here -resided John and Alice Crosse. Alice had been a rude, uncultivated -creature, but had a dash of the heroine in her constitution. “John -Crosse,” said she, “wilt thou go to heaven with me? If not, I am -determined not to go to hell with thee.” Her decision was firm and -final, and honest John soon joined her in her journey to the better -land. They now gladly received the servants of God into their dwelling, -a pulpit was fixed in their largest room, a society was formed, and -Alice was made leader. Her endeavours to be useful were indefatigable. -Common beggars were intercepted, warned of their sin and danger, prayed -with, and then relieved. Gentlemen, who came a-hunting, were run after, -and told, in the plainest terms, the consequences of their sinful -doings. On her husband being made a constable, (she having far more -courage than himself) he would send her to the constables’ meetings, -to defend the despised and persecuted Methodists. When disappointed of -a preacher, Alice herself would occupy the pulpit, and, with faithful -energy, declare the truth as it is in Jesus. Though marked with -rusticity, she was, in decision and majesty, a Deborah.[618] “She was,” -says John Pawson, “one of the most zealous, active, spiritually minded -women I ever knew.” She died in 1774, aged sixty-five. Her house, for -generations, was the happy home of Methodist itinerants. Up to a few -years ago, a bootjack, made by John Nelson, at one of his visits, -was carefully preserved by her descendants living in the same farm -dwelling; and on the panes of glass in the window of what was known as -“the prophet’s chamber,” were not a few inscriptions written by the -brave hearted evangelists, who there found a warm welcome. Boothbank -was the loving centre where the first Methodists of Lancashire and -Cheshire used to meet, for friendly counsel, and the old farmhouse -was licensed for preaching before any Methodist chapel was built in -Manchester. Five years after this first visit by Wesley, the first -Cheshire quarterly meeting was held in the humble dwelling of John -and Alice Crosse, when Chester sent, by Jonathan Pritchard, the sum -of twelve shillings; Bolton, by George Eskrick, eight shillings and -twopence; Manchester, by Richard Barlow, two pounds three shillings and -fivepence; while Boothbank itself contributed the not insignificant -sum of ten shillings and elevenpence.[619] Wesley’s description of the -Boothbank congregation, at his first visit, is brief but beautiful,—“a -quiet and loving people.” - -Leaving Boothbank, he proceeded to Mr. Anderton’s, near Northwich. -Here he preached, prayed, and talked for more than two hours, his -rustic congregation being intermixed with “several of the gay and -rich.” Many long years elapsed, however, before Methodist preaching -was established in the town itself, and here, as elsewhere, Methodism -met with brutal persecution. On one occasion, the preacher was pulled -down the street by the hair of his head.[620] On another, John Morris -narrowly escaped being thrown over the bridge into the river.[621] -The mob, encouraged by two young gents of the names of Barrow and -Jeffreys, rejoiced not only in throwing stones, mud, and rotten eggs, -but in dragging the Methodist itinerants into a quagmire, which divided -the townships of Northwich and Witton. One of the first Methodists -here was Isaac Barnes, a seedsman, who was often rolled in the foul -river, and in other respects made to suffer; but his sister once used -a device by which the biters were bitten. While the mob were shouting, -swearing, and throwing stones at the front of her brother’s house, she -quietly heated the poker, and then, letting it cool till its redness -was removed, she rushed into the street, and pretended to strike the -assembled scamps. One seized the poker, but instantly let it go. -Others, in quick succession, did the same; and, in a little while, -the amazon was victorious; by their own act, in seizing the heated -poker, most of the assailants were in burning agony; and the valorous -mob were surprised and scattered. Moses Dale was another of the first -Northwich Methodists,—a poor and plain, but earnest and honest man,—a -class-leader and local preacher, who was once carried round the town -on a butcher’s block, and then set down in the market place, where the -crowd with cow horns blew into his ears till he was almost deafened. -Moses was a man of small ability, but a son of thunder. Once a year, -he made a preaching tour through Derbyshire and Shropshire, and, on -one occasion, preached in the vicarage at Madeley, with his hands on -Fletcher’s shoulders. “Moses,” said some young swells in a chemist’s -shop, “is it true that you know your sins forgiven?” “I am forbidden -to tell you,” quietly replied Moses. “Who forbids you, Moses?” “Jesus -Christ,” said Moses; “look at Matthew vii. 6.” “Surely, Moses, you -don’t compare us to swine?” “No,” quoth Moses, “but the Bible does, and -I have no occasion.” Poor Moses died in 1788. - -From Northwich, Wesley went to Congleton, and Macclesfield, and -Sheffield, and Leeds; and then, turning round, he hurried, by way of -Nottingham and Birmingham, to London, which he reached on the 21st of -May. - -For the last eight years, Wesley had been shut out of the London -churches; but now, to one of them, he was again admitted. The Rev. -Richard Thomas Bateman, a man of high birth and great natural -endowments, was rector of St. Bartholomew’s the Great, in Smithfield, -and also held a living in Wales, where he had been converted under -the powerful ministry of the Rev. Howel Davies.[622] Being converted -himself, he, at once, with great fervour, began to pray and preach for -the conversion of others. - -As soon as Wesley got back to London, Mr. Bateman offered him his -pulpit, and the offer was accepted. The church was crowded to excess. -The churchwardens complained to Bishop Gibson, saying, “My lord, Mr. -Bateman, our rector, invites Mr. Wesley very frequently to preach in -his church.” The bishop replied, “What would you have me do? I have no -right to hinder him. Mr. Wesley is a clergyman, regularly ordained, and -under no ecclesiastical censure;”[623] and so the matter ended. - -From the first, the financial affairs of the London society had been -entrusted to stewards. Hitherto, they had been sixteen in number, -but Wesley now reduced them to seven, to whom he gave a series of -instructions how to regulate their behaviour. They were to hold -meetings every Tuesday and Thursday morning. Every meeting was to -begin and end with prayer. Once a month, their accounts were to be -transcribed into the ledger. Each, in turn, was to be chairman for a -month. Nothing was to be done without the consent of the minister. They -were to be deeply serious. Only one was to speak at once, and he only -just loud enough to make himself heard. They were to avoid all clamour -and contention. If they could not relieve the poor who came, they were -not to grieve them. They were to give them soft words, if nothing else; -and to make them glad to come, even though they had to go away empty. A -steward breaking any of these rules, after being thrice admonished by -the chairman, was to be deposed from office. - -It may be asked whence the stewards obtained their funds. The answer -is, that, for more than forty years, all the money collected in the -London classes was put into the hands of these officials, and was -distributed in relieving the necessities of the poor. Not a shilling -seems to have been spent upon the preachers’ salaries.[624] - -Visiting the sick, and the opening of the dispensary, have been already -noticed. But, besides these, there were connected with the old Foundery -other expensive and valuable institutions. Two small houses were taken -and fitted up for the reception of needy and deserving widows, for the -support of whom the collections at the sacraments and the contributions -of the bands were given. In 1748, Wesley writes: “In this (commonly -called the poor-house) we have now nine widows, one blind woman, two -poor children, and two upper servants, a maid and a man. I might add, -four or five preachers; for I myself, as well as the other preachers -who are in town, diet with the poor, on the same food, and at the same -table; and we rejoice herein, as a comfortable earnest of our eating -bread together in our Father’s kingdom.”[625] - -Then there was a school with two masters, and about sixty children, -a few of whom paid for their tuition, but the greater part, being -extremely poor, were taught and even clothed gratuitously. The rules -were characteristic, but some of them exceedingly absurd. No child -was to be admitted under the age of six. All the children were to -be present every morning at the five o’clock preaching. The school -hours were from six to twelve, and from one to five. No holidays were -granted. No child was to speak in school, but to the masters; and any -child who was absent two days in one week, without leave, was to be -excluded. The education consisted of reading, writing, and arithmetic. -Two stewards were appointed to receive subscriptions and to pay -expenses; and also to pray with and exhort the children twice a week; -and to meet the parents every Wednesday morning, and give them counsels -how to train their children when at home.[626] - -Then there was a lending society. Observing that people often needed -small sums of money, but knew not where to borrow them, Wesley went -from one end of London to the other, and, in a few days, begged £50. -This was lodged in the hands of stewards, who attended every Tuesday -morning for the purpose of lending to those who wanted any small -amount, not exceeding twenty shillings, on condition that the loan -should be repaid within three months. Wesley writes: “It is almost -incredible, but, with this inconsiderable sum, two hundred and fifty -have been assisted within the year 1747. Will not God put it into the -heart of some lover of mankind to increase this little stock? If this -is not lending unto the Lord, what is?”[627] - -The stock was increased. At the commencement of 1748, Wesley made -a public collection for the same object, and by this and by other -means the capital was raised, in 1767, to £120,[628] after which -the maximum loan was altered from one pound to five.[629] Hundreds -of the honest poor were greatly assisted by this benevolent device; -and, among others, the well known Lackington, who about the year 1774 -was penniless, but who, by the help of Wesley’s fund, began a book -business, which grew to such immense dimensions, that, eighteen years -afterwards, its annual sales were more than a hundred thousand volumes, -from which Lackington, the quondam cobbler, realised the noble income -of £5000 a year. - -Such were the benevolent institutions connected with the Foundery in -1747. Wesley was often accused of making himself rich. In reply to -this, in 1748, he sarcastically remarks:—“Some have supposed my revenue -was no greater than that of the Bishop of London. Others have computed, -that I receive £800 a year from Yorkshire only. If so, it cannot -be so little as £10,000 a year which I receive out of all England! -Accordingly, the rector of Redruth extends the calculation pretty -considerably. ‘Let me see,’ said he; ‘two millions of Methodists, and -each of these paying twopence a week.’ If so, I must have £860,000, -with some odd shillings and pence, a year! A tolerable competence! But -be it more or less, it is nothing at all to me. All that is contributed -or collected, in every place, is both received and expended by others; -nor have I so much as the ‘beholding thereof with my eyes.’ And so it -will be, till I turn Turk or pagan. For I look upon all this revenue, -be it what it may, as sacred to God and the poor; out of which, if -I want anything, I am relieved, even as another poor man. So were -originally all ecclesiastical revenues, as every man of learning knows; -and the bishops and priests used them only as such. If any use them -otherwise now, God help them!”[630] - -The conference of 1747 began on the 15th of June, and ended on the -20th. This was the largest yet held. Six clergymen were present, -namely, John and Charles Wesley, Charles Manning, Richard Thomas -Bateman, Henry Piers, and Vincent Perronet; also Howel Harris; and nine -preachers, John Jones, Thomas Maxfield, Jonathan Reeves, John Nelson, -John Bennet, John Downes, Robert Swindells, John Maddern, and Thomas -Crouch, the last mentioned being a local preacher only.[631] - -Two doctrines were discussed at the conference of 1747; first, whether -a Divine assurance of the forgiveness of sins is an essential part -of justifying faith; and secondly, whether entire sanctification is -attainable in the present life. It was inquired, “Is justifying faith -a Divine assurance that Christ loved _me_, and gave Himself for _me_?” -Answer: “We believe it is.”[632] This was unguarded language, and John -Wesley soon felt it so. A month later, he seems to have examined the -subject more closely, and wrote to his brother Charles as follows:— - - “Yesterday I was thinking on a _desideratum_ among us, a - _genesis problematica_ on justifying faith. A skeleton of it, I - have roughly set down. - - “Is justifying faith a sense of pardon? _Negatur._ - - “By justifying faith, I mean, that faith, which whosoever hath - not is under the wrath and curse of God. By a sense of pardon, - I mean, a distinct, explicit assurance, that my sins are - forgiven. - - “I allow (1) That there is such an explicit assurance. (2) That - it is the common privilege of real Christians. (3) That it - is the proper Christian faith, which purifies the heart, and - overcomes the world. - - “But I cannot allow, that justifying faith is such an - assurance, or necessarily connected therewith. - - “Because, if justifying faith necessarily implies such an - explicit assurance of pardon, then every one who has it not, - and every one so long as he has it not, is under the wrath and - curse of God. But this is a supposition contrary to Scripture - and to experience (Isa. l. 10, and Acts x. 34). - - “Again, the assertion, that justifying faith is a sense of - pardon, is contrary to reason; it is flatly absurd. For how can - a sense of our having received pardon be the condition of our - receiving it? - - “If you object, ‘We know fifteen hundred persons who have - this assurance.’ Perhaps so, but this does not prove that - they were not justified till they received it. 2. ‘We have - been exceedingly blessed in preaching this doctrine.’ We have - been blessed in preaching the great truths of the gospel; - although we tacked to them, in the simplicity of our hearts, - a proposition which was not true. 3. ‘But does not our Church - give this account of justifying faith?’ I am sure she does of - saving or Christian faith; I think she does of justifying faith - too. But to the law and testimony. All men may err: but the - word of the Lord shall stand for ever.”[633] - -This seems to clash with Wesley’s previously expressed sentiments, and, -in 1809, there was a somewhat bitter controversy on the subject between -the Rev. Melville Horne and the Rev. Edward Hare and others. Suffice it -to say here, that the definition of faith in the Church of England’s -homily on salvation, which Wesley had been wont to quote, was rather -a definition of the _habitual_ faith of a justified man, than of the -_act_ by which a sinner is first justified and saved.[634] Wesley held -this corrected view to the end of life. - -As it respects the second question raised at the conference of 1747, -it was allowed—(1) That many of those who have died in the faith were -not made “perfect in love” till a little before death; (2) that the -term “sanctified” is continually applied by St. Paul to all that are -justified, but that, by this term _alone_, he rarely, if ever, means -saved from all sin, and consequently, it is improper to use it in such -a sense without adding the word “wholly” or “entirely”; and (3) that -the inspired writers very rarely speak either of, or to those who -are wholly sanctified, and that therefore it behoves us, in public -at least, rarely to speak, in full and explicit terms, concerning -entire sanctification. Having conceded such points (which may sound -strangely in the ears of some at the present day), the Conference -proceeds to show most conclusively, from numerous texts of Scripture, -that believers ought to expect to be saved from all sin, previous to -death; but exhorts such as have attained to this state of grace not to -speak of it to those who know not God, nor indeed to any without some -particular reason, without some particular good in view, and even then -to have an especial care to avoid all appearance of boasting, and to -speak more loudly and convincingly by their lives, than they can do by -their tongues. - -The remainder of the conference sittings were principally occupied -in determining miscellaneous matters. The right of private judgment -was enforced. All agreed to read, before the next conference, all the -tracts which had been published by Wesley, and to mark every passage -which they considered to be wrong or dubious. It was ruled, that the -Methodists were not schismatics, any more than they were rebels or -murderers. It was agreed that they had been too limited in their field -preaching; and that they had paid “respect to persons,” by devoting -more of their time to the rich than to the poor, by not speaking to -them so plain as to the others, and by admitting them into the society -and bands, though they had never received remission of sins, nor met -in any band at all. Precautions were to be employed in keeping from -the Lord’s table unworthy communicants, first, by exercising more care -in admitting members into the society, and secondly, by giving notes -to none but those who applied for them on the days appointed in each -quarter. Wesley’s “assistants” were now twenty-two in number. The names -of thirty-eight local preachers are given, including a number, who, to -some extent, were already labouring as itinerants. - -Who can fail to admire the simple, honest earnestness of these early -conclaves of godly Methodists?—men, without preconceived ideas, -desiring above all things to ascertain what is truth, and to adopt -the most useful plans in spreading it? “In our first conference,” say -they, “it was agreed to examine every point from the foundation. Have -we not been somewhat fearful in doing this? What were we afraid of? -Of overturning our first principles? Whoever was afraid of this, it -was a vain fear. For if they are true, they will bear the strictest -examination. If they are false, the sooner they are overturned the -better. Let us all pray for a willingness to receive light; an -invariable desire to know of every doctrine, whether it be of God.” Men -animated by such a principle were sure to have happy meetings, and were -not likely to go far astray. - -On the Sunday after the conference ended, Wesley set out for Cornwall. -It was the eve of a parliamentary election, and, at Exeter, while his -clothes were being dried, he wrote “A Word to a Freeholder;” and, -at St. Ives, so successfully warned the Methodists against bribery, -that, though sorely tempted, “not one of them would even eat or drink -at the expense of the candidate for whom they voted.” At Plymouth, a -lieutenant with his retinue of soldiers, drummers, and a mob, came to -make disturbance. At St. Agnes, the rabble threw dirt and clods; and -Mr. Shepherd’s horse, taking fright, leaped over a man who was stooping -down, the poor fellow screaming most lustily, but escaping unhurt. -Here another man, learning that Wesley was about to preach, said, “If -he does, I’ll stone him,” and forthwith began to fill his pockets with -the needful missiles. He reached the spot. Wesley took his text, “He -that is without sin among you, let him first cast a stone at her.” -The man’s courage failed him, stone after stone stealthily dropped -from his well filled pockets, and he went away with the impression -that the preacher was something wonderful.[635] At Sithney, Wesley met -the stewards of all the Cornish societies, and found that there were -eighteen exhorters in the county; that three of these had no gifts -at all for the work, neither natural nor supernatural; that a fourth -had neither gifts nor grace, but was a dull, empty, self conceited -man; and that a fifth had considerable gifts, but had evidently made -shipwreck of the grace of God. These, therefore, he set aside, and -advised the societies not to hear them. The remaining thirteen were -to preach when there was no preacher in their own or the neighbouring -societies, provided that they would take no step without the advice of -those who had more experience than themselves. At Newlyn, where Peter -Jaco had been recently converted,[636] some poor wretches of Penzance -began cursing and swearing, and thrust Wesley down the bank on which -he was preaching. At Port Isaac, the mob hallooed and shouted, but -none except the captain lifted up his hand to strike. At Camelford, a -large train attended him, but only one stone struck him. At Terdinny, -the parson affirmed publicly in his church, that Wesley’s errand was -to obtain a hundred pounds, which must be raised directly. These were -the unpleasantnesses of his journey; but, upon the whole, his visit -was happy and successful; and, almost in every place, he found the -good work prospering, as the following letter to his friend Ebenezer -Blackwell shows:— - - “ST. IVES, _July 10, 1747_. - - “DEAR SIR,—A great and effectual door is opened now, almost in - every corner of this country. There is such a change within - these two years as has hardly been seen in any other part of - England. Wherever we went, we used to carry our lives in our - hands; and now there is not a dog to wag his tongue. Several - ministers are clearly convinced of the truth; few are bitter; - most seem to stand neuter. Some of the gentlemen (so called) - are almost the only opposers now; drinking, revelling, cursing, - swearing gentlemen, who neither will enter into the kingdom of - heaven themselves, nor suffer any others, if they can hinder - it. The most violent Jacobites among these are continually - crying out that we are bringing the Pretender; and some of - these worthy men bear his majesty’s commission, as justices of - the peace. - - “I am, dear sir, - “Your affectionate servant, - “JOHN WESLEY.”[637] - -Wesley got back to Bristol on August 1, and, three days afterwards, set -out for Ireland. - -Poor Ireland! Even then, Ireland was England’s greatest difficulty. -A hundred years had elapsed since the bloody rebellion of 1641; and -more than half a century had passed since King William’s victory at -the battle of the Boyne. Irish parliaments, during the reign of Anne, -and the first and second Georges, had riveted and extended the penal -laws against papists. Ireland was in a state of torpid tranquillity—a -slumbering volcano, stirred only by apprehensions of internal -commotion, or by the agitation of partisan quarrels between the rival -factions of court and country. The massacre of 1641, and the sanguinary -persecution in the reign of the bigoted James II., were still fresh -in the recollection of Protestants, and heightened their animosity to -the utmost; while, on the other hand, discomfitures and disasters, -penal laws and legalized oppression, rendered the hatred of the papists -virulent beyond example. Irritating and maddening circumstances -fomented, on both sides, the most rancorous malignity: protestantism -was triumphant, and an imperious papacy in a degrading bondage. - -In England, Moravianism was the pioneer of Methodism; and so it was in -Ireland. In 1745, an English soldier in Dublin formed a small society -of pious people, and began to preach to them. Just at this juncture, -Benjamin La Trobe, a young student in connection with the Baptists, -having finished his studies at the university of Glasgow, came to -Dublin, and became the leader of the little band, gathered together by -the soldier’s exertions, thirty of whom already belonged to different -religious churches. In the same year, John Cennick withdrew himself -from Whitefield’s connexion, and transferred all the societies that he -had been the means of forming, to the care of the Moravians, while -he himself became a Moravian minister. At the request of the society, -organised by the soldier, and now presided over by Benjamin La Trobe, -John Cennick came to Dublin in June, 1746, and began to preach in -a chapel in Skinner’s Alley, which the society had hired from the -Baptists. The place was soon crowded with hearers, and the society -increased to about five hundred members. - -Soon after this, Cennick had to attend a Moravian synod in Germany. -During his absence, Thomas Williams, one of Wesley’s itinerants, came -to Dublin. Williams was a man of attractive appearance, pleasing -manners, and good address. Holmes, in his “History of the United -Brethren,” says that Williams prevailed on several members of the -society to leave the Moravians and join the Methodists, and we -have no authority to deny the statement. It may be true, or it may -be otherwise. Certain it is, that, by some means, Williams formed -a separate society, and in a few weeks wrote to Wesley,[638] who -determined to visit Ireland without delay. The results of this were -vastly important. Forty-two times Wesley crossed the Irish Channel, -and spent, in his different visits, at least half-a-dozen years of -his laborious life in the emerald isle. Ireland yielded him some of -the most eminent of his coadjutors—Thomas Walsh, Adam Clarke, Henry -Moore, and others; and Irishmen were ordained by Providence to found -Methodism, or to aid in founding it, in the North American British -provinces, in the West Indies, in Africa, in India, and in Australia. - -Wesley landed in Dublin Bay on Sunday morning, August 9. His host -was Mr. Lunell, a banker,[639] who afterwards gave £400 towards the -erection of the Methodist chapel in Whitefriar Street.[640] - -On the day of his landing, Wesley preached, in St. Mary’s church, to -“as gay and senseless a congregation as he ever saw.” Next morning he -met Thomas Williams’s society at five; and at six preached in the large -room, which was not large enough to contain the congregation. He then -went to Mr. R——, the curate of St. Mary’s, who “professed abundance -of goodwill,” and commended Wesley’s sermon; but “expressed the most -rooted prejudice against lay preachers, or preaching out of a church; -and said, ‘the Archbishop of Dublin was resolved to suffer no such -irregularities in his diocese.’” - -The day after, Wesley waited on the archbishop; spent above two hours -in conversation with his grace; and answered abundance of objections. - -Meanwhile, Wesley and John Trembath (who was with him) continued -preaching in a chapel, originally designed for a Lutheran church, which -would accommodate about four hundred people. This was in Marlborough -Street,[641] and was crowded with poor and rich, and ministers of every -denomination. Wesley devoted every morning to an explanation of the -rules of the Methodist societies, and preached twice a day to many more -than the meeting-house would hold. Four days after his arrival, he -wrote as follows, to his friend Mr. Ebenezer Blackwell:— - - “I have found a home in this strange land. I am at Mr. Lunell’s - just as at the Foundery; only, that I have not such attendance - here; for I meet the people at another part of the town. For - natural sweetness of temper, for courtesy and hospitality, - I have never seen any people like the Irish. Indeed, all I - converse with are only English transplanted into another soil; - and they are much mended by the removal, having left all their - roughness and surliness behind them. They receive the word of - God with all gladness and readiness of mind. The danger is, - that it should not take deep root, that it should be as seed - falling on stony ground. - - Mr. Lunell and his family desire their best respects to Mrs. - Blackwell and you. His daughter can rejoice in God her Saviour. - They propose to spend the winter in England.”[642] - -Saturday, August 15, Wesley arranged to see, at Mr. Lunell’s, all who -wished to speak with him. He writes: “I found scarce any Irish among -them. At least ninety-nine in a hundred of the native Irish remain in -the religion of their forefathers. The Protestants, whether in Dublin -or elsewhere, are almost all transplanted lately from England. Nor is -it any wonder, that those who are born papists generally live and die -such, when the protestants can find no better ways to convert them than -penal laws and acts of parliament.” - -He ascertained, by personal examination, that the Dublin society, -formed by Williams, consisted of about two hundred and eighty members, -“many of whom appeared to be strong in faith.” Mr. La Trobe, the -Moravian preacher, took alarm; read to his congregation the “Short View -of the Difference between the Moravians,” etc.; and gave utterance to -“bitter words”; but this did service to the Methodists rather than -otherwise. - -After spending exactly a fortnight in Dublin, Wesley returned to -England, and was succeeded by his brother Charles, who arrived on -September 9, with Charles Perronet as his companion. - -During the fortnight which had elapsed since Wesley left, a mob had -broken into the Marlborough Street chapel, and destroyed all before -them; goods of a considerable value had been stolen; the pulpit and -benches had been burnt openly in the street, and several of the -Methodists beaten with shillalahs. Charles found that a new nickname -had been given to the poor Methodists. John Cennick, in his zeal -against popish idolatry, had said, “I curse and blaspheme all the -gods in heaven, but the Babe that lay in Mary’s lap, the Babe that -lay in swaddling clouts”; and, because of that, the populace called -him “swaddling John,” and the Methodists “Swaddlers.” The Methodists -were now without a meeting-house, and Charles Wesley, at the peril -of his life, regularly preached on Oxmanton Green; but, within a -month, he bought a house near Dolphin’s Barn, the whole ground floor -of which was a weaver’s workshop.[643] He writes on October 10, to -Mr. Blackwell:—“At my first coming here, we were so persecuted, that -no one in Dublin would venture to let us a house or a room; but now -their hearts are turned, and we have the offer of several convenient -places.”[644] And, in another letter, to his brother, dated October 9, -he remarks, that he must either buy the house near Dolphin’s Barn, or -get some other lodgings, or take his flight. “_Here_ I can stay no -longer. A family of squalling children, a landlady just ready to lie -in, a maid who has no time to do the least thing for us, are some of -our inconveniences. Our two rooms for four people allow no opportunity -for four people. Charles Perronet and I groan for elbow room in our -press-bed; our diet is answerable to our lodgings; we have no one to -mend our clothes and stockings, and no money to buy more.”[645] Under -such circumstances, the weaver’s shop was turned into a preaching -house, and the rooms above it used as the Dublin home of the two -Wesleys and their itinerants. Charles Wesley opened the “New House” on -October 25, “by preaching to a great multitude within and without”; -and, though he preached not fewer than five times during the day, and -also attended a three hours’ service at St. Patrick’s, he “was as -fresh” at night as he was when he commenced his labour in the morning. -The Dublin society contributed upwards of £70 towards the expenses; -Charles Wesley remained more than six months as their devoted minister; -and Methodism in Ireland was fairly started.[646] Wesley also gave the -Irish Methodists a hymn-book of 336 pages, entitled “Hymns and Sacred -Poems. Dublin: printed in the year 1747.” The hymns were 246 in number, -and embodied much of the Methodist history of the past eight years; -but, with this brief notice, we must leave them. - -On his return to England, at the end of August, Wesley made his way -from Holyhead to Bristol, preaching in streets, in churchyards, on -tombstones, in meadows, in castle yards, and wherever he had a chance. -At Cardiff, he found the society filled with vain janglings, by J. -Prosser, “an honest, well meaning man; but no more qualified, either by -nature or grace, to expound Scripture, than to read lectures in logic -or algebra.” - -Hurrying up to London, which he reached on September 11, he recommenced -his ministry in Moorfields, and declares, that, excepting that at -West Street, he knew no congregation in London so serious as this. -He made brief visits to Shoreham, Newington, and Lewisham, where he -employed himself in writing. He examined the London classes, “and -every person severally, touching that bane of religion, evil speaking.” -He witnessed some happy deaths; among others that of Mrs. Witham, “an -eminent pattern of calm boldness for the truth; of simplicity and godly -sincerity; of zeal for God, and for all good works; and of self denial -in every kind.” He advised his preachers, and wrote to one of them as -follows:—“In public preaching, speak not one word against opinions of -any kind. We are not to fight against notions, but sins. Least of all -should I advise you once to open your lips against predestination. It -would do more mischief than you are aware of. Keep to our one point, -present inward salvation by faith, by the Divine evidence of sins -forgiven.”[647] - -Having spent eleven weeks in London and its vicinity, he set out, on -November 30, for Bristol, calling at Salisbury on his way. Five weeks -before, Westley Hall, the base husband of his sister Martha, had -infamously deserted his wife and family. The following is an _extract_ -from a letter published in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_.[648] Some parts -of the letter are so grossly filthy that it would be a pollution to -insert them. - - “SALISBURY, _October 30, 1747_. - - “There have been, for some years past, a considerable number - of Methodists in this city, who were at first collected, and - have since continued under the guidance of Mr. Hall, as their - minister. This man, by an uncommon appearance of sanctity, - joined with indefatigable labour in field and house preaching, - drew multitudes of the meaner sort, both of Dissenters and - the Established Church, to attend him. And, though he has - continually advanced the grossest absurdities, both in his - preaching and writings, yet he has so bewitched his followers, - that his words had greater weight with them than the words of - Christ and His apostles. - - “Many sober and judicious persons have often expressed their - fears, that the nocturnal meetings held at his house were - scenes of debauchery; for, now and then, a bastard child was - brought into the world by some of his female devotees.... Last - Wednesday, he took formal leave of his corrupted flock, and had - the impudence to justify his infamous conduct from the case - of Elkanah (1 Sam. i. 1, 2), which he largely expounded. On - Friday morning he set out for London, having first stripped his - wife (a virtuous woman by whom he has had several children) of - all her childbed linen, and whatever he could readily convert - into money, leaving her in the deepest distress. The fire of - jealousy has broken out in many families, where _wives_ or - _daughters_ were his followers.” - -Wesley reached the desolate home of his poor sister on December 1, and -wrote:— - - “From the concurring accounts of many witnesses, who spoke no - more than they personally knew, I now learned as much as is - hitherto brought to light concerning the fall of poor Mr. Hall. - Twelve years ago, he was, without question, filled with faith - and the love of God. He was a pattern of humility, meekness, - seriousness, and above all, of self denial; so that in all - England I knew not his fellow. It were easy to point out the - several steps, whereby he fell from his steadfastness; even - till he fell into a course of adultery, yea, and avowed it in - the face of the sun!” - -Wesley spent two days with his unhappy sister, and then says: “I -took my leave of this uncomfortable place, and set out for Bristol.” -Two months later, he returned to Salisbury to see the poor miserable -wretch; but he was refused admittance, and his sister also was shut out -of doors. - -Nothing now remains, except to notice Wesley’s publications during -1747. The Dublin hymn-book has been mentioned. The others were the -following:— - -1. “A Word to a Protestant.” 12mo, 16 pages. - -2. “A Word to a Freeholder.” 12mo, four pages. This, as already stated, -was written at Exeter, while halting on a journey, and on the eve of a -parliamentary election. - -3. “A Letter to the Right Reverend the Lord Bishop of London; -occasioned by his lordship’s late charge to his clergy.” 12mo, 32 -pages. Wesley replies to the bishop’s accusations, and concludes thus:— - - “Our one aim is, to proselyte sinners to repentance. If this be - not done, we will stand condemned; not as well meaning fools, - but as devils incarnate; but if it be, then, my lord, neither - you nor any man beside, can oppose and fortify people against - us, without being found even to fight against God. There are, - in and near Moorfields, ten thousand poor souls, for whom - Christ died, rushing headlong into hell. Is Dr. Bulkeley, the - parochial minister, both willing and able to stop them? If so, - let it be done, and I have no place in these parts. I go, and - call other sinners to repentance. But if, after all that he - has done, and all he can do, they are still in the broad way - to destruction, let me see if God will put a word even in my - mouth. My lord, the time is short. I am past the noon of life. - Your lordship is old and full of days, having passed the usual - age of man.[649] It cannot therefore be long before we shall - both stand naked before God. Will you then rejoice in your - success in opposing our doctrine? The Lord God grant it may not - be said in that hour, ‘These have perished in their iniquity; - but their blood I require at thy hands.’—I am, your lordship’s - dutiful son and servant, - - “JOHN WESLEY.” - -Appended to the letter is a magnificent hymn, of nine twelve lined -stanzas, expressive of a calm and firm determination still to -persevere, at all hazards, in preaching the gospel of his great -Master.[650] - -4. “Lessons for Children.” Part II., 12mo, 108 pages. The lessons are -fifty-four in number, and consist of Scripture selections, from the -time of the Israelites passing over Jordan to the reign of Hezekiah. - -5. “Primitive Physic; or an easy and natural Method of curing most -Diseases.” 12mo, 119 pages. The publication of this remarkable book -arose out of the great success of Wesley’s dispensary, opened in 1746. -At the time of his death, it had reached its twenty-third edition.[651] -It has often been ridiculed; but perhaps unwisely. The Rev. Samuel -Romilly Hall remarks:—“A medical gentleman of Leeds, reputed as -eminently intelligent and skilful in his profession, has declared -to me, that the unfriendly criticisms, so freely given on Wesley’s -‘Primitive Physic,’ are altogether unwarrantable. He affirms, that, -judged of in comparison with other non-professional works of the same -class, and of the same date, the ‘Primitive Physic’ is incomparably -superior to anything that he knows.”[652] - -Besides, those who laugh at Wesley’s “Primitive Physic” ought to -remember:—(1) At no remote period from Wesley’s day, it was not unusual -for Christian ministers to practise medicine. (2) Wesley says, “For six -and twenty years, I had made anatomy and physic the diversion of my -leisure hours.” (3) Wesley was not a quack. “I took,” says he, “into my -assistance an apothecary, and an experienced surgeon.” - -It is a remarkable incident, that the medical profession, so generally -impatient of medical empirics, allowed Wesley’s work to circulate for -nearly thirty years before any of their honourable fraternity deigned -to notice or denounce it. In 1776, an octavo pamphlet of 83 pages -was published with the following title:—“An Examination of the Rev. -Mr. John Wesley’s Primitive Physic; showing that a great number of -the prescriptions therein contained are founded on ignorance of the -medical art, and of the power and operations of medicine; and, that -it is a publication calculated to do essential injury to the health -of those persons who may place confidence in it. By W. Hawes, M.D.” -Of the medical merits of this production we have no ability to judge. -In many instances, it is in the highest degree ironical; though its -author affirms, he was totally unknown to Wesley, and had no personal -animosity against him. Dr. Hawes was unquestionably a man of great -eminence in his profession; but he is chiefly known as the founder of -the Humane Society, thirty of whose managers and directors attended his -funeral in 1808. - -Before closing the present chapter of Wesley’s history, it must be -added, that, about the same time that his “Primitive Physic” was -given to the public, he also issued a small pamphlet, at the price of -twopence, entitled “Receipts for the Use of the Poor”; but as these -were extracted from the former publication no further notice is needed. - - - - -FOOTNOTES: - -[1] These statistics have been compiled by the author, who has -carefully examined the plans of all the English circuits for the year -1864. - -[2] Horace Mann’s “Census.” - -[3] _Methodist Magazine_, 1856, p. 335. - -[4] Stevens’ “Centenary of American Methodism.” - -[5] To prevent confusion, the reader is reminded that in 1751 the old -English calendar was set aside, and that introduced by Pope Gregory -XIII., in 1582, substituted in its place. This was done by act of -Parliament for the purpose of harmonizing the computation of time -in England with that of the rest of Europe. In consequence of this -alteration, the anniversary of Wesley’s birth, since 1752, has been, -not the 17th, but the 28th of June. - -[6] See Crowther’s “Portraiture of Methodism.” - -[7] Clarke’s “Wesley Family,” vol. ii., p. 321. - -[8] Benson’s “Apology,” p. 1. - -[9] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 92. - -[10] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 116. - -[11] The following is a memorandum in Wesley’s own handwriting:—“Joan. -Westley ad nominat. ducis de Bucks admiss. in fundat. Carthus. 28 Jan. -1713–14.—— ad Univ. 24 June, 1720.” - -[12] A Letter to the Rev. T. Coke, LL.D., and Mr. H. Moore, by “An Old -Member of Society.” - -[13] Andrew Tooke was only usher of the school during Wesley’s -residence. The master was Dr. Thomas Walker. Tooke succeeded to the -mastership at Walker’s death, in 1728. (See Carlisle’s “Concise -Description of the Endowed Schools in England.”) - -[14] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 92. - -[15] Letters published by Priestley. - -[16] Original letters in _Wesleyan Times_, 1866. - -[17] Manuscript letter. - -[18] _Methodist Magazine_, 1784, p. 606. - -[19] See “Life and Times of Rev. S. Wesley,” p. 251. - -[20] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 117. - -[21] A story is told by the Rev. John Reynolds, in his “Anecdotes -of Wesley,” p. 8, to the effect that Wesley was deeply moved while -at Oxford, by an odd interview which he had with the porter of his -college. This man late one evening went to the young collegian’s room, -and said he wished to talk with him. After a little pleasantry, Wesley -told him to go home and get another coat. The porter replied, “This -is the only coat I have in the world, and I thank God for it.” Wesley -said, “Go home, and get your supper.” The man responded, “I have had -nothing to-day but a drink of water, and I thank God for that.” Wesley -remarked, “It is late, and you will be locked out, and then what will -you have to thank God for?” “I will thank Him,” replied the porter, -“that I have the dry stones to lie upon.” “John,” said Wesley, “you -thank God when you have nothing to wear, nothing to eat, and no bed -to lie upon. What else do you thank Him for?” “I thank Him,” returned -the poor fellow, “that He has given me life and being; and a heart to -love Him, and a desire to serve Him.” Reynolds says this was related -by Wesley himself, and that the interview made a lasting impression on -Wesley’s mind, and convinced him there was something in religion to -which he was as yet a stranger. - -[22] _Wesleyan Times_, Jan. 29, 1866. - -[23] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., p. 382. - -[24] Wesley’s Works, vol i., p. 341. - -[25] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol i., p. 118. - -[26] “Life and Times of S. Wesley,” p. 390. - -[27] Only a part of this letter has been heretofore published. - -[28] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 359. - -[29] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 93. - -[30] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 8. - -[31] Ibid. vol. vi., p. 425. - -[32] A mistake for 1725. - -[33] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii. p. 202, and vol. xi., p. 351. - -[34] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 351. - -[35] See “Life and Times of S. Wesley,” p. 394. - -[36] See letter dated July 18, 1725, in _Wesleyan Times_ of April 23, -1866. - -[37] Mrs. Wesley here seems to use the word “repentance” in the sense -of regeneration. - -[38] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 129. - -[39] “Life and Times of S. Wesley,” p. 395. - -[40] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 176. - -[41] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., p. 420. - -[42] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 425. - -[43] Lincoln College consisted of a rector, twelve fellows, two -chaplains, etc. The students numbered about fifty. The Bishop of -Lincoln was visitor. The room occupied by Wesley is still designated -“Wesley’s room,” and a vine creeping round its window is called -“Wesley’s vine.” - -[44] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 136. - -[45] Dr. Morley was rector of Lincoln College. He was elected July -18th, 1719, and died at his rectory of Scotton, near Gainsborough, June -12th, 1731. He used great influence in procuring Wesley his fellowship. - -[46] “Life and Times of S. Wesley,” p. 399. - -[47] Letters published by Priestley, p. 2. - -[48] Ibid. p. 8. - -[49] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 403. - -[50] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 141. - -[51] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 407. - -[52] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 9. - -[53] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 334. - -[54] See _Wesleyan Times_, Feb. 26, 1866. - -[55] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 93. - -[56] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 284. - -[57] It is a remarkable fact that Law’s “Serious Call” produced a -similar effect on Dr. Johnson. “When at Oxford,” says Johnson, “I took -it up expecting to find it a dull book, and perhaps to laugh at it. -But I found Law quite an over-match for me; and this was the first -occasion of my thinking in earnest of religion after I became capable -of religious inquiry.” - -[58] Ibid., vol. xi., p. 352. - -[59] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 108. - -[60] Ibid. vol. x., p. 387, and vol. xiii., p. 387. - -[61] Wesley’s Works, vol. vi., p. 447. - -[62] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 10. - -[63] _Methodist Magazine_, 1798, p. 505. - -[64] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 450. - -[65] Ibid. vol. iii., p. 340. - -[66] “Poems, by S. Wesley.” - -[67] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 413. - -[68] _North British Review_, 1847. - -[69] Rawlinson’s Continuation of Wood’s “Athenæ Oxoniensis.” - -[70] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 402. - -[71] Ibid. vol. ix., p. 124. - -[72] Ibid. vol. viii., p. 334. - -[73] For want of space, the writer, with great reluctance, has been -compelled to omit a long biographical chapter respecting these first -Oxford Methodists. If life be spared, however, the details, in an -expanded form, may be published hereafter. Such a book would serve as a -companion volume to the present publication. - -[74] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 402. - -[75] _Methodist Magazine_, 1832, p. 793. - -[76] The notes of their proceedings, in Wesley’s handwriting, still -exist, in a small 18mo volume, possessed by the family of the late Rev. -Dr. Adam Clarke. (See Catalogue of Dr. Clarke’s MSS., p. 93.) - -[77] _Methodist Magazine_, 1798, p. 118, etc. - -[78] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 20. - -[79] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 34. - -[80] Ibid. vol. vii., p. 65. - -[81] Ibid. vol. xi., p. 352. - -[82] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 82. - -[83] Ibid. vol. xi., p. 498. - -[84] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 288; also, _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 319. - -[85] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 193. - -[86] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., pp. 334, 487. - -[87] Benson’s “Apology,” p. 25. - -[88] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 169. - -[89] Original letter in _Wesleyan Times_, May 12, 1866. - -[90] See “Autobiography of Mrs. Delany.” - -[91] Ibid. vol. i., p. 40. - -[92] See original letter, _Wesleyan Times_, May 28, 1866. - -[93] “Autobiography of Mrs. Delany,” vol. i., p. 269. - -[94] _Methodist Magazine_, 1863, p. 134, etc. - -[95] “Autobiography of Mrs. Delany,” vol. i., p. 343. - -[96] Ibid. p. 410. - -[97] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. i., p. 11. - -[98] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., pp. 6, 11. - -[99] _Methodist Magazine_, 1850, p. 1064. - -[100] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 94. - -[101] _Methodist Magazine_, 1787, p. 229, etc. - -[102] Ibid. 1844, p. 818. - -[103] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 12. - -[104] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 288. - -[105] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., pp. 190, 191. - -[106] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 194. - -[107] The text was Romans ii. 29; and the title of the sermon, “The -Circumcision of the Heart.” - -[108] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., 202. - -[109] Wesley’s Works, vol. v., p. 190. - -[110] _Methodist Magazine_, 1798, p. 607. - -[111] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 204. - -[112] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 7. - -[113] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 14. - -[114] See original letter in _Wesleyan Times_, Oct. 1, 1866. - -[115] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 288; and Brown’s “Memoirs of -Hervey,” p. 2. - -[116] _Wesleyan Times_, April 8, 1861. - -[117] _Methodist Magazine_, 1848, p. 892. - -[118] “Life and Times of S. Wesley,” p. 441. - -[119] Priestley’s Letters, p. 44. - -[120] Ibid. p. 48. - -[121] Priestley’s Letters, p. 21. - -[122] Priestley’s Letters, p. 17. - -[123] _Wesleyan Times_, Jan. 14, 1866. - -[124] Priestley’s Letters, p. 16. - -[125] Benson’s “Apology,” pp. 30–32. - -[126] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 208. - -[127] Priestley’s Letters, p. 18. - -[128] Priestley’s Letters, p. 20. - -[129] Ibid. p. 43. - -[130] Ibid. p. 45. - -[131] Ibid. p. 47. - -[132] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 23. - -[133] Whitefield’s Life, 1756, p. 25. - -[134] The writer is perfectly aware that Wesley states (Wesley’s -Works, vol. xiii., p. 386) that he continued in his purpose to live -and die at Oxford till Dr. Burton pressed him to go to Georgia. This -is a fair objection; but the reader will do well to remember that -the above statement was made by Wesley in the year 1785; and that it -is only reasonable to suppose that Wesley, at the moment, forgot his -correspondence with Broughton fifty years previous. - -[135] Wesley’s Works, vol xiii., p. 288. - -[136] Whitefield’s Life, 1756. - -[137] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 446. - -[138] _Methodist Magazine_, 1798, p. 439. - -[139] “Memoirs of Hutton.” This is not the place to pursue James -Hutton’s history. Suffice it to say, that he became one of the -principal Moravians in England; and that it was by his exertions -_mainly_ that the Moravian missions in North America were taken under -government protection. He was often contemptuously spoken of as -“the deaf old Moravian”: but he was a scholar and a gentleman; had -intercourse with persons of the highest rank; and was a frequent and -almost familiar visitor of George III. and his Queen Charlotte. For -many years, his difficulty of hearing was such that he could converse -only by the use of an ear trumpet; but his face was always lit up with -intellect, and his life was spent in doing good. He died in 1795. - -[140] _Wesley Banner_, 1852, p. 351. - -[141] _Evening Post_, Oct. 14, 1735. - -[142] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1733, p. 384. - -[143] “Account of the Sufferings of the Persecuted Protestants in the -Archbishoprick of Saltzburg.” London: 1733. - -[144] Wright’s Memoir of Oglethorpe, p. 77. - -[145] _Methodist Magazine_, 1844, p. 920. - -[146] “Reasons for Establishing the Colony of Georgia.” London: 1733. - -[147] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 35. - -[148] Priestley’s Letters, p. 56. - -[149] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 16, and vol. viii., p. 471. - -[150] Ingham manuscripts. - -[151] Manuscripts. - -[152] Francis Moore, who sailed in the _Simmonds_, became keeper of the -stores in Georgia, and in 1744 published an account of his voyage; and -relates, as its principal incidents, that a boy fell overboard, but was -rescued by a rope; in the Downs, a servant was set on shore because he -had the itch; the passengers had prayers twice a day; Wesley and his -friends expounded the Scriptures and catechized the children, and ate -at Oglethorpe’s table; the Germans sung psalms, and served God in their -own way; and the only person punished during the voyage was a boy for -stealing turnips. - -[153] Ingham’s Journal. - -[154] Ibid. - -[155] Ingham’s Journal. - -[156] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 256. - -[157] Ibid. p. 259. - -[158] Ingham’s Journal. - -[159] The _Old Whig_, June 17, 1736. - -[160] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1736. - -[161] “New Voyage to Georgia,” 2nd edit., 1737. - -[162] “A Voyage to Georgia,” by F. Moore. London: 1744. - -[163] Ingham’s Journal. - -[164] James Hutton’s Memoirs, p. 22. - -[165] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 371. - -[166] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 289. - -[167] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 15. - -[168] Ingham’s Journal. - -[169] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 293 - -[170] Ingham’s Journal. - -[171] Rev. C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 5. - -[172] Thomas and Beata Hawkins sailed to Georgia in the same ship as -Wesley (Clarke’s “Wesley Family,” vol. ii., p. 177). Hawkins was a -surgeon. His wife was a virago, who well-nigh murdered two constables -at Frederica, by breaking a brace of bottles on their heads (_Methodist -Magazine_, abridg. edit., 1862, p. 500). - -[173] Wesley’s Works vol. xii., p. 39. - -[174] Original letter in _Wesleyan Times_, Jan. 30, 1865. - -[175] _Methodist Magazine_, 1848, p. 1102. - -[176] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 160. - -[177] Manuscript letter. - -[178] Priestley’s Letters, p. 63. - -[179] _Methodist Magazine_, 1863, p. 731. - -[180] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1737, p. 575. - -[181] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 39. - -[182] _Methodist Magazine_, 1842, p. 657. - -[183] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 44. - -[184] Ibid. vol. xi., p. 455. - -[185] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1792, p. 24. - -[186] _Methodist Magazine_, 1808, p. 490. - -[187] Ibid. 1798, p. 358. - -[188] Ibid. 1855, p. 426. - -[189] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 324. - -[190] _Methodist Magazine_, 1844, p. 922. - -[191] These facts concerning Causton are taken from “A True and -Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia,” published in 1741, by a -number of colonists living on the spot, and all of whom were unfriendly -to Wesley. - -[192] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1792, p. 23. - -[193] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol ii., p. 15. - -[194] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol i., p. 312. - -[195] “The Progress of Methodism in Bristol.” 1743. - -[196] “A True and Historical Narrative of the Colony of Georgia.” 1741. - -[197] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1792, p. 23. - -[198] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 320. - -[199] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 118. - -[200] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 30. - -[201] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 320. - -[202] Wesley’s Works, vol. ii., p. 154. - -[203] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1792, p. 24; and Wesley’s unpublished -journal. - -[204] Ibid. - -[205] Moore’s life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 326. - -[206] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[207] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 327. - -[208] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[209] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[210] Ibid. - -[211] “The Progress of Methodism in Bristol.” 1743. - -[212] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[213] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[214] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[215] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[216] Ibid. - -[217] Ibid. - -[218] “A Journal of the Proceedings in Georgia. By W. Stephens, Esq.” -8vo: 2 vols. - -[219] Ibid. - -[220] “Journal of Proceedings in Georgia.” 8vo: 2 vols. - -[221] It is a remarkable fact that, though Savannah is the chief city -in the state of Georgia, Methodism hardly has an existence in it. -Wesley left it in 1737; and three years after, Whitefield founded -his Savannah Orphan House, which has long since crumbled into ruins. -Nothing more was done until 1790, when Hope Hull was sent to Savannah -and preached a few times in a chairmaker’s shop, but met with more mob -violence than spiritual success. Ten years later, John Garvin tried to -collect a society; but the attempt was a failure. The South Carolina -Conference, held in 1806, appointed Samuel Dunwody, and he succeeded in -forming the first Methodist society in Savannah since the breaking up -of that formed by Wesley seventy years previously. Dunwody’s society -consisted of twelve members, five of them white and seven coloured. -After hard toiling a chapel was erected in Savannah in 1812, and was -opened by Bishop Asbury; but, to the present day, the opposition to -Methodism is most decided, and the Methodist society and congregation -are extremely poor and meagre. (See Dr. Dixon’s “Methodism in America,” -p. 282.) - -[222] It is right to add that Mr. Stephens, the trustees’ secretary, -who, upon the whole, evinces a friendly spirit towards Wesley, gives a -somewhat scurvy character of Wesley’s companions. One of them, Coates, -a constable, had been one of the principal fomenters of mischief, -a busy fellow, going from house to house with idle stories to fill -people’s heads with jealousies, and distinguishing himself by a most -inveterate opposition to all the rules of government. He was greatly in -debt, and had never improved one foot of land since his arrival in the -province. Gough, a tithingman, was an idle fellow, pert and impudent -in his behaviour, always kicking against the civil power, and making -it his business to inflame sedition. He also was in debt; and left -behind him a wife and child, who scarce grieved at his departure, for -he used to beat them more than feed them. Campbell, a barber, was an -insignificant loose fellow, fit for any leader that would make a tool -of him, and whose only motive for going off was to escape his creditors. - -There can be little doubt that this is true; but it by no means follows -that these vagabonds were Wesley’s _friends_. They seem to have been -_fugitives_ as well as he. Misfortune makes a man acquainted with -strange bedfellows; still, leaving in such company was an ugly fact, -and was used to Wesley’s disadvantage. Mr. Stephens writes: “As I -was always ready and willing, in conversation or otherwise, to make -allowance for Mr. Wesley’s failings in policy, and was careful not -to run hastily into a belief of all I heard against him, I was now -asked, in a sneering way, what my sentiments were of him? ‘_Noscitur ex -sociis_’ was the common byword; and all I had to say was that he must -stand or fall by himself, when his cause came before the trustees.” - -[223] See Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 76; and Errata to vol. xxvi. of -his collected works, published in 1774. - -[224] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 190. - -[225] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 320. - -[226] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[227] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 347. - -[228] Whitefield’s journal and letters. - -[229] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1738. - -[230] Wesley’s Works, vol. v., p. 18. - -[231] Wesley’s Works, vol. v., p. 18. - -[232] See original letter, _Methodist Magazine_, 1846, p. 1089. - -[233] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 22. - -[234] Ibid. vol vii., p. 189. - -[235] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 95. - -[236] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., pp. 86, 96. - -[237] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 86; and C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., -p. 85. - -[238] Priestley’s Letters, p. 65. - -[239] _Methodist Magazine_, 1821, p. 439. - -[240] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 95. - -[241] Hutton’s Memoirs, p. 27. - -[242] _Methodist Magazine_, 1854, p. 687. - -[243] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1738, p. 608. - -[244] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 344. - -[245] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 149. - -[246] From a “Memorial of William Law, by Christopher Walton,” printed -for private circulation in 1854. - -[247] C. Wesley’s Journal; and Priestley’s Letters. - -[248] Priestley’s Letters. - -[249] This letter was written after Wesley’s visit to Germany, which -will be noticed shortly. - -[250] Priestley’s Letters, p. 83. - -[251] Priestley’s Letters, p. 88. - -[252] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 108. - -[253] Ibid. p. 109. - -[254] Ibid. p. 111. - -[255] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 112. - -[256] Wesley’s Works, vol. v., p. 107. - -[257] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 106. - -[258] Holmes’s History. - -[259] Priestley’s Letters, p. 82. - -[260] Hutton’s Memoirs. - -[261] Holmes’s History, etc. - -[262] _Methodist Magazine_, 1856, p. 1028. - -[263] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 51. - -[264] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 50. - -[265] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 365. - -[266] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 133. - -[267] Warburton’s Life, p. 523. - -[268] Rules of Band Societies, 4th edit., 1744. - -[269] _Methodist Magazine_, 1863, p. 794. - -[270] See _Wesleyan Times_, Dec. 2, 1861. - -[271] Since writing the above, we have met with one of Wesley’s letters -in Rawlinson’s Continuation of Wood’s “Athenæ Oxoniensis,” in which he -states that he published “A Collection of Psalms and Hymns,” in 1736. -Is this date an error? - -[272] The _Weekly Miscellany_ for February 10, 1739, and in subsequent -numbers, states that there was considerable chicanery practised in -securing Whitefield the pulpit of St. Margaret’s. It was pretended -that a friendly society desired him to preach for the benefit of their -funds; but the treasurer of the society, and four of its six trustees, -signed and published a document contradicting this assertion. Of the -two remaining, one was from home at the time, and the other was a Mr. -Bennett, who assisted the crowd in pushing Whitefield into the pulpit. -There can be little doubt that Whitefield was deceived by Bennett, and -that it was a mistake for him to preach at St. Margaret’s when he did. -In the same weekly journal, it is asserted that Charles Wesley had been -guilty of the same illegal act, by taking possession of the pulpit -at Bloomsbury. His friends asked the pulpit for him; the request was -refused; and yet he came into the preacher’s pew; sat next the door; -and, as soon as prayers were over, went into the pulpit and preached, -to the great surprise of the clergyman, who intended to preach himself. -We have no means of either confirming or refuting this. - -[273] His congregation, including horses and coaches, covered three -acres (_Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1739). - -[274] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[275] Ibid. - -[276] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[277] Ibid. - -[278] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[279] This is worth noting. Wesley, in his History of England, vol. -iv., p. 188, tells us that “a severe frost began at Christmas, and -continued till the latter end of February. The Thames was covered with -such a crust of ice that a multitude of people dwelled upon it in -tents, and a great number of booths were erected for the entertainment -of the populace. The navigation was entirely stopped; the fruits of the -earth were destroyed; many persons were chilled to death; the price of -all sorts of provisions rose almost to a dearth; and even water was -sold in the streets of London.” - -[280] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[281] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[282] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[283] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 240. - -[284] Ibid. vol. viii., p. 109. - -[285] Taylor’s “Wesley and Methodism.” - -[286] Hutton’s Memoirs, p. 42. - -[287] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 292. - -[288] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 472. - -[289] In the same year, Trapp preached another sermon, On Religious -Zeal, before the Oxford university, and the judges presiding at -the Oxford assizes. This, at their request, he published, octavo, -thirty-two pages. One extract may suffice. Speaking of the Methodists, -he describes them as “our modern enthusiasts, pretending to be the -only true believers; and by whom the Established Church and clergy had -been outraged with unparalleled virulence and malice, insolence and -contempt.” - -[290] _Methodist Magazine_, 1863, p. 908. - -[291] See “Life of Whitefield. By an Impartial Hand.” 1739. - -[292] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 470. - -[293] Doddridge’s Correspondence, vol. iii., p. 381. - -[294] Priestley’s Letters, p. 99. - -[295] _Methodist Magazine_, 1815, p. 457. - -[296] Ibid. 1828, p. 382. - -[297] See a full account of them in “The Life and Times of the Rev. -Samuel Wesley, M.A.” - -[298] See Priestley’s Letters, p. 102. - -[299] _Methodist Magazine_, 1849, p. 165. - -[300] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[301] _Methodist Magazine_, 1778, p. 179. - -[302] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., pp. 314–316. - -[303] Priestley’s Letters, p. 107. - -[304] “Life and Diary of Rev. Ralph Erskine,” p. 293. - -[305] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 184. - -[306] Ibid. - -[307] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 127. - -[308] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., p. 358. - -[309] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 236. - -[310] _Weekly Miscellany_, Nov. 11, 1738. - -[311] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[312] Ibid. - -[313] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 237. - -[314] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 150. - -[315] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 125. - -[316] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 37. - -[317] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 245. Wesley evidently thought, -that all are, or ought to be, equal in the house of God. His -arrangements for the Foundery congregation were carried out in the -whole of his London chapels until four years before his death, when, -greatly to his annoyance, the lay authorities at City Road set aside -his policy. - -[318] _Watchman_, 1838, p. 401. - -[319] Jobson’s “Chapel and School Architecture,” p. 48. - -[320] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 536. - -[321] Life of Silas Told, p. 74. - -[322] _Methodist Magazine_, 1787, p. 101. - -[323] Cennick’s Autobiography. - -[324] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 264. - -[325] Myles’s History, p. 15. - -[326] The writer is aware that Wesley says, “Joseph Humphreys was the -first lay preacher that assisted me in England, in the year 1738.” -(Wesley’s Works, vol. iv., p. 473.) But this was before Wesley went to -Bristol, and, doubtless, in connection with the Moravian society in -Fetter Lane. - -[327] _Methodist Magazine_, 1822, p. 783. - -[328] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 259. - -[329] Ibid. vol. vii., p. 404. - -[330] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 76. - -[331] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 126. - -[332] Whitefield’s Journal. - -[333] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 189. - -[334] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 213. - -[335] Ibid. p. 219. - -[336] This is true. Hence the following, taken from a sermon published -by Annesley in 1661:—“There are believers of several growths in the -church of God: fathers, young men, children, and babes; and as, in most -families, there are more babes and children than grown men, so in the -church of God there are more weak, doubting Christians, than strong -ones, grown up to a full assurance. A babe may be born and yet not know -it; so a man may be born again, and not be sure of it. Sometimes they -think they have grounds of hope, that they shall be saved; sometimes -they think they have grounds of fears, that they shall be condemned. -Not knowing which might be most weighty, like a pair of balances, they -are in equipoise.” - -[337] Clarke’s “Wesley Family,” vol. ii., p. 119. - -[338] Priestley’s Letters, p. 108. - -[339] Priestley’s Letters, p. 96. - -[340] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 355. - -[341] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 331. - -[342] Robert Ramsey did not long escape the hand of justice. About the -Christmas of the year following, he was arrested for another crime, -tried and condemned to die; and on January 14, 1741, with eleven other -malefactors, was executed at Tyburn. While lying under sentence of -death in Newgate prison, he requested Wesley to visit him; and twice -his old master went, but was refused admittance. (_London Magazine_, -1742, p. 47; and Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 331.) - -[343] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 251. - -[344] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 242. - -[345] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 264. - -[346] Hutton’s Memoirs, p. 50. - -[347] Original letter, published in _Wesleyan Times_. - -[348] Hutton’s Memoirs, p. 48. - -[349] Hutton’s Memoirs. - -[350] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 222. - -[351] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 221. Hymn 92, in the Methodist -Hymn-book, is an abridgment of it. - -[352] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 222. - -[353] See Hutton’s Memoirs. - -[354] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley. - -[355] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[356] Wesley’s Works, vol. ii., p. 26. - -[357] Ibid. vol. viii., p. 401. - -[358] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. ii., p. 167. - -[359] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 224. - -[360] Benson’s “Apology,” p. 134. - -[361] See Wesley’s Works, vol. x., p. 257; orig. edition. - -[362] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 156. - -[363] Ibid. vol. i., p. 182. - -[364] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 185. - -[365] Ibid. vol. i., p. 189. - -[366] _Weekly History_, No. 13: 1741. - -[367] Whitefield’s Works, vol. iv., p. 54. - -[368] Ibid. vol. i., p. 205. - -[369] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 212. - -[370] See “Wesley Poetry,” vol. i., p. 310. - -[371] “Life and Times of Howel Harris.” - -[372] _Weekly History_, No. 13: 1741. - -[373] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 219. - -[374] Ibid. vol. i., p. 225. - -[375] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 263. - -[376] Whitefield’s Works, vol. iv., p. 72. - -[377] _Methodist Magazine_, 1807, p. 6. - -[378] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 335. - -[379] Nichols’ Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii., p. 541. - -[380] _Weekly History_, No. 33: Nov. 21, 1741. - -[381] Myles’s History, p. 58. - -[382] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 246. - -[383] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiv., p. 306; and vol. xi., p. 366. - -[384] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1741, p. 608. - -[385] Philip’s Life of Whitefield, p. 275. - -[386] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 102. - -[387] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 481. - -[388] Ibid. p. 489. - -[389] Wesley’s Works, vol. ii., p. 27. - -[390] Life of Dr. Bunting, vol. i., p. 395. - -[391] Doddridge’s Correspondence, vol. iv., p. 56. - -[392] _Methodist Magazine_, 1798, p. 490. - -[393] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 257. - -[394] Benson’s “Apology,” p. 137. - -[395] _Weekly Miscellany_, March 14, 1741 - -[396] Cennick says: “When we were separated, we were in number twelve -men and twelve women.” (“Life of Cennick,” p. 27.) - -[397] Wesley’s Works, vol. iv., p. 473. - -[398] _Weekly History_, No. 11. - -[399] _Weekly History_, No. 4. - -[400] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 267. - -[401] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 102. - -[402] Ibid. p. 147. - -[403] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 257. - -[404] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 261. - -[405] Ibid. p. 271. - -[406] Ibid. p. 331. - -[407] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 401. - -[408] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 331. - -[409] “Anecdotes of Wesley, by Rev. J. Reynolds.” Leeds: 1828. - -[410] Ibid. p. 13. - -[411] Taylor’s “Wesley and Methodism,” p. 44. - -[412] Thirty more were expelled at a later period of the year. - -[413] Wesley’s Ecclesiastical History, vol. iv., p. 178. - -[414] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 53. - -[415] Ibid. vol. xiii., pp. 242, 293. - -[416] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 247. - -[417] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[418] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 85. - -[419] _Scots Magazine_, 1741, p. 380. - -[420] _Weekly History_, No. 14. - -[421] _Weekly History_, No. 15. - -[422] Ibid. No. 24. - -[423] Hutton’s Memoirs. - -[424] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 431. - -[425] “Friendly Remarks,” published in 1772. - -[426] His sermon before the university has been mentioned already. - -[427] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 359. - -[428] It was hardly honest of Wesley to publish this without a word -of acknowledgment as to its author and origin. We have compared it -with “A Dialogue between the Baptist and Presbyterian; wherein the -Presbyterians are punished, by their own pens, for their cruel and -self-devouring doctrines, making God the ordainer of all the sins of -men and devils, and reprobating the greatest part of mankind without -any help of salvation. By Thomas Grantham, Messenger of the Baptized -Churches in Lincolnshire. London: 1691.” 4to, pages 18; and have no -hesitancy in saying, that Wesley’s Dialogue, abridged and altered, is -taken from that of Grantham. - -[429] See “Life and Times of Rev. S. Wesley,” p. 136. - -[430] See lives of Wesley, by Whitehead and Moore. - -[431] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 102. - -[432] _Standard_ newspaper, May 22, 1869. - -[433] Whitefield’s Works, vol. i., p. 386. - -[434] Ibid. vol. i., p. 438. - -[435] Ibid. vol. i., p. 449. - -[436] Act of the Associate Presbytery, 1744. - -[437] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 152. - -[438] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley. - -[439] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 103. - -[440] _London Magazine_, 1742, p. 468. - -[441] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 292. - -[442] Ibid. vol. i., p. 335. - -[443] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 243. - -[444] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 342. - -[445] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 148. - -[446] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 149. This was not -altogether novel. Nearly a hundred years previously, under the auspices -of Nicholas Pavillon, the Bishop of Alet, in the south of France, there -had sprung up “The Society of Regents,” one of whose meetings was for -exhortation and free spiritual conversation, and in which each person, -who was so inclined, related her experience, or asked advice. See “Life -of Nicholas Pavillon”: 1869. - -[447] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 246. - -[448] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 247. - -[449] “Principles and Career of Wesley,” by Dr. Dobbin. - -[450] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 294. - -[451] _Methodist Magazine_, 1856, p. 332; and “Life and Times of -Countess of Huntingdon.” - -[452] _Methodist Magazine_, 1798, p. 490. - -[453] Ibid. 1798, p. 642. - -[454] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 1073. - -[455] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 103. - -[456] A day or two afterwards Miss Cooper peacefully changed earth for -heaven. - -[457] “The Country Parson’s Advice to his Parishioners,” is an octavo -volume of 215 pages, and was first published in 1680. It consists of -two parts:—(1) An exhortation to a religious and virtuous life. (2) -General directions for such a life. The book, as a whole, is well -written, and useful; but the last chapter is exceedingly objectionable. -It unmistakably teaches apostolical succession, confession, priestly -absolution, and other favourite dogmas of the high church party of the -present day. - -[458] Doddridge’s Correspondence, vol. iv., p. 86. - -[459] _Methodist Magazine_, 1801, p. 531. - -[460] _Methodist Magazine_, 1808, p. 138. - -[461] Bourne’s and Brand’s histories of Newcastle. - -[462] Manuscripts. - -[463] _Methodist Magazine_, 1848, p. 91. - -[464] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 84. - -[465] _Methodist Magazine_, 1778, p. 184. - -[466] _Methodist Magazine_, 1778, p. 185. - -[467] Ibid. 1846, p. 362. - -[468] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. i., p. 319. - -[469] John Nelson’s Journal. - -[470] Brand’s History of Newcastle, vol. ii., p. 424; and _Wesleyan -Times_, 1856, p. 597. - -[471] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 294. - -[472] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 551. - -[473] _Christian Miscellany_, 1858, pp. 97, 164. - -[474] Manuscripts. - -[475] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 295. - -[476] Early in the year 1742, an eightpenny pamphlet was published, -which Wesley never noticed. Its title was, “A Letter to the Rev. Mr. -John Wesley, in vindication of the Doctrines of absolute, unconditional -Election, particular Redemption, special Vocation, and final -Perseverance. Occasioned chiefly by some things in his Dialogue between -a Presbyterian and his Friend; and in his Hymns on God’s Everlasting -Love.” - -[477] _Weekly History_, No. 78: Oct. 2, 1742. - -[478] Since the above was written, we have met with one of Wesley’s -letters, in Rawlinson’s Continuation of Wood’s “Athenæ Oxoniensis,” -in which he states that he published, “An Abridgment of Mr. -Norris’s Christian Prudence, and Reflections on the Conduct of our -Understanding,” in 1734. - -[479] _Methodist Magazine_, 1866, p. 324. - -[480] Ibid. - -[481] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 306. - -[482] Mr. Tucker was vicar of All Saints, Bristol. This pamphlet -(octavo, fifty-one pages) was written at the request of the Archbishop -of Armagh, and was entitled, “A Brief History of the Principles of -Methodism.” - -[483] Wesley also published “Hymns and Poems” in 1742; but as his -poetical publications were chiefly written by his brother, they will be -only occasionally noticed hereafter. For full information the reader is -referred to the “Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley,” in twelve -volumes, octavo, published at the Wesleyan-Methodist Conference Office, -City Road, London. - -[484] Southey’s Life of Wesley. - -[485] Life and Times of Howel Harris, p. 96, etc. - -[486] “Papers on the Rise and Progress of Methodism at Wednesbury.” -London: 1744. - -[487] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 295. - -[488] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 75. - -[489] Papers on Rise, etc., of Methodism at Wednesbury, 1744. - -[490] Papers on Rise, etc., of Methodism at Wednesbury, 1744. - -[491] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 164. - -[492] Papers on Rise, etc., of Methodism at Wednesbury, 1744. - -[493] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 162, etc. - -[494] Papers on Rise, etc., of Methodism at Wednesbury, 1744. - -[495] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 339. - -[496] See _Methodist Recorder_, Oct. 5, 1866. - -[497] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 340. - -[498] Ibid. p. 340. - -[499] _Methodist Recorder_, Oct. 12, 1866. - -[500] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 204. - -[501] Ibid. vol. i., p. 426. - -[502] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 173. - -[503] _Methodist Magazine_, 1820, p. 538. - -[504] Ibid. 1823, p. 204. - -[505] Nelson’s Journal. - -[506] See the substance of this paper, under the year 1741, pp. 349, -350. - -[507] Life of C. Wesley, vol. i., p. 350. - -[508] _Weekly History_, June 19, 1742. - -[509] Wesley’s Works, vol. ii., p. 28. - -[510] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 117. - -[511] Watson’s Life of Wesley, p. 110. - -[512] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 254. - -[513] Clarke’s “Wesley Family,” vol. ii., p. 267. - -[514] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[515] Whitefield’s Works, vol. ii., pp. 33, 35. - -[516] “Progress of Methodism in Bristol.” 1743. - -[517] Wesley’s Works, vol. x., p. 417. - -[518] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 324. - -[519] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 31. - -[520] Ibid. vol. viii., pp. 293, 304. - -[521] Everett’s Life of Clarke. - -[522] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 80. - -[523] It is a mistake to say, as is done in the edition of Wesley’s -collected works, and in some of the Methodist periodicals, that the -“Earnest Appeal” was written and published in 1744. - -[524] _London Magazine_, 1744. - -[525] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 354. - -[526] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 406. - -[527] Smith’s “History of Methodism,” vol. i., p. 227. - -[528] Life of Whatcoat, by Fry. - -[529] Atmore’s “Methodist Memorial,” p. 411. - -[530] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 302. - -[531] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 367. - -[532] Minutes (edit. 1862), vol. i. - -[533] Minutes (edit. 1862), vol. i. - -[534] Minutes, published in 1763, 12mo, pp. 30. - -[535] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 380. - -[536] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 443. - -[537] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 299. - -[538] _Methodist Magazine_, 1866, p. 44. - -[539] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1744, p. 568. - -[540] Wesley’s Works, vol. ii., p. 404. - -[541] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i. - -[542] Whitefield’s Works, vol. iv., p. 125. - -[543] _London Magazine_, 1744, p. 260. - -[544] _London Magazine_, 1724, p. 624. - -[545] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1744, p. 504. - -[546] Nelson’s Journal. - -[547] Manuscripts. - -[548] See Myles’s History. - -[549] Wesley’s Works, vol. vi., p. 464. - -[550] _Methodist Magazine_, 1848, p. 976. - -[551] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 72. - -[552] Ibid. vol. iii., p. 257. - -[553] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 233. - -[554] _Methodist Magazine_, 1820, p. 540. - -[555] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 396. - -[556] C. Wesley’s Life, vol. i., pp. 415, 430. - -[557] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 492. - -[558] _London Magazine_, 1745, p. 297. - -[559] Nichols’ Literary Anecdotes, vol. viii., p. 228. - -[560] Nichols’ Literary Anecdotes, vol. ii., p. 541. - -[561] Whitefield’s Works, vol. ii., p. 79. - -[562] Hutton’s Memoirs, p. 143. - -[563] Wesley’s Works, vol. ix., p. 62. - -[564] Ibid. vol. x., p. 433. - -[565] Hutton’s Memoirs, p. 184. - -[566] Cudworth published two replies to Wesley; one in 1745, entitled, -“A Dialogue between a Preacher of inherent righteousness and a -Preacher of God’s righteousness: being an answer to a late Dialogue -between an Antinomian and his friend.” 12mo, 12 pages. Another, in -1746, with the title, “Truth defended and cleared from mistakes and -misrepresentations.” 12mo, 52 pages. In both of these productions, -Cudworth shows great ability, and though his opinions, as there -expressed, are far from orthodox, yet, unless other facts can be -alleged against him, he hardly deserves the hard things which Wesley -said of him. - -[567] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., p. 338. - -[568] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 335. - -[569] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 245. - -[570] An old Methodist, Jenny Meek, who knew Wesley well, told the -writer that the baptism of this energetic sister took place, not in the -popish chapel, but in an adjoining house. Many an hour, when a child, -did I sit listening, with rapt attention, to old Jenny’s Methodist -traditions, and to this I trace, in a great degree, my passion for old -Methodist matters.—L. T. - -[571] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 104. - -[572] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[573] Brand’s History of Newcastle, vol. ii., p. 525. - -[574] Brand’s History. - -[575] Brand’s History. - -[576] Ibid. - -[577] Minutes (edit. 1862), vol. i. - -[578] Wesley’s Works, vol. vi., p. 466. - -[579] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 155. - -[580] Ibid. vol. xi., p. 320. - -[581] Ibid. vol. viii., p. 145. - -[582] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 9. - -[583] Whitefield’s Works, vol. ii., p. 83. - -[584] _Methodist Magazine_, 1778, p. 418. - -[585] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[586] Minutes (edit. 1862), vol. i., p. 36. - -[587] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., p. 42. - -[588] Watson’s Works, vol. v., p. 148. - -[589] “Life and Times of Howel Harris,” p. 113. - -[590] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 409. - -[591] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 252. - -[592] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 206. - -[593] _Methodist Magazine_, 1778, p. 419. - -[594] Stamp’s “Orphan House.” - -[595] Wesley’s unpublished journal. - -[596] Ibid. vol. xi., p. 483. - -[597] Ibid. vol. x., p. 379. - -[598] Ibid. vol. xi., p. 489. - -[599] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[600] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 254. - -[601] Ibid. vol. viii., p. 495. - -[602] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 83. - -[603] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 155. - -[604] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 414. - -[605] Other hymns were published in 1746: as, “Hymns for our Lord’s -Resurrection;” “Hymns for Ascension Day;” “Hymns to the Trinity;” -“Graces before and after Meat;” “Hymns for the Watch-night;” “Hymns for -the Public Thanksgiving Day;” “Funeral Hymns;” and “Hymns on the Great -Festivals;” but it is impossible to determine how many of these were -written by Wesley himself, and how many by his brother. - -[606] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1746, p. 223. - -[607] Ibid. p. 388. - -[608] _London Magazine_, 1746, p. 594. - -[609] Whitefield’s Works, vol. ii., p. 128. - -[610] The above extracts are all taken from a 12mo volume, published -at the time, and consisting of a collection of letters, entitled “The -Christian History.” - -[611] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[612] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[613] Manuscript in British Museum. - -[614] See Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 181. - -[615] _Methodist Magazine._ 1778, p. 474. - -[616] Collection of Letters: Dublin, 1784. - -[617] Everett’s “Methodism in Manchester,” p. 58. - -[618] Everett’s “Methodism in Manchester.” - -[619] _Methodist Magazine_, 1843, pp. 26, 379. - -[620] Ibid. 1830, p. 857. - -[621] Ibid. 1795, p. 76. - -[622] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., p. 62. - -[623] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 138. - -[624] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 108. - -[625] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 256. - -[626] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 257. - -[627] Ibid. vol. viii., p. 257. - -[628] Ibid. vol. iii., p. 258. - -[629] Ibid. vol. viii., p. 257. - -[630] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 258. - -[631] Minutes (edit. 1862), p. 38. - -[632] Minutes (edit. 1862), p. 15. - -[633] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 235. - -[634] Watson’s Life of Wesley, p. 163. - -[635] Manuscript. - -[636] _Methodist Magazine_, 1850, p. 33. - -[637] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 157. - -[638] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 308. - -[639] _Irish Evangelist_, Dec. 1, 1866. - -[640] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., p. 406. - -[641] _Irish Evangelist_, Dec. 1, 1866. - -[642] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 157. - -[643] Smith’s “Methodism in Ireland,” p. 12. - -[644] _Methodist Magazine_, 1848, p. 516. - -[645] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. i., p. 320. - -[646] C. Wesley’s Journal. - -[647] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 239. - -[648] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1747, p. 531. - -[649] Bishop Gibson died the year after this was written. - -[650] Hymns 439 and 440, in the Wesleyan Hymn-Book, are a part of it. - -[651] The writer has a copy of the thirteenth edition, published in -1768, with a large number of emendations and new prescriptions, in -Wesley’s own handwriting,—evidently the copy which he himself revised -for a new edition. - -[652] Hall’s Lecture on Wesley’s Death-bed. - - -*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK THE LIFE AND TIMES OF THE REV. -JOHN WESLEY, VOLUME I (OF 3) *** - -Updated editions will replace the previous one--the old editions will -be renamed. - -Creating the works from print editions not protected by U.S. copyright -law means that no one owns a United States copyright in these works, -so the Foundation (and you!) can copy and distribute it in the -United States without permission and without paying copyright -royalties. 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