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diff --git a/76882-0.txt b/76882-0.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..0c56852 --- /dev/null +++ b/76882-0.txt @@ -0,0 +1,35398 @@ + +*** START OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76882 *** + + + [Illustration: JOHN WESLEY, M.A. + AGED 85. + From a Painting by Romney. + (see page 565.) + Engraved by J. Cochran + New York. Harper & Brothers.] + + + + + 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_). + + WITH AN APPENDIX BY ABEL STEVENS, LL.D., + + AUTHOR OF “THE HISTORY OF METHODISM.” + + + IN THREE VOLUMES. + + VOL. III. + + + [Illustration: colophon] + + NEW YORK: + HARPER & BROTHERS, PUBLISHERS, + FRANKLIN SQUARE. + + 1872. + + + + + GENERAL CONTENTS. + + VOL. III. + + + 1768. + + PAGE + +Whitefield--Berridge--Countess of Buchan--Conversation--Original +Letter by Fletcher--Yearly Collection--Wesley’s first Visit to +Chatham--Methodist Jottings--Methodism in Congleton, etc.-- +Wesley’s Credulity--Christian Perfection--Skirmishes before the +Battle--Wesley’s Will--Rev. Thomas Adam--Fletcher of Madeley-- +Singing--Illness of Wesley’s Wife--Preaching and Trading--How +to revive Religion--Witness of the Spirit--Spitalfields Chapel-- +Laurence Coughlan--Methodism at Taunton, Frome, and Oxford--Chapel +Debts--Remarks on Books--Expulsion of Oxford Students--College +at Trevecca--Wesley’s Publications--John Wilkes 1-38 + + + 1769. + +Political Excitement--Whitefield--Female Preaching--Wesley in +Ireland--Hugh Saunderson--Conference of 1769--Methodism in +America--Scheme to perpetuate Methodism--Anniversary of Trevecca +College--“Shepherd of Salisbury Plain”--Calvinian Controversy-- +Wesley’s Publications 39-57 + + + 1770. + +Remarks on Books--Christian Perfection--Whitefield’s College in +Georgia--Riding on Horseback--Lady Glenorchy--Methodism in +Sweden--Methodism at Yeadon and Loughborough--Conference +of 1770--Doctrinal Minutes--Calvinian Controversy--Death of +Whitefield--Original Letters--Wesley’s Publications--Toplady 58-83 + + + 1771. + +Rev. Richard De Courcy--Sounds of coming Battle--Wesley and the +_Gospel Magazine_--Letter to Lady Huntingdon--Shirley’s Circular-- +Original Letter by Fletcher--Calvinian Controversy--Methodist +Discipline--Female Preaching--Wesley’s Publications 84-113 + + + 1772. + +Slavery--Methodism at Poplar--Correspondence with Mr. Sparrow-- +Methodism at Leek and Nantwich--David Hume--Ministerial +Responsibility--Medical Examination--Revivals in Everton and +Weardale--Conference of 1772--Cornelius Winter--Ceaseless +Labours--National Distress and its Remedies--The Christian +Community--Calvinian Controversy--Wesley’s Publications 114-146 + + + 1773. + +American Rebellion--Wesley’s proposed Successor--Methodism in +America and Antigua--Itinerancy--Chapel Debts--Wesley and his +Carriage--Wesley’s Book Property--Conference of 1773--Feast +and Fast Days--Communion of Saints--Calvinian Controversy-- +Wesley’s Publications 147-162 + + + 1774. + +Wesley’s Health--Rev. David Simpson--Methodism at Bury--Wesley +in Scotland--A Marvellous Escape--Ghosts and Witches--“The +Fool of Quality”--Wesley and an Artist--Methodism in America +and Newfoundland--Conference of 1774--Norwich Methodism--An +Adventure--Calvinian Controversy--Wesley’s Publications-- +Slavery 163-184 + + + 1775. + +National Excitement--American War of Independence--Death of +Peter Bohler--Wesley dangerously Ill in Ireland--Congratulations-- +Giving Advice--Conference of 1775--Calvinian Controversy-- +William Pine--Wesley’s Publications 185-211 + + + 1776. + +Fletcher travelling with Wesley--Dr. Coke--Enforcing Discipline-- +Methodism in London--City Road Chapel--Plan of London Circuit +in 1792--London Circuit Book--Methodism at Chesterfield-- +Conference of 1776--Cantankerous Methodists--Methodism in +the Isle of Man--Quarrelling Schoolboys--Wesley’s Wife-- +Wesley’s Publications--Wesley’s Loyalty 212-235 + + + 1777. + +American Rebellion--Dr. Dodd--City Road Chapel--Rev. Edward +Smyth--Catastrophe at Colne--“A Snug Circuit”--“Are the +Methodists a fallen People?”--John Hilton--Fletcher at the +Conference of 1777--Methodism in America--Francis Asbury--_Arminian +Magazine_--Bishop Lowth--“Strangers’ Friend Society”--Rowland +Hill attacks Wesley--_Gospel Magazine_--Calvinian Controversy-- +Wesley’s Publications 236-260 + + + 1778. + +Thomas Maxfield--Infamous Publications--Death of Toplady-- +National Alarm--Separation from the Church--Conference of +1778--Stationing Preachers--Mission to Africa proposed--Duncan +McAllum--John Baxter embarks for Antigua--Opening of City +Road Chapel--Rev. James Creighton--Discipline--Dissenters-- +Silas Told--Proposals for _Arminian Magazine_--Errata 261-285 + + + 1779. + +National Alarm--Prayer and Fasting--Death of Voltaire--William +Shent in trouble--Methodism at Oldham and Padiham--The Angel +at Halifax--Methodism at Inverness--James Boswell--Methodism +at Hinckley and Coventry--Thomas Maxfield--Jealousies--Charles +Wesley and the London Preachers--Conference of 1779--Alexander +McNab and Rev. Edward Smyth at Bath--Wesley’s right to Rule-- +Charles Wesley and McNab--Calvinian Controversy--“Naval and +Military Bible Society”--Wesley’s Publications--Popery 286-317 + + + 1780. + +The Protestant Association--Wesley’s Letters on Popery--Rev. +Arthur O’Leary--Wesley visits Lord George Gordon--Methodism +at Delph--Wesley asks a Favour--Methodism at Pateley, Ripon, +Newark, etc.--Conference of 1780--Separation from the Church-- +Methodism in America--Letter to Bishop Lowth--Heresy of Dr. +Watts--Rev. Brian Bury Collins--Original Letters--Oldham Street +Chapel, Manchester--Sir Harry Trelawney--Jacob Behmen--“The +Fool of Quality”--Wesley’s Publications 318-344 + + + 1781. + +Wesley’s Nephews, Charles and Samuel--Wesley writing Sermons-- +Samuel Bardsley and Sheffield Chapel--Methodism at Manchester +and Bolton--Molly Charlton--Methodism at Preston--Fair weather +Preachers--Rev. William Dodwell--Sleep--Letters to Wesley’s +Niece--Wesley’s Nephews--Conference of 1781--William Hey-- +Death of Wesley’s Wife--Letter to a Statesman--Wesley’s +Publications 345-368 + + + 1782. + +Methodist Tract Society--Lovefeast at Macclesfield--Sir Walter +Scott--Conference of 1782--Birstal Chapel Case--Rev. Thomas +Davenport--Rev. Mr. Thompson--John Trembath--Adam Clarke--“The +Dairyman’s Daughter”--Wesley’s Publications--Jacob Behmen 369-389 + + + 1783. + +Preachers forbidden to be Classleaders--Wesley ill--Trip to +Holland--Kingswood School--William Black and Nova Scotia--A +Rejected Candidate--Methodism at Stafford--Wesley and the +Poor--Wesley’s Publications 390-407 + + + 1784. + +A Seven Months’ Journey--Morning Preaching--Itinerancy--Children +at Stockton--Methodism at Burnley--Sunday Schools--Conference +of 1784--Deed of Declaration--Ordination of Preachers for +America--Two Clergymen become Dissenters--Ordination of +Preachers for Scotland, etc.--Letters on Wesley’s Ordinations-- +Wesley a Dissenter--Methodism at Shrewsbury--Dancing--Letter +to Hon. William Pitt--Wesley’s Publications--First Race of +Methodist Preachers 408-457 + + + 1785. + +William Moore--Wesley in Ireland--Spread of Methodism--Death +of Perronet and Fletcher--Conference of 1785--The oldest +Methodist now living--Thomas Wride and his Colleagues at +Norwich--Separation from the Church--Wesley’s Publications-- +Dress 458-470 + + + 1786. + +Wesley on the Wing--Scotch Methodists a distinct Church--Methodism +at Barnsley--Wesley at Sheffield and Wentworth House--Methodism +at Ilkestone--Conference of 1786--Separation from the Church-- +First Methodist Missionary Report--Proposed Missions to +India--Wesley’s “Studying Hours”--Dr. Leifchild--Wesley’s +Publications 471-489 + + + 1787. + +Separation from the Church--Begging for the Poor--Revival at +Burslem--Wesley in Ireland--A Methodist Shoemaker--Howard, +the Philanthropist--Conference of 1787--Separation from the +Church--Sir Robert Peel--Sunday Schools--Singing--A Coachload +of Methodist Preachers--Visit to the Channel Islands--Jonathan +Crowther--Antislavery Society--Joseph Entwisle and Richard +Reece--Simeon catechizing Wesley--Licensing Chapels and +Preachers--Separation from the Church--Wesley’s Popularity-- +Wesley’s Publications--Dress--Diversions--Riches 490-520 + + + 1788. + +Wesley on his Style--Sunday Schools--Prayer Meetings--Death of +Charles Wesley--Consecration of Burial Grounds--Incidents at +Bristol--Chapel at Dumfries--Methodist Membership--A Northern +Fanatic--An Early Breakfast--Demoniacs--A Young Poetess--Separation +from the Church--End of the World--Conference of 1788--Methodist +Prayer Book--Preachers stripped of their Gown and Bands--Dewsbury +Chapel Case--John Atlay and William Eels--Itinerancy--Wesley +without a Sermon--Wesley’s Publications 521-564 + + + 1789. + +Romney’s Portrait of Wesley--Anecdotes of Wesley--Commotion +at Dublin--Separation from the Church--Rebellions--Thomas +Hanby--An Irish Dinner Party--Walter Churchey--A Session of +Methodist “Elders”--Conference of 1789--A Conference Sermon-- +Gwennap Pit--“The lovely Family at Balham”--Mount Pleasant Chapel, +Liverpool--Methodism at Bideford--Wesley’s Publications-- +Wesley warning rich Methodists 565-596 + + + 1790. + +French Revolution--A Five Months’ Journey--Rev. Joseph Easterbrook-- +A Three Months’ Preaching Plan--Methodism at Stourport--Sunday +Schools--Death of a Mocker--A Backslider Healed--Adam Clarke--A +Yorkshire Cavalcade--Separation from the Church--Wesley’s +Benefactions--Wesley’s Last Will--Conference of 1790--Progress +of Methodism--Ruffled Shirts--A Dublin Revival--Christian +Perfection--Wesley’s last Out-door Sermon--A Shoemaker and a +Sheep Stealer--Henry Crabb Robinson--Crabbe, the Poet--A Large +Circuit--Wesley’s Publications--Separation from the Church-- +Rich Methodists Warned--Wesley’s last Words to the Methodists 597-642 + + + 1791. + +Letters--Female Preaching--Wesley’s last Letters--Wesley’s last +Week of Public Labour--Wesley’s last Letter--Wesley’s last +Song on Earth--Wesley’s Death--The Funeral--Proposed Monument +in Westminster Abbey--Wesley’s Personal Appearance, Scholarship, +Knowledge, Writings, Preaching, Companionship, Piety, and +Industry 643-660 + + + + + THE LIFE AND TIMES + + OF + + THE REV. JOHN WESLEY, M.A. + + + + + 1768. + Age 65 + + +During the year 1768, Charles Wesley, with his brother’s full +concurrence, removed his family from Bristol to London, which +henceforth was his place of residence.[1] Whitefield spent the first half +of the year in the metropolis. In July, he set out for Scotland; but, +about a month after, returned to London to inter his wife, who died on +August 9. His health was somewhat feeble; but he continued to itinerate +and preach to the utmost of his power. His orphan house in America, and +Lady Huntingdon’s college at Trevecca, demanded his attention, and had +it. He and Wesley were still warm hearted friends; and yet there seems +to have been a shade of coldness come over them. Hence the following, +written when the year was closing. + + “TABERNACLE, _December 28, 1768_. + + “REVEREND AND VERY DEAR SIR,--Pray have you or I committed the + unpardonable sin, because we differ in particular cases, and act + according to our consciences? I imagine the common salvation is not + promoted by keeping at such a distance. Enemies rejoice. Halfway + friends especially are pleased. + + “You will be glad to hear, that the time for completing the orphan + house affair seems to be come. Do you know of a good, judicious, + spiritual tutor? Will you, without delay, make the first present + of your works to the library? I hope we shall have a nursery for + true Christian ministers. I know you will say Amen. Yesterday I was + fifty-four years old. God be merciful to me a sinner! Though you are + older, I trust you will not get the start of me, by going to heaven, + before, reverend and very dear sir, less than the least of all, + + “GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[2] + +Another letter, of the same kind, was addressed to Wesley, on New +Year’s day, by his old friend at Everton. + + “EVERTON, _January 1, 1768_. + + “DEAR SIR,--I see no reason why we should keep at a distance, whilst + we continue servants of the same Master, and especially when Lot’s + herdsmen are so ready to lay their staves on our shoulders. Though my + hand has been mute, my heart is kindly affected towards you. I trust + we agree in essentials; and, therefore, should leave each other at + rest with his circumstantials. I am weary of all disputes, and desire + to know nothing but Jesus; to love Him, trust Him, and serve Him; to + choose and find Him my only portion. I would have Him my meat, my + drink, my clothing, my sun, my shield, my Lord, my God, my all. Amen. + + “When I saw you in town, I gave you an invitation to Everton; and + I now repeat it, offering you very kindly the use of my house and + church. The Lord accompany you in all your journeys! Kind love to + your brother. Adieu! + + “JOHN BERRIDGE.”[3] + +At the close of the year 1767, the Earl of Buchan died triumphing in +the faith of Christ. He had been in the habit of hearing Whitefield, +the Wesleys, and others, at Bath, and had felt their ministry a +blessing. His last words were, “Happy, happy, happy!” The inscription +upon his coffin run thus: “His life was honourable, his death blessed; +he sought earnestly peace with God,--he found it with unspeakable +joy, alone in the merits of Christ Jesus, witnessed by the Holy +Spirit to his soul.”[4] His countess dowager was a woman of deep +piety, of elegant taste, and of great genius. She was the mother +of a numerous family, and appointed Venn, Berridge, and Wesley her +domestic chaplains. This was done through the intervention of Lady +Huntingdon,[5] to whom Wesley addressed the following letter. + + “LONDON, _January 4, 1768_. + + “MY DEAR LADY,--I am obliged to your ladyship, and to Lady Buchan, + for such a mark of your regard as I did not at all expect. I purpose + to return her ladyship thanks by this post. + + “That remark is very striking, as well as just;--If it is the Holy + Spirit that bears witness, then all speaking against that Witness + is one species of blasphemy against the Holy Ghost. And when this + is done by those who profess to honour Him, it must in a peculiar + manner grieve that blessed Spirit. Yet, I have been surprised to + observe how many, who affirm salvation by faith, have lately run + into this; running full into Mr. Sandeman’s notion, that faith is + merely an assent to the Bible; and not only undervaluing, but even + ridiculing, the whole experience of the children of God. I rejoice, + that your ladyship is still preserved from that spreading contagion, + and also enabled plainly and openly to avow the plain, old, simple, + unfashionable gospel. + + “Wishing your ladyship many happy years, I remain, my dear lady, your + very affectionate servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[6] + +A few months after this, Wesley went to Scotland, where the Countess of +Buchan resided, and there wrote, and probably preached, his remarkable +sermon, “The Good Steward,” in which, with great emphasis, he lays down +the doctrine, that we hold _in trust_ our souls, our bodies, our goods, +and all our other talents; and, for the _use_ of them, must render an +account at the judgment seat of Christ. This was dealing faithfully +with his noble patroness, as well as with others; for the sermon was +immediately published in 12mo, 24 pages, with the title, “The Good +Steward. A Sermon, by John Wesley, Chaplain to the Right Honourable the +Countess Dowager of Buchan.” + +Wesley was not the man to be elated by being noticed by the rich, the +noble, and the great. He was thankful for their help; but far from +being proud of their approbation. Many of his most trusted friends +were poor and mean in reference to this world’s goods; but, at the +same time, were possessed of riches incomparably superior to all the +gold existing. The following letter, addressed to Fletcher of Madeley, +though a month or two out of its chronological order, refers to these +and to other matters. + + “BIRMINGHAM, _March 20, 1768_. + + “DEAR SIR,--Mr. Eastbrook told me yesterday, that you are sick of + the conversation even of them who profess religion,--that you find + it quite unprofitable, if not hurtful, to converse with them, three + or four hours together, and are sometimes almost determined to shut + yourself up, as the less evil of the two. + + “I do not wonder at it at all, especially considering with whom you + have chiefly conversed for some time past, namely, the hearers of + Mr. Madan, or Mr. Bourian, perhaps I might add, of Mr. Whitefield. + The conversing with these I have rarely found to be profitable to my + soul. Rather it has damped my desires; it has cooled my resolutions, + and I have commonly left them with a dry, dissipated spirit. + + “And how can you expect it to be otherwise? For do we not naturally + catch their spirit with whom we converse? And what spirit can we + expect them to be of, considering the preaching they sit under? Some + happy exceptions I allow; but, in general, do men gather grapes of + thorns? Do they gather constant, universal self denial, the patience + of hope, the labour of love, inward and outward self devotion, + from the doctrine of absolute decrees, of irresistible grace, of + infallible perseverance? Do they gather these fruits from antinomian + doctrine? Or from any that borders upon it? Do they gather them from + that _amorous way_ of praying to Christ? or that _luscious_ way of + preaching His righteousness? I never found it so. On the contrary, I + have found, that even the precious doctrine of salvation by faith has + need to be guarded with the utmost care, or those who hear it will + slight both inward and outward holiness. + + “I will go a step farther: I seldom find it profitable for _me_ to + converse with any who are not athirst for perfection, and who are + not big with earnest expectation of receiving it every moment. Now + you find none of these among those we are speaking of; but many, + on the contrary, who are in various ways, directly and indirectly, + opposing the whole work of God,--that work, I mean, which God is + carrying on, throughout this kingdom, by unlearned and plain men; + in consequence of which His influence must, in some measure, be + withdrawn from them. Again: you have, for some time, conversed a good + deal with the genteel Methodists. Now it matters not a straw what + doctrine they hear,--whether they frequent the Lock or West Street. + They are, almost all, salt which has lost its savour, if ever they + had any. They are thoroughly conformed to the maxims, the spirit, the + fashions, and customs of the world. Certainly then, ‘_Nunquam ad eos + homines ibis quin minor homo redibis_.’ + + “But were these or those of ever so excellent a spirit, you conversed + with them too long. One had need to be an angel, not a man, to + converse three or four hours at once, to any purpose. In the latter + part of such conversation, we shall doubtless lose all the profit we + had gained before. + + “But have you not a remedy for all this in your hands? In order to + have truly profitable conversation, may you not select persons clear + both of Calvinism and antinomianism? not fond of that luscious way + of talking, but standing in awe of Him they love; who are vigorously + working out their salvation, and are athirst for full redemption, + and every moment expecting it, if not already enjoying it? It is + true, these will generally be poor and mean, seldom possessed of + either riches or learning, unless there be now and then a _rara + avis in terris_: a Miss March, or Betty Johnson. If you converse + with these, humbly and simply, an hour at a time, with prayer before + and prayer after, you will not complain of the unprofitableness of + conversation, or find any need of turning hermit. + + “As to the conference, at Worcester, on lay preaching, do not you + observe almost all the lay preachers--(1) Are connected with + me? and--(2) Are maintainers of universal redemption? _Hinc illæ + lacrymæ!_ These gentlemen do not love _me_, and do love particular + redemption. If these laymen were connected with them, or if they were + Calvinists, all would be well. Therefore, I should apprehend you will + have two things to do:--1. Urge the argument, the strength of which + I believe is in the Second Appeal, and, above all, in the Letter + to a Clergyman. 2. Apply to the conscience, ‘You do not love Mr. + Wesley enough: you love your opinions too much; otherwise this debate + would never have arisen: for it is undeniable, these quacks cure + whom we cannot cure, they save sinners all over the nation. God is + with them, and works by them, and has done so for near these thirty + years. Therefore, the opposing them is neither better nor worse than + fighting against God.’ + + “I am your ever affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[7] + +One more letter may be introduced, before we turn to Wesley’s journal. +At the beginning of 1768, a third son was born to Charles Wesley, and +it was naturally the wish of such a father, that one of his three sons +might become a minister of Christ,--a wish, however, that was not +realised. Wesley alludes to this, and to the yearly collections and +other things, in the following to his brother, showing that Charles +either seldom attended conference, or, if he did attend, took little +interest in its financial matters. + + “LONDON, _January 15, 1768_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--Six or seven hundred pounds is brought to a + conference: of which five hundred at least pays the debt.[8] Then + extraordinary demands are answered. How much remains for law? I am + now near £300 out of pocket, which I borrowed to pay Mr. Pardon. + When I receive some more from Newcastle, I will send it to Bristol; + probably very soon. + + “It is highly probable, one of the three will stand before the Lord. + But, so far as I can learn, such a thing has scarce been for these + thousand years, as a son, father, grandfather, _atavus_, _tritavus_, + preaching the gospel, nay, and the genuine gospel, in a line. You + know, Mr. White, sometime chairman of the Assembly of Divines, was my + grandmother’s father. + + “Look upon our little ones at Kingswood as often as you can. A word + from you will be a quickening to them. Oh how many talents are we + entrusted with. We have need to gird up the loins of our mind, and + run faster the small remainder of our race. ‘One thing!’--let us mind + one thing only; and nothing great or small, but as it ministers to + it! Peace be with you and yours! Adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[9] + +Wesley’s first journey from London, in 1768, was on the 18th of +February, to Chatham. Methodism of some sort had existed here for +a considerable time. As early as 1751, the _Gentleman’s Magazine_ +relates, that a man and his wife at Chatham, both of them being +Methodists, had hanged themselves; and that, in order to prove the +man a lunatic, his friends produced, to the coroner’s jury, the New +Testament, on a roll of paper, which the man had written with his +blood.[10] + +Wesley writes: “Thursday, February 18--Having been importunately +pressed thereto, I rode through a keen east wind to Chatham. About +six in the evening, I preached at the barracks, in what they call the +church. It is a large room, in which the chaplain reads prayers, and +preaches now and then. It was soon as hot as an oven, through the +multitude of people; some hundreds of whom were soldiers; and they were +‘all ear,’ as Mr. Boston says, scarcely allowing themselves to breathe. +Even between five and six the next morning, the room was warm enough. +I suppose upwards of two hundred soldiers were a part of the audience. +Many of these are already warring a good warfare.” + +This was Wesley’s first visit to Chatham; but not his last. From the +beginning, he had loved soldiers, and, to the end, it was always a +pleasure to preach to them. + +On March 6, he set out on his long northern journey, which occupied the +next five months. A few jottings respecting it may be acceptable. + +At Gloucester, a “noisy and mischievous mob” had been “taken in +hand and tamed by an honest magistrate.” Cheltenham was “a quiet, +comfortable place,” despite the “rector and the anabaptist minister.” +At Worcester, the difficulty was, where to preach, no room being large +enough to contain the people, and it being too cold for them to stand +in the open air. At length, a friend offered the use of his barn, +which “was larger than many churches.” “Nothing,” says Wesley, “is +wanting here but a commodious house.” Such a house was built four years +afterwards,[11] and lasted till 1812, when good old James M‘Kee Byron +and the Worcester Methodists were mad enough to build another costing +upwards of £8000, the great bulk of which was left to be paid by their +successors.[12] + +At Evesham, Wesley preached in the parish church; and was announced, by +the vicar, to do the same at Pebworth; but “the squire of the parish” +interposed an interdict, and therefore he preached in the open air. + +At Birmingham, the tumults, of so many years’ continuance, were “now +wholly suppressed by a resolute magistrate.” Here Wesley met “with a +venerable monument of antiquity, George Bridgins, in the one hundred +and seventh year of his age, still able to walk to preaching, and +retaining his senses and understanding tolerably well.” + +On Sunday, March 20, Wesley preached at West Bromwich, where a small +society of about twenty persons had been kept together by Francis +Asbury, a native of a neighbouring parish, but afterwards the Methodist +bishop of the United States. + +Five years before, at Wolverhampton, the mob had levelled the Methodist +meeting-house to the ground, and four young fellows concerned in the +outrage had been sent to prison;[13] but now, says Wesley “all was +quiet: only those who could not get into the house made a little noise +for a time; and some hundreds attended me to my lodging; but it was +with no other intent than to stare.” + +Wesley pronounces Newcastle under Lyme “one of the prettiest towns +in England.” Though it was extremely cold, the largeness of the +congregation constrained him to preach in the open air; “a more +attentive or better behaved congregation” he “scarce ever saw.” Sixteen +years later, Newcastle had a society of one hundred and nine members, +the leaders of whom were John Glynn, William Bayley, Robert Keeling, +and Thomas Bamfield.[14] + +At Burslem, on March 25, he opened the new chapel; and, at Congleton, +had “an elegant, yet earnestly attentive congregation,” the behaviour +of the society having won the approbation of all the people in the +town, except “the curate, who still refused to give the sacrament to +any who would not promise to hear the Methodist preachers no more.” + +For nine years past, the Methodists had been wont to meet in a room +provided by Dr. Troutbeck, behind his own residence; and here they had +been subjected to the same sort of outrages that most towns in the +kingdom thought it their duty to commit upon the Methodists. Drums +were beaten to disturb their services; dogs were let loose in their +congregations; and rotten eggs and filth were often hurled at them in +plentiful profusion; but, by their godly behaviour, they had outlived +all this, and now had a galleried chapel, capable of containing about +four hundred persons. + +Wesley spent Sunday, March 27, at Macclesfield, where he preached to +“thousands upon thousands.” A few years before, George Pearson and +Elizabeth Clulow had opened a preaching house, which would hold forty +people, and which, to prevent ejectment, they secured to themselves +for forty years. “Ah, George!” said Mrs. Clulow, when they first went +into it, “we shall never be able to fill the place; why, it will hold +forty folk;” to which Mr. Pearson replied, “I’ll warrant you; hold up +your heart.” The result was as George predicted. In a month the room +was crammed, and a hole was cut through the chamber floor, so that +the preacher might, at the same time, address those above as well as +those below. Soon after this, Mr. Ryles gave ground and materials for a +chapel, on condition that Mrs. Clulow would pay the workmen their wages +for building it. This was done in 1764, and now, in 1768, Methodism in +Macclesfield was fairly started.[15] + +From Macclesfield, Wesley proceeded to Stockport, Manchester, and +New Mills. He writes: “Wednesday, March 30--I rode to a little town +called New Mills, and preached in their large new chapel, which has a +casement in every window, three inches square! That is the custom of +the country!” This well ventilated chapel was built principally by Mr. +and Mrs. Beard, the parents of the wife of the late T. Holy, Esq., of +Sheffield.[16] + +Coming to Liverpool, on April 6, Wesley says: “We had a huge +congregation at Liverpool; but some pretty, gay, fluttering things +did not behave with so much good manners as the mob at Wigan. The +congregations in general were quite well behaved, as well as large, +both morning and evening; and I found the society both more numerous +and more lively than ever it was before.” + +One of these “huge congregations,” after a sermon by Wesley, on Sunday, +April 10, were munificent enough to make a collection amounting to £1 +4_s._ 9_d._; and the society, which was more numerous and lively than +ever, aided by the general congregations, managed to contribute, in +their classes and at public collections, from September 1, 1768, to +January 16, 1769, the sum of £10 17_s._ 5_d._ for the support of the +work of God among them.[17] Such was Liverpool Methodism a hundred +years ago! + +On April 19, Wesley arrived in Glasgow, and says: “We have few +societies in Scotland like this. The greater part of the members not +only have found peace with God, but continue to walk in the light +of His countenance. That wise and good man, Mr. Gillies, has been +of great service to them, encouraging them to abide in the grace of +God.” Three years before this, Thomas Taylor had been sent to Glasgow, +and, after travelling several hundreds of miles to his appointment, +had, as his first congregation, two bakers’ boys and two old women, +which congregation, however, kept increasing till it reached about two +hundred. Taylor tells us, that for want of means he never kept so many +fast days as he did in Glasgow; and, though he ultimately obtained a +preaching room, and formed a society, and engaged to pay a precentor +fourpence for each service at which he led off the psalms, he found it +so difficult to raise the money that he dismissed the psalms and the +psalm singer all together. He left behind him, however, a society of +seventy members. + +One of these was Robert Mackie, who, for thirty years, acted as a +faithful classleader; and another was a poor old woman, concerning +whom John Pawson, in an unpublished letter, tells the following story. +Meeting in the street the minister of the kirk she had been accustomed +to attend, she was thus accosted: “Oh, Janet, where have ye been, +woman? I have no seen ye at the kirk for long.” “I go,” said Janet, +“among the Methodists.” “Among the Methodists!” quoth the minister; +“why what gude get ye there, woman?” “Glory to God!” replied Janet, “I +do get gude; for God, for Christ’s sake, has forgiven me aw my sins!” +“Ah, Janet,” said the minister, “be not highminded, but fear; the +devil is a cunning adversary.” “I dunna care a button for the deevil,” +answered Janet, “I’ve gotten him under my feet. I ken the deevil can +do muckle deal, but there is ane thing he canna do.” “What is that, +Janet?” “He canna shed abroad the love of God in my heart; and I am +sure I’ve got it there!” “Weel, weel!” replied the good tempered man, +“if ye have got there, Janet, hold it fast, and never let it go!” + +Wesley’s information was sometimes incorrect. From what he had heard, +he expected to find a numerous and lively society at Perth; but, +instead of that, he “found not above two believers, and scarce five +awakened persons in it.” + +At Aberdeen, the society was knit together in peace and love, and the +congregations large and deeply attentive; but, among them, were “many +rude, stupid creatures, who knew as little of reason as of religion,” +and one of whom threw a potato at Wesley. + +Having spent a month in Scotland, Wesley reached Berwick on the 18th +of May, and proceeded to Newcastle, in the neighbourhood of which he +employed the next ten days. + +At Sunderland, he had an interview with Elizabeth Hobson, a young +woman of twenty-four years of age; and took down, from her own lips, +what he properly designates “one of the strangest accounts that he +ever read.” The substance of it is to illustrate her assertion, that, +from her childhood, when any of her neighbours died, she used to see +them, either just at the time of their decease, or a little previous. +He says: “The well known character of Elizabeth Hobson excludes all +suspicion of fraud, and the nature of the circumstances themselves +excludes the possibility of delusion. The reader may believe the +narrative if he pleases; or may disbelieve it, without any offence +to me. Meantime, let him not be offended if I believe it, till I see +better reason to the contrary.” After this follow Elizabeth Hobson’s +bewildering statements. + +Wesley has been censured and ridiculed for this credulity. Southey +says, “he invalidated his own authority by listening to the most absurd +tales and recording them as authenticated facts.” Did Wesley deserve +this? The reader must not forget the undeniable, though mysterious, +supernatural noises in the Epworth rectory. He must also bear in mind, +that one of the most striking features in Wesley’s religious character +was his deep rooted, intense, powerful, and impelling conviction of +the dread realities of an unseen world. This great conviction took +possession of the man; he loved it, cherished it, tried to instil it +into all his helpers and all his people; and, without it, he would +never have undertaken the Herculean labour, and endured the almost +unparalleled opprobrium, that he did. Besides, his own justification of +himself is more easily sneered at than answered. He writes:-- + + “With my latest breath, will I bear my testimony against giving up + to infidels one great proof of the invisible world; I mean, that of + witchcraft and apparitions, confirmed by the testimony of all ages. + The English, in general, and, indeed, most of the men of learning + in Europe, have given up all accounts of witches and apparitions, + as mere old wives’ fables. I am sorry for it; and I willingly take + this opportunity of entering my solemn protest against this violent + compliment, which so many that believe the Bible pay to those who do + not believe it. I owe them no such service. I take knowledge, these + are at the bottom of the outcry which has been raised, and with such + insolence spread throughout the nation, in direct opposition not only + to the Bible, but to the suffrage of the wisest and best of men in + all ages and nations. They well know (whether Christians know it, + or not) that the giving up witchcraft is, in effect, giving up the + Bible; and they know, on the other hand, that if but one account of + the intercourse of men with separate spirits be admitted, their whole + castle in the air--deism, atheism, materialism--falls to the ground. + I know no reason, therefore, why we should suffer even this weapon to + be wrested out of our hands. Indeed, there are numerous arguments + besides this, which abundantly confute their vain imaginations. + But we need not be hooted out of one; neither reason nor religion + requires this. One of the capital objections to all these accounts + is, ‘Did you ever see an apparition yourself?’ No, nor did I ever + see a murder; yet I believe there is such a thing. The testimony of + unexceptionable witnesses fully convinces me both of the one and the + other.”[18] + +At the same time, it is only fair to add that, though Wesley was a firm +believer in witches and apparitions, he was not the fanatic which some +had been before him; hence, in 1769, he writes: “I read Mr. Glanvill’s +‘Sadducismus Triumphatus;’ but some of his relations I cannot receive, +and much less his way of accounting for them. All his talk of ‘aerial +and astral spirits,’ I take to be stark nonsense. Indeed, supposing the +facts true, I wonder a man of sense should attempt to account for them +at all. For who can explain the things of the invisible world, but the +inhabitants of it?” + +Before proceeding further in Wesley’s history, extracts from two or +three of his letters, belonging to this period, may be inserted here. + +Separation from the Church, and the doctrine of Christian perfection, +were points still far from being settled. Hence the following to his +brother. + + “EDINBURGH, _May 14, 1768_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I am at my wits’ end with regard to two things--the + Church, and Christian perfection. Unless both you and I stand in the + gap in good earnest, the Methodists will drop them both. Talking will + not avail. We must _do_, or be borne away. Will you set shoulder to + shoulder? If so, think deeply upon the matter, and tell me what can + be done. ‘_Age, vir esto! nervos intendas tuos._’ Peace be with you + and yours! Adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[19] + +A month later, Wesley recurs to the same subject, and congratulates his +brother on the results of his removing to London. + + “_June 14, 1768._ + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I rejoice to hear, from various persons, so good + an account of the work of God in London. You did not come thither + without the Lord, and you find your labour is not in vain. I doubt + not but you will see more and more fruit, while you converse chiefly + with them that are athirst for God. I find a wonderful difference + in myself when I am among these, and when I am among fashionable + Methodists. On this account, the north of England suits me best, + where so many are groaning after full redemption. + + “But what shall we do? I think it is high time, that you and I, at + least, should come to a point. Shall we go on in asserting perfection + against all the world? Or shall we quietly let it drop? We really + must do one or the other; and, I apprehend, the sooner the better. + What shall we jointly and explicitly maintain, and recommend to all + our preachers, concerning the nature, the time (now or by-and-by), + and the manner of it? instantaneous or not? I am weary of intestine + war; of preachers quoting one of us against the other. At length, let + us fix something for good and all, either the same as formerly, or + different from it.--Ερρωσο. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[20] + +Dr. Erskine’s attack on Wesley has been already mentioned (see Vol. +II., p. 530). During Wesley’s visit to Scotland, he sought an interview +with his opponent, and refers to their points of difference in the +following interesting letter to the Rev. Mr. Plendelieth, of Edinburgh. + + “_May 23, 1768._ + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--Some years ago, it was reported that I + recommended the use of a crucifix, to a man under sentence of death. + I traced this up to its author, Dr. Stennett, an anabaptist teacher. + He was charged with it. He answered, ‘Why I saw a crucifix in his + cell (a picture of Christ on the cross), and I knew Mr. Wesley used + to visit him, so I _supposed_ he had brought it.’ This is the whole + of the matter. Dr. Stennett himself I never saw; nor did I ever see + such a picture in the cell; and I believe the whole tale is pure + invention. + + “I had, for some time, given up the thought of an interview with + Mr. Erskine, when I fell into the company of Dr. Oswald. He said, + ‘Sir, you do not know Mr. Erskine. I know him perfectly well. Send + and desire an hour’s conversation with him, and I am sure he will + understand you better.’ I am glad I did send. I have done _my_ part, + and am now entirely satisfied. I am likewise glad, that Mr. Erskine + has spoken his mind. I will answer with all simplicity, in full + confidence of satisfying _you_, and all impartial men. + + “He objects, (1) That I attack predestination as subversive of all + religion, and yet suffer my followers, in _Scotland_, to remain in + that opinion. + + “Much of this is true. I did attack predestination eight-and-twenty + years ago; and I do not believe now any predestination which implies + irrespective reprobation. But I do not believe, it is _necessarily + subversive_ of all religion. I think hot disputes are much more so. + Therefore, I never willingly dispute with any one about it; and I + advise all my friends, not in Scotland only, but all over England + and Ireland, to avoid all contention on the head, and let every man + remain in his own opinion. Can any man of candour blame me for this? + Is there anything _unfair_ or _disingenuous_ about it? + + “He objects, (2) That I ‘assert the attainment of sinless perfection + by all that are born of God.’ I am sorry, that Mr. Erskine should + affirm this again. I need give no other answer than I gave before, + in the seventh page of the little tract I sent him two years ago. + I do not maintain this. I do not believe it. I believe Christian + perfection is not attained by any of the children of God, till they + are what the apostle John terms _fathers_; and this I expressly + declare in that sermon which Mr. Erskine so largely quotes. + + “He objects, (3) That I ‘deny the imputation of Christ’s active + obedience.’ Since I believed justification by faith, which I have + done upwards of thirty years, I have constantly maintained, that we + are pardoned and accepted wholly for the sake of what Christ hath + both _done and suffered_ for us. Two or three years ago, Mr. Madan’s + sister showed him what she had wrote down of a sermon which I had + preached on this subject. He entreated me to write down the whole and + print it, saying, it would satisfy all my opponents. I was not so + sanguine as to expect this: I understood mankind too well. However, I + complied with his request; a few were satisfied; the rest continued + just as they were before. + + “As long as Mr. Erskine continues in the mind expressed in his + Theological Essays, there is no danger, that he and I should agree, + any more than light and darkness. I love and reverence him; but not + his doctrine. I dread every approach to antinomianism. I have seen + the fruit of it, over the three kingdoms. I never said, that Mr. + Erskine and I were agreed. I will make our disagreement as public as + ever he pleases: only I must withal specify the particulars. If he + _will_ fight with me, it must be on this ground; and then let him do + what he will, and what he can. + + “Retaining a due sense of your friendly offices, and praying for a + blessing on all your labours, I remain, reverend and dear sir, your + affectionate brother and servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[21] + +These were mutterings before the storm,--skirmishes before the +battle,--a prelude to the great Calvinian controversy of 1770 and +onwards. + +We abruptly turn to another matter. Wesley was a man who believed in +the importance of making preparations for dying, in more respects than +one. He writes on the last day of the year 1786: “From these words, +‘Set thy house in order,’ I strongly exhorted all who had not done +it already, to settle their temporal affairs without delay. It is a +strange madness which still possesses many, that are in other respects +men of understanding, who put this off from day to day, till death +comes in an hour when they looked not for it.” + +Wesley acted upon his own advice. He was without money; but he had +books, etc.: and to prevent quarrels after he was dead, he made more +wills than one respecting their disposal. One executed in 1768 was, of +course, different from his last, executed in 1789; and, as something +more than a curiosity, we subjoin a verbatim copy, made from the +original in Wesley’s own handwriting. + + “In the name of God. Amen! I, John Wesley, Clerk, revoking all other, + appoint this to be my last Will and Testament. + + “I bequeath to my brother Charles Wesley, (but in case of his demise + to the School in Kingswood,) my Hebrew, Greek, Latin, French, + and German books (except those, in any language, in the study at + Kingswood School, which I bequeath to the said School; and those + in my studies at Bristol, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Dublin, which I + desire may remain there for the use of the Travelling Preachers); and + all my gowns, cassocks, and bands. To James Morgan, I bequeath my + watch; to my faithful Housekeeper, Ann Smith, Mrs. Lefevre’s ring; + to Mr. Peter Jaco, my bureau at London; to him, to the Rev. William + Ley, and to each Travelling Preacher, who has them not already, a set + of my Sermons, Appeals, Journals, the Notes on the New Testament, + and the book on Original Sin; to the Rev. Mr. James Roquet, all my + manuscripts; to my dear friend, Mary Bosanquet, the set of my Works; + to my dear daughter, Jane Smith, the ‘Christian Library,’ now in my + study at London. + + “I bequeath all my Books, which are for sale, with the sole right of + reprinting them, (after paying my brother’s Rent Charge upon them,) + to Mr. Melchias Teulon, Hatter, Mr. John Horton, Silkdyer, and Mr. + John Collinson, Hatter, in Trust, the one moiety for the keeping + the Children of Travelling Preachers at the School (to be chosen by + the Assistants at the Yearly Conference), the other moiety for the + continual relief of the Poor of the United Society in London. Only I + bequeath to Christiana Simpson, at Aberdeen, the Books which shall + remain with her, at the time of my decease. + + “Lastly, I bequeath the residue of my Books and Goods to my wife, + Mary Wesley. And I appoint the said Melchias Teulon, John Horton, and + John Collinson, Executors of this my last Will and Testament. + + “Witness my hand and seal,[22] this 27th day of April, 1768, + + “JOHN WESLEY. + “Witnesses: + “WILLIAM SMITH. + “THOMAS SIMPSON.” + +A man’s will is a document in which he generally makes mention of his +best beloved friends. On this ground, a few notes appended to Wesley’s +will of 1768 may be useful. + +1. Wesley’s principal bequest, in 1768, was to Kingswood school, and to +the poor of the society in London. In 1789, this bequest was made to +“the general fund of the Methodist conference, in carrying on the work +of God by itinerant preachers.” + +2. James Roquet was made the trustee of Wesley’s manuscripts in 1768; +but, having died during the interim, Dr. Coke, Dr. Whitehead, and Henry +Moore were appointed in 1789 to take his place. + +3. In 1768, he bequeathed all his gowns, cassocks, and bands to his +brother; in 1789, to the clergymen preaching in City Road chapel, +London. + +4. In 1768, James Morgan was to have his watch; but, in 1789, James +Morgan was dead, and Joseph Bradford got it. + +5. In 1768, Mrs. Martha Hall had no bequest, for her bad husband was +then living; in 1789, he was dead, and hence her legacy of £40. + +6. In 1768, there was a legacy for his wife; in 1789, his wife was in +her grave. + +7. Wesley makes mention of his “dear daughter, Jane Smith.” This lady +was really his wife’s daughter, who was now married to Mr. William +Smith, of Newcastle upon Tyne, one of the witnesses. + +8. James Roquet, to whom Wesley bequeathed his manuscripts, was the son +of a French Protestant refugee, was educated in the Merchant Taylors’ +school in London, was converted under Whitefield’s ministry, graduated +at St. John’s college, Oxford, became master in Wesley’s school at +Kingswood, obtained episcopal ordination, and was now curate of St. +Werburgh, Bristol. + +9. The Rev. William Ley, to whom Wesley bequeathed a set of his +publications, was, from the year 1760 to 1763, an itinerant preacher. +He was then episcopally ordained, and was now the curate of Lakenheath, +but likely to be dismissed by the vicar, to whom his Methodistic +preaching and procedure were offensive.[23] + +10. Of one of the executors of Wesley’s will, John Collinson, we can +give no particulars. + +11. The second, Mr. Teulon, was born at Bromley, in 1734; and was +sent to school at Nottingham. At fourteen, he was put apprentice to +his uncle, Mr. Wagner, of Pall Mall, hatter to King George II. He was +converted under the ministry of Romaine, joined the Methodists, and, +in 1761, married Miss Mecham, the daughter of one of the earliest +Methodists in London. For four years, he was Wesley’s London steward, +and was leader of a class. He was a man of some literary taste, and had +read most of the best English authors. He died in 1806, respected and +beloved by all who knew him.[24] + +12. The third executor, John Horton, was a member of the common council +of London, sensible, well read, serious without gloom, cheerful without +levity, and polite without ceremony. The unhappy differences after +Wesley’s death induced him to leave the Methodists, and he went to +reside at Bristol.[25] He retained his warm attachment, however, to +“the _old ship_,” as he was accustomed to designate Wesley’s system; +again attended the Methodist preaching, and, only a few months before +his death, when his son was preparing for the university, declared to +Henry Moore, that he would “rather see his son a Methodist preacher, +than archbishop of Canterbury.” He died in peace about the year +1802.[26] + +We left Wesley at Newcastle. On the 31st of May, he set out for +Weardale, Teesdale, and Swaledale, where he spent the next four days. +At Richmond, he preached in the market place, the Yorkshire militia +forming a considerable part of his congregation,--“a rude rabble rout, +without sense, decency, or good manners.” At Barnardcastle, the Durham +militia was a perfect contrast, officers and soldiers all behaving +well. Wesley’s visit to the “dales” circuit was a pleasant one. He +writes: “I have not found so deep and lively a work in any other part +of the kingdom as runs through the whole circuit, particularly in the +vales that wind between these horrid mountains.” + +Returning to Newcastle, Wesley visited South Shields, and preached to +more than could hear him. Here the poor Methodists were often beaten, +rolled in the mud and in the snow, and sometimes narrowly escaped with +life: but, continuing faithful, God honoured them; a cockpit was turned +into a Methodist chapel,[27] and Methodism was firmly anchored. + +On the 13th of June, Wesley left Newcastle for the south, and spent the +next six weeks in visiting his societies in Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. + +The Rev. Thomas Adam, rector of Wintringham, one of the evangelical +clergymen of the period, has been already mentioned. Like some others, +this unquestionably pious man had become a determined opponent of the +Methodists, and hence the following letter, addressed to him by Wesley. + + “SWINFLEET, _July 19, 1768_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--One of Wintringham informed me yesterday, + that you said no sensible and well meaning man could hear, and much + less join, the Methodists; because they all _acted under a lie_, + professing themselves members of the Church of England, while they + licensed themselves as Dissenters. You are a little misinformed. The + greater part of the Methodist preachers are not licensed at all; and + several of them that are, are not licensed as Dissenters. + + “We are, in truth, so far from being enemies to the Church, rather + bigots to it. I dare not, like Mr. Venn, leave the parish church + where I am, to go to an Independent meeting. I dare not advise + others to go thither, rather than to church. I advise all, over whom + I have any influence, steadily to keep to the Church. Meantime, I + advise them to see, that the kingdom of God is within them; that + their hearts be full of love to God and man; and to look upon all, + of whatever opinion, who are like minded, as their ‘brother, and + sister, and mother.’ O sir! what art of men or devils is this, + which makes you so studiously stand aloof from those who are thus + minded? I cannot but say to you, as I did to Mr. Walker, ‘The + Methodists do not want you; but you want them.’ You want the life, + the spirit, the power, which they have; not of themselves, but by + the free grace of God; else how could it be, that so good a man, and + so good a preacher, should have so little fruit of his labour, his + unwearied labour, for so many years? Have your parishioners the life + of religion in their souls? Have they so much as the form of it? + Are the people of Wintringham, in general, any better than those of + Winterton, or Horton? Alas! sir, what is it that hinders your reaping + the fruit of so much pains and so many prayers? + + “Is it not possible this may be the very thing, your setting + yourself against those whom God owns, by the continual conviction + and conversion of sinners? I fear, as long as you in anywise oppose + these, your rod will not blossom, neither will you see the desire of + your soul, in the prosperity of the souls committed to your charge. + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[28] + +In his journey southwards, Wesley visited, for the second time, his +friend Fletcher, at Madeley,--a man, in many respects, the opposite of +Mr. Adam of Wintringham, and especially in his feelings towards the +Methodists. So far from shunning them, or being ashamed of them, he, as +far as possible, identified himself with them; and, at the very last +conference before he died, entreated Wesley to make Madeley a circuit +town, and to put John Fletcher down as a supernumerary preacher there. +He made his kitchen a Methodist chapel, in which Wesley’s itinerants +and his own curate regularly preached; while his study was the place in +which were penned the ablest defences of Wesley’s doctrines that were +ever committed to the public press. + +From Madeley, Wesley went to Shrewsbury, where, as early as 1744, +there was a poor woman, who had been converted in London under the +preaching of the Methodists, and who now obtained a living, by mending +her neighbours’ stockings. While thus employed, at their respective +houses, she would relate to them her religious experience, read to them +a sermon, and then engage in prayer. By this means, she had already +formed a society of sixteen or eighteen persons; and the Rev. Job +Orton, the well known author, a native of Shrewsbury, and at this time +its presbyterian minister, declared that this poor stocking-mending +Methodist was not only of “an excellent and serious spirit,” but had +had more success in converting sinners than he had had by all his +preaching.[29] + +Leaving Shrewsbury, Wesley rode right through Wales to Pembroke, +where he “read prayers, preached, and administered the sacrament to +a serious congregation at St. Daniels;” and so tried to remove some +misunderstandings among the Methodists, that he “left the people +full of good desires, and in tolerable good humour with each other.” +Here Methodism had been begun seven years before, when Thomas Taylor +traversed mountains, forded rivers, and plunged through bogs, with an +empty purse and an empty stomach, seeking to save sinners with a zeal +and a spirit of self denial worthy of the noblest missionary that ever +lived.[30] + +At Neath, where the minister of the parish was just dead, the +churchwardens announced, that Wesley would preach in the parish church. +He did so, but says: “I was greatly disgusted at the manner of singing. +1. Twelve or fourteen persons kept it to themselves, and quite shut out +the congregation. 2. These repeated the same words, contrary to all +sense and reason, six, or eight, or ten times over. 3. According to the +shocking custom of modern music, different persons sung different words +at one and the same moment; an intolerable insult on common sense, and +utterly incompatible with any devotion.” + +After more than five months of laborious travelling, Wesley came to +Bristol on Saturday the 13th of August, between eleven and twelve +o’clock at night. His conference had to open two days afterwards; +but the first news he heard was, that his wife was dangerously ill +in London. He had about forty-eight hours before he must meet his +preachers, twenty-four of which were sabbatical. The distance to London +and back again was two hundred and twenty-eight miles; the roads not +the best; and the mode of travelling a perfect contrast to what exists +at present. Wesley was an aged man, of more than sixty-five; for nearly +six months he had been travelling and preaching incessantly, and might +now fairly wish for a few hours’ rest. But no sooner did he hear of his +wife’s affliction, than, notwithstanding her unloving heart and life, +he started off to London, which, by travelling most of the sabbath day, +he reached at one o’clock on Monday morning; when, finding that the +fever was abated and the danger gone, he set out again within an hour, +and, by hard driving, arrived in Bristol on Monday afternoon. Next +morning he opened his annual conference, and closed it the following +Friday, exclaiming, “Oh! what can we do for more labourers? We can only +cry to the Lord of the harvest.” + +One of the chief points discussed at the present conference was, +whether the itinerant preachers should be allowed to engage in trade. +This was a question at once delicate and difficult. In the first +place, many of them had wives and children, the provision for whose +maintenance was of the most slender kind. Secondly, the men were not +ordained, and had no clerical status whatever. So far there seemed +to be no difficulty. But, in the third place, though not ordained, +the preachers were regarded by Wesley as occupying, to all practical +intents and purposes, the same position as the regular ministers of +the Church of England; and, hence, he considered it as unseemly and as +improper for his itinerants to be engaged in trade as it would be for +the clergy of the Established Church. “God,” says he, “has called us to +supply their lack of service to the sheep that are without shepherds, +and to spend and be spent therein. Every travelling preacher solemnly +professes to have nothing else to do; and receives his little allowance +for this very end, that he may not need to do anything else,--that he +may not be entangled in the things of this life, but may give himself +wholly to these things.” + +The result was, the few preachers who had resorted to some kind of +trade, for the purpose of eking out the insufficient maintenance for +their families were _advised_ to give up their business as soon as +possible, and especially _hawking drops_ (which their wives might sell +at home), for it had “a bad appearance, and did not suit the dignity of +their calling.” + +The increase of members during the year was 430. Wesley was not +satisfied with this. Hence the question: + + “In many places the work of God seems to stand still. What can be + done to revive and enlarge it?” + + “Answer--1. Much good has been done by the books which have been + published; and more would be, if they were spread more effectually. + + “2. Let there be more field preaching; without this, the work of God + will hardly increase in any place. + + “3. Let the preaching at five in the morning be constantly kept + up, wherever you can have twenty hearers. This is the glory of the + Methodists! Whenever this is dropped, they will dwindle away into + nothing. Rising early is equally good for soul and body. It helps + the nerves better than a thousand medicines; and, in particular, + preserves the sight, and prevents lowness of spirits, more than can + be well imagined. + + “4. As soon as there are four men or women believers in any place, + put them into a _band_. In every place where there are bands, meet + them constantly, and encourage them to speak without reserve. + + “5. Be conscientiously exact in the whole Methodist discipline. + One part of our discipline has been generally neglected, namely, + the changing of the stewards. This has been attended with many + ill consequences; many stewards have been ready to ride over the + preachers head. Let every assistant, at the next quarterly meeting, + change one steward at least, in every society, if there be therein + any other man that can keep an account. + + “6. Beware of _formality_ in singing, or it will creep in upon us + unawares. Is it not creeping in already, by those complex tunes + which it is scarce possible to sing with devotion? Such is, ‘Praise + the Lord, ye blessed ones!’ Such the long quavering Hallelujah, + annexed to the Morning Song tune, which I defy any man living to sing + devoutly. The repeating the same word so often, especially while + another repeats different words, shocks all common sense, brings in + dead formality, and has no more of religion in it than a Lancashire + hornpipe. Do not suffer the people to sing too slow. This naturally + tends to formality, and is brought in by those who have very strong + or very weak voices. Why should not the assistant see, that they be + taught to sing in every large society? + + “7. Let a quarterly fast be observed in all our societies. + + “8. Which of us ‘fasts every Friday in the year’? Which of us fasts + at all? Does not this show the present temper of our minds soft + and unnerved? How then can we advance the work of God, though we + may preach _loud_ and _long_ enough? Here is the root of the evil. + Hence, the work of God droops; few are convinced, few justified, few + of our brethren sanctified! Hence, more and more doubt if we are + to be sanctified at all till death. That we may all speak the same + thing, I ask once for all, ‘Shall we defend this perfection or give + it up’? You all agree to defend it, meaning thereby, as we did from + the beginning, salvation from all sin, by the love of God and our + neighbour filling our heart. You are all agreed, we may be saved + from all sin _before death_. The substance then is settled. But as + to the circumstance, is the change instantaneous or gradual? It is + both one and the other. But should we in preaching insist upon both + one and the other? Certainly. But how far from entire sanctification + are we still! The religion of the Methodists, in general, is not + internal: at least, not deep, universal, uniform: but superficial, + partial, uneven. And what pains do we take to make it otherwise? Do + we visit from house to house, according to the plan laid down in + the minutes? Only spend half the time in _this visiting_, which you + spend in talking uselessly, and you will have time enough. Do this, + particularly in confirming and building up believers. Then, and not + till then, the work of the Lord will prosper in your hands. Unless, + also, we can take care of the _rising generation_, the present + revival of religion will be _res unius ætatis_, it will last only + the age of a man. Spend an hour a week with the children, in every + large town, whether you like it or not. Talk with them every time you + see any at home. Pray in earnest for them. Diligently instruct and + vehemently exhort all parents at their own houses. Read carefully + the life of Mr. Brainerd. Let us be followers of him, as he was of + Christ; in absolute self devotion, in total deadness to the world, + and in fervent love to God and man. We want nothing but this. Then + the world and the devil must fall under our feet. Lastly, let us keep + to the Church. They that leave the Church leave the Methodists. The + clergy cannot separate us from our brethren; the Dissenting ministers + can and do. Therefore, carefully avoid whatever has a tendency to + separate men from the Church. In particular, preaching at any hour + which hinders them from going to it. Let every assistant look to + this. Let all the servants in our preaching houses go to church on + Sunday morning at least. Let every preacher likewise go always on + Sunday morning, and, when he can, in the afternoon. God will bless + those who go on week days too, as often as they have opportunity.” + +Wesley’s means, then, to promote a revival of the work of God, were +a diffusion of Methodist literature, field and morning preaching, +the enforcement of Methodist discipline, good singing, quarterly +fasts, the preaching of the doctrine of Christian perfection, house +to house visitation, attention to the young, continued union with the +Established Church, and, above all and more than all, more inward and +outward religion among the preachers. + +Before leaving the conference of 1768, we insert a letter, which, so +far as we are aware, has not before been published, except in the +“Methodist Pocket Book” for 1799. It was addressed to James Morgan, one +of Wesley’s itinerant preachers, well read, and popular, but who had +sunk into a state of nervousness, and had settled down in the city of +Dublin. + + “ST. JUST, NEAR THE LAND’S END, _September 3, 1768_. + + “DEAR JEMMY,--I have been thinking much of _you_; and why should I + not tell you all I think, and all I fear, concerning you? + + “I think all that you said at the conference upon the subject of the + late debates was right. And it amounted to no more than this: ‘the + general rule is, they who are in the favour of God know they are so. + But there may be some exceptions. Some may fear and love God, and yet + not be clearly conscious of His favour; at least, they may not dare + to affirm that their sins are forgiven.’ If you put the case thus, + I think no man in his senses will be tempted to contradict you; for + none can doubt, but whoever loves God is in the favour of God. But is + not this a little misstating the case? I do not conceive the question + turned here; but you said, or was imagined to say, ‘all penitents are + in God’s favour’; or, ‘all who mourn after God are in the favour of + God.’ And this was what many disliked; because they thought it was + unscriptural and unsafe, as well as contrary to what _we_ had always + taught. That this _is_ contrary to what _we_ had always taught, is + certain; as all our hymns, as well as other writings, testify: so + that (whether it be true or not), it is, without any question, a + _new_ doctrine among the Methodists. We have always taught, that a + _penitent mourned_, or was pained, on this very account, because + he felt he was not in the favour of God, but had the wrath of God + abiding on him. Hence we supposed the language of his heart to be, + ‘Lost and undone for aid I cry’; and we believed he was really ‘lost + and undone,’ till God did + + ‘Peace, righteousness, and joy impart, + And speak Himself into his heart.’ + + “And I still apprehend this to be the scriptural doctrine, confirmed, + not by a few detached texts, but by the whole tenor of Scripture, + and, more particularly, of the Epistle to the Romans. But if so, the + contrary to it must be unsafe, for that general reason, because it + is unscriptural; to which one may add the particular reason, that it + naturally tends to lull mourners to sleep; to make them say, ‘Peace, + peace’ to their souls, when there is no peace. + + “But it may be asked, ‘Will not this discourage mourners?’ Yes, it + will discourage them from stopping where they are; it will discourage + them from resting, before they have the witness in themselves, before + Christ is revealed in them. But it will _encourage_ them to seek in + the gospel way; to ask till they receive pardon and peace. And we are + to encourage them, not by telling them they are in the favour of God, + though they do not know it; (such a word as this we would never utter + in a congregation, at the peril of our souls;) but by assuring them, + ‘Every one that seeketh findeth, every one that asketh receiveth.’ + + “I am afraid you have not been sufficiently wary in this; but + have given occasion to them that sought occasion. But this is not + all. I doubt you did not ‘see God’s hand in Shimei’s tongue.’ + ‘Unto you it _was given_ to suffer’ a little of what you extremely + wanted,--obloquy and evil report. But you did not acknowledge either + the gift or the Giver. You saw only T. Olivers, not God. O Jemmy, you + do not know yourself. You cannot bear to be continually steeped in + the esteem and praise of men. Therefore, I tremble at your stay at + Dublin; it is the most dangerous place for _you_ under heaven! All I + can say is, God _can_ preserve you in the fiery furnace, and I hope + He will. + + “I am, dear Jemmy, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +A letter has been already inserted in which Wesley congratulates his +brother on the reports he had received respecting the success of his +ministry in London. This was somewhat premature, for, in reality, +instead of there being an increase in the London circuit, there was +a decrease of seventy members; and there was a serious intention to +abandon the chapel in Spitalfields. Hence the following letter “to the +stewards of the Foundery.” + + “PEMBROKE, _August 6, 1768_. + + “MY DEAR BRETHREN,--The thing you mention is of no small concern, + and ought not to be determined hastily. Indeed, it would be easy + to answer, if we considered only how to save money; but we are to + consider also how to save souls. Now, I doubt whether we should act + wisely in this respect were we to give up the chapel in Spitalfields. + We have no other preaching place in or near that populous quarter + of the town; and a quarter which, upon one account, I prefer before + almost any other; namely, that the people in general are more simple, + and less confused by any other preachers. I think, therefore, it + would not be well to give up this, if we could gain a thousand pounds + thereby. I should look upon it as selling the souls of men for money; + which God will give us in due time without this. That many who live + near the Foundery would be glad of it I allow, because it would + save them trouble. But neither can I put the saving of trouble in + competition with the saving of souls. + + “I am, my dear brethren, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[31] + +Poor Spitalfields! Noble Wesley! Let the fashionable Methodists of the +present generation ponder such sentiments as these, and hesitate before +they abandon their old chapels, because surrounded by none but the +abject and the poor, and because keeping them open involves expense and +trouble. + +It is a remarkable fact, that almost in the very year in which +Methodism was founded in America, it was instituted in Newfoundland. +For nine years, Laurence Coughlan was one of Wesley’s itinerants. In +1764, he was ordained by Erasmus, the Greek bishop, and was put away +from the Methodist connexion. In 1766,[32] he was reordained by the +Bishop of London, and was sent to Newfoundland by the Society for the +Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts. It is true, he went as a +clergyman of the Church of England, but he took his Methodism with him, +and established classes, in which the present Methodism of Newfoundland +had its origin. In a letter to Wesley, he writes: + + “I am, and do confess myself, a Methodist. The name I love, and hope + I ever shall. The plan which you first taught me, as to doctrine and + discipline, I have followed. We have the sacrament once a month, and + have about two hundred communicants. This is more than all the other + missionaries in the land have: nor do I know of any who attend our + sacrament, who have not the fear of God; and some are happy in His + love. There are some also whose mouths the Lord hath opened to give a + word of exhortation; and I hope He will raise up many more.” + +It would be a pleasant task to trace the steps of Mr. Coughlan in +Newfoundland; but suffice it to remark that he returned to England, and +shortly after, while conversing with Wesley in his study, was seized +with paralysis, and suddenly removed to his rest in heaven.[33] + +Coughlan was one of those in London, who professed to receive the +blessing of Christian perfection; but, like many others, imbibed +fantastic notions respecting it. Soon after the conference of 1768, +Wesley wrote to him as follows. + + “DEAR LAURENCE,--By a various train of providences you have been led + to the very place where God intended you should be; and you have + reason to praise Him, that He has not suffered your labour there to + be in vain. In a short time, how little will it signify, whether we + had lived in the Summer Islands, or beneath + + ‘The rage of Arctos and eternal frost!’ + + “How soon will this dream of life be at an end! And when we are once + landed in eternity, it will be all one, whether we spent our time on + earth in a palace, or had not where to lay our head. + + “You never learned, either from my conversation, or preaching, or + writings, that ‘holiness consisted in a glow of joy.’ I constantly + told you quite the contrary: I told you it was the love of God and + our neighbour; the image of God stamped on the heart; the life of + God in the soul of man; the mind that was in Christ, enabling us to + walk as Christ also walked. If Mr. Maxfield, or you, took it to be + anything else, it was your own fault, not mine; and, whenever you + waked out of that dream, you ought not to have laid the blame of it + upon me. Perhaps you thought you had received what you had not. But + pray do not measure all men by yourself; do not imagine you are the + universal standard. If you deceived yourself, you should not infer + that all others do. Many think they are justified, and are not; but + we cannot infer, that none are justified. So neither, if many think + they are ‘perfected in love,’ and are not, will it follow that none + are so. Blessed be God, though we set a hundred enthusiasts aside, + we are still ‘encompassed with a cloud of witnesses,’ who have + testified, and do testify, in life and in death, that perfection + which I have taught these forty years! This perfection cannot be a + delusion, unless the Bible be a delusion too; I mean, loving God + with all our hearts, and our neighbour as ourselves. I pin down all + its opposers to this definition of it. No evasion! No shifting the + question! Where is the delusion of this? Either you received this + love, or you did not. If you did, dare you call it a delusion? If + you received anything else, it does not at all affect the question. + O Laurence, if sister Coughlan and you ever did enjoy this, humble + yourselves before God for casting it away; if you did not, God grant + you may! + + “Yours, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[34] + +Wesley had been incessantly travelling for nearly the last six months; +but no sooner were the sessions of the Bristol conference ended, than +he started off to Cornwall, where he spent the interval between August +26 and September 18. On his way, he preached to a serious congregation +at Taunton, and asks, “Shall we have fruit here also?” Wesley might +well ask this. For many a long year, he had been accustomed to preach +at Taunton, and had been received either with stupid indifference or +active contempt. As early as 1744, he attempted to preach in the yard +of the Three Cups inn; but had no sooner named his text, than the mayor +came, in all his full blown dignity, and ordered the proclamation to be +read, and silenced the preacher.[35] Almost a quarter of a century had +elapsed since then; and now there was a small society, of which one of +the members was Thomas Dingle, who for sixty-three years was a chief +supporter of the Taunton society, and one of its brightest ornaments. + +Wesley’s labours in Cornwall were Herculean. Though now in the +sixty-sixth year of his age, for eight days together he preached, +“mostly in the open air, three or four times a day,” and says, “I +hardly felt any weariness, first or last.” He was also not without +adventures. At Polperro, his bedroom was filled with pilchards and +conger eels, which made him glad to accept the offer of another. At +Plymouth, on his return, a “silly man talked without ceasing” during +the sermon, till Wesley desired the people “to open to the right and +left, and let him look his garrulous disturber fairly in the face,” +upon which the noisy prater “pulled off his hat, and quietly went +away.” Between Charlton and Lympsham, the rivers were so swollen, that +Wesley’s horse had to swim, and Wesley himself had to be taken to his +lodgings on an “honest man’s shoulders.” + +Reaching Bristol on September 24, Wesley spent the next few days in +visiting the neighbouring towns and villages. At Frome, he found the +liveliest society that there was in the Wiltshire circuit: a fact which +greatly surprised him, because the town was made up of a strange medley +“of men of all opinions,--anabaptists, quakers, presbyterians, Arians, +antinomians, Moravians, and what not.” He adds: “if any hold to the +truth, in the midst of all these, surely the power must be of God.” + +The Frome Methodists, however, were not untrained recruits, but veteran +soldiers, who had stood the brunt of many a furious and fiery fight. +Twenty-two years before this, Methodism had been started in their town, +by a poor Bristol pedlar, who dealt in rags and small ware, singing to +the people Wesley’s hymns. Since then, a vagabond barber--a tool in the +hands of the parish priest--had dragged two Methodist women to prison. +Mrs. Seagram had been fined £20 for permitting her house to be used as +a preaching place; and, not being able to pay the fine, had had all her +stock in trade and her household goods sold by public auction, while +she and her two fatherless children were turned penniless out of doors. +In one instance, the mob rushed into the preaching room, seized the +benches, and made a bonfire of them. Methodism in Frome had outlived +all this; and, despite the sectarianism of the town, it was destined +still to live and prosper. + +On October 24, Wesley set out for London, and employed the first week +in November in a preaching tour through the three counties of Hertford, +Bedford, and Northampton. At Hertford, a chapel had been built by Mr. +Andrews, who afterwards, in 1777, gave to Wesley’s new chapel in City +Road the pulpit which has been used in Methodism’s cathedral from that +time to this.[36] + +The second week in November was spent in a similar visitation of the +societies in Oxfordshire. He writes: “I was desired to preach at +Oxford. The room was throughly filled, and not with curious, but deeply +serious hearers. Many of these desired, that our travelling preachers +would take them in their turn; with which I willingly complied.” Oxford +had been Methodism’s cradle, but the infant had long been absent. +Henceforth, Methodism was one of Oxford’s institutions; though, for +long, long years, it was a thing of feebleness and of small dimensions. +The “Oxfordshire” circuit extended over the greater part of Berkshire, +Wiltshire, and Buckinghamshire; and, even as late as 1787, there were +throughout the circuit only four Methodist chapels, namely, at Oxford, +Wycombe, Wallingford, and Witney. At Aylesbury, the Methodists preached +in the baptists’ chapel; at Newbury, in an ironfounder’s shop; and at +all the other places, in private houses. The small chapel in Oxford +was in New-Inn-Hall Lane;[37] and the Oxford home of the two unmarried +preachers, Joseph Entwisle and Richard Reece, was a garret in the house +of a journeyman shoemaker, for which the society paid sixpence a week +as rent; and which had to serve them as dining room, sitting room, +bedroom, and study,[38] all in one. + +The third week in November was occupied in meeting the London classes; +and the fourth in a tour in Kent. The rest of the year was chiefly +spent in town. + +Wesley was fervent, but not fanatical; he loved earnestness in +religious worship, but not disorder. Hence the following letter to Mr. +Merryweather, of Yarm. + + “LEWISHAM, _December 10, 1768_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--The matter is short: all things in Divine worship + must ‘be done decently and in order.’ Two must never pray at the + same time, nor one interrupt another. Either Alice Brammah must take + advice, or the society must be warned to keep away from her. These + are the very things which were the beginning of poor George Bell’s + fall. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + JOHN WESLEY.”[39] + +We have already seen that, by an enormous effort, in the month of +August, Wesley hurried from Bristol to London to visit his afflicted +wife. On his return he wrote her as follows. + + “MY LOVE,--I can make allowance for faintness, and weakness, and + pain. I remember when it was my own case, at this very place, and + when you spared no pains in nursing and waiting upon me, till + it pleased God to make you the chief instrument in restoring my + strength. I am glad you have the advice of a skilful physician; but + you must not be surprised or discouraged if you do not recover your + strength so soon as one might wish, especially at this time of the + year. What is chiefly to be desired is, that God may sanctify all His + dispensations to you, and that all may be the means of your being + more entirely devoted to Him, whose favour is better than strength, + or health, or life itself. + + “I am, dear Molly, your ever affectionate husband, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +No sooner was Wesley’s wife convalescent, than, instead of waiting to +welcome him to his home in London, she, in one of her insane piques, +took her departure to Newcastle. The following letter to his brother +refers to this, and also to his preparing an edition of Young’s “Night +Thoughts,” and to other matters. + + “LONDON, _December 17, 1768_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I thank you for your reproof. There is reason in what + you say. If there was not evil, there was the appearance of evil. + + “Matters have not been well carried on at Liverpool; but ‘what cannot + be cured must be endured.’ + + “Why, you simpleton, you are cutting me out a month’s work. Nay, but + I have no leisure nor inclination to write a book. I intend only: (1) + to leave out what I most dislike; (2) to mark what I most approve of; + (3) to prefix a short preface. And I shall run the hazard of printing + it at Bristol. There you yourself can read the proof sheets. + + “You do well with regard to my sister Emily. What farther is wanting + I will supply. I hear nothing from our friend at Newcastle. I am now + a mere fellow of a college again. Adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[40] + +Wesley was still troubled on account of the chapel debts. Nearly £6000 +had been contributed; but there was still a debt of £7728 upon the +chapels in the United Kingdom undefrayed.[41] This gave rise to the +following letter. + + “LONDON, _December, 1768_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Last year, Mr. H---- was much persuaded that, by + means of the yearly subscription, our whole debt of above £11,000 + would be paid within two years. Many of our brethren were more + sanguine still. They were persuaded that, by generously exerting + themselves, and giving a large sum at once, it would be paid in one + year. I did not expect this; but I would not contradict, because I + would not discourage them. The event was as I foresaw. By the noble + effort which many of our brethren made, most of the pressing debts + are already discharged, amounting in the whole to near £7000. But + a debt of about £7000 remains upon us still. What can be done with + regard to this? I will tell you what occurs to my mind. Many of our + brethren chose to subscribe yearly ten, five, three, two guineas, or + less. I doubt not but these will cheerfully pay the residue of their + subscription, and perhaps some of them will add a little thereto, + as they see the great occasion there is for it. A few delayed + subscribing, because they wanted to see the event; supposing the + design to be impracticable, and that ‘nothing good would come out + of it,’ As it now appears that great good has come out of it, that + many burdens are already removed, I cannot but earnestly exhort all + these now to set their shoulders to the work. Now, at least, let them + exert themselves, for my sake, for the gospel’s sake, and for the + sake of their still afflicted brethren, who groan under a load which + they cannot well bear, and yet cannot remove without our assistance. + Several generously contributed at once, in hope of paying the whole + debt. Of them nothing more can be required, but their prayers that + others may be as openhearted as themselves. Nevertheless, if of their + own free goodwill they see good to add a little to their former + benefactions--this, as well as the former, is lent unto the Lord, and + what they lay out shall be paid them again. Ought I not to add, that + there were some of our brethren who did not answer my expectation? I + knew they were able to assist largely; and I flattered myself they + were not less willing than able, as they owed me their own souls + also, and this was the first favour of the kind which I had requested + of them. Let me be excused from saying any more of what is past. Let + them now drop all excuses and objections, and show they love me and + their brethren, and the work of God, not in word only, but in deed + and in truth. Let me have joy over you, my brethren, in particular. + You have a measure of this world’s goods, and you see your brother + hath need. I have need of your help, inasmuch as the burdens of my + brethren are my own. Do not pass by on the other side; but come and + help as God has enabled you. Do all you can to lighten the labour, + and strengthen the hands, of your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[42] + +Wesley was a great reader, as well as a great writer; and, during the +year 1768, his journal is enriched with an unusual number of his +critical remarks. A few may be given as specimens of others. + + “January 11.--This week I spent my scraps of time in reading Mr. + Wodrow’s ‘History of the Sufferings of the Church of Scotland.’ It + would transcend belief, but that the vouchers are too authentic + to admit of any exception. O what a blessed governor was that + goodnatured man, so called, King Charles the Second! Bloody Queen + Mary was a lamb, a mere dove, in comparison of him!” + + “April 29.--I read over an extremely sensible book, but one that + surprised me much: ‘An Inquiry into the Proofs of the Charges + commonly advanced against Mary Queen of Scotland.’ By means of + original papers, the author has made it clear: (1) That she was + altogether innocent of the murder of Lord Darnley, and no way privy + to it. (2) That she married Lord Bothwell (then near seventy years + old, herself but four-and-twenty), from the pressing instance of + the nobility in a body, who, at the same time, assured her he + was innocent of the king’s murder. (3) That Murray, Morton, and + Lethington, themselves contrived that murder, in order to charge it + upon her; as well as forged those vile letters and sonnets which they + palmed upon the world for hers. ‘But how then can we account for the + quite contrary story, which has been almost universally received?’ + Most easily. It was penned and published in French, English, and + Latin, (by Queen Elizabeth’s order,) by George Buchanan, who was + secretary to Lord Murray and in Queen Elizabeth’s pay; so he was sure + to throw dirt enough. Nor was she at liberty to answer for herself. + ‘But what then was Queen Elizabeth?’ As just and merciful as Nero, + and as good a Christian as Mahomet.” + + “May 20.--I went on reading that fine book, Bishop Butler’s + ‘Analogy.’ But I doubt it is too hard for most of those for whom + it is chiefly intended. Freethinkers, so called, are seldom close + thinkers. They will not be at the pains of reading such a book as + this. One that would profit them must dilute his sense, or they will + neither swallow nor digest it.” + + “November 19.--I read Dr. Nowell’s answer to Mr. Hill, concerning the + expulsion of the students at Oxford. He has said all that could be + said for that stretch of power; and he says quite enough, to clear + the Church of England from the charge of predestination: a doctrine + which he proves to be utterly inconsistent with the Common Prayer, + the Communion Service, the Office of Baptism, the articles, the + homilies, and the other writings of those that compiled them.” + +The last extract refers to a matter too nearly allied to Methodism to +be passed without further notice. + + “On the 12th of March, 1768, six students belonging to Edmund hall, + Oxford, were expelled the university, for holding Methodistical + tenets, and taking upon them to pray, read or expound the Scriptures, + and sing hymns in private houses. The principal of the hall, Dr. + Dixon, defended their doctrines from the thirty-nine articles of the + Established Church, and spoke in the highest terms of their piety and + the exemplariness of their lives; but sentence was pronounced against + them. Dr. Nowell, one of the heads of houses present, observed, that + as these six gentlemen were expelled for having too much religion, it + would be very proper to inquire into the conduct of some who had too + little.”[43] + +The expelled students were Benjamin Kay, Thomas Jones, Thomas Grove, +Erasmus Middleton, Joseph Shipman, and James Mathews. The junta +of expellers were Drs. Durell, Randolph, Fothergill, Nowell, and +Atterbury.[44] The charges brought against the young culprits were: +1. That they had held or frequented illicit conventicles, where some +of them, though not in orders, had preached and prayed extempore, +particularly in the house of a staymaker, a woman who herself +officiated and taught. 2. That some of them had been bred up to the +lowest trades and occupations, for one had been a weaver and kept a +taphouse, a second had been a barber, a third a draper; and further +all were wholly illiterate, and incapable of performing the statutable +exercises of the university; and were maintained at the charge of +persons suspected of enthusiasm. 3. That they were attached to the +sect called Methodists, and held their doctrines, namely, “that faith +without works is sufficient for salvation; that there is no necessity +for good works; that the immediate impulse of the Spirit is to be +waited for; that once a child of God always a child of God; and the +like.” 4. That one of them, before his entrance into the university, +had preached, and, in defiance of his father’s authority, had connected +himself with the Methodists. 5. That some of them had behaved very +irreverently and disrespectfully to their tutor, and had industriously +sought to cavil with and to vex him.[45] + +It is right to add, that none of these young men had been connected +with Wesley. Mr. Jones, the barber, had, for some time resided, +with the Rev. John Newton, and, under his instruction, had made +considerable progress in the Greek and Hebrew languages. Mr. Kay was of +a respectable family, and an excellent scholar, and had an exhibition +paid by the Ironmongers’ Company. Mr. Mathews had been instructed +by Fletcher of Madeley. Mr. Middleton had been under the tutelage of +the Rev. Thomas Haweis. Of Mr. Grove and Mr. Shipman we know nothing, +except that the latter, after his expulsion, was admitted to the +college of the Countess of Huntingdon, at Trevecca. + +This act of Oxford tyranny, as might be expected, created great +commotion; and numbers of tracts and pamphlets, _pro_ and _con_, +were published. Among others, Whitefield rushed into the battle, +in a “Letter to the Rev. Dr. Durell,” 8vo, 50 pages, and defended +the expelled with great vigour and effect; as also did Dr. Horne, +afterwards bishop of Norwich. Macgowan published his “Shaver,” in +which he shaved the collegiate rulers with no gentle hand, and, in the +process, must have made them smart. Sir Richard Hill, a young man of +thirty-six, who for some time past had been using his utmost endeavours +to improve Oxford morality, issued his “Pietas Oxoniensis,” 8vo, 85 +pages, in which he belaboured the junta with unsparing severity. +Several replies were written in justification of the Oxford bull; and, +after an immense expenditure of time, and not a little display of +angry temper, this execrable act of the Oxford authorities was allowed +to repose in silence. It is a fact, however, far too serious to be +forgotten, that while Oxford university, in past days, has tolerated in +its students the most notorious wickedness, and while, at the present +day, it tolerates German scepticism and Romish heresy, it once, in one +of its paroxysms of pious zeal, ignominiously expelled six young men, +whose only crimes were, that some of them had been ignobly bred, and +all had sung, and prayed, and read the Scriptures in private houses. + +The Countess of Huntingdon was accused of maintaining some or all of +these young students at the Oxford university; and perhaps there was a +modicum of truth in this. Be that as it may, she soon made her young +preachers independent of Oxford help. Trevecca House, in the parish of +Talgarth, in Wales, was an ancient structure, supposed to have been +erected about the year 1176. This building the countess opened as a +college, five months after the expulsions just mentioned,--on the 24th +of August, 1768, the anniversary of her ladyship’s birthday. Whitefield +preached at the opening; Fletcher was made the president; and, for +a few months, Mr. Easterbrook the head master; when Joseph Benson +was appointed his successor. Of course, Fletcher was not expected to +relinquish his charge at Madeley; but he was to attend the college +at Trevecca as often as he conveniently could; to give advice, with +regard to the appointment of masters, and the admission or exclusion +of students; to oversee their studies and conduct; to assist their +piety; and to judge of their qualifications for the ministry.[46] As +is well known, both Fletcher and Benson soon retired, because of the +doctrinal differences that sprang up; but Trevecca was still used as +a seminary for the training of Calvinistic ministers, till 1792, when +the institution was removed to Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire. Wesley from +the beginning was in doubt of it, though, perhaps, without reason. +In a letter to his brother, dated “May 19, 1768,” he writes: “I am +glad Mr. Fletcher has been with you. But if the tutor fails, what +will become of our college at Trevecca? Did you ever see anything +more queer than their plan of institution? Pray who penned it, man or +woman? I am afraid the visitor too will fail.”[47] Was there a tinge of +jealousy in this? We know not. Troubles, it is true, soon sprung up; +but the countess made Trevecca her principal place of residence; and +within its walls were trained a noble band of earnest, laborious, and +useful ministers. The old building is now the residence of a Celtic +farmer.[48] _O tempora! O mores!_ + +Excepting the hubbub arising out of the Oxford expulsions, there was +not much, in 1768, that was antagonistic to the Methodist movement. +A small, paltry pamphlet was published, with the title, “Enthusiasm +Reprehended. Three Letters to Mr. John Wesley. With Strictures on his +Character, the Reception he met with at Perth, and his Conduct on that +occasion.” A 12mo volume, of 212 pages, was also issued, entitled +“Sermons to Asses”; and was dedicated to Whitefield, Wesley, Romaine, +and Madan. Besides these, an eighteenpenny poem was published, entitled +“The Hypocrite: a comedy;” in which the writer tries to turn Cibber’s +satire on disloyalty into a castigation of enthusiasm. + +Wesley’s publications also were fewer than usual, and hardly any of +them original. The following belong to this period. + +1. “A Letter to the Rev. Dr. Rutherforth.” This has been already +noticed in a previous chapter. + +2. “A Caution to False Prophets: a Sermon on Matthew vii. 15-20. +Particularly recommended to the people called Methodists.” 12mo, 12 +pages. In this sermon, Wesley discusses a point which he confesses +had puzzled him for many years, namely, whether it is right to hear +a minister who is either immoral, or who preaches false doctrine. He +still hesitates to pronounce an opinion, and recommends those who were +in doubt to “wait upon God in prayer, and then act according to the +best light they had.” + +3. “Instructions for Members of Religious Societies. Translated from +the French.” Under the date of February 26, 1768, Wesley writes: “I +translated from the French one of the most useful tracts I ever saw, +for those who desire to be ‘fervent in spirit.’ How little does God +regard men’s opinions! What a multitude of wrong opinions are embraced +by all the members of the Church of Rome! Yet how highly favoured have +many of them been!” + +4. “An Extract from the Rev. Mr. Law’s Later Works.” Two vols., 12mo, +251 and 204 pages. About a quarter of a century before this, Wesley +had published an extract from Law’s “Christian Perfection”; an extract +from his “Serious Call”; and an extract from his “Serious Answer to +Dr. Trapp.” He now published similar extracts from Law’s answer to +“Christianity as old as Creation,” his “Spirit of Prayer,” his “Spirit +of Love,” his “Letters,” and his “Address to the Clergy.” + +5. “An Extract of the Life of the late Rev. David Brainerd.” 12mo, 274 +pages. Just at the time when Methodism was extending its mission to +America and Newfoundland, Wesley issued his life of one of the most +devoted missionaries that ever lived: a young man who died before he +arrived at the age of thirty; but whose piety, for depth and fervour, +has seldom been excelled; and whose four years’ mission among the +Delaware and other Indians, from 1743 to 1747, would warm the heart and +improve the character of all candidates for missionary work. + +Besides the above, another publication belongs to the year 1768,--“Free +Thoughts on the Present State of Public Affairs,” 12mo, 47 pages. +This, strictly speaking, was Wesley’s first political pamphlet. At +the general election of 1768, John Wilkes, at the time an outlaw, was +returned to parliament by the county of Middlesex; and, shortly after, +was arrested and committed to the King’s Bench prison. For nearly a +fortnight, crowds collected outside the prison walls, and soldiers were +sent to protect the place. A riot followed; the soldiers fired; six of +the rioters were killed, and fourteen badly wounded; and the exploit +got the name of the “Massacre of St. George’s Fields.” For months, +Wilkes’s business occupied the attention of court and cabinet; when +the wretched demagogue was sentenced to pay a fine of £1000, to be +imprisoned for two-and-twenty months, and afterwards to find security +for good behaviour for seven years. While in prison, he was at the +zenith of his fame; subscriptions were opened for the payment of his +debts; and his likenesses were so multiplied, that portraits of him +squinted from the signboards of half the public houses in the kingdom. + +It was in the midst of such a state of things, that Wesley wrote +the pamphlet already mentioned. He admits that, though “cobblers, +tinkers, porters, and hackney coachmen” think themselves wise enough +“to instruct both the king and his council,” he himself is “not so +deeply learned. Politics were beyond his province; but he would use the +privilege of an Englishman to speak his naked thoughts.” “I have,” he +writes, “no bias, one way or the other. I have no interest depending. +I want no man’s favour, having no hopes, no fears, from any man.” +He then proceeds to defend the character of the king; and maintains +that, as an outlaw, Wilkes was incapacitated to take a seat in the +House of Commons. “Encumbered with no religion, and disappointed in +his application for place and power, Wilkes had set up for patriot, +vehemently inveighed against evil counsellors and grievances, and was +paid in French _louis d’or_ for his agitative services.” Wesley then +expresses the opinion that, “supposing things to take their natural +course, they must go from bad to worse; the land will become a field of +blood; and many thousands of poor Englishmen will sheathe their swords +in each other’s bowels, for the diversion of their good neighbours. +Then, either a commonwealth will ensue, or else a second Cromwell. One +must be; but it cannot be determined which,--King Wilkes, or King Mob.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [1] C. Wesley’s Life, vol. ii., p. 242. + + [2] _Methodist Magazine_, 1783, p. 684. + + [3] _Methodist Magazine_, 1857, p. 616. + + [4] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., p. + 17. + + [5] Ibid. vol. ii., p. 427. + + [6] _Methodist Magazine_, 1857, p. 693. + + [7] Manuscript letter. + + [8] The meaning of this is, that, at least, £500 of what + the Methodists have always technically designated “The + Yearly Collection,” was, at this period, employed in + paying chapel debts. Except that for Kingswood school, + this was the only connexional collection that Wesley + had; and he strongly insisted that _every_ Methodist + should render it support. In an _unpublished_ letter, + addressed to Matthew Lowes, and dated March 11, 1762, + Wesley writes: “In the enclosed papers, (which you + may read in every society, just before you meet the + classes,) you will see the design of the general yearly + collection, to which _every_ Methodist in England is to + contribute something. If there is any who cannot give a + halfpenny a year, another will give it for him.” + + [9] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 126. + + [10] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1751, p. 179. + + [11] Myles’s History. + + [12] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 122; and 1829, p. 585. + + [13] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1763, p. 463. + + [14] Burslem old circuit book. + + [15] Manuscript. + + [16] _Methodist Magazine_, 1812, p. 534; and 1843, p. 89. + + [17] Liverpool old society book. + + [18] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiv., p. 276. + + [19] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 126. + + [20] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 126. All this confusion + arose chiefly out of the half insane ravings of Bell + and his friends in 1762. In a long, unpublished + letter, dated September 29, 1764, Wesley writes: “I + never staggered at all at the reveries of George + Bell. I saw instantly, at the beginning and from the + beginning, what was right and what was wrong; but I + saw withal, ‘I have many things to speak, but you + cannot bear them now.’ Hence, many imagined I was + _imposed_ upon; and applauded themselves in their + greater perspicacity; as they do at this day. ‘But if + you knew it,’ says his friend to Gregory Lopez, ‘why + did you not tell me?’ I answer with him, ‘I do not + speak all I know, but what I judge needful.’ Still, + I am persuaded, there is no state under heaven from + which it is not possible to fall.” + + [21] _Methodist Magazine_, 1783, p. 681. + + [22] Wesley’s seal is a dove, having in its mouth an olive + branch, and surrounded with the words “Nuncia Pacis.” + + [23] _Methodist Magazine_, 1805, p. 277. + + [24] Ibid. 1808, p. 297. + + [25] _Theological Magazine_, 1802, p. 39. + + [26] _Methodist Magazine_, 1803, p. 215. + + [27] _Methodist Magazine_, 1813, p. 441. + + [28] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., p. 320. + + [29] _Methodist Magazine_, 1815, p. 459. + + [30] Taylor’s “Redeeming Grace.” + + [31] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 359. + + [32] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785, p. 491. + + [33] Atmore’s “Memorial”; and _Methodist Magazine_, 1851, + p. 869. + + [34] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., p. 324. + + [35] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1744, p. 51. + + [36] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 454. + + [37] _Wesleyan Times_, June 19, 1849. + + [38] Entwisle’s Memoir, p. 31. + + [39] _Methodist Magazine_, 1826, p. 464. + + [40] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 127. + + [41] Minutes of Conference. + + [42] A manuscript circular, signed by Wesley himself. + + [43] _London Magazine_, 1768, p. 125. + + [44] Philip’s Life of Whitefield, p. 492. + + [45] _London Magazine_, 1768, p. 214. + + [46] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 281. + + [47] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 126. + + [48] “Life and Times of Howel Harris,” p. 246. + + + + + 1769. + Age 66 + + +Terrible was the political excitement at the commencement of 1769. It +was now, that the first of the celebrated letters of “Junius” appeared +in the columns of the _Public Advertiser_. These withering invectives +became, to a great extent, the political textbook of the nation. For +years past, Ireland also had been turbulent, split into factions, +and overrun by hordes of Levellers and Whiteboys, Oakboys and Hearts +of Steel, all bound together by secret oaths, and a detestation of +paying tithes. The kingdom was full of wicked wits and scoffers; and +jokes, repartees, _bonmots_, and sarcasms, none of them distinguished +for their loyalty, began to spice a large number of the newspapers, +periodicals, and pamphlets of the period. Never was Methodism more +greatly needed than now. + +Whitefield’s work in England was nearly ended. He and Wesley were still +united in bonds of ardent friendship. The latter writes: “January 9, +1769--I spent a comfortable and profitable hour with Mr. Whitefield, +in calling to mind the former times, and the manner wherein God +prepared us for a work which it had not then entered into our hearts to +conceive.” On the day following, Wesley preached in the house of the +Countess of Huntingdon, in Portland Row, and Whitefield administered +the sacrament.[49] And seven weeks later, Wesley wrote again: “February +27--I had one more agreeable conversation with my old friend and +fellow labourer, George Whitefield. His soul appeared to be vigorous +still, but his body was sinking apace; and, unless God interposes with +His mighty hand, he must soon finish his labours.” For six months +more, Whitefield rambled over England, preaching three or four times +every week, and exclaiming, as though his youthful zest was unabated, +“Field preaching, field preaching for ever.”[50] At the beginning +of September, he embarked for Georgia, and addressed to Wesley the +following farewell letter. + + “THE DOWNS, ON BOARD THE _Friendship_, Captain Ball, + _September 12, 1769_. + + “REVEREND AND VERY DEAR SIR,--What hath God wrought _for_ us, _in_ + us, _by_ us! I sailed out of these Downs almost thirty-three years + ago! Oh the height, the depth, the length, the breadth of Thy love, + O God! Surely it passeth knowledge. Help, help, O heavenly Father, + to adore what we cannot fully comprehend! I am glad to hear, that + you had such a pentecost season at the college; one would hope, that + these are earnests of good things to come, and that our Lord will not + yet remove His candlestick from among us. Duty is ours. Future things + belong to Him, who always did, and always will order all things well. + + ‘Leave to His sovereign sway, + To choose and to command; + So shall we wondering own His way, + How wise, how strong His hand.’ + + “Mutual Christian love will not permit you, and those in connection + with you, to forget a willing pilgrim, going now across the Atlantic + for the thirteenth time. At present, I am kept from staggering; + being fully persuaded, that the voyage will be for the Redeemer’s + glory, and the welfare of precious and immortal souls. Oh to be kept + from flagging in the latter stages of our road! _Ipse, Deo volente, + sequar, etsi non passibus æquis._ Cordial love and respect await + your brother, and all that are so kind as to inquire after, and be + concerned for, + + “Reverend and very dear sir, + “Less than the least of all, + + “GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[51] + +Thus the old friends parted, not to meet again, till they met in +heaven. Twelve months afterwards, the great orator was dead. + +Wesley spent the month of January in meeting the London classes, and +in a visit to Sheerness and Chatham. In February, he made a tour to +Norfolk; and, on the 6th of March, set out for Ireland, and arrived in +Dublin on the 22nd. Here we pause, to insert two of his letters to two +of his female correspondents. The first was addressed to Lady Maxwell, +and refers to a subject of some interest, though one on which opinions +will differ. + + “LONDON, _March 3, 1769_. + + “MY DEAR LADY,--I have heard my mother say, ‘I have frequently been + as fully assured, that my father’s spirit was with me, as if I + had seen him with my eyes.’ But she did not explain herself any + further. I have myself many times found, on a sudden, so lively an + apprehension of a deceased friend, that I have sometimes turned + about to look; at the same time, I have felt an uncommon affection + for them. But I never had anything of this kind with regard to any + but those that died in faith. In dreams, I have had exceeding lively + conversations with them; and I doubt not but they were then very near. + + “I am, my dear lady, your ever affectionate servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[52] + +The next was addressed to Sarah Crosby, the female preacher. + + “CHESTER, _March 18, 1769_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--The westerly winds detain me here. When I am in + Ireland, you have only to direct to Dublin, and the letter will find + me. + + “I advise you, as I did Grace Walton formerly--1. Pray in private or + public as much as you can. 2. Even in public, you may properly enough + intermix short exhortations with prayer; but keep as far from what + is called preaching as you can; therefore, never take a text; never + speak in a continued discourse, without some break, above four or + five minutes. Tell the people, ‘We shall have another prayermeeting + at such a time and place.’ If Hannah Harrison had followed these few + directions, she might have been as useful now as ever. + + “As soon as you have time, write more particularly and + circumstantially; and let sister Bosanquet do the same. There is now + no hindrance in the way; nothing to hinder you speaking as freely as + you please to, dear Sally, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[53] + +Trouble awaited Wesley in Dublin. James Morgan and Thomas Olivers had +quarrelled,[54] and the society had suffered loss. Besides this, says +Wesley, “I was summoned, by a poor creature who fed my horse three +or four times while I was on board. For this service he demanded ten +shillings. I gave him half-a-crown. When I informed the court of this, +he was sharply reproved. Let all beware of these land sharks on our sea +coasts!” + +On the 3rd of April, Wesley left Dublin for the provinces. At Armagh, +for the first time in his life, he preached in a stable. At Kinnard, +he met an old acquaintance, Archdeacon C----e, and, at his request, +opened a new church, which had just been built. At Londonderry, he had, +what he calls, “a brilliant congregation,” but says: “Such a sight +gives me no great pleasure; as I have very little hope of doing them +good: only ‘with God all things are possible.’ In no other place in +Ireland has more pains been taken by the most able of our preachers. +And to how little purpose! Bands they have none: four-and-forty persons +in society! The greater part of these heartless and cold. The audience +in general dead as stones.” At Manorhamilton, “all behaved well,” +says he, “but one young gentlewoman, who laughed almost incessantly. +She knew there was nothing to laugh at; but she thought she laughed +prettily.” At Cork, the society had been gradually decreasing for seven +years, until now the number of members was reduced from 400 to 190. At +Portarlington, the society once had a hundred and thirty members; now +it had only twenty-four. + +Fourteen weeks were spent in traversing all parts of Ireland. In +some places, there was declension and great discouragement; in many, +Wesley’s ministry was accompanied with amazing power; in none, did he +meet with brutal persecution. Occasionally a giddy girl would laugh, +or an empty headed man would sneer; but the days of sticks and stones +were over. Wesley returned to Dublin on the 15th of July; met his Irish +preachers in conference; and then, on July 24, embarked for England; +having to open his English conference at Leeds on August 1. Before +reviewing its proceedings, some further extracts must be given from his +correspondence. + +The first letter is remarkable. We have scarcely met with another +like it. The fastidious may object to some of its expressions; but +it must be remembered that, though Wesley always employed plainness +of speech, he rarely employed coarseness. Besides, desperate cases +require desperate remedies. In this instance, ordinary language, in +all likelihood, would have been useless. The Irish Methodists were far +from faultless; and Hugh Saunderson, to whom the letter was addressed, +and who had just commenced his itinerancy in the Armagh circuit, was +far from being a model of perfection. More than once had Wesley to +remonstrate with him for his irregularities; and, in 1777, had to expel +him. On one occasion, in 1774, Wesley himself was actually arrested on +account of Saunderson’s peccant conduct. The charge was, that the man +had robbed his wife “of £100 in money, and upwards of £30 in goods; and +had, beside that, terrified her into madness; so that, through want of +her help, and the loss of business,” the prosecutor, George Sutherland, +“was damaged £500.” It was farther alleged, that Saunderson was one +of Wesley’s preachers, and that the two, to evade Mrs. Saunderson’s +pursuit, were preparing to fly the country. On such a pretext Wesley +was actually arrested, and taken to the Edinburgh Tolbooth, where he +had to wait till his friends gave bail for his appearance. This was +done; the case was tried; and Mr. Sutherland, the prosecutor, was +fined £1000. Of Saunderson’s guilt we know nothing; but, three years +afterwards, Wesley expelled him from his connexion; and the man first +set up at Edinburgh, and then divided the society at Exeter, where he +“pitched his standard and declared open war.”[55] Such was the culprit +to whom Wesley sent the letter following. + + “_April 24, 1769._ + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I shall now tell you the things which have been more + or less upon my mind, ever since I have been in the north of Ireland. + If you forget them, you will be a sufferer, and so will the people; + if you observe them, it will be for the good of both. + + “1. To begin with little things. If you regard your health, touch no + supper, but a little milk or water gruel. This will entirely, by the + blessing of God, secure you from nervous disorders; especially, if + you rise early every morning, whether you preach or no. + + “2. Be steadily serious. There is no country upon earth where this is + more necessary than Ireland; as you generally are encompassed with + those who, with a little encouragement, would laugh or trifle from + morning to night. + + “3. In every town, visit all you can from house to house. I say + all you can; for there will be some whom you cannot visit; and if + you examine, instruct, reprove, exhort, as need requires, you will + have no time hanging on your hands. It is by this means, that the + societies are increased wherever T. R. goes; he is preaching from + morning to night, warning every one, that he may present every one + perfect in Christ Jesus. + + “4. But on this, and every other occasion, avoid all familiarity with + women. This is a deadly poison, both to _them_ and _you_. You cannot + be too wary in this respect. Therefore begin from this hour. + + “5. The chief matter of your conversation, as well as your preaching, + should doubtless be the weightier matters of the law. Yet, there + are several comparatively little things, which you should earnestly + inculcate from time to time; for ‘he that despiseth small things + shall fall by little and little.’ Such are-- + + “(1) Be active, be diligent; avoid all laziness, sloth, indolence. + Fly from every degree, every appearance of it; else you will never be + more than half a Christian. + + “(2) Be cleanly. In this let the Methodists take pattern by the + Quakers. Avoid all nastiness, dirt, slovenliness, both in your + person, clothes, house, all about you. Do not stink above ground. + This is a bad fruit of laziness. Use all diligence to be clean. + + “(3) Whatever clothes you wear let them be whole: no rents, no + tatters, no rags. These are a scandal to either man or woman; being + another fruit of vile laziness. Mend your clothes, or I shall never + expect you to mend your lives. Let none ever see a ragged Methodist. + + “(4) Clean yourselves of lice. These are a proof both of uncleanness + and laziness. Take pains in this. Do not cut off your hair, but clean + it, and keep it clean. + + “(5) Cure yourselves and your family of the itch. A spoonful of + brimstone will cure you. To let this run from year to year, proves + both sloth and uncleanness. Away with it at once. Let not the north + be any longer a proverb of reproach to all the nation. + + “(6) Use no tobacco unless prescribed by a physician. It is an + uncleanly and unwholesome self indulgence; and the more customary it + is, the more resolutely should you break off from every degree of + that vile custom. + + “(7) Use no snuff unless prescribed by a physician. I suppose no + other nation in Europe is in such vile bondage to this silly, nasty, + dirty custom, as the Irish are; but let the Christians be in this + bondage no longer. Assert your liberty, and that all at once; nothing + will be done by degrees. But just now you may break loose, through + Christ strengthening you. + + “(8) Touch no dram. It is liquid fire. It is a sure, though slow + poison. It saps the very springs of life. In Ireland, above all + countries in the world, I would sacredly abstain from this, because + the evil is so general. To this, and snuff, and smoky cabins, I + impute the blindness which is so exceeding common throughout the + nation. + + “I might have inserted under the second article, what I particularly + desire, wherever you have preaching, namely, that there may be a + little house. Let this be got without delay. Wherever it is not, let + none expect to see me. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[56] + +No apology is needed for the publication of this letter; for Wesley +himself published it in his _Arminian Magazine_. Its picture of the +Irish and of the Irish Methodists is far from being fragrant and +pleasant; but it was doubtless true, and shows that Wesley was a great +reformer in more respects than one. All the Irish Methodists, however, +must not be included in the company above alluded to. The exceptions +were not few, but many, and some of them distinguished. One of these +was Mrs. Elizabeth Bennis, the first Methodist in Limerick, in 1749, +a lady of respectability and intelligence, long the correspondent of +Wesley, and who continued one of his devoted followers till her death +in 1802.[57] The following letter was addressed to her during Wesley’s +present visit to the sister island, and refers to an unfounded opinion +which Wesley had now renounced. + + “CORK, _May 30, 1769_. + + “DEAR SISTER,--Some years since, I was inclined to think that none, + who had once enjoyed and then lost the pure love of God, must ever + look to enjoy it again till they were just stepping into eternity. + But experience has taught us better things. We have, at present, + numerous instances of those who have cast away that unspeakable + blessing, and now enjoy it in a larger measure than ever. And should + not this be your case? Because you are unworthy? So were they. + Because you have been an unfaithful steward? So had they been also; + yet, God healed them freely; and so He will you, only do not reason + against Him. Forget yourself. Worthy is the Lamb: you shall not die, + but live, live all the life of heaven on earth. You need nothing, in + order to this, but faith; and who gives this? He that standeth at the + door. + + “Let there never more be any reserve between you and your truly + affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[58] + +Wesley arrived in Leeds on Saturday, July 29, and on Sunday, the 30th, +preached, for the Rev. Henry Crook, in Hunslet church, morning and +afternoon. Mr. Crook was an old friend of the two Wesleys. As early +as 1756, Charles Wesley preached in his church at Hunslet, and speaks +of hundreds of communicants, most of whom had been awakened under Mr. +Crook’s faithful ministry.[59] + +The conference, at Leeds, opened on the 1st of August, and “a more +loving one,” says Wesley, “we never had.” The _Intelligencer_ +newspaper, of August 8, tells the public, that, “for a week past, +Wesley had held a kind of visitation, but what they call a conference, +with several hundreds of his preachers, from most parts of Great +Britain and Ireland, where he settled their several routes for the +succeeding year.” It further states, that “a large sum of money” was +collected for the purpose of “sending missionaries to America.”[60] + +This was the “tall talk” of a newspaper. “Wesley’s itinerant preachers” +throughout the entire kingdom were only one hundred and eleven in +number; and the “large sum” collected for sending missionaries to +America was £70, of which £50 was to be appropriated to the payment of +the debt on the chapel in New York. + +Above two days of the time of the conference were spent in the +arrangement of temporal matters,--a thing which annoyed Wesley, who +therefore directed that, in future, as much of such business as +possible should be done by the secretaries before the conference met. + +The two topics of most interest were Methodist missions, and the +perpetuation of the Methodist system after Wesley’s death. + +It is a fact worth remembering, that already, for years past, Methodism +had been planted in the West Indian islands, by means of Nathaniel +Gilbert and his co-workers. Laurence Coughlan had recently taken it +to Newfoundland; and a few soldiers had established it at Gibraltar, +where there were thirty-two members, fifteen of whom were rejoicing +in the consciousness of personal pardon.[61] They had preaching every +night and every morning, their preachers being “Brother Morton,” Henry +Ince, of the 2nd Regiment, and Henry Hall, of the Royal Scots; six +classmeetings were held every week, and the work was prospering.[62] +Lord Cornwallis, the commanding officer, issued a garrison order on +June 9, 1769, as follows:--“Whereas divers soldiers and inhabitants +assemble themselves every evening to prayer, it is the governor’s +positive order, that no person whatever presume to molest them, nor +go into their meeting to behave indecently there.”[63] Wesley +was acquainted with this; but not a word is found in the conference +minutes concerning it. The truth is, while Methodism was now really +planted in the West Indies, Newfoundland, Gibraltar, and America, none +needed help except America, and, hence, none else are mentioned. + +Wesley, his brother, Ingham, and Whitefield had all been in America; +and Whitefield was about to go again. The work was begun in Georgia by +the Wesleys. At the same time, occurred the revival in New England, +under Mr. Edwards and others. Whitefield came, and not only preached +in both, but likewise all the way between, a distance of many hundred +miles. Hundreds, perhaps thousands, were converted by his ministry; +but, for want of organisation and discipline, the greater part of them +had backslidden.[64] Such was the state of things in 1769. + +Four years before this, a small number of Methodist emigrants from +Ireland had landed in New York, one of them being Philip Embury. In +1766, another Methodist family followed, of the name of Heck. Mrs. +Barbara Heck was distressed to find that her predecessors had greatly +declined in godliness. At her request, Philip Embury began to preach; +just at that juncture, Captain Webb, the barrackmaster at Albany, +joined him; a chapel was built; a society formed; and help was asked +from England.[65] Hence the thirteenth question at the conference +of 1769: “We have a pressing call from our brethren at New York, +who have built a preaching house, to come over and help them. Who +is willing to go?” Answer: “Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor.” +_Q._ “What can we do further in token of our brotherly love?” _A._ +“Let us now make a collection among ourselves. This was immediately +done; and, out of it, £50 were allotted towards the payment of their +debt, and about £20 given to our brethren for their passage.” + +It is doubtful, however, whether this was, as is generally supposed, +the first collection which the Methodists made on behalf of their +American mission. Six months before this, Wesley had permitted Robert +Costerdine, who was then the assistant in the Sheffield circuit, to +“_read publicly, on any Sunday_” he liked, the letter which had been +received from New York, and to “receive what the hearers were willing +to give.”[66] It is more than possible, that this was done; but, be +that as it may, Boardman and Pilmoor set sail, and, after a nine weeks’ +passage, entered upon their work: Pilmoor at Philadelphia, and Boardman +at New York. At Philadelphia, they found Captain Webb and a society +of about a hundred members, to whom, and to thousands more, Pilmoor +commenced preaching from the grand stand erected on the racecourse. At +New York, Boardman says, the chapel would contain about 1700 hearers; +and that about a third part of the congregations got in, and the other +two thirds were glad to hear without.[67] + +Space forbids further details, except to add that, two years +afterwards, the number of Methodists in America was reported in the +minutes of conference as 316; and that even a thing so innocent as +sending preachers to America was too important for the wicked to pass +without a sneer. Hence, in a squib, the public were informed, that the +following promotions in the Church were about to be declared: “Rev. G. +Whitefield, Archbishop of Boston; Rev. W. Romaine, Bishop of New York; +Rev. J. Wesley, Bishop of Pennsylvania; Rev. M. Madan, Bishop of the +Carolinas; Rev. W. Shirley, Bishop of Virginia; and Rev. C. Wesley, +Bishop of Nova Scotia.” It was added, that as his majesty would soon +have the livings of these gentlemen at his disposal, he intended to +provide for Dr. Dodd, and other court celebrities,[68] anxious to fill +important places. + +The other important matter brought before the conference of 1769 was +the perpetuation of Methodism after Wesley’s death; and, on Friday, +August 4, Wesley read the following paper. + + “MY DEAR BRETHREN,--1. It has long been my desire, that all those + _ministers_ of our Church, who believe and preach salvation by faith, + might cordially agree between themselves, and not hinder but help one + another. After occasionally pressing this, in private conversation, + wherever I had opportunity, I wrote down my thoughts upon the head, + and sent them to each in a letter. Out of fifty or sixty, to whom I + wrote, only three vouchsafed me an answer. So I give this up. I can + do no more. They are a rope of sand, and such they will continue. + + “2. But it is otherwise with the _travelling preachers_ in our + connexion. You are at present one body. You act in concert with each + other, and by united counsels. And now is the time to consider what + can be done, in order to continue this union. Indeed, as long as I + live, there will be no great difficulty. I am, under God, a centre + of union to all our travelling, as well as local preachers. They all + know me and my communication. They all love me for my works’ sake; + and, therefore, were it only out of regard to me, they will continue + connected with each other. But by what means may this connection be + preserved, when God removes me from you? + + “3. I take it for granted, it cannot be preserved, by any means, + between those who have not a single eye. Those who aim at anything + but the glory of God, and the salvation of men; who desire or seek + any earthly thing, whether honour, profit, or ease, will not, cannot + continue in the connexion; it will not answer their design. Some of + them, perhaps a fourth of the whole number, will procure preferment + in the Church. Others will turn Independents, and get separate + congregations, like John Edwards and Charles Skelton. Lay your + accounts with this, and be not surprised if some, you do not suspect, + be of this number. + + “4. But what method can be taken, to preserve a firm union between + those who choose to remain together? Perhaps you might take some + such steps as these. On notice of my death, let all the preachers, + in England and Ireland, repair to London within six weeks. Let them + seek God by solemn fasting and prayer. Let them draw up articles of + agreement, to be signed by those who choose to act in concert. Let + those be dismissed, who do not choose it, in the most friendly manner + possible. Let them choose by votes a _committee_ of three, five, + or seven, each of whom is to be _moderator_ in his turn. Let the + committee do what I do now; propose preachers to be tried, admitted, + or excluded; fix the place of each preacher for the ensuing year, and + the time of next conference. + + “5. Can anything be done now, in order to lay a foundation for this + future union? Would it not be well, for any that are willing, to + sign some articles of agreement before God calls me hence? Suppose + something like these:-- + + “‘We, whose names are underwritten, being thoroughly convinced of + the necessity of a close union between those whom God is pleased to + use as instruments in this glorious work, in order to preserve this + union between ourselves, are resolved, God being our helper: (1) _To + devote ourselves entirely to God_; denying ourselves, taking up our + cross daily, steadily aiming at one thing, to save our own souls, and + them that hear us. (2) To preach the _old Methodist doctrines_, and + no other, contained in the minutes of the conferences. (3) To observe + and enforce the whole _Methodist discipline_, laid down in the said + minutes.’” + +Such was Wesley’s propounded scheme. The preachers wisely requested +Wesley to extract the most material part of the minutes, and to send +a copy to each itinerant, to be seriously considered,--a request with +which Wesley complied during the following year, by the publication of +a pamphlet of sixty pages, entitled, “Minutes of several Conversations +between the Rev. Messrs. John and Charles Wesley and others.” + +This concluded the business of the conference; and “at the conclusion,” +says Wesley, “all the preachers were melted down, while they were +singing those lines for me,-- + + ‘Thou, who so long hast saved me here, + A little longer save; + Till freed from sin, and freed from fear, + I sink into a grave: + Till glad I lay my body down, + Thy servant’s steps attend; + And O! my life of mercies crown + With a triumphant end.’”[69] + +This was a beautiful finish to one of the most important conferences +Wesley ever held. The next day, he again started on his itinerancy of +mercy, and hastened to join in the anniversary services of the Countess +of Huntingdon’s college at Trevecca. These services really extended +from August 18 to August 24, though Wesley himself was there only on +the two concluding days. The gathering was a glorious one. Fletcher, +the president, was there, with his seraphic soul lighting up an almost +unearthly face; Daniel Rowlands also, the rector of Llangeitto and +chaplain to the Duke of Leinster; Howel Harris, one of the bravest +veterans in the group; the Rev. Walter Shirley, from Ireland, and +others; making eight clergymen altogether; to whom must be added the +Countess of Huntingdon, the Countess of Buchan, Lady Anne Erskine, +and several of their relatives and friends. There were a number of +Welsh exhorters; and, of course, the students; and likewise an immense +concourse of communicants and spectators. For seven days, there was +preaching twice a day; the sacrament was repeatedly administered; a +lovefeast was held; baskets of bread and meat were distributed in +the courtyard among the country people; and the whole season was +what Whitefield called a pentecost.[70] Wesley preached twice, gave +an exhortation, and administered the Lord’s supper to the countess’s +family, and so ended his service in connection with what he designates +“the anniversary of her ladyship’s _school_.” This was his first and +last visit. + +At this time, Joseph Benson, now in the twenty-first year of his age, +was classical master of Wesley’s school at Kingswood, and had, with +Wesley’s sanction, entered himself at St. Edmund’s hall, Oxford, where +he regularly kept his terms. But now an effort was made to obtain his +services as head master at Trevecca. Wesley, for more reasons than one, +was loth to lose him. Hence the letters following. + + “CORK, _May 27, 1769_. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--You have now--what you never had before--a clear + providential call to Oxford. If you keep a single eye, and have + courage and steadiness, you may be an instrument of much good. But + you will tread on slippery ground; and the serious persons you + mention may do you more hurt than many others. When I was at Oxford, + I never was afraid of any but the almost Christians. If you give way + to them and their prudence a hair’s breadth, you will be removed from + the hope of the gospel. If you are not moved, if you tread in the + same steps which my brother and I did, you may be the means, under + God, of raising another set of real Bible Christians. How long the + world will suffer them is in God’s hand. + + “With regard to Kingswood school, I have one string more; if that + breaks, I shall let it drop. I have borne the burden one-and-twenty + years; I have done what I could; now, let some one else do more. + + “I am, dear Joseph, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[71] + +Again. + + “LONDON, _December 26, 1769_. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--Every man of sense, who reads the rules of the + school, may easily conclude that a school so conducted by men of + piety and understanding will exceed any other school or academy + in Great Britain or Ireland. In this sentiment, you can never be + altered. And if it was not so conducted since you were there, why was + it not? You had power enough. You have all the power which I have. + You may do what you please. + + “‘_Dirue et ædifica; muta quadrata rotundis_;’ and I will second you + to the uttermost. + + “Trevecca is much more to ---- than Kingswood is to me. _I_ mixes + with everything. It is _my_ college, _my_ masters, _my_ students. I + do not speak so of this school. It is not mine, but the Lord’s. I + look for no more honour than money from it. + + “I am glad you defer your journey; and am, dear Joseph, your + affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[72] + +Wesley was evidently sore about Benson leaving him; but, a few weeks +afterwards, the exchange was made; and then, after nine months of +faithful service at Trevecca, the young head master was unceremoniously +dismissed, because of his defending the doctrines of his friend Wesley. + +From Trevecca, Wesley made his way to Bristol, which he reached on +August 26; and, from there, set off to Cornwall, where he employed +a week in visiting as many of his societies as he could in so short +a period. On getting back to Bristol, he inquired into the state of +Kingswood school, and writes: “The grievance now is the number of +children. Instead of thirty, as I desired, we have near fifty; whereby +our masters are burdened. And it is scarce possible to keep them in so +exact order as we might do a smaller number. However, this still comes +nearer a Christian school than any I know in the kingdom.” + +The next month was spent in the neighbourhood of Bristol, and was not +without adventures. At Bradford, he was surrounded by a noisy rabble; +“and one,” says he, “called a gentleman, had filled his pocket with +rotten eggs; but a young man smashed them all at once; and, in an +instant, he was perfume all over, though it was not so sweet as balsam.” + +At Salisbury, the scene of so many of his sister Patty’s sorrows, +Wesley writes: “I was as in a new world. The congregation was alive, +and much more the society. How pleasing would it be, to be always with +such! But this is not our calling.” Wesley had seen dark days here; but +now the sun was shining. After the desolation caused by Westley Hall’s +disgraceful conduct, the few remaining Methodists took possession of +a shop in Greencroft Street, and then, in 1759, built themselves a +chapel.[73] Barbara Hunt was one of their chief members,--a brave young +woman, now thirty-three years old, but who lived long enough to be a +Methodist threescore years and three, and died exclaiming, “O how glad +should I be to clap my glad wings and tower away!”[74] Another was +David Saunders, the hero of Mrs. Hannah More’s “Shepherd of Salisbury +Plain.” “His coat,” says the fair authoress, perhaps mixing a little +fiction with fact,--“his coat had been, in a long course of years, so +often patched with different sorts of cloth, that it was now become +hard to say which had been the original colour; his stockings were +covered with darns of different coloured worsted, but had not a hole +in them; his shirt, though nearly as coarse as the sails of a ship, +was as white as the drifted snow; his open honest countenance bore +strong marks of health and cheerfulness.” His good wife was cleanly, +thrifty, and a hard worker; and a happier man than the “shepherd of +Salisbury plain” did not exist. David Saunders was a shepherd in more +respects than one. While he tended his sheep, he also, as a faithful +classleader, watched over the souls committed to his care. He died in +peace, in 1796, at the age of eighty.[75] + +Wesley got back to London on October 14, but two days afterwards +set out for Oxfordshire, and spent the week in preaching at Henley, +Wallingford, Oxford, Witney, Broadmarston, and Wycombe. The last week +in October he employed at Towcester, Northampton, Weedon, Bedford, and +other intervening towns, preaching, during his five days’ tour, not +fewer than seventeen times in widely distant places. + +At the beginning of November he went to Norfolk; at the end, he visited +his old friend Perronet, at Shoreham, and preached twice in his +parish church. Even here, in the vicar’s kitchen, there was Methodist +preaching every Friday night, and also a Methodist society, embracing +Mr. Kingswood, Mr. Sharp, old Mrs. Lightfoot and her servant maid, +poor dame Cacket, and bold, masculine minded Miss D. Perronet at the +head of them.[76] + +Except short tours to Kent and Sussex, the remainder of the year was +employed in London, where he received letters from Boardman and Pilmoor +in America, and which he read to the London society. He was importuned +to visit America himself; and, though such a visit was utterly +impracticable, yet he was far from hasty in declining it. Hence the +following, addressed to his friend, the Rev. Walter Sellon. + + “LONDON, _December 30, 1769_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--It is not yet determined whether I should go to + America or not. I have been importuned some time; but _nil sat firmi + video_. I must have a clear call before I am at liberty to leave + Europe. + + “You should heat your milk, but never let it boil; boiling robs it of + the most nutritious particles. Do not make too much haste in dealing + with Elisha Coles; I am afraid the treatise will be too short. And + pray add a word to that lively coxcomb, Mr. Toplady, not only with + regard to Zanchius, but his slander on the Church of England. You + would do well to give a reading to both his tracts. He does certainly + believe himself to be the greatest genius in England. Pray take care, + or _natis sit pro suis virtutibus_. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[77] + +Mr. Toplady’s two tracts, referred to in this epistle, were his (1) +“Church of England Vindicated from the Charge of Arminianism, in a +Letter to the Rev. Dr. Nowell; occasioned by some passages in that +gentleman’s answer to the Author of ‘Pietas Oxoniensis,’” 8vo, 136 +pages: and (2) “The Doctrine of Absolute Predestination Stated and +Asserted. Translated, in great measure, from the Latin of Jerom +Zanchius, with some Account of his Life prefixed,” 8vo, 134 pages. Both +these pamphlets were published in 1769. + +All this, and a great deal more, really arose out of the expulsion of +the Oxford students in 1768. Sir Richard Hill, in defending them, had +warmly defended the Calvinistic doctrine of predestination. Dr. Nowell, +in his Answer, had clearly shown, that this was not the doctrine of +the Church of England; and now impetuous Augustus Toplady hastened to +the rescue, and administered two allopathic doses of Calvinism’s most +drastic tincture, to cure the Church of Arminian disease and fever. +Toplady’s style is trenchant; his doctrines are as near an approach +to the doctrine of fate, as held by Plato, Seneca, and other heathen +writers, as it is possible to conceive. A more impious piece, in the +garb of piety, was never published than his Zanchius; while his “Church +of England Vindicated” is rank with the most dogmatic and violent +abuse of Dr. Nowell and the Arminian clergy. It would be easy, but not +pleasant, to give extracts; and we can hardly recommend the reader +to peruse the pamphlets for himself. Augustus Toplady, a stripling +twenty-nine years of age, is a pope infallible; and all who hold +opinions different to his are reprobate knaves, or fools. + +Wesley was sick of controversial writing; and, besides, he had no time +for it. Walter Sellon had leisure at his command, and had already this +year published his able treatise, entitled, “The Doctrine of General +Redemption considered,” 12mo, 178 pages. He was also now engaged in +refuting a book hardly less horrible than the Zanchius of Augustus +Toplady, namely, “A Practical Discourse of God’s Sovereignty,” 12mo, +347 pages, by Elisha Coles, a clerk to the East India Company, who died +in 1688. Sellon’s book was soon issued, with the title, “A Defence of +God’s Sovereignty, against the impious and horrible Aspersions cast +upon it by Elisha Coles, in his practical treatise on that subject.” +In his preface, he tells his readers, he “did intend to have exposed +the errors and blasphemy” of Toplady’s Zanchius, but when he “found it +would enlarge his work too much, and especially when he understood that +Toplady had vilely slandered the Church of England,” he chose “to make +it the subject of another book, which the reader might expect unless it +should be done by some abler hand.”[78] + +Controversial war was now begun in earnest, and a severer battle was +never fought. Sir Richard Hill, Augustus Toplady, and Walter Sellon +were fairly in the lists, and others soon after followed. + +In the midst of all this, Wesley was savagely attacked in two letters, +published in the _Gospel Magazine_ for 1769, entitled, “Observations +on Mr. J. Wesley’s view of ‘The Scripture Doctrines of Predestination, +Election, and Reprobation.’” He is accused of “inexcusable vanity”; +of “impertinent quibbling”; of “jesuitical sophistry”; of holding +“a scheme unscriptural and dangerous, absurd and impious”; and of +“finespun reasoning worse than nothing.” The author complacently tells +his readers, in conclusion, that, though he had felt himself “very +resentful,” yet being “called to imitate the lovely pattern of the +lowly Jesus, he had answered Wesley not with asperity, but with the +meekness of wisdom.” + +Attacks upon Wesley were made from other quarters. It was a busy +year with young Toplady; for, besides the books already noticed, he +published a sixpenny pamphlet, with the title, “Many made Righteous +by the Obedience of One. Two Sermons on Romans v. 19, preached at +Bideford, in 1743, by the late Rev. James Hervey, with a Preface by +Augustus Toplady.” Some one else issued another, entitled, “The Jesuit +Detected,” in which the zealous advocate of Mr. Hervey arrays Wesley +in the garb of the Babylonian woman, and then abuses him for looking +so like her. Booth Brathwaite, unknown to fame, published another +sixpennyworth, called “Methodism a Popish Idol; or, the Danger and +Harmony of Enthusiasm and Separation.” Poor Booth, a bigot to church +establishments, raves against sectaries with abundant zeal, little +knowledge, and less charity. And to all these must be added, “The +Pretences of Enthusiasts, considered and confuted: A Sermon preached +before the university of Oxford, at St. Mary’s, on Sunday, June 26, +1768. By William Hawkins, M.A., Prebendary of Wells, late Poetry +Professor, and Fellow of Pembroke College, in Oxford. Published by +desire.” 8vo, 27 pages. + +Wesley’s own publications in 1769 were not many. + +1. “An Extract of the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s Journal, from October 20, +1762, to May 25, 1765.” 12mo, 124 pages. + +2. “An Extract from the Journal of Elizabeth Harper.” 12mo, 47 pages. + +3. “An Extract of Letters on Religious Subjects, by Mrs. Lefevre.” +12mo, 106 pages. + +4. “The Witness of the Spirit. A Sermon on Romans viii. 16.” Dublin: +12mo, 16 pages. This important sermon was written at Newry, in 1767. +Wesley declares that his sentiments on the witness of the Spirit were +the same as they had been from the beginning. “The testimony of the +Spirit,” says he, “is an inward impression on the soul of believers, +whereby the Spirit of God directly testifies to their spirit, that they +are the children of God.” Having established his doctrine, and answered +the objections to it, he concludes with two pungent inferences: “1. +Let none ever presume to rest in any supposed testimony of the Spirit, +which is separate from the fruit of it. 2. Let none rest in any +supposed fruit of the Spirit without the witness.” + +5. “Advices with respect to Health. Extracted from a late Author.” +12mo, 218 pages. The late author was Dr. Tissot; the book itself shows +Wesley’s intense anxiety to be of use to the bodies as well as souls +of his fellow creatures. He strongly commends Tissot’s descriptions of +diseases, the fewness and cheapness of his medicines, and his regimen; +but protests against his fondness for bleeding, and for glysters; +against his ointment for the itch, and his vehement recommendation of +Peruvian bark. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [49] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., + p. 126. + + [50] Whitefield’s Works, vol. iii., p. 387. + + [51] _Methodist Magazine_, 1783, p. 273. + + [52] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 321. + + [53] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 331. + + [54] Taylor’s “Redeeming Grace,” p. 49; and Wesley’s Works, + vol. iii., p. 350. + + [55] Wesley’s Works, vol. iv., pp. 16, 173, 222. + + [56] _Methodist Magazine_, 1784, p. 165. + + [57] _Irish Evangelist_, May, 1862. + + [58] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 362. + + [59] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. ii., p. 117. + + [60] Smith’s History of Methodism, vol. i., p. 380. + + [61] _Methodist Magazine_, 1784, p. 112. + + [62] Smith’s History of Methodism, vol. i., p. 387. + + [63] Rule’s “Memoir of a Mission to Gibraltar,” p. 5. + + [64] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 392. + + [65] About the same time, Thomas Bell, at Charlestown, + wrote as follows: “Mr. Wesley says, the first message + of the preachers is to the lost sheep of England. And + are there none in America? They have strayed from + England into the wild woods here, and they are running + wild after this world. They are drinking their wine + in bowls, and are jumping and dancing, and serving + the devil, in the groves and under the green trees. + And are not these lost sheep? And will none of the + preachers come here? Where is Mr. Brownfield? Where + is John Pawson? Where is Nicholas Manners? Are they + living, and will they not come?”--(“The Centenary of + Methodism,” published by the Primitive Methodists in + Ireland, in 1839, p. 189.) + + [66] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 578. + + [67] Ibid. 1783, p. 276; and 1784, p. 163. + + [68] _Lloyd’s Evening Post_, May 26, 1769. + + [69] _Methodist Magazine_, 1799, p. 253. + + [70] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., + p. 99. + + [71] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 383. + + [72] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 384. + + [73] _Methodist Magazine_, 1836, p. 52. + + [74] Ibid. 1815, p. 46. + + [75] “Methodism in Frome,” by Tuck, p. 42. + + [76] Miss Perronet’s manuscript letters; and _Methodist + Magazine_, 1811, p. 234. + + [77] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 42; and manuscript + letter. + + [78] Sellon’s book was not published till 1770, and seems + to have been revised by Wesley, who also approved of + his dealing with Toplady in a separate pamphlet. Hence + the following, addressed to Sellon. + + “LEWISHAM, _February 21, 1770_. + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Do not make too much haste. Give + everything the last touch. It will be enough, if + the papers meet me at Manchester, before the end of + March. I believe it will be the best way to bestow + a distinct pamphlet on that exquisite coxcomb. + Surely wisdom will die with him! I believe we can + easily get his other tract, which it would be well + to sift to the very foundation, in order to stop + the mouth of that vain boaster. I am, etc., JOHN + WESLEY.”--(Manuscript letter.) + + + + + 1770. + Age 67 + + +Wesley began the year 1770 with a covenant service in London, at which +eighteen hundred Methodists were present,--a sight worth seeing. + +In his leisure moments, he employed himself in reading; and, as +usual, makes racy remarks on men and books. Having finished Dr. +Burnet’s “Theory of the Earth,” he writes: “He is doubtless one of +the firstrate writers, both as to sense and style; his language is +remarkably clear, unaffected, nervous, and elegant; and none can deny, +that his theory is ingenious, and consistent with itself.” He read +Rousseau upon education, and says: “But how was I disappointed! Sure +a more consummate coxcomb never saw the sun! How amazingly full of +himself! Whatever he speaks, he pronounces as an oracle. But many of +his oracles are as palpably false as that ‘young children never love +old people.’ But I object to his temper more than to his judgment: +he is a mere misanthrope, a cynic all over. So indeed is his brother +infidel, Voltaire; and well-nigh as great a coxcomb. But he hides both +his doggedness and vanity a little better; whereas, here it stares us +in the face continually. As to his book, it is whimsical to the last +degree; grounded neither upon reason nor experience. The advices, which +are good, are trite and common, only disguised under new expressions; +and those which are new, which are really his own, are lighter than +vanity itself. Such discoveries I always expect from those who are too +wise to believe their Bibles.” + +Baron Emanuel Swedenborg, after rendering great service to science, and +thereby winning the esteem of Charles XII., and receiving the honour of +being enrolled among the members of the academies of Upsal, Stockholm, +and Petersburgh, came to London in 1743, attended the Moravian chapel +in Fetter Lane, went mad,[79] and began to write and publish the +visionary books, containing the creed of the Swedenborgians. Wesley +writes: “I sat down to read and seriously consider some of the writings +of Baron Swedenborg. I began with huge prejudice in his favour, knowing +him to be a pious man, one of a strong understanding, of much learning, +and one who thoroughly believed himself. But I could not hold out long. +Any one of his visions puts his real character out of doubt. He is +one of the most ingenious, lively, entertaining madmen, that ever set +pen to paper. But his waking dreams are so wild, so far remote both +from Scripture and common sense, that one might as easily swallow the +stories of ‘Tom Thumb,’ or ‘Jack the Giant Killer.’” The baron died two +years after this, and was buried in the Swedish church in Wellclose +Square, London. + +In the month of February, Wesley, for the last time, took part in a +religious service, and administered the sacrament, in the mansion +of the Countess of Huntingdon, in Portland Row. Thomas Maxfield was +present, and though a few years before he had been one of the strongest +sticklers in favour of the wild doctrines propounded by George Bell +and other sanctified ones in London, he now, in Wesley’s own presence, +spoke strongly against his doctrine of Christian perfection.[80] This +might be gratifying to her ladyship and her Calvinistic friends; but +it would have been in better taste for Maxfield, at least, to have +maintained, on such a subject, a respectful silence. No doubt, foolish +ideas had been circulated; but Wesley can hardly be held accountable +for these. His own doctrines on the subject were based upon Scripture, +and these he was ready to defend, and resolved to propagate. It is +true, that his anticipations respecting the great work, which was +professedly wrought in London and elsewhere, had not been realised. +Even Miss Bosanquet had lost the blessing of Christian perfection;[81] +and Wesley, in a letter dated March 15, 1770, confesses that, of those +who professed to obtain it, hardly one in thirty retained it. “Many +hundreds in London,” says he, “were made partakers of it, within +sixteen or eighteen months; but I doubt whether twenty of them are now +as holy and as happy as they were.”[82] This was a humiliating fact, +and gave to Wesley’s opponents a great advantage; but, in itself, it +was no disproof of Wesley’s doctrine; and can scarcely be considered a +satisfactory excuse for Thomas Maxfield, of all men living, attacking +his friend in the house of his Calvinistic foes. + +Wesley’s friend Whitefield was in America, preaching with as much zest +as ever; and, just at this juncture, Wesley addressed what proved to +be his last letter to his old and always faithful coadjutor; but the +letter contains not a single syllable respecting the slight which had +been cast upon him by a man whom gratitude ought to have taught better +manners. + + “LEWISHAM, _February 21, 1770_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Mr. Keen informed me some time since of your + safe arrival in Carolina; of which, indeed, I could not doubt for + a moment, notwithstanding the idle report of your being cast away, + which was so current in London. I trust our Lord has more work for + you to do in Europe, as well as in America. And who knows but before + your return, to England, I may pay another visit to the new world? I + have been strongly solicited by several of our friends in New York + and Philadelphia. They urge many reasons, some of which appear to + be of considerable weight; and my age is no objection at all; for + I bless God my health is not barely as good, but abundantly better + in several respects, than when I was five-and-twenty. But there are + so many reasons on the other side, that, as yet, I can determine + nothing; so I must wait for further light. Here I am: let the Lord + do with me as seemeth Him good. For the present, I must beg of you + to supply my lack of service, by encouraging our preachers, as you + judge best (who are as yet comparatively young and inexperienced); + by giving them such advices as you think proper; and, above all, by + exhorting them, not only to love one another, but, if it be possible, + as much as lies in them, to live peaceably with all men. + + “Some time ago, since you went hence, I heard a circumstance, which + gave me a good deal of concern; namely, that the college or academy + in Georgia had swallowed up the orphan house. Shall I give my + judgment without being asked? Methinks, friendship requires I should. + Are there not then two points which come in view? a point of mercy, + and a point of justice? With respect to the former, may it not be + inquired, Can anything on earth be a greater charity than to bring + up orphans? What is a college or an academy compared to this? unless + you could have such a college as perhaps is not upon earth. I know + the value of learning, and am more in danger of prizing it too much + than too little; but, still, I cannot place the giving it to five + hundred students on a level with saving the bodies, if not the souls + too, of five hundred orphans. But let us pass from the point of mercy + to that of justice. You had land given, and collected money, for an + orphan house. Are you at liberty to apply this to any other purpose? + at least, while there are any orphans in Georgia left? I just touch + upon this, though it is an important point, and leave it to your own + consideration, whether part of it, at least, might not properly be + applied to carry on the original design? In speaking thus freely, on + so tender a subject, I have given you a fresh proof of the sincerity + with which I am your ever affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[83] + +The college business above mentioned was simply this. Six years before, +Whitefield had informed the council of Georgia, that he had already +expended £12,000 upon his Orphan House; that he was now anxious to +attach to it a college, to which the respectable inhabitants of +Georgia, Virginia, and the West Indies might send their sons to be +educated; that, in order to accomplish his purpose, he was prepared +to lay out a considerable sum of money “_in purchasing a large number +of negroes_” for the cultivation of the lands, and for the “future +support of a president, professors, and tutors;” and that he now asked +the council to grant him, in trust, for the purposes aforesaid, two +thousand acres of land, on the north fork of Turtle River. The council +yielded his request at once, and with the greatest pleasure. Whitefield +then memorialised the king to grant a charter for the founding of the +college, stating that, if this were done, he was “ready to give up his +present trust, and make a free gift of all lands, negroes, goods, and +chattels, which he now possessed in Georgia, for the support of the +proposed institution, to be called by the name of Bethesda college, +in Georgia.” A long official correspondence followed. The government +were not unwilling to grant a charter, but they insisted that the +president of the college should be a minister of the Church of England, +and that there should be a daily use of the Church liturgy. These +were conditions which Whitefield respectfully declined; and hence the +charter asked for was refused. The result was, Whitefield added to +his Georgian orphan house a public academy, by the erection of two +additional wings, one hundred and fifty feet each in length; and, a +month before Wesley wrote his letter, opened the new building, by +preaching before his excellency the governor, and before the Georgian +council and assembly, from, “The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the +foundations of this house, His hands shall also finish it; and thou +shalt know that the Lord of hosts hath sent me unto you; for who hath +despised the day of small things?” Thus Whitefield left behind him, in +America, a complex orphanage and college, for the support of which he +had obtained grants of land to the extent of 3800 acres, and had bought +seventy-five male and female negroes for the purpose of cultivating his +extensive farm, and making it productive.[84] + +We have already seen that Wesley was not only urged, but was more +than willing, to visit his newly instituted societies in America. +Pilmoor was working hard at New York, and Boardman at Philadelphia; +a number of negroes had been converted; the work was growing; and +the young evangelists--Boardman of seven, and Pilmoor of five years’ +standing--wished for advice and help.[85] Wesley had nearly arrived at +the age of threescore years and ten; but, if his way had opened, he +would have bounded off across the Atlantic with as little anxiety as +he was accustomed to trot to the hospitable Perronet home at Shoreham. +The obstacles however were insurmountable. There was no one, during +his absence, to take his place as superintendent general of the +societies in England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; and to this must +be added the strong objections of the people to let him go. “If I go +to America,” said he, “I must do a thing which I hate as bad as I hate +the devil.” “What is that?” asked his friend. “I must keep a _secret_,” +he answered; meaning, that he must conceal his purpose, otherwise his +societies would interfere, and effectually prevent his going.[86] + +On the 5th of March, Wesley set out on his journey to the north, which +occupied the next five months. Coming to Newbury, he writes: “I had +been much importuned to preach here. But where? The Dissenters would +not permit me to preach in their meetinghouse. Some were then desirous +to hire the old playhouse; but the good mayor would not suffer it to be +so profaned! So I made use of a workshop,--a large, commodious place. +But it would, by no means, contain the congregation. All that could +hear behaved well.” + +From Newbury, Wesley proceeded to Bristol, Gloucester, Birmingham, and +Wednesbury. He then made his way, through Staffordshire and Cheshire, +to Manchester, where he arrived at the end of March, and made the +following characteristic entry in his journal: “In this journey, as +well as in many others, I observed a mistake that almost universally +prevails. Near thirty years ago, I was thinking, ‘How is it that +no horse ever stumbles while I am reading?’ (History, poetry, and +philosophy, I commonly read on horseback, having other employment at +other times.) No account can possibly be given but this: because, then +I throw the reins on his neck. I then set myself to observe; and I +aver, that, in riding above a hundred thousand miles, I scarce ever +remember any horse (except two that would fall head over heels any +way), to fall, or make a considerable stumble, while I rode with a +slack rein. To fancy, therefore, that a tight rein prevents stumbling +is a capital blunder. I have repeated the trial more frequently than +most men in the kingdom can do. A slack rein will prevent stumbling if +anything will. But in some horses nothing can.” + +From Manchester, Wesley proceeded to Liverpool, Whitehaven, and +Carlisle, preaching there, and at intermediate places. He writes: “At +Carlisle, it was the day of small things; the society consisting but +of fifteen members.” Methodism had been founded in this border city +by Robert Bell, an exciseman; and its place of worship was a shed for +sheltering carts. At almost every meeting the mob attended; stones and +brickbats were often thrown, and the Methodists hissed at and otherwise +abused.[87] + +Leaving Carlisle, Wesley made his way to Edinburgh, which he reached +on April 20, and says: “I endeavoured to confirm those whom many had +strove to turn out of the way. What pity is it, that the children of +God should so zealously do the devil’s work! How is it, that they +are still ignorant of Satan’s devices? Lord, what is man?” “The +congregations were nearly as usual; but the society which, when I was +here before, consisted of above one hundred and sixty members, was +now shrunk to about fifty. Such is the fruit of a single preacher’s +staying a whole year in one place, together with the labours of good +Mr. Townshend!” + +It was at this time that Wesley had his first interview with Lady +Glenorchy.[88] She writes: “The Rev. Dr. Webster[89] and Mr. Wesley met +at my house, and agreed on all doctrines on which they spoke, except +those of God’s decrees, predestination, and the saints’ perseverance. +I must, according to the light I now have, agree with Dr. Webster. +Nevertheless, I hope Mr. Wesley is a child of God. He has been an +instrument of saving souls; as such, I honour him, and will countenance +his preachers. I have heard him preach thrice; and should have been +better pleased had he preached more of Christ, and less of himself.”[90] + +Lady Glenorchy had recently opened St. Mary’s chapel, in which service +was performed by presbyterians, episcopalians, and Methodists; but her +ladyship now wished to have a schoolmaster and a minister of her own; +and, notwithstanding her disparaging remarks on Wesley, she employed +him to obtain them for her. A few weeks later she wrote to him as +follows. + + “EDINBURGH, _May 29, 1770_. + + “REVEREND SIR,--When I consider how much you have to do, and how + very precious your time is, I feel unwilling to give you the trouble + of reading a letter from me; yet I know not how to delay returning + you my best thanks for the pains you have taken to procure me a + Christian innkeeper and schoolmaster. And, though you have not as + yet been successful, I hope you may find some before you reach + London, who are willing to leave their native country and friends + for the sake of promoting the interest of Christ’s kingdom. If Mr. + Eggleston’s objections relate only to temporal things, perhaps it + may be in my power to remove them. I am exceedingly obliged to you, + dear and honoured sir, for your good advice; it is agreeable to that + small glimmering of light the Lord has been pleased to give me for + five years past. Let me entreat you to remember me at the throne + of grace. I am, reverend sir, with esteem and respect, your obliged + servant, + + “WILLIELMA GLENORCHY.”[91] + +Within a week after this, Wesley obtained her ladyship a schoolmaster; +and, at the beginning of the year following, sent her a minister, the +Rev. Richard De Courcy, who had been a Methodist in Ireland,[92] had +been educated at Trinity college, Dublin, had obtained deacon’s orders, +and had officiated as curate to Walter Shirley.[93] Lady Glenorchy +writes: “Mr. De Courcy is quite the person Mr. Wesley represented +him,--of a sweet disposition, and wishes only to preach Christ to poor +sinners wherever he finds an open door.”[94] This was in February, +1771, and yet, within six months afterwards, on June 28, her ladyship +writes again: “Before I left Edinburgh, I dismissed Mr. Wesley’s +preachers from my chapel; first, because they deny the doctrines +of imputed righteousness, election, and the saints’ perseverance; +secondly, because I found none of our gospel ministers would preach in +the chapel, if they continued to have the use of the pulpit; thirdly, +because I found my own soul had been hurt by hearing them, and I judged +that others might be hurt by them also.”[95] + +Thus, after Wesley had served her ladyship to the utmost of his power, +he and his preachers were ignominiously expelled from the sacred +precincts of St. Mary’s, and her chapel was left in the sole possession +of Mr. De Courcy and his Calvinistic friends. It is right to add that, +notwithstanding her Calvinism, Lady Glenorchy maintained, to the end +of life, a warm friendship with her Methodist friend, Lady Maxwell, +whom, at her death, she appointed her sole executrix, and the principal +manager of her chapels, both in England and across the border.[96] + +To return to Wesley. From Edinburgh, he went to Perth, Dunkeld, and +Inverness, at which last mentioned place Benjamin and William Chappel +had been three months waiting for a vessel to return to London, and +had employed the time in meeting the people every night to sing and +pray together. Benjamin Chappel, who thus begun Methodism in Inverness, +was a wheelwright, and, in after years, had the honour of being the +first Methodist in Prince Edward’s Island.[97] + +At Aberdeen, as at Inverness and Nairn, Wesley preached in the kirk. +At Arbroath, the society, though of but nine months’ standing, was the +largest in Scotland, with the exception of that at Aberdeen. At Dunbar +he preached in the new chapel, “the cheerfulest in the kingdom”; and, +on May 21, reached Newcastle on Tyne; but here we pause to insert a +letter of considerable interest. + +Within the last two years, Wesley had met at Bristol with a clergyman, +who was one of the king of Sweden’s chaplains, but who had recently +spent several years in Pennsylvania. This gentleman, Dr. Wrangel, had +strongly requested that Wesley would send preachers to America, nearly +twelve months before Boardman and Pilmoor were appointed; and, further, +to show his friendly feeling towards Methodism he had preached in the +Bristol chapel to a crowd of Methodists, and “gave,” says Wesley, +“general satisfaction by the simplicity and life which accompanied his +sound doctrine.” Dr. Wrangel had now returned to Sweden, and wrote the +following to Wesley. + + “STOCKHOLM, _May 5, 1770_. + + “DEAR AND MUCH BELOVED BROTHER IN CHRIST JESUS,--I hope my heart + will ever be impressed with the warmest gratitude for the comfort I + enjoyed in your society. Though absent in body, I have often been + amongst you. When I left England, I arrived first at Gothenburg, and + lodged at the right reverend bishop, Dr. Lamberg’s, who was fellow + chaplain with me at court. I found him to be a great friend of yours. + He had heard you preach while on his travels in England. I sent him + your books, and he was well pleased with what he read, and desired me + to remember him to you. + + “I have now been upwards of a year in Stockholm, and have officiated + as chaplain to the king, and at the same time preached in most of + the churches here, and I must say, with uncommon success. Whenever + I have preached the churches have been crowded. The king, on his + deathbed, made me a privy councillor. When I spoke to him of the way + of salvation, he received the word with gladness, and departed in + the Lord, to the great edification and comfort of the whole family. + His queen also, who is of English descent, is eminent in piety. This, + I hope, will be attended with good consequences in favour of religion. + + “Last parliament session several clergymen, and amongst them four + bishops, agreed to my proposals concerning a society for propagating + practical religion. We intend, as soon as the plan is rightly fixed, + to enter into correspondence with several parts of the world; and we + expect the honour of your correspondence also. + + “Providence is about to settle me in a station of great importance. + I am about to be named the almoner of his majesty. This office is of + importance to religion in general. Finally, my dear brother, let me + be included in all your prayers, and let me hear from you. I am, with + the greatest sincerity of affection, dear and reverend brother, your + most humble and affectionate brother and servant, + + “C. M. WRANGEL.”[98] + +Further correspondence followed, from which we learn that Dr. Wrangel +himself, like Wesley, had been an open air preacher; but was now, not +only the king of Sweden’s almoner, but “president of the consistory at +court, and chaplain to all the royal orders.” He writes to Wesley in +1771: “Pray, dear sir, desire your society to intercede for me. I send +you enclosed the letter of admission to our society. The rules, not yet +being printed in English, we send in German. I sincerely thank you for +the kind present of your sermons and books. I presented a copy of your +sermon to the society, which was very acceptable. The society will have +the life of Mr. Whitefield inserted in their Pastoral Collections, or +account of the work of God abroad. I beg of you, sir, to remember me +kindly to all your friends, not forgetting dear Kingswood. I have been +greatly blessed in my labour amongst the great, and shall soon give a +particular account of it.”[99] + +Thus, as England had its Wesleys, America its Whitefield, and Wales its +Howel Harris, Sweden also had its great reformer,--Dr. Wrangel, once a +field preacher, but now a founder of a _quasi_ missionary society, and, +as a faithful minister of Christ, bearing his testimony before kings +and princes. Through Dr. Wrangel’s friendship with Wesley, Methodism +had already, fifty-six years before its appointment of the Rev. Joseph +Rayner Stephens to Stockholm, indirectly extended its influences to the +Swedish capital, and had begun that wondrous work, which, fostered by +the Rev. Dr. Scott, has issued in some of the most remarkable results +recorded in mission history. + +Wesley left Newcastle for London on the 11th of June, and, on his +journey, preached for the most part thrice a day. At Whitby, one of +his itinerants, of six years’ standing, “had set up for himself; +his reasons for leaving the Methodists being--(1) that they went to +church; (2) that they held perfection.” It is a remarkable fact, +that sixty-five of the Whitby Methodists professed to be entirely +sanctified. From Whitby, Wesley proceeded along the east coast to +Robinhood’s Bay, Scarborough, Bridlington, and Hull. + +From Hull, he made his way to Beverley, York, Tadcaster, Pateley, +Otley, Yeadon, Heptonstall, Colne, Haworth, and Keighley. The Keighley, +or Haworth, circuit, at this period, extended from Otley to Whitehaven, +a distance of one hundred and twenty miles.[100] Yeadon has just been +mentioned. Here James Rhodes began to hold Methodist prayer-meetings as +early as 1747; and here his brother Joseph preached the first Methodist +sermon in Yeadon, in the house of Judith Jackson. Here Thomas Mitchell, +one of Wesley’s bravest itinerants, was trained; and here William +Darney, while preaching, was attacked by a mob, led on by Reynolds, +curate of Guiseley, had eggs thrown at his face, was dragged out of +doors, and then stamped upon. Here Jonathan Maskew, by the same godless +gang, had his clothes torn off his back, and, in a state of nakedness, +was trailed over the rough stone pavement, till he was a mass of +bruises. The bush burned, but it was not consumed. In 1766, the first +chapel was erected; and now, in 1770, it had to be enlarged. + +At the beginning of July, Wesley spent about a week at Leeds, and in +the surrounding towns and villages. He visited the orphanage of Miss +Bosanquet, who had removed to Cross Hall, Morley. Her friend Sarah +Crosby, in a letter dated July 13, 1770, remarks: “Mr. Wesley left +Leeds yesterday. I never heard him preach better, if so well. In every +sermon he set forth ‘Christian perfection’ in the most beautiful +light. Mr. Rankin, who travels with him, is a blessed man, and seems to +fear no one’s face. I believe there has not been such a time at Leeds +for many years.”[101] + +From Leeds, Wesley proceeded to Doncaster, Epworth, Horncastle, Louth, +and other places; and then, turning round, came back to Doncaster, +and, from there, went to Rotherham, Sheffield, Derby, and Nottingham, +preaching, not only there, but in many of the intervening villages +and towns. He writes: “I preached at Bingham, and really admired the +exquisite stupidity of the people. They gaped and stared, while I was +speaking of death and judgment, as if they had never heard of such +things before. And they were not helped by two surly, ill mannered +clergymen, who seemed to be just as wise as themselves.” + +In Loughborough market place, he preached to a congregation of some +thousands, all of them still as night. This was his first sermon +here; but, four years previous to this, some of his preachers had +visited the town, and, among others, converted by their ministry, was +Thomas Cook, who in humility, penitence, and self denial, was, even +among the first Methodists, almost without an equal. For three months +together, he would live on barley bread and water, often fasting, +from even nourishment like that, for whole days together, and praying +the whole night through. He invariably wore clothing of the coarsest +material, and when urged to use an overcoat answered: “When you can +assure me, that there is not a poor man destitute of _one_ coat, I may +then perhaps wear _two_.” For ten years, he prayed for all with whom +he happened to converse; and as he lived, so he died,--humble, holy, +loving, and devout,--saying in answer to a question, and with his +characteristic self abasement, “Oh no! no funeral sermon for _me_!”[102] + +On Thursday, August 2, after a five months’ absence, Wesley got back to +London; and, on August 7, met his conference; in reference to which, +the following unpublished letter, addressed to Mr. Merryweather, at +Yarm, is not without interest. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I have the credit of stationing the preachers; + but many of them go where they _will_ go, for all me. For instance, + I have marked down James Oddie and John Nelson for Yarm circuit the + ensuing year; yet, I am not certain that either of them will come. + They can give twenty reasons for going elsewhere. Mr. Murlin says, he + must be in London. ’Tis certain he has a mind to be there; therefore, + so it must be; for you know a man of fortune is master of his own + motions. + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The difficulties of conference, in stationing preachers, are not novel. + +There were now fifty Methodist circuits, one of which was America! +There were a hundred and twenty itinerant preachers, and 29,406 members +of society. Nearly £2,000 had been subscribed, during the year, towards +defraying the chapel debts; and yet, in consequence of new erections, +the aggregate debt was about the same. His chapels were becoming +Wesley’s greatest burdens.[103] It was resolved, that, during the +coming year, no new chapel should be built, nor any old one altered, +unless the entire expenditure were raised; and a proposal was made to +vest all the chapels in a general trust, consisting of persons chosen +from among the Methodists throughout the kingdom. This would have been +a disastrous mistake. Fortunately it was not adopted. + +Kingswood school, as usual, was a trouble. It had been opened +two-and-twenty years, and had had, during that period, eight classical +masters, five of whom had obtained episcopal ordination, and now a +sixth, Joseph Benson, had not only entered himself a graduate at +Oxford, but had exchanged Kingswood for Trevecca. No wonder that +Wesley, at the conference of 1770, asked, “How can we secure our +masters?” The answer was, “Ask each, before he is received, Do you +design to stay here? have you any thoughts of being ordained? have +you any design to preach?” It is a fact worth noting, that, during +the remainder of Wesley’s lifetime, there was only one more classical +master who became an ordained clergyman, and that was Mr. Benson’s +immediate successor, Isaac Twicross.[104] + +Wesley found, that some of his preachers were still engaged in trade; +and, hence, it was now agreed, that those who would not relinquish +trading in cloth, hardware, pills, drops, and balsams, should be +excluded from the brotherhood; but that, if any of them, like Thomas +Hanby, John Oliver, and James Oddie, had a share in ships, there would +be no objection to that.[105] + +The conference of 1770, however, will always be memorable chiefly, if +not entirely, for its doctrinal minutes. From the first, Whitefield, +Howel Harris, and their friends, had been Calvinists; and so were many +of the evangelical clergy, patronised by the Countess of Huntingdon, +as Romaine, Newton, Venn, Berridge, Shirley, and others. At an early +period of their history, the two Wesleys agreed, with the Methodist +Calvinistic leaders, to avoid preaching on Calvinistic topics to the +utmost extent possible. Charles Wesley afterwards endorsed the document +with the words “Vain Agreement.” So indeed it was: in fact it could +hardly be otherwise. Wesley, more than once, tried to meet his friends +at a sort of halfway house; but the attempt was dangerous, it exposed +Wesley to suspicion, and it issued in a failure. We have already seen +that, in 1743, Wesley, for the purpose of terminating their disputes, +made concessions to Whitefield, respecting unconditional election, +irresistible grace, and final perseverance, which it was impossible to +defend. Accordingly, at the conference held a few months afterwards, +he honestly confessed, that he had “unawares leaned too much towards +Calvinism;”[106] and proceeded to propound doctrines, which, in +substance, were the same as those he now embodied in the theses of +1770. Twenty-six years had elapsed since then; but there was a striking +resemblance between the two periods; and, substantially, the same +cause for outspokenness. To say nothing more concerning Whitefield’s +doctrines, it is important to bear in mind, that, in 1744, Moravianism, +or rather Zinzendorfism, had turned the doctrine of justification by +faith only into an antinomian channel; and now, in 1770, the same +thing was practically being done by not a few who, at all events, were +_called_ Methodists. Mr. Fletcher’s description of the antinomianism +of the period is a frightful picture; and though not so applicable to +the followers of Wesley as to those of the Countess of Huntingdon’s +connexion, yet the former were not so free from the antinomian poison +as they should have been. Hence the publication of Wesley’s theological +theses; substantially the same as he had enunciated in 1744; but not +so guardedly expressed. As they led to the longest and bitterest +controversy in Wesley’s history, we subjoin them in their entirety. + + “We said, in 1744, ‘We have leaned too much toward Calvinism.’ + Wherein? + + “1. With regard to _man’s faithfulness_. Our Lord himself taught us + to use the expression; and we ought never to be ashamed of it. We + ought steadily to assert, on His authority, that, if a man is not + ‘faithful in the unrighteous mammon,’ God will not give _him the true + riches_. + + “2. With regard to _working for life_. This also our Lord has + expressly commanded us: ‘Labour,’ εργαζεσθε, literally ‘Work’ ‘for + the meat that endureth to everlasting life.’ And, in fact, every + believer, till he comes to glory, works for as well as _from_ life. + + “3. We have received it as a maxim, that ‘a man is to do nothing in + order to justification,’ Nothing can be more false. Whoever desires + to find favour with God should ‘cease from evil, and learn to do + well,’ Whoever repents should do ‘works meet for repentance,’ And if + this is not _in order_ to find favour, what does he do them for? + + “Review the whole affair: 1. Who of us is _now_ accepted of God? He + that now believes in Christ with a loving and obedient heart. + + “2. But who among those that never heard of Christ? He that feareth + God and worketh righteousness, according to the light he has. + + “3. Is this the same with ‘he that is sincere’? Nearly, if not quite. + + “4. Is not this ‘salvation by works’? Not by the _merit_ of works, + but by works as a _condition_. + + “5. What have we been disputing about for these thirty years? I am + afraid, _about words_. + + “6. As to _merit_ itself, of which we have been so dreadfully + afraid; we are rewarded ‘according to our works,’ yea, ‘because of + our works.’ How does this differ from, _for the sake of our works_? + And how differs this from _secundum merita operum_? as our works + _deserve_? Can you split this hair? I doubt I cannot. + + “7. The grand objection to one of the preceding propositions is drawn + from matter of fact. God does in fact justify those, who, by their + own confession, neither feared God nor wrought righteousness. Is + this an exception to the general rule? It is a doubt, God makes any + exception at all. But how are we sure, that the person in question + never did fear God and work righteousness? His own saying so is not + proof; for we know, how all that are convinced of sin undervalue + themselves in every respect. + + “8. Does not talking of a justified or a sanctified _state_ tend to + mislead men? almost naturally leading them to trust in what was done + in one moment? Whereas we are every hour and every moment pleasing or + displeasing to God, ‘according to our works’;--according to the whole + of our inward tempers, and our outward behaviour.” + +What was the result of these loosely worded propositions? The answer to +this will extend over several years; but suffice it to say at present +that the publication gave huge offence to the whole host of Calvinistic +Methodists; and Lady Huntingdon declared, that whoever did not wholly +disavow the theses should quit her college. Mr. Benson, her classical +master, so far from disavowing, defended them, and hence sprung up a +correspondence between Wesley and himself, from which the following are +extracts. + + “BRISTOL, _October 5, 1770_. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--I am glad you had the courage to speak your mind on + so critical an occasion. At all hazards, do so still; only with all + possible tenderness and respect. She is much devoted to God, and has + a thousand valuable and amiable qualities. There is no great fear + that I should be prejudiced against one whom I have intimately known + for these thirty years. And I know what is in man; therefore, I make + large allowance for human weaknesses. But what you say is exactly + the state of the case. They are ‘jealous of their authority.’ Truly, + there is no cause: _Longe mea discrepat illi et vox et ratio_. I + fear and shun, not desire, authority of any kind. Only when God + lays that burden upon me, I bear it, for His and the people’s sake. + ‘Child,’ said my father to me when I was young, ‘you think to carry + everything by dint of argument; but you will find, by-and-by, how + very little is ever done in the world by clear reason.’ Very little + indeed! Passion and prejudice govern the world; only under the name + of reason. It is our part, by religion and reason, to counteract them + all we can. It is yours, in particular, to do all that in you lies to + soften the prejudices of those that are round about you, and to calm + the passions from which they spring. Blessed are the peacemakers! + Whatever I say, it will be all one. They will find fault, because + I say it. There is implicit envy at my power (so called), and a + jealousy rising therefrom. Hence prejudice in a thousand forms; + hence objections springing up like mushrooms. And while these causes + remain, they will spring up, whatever I can do or say. However, keep + thyself pure; and then there need be no strangeness between you and, + dear Joseph, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[107] + + “LONDON, _November 30, 1770_. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--For several years, I have been convinced that I had + not done my duty with regard to that valuable woman; that I had not + told her what, I was thoroughly assured, no one else would dare to + do, and what I knew she would bear from no other person, but possibly + might bear from me. But, being unwilling to give her pain, I put it + off from time to time. At length, I did not dare to delay any longer, + lest death should call one of us hence. So I, at once, delivered + my own soul, by telling her all that was in my heart. It was my + business, my proper business, so to do; as none else either could or + would do it. Neither did I at all take too much upon me: I know the + office of a Christian minister. If she is not profited, it is her + own fault, not mine: I have done my duty, and I do not know there is + one charge in that letter which was either unjust, unimportant, or + aggravated; any more than that against the doggerel hymns, which are + equally an insult upon poetry and common sense. + + “I am, dear Joseph, your affectionate brother, + + JOHN WESLEY.”[108] + +The above refers to a letter which Wesley had addressed to Lady +Huntingdon; but which has never yet been published. Evidently it +was faithful, and also unpalatable. It seems to have strengthened +prejudices against him, instead of removing them. His position also +was not improved by anti-Calvinian publications over which he had no +control. Mr. William Mason, who had been one of Wesley’s classleaders, +but had left him, and was now a magistrate of the county of Surrey, +and resided at Rotherhithe Wall,[109] issued his “Axe laid to the Root +of Antinomian Licentiousness; extracted from the works of Mr. Flavel.” +1770: 8vo, 36 pages. Another writer, signing himself “Academicus,” +gave to the public a small octavo volume of 124 pages, entitled “The +Church of England Vindicated from the Rigid Notions of Calvinism”; in +which Sir Richard Hill is severely, perhaps abusively, flagellated for +his virulent attack on Dr. Adams of Shrewsbury, and the Rev. William +Romaine is charged with preaching a sermon which “shocked every serious +and rational Christian that heard it.” All these incidents had to do +with the lamentable anger and bitterness of the memorable Calvinian +controversy which will soon demand attention. + +The sessions of the conference of 1770 being ended, Wesley set out for +Cornwall, where he spent the next three weeks. Returning to Bristol, he +and his brother, at the beginning of October, agreed, at the request +of the society, to administer to them the Lord’s supper every other +Sunday; which arrangement, of course, rendered it necessary, that an +ordained clergyman should reside at Bristol, or in its neighbourhood. + +The rest of the year was occupied with his usual journeys to +Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Norfolk, +and Kent. Poor Whitefield was dead; and Wesley, if the way was opened, +was quite ready to take his place, by including America within the +bounds of his vast Methodist circuit. Hence the following to Mrs. +Marston, of Worcester. + + “_December 14, 1770._ + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--If I live till spring, and should have a clear, + pressing call, I am as ready to embark for America, as for Ireland. + All places are alike to me: I am attached to none in particular. + Wherever the work of our Lord is to be carried on, _that_ is my place + for _to-day_. And we live only for to-day: it is not our part to take + thought for to-morrow. + + “I am, dear Molly, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[110] + +On Saturday, September 29, while on his way to Boston, in New England, +Whitefield, at the importunity of the people, preached at Exeter, in +the open air, a sermon nearly two hours long. At six o’clock next +morning he was dead. A friend, addressing him just before he commenced +his last sermon, said, “Sir, you are more fit to go to bed than to +preach.” “True,” replied the dying evangelist; and then turning aside, +he clasped his hands, and, looking up, said: “Lord Jesus, I am weary +_in_ Thy work, but not _of_ Thy work.” Whitefield was buried, where he +died, at Newburyport. Every mark of respect was shown to his remains. +All the bells in the town tolled, and the ships in the harbour fired +mourning guns, and hung their flags half-mast high. In Georgia, all the +black cloth in the stores was bought up, and the church was hung with +mourning; the governor and council met at the statehouse in habiliments +of sorrow, and went in procession to hear a funeral sermon. + +Whitefield intended to be interred in Tottenham Court chapel, and had +told the congregation, that he should like the Wesley brothers to be +interred beside him. “We will,” said he, “all lie together. You refuse +them entrance here while living: they can do you no harm when they are +dead.”[111] Whitefield’s wish was not realised; but, at length, Wesley +was admitted to Whitefield’s pulpit. + +The Rev. Mr. Joss announced in Tottenham Court chapel on November 11, +that, on the sabbath following, Wesley would preach a sermon there +on Whitefield’s death, as it had long ago been agreed between the +two, that whichever survived the other should preach the deceased’s +funeral discourse.[112] An immense multitude assembled. “It was,” says +Wesley, “an awful season; all were as still as night.” On the same +day, he preached again in Whitefield’s tabernacle in Moorfields. +The hour appointed was half-past five; but the place was filled at +three, and Wesley began at four. His text was the same at both places: +“Let me die the death of the righteous, and let my last end be like +his!” Whitefield’s characteristics were described as consisting of +“unparalleled zeal, indefatigable activity, tender heartedness to +the afflicted, and charitableness toward the poor, the most generous +friendship, nice and unblemished modesty, frankness and openness of +conversation, unflinching courage, and steadiness in whatever he +undertook for his Master’s sake.” Wesley then sketched the doctrines +Whitefield preached, and concluded thus. + + “These are the fundamental doctrines which he everywhere insisted + on; and may they not be summed up in two words,--the new birth, and + justification by faith? These let us insist upon with all boldness, + at all times, and in all places. Keep close to these good, old, + unfashionable doctrines, how many soever contradict and blaspheme. + Go on, my brethren, in the name of the Lord, and in the power of His + might. Let brother no more lift up sword against brother; rather put + ye on, as the elect of God, bowels of mercies, humbleness of mind, + brotherly kindness, gentleness, longsuffering, forbearing one another + in love. Let the time past suffice for strife, envy, contention; + for biting and devouring one another. O God, with Thee no word is + impossible! O that Thou wouldest cause the mantle of Thy prophet, + whom Thou hast taken up, now to fall on us that remain! Take away + from us all anger and wrath, and bitterness; all clamour and evil + speaking! Let Thy Spirit so rest upon us, that from this hour we may + be kind to each other, tender hearted, forgiving one another, even as + God for Christ’s sake hath forgiven us!” + +Well did such sentiments harmonise with the spirit and the life of +Wesley’s old and faithful friend; and mournful is the fact, that they +were so soon utterly ignored by the party of which Whitefield had +been the chief. No sooner was Wesley’s sermon preached and published, +than it was attacked, because he had omitted to mention the election +and final perseverance of the saints. His doctrines of “the new birth +and justification by faith” were a defective, precarious scheme, and +abortive as to saving purposes; because, according to his tenets, a +man may be justified by faith, and be born again, and yet never enjoy +eternal life, unless he does more for himself, to make his salvation +effectual, than has been done for him by the blood and righteousness of +Christ.[113] + +Whitefield bequeathed his orphan house estate in Georgia, with all +its “buildings, lands, and negroes,” “to that elect lady, that mother +in Israel, that mirror of true and undefiled religion, the Right +Honourable Selina, Countess Dowager of Huntingdon.” His two chapels +in London, with his books and furniture in the Tabernacle house, were +left to his “worthy, trusty, tried friends, Messrs. Daniel West and +Robert Keen.” Within the last three years, he had become possessed, by +legacies, of about £1700, including £700 accruing to him at his wife’s +decease; and this amount he bequeathed to a whole host of friends, +the largest share falling to the Countess of Huntingdon; while, in an +addendum to his will, he says: “I also leave a mourning ring to my +honoured and dear friends and disinterested fellow labourers, the Rev. +Messrs. John and Charles Wesley, in token of my indissoluble union with +them, in heart and Christian affection, notwithstanding our differences +in judgment about some particular points of doctrine. Grace be with all +them, of whatever denomination, that love our Lord Jesus, our common +Lord, in sincerity.”[114] + +Thus died one of the greatest Christian orators that ever lived,--a +man who, though often heavily afflicted, preached, in four-and-thirty +years, upwards of eighteen thousand sermons,[115] many of them in the +open air, and often to enormous crowds, and in the teeth of brutal +persecution.[116] + +Space forbids enlargement; but, perhaps, two unpublished letters, +belonging to this period, may be welcome. The first was addressed to +Matthew Lowes, and the second to Miss Foard, who afterwards became Mrs. +Thornton, of 86, Blackman Street, Southwark. + + “LONDON, _October 13, 1770_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Health you shall have, if health be best; if not, + sickness will be a greater blessing. I am glad you have Dr. Wilson + near. A more skilful man, I suppose, is not in England. If you + should continue weak, (as I did from November to March,) good is the + will of the Lord. You are not a superannuated preacher: but you are a + supernumerary. I believe one of your boys is rejoicing in the love of + God. + + “I am, with love to sister Lowes, dear Matthew, your affectionate + brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + + “_December 29, 1770._ + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--When we had an opportunity of spending a day or two + together, you convinced me that you fear and love God, and desire + to enjoy all His promises. And I found you less prejudiced, than I + expected, against the doctrine of Christian perfection. I only want + you to experience this: to be ‘all faith, all gentleness, all love.’ + Labour to be wise, and yet simple! To steer between the extremes + of neglecting to cultivate your understanding, which is right; and + _leaning_ to it, which is fatally wrong. And be free and open with, + my dear Nancy, your affectionate brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +Little more, in reference to 1770, remains to be related. To a great +extent, mob violence was ended; but Wesley was still the target at +which literary malice shot its shafts. The aid of the Muses was again +invoked, and some unknown poetaster issued an octavo pamphlet of 39 +pages, entitled, “The Perfections of God,--a standing Rule to try all +Doctrines and Experience. A Poem humbly offered to the consideration of +Mr. John Wesley and his followers.” This was evidently the production +of one of his Calvinistic friends. Hence the following-- + + “Shall Wesley sow his hurtful tares, + And scatter round a thousand snares, + Telling how God from wrath may turn, + And love the soul He thought to burn, + And how again His mind may move, + To hate, where He has vowed to love, + How all mankind He fain would save, + Yet longs for what He cannot have, + Industrious thus to sound abroad + A disappointed, changing God?” + +Again, in reference to the “Hymn on God’s Everlasting Love,” we have +the following choice _morceau_. + + “Blush Wesley, blush, be filled with shame, + Doom thy vile poem to the flame; + What tongue thy horrid crime can tell? + Put saints to sing the song of hell! + Haste hence to Rome, thy proper place; + Why should we share in thy disgrace? + We need no greater proof to see, + Thy blasphemies with hers agree.” + +In addition to the above, there was published a sermon of 32 pages, +8vo, entitled “Methodistical Deceit: a Sermon preached in the parish +church of St. Matthew, Bethnal Green, by Haddon Smith, curate of the +said church.” + +It is right to say that Mr. Smith’s discourse is levelled against the +Calvinistic Methodists, of whom, however, he unfortunately speaks +as though they were all the Methodists that existed. Remembering +the recent origin of the Methodist movement, and the unparalleled +opposition it had been its lot to encounter, it is somewhat amusing +to find the Bethnal Green curate describing the Methodists as “the +_overbearing_ sect”; perhaps it was a _lapsus linguæ_; or perhaps the +Rev. Mr. Smith began to see, that crushing the system with the iron +heel of persecution only diffused its fragrance wider; and that, after +all, Methodism, instead of dying, was every year more vigorous than +ever. Mr. Smith was severely handled in a pamphlet of 40 pages, with +the title, “Letters to the Rev. Mr. Haddon Smith, occasioned by his +_Curious_ Sermon entitled Methodistical Deceit; by Philalethes.” + +Wesley’s own publications, in 1770, were as follows. + +1. “An Extract from Dr. Young’s Night Thoughts, on Life, Death, and +Immortality.” 12mo, 241 pages. Wesley professed to have left out all +the lines in Young, which he “apprehended to be either childish, or +flat, or turgid, or obscure”; and appended brief explanations of the +words and phrases, which he thought would be scarcely understood by +unlearned readers. + +2. “Minutes of several Conversations between the Rev. Messrs. John and +Charles Wesley and others.” 8vo, 60 pages. This was a new and enlarged +edition of the minutes published in 1763, embracing minutes of all the +conferences held from that period to the year 1770. + +3. “A Sermon on the Death of the Rev. Mr. George Whitefield.” 8vo, 32 +pages. + +4. “Free Thoughts on the Present State of Public Affairs.” 8vo, 47 +pages. This was published in the midst of the terrible national +confusion, produced by the dissolute and unprincipled anarchist,--the +infamous John Wilkes. The pamphlet has been already noticed in a +previous chapter.[117] + +5. It was Wesley’s purpose to leave Augustus Toplady in the hands +of Walter Sellon. He did this, in one respect, but not in another. +For instance, he published a small 12mo tract of eight pages, with +the title, “What is an Arminian?” He writes: “To say, ‘this man is +an Arminian,’ has the same effect on many hearers as to say, ‘this +is a mad dog.’ It puts them into a fright at once; they run away +from him with all speed and diligence; and will hardly stop, unless +it be to throw a stone at the dreadful and mischievous animal.” He +then proceeds to show, that the differences between an Arminian and +a Calvinist may all be reduced to a single sentence,--the Calvinist +believes that God has eternally and absolutely decreed to save such +and such persons, and no others; that these cannot resist the saving +grace that He imparts; and that they cannot finally fall from that +grace, which they are not able to resist. An Arminian holds doctrines +just the opposite of these. Wesley concludes his tract by advising both +Arminian and Calvinist preachers never to use, either in public or +private, the word “Calvinist,” or “Arminian,” as a term of reproach, +seeing this was neither better nor worse than calling names,--a +practice as inconsistent with good sense and good manners as it is with +Christianity itself. + +6. Besides this, Wesley issued another tract, entitled, “The Doctrine +of Absolute Predestination Stated and Asserted. By the Rev. Mr. A.---- +T----.” 12mo, 12 pages. This was a faithful abridgment of Toplady’s +translation of Zanchius, without note or comment, except a short +advertisement at the beginning, and a paragraph at the end, both of +which we give verbatim. + + “Advertisement.--It is granted, that the ensuing tract is, in good + measure, a translation. Nevertheless, considering the unparalleled + modesty and self diffidence of the young translator, and the + tenderness wherewith he treats his opponents, it may well pass for + an original.” + +This was stinging; especially when compared with the concluding +paragraph-- + + “The sum of all is this: One in twenty (suppose) of mankind are + elected; nineteen in twenty are reprobated. The elect shall be saved, + do what they will; the reprobate shall be damned, do what they can. + Reader, believe this, or be damned. Witness my hand. + + “A---- T----.” + +This was the whole of Wesley’s offending. His tract, we again affirm, +was an honest, faithful abridgment of Toplady’s pretended translation; +but the truth is, by divesting the work of Toplady of its cloudy +verbiage, the Calvinistic theory was presented in a form enough to +horrify every man of reason and religion. What was the result? Wesley’s +Abridgment was issued in the month of March, 1770. Poor Toplady seems +to have become insane with anger; and, before the same month expired, +had completed his answer, which was published forthwith, under the +title of “A Letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley: relative to his +pretended Abridgment of Zanchius on Predestination.” 8vo, 30 pages. +The most charitable excuse for this angry writer is, that he had, in a +paroxysm of mortified vanity, lost his balance, and was now _non compos +mentis_. Wesley had honestly abridged his work; and had written the two +brief paragraphs already quoted. That was all: and, for this, the irate +young man of thirty, who in former years had written to Wesley in terms +of the most filial respect, now tells him that, “for more than thirty +years past he has been endeavouring to palm on his credulous followers +his pernicious doctrines, with all the sophistry of a jesuit, and the +dictatorial authority of a pope.” Wesley is charged with acting “the +ignoble part of a lurking, sly assassin.” He is exhorted to “renounce +the low, serpentine cunning, which puts him on falsifying what he finds +himself unable to refute; to dismiss those dirty subterfuges (the last +resources of mean, malicious impotence), which degrade the man of +parts into a lying sophister, and sink a divine into the level of an +oyster woman.” Wesley is told, “that it once depended on the toss of a +shilling whether he should be a Calvinist or an Arminian. Tails fell +uppermost, and he resolved to be an universalist.” The elect Toplady +continues: “possessed of more than serpentine elability, _you_ cast +_your_ slough, not once a year, but, almost, once an hour. Hence, your +innumerable _inconsistencies_, and flagrant _self contradictions_; +the _jarring_ of your principles, and the _incoherence_ of your +religious system. Somewhat like the necromantic soup in the tragedy of +‘Macbeth,’ your doctrines may be stirred into a chaotic jumble, but +witchcraft itself would strive in vain to bring them into coalition.” +The gentlemanly polemic then informs Wesley, that he shall not hold +himself obliged to again enter the lists with him, if he “descends to +his customary recourse of false quotations, despicable invective, and +unsupported dogmatisms. An opponent,” continues this model of polite +behaviour, “an opponent, who thinks to add weight to his arguments by +scurrility and abuse, resembles the insane person who rolled himself in +the mud, in order to make himself fine. I would no more enter into a +formal controversy with such a scribbler, than I would contend, for the +wall, with a chimney sweeper.” + +Is it surprising that, after this, Calvinism was discussed at the +conference of 1770; and that, just before it commenced its sittings, +Wesley wrote the following unpublished letter to his friend, Mr. +Merryweather, at Yarm? + + “YORK, _June 24, 1770_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Mr. Augustus Toplady I know well; but I do not + fight with chimney sweepers. He is too dirty a writer for me to + meddle with; I should only foul my fingers. I read his title page, + and troubled myself no farther. I leave him to Mr. Sellon. He cannot + be in better hands. + + “As long as you are seeking and expecting to love God with all your + heart, so long your soul will live. + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [79] _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 46. + + [80] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., + p. 387. + + [81] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 375. + + [82] Ibid. p. 350. + + [83] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 148. + + [84] Whitefield’s Works, vol. iii. + + [85] _Methodist Magazine_, 1784, p. 224. + + [86] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 345. + + [87] Thomas Dixon’s manuscript journal. + + [88] “Life of Lady Glenorchy,” p. 155. + + [89] One of the ministers of the Tolbooth church,--a man of + great abilities and of polished manners, but an avowed + Calvinist of the highest order.--(Lady Glenorchy’s + Life, p. 132.) + + [90] “Life of Lady Glenorchy,” p. 156. + + [91] _Methodist Magazine_, 1784, p. 279. + + [92] “Life of Lady Glenorchy,” pp. 163, 226. + + [93] “Life and Times of Lady Huntingdon,” vol. i., p. 157. + + [94] Lady Glenorchy’s Life, p. 223. + + [95] Ibid. p. 239. + + [96] _Methodist Magazine_, 1816, p. 730. + + [97] _Methodist Magazine_, 1851, p. 837. + + [98] _Methodist Magazine_, 1784, p. 330. + + [99] Ibid. 1784, p. 614. + + [100] _Methodist Magazine_, 1814, p. 166. + + [101] Manuscript. + + [102] _Methodist Magazine_, 1807, p. 242. + + [103] The following hitherto unpublished letter was + addressed to Matthew Lowes, and refers both to + circuit, and connexional chapel, debts. + + “LONDON, _March 2, 1770_. + “DEAR MATTHEW,--The way you propose for clearing + the circuit is, I think, the very best which can be + devised. Only let your fellow labourers second _you + heartily_, and the thing will be done. + + “Four or five circuits exerted themselves nobly. + Had all the rest done the same our burden would + have been quite removed. Well, _we_ will fight till + we die. + “I am, etc., J. WESLEY.” + + [104] Myles’s History. + + [105] This had become a matter of grave importance. Matthew + Lowes, one of Wesley’s most useful itinerants, + states, in his unpublished Autobiography, that though + the trading of the preachers, in cloth, groceries, + hardware, etc., was of considerable benefit to + themselves and their families, it was strongly + objected to by the people: (1) because it interfered + with the businesses of Methodists in the places + which the preachers visited; and (2) because it was + deemed inconsistent for a minister of the word of + God to be engaged in any kind of trade whatever. + Lowes’ trading was chiefly confined to the sale of + a valuable balsam, of which he himself was the sole + maker and vendor; and which, while of great use to + the afflicted, and a source of income to the poor + itinerant, did not in the least interfere with the + business of others; but even Lowes was obliged to + give up the itinerancy, when, for the sake of the + suffering, and, for the benefit of his numerous + family, he refused to give up his balsam. In 1771, + he was compelled to retire from the itinerant work, + partly for the reason just mentioned, and partly on + the ground of health, and, for about a quarter of + a century afterwards, acted as a local preacher at + Newcastle on Tyne, and supported himself, his wife, + and his children, chiefly by the sale of his useful + medicine. Three months after his retirement, Wesley + wrote to him the following, now for the first time + published. + + “NORWICH, _November 10, 1771_. + “DEAR MATTHEW,--You should do all you can; + otherwise want of exercise will not lessen, but + increase your disorder. Certainly there is no + objection to your making balsam, while you are not + considered as a travelling preacher. I am, with + love to sister Lowes, your affectionate brother, + “J. WESLEY.” + + + [106] Minutes, 1744. + + [107] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 385. + + [108] Ibid. p. 387. + + [109] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. i., + p. 364. + + [110] _Methodist Magazine_, 1826, p. 752. + + [111] J. Pawson’s manuscripts. + + [112] _Lloyd’s Evening Post_, Nov. 16, 1770. + + [113] _Gospel Magazine_, 1771, p. 39. + + [114] _Lloyd’s Evening Post_, 1771, pp. 127, 139. + + [115] _Gospel Magazine_, 1776, p. 443. + + [116] Poor Whitefield was pelted even after he was dead. + In the _Annual Register_, for 1770, it is wickedly + stated, that his last visit to America was owing “to + an attachment to a woman, by whom he had a child + while his wife was living;” and it is added, that + “this child was the first infant ever entered into + his orphan house in Georgia”! + + [117] Wesley’s “Free Thoughts” were sharply criticised by + an able writer, in 1771, in an octavo pamphlet of 58 + pages, with the title of “A Letter to the Rev. Mr. + John Wesley; in answer to his late pamphlet, entitled + ‘Free Thoughts on the Present State of Public + Affairs.’” + + + + + 1771. + Age 68 + +The year 1771 was one of unceasing conflict. The first two months, +as usual, were spent in London, during which Wesley’s wife, in one +of her insane piques, and without assigning the slightest reason, +unceremoniously left his house in London, and started for her own +in Pilgrim Street, Newcastle. It was on this occasion that Wesley +wrote the words so often quoted: “_Non eam reliqui; non dimisi; non +revocabo_.” + +On the 3rd of March, Wesley set out for Ireland, where he laboured for +the next few months. + +Affairs in Scotland were a source of increasing anxiety. Hence the +following letter to Lady Maxwell, in reference to Alexander McNab, one +of his itinerants, and the Rev. Richard De Courcy, who was about to +become minister in Lady Glenorchy’s chapel, Edinburgh. + + “LONDON, _January 24, 1771_. + + “MY DEAR LADY,--Although Mr. McNab is quite clear as to justification + by faith, and is, in general, a sound and good preacher, yet, I + fear, he is not clear of blame in this. He is too warm and impatient + of contradiction, otherwise he must be lost to all common sense, + to preach against final perseverance in Scotland. From the first + hour that I entered the kingdom, it was a sacred rule with me + never to preach on any controverted point,--at least, _not in a + controversial way_. Any one may see that this is only to put a sword + into our enemies’ hands. It is the direct way to increase all their + prejudices, and to make all our labours fruitless. + + “You will shortly have a trial of another kind. Mr. De Courcy + purposes to set out for Edinburgh in a few days. He was from a + child a member of our societies in the south of Ireland. There he + received remission of sins, and was, for some time, groaning for full + redemption. But when he came to Dublin the Philistines were upon + him, and soon prevailed over him. Quickly, he was convinced that + ‘there is no perfection,’ and that ‘all things depend on _absolute + and unchangeable decrees_.’ At first, he was exceedingly warm upon + these heads; now, he is far more calm. His natural temper, I think, + is good; he is open, friendly, and generous. He has also a good + understanding, and is not unacquainted with learning, though not + deeply versed therein. He has no disagreeable person, a pleasing + address, and is a lively as well as sensible preacher. Now, when you + add to this that he is quite new, and very young, you may judge how + he will be admired and caressed. How will a raw, inexperienced youth + be able to encounter this? If there be not the greatest of miracles + to preserve him, will it not turn his brain? And may he not then do + far more hurt than either Mr. W---- or Mr. T---- did? Will he not + prevent your friend from going on to perfection? Nay, may he not + shake you also? At present, indeed, he is in an exceedingly loving + spirit. But will that continue long? There will be danger on the one + hand if it does; there will be danger on the other if it does not. + + “It does not appear, that any great change has been wrought in our + neighbours by Mr. Whitefield’s death. He had fixed the prejudice + so deep, that even he himself was not able to remove it; yet, our + congregations have increased exceedingly, and the work of God + increases on every side. I am glad you use more exercise. It is good + for both body and soul. As soon as Mr. De Courcy is come, I shall + be glad to hear how the prospect opens. You will then need a larger + share of the wisdom from above; and I trust you will write with all + openness to, my dear lady, your ever affectionate servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[118] + +It was Wesley who obtained Mr. De Courcy’s services for Lady Glenorchy. +He knew the man, and thought highly of him, but also saw his danger; +and hence the warning to Lady Maxwell. It would be a pleasant task to +sketch the subsequent career of this devoted Irishman; but, at present, +we must confine ourselves to Edinburgh. De Courcy set out for the +northern metropolis, as Wesley had said he would; and, immediately on +his arrival at Newcastle, addressed to Wesley the following. + + “_February 9, 1771._ + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--Yesterday evening, after a very tedious + journey, the Lord brought me safe to Newcastle. When I reflect on the + fatigue and dangers which attend travelling, I should be astonished + above measure that you have so indefatigably persevered in all the + labours of an itinerant life for so many years, were I not well + assured that you have been supernaturally assisted in body and mind + for that extensive work to which God has eminently chosen you. + + “I write this in Mr. McNab’s chamber, with whom, and Mr. Hanby, + I find great fellowship of spirit. I have accepted your kind + invitation, and purpose taking up my abode with them till Monday, + when I set out for Edinburgh. I would stay longer with your dear + people here, but that I find Lady Glenorchy is particularly anxious + for my speedy arrival in Edinburgh. As my situation there will + expose me to diversified trials, do dear sir, pray that I may be kept + + ‘Humble, teachable, and mild, + Patient as a little child,’ + + “I remain, reverend and dear sir, your most affectionate, but + unworthy brother, + “RICHARD DE COURCY.”[119] + +A few days after De Courcy’s arrival, Wesley wrote a second time to +Lady Maxwell, as follows. + + “_February 26, 1771._ + + “MY DEAR LADY,--I cannot but think the chief reason of the little + good done by our preachers in Edinburgh is the opposition which has + been made by the ministers of Edinburgh, as well as by the false + brethren from England. These steeled the hearts of the people against + all the good impressions which might otherwise have been made; so + that the same preachers, by whom God has constantly wrought, not only + in various parts of England, but likewise in the northern parts of + Scotland, were in Edinburgh only not useless. They felt a damp upon + their spirits; they had not their usual liberty of speech; and the + word they spoke seemed to rebound upon them, and not to sink into the + hearts of the hearers. At my first coming, I usually find something + of this myself; but the second or third time of preaching, it is gone. + + “I think it will not be easy for any one to show us, either, that + Christ did not die for all, or, that He is not willing as well as + able to cleanse from all sin, even in the present world. If your + steady adherence to these great truths be termed bigotry, yet you + have no need to be ashamed. You are reproached for Christ’s sake, and + the spirit of glory and of Christ shall rest upon you. Perhaps our + Lord may use you to soften some of the harsh spirits, and to preserve + Lady Glenorchy, or Mr. De Courcy, from being hurt by them. + + “I am, my dear lady, your very affectionate servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[120] + +From these letters, it is painfully apparent that the Calvinistic +controversy was not confined to England. Edinburgh rang with discordant +notes; and, in five months after Mr. De Courcy’s coming, Lady Glenorchy +dismissed Wesley’s preachers from her chapel, assigning, as her reason, +that they were not Calvinists.[121] + +South of the Tweed there were sounds of the coming battle; hence the +following extract from a letter to Miss Bishop. + + “_February 16, 1771._ + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--... Legality, with most that use that term, really + means tenderness of conscience. There is no propriety in the word, if + one would take it for seeking justification by works. Considering, + therefore, how hard it is to fix the meaning of that odd term, and + how dreadfully it has been abused, I think it highly advisable for + all the Methodists to lay it quite aside. + + “If Mr. Shirley could find any other doctrine, which he thought was + peculiarly mine, he would be as angry at it as he is at Christian + perfection. But it is all well: we are to go forward, whoever goes + back or turns aside. Perhaps we may see a new accomplishment of + Solomon’s words, ‘He that reproveth a man shall afterward find more + favour than he who flattereth with his tongue.’ But, be that as it + may, I have done my duty: I could no otherwise have delivered my own + soul; and no offence at all would have been given thereby, had not + pride stifled both religion and generosity. But my letter[122] is + now out of date: it is mentioned no more; there is a more plausible + occasion found, namely, those eight terrible propositions which + conclude the minutes of our conference. At the instance of some who + were sadly frightened thereby, I have revised them over and over; I + have considered them in every point of view; and truly, the more I + consider them, the more I like them. The more fully I am convinced, + not only that they are true,--agreeable both to Scripture and sound + experience,--but, that they contain truths of the deepest importance, + and such as ought to be continually inculcated by those who would be + pure from the blood of all men. + + “Your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[123] + +Benson had been dismissed from Trevecca, in the month of January, for +defending Wesley’s minutes; and now Fletcher, the president of the +college, informed the Countess of Huntingdon, that, if all Arminians +were to be expelled, he must be expelled. This was a serious matter. +Fletcher, at Trevecca, had been, according to Benson, “almost an angel +in human flesh.” “Prayer, praise, love, and zeal were the element +in which he lived. His one employment was to call, entreat, and +urge others to ascend with him to the glorious Source of being and +blessedness. He had leisure comparatively for nothing else. Languages, +arts, sciences, grammar, rhetoric, logic, even divinity itself, were +all laid aside, when he appeared in the schoolroom among the students. +His full heart would not suffer him to be silent; and the students +were readier to hearken to him than to attend to Sallust, Virgil, or +Cicero. Soon, they were all in tears; and then he would say, ‘As many +of you as are athirst for the fulness of the Spirit, follow me into my +room.’” Away they trooped after him, and would continue praying, one +after another, for hours together, till they could bear to kneel no +longer; Fletcher, in the midst, so filled with the love of God, that, +more than once, he cried, “O my God, withhold Thy hand, or the vessel +will burst!”[124] Such a man in such a place was invaluable; but he was +not the man to truckle in the presence of arbitrary power. Hence the +following to Wesley. + + “MADELEY, _February 20, 1771_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--I fear we are going, or are already gone, + from our plan of catholicism at the college. Mr. Benson’s affair + has made me tell my mind to our Deborah, about bigotry, partiality, + prejudice, and everything that seemed to me contrary to the Christian + spirit in some late transactions. The answer was, that if one half + of the things objected to by me was true, there would be room for + the cruelty of my charges; but facts and words have been grossly + misrepresented. Therefore, my mouth is shut so far. + + “This, however, I have insisted, and do insist, upon, if every + Arminian must quit the college, I am discharged for one; for I cannot + give up the possibility of the salvation of all any more than I can + give up the truth and love of God. + + “Secondly, I will be no party man, nor give up my connections with + any that fear God, much less with Mr. Wesley, who shall be always + welcome to my pulpit, and I make no doubt will welcome me to his. + + “Thirdly, nobody shall prevent my following after an entire + devotedness of heart to God, by baiting my Christian hopes and + privileges under the name of perfection. + + “To this, I have received no particular answer; but, as I set out for + the college to-day, I may get one _viva voce_. + + “Though no letter writer, I am and shall always remain, reverend and + dear sir, your ready though unprofitable servant, + + “JOHN FLETCHER.”[125] + +The result of Fletcher’s visit to the college is given in the subjoined +extracts from letters sent to Benson. + + “_March 22, 1771._ + + “On my arrival at the college, I found all very quiet, I fear, + through the enemy’s keeping his goods in peace. While I preached, I + found myself as much shackled as ever I was in my life; and, after + private prayer, I concluded I was not in my place. The same day I + resigned my office to my lady, and on Wednesday to the students and + the Lord. Last Friday I left them all in peace, the servant, but no + more the president, of the college.”[126] + + “Mr. Shirley has sent my lady a copy of part of the minutes of + the last conference, namely, of the year 1770. They were called + _horrible_ and _abominable_. My lady told me, _she must turn against + them; and that whoever did not fully disavow them must quit the + college_. She accordingly ordered the master and all the students to + write their sentiments upon them without reserve. I did so; explained + them according to Mr. Wesley’s sentiments; and approved the doctrine, + though not cautiously worded. I concluded by observing, that, as + after such a step on my part, and such a declaration on my lady’s, + I could no longer, as an honest man, stay in the college, I took my + leave of it; wishing my lady might find a minister to preside over it + less insufficient than + + “JOHN FLETCHER.”[127] + +So much respecting Trevecca. Returning to Wesley, we find him defending +himself in the following long letter, published in _Lloyd’s Evening +Post_ for March 1, 1771. + + “_February 26, 1771._ + + “SIR,--The editor of a monthly publication, pompously called _The + Gospel Magazine_, has violently fallen upon one and another, who + did not knowingly give him any provocation. And whereas, in other + magazines, the accused has liberty to answer for himself, it is not + so here. This gentleman will publish only the charge; but not the + defence. What can a person, thus injuriously treated, do? To publish + pamphlets, on every head, would not answer the end, for the answer + would not come into near so many hands as the objection. Is there + then a better way than to appeal to candid men, in one of the public + papers, by which means the antidote will operate both as widely and + as speedily as the poison? This method, therefore, I take at last, + after delaying as long as I could with innocence. + + “In that magazine for last month, there is a warm attack upon my + sermon on the death of Mr. Whitefield. The first charge is against + the text, ‘Let me die the death of the righteous.’ ‘How improper,’ + says Mr. R.,[128] ‘to apply the words of a mad prophet to so holy a + man as Mr. Whitefield.’ + + “Improper! See how doctors differ! I conceive nothing can possibly be + more proper. If Mr. R. did indeed tell his congregation, some of whom + disliked his attacking my poor text before, ‘Let who will be vexed, + I do not care; I will not justify Balaam while I live’; yet, others + imagine nothing would be more suitable than for Balaam junior to use + the words of his forefather; especially, as he did not apply them to + Mr. Whitefield, but to himself. Surely a poor reprobate may, without + offence, _wish_ to die like one of the elect! And I dare say, every + one understood me to mean this, the moment he heard the text. If not, + the very hymn I sung showed to whom I applied the words-- + + ‘Oh that, without a lingering groan, + I might the welcome word receive! + My body with my charge lay down, + And cease at once to work and live!’ + + “But the main attack is on the sermon itself; in which I am charged + with asserting a gross falsehood, in the face of God and the + congregation, and that knowing it to be such, namely, that ‘the grand + fundamental doctrines which Mr. Whitefield everywhere preached, were + those of the new birth and justification by faith.’ No, says Mr. R., + not at all: the grand fundamental doctrines, which he everywhere + preached, were the everlasting covenant between the Father and the + Son, and absolute predestination flowing therefrom. + + “I join issue on this head. Whether the doctrines of the eternal + covenant, and of absolute predestination, are the grand fundamental + doctrines of Christianity, or not, I affirm again--(1) that Mr. + Whitefield did not everywhere preach these; (2) that he did + everywhere preach the new birth, and justification by faith. + + “1. He did not everywhere preach the eternal covenant, and absolute + predestination. In all the times I myself heard him preach, I never + heard him utter a sentence either on one or the other. Yea, all the + times he preached in West Street chapel, and in our other chapels + throughout England, he did not preach these doctrines at all, no, not + in a single paragraph; which, by the bye, is a demonstration that he + did not think them the fundamental doctrines of Christianity. + + “2. Both in West Street chapel, and all our other chapels throughout + England, he did preach the necessity of the new birth, and + justification by faith, as clearly as he has done in his two volumes + of printed sermons. Therefore, all that I have asserted is true, and + provable by ten thousand witnesses. + + “Nay, says Mr. R., ‘Mr. Whitefield everywhere insisted on other + fundamental doctrines, from the foundation of which the new birth + and justification by faith take their rise, and with which they + are inseparably connected. These are the everlasting covenant, + which was entered into by the Holy Trinity, and God the Father’s + everlasting, unchangeable election of sinners’ (in virtue of which + a fiftieth part of mankind shall be saved, do what they will; and + the other forty-nine parts shall be damned, do what they can). + ‘These doctrines are not of a less essential nature than either + regeneration or justification. No, by no means; they are to the full + equally essential to the glory of God. Yea, there is an inseparable + connection between them. This is _a most essential, a most + fundamental point_.’ (_Magazine_, p. 41.) + + “If so, then every one who does not hold it must perish + everlastingly. If, as you here assert, he cannot be justified, then + he cannot be saved. If, as you say, he cannot be born again, _he + cannot see the kingdom of God_. + + “After asserting this, can Mr. R. ever take the name of _catholic + love_ into his mouth? Is not this the very opposite to it? the height + and depth of _bigotry_? Does this spirit do honour to his opinion? + Can we conceive anything more horrid? Is it not enough to make a + person of humanity shudder? Yea, to make his blood run cold? + + “I do not here enter into the merits of the cause. I need not. It is + done to my hands. The whole doctrine of predestination is thoroughly + discussed in those three tracts lately printed: ‘An Answer to the + Eleven Letters commonly ascribed to Mr. Hervey’; ‘Arguments against + General Redemption Considered’; and ‘An Answer to Elisha Coles.’ Till + these are seriously and solidly refuted, I have no more to say on + that head. But I must aver, that the excluding all from salvation who + do not believe the horrible decree is a most shocking insult on all + mankind, on common sense, and common humanity. + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Of course, this was too pungent to pass without notice. Accordingly, +in the _Gospel Magazine_ for the month following, there appeared an +incisive review of Sellon’s Answer to Elisha Coles, which is described +as “a mite of reprobate silver, cast into the _Foundery_, and coming +out thence, with the impress of that pride, self righteousness, and +self sufficiency, natural to men in their fallen, unrenewed state.” +Sellon is accused of “trifling effrontery,” and is said “to have +sunk far below the gentleman, and to have lost all appearance of the +Christian”; and is further designated “the Cardinal Bellarmine of the +day; the obsequious servant and faithful labourer to his holiness.” + +In a subsequent number of the same periodical, published in the month +of May, Wesley’s minutes are attacked; the writer, “A Real Protestant,” +indignantly asking, “Are not these the very doctrines of popery, yea, +of popery unmasked? Is it not awful that 29,406 souls, who are in Mr. +Wesley’s societies, should be so dreadfully seduced from the protestant +doctrines, and deluded into a belief of the doctrines of the mother of +harlots, the whore of Babylon, the Church of Rome?” + +Thus the bitter controversy proceeded. Comment would be easy; but +we prefer to let the chief actors speak; and, not to interrupt this +painful scene, proceed to give other letters bearing upon the subject, +so that the reader may have before him as full a view of the spirit and +behaviour of both parties as it is possible to furnish. + +While on his way to Ireland, Wesley wrote the following to Fletcher. + + “I always did, for between these thirty and forty years, clearly + assert the total fall of man, and his utter inability to do any + good of himself; the absolute necessity of the grace and Spirit + of God to raise even a good thought or desire in our hearts; the + Lord’s rewarding no work, and accepting of none, but so far as they + proceed from His preventing, convincing, and converting grace through + the Beloved; the blood and righteousness of Christ being the sole + meritorious cause of our salvation. Who is there in England, that + has asserted these things more strongly and steadily than I have + done?”[129] + +The next letter, addressed to Lady Huntingdon, was occasioned by one +which her ladyship had sent to Wesley’s brother on the subject of his +minutes,[130] and was dated “Bath, June 8, 1771.” The countess brands +the minutes as “popery unmasked”; and declares that “all ought to be +deemed papists who do not disown them.” She thus concludes: “as you +have no part in this matter, I find it difficult to blame your brother +to you; while as an honest man I must pity you, as you must suffer +equal disgrace, and universal distrust, from the supposed union with +him.” Charles Wesley endorsed this unworthy letter with the words: +“Lady Huntingdon’s last; unanswered by John Wesley’s brother.”[131] + +Charles Wesley doubtless communicated the contents to his brother, who +was now in Ireland; in fact, her ladyship requested him to do this: and +hence the following. + + “_June 19, 1771._ + + “MY DEAR LADY,--Many years since, I saw that ‘without holiness no + man shall see the Lord.’ I began following after it, and inciting + all with whom I had any intercourse to do the same. Ten years after, + God gave me a clearer view than I had before of the way how to + attain this, namely, by faith in the Son of God; and, immediately, + I declared to all, ‘We are saved from sin, we are made holy, by + faith.’ This I testified in private, in public, in print; and God + confirmed it by a thousand witnesses. I have continued to declare + this, for above thirty years; and God has continued to confirm the + word of His grace. But, during this time, well-nigh all the religious + world have set themselves in array against me, and, among the rest, + many of my own children, following the example of one of my eldest + sons, Mr. Whitefield. Their general cry has been, ‘He is unsound in + the faith; he preaches another gospel!’ I answer, Whether it be the + same which they preach or not, it is the same which I have preached + for above thirty years. This may easily appear from what I have + published during that whole term. I instance only in three sermons; + that on ‘Salvation by Faith,’ printed in the year 1738; that on ‘The + Lord our Righteousness,’ printed a few years since; and that on Mr. + Whitefield’s funeral, printed only some months ago. + + “But it is said, ‘Oh but you printed ten lines in August last, which + contradict all your other writings.’ Be not so sure of this. It is + probable, at least, that I understand my own meaning as well as + you do; and that meaning I have yet again declared in the sermon + last referred to. By that, interpret those ten lines, and you will + understand them better; although I should think that any one might + see, even without this help, that the lines in question do not refer + to the condition of obtaining, but of continuing in the favour of + God. But whether the sentiment contained in these lines be right or + wrong, and whether it be well or ill expressed, the gospel which I + now preach God does still confirm by new witnesses in every place; + perhaps never so much in this kingdom as within these last three + months. Now, I argue from glaring, undeniable fact: God cannot bear + witness to a lie; the gospel, therefore, which He confirms must be + true in substance. There may be opinions maintained at the same + time which are not exactly true; and who can be secure from these? + Perhaps, I thought myself so once. When I was much younger than I am + now, I thought myself almost infallible; but, I bless God, I know + myself better now. + + “To be short. Such as I am, I love you well. You have one of the + first places in my esteem and affection; and you once had some regard + for me. But it cannot continue if it depends upon my seeing with + your eyes, or on my being in no mistake. What if I was in as many as + Mr. Law himself? If you were, I should love you still, provided your + heart was still right with God. My dear friend, you seem not to have + well learned yet the meaning of those words, which I desire to have + continually written upon my heart, ‘Whosoever doth the will of My + Father which is in heaven, the same is My brother, and sister, and + mother.’ + + “I am, my dear lady, your affectionate + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[132] + +Contemporaneously with the above letter, the Rev. Walter Shirley and +Lady Huntingdon sent the following circular to Wesley, as well as to a +large number of their Calvinian friends. + + “SIR,--Whereas Mr. Wesley’s conference is to be held at Bristol, on + Tuesday, the 6th of August next, it is proposed, by Lady Huntingdon, + and many other Christian friends, (real protestants,) to have a + meeting at Bristol at the same time, of such principal persons, both + clergy and laity, who disapprove of the underwritten minutes[133]; + and as the same are thought injurious to the very _fundamental_[134] + principles of Christianity, it is further proposed, that they go in + a body to the said conference, and insist upon a formal recantation + of the said minutes; and, in case of a refusal, that they sign and + publish their protest against them. Your presence, sir, on this + occasion is particularly requested; but, if it should not suit your + convenience to be there, it is desired that you will transmit your + sentiments on the subject to such person as you think proper to + produce them. It is submitted to you, whether it would not be right, + in the opposition to be made to such a _dreadful heresy_,[134] to + recommend it to as many of your Christian friends, as well of the + Dissenters as of the Established Church, as you can prevail on to be + there, the cause being of so public a nature. + + “I am, sir, your obedient servant, + + “WALTER SHIRLEY. + + “P.S.--Your answer is desired, directed to the Countess of + Huntingdon; or the Rev. Mr. Shirley; or John Lloyd, Esq., in Bath; + or Mr. James Ireland, merchant, Bristol; or to Thomas Powis, Esq., + at Berwick, near Shrewsbury; or to Richard Hill, Esq., at Hawkstone, + near Whitchurch, Shropshire. Lodgings will be provided. Inquire at + Mr. Ireland’s, Bristol.” + +A fine confederacy of elected saints, armed with self invested papal +power to _insist_ upon the recantation of poor Wesley and his heretical +preachers! + +The modest and self diffident countess and her executive chaplain +apologise for this high handed interference on the ground that they +“were warmly interested in the revival of _spiritual_ religion and +the doctrines of the _Reformation_;” that they “apprehended that the +doctrines contained in the minutes had the most fatal tendency; and, +in the strongest and most explicit terms, maintained _salvation by +works_”; and that Wesley was not an ordinary personage, but stood “at +the head of near thirty thousand people,--a veteran in the cause of the +gospel,--one of the chiefs in the late reformation.”[135] + +One would have thought that, at least, the last mentioned reason would +have led them to adopt a less offensive and more respectful method +of correcting his “dreadful heresy,” than that of marching upon him +and his conference _en masse_; and imperiously _insisting_ upon his +recantation. Surely, it would not have been too great a condescension +for them and their friends, first of all, to have respectfully +solicited of such “a veteran and chief” an explanation of what he +meant; and, if they still found him to be in error, to ask for an +opportunity to reason the matter with him and to set him right. But, +no; this was far too troublesome for the elect of God, who, of course, +were right, and all others wrong; and, hence, the only action, which +would not impinge upon their sacred dignity, was to march, in solemn +phalanx, to the assembly of Wesley and his poor itinerants, and there +“_insist upon a formal recantation_”; and then, in case the heretics +should refuse to yield, and because the valiant defenders of the truth +were without power to imprison, to banish, or to burn, it was piously +proposed that, for want of something more effectual, they should +content themselves with a _public protest_ against the pestilential +minutes. + +One of Shirley’s circulars was handed to Fletcher, the ex-president +of Trevecca, who wrote to Wesley the following letter, hitherto +unpublished. + + “MADELEY, _June 24, 1771_. + + “DEAR SIR,--When I left Wales, where I had stood in the gap for + peace, I thought my poor endeavours were not altogether vain. Lady + Huntingdon said she would write civilly to you, and desire you to + explain yourself about your minutes. I suppose you have not heard + from her, for she wrote me word since that she believed she must not + meddle in the affair. At least, that is what I made of her letter. + Upon receiving yours from Chester, I cut off that part of it where + you expressed your belief of what is eminently called by us the + doctrine of free grace; and sent it to the college, with a desire it + might be sent to Lady Huntingdon. She has returned it to me, with a + letter, in which she expresses the greatest disapprobation of it. + The purport of her letter is, to charge you with tergiversation, and + me with being the dupe of your impositions. She has also wrote in + stronger terms to her college. + + “Things, I hoped, would have remained there; but how am I surprised + and grieved to see zeal borrowing the horn of discord, and sounding + an alarm throughout the religious world against you. Mr. Hutton + called upon me last night, and showed me a printed circular, which + I suppose is, or will be, sent to the serious clergy and laity + throughout the land. I have received none, as I have lost, I suppose, + my reputation of being a ‘_real protestant_,’ by what I wrote upon + your minutes in Wales. + + “This is an exact copy of the printed letter. + + [Here follows Shirley’s circular as above.] + + “I think it my duty, dear sir, to give you the earliest intelligence + of this bold onset, and to assure you that upon the evangelical + principles, mentioned in your last letter to me, I, for one, shall be + glad to stand by you and your doctrine to the last, hoping that you + will gladly remove stumbling blocks out of the way of the weak, and + alter such expressions as may create prejudice in the hearts of those + who are inclined to admit it. + + “I write to Mr. Shirley to expostulate with him, and to request + him to call in his circular letter. He is the last man that should + attack you. His sermons contain propositions much more heretical and + anti-Calvinistical than your minutes. If my letters have not the + desired effect, I shall probably, if you approve of them and correct + them, make them public for your justification. + + “I find Mr. Ireland is to write to make you _tamely recant_ without + measuring swords, or breaking a pike with our _real protestants_. I + wrote to him also. + + “I am, dear sir, your unworthy servant in the gospel, + + “JOHN FLETCHER. + “To the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, at his Preaching + House in Dublin, Ireland.” + +There was chivalry in this,--the real, genuine chivalry of a noble mind +and generous heart. The Swiss mountaineer was not the man to see a +friend _bullied_ without rushing to his rescue. + +Wesley was not without sympathy. A few days later, his faithful +friend, Vincent Perronet, the vicar of Shoreham, who was also of Swiss +extraction, wrote to him as follows. + + “SHOREHAM, _July 9, 1771_. + + “MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,--I am truly concerned, that so laborious a + servant of Christ should be attacked in so violent a manner. Insulted + by some, without the least decency, or regard to common decorum; and + threatened by others with a synodical sentence. + + “Had I been honoured with an invitation from a great personage, for + whom I have a very high esteem, I should have told her ladyship, + that I have no greater veneration for synods than the most excellent + Bishop Nazianzen had formerly, whose great learning and Christian + virtues could not screen him from the usual violence of those + assemblies, and who therefore desired to see no more of them. + + “However, with regard to the _merit_ of good works, I should frankly + have declared my abhorrence of the very sound of the word; since I + could not conceive how an unprofitable servant could merit anything + from a holy God. But then, on the other hand, I should have added, + that whoever should speak contemptuously of the diligent exercise + of good works, as if they derogated from the honour of Christ, I + should tell such a divine, that, whether he found his divinity either + in Luther, or Calvin, or the Synod of Dort, it was no divinity of + the gospel of Christ; since Christ came to purify unto Himself a + peculiar people, zealous of good works. And as the Holy Spirit has + assured us, over and over, that ‘we shall be judged according to our + works,’ it is, therefore, no wonder that St. Paul should pray that + his converts might be ‘established in every good word and work.’ + Besides, I might have observed that the zealot who decries good works + was acting a most ridiculous part with regard to faith; for if his + faith did not bring forth good works, his faith was good for nothing. + + “However, though such good works were the fruits of faith, and + consequently the fruit of the Spirit of Christ, and, for that reason, + must be acceptable to God, yet, I must have added, so far as they + were our works, so far they wanted the blood of Christ to wash + away their defilements, and to atone for their deficiencies; and, + therefore, even our best works can have no merit in them. + + “I should, then, have remonstrated to that worthy lady to the + following purpose,--that if one, who had laboured in the vineyard, I + believed, full as much as any person since the days of the apostles, + was not thought worthy of the mantle of love, for any mistake he + might have made, yet surely he had a right to expect, that notice + would have been given him to explain his meaning, before his judge + pronounced sentence. This is a privilege granted to every supposed + criminal in our courts of law, and where this is denied that court is + no better than a court of inquisition. + + “But now, my dear brother, what effect such a letter might have had, + I pretend not to say. It would, at the least, have testified to that + friendship, which I have constantly had for you these twenty-five + years. May God direct us both, and may our worst enemies be all + brought to Him! You have my leave to make what use you please of this + long letter. + + “I am, my very dear brother, yours most affectionately, + + “VINCENT PERRONET.”[136] + +Just at this juncture, Wesley drew up and printed, at Dublin, +under date “July 10, 1771,” a clear and logical exposition of the +doctrines set forth in the minutes, which he doubtless circulated +among his preachers and friends. At the top of the first page of one +of the copies, he requested Miss Bishop, of Bath, not to “show it +before conference,” adding, “if the Calvinists do not, or will not +understand me, I understand myself; and I do not contradict anything +I have written these thirty years. Poor Mr. Shirley’s triumph will be +short.”[137] + +Wesley’s views were the same as Perronet’s. What were Charles Wesley’s, +and what part was taken by him in this momentous controversy? The +biographer of the Countess of Huntingdon would have his readers to +believe, that Charles disapproved of his brother’s letter to her +ladyship; that he would reprove him for it; and, that he preferred +peace above all things.[138] It might be so; we have no means of +gainsaying it. It is doubtful whether he attended the conference in +Bristol; in fact, almost certain that he did not. Hence the following, +addressed to him only three days before the commencement of its +sittings. + + “KINGSWOOD, _August 3, 1771_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I will not throw away Thomas Rankin on the people + of London. He shall go where they know the value of him. + + “We cannot put out what we never put in. I do not use the word + ‘merit.’ I never did, neither do I now, contend for the use + of it. But I ask you, or any other, a plain question: and do + not cry, Murder; but give me an answer. What is the difference + between ‘_mereri_,’ and ‘to deserve’? or between ‘deserving,’ and + ‘_meritum_’? I say still, I cannot tell. Can you? Can Mr. Shirley, + or any man living? In asking this question, I neither plead for + merit, nor against it. I have nothing to do with it. I have declared + a thousand times, there is no goodness in man till he is justified; + no merit, either before or after; that is, taking the word in its + proper sense: for in a loose sense ‘meritorious’ means no more than + ‘rewardable.’ + + “As to reprobation, seeing they have drawn the sword, I throw away + the scabbard. I send you a specimen. Let fifteen hundred of them be + printed as soon as you please.[139] + + “Nothing was ever yet expended out of the yearly collection, without + being immediately set down by the secretary. I never took a shilling + from that fund yet. + + “What you advise with regard to our behaviour toward our opposers + exactly agrees with my sentiments. I am full of business, as you may + suppose. So adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[140] + +On the evening before Wesley’s conference assembled, two letters were +put into his hand, one written by Lady Huntingdon, the other by the +Rev. Walter Shirley. The purport of her ladyship’s letter was, that, +having learned that the proposed method of visiting his conference +appeared to him and to his friends “as an arbitrary way of proceeding, +she and her allies wished to inform him, that they intended no personal +disrespect, but a degree of zeal against the principles established in +the minutes, which were repugnant to the whole plan of man’s salvation +under the new covenant of grace, and also to the clear meaning of the +Established Church, as well as to all other protestant churches, to +whose foundations the highest honour and respect are due.”[141] + +Shirley’s letter apologises for that part of his circular which seemed +to assume, that he and his friends had a “civil right to go in a +body to Wesley’s conference, and insist on a formal recantation of +the minutes.” All he meant was, to send Wesley a “respectful message +importing their design, and requesting him to appoint a day and hour +for the conference to receive them.” The reason why he had inserted +“the offensive expression, ‘insist upon a formal recantation,’” (for +which he now apologised,) was, because “it was supposed by some, that, +instead of giving satisfaction on the points in question, such a forced +construction would be put on the meaning of the minutes, as might +elude the intended opposition, and yet leave the doctrines therein +contained entire and unrepealed.” Shirley concludes by stating, that +the doctrines of the minutes appear to him “evidently subversive of the +_fundamentals_ of Christianity.”[142] + +Remembering that Wesley was not under the slightest obligation to +either the Countess of Huntingdon, Mr. Shirley, or any of their +Calvinistic friends, he might, without any want of courtesy, +have treated with contempt a letter casting upon him the slur of +trickishness, and have declined to see its author; but, instead of +that, he appointed Thursday, August 8, for the momentous interview. +Accordingly, on that day, Shirley, and two other ministers of the +Countess of Huntingdon’s chapels, together with Messrs. Lloyd, Ireland, +and Winter, and two students (!) from Trevecca college, went to +Wesley’s conference. Shirley’s circular, summoning a synod, had been +sent to all his sympathisers, clerical and laical, throughout the +three kingdoms; and the result was a grand convocation of less than +half a score, and even these included two laics belonging to Bath and +Bristol, and at least two young men, still merely preparing for the +ministry. The thing was a ridiculous failure; but not even on that +account did Wesley refuse to see the self elected deputies. First of +all, Wesley engaged in prayer. Then Shirley desired to know if the +letters of himself and Lady Huntingdon had been read to the conference. +Being answered in the negative, he asked leave to read them, which was +granted. A lengthened conversation followed; and then Shirley produced +a written declaration which he wished the conference to sign. Wesley +read it, and made some alterations, which Shirley says were “not very +material,” and then he and fifty-three of his preachers appended to it +their signatures.[143] The declaration thus signed was as follows:-- + + “Whereas the doctrinal points in the Minutes of a Conference, held in + London, August 7, 1770, have been understood to favour Justification + by Works: now the Rev. John Wesley, and others assembled in + Conference, do declare, that we had no such meaning; and that we + abhor the doctrine of Justification by Works as a most perilous and + abominable doctrine; and as the said Minutes are not sufficiently + guarded in the way they are expressed, we hereby solemnly declare, + in the sight of God, that we have no trust or confidence but in the + alone merits of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, for Justification + or Salvation either in life, death or the day of judgment; and + though no one is a real Christian believer, (and consequently + cannot be saved) who doth not good works, where there is time and + opportunity, yet our works have no part in meriting or purchasing our + salvation[144] from first to last, either in whole or in part.” + +After the declaration had been agreed to, Shirley was requested “to +make some public acknowledgment, that he had mistaken the meaning of +the minutes.” Shirley hesitated, but at last consented, and wrote a +certificate to that effect. + +In the meantime, Wesley had received from Fletcher the manuscript copy +of his “Vindication of the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s Last Minutes: occasioned +by a circular, printed letter, inviting principal persons, both clergy +and laity, as well of the Dissenters as of the Established Church, who +disapprove of those Minutes, to oppose them in a body, as a dreadful +heresy: in Five Letters to the Hon. and Rev. Author of the circular +letter.” + +Wesley at once gave the manuscript to William Pine to print and +publish. Shirley, hearing of this, waited upon Wesley the day after +he and his friends had been to conference, and requested that the +manuscript should not be printed, urging as their reason, that Fletcher +himself wished for this, “if matters should end peaceably.” Wesley, +however, persisted, and the work was published without delay, in a 12mo +pamphlet of 98 pages. Whilst the manuscript was being printed, Wesley +took the opportunity to reply to the letter of Lady Huntingdon, which +had been put into his hands the night before his conference commenced. +Nine days had elapsed since then, and now Wesley, on August 14, +addresses her ladyship in the following unflinching terms, his letter +also showing that the publication of Fletcher’s “Vindication” was no +after thought, but was proceeding even while the conference was sitting. + + “MY DEAR LADY,--The principles established in the minutes I apprehend + to be no way contrary to that great truth, justification by faith, + or that consistent plan of doctrine, which was once delivered to the + saints. I believe whoever calmly considers Mr. Fletcher’s Letters + will be convinced of this. I fear, therefore, that ‘zeal against + those principles’ is no less than zeal against the truth, and against + the _honour_ of our Lord. The preservation of _His_ honour appears so + sacred to me, and has done for above these forty years, that I have + counted, and do count, all things loss in comparison of it. But till + Mr. Fletcher’s Letters are answered, I must think everything spoken + against these _minutes_ is totally destructive of _His honour_, and + a palpable affront to Him; both as our Prophet and Priest, but more + especially as the King of His people. Those Letters, therefore, + which could not be suppressed without betraying the honour of our + Lord, largely prove that the _minutes_ lay no other foundation than + that which is laid in Scripture, and which I have been laying, and + teaching others to lay, for between thirty and forty years. Indeed, + it would be amazing that God should at this day prosper my labours + as much if not more than ever, by convincing as well as converting + sinners, if I was establishing another foundation, repugnant to the + whole plan of man’s ‘salvation under the covenant of grace, as well + as the clear meaning of our _Established_ Church, and all other + _protestant_ churches.’ This is a charge indeed! But I plead not + guilty: and till it is proved upon me, I must subscribe myself, my + dear lady, your ladyship’s affectionate but much injured servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[145] + +Wesley had told his brother, that as “they had drawn the sword,” he +himself should “throw away the scabbard,” and now this was done. +Shirley found the tables turned, and, instead of attacking others, had +to defend himself; and hence, in September, he issued his “Narrative +of the Principal Circumstances relative to the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s late +Conference, held in Bristol, August 6, 1771.” 8vo, 24 pages. + +Space prohibits any lengthened outline of Fletcher’s “Vindication.” +He gives (1) a general view of Wesley’s doctrine; (2) an account of +the commendable design of his minutes; (3) a vindication of their +propositions. It is in this production, that he furnishes his fearful +description of the antinomianism which was then so prevalent, and which +really rendered some utterance on the subject of good works a solemn +necessity. He also makes extracts from Shirley’s published sermons, +teaching the very doctrines which Wesley’s minutes teach; to which +quotations Shirley’s reply was, that “they were wrote many years ago +when he had more zeal than light,” and that he had “frequently wished +that they were burnt.”[146] + +Fletcher concludes thus:-- + + “O sir, have we not fightings enough without, to employ all our time + and strength? Must we also declare war and promote fightings within? + Must we catch at every opportunity to stab one another? What can be + more cutting to an old minister of Christ than to be traduced as a + dreadful heretic, in printed letters sent to the best men of the + land, through all England and Scotland, and signed by a person of + your rank and piety? While he is gone to a neighbouring kingdom, + to preach Jesus Christ, to have his friends prejudiced, his foes + elevated, and the fruit of his extensive ministry at the point of + being blasted? Of the two greatest and most useful ministers I ever + knew, one is no more. The other, after amazing labours, flies still, + with unwearied diligence, through the three kingdoms, calling sinners + to repentance. Though oppressed with the weight of near seventy + years, and the cares of near thirty thousand souls, he shames still, + by his unabated zeal and immense labours, all the young ministers in + England, perhaps in Christendom. He has generally blown the gospel + trumpet, and rode twenty miles, before most of the professors, who + despise his labours, have left their downy pillows. As he begins the + day, the week, the year, so he concludes them, still intent upon + extensive services for the glory of the Redeemer, and the good of + souls. And shall we lightly lift up our pens, our tongues, our hands + against him? No; let them rather forget their cunning. If we _will_ + quarrel, can we find nobody to fall out with, but the minister upon + whom God puts the greatest honour?” + +Shirley’s “Narrative” was published in September, in which he +gives great prominence to one of Fletcher’s letters requesting his +“Vindication” to be suppressed. He furnishes an extract from one +addressed to Mr. Ireland, dated August 15, to the following effect: “I +feel for poor dear Mr. Shirley, whom I have, (considering the present +circumstances,) treated too severely in my vindication of the minutes. +My dear sir, what must be done? I am ready to defray, by selling to my +last shirt, the expense of the printing of my Vindication, and suppress +it.” + +This was characteristic of Fletcher’s large heartedness; but the +extract from his letter was a garbled one, and rendered it necessary +that he should again enter the field of battle, and defend himself +as well as others. This was done at once, and, before the year was +ended, another production of his facile pen was published, namely, “A +Second Check to Antinomianism: occasioned by a late narrative, in three +letters, to the Hon. and Rev. Author. By the Vindicator of the Rev. Mr. +Wesley’s Minutes.” 12mo, 109 pages. + +He tells Shirley, that, though it was perfectly true that he had +written to Mr. Ireland, requesting his letters to be suppressed, +he had also stated to the same gentleman, that “the minutes _must_ +be vindicated,--that Mr. Wesley owed this to the Church, to the +‘real protestants,’ to all his societies, and to his own aspersed +character.” He states: “I was going to preach when I had the news of +your happy accommodation, and was no sooner out of church, than I +wrote to beg my Vindication might not appear in the dress in which I +had put it. I did not then, nor do I yet, repent having written upon +the minutes; but, as matters are now, I am very sorry I did not write +in a general manner, without taking notice of the circular letter, +and mentioning your dear name.”[147] He adds, that when he gave the +manuscript to Wesley, he begged him to correct it, and to expunge +whatever might be “unkind or too sharp.” Wesley had assured him, that +“he _had_ expunged every tart expression”; and, if so, (for Fletcher +had not yet seen it in a printed form,) he was “_reconciled_ to its +publication.” Fletcher further adds, that he had just received a +letter (September 11, 1771) from Bristol, stating that when Thomas +Olivers, who was now acting as Wesley’s editor, heard of Fletcher’s +wish to suppress his “Vindication,” he had already announced to the +Bristol congregation, that the work was in the press, and would soon be +ready. “Besides,” continues Fletcher, in reference to Thomas Olivers +being the only preacher who refused to sign the declaration at the +conference,--“Besides, Mr. Olivers would have pleaded, with smartness, +that he never approved of a patched up peace,--that he bore his +testimony against it at the time it was made,--had a personal right to +produce _my_ arguments, since both parties refused to hear _his_ at the +conference.” + +These facts are of great consequence, inasmuch as Shirley magnifies +Wesley’s publication of Fletcher’s Vindication into a heinous fault; +and others after him have endeavoured to brand Wesley’s character, not +only for perpetuating the war, but for publishing Fletcher’s manuscript +contrary to Fletcher’s wish. This is utterly unjust. The war was begun, +not by Wesley, but by the Calvinists; and surely the attacked was not +presumptuous, or wanton, in endeavouring to defend himself. It is +true, that, in doing that, he uses the sword of his friend Fletcher; +but what of that? The sword was given him to use, on July 27, when on +his return from Ireland; and, though Fletcher subsequently hesitated +as to the propriety of the step he had taken, it was not until the +sword was brandished, by Fletcher’s manuscript being committed to the +press and actually announced for sale. Besides, Fletcher’s hesitancy +had reference, not to the thing done, but to the manner of its being +done. A vindication he considered to be imperatively required: but +he was afraid that his own was too personal. Shirley was aggrieved, +because he pretends to have thought that the signing of the declaration +would have ended the matter; but Shirley conveniently forgets: (1) +that he himself had blackened Wesley’s character throughout the three +kingdoms; (2) that Wesley and his preachers had conceded nothing +to their adversaries, except that the minutes of 1770 were “not +sufficiently guarded in the way in which they are expressed”; (3) that, +as Fletcher abundantly demonstrates, there was a terrible necessity +for an enforcement of the doctrine of the minutes at this momentous +period, both the pulpits and pews of churches being infected with the +deadly antinomianism of the late Dr. Crisp; and (4) that, after all, +the doctrine of the minutes was only one part of the controversy which +the Calvinists had raised, and that there were other attacks on Wesley, +made by men like Augustus Toplady, and the editor of the _Gospel +Magazine_, which it was impossible, and, in fact, would have been +criminally disastrous, to have passed without rebuke. + +That Fletcher did not regret the publishing of his Vindication is +evident from the alacrity he showed in the preparation and publishing +of his “Second Check;” the chief object of which was to establish “the +doctrine of justification by works in the day of judgment”; and to +reprove Walter Shirley for insinuating, in his “Narrative,” that this +was a doctrine which Wesley and his fifty-three itinerant preachers had +given up. + +Shirley retired from the field of battle; but others took up the +gauntlet. The _Gospel Magazine_, faithful to its character, was +as furious as ever. In its August number, it published a review +of the “Church of England vindicated from the Charge of Absolute +Predestination,” declaring that Wesley was its author’s “dictator and +employer.” The work is pronounced “a composition of low scurrility +and illiberal abuse.” The writer is charged with having “horribly +blasphemed, and daringly given the lie to the God of truth, by +asserting that any justified soul may at last perish in hell.” +“Arminianism is a hodgepodge of human systems, made up of grace and +works, so blended together as to destroy the true meaning of both.” + +In the same number was published Cleon’s poem on “Wesley’s apostasy +from the genuine faith of the gospel, an awful proof that evil men and +seducers wax worse and worse.” One verse must serve as a specimen. +After describing the doctrine of Wesley’s minutes, Cleon writes: + + “In vain for worse may Wesley search the globe, + A viper hatched beneath the harlot’s robe; + Rome, in her glory, has no greater boast, + Than Wesley aims--to all conviction lost.” + +In the September number, “Simplex, from the neighbourhood of the +Foundery,” expresses his astonishment, that Shirley and his friends +should have been satisfied with the declaration, signed at conference, +inasmuch as “it denies not one tittle clearly asserted in the minutes.” +Wesley is credited with possessing “the unfathomable policy of a +dubious divine.” He is a “fox,” who “has had sagacity enough to elude +his hunters;” and “evidently shows that he never meant to recant what +he had declared in the minutes, when he signed the declaration.” + +In a subsequent number, “Simplex” reappears, and tells his readers that +he is “sorry to see the name of a Christian minister prefixed to such +foul and futile productions as those of Mr. Sellon. Mr. Fletcher’s pen +is more cleanly, but every whit as unfair. He is like a madman flinging +abroad firebrands, arrows, and death, amongst those who differ from +him. Master Thomas Olivers has shocked common decency in his letter +to Mr. Toplady. And Mr. Wesley must be more explicit than he has been +accustomed to be, before he can give a satisfactory answer to Simplex’s +querulous epistle.” These are moderate specimens of the tone and +language of the _Gospel Magazine_. + +Another brace of antagonists must be mentioned, Richard and Rowland +Hill, the sons of Sir Rowland Hill, the former born in 1732, and the +latter in 1745. Richard had been educated at Westminster, and had spent +four or five years at Magdalen college, Oxford. Rowland had been sent +to Eton, and then to Cambridge university. Both the brothers had turned +preachers, though, as yet, neither of them had been ordained. They were +young, proud, and irascible; and, with greater zeal than prudence, +entered into the Calvinian conflict. + +Richard Hill published[148] a sixpenny pamphlet, 8vo, of 31 pages, +entitled “A Conversation between Richard Hill, Esq., the Rev. Mr. +Madan, and Father Walsh, superior of a convent of English Benedictine +monks at Paris, held at the said convent, July 13, 1771, relative +to some doctrinal Minutes, advanced by the Rev. Mr. John Wesley and +others, at a conference in London, August 7, 1770. To which are added +some Remarks by the Editor; as also Mr. Wesley’s own Declaration +concerning his Minutes, versified by another Hand.” A prodigiously +long title of a supremely silly tract, whose object is to show that +Wesley’s doctrine was a great deal worse than popery; in fact, that +“popery is about midway between protestantism and Mr. J. Wesley.” We +content ourselves with Sir Richard’s poetical version of Wesley’s +declaration: + + “Whereas, the religion and fate of three nations + Depend on the importance of our conversations; + And as some objections are thrown in our way, + Our words have been construed to mean what they say; + Be’t known from henceforth, to each friend and each brother, + Whene’er we _say_ one thing, we _mean_ quite _another_.” + +Sir Richard was not content with this. He issued a penny 12mo tract of +12 pages, with the title, “An Answer to some capital Errors contained +in the Minutes,” etc., which finishes by reproducing the doggerel +calumny just given, as though it were far too precious to be entombed +in the more costly pamphlet with which he had enriched the Christian +church. + +His third publication,--by far the best,--was an octavo pamphlet of 40 +pages, entitled, “Five Letters to the Reverend Mr. Fletcher, relative +to his Vindication of the Minutes of the Reverend Mr. John Wesley.” +Apart from its theology, of which we say nothing, this was worthy of a +scholar, a Christian, and a gentleman. The spirit of the piece is most +loving, and the style unexceptionable. + +The publications, on the other side, in addition to those of Fletcher, +were three in number. + +First, Wesley’s tract of 12 pages, entitled, “The Consequence Proved”; +without either the author’s or the printer’s name. Its object is to +substantiate his former assertion, that the gist of Toplady’s Zanchius +is to teach that “one in twenty (suppose) of mankind are elected, and +nineteen in twenty are reprobate: that the elect shall be saved, do +what they will; and the reprobate shall be damned, do what they can.” +Wesley says: “I have not leisure to consider the matter at large. I +can only make a few strictures, and leave the young man (Toplady) +to be farther corrected by one that is full his match, Mr. Thomas +Olivers.”[149] + +To be handed over to Thomas Olivers was one of the bitterest pills that +Toplady had to swallow. Olivers was a man of great intellectual power; +but he had the misfortune to commence life as a Welsh mechanic of not +the highest order. He was left an orphan when only four years old, and +had now attained the age of forty-six. His publication, 12mo, 60 pages, +was entitled, “A Letter to the Reverend Mr. Toplady, occasioned by his +late Letter to the Reverend Mr. Wesley.” In invective and tart rebuke, +Toplady met a match in the intrepid and fiery Welshman who, on behalf +of Wesley, undertook to fight the furious predestinarian with the not +too respectable weapons of his own choosing. It certainly is difficult +to decide which is the more proficient in the use of strong language. +It was a fisticuff encounter between a pugilistic pair, whose thumping +blows may be considered of equal force. + +The third publication, alluded to above, was “The Church of England +Vindicated from the Charge of Predestination, as it is stated and +asserted by the Translator of Jerome Zanchius, in his Letter to the +Rev. Dr. Nowell; together with some Animadversions on his Translation +of Zanchius, his Letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, and his Sermon +on 1 Timothy i. 10.” 12mo, 129 pages. The author was the redoubtable +Walter Sellon, who, for outspokenness, was only second to Toplady and +Olivers themselves. At the same time, however, Sellon’s book evinces +great ability and research, and thoroughly demolishes the unfounded +theories of an opponent, whose pen was guided by bigotry rather than by +Christian discretion. The castigation was severe, but it was merited. +The lash of a scorpion whip is far from pleasant; but the man who uses +it has no reason to complain of another using it in self defence. +Toplady had a right to wince and writhe; but, under the circumstances, +he had no right to foam, as, in succeeding chapters, we shall find he +did. + +Here, for the present, we shall leave this embittered conflict, and +trace the steps of the illustrious man whose high position seemed to +engender the envy which led to the attack upon him; but who, excepting +a short skirmish now and then, pursued his high and holy mission with +as much serenity as if the conflict had not existed. + +He landed in Ireland on March 24, and re-embarked for England on July +22nd following. + +At Dublin, the society had been jangling for years, and, as a +consequence, had suffered loss. Though not expressly stated, it is +clear that the cause of their quarreling was a dispute respecting the +authority of the preachers and of the leaders respectively. Wesley, as +the fountain of Methodistic law, now laid it down that classleaders +had no authority to restrain the assistant, if they thought he acted +improperly; but might mildly speak to him, and then refer the matter +to Wesley to be decided. They had no “authority to hinder a person +from preaching, or to displace a particular leader, or to expel a +particular member, or to regulate the temporal and spiritual affairs +of the society, or to make any public collection, or to receive the +yearly subscription.” All this was the work of the assistant, with +one exception, namely, that the temporal affairs of the society +were regulated by the society steward. The power of a classleader +simply consisted in authority to meet his class, to receive their +contributions, and to visit his sick members; and the power of all +classleaders united was “authority to show their classpapers to the +assistant, and to deliver the money they had received to the stewards, +and to bring in the names of the sick.” + +Rightly or wrongly, such was Methodist discipline in 1771. “In the +Methodist discipline,” writes Wesley, “the wheels regularly stand +thus: the assistant, the preachers, the stewards, the leaders, the +people. But here the leaders, who are the lowest wheel but one, were +quite got out of their place. They were got at the top of all, above +the stewards, the preachers, yea, and above the assistant himself. To +this chiefly, I impute the gradual decay of the work of God in Dublin.” +“Nothing,” says he, at Londonderry, where two years before he had +organised a band of singers, which through the preacher’s neglect was +now dispersed, “Nothing will stand in the Methodist plan unless the +preacher has his heart and his hand in it. Every preacher, therefore, +should consider it is not his business to mind this or that thing only, +but everything.” + +More than three months of Wesley’s time were spent, not in Dublin, but +in itinerating the Irish provinces. In many instances, he was gladdened +with the prosperity of the work of God; in others, as Dublin, Athlone, +Tullamore, Waterford, Cork, and Augher, the aspect of things was far +from promising. + +While on this lengthened journey, Wesley made the following entry in +his journal: “1771. June 28--This day I entered the sixty-ninth year of +my age. I am still a wonder to myself. My voice and strength are the +same as at nine-and-twenty. This also hath God wrought.” + +Wesley remained in Ireland until he was obliged to leave in order to +meet his conference at Bristol. Much space has been already occupied +with an account of its important proceedings; but it may be added that, +notwithstanding the Calvinian disturbances, there was reported an +increase of 1934 members. Among others, Joseph Benson was received on +trial as an itinerant preacher; and Francis Asbury and Richard Wright +were sent as a reinforcement to America. Nearly £1700 were contributed +to extinguish the chapel debts; and, to accomplish the thing at once, +it was recommended that, upon an average, every Methodist, in the +three kingdoms, should give, for one year, a penny a week. “If this is +done,” says Wesley, “it will both pay our whole debt, and supply all +contingencies.” + +No sooner was the conference over than Wesley set out for Wales, where +he laboured nearly the next three weeks. One of the Sundays was spent +in Pembroke, where he preached in two of the churches. He writes: “Many +of the congregation were gay, genteel people; so I spake on the first +elements of the gospel. But I was still out of their depth. Oh how hard +it is to be shallow enough for a polite audience!” + +Returning to Bristol on August 31, he employed the next month in +visiting the societies surrounding that city. Twelve months before, he +had rejoiced over an apparently great religious revival in Kingswood +school; but now, says he, “it is gone! It is lost! It is vanished away! +There is scarce any trace of it remaining! Then we must begin again; +and, in due time, we shall reap if we faint not.” + +Just at this period, Dr. William Cadogan’s book on the gout and all +chronic diseases was attracting great attention. Dr. Johnson called +it “a good book in general, but a foolish one in particulars.” Wesley +read the book, and agrees with Cadogan, that “very few of the chronic +distempers are properly hereditary; and that most of them spring either +from indolence, or intemperance, or irregular passions. But,” he adds, +and here he comes in conflict with modern teetotallers, “but why should +Dr. Cadogan condemn wine _toto genere_, which is one of the noblest +cordials in nature? Yet stranger, why should he condemn bread? Great +whims belong to great men!” + +After an absence of seven months, Wesley got back to London on +Saturday, October 5; and, on the Monday following, set out on his usual +tour through the counties of Bedford and Northampton. This occupied a +week, as did a similar visit to the societies in Oxfordshire. For many +years, Wesley was accustomed to spend the last two or three months in +each year in weekly journeys from London as a pastoral centre. The +Bedfordshire and Northamptonshire journey was one; the Oxfordshire +another; Chatham and Sheerness a third; Staplehurst, Rye, Winchelsea, +and other places a fourth; and Norfolk a fifth, which generally +occupied a longer time. + +Wesley concludes the year with this entry: “December 30--At my +brother’s request, I sat again for my picture. This melancholy +employment always reminds me of that natural reflection,-- + + ‘Behold, what frailty we in man may see! + His shadow is less given to change than he.’” + +Little more remains to be related respecting the year 1771, except the +points following. + +It is a curious fact, that, in the year when Fletcher began to render +Wesley important service by the publication of his “Checks,” Fletcher’s +future wife, Miss Bosanquet, applied to Wesley for advice on the +subject of female preaching. Our space prevents the possibility of +discussing such a topic at the length which it deserves; but Wesley’s +letter, hitherto unpublished, will be acceptable, as showing that, +however much importance he was disposed to attach to church order, he +was not the man to make all things bend to it. + + “LONDONDERRY, _June 13, 1771_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--I think the strength of the cause rests there,--on + your having an _extraordinary_ call. So, I am persuaded, has every + one of our lay preachers; otherwise, I could not countenance his + preaching at all. It is plain to me, that the whole work of God + termed Methodism is an extraordinary dispensation of His providence. + Therefore, I do not wonder if several things occur therein, which do + not fall under the ordinary rules of discipline. St. Paul’s ordinary + rule was, ‘I permit not a woman to speak in the congregation.’ Yet, + in extraordinary cases, he made a few exceptions; at Corinth in + particular. + + “I am, my dear sister, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[150] + +In 1771, Wesley began a revision and republication of all the works +which he had published during the last five-and-thirty years, with the +exception of his Notes on the Old and New Testament, his “Christian +Library,” his “Natural Philosophy,” and his books for Kingswood school. +It was during this year that he issued a careful reprint of the four +volumes of sermons published in 1746, 48, 50, and 60, with the addition +of ten sermons, most of which had been published separately. + +Besides these, he published five 12mo volumes of his collected works, +embracing the sermons just mentioned; and making together about 1800 +printed pages, in which he not only corrected the errors of the press, +but his own mistakes, and did, what has not been done in any subsequent +edition of his works,--placed an asterisk before the passages and +paragraphs which he judged were most worthy of the reader’s notice. + +He likewise published the fourteenth “Extract” from his journal, +extending from May 27, 1765, to May 5, 1768. 12mo, 128 pages.[151] + +His only other publications were his “Consequence Proved,” and his +“Defence” of his minutes, already mentioned; and finally, “A Letter +to the Reverend Mr. Fleury,” of Waterford, in Ireland. Mr. Fleury was +a young parson, who, both in 1769, and now again in 1771, had taken +the opportunity of Wesley’s visits to Waterford to preach against him. +Wesley writes: “1771, May 28--At eleven, and again in the afternoon, +I went to the cathedral, where a young gentleman most valiantly +encountered the ‘grievous wolves,’ as he termed the Methodists. I +never heard a man strike more wide of the mark. However, the shallow +discourse did good; for it sent abundance of people, rich and poor, +to hear and judge for themselves.” The “young gentleman’s” two +sermons, which were published, were made up of the stale objections +and invectives that had been used, by his superiors and seniors, times +without number. Wesley’s letter is a characteristic reply to them. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [118] Lady Maxwell’s Life, p. 72. + + [119] _Methodist Magazine_, 1784, p. 388. + + [120] Lady Maxwell’s Life, p. 22. + + [121] Ibid. + + [122] Doubtless his letter to Lady Huntingdon. + + [123] _Methodist Magazine_, 1805, p. 279. + + [124] Wesley’s Life of Fletcher. + + [125] Manuscript letter. + + [126] Benson’s Life, by Treffry. + + [127] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 285. + + [128] Probably Mr. Romaine. + + [129] Fletcher’s Vindication, 1st Edit., p. 21. + + [130] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., + p. 240. + + [131] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 256. + + [132] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 563. + + [133] The minutes of the conference of 1770. + + [134] The _italic_ words are emphasized in the original. + + [135] Shirley’s “Narrative,” p. 5. + + [136] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 253. + + [137] Smith’s History of Methodism, vol. i., p. 394. + + [138] “Life and Times of Countess of Huntingdon,” vol. ii., + p. 237. + + [139] This was probably “The Consequence Proved,” to be + noticed shortly. + + [140] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 127. + + [141] Shirley’s “Narrative,” p. 8. + + [142] Ibid. p. 10. + + [143] Charles Wesley’s name is not in the list: a further + proof that, strangely enough, he was not at this most + important conference. + + [144] This is the word in Shirley’s “Narrative”; but in + the _Gospel Magazine_ for August, 1771, the word + “justification” is used instead; and there can be + little doubt, that this was the reading of the + original declaration. The difference at first seems + slight, but, in reality, it is of great importance, + as the readers of Fletcher’s “Checks” will easily + perceive. + + [145] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 349. + + [146] Shirley’s “Narrative.” + + [147] “Second Check,” 1st Edit., p. 40. + + [148] See Sir Richard Hill’s Life, p. 191. + + [149] There was also published, at this period, a smartly + written rebuke of Toplady, and a defence of Wesley, + entitled, “A Letter to the Rev. Mr. Augustus Toplady, + written in great part by himself, relative to part of + his printed Letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley.” 8vo, + 21 pages. + + [150] Manuscript letter. + + [151] As a curiosity, and as tending to show that, in this + season of excitement, all men were not Wesley’s + enemies, we give an extract from a review of this + section of Wesley’s Journal, published in _Lloyd’s + Evening Post_, for January 20, 1772:--“In this + interval, between May 27, 1765, and May 5, 1768, + this zealous and truly laborious missionary of the + Methodists, who seems to consider the three kingdoms + as his parochial cure, twice traverses the greater + part of Ireland and Scotland, from Londonderry + to Cork, from Aberdeen to Dumfries, visiting and + confirming the churches, besides making a progress, + chiefly on horseback (in many places more than + once), through great part of Wales, and almost + all the counties in England, from Newcastle to + Southampton, from Dover to Penzance. Those who expect + to find in this Journal only the peculiar tenets of + Methodism will be agreeably disappointed, as they + are intermixed with such occasional reflections on + men and manners, on polite literature, and even on + polite places, as prove that the writer is endued + with a taste well cultivated both by reading and + observation; and above all with such a benevolence + and sweetness of temper, such an enlarged, liberal, + and truly protestant way of thinking towards those + who differ from him, as clearly show that _his + heart_, at least, is right, and justly entitle him to + that candour and forbearance, which, for the honour + of our common religion, we are glad to find he now + generally receives.” + + + + + 1772. + Age 69 + + +Wesley’s first journey from London, in 1772, was on the 16th of +January, when he came to Luton, and preached in the parish church. The +friendly clergyman, who gave him this permission, was the Rev. Mr. +Copleston, whose son afterwards became a Methodist local preacher, and +was driven from Luton by the iron hand of persecution, and then, after +preaching for a while at St. Albans, introduced Methodism into Leighton +Buzzard, where he died, in 1835, at the age of seventy, having been an +earnest Methodist more than fifty years.[152] + +In a visit to Dorking, Wesley read Sterne’s “Sentimental Journey,” +and writes, “_Sentimental!_ What is that? It is not English; he might +as well say _continental_. It is not sense. It conveys no determinate +idea; yet one fool makes many, and this nonsensical word (who would +believe it?) is become a fashionable one! However, the book agrees full +well with the title; for one is as queer as the other. For oddity, +uncouthness, and unlikeness to all the world beside, I suppose the +writer is without a rival.” This was a bold criticism on Laurence +Sterne, and his recently published book, which was now immensely +popular. On his return from Dorking, on February 12, Wesley writes: +“I read a very different book, published by an honest quaker, on that +execrable sum of all villanies, commonly called the slave trade. I read +of nothing like it in the heathen world, whether ancient or modern; +and it infinitely exceeds, in every instance of barbarity, whatever +Christian slaves suffer in Mahommedan countries.” + +This is a remarkable utterance. It was in this very year that Granville +Sharpe, the first of the English antislavery advocates, began to take +up the subject; and it was not until fifteen years after this, that the +“Society for the Suppression of the Slave Trade” was founded, of which, +besides Sharpe, two of the chief members were Thomas Clarkson, a young +graduate of Cambridge, and William Wilberforce, who was then M.P. for +the county of York. The book which Wesley read was probably written +by Anthony Benezet, a French protestant, who, after being educated in +England, became a quaker in Philadelphia; and, in 1762, published the +work which first attracted the attention of this country[153] to the +inhuman traffic, which Wesley so justly designates “that execrable +sum of all villanies.” Let it be noted that, besides all his other +honours, John Wesley, the poor, persecuted Methodist, was one of the +first advocates on behalf of the enthralled African that England had, +and that, sixty years before slavery was abolished in the dominions of +Great Britain, he denounced the thing in the strongest terms it was +possible to employ. + +Before we accompany Wesley on his long northern tour, three other +facts, belonging to this period, may be briefly mentioned. + +Ten years ago, Thomas Maxfield had dishonourably forsaken his old +friend, and had set up a rival church in the neighbourhood of +Moorfields. For some reason, he now seemed to desire a reunion. Wesley +was not the man to repel an overture even from one whose behaviour had +been ungrateful and treacherous. He met Maxfield; but writes: “He only +_seemed_ to desire a reunion; for when we explained upon the head, I +found he meant just nothing.” + +Wesley was now close upon the age of threescore years and ten. His life +had been a scene of unparalleled activity; and, though still possessed +of amazing vigour, he had not the energy he had been wont to have. +His friends in London saw this; and hence the following entry in his +journal. “1772. Feb. 21.--I met several of my friends, who had begun a +subscription to prevent my riding on horseback, which I cannot do quite +so well, since a hurt which I got some months ago. If they continue it, +well; if not, I shall have strength according to my need.” + +Wesley’s last act before leaving London was to open a new chapel +at Poplar. He writes: “1772. Feb. 28--I opened the new preaching +house in Poplar: one might say, consecrated it; for the English law +(notwithstanding the vulgar error) does not require, nay, does not +allow, any other consecration of churches than by performing public +service therein.” + +Up to this period, the preaching at Poplar had been in private +dwellings, and in the workhouse, the mistress of which was a Methodist. +Now a wooden building was erected in High Street, which was long +called, out of derision, “the pantile shop.” One of the first members +was Benjamin King, who previous to this attended Gravel Lane chapel, +Wapping, one of the oldest Methodist meeting-houses in London, but +which was long since demolished for the making of the London Docks. +For many a year, Methodism at Poplar had a struggle for existence, +and often was Wesley importuned to give up the preaching there; but +his constant answer was, “Does the old woman” (Mrs. Clippendale) +“who sits in the corner of the long pew, still attend?” “O yes,” was +the reply; “she never misses.” “Then for her sake keep going,” was +Wesley’s rejoinder. The venerable woman, who was thus the means of +perpetuating Methodist preaching at Poplar, was a native of Swalwell, +near Newcastle, and, at twelve years of age, received her first society +ticket, in 1745, from the hands of Wesley. Four years later, she +came to London, and continued a faithful Methodist for above seventy +years.[154] + +Strangely enough, it was now currently reported that Wesley was about +to leave England for America. The following refers to this. + + “NEW YORK, _April 1, 1772_. + + “REVEREND SIR,--By a letter from Mr. Lloyd, of London, we are + informed that you incline to visit America. Mr. Whitefield’s + preaching was of unspeakable use to many; but he preached mostly in + the seaport towns, and the most populous parts of the provinces, + where the gospel was known, though not preached in power. In the back + parts, which are now grown populous, the inhabitants are still in + a state of deplorable ignorance. If some zealous and able teachers + would engage heartily in the work of their conversion, how soon + might rivers spring forth in the desert, and these owls and dragons + of the wilderness give honour to God. No doubt, many in England and + elsewhere, who abound in wealth, would contribute towards erecting + schools to teach the children, and also towards the support of + preachers, if such an undertaking was properly set on foot. But who + is qualified for this work? I know none except yourself. + + “But, dear sir, what concerns me more than all is the unhappy + condition of our negroes, who are kept in worse than Egyptian + bondage. The food we eat, the clothes we wear, and all the + superfluities we possess, are the produce of their labours; and what + do they receive in return? Nothing equivalent; on the contrary, we + keep from them the key of knowledge; so that their bodies and souls + perish together in our service! If, therefore, you are not too + advanced in years, I say to you, in the name of God, come over and + help us; in doing which you will greatly oblige many thousands, and, + among the rest, your friend and brother, + + “JONATHAN BRYAN.”[155] + +Did Wesley seriously think of this? We are not sure; but the following +characteristic letter to Walter Sellon will be read with interest. + + “_February 1, 1772._ + + “DEAR WALTER,--You do not understand your information right. Observe, + ‘I am going to America to turn bishop.’ You are to understand it _in + sensu composito_. I am not to be a bishop till I am in America. While + I am in Europe, therefore, you have nothing to fear. But as soon as + ever you hear of my being landed in Philadelphia, it will be time for + your apprehensions to revive. It is true, some of our preachers would + not have me stay, so long; but I keep my old rule, _Festina lente_. + + “I am, dear Walter, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[156] + +Previous to his leaving London, Wesley commenced a long correspondence, +which extended over the next two years, with Samuel Sparrow, Esq., +a gentleman in the neighbourhood of Sheffield, who had published a +volume, entitled “Family Prayers and Moral Essays,” a copy of which +was presented to Wesley by the author. The writer has before him the +correspondence that ensued; and perhaps the following extracts, from +some of Wesley’s letters, will be acceptable. + + “To the questions which you propose I answer: (1) I think that if + a hundred, or a hundred thousand, sincere, honest, humble, modest, + self diffident men were, with attention and care, to read the New + Testament, uninfluenced by any but the Holy Spirit, nine in ten of + them, at least, if not every one, would discover that the Son of God + was ‘adorable,’ and one God with the Father; and would be immediately + led to ‘honour Him even as they honoured the Father.’ + + “(2) Give a fair, impartial reading to that account of mankind in + their present state, which is contained in the book on original sin. + It is no play of imagination, but plain, clear fact. We see it with + our eyes, and hear it with our ears daily. Heathens, Turks, Jews, + Christians of every nation, are such men as are there described. Such + are the tempers, such the manners, of lords, gentlemen, clergymen + in England, as well as of tradesmen and the low vulgar. No man in + his senses can deny it: and none can account for it, but upon the + supposition of original sin. + + “On Scripture and common sense I build all my principles; and just so + far as it agrees with these, I regard human authority. + + “There is too ‘just ground for charging the preachers both at + Blackfriars church, the chapel at the Lock,[157] and the Tabernacle, + with grievous want of charity; for most of them flatly maintain, ‘all + who do not believe as they believe, are in a state of damnation;’ + all who do not believe the absolute decree of election, which + necessarily infers absolute reprobation. My brother and I set out on + two principles: (1) None go to heaven without holiness of heart and + life; (2) Whoever follows after this, whatever his opinions be, is my + brother; and we have not swerved a hair’s breadth from either the one + or the other to this day.” + +On the 1st of March Wesley set out on his northern visitation, and did +not return to London until seven months afterwards. It was now that +he preached his first sermon in the town of Leek, where Thomas Hanby, +eighteen years before, had formed a society at the peril of his life. +“Kill him, kill him,” bawled the mob, as they pelted him with showers +of stones; but the young evangelist, then only in the twenty-first year +of his age, mercifully escaped; and the rabble, headed by a lawyer, had +to content themselves with merely burning him in effigy.[158] + +Wesley writes: “March 27, 1772.--While I was dining at Leek, some +gentlemen of the town sent to desire I would give them a sermon. As it +seemed to be a providential call, I did not think it right to refuse. A +large congregation quickly ran together, and were deeply attentive.” + +A society had recently been gathered at Nantwich, of which Mr. Salmon, +an eccentric Christian gentleman, and some of his sisters, were +members; and hence Nantwich was now added to the places which Wesley +had to visit. This was probably the Mr. Salmon who was to have gone +with the Wesleys to Georgia, but who was forcibly detained in his +Cheshire home by his father and mother, who were distracted at the +thought of their son leaving them. Joseph Whittingham Salmon had a +good heart, but muddy head. Soon after this, he began to preach,[159] +and, at the death of his wife, in 1785, published a long rigmarole +funeral sermon, 8vo, 39 pages, which he preached in Barker Street +chapel, Nantwich, and which is strongly spiced with the mystical +delusion into which he had fallen. It is scarcely too much to say, that +the weak mind of this well meaning man henceforth lost its balance, and +that mystic pride and _cacoethes scribendi_ were the chief features +that distinguished the close of a lengthened but lustreless life. His +wife, however, and several of the Misses Salmon were intelligent and +earnest Methodists, and were among the earliest friends of Hester Ann +Roe, afterwards Mrs. Rogers.[160] + +There was another gentleman of note, near Nantwich, Sir Thomas +Broughton, of Doddington Hall, who had a chapel in his park, and who, +though not a Methodist, himself read or preached to the congregation +the whole of Wesley’s sermons from first to last.[161] Salmon tells +us, that this “reverend baronet,” as he calls him, at the death of his +lady, called together his eleven children and his thirty servants, at +eleven o’clock at night, and then, as they stood round the corpse, amid +midnight silence and the dim radiance of lighted tapers, engaged in +prayer, previous to the interment, the whole forming a scene not easily +forgotten. + +These were Methodism’s auxiliaries in the town of Nantwich; but, for +long years, it had to struggle with adversity, its members worshipping +in an old hired baptist chapel until the year 1808, when, chiefly +through the help of Mr. Withinshaw, a new chapel was erected, and +Nantwich was made a circuit town.[162] + +On the 5th of April, Wesley reached Bolton and Manchester. In reference +to the former town he writes: “How wonderfully has God wrought in +this place! John Bennet, some years ago, reduced this society from +sevenscore to twelve; and they are now risen to a hundred and seventy.” +At Manchester, Wesley “drank tea at Am. O.;” probably Adam Oldham’s, +and remarks: “But how was I shocked! The children that used to cling +about me, and drink in every word, had been at a boarding school. There +they had unlearned all religion, and even seriousness; and had learned +pride, vanity, affectation, and whatever could guard them against the +knowledge and love of God. Methodist parents, who would send your girls +headlong to hell, send them to a fashionable boarding school!” + +Proceeding by way of Whitehaven and Carlisle, Wesley came to Glasgow +on April 18, and, a week later, arrived at Perth, where he was the +provost’s guest, and received an honour which fell to him only once +again in his long lifetime. He shall tell his own story. + + “1772. April 28, Tuesday. We walked through the Duke of Athol’s + gardens, in which was one thing I never saw before,--a summerhouse in + the middle of a greenhouse, by means of which one might, in the depth + of winter, enjoy the warmth of May, and sit surrounded with greens + and flowers on every side. + + “In the evening I preached once more at Perth, to a large and serious + congregation. Afterwards they did me an honour I never thought + of,--presented me with the freedom of the city. The diploma ran + thus:-- + + “‘_Magistratuum illustris ordo et honorandus senatorum cætus inclytæ + civitatis Perthensis, in debiti amoris et affectuum tesseram erga + Johannem Wesley, immunitatibus præfatæ civitatis, societatis etiam + et fraternitatis ædilitiæ privilegiis donarunt. Aprilis die 28, anno + Sal. 1772._’ + + “I question whether any diploma from the city of London be more + pompous, or expressed in better Latin.” + +Eight days afterwards, the magistrates of Arbroath conferred on Wesley +a similar mark of their respect. + +While in this part of Scotland, Wesley read two Scotch authors, upon +whom his criticisms are too racy to be omitted. He writes: + + “In my way to Perth, I read over the first volume of Dr. Robertson’s + ‘History of Charles the Fifth.’ I know not when I have been so + disappointed. It might as well be called the History of Alexander + the Great. Here is a quarto volume of eight or ten shillings’ price, + containing dry verbose dissertations on feudal government, the + substance of all which might be comprised in half a sheet of paper! + But ‘Charles the Fifth!’ Where is Charles the Fifth? + + ‘Leave off thy reflections, and give us thy tale!’” + + “May 5. I read over, in my journey to Arbroath, Dr. Beattie’s + ingenious ‘Inquiry after Truth.’ He is a writer quite equal to his + subject, and far above the match of all the minute philosophers, + David Hume in particular, the most insolent despiser of truth and + virtue that ever appeared in the world. And, yet, it seems some + complain of this doctor’s using him with too great severity! I cannot + understand how that can be, unless he treated him with rudeness + (which he does not), since he is an avowed enemy to God and man, and + to all that is sacred and valuable on earth.” + +On the 9th of May, Wesley reached Edinburgh, where his state of health +was made the subject of an important medical examination. It has +been already stated that, before he left London, his friends there, +perceiving signs of age and debility, had contributed to provide him +a carriage in which to pursue his extensive and laborious journeys. +Since then, in less than ten weeks, he had travelled, in his chaise +and on horseback, from London to Bristol, and thence to Birmingham, +Nottingham, Macclesfield, Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Whitehaven, +Carlisle, Glasgow, Aberdeen, and Edinburgh, preaching there, and at +a great number of intervening towns and villages, sometimes as many +as four sermons in a day. He had had to encounter winter storms, to +wade mid-leg deep in snow, and to travel roads so execrably bad, that +sometimes he was literally bogged. Not unfrequently he preached in the +midst of piercing winds in the open air; and yet, there is not a single +entry in his journal indicative of failing health. Never, in his life, +was he more intent upon the prosecution of his great work than now. +Writing to his brother from Congleton, and again from Perth, he says: + + “I find almost all our preachers, in every circuit, have done with + Christian perfection. They say, they believe it; but they never + preach it, or not once in a quarter. What is to be done? Shall we + let it drop, or make a point of it? Oh what a thing it is to have + _curam animarum_! You and I are called to this; to save souls from + death; to watch over them as those that must give account! If our + office implied no more than preaching a few times in a week, I could + play with it; so might you. But how small a part of our duty (yours + as well as mine) is this! God says to you, as well as me, ‘Do all + thou canst, be it more or less, to save the souls for whom My Son has + died.’ Let this voice be ever sounding in our ears; then shall we + give up our account with joy. _Eia age, rumpe moras!_ I am ashamed of + my indolence and inactivity. Your business, as well as mine, is to + save souls. When we took priests’ orders we undertook to make it our + one business. I think every day lost, which is not (mainly at least) + employed in this thing. _Sum totus in illo._ + + “I am glad you are to be at Bristol soon. To whom shall I leave my + letters and papers? I am quite at a loss. I think Mr. Fletcher is the + best that occurs now. Adieu!”[163] + +Wesley was too busy to think of being ill. He was not alarmed; but his +friends were. Hence, the following addressed to Charles Wesley. + + “SHOREHAM, _April 18, 1772_. + + “MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,--I doubt not, but we both join in constant + petitions, at the throne of grace, for the life and health of our + dear absent friend, thy brother. By all accounts, his valuable health + is in a precarious state; and unless God provides (as I doubt not but + He will), for His people, they will have abundant reason to mourn. + May God give thee a double portion of His Spirit, that thou mayest + stand in the gap, and prevent the flock being led by any who have not + true gospel light in the head, and great integrity in the heart! My + love to thy dear brother; the same attends thee and my dear sister, + and all thy family. The Divine blessing be with all of us! + + “Thine, most affectionately, + + “VINCENT PERRONET.”[164] + +Probably it was the request of his friends, rather than his own +anxiety, which induced Wesley, at Edinburgh, to submit to a medical +examination. + +At this period, Dr. James Hamilton was a young man of about +two-and-thirty, and was practising medicine in his native town of +Dunbar, where he also had joined the Methodists. Afterwards he removed +to Leeds, and then to London, where he was elected physician to the +London Dispensary, and rose to eminence in the medical profession. He +died in Finsbury Square, April 21, 1827, at the age of eighty-seven, +having been a Methodist upwards of sixty years, and nearly as long a +highly acceptable and useful local preacher. + +Dr. Alexander Monro was a few years older. Such was his ability, that, +at the age of twenty-two, he was appointed professor of anatomy and +surgery to the University of Edinburgh; and is said, by the excellence +of his lectures, to have materially assisted in raising it to the +highest celebrity as a school of medicine. + +Dr. James Gregory was now a young man in his twentieth year; but, two +years later, was appointed professor of the theory of physic, and rose +to such eminence in his profession as to draw pupils from all parts of +the world. + +These were the three physicians who attended Wesley. He writes: “May +18--Dr. Hamilton brought with him Dr. Monro and Dr. Gregory. They +satisfied me what my disorder was; and told me there was but one method +of cure. Perhaps but one natural one; but I think God has more than one +method of healing either the soul or the body.” + +Wesley’s disease was hydrocele.[165] A few months later, he writes: “I +am almost a disabled soldier. I am forbid to ride, and am obliged to +travel mostly in a carriage.”[166] + +That Wesley’s health was seriously affected there cannot be doubt. +_Lloyd’s Evening Post_, for June 15, remarks: “By accounts from +Scotland, we learn that the Rev. Mr. Wesley has had a dangerous fit +of illness, in which he was attended by three of the most eminent of +the faculty there, who gave him over; but some younger gentlemen in +practice have been luckily assistant to him, and they have now hopes +that he may continue his ministry many years longer.” + +Wesley doubtless was amused with this. During his ten days’ stay in +Edinburgh, he preached at least about half-a-dozen times; and, on the +very day when the medical men met, he opened a new chapel at Leith, and +two days later started for Newcastle, preaching on his way at Dunbar, +Alnwick, and Morpeth. + +Reaching Newcastle on May 25, he spent the remainder of the week in the +town and neighbourhood, preaching, on the Sunday, three times out of +doors, to immense and attentive congregations. + +The first four days in the month of June were occupied with what he +calls “a little tour through the dales”; and, in this brief period, +besides travelling scores of miles over “the horrid mountains,” and +examining societies, he preached at least eight sermons. He writes: +“from the top of an enormous mountain we had a view of Weardale. It is +a lovely prospect. The green, gently rising meadows and fields, on both +sides of the little river, clear as crystal, were sprinkled over with +innumerable little houses; three in four of which, if not nine in ten, +are sprung up since the Methodists came hither. Since that time, the +beasts are turned into men, and the wilderness into a fruitful field.” + +Six months before this, Weardale had been blessed with a remarkable +religious revival, the penitent prayer-meetings often continuing +till ten or eleven o’clock at night, and sometimes till four in the +morning. On one occasion, four young men, seeking pardon, remained +on their knees for five hours together. Among others who found mercy +was an old woman, who, twenty-three years before, was the first in +Weardale to receive the Methodists into her house. Sometimes as many as +half-a-dozen “lay on the ground together, roaring for the disquietude +of their hearts.” Chiefly through the instrumentality of Jane Salkeld, +a schoolmistress, thirty children were converted, including Phœbe +Featherstone, Hannah Watson, and others whom Wesley mentions. + +Not only does Wesley give, at great length, the details of this +revival; but he compares it with that at Everton thirteen years before. +His remarks are worth quoting. + + “It resembled the work at Everton in many respects, but not in all. + + “It resembled that work--(1) In its unexpected beginning; no such + work had ever been seen before either at Everton or in Weardale. (2) + In the swiftness of its progress, I mean in the persons affected; + many of whom were in one day, or even two or three hours, both + convinced of sin (without any previous awakening), and converted + to God. (3) In the number of persons both convinced and converted, + which was greater in a few months than it had been in Weardale from + the first preaching there, or in Everton for a century. (4) In the + outward symptoms which have attended it: in both, the sudden and + violent emotions of mind affected the whole bodily frame; insomuch + that many trembled exceedingly, many fell to the ground, many were + violently convulsed, and many seemed to be in the agonies of death. + (5) In most of the instruments whom God employed: these were plain, + artless men, simple of heart, but without any remarkable gifts; + men who, almost literally, knew ‘nothing save Jesus Christ and Him + crucified.’ + + “In these respects, the work of God in Weardale nearly resembled + that at Everton; but, in other respects, they were widely different. + For--(1) That was the first work of God, of the kind, which had ever + been in those parts in the memory of man; this was only a revival of + a work, which had continued for many years. Now these circumstances + are common at the dawn of a work, but afterwards very uncommon. I do + not remember to have seen the like anywhere in the three kingdoms, + unless at the beginning of a work. (2) Although the former work was + swift, the latter was far swifter. In general, persons were both + awakened and justified in a far shorter time. (3) A far greater + number were converted to God in Weardale than about Everton, although + the number of hearers about Everton was abundantly greater than in + Weardale. (4) Although the outward symptoms were the same, yet in + Weardale there were none of the dreams, visions, and revelations + which abounded at Everton; and which, though at first they + undoubtedly were from God, yet were afterwards fatally counterfeited + by the devil. (5) There was a great difference in the instruments + whom God employed. Not one of those in or near Everton had any + experience in the guiding of souls. None of them were more than + ‘babes in Christ,’ if any of them so much. Whereas, in Weardale, not + only the three preachers were, I believe, renewed in love, but most + of the leaders were deeply experienced in the work of God. Hence, (6) + we may easily account for the grand difference, namely, that the one + work was so shallow, and the other so deep. Many children here have + had far deeper experience, and more constant fellowship with God, + than the oldest man or woman at Everton which I have seen or heard + of.” + +Such were Wesley’s moralisings on the Weardale revival, in 1772, in +which less than a hundred people were converted, and concerning which +he says: “upon the whole, we may affirm, such a work of God as this has +not been seen before in the three kingdoms.” If this was so, who will +say that the former times were better than these? How many thousands of +aged Methodists can easily call to mind far more remarkable revivals of +the work of God than even that in Weardale! And, further, how was it +that, at Wesley’s visit two years after, the results of this revival +were almost reduced to nothing, except that, in consequence of the +backslidings, “the preachers were discouraged; and jealousies, heart +burnings, and evil surmisings, were multiplied more and more”? + +Wesley returned from Weardale to Newcastle on the 5th of June, and +here, and in the immediate neighbourhood, he spent the next ten days. +In the Newcastle society, there were fewer members than he had found +two years before. “This,” says he, “I can impute to nothing but the +want of visiting from house to house; without which the people will +hardly increase, either in number or grace.” This was a sharp thrust +at some of the most distinguished preachers of the day, namely, Peter +Jaco, Joseph Cownley, Thomas Hanby, Matthew Lowes, Thomas Tennant, +William Thompson, and Thomas Simpson, all of them appointed to +Newcastle at this period. + +On June 15, Wesley left Newcastle, and spent the next week in preaching +at Durham, Stockton, Yarm, Thirsk, Osmotherley, Hutton Rudby, +Stokesley, Castleton, Whitby, Robinhood’s Bay, and Scarborough. This +was pretty well, for a man afflicted as Wesley was, and at the age of +seventy. + +Eighteen months before this, his termagant wife had abruptly left +him, and gone to her house at Newcastle. Now that his health was so +endangered, she was returning with him, whether to his comfort or +otherwise we are not informed; but, at all events, she had in Wesley’s +chaise the undeserved luxury of a summer’s ride through the most +beautiful scenes of Yorkshire.[167] + +From Scarborough he proceeded to Bridlington, Driffield, Beverley, +Hull, York, Tadcaster, Pateley Bridge, Otley, Heptonstall, Keighley, +Haworth, Bingley, Bradford, Halifax, Huddersfield, Morley, Birstal, +Doncaster, Sheffield, Epworth, Brigg, Horncastle, Louth, Grimsby, +Pontefract, Horbury, Wakefield, and other places, preaching at all of +them, until, on August 2, he got to Leeds, for the purpose of holding +his annual conference. This was enormous labour for any man, and +especially for an old man, suffering from a severe and painful malady. +To all this must be added, cottage accommodation, hard beds, and often +hard living; and, though brutal persecution had considerably abated, +Wesley was not entirely exempt from this; for, at Halifax, on July +8, a ruffian struck him most violently on the face, when, with tears +starting from his eyes, the venerable saint acted upon the precept of +his Master: “Whosoever shall smite thee on the right cheek, turn to him +the other also”; a display of heroic meekness which cowed the brutal +coward, and made him slink away into the ignoble crowd.[168] Yet, in +the midst of all this, there is not a single syllable, in his journal, +concerning either persecution, hardship, debility, or disease. + +He writes: “On Tuesday, August 4, our conference began. Generally, +during the time of conference, as I was talking from morning to night, +I had used to desire one of our brethren to preach in the morning; but, +having many things to say, I resolved, with God’s help, to preach +mornings as well as evenings. And I found no difference at all; I was +no more tired than with my usual labour; that is, no more than if I had +been sitting still in my study from morning to night.” + +One of Wesley’s sermons, preached to an immense congregation, in a +field behind the chapel, was from Isaiah lxvi. 8, 9: “Who hath heard +such a thing?” etc.; in which he dwelt upon the great work which God +had wrought among the Methodists, discoursing on its rapidity, depth, +extensiveness, and its growing character. “It was,” says good old +Thomas Rutherford, “marrow and fatness to my soul.”[169] + +Wesley, in needful cases, was a brave defender of his preachers. The +following, addressed to Mr. Alexander Clark, of Dublin, and written at +this period, will be read with interest. + + “SHEFFIELD, _August 10, 1772_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Now the hurry of conference is over, I get a + little time to write. When I chose you to be steward in Dublin, you + both loved and esteemed your preachers; but I find you have now drunk + in the whole spirit of Pat. Geoghegan. O beware! You are exceedingly + deceived. By this time, I should be some judge of man; and if I am, + all England and Ireland cannot afford such a body of men, number for + number, for sense and true experience, both of men and things, as + the body of Methodist preachers. Our leaders in London, Bristol, and + Dublin are by no means weak men. I would not be ashamed to compare + them with a like number of tradesmen in every part of the three + kingdoms. But I assure you, they are no more than children compared + to the preachers in conference, as you would be thoroughly convinced, + could you but have the opportunity of spending one day among them. + Mr. Jaco will make a fair trial whether he can supply Dublin alone; + if he cannot, he shall have another to help, for he must not kill + himself to save charges. But I dare not stint him to £20 a year. He + will waste nothing; but he must want nothing. You will make his stay + among you, in every respect, as comfortable as you can. + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[170] + +No sooner was the conference ended, than Wesley again started on his +itinerancy of mercy. On his way to Burslem, his chaise broke down; but, +notwithstanding his disease, rather than disappoint the people, he +mounted a horse and rode two-and-twenty miles, arriving just in time +for preaching. + +On reaching Trevecca, on August 14, he met his old friend, Howel +Harris, who, while almost all others of his class had imbibed the +most bitter feelings, still remained faithful. “I have borne,” said +the honest Welshman, “with these pert, ignorant young men, vulgarly +called students, till I cannot, in conscience, bear any longer. They +preach barefaced reprobation, and so broad antinomianism, that I +have been constrained to oppose them to the face, even in the public +congregation.” This was no great compliment to the students of the +Countess of Huntingdon, especially as coming from a Calvinist. Wesley, +almost as an apology, adds to this: “It is no wonder that they should +preach thus. What better can be expected from raw lads, of little +understanding, little learning, and no experience?” + +It is pleasing to add, that Howel Harris was not the only one of +Whitefield’s friends who still stood true to Wesley, though differing +from his views. Hence the following, addressed to him by Cornelius +Winter. + + “BRECON, _August 10, 1772_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--Do you ask what I have been about? I answer, + preaching Christ wherever a door has been opened to me. Sometimes I + have cast a handful of seed on your ground; and should it ever come + to a harvest you are welcome to it: it will become Jesus’s property + at last. What melancholy consequences from late productions! They + forbid me to be any longer an idle hearer or a careless reader. I + have been obliged, from conscience, to make a stand against dear Mr. + Fletcher’s groundless arguments and most bitter invectives.[171] Many + things, he has said, are a proper antidote applied wrong, and to + improper objects, and thereby become poison, whereas they might have + been a healing medicine. But I must say no more on this subject; I am + writing to one who will give it little attention. + + “Dr. Owen’s ‘Death of Death’ has been my favourite study of late; + and, in consequence of embracing the doctrine therein contained, I + must agree to disagree with Mr. Fletcher’s thoughts, and dear Mr. + Wesley’s _friendly pen_. Excuse my frank acknowledgments, and give + me leave to differ and love. God bless you to your latest period, + and make your last days your best! So prays, reverend and dear sir, + yours most respectfully and affectionately, in our dear Lord Jesus, + + “CORNELIUS WINTER.”[172] + +From Trevecca, Wesley proceeded to Bristol, and here, and in the +neighbourhood, he employed the next seven weeks. In Bristol itself, +he “visited the whole society from house to house, taking them from +west to east.” He not unfrequently preached in the open air, and +strikingly remarks: “to this day field preaching is a cross to me; but +I know my commission, and see no other way of preaching the gospel to +every creature.” The children at Kingswood, and at Miss Owen’s school +at Publow, were almost all converted. He writes: “I suppose such a +visitation of children has not been known in England these hundred +years!”[173] “Publow is now what Leytonstone was once. Here is a family +indeed. Such mistresses, and such a company of children, as I believe +all England cannot parallel!” + +Leaving Bristol on October 5, and preaching on his way at Shaftesbury, +Salisbury, Winchester, and Portsmouth, he came to London on October +10. He had been seven months from home, if indeed he had a home! and +yet, after spending only one day in London, he again set out on his +usual preaching tour in the counties of Bedford and Northampton. +Returning to London, where he spent another day, he started on his +visitation in Oxfordshire. Returning again to London, and again +spending a single day, he went off, on October 26, to Norfolk, where he +employed a fortnight. Except making a journey into Kent, and another to +Hertfordshire, the remainder of the year was passed in the metropolis. + +Here he again began expounding, chiefly in the mornings, “that +compendium of all the Holy Scriptures, the first epistle of St. John.” +Now, for the first time in his life, he saw the chapel at Snowsfields +full. He opened a new chapel at Dorking, and another in the parish of +Bromley. He visited the sick Methodists in London, and “was surprised +that they were so few.” And on December 31 he wrote: “Being greatly +embarrassed by the necessities of the poor, we spread all our wants +before God in solemn prayer; believing that He would sooner ‘make +windows in heaven’ than suffer His truth to fail.” + +This reference to the poor requires further notice. The long continued +war, a succession of inferior harvests, and other unfavourable events, +had raised the price of provisions to such an extent, that the distress +of the nation had become alarming. In the month of November, the +court of common council of London agreed to petition parliament to +open the ports of the kingdom for the free importation of all kinds +of grain; and one of the members proposed that, in order to prevent +the unnecessary consumption of flour, the making of starch should be +prohibited. Long letters on the starved condition of the country were +published in the newspapers and magazines. Some of them entered into +elaborate calculations, showing that, in London only, during the six +winter months, twenty thousand sheep and two thousand oxen were used +in making soup for taverns, and the tables of the great. When the king +opened parliament, on November 26, he referred in his speech to the +dearness of corn, and recommended “my lords and gentlemen” to consider +a scheme “for alleviating the distresses of the poor.” This was done, +and bills were passed, which substantially permitted the importation of +foreign grown grain duty free. + +In the midst of all this, Wesley was far from being an indifferent +spectator; and, among the many letters which appeared in the +periodicals of the day, one written by himself was not the least +important. This letter, published, either by himself or others, in +_Lloyd’s Evening Post_, for December 21, and in the _Leeds Mercury_ for +December 29, and in other newspapers and magazines, is altogether too +curious and characteristic to be omitted or abridged. It is as follows. + + “_To the Editor of ‘Lloyd’s Evening Post._’ + + “SIR,--Many excellent things have been lately published concerning + the _present scarcity of provisions_. And many causes have been + assigned for it; but is not something wanting in most of those + publications? One writer assigns one cause, another one or two more, + and strongly insists upon them. But who has assigned all the causes + that manifestly concur to produce this melancholy effect? at the same + time pointing out, how each particular cause affects the price of + each particular sort of provision? + + “I would willingly offer to candid and benevolent men a few hints on + this important subject, proposing a few questions, and adding to each + what seems to be the plain and direct answer. + + “I. 1. I ask first, Why are thousands of people starving, perishing + for want, in every part of England? The fact I know: I have seen + it with my eyes, in every corner of the land. I have known those + who could only afford to eat a little coarse food every other + day. I have known one picking up stinking sprats from a dunghill, + and carrying them home for herself and her children. I have known + another gathering the bones which the dogs had left in the streets, + and making broth of them, to prolong a wretched life. Such is the + case, at this day, of multitudes of people, in a land flowing, as it + were, with milk and honey; abounding with all the necessaries, the + conveniences, the superfluities of life! + + “Now why is this? Why have all these nothing to eat? Because they + have nothing to do. They have no meat, because they have no work. + + “2. But why have they no work? Why are so many thousand people in + London, in Bristol, in Norwich, in every county from one end of + England to the other, utterly destitute of employment? + + “Because the persons who used to employ them cannot afford to do it + any longer. Many, who employed fifty men, now scarce employ ten. + Those, who employed twenty, now employ one, or none at all. They + cannot, as they have no vent for their goods; food now bearing so + high a price, that the generality of people are hardly able to buy + anything else. + + “3. But to descend from generals to particulars. Why is breadcorn + so dear? Because such immense quantities of it are continually + consumed by _distilling_. Indeed, an eminent distiller, near London, + hearing this, warmly replied: ‘Nay, my partner and I generally distil + _but a thousand quarters_ of corn a week.’ Perhaps so. Suppose + five-and-twenty distillers, in and near the town, consume each only + the same quantity. Here are five-and-twenty thousand quarters a + week, that is, above twelve hundred and fifty thousand quarters a + year, consumed in and about London! Add the distillers throughout + England, and have we not reason to believe that half of the wheat + produced in the kingdom is every year consumed, not by so harmless + a way as throwing it into the sea; but by converting it into deadly + poison--poison that naturally destroys, not only the strength and + life, but also the morals of our countrymen! + + “‘Well, but this brings in a large revenue to the king.’ Is this an + equivalent for the lives of his subjects? Would his majesty sell a + hundred thousand of his subjects yearly to Algiers for four hundred + thousand pounds? Surely no. Will he then sell them for that sum, + to be butchered by their own countrymen?--‘But otherwise the swine + for the navy cannot be fed.’ Not unless they are fed with human + flesh? not unless they are fatted with human blood? O tell it not in + Constantinople, that the English raise the royal revenue by selling + the blood and flesh of their countrymen! + + “4. But why are oats so dear? Because there are four times the + horses kept (to speak within compass), for coaches and chaises in + particular, than were some years ago. Unless, therefore, four times + the oats grew now as grew then, they cannot be at the same price. If + only twice as much is produced, (which perhaps is near the truth,) + the price will naturally be double to what it was. + + “As the dearness of grain of one kind will always raise the price of + another, so whatever causes the dearness of wheat and oats must raise + the price of barley too. To account therefore for the dearness of + this, we need only remember what has been observed above, although + some particular causes may concur in producing the same effect. + + “5. Why are beef and mutton so dear? Because most of the considerable + farmers, particularly in the northern counties, who used to breed + large numbers of sheep or horned cattle, and frequently both, no + longer trouble themselves with either sheep, or cows, or oxen; as + they can turn their land to far better account, by breeding horses + alone. Such is the demand, not only for coach and chaise horses, + which are bought and destroyed in incredible numbers; but much + more for bred horses, which are yearly exported by hundreds, yea + thousands, to France. + + “6. But why are pork, poultry, and eggs so dear? Because of the + monopolising of farms, as mischievous a monopoly as was ever yet + introduced into these kingdoms. The land which was formerly divided + among ten or twenty little farmers, and enabled them comfortably to + provide for their families, is now generally engrossed by one great + farmer. One man farms an estate of a thousand a year, which formerly + maintained ten or twenty. Every one of these little farmers kept a + few swine, with some quantity of poultry; and, having little money, + was glad to send his bacon, or pork, or fowls and eggs, to market + continually. Hence, the markets were plentifully served, and plenty + created cheapness; but, at present, the great, the gentlemen farmers, + are above attending to these little things. They breed no poultry + or swine, unless for their own use; consequently they send none to + market. Hence, it is not strange, if two or three of these living + near a market town occasion such a scarcity of these things, by + preventing the former supply, that the price of them will be double + or treble to what it was before. Hence, (to instance in a small + article,) in the same town where, within my memory, eggs were sold + eight or ten a penny, they are now sold six or eight a groat. + + Another cause why beef, mutton, pork, and all kind of victuals are so + dear, is _luxury_. What can stand against this? Will it not waste and + destroy all that nature and art can produce? If a person of quality + will boil down three dozen of neat’s tongues, to make two or three + quarts of soup (and so proportionably in other things), what wonder + if provisions fail? Only look into the kitchens of the great, the + nobility, and gentry, almost without exception (considering withal + that the toe of the peasant treads upon the heel of the courtier), + and when you have observed the amazing waste which is made there, you + will no longer wonder at the scarcity, and consequently dearness, of + the things which they use so much art to destroy. + + “7. But why is land so dear? Because, on all these accounts, + gentlemen cannot live as they have been accustomed to do, without + increasing their income, which most of them cannot do but by raising + their rents. The farmer, paying a higher rent for his land, must have + a higher price for the produce of it. This again tends to raise the + price of land. And so the wheel runs round. + + “8. But why is it, that not only provisions and land, but well-nigh + everything else is so dear? Because of the enormous taxes which are + laid on almost everything that can be named. Not only abundant taxes + are raised from earth, and fire, and water; but, in England, the + ingenious statesmen have found a way to tax the very light! Only + one element remains, and surely some man of honour will, ere long, + contrive to tax this also. For how long shall the saucy air blow in + the face of a gentleman, nay, a lord, without paying for it? + + “9. But why are the taxes so high? Because of the national debt. + They must be, while this continues. I have heard that the national + expense, in the time of peace, was, sixty years ago, three millions + a year. Now the bare interest of the public debt amounts to above + four millions. To raise which, with the other expenses of government, + those taxes are absolutely necessary. + + “II. Here is the evil. But where is the remedy? Perhaps it exceeds + all the wisdom of man to tell. But it may not be amiss to offer a few + hints, even on this delicate subject. + + “1. What remedy is there for this sore evil? Many thousand poor + people are starving. Find them work, and you will find them meat. + They will then earn and eat their own bread. + + “2. But how shall their masters give them work, without ruining + themselves? Procure vent for it, and it will not hurt their masters + to give them as much work as they can do; and this will be done by + sinking the price of provisions; for then people will have money to + buy other things too. + + “3. But how can the price of _wheat_ be reduced? By prohibiting for + ever that bane of health, that destroyer of strength, of life; and + of virtue, _distilling_. Perhaps this alone will answer the whole + design. If anything more be needful, may not all starch be made of + rice, and the importation of this, as well as of wheat, be encouraged? + + “4. How can the price of _oats_ be reduced? By reducing the number + of horses. And may not this be effectually done--(1) by laying a tax + of ten pounds on every horse exported to France; (2) by laying an + additional tax on gentlemen’s carriages. Not so much for every wheel, + (barefaced, shameless partiality!) but ten pounds yearly for every + horse. And these two taxes alone would nearly supply as much as is + now given for leave to poison his majesty’s liege subjects. + + “5. How can the price of _beef_ and _mutton_ be reduced? By + increasing the breed of sheep and horned cattle. And this would be + increased sevenfold, if the price of horses was reduced; which it + surely would be half in half, by the method above mentioned. + + “6. How can the price of _pork_ and _poultry_ be reduced? First, by + letting no farms of above a hundred pounds a year. Secondly, by + repressing luxury, either by example, by laws, or both. + + “7. How may the price of _land_ be reduced? By all the methods above + named, all which tend to lessen the expense of housekeeping; but + especially the last, restraining luxury, which is the grand source of + poverty. + + “8. How may the _taxes_ be reduced? By discharging half the national + debt, and so saving at least two millions a year. + + “How this can be done the wisdom of the great council of the land can + best determine. + + “I am, sir, your humble servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY. + “DOVER, _December 9, 1772_.” + +This was not the only thing that Wesley and the Methodists did, to +contribute to the happiness of the starving poor. It was now that +there was organised a band of pious Methodists, who made it their duty +and their pleasure to visit the inmates of London workhouses, and, by +prayer, and reading, and exhortation, to lead them to Him who is alone +the great Comforter. That organisation has uninterruptedly existed down +to the present time; and though, for the last twenty years, it has +ceased to be a purely Methodist society, its chief workers bear the +Methodistic name.[174] From the ninety-fifth annual report of what is +now called “The Christian Community,” we learn that this society was +“established under the patronage of the Rev. John Wesley, in 1772;” and +that its agents, all labouring gratuitously, are regularly visiting +the workhouses of Shoreditch, St. Luke’s, Clerkenwell, St. George’s in +the East, and Bethnal Green, in eighty-eight halls and wards of which +they hold religious services every week; and that, besides this, they +have three services weekly in Cambridge Heath female refuge; visit +between twenty and thirty low lodging houses, in Spitalfields, every +Sunday night; and, during the year, hold about 463 services in the +open air, deliver nearly 1400 addresses,[175] and distribute almost a +quarter of a million of religious tracts. Not fewer than 124 visitors +and exhorters are employed, nearly the whole of whom have appointments +every week. + +Into such a society has been developed the small band of godly +Methodists, sent forth by Wesley, in 1772, to visit London paupers and +London vagabonds. Its work is little known, and its agents scarcely +recognised; but here, in the very heart of London, are 124 home +missionaries, toiling to convert the lowest of the low to the faith of +Christ, receiving not a farthing for their services, and carrying on +their extensive machinery of tract distribution, tent preaching, and a +circulating library, at the small expense of about £200 a year. Success +to this unpretending and almost unknown society. May the God of heaven +prosper it, in its great work, more and more! “It is a shame,” wrote +Wesley to Joseph Benson, on December 11, 1772, “It is a shame for any +Methodist preacher to confine himself to one place. We are debtors to +all the world. We are called to warn every one, to exhort every one, if +by any means we may save some. I love prayer-meetings, and wish they +were set up in every corner of the town.”[176] + +Such is a bird’s eye view of the work done, in 1772, by an old man, +acutely suffering from the disease already mentioned. Writing to his +brother in November, and again in December, Wesley says: + + “I have just made my tour through Oxfordshire, Bedfordshire, + Northamptonshire, Norfolk, Suffolk, and Essex; but Kent, Sussex, and + Hertfordshire still remain to be visited; only the visitation of the + London classes, a fortnight’s work, must come between. + + “If we only join faith and works in all our preaching, we shall not + fail of a blessing. But of all preaching, what is usually called + gospel preaching is the most useless, if not the most mischievous: + a dull, yea, or lively harangue on the sufferings of Christ, or + salvation by faith, without strongly inculcating holiness. I see, + more and more, that this naturally tends to drive holiness out of the + world.” + + “I have scarce had a day yet” (December 15) “in London, except + Sundays, and the time of visiting the classes. Dr. Ford has never + come near me. I am afraid, _evasit_, _erupit_. I have wrote to Mr. + Fletcher to-day. As Mr. Hill is to fall upon me next, Mr. Fletcher + will have a little time to breathe; and probably a little more while + Mr. Hill is digesting my reply; for whom I think we shall, between + us, find work for some time. + + “You will not set shoulder to shoulder, or you could say something + about the Church. Two are better than one. If we live till August, + stand by me, and we will put the matter home. + + “I often cry out, _Vitæ me redde priori_! Let me be again an Oxford + Methodist. I am often in doubt whether it would not be best for me to + resume all my Oxford rules, great and small. I did then walk closely + with God, and redeem the time. But what have I been doing these + thirty years? My love to all. Adieu!--JOHN WESLEY.”[177] + +The concluding sentences of these extracts sound strangely. Did +afflicted Wesley, amid the London fog of a dark December day, really +think, that the last thirty years had been comparatively wasted, and +that he was more pious when almost a cloistered monk within the walls +of Oxford, than he was now, a veteran evangelist, flying through the +three kingdoms, and preaching the gospel of God his Saviour? His +medical adviser came not near him; Sir Richard Hill was wantonly +assailing him; his brother, except as a localised pastor in London and +in Bristol, was of no use to him; his wife,--bah! Is it surprising, +that even Wesley had seasons of depression; and that, like others, he +was sometimes “in heaviness through manifold temptations”? + +But it is time to turn to the Calvinian controversy, which we left +raging in 1771. Wesley rarely mentions it, either in his journal or in +his letters, and yet it continued with undiminished fury. + +Fletcher, of Madeley, again entered the field of battle, by publishing +“A Third Check to Antinomianism,” in a letter to Sir Richard Hill, +12mo, 114 pages. This was not only a defence of Wesley, but a +triumphant answer to the “Five Letters” of the baronet, and is written +in a style exceedingly beautiful and Christian. Before the year was +out, it reached a second edition. + +Fletcher’s other publication, in 1772, was “Logica Genevensis; or, a +Fourth Check to Antinomianism: in which St. James’s pure religion is +defended against the charges, and established upon the concessions, +of Mr. Richard and Mr. Rowland Hill. In a Series of Letters to those +Gentlemen.” 12mo, 237 pages.[178] + +It is no part of our present plan to give even the briefest analysis +of these masterly productions. Suffice it to say, that, for sound +scriptural argument, able exposition, lively imagination, elegance of +style, polished irony, and Christian temper, they have no superiors. +The two brothers, notwithstanding their goodness, their learning, their +genius, and their pluck, were but pigmies in the grasp of a Goliath. + +Rowland Hill, a young man of twenty-seven, had experienced the +mortification of being refused ordination by not fewer than six +bishops, and was a roving evangelist, preaching with great success in +Whitefield’s London Tabernacle, in Bristol, Bath, and all over the west +of England. At the commencement of the controversy, Berridge wrote to +him thus: “The late contest at Bristol seems to turn upon this hinge, +whether it shall be _Pope John_ or _Pope Joan_. My dear friend, keep +out of all controversy, and wage no war but with the devil.”[179] +Unfortunately for himself, the young preacher did not follow the +counsel of the vicar of Everton, but, in 1772, issued an octavo +pamphlet of 71 pages, entitled “Friendly Remarks occasioned by the +Spirit and Doctrines contained in the Rev. Mr. Fletcher’s Vindication, +and more particularly in his Second Check to Antinomianism, to which is +added a Postscript, occasioned by his Third Check.” The production is +what might be expected from YOUNG Rowland Hill. Fletcher is accused of +using “tartness of style,” “banter,” “contempt,” “numberless sneers, +taunts, and sarcasms;” “infernal terms of darkness,” “bravado,” +“slander,” “high flown metaphors,” “frothy declamation,” “odious +appellations,” “glaring inconsistencies,” “palpable mistakes.” He says, +“Wesley has been a proverb for his contradictions for above thirty +years.” The “Hymns on God’s Everlasting Love,” “formerly sent forth +from the Foundery,” are stigmatised as “certain godly lampoons of +famous memory.” This was pretty strong to come from a stripling not yet +ordained. + +His brother also was not a laggard. Without loss of time, he published +an octavo volume of 151 pages, with the following gigantic title: +“A Review of all the Doctrines taught by the Rev. Mr. John Wesley; +containing a full and particular Answer to a Book entitled ‘A Second +Check to Antinomianism.’ In six Letters to the Author of that Book; +wherein the Doctrines of a twofold Justification, Free Will, Man’s +Merit, Sinless Perfection, Finished Salvation, and Real Antinomianism +are particularly discussed, and the Puritan Divines vindicated from +the Charges brought against them of holding Mr. Wesley’s Doctrines. To +which is added, a Farrago of Hot and Cold Medicines. By the Rev. Mr. +John Wesley, Author of the ‘Preservative against Unsettled Notions in +Religion.’ Extracted from his own Publications.” + +Richard Hill’s scurrility is quite equal to his brother’s. He writes: +“O my dear sir, I never could have supposed that sneer, banter, and +sarcasm, yea, notorious falsehoods, calumny, and gross perversions, +would have appeared under the sanction of your venerable name.” He +tells Fletcher that he “dips his pen in gall,” and “maintains his cause +by artful insinuations.” “In your first letter,” says he, “I really +cannot find many lines together free from gross misrepresentations and +perversions, and hardly one single paragraph exempt from cutting sneers +and low sarcasms.” “Your pages,” he adds, “are as totally void of solid +Scripture argument as they are replete with calumny, gross perversions +and equivocations.” Wesley is treated with the same bitterness as +Fletcher. “His opinions” are said to be “a mixture of Pelagianism, +semi-Pelagianism, Arminianism, popery, mysticism, and quakerism.” Such +quotations might be multiplied _ad nauseam_; but the reader has had +enough. Suffice it to add, that, before the year 1772 was ended, the +public was blessed with “a second, corrected and enlarged edition” of +this loving effusion of the Salopian baronet. + +Besides all this, Sir Richard published, in 1772, another octavo +pamphlet of 16 pages, with the title, “Some Remarks on a Pamphlet +entitled A Third Check to Antinomianism,” a production brief, but, like +the rest, far too rancorous. Scurrility is almost a sure sign of feeble +arguments and a defenceless cause. + +The two Hills were not Wesley’s only antagonists. Toplady issued his +“More Work for Mr. John Wesley; or, a Vindication of the Decrees +and Providence of God from the Defamations of a late printed paper, +entitled ‘The Consequence Proved.’” 8vo, 104 pages: 1772.[180] + +In his advertisement, Toplady tells his readers, that he bears not the +least ill will to Wesley; and that his manuscript had lain by him for +several weeks, “merely with a view of striking out, from time to time, +whatever might savour of undue asperity and intemperate warmth.” The +following extracts will show how far Toplady succeeded in his pious and +loving wish. + +“Mr. Wesley has as much of the _insidious_ in his composition, +as he has of the _acid_; and it would be difficult to say which +predominates.” “He is for adding the lion to the fox. He wishes not +only to wheedle, but to _thunder_ the Church out of her Calvinism. He +is, like Mahommed, for propagating his religion by the sword. Peals of +anathemas are issued, and torrents of the lowest calumny are thrown +out, against all who abide by the thirty-nine articles. Pope John’s +authority may have some weight with such men as Messrs. Walter Sellon, +Haddon Smith, and Thomas Olivers; but not an inch beyond the purlieus +of ignorance, prejudice, and superstition will his dictatorship +extend.” “His mode of phraseology is as pregnant with craft as his +conduct is destitute of honour. He first _hatches_ blasphemy, and then +_fathers_ it on others.” “His forehead must be _petrified_, and quite +impervious to a blush.” “He sits down, and deliberately _writes_ a +known, wilful, palpable lie to the public.” “He is a pitiful nibbler +at the file he cannot bite.” “Thomas Olivers, a _journeyman shoemaker_, +retained by Mr. Wesley as a lay preacher at the rate of £10 per annum, +is his bully in chief. _In chief_, did I say? I had forgot the Rev. Mr. +Walter Sellon; prunella claims precedency of leather; _Thomas_ is only +_second_ in commission. Mr. Wesley skulks for shelter under a cobbler’s +apron.” “Has Tom, the shoemaker, more _learning_, or more _integrity_, +than John the priest?” “Without the least heat or emotion, I plainly +say, Mr. Wesley _lies_.”[181] + +The following is part of Mr. Toplady’s concluding paragraph. + + “One word to Mr. Wesley himself, and I have done. Time, sir, has + already whitened your locks; and the hour must shortly come, which + will transmit you to the tribunal of that God, on whose sovereignty a + great part of your life has been one continued assault. At that bar + _I_ too must hold up _my_ hand. Omniscience only can tell, _which_ + of us shall first appear before the Judge of all. I shortly _may_, + you shortly _must_. The part you have been permitted to act in the + religious world will, sooner or later, sit heavy on your mind. Depend + upon it, a period will arrive when the Father’s _electing_ mercy and + the Messiah’s adorable _righteousness_, will appear in _your_ eyes, + even in yours, to be the only safe anchorage for a dying sinner. I + mean, unless you are actually given over to final obduration; which, + I trust, you are not; and to which, I most ardently beseech God, you + never may.” + +Poor young Augustus Toplady, now thirty-one years of age, after doing +his utmost to purge his pamphlet from offensive expressions, thus, by +the electing grace of God, speaks of a man approaching seventy. Little +did he think, that within seven years he himself would stand before +that bar with which he threatened Wesley; and that the hoary headed +man, who he thought might be “given over to final obduration,” would be +his survivor nearly thirteen years. + +Besides all this public annoyance, Wesley and Fletcher had sent to +them anonymous letters of the vilest description. Two may suffice as +specimens. Both have Birmingham post mark, and both were addressed to +Fletcher. Both are in the same handwriting; the orthography of one is +correct, but of the other _purposely_ otherwise. In the first are ink +sketches of Wesley and Fletcher in two pulpits, and pelting each other +with Bibles. In the other, Wesley is represented as being hanged, and +Fletcher is shooting him after he is dead. Take an extract from the +first, which, though bad enough, is not the worst that it contains. + + “I HAVE sent you a short poem upon parson Wesley. + + ‘There wos a man, Hold Wesley by name, + I rother think yo’ll bee thee same, + From every porsun he gets tuppence a week-- + I wish hee was hear, and I’d give him a kick. + He open’d a meeting Inn this town, + And all the benchees dyd fall doun, + I was in the meeting at the same tyme, + But O I cannot find a rheime. + You preach’d a Charrity sermun wonce, + And sat in the pulpit like old Punch.’” + +What had Wesley done to deserve all this? Literally nothing, except +publishing the brief and imperfect minutes of a conversation he had +with his itinerant preachers in 1770, on the subject of Calvinism; and, +further, three small tracts, one an abridgment of Toplady’s Zanchius; +another an answer to the question, “What is an Arminian?” and the +third, “The Consequence Proved.” This was absolutely the sum total of +his offence so far as the public was concerned. The minutes fill little +more than an octavo page, and contain not the slightest reflection upon +any one under heaven. The description of an Arminian occupies only +eight pages 12mo, and merely states, in the most temperate terms, the +difference between the Arminian and Calvinistic creeds. From first to +last, the name of no living man is mentioned, except the name of Wesley +himself. The abridgment of Toplady’s Zanchius fills only twelve pages +12mo, and is honestly and fairly made. The only thing in it, that can, +with any degree of fairness, be considered personal, is the summing up +of the principles of Zanchius, which occupy half-a-dozen lines, and to +which Wesley appended the words, characteristic enough of the young +predestinarian whose translation he was abridging, “Reader, believe +this, or be damned. Witness my hand, A---- T----.” Then, in reference +to the third tract, “The Consequence Proved,” the printed matter fills +just eight pages 12mo, and there is absolutely nothing in it but what +is fair argument, except that Wesley calls Toplady “a young, bold man,” +and says he will leave him “to be farther corrected by one that is +full his match, Mr. Thomas Olivers.” This is all, literally all; the +first and last; the substance and the details of Wesley’s offending. +The two Hills, one of them not yet forty, and the other not yet thirty +years of age, are never mentioned, or in the least alluded to, in any +of Wesley’s publications just named. And yet, because an old man, who, +for more than thirty years, had been incessantly traversing the three +kingdoms to preach the gospel of God his Saviour, happens to express, +in the most temperate language, an opinion contrary to the Calvinian +creed, he becomes the butt of the disgraceful abuse, specimens of +which have been given in the previous pages. For many a long year, +Wesley was lampooned in newspapers and magazines, and in tracts and +pamphlets written by two different classes of literary men--Samuel +Foote, the comedian, the representative of one, and George Lavington, +the merryandrew bishop, the representative of the other: but now these +were silent; and, in their stead, we have another set of opponents, +far more angry than the former ones, animated by a spirit quite as +bitter, and using opprobrious epithets almost more offensive; men +believing themselves to be among God’s elect, called, and converted; +loud religious professors, and adepts in the art of railing; profound +admirers of the dead Whitefield, but perfect haters of Whitefield’s +surviving friend, Wesley. In turn, Wesley had encountered mobs and men +of letters, drunken parsons, furious papists, honest infidels, and +others; but, of all his enemies, his last were his bitterest and worst, +Calvinistic Christians!! + +Some will blame the writer for furnishing modern readers with specimens +of the foul mouthed language used, respecting Wesley, by some of the +most flaming professors of Christ’s religion a hundred years ago. His +answer is, the task is far from pleasant; but without a knowledge of +Wesley’s unmerited and unparalleled persecutions, who can have a just +conception of Wesley’s character? The result of such exposures, it +is true, is not only to enhance the fame of Wesley, but to blot the +history of his opponents. This no one regrets more deeply than the +present writer; but he cannot help it. Besides, it is a fact, which +cannot be denied, that there are some sins which, even though repented +of, and pardoned, are, in the present world, always punished. A man +rails, and God forgives him; but even forgiveness cannot prevent his +railing injuring his character. Injured fame, in such a case, is a +penalty unavoidable, reasonable, and right. + +We have furnished specimens of the foolish and disgraceful ravings of +Richard and Rowland Hill. What was Wesley’s reply? There is a quiet +irony in one of the entries in his journal, which is worth quoting: +“1772. July. 11--I was presented with Mr. Hill’s Review, a curiosity +in its kind. But it has nothing to do either with good nature or good +manners; for he is writing to an Arminian. I almost wonder at his +passionate desire to measure swords with me. This is the third time +he has fallen upon me without fear or wit. _Tandem extorquebis ut +vapules._” + +Accordingly, Wesley prepared and published “Some Remarks on Mr. Hill’s +‘Review of all the Doctrines taught by Mr. John Wesley.’” This is the +tartest of Wesley’s publications, and not without reason. He writes: + + “Mr. Fletcher imagined that his opponents would have received his + words in the same spirit wherein they were spoken; but they turn them + all into poison. He not only loses his sweet words, but they are + turned into bitterness, are interpreted as mere sneer and sarcasm! A + good lesson for me! I had designed to have transcribed Mr. Fletcher’s + character of Mr. Hill,[182] and to have added a little thereto, in + hope of softening his spirit; but I see it is in vain; as well might + one hope to soften + + ‘Inexorable Pluto, king of shades!’ + + “Since he is capable of putting such a construction, even upon Mr. + Fletcher’s gentleness and mildness, what will he not ascribe to me? I + have done, therefore, with humbling myself to these men,--to Mr. Hill + and his associates; I have humbled myself to them for these thirty + years, but will do it no more. I have done with attempting to soften + their spirits; it is all lost labour. Upon men of an ingenuous temper + I have been able to fix an obligation. Bishop Gibson, Dr. Church, and + even Dr. Taylor, were obliged to me for not pushing my advantage. But + it is not so with these; whatever mercy you show, you are to expect + no mercy from them. ‘Mercy,’ did I say? Alas! I expect no justice; no + more than I have found already. As they have wrested and distorted my + words from the beginning, so I expect they will do to the end. Mr. + Hill’s performance is a specimen. Such mercy, such justice, I am to + expect! For forty or fifty years, I have been a little acquainted + with controversial writers; some of the Romish persuasion, some of + our own Church, some Dissenters of various denominations; and I have + found many among them as angry as he; but one so bitter I have not + found. As a writer, his name is Wormwood.” + +This was unsheathing the sword, and casting away the scabbard. + +Wesley proceeds, in most trenchant style, to defend himself against +Hill’s grand objection, self inconsistency. Our space renders it +impossible to give an outline of Wesley’s answers to the charges, +so recklessly brought against him. The following is a part of his +conclusion: + + “I now look back on a train of incidents that have occurred for many + months last past, and adore a wise and gracious Providence, ordering + all things well! When the circular letter was first dispersed + throughout Great Britain and Ireland, I did not conceive the immense + good which God was about to bring out of that evil. But no sooner did + Mr. Fletcher’s first Letters appear than the scene began to open; and + the design of Providence opened more and more, when Mr. Shirley’s + Narrative, and Mr. Hill’s Letters, constrained him to write his + Second and Third Checks to Antinomianism. It was then indisputably + clear, that neither my brother nor I had borne a sufficient testimony + to the truth. For many years, from a well meant, but ill judged, + tenderness, we had suffered the reprobation preachers (vulgarly + called ‘gospel preachers’) to spread their poison, almost without + opposition. But, at length, they have awakened us out of sleep: Mr. + Hill has answered for all his brethren, roundly declaring, that ‘any + agreement with election doubters is a covenant with death.’ It is + well: we are now forewarned and forearmed. We look for neither peace + nor truce with any who do not openly and expressly renounce this + diabolical sentiment. But since God is on our side, we will not fear + what man can do unto us. We never before saw our way clear, to do any + more than act on the defensive. But since the circular letter has + sounded the alarm, has called forth all their hosts to war; and since + Mr. Hill has answered the call, drawing the sword, and throwing away + the scabbard; what remains, but to own the hand of God, and make a + virtue of necessity? I will no more desire any Arminian, so called, + to remain only on the defensive. Rather chase the fiend, reprobation, + to his own hell, and every doctrine connected with it. Let none pity + or spare one limb of either speculative or practical antinomianism, + or of any doctrine that naturally tends thereto; only remembering + that, however we are treated by men, who have a dispensation from + the vulgar rules of justice and mercy, we are not to fight them at + their own weapons, to return railing for railing. Those who plead the + cause of the God of love are to imitate Him they serve; and, however + provoked, to use no other weapons than those of truth and love, of + Scripture and reason.” + +Thus did Wesley accept the challenge; and it is not hazarding too much +to make the assertion, that Fletcher’s almost inimitable polemical +productions, and Wesley’s own sermons, together with his _Arminian +Magazine_, started six years afterwards, did what Wesley wished, namely +drove the fiendish doctrine of reprobation to its “own hell,” and gave +a blow to the Calvinian theory, which has been felt from that time to +this. + +Wesley’s other publications, in 1772, were the following. + +1. A revised and enlarged edition of the minutes of his conferences. + +2. The issue of eleven volumes of his revised and collected works, +making a little more than 3900 printed 12mo pages. + +3. Two political tracts: one entitled, “Thoughts upon Liberty”; the +other, “Thoughts concerning the Origin of Power.” The disturbed state +of the nation, at this period, has been already sketched. Junius and +John Wilkes were the arch agitators of the day, and well-nigh drove +the nation into rebellion. Hampson states that, when the Letters of +Junius appeared, Wesley offered his services to the government, and +proposed to answer them, saying, “I will show the difference between +rhetoric and logic.”[183] We have no means of either substantiating +or contradicting this; but Wesley’s “Thoughts upon Liberty” fully +show that Wilkes, the demagogue, was no favourite of his, and that +King George had no truer or more loyal subject than the leader of the +Methodists. + +In his second tract, Wesley combats the theory, that the people of a +nation are the “origin of power.” He shows that, if this were true, +every man, woman, and child ought to possess the electoral franchise, +and to be allowed to take a part in constituting parliaments and +governmental cabinets. He taunts, with withering sarcasm, the advocates +of such a theory, on the ground, that they themselves resist the +facts their theory implies, because they allowed none to vote except +freeholders of forty shillings yearly value, and not even them unless +they had arrived at the age of twenty one. “Worse and worse,” he +writes: “after depriving half the human species of their natural rights +for want of a beard; after depriving myriads more for want of a stiff +beard, for not having lived one-and-twenty years; you rob others of +their birthright for want of money! Yet not altogether on this account +either; for here is an Englishman who has money enough to buy the +estates of fifty freeholders, and yet he must not be numbered among the +people because he has not two or three acres of land.” + +Having shown the absurdities which, as he thinks, the theory involves, +he then concludes: “Common sense brings us back to the grand truth, +‘There is no power but of God.’” + +Wesley’s tract is little known; but the radical politicians of the +present age would be none the worse for studying the principles to +which it summarily adverts.[184] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [152] _Methodist Magazine_, 1835, p. 804. + + [153] “Encyclopædia Britannica,” article “Slavery.” + + [154] Manuscript; and _Methodist Magazine_, 1835, p. 494. + + [155] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785, p. 167. + + [156] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 43. + + [157] Messrs. Romaine and Madan. + + [158] _Methodist Magazine_, 1780, p. 546. + + [159] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 217. + + [160] Mrs. Rogers’ manuscript journal. + + [161] Manuscript. + + [162] _Methodist Magazine_, 1842, p. 728. + + [163] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 129. + + [164] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785, p. 169. + + [165] Wesley’s Works, vol. iii., p. 449. + + [166] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 369. + + [167] “Memoir of Mrs. Mortimer,” p. 37; and Wesley’s Works, + vol. iii., p. 449. + + [168] “Methodism in Halifax,” p. 121. + + [169] _Methodist Magazine_, 1808, p. 482. + + [170] _Irish Evangelist_, April, 1864. + + [171] Wesley justly appends a note to this: “Let the + unbiased reader judge, whether Mr. Fletcher has made + use of groundless arguments or bitter invectives.” + + [172] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785, p. 336. + + [173] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 357. + + [174] Mr. George Mackie has the credit of founding this + society. He died in 1821, after being a member + of the Methodist society more than fifty years, + and a zealous and respected local preacher for + forty.--(_Methodist Magazine_, 1821, p. 939.) The + rules of the Christian Community, published in + 1811, required, that, “in order to admission, every + candidate must have been a member of the late Rev. + John Wesley’s society twelve months; a man of strict + piety and irreproachable character; and having a gift + for prayer and exhortation.” + + [175] The number of services held, indoors and out, during + the year 1867, was 6558, and the number of addresses + given 7524. + + [176] Wesley’s Works, vol. vii., p. 390. + + [177] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., pp. 130, 131. + + [178] Toplady writes, November 27, 1772: “I am informed, + that inveterate troubler in Israel, Mr. John Wesley, + has lately published a fourth squib against Mr. Hill. + What a mercy it is, that the enemies of the gospel, + amidst all their plenitude of malice, have little + skill and less power! Mr. Wesley, considered as a + reasoner, is one of the most contemptible writers + that ever set pen to paper!” (Toplady’s Posthumous + Works, 8vo, 1780, p. 330.) + + [179] Rowland Hill’s Life, p. 428. + + [180] Besides the above, there were also published, at this + period, the two following pamphlets, by Jonathan + Warne, of Southwark: “Arminianism, the Back Door to + Popery:” price one shilling. And “The Downfall of + Arminianism; or Arminians tried and cast, before the + Right Honourable the Lord Chief Justice Truth, for + holding and propagating false opinions concerning the + five following points, viz.: (1) Absolute election; + (2) Particular redemption; (3) The efficacy of God’s + grace in conversion; (4) The impotency of man’s will + in conversion; (5) The final perseverance of the + regenerate.” 8vo, 145 pages. + + [181] The _italic_ words are emphasized in the original. + + [182] Sir Richard Hill did not obtain his title till the + death of his father, in 1783. + + [183] Life of Wesley, vol. iii., p. 160. + + [184] To understand some of the allusions, in these two + political tracts, it is necessary to remember that, + in 1772, a petition was presented to parliament, + signed by about 250 of the clergy, and a considerable + number of the members of the professions of civil law + and physic, praying to be relieved from the necessity + of subscribing to the thirty-nine articles of the + Established Church; and that a bill was passed, in + the House of Commons, annulling that part of the Act + of Toleration which authorised the infliction of + heavy penalties upon the ministers, schoolmasters, + and private tutors of Dissenters, unless they + subscribed to all the _doctrinal_ parts of the + thirty-nine articles. The bill passed the Commons + triumphantly; the Lords, by a _large majority_, + rejected it! + + + + + 1773. + Age 70 + +The year 1773 will always be memorable in English annals. It was now +that the embryo rebellion in the American colonies broke out into overt +acts. Insults were offered to the British flag; a British ship of war +was boarded and burnt; and the cargoes of tea, which Lord North had +allowed to be exported from England, duty free, were seized by rioters +and sham Indians, and were discharged into the ocean with the utmost +jubilation. Endless debates took place in the English parliament; and +fearful fights were fought on the coasts, and in the wilds and prairies +of America. George Washington was made commander in chief; and “The +Congress of the Thirteen United Colonies” was organised. For long +years, the one great absorbing care of the British parliament was the +war in the western world. + +Wesley’s health was still seriously affected; and, hence, he spent his +leisure hours, in the beginning of 1773, in examining his letters and +other manuscripts, so as to determine what he should leave behind him. +He writes: “I made an end of revising my letters; and could not but +make one remark,--that, for above these forty years, of all the friends +who were once the most closely united, and afterwards separated from +me, every one had separated himself! He left me, not I him. And from +both mine and their own letters, the steps whereby they did this are +clear and undeniable.” + +We have already seen, that Wesley thought of making Fletcher of +Madeley his literary executor; but he now did more than this. Hence +the following letter, sent to Fletcher in January 1773, and written at +Shoreham, doubtless at the venerable Perronet’s, with whom Wesley had +gone to take counsel. + + “DEAR SIR,--What an amazing work has God wrought in these kingdoms, + in less than forty years! And it not only continues, but increases, + throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland; nay, it has lately spread + into New York, Pennsylvania, Virginia, Maryland, and Carolina. But + the wise men of the world say, ‘When Mr. Wesley drops, then all this + is at an end!’ And so surely it will, unless, before God calls him + hence, one is found to stand in his place. For Ουκ αγαθον + πολυκοιρανια. Εις κοιρανος εστω. I see, more and more, unless there + be one προεστως, the work can never be carried on. The body + of the preachers are not united; nor will any part of them submit to + the rest; so that, either there must be one to preside over all, or + the work will indeed come to an end. + + “But who is sufficient for these things? qualified to preside both + over the preachers and people? He must be a man of faith and love, + and one that has a single eye to the advancement of the kingdom of + God. He must have a clear understanding; a knowledge of men and + things, particularly of the Methodist doctrine and discipline; a + ready utterance; diligence and activity, with a tolerable share + of health. There must be added to these, favour with the people, + with the Methodists in general. For unless God turn their eyes and + their hearts toward him, he will be quite incapable of the work. + He must, likewise, have some degree of learning; because there are + many adversaries, learned as well as unlearned, whose mouths must be + stopped. But this cannot be done, unless he be able to meet them on + their own ground. + + “But has God provided one so qualified? Who is he? _Thou art the + man!_ God has given you a measure of loving faith; and a single eye + to His glory. He has given you some knowledge of men and things; + particularly of the whole plan of Methodism. You are blessed with + some health, activity, and diligence; together with a degree of + learning. And to all these He has lately added, by a way none could + have foreseen, favour both with the preachers and the whole people. + Come out, then, in the name of God! Come to the help of the Lord + against the mighty! Come while I am alive and capable of labour! + Come, while I am able, God assisting, to build you up in faith, + to ripen your gifts, and to introduce you to the people! _Nil + tanti._ What possible employment can you have, which is of so great + importance? + + “But you will naturally say, ‘I am not equal to the task; I have + neither grace nor gifts for such an employment.’ You say true; it is + certain you have not. And who has? But do you not know _Him_ who is + able to give them? Perhaps not at once, but rather day by day; as + each is, so shall your strength be. + + “‘But this implies,’ you may say, ‘a thousand crosses, such as I feel + I am not able to bear.’ You are not able to bear them _now_; and they + are not _now_ come. Whenever they do come, will _He_ not send them + in due number, weight and measure? And will they not all be for your + profit, that you may be a partaker of His holiness? + + “Without conferring, therefore, with flesh and blood, come and + strengthen the hands, comfort the heart, and share the labour of your + affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[185] + +This was a momentous proposal. Why was it not made to Wesley’s brother? +We cannot tell; but the following is Fletcher’s answer. + + “MADELEY, _February 6, 1773_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--I hope the Lord, who has so wonderfully + stood by you hitherto, will preserve you to see many of your sheep, + and me among the rest, enter into rest. Should Providence call you + _first_, I shall do my best, by the Lord’s assistance, to help + _your brother_ to gather the wreck, and keep together those who are + not absolutely bent upon throwing away the Methodist doctrine or + discipline. Every little help will then be necessary; and, I hope, I + shall not be backward to throw in my mite. + + “In the meantime, you stand sometimes in need of an assistant to + serve tables, and occasionally to fill up a gap. Providence visibly + appointed me to that office many years ago; and, though it no + less evidently called me here, yet I have not been without doubt, + especially for some years past, whether it would not be expedient + that I should resume my place as your deacon; not with any view of + presiding over the Methodists after you, (God knows!) but to save + you a little in your old age, and be in the way of receiving, and + perhaps of doing, more good. I have sometimes considered how shameful + it was that no clergyman should join you, to keep in the Church the + work which the Lord had enabled you to carry on therein; and, as + the little estate I have in my native country is sufficient for my + maintenance, I have thought I would, one day or other, offer you and + the Methodists my _free_ services. + + “While my love of retirement, and my dread of appearing upon a + higher stage than that I stand upon here, made me linger, I was + providentially called to do something in Lady Huntingdon’s plan; but, + being shut out there, it appears to me, I am again called to my first + work. + + “Nevertheless, I would not leave this place, without a _fuller_ + persuasion that the time is quite come. Not that God uses me much + _now_ among my parishioners, but because I have not sufficiently + cleared my conscience from the blood of all men, especially with + regard to ferreting out the poor, and expostulating with the rich, + who make it their business to fly from me. In the meantime, it shall + be my employment to beg the Lord to give me light, and make me + willing to go anywhere or nowhere, to be anything or nothing. + + “I have laid my pen aside for some time; nevertheless, I resumed it + last week, at your brother’s request, to go on with my treatise on + Christian perfection. I have made some alterations in the sheets you + have seen, and hope to have a few more ready for your correction, + against the time you come this way. How deep is the subject! What + need have I of the Spirit, to search the deep things of God! Help me + by your prayers, till you can help me by word of mouth. + + “I am, reverend and dear sir, your willing, though unprofitable, + servant in the gospel, + + “JOHN FLETCHER.”[186] + +At the beginning of July, Wesley had an interview with Fletcher at +Madeley, and, on reaching London, sent him the following hitherto +unpublished letter. + + “LEWISHAM, _July 21, 1773_. + + “DEAR SIR,--It was a great satisfaction to me, that I had the + opportunity, which I so long desired, of spending a little time + with you. And I really think it would answer many gracious designs + of Providence were we to spend a little more time together. It + might be of great advantage both to ourselves and the people, who + may otherwise soon be as sheep without a shepherd. You say indeed, + ‘whenever it pleases God to call me away, you will do all you can to + help them.’ But will it not then be too late? You may then expect + grievous wolves to break in on every side; and many to arise from + among themselves, speaking perverse things. Both the one and the + other stand in awe of me, and do not care to encounter me; so that + I am able, whether they will or no, to deliver the flock into your + hands. But no one else is. And it seems, this is the very time when + it may be done with the least difficulty. Just now the minds of the + people in general are, on account of the Checks, greatly prejudiced + in your favour. Should we not discern the providential time? Should + we stay till the impression is worn away? Just now, we have an + opportunity of breaking the ice, of making a little trial. Mr. + Richardson is desirous of making an exchange with you, and spending + two or three weeks at Madeley. This might be done either now, or in + October, when I hope to return from Bristol. And till something of + this kind is done, you will not have that στοργη for the people + which alone can make your labour light in spending and being spent + for them. Methinks ’tis pity we should lose any time; for what a + vapour is life! + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate friend and brother, + + JOHN WESLEY.” + +So the matter ended, though Wesley was far from satisfied. He writes: +“I can never believe it was the will of God, that such a burning and +shining light should be hid under a bushel. No; instead of being +confined to a country village, it ought to have shone in every corner +of our land. He was full as much called to sound an alarm through all +the nation as Mr. Whitefield himself; nay, abundantly more so; seeing +he was far better qualified for that important work. He had a far more +striking person; equal good breeding; an equally winning address; +together with a richer flow of fancy; a stronger understanding; a far +greater treasure of learning, both in languages, philosophy, philology, +and divinity; and, above all, a more deep and constant communion with +the Father, and with the Son Jesus Christ.”[187] + +No wonder that Wesley was anxious for a suitable successor to take his +place. The work of which, in the hand of God, he was the principal +supporter, had not only spread throughout the three kingdoms, but +was rapidly extending beyond the Atlantic. Already he had four of +his itinerants in America; and, aged and feeble in health though +he was, he still entertained the thought of visiting that distant +continent.[188] Among others, the Rev. Mr. Jarratt wrote him, from +Virginia, telling him that they had ninety-five parishes in the colony, +all, excepting one, supplied with clergymen, but that ninety-three out +of the ninety-four ministers appeared to be without “the power and +spirit of vital religion.” He thanks him for sending his preachers to +America, two of whom, Messrs. Pilmoor and Williams, were now labouring +in Virginia; but asks, “What can two or three preachers do in such an +extended country as this? Cannot you do something more for us? Cannot +you send us a minister of the Church of England, to be stationed in +the vacant parish? I wish you could see how matters are among us. This +would serve instead of a thousand arguments, to induce you to exert +yourself in this affair.”[189] + +Even this was not all. During the year, Francis Gilbert wrote to him +from Antigua, telling him that “almost the whole island seemed to +be stirred up to seek the Lord.” There were large congregations and +constant preaching in his brother’s house; and they had, at St. John’s, +a society of twenty whites and forty blacks. “Here,” says Mr. Gilbert, +“is work enough for three preachers; as almost the entire island seems +ripe for the gospel; yet, I cannot desire you to send them yet, seeing +the people are not at present able to bear the expenses; for the fire, +the hurricane, and the severe droughts have, I suppose, ruined two +thirds of the inhabitants.”[190] + +Affairs in Scotland were scarcely to Wesley’s mind. Writing to John +Bredin, at Aberdeen, he says: + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Observe and enforce all our rules exactly as + if you were in England, or Ireland. By foolish complaisance our + preachers, in Scotland, have often done harm. Be all a Methodist; and + strongly insist on _full salvation_ to be received _now_ by simple + _faith_. + + “I am yours affectionately, + + JOHN WESLEY.”[191] + +Joseph Benson had been urged to go to America; but Wesley deemed it +desirable to send him across the Tweed to put things right in the +northern part of the kingdom. “God,” says he, “has made practical +divinity necessary, and the devil controversial. Sometimes we must +write and preach controversially; but the less the better. I think we +have few, if any, of our travelling preachers, that love controversy; +but there will always be men whose mouth it is necessary to stop; +antinomians and Calvinists in particular. By our long silence, we have +done much hurt, both to them and the cause of God. The more you preach +abroad, the better; keep to the plain, old Methodist doctrine, laid +down in the minutes of the conference. At Trevecca, you were a little +warped from this; but it was a right hand error. You will be buried +in Scotland, if you sell your mare and sit still. Keep her, and ride +continually. Sit not still, at the peril of your soul and body! Billy +Thompson never satisfied me on this head, not in the least degree. I +say still, we will have travelling preachers in Scotland, or none. Our +preachers shall either travel there, as in England, or else stay in +England.”[192] + +Such were some of the difficulties which this veteran evangelist had to +meet. No wonder that he wished for help. + +Chapel debts, also, still pressed heavily upon him. Hence the following +to Mr. Hopper. + + “_February 6, 1773._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I agreed last year, though contrary to my + judgment, that we would have no more weekly subscriptions. I + purposed, likewise, in my own mind, to concern myself with the debt + no more. But, upon reflection, it seemed to me, there was one way + still, namely, not to apply to the poor at all, (though I would not + reject any that offered,) but to take the burden on myself, and try + my personal interest with the rich. I began at London, where about + £500 are subscribed. Afterwards, I wrote to many in the country. + Liverpool circuit has subscribed about £100; Bradford circuit £130. + It must be now or never. I do not know that I shall concern myself + with this matter any more. Till now we never had a rational prospect + of clearing the whole debt in one year. Now it may be done. It + certainly will, if our brethren, in other circuits, do as these above + mentioned have done. What I desire of you is to second the letters + I have wrote, encouraging each man of property in your circuit to + exert himself; at least, to send me an answer: this, you know, is + but common civility. Now do what you can; and show that you, my old + friend, are not the last and least in love towards your affectionate + friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[193] + +It is now time to trace Wesley’s wanderings in 1773. + +On Sunday evening, March 7, he set out from London to Ireland, taking, +for the first time, his carriage with him, which, however, he was +deprived of the opportunity of using. He writes: “March 30--I was a +little surprised to find the commissioners of the customs would not +permit my chaise to be landed, because, they said, the captain of a +packet boat had no right to bring over goods. Poor pretence! However, I +was more obliged to them than I then knew; for had it come on shore, it +would have been utterly spoiled.” + +The result was, that Wesley had to hire a chaise instead of riding in +his own; a vehicle which at Ballibac ferry went overboard, and, with +difficulty, was recovered; and which, on another occasion, it took five +hours to drag less than a dozen miles; which, in a third instance, was +disabled by the breaking of the hinder axletree; and which, more than +once, was in danger of being dashed to pieces by furious mobs. + +Everywhere his congregations were large. In many instances, he had +whole troops of soldiers to hear him; and nowhere did he meet with any +serious disturbance, except at Waterford, where the papists created a +riot, in which heavy blows were given; and at Enniskillen, where a mob +again and again fell upon the unfortunate carriage, cut it with stones +in several places, smashed its windows, and well-nigh covered it with +sludge. + +Three months were spent in itinerating the sister kingdom. Scores +of towns and villages, between Dublin and Galway, Belfast and Cork, +were favoured with his ministry; and diversified were the incidents +with which he met. At Eyrecourt, the crowd gave him a loud huzza as +he passed into the market place to preach. At Clare, for want of +other accommodation, he was glad to accept a bed in the soldiers’ +barracks. At Castlebar, on finding the “Charter school a picture of +slothfulness, nastiness, and desolation; and all the children, not +only dirty, but with their stockings hanging about their heels, and +in a most disreputable plight, he reported the facts to the trustees +at Dublin, with the hope of effecting a reformation.” At Limerick, +William Myles, a youth in the seventeenth year of his age, was one of +Wesley’s hearers, began to meet in class, and, five years afterwards, +became an itinerant preacher.[194] At Armagh, he wrote his invaluable +sermon “On Predestination,” preached it at Londonderry, and, at the +request of several of the clergy, published it.[195] At Armagh, also, +he heard what he had not heard for fifty years,--an anthem in a church. +At Lisburn, all his spare time was taken up by poor patients, who came +to him for physic. He writes: “What has fashion to do with physic? Why, +in Ireland almost as much as with headdress. Blisters, for anything or +nothing, were all the fashion when I was in Ireland last. Now the grand +fashionable medicine, for twenty diseases, is mercury sublimate! Why is +it not a halter, or a pistol? They would cure a little more speedily.” + +On the 5th of July, Wesley started for England, having to hold his +annual conference in London. He says: “About eleven we crossed Dublin +bar, and were at Hoylake the next afternoon. This was the first night +I ever lay awake in my life, though I was at ease in body and mind. I +believe few can say this: in seventy years I never lost one night’s +sleep.” + +Wesley reached the metropolis on the 17th of July; and, on the 21st, +made the following entry in his journal: “We had our quarterly meeting +at London; at which I was surprised to find, that our income does not +yet meet our expense. We were again near £200 bad. My private account I +find still worse. I have laboured as much as many writers; and all my +labour has gained me, in seventy years, a debt of five or six hundred +pounds.” + +There is some obscurity in this, as will appear from the following +correspondence. + + + “To Messrs. THOMAS BALL and ALEXANDER MATHER. + + “LEWISHAM, _February 27, 1772_.[196] + + “THE thing which I desire you to do is this, to see that an exact + account be kept of all the books in Great Britain and Ireland, + printed and sold on my account. You comprehend how many particulars + are contained under this general. To do this accurately will require + much thought. But you will bear that burden for God’s sake, and for + the sake of your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + + (Reply.) + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--I beg to lay before you Mr. Mather’s + account, sent me by letter of the 18th past, of the gross value of + your books, taken in February and March, 1773; viz.:-- + + £ _s._ _d._ + “In London, etc. 3754 4 0 + Bristol 4253 4 8 + Country 2716 1 8 + Cash 183 2 1 + Debts 23 2 1 + -------------- + 10929 15 4 + Stock in February, 1772 8833 0 7 + -------------- + £2096 14 9 + -------------- + + “Supposed to be owing in March last to printers, binders, etc., £500. + + “I am, reverend sir, your most obedient and dutiful servant, + + “THOMAS BALL. + + “Examined 21st September, 1773:--THOMAS MARRIOTT, + RICHARD KEMP.”[197] + +According to the above statement, Wesley was in debt to printers and +binders to the amount of £500; but, at the same time, he was possessed +of books whose gross value was nearly £11,000. How to reconcile the +discrepancy we hardly know. The facts are furnished as we find them. +One thing is certain, there was something wrong. Some have supposed +that Wesley’s wife had, by means of false keys, obtained access to the +book steward’s cash, and helped herself;[198] but of that there is no +conclusive proof; and it is certainly neither generous nor just to +assert the thing without proving it. All that we know further is, that +poor Samuel Franks, the book steward, a man of great uprightness and +earnest piety,[199] but naturally of a sensitive disposition, within +a fortnight, fell into a fit of insanity, and hanged himself.[200] +Without mentioning this, Wesley writes: “October 6--The rest of the +week I made what inquiry I could into the state of my accounts. Some +confusion had arisen from the sudden death of my bookkeeper; but it was +less than might have been expected.” + +Here we must leave the matter. On the supposition that Wesley +considered his stock of books not his own, but merely held in trust +for the general good, it was quite correct, that, as the result of his +literary labours, he was in debt to the amount, as he himself says, “of +five or six hundred pounds.” In one respect, he was the possessor of a +large amount of property; in another, he was actually in debt. + +Wesley’s conference began in London on August 3. He writes: “August +3--Our conference began. I preached mornings as well as evenings; and +it was all one. I found myself just as strong as if I had preached but +once a day.” Good old simple hearted Samuel Bardsley, then an itinerant +of five years’ standing, writes, in a manuscript letter now before us: +“I never was at a more comfortable conference. We had a deal of love +among us. Dear Mr. Wesley laboured hard. I had the pleasure of hearing +him preach twelve times. He said, he had not preached so much at a +conference these twenty years, and never was more assisted.” + +It was now that Joseph Bradford was received on trial; and that Thomas +Olivers was appointed to be Wesley’s travelling companion; honest +Bradford taking the place of Olivers a year afterwards, and retaining +it for the next eight years. Wesley’s effort to extinguish the chapel +debts had resulted in a subscription amounting to £2237. Forty-seven +preachers were present, and, “in order to lay a foundation for future +union,” signed the following agreement. + + “WE whose names are underwritten, being thoroughly convinced of the + necessity of a close union between those whom God is pleased to use + as instruments in this glorious work, in order to preserve this union + between ourselves, are resolved, God being our helper,-- + + “I. To devote ourselves entirely to God: denying ourselves, taking up + our cross daily, steadily aiming at one thing, to save our own souls, + and them that hear us. + + “II. To preach the old Methodist doctrines, and no other, contained + in the minutes of the conferences. + + “III. To observe and enforce the whole Methodist discipline, laid + down in the said minutes.” + +Wesley had failed in obtaining the consent of Fletcher to be his +successor; and, hence, the drawing up and signing of this conferential +compact. + +On the first Sunday night, after the conference concluded, Wesley set +out, by coach, on his accustomed tour to Cornwall, which occupied the +next three weeks. + +In returning, he spent a month at Bristol, and among the societies +round about. On October 6, he started in his chaise, at two o’clock +in the morning, and, in the evening, arrived in London; thus, in one +winter’s day, driving in his own conveyance a distance of one hundred +and fourteen miles. The rest of October, except the Sundays, was spent +in what he calls his “little tours,” through the five counties of +Bedford, Northampton, Oxford, Buckingham, and Kent. + +Ten days, in November, were spent in Norfolk; then he met the London +classes; and afterwards went off to Sussex, and then to Kent. The last +entry in his year’s itinerary is: “London: December 25, and on the +following days, we had many happy opportunities of celebrating the +solemn feast days, according to the design of their institution. We +concluded the year with a fast day, closed with a solemn watchnight.” +Thus, in observing feast and fast days, ended the year 1773. One of +these, of course, was Christmas day, another St. Stephen’s, a third +St. John’s, and a fourth the Innocents’ day. To some it may seem +strange, that Wesley, the Methodist, should observe such festivals as +these; but, in such matters, Wesley was still the Churchman. Besides, +throughout life, it was one of his most sacred delights to think, not +only of the living, but likewise of the dead. On the 12th of June, in +this very year of 1773, he wrote a letter, an extract from which is +worth preserving. + + “It has, in all ages, been allowed, that the communion of saints + extends to those in paradise, as well as those on earth, as they are + all one body, united under one Head; and + + ‘Can death’s interposing tide + Spirits one in Christ divide?’ + + “But it is difficult to say, either what kind, or what degree of + union, may be between them. It is not improbable, their fellowship + with us is far more sensible than ours with them. Suppose any of + them are present, they are hid from our eyes, but we are not hid + from their sight. They, no doubt, clearly discern all our words and + actions, if not all our thoughts too. For it is hard to think these + walls of flesh and blood can intercept the view of an angelic being. + But we have, in general, only a faint and indistinct perception of + their presence, unless in some peculiar instances, where it may + answer some gracious ends of Divine Providence. Then it may please + God to permit, that they should be perceptible, either by some of our + outward senses, or by an internal sense, for which human language has + not a name. But I suppose this is not a common blessing. I have known + but few instances of it. To keep up constant and close communion with + God is the most likely mean to obtain this also.”[201] + +Up to the present, nothing has been said concerning the progress, in +1773, of the Calvinian controversy. Fletcher’s pen was not idle, but +the only works he published were: first, “An Appeal to Matter of Fact +and Common Sense; or, a Rational Demonstration of Man’s Corrupt and +Lost Estate,” 12mo, 296 pages; and, secondly, “A Dreadful Phenomenon +Described and Improved, being a Particular Account of the Earthquake at +Madeley, on May 27, 1773:” 12mo, 104 pages. Neither of these, however, +had any immediate bearing on the matters in dispute. + +On the other side, good old Berridge, of Everton, brought out his +“Christian World Unmasked”; which, if full of faults, is, at all +events, free from dulness; a book, like its author, often odd, +sometimes coarse, but always pious; full of genius, and full of +goodness; seasoned with Calvinism’s highest flavour, but entirely free +from the personal scurrility so characteristic of others. + +Toplady sent nothing to the press; but his private letters were as +full of bitterness as ever. “I am told,” he writes, “that Mr. Fletcher +has it in contemplation to make an attack on me. He is welcome. I am +ready for him. Tenderness has no effect on Mr. Wesley and his pretended +_family of love_. For my own part, I shall never attempt to hew such +millstones with a feather. They must be served as nettles; press them +close, and they cannot sting. Cobbler _Tom_ laments publicly, from his +preaching tub (misnamed a pulpit), that such an antinomian as myself +should have such crowded auditories, while the preachers of the _pure +gospel_ (by which he means _free will_, _merit_, and _perfection_) +are so thinly attended. The envy, malice, and fury of Wesley’s party +are inconceivable. But, as violently as they hate _me_, I dare not, +I cannot hate _them_ in return. I have not so learned Christ. Your +idea of Mr. John Wesley and his associates exactly tallies with mine. +Abstracted from all warmth, and from all prejudice, I believe him to +be the most rancorous hater of the gospel system that ever appeared in +England. I except not Pelagius himself. The latter had some remains of +modesty, and preserved some appearances of decency; but the former has +outlived all pretentions to both.”[202] + +Could this impulsive reviler be actually sincere, when he said he durst +not, and could not, hate Wesley and his party? + +Toplady, so far as printing was concerned, was silent; but Richard Hill +begun the year as vigorously as ever, by publishing his “Finishing +Stroke; containing some Strictures on the Rev. Mr. Fletcher’s pamphlet, +entitled, ‘Logica Genevensis, or a Fourth Check to Antinomianism:’” +8vo, 57 pages. This characteristic piece is dated January 2, 1773. +The author confesses, that he had formed a resolution to be silent; +but “Logica Genevensis” was too provoking to be passed in silence. +This, however, was to be the real “finishing stroke.” Sir Richard +writes: “the unfair quotations you have made, and the shocking +misrepresentations and calumnies you have been guilty of, will, for the +future, prevent me from looking into any of your books, if you should +write a thousand volumes. So here the controversy must end; at least, +it shall end for me.” + +Poor Sir Richard! Such was his resolve; and yet, almost before the +printer’s ink was dry, his godly impetuosity sent forth another +octavo pamphlet, of the same size as the former one, entitled “Logica +Wesleiensis; or the Farrago Double Distilled. With an heroic Poem +in Praise of Mr. John Wesley:” 63 pages. Hill, as usual, is angry +and vindictive. He tells his readers, that he had never seen Wesley +“above four or five times in his life; once in the pulpit at West +Street chapel; once at a friend’s house; and once or twice at his own +lodgings in Vine Street.” He writes: “I find it just as easy to catch +an eel by the tail, as to lay hold of Mr. Wesley for one single moment. +Oh, what quirks, quibbles, and evasions does this gentleman descend to, +in order to shift off his own inconsistencies!” As a specimen of the +writer’s “heroic poem,” we give the following. + + “A choice _Preservative_ I have, + The like was never known; + With potions, juleps, drops, and pukes, + Peculiarly my own. + + Help _Cobbler_ Tom, and thou Swiss friend, + To lay John Calvin’s ghost; + For what with _cynics_, _bigots_, _bears_, + I fear the day is lost. + + We three shall incantations raise, + With _thunderings_, lightnings, hail; + And if the hobgoblin won’t avaunt, + I’ll bring my comet’s tail.” + +Sir Richard was not content with this. During the year, he published +another octavo pamphlet, of 30 pages, with the wordy title, “Three +Letters written by Richard Hill, Esq., to the Rev. J. Fletcher, vicar +of Madeley, setting forth Mr. Hill’s Reasons for declining any further +Controversy relative to Mr. Wesley’s Principles.” + +He states, that he has heard that Fletcher “wishes to have done with +controversy;” and upon the strength of this, he has written to his +London bookseller to stop the sale of his own publications. He begs +pardon for “whatever may have savoured too much of his own spirit”; +and says, restraint should be put upon several of Wesley’s preachers, +“particularly upon one Perronet, of whose superlatively abusive and +insolent little piece Charles Wesley had testified his abhorrence from +the pulpit.” He wishes Wesley to be made acquainted with the action he +has taken, and says: “If I stop the sale of my books, I hope that of +the Four Checks will be stopped also.” He adds, that his mother’s death +had recently taken place; and then, at the end of his pamphlet, gives +“a proposed title” to Fletcher’s works, and also “A Creed for Arminians +and Perfectionists”; the latter signed by “J. F., J. W., and W. S.” + +Such is the substance of the three letters, which, in the first +instance, were sent to Fletcher privately, and were not intended for +publication. By some means, however, the fact of the letters having +been written became bruited abroad, and certain hasty logicians deduced +the unauthorised inference, that Sir Richard had recanted his Calvinian +doctrines. This was too bitter a pill to be swallowed; and, hence, +the writer, who was weary of the war, gave his private letters to the +public, and attached to them a preface which had better not been penned. + +For instance, he speaks of Thomas Olivers as “a journeyman cordwainer, +who had written a pamphlet against him, which, though in itself +_black of the grain_, was afterwards _lacquered up_, _new soled_, +and _heel tapped_ by his master, before it was exposed to sale.” He +adds: “I shall not take the least notice of him, or read a line of his +composition, any more than, if I was travelling, I would stop to lash, +or even order my footman to lash, every impertinent little quadruped in +a village, that should come out and bark at me; but would willingly let +the contemptible animal have the satisfaction of thinking he had driven +me out of sight.” + +He then proceeds to accuse Fletcher of “misrepresenting facts,” +and of using “artifices, false glosses, pious frauds, declamation, +chicanery, and evasion, to throw dust into the eyes of his readers;” +and concludes, by saying, that though he cannot read any more of the +productions of Fletcher’s pen, and, therefore, cannot write replies +to them, yet, notwithstanding all in his letters to the contrary, he +shall still keep on sale his “Paris Conversation”; his “Five Letters”; +his “Review of Wesley’s Doctrines”; his “Logica Wesleiensis”; and his +“Finishing Stroke.” + +Such was the position of Sir Richard Hill in 1773. He wished for peace. +Why? Because he was vanquished. + +What action did Wesley take? On the 1st of April was published, “Some +Remarks on Mr. Hill’s Farrago Double Distilled. By John Wesley.”[203] +12mo, 44 pages. + +Wesley’s “Remarks” are characterised by his wonted keenness, courtesy, +wit, and brevity. In conclusion, he writes: + + “I beg leave, in my turn, to give you a few advices. 1. Be calm. Do + not venture into the field again till you are master of your temper. + 2. Be good natured. Passion is not commendable; but ill nature still + less. 3. Be courteous. Show good manners, as well as good nature, to + your opponent, of whatever kind. 4. Be merciful. When you have gained + an advantage over your opponent, do not press it to the uttermost. + Remember the honest quaker’s advice to his friend a few years ago: + ‘Art thou not content to lay John Wesley upon his back, but thou + wilt tread his guts out?’ 5. In writing, do not consider yourself as + a man of fortune, or take any liberty with others on that account. + Men of sense simply consider what is written; not whether the writer + be a lord or a cobbler. 6. Lastly, Remember, ‘for every idle word + men shall speak, they shall give an account in the day of judgment.’ + Remember, ‘by thy words shalt thou be justified; or by thy words + shalt thou be condemned.’” + +Wesley’s other publications, in 1773, were nine 12mo volumes of his +collected works, making together 3439 pages. In these were included +five small works, now first published: namely,--1. “An Extract of Two +Discourses on the Conflagration and Renovation of the World: written by +James Knight, D.D., late Vicar of St. Sepulchre, London;” in which, by +the way, a theory is propounded antagonistic to the millenarian theory, +which Wesley countenanced some years before. 2. “An Extract from a +Treatise concerning Religious Affections: by the late Rev. Jonathan +Edwards.” 3. “A Short Account of John Dillon.” 4. “Instructions for +Members of Religious Societies.” 5. “Christian Reflections. Translated +from the French.” These “Reflections” are three hundred and thirty-six +in number. We give one as a specimen of the rest. “The three greatest +punishments which God can inflict on sinners, in this world, are: 1. To +let loose their own desires upon them. 2. To let them succeed in all +they wish for. And, 3. To suffer them to continue many years in the +quiet enjoyment thereof.” + +Besides the above, Wesley also published “A Short Roman History.” 12mo, +155 pages. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [185] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 355. + + [186] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 259. + + [187] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 288. + + [188] Asbury’s Journal, vol. i., p. 72. + + [189] _Methodist Magazine_, 1786, p. 397. + + [190] _Methodist Magazine_, 1786, p. 567. + + [191] _Wesleyan Times_, May 13, 1861. + + [192] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., pp. 391, 392. + + [193] Wesley’s Works, vol xii., p. 291. + + [194] _Methodist Magazine_, 1831, p. 290. + + [195] Ibid. 1782, pp. 505, 565. + + [196] Query: ought not this to be 1773? + + [197] _Methodist Magazine_, 1842, p. 1013. + + [198] Manuscript. + + [199] _Methodist Magazine_, 1842, p. 1012. + + [200] Manuscript. + + [201] _Methodist Magazine_, 1805, p. 520. + + [202] Toplady’s Posthumous Works, 1780, pp. 343-346. + + [203] _Lloyd’s Evening Post_, April 2, 1773. + + + + + 1774. + Age 71 + +References have been made to the state of Wesley’s health. His labours +had been undiminished, and yet many of his friends had been anxious and +alarmed. John Pawson, in an unpublished letter, dated Bristol, October +14, 1773, remarks: “Mr. Wesley has been with us for some time. He +seems to be declining very fast; and I think there is great reason to +fear that he will not be with us long.” There was sufficient cause for +solicitude. Wesley’s pain, during the last three years, must have been +acute; and it is perfectly marvellous how he managed, without a murmur, +and without abatement, to do the whole of his accustomed work. At the +beginning of 1774, the matter reached its crisis. He writes: + + “January 4--Three or four years ago, a stumbling horse threw me + forward on the pommel of the saddle. I felt a good deal of pain; but + it soon went off, and I thought of it no more. Some months after, I + observed _testiculum alterum altero duplo majorem esse_. I consulted + a physician; he told me it was a common case, and did not imply any + disease at all. In May twelvemonth, it was grown near as large as + a hen’s egg. Being then at Edinburgh, Dr. Hamilton insisted on my + having the advice of Drs. Gregory and Munro. They immediately saw + it was a hydrocele, and advised me, as soon as I came to London, + to aim at a radical cure, which they judged might be effected in + about sixteen days. When I came to London, I consulted Mr. Wathen. + He advised me--(1) Not to think of a radical cure, which could not + be hoped for, without my lying in one posture fifteen or sixteen + days; and he did not know whether this might not give a wound to my + constitution, which I should never recover. (2) To do nothing while I + continued easy. And this advice I was determined to take. Last month, + the swelling was often painful. So on this day Mr. Wathen performed + the operation, and drew off something more than half a pint of a + thin, yellow, transparent water. With this came out, to his no small + surprise, a pearl of the size of a small shot; which he supposed + might be one cause of the disorder, by occasioning a conflux of + humours to the part.” + +Such is Wesley’s own simple statement. The disease was unquestionably +a serious one; and, yet, it is a surprising fact, that, only a week +after the surgical operation, he was again in harness, and as actively +employed as ever. Hence the following: “Tuesday, January 11--I began, +at the east end of the town, to visit the society from house to house. +I know no branch of the pastoral office which is of greater importance +than this. But it is so grievous to flesh and blood, that I can prevail +on few, even of our preachers, to undertake it.” + +Wesley’s zeal for the extension of his Saviour’s kingdom would hardly +let him rest when rest was requisite. His long life was an unbroken +scene of gigantic action. He worked as though nothing could be done +without his working; and yet no man more practically acknowledged, that +all his work, without God’s blessing, would amount to nothing. Hence, +not only his own ceaseless prayers for the help and co-operation of +his great Master, but also his appointment of fast days to be observed +by the thousands of his followers. Many of these are mentioned in his +journals, but many were observed without being mentioned. One of these +occurred at the time of which we are now writing. “Yesterday,” says +Samuel Bardsley, on January 25, 1774, “yesterday I got a letter from +Mr. Wesley, informing me that the 28th instant is to be observed as +a day of fasting and prayer for the prosperity of the gospel.”[204] +Numbers of such days were appointed. No wonder Wesley prospered. + +The first two months of 1774 were chiefly spent in London; and, on +March 6, Wesley set out on his northern visitation, which, as usual, +occupied his time till the conference was held in August. This journey +has been so often traversed, that we shall no longer follow Wesley step +by step; but merely advert to its chief incidents. + +At Wolverhampton he was met by his friend Fletcher, of Madeley, and +says: “March 22--At five in the morning I explained that important +truth, that God trieth us every moment, weighs all our thoughts, words, +and actions, and is pleased or displeased with us, according to our +works. I see more and more clearly, that there is a great gulf fixed +between us and all those, who, by denying this, sap the very foundation +both of inward and outward holiness.” + +When he had travelled as far as Congleton, he received intelligence +which compelled him to retrace his steps, and go back to Bristol. +The entry in the journal of this old man of more than seventy is a +curiosity. “Wednesday, March 30--I went on to Congleton, where I +received letters, informing me that my presence was necessary at +Bristol. So, about one, I took chaise, and reached Bristol about half +an hour after one the next day. Having done my business in about +two hours, on Friday in the afternoon I reached Congleton again, +about a hundred and forty miles from Bristol, no more tired (blessed +be God!) than when I left it.” This is marvellous. Here we have a +septuagenarian, in feeble health, travelling, not by railway, nor +yet by coach, but in his own private chaise, in a wintry month, and +on roads not macadamised, a distance of two hundred and eighty miles +in about eight-and-forty hours, and then quietly sitting down and, +without bombast, but with profound gratitude, recording the fact in +the language above given. Can biography furnish a parallel to this? We +doubt it. + +On Easter day, April 3, Wesley writes: “I went on to Macclesfield, and +came just in time (so is the scene changed here) to walk to the old +church, with the mayor and the two ministers.” + +Here we pause, to notice a man, who afterwards, not only distinguished +himself by his pen and ministerial labours, but became one of Wesley’s +sincerest and warmest friends. + +One of the “two ministers,” referred to in this extract, was David +Simpson, now a young man of twenty-eight. Born at Ingleby Arncliffe, +in Yorkshire, and educated at Northallerton, and at Scorton, he, in +1766, entered St. John’s college, Cambridge, where he became acquainted +with Rowland Hill, and a select society of devout collegians, and +was converted. On leaving college, he was ordained, and accepted the +curacy of Ramsden in Essex. He then removed to Buckingham, where, by +his extempore preaching of justification by faith, and the nature +and necessity of the new birth, he provoked alike the hostility of +the surrounding clergy and the sneers of unconverted laics. About +the year 1772, he accepted the invitation of Charles Roe, Esq., to +his residence at Macclesfield, and soon became curate of what Wesley +calls “the old church,” but which, at that period, was the only church +that Macclesfield possessed. Here he married Miss Waldy, of Yarm, a +young lady of distinguished excellence and piety, who died within six +months after Wesley’s visit, leaving to her young husband the care +of an infant daughter. Mr. Simpson’s faithful ministry was as much +disliked at Macclesfield as it had been at Buckingham. Complaints of +his Methodism were made to his diocesan, and twice he was suspended +for preaching doctrines, to which, as a clergyman of the Church of +England, he had solemnly subscribed. Expelled from the pulpit of the +church, he began to preach in the adjacent towns and villages. Just at +this juncture, the prime curacy of the church became vacant, and, the +nomination being an appendage to the office of the mayor for the time +being, Mr. Gould made him the offer, and had the pleasure of seeing it +accepted. To prevent Simpson’s induction, a petition, with seventeen +articles of accusation, was transmitted to the bishop of Chester, all +of which might be reduced to one, namely, that he was a Methodist. +In reply, he says, in a letter to his lordship: “This is true. My +method is to preach the great truths of the gospel, in as plain, and +earnest, and affectionate a manner as I am able. Some, hereby, have +become seriously concerned about their salvation. The change is soon +discovered; they meet with one or another, who invite them to attend +the meetings of the Methodists, by which their number” (the Methodists) +“is increased to a considerable degree. This is the truth. I own the +fact. I confess myself unequal to the difficulty. What would your +lordship advise?” Such was the conflict. Before it came to an issue, +Mr. Roe, at his own expense, erected a church, of which Mr. Simpson +became incumbent in 1775, relinquishing, at the same time, the curacy +which had been a bone of contention. Here he continued to exercise his +successful ministry until 1799, when he peacefully expired. + +Among many others, who were benefited by Simpson’s preaching, was a +young female, eighteen years of age, who, on the very day of Wesley’s +visit, above recorded, found peace with God, at Simpson’s sacramental +service, and afterwards became the Hester Ann Rogers, whose journals +and letters have been read by myriads. + +On leaving Macclesfield, Wesley proceeded to Manchester and other +places. At Bury, Methodism had been cradled in a storm. On some +occasions, the people were besmeared with the most offensive filth; and +on others were disturbed in their devotions by a huntsman blowing the +hunter’s horn. Again and again the vicar frustrated their attempts to +erect a chapel; but, at length, land at Pitts o’ th’ Moor was bought; +the poor Methodists dug the clay and burnt the bricks; some worked by +day, and others watched by night; and now, in 1774, the building was +completed, and, on the 15th of April, Wesley preached in it. + +Leaving Lancashire for Yorkshire, Wesley had, for him, the unusual +honour of preaching on April 17 and 18, in three different churches, at +Halifax, Huddersfield, and Heptonstall; and, on the Sunday following, +he occupied the same position in the church at Haworth. A few days +later, we find him in Scotland, preaching “to a people, the greatest +part of whom,” says he, “hear much, know everything, and feel nothing.” +Here, he tells us, he heard sermons, which unfortunately are too common +at the present day,--sermons full of truth, “but no more likely to +awaken souls than an Italian opera;” and, hence, he himself began to +thunder about death, and judgment, and eternity. At Glasgow, Methodist +matters were not at all to his satisfaction. “How is it,” he asks, +“that there is no increase in the society here? It is exceeding easy +to answer. One preacher stays here two or three months at a time, +preaching on Sunday mornings, and three or four evenings in a week. Can +a Methodist preacher preserve either bodily health, or spiritual life, +with this exercise? And if he is but half alive, what will the people +be?” + +At Greenock, he found the same fault; and, at Edinburgh, writes: “Here, +likewise, the morning preaching had been given up; consequently the +people were few, dead, and cold. Things must be remedied, or we must +quit the ground.” + +Wesley attended a Scotch funeral, with which he was disgusted. “O what +a difference,” says he, “is there between the English and Scotch method +of burial! The English does honour to human nature; and even to the +poor remains, that were once the temple of the Holy Ghost! But when I +see in Scotland a coffin put into the earth, and covered up without +a word, it reminds me of what was spoken of Jehoiakim, ‘He shall be +buried with the burial of an ass!’” + +At Perth, he says, the generality of the people were so wise, that +they needed no more knowledge, and so good, that they needed no more +religion; and, hence, he gave them three thundering sermons, two of +them on hell and the day of judgment. + +Wesley’s great difficulty in Scotland was the objection to itinerancy. +“I have written,” says he, in a letter dated October 16, 1774, “to Dr. +Hamilton, that Edinburgh and Dunbar must be supplied by one preacher. +While I live, itinerant preachers shall be itinerants: I mean, if they +choose to remain in connection with me. The society at Greenock are +entirely at their own disposal: they may either have a preacher between +them and Glasgow, or none at all. But more than one between them they +cannot have. I have too much regard both for the bodies and souls of +our preachers, to let them be confined to one place any more. I have +weighed the matter, and will serve the Scots as we do the English, or +leave them.”[205] + +The above was addressed to Joseph Benson, at this time stationed in +Scotland, and who has left a memento of Wesley’s visit which is worth +quoting. “I was,” says he, “constantly with him for a week. I had an +opportunity of examining narrowly his spirit and conduct; and, I assure +you, I am more than ever persuaded, he is a _none such_. I know not +his fellow, first, for abilities, natural and acquired; and, secondly, +for his incomparable diligence in the application of those abilities +to the best of employments. His lively fancy, tenacious memory, clear +understanding, ready elocution, manly courage, indefatigable industry, +really amaze me. I admire, but wish in vain to imitate, his diligent +improvement of every moment of time; his wonderful exactness even in +little things; the order and regularity wherewith he does and treats +everything he takes in hand; together with his quick dispatch of +business, and calm, cheerful serenity of soul. I ought not to omit to +mention, what is very manifest to all who know him, his resolution, +which no shocks of opposition can shake; his patience, which no length +of trials can weary; his zeal for the glory of God and the good of man, +which no waters of persecution or tribulation have yet been able to +quench. Happy man! Long hast thou borne the burden and heat of the day, +amidst the insults of foes, and the base treachery of seeming friends; +but thou shalt rest from thy labours, and thy works shall follow +thee!”[206] + +On the 10th of June, Wesley reached Newcastle, and, on the day after, +set out for Wolsingham and the dales. Returning to Newcastle, he and +his wife’s daughter, and two grandchildren, had a marvellous escape +from danger and death, in which Wesley believed that angels, both good +and bad, took part. The narrative cannot be given in fewer or better +words than in his own. We merely premise, that Horsley is a village +a few miles west of Newcastle; and that Mr. Smith had married Mrs. +Wesley’s daughter. Wesley writes: + + “Monday, June 20--About nine, I set out for Horsley, with Mr. Hopper + and Mr. Smith. I took Mrs. Smith, and her two little girls, in the + chaise with me. About two miles from the town, just on the brow of + the hill, on a sudden both the horses set out, without any visible + cause, and flew down the hill, like an arrow. In a minute, John fell + off the coach box. The horses then went on full speed, sometimes to + the edge of the ditch on the right, sometimes on the left. A cart + came up against them; they avoided it as exactly as if the man had + been on the box. A narrow bridge was at the foot of the hill. They + went directly over the middle of it. They ran up the next hill with + the same speed; many persons meeting us, but getting out of the + way. Near the top of the hill was a gate, which led into a farmer’s + yard. It stood open. They turned short, and run through it, without + touching the gate on one side, or the post on the other. I thought, + ‘The gate which is on the other side of the yard, and is shut, will + stop them’; but they rushed through it, as if it had been a cobweb, + and galloped on through the cornfield. The little girls cried out, + ‘Grandpapa, save us!’ I told them, ‘Nothing will hurt you: do not be + afraid’; feeling no more fear or care than if I had been sitting in + my study. The horses ran on, till they came to the edge of a steep + precipice. Just then Mr. Smith, who could not overtake us before, + galloped in between. They stopped in a moment. Had they gone on ever + so little, he and we must have gone down together!” + +This was one of the narrowest escapes from death that Wesley ever had; +and his remarks upon it are worth adding. + + “I am persuaded, that both evil and good angels had a large share + in this transaction: how large we do not know now; but we shall + know hereafter. I think some of the most remarkable circumstances + were: (1) Both the horses, which were tame and quiet as could be, + starting out in a moment, just at the top of the hill, and running + down full speed. (2) The coachman’s being thrown on his head with + such violence, and yet not hurt at all. (3) The chaise running + again and again to the edge of each ditch, and yet not into it. + (4) The avoiding the cart. (5) The keeping just the middle of the + bridge. (6) The turning short through the first gate, in a manner + that no coachman in England could have turned them, when in full + gallop. (7) The going through the second gate as if it had been but + smoke, without slackening their pace at all. This would have been + impossible, had not the end of the chariot pole struck exactly on the + centre of the gate; whence the whole, by the sudden impetuous shock, + was broke into small pieces. Lastly, that Mr. Smith struck in just + then: in a minute more we had been down the precipice. ‘Let those + give thanks whom the Lord hath redeemed, and delivered from the hand + of the enemy!’” + +Newcastle was one of Wesley’s favourite haunts. However cruelly his +wife treated him, her daughter and her son in law, Mr. and Mrs. +Smith, always seem to have shown him kindness; and, hence, he always +appeared to quit Newcastle with reluctance. He writes: “June 27--I +took my leave of this lovely place and people.” The next day was his +birthday, which he celebrated as follows: “This being the first day of +my seventy-second year, I was considering, How is this, that I find +just the same strength as I did thirty years ago? that my sight is +considerably better now, and my nerves firmer, than they were then? +that I have none of the infirmities of old age, and have lost several +I had in my youth? The grand cause is, the good pleasure of God, who +doeth whatsoever pleaseth Him. The chief means are: (1) My constantly +rising at four, for about fifty years. (2) My generally preaching at +five in the morning; one of the most healthy exercises in the world. +(3) My never travelling less, by sea or land, than four thousand five +hundred miles a year.” + +Some will smile at this; but those who think, will hardly doubt, that +the three things mentioned, so far from injuring health and shortening +life, were among the likeliest of all likely things to be the means of +preserving the one, and extending the other. + +It is scarcely necessary to follow Wesley, in his wanderings through +Durham, through the three ridings of the county of York, and through +Lincolnshire; and then right away through Madeley, Worcester, and +Cheltenham, to Bristol, where he arrived on August 6. The reader can +easily find all this in his journal; we here prefer to give a few +extracts from his letters. + +Reference has just been made to Wesley’s vigour. We incline to think +that, on his birthday, in the bright month of June, he was sometimes +more jubilant than facts warranted. At all events, the following +extract from a letter to his brother, written within two months before +his birthday came, is scarcely in harmony with what was written then. + + “WHITEHAVEN, _May 6, 1774_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--Duty is all I consider. Trouble and reproach I value + not. And I am by no means clear, that I can, with a good conscience, + throw away what I think the providence of God has put into my hands. + Were it not for the chancery suit, I should not hesitate a moment. + + “My complaint increases by slow degrees, much the same as before. It + seems, I am likely to need a surgeon every nine or ten weeks. Mr. + Hey, of Leeds, vehemently advises me, never to attempt what they call + a radical cure. + + “I never said a word of ‘publishing it after my death.’[207] I + judged it my duty to publish it now; and I have as good a right to + believe one way as any man has to believe another. I was glad of + an opportunity of declaring myself on the head. I beg Hugh Bold to + let me think as well as himself; and to believe my judgment will go + as far as his. I have no doubt of the substance, both of Glanvil’s + and Cotton Mather’s narratives.[208] Therefore, in this point, you + that are otherwise minded, bear with me. _Veniam petimusque damusque + vicissim._ Remember, I am, upon full consideration, and seventy + years’ experience, just as obstinate in my opinion as you in yours. + Do not you think, the disturbances in my father’s house were a Cock + Lane story? Peace be with you and yours! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[209] + +Such was Wesley’s reply to his brother’s remonstrance against the +publication of his opinions on witchcraft and apparitions. The next +letter, addressed to a lady in Ireland, refers to two important +matters,--the Calvinian controversy, and Wesley’s method of dealing +with contumacious Methodists. + + “LEEDS, _May 2, 1774_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--Until Mr. Hill and his associates puzzled the + cause, it was as plain as plain could be. The Methodists always + held, and have declared a thousand times, the death of Christ is the + meritorious cause of our salvation; that is, of pardon, holiness, and + glory: loving, obedient faith is the condition of glory. This Mr. + Fletcher has so illustrated and confirmed, as, I think, scarcely any + one has done before since the apostles. + + “When Mr. W. wrote me a vehement letter concerning the abuse he had + received from the young men in Limerick, and his determination to put + them all out of society, if they did not acknowledge their fault, I + much wondered what could be the matter, and only wrote him word, ‘I + never put any out of our society for anything they say of me.’ + + “Your ever affectionate + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[210] + +The ensuing letters have relation to a book, an abridgment of which +Wesley afterwards published, and concerning which some of his admirers +have felt puzzled, and others pained. This is not the place for a +disquisition on novels and novel reading; but it is a curious fact, +that Wesley, the earnest and untiring evangelist, found time, not only +to read a novel, but to print it. + +Henry Brooke, Esq., an Irish barrister, was the son of an Irish +rector; and, besides a number of plays and poems, in four volumes, +8vo, was the author of two novels, “The Fool of Quality,” and “Juliet +Grenville.”[211] His nephew, Henry, was a devoted Methodist, a friend +of Fletcher, and one of Wesley’s correspondents. “The Fool of Quality” +was first published, in five vols., in 1766, and was thus criticised +in the _Monthly Review_ of that period. “A performance enriched by +genius, enlivened by fancy, bewildered with enthusiasm, and overrun +with the visionary jargon of fanaticism. We wish the author would +give us an abridgment, cleared from the sanctimonious rubbish by +which its beauties are so much obscured. In its present state, it +will be a favourite only with Behmenites, Herrnhutters, Methodists, +Hutchinsonians, and some of the Roman Catholics.” + +This was the book which Wesley read, and concerning which he wrote to +Henry Brooke, the author’s nephew. + + “HULL, _July 8, 1774_. + + “DEAR HARRY,--When I read over, in Ireland, ‘The Fool of Quality,’ I + could not but observe the design of it, to promote the religion of + the heart, and that it was well calculated to answer that design; + the same thing I observed, a week or two ago, concerning ‘Juliet + Grenville.’ Yet, there seemed to me to be a few passages, both in + the one and the other, which might be altered for the better; I do + not mean, so much with regard to the sentiments, which are generally + very just, as with regard to the structure of the story, which seemed + here and there to be not quite clear. I had, at first, a thought of + writing to Mr. Brooke himself, but I did not know whether I might + take the liberty. Few authors will thank you, for imagining you are + able to correct their works. But, if he could bear it, and thinks + it would be of any use, I would give another reading to both these + works, and send him my thoughts without reserve, just as they occur. + I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[212] + +The answer to this was as follows. + + “DUBLIN, _August 6, 1774_. + + “REVEREND SIR,--My uncle’s health is greatly impaired.[213] A kind of + vertigo continues not only to enfeeble his limbs, but to interrupt + his study and writing. However, I trust, as his outward man decays, + his inward man is renewed daily. + + “He is deeply sensible of your very kind offer, and most cordially + embraces it. He has desired me to express the warmth of his gratitude + in the strongest terms, and says he most cheerfully yields the + volumes you mention, to your superior judgment, to prune, erase, and + alter as you please. He only wishes, they could have had your eye + before they appeared in public. But it is not yet too late. A second + edition will appear with great advantage, when they have undergone + so kind a revisal. But he is apprehensive, your time is so precious, + that it may be too great an intrusion upon it, unless made a work of + leisure and opportunity. Yet, as you have proffered it, he will not + give up the privilege; but hopes leisure may be found for so friendly + and generous a work. + + “I am, reverend sir, your most affectionate friend and brother, + + “H. BROOKE.”[214] + +Perhaps there have been published as many portraits of Wesley as of any +man that ever lived. The year 1774 was, in this respect, remarkable. +At its commencement, Wesley writes: “I was desired by Mrs. Wright, of +New York, to let her take my effigy in waxwork. She has that of Mr. +Whitefield and many others; but none of them, I think, comes up to a +well drawn picture.” Query, what has become of this waxwork effigy? +Besides the waxwork figure, there were others. From the manuscript +letters of Samuel Bardsley, we learn that, already, the potters of +Staffordshire had printed his likeness on their crockery; and Mr. Voyes +of Corbridge had had it engraved on the seals he sold. + +These are little facts; but they indicate Wesley’s growing popularity. +The people ask for the portraits of public men only. A man must be +notorious before the masses wish to see him. Thus it was in the case of +Wesley. For five-and-thirty years, he had been before the public. No +man had been more bitterly persecuted by his enemies; and no man was +more ardently beloved by his friends. His fame had spread throughout +the three kingdoms; and all sorts of artists began to use him for their +own advantage. + +Wesley was not fond of sitting for his portrait, though this was often +done. On one occasion, while dining with a friend, in the neighbourhood +of Blackfriars, an eminent artist offered him ten guineas as a bribe, +to induce him to allow a cast of his face to be taken. “No,” said +Wesley, “keep your money, and urge me no further.” “Sir,” said the +artist, “I will not detain you more than three minutes.” Wesley +consented; the cast was taken; and so also was the money: but no sooner +was Wesley out of doors, than he saw an agitated crowd, surrounding an +auctioneer, who was about to sell, not only the furniture of a poor +debtor, but the bed upon which he was actually dying. In an instant, +Wesley rushed into the throng, seized the arm of the auctioneer, and +cried, “What’s the debt?” “Ten guineas,” was the answer. “Take it,” +said Wesley, “and let the poor man have his furniture again;” and, +then turning to John Broadbent, who was with him, he quietly observed, +“Brother Broadbent, I see why God sent me these ten guineas.”[215] + +Methodism in America has been mentioned. The work there was now greatly +growing. Twelve months before, Wesley had sent out one of his favourite +preachers, Thomas Rankin, to act as a sort of generalissimo. Perhaps a +wiser selection might have been made. At all events, Rankin’s honest +hearted brusqueness sometimes gave offence. Boardman and Pilmoor, and +Asbury, were all predecessors in point of time; but they and four other +itinerants had now to recognise Rankin as their chief. In age and +ministerial standing, they were nearly equal; but Rankin, by Wesley’s +favour, had the preeminence. Asbury winced, but was too good a man to +raise rebellion. He writes: “1774, May 25--Our conference began at +Philadelphia. The overbearing spirit of a certain person had excited +my fears. My judgment was stubbornly opposed for a while, and, at +last, submitted to. But it is my duty to bear all things with a meek +and patient spirit. Our conference was attended with great power, and +all acquiesced in the future stations of the preachers. If I were not +deeply conscious of the truth and goodness of the cause in which I am +engaged, I should, by no means, stay here. Lord, what a world is this! +yea, what a religious world!”[216] + +Within two years, the entire band were scattered by the colonial +rebellion, and apostolic Asbury was the only one remaining. Meanwhile, +Rankin sent to Wesley an account of the first Methodist conference in +America, and Wesley replied to him as follows. + + “EPWORTH, _July 21, 1774_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--In yours of May the 30th, you give me an agreeable + account of your little conference in Philadelphia. I think G. + Shadford and you desire no novelties, but love good old Methodist + discipline and doctrine. I have been lately thinking a good deal on + one point, wherein, perhaps, we have all been wanting. We have not + made it a rule, as soon as ever persons were justified, to remind + them of going on to perfection. Whereas, this is the very time + preferable to all others. They have then the simplicity of little + children; and they are fervent in spirit, ready to cut off the right + hand, or to pluck out the right eye. But, if we once suffer this + fervour to subside, we shall find it hard enough to bring them again + to this point. + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[217] + +Before passing from America, it is worth recording, that it was in +the year 1774 that Methodism was introduced into another part of +Newfoundland. In the month of March in that year, John Hoskins, a +London Methodist, and his son, a lad of about sixteen years of age, +embarked at Poole in Dorsetshire, and landed in Newfoundland five weeks +afterwards. The intention of Hoskins was to work there till he had +obtained money enough to take him to New England, where he wished to +begin a school. He landed at Trinity penniless, and utterly unknown, +and found himself in a “rocky, desolate country,” and surrounded +by a “few, low, mean huts, built of wood.” He entered one to make +inquiries as to how he might obtain subsistence; the good woman of +the hut gave him some seal and bread to eat; and the minister of the +place advised him to open a school at Old Perlican, where about fifty +families resided. Away he went, a distance of one-and-twenty miles; the +people received him gladly; and his school was opened. Here there was +literally no religious worship whatever; but the schoolmaster began +to read the Church prayers, and Wesley’s sermons; the people standing +at a distance and looking at him as if he had been a monster. He then +proceeded to give extempore exhortations; a few began to be serious; +some helped him to sing; sixteen became penitent, and were formed into +a class; and two or three soon found peace with God. Just at this +juncture, Mr. Arthur Thomy, an Irish merchant, visited the place on +business, and preached twice or thrice, confirming what Hoskins had +said, and the society increased to forty members, and the _believers_ +to eight. + +Thus was Methodism begun at Old Perlican. It soon spread. Island Cove +had a society of thirty, and was the first to build a chapel. At +Harbourgrace and Carbonear, where Mr. Coughlan had laboured, Calvinism +and antinomianism were rampant, and Methodism had dwindled to almost +nothing. The movement at Old Perlican was a new beginning; and Hoskins, +the schoolmaster, and Thomy, the Irish merchant, were the chief actors. +Thomy often travelled as far as fifty miles to preach; and sometimes +met with brutal treatment. The Irish were his bitterest enemies, and, +on one occasion, came with their shillalahs to kill him. Hoskins, also, +had his share of persecution. Once he was daubed all over with tar, and +was further threatened to be stuck with feathers. The work, however, +prospered; and, in 1785, _Newfoundland_ became one of the _circuits_ in +Wesley’s minutes. + +The conference, at Bristol, was opened on August 9. Wesley writes: +“The conference, which begun and ended in love, fully employed me on +Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday; and we observed Friday, 12th, as a +day of fasting and prayer for the success of the gospel.” + +Thomas Taylor, who was present, says: “August 9--Most of the day was +taken up in temporal matters, which is dry business. August 10--This +morning our characters were examined, and that closely. The afternoon +was chiefly spent in taking in new preachers. In the evening, Mr. +Wesley gave us but an indifferent sermon. August 11--We spent this day +pretty profitably in considering some things of importance; especially +how to prevent levity, idleness, and evil speaking. At night, Mr. +Wesley gave us a profitable discourse on brotherly love.”[218] + +Miss March, in an unpublished letter, dated August 23, 1774, observes: + + “Our conference is now ended. I promised myself a jubilee, a + time of holy rejoicing, but found it rather a season of hurry + and dissipation. Mr. Wesley opened the conference with a plan of + great and necessary business. His preaching was chiefly to the + preachers,--of the searching, reproving kind. The preachers said + there was much concord amongst them, and one observed, Mr. Wesley + seemed to do all the business himself. Friday was the best time, and + the evening sermon, from Matthew vii. 24, was the prettiest and most + simple discourse I ever heard on that text. Mr. Wesley left us on + Monday for Wales. When he first came he looked worn down with care + and sorrow; but he left us well and lively.” + +It was at this conference that Samuel Bradburn and James Rogers were +admitted on trial; and that Joseph Pilmoor, for some reason, deserted +Thomas Rankin in America, and desisted from travelling. + +No sooner was the conference over, than Wesley again set out on his +evangelistic travels. The next twelve days were spent in Wales. He +returned to Bristol for the Sunday services on August 28; and, on +the day following, started off to Cornwall. He came back to Bristol +on September 9, and employed the next month in the city and its +neighbourhood. Being the time of a parliamentary election, he met the +Bristol society, and advised those of them who had votes:--“1. To vote, +without fee or reward, for the person they judged most worthy. 2. To +speak no evil of the person they voted against. 3. To take care their +spirits were not sharpened against those that voted on the other side.” + +Wesley came to London on October 15, and spent the remainder of the +year in his usual winter journeys. + +Norwich was again a trouble. He writes: “Never was a poor society so +neglected as this has been for the year past. The morning preaching was +at an end; the bands suffered all to fall in pieces; and no care at all +taken of the classes, so that, whether they met or not, it was all one; +going to church and sacrament were forgotten; and the people rambled +hither and thither as they listed. I met the society, and told them +plain, I was resolved to have a regular society or none. I then read +the rules, and desired every one to consider whether he was willing to +walk by these rules or no. Those, in particular, of meeting their class +every week, unless hindered by distance or sickness; and being constant +at church and sacrament. I desired those who were so minded to meet me +the next night, and the rest to stay away. The next night we had far +the greater part. I spoke to every leader, concerning every one under +his care, and put out every person whom they could not recommend to me. +After this was done, out of 204 members, 174 remained. And these points +shall be carried, if only fifty remain in society.” + +On his return to London, he visited Ely and St. Ives, and met with +an adventure which was strange, even in his experience. Approaching +Ely, Mr. Dancer met him with a chaise. For a mile and a half, the road +was inundated. “How must foot people come to Ely?” he asked. “Why,” +replied simple Mr. Dancer, “they must wade.” The farther he went, the +more difficult and dangerous was the way. Between Ely and St. Ives, +snow fell in great abundance, and, at considerable peril, Wesley’s +borrowed chaise was piloted by Mr. Tubbs, who trudged along, at the +horse’s head, and, up to his knees in mud and water, naively said, “We +fen men don’t mind a little dirt.” For four miles, Wesley was dragged +through this “slough of despond,” when further progress, for the +vehicle, became impossible. He tried to proceed on horseback; but this +also was soon impracticable, the whole district being one wide waste of +water. “Here, therefore,” says he, “I procured a boat, full twice as +large as a kneading trough. I was at one end, and a boy at the other, +who paddled me safe to Erith; where Miss L---- waited for me with +another chaise, which brought me safe to St. Ives.” + +Wesley concluded the year’s itinerary thus: “December 25--During the +twelve festival days, we had the Lord’s supper daily; a little emblem +of the primitive church.” + +Was this a lingering remnant of Wesley’s high churchism? What would be +said of the Methodists of the present day, were they to imitate the +example of their founder? + +The Calvinian controversy still proceeded. The _Gospel Magazine_ told +its readers, that Arminianism “is a system founded in ignorance, +supported by pride, and will end in delusion.” The Hon. and Rev. W. B. +Cadogan, a young man of twenty-three, and, though not yet ordained, +already presented to the living of St. Giles, Reading, burned Wesley’s +works in his kitchen, saying “he was determined to form his opinions +from the Bible alone.”[219] The two Hills were silent, with the +exception of Mr. Richard’s “Lash at Enthusiasm, in a Dialogue founded +upon real Facts.” The principal Calvinistic work, published at this +period, was Toplady’s “Historic Proof of the Doctrinal Calvinism of +the Church of England,” in two volumes, 8vo, with an Introduction, +most lamentably virulent. The subject is repulsive; but, rightly to +understand Wesley’s provocations and patience, it is necessary to give +extracts from this scandalous production of a conceited but clever +man, who acted as though the Almighty had elected him to revile his +neighbours, without either sense or reason. + +“Mr. John Wesley and Mr. Walter Sellon are a pair of insignificant +adversaries, who have arraigned, tried, and condemned the Church of +England. In general, they are so excessively scurrilous and abusive, +that contending with them resembles fighting with chimney sweepers, +or bathing in a mud pool.” “Mr. Walter Sellon is Mr. John Wesley’s +retainer general and whitewasher in ordinary. Arminianism is their +mutual Dulcinea del Toboso. High mounted on Pine’s Rosinante, forth +sallies Mr. John from Wine Street, Bristol, brandishing his reed, +and vowing vengeance against all, who will not fall down and worship +the Dutch image which he has set up. With an almost equal plenitude +of zeal and prowess, forth trots Mr. Walter from Ave Maria Lane, low +mounted on Cabe’s halting dapple. The knight and the squire having met +at the rendezvous appointed, the former prances foremost, and, with as +much haste as his limping steed will permit, doth trusty Walter amble +after his master.” Sellon is Wesley’s “understrapper”; the “junto +are Parthians aiming their arrows at the sun; and wolves exhausting +their strength by howling at the moon.” Sellon “dips his pen in the +common sewer”; and Wesley “scatters firebrands.” “The world has long +seen, that unmixed politeness can no more soften Mr. Wesley’s rugged +rudeness, than the melody of David’s harp could lay the north wind.” +Sellon was “a small body of Pelagian divinity, bound in calf, neither +gilt nor lettered”; “the meanest, and most rancorous Arminian priest +that ever disgraced a surplice.” “We would advise his Arminian holiness +of Rome to cashier the image of St. Austin from serving any longer as +a support to his easy chair; and to procure an effigy of Mr. Walter +Sellon, to serve--not, indeed, upon due recollection, as a stay to his +holiness’s throne--nor even as a prop to his footstool; but as a leg +to a certain convenience (a _sella perforata_, though not the _sella +porphyretica_), whereon, I presume, his holiness deigns, occasionally, +to sit.” Wesley’s Notes on the New Testament are “a wretched bundle of +plagiarisms”; and he himself “drives a larger traffic in blunders and +blasphemies than any other blunder merchant this island has produced.” + +Such are a few of the mild and merciful oracular utterances of the +elect Augustus Toplady; who says he blamed himself “for handling +Wesley too gently, and for only giving him the whip when he deserved a +scorpion.” + +Fletcher, during 1774, published:--(1) “The Fictitious and the Genuine +Creed; being ‘A Creed for Arminians,’ composed by Richard Hill, Esq.; +to which is opposed a Creed for those who believe that Christ tasted +death for every man.” 12mo, 52 pages. (2) “Logica Genevensis continued; +or, the first part of the Fifth Check to Antinomianism, containing +an Answer to ‘The Finishing Stroke’ of Richard Hill, Esq.; in which +some remarks upon Mr. Fulsome’s Antinomian Creed, published by the +Rev. Mr. Berridge, are occasionally introduced.” 12mo, 48 pages. (3) +“Logica Genevensis continued; or, the second part of the Fifth Check +to Antinomianism, containing a Defence of ‘Jack o’ Lanthorn,’ and ‘The +Paper Kite,’ _i. e._ sincere obedience; and of the ‘Cobweb,’ _i. e._ +the evangelical law of liberty; and of the ‘Valiant Sergeant, J. F.,’ +_i. e._ the conditionality of perseverance, attacked by the Rev. Mr. +Berridge, in his book called ‘The Christian World Unmasked.’” 12mo, +44 pages. (4) “The First Part of an Equal Check to Pharisaism and +Antinomianism.” 12mo, 264 pages. (5) “Zelotes and Honestus reconciled; +or, an Equal Check to Pharisaism and Antinomianism continued: being the +first part of the Scripture Scales to weigh the Gold of Gospel Truth. +With a Preface containing some Strictures upon the Three Letters of +Richard Hill, Esq., which have been lately published.” 12mo, 175 pages. + +The whole of these publications, extending to nearly 600 pages, are +full of the greatest truths, and, like all Fletcher’s writings, are +entirely free from personal abuse, and are worthy of a gentleman, a +scholar, and a Christian. + +We can hardly say as much of another work, published in 1774: “A +Scourge to Calumny, in two parts, inscribed to Richard Hill, Esq. Part +the First, demonstrating the Absurdity of that Gentleman’s Farrago. +Part the Second, containing a full Answer to all that is material in +his Farrago Double Distilled. By Thomas Olivers.” 12mo, 168 pages. +Richard Hill deserved all he got; but Fletcher would have hesitated +before charging him, as is done by Olivers, “_with wilful untruth_.” +At the same time, it is impossible not to have a feeling of admiration +for the sturdy Welshman, when he says to the wealthy squire, who had +rudely called him _Tom the cobbler_: “Permit me to tell you, sir, that +_my name_ is as sacred to _me_, as _yours is to you_. If _you_ were +the greatest peer of the realm, and _I_ the poorest peasant, the laws +of God and of my country would authorise me to call you to an account, +for every insult offered to my character, either as a fellow creature, +or as an Englishman. You have no more authority, either from reason or +religion, to call me _Tom_, than I have to call you _Dick_.” + +Having hurled a lance in his own defence, he then proceeds to defend +Wesley, telling Mr. Hill, that the man he had maligned was one who had +published a hundred volumes, who travelled yearly about five thousand +miles, preached yearly about a thousand sermons, visited as many sick +beds as he preached sermons, and wrote twice as many letters; and who, +though now between seventy and eighty years of age, “absolutely refused +to abate, in the smallest degree, these mighty labours; but might be +seen, at this very time, with his silver locks about his ears, and with +a meagre, worn out, skeleton body, _smiling_ at storms and tempests, +at such labours and fatigues, at such difficulties and dangers, as, I +believe,” says Olivers, “would be absolutely intolerable to _you_, sir, +in conjunction with any four of _your most flaming_ ministers.” + +Wesley’s own publications, in 1774, were not many. + +First of all, there was the fifteenth number of his Journal, already +mentioned: 12mo, 112 pages. Then there was “An Extract from Dr. +Cadogan’s Dissertations on the Gout, and all Chronic Diseases,” already +referred to on page 111. 12mo, 49 pages. This was a bold stroke. Dr. +Cadogan’s work had not been more than ten years published; it had +been extremely popular, and had run through several editions; the +doctor himself was now at the zenith of his fame, and did not die +for three-and-twenty years afterwards; and, yet, Wesley takes upon +himself, not to publish the work itself, but an extract from it, and to +write a preface to it, in which he objects to the doctor’s wholesale +condemnation of “smoked and salted meats, of pickles, of wine, and +of flesh, thoroughly roasted or boiled.” Wesley says: “I recommend +the book as the most masterly piece upon the subject, which has yet +appeared in the English language.” + +Another of Wesley’s publications was “Thoughts upon Necessity,” 12mo, +33 pages. This was one of his most thoughtful and able tracts. Its +purport may be gathered from a sentence in his preface,--“I cannot +believe the noblest creature in the visible world to be only a fine +piece of clockwork.” + +To the above must be added his “Thoughts on Slavery,” 8vo, 53 pages. +It ought never to be forgotten, that John Wesley was one of the very +first of England’s philanthropists to denounce the infamous evil of +slavery. Statues, and other honours, declarative of a nation’s homage, +have been justly awarded to Wilberforce; but Wesley’s record is on +high; and the day has yet to come when the influence of his advanced +views will be duly and gratefully recognised. Even some of Wesley’s +friends were strangely blinded to a system that he boldly denounced +as the “execrable sum of all villanies”; and Whitefield himself, only +four years before, had died the possessor of a large number of human +beings, who, in his will, were classed among his goods and chattels, +and whom he unceremoniously bequeathed to “that elect lady, the Right +Honourable Selina, Countess Dowager of Huntingdon.” Wesley’s pamphlet +was no sooner issued than it brought upon him vindictive opposition, in +a two shilling book, entitled “A Supplement to Mr. Wesley’s ‘Thoughts +upon Slavery’”; in which the writer does his utmost to make the +leader of the Methodists ridiculous. Wesley had counted the cost, and +expected this. In America it was otherwise. There, at Philadelphia, +Mr. Anthony Benezet republished Wesley’s tract at his own expense, and +sent to him a friendly salutation, by William Dillwyn, “my old pupil,” +says Benezet, “a valuable, religiously minded person, who is going a +voyage to your country”;[220] and who, thirteen years afterwards, in +1787, became one of the founders of the Society for the Suppression of +Slavery. + +Wesley still continued the publication of his collected works; and, in +1774, seven additional volumes were issued, making the entire number +thirty-two. The last seven, with the exception of three small tracts, +consisted exclusively of his journals, coming down to September 1, 1770. + +Perhaps there ought to be added another publication, which, though +not printed by Wesley, was his production: “A Sermon preached at +the opening of the new Meeting-house at Wakefield, on the 28th of +April, 1774, by the Rev. John Wesley: taken down in shorthand, at +the time of delivery, by Mr. Williamson, a teacher of that art, and +published at the request of many of the hearers. Leeds: 1774. Sold +by all Booksellers, price threepence.” 8vo, 12 pages. The text is 1 +Corinthians i. 23, 24. The sermon, perhaps properly, has never been +published in any edition of Wesley’s works. Though it contains nothing +remarkable, it would enrich the _Methodist Magazine_, and would be +gratefully welcomed by thousands of readers, who, without a reissue, +will never see it. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [204] Manuscript letter. + + [205] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 395. + + [206] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 386. + + [207] The following probably refers to the ghost stories, + in Wesley’s Journal, under date May 25, 1768. The + fifteenth number of his journal, containing these + accounts, was published in this same year, 1774. + + [208] Glanvil, the author of “Some Considerations touching + the being of Witches and Witchcraft”; and Mather, the + author of “The Wonders of the Invisible World, or the + Trials of Witches.” + + [209] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 131. + + [210] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 373. + + [211] Mr. Brooke was three years the junior of Wesley, and, + about the time when Methodism had its birth, was the + honoured friend of many of the most distinguished + personages in London society. Swift prophesied + wonders of him; Pope received him with open arms; + Pitt paid him marked attention; and the Prince of + Wales presented him with valuable tokens of his + friendship. The publication however of his tragedy, + “Gustavus Vasa,” offended the government, and he + retired to Ireland, and devoted his fine genius + wholly to the muses. He was a man of rare ability, + and an earnest Christian. + + [212] Life of Mr. Henry Brooke, p. 90. + + [213] He died in 1783, three years after Wesley published + his revised and abridged edition in two vols., 12mo. + + [214] _Methodist Magazine_, 1787, p. 160. + + [215] _Christian Miscellany_, 1846, p. 93. + + [216] Asbury’s Journal, vol. i., p. 112. + + [217] Palmer’s “Four Years in the Old World,” p. 260. + + [218] Taylor’s manuscript journal. + + [219] Memoirs of Cadogan, p. 37. + + [220] _Methodist Magazine_, 1787, p. 44. + + + + + 1775. + Age 72 + + +According to his custom, Wesley spent the first two months of 1775 in +London, and in short preaching excursions to Northamptonshire and other +places. + +The nation, at this period, was in a state of the highest excitement. +On February 9, the two houses of parliament presented an address to +King George III., stating that the British colonists in America had +risen in rebellion, and begging his majesty to “take the most effectual +measures to enforce obedience to the laws and authority of the supreme +legislature.” His majesty’s reply was affirmative; and parliament was +requested to increase both the naval and military forces. + +Wesley was not the man to be silent in great emergencies. He writes: +“Sunday, January 29--Finding many were dejected by the threatening +posture of public affairs, I strongly enforced our Lord’s words, ‘Why +are ye fearful, O ye of little faith?’” Three weeks later, he preached +at the Foundery, what the _Westminster Journal_ described as, “an awful +sermon, on the horrid effects of a civil war”; observing “that, of all +scourges from God, war was the most to be deprecated, because it often +swept away all traces of religion, and even of humanity.” The text was +Daniel iv. 27: “Let my counsel be acceptable to thee, and break off thy +sins by righteousness, and thine iniquities by shewing mercy to the +poor; if it may be a lengthening of thy tranquillity.” + +Both England and America were terribly excited; but space prevents our +entering into details. Suffice it to say, that the alleged grievance of +the American colonists was their being taxed, without their consent, by +the English parliament. Dr. Johnson was known to be a great hater as +well as a great genius. “Sir,” said he, concerning the miscellaneous +and mongrel colonists across the Atlantic, “Sir, they are a race of +convicts, and ought to be thankful for anything we allow them short +of hanging.” No wonder that the English government, already at their +wits’ end, applied to Johnson to assist them with his powerful pen. He +did so, by the publication, in 1775, of his famous pamphlet, entitled, +“Taxation no Tyranny; an Answer to the Resolutions and Address of the +American Congress.”[221] No sooner was it issued, than, with or without +leave, Wesley abridged it, and, without the least reference to its +origin, published it as his own, in a quarto sheet of four pages, with +the title, “A Calm Address to our American Colonies. By the Rev. Mr. +John Wesley, M.A. Price one penny.” + +This was an injudicious and unwarrantable act, except on the +supposition that there was some secret understanding between him and +Johnson; and even then the thing had too much the aspect of plagiarism +to be wise. Johnson greatly reverenced Patty Hall, Wesley’s unfortunate +sister, and always treated her as one of his confidential friends. For +Wesley himself he also entertained great respect, and was only vexed +that he was not able to secure more of his company. “John Wesley’s +conversation,” said he, “is good, but he is never at leisure. He is +always obliged to go at a certain hour. This is very disagreeable to a +man who loves to fold his legs and have out his talk, as I do.”[222] +There was unquestionably a friendship between the two; and it is +possible that Wesley had Johnson’s consent to his publication of the +abridgment of Johnson’s pamphlet. In a letter to Wesley, dated February +6, 1776, Johnson wrote: “I have thanks to return for the addition +of your important suffrage to my argument on the American question. +To have gained such a mind as yours may justly confirm me in my own +opinion. What effect my paper has had upon the public I know not; but I +have no reason to be discouraged. The lecturer was surely in the right +who, though he saw his audience slinking away, refused to quit the +chair while Plato stayed.”[223] This certainly gives some countenance +to the supposition we have ventured to suggest. Still, there can be +no doubt that Wesley fairly exposed himself to acrimonious attack by +publishing the _brochure_ as his own. + +Wesley was now one of the most conspicuous men in England; and, +perhaps, no ecclesiastical personage of the realm swayed a wider +influence over the masses, on questions involving religious interests. +Hence, the publication of his “Calm Address” produced an unparalleled +sensation; and this was the greater, because it was known that, up to +this period, Wesley had sympathised with the colonists rather than +otherwise. Indeed, he had declared five years before, in his “Free +Thoughts on Public Affairs”: “I do not defend the measures which have +been taken with regard to America; I doubt whether any man can defend +them, either on the foot of law, equity, or prudence.” Of course, +Wesley had a perfect right to change his opinions, which he says he +did on reading Johnson’s “Taxation no Tyranny”; but when a public man +like Wesley does that, he can hardly escape criticism of an unfriendly +nature. The world dislikes changelings, and hesitates to trust +them. Wesley, in the teeth of former sentiments, now made Johnson’s +sentiments his own, contending not only that the English parliament had +power to tax the American colonies, but also that it was a reasonable +thing for the colonists to reimburse the mother country for some part +of the large expense that had been incurred in defending the colonial +rights, and that the whole of the present agitation was promoted by +a few men in England, who were determined enemies to monarchy, and +who wished to establish a republican form of government, which, of +all others, was the most despotic. The result was, Wesley was at once +pounced upon as a plagiarist and a renegade of the worst description. +Countless pamphlets were published, only a few of which can be noticed +here. + +One of his principal antagonists was the Rev. Caleb Evans, then a +baptist minister at Broadmead, Bristol, and in the thirty-seventh +year of his age,--a man of good sense, a diligent student, a faithful +pastor, and extensively useful; but a rampant advocate of what was +called liberty, and, therefore, a well wisher to the republican +rebellion across the Atlantic. + +Evans’s first publication was “A Letter to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley, +occasioned by his ‘Calm Address’”: 12mo, 24 pages. He taunts Wesley +with having so suddenly changed his opinions; with having, at the late +election, advised the Bristol Methodists to vote for the “_American +candidate_”; and with having, at no remote period, recommended a book +entitled, “An Argument in Defence of the exclusive right claimed by the +Colonies to tax themselves.” + +Wesley’s reply to this was the republication of his “Calm Address,” +with a preface prefixed, in which he acknowledges that the “Address” +was an extract “of the chief arguments from ‘Taxation no Tyranny,’” +with “an application” of his own “to those whom it most concerned.” In +a page and a half he answers Evans’s objections, and says that all “the +arguments in his tract may be contained in a nutshell.” + +Another attack on Wesley, which, before the year was out, reached a +second edition, was “A Cool Reply to a Calm Address, lately published +by Mr. John Wesley. By T. S.” 12mo, 33 pages. What this production +lacked in argument it made up in scurrilous innuendo. Wesley is told +that his “religious principles are a species of popery,” and that he is +in quest of “a mitre”; though he “ought to sit in sackcloth and pour +dust upon his head.” + +Evans also, before the expiration of 1775, issued a new edition of +his letter, 12mo, 32 pages, in the preface to which he waxes angry, +in exposing what he calls “the shameful versatility and disingenuity +of this artful man;” and does his utmost to fasten upon Wesley a +deliberate falsehood, because Wesley had denied that he had ever seen +the book which Evans had accused him of recommending, though both +William Pine, his own printer, and the Rev. James Roquet, his friend, +were both prepared to attest on oath that he had recommended the book +to them. + +Here then was a direct personal issue between them. Thomas Olivers, in +his “Full Defence of the Rev. John Wesley,” 12mo, 24 pages, published +in 1776, gives the explanation. Wesley’s denial was not owing to +untruthfulness, but forgetfulness. “Mr. Wesley,” says Olivers, “is now +an old man, and yet has such a variety and multiplicity of business +as few men could manage, even in the prime of life. There are few +weeks in which he does not travel two or three hundred miles; preach +and exhort in public between twenty and thirty times, and often more; +answer thirty or forty letters; speak with as many persons in private, +concerning things of deep importance; and prepare, either in whole +or in part, something for the press. Add to all this, that often, in +that short space of time, a variety of tracts on different subjects +pass through his hands, particularly as he travels, and that if any +tract does not immediately relate to his office as a divine, though he +may give it a cursory reading, yet he does not think it necessary to +charge his memory with its contents: I say, when all these things are +considered, no one will think it strange that his memory should often +fail.” + +This was a reasonable explanation of an awkward discrepancy; but +Wesley, who was incapable of falsehood, hardly needed the defence of +his ingenious friend Olivers. He had already written the following to +Mr. Roquet himself. + + “_November 12, 1775._ + + “DEAR JAMES,--I will now simply tell you the thing as it is. As I + was returning from the Leeds conference, one gave me the tract which + you refer to, part of which I read on my journey. The spirit of it + I observed to be admirably good; and I _then_ thought the arguments + conclusive. In consequence of which, I suppose, (though I do not + remember it,) I recommended it both to you and others; but I had so + entirely forgotten it, that even when it was brought to me the other + day, I could not recollect that I had seen it. + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[224] + +Besides the pamphlets already mentioned, there were published, in 1775: +“A Second Answer to Mr. John Wesley. By W. D.” 12mo, 22 pages. Also, +“A Wolf in Sheep’s Cloathing; or an Old Jesuit Unmasked. Containing an +account of the wonderful apparition of Father Petre’s Ghost, in the +form of the Rev. John Wesley. By Patrick Bull, Esq.” 12mo, 24 pages: a +vile production in which Wesley is branded as “a chaplain in ordinary +to the Furies, or minister extraordinary to Bellona, goddess of war;” +and is said to have “solicited to be made bishop of Quebec;” but +who, for “the jacobitical doctrines contained in his ‘Calm Address,’ +deserves to be presented, not with _lawn sleeves_, but with a _hempen +neckcloth_; and, instead of a mitre, ought to have his head adorned +with a white nightcap drawn over his eyes.” + +Toplady was not likely to allow such an opportunity to pass without +embracing it to vent his venom. Hence the publication of his 12mo +tract of 24 pages, entitled, “An Old Fox Tarr’d and Feather’d”; with +a fox’s head, in canonicals, for a frontispiece. The opening sentence +is characteristic of the whole effusion. “Whereunto shall I liken Mr. +John Wesley? and with what shall I compare him? I will liken him unto +_a low and puny tadpole in divinity_, which proudly seeks to disembowel +_a high and mighty whale in politics_.” He then proceeds to say, +that, “both as to matter and expression Wesley’s ‘Calm Address’ is a +bundle of Lilliputian shafts, picked and _stolen_ out of Dr. Johnson’s +pincushion. If Mr. Wesley had the least spark of shame remaining, the +simple detection of such enormous literary theft would be more terrible +to his feelings than an English _pumping_ or an American _tarring and +feathering_.” + +Another pamphlet, issued in the same year, was “A Constitutional Answer +to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s ‘Calm Address to the American Colonies’”: +12mo, 23 pages. The last sentence is as follows: “As I have formerly +seen you, with pleasure, in the character of a _Christian minister_, +doing some good in the moral world; so it is with regret I now see +you in the character of a _court sycophant_, doing much more mischief +in the political world; injuring, perhaps irreparably injuring, your +_country_.” + +“Americus,” also, in the _Gentleman’s Magazine_,[225] had his fling +against the poor Methodist. One sentence from his polished quiver must +suffice, as a specimen of others: “And now, Mr. Wesley, I take my leave +of you. You have forgot the precept of your Master, that God and mammon +cannot be served together. You have one eye upon a pension, and the +other upon heaven,--one hand stretched out to the king, and the other +raised up to God. I pray that the first may reward you, and the last +forgive you!” + +These extracts might be multiplied almost _ad infinitum_. We only add, +that Fletcher, as well as Olivers, came to the defence of Wesley. +The former published his “Vindication of the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s ‘Calm +Address’: in some Letters to Mr. Caleb Evans.” 12mo, 70 pages. This +evoked from Evans an unworthy acrimonious “Reply,” 12mo, 103 pages, in +which the angry baptist not only rakes up the whole story respecting +Wesley, Roquet, and Pine, but finishes by telling the loving and +accomplished Fletcher, that he is “the most verbose, and most unmeaning +and unfair disputant, that ever took up the polemical gauntlet.” + +Hampson and Whitehead censure Wesley for turning a politician. This +is a point upon which opinions will differ. Certain it is, however, +that the political part which Wesley took made him as many enemies +as his caveat against Calvinism had done. Within three weeks, forty +thousand copies of his “Calm Address” were printed and put into +circulation; and excited so much anger among the English friends of +the revolted colonists, that they would willingly have burnt both him +and his Address together. To accuse him of mercenary motives was an +unfounded, base, malignant fabrication. It is true, that the government +were so pleased with his little tract that copies were ordered to be +distributed at the doors of all the metropolitan churches; and it is +said that one of the highest officers of state waited upon him, asking +whether government could in any way be of service to either himself +or his people. Wesley replied that he “looked for no favours, and +only desired the continuance of civil and religious privileges.” The +nobleman pressed the question, but again received the same answer. +In retiring, he observed: “In all probability, sir, you have some +charities which are dear to you; by accepting £50 from the privy purse, +to appropriate as you may deem proper, you will give great pleasure to +those for whom I act.” This was accepted; but “Mr. Wesley,” says Dr. +Clarke, who related the story, “expressed himself to me as sorry that +he had not requested to be made a royal missionary, and to have the +privilege of preaching in every church.[226]” + +This might be true; but, in conclusion, we must add to it Wesley’s own +account, as published at the time, in _Lloyd’s Evening Post_. + + “SIR,--I have been seriously asked,--From what motive did you publish + your ‘Calm Address to the American Colonies’? + + “I seriously answer, Not to get money. Had that been my motive, I + should have swelled it into a shilling pamphlet, and have entered it + at Stationers’ Hall. + + “Not to get preferment for myself, or my brother’s children. I am a + little too old to gape after it myself; and if my brother or I sought + it for them, we have only to show them to the world. + + “Not to please any man living, high or low. I know mankind too well. + I know they that love you for political service, love you less than + their dinner; and they that hate you, hate you worse than the devil. + + “Least of all, did I write with a view to inflame any; just the + contrary. I contributed my mite toward putting out the flame which + rages all over the land. This I have more opportunity of observing + than any other man in England. I see with pain to what a height this + already rises, in every part of the nation. And I see many pouring + oil into the flame, by crying out, ‘How unjustly, how cruelly, the + king is using the poor Americans; who are only contending for their + liberty, and for their legal privileges!’ + + “Now there is no possible way to put out this flame, or hinder its + rising higher and higher, but to show that the Americans are not + used either cruelly or unjustly; that they are not injured at all, + seeing they are not contending for liberty,--this they had even in + its full extent, both civil and religious; neither for any legal + privileges, for they enjoy all that their charters grant. But what + they contend for is the illegal privilege of being exempt from + parliamentary taxation,--a privilege this which no charter ever gave + to any American colony yet; which no charter can give, unless it + be confirmed both by king, lords, and commons; which, in fact, our + colonies never had; which they never claimed till the present reign; + and probably they would not have claimed it now, had they not been + incited thereto by letters from England. + + “This being the real state of the question, without any colouring or + aggravation, what impartial man can either blame the king, or commend + the Americans? + + “With this view, to quench the fire, by laying the blame where it was + due, the ‘Calm Address’ was written. + + “As to reviewers, newswriters, _London Magazines_, and all that kind + of gentlemen, they behave just as I expected they would. And let them + lick up Mr. Toplady’s spittle still; a champion worthy of their cause. + + “Sir, I am your humble servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Thus things proceeded. England was flooded with political pamphlets; +the houses of parliament echoed with the sonorous periods of senatorial +oratory; and the hill sides and river banks of America rang with sharp +and dissonant peals of musketry. Blood had been shed at Lexington; and, +at the bungling battle at Bunker Hill, the English had lost 1050 men, +in killed and wounded. In the month of November, Wesley says: “I was +desired to preach, in Bethnal Green church, a charity sermon for the +widows and orphans of the soldiers that were killed in America. Knowing +how many would seek occasion of offence, I wrote down my sermon.” +The discourse was immediately published, with the title, “A Sermon +preached at St. Matthew’s, Bethnal Green, on Sunday, November 12, +1775. By John Wesley, M.A. For the benefit of the widows and orphans +of the soldiers who lately fell near Boston, in New England.” 8vo, 33 +pages. Wesley speaks of the terrible distress from which the nation was +suffering. Thousands were totally unemployed. He had seen not a few +of them “standing in the streets, with pale looks, hollow eyes, and +meagre limbs.” He says, he had “known families, who, a few years ago, +lived in an easy, genteel manner,” driven to the necessity of repairing +to the fields “to pick up the turnips which the cattle had left: and +which they boiled, if they could get a few sticks for that purpose, +or otherwise ate them raw.” Thousands had “screamed for liberty till +they were utterly distracted, and their intellects quite confounded.” +“In every town, men, who were once of a calm, mild, friendly temper, +were now mad with party zeal, foaming with rage against their quiet +neighbours, ready to tear out one another’s throats, and to plunge +their swords into each other’s bowels.” He then proceeds to descant, +in withering terms, on the sins of the nation,--money getting, lying, +gluttony, idleness, and profanity. The sermon altogether, considering +the time and circumstances of its delivery, was one of the boldest +he ever preached; and, of course, added to the rage that his “Calm +Address” had kindled. The _Gospel Magazine_, in reviewing it, remarks: +“So many barrels of _tar_ have of late been lavished on Mr. Wesley, +and so many bags of _feathers_ have been shaken over him, on account +of his new political apostasy, that it might seem unmerciful in us, +should we add to the _anointings_ and to the _powderings_, which he has +already so plentifully, though not undeservedly, received. We shall +therefore, from a principle of compassion, touch his sermon with the +tenderer hand, and let the sermoniser himself very lightly off, the +enormity of his demerits considered.” And then the tender reviewer, in +his unmerited compassion, proceeds to describe “the sermon as being +as dry as an old piece of leather that has been tanned five thousand +times over”; and the preacher as “a tip-top _perfectionist_ in the +art of lying.” All this revives a recollection of “The Old Fox tarred +and feathered,”--and of its polite author, the Rev. Augustus Toplady, +who had just now become the courteous editor of the misnamed _Gospel +Magazine_. + +At the conference of 1774, Wesley had 2204 members of society in +America, and seven itinerant preachers, Messrs. Rankin, Asbury, +Shadford, Williams, King, Dempster, and Rodda; and to direct these, in +the midst of a great rebellion, required more than ordinary wisdom. +A few extracts from his letters to Thomas Rankin will not be without +interest. + + “LONDON, _March 1, 1775_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--As soon as possible, you must come to a full and clear + explanation, both with brother Asbury, and with Jemmy Dempster. But I + advise brother Asbury to return to England the first opportunity. + + “There is now a probability that God will hear prayer, and turn the + counsels of Ahithophel into foolishness. It is not unlikely that + peace will be reestablished between England and the colonies. But, + certainly, the present doubtful situation of affairs may be improved + to the benefit of many. They may be strongly incited now ‘to break + off their sins by repentance, if it may be a lengthening of their + tranquillity,’ + + “I add a line to all the preachers:-- + + “_My Dear Brethren_,--You were never in your lives in so critical + a situation as you are at this time. It is your part to be + peacemakers; to be loving and tender to all; but to addict + yourselves to no party. In spite of all solicitations, of rough or + smooth words, say not one word against one or the other side. Keep + yourselves pure: do all you can to help and soften all; but beware + how you adopt another’s jar. See that you act in full union with + each other; this is of the utmost consequence. Not only let there + be no bitterness or anger, but no shyness or coldness, between you. + Mark all those who would set one of you against the other. Some + such will never be wanting. But give them no countenance; rather + ferret them out, and drag them into open day. The conduct of T. + Rankin has been suitable to the Methodist plan. I hope all of you + tread in his steps. Let your eye be single. Be in peace with each + other, and the God of peace will be with you.” + +Under the same date, Charles Wesley wrote to Rankin as follows. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--As to public affairs, I wish you to be like-minded + with me. I am of neither side, and yet of both; on the side of New + England, and of Old. Private Christians are excused, exempted, + privileged, to take no part in civil troubles. We love all, and pray + for all, with a sincere and impartial love. Faults there may be on + both sides; but such as neither you nor I can remedy: therefore, let + us, and all our children, give ourselves unto prayer, and so stand + still and see the salvation of God.” + +The war was not the only thing that gave Wesley trouble. Thomas +Rankin and Francis Asbury were not able to agree; and Miss Gilbert +had actually written to Asbury, stating that Mr. Gilbert was about +to leave Antigua; and wishing him to come, and to take charge of +the three hundred Methodists in that island. Asbury was inclined to +accept of this invitation; but was deterred by his want of ordination, +and therefore, as he thought, want of authority to administer the +sacraments of the Christian church. Wesley wished him to return to +England. What a disaster, if he had![227] These facts will cast light +on the following letters. + + “PORTARLINGTON, _April 21, 1775_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--Brother Asbury has sent me a few lines, and I thank him + for them. But I do not advise him to go to Antigua. Let him come home + without delay. If one or two stout, healthy young men would willingly + offer themselves to that service, I should have no objection; but + none should go, unless he was fully persuaded in his own mind. I + am afraid, you will soon find a day of trial: the clouds are black + both over England and America. It is well if this summer passes + over without some showers of blood. And if the storm once begins in + America, it will soon spread to Great Britain. + + “I am, dear Tommy, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + “BALLINROBE, _May 19, 1775_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--I doubt not but brother Asbury and you will part + friends; I hope I shall see him at the conference. He is quite an + upright man. I apprehend he will go through his work more cheerfully + when he is a little distance from me. + + “We must speak the plain truth, wherever we are, whether men will + hear, or whether they will forbear. And among our societies we must + enforce our rules, with all mildness and steadiness. + + “Never was there a time, when it was more necessary for all that + fear God, both in England and in America, to wrestle with God in + mighty prayer. In all the other judgments of God, the inhabitants of + the earth learn righteousness; but wherever war breaks out, God is + forgotten, if He be not set at open defiance. What a glorious work + of God was at Cambuslang and Kilsyth, from 1740 to 1744! But the war + that followed tore it all up by the roots, and left scarce any trace + of it behind; insomuch that, when I diligently inquired a few years + after, I could not find one that retained the life of God!” + + “CLARMAIN, _June 13, 1775_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--I am afraid our correspondence, for the time to come, + will be more uncertain than ever, since the sword is drawn; and it + is well if they have not, on both sides, thrown away the scabbard. + What will the end of these things be, either in Europe or America? + It seems, huge confusion and distress, such as neither we nor our + fathers had known![228] But it is enough, if all issues in glory + to God, and peace and goodwill among men. Never had America such a + call to repentance; for, unless general reformation prevent general + destruction, what a scene will soon be opened! Ruin and desolation + must soon overspread the land; and fair houses be turned into ruinous + heaps. But what are those strange phenomena which you speak of? Send + me an account of just so much as you can depend on. Should you not + appoint in America, as we do in England and Ireland, one or more + general days of fasting and prayer?” + + “NEAR LEEDS, _July 28, 1775_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--I rejoice to hear that the work of our Lord still + prospers in your hands. If the temple is built even in troublous + times, it is not by the power of man. I rejoice too over honest + Francis Asbury, and hope he will no more enter into temptation. I + know no reason why you should not print the names of the American + preachers. You may print an edition of the ‘Christian Pattern,’ and + apply the profits of it to the payment of the debt. The societies + should pay the passage of the preachers. But you must not imagine, + that any more of them will come to America till these troubles are at + an end. + + “Certainly, this is the point which we should insist upon, in season + and out of season. The universal corruption of all orders and degrees + of men loudly calls for the vengeance of God; and, inasmuch as all + other nations are equally corrupt, it seems God will punish us by + one another. What can prevent this, but a universal, or, at least, a + general repentance?” + + “LONDON, _August 13, 1775_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--I am not sorry that brother Asbury stays with you + another year. In that time, it will be seen what God will do with + North America; and you will easily judge whether our preachers are + called to remain any longer therein. If they are, God will make their + way plain, and give them favour even with the men that delight in + war. The clouds do indeed gather more and more; and it seems a heavy + storm will follow; certainly it will, unless the prayers of the + faithful obtain a longer reprieve.” + + “LONDON, _October 20, 1775_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--I am glad you are going into North Carolina; and why + not into South Carolina too? I apprehend, those provinces would bear + much fruit, as most parts of them are fresh, unbroken ground. And as + the people are further removed from the din of war, they may be more + susceptible of the gospel of peace. + + “A paper was sent to me lately, occasioned by the troubles in + America; but it would not do good. It is abundantly too tart; and + nothing of that kind will be of service now. All parties are already + too much sharpened against each other; we must pour water, not oil, + into the flame. I had written a little tract[229] upon the subject + before I knew the American ports were shut up. I think there is not + one sharp word therein; I did not design there should. However, many + are excessively angry; and would willingly burn me and it together. + Indeed it is provoking; I suppose above forty thousand of them have + been printed in three weeks, and still the demand for them is as + great as ever. + + “I am entirely of your mind. I am persuaded, love and tender measures + will do far more than violence. And if I should have an interview + with a great man, which seems to be not unlikely, I will tell him so, + without any circumlocution. + + “I am, dear Tommy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[230] + +The “great man” referred to was probably Lord North, the prime minister +of the English cabinet, to whom, and to the Earl of Dartmouth, Wesley +had, four months before, addressed most important letters, in which +he strongly endeavoured to convince the government of the exceedingly +critical condition of public matters. No man in the kingdom had +suffered more from the violation of English law than Wesley had; and +yet now, in England’s extremity, no man evinced a more loyal spirit +than was evinced by him. Indeed, his loyalty became, in the eyes of his +enemies, a crime, and brought him, not reward, but ruffianly reproach. +An extract from the letters to the two ministers of state may fitly, +for the present, close these American reminiscences. + + “ARMAGH, _June 15, 1775_. + + “MY LORD,--Whether my writing do any good or no, it need do no harm; + for it rests with your lordship whether any eye but your own shall + see it. + + “I do not enter upon the question, whether the Americans are in + the right or in the wrong. Here all my prejudices are against + the Americans; for I am a high churchman,[231] the son of a high + churchman, bred up, from my childhood, in the highest notions of + passive obedience and non-resistance; and yet, in spite of all my + long rooted prejudices, I cannot avoid thinking, if I think at all, + that an oppressed people asked for nothing more than their legal + rights, and that in the most modest and inoffensive manner that the + nature of the thing would allow.[232] But waiving all considerations + of right and wrong, I ask, is it common sense to use force towards + the Americans? These men will not be frightened; and it seems, they + will not be conquered so easily as was at first imagined. They will + probably dispute every inch of ground; and, if they die, die sword + in hand. Indeed, some of our valiant officers say, ‘Two thousand + men will clear America of these rebels.’ No, nor twenty thousand, + be they rebels or not, nor perhaps treble that number. They are as + strong men as you; they are as valiant as you, if not abundantly + more valiant, for they are one and all enthusiasts,--enthusiasts for + liberty. They are calm, deliberate enthusiasts; and we know how this + principle ‘breathes into softer souls stern love of war, and thirst + of vengeance, and contempt of death.’ We know men, animated with this + spirit, will leap into a fire, or rush into a cannon’s mouth. + + “‘But they have no experience in war.’ And how much more have our + troops? Very few of them ever saw a battle. ‘But they have no + discipline.’ That is an entire mistake. Already they have near as + much as our army, and they will learn more of it every day; so that, + in a short time, if the fatal occasion continue, they will understand + it as well as their assailants.[233] ‘But they are divided amongst + themselves.’ No, my lord, they are terribly united; not in the + province of New England only, but down as low as the Jerseys and + Pennsylvania. The bulk of the people are so united, that to speak a + word in favour of the present English measures would almost endanger + a man’s life. Those who informed me of this are no sycophants; they + say nothing to curry favour; they have nothing to gain or lose by me. + But they speak with sorrow of heart what they have seen with their + own eyes, and heard with their own ears. + + “These men think, one and all, be it right or wrong, that they are + contending _pro aris et focis_; for their wives, children, and + liberty. What an advantage have they herein over many that fight + only for pay! none of whom care a straw for the cause wherein they + are engaged; most of whom strongly disapprove of it. Have they not + another considerable advantage? Is there occasion to recruit troops? + Their supplies are at hand, and all round about them. Ours are three + thousand miles off. Are we then able to conquer the Americans, + suppose they are left to themselves, suppose all our neighbours + should stand stock still, and leave us and them to fight it out? But + we are not sure of this. Nor are we sure that all our neighbours will + stand stock still. I doubt they have not promised it; and, if they + had, could we rely upon those promises? ‘Yet, it is not probable + they will send ships or men to America.’ Is there not a shorter way? + Do they not know where England and Ireland lie? And have they not + troops, as well as ships, in readiness? All Europe is well apprised + of this; only the English know nothing of the matter! What if they + find means to land but two thousand men? Where are the troops in + England or Ireland to oppose them? Why, cutting the throats of their + brethren in America! Poor England, in the meantime! + + “‘But we have our militia--our valiant, disciplined militia. These + will effectually oppose them.’ Give me leave, my lord, to relate a + little circumstance, of which I was informed by a clergyman who knew + the fact. In 1716, a large body of militia were marching towards + Preston against the rebels. In a wood, which they were passing by, a + boy happened to discharge his fowling piece. The soldiers gave up all + for lost, and, by common consent, threw down their arms, and ran for + life. So much dependence is to be placed on our valorous militia. + + “But, my lord, this is not all. We have thousands of enemies, perhaps + more dangerous than French or Spaniards. As I travel four or five + thousand miles every year, I have an opportunity of conversing + freely with more persons of every denomination than any one else in + the three kingdoms. I cannot but know the general disposition of + the people,--English, Scots, and Irish; and I know a large majority + of them are exasperated almost to madness. Exactly so they were + throughout England and Scotland about the year 1640, and, in a great + measure, by the same means; by inflammatory papers, which were + spread, as they are now, with the utmost diligence, in every corner + of the land. Hereby the bulk of the population were effectually cured + of all love and reverence for the king. So that, first despising, + then hating him, they were just ripe for open rebellion. And, I + assure your lordship, so they are now. They want nothing but a leader. + + “Two circumstances more are deserving to be considered: the one, that + there was, at that time, a decay of general trade almost throughout + the kingdom; the other, there was a common dearness of provisions. + The case is the same, in both respects, at this day. So that, even + now, there are multitudes of people that, having nothing to do, and + nothing to eat, are ready for the first bidder; and that, without + inquiring into the merits of the case, would flock to any that would + give them bread. + + “Upon the whole, I am really sometimes afraid that this evil is + from the Lord. When I consider the astonishing luxury of the rich, + and the shocking impiety of rich and poor, I doubt whether general + dissoluteness of manners does not demand a general visitation. + Perhaps the decree is already gone forth from the Governor of the + world. Perhaps even now: + + ‘As he that buys, surveys a ground, + So the destroying angel measures it around. + Calm he surveys the perishing nation; + Ruin behind him stalks, and empty desolation.’ + + “But we Englishmen are too wise to acknowledge that God has anything + to do in the world! Otherwise should we not seek Him by fasting and + prayer, before He lets the lifted thunder drop? O my lord, if your + lordship can do anything, let it not be wanting! For God’s sake, for + the sake of the king, of the nation, of your lovely family, remember + Rehoboam! Remember Philip the Second! Remember King Charles the First! + + “I am, with true regard, my lord, your lordship’s obedient servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[234] + +Whatever may be thought of the principle advocated in Wesley’s “Calm +Address to the American Colonies,” namely, that taxation without +representation is no tyranny, there can be no doubt that his letters +to the premier and to the colonial secretary are full of warnings and +foresight which were terribly fulfilled; and, for fidelity, fulness, +terseness, in short, for _multum in parvo_, were perhaps without a +parallel in the correspondence of these ministers of state. + +Much space has been occupied with these American affairs. If an apology +were needed, the reader might be courteously reminded (1) that John +Wesley’s “Calm Address” threw, not Methodism only, but the nation, +into a fever of excitement, and, directly and indirectly, gave birth +to scores of pamphlets on the same subject; (2) that the American +rebellion is one of the greatest events in English history; and (3) +that, in consequence of the great majority of the clergy of the English +Church fleeing from the colonies, when the colonies most needed them, +Methodism, under the sagacious management of the apostolic Asbury, took +the place which had hitherto been occupied by Anglican episcopacy; +and, henceforth, literally became the predominant religion of what is +likely to be the greatest and most prosperous country in the world. + +We must now return to Wesley in a more private capacity. + +The reader has long lost sight of Peter Bohler. In 1739, after the +conversion of the two Wesleys, Bohler went to Georgia, and his life, +since then, had been spent in unwearied Christian work, partly in +America and partly in Europe. His labours now were nearly ended; +and, on April 27, 1775, he peacefully expired, in London, at the age +of sixty-three. For years past, correspondence seems to have ceased +between Wesley and his early Moravian friend. Within three months of +Bohler’s death, it was renewed. Wesley wrote to him on the 5th of +February, and Bohler, in a beautifully Christian letter, responded. A +few days later, Wesley wrote again, as follows. + + “_February 18, 1775._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--When I say, ‘I hope I shall never be constrained + to speak otherwise of them’ (the Moravians), I do not mean, that I + have any expectation this will ever happen. Probably it never will. + I never did speak but when I believed it was my duty so to do. And, + if they would calmly consider what I have spoken from March 10, + 1736, and were open to conviction, they might be such Christians as + are hardly in the world besides. I have not lost sight of you yet. + Indeed, I cannot, if you are ‘a city set upon a hill.’ + + “Perhaps no one living is a greater lover of peace, or has laboured + more for it, than I; particularly, among the children of God.[235] + I set out, near fifty years ago, with this principle, ‘Whosoever + doeth the will of my Father who is in heaven, the same is my brother, + and sister, and mother.’ But there is no one living that has been + more abused for his pains, even to this day. But it is all well. By + the grace of God, I shall go on, following peace with all men, and + loving your Brethren beyond any body of men upon earth, except the + Methodists. + + “Wishing you every gospel blessing, I remain your very affectionate + brother, + “JOHN WESLEY.”[236] + +Thus ended Wesley’s intercourse with Bohler, till it was renewed in +heaven. + +Eleven days after the above was written, Wesley left London for +Ireland, proceeding, as usual, by way of Bristol and the midland +counties. Nothing remarkable occurred in his journey to Liverpool. +Of course, he was preaching continually, and, winter though it was, +sometimes out of doors. While doing so, at Newcastle under Lyne, “a +buffoon,” he says, “laboured to interrupt him; but, as he was bawling, +with his mouth wide open, some arch boys gave him such a mouthful of +dirt as quite satisfied him.” + +At Dublin, at the request of “the good old dean,” he assisted in +administering the Lord’s supper in St. Patrick’s. At Maryborough, +he complied with the wish of the clergyman, and preached in the +parish church. The Methodist chapel at Waterford he describes as “a +foul, horrid, miserable hole.” For the first time, he preached at +Clones, using, as his church, an old Danish fort. Here Methodism had +been introduced about the year 1768. The papists were furious, and +magistrates refused to interfere; but, just when the place was about to +be given up, a military pensioner, an old presbyterian, took his stand +in the centre of the market, and, shouldering his musket, declared that +he would shoot the first man that attempted to disturb the preacher. +The rioters were frightened; and the rough old soldier mounted guard +every sabbath afternoon, until opposition ceased.[237] + +At Londonderry, Wesley accepted the bishop’s invitation to dinner; +the prelate remarking, “I know you do not love our hours, and will +therefore order dinner to be on the table between two and three +o’clock.” “We had,” says Wesley, “a piece of boiled beef, and an +English pudding. This is true good breeding.” + +At Castle Caulfield, writes Wesley, with the utmost _sang froid_, “the +rain came plentifully, through the thatch, into my lodging room; but I +found no present inconvenience, and was not careful for the morrow.” + +Six days afterwards, Wesley was seized with illness, which nearly +proved fatal; but for three days more, though in a burning fever, he +continued travelling and preaching almost as usual. He had now reached +the town of Lurgan, where, four years previously, a society had been +formed, one of the first members being Isaac Bullock, an old soldier, +who had been at the capture of several islands in the West Indies, +and was one of sixty, called “the forlorn hope,” who, in 1762, first +entered the breach at the storming of Havannah, only six of the sixty +escaping with their lives. The house of this sturdy veteran was the +preaching place of the Lurgan Methodists.[238] Here Wesley was obliged +to succumb to fever. He sent for a physician, who told him he must +rest. Wesley replied, he could not, as he “had appointed to preach +at several places, and must preach as long as he could speak.” The +doctor gave him medicine, and off he went to Tanderagee, and then to +a gentleman’s seat, three miles beyond Lisburn, where nature sank, +and the conquered evangelist was compelled to take his bed. Strength, +memory, and mind entirely failed. For three days, he lay more dead than +alive. His tongue was black and swollen. He was violently convulsed. +For some time his pulse was not discernible. Hope was almost gone; +when Joseph Bradford, his travelling companion, came with a cup, and +said, “Sir, you must take this.” Wesley writes: “I thought, ‘I will, +if I can swallow, to please him; for it will do me neither harm nor +good.’ Immediately it set me a vomiting; my heart began to beat, and my +pulse to play again; and, from that hour, the extremity of the symptoms +abated.” Six days afterwards, to the astonishment of his friends, and, +as he says, “trusting in God,” he set out for Dublin, where, within a +week, he was preaching as usual. + +This was a memorable epoch, even in Wesley’s eventful life. The house +in which he lay so dangerously ill was the hospitable dwelling of Mr. +Gayer, of Derryaghey,[239] a devoted Methodist of great respectability, +who had built a chapel in the village, and, for the accommodation +of the preachers, a room, which went by the name of “the prophet’s +chamber.” His daughter, afterwards Mrs. Wolfenden, was now a converted +girl, sixteen years of age, and, with her mother, was Wesley’s nurse. +Great anxiety was felt for Wesley’s life, and, while a few select +friends were praying that, as in the case of Hezekiah, God would add +to his days fifteen years, Mrs. Gayer suddenly rose from her knees, and +cried, “The prayer is granted!” Marvellously enough, Wesley’s recovery +immediately commenced, and he survived, from June 1775 to March 1791, a +period of just fifteen years, and a few months over. + +But even this was not all the wonder. Alexander Mather, at the time, +was at Sheerness, in Kent, where he read, in the newspapers, that +Wesley was actually dead. Mather says, he was not able to give credence +to this; and, before he went to preach, he opened his Bible on the +words, “Behold, I will add unto thy days fifteen years” (Isa. xxxviii. +5); and away he went to the chapel, and began to pray that the promise, +made to Hezekiah, might be fulfilled in the case of Wesley.[240] These +are striking facts. We give them as we find them. The sceptic will +sneer; but the Christian will exercise an unfaltering faith in the +glorious text, which, in the history of the church, has been confirmed +in instances without number: “The effectual fervent prayer of a +righteous man availeth much.” + +The news of Wesley’s dangerous illness created the utmost consternation +among his friends. The following is a letter, hitherto unpublished, +addressed by Charles Wesley to Joseph Bradford, Wesley’s faithful +companion. + + “BRISTOL, _June 29, 1775_. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--Be of good cheer. The Lord liveth, and all live to + Him. Your last is just arrived, and has cut off all hope of my + brother’s recovery. If he could hold out till now, that is, ten + days longer, he might recover; but I dare not allow myself to hope + it, till I hear from you again. The people here, and in London, and + every place, are swallowed up in sorrow. But sorrow and death will + soon be swallowed up in life everlasting. You will be careful of my + brother’s papers, etc., till you see his executors. God shall reward + your fidelity and love. I seem scarce separated from him whom I shall + so very soon overtake. We were united in our lives, and in our death + not divided. Brethren, pray a very little longer for your loving + servant--CHARLES WESLEY. + + “_Thursday Evening._ + + “Yours of the 20th, I have this moment received. It only confirms + my fears. My brother, soon after you wrote, in all probability, + entered into the joy of his Lord. Yet write again, and send me the + particulars. I have not, and never more shall have, strength for such + a journey. The Lord prepare us for a speedy removal to our heavenly + country! + + “CHARLES WESLEY.” + +The tidings of Wesley’s recovery produced corresponding joy. His old +friend and former itinerant, now the Rev. Dr. John Jones, of Harwich, +wrote to him as follows. + + “HARWICH, _July 29, 1775_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--I cannot express what I felt when I was + informed that you were both senseless and speechless. It was like + life from the dead when I heard you were out of danger and able to + sit up. It gave me some hope, that God has not yet given up these + sinful nations, and that He will strive with us a little longer. Time + was when you would have taken my advice, at least, in some things. + Let me entreat, let me beseech you, to preach less frequently, + and that only at the principal places. You must be satisfied with + directing others, and doing less yourself. You yourself do not know + of how great importance your life is. Far be it from me to desire you + not to travel; I only beg you not to go beyond your strength. + + “JOHN JONES.”[241] + +Another friend, in London, wrote the following. + + “LONDON, _July 8, 1775_. + + “REVEREND SIR,--God, who comforteth those who are cast down, hath + comforted us by graciously restoring you to us again. The prayer of + faith has saved the sick. The voice of joy and gladness is now found + in the dwellings of the righteous; where eight days past there were + mourning, lamentation, and woe. Every social repast was embittered, + and we literally mingled our drink with our tears. Could you, from + the bed of sickness, have cast your eyes on the congregation, the + first sabbath in the month, and beheld distress in every face, keen + anguish in every heart, your generous soul would have been willing + to have tarried awhile, absent from your Lord, to return to comfort + those mourners in Sion. The tidings of your recovery was received + with melting gratitude and joyous tears. O sir, what a week of + suspense and anguish! You will not surely blame us, that our prayers + helped to detain you in the vale below. Forgive your weeping friends + if they have brought you back from the skies: surely, in the end, you + will be amply recompensed! O yes! being longer employed in the work + of faith, and labour of love, your crown will be the brighter.”[242] + +These are specimens of the loving congratulations of Wesley’s +friends.[243] His illness was sharp, though short. The only lasting +effect was, it stripped him, at all events for months afterwards, of +his beautiful head of hair.[244] + +Having spent three weeks in Dublin, and regained his strength, he, on +July 23, embarked for England, having in the morning of that day again +assisted in administering the Lord’s supper in St. Patrick’s cathedral. +Landing at Parkgate, he proceeded to Leeds to meet his conference, +preaching, as he travelled, with as much zest as ever; except that he +spent a day or two at Miss Bosanquet’s, making conference preparations. +Notwithstanding the warnings and entreaties of his friends, his labours +were unabated. Referring to his illness and recovery, he wrote, in +1781: “From this time” (1775) “I have, by the grace of God, gone on in +the same track, travelling between four and five thousand miles a year, +and, once in two years, going through Great Britain and Ireland; which, +by the blessing of God, I am as well able to do now as I was twenty or +thirty years ago. About a hundred and thirty of my fellow labourers +are continually employed in the same thing. We all aim at one point, +not at profit, any more than at ease, or pleasure, or the praise of +men; but to spread true religion through London, Dublin, Edinburgh, +and, as we are able, through the three kingdoms. This is our point. We +leave every man to enjoy his own opinion, and to use his own mode of +worship, desiring only, that the love of God and his neighbour be the +ruling principle in his heart, and show itself in his life by a uniform +practice of justice, mercy, and truth. And, accordingly, we give the +right hand of fellowship to every lover of God and man, whatever his +opinion or mode of worship be, of which he is to give an account to God +only.”[245] + +Dr. Jones’s advice to Wesley was lost labour. Wesley’s life was a +perpetual motion. Work seemed to be essential to its continuance. +There are but few who can sincerely sing the lines, which he, from his +inmost heart, sang so often: + + “Oh that, without a lingering groan, + I may the welcome word receive, + My body with my charge lay down, + And cease _at once to work and live_!” + +Wesley, however, could give advice, though it was not always that he +took it. The following extract from a letter to his brother, written +at this period, contains an example of this, besides referring to his +publishing affairs and the movements of his miserable wife. + + “LONDONDERRY, _June 2, 1775_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I thought it strange, that poor Samuel Franks should + leave me £900 in debt. But it is stranger still, that John Atlay + should have paid £1600 out of nine; and that I am £160 in debt + notwithstanding! + + “Mr. Walthen’s method of radical cure I shall hardly try.[246] I am + very easy, and that is enough. + + “Has my friend taken a house at Bristol? Is Noah with her? What are + they doing? + + “Preach as much as you can, and no more than you can. You never will + be much stronger till you add change of air to exercise; riding + two or three hundred miles point blank forward. Now you have an + opportunity. Meet me at Leeds with honest John Murlin. When you are + tired you may change places with him. You would return a stout, + healthy man. + + “Peace be with you and yours! Adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[247] + +Another instance of advice giving is too racy to be omitted. The letter +was addressed to John King, one of his preachers in America. + + “NEAR LEEDS, _July 28, 1775_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Always take advice or reproof as a favour: it is + the surest mark of love. + + “I advised you once, and you took it as an affront; nevertheless I + will do it once more. + + “Scream no more, at the peril of your soul. God now warns you by me, + whom He has set over you. Speak as earnestly as you can; but do not + scream. Speak with all your heart; but with a moderate voice. It was + said of our Lord, ‘He shall not _cry_’: the word properly means, He + shall not _scream_. Herein, be a follower of me, as I am of Christ. + I often speak loud, often vehemently; but I never scream; I never + strain myself. I dare not: I know it would be a sin against God and + my own soul. Perhaps one reason why that good man, Thomas Walsh, yea, + and John Manners too, were in such grievous darkness before they + died, was, because they shortened their own lives. + + “O John, pray for an advisable and teachable temper! By nature you + are very far from it: you are stubborn and headstrong. Your last + letter was written in a very wrong spirit. If you cannot take advice + from others, surely you might take it from your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[248] + +The above characteristic letter was written at Miss Bosanquet’s, +Cross Hall, Morley, where Wesley had arranged to have if possible, a +few days’ retirement, before he met his conference, at Leeds. In a +letter to that lady, dated May 29, 1775, and therefore previous to his +illness, he writes: “The last day of June, I hope to be in Dublin, and +the end of July in England. If I have a ready passage, probably I may +have an opportunity of hiding myself a day or two with you; but I do +not desire any of the preachers to come to me till I send for them. If +they do, I shall run away; I will not be in a crowd.”[249] + +One or two days’ retirement was not much for an old man to wish; but +it was more than he could get. The preachers would not be prevented +seeing him; and who can blame them? If the magnet attracts the needle, +the magnet has no right to censure the needle for yielding to its own +attractive influence. An extract from an unpublished letter, written, +at this period, by simple hearted, loving Samuel Bardsley, will +illustrate what we mean. “I never was at a better conference. The Lord +was with us of a truth. Had you seen us, and our dear, aged father and +friend in the midst of us, and beheld the freedom and harmony there +were among us, you would have blessed God on our behalf. We seemed to +be determined to live and preach the gospel more than ever. On the +Thursday before the conference began, Mr. Oliver and I had the pleasure +of drinking tea and supping with dear Mr. Wesley, at Miss Bosanquet’s, +where we stopped all night. We were there when he arrived from Ireland, +and I need not tell you with what joy and thankfulness we received the +man of God, and especially as he appeared with his usual cheerfulness, +and as well as we had seen him for some years. I had the pleasure of +being with him alone, and desired him not to send me far from home. If +he had proposed Worcester to me, I would have gone; but, as he did not, +I thought it best to leave it to him where to send me; so he fixed me +in this circuit (Haworth), which I shall love, if I have health, and +live near to God.” + +The conference at Leeds opened on August 1, and concluded, its sittings +two days afterwards. It was the largest that had assembled for many +years, and was unexampled for its free discussion.[250] Wesley writes: +“Having received several letters, intimating that many of the preachers +were utterly unqualified for the work, having neither grace nor gifts +sufficient for it, I determined to examine the weighty charge with all +possible exactness. In order to this, I read those letters to all the +conference; and begged, that every one would freely propose and enforce +whatever objection he had to any one. The objections proposed were +considered at large; in two or three difficult cases, committees were +appointed for that purpose. In consequence of this, we were all fully +convinced, that the charge advanced was without foundation; that God +has really sent those labourers into His vineyard, and has qualified +them for the work; and we were all more closely united together than we +had been for many years.” + +The very day after the conference concluded, Wesley again set out on +his blessed wanderings, and preached at Bradford and Great Horton. He +then took coach to London; spent five days there; and then went off to +Wales, Bristol, and Cornwall; and got back to London on October 6. The +remainder of the year was spent, partly in the metropolis, and partly +in his usual tours through Bedfordshire, Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, +Buckinghamshire, Norfolk, Kent, and Surrey. + +The nation was too much excited, in 1775, to take much interest in +the Calvinian controversy; which, however, still proceeded. Fletcher +published “The Second Part of the Scripture Scales”: 12mo, 237 pages. +Also, “The Last Check 1775 to Antinomianism. A Polemical Essay on +the Twin Doctrines of Christian Imperfection and a Death Purgatory.” +12mo, 327 pages. Toplady, likewise, issued “The Scheme of Christian and +Philosophical Necessity Asserted; in opposition to Mr. John Wesley’s +Tract on that Subject.” + +As usual, Toplady excelled in abusiveness. He tells his readers, that +the chief ingredients in Wesley’s tract are “an equal portion of gross +heathenism, Pelagianism, Mahometism, popery, Manicheanism, ranterism, +and antinomianism, culled, dried, and pulverized, _secundum artem_; +and, above all, mingled with as much palpable atheism as could be +possibly scraped together.” Wesley is taunted as a “poor gentleman, who +is necessarily an universal meddler; and, as necessarily, an universal +miscarrier.” “He paddles in metaphysics, knows a little, presumes a +great deal, and so jumps to conclusions.” His “Thoughts on Necessity” +are “as crude and dark as chaos.” + +This scurrility was a thing to which Wesley had been long accustomed. +It was cast upon him by writers of all descriptions. In this same +year, 1775, an octavo pamphlet of 35 pages was published, with the +title, “A Letter to a Friend on the Subject of Methodism;” in which +the anonymous writer, among a multitude of other calumnies, declares +that the tendency of Wesley’s system is “to fill parishes with whores, +rogues, and bastards”; and defines Methodist preaching as “a ridiculous +effusion, delivered with an enthusiastic air, a distorted countenance, +a whining, snivelling accent, and a soporific, nasal twang.” Wesley had +too much of a gentleman’s self respect to even notice vulgarities like +these; and yet they were far from being pleasant, and tend to show that +Methodism struggled into its mighty manhood amid the incessant peltings +of every kind of pitiless persecution. The storm, during Wesley’s +lifetime, from one quarter or another, was perpetual; but, powerless to +destroy, it simply made the roots of the tree strike deeper. + +Two of Wesley’s publications, in 1775, have been already noticed. The +others were: + +1. “A Sermon on 1 John v. 7.” Dublin: 12mo, 31 pages. + +2. “The Important Question. A Sermon, preached in Taunton, on September +12, 1775. Published at the Request of many of the Hearers, for the +Benefit of a Public Charity.” 12mo, 33 pages. This sermon was delivered +in the presbyterian chapel, and was made the means of converting Mrs. +Stone, in whose house Dr. Coke, shortly after, met Wesley’s preachers, +to confer with them about his religious scruples; and where he preached +his first sermon outside the precincts of a parish church.[251] + +3. “A Concise History of England, from the earliest times to the death +of George II.” 12mo, 4 vols. Price, to subscribers, half a guinea. +Wesley says, his “volumes contain the substance of the English history, +extracted chiefly from Dr. Goldsmith, Rapin, and Smollett; only with +various corrections and additions.” Wesley made a profit of £200 by +this publication; but gave it all away the week he got it.[252] + +For many years, William Pine of Bristol had been Wesley’s chief printer +and publisher, and had recently brought out a revised edition of +Wesley’s collected works, in thirty-two 12mo volumes. Henceforth, the +connection ceased. Pine became a red hot partisan of the rebellious +colonists. Wesley disliked this, and wrote as follows to his brother +Charles. + + “LEEDS, _July 31, 1775_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I must not delay answering your important question, + ‘What can be done with William Pine?’ If he still, after my earnest + warning, ‘every week publishes barefaced treason,’ I beg you would + once more warn him, in my name and in your own; and if he slights or + forgets this warning, then give him his choice, either to leave us + quietly, or to be publicly disowned. At such a time as this, when our + foreign enemies are hovering over us, and our own nation is all in a + ferment, it is particularly improper to say one word which tends to + inflame the minds of the people.”[253] + +Thus Wesley’s loyalty to King George severed his connection with +William Pine, the weekly publisher of the once popular _Felix Farley’s +Journal_. Mr. Pine died in 1803.[254] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [221] Boswell’s Life of Johnson. + + [222] Ibid. + + [223] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1797, p. 455. + + [224] Olivers’ “Defence,” p. 19. + + [225] Vol. for 1775, p. 561. + + [226] Everett’s Life of Dr. A. Clarke. + + [227] Asbury’s Journal. + + [228] Words fearfully realised, first in America, next in + France, and then throughout all Europe. + + [229] His “Calm Address.” + + [230] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., pp. 302-308. + + [231] Did Wesley mean this? That is, did he use it in any + sense except that which immediately follows? + + [232] This may seem to clash with the tenor of Wesley’s + “Calm Address”; but the reader must recollect, that + it was not until after the date of this letter that + the “Calm Address” was written; and that Wesley’s + change of opinions did not occur until after the + Leeds conference of 1775. Wesley’s foresight, + throughout the whole of this fearful war, was most + remarkable. + + [233] It is a remarkable fact, that this letter was written + within forty-eight hours before the disgraceful and + disastrous battle at Bunker Hill, where Wesley’s + warnings to the premier and colonial secretary of + England were too amply verified. With his itinerants + in America, Wesley knew quite as much of American + affairs as Lord North, and perhaps a little more. + + [234] Smith’s History of Methodism, vol. i., p. 726; and + _Macmillan’s Magazine_ for December, 1870. + + [235] These were not empty words, though Wesley was almost + perpetually in war. In an unpublished letter, to + Matthew Lowes, dated March 6, 1759, he writes: “What + would one not do, except sin, that brotherly love may + continue!” + + [236] _Methodist Magazine_, 1854, p. 691. + + [237] Life of Henry Moore. + + [238] _Methodist Magazine_, 1827, p. 800. + + [239] Ibid. 1834, p. 413. + + [240] York society book. + + [241] _Methodist Magazine_, 1787, p. 444. + + [242] Ibid. 1787, p. 552. + + [243] A curious 12mo tract, of four pages, was published, + with the following title: “Some Verses, occasioned + by the severe Illness, much feared Dissolution, + and almost miraculous Restoration, of the Rev. Mr. + John Wesley, at Lisburne, in Ireland, July 2, 1775. + London: printed for W. Kent, No. 116, High Holborn: + 1775.” These verses were directed to be _sung_ “to + the tune of ‘Oliver’s.’” + + [244] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 469. + + [245] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 359. + + [246] The cure of his hydrocele. + + [247] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 132. + + [248] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 309. + + [249] Ibid. p. 378. + + [250] Manuscript letter by Thomas Hanby. + + [251] _Methodist Magazine_, 1824, p. 568. + + [252] Ibid. 1845, p. 1168. + + [253] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 133. + + [254] J. Pawson’s manuscript letter. + + + + + 1776. + Age 73 + +Wesley’s first act, in 1776, was to join with eighteen hundred London +Methodists in renewing his covenant with God. His next was to go to +Bristol, partly to bury his brother-in-law, poor Westley Hall; and +partly to restrain some of the Bristol Methodists, who were in danger +of turning republicans. + +The health of Fletcher of Madeley being seriously affected by a violent +cough, accompanied by spitting of blood, Wesley believed nothing was so +likely to restore his health as a long journey. “I therefore,” says he, +“proposed his taking a journey of some months with me, through various +parts of England and Scotland; telling him, ‘when you are tired, or +like it best, you may come into my carriage; but remember that riding +on horseback is the best of all exercises for you, so far as your +strength will permit.’”[255] + +Wesley proposed not only this, but more than this, as is evident from +Fletcher’s answer, hitherto unpublished. + + “MADELEY, _January 9, 1776_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--I received last night the favour of + yours from Bristol. My grand desire is to be just what the Lord + would have me be. I could, if you wanted a travelling + assistant, accompany you, as my little strength would admit, in + some of your excursions; but your recommending me to the + societies, as one who might succeed you, (should the Lord call + you hence before me,) is a step to which I could by no means + consent. It would make me take my horse and gallop away. + Besides, such a step would, at this juncture, be, I think, + peculiarly improper, and would cast upon my vindication of your + minutes such an odium as the Calvinists have endeavoured to + cast upon your ‘Address.’ It would make people suspect, that + what I have done for truth and conscience sake, I have done + with a view of being, what Mr. Toplady calls, ‘the bishop of + Moorfields.’ We ought to give as little hold to the evil + surmising and rash judgments of our opponents as may be. If, + nevertheless, Providence throws in your way a clergyman willing + to assist us, it would be well to fall in with that + circumstance. + + “I sent to you in London, by the last post, a manuscript + entitled, ‘A Second Check to Civil Antinomianism,’ being an + extract from the ‘Homily against Rebellion,’ which I think + might be spread at this time to shame Mr. Roquet, and to calm + the people’s mind. Whether it is worth publishing you will see. + I suppose it will make a threepenny tract. + + “What has made me glut our friends with my books is not my love + to such publications; but a desire to make an end of the + controversy. It is possible, however, that my design has + miscarried, and that I have disgusted, rather than convinced, + the people. I agree with you, sir, that now is the time to + pray,--both for ourselves and our king,--for the Church of + England and that part of it which is called the Methodists. I + cast my mite of supplication into the general treasure. The + Lord guide, support, and strengthen you more and more unto the + end! + + “I am, reverend and dear sir, your affectionate son and servant + in the gospel, + + “JOHN FLETCHER.”[256] + +Fletcher had overtaxed nature. His day of activity was comparatively +over. True, he lived nine years longer; but, for two years, he lived +in retirement with his friends, Mr. Greenwood at Newington, and +Mr. Ireland of Bristol, with the exception of the time he spent in +travelling with Wesley in quest of health; and upwards of three years +more were spent in Switzerland; when, returning to England, he was +married, on November 12, 1781, to Miss Bosanquet, and died on August +14, 1785. + +Wesley writes: “He looked upon my proposal as a call from Providence, +and willingly accepted it. He set out, (as I am accustomed to do,) +early in the spring of 1776, and travelled, by moderate journeys, +suited to his strength, which gradually increased, eleven or twelve +hundred miles. When we returned to London, in the latter end of the +year, he was considerably better. And, I verily believe, if he had +travelled with me, partly in the chaise and partly on horseback, only +a few months longer, he would quite have recovered his health. But +this those about him would not permit; so, being detained in London by +his kind, but injudicious, friends, while I pursued my journeys, his +spitting of blood, with all the other symptoms, returned, and rapidly +increased, till the physician pronounced him to be far advanced in +pulmonary consumption.”[257] + +No doubt, Wesley wished to have Fletcher as his coadjutor and +successor; but Providence determined otherwise. Fletcher had a great +work to do, and did it; but it was not ordained that Fletcher should +take Wesley’s place. + +It is a remarkable coincidence, that, in the very year when the health +of Fletcher failed, Wesley formed an acquaintance with Thomas Coke. +Born and educated at Brecon, Coke was now twenty-nine years of age. He +had taken his degrees at Oxford, had received episcopal ordination, +and, at present, was curate at South Petherton. Mr. Brown, a clergyman +near Taunton, lent him the sermons and journals of Wesley, and the +“Checks” of Fletcher. In the month of August, 1776, Wesley was Mr. +Brown’s guest at Kingston, and Coke went to see him. Wesley writes: +“1776, August 13--I preached at Taunton, and afterwards went with Mr. +Brown to Kingston. Here I found a clergyman, Dr. Coke, late a gentleman +commoner of Jesus college, Oxford, who came twenty miles on purpose +to meet me. I had much conversation with him; and a union then began, +which, I trust, shall never end.” The doctor expressed his doubts +respecting the propriety of confining himself to one congregation. +Wesley clasped his hands, and, in a manner peculiarly his own, said: +“Brother, go out, go out, and preach the gospel to all the world!”[258] +Coke rode back to Petherton pensive, and yet consoled. The tone of his +ministry was now more decided than ever. The parish was remodelled, +so to speak, into a circuit. On Sundays, after the second lesson, he +would read a paper of his appointments for the ensuing week, with the +place and time of service. His innovations, in preaching in cottages +and barns, took a sort of Methodistic form, by being systematically +arranged. The disgust of his opponents in the parish became intense; +and, to prevent his having the opportunity of preaching a farewell +sermon, his rector, without any previous notice, at the close of a +public service, and in the presence of a listening congregation, +abruptly announced that Coke was now dismissed. The die was cast. Coke +attended Wesley’s conference in Bristol, and, on August 19, 1777, +Wesley writes: “I went to Taunton with Dr. Coke, who, being dismissed +from his curacy, has bid adieu to his honourable name, and determined +to cast in his lot with us.” Henceforth, Thomas Coke was a Methodist +itinerant preacher, and became the great organiser of Methodist +missions in other lands. + +When Wesley enacted rules, he meant them to be observed. Laxity in +the enforcement of discipline was to him a thing intolerable. He was +a thorough disciplinarian himself, and insisted that his preachers +should copy his example. Good as were the first Methodists, they were +not perfect. Then, as now, some were defective in their attendance at +the weekly class. In certain instances, as we have already seen, some +were guilty of the crime of smuggling. Others, in moderation, were +addicted to taking drams, and others opium; and it often happened that +the oldest societies were the worst offenders. In 1776, both London +and Newcastle were thus tainted; and Wesley was determined, with a +strong hand, to purge them. Hence the following extracts from letters, +addressed, at this period, to Joseph Benson, stationed at Newcastle. + + “We must threaten no longer, but perform. In November last, I + told the London society, ‘Our rule is, to meet a class once a + week; not once in two or three. I now give you warning: I will + give tickets to none in February, but those that have done + this.’ I have stood to my word. Go you and do likewise, + wherever you visit the classes. Begin, if need be, at + Newcastle, and go on at Sunderland. Promises to meet are now + out of date. Those, that have not met seven times in the + quarter, exclude. Read their names in the society; and inform + them all, you will the next quarter exclude all that have not + met twelve times; that is, unless they were hindered by + distance, sickness, or by some unavoidable business. And I + pray, without fear or favour, remove the leaders, whether of + classes or bands, who do not watch over the souls committed to + their care ‘as those that must give account.’” + +What would become of Methodist societies if these imperative directions +of Methodism’s founder were enforced now? + +Benson had expelled a smuggler, and Wesley wrote: + + “You did right in excluding from our society so notorious an + offender. You have now a providential call to stand in the gap + between the living and the dead. Fear nothing. Begin in the + name of God, and go through with it. If only six will promise + you to sin no more, leave only six in society. But my belief + is, a hundred and fifty are now clear of blame; and, if you are + steady, a hundred more will amend. You must, at all events, + tear up this evil by the roots. The ‘Word to a Smuggler’ should + be read and dispersed. And secure your fellow labourers, that + you may all speak one thing. Go on, for God is with you! Not + only the assistant, but every preacher, is concerned to see all + our rules observed. I desire brother Rhodes will give no + tickets, either to those who have not constantly met their + classes, or to any that do not solemnly promise to deal in + stolen goods no more. He and you together may put a stop to + this crying sin. If any leader oppose, you see your remedy; put + another in his place. Nay, if he does not join heart and hand; + for ‘he that gathereth not with you scattereth.’ The ‘Word to a + Smuggler’ is plain and home, and has done much good in Kent. + Taking opium is full as bad as taking drams. It equally hurts + the understanding, and is, if possible, more pernicious to the + health, than even rum or brandy. None should touch it, if they + have the least regard either for their souls or bodies.”[259] + +The year 1776 was a period of great national distress; and, yet, it +was now that Wesley started his scheme for the erection of Methodism’s +cathedral, the chapel in City Road. Who will write a history of +London Methodism? or, which would be more popular, who will give the +Methodists a monograph of the memories of Wesley’s “new chapel” in +City Road? Much might be said of the episcopal chapel in West Street, +Seven Dials, of which Wesley obtained a lease, and which he opened on +the 29th of May, 1743, as a Methodist meeting-house, and which was +so occupied until 1798, when it was superseded by the purchase of +another episcopal chapel, which then stood on part of the site of the +present Methodist chapel in Great Queen Street.[260] Then there was the +venerable chapel in Spitalfields, erected by the French protestants, +and used by Wesley long before that in City Road was built, but which, +_horresco referens!_ has given place to the brewery of Truman, Hanbury +& Co.; and there is likewise its successor, also originally a French +protestant church, and still used for Methodist services, a chapel +which has recently had dark days of adversity, but which is rich in +religious memories, and has witnessed many a marvellous revival of the +work of God. There is Chelsea, whose first Methodist meeting place +was an upper room in the house of an elderly woman, Mrs. Day, who +resided in Royal Hospital Row; and its next, one of the dancing rooms +in the celebrated Ranelagh Gardens, for which a rent was paid of ten +guineas per annum; and in which Wesley preached only about two months +previous to his death, taking as his text words which his long life +had illustrated: “The king’s business requires haste.”[261] There is +Lambeth, where, in 1772, good old John Edwards opened his house for +preaching; and then converted an adjoining building into a decent +chapel; a man of vigorous mind, retentive memory, and fluent speech; +for almost forty years an effective local preacher, and who, while on a +preaching expedition, died at Irchester, in the county of Northampton, +in 1803.[262] In London East, there was the old chapel in Gravel Lane, +which, in 1811, was required for the London Docks; and its successor +in Back Road, required by the Black wall railway company.[263] There +was the schoolroom near Mill Pond Bridge, Rotherhithe, succeeded by the +purchased chapel in Albion Street.[264] There was Hoxton chapel, which +originally belonged to the Dissenters; and there were the venerable +meeting-houses at Wapping, Snowsfields, Peckham, and other places. All +these have a history well worth writing, to say nothing of the parent +of them all, the old pantile Foundery, Methodism’s honoured cradle; and +of which the Methodists retained possession, at least as late as the +year 1785, when they received for it, in the shape of rent, £14 per +year.[265] + +Then how rich the mine of London Methodist biography! Confining +ourselves to Wesley’s days, there is--Mary Cheesebrook, originally +a kept mistress, converted in West Street chapel, never absent from +the Foundery preaching, though, to be in time, she often had to run +the distance, and who, every Saturday, after paying her little debts, +gave away all the money she had left, leaving the morrow to take +thought for the things of itself:--Mrs. Witham, a mother in Israel, +an eminent pattern of calm boldness for the truth, of simplicity +and godly sincerity, of unwearied constancy in attending all the +ordinances of God, of zeal for God and for all good works, and of +self denial in every kind:--Elizabeth Langdon, whose trials were +severe, and her death tranquil:--Hannah Lee, a model of industry, +meekness, and patience:--Mary Naylor, distinguished for her Christian +courage, and plainness of speech and of apparel:--Thomas Salmon, a +good and useful man:--Joseph Norbury, a faithful witness of Jesus +Christ:--William Hurd, a son of affliction, whose end was peace:--John +Matthews, who, for some months before his death, was wont to say, “I +have no more doubt of being in heaven, than if I was there already”; +and of whom Wesley writes: “A man of so faultless a behaviour I have +hardly ever been acquainted with. During twenty years, I do not +remember his doing or saying anything which I would wish to have been +unsaid or undone”:--Ann Wheeler, who, twenty-five years before her +death, while attending preaching in Moorfields, was struck in the +forehead with a stone, the mark of which her unborn daughter bore to +her dying day:--Rebecca Mills, always firm and unmoved, resting on +the Rock of ages, and in life and death uniformly praising the God +of her salvation:--Elizabeth Duchesne, for near forty years zealous +of good works, and who shortened her days by labouring for the poor +beyond her strength:--William Osgood, a good man, who began life +in poverty, but increased more and more till he was worth several +thousand pounds:--Michael Hayes, who lived above a hundred and four +years, mostly in vigorous health, and as he lived, so died, praising +God:--Mrs. Kiteley, a perfect pattern of true womanhood, a good wife, +a good parent, a good mistress, who, after many years of active +benevolence, redeemed a poor friendless youth from prison, took the +jail distemper, and died:--Heller Tanner, diligent, patient, loving +to every man, and zealous of good works:--Bilhah Aspernell, who, for +six-and-thirty years, without intermission, walked in the light of +God’s countenance, was always in pain, yet always rejoicing, and going +about doing good; who on Sunday evening met her class as usual, and +the next day sent for her old fellow traveller, Sarah Clay, and said +to her, “Sally, I am going.” “Where are you going?” She cheerfully +answered, “To my Jesus, to be sure!” and spoke no more:--Thomas Vokins, +a man of a sorrowful spirit, who always hung down his head like a +bulrush, but who died triumphing over pain and death, and rejoicing +with joy full of glory:--Mr. Bespham, many years master of a man of +war, whose faith was full of mercy and good fruits:--George Parsons, +a flame of fire wherever he went, losing no occasion of speaking or +working for God; so zealously, so humbly, so unreservedly devoted +to God, that few like him were left behind him:--Eleanor Lee, who +lived in the enjoyment of perfect love for sixteen years, and of whom +Wesley testified, “I never saw her do any action, little or great, +nor heard her speak any word, which I could reprove”:--Ann Thwayte, +a woman of faith and prayer, for whom Wesley preached a funeral +sermon:--Merchant West, a pattern of diligence in all things, spiritual +and temporal:--Charles Greenwood, a melancholy man, full of doubts +and fears, but who, two days before he died, was made so unspeakably +happy that he exclaimed, “God has revealed to me things which it is +impossible for man to utter”:--George Hufflet, for many years a burning +and shining light:--Ann Sharland, whose cancer in her breast caused +her continual pain, but who triumphed gloriously through Christ;--and +Robert Windsor, prudent, serious, diligent, full of mercy and good +fruits. + +All these died during Wesley’s lifetime. The temptation to add to them +is great. We should like to tell of William Palmer, Wesley’s first +classleader in London; and of his son, who was blind from infancy, was +one of the first to form the Community, or body of workhouse visitors, +often made preaching excursions into different parts of the country, +with Wesley’s sanction, and died in 1822, after being sixty-two years +a Methodist.[266] Old Thomas Gibbs of Lambeth, also, deserves a place +in Methodism’s gallery,--a patriarch, who lived to the age of one +hundred and four years, eighty-three of which he had been a member of +Wesley’s society; and who, at his death, in 1827, was probably the +oldest Methodist in the world.[267] There is Isaac Andrews, one of +the original subscribers to City Road chapel, a man of unimpeachable +Christian character, a Methodist of sixty years’ standing, who died +at the age of eighty-two, in 1832.[268] There is Mrs. Maddan, whose +mother, Mrs. Varin, was the eighth person whom Wesley received into +church fellowship, when forming his infant society in Fetter Lane. +There are Mrs. Mortimer and Mrs. Bruce, of whom the Rev. Richard Watson +used to say, “they were the two finest specimens of primitive Methodism +that he knew;” the latter being the daughter of parents who were among +the eighteen persons who first joined Wesley in Christian fellowship, +in 1739.[269] We cannot find room for more. + +For five-and-thirty years, Wesley and his friends had worshipped +in “the old Foundery.” Here hundreds, perhaps thousands, had been +converted; but, as the building was only held on lease, they were now +in danger of losing it. On October 19, 1775, Wesley, writing to his +brother, says: “on Friday I hope to be in London, and to talk with the +committee about building a new Foundery.”[270] A few months later, he +wrote again: “1776, March 1--As we cannot depend on having the Foundery +long, we met to consult about building a new chapel. Our petition to +the city for a piece of ground lies before their committee; but when we +shall get any further, I know not: so I determined to begin my circuit +as usual; but promised to return whenever I should receive notice that +our petition was granted.” Exactly five months after this, Wesley +started the first subscription, and, at three meetings, raised upwards +of £1000. In November following, building plans were agreed upon; in +April 1777, Wesley laid the foundation stone; and on Sunday, November +1, 1778, he opened his new sanctuary, by preaching, in the morning, on +part of Solomon’s prayer at the dedication of the temple; and in the +afternoon, on the hundred, forty and four thousand standing with the +Lamb on mount Zion. He writes: “It is perfectly neat, but not fine; and +contains far more people than the Foundery: I believe, together with +the morning chapel, as many as the Tabernacle.” + +The chapel in City Road will always stand as a thanksgiving monument, +raised, not by the London Methodists merely, but by Methodists +throughout the three kingdoms. No sooner was it resolved to build, than +Wesley issued the following circular, an original copy of which now +lies before us. + + “_October 18, 1776._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--The society at _London_ have given + assistance to their brethren in various parts of England. They + have done this for upwards of thirty years: they have done it + cheerfully and liberally. The first year of the subscription + for the _general debt_, they subscribed above _nine hundred + pounds_; the next, above _three hundred_; and not much less + every one of the ensuing years. + + “They now stand in need of assistance themselves. They are + under a necessity of building; as the _Foundery_, with all the + adjoining houses, is shortly to be pulled down. And the city of + London has granted ground to build on; but on condition of + covering it, and with large houses in front, which, together + with the new chapel, will, at a very moderate computation, cost + upwards of _six thousand pounds_. I must, therefore, beg the + assistance of all our brethren. _Now_ help the _parent_ + society, which has helped others, for so many years, so + willingly and so largely. _Now_ help _me_, who account this as + a kindness done to myself; perhaps, the last of this sort which + I shall ask of you. Subscribe what you conveniently can, to be + paid either now, or at Christmas, or at Ladyday next. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY. + + ⎧ JOHN DUPLEX, + ⎪ CHARLES GREENWOOD, + ⎪ RICHARD KEMP, + “The Trustees are ⎨ SAMUEL CHANCELLOR, + ⎪ CHARLES WHEELER, + ⎪ WILLIAM COWLAND, + ⎩ JOHN FOLGHAM.” + +We are afraid to enter into details, respecting the New Chapel, in City +Road. John Pawson, who was appointed to the office of assistant in the +London circuit, within two years after the chapel was opened, tells us, +in an unpublished manuscript, that the plan proposed was to build an +elegant chapel, such as even the lord mayor might attend, without any +diminishing of his official dignity; and that it should be _wholly_ +supplied by ordained clergymen of the Established Church on Sundays, +when the liturgy should be constantly read at both morning and evening +service; and this, for a considerable time after the chapel was opened, +was regularly done. No layman, so called,--that is, no itinerant +preacher not episcopally ordained, was allowed to officiate within +its walls, except on week days. Charles Wesley, Thomas Coke, and +John Richardson were City Road’s only sabbatic priests: Pawson, Jaco, +Rankin, Tennent, Olivers, and others, though better preachers than +any of the trio, were not admitted; because their heads had not been +touched by a bishop’s fingers. Pawson says, that Richardson and Coke +disapproved of this arrangement; but Charles Wesley persisted, until +the congregations so fell off, and the society was thrown into such +confusion, that the trustees of the chapel met, and waited on Charles +Wesley with a request, that he would not preach so often at City +Road, but would go sometimes to West Street on Sundays, and allow the +itinerants to take his place on the hitherto forbidden ground. Charles +reluctantly submitted; but wrote to his brother, casting all the blame +upon the poor, tabooed itinerants, and stating that it was wholly owing +to their deep rooted prejudices against the clergy of the Established +Church, that these events had happened. + +For many years, the men sat on one side the chapel, and the women on +the other; and, besides this, there was another usage, which would not +be popular at the present day: all the pews and seats were open. Large +numbers paid for seats; but no one was allowed to call a seat, or a +pew, his own. In 1788, the trustees endeavoured to make an alteration +in both the respects just mentioned; “thus overthrowing,” says +Wesley, “at one blow, the discipline which I have been establishing +for fifty years!” He continues, however: “we had another meeting of +the committee; who, after a calm and loving consultation, judged it +best--(1) that the men and women should sit separate still; and (2) +that none should claim any pew as his own, either in the new chapel, or +in West Street.” + +The days of the old Foundery have long been ended; the “New Chapel” +in City Road still stands, and we trust will ever stand, by far the +most sacred and attractive edifice in the Methodistic world. Not +for a hundred pretentious gothic structures would Methodists of the +olden type give up this. Though its ceiling may be somewhat low, yet, +taken as a whole, its architecture, for neatness, and commodiousness, +and solidity, has been but rarely equalled, by the more pretentious +Methodist buildings of the present day. We are weary of gothic +gaudiness, sacrificing the interests of the church of God to the pride +of showy architects, and the mediæval whims of Methodists in danger of +relapsing into mediæval darkness. Let the present race of Methodists +have wisdom and modesty enough to build their chapels according to the +plan adopted by a man, in all respects, their superior--Methodism’s +founder. Hail to old City Road! When we think of the ministers who have +occupied its pulpit, of the families who have filled its pews, of the +dead resting in graves round about its walls, and of the interesting +events which make up its story,--we feel that of all the Methodist +meeting-houses in existence, gothic or otherwise, marble or mudden, +there is not one to equal this. + +For many a long year, the chapel in City Road was the head of London +Methodism; and, though there are now more than twenty heads, all owe +a respectful obeisance to this. Its circuit plan, from June 17 to +September 23, 1792, eighteen inches broad and fifteen deep, is simply +headed, “A Plan for the Preachers in London;” the word Methodist, or +Methodism, not being printed in any part of it. The preaching places, +and hours of preaching, are as follows:--New Chapel, 9 a.m. and 5 +p.m.; West Street, 9, 3 and 7; Spitalfields, 10 and 3; Wapping, 10 +and 5; Snowsfields, 10 and 5; Lambeth, 6; Westminster, 5; Peckham, 3; +Rotherhithe, 10 and 5; Deptford, 7, 10, and 5; Chelsea, 6; Brentford, +10, 2, and 6; Dorking, 11, 2, and 5; Raynham, 10 and 5; Purfleet, 9 and +5; Woolwich, 2 and 6; Wandsworth, 6; Mitcham, 2 and 6; Croydon, 2 and +6; Bromley, 3; Barnet, 2 and 5; Poplar, 11 and 5; Bow, 5; Stratford, +11 and 5; Barking, 5; Leyton, 5; Grosvenor Market, 6; Ratcliff Cross, +2; Christ Church, 5; Clerkenwell, 6; Kentish Town, 6; and Seven Dials +without an hour. Such was London circuit at the time when Wesley died. + +Interesting citations might be made from the old City Road society +book, extending from August 23, 1784, to July 9, 1800. We learn, that +sacramental collections were, upon an average, a little more than £3 +each; and monthly collections, for “the furtherance of the gospel,” +about £6 10_s._ The sacrament was administered once a week; and what is +now known among the Methodists as a _quarterly_ collection was then +made once a month as just referred to. The entire circuit income, for +1786, was £862 16_s._ 5_d._, which included sacramental collections +and payments for graves, all of which were then appropriated to +circuit purposes. Strangely enough, there is no entry of class moneys +till 1788, from which time such entries were regularly made. Had the +practice of collecting pence weekly in the classes been superseded by +collections made at the weekly sacraments? This is not improbable; for, +from the time when class moneys are entered as a part of the circuit +income, the entries of sacramental collections, and collections for +the furtherance of the gospel, cease. For the year 1787, including all +sources of income, the average contribution per member per year was in +this great London circuit 3_s._ 10½_d._, or less than a shilling per +member per quarter. How far was this from the requirement of Wesley’s +rules? Who will say that the former days were better than these? +Besides, all that was contributed was not current coin; for in the same +year there is a charge deducted of not less than £10 14_s._ 9½_d._ +for bad money given at collections. + +Many are the curious items in the list of circuit payments and +allowances. The yearly salary paid to Wesley was £30; to his brother +£60; to Creighton, £61; to Dickenson, £50; to Coke, £30; while the +quarterage to the itinerants, and to their wives respectively, was £3 +each. With a few more extracts we conclude this lengthened notice of +London Methodism, during the last seven years of Wesley’s life. “1784: +November 7, a new pail, half a crown; December 6, chain for dog, two +shillings. 1785: January 4, shaving the preachers, £2 10_s._ 6_d._; +February 18, “news pappers,” 13_s._; May 18, lamplighter, four weeks, +6_s._; August 8, Mr. Tennant, to pay his debts, and to send him to +Leeds, £9 9_s._; August 13, letters, four weeks, £2 15_s._ 8½_d._ +August 19, for shaving the preachers at conference, £7 5_s._ 3_d._ +1787: February 2, two trees for front of dwelling house, 3_s._ 6_d._; +December 17, for curtain over the altar, £5 1_s._ 9_d._ 1789: March 28, +paid expenses of a hogshead of cider, from Guernsey, a present to Mr. +Wesley, £1 9_s._; July 7, paid the man servant a quarter’s wages, £1 +1_s._; December 29, paid Mr. Moore for cold bath, £1 1_s._ 1790: July +1, the hairdresser’s bill, £1 1_s._, for one quarter. 1791: February +22, paid the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s salary (the last he received) £15; April +20, paid for Rev. Mr. Wesley’s horses standing at livery after his +decease, £1 11_s._ 9_d._; December 3, paid Mr. Judd’s bill for hanging +the New Chapel with black superfine cloth, £41 16_s._”[271] + +These may seem little things to introduce into a work like this; but +little things often indicate greater, and, sometimes, it is only by +knowing minute matters that men can form a correct opinion of a great +general system. + +After this long, but we hope not uninteresting digression, we must +return to Wesley in 1776. + +On Sunday evening, March 3, he set out from London to Bristol, and +thence to his societies in the north. The tour was not completed until +the 19th of July following, when he got back to London. Its incidents +were much the same as previous ones, except that he was permitted +to preach in a larger number of churches than usual,--namely, at +Pebworth, Chowbent, Heptonstall, Bingley, Haworth, Colne, and at Banff +in Scotland,[272] a proof that clerical prejudice was subsiding, and +that the poor branded outcast was beginning to be regarded with a +more favourable eye. The churches that he occupied in Yorkshire were +crowded. Thomas Taylor, at that time in the Haworth circuit, writes, +in his unpublished diary: “Saturday, April 27--Mr. Wesley preached at +Bradford, at 5 a.m. At 10½, to the surprise of many, he preached +in Bingley church, from Acts xxiv. 25. I never saw him weep while +preaching before now. He spoke awfully, and the congregation heard +attentively. The next day (Sunday) I heard him at Keighley in the +morning, and then at Haworth church. Afterwards, the sacrament was +administered, but in too great a hurry. Several hundreds communicated +in less than an hour. We then dined, in haste and confusion, and drove +off to Colne. I rode fast, and got thither before Mr. Wesley. The +street was filled with people waiting to welcome him; but, when about +two miles from Colne, his chaise broke down, which somewhat delayed +his coming. He mounted a horse, however, and so arrived in safety. The +crowd was so great that it was with difficulty we got into the church. +The sexton led us to the reading desk, and thereby I got a seat. Mr. +Wesley’s text was Revelation xx. 12. At the beginning he was rather +flat; but, at the end, he spake many awful things.” + +Wesley’s journey to the north was always one continued panorama of +toil and travel, preaching and praying, conferring with his preachers +and visiting the sick. Hardly one in a thousand could have borne the +burden of its labours without bending; and yet Wesley, an old man, was +always, in the midst of gigantic toils, blithe and happy; and never +went northwards without making his large circuit larger. Besides other +places, he now, for the first, time, preached at Chesterfield. Three +years before, Jeremiah Cocker had gone from Sheffield, and stood on +a table, in the midst of the market place, and begun to preach. A +man, hired for the purpose, pulled him down. Jerry again mounted his +rostrum, and was again pulled down. A third time he ascended, and +a third time his assailant brought him to the ground. The old Adam +now began to stir in the athletic preacher, and, seizing the man, he +gave him a shake hardly gentle. “That is not the spirit of Christ,” +shouted the mob, which, all at once, had become pious. “I acknowledge +it,” said Jerry; and again he jumped upon his table, and finished his +discourse.[273] + +Wesley opened the conference of 1776, in London, on August 6, and +concluded it three days afterwards. He writes: “In several conferences +we have had great love and unity; but in this there was, over and +above, such a general seriousness and solemnity of spirit as we +scarcely ever had before.” “Everything,” says Thomas Taylor, “was +conducted in great order. A very strict scrutiny was made into every +one’s character; and I am glad so few were found culpable.”[274] + +The truth is, objections to the preachers had become so rife, that +Wesley felt it to be his duty to interfere. He writes: “It is objected, +that some of our preachers are utterly unqualified for the work, and +that others do it negligently, as if they imagined they had nothing +to do but to preach once or twice a day. In order to silence this +objection for ever, which has been repeated ten times over, the +preachers were examined at large, especially those concerning whom +there was the least doubt. The result was, that one was excluded +for inefficiency, and two for misbehaviour. And we were thoroughly +satisfied, that all the rest had both grace and gifts for the work +wherein they are engaged. I hope, therefore, we shall hear of this +objection no more.” + +Even in 1776, as now, there were crabbed, cantankerous Methodists, to +whom discipline was a blessing. Those in Ireland refused to contribute +to the yearly collection, saying, it “was nothing to _them_; they +would only bear their own expenses.” This was worse than foolish; it +was disloyal and unjust. In their own fashion, they were willing to +feed and clothe the preachers sent to them; but they expected some +one else to pay their expenses for travelling, and for the sickness +of themselves and their families; or, perhaps, these Irish Methodists +had dreamt that itinerants travelled without expense, and, so far as +sickness was concerned and the need of medicine, were entirely exempted +from the dire effects of Adam’s curse. Wesley says, with honest +indignation: “These are properly _their_ expenses; nor will we pay any +part of them for the time to come, unless their yearly contribution +enable us so to do.” If the Irish stopped supplies on one side of the +channel, Wesley could stop supplies on the other side as well. This +probably was a dilemma which the simple Hibernians had not studied. + +There was another unpleasantness at the conference of 1776. Circuit +stewards complained, that some of the preachers’ wives were sluts, +and spoiled their houses; and the preachers, on the other hand, +complained that their houses were hardly homes, for the people, without +ceremony, crowded into them as into coffee houses. Wesley dealt with +both complaints in his own laconic way; directing that no “known slut” +should have a house to spoil; and that no person, either on Sundays or +week days, should go into the preacher’s house except to ask a question. + +The conference pronounced the opinion, that Calvinism had been the +grand hindrance of the work of God; and, hence, to stop its progress, +all the preachers were requested--(1) To read, with carefulness, +the tracts published by Wesley, Fletcher, and Sellon. (2) To preach +universal redemption frequently, explicitly, and lovingly. (3) Not +to imitate the Calvinist preachers in screaming, allegorising, and +boasting; but to visit as diligently as they did, to answer all +their objections, to advise the Methodists not to hear them, to pray +constantly and earnestly that God would stop the plague. + +Was it wise to publish this? We doubt it; and so did Toplady, for he +immediately, without note or comment, republished it in his _Gospel +Magazine_, with the heading “Authentic Extract of what passed at a +certain Confabulation, held at London, August 6, 1776.” + +The Isle of Man now began to attract attention. John Crook was the +son of a Lancashire physician, who squandered his own and his wife’s +fortunes, and then died a miserable and untimely death at sea. John +was put apprentice to learn a laborious trade, and then enlisted to +be a soldier; when he was sent to Limerick, where, at the age of +twenty-eight, he was converted, in the Methodist chapel, in the year +1770. Having purchased his discharge from the army, he returned to +Liverpool, where he became a classleader, and a local preacher. At the +beginning of 1775, he went, uncommissioned except by God Himself, to +the Isle of Man, and began to preach, and had the lieutenant governor, +and his lady, and all the family, and the chief people in Castletown, +to hear him. Numbers had been converted; and persecution had begun to +rage. On July 16, 1776, the following episcopal bull was issued. + + “_To the several Rectors, Vicars, Chaplains, Curates, within + the Isle and Diocese of Man._ + + “REVEREND BRETHREN,--Whereas, we have been informed, that + several unordained, unauthorised, and unqualified persons from + other countries have presumed, for some time past, to preach + and teach publicly, and hold and maintain conventicles, and + have caused several weak persons to combine themselves together + in a new society, and have private meetings, assemblies, and + congregations, contrary to the doctrine, government, rites and + ceremonies of the Established Church, and the civil and + ecclesiastical laws of this island-- + + “We do, therefore, for the prevention of schism, and the + establishment of uniformity of religious worship, which so long + hitherto has subsisted among us, hereby desire and require each + and every one of you, to be vigilant and use your utmost + endeavours to dissuade your respective flocks from following, + or being led and misguided by, such incompetent teachers, and + to exhort, incite, and invite them devoutly to read the holy + Scripture, to attend reverently the blessed sacraments of their + parish church, and the ghostly advice of their own ministers, + by which they will be better and more comfortably instructed in + the meaning of grace and salvation, than by the crude and + pragmatical and inconsistent, if not profane and blasphemous, + extempore effusions of these pretenders to the true religion; + and, if afterwards they regard not the truth, but obstinately + persist in error, then to know and find out the names of such + persons, within your respective parishes and chapelries, as + attend the public instructions of the said disorderly and + unqualified teachers, or frequent the said conventicles, + meetings, assemblies, and congregations; and if, upon due + inquiry and certain information, you discover, or, consistently + with your own knowledge, know any licensed schoolmaster, + mistress, parish clerk, or any other person, who holds any + office or employment by licence from us or our predecessors, + that you signify and make known to us in writing the names, + within one month after the receipt hereof, as also unto our + reverend vicars general or any one of them, of the persons who + attend the instructions of the said teachers, or frequent the + said conventicles. + + “And we, likewise, further desire and require each and every + one of you, in case any of the above mentioned unordained, + unauthorised, and unqualified teachers shall, at any time + hereafter, offer to partake of the holy communion in any of + your respective churches or chapels, that you repel him or them + so offering, and the minister so repelling them or any of them + to give an account of the same unto us within fourteen days, at + the farthest, as is directed in the rubric in that behalf. + + “Given at Peeltown, July 16, 1776. + + “R. SODOR AND MAN. + + “P.S.--Let these be forwarded, in the usual manner, and the time + of receiving and forwarding be noted by each of you. You will + also take a copy thereof, and publish it, in English and Manx, + at the usual time, in your respective churches and chapels the + Sunday next after the receipt thereof.”[275] + +Such was the _fulmen brutum_ discharged at the poor Methodists from the +episcopal battery of the Isle of Man. Twelve days later, John Crook +wrote as follows to a friend at Liverpool. + + “CASTLETOWN, ISLE OF MAN, _July 28, 1776_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am now in hot war. The devil has stirred + up the Rev. Mr. Moor, of Douglas, and made a firebrand of him, + to set all the island on fire. This gentleman has set his + schoolboys to work, to write chosen texts of Scripture against + _false prophets, dreamers of dreams, running and not being + sent_, etc. He has also picked up a ballad, written, I fancy, + by the late Dr. Bowden, and has dispersed manuscript copies of + it, and of the texts, among the populace, and put them into a + most violent flame. The effect on us, as a society, is, we are + hooted at, slutched, and stoned, whenever we go to worship God. + Mr. Moor’s scholars, in particular, and the rabble of the town + in general, gather round our place of meeting, and first sing + the blasphemous ballad, and then proceed to throw dirt and + stones at the windows and door. As for myself, when I come out + they plentifully salute me with channel dirt, with which they + have often plastered me pretty well. When the scholars meet me + at mid day, they curse me most horribly, and throw at me chips, + hard pieces of mortar, potatoes, stones, or whatever comes to + hand. But if this were all, we might do well enough; but this + _brand_ has communicated the infectious blaze to the bishop, + who has issued a bull, dated, not Rome, but Peeltown, which was + published in the churches last sabbath. I have petitioned the + governor for liberty of conscience, but he and the bishop are + so unanimous, that, he says, he will not interfere in the case, + but wishes me to write a memorial setting forth my suit. I am + not willing to do this, but have given Mr. Wesley an account of + the matter, and hope he will direct me how to act. + + “I am, your willing servant in the gospel, + + “JOHN CROOK.”[276] + +Wesley replied to Mr. Crook as follows. + + “LONDON, _August 10, 1776_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--By all means, stay in the island till the + storm be ended: in your patience possess your soul. Beware of + despising your opponents! Beware of anger and resentment! + Return not evil for evil, or railing for railing. I advise you + to keep, with a few serious people, a day of fasting and + prayer. God has the hearts of all men in His hands. Neither Dr. + Moor, nor the bishop himself, is out of His reach. Be fervent + in prayer, that God would arise and maintain His own cause. + Assuredly, He will not suffer you to be tempted above what you + are able to bear. Violent methods of redress are not to be + used, till all other methods fail. I know pretty well the mind + of Lord Mansfield, and of one that is greater than he; but, if + I appealed to them, it would bring much expense and + inconvenience on Dr. Moor and others. I would not willingly do + this; I love my neighbour as myself. Possibly, they may think + better, and allow that liberty of conscience which belongs to + every partaker of human nature, and more especially to every + one of his majesty’s subjects in his British dominions. To live + peaceably with all men is the earnest desire of your + affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[277] + +Three years after this, the Isle of Man was a flourishing Methodist +circuit, with 1051 members of society. + +No sooner was the conference in London ended, than Wesley set out, on +Sunday afternoon, August 11, for Cornwall. On his return, he spent, as +usual, about a month at Bristol and in its vicinity. He began what, he +says, he had long intended, visiting the Bristol society from house +to house, setting apart at least two hours a day for that purpose. He +preached in the church at Midsomer Norton, the rector making one of his +congregation. Here an incident occurred which was characteristic of the +man, and is worth relating. Wesley was entertained at the house of Mr. +Bush, a local preacher, who kept a boarding school. While there, two of +the boys quarrelled, and cuffed and kicked each other most vigorously. +Mrs. Bush brought the pugilists to Wesley. He talked to them, and +repeated the lines: + + “Birds in their little nests agree, + And ’tis a shameful sight, + When children of one family + Fall out, and chide, and fight.” + +“You must be reconciled,” said he; “go and shake hands with each +other.” They did so. “Now,” he continued, “put your arms round each +other’s neck, and kiss each other.” This was also done. “Now,” said he, +“come to me”; and, taking two pieces of bread and butter, he folded +them together, and desired each to take a part. “Now,” he added, +“you have broken bread together.” He then put his hands upon their +heads, and blessed them. The two tigers were turned into loving lambs; +they never forgot the old man’s blessing; and one of them became a +magistrate in Berks, and related the occurrence with intense interest +in after days.[278] + +Having returned to London, Wesley set out, on November 13, accompanied +by his invalid friend, Fletcher, to Norwich. He says: “I took coach +at twelve, slept till six, and then spent the time very agreeably +in conversation, singing, and reading. I read Mr. Bolt’s account of +the affairs in the East Indies. What a scene is here opened! What +consummate villains, what devils incarnate, were the managers there! +What utter strangers to justice, mercy, and truth; to every sentiment +of humanity! I believe no heathen history contains a parallel. I +remember none in all the annals of antiquity; not even the divine Cato, +or the virtuous Brutus, plundered the provinces committed to their +charge with such merciless cruelty as the English have plundered the +desolated provinces of Hindostan.” + +The two friends returned to London on November 21; and, a few days +later, Wesley started on his accustomed visitation to Bedfordshire, +etc.; and, on the way, read the poetical works of Gray, whom he pencils +as “sharp, sensible, and ingenious; but proud, morose, envious, +passionate, and resentful.” + +After this, he made a tour through Kent; and then writes: “December +31--We concluded the year with solemn praise to God, for continuing His +great work in our land. It has never been intermitted one year, or one +month, since the year 1738; in which my brother and I began to preach +that strange doctrine of salvation by faith.” + +The Calvinistic controversy was now in its last agonies; but, on the +part of the elect, was as acrimonious as ever. Some one published a +twopenny pamphlet, entitled, “A necessary Alarm and most earnest Caveto +against Tabernacle Principles and Tabernacle Connections; containing +the substance of an extraordinary Harangue and Exhortation, delivered +at Penzance, in August, 1774; on an extraordinary occasion. By J. +W., Master of very extraordinary Arts.” In this infamous burlesque, +Wesley is treated with as much ridicule as the anonymous author could +command; and Toplady, in reviewing it, in his _Gospel Magazine_, of +course commends it, as “a delicate satire on Wesley,” and hopes that +“the cream of tartar, so ably administered by the anonymous physician, +will prove a sweetener of the patient’s crudities, and conduce to carry +off some portion of his self sufficiency.” Wesley, however, had been +so “severely peppered and salted of late years,” that the considerate +editor of the _Gospel Magazine_ benevolently intimates that he shall, +on that account, refrain from adding to the pepper and salt seasonings, +which “must often have made Wesley smart and wince like an eel +dispossessed of its skin.”[279] + +This was bad enough; but there were other things even worse. +Wesley’s wife, (originally a not too respectable servant girl,) +stole a number of Wesley’s letters, and interpolated words, and +misinterpreted spiritual expressions, so as to make the letters bear +a bad construction. She read them to an elect party of Calvinists, +and agreed to send them to the _Morning Post_ for publication. Two +masked assassins, who assumed the not inappropriate names of _Scorpion_ +and _Snapdragon_, furiously assailed him, in the London newspaper, +professing to ground their charges against him upon his own private +papers, which the woman, who was legally his wife, had put into their +hands. A more infamous episode does not occur in Wesley’s history. The +charges were cruel insinuations, founded upon interpolated letters, +stolen by a faithless woman, who, in order to defame a husband of +whom she was utterly unworthy, not only committed theft but forgery, +and then put herself into the hands of a set of holy Calvinists, who +employed her perfidy and meanness in injuring the man whom, at the +altar of the Most High God, she had sworn to love, honour, and obey. +This is strong language; but the writer, knowing more than he chooses +to make public, uses it with deliberate design. Charles Wesley, finding +the use that was being made of his brother’s papers, was in the +utmost consternation, and went off in haste, wishing him to postpone +a journey, and to stay in town to defend himself against his enemies. +Wesley was as calm as his loving and faithful brother was excited. “I +shall never forget,” said Miss Wesley, “the manner in which my father +accosted my mother on his return home. ‘My brother,’ said he, ‘is +indeed an extraordinary man. I placed before him the importance of +the character of a minister; and the evil consequences which might +result from his indifference to it; and urged him, by every relative +and public motive, to answer for himself, and stop the publication. +His reply was, ‘_Brother, when I devoted to God my ease, my time, my +life, did I except my reputation? No, Tell Sally I will take her to +Canterbury to-morrow._’”[280] + +On the Arminian side of the controversy, the chief, if not the only, +publication issued in 1776, was Fletcher’s masterly “Answer to the Rev. +Mr. Toplady’s ‘Vindication of the Decrees,’ etc.” 12mo, 128 pages. +Never was a bravo shaved with so sharp a razor, and by so adept a hand. + +Except “An Extract of the Life of Madame Guion,” 12mo, 230 pages, +Wesley’s only publications, in 1776, were the two political tracts +following. 1. “Some Observations on Liberty, occasioned by a late +Tract”: 12mo, 36 pages. And, 2. “A Seasonable Address to the more +Serious Part of the Inhabitants of Great Britain, respecting the +Unhappy Contest between us and our American Brethren; with an +occasional Word interspersed to those of a different complexion”: 12mo, +18 pages. + +The former was an answer to Dr. Price, a Unitarian minister far more +famed for politics than for preaching, who had recently published +his “Observations on the Nature of Civil Liberty, the Principles of +Government, and the Justice and Policy of the War with America.” This +was considered the ablest work, in exposition of the injurious policy +pursued by England toward America, that had yet been issued. Within +less than two years, eight editions were printed; and, in testimony of +their approbation of it, the common council of London presented to the +author the freedom of the city in a golden box. Thus, in fighting with +Dr. Price, Wesley was far from fighting with a shadow. + +Both of Wesley’s tracts display, not only his wonted ability, but his +profound loyalty to the government of King George, his benevolence of +heart, and his intense interest in the fratricidal war which was then +raging. A more loyal subject than Wesley, England never had; perhaps, +indeed, his loving loyalty sometimes made him somewhat blind to the +faultiness of ruling powers. No man was more obedient to law; and no +man more cheerfully paid his taxes. The last mentioned might not amount +to much; but they were never tendered with a niggard’s hand. Some +imagined that he, the bishop of 40,000 Methodists, was sure to have an +enormous income, and a silver chest well stocked with plate; and that, +therefore, his assessments ought to be higher than they were. So, for +instance, thought the commissioners of his majesty’s excise, in 1776. +Hence the following circular: + + “REVEREND SIR,--As the commissioners cannot doubt but you have + plate for which you have hitherto neglected to make entry, they + have directed me to inform you, that they expect you forthwith + to make due entry of all your plate, such entry to bear date + from the commencement of the plate duty, or from such time as + you have owned, used, had, or kept any quantity of silver + plate, chargeable by the act of parliament; as, in default + hereof, the board will be obliged to signify your refusal to + their lordships. An immediate answer is desired.” + +Think of John Wesley, always on the wing, having a hoard of silver +plate to adorn his sumptuous table when feasting his Epicurean +coadjutors and his dinner loving friends. The idea was almost too silly +to be ridiculous. Wesley seems to have thought it so; and his answer +(with which we close the present year) was as follows. + + “SIR,--I have _two_ silver teaspoons at _London_, and _two_ at + _Bristol_. This is all the plate which I have at present; and I + shall not buy any more, while so many round me want bread. + + “I am, sir, your most humble servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [255] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 290. + + [256] Manuscript letter. + + [257] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 290. + + [258] _Methodist Magazine_, 1824, p. 568. + + [259] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., pp. 395-397. + + [260] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 522. + + [261] _Methodist Magazine_, 1830, p. 310. + + [262] Ibid. 1803, p. 289. + + [263] Ibid. 1847, p. 102. + + [264] Ibid. 1816, p. 446. + + [265] City Road society book. + + [266] _Methodist Magazine_, 1823, p. 202. + + [267] Ibid. 1827, p. 430. + + [268] _Methodist Magazine_, 1832, p. 466. + + [269] Ibid. 1837, p. 399. + + [270] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 134. + + [271] It is a disgraceful fact that Charles Wesley was + buried, not at the expense of the London circuit, but + by private subscription. Nineteen London Methodists + subscribed £10 13_s._ 6_d._, and William Marriott + made up the deficiency of £3 3_s._ The pages in the + old society book, on which this account is written, + were wafered together by four large wafers, doubtless + for the purpose of hiding the shame of the old + Methodists of 1788. + + [272] The following was written to Robert Dall, one of + Wesley’s itinerants. + + “BANFF, _January 1, 1777_. + + “DEAR FATHER IN THE LORD,--The society has been + stationary ever since you left us. We are often + neglected. Lately we had only one visit in eight + weeks. Mr. Wesley was here on the 20th of May last, + and preached on the Parade from 2 Corinthians viii. + 9. He supped at Lord Banff’s, and next night at + Admiral Gordon’s lady’s house, with a great number + of great ones; and, at their request, he preached + in the English chapel to an elegant and crowded + congregation. We are, etc., WILLIAM AND ISABEL + MCPHERSON.” (Manuscript letter.) + + + [273] Manuscript. + + [274] Taylor’s manuscript journals. + + [275] John Crook’s original copy. + + [276] Manuscript letter. + + [277] _Methodist Magazine_, 1808, p. 103. + + [278] _Methodist Magazine_, 1842, p. 136. + + [279] _Gospel Magazine_, 1776, p. 475. + + [280] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 283. + + + + + 1777. + Age 74 + + +Wesley was always full of work. He began the year 1777 with a course of +lectures on the book of Ecclesiastes, and says: “I never before had so +clear a sight either of the meaning or the beauties of it; neither did +I imagine, that the several parts of it were, in so exquisite a manner, +connected together; all tending to prove that grand truth, that there +is no happiness out of God.” + +He also spent an hour every morning with his London preachers, Messrs. +Jaco, Hindmarsh, Murlin, Pilmoor, Atlay, Bradford, and Olivers, in +instructing them as he used to instruct his Oxford pupils, and in +promoting their piety. + +He likewise begun visiting the society, many of whom he found in the +deepest poverty, and writes: “O why do not all the rich that fear God +constantly visit the poor? Can they spend part of their spare time +better? Certainly not: so they will find in that day, when ‘every man +shall receive his own reward according to his own labour.’” + +To his surprise, he once more preached in a London church--Allhallows; +and says: “I found great liberty of spirit; and the congregation seemed +to be much affected. How is this? Do I yet please men? Is the offence +of the cross ceased? It seems, after being scandalous near fifty years, +I am at length growing into an honourable man.” + +At the beginning of the month of February, he hurried off to Bristol, +to quiet some of the society, who were in danger of becoming +disaffected towards government; and preached from, “Put them in mind +to be subject to principalities and powers.” Finding that there had +been repeated attempts to fire the city, he preached again, taking as +his text, “Is there any evil in the city, and the Lord hath not done +it?” He also wrote and published, “A Calm Address to the Inhabitants +of England”: 12mo, 23 pages. He states, that a year and a half ago, +from fifty to a hundred thousand copies of his “Calm Address to the +American Colonies” had been dispersed, and the effect had exceeded +his most sanguine hopes. This encouraged him now to address “the +inhabitants of _Old England_.” He then gives an account of the rise and +progress of the American rebellion, tracing it back as far as the year +1737. He proceeds to state that, after bawling for liberty, no liberty +was left in the confederate provinces of America; the liberty of the +press, religious liberty, and civil liberty were nonentities. The lords +of the congress were as absolute as the emperor of Morocco; whereas, in +England, the fullest liberty was enjoyed, “both as to religion, life, +body, and goods.” He tells the Methodists that, though many, who go +under that name, hate the king and all his ministers, only less than +they hate an Arminian, he would no more continue in fellowship with +those that were connected with him, if they did this, than he would +continue in fellowship “with whoremongers, or sabbath breakers, or +thieves, or drunkards, or common swearers.” + +The whole tract is written in his most pungent style; and, whatever +may be thought of the wisdom of Wesley’s politics, all must admire his +devoted loyalty. Of course, like his “Calm Address to the American +Colonies,” it stirred a nest of hornets. Almost immediately, there was +published, in the _Gospel Magazine_, a poem reviling him in unmeasured +terms. He is represented as “spitting venom, spite, and rage”; “Father +Johnny” is accused of telling “barefaced lies,” and is thus admonished +in the last two lines: + + “O think of this, thou grey haired sinner, + Ere Satan pick thy bones for dinner.” + +Wesley returned to London on February 8, and, a week later, fulfilled +a painful duty. For more than twenty years, Dr. Dodd had been one of +the most popular preachers in the metropolis. When at the zenith of his +fame, he, in 1774, sent an anonymous letter to Lady Apsley, offering +£3000 if she would prevail with her husband, the lord chancellor, to +appoint him to the valuable rectory of St. George’s, Hanover Square, +which was then vacant. The writer was detected, and, as a consequence, +was struck out of the list of royal chaplains, was assailed with bitter +invectives by the press, and was severely ridiculed by Foote, in a +farce, entitled “The Cozeners.” Withdrawing from England, where he +had now become an object of contempt, he, for a time, found an asylum +at Geneva, with his former pupil, Lord Chesterfield. On his return to +this country, he became editor of a newspaper, and then a bankrupt. In +1776, he visited France, and, with little regard to decency, appeared +in a phaeton at the races on the plains of Sablons, dressed in all the +foppery of the country in which he then resided. Strange to say, he +was still popular, as a preacher, at the Magdalen, in London, where +he delivered his last discourse on February 2, 1777, from the ominous +text: “And among these nations shalt thou find no ease, neither shall +the sole of thy foot have rest; but the Lord shall give thee there a +trembling heart, and failing of eyes, and sorrow of mind; and thy life +shall hang in doubt before thee; and thou shalt fear day and night, and +shalt have none assurance of thy life.” + +Only two days afterwards, he forged the name of Lord Chesterfield to +a bond for £4200, on the security of which he obtained a considerable +loan. Detection speedily ensued; and, before the month was ended, he +was arrested, tried at the Old Bailey, and was convicted. The crime +was forgery; the penalty was death. For four months, the unhappy +culprit was kept in prison. His friends were indefatigable, in their +endeavours, to obtain a commutation of his punishment. Even the city +of London, in its corporate capacity, earnestly solicited that his +sentence might not be carried into effect. Dr. Johnson, with his +weighty pen, tried to arouse popular feeling in his favour, alleging +that petitions for clemency had been signed by above thirty thousand +people, and that justice might reasonably be satisfied with his +imprisonment, infamy, exile, penury, and ruin. All was of no avail; and +on June 26 the great preacher died a felon’s death by the hands of the +common hangman. + +In the days of his prosperity, Dodd had been in the ranks of Wesley’s +enemies; and, more than once, had reviled him, his people, and his +creed; and, yet, strange to tell, no sooner was he incarcerated for his +crime, than he sent for Wesley to visit him. The latter writes: “1777, +February 15--At the third message, I took up my cross, and went to see +Dr. Dodd, in the Compter. I was greatly surprised. He seemed, though +deeply affected, yet thoroughly resigned to the will of God. Mrs. Dodd, +likewise, behaved with the utmost propriety. I doubt not, God will +bring good out of this evil.” “February 18--I visited him again, and +found him still in a desirable state of mind; calmly giving himself up +to whatsoever God should determine concerning him.” + +Both Wesley and his brother had always evinced an almost unequalled +interest in the welfare of imprisoned convicts; but, remembering past +treatment from this popular, but now incarcerated, preacher, and also +remembering the terrible scandal which he had brought upon Christ’s +religion, no wonder that Wesley felt it a _cross_ to visit him. Wesley, +however, was not the man to shun a duty because it happened to be +painful; and there can be no doubt that, if his itinerant engagements +had not taken him away from London, the gloom of the convict’s cell +would often have been relieved, during the next four months, by +Wesley’s presence. + +Wesley had never even seen Dr. Dodd, either in public or in private, +until he saw him in Wood Street compter, a few days before his removal +to Newgate to take his trial. “Sir,” said the prisoner, “I have long +desired to see you; but I little thought, that our first interview +would be in such a place as this.” “We conversed,” says Wesley, “about +an hour; he spoke of nothing but his soul, and appeared to regard +nothing in comparison of it.” At the second interview, Wesley spent +half an hour with the poor wretched man. “Sir,” said he, “do not you +find it difficult to preserve your recollection, amidst all these +lawyers and witnesses?” Dodd answered: “It is difficult; but I have one +sure hold: ‘Lord, not as I will, but as Thou wilt.’” The third visit +was after his sentence had been passed. Wesley writes: “He conversed +about an hour; but had not one word about any but spiritual things. I +found his mind still quiet and composed; sorrowing, but not without +hope.” Two days before the execution, Wesley went again. “Sir,” said +he, “I think you do not ask enough, or expect enough, from God your +Saviour. The _present_ blessing, you may expect from Him, is to be +filled with all joy, as well as peace in believing.” “O sir,” replied +the doctor, “it is not for such a sinner as I am to expect any joy in +this world. The utmost I can desire is peace; and, through the mercy of +God, that I have.” Wesley adds: “We then spent a little time in prayer, +and I solemnly commended him to God. He was exactly in such a temper +as I wished. He never, at any time, expressed the least murmuring or +resentment at any one; but entirely and calmly gave himself up to the +will of God. Such a prisoner I scarce ever saw before; much less, such +a condemned malefactor.” + +This was Wesley’s last interview. Two days later, the once famous Dr. +Dodd was hanged, Wesley expressing the firm belief, that angels took +him from the gallows to the paradise of God.[281] + +Perhaps more space has been devoted to Dr. Dodd than some may think +fitting; but, remembering the positions occupied respectively by +Dodd and Wesley,--the one the most popular and fashionable preacher +that London had, and the other an outcast clergyman, who, for +eight-and-thirty years, had been reviled in every form that malice +and ingenuity could devise,--it was no slight fact, that, as soon as +Dodd was face to face with death, the man he sent for was, not one of +his old associates, lay or clerical, but the man who had been, and +still was, the butt of national persecution, and whom he himself in +the days of his prosperity had treated disrespectfully. Dr. Dodd, when +he most needed them, had more faith in Wesley’s counsels and Wesley’s +prayers than he had in the counsels and prayers of those whom he had +been accustomed to call his friends. His confidence was not misplaced. +Wesley did his best; Wesley’s brother poured forth the feelings of his +heart in “A Prayer for Dr. Dodd under Condemnation”; and Miss Bosanquet +wrote to the poor prisoner not a few of her Christian letters. The +result was, Dodd, on the very day of Wesley’s final visit, thus +addressed his lady correspondent: “My dear Friend,--On Friday morning I +am to be made immortal! I die with a heart truly contrite, and broken +under a sense of its great and manifold offences, but comforted and +sustained by a firm faith in the pardoning love of Jesus Christ.”[282] + +On the 10th of March, Wesley left London on a seventeen days’ preaching +tour to Bristol and back again. This was the year for his pastoral +visitation in the north; but, he writes, “I cannot be long absent” from +London, “while the new chapel is building.” In fact, Wesley became so +interested in his great building scheme, that he was tempted to turn +architect himself. “It seems,” says he in a letter to Miss Ball, of +Wycombe, dated March 13, 1777, “it seems, the time is come, that you +are to have a more commodious preaching house at High Wycombe. I will +give you a plan of the building myself; and employ whom you please to +build.”[283] After all, the Methodists at Wycombe might have had a +worse architect than Wesley. + +Ten days were spent in London, and, it being Easter time, Wesley +writes: “During the octave, I administered the Lord’s supper every +morning, after the example of the primitive church.” On Sunday, April +6, he set out on his northern journey, making collections, as he went, +for his London chapel. When he had got only as far as Lancashire, he +was obliged to return to London to lay the foundation stone on April +21. A week later, he took coach for Newcastle upon Tyne. Here he spent +four days, and then again turned his face southward; and, preaching all +the way, reached the metropolis on the 17th of May. + +Having met the building committee, which was his chief business in +London, and having, with his brother, visited Dr. Dodd, he, a third +time, started north on Sunday, May 25. He now hurried on to Whitehaven, +and paid his first visit to the Isle of Man, where he spent the first +three days in the month of June, and says: “A more loving, simple +hearted people than this I never saw; and no wonder; for they have but +six papists, and no Dissenters, in the island.” + +Here he met with the Rev. E. and Mrs. Smyth, the former a clergyman +from Ireland, and the latter a young wife of twenty-two. Mr. Smyth +had been ejected from his curacy for preaching the doctrines of the +Methodists, and especially for daring to reprove “the great man of +the parish” for living the life of an adulterer. Expelled from the +Established Church, he began to preach wherever he had a chance, and +became more extensively useful than ever. Though the nephew of an +archbishop, his home was a thatched cabin, and his trials not a few. +Hearing that Wesley was about to visit the Isle of Man, Mr. Smyth and +his wife came to meet him. Wesley received them with his customary +kindness, and, during their stay, met with a misadventure, which is +worth relating. He writes: “I set out for Douglas in the one-horse +chaise, Mrs. Smyth riding with me. In about an hour, in spite of all I +could do, the headstrong horse ran the wheel against a large stone: the +chaise overset in a moment; but we fell so gently on the smooth grass, +that neither of us was hurt at all.” + +Such is Wesley’s account; Mrs. Smyth’s reflects on Wesley’s +charioteering capabilities. “He told me,” she writes, “when we got into +the carriage, that he could drive a chaise forty years ago; but, poor +dear man! his hand seemed out of practice, as I thought we should be +overturned several times. At last, one of the wheels being mounted on +one side of a ditch, we were both pitched out on a green plain, as the +Lord in mercy ordered it; for had we been overset in some parts of the +road, it is more than probable we should have been killed on the spot. I +found no bad effects from the fall at the time; but the next morning I +was scarce able to stir, and felt so sore and bruised that I thought it +likely I should lay my bones in the churchyard at Douglas.”[284] + +We shall meet with Mr. and Mrs. Smyth again; suffice it to add, that, +immediately after preaching at Douglas, Wesley set sail for England; +and, a few days after, his newly acquired friends went back to Ireland, +while he himself went on his way to London. In his progress, he, for +the first time, preached at Settle, where Methodism had recently been +introduced by John Read, a poor clogger, and where one of the first +members was Edward Slater, who became Wesley’s coachman.[285] + +Wesley proceeded to Otley, where Miss Ritchie, apparently, was dying; +to Bradford, where William Brammah, one of Wesley’s weakest preachers, +had been amazingly useful; to Birstal and Huddersfield, where thousands +upon thousands assembled to hear him; and to Colne, where, as soon as +he entered the pulpit, the left hand gallery of the chapel fell, with +nearly two hundred persons in it. + +William Sagar, a young man not then in business for himself, had +been the principal promoter of this erection, and had made himself +responsible for the payment of the cost. When the walls were half +way up, the workmen became clamorous for their wages; and Mr. Sagar +unfortunately was without funds; but, two or three days afterwards, +a gentleman, unsolicited, offered to lend him the money needed. One +trouble was got over, but another was yet to come. When the ill fated +chapel was ready for the roof, a gale of wind blew down the western +gable, and shook the entire edifice to its foundations. And now, +to crown the whole, through the malevolence of a carpenter who had +purposely cut the timbers too short, down fell the left hand gallery; +and, though no lives were lost, yet not a few of the people had their +limbs broken, and were otherwise severely injured.[286] + +It was at this period that Colne was made the head of what Thomas +Taylor called “a snug circuit”; though the circuit embraced the entire +region constituting the Todmorden, Bacup, Haslingden, Blackburn, +Burnley, Preston, Garstang, Lancaster, Clitheroe, and Padiham circuits +of the present day. Taylor was the assistant of the circuit before it +was made so _snug_, and was Wesley’s companion at the time of the Colne +catastrophe. In his voluminous unpublished diary, he tells us, that at +Otley, Wesley not only preached, but made a collection for his London +chapel; at Bingley, he preached in the parish church; at Keighley, +after preaching, Wesley stood on one side of the path and Taylor on the +other, and, with their hats in their hands, collected upwards of £7 for +the new chapel in City Road; at Colne, Taylor was with Wesley in the +pulpit when the gallery fell. He writes: “Oh, what a scene ensued. The +dismal shrieks of those whose limbs were broken, or who were otherwise +injured, and the cries of the women for their children, were terrible. +Happily no lives were lost, and much less damage done than might have +been expected. As soon as the confusion was abated, Mr. Wesley preached +out of doors; but the catastrophe prevented many from hearing.”[287] + +Wesley proceeded to Derby, where, strangely enough, another accident +occurred, which might have been as serious as that at Colne. An hour +before the congregation assembled in the chapel, part of the roof fell +in; the people, however, rushed to hear, despite the doubtful state of +the flimsy edifice; and, among others permanently benefited by Wesley’s +ministry, was Catherine Spencer, who, for sixty-four years, adorned her +religious profession by “a meek and quiet spirit,” and who died at the +age of eighty-six, in 1843.[288] + +Wesley got back to London on June 21, and, a week later, wrote: “June +28--I have now completed my seventy-fourth year, and, by the peculiar +favour of God, I find my health and strength, and all my faculties of +body and mind, just the same as they were at four-and-twenty.” + +A man, on his birthday, frequently reviews the past, sifts the present, +and reflects upon the future. At this period Wesley wrote as follows to +his legal friend, Walter Churchey, of Brecon, the birthplace of Thomas +Coke. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--At present, I am very safe; for I am a good + many pounds, if not scores of pounds, worse than nothing. In my + will, I bequeath no money but what may happen to be in my + pocket when I die. + + “Dr. Coke promises fair, and gives us reason to hope, that he + will, bring forth, not only blossoms, but fruit. He has + hitherto behaved exceeding well, and seems to be aware of his + grand enemy--applause. He will likewise be in danger from + offence. If you are acquainted with him, a friendly letter + might be of use, and would be taken kindly. He now stands on + slippery ground, and is in need of every help. + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[289] + +Having spent nine days in London, Wesley set out, on June 30, on +a preaching tour which occupied the whole of the ensuing month. +Proceeding by way of Buckingham, he visited Oxford, Witney, Stroud, +Gloucester, Tewkesbury, Worcester, Malvern; and then passed through +Wales to Bristol, which he reached on July 28. + +Here, on August 5, he opened his annual conference, and writes: + + “As the report had been spread far and wide, I now particularly + inquired of every assistant, ‘Have you reason to believe, from + your own observation, that the Methodists are a fallen people? + Is there a decay or an increase in the work of God where you + have been? Are the societies in general more dead, or more + alive to God, than they were some years ago?’ The almost + universal answer was: ‘If we must know them by their fruits, + there is no decay in the work of God among the people in + general. The societies are not dead to God: they are as much + alive as they have been for many years. And we look on this + report as a mere device of Satan, to make our hands hang down.’ + + “‘But how can this question be decided?’ You can judge no + further than you see. You cannot judge of one part by another; + and none but myself has an opportunity of seeing the Methodists + throughout the three kingdoms. + + “But to come to a short issue. In most places, the Methodists + are still a poor, despised people, labouring under reproach, + and many inconveniences; therefore, wherever the power of God + is not, they decrease. By this then, you may form a sure + judgment. Do the Methodists in general decrease in number? Then + they decrease in grace; they are a fallen, or, at least, a + falling people. But they do not decrease in number; they + continually increase; therefore, they are not a fallen people.” + +These are weighty words. They show Wesley’s deep anxiety to maintain +the genuine character of the work in which he was engaged; and the test +which he instituted was, unquestionably, under existing circumstances, +logical and conclusive. + +The principal propagator of the report, that the Methodists were a +fallen people, was John Hilton, who, for thirteen years, had been an +itinerant preacher. Dr. Stevens calls him “an honest but weak headed +man.” This is scarcely correct. Leaving his honesty an open question, +John Hilton, judged by his publications, was far from being “weak +headed.” Wesley says: “He told us he must withdraw from our connexion. +Some would have reasoned with him, but it was lost labour; so we let +him go in peace.” Hilton was no sooner gone, than he turned author, +and, in 1778, besides an octavo pamphlet of 32 pages, entitled, “The +Deplorable State of Man,” he issued “Reasons for Quitting the Methodist +Society; being a Defence of Barclay’s Apology;” 8vo, 66 pages. Dated, +“Melksham, 3rd month, 28th day, 1778.” He tells his readers, that, “a +year ago, Barclay’s Apology converted him to the principles of the +quakers;” and a broadbrimmed quaker John Hilton henceforwards was. Both +his pamphlets are written in a plain, good, nervous style, and show, +that, in point of education and mental power, he was much superior +to the mass of Wesley’s itinerants.[290] Hilton was not without +talent; but like most who think themselves more religious than their +neighbours, he was sour and censorious. “What I have lamented in him, +for some years,” wrote Wesley, in a letter, dated October 22, 1777, “is +an aptness to condemn and despise his brethren. There is no failing +more infectious than this; and it is much if you did not catch a little +of it from him; otherwise you would hardly say, ‘the body of Methodists +are degenerated.’ You cannot possibly judge whether they are or not. +Perhaps you converse with one or two hundred of them. Now allowing two +thirds of these to be degenerated, can you infer the same concerning +thirty or forty thousand? Yet this I will allow, two thirds of those +who are grown rich are greatly degenerated. They do not, will not, +save all they can, in order to give all they can; and, without doing +this, they _cannot grow in grace_, nay, they constantly grieve the Holy +Spirit of God.”[291] + +Thomas Taylor was at the conference of 1777, and tells us that, on the +conference Sunday, the morning service, in the Broadmead chapel, lasted +from half-past nine till nearly one o’clock; that, at five in the +afternoon, Wesley preached to a large and serious crowd out of doors, +and afterwards, in a full society meeting, “expatiated upon the rules, +and said many useful things.” He preached again in the evening of the +first day of conference, but not longer than twenty minutes. On August +7, Taylor writes: “that great and good man Mr. Fletcher came into +conference. My eyes flowed with tears at the sight of him. He spoke to +us in a very respectful manner, and took a solemn farewell. Dear, good +man! I never saw so many tears shed in all my life.”[292] + +Fletcher had sought health at Stoke Newington; but was now the guest of +Mr. Ireland, of Bristol. Benson, his fellow sufferer in the Trevecca +troubles, writes: “We have had an edifying conference. Mr. Fletcher’s +visits have been attended with a blessing. His appearance, his +exhortations, and his prayers, broke most of our hearts, and filled us +with shame and self abasement for our little improvement.”[293] + +This was a memorable scene. Fletcher, emaciated, feeble, and ghostlike, +entered the conference leaning on the arm of his host, Mr. Ireland. In +an instant, the whole assembly stood up, and Wesley advanced to meet +his almost seraphic friend. The apparently dying man began to address +the brave itinerants, and, before he had uttered a dozen sentences, +one and all were bathed in tears. Wesley, fearing that Fletcher was +speaking too much, abruptly knelt at his side and began to pray. Down +fell the whole of Wesley’s preachers, and joined in the devotion of +their great leader. The burden of Wesley’s supplication was, that his +friend might be spared to labour a little longer; and this petition +was urged with such fervency and faith, that, at last, Wesley closed +by exclaiming with a confidence and an emphasis which seemed to thrill +every heart: “He shall not die, but live, and declare the works of the +Lord.”[294] + +The event verified Wesley’s words; for though the pilgrim was already +walking on the margin of the river of death, and had heaven’s own +sunshine shining on him, it was not until eight years after that he +passed the gates of the celestial city. + +At the conference of 1776, it was reported, that there were 3148 +Methodists in America; in the minutes of 1777, America is not +mentioned. Still, American Methodism was not dead. “I have just +received two letters from New York,” writes Wesley on January 11, +1777. “They inform me, that all the Methodists there are firm for the +government, and, on that account, persecuted by the rebels, only not to +the death; that the preachers are still threatened, but not stopped; +and, that the work of God increases much in Maryland and Virginia.”[295] + +The war was raging with terrific violence; and some of the preachers, +as Mr. Rodda, were not so wise, politically speaking, as seemed +desirable: but, despite all this, Methodism actually spread and +prospered. Thomas Rankin, George Shadford, and others thought of +fleeing from the field of conflict; and it was only by Asbury’s +solicitation, that they were induced to stay awhile longer. The +baptists too became a hindrance. “Like ghosts,” says Asbury, “they +haunt us from place to place.” Wesley’s political tracts also were a +serious stumbling block.[296] A Methodist backslider enlisted three +hundred men for the British army, was arrested, and hanged as a rebel +against the government of his country.[297] Even peaceful, prudent, and +loyal Francis Asbury was fined £5 for preaching at Nathan Perrig’s; +and, in October 1777, Rankin and Rodda returned to England, and +Shadford soon after, leaving poor, persecuted, but faithful Asbury the +only one of Wesley’s itinerants that now remained at the post of duty, +and preaching peace to the people by Jesus Christ. + +And here let us pause to say, that a grander specimen of a Christian +apostle than Francis Asbury the world has never had. Much as we +revere the memory of Wesley, we regard Asbury with an almost equal +veneration. Among the self denying, laborious, Christian ministers of +the past eighteen hundred years, we believe, that Francis Asbury has +no superiors, and but few that can be considered equals. And yet, how +little does the church catholic, indeed, how little does the Methodist +section of it, know concerning this great and grand, because good, old +man! + +The son of peasant parents, Asbury began to preach in Staffordshire, +while yet a boy seventeen years of age; and, in 1771, came to Bristol +to embark for America, without a single penny in his pocket. His first +text in America was in perfect harmony with the forty-five years he +spent in wandering through its woods and prairies: “I determined not +to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” As +early as 1776, he made it a rule, besides travelling and preaching, +to read a hundred pages daily, and to spend three hours out of every +twenty-four in private prayer. Cabins of the most miserable description +were, in thousands of instances, his happy homes; and often, when +his horse cast a shoe in the wide wilderness, in the absence of a +blacksmith’s shop, this grand old bishop of the American Methodists +would make a piece of a bull’s hide, bound about his horse’s foot, +serve in the place of iron. His daily rides were often from thirty to +fifty miles, over mountains and swamps, through bridgeless rivers and +pathless woods, his horse frequently weary and lame, and he himself +wet, cold, and hungry. For forty-five years, when steamboats, stage +coaches, railways, and almost roads, were utterly unknown, Asbury +made a tour of the American states, travelling never less than five +thousand, and often more than six thousand, miles a year, and this +generally on horseback; climbing mountains; creeping down declivities; +winding along valleys, whose only inhabitants were birds, wild beasts, +and Indians; crossing extended prairies without a companion and without +a guide; fording foaming rivers; and wading through the most dangerous +swamps, where one false step might have engulfed him in a boggy grave. +Usually, he preached at least once every week day, and thrice every +Sunday; delivering, during his ministry in America, more than twenty +thousand sermons. His custom was to pray with every family on whom +he called in his wide journeyings; and if, as sometimes happened, he +spent more days than one in some hospitable dwelling, he was wont to +have household prayer as often as there were household meals, and to +allow no visitor to come or go, without asking, on his knees, that +God would bless him. Besides an unknown number of camp meetings and +quarterly meetings, this venerable man attended and presided over +seven conferences, widely separate, every year; and, during the +same space of time, wrote to his preachers and his friends, upon an +average, about a thousand letters. For this enormous service, his +episcopal salary was sixty-four dollars yearly and his travelling +expenses. Early educational advantages he had none. Most of his life +was spent on horseback, in extemporised pulpits, or in log cabins +crowded with talking men and noisy women, bawling children, and barking +dogs,--cabins which he was obliged to make his offices and studies, +and where, with benumbed fingers, frozen ink, impracticable pens, and +rumpled paper, he had to write his sermons, his journals, and his +letters. Not unfrequently did he, like others, suffer from the malaria +of a new, uncultivated country; and had headaches, toothaches, chills, +fevers, and sore throats, for his travelling companions. And yet, +despite all this, Francis Asbury was by no means an unlettered man. He +became proficient in Latin, Greek, and Hebrew; read the Scriptures in +the tongues in which they were originally written; was acquainted with +several branches of polite literature; kept abreast with the history +of his times; and, although not an orator, was a dignified, eloquent, +and impressive preacher. Thin, tall, and remarkably clean and neat,--in +a plain drab frock coat, waistcoat, and breeches, a neat stock, and +a broad brimmed, low crowned hat,--this first and greatest Methodist +American bishop rode on horseback till he could ride no longer; and +then might be seen often hopping on crutches, and helped in and out +of his light spring wagon as he still pursued his wide episcopal +wanderings. Thus lived Francis Asbury, until, in 1816, at the age of +threescore years and ten, he died, and was followed to his grave in +Baltimore by about twenty-five thousand of his friends. Before his +death, he solemnly enjoined that no life of him should be published; +and that injunction, to the present, has been substantially observed; +but, if the reader wishes to see his monument, we invite him to step +within the living walls of the present Methodist Episcopal Church of +America, and there, while surveying the grand edifice of spiritual +order and beauty, we ask him, as the inquirer in St. Paul’s cathedral +is asked, to “Look around!” + +This was the only one of Wesley’s English itinerants left in America +in 1777; but, though forsaken by his English colleagues, he was not +alone. At this very time, there were fifteen widely spread circuits; +thirty-four itinerant preachers, who had been raised up by Providence +on the spot; and not fewer than 6968 full and accredited members of +society. In other words, though it was only eight years since Wesley’s +conference had sent out Boardman and Pilmoor, there were already more +than one sixth as many Methodists in America as there were, at the +end of thirty-eight years, throughout the whole of England, Ireland, +Scotland, and Wales.[298] + +To return to Wesley. After the Bristol conference, he spent a week in +London, during which he drew up proposals for the _Arminian Magazine_, +and met the committee appointed to superintend the building of the new +chapel, which was now ready for the roof. + +He then, on August 18, hurried off to Cornwall; and then to Ireland, +where, at Dublin, John Hampson and Samuel Bradburn had expelled +thirty-four members of society, who were so dissatisfied with this +act of imprudent zeal, that Wesley was obliged to go and give the +contending parties a two days’ hearing. On Saturday, October 18, he got +back to London. + +The week after, he spent in Oxfordshire. At High Wycombe he meant to +preach, “but good Mr. James had procured a drummer to beat his drum at +the window of the chapel,” and thus, instead of preaching, Wesley could +only pray and sing by turns, during the time allotted for the service. + +The next week was occupied in a preaching tour in Northamptonshire; and +the fortnight afterwards in meeting the classes in and around London. + +On November 17, he went on a flying visit to Norfolk; and, on the 23rd, +preached in Lewisham church for the benefit of the Humane Society, +which had been established only three years before, by Dr. Cogan and +Dr. Hawes. Here, of course, he was the welcome guest of his old friend, +Mr. Blackwell; and, during his visit, he dined with the celebrated +Dr. Lowth, bishop of London, whose brother had married into Mr. +Blackwell’s family. “His whole behaviour,” writes Wesley, “was worthy +of a Christian bishop; easy, affable, and courteous; and, yet, all his +conversation spoke the dignity which was suitable to his character.” +There is one incident, however, which Wesley, in his modesty, has not +related. On proceeding to dinner, the bishop refused to sit above +Wesley at the table, saying with considerable emotion, “Mr. Wesley, may +I be found at your feet in another world!” Wesley objected to take the +seat of precedence, when the learned prelate obviated the difficulty, +by requesting, as a favour, that Wesley would sit above him, because +his hearing was defective, and he desired not to lose a sentence of +Wesley’s conversation.[299] + +The remaining five weeks of the year 1777 were spent, partly in the +three counties of Bedford, Huntingdon, and Hertford; partly at Bath, +where he laid the foundation stone of a new chapel; and partly in +London, where he parted with Fletcher on his way to Switzerland. He +says: “We concluded the old year, and began the new, with prayer and +thanksgiving. Four or five of the local preachers assisted me. I was +agreeably surprised; their manner of praying being so artless and +unlaboured, and yet rational and scriptural, both as to sense and +expression.” + +Such was Wesley’s watchnight service at the expiration of 1777; +no preaching, no exhortatory platitudes, but simply prayer and +thanksgiving, offered by himself and a selection of his London local +preachers. Wesley’s successors have not improved on this. + +It was during this memorable year, that a society was instituted, which +was ultimately superseded by benevolent societies that yet exist. +Six friends in London met, at each other’s house in rotation, every +Sunday afternoon, for the purpose of singing and prayer only. They +were soon entreated to visit the surrounding sick, and, finding many +of them in deep poverty, began to relieve their wants. To do this, +they found it desirable to provide a fund, by contributing themselves, +and asking contributions of their friends; and shortly a society was +formed, sometimes called “The Willow Walk Society, near Moorfields”; +but more generally and properly, “The united Society for Visiting +and Relieving the Sick.” A few years later, the “Strangers’ Friend +Society” was started. John Gardner, a retired soldier, in his London +visits, met a man in a miserable garret, dying of fistula. He lay on +the floor, covered only with a sack, without shirt, cap, or sheet. The +old soldier felt, as every one must feel, that to visit such cases, +without relieving them, was not worthy of a Christian; and, returning +home, he got fifteen of his Methodist friends to join in a penny a +week subscription for such a purpose. His classleader, jealous of his +class-pence moneys, instead of helping, opposed the scheme. Gardner, +with a soldier’s pluck, was not to be silenced by a subordinate, but +wrote at once to Wesley. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--A few of us are subscribing a penny a + week each, which is to be carried on the sabbath by one of + ourselves, who read and pray with the afflicted, who, according + to the rules enclosed, must be poor strangers, having no + parish, or friend at hand to help them. Our benevolent plan is + opposed by my classleader; therefore, we are constrained to + seek your approbation before we proceed. We are very poor, and + our whole stock is not yet twenty shillings: will thank you, + therefore, for any assistance you may please to afford your + very humble servant, + + “JOHN GARDNER.” + +Wesley was the last man to stifle a project like this; and, hence, his +answer “to Mr. John Gardner, No. 14, in Long Lane, Smithfield,” was as +follows. + + “HIGHBURY PLACE, _December 21, 1785_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I like the design and rules of your society, + and hope you will do good to many. I will subscribe threepence + a week, and will give a guinea in advance, if any one will call + on me on Saturday morning. + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The scheme was now fairly launched; “Strangers’ Friend societies” +sprung up in Bristol and other places; Wesley drew up their rules in +1790; and wrote thus in his journal: “Sunday, March 14--In the +morning, I met the strangers’ society, instituted wholly for the +relief, not of our society, but for poor, sick, friendless strangers. +I do not know, that I ever heard or read of such an institution till +within a few years ago. So this also is one of the fruits of +Methodism.”[300] + +Such then was the origin of the present “Strangers’ Friend Society,” +which, until lately, was patronised by royalty, and which employed, in +1868, three hundred and fifty-two voluntary, unpaid agents in its work +of Christian benevolence; these good Samaritans, during the same year, +paying 32,460 visits, relieving 6577 cases of distress, and, besides +blankets, flannels, and cast off garments, distributing £1926 14_s._ in +ameliorating the miseries of “the destitute sick poor, without +distinction of sect or country, at their own habitations.” + +Considering Wesley’s wide wanderings, his daily preaching, his +supervision of societies, and his multifarious correspondence, to say +nothing of his publication of tracts and books, the reader wonders how +an old man managed to keep the thousand wheels of his vast machinery +in motion; and, yet, in the midst of what to others would have been an +unceasing and worrying bustle, he was almost as tranquil as a hermit. +The following extract from a letter, dated December 10, 1777, is racy +and unique. + + “You do not understand my manner of life. Though I am always in + haste, I am never in a hurry; because I never undertake any + more work than I can go through with perfect calmness of + spirit. It is true, I travel four or five thousand miles in a + year; but I generally travel alone in my carriage, and, + consequently, am as retired ten hours in a day as if I was in a + wilderness. On other days, I never spend less than three hours, + frequently ten or twelve in the day, alone. So there are few + persons in the kingdom who spend so many hours secluded from + all company. Yet I find time to visit the sick and the poor; + and I must do it, if I believe the Bible, if I believe these + are the marks whereby the Shepherd of Israel will know and + judge His sheep at the great day. Therefore, when there are + time and opportunity for it, who can doubt, but this is a + matter of absolute duty? When I was at Oxford, and lived almost + like a hermit, I saw not how any busy man could be saved. I + scarce thought it possible for a man to retain the Christian + spirit, amidst the noise and bustle of the world. God taught me + better by my own experience. I had ten times more business in + America (that is, at intervals) than ever I had in my life; but + it was no hindrance to silence of spirit.”[301] + +Wesley’s incessant labours were not the only thing likely to perturb +a human spirit. As usual, he was still the subject of acrimonious +persecution. In his sermon at the laying of the foundation stone of +the chapel in City Road, he gave a history of the rise and progress +of Methodism, in which he stated, that Whitefield, by conversing with +Dissenters, contracted strong prejudices against the Church, and that +this led him to separate himself from Wesley and his brother. He also +noticed the secession of Ingham from the Church; and the setting up +of the college at Trevecca, which was really a school for training +Dissenting ministers. His object, in all this, was to show that, though +large numbers of reputed Methodists had left the Church, he and his +societies still remained faithful, and were not deserving of the taunt +of having formed a distinct party. “We do not,” says he, “we will not, +form any separate sect, but, from principle, remain, what we always +have been, true members of the Church of England.” + +Whether Wesley was strictly correct in this will admit of doubt; +but, unquestionably, he believed it to be the truth; and, as might +be expected, it aroused the anger of his quondam friends. Rowland +Hill worked himself into a rage, and published, in 1777, an octavo +pamphlet of 40 pages, with the title, “Imposture Detected, and the +Dead Vindicated; in a Letter to a Friend: containing some gentle +Strictures on the false and libellous Harangue, lately delivered +by Mr. John Wesley, upon his laying the first stone of his new +Dissenting meeting-house, near the City Road.” Wesley’s sermon is +designated “a wretched harangue, from which the blessed name of Jesus +is almost totally excluded.” Mr. Hill remarks: “by only erasing about +half-a-dozen lines from the whole, I might defy the shrewdest of his +readers to discover whether the _lying apostle_ of the Foundery be +a Jew, a papist, a pagan, or a Turk.” He speaks of “the late ever +memorable Mr. Whitefield being scratched out of his grave, by the claws +of a designing wolf,” meaning, of course, Wesley. He brands Wesley as +“a libeller,” “a dealer in stolen wares,” and “as being as unprincipled +as a rook, and as silly as a jackdaw, first pilfering his neighbour’s +plumage, and then going proudly forth, displaying his borrowed tail +to the eyes of a laughing world.” Hill continues: “persons that are +toad eaters to Mr. John Wesley stand in need of very wide throats, and +that which he wishes them to swallow is enough to choke an elephant.” +“He is for ever going about, raising Dissenting congregations, and +building Dissenting meeting-houses the kingdom over.” “Venom distils +from his graceless pen.” “Mr. Whitefield is blackened by the venomous +quill of this grey headed enemy to all righteousness.” “Wesley is a +crafty slanderer, an unfeeling reviler, a liar of the most gigantic +magnitude, a Solomon in a cassock, a wretch, a disappointed Orlando +Furioso, a miscreant apostate, whose perfection consists in his perfect +hatred of all goodness and good men.” “You cannot love the Church,” +continues this meek and elegant evangelist, “unless you go to Wesley’s +meeting-house; nor be a friend to the established bishops, priests, and +deacons, unless you admire Wesley’s ragged legion of preaching barbers, +cobblers, tinkers, scavengers, draymen, and chimney sweepers.” + +Has the reader had enough from the “gentle strictures” of this young +divine, not yet thirty-two years of age? Let him turn to the _Gospel +Magazine_. In reviewing Wesley’s sermon at City Road, the _Gospel_ +editor describes Wesley’s Methodism as a “jumble of heresies, truly +and properly called Wesleyism”; and nothing “uttered by Satan himself +can be more _impudent_ and more glaringly untrue” than when Wesley +calls it “the old religion of the Bible, of the primitive church, +and of the Church of England.” For him to say, that Lady Huntingdon +“labours to form independent congregations, is as gross a falsehood +as was ever coined at the Foundery itself. Mr. Wesley’s apostasy from +the Church is a chief reason why her ladyship has justly discarded +him; and her disavowal of him, of his Dissenting principles, and of +his sectarian conduct, is the true reason, why he has the insolence +to spit his venom against one of the most respectable characters that +ever existed.” “With a baseness hardly to be paralleled, Mr. Wesley +rakes into the ashes of a man, whose name will descend with lustre to +the latest posterity; while that of the Foundery wolf will moulder +with his pilfered writings, or only be remembered with contempt and +execration. O Wesley, Wesley, hide thy diminutive head! nor let the +most pestilent _Dissenter_ in the kingdom arraign the spotless memory +of a _Churchman_, whose fervour and steadiness of attachment to his +ecclesiastical mother have scarcely been equalled in the present +age, and never exceeded in any. The truth is, Mr. Whitefield was _too +much_ a Churchman for Mr. Wesley’s fanaticism to digest. O ye deluded +followers of this horrid man, God open your eyes, and pluck your feet +out of the net! lest ye sink into the threefold ditch of antichristian +error, of foul antinomianism, and of eternal misery at last.”[302] + +This was tolerably strong; but it was not enough. The same periodical, +in its review of Rowland Hill’s polite pamphlet, begins thus: “Hob in +the well again; or pope John once more in the suds! Seldom has literary +punishment been administered with greater keenness and spirit, than +in this pamphlet; and, surely, never was a punishment administered on +a juster occasion, nor to a more deserving delinquent. When you take +Old Nick by the nose, it must be with a pair of red hot tongs.” The +red hot reviewer reiterates the slander, that Charles Wesley offered +the Greek bishop, Erasmus, forty guineas, upon condition that he would +give his brother episcopal ordination; and continues: “Mr. Wesley’s +vile ingratitude to the name and memory of Mr. Whitefield deserves the +abhorrence and execration of all good men.” Wesley is “an unfeeling and +unprincipled slanderer, a vile traducer,” and, in fact, guilty of “an +extreme of malignity and baseness, for which language has no name.”[303] + +Such scurrility as this, heaped upon an old man, seventy-four years +of age, who had spent his long life in unparalleled labours to honour +God, and to benefit his fellow men, is almost incredible. But even +this was not the worst that the immaculate _Gospel Magazine_ provided +for its readers. In the same number, from which the above abuse is +extracted, there is a long poem, entitled, “The Serpent and the Fox; +or, an interview between old Nick and old John”; which strongly reminds +us of a series of most infamous rhymed effusions which will have to be +noticed in the ensuing year, and in which Wesley is always represented +as a fox. The poem now published was not only foul, but, in the highest +degree, profane. It would be a crime to reproduce it. Suffice it to +say, that, as if to aggravate its infernal features, it immediately +follows a really beautiful hymn of six stanzas “To God the Holy Ghost.” +As a contrast, and to furnish a specimen of the medley often found in +this Calvinistic periodical, we furnish the reader with the last verse +of the thoroughly good hymn, and the first verse of the thoroughly bad +poem. Addressing the Divine Spirit, John Stocker writes: + + “Thou my dross and sin consume; + Let Thy inward kingdom come; + All my prayer and praise suggest; + Dwell and reign within my breast.” + +We shrink from the task of so closely annexing to such a stanza, the +first, and by far the least objectionable, lines of the ribald poem of +“The Serpent and the Fox”; but historical fidelity compels us. + + “There’s a Fox who resideth hard by, + The most perfect, and holy, and sly, + That e’er turned a coat, or could pilfer and lie; + As this reverend Reynard, one day, + Sat thinking what game next to play, + Old Nick came a seasonable visit to pay.” + +Then follows a conversation, in which Wesley proposes to burn the +Calvinists in Smithfield, as Bonner once burnt the protestants, and the +devil promises, that, while Wesley shall be exalted “with state” to +heaven’s “third storey,” all the Whitefields and Hills shall be “turned +back from the gate.” + +_Quantum sufficit!_ of Rowland Hill, both in prose and verse. What +had Wesley to say to all this? In his journal he writes: “1777, June +26--I read the truly wonderful performance of Mr. Rowland Hill. I stood +amazed! Compared to him, Mr. Toplady himself is a very civil, fair +spoken gentleman! June 27--I wrote an answer to it; ‘not rendering +railing for railing’ (I have not so learned Christ); but ‘speaking the +truth in love.’” + +Wesley’s reply was a penny tract of 12 pages, 12mo, with the title, “An +Answer to Mr. Rowland Hill’s Tract, entitled, ‘Imposture Detected.’” He +begins as follows: “In the tract just published by Mr. Rowland Hill, +there are several _assertions_ which are _not true_. And the whole +pamphlet is wrote in an _unchristian_ and _ungentlemanly manner_. I +shall first set down the _assertions_ in order, and then proceed to +the _manner_.” This is the strongest language Wesley uses. Indeed, he +writes as though Hill’s pamphlet amused him rather than otherwise. Some +of his friends, however, were not so lenient. Thomas Olivers rushed to +the rescue, with his characteristic fire, and unmercifully put into +the hands of the public a sixpenny “Rod for the Reviler”; and Matthew +Goodenough, a mechanic, of Bishopsgate Street, published “A Letter to +Mr. Rowland Hill,” 12mo, 21 pages, in which he tells “the reviler” that +he had used a vindictive style of which a chimney sweep might properly +be ashamed; and, from his malign spirit and rude manner of attacking +Mr. Wesley, he might be mistaken for the chief of Billingsgate. Hill, +as a preacher, is taunted with ranting, and roaring, and squealing, and +bawling, and twisting, and twirling himself about like a merryandrew; +and is told that, though “a Pelagian Methodist stinks,” it was a +comfort that the name of Rowland Hill was “an odoriferous perfume, a +charming nosegay, diffusing its fragrance wherever it appears, and +sweetly and effectually extinguishing the fœtid exhalations of Pelagian +ordure!” + +Not only in the Welsh cobbler, but in the Bishopsgate mechanic, Rowland +met with an Oliver; but, like a beaten bull dog, was not satisfied. +He at once issued another octavo pamphlet of 45 pages, entitled, “A +Full Answer to the Rev. J. Wesley’s Remarks,” etc., in which he humbly +apologises for using too strong language in his former pamphlet; and +yet, with a strange inconsistency, commits the same fault in this. +Wesley is again accused of “pompous falsehood,” “barefaced untruth,” +“ungodly craft,” “of calumniating the living, and traducing the +dead.” “For full thirty years, Wesley had been travelling towards +_Trent_, and was now got to his journey’s end”; while Fletcher--poor +Fletcher, apparently dying of consumption--had “published, at the end +of his third volume, a most horrible manifesto, in language almost +blasphemous, and had forged my brother’s name” (Sir Richard Hill), “and +mine, at the conclusion of it.” + +But here we must leave this doughty warrior, to whom the very name +of Wesley was what a scarlet cloak is to an infuriated bull. Some +will object to the reviving of these disgraceful reminiscences. Our +reiterated answer is, that, without them, it is impossible for the +reader rightly to estimate the character of Wesley. If they reflect +dishonour on Rowland Hill, we cannot help it. Rowland Hill was a public +man, and, like all other public men, he must be content to pay a public +penalty for his public crimes. Unfortunately, this is not the last we +shall hear of him. + +Besides those already mentioned, Wesley published, in 1777-- + +1. The sermon he preached, on April 21, at the laying of the foundation +stone of City Road chapel. 12mo, 47 pages. + +2. An Extract from his Journal, from September 2, 1770, to September +12, 1773. 12mo, 119 pages. + +3. “A Short Account of the Death of Elizabeth Hindmarsh,” a native of +Alnwick, “who died September 6, 1777, in the twenty-first year of her +age.” 12mo, 12 pages. + +4. “Thoughts upon God’s Sovereignty.” 12mo, 11 pages. + +5. “A Sermon, preached November 23, 1777, in Lewisham Church, before +the Humane Society.” 12mo, 24 pages. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [281] _Methodist Magazine_, 1783, p. 358. + + [282] Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 311. + + [283] Memoir of Ball, p. 137. + + [284] Life of Mrs. Smyth, p. 33. + + [285] Bardsley’s manuscript letters. + + [286] Manuscript memoir of Mr. Sagar. + + [287] Taylor’s manuscript diary. + + [288] _Methodist Magazine_, 1844, p. 70. + + [289] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 406. + + [290] Mr. Moore says: “this good man was possessed of + eminent ministerial gifts, but he fell into the + mystic delusion. He then became high minded and + censorious; and Mr. Charles Wesley, in his hours + of depression, used too much to listen to him. The + quakers were jealous of him, and kept him silent a + long time, to his great mortification. But it was the + very thing he needed, it was good medicine to heal + his sickness. In one of his last conversations with + me, he said: ‘I would not have thy people to think of + changing; they may be disappointed,’ He was then in a + sweet and humble spirit, very different from that in + which he left us.” (Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., + pp. 273, 274.) + + [291] _Methodist Magazine_, 1807, p. 328. + + [292] Taylor’s manuscript diary. + + [293] Treffry’s Life of Benson. + + [294] “Anecdotes of the Wesleys,” p. 272. + + [295] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 398. + + [296] Asbury’s Journal, vol. i., p. 177. + + [297] Smith’s History of Methodism, vol. i., p. 440. + + [298] Minutes of Methodist Conferences in America, 1795. + + [299] Jackson’s “Centenary of Methodism,” p. 201. + + [300] See _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 661. + + [301] _Methodist Magazine_, 1799, p. 564. + + [302] _Gospel Magazine_, 1777, p. 182. + + [303] Ibid. p. 337. + + + + + 1778. + Age 75 + + +Never in his life was Wesley the subject of a more infamous press +persecution than in 1778. + +First of all, there was a pamphlet published, in which Thomas Maxfield +was pitiably preeminent. This mendacious publication asserted that, +when Whitefield went to America, in 1741, he handed over to the two +Wesleys thirty thousand people, whose hearts the Wesleys so turned +against him, that, when he returned to England, not three hundred +would come to hear him. It further alleged, that “vile contentions” +followed, in which the Wesleys “raked the filthiest ashes, to find some +black story against their fellow preachers;” and that what had been +published, on both sides, by the friends of Whitefield and Wesley, +within the last six years, was a disgrace to all concerned. + +Wesley replied to this, in “A Letter to the Rev. Mr. Thomas Maxfield, +occasioned by a late Publication”: 8vo, 11 pages. He states, with +perfect truth, that, at the time referred to, there were not five +thousand Methodists in the world; that his own societies contained +not more than fourteen or fifteen hundred members, and Whitefield’s +not so many. He declares that, so far from receiving thirty thousand +people from Whitefield in solemn trust, the latter never delivered +up to him one thousand, nor one hundred. He admits, that division +followed; but affirms that Whitefield himself occasioned it. Whitefield +first published a treatise against him by name; but he made no reply +to it. Wesley asserts that Whitefield constantly preached against +him and his brother, both in Moorfields, and in other public places. +Even in the very Foundery, while Charles Wesley sat beside him, he +preached the absolute decrees, in the most peremptory and offensive +manner; but, instead of returning railing for railing, they always and +everywhere spoke of him in respectful terms. And then, with respect +to the publications of the last six years, Wesley states that, though +the two Hills, and Toplady, had poured upon him, in great abundance, +bitterness and wrath, yea, low, base, and virulent invective, he +himself had published only three tracts during the entire controversy, +and in none of them had he spoken one bitter, passionate, or +disrespectful word. “Where,” he asks, “have I, in one single sentence, +returned them railing for railing? I have not so learned Christ. I dare +not rail, either at them or you. I return not cursing but blessing. +That the God of love may bless them and you, is the prayer of your +injured, yet still affectionate brother, JOHN WESLEY.” + +Wesley’s letter was worthy of himself. True, his statements, respecting +his old friend Whitefield, are scarcely to Whitefield’s honour; but it +must be borne in mind, that they are not opinions, but facts; and facts +not volunteered, but extorted by the falsehoods of Maxfield and those +with whom Maxfield now associated. + +Wesley replied to Maxfield; but the publications which must be next +noticed were properly treated with the silent contempt they merited. +We reluctantly advert to these vile productions; and yet, for the +reason already repeatedly assigned, we must. Our notices shall be +brief: first, for want of space; and secondly, because we can hardly +make quotations without fouling our pages. The publications were seven +in number, all, except one, printed by a man of the name of Bew, in +Paternoster Row, on the best of paper, and in the best of type. + +1. “The Gospel Shop. A comedy in five acts: with a new prologue and +epilogue, intended for public representation, but suppressed at +the particular desire of some eminent divines. By R. Hill, Esq., +of Cambridge.” 8vo, 88 pages. The chief _dramatis personæ_ are Dr. +Scapegoat, Parson Prolix, Mr. Rackett, and Simon Sycophant; and an idea +of the whole of this infamous production may be obtained from two lines +taken from the motto on the title page. + + “Beware! these dire illusions! strange to tell, + A gospel shop’s the very spawn of hell!” + +2. “The Saints: a satire.” 4to, 30 pages; with a frontispiece made up +of two scrolls, labelled respectively, “Inspiration,” and “Election,” +a bottle inscribed with the word “Gin,” and a satyr’s head inscribed +“Perfection.” A Methodist is described as a mixture of ignorance and +folly, piety and hypocrisy. The whole tribe are “downright scoundrels,” +“religious mountebanks,” “wretches who make a trade of religion,” and +“show an uncommon concern for the next world, only to raise their +fortunes with greater security in this.” Two lines must suffice as a +specimen, and, for the sake of decency, two of the words must be given +in a skeletonised form. Of Wesley it is said, he + + “Makes piety a b----d to aid his work, + Outlies Sam Johnson, and o--twh----s a Turk.”[304] + +3. “Perfection; a poetical epistle, calmly addressed to the greatest +hypocrite in England.” 4to, price two shillings. Of course, Wesley +was the hypocrite; and the work is ornamented with an emblematical +frontispiece in accordance with its foul and calumnious falsehoods. + +4. “The Temple of Imposture. A poem by the author of ‘The Saints,’ +‘Perfection,’ etc.” 4to, 35 pages. This, like all the others, has a +characteristic frontispiece, in which Wesley is represented as a huge +serpent, labelled “The subtlest beast of the field.” The serpent forms +a circle, inside of which, among other things, there are four books +respectively inscribed, “Koran,” “Bedlam’s Hymns,” “Druid Hymns,” and +“Ignat. Loyola Monita Secreta”; also a gridiron, called “Mahommed’s +Gridiron”; a sword, inscribed “A Calm Address”; a bottle, with a +burning candle in its neck, and labelled “Gin”; and two scrolls, +one with the words “Old Light at Mecca,” and the other, “New Light +in Moorfields.” The professed object of the work is to show, that, +in tyranny, lust, avarice, persecution, and imposture, Wesley is +a successor of Mahommed; and, in a bad sense, an improved edition +of Ignatius Loyola. Wesley is accused of long seeking to be made a +bishop. “Of all impostors since the flood,” he is denounced as the +very worst; while his preachers are “mechanic missionaries,--bawling, +crafty, illiterate wretches, sent out by their priestly masters, to sow +seeds of false doctrine and fanaticism, which spring up, throughout +the country, in plentiful crops of idleness, beggary, madness, and +sometimes suicide.” + +5. “The Lovefeast. A poem by the author of the ‘Saints: a satire,’ +etc.” 4to, 47 pages. Here the frontispiece is a sort of chapel scene, +in which Wesley, as a fox, dressed in canonicals, is having a mitre +placed upon his head by the goddess Murcia, while a parson behind waves +his wig and shouts “Hurrah,” and another hurries away with an air +of disappointment and disgust. Wesley’s Foundery is described as “a +spiritual slop shop,” where he equips his “preaching lubbers” with all +the necessary paraphernalia for playing their several parts; while the +preachers themselves are designated “the worst of scum,” “smugglers of +Scripture phrases,” “learning’s sworn foes,” “Jack Cade’s apostles,” +and “mere conduit pipes of rhapsody and cant.” The following are the +last lines of the piece, and are used concerning Wesley himself. + + “_Feasts_ he may institute, raise _holy_ piles, + Degrade his _God_ to win a _monarch’s_ smiles; + Permit _corruption_ his _false heart_ to taint, + Live by _imposture_, and yet die a _saint_; + But never while this hand can hold a pen, + Shall he escape the _scorn of honest men_. + Nor North, nor Mansfield shall the _wizard_ save, + But _ridicule_ shall scourge him to the _grave_-- + There let him _rot_, (so Becket did before,) + _Proud_ as a _pope_, and faithless as a wh--re.” + +6. “Sketches for Tabernacle Frames.” 4to, 36 pages. In this, the +frontispiece consists of Wesley, again represented as a fox in +canonicals, with the crosier of a mock bishop behind him, and round +about a library of books, which he is supposed to sell, the shelves +being labelled “Primitive Physic,” “Political Pamphlets,” and “Prayers, +Sermons, and Hymns.” Before him kneels a mechanic, with an ass’s head, +holding, in one hand, a bottle inscribed with the words “Primitive +Physic,” and, in the other, a pamphlet called “A Calm Address,” while +the poor asinine wretch himself is having his mouth opened by Wesley, +who is about to indulge in the agreeable recreation of extracting his +teeth. At the top of the picture are two portraits, one of James II., +indicative of Wesley being a Jacobite; and the other of Lucy Cooper, +indicating him to be something worse. The poem is dedicated to the +“Rev. Mr. Evans, Mr. Hill, and Mr. Hawes, in acknowledgment of their +services to the public.” After describing Wesley by such epithets as “a +nostrum monger,” “a preacher, pamphleteer, and quack,” than whom “few +can whistle off rank nonsense better,” the work concludes with the two +lines following: + + “His odious name should stink beyond the grave, + And truth proclaim him a recorded knave.” + +The reader has had more than enough of these dunghill rakings; but, in +order to be saved from the hateful task of returning to this series of +abominable poems, we add another published in the year following. + +7. “Fanatical Conversion, or Methodism Displayed. Illustrated and +verified from J. Wesley’s fanatical journals.” 1779: 4to, 55 pages. In +two different copies we find two different frontispieces. One is an +ass, on its hind legs, preaching. The other is much more elaborate, +and is too obscene to be fully described. Leaving out the parts +referred to, Wesley, as a clerical fox, is represented as preaching +in a barn, his right hand in the coat pocket of a man called “Old +Cloaths,” and his left taking a penny from a boy, a tapster, who has +just been broaching a hogshead of “Culvert’s Gin.” One man approaches +the preacher, with a cudgel, crying, “Give me my money!” Another, in +the form of a donkey, is making a most hideous noise, and is called +“Brother Bray.” A third is vomiting a black monster, and represented +as saying, “He’s gone, he’s gone!” A fourth is standing on his head, +and shouting, “Sure I am in heaven.” Two others are hurling a squib +at Wesley’s head, and flourishing a scroll, “For the benefit of Trick +upon Trick, or Methodism Displayed.” At Wesley’s feet is the favourite +bottle, labelled “Primitive Physic”; and in the centre is, what may be +taken as the artist’s name, “Rowland Hill, 1778.” The following four +lines, selected almost hap-hazard, are a very moderate specimen of all +the rest. Of course, they are spoken concerning Wesley. + + “Reynard, you’re right! Heaven loves such pious frauds; + Hence, half your saints _unmasked_ are who--s and b--ds: + Nay, _mock apostles_ are but little less + Than devils lurking in _fanatic_ dress.” + +We gladly leave these disgusting publications. Like dishonoured +children, they are without an acknowledged father. Who was their +infamous author? We neither know, nor care to know; but there are +three facts concerning them which must be noticed. First, in almost +the whole of them there is a most virulent attack on Wesley’s “Calm +Address to the American Colonies.” Secondly, though irreligious to a +supreme degree, they are levelled, not against religion in general, +but against that particular form of it espoused by Wesley. Thirdly, +throughout, the Calvinists are either passed _sub silentio_, or with +words of commendation; and, in footnotes and other places, Rowland +Hill is evidently in the writer’s good graces. We have read hundreds +of tracts and pamphlets published against Wesley; but nothing which, +for profanity, pollution, and violent abuse, equals these. They display +talent; but talent prostituted to the most infernal purposes. In style, +they resemble,--shall we say it? the style of one of Wesley’s most +calumnious Calvinian opposers; but we charitably, though feebly, hope, +that no man professing, much less teaching, the Christian religion, had +to do with their production. + +What had Wesley done to merit all this? Nothing, absolutely nothing. He +was an old man whose life had been spent in one great act of Christian +beneficence. These wretched poems, issued in the best style of the art +of printing, by J. Bew, of Paternoster Row, were the foul sputterings +of a muse, not naturally ignoble, but envious of Wesley’s majestic +goodness, and animated with a feeling almost as malignant as the heart +of Apollyon. So far from answering them, Wesley never even condescended +to mention them, in any journal or letter yet made public. + +Before we trace Wesley’s wanderings in 1778, there are two or three +other facts which must be noticed. On Tuesday, August 11, 1778, in the +thirty-eighth year of his age, occurred the death of the Rev. Augustus +Toplady. In more respects than one, this was a memorable event to +Wesley and his friends. In the death of Toplady, Wesley lost one of his +bitterest opponents; and Calvinism lost its ablest champion. + +Soon after, the report was circulated, that Wesley had stated, to some +of his friends, that Toplady died in despair and uttering blasphemy. +Sir Richard Hill rushed into print, by sending an anonymous letter +to the _General Advertiser_, requesting Wesley either to deny the +accusation, or to produce his authority, otherwise his character would +suffer, “for having vented a most gross, malicious falsehood.” Not +content with this, he published a pamphlet, in the form of a “Letter +to the Rev. Mr. John Wesley,” in which, as usual, he made use of the +most intemperate language, telling Wesley that, unless he cleared +himself from the charge alleged against him, he would be branded “as +the raiser and fabricator of a most nefarious report,” and would be +guilty of a sin little less “than the unpardonable sin against the Holy +Ghost.” The whole of this mare’s nest was simply this: Mr. Gawkrodger, +of Bridlington, _told_ Sir Richard Hill, that Mr. Thomas Robinson +_told_ him, that Wesley _told_ him, that Toplady “died in black despair +and blasphemy.” If Sir Richard Hill had _courteously_ asked for an +explanation, Wesley, like a gentleman and a Christian, would have given +one; but, having demanded it in the most offensive terms, telling him +that he had been “vilifying the ashes and traducing the memory” of +Toplady; and that “his grand design in all his publications, whether +sermons, journals, appeals, preservatives, or Arminian magazines, +was that of trumpeting forth his own praises”; and that he was “a +man of cunning and subtlety, and artifices, and foul aspersions, and +quibbles, and evasions,”[305]--we say, that Sir Richard Hill having +used such terms as these, in the very letters in which he requested the +explanation, deserved, not an answer, but, the silent contempt with +which Wesley wisely treated him. + +In 1778, England was in great excitement. Panic was general; and the +country was thought to be on the brink of ruin. It was this state +of things which led Wesley to publish the two political pamphlets +following: + +First, “A Serious Address to the People of England, with regard to +the state of the nation:” 12mo, 28 pages; the object of which was to +show, that England, notwithstanding the war, was in prosperity. Its +cattle and vegetable productions were undiminished. Its inhabitants +had increased a million within the last twenty years; and, during +the same period, hundreds of thousands of acres of unprofitable land +had been put under tillage. England might have lost eight hundred of +its ships since the beginning of the war; but it had also taken more +than it had lost. The trade with Ireland had prodigiously increased; +and, _comparatively speaking_, the national debt was not so great as +in 1759. “Friends and countrymen!” writes Wesley, “let none deceive +you with vain words! Let none, by subtle reasonings, or by artful, +elaborate harangues, persuade you out of your senses. Let no sweet +tongued orator, by his smooth periods, steal away your understanding; +no thundering talker fill you with vain fears, of evils that have no +being. You are encompassed with liberty, peace, and plenty. Know the +public, as well as private, blessings which you enjoy; and be thankful +to God and man.” + +The second, and shorter tract, was published, with the title, “A +Compassionate Address to the Inhabitants of Ireland”: 12mo, 12 pages. +Wesley laughs to scorn the report, that General Washington had an +army of 65,000 men; and says, that “the French will as soon swallow +up the sea,” as swallow up old England; that the Spanish have not yet +forgotten Havannah; and that the Portuguese were “not such arrant +fools” as to join in a confederacy with England’s enemies. + +These were odd topics for Wesley to take up; but the war excitement +was now at its highest point. Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and +Edinburgh raised regiments at their own expense. The Whig opposition +considered this to be highly reprehensible, and accused Lord North and +the other members of the government with employing soldiers without +consent of parliament, and of entertaining designs dangerous to the +liberties of the country. Fox moved, in the House of Commons, that no +more troops should be sent out of the kingdom; alleging that a war +with France and Spain was imminent; and that the navy was inefficient, +and the militia contemptible. Burke, in a speech of three hours and a +half duration,--said to be the greatest triumph of eloquence within +the memory of man,--endeavoured to weaken the hands of government, +by dwelling on the ferocities and horrors committed by their savage +auxiliaries in America, the red Indians. Lord George Gordon, who was +not yet quite so mad as he became a year or two later, expressed +his earnest wish, that Lord North “would call off his butchers from +America, retire with all the rest of his majesty’s evil advisers, and +turn from his wickedness and live.” John Wilkes, the ex-lord mayor of +London, who had not yet attained to the post of city chamberlain, but +who was engaged in constant manœuvres to escape out of the purgatory +of duns, or to draw more money from the purses of private friends, was +as lavish with his sarcasms, ribaldry, and drollery as ever, and told +the minister, that nothing but a cessation of hostilities would save +General Howe from the fate of Burgoyne. France was exerting itself +to the utmost, to induce, not only Spain, but also Austria, Prussia, +Russia, and the other despotisms, to become the allies and protectors +of the young and free republic. The king and his ministers were +involved in the greatest difficulties; and John Wesley, like a loyal +man, at the head of forty thousand Methodists, felt it to be a duty to +assist them as he best could, not only in private and in the pulpit, +but also with his pen. + +Having spent the first two months of 1778 in London and its vicinity, +Wesley started, at the commencement of March, for Ireland, where he +employed his time and energies till towards the end of July following; +but there was nothing in the tour so _unusually_ remarkable as to +demand attention. The days of mob persecution were over; and everywhere +Wesley was received with respect, and, in many places, with affection. +At Tullamore, where he preached in the riding-house, the commanding +officer ordered all the soldiers to be present, and attended himself, +with the rest of the officers. At Cork, two companies of volunteers +were present in the chapel, while Wesley preached; the side gallery +being filled with the men in scarlet, and the front with the men in +blue. In one instance, this old evangelist actually, we had almost said +cruelly, drove a pair of horses sixty-eight miles in a single day. In +another instance, coming to a slough near Sligo, a sturdy Irishman took +Wesley over on his shoulders; and others took his chaise. At Dublin, +his little conference of twenty preachers debated the duty of leaving +the Established Church; “but, after a full discussion of the point,” +says Wesley, “we all remained firm in our judgment,--that it is not our +duty to leave the Church, wherein God has blessed us, and does bless us +still.” + +This discussion was brought about principally by the Rev. Edward Smyth, +already mentioned as a clergyman who had been expelled from his curacy +for his fidelity to the truth. At present, he was in connection with +the Methodists; and was now eager to persuade Wesley and his preachers +to separate from the Church; but without effect. Myles, in his +Chronological History, says, that the minute adopted was the following: + + “Is it not our duty to separate from the Church, considering + the wickedness both of the clergy and the people? Answer. We + conceive not. 1. Because both the priests and the people were + full as wicked in the Jewish church, and yet God never + commanded the holy Israelites to separate from them. 2. Neither + did our Lord command His disciples to separate from them; He + rather commanded the contrary. 3. Hence, it is clear, _that_ + could not be the meaning of St. Paul’s words, ‘Come out from + among them, and be ye separate.’” + +This was an important action. Twenty years before, Wesley had wavered +in his attachment to the Church; now and henceforth, in language at +least, he was more decided. This is a question which will repeatedly +present itself in succeeding years. + +On July 19, Wesley left Dublin to attend his English conference in +Leeds, preaching on his way at Liverpool, Bolton, Bury, Rochdale, +Halifax, Bradford, and Birstal, at which last mentioned place his +congregation was supposed to number twelve or fourteen thousand persons. + +Wesley’s notice of the Leeds conference is brief. He writes: + + “1778. Tuesday, August 4.--Our conference began: so large a + number of preachers never met at a conference before. I + preached morning and evening, till Thursday night; then my + voice began to fail; so I desired two of our preachers to + supply my place the next day. On Saturday the conference + ended.” + +Mr. Benson writes: + + “Our conference is just ended, the best I was ever at. Mr. + Wesley has been in a sweet spirit, has preached some excellent + sermons, has had extraordinary congregations, and has dealt + closely and plainly with the preachers, setting two aside for + misdemeanours.”[306] + +Thomas Taylor, in his manuscript diary, remarks: + + “August 5.--To-day, we permitted all sorts to come into the + conference, so that we had a large company. The forenoon was + occupied in speaking upon preaching houses. In the afternoon, + the sending of missionaries to Africa was considered. The call + seems doubtful. Afterwards, the committee met, and we were an + hour and a half in speaking what might have been done in five + minutes. We are vastly tedious, and have many long speeches to + little purpose.” + + “August 6.--This day has been employed chiefly in stationing + the preachers. + + “August 7.--We were engaged in conference till after one + o’clock; and then the sacrament began, at which, I think, two + thousand were present.” + +Three things are noticeable here. 1. Others, beside itinerant +preachers, were admitted to Wesley’s conference in 1778. 2. Long and +tedious conferential speeches are not a novelty; but were inflicted +upon impatient and unwilling listeners in former days as they are +sometimes inflicted now. 3. The conference had an immense sacrament +such as Methodist conferences and Methodist congregations now never +witness. + +Stationing preachers was then a difficulty as it is at present, one of +the four days being chiefly occupied with this. Some modern Methodists +seem to think, that Wesley, in this, acted as he pleased; but that +is hardly true. The people then, to say nothing about the preachers, +liked to have a voice in their appointments; and then, as now, not +unfrequently made worse selections than others would have made for +them. In the spring of the present year, Wesley significantly wrote, +while at Bristol: “March 9--On this and the following days I visited +the society, and found a good increase. This year, I myself (_which +I have seldom done_) chose the preachers for Bristol; and these were +_plain_ men, and likely to do more good than had been done in one year, +for these twenty years.” + +It is a curious fact, that, as this was the first conference in whose +minutes the name of Thomas Coke appeared, so also it was a conference +remarkable for its discussion of the great question of Christian +missions, to which Coke, soon after, devoted his unwearied life. The +mission to Africa has been mentioned. Mr. Benson writes: + + “The proposal was made in consequence of two young princes from + Calabar, in Guinea, who desired that missionaries might be sent + to instruct them in the English language, and the great + principles of Christianity. These young princes had been + cruelly torn away from their own country, and sold as slaves in + America, where they remained upwards of seven years. An English + master of a ship, to whom they told their story, pitied them, + and advised them to run away from their master, which they did, + and were brought by him to England. Their case was examined, + and brought before Lord Mansfield; and they were set at + liberty. They made some stay at Bristol, and were instructed by + some of our people, but especially by Miss Johnson. After they + had returned to their own country, at their request, two + persons, who were Germans, but members of our society at + Bristol, were sent out to Guinea; but they both died either + before, or soon after, they landed on that coast. The young + princes sent over petitions for others to go. Two good young + men offered themselves for the difficult and dangerous service. + But, after the matter was seriously considered, it was + concluded that the time had not arrived for sending + missionaries to Africa.”[307] + +One of the strangers, who were present at the conference of 1778, was +Thomas Thompson, Esq., afterwards member of parliament for the town +of Hull, and who, at the first missionary meeting, held at Leeds, +stated that the discussion respecting this African mission lasted +several hours, and was marked by deep piety, sound sense, and powerful +eloquence. Mr. Thompson continued: “The deepest impression, however, +seemed to be made, on the minds of all persons present, by the short +speech of a young man, who appeared to be far gone in a consumption, +but who promptly offered himself as a missionary, and, in unaffected +language, declared his readiness to go to Africa, or to any other part +of the world, to which it might please God and his brethren to send +him.”[308] + +Who was this young man? Though not absolutely certain, we believe it +was Duncan McAllum. At all events, the following information, hitherto +unpublished, will be acceptable. The two African princes escaped from +slavery, about the year 1775, after the breaking out of the American +rebellion. One of them was baptized at Bristol; and the other was +seriously disposed. The two Germans, who went out, were brothers of +the name of Syndrum, and were treated by the uncle of the princes with +all possible attention. When the intelligence of their death arrived +in England, Dr. Coke addressed a circular to all the young itinerant +preachers in the connexion, asking for volunteers for this African +mission, and stating that they would be supported by a legacy of £500, +left, for that purpose, by Miss Johnson, of Bristol.[309] Duncan +McAllum was now in the third year of his itinerancy, and was stationed +at Dundee. With a brave heart, he offered his services, even before the +conference; but, without assigning reasons, Wesley declined accepting +them. Hence the following hitherto unpublished letter. + + “DUBLIN, _July 14, 1778_. + + “DEAR DUNCAN,--I would have you change once in two months, and + will help you as to the expenses. Dwell in the land, and be + doing good, and surely thou shalt be fed. You have nothing to + do at present in Africa. Convert the heathen in Scotland. + + “I am, dear Duncan, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +So the matter ended. Help for Africa was deferred; but it is a blessed +fact that Africans were being saved. The successful efforts of Mr. +Gilbert in Antigua have been already noticed; and it is a remarkable +coincidence, that, in this very year, when Coke first found a place +in the conference minutes, and when, for the first time, missions to +the heathen were discussed at the conference sittings, John Baxter, +a Methodist shipwright at Chatham, felt himself constrained to leave +his friends, and to embark for Antigua, principally, as he himself +expresses it, that he “might have an opportunity of speaking for God.” +He landed on April 2, and, a fortnight after, wrote to Wesley, telling +him that the work, begun by the late Mr. Gilbert, still remained. He +says: “The black people have been kept together by two black women, who +have continued praying and meeting with those who attended every night. +I preached to about thirty on Saturday night. On Sunday morning, to +the same number; and, in the afternoon, to about four or five hundred. +The old standers desire I would let you know that you have had many +children in Antigua whom you never saw. I hope, sir, we shall have an +interest in your prayers. Dear sir, give me your advice. Provisions +are very scarce; but I have all things richly to enjoy; as I have four +shillings a day, besides the king’s provisions. I am going to have a +house built for me, with as much ground as is needful. I think God has +sent me here for good to the poor souls, who are glad to hear, but +unable to maintain, a preacher.”[310] + +Little more remains to be said respecting the conference of 1778, +except that it was resolved “to receive no more married preachers, +because,” says Wesley, “we cannot keep them”;[311] and, further, that +two most characteristic minutes were adopted in reference to preachers +who were nervous. It was asked: + + “Why do so many of our preachers fall into nervous disorders? + + “Answer. Because they do not sufficiently observe Dr. Cadogan’s + rules--to avoid indolence and intemperance. + + “They do indeed use exercise; but many of them do not use + enough,--not near so much as they did before they were + preachers. And sometimes they sit still a whole day. This can + never consist with health. + + “They are not intemperate in the vulgar sense; they are neither + drunkards nor gluttons; but they take more food than nature + requires, particularly in the evening. + + “What advice would you give to those that are _nervous_? + + “Answer. Advice is made for them that will take it; but who are + they? one in ten, or twenty? + + “Then I advise: (1) Touch no dram, tea, tobacco, or snuff; (2) + eat very light, if any, supper; (3) breakfast on nettle or + orange peel tea; (4) lie down before ten, rise before six; (5) + every day use as much exercise as you can bear; or (6) murder + yourself by inches.” + +Wesley acted upon his own advice. Whatever might be said of others, he +was not the man to be made nervous for want of exercise. Many Methodist +preachers claim and enjoy a holiday after conference. With Wesley it +was otherwise. The conference of 1778 closed on Saturday, August 8; +the next day, Wesley preached to a congregation of some thousands +in the market place at Dewsbury. He then hurried off to London; and +thence to Cornwall, where he preached, in Gwennap amphitheatre, it was +believed, to four-and-twenty thousand people. During this lengthened +journey, he made the following curious entry in his journal. + + “September 1--I went to Tiverton. I was musing here on what I + heard a good man say long since: ‘Once in seven years I burn + all my sermons; for it is a shame if I cannot write better + sermons now than I could seven years ago.’ Whatever others can + do, I really cannot. I cannot write a better sermon on the Good + Steward, than I did seven years ago; I cannot write a better on + the Great Assize, than I did twenty years ago; I cannot write a + better on the Use of Money, than I did near thirty years ago; + nay, I know not that I can write a better on the Circumcision + of the Heart, than I did five-and-forty years ago. Perhaps, + indeed, I may have read five or six hundred books more than I + had then, and may know a little more history, or natural + philosophy, than I did; but I am not sensible that this has + made any essential addition to my knowledge in divinity. Forty + years ago, I knew and preached every Christian doctrine which I + preach now.” + +Let the reader ponder this entry for a threefold purpose. (1) To form +an estimate of the extent of Wesley’s reading. (2) To ascertain which +sermons Wesley thought his best. (3) To find an answer to the charge +that Wesley changed his doctrines. + +Wesley, on his return from Cornwall, arrived on September 4 in Bristol, +in the neighbourhood of which he spent the ensuing month. + +The remainder of the year was occupied in London, and in his usual +tours through the counties of Buckingham, Oxford, Bedford, Northampton, +Hertford, and Kent; and it may be mentioned, as an evidence that the +Church of England began at last to appreciate its ejected minister, +that, during this interval, he preached, by request, to crowded +congregations, in not fewer than four of the London churches. + +It was at this time, also, that he opened, as already noticed, the new +chapel in City Road. On the day of opening, he wrote as follows to Mrs. +Penelope Cousins. + + “LONDON, _November 1, 1778_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--It is just as it should be. I have formerly + said ‘I wonder how Mr. Whitefield can go on! For he has honour, + and comparatively, no dishonour. And this is test for human + frailty too severe.’ Now I have not that insupportable burden. + I have honour enough in all reason; but it is properly balanced + with dishonour. I have good report, and (what is absolutely + necessary) evil report too. To-day I am to open our new chapel. + Hence also will arise both honour and dishonour. Yet a little + while, and all these things, that seem considerable now, will + pass away like a dream. + + “I am, my dear Penny, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[312] + +The opening of City Road chapel rendered it necessary, that Wesley +should have clerical coadjutors; and he now received a letter from one +who, in after years, rendered faithful and valuable service. The Rev. +James Creighton was born in Ireland, in 1739; and, for fourteen years, +had been an ordained clergyman; but it was only within the last two +years that he had found peace with God, through faith in Jesus Christ, +and that principally by reading the works of Wesley. He now began to +preach in a barn, about four miles from his parish church; and, then, +when the barn was no longer available, in a chapel which was erected +for him, and in which he officiated for some time, though the windows +were unglazed, and the mudden floor was such that his feet often sunk +two inches deep during the performance of service. His parish was +sixteen miles in length, and most of it mountainous and boggy; but he +frequently walked, as well as rode, through all parts of it, in all +kinds of weather.[313] While here, he wrote the following to Wesley. + + “BELTERBELT, _October 26, 1778_. + + “MY DEAR SIR,--I stand much in need of a judicious friend. I am + quite alone; there are none of the Methodists near me; nor are + there any yet thoroughly awakened within my cure. The fault, I + must own, is mine. I have not been zealous enough; yet, this + has not proceeded from the fear of man; but I wished not to act + precipitately, and to raise the prejudices of the clergy as + little as possible. I meant well; but I see I have acted wrong. + Had I been persecuted, I should have been much bolder; but the + people are so civil to me, that it has, in a great measure, + proved my ruin. I have had such a sense of my ignorance and + inability, that I have been frequently tempted to think, I + ought to refrain entirely from preaching. But, again, I thought + I might, perhaps, be of some use here, where the people are + ready to listen to me, yet are not willing to hear a Methodist. + Could I once open a door here for the Methodist preachers, I + should willingly go to any part of the globe that God should + call me to. Were I near you, I should be too happy to fill the + place of your assistant. Though we must lament the want of + discipline in our Church, and though I admire the economy of + the Methodists, yet I entirely agree with you, that they ought + not to leave the Church. So long as they mingle with the + members of it, they may be the means of converting them; but, + if they separate, they will thereby stop the ears and eyes of + thousands. These were my sentiments long before I heard that + they were yours. I never was bigoted to opinions, and hope I + never shall. + + “I remain, dear sir, your very humble servant, and affectionate + brother, + + “JAMES CREIGHTON.”[314] + +The discipline of the Church of England was a thing over which Wesley +and his friends had no control. With the discipline of the Methodists +it was otherwise. Hence, the following characteristic letter, hitherto +unpublished, addressed to one of his itinerants, at Brecon, Mr. William +Church, an ancestor of the Rev. Henry L. Church, who possesses the +original. + + “WALLINGFORD, _October 13, 1778_. + + “DEAR BILLY,--The soul and the body make a man; the Spirit and + discipline make a Christian. Let John Watson and you agree + together, and be exact in this wherever you go. Insist upon the + observance of all the society rules, by all the members of + society; and on the observance of all (even the least) of the + band rules, by all that meet in band. I give, for instance, no + band tickets to any woman, who wears either ruffles or a high + crowned cap. If any will not lay aside these, rather than lose + that blessed means of improvement, she is not worthy of it. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Another unpublished letter, of the same kind, addressed to Samuel +Bradburn, will be welcome. + + “LONDON, _October 17, 1778_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--I think you judge exactly right. You are called + to obey _me_, as a son in the gospel. But who can prove, that + you are so called to obey any other person? What I require + (according to the twelfth rule of a helper) of John Hampson and + you, is, that each of you, in his turn, spend four weeks, and + no more, first at Cork, and then at Bandon. When, therefore, + you have been at Bandon, I desire you to return straight to + Cork. And, if John Hampson will not then go to Bandon, I will + order one that will. Pray show this letter to Mr. Mackrie, whom + I beg to assist you in this matter. Pass smoothly over the + perverseness of those you have to do with, and go straight + forward. It is abundantly sufficient, that you have the + testimony of a good conscience towards God. + + “I am, dear Sammy, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Reference is made, in Mr. Creighton’s letter, to the subject of the +Methodists leaving the Established Church; and it has been already +seen, that this was a matter earnestly debated, at the Dublin +conference, during the present year. The following letter, sent to Miss +Bishop, is of great importance, and, though long, must have insertion. + + “LONDON, _October 18, 1778_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--The original Methodists were all of the + Church of England; and the more awakened they were, the more + zealously they adhered to it, in every point, both of doctrine + and discipline. Hence, we inserted in the very first rules of + our society, ‘they that leave the Church leave us.’ And this we + did, not as a point of prudence, but a point of conscience. We + believed it unlawful to separate from the Church, unless sinful + terms of communion were imposed. Just as did Mr. Philip Henry, + and most of those holy men that were contemporary with him. + + “‘But the ministers of it do not preach the gospel.’ Neither do + some of the independent or anabaptist ministers. Calvinism is + not the gospel: nay, it is further from it, than most of the + sermons I hear at the church. These are very frequently + unevangelical, but they are not anti-evangelical. Few of the + Methodists are now in danger of imbibing error from the Church + ministers; but they are in great danger of imbibing the grand + error, Calvinism, from some of the Dissenting ministers. + Perhaps thousands have done it already; most of whom have drawn + back to perdition. I see more instances of this than any one + else can do; and, on this ground also, exhort all who would + keep to the Methodists, and from Calvinism, to go to the + church, and not to the meeting. + + “But to speak freely: I myself find more life in the Church + prayers, than in any formal extemporary prayers of Dissenters. + Nay, I find more profit in sermons on either good tempers, or + good works, than in what are vulgarly called gospel sermons. + The term has now become a mere cant word: I wish none of our + society would use it. It has no determinate meaning. Let but a + pert, self sufficient animal, that has neither sense nor grace, + bawl out something about Christ, or His blood, or justification + by faith, and his hearers cry out, ‘What a fine gospel sermon!’ + Surely the Methodists have not so learned Christ! We know no + gospel without salvation from sin. There is a Romish error + which many protestants swallow unawares. It is an avowed + doctrine of the Romish church, that the ‘pure intention of the + minister is essential to the validity of the sacraments.’ If + so, we ought not to attend the ministrations of an unholy man. + But in flat opposition to this, our Church teaches, in the + twenty-eighth article, that ‘the unworthiness of the minister + does not hinder the validity of the sacraments.’ Although, + therefore, there are many disagreeable circumstances, yet, I + advise all our friends to keep to the Church. God has surely + raised us up for the Church chiefly, that a little leaven may + leaven the whole lump. I wish you would seriously consider that + little tract, ‘Reasons against a Separation from the Church of + England.’ These reasons were never yet answered; I believe, + they never will. + + “I am, my dear sister, yours very affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[315] + +Whatever may be thought of the validity of Wesley’s reasons, there can +be no question, that, in theory at least, he was still firmly attached +to the Established Church. His enemies, not without reason, stigmatised +him as a Dissenter; he persisted, that he himself and the Methodists +were not Dissenters. Who is possessed of competent authority to decide +the doubt? + +Before passing to Wesley’s publications, there is another matter which +deserves attention. One of the questions proposed at the conference of +1778 was,--“Is it not advisable for us to visit all the jails we can?” +The answer was,--“By all means. There cannot be a greater charity.” +From the first, this was a duty to which Wesley and his brother had +devoted themselves to the utmost of their power; and so also had many +of their preachers and followers, especially Silas Told, a man who +richly deserves a passing notice. + +Mr. Told was the son of a physician at Bristol, where he was born in +1711. At the age of fourteen, he was bound apprentice as a sailor; and, +for eleven years, lived a life of adventurous romance. In 1740, Charles +Casper Greaves, a young bricklayer, introduced him to the Methodists. +In 1744, Silas, at Wesley’s request, became the master of the Foundery +school, and received a salary of £26 a year. At the same time, he began +to visit the London prisons, and to preach to debtors and malefactors. +There was not a prison in the metropolis, nor scarcely a workhouse +within twelve miles round it, where Silas Told was not a frequent and +welcome visitor. The scenes he witnessed were horrible; but for these +the reader must turn to Told’s autobiography. Suffice it to add, that +Silas Told was preeminently, in London, the prison philanthropist, the +real, though unrecognised chaplain of all its wretched prisoners. +For more than thirty years, no man was better known, or more welcome +in the jails of the metropolis, than he. All sorts of criminals, +papists and protestants, clung to him in their anguish, for counsel +and consolation. Notwithstanding opposition at the first, he persisted +in his enterprise, till even turnkeys, sheriffs, and hangmen, as well +as prisoners, were wont to weep while listening to his exhortations +and his prayers. Silas Told continued his great good work, till he +tottered under the weight of nearly threescore years and ten, when +he peacefully expired in December 1778. It was befitting that Wesley +himself should inter such at Methodist. He writes: “1778, Sunday, +December 30--I buried what was mortal of honest Silas Told. For many +years, he attended the malefactors in Newgate, without fee or reward; +and I suppose no man for this hundred years has been so successful in +that melancholy office. God had given him peculiar talents for it; and +he had amazing success therein. The greatest part of those whom he +attended died in peace, and many of them in the triumph of faith.” + +Several of Wesley’s publications in 1778 have been already mentioned; +only two still require notice. + +The first was “Some Account of the late Work of God in North America, +in a Sermon on Ezekiel i. 16.” 12mo, 23 pages. It was almost a misnomer +to designate this a sermon; but it was vastly popular, and, before the +year was out, reached a second edition. It is really a brief historical +statement of American affairs from 1736 to 1778. Wesley begins with +the colonisation of Georgia, passes on to the wonderful revival of +religion in New England, and speaks of the amazingly successful labours +of Whitefield, but affirms that, for want of forming his converts into +societies, the far greater part of them became backsliders. He then +traces the war to its origin, and concludes by foretelling, not the +_independency_ of the rebellious colonists, which he says would be “a +heavy curse,” but a restoration of civil and Christian liberty. It is +dangerous to turn prophet: in one respect, Wesley’s vaticination was +soon falsified. + +On August 14, 1777, Wesley wrote: “I drew up proposals for the +_Arminian Magazine_.” We are not aware that these “Proposals” have +ever been reissued, just as Wesley published them; and, as an original +copy now lies before us, we insert the document _verbatim_. + + “_Proposals for printing, by Subscription, the_ ARMINIAN + MAGAZINE; _consisting of Extracts, and Original Treatises + on Universal Redemption._ + + “CONDITIONS. + + “1. A number, containing 80 pages, in octavo, printed on fine + paper, and with a new type, will be delivered monthly to each + subscriber, at the price of one shilling. + + “2. It will be so printed, as to bind up in volumes, twelve + numbers in a volume. + + “3. This work will contain no news, no politics, no personal + invectives, nothing offensive either to religion, decency, + good nature, or good manners. + + “4. The first number will be delivered on January 1, 1778, and + continued the first day of every month. + + “5. Subscriptions are taken in at the Foundery, London; the + New Room, Bristol; and by the booksellers in town and country. + + “_To the Reader._ + + “1. Amidst the multitude of magazines which now swarm in the + world, there was one, a few years ago, termed _The Christian + Magazine_, which was of great use to mankind, and did honour + to the publishers. But it was soon discontinued, to the regret + of many serious and sensible persons. In the room of it, + started up a miscreated phantom, called _The Spiritual + Magazine_; and, not long after, its twin sister, oddly called + _The Gospel Magazine_. Both of these are intended to show, + that God is not _loving to every man_, that _His mercy is_ not + _over all His works_; and, consequently, that Christ _did_ not + _die for all_, but for one in ten, for the elect only. + + “2. This comfortable doctrine, the sum of which, proposed in + plain English, is, God before the foundation of the world + absolutely and irrevocably decreed, that ‘some men shall be + saved, do what they will, and the rest be damned, do what they + can,’ has, by these tracts, been spread throughout the land, + with the utmost diligence. And these champions of it have, + from the beginning, proceeded in a manner worthy of their + cause. They have paid no more regard to good nature, decency, + or good manners, than to reason or truth. All these they set + utterly at defiance. Without any deviation from their plan, + they have defended their dear decrees, with arguments worthy + of Bedlam, and with language worthy of Billingsgate. + + “3. In the _Arminian Magazine_ a very different opinion will + be defended, in a very different manner. We maintain, that God + _willeth all men to be saved_, by _speaking the truth in + love_; by arguments and illustrations drawn, partly from + Scripture, partly from reason; proposed in as inoffensive a + manner as the nature of the thing will permit. Not that we + expect those on the other side of the question will use _us_ + as we use _them_. Yet, we hope, nothing will move us to return + evil for evil; or, however provoked, to render railing for + railing. + + “4. Our design is, to publish some of the most remarkable + tracts on the universal love of God, and His willingness to + save _all men_ from _all sin_, which have been wrote in this + and the last century. Some of these are now grown very scarce; + some have not appeared in _English_ before. To these will be + added original pieces, wrote either directly upon this + subject, or on those which are equally opposed by the patrons + of _particular redemption_. We are not yet determined, whether + to insert any poetry or not; but we faithfully promise not to + insert any _doggrel_. If any verses are inserted, they shall + be such as will not shock either the understanding or the + taste of the serious reader. + + “5. We know nothing more proper to introduce a work of this + kind than a sketch of the life and death of _Arminius_; a + person, with whom those, who mention his name with the utmost + indignity, are commonly quite unacquainted, of whom they know + no more than of _Hermes Trismegistus_.” + +This, though lengthy, is too scarce and too curious a document +to withhold from the Methodist community; moreover, it was the +commencement of a magazine, now, we believe, the oldest religious +periodical in the world; a magazine which has flourished, without +interruption, for ninety successive years; and has been read by myriads +in all quarters of the globe. + +It has been said, that Mr. Walter Churchey, of Brecon, was the first +to suggest to Wesley the publication of this periodical;[316] Wesley +himself says, that he had been desired to publish a magazine for near +forty years before he complied with the request.[317] Of course, Wesley +is the best authority; still there can be no doubt, that Mr. Churchey +was one of his advisers. The following letter furnishes evidence of +this. + + “LONDON, _October 18, 1777_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--We agree, that no politics shall have a + place in the _Arminian Magazine_. But poetry will; only my + brother and I are the judges what pieces shall be admitted. It + may be, some will think us too nice in our choice; but that we + cannot help. As to a review of religious books, it might be + well; but I have two objections. (1) I scruple my own + sufficiency for the work. (2) I would not, at any price, be + bound to read over all the present religious productions of + the press. + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[318] + +The first number of the magazine appeared on the 1st of January, 1778; +on the cover of which Wesley said: + + “I am content this magazine should stand or fall by its own + intrinsic value. If it is a compound of falsehood, ribaldry, + and nonsense, let it sink into oblivion. If it contains only + the words of truth and soberness, then let it meet with a + favourable reception. It will easily be observed, that it + contains fewer articles than any other magazine. This is not by + accident, but design. I have frequently been disgusted by the + many bits and scraps of various kinds, which make up a great + part of most publications of this nature. Before one has well + entered upon any subject, it is at an end, and referred to the + next number; a mere trick to decoy the reader to buy another + and another number. On the contrary, I shall endeavour to begin + and conclude as many things as possible in each number: and, + with regard to taking the numbers that follow, let every reader + use his own discretion.” + +Space forbids any lengthened outline of the contents of the first +volume. There are lives of Arminius, Luther, Bernard Gilpin, Bishop +Bedell, Peter Jaco, and John Atlay. There are half-a-dozen articles +on the Calvinian controversy, some of them, (rather in contradiction +of Wesley’s announcement,) running through several numbers. There are +fifty-nine letters; and nearly the same number of poetic pieces. There +are three portraits, one of Wesley himself, one of Peter Jaco, and the +third of John Atlay. At the end of the copy now before us, is a four +paged letter, dated Londonderry, June 5, 1778, answering objections +against the five numbers already issued. One objection was, there was +not enough for money. The reply was: “I write for those who judge of +books, not by the quantity, but by the quality of them. I spare both +my reader’s time and my own, by couching my sense in as few words as +I can. Those who prefer the dealers in many words may find them on +every side.” A second objection was, that there was not variety enough. +Wesley answered: “Here is all the variety I promised. I promised the +bulk of the magazine should treat of universal redemption. Do you blame +me for not rambling from my subject? It is not my manner, I do not aim +at it.” A third objection was, “there is not variety in the historical +part.” “What do you mean?” says Wesley. “Would you have me insert bits +and scraps of history; or give, in each number, part of the life of +one man, and part of that of another? I never proposed this: I think it +far better to select a few of the best lives I know, and to go entirely +through one before I enter upon another.” Another objection was: “you +have no pictures or other decorations or embellishments which other +magazines have.” Wesley answers: “It is true. But I will tell you what +I have: such paper as no magazine in England was ever printed upon +before. Consider! this one single article costs more than all their +fine embellishments put together.” + +In concluding this notice of the first volume of the _Arminian +Magazine_, the following letter will be welcome. It was addressed to +Thomas Taylor, and is here copied from the original. + + “LONDON, _January 15, 1778_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--As to preaching, you ought not to preach against + that unscriptural, blasphemous, mischievous doctrine + constantly; no, nor very frequently. But you ought, now and + then, to bear a full, strong, express testimony against it; + otherwise you are a sinner against God, and the people, and + your own soul. I have done this too seldom: scarce once in + fifty sermons. I ought to do it once in fifteen or so. + + “As to writing or publishing, the deadly poison has, for many + years, been spread through England, chiefly by means of those + pestilent declamations, _The Gospel_, and _The Spiritual_ + Magazine. Whatever is designed for an antidote to this poison + must be spread in the same manner. Thousands have been thereby + poisoned already, and are now twice dead. To guard those who + are not poisoned yet, (not to get money,) I fight them at + their own weapons. I oppose magazine to magazine, though of a + totally different kind. But, it seems, you know nothing at all + of the matter. You do not appear to have read the + Proposals.[319] This magazine not only contains no railing, + but (properly speaking) no controversy. It proves one point: + ‘God willeth all men to be saved, and to come to the knowledge + of the truth.’ It goes straight forward, taking notice of no + opponents, but invariably pursuing the one point. And this is + the only way to preserve the Methodists, and to make the + Calvinists quiet. Meantime, both the letters and the lives, + which will make a considerable part of every number, contain + the marrow of experimental and practical religion; so that + nothing of the kind has appeared before. Therefore, a magazine + of this kind is a new thing in the land; and those, who + formerly spoke against the magazine, may, with a good grace, + recommend this as being quite another thing, and published on + other motives. I do not desire any Calvinist to read it. I + publish it not to convince, but to preserve. I know, by long + experience, they will never bend, but when the war is carried + into their own quarters. This I will do, as long as God spares + my life; and, in love, and in meekness of wisdom. This is the + way, and the only way, to establish lasting peace. + + “But is it not odd that a Methodist, a preacher, an assistant, + should be the only one who sees my brother, and me, and the + bulk of the preachers, and the body of the people, to be + wrong? Tommy, distrust yourself. Do not lean too much to your + own understanding. It is possible they may be right, and you + wrong. You do not at all understand this affair. We are well + rid of those turbulent men. With love to Nancy, + + “Your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +We only add, that, nearly to the end of Wesley’s life, Thomas Olivers +was a sort of sub-editor, and corrector of the press; but corrected +so incorrectly, that, in August, 1789, Wesley writes: “I chose a new +person to prepare the _Arminian Magazine_; being obliged, however +unwillingly, to drop Mr. Olivers, for only these two reasons: 1. The +errata are unsufferable; I have borne them for these twelve years, but +can bear them no longer. 2. Several pieces are inserted without my +knowledge, both in prose and verse. I must try whether these things +cannot be amended for the short residue of my life.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [304] The words in the original are given in full. + + [305] See memoirs of Toplady, prefixed to his works, 1857 + edit. + + [306] _Christian Miscellany_, 1849, p. 84. + + [307] Memoirs of Benson, by Macdonald, p. 75. + + [308] _Methodist Magazine_, 1814, p. 508. + + [309] Manuscript. + + [310] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 383. + + [311] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 296. + + [312] _Christian Miscellany_, 1850, p. 54. + + [313] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785. + + [314] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 608. + + [315] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 33. + + [316] _Methodist Magazine_, 1823, p. 134. + + [317] Wesley’s Works, vol. iv., p. 107. + + [318] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 407. + + [319] Taylor was opposed to the magazine. In his + unpublished diary, he writes: “1777. December 14--I + wrote a long letter to Mr. Wesley concerning the + _Arminian Magazine_, which I am persuaded will do + hurt, and no good.” + + + + + 1779. + Age 76 + +The year 1779 was one of national alarm. The remarkable trials of +Admiral Keppel and Sir Hugh Palliser occasioned fierce debates in +parliament. Lord North and his colleagues were accused of being +intermeddling, shortsighted, and incapable. American agents were +busy with Irish malcontents; and armed associations, not the most +loyal, were formed in Dublin and throughout the country. The Spanish +ambassador quitted London, after delivering to the secretary of state +a hostile manifesto. The ministry proposed, that the militia should +be doubled. Press warrants were issued in all directions, and press +gangs actively employed in increasing the navy. France was jubilant. +England rang with reports of invasion, and of new Spanish armadas, +more terrible than that sent against Queen Elizabeth. Gibraltar was +threatened; and so was Jersey. Paul Jones, at the head of a squadron +manned by French and Americans, and desperadoes from various other +countries, menaced the whole of the eastern coast of England, from +Flamborough Head to the Frith of the Tay. Lord North’s parliamentary +majorities were dwindling. George III. had no decisive victories +to report. It was asserted that the American war had already added +sixty-three millions to the national debt; and Charles Fox declared +that treachery, and not ignorance, must have prevailed in the national +councils to reduce the country to its present miserable condition. +England throughout was in a panic. + +In this emergency, as in all others, Wesley was among the foremost to +evince his loyalty. On February 8, he wrote: “Finding many serious +persons were much discouraged by prophets of evil, confidently +foretelling very heavy calamities which were coming upon our nation, +I endeavoured to lift up their hands, by opening and applying Psalm +xliii. 5, 6.” Two days later was the national fast, when he preached +on Abraham interceding for the city of Sodom. To quiet the panic +at Newcastle, he took for his text, “The Lord sitteth above the +waterfloods; the Lord reigneth a king for ever.” In a letter to +Bradburn, he says: + + “It is the judgment of many, that, since the time of the + Invincible Armada, Great Britain and Ireland were never in such + danger from foreign enemies as they are at this day. Humanly + speaking, we are not able to contend with them, either by sea + or land. They are watching over us as a leopard over his prey, + just ready to spring upon us. They are mighty and rage + horribly; but the Lord that dwelleth on high is mightier; and + now is the time, at this awful crisis, for the inhabitants of + the land to learn righteousness. I make no doubt, but you + improve the important opportunity, and lift up your voice like + a trumpet. Who knoweth but God may be entreated of _us_, as He + was for Nineveh? Our brethren, in various parts of England, + have set apart an hour in a week for prayer (namely, from eight + till nine on Sunday evening), in behalf of our king and + country. Should not the same be done in Ireland too? + particularly at Cork and Bandon? Those who have not opportunity + of meeting, at the time, may pray part of the hour in private. + Meantime, there is a text for _you_: ‘I will not destroy it for + _ten’s_ sake.’”[320] + +Besides this weekly prayer-meeting by the English Methodists, a +Methodist fast was observed in connection with the annual conference. +Thomas Taylor writes: “July 30--This day was observed as a fast on +account of public affairs. We met in the morning at five; and, after +the sermon, we continued in prayer till nine o’clock. At one, we +met again, and received the sacrament. In the evening, we kept a +watchnight, and I gave an exhortation. But the people do not stay at +watchnights in London, as they do in the country.”[321] + +A few days later, we find Wesley holding a noonday prayer-meeting, +at Haverfordwest, to intercede for the king and country. At Bristol, +he preached on David’s prayer, “Lord, turn the counsel of Ahithophel +into foolishness”; and, in October, wrote again to Samuel Bradburn as +follows. + + “LONDON, _October 10, 1779_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--The alarm has been general in England as well as + Ireland; particularly in the maritime parts. But it has done + abundantly more good than harm to the work of God. The children + of God have been greatly stirred up, and have been more instant + in prayer. And many men of the world have been greatly + awakened, and continue so to this day. Most of those who have + the fullest intercourse with God believe our enemies will never + be permitted to land in England. And, indeed, God has already + given abundant proof of His hearing prayer: first, in their not + landing at Plymouth, where they stayed gaping and staring for + eight-and-forty hours, while they might with all ease have + destroyed both the dock and the town; secondly, in the + malignant fever which has broken out in their fleet, and + already destroyed several thousands of men.”[322] + +Infidelity will sneer at this; but religion, recognising a ruling +Providence, will reverentially bow its head. The crisis was terrible. +Sixty-eight French and Spanish ships of the line, and many frigates and +smaller vessels, all commanded by D’Orvilliers, appeared off Plymouth. +The British fleet did not exceed thirty-eight sail of the line, and +was absent at sea, under the command of Admiral Hardy. Where was the +difficulty of seizing Plymouth? Wesley writes: “They might have entered +it with perfect ease. The wind was fair; there was no fleet to oppose +them; there was scarce any garrison, and the few men that were there +had no wadding at all, and but two rounds of powder; and only two of +the cannon were mounted.” And yet the combined fleet, nearly twice the +size of Hardy’s, contented itself with a pompous parade in front of +the unprotected town. No wonder that Wesley, with grateful exultation, +preached from texts like the one he took at Newcastle: “The Lord +sitteth above the waterfloods; the Lord reigneth a king for ever.” + +Before we track Wesley’s wanderings in 1779, there is another matter +which deserves mention. On the 30th of May, 1778, Voltaire died in +Paris, in the eighty-fifth year of his age. His death was what the +death of an arch infidel might be expected to be. The subjoined +anecdote respecting it has long been widely published, but, perhaps, +never so nearly traced to its source as now. Wesley had been informed +that one of the chaplains of George III. was about to publish +Voltaire’s pernicious works in a collected form; and, in a fit of godly +indignation, he wrote the following unpublished letter. + + “_January 4, 1779._ + + “SIR,--In September last, a gentleman, near Bristol, showed me + a letter, which he had received from the Rev. Mr. Fletcher, at + Paris. I desired him to give a transcript of one part of it, + which he immediately did. It was as follows: + + “‘Mr. Voltaire sent for Monsieur Tronclils, first physician to + the Duke of Orleans, (one of his converts to infidelity,) and + said to him, “Sir, I desire you will save my life. I will give + you half my fortune, if you will lengthen out my days only six + months. If not, I shall go to the devil, and carry you with + me.”’ + + “This is the man to whom a crowned head pays such a violent + compliment! Nay, this is the man whose works are now publishing + by a divine of our own Church; yea, a chaplain to his majesty. + Pity but the king should know it. If the publisher of that poor + wretch’s works writes a panegyric upon him or them, I shall + think it my duty to show the real value of those writings. + + “I am, sir, your humble servant, + + J. WESLEY.” + +No man was a more determined opponent of evil than Wesley was; and, +at the same time, no man was a more faithful friend. The following +is illustrative of this. The Methodists know something, and might +be told a great deal more, respecting William Shent, the Methodist +barber of the town of Leeds. Poor William was now in not undeserved +embarrassment; his friends forsook him; but not so Wesley. Hence the +following, hitherto unpublished, letter to the Methodist society in +Keighley. + + “LONDON, _January 11, 1779_. + + “I HAVE a few questions, which I desire may be proposed to the + society at Keighley. + + “Who was the occasion of the Methodist preachers first setting + foot in Leeds? William Shent. + + “Who received John Nelson into his house at his first coming + thither? William Shent. + + “Who was it that invited me, and received me when I came? + William Shent. + + “Who was it that stood by me while I preached in the street + with stones flying on every side? William Shent. + + “Who was it that bore the storm of persecution for the whole + town, and stemmed it at the peril of his life? William Shent. + + “Whose word did God bless for many years in an eminent manner? + William Shent’s. + + “By whom were many children now in paradise begotten in the + Lord, and many now alive? William Shent. + + “Who is he that is ready now to be broken up, and turned into + the street? William Shent. + + “And does nobody care for this? William Shent fell into sin, + and was publicly expelled the society; but must he be also + starved? Must he with his grey hairs and all his children be + without a place to lay his head? Can you suffer this? Oh, tell + it not in Gath! Where is gratitude? Where is compassion? Where + is Christianity? Where is humanity? Where is concern for the + cause of God? Who is a wise man among you? Who is concerned for + the gospel? Who has put on bowels of mercy? Let him arise and + exert himself in this matter. You here all arise as one man, + and roll away the reproach. Let us set him on his feet once + more. It may save both him and his family. But what we do, let + it be done quickly. + + “I am, dear brethren, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +It is hardly necessary to track the steps of Wesley throughout the +whole of a journey which occupied the next five months. He opened the +new chapel at Bath, of which more must be said shortly. On Friday, +March 19, he preached in Bengeworth church at noon; and, at six, in the +church at Pebworth. At West Bromwich, during a terrific storm of wind +and hail, he addressed a congregation in the open air. At Madeley, he +preached in the new chapel, built by his friend Fletcher, in Madeley +Wood. He opened a new chapel at Davyhulme, Manchester. He also paid his +first visit to Oldham, where he says: “I had such a congregation as I +have not seen since I was in the Cornish amphitheatre. And all, beside +a few giddy children, were seriously attentive.” + +This was a great improvement in the manners of the Oldham people. When +Matthew Mayer commenced preaching here in 1763, he asked a man to allow +him to stand before his door. “No,” replied the Lancashire savage; and +then he swore that, if Mayer attempted to gather a congregation there, +he would cleave his skull. Having removed to the door of Jonathan +Mabbot’s, in George Street, Mayer mounted a stool; but he had no sooner +sung and prayed, than the mob, led on by churchwardens and constables, +surrounded him. “By what authority do you come hither?” asked the +Oldham functionaries. “By what authority do you ask me?” replied Mr. +Mayer. “Pull him down, pull him down!” cried the mob; and then one of +the constables upset the preacher’s stool; and the zealous guardians +of the Church shouted, “We want none of your preaching here.” On the +Sunday following, while Mayer was preaching, the mob amused themselves +by thrusting pins into the legs and arms of serious hearers; and, on +the Sunday after that, a brute was hired for threepence halfpenny +to strip himself stark naked, and rush into the midst of Mayer’s +congregation. On another occasion, John Murlin was dragged from his +horseblock pulpit, and was thrown into a dungeon; and, on another, +James Hall was honoured with the presence not only of the constables, +churchwardens, and Oldham mob, but also of a huntsman and his hounds. +The churchwardens raved; the constables brandished their official +staves; the mob bawled; the dogs barked; and the huntsman blew his horn +with such vehemence that Mr. Hall found it impossible to preach, but, +for an hour and a half, continued to sing and pray.[323] + +Leaving Oldham, Wesley proceeded to Northwich and other places in +Cheshire; then to Warrington, Liverpool, Bolton, Rochdale, Bacup, and +Padiham. He writes: “April 13--At one o’clock, I preached in the shell +of the house at Padiham, where there is at length a prospect of peace, +after abundance of disturbance, caused by one who neither fears God nor +reverences man.” + +The chapel referred to, in this extract, was erected in the midst +of the most determined opposition. What was built during the day +was frequently demolished during the night; and it became necessary +to appoint nocturnal watchers to guard the premises. At length, the +building was completed, and had, in the front wall, a stone with a sun +dial, serving for a clock, and round about it an inscription, which, to +future generations, was a memento of bygone troubles: “They thrust sore +at me that I might fall; but the Lord hath helped me, and taken part +against them that hated me.” + +From Padiham, Wesley went to Todmorden, Heptonstall, Ewood, and +Halifax. He writes: “April 15--I went to Halifax, where a little thing +had lately occasioned great disturbance. An angel blowing a trumpet +was placed on the sounding board over the pulpit. Many were vehemently +against this; others as vehemently for it: but a total end was soon put +to the contest, for the angel vanished away.” + +“Behold how great a matter a little fire kindleth!” Several of the +Halifax Methodists, thinking that the sounding board would be improved +by some sort of ornament, opened a subscription for that purpose, and, +a fortnight before Wesley’s visit, procured the celestial trumpeter +which Wesley mentions. John Murlin, one of the preachers, determined +not to preach under the angel’s expanded wings. Discussion sprung up, +in the midst of which Wesley came. The leaders were summoned; a hot +discussion followed; and the votes, for and against the angel, were +equal. Just at this juncture, John Hatton, of Lightcliffe, entered, +and gave a vote for the angel’s removal. Immediately, the carved image +was taken down; John Murlin hewed it in pieces; and, before midnight, +it was burnt in the chapel yard. Great was the consternation of these +simple Methodists, when, at the five o’clock preaching, next morning, +they found their pet angel had vanished. Quarrelling ensued; and +several influential members, in angelic indignation, left the society +which had destroyed the angelic ornament, and, in some instances, +remained to the end of life unconnected with any church whatever.[324] + +Proceeding to Haworth, Wesley preached, in the morning, in the church; +but, in the afternoon, “thousands upon thousands being gathered +together,” he was obliged to take his stand in the churchyard. The next +day,--Monday, April 19,--he preached in the church at Bingley; and then +went to Otley. “On April 24,” Thomas Taylor writes, “I met Mr. Wesley +at Cross Hall, and found the old apostle as hearty and lively as ever. +The conversation at table was such as became our religious profession. +There were present two pious clergymen, two of my brethren, and several +serious women. On Sunday, April 25, I went with Mr. Wesley to Birstal +church, after which he preached to, I think, the largest congregation I +have ever seen in any place.”[325] + +At Huddersfield, Wesley found a great revival of the work of God, +sometimes “sixteen, eighteen, yea, twenty,” being converted in a day. +At Leeds, Dr. Kershaw, the vicar, desired him to assist at the +sacrament. Ten clergymen were present, and seven or eight hundred +communicants. At Darlington, he found some of the liveliest Methodists +in the north of England. He preached in the market place, and all +behaved well, except a party of the Queen’s Dragoons. At Barnard +Castle, the Durham militia were assembled,--the handsomest body of +soldiers he had ever seen, except in Ireland; and all, officers and +soldiers, came to hear him, and were a pattern to the whole +congregation. + +He now made his way to Newcastle, and thence to Scotland, where he +travelled as far north as Inverness. He writes: “June 8--I reached +Inverness, but found a new face of things there. Good Mr. Mackenzie +had been, for some years, removed to Abraham’s bosom. Mr. Fraser, his +colleague, a pious man, of the old stamp, was likewise gone to rest. +The three present ministers are of another kind; so that I have no +more place in the kirk; and the wind and rain would not permit me to +preach on the green. However, our house was large, though gloomy +enough. Being now informed, (which I did not suspect before,) that the +town was uncommonly given to drunkenness, I used the utmost plainness +of speech; and I believe not without effect. I then spent some time +with the society, increased from twelve to between fifty and +sixty;[326] many of these knew in whom they had believed; so that all +the pains which have been taken to stop the work of God here have +hitherto been in vain.” + +A month later, Wesley wrote the following hitherto unpublished letter +to Mr. McAllum. + + “EPWORTH, _July 10, 1779_. + + “DEAR DUNCAN,--This is the circumstance which puzzles the case: + who can preach in Erse but you? Cannot you then think of any + preacher, whom you love, and who is a zealous, active man? + Inverness should by all means be a circuit by itself, including + as many towns as you please, north and south. I wish you would + think of it, and send me the plan to London. + + “Did not sister Anderson receive my letter? I wonder she did + not answer. Joseph Moore utterly denies he ever offered her + marriage. I desired her to tell me the very words he spoke or + wrote. + + “I am, dear Duncan, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY. + “To Mr. Duncan McAllum, + at Mr. John Watson’s, slater, Inverness.” + +Wesley spent nearly a month in his evangelistic tour through Scotland. +Everywhere he was received with great respect and affection; and he +speaks of many “times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord.” He +was introduced to several persons of distinction, and, among others, to +gossiping James Boswell, who writes: “Though I differed from Mr. John +Wesley in some points, I admired his various talents, and loved his +pious zeal. At my request, therefore, Dr. Johnson gave me a letter of +introduction to him. + + “To the Rev. Mr. John Wesley. + + “_May 3, 1779._ + + “SIR,--Mr. Boswell, a gentleman, who has been long known to me, + is desirous of being known to you, and has asked this + recommendation, which I give him with great willingness, + because I think it very much to be wished that worthy and + religious men should be acquainted with each other. + + “I am, sir, your most humble servant, + + “SAM. JOHNSON.” + +Boswell adds, that he presented the letter to Wesley at Edinburgh, “and +was very politely received.”[327] + +Wesley, in returning, reached Newcastle on June 22, and would fain +have rested in a place to which he was tenderly attached. He writes: +“Wednesday, June 23--I rested here. Lovely place, and lovely company! +But I believe there is another world; therefore I must ‘arise and +go hence.’” Accordingly, next morning, he set out for Stockton upon +Tees, and preached all the way along the east coast of England till +he came to Great Grimsby. “Here,” he says, “I found a little trial. +In this, and many other parts of the kingdom, those striplings, who +call themselves Lady Huntingdon’s preachers, have greatly hindered the +work of God. They have neither sense, courage, nor grace, to go and +beat up the devil’s quarters, in any place where Christ has not been +named; but, wherever we have entered as by storm, and gathered a few +souls, often at the peril of our lives, they creep in, and, by doubtful +disputations, set every one’s sword against his brother. One of these +has just crept into Grimsby, and is striving to divide the poor little +flock; but I hope his labour will be in vain, and they will still hold +the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.” + +Having visited the societies in Lincolnshire, Wesley proceeded to +Doncaster and Sheffield, and thence, by way of Derby, Nottingham, +Leicester, Hinckley, and Coventry, to London, which he reached on July +23. + +Wesley had not preached at Hinckley since the year 1744. What led him +to visit the town now? We learn, from the unpublished autobiography of +Thomas Dixon, who, at this time, was stationed in the Leicestershire +circuit, that, just before the conference of 1779, he attempted to +introduce Methodism into Hinckley, and not without success. According +to custom, he took his stand in the street, and began to sing. The +night was wet, and his congregation was not only small, but seemed so +apprehensive of the Methodist apparition, that, while they listened +to him, they also kept at a safe distance from him. He preached again +next morning to a congregation somewhat larger, and then set out for +Tamworth. This was his first and his last visit; but a class was formed +just after,[328] which, in 1780, contributed nearly a pound per quarter +for the support of the work of God;[329] and, from that time to this, +Methodism has had a place in Hinckley. + +Then as it respects Coventry, this was the first sermon Wesley +delivered here. He says: “July 21--When I came to Coventry, I found +notice had been given for my preaching in the park; but the heavy rain +prevented. I sent to the mayor, desiring the use of the town hall. He +refused; but, the same day, gave the use of it to a dancing master. +I then went to the women’s market. Many soon gathered together, and +listened with all seriousness. I preached there again the next morning, +and again in the evening.” + +As already stated, from Coventry Wesley went to London. The entry in +his journal recording the journey is worthy of quotation. “I took coach +for London. I was nobly attended: behind the coach were ten convicted +felons, loudly blaspheming, and rattling their chains; by my side sat a +man with a loaded blunderbuss, and another upon the coach.” + +Before proceeding to notice the conference, of 1779, two other matters +demand attention. + +Thomas Maxfield seceded from Wesley in 1763; took away with him about +two hundred members of Wesley’s society; and became the minister of a +separate and independent congregation.[330] For some reason, he now +wished to return to Wesley’s connexion; but to this Wesley and his +brother objected. Hence the following letters, by Charles Wesley, the +first addressed to Vincent Perronet, the second to Wesley himself. + + “LONDON, _April 20, 1779_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--My brother and I agreed not to receive + Mr. Maxfield again, as a fellow labourer, till he acknowledged + his fault. Ought we not to wait for some word, of his being + sensible of his ingratitude? Ought we to trust him, and the + people to his care, without it? I have not the least spark of + resentment towards Mr. Maxfield; but to deliver up our charge + to him, unconvinced, is to betray them. + + “My brother’s interest with the bishop is great, (I believe,) + but my son Samuel’s is greater. Sam and the bishop are, _Ego et + rex meus_. + + “Your very affectionate and ever obliged servant, + + “CHARLES WESLEY.”[331] + + “LONDON, _April 23, 1779_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I still love Thomas Maxfield. I see some + advantages to us, as well as to him, from his return to us, + _provided_ he is first convinced. Receive him _unconvinced_, + and you will have to put him away again, when perhaps it will + scarce be in your power. One more trial, if you please, we will + make upon him, in a conference between us three. Possibly we + may gain our brother. + + “I shall be happy to hear you have saved poor William Shent. + Hopper and others will, I know, draw in their horns while you + are talking with them, and be perhaps convinced for a short + time. Give them back their first love, and their first poverty, + and they will not even wish to reign without us. Peter Jaco, + John Atlay, and John Pawson, might, I hope, be set right by a + friendly conference with us. They then would strengthen their + brethren, or recover them. + + “Your defect of mistrust needs my excess to guard it. You + cannot be taken by storm, but may by surprise. We seem designed + for each other. If we could and would be more together, it + might be better for both. That I shall go first, I cannot + doubt. The extraordinary strength, continued to you, is a + promise of your longer continuance. My strength and my work are + very near their end. + + “CHARLES WESLEY.”[332] + +The above letter refers to another matter besides that of the return +of Thomas Maxfield. Charles Wesley was still jealous of the preachers +aspiring after power, and especially of Christopher Hopper and his +friends. He seems to have thought, that John Atlay, who was now the +book steward in London, and John Pawson, who was the London assistant, +and Peter Jaco, who was a London supernumerary, “might be set right by +a friendly conference”; but of the other London preachers, including +Thomas Rankin and Thomas Coke, he was in doubt. He properly enough +gives himself credit for an excess of caution; but, perhaps wrongly, +thinks his brother had not enough of it. + +This was another important crisis in the history of the two Wesleys. It +was only a few months before, that City Road chapel had been opened. +Charles Wesley, Thomas Coke, John Richardson, and John Abraham, were +its officiating clergymen; but John Pawson, Thomas Rankin, Thomas +Tennant, and Peter Jaco, were itinerant preachers, appointed by the +conference of 1778, to the London circuit, of which the chapel in +City Road was now a part. What was the result? Jealousies sprung up, +indirectly referred to in the above letter, but mentioned in greater +detail in another letter to be presently inserted. Before, however, +that letter is introduced, perhaps the following extracts from John +Pawson’s unpublished manuscript memoir of Dr. Whitehead will be +acceptable, and will cast light on Wesley’s difficulties. Mr. Pawson +writes: + + “I was perhaps as well acquainted with the two brothers as any + man now living. That Mr. Charles Wesley was of a very + suspicious temper is certainly true; and that Mr. John Wesley + had far more charity, in judging of persons in general, (except + the rich and great,) than his brother had, is equally true. But + that he was so apt to be taken in with appearances is not true. + He was well able to form a judgment of particular persons, and + was as seldom mistaken as his brother. I once heard him + pleasantly say: ‘My brother suspects everybody, and he is + continually imposed upon; but I suspect nobody, and I am never + imposed upon.’ It is well known that Mr. Charles Wesley was + much prejudiced in favour of the clergy, through the whole + course of his life, and that it was nothing but hard necessity + that obliged him, in any degree, to continue the lay preachers. + He must have been blind indeed not to have seen, that God had + given to many of them, at least, very considerable ministerial + gifts, and that He attended their labours with great success; + but I am well persuaded, that, could he have found a sufficient + number of clergymen to have carried on the work of God, he + would soon have disowned all the lay preachers. He was glad of + their assistance when he did not choose to preach himself; and, + accordingly, on a Sunday evening, he would always have a lay + preacher appointed as well as himself, lest a shower of rain, + or an agreeable visit, should prevent his attending. At a + conference held in Bristol many years ago, about a dozen + clergymen attended for the purpose of convincing us, that we + ought not to preach in any parish that was favoured with a + gospel minister. Mr. Charles Wesley took part with them, and + said, ‘If I was stationed in any particular parish, you should + not preach there.’ Mr. John Hampson replied, ‘I would preach + there, and never ask your leave; and I should think I had as + good a right for doing so, as you had,’ Mr. Charles answered in + great anger, ‘You are a grievous wolf: you will tear the flock + when my brother and myself are dead, unless God give you + repentance.’ Mr. Charles was inclined to find out and magnify + any supposed fault in the lay preachers; but his brother + treated them with respect, and exercised a fatherly care over + them. I am persuaded that, from the creation of the world, + there never existed a body of men who looked up to any single + person with a more profound degree of reverence than the + preachers did to Mr. Wesley; and I am bold to say, that never + did any man, no, not St. Paul himself, possess so high a degree + of power over so large a body of men as was possessed by him. + He used his power, however, for the edification of the people, + and abused it as little perhaps as any one man ever did. When + any difficulty occurred in governing the preachers, it soon + vanished. The oldest, the very best, and those of them that had + the greatest influence, were ever ready to unite with him, and + to assist him to the utmost of their power. The truth is, if + the preachers were in any danger at all, it was of calling Mr. + Wesley ‘Rabbi,’ and implicitly obeying him in whatsoever he + thought proper to command. + + “Dr. Whitehead informs his readers, that a party existed among + the preachers, who wished for a total separation from the + Established Church, and for the Methodists to be formed into an + independent body; and represents Dr. Coke as being at the head + of that party. I am well assured, that this is incorrect. The + preachers only wished, that the people, who had grown weary of + seeking the living among the dead, and of asking bread of those + who they well knew had only a stone to give them, might be + indulged with the lively ordinances of God; and some of the + people thought it very unjust, not to say cruel, that their + ministers did not grant them the privilege of worshipping God + at those particular times of the Lord’s day, when both body and + mind were best prepared for so doing. It is true, that a party + existed, both among the preachers and people, who were inclined + to believe, that those whom God had called to preach might + lawfully administer the sacraments; as they were not able to + perceive that it required a greater degree of wisdom and piety + to qualify a person to baptize a child than to preach the word + of God. They likewise had scruples whether it was right to wish + those ministers God speed, by attending their ministry, whom, + they felt convinced, God had never sent. But, at the same time, + the preachers knew, that there never was among themselves a + sufficient number of acceptable men to supply all the Methodist + congregations; and that, if there had been, and if an entire + separation from the Church had taken place, the Methodists were + too poor to support such a multitude of ministers. Common + prudence, therefore, prevented them from wishing for that which + they knew could not be accomplished.” + +These are important statements, coming from a man of Mr. Pawson’s +ministerial standing, and who was one of Wesley’s itinerant preachers +during the last twenty-nine years of Wesley’s life. They could be +easily extended; but, perhaps, enough has been said, to show that the +feeling, between Charles Wesley and the preachers, was not of the most +friendly kind; and this will prepare the reader for the following +letter, which Charles, at this period, addressed to his brother. + + “LONDON, _June 16, 1779_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--Mr. B. has been lately with the committee, and + was there informed, that our preachers (the three + principal[333]) have written to the country preachers heavy + complaints of their ill usage by the clergy here; not, I should + suppose, by quiet John Richardson,--not by passive Dr. Coke, + for he, they say, is gone to Bristol, that he may not be a + witness of their cruel persecution. The persecuting clergy, + therefore, are neither more nor less than your own brother + Charles, and the whole ground of their complaint against me is, + ‘my serving the chapel on Sunday afternoon, as well as in the + morning.’ + + “But this is no new grievance; for I constantly preached Sunday + morning and afternoon at Bristol. If they could exclude me + here, they would not long permit me there. + + “My reasons for preaching at the new chapel twice every Sunday + are: 1. Because, after you, I have the best right. 2. Because I + have so short a time to preach anywhere. 3. Because I am fully + persuaded I can do more good there than in any other place. + They, I know, are of a different judgment, and make no secret + of it, declaring everywhere, ‘that the work is stopping; the + society scattering; and the congregation at the new chapel + dwindled away and quite dead.’ + + “I thank God, the chapel is well filled. Last Sunday I preached + twice, never with greater, and seldom with equal, effect. After + sermon, Mr. Rankin followed me to the vestry to assure me, ‘he + had never spoken disrespectfully of us, and that he was a great + friend to the Church.’ At the same time, a gentlewoman came, + filled with faith and love by the word just spoken. I turned + aside to let Mr. Rankin examine her. She said that, a month + ago, she was brought up out of the pit of despair, under my + word. He repeated his inquiries, and she her answers, to his + satisfaction shall I say, or dissatisfaction? I would hope the + former. You will inquire when here (only not of the preachers), + and judge for yourself whether my persevering ministry at the + chapel has done good or hurt. + + “I think the preachers wrong, and in the greatest danger + through pride; but I have, and will have, no quarrel with them. + Mr. Kemp proposed to carry me to meet you on the last day’s + journey, or I should not have thought of it. I do not want to + have the first word. Let them have the first and last. I do not + want to interfere in that government of yours, or to appear at + all at the congress. A word of yours might turn the scale, and + send me directly to Bristol. + + “It is just come into my mind, ‘The lay preachers affect to + believe I act as a clergyman in opposition to them.’ To me, it + seems that I act as I do, in goodwill to them, as well as to + the people. If there was no man above them, what would become + of them? How would they tear one another in pieces! Convince + them, if you can, that they want a clergyman over them, to keep + them and the flock together. Convince them, that it is + impossible I should stand in their way long, for I cannot + (should I live to the winter) serve the new chapel Sundays and + holydays in all weathers. Persuade each of them to be the + least, not the greatest; and then all will be right again. You + have no alternative but to conquer that spirit, or to be + conquered by it. Can you think, I envy you your pre-eminence? + If God continues my strength, I shall take the best care of the + chapel till you return. Then I shall deliver up my charge to + you, and you alone. + + “CHARLES WESLEY.”[334] + +This peevish epistle, published in Wesley’s own _Arminian Magazine_, +will not add to the fair fame of Methodism’s great hymnist. It was an +unworthy production of a pen which wrote hundreds, in fact, thousands, +of sweet songs of praise. John Pawson--good, but gossiping,--and Thomas +Rankin--honest to the heart’s inmost core, but somewhat obstinate and +overbearing,--were far from perfect; but was it just in Charles Wesley +to write to his brother respecting them in the querulous tone in which +he did? Charles Wesley says, the City Road chapel was well filled; +Pawson says, in the manuscript memoir of Dr. Whitehead, that “the +congregation fell off exceedingly; and that the society was brought +into great disorder.” Charles Wesley was a scholar, and, as a sacred +poet, was without a peer; but we incline to think, that John Pawson +and Thomas Rankin were more popular and powerful preachers than either +he or any other of his City Road clerical colleagues; and it is not +surprising, that the people wished to hear them on Sundays as well as +week days; and that the itinerants themselves,--one of whom was the +appointed superintendent of the London circuit, and the other of whom +had been Wesley’s chosen superintendent of the whole of the Methodist +societies in America,--should think they had quite as much right as +Charles Wesley, Thomas Coke, John Richardson, or John Abraham, to +preach to Sunday congregations in City Road. The truth is, though, in +years past, Charles Wesley’s ministry had been exceedingly attractive +and powerful, it was now, what shall we say? John Pawson writes: “When +he was favoured with freedom of mind, which was but seldom, then his +preaching was truly profitable; but, in general, it was exceedingly +dry and lifeless.” His sons Charles and Samuel,--the former twenty-one +years of age, and the latter thirteen,--were, by their musical genius, +creating a sensation in the highest circles of London society; and, +for several years, conducted in their father’s house a series of +domestic subscription concerts, of twelve nights’ continuance, in +each season. Their father thoroughly approved of this. “I am clear,” +says he, “without a doubt, that my sons’ concert is after the will +and order of Providence.” Wesley appends to this a note: “I am clear +of another mind.”[335] Without staying to settle the dispute, there +can be no doubt that, by these concerts, Charles Wesley was brought +into the society of a large number of the rich and great. The simple +minded London Methodists were staggered at one of their great leaders +having such musical performances in his house, and at his mingling with +persons, who, though highly genteel, were not religious. Many began +to regard him with suspicion; his preaching popularity was waning; +Pawson says, “he was like Samson shorn of his strength”; his health +also was failing; like most men of high poetic genius, he was subject +to melancholy moods: put all these things together, and the petulancy +and suspicion of Charles Wesley’s letter to his brother will not excite +surprise. + +This then was the state of things awaiting the venerable Wesley, on his +return to London, after a laborious preaching tour of five months’ +duration. By an almost superhuman effort, he had built and opened his +new chapel in City Road; but things, instead of being more prosperous +than ever, were in a state of disastrous commotion. In this, the first +year after the chapel was opened, there was a decrease of one hundred +and twenty-three members in the London circuit, though that circuit +had now an unprecedented staff of ordained clergymen, and four of the +best itinerants in Wesley’s connexion. Ordinary men would have been +discouraged and at their wits’ end; but not so the man who was born, +not to be conquered by difficulties, but to conquer them. + +Wesley’s conference of 1779 was commenced on August 3; and it was now +ascertained, that nineteen other circuits besides London had a decrease +of members. Wesley asked, How can we account for this? The reasons +assigned were:--1. Partly the neglect of outdoor preaching, and of +trying new places. 2. Partly prejudice against the king, and speaking +evil of dignities. 3. But chiefly the increase of worldly mindedness, +and conformity to the world. It was also resolved, that no one speaking +evil of those in authority, or prophesying evil to the nation, should +be a Methodist preacher. Itinerants were reproved for hastening home +to their wives after preaching; and were told, they ought never to do +this till they had met the society. To revive the work in Scotland, the +preachers were directed to preach in the open air as much as possible; +to try every town and village; and to visit every member of society at +home. + +As soon as the conference was ended, Wesley set out, with his brother +and his family, for Wales, where he spent a fortnight in preaching to +large and deeply affected congregations. + +He then proceeded to the west of England. At Exeter, he writes: “I +preached in a convenient room, lately a school; I suppose formerly a +chapel. It is both neat and solemn, and is believed to contain four or +five hundred people.” + +This was the meeting-house concerning which Wesley wrote to Samuel +Wells, the assistant of the Tiverton circuit, as follows. + + “LONDON, _January 28, 1779_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--According to the act of toleration--1. You are + _required_ to _certify_ to the registrar of the bishop’s court, + or the justices, the place of your meeting for Divine worship. + This is all you have to do. You ask nothing at all of the + bishop or justices. + + “2. The registrar, or clerk of the court, is _required_ to + register the same, and to give a certificate thereof to such + persons as shall _demand_ the same; for which there shall be no + greater fee or reward taken than sixpence. + + “I advise you to go once more to the sessions, and say, + ‘Gentlemen, we have had advice from London; we desire nothing + at all of _you_; but we _demand_ of your clerk to register this + place, and to give us a certificate thereof; or to answer the + refusal at his peril.’ + + “Answer no questions to the justices, or lawyers, but with a + bow, and with repeating the words, ‘Our business is only with + your clerk; we _demand_ of him what the act requires him to + do.’ + + “If you judge proper, you may show this to any of the justices. + What I have written, I am ready to defend. + + “You have led the justices into the mistake, by your _manner_ + of addressing them. Beware of this for the time to come. You + have nothing to ask of _them_. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[336] + +On September 4, Wesley returned to Bristol, where he spent a month in +visiting the surrounding societies. He then made his way to London, +preaching at Devizes, Winchester, and Portsmouth. On leaving London, he +slept, for the last time, in the old Foundery. He now, for the first +time slept in the house, in which he afterwards died, in City Road. + +On October 11, he began his preaching tour to Northamptonshire; a week +later to Sussex; and a week later still to Norfolk. He then commenced +his annual examination of the London society, and writes: “I did not +find such an increase as I expected. Nay, there was a considerable +decrease, plainly owing to a senseless jealousy that had crept in +between our preachers.” + +This doubtless refers to the quarrel already mentioned. Unfortunately, +the strife was now extended to Bath. The assistant appointed at the +late conference to the Bristol circuit (of which Bath was part), was +Alexander M‘Nab, a native of Perthshire, in North Britain, and now in +the thirty-fourth year of his age. For thirteen years, he had been an +itinerant preacher, and had laboured, with considerable success, in +the three kingdoms.[337] Wesley, writing to Lady Maxwell in 1771, said: +“Mr. M‘Nab is a sound and good preacher; but too warm, and impatient +of contradiction.”[338] Thomas Rutherford, one of his colleagues, +writes: “I was particularly attached to him. He was a most amiable, +sensible man, and an excellent preacher. He had the most copious flow +of natural, simple oratory, of any man I ever heard. There was an ease, +beauty, sweetness, and harmony in his style and language, that was at +once both striking and pleasing. The Rev. Dr. Webster once said, ‘I +have heard Mr. Walker, Mr. Fordyce, Dr. Blair, etc.; but Mr. M‘Nab is +a greater orator than any of them.’”[339] At the conference of 1777, +M‘Nab was appointed to Edinburgh; but found the chapel in such a +ruinous condition, that he spent £500 in repairing it. For this amount +he was personally responsible; and, in order to extricate himself, +was requested, by the following conference, to visit the English +societies for the purpose of asking assistance.[340] While on this +begging excursion, he wrote a letter to Robert Dall, which is inserted +here to show the spirit of the man, and that he wished for peace, +notwithstanding that he was soon involved in war. + + “BRADFORD, _April 24, 1779_. + + “MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,--I hope persons and things are better at + Glasgow then when you went there. I was grieved to hear of the + disunion of the preachers, and that it had hurt the people; but + trust God sent you to Glasgow as a cure for their wounds. In + every place, I find the prosperity of the work, under God, + depends, in a great measure, upon the piety, zeal, and prudence + of the preachers. Persons of that character God will honour, to + build up His church; and I need not tell you, we have need of + faith in doing and suffering the Divine will; for, without + that, we have not the necessary qualification to render us + either holy, happy, or useful. In my present employ, I find + both pleasure and pain; but, hitherto, God has been with me, + and I believe will never leave me. Wishing you every blessing, + I am your truly affectionate brother, + + “ALEX. M‘NAB.”[341] + +Such was one of the chief actors in the scene at Bath. Another was +the Rev. Edward Smyth, who has been already mentioned, and who had +brought his wife to Bath for the benefit of her health. Wesley writes: +“God having greatly blessed the labours of Mr. Smyth in the north of +Ireland, I desired him to preach every Sunday evening in our chapel, +while he remained in Bath. But, as soon as I was gone, Mr. M‘Nab +vehemently opposed this; affirming it was the common cause of all the +lay preachers; that they were appointed by the conference, not by me; +and would not suffer the clergy to ride over their heads, Mr. Smyth in +particular, of whom he said all manner of evil. Others warmly defended +him. Hence the society was torn in pieces, and thrown into the utmost +confusion.” + +Such was the dispute. What was the result? On November 22, Wesley +and his brother set out from London to settle the disturbance. The +Bath society was assembled. Wesley says: “I read to them a paper, +which I wrote, near twenty years ago, on a like occasion. Herein I +observed, that ‘the rules of our preachers were fixed by me, before any +conference existed,’ particularly the twelfth: ‘Above all, you are to +preach when and where I appoint.’ By obstinately opposing which rule, +Mr. M‘Nab has made all this uproar. In the morning, at a meeting of +the preachers, I informed Mr. M‘Nab, that, as he did not agree to our +fundamental rule, I could not receive him as one of our preachers, till +he was of another mind. Wednesday, November 24, I read the same paper +to the society at Bristol, as I found the flame had spread thither +also. A few at Bath separated from us on this account; but the rest +were thoroughly satisfied.” + +Such is the entry in Wesley’s journal; but eight months after this, he +writes: “Mr. M‘Nab quarrelling with Mr. Smyth threw wildfire among the +people at Bath, and occasioned anger, jealousies, judging each other, +backbiting, and tale bearing without end; and, in spite of all the +pains which have been taken, the wound is not healed to this day.” + +Wesley throws all the blame upon M‘Nab; but it may fairly be doubted +whether this was just. There can be no question concerning Wesley’s +abstract right to appoint to his chapels whom he pleased; but the +manner in which the right was exercised is not an improper subject +for doubt and discussion. Wesley pleads what he did twenty years +before; but, even allowing that his action then was right, it remains +to be proved, that the same action, under altered circumstances, +was prudent now. During that interval, the number of Methodists and +Methodist preachers had more than doubled. Besides, now that the number +of itinerant preachers was more than a hundred and sixty; and that +many of them were men of great genius and talent, as well as piety; +and that all had a right to take part in the deliberations of the +annual conference, which really made the appointments for the ensuing +year, Wesley’s claim to have the sole and exclusive power, asserted +in the document read to the Bath society, is a claim which can hardly +be admitted.[342] There is a forgetfulness of existing facts, and +therefore a fallaciousness, in the following letter, written on this +subject a few weeks after the Bath disturbances occurred. + + “_January, 1780._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You seem not to have well considered the Rules of + a Helper, or the rise of Methodism. It pleased God, by me, to + awaken, first my brother, and then a few others; who severally + desired of me, as a favour, that I would direct them in all things. + After my return from Georgia, many were both awakened and converted + to God. One, and another, and another of these desired to join with + me as sons in the gospel, to be directed by me. I drew up a few + plain rules (observe there was no conference in being!), and + permitted them to join me on these conditions. Whoever, therefore, + violates these conditions, particularly that of being directed by me + in the work, does, _ipso facto_, disjoin himself from me. This + brother M‘Nab has done (but he cannot see that he has done amiss): + and he would have it a common cause; that is, he would have all the + preachers do the same. He thinks ‘they have a right so to do.’ So + they have. They have a right to disjoin themselves from me whenever + they please. But they cannot, in the nature of the thing, join with + me any longer than they are directed by me. And what, if fifty of + the preachers disjoined themselves! What should I lose thereby? Only + a great deal of labour and care, which I do not seek; but endure, + because no one else either can or will. + + “You seem likewise to have quite a wrong idea of a conference. For + above six years after my return to England, there was no such thing. + I then desired some of my preachers to meet me, in order to advise, + not control, me. And you may observe, they had no power at all, but + what I exercised through them. I chose to exercise the power which + God had given me in this manner, both to avoid ostentation, and + gently to habituate the people to obey them when I should be taken + from their head. But as long as I remain with them, the fundamental + rule of Methodism remains inviolate. As long as any preacher joins + with me, he is to be directed by me in his work. Do not you see + then, that brother M‘Nab, whatever his intentions might be, acted as + wrong as wrong could be? and that the representing of this as the + common cause of the preachers was the way to common destruction, the + way to turn their heads, and to set them in arms? It was a blow at + the very root of Methodism. I could not, therefore, do less than I + did; it was the very least that could be done, for fear that evil + should spread. + + “I do not willingly speak of these things at all; but I do it now + out of necessity; because I perceive the mind of you, and some + others, is a little hurt by not seeing them in a true light. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[343] + +This was Wesley’s defence of the boldest act of discipline he had ever +exercised; but we still doubt its wisdom and sufficiency. All he says +about the preachers placing themselves under his direction, and about +the first conferences, is strictly true; but Methodist matters now +were widely different from what they were when Methodist conferences +were first begun. With all due deference to Wesley, Methodism now was +not wholly the work of Wesley, nor was it entirely dependent on him. +At this very time, there was, among the preachers, a ministerial +phalanx, who had a right to be something more than mere _advisers_,-- +servants in the gospel, sometimes taken into the counsels of their +chief, but wholly at his disposal. There were Olivers, Pawson, Rankin, +Murlin, Story, Whatcoat, Valton, Benson, Hanby, Manners, Taylor, +Mather, Hopper, Vasey, Thompson, Pilmoor, Rhodes, Bradburn, Boardman, +the two Hampsons, Barber, Rutherford, Moore, Myles, and others, whose +names will always be memorable in Methodistic history. Considering the +talents, the preaching power, the untiring labours, and the marvellous +success of these distinguished men, was it wise, and was it fair, for +Wesley to insist upon his retention of the absolute authority that +he justly exercised when Methodism was first commenced? Remembering +the paltry pittance they received for their important and unceasing +toil, was it just, that, in a great religious movement, now spread +throughout the three kingdoms, and to which they themselves had greatly +contributed, they should be employed as mere _workmen_, without the +least right to take a part in the arrangement of their respective +spheres of labour, and without a particle of authority, except what +was implied in their advices, in the general legislation of a body now +numbering more than forty thousand people? Was it surprising, that +Wesley’s expulsion of M‘Nab, for claiming a pulpit to which he had +been appointed at the conference, but into which Wesley desired to +introduce an expelled Irish clergyman, should create dissatisfaction +and incipient rebellion? + +There can be no doubt, that this was one of the most dangerous ordeals +through which Methodism passed in the lifetime of its founder. It was +hardly a fair statement of the case, when Wesley said, that all that +he would lose, by fifty of his preachers leaving him, would be “a +great deal of labour and care.” If such an event had happened, +Methodism would have been split into fragments, and, as a system, +would have ceased to exist; and Wesley, seeing the demolition of such +a work, would have been a sorrowful man for the remainder of his life. +The crisis, in 1779, was most momentous. It was really the first time +that Wesley’s supreme and absolute power was professedly and openly +resisted. The whole question hinges on the point, were the +appointments to chapels and to circuits made by Wesley and his +conference of preachers _conjointly_? or were they made by Wesley +himself _alone_? Wesley argues, that the power of appointment rested +solely with himself. We can only answer, that this was an unreasonable +and dangerous power to wield. Under the circumstances, Wesley could +not claim it, without ignoring the reasonable claims of a large body +of the most remarkable men that England has ever had; and he could not +exercise it without serious danger to himself and to his system. + +Alexander M‘Nab, though comparatively young, was not an ordinary man. +Testimonies concerning his character, eloquence, and preaching power, +have been already given. Mr. Smyth was doubtless both sensible and +pious; but we greatly question whether he was as popular and powerful +a preacher as the North Briton. No charge of unsound doctrine, or of +immorality, or of incompetency, or of inattention to discipline, was +made against M‘Nab. He was faithfully and successfully doing the work +to which he had been appointed. He was popular with the people. But +because he refused, at Wesley’s bidding, to allow an Irish stranger, +not at all his superior, but, probably, his inferior in pulpit +ability, to take his place, Wesley, at once, by his own _ipse dixit_, +expelled him from his connexion of preachers. However painful to do +it, we are bound to maintain that this was an injustice. The act might +be technically right; but it was an almost popish assumption of +autocratic authority, and a most perilous--it might have been +disastrous--exercise of disciplinary power. It is true that no +absolute rebellion followed,--a fact showing the simple minded piety +of the Methodist preachers and people, and the marvellous influence of +Wesley over them, and their almost unparalleled respect for his +character and labours; but there were great commotions and serious +misgivings; and, if concessions had not been made, there might have +been open resistance, and a consequent wreck of Methodist success and +hope. + +Here, however, another question occurs. Was Wesley to be solely or +principally blamed for this imprudent exercise of power? We have no +wish to shield him from censure, when censure is merited; but if +others were to blame as well as he, or if others were even more +blamable than he, it is only fair to his memory and name, that the +facts should be published. + +Charles Wesley’s quarrel with the London preachers has been already +mentioned. It occurred a few months only previous to the affair at +Bath. There is no denying it, that Charles was violently opposed to +lay preachers, and was unreasonably jealous of their intriguing to +obtain co-ordinate power with his brother, and of their intention to +use such power in effecting a separation of Methodism from the +Established Church. On Good Friday, 1779, he wrote to his brother: +“The preachers do not love the Church of England. When we are gone, a +separation is inevitable. Do you not wish to keep as many good people +in the Church as you can? Something might be done now to save the +remainder, if you had resolution, and would stand by me as firmly as I +will by you. Consider what you are bound to do as a clergyman; and +what you do, do quickly.”[344] + +It was in such a frame of mind, that Charles Wesley heard of M‘Nab’s +resisting the authority of his brother at Bath. Mr. Pawson, who says +he was perfectly acquainted with the affair, tells us, in his +manuscript memoir of Dr. Whitehead, that Charles Wesley “took fire at +once, and highly resented Mr. M‘Nab’s behaviour. He prevailed upon his +brother, after much strife and contention, to exclude Mr. M‘Nab from +the connexion; and, upon this condition, he promised to attend him to +Bath. Accordingly the two brothers, accompanied by Dr. Coke and the +Rev. Mr. Collins, went to Bath with all possible secrecy, and the +sentence was pronounced upon poor Mr. M‘Nab agreeably to Mr. Charles +Wesley’s wish. By this means, the Bath society was divided. Many of +the people loved Mr. M‘Nab, and thought it wrong that he should be +condemned unheard. The society at Bristol also was thrown into great +confusion; and, had it not been for the exertions of Dr. Coke, would +have been divided like that at Bath. On the Sunday evening after Mr. +Wesley’s return to London, he brought the matter before the London +society, and certainly degraded the preachers, and laid them low even +in the dust at his feet. When he was gone from London, Mr. Charles, +after the sacrament at the new chapel, prayed for his brother in the +following words: ‘Lord, preserve him from his rebellious sons. Though +they curse him, do Thou bless him. Though they wish his death, do Thou +prolong his life. Lord, stand between the living and the dead, and let +not the curse of pride destroy them.’” + +This was strange language to use, in prayer, and after a solemn +sacrament; but it was not dissimilar to the language of a “Hymn for +the Rev. John Wesley,” which Charles composed, and which was “sung by +the society in Bristol, on Sunday, December 5, 1779,” only a fortnight +after M‘Nab’s expulsion. + + “Jesus, Thy hated servant own, + And send the glorious Spirit down, + In answer to our prayers; + While others curse, and wish him dead, + Do Thou Thy choicest blessings shed, + And crown his hoary hairs.”--etc., etc.[345] + +Pawson was the superintendent of the London circuit, and felt it his +duty to write to Charles Wesley, and remonstrate with him for using +such language, at such a time, and in such a place. An interview +followed; and Pawson adds: “We came to an explanation, and he was in +high good humour; but I have reason to believe, he never forgave me. +He made his brother believe, that Mr. M‘Nab was only the tool of a +violent party among the preachers, among whom there was a very +powerful combination against his authority; and that, at the next +conference, they would show themselves.” Pawson adds: “There was not a +single grain of truth in this. Not one preacher in the whole connexion +was concerned in the business, save those who were stationed in the +Bristol circuit. It is true, that the preachers in general thought +that Mr. M‘Nab was cruelly used; and so they do to this day.” + +Not to return to the subject, it may be added, that Dr. Whitehead +states that, as the conference of 1780 drew near, Wesley “was +evidently intimidated,” and wrote to his brother requesting him to +attend the conference. Charles answered as follows: + + “My reasons against accepting your invitation to the conference + are: (1) I can do no good; (2) I can prevent no evil; (3) I am + afraid of being a partaker of other men’s sins, or of + countenancing them by my presence; (4) I am afraid of myself; + you know I cannot command my temper, and you have not courage + to stand by me. I cannot trust _your resolution_; unless you + act with a vigour that is not in you, _conclamatum est_, our + affairs are past hope. + + “I am not sure, they will not prevail upon you to ordain them. + You claim the _power_, and only say, ‘It is not probable you + shall ever exercise it.’ Probability on one side implies + probability on the other; and I want better security. So I am + to stand by, and see the ruin of our cause! You know how far + you may depend on me; let me know how far I may depend on you, + and on our preachers. In the Bath affair, you acted with vigour + for the first time; but you could not hold out. Unmindful of + your power and your infirmity, you yielded to the rebel, + instead of his yielding to you. You should not have employed + him again till he had owned his fault. This quite overturned my + confidence in you, which I should never have told you, had I + not been compelled. If you think my advice can be of any use to + you, I will attend you to Bristol, and be always within + call.”[346] + +Poor Wesley! Wishful to repair a wrong, he had become reconciled to +Mr. M‘Nab, principally by the mediation of Mr. Pawson and the +preachers in London;[347] but, by this, he had offended his brother, +by whom he had been goaded to the rash act at Bath. + +At the conference of 1780, M‘Nab was restored to his place among his +brethren, and was appointed to Sheffield. Charles Wesley was present, +and, of course, was exceedingly dissatisfied. About a fortnight after, +he wrote the following letter to his brother. + + “I did not hope, by my presence at the conference, to do any + good, or prevent any evil. So I told you in London. Yet I + accepted your invitation, only because you desired it. And as I + came merely to please you, I resolved not to contradict your + _will_ in anything. Your _will_, I perceived, was to receive + Mr. M‘Nab, unhumbled, unconvinced, into your confidence, and + into your bosom. He came uninvited, and openly accused your + curate for obeying your orders: you suffered it; and did not + give Mr. M‘Nab the gentlest reproof for disobeying them, and + drawing others into his rebellion; and endeavouring to engage + all the preachers in it; making an actual separation at Bath, + and still keeping up his separate society. My judgment was, + never to receive Mr. M‘Nab as a preacher _till he acknowledged + his fault_. But I submitted and attended in silence. It was + much easier for me to say nothing, than to speak neither more + nor less than you would approve. I was sometimes strongly + tempted to speak; but, if I had opened my mouth, I should have + spoiled all. Your design, I believed, was to keep all quiet. I + allow you your merit. ‘_Tu maximus ille, es unus qui nobis_ + CEDENDO _restituis rem_.’ By a very few words, I could have + provoked your preachers to lay aside the mask; but that was the + very thing you guarded against; and, I suppose, the reason for + which you desired my presence was that I might be some sort of + check to the independents. Still, I think it better for the + people, that they (the preachers) should show themselves before + your death than after it. You think otherwise; and I submit. + ‘_Satis, jam satis spectata in te amicitia est mea_;’ and I am + perfectly satisfied with my own insignificancy. I have but one + thing to do. The Lord make me ready for it!”[348] + +This was an angry letter of a baffled man. It was grumbling in private +what ought to have been said in public, or not to have been said at +all. The insinuation respecting the preachers was unfounded and +unworthy. The desire that M‘Nab should acknowledge his fault was +unjust, for M‘Nab was really the aggrieved party. Charles Wesley would +have driven the preachers into rebellion; his brother, as ready to +repair an injury as he was anxious to avoid committing one, restored +unanimity and confidence. “There was nothing at the conference,” +writes John Pawson, “but peace, harmony, and love.” + +We only add, that Mr. M‘Nab’s subsequent appointments were honourable +both to Wesley and himself. In 1780, he was sent to Sheffield; in 1781 +to Manchester; and in 1782 to Newcastle. He then retired, “and resided +for several years at Sheffield, where he was the pastor of a small +congregation, who highly esteemed him; and there he finished his +course about the year 1797.”[349] + +Mr. Smyth went back to Ireland; but, in 1782, became one of Wesley’s +London curates, with a salary of sixty guineas yearly.[350] In 1786, +he was appointed minister of Bethesda chapel, Dublin;[351] where he +rent the Methodist society, and took with him above a hundred persons, +amongst whom were the richer members of the Dublin Methodists.[352] He +then removed to Manchester, where he officiated as curate of St. +Clement’s and St. Luke’s churches. He was the author of several +publications, the chief of which were:--“The Fall and Recovery of Man. +A Poem.” 1777: 12mo, 71 pages. “James Poulson further Detected.” 1778: +12mo, 58 pages. “Twelve Sermons on the most important Subjects.” 1778: +12mo, 254 pages. “St. Paul against Calvin.” 1809: 12mo, 115 pages. And +“A Confutation of Calvinism.” 1810: 12mo, 391 pages. + +Much space has been occupied with the disturbances at Bath; but, +considering the importance of the point at issue, the facts connected +with it were too important to be omitted. + +The year 1779, like most previous ones, was a year of trouble. Besides +the anxiety and vexation arising out of Mr. M‘Nab’s affair, Wesley was +still annoyed with virulent attacks from his Calvinist opponents. His +old friend, John Macgowan, published “The Foundry Budget Opened; or, +the Arcanum of Wesleyanism Disclosed.” The animus of Macgowan’s +pamphlet may be inferred from his motto on the title page: + + “A man so various, that he seemed to be + Not one, but all mankind’s epitome; + Stiff in opinions, always in the wrong; + Was everything by starts, but nothing long.” + +He tells his readers, that “for craft and cunning sophistry, he will +match the Rev. Mr. John Wesley against any man that ever stained paper +with pollution”; and throughout speaks of him in the most contemptuous +terms. + +Of course, this was too savoury a production to pass unnoticed by the +_Gospel Magazine_. Wesley is accused, in the review of it, with using +“absurd, unscriptural jargon and contradictions”; and with “robbing +Father, Son, and Spirit, of their glory as a covenant God; and +exalting the sinful, proud nature of fallen man; and militating +against the whole tenor of Scripture, and of reformed Christianity, as +professed by all protestant churches.” + +Another hostile publication was “Methodism and Popery dissected and +compared; and the Doctrines of both proved to be derived from a Papal +Origin.” Besides attacking Whitefield, Rowland Hill, and others, the +anonymous author of this scurrilous pamphlet learnedly remarks, that +“it would be less difficult to paint Proteus, in all his fabled +shapes, under one distinct figure, than to describe Wesley”; whom he +is pleased to honour with epithets like the following: “a living +monument of apostolic frenzy”; “Jesuit”; “rank Catholic;” “actor”; and +“anabaptist.” + +This was far from being pleasant; but Wesley was used to it; and his +character was too well established to need defence from such +slanderous attacks. It may be doubted whether he took the trouble to +read a tithe of the malignant diatribes launched against him. + +While on the subject of books, it is due to Methodism to notice an +interesting fact not generally known. The first Bible society, founded +in Great Britain, and perhaps in the world, was established in 1779, +and was the work of Methodists. George Cussons and John Davies, after +leaving the leaders’ meeting in West Street chapel, entered into +conversation, and, when near Soho Square, formed a resolution to +endeavour to raise a fund for supplying soldiers with pocket Bibles. +They and a dozen of their friends united themselves into a society for +promoting this object. Their meetings were held once a month in the +house of Mr. Dobson, of Oxford Street. John Thornton, Esq., of +Clapham, became a generous subscriber. The first parcel of Bibles was +sent from the vestry of Wesley’s West Street chapel; and the first +sermon on behalf of the society was preached in the same chapel, by +the Rev. Mr. Collins, from the appropriate words, “And the Philistines +were afraid, for they said, God is come into the camp. And they said, +Woe unto us! for there hath not been such a thing heretofore.”[353] +Thus arose “The Naval and Military Bible Society,”--twenty-five years +before the formation of “The British and Foreign Bible Society” in +1804,--a society still in active operation, and we believe the oldest +association for the circulation of the word of God, that now exists. + +Wesley still employed the press, as well as pulpit, in defending and +spreading truth. John Atlay was his book steward, of whose +conscientiousness he had a high opinion. Hence the following +unpublished letter, sent to Bradburn. + + “EDINBURGH, _June 19, 1779_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--I suppose John Atlay has paid the money. He is + cautious to an extreme. I _hear_ what angry men say or write; + but I do not often regard it. Lemonade will cure any disorder + of the bowels, (whether it be with or without purging,) in a + day or two. You do well to spread the prayer-meetings up and + down. They seldom are in vain. Honest Andrew Dunlop[354] writes + me word that the book money is stolen. Pray desire him to take + care that the knave does not steal his teeth. + + “I am, dear Sammy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Wesley published, in 1779, the seventeenth extract from his journal, +extending from September 13, 1773, to January 2, 1776; 12mo, 82 pages. + +Popery was beginning to be troublesome; for parliament, in the +previous year, had passed a bill removing from the English and Irish +papists the penalties and disabilities imposed upon them by the famous +act, “for the further preventing the growth of popery,” enacted in +1699. Wesley had been called a papist times without number; but now, +in a time of danger, he proved himself one of popery’s most trenchant +opponents. His pamphlet, now issued, with the title, “Popery Calmly +Considered,” 12mo, 25 pages, was one of the most timely and valuable +productions of his pen. Scores of such pamphlets have been given to +the public; but not one superior to Wesley’s. He writes: “In the +following tract, I propose, first, to lay down and examine the chief +doctrines of the Church of Rome: secondly, to show the natural +tendency of a few of those doctrines; and that with all the plainness +and all the calmness I can.” “Mr. J. Russell,” observes Charles +Wesley, in a letter dated April 23, 1779, “tells me, some of the +bitterest Calvinists are reconciled to you for the tract on popery. It +should be spread immediately through the three kingdoms.”[355] We +shall meet with popery again; but, meantime, we wish the Methodist +book committee and conference would do, at present, what Charles +Wesley wished to be done ninety years ago. However urgent the case was +in 1779, the necessity now is ninety times greater than it was then; +and John Wesley’s successors will be recreant to his protestant +principles unless they do their duty as he did his. + +It only remains, before concluding the present chapter, to notice +Wesley’s _Arminian Magazine_. This, like the volume for 1778, was, to +a large extent, controversial, Wesley believing that “there never was +more need, in the memory of man, of opposing the _Horrible Decree_, +than at this day; for thousands, in every part of England, were still +halting between two opinions, and were exceedingly perplexed on this +account.” Among other pieces, intended to refute the Calvinian theory, +he republished his own “Predestination Calmly Considered,” which he +first printed in 1752. There are interesting lives of Bishop Bedell, +Archbishop Usher, and Dr. Donne, the last mentioned by Wesley’s own +pen, though never included in his collected works. There are short +accounts of ten of his itinerant preachers, accompanied by their +respective portraits, many of which he pronounces “really striking.” +There are ninety-three letters, most of which, says he, “are closely +practical and experimental.” There are about seventy poetical pieces, +one of which, “Henry and Emma, a Dialogue,” fills more than fourteen +pages; a sort of love story, to which objections were not unreasonably +raised. Wesley acknowledged that it was “not strictly religious”; but +maintains that there was “nothing in it contrary to religion, nothing +that can offend the chastest ears”; that it was “one of the finest +poems in the English tongue, both for sentiment and language”; and +that those who could “read it without tears must have a stupid and +unfeeling heart.” All this might be true; but, with all due deference +to Wesley, there can hardly be two opinions, that it was out of its +proper place when inserted in the _Arminian Magazine_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [320] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 117. + + [321] Manuscript diary. + + [322] Manuscript letter. + + [323] Manuscripts. + + [324] “History of Methodism in Halifax.” + + [325] Manuscript diary. + + [326] How is it that there are not more Methodists in + Inverness now than there were ninety years ago, in + the days of good old Duncan McAllum? + + [327] Boswell’s Life of Johnson. + + [328] _Methodist Magazine_, 1823, p. 777. + + [329] Ibid. 1856, p. 234. + + [330] Atmore’s “Methodist Memorial.” + + [331] _Methodist Magazine_, 1826, p. 244. + + [332] Ibid. 1789, p. 388. + + [333] These were Pawson, Rankin, and Jaco. The committee + consisted of gentlemen appointed to manage the + business of City Road chapel.--(Pawson’s manuscript.) + + [334] _Methodist Magazine_, 1789, p. 441. + + [335] _Methodist Magazine_, 1789, p. 387. + + [336] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 456. + + [337] _Methodist Magazine_, 1779, p. 240. + + [338] Lady Maxwell’s Life, p. 70. + + [339] Rutherford’s Life, p. 94. + + [340] Atmore’s “Methodist Memorial.” + + [341] Manuscript letter. + + [342] Thomas Taylor, in his manuscript diary, remarks: + “1780, January 14--I learned, that Mr. M‘Nab is + excluded the connexion; but I cannot learn, that + he has merited such treatment. A man who has been + a credit to our cause, whose moral character is + unblamable, and whose abilities are considerable, is + expelled for his integrity and uprightness. Being + very uneasy on account of the expulsion, I wrote Mr. + Wesley respecting it.” + + [343] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 132. + + [344] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 372. + + [345] _Christian Miscellany_, 1849, p. 57; and “Wesley + Poetry,” vol. viii., p. 415. + + [346] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 379. + + [347] Pawson’s manuscript. + + [348] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 380. + + [349] Atmore’s “Methodist Memorial.” + + [350] Manuscript. + + [351] “Life and Times of Lady Huntingdon,” vol. ii., p. 202. + + [352] Life of John Valton, p. 100. + + [353] _Methodist Magazine_, 1823, p. 737. + + [354] The assistant of the Limerick circuit. + + [355] _Methodist Magazine_, 1789, p. 387. + + + + + 1780. + Age 77 + + +The year 1780 will always be marked in English history. The nation was +steeped in guilt and misery. War was raging on almost every side. +Trade was paralysed; and taxes intolerable. Popery had been +established in Canada; and, by the repealing of the statutes of the +11th and 12th of King William III., had received great encouragement +in England. The Protestant Association sprung into existence; and the +Gordon riots followed. The details of these events are full of +profound interest and instruction; but our limited space prevents +enlargement. Suffice it to say, that, in this serious crisis, Wesley +took an active interest. He writes: “1780. January 18--Receiving more +and more accounts of the increase of popery, I believed it my duty to +write a letter concerning it, which was afterwards inserted in the +public papers. Many were grievously offended; but I cannot help it; I +must follow my own conscience.” + +The following was Wesley’s unanswerable, though obnoxious letter. + + “A Letter to the Printer of the _Public Advertiser_, occasioned + by the late Act, passed in favour of Popery. + + “CITY ROAD, _January 21, 1780_. + + “SIR,--Some time ago, a pamphlet was sent me, entitled ‘An + Appeal from the Protestant Association to the People of Great + Britain.’ A day or two since, a kind of answer to this was put + into my hands, which pronounces ‘its style contemptible, its + reasoning futile, and its object malicious.’ On the contrary, I + think the style of it is clear, easy, and natural; the + reasoning, in general, strong and conclusive; the object, or + design, kind and benevolent. And in pursuance of the same kind + and benevolent design, namely, to preserve our happy + constitution, I shall endeavour to confirm the substance of + that tract by a few plain arguments. + + “With persecution I have nothing to do. I persecute no man for + his religious principles. Let there be as ‘boundless a freedom + in religion,’ as any man can conceive. But this does not touch + the point; I will set religion, true or false, utterly out of + the question. Suppose the Bible, if you please, to be a fable, + and the Koran to be the word of God. I consider not, whether + the Romish religion be true or false; I build nothing on one or + the other supposition. Therefore, away with all your + commonplace declamation about intolerance and persecution in + religion! Suppose every word of Pope Pius’s creed to be true; + suppose the council of Trent to have been infallible: yet, I + insist upon it, that no government, not Roman Catholic, ought + to tolerate men of the Roman Catholic persuasion. + + “I prove this by a plain argument; let him answer it that can. + That no Roman Catholic does or can give security for his + allegiance or peaceable behaviour, I prove thus. It is a Roman + Catholic maxim, established, not by private men, but by a + public council, that ‘no faith is to be kept with heretics.’ + This has been openly avowed by the council of Constance; but it + never was openly disclaimed. Whether private persons avow or + disavow it, it is a fixed maxim of the Church of Rome. But as + long as it is so, it is plain that the members of that church + can give no reasonable security, to any government, of their + allegiance or peaceable behaviour. Therefore, they ought not to + be tolerated by any government, protestant, Mahommedan, or + pagan. + + “You may say, ‘Nay, but they will take an _oath_ of + allegiance.’ True, five hundred oaths; but the maxim, ‘no faith + is to be kept with heretics,’ sweeps them all away as a + spider’s web. So that still, no governors that are not Roman + Catholics can have any security of their allegiance. + + “Again, those who acknowledge the _spiritual power_ of the pope + can give no security of their allegiance to any government; but + all Roman Catholics acknowledge this; therefore, they can give + no security for their allegiance. + + “The power of granting _pardons_ for all sins, past, present, + and to come, is, and has been, for many centuries, one branch + of his _spiritual power_. + + “But those who acknowledge him to have this spiritual power can + give no security for their allegiance; since they believe the + pope can pardon rebellions, high treasons, and all other sins + whatsoever. + + “The power of _dispensing_ with any promise, oath, or vow, is + another branch of the _spiritual power_ of the pope. And all + who acknowledge his spiritual power must acknowledge this. But + whoever acknowledges the _dispensing power_ of the pope can + give no security for his allegiance to any government. Oaths + and promises are none; they are light as air; a dispensation + makes them all null and void. + + “Nay, not only the pope, but even a _priest_ has _power_ to + pardon sins! This is an essential doctrine of the Church of + Rome. But they that acknowledge this cannot possibly give any + security for their allegiance to any government. Oaths are no + security at all; for the priest can pardon both perjury and + high treason. + + “Setting then religion aside, it is plain that, upon principles + of reason, no government ought to tolerate men, who cannot give + any security to that government for their allegiance and + peaceable behaviour. But this no Romanist can do, not only + while he holds that ‘no faith is to be kept with heretics,’ but + so long as he acknowledges either priestly absolution or the + _spiritual power_ of the pope. + + “‘But the late act,’ you say, ‘does not either _tolerate_ or + _encourage_ Roman Catholics.’ I appeal to matter of fact. Do + not the Romanists themselves understand it as a toleration? You + know they do. And does it not already (let alone what it _may_ + do by-and-by) _encourage_ them to preach openly, to build + chapels (at Bath and elsewhere), to raise seminaries, and to + make numerous converts day by day, to their intolerant, + persecuting principles? I can point out, if need be, several of + the persons. And they are increasing daily. + + “But ‘nothing dangerous to English liberty is to be apprehended + from them.’ I am not certain of that. Some time since, a Romish + priest came to one I knew; and, after talking with her largely, + broke out, ‘You are no heretic! You have the experience of a + real Christian!’ ‘And would you,’ she asked, ‘burn me alive?’ + He said, ‘God forbid! unless it were for the good of the + church!’ + + “Now what security could she have had for her life, if it had + depended on that man? The _good of the church_ would have burst + all the ties of truth, justice, and mercy. Especially when + seconded by the absolution of a priest, or, if need were, a + papal pardon. + + “If any please to answer this, and to set his name, I shall + probably reply; but the productions of anonymous writers I do + not promise to take any notice of. + + “I am, sir, your humble servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Wesley’s arguments are irrefutable; and terrible is England’s danger, +at the present day, because such arguments, instead of being answered, +have been dexterously, but disastrously, ignored by England’s +statesmen. Wesley’s letter will probably be treated, by many, as they +would treat an old almanack, out of date; but, on February 17, 1780, +it evoked the unanimous thanks of the Protestant Association; and, in +the same month, was published in the pages of Wesley’s bitterest +antagonist,--the _Gospel Magazine_,--with an editorial note, that it +had “been almost universally approved of,” and that it was a +“production of real merit.” + +Wesley’s letter was too damaging to the disloyalty and preposterous +assumptions of popery, to pass unnoticed. His chief antagonist was the +Rev. Arthur O’Leary, the son of peasant parents, and now a popish +priest, in the fiftieth year of his age. + +O’Leary’s remarks on Wesley’s letter made an octavo pamphlet of 101 +pages. The friar tells the Methodist, that the temperature of +Ireland’s climate and the quality of its soil had cleansed the veins +of its papists “from the _sour_ and _acid_ blood of the Scythians and +Saxons.” He writes: + + “We are tender hearted, we are good natured, we have feelings. + We shed tears on the urns of the dead; deplore the loss of + hecatombs of victims slaughtered on the gloomy altars of + religious bigotry; cry in seeing the ruins of cities over which + fanaticism has displayed the funeral torch; and sincerely pity + the blind zeal of our Scotch and English neighbours, whose + constant character is to pity none, for erecting the banners of + persecution, at a time when the inquisition is abolished in + Spain and Milan, and the protestant gentry are caressed at + Rome, and live unmolested in the luxuriant plains of France and + Italy. We are too wise to quarrel about religion. The Roman + Catholics sing their psalms in Latin, with a few inflections of + the voice. Our protestant neighbours sing the same psalms in + English, on a larger scale of musical notes. We never quarrel + with our honest and worthy neighbours, the quakers, for not + singing at all; nor shall we ever quarrel with Mr. Wesley for + _raising his voice to heaven_, and warbling forth his canticles + on whatever tune he pleases. We like _social harmony_; and, in + _civil_ music, hate _discordance_. Thus, when we go to the + shambles, we never inquire into the butcher’s religion, but + into the quality of his meat. We care not whether the ox was + fed in the pope’s territories, or on the mountains of Scotland; + provided the joint be good; for, though there be many + _heresies_ in old books, we discover neither _heresy_ nor + _superstition_ in beef and claret. We divide them cheerfully + with one another; and, though of different religions, we sit + over the bowl with as much cordiality as if we were at a + _lovefeast_.” + +O’Leary’s quaint jocularity and rounded periods are amusing; but they +furnish not the slightest answer to Wesley’s allegations. On March 23, +Wesley replied to O’Leary, in a letter addressed to the editors of the +_Freeman’s Journal_, and from which the following is extracted. + + “Mr. O’Leary’s remarks are no more an answer to my letter, than + to the Bull _Unigenitus_. His manner of writing is easy and + pleasant; but might it not as well be more serious? The subject + we are treating of is not a light one; it moves me to tears, + rather than to laughter. I plead for the safety of my country; + yea, for the children that are yet unborn. I would not have the + Roman Catholics persecuted at all. I would only have them + hindered from doing hurt: I would not put it in their power to + cut the throats of their quiet neighbours.”[356] + +O’Leary published a “Rejoinder to Mr. Wesley’s Reply,” in which he was +less jocular, but not more logical. Of Wesley’s three reasons why it +is not safe to tolerate papists, two were left untouched, and one was +played with and evaded. Such a controversialist scarcely deserved an +answer; and, yet, Wesley supplemented his second letter by a third, +dated Chester, March 31, 1780. After recapitulating his three reasons, +Wesley writes: + + “Nine parts in ten of Mr. O’Leary’s remarks are quite wide of + the mark. Not that they are wide of _his_ mark, which is to + introduce a plausible panegyric upon the Roman Catholics, mixed + with keen invectives against the protestants, whether true or + false it matters not. All this is admirably well calculated to + inspire the reader with aversion to these heretics, and to + bring them back to the holy, harmless, much injured Church of + Rome! Close arguing he does not attempt; but he vapours, and + skips to and fro, and rambles to all points of the compass, in + a very lively and entertaining manner.” + +Wesley thus concludes his long letter: + + “What security for my life can any man give me, till he utterly + renounces the council of Constance? What security can any + Romanist give a protestant, till this doctrine is publicly + abjured? If Mr. O’Leary has anything more to plead for this + council, I shall follow him step by step. But let him keep his + word, and ‘give a serious answer to a serious charge.’ + ‘Drollery may come in when we are talking of roasting fowls’; + but not when we talk of ‘roasting men.’ + + “Would I then wish the Roman Catholics to be persecuted? I + never said or hinted any such thing. I abhor the thought: it is + foreign to all I have preached and wrote for these fifty years. + But I would wish the Romanists in _England_ (I had no others in + view) to be treated still with the same lenity that they have + been these sixty years; to be allowed both civil and religious + liberty, but not permitted to undermine ours. I wish them to + stand just as they did before the late act was passed: not to + be persecuted or hurt themselves; but gently restrained from + hurting their neighbours. + + “I am, gentlemen, your obedient servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[357] + +Here the controversy ended.[358] O’Leary was baffled; and, to this +day, the arguments in Wesley’s letter of January 21, 1780, remain +unanswered. Seven years afterwards; when at Cork, Wesley wrote: “A +gentleman invited me to breakfast, with my old antagonist, Father +O’Leary. I was not at all displeased at being disappointed. He is not +the stiff, queer man that I expected; but of an easy, genteel +carriage, and seems not to be wanting either in sense or learning.” + +It was during this controversy, and while Wesley was in the north of +Ireland, that the fearful riots occurred, which are so unfortunately +associated with the name of Lord George Gordon, and which were the +cause of that nobleman’s incarceration (rightly or wrongly) in the +Tower of London. Here Wesley, after repeated invitations, visited him, +and writes: “1780, December 19--I spent an hour with Lord George +Gordon, at his apartment in the Tower. Our conversation turned upon +popery and religion. He seemed to be well acquainted with the Bible; +and had abundance of other books, enough to furnish a study. I was +agreeably surprised to find he did not complain of any person or +thing; and cannot but hope his confinement will take a right turn, and +prove a lasting blessing to him.” + +We return to more congenial matters. Wesley spent the first two months +of 1780 in London and its vicinity. On February 28, he started on his +journey to the north. Among other places, he now, for the first time, +preached at Delph. He writes: “April 7--I went to Delph, a little +village upon the mountains, where a remarkable work of God is just +broke out. I was just set down, when the minister sent me word, I was +welcome to preach in his church. On hearing this, many people walked +thither immediately, near a mile from the town; but, in ten minutes, +he sent me word his mind was changed. We knew not then what to do, +till the trustees of the independent meeting offered us the use of +their house. It was quickly filled, and truly God bore witness to His +word.” + +The minister of the parish church was the Rev. Mr. Heginbotham, who +had engaged Mr. Stones as his curate. Mr. Stones was a sportsman, fond +of his dog and gun. On one occasion, a rough Yorkshireman told him, it +would be better if he minded his study more and his gun less. The +curate took the hint; his dogs and his guns were given up; he became a +thorough Christian; his ministry was greatly blessed; an extensive +religious awakening followed; meetings for prayer were convened in +private houses; and not a few were scripturally converted. Opposition +soon ensued, on the ground that the poor, by spending so much time in +prayer, would neglect their work, and become chargeable to the parish. +The curate was dismissed; the young converts applied to Joseph Benson, +then at Manchester, for help; Methodist preaching was commenced; a +room in Millgate hired; and a flourishing society was formed.[359] The +case was named to Wesley; and, a fortnight before his visit, he signed +the following legal looking document, which to a Methodist antiquarian +will be welcome. + + “_Whereas_ for about twelve months last past, the people called + Methodists have preached in a room at Delph, in Saddleworth, in + the county of York,--the travelling preachers coming there + regularly every fortnight from Manchester, besides local + preachers occasionally on Sundays. And _Whereas_ the last + summer such crowds attended, that the room could not contain + them, the society also increasing very fast, and a great + likelihood of much good being done in the place,--It is, + therefore, thought necessary that a preaching house be erected + at Delph aforesaid, twelve yards long and eight wide. The + expense of such a building, according to the plan laid down, + will be vastly more than the society will be able to raise + amongst themselves. They have, therefore, requested our consent + to go amongst our societies, to ask the charitable + contributions of such of our friends as would willingly + encourage such an undertaking. This is, therefore, to certify + that we approve of the measure, and recommend the same to our + Christian friends everywhere, hoping they will readily and + cheerfully contribute to the same. + + “JOHN WESLEY.[360] + “MANCHESTER, _March 25, 1780_.” + +This formalised certificate smacks of the office of Joseph Mellor, the +Methodist attorney of the town of Delph; and Wesley must have been +hard pressed for time when, instead of writing a statement of the case +himself, he put his hand to such legal magniloquence. Suffice it to +add, the chapel was built, with not more than £100 of debt resting +upon the premises.[361] + +It was during this northern tour, that Wesley, for the first time, was +denied the use of the church at Haworth. He writes: “Sunday, April +23--Mr. Richardson being unwilling that I should preach any more in +Haworth church, Providence opened another; I preached in Bingley +church, both morning and afternoon. This is considerably larger than +the other.” + +It was either on this, or some future occasion, when Wesley was +preaching in Bingley church, that a rich man in the congregation, who +seemed to think that his wealth was a licence to practise bad manners, +sneered at the preacher and at his sentiments. Wesley paused, and +fixing his keen eye on the Dives sitting in the seat of the scornful, +said: “I heed your sneers no more than I heed the fluttering of a +butterfly; but I know what good breeding is as well as any gentleman +in the land.” + +It was now that Wesley preached his first sermon in Blackburn. He +writes: “April 27--I preached in Todmorden church with great +enlargement of heart. In the afternoon we went on to Blackburn. It +seemed the whole town was moved; and the question was where to put the +congregation. We could not stand abroad because of the sun; so as many +as could squeezed into the preaching house. All the chief men of the +town were there.” Mr. Banning was Wesley’s host at Blackburn; and, on +one occasion, took his venerable guest to see a neighbouring chapel +which was in the course of being built. “Mr. Banning,” said Wesley, “I +have a favour to ask. Let there be no pews in the body of this chapel, +except one for the leading singers. Be sure to make accommodation for +the poor. _They_ are God’s building _materials_ in the erecting of His +church. The rich make good _scaffolding_, but bad _materials_.”[362] +Weighty words! One of Methodism’s evil omens, at the present day, is a +disregard of the advice which Wesley gave, namely, that, in building +chapels, the Methodists should never fail to provide ample +accommodation for the poor. + +It was a sign of Wesley’s growing popularity, that, though, forty +years before, he had been indignantly expelled from the pulpits of the +Established Church, he was now invited, in all parts of the country, +by rectors, vicars, curates, and others, to favour them with his +services. At Pateley Bridge, in 1752, Thomas Lee, the old itinerant, +and his Methodist companions, were subjected to treatment the most +barbarous; and, on applying to the Dean of Ripon for protection, were +met with a churchman’s scorn rather than a magistrate’s just dealing. +Now it was otherwise. Wesley writes: “1780, May 1--At Pateley Bridge, +the vicar offered me the use of his church. Though it was more than +twice as large as our preaching house, it was not near large enough to +contain the congregation. How vast is the increase of the work of God! +particularly in the most rugged and uncultivated places. How does He +‘send the springs’ of grace also ‘into the valleys, that run among the +hills!’” + +Leaving Pateley, Wesley, for the first time, visited Ripon. He writes: +“May 2--We came to Ripon, and observed a remarkable turn of +providence: the great hindrance of the work of God in this place has +suddenly disappeared; and the poor people, being delivered from their +fear, gladly flock together, and hear His word. The new preaching +house was quickly more than filled.” + +Four years previous to this, Thomas Dixon was one of the Ripon +preachers, and, in his unpublished autobiography, wrote: “Upon our +going to Ripon, we preached in a small room up a flight of stairs, and +even this we were to leave at Martinmas. But, just at this time, Mr. +T. Dowson, who had suffered much for the gospel’s sake, bought the +premises where an old barn and stable stood. He immediately pulled +down the barn, and built a decent chapel and a dwelling house upon the +site, and, with such expedition, that we were able to get into the +shell of the new chapel by the time we had to leave the upstairs room. +By this means, God gave the poor persecuted Methodists, in Ripon, a +degree of rest they had never known before, and the work, from that +time, gradually grew.” + +On leaving Ripon, Wesley proceeded “through a delightful country to +the immense ruins of Garvaix Abbey,” and thence across the “horrid, +dreary, enormous mountains” to Penrith, another place where he now, +for the first time, preached. He writes: “May 5--In the evening, a +large room, designed for an assembly, was procured for me at Penrith; +but several of the poor people were struck with panic, for fear the +room should fall. Finding there was no remedy, I went down into the +court below, and preached in great peace to a multitude of well +behaved people.” + +On May 11, Wesley reached Newcastle, and thence proceeded to Scotland. +On his return southwards, we find him preaching at Durham, Darlington, +Northallerton, Boroughbridge, and York. Making his way through +Lincolnshire, he came to Newark, where, twenty years before, the mob +had burnt the Methodist pulpit in the market place; and had not only +pelted the preacher, Thomas Lee, with all sorts of missiles, and +dragged him to the river Trent, where they ducked and dabbled him +without mercy, but, to complete the whole, a painter came with his pot +and brush, and bedaubed him most ludicrously. Wesley writes: “1780, +June 12--Our friends at Newark were divided as to the place where I +should preach. At length, they found a convenient place, covered on +three sides, and on the fourth open to the street. It contained two or +three thousand people well, who appeared to hear as for life. Only one +big man, exceeding drunk, was very noisy and turbulent, till his wife +(_fortissima Tyndaridarum!_) seized him by the collar, gave him two or +three hearty boxes on the ear, and dragged him away like a calf. But, +at length, he got out of her hands, crept in among the people, and +stood as quiet as a lamb.” + +On June 13, Wesley wrote: “I accepted of an invitation from a +gentleman at Lincoln, in which I had not set my foot for upwards of +fifty years. At six in the evening, I preached in the castle yard to a +large and attentive congregation. They were all as quiet as if I had +been at Bristol. Will God have a people here also?” For seven years +after this, there was not a Methodist in Lincoln. + +After an interval of many years, Wesley preached again at Boston, +where, in 1757, Alexander Mather, the first Methodist preacher there, +had his face plastered with mire taken from the kennels of the +streets, and his head laid open with a stone. + +Wesley spent his birthday in Sheffield, and wrote: “June 28--I can +hardly think I am entered this day into the seventy-eighth year of my +age. By the blessing of God, I am just the same as when I entered the +twenty-eighth. This hath God wrought, chiefly by my constant exercise, +my rising early, and preaching morning and evening.” + +The next day, he preached his first and last sermon at Worksop. He +says: “I was desired to preach at Worksop; but when I came, they had +not fixed on any place. At length, they chose a lamentable one, full +of dirt and dust, but without the least shelter from the scorching +sun. This few could bear; so we had only a small company of as stupid +people as I ever saw.” + +After this, Wesley made his way to London, where he spent a week; and, +then, he and his brother set out for Bristol, for the purpose of +holding his annual conference. He writes: “August 1--Our conference +began. We have been always, hitherto, straitened for time. It was now +resolved, ‘For the future, we will allow nine or ten days for each +conference; that everything, relative to the carrying on of the work +of God, may be maturely considered.’” + +The conference, in this instance, lasted from August 1 to August 9, +inclusive. Its main business was a revision of the minutes of +conferences already held. Several alterations were made, some of the +chief being the following. It was no longer to be a rule, that +Methodists were to endeavour to preach most where Wesley and his +brother clergymen were allowed to preach in parish churches. +Classmeetings were to be made more lively and profitable, by removing +improper leaders; and care was to be taken, that those appointed were +not only men of sound judgment, but truly pious. If a preacher could +secure twenty hearers at five o’clock in the morning, he was to +preach; if not so many, he was to sing and pray. “Observe,” says +Wesley to his preachers, “it is not your business to preach so many +times, and to take care of this or that society; but to save as many +souls as you can, to bring as many sinners as you possibly can to +repentance, and, with all your power, to build them up in that +holiness without which they cannot see the Lord. And remember! a +Methodist preacher is to mind every point, great and small, in the +Methodist discipline! Therefore, you will need all the sense you have, +and to have all your wits about you.” It was agreed, that the neglect +of fasting was sufficient to account for their feebleness and +faintness of spirit. They were continually grieving the Holy Spirit of +God, by the habitual neglect of a plain duty. “Let you and I,” says +Wesley, “every Friday (beginning on the next), avow this duty +throughout the nation, by touching no tea, coffee, or chocolate, in +the morning, but, (if we want it,) half-a-pint of milk or water gruel. +Let us dine on potatoes, and, (if we need it,) eat three or four +ounces of flesh in the evening. At other times, let us eat no flesh +suppers. These exceedingly tend to breed nervous disorders.” The rule +was rescinded, that no preacher ought to print anything without +Wesley’s approbation. The preachers were to join as one man in putting +an end to the indecency of the people talking in the preaching houses, +before and after service. Complaints having been made, that sluts had +spoiled preachers’ houses, Wesley writes: “Let none, that has spoiled +one, ever live in another. But what a shame is this! A preacher’s wife +should be a pattern of cleanliness, in her person, clothes, and +habitation. Let nothing slatternly be seen about her; no rags, no +dirt, no litter. And she should be a pattern of industry; always at +work, either for herself, her husband, or the poor. I am not willing +that any should live in the Orphan House at Newcastle, or any +preaching house, who does not conform to this rule.” Complaints were +also made, that people crowded into the preachers’ houses as into +coffee shops, without invitation; and it was ruled, that no person +should, in future, come into a preacher’s house, unless he wanted to +ask a question. + +Some of these may appear to be minute matters; but they are not +without interest as indicative of the defects of Methodists in the +days of Wesley. + +There is reason to believe, though the fact is not recorded in the +minutes, that the Church question was again discussed at the +conference of 1780. Hence the following letter, written to Miss +Bosanquet. + + “BRISTOL, _August 5, 1780_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--I snatch time from the conference to write + two or three lines. I am glad you have begun a prayer-meeting + at Hunslet, and doubt not it will be productive of much good. + Hitherto, we have had a blessed conference. The case of the + Church we shall fully consider by-and-by; and, I believe, we + shall agree that none who leave the Church shall remain with + us. + + “I am, my dear sister, yours most affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[363] + +Charles Wesley was present, and was far from satisfied. He purposed to +attend no more of these annual synods, and wrote as follows: + + “Why should I longer, Lord, contend, + My last important moments spend + In buffeting the air? + In warning those who will not see, + But rest in blind security, + And rush into the snare? + + Prophet of ills, why should I live, + Or, by my sad forebodings, grieve + Whom I can serve no more? + I only can their loss bewail, + Till life’s exhausted sorrows fail, + And the last pang is o’er.”[364] + +Poor Charles, alarmed lest the Methodists should leave the Church, +retired from the conference to weep and die; John to rejoice and work. + +Conference statistics have not been given annually; but the following +figures will show the progress made during the decade of years ending +at the conference of 1780. + + +----------+-----------+------------+----------+-------------+ + | | Circuits. | Itinerant | Members. | Kingswood | + | | | Preachers. | | Collection. | + | +-----------+------------+----------+-------------+ + | 1770 | 50 | 123 | 29,406 | £218 4 5 | + | 1780 | 64 | 171 | 43,830 | £402 1 9 | + | +-----------+------------+----------+-------------+ + | Increase | 14 | 48 | 14,424 | £183 17 4 | + +----------+-----------+------------+----------+-------------+ + +To these numbers, however, must be added the Methodists in the West +Indies, and also 20 circuits, 42 itinerant preachers, and 8504 members +of society in America.[365] + +The American conference met at Baltimore on April 24, and agreed to +continue in close communion with the Church, and to permit “the +friendly clergy” to preach and administer the sacraments in Methodist +chapels. Hitherto, neither Asbury, nor any other of the preachers in +America, had administered these Christian ordinances to the Methodist +people; and, as the number of members was now rapidly increasing, this +was becoming a momentous question. The want in England had been met, +to some extent, by Wesley and his brother and their clerical +assistants; but, in America, the Methodists had no ordained clergyman +to render service like this. Besides, there the Methodists were very +differently situated from what Methodists were in England. In this +country, wherever there was a Methodist society there was a parish +church, at which, if they chose, Methodists might attend on +sacramental occasions. In America it was otherwise. Clergymen were +few; and parish churches far distant from each other; and, in many +instances, where Methodist societies had been formed, no church +existed. The case was becoming serious. Were these thousands of +American Methodists to be left without sacraments? Or were unordained +Methodist preachers to administer sacraments? Or was an effort to be +made, to send a clergyman of the Church of England to supply this lack +of sacred service? Or was Wesley himself to assume episcopal +functions, and, by ordination, turn his preachers into priests? These +were serious difficulties to be surmounted. To deprive eight thousand +converted people of the most sacred ordinances of the church, would +have been a sin against the church’s Head. To allow unordained +preachers to administer baptism and the Lord’s supper was a thing for +which Wesley himself was not prepared; though who can question, that a +man like Francis Asbury, whom God had so signally honoured, had as +much right to do this as the most renowned priest or prelate in +existence? An alternative remained, namely, either to send the +American Methodists an ordained clergyman of the Church of England; or +that Wesley should take upon himself the office of ordainer, and thus +qualify his own itinerants for what was conceived to be a higher +function than that of preaching the infinitely great and everlasting +truths of Christ’s glorious gospel. + +Was Wesley prepared for such a step as this? Fortunately, this is a +point on which we are not left to speculate. In a letter to his +brother, dated June 8, 1780, he writes: “Read Bishop Stillingfleet’s +‘Irenicon,’ or any impartial history of the ancient church, and I +believe you will think as I do. I verily believe, I have as good a +right to ordain, as to administer the Lord’s supper. But I see +abundance of reasons why I should not use that right, unless I was +turned out of the Church. At present, we are just in our place.”[366] + +As yet, Wesley, for “abundance of reasons,” hesitated to ordain his +preachers; and, hence, the only remaining expedient was to endeavour +to secure an ordained clergyman of the Church of England; and this he +attempted. The following letter was addressed to Dr. Lowth, bishop of +London, two months after the date of his letter to his brother +Charles. The reader will perceive, that it was written the day after +the close of the Bristol conference. It ought to be premised that, +previous to this, Wesley had applied to the bishop for a clerical +helper, and had met with a refusal. + + “_August 10, 1780._ + + “MY LORD,--Some time since, I received your lordship’s favour, + for which I return your lordship my sincere thanks. These + persons did not apply to the Society,” [for Propagating + Christian Knowledge in Foreign Parts,] “because they had + nothing to ask of them. They wanted no salary for their + minister: they were themselves able and willing to maintain + him. They, therefore, applied, by me, to your lordship, as + members of the Church of England, and desirous so to continue, + begging the favour of your lordship, after your lordship had + examined him, to ordain a pious man who might officiate as + their minister. + + “But your lordship observes, ‘There are three ministers in that + country already.’ True, my lord: but what are three, to watch + over all the souls in that extensive country? Will your + lordship permit me to speak freely? I dare not do otherwise. I + am on the verge of the grave, and know not the hour when I + shall drop into it. Suppose there were threescore of those + missionaries in the country, could I in conscience recommend + these souls to their care? Do they take any care of their own + souls? If they do, (I speak it with concern,) I fear they are + almost the only missionaries in America that do. My lord, I do + not speak rashly: I have been in America; and so have several + with whom I have lately conversed. And both I and they know, + what manner of men the greater part of these are. They are men + who have neither the power of religion, nor the form; men that + lay no claim to piety, nor even decency. + + “Give me leave, my lord, to speak more freely still: perhaps it + is the last time I shall trouble your lordship. I know your + lordship’s abilities and extensive learning: I believe, what is + far more, that your lordship fears God. I have heard, that your + lordship is unfashionably diligent in examining the candidates + for holy orders; yea, that your lordship is generally at the + pains of examining them _yourself_. Examining them! in what + respects? Why whether they understand a little _Latin_ and + _Greek_; and can answer a few trite questions in the science of + divinity! Alas, how little does this avail! Does your lordship + examine, whether they serve _Christ_ or _Belial_? Whether they + love God or the world? Whether they ever had any serious + thoughts about heaven or hell? Whether they have any real + desire to save their own souls, or the souls of others? If not, + what have they to do with holy orders? and what will become of + the souls committed to their care? + + “My lord, I do by no means despise learning: I know the value + of it too well. But what is this, particularly in a Christian + minister, compared to piety? What is it in a man that has no + religion? ‘As a jewel in a swine’s snout.’ + + “Some time since, I recommended to your lordship a plain man, + whom I had known above twenty years, as a person of deep, + genuine piety, and of unblamable conversation. But he neither + understood Greek nor Latin; and he affirmed, in so many words, + that ‘he believed it was his duty to preach, whether he was + ordained or no.’ I believe so too. What became of him since, I + know not. But I suppose he received _presbyterian_ ordination; + and I cannot blame him if he did. He might think any ordination + better than none. + + “I do not know, that Mr. Hoskins had any favour to ask of the + Society. He asked the favour of your lordship to ordain him, + that he might minister to a little flock in America. But your + lordship did not see good to ordain _him_: but your lordship + did see good to ordain, and send to America, other persons, who + knew something of Greek and Latin; but knew no more of saving + souls, than of catching whales. + + “In this respect, also, I mourn for poor America; for the sheep + scattered up and down therein. Part of them have no shepherds + at all, particularly in the northern colonies; and the case of + the rest is little better, for their own shepherds pity them + not. They cannot, for they have no pity on themselves, they + take no thought or care about their own souls. + + “Wishing your lordship every blessing from the great Shepherd + and Bishop of our souls, I remain, my lord, your lordship’s + dutiful son and servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[367] + +Did his lordship ever receive, from any other “dutiful son and +servant,” a letter like this? We doubt it. Wesley was foiled in his +attempt to obtain _episcopal_ ordination for an American Methodist +preacher: no wonder, that, soon after, he administered ordination +himself. + +Before proceeding with Wesley’s history, the insertion of a selection +of his letters, belonging to this period, may be acceptable. + +It is a terrible thing to write a dangerous book. When Joseph Benson +was a young man, he read Dr. Watts’s “Glory of Christ as God-man,” and +became a convert to his doctrine of the pre-existence of our Lord’s +_human soul_. Speaking his mind too freely upon this unscriptural +dogma, Benson was suspected to be an Arian, and was represented as +such, by Dr. Coke, all over the kingdom.[368] At the conference of +1780, Coke accused him of holding the Arian heresy; the matter was +sifted; Benson was acquitted; and Coke offered to ask his pardon. +Still, Benson, for years afterwards, held Dr. Watts’s dangerous +speculation; and it was not until he undertook the revision of +Fletcher’s manuscripts, that he laid aside the expression, +“_pre-existent soul of Christ_;” “an expression,” says he, “which +neither reason, nor Scripture, nor antiquity, will warrant our +using.”[369] + +Dr. Watts’s pernicious book, and also the Gordon riots, (at this time +raging,) are referred to in the following extract from a letter to +Charles Wesley. + + “_June 8, 1780._ + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I would not read over Dr. Watts’s tract for a + hundred pounds. You may read it, and welcome. I will not, dare + not, move those subtle, metaphysical controversies. Arianism is + not in question; it is Eutychianism or Nestorianism. But what + are they? What neither I nor any one else understands. But they + are what tore the eastern and western churches asunder. + + “It is well I accepted none of Lord George’s invitations. If + the government suffers this tamely, I know not what they will + not suffer. + + “Mr. Collins is not under my direction; nor am I at all + accountable for any steps he takes. He is not in connection + with the Methodists. He only helps us now and then. I will + suffer no disputing at the conference. + + “Undoubtedly many of the patriots seriously intend to overturn + the government; but the hook is in their nose. + + “Peace be with you all! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[370] + +The Mr. Collins, mentioned in the above extract, was Brian Bury +Collins, of the university of Cambridge, who, without ever receiving a +regular appointment, continued to assist Wesley, in various parts of +the kingdom, until Wesley’s death in 1791. A number of his manuscript +letters, all written in 1779 and 1780, now lie before us, from which +we learn, that he regarded himself as having “an unlimited preaching +commission”; and that one of his great objects was to unite Wesley’s +and Whitefield’s followers. “I could freely die,” says he, “to see the +Tabernacles and Foundery reconciled.” He began the year 1779 in the +north of England, where he sometimes preached five or six times a day. +He then removed to London, Bristol, and the west, where his health +failed. In May, 1780, he was among his relatives at Linwood, and +wrote: “I am not yet recovered from my late illness, though I am much +better than I have been. My relations here receive me with more +cordiality than I expected. I find the Divine presence in the churches +where I preach; but what the Lord designs to do with me I cannot tell. +Lately, I have thought of spending a few weeks at Cambridge. I have +also had fresh desires of being in full orders.” In pursuance of this, +Mr. Collins went to St. John’s college, Cambridge, where, in July +1780, he took his master of arts degree. By advice of the two Wesleys, +he sought ordination; and the dowager Lady Townsend gave him a +recommendatory letter to the Bishop of Chester, requesting that the +rite might be administered in private; but the bishop, having heard of +his irregular preaching, hesitated until he had time to confer with +his brother bishops. Ordination was ultimately obtained; Collins +married, and, for a time, was assistant to David Simpson, at +Macclesfield; after this, he again became a rover, and preached in +Wesley’s and Lady Huntingdon’s chapels, and wherever else he had a +chance. He writes: “I wish to do good unto all. I do not love one and +dislike another. I can unite with all who are united to Jesus. I care +not for names in the least.”[371] + +These glimpses of a man whom Wesley, to the end of life, repeatedly +mentions in his journals, will not be unwelcome. Of his subsequent +career we know nothing; except that its close was not as bright as its +beginning. A son of his lies interred in the burial ground of the new +chapel in City Road.[372] + +One of the legislative acts of the conference of 1780 was to enforce +the old rule, that, in Methodist meeting-houses, the men and women +should sit apart. In galleries, where they had always sat together, +they might do so still; but in all new erected galleries, and in the +seats below, the old rule was to be rigidly observed. “If,” said +Wesley, “I come into any new house, and see the men and women +together, I will immediately go out. I hereby give public notice of +this. Pray let it be observed.”[373] + +This sounds strangely at the present day; but, for some reason, it was +with Wesley a matter of importance. Hence also the following +unpublished letter to the leaders at Sheffield. + + “BRISTOL, _September 4, 1780_. + + “MY DEAR BRETHREN,--Let the persons, who purpose to subvert the + Methodist plan, by mixing men and women together in your + chapel, consider the consequence of so doing. First, I will + never set foot in it more. Secondly, I will forbid any + collection to be made for it in any of our societies. + + “I am, my dear brethren, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Two more letters, now for the first time given to the public, will be +welcome. They were addressed to Samuel Bradburn, who had been three +years in Ireland, and was now to remove to Keighley. + + “NEAR BRISTOL, _September 16, 1780_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--I wanted to have Betsy” [Mrs. Bradburn] “a little + nearer me. And I wanted her to be acquainted with her twin + soul, Miss Ritchie, the fellow to whom I scarce know in + England. But I do not like your crossing the sea till your + children are a little stronger. If there was stormy weather, it + might endanger their lives. Therefore, it is better you should + stay in Ireland a little longer. Athlone circuit will suit you + well; and John Bredin may be at Keighley in _your place_. + + “Now read over the minutes concerning the office of an + assistant, and exert yourself as to every branch of it. I fear + the late assistant neglected many articles; dispersing the + books in particular. + + “My love to Betsy. Let her love Molly Pennington for my sake. + + “I am, etc., J. WESLEY.” + + “LONDON, _October 28, 1780_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--I am glad you are safe landed at Keighley. You + will find there + + ‘... a port of ease + From the rough rage of stormy seas.’ + + “There are many amiable and gracious souls in Cork; but there + are few in the whole kingdom of Ireland to be named, (either + for depth of sense or grace,) with many, very many persons in + Yorkshire, particularly the west riding. Go to Betsy Ritchie, + at Otley, and then point me out such a young woman as she in + Ireland. + + “I think lemonade would cure any child of the flux. + + “Now be exact in every branch of discipline; and you will soon + find what a people you are among. + + “I am, with tender love to Betsy, dear Sammy, your affectionate + friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The following letter, kindly supplied by the Rev. Thomas W. Smith, and +now for the first time published, was addressed “To Mr. Valton, at the +preaching house, in Manchester.” Oldham Street chapel was now in +course of erection, and was opened by Wesley seven months afterwards. + + “BRISTOL, _October 1, 1780_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I expected the state of Manchester circuit + to be just such as you have found it. But the power of the Lord + is able to heal them. I fear S. Mayers was left unemployed, + because she loved perfection. If you find a few more of the + same spirit, I believe you will find them employment. The + accommodations everywhere will mend, if the preachers lovingly + exert themselves. I am glad you take some pains for the new + chapel. Our brother Brocklehurst will do anything that is + reasonable. + + “In one thing only, you and I do not agree; but, perhaps, we + shall when we have prayed over it: I mean, the giving me an + extract of your life. I cannot see the weight of your reasons + against it. ‘Some are superficial.’ What then? All are not; + brother Mather’s and Haime’s in particular. Add one to these; a + more weighty one, if you can. You know what to omit, and what + to insert. I really think you owe it (in spite of shame and + natural timidity) to God and me and your brethren. Pray for + light in this matter. + + “I am, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +The next, though short, is not devoid of interest. For the first time, +it was published in the _Watchman_ newspaper, as recently as October +12, 1870; and was written on the same day as the foregoing one. + + “BRISTOL, _October 1, 1780_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Joseph Bradford has been at the gate of + death; but is now so far recovered, that he thinks to set out + to-morrow morning, with me and his wife, for London. + + “Mr. Brackenbury likewise seems to be better, with regard to + his bodily health; but he is married! And I shall not be much + disappointed if he soon takes leave of the Methodists. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +The following, which has not before been published, is kindly +furnished by Charles Reed, Esq., M.P. + + “LONDON, _November 3, 1780_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Disorderly walkers are better excluded than + retained; and I am well satisfied you will exclude no others. I + am glad you have made a beginning at Trowbridge. If it be + possible, say not one offensive word. But you must declare the + plain, genuine gospel; and, sooner or later, God will give you + His blessing. + + “I am, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +Another, equally characteristic, was sent to Zechariah Yewdall, +stationed in “Glamorganshire” circuit, which extended (from Llanelly +in Wales to Calvert in Gloucestershire) above a hundred miles, and was +traversed regularly every month. Mr. Yewdall was now in the second +year of his itinerancy, and, at Monmouth, had met with brutal +treatment.[374] The letter also refers to the principle involved in +Mr. M‘Nab’s affair. + + “LONDON, _December 3, 1780_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You mistake one thing. It is I, not the + conference, (according to the twelfth rule,) that station the + preachers; but I do it at the time of the conference, that I + may have the advice of my brethren. But I have no thought of + removing you from the Glamorganshire circuit; you are just in + your right place. But you say, ‘Many of the people are asleep.’ + They are; and you are sent to awaken them out of sleep. ‘But + they are dead.’ True; and you are sent to raise the dead. Good + will be done at Monmouth[375] and Neath in particular. Where no + good can be done, I would leave the old, and try new places. + But you have need to be all alive yourselves, if you would + impart life to others. And this cannot be without much self + denial. + + “I am, dear Zachary, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[376] + +After the conference at Bristol was concluded, Wesley set out for +Cornwall. Some time before this, Sir Harry Trelawney, a student of +Christ Church, Oxford, had become a zealous revivalist, and had begun +to preach at West Looe, where, in 1777, he became the pastor of a +congregation of his own raising, and which worshipped in a +meetinghouse fitted up at his own expense. The novelty of the +proceeding, and the rank of the preacher, created great excitement. +Sir Harry, the descendant of one of the seven bishops who were +committed to the Tower in the reign of James II., was made the hero of +a witty book, written by a clergyman of the Church of England, and +entitled, “The Spiritual Quixote; or the History of Geoffry Wildgoose, +Esq.” 3 vols., 12mo: 1773. The preaching baronet vindicated his +nonconformity in “A Letter addressed to the Rev. Thomas Alcock, Vicar +of Runcorn.” For a time, the Rev. John Clayton was his assistant, but, +in 1778, removed to the Weigh House congregation, in London. Soon +after, Sir Harry returned to Oxford; procured ordination in the +national establishment; was made a country rector in the west of +England; whilst his chapel at West Looe was ignominiously changed into +a house for converting barley into malt. He died in 1834. + +It was about the time of Wesley’s visit to Cornwall, that he wrote the +subjoined letter. Sir Harry had been a Calvinist, and had been +patronised by the Countess of Huntingdon’s connexion; but, having +renounced his Calvinian tenets, he was now regarded with disfavour. +Some communication had passed between him and Wesley on the subject; +Wesley knew his danger; and wrote to him as follows. + + “For a long time, I have had a desire to see you, but could not + find an opportunity. Indeed, I had reason to believe my company + would not be agreeable; as you were intimate with those who + think they do God service by painting me in the most frightful + colours. It gives me much satisfaction to find, that you have + escaped out of the hands of those warm men. It is not at all + surprising, that they should speak a little unkindly of you too + in their turn. It gave me no small satisfaction to learn from + your own lips the falsehood of their allegation. I believed it + false before, but could not affirm it so positively as I can do + now. + + “Indeed, it would not have been without precedent, if from one + extreme you had run into another. This was the case with that + great man, Dr. Taylor. For some years, he was an earnest + Calvinist; but, afterwards, judging he could not go far enough + from that melancholy system, he ran, not only into Arianism, + but into the very dregs of Socinianism. + + “You have need to be thankful on another account likewise; that + is, that your prejudices against the Church of England are + removing. Having had an opportunity of seeing several of the + churches abroad, and having deeply considered the several sorts + of Dissenters at home, I am fully convinced, that our own + Church, with all her blemishes, is nearer the scriptural plan + than any other in Europe. + + “I sincerely wish you may retain your former zeal for God; + only, that it may be a zeal according to knowledge. But there + certainly will be a danger of your sinking into a careless, + lukewarm state, without any zeal or spirit at all. As you were + surfeited with an irrational, unscriptural religion, you may + easily slide into no religion at all; or into a dead form, that + will never make you happy either in this world, or in that + which is to come. + + “Wishing every spiritual blessing, both to Lady Trelawney and + you, + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[377] + +Wesley, at the end of August, returned to Bristol, and here he spent +the month of September. He then set out for London, which he reached +on October 7. A week later he made a tour to Tunbridge Wells, and +other towns in Kent. After this, we find him, as usual, visiting the +societies in Northamptonshire, Oxfordshire, and Bedfordshire. The last +month of the year was chiefly employed in London. He read to the +society, and explained, the Large Minutes of conference, recently +published; and wrote: “I desire to do all things openly and above +board. I would have all the world, and especially all of our society, +see not only the steps we take, but the reasons why we take them.” He +visited Lord George Gordon in the Tower. He went with some of his +friends to the British Museum. He wrote his well known sermon on “This +is the true God and eternal life,” fully establishing the doctrine +which Joseph Benson, at the conference, had been accused of +denying--the Divinity of Christ.[378] He likewise wrote his “Thoughts +upon Jacob Behmen,” allowing the Teuton to be a good man, but charging +him with propounding “a crude, indigested philosophy, supported +neither by Scripture, nor reason, nor anything but his own _ipse +dixit_;” and with using “language that was never used since the world +began, queerness itself, mere dog Latin.” “None,” says Wesley, “can +understand it without much pains, perhaps not without reading him +thrice over. I would not read him thrice over on any consideration. +(1) Because it would be enough to crack any man’s brain to brood so +long over such unintelligible nonsense; and (2) because such a waste +of time might provoke God to give me up to a strong delusion to +believe a lie.”[379] + +Wesley concludes the year with the following entry in his journal. +“Sunday, December 31--We renewed our covenant with God. We had the +largest company that I ever remember; perhaps two hundred more than we +had last year. And we had the greatest blessing. Several received +either a sense of the pardoning love of God, or power to love Him with +all their heart.” + +Happy, happy old man! “I do not remember,” said he, only nine days +before the year 1780 was ended, “I do not remember to have felt +lowness of spirits for one quarter of an hour since I was born.”[380] + +It only remains to notice Wesley’s publications in 1780; and this +shall be done as briefly as possible. His letters on popery, his +revised minutes of the conferences, and his Thoughts upon Behmen, have +been already mentioned. Besides these, there were-- + +1. “Directions for Renewing our Covenant with God.” 12mo, 23 pages. + +2. “Reflections on the Rise and Progress of the American Rebellion.” +12mo, 96 pages. + +3. “The History of Henry, Earl Moreland.” Abridged. 2 vols., 12mo. + +It has been already stated, that this was a novel, written by Mr. +Brooke, and originally published, in five vols., in 1766, with the +title, “The Fool of Quality.” Dr. Adam Clarke once stated, that Mr. +Brooke’s nephew declared to him, that, “with the exception of a few +touches of colouring, everything in the book was founded in fact--even +the very incidents were facts.”[381] This might be so; but still the +colouring made the work a fiction; and that an old evangelist, like +Wesley, bordering on fourscore years of age, should revise, abridge, +publish, and circulate a novel, has always been a perplexity to a +certain section of Wesley’s admirers. John Easton, one of his +itinerants, belonged to these. After John had very freely condemned +the conduct of his great leader, Wesley proposed to him the following +interrogations in reference to three of the personages in this +remarkable book. + + _Wesley._--“Did you read Vindex, John?” + + _Easton._--“Yes, sir.” + + _W._--“Did you _laugh_, John?” + + _E._--“No, sir.” + + _W._--“Did you read Damon and Pythias, John?” + + _E._--“Yes, sir.” + + _W._--“Did you _cry_, John?” + + _E._--“No, sir.” + + _W._, lifting up his eyes, and clasping his hands, exclaimed: + “O earth--earth--earth!”[382] + +Whatever may be thought and said on the general subject of novels and +novel reading, all must admit, that “Henry, Earl Moreland,” is one of +the most unexceptionable ever published. Wesley writes: + + “I recommend it as the most excellent in its kind, that I have + seen, either in the English or any other language. The lowest + excellence therein is the style, which is not only pure in the + highest degree, not only clear and proper, every word being + used in its true genuine meaning, but frequently beautiful and + elegant, and, where there is room for it, truly sublime. But + what is of far greater value is the admirable sense, which is + conveyed herein: as it sets forth in full view most of the + important truths, which are revealed in the oracles of God. And + these are not only well illustrated, but also proved in an + easy, natural manner: so that the thinking reader is taught, + without any trouble, the most essential doctrines of religion. + + “But the greatest excellence of all in this treatise is, that + it continually strikes at the heart. It perpetually aims at + inspiring and increasing every right affection. And it does + this, not by dry, dull, tedious precepts, but by the liveliest + examples that can be conceived: by setting before your eyes one + of the most beautiful pictures, that was ever drawn in the + world. The strokes of this are so delicately fine, the touches + so easy, natural, and affecting, that I know not who can survey + it with tearless eyes, unless he has a heart of stone. I + recommend it, therefore, to all those who are already, or + desire to be, lovers of God and man.” + +The whole of this is strictly accurate; and if this is not enough to +justify Wesley in the eyes of faultfinders, like _earthy_ John Easton, +the task of doing so must be abandoned as a hopeless one. Besides, it +may be added, that, if Wesley sinned, his successors copied his +example; for, twenty-two years after Wesley’s death, the conference +book-room published a fourth edition of the novel which Wesley first +published in 1780. + +4. “A Collection of Hymns for the use of the People called +Methodists.” 12mo, 520 pages. + +Up to this period, the hymns and the books used in Methodist +congregations had been endlessly varying; now Wesley issued a book +which, with slight alterations, has been used from that time to this; +and prefixed the preface which has been read by millions; and from +which, therefore, we must content ourselves with quoting only the +concluding hint, which is far more needed now than even when first +published. + + “Many gentlemen have done my brother and me (though without + naming us) the honour to reprint many of our hymns. Now they + are perfectly welcome so to do, provided they print them just + as they are. But I desire they would not attempt to mend them; + for they really are not able. None of them is able to mend + either the sense or the verse. Therefore, I must beg of them + one of these two favours: either to let them stand just as they + are, to take them for better for worse; or to add the true + reading in the margin, or at the bottom of the page; that we + may no longer be accountable either for the nonsense or for the + doggerel of other men.” + +5. Wesley’s only other publication, in 1780, was his _Arminian +Magazine_, 8vo, 683 pages.[383] The work contains Goodwin’s Paraphrase +on Romans ix.; an extract from Bird’s “Fate and Destiny, inconsistent +with Christianity;” lives of Armelle Nicolas and Gregory Lopes; short +accounts of Thomas Lee, Alexander Mather, John Haime, Thomas Mitchell, +Thomas Taylor, Thomas Hanson, Thomas Hanby, and John Mason. There are +about fifty valuable letters; and about seventy poetic pieces. Also +Wesley’s “Thought on Necessity,” and “Thoughts upon Taste.” + +To enlarge concerning these is superfluous. The volume was quite equal +to the former ones; though Wesley confesses, that the portraits were +not yet such as he desired; and declares, that he will have better, or +none at all. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [356] _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 295. + + [357] _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 352. + + [358] As a specimen of popish jesuitry, it may be added, + that O’Leary’s Remarks upon Wesley’s Letter were + first printed in six successive numbers of the + _Freeman’s Journal_; but were afterwards reprinted + in London with the following title, “Mr. O’Leary’s + Remarks on the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s Letter in Defence + of the Protestant Associations in England, to which + are prefixed Mr. Wesley’s Letters.” This was a popish + deception, intended, no doubt, to cast upon Wesley + the odium incurred by the Protestant Association + during the Gordon riots. The truth is: (1) Wesley + had not written more than a few lines in defence of + the appeal of that Association. (2) His two replies + to O’Leary, published in the _Freeman’s Journal_, + were suppressed in O’Leary’s pamphlet. (3) A spurious + letter was inserted, and palmed on the public as + genuine, which Wesley declared was not his, and + one which he had never seen before O’Leary printed + it.--(_Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 295.) + + [359] _Methodist Magazine_, 1853, p. 785. + + [360] Manuscript. + + [361] _Methodist Magazine_, 1853, p. 786. + + [362] Banning’s Memoirs (private circulation). + + [363] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 379. + + [364] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 327. + + [365] Minutes of Methodist Conferences in America. + + [366] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 137. + + [367] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 392. + + [368] Dr. Coke, a young man of thirty-three, displayed, at + this period, a fussy officiousness, which scarcely + redounded to his honour. He wrote to Bradburn, to + the effect, that he suspected that he also was an + Arian; though it was only four years before, that + Thomas Taylor, at the London conference, had blamed + Bradburn for “preaching _too much_ on the Divinity of + Christ, and for being _too warm against the Arians_.” + (“Memoirs of Bradburn,” p. 225.) In an unpublished + letter, addressed to Bradburn, and dated October, + 1779, Wesley asks: “Is there any truth in the report + that John Hampson has converted you to Arianism?” + + [369] Benson’s Life, by Macdonald, p. 108. + + [370] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 137. + + [371] Manuscript letters. + + [372] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 117. + + [373] Minutes, 1780. + + [374] _Methodist Magazine_, 1795, p. 268. + + [375] Wesley’s words were verified. At Monmouth Mr. Yewdall + was mobbed by a bellowing rabble; but the society + increased one third. + + [376] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 10. + + [377] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 395. + + [378] _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 189. + + [379] Wesley’s Works, vol. ix., p. 491. + + [380] _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 185. + + [381] Everett’s Life of Clarke. + + [382] Ibid. + + [383] I am not quite sure of this. In 1780, a 12mo tract + of 12 pages was published with the following + title:--“Jesus, altogether Lovely: or, a Letter to + some of the Single Women of the Methodist Society. + London: Printed by R. Hawes; and sold at the New + Chapel, in the City Road; and at the Rev. Mr. + Wesley’s Preaching Houses, in town and country. + 1780.” The letter is dated, “Hoxton, March 10, 1763.” + It enforces chastity, poverty, and obedience; and is + written in a style strongly resembling Wesley’s. + + + + + 1781. + Age 78 + + +Wesley purposed to visit Ireland in 1781, but was prevented doing so; +and, hence, the months he was accustomed to spend in that island were +spent in an irregular itinerancy through England and Wales. He now +entered on the seventy-ninth year of his age; and, to obtain something +like a correct idea of his amazing energy and toil, it may be useful +to trace his footsteps more minutely than we have been wont to do +during the last few years. + +He writes: “January 1, 1781--We began, as usual, the service at four” +(in the morning) “praising Him who, maugre all our enemies, had +brought us safe to the beginning of another year.” + +At this period, his nephews, Charles and Samuel Wesley, were +attracting great attention by their musical performances. They had won +the friendship of the great musical composers, Dr. Boyce, Dr. Nares, +and Dr. Burney. Lords Le Despencer, Barrington, Aylesford, Dudley, and +others, were enraptured with them. The Earl of Mornington, for some +years, breakfasted weekly with them. Dr. Howard, the distinguished +organist, declared concerning Samuel, that he seemed to have “dropped +down from heaven.” Charles was introduced to George III., with whom he +became a great favourite. The result of this unparalleled popularity +was the institution, in Wesley’s brother’s house, of the series of +select concerts, already referred to, which were continued for several +years, the regular subscribers varying in number from thirty to fifty, +though eighty persons were often present; including not a few of the +English nobility, besides the Bishop of London, and the Danish and +Saxon ambassadors. On January 25, Wesley was there, and wrote: “I +spent an agreeable hour at a concert of my nephews. But I was a little +out of my element among lords and ladies. I love plain music and plain +company best.” + +It was during this brief sojourn in London, in the beginning of 1781, +that Wesley wrote his stinging sermon on “Little children, keep +yourselves from idols”;[384] and his able discourse on, “For this +purpose was the Son of God manifested, that He might destroy the works +of the devil.” In the former he terribly belabours the man of +business, who retires from the activities of town to the laziness of +country life, where his only employment is altering, enlarging, +rebuilding, or decorating the old mansion house he has purchased, and +improving the stables, outhouses, and grounds, without ever thinking +of the God of heaven any more than he thinks of the king of France. In +the latter sermon, he strikes a heavy blow at the heresy of Dr. Watts, +which Benson, at the conference of 1780, had been accused of +embracing. He writes: + + “I cannot at all believe the ingenious dream of Dr. Watts, + concerning the glorious humanity of Christ, which he supposes + to have existed before the world began, and to have been endued + with, I know not what, astonishing powers. Nay, I look upon + this to be an exceeding dangerous, yea, mischievous hypothesis; + as it quite excludes the force of very many Scriptures, which + have been hitherto thought to prove the Godhead of the Son. + And, I am afraid, it was the grand means of turning that great + man aside from the faith once delivered to the saints; that is, + if he was turned aside, if that beautiful soliloquy be genuine, + which is printed among his posthumous works, wherein he so + earnestly beseeches the Son of God not to be displeased, + because he cannot believe Him to be coequal and coeternal with + the Father.” + +Both these sermons enriched the _Arminian Magazine_ for 1781. In fact, +it is to the establishment of that periodical, that we are indebted +for many of the most elaborated sermons that Wesley ever published. +Besides the two above mentioned, Wesley, during the year 1781, wrote +at least three others. His sermon on “Zeal” is a remarkable +production, and was not inappropriate to the circumstances of a period +when so much excitement existed concerning popery. He says: + + “Fervour for _opinion_ is not Christian zeal. How innumerable + are the mischiefs which this species of false zeal has + occasioned in the Christian world! How many of the excellent of + the earth have been cut off, by zealots, for the senseless + opinion of transubstantiation! Fervour for _indifferent things_ + is not Christian zeal. How warmly did Bishop Ridley, and Bishop + Hooper, and other great men of that age, dispute about the + _sacerdotal vestments_! How eager was the contention, for + almost a hundred years, for and against wearing a surplice! Oh, + shame to man! I would as soon have disputed about a straw, or a + barleycorn!”[385] + +Another of his homilies, written in 1781,[386] was his able discourse +on the province of reason in matters of religion; and another was his +unique sermon on “The Brute Creation,” in which he unhesitatingly +propounds the doctrine, not only that the brute creation will live +again, but likewise, that, when restored, they will possess a far +higher state of being than they possess at present; in fact, that they +will then be made what beasts, birds, insects, and fishes were when +first created.[387] This may seem a wild theory for an octogenarian to +advance; but it deserves more attention, on that account, than if it +had been an imaginative rocket let off by a stripling in his teens. + +While on the subject of sermons, it may be added, that it was now +Wesley published, in his _Arminian Magazine_, his remarkable discourse +on the “Danger of Riches,”--the first of a series on that subject, +which he continued to issue to the end of life, and in which wealthy +Methodists and others are lashed with terrific power. “I do not +remember,” says he, “that in threescore years I have heard one sermon +preached on this subject. And what author, within the same term, has +declared it from the press? I do not know one. I have seen two or +three who just touch upon it; but none that treat of it professedly. I +have myself frequently touched upon it in preaching, and twice in what +I have published to the world: once in explaining our Lord’s sermon on +the mount, and once in the discourse on the mammon of unrighteousness. +But I have never yet either published or preached any sermon expressly +upon the subject. It is high time I should; that I should at length +speak as strongly and explicitly as I can, in order to leave a full +and clear testimony behind me, whenever it pleases God to call me +hence.” + +One extract from this striking sermon must suffice. + + “O ye Methodists, hear the word of the Lord! I have a message + from God to all men; but to _you_ above all. For above forty + years, I have been a servant to you and to your fathers. And I + have not been as a reed shaken by the wind; I have not varied + in my testimony. I have testified to you the very same thing, + from the first day even until now. But _who hath believed our + report_? I fear not many rich. I fear there is need to apply to + some of _you_ those terrible words of the apostle: ‘Go to now, + ye rich men! Weep and howl for the miseries which shall come + upon you. Your gold and silver is cankered, and the rust of + them shall witness against you, and shall eat your flesh as it + were fire.’ Certainly it will, unless you both save all you + can, and give all you can. But who of you hath considered this, + since you first heard the will of the Lord concerning it? Who + is now determined to consider and practise it? By the grace of + God, begin to-day! + + “O ye _lovers of money_, hear the word of the Lord! Suppose ye, + that money, though multiplied as the sand of the sea, can give + you happiness? Then you are _given up to a strong delusion, to + believe a lie_--a palpable lie, confuted daily by a thousand + experiments. Open your eyes. Look all around you! Are the + richest men the happiest? Have those the largest share of + content, who have the largest possessions? Is not the very + reverse true? Is it not a common observation, that the richest + of men are, in general, the most discontented, the most + miserable? Had not the far greater part of them more content, + when they had less money? Look into your own breasts. If you + are increased in goods, are you proportionably increased in + happiness? You have more substance; but have you more content? + You know the contrary. You know that, in seeking happiness from + riches, you are only striving to drink out of empty cups. And + let them be painted and gilded ever so finely, they are empty + still.” + +Before we recur to Wesley’s journal, an unpublished letter may be +acceptable. + +The preachers now labouring in the Sheffield circuit were James +Rogers, Alexander M‘Nab, and Samuel Bardsley. Mr. Rogers writes: “One +of my fellow labourers did not lovingly draw in the same yoke, and +soon after left the connexion. The uneasiness occasioned in the +society by his disaffection, for some months, threatened us with +disagreeable consequences; and our enemies expected a considerable +division among us; but ‘He that sitteth above the waterfloods’ found +means to prevent it. So that instead of losing in our number, we +found, at the end of the year, an increase of ninety-seven members.” + +Of course, this refers to Alexander M‘Nab, who had rebelled against +Wesley’s authority in 1779. Samuel Bardsley was a man of peace, and, +moreover, one of the most laborious preachers Wesley had. Besides his +pulpit labours, he had rendered great service to the Sheffield +society, by a preaching excursion, undertaken for the purpose of +obtaining subscriptions for their chapel. His collecting book is +before us, with a list of the collections he made, and the donations +he obtained, in a tour extending from Sheffield to York, thence to +Hull, and thence, along the east coast, to Newcastle on Tyne. +Altogether, he gathered the sum of £89 15_s._ 11_d._; and, in doing +this, made thirty-one public collections, amounting, in the aggregate, +to £30 15_s._ 6¾_d._, and begged the balance of £59 0_s._ +4¼_d._, of considerably more than three hundred different +subscribers, including in this number the inhabitants of not fewer +than forty-four towns and villages, whose munificent donations are +lumped together. When Bardsley had completed his tour, Wesley wrote +him as follows. + + “NEAR LONDON, _February 10, 1781_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--I did not doubt but you would agree with the + people of Sheffield. They are a loving and affectionate people. + I am glad you were so successful in your labour of love for + them. That assistance was very seasonable. + + “That misunderstanding, which was troublesome for a season, may + now be buried for ever. I am perfectly well satisfied, both of + the honesty and affection, both of brother Woodcroft and + brother Birks. So Satan’s devices are brought to nought. + + “I doubt not but James Rogers and you recommend our books in + every place, and the magazines in particular, which will be a + testimony for me, when I am no more seen. + + “I am, dear Sammy, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[388] + +On the 12th of February, Wesley set out on a week’s excursion to +Norfolk and back again to London, preaching at least ten sermons on +the way;[389] and, in wintry weather, travelling more than two hundred +miles. + +Having spent a few more days in London, he then started, on Sunday, +March 4, (as he thought,) for Ireland, but spent a fortnight in the +vicinity of Bath and Bristol. Leaving Bristol on March 19, eleven days +were occupied in reaching Manchester, during which he preached more +than twenty sermons, some of them in the open air. + +On March 30, he opened the chapel in Oldham Street, Manchester. He +writes: “Friday, March 30--I opened the new chapel at Manchester, +about the size of that in London. The whole congregation behaved with +the utmost seriousness. I trust much good will be done in this place. +Sunday, April 1--I began reading prayers at ten o’clock. Our country +friends flocked in from all sides. At the communion was such a sight +as I am persuaded was never seen in Manchester before: eleven or +twelve hundred communicants at once; and all of them fearing God.” + +Thus began the history of a building, which, next to the chapel in +City Road, is the most interesting Methodist edifice in existence. +First of all, the Manchester Methodists had been located in a +miserable room on or near the present site of Bateman’s Buildings. +Removing thence, in 1750, they worshipped for thirty years in their +first chapel, which, up to a recent period, was a warehouse in Birchin +Lane.[390] Among the first members, in that old chapel, were: Mary +Bromley, for seventy years a Methodist, who died happy in God, at the +age of eighty-nine, in 1826:--Mrs. Leech, an upright follower of +Christ, who expired in the full assurance of a blessed immortality in +1770:--John Morris, whose autobiography, in the _Arminian Magazine_ +for 1795, will be found to be full of more than romantic +interest:--Mr. Fildes, who, in the same year in which Raikes began his +work at Gloucester, opened a Sunday-school in a Manchester cellar, a +second in a garret, and a third in the first room in Manchester built +expressly for Sunday-school purposes, a room erected at Mr. Fildes’ +own expense, behind his own dwelling house, in the neighbourhood of +London Road:[391]--Adam Oldham, a feltmaker, one of the first trustees +of Birchin Lane chapel,[392] who lived in a house on the site which +the Albion Hotel now occupies, for many years a useful Methodist,[393] +but afterwards a rich backslider, to whom Oldham Street owes its +name:--Richard Barlow, who, for sixty-five years, rose at half-past +four in summer, and at five in winter:--Mr. Brierley, a member of +Peter Kenworthy’s class, the leading singer in Oldham Street chapel, +and afterwards a magistrate:--John Moseley, a poor hatter in Millgate, +the grandfather of Sir Oswald Moseley, from whom Moseley Street +derived its name:--and Mrs. Bennett, a relative of John Moseley’s, and +the first female classleader in Manchester.[394] We wish we had space +for details respecting these old Manchester Methodist worthies, who +deserve far more honourable record than they have yet received. + +From Manchester, Wesley went to Bolton, where he writes: “The society +here are true, original Methodists. They are not conformed to the +world, either in its maxims, its spirit, or its fashions; but are +simple followers of the Lamb; consequently they increase both in grace +and number.” + +This was a high compliment to pay to George Escrick and his friends. +Their old chapel in New Acres had been converted into cottages; and, +in 1776, they had built another in Ridgway Gates, though not without a +united and great effort. The Rev. Mr. Fowles, a clergyman, had the +management of a sandbed from which they had to obtain their sand; and +hearing of their intentions, he announced, that, after the expiration +of five days, the sand would be charged half-a-crown a load. This, to +the poor Methodists, was a serious matter; but George Escrick was a +man of too much energy to be easily defeated. Accordingly, he, at +once, requested all the Methodists, young and old, strong and feeble, +active and otherwise, to repair with him to the sandpit, and to dig +and convey away all the sand they needed. To a man, they obeyed +George’s injunction, and, in a single day, got as much as their +intended chapel was likely to require. Michael Fenwick was then their +preacher, and kept running over the half-a-mile distance, between the +site of the new chapel and the clerical sandbed, encouraging the +people in their task, and, at one time, wanting to sing the hymn +beginning with “Before Jehovah’s awful throne”; but blunt George +Escrick, the weaver, imperatively stopped his spiritual superior, +telling him to take a spade in his hand, for there was a time for all +things, and this was a time to dig. + +In this old Ridgway Gates chapel, William Grime used to conduct a band +meeting every Sunday morning at four o’clock; and, beneath it, Parson +Greenwood, one of the circuit preachers, whose only home was two +neighbouring attics, used to keep his victuals.[395] The head of the +circuit was Liverpool, and the following were the munificent sums +contributed quarterly, by the several societies, in 1776, when the +chapel was completed. Liverpool, £5 8_s._ 9_d._; Bolton, £7 14_s._ +7_d._; Preston, 11_s._; Wigan, £1 10_s._; Meols, 11_s._; Top of Coal +Pits, 17_s._; Edgeworth, 10_s._ 6_d._; Moulden Water, 7_s._; +Shackerley, 10_s._; Aspul Moor, 7_s._; Chowbent, 10_s._ 6_d._; +Warrington, £1 1_s._; Northwich, £1 1_s._; Budworth, 12_s._ 3_d._; +Little Leigh, £1 9_s._ 6_d._; and Lamberhead Green, 7_s._ 6_d._ Such +was Liverpool circuit in 1776; and, out of these Methodist +contributions, three Methodist preachers and their families had to be +supported. No wonder that the cupboard, beneath the pulpit of the old +chapel, was big enough to serve Parson Greenwood for a pantry. + +From Bolton, Wesley went to Wigan, and preached a funeral sermon for +Betty Brown, one of the first members of Wigan society, “beloved of +God, the delight of His children, a dread to wicked men, and a torment +to devils.” + +Leaving Wigan, Wesley proceeded to Chester, and thence to Alpraham, +where he did for “good old sister Cawley, a mother in Israel, and a +pattern of all good works,” what he had done for Betty Brown. Arriving +at Warrington, he says: “I put a stop to a bad custom, which was +creeping in here: a few men, who had fine voices, sang a psalm which +no one knew, in a tune fit for an opera, wherein three, four, or five +persons sung different words at the same time! What an insult upon +common sense! What a burlesque upon public worship! No custom can +excuse such a mixture of profaneness and absurdity.” + +Desiring to reach Ireland as soon as possible, Wesley embarked at +Liverpool, on the 12th of April; but, on getting out to sea, was +overtaken with a storm; and, in an hour, was so affected as he had not +been for forty years before. For two days, he was unable to swallow +anything solid larger than a pea, and was bruised and sore from head +to foot, and ill able to turn himself in bed. The sea grew rougher; +the horses of Wesley and his companions became turbulent; and the +hatches were closed. Water, three feet in depth, was in the hold; the +ship refused to obey the helm, and was furiously driving on lee shore. +Wesley says: “I called our brethren, Floyd, Snowden, and Bradford, to +prayers; and we found free access to the throne of grace. Soon after, +we got, I know not how, into Holyhead harbour, after being +sufficiently buffeted by the winds and waves for two days and two +nights. The more I considered, the more I was convinced, it was not +the will of God I should go to Ireland at this time. So we went into +the stage coach without delay, and the next evening came to Chester.” + +Baffled in his purpose to visit Ireland, Wesley set out on a preaching +tour to Whitchurch, Shrewsbury, Brecon, Broseley, Worcester, +Brecknock, Carmarthen, Pembroke, Haverfordwest, Tracoon, Newport, +Narberth, Llanelly, Swansea, Neath, Bridgend, Cowbridge, Cardiff, and +Monmouth. On the 16th of May, he got back to Worcester, having +completed the circuit in a month, and preached about thirty times. + +He now proceeded to Kidderminster, Salop, Whitchurch, Nantwich, +Northwich, and, on May 18, arrived in Manchester, having preached each +night and morning. + +At Manchester, he writes: “I preached a funeral sermon for Mary +Charlton, an Israelite indeed. From the hour that she first knew the +pardoning love of God, she never lost sight of it for a moment. Eleven +years ago, she believed that God had cleansed her from all sin; and +she showed, that she had not believed in vain, by her holy and +unblamable conversation.” + +Molly Charlton was the sweetheart of good old Samuel Bardsley, the +only one he ever had. They wished to marry; but the difficulty of +providing for married preachers was so great, that Wesley and Pawson +interfered, and the nuptial engagement was broken off. In four quarto +manuscript volumes, containing Bardsley’s diary, and in Pawson’s +letter concerning this business, and likewise the letter of poor +disappointed Molly (all in the writer’s possession), there are some +racy facts, and traits of personal character, which may be given to +the public at some future time. + +Leaving Manchester on May 21, Wesley made his way to Warrington, +Chowbent, Bolton, Kabb, Blackburn, and Preston. + +In reference to the last mentioned place, he writes: “May 24--I went +on to Preston, where the old prejudice seems to be quite forgotten. +The little society has fitted up a large and convenient room, where I +preached to a candid audience. Every one seemed to be considerably +affected.” + +Who was the founder of this little society? Twelve years previous to +Wesley’s visit, John Wood, one of the first Methodists at Padiham, +attended Preston sessions, to obtain a licence to preach. Having +granted it, one of the magistrates, a clergyman, seeing a number of +rude and noisy people outside the sessions house, said to John, +perhaps with more sarcasm than sincerity: “There, go and reform that +crowd!” John bowed, thanked his worship for his licence, left the +court, entered the crowd in full authority, and preached in +peace.[396] Six years after this, in 1775, Samuel Bradburn formed the +first Methodist class in Preston;[397] and now, in 1781, Martha +Thompson, Roger Crane, William Bramwell, of immortal memory, and a few +others, had hired an old calendering house, in Lord Street, for a +place of meeting, and had fairly begun a work in proud Preston, which, +despite the popery of the place, has grown into one of the most +prosperous societies in the kingdom. + +Wesley next proceeded to the Isle of Man, where he spent eight days, +“visited the island round, east, south, north, and west”; preached, at +least, a dozen times; and, in a population of thirty thousand, found +above two thousand Methodists, with a score of “stout, well looking” +local preachers, not surpassed in England. “I was thoroughly +convinced,” says he, “that we have no such circuit as this, either in +England, Scotland, or Ireland. It is shut up from the world; and, +having little trade, is visited by scarce any strangers. Here are no +papists, no Dissenters of any kind, no Calvinists, no disputers. Here +is no opposition, either from the governor, from the bishop, or from +the bulk of the clergy. One or two of them did oppose for a time; but +they seem now to understand better. So that we have now rather too +little than too much reproach. The natives are a plain, artless, +simple people; unpolished, that is, unpolluted; few of them are rich +or genteel; the far greater part, moderately poor. The local preachers +are men of faith and love, knit together in one mind and one judgment. +They speak either Manx or English, and follow a regular plan, which +the assistant gives them monthly.” + +On leaving the Isle of Man, Wesley proceeded to Newcastle, preaching, +on the way, at Cockermouth, Ballantyne, and Carlisle. + +Can it be that this flying evangelist was an old man of nearly eighty? +No wonder that he sometimes sang-- + + “Oh that without one lingering groan + I may the welcome word receive, + My body with my charge lay down, + And cease at once to work and live!” + +Without work, Wesley could not live. The following unpublished letter, +written at this period, is strongly characteristic of the man. It was +addressed to Samuel Bradburn, at Keighley. + + “_June 16, 1781._ + + “DEAR SAMMY,--We have no supernumerary preachers, except John + Furz, who is so from old age. If John Oliver lives till the + conference, and desires it, I suppose he may be upon the same + footing. The more exercise he uses, winter or summer, the more + health he will have. I can face the north wind at seventy-seven + better than I could at seven-and-twenty. But if you _moan over + him_, you will kill him outright. A word in your ear. I am but + half pleased with Christopher Hopper’s proceedings.[398] I do + not admire _fair weather preachers_. You must stop local + preachers who are loaded with debt. There are few healthier + places in England than Keighley. Neither Dublin nor Cork is to + compare with it. But have a care! or you will kill Betsy! Do + not constrain God to take her away! + + “I am, dear Sammy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Wesley spent eight days at Newcastle, and in its vicinity, and +preached, at least, ten or a dozen times. He then visited his +societies between there and York. At Thirsk, in a letter to his +brother, Wesley wrote: + + “THIRSK, _June 27, 1781_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--This is the last day of my seventy-eighth year; + and (such is the power of God) I feel as if it were my + twenty-eighth. Next Saturday, I expect to be at Epworth; the + second, at Boston; the third, at Sheffield. I take the + opportunity of a broken year, to visit those parts of + Lincolnshire, which I have not seen before, but once, these + twenty years. + + “From several, I have lately heard, that God has blessed your + preaching. See your calling! ‘Cease at once to work and live!’ + Peace be with all your spirits! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[399] + +Two days after this, Wesley arrived at Epworth, and wrote: “I have now +preached thrice a day for seven days following; but it is just the +same as if it had been but one.” Twelve days were spent in +Lincolnshire, during which he preached more than a score of sermons. +Among other places, Grantham was favoured with his ministry. He +writes: “July 9--I preached at Grantham, in the open air, for no house +would contain the congregation; and none made the least disturbance.” + +At the village of Welby, the Rev. W. Dodwell was minister; and, in his +church, Wesley preached twice on the day before he preached at +Grantham. Mr. Dodwell was the pastor of Welby parish for nearly half a +century, and died in 1824, when he presented, by deed of gift, £10,000 +to the Wesleyan Missionary Society, and an equal sum to the British +and Foreign Bible Society.[400] He was present at Wesley’s conference +of preachers in 1782.[401] + +After visiting many other societies in Lincolnshire during the next +ten days, Wesley, on July 23, “passed into Yorkshire,” and preached at +Yeadon, Bradford, Halifax, Greetland, Huddersfield, Longwood House, +Mirfield, Daw Green, Birstal, Tadcaster, York, Malton, Scarborough, +Beverley, Hull, and Pocklington; and, at the beginning of August, +arrived in Leeds, for the purpose of holding his annual conference; +but, before giving an account of its proceedings, two letters to two +ladies, both written on the same day, will be acceptable. The first +was to his niece, Miss Sarah Wesley, then a young lady about +twenty--afterwards a personal friend of a large and distinguished +literary circle, including Mrs. Hannah More, Miss Porter, Miss Aikin, +Miss Edgeworth, Mrs. Barbauld, and others,--and who died in 1828, at +the age of sixty-eight, some of her last words being, “I have peace, +but not joy.”[402] + + “NEAR LEEDS, _July 17, 1781_. + + “MY DEAR SALLY,--Without an _endeavour_ to please God, and to + give up our own will, we never shall attain His favour. But + till we have attained it, till we have the Spirit of adoption, + we cannot actually give up our own wills to Him. Shall I tell + you freely what I judge to be the grand hindrance to your + attaining it? Yea, to your attaining more health both of body + and mind than you have ever had, or, at least, for a long + season? I believe it is, what very few people are aware of, + intemperance in sleep. All are intemperate in sleep, who sleep + more than nature requires; and how much it does require is + easily known. There is, indeed, no universal rule,--none that + will suit all constitutions. But, after all the observations + and experience I have been able to make for upwards of fifty + years, I am fully persuaded that men, in general, need between + six and seven hours’ sleep in twenty-four; and women, in + general, a little more,--namely between seven and eight. + + “But what ill consequences are there in lying longer in + bed,--suppose nine hours in four-and-twenty? + + “1. It hurts the body. Whether you sleep or no, (and, indeed, + it commonly prevents sound sleep,) it, as it were, soddens and + parboils the flesh, and sows the seeds of numerous disorders; + of all nervous diseases in particular, as weakness, faintness, + lowness of spirits, nervous headaches, and consequent weakness + of sight. + + “2. It hurts the mind; it weakens the understanding; it blunts + the imagination; it weakens the memory; it dulls all the nobler + affections. It takes off the edge of the soul, impairs its + vigour and firmness, and infuses a wrong softness, quite + inconsistent with the character of a good soldier of Jesus + Christ. It grieves the Holy Spirit of God, and prevents, or, at + least, lessens, those blessed influences which tend to make + you, not almost, but altogether, a Christian. + + “I advise you, therefore, from this day forward, not trusting + in yourself, but in Him that raiseth the dead, to take exactly + so much sleep as nature requires. If you need between seven and + eight hours, then, in the name of God, begin this very night, + in spite of all temptation to the contrary. Lie down at ten + o’clock, and rise between five and six, whether you sleep or + no. If your head aches in the day, bear it. In a week you will + sleep sound. If you can take this advice, you may receive more + from, + + “My dear Sally, yours most affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[403] + +The other letter was addressed to Miss Bishop, who became a Methodist +about the year 1767, and who, from that time, had been one of Wesley’s +correspondents. Many of his most spiritual letters were written to +this Christian lady, who, though poor, was a gentlewoman. For some +years, she had kept a school in Bath or its neighbourhood; but, in +1777, had been seized with spitting of blood, and had been thrown upon +the kindness of her friends in Bristol.[404] Recently, however, she +had commenced another school at Keynsham, which, said Wesley, “is +worthy to be called a Christian school;”[405] though, it would seem, +some of the Bristol people wished to make it more fashionable than +Wesley liked. + + “NEAR LEEDS, _July 17, 1781_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--If I live to meet the society in Bristol + again, I shall kill or cure the fault of those unwise and + unkind parents, who make their children finer than themselves. + I shall make their ears tingle. As to you, I advise you, first, + to be a Bible Christian yourself, inwardly and outwardly. Be + not a hair’s breadth more conformable to the fashions of the + world than you were when I saw you last. Then, train up your + children in the selfsame way. Say to them, with all mildness + and firmness, ‘Be ye followers of me, even as I am of Christ.’ + Whoever is pleased or displeased, keep to this; to _Christian, + primitive simplicity_. Perhaps you will at first lose some + scholars thereby; but regard it not: God will provide you more. + And be assured, nothing shall be wanting that is in the power + of, + + “My dear sister, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[406] + +Two or three other letters may be given here. The first is copied from +the original now before us, and, we believe, has not before been +published. + + “NEAR LEEDS, _July 25, 1781_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--As long as you give yourself up to God + without reserve, you may be assured He will give you His + blessing. Indeed, you have already received a thousand + blessings; but the greatest of all is yet behind,--Christ in a + sinless heart, reigning the Lord of every motion there. It is + good for you to hold fast what you have attained, and to be + continually aspiring after this. And you will never find more + life in your own soul than while you are earnestly exhorting + others to go on to perfection. Many will blame you for doing + it; but regard not that. Go on, through honour and dishonour. + _This one thing I do_, is your motto; I will save my own soul + and them that hear me. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +Wesley had told his niece, that, if she took his advice with respect +to sleep, she might hear from him again. It seems, the advice was +adopted; hence the following letter, written seven weeks after the +former one. + + “BRISTOL, _September 4, 1781_. + + “MY DEAR SALLY,--It is certain the Author of our nature + designed that we should not destroy, but regulate, our desire + for knowledge. What course you may take in order to this, I + will now briefly point out. + + “1. You want to know God, in order to enjoy Him in time and + eternity. + + “2. All you want to know of Him is contained in one book, the + Bible. And all that you learn is to be referred to this, either + directly or remotely. + + “3. Would it not be well, then, to spend, at least, an hour a + day in reading and meditating on the Bible? reading, every + morning and evening, a portion of the Old and New Testament, + with the Explanatory Notes? + + “4. Might you not read two or three hours in the morning, and + one or two in the afternoon? When you are tired of severer + studies, you may relax your mind by history or poetry. + + “5. The first thing you should understand a little of is + grammar. You may read first Kingswood English Grammar, and then + Bishop Lowth’s Introduction. + + “6. You should acquire, if you have not already, some knowledge + of arithmetic. Dilworth’s Arithmetic would suffice. + + “7. For geography, I think you need only read over Randal’s or + Guthrie’s Geographical Grammar. + + “8. Watts’ Logic is not a very good one; but I believe you + cannot find a better. + + “9. In natural philosophy, you have all that you need to know + in the ‘Survey of the Wisdom of God in Creation.’ But you may + add the Glasgow abridgment of Mr. Hutchinson’s works. + + “10. With any, or all, of the foregoing studies, you may + intermix that of history. You may begin with Rollin’s Ancient + History; and afterwards read, in order, the Concise History of + the Church, Burnet’s History of the Reformation, the Concise + History of England, Clarendon’s History of the Rebellion, + Neal’s History of the Puritans, his History of New England, and + Robertson’s History of America. + + “11. In metaphysics, you may read Locke’s Essay on the Human + Understanding, and Malebranche’s Search after Truth. + + “12. For poetry, you may read Spenser’s Fairy Queen, and select + parts of Shakspeare, Fairfax, or Hoole; Godfrey of Bouillon, + Paradise Lost, the Night Thoughts, and Young’s Moral and Sacred + Poems. + + “13. You may begin and end with divinity; in which I will only + add, to the books mentioned before, Bishop Pearson on the + Creed, and the Christian Library. By this course of study, you + may gain all the knowledge which any reasonable Christian + needs. But remember, before all, in all, and above all, your + great point is, to know the only true God, and Jesus Christ + whom He hath sent. + + “I am, my dear Sally, your affectionate uncle, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[407] + +Though Miss Wesley was now in her twenty-first year, and had yet to +begin Kingswood English Grammar, still, assuming that henceforward she +acted upon the advice of her venerable uncle, it is not surprising, +that she ultimately became the well informed woman which her father’s +biographer says she was. Her brother Charles was three years older +than herself; her brother Samuel six years younger. The brothers were +musical prodigies; their uncle took a deep interest in their welfare; +and wrote to Charles, on August 4, and September 8, 1781, as follows. + + “MY DEAR CHARLES,--There is a debt of love, which I should have + paid before now; but I must not delay it any longer. I have + long observed you with a curious eye; not as a musician, but as + an immortal spirit, that is come forth from God the Father of + spirits, and is returning to Him in a few moments. But have you + well considered this? Methinks, if you had, it would be ever + uppermost in your thoughts. For what trifles, in comparison of + this, are all the shining baubles in the world! God has + favoured you with many advantages. You have health, strength, + and a thousand outward blessings. And why should you not have + all inward blessings, which God hath purchased for those that + love Him? You are good humoured, mild, and harmless; but, + unless you are born again, you cannot see the kingdom of God! + You are now, as it were, on the crisis of your fate; just + launching into life, and ready to fix your choice, whether you + will have God or the world for your happiness. You cannot avoid + being very frequently among elegant men and women, that are + without God in the world; but, as your _business_, rather than + your _choice_, calls you into the fire, I trust that you will + not be burnt; seeing He, whom you desire to serve, is able to + deliver you, even out of the burning fiery furnace. + + “I am, dear Charles, your very affectionate uncle, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[408] + +Charles Wesley, junior, who had been already introduced to the court +of George III., lived to become the organist of George IV., and the +musical preceptor of the long lamented Princess Charlotte. He never +married; but resided, first with his widowed mother, and then with his +sister Sarah,--was a man of deep devotional feeling, an attendant at +Methodist chapels, a lover of Methodist preachers, and died, in 1834, +humming Handel’s music, and was buried in the same grave as his father +and mother in Marylebone churchyard. Poor Samuel was seduced into the +popish church before he arrived at the age of twenty; and, thereby, +brought the grey hairs of his father with sorrow to the grave. He +composed a high mass for the use of the chapel of Pope Pius VI., and +received that pontiff’s thanks.[409] Like many others, he found it an +easy step from popery to infidelity, and wrote: “In this life, my only +consolation is in the belief of fatalism, which, although a gloomy +asylum, is as bright as I can bear, till convinced of that truth which +a launch into the great gulf only can demonstrate.” He survived his +brother Charles and his sister Sarah; in his last days became a +penitent; died in 1837; and was buried in the sepulchre of his +parents.[410] + +The conference of 1781 was a memorable gathering. It was preceded, on +Sunday, August 5, by a service in the parish church, at Leeds, such as +was probably never witnessed within its walls, either before or since. +Wesley preached; eighteen clergymen, inclusive of himself, Coke, and +Fletcher, were present; and, at the Lord’s supper, there were about +eleven hundred communicants, the ordinance being administered by +Wesley and ten other ministers.[411] + +Connexional affairs created anxiety. Thomas Taylor, in his manuscript +diary, remarks: “I feel much concern respecting several things; but +how to have them remedied I cannot tell. Many things are exceedingly +wrong; but whom to trust to attempt amendment I know not. I sometimes +think, the whole head is sick, and the whole heart faint.” + +Wesley writes: “August 6--I desired Mr. Fletcher, Dr. Coke, and four +more of our brethren, to meet every evening, that we might consult +together on any difficulty that occurred. On August 7, our conference +began, at which were present about seventy preachers, whom I had +severally invited to come and assist me with their advice, in carrying +on the great work of God.” + +The burden of so many preachers being present was found to be greater +than the Leeds society could conveniently bear; and it was agreed that +every preacher should pay the expenses of his horse keep during the +conference sittings. There were more preachers’ wives in the connexion +than there were houses to lodge them, or money to find them +maintenance; and it was resolved, that no more married preachers +should be admitted, except in cases of necessity.[412] Some of the +preachers had printed, both in verse and prose, without Wesley’s +consent or correction. Among others, James Kershaw had recently issued +a quarto sized book, of 134 pages, entitled, “The Methodist; attempted +in Plain Metre.” It was thought, that these productions had brought a +reproach upon the Methodists, and had hindered the spreading of more +profitable books; and it was determined that, in future, no preacher +should print anything till it had been corrected by Wesley, and that +the profits thereof should go into the common stock. Wesley’s Notes on +the Old Testament had now been published sixteen years, and yet the +edition had not been sold. To get rid of the remaining copies, it was +directed that they should be sold at half price. + +A number of Methodists at Baildon, in Yorkshire, had written to +Wesley, stating that, in accordance with his instructions, they +attended the services of their parish church; but their minister +preached what they considered to be “dangerously false doctrine,” +inasmuch as he publicly declared, that men “must not hope to be +perfected in love, on this side eternity”; and this had made them +doubt whether they ought to hear him. Wesley laid their letter before +the conference, and, as the difficulty applied to many others besides +the Methodists at Baildon, he invited a friendly and free discussion. +It was unanimously agreed: (1) That it was highly expedient, that all +the Methodists, who had been bred therein, should attend the service +of the church as often as possible. But that, (2) If the minister +began either to preach the absolute decrees, or to rail at, and +ridicule Christian perfection, they should quietly go out of the +church; yet attend it again the next opportunity.” Wesley adds: “I +have, since that time, revolved this matter over and over in my mind; +and the more I consider it, the more I am convinced, this was the best +answer that could be given. Only, I must earnestly caution our friends +not to be critical; not to make a man an offender for a word; no, nor +for a few sentences, which any who believe the decrees may drop +without design.”[413] “It is a delicate and important point, on which +I cannot lay down any general rule. All I can say, at present, is, if +it does not hurt you, hear them; if it does, refrain. Be determined by +your own conscience.”[414] + +But this was not all that occurred, on the Church question, at the +conference of 1781. One of the principal Methodists, in Leeds, was +William Hey, now in the forty-fifth year of his age, a medical man of +great repute, an intimate friend and correspondent of Dr. Priestley, +and who had been a Methodist for seven-and-twenty years. Mr. Hey +intimated to Wesley his desire to address the conference, and to offer +some suggestions and advice; declaring, at the same time, that, if his +proposals were rejected, he could no longer remain a member of the +Methodist society. By Wesley’s permission he began to read a paper, to +the effect, that Dissenting ideas had been, for many years, gradually +growing among the Methodists. In proof of this, he held that the +Methodists preached in places already supplied with pious ministers; +that meetings in some instances were held in church hours; that the +intervals of church service were so filled up with public and private +assemblies, that there was no time for suitable refreshment, nor +opportunity for instructing families; that many of the largest +societies rarely went to church, and some never carried their children +there; and that church ministers, who formed societies for private +instruction, were looked upon with an envious eye. Such were the +complaints which Mr. Hey intended to lay before the conference; but, +as he proceeded, the marks of disapprobation were such that Wesley +interposed, and said: “As there is much other business before us, +brother Hey must defer reading the remainder of his paper to another +time.” + +Brother Hey forthwith left the society; a few months later he was +elected alderman; and, more than once, filled the office of chief +magistrate in the town of Leeds. Of his ability and piety there can be +no question; but Wesley was not prepared to allow him to be the +dictator of the Methodists.[415] + +No sooner was the conference over than the venerable Wesley again set +out on his gospel wanderings. He preached at Sheffield, and then, +taking coach with Dr. Coke, travelled day and night till he arrived in +London. Two days were spent in the metropolis, and then off he set, on +Sunday night, August 19, by coach to Cornwall. We need not follow him. +Suffice it to say, that, in eight days, he preached in Cornwall, at +least, thirteen sermons, five of them in the open air, and one in +Gwennap Pit, to a congregation computed at more than twenty thousand +people. + +On September 6, he got back to Bristol, in the neighbourhood of which, +according to his custom, he spent a month. While here, he wrote the +following characteristic letter to Mr. Elijah Bush, a young +schoolmaster at Midsomer Norton, who wished to marry a lady to whom +his father and mother objected. + + “COLEFORD, _September 11, 1781_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I was much concerned yesterday, when I heard + you were likely to marry a woman against the consent of your + parents. I have never, in an observation of fifty years, known + such a marriage attended with a blessing. I know not how it + should be, since it is flatly contrary to the fifth + commandment. I told my own mother, pressing me to marry, ‘I + dare not allow you a positive voice herein; I dare not marry a + person because you bid me. But I must allow you a negative + voice: I will marry no person if you forbid. I know it would be + a sin against God.’ Take care what you do. Mr. S. is not a + proper judge: he hopes to separate you from the Methodists; and + I expect, if you take this step, that will be the end. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[416] + +Mr. Bush acted upon Wesley’s advice; became the leader of the Midsomer +Norton society, and a local preacher; and died a faithful Methodist in +1845.[417] + +There are other unhappy marriages besides those contrary to the fifth +commandment. Wesley’s was one. For thirty years, he paid a fearful +penalty for his rash act in 1751; but now his matrimonial misery +ended. Leaving Bristol on October 7, and preaching on his way at +Devizes, Sarum, Winchester, and in the Isle of Wight, he arrived in +London on October 12, and, under the same date, wrote in his journal: +“I was informed my wife died on Monday.” (October 8.) “This evening +she was buried, though I was not informed of it till a day or two +after.” + +Mourning for such a wife would have been hypocrisy. Three days after, +on October 15, the widower set out to visit his societies in +Oxfordshire. On a similar errand, he went off to Norfolk. On November +5, he began meeting the London classes, and says: “I found a +considerable increase in the society. This I impute chiefly to a small +company of young persons, who have kept a prayer-meeting at five every +morning.” He then set out on his tours through Northamptonshire, +Huntingdonshire, Bedfordshire, Sussex, and Kent, and concluded the +year in London. + +The war still raged; English disasters were multiplied; the ministry +was tottering, and soon after fell; with which fall the conflict in +America concluded. It was at this period, that a rumour gained +credence, that the administration intended to propose the embodying of +the militia, and their being exercised on Sundays. Wesley was an +ardent friend of the ministry of Lord North; and, of course, a staunch +defender of the sanctity of the sabbath. Accordingly, towards the +close of 1781, he addressed the following letter to a nobleman, then +high in office. + + “MY LORD,--If I wrong your lordship, I am sorry for it; but I + really believe your lordship fears God: and I hope your + lordship has no unfavourable opinion of the Christian + revelation. This encourages me to trouble your lordship with a + few lines, which otherwise I should not take upon me to do. + + “Above thirty years ago, a motion was made in parliament for + raising and embodying the militia, and for exercising them, to + save time, on Sunday. When the motion was like to pass, an old + gentleman stood up and said: ‘Mr. Speaker, I have one objection + to this: I believe an old book, called the Bible,’ The members + looked at one another, and the motion was dropped. + + “Must not all others, who believe the Bible, have the very same + objection? And from what I have seen, I cannot but think, these + are still three fourths of the nation. Now, setting religion + out of the question, is it expedient to give such a shock to so + many millions of people at once? And certainly it would shock + them extremely; it would wound them in a very tender part. For + would not they, would not all England, would not all Europe, + consider this as a virtual repeal of the Bible? And would not + all serious persons say, ‘We have little religion in the land + now; but, by this step, we shall have less still. For wherever + this pretty show is to be seen, the people will flock together; + and will lounge away so much time before and after it, that the + churches will be emptier than they are at present!’ + + “My lord, I am concerned for this on a double account. First, + because I have personal obligations to your lordship, and would + fain, even for this reason, recommend your lordship to the love + and esteem of all over whom I have any influence. Secondly, + because I now reverence your lordship for your office sake, and + believe it to be my bounden duty to do all, that is in my + little power, to advance your lordship’s influence and + reputation. + + “Will your lordship permit me to add a word in my old fashioned + way? I pray Him, that has all power in heaven and earth, to + prosper all your endeavours for the public good; and am, my + lord, your lordship’s willing servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[418] + +For some reason, no such bill was introduced into parliament. A few +months later, Lord North and his colleagues tendered to the king their +resignation, and peace negotiations were commenced. + +Before concluding the present year, it only remains to notice Wesley’s +publications in 1781. + +1. “An Extract of a Letter to the Right Honourable Lord Viscount +H----e, on his Naval Conduct in the American War.” 12mo, 27 pages. + +2. “A Concise Ecclesiastical History, from the Birth of Christ to the +Beginning of the present Century. In four volumes.” 12mo. The +proposals for printing this work by subscription are now before us; +from which it appears, that the price of the four volumes, to +subscribers, was ten shillings, and that booksellers, subscribing for +six copies, should have a seventh gratis. The book, in fact, is +Wesley’s abridgment of Mosheim, to which is added, “A Short History of +the People called Methodists,” filling 112 printed pages, and dated +“London, November 16, 1781.” + +3. The _Arminian Magazine_. 8vo, 688 pages. In his preface, Wesley +says: “I dare not fill up any publication of mine with bits and +scraps, to humour any one living. It is true, I am not fond of verbose +writers, neither of very long treatises. I conceive, the size of a +book is not always the measure of the writer’s understanding. Nay, I +believe, if angels were to write books, we should have very few +folios. But, neither am I fond of tracts, that begin and end before +they have cleared up anything.” + +Besides six original sermons, the principal article, in the magazine +of 1781 is Wesley’s own translation of Castellio’s Dialogues on +Predestination. There is a long and interesting account of Kingswood +school. Wesley writes:--“I love the very sight of Oxford; but my +prejudice in its favour is considerably abated: I do not admire it as +I once did; and, whether I did or not, I am now constrained to make a +virtue of necessity.” He then refers to the expulsion, and exclusion +of students, because of their being Methodists; and continues: “I am +much obliged to Dr. Nowell and others, for not holding me longer in +suspense, but dealing so frankly and openly. And, blessed be God! I +can do all the business, which I have in hand, without them. Honour or +preferment I do not want, any more than a feather in my cap; and I +trust, most of those who are educated at our school are, and will be, +of the same mind. As to the knowledge of the tongues, and of arts and +sciences, with whatever is termed academical learning, if those who +have a tolerable capacity for them do not advance more at Kingswood in +three years, than the generality of students at Oxford and Cambridge +do in seven, I will bear the blame for ever.” He then meets the +objection, that young men could not have at Kingswood the advantages +they would have at the university, from professors, tutors, public +exercises, and company. He maintains, that it would be no loss to the +universities if all their professorships were abolished. Some of the +tutors, he admits, were worthy of all honour, but many were utterly +unqualified for the work they had undertaken. As to the public +exercises, he himself had never “found them any other than useless +interruptions of useful studies.” As to company, he writes: “It is +most true, that the moment a young man sets his foot either in Oxford +or Cambridge, he is surrounded with company of all kinds, except that +which will do him good; with loungers and triflers of every sort; with +men who no more concern themselves with learning than with religion. +Company, therefore, is usually so far from being an advantage to those +who enter at either university, that it is the grand nuisance, as well +as disgrace, of both; the pit that swallows unwary youths by +thousands. I bless God! we have no such _choice of company at +Kingswood_; nor ever will, till my head is laid. There is no trifler, +no lounger, no drone there; much less any drunkard, sabbath breaker, +or common swearer. Whoever accounts this a disadvantage may find a +remedy at any college in Oxford or Cambridge.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [384] _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 303. + + [385] _Methodist Magazine_, 1781, p. 522. + + [386] Ibid. p. 636. + + [387] Ibid. 1782, p. 69. + + [388] Original manuscript letter. + + [389] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 8. + + [390] _Methodist Magazine_, 1851, p. 556. + + [391] Ibid, 1860, p. 379. + + [392] Manuscript. + + [393] _Methodist Magazine_, 1782, p. 331. + + [394] Manuscript. + + [395] Manuscript. + + [396] Manuscript. + + [397] Bradburn’s Memoirs, p. 47. + + [398] Then at Colne, in the thirty-fourth year of his + itinerancy. + + [399] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 138. + + [400] “History of Methodism in Grantham.” + + [401] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 475. + + [402] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley; and _Methodist + Magazine_, 1828, p. 719. + + [403] _Methodist Magazine_, 1844, p. 288. + + [404] Manuscript letter by Miss March. + + [405] Wesley’s Works, vol. iv., p. 207. + + [406] _Methodist Magazine_, 1807, p. 471; and Wesley’s + Works, vol. xiii., p. 36. + + [407] _Methodist Magazine_, 1846, p. 452. + + [408] Ibid. 1844, p. 562. + + [409] Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 316. + + [410] _Wesley Banner_, 1851. + + [411] _Methodist Magazine_, 1829, p. 528. + + [412] The following letter was written to Duncan Wright, + assistant in Yarm circuit, a few months later. + + “LONDON, _November 24, 1781_. + + “DEAR DUNCAN,--Surely you and I may speak freely + to each other; for we love one another. If George + Holder goes out, either you must keep his mother, + or she must go to the workhouse. You must not give + an exhortation to the bands, but encourage them + to speak. I would be much obliged to you if you + would (1) accept the key of the book room, and + immediately take the books into your own care; (2) + clip the wings of the local preachers, stewards, + and leaders, changing them as need requires; (3) + fix bands where they are wanting; (4) if James + Bogie is willing to remain single, let him travel; + (5) do not receive the blind man hastily, let him + be thoroughly tried first; (6) be of good courage, + and conquer everything. I am, dear Duncan, etc., + JOHN WESLEY.”--(_Watchman_, Jan. 8, 1868.) + + [413] _Methodist Magazine_, 1782, p. 153. + + [414] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 232. + + [415] Life of Hey. + + [416] _Methodist Magazine_, 1848, p. 1055. + + [417] Ibid. + + [418] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 400. + + + + + 1782. + Age 79 + + +As usual, Wesley spent the first two months of the new year in London. +The most notable occurrence, during this period, was the institution +of a tract society,--the first that was ever formed. The Religious +Tract Society was originated in 1799; Wesley’s, seventeen years +previous to this. We have before us an original document printed in +1783, entitled, “A Plan of the Society, instituted in January, 1782, +to distribute Religious Tracts among the Poor.” The rules are three. +“1. Every member must subscribe half-a-guinea, a guinea, or more, +annually. 2. A proportionable quota of tracts shall be delivered +yearly to each subscriber, according to his subscription, and, as +nearly as possible, at prime cost, and carriage paid. 3. Every +subscriber shall have a right to choose his own tracts, if he please; +otherwise, he will receive a proportionable variety of the whole.” +After this follows a list of thirty tracts already printed, all of +them either written or published by Wesley. Then there is subjoined +the following: “An Extract of the Original Proposals.” + + “I cannot but earnestly recommend this to all those who desire + to see true scriptural Christianity spread throughout these + nations. Men wholly unawakened will not take pains to read the + Bible. They have no relish for it. But a small tract may engage + their attention for half-an-hour; and may, by the blessing of + God, prepare them for going forward. + + “JOHN WESLEY. + “LONDON, _January 25, 1782_.” + +Though Wesley’s tract society does not now exist, in the form in which +it was instituted in 1782, it is a fact worth noting, that, in 1867, +Wesley’s book room, in City Road, sold not fewer than one million five +hundred and seventy thousand tracts, all printed and published by +itself;[419] and that the number of its distinct and separate tract +publications, in 1871, is not less than 1250. + +We have said, the Methodist Tract Society was the first that was ever +formed. It is true that, in 1699, “The Society for Promoting Christian +Knowledge” was founded; and, in 1750, “The Society for Promoting +Religious Knowledge among the Poor”; but, strictly speaking, neither +of these was a tract society. In this respect, as in others, Wesley +was a pioneer. As early as 1745, he speaks of “giving away some +thousands of little tracts among the common people”; and long before +1782, had written, and published, besides a large number of separate +and short sermons, at least scores of penny publications. And yet Mr. +Jones, the corresponding secretary of the Religious Tract Society, in +his jubilee volume of 700 pages, while professing to trace the origin +of tract distribution, entirely omits the name of Wesley, who saw the +value and the power of a tract more than fifty years before the +Religious Tract Society had a name. Was this intentional? We trust +not. + +On Sunday, the 3rd of March, Wesley took coach for Bristol, where he +spent the next fortnight. He then started off on his long northern +journey. On his way, he called at Madeley, where “both Mr. and Mrs. +Fletcher complained, that, after all the pains they had taken, they +could not prevail on the people to join in society, no, nor even to +meet in class.” What the vicar and his new wife (Miss Bosanquet) +failed to do, Wesley accomplished. He preached two rousing sermons; +and “then desired those, who were willing to join together for +Christian fellowship, to call upon him and Mr. Fletcher after service. +Ninety-four persons did so: about as many men as women.” Wesley adds: +“We explained to them the nature of a Christian society, and they +willingly joined therein.” + +Wesley then proceeded to Congleton, where “the Calvinists were +striving to make havoc of the flock”; and to Macclesfield, where he +spent Good Friday and Easter Sunday. On the former day, he preached +twice, in the Rev. David Simpson’s church; and, with his assistance, +administered the sacrament to about thirteen hundred persons; on the +latter day, he also preached twice in the same edifice; again +administered to eight hundred communicants; and, in the evening, +preached in the Methodist chapel, and held a lovefeast at which +sixteen or eighteen persons professed to live in the enjoyment of the +blessing of perfect love. “About forty,” says Hester Ann Rogers, in +the unpublished portion of her diary, “made a noble confession.” Among +these were herself, George Bradock, Joseph Roe, John Booby, T. +Ridgway, Joseph Norberry, Billy Sharpley, S. Bradshaw, and John +Goostry; the last of whom Wesley ordered to stand on the form, that +the people might hear him. “Mr. Wesley,” continues Mrs. Rogers, “kept +the lovefeast two hours, a thing which I never knew him do before; but +his soul was filled with thankfulness, for so many witnesses of +redeeming love and full salvation.” + +It would be tedious to mention all the places Wesley visited. Suffice +it to say, that, at Ashton under Lyne, he preached in the new chapel, +which had the following inscription over the door: “Can any good come +out of Nazareth? Come and see!” At Oldham, “a whole troop of boys and +girls would not be contented till he shook each by the hand.” At St. +Helen’s, he preached in the house of Joseph Harris, who had removed +from Kingswood, “to take care of the copper works.” At Wigan, he “saw +an uncommon sight,--the preaching house filled, yea, crowded.” At +Epworth, there had been a marvellous revival. At Thorne, fifty had +found peace with God within two months. At Edinburgh, he was the guest +of Lady Maxwell, and visited her school of forty poor children, many +of whom were without shoes; but not a girl, in rags, was without her +ruffles. At Kelso, he fell, head foremost, down the stairs of Dr. +Douglas’s house, but mercifully escaped without serious injury.[420] +At York, he entered into his eightieth year, and wrote: “Blessed be +God! my time is not labour and sorrow. I find no more pain or bodily +infirmities than at five-and-twenty. This I still impute--(1) To the +power of God, fitting me for what He calls me to. (2) To my still +travelling four or five thousand miles a year. (3) To my sleeping, +night or day, whenever I want it. (4) To my rising at a set hour. (5) +To my constant preaching, particularly in the morning.” + +Wesley reached London, after an absence of more than four months, on +July 20. Here he held his conference. He writes: “Friday, August 2, we +observed as a day of fasting and prayer for a blessing on the ensuing +conference; and I believe God clothed His word with power in an +uncommon manner throughout the week; so that, were it only on this +account, the preachers who came from all parts found their labour was +not in vain.” + +Among other questions debated at this conference, was the sabbath. +Methodists, in some instances, visited barbers’ shops on Sundays; and, +in others, practised military exercises, as volunteers, or were +spectators of such exercises. This led the conference to enact, that +no members of society should have their hair dressed on Sundays; and +that, as far as possible, those barbers should be patronised who +observed the sabbath’s sanctity. It was further determined, that any +Methodist, who practised military exercises on the sabbath, as a +volunteer, should be expelled; and that any one who, after proper +admonition, continued a spectator of such sabbath drills should +undergo the same penalty. Though not absolutely forbidden, preachers +were recommended not to powder their hair, nor to wear artificial +curls. The weekly and quarterly contributions having been shamefully +neglected in many of the societies, the assistants and leaders were to +remind the people of the original rule, that “every member contributes +one penny weekly, (unless he is in extreme poverty,) and one shilling +quarterly.” Wesley adds: “_Money lovers_ are the pest of every +Christian society. They have been the main cause of destroying every +revival of religion. They will destroy _us_, if we do not put them +away. A man not worth a shilling enters our society. Yet he freely +gives a penny a week. Five years after, he is worth scores of pounds; +he gives a penny a week still. I must think this man covetous, unless +he assures me he bestows his charity some other way. For every one is +covetous, whose beneficence does not increase in the same proportion +as his substance.” + +The most troublesome subject of discussion was the case of the Birstal +chapel. It was asked, “What can be done with regard to the preaching +house at Birstal?” Answer. “If the trustees still refuse to settle it +on the Methodist plan: 1. Let a plain statement of the case be drawn +up. 2. Let a collection be made throughout all England, in order to +purchase ground, and to build another preaching house as near the +present as may be.” + +This was an important matter, on account of its involving one of +Methodism’s fundamental principles, namely, that the conference +_alone_ shall have the power of appointing preachers to preach in +Methodist chapels. This was the first time that the question was +fairly raised. It was seen, that the issue, either way, would be most +momentous. It affected not Birstal merely, but the whole Methodist +connexion; and not the present only, but the future. Great excitement +was created. The controversy, among other great results, led to the +drawing up and enrolment of Methodism’s Magna Charta, Wesley’s deed of +declaration, in 1784. Altogether, this was one of the most important +events in Wesley’s history; and, hence, a detailed account of it will +not be inappropriate. + +The original chapel at Birstal was erected, under the auspices of John +Nelson, about the year 1751. By the deed of settlement, the right of +occupying the pulpit was given, first, to the two Wesleys in +succession, and then to Grimshaw of Haworth; but, after the decease of +these three ministers, the trustees were to elect their own preachers +monthly; and all such preachers, so long as they continued in this +office, were to preach in the chapel twice every Sunday, every +Christmas day, New Year’s day, and Good Friday, and also every +Thursday night, as had been, up to 1751, “usual and customary to be +done.” + +Such was the substance of the obnoxious clause; which hitherto, +however, had created no difficulty. + +In 1782, it was found necessary, either to enlarge the old chapel, or +to build a new one in its place. Contributions were given for this +purpose; but were not sufficient. It was ascertained, that the sum of +£350 additional would be required, and that eight of the intended +trustees would have to advance the money. To give them security, a +deed of transfer was prepared, in which John and Charles Wesley, for +the considerations therein mentioned, sold to certain specified +trustees the old premises, with the following agreements in reference +to the enlarged, or the new chapel, which was to be provided to meet +the growing necessities of the Birstal Methodists. 1. The trustees +advancing the £350 were to have, as their security, “the rents and +profits to arise from the hearers’ pews and seats.” 2. The new or +enlarged chapel was to be occupied, during their lifetime, by John and +Charles Wesley, or by those whom they might from time to time appoint. +3. After their death, the appointment of preachers, to preach in the +said chapel, was to be made by the trustees, and by “such members of +the Methodist society as had been classleaders for three years, within +the circumjacent villages of Birstal, Great Gomersal, Little Gomersal, +Birkenshaw, Adwalton, Drighlington, Batley, Carlinghow, and +Heckmondwike; or by the major part of such trustees and classleaders.” +Provided always, that the said preachers preach no other doctrine than +is contained in Mr. Wesley’s Notes upon the Old and New Testament; +that they preach in the said chapel twice every Sunday, and at least +one evening every week; and that they hold the said premises and +exercise the function of a preacher only during the goodwill and +pleasure of the major part of the aforesaid trustees and classleaders. +After this, followed a number of provisoes in reference to pew rents, +etc. (1) The rents were to be applied in keeping the premises in +repair. (2) In paying interest upon the debt of £350, at 5 per cent. +per annum. (3) In maintaining the preacher for the time being, for +which purpose, however, not more than £10 a year should be +appropriated, until after the whole of the £350 had been repaid; when, +after deducting for repairs and lasting improvements, the whole of the +clear rents and profits arising from the pews and seats should be +given “for and towards the maintenance and support of the preachers or +pastors for the time being of the said society at Birstal.” It was +further provided, that the appointment and removal of chapel stewards +should be vested in the preachers, trustees, and classleaders +aforesaid, or the major part of them, notice of their meetings for +such purpose, however, having to be publicly read to the congregation +on three successive Sunday evenings immediately preceding. Certain +rooms also in a dwelling house, on the premises, were to be at the use +of the stewards and leaders, for the purpose of transacting business +and meeting classes. + +The above is an abstract of all the important points in the new trust +deed of 1782. That deed had attached to it the following signatures. + + John Aspinall, + Joseph Bennett, + James Blackburn, + John Tempest, + Jonathan Brearley, + Benjamin Mallinson, + Anthony Williamson, + Nathaniel Harrison, + John White, + Joseph Nelson, + William Booth, + John Wesley, + Joseph Charlesworth, + Charles Gunson, + John Armitage, + Joseph Lee, + Thomas Crowther, + William Tempest, + Isaac Smith, + William Chadwick. + +Wesley’s signature was witnessed by Thomas Briscoe and Alexander +Mather. The deed was dated May 14, 1782, and was enrolled on the 11th +of October following. It may be added, that, of the above signers, +Aspinall, Bennett, Blackburn, Tempest, Brierley, Williamson, Harrison, +White, Nelson, and Booth were old trustees; Mallinson, Charlesworth, +Gunson, Armitage, Lee, Crowther, W. Tempest, Smith, and Chadwick were +the new trustees. + +The deed of 1782 was widely different from that of 1751, and, as the +vice chancellor ruled in 1854, so far as it purported to vary the +trusts of the latter deed, it was void and of no effect;[421] but it +still contained the obnoxious clause, giving power to other parties +than Wesley’s conference, to appoint the preachers. Wesley says, in a +letter to his brother, dated May 28, 1782: + + “The trustees brought to me the deed, at Daw Green, which they + read over, and desired me to sign. We disputed upon it about an + hour. I then gave them a positive answer, that I would not sign + it; and, leaving them abruptly, went up into my room. At night, + a little before I went to bed, they came again, got round and + worried me down. But, I think, they cannot worry you. May you + not very properly write to Mr. Valton? ‘If the trustees will + settle the Birstal house on the Methodist plan, I will sign + their deed with all my heart; but, if they build a house for a + presbyterian meeting-house, I will not, dare not, have anything + to do with it.’”[422] + +Wesley committed a mistake; but, be it borne in mind, that he was now +an old man of nearly eighty, and that Alexander Mather, and Thomas +Briscoe, the superintendents of the Leeds and Birstal circuits, were +participators in his folly. + +In an unpublished letter to Samuel Bradburn, then stationed at +Bradford, Wesley wrote: + + “LONDON, _November 9, 1782_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--I abhor the thought of giving to twenty men the + power to place or displace the preacher in their congregations. + How would he then dare to speak an unpleasing truth? And, if he + did, what would become of him? This must never be the case, + while I live, among the Methodists. And Birstal is a leading + case, the first of an avowed violation of our plan. Therefore, + the point must be carried for the Methodist preachers now or + never; and I alone can carry it, which I will, God being my + helper. You are not a match for the silver tongue, nor brother + Hopper. But do not, to please any of your new friends forsake + + “Your true old friend, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Charles Wesley acted upon his brother’s advice. He entered into +correspondence with the Birstal reformers. In answer to their +objection, that “the present trustees _could not_ legally transfer any +of their power _to the conference_,” he asks: “Then how can they +transfer any of their power to the leaders?” He continues: + + “You add,--‘As long as the conference appoints preachers with + candid impartiality, we doubt not their appointments will be + acquiesced in by the trustees and classleaders.’ But, according + to this deed, the conference has no more business than the + parliament to appoint preachers at all. To touch on one more + point. From the beginning of Methodism till now, the assistants + appointed the stewards in all societies; but this deed gives + the trustees and leaders this power; which they think is + ‘_necessary_ to ensure the repayment of the £350 to be advanced + for the building.’ _Necessary!_ Not at all. How many thousand + pounds, advanced for buildings, have been paid within these + forty years, though all the stewards in England, Scotland, and + Ireland, have been hitherto appointed by my brother or the + assistants! You conclude your letter with a very just + observation: ‘the civil and religious rights of mankind have + seldom been promoted by the assemblies of ecclesiastics of any + denomination; and they never will be, unless they are composed + of men devoted to God, and dead to all the allurements of ease, + and avarice, and ambition.’ This is undoubtedly true; and this, + we humbly hope, is the real character of most (at least) of + those persons that meet in our assemblies. We hope, likewise, + that ‘their consultations will always be moderated by some wise + and truly religious man’; otherwise, that God will sweep away + the very name of Methodist from the earth. Upon the whole, I + cannot, I dare not sign that deed. I can have nothing to do + with it. If the house should, nevertheless, be built, and + settled upon that plan, I apprehend the consequence would be + this: 1. No Methodist preacher would ever preach in it. If any + did, the whole body would disclaim him. 2. My brother would + immediately set a subscription on foot for buying ground and + building another house. The trustees then might do what they + pleased with theirs.”[423] + +This letter was written a week before the conference of 1782 was +opened; and was a reply to one written by James Carr, the trustees’ +attorney, who, soon afterwards, addressed the following unpublished +letter to Mr. Charlesworth. + + “MY GOOD FRIEND,--Having an insuperable aversion to _recite_ my + own simple performances, I here enclose a correct copy of my + letter to Mr. Charles Wesley. + + “I know, that you and the other framers of the present trust + deed, were actuated by the _purest_, most _equitable_, and + _disinterested_ motives; and, therefore, in my address to Mr. + Wesley, I held myself bound, by every tie of justice, to + explain and enforce the _grounds_ and _reasons_ of your + conduct, with all the energy in my power. I hope, I have no + immodest opinion of my poor abilities, when I assert, that the + _reasons_, by me alleged, for modifying the deed, in the manner + described, cannot be fairly answered or refuted, by Mr. Mather, + or Mr. C. Wesley. Ingenuity may perplex, wit may ridicule, + sophistry may misinterpret, or prejudice may dislike a deed + framed contrary to _received systems_ or _opinions_. But when + it is calmly considered, that the poor, beneficent founders of + the preaching house had an undoubted right to settle it in what + manner they thought meet; that it would be _impious_, as well + as _illegal_, to abrogate their constitution; that you could + only modify and improve it in a way consistent with their + manifest intention; that the honour of religion required you to + make a legal and effectual provision for payment of a just + debt;--when these things, I say, are calmly considered, candour + must admit, every preacher of righteousness must acknowledge, + that the present trust deed is modelled with that rectitude and + propriety, which become Christian men. + + “As nothing can discourage me when I am engaged in a righteous + cause, I mean to write again to Mr. Charles Wesley; and, + therefore, if I have omitted, in my former address, any topics + or arguments which occur to you or friends, I wish you would + specify them in _writing_; though I shall certainly now speak + to him more in a _professional_ style than in a religious one. + + “Yours most sincerely, + + “JAMES CARR.” + +In the mean time, the new chapel was built, and Dr. Coke took up the +matter. The following also is a letter now for the first time +published. It was addressed to Mr. Charlesworth. + + “BRISTOL, _October 18, 1782_. + + “SIR,--There is but one argument, which you have used, which + appears to me to have any force in it against the many + uncontrovertible arguments, which I have urged on the other + side. It is this: is it not unjust, that the persons who have + advanced money on the building, which has been lately erected, + should lose that money, when they advanced it upon the word of + Mr. Wesley, and would not have advanced it on any other ground? + In answer to this, I observe, that, as I am in this business + the servant of the conference, and have invested in me a + discretionary power to act as I see occasion, I will, + therefore, remove this objection as far as justice, equity, and + my trust, will admit me to go. For this purpose, I promise and + engage, that the interest of the money, which has been lent on + the lately erected building, shall be regularly paid, either + out of the profits of that building, or out of the profits of + the building which is to be erected, or out of the profits of + both of them together, so long as the two Messrs. Wesley live; + and, after their decease, as long as the lately erected + building is at the disposal of the Methodist conference, and no + longer. Provided, that either of the chapels, or both of them + together, produce an income sufficient to pay the aforesaid + interest, after paying for the necessary repairs, and the £10 + paid to the support of the preachers, be deducted. Provided, + also, that the debt _itself_ which has been already incurred, + remain upon the lately erected edifice, and upon that alone,--I + promise and engage, that the aforesaid interest shall be paid + to the creditors annually in preference to every other payment, + except the said necessary repairs, and £10 towards the support + of the preachers. + + “I am, sir, your humble servant in the gospel, + + “THOMAS COKE.” + +Shortly after, Dr. Coke published a 12mo tract of 12 pages, entitled, +“An Address to the inhabitants of Birstal, and the adjacent villages.” +He relates how the attorney of the trustees obtained Wesley’s +signature to the deed. He states, that Charles Wesley had not signed, +and, he believed, never would. The “_amazing deed_” had been discussed +at the late conference, and had created just alarm; and he (Dr. Coke) +had been delegated to carry into execution the minute that was passed; +but, upon application to the trustees, he had “found the greatest part +of them determined to hold fast their unlimited and most dangerous +power.” He answers the objection, “Would it not be equally dangerous +to invest this power in the conference?” by saying, “No: for the plan +of settlement, adopted by the conference, ties them down to the +principles of religion at present held by the Methodists.” He relates, +that he had proposed to the trustees to submit the matter to the +arbitration of the attorney general, or some other eminent counsellor; +and had engaged that, if the opinion thus obtained was the same as +that of the trustees and Mr. Carr, “Birstal preaching house should be +considered an exempt case, and the trustees should be suffered quietly +to retain all the power which they had at present”; with the +understanding, on the other hand, that, if the legal opinion of the +arbitrator was, “that the surviving trustees, with the consent of the +original proprietor, and all the parties concerned, could resettle the +house on the Methodist plan, they would resettle it accordingly.” He +had also added, at another meeting, that, in such a case, he would +give a bond of five or six hundred pounds, that the trustees, who had +advanced the £350, should not only have their interest, but their +_principal_ paid them, in instalments of £50 per annum; and, further, +that he would engage, that all subscribers to the recently erected +building, “who signified their desire of having their money returned, +should have it returned to them within two years.” The trustees, +however, “obstinately refused to comply with this.” + +Coke continues: + + “Afterwards, another plan of reconciliation was proposed, by + one of themselves, to which we all consented, namely, that all + the trustees should bind themselves by a deed, that if they, or + the major part of them, should agree, after the demise of the + Messrs. Wesley, to choose an independent teacher, they should + be obliged to signify, this their intention, by three years’ + notice to the conference, or to the moderator of the conference + for the time being; with a provision, that, if the preachers + were ever to desist from meeting in regular conference, as they + did at present, or to deviate from the grand Methodist plan on + which they at present act, then the full power should + immediately devolve upon the trustees, and they might, without + any previous notice whatever, choose an independent teacher.” + +Such was the unanimous agreement. A rough draft of the intended deed +was made, and (_horresco referens!_) was brought, by the attorney of +the trustees, to Dr. Coke on the _Sunday_ following. On reading it, +Coke found a few words inserted, which upset the whole. It read: “If +the said trustees and leaders, or the major part of them, shall at any +time, _in their judgment, think_ that the said conference deviates +from the grand Methodist plan, then,” etc., “thus constituting +themselves judges in their own cause.” Dr. Coke objected to this; and +they seemed willing to give it up; but “desired that another meeting +might be held on the following Sunday! at which all the leaders might +be present, that their consent might also be procured.” The conference +representative agreed to this; Sunday came; and the trustees and +leaders “would not move a single step.” + +Such had been the negotiations, and such was the state of affairs, +when Dr. Coke published his pamphlet in November, 1782. He makes an +appeal “to the congregation, and to the society,” and concludes with +the following prayer: “O Thou Lover of concord and Prince of peace, +keep these little ones under Thy fostering wing. Preserve them from +the silken tongued sycophant, the sly deceiver, who seeks his own, and +not the things of Jesus Christ. Hide them for a little moment in the +chambers of Thy love, till this and every indignation be overpast. +Keep them close to the bleeding side of Jesus, and close to the +affectionate hearts of their faithful pastors for ever.” + +What more was done? Two months after this, on January 3, 1783, Wesley +issued a folio circular, entitled, “The Case of the Birstal +House.”[424] This all can read for themselves in Wesley’s collected +works (vol. xiii., p. 260). Suffice it to say, that the reasons +assigned by Wesley, why neither the Birstal, nor any other Methodist +chapel, should be settled according to the Birstal deed, were: (1) It +would put an end to itinerant preaching, for when the trustees got a +preacher whom they liked, they would keep him. (2) It would put a +bridle in the preacher’s mouth; for how would he dare to speak the +full and the whole truth, when he was liable to lose his bread? (3) +“The power of the trustees was greater than that of any nobleman; yea, +or of the king himself. Where he is patron, he can _put in_ a +preacher, but he cannot _put him out_.” He concludes: “No Methodist +trustees, if I can help it, shall, after my death, any more than while +I live, have the power of _placing_ and _displacing_ the preachers.” + +So the thing went on. A case was submitted to Mr. John Maddocks, +barrister, for his opinion, as to the possibility of legally making +such an alteration in trust deeds, as was desired in the Birstal case. +His opinion, dated “Lincoln’s Inn, July 24, 1783,” is before us, and +is to the effect, that such an alteration might be made. On the 5th of +September following, Wesley met the nineteen trustees, and offered to +allow the same clause to be inserted in a new deed as was inserted in +the deed of the chapel in City Road, namely, “In case the doctrine or +practice of any preacher should, in the opinion of the major part of +the trustees, be not conformable to Mr. Wesley’s Sermons and Notes on +the New Testament, on representing this, another preacher shall be +sent within three months.” Five of the trustees were willing to accept +of this; the rest refused. + +In an unpublished letter, written by Dr. Coke, and addressed to Mr. +Benson, only ten days after this interview, there are some other +particulars given. Wesley first told the trustees, he wished their +chapel to be settled according to the Methodist plan contained in the +minutes of conference. He then offered to allow the clause to be +inserted which has just been mentioned; adding, “this was never +allowed to any trustees before, and never shall again while I live.” +He further offered to relieve the trustees of their £350 debt, +promising to give £100 himself, and saying, “This I do, because I love +you, and for old acquaintance sake.” And he further promised to make +them a present of the piece of ground which Dr. Coke had purchased for +the site of another chapel. The names of the five consenting trustees +were, Nathaniel Harrison, Anthony Williamson, John Aspinall, Joseph +Bennett, and James Blackburn.[425] + +The dissentient trustees took time to think. On September 25, 1783, +Christopher Hopper wrote to one of them, Mr. Charlesworth, in a +somewhat ambiguous style, as follows. + + “MY VERY DEAR JOSEPH,--It gives me pleasure to hear that you + were so well satisfied with Mr. Wesley’s temper and conduct; + and I am glad to hear you behaved so well. Solemn conference! + Great expectations! Grand overture! But alas! no decision! + Mortifying indeed! I still wish we never had given you any + trouble, but patiently waited the event. But, if you are + determined to stand your ground after this meeting, I cannot + tell what the consequence will be. Great grace be on you all! + + “C. HOPPER.”[426] + +Reflection often brings wisdom. On the 13th of January, 1784, Mr. +Charlesworth wrote to Wesley, saying, that his offer would now be +accepted. He says, with a Yorkshire keenness, which smacks of +avarice-- + + “We cannot but acknowledge your goodness in promising the land, + and the money towards paying our debt, which will be two very + convenient articles at this place, as we are in great want of + both. + + “I am, reverend and dear sir, for and on behalf of the + trustees, + + “Yours very affectionately, + + “JOSEPH CHARLESWORTH.”[427] + +The result was, a new deed was made, giving the conference power to +appoint preachers; and this serious hubbub, _pro tem._, subsided. We +shall soon have to recur to the same subject; and this apparently long +and tedious digression may serve as an introduction to what will have +to be said hereafter. The controversy was the first battle fought for +restricting, or rather for setting aside, an ecclesiastical power, +which has grown to be the greatest exercised by any church throughout +the whole of the Christian world; and perhaps, on this ground, the +writer will be pardoned for trespassing on the reader’s patience; and +especially as many of the incidents are now for the first time +published.[428] + +We return to Wesley. Of course, the dispute at Birstal led to much +unpleasantness; but Wesley was firm in maintaining discipline. Hence +the following, addressed to Mr. Valton, then one of the Birstal +preachers. + + “_June 18, 1782._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I cannot allow J---- S---- to be any longer + a leader; and, if he will lead the class, whether I will or no, + I require you to put him out of our society. If twenty of his + class will leave the society too, they must. The first loss is + the best. Better forty members should be lost, than our + discipline be lost. _They are no Methodists, that will bear no + restraints._ Explain this at large to the society. + + “I am, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[429] + +Wesley’s clerical friends were now regularly and constantly +increasing. He had, to some extent, outlived their _brotherly_ +persecution. They began to appreciate his motives and his services; +and, so far from hooting and hissing him, began to greet him, to court +his company, and to ask his counsel. Among others of this description +may be mentioned the Rev. Thomas Davenport, who was now in his +sixtieth year, but had only recently found peace with God, and that +principally through Wesley’s help.[430] Wesley wrote to him as +follows. + + “BRISTOL, _August 14, 1782_. + + “DEAR SIR,--It would have given me a good deal of satisfaction + to have had a little conversation with you. But I do not stay + long in one place. I have no resting place on earth: + + ‘A poor wayfaring man, + I dwell in tents below, + Or gladly wander to and fro, + Till I my Canaan gain.’ + + “You would have been very welcome at our conference. Mr. Pugh + and Mr. Dodwell[431] were present at it; and, I believe, are + more determined than ever to spend their whole strength in + saving their own souls, and them that hear them. + + “I believe, that one of our preachers, who are stationed in the + Leicester circuit, will call upon you at Alexton; and I make no + doubt but some of the seed which you have been long sowing will + then grow up. No one should wish or pray for persecution. On + the contrary, we are to avoid it, to the uttermost of our + power. ‘When they persecute you in one city, flee unto + another.’ Yet, when it does come, notwithstanding all our care + to avoid it, God will extract good out of evil. + + “To-morrow I am to set out for Cornwall. In about three weeks, + I expect to be here again. In the beginning of October, I + generally move towards London; in the neighbourhood of which I + usually spend the winter. + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[432] + +The day after this letter was written, Wesley set out westwards. On +reaching Exeter, where his old antagonist, Bishop Lavington, once +resided, he met with a most friendly welcome; and, by invitation, +dined on the Sunday, with the bishop, in his palace, five other +clergymen and four of the aldermen of Exeter being present besides +himself. Arriving at Plymouth, Wesley preached in the Square, and, +while doing so, a regiment of soldiers, with military music, marched +into it. No sooner, however, did the commanding officer perceive the +preacher, than he stopped the music, and drew up his men to listen. +“They were all still as night;” says Wesley, “nor did any of them +stir, till I had pronounced the blessing.” + +In Cornwall, he found an old clerical friend at the point of death, +the Rev. Mr. Thompson, rector of St. Gennis. It was now thirty-seven +years since Wesley first preached in Mr. Thompson’s church, and, +throughout the whole of that period, they had been faithful friends. +The dying rector wished once more to see his old acquaintance. Wesley, +borrowing the best horse he could find, and riding as fast as he was +able, says: “I found Mr. Thompson just alive, but quite sensible. He +had many doubts concerning his final state, and rather feared, than +desired, to die; so that my whole business was to comfort him, and to +increase and confirm his confidence in God. He desired me to +administer the Lord’s supper, which I willingly did; and I left him +much happier than I found him, calmly waiting till his change should +come.” + +While riding to see his friend, Mr. Thompson, Wesley was accosted by +an old acquaintance of another sort. He writes: “On the way, I met +with a white headed old man, who caught me by the hand, and said, +‘Sir, do you not know me?’ I answered, ‘No.’ He said, ‘My father, my +father! I am poor John Trembath.’ I desired him to speak to me in the +evening at Launceston; which he did. He was, for some time, reduced to +extreme poverty, so as to hedge and ditch for bread; but, in his +distress, he cried unto God, who sent him an answer of peace. He, +likewise, enabled him to cure a gentleman that was desperately ill, +and afterwards several others; so that he grew into reputation, and +gained a competent livelihood. ‘And now,’ said he, ‘I want for +nothing: I am happier than ever I was in my life.’” + +Who was John Trembath? One of Wesley’s first itinerants, who commenced +his ministry in 1743, and, for several years, laboured with diligence +under Wesley’s direction,[433]--a man of great eloquence and +zeal,[434]--a burning and shining light, and a workman who, at one +time, according to Wesley, had no need to be ashamed,[435]--a preacher +not deep, and yet so popular as to be almost idolised by the +people;[436] but who, alas! for the last twenty years, had sunk into +an extreme of sin, and shame, and misery. Naturally vain, the +applauses of the people spoiled him. He became bouncing, and boastful, +and not always truthful. He married, gave up reading, turned to +farming, and kept company with men who had just wit enough to “talk of +bullocks,” and to “smoke, drink, and flatter him.” He became a +sportsman, and was suspected of smuggling.[437] His career was almost +a romance. But now, to use Wesley’s language, “John Trembath was alive +again.”[438] A month after the strange interview above related, +Trembath wrote to Wesley: “Though God has forgiven me, yet I cannot +forgive myself for the precious time I have wasted, the years I have +lost, and the glorious harvest I have neglected.”[439] Poor Trembath +died of paralysis, at Cork, about the year 1793.[440] + +Such were the old friends whom Wesley met in Cornwall. Getting back to +Bristol, on September 6, he found a new one, young, but warm hearted, +honest, and faithful. Adam Clarke, just emerging out of his teens, had +arrived from Ireland. He had travelled from Birmingham to Bristol upon +a penny loaf and a halfpennyworth of apples; and had just three +halfpence left when he got to Kingswood school. He met with a +reception from Simpson, the head master, as frigid as cold heartedness +could make it. Simpson’s stupid, imperious wife made bad things worse, +by suspecting that the young Irishman might be afflicted with the +itch, and by making him rub himself from head to foot with Jackson’s +ointment. This “infernal unguent,” as Adam calls it, made him smell +worse than a polecat. His only sustenance was bread and milk; and not +enough of that. For more than three weeks, no one performed any kind +act for him. As for Mrs. Simpson, he feared her as he feared the +devil. At length, Wesley arrived from Cornwall; Clarke was introduced; +Wesley laid his hands upon his head, and spent a few minutes in +beseeching God to bless him; and then gave him his commission to +proceed to Wiltshire as a Methodist preacher. Fifty years after this, +Adam Clarke died in London,--an old itinerant preacher, without a spot +on the fair escutcheon of his character,--one of the most extensively +learned scholars of the age,--a voluminous author,--the friend of +philosophers and princes,--and a man intensely beloved by nearly all +who knew him. + +Wesley left Bristol for London on October 7, and, on his way, preached +at Newport in the Isle of Wight. He writes: “This place seems now ripe +for the gospel, opposition is at an end.” + +At, Newport the first Methodist preaching place was a room in Node +Hill; and the opposition, referred to by Wesley, consisted of the +beating of drums, tin kettles, and bells; the throwing of rotten eggs, +sticks, and stones; sparrows let loose in the room for the purpose of +putting out the lights; and covering the chimney top and fastening the +door, in order to stifle the imprisoned worshippers. It was at +Newport, that Robert Wallbridge heard Wesley preach; was converted; +became a Methodist; and a Methodist local preacher. Elizabeth +Wallbridge, his sister, was now a light haired, ruddy faced, and merry +hearted girl, of twelve years old. Of scholastic learning she had but +a slender share; and had to earn her bread as a household servant. She +had a high flow of spirits, vanity, and ready wit, and was +inordinately fond of dress. Elizabeth was converted under the ministry +of James Crabb, a Methodist preacher, became a Methodist herself, and +continued such to the end of life. Her father joined the church +presided over by the Rev. Daniel Tyerman, who published an account of +him, in a well written tract, a short time before he set sail on his +mission to the South Sea islands. Elizabeth’s brother Robert, for more +than forty years, was a Methodist local preacher, and died at Newport +in 1837. Elizabeth herself died, at the age of thirty-one, in the year +1801; the Rev. Legh Richmond visited her in her last moments; and +afterwards wrote her life, with the title of “The Dairyman’s +Daughter,” omitting to state, however, that his heroine was a +Methodist. Millions of copies of that publication have been +circulated; it has been translated into, at least, thirty languages; +and, thirty years ago, it had been the means of the conversion of +three hundred and fifty persons.[441] + +Wesley reached London on October 11. Here, and in eight or nine of the +southern counties of England, he spent, according to his custom, the +remainder of the year. + +His publications, in 1782, were few in number. + +1. An Extract from his Journal, from January 1, 1776, to August 5, +1779. 12mo, 112 pages. + +2. “Alleine’s Alarm to the Unconverted.” 12mo, 107 pages. + +3. “An Estimate of the Manners of the present Times.” 12mo, 23 pages. + +This was an exceedingly characteristic piece. With terrible severity, +he lashes the vices of the age; the slothfulness of people of fashion; +the increase of luxury, both in meat, drink, dress, and furniture; and +lewdness of every kind. He writes: “A total ignorance of God is almost +universal among us. The exceptions are exceeding few, whether among +the learned or unlearned. High and low, cobblers, tinkers, hackney +coachmen, men and maid servants, soldiers, sailors, tradesmen of all +ranks, lawyers, physicians, gentlemen, lords, are as ignorant of the +Creator of the world as Mahommedans or pagans.” + +4. The _Arminian Magazine_. 8vo, 680 pages. Here we have an engraving +of the new chapel in City Road, with portraits of George Story, etc. +About forty pages are filled with a continuation of Wesley’s +translation of the Dialogues of Castellio on Election and Free Will. +There are long extracts from Wesley’s “Survey of the Wisdom of God in +Creation”; and from Dr. Watts’s Treatise on the Passions. Remarks upon +Locke’s Essay on the Human Understanding make a part of every number. +Memoirs and happy deaths are more numerous than ever. There are sixty +letters, and as many poems. There are six original sermons by Wesley +himself. One, on “Redeeming the Time,” is a vigorous enforcement of +the principles propounded in his letter to his niece in 1781.[442] +Another is a remarkable homily on “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt +thou return”; and another, equally striking, is on God’s six days’ +work. Then there is his magnificent sermon on, “Not as the +transgression, so is the free gift.” And, lastly, there is his +terrific discourse on the Punishments of Hell. If the _Arminian +Magazine_ had done nothing more than give birth to sermons like these, +it would have rendered incalculable service to the cause of Christ. + +In addition to the above, the magazine contains several original +articles, by Wesley’s pen, of great interest and importance. In one, +on Persecuting Papists, he says: “I set out in early life with an +utter abhorrence of persecution in every form, and a full conviction, +that every man has a right to worship God, according to his own +conscience. I would not hurt a hair of the head of Romanists. +Meantime, I would not put it into their power to hurt me, or any other +persons whom they believe to be heretics. I would neither kill, nor be +killed. I wish them well; but I dare not trust them.” In another +article there is an onslaught on the “Divinity and Philosophy of the +highly illuminated Jacob Behmen”; concluding thus: “May we not +pronounce, with the utmost certainty, of one who thus distorts, +mangles, and murders the word of God, That the light which is in him +is darkness; that he is _illuminated_ from beneath, rather than from +above; and that he ought to be styled _Demonosopher_, rather than +_Theosopher_?” + +This was savage; and Wesley’s old friend, Mr. Harry Brooke, of Dublin, +wrote him a letter of earnest remonstrance; to which Wesley replied as +follows. + + “_April 21, 1783._ + + “DEAR HARRY,--Your letter gave me pleasure and pain. It gave me + pleasure, because it was written in a mild and loving spirit; + but it gave me pain, because I found I had pained you, whom I + so tenderly love and esteem. But I shall do it no more. I + sincerely thank you for your kind reproof. It is a precious + balm, and will, I trust, in the hands of the Great Physician, + be the means of healing my sickness. I am so sensible of your + real friendship herein, that I cannot write without tears. The + words you mention were too strong. They will no more fall from + my mouth. + + “I am, dear Harry, affectionately yours, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[443] + +This may serve as an _erratum_, belonging to the _Arminian Magazine_ +of 1782. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [419] _Methodist Recorder_, Aug. 16, 1867. + + [420] It was doubtless at this time that he had a youthful + hearer, who afterwards became the renowned Sir Walter + Scott. In a letter to Southey, dated Abbotsford, + April 4, 1819, Scott writes: “When I was about twelve + years old, I heard Wesley preach more than once, + standing on a chair, in Kelso churchyard. He was a + most venerable figure, but his sermons were vastly + too colloquial for the taste of Saunders. He told + many excellent stories. One I remember, which he + said had happened to him at Edinburgh. ‘A drunken + dragoon,’ said Wesley, ‘was commencing an assertion + in military fashion, G----d eternally d----n me, + just as I was passing. I touched the poor man on the + shoulder, and when he turned round fiercely, said + calmly, You mean, _God bless you_.’ In the mode of + telling the story, he failed not to make us sensible + how much this patriarchal appearance, and mild yet + bold rebuke, overawed the soldier, who touched his + hat, thanked him, and, I think, came to chapel that + evening.”--(“Memoirs of Sir Walter Scott,” by J. G. + Lockhart, Esq.) + + [421] _Methodist Magazine_, 1854, p. 184. + + [422] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 138. + + [423] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 140. + + [424] The copy before us is addressed “To Mr. Thompson, at + the Methodist chapel, Hull,” and is signed by Wesley + in his own handwriting. + + [425] Coke’s manuscript letter. + + [426] Manuscript letter. + + [427] Ibid. + + [428] For the manuscripts that have been used, I am + indebted to the kindness of Mr. Clapham, of Birstal. + + [429] _Methodist Magazine_, 1824, p. 307. + + [430] Ibid. 1790, pp. 106, 163. + + [431] Both clergymen. + + [432] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 475. + + [433] Myles’s History. + + [434] _Methodist Magazine_, 1826, p. 794. + + [435] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 309. + + [436] _Methodist Magazine_, 1782, p. 468. + + [437] Ibid. 1798, p. 492; and 1780, p. 448. + + [438] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 13. + + [439] _Methodist Magazine_, 1790, p. 557. + + [440] Everett’s “Methodism in Sheffield.” + + [441] Dyson’s “History of Methodism in the Isle of Wight.” + + [442] In 1783, this sermon was reprinted, in a separate + form, without Wesley’s knowledge, by a gentleman of + Cambridge, in 12mo. + + [443] Walton’s “Memorial of W. Law,” p. 91; and Brooke’s + Life, p. 194. + + + + + 1783. + Age 80 + + +One of the first entries in Wesley’s journal, in 1783, is the +following. “Friday, January 10--I paid one more visit to Mr. Perronet, +now in his ninetieth year. I do not know so venerable a man. His +understanding is little, if at all, impaired; and his heart seems to +be all love. A little longer, I hope, he will remain here, to be a +blessing to all that see and hear him.” This is beautiful, after an +unbroken friendship of about forty years. + +Another entry, equally deserving of being noted, was as follows: +“Sunday, January 19--I preached in St. Thomas’s church in the +afternoon, and at St. Swithin’s in the evening. The tide is now +turned; so that I have more invitations to preach in churches than I +can accept of.” What a contrast between 1783 and 1739! + +Wesley was an unendowed clergyman; but was not unsupported. The funds, +raised for his purposes, were large; but his own appropriation from +them, not equal to the poor parson’s, who was “passing rich on £40 a +year.” In reference to the London annual audit, he writes: “Friday, +February 21--At our yearly meeting for that purpose, we examined our +yearly accounts, and found the money received, (just answering the +expense,) was upwards of £3000 a year. But that is nothing to me: what +I receive of it, yearly, is neither more nor less than £30.” + +Wesley was an old man; but he was still an outdoor preacher: for +five-and-forty years he had been branded as a schismatic and a +Dissenter; but he was still an ardent Churchman. Hence the following, +addressed to Joseph Taylor, one of his itinerant preachers. + + “LONDON, _January 16, 1783_. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--I am glad to hear so good an account of + Marazion. You must endeavour to hire a larger room at Truro. We + shall not build any more in haste. I often preach abroad, in + winter as well as summer. + + “In my journals, in the magazine, in every possible way, I have + advised the Methodists to keep to the Church. They that do this + most prosper best in their souls; I have observed it long. If + ever the Methodists in general were to leave the Church, I must + leave them. + + “I am, dear Joseph, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[444] + +An extract from another letter may be inserted here, showing that, +rightly or wrongly, the Methodist preachers of the present day have +departed from one of the principles of their founder. Ministerial +classes are now almost general. Hear what Wesley had to say, on this +subject, to John Cricket, then stationed, with Henry Moore, at +Londonderry. + + “LONDON, _February 10, 1783_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You must immediately resume the form at + least of a Methodist society. I positively forbid you, or any + preacher, to be a leader; rather put the most insignificant + person in each class to be the leader of it. And try if you + cannot persuade three men, if no more, and three women, to meet + in band. + + “Hope to the end! You shall see better days! The plainer you + speak, the more good you will do. Derry will bear plain + dealing. I am just as well as I was forty years ago. + + “I am, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[445] + +The hale old man soon found himself in a different plight. On March 2, +he set off for Bristol, in the neighbourhood of which he spent the +next twelve days, preaching and meeting classes. He then became +seriously unwell; but, for two days longer, continued preaching, when +he was obliged to take his bed. He had a deep tearing cough; was weak +and heavy, and in a fever. He had fixed the next morning for +commencing his journey to Ireland, and had sent notice to Stroud, and +various other places, of the days wherein he purposed to visit them. +Fortunately, the Rev. Brian Collins was at hand, and undertook to +supply his appointments as far as Worcester. Accordingly, Mr. Collins, +in the morning of March 17, set out to preach at Stroud; but Wesley, +finding himself better, in the afternoon, imprudently set out after +him, and actually gave a short exhortation to the Stroud society. For +the next three days, he was dangerously ill. The whole nervous system +was violently agitated. His cough was most distressing. He was seized +with cramp. He was bereft of strength, “scarce able to move, and much +less to think.” Before leaving Bristol, he wrote the following +unpublished letter to Miss Hester Ann Roe, afterwards Mrs. Rogers. + + “BRISTOL, _March 16, 1783_. + + “MY DEAR HETTY,--It has frequently been on my mind of late, + that my pilgrimage is nearly at an end; and one of our sisters + here told us this morning a particular dream which she had two + months ago. She dreamt, that the time of conference was come, + and that she was in a church expecting me to enter; when she + saw a coffin brought in, followed by Dr. Coke and Mr. Fletcher, + and then by all our preachers walking two and two. A fortnight + ago, she dreamt the same dream again. Such a burying I have + ordered in my will, absolutely forbidding either hearse or + coach. + + “I intended to have written a good deal more. For a few days, I + have had just such a fever as I had in Ireland a few years ago. + But all is well. I am in no pain; but the wheel of life seems + scarcely able to move. Yet, I made a shift to preach this + morning to a crowded audience, and hope to say something to + them this afternoon. I love that word, ‘And Ishmael died in the + presence of all his brethren.’ + + “I am, in life or death, my dear sister, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[446] + +What was the result? The news of Wesley’s being dangerously ill flew +far and wide. A number of the preachers met together to pray for a +further prolongation of his life; and, from that time, he rapidly +recovered.[447] For three days he lay at Stroud, in great danger. On +the morning of the fourth day, he wrote: “A violent fit of the cramp +carried the fever quite away; and, perceiving this, I took chaise +without delay, and reached Worcester in the afternoon. Here I overtook +Mr. Collins, who had supplied all my appointments, with a remarkable +blessing to the people; and, the next morning, I gave a short +exhortation, and then went on to Birmingham.” At Birmingham, he was +electrified, and “ventured to preach three quarters of an hour.” He +then made his way to Hinckley, where, for three days, he preached +morning and evening, “to a serious and well behaved people.” He then +visited other societies on his way to Holyhead, and reached Dublin on +April 13. + +For three weeks, he was the guest of Mr. Henry Brooke, and was +employed in healing serious divisions in the Dublin society.[448] Four +days were spent in holding a conference with his Irish preachers, at +which, he says, “all was peace and love.” “I wish,” he writes, “all +our English preachers were of the same spirit with the Irish, among +whom is no jarring string. I never saw such simplicity and +teachableness run through a body of preachers before.”[449] This was a +high compliment paid to Thomas Rutherford, Andrew Blair, Zechariah +Yewdall, Richard Boardman, Thomas Barber, Henry Moore, John Cricket, +John Crook, and their twenty-six colleagues in Christian enterprise +and labour. + +Wesley embarked for England on the 8th of May, and, after preaching at +Warrington, Liverpool, Wigan, Bolton, and other places, reached +Manchester nine days afterwards. Here he had an enormous sacramental +service, at which thirteen or fourteen hundred communicants were +present: “such a sight,” says he, “as, I believe, was never seen in +Manchester before.” “I believe,” he adds, “there is no place but +London where we have so many souls so deeply devoted to God.” + +Leaving Manchester, he proceeded to Macclesfield, where a week never +passed “in which some were not justified, and some renewed in love.” +He preached, for the first time, at Buxton, where John Knowles and his +wife were almost the only Methodists, and frequently rode on horseback +to Stockport, a distance of sixteen miles, to hear the Methodist +preachers.[450] Here he married a couple of his friends, and preached +in the parish church. He arrived in London on May 31. + +On June 11, accompanied by Messrs. Brackenbury, Broadbent, and +Whitfield, he set out for Holland. For more than forty years, Wesley +had been incessantly at work forming Methodist societies. Up to the +present, he had never indulged in the luxury of a ministerial holiday; +and we are not sure, that his trip to Holland should be regarded in +such a light as that. Still, there was a difference between this +journey and others. In other instances, his object was to institute +Methodist societies, or to strengthen those already formed; in this +instance, that was no part of the object at which he aimed. He went, +says Mr. Moore, “partly for relaxation, and partly to indulge and +enlarge his catholic spirit, by forming an acquaintance with the truly +pious in foreign nations.” The fact is, one of his own local +preachers, whom he highly esteemed, Mr. William Ferguson, had removed +to Holland, and, by his earnest piety, had attracted the attention of +the public generally, including many of the principal inhabitants and +persons in authority. He spoke much of Wesley and of the Methodists, +and distributed Wesley’s sermons among his friends. The result was a +general wish to see the veteran evangelist, and to hear him for +themselves. One difficulty, however, was in the way. Wesley was +acquainted, to a greater or less extent, with the Hebrew, Greek, and +Latin, the English, French, German, and Spanish languages; but he knew +nought of Dutch. This objection was surmounted by Mr. Ferguson’s son, +Jonathan, offering to act as his interpreter.[451] Accordingly, off +Wesley went, accompanied by the three preachers above mentioned. + +His visit was eminently pleasant. Ministers of religion welcomed him; +and persons of high rank showed him honour. At Rotterdam, he preached +twice, in the episcopal church, to large congregations, and says: +“Were it only for this, I am glad I came to Holland.” At the Hague, in +the house of a lady of the first quality, he met a dozen ladies and +two military gentlemen, expounded the first three verses of the +thirteenth of the first epistle to the Corinthians, and prayed, +Captain M---- interpreting sentence by sentence. Wesley writes: “I +believe, this hour was well employed.” He held a sort of service in +the passenger boat between Haarlem and Amsterdam. That is, he and his +friends began to sing a hymn; the people listened; Wesley talked; +Ferguson interpreted; “and all our hearts,” says Wesley, “were +strangely knit together, so that, when we came to Amsterdam, they +dismissed us with abundance of blessings.” + +At Utrecht, Wesley wrote: “June 28--I have this day lived fourscore +years; and, by the mercy of God, my eyes are not waxed dim, and what +little strength of body or mind I had thirty years since, just the +same I have now. God grant I may never live to be useless! rather may I + + ‘My body with my charge lay down, + And cease at once to work and live!’” + +On the same day, he made a short excursion. Hence, the following +extract from the diary of the Moravian congregation at Zeyst: + + “1783, June 28.--We kept the children’s prayer day. The Rev. + John Wesley, the well known Methodist minister, arrived here in + the afternoon, with several other ministers. After visiting his + old friend, Brother Anton, he paid a hurried visit to the + brethren’s house, and sisters’ house; and then attended a + children’s lovefeast, at three o’clock; on which occasion, as + it happened to be his eightieth birthday, the children sang a + few benedictory verses for him; the congregation closing the + service by singing ‘The grace of our Lord be with us all!’ At + 4.30 p.m. he and his companions returned to Utrecht, where he + had preached the day before.” + +Wesley spent altogether seventeen days in Holland, and was delighted +with his visit. He writes: “I can by no means regret either the +trouble or expense, which attended this little journey. It opened me a +way into, as it were, a new world; where the land, the buildings, the +people, the customs, were all such as I had never seen before. But as +those with whom I conversed were of the same spirit with my friends in +England, I was as much at home in Utrecht and Amsterdam, as in Bristol +and London.” “There is a blessed work at the Hague, and many other of +the principal cities; and, in their simplicity of spirit, and +plainness of dress, the believers vie with the old English Methodists. +In affection, they are not inferior to any. It was with the utmost +difficulty we could break from them.”[452] “Two of our sisters, when +we left the Hague, came twelve miles with us on the way; and one of +our brethren, of Amsterdam, came to take leave of us to Utrecht, above +thirty miles. I believe, if my life be prolonged, I shall pay them a +visit at least every other year. Had I had a little more time, I would +have visited our brethren in Friesland, and Westphalia likewise; for a +glorious work of God is lately broken out in both these provinces.”[453] + +Wesley got back to London on July 4. Ten days later, he set off to his +conference at Bristol. “I expect,” says he, “a good deal of difficulty +at this conference, and shall stand in need of the prayers of you and +your friends.”[454] His apprehension was realised; hence the following +entry in his journal: “July 29--Our conference began, at which we +considered two important points: first, the case of Birstal house; +and, secondly, the state of Kingswood school. With regard to the +former, our brethren earnestly desired, that I would go to Birstal +myself, believing this would be the most effectual way of bringing the +trustees to reason. With regard to the latter, we all agreed, that +either the school should cease, or the rules of it be particularly +observed: particularly, that the children should never play, and that +a master should be always present with them.” + +We need not recur to the first of these points, except to add, that +the Birstal chapel case, no doubt, led to the adoption of the +following resolutions: + + “_Question 21._ What houses are to be built this year? + + “_Answer._ None that are not already begun. + + “_Q. 22._ Has not the needless multiplying of preaching houses + been a great evil? + + “_A._ So it appears. + + “_Q. 23._ How may this be prevented? + + “_A._ By permitting none for the future to beg for any house, + except in the circuit where it stands. + + “_Q. 24._ What can be done to get all our preaching houses + settled on the conference plan? + + “_A._ Let Dr. Coke visit the societies throughout England, as + far as is necessary for the accomplishment of this end; and let + the respective assistants give him all the support in their + power.” + +Such was the commission given to Dr. Coke, a weary and worrying one. + +Kingswood school, however, was as great a bore as Birstal chapel. It +had now existed for five-and-thirty years; it had been to Wesley a +source of almost ceaseless trouble, and was now in a worse state than +ever. Nevertheless, it was a far famed institution; and, besides the +sons of itinerant preachers, it had, at this very time, _parlour +boarders_ from Denmark, Norway, Sweden, and the West Indies. None of +the scholars however, were remarkable for piety or learning; and the +_young gentlemen_, just mentioned, had spoiled the discipline of the +school. Thomas Simpson, M.A., was head master; Mrs. Simpson +housekeeper; Cornelius Bayley was English teacher, with a salary of +£12 per annum and his board; Vincent de Boudry was occasional French +teacher; and C. R. Bond a sort of half boarder, and assistant to +Bayley.[455] + + “My design in building the house at Kingswood,” says Wesley, + “was to have therein a Christian family; every member whereof, + (children excepted,) should be alive to God, and a pattern of + all holiness. Here it was that I proposed to educate a few + children, according to the accuracy of the Christian model. And + almost as soon as we began, God gave us a token for good, four + of the children receiving a clear sense of pardon. But, at + present, the school does not, in any wise, answer the design of + its institution, either with regard to religion or learning. + The children are not religious: they have not the power, and + hardly the form of religion. Neither do they improve in + learning better than at other schools; no, nor yet so well. + Insomuch, that some of our friends have been obliged to remove + their children to other schools. And no wonder that they + improve so little either in religion or learning; for the rules + of the school are not observed at all. All in the house ought + to rise, take their three meals, and go to bed at a fixed hour. + But they do not. The children ought never to be alone, but + always in the presence of a master. This is totally neglected; + in consequence of which, they run up and down the wood, and + mix, yea, fight with the colliers’ children. They ought never + to play: but they do, every day; yea, in the school. Three + maids are sufficient; now there are four; and but one, at most, + truly pious. + + “How may these evils be remedied, and the school reduced to its + original plan? It must be mended or ended: for no school is + better than the present school. Can any be a master, that does + not rise at five, observe _all_ the rules, and see that others + observe them? There should be three masters, and an usher, + chiefly to be with the children out of school. The head master + should have nothing to do with temporal things.”[456] + +This was a dark picture; doubtless the result of bad management. Easy, +good tempered Mr. Simpson was a scholar; his wife, the real governor, +was an ogress. A woman that rubbed Adam Clarke with the “infernal +unguent” to cure him of an imaginary itch; thrust him into a solitary +room, with a wretched old bedstead, and left him there without book or +fire; and from whom Adam, when he heard her voice, was disposed to run +in the utmost fright, was not the woman to manage Kingswood school. +“She was probably very clever,” says Clarke; “all stood in awe of her; +for my own part, I feared her more than I feared Satan himself. The +school was the worst I had ever seen, though the teachers were men of +adequate learning. It was perfectly _disorganised_; and, in several +respects, each did what was right in his own eyes. There was no +efficient plan pursued; they mocked at religion; and trampled under +foot all the laws. The little children of the preachers suffered great +indignities; and, it is to be feared, their treatment there gave many +of them a rooted enmity against religion for life. The parlour +boarders had every kind of respect paid to them, and the others were +shamefully neglected. Scarcely any care was taken either of their +bodies or souls.” + +Poor Kingswood! Could all this be strictly accurate? Probably it was; +for the following, given as a fact, prepares the mind for almost +anything in the form of stupidity, and ignorant confusion. “At the +table,” writes Adam Clarke, “every person when he drank was obliged to +run the following gauntlet. He must drink the health of Mr. Simpson, +Mrs. Simpson, Miss Simpson, Mr. Bayley, Mr. De Boudry, all the foreign +gentlemen, then all the parlour boarders, down one side of the long +table, and up the other, one by one, and all the _visitors_ who might +happen to be there: after which it was lawful for him to drink his +glass of beer.”[457] + +Wesley was quite right. No school at all was better than such a school +as this. It was high time to mend it or end it. In his magazine, for +the very month in which the conference of 1783 was held, Wesley +published an article, by his own pen, entitled, “A Thought on the +Manner of Educating Children,” in which he strongly maintains, that +all education ought to be religious; but adds, probably with the state +of Kingswood in his eye,--“Even religious masters may still be +mistaken with regard to the manner of instilling religion into +children. They may not have the spirit of government, to which some +even good men are utter strangers. They may habitually lean to this or +that extreme, of remissness or of severity. And if they either give +children too much of their own will, or needlessly and churlishly +restrain them; if they either use no punishment at all, or more than +is necessary, the leaning either to one extreme or the other may +frustrate all their endeavours. In the latter case, it will not be +strange, if religion stink in the nostrils of those that were so +educated. They will naturally look on it as an austere, melancholy +thing; and, if they think it necessary to salvation, they will esteem +it a necessary evil, and so put it off as long as possible.” + +Wesley was not the man to hesitate in changing his officials when +change was necessary. Mr. Simpson was dismissed; Thomas McGeary, A.M., +a young man of twenty-two, took his place.[458] Cornelius Bayley had +previously made up his mind to leave, in order to enter the ministry +of the Established Church;[459] and Thomas Welch, an assistant in a +school at Coventry, applied to be appointed his successor. Wesley +wrote to him as follows. + + “BRISTOL, _August 15, 1783_. + + “DEAR THOMAS,--You seem to be the man I want. As to salary, you + will have £30 a year; board, etc., will be thirty more. But do + not come _for money_. (1) Do not come at all, unless purely to + raise a Christian school. (2) Anybody behaving ill, I will turn + away immediately. (3) I expect you to be in the school eight + hours a day. (4) In all things, I expect you should be + circumspect. But you will judge better by considering the + printed rules. The sooner you come the better. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[460] + +Mr. Welch was a young man of twenty-three. Two years before, he had +become a Methodist. The Coventry society, then extremely feeble, was +loath to lose him; and some of its members succeeded in persuading him +to remain where he was. He wrote to Wesley to this effect; and Wesley +answered: “You use me very ill. I have turned away three masters on +your account. The person, who gives you this advice, is wanting either +in common sense or common honesty.”[461] Mr. Welch became a valuable +local preacher, and lived and died a Methodist. Thomas Jones took the +place that he declined, and, for three years, retained it, when he was +ordained a clergyman of the Church of England. + +This was Wesley’s last complaint of Kingswood. Twelve months +afterwards, the school and family were visited with a gracious +outpouring of God’s good Spirit. In 1786, he says: “I found the school +in excellent order.” “It is now one of the pleasantest spots in +England. I found all things just according to my desire; the rules +being well observed, and the whole behaviour of the children showing, +that they were now managed with the wisdom that cometh from above.” In +1787, he expressed himself to the same effect, as, in fact, he did to +the end of life. The last entry in his journal, in reference to this +memorable place,--a child, always with him a pet, though often +troublesome,--was this: “1789, September 11--I went over to Kingswood: +sweet recess! where everything is now just as I wish. But + + ‘Man was not born in shades to lie!’ + +Let us work now; we shall rest by-and-by. I spent some time with the +children; all of whom behaved well: several are much awakened, and a +few rejoicing in the favour of God.” + +We must now bid a final adieu to dear old Kingswood school, the sacred +scene of so many Methodistic memories, and turn to other matters +connected with the conference of 1783. + +The number of members was reported to be 45,955; but all these were +Methodists within the limits of the United Kingdom. No account was +taken of the 13,740 Methodists in America. No mention was made of +Antigua, where nearly 2000 persons had joined John Baxter’s society; +and where, in this very year, the first Methodist chapel in the torrid +zone was completed.[462] + +Nova Scotia also is not noticed; though it had been the scene of a +most blessed work, and William Black had written to Wesley, urgently +asking him to send them preachers. The following were Wesley’s +answers. + + “LONDON, _February 26, 1783_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I did indeed very strongly expostulate with + the Bishop of London, concerning his refusing to ordain a pious + man, without learning, while he ordained others that, to my + knowledge, had no piety, and but a moderate share of learning. + + “Our next conference will begin in July; and I have great + hopes, we shall then be able to send you assistance. One of our + preachers informs me, he is willing to go to any part of Africa + or America. He does not regard danger or toil; nor, indeed, + does he count his life dear unto himself, so that he may + testify the gospel of the grace of God, and win sinners to + Christ. But I cannot advise any person to go alone. Our Lord + sent His disciples two and two. And I do not despair of finding + another young man, as much devoted to God as he. + + “Of Calvinism, mysticism, and antinomianism, have a care; for + they are the bane of true religion; and one or other of them + has been the grand hindrance of the work of God, wherever it + has broke out. + + “I am, my dear brother, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[463] + +The second letter to William Black was as follows. + + “LONDON, _July 13, 1783_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--It is a rule with me, to answer all the + letters which I receive. If, therefore, you have not received + an answer to every letter which you have written, it must be, + either that your letter or my answer has been intercepted. + + “I do not wonder at all, that, after that great and + extraordinary work of God, there should be a remarkable decay. + So we have found it in almost all places. A swift increase is + generally followed by a decrease equally swift. All we can do + to prevent it, is continually to exhort all who have tasted + that the Lord is gracious, to remember our Lord’s words, ‘Watch + and pray that ye enter not into temptation.’ + + “The school at Kingswood is exceeding full; nevertheless there + shall be room for you. And it is very probable, if you should + live to return to Halifax, you may carry one or more preachers + with you. I hope you will live as brethren, and have a free and + open intercourse with each other. + + “I am, my dear brother, affectionately yours, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[464] + +Such was the wish of William Black; and such was Wesley’s intention; +but it was not until 1785, that Nova Scotia appeared in the minutes of +conference as a Methodist circuit. “The harvest truly was great; but +the labourers were few.” And yet all that offered were not accepted. + +At the conference of 1783, there was present a young Welshman, of +middle stature, thin and delicate, with a somewhat elongated face, an +eye of genius, and a capacious forehead, who offered himself as an +itinerant preacher, but whom Wesley and his brethren, from the +delicacy of his health and the feebleness of his voice, thought not +equal to the arduous labours of the itinerant office. He had been +converted under the preaching of Samuel Bardsley, and, soon after his +offer was declined by Wesley, was ordained by Bishop Horsley, and +became vicar of Llanbister. The vicarage had a parlour, with a slab +stone floor, an open chimney, and a hearth on which burnt a fire of +wood and turf. It had a kitchen, and two upper rooms of the same +humble character. For many a long year this was the home of the Rev. +David Lloyd, “a philosopher, a poet, and a divine,” says Dr. Dixon, +“who seemed to enjoy, with unmixed contentment, the inheritance given +him by Providence.” For fifty years, his wife was a Methodist, and his +parsonage a Methodist preachers’ home. Besides poetical works of +considerable merit, the good vicar became the author of a large octavo +volume of very valuable essays, entitled “Horæ Theologicæ.”[465] Mr. +Lloyd was a perfect enthusiast on the missionary question, and gave a +subscription of £10 a year to the Methodist and Church missionary +societies respectively; presented each with a donation of £500; and +left the residue of his property, after other demands had been +satisfied, to be equally divided between these two institutions. He +also built a Methodist chapel on his estate, and secured it to the +connexion by deed. Thus, as a diligent clergyman of the Church of +England, and the friend and host of Methodist preachers, lived and +died the good vicar of Llanbister,--a candidate rejected by the +conference of 1783.[466] + +In the midst of this conference, Wesley was again seized with an +alarming illness. Dr. Drummond attended him twice a day. His friends +thought, that his end was come; and he himself apprehended that the +cramp would probably reach his stomach, and occasion sudden death. “I +have been reflecting on my past life”, said he to his faithful nurse, +Joseph Bradford; “I have been wandering up and down between fifty and +sixty years, endeavouring, in my poor way, to do a little good to my +fellow creatures; and, now, it is probable that there are but a few +steps between me and death; and what have I to trust to for salvation? +I can see nothing which I have done or suffered, that will bear +looking at. I have no other plea than this: + + ‘I the chief of sinners am, + But Jesus died for me.’”[467] + +For eighteen days, Wesley hung between life and death, when, finding +himself somewhat better, and “being,” as he says, “unwilling to be +idle,” he spent an hour with the Bristol penitents. The day following, +he preached twice, and, the day after that, on Monday, August 25, set +out again on his much loved gospel ramblings. Death itself, to Wesley, +was more desirable than life without work. + +Preaching on his way at Gloucester, Worcester, and Birmingham, he +came, on August 29, to Stafford, where he writes: “I preached, for the +first time, to a large and deeply attentive congregation. It is now +the day of small things here; but the grain of mustard seed may grow +up into a great tree.” + +Four years before this, Dr. Coke was passing through Stafford, and, +while dining at the inn, sent the bellman round to announce to the +inhabitants that he would preach in the market place. Jeremiah +Brettell, his companion, took a table from the hostelry; the doctor +mounted; the people came; all listened with deep attention; and some +expressed a wish for the visit to be repeated. Soon after, a little +society was formed,[468] which, in 1784, consisted of sixteen members, +Henry Robinson being leader.[469] + +From Stafford, Wesley made his way to Macclesfield, where he preached +twice in the Rev. David Simpson’s church, and had a sacramental +service, at which seven hundred communicants were present. + +He was now proceeding to Birstal, to effect the settlement with the +Birstal chapel trustees, as already related. The journey occupied +sixteen days; the distance was five or six hundred miles; according to +his wont, he preached all the way there and back; and yet, the old +man, who a month before had been on the very verge of death, returned +to Bristol on the 13th of September, almost as vigorous as ever. + +An unpublished letter, belonging to this period, may be welcome here. +It was addressed to John Atlay, his book steward. + + “LEEDS, _September 3, 1783_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--The schoolmasters for Kingswood are fixed, + and expected there every day. Mr. Simpson’s sister is the + housekeeper, who is come hither in her way to Bristol. Let no + man or woman go to West Street chapel without my appointment. + It is a matter of deep concern. The building or not building, + at Birstal, does not depend upon me, but the trustees. J. + Fenwick is to correct the press chiefly, in the absence of Dr. + Coke, and to transcribe tracts for me. And he may receive his + little salary, at least, till I return to London. + + “I am, with love to sister Atlay, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Wesley remained in the neighbourhood of Bristol till October 6, and +employed the interval, not only in preaching, but in begging money to +relieve the distresses of the destitute, and in visiting the poor +recipients at their own houses. “I was surprised,” says he, “to find +no murmuring spirits among them, but many that were truly happy in +God; and all of them appeared to be exceeding thankful for the scanty +relief which they received.” + +No wonder, that such a man was popular; and no wonder, that his +presence was a loadstone drawing the poor around him. Sometimes, +however, their absence would have been more welcome than their +company. A month after this, Wesley was at Norwich, and, when leaving, +had a whole host of poverty stricken people about his carriage. His +purse was low, containing only what was necessary to take him back to +London; and the clamour of the mendicant crowd, for once, disturbed +his temper. Somewhat sharply he said: “I have nothing for you. Do you +suppose I can support the poor in every place?” At the moment, he was +entering his carriage; his foot slipped; and he fell upon the ground. +Feeling as though God Himself had rebuked him for his hasty words, he +turned to Joseph Bradford, and, with subdued emphasis, remarked: “It +is all right, Joseph; it is all right; it is only what I deserved; for +if I had no _other_ good to give, I ought, at least, to have given +them good words.”[470] + +The concluding months of the year were employed, as usual, partly in +London, and partly in the surrounding counties. + +Considering Wesley’s advanced age, his labours are without parallel. +Here we have,--not a man of Herculean frame, big, brawny, and heavy, +fed on the daintiest diet, and stimulated with the costliest +wines,--but a man small in stature, his weight eight stones and ten +pounds (exactly the same as it was fourteen years before), his age +eighty, without indulgences, feeding, for eight months in every year, +chiefly at the tables of the poor, sleeping on all sorts of beds and +in all sorts of rooms, without a wife, without a child, really without +a home; and yet a man always cheerful, always happy, always hard at +work, flying with all the sprightliness of youth throughout the three +kingdoms, preaching twice every day, indoors and out of doors, in +churches, chapels, cottages, and sheds, and everywhere superintending +the complex and growing interests of the numerous societies which had +sprung into buoyant being through the labours of himself and his godly +helpers. The man was a marvel, such as the world sees only now and +then. Once show him the path of duty, and with a dauntless step he +trod it. Nothing frightened him; nothing could allure from the post +assigned to him by Providence. However arduous the work, and however +great the privations and the dangers, if his Master bid him go, he +went, trusting in his Master’s power for defence and help. “My brother +Charles,” he once remarked, “amid the difficulties of our early +ministry, used to say: ‘If the Lord would give me wings, I would fly.’ +I used to answer, ‘If the Lord bid me fly, I would trust Him for the +wings.’”[471] + +One of the last acts of this youthful octogenarian, in 1783, was to +pay a pastoral visit to another of the most remarkable men of that +period,--Dr. Samuel Johnson, who was now suffering his last illness, +and died twelve months afterwards. + +Wesley’s publications, in 1783, were the following. + +1. “The Spirit of Prayer.” 24 pages, 12mo. + +2. “Baxter’s Call to the Unconverted.” 76 pages, 12mo. + +3. “The Important Question. A Sermon. By John Wesley.” 23 pages, 12mo. + +Besides these, Wesley also published many new editions of former +tracts, for the use of his recently instituted tract society, most of +these reissues having upon the title page, “This tract is not to be +sold, but given away.” + +His principal publication, however, was his _Arminian Magazine_, and +this was as vigorously conducted as before. Again, we have +half-a-dozen original sermons, by Wesley himself, all of them +remarkable, and among the most able that he ever published. These +include his two discourses on good and fallen angels; in which he +propounds the doctrine, that good angels minister to our happiness, by +assisting us in our searches after truth, by preserving us in danger, +by dreams, etc.: and that all evil angels are united under one common +head; and are often the authors of accidents, diseases, fires, storms, +and earthquakes. Then there is his elaborate sermon on “The Mystery of +Iniquity,” in which he expresses the opinion, that the “greatest blow +that genuine Christianity ever received was when Constantine the Great +called himself a Christian, and poured in a flood of riches, honours, +and power upon the Christians, more especially upon the clergy.” Next +we have his curious homily on the Spread of Christianity, where he +hazards the conjecture that truth will be transmitted from this nation +to that, until at last it reaches the South Sea islands. And, finally, +there are his characteristic sermons on Family Religion, and on +Training Children. As usual, every number of the magazine has an +article on the Calvinian controversy. Biographical accounts are still +numerous. Extracts from his own Natural Philosophy, and from Locke’s +Essay on the Human Understanding, form a part of each of the twelve +numbers; as do also Benson’s letters in reply to Madan’s treatise on +polygamy; likewise extracts from Dr. Hilldrop’s able “Thoughts on the +Brute Creation,” professedly to prove a theory which Wesley liked, the +ultimate restoration of the brute creation; and a series of profoundly +thoughtful articles on “The True Original of the Soul.” Nine numbers +have extracts from Baxter’s “Certainty of the World of Spirits, fully +evinced by unquestionable Histories of Apparitions and Witchcrafts.” +There are forty-five letters; forty-one poems; and a number of +portraits, including those of John Hampson and William Thom, both of +whom left the Methodist connexion. There are also long continued +extracts from Bryant’s Analysis of Ancient Mythology, which Wesley +pronounces to be “one of the most remarkable books, in its kind, which +has been published for centuries.” And, finally, there are Wesley’s +“Thoughts on the Writings of Baron Swedenborg.” The baron, a little +before he died, presented Wesley with his last and largest theological +work, the “True Christian Religion”; but he failed to make a convert +of him. Wesley believed him to be insane, and traced his insanity to a +fever, which he had in London, when “he ran into the street stark +naked, proclaimed himself the Messiah, and rolled himself in the +mire.” He was a “fine genius,--majestic though in ruins.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [444] _The Wesleyan_, Sept. 9, 1846. + + [445] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiv., p. 343. + + [446] Manuscript letter. + + [447] Mrs. Rogers’ Life, p. 473. + + [448] Life of Brooke, p. 100. + + [449] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 141. + + [450] _Methodist Magazine_, 1851, p. 313. + + [451] The Fergusons, father and son, were notable persons. + Mr. Ferguson, sen., was a well known local preacher + for upwards of sixty years; Jonathan, his son, was + a friend, and sometimes the travelling companion, + of John Howard the philanthropist. He was a hearty + Methodist, a happy Christian, and, at the age of + eighty, died a triumphant death, at Islington, in + 1844.--(_Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 292.) + + [452] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 358. + + [453] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 60. + + [454] Ibid. p. 60. + + [455] Simpson was a man of learning and piety, but too + easy for his situation. On leaving Kingswood, he + wished to become an itinerant preacher, but set up a + school at Keynsham, where his son ultimately was made + vicar. Bayley was a good Hebrew scholar, became a + doctor of divinity, had a church, St. James’s, built + for him in Manchester, and was highly respected for + his piety, usefulness, and high church principles. + De Boudry began a school on Kingsdown, Bristol, and + long bore the character of a pious, steady, honest + man. Bond was affectionate, but not talented, and + aspired to become a clergyman. Such is the testimony + of Adam Clarke; and it is only fair to give it as + a counterpoise to the discreditable state of the + Kingswood school committed to their care. + + [456] Minutes of Conference, 1783. + + [457] “Life of Adam Clarke,” in three vols., 1833, vol. i., + pp. 153-168. + + [458] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 1. + + [459] Manuscript letter. + + [460] _Methodist Magazine_, 1817, p. 324. + + [461] _Methodist Magazine_, 1817, p. 324. + + [462] Coke’s Life, by Drew, p. 167. + + [463] Black’s Memoirs, p. 99. + + [464] Black’s Memoirs, p. 109. + + [465] _Methodist Magazine_, 1816, p. 832. + + [466] _Methodist Magazine_, 1863, sixpenny edition, p. 1. + + [467] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 389. + + [468] _Methodist Magazine_, 1830, p. 657. + + [469] The names were: Henry Robinson, Mary Robinson, + Charles Machin, John Smith, Ann Stockdale, William + Holding, Sarah Holding, John Rowland, Sarah Jervis, + Thomas Smith, Elizabeth Smith, John Ward, Ann + Ward, John Kelsall, Thomas Elley, and William + Freepound.--(Burslem old circuit book.) + + [470] Everett’s Life of Clarke. + + [471] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 390. + + + + + 1784. + Age 81 + + +Dr. Whitehead calls the year 1784 “the grand _climacteric_ year of +Methodism, because of the changes which now took place in the form of +its _original_ constitution. Not,” says he, “that these changes +destroyed at once the _original_ constitution of Methodism; but the +seeds of its corruption and final dissolution were this year solemnly +planted, and have since been carefully watered and nursed by a +powerful party among the preachers.”[472] The doctor was an able man; +but he can scarcely be called a prophet. Of course, he refers to +Wesley’s deed of declaration, and Wesley’s ordination of bishops for +America; both of which must have due attention, before we conclude the +present year. + +Wesley himself, according to his own correspondence, seemed to grow +younger as he grew older. In a letter to “the Rev. Walter Sellon, at +Ledsham, near Ferrybridge, Yorkshire,” and dated, “London, January 10, +1784,” he writes: + + “On the 28th of last June, I finished my eightieth year. When I + was young, I had weak eyes, trembling hands, and abundance of + infirmities. But, by the blessing of God, I have outlived them + all. I have no infirmities now, but what I judge to be + inseparable from flesh and blood. This hath God wrought. I am + afraid you want the grand medicine which I use,--exercise and + change of air.”[473] + +On the same day, he wrote another letter, now also, like the former, +for the first time published. Methodism had recently been introduced, +by a company of soldiers, into the Channel islands; and Mr. Robert +Carr Brackenbury, with his servant, Alexander Kilham, had gone to +promote its interests. The letter was addressed, “Robert Carr +Brackenbury, Esq., in St. Heliers, Isle of Jersey.” + + “LONDON, _January 10, 1784_. + + “DEAR SIR,--While those poor sheep were scattered abroad, + without any shepherd, and without any connection with each + other, it is no wonder that they were cold and dead. I am glad + you have gathered a few of them together, and, surely, if + prayer be made concerning it, God will provide you with a + convenient place to meet in. Perhaps an application to the + gentlemen, who have hired the ballroom, might not be without + success. + + “’Tis pity but you had the ‘Earnest Appeal’ to present to the + governor, as well as the minister. I trust both you and our + newly connected brethren will overcome evil with good. We can + easily print the rules here, and send them down with some other + books. ’Tis good that every one should know our whole plan. We + do not want any man to go on blindfold. Peace be with your + spirit! + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate friend, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +The first two months of 1784 were chiefly spent in London, with the +exception of a flying visit to Colchester, and another to Nottingham; +Wesley’s errand to the last mentioned place being to “preach a charity +sermon for the general hospital.” He had a grand covenant service in +City Road chapel, attended by upwards of eighteen hundred people. He +took counsel with the London preachers, as to the desirability of the +Methodists sending missionaries to India. He read “Orlando Furioso,” +and says, “Ariosto had, doubtless, an uncommon genius, and subsequent +poets have been greatly indebted to him; yet, it is hard to say, which +was the most out of his senses, the hero or the poet. He has not the +least regard even to probability; his marvellous transcends all +conception. Who, that is not himself out of his senses, would compare +Ariosto with Tasso?” + +On the 1st of March, the venerable Wesley,--as agile as a boy, above +fourscore years of age, and yet reading the Italian poet with all the +zest of a youth still at school,--set out on a seven months’ journey, +first to Bristol, then to Scotland, then to Leeds, then through Wales +to the west of England, and then to London, which he reached on +October 9. With a hasty step, we must try to follow him. + +Wesley, as opportunity permitted, “intermeddled with all wisdom,” and, +to the end of life, showed, that a man is never too old to learn. At +Bradford, in Wiltshire, he says: “I was convinced of two vulgar +errors; the one, that nightingales will not live in cages; the other, +that they only sing a month or two in the year. Samuel Rayner has now +three nightingales in cages; and they sing almost all day long, from +November to August.” + +At Stroud, he wrote: “Here, to my surprise, I found the morning +preaching was given up, as also in the neighbouring places. If this be +the case while I am alive, what must it be when I am gone? Give up +this, and Methodism too will degenerate into a mere sect, only +distinguished by some opinions and modes of worship.” + +Wesley considered, that preaching at five o’clock in the morning was +the healthiest exercise in the world; and probably he was not far from +being right. But besides this, these early matutinal services had now, +for five-and-forty years, been one of the things which made the +Methodists “a _peculiar_ people,” as well as “zealous of good works.” +No other church or community, in England, had a service like this. It +was a religious ordinance which Wesley dearly loved. In thousands of +instances, he and his friends had proved the words, “Those that seek +Me _early_ shall find Me.” No wonder then, that he evinced alarm when +he found the Methodists giving up the morning services. Three weeks +after he was at backslidden Stroud, he came to Chester, and expressed +himself in the strongest terms on this subject. He writes: + + “I was surprised, when I came to Chester, to find that there + also morning preaching was quite left off, for this worthy + reason: ‘Because the people will not come, or, at least, not in + the winter.’ If so, the Methodists are a fallen people. Here is + proof. They have ‘lost their first love’; and they never will + or can recover it, till they ‘do the first works.’ As soon as I + set foot in Georgia, I began preaching at five in the morning; + and every communicant, that is, every serious person in the + town, constantly attended throughout the year; I mean, came + every morning, winter and summer, unless in the case of + sickness. They did so till I left the province. In the year + 1738, when God began His great work in England, I began + preaching at the same hour, winter and summer, and never wanted + a congregation. If they will not attend now, they have lost + their zeal; and then, it cannot be denied, they are a fallen + people. And, in the meantime, we are labouring to secure the + preaching houses to the next generation! In the name of God, + let us, if possible, secure the present generation from drawing + back to perdition! Let all the preachers, that are still alive + to God, join together as one man, fast and pray, lift up their + voice as a trumpet, be instant, in season, out of season, to + convince them that are fallen; and exhort them instantly to + ‘repent, and do the first works’: this in particular,--rising + in the morning, without which neither their souls nor bodies + can long remain in health.” + +Perhaps this was looking at the thing too seriously. That early +morning service is highly profitable cannot reasonably be called in +question; but, that it should begin at the hour of five may fairly be +disputed. Early risers are persons to be envied; they breathe the +purest air, listen to the sweetest songs, and have promptings to +worship God that the sluggard never feels. + +At Tewkesbury, Wesley had to correct the “impropriety of standing at +prayer, and sitting while singing praise.” At Worcester, he “preached, +to a crowded audience, in St. Andrew’s church.” At Madeley, he +preached twice in the parish church, revised the vicar’s letters to +Dr. Priestley, and declared, that there was hardly another man in +England, so fit to encounter the great Socinian philosopher as his +friend from the mountains of Switzerland. At Stafford, he preached, to +“a small company, in a deplorable hole, formerly a stable.” At Lane +End, near Newcastle under Lyne, in the face of one of the most +piercing winds of the month of March, he preached, by moonlight, in +the open air, the congregation being four times larger than the chapel +could contain. At Burslem, also, for the same reason, he was obliged +to abandon the chapel for the field. At Manchester, on Easter Sunday, +he had “near a thousand communicants”; Thomas Taylor says, twelve +hundred.[474] + +Thus he employed himself all the way to Whitehaven, where he “had all +the church ministers” to hear him, “and most of the gentry in the +town”; and, to his evident surprise, “they all behaved with as much +decency as if they had been colliers.” At Edinburgh, he writes: “I am +amazed at this people. Use the most cutting words, and apply them in +the most pointed manner, still they _hear_, but _feel_ no more than +the seats they sit upon.” Throughout Scotland, morning preaching and +prayer-meetings had almost vanished. “At Aberdeen,” he writes, “I +talked largely with the preachers, and showed them the hurt it did +both to them and the people, for any one preacher to stay six or eight +weeks together in one place. Neither can he find matter for preaching +every morning and evening, nor will the people come to hear him. +Hence, he grows cold by lying in bed, and so do the people. Whereas, +if he never stays more than a fortnight together in one place, he may +find matter enough, and the people will gladly hear him. The preachers +immediately drew up such a plan for this circuit, which they +determined to pursue.” + +From Aberdeen, Wesley went, by invitation, to Lady Banff’s at Old +Meldrum, where he preached twice; and thence to Keith, where he had a +congregation to his heart’s content, all the people poor, and “not a +silk coat among them.” At Forres, he was the guest of Sir Lodowick +Grant. In making his way to Inverness, by the mistake of his coachman, +he had to trudge, through heavy rain, twelve miles and a half on foot, +but says, he “was no more tired” than when he first set out. At Elgin, +he preached in the church, and significantly remarks: “I do not +despair of good being done even here, provided the preachers be ‘sons +of thunder.’” At Newburgh, he found “the liveliest society in the +kingdom.” At Melval House, “the grand and beautiful seat of Lord +Leven,” he was hospitably entertained by the countess and her family, +and, at their desire, preached from, “It is appointed unto men once to +die.” Here, also, he wrote his “Thoughts on Nervous Disorders.” His +next halting place was at Lady Maxwell’s, “who appeared to be clearly +saved from sin, although exceedingly depressed by the tottering +tenement of clay.” + +After thus visiting most of the important towns in Scotland, Wesley +reached Newcastle, where, on Whitsunday, he preached thrice to large +congregations. A week later, he again set out, on his unwearied +mission; and, at Stockton, “found an uncommon work of God among the +children,” upwards of sixty of whom, from the age of “six to fourteen, +were under serious impressions, and earnestly desirous to save their +souls.” He writes: “As soon as I came down from the desk, I was +enclosed by a body of children; all of whom sunk down upon their +knees: so I kneeled down myself, and began praying for them.” +Beautiful picture this, well worth painting! No wonder that he adds: +“abundance of people ran back into the house. The fire kindled, and +ran from heart to heart, till few, if any, were unaffected. Is not +this a new thing in the earth? God begins His work in children. Thus +it has been also in Cornwall, Manchester, and Epworth. Thus the flame +spreads to those of riper years; till at length they all know Him, and +praise Him from the least unto the greatest.” + +Having visited the “dales,” Darlington, Northallerton, Thirsk, +Osmotherley, and other places, he made his way to Whitby, where he +wrote: “The society here may be a pattern to all in England. They +despise all ornaments but good works, together with a meek and quiet +spirit. I did not see a ruffle, no, nor a fashionable cap among them; +though many of them are in easy circumstances. About forty had a clear +witness of being saved from inbred sin; and seemed to walk in the full +light of God’s countenance.” + +At Scarborough, Wesley attended church, and was regaled with one of +the bitterest sermons he ever heard. “So,” says he, “all I have done, +to persuade the people to attend the church, is overturned at once! +And all who preach thus will drive the Methodists from the church, in +spite of all that I can do.” Two years after this, in a letter to his +brother, he wrote: “The last time I was at Scarborough, I earnestly +exhorted our people to go to church; and I went myself. But the +wretched minister preached such a sermon, that I could not in +conscience advise them to hear him any more.”[475] + +From Scarborough, Wesley proceeded along the east coast to Hull; +thence to Pocklington and York; and thence to Epworth, where he spent +his birthday, and preached in the market place of the town, whose +church, for nine-and-thirty years, had been blessed with the able and +faithful ministry of his honoured father. He writes: “June 28--To-day +I entered on my eighty-second year, and found myself just as strong to +labour, and as fit for any exercise of body or mind, as I was forty +years ago. I do not impute this to second causes, but to the sovereign +Lord of all. It is He who bids the sun of life stand still, so long as +it pleaseth Him. I am as strong at eighty-one, as I was at twenty-one; +but abundantly more healthy, being a stranger to the headache, +toothache, and other bodily disorders which attended me in my youth. +We can only say, ‘The Lord reigneth!’ While we live, let us live to +Him!” + +Having spent a week in visiting the Lincolnshire societies, Wesley +proceeded to various towns in the west riding of Yorkshire; and +thence, for the first time, to Burnley. He writes: “Burnley had been +tried for many years, but without effect. Now, high and low, rich and +poor, flocked together from all quarters; and all were eager to hear, +except one man, who was the town crier. He began to bawl amain, till +his wife ran to him, and literally stopped his noise; she seized him +with one hand, and clapped the other upon his mouth, so that he could +not get out one word. God then began a work, which, I am persuaded, +will not soon come to an end.” Wesley’s words were verified. + +Thomas Dixon, who was appointed to the Colne circuit in 1784, remarks, +in his unpublished diary: “The work of God at Burnley was very young; +but many, during this year, were converted. The great men of the place +were angry, and agreed to banish the Methodist preachers from the +town. The proprietor of the preaching house sent us notice to quit the +premises; and the rest of the gentlemen pledged themselves not to let +us have another. But about a month before the expiration of the +notice, the Lord converted a man, who had a house of his own, which he +opened to the preachers; and now we had a better preaching place than +we had before. Soon after a chapel was erected.” One of the first +members was John Eagin, who, for fifty years, maintained an unspotted +character; and died, in 1836, saying, “I am happy.”[476] + +Leaving Burnley, Wesley went to Otley, where, marvellous to relate! he +had a two days’ rest. He then, on July 18, preached twice in Bingley +church, a great part of his congregation being obliged to stand +outside. He writes: “Before service, I stepped into the Sunday-school, +which contains two hundred and forty children, taught every Sunday by +several masters, and superintended by the curate. So many children, in +one parish, are restrained from open sin, and taught a little good +manners, at least, as well as to read the Bible. I find these schools +springing up wherever I go. Perhaps God may have a deeper end therein, +than men are aware of. Who knows but some of these schools may become +nurseries for Christians?” + +This is Wesley’s first notice of Sunday-schools. Though such schools +had long existed in a few isolated cases, it was not until now that +they attracted public attention. Miss Ball’s Methodist Sunday-school +at High Wycombe has been already mentioned; and it has also been +stated, that Miss Cooke, a Methodist young lady (afterwards the wife +of Samuel Bradburn), was the first to suggest to Robert Raikes the +idea of instituting a Sunday-school at Gloucester. Raikes commenced +that school about the year 1783. At all events, his account of it was +dated Gloucester, June 5, 1784, and was published in the January +number of Wesley’s _Arminian Magazine_, for 1785, with the title, “An +Account of the Sunday Charity Schools, lately begun in various parts +of England.” Wesley was one of the first to catch and patronise the +Sunday-school idea. At Bingley, he visited the school before preaching +in the church, and gave to Sunday-schools one of their happiest +designations, “nurseries for Christians.” Similar institutions had +been begun in Leeds, where Wesley was about to hold his conference. +The town was already divided into seven divisions; and had twenty-six +schools, containing above two thousand scholars, taught by forty-five +masters. Each school commenced at one o’clock in the afternoon, the +children being taught reading, writing, and religion. At three, they +were taken to their respective churches; then conducted back to +school, where a portion of some useful book was read, a psalm sung, +and the whole concluded with a form of prayer, composed and printed +for that purpose. Boys and girls were kept separate. There were four +“inquisitors,” persons whose office it was to spend Sunday afternoon +in visiting the twenty-six schools, to ascertain who were absent, and +then in seeking the absentees at their homes or in the public streets. +The masters were mostly pious men, and were paid from one to two +shillings a Sunday for their services, according to their respective +qualifications. Each had a written list of his scholars’ names, which +he was required to call over, every Sunday, at half-past one, and +half-past five. Five clergymen visited the schools, and gave +addresses; and the expenses of the first year, ending in July 1784, +were about £234. + +Such were the Sunday-schools at Leeds when Wesley, for the first time, +visited one in the neighbouring town of Bingley. Manchester also had +taken up Raikes’ Methodist idea; and, on the 1st of August, 1784, +Wesley’s old friend, the Rev. Cornelius Bayley, D.D., who for ten +years had been one of the masters of Kingswood school, but was now an +ordained clergyman in this important city, published an “Address to +the Public on Sunday-Schools,” in which he gave an account of the +schools at Leeds, and urged the men of Manchester to copy so excellent +an example. Bayley’s address produced a powerful effect; the +magistrates patronised his scheme; and the result was, that Cornelius +Bayley, D.D., the quondam Methodist, and master of Wesley’s Kingswood +school, became one of the chief, though not only, instruments of +establishing Sunday-schools in Manchester and its neighbourhood.[477] + +After visiting some of the intermediate towns and villages, Wesley +arrived at Leeds, for the purpose of holding his annual conference. He +writes: + + “July 25, Sunday--I preached to several thousands at Birstal, + and to, at least, as many at Leeds. July 27, Tuesday--Our + conference began; at which four of our brethren, after long + debate (in which Mr. Fletcher took much pains) acknowledged + their fault, and all that was past was forgotten. July 29, + Thursday--Being the public thanksgiving day, as there was not + room for us in the old church, I read prayers, as well as + preached, at our room. Having five clergymen to assist me, we + administered the Lord’s supper, as was supposed, to sixteen or + seventeen hundred persons. August 1, Sunday--We were fifteen + clergymen at the old church. August 3, Tuesday--Our conference + concluded in much love, to the great disappointment of all.” + +Such are Wesley’s brief notices of this momentous conference. Some +additional incidents must be added. The war of American independence +was now ended, and the day of public thanksgiving had reference to +that event. In the morning, at five, Thomas Hanby preached from, “My +grace is sufficient for thee.” Wesley’s text, previous to the almost +unparalleled sacramental service, was 1 Corinthians xiii. 1-4. The +five clergymen who assisted him were Messrs. Coke, Fletcher, Dillon, +Bayley, and Simpson. In the afternoon, the business of the conference +was resumed; and, at night, Wesley preached again, taking as his text, +“This is the first and great commandment.” Altogether, Wesley preached +not fewer than eight times during this important session, besides +regulating the ticklish and difficult business that had to be +transacted.[478] + +The “long debate,” which Wesley mentions, had reference to the deed of +declaration, which must now have the best attention that space permits +us to give it. + +At an early period of his history, Wesley published a model deed for +the settlement of chapels, to the effect, that the trustees, for the +time being, should permit Wesley himself and such other persons as he +might, from time to time, appoint, to have the free use of such +premises, to preach therein God’s holy word. In case of his death, the +same right was secured to his brother; and providing that his +brother’s decease occurred before that of William Grimshaw, the same +prerogatives were to belong to the last mentioned. After the death of +the three clergymen, the chapels were to be held, in trust, for the +sole use of such persons as might be appointed at the yearly +conference of the people called Methodists, provided, that the said +persons preached no other doctrines than those contained in Wesley’s +Notes on the New Testament, and in his four volumes of sermons.[479] + +Thus the matter stood in 1784. According to Myles’ Chronological +History, there were, at this time, in the United Kingdom, three +hundred and fifty-nine Methodist chapels; and it may be fairly +presumed, that most of these were settled substantially according to +the provisions of the deed above mentioned. + +Here it may be asked, what necessity was there for a further deed? The +answer is, that, as yet, there was no legal definition of what was +meant by the term “_conference_ of the people called Methodists.” To +supply this defect, Wesley, on the 28th of February, 1784, executed +his famous deed of declaration, which, a few days afterwards, was +enrolled in the high court of chancery. To use the language of the +deed itself, its object was “to explain the words, ‘yearly conference +of the people called Methodists,’ and to declare what persons are +members of the said conference, and how the succession and identity +thereof is to be continued.” + +The document proceeds to state, that the said conference had always +consisted of Methodist preachers whom Wesley had annually invited to +meet him for the following purposes: namely, to advise with him for +the promotion of the gospel of Christ; to appoint the said preachers, +and other preachers and exhorters in connection with him, to the use +and enjoyment of chapels conveyed upon trust as aforesaid; to expel +unworthy preachers; and to admit others on probation. + +The deed then gives the names and addresses of one hundred preachers, +who are now declared to be the members of the said conference; and +proceeds to state (1) That they and their successors, for the time +being for ever, shall assemble once a year. (2) That the act of the +majority shall be the act of the whole. (3) That their first business, +when they assemble, shall be to fill up vacancies. (4) That no act of +the conference assembled shall be valid unless forty of its members +are present. (5) That the duration of the yearly conference shall not +be less than five days, nor more than three weeks. (6) That, +immediately after filling up vacancies, they shall choose a president +and secretary of their assembly out of themselves. (7) That any member +of the conference, absenting himself from the yearly assembly thereof +for two years successively, without the consent or dispensation of the +conference, and who is not present on the first day of the third +yearly assembly thereof, shall forthwith cease to be a member, as +though he were naturally dead. (8) That the conference shall and may +expel any member thereof, or any person admitted into connection +therewith, for any cause which to the conference may seem fit or +necessary. (9) That they may admit into connection with them any +person, of whom they approve, to be preachers of God’s holy word, +under the care and direction of the conference. (10) That no person +shall be elected a member of the conference, who has not been admitted +into connection with the conference, as a preacher, for twelve months. +(11) That the conference shall not appoint any person to the use of a +chapel or chapels, who is not either a member of the conference, or +admitted into connection with the same, or upon trial; and that no +person shall be appointed for more than three years successively, +except ordained ministers of the Church of England. (12) That the +conference may appoint the place of holding the yearly assembly +thereof, at any other town, or city, than London, Bristol, or Leeds. +(13) That the conference may, when it shall seem expedient, send any +of its members as delegates to Ireland, or other parts out of the +kingdom of Great Britain, to act on its behalf, and with all the +powers of the conference itself. (14) That all resolutions and acts +whatsoever of the conference shall be written in the journals of the +conference, and be signed by the president and secretary thereof for +the time being. (15) That whenever the conference shall be reduced +under the number of forty members, and continue so reduced for three +years successively; or whenever the members thereof shall decline or +neglect to meet together annually during the space of three years, the +conference of the people called Methodists shall be extinguished, and +all its powers, privileges, and advantages shall cease. (16) That +nothing in this deed shall extinguish or lessen the life estate of the +said John Wesley and Charles Wesley, or either of them, in any of the +chapels in which they now have, or may have, any estate or interest, +power or authority whatsoever. + +Such was Wesley’s deed of declaration,--a deed recognised in the trust +deeds of all the chapels that Methodism builds; and, hence, a deed +investing a hundred Methodist preachers with the unexampled power of +determining, irrespective of trustees, societies, and congregations, +who shall be the officiating ministers in the thousands of chapels +occupied by Methodist societies at home and abroad, throughout the +United Kingdom and throughout the world. We repeat, this is an +unexampled power; and the ministers, invested with it, ought to feel, +that they have a corresponding responsibility to God and to His +church. High is the honour; the responsibility is fearful. If +Methodism should ever fail in its duty, or fall to pieces, they, above +all men else, must bear the blame. + +We purposely refrain from raising the vexed question about the kind of +church government, involved in this great settlement; and proceed to +notice the history of the deed of declaration, up to the time of its +being signed on February 28, 1784. + +Mr. Pawson, in his manuscript memoir of Dr. Whitehead, states that, +from the year 1750, all Methodist chapels were settled according to +the provisions of the model deed that has been already mentioned; but +several of the “wisest and best preachers” were not satisfied, and, +from time to time, brought up the matter at the yearly conferences, +and earnestly urged Wesley to do something more to preserve the +chapels for the purpose which the original builders intended. Wesley +replied, that the trust deed in itself was quite sufficient; that it +had been drawn up by three of the most eminent counsellors in London; +and that, even supposing there might be some defect in it, no one +would be so mad as to go to law with an entire body of people like the +Methodists. Such reasoning failed to satisfy the preachers, especially +Messrs. Hampson and Oddie, both of whom, says Pawson, “were men of +remarkably deep understanding and sound judgment.” At length, Wesley +began to yield to the pressure that was brought upon him; and various +schemes were propounded to accomplish the purpose upon which men like +Hampson and Oddie had set their hearts. One was to consolidate all the +chapels in the connexion into a general trust, the trustees to be +chosen out of all the large societies throughout the three kingdoms. +Another was to have all the chapel deeds brought to London, and +deposited in a strong box, to be provided for the purpose; and, in +execution of this project, many were actually sent, and some were +thereby lost. All this occurred previous to Dr. Coke’s uniting himself +with Wesley; and, from Pawson’s testimony, we now turn to that of +Coke. + +In his “Address to the Methodist Society in Great Britain and Ireland, +on the Settlement of Preaching Houses,” Coke relates that, at the +conference of 1782, the preachers seemed to be universally alarmed at +the danger arising from the want of a legal definition of what was +meant by the term, “the conference of the people called Methodists”; +and unanimously wished some method to be taken to remove a danger +which appeared to them to be pregnant with evils of the first +magnitude. In consequence of this, Coke took the opinion of Mr. +Maddox, one of the first counsel of the day, and ascertained, that the +law would not recognise the conference, without some further +definition; and, consequently, that there was nothing to preserve the +Methodist connexion from being shivered into a thousand fragments +after Wesley’s death. To prevent this, Mr. Maddox advised, that Wesley +should execute a deed, specifying the persons by name who composed the +conference, together with the mode of succession for its perpetuity. +Dr. Coke read Mr. Maddox’s opinion to the conference of 1783; and the +whole conference expressed their wish that such a deed should be drawn +up and executed. Coke immediately set to work, and, with the +assistance of Mr. Clulow, a solicitor, and Mr. Maddox, the barrister, +a draft of the deed was carefully prepared, and submitted to Wesley +for his approval. Coke’s opinion was, that every preacher, in full +connexion, should have his name inserted; and that admission into full +connexion should, in the future, be looked upon as admission into +membership with the conference. Wesley demurred to this, and +determined to limit the number of members to one hundred, and, without +any advice from Coke, made his own selections. In this form, the deed +was executed; and Coke sent copies of it to all the assistants of +circuits throughout the United Kingdom.[480] + +We believe that this is, substantially, all that can be said +respecting the origin of what has been termed Methodism’s Magna +Charta. + +What was the result? There were, at the conference of 1783, one +hundred and ninety-two preachers appointed to sixty-nine circuits, +throughout the three kingdoms. We have no hesitancy in saying, that we +think it would have been wise to have inserted the names of the whole +of these in the deed of declaration, with the exception of twenty-two, +who were still on trial, and not admitted into full connexion. All +seemed to have an equal right to this; and, thereby, all would have +been satisfied. Instead of this, Wesley proceeded to the invidious +task of selecting a hundred, and rejecting ninety-two. It was a +perilous experiment; and the peril was augmented by the mode in which +the experiment was made. For instance, sixteen were elected who had +travelled less than four years; whereas among the rejected were the +following. + + Thomas Lee travelled 36 years. + John Atlay ” 21 ” + Joseph Thompson ” 25 ” + John Poole ” 25 ” + William Ashman ” 19 ” + Jonathan Hern ” 15 ” + William Eels ” 12 ” + Thomas Mitchell ” 36 ” + Joseph Pilmoor ” 19 ” + +Besides, where was the fairness of choosing and refusing the following +preachers, who, at the time, were colleagues in the same circuit? + + _Names of _Years _Names of Rejected._ _Years + Chosen._ standing._ standing._ + Joshua Keighley 3 William Horner 13 + Joseph Cole 3 Simon Day 17 + Jonathan Cousins 3 Robert Empringham 21 + William Green 3 John Hampson, sen. 31 + Joseph Taylor 6 John Wittam 16 + William Hoskins 1 John Watson 12 + William Myles 6 ⎧ John Hampson, jun. 6 + ⎩ George Snowden 14 + William Simpson 4 Thomas Johnson 31 + James Wray 2 Thomas Wride 15 + Henry Foster 3 George Mowat 13 + +Wesley doubtless had a right to make any selection that he liked; but +those who were not selected had an equal right to grumble; and we are +not surprised that, sooner or later, not fewer than nearly thirty of +the rejected withdrew from the connexion altogether. + +John Pawson writes: + + “Mr. Wesley, designedly or otherwise, left out the names of + several of the old and respectable preachers; and these good + men were exceedingly grieved and not without reason. Many of + the trustees also were alarmed, thinking that we wished to make + the chapels our own property; but nothing of the kind was ever + contemplated. The one design of the deed, to my certain + knowledge, was to prevent any preacher, who might be inclined + to settle, from taking possession of any of our chapels. The + preachers, whose names were inserted in the deed, so far from + being desirous to be distinguished above their brethren, very + cheerfully complied with Mr. Wesley’s desire, and gave up every + privilege granted to them in the deed, except that of electing + their own president and secretary, which appears to me to be a + matter of little consequence.”[481] + +There can be no question, that the deed of declaration occasioned +great excitement. John Hampson, jun., says: + + “Every itinerant had always considered himself as a member of + conference; and, hence, when the ninety-one, who were to be + excluded, saw the deed, it was with astonishment and + indignation. The injustice of the thing stared them in the + face; and they found that, in consenting to such a deed, they + had consented, that all the affairs of the connexion should be + lodged in the hundred mentioned in the declaration; that they + should be the lords and rulers of the rest; and should have it + in their power to turn any other preacher out of the + conference, and tell him he had no business there. The + exclusion itself was both an iniquitous and a mortifying + measure. But the partiality of it rendered it still more + oppressive. Some of the oldest and ablest preachers, in the + connexion, were excluded. Many of the selected members were not + only deficient in abilities, but some of them, at the time of + their insertion in the deed, were only upon trial; while the + chief qualifications of others were ignorance, fanaticism, and + ductility. Under such circumstances, it is no wonder if the + persons excluded thought themselves aggrieved. They were really + so, and they made no scruple to declare their sentiments. They + sent circular letters, inviting all the preachers to canvass + the business at the ensuing conference; and a large number + assembled. Many of them were as averse to the deed, as those + who had so decidedly opposed it, and had repeatedly execrated + the measure, both by letter and in conversation; but they had + not the courage to avow their sentiments in conference. Mr. + Wesley made a speech, and invited all who were of his mind to + stand up. They all rose to a man. The five were found guilty, + and it was unanimously determined, that they should either make + concessions or be dismissed. Urged by the entreaties of Mr. + Fletcher, and anxious for the restoration of peace, the + preachers in the opposition apologised to Mr. Wesley, for + printing the circular letter, without having first appealed to + conference.”[482] + +Such, in substance, and omitting acrid comments, is the account given +by John Hampson, jun.; and there can be little doubt that, in the +main, it is quite correct. The printed circular he mentions was issued +by his father, and was entitled, “An Appeal to the Reverend John and +Charles Wesley; to all the preachers who act in connection with them; +and to every member of their respective societies in England, +Scotland, Ireland, and America.”[483] Another circular was drawn up by +James Oddie, in the form of a petition to Wesley and the legalised +conference, to the effect, that the preachers, whose names had been +inserted in the deed, would sign an agreement that, at the death of +Wesley, they would refrain from taking any advantage of their +position, but would invite the excluded to their first conference, and +would treat them, in all respects, as equals. This was first suggested +by Robert Oastler, of Thirsk; and was widely circulated, and received +with favour;[484] and, perhaps, it was this that evoked the following +letter, which was written on April 7, 1785, and entrusted to Joseph +Bradford, to deliver to the conference, at their first meeting after +the writer’s death. + + “MY DEAR BRETHREN,--Some of our travelling preachers have + expressed a fear, that, after my decease, you would exclude + them, either from preaching in connection with you, or from + some other privileges which they now enjoy. I know no other way + to prevent any such inconvenience, than to leave these my last + words with you. + + “I beseech you, by the mercies of God, that you never avail + yourselves of the deed of declaration, to assume any + superiority over your brethren; but let all things go on, among + those itinerants who choose to remain together, exactly in the + same manner as when I was with you, so far as circumstances + will permit. + + “In particular, I beseech you, if you ever loved me, and if you + now love God and your brethren, to have no respect of persons + in stationing the preachers, in choosing children for Kingswood + school, in disposing of the yearly contribution and the + preachers’ fund, or any other of the public money; but do all + things with a single eye, as I have done from the beginning. Go + on thus, doing all things without prejudice or partiality, and + God will be with you even to the end. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[485] + +This was a serious crisis in the history of Methodism. Fortunately, it +passed over without any other immediate consequences than the +retirement of the five principal opponents to the deed of declaration, +namely, the two Hampsons, Joseph Pilmoor, William Eels, and John +Atlay. Considerable excitement, however, existed; and, in the spring +of 1785, Wesley found it desirable to write his “Thoughts upon some +late Occurrences.” He gives the history of the origin of his +conferences; and states that the term conference meant not so much +conversation, as the persons that conferred, that it had become +necessary to define the term, and that, at the conference of 1783, he +had been requested to fix the determinate meaning of the word. He +accordingly took counsel’s opinion how to act, and was advised to +execute a deed of declaration. At first, he thought of naming only ten +or twelve; but, on second thoughts, he believed there would be more +safety in a greater number of counsellors, and, therefore, named a +hundred; as many as, he judged, could meet without too great expense, +and without leaving any circuit without preachers while the conference +assembled. He adds: + + “In naming these preachers, as I had no adviser, so I had no + respect of persons; but I simply set down those that, according + to the best of my judgment, were most proper. But I am not + infallible. I might mistake, and think better of some than they + deserved. However, I did my best; if I did wrong, it was not + the error of my will, but of my judgment. + + “This was the rise, and this the nature, of that famous deed of + declaration,--that vile, wicked deed, concerning which you have + heard such an outcry! And now, can any one tell me how to mend + it, or how it could have been made better? ‘O yes. You might + have inserted two hundred, as well as one hundred, preachers.’ + No; for then the expense of meeting would have been double, and + all the circuits would have been without preachers. ‘But you + might have named other preachers instead of these.’ True, if I + had thought as well of them as they did of themselves. But I + did not: therefore, I could do no otherwise than I did, without + sinning against God and my own conscience. + + “‘But what need was there for any deed at all?’ There was the + utmost need of it; without some authentic deed fixing the + meaning of the term, the moment I died, the conference had been + nothing. Therefore, any of the proprietors of the land on which + our preaching houses were built might have seized them for + their own use; and there would have been none to hinder them; + for the conference would have been nobody, a mere empty name. + + “You see then, in all the pains I have taken about this + absolutely necessary deed, I have been labouring, not for + myself (I have no interest therein), but for the whole body of + Methodists; in order to fix them upon such a foundation as is + likely to stand as long as the sun and moon endure. That is, if + they continue to walk by faith, and to show forth their faith + by their works; otherwise, I pray God to root out the memorial + of them from the earth. + + “JOHN WESLEY.[486] + “PLYMOUTH DOCK, _March 3, 1785_.” + +We have done. All the facts, within our knowledge, have been given. +The reader must form his own opinion. Comment would be easy; but we +purposely refrain; only adding, that, by Wesley’s famous deed of +declaration, the Methodist conference became a legally incorporated +institution; and that, without this, the Methodist itinerancy must +have ceased, and Methodism itself have been broken up into +congregational churches. + +We must now advert to another matter, which, if not of equal, was of +great importance, namely, the episcopal organisation of the Methodist +societies in America. This has been the subject of bewildering +controversy for more than eighty years. Wesley and Coke have been +bitterly assailed, and as warmly defended. We will narrate the facts +as simply and briefly as we can. + +During the American war, which was now ended, the American Methodists +had multiplied with marvellous rapidity. In 1774, they numbered 2073; +in 1784, they were 14,988; showing an increase of 12,915. They had 46 +circuits, and 83 itinerant, besides some hundreds of local, +preachers.[487] All these, so far as the sacraments were concerned, +were as sheep without shepherds. Some of the clergymen of the Church +of England had taken military commissions in the army; others were +destitute of both piety and sense; and nearly all opposed and +persecuted the Methodists to the utmost of their power. Bishop White +testified, that “the Church of England was becoming more and more +unpopular,--with some, because it was not considered as promoting +piety,--and with others, because they thought the provision for it a +useless burden on the community.” At the termination of the +revolutionary struggle, says Dr. Hawks, himself a clergyman, “a large +number of the churches in Virginia were destroyed or irreparably +injured; twenty-three of her ninety-five parishes were extinct or +forsaken; and of the remaining seventy-two, thirty-four were destitute +of ministerial services; while of her ninety-eight clergymen, only +twenty-eight remained.” The Rev. Mr. Jarratt, another clergyman of the +Church of England, stated, that “most of the clergy preached what was +little better than deism,” and were bitter revilers and persecutors of +those who preached the truth.[488] + +Under these circumstances, the Methodists demanded of their preachers +the administration of the sacraments. Many of the societies had been +months, some of them years, without these sacred ordinances. Five +years before this, in 1779, the preachers in the south proceeded to +ordain themselves by the hands of three of their senior members, +unwilling that their people should longer be denied the Lord’s supper, +and their children and probationary members the rite of baptism. +Asbury was greatly annoyed at this, and, a year afterwards, with +difficulty succeeded in persuading them to suspend the administration +of the sacraments till further advice could be received from +Wesley.[489] Asbury wrote to Wesley, telling him of the greatness of +the work, and of the division that had taken place in Virginia, on +account of the people’s uneasiness respecting the sacraments. +Thousands of their children were unbaptized, and the members of the +societies, in general, had not partaken of the Lord’s supper for many +years.[490] “Dear sir,” says he, on March 20, 1784, “we are greatly in +need of help. A minister, and such preachers as you can fully +recommend, will be very acceptable. Without your recommendation, we +shall receive none. But nothing is so pleasing to me, sir, as the +thought of seeing you here; which is the ardent desire of thousands +more in America.”[491] + +Wesley’s going was impossible. He had tried (as we have already seen) +to induce Bishop Lowth to ordain a minister, and had failed. What else +remained? He thought of Dr. Coke, who replied as follows. + + “NEAR DUBLIN, _April 17, 1784_. + + “HONOURED AND VERY DEAR SIR,--I intended to trouble you no more + about my going to America; but your observations incline me to + address you again on the subject. + + “If some one, in whom you could place the fullest confidence, + and whom you think likely to have sufficient influence and + prudence and delicacy of conduct for the purpose, were to go + over and return, you would then have a source of sufficient + information to determine on any points or propositions. I may + be destitute of the last mentioned essential qualification (to + the former I lay claim without reserve); otherwise my taking + such a voyage might be expedient. + + “By this means, you might have fuller information concerning + the state of the country and the societies than epistolary + correspondence can give you; and there might be a cement of + union, remaining after your death, between the societies and + preachers of the two countries. If the awful event of your + decease should happen before my removal to the world of + spirits, it is almost certain, that I should have business + enough, of indispensable importance, on my hands in these + kingdoms. + + “I am, dear sir, your most dutiful and most affectionate son, + + “THOMAS COKE.”[492] + +This is a curiously expressed letter; but if it means anything, it +means, that if Wesley would be good enough to think and say, that Coke +had “sufficient influence, and prudence, and delicacy of conduct,” he +was willing to become Wesley’s envoy to the American Methodists. + +Here the matter rested, until the assembling of the conference at +Leeds. Mr. Pawson, in his manuscript memoir of Dr. Whitehead, relates, +that ordination was first proposed by Wesley himself in his select +committee of consultation. Pawson was a member, and was present. He +writes: “The preachers were astonished when this was mentioned, and, +to a man, opposed it. But I plainly saw that it would be done, as Mr. +Wesley’s mind appeared to be quite made up.” + +Coke, Whatcoat, and Vasey were appointed to America; and, six days +after the conference concluded, Coke wrote to Wesley as follows. + + “_August 9, 1784._ + + “HONOURED AND DEAR SIR,--The more maturely I consider the + subject, the more expedient it appears to me, that the power of + ordaining others should be received by me from you, by the + imposition of your hands; and that you should lay hands on + brother Whatcoat and brother Vasey, for the following reasons: + (1) It seems to me the most scriptural way, and most agreeable + to the practice of the primitive churches. (2) I may want all + the influence, in America, which you can throw into my scale. + Mr. Brackenbury informed me at Leeds, that he saw a letter from + Mr. Asbury, in which he observed that he would not receive any + person, deputed by you, with any part of the superintendency of + the work invested in him; or words which evidently implied so + much. I do not find the least degree of prejudice in my mind + against Mr. Asbury; on the contrary, I find a very great love + and esteem; and am determined not to stir a finger without his + consent, unless necessity obliges me; but rather to be at his + feet in all things. But, as the journey is long, and you cannot + spare me often, it is well to provide against all events; and I + am satisfied that an authority, formally received from you, + will be fully admitted; and that my exercising the office of + ordination, without that formal authority, may be disputed, and + perhaps, on other accounts, opposed. I think you have tried me + too often to doubt, whether I will, in any degree, use the + power you are pleased to invest me with, farther than I believe + absolutely necessary for the prosperity of the work. + + “In respect of my brethren Whatcoat and Vasey, it is very + uncertain whether any of the clergy, mentioned by brother + Rankin, except Mr. Jarratt, will stir a step with me in the + work; and it is by no means certain, that even he will choose + to join me in ordaining; and propriety and universal practice + make it expedient, that I should have two presbyters with me in + this work. In short, it appears to me, that everything should + be prepared, and everything proper be done, that can possibly + be done, on this side the water. You can do all this in Mr. + C----n’s house, in your chamber; and afterwards, (according to + Mr. Fletcher’s advice,) give us letters testimonial of the + different offices with which you have been pleased to invest + us. For the purpose of laying hands on brothers Whatcoat and + Vasey, I can bring Mr. Creighton down with me, by which you + will have two presbyters with you. + + “In respect to brother Rankin’s argument, that you will escape + a great deal of odium by omitting this, it is nothing. Either + it will be known, or not known. If not known, then no odium + will arise; but if known, you will be obliged to acknowledge, + that I acted under your direction, or suffer me to sink under + the weight of my enemies, with perhaps your brother at the head + of them. I shall entreat you to ponder these things. + + “Your most dutiful, THOMAS COKE.”[493] + +Would it not seem from this, that Wesley had no idea of ordaining any +one himself; but, that he intended Coke, who, as a presbyter of the +same church, had coequal power, to go out to America for that purpose? +There can be no question, that there is force in Dr. Whitehead’s +critique, that “Dr. Coke had the same right to ordain Mr. Wesley, that +Mr. Wesley had to ordain Dr. Coke.” Wesley, we think, never intended +doing this; but, at Coke’s request, he acquiesced. + +Of his power to ordain others, Wesley had no doubt. Nearly forty years +before this, he had been convinced, by Lord King’s Account of the +Primitive Church, “that bishops and presbyters are of one order.” In +1756, he wrote: “I still believe the episcopal form of church +government, to agree with the practice and writings of the apostles; +but, that it is prescribed in Scripture, I do not believe. This +opinion, which I once zealously espoused, I have been heartily ashamed +of, ever since I read Bishop Stillingfleet’s ‘Irenicon.’ I think he +has unanswerably proved, that neither Christ nor His apostles +prescribe any particular form of church government; and that the plea +of Divine right, for diocesan episcopacy, was never heard of in the +primitive church.”[494] Again, in 1761, in a letter to a friend, he +repeated, that Stillingfleet had fully convinced him, that to believe +that none but episcopal ordination was valid “was an entire +mistake.”[495] And again, in 1780, he shocked the high church bigotry +of his brother, by declaring, “I verily believe I have as good a right +to ordain, as to administer the Lord’s supper.”[496] + +His right to ordain, then, was no new assumption of Wesley, adopted in +his old age, or in his imbecility, as some of his critics have +alleged. It was a firm conviction of forty years’ standing. + +Besides, there was another fact, which might have some influence with +him, but which none of his biographers have noticed. The Methodists, +under the care of the Countess of Huntingdon, stood in the same +relation to the Church of England that the Methodists under Wesley +did. They _varied_, not _dissented_, from the Church. Recently, +however, there had been a formal and avowed secession. Many of Lady +Huntingdon’s chapels were supplied by ordained clergymen, and, among +others, a large building in Spafields, previously known as the +Pantheon. This edifice stood in the parish of Clerkenwell, of which +the Rev. William Sellon was minister. Mr. Sellon claimed the right of +appointing ministers and clerks to the Spafields chapel; also the +right of himself to officiate within its walls as often as he liked. +He further demanded the sum of £40 a year, in consideration of his +permitting two of the Countess’s preachers to occupy the said chapel; +also all the sacramental collections; and four collections yearly, for +the benefit of the children of the charity school of Clerkenwell +parish; and, finally, that, for the due performance of these demands, +the proprietors should sign a bond for £1000. + +Of course, the proprietors refused to comply with such demands. Mr. +Sellon then instituted a suit in the consistorial court of the Bishop +of London, and cited the Revs. Messrs. Jones and Taylor, the +officiating clergymen, and both of them ordained, to answer for their +irregularity in preaching in a place not episcopally consecrated, and +for carrying on Divine worship there, contrary to the wish of the +minister of the parish. Verdicts were obtained against them. The +question was then removed to the ecclesiastical courts; and was again +decided against the ministers of the countess, and in favour of Mr. +Sellon, who obtained the name of Sanballat. + +This was a momentous matter. Hitherto, Romaine, Venn, and others had +preached for the countess; but now, as ordained clergymen, in danger +of prosecution, they had to withdraw their services; and some of the +most important chapels were left without supplies. The crisis was +serious. The countess took counsel with her friends; and, at length, +it was determined, that Messrs. Wills and Taylor should formally +secede from the Church of England, and should take upon themselves to +ordain others: both of them had received episcopal ordination +themselves, both were scholars and able preachers, and Mr. Wills had +married Miss Wheeler, the countess’s niece. Accordingly, these two +ministers issued an address to the archbishops and bishops of the +Church of England, stating that, because they could not, as clergymen +of the Established Church, continue preaching to their present +congregations, without “knowingly and wilfully opposing the Church’s +laws,” they had resolved to secede peaceably, and to put themselves +under the protection of the Toleration Act. + +Here then was a formal Methodist secession from the Established +Church. But more than this: on March 9, 1783, these two seceding +clergymen began to do what Wesley did eighteen months afterwards,--they +held their first ordination. This was in Spafields chapel. The service +commenced at 9 a.m., and lasted about seven hours. The names of the +six young men, then set apart to the Christian ministry, were Thomas +Jones, Samuel Beaufoy, Thomas Cannon, John Johnson, William Green, +and Joel Abraham Knight. During the service, Mr. Wills addressed the +congregation, and assigned his reasons for believing that he had the +right to ordain, namely, that presbyters and bishops were the same +order, and that, as he and Mr. Taylor had been ordained presbyters, +they had really been ordained bishops, and had as much right to ordain +others as any bishop in the land.[497] + +Wesley was acquainted with all this, though he never mentions it. For +aught he knew, an action might be commenced against himself and the +other clergymen preaching in City Road, West Street, and elsewhere, +similar to that which had been successfully prosecuted against the +Countess of Huntingdon’s preachers at Spafields. It was time to look +about. He held exactly the same views respecting presbyters and +bishops that had been publicly avowed by Messrs. Wills and Taylor; and +now, in September 1784, reduced them to practice by proceeding to +Bristol, and there ordaining Coke, Whatcoat, and Vasey. + +Passing by the ordinations of Whatcoat and Vasey, which involve no +difficulty except Wesley’s churchmanship, the ordination of Coke is a +perplexing puzzle. Coke had been already ordained a deacon and a +priest of the Church of England; and, hence, his ministerial status +was the same as Wesley’s. What further ordination was needed? Wesley +intended none; but Coke wished it. + +Wesley was the founder and father of the Methodists. There were 15,000 +in America whom he had never seen. In no sense were these members of +the Church of England; for, at the termination of the war, no state +church was recognised. What were they? Not presbyterians, not +Dissenters, not quakers, not anything, except simple Methodists. They +were without sacraments. They wished to have them. As Christians, they +had a right to them. But who was to administer? Common sense would +have said, the men by whose preaching they had been converted; but +here priestly prejudice stepped in, and forbad men, whom God had +called to preach, to administer the sacraments, until episcopal or +presbyterian hands had been put upon them. Things were brought into a +dead lock. The question was, are the Methodist preachers in America to +administer the sacraments without ordination? Or shall Wesley or some +one else go from England to give them ordination? Wesley, a man of +action, decided to send Coke, and Coke consented; but, before +starting, he wished to have an additional ordination himself. What was +that ordination to be? The only one possible was this. Wesley was the +venerable father of the 15,000 Methodists in America. He was not able +to visit them himself; but sends them Dr. Coke. The doctor pretends, +that it is more than possible, that some of the American preachers and +societies will refuse to acknowledge his authority. To remove this +objection, Wesley, at Bristol, in a private room, holds a religious +service, puts his hands upon the head of Coke, and, (to use his own +words,) sets him apart as a _superintendent_ of the work in America, +and gives him a written testimonial to that effect. This was all that +Wesley did, and all that Wesley meant; but we greatly doubt whether it +was all that the departing envoy wished. + +With the highest respect for Dr. Coke, and his general excellences, it +is no detraction to assert, that he was dangerously ambitious, and +that the height of his ambition was a desire to be a bishop. Some +years after this, Coke, unknown to Wesley and Asbury, addressed a +confidential letter to Dr. White, bishop of the protestant episcopal +church of Pennsylvania, which, if it meant anything, meant that he +would like the Methodists of America to be reunited to the English +Church, on condition that he himself was ordained to be their bishop. +In 1794, he secretly summoned a meeting, at Lichfield, of the most +influential of the English preachers, and passed a resolution, that +the conference should appoint an order of bishops, to ordain deacons +and elders, he himself, of course, expecting to be a member of the +prelatical brotherhood. And again, it is a well known fact, that, +within twelve months of his lamented death, he wrote to the Earl of +Liverpool, stating that he was willing to return most fully into the +bosom of the Established Church, on condition, that his royal highness +the Prince Regent, and the government, would appoint him their bishop +in India. These are unpleasant facts; which we would rather have +consigned to oblivion, had they not been necessary to vindicate Wesley +from the huge inconsistency of ordaining a coequal presbyter to be a +bishop. Wesley meant the ceremony to be a mere formality likely to +recommend his delegate to the favour of the Methodists in America: +Coke, in his ambition, wished, and intended it to be considered as, an +ordination to a bishopric. This will be clear as we proceed farther. +The following are the “letters testimonial,” which Coke asked to have. + + “To all to whom these presents shall come, John Wesley, late + Fellow of Lincoln College in Oxford, Presbyter of the Church of + England, sendeth greeting. + + “Whereas many of the people in the southern provinces of North + America, who desire to continue under my care, and still adhere + to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England, are + greatly distressed for want of ministers to administer the + sacraments of baptism and the Lord’s supper, according to the + usage of the same Church; and whereas there does not appear to + be any other way of supplying them with ministers: + + “Know all men, that I, John Wesley, think myself to be + providentially called, at this time, to set apart some persons + for the work of the ministry in America. And, therefore, under + the protection of almighty God, and with a single eye to His + glory, I have this day set apart as a superintendent, by the + imposition of my hands, and prayer, (being assisted by other + ordained ministers,[498]) Thomas Coke, doctor of civil law, a + presbyter of the Church of England, and a man whom I judge to + be well qualified for that great work. And I do hereby + recommend him to all whom it may concern, as a fit person to + preside over the flock of Christ. In testimony whereof, I have + hereunto set my hand and seal, this second day of September, in + the year of our Lord one thousand seven hundred and + eighty-four. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[499] + + “BRISTOL, _September 10, 1784_. + + “_To Dr. Coke, Mr. Asbury, and our Brethren in North America._ + + “BY a very uncommon train of providences, many of the provinces + of North America are totally disjoined from the mother country, + and erected into independent states. The English government has + no authority over them, either civil or ecclesiastical, any + more than over the states of Holland. A civil authority is + exercised over them, partly by the congress, partly by the + provincial assemblies. But no one either exercises or claims + any ecclesiastical authority at all. In this peculiar + situation, some thousands of the inhabitants of these states + desire my advice, and, in compliance with their desire, I have + drawn up a little sketch. + + “Lord King’s account of the primitive church convinced me, many + years ago, that bishops and presbyters are the same order, and + consequently have the same right to ordain. For many years, I + have been importuned, from time to time, to exercise this + right, by ordaining part of our travelling preachers. But I + have still refused; not only for peace sake, but because I was + determined, as little as possible, to violate the established + order of the national church to which I belonged. + + “But the case is widely different between England and North + America. Here there are bishops, who have a legal jurisdiction; + in America there are none, neither any parish minister; so + that, for some hundreds of miles together, there is none either + to baptize, or to administer the Lord’s supper. Here, + therefore, my scruples are at an end; and I conceive myself at + full liberty, as I violate no order, and invade no man’s + rights, by appointing and sending labourers into the harvest. + + “I have accordingly appointed Dr. Coke and Mr. Francis Asbury + to be joint superintendents over our brethren in North America; + as also Richard Whatcoat and Thomas Vasey, to act as elders + among them, by baptizing and administering the Lord’s supper. + And I have prepared a liturgy, little differing from that of + the Church of England, (I think the best constituted national + church in the world,) which I advise all the travelling + preachers to use on the Lord’s day, in all the congregations, + reading the litany only on Wednesdays and Fridays, and praying + extempore on all other days. I also advise the elders to + administer the supper of the Lord, on every Lord’s day. + + “If any one will point out a more rational and scriptural way + of feeding and guiding these poor sheep in the wilderness, I + will gladly embrace it. At present, I cannot see any better + method than that I have taken. + + “It has, indeed, been proposed to desire the English bishops to + ordain part of our preachers for America. But to this I object: + (1) I desired the Bishop of London to ordain one, but could not + prevail. (2) If they consented, we know the slowness of their + proceedings; but the matter admits of no delay. (3) If they + would ordain them now, they would expect to govern them; and + how grievously would this entangle us! (4) As our American + brethren are now totally disentangled, both from the state and + the English hierarchy, we dare not entangle them again, either + with the one or the other. They are now at full liberty, simply + to follow the Scriptures and the primitive church. And we judge + it best, that they should stand fast in that liberty, wherewith + God has so strangely set them free. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[500] + +“These are the steps,” says Wesley in another place, “which, not of +choice, but necessity, I have slowly and deliberately taken. If any +one is pleased to call this _separating from the Church_, he may. But +the law of England does not call it so; nor can any one properly be +said so to do, unless, out of conscience, he refuses to join in the +service, and partake of the sacraments administered therein.”[501] + +Eight days after the date of the above letter, Coke, Whatcoat, and +Vasey set sail for America, where they arrived on November 3. A +conference of nearly sixty preachers met in Baltimore on December 24. +Three days later, Coke ordained Asbury; and the two then ordained a +number of elders and deacons. Coke preached a sermon, which was +published, with the title, “The Substance of a Sermon preached at +Baltimore, in the State of Maryland, before the General Conference of +the Methodist Episcopal Church, on the 27th of December, 1784, at the +Ordination of the Rev. Francis Asbury to the office of Superintendent. +By Thomas Coke, LL.D., Superintendent of the said Church. Published at +the desire of the Conference.” 12mo, 22 pages. + +The title is worth observing. Coke and Asbury are _superintendents_; +the Methodist church is _episcopal_,--a church governed by _bishops_. +The sermon begins with an onslaught on the Church of England in +America. “The churches had, in general, been filled with the parasites +and bottle companions of the rich and great. The humble and +importunate entreaties, of the oppressed flocks, were contemned and +despised. The drunkard, the fornicator, and the extortioner, triumphed +over bleeding Zion, because they were faithful abettors of the ruling +powers. But these intolerable fetters were now struck off; and the +antichristian union, which before subsisted between church and state, +was broken asunder.” Coke then proceeds to answer the question, “What +right have you to exercise the episcopal office?” “To me,” says he, +“the most manifest and clear. God has been pleased, by Mr. Wesley, to +raise up, in America and Europe, a numerous society, well known by the +name of Methodists. The whole body have invariably esteemed _this man_ +as their chief pastor, under Christ; and we are fully persuaded, he +has a right to ordain. Besides, we have every qualification for an +episcopal church, which that of Alexandria possessed for two hundred +years; our bishops, or superintendents (as we rather call them), +having been elected by the suffrages of the whole body of our +ministers through the continent, assembled in general conference.” + +This is scarcely conclusive reasoning, but it shows that, from the +very first, Coke assumed, what Wesley never gave him, the title of a +bishop. Five years later, in May, 1789, Coke and Asbury presented an +address to Washington, the president of the United States, beginning +with the words, “We, the _bishops_ of the Methodist _Episcopal_ +Church”;[502] and at the conference of the same year the first +question asked was: “Who are the persons that exercise the episcopal +office in the Methodist church in Europe and America? Answer. John +Wesley, Thomas Coke, and Francis Asbury, by regular order and +succession.”[503] + +This grandiloquent parade of office must not be ascribed to Wesley. He +never sanctioned it; he positively condemned it. Besides, even +allowing that Coke and Asbury had a right to designate themselves +bishops of the Methodist churches in America, what was their authority +for pronouncing Wesley the bishop of the Methodist church in Europe? +They had none. It was an unwarrantable liberty taken with the name of +a venerable man, who had censured the use of such an appellation, and +whose humility and modesty Coke would have been none the worse for +copying. As it was, Wesley was held up to ridicule, and made to +suffer, on account of the episcopal ambition of his friends. + +We have no fault to find with the American Methodists being called the +Methodist Episcopal Church. They have the fullest right to such a +designation if they choose to use it; but it was a name which Wesley +never used; and to censure him for ordaining bishops is to censure him +for what he never did. He ordained a _superintendent_; but he never +thought to call him _bishop_. Hence the following to Asbury. + + “LONDON, _September 20, 1788_. + + “... There is indeed a wide difference between the relation + wherein you stand to the Americans, and the relation wherein I + stand to all the Methodists. You are the elder brother of the + American Methodists; I am, under God, the father of the whole + family. Therefore, I naturally care for you all in a manner no + other person can do. Therefore, I, in a measure, provide for + you all; for the supplies which Dr. Coke provides for you, he + could not provide, were it not for me,--were it not that I not + only permit him to collect, but also support him in so doing. + + “But in one point, my dear brother, I am a little afraid, both + the doctor and you differ from me. I study to be little; you + study to be great. I creep; you strut along. I found a school; + you a college! nay, and call it after your own names![504] O, + beware; do not seek to be something! Let me be nothing, and + ‘Christ be all in all!’ + + “One instance of this, of your greatness, has given me great + concern. How can you, how dare you, suffer yourself to be + called bishop? I shudder, I start at the very thought! Men may + call me a knave or a fool, a rascal, a scoundrel, and I am + content; but they shall never, by my consent, call me bishop! + For my sake, for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, put a full end + to this! Let the presbyterians do what they please, but let the + Methodists know their calling better. + + “Thus, my dear Franky, I have told you all that is in my heart. + And let this, when I am no more seen, bear witness how + sincerely I am your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[505] + +Coke, in his letter, dated August 9, 1784, mentions the “odium” which +Wesley was likely to incur by the ordinations which he himself was +soliciting; and, with a want of chivalry not to be commended, requests +Wesley to acknowledge that the deed was all his own, otherwise Coke +would “sink under the weight of his enemies, with Charles Wesley at +the head of them.” The apprehension was not unfounded. Charles Wesley +knew nothing of the ordinations in Bristol till they were over; but, +of course, it was impossible to keep them secret; and great was the +excitement which the revelation created. One of the preachers wrote: + + “Ordination among Methodists! Amazing indeed! Surely it never + began in the midst of a multitude of counsellors; and, I + greatly fear, the Son of Man was not secretary of state, or not + present, when the business was brought on and carried. Who is + the father of this _monster_, so long dreaded by the father of + his people, and by most of his sons? Whoever he be, time will + prove him to be a felon to Methodism, and discover his + assassinating knife sticking fast in the vitals of its body. + Years to come will speak in groans the opprobrious anniversary + of our religious madness for gowns and bands.” + +Another wrote: “I wish they had been asleep when they began this +business of ordination: it is neither _episcopal_ nor _presbyterian_; +but a mere hodge-podge of inconsistencies.”[506] + +On April 28, 1785, Charles Wesley addressed a long letter to Dr. +Chandler, an episcopal clergyman, who was about to embark for America, +from which the following is an extract. + + “I never lost my dread of separation, or ceased to guard our + societies against it. I frequently told them: ‘I am your + servant as long as you remain in the Church of England; but no + longer. Should you forsake her, you would renounce me.’ + + “Some of the lay preachers very early discovered an inclination + to separate, which induced my brother to print his ‘Reasons + against Separation.’ As often as it appeared, we beat down the + schismatical spirit. If any one did leave the Church, at the + same time he left our society. For near fifty years, we kept + the sheep in the fold; and, having filled the number of our + days, only waited to depart in peace. + + “After our having continued friends for above _seventy_ years, + and fellow labourers for above _fifty_, can anything but death + part us? I can scarcely yet believe it, that, in his + eighty-second year, my brother, my old, intimate friend and + companion, should have assumed the episcopal character, + ordained elders, consecrated a bishop, and sent him to ordain + our lay preachers in America! I was then in Bristol, at his + elbow; yet he never gave me the least hint of his intention. + How was he surprised into so rash an action? He certainly + persuaded himself that it was right. + + “Lord Mansfield told me last year, that ordination was + separation. This my brother does not and will not see; or that + he has renounced the principles and practice of his whole life; + that he has acted contrary to all his declarations, + protestations, and writings; robbed his friends of their + boasting; and left an indelible blot on his name, as long as it + shall be remembered! + + “Thus our partnership here is dissolved, but not our + friendship. I have taken him for better for worse, till death + do us part; or, rather, reunite us in love inseparable. I have + lived on earth a little too long, who have lived to see this + evil day. But I shall very soon be taken from it, in stedfast + faith, that the Lord will maintain His own cause, and carry on + His own work, and fulfil His promise to His church, ‘Lo, I am + with you always, even to the end!’ + + “What will become of these poor sheep in the wilderness, the + American Methodists? How have they been betrayed into a + separation from the Church of England, which their preachers + and they no more intended than the Methodists here! Had they + had patience a little longer, they would have seen a real + bishop in America, consecrated by three Scotch bishops, who + have their consecration from the English bishops, and are + acknowledged by them as the same with themselves. There is, + therefore, not the least difference betwixt the members of + Bishop Seabury’s[507] church, and the members of the Church of + England. He told me he looked upon the Methodists in America as + sound members of the Church, and was ready to ordain any of + their preachers whom he should find duly qualified. His + ordination would be indeed genuine, valid, and episcopal. But + what are your poor Methodists now? Only a new sect of + presbyterians. And, after my brother’s death, which is now so + near, what will be their end? They will lose all their + influence and importance; they will turn aside to vain + janglings; they will settle again upon their lees; and, like + other sects of Dissenters, come to nothing.”[508] + +Charles Wesley hints, that his brother was “_surprised_ into the rash +act” of ordaining. Perhaps he was; but did he afterwards regret it? In +answering this question, we must use materials which properly belong +to succeeding years.[509] + +It is a fact, which cannot be denied, that, while Wesley himself was, +to some extent, welcomed in Scotland, by the ministers of the kirk, +the Methodists, in many instances, were substantially in the same +position as the Methodists in America. There were, indeed, clergymen +of the English Church in Scotland; but several of them absolutely +refused to admit the Methodists to the sacraments, except on the +condition that they would renounce all future connection with the +Methodist ministry and discipline.[510] There was, therefore, the same +necessity to ordain for the one country as for the other. Accordingly, +Wesley, in his journal, writes: “1785: August 1--Having, with a few +select friends, weighed the matter thoroughly, I yielded to their +judgment, and set apart three of our well tried preachers, John +Pawson, Thomas Hanby, and Joseph Taylor, to minister in Scotland.” A +year afterwards, at the conference of 1786, he ordained Joshua +Keighley and Charles Atmore, for Scotland; William Warrener, for +Antigua; and William Hammet, for Newfoundland. A year later, five +others were ordained; in 1788, when Wesley was in Scotland, John +Barber and Joseph Cownley received ordination at his hands; and, at +the ensuing conference, seven others, including Alexander Mather, who +was ordained to the office, not only of deacon and elder, but of +_superintendent_. On Ash Wednesday in 1789, Wesley ordained Henry +Moore and Thomas Rankin; and this, we believe, completes the list of +those upon whom Wesley laid his hands. All these ordinations were in +private; and many of them at four o’clock in the morning. Some of the +favoured ones were intended for Scotland; some for foreign missions; +and a few, as Mather, Moore, and Rankin, were employed in England. In +most instances, probably in all, they were ordained deacons on one +day; and, on the day following, received the ordination of elders, +Wesley giving to each letters testimonial.[511] Wesley justified his +ordinations for Scotland thus. + + “After Dr. Coke’s return from America, many of our friends + begged I would consider the case of Scotland, where we had been + labouring for many years, and had seen so little fruit of our + labours. Multitudes, indeed, have set out well, but they were + soon turned out of the way; chiefly by their ministers either + disputing against the truth, or refusing to admit them to the + Lord’s supper, yea, or to baptize their children, unless they + would promise to have no fellowship with the Methodists. Many, + who did so, soon lost all they had gained, and became more the + children of hell than before. To prevent this, I, at length, + consented to take the same step with regard to Scotland, which + I had done with regard to America. But this is not a separation + from the Church at all. Not from the Church of Scotland, for we + were never connected therewith, any further than we are now: + nor from the Church of England; for this is not concerned in + the steps which are taken in Scotland. Whatever then is done in + America, or Scotland, is no separation from the Church of + England. I have no thought of this; I have many objections + against it. It is a totally different case. ‘But for all this, + is it not possible there may be such a separation after you are + dead?’ Undoubtedly it is. But what I said at our first + conference above forty years ago, I say still: ‘I dare not omit + doing what good I can while I live, for fear of evils that may + follow when I am dead.’”[512] + +There is some force in this, so far as it regards Scotland. The Scotch +Methodists never professed themselves to be members of the Church of +England; in fact, they regarded that church almost with as much +abhorrence as they cherished towards the Church of Rome. Hence the +following extract from one of Pawson’s unpublished letters, dated +“Edinburgh, October 8, 1785.” + + “Dr. Coke intends to be with us on Sunday, the 23rd instant, + when we are to have the sacrament again; but Mr. Wesley is + against us having it in the Scotch form, and I am well + satisfied our new plan will answer no end at all in Scotland, + but will prove a hindrance to the work of God. The people + generally hate the very name of Prayer-Book, and everything + belonging to it, as they have always been taught to believe it + a limb of antichrist, and very little better than the popish + mass-book. Popery, prelacy, and all such things, they hold in + the greatest detestation. They would soon tell us: ‘I dunna ken + what you mean by these unca inventions. We belong to the gude + old kirk of Scotland, and will not join with the whore of + Babylon at all.’” + +In reference to the English ordinations, Mr. Pawson writes: + + “Mr. Wesley knew the state of the societies in England required + such measures to be taken, or many of the people would leave + the connexion; and had the preachers, after his death, only + acted upon his plan, and quietly granted the people, who + desired the sacraments, that privilege, no division would have + taken place.[513] He foresaw, that the Methodists would soon + become a distinct body. He was deeply prejudiced against + presbyterian, and as much in favour of episcopal, government. + In order, therefore, to preserve all that is valuable in the + Church of England among the Methodists, he ordained Mr. Mather + and Dr. Coke, bishops. These he undoubtedly designed should + ordain others. Mr. Mather told us so at the Manchester + conference, in 1791.[514] I believe, Mr. Wesley’s first thought + of ordaining arose out of the bishop of London refusing to + ordain a preacher for America; but that he originally intended + to ordain preachers for England is what I never could believe; + and, with respect to Scotland, he often declared to me, and in + the congregation at Edinburgh, that he was over persuaded to + it. And, a few months before his death, he was so annoyed with + Dr. Coke’s conduct, in persuading the people to depart from the + original plan, that he threatened, in a letter, to have no more + to do with him, unless he desisted from such a course of + procedure.”[515] + +We give this as we find it; and now turn to a deeply interesting +correspondence between Wesley and his brother. Within a fortnight +after the ordination of Pawson, Hanby, and Taylor, at the conference +of 1785, and in which Wesley, Coke, and Creighton took part,[516] +Charles Wesley wrote to his brother as follows. + + “BRISTOL, _August 14, 1785_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I have been reading over again your ‘Reasons + against a Separation,’ printed in 1758, and your Works; and + entreat you, in the name of God, and for Christ’s sake, to read + them again yourself, with previous prayer, and stop, and + proceed no farther, till you receive an answer to your inquiry, + ‘Lord, what wouldst _Thou_ have me to do?’ + + “Every word of your eleven pages deserves the deepest + consideration; not to mention my testimony and hymns. Only the + seventh I could wish you to read,--a prophecy which I pray God + may never come to pass. + + “Near thirty years, since then, you have stood against the + importunate solicitations of your preachers, who have scarcely + at last prevailed. I was your natural ally, and faithful + friend; and, while you continued faithful to yourself, we two + could chase a thousand. + + “But when once you began ordaining in America, I knew, and you + knew, that your preachers here would never rest till you + ordained them. You told me, they would separate by-and-by. The + doctor tells us the same. His Methodist episcopal church in + Baltimore was intended to beget a Methodist episcopal church + here. You know he comes, armed with your authority, to make us + all Dissenters. One of your sons assured me, that not a + preacher in London would refuse orders from the doctor. + + “Alas! what trouble are you preparing for yourself, as well as + for me, and for your oldest, truest, and best friends! Before + you have quite broken down the bridge, stop, and consider! If + your sons have no regard for you, have some regard for + yourself. Go to your grave in peace; at least, suffer me to go + first, before this ruin is under your hand. So much, I think, + you owe to my father, to my brother, and to me, as to stay till + I am taken from the evil. I am on the brink of the grave. Do + not push me in, or embitter my last moments. Let us not leave + an indelible blot on our memory; but let us leave behind us the + name and character of honest men. + + “This letter is a debt to our parents, and to our brother, as + well as to you, and to + + “Your faithful friend, + + “CHARLES WESLEY.”[517] + +Five days afterwards, Wesley replied as follows. The line of poetry +was his brother’s. + + “PLYMOUTH, _August 19, 1785_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I will tell you my thoughts with all + simplicity, and wait for better information. If you agree with + me, well; if not, we can, as Mr. Whitefield used to say, agree + to disagree. + + “For these forty years, I have been in doubt concerning that + question, What obedience is due to + + ‘Heathenish priests and mitred infidels’? + + “I have, from time to time, proposed my doubts to the most + pious and sensible clergymen I knew. But they gave me no + satisfaction. Rather, they seemed to be puzzled as well as me. + + “Obedience I always paid to the bishops, in obedience to the + laws of the land. But I cannot see, that I am under any + obligation to obey them further than those laws require. + + “It is in obedience to these laws, that I have never exercised + in England the power which, I believe, God has given me. I + firmly believe, I am a scriptural επισκοπος, as much as any man + in England, or in Europe; for the uninterrupted succession I + know to be a fable, which no man ever did or can prove. But this + does in no wise interfere with my remaining in the Church of + England, from which I have no more desire to separate than I had + fifty years ago. I still attend all the ordinances of the Church, + at all opportunities; and I constantly and earnestly advise all + that are connected with me so to do. When Mr. Smyth pressed us + to separate from the Church, he meant, ‘Go to church no more.’ + And this was what I meant twenty-seven years ago, when I persuaded + our brethren not to separate from the Church. + + “But here another question occurs: ‘What is the Church of + England?’ It is not all the people of England. Papists and + Dissenters are no part thereof. It is not all the people of + England, except papists and Dissenters. Then we should have a + glorious church indeed! No; according to our twentieth article, + a particular church is ‘a congregation of faithful people among + whom the word of God is preached, and the sacraments duly + administered.’ Here is a true logical definition, containing + both the essence and the properties of a church. What then, + according to this definition, is the Church of England? Does it + mean all the believers in England (except the papists and + Dissenters) who have the word of God and the sacraments duly + administered among them? I fear, this does not come up to your + idea of the Church of England. Well, what more do you include + in the phrase? ‘Why, all the believers that adhere to the + doctrine and discipline established by the convocation under + Queen Elizabeth.’ Nay, that discipline is well-nigh vanished + away; and the doctrine both you and I adhere to. + + “All these ‘Reasons against a Separation from the Church,’ in + this sense, I subscribe to still. What then are you frighted + at? I no more separate from it now than I did in 1758. I submit + still (though sometimes with a doubting conscience) to ‘mitred + infidels,’ I do, indeed, vary from them in some points of + doctrine, and in some points of discipline (by preaching + abroad, for instance, by praying extempore, and by forming + societies); but not a hair’s breadth farther than I believe to + be meet, right, and my bounden duty. I walk still by the same + rule I have done for between forty and fifty years. I do + nothing rashly. It is not likely I should. The high day of my + blood is over. If you will go on hand in hand with me, do. But + do not hinder me, if you will not help. Perhaps if you had kept + close to me, I might have done better. However, with or without + help, I creep on; and as I have been hitherto, so I trust I + shall always be, + + “Your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[518] + +To this letter Charles Wesley returned the following reply. + + “MARYLEBONE, _September 8, 1785_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I will tell you my thoughts with the same + simplicity. There is no danger of our quarrelling; for the + second blow makes the quarrel; and you are the last man upon + earth whom I would wish to quarrel with. + + “That juvenile line of mine, + + ‘Heathenish priests, and mitred infidels,’ + + I disown, renounce, and with shame recant. I never knew of more + than one ‘mitred infidel,’ and for him I took Mr. Law’s word. + + “I do not understand what obedience to the bishops you dread. + They have let us alone, and left us to act just as we pleased, + for these fifty years. At present, some of them are quite + friendly toward us, particularly toward you. The churches are + all open to you; and never could there be less pretence for a + separation. + + “That you are a scriptural επισκοπος, or overseer, I do not + dispute. And so is every minister who has the cure of souls. + Neither need we dispute whether the uninterrupted succession + be fabulous, as you believe; or real, as I believe; or whether + Lord King be right or wrong. + + “Your definition of the Church of England is the same in prose + with mine in verse. By the way, read over my ‘Epistle,’ to + oblige me, and tell me you have read it, and likewise your own + ‘Reasons.’ + + “You write, ‘all these reasons against a separation from the + Church, I subscribe to still. What then are you frighted at? I + no more separate from it than I did in the year 1758; I submit + still to its bishops; I do indeed vary from them in some points + of discipline; (by preaching abroad, for instance, praying + extempore, and by forming societies’); (might you not add, and + by ordaining?). ‘I still walk by the same rule I have done for + between forty and fifty years; I do nothing rashly.’ + + “If I could prove your actual separation, I would not; neither + wish to see it proved by any other. But do you not allow, that + the doctor has separated? Do you not know and approve of his + avowed design and resolution to get all the Methodists of the + three kingdoms into a distinct, compact body? Have you seen his + ordination sermon? Is the high day of his blood over? Does he + do nothing rashly? Have you not made yourself the author of all + his actions? I need not remind you, _qui facit per alium facit + per se_. + + “I must not leave unanswered your surprising question, ‘What + then are you frighted at?’ At the doctor’s rashness, and your + supporting him in his ambitious pursuits; at an approaching + schism, as causeless and unprovoked as the American rebellion; + at your own eternal disgrace, and all those frightful evils + which your ‘Reasons’ describe. + + “‘If you will go on hand in hand with me, do.’ I do go, or + rather creep on, in the old way in which we set out together, + and trust to continue in it, till I finish my course. + + “‘Perhaps if you had kept close to me, I might have done + better.’ When you took that fatal step at Bristol, I kept as + close to you as close could be; for I was all the time at your + elbow. You might certainly have done better, if you had taken + me into your counsel. + + “I thank you for your intention to remain my friend; herein my + heart is as your heart; whom God hath joined let not man put + asunder. We have taken each other for better for worse, till + death do us--part? No; but unite eternally. Therefore, in the + love which never faileth, I am your affectionate friend and + brother, + + “CHARLES WESLEY.”[519] + +Five days later, Wesley replied. + + “_September 13, 1785._ + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I see no use of you and me disputing together; + for neither of us is likely to convince the other. You say, I + separate from the Church; I say, I do not. Then let it stand. + + “Your verse is a sad truth. I see fifty times more of England + than you do; and I find few exceptions to it. + + “I believe Dr. Coke is as free from ambition as from + covetousness. He has done nothing rashly, that I know; but he + has spoken rashly, which he retracted the moment I spoke to him + of it. To publish, as his present thoughts, what he had before + retracted, was not fair play. He is now such a right hand to me + as Thomas Walsh was. If you will not or cannot help me + yourself, do not hinder those that can and will. I must and + will save as many souls as I can while I live, without being + careful about what may _possibly be_ when I die. + + “I pray do not confound the intellects of the people in London. + You may thereby a little weaken my hands, but you will greatly + weaken your own. + + “I am, etc., + “JOHN WESLEY.”[520] + +Wesley failed to grapple with his brother’s question; or rather he +declined. Charles’s point evidently was the same as Lord +Mansfield’s,--“ordination was separation.” No doubt this was strictly +accurate. Wesley was too keen sighted not to see it; but he was too +much a churchman to acknowledge it. He felt himself unable to reply to +his brother’s argument; and, therefore, really did not attempt to +reply at all. + +Two brief letters more, and then we quit the subject of ordination. +Six days after the date of the above, Charles Wesley replied as +follows. + + “LONDON, _September 19, 1785_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I did not say, you separate from the Church; + but I did say, ‘If I could prove it, I would not.’ + + “That ‘sad truth’ is not a new truth; you saw it when you + expressed in your ‘Reasons’ such tenderness of love for the + unconverted clergy. + + “Of your second Thomas Walsh we had better talk than write. + + “How ‘confound their intellects’? how ‘weaken your hands’? I + know nothing which I do to prevent the _possible_ separation, + but pray. God forbid I should sin against Him by ceasing to + pray for the Church of England, and for you, while my breath + remains in me! + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “CHARLES WESLEY.”[521] + +Again: + + “BRISTOL, _July 27, 1786_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I cannot rest, living or dying, unless I deal + as faithfully with you as I am persuaded you would deal with + me, if you were in my place, and I in yours. + + “I believe you have been too hasty in ordaining. I believe God + left you to yourself in that matter, as He left Hezekiah, to + show you the secret pride which was in your heart. I believe + Lord Mansfield’s decisive words to me, ‘ordination is + separation.’ + + “Thus I have discharged my duty to God and His church, and + approved myself your faithful friend and affectionate brother, + + “CHARLES WESLEY.”[522] + +This is a long, and, we fear, a wearisome account of what, +abstractedly considered, was a trivial thing. John Wesley’s preachers, +being called of God, were as much ministers of Christ, and as much +entitled to administer the sacraments of the church, without the +imposition of his hands as with it. We raise no objection to the +formality; we think it right, and, because of its solemnity, likely to +be useful; but to contend that the thing itself is necessary, would be +to condemn all the grand old Methodist preachers, who flourished from +the year 1795, when their administration of sacraments was authorised +by the Methodist conference, to the year 1836, when, for the first +time, ordination by imposition of hands was solemnly enacted, and +declared to be a “standing rule and usage in future years.” + +This, however, is not the point in question. The right or wrong, of +ordaining, is left to others to discuss. There can be no doubt that, +as a minister of Christ, Wesley had as much right to ordain as any +bishop, priest, or presbytery in existence; but he had no right to +this as a clergyman of the Church of England; and, by acting as he +did, he became, what he was unwilling to acknowledge, a Dissenter, a +separatist from that church. Such was the opinion of Lord Mansfield; +and such was the argument of Wesley’s brother. Wesley refused to +acknowledge this; but, feeling the impossibility of the thing, he +declined to attempt refuting it. With great inconsistency, he still +persisted in calling himself a member of the Church of England;[523] +and, as will be seen, to the day of his death, told the Methodists +that if they left the Church they would leave him. All things +considered, this was not surprising; but it was absurd. Great +allowance must be made for Wesley; but to reconcile Wesley’s practice +and profession, in this matter, during the last seven years of his +eventful life, is simply impossible. + +Much space has been occupied with these recitals; but, remembering +that no event, in Wesley’s history, has occasioned more controversy +than his act of ordaining preachers, it became a duty to give all the +facts concerning it within our knowledge. + +We now return to the conference of 1784. As soon as its sessions +ended, Wesley again set out on his evangelistic ramblings; and, two +days afterwards, came to Shrewsbury, and preached a funeral sermon “in +memory of good John Appleton.” John was a currier, and became a +Methodist under circumstances somewhat peculiar, and which are worth +relating. + +While at Bristol, he happened to go into a church, where the minister +preached a violent sermon, which he had already delivered in two other +churches, against “the upstart Methodists.” Shortly after, he had to +preach again in the church of St. Nicholas, but, while announcing his +text, was suddenly seized with a rattling in his throat, fell backward +against the pulpit door, rolled down the steps, was carried home, and +died. Mr. Appleton was present, and was so greatly shocked with this +event, that, when he returned to Shrewsbury, he took a house, in which +he fitted up a room for religious service, and began to preach +himself. In 1781, at his own expense, he built the Methodists a +chapel, which Wesley opened. A more devoted Christian it would be +difficult to find than good John Appleton. His labour, as a working +currier, was hard; but, for many years, besides preaching every +Sunday, he preached twice a week on the week days, and had full and +attentive congregations. He died in the full triumph of faith on the +1st of May, 1784.[524] + +From Shrewsbury, Wesley made his way, through Wales, to Bristol, which +he reached on August 29, and where, a few days afterwards, he ordained +Coke, Whatcoat, and Vasey. The next month was spent in incessant +preaching in the surrounding neighbourhood. + +Here we pause to insert two of his remarkable letters: the first to +Miss Bishop, the mistress of a boarding school; the second to the +Right Hon. William Pitt, now in the twenty-fifth year of his age, and +prime minister of England. + + “HAVERFORDWEST, _August 18, 1784_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--It seems God Himself has already decided the + question concerning dancing. He has shown His approbation of + your conduct, by sending these children to you again. If + dancing be not evil in itself, yet, it leads young women to + numberless evils. And the hazard of these, on the one side, + seems far to overbalance the little inconveniences, on the + other. Therefore, thus much may certainly be said, you have + chosen the more excellent way. + + “I would recommend very few novels to young persons, for fear + they should be desirous of more. Mr. Brooke wrote one more, + beside the ‘Earl of Moreland,’ ‘The History of the Human + Heart.’ I think, it is well worth reading, though it is not + equal to his former production. The want of novels may be more + than supplied by well chosen history: such as ‘The Concise + History of England,’ ‘The Concise History of the Church,’ + Rollin’s Ancient History, Hooke’s Roman History (the only + impartial one extant), and a few more. For the elder and more + sensible children, Malebranche’s ‘Search after Truth’ is an + excellent French book. Perhaps, you might add Locke’s ‘Essay on + the Human Understanding,’ with the remarks upon it in the + _Arminian Magazine_. I had forgotten that beautiful book, ‘The + Travels of Cyrus,’ whether in French or English. + + “I always am your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[525] + +The letter to Pitt was one such as prime ministers seldom get. + + “BATH, _September 6, 1784_. + + “SIR,--Your former goodness, shown to Mr. Ellison,[526] + emboldens me to take the liberty of recommending to your notice + an old friend, Lieutenant Webb.[527] + + “On my mentioning formerly some of his services to Lord North, + his lordship was pleased to order him £100 a year. But as it + has since been reduced, it is hardly a maintenance for himself + and his family. If you would be so good as to remember him in + this, or any other way, I should esteem it a particular favour. + + “Will you excuse me, sir, for going out of my province by + hinting a few things, which have been long upon my mind? If + those hints do not deserve any further notice, they may be + forgiven and forgotten. + + “New taxes must undoubtedly be imposed; but may not more money + be produced by the old ones? For instance: + + “1. When the land tax is four shillings in the pound, I know + some towns which pay regularly seven or five pence. Nay, I know + one town where they pay one penny in the pound. Is there no + help for this? + + “2. As to the window tax: I know a gentleman who has near a + hundred windows in his house, and he told me he paid for + _twenty_. + + “3. The same gentleman told me: ‘We have above one hundred men + servants in this town, but not above _ten_ are paid for.’ + + “4. I firmly believe, that, in Cornwall alone, the king is + defrauded of half a million yearly in customs. What does this + amount to in all Great Britain? Surely not so little as five + millions. + + “5. Servants of distillers inform me, that their masters do not + pay for a fortieth part of what they distil. And this duty last + year, (if I am rightly informed,) amounted only to £20,000. But + have not the spirits distilled this year cost 20,000 lives of + his majesty’s liege subjects? Is not then the blood of these + men vilely bartered for £20,000? not to say anything of the + enormous wickedness, which has been occasioned thereby; and not + to suppose that these poor wretches have any souls! But, (to + consider money alone,) is the king a gainer, or an immense + loser? To say nothing of many millions of quarters of corn + destroyed, which, if exported, would have added more than + £20,000 to the revenue, be it considered, ‘Dead men pay no + taxes,’ So that, by the death of 20,000 persons yearly, (and + this computation is far under the mark,) the revenue loses far + more than it gains. + + “But I may urge another consideration to you. You are a man. + You have not lost human feelings. You do not love to drink + human blood. You are a son of Lord Chatham. Nay, if I mistake + not, you are a Christian. Dare you then sustain a sinking + nation? Is the God whom you serve able to deliver from ten + thousand enemies? I believe He is. Nay, and you believe it. O, + may you fear nothing but displeasing Him! + + “May I add a word on another head? How would your benevolent + heart rejoice, if a stop could be put to that scandal of the + English nation, suicide! + + “The present laws against it avail nothing; for every such + _murderer_ is brought in _non compos_. If he was a poor man, + the jurors forswear themselves from pity. If he was rich, they + hope to be well paid for it. So no ignominy pursues either the + living or the dead, and self murder increases daily. But what + help? + + “I conceive this horrid crime might be totally prevented, and + that without doing the least hurt to either the living or the + dead. Do you not remember, sir, how the rage for self murder + among the Spartan matrons was stopped at once? Would it not + have the same effect in England, if an act of parliament were + passed, repealing all other acts and appointing that every self + murderer should be hanged in chains? + + “Suppose your influence could prevent suicide by this means, + you would do more service to your country than any prime + minister has done these hundred years. Your name would be + precious to all true Englishmen as long as England continued a + nation. And, what is infinitely more, a greater Monarch than + King George would say to you, ‘Well done, good and faithful + servant.’ I earnestly commit you to His care, and am, sir, your + willing servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[528] + +Methodism was established not only in America, but also in Nova Scotia +and Newfoundland, though neither of these countries found a place in +the conference minutes till 1785. William Black, now a young man of +twenty-four, had begun to pray and preach, and had witnessed the +conversion of hundreds. Societies had been formed; and quarterly +meetings held; and, for three years, Black had devoted himself wholly +to the work of the ministry, without being formally recognised as one +of Wesley’s itinerant preachers. He had encountered no ordinary +difficulties in the prosecution of his work. The Rev. Henry Alline, a +Calvinist preacher, had divided his societies, by sowing the seeds of +antinomian error; and Methodist meetings had been illegally disturbed, +and broken up, by English soldiers: but, in the midst of all, young +Black courageously persevered. He applied to Wesley for assistance; +and he himself expressed a wish to come to Kingswood school to fit +himself more fully for the Christian ministry. During the year 1784, +Wesley addressed to him the two following letters. + + “INVERNESS, _May 11, 1784_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am glad you have given a little assistance + to our brethren at Halifax, and along the coast. There is no + charity under heaven to be compared to this,--the bringing + light to the poor heathens, that are called Christians, but, + nevertheless, still sit in darkness and the shadow of death. I + am in great hopes, that some of the emigrants, from New York, + are really alive to God. And, if so, they will every way be a + valuable acquisition to the province where their lot is now + cast. + + “There is no part of Calvinism or antinomianism which is not + fully answered in some part of our writings; particularly in + the ‘Preservative against Unsettled Notions in Religion.’ I + have no more to do with answering books. It will be sufficient + if you recommend, to Mr. Alline’s friends, some of the tracts + that are already written. As to himself, I fear he is wiser in + his own eyes than seven men that can render a reason. + + “The work of God goes on with a steady pace in various parts of + England. But, still, the love of many will wax cold, while many + others are continually added to supply their place. In the west + of England, in Lancashire, and in Yorkshire, God still mightily + makes bare His arm. He convinces many, justifies many, and many + are perfected in love. + + “My great advice to those who are united together, is, Let + brotherly love continue! See that ye fall not out by the way! + Hold the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace! Bear ye one + another’s burdens, and so fulfil the law of Christ! + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[529] + + “LONDON, _October 15, 1784_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--A letter of yours, some time ago, gave me + hopes of meeting you in England; as you seemed desirous of + spending some time here, to improve yourself in learning. But, + as you have now entered into a different state, I do not expect + we shall meet in this world. But you have a large field of + action where you are, without wandering into Europe. Your + present parish is wide enough, namely, Nova Scotia and + Newfoundland. I do not advise you to go any farther. In the + United States, there are abundance of preacher. They can spare + four preachers to you, better than you can spare one to them. + If I am rightly informed, they have already sent you one or + two; and they may afford you one or two more, if it please God + to give a prosperous voyage to Dr. Coke and his fellow + labourers. Does there not want a closer and more direct + connection between you of the north, and the societies under + Francis Asbury? Is it not more advisable, that you should have + a constant correspondence with each other, and act by united + counsels? Perhaps it is for want of this, that so many have + drawn back. I want a more particular account of the societies + in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland. I am not at all glad of Mr. + Scurr’s intention to remove from Nova Scotia to the south. That + is going from a place, where he is much wanted, to a place + where he is not wanted. I think, if he got £10,000 thereby, it + would be but a poor bargain; that is, upon the supposition, + which you and I make, that _souls_ are of more value than + _gold_. Peace be with all your spirits! + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[530] + +Wesley returned to London on October 9, and, nine days afterwards, set +out on his usual visit to the societies in Oxfordshire. He then went +off to Norfolk; and spent the rest of the year in London, and the +surrounding counties. He had a long interview with Pascal Paoli, the +great Corsican general. He visited convicts, under sentence of death, +in Newgate, preached the condemned criminals’ sermon, forty-seven of +these unhappy creatures being present, all in chains, and most of them +in tears. Burglars broke into his house, in City Road. He met with +Simeon, who had been with Fletcher at Madeley, and, for fifty-three +years afterwards, was rector of Trinity church, Cambridge. Jottings +like these might be multiplied; Wesley’s life was full of them. We +conclude with an unpublished letter to Henry Moore, who was now at +Dublin. + + “LONDON, _November 4, 1784_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am glad you spoke freely to Mr. Collins. + He is a good man, but not very adviseable. If he should declare + open war in England, he will do little or no harm. Mr. Smyth + will not be fond of him, if he preaches at Plunkett + Street.[531] There will not soon be a coalition between + Arminianism and Calvinism. This we found even in Holland. + + “If James Rogers and you keep to the Church still, a few, I + doubt not, will follow your example. We made just allowance + enough for leaving the Church at the last conference. + + “I am, with kind love to Nancy, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Besides “The Sunday Service of the Methodists in America,” and a tract +or two, Wesley published nothing, in 1784, except his _Arminian +Magazine_. This was as racy and rich as ever. “The Calvinist Cabinet +Unlocked” was continued from the previous volume, and run through the +whole of this. Like its predecessors, it contained six original +sermons by Wesley himself. In that on Dissipation, he expresses the +startling opinion: “There is not, on the face of the earth, another +nation so perfectly dissipated and ungodly as England; not only so +totally without God in the world, but so openly setting Him at +defiance. There never was an _age_, that we read of in history, since +Julius Cæsar, since Noah, since Adam, wherein dissipation and +ungodliness did so generally prevail, both among high and low, rich +and poor.” In the sermon on Patience, he gives an interesting account +of the way in which he was led to embrace the doctrine of Christian +perfection; and observes that, in 1762, there were 652 members of the +London society, who professed to have attained to this state of grace. +That on the text, “We know in part,” is a marvellous production, such +as none but a man like Wesley could have written. In the sermon on the +“Wisdom and Knowledge of God,” as displayed in the history of the +church, after giving one of his most interesting accounts of the rise +of Methodism, he does not hide the fact, that many of the Methodist +preachers and people had not been faithful. Speaking of the first +preachers, he says, they “were young, poor, ignorant men, without +experience, learning, or art; but simple of heart, devoted to God, +full of faith and zeal, seeking no honour, no profit, no pleasure, no +ease, but merely to save souls; fearing neither want, pain, +persecution, nor whatever man could do unto them: yea, not counting +their lives dear unto them, so they might finish their course with +joy.” But in process of time, “several of the preachers increased in +other knowledge; but not proportionably in the knowledge of God. They +grew less simple, less alive to God, and less devoted to Him. They +were less zealous for God, and consequently less active, less diligent +in His service. Some of them begun to desire the praise of men, and +not the praise of God only; some, to be weary of a wandering life, and +to seek ease and quietness. Some began to fear the faces of men; to be +ashamed of their calling; to be unwilling to deny themselves, to take +up their cross daily, and endure hardness as good soldiers of Jesus +Christ. Wherever these preachers laboured, there was not much fruit of +their labours. Their word was not, as formerly, clothed with power; it +carried with it no demonstration of the Spirit!” Weighty words these! +especially as coming from an old man of more than eighty, one of the +keenest observers of facts, himself the founder of Methodism, now +nearly at the close of his remarkable career. And equally pungent are +his remarks respecting the people. Referring to the causes of +Methodist backslidings, he writes: “But of all the temptations, none +so struck at the whole work of God, as the deceitfulness of riches; a +thousand melancholy proofs of which I have seen, within these last +fifty years. I have not known threescore rich persons, perhaps not +half the number, during threescore years, who, as far as I can judge, +were not less holy than they would have been, had they been poor. By +riches, I mean not thousands of pounds; but any more than will procure +the conveniences of life.” “Having gained and saved all you can, give +all you can: else your money will eat your flesh as fire, and will +sink you to the nethermost hell! O beware of laying up treasures upon +earth! Is it not treasuring up wrath against the day of wrath? Lord! I +have warned them: but if they will not be warned, what can I do more? +I can only give them up unto their own hearts’ lusts, and let them +follow their own imaginations! By not taking this warning, it is +certain many of the Methodists are already fallen. Many are falling at +this very time. And there is great reason to apprehend, that many more +will fall, most of whom will rise no more!” If Wesley found it +necessary to say this in 1784, what would he have said in 1871? + +In the sermons, on Obedience to Parents, and Companionship with the +Wicked, the reader will find most valuable advices, such as none but a +long experienced casuist like Wesley has wisdom and confidence enough +to give. + +Further description of the _Magazine_, for 1784, is scarcely needed. +The letters and the poetry are quite equal to those in the former +volumes; the biographies are rich in Christian experience; the +anecdotes quaint and instructive. Extracts from his “Natural +Philosophy” are given in every number, and also from Bryant’s Ancient +Mythology. Benson’s Letters on Polygamy run through the whole. The +supernatural disturbances at Epworth parsonage are related; and, as if +in anticipation of his own death, Wesley tells his readers, that, not +“to lessen the honour of the house of God, or infect it with +unwholesome vapours, he has left orders to bury his remains, not in +the new chapel in City Road, but in the burying ground adjoining it;” +and then, to show that “epitaphs ought to be prepared by persons who +have some knowledge of grammatical and typographical accuracy; and not +be left to illiterate relations, parish clerks, or stonemasons, to the +great scandal of the nation in general, and of religion in +particular,” he gives the following, taken from a tombstone in +Arbroath churchyard. + +“Here lyis Alexand Peter, _present_ Town Treasurer of Arbroth, who +died ---- day January 1630. + + “Such a Treasurer was not since, nor yet before, + For common works, calsais, brigs, and schoir-- + Of all others he did excel; + He deviced our skoel, and he hung our bell.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [472] Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 404. + + [473] Manuscript letter. + + [474] Manuscript diary. + + [475] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 144. + + [476] _Methodist Magazine_, 1836, p. 397. + + [477] On Sunday, September 18, 1870, the London Road + Methodist Sunday-school, Manchester, removed from + their somewhat dingy premises to a new and more + commodious building, erected in Grosvenor Street + East, and adjoining the Wesleyan chapel there. A + card commemorative of the event was presented to + each person joining in the day’s proceedings, with + the following inscription: “London Road Wesleyan + Sunday School, founded in 1785, by John Lancaster, + and first conducted by him in a cellar at the corner + of Travis Street. It was soon after removed to a + room in Worsley Street, built specially for its + accommodation, and there carried on until November + 10, 1811, when it took possession of the then new + schools, situated behind Borough Buildings, and there + continued until this day, when it was again removed + to the recently erected building adjoining the + Grosvenor Street chapel, in commemoration of which + event this card is presented to ----. Manchester, + September 18, 1870.” + + [478] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, pp. 12, 13. + + [479] Minutes of Conference, vol. i., p. 41. + + [480] Drew’s Life of Coke, p. 37. + + [481] Manuscript memoir of Whitehead. + + [482] Hampson’s Life of Wesley. + + [483] Smith’s History of Methodism, vol. i., p. 523. + + [484] Manuscript. + + [485] Myles’ History, p. 201. + + [486] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785, p. 269. + + [487] American minutes. + + [488] Bangs’ “Original Church of Christ,” p. 114. + + [489] Stevens’ History of Methodism, vol. ii., p. 212. + + [490] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 326. + + [491] _Methodist Magazine_, 1786, p. 682. + + [492] Manuscript letter. + + [493] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 417. + + [494] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 200. + + [495] Ibid. p. 223. + + [496] Ibid. vol. xii., p. 137. + + [497] “Life and Times of Lady Huntingdon;” and “Authentic + Narrative of Primary Ordination in Spafields Chapel, + 1784.” + + [498] The Rev. James Creighton was present; but Charles + Wesley was not, though he was in Bristol at the + time.--(Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. + 389.) + + [499] Drew’s Life of Coke, p. 66. + + [500] _Methodist Magazine_, 1785, p. 602. + + [501] Ibid. 1786, p. 677. + + [502] Coke’s Life, by Etheridge. + + [503] American minutes. + + [504] Cokesbury college, twice burned down. + + [505] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 70. + + [506] Whitehead’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 419. + + [507] Dr. Samuel Seabury was a missionary of the Society + for the Propagation of the Gospel. After the + ratification of the treaty of peace, the American + episcopal church felt it necessary, not to remain + dependent on the good offices of a prelate residing + in England, but to have bishops of its own. + Accordingly, the clergy in Connecticut assembled in + a voluntary convention, and elected Seabury. The + election was easily accomplished; the _consecration_ + was more difficult. Seabury came to England, asking + of the archbishops of the English Church a boon + which, for a hundred and fifty years, had been asked + in vain, namely, that episcopalians in America might + have ordained bishops of their own. At the time, the + see of Canterbury was vacant; and the archbishop of + York was unable to take measures for the consecration + of an American citizen, without the authority of + parliament. A long delay was unavoidable, and, under + the circumstances, Seabury proceeded to Scotland, + where he applied for consecration to the bishops of + the Scottish episcopal church. His application was + granted, and he was solemnly ordained at Aberdeen, + on November 14, 1784, by the bishops of Aberdeen, + Ross, and Moray.--(Caswall’s American Church, p. + 124.) This will explain the meaning of C. Wesley’s + letter; but is it surprising that, amid all these + changes, difficulties, and confusions, Wesley took + upon himself to ordain deacons and presbyters for the + abandoned Methodists of America? + + [508] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 392. + + [509] The Rev. James Creighton, in his reply to Bradburn’s + pamphlet in 1793, affirms that Wesley repented, with + tears, that he had ordained any of his preachers. He + states, that he expressed his sorrow for this at the + conference of 1789, and occasionally afterwards till + his death. Creighton adds: “About six weeks before he + died, he said, ‘The preachers are now too powerful + for me.’” This must pass for as much as it is worth; + James Creighton was a clergyman. + + [510] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 382. + + [511] Manuscripts; also _Methodist Magazine_, 1867, p. 622. + + [512] _Methodist Magazine_, 1786, p. 678. + + [513] Manuscript memoir of Whitehead. + + [514] Manuscript letter. + + [515] Manuscript letter. + + [516] Pawson’s manuscript. + + [517] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 394. + + [518] _Methodist Magazine_, 1786, p. 50. + + [519] C. Wesley’s Life, vol. ii., p. 398. + + [520] Ibid. + + [521] C. Wesley’s Life, vol. ii, p. 398. + + [522] _Methodist Magazine_, 1867, p. 625. + + [523] Let us suppose John Hampson, not only to have formed + societies, different from the Methodist societies, + but also to have ordained local preachers to + administer to them the sacraments; and let us suppose + further, that, despite this, John Hampson still + persisted in calling himself a Methodist: and we + have a case analogous to that of Wesley. Under such + circumstances, would Wesley have admitted Hampson’s + claim to continued membership among the Methodists? + We trow not; and yet this is exactly the sort of + claim which he himself makes in reference to the + Church of England. + + [524] _Methodist Magazine_, 1790, p. 636. + + [525] _Methodist Magazine_, 1807, p. 472; and Wesley’s + Works, vol. xiii., p. 36. + + [526] Wesley’s nephew, an excise officer (Clarke’s “Wesley + Family,” vol. ii., p. 273). + + [527] Commonly called Captain Webb. + + [528] _Methodist Magazine_, 1850, p. 161. + + [529] Black’s Memoirs, p. 112. + + [530] Black’s Memoirs, p. 126. + + [531] The Rev. Edward Smyth was about to become minister of + Bethesda chapel, Dublin. The Rev. Brian Collins seems + to have been in Dublin at the same time. + + + + + 1785. + Age 82 + + +Wesley began the year 1785, by spending five days in walking through +London, often ankle deep in sludge and melting snow, to beg £200, +which he employed in purchasing clothing for the poor. He visited the +destitute in their own houses, “to see with his own eyes what their +wants were, and how they might be effectually relieved.” Besides +preaching in his own chapels, he preached in Spitalfields, St. +Ethelburga’s, and Stepney churches. As usual, he met the London +classes, from which he received, as ticket money, £48 7_s._, out of +which he was paid his quarter’s salary, £15.[532] His activity was +unabated and marvellous. + +He wrote as follows, to Mr. Stretton, in Newfoundland. + + “LONDON, _February 25, 1785_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--If that deadly enemy of true religion, + popery, is breaking in upon you, there is indeed no time to be + lost; for it is far easier to prevent the plague than to stop + it. Last autumn Dr. Coke sailed from England, and is now + visiting the flock in the midland provinces of America, and + setting them on the New Testament plan, to which they all + willingly and joyfully conform. I trust, they will no more want + such pastors, as are after God’s own heart. After he has gone + through these parts, he intends to see the brethren in Nova + Scotia, probably attended with one or two able preachers, who + will be willing to abide there. A day or two ago, I wrote and + desired him to call upon our brethren also in Newfoundland, and + leave a preacher there likewise. About food and raiment we take + no thought; our heavenly Father knoweth that we need these + things, and He will provide; only let us be faithful and + diligent in feeding His flock. Your preacher will be ordained. + You shall want no assistance that is in the power of your + affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[533] + +At the previous conference, Wesley had appointed William Moore to +Plymouth. Moore was an itinerant of ten years’ standing, and was +dissatisfied with Wesley’s deed of declaration; and, instead of +serving Wesley, as he had done formerly, he dissevered the connection. +He hired a room, drew away about forty of the Plymouth Methodists, and +formed a society of his own. He issued “An Appeal to the Inhabitants +of the Town of Saltash,” 8vo, 8 pages; telling the people, that he +preached none other doctrines than those contained in the articles, +homilies, and prayers of the Church of England; that he coveted no +man’s silver, gold, or apparel; and that he was actuated only by a +sincere desire to serve them. Moore was evidently a man of education, +courage, and Christian zeal; and might have occupied a superior +position among his brethren. But Wesley’s seeming partiality, in the +constitution of his conference, led to Moore’s secession; and here, at +Plymouth, he had become a somewhat formidable rival. Wesley was +summoned, and, in a most bitter frost, off he went, on February 28, to +put wrong things right. Here he spent six days, and left the society +“confirmed in the truth more than ever.” + +Leaving Plymouth, Wesley came to Bristol, where he employed a +fortnight in visiting and preaching to neighbouring societies. + +On March 21, he started off to Ireland, preaching all the way to +Liverpool, and, notwithstanding frost and snow, and bitter cold, +frequently in the open air. He arrived at Dublin on April 11, and +found “two such preachers,” James Rogers and Andrew Blair, “with two +such wives as he knew not where to find again.” + +Having spent a week in Dublin, he set out for the provinces. He often +preached in churches, and not unfrequently in the open air. +Everywhere, with one or two exceptions, the people welcomed him; +congregations were large, and societies, in general, were lively. Two +months were occupied in this employment. His labours were almost +incredible. All over Ireland he went, preaching every day, and often +twice or thrice a day, not only in Methodist meeting-houses, but in +churches, presbyterian chapels, in factories, in bowling greens, in +assembly rooms, in courthouses, in barns, in “sloping meadows,” in +“shady orchards,” in groves and avenues, in linen halls, in +churchyards and streets, everywhere, where he had a chance. We know, +with certainty, that, minute as are the details of Wesley’s journals, +he, by no means, mentions every sermon that he delivered, and every +society that he visited; and yet, in this two months’ Irish provincial +tour, he records the names of not fewer than between fifty and sixty +towns, in which he preached, collectively, about fourscore discourses. + +At Prosperous, he found a town built within the last five years, by +Captain Brooke, who employed two thousand people in the manufacturing +of cotton; a Methodist society of fifty members had been formed; and +Wesley preached to two crowded congregations. On his way to Cork, he +was met by about thirty horsemen, who escorted him to the city, where +he met a society of about four hundred members, considerably more than +there are at the present time. At Kinsale, “all behaved well, but a +few officers.” He adds: “the poor in Ireland, in general, are well +behaved; all the ill breeding is among well dressed people.” At +Limerick, he assisted at a service, in the cathedral, which lasted +from eleven o’clock till three. At Killchrist, he was the guest of +Colonel Pearse; but says, “the house being full of genteel company, I +was out of my element; there being no room to talk upon the only +subject which deserves the attention of a rational creature.” At +Ballinrobe, he visited the charter school, the children of which were +ragged and dirty. “The schoolroom was not much bigger than a small +closet:” three beds had to serve for fifteen boys, and five for +nineteen girls; and five farthings a day were allowed the master for +the sustenance of each of the hunger bitten pupils. Wesley was so +disgusted with the thing, that he reported the case to the +commissioners for charter schools in Dublin. + +On June 18, he got back to Dublin, where he spent his birthday, on the +28th, and wrote: “By the good providence of God, I finished the +eighty-second year of my age. Is anything too hard for God? It is now +eleven years since I have felt any such thing as weariness: many times +I speak till my voice fails, and I can speak no longer; frequently I +walk till my strength fails, and I can walk no farther; yet, even +then, I feel no sensation of weariness, but am perfectly easy from +head to foot. I dare not impute this to natural causes; it is the will +of God.” + +Having held the Irish conference he set sail for England, on July 10, +leaving, says he, “the work of God increasing in every part of the +kingdom, more than it has done for many years.” “Here is a set of +excellent young preachers; nine in ten of them are much devoted to +God. I think, number for number, they exceed their fellow labourers in +England.”[534] + +The following letter refers to the same subject, and is too +interesting to be omitted. It was addressed to Miss Ritchie. + + “DUBLIN, _June 26, 1785_. + + “MY DEAR BETSY,--Our Lord has indeed poured out abundance of + blessings, almost in every part of this kingdom. I have now + gone through every province, and visited all the chief + societies, and I have found far the greater part of them + increasing both in number and strength. Many are convinced of + sin; many justified; and not a few perfected in love. One means + of which is, that several of our young preachers, of whom we + made little account, appear to be, contrary to all expectation, + men full of faith and of the Holy Ghost; and they are pushing + out, to the right hand and the left; and, wherever they go, God + prospers their labours. I know not whether Thomas Walsh will + not revive in two, if not three, of them. + + “Many years, ago I was saying: ‘I cannot imagine how Mr. + Whitefield can keep his soul alive, as he is not now going + through honour and dishonour, evil report and good report; + having nothing but honour and good report attending him + wherever he goes.’ It is now my own case; I am just in the + condition now that he was then in. I am become, I know not how, + an honourable man. The scandal of the cross is ceased; and all + the kingdom, rich and poor, papists and protestants, behave + with courtesy, nay, and seeming good will! It seems as if I had + well-nigh finished my course, and our Lord was giving me an + honourable discharge. + + “Peace be with your spirit! Adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[535] + +A letter, from Wesley to Mr. Stretton, has been already given, +announcing that preachers were about to be sent to Nova Scotia and +Newfoundland. This was already done; and Freeborn Garretson and James +Cromwell were labouring, in the former country, with great success. +Wesley, while in Ireland, wrote to Garretson as follows. + + “DUBLIN, _June 16, 1785_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am glad brother Cromwell and you have + undertaken that ‘labour of love’ of visiting Nova Scotia; and + doubt not but you act in full concert with the little handful, + who were almost alone till you came. It will be the wisest way + to make all those who desire to join together, thoroughly + acquainted with the whole Methodist plan; and to accustom them, + from the very beginning, to the accurate observance of all our + rules. Let none of them rest in being half Christians. Whatever + they do, let them do it with their might; and it will be well, + as soon as any of them find peace with God, to exhort them to + ‘go on to perfection.’ The more explicitly and strongly you + press all believers to aspire after full sanctification, as + attainable now by simple faith, the more the whole work of God + will prosper. + + “I do not expect any great matters from the bishop. I doubt his + eye is not single; and if it be not, he will do little good to + you, or any one else. It may be a comfort to you, that you have + no need of him. You want nothing which he can give. + + “You do not know the state of the English Methodists; they do + not roll in money, like many of the American Methodists. It is + with the utmost difficulty, that we can raise five or six + hundred pounds a year to supply our contingent expenses; so + that it is entirely impracticable to raise £500 among them to + build houses in America. It is true, they might do much; but it + is a sad observation, they that have most money have usually + least grace. + + “The peace of God be with all your spirits! I am your + affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[536] + +Thus was Methodism spreading. We find it firmly planted throughout the +whole of the United Kingdom. Its members in America were counted by +thousands. It had its societies in the West Indies. It had taken root +in Newfoundland and Nova Scotia. And, besides all this, it was +beginning to exert indirectly a benign influence on other lands, +where, since then, religion has been extensively revived. The +Methodist mission to Sweden, begun by Joseph Rayner Stephens, in 1826, +was facilitated by Methodist feeling, imbibed from Wesley, in 1785. +Hence the following letter, from an aged clergyman of the established +church of Sweden, written in 1827, and addressed to Mr. Stephens. + + “It affected my heart to see, in the newspapers of Stockholm, + that an adherent to the famous and venerable Mr. J. Wesley had + established a chapel, for Divine service, in our metropolis. + Mr. Wesley was an old acquaintance of mine when I resided in + England in the years 1784-86. He was more; he was my dear + friend, and with him I agreed in his Christian principles and + opinions. I was exceedingly pleased with him, and with his + religion of love, joy, and peace. I very often waited on him at + his house; and I was several times in company with him in the + circle of his friends, where I went to prayer with them. I + learned of him, to be a father to the people that might be + entrusted to me. I shall never forget the amiable Mr. Wesley. + He was so good as to give me a remembrance of him, by a present + of one of his writings, called ‘An Appeal,’ etc., in which he + wrote these lines, ‘_Domino N. S. S. dono dedit Johannes + Wesley, circ. Kal. Augusti, 1785_.’ He gave me also several + other of his Christian pamphlets. I am far advanced in age; + towards seventy-six years old: but, if the almighty God grant + me life and health, perhaps I may make a tour to Stockholm next + summer, when I have done with my catechumens; and then I shall + certainly wait upon you, and make one of your auditory.[537] + +While Wesley was forming new friendships, old ones were being severed +by death. It was in 1785, that he thus lost two of the most valuable +and valued friends that he ever had,--Vincent Perronet, and John +Fletcher, the vicars of Shoreham and Madeley. The former was in the +ninety-second year of his age, and died, while Wesley was in Ireland, +on the 9th of May. Charles Wesley buried him, and preached his funeral +sermon. For the last twenty years, he had enjoyed such a degree of +fellowship with God as rarely falls to the lot of man in the present +world. He lived chiefly in his library; but, when he mingled with his +friends, was always cheerful. His favourite study was the fulfilment +of prophecy, and the second coming and visible reign of Christ on +earth.[538] + +While Perronet was the oldest, Fletcher was the most valuable friend +that Wesley had. No man had rendered, to Methodism and its founder, +the service that the vicar of Madeley had. Compared with the vicar of +Shoreham, he was young; but his life was fraught with incalculable +blessings to the church of Christ. Only four years before his death, +he had married Miss Bosanquet, who, for thirty years, revered his +memory, and remained his widow, till the two were reunited in a better +world than this. As we have already seen, he was present at Wesley’s +last conference, in Leeds; and it was chiefly by his almost angelic +interposition and services, that the results of that conference were +not much more disastrous than they were. His wife was with him, and +writes: “O how deeply was he affected concerning the welfare of his +brethren! When any little disputes arose among them, his inmost soul +groaned beneath the burden; and, by two or three in the morning, I was +sure to hear him breathing out prayer for the peace and prosperity of +Zion. When I observed to him, I was afraid it would hurt his health, +and wished him to sleep more, he would answer, ‘O Polly, the cause of +God lies near my heart!’”[539] + +Twelve months afterwards, this seraphic man expired, some of his last +words being: “O Polly, my dear Polly, _God is love_! Shout! shout +aloud! I want a gust of praise to go to the ends of the earth!” He +died August 14, 1785, having, on the previous sabbath, read prayers, +preached, and administered the Lord’s supper, in his parish church. +Wesley, at the time, was in the west of England, and unable either to +see him, or to attend his funeral; but, as soon as possible, he +published a sermon in memory of him, taking the same text as his +brother Charles had taken at the death of Perronet: “Mark the perfect +man, and behold the upright; for the end of that man is peace.” Wesley +writes: + + “I was intimately acquainted with him for above thirty years; I + conversed with him morning, noon, and night, without the least + reserve, during a journey of many hundred miles; and, in all + that time, I never heard him speak one improper word, nor saw + him do an improper action. Many exemplary men have I known, + holy in heart and life, within fourscore years; but one equal + to him I have not known, one so inwardly and outwardly devoted + to God. So unblamable a character, in every respect, I have not + found either in Europe or America; and I scarce expect to find + such another on this side of eternity.” + +Wesley arrived in London, from Ireland, on July 14; and, on the +following Sunday, preached, morning and evening, on the education of +children. The next morning, at five o’clock, he met the children of +the congregation at City Road, the morning chapel being full of +juveniles, and many standing in the larger chapel. The service was +unique. When, either before or since, was there such a congregation at +such an hour? + +Wesley writes: “July 26, Tuesday--Our conference began; at which about +seventy preachers were present, whom I had invited by name. One +consequence of this was, that we had no contention or altercation at +all; but everything proposed was calmly considered, and determined as +we judged would be most for the glory of God.” The deed of declaration +was again discussed; and seventy preachers present signed documents, +that they approved of it. Eight preachers left the connexion, +including William Moore and the two Hampsons. Nova Scotia, +Newfoundland, and Antigua, for the first time, appeared in the list of +circuits. It was declared, that it was improper to sell books, to +employ hairdressers, or to talk of worldly things, on Sundays; and +that it was entirely wrong to send Methodist children to dancing +schools, and for dancing masters to be admitted into Methodist +boarding schools. + +The conference was closed on August 3, and, five days afterwards, +Wesley set out for Cornwall;[540] and on September 3 got back to +Bristol, where he wrote: “Sunday, September 4--Finding a report had +been spread abroad, that I was going to leave the Church, to satisfy +those that were grieved concerning it, I openly declared in the +evening, that I had no more thought of separating from the Church than +I had forty years ago.” + +Here, and in the neighbourhood, he spent a month. On October 3, he +returned to London; and, the next day, set out for Hertfordshire. A +week later, he was off to Oxfordshire; and the week after that, to +Norfolk. He writes: “October 22--I returned to Norwich; and, in the +evening, spoke home to an uncommonly large congregation; telling them, +‘Of all the people I have seen in the kingdom, for between forty and +fifty years, you have been the most fickle, and yet the most +stubborn.’ However, our labour has not been lost, for many have died +in peace; and God is able to say to the residue of these dry bones, +‘Live!’” + +Querulous and quarrelsome Thomas Wride was, at this time, the +assistant in Norwich circuit, and, from a large mass of his +manuscripts in the author’s possession, the following facts are +gleaned. A monument to the memory of Mr. Turner had been erected in +the chapel, on which were chiselled certain “doggrel verses,” with +which Wride was greatly dissatisfied. He had told the society, on +September 4, what they might expect from him, in reference to meeting +in class, showing tickets, etc.; and says “the terror of his +countenance had awed them, and several had owned that they were afraid +of him.” He had received a quantity of sermons for sale, and, among +others, Dr. Coke’s sermon, preached in Baltimore, at the ordination of +Asbury; which, he says, he is reluctant to put into circulation. He +writes: “It amounts to a formal separation from the Church of England, +and, in the end, will tear up Methodism by the roots. Whatever may be +said of America, I cannot think it right, for us here, to declare +ourselves independent of the Church of England, while we enjoy the +privileges we have always done. I dread the consequence; for, if we +are independents, hardly any will come to us, but such as choose to +change their religion; whereas, those to whom the Methodists have been +mainly useful had no religion to change.” Wride was also dissatisfied +with his colleagues; for J. McKersey would sing a hymn between the +first prayer and the sermon; and James McByron would permit the +congregations to sing anthems. McKersey also refused to preach at five +in the mornings; for though, as he said, he could rise soon enough, he +was not able to preach till he had had his breakfast; and, in +consequence, Wride had advised him to take his breakfast to bed with +him. Wride acknowledges, that the Methodists at Norwich had not been +used to morning preaching. The rich would not attend; and, as the poor +did not begin to work till eight o’clock, and could not afford to burn +a fire, they were reluctant to rise so early. Hence, when he himself +had preached, his congregation consisted only of his wife and two +others. Mr. McKersey, further, had neglected the select band; and had +declared he would “rather go twelve miles than meet the children.” +Wride multiplies complaints against the leading singers, and against +the leaders, Messrs. Booty, Best, James and George Hay, Kilburn, +Senior, Flegg, and Johnson; and declares that a preacher, sent to +Norwich circuit, ought to combine in himself the qualities of “the +lion, the lamb, the dove, the serpent, and the ox.” + +Poor Wride! The contention continued, and, early in 1786, Wesley had +to remove him to another post of duty; but, before doing so, he +addressed to him the following letters, which have not before been +published. + + “LONDON, _November 8, 1785_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--James Byron is an amiable young man; at present + full of faith and love. If possible, guard him from those that + will be inclined to love him too well. Then he will be as + useful a fellow labourer as you can desire. And set him a + pattern in all things. + + “I am, dear Tommy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + “LONDON, _November 17, 1785_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--Deal plainly, and yet tenderly with James Byron, + and he will be a very useful labourer. But none can be a + Methodist preacher, unless he is both able and willing to + preach in the morning; which is the most healthy exercise in + the world. I desire, that none of our preachers would sing + oftener than twice at one service. We need nothing to fill up + our hour. + + “In every place, where there is a sufficient number of + believers, do all you can to prevail upon them to meet in band. + Be mild; be serious; and you will conquer all things. + + “I am, dear Tommy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + “LONDON, _December 14, 1785_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--Have patience with the young men, and they will + mend upon your hands. But remember! soft and fair goes far. For + twenty years and upwards, we had good morning congregations at + Norwich; but they might begin at six till Ladyday. I desire + brother Byron to try what he can do: better days will come. + + “I pray, let the doggrel hymn be no more sung in our chapel. If + they do not soon come to their senses at Norwich, I will remove + you to Colchester. Be mild! Be serious! + + “I am, dear Tommy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Tommy Wride was not the only preacher that gave Wesley trouble. For +twelve years, Michael Moorhouse had been one of his itinerants, and +had had his share of persecution. In 1778, while preaching in the +marketplace at Melton Mowbray, he was pulled down by a ruthless mob, +and, with three other peaceable men, dragged to the Black Hole, where +means were used to impress him for the army.[541] Moorhouse now was +discontented, and, in 1785, published a broadsheet of sixteen columns, +in small type, entitled “An Appeal to Honest Men,” and full of petty +grievances, particularly with regard to the influence of John Crook +and Wesley, and respecting his own appointments to inferior circuits. +At the conference of 1786, he left the work; and then embodied the +wailings of his Appeal in an octavo volume of 128 pages, with the +title, “Defence of Mr. Michael Moorhouse, written by himself.” He +bitterly complains of Wesley for suffering some of the wives of his +preachers to dine on potatoes and buttermilk, while others were +pampered with good cheer; and for allowing their husbands to wear +great coats, and to use umbrellas on a rainy day. The _Monthly +Review_, in noticing poor Moorhouse’s notable production, quietly +remarks: “The labourer is certainly worthy of his hire, but, in +adjusting the hire to the labourer, a good deal must depend on the +workman’s skill; and, if we are to judge of Master Michael Moorhouse’s +preaching abilities, from his illiterate and silly performance, we do +not see how his master could have afforded him higher wages: perhaps +he might fare better, if he were to return to his lawful occupation.” + +These were among the petty annoyances of Wesley’s busy life. He had, +in all conscience, enough to do without these; but, in his position, +such vexations were inevitable. + +Returning from Norfolk, Wesley spent the rest of the year in London, +and in preaching tours through Northamptonshire and Kent. + +Before proceeding to notice his publications, it is right to say that, +at this time, an important pamphlet of twelve pages was issued with +the following title: “Free Thoughts concerning a Separation of the +People called Methodists from the Church of England, addressed to the +Preachers in the Methodist Connexion, by a Layman of the Methodist +society.” The pamphlet may be taken as an echo of the opinions then +prevalent, and a brief account of it may be useful. + +The writer states, that the arguments, used in favour of separation, +are, not that the government, service, and doctrine of the Church are +unscriptural, but, that the clergy are not converted men; that +Methodism loses many of its members through the sacraments not being +administered; that the Church of England is a fallen church; that the +time is fully come when the Methodists ought to be an independent +body; that the good effects of separation are already seen in the +continent of America; and that separation will probably take place at +Mr. Wesley’s death. + +Having endeavoured to refute these arguments, the author proceeds to +give his reasons against separation: namely (1) many of the Methodists +are zealous for the Church of England, and would be offended; (2) +separation implies ordination, which would be a bone of contention, an +apple of discord, among the preachers, as to who should be ordainers; +(3) these “gownsmen or ordainers would have the government of the body +more and more devolved upon them, and, instead of being itinerants, +would become resident in one place, the itinerant plan thereby +becoming gradually weakened, or continued only by _raw lads_ on +trial.” + +The arguments, _pro_ and _con_, are given as we find them; and merely +to show the grounds taken by the opposing parties in 1785. + +Excepting Fletcher’s funeral sermon, 8vo, 32 pages, Wesley’s +publications were only four in number. + +1. “A Pocket Hymn Book for the use of Christians of all Denominations.” +24mo, 208 pages. + +2. “An Extract from the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s Journal, from August 9, +1779, to August 20, 1782.” 12mo, 92 pages. + +3. “A Call to the Unconverted. By R. Baxter.” 12mo, 76 pages. + +4. The _Arminian Magazine_. 8vo, 668 pages. + +The _Arminian Magazine_ contains extracts from Dr. Whitby’s Discourses +on the Five Points, and from Maundrell’s Journey from Aleppo to +Jerusalem. There are biographical accounts of William McCormick, +Martha Rogers, Nancy Bissaker, James Creighton, Ann Roylands, John +Pritchard, and many others. There are more than thirty letters, and as +many poetic pieces. There is Wesley’s sermon on his favourite text, 1 +Corinthians xiii. 1-3. Also his sermon on perfection, in which his +most matured views, on this momentous subject, are stated with his +wonted lucidity. The sermon on Hebrews xiii. 17 is remarkable. The +point he endeavours to establish is, that, “It is the _duty_ of every +private Christian to obey his spiritual pastor, by either doing or +leaving undone anything of an indifferent nature; anything that is in +no way determined in the word of God.” In applying the principle to +himself and the Methodists, he asks: “Do you take my advice with +regard to dress? I published that advice above thirty years ago; I +have repeated it a thousand times since. I have advised you to lay +aside all needless ornaments: to avoid all needless expense: to be +patterns of plainness to all that are round about you. Have you taken +this advice? Are you all exemplarily plain in your apparel? as plain +as quakers or Moravians? If not, you declare hereby to all the world, +that you will not obey them that are over you in the Lord.” Wesley’s +doctrine may be disputed; but the practical use to which he puts it +deserves attention. There are three more of his original sermons--on +John i. 47; Philippians ii. 12, 13; and Revelation xxi. 5--which are +well worth reading. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [532] City Road society book. + + [533] _Methodist Magazine_, 1824, p. 307. + + [534] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 143. + + [535] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 61. + + [536] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 66. + + [537] _Methodist Magazine_, 1828, p. 46. + + [538] Ibid. 1799, p. 161. + + [539] Wesley’s Works, vol. xi., p. 334 + + [540] Among other places, Wesley preached at St. Austell, + where his host had a little girl, twelve years + of age, who had recently been admitted into the + Methodist society by Adam Clarke. That little girl + is now Mrs. Shaw, aged ninety-eight, and well + remembers Wesley taking her, more than once, in + his carriage for a drive, and showing her other + marks of affectionate attention. Mrs. Shaw--happy, + intelligent, and full of faith,--is a mother in + Israel, and probably the oldest Methodist now living. + The writer has in his possession, in Mrs. Shaw’s + own handwriting, a beautiful hymn of five stanzas, + composed by her, in the month of May, 1869. + + [541] Thomas Dixon’s manuscript autobiography. + + + + + 1786. + Age 83 + + +Wesley spent the first two months of 1786 in London. He went to the +House of Lords at the opening of parliament, and heard King George +III. read the royal speech. He writes: “How agreeably was I surprised. +He pronounced every word with exact propriety. I much doubt whether +there be any other king in Europe, that is so just and natural a +speaker.” + +Wesley had a remarkable season at City Road. While preaching, the +power of God came down; the preacher broke out in prayer; and the +congregation burst into a loud and general cry. + +Of his own religious feelings he wrote: + + “February 24, 1786.--I do not remember to have heard or read + anything like my own experience. Almost ever since I can + remember, I have been led on in a peculiar way. I go on in an + even line, being very little raised at one time, of depressed + at another. Count Zinzendorf observes, there are three + different ways wherein it pleases God to lead His people. Some + are guided, almost in every instance, by apposite texts of + Scripture. Others see a clear and plain reason for everything + they are to do. And, yet, others are led not so much by + Scripture and reason as by particular impressions. I am very + rarely led by impressions, but generally by reason and by + Scripture. I see abundantly more than I feel. I want to feel + more love and zeal for God.”[542] + +On February 26, Wesley set out, in a snowstorm, on a journey which +occupied more than the next four months. His first halt was at +Newbury, where he had “a large and serious congregation;” but where, +he says, he passed such a night as he had not passed for forty years, +his lodging room being as cold as the outward air. He writes: “I could +not sleep at all till three in the morning. I rose at four, and set +out at five.” + +The next fortnight was spent at Bristol and in its vicinity. On +Sunday, March 5, he went through an amount of labour which would have +appalled most men half his age. “I read prayers,” says he, “and +preached, and administered the sacrament to about five hundred +communicants. At three, I preached in Temple church; at five in the +New Room.” + +Eight days later, he started off to Scotland, when the roads were +blocked up with snow, and the weather intensely cold. More than a week +was spent at Birmingham: during which he had another sacramental +service, as large as that at Bristol; and preached at Madeley a +funeral sermon for the sainted Fletcher, taking as his text Revelation +xiv. 1-7.[543] At Lane End, after it was dark, and in a piercingly +cold wind, he says: “I was constrained to preach abroad; and none of +us seemed to regard the weather, for God warmed our hearts.” At +Burslem, in the same inclement season, the congregation was such, that +the venerable preacher was obliged again to take his stand in the open +air. After preaching at Congleton, Macclesfield, and other places, he +came to Chapel-en-le-Frith, where a large number had been converted, +but who needed discipline. He writes: “Frequently three or four, yea, +ten or twelve, pray aloud all together. Some of them, perhaps many, +scream all together as loud as they possibly can. Some use improper, +yea, indecent, expressions in prayer. Several drop down as dead, and +are as stiff as a corpse; but, in a while, they start up, and cry, +‘Glory! Glory!’ perhaps twenty times together. Just so do the French +prophets, and very lately the jumpers, in Wales, bring the real work +into contempt. Yet, whenever we reprove them, it should be in the most +mild and gentle manner possible.” + +At Bolton, he had, in his congregation, five hundred and fifty +children, all scholars in the Methodist Sunday-school; and it was +either now, or soon after, that he preached to them a sermon, from +Psalm xxxiv. 11, in which he engaged to use no word of more than two +syllables, and literally fulfilled his pledge.[544] + +His congregations throughout Lancashire, and the west riding of +Yorkshire, were enormous, often compelling him to preach out of doors. +His popularity was greater than ever. Churches were offered for his +use; and accepted, at Haworth, Bingley, Heptonstall, Todmorden, +Horsforth, and York. Persecution had ceased; and everywhere the +Christian veteran was greeted with the welcomes of admiring and loving +crowds. + +Leaving York on the 8th of May, Wesley, for the first time, visited +the town of Easingwold, where was a class of seventeen members, the +leader of which was John Barber;[545] and where a chapel had been +built, costing £140, only half of which was paid.[546] To open this +was the object of Wesley’s visit. + +He then proceeded to Scotland, where the Methodists were now really a +distinct and separated church; for not only had Hanby, Pawson, and +others been ordained, and invested with gown and bands, but sacraments +were administered; and, while society tickets admitted to society +meetings and the lovefeasts, circular metal tokens seemed to become +the badge of church membership, having on one side the letters “M. +C.,” and on the other the words, “Do this in remembrance of Me.” The +tokens admitted the owners to the table of the Lord. + +On the 1st of June, Wesley laid the foundation stone of a new chapel +at Alnwick; and, on the following Sunday, preached three times out of +doors, to vast congregations, at Gateshead and Newcastle. + +On the 5th of June, he set out southwards. Pursuing his usual route, +he came to Hull, a fortnight afterwards, and, at the vicar’s +invitation, preached twice to immense crowds “in one of the largest +parish churches in England.” The next day, he rode seventy-six miles, +and preached at Malton, Pocklington, and Swinfleet. “Sufficient,” says +he, “for this day was the labour thereof; but still I was no more +tired than when I rose in the morning.” Can such a fact as this be +paralleled? The day after, he preached at Crowle, and Epworth; and the +next day after that, at Scotter, Brigg, and Grimsby. At Louth, for the +first time, he saw the people “affected.” At Gainsborough, his old +friend, Sir Nevil Hickman, was dead; but he made the yard of his house +his preaching place. On Saturday and Sunday, June 24 and 25, he +preached at New Inn, Newark, Retford, Misterton, Overthorpe, and +Epworth, six times, at six different towns, in two days, the preacher +himself eighty-three years of age! + +He writes: “1786, June 30--I turned aside to Barnsley, formerly famous +for all manner of wickedness. They were then ready to tear any +Methodist preacher to pieces. Now not a dog wagged his tongue. I +preached near the market place to a large congregation; and, I +believe, the word sunk into many hearts; they seemed to drink in every +word. Surely God will have a people in this place.” + +Wesley might well speak of the brutal wickedness of Barnsley. Three +years before, a man resolved to murder Henry Longden, ran up to him +while preaching, aimed a blow which would probably have been fatal, +but Longden leaped aside, and providentially escaped.[547] On another +occasion, Jeremiah Cocker, while preaching in the market place, was +pulled down, dragged through the streets, and pelted with rotten eggs, +one of which had a dead gosling in it. Cocker applied to the vicar of +Sheffield for protection; the rioters were committed for trial at the +Rotherham sessions; but were acquitted, on the ground that, though the +preacher was licensed to preach, the spot he chose was not licensed as +a preaching place! Here John Barber, a few months before Wesley’s +visit, was saluted with a shower of stones, was seriously hurt, and +was rescued by a friendly quaker, who lived in “Barnsley Folly.” At +another time, a mob, of some hundreds, assembled with cows’ horns, +drums, and other noisy instruments, and most effectually prevented the +preacher being heard. Mr. Raynor, a currier, having lent his house for +preaching, the Barnsley roughs made a bonfire at the door, compelled +the congregation to seek egress by some other way, and pelted them +most mercilessly with filth of the foulest kind. Such are specimens of +the treatment received by the poor Methodists in Barnsley, between the +years 1780 and 1786. The society was small, not numbering a dozen +members; and they had no preaching room, except Raynor’s house, till +about 1792, when Alexander Mather secured a small chamber over a +weaver’s shop in Church Street.[548] + +From Barnsley, Wesley went to Sheffield, where he selected as his +text, “It is high time to awake out of sleep”; and an anonymous hearer +sent him a letter, saying, that he could remember nothing that he +said, except that “rising early was good for the nerves!” Here he +spent several days, held the quarterly meeting and a lovefeast, +administered the sacrament to six or seven hundred persons, visited +Wentworth House, baptized Joseph Benson’s infant daughter,[549] and +was Mr. Holy’s guest. After preaching, crowds were wont to follow him +to his hospitable lodging; the streets were lined, and the windows of +the houses thronged with eager but respectful gazers, Wesley all the +while emptying his pockets in scattering gifts among the poor. A vast +concourse of people assembled on the green, at the front of Mr. Holy’s +house; Wesley walked into the midst of them, knelt down, and asked God +to bless them. The place became a Bochim; the crowd wept and literally +wailed at the thought of losing him; he prayed again; and then darted +into Mr. Holy’s dwelling, and hid himself.[550] What a contrast to the +reception given to his brother in 1743! + +His visit to Wentworth House has been mentioned. It is a curious fact, +but attentive readers of Wesley’s journal will easily perceive, that, +as Wesley grew older, he took far more interest in visiting scenes of +beauty and historic buildings than he did in the earlier parts of his +illustrious career. How to account for this, we know not; but so it +was. + +Tradition says, that Wesley was accompanied by Mr. Birks, of Thorpe, +and that, when they were leaving, Mr. Birks asked Mr. Hall, the +steward, if it would be agreeable for Mr. Wesley to pray with the +family before he left. Permission was courteously given; the household +were summoned; and Wentworth House was none the worse for the prayer +which the arch Methodist offered beneath its roof. + +From Sheffield, Wesley proceeded, by way of Belper and Derby, to +Ilkestone. This was his first and last visit to the last mentioned +town, and the circumstances connected with it are worth relating. For +many years, the only Methodist in Ilkestone had been a poor old woman. +The preachers preached, but, apparently, without effect. At length, +the old woman died, and John Crook resolved to preach a funeral +sermon. A large congregation assembled at the front of a public house. +Mr. Crook stood upon a stone used by travellers for mounting horses. +The sermon was worthy of the Methodist apostle of the Isle of Man; +and, at its close, the preacher received a message from the vicar of +the parish, requesting him to wait upon him next morning. John went, +and was received with kindness. “Sir,” said the clergyman, “I heard +you preach last night with pleasure; in what college were you +educated?” “I never attended college,” was the answer. “Sir,” rejoined +the vicar, “I have heard many of the heads of our universities preach, +but I never heard a defence of our establishment equal to yours. You +are welcome to my pulpit next Sunday.” Crook replied, that he was not +ordained; and proposed that, instead of preaching _within_ the church, +he should preach at the church’s door. The proposal was accepted; the +vicar published from the pulpit the intended service; the itinerant +selected as his text, “He that believeth and is baptized shall be +saved; he that believeth not shall be damned;” under that sermon, the +priest was deeply convinced of sin, and next Sunday told his +congregation, that he was an earnest seeker of salvation; he learnt +that Crook was one of Wesley’s preachers, and sent to Wesley an +invitation;[551] and here, on Thursday July 6, we find him. He writes: +“Though the church is large, it was sufficiently crowded. The vicar +read prayers with great earnestness and propriety; I preached; and the +people seemed all ear. Surely good will be done in this place; though +it is strongly opposed both by the Calvinists and Socinians.” + +Good was done. Among Wesley’s hearers was a joiner, Richard Birch. +Wesley’s discourse reached his heart. He was converted; and, finding +that there was in the town a class of four Methodists, he became the +fifth; and, before the year expired, he and his friends built a +chapel. + +Wesley arrived in London, after an absence of nearly twenty weeks, on +July 13. Four days were spent in town, and then he started off again +to Bristol, for the purpose of holding his annual conference. He +writes: + + “July 25, Tuesday--Our conference began: about eighty preachers + attended. We met every day at six and nine in the morning, and + at two in the afternoon. On Tuesday, and on Wednesday morning, + the characters of the preachers were considered. On Thursday, + in the afternoon, we permitted any of the society to be + present; and weighed what was said about separating from the + Church; but we all determined to continue therein, without one + dissenting voice; and I doubt not but this determination will + stand, at least, till I am removed into a better world. The + conference concluded on Tuesday morning, August 1. Great had + been the expectations of many, that we should have had warm + debates; but, by the mercy of God, we had none at all; + everything was transacted with great calmness; and we parted, + as we met, in peace and love.” + +Separation from the Church was again the great question of the day. +From the above extract, taken from his journal, it is evident, that +Wesley was more than apprehensive that such a separation would occur +subsequent to his decease; but it is equally evident, that he was glad +to have it postponed till then. In an unpublished letter to Thomas +Taylor, dated February 21, 1786, he writes: “The wise bishop Gibson +once said, ‘Why cannot these gentlemen leave the Church? Then they +could do no more harm.’ Read ‘no more good,’ and it would have been a +truth. I believe, if we had then left the Church, we should not have +done a tenth of the good which we have done. But I do not insist upon +this head. I go calmly and quietly on my way, doing what I conceive to +be the will of God. I do not, will not, concern myself with what will +be done when I am dead. I take no thought about that. If I did, I +should probably shut myself up at Kingswood or Newcastle, and leave +you all to yourselves.” + +“I love the Church,” said Wesley to his brother, in letters written +during the spring of 1786, “as sincerely as ever I did; and I tell our +societies everywhere, ‘The Methodists will not leave the Church, at +least while I live.’” “Eight or ten preachers, it is probable (but I +have not met with one yet), will say something about leaving the +Church, before the conference. It is not improbable many will be +driven out of it where there are Calvinist ministers.” + +Such were Wesley’s wishes, and such were his apprehensions. Wesley +expected eight or ten of his preachers to bring the business before +conference. This was done by Dr. Coke, who had returned from his +_episcopal_ tour in the United States. Mr. Pawson writes: + + “Dr. Coke thought, that our public services in the large towns + ought to be held in church hours, and was freely speaking in + the conference upon that subject, and urging its necessity from + the fact that nearly all the converted clergymen in the kingdom + were Calvinists. Upon hearing this, Mr. Charles Wesley, with a + very loud voice, and in great anger, cried out, ‘No,’ which was + the only word he uttered during the whole of the conference + sittings. Mr. Mather, however, got up and confirmed what Dr. + Coke had said, which we all knew to be a truth.”[552] + +This debate seems to have issued in the adoption of a document, which +Wesley drew up three days before the conference met. + + “In what cases do we allow of service in church hours? I + answer: + + “1. When the minister is a notoriously wicked man. + + “2. When he preaches Arian, or any equally pernicious doctrine. + + “3. When there are not churches in the town sufficient to + contain half the people. + + “4. Where there is no church at all within two or three miles. + + “We advise every one, who preaches in the church hours, to read + the psalms and lessons, with part of the church prayers; + because, we apprehend, this will endear the church service to + our brethren, who probably would be prejudiced against it, if + they heard none but extemporary prayer.” + +Considering the character of not a few of the ministers of the Church +of England in 1786; remembering the number of pulpits from which were +preached Arianism, and especially Calvinism, both of which the +Methodists considered “_pernicious doctrines_”; and, further, bearing +in mind, the scanty provision made by the Established Church for the +great populations, these concessions, in reference to having Methodist +services in church hours, were really much more extensive than, at +first sight, appears. + +This was the last conference at which Charles Wesley was present. At +its conclusion, he preached from his favourite text, “I will bring the +third part through the fire;” and told the congregation, that, after +the death of himself and his brother, there would be a split among the +Methodists, and not more than a third part of the preachers and of the +people would remain faithful to the Established Church. Upon these, +however, God would pour out His Spirit more abundantly than ever, and +His work would prosper in their hands. “This,” said he, “was the case +with the Moravians when Count Zinzendorf died. So it was when Mr. +Whitefield was removed; and thus it will be with the Methodists.”[553] + +Before the conference was concluded, Charles Wesley wrote as follows +to the Rev. Mr. Latrobe, Moravian minister in London: + + “My brother, and I, and the preachers were unanimous for + continuing in the old ship. The preachers of a Dissenting + spirit will probably, after our death, set up for themselves, + and draw away disciples after them. An old baptist minister, + forty years ago, told me, he looked on the Methodists as a + seminary for the Dissenters. My desire and design, from the + beginning to this day, is, to leave them in the lap of their + mother. The bishops might, if they pleased, save the largest + and soundest part of them back into the Church; perhaps to + leaven the whole lump, as Archbishop Potter said to me. _But I + fear, betwixt you and me, their lordships care for none of + these things._ The great evil, which I have dreaded for near + fifty years, is a schism.”[554] + +Other matters were debated at the conference of 1786. The old rules +respecting the windows, doors, and pews of chapels were to be strictly +observed and kept; and no assistant was to allow collections for a new +chapel, “till every step had been taken to secure it, on the +conference plan, by a trust deed, a bond, or sufficient articles of +agreement.” And Wesley concluded by giving the following advices to +the preachers. (1) To re-establish morning preaching, in all large +towns, at least; and to exert themselves in restoring the bands, and +the select societies. (2) Always to conclude the service in about an +hour. (3) Never to scream. (4) Never to lean upon, or beat the Bible. +(5) Wherever they preached, to meet the society. (6) Not to go home at +nights, except in cases of the utmost necessity. (7) Never to preach +funeral sermons, but for eminently holy persons, to preach none for +hire, and to beware of panegyric, particularly in London. (8) To hold +more lovefeasts. (9) To introduce no new tunes; to see that none sing +too slow, and that the women sing their parts; and to exhort all to +sing, and all to stand at singing, as well as to kneel at prayers. +(10) To let none repeat the last line, unless the preacher does. And, +(11) To inform the leaders, that every assistant is to change both the +stewards and the leaders when he sees good; and that no leader has +power to put any person either into or out of the society. + +Nova Scotia, Newfoundland, and Antigua were now Methodist circuits, +and had, unitedly, nine itinerant preachers, and 2179 members of +society. These were Methodist missions, though not designated such. +And here let it be remarked, that the Methodist Missionary Society was +really founded in 1784. Where is the proof of this? + +The following is an exact copy of a printed document, kindly lent by +the Rev. G. Mather, and addressed, by Dr. Coke, to “The Rev. Mr. +Fletcher, at Madeley, near Shiffnal, Cheshire.” + + “A Plan of the Society for the Establishment of Missions among + the Heathen. + + “1. Every person who subscribes two guineas yearly, or more, is + to be admitted a member of the society. + + “2. A general meeting of the subscribers shall be held annually + on the last Tuesday in January. + + “3. The first general meeting shall be held on the last Tuesday + in January 1784, at No. 11, in West Street, near the Seven + Dials, London, at three o’clock in the afternoon. + + “4. At every general meeting, a committee of seven, or more, + shall be chosen, by the majority of the subscribers, to + transact the business of the society for the ensuing year. + + “5. The general meeting shall receive and examine the accounts + of the committee, for the preceding year, of all sums paid to + the use of the society, of the purposes to which the whole or + any part thereof shall have been applied, and also the report + of all they have done, and the advices they have received. + + “6. The committee, or the majority of them, shall have power: + First, to call in the sums subscribed, or any part thereof, and + to receive all collections, legacies, or other voluntary + contributions. Secondly, to agree with any they shall approve, + who may offer to go abroad, either as missionaries, or in any + civil employment. Thirdly, to procure the best instruction that + can be obtained for such persons, in the language of the + country for which they are intended, before they go abroad. + Fourthly, to provide for their expenses, in going and + continuing abroad, and for their return home, after such time, + and under such circumstances, as may be thought most expedient. + Fifthly, to print the Scriptures, or so much thereof as the + funds of the society may admit, for the use of any heathen + country. And, sixthly, to do every other act which to them may + appear necessary, so far as the common stock of the society + will allow, for carrying the design of the society into + execution. + + “7. The committee shall keep an account of the subscribers’ + names, and all sums received for the use of the society, + together with such extracts of the entries of their + proceedings, and advices, as may show those who are concerned + all that has been done both at home and abroad; which statement + shall be signed by at least three of the committee. + + “8. The committee, for the new year, shall send a copy of the + report for the past year, to all the members of the society, + who were not present at the preceding general meeting, and + (free of postage) to every clergyman, minister, or other + person, from whom any collection, legacy, or other benefaction + shall have been received within the time concerning which the + report is made. + + “9. The committee, if they see it necessary, shall have power + to choose a secretary. + + “10. The committee shall, at no time, have any claim on the + members of the society, for any sum which may exceed the common + stock of the society. + + “N.B. Those who subscribe before the first general meeting, and + to whom it may not be convenient to attend, are desired to + favour the general meeting, by letter according to the above + direction, with any important remarks which may occur to them + on the business, that the subscribers present may be assisted, + as far as possible, in settling the rules of the society to the + satisfaction of all concerned. + + “We have been already favoured with the names of the following + subscribers, viz. + + £ _s._ _d._ + Dr. Coke 2 2 0 + Rev. Mr. Simpson, Macclesfield 2 2 0 + Rev. Mr. Bickerstaff, of Leicester 2 2 0 + Mr. Rose, of Dorking 2 2 0 + Mr. Horton, of London 2 2 0 + Mr. Ryley, „ „ 2 2 0 + Mr. Riddsdale, „ „ 2 2 0 + Mr. Jay, „ „ 2 2 0 + Mr. Dewey, „ „ 2 2 0 + Mr. Mandell, of Bath 2 2 0 + Mr. Jaques, of Wallingford 2 2 0 + Mr. Butting, of High Wycombe 2 2 0 + Mr. John Clark, of Newport, + in the Isle of Wight 2 2 0 + Miss Eliza Johnson, of Bristol 2 2 0 + Mr. Barton, of Isle of Wight 2 2 0 + Mr. Henry Brooke, of Dublin 2 2 0 + Master and Miss Blashford, of Dublin 4 4 0 + Mrs. Kirkover, of Dublin 2 2 0 + Mr. Smith, Russia merchant, of London 5 5 0 + Mr. D’Olier, of Dublin 2 2 0 + Mrs. Smyth, „ „ 2 2 0 + The Rev. Mr. Fletcher, of Madeley 2 2 0 + Miss Salmon 2 2 0 + Mr. Houlton, of London, + an occasional subscriber 10 10 0 + Mrs. King, of Dublin 2 2 0 + ------------- + £66 3 0 + ------------- + + “_To all the real lovers of mankind._ + + “The present institution is so agreeable to the finest feelings + of piety and benevolence, that little need be added for its + recommendation. The candid of every denomination, (even those + who are entirely unconnected with the Methodists, and are + determined to be so,) will acknowledge the amazing change which + our preaching has wrought upon the ignorant and uncivilised, at + least, throughout these nations; and they will admit, that the + spirit of a missionary must be of the most zealous, most + devoted, and self denying kind; nor is anything more required + to constitute a missionary for the heathen nations, than good + sense, integrity, great piety, and amazing zeal. Men, + possessing all these qualifications in a high degree, we have + among us; and we doubt not but some of these will accept of the + arduous undertaking, not counting their lives dear, if they may + but promote the kingdom of Christ, and the present and eternal + welfare of their fellow creatures; and we trust nothing shall + be wanting, as far as time, strength, and abilities will admit, + to give the fullest and highest satisfaction to the promoters + of the plan, on the part of your devoted servants, + + “THOMAS COKE, + “THOMAS PARKER. + + “Those who are willing to promote the institution are desired + to send their names, places of abode, and sums subscribed, to + the Rev. Dr. Coke, in London, or Thomas Parker, Esq., barrister + at law, in York.” + +Such was the first Methodist _missionary_ report ever published. On +the third page of the folio sheet, from which the above is taken, is +the following in manuscript. + + “NEAR PLYMOUTH, _January 6, 1784_. + + “MY VERY DEAR SIR,--Lest Mr. Parker should neglect to send you + one of our plans for the establishment of foreign missions, I + take the liberty of doing it. Ten subscribers more, of two + guineas per annum, have favoured me with their names. If _you_ + can get a few subscribers more, we shall be obliged to you. + + “We have now a very wonderful outpouring of the Spirit in the + west of Cornwall. I have been obliged to make a winter campaign + of it, and preach here and there out of doors. + + “I beg my affectionate respects to Mrs. Fletcher, and entreat + you to pray for your most affectionate friend and brother, + + “THOMAS COKE.” + +A few months after the above report was sent to Fletcher, Coke set +sail to America, and returned only in time to attend the English +conference of 1785. Henceforward, Christian missions absorbed his time +and energies. + +It is a well known fact, that Warren Hastings was the first governor +general of India; and that, in 1786, his celebrated trial was +commenced, and was protracted for nearly eight years, during which one +hundred and forty days were spent in its prosecution. Space forbids +further remarks concerning this great event; but the excitement +created in England by the affairs of India had, doubtless, something +to do with the following correspondence between Dr. Coke and a +gentleman in that country. Coke had written to him as early as 1784, +respecting the establishment of missions in India, and now his +correspondent replied. He sympathises with Coke’s proposal, but +foresees the arduous character of the undertaking. He writes: “The +leading features in the character of the Mahommedans are pride and +cruelty, treachery and love of power; and those of the Hindoos, abject +servility, cunning, lying, dishonesty, and excessive love of money.” +“Humanly speaking, the probabilities of converting either the Hindoos +or Mahommedans appear to be very small.” Reasons are assigned for +this, showing the writer to be a well informed and accomplished man. +He proceeds to say: “The difficulties are great; greater it may be, in +some respects, than were those of the first preachers among the freer +and more polished people of the Roman empire. Nevertheless, the same +Divine power that then made a few obscure, and, for the most part, +unlearned men, triumph over the united resistance of the spiritual, +secular, and carnal powers of this world, remains unchanged.” + +Coke answered this long and able letter, on January 25, 1786, and +said: + + “At present, our openings in America, and the pressing + invitations we have lately received from Nova Scotia, the West + Indies, and the States, call for all the help we can possibly + afford our brethren in that quarter of the world. The high + esteem which the government has for Mr. Wesley, I am well + persuaded, would procure for us the assistance which you think + to be necessary; but Mr. Wesley himself seems to have a doubt + whether that would be the most excellent way. In Great Britain, + Ireland, and America, we have gone on what appears, at first + sight at least, to be a more evangelical plan. Our missionaries + have not at all concerned themselves with applications to the + civil power. They have been exact in their submission to all + its laws, and laid themselves out in the most extensive manner + for God. It appears very expedient, that our missionaries + should visit the settlements of the Danish missionaries in + India, and take every step they can to improve themselves in + the language of the people. Mr. Wesley is of opinion that not + less than half-a-dozen should be at first sent on such a + mission; and, as soon as the present extraordinary calls from + America are answered, I trust we shall be able to turn our + thoughts to Bengal.”[555] + +For want of means, India had to be abandoned; but, in the month of +March, Coke issued “An Address to the Pious and Benevolent, proposing +an annual subscription for the support of Missionaries in the +Highlands and adjacent Islands of Scotland, the isles of Jersey, +Guernsey, and Newfoundland, the West Indies, and the provinces of Nova +Scotia and Quebec;” to which was prefixed the following letter by +Wesley. + + “BRISTOL, _March 12, 1786_. + + “DEAR SIR,--I greatly approve of your proposal, for raising a + subscription, in order to send missionaries to the highlands of + Scotland, the islands of Jersey and Guernsey, the Leeward + Islands, Quebec, Nova Scotia, and Newfoundland. It is not easy + to conceive the extreme want there is, in all these places, of + men that will not count their lives dear unto themselves, so + they may testify the gospel of the grace of God. + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[556] + +Coke commenced his Address as follows. + + “_Dearly beloved in the Lord_,--Some time past, I took the + liberty of addressing you, in behalf of a mission intended to + be established in the British dominions in Asia; and many of + you very generously entered into that important plan. We have + not, indeed, lost sight of it at present; on the contrary, we + have lately received a letter of encouragement from a principal + gentleman in the province of Bengal. But the providence of God + has lately opened to us so many doors nearer home, that Mr. + Wesley thinks it imprudent to hazard, at present, the lives of + any of our preachers, by sending them to so great a distance, + and amidst so many uncertainties and difficulties; when so + large a field of action is afforded us in countries to which we + have so much easier admittance, and where the success, through + the blessing of God, is more or less certain.” + +He then explains the openings in the places already mentioned. The +address is dated March 13, 1786.[557] + +In this way, Methodist missions were fairly started; and, on September +24, 1786, Coke set sail, with Messrs. Hammet, Warrener, and Clarke; +Warrener being intended for Antigua; and Clarke and Hammet for +Newfoundland.[558] + +Messrs. Garretson and Black were already labouring in Nova Scotia, +and, to them, Wesley addressed the following letters. + + “LONDON, _September 30, 1786_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I trust, before this comes to hand, you and + Dr. Coke will have met. I can exceedingly ill spare him from + England, as I have no clergyman capable of supplying his lack + of service; but I was convinced he was more wanted in America + than in Europe. I was far off from London when he set sail. + Most of those in England, who have riches, love money, even the + Methodists; at least, those who are called so. The poor are the + Christians. I am quite out of conceit with almost all those who + have this world’s goods. Let us take care to lay up treasure in + heaven. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[559] + + “_November 30, 1786._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You have good reason to be thankful to God + that He lets you see the fruit of your labours. Whenever any + are awakened, you do well to join them together immediately. + But I do not advise you to go on too fast. It is not expedient + to break up more ground than you can keep; to preach at any + more places than you, or your brethren, can constantly attend. + To preach once in a place, and no more, very seldom does any + good; it only alarms the devil and his children, and makes them + more upon their guard against a first assault. + + “Wherever there is any church service, I do not approve of any + appointment the same hour; because I love the Church of + England, and would assist, not oppose, it all I can. How do the + inhabitants of Shelburne, Halifax, and other parts of the + province, go on as to temporal things? Have they trade? Have + they sufficiency of food, and the other necessaries of life? + And do they increase or decrease in numbers? It seems there is + a scarcity of some things,--of good ink, for yours is so pale + that many of your words are not legible. + + “As I take it for granted, that you have had several + conversations with Dr. Coke, I doubt not you proposed all your + difficulties to him, and received full satisfaction concerning + them. Probably, we shall send a little help for your building, + if we live till conference. Observe the rules for building laid + down in the minutes. I am afraid of another American + revolution.... + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[560] + +Both the above were addressed to Garretson; the following was sent to +Black. + + “LONDON, _November 26, 1786_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--It is indeed a matter of joy, that our Lord + is still carrying on His work throughout Great Britain and + Ireland. In the time of Dr. Jonathan Edwards, there were + several gracious showers in New England; but there were large + intermissions between one and another: whereas, with us there + has been no intermission at all for seven-and-forty years, but + the work of God has been continually increasing. + + “The same thing, I am in hopes, you will now see in America + likewise. See that you expect it, and that you seek it in His + appointed ways, namely, with fasting and unintermitted prayer. + And take care that you be not at all discouraged, though you + should not always have an immediate answer. You know + + ‘His manner and His times are best.’ + + Therefore pray always! Pray, and faint not. I commend you all + to our Great Shepherd; and am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[561] + +Wesley’s correspondence is so vast, that selection is difficult; but +two or three other letters, written in 1786, may be given here. The +first was sent to Mr. Lawrence Frost, of Liverpool, with a request +that it might be handed to the mayor, and has not been previously +published. One of Wesley’s preachers had been interrupted while +preaching to a large multitude, near the old Fishstones, and Wesley +wrote to the chief magistrate as follows. + + “_To the Mayor of Liverpool._ + + “BRISTOL, _July 29, 1786_. + + “SIR,--Some preachers, in connection with me, have thought it + their duty to call sinners to repentance even in the open air. + If they have violated any law thereby, let them suffer the + penalty of that law. But, if not, whoever molests them on that + account will be called to answer it in his majesty’s court of + King’s Bench. I have had a suit already in that court, with a + magistrate (Heap), and, if I am forced to it, am ready to + commence another. + + “I am, sir, your obedient servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The letter was effectual. Ever afterwards, the constables were civil, +and wisely let the Methodists alone. + +William Simpson was one of Wesley’s itinerants, and, at this time, was +assistant in the Thirsk circuit, where he had to contend with troubles +somewhat different to those at Liverpool, but for which Wesley +prescribed as sharp a remedy. In the month of November, he wrote him +as follows. + + “The Sunday preaching may continue at Jervas for the present. I + suppose the society at Jervas is as large as that at + Northallerton; and this is a point which is much to be + considered. + + “You must needs expel out of the society at Knaresborough those + that _will_ be contentious. When you have to do with those + stubborn spirits, it is absolutely necessary, either to mend + them or end them: and ten persons of a quiet temper are better + than thirty contentious ones. Undoubtedly some of the eloquent + men will be sending me heavy complaints. It is well, therefore, + that you spoke first. + + “I am, dear Billy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[562] + +We must now return to Wesley’s journal. A week after the conclusion of +the Bristol conference, he set sail for Holland, accompanied by +Messrs. Broadbent and Brackenbury. There he mingled with many +Christian friends; gave many Scripture expositions in private houses; +saw many scenes of beauty; and employed all his leisure hours in +writing. On September 5, he returned to London, where he spent two +days in preaching and answering letters; and then set off to Bristol, +where he continued till September 26, when he got back to London, and +naively wrote: “I now applied myself in earnest to the writing of Mr. +Fletcher’s life, having procured the best materials I could. To this I +dedicated all the time I could spare, till November, from five in the +morning till eight at night. These are my studying hours; I cannot +write longer in a day without hurting my eyes.” We should think not! +Fifteen hours a day of unintermitting labour in the case of a man +eighty-three years of age! “Once or twice,” he wrote on December 12, +“Once or twice, I have been a little out of order this autumn; but it +was only for a day or two at a time. In general, my health has been +better for these last ten years, than it ever was for ten years +together since I was born. Ever since that good fever, which I had in +the north of Ireland, I have had, as it were, a new constitution. All +my pains and aches have forsaken me, and I am a stranger even to +weariness of any kind. This is the Lord’s doing, and it may well be +marvellous in all our eyes.”[563] + +At the beginning of October, he went on a preaching excursion to +Chatham and Sheerness. Then he set off to Norfolk; and, on his way +back to town, preached Mrs. Shewell’s funeral sermon at Barnet. At +this period, the father of the late Rev. Dr. Leifchild was the chief +Methodist in Barnet, and the doctor himself a little boy. “Upon +arriving,” wrote this distinguished minister, “he drove to my father’s +house; and, when the door of his carriage was opened, he came out +arrayed in his canonicals. Childlike, I ran to lay hold of him, but my +father pulled me back; upon which, extending his hand, he said: +‘Suffer little children to come unto me, and forbid them not, for of +such is the kingdom of heaven.’” + +The next five weeks were spent in London, partly in preaching, partly +in meeting classes, and partly in writing Fletcher’s Life. The only +holiday he took was a trip to Hampton Court, which he pronounced +“the finest palace the king of England had”; but even this was +scarcely a holiday, for he preached at Wandsworth on his way back to +town. He had a brush with the Deptford Methodists, who urgently +requested to be allowed to have service in the Methodist chapel at the +same time as there was service in the church. “It is easy to see,” he +writes, “that this would be a formal separation from the Church. We +fixed both our morning and evening service, all over England, at such +hours as not to interfere with the Church; with this very +design,--that those of the Church, if they chose it, might attend both +the one and the other. But to fix it at the same hour is obliging them +to separate either from the Church or us; and this I judge to be, not +only inexpedient, but totally unlawful for me to do.” This style of +reasoning can only be harmonized with the enactments of the previous +conference, on the supposition that the Church minister at Deptford +was not such as Wesley then described. + +Wesley concluded the year by preaching from, “Set thy house in order,” +and, among other things, strongly exhorted the people to make their +wills. + +Except the Life of Fletcher, 12mo, 227 pages, Wesley seems to have +published nothing, in 1786, but his _Arminian Magazine_, 8vo, 688 +pages. + +The volume bears the same character as previous ones. There are again +six original sermons by Wesley: the Church; Divine Providence; Schism; +Friendship with the World; Visiting the Sick; and the Eternity of God. +The sermon on the Church was a sermon for the times; and, remembering +the agitation among the Methodists on the subject of separation, an +extract here will not be out of place. + + “The catholic, or universal, church is all the persons in the + universe, whom God hath so called out of the world, as to be + one body, united by one Spirit, having one faith, one hope, one + baptism; one God and Father of all, who is above all, and + through all, and in them all. That part of this great body, of + the universal church, which inhabits any one kingdom or nation, + we may properly term a _national_ church, as the Church of + France, the Church of England, the Church of Scotland. A + smaller part, of the universal church, are the Christians that + inhabit any city or town, as the church of Ephesus. Two or + three Christian brethren united together are a church in the + narrowest sense. Such was the church in the house of Philemon, + and that in the house of Nymphas. A particular church may, + therefore, consist of any number of members, whether two or + three, or two or three millions. But still, whether they be + larger or smaller, the same idea is to be preserved. They are + one body, and have one Spirit, one Lord, one hope, one faith, + one baptism, one God and Father of all.” + +One more extract, from the _Magazine_ for 1786, must suffice. +Addressing those afflicted with lowness of spirits, Wesley writes: + + “1. Sacredly abstain from all spirituous liquors. Touch them + not, on any pretence whatever. To others they may sometimes be + of use; but to nervous persons they are deadly poison. + + “2. If you drink any, drink but little tea, and none at all + without eating, or without sugar and cream. + + “3. Every day of your life, take, at least, an hour’s exercise, + between breakfast and dinner. + + “4. Take no more food than nature requires. Dine upon one + thing, except pudding or pie. Eat no flesh at supper; but + something light and easy of digestion. + + “5. Sleep early, and rise early. Unless you are ill, never lie + in bed much above seven hours. Then you will never lie awake; + your flesh will be firm, and your spirits lively. + + “6. Above all, beware of anger! beware of worldly sorrow! + beware of the fear that hath torment! beware of foolish and + hurtful desires! beware of inordinate affection!” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [542] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 62. + + [543] Mrs. Mortimer’s Life. + + [544] Banning’s Memoirs. + + [545] Manuscript. + + [546] Manuscript letter by Mather. + + [547] Longden’s Life. + + [548] Manuscripts. + + [549] _Methodist Magazine_, 1836, p. 166. + + [550] Manuscript. + + [551] Memoirs of Rev. H. Taft, M.D., p. 6. + + [552] Unpublished manuscript. + + [553] Pawson’s manuscripts. + + [554] Life of C. Wesley, by Jackson, vol ii., p. 402. + + [555] _Methodist Magazine_, 1792, p. 333. + + [556] Ibid. 1840, p. 574. + + [557] Ibid. p. 577. + + [558] Coke’s Life. + + [559] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 67. + + [560] Ibid. + + [561] Memoirs of Black, p. 158. + + [562] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., pp. 86, 87. + + [563] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 92. + + + + + 1787. + Age 84 + +Wesley writes: + + “1787. Monday, January 1--We began the service at four in the + morning, to an unusually large congregation. We had another + comfortable opportunity at the new chapel at the usual hour, + and a third in the evening at West Street.” + + “January 2--I went to Deptford; but it seemed, I was got into a + den of lions. Most of the leading men of the society were mad + for separating from the Church. I endeavoured to reason with + them, but in vain: they had neither sense nor even good manners + left. At length, after meeting the whole society, I told them: + ‘If you are resolved, you may have your service in church + hours; but, remember, from that time, you will see my face no + more.’ This struck deep; and, from that hour, I have heard no + more of separating from the Church.” + +Considering the steps that Wesley had already taken, this is somewhat +amusing; as are also the two following letters, written soon after, +the first to William Percival,[564] and the second to Samuel Bardsley. + + “LONDON, _February 17, 1787_. + + “DEAR BILLY,--You cannot be too watchful against evil speaking, + or too zealous for the poor Church of England. I commend sister + Percival for having her child baptized there, and for returning + public thanks. By all means, go to church as often as you can, + and exhort all the Methodists so to do. They that are enemies + to the Church are enemies to _me_. I am a friend to it, and + ever was. By our reading prayers, we prevent our people + contracting an hatred for forms of prayer; which would + naturally be the case, if we always prayed extempore. + + “I am, dear Billy, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[565] + + “BIRMINGHAM, _March 25, 1787_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--Brother Jackson should advise brother + Ridall,[566] not to please the devil by preaching himself to + death. I still think, when the Methodists leave the Church of + England, God will leave them. Every year more and more of the + clergy are convinced of the truth, and grow well affected + towards us. It would be contrary to all common sense, as well + as to good conscience, to make a separation now. + + “I am, dear Sammy, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[567] + +Before proceeding with Wesley’s history, we insert another letter +belonging to this period. It is now for the first time published, and +refers to John Hutchinson, the founder of Hutchinsonianism. + + “LONDON, _February 4, 1787_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--I think Mr. Hutchinson was a man of strong + understanding, but greatly obscured by uncommon pride and + sourness of temper. He was the twin soul of Dr. Bentley. Many + of his remarks I exceedingly approve of. That upon the sin of + Uzzah is highly probable. His writings to me are far more + agreeable than those of Dr. Harmer;[568] an exceeding pretty + writer, who seems to propose Dr. Blair for his pattern. Both + the one and the other are quite too elegant for me. Give me + plain, strong Dr. Horne. Your letters (as well as your + conversation) are always agreeable to, my dear sister, + + “Your affectionate friend and brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +Wesley was always ready for all kinds of useful work,--reading, +writing, preaching, praying, and begging for the poor. Towards the +close of his career, especially, he seems to have commenced almost +every year by an effort to relieve the miseries of his destitute +fellow creatures. Accordingly, at the opening of 1787, five days were +spent in traversing the streets of London to obtain subscriptions for +this purpose. About two hundred members of his own London society were +in great distress; and he hoped to provide for them and for others, at +least, food and clothing. He writes: “I was much disappointed. Six or +seven, indeed, of our brethren, gave £10 apiece. If forty or fifty had +done this, I could have carried my design into execution. However, +much good was done with £200, and many sorrowful hearts made glad.” + +Seven years previous to this, Wesley had preached his first sermon at +Newark upon Trent. He was now invited to open a new chapel there; and +took coach, for that purpose, on February 9, travelled all night, and +arrived next day. On Sunday morning, February 11, at nine o’clock, he +preached in the “lightsome, cheerful building”; and again at half-past +five in the afternoon; when the mayor and several aldermen of the town +were present. + +This was a kind of service which now frequently fell to Wesley’s lot. +On Sunday, February 25, after preaching twice in London, he took the +mail coach, and, by travelling all night, arrived at Exeter in about +four-and-twenty hours. He then hurried off to Plymouth, and opened a +new chapel there. On Sunday morning, March 4, he conducted a service, +which lasted from half-past nine to nearly one o’clock; and, in the +evening, the throng was such, that, in order to reach the pulpit, he +was literally lifted over the people’s heads. At five o’clock next +morning, the chapel was again crowded; and, at six, he departed by +coach, “leaving,” says he, “such a flame behind us as was never +kindled here before.” + +Notwithstanding the heavy services of the previous day, he travelled +all the way to Exeter in a continuous rain, and again preached “to as +many as could possibly squeeze” into the chapel; and says, “I know +not, that I ever saw such an impression made on the people of Exeter +before.” + +After this, he proceeded to Bristol, where “the work of God had much +increased, especially among the young men,” but where, out of sixteen +hundred members, only five, or ten, or, at the most, a dozen hearers +formed the five o’clock morning congregations. Wesley says, he +strongly warned them of their indolence; and, during his stay, the +congregations were increased to three hundred; but even this was +small, considering the prestige of the place, and the fame of the +unequalled minister. + +Wesley now was suffering considerable anxiety respecting Dr. Coke, +who, with his three missionaries, had set sail, five months before, +for Newfoundland, but who, unknown to Wesley, had been drifted to the +West Indies. Hence the following, addressed to William Black. + + “LONDON, _February 20, 1787_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--After various unfortunate hindrances and + delays, Dr. Coke embarked on board a small brig, in the middle + of October, and was, by furious winds, twice beat back into the + harbour. They set sail a third time, with a crazy, shattered + vessel, on the 18th of October. We have not heard anything + either from him or of him since. I hope you have heard of him + in America. + + “You have great reason to be thankful to God for the progress + of His work in Nova Scotia. This is far from being the case in + Newfoundland, where poor John McGeary appears to be utterly + discouraged; not only through want of success, but through want + of the conveniences, yea, necessaries of life. Truly, if I + could have supposed, that those who made me fair promises would + have suffered a preacher to want bread, I should have sent him + into other parts, where he would have wanted nothing. + + “I hear very different accounts of the state of your provinces. + Is there plenty or scarcity in Nova Scotia, and New England? + How does it fare with Halifax and Shelburne, in particular? Do + the buildings and people increase or decrease? Public accounts + I cannot at all depend upon; but upon _your_ word I can depend. + Peace be with all your spirits! + + “I am, dear Billy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[569] + +On March 19, Wesley left Bristol for Ireland, preaching on the way at +Stroud, Cirencester, Gloucester, and numerous other places. At +Birmingham, he administered the sacrament to seven or eight hundred +communicants. At Wolverhampton, he opened a new chapel. At Burslem, he +held one of the most remarkable lovefeasts he had ever witnessed; for +here there had been “such an outpouring of the Spirit as had not been +in any other part of the kingdom; particularly in the meetings for +prayer. Fifteen or twenty had been justified in a day; some of them +the most notorious, abandoned sinners, in all the country.” He +“appointed to preach at five in the morning of March 30, but, soon +after four, he was saluted by a concert of music, both vocal and +instrumental, making the air ring, with a hymn to the tune of Judas +Maccabeus. It was,” says he, “a good prelude; so I began almost half +an hour before five; yet the house was crowded both above and below.” + +He writes: “Saturday, March 31--I went on to Macclesfield, and found a +people still alive to God, in spite of swiftly increasing riches. If +they continue so, it will be the only instance I have known, in above +half a century. I warned them in the strongest terms I could, and +believe some of them had ears to hear.” + +He arrived in Dublin on Good Friday, April 6. On Easter Sunday he +preached in Bethesda chapel, of which his friend, the Rev. Edward +Smyth, was chaplain. He writes: “Mr. Smyth read prayers, and gave out +the hymns, which were sung by fifteen or twenty fine singers; the rest +of the congregation listening with much attention, and as much +devotion, as they would have done to an opera. But is this Christian +worship? Or ought it ever to be suffered in a Christian church? It was +thought we had between seven and eight hundred communicants.” + +At this period, the Dublin society, with the exception of that in +London, was the largest in the world, containing upwards of eleven +hundred members, being more than there were in the whole of the five +Dublin _circuits_ in 1870! + +Having spent ten days in Dublin, he set out for the provinces. It +would be, substantially, a reiteration of former narratives, to follow +him in his wanderings. He met with no persecution; but, on the +contrary, with the warmest welcomes. Almost everywhere the work of God +was prospering; and the people vied with each other to show him +kindness. He writes: “May 29--The old murderer is restrained from +hurting me; but it seems he has power over my horses. One of them I +was obliged to leave in Dublin, and afterwards another, having bought +two to supply their places; the third soon got an ugly swelling in his +shoulders, so that we doubted whether we could go on; and a boy at +Clones, riding, I suppose galloping, the fourth over stones, the horse +fell and nearly lamed himself.” Perhaps Wesley blamed the devil when +he ought to have blamed his own long journeys. + +It was in one of these Irish tours that, preaching at a certain place +in the afternoon, and being expected, in the evening, at a town +several miles distant, he desired his chaise to be ready at the close +of the service, so that he might start at once. As he left the chapel, +the people, as usual, crowded about him, to shake hands with him; +among others, a Methodist shoemaker pressed forward, and put into his +hand a brown paper parcel, saying with manifest emotion: “Sir, this +may be of use to you in your journey.” Wesley thanked him, put the +parcel into his pocket, and away he went. After travelling some +distance, his curiosity prompted him to examine the nature of +Crispin’s present, which he found to be an awl and a strong waxed +thread. The road was rugged and lonely; and after a sudden jerk, the +horses stopped. “What’s the matter?” asked Wesley. “Matter enough!” +replied the coachman; “one of the traces is broken, and we can’t go +on.” Wesley bethought him of his awl and thread; they were at once +produced; the trace was mended; and so, by the poor shoemaker’s gift, +the congregation was saved from being disappointed of their preacher, +and Wesley from a tiresome detention in a houseless neighbourhood.[570] + +Wesley got back to Dublin on the 21st of June, having preached +considerably more than a hundred times during his ten weeks’ tour. A +week later, on his birthday, June 28, he wrote: “I had the pleasure of +a conversation with Mr. Howard, I think one of the greatest men in +Europe. Nothing, but the mighty power of God, can enable him to go +through his difficult and dangerous employments.” + +The great philanthropist was as much pleased with Wesley, as Wesley +was with him. “I was encouraged by him,” said he to Alexander Knox, +Esq., “to go on vigorously with my own designs. I saw in him how much +a single man might achieve by zeal and perseverance; and I thought, +why may not I do as much in my way, as Mr. Wesley has done in his, if +I am only as assiduous and persevering? and I determined I would +pursue my work with more alacrity than ever.”[571] + +Howard, in early life, had heard Wesley preach, in Bedfordshire, and +was deeply impressed with his discourse. In 1789, he called at +Wesley’s house, in London, to present him with his latest publication, +“An Account of the Principal Lazarettos in Europe,” in quarto; but +Wesley was not at home. “Present,” said he, “my respects and love to +Mr. Wesley; tell him, I had hoped to have seen him once more: perhaps, +we may meet again in this world, but, if not, we shall meet I trust in +a better.”[572] And away he went on his mission of mercy to Russia, +where he fell an honoured victim to his benevolence, on January 20, +1790. + +Having held his Irish conference, Wesley preached his farewell sermon, +in Dublin, on the 11th of July; and arriving in England on the 12th, +he proceeded to Manchester, in the neighbourhood of which he continued +until August 6. Here he held his English conference, though, in his +journal, he never mentions it. The preachers were specially invited; +but, on what principle the invitations were given, it is difficult to +state. Thomas Taylor was assistant at Leeds, within fifty miles of +Manchester, and moreover was one of the hundred mentioned in Wesley’s +deed of declaration; but he was also in favour of the Methodists +having the sacraments from the hands of their own preachers; in other +words, he was in favour of separation from the Established Church; +and, perhaps, this was one of the reasons why he was not invited to +the conference at Manchester. At all events, he writes: + + “Mr. Wesley has sent his special summons to each preacher whom + he wishes to attend conference, and has expressly forbidden any + one else to go. I am unbidden, and think I am ill used. After + labouring, with some degree of success, for more than + twenty-four years, and without a crime having ever been alleged + against, me, I am debarred of a privilege granted to others who + were converted under me, and whom I took into society. This is + a flagrant injustice. Besides, I am a member of the legal + conference. I’ll venture to go, let consequences be what they + may. If I am thrown overboard, I will swim as well as I can, + believing the Lord will take me up.” + +Mr. Taylor’s complaint was not without reason. He went; but says, he +had little satisfaction, for much of the time was spent in trying to +supersede the hymn-book published by Robert Spence.[573] + +The original edition of the minutes of the Manchester conference is +now before us, 12mo, 20 pages; but there is not a single syllable on +what was the great question of the day, separation from the Church. +And yet this was a question again and again introduced. Two years +before, Wesley had ordained Pawson for Scotland, and, ever since, had +addressed him as “reverend,” Pawson wearing gown and bands, and +administering the sacraments to the Scottish Methodists. Now that +Pawson was brought back to England, he had to doff his canonicals, and +had his letters from Wesley inscribed with “Mr.,” instead of “Rev.” He +loudly remonstrated; but got no redress; and at length, like a good +Christian, more anxious to save souls than to wear sacerdotal robes, +submitted to obey orders which were strangely inconsistent with +Wesley’s ordaining acts, and went on his way rejoicing. Pawson writes +as follows, to his bosom friend, Charles Atmore. + + “THORNER, _August 8, 1787_. + + “MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,--Our conference ended on last Saturday. + There were many preachers, and abundance of people, I think + more than I ever saw at any conference before. Almost the whole + time was taken up with temporal affairs. Mr. Wesley was in + great haste, as he and Dr. Coke were going to Guernsey and + Jersey. There has been a general revival of the work of God. + Mr. Wesley seems more determined to abide in the Church than + ever. He talked about it again and again, in the public + conference, in the society, etc.; and in such a hot, fiery + spirit, as I did not like to see. He talked of fighting with a + flail, and of putting all out of society who do not go to + church. _We_ are to be just what we were before we came to + Scotland,--no sacraments, no gowns, no nothing at all of any + kind whatsoever. With much entreaty, I got him to ordain Mr. + McAllum and Suter. Two more were ordained, one for the West + Indies, and one for Nova Scotia. + + “Charles Wesley, the Sunday before the conference opened, + spoke, to the society in London, to this effect: ‘I told you, + forty years ago, that, from among yourselves, grievous wolves + would arise, who would rend and tear the flock. You now see my + words fulfilled. These self created bishops, and self made + priests, are the very men. But I charge you all, in the + presence of God, never receive the sacrament from any of + them.’[574] So you see, he has discharged the people from + receiving the sacrament of his own brother; for who but he is + the _self created bishop_? O cursed prejudice! O furious + bigotry! How does the fire from hell burn in that poor + miserable man’s breast! + + “Perhaps, if I live till next conference, I may petition to + return to Scotland, as there seems to be no prospect of doing + anything, but just in the old way, while Mr. Wesley lives. + Solomon says, there is no new thing under the sun; but here we + see something, which, I believe, was never seen in the + Christian church before,--that men, approved of God and their + brethren, and that for many years, should be regularly + ordained, and act in the capacity of ministers, and yet should + be deposed from that office by one single man, and that without + any crime committed, great or small, real or pretended. Even + the pope himself never acted such a part as this. What an + astonishing degree of power does our aged father and friend + exercise! However, I am satisfied, and have nothing but love in + my heart toward the good old man. But really it will not bear + the light at all. Most affectionately yours, + + “JOHN PAWSON.”[575] + +This was pretty strong to come from a man like Pawson; but it +furnishes a glimpse of the proceedings of the conference of 1787, +concerning which so little has been written, and shows the awkward +position into which Wesley had put himself by his ordinations of men +from whom he now withdrew the authority that he had previously given. + +Never, however, had Methodism been so prosperous as now. The increase +of members, in the United Kingdom, during the present year, was nearly +four thousand; and in America, 6849. Letters, dated August, 1787, +contain most marvellous intelligence. It was computed that, in +Brunswick county, Virginia, not fewer than seven thousand persons were +under deep conviction of their sin and danger; and as many as fifty in +a day were savingly converted. At a recent quarterly meeting, six +thousand were assembled, and hundreds were crying for mercy, including +some of the principal inhabitants of the land, and not a few who had +been persecutors.[576] + +The Manchester conference concluded on Saturday, August 4, and, on the +following day, besides meeting the select society, Wesley preached +twice, and, with the assistance of his brother clergymen, administered +the sacrament to twelve or thirteen hundred communicants. There are +two other incidents, in connection with this conference, too +interesting to be omitted. + +At this period, the grandfather of the present Sir Robert Peel was +thirty-seven years of age, and one of the most successful men in +Lancashire. The leisure of his youthful days had been spent in reading +and study, and, before he attained to his majority, a great portion of +his time had been devoted to the improvement of machinery. At the age +of twenty-three, he embarked in the cotton trade, and, by his industry +and perseverance, had already become a man of wealth, though his +riches fell immensely short of the two millions which, it is said, he +left behind him at his death in 1830. Wesley writes: “1787, July 27--I +was invited to breakfast at Bury, by Mr. Peel, a calico printer; who, +a few years ago, began with £500, and is now supposed to have gained +£50,000. Oh, what a miracle if he lose not his soul!” The invitation +was accepted, and, long after this, when the calico printer had become +a baronet, and had entered parliament, Wesley’s visit was one of the +pleasing reminiscences of his remarkable career. To the end of life, +he cherished a warm affection for the Methodists. “My lads,” said he, +when some of his Methodist workmen applied to him for the site of +Tamworth chapel,[577] “My lads, do not build your chapel too large, +for people like to go to a little chapel well filled better than to a +larger one comparatively empty. I often go to your chapels in +Manchester, Liverpool, and London, and have no wish to find myself +alone in a large pew, and pointed at as Sir Robert Peel. I have left +most of my works in Lancashire under the management of Methodists, and +they serve me excellently well. When I resided there, I asked Mr. +Wesley, at one of his conferences, to come and breakfast with me; and +he agreed, on condition that he might bring some of his children with +him. Of course, I consented, and he came accompanied by six-and-thirty +of his itinerant preachers.” This was a curious episode in the history +both of Wesley and the founder of the distinguished family that bears +his name. + +No man in the nation took a greater interest in the institution of +Sunday-schools than Wesley. “I am glad,” said he, to Richard Rodda, in +a letter dated January 17, 1787, “I am glad you have taken in hand +that blessed work of setting up Sunday-schools in Chester. It seems, +these will be one great means of reviving religion throughout the +nation. I wonder Satan has not sent out some able champion against +them.”[578] + +It was three years since Raikes had first called attention to the +importance of Sunday-schools in the _Gloucester Journal_; and already +these “nurseries for Christians” had begun to dot and to adorn the +country. That at Chester altogether originated with the Chester +Methodists, though the rules were submitted to the bishop of the +diocese, and had his entire approval. It contained nearly seven +hundred children, who were taken to church once every Sunday. “We had +no intention,” said Richard Rodda, “as some persons represented, to +make disciples to Methodism, but to train them up in the nurture and +admonition of the Lord, that they might become useful members of civil +and religious society.”[579] + +Some idea may be formed of the popularity of this new institution of +the Christian church, from the fact that, in 1785, a Sunday-school +society was formed, which, within two years, was the means of +establishing more than two hundred schools; and that it was +calculated, in 1787, that the number of children then taught in +Sunday-schools exceeded two hundred thousand.[580] + +As already stated, more than once, there were a few which existed long +before Raikes’ school at Gloucester,--as, for instance, Miss Hannah +Ball’s, at Wycombe, founded in 1769. There was also another at Little +Lever, the birthplace of Oliver Heywood, four miles from Bolton, in +Lancashire. Here James Hey resided, a poor man who obtained a living +by winding bobbins for weavers. About the year 1775, James got the use +of a room in a cottage, to which, twice every Sunday, he summoned the +boys and girls of the neighbourhood, to teach them reading, his +substitute for a bell being an old brass mortar and pestle. Mr. Adam +Crompton, the paper manufacturer, sent him a supply of books; three +branch establishments were formed; subscriptions were given; and a +shilling per Sunday paid to each teacher for his Sunday services.[581] + +In June 1785, a Methodist school was started in the old Ridgway Gates +chapel, Bolton, chiefly through the instrumentality of George Eskrick, +who was its principal manager as long as he lived. One of the scholars +present, the first Sunday, was Peter Haslam, eleven years of age, +afterwards a most devout and useful itinerant preacher,[582]--the +first fruits of others who, in the same institution, received their +first trainings for the Christian ministry. In the course of a few +years, the number of scholars, attending the Bolton Sunday-school, was +2,000; and the _average_ number, for the first thirty years of its +existence, was 1800.[583] Children came to it, several miles, from all +the country round about. Reading and writing were taught. Each class +was spoken to separately every Sunday on religious subjects. The +masters were devoted to their work, and all gave their services +gratuitously. The change in the manners and morals of the children was +marvellous; and about a hundred of them sang like seraphs.[584] No +wonder, that such a school attracted the attention of Wesley. Hence, +on the very day when he and six-and-thirty of his itinerants +breakfasted with the father of the Peels, he wrote: + + “From Mr. Peel’s we went to Bolton. Here are eight hundred poor + children, taught in our Sunday-schools, by about eighty + masters, who receive no pay but what they are to receive from + their Great Master. About a hundred of them, part boys and part + girls, are taught to sing; and they sang so true, that, all + singing together, there seemed to be but one voice. The house + was throughly filled, while I explained and applied the first + commandment. What is all morality or religion without this? A + mere castle in the air. In the evening, many of the children + still hovering round the house, I desired forty or fifty to + come in and sing, ‘Vital spark of heavenly flame.’ Although + some of them were silent, not being able to sing for tears, yet + the harmony was such as I believe could not be equalled in the + king’s chapel.” + +This was not bounce, nor was it the random garrulity of an aged man. +Nine months afterwards, Wesley came again, and wrote: + + “This I must avow, there is not such another set of singers in + any of the Methodist congregations in the three kingdoms as + there is at Bolton. There cannot be; for we have near a hundred + such trebles,--boys and girls, selected out of our + Sunday-schools, and accurately taught--as are not to be found + together in any chapel, cathedral, or music room within the + four seas. Besides, the spirit with which they all sing, and + the beauty of many of them, so suits the melody, that I defy + any to exceed it; except the singing of angels in our Father’s + house.” + +Good singing is a good thing, and, like most other good things, is far +from being common. Had this been the only result of Bolton +Sunday-school, the school would have existed to good purpose. But hear +Wesley’s description, written “Sunday, April 20, 1788,” and let +Methodist Sunday-school teachers now conscientiously and diligently +endeavour to make their establishments resemble that at Bolton then. + + “At eight, and at one, the house was throughly filled. About + three, I met between 900 and a thousand of the children + belonging to our Sunday-schools. I never saw such a sight + before. They were all exactly clean, as well as plain, in their + apparel. All were serious and well behaved. Many, both boys and + girls, had as beautiful faces as, I believe, England or Europe + can afford. When they all sung together, and none of them out + of tune, the melody was beyond that of any theatre; and, what + is the best of all, many of them truly fear God, and some + rejoice in His salvation. These are a pattern to all the town. + Their usual diversion is to visit the poor that are sick, + (sometimes six, or eight, or ten together,) to exhort, comfort, + and pray with them. Frequently ten or more of them get together + to sing and pray by themselves; sometimes thirty or forty; and + are so earnestly engaged, alternately singing, praying, and + crying, that they know not how to part.” + +We have already stated that, the day after Wesley closed his +conference at Manchester, he preached twice, and, assisted by others, +administered the Lord’s supper to twelve or thirteen hundred persons. +The next day, August 6, he secured the whole of the coach, that ran +between Manchester and Birmingham, for himself and his friends. Six +packed themselves within, and eight arranged themselves without, and +off they all set at midnight; but even the presence of fourteen +Methodist preachers was not an insurance against accident. No doubt, +many a hymn was sung as they whisked away through beautiful Cheshire +scenery, the stars shining approvingly, and the fields all round +wrapped in solemn silence; but, a little before three in the morning, +when approaching Congleton, the coach broke down beneath its unwonted +burden, and had to be abandoned for another. In about an hour, number +two was crippled like number one; while one of the horses was so +knocked up as to be scarcely able to go at all. This Methodist +monopoly of the Birmingham stage coach issued, not in a moonlight +pleasure trip, but in a series of disasters which men so pious and so +good had not expected. The distance was not great; but nineteen hours +were spent in getting over it. The party arrived at Birmingham at 7 +p.m.; Wesley found a congregation waiting; he stepped out of the coach +into the chapel, and began preaching without delay. “And such,” says +he, “was the goodness of God, that I found no more weariness when I +had done than if I had rested all the day.” + +This was marvellous, in the case of an old man, above eighty; but, +notwithstanding this, he was off again, before five o’clock next +morning; travelled nearly eleven hours; and, at night, preached in the +new chapel at Gloucester. But even this was not all. The morning +after, he set out again at two o’clock, travelled till half-past four +in the afternoon, and preached at Salisbury in the evening. Next +morning at four, he took chaise to Southampton, where, on August 9 and +10, he preached thrice. + +Here the Methodists worshipped in an auction room; and then in a loft, +used by a bricklayer in stowing away his scaffolding, and which +acquired imperishable fame as the spiritual birthplace of Elizabeth +Wallbridge, the “Dairyman’s Daughter.”[585] + +Wesley, accompanied by Dr. Coke and Joseph Bradford, was now on his +way to the Channel islands; where Methodism had been introduced as +early as the year 1783, by certain Methodist soldiers, who wrote to +England for a preacher. Robert Carr Brackenbury, a gentleman of +fortune, rented a house in the town of St. Heliers, Jersey; and he and +his attendant, Alexander Kilham, preached throughout the island, amid +violent persecution, but with great success.[586] At the conference of +1786, Adam Clarke was sent; and now there were, in the three islands +of Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney, Methodist societies containing +three hundred members. + +On Saturday, August 11, Wesley and his friends started from +Southampton for Guernsey, but, before the day was ended, had to put +into Yarmouth harbour, in the Isle of Wight, where they were detained +till Monday, but improved their detention by preaching four times in +the market house. On Monday the storm had abated, and they again set +out; but, in the afternoon, were glad to seek shelter at Swanage, +where Wesley found a small society, and preached in the presbyterian +chapel. Again they went on board, and hoped to reach Guernsey on +Tuesday afternoon; but the storm obliged them to steer for the isle of +Alderney, in the bay of which they narrowly escaped being dashed to +pieces. Having slept in a five bedded room, and preached upon the +beach, they again set sail for Guernsey, where they at last arrived, +and were warmly welcomed by Mr. De Jersey. Here five days were spent, +during which Wesley preached seven sermons, and dined at the +governor’s. + +On Monday, August 20, they landed in Jersey, where they were detained +by storms and hurricanes till the 28th. During the eight days, Wesley +preached a dozen sermons, Mr. Brackenbury acting as his interpreter. + +On the 28th, he returned to Guernsey, where, by stress of weather, he +was obliged to stay till September 6, but still employed himself as +actively as ever. He then sailed for Penzance, in Cornwall, and +arrived in safety. + +Wesley’s labours in the Channel islands were greatly blessed; but his +voyages were adventurous, and, more than once, extremely dangerous. +They were also rich in religious incidents. On one occasion, two of +the sailors, who were aloft, swore most dreadfully; and, greatly to +the surprise of his companions, Wesley seemed not to notice them. At +length, the sailors still swearing, Wesley looked up to them, and +said: “Swear louder, and then perhaps God Almighty will hear you.” The +ironical reproof stopped the blasphemy.[587] + +Another incident is worth relating. Wesley writes in his journal: +“September 6--We went on board with a fair, moderate wind; but we had +just entered the ship when the wind died away. We cried to God for +help; and it presently sprung up, exactly fair, and did not cease till +it brought us into Penzance bay.” This is all; but Adam Clarke, who +was present, gives further details. Wesley was reading in the cabin; +but, hearing the noise and bustle occasioned by putting about the +vessel, to stand on her different tacks, he looked out of the cabin +door, and asked what was matter. Being told, he quietly remarked, +“Then let us go to prayer.” Coke, Bradford, and Clarke having prayed, +Wesley began: “Almighty and everlasting God, Thou hast sway +everywhere, and all things serve the purposes of Thy will: Thou +holdest the winds in Thy hands, and sittest upon the waterfloods, and +reignest a King for ever: command these winds and these waves that +they obey _Thee_; and take us speedily and safely to the haven whither +we would be!” The power of his petition was felt by all: he rose from +his knees, made no remark, and resumed his reading. Clarke went on +deck, and, to his surprise, found the vessel standing her right +course, with a steady breeze, which brought them safe to +Cornwall.[588] + +Wesley was more than satisfied with his trip to these lovely islands. +“Here,” says he, “is an open door: high and low, rich and poor, +receive the word gladly; so that I could not regret being detained by +contrary winds several days longer than we intended.”[589] + +Wesley’s landing in Cornwall was unexpected, but not unwelcome. He +writes: “We appeared to our friends here as men risen from the dead. +Great was their rejoicing over us; and great was the power of God in +the midst of the congregation.” On Saturday, September 8, he preached +twice, out of doors, to large congregations; and, the day following, +thrice, besides meeting a society in a chapel “exactly round, and +composed wholly of brazen slags, which,” says Wesley, “I suppose will +last as long as the earth.” + +On September 14, he got to Bristol, where he spent the next three +weeks. First of all, “with the assistance of two of his friends, he +had to answer _abundance of letters_,” the accumulation of the last +five weeks. Then, he had to visit the “country societies” round about, +and, among others, that at Castle Carey, where the mob had thrown the +first preacher, that visited the place, into a horse pond. On October +8, he returned to London, where he employed the next few days “in +answering letters, and preparing matter for the magazine.” One or two +of the letters, belonging to this period, may be inserted here. + +The first was addressed to William Black, in Nova Scotia, who was +considerably troubled with a recent importation from Scotland, in the +form of a presbyterian minister, who was more a Socinian than a +Calvinist. + + “NEAR BATH, _September 26, 1787_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You have great reason to praise God for the + great things that He hath done, and to expect still greater + things than these. Your grand difficulty, now, will be to guard + your flock against that accomplished seducer. When you + mentioned a person came from Scotland, I took it for granted + that he was a Calvinist. But I find it is not so well; for I + take a Socinian to be far worse than even a predestinarian. + Nevertheless, I advise you and all our preachers, never oppose + him openly. Doing thus would only give the unawakened world an + advantage against you all. I advise you farther, never speak + severely, much less contemptuously, of him in any mixed + company. You must use no weapons in opposing him, but only + those of truth and love. Your wisdom is: (1) Strongly to + inculcate the doctrines which he denies; but without taking any + notice of him, or seeming to know that any one does deny them. + (2) To advise all our brethren (but not in public) never to + hear him, at the peril of their souls. And (3) narrowly to + inquire whether any one is staggered, and to set such an one + right as soon as possible. Thus, by the blessing of God, even + those that are lame will not be turned out of the way. Peace be + with your spirit! + + “I am, dear Billy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[590] + +The next has not before been published. Jonathan Crowther and Duncan +McAllum had been appointed to succeed Edward Burbeck and Joshua +Keighley, in Scotland. On arriving, they found the former “dying of +fever in a _lousy_ bed”; and the latter already dead and buried. Their +journey had been adventurous and dangerous; their circuit (Inverness) +was large; and their allowances next to nothing; for Crowther received +only fifty shillings for the whole year’s labour; and forty of these +he spent in removing to Dunbar. He wrote to Wesley: “No man is fit for +Inverness circuit, unless his flesh be brass, his bones iron, and his +heart harder than a stoic’s.” After giving an account of the death of +Burbeck and Keighley, he adds: “I too shall probably be sacrificed in +this miserable corner; and, if I were doing good, I should be content +(if I had them) to sacrifice seven lives every year; but to live in +misery, and to die in banishment, for next to nothing, is afflicting +indeed.”[591] + +Poor Crowther was downhearted, and no wonder. Wesley’s reply was +characteristic. + + “NEAR BATH, _September 25, 1787_. + + “DEAR JONATHAN,--The sum of the matter is, you want money; and + money you shall have, if I can beg, borrow, or anything but + steal. I say, therefore, ‘Dwell in the land, and be doing good, + and, verily, thou shalt be fed.’ I should be sorry for the + death of Mr. Burbeck, but that I know God does all things well; + and, if His work prospers in your hands, this will make your + labours light. Our preachers now find, in the north of + Scotland, what they formerly found all over England; yet they + went on; and when I had only blackberries to eat in Cornwall, + still God gave me strength sufficient for my work. I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + “P.S.--To Mr. Atlay: + + Pay to Jonathan Crowther, or his order, Five Guineas. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[592] + +The next two letters refer to a case of discipline in the Channel +islands, in which Wesley displayed greater liberality than some of his +itinerants. The first was written to Robert Carr Brackenbury, the +second to Adam Clarke. + + “LONDON, _October 20, 1787_. + + “DEAR SIR,--Mr. ---- is undoubtedly a good young man; and has a + tolerably good understanding. But he thinks it better than it + is; and, in consequence, is apt to put himself in your or my + place. For these fifty years, if any one said, ‘If you do not + put such an one out of society, I will go out of it’; I have + said, ‘Pray go; I, not you, are to judge who shall stay.’ I, + therefore, greatly approve of your purpose, to give Mr. W---- a + full hearing in the presence of all the preachers. I have often + repented of judging too severely; but very seldom of being too + merciful. As the point is undoubtedly of very great importance, + it deserved serious consideration; and I am glad you took the + pains to consider it, and discussed it so admirably well, + according to Scripture and sound reason. + + “I ever am, dear sir, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[593] + + “LONDON, _December 8, 1787_. + + “... Brother de Queteville and you do not mind what I say. I do + not wonder at him, (he does not know me,) but I do at you. His + natural temper is stern; yours is not. Therefore, I expect you + to regard me, whether he does or no. We have no such custom + among our societies, nor ever had, as for a man to acknowledge + his fault before a whole society. There shall be no such custom + while I live. If he acknowledge it before the preachers it is + enough. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[594] + +In the month of May of the present year, there was instituted, in +London, a society for the suppression of the slave trade, of which the +chief members were Granville Sharp, William Dillwyn, Thomas Clarkson, +and William Wilberforce. In this, as in other great beneficent +movements, Wesley was one of the pioneers. Thirteen years previously, +he had published his “Thoughts upon Slavery”; and, at the commencement +of the present year, had inserted a long letter, on the same subject, +in his _Arminian Magazine_. The formation of an antislavery society +was to him a joy; and he, at once, wrote to the committee, expressing +his satisfaction. He desired to warn them, that they must expect great +difficulties and great opposition; for those interested in the system +of slavery were a powerful body, and would employ hireling writers, +who would have neither justice nor mercy. As for himself, he would do +all he could to promote the object of their institution. He would +reprint a new and large edition of his “Thoughts on Slavery,” and +circulate it among his friends in England and Ireland, to whom he +would add a few words in favour of their design. He then concluded in +these words: “I commend you to Him, who is able to carry you through +all opposition, and support you under all discouragements.” + +On the 30th of October, 1787, he sent a second letter, which was read +to the society, and in which he said, that he had now read the +publications which the committee had sent him, and that he took, if +possible, a still deeper interest in their cause. He exhorted them to +more than ordinary diligence and perseverance; to be prepared for +opposition; to be cautious about the manner of procuring information +and evidence, that no stain might fall upon their character; and to +take care that the question should be argued as well upon the +consideration of interest as of humanity and justice, the former of +which he feared would have more weight than the latter.[595] + +Wesley fulfilled his promise to render help. Hence the following to +Mr. Thomas Funnell, Lewes, Sussex. + + “_November 24, 1787._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Whatever assistance I can give those + generous men, who join to oppose that execrable trade, I + certainly shall give. I have printed a large edition of the + ‘Thoughts on Slavery,’ and dispersed them to every part of + England. But there will be vehement opposition made, both by + slave merchants and slave holders; and they are mighty men: but + our comfort is, He that dwelleth on high is mightier. + + “I am, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[596] + +Thus began a struggle, which lasted six-and-forty years, and +terminated in the Emancipation Act, which took effect on August 1, +1834. Wesley died four years after the fight commenced; Wilberforce +just as the victory was being won, for he expired while the +resolutions, preparatory to the bill, were being passed in the House +of Commons. + +The last three months of the year 1787 were spent in London, and in +the usual journeys through the surrounding counties. On October 15, he +began what he calls his “little tour through Oxfordshire,” and +preached twice a day, besides travelling. At this time, Joseph +Entwisle and Richard Reece were in the “Oxfordshire” circuit. The +former, a young man of twenty, while riding with Wesley, had the +misfortune to have a horse whose pace was swifter than its steps were +sure. The nag fell with suddenness, the young preacher made a +summersault over the head of the prostrate animal, and alighted on his +feet unhurt. “Well done!” cried Wesley, delighted with the agility of +his youthful friend, and, no doubt, remembering many of his own +marvellous escapes,--“Well done, Joseph! I could not have done better +than that myself.”[597] + +Richard Reece also used to relate an anecdote respecting Wesley’s +visit to this, his first circuit, in 1787. Wesley was accompanied by +Thomas Rankin, and the two came to Oxford, where Wesley had to preach +in the chapel in New Inn Hall Lane. The front gallery was filled with +gownsmen, who, whatever other accomplishments they had acquired, still +lacked the politeness of gentlemen, for, as soon as Wesley began to +read his text, the beardless boys, in gowns and college caps, began to +cheer. Up jumped Rankin, his Scotch blood boiling, and, with +stentorian voice, cried: “In the name of God, gentlemen, what can ye +mean, to interrupt and insult a servant of the Lord, about to preach +salvation?” Wesley, more used to such behaviour than his impetuous +friend, calmly said, “Sit down, Tommy, sit down”; and then quietly +proceeded with his discourse.[598] + +In his excursion through Kent, Wesley preached both morning and +evening, every day. In Hertfordshire, he met Simeon from Cambridge. + +“Sir,” said young Simeon, “Sir, I understand you are called an +Arminian; now I am sometimes called a Calvinist, and therefore, I +suppose, we are to draw daggers. But, before I begin to combat, with +your permission, I will ask you a few questions, not from impertinent +curiosity, but for real instruction. Pray sir, do you feel yourself a +depraved creature, so depraved that you would never have thought of +turning to God, if God had not put it into your heart?” + +“Yes,” said the veteran, “I do indeed.” + +“And do you utterly despair of recommending yourself to God by +anything that you can do; and look for salvation solely through the +blood and righteousness of Christ?” + +“Yes, solely through Christ.” + +“But, sir, supposing you were _first_ saved by Christ, are you not +somehow or other to save yourself afterwards, by your good works?” + +“No; I must be saved by Christ, from first to last.” + +“Allowing, then, that you were first turned by the grace of God, are +you not in some way or other to keep yourself by your own power?” + +“No.” + +“What, then? are you to be upheld every hour and every moment by God, +as much as an infant in its mother’s arms?” + +“Yes, altogether.” + +“And is all your hope in the grace and mercy of God, to preserve you +unto His heavenly kingdom?” + +“Yes, I have no hope but in Him.” + +“Then, sir, with your leave, I will put up my dagger again: for this +is all my Calvinism; this is my election, my justification, my final +perseverance. It is in substance all that I hold, and as I hold it; +and, therefore, if you please, instead of searching out terms and +phrases to be a ground of contention between us, we will cordially +unite in those things wherein we agree.”[599] + +Such was the catechetical examination instituted by a young parson of +twenty-eight, and submitted to by an old man of eighty-four. + +In November, Wesley took another step, which virtually involved a +separation from the Church of England. Seventeen years before, in +warning his preachers against such a separation, he had not only +directed them and the people to attend the services and sacraments of +the Church, but to guard against calling preachers “ministers,” and +their places of worship “meeting-houses.” “Do not,” said he, “license +them as such: the proper form of a petition to the judge or justice +is, ‘A. B. desires to have his house in C-- licensed for public +worship.’” He continued: “Do not license yourself till you are +constrained; and then not as a Dissenter, but a Methodist. It is time +enough when you are prosecuted, to take the oaths. And by so doing you +are licensed.”[600] + +Hitherto, Wesley had been opposed to licensing, except in cases of +necessity, simply on the ground that this savoured of separation from +the Established Church. Now he writes: + + “1787, November 3--I had a long conversation with Mr. Clulow,” + [his legal adviser,] “on that execrable act called the + Conventicle Act. After consulting the Act of Toleration, with + that of the fourteenth of Queen Anne, we were both clearly + convinced, that it was the safest way to license _all_ our + chapels, and _all_ our travelling preachers, not as Dissenters, + but simply ‘preachers of the gospel’; and that no justice, or + bench of justices, has any authority to refuse licensing either + the house or the preachers.” + +The “execrable Conventicle Act” was levelled against Dissenters from +the Church of England; the Act of Toleration was passed for the relief +of such Dissenters; and Wesley, by availing himself of the provisions +of that act, _ipso facto_, conceded the point that the Methodists were +Dissenters. + +He still, however, persisted in asserting that the Methodists were +members of the Church of England; and this involved both him and them +in further difficulties. In some instances, the magistrates remarked: +“You profess yourselves to be members of the Church of England; +therefore, your licences are worthless; nor can you, as members of the +Church, receive any benefit from the Act of Toleration.” This was a +subtle distinction; and Wesley saw that the Methodists must either +profess themselves Dissenters, or be subjected to an indefinite amount +of trouble. He was unwilling to alter their relation to the +Established Church; and yet he wished them to be saved from this +embarrassment. Hence the following, addressed to a member of +parliament.[601] + + “DEAR SIR,--Last month, a few poor people met together in + Somersetshire, to pray, and to praise God, in a friend’s house; + there was no preaching at all. Two neighbouring justices fined + the man of the house £20. I suppose, he was not worth twenty + shillings. Upon this, his household goods were distrained, and + sold to pay the fine. He appealed to the quarter sessions; but + all the justices averred, ‘The Methodists could have no relief + from the Act of Toleration, because they went to church; and + that, so long as they did so, the Conventicle Act should be + executed upon them.’ + + “Last Sunday, when one of our preachers was beginning to speak + to a quiet congregation, a neighbouring justice sent a + constable to seize him, though he was licensed; and would not + release him till he had paid £20, telling him his licence was + good for nothing, ‘because he was a Churchman.’ + + “Now, sir, what can the Methodists do? They are liable to be + ruined by the Conventicle Act, and they have no relief from the + Act of Toleration! If this is not oppression, what is? Where + then is English liberty? the liberty of Christians, yea, of + every rational creature? who, as such, has a right to worship + God according to his own conscience. But, waiving the question + of right and wrong, what prudence is there in oppressing such a + body of loyal subjects? If these good magistrates could drive + them, not only out of Somersetshire, but out of England, who + would be gainers thereby? Not his majesty, whom we honour and + love; not his ministers, whom we love and serve for his sake. + Do they wish to throw away so many thousand friends, who are + now bound to them by stronger ties than that of interest? If + you will speak a word to Mr. Pitt on that head, you will oblige + yours, etc. + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +About the same time, Wesley wrote as follows to a bishop.[602] + + “MY LORD,--I am a dying man, having already one foot in the + grave. Humanly speaking, I cannot long creep upon the earth, + being now nearer ninety than eighty years of age. But I cannot + die in peace, before I have discharged this office of Christian + love to your lordship. I write without ceremony, as neither + hoping nor fearing anything from your lordship, or any man + living. And I ask, in the name and presence of Him, to whom + both you and I are shortly to give an account, why do you + trouble those that are quiet in the land; those that fear God + and work righteousness? Does your lordship know what the + Methodists are? That many thousands of them are zealous members + of the Church of England; and strongly attached, not only to + his majesty, but to his present ministry? Why should your + lordship, setting religion out of the question, throw away such + a body of respectable friends? Is it for their religious + sentiments? Alas, my lord, is this a time to persecute any man + for conscience sake? I beseech you, my lord, do as you would be + done to. You are a man of sense; you are a man of learning; + nay, I verily believe, (what is of infinitely more value,) you + are a man of piety. Then think, and let think. I pray God to + bless you with the choicest of His blessings. + + “I am, my lord, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[603] + +Is it surprising, that the Methodists wished to separate from the +Church of England, and that Wesley was led, in fact driven, to take +the dissenting steps he did? And yet, to the very last, we find him +still adhering to the church of his early choice. Already the +Methodists had begun to have service in church hours; but this was far +from having his warm approval. Only two days after his consultation +with Mr. Clulow, he went to Dorking, where he wrote: + + “The congregation was, as usual, large and serious. But there + is no increase in the society. So that we have profited nothing + by having our service in the church hours, which some imagined + would have done wonders. I do not know that it has done more + good anywhere in England; in Scotland I believe it has.” + +If possible, Wesley was more popular than ever. He writes: + + “November 4--The congregation at the new chapel” [City Road] + “was far larger than usual; and the number of communicants was + so great, that I was obliged _to consecrate thrice_.” “November + 9--A friend offering to bear my expenses, I set out to + Nottingham, where I preached a charity sermon for the + infirmary, which was the design of my coming. This is not a + county infirmary, but is open to all England; yea, to all the + world; and everything about it is so neat, so convenient, and + so well ordered, that I have seen none like it in the three + kingdoms.”[604] “November 25--I preached two charity sermons at + West Street, in behalf of our poor children.” “December + 16--After preaching at Spitalfields, I hastened to St. John’s, + Clerkenwell, and preached a charity sermon for the Finsbury + dispensary; as I would gladly countenance every institution of + the kind.” + +All this was extra work; for Wesley’s chief employment, at the end of +every year, was preaching to the London Methodists, and meeting the +London classes. Strange to say, the latter was to Wesley an irksome +task. Hence he writes: + + “1787, November 19--I began the _unpleasing work_ of visiting + the classes. I still continue to do this in London and Bristol, + as well as in Cork and Dublin. With the other societies, their + respective assistants supply my lack of service.” + +There were also other things, far from pleasant, requiring his +attention. A Laodicean spirit had crept in among the London +Methodists, and, in strong terms, he had to warn them of their sin and +danger. They were also £300 in debt, and he found it necessary to +devise means to make the income equal to the expenditure. His +preachers also, and his household, vexed him. He writes: + + “1787. Sunday, December 9--I went down at half-hour past five, + but found no preacher in the chapel, though we had three or + four in the house; so I preached myself. Afterwards, inquiring + why none of my family attended the morning preaching, they said + it was because they sat up too late. I resolved to put a stop + to this; and, therefore, ordered, that (1) every one under my + roof should go to bed at nine; that (2) every one might attend + the morning preaching; and so they have done ever since.” + +Amid all this labour and annoyance, it is amusing to find this +venerable man, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, visiting what then +answered to the Madame Tussaud’s exhibition of 1871, and evincing a +curiosity and a keenness of observation not often equalled by the +visitors of the present time. Hence the following. + + “December 10--I was desired to see the celebrated waxwork at + the museum in Spring Gardens. It exhibits most of the crowned + heads in Europe, and shows their characters in their + countenance. Sense and majesty appear in the king of Spain; + dulness and sottishness in the king of France; infernal + subtlety in the late king of Prussia; (as well as in the + skeleton Voltaire;) calmness and humanity in the emperor, and + king of Portugal; exquisite stupidity in the prince of Orange; + and amazing coarseness, with everything that is unamiable, in + czarina. + +With the exception of contributing to the _Arminian Magazine_, +Wesley’s literary life was ended. He revised former publications, as, +for instance, his Notes on the New Testament; and he occasionally +published an extract from some other author; but all the _original_ +productions of his mind and pen were now published in the magazine. +During this present year, he committed to the press a new pocket +hymn-book, 24mo, 240 pages; but the work was _compiled_, not +_written_, and was intended as a substitute for the volume issued in +1785. He also published “Conjectures concerning the Nature of Future +Happiness. Translated from the French of Monsieur Bonnet, of Geneva:” +12mo, 12 pages,--a remarkable tract, little known, but full of +thought.[605] The following is Wesley’s address “To the Reader.” +“Dublin, April 7, 1787. I am happy in communicating to men of sense in +this kingdom, and at a very low price, one of the most sensible tracts +I ever read.--JOHN WESLEY.” + +The magazine, as usual, contains six original sermons by Wesley, +several of them among the most able and interesting that he ever +wrote. That on Temptation is marked by great discrimination and +beauty. The one on Dress fearlessly denounces what was then, and still +is, a fearfully prevailing evil. Having laid down the principles, that +“slovenliness is no part of religion”; and that “there may undoubtedly +be a moderate difference of apparel, between persons of different +stations”; he proceeds to show, that the natural effects of “adorning +ourselves with gold, or pearls, or costly array,” are pride, vanity, +anger, and lust; and concludes with one of his most withering +addresses to the Methodists then living, and which the Methodists of +the present day would do well to ponder. + + “Have not many of you grown finer as fast as you have grown + richer? As you increased in substance, have you not increased + in dress? Witness the profusion of ribbons, gauze, or linen + about your heads! What have you profited then by bearing the + reproach of Christ? by being called Methodists? Are you not as + fashionably dressed as others of your rank that are no + Methodists? Do you ask, ‘But may we not as well buy fashionable + things as unfashionable?’ I answer, Not if they give you a + bold, immodest look, as those huge hats, bonnets, headdresses + do. And not, if they cost more. ‘But I can _afford_ it.’ Oh, + lay aside for ever that idle nonsensical word! No Christian can + _afford_ to waste any part of the substance which God has + entrusted him with. How can it be, that, after so many + warnings, you persist in the same folly? Is it not hence? There + are among you some that neither profit themselves by all they + hear, nor are willing that others should; and these, if any of + you are almost persuaded to dress as Christians, reason, and + rally, and laugh you out of it. O ye pretty triflers, I entreat + you not to do the devil’s work any longer. Whatever ye do + yourselves, do not harden the hearts of others. And you, that + are of a better mind, avoid these tempters with all possible + care. You answer, universal custom is against me. Not only the + profane, but the religious world, run violently the other way. + Look into, I do not say the theatres, but the churches, nay, + and the meetings of every denomination (except a few old + fashioned quakers, or the people called Moravians); look into + the congregations, in London or elsewhere, of those that are + styled gospel ministers; look into Northampton chapel, yea, + into the Tabernacle, or the chapel in Tottenham Court Road; + nay, look into the chapel in West Street, or that in the City + Road; look at the very people that sit under the pulpit, or by + the side of it,--and are not _those that can afford it_ (I can + hardly refrain from doing them the honour of naming their + names) as richly, as fashionably adorned, as those of the same + rank in other places? This is a melancholy truth. I am ashamed + of it; but I know not how to help it. I call heaven and earth + to witness this day, that it is not my fault. The trumpet has + not _given an uncertain sound_, for near fifty years last past. + O God! Thou knowest I have borne a clear and faithful + testimony. In print, in preaching, in meeting the society, I + have not shunned to declare the whole counsel of God. I am, + therefore, clear of the blood of those that will not hear. It + lies upon their own heads. And, yet, I warn you once more, in + the name, and in the presence of God, that the number of those + that rebel against God is no excuse for their rebellion. He + hath expressly told us, _Thou shalt not follow the multitude to + do evil_. I conjure you, all who have any regard for me, show + me, before I go hence, that I have not laboured, even in this + respect, in vain, for near half a century. Let me see, before I + die, a Methodist congregation full as plainly dressed as a + quaker congregation. Only be more consistent with yourselves. + Let your dress be _cheap_ as well as plain; otherwise, you do + but trifle with God and me, and your own souls. I pray, let + there be no costly silks among you, how grave soever they may + be. Let there be no _quaker linen_, proverbially so called, for + their exquisite fineness; no Brussels lace; no elephantine hats + or bonnets, those scandals of female modesty. Be all of a + piece, dressed, from head to foot, as persons _professing + godliness_; professing to do everything small and great, with + the single view of pleasing God.” + +Wesley’s sermon on the Lord’s Supper was written in 1732, and has been +already noticed. To the sentiments then avowed, he still adhered. + +That on the More Excellent Way is characteristic of himself; and +re-enforces his views on early rising, on the manner of transacting +business, on food, conversation, amusements, and money. One or two +extracts may be given. + + “Diversions are of various kinds. Some are almost peculiar to + men, as the sports of the field,--hunting, shooting, fishing. + Others are indifferently used by persons of both sexes,--as + races, masquerades, plays, assemblies, balls, cards, dancing + and music; to which may be added, the reading of plays, novels, + romances, newspapers, and fashionable poetry. Some diversions, + which were formerly in great request, are now fallen into + disrepute. The nobility and gentry, (in England at least,) seem + totally to disregard the once fashionable diversion of hawking; + and the vulgar themselves are no longer diverted by men hacking + and hewing each other in pieces at broad sword. The noble game + of quarter staff, likewise, is now exercised by very few. Yea, + cudgelling has lost its humour, even in Wales itself. Bear + baiting is now very seldom seen, and bull baiting not very + often. And it seems cock fighting would totally cease in + England, were it not for two or three right honourable patrons. + It is not needful to say anything more of these foul ‘remains + of Gothic barbarity,’ than that they are a reproach, not only + to all religion, but even to human nature. One would not pass + so severe a censure on the sports of the field. Let those, who + have nothing better to do, still run foxes and hares out of + breath. Neither need much be said about horse races, till some + man of sense will undertake to defend them. It seems a great + deal more may be said in defence of seeing a serious tragedy. I + could not do it with a clear conscience, at least, not in an + English theatre, the sink of all profaneness and debauchery; + but possibly others can. I cannot say quite so much for balls, + or assemblies; which are more reputable than masquerades, but + must be allowed, by all impartial persons, to have exactly the + same tendency. So undoubtedly have all public dancings. Of + playing at cards, I say the same as seeing of plays. I could + not do it with a clear conscience. But I am not obliged to pass + any sentence on those that are otherwise minded. I leave them + to their own Master; to Him let them stand or fall. + + “But supposing these, as well as the reading of plays, novels, + newspapers, and the like, to be quite _innocent diversions_, + yet are there not more excellent ways of diverting themselves, + for those that love or fear God? Would men of fortune divert + themselves in the open air? They may do it, by cultivating and + improving their lands, by planting their grounds, by laying + out, carrying on, and perfecting their gardens and orchards. At + other times, they may visit and converse with the most serious + and sensible of their neighbours; or they may visit the sick, + the poor, the widows, and fatherless in their afflictions. Do + they desire to divert themselves in the house? They may read + useful history, pious and elegant poetry, or several branches + of natural philosophy. If you have time, you may divert + yourselves by music, and perhaps by philosophical experiments. + But, above all, when you have once learned the use of prayer, + you will find, that this will fill every space of life, be + interfused with all your employments, and, wherever you are, + whatever you do, embrace you on every side. Then you will be + able to say boldly: + + ‘With me no melancholy void, + No moment lingers unemployed, + Or unimproved below; + My weariness of life is gone, + Who live to serve my God alone, + And only Jesus know.’” + +On the subject of money, Wesley’s “More Excellent Way,” to the worldly +minded, is equally startling, but one which he himself, for fifty +years, invariably adopted. + + “If you have a family, seriously consider, before God, how much + each member of it wants, in order to have what is needful for + life and godliness. And, in general, do not allow them less, + nor much more than you allow yourself. This being done, fix + your purpose, to gain no more. I charge you, in the name of + God, do not increase your substance! As it comes daily or + yearly, so let it go: otherwise you _lay up treasures upon + earth_; and this our Lord as flatly forbids, as murder and + adultery. By doing it, therefore, you would _treasure up to + yourselves wrath against the day of wrath, and revelation of + the righteous judgment of God_. But suppose it were not + forbidden, how can you, on principles of reason, spend your + money in a way, which God may _possibly forgive_, instead of + spending it in a manner which He will _certainly reward_? You + will have no reward in heaven, for what you _lay up_: you will, + for what you _lay out_. Every pound you put into the earthly + bank is sunk; it brings no interest above. But every pound you + give to the poor is put into the bank of heaven; and it will + bring glorious interest; yea, and such as will be accumulating + to all eternity.” + +This was plain speaking; but who will undertake to gainsay it? + +The sermon on Christian Courtesy is full of the wisdom of an aged, and +widely experienced, saint; while that on Former Times Better than +These is equally remarkable, and well worth reading. + +The _Arminian Magazine_ for 1787 is enriched, as usual, with letters, +poetry, biography, apparition anecdotes, and choice extracts from +other writers; but, besides these, there are a few other productions +from Wesley’s pen, as his able article “On Allegorical Writings in +general, and especially the Parables of our Lord”; and his weighty +“Thoughts upon Methodism.” We can only afford space for an extract +from the latter. He writes: + + “I am not afraid, that the people called Methodists should ever + cease to exist either in Europe or America. But I am afraid, + lest they should only exist as a dead sect, having the form of + religion without the power. And this undoubtedly will be the + case, unless they hold fast both the doctrine, spirit, and + discipline with which they first set out.” + +After describing the rise of Methodism, he proceeds: + + “From this short sketch of Methodism, any man of understanding + may easily discern, that it is only plain, scriptural religion, + guarded by a few prudential regulations. The essence of it is + holiness of heart and life; the circumstantials all point to + this. And as long as they are joined together in the people + called Methodists, no weapon formed against them shall prosper. + But, if even the circumstantial parts are despised, the + essential will soon be lost. And if ever the essential parts + should evaporate, what remains will be dung and dross. + + “It nearly concerns us to see how the case stands with us at + present. I fear, wherever riches have increased (exceeding few + are the exceptions) the essence of religion, the mind that was + in Christ, has decreased in the same proportion. Therefore, I + do not see how it is possible, in the nature of things, for any + revival of true religion to continue long. For religion must + necessarily produce both industry and frugality; and these + cannot but produce riches. But as riches increase, so will + pride, anger, and love of the world in all its branches. + + “How then is it possible that Methodism, that is, the religion + of the heart, though it flourishes now as a green bay tree, + should continue in this state? For the Methodists in every + place grow diligent and frugal; consequently, they increase in + goods. Hence, they proportionably increase in pride, in the + desire of the flesh, the desire of the eyes, and the pride of + life. So, although the form of religion remains, the spirit is + swiftly vanishing away. + + “Is there no way to prevent this? this continual declension of + pure religion? We ought not to forbid people to be diligent and + frugal; we _must_ exhort all Christians, to gain all they can, + and to save all they can: that is, in effect, to grow rich! + What way then, I ask again, can we take, that our money may not + sink us to the nethermost hell? There is one way, and there is + no other under heaven. If those who _gain all they can_, and + _save all they can_, will likewise _give all they can_, then + the more they gain, the more they will grow in grace, and the + more treasure they will lay up in heaven.” + +Wesley knew not how to flatter. However painful to himself or to +others, when he deemed it needful, he never tried to conceal his +thoughts. The above was not likely to win him the applause of +prosperous and rich Methodists; but that to him was a matter of +indifference. His great anxiety was to perpetuate _Methodism_,--not +merely _Methodists_. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [564] Percival was one of the itinerant preachers at + Newcastle on Tyne. + + [565] _Methodist Magazine_, 1834, p. 674. + + [566] Bardsley’s colleagues in Colne circuit. + + [567] Manuscript letter in British Museum. + + [568] Dr. Harmer had recently published vols. iii. and + iv. of his “Observations on various Passages of + Scripture.” + + [569] Black’s Memoirs, p. 185. + + [570] Memoirs of Burgess. + + [571] Life of Henry Moore, p. 271. + + [572] Ibid. p. 272. + + [573] Manuscript journal. + + [574] In his “Short Hymns on Select Passages of the Holy + Scriptures,” published in 1762, Charles Wesley wrote, + concerning the poor itinerants: + + “Raised from the people’s lowest lees, + Guard, Lord, Thy preaching witnesses, + Nor let their pride the honour claim + Of sealing covenants in Thy name: + Rather than suffer them to dare + Usurp the priestly character, + Save from the arrogant offence, + And snatch them uncorrupted hence.” + + (Hymn on Numbers xvi. 10.) “Wesley Poetry,” vol. ix., + p. 79. + + [575] Manuscript letter. + + [576] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 486. It is only fair + to add that all was not sunshine in America. At + the conference of 1784, the American preachers had + recorded a declaration that, “during the life of + Mr. Wesley they were ready to obey his commands in + matters belonging to church government”; but, in + 1787, and thenceforward, this declaration was omitted + from their printed minutes. Why? Because Wesley, + without consulting them, had changed the time and + place of holding their conference, and had appointed + Richard Whatcoat to be co-superintendent with Francis + Asbury.--(Etheridge’s Life of Coke, p. 173.) Dr. Coke + was present, and, in a letter printed four years + afterwards, pronounced this an “excommunication” + of Wesley, and declared that, in his opinion, it + hastened Wesley’s death; for, “from the time he was + informed of it, he began to hang down his head, and + to think he had lived long enough.”--(“Impartial + Statement of the known Inconsistencies of Rev. Dr. + Coke.” By William Hammet: 1792.) We gravely doubt the + correctness of Dr. Coke’s opinion. + + [577] _Wesley Banner_, 1850, p. 114. + + [578] _Methodist Magazine_, 1846, p. 562. + + [579] Ibid. + + [580] Ibid. p. 563. + + [581] _Methodist Magazine_, 1836, p. 286. The Rev. + David Simpson, also, is said to have commenced + Sunday-schools, in Macclesfield, as early as the year + 1778.--(_Evangelical Magazine_, 1842, p. 84.) + + [582] _Methodist Magazine_, 1805, p. 1. + + [583] Manuscript letter. + + [584] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 490. + + [585] Smith’s History of Methodism. + + [586] Drew’s Life of Coke. + + [587] Reynolds’s “Anecdotes of Wesley,” p. 25. + + [588] Life of Clarke, vol. i., p. 259. + + [589] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 80. + + [590] Black’s Memoirs, p. 200. + + [591] Crowther’s manuscript autobiography. + + [592] Ibid. + + [593] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 6. + + [594] _Wesleyan Times_, Sept. 28, 1868. + + [595] Clarkson’s “Abolition of the Slave Trade,” vol. i., + p. 447. + + [596] _Methodist Magazine_, 1827, p. 391. + + [597] Entwisle’s Memoir, p. 36. + + [598] _Wesleyan Times_, June 19, 1849. + + [599] “Wesley the Worthy,” by Dr. Dobbin, p. 91. + + [600] Large Minutes, 1770. + + [601] Henry Moore says this letter was written in the + autumn of 1790; and that, when the lawyer, at the + head of the persecution, boasted that he would drive + Methodism out of Somersetshire, Wesley quietly + remarked, “Yes, when he can drive God out of + it.”--(Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 383.) + + [602] This letter is without date. Henry Moore says it was + written about 1790. (Wesley’s Life, vol. ii., p. 383.) + + [603] Atmore’s “History of Persecution,” p. 420. + + [604] The infirmary was built in 1781, on land partly + given by the Duke of Newcastle, and partly by the + corporation. During the first thirty years of its + existence, it afforded assistance to 33,926 persons. + + [605] Its republication would enrich the pages of the + _Methodist Magazine_ of the present day. One + conjecture is, that, after the resurrection, + “our eyes may unite in themselves the qualities + of microscopes and telescopes, and accommodate + themselves exactly to all distances.” + + + + + 1788. + Age 85 + + +Wesley had published, in the ten volumes of his _Arminian Magazine_ +already issued, forty-two original sermons by himself; and he now +ascertained, that a clergyman, in the west of England, intended to +reprint them in a separate form. Wesley had been frequently solicited +to do this himself; but had as often answered, “I leave this for my +executors.” Now, to prevent piracy, he determined to be his own +republisher; and issued these invaluable discourses, with a few +others, in four volumes, 12mo; to which he prefixed a preface, from +which the following characteristic extract is taken. + + “Is there need to apologise to sensible persons for the + plainness of my style? A gentleman, whom I much love and + respect, lately informed me, with much tenderness and courtesy, + that men of candour made great allowance for the decay of my + faculties; and did not expect me to write now, either with + regard to sentiment or language, as I did thirty or forty years + ago. Perhaps they are decayed; though I am not conscious of it. + But is not this a fit occasion to explain myself concerning the + style which I use from choice, not necessity? I _could_ even + now write as floridly and rhetorically as even the admired Dr. + B----; but I dare not; because I seek the honour that cometh + from God only. What is the praise of man to _me_, that have one + foot in the grave, and am stepping into the land whence I shall + not return? Therefore, I dare no more write in a _fine style_ + than wear a fine coat. But were it otherwise, had I time to + spare, I should still write just as I do. I should purposely + decline, what many admire, a highly ornamental style. I cannot + admire French oratory; I despise it from my heart. Let those + that please be in raptures at the pretty, elegant sentences of + Massillon or Bourdaloue; but give me the plain nervous style of + Dr. South, Dr. Bates, or Mr. John Howe; and, for elegance, show + me any French writer who exceeds Dean Young, or Mr. Seed. Let + who will admire the French frippery, I am still for plain sound + English. + + “I think a preacher or writer of sermons has lost his way, when + he imitates any of the French orators; even the most famous of + them; even Massillon or Bourdaloue. Only let his language be + plain, proper, and clear; and it is enough. God Himself has + told us how to speak, both as to the matter and manner: ‘If any + man speak’ in the name of God, ‘let him speak as the oracles of + God’; and if he would imitate any part of these above the rest, + let it be the First Epistle of St. John. This is the style, the + most excellent style, for every gospel preacher. And let him + aim at no more ornament than he finds in that sentence, which + is the sum of the whole gospel, ‘We love Him, because He first + loved us.’” + + +Wesley’s journal for the first two months of 1788 is lost; but +existing letters show, that the time was spent in London. The +following have not hitherto been published; and, though brief, refer +to two subjects of the highest interest,--Sunday-schools and cottage +prayer-meetings. The first was addressed to Duncan Wright, who was now +at Bolton; the second to William Simpson, at Stockton upon Tees. + + “LONDON, _January 9, 1788_. + + “DEAR DUNCAN,--You send me a comfortable account of the work of + God in your circuit. I cannot doubt but a blessing redounds to + you all for the sake of the poor children. I verily think, + these Sunday-schools are one of the noblest specimens of + charity, which have been set on foot in England since the time + of William the Conqueror. + + “If Michael Fenwick has a mind to go to Dumfries and assist + Robert Dall, you may give him three guineas, which he must + husband well. He may write to me from thence. + + “I am, dear Duncan, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + “LONDON, _January 18, 1788_. + + “DEAR BILLY,--You did exceeding well to enlarge the number of + prayer-meetings, and to fix them in serious courts. I do not + know that any means of grace whatever has been more owned of + God than this. + + “It is not now, but at the time of conference, that children + are received into Kingswood school. + + “I am glad sister Moor has not forgotten me. I hope sister + Middleton also thinks of me sometimes. You are welcome to the + four volumes of sermons. + + “I am, dear Billy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Charles Wesley was now dying. Long, loving, and faithful had been the +friendship between the two brothers. Their opinions had often +differed; but their affection had never failed. Their most serious +difference had been on the subject of separation from the Church of +England, ordinations, and the administration of the sacraments; but, +even on these matters, Charles, while writing strongly, never wrote +unbrotherly. His last letter, in our possession, on these disputed +topics, is as follows. + + “_April 9, 1787._ + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I served West Street chapel on Friday and + Sunday. Next Saturday, I propose to sleep in your bed. Stand to + your own proposal: ‘Let us agree to differ.’ I leave America + and Scotland to your latest thoughts and recognitions; only + observing now, that you are exactly right. Keep your authority + while you live; and, after your death, _detur digniori_, or + rather, _dignioribus_. You cannot settle the succession: you + cannot divine how God will settle it. Have the people of ---- + given you leave to die, E. A. P. J.?[606] + + “I am, etc., + “C. WESLEY.”[607] + +It would almost seem from this, that Charles was disposed to abandon +his objections to the ordinations for America and Scotland; but, be +that as it may, we have here some of his last thoughts respecting the +Methodists. He evidently believed that, after his brother’s death, +they would exist as a separated people, and he wished them to be +governed by those of themselves who were worthiest. + +Wesley loved his brother, and on February 18, 1788, addressed to him +the following laconic note. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--You must go out every day, or die. Do not die + to save charges. You certainly need not want anything as long + as I live. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[608] + +Ten days after this, Wesley left London, for his long northern +journey, saying: “If I see it again, well; if not, I pray God to raise +up others, that will be more faithful and more successful in His work! +I find, by an increase of years, (1) Less activity; I walk slower, +particularly up hill: (2) My memory is not so quick: (3) I cannot read +so well by candlelight. But, I bless God, that all my other powers of +body and mind remain just what they were.” + +A month later, Wesley’s brother had entered into rest. They had +parted, not to meet again till they met in heaven. Wesley, however, +thought that his brother might recover. Hence the following, written +on March 2. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--Many inquire after you, and express much + affection, and desire of seeing you. In good time! You are + first suffering the will of God. Afterwards, He has a little + more for you to do: that is, provided you now take up your + cross, (for that it frequently must be,) and go out, at least, + an hour in a day. I would not blame you, if it were two or + three. Never mind expense. I can make that up. You shall not + die to save charges. Peace be with all your spirits! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[609] + +Three days later he wrote again. + + “_March 5, 1788._ + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I hope you keep to your rule, of going out + every day, although it may sometimes be a cross. Keep to this + but one month, and I am persuaded you will be as well as you + were at this time twelve-month. Adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[610] + +Here, with one exception, epistolary correspondence between the two +brothers ceased. Charles was too feeble to continue it, and his +daughter became his substitute. In reply to one of her letters, Wesley +wrote as follows. + + “BRISTOL, _March 7, 1788_. + + “MY DEAR SALLY,--When my appetite was entirely gone, so that + all I could take at dinner was a roasted turnip, it was + restored in a few days, by riding out daily, after taking ten + drops of elixir of vitriol in a glass of water. It is highly + probable, this would have the same effect in my brother’s case. + But, in the mean time, I wish he would see Dr. Whitehead. I am + persuaded there is not such another physician in England; + although, to confound human wisdom, he does not know how to + cure his own wife. + + “He must lie in bed as little as possible in the daytime; + otherwise it will hinder his sleeping at night. + + “Now, Sally, tell your brothers from me, that their tenderly + respectful behaviour to their father, (even to asking his + pardon, if in anything they have offended him,) will be the + best cordial for him under heaven. I know not but they may save + his life thereby. To know nothing will be wanting, on your + part, gives great satisfaction to, my dear Sally, + + “Yours very affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[611] + +To Samuel Bradburn, now stationed in London, Wesley addressed the +following hitherto unpublished letter. + + “BRISTOL, _March 13, 1788_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--With regard to my brother, I advise you: (1) + Whether he will or no, (at least, if not done already,) carry + Dr. Whitehead to him. (2) If he cannot go out, and yet must + have exercise or die, persuade him to use ---- twice or thrice + a day, and procure one for him. (3) I earnestly advise him to + be electrified; not shocked, but only filled with electric + fire. (4) Inquire if he has made his will, though I think it + scarcely possible he should have delayed it. + + “The tunes, which brother Rhodes left with you, should be + immediately printed in the cheap form. Kind love to Sophy. + + “I am, dear Sammy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +Four days later, Wesley wrote his last letter to his brother. + + “BRISTOL, _March 17, 1788_. + + “DEAR BROTHER,--I am just setting out on my northern journey, + but must snatch time to write two or three lines. I stand and + admire the wise and gracious dispensations of Divine + providence! Never was there before so loud a call to all that + are under your roof. If they have not hitherto sufficiently + regarded either you, or the God of their fathers, what is more + calculated to convince them, than to see you so long hovering + upon the borders of the grave? And, I verily believe, if they + receive the admonition, God will raise you up again. I know you + have the sentence of death in yourself: so had I more than + twelve years ago. I know nature is utterly exhausted: but is + not nature subject to His word? I do not depend upon + physicians, but upon Him that raiseth the dead. Only let your + whole family stir themselves up, and be instant in prayer; then + I have only to say to each, ‘If thou canst believe, thou shalt + see the glory of God!’ Be strong in the Lord, and in the power + of His might. Adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[612] + +Another letter must be inserted, written three days after the above, +to his niece, Miss Wesley. + + “WORCESTER, _March 20, 1788_. + + “MY DEAR SALLY,--Mr. Whitefield had, for a considerable time, + thrown up all the food he took. I advised him to slit a large + onion across the grain, and bind it warm on the pit of his + stomach. He vomited no more. Pray apply this to my brother’s + stomach, the next time he eats. + + “One in Yorkshire, who was dying for want of food, as she threw + up all she took, was saved by the following means: Boil crusts + of white bread to the consistence of a jelly; add a few drops + of lemon juice, and a little loaf sugar; take a spoonful once + or twice an hour. By all means, let him try this. + + “If neither of these avail, (which I think will not be the + case,) remember the lady at Paris, who lived several weeks + without swallowing a grain, by applying thin slices of beef to + the stomach. + + “But, above all, let prayer be made continually; and, probably, + he will be stronger after this illness than he has been these + ten years. Is anything too hard for God? On Sunday I am to be + at Birmingham; on Sunday sennight, at Madeley. My dear Sally, + adieu! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[613] + +Nine days after this, on March 29, Charles Wesley died. It is a +curious incident, that Wesley, at the time, was preaching in +Shropshire, and (as was afterwards ascertained) he and his +congregation, at the very moment of his brother’s exit, were singing: + + “Come let us join our friends above, + That have obtained the prize, + And, on the eagle wings of love, + To joys celestial rise: + Let all the saints terrestrial sing, + With those to glory gone; + For all the servants of our King, + In earth and heaven, are one. + + One family we dwell in Him, + One church, above, beneath, + Though now divided by the stream, + The narrow stream, of death: + One army of the living God, + To His command we bow; + Part of His host have crossed the flood, + And part are crossing _now_.”[614] + +Samuel Bradburn, the assistant in the City Road circuit, immediately +dispatched a letter to Wesley, informing him of his brother’s death; +but, in consequence of its being misdirected, it failed to reach him +till April 4, the day before the burial. Wesley was at Macclesfield, +and to get to London in time for the funeral was impossible. Hence the +following letter to the bereaved widow. + + “MACCLESFIELD, _April 4, 1788_. + + “DEAR SISTER,--Half an hour ago, I received a letter from Mr. + Bradburn, informing me of my brother’s death. For eleven or + twelve days before, I had not one line concerning him. The last + I had was from Charles, which I delayed to answer, expecting + every day to receive some further information. We have only now + to learn that great lesson, ‘The Lord gave, and the Lord hath + taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord!’ If it had been + necessary, in order to serve either him or you, I should not + have thought much of coming up to London. Indeed, to serve you, + or your dear family, in anything that is in my power, will + always be a pleasure to, dear sister, your affectionate friend + and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[615] + +Wesley had no disposition to tell the deep sorrows of his heart; but +that he severely felt the departure of his brother, there can be no +question. A fortnight afterwards, when at Bolton, he attempted to give +out, as his second hymn, the one beginning with the words, “Come, O +Thou Traveller unknown”; but when he came to the lines,-- + + “My company before is gone, + And I am left alone with Thee,”-- + +the bereaved old man sunk beneath emotion which was uncontrollable, +burst into a flood of tears, sat down in the pulpit, and hid his face +with his hands. The crowded congregation well knew the cause of his +speechless excitement; singing ceased; and the chapel became a Bochim. +At length, Wesley recovered himself, rose again, and went through a +service which was never forgotten by those who were present at +it.[616] + +Wesley intended to write his brother’s life, and began to collect +materials for it; but his other engagements were too numerous to admit +of the fulfilment of his purpose. The following is the obituary +published in the conference minutes. + + “Mr. CHARLES WESLEY, who, after spending fourscore years with + much sorrow and pain, quietly retired into Abraham’s bosom. He + had no disease; but, after a gradual decay of some months, + + ‘The weary wheels of life stood still at last.’ + + His least praise was his talent for poetry; although Dr. Watts + did not scruple to say, that that single poem, ‘Wrestling + Jacob,’ was worth all the verses he himself had written.” + +This is not the place, nor indeed have we room for it, to write a +critique on the life and character of this remarkable man. It would be +easy to give the opinions of those who knew him,--Whitehead, Moore, +Coke, Bradburn, Clarke, and Pawson,--some in favour, and others to the +contrary. Suffice it to say, that, had he done nothing more than +furnish the Methodists, and the church of Christ generally, with his +incomparable hymns, in which so many millions have devoutly worshipped +the God of heaven, he would have rendered service to the cause of +truth and piety which no language can adequately describe. His “hymns, +and psalms, and spiritual songs,” for a hundred and thirty years, have +been the metrical liturgy of the people called Methodists, and to them +countless multitudes have been indebted for not a few of their richest +blessings. + +True to his high church principles, Charles Wesley, instead of +selecting the burial ground of his brother’s chapel in City Road, +desired to be interred in the consecrated churchyard of St. +Marylebone. This, to Wesley, was a painful disappointment. “It is a +pity,” said he, in a letter to the Rev. Peard Dickenson, “but the +remains of my brother had been deposited with mine. Certainly that +ground is holy as any in England; and it contains a large quantity of +‘bonny dead.’”[617] So deeply did he feel this, that, seven weeks +after his brother’s funeral, he wrote an article, at Dumfries, on the +consecration of churches and burial grounds, which he published in his +magazine; and in which, after showing, that there is no law of +England, or of the English Church, enjoining such a practice, he +remarks: + + “Neither is it enjoined by the law of God. Where do we find one + word, in the New Testament, enjoining any such thing? Neither + do I remember any precedent of it in the purest ages of the + church. It seems to have entered, and gradually spread itself, + with the other innovations and superstitions of the Church of + Rome. For this reason, I never wished that any bishop should + consecrate any chapel or burial ground of mine. Indeed, I + should not dare to suffer it; as I am clearly persuaded the + thing is wrong in itself, being not authorised either by any + law of God, or by any law of the land. In consequence of which, + I conceive, that either the clerk or the sexton may as well + consecrate the church, or the churchyard, as the bishop. With + regard to the latter, I know not who could answer that plain + question: You say, ‘This is _consecrated ground_, so many feet + _broad_, and so many _long_’; but pray how _deep_ is it? ‘Deep! + what does that signify?’ Oh, a great deal! for if my grave be + dug too _deep_, I may happen to get out of the _consecrated + ground_! And who can tell, what unhappy consequences may follow + from this! I take the whole of this practice to be a mere relic + of Romish superstition. And I wonder, that any sensible + protestant should think it right to countenance it; much more + that any reasonable man should plead for the necessity of it! + Surely it is high time now, that we should be guided, not by + custom, but by Scripture and reason.”[618] + +This was a heavy blow at his brother’s prejudice. Wesley himself +resolved to be buried in the ground connected with the chapel in the +City Road, and he wished his brother to be buried with him. To this +Charles objected, because the ground had not been _consecrated by a +bishop_! The objection was foolish; and the burial, in another place, +occasioned considerable gossip. John Pawson, in a letter dated April +28, 1788, remarks: “Charles Wesley would not be buried at the new +chapel, because it was not consecrated; nor by any of our ministers, +but by one of his own choosing. He sent for the parson of the parish +where he lived, and said: ‘Sir, whatever the world may have thought of +me, I have lived, and I die, in the communion of the Church of +England, and I will be buried in the yard of my parish church.’”[619] +Wesley well knew that remarks like these were current; and he owed it +to his people to publish his thoughts on a subject, which, however +insignificant in itself, was not unlikely to be a gossiping gangrene +in his societies. + +Wesley’s affection for his brother was evinced in the continued +kindness exercised towards his brother’s family. According to his own +account book, he gave to them, in this the year of their bereavement, +at least, two hundred guineas. He also assured his brother’s widow +that, as long as he lived, he would help her to the utmost of his +power. The two following letters may fitly draw the curtain on Charles +Wesley’s death and burial. + + “_July 25, 1788._ + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--You know well what a regard I had for Miss + Gwynne, before she was Mrs. Wesley. And it has not ceased from + that time till now. I am persuaded it never will. Therefore, I + will speak without reserve just what comes into my mind. I have + sometimes thought you are a little like me. My wife used to + tell me, ‘My dear, you are too generous. You don’t know the + value of money.’ I could not wholly deny the charge. Possibly, + you may sometimes lean to the same extreme. I know you are of a + generous spirit. You have an open heart, and an open hand. But + may it not sometimes be too open, more so than your + circumstances will allow? Is it not an instance of Christian, + as well as worldly, prudence, to cut our coat according to our + cloth? If your circumstances are a little narrower, should you + not contract your expenses too? I need but just give you this + hint, which I doubt not you will take kindly from, my dear + Sally, + + “Your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[620] + + “_December 21, 1788._ + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--It is undoubtedly true, that some silly + people, (whether in the society or not I cannot tell,) have + frequently talked in that manner, both of my brother and me. + They have said, that we were well paid for our labours. And, + indeed, so we were, but not by man. Yet, this is no more than + we were to expect, especially from busybodies in other men’s + matters. And it is no more possible to restrain their tongues, + than it is to bind up the wind. But it is sufficient for us, + that our own conscience condemned us not; and that our record + is with the Most High. + + “What has concerned me more than this idle slander is a trial + of another kind. I supposed, when John Atlay left me, that he + had left me one or two hundred pounds beforehand. On the + contrary, I am one or two hundred pounds behindhand, and shall + not recover myself till after Christmas. Some of the first + moneys I receive, I shall set apart for you; and in everything + that is in my power, you may depend upon the willing assistance + of, + + “Dear Sally, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[621] + +We must now return to Wesley’s journal. On the last day in February, +he left London, for Bath and Bristol. The mayor of Bristol invited him +to preach in the civic church, which invitation he accepted. His +worship and most of the aldermen were present; and Wesley, fearing no +man’s frown, and courting no man’s favour, took for his text the +fearful narrative of the rich man and Lazarus; and then dined, with +the rich men, at the rich man’s table, in the mansion house. The most +remarkable incident, however, occurred in his own chapel on Thursday +evening, the 6th of March. At that time, one of the great questions of +the day was the subject of slavery; and Wesley had announced his +intention to preach on it. The chapel, in consequence, was densely +crowded, with both rich and poor. Wesley selected as his text, “God +shall enlarge Japheth: and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem: and +Canaan shall be his servant.” The rest we give in the words of Wesley +himself. He writes: + + “About the middle of the discourse, while there was on every + side attention still as night, a vehement noise arose, none + could tell why, and shot like lightning through the + congregation. The terror and confusion were inexpressible. You + might have imagined it was a city taken by storm. The people + rushed upon each other with the utmost violence; the benches + were broken in pieces; and nine tenths of the congregation + appeared to be struck with the same panic. In about six + minutes, the storm ceased, almost as suddenly as it rose; and, + all being calm, I went on without the least interruption. It + was the strangest incident of the kind I ever remember; and, I + believe, none can account for it, without supposing some + præternatural influence. Satan fought, lest his kingdom should + be delivered up. We set the next day apart as a day of fasting + and prayer, that God would remember those poor outcasts of + men,” [the slaves,] “and make a way for them to escape, and + break their chains asunder.” + +The sceptic will sneer at Wesley’s solution; but, before he does so, +he ought himself to supply a better. Opinions respecting this +mysterious commotion will be different; but all parties will unite in +admiring Wesley’s sympathy with the suffering slave. Wesley was the +first Englishman who appointed a fast day to pray that slavery might +cease. + +On the 17th of March, Wesley set out on his journey to the north. +Everywhere he had enormous congregations; and frequently was obliged, +in wintry weather, to preach in the open air. Mrs. Fletcher, at +Madeley, wrote: “I could not but discern a great change in him. His +soul seems far more sunk into God, and such an unction attends his +word, that each sermon was indeed spirit and life.”[622] + +Exactly eight weeks were occupied in reaching the Scottish border; +and, during this interval, Wesley preached more than eighty sermons, +in fifty-seven different towns and villages. In seven instances, all +in Yorkshire, he preached in churches. The crowds were greater than +ever; and, almost in every place he visited, he found the work of God +progressing. + +On the 13th of May, Wesley visited Dumfries, where he had stationed +Robert Dall, at the conference of 1787. Dumfries was without a chapel, +and without a society; but Mr. Dall had just the sort of energy which +such a place required; and Wesley knew it. The following letters to +his home missionary have not before been published. + + “LONDON, _December 1, 1787_. + + “DEAR ROBERT,--You have reason to praise God, who has prospered + you, and given you to see the fruit of your labours. Our all + dispensing God has called us to preach the plain gospel. I am + glad your hands are strengthened in corresponding with the + brethren. I will desire any to change with you when you see it + best, and, if I live till spring, please God, I will visit you + at Dumfries. + + “I am, with love to sister Dall, your affectionate friend and + brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + “LONDON, _February 11, 1788_. + + “DEAR ROBERT,--I allow you to build at Dumfries, providing any + one will lend a hundred guineas on interest + + “I hope to see you, God willing, in May, + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Robert Dall was one of Wesley’s favourites, and so was his Christian +wife, to whom, said Wesley, in another unpublished letter now before +us, “God has given both sense and grace.” This godly couple set all +their energies to work; and, by begging of their friends in all parts +of the United Kingdom, succeeded, in three months, in building the +unique chapel which Wesley describes below. The effort was regarded as +gigantic; and Wesley’s visit was a sort of triumphant top stone to the +whole affair. “Such,” writes Mrs. Gordon Playdell to Mr. Dall, “such +was the general prejudice against Mr. Wesley, that I really feared his +coming would end your hopeful prosperity; but God has disappointed all +my fears, and outdone all my hopes. The popularity, which met him +here, was marvellous. The turn in his favour was such as none but God +could have brought about. You have been all along respected, and the +esteem for you grows more and more. Your pious, unwearied attentions +to the poor criminals have increased the general regard for you, and +your sermons in the jail been much approved.”[623] “Mr. Wesley,” wrote +Charles Atmore, “was much pleased with Dumfries and you. He has given +you a place in his journal, and what you have done at Dumfries will be +a memorial of you to all generations.” + +We could quote a large number of other letters relative to the same +subject; but the above is a sufficient preface to the following racy +extract from Wesley’s journal. + + “May 13--To-day, we went through lovely roads to Dumfries. + Robert Dall soon found me out. He has behaved exceeding well, + and done much good here: but he is a bold man; he has begun + building a preaching house, larger than any in Scotland, except + those in Glasgow and Edinburgh! In the evening, I preached + abroad in a convenient street, on one side of the town. Rich + and poor attended from every quarter, of whatever denomination; + and every one seemed to hear for life. Surely the Scots are the + best hearers in Europe! At five, next morning, I was importuned + to preach in the preaching house; but such an one I never saw + before. It had no windows at all: so that, although the sun + shone bright, we could see nothing without candles.” + +Wesley’s next halting place was Glasgow. It had been widely reported, +by some of the Scottish ministers, that he was about to publish a new +edition of the Bible, and to leave out part of the Epistle to the +Romans, St. John’s Apocalypse, and other portions of the inspired +writings;[624] but, notwithstanding this, says Charles Atmore, in the +letter before quoted, “he was far better received in Glasgow than +ever.” + +Here he spent three days; preached six sermons; gave an account +concerning the rise and progress of Methodism; and ordained John +Barber.[625] + +Speaking of the Glasgow chapel, Wesley writes: “It will contain about +as many as the chapel at Bath. But oh the difference! It has the +pulpit on one side; and has exactly the look of a presbyterian +meeting-house. It is the very sister of our house at Brentford. +Perhaps an omen of what will be when I am gone.” + +In his address on Methodism, which was delivered to the congregation, +he remarked: + + “There is no other religious society under heaven, which + requires nothing of men in order to their admission into it, + but a desire to save their souls. Look all around you, you + cannot be admitted into the church, or society of the + presbyterians, anabaptists, quakers, or any others, unless you + hold the same opinions with them, and adhere to the same mode + of worship. The Methodists alone do not insist on your holding + this or that opinion; but they think and let think. Neither do + they impose any particular mode of worship; but you may + continue to worship in your former manner, be it what it may. + Now, I do not know any other religious society, either ancient + or modern, wherein such liberty of conscience is now allowed, + or has been allowed, since the age of the apostles. Here is our + glorying; and a glorying peculiar to us. What society shares it + with us?” + +From Glasgow, Wesley went to Edinburgh, where he wrote: “I still find +a frankness and openness in the people of Edinburgh, which I find in +few other parts of the kingdom. I spent two days among them with much +satisfaction; and I was not at all disappointed, in finding no such +increase, either in the congregation or the society, as many expected +from their leaving the kirk.” + +Wesley here recognises the Edinburgh Methodists as a _separated_ +people, in other words, a _church_; but adroitly intimates, that the +result was not equal to what many of his friends had ventured to +expect. How stands the case? In 1766, when the numbers were first +given, Edinburgh circuit had 165 members of society, who, in the next +four years, dwindled to 62. Then the circuit rallied, and, in four +years more, the numbers rose to 287. In the next quadrennial period, +we find them reduced to 161. In 1785, when the ordinations for +Scotland took place, Edinburgh had 134 Methodists; now, in 1788, it +had 330; which, however, at Wesley’s death in 1791, were reduced to +205. These are curious statistics; and help to cast light on Wesley’s +meaning. + +On May 25, Wesley reached Newcastle, which, for the next fortnight, +was the centre of his labours. Two incidents, in connection with this +visit, are worth recording. + +Three years before, John Hampson, jun., greatly offended, had +relinquished the itinerancy, and was now a clergyman at Sunderland. +Strangely enough, Hampson invited Wesley to occupy his pulpit, and +Wesley willingly accepted the invitation. The church was crowded both +morning and afternoon. + +The other incident occurred at Stanhope, famed “for nothing but a very +uncommon degree of wickedness.” The preaching place was an upper room, +and the congregation large. Presently, the main beam, that supported +the room, gave way, and a frightful hubbub followed. “One man,” says +Wesley, “leaped out of the window; the rest quietly went out; and +nothing was hurt except a poor dog beneath the window. I then preached +in the open air, to twice or thrice as many as the room would have +contained, who were all attention.” This, which might have been a +serious catastrophe, happened at five o’clock on a summer’s morning. + +On the 9th of June, Wesley left Newcastle for the south. Reaching +Darlington, he writes: + + “Margaret Barlow came to me; and I asked her abundance of + questions. I was soon convinced, that she was not only sincere, + but deep in grace; and, therefore, incapable of deceit. I was + convinced likewise, that she had frequent intercourse with a + spirit that appeared to her in the form of an angel. I know not + how to judge of the rest. Her account was:--‘For above a year, + I have seen this angel, whose face is exceeding beautiful: her + raiment white as snow, and glistering like silver; her voice + unspeakably soft and musical. She tells me many things before + they come to pass. She foretold I should be ill at such a time, + in such a manner, and well at such an hour; and it was so + exactly. She has said, such a person shall die at such a time; + and he did so. Above two months ago, she told me your brother + was dead; (I did not know you had a brother;) and that he was + in heaven. And some time since, she told me, you will die in + less than a year. But what she has most earnestly and + frequently told me, is, that God will, in a short time, be + avenged on obstinate sinners, and will destroy them with fire + from heaven.’” + +Wesley adds: + + “Whether this will be so or no, I cannot tell; but when we were + alone there was a wonderful power in her words; and, as the + Indian said to David Brainerd, ‘They did good to my heart.’ It + is above a year since this girl was visited in this manner, + being then between fourteen and fifteen years old. But she was + then quite a womanish girl, and of unblamable behaviour. + Suppose that which appeared to her was really an angel; yet + from the face, the voice, and the apparel, she might easily + mistake him for a female; and this mistake is of little + consequence. Much good has already resulted from this odd + event; and is likely to ensue; provided those who believe, and + those who disbelieve, her report, have but patience with each + other.” + +Marvellous! Who was Margaret Barlow? The answer involves an episode in +Methodistic history. + +In the conference minutes for 1778, John Blades is reported as one of +Wesley’s itinerant preachers on trial; but, beyond this, he is never +mentioned. Blades was a native of Northumberland, a weakminded +fanatic, totally unfit for the itinerant work. Perhaps, for this +reason, he was not appointed to a circuit. For some years, however, he +acted, in the capacity of a local preacher, in the north of England. +He then began to preach consummate nonsense respecting the privileges +of believers, and, with such success that, when he left the Methodists +in 1784, he was enabled to form separate societies in a large number +of places in the county of Durham, and in the north of Yorkshire. +Among his followers, who were called _Bladonians_,[626] was Ralph +Hodgson, a miller at West Auckland, in whose house Margaret Barlow was +a servant. We have before us a long unpublished letter, written by +this dusty enthusiast, only a fortnight before Wesley’s interview with +his servant girl at Darlington. It is addressed to “Mr. Richard Steel, +Tanner, Wolsingham. With all possible speed”: and is dated, May 27, +1788. Hodgson tells his friend Steel that an angel from the Lord had +appeared to him, and stated that the “wicked were about to be +destroyed from off the face of the earth.” He also urges Steel to join +with him in making this angelic revelation as widely known as +possible. + +It is a curious fact that Hodgson waited upon Wesley at Newcastle, for +the purpose of converting him to his opinions; and that he accompanied +his clairvoyant servant, Margaret Barlow, to meet Wesley at the house +of Thomas Pickering, at Darlington. He also wrote a long letter, dated +“West Auckland, October 26, 1788,” to the Rev. Mr. Agutter, St. Mary +Magdalen college, Oxford, in which he informed that gentleman that +Margaret Barlow had been his servant about two years; that she had +attended the services of the Methodists; that an angel had appeared to +her in the form of a female, and with a lustre brighter than the light +of a thousand candles; that the angel had come to her in the daytime +as well as night; and had made known to her the state of many who were +dead, as well as many who were still alive; but that the principal +matter, which the angel had revealed, was the exact day when the +wicked would be destroyed. Margaret also had been much disturbed by +the appearance of two evil spirits, both clad in black, and wearing +horns; but the recital of her visions had produced effects great and +blessed. + +What was the result of all this religious raving? Margaret, at length, +announced the exact day when the destruction of the wicked was to be +accomplished. Intense excitement followed. Some sold their clothing +and property, and distributed the proceeds among the poor; and others +exulted at the thought of the possessions of the wicked being +distributed among themselves. The day came, numbers having sat up all +night to watch its dawning. Portentous signs appeared. The heavens +gathered blackness, lightnings flashed, and thunders roared. At +Barnardcastle it was the day of the weekly market. The people were +frantic, some with hope, and some with fear. Cries were heard, “It is +coming! It is coming!” The business of the market was suspended; and +consternation was general. At length, the clouds were scattered, the +heavens brightened, the day passed over, and all things continued as +they were. The bubble burst; Blades, Hodgson, his wife, and Margaret +Barlow were discredited, and fled across the Atlantic; where most, if +not all of them, joined the shakers, whose principles and morals, to +say the least, were capable of great improvement. + +The reader will excuse this lengthened digression concerning a mad +miller and his servant maid. We have purposely omitted the numerous +stories, of a similar description, which Wesley has inserted in his +journal and magazine; but one instance seemed necessary, to illustrate +what was unquestionably a feature in Wesley’s character,--excessive +credulity in receiving doubtful proofs of the existence and nearness +of an unseen world of spirits. We are not inclined to say hard things +concerning this. It was a weakness, but not a sin. Besides, though +some of the stories, referred to, were ridiculously foolish, it would +be rashness to deny that some of the others were strictly and +startlingly true. And further, we honestly declare that, in an age +like this, when the general tendency is to scepticism rather than to +credulity, we should hail, as no bad omen, the appearance of a +disposition, like that of Wesley, to cherish, not denounce, any and +every evidence of another and future state of being. + +On leaving Darlington, Wesley proceeded to Whitby, where he was +advertised to open a new chapel; but, as often happens now, when the +day arrived, the building was far from being ready. For want of +stairs, the people had to be admitted to the gallery through one of +the back windows near the pulpit; and, for want of a gallery front, a +number of stalwart Yorkshiremen squatted themselves all round the +gallery ledge, their backs protecting the people behind them, and +their feet dangling over the heads of those below.[627] Wesley writes: + + “June 13, Friday.--At eight, I preached to a lovely + congregation at Stokesley; and, at eleven, in Guisborough, to + one far larger. In the evening, I preached at Whitby, in the + new house, thoroughly filled above and below. The unfinished + galleries, having as yet no fronts, were frightful to look + upon. It is the most curious house we have in England. You go + up to it by about forty steps; and have then before you a lofty + front, I judge, near fifty feet high, and fifty-four feet + broad.” + +Wesley spent the next two days in Whitby, preaching twice on Saturday, +and thrice on Sunday, and finishing up with a Yorkshire lovefeast. + +From the “_plain people at Whitby_,” Wesley went to the Scarborough +_elegants_; and thence to Bridlington, Malton, Beverley, and Hull. In +the last mentioned town, Joseph Benson and the Methodists had recently +erected George Yard chapel, an edifice of which Benson was immensely +proud, and whose account of its opening services, six months before, +drew from Wesley the following laconic letter. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--I greatly rejoice in the erection of your new + preaching house; and in the tokens of the Divine presence with + which you and the people were favoured at the opening; but if + it be at all equal to the new chapel in London, I will engage + to eat it. + + “I am, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[628] + +Wesley’s new chapel in City Road was his _beau ideal_, and great was +his jealousy of all pretentious competitors; but still he was obliged +to acknowledge, that even George Yard chapel, Hull, was “well built, +and elegantly finished; handsome, but not gaudy.” + +During his stay in Hull, he preached twice in the high church, by the +invitation of the vicar, Mr. Clark; and thrice in Benson’s pet chapel. + +Notwithstanding his three heavy services on the previous day, Wesley, +an old man, in the eighty-fifth year of his age, set out on June 23, +and not only travelled all the way from Hull to York, but, preached +four sermons in four different towns and villages. + +At York a happy reconciliation was brought about. Wesley had been +greatly annoyed with Robert Spence for publishing the “York Hymn +Book”; and Robert had been so grieved by Wesley’s strictures as to be +strongly tempted to leave the Methodists. Wesley and the grand old +Methodist at York, however, were not the men to harbour malice; and, +by appointment, the offending bookseller breakfasted with Wesley, _at +three o’clock_ in the morning, and all past differences were consigned +to the shades of charitable oblivion.[629] + +A three o’clock breakfast! And yet, this, with Wesley, was not at all +unusual. His energy, diligence, and punctuality were marvellous. +Addressing his coachman, at this early breakfast in the city of York, +he said, “Have the carriage at the door at four. I do not mean a +quarter or five minutes past, but four.” The man knew what his master +meant; and, as the minster clock struck four, Wesley had shaken hands +with Robert Spence, and was entering his chaise.[630] Railways, since +then, have helped to make some men punctual; but Wesley was perfect in +this human excellence long before railway engines began to whistle. + +Wesley made his way to Epworth, where he spent his birthday. He +writes: + + “June 28.--I this day enter on my eighty-fifth year[631]: and + what cause have I to praise God, as for a thousand spiritual + blessings, so, for bodily blessings also! How little have I + suffered yet by ‘the rush of numerous years!’ It is true, I am + not so agile as I was in times past. I do not run or walk so + fast as I did; my sight is a little decayed; my left eye is + grown dim, and hardly serves me to read; I have daily some pain + in the ball of my right eye, as also in my right temple, + (occasioned by a blow received some months since,) and in my + right shoulder and arm, which I impute partly to a sprain, and + partly to the rheumatism. I find, likewise, some decay in my + memory, with regard to names and things lately past; but not at + all with regard to what I have read or heard twenty, forty, or + sixty years ago; neither do I find any decay in my hearing, + smell, taste, or appetite; (though I want but a third part of + the food I did once;) nor do I feel any such thing as + weariness, either in travelling or preaching; and I am not + conscious of any decay in writing sermons; which I do as + readily, and I believe, as correctly, as ever. + + “To what cause can I impute this, that I am as I am? First, + doubtless, to the power of God, fitting me for the work to + which I am called, as long as He pleases to continue me + therein; and, next, subordinately to this, to the prayers of + His children. + + “May we not impute it, as inferior means, (1) To my constant + exercise and change of air? (2) To my never having lost a + night’s sleep, sick or well, at land or at sea, since I was + born? (3) To my having sleep at command; so that, whenever I + feel myself almost worn out, I call it, and it comes, day or + night? (4) To my having constantly, for above sixty years, + risen at four in the morning? (5) To my constant preaching at + five in the morning, for above fifty years? (6) To my having + had so little pain in my life; and so little sorrow, or anxious + care? + + “Even now, though I find pain daily in my eye, or temple, or + arm; yet it is never violent, and seldom lasts many minutes at + a time. Whether or not this is sent to give me warning, that I + am shortly to quit this tabernacle, I do not know; but be it + one way or the other, I have only to say, + + ‘My remnant of days + I spend to His praise, + Who died the whole world to redeem: + Be they many or few, + My days are His due, + And they all are devoted to Him.’” + +Wesley’s two texts on this memorable birthday were appropriate. Here, +eighty-five years before, he had been born, in the Epworth parsonage; +and now, in the morning, he preached from, “So teach us to number our +days, that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom”; and, in the evening, +from, “Beware, therefore, lest that come upon you, which is spoken of +in the prophets; behold, ye despisers, and wonder, and perish; for I +work a work in your days, a work which ye shall in no wise believe, +though a man declare it unto you.” + +This may be a fitting place to insert a selection from Wesley’s +letters, written in the previous six months. + +The first was addressed to William Black, one of his missionaries in +Nova Scotia. Black had related to Wesley the cases of certain +demoniacs, and particularly one which he himself had seen. When Black +approached, it was with the utmost difficulty that four men could hold +the poor wretch, and prevent him doing the missionary serious injury. +Black immediately fell upon his knees, and began to pray. In an +instant, the frenzy of the man subsided; and the lips, that a few +moments before had uttered blasphemy, began to syllable the praises of +the great Redeemer. Wesley’s letter is as follows. + + “GLOUCESTER, _March 19, 1788_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am glad to find you are still going on in + the glorious work to which you are called. We have need to make + haste therein; to use all diligence. For the work is great; the + day is short; and lonely is the night wherein no man can work. + + “It is well that Satan is constrained to show himself so + plainly in the case of those poor demoniacs. Thereby, he + weakens his own kingdom, and excites us to assault him more + zealously. In the beginning of the work in England and Ireland, + we had many cases of the kind. But he now chooses to assault us + by subtlety more than by strength. + + “I wish you would do all you possibly can to keep our brethren + in peace with each other. Your pains will not be lost on poor + John McGeary. There is much good in him. Indeed, he is + naturally of a bold, forward temper; but I hope his zeal is now + according to knowledge. + + “Praying that you may increase with all the increase of God, I + am your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[632] + +The next is brief, but interesting. Agnes Collinson was now a +remarkable child, twelve years old. Six years afterwards, she became +the wife of Mr. Joseph Bulmer; and lived to be the authoress of +“Messiah’s Kingdom,” in twelve books, 486 pages, and of the beautiful +hymn, which is so often sung at the laying of the foundation stones of +Methodist chapels, “Thou who hast in Zion laid,” etc. + +Mrs. Bulmer was born a poet, and, at the death of Charles Wesley, +wrote an elegy, which was sent to the surviving brother, and evoked +the following characteristic letter. + + “MY DEAR MAIDEN,--Beware of pride; beware of flattery; suffer + none to commend you to your face; remember, one good temper is + of more value, in the sight of God, than a thousand good + verses. All you want is to have the mind that was in Christ, + and to walk as Christ walked. + + “I am, etc., + “JOHN WESLEY.”[633] + +The following is now for the first time published. William Simpson, to +whom it was addressed, was assistant in the Yarm circuit. + + “NEAR COLNE, _April 26, 1788_. + + “DEAR BILLY,--You did well to expel those who marry ungodly + persons,--a real evil, which we never can tolerate. You should + speak to every believer singly concerning meeting in band. + There were always some in Yarm circuit, though not many. No + circuit ever did, or ever will flourish, unless there are bands + in the large societies. It is a good sign, that so many of our + preachers are willing to contribute to those necessary + expenses. They used to be much straitened in their bowels, + whenever money was wanted. You have now good encouragement to + remain another year in the circuit. But you know two preachers + do not remain in the same circuit more than one year. + + “I am, dear Billy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Dr. Coke was an innovator. Finding that many of the Dublin Methodists +were in the habit of attending Dissenting chapels on the sabbath, he, +in order to prevent this, directed that, on three Sundays out of four, +there should be service in Whitefriar Street chapel in church hours; +and that, on the fourth, the Methodists should be recommended to +attend St. Patrick’s church, and receive the sacrament.[634] Henry +Moore was the assistant in the Dublin circuit; was nearly as old a man +as Coke; and, as a preacher, his superior. Coke’s assumption to act as +Wesley’s vicar gave great offence, and the new arrangement had to be +abandoned.[635] The following letters refer to this Dublin fracas, and +are not without interest, as evincing Wesley’s persistent adherence to +the Established Church. The first three were addressed to Moore; the +fourth to Coke. + + “LEEDS, _May 6, 1788_. + + “DEAR HENRY,--The doctor is too warm. He ought to have had more + regard to so respectable a body of men as applied to him. I am + a Church of England man; and, as I said fifty years ago, so I + say still, in the Church I will live and die, unless I am + thrust out. We must have no more service at Whitefriars in the + church hours. Leave all contention before it be meddled with. + Follow after peace. + + “I am, etc., + “JOHN WESLEY.”[636] + + “WHITEHAVEN, _May 11, 1788_. + + “DEAR HENRY,--Still, the more I reflect, the more I am + convinced, that the Methodists ought not to leave the Church. I + judge, that to lose a thousand, yea, ten thousand, of our + people, would be a less evil than this. ‘But many had much + comfort in this.’ So they would in any _new thing_. I believe + Satan himself would give them comfort herein; for he knows what + the end would be. Our glory has hitherto been not to be a + separate body: + + ‘Hoc Ithacus velit.’ + + “But whatever Mr. Smyth does, I am for the old way. I advise + you to abide in it, till you find another _new event_, + although, indeed, you may expect it every day; namely, the + removal of your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[637] + + “GLASGOW, _May 12, 1788_. + + “DEAR HENRY,--I allow two points: 1. That, while Dr. Coke is in + Dublin, he may have service at eleven o’clock as before. 2. + That, on condition that our brethren will attend St. Patrick’s + one Sunday in four, you may read prayers the other three in the + room. When Dr. Coke returns from Dublin, he should immediately + send me word who is proper to succeed you there. I shall be + glad, if I can, to have Nancy and you at Bristol next year. It + is not unlikely, I may finish my course there; and, if so, I + should love to have her to close my eyes. My brother said, I + should follow him within the year. But, be that as it may, by + God’s help, I will live to-day. + + “I am, etc., + “JOHN WESLEY.”[638] + + “GLASGOW, _May 16, 1788_. + + “DEAR SIR,--I came hither this morning. There is a fair opening + at Dumfries, and a prospect of much good. I like your proposal + concerning Joseph Cownley,[639] and will talk with him about it + if I live to see Newcastle. + + “As I said before, so I say still, I cannot, I dare not, leave + the Church, for the reasons we all agreed to thirty years ago + in the conference at Leeds. Thus far only I could go. On + condition, that our people would receive the Lord’s supper once + a month either at St. Patrick’s, or their own parish church + (the reasonableness of which should be strongly and largely + explained),--on this condition, I would allow Henry Moore to + read the morning service at Whitefriars on the other Sundays. + + “I wonder at the imprudence of Mr. Edward Smyth, to say nothing + of his unkindness. You did well in changing the stewards at + Waterford. + + “I am, dear sir, yours most affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[640] + +The following, hitherto unpublished, letter was addressed to Thomas +Taylor, then stationed at Manchester, and refers to a gigantic evil +which still exists. + + “NEAR NEWCASTLE, _June 7, 1788_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--I have no time to spend on controversy about the + Church, unless I had leisure to write a folio. + + “It is no wonder, that every one should be ruined who concerns + himself with that execrable bill trade. In London, I expel + every one out of our society who has anything to do with it. + Whoever endorses a bill, (that is, promises to pay,) for more + than he is worth, is either a fool or a knave. + + “I am, dear Tommy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +When Wesley was at Bradford, in the month of May, he preached in the +parish church, and, in the course of his sermon, quoted the opinion of +Bengelius, that the millennial reign of Christ would begin in the year +1836. Some one present circulated this as the opinion of Wesley +himself; and, as the opinion of such a man was regarded of high +importance, the rumoured prophecy ran throughout the kingdom, and more +than one of Wesley’s friends wrote to ask if what was said was true. +The following is Wesley’s reply to Christopher Hopper. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I said nothing, less or more, in Bradford + church, concerning the end of the world, neither concerning my + own opinion, but what follows:--That Bengelius had given it as + his opinion, not that the world would then end, but, that the + millennial reign of Christ would begin in the year 1836. I have + no opinion at all upon the head; I can determine nothing about + it. These calculations are far above, out of my sight. I have + only one thing to do,--to save my soul, and those that hear me. + + “I am, yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[641] + +We left Wesley celebrating his eighty-sixth birthday, in his +birthplace, Epworth. Here he preached four or five sermons, held a +lovefeast, and attended sacred service in his father’s church. He +writes: + + “Mr. Gibson read the prayers with seriousness, and preached a + plain, useful sermon; but I was sorry to see scarce twenty + communicants, half of whom came on my account. I was informed, + likewise, that scarce fifty persons used to attend the Sunday + service. What can be done to remedy this sore evil? I fain + would prevent the members here from leaving the Church; but I + cannot do it. As Mr. Gibson is not a pious man, but rather an + enemy to piety, who frequently preaches against the truth, and + those that hold and love it, I cannot, with all my influence, + persuade them either to hear him, or to attend the sacrament + administered by him. If I cannot carry this point even while I + live, who then can do it when I die? And the case of Epworth is + the case of every church, where the minister neither loves nor + preaches the gospel; the Methodists will not attend his + administrations. What then is to be done?” + +This is amusing. Here we find Wesley acknowledging, that, in the very +place where his father had been rector for nearly forty years, the +Methodists had, _ipso facto_, separated from the Church, and that he, +with all his influence, had not sufficient power to hinder it. + +During the next fortnight, Wesley preached, on an average, twice a +day, until his arrival in London, on July 15. The following letters +belong to this period. The first was addressed to Mr. John Mann, one +of his missionaries in Nova Scotia. + + “_June 30, 1788._ + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am greatly concerned for the prosperity of + the work of God in Nova Scotia. It seems some way to lie nearer + my heart than even that in the United States; many of our + brethren there are, we may hope, strong in the Lord, and in the + power of His might; but I look upon those in the northern + provinces to be younger, and tender children, and consequently + to stand in need of our utmost care. I hope all of you, that + watch over them, are exactly of one mind, and of one judgment; + that you take care always to speak the same things, and to + watch over one another in love. + + “Mr. Wray is a workman that need not be ashamed. I am glad to + hear of his safe arrival. Although he has not much + learning,[642] he has, what is far better, uprightness of + heart, and devotedness to God. I doubt not but he and you will + be one, and go on your way hand in hand. Whatever opposers you + meet with, Calvinists, papists, antinomians, or any other, have + a particular care, that they do not take up too much either of + your thoughts or time. You have better work; keep to your one + point, Christ dying for us, and living in us; so will you + fulfil the joy of, + + “My dear brethren, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[643] + +The following was addressed to Samuel Bradburn, and, up to the +present, has not been published. + + “EPWORTH, _July 6, 1788_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--To-morrow evening, I hope to be at Doncaster; on + Wednesday, at Sheffield; and to-morrow sennight, at London, + bringing my daughter with me. That evening I should not object + to preaching at West Street. On Tuesday morning, I would + breakfast in Chesterfield Street, if my sister will be ready at + eight o’clock. Then I must hide myself till Sunday; when I will + preach at one or the other chapel for Kingswood. Peace be with + you and yours! + + “I am, dear Sammy, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The next, addressed to Mr. Jasper Winscomb, is also now for the first +time printed. + + “LONDON, _July 16, 1788_. + + “DEAR JASPER,--If all our society at Portsmouth, or elsewhere, + separate from the Church, I cannot help it. But, I will not. + Therefore, I can in no wise consent to the having service in + church hours. _You_ used to love the Church; then keep to it, + and exhort all our people to do the same. If it be true, that + brother Hayter is used to talk against the other preachers, as + well as against Thomas Warwick, brother Hayter and I shall not + agree. Of dividing circuits we may speak at the conference. + + “I am, dear Jasper, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The following also has not before been published. It was addressed to +“Mr. Churchey, attorney at law, near the Hay, Brecon”; and refers to +certain poetical productions which Mr. Churchey wished to print. + + “NEAR LONDON, _July 22, 1788_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am glad you spoke to Mr. Cowper.[644] What + pity it is that such talents as his should be employed in so + useless a manner! + + “Mr. Bradburn delivered your papers to me a few days ago; but + this is so busy a time, that I had not leisure to go through + them till to-day. _In the Translation of the Art of Printing, + there are many very good lines_; but there are some that want a + good deal of filing; and many that are obscure. The sense is so + much clouded, that it is not easy to be understood. For many + years, I have not had any booksellers but Mr. Atlay and my + assistants. _Some of the shorter copies are good sense and good + poetry._ + + “My dear brother has left a translation of the Book of Psalms, + and verses enough to make, at least, six volumes in duodecimo. + I could but ill spare him, now I am myself so far declined into + the vale of years. But it is the Lord; let Him do what seemeth + Him good. Our time is now short. Let my dear sister Churchey, + and you, and I make the best of it. + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +A week after the above letter was written, Wesley opened his +conference, which continued its sittings till August 6. Besides +presiding, he preached every evening, and on the conference Sunday +twice. The last day was kept as a solemn fast,--prayer-meetings being +held at five, nine, and one, and the day concluded with a watchnight. +No wonder, that the old Methodist preachers returned from conferences, +to their respective circuits, like flames of fire. Wesley writes: + + “One of the most important points considered at this conference + was that of leaving the Church. The sum of a long conversation + was: (1) that, in a course of fifty years, we had neither + premeditatedly nor willingly varied from it in one article + either of doctrine or discipline; (2) that we were not yet + conscious of varying from it in any point of doctrine; (3) that + we have, in a course of years, out of necessity, not of choice, + slowly and warily varied in some points of discipline, by + preaching in the fields, by extemporary prayer, by employing + lay preachers, by forming and regulating societies, and by + holding yearly conferences. But we did none of these things + till we were convinced we could no longer omit them, but at the + peril of our souls.” + +This was correct so far as it went; but Wesley ought to have added, +the ordaining of preachers, the licensing of chapels; and, further, +that in this selfsame year he had published a 12mo volume of 430 +pages, entitled, “The Sunday Service of the Methodists; with other +Occasional Services”; in reality, an altered edition of the +Prayer-Book of the Church of England, attached to which was a +“Collection of Psalms and Hymns for the Lord’s Day,” composed by +himself and his brother. Wesley, in his preface, says: + + “Little alteration is made in the following edition of it, [The + Prayer-Book,] except in the following instances: + + “1. Most of the holy days (so called) are omitted, as, at + present, answering no valuable end. + + “2. The service of the Lord’s day, the length of which has + often been complained of, is considerably shortened. + + “3. Some sentences, in the offices of baptism, and for the + burial of the dead, are omitted. And, + + “4. Many psalms left out, and many parts of the others, as + being highly improper for the mouths of a Christian + congregation.” + +Throughout his book, Wesley uses the word “minister,” instead of the +objectionable word “priest.” The half popish canticle in the morning +prayer, “Benedicite, omnia opera,” is left out. In the communion +service, the word “elder” is used instead of “priest”; and, in the +public baptism of infants, Wesley dispenses with signing the child +with the sign of the cross, and leaves out the sentence, in the +thanksgiving, that “it hath pleased God to regenerate this infant with +His Holy Spirit.” The “order of confirmation” is omitted, and no +reference is made to godfathers and godmothers. The “order for the +visitation of the sick” is totally expunged, and of course the popish +absolution, “by His (Christ’s) authority committed to me, I absolve +thee from all thy sins, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and +of the Holy Ghost. Amen.” In lieu of the three forms for ordaining +deacons, priests, and bishops, Wesley gives three for “ordaining +_superintendents_, _elders_, and _deacons_.” Wesley takes equal +liberty with the articles of religion. Some are entirely omitted; +others are abridged, or variously altered. + +We find no fault with all this. Upon the whole, we regard Wesley’s +expurgations as emendations.[645] His prayer-book is purged from +popish and Calvinian errors; and, in that respect, is superior to the +prayer-book of the Church of England. This, however, is not the point +in question; but rather, whether, after Wesley had done all this, he +could be fairly and honestly considered a member and minister of the +Established Church. The Rev. G. Nott, in his Bampton lecture, +delivered eleven years after Wesley’s death, elaborately argued this +matter, and returned a negative reply; and, we confess, it seems +impossible to refute his general conclusion, namely, that both “Wesley +and Whitefield are to be regarded as separatists from the Church of +England.”[646] To the day of his death, Wesley protested against this; +but his warmest friends must admit that, though both were undeniably +sincere, yet, in this respect, profession and practice were at +variance. + +Three years before this, he had ordained Joseph Taylor, who, ever +since, had preached in gown and bands, and administered the sacraments +in Scotland. Joseph was now appointed to Nottingham circuit; and, of +course, as an ordained minister, dreamed that he was the same in +England as he had been in Scotland. But not so. Wesley, who, three +years before, had _frocked_ his itinerant for the people across the +Tweed, now _unfrocked_ him for the people bordering on the Trent. +Hence the following. + + “LONDON, _November 16, 1788_. + + “DEAR JOSEPH,--I take knowledge of your spirit, and believe it + is your desire to do all things right. Our friends in Newark + should not have forgotten, that we have determined over and + over ‘not to leave the Church.’ Before they had given you that + foolish advice, they should have consulted me. I desire you + would not wear the surplice, nor administer the Lord’s supper, + any more. + + “I am, dear Joseph, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[647] + +Such was the frequent clashing between practice and profession. The +prayer-book, above mentioned, had been put into the hands of the +Methodists; and yet, because of its alterations and abridgments, it +was of no use in services conducted in the Church of England. For what +then was it intended? The following extract, from the minutes of +conference in 1788, supplies an answer. + + “_Q. 21._ What further directions may be given concerning the + prayers of the Church of England? + + “_A._ The assistants shall have a discretionary power to read + the Prayer-Book in the preaching houses on Sunday mornings, + where they think it expedient, if the generality of the society + acquiesce with it; on condition that Divine service never be + performed in the church hours on the Sundays when the sacrament + is administered in the parish church where the preaching house + is situated; and that the people be strenuously exhorted to + attend the sacrament in the parish church on those Sundays.” + +This may be vaguely worded; but there can be no mistake about its +meaning. By Wesley’s authority, and that of his conference, assistants +everywhere were permitted to do what Dr. Coke had authorised to be +done in Dublin, namely, that, on certain conditions, there should be +Divine service in Methodist chapels in the same hours as Divine +service was performed in the parish churches adjoining them. If this +was not separation, what was it? + +There were two other points discussed at the conference of 1788, of +great importance. Many of the preachers were shamefully left without +adequate support, and were actually obliged, either to starve from +hunger, or to go from house to house to obtain their meals. Wesley was +annoyed, perhaps indignant; and, to remedy this glaring evil, the +assistants were directed to enforce, that every member, who could +afford it, should contribute, in the classmeetings, a penny per week, +and a shilling per quarter, at the quarterly visitation, for the +maintenance of the preachers appointed to watch over them. And, in +addition, Wesley issued the following address. + + “_To our Societies in England and Ireland._ + + “FIFTY years ago, and for several years following, all our + preachers were single men, when, in process of time, a few of + them married. Those with whom they laboured maintained both + them and their wives, there being then no settled allowance + either for the one or the other. But above thirty years ago, it + was found most convenient to fix a stated allowance for + both,[648] and this was found by the circuits where they were + stationed; till one year some of the circuits complained of + poverty. Dr. Coke and I supplied what was wanting. The next + year, the number of wives increasing, three or four of them + were supplied out of the contingent fund. This was a bad + precedent, for more and more wives were thrown upon this fund, + till it was likely to be swallowed up thereby.[649] We could + think of no way to prevent this, but to consider the state of + our societies in England and Ireland, and to beg the members of + each circuit to give us that assistance which they can easily + do without hurting their families. + + “Within these fifty years, the substance of the Methodists is + increased in proportion to their numbers. Therefore, if you are + not straitened in your own bowels, this will be no grievance, + but you will cheerfully give food and raiment to those who give + up all their time, and strength, and labour to your service. + + “LONDON, _August 2, 1788_. + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +No wonder that, in his later years, Wesley so often wrote and spoke of +the corrupting influence of the riches of rich Methodists! + +The other affair, which demanded the attention of Wesley’s conference, +in 1788, was equally unpleasant. Six years before, as we have already +seen, the trustees, at Birstal, claimed the power of appointing +preachers to their chapel. This was followed by the deed of +declaration in 1784. At the very time this deed was being signed, the +same subject was revived at Dewsbury, a town contiguous to Birstal. + +Here it had been proposed to build a new chapel. Mr. Valton, the +assistant, refused to move in the matter, unless it was agreed that +the chapel should be settled according to the conference plan. Mr. +Heald and some others wished to obtain from Wesley certain +concessions, and wrote to John Atlay, the book steward, to secure +them. Atlay replied as follows. + + “LONDON, _February 23, 1784_. + + “MY DEAR SIR,--I have, this morning, been with Mr. Wesley, and + have laid your letter before him.[650] He is not only willing, + but _desires_, it be inserted in your deed, that, if ever the + conference, or the preacher appointed by conference, refuse or + neglect to provide a preacher for your chapel for three or four + Sundays, then the trustees shall have it in their own power to + call one whom they please, and the power of nomination shall be + theirs in future. + + “If any preacher, appointed to serve your chapel, should be + proved guilty of immorality, the trustees shall have a power to + reject him; and, if the conference does not send another to + fill up his place, you shall have a power to call one to do it. + + “JOHN ATLAY.” + +On the receipt of this letter, Valton solicited subscriptions, and +preached at the laying of the foundation stone.[651] + +Five days after the date of the above letter, the deed of declaration +was executed; and, among other names omitted, in the constitution of +the legal conference, were those of John Atlay and William Eels, the +first of whom had been a preacher one-and-twenty years, and the second +twelve. This, by no means, increased Atlay’s loyalty. In an +unpublished letter, dated September 17, 1785, he writes: “Mr. Hampson +is well provided for. I have begun to do a little business for myself +as coal merchant; and have reason to think it will do well for me. I +have not left the book room, nor do I intend it _at present_. I have +my trials; but the disagreeable things I have met with, in our +connexion, have really raised my heart to God.” + +In another, bearing date, April 18, 1786, he says: “You smile at my +commencing coal merchant. There was a time when I could have trusted +to my good old friend” (Wesley) “for everything that I wanted, or was +likely to want; but late occurrences have given me a check; and, I +really think, the thing is right in the sight of the Lord.” He then +proceeds to state that he had lately been attending the ministry of +Mr. Latrobe, the Moravian minister, and that he increasingly admired +him every time he heard him. + +These extracts may help to throw some light on Atlay’s subsequent +conduct. + +Meanwhile, Dewsbury chapel was completed, and a draft of the trust +deed was sent, by Parson Greenwood, to Manchester conference, in 1787, +for perusal. This was handed officially to Alexander Mather, who +strongly objected to its provisions; and complained that the trustees +had not inserted a clause, to the effect, “that no preacher should be +sent away till he was tried, and found guilty, before his peers, or +the neighbouring assistant preachers.” The trustees refused to yield, +thus, in reality, making themselves, as Dr. Coke put it, “accusers, +jury, judges, and executioners.”[652] Wesley had appointed Parson +Greenwood and William Percival to the Dewsbury circuit; but, on +October 23, he instructed them to abandon the chapel and to leave the +trustees to provide for themselves to their hearts’ content. + +Mr. Mather, at the time, was in the Sheffield circuit, and obtained +Wesley’s consent to become mediator between the contending parties. +Accordingly he went, and proposed to the trustees that they should +have power: (1) To mortgage the premises for the debt unpaid. (2) To +let the seats at any price they liked. (3) To appoint their own +stewards, and dispose of their own income. He further proposed, that +no assistant should expel a trustee from the society but by the +consent of the majority of his co-trustees. All this was palatable; +but what followed was otherwise. Mather, of course, had no objection +to a preacher being dismissed for immorality, as was proposed in +Atlay’s letter; but he wished to institute a court in which the +accused might have a fair and impartial trial; and, hence, requested +that a clause might be inserted in the trust deed, providing that +three of the nearest assistants should be judges; that, if they found +the charges proved, they should join with the trustees in requesting +Wesley, or the president of the conference for the time being, to +remove the guilty preacher, and to send another in his place; that, if +this was not done within a specified time, the trustees should do it +themselves; and that, if the conference next ensuing did not send +another preacher, then the election of preachers was to remain with +the trustees, and the power of conference, to appoint preachers to +Dewsbury chapel, to be forfeited for ever. This the trustees +stubbornly rejected; and the further consideration of the matter was +postponed till February 5, 1788. At this second interview, it was +proposed by Mr. Mather, that an appeal should be made to the +subscribers to decide whether the clauses he had named should be +inserted in the deed; and that their decision should be final. This +also was refused; and now, when all further negotiation seemed +impossible, Mather, by Wesley’s request, informed the seatholders, +“that they were not to pay any more rent till the matter was settled +between him and the trustees.” + +Thus the affair was left till the conference of 1788; when a committee +met on the subject. John Atlay was present, and remarked, that if he +were to go down to Dewsbury he would soon settle matters with the +trustees. Mather objected to Atlay’s suggestion, and said: “Mr. Atlay, +it is reported, that you have promised the trustees, that, if Mr. +Wesley withdraws the preachers from Dewsbury, you will yourself go and +serve them. I ask you then, before God and these brethren, have you +made _any_ such promise, or have you not?” Atlay reluctantly +acknowledged, that he had; and, further, that he had also advised the +Methodists at Malton not to settle their chapel on the conference +plan. Next morning Wesley wrote as follows. + + “_To the Trustees of Dewsbury._ + + “LONDON, _July 30, 1788_. + + “MY DEAR BRETHREN,--The question between us is, ‘By whom shall + the preachers sent, from time to time, to Dewsbury be judged?’ + You say, ‘By the trustees.’ I say, ‘By their peers--the + preachers met in conference.’ You say, ‘Give up this, and we + will receive them.’ I say, ‘I cannot, I dare not, give up + this.’ Therefore, if you will not receive them on these terms, + you renounce connection with your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +As the trustees still held out, the conference decided that another +deputation, consisting of Mather, Pawson, Thompson, Greenwood, and +Percival, should meet at Dewsbury on August 14. The deputies asked, +“Have you executed a trust deed?” The trustees answered, “Yes.” “Can +we see it?” “No.” “Will you add to it a clause such as Mr. Wesley +wishes?” “No.” Such, in substance, were the proceedings of the +meeting. The result was, as before stated, the preachers, who had been +appointed at Dewsbury, were at once removed; the chapel was abandoned; +and the preachers in the Birstal circuit once more commenced Methodism +at Dewsbury, by preaching in the open streets.[653] + +Five days after the date of the Dewsbury meeting, John Atlay, who, as +we have seen, had joined to Wesley’s book stewardship the business of +a coal merchant, and had also been toying with the Dewsbury trustees, +wrote as follows to Wesley. + + “LONDON, _August 19, 1788_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--I was in hopes matters at Dewsbury + would have been made up; but, by a letter yesterday, I am + informed that their preachers are removed from them, and their + place declared vacant; in consequence of which, the trustees + have most solemnly called me to come amongst them. They plead + my promise; and I cannot go back from it. With me a promise is + sacred, though it should be ever so much to my hurt; and, as to + temporals, it must hurt me much. But I regard not that, if + there is a prospect that I shall be much more useful there than + I ever have been, or can be, in London. But it gives me more + pain than I can express, when I tell you that, in order to go + there, I must quit the book room. The longest that I can stay + in it will be till the 25th of September; and, by that time, + you will be able to get one for my place. I think the fittest + man in the world for it is Joseph Bradford. If he should be + appointed, he may come directly, and stay with us till we go; + and, by that time, I could teach him more than he can learn in + three months without me; but these things I leave to your + superior judgment. + + “I have only now to request a few things of you. Do not be + angry with me for leaving you, after having spent fifteen of + the best years of my life in serving you, with more care, fear, + labour, and pain, than all the years of my life have produced. + Do not blame me for going to a people you have left; they are + the Lord’s redeemed ones, and some of them living members of + His body. Do not disown me, nor forbid my preaching in any of + your places; but give me leave, where and when it is agreeable + to the preachers, to preach in your houses. But if this request + cannot be complied with, then drop me silently; and let me be + of too little consequence to say anything about me from the + pulpit or press. I beg you will write by return of post; and do + not write unkindly to your faithful servant and friend, + + “JOHN ATLAY.”[654] + +Was this the whine of a mercenary man? or was it the genuine effusion +of a loving and honest heart? The reader must answer for himself; +remembering, however, that the Dewsbury chapel had been built, not by +the money of the trustees, but by the subscriptions of the Methodists; +that three years previous to this, Atlay had entertained the thought +of ultimately leaving Wesley’s stewardship, and, with an eye to that, +had begun the business of selling coals; and, further, that, since +then, he had unquestionably encouraged the Dewsbury trustees in their +rebellion, by promising to become their preacher, when Wesley withdrew +his. What was Wesley’s answer to his double dealing friend? + + “PEMBROKE, _August 23, 1788_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--If you are persuaded, that such a promise + (which is the whole and sole cause of the breach at Dewsbury) + is binding, you must follow your persuasion. You will have + blame enough from other persons; my hand shall not be upon you. + If I can do you good, I will; but shall certainly do you no + harm. George Whitfield is the person I choose to succeed you. I + wish you would teach him as much as you can without delay. + + “I am, with kind love to sister Atlay, your affectionate + brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Thus did Wesley dispose of his book steward’s mischievous promise; his +pert nomination of Joseph Bradford as his successor; and his +whimpering prayer that Wesley would not punish him for his naughty +tricks. + +It is hardly necessary to insert the whole of the correspondence. +Suffice it to say, that Wesley requested Atlay, before he left, to +employ “one or two proper persons to take an inventory of all the +books in the shop and under the chapel,” so that George Whitfield +might know what was put into his care. Atlay’s reply to this was the +following. + + + “LONDON, _September 20, 1788_. + + “REVEREND AND DEAR SIR,--We have almost this moment finished + our job of taking the stock; and, as near as we can tell, your + stock is this day worth £13,751 18_s._ 5_d._, according to the + prices fixed in the catalogue. However, you may be sure it is + not less than that. Most of these are saleable things. You will + be sure to find sale for them, if you live; and, if not, they + will be of equal value to those to whom you leave them. + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN ATLAY.” + +Atlay went to Dewsbury on September 24, and took possession of the +chapel built with the money of Methodists. We have before us a number +of Mr. Pawson’s letters, written at this period, and in reference to +the Dewsbury unpleasantness. Pawson went, and preached to the +discontented Methodists; and spent two days in endeavouring to put +them right; but without effect. Mr. Mather was “highly offended” on +account of this; and Mr. Atlay wrote to Pawson “a thundering letter.” +Under date of September 16, 1788, Pawson says: + + “You see the blessedness of striving to make peace. The + assistants of the neighbouring circuits are to preach in the + streets at Dewsbury, in their turns. This is pain and grief to + me. To preach in opposition, Methodists against Methodists, is + painful beyond expression. I believe all might have been + prevented by loving, prudent preachers. We have had a few + unworthy men among us, who have been a great burden to us and + to the people; but we do not lay them aside. Therefore, the + people will oblige us to do it, by making deeds like that at + Dewsbury. Some of our preachers do not live near to God, and do + not endeavour, by reading and prayer, to render themselves + acceptable to the people. But now it seems as though the people + would make them look about them a little.” + +From other unpublished letters, we learn that Atlay and Eels[655] had +large congregations; that they had taken with them the whole of the +Dewsbury society, except a good man and his wife, of the name of +Drake; and that one of the trustees soon became a bankrupt, and was +said to have squandered a considerable amount of Atlay’s money. +Difficulties speedily ensued; hence the following, extracted from a +letter dated + + “BIRSTAL, _December 18, 1789_. + + “... Mr. Atlay and Mr. Eels cannot supply the places they have + at present. They want another preacher, but cannot get one. + They have tried to get Mr. Holmes, who left us last conference, + but he is engaged to Sheerness, as the society there is + divided. Besides, I understand, they are all for the Church, + and utterly against separation, ordination, etc. The devil can + no longer set the men of the world against us; but he is trying + a much more effectual way, setting the people and preachers one + against another. + + “JOHN PAWSON.”[656] + +Thus did Mr. Atlay really set up an _imperium in imperio_. He called +himself a Methodist; and yet was setting Methodism’s founder at +defiance. Not content with taking possession of the Dewsbury circuit, +he went to Shields, and there, and in Newcastle, and other places, +founded separate societies. At length, he and his friend Eels +quarrelled. Hence the following. + + “BIRSTAL, _May 17, 1791_. + + “... Mr. Atlay and Mr. Eels have differed and parted. Mr. Atlay + is gone to London, and whether he will return to Dewsbury is + quite uncertain. I believe very few desire or expect it. He has + treated Mr. Eels in a very unkind and unbrotherly manner ever + since he came to Dewsbury, and Mr. Eels was determined to bear + it no longer. The trustees had a meeting, and determined that + Mr. Eels should stay; and be, in every respect, equal to Mr. + Atlay. They are greatly displeased with Mr. Atlay’s conduct, as + well as with his doctrines. He has got deep into Mr. + Manners’[657] opinions, and says that he has believed them + these twenty years. Mr. Eels is very friendly, and I believe + most sincerely wishes a reconciliation, and I hope will + endeavour to bring it about. + + “JOHN PAWSON.”[658] + +William Eels died within two years after this. In the meantime, the +Dewsbury trustees began to entertain “shocking opinions” of their +friend Atlay; and in September, 1792, sent for Pawson to effect a +reunion.[659] + +We need not pursue the subject farther. Here we have the rise, the +progress, and collapse of the Atlayite rebellion. We could give a +number of Atlay’s letters, showing that, in 1789, he coquetted with +Alexander McNab, and tried to secure the co-operation of James Oddie. +But the traitorous book steward has already occupied more space than +his worth deserves. We only add, that, to all his other faults, he +added that of circulating the most infamous reports reflecting on +Wesley’s moral character;[660] which extorted from Wesley the +following characteristic “Word to whom it may Concern,” inserted in +his _Magazine_ for 1790, just after the appearance of Atlay’s pamphlet +on the subject. + + “IN August, 1788, Mr. Atlay wrote me word, ‘I must look out for + another servant, for he would go to Dewsbury on September 25.’ + So far was I from ‘bidding him go,’ that I knew nothing of it + till that hour. But I then told him, ‘Go and serve them’: + seeing I found he would serve me no longer. + + “He sent me word that I had in London £13,751 18_s._ 5_d._, + stock in books. Desiring to know exactly, I employed two + booksellers to take an account of my stock. The account they + brought in, October 31, 1788, was: + + ‘Value of stock, errors excepted, £4827 10_s._ 3½_d._ + + ‘John Parsons, + Thomas Scollick.’ + + “Why did John Atlay so wonderfully overrate my stock? Certainly + to do me honour in the eyes of the world. + + “I never approved of his going to Dewsbury; but I submitted to + what I could not help. + + “With respect to Dewsbury House, there never was any dispute + about the _property of preaching houses_, that was an artful + misrepresentation; but merely the _appointing of preachers_ in + them. + + “If John Atlay has a mind to throw any more dirt upon me, I do + not know I shall take any pains to wipe it off. I have but a + few days to live; and I wish to spend those in peace. + + “LONDON, _Feb. 25, 1790_. “JOHN WESLEY.” + +These are long, perhaps tedious, statements; but they are not without +interest, as helping to illustrate the life and character of Wesley. +His career was a long continued scene of trouble. Mobs assailed him +first; then parsons and pamphleteers; then his friends, the +Calvinists; and, last of all, his vexations were chiefly those +occasioned by some of his own faithless followers. + +Not to return to Dewsbury, it may be added here, that, at the +conference of 1789, the preachers subscribed £206 towards the erection +of a new chapel; and Wesley issued two circulars, stating the case to +the Methodists in general, and asking their assistance. After +mentioning that the former chapel had been built by the contributions +of the people, (the trustees themselves not giving a quarter of what +it cost,) he continues: + + “Observe, here is no dispute about the right of houses at all. + I have no right to any preaching house in England. What I claim + is, a right of stationing the preachers. This these trustees + have robbed me of in the present instance. Therefore, only one + of these two ways can be taken; either to sue for this house, + or to build another: we prefer the latter, being the most + friendly way. + + “I beg, therefore, my brethren, for the love of God; for the + love of me, your old and well-nigh worn out servant; for the + love of ancient Methodism, which, if itinerancy is interrupted, + will speedily come to nothing; for the love of justice, mercy, + and truth, which are all so grievously violated by the + detention of this house; that you will set your shoulders to + the necessary work. Be not straitened in your own bowels. We + have never had such a cause before. Let not then unkind, + unjust, fraudulent men, have cause to rejoice in their bad + labour. This is a common cause. Exert yourselves to the utmost. + I have subscribed £50. So has Dr. Coke. The preachers have done + all they could. O let them that have much give plenteously! + Perhaps, this is the last labour of love I may have occasion to + recommend to you; let it then stand as one more monument of + your real gratitude to, my dear brethren, your old, + affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[661] + +We now return to the conference of 1788. These were not the only +things to try Wesley’s patience. An effort was made to set aside the +itinerant plan in Scotland,--a plan to which, as already shown, Wesley +attached the utmost importance. This evoked the following letter to +Lady Maxwell. + + “LONDON, _August 8, 1788_. + + “MY DEAR LADY,--It is certain, many persons, both in Scotland + and England, would be well pleased to have the same preachers + always. But we cannot forsake the plan of acting, which we have + followed from the beginning. For fifty years, God has been + pleased to bless the itinerant plan; the last year most of all; + it must not be altered, till I am removed; and, I hope, it will + remain till our Lord comes to reign upon earth. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[662] + +To the same effect was another, written three months later, and +addressed to Jasper Winscomb. + + “LONDON, _November 8, 1788_. + + “DEAR JASPER,--William Cashman advised you like a heathen. Mr. + Valton _deserves_ pay, as well as you do. But he does not want + it, and, therefore, scorns to take it, knowing the poverty of + the land. + + “I am glad to hear so good an account of the Isle of Wight. The + work of God will flourish, there, if it be steadily pursued. + + “No preacher ought to stay either at Portsmouth, or Sarum, or + any other place, a whole week together. That is not the + Methodist plan at all. It is a novel abuse. + + “I am, dear Jasper, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[663] + +On the 10th of August, Wesley set out for Wales and the west of +England; generally preaching twice a day, and on the Sundays thrice, +and everywhere to crowded congregations. + +On the 28th of September, he returned to London, and, two days after, +went off to Norfolk. The remainder of the year was employed, as usual, +in the metropolis and the surrounding counties. + +These were not pleasure trips; but made in wintry weather, in frost +and snow; the veteran of eighty-five preaching almost daily, both +night and morning, and attending to a thousand things which demanded +his attention.[664] He writes. + + “December 10, and the following days, I corrected my brother’s + posthumous poems; being short psalms, and hymns on the four + gospels, and the Acts of the Apostles. They make five volumes + in quarto, containing eighteen or nineteen hundred pages. Many + of them are little, if any, inferior to his former poems, + having the same justness and strength of thought, with the same + beauty of expression; yea, the same keenness of wit on proper + occasions, as bright and piercing as ever. Some are bad; some + mean; some most excellently good. They give the true sense of + Scripture, always in good English, generally in good verse; + many of them are equal to most, if not to any, he ever wrote; + but some still savour of that poisonous mysticism, with which + we were both not a little tainted before we went to America. + This gave a gloomy cast, first to his mind, and then to many of + his verses; this made him frequently describe religion as a + melancholy thing; this so often sounded in his ears, ‘To the + desert!’ and strongly persuaded in favour of solitude.” + +What had Wesley to say respecting himself? He writes. + + “About this time” [December 15] “I was reflecting on the gentle + steps whereby age steals upon us. Take only one instance. Four + years ago, my sight was as good as it was at five-and-twenty. I + then began to observe, that I did not see things quite so clear + with my left eye as with my right; all objects appeared a + little browner to that eye. I began next to find a little + difficulty in reading a small print by candlelight. A year + after, I found it in reading such a print by daylight. In the + winter of 1786, I could not well read our four shilling + hymn-book, unless with a large candle; the next year, I could + not read letters, if wrote with a small or bad hand. Last + winter, a pearl appeared on my left eye, the sight of which + grew exceeding dim. The right eye seems unaltered; only I am a + great deal nearer sighted than ever I was. Thus are ‘those that + look out at the windows darkened’; one of the marks of old age. + But, I bless God, ‘the grasshopper is’ not ‘a burden.’ I am + still capable of travelling, and my memory is much the same as + it ever was; and so, I think, is my understanding.” + +Thus did Wesley take stock of himself. + +On Christmas day, he preached at four o’clock in the morning, in City +Road, again at eleven, and in West Street in the evening. On the last +Sunday in the year, he had an exceedingly large congregation in +Allhallows church, Lombard Street; and, concerning this, there is an +anecdote worth relating. The sermon was for the benefit of forty-eight +poor children belonging to St. Ethelburga society. “Sir,” said Wesley +to his attendant while putting on his gown, “it is above fifty years +since I first preached in this church; I remember it from a particular +circumstance. I came without a sermon; and, going up the pulpit +stairs, I hesitated, and returned into the vestry, under much mental +confusion and agitation. A woman, who stood by, noticed my concern, +and said, ‘Pray, sir, what is the matter?’ I replied, ‘I have not +brought a sermon with me.’ Putting her hand on my shoulder, she said, +‘Is that all? Cannot you trust God for a sermon?’ This question had +such an effect upon me, that I ascended the pulpit, preached +extempore, with great freedom to myself, and acceptance to the people; +and have never since taken a written sermon into the pulpit.”[665] “A +word spoken in due season, how good is it!” + +Wesley’s publications, in 1788, have all been noticed, except his +_Magazine_; and, concerning this, it is not needful to say much. There +are, as usual, six new sermons from the venerable editor’s own pen: +namely, On Reproving Sin; The Signs of the Times; Man; The Ministry of +Wicked Ministers; Conscience; and Faith. + +Wesley concludes the first of these thus: + + “I have now only a few words to add unto you, my brethren, who + are vulgarly called Methodists. I never heard or read of any + considerable revival of religion, which was not attended with a + spirit of reproving. I believe, it cannot be otherwise; for + what is faith unless it worketh by love? Thus it was in every + part of England, when the present revival of religion began + about fifty years ago. All the subjects of that revival,--all + the Methodists, in every place, were reprovers of outward sin. + And, indeed, so are all that, being justified by faith, have + peace with God through Jesus Christ. Such they are at first; + and if they use that precious gift, it will never be taken + away. Come, brethren! In the name of God, let us begin again! + Rich or poor, let us all arise as one man! And, in any wise, + let every man rebuke his neighbour, and not suffer sin upon + him!” + +Wesley’s sermon, on attending the ministry of unconverted ministers, +would never have been written, had he not been pressed by the +objections of Methodists, and yet determined to prevent their leaving +the Established Church. Its arguments are specious, not sound. It +might puzzle the simple minded Methodists; but it would not convince +them they were wrong. It was a feeble attempt to get converted people +to sit under an unconverted ministry. We conclude with one extract. + + “It has been loudly affirmed, that most of those persons now in + connection with _me_, who believe it their duty to call sinners + to repentance, having been taken immediately from low trades, + tailors, shoemakers, and the like, are a set of poor, stupid, + illiterate men, that scarce know their right hand from their + left; yet, I cannot but say, that I would sooner cut off my + right hand, than suffer one of them to speak a word in any of + our chapels, if I had not reasonable proof, that he had more + knowledge in the holy Scriptures, more knowledge of himself, + more knowledge of God and of the things of God, than nine in + ten of the clergymen I have conversed with, either at the + universities, or elsewhere. Undoubtedly, there are many + clergymen in these kingdoms, that are not only free from + outward sin, but men of eminent learning, and, what is + infinitely more, deeply acquainted with God. But, still, I am + constrained to confess, that the far greater part of those + ministers I have conversed with, for above half a century, have + not been holy men,--not devoted to God,--not deeply acquainted + either with God or themselves.” + +Such was Wesley’s reluctant confession; and yet, to prevent what he +called a separation from the Established Church, he elaborately +persuades the Methodists, that they ought to receive the sacraments +from these men; instead of requiring them at the hands of the +converted artisans, who had preached so successfully, and who, +according to Wesley’s own confession, were, even in point of +_scriptural knowledge_, the superiors of the unconverted gentlemen, +trained in colleges, and made priests or deacons--not by Christ,--but +by bishops! + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [606] Four letters, standing for _Ecclesiæ Anglicanæ + Presbyter Johannes_: “John, presbyter of the Church + of England.” Wesley, in early life, sometimes used + this signature in writing to his brother. + + [607] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 359. + + [608] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 437. + + [609] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 438. + + [610] Ibid. p. 438. + + [611] Ibid. p. 439. + + [612] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 440. + + [613] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 441. + + [614] “The Allens of Shiney Row,” p. 59. + + [615] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 442. + + [616] _Methodist Recorder_, Dec. 5, 1861. + + [617] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 445. + + [618] _Methodist Magazine_, 1788, p. 543. + + [619] Manuscript letter. + + [620] Jackson’s Life of C. Wesley, vol. ii., p. 449. + + [621] Ibid. + + [622] Mrs. Fletcher’s Life, p. 251. + + [623] Manuscript letter. + + [624] J. Pawson’s manuscript letter. + + [625] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 111. + + [626] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 553. + + [627] Memoir of Mrs. Knaggs. + + [628] _Methodist Magazine_, 1836, p. 492. + + [629] Memoirs of Spence, p. 26. + + [630] Ibid. + + [631] It ought to have been _eighty-sixth_. + + [632] Black’s Memoirs, p. 219. + + [633] Bulmer’s Memoir, p. 4. + + [634] Smith’s “Methodism in Ireland.” + + [635] Ibid. + + [636] Manuscript letters in Mission House. + + [637] Ibid. + + [638] Ibid. + + [639] A proposal to ordain him. See _Methodist Magazine_, + 1845, p. 112. + + [640] Manuscript letters in Mission House. + + [641] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 298. + + [642] James Wray was a member of Wesley’s legalised + conference. After travelling six years in English + circuits, he now went, as an ordained missionary + superintendent to Nova Scotia. It is a curious fact + that the Nova Scotians objected to him, not only on + the ground of his want of learning, but because he + was _an Englishman_! On hearing of this, Wesley, in + an unpublished letter, wrote: “O American gratitude! + Lord, I appeal to Thee!” + + [643] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiv., p. 343. + + [644] Cowper had recently published “The Task,” and was + now employed in his translation of Homer. In another + letter, Wesley says: “I think Mr. Cowper has done as + much as is possible to be done with his lamentable + story. I can only wish he had a better subject.” + + [645] Except in the case of the psalms, where about thirty + are discarded, and about sixty mutilated. The + propriety of this may be fairly doubted. + + [646] See Nott’s Bampton Lecture, 1802. + + [647] _The Wesleyan_, Nov. 4, 1846. + + [648] As a curious specimen of the way in which things were + managed in the early days of Methodism, the following + extracts are given from “The Dales” circuit book, + whose accounts extend from 1765 to 1791. + + _s._ _d._ + “1765. Dec. 7. Thomas Rankin. Two meals, and + horse one night 1 0 + 1766. March 29. John Ellis. Six meals, and + horse three nights, shirt washed, and + pennyworth of paper 2 10 + ” Sept. 28. Jeremiah Robertshaw. Twelve + meals, and horse four nights, and + shirt washing 5 3” + + The reader can calculate how many meals a day were + allowed to these godly men, and how much per meal. + Besides these allowances for _board_, each preacher + was entitled to receive, as _quarterage_, for himself + £3; and, for his wife, if he had one, £2 10_s._ + + [649] The contingent fund, raised by the yearly collection + in the classes, was originally intended to defray + law expenses, and to pay, or reduce, chapel debts. + In this year, 1788, the income of the fund was £1203 + 7_s._ 1_d._, out of which was paid for law expenses, + £37 4_s._ 2_d._; for chapels, £106 15_s._ 0_d._; + and for the deficiencies of the preachers and their + families, £433 18_s._ 1_d._ It was high time for + Wesley to take action; though his effort to correct + the evil was without effect. + + [650] In a 12mo pamphlet, published in 1788, and entitled, + “A Reply to what the Rev. Dr. Coke is pleased to + call ‘The State of the Dewsbury House,’ being a + Vindication of the Conduct of the Trustees of that + House,”--it is stated, that the questions proposed + to Wesley by Mr. Heald were: (1) “If the conference + should neglect to supply the house with preachers, + would it be understood to remain the property of the + conference, or would the trustees have a power to + provide for themselves? (2) If any preacher, sent + them, should be found guilty of immorality, would + the trustees have a power of rejecting him?” It + further states, that the trustees had, in Wesley’s + own handwriting, a paragraph to the effect that + “the _assistants and leaders_ were to be the proper + judges” of a preacher charged with immorality. + This certainly clashes with Wesley’s letter, given + hereafter, and dated July 30, 1788. + + [651] “The State of Dewsbury House.” By Dr. Coke. + + [652] By the kindness of Mr. Robinson, of Dewsbury, we have + before us a copy of the original trust deed, from + which we learn that, if, after a vacancy, Wesley or + the conference refused or neglected, for the space + of forty days, to appoint a preacher; or if the + preacher appointed should “not conduct or conform + himself to the satisfaction of the trustees or, the + major part of them, it should be lawful for the said + trustees, or such major part, not only to displace + such preacher, (after giving him one month’s previous + notice thereof in writing,) but also to appoint such + other preacher as they should deem more proper, and + better qualified to benefit the society.” The deed is + dated January 31, 1788, and the names and occupations + of the trustees are as follows. + + John Heald, maltster. + John Robinson, weaver. + Joseph Gill, clothier. + John Beaumont, cordwainer. + John Lancaster, currier. + John Howgate, sen., clothier. + John Howgate, jun., clothier. + Bartholmew Archer, clothier. + William Walker, clothier. + John Thorns, clothier. + Isaac Wilman, clothier. + Abraham Thomas, clothier. + Timothy Parker, clothier. + John Hirst, clothier. + Joseph Bennett, farmer. + Thomas Bromley, clothier. + Benjamin Whitaker, farmer. + + [653] Mather’s “State of Dewsbury House.” + + [654] “Letters by Rev. J. Wesley and Mr. John Atlay.” 1790. + + [655] By some strange oversight, William Eels, at + the conference of 1788, was left without an + appointment; and, at the time of Atlay’s arrival + there, was actually at Dewsbury, endeavouring to + make peace. Hearing of this, and mistaking Eels’ + motive, Mr. Mather impetuously took steps to + prevent his preaching in other Methodist pulpits. + “This was the only cause of his uniting with John + Atlay.”--(Pawson’s manuscripts.) + + [656] Unpublished letter. + + [657] Nicholas Manners was one of Wesley’s itinerant + preachers from 1759 to 1784. He was an able man. His + heresy, in substance, was, that, in consequence of + the work and death of Christ, all men are born in the + same state as that in which Adam stood previous to + his fall. + + [658] Unpublished letter. + + [659] Pawson’s manuscript letters. + + [660] We have, in manuscript, his most malignant slander, + but prefer withholding it. No wonder John Atlay + wrote, in a letter to Mr. Merryweather, of Yarm, in + 1785, “You know I never mount high in profession of + grace.” + + [661] _Methodist Magazine_, 1790, p. 103. + + [662] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 328. + + [663] _Methodist Magazine_, 1859, p. 247. + + [664] Among other places, he preached at Sevenoaks, and + is said to have used these words: “When a sinner is + awakened, the baptists begin to trouble him about + outward forms, and modes of worship, and that of + baptism. They had better cut his throat,” etc. + Whether the exact words were used we have no means + of knowing; but a warm controversy sprung out of the + affair. Mr. William Kingsford issued “A Vindication + of the Baptists from the Criminality of a Charge + exhibited against them by the Rev. Mr. Wesley.” + This was answered by T. C., supposed by Kingsford + to be the Rev. Mr. Coleman. (Query Thomas Coke?) + And this was replied to by Kingsford in a shilling + pamphlet, bearing the title, “Three Letters to the + Rev. Mr. Wesley, containing remarks on a Piece lately + published, with his approbation, and Three Challenges + to all the Methodists in the Kingdom.” The whole + thing was “much ado about nothing.” + + [665] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 105. + + + + + 1789. + Age 86 + + +Wesley wrote: + + “January 1, 1789--If this is to be the last year of my life, + according to some of those prophecies, I hope it will be the + best. I am not careful about it, but heartily receive the + advice of the angel in Milton,-- + + ‘How well is thine; how long, permit to Heaven.’ + + “January 5--I once more sat for my picture. Mr. Romney is a + painter indeed. He struck off an exact likeness at once; and + did more in an hour than Sir Joshua did in ten.[666] + + “January 9--I left no money to anyone in my will, because I had + none. But now, considering that, whenever I am removed, money + will soon arise by sale of books, I added a few legacies by a + codicil, to be paid as soon as may be. But I would fain do a + little good while I live; for who can tell what will come after + him?” + + “January 11--I again warned the congregation, as strongly as I + could, against conformity to the world. But who will take the + warning? If hardly one in ten, yet is my record with the Most + High.” + + “January 20--I retired in order to finish my year’s accounts. + If possible, I must be a better economist; for, instead of + having anything beforehand, I am now considerably in debt; but + this I do not like. I would fain settle even my accounts before + I die.” + +It was at this period that the following unpublished letter was +written. Duncan McAllum had been ordained by Wesley in 1787, and the +reader will observe that, instead of addressing him as he addressed +his preachers in general, he gives him the title of “reverend.” + + “LONDON, _January 20, 1789_. + + “DEAR DUNCAN,--By all means choose trustees without delay; and + let them be such as belong to the circuit; only such as you can + depend upon, both for judgment and honesty. I think it is by + prayer that you must alter the purpose of the Earl of + Findlater. I am not at all surprised at the behaviour of John + Atlay. In a year or two, he will find whether he has changed + for the better. He was the first occasion of the division at + Dewsbury, by sending word to the trustees, that, if the + conference would not supply them with preachers, he would come + himself, and settle among them. + + “I am, with love to sister McAllum, your affectionate friend + and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY. + + “To the Rev. Mr. McAllum, Inverness.” + +Four days later, he wrote as follows to Freeborn Garretson, in +America. + + “LONDON, _January 24, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--It signifies but little where we are, so we + are but fully employed for our good Master. Whether you went, + therefore, to the east, it is all one, so you were labouring to + promote His work. You are following the order of His + providence, wherever it appeared, as a holy man expressed it, + in a kind of holy disordered order. But there is one + expression, that occurs twice or thrice in yours, which gives + me some concern: you speak of finding freedom to do this or + that. This is a word much liable to be abused. If I have plain + Scripture, or plain reason, for doing a thing,--well. These are + my rules, and my only rules. I regard not whether I had freedom + or no. This is an unscriptural expression, and a very + fallacious rule. I wish to be in every point, great and small, + a scriptural, rational Christian. + + “I am, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[667] + +At the end of January, Wesley went to open new chapels at Rye and +Winchelsea. Returning to London, the month of February was spent in +preaching, in writing, in meeting classes and the local preachers, and +in ordaining Henry Moore and Thomas Rankin, the last of his preachers +upon whom he laid his hands.[668] + +The following anecdotes, related in the Life of Moore, belong to the +present year, and are strikingly characteristic of Wesley and his +friends. + +One of the leading men, in the London circuit, (though not a member,) +had been in the habit of receiving the sacrament from the hands of +Wesley and his brother clergymen, but had fallen into sin. Henry Moore +waited upon him for an explanation of his conduct, and, not being +satisfied, told him he should be obliged to refuse him a note of +admission to the Lord’s supper. The gentleman was annoyed, and went to +one of Wesley’s clergy, whom he persuaded to apply to Wesley on his +behalf. Entering the vestry while Wesley was writing the note, Moore +with his honest sternness accosted him: “Sir, do you mean to give a +note of admission to Mr. ----?” “Yes, Henry,” replied Wesley, “I have +reason to believe the report of his conduct is a mistake.” “I have +fully examined it,” answered Moore, “and I find it no mistake; and, if +you give him a note, I shall not take the sacrament myself.” Wesley, +in reply, observed, “I would take the sacrament if the devil himself +were there.” “So would I,” said Moore, “but not if you gave him a note +of admission.” The Irishman came off with flying colours; for Wesley +put the note into the fire, and left the erring one to think and to +repent. + +Mrs. Hall was Wesley’s only surviving sister, and was an inmate of his +house, but not a Methodist. One day, the two called on Henry Moore. +“Brother,” said Mrs. Hall, “I should like to attend the religious +meetings of your people. Have I your leave?” “O yes,” said he, “you +may go to them.” “Then,” rejoined this friend of the great Dr. +Johnson, “having your permission, I shall not ask that of any one +else.” “Yes, you must;” replied her brother, remembering that Moore +was circuit assistant, “when I am not here, you must ask leave of +Henry Moore.” + +In these days, it was customary for the itinerant and local preachers +to take breakfast together, on Sunday mornings, at City Road. On one +occasion, when Wesley was present, a young man rose and found fault +with one of his seniors. The Scotch blood of Thomas Rankin was roused, +and he sharply rebuked the juvenile for his impertinence; but, in +turn, was as sharply rebuked himself. Wesley instantly replied: “I +will thank the youngest man among you to tell me of any fault you see +in me; in doing so, I shall consider him as my best friend.” This was +quite enough to silence Rankin. + +“Henry Moore,” said Wesley, “you are a witness that what John Atlay +said, when he left us, is untrue. He said, ‘Mr. Wesley could never +bear a man who contradicted him.’ Now no man in England has +contradicted me as much as you have done; and yet, Henry, I love you +still. You are right.” + +Hundreds of such anecdotes might be given: these must serve as +specimens. + +On Sunday, the 1st of March, after preaching to two crowded +congregations, in City Road, Wesley and three of his preachers took +coach for Bath; and “spent,” says he, “a comfortable night, partly in +sound sleep, and partly in singing praise to God.” Such, after a hard +day, at seven o’clock in a winter’s night, was the start of an old man +of eighty-six, on a five months’ preaching tour! + +At Bath and Bristol, he spent a fortnight, in preaching and meeting +classes, and then set out for Ireland. On the way, he preached at +Stroud, Gloucester, and Tewkesbury. At Birmingham, he opened a new +chapel, and remarks: “Saturday, March 21--I had a day of rest, only +preaching morning and evening.” The passage from Holyhead, instead of +occupying four hours, as at present, occupied thirty-six, and, during +it, the venerable voyager was a serious sufferer. “I do not remember,” +he writes, “that I was ever so sick at sea before; but this was little +to the cramp which held most of the night with little intermission.” +He arrived at Dublin quay at eight on Sunday morning, and, +notwithstanding the illness from which he had suffered, went direct to +Dublin chapel, and “preached on the sickness and recovery of King +Hezekiah and King George,” and afterwards administered the sacrament +to about five hundred people. + +At this sacramental service, he employed his assistant, William Myles, +in giving the cup to the communicants; an act which occasioned huge +offence, for William Myles was not ordained. In the week following, a +long paragraph appeared in the _Dublin Evening Post_, setting forth, +that “the _Church was in danger!_ and calling upon the archbishop to +use his authority; for a Mr. William Myles, a layman, had assisted Mr. +Wesley in administering the Lord’s supper; the greatest innovation +that had been witnessed for the last fifty years!” “This brought on,” +says Mr. Myles, “a newspaper controversy, which continued for three +months. My name was bandied about to some purpose; but I endeavoured +in patience to possess my soul. At the expiration of the three months, +the subscribers desired the printer to put no more Methodist nonsense +into his paper; and he had the good sense to listen to the requisition +of his customers, which happily terminated this exquisitely silly +controversy.”[669] + +On Wesley’s arrival at Dublin, he had, to use his own expression, +“letter upon letter,” concerning the alteration in the Sunday service, +which had been introduced by Dr. Coke; and, hence, he addressed the +following. + + “_To certain Persons in Dublin._ + + “WHITEFRIAR STREET, DUBLIN, _March 31, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BRETHREN,--I much approve of the manner and spirit + wherein you write concerning these tender points. I explained + myself upon them, in some measure, on Sunday: I will do it more + fully now. + + “At present, I have nothing to do with Dr. Coke: but I answer + for myself. I do not separate from the Church, nor have any + intention so to do. Neither do they, that meet on Sunday noon, + separate from the Church, any more than they did before: nay, + less; for they attend the church and sacrament oftener now than + they did two years ago. + + “‘But this occasions much strife.’ True; but they make the + strife who do not attend the service. Let them quietly either + come or stay away, and there will be no strife at all. + + “‘But those that attend say, those that do not are fallen from + grace.’ No, they do not give them a bad word; but they surely + will fall from grace, if they do not let them alone who follow + their own consciences. + + “But you ‘fear this will make way for a total separation from + the Church.’ You have no ground for this fear. There can be no + such separation while I live. Leave to God what may come after. + + “But, to speak plainly, do not you separate from the Church? + Yea, much more than those you blame? Pray, how often have you + been at church since Christmas? Twelve times in twelve weeks? + And how long have you been so fond of the Church? Are you fond + of it at all? Do not you go oftener to a Dissenting meeting + than either to St. Patrick’s, or your parish church? + + “My dear brethren, you and I have but a short time to stay + together. ‘My race of glory is run, and race of shame; and I + shall shortly be with those that rest.’ Therefore, as one that + loves you well, and has loved you long, I advise you, in the + presence and in the fear of God: (1) Either quietly attend the + Sunday service, or quietly refrain from it; then there will be + no strife at all. Now you make the strife of which you + complain. (2) Make not this a pretence for being weary of well + doing. Do not, for so poor a reason, withdraw your subscription + from the school or the preachers. What a miserable revenge + would this be! Never let it be said, that my friend A---- + K----, that brother D----, or B----, were capable of this. From + this hour, let this idle strife be buried in eternal oblivion. + Talk not of it any more. If it be possible, think not of it any + more. Rather think, ‘the Judge standeth at the door;’ let us + prepare to meet our God! + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[670] + +Such was Wesley’s attempt to defend the Dublin Methodist service in +church hours; or rather, such was his attack on those who were opposed +to it. No doubt his accusations were founded upon facts; but this was +hardly an answer to the argument of objectors, that having service in +church hours was, _ipso facto_, separation from the Church. He tells +us, that one consequence of Dr. Coke’s new arrangement was, that three +times more Methodists now went to St. Patrick’s, on the first Sunday +in every month, than had done for ten or twenty years before; and +that, on the first Sunday of April, when he went himself, many of them +went with him; the number of communicants being about five hundred, +or, in other words, more communicants, on that single Sunday, than St. +Patrick’s used to have the whole year round, before the Methodists +were known in Ireland. The arrangement, says Wesley, that the +Methodists in Dublin should have service in church hours, “on +condition that they would attend St. Patrick’s every first Sunday in +the month, was made, not to prepare for, but to prevent, a separation +from the Church.” There can be no question, that this was Wesley’s +wish; but it may be doubted whether it was Dr. Coke’s intention. + +During this Dublin fracas, Wesley sent, at least, one letter to the +public papers. The following is an extract. + + “_To the Printer of the ‘Dublin Chronicle.’_ + + “LONDONDERRY, _June 2, 1789_. + + “SIR,--As soon as I was gone from Dublin, the _Observer_ came + forth, only with his face covered. Afterwards, he came out, + under another name, and made a silly defence for me, that he + might have the honour of answering it. His words are smoother + than oil, and flow (who can doubt it?) from mere love both to + me and the people. + + “But what does this smooth, candid writer endeavour to prove, + with all the softness and good humour imaginable? Only this + point, (to explain it in plain English,) that I am a double + tongued knave, an old crafty hypocrite, who have used religion + merely for a cloak, and have worn a mask for these fifty years, + saying one thing and meaning another. A bold charge this, only + it happens that matter of fact contradicts it from beginning to + end.” + +Wesley then proceeds to give an outline of his history from his youth +to the time when he took the French churches in West Street, Seven +Dials, and in Spitalfields, and he and his brother began to preach in +them in church hours; and states that the two archbishops of +Canterbury, Potter and Secker, and the two bishops of London, Gibson +and Lowth, never blamed them for this, or thought or called it +separation from the Church; only, on one occasion, Archbishop Potter +said: “These gentlemen are irregular; but they have done good, and I +pray God to bless them.” Wesley continues: + + “It may be observed that, all this time, if my brother or I + were ill, I desired one of our other preachers, though not + ordained, to preach in either of the chapels, after reading + part of the Church prayers. This both my brother and I judged + would endear the Church prayers to them, whereas, if they were + used wholly to extemporary prayer, they would naturally + contract a kind of contempt, if not aversion, to forms of + prayer; so careful were we, from the beginning, to prevent + their leaving the Church. + + “When the Rev. Mr. Edward Smyth came to live in Dublin, he + earnestly advised me to leave the Church; meaning thereby, (as + all sensible men do,) to renounce all connection with it, to + attend the services of it no more, and to advise all our + societies to take the same steps. I judged this to be a matter + of great importance, and would, therefore, do nothing hastily; + but referred it to the body of preachers, then met in + conference. We had several meetings, in which he proposed all + his reasons for it at large. They were severally considered, + and answered, and we all determined not to leave the Church. + + “A year ago, Dr. Coke began officiating at our chapel in + Dublin. This was no more than had been done in London for + between forty and fifty years. Some persons immediately began + to cry out, ‘This is leaving the Church, which Mr. Wesley has + continually declared he would never do.’ And I declare so + still. But I appeal to all the world, I appeal to common sense, + I appeal to the _Observer_ himself, could I mean hereby, ‘I + will not have service in church hours’? No; but I denied, and + do deny still, that this is leaving the Church, either in the + sense of Bishop Gibson, or of Mr. Smyth at the Dublin + conference. Yet, by this outcry, many well meaning people were + frighted well-nigh out of their senses. + + “‘But see the consequence of having Sunday service here! See + the confusion this occasioned!’ Some time since, while a + popular preacher was preaching at Leeds, one cried out, ‘Fire! + Fire!’ The people took fright, some leaped over the gallery, + and several legs and arms were broken. But upon whom were these + consequences to be charged? Not on the preacher, but on him + that made the outcry. Apply this to the present case. I have + kindled no more fire in Dublin than I did in London. It is the + _Observer_ and a few other mischief makers, who fright the + people out of their senses; and they must answer to God for the + consequence. + + “This is my answer to them that trouble me, and will not let my + grey hairs go down to the grave in peace. I am not a man of + duplicity; I am not an old hypocrite, a double tongued knave. + More than forty years, I have frequented Ireland. I have wished + to do some good here. I now tell a plain tale, that ‘the good + that is in me may not be evil spoken of.’ I have no temporal + end to serve. I seek not the honour that cometh of men. It is + not for pleasure, that, at this time of life, I travel three or + four thousand miles a year. It is not for gain. + + ‘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.’ + + “JOHN WESLEY. + + “P.S. At the desire of a friend, I add a few words in answer to + one or two other objections. + + “First. When I said, ‘I believe I am a scriptural bishop,’ I + spoke on Lord King’s supposition, that bishops and presbyters + are essentially one order. + + “Secondly. I did desire Mr. Myles to assist me in delivering + the cup. Now, be this right or wrong, how does it prove the + point now in question, that I leave the Church? I ask (2) What + law of the Church forbids this? And (3) What law of the + primitive church? Did not the priest in the primitive church + send both the bread and wine to the sick by whom he pleased, + though not ordained at all? + + “Thirdly. The _Observer_ affirms, ‘To say you will not leave + the church, meaning thereby all true believers in England, is + trifling.’ Certainly; but I do not mean so when I say, ‘I will + not leave the Church.’ I mean, unless I see more reason for it + than I ever yet saw, I will not leave the Church of England as + by law established, while the breath of God is in my + nostrils.”[671] + +Such was Wesley’s manifesto in 1789; in reality, a defence of a thing +he had often condemned,--Methodist service in church hours. + +While Wesley was thus attacked in the public press, he met with the +greatest respect and attention from several persons of distinguished +rank in Dublin and its environs; the Earl of Moira among the number. +“They seemed,” says Mr. Myles, “to think it a blessing to have him +beneath their roof.”[672] Many of them flocked to hear him, on Good +Friday, when he preached, morning and evening, in the elegant chapel +of his old clerical dissenting friend, the Rev. Edward Smyth. Neither +grand people, however, nor grand chapels, were at all prized by +Wesley, except as they furnished opportunities of Christian +usefulness. “At both times on Good Friday,” says he, “we had a +brilliant congregation, among whom were honourable and right +honourable persons; but I felt they were all given into my hands; for +God was in the midst. What a mercy it is, what a marvellous +condescension in God, to provide such places as Bethesda, and Lady +Huntingdon’s chapels, for these delicate hearers, who could not bear +sound doctrine if it were not set off with these _pretty trifles_!” + +Dublin was not the only place which, at this time, gave Wesley +trouble. The Dewsbury circuit was entirely wrested by his traitorous +book steward; and now, the same rebellion against giving Wesley, and +(after his death) Wesley’s conference, the sole power to appoint +preachers, was showing itself at Shields. Hence the following, +addressed to the three itinerant preachers stationed in the Newcastle +circuit. + + “DUBLIN, _April 11, 1789_. + + “I _require_ you three, Peter Mill, Joseph Thompson, and John + Stamp, without consulting or regarding any person whatever, to + require a positive answer of Edward Coats, within three weeks + after the receipt of this, ‘Will you, or will you not, settle + the house at Milburn Place, North Shields, on the Methodist + plan?’ If he will not do it within another week, I farther + require that none of you preach in that house, unless you will + renounce all connection with your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY. + + “I am at a point. I will be trifled with no longer.”[673] + +Was this more hasty than wise? John Pawson seemed to think so. The +following is taken from one of his unpublished letters, to Charles +Atmore, dated “Leeds, May 9, 1789.” + + “What a pity it is that Mr. Wesley will pursue these violent + measures! If he goes thus, there will be divisions upon + divisions among us. Mr. Hanby informs me, that, at North and + South Shields, and at Alnwick, they refuse to settle their + houses upon the conference plan; and, at Newcastle, they have + been talking of building a chapel for the Rev. Mr. Collins, and + of inviting some of the best preachers to settle among them, + and make a circuit by themselves. I suppose Mr. Sagar would + tell you, they had strange commotions among them when he was + there.” + +But even this was not all. In 1785, Wesley ordained John Pawson and +Thomas Hanby for Scotland; where, for two years, they had administered +the sacraments, and had preached in gown and bands. In 1787, as +already stated, he brought them back to England, commanded them to +doff their canonicals, and, being in England, to discontinue their +sacramental services. This, to Pawson, was exceedingly annoying; but +he hardly had the pluck of Hanby in resisting it. Hanby and Joseph +Taylor, (who had also been ordained, and was in the same dubious +position,) were now stationed in the Nottingham circuit; and many of +the Methodists, aware of their ordination, naturally wished them to +administer to them the Christian ordinances; but this Wesley +imperiously prohibited. Taylor yielded; Hanby persisted. The following +extracts, from two of his unprinted letters, will be read with +interest. The first was addressed to James Oddie; the second to +Richard Rodda. + + “GRANTHAM, _May 21, 1789_. + + “MY VERY DEAR BROTHER,--I have been in deep waters on account + of my administering the Lord’s supper, which I think it my duty + to do, especially to those who, for conscience sake, cannot go + to church. Mr. Wesley ordered me to desist. I told him, if I + did, I should sin, because I was persuaded it was my duty. Then + he instructed the London clergy and preachers to take me in + hand. I have received their letter, and have replied, that I + must still do as I have done; and that, if Mr. Wesley has given + me up into their hands, they must act according to their own + judgment; for what I was now doing was from a Divine conviction + of my duty. Thus the matter rests. For some time, I have + expected another preacher to take my place; but, as he has not + come, perhaps, they will refer the matter to conference. Mr. + Wesley has ordered Joseph Taylor, (who opposes me all he can,) + to remove the leaders who have promoted the sacraments; if he + does so, I expect there will be a division. + + “See, my brother, my situation. I am much afraid of myself, + lest I should defile my conscience by yielding to the + importunity of the preachers. I am of all others the most + improper person to make a stand in defence of Christ’s precious + and most neglected ordinance. However, hitherto, through + infinite mercy, I have been firm and immovable; and our + solemnities are much owned of God; and I have much employment + in the sacred service. I meet with great opposition from the + high church bigots; but yet there are many, who will stand by + me, let the consequence be what it will. + + “Let me hear from you soon; and advise your very affectionate + friend and brother, + + “THOMAS HANBY.” + + “PLUMTREE, _June 4, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR FRIEND,--O yes! my sin is not to be forgiven unless I + repent, which I cannot do. That is too late, because I cannot + seek it with tears. Mr. Wesley has declared, that he will + exclude the preachers who administer the Lord’s supper in + England. For some time, I have expected to be unshipped; but + whether hands are scarce, or I am to be permitted to finish my + voyage, which will be the last week in July, I cannot tell. + + “I came under no such obligations to Mr. Wesley, not to + administer in England. If this prohibition had been laid upon + me, I hope I should have refused his offer of _nothing_. I am + in the fire, but, like the salamander, I live there. I am up to + the chin in deep waters; but not drowned. Mr. Mather sent me a + threatening bull; Mr. Wesley a second; and, to complete the + work, the clergy in London, Mr. Rankin and Mr. Moore, joined + their artillery. The last in command is my colleague, Joseph + Taylor, who opposes me with the utmost warmth. You will readily + conclude, ‘Poor Hanby will be overpowered by numbers.’ True; + but I still keep the field, for all that, and mean to die + there. I am single handed, for my brethren, who promised to + support me, have deserted to the strongest party, not an + unusual case. I grant, that those who are called to preach have + an equal right to administer; but do not talk of ‘depreciating + ordination.’ Mr. Wesley did that, seven years ago, when he + published in the newspapers those who had presumed to be + ordained by the Greek bishop. I expect, he will depreciate me, + though he himself ordained me, and commanded me to administer + the ordinances in the church of God. + + “When the great opposition against the sacraments was formed, + Mr. Taylor had administered once; and I had promised to do so + in two other places; and when my engagements were fulfilled, I + proposed to desist from proceeding further, (as he had done,) + for I saw there was no withstanding so formidable a body. + However, I was brought into deep distress of mind, by the + earnest request of the people, who had not communicated for + years, and who would not communicate with drinking, whoring, + swearing, and fighting parsons. The Lord let me see that His + ordinance was become obsolete, and that it was an unreasonable + stretch of power, in any human creature, to say, ‘If you will + not communicate with these wicked men, you shall not + communicate at all.’ This appeared to me as an abrogation of + Christ’s commanded ordinance, for which no one, either man or + angel, had authority. I saw it was my duty to stand forth in + defence of this ordinance, and to suffer for it; for suffer I + am sure to do. Mr. Wesley, for many years, has treated me + contemptuously, putting me beneath the weakest and most + suspicious characters, (viz. Briscoe and Fenwick,) and, + therefore, I expect no favour in that quarter. + + “I begin to look out for some poor cottage, to which I may + retire, and wait the opening of Providence. ‘_Vox populi vox + Dei_,’ is my motto; and, whatever others may say or think of + me, I have no other motive but the principle of Divine love. I + can promise my sect neither riches nor honour, by my opposition + to the conference; but quite the reverse. To be expelled the + connexion, after thirty-five years of uninterrupted labour, is, + to me, a very painful thought; but I see I must suffer it; and + shall only take away with me this motto, ‘Driven from Methodism + for defending the injured, and nearly abrogated and obsolete, + ordinance of Christ.’ Farewell, Mr. Wesley! Farewell, Mr. + Rodda! Farewell, conference! + + “I have written Mr. Wesley my reasons for acting in opposition + to his will, and my reasons why I must still act as I do; but + he has given me no answer. Well, I am nothing. I only want to + be the servant of God; and I see I must be His servant in His + own way. If we may judge of the propriety of our action, by His + sacred presence, I can assure you the tokens of that presence + are wonderfully manifested in our assemblies. + + “Many of the people in this circuit intend to apply again for + the ordinance; and, perhaps, their petition will be treated + with the same contempt as their last was at Manchester. + + “I am your very affectionate, and much obliged friend and + brother, + + “THOMAS HANBY.” + +This was a painful state of things; Dewsbury, Shields, Nottingham, and +Dublin, in rebellion; and now Thomas Hanby, ordained by Wesley, and +one of his best preachers, in danger of expulsion, for doing what he +deemed to be his duty. Fortunately, this unbending minister was saved; +and became the elected president of the fourth conference that was +held after Wesley’s death. On Christmas day, in 1796, he preached +thrice in Nottingham, and met four or five classes for the renewal of +their quarterly tickets. This was his last labour of love. Four days +afterwards, he died, saying: “I am departing; but I have fought a good +fight.”[674] + +Wesley left Dublin, on his preaching tour through the Irish provinces, +on the 13th of April, and returned on the 19th of June. In this nine +weeks’ journey he preached about a hundred sermons, in more than sixty +different towns and villages, at least a dozen times in the open air, +half-a-dozen times in churches, and once in a place which, he says, +was “large, but not elegant--a cow house.” + +During a part of the time, he was seriously unwell, being attacked +with a complaint which was new to him, diabetes. He wrote to London +for the advice of Dr. Whitehead, and, though the disease abated under +the doctor’s treatment, he suffered from it, more or less, to the time +of his decease.[675] + +“I was delighted,” says Mr. Alexander Knox, “to find his cheerfulness +in no respect abated. It was too obvious that his bodily frame was +sinking; but his spirit was as alert as ever; and he was little less +the life of the company he happened to be in, than he had been +three-and-twenty years before, when I first knew him. Such unclouded +sunshine of the breast, in the deepest winter of age, and on the felt +verge of eternity, bespoke a mind whose recollections were as +unsullied as its present sensations were serene.” + +In illustration of Mr. Knox’s testimony, an anecdote may be added. At +this time, Mr. (afterwards the Rev.) Joseph Burgess was quartermaster +of a regiment of soldiers in Sligo barracks, and had the honour of +entertaining Wesley as his guest. A large party of friends were +assembled to meet the venerable visitor at dinner; and, while the meal +was in progress, he suddenly laid down his knife and fork, clasped his +hands, and lifted up his eyes, as in the attitude of praise and +prayer. In an instant, feasting was suspended, and all the guests were +silent. Wesley then gave out, and sang with great animation, + + “And can we forget, + In tasting our meat, + The angelical food which ere long we shall eat; + When enrolled with the blest, + In glory we rest, + And for ever sit down at the heavenly feast?” + +The happy old man, so near to the gates of heaven, then quietly +resumed his knife and fork; and all felt that this beautiful +spontaneous episode, in the midst of an Irish dinner, had done them +good.[676] + +Wesley spent three weeks more in Dublin and its vicinity. He visited +the classes, which contained above a thousand members, after he had +excluded about a hundred. He also held his Irish conference, at which, +of the sixty preachers then employed in the sister island, between +forty and fifty were present. He writes: + + + “I found such a body of men as I hardly believed could have + been found together in Ireland; men of so sound experience, so + deep piety, and so strong understanding. I am convinced, they + are no way inferior to the English conference, except it be in + number. I never saw such a number of preachers before, so + unanimous in all points, particularly as to leaving the Church, + which none of them had the least thought of. It is no wonder, + that there has been this year so large an increase of the + society.” + +On the conference Sunday, Wesley and his preachers, and a large number +of the Dublin Methodists, attended the service in St. Patrick’s. “The +dean,” says he, “preached a serious, useful sermon; and we had such a +company of communicants as, I suppose, had scarce been seen there +together, for above a hundred years.” + +On his birthday he wrote: + + “June 28.--This day I enter on my eighty-sixth year.[677] I now + find, I grow old: (1) My sight is decayed; so that I cannot + read a small print, unless in a strong light. (2) My strength + is decayed; so that I walk much slower than I did some years + since. (3) My memory of names, whether of persons or places, is + decayed; till I stop a little to recollect them. What I should + be afraid of, is, if I took thought for the morrow, that my + body should weigh down my mind; and create either stubbornness, + by the decrease of my understanding, or peevishness, by the + increase of bodily infirmities: but Thou shalt answer for me, O + Lord my God.” + +At length, on July 12, Wesley bid adieu to the shores of Ireland, for +ever. It was a touching scene. Multitudes followed him to the ship. +Before he went on board, he read a hymn; and the crowd, as far as +emotion would let them, joined the sainted patriarch in singing. He +then dropped upon his knees, and asked God to bless them, their +families, the Church, and Ireland. Shaking of hands followed; many +wept most profusely; and not a few fell on the old man’s neck and +kissed him. He stepped on deck; the vessel moved; and then, with his +hands still lifted up in prayer, the winds of heaven wafted him from +an island which he dearly loved; and the warm hearted Irish Methodists +“saw his face no more.”[678] + +Before proceeding with Wesley’s history, another selection from his +letters may be welcome. The first was addressed to a man who deserves +a passing notice. + +Walter Churchey was an enthusiastic Welshman; a lawyer with a large +family and a slender purse; a good, earnest, conceited old Methodist, +who, unfortunately for his wife and children, had more delight in +writing poetry than he had employment in preparing briefs. He was one +of Wesley’s correspondents as early as 1771;[679] exchanged letters +with Wesley’s brother Charles; was an acquaintance of the saintly +Fletcher; and an intimate friend of Joseph Benson and Dr. Coke. He +claimed the honour, which belonged to others, of having first +suggested to Wesley the publishing of his _Arminian Magazine_;[680] +and, in a manuscript letter before us, states that he it was who +originated the scheme for reducing what he calls “the national debt” +of Methodism in the year 1800. He was a good man, though perhaps +flighty, very diligent but very poor, a warm admirer of Methodist +doctrine, but withal a millenarian, who wrote, in the letter just +mentioned: “I have lost my friend, Wesley; but I shall see him again, +perhaps _soon_, even upon _earth_, where the _sufferers_ for Christ +are to rise to reign in His spiritual kingdom on earth a thousand +years. I grow daily a greater _Brotherite_.”[681] + +In 1786, Churchey wished to enrich the world with his poetical +productions; and, among others, consulted Wesley and the poet Cowper. +The latter, in reply, remarked: “I find your versification smooth, +your language correct and forcible, and especially in your translation +of the Art of Printing. But you ask me, would I advise you to publish? +I would advise every man to publish, whose subjects are well chosen, +whose sentiments are just, and who can afford to be a loser, if that +should happen, by his publication.”[682] + +Thus encouraged, the sanguine Welshman set to work; Wesley helped him +in obtaining subscribers; the poems were published; the reviewers were +revilers; and poor Churchey was poorer than ever. + +The following letters, among others, were addressed to this worthy, +but needy man. The first and second have not before been published. + + “LONDON, _February 11, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--On Monday, March 2, I hope to be in Bath or + Bristol, and then we may talk about the number of copies. I + have been much more concerned than you, for these sixty years, + in printing books, both with and without subscription; and I + still think, with all our skill and industry, we shall be hard + set to procure three hundred subscribers. Perhaps three hundred + may _promise_; but we must never imagine that _all_ who promise + will perform. But of this we may talk more, when we meet at + Bristol. + + “I suppose every one that loves King George loves Mr. Pitt. + Peace be with all your spirits! + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + + “CLONES, _May 25, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I am afraid of delay. I doubt, I shall not + be able to be as good as our word, although, in the last + proposals, I have protracted the time of delivery till the 1st + of August. As you are not a stripling, I wonder you have not + yet learnt the difference between _promise_ and _performance_. + I allow, at least, five-and-twenty per cent; and, from this + conviction, I say to each of my subscribers (what, indeed, + _you_ cannot say so decently to _yours_), ‘Sir, down with your + money.’ + + “I know Dr. Ogilvie well. He is a lovely man and an excellent + poet. I commend you for inoculating the children. I believe the + hand of God is in our present work: therefore, it must prosper. + Indeed, I love sister Churchey, and am your affectionate friend + and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The following, besides referring to Churchey’s poems, is possessed of +interest as containing an allusion to the prayer-book published in +1788; and also Wesley’s final testimony concerning the great +philanthropist, John Howard, who died seven months afterwards. + + “DUBLIN, _June 20, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Michael ---- is an original. He tells lies + innumerable, many of them plausible enough. But many talk full + as plausibly as he; and they that can believe him, may. + + “I do not doubt, but some part of your verse, as well as prose, + will reach the hearts of some of the rich. + + “Dr. Coke made two or three little alterations in the + prayer-book without my knowledge. I took particular care + throughout, to alter nothing merely for altering’s sake. In + religion, I am for as few innovations as possible; I love the + old wine best. And if it were only on this account, I prefer + ‘_which_’ before ‘_who_ art in heaven.’ + + “Mr. Howard is really an extraordinary man. God has raised him + up to be a blessing to many nations. I do not doubt, but there + has been something more than natural in his preservation + hitherto, and should not wonder if the providence of God should + hereafter be still more conspicuous in his favour. + + “About three weeks hence, I expect to embark for England. Peace + be with you and yours! + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[683] + +While in Ireland, Wesley was troubled with the affairs of Scotland. +Two years before this, John Pawson, eager to exercise his newly +acquired episcopal or presbyterian power,--whichever the reader has a +mind to call it,--began, in Glasgow, a species of Methodism, which was +not Wesley’s, but his own. He ordained seven elders, who were to meet +weekly, and to have the supervision of the temporal and spiritual +affairs of the Glasgow Methodists. In a book, Pawson wrote the rules, +which were to regulate their conduct. Among others, one regulation +was, that no person should be admitted into the society, or be +expelled from it, but by a majority of these ordained elders; for, +though the itinerant preacher might preside at their meetings, he was +not allowed to vote. No doubt, honest but simple Pawson expected good +and great results. The elders, however, like Pawson, had no notion of +being invested with ecclesiastical office without using it; and, +hence, all sorts of paltry cases were got up, apparently for the +purpose of enabling the newly fledged elders to show their skill in +settling them. One must suffice, as a specimen. Thomas Tassey, the +most vigilant and active of the official seven, alleged that Peggy +---- had become a lodger with Peggy ----, and had committed theft; and +that, as the time for the administration of the sacrament was +approaching, the charge against Peggy ---- ought to be judicially +examined. Accordingly, a sessions was appointed. The elders, the +accuser, the accused, and the witnesses were present. Beside these, +there were also the two circuit preachers, Jonathan Crowther and +Joseph Cownley, whom Crowther justly designates “two poor ciphers,” +seeing, though they might preside, they had no power to vote. The +charge was, that when Peggy ---- went to lodge with Peggy ----, the +latter Peggy bought half an ounce of tea, and a farthing’s worth of +oil; that these household provisions did not last so long as usual; +and that the probability was, that the property of Peggy ---- had, to +some extent, been feloniously appropriated by her lodger, Peggy ----. +The affair was so serious, and withal so solemnly conducted, that it +became needful to adjourn. At the second sessions, Crowther (who, +though not allowed to vote, had a right to examine witnesses), asked +the Peggy whose property was in question, how often she had made +herself tea out of the half ounce, part of which had been stolen. +Peggy dolorously answered, “Only seven times.” She was then examined +respecting her farthing’s worth of oil; and it was ascertained, that, +though it had not lasted as long as usual, she had been using a _new_ +feather in applying it; and it was thought that the _new_ feather +might have absorbed the quantity which Peggy, the lodger, was accused +of stealing. + +So the matter ended. Jonathan Crowther was disgusted, and told +Pawson’s ordained elders, that their discipline resembled the wisdom +of Solomon, for it took cognisance of everything, from the hyssop on +the wall to the cedars of mount Lebanon. The system had been +instituted by Pawson, one of Wesley’s confidential friends, and a +preacher of seventeen years’ standing. Crowther was young and +inexperienced, only in the fifth year of his itinerant life; but he +was gifted with common sense, and saw that, if this ordained machinery +was continued, Methodism must be ruined. Wesley had been in Scotland +twelve months before; but, strangely enough, appears to have been kept +in ignorance of the new court at Glasgow. At all events, Jonathan +Crowther now wrote to him; and received the following decisive answer. + + “CORK, _May 10, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--‘Sessions’! ‘elders’! We Methodists have no + such custom, neither any of the churches of God that are under + our care. I require _you_, Jonathan Crowther, immediately to + dissolve that session (so called) at Glasgow. Discharge them + from meeting any more. And if they will leave the society, let + them leave it. We acknowledge only preachers, stewards, and + leaders among us, over which the assistant in each circuit + presides. You ought to have kept to the Methodist plan from the + beginning. Who had my authority to vary from it? If the people + of Glasgow, or any other place, are weary of us, we will leave + them to themselves. But we are willing to be still their + servants, for Christ’s sake, according to our own discipline, + but no other. + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[684] + +Before accompanying Wesley on his way back to England, we insert +another letter, which is abridged in Wesley’s collected works. Adam +Clarke was in the isle of Jersey; but Wesley wished him to remove to +Dublin, on account of the disturbed state of the society in that city. +His old friend, the Rev. Edward Smyth, was now one of his bitter +enemies. Hence the following. + + “NEAR DUBLIN, _June 25, 1789_. + + “DEAR ADAM,--You send me good news with regard to the islands. + Who can hurt us, if God is on our side? Trials may come, but + they are all good. I have not been so tried for many years. + Every week and almost every day, I am bespattered in the public + papers, either by Mr. Smyth, or by Mr. Mann, his curate. + Smooth, but bitter as wormwood, are their words; and five or + six of our richest members have left the society, because (they + say) ‘I have left the Church.’ Many are in tears on account of + it; and many are terribly frightened, and crying out, ‘Oh! what + will the end be?’ What will it be? Why, ‘Glory to God in the + highest, peace on earth, and goodwill among men.’ + + “But, meantime, what is to be done? What will be the most + effectual means to stem this furious torrent? I have just + visited the classes, and find still in the society upwards of a + thousand members; and, among these, many as deep Christians as + any I have met with in Europe. But who is able to watch over + them, that they may not be moved from their steadfastness? I + know none more proper than Adam Clarke and his wife. Indeed, it + may seem hard for them to go into a strange land again. Well, + you may come to me at Leeds, at the latter end of next month; + and if you can show me any that are more proper, I will send + them in your stead.[685] That God may be glorified, is all that + is desired by, dear Adam, + + “Your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[686] + +It has been already stated, that Wesley embarked for England on July +12. William Myles was with him, and says: “We had a pleasant passage; +Mr. Wesley preached, and we sang hymns most of the way.”[687] The +passage lasted about six-and-thirty hours. + +After holding services at Chester and Northwich, Wesley made his way +to Manchester, where he and Coke administered the sacrament to about +twelve hundred communicants. At Dewsbury, where John Atlay had taken +both the Methodists and their chapel, Wesley preached out of doors, in +a drenching rain. He then proceeded to Leeds for the purpose of +holding his annual conference; and, on the day before it began its +sessions, preached from what would be a good conference text at the +present time: “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, +avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science +falsely so called.” + +As usual, Wesley, besides conducting the business of the conference, +preached every day during its sittings; and his texts throughout were +equally well timed, namely: “Train up a child in the way he should go; +and when he is old he will not depart from it.” “We through the Spirit +wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” “Woe unto the world +because of offences! for it must needs be that offences come; but woe +to that man by whom the offence cometh.” “To the weak became I as +weak, that I might gain the weak; I am made all things to all men, +that I might by all means save some.” “Well, Master, Thou hast said +the truth; for there is one God; and there is none other but He.” “I +have a message from God unto thee.” “If any man speak, let him speak +as the oracles of God.”[688] Here was a word in season for every one. +Rare was the treat to attend a conference like this. On the conference +Sunday, Wesley seems to have devolved the preaching upon others; but +the day was not an idle one. He writes: “with the assistance of three +other clergymen, I administered the sacrament to fifteen or sixteen +hundred persons.” When and where are such sacramental services held at +present? + +What may be called the _conference sermon_ was preached by a local +preacher, perhaps the only instance of the kind in Methodism’s +history. James Hamilton, M.D., was the preacher; his text, “Trust ye +not in lying words, saying, the temple of the Lord, the temple of the +Lord, the temple of the Lord, are these.” His sermon was printed, and +was sold “at the Rev. Mr. Wesley’s preaching houses in town and +country,” with the following title: “A Sermon preached at Leeds, July +29, 1789, before the Methodist Preachers, assembled in Conference, and +a large body of the people in connection with them; and now published +at the request of many of the Hearers.” + +This also was a sermon for the times, and evidently had Wesley’s +approbation. Its gist may be gathered from a few brief extracts. + +After dwelling on the functions of the priests and scribes of the +Jewish church, the preacher said: + + “But as all external religion is of no use, any farther than as + it advances the spiritual kingdom of Christ in the soul; and as + the Jews too often lost sight of this, resting in their types + and ceremonies, God called a race of men, named prophets, who + had nothing to do with the priesthood; men full of the Holy + Ghost; and sent them to declare that all external religion is + nothing worth, when it fails to produce purity of heart. The + prophets were, (with two or three exceptions,) what we call + laymen,--taken from the common occupations in Judæa, chiefly + farmers and shepherds,--holy men, men of strong faith, their + hearts overflowing with zeal for the honour of God,--men of + invincible courage, practising the strictest temperance, and + clothed in the plainest manner.” + +Dr. Hamilton then proceeded to argue, that Methodist preachers bore +some analogy to these special messengers of God in ancient times; and +after an affectionate allusion to the two Wesleys, and to Whitefield, +continued: + + “And here mark the Divine wisdom. Although their brother + priests in the Church thrust them from them, and although their + names were cast out as evil above the names of all men, they + ever retained a strong and affectionate attachment to the men + who had thus abused them, and to the Church of which they were + members; and this has been, in the overruling hand of God, the + great means of carrying on that glorious spiritual work which + we now behold. Had it not been for this attachment, the + Methodists would have, long ere this, become a distinct body, + separate from the Church and all others; and, I fear, in + consequence thereof, would have sunk into the dead formality of + the numerous sects, with which the world is harassed and + divided.” + +Then proceeding to address the assembled conference, the preacher +added: + + “Will ye bear with me, ye spiritual messengers of the Lord, + while I presume to say a few words to _you_? See with what a + holy calling ye are called; for what a glorious and important + end God has raised you up! Even to set spiritual religion + before the eyes of all men; to cry to men of all opinions, + sects, and parties, ‘Trust not unto lying words, saying, The + temple of the Lord are these’; to bring them, from resting in + external duties, to the possession of internal holiness; from + an opinion in the head, to the love of God in the heart. Let + then the dead bury their dead! Let the formalist and the + pharisee, the church bigot and the sectary, contend for ways of + thinking, gestures in worship, and modes of church government; + but may ye never forget, that ye are sent for a nobler end; + that your commission is the same as Paul’s, not to baptize, but + to preach the gospel. Although I am neither a prophet, nor the + son of a prophet; yet forgive me when I express my fears, that, + if ever the Methodists leave their several churches; if ever ye + set up as a separate people by external distinctions and + creeds; if ye substitute a silken gown and sash for rough + garments and a leathern girdle, and call one another, Rabbi! + Rabbi! then the glory will depart from you, and God will raise + up another people. He will call other lay preachers, no matter + by what name; and He will send them to call _you_ from opinions + and forms, and to sound in _your_ ears, ‘Trust not unto lying + words, saying, The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord, + the temple of the Lord are these.’” + +Hamilton’s sermon, to say the least, was ingenious; and referring as +it does to the great topic of the day, separation from the Church, +these extracts will not be regarded as out of place. + +Wesley says, there were about a hundred preachers present at the +conference; Atmore says, about a hundred and thirty;[689] be that as +it may, one hundred and fifteen of them signed a declaration, that +they entirely approved of Methodist chapels being settled on the +conference plan; and, among these, were several who, soon after, +distinguished themselves as Methodist reformers, namely, William Thom, +Henry Taylor, and Alexander Kilham. + +The principal subjects discussed are thus referred to in Wesley’s +journal. + + “July 28--The case of separation from the Church was largely + considered, and we were all unanimous against it. August 1--We + considered the case of Dewsbury house, which the self elected + trustees have robbed us of. The point they contended for was + this,--that they should have a right of rejecting any preachers + they disapproved of. But this, we say, would destroy + itinerancy. So they chose John Atlay for a preacher, who + adopted William Eels for his curate. Nothing remained but to + build another preaching house, towards which we subscribed £206 + on the spot.” + +Besides these, some other points were decided; namely, that the +preachers should read the rules of the society in every society once a +quarter; that no person should be admitted to lovefeasts without a +society ticket, or a note from the assistant; that every watchnight +should be continued till midnight; that the collections at lovefeasts +should be most conscientiously given to the poor; that preachers +should not go out to supper, and should be home before nine at night; +that preachers’ children should dress exactly according to the band +rules; that only one preacher should come in future to the conference +from Scotland, except those that were to be admitted into full +connexion; and that no books should be published without Wesley’s +sanction, and that those approved by him should be printed at his +press in London, and be sold by his book steward. + +We give these legislative enactments as we find them. The last bore +hardly on strong minded writers, like Thomas Taylor and Joseph Benson. + +The day after the conference concluded, Wesley set out for London, and +thence, for the last time, to Cornwall. His first day’s journey was +seventy miles, and his second eighty, and to this amount of labour was +added preaching. One day in London was devoted to business; on the +next, which was Sunday, the patriarchal preacher delivered two sermons +in the chapel in City Road, set out at seven o’clock, p.m., travelled +all night, and reached Bristol about noon on Monday. Without delay, he +hurried on to Plymouth, preaching at Taunton, Collumpton, and Exeter. +At Plymouth there had been, what he calls, a “senseless quarrel”; but +he administered the sacrament to six hundred people, and preached to +an enormous congregation out of doors. + +Arriving at St. Austell, he says: “I knew not where to preach, the +street being so dirty, and the preaching house so small. At length, we +determined to squeeze as many as we could into the preaching house; +and truly God was there.” At Truro, the street, leading to the chapel, +being blocked up with starving tinners demanding an increase to their +wages, and a troop of soldiers who were keeping peace, Wesley was +obliged to preach “under the coinage hall.” Forty years had elapsed +since he was last at Falmouth, and then he was “taken prisoner by an +immense mob, gaping and roaring like lions; now high and low lined the +street, from one end of the town to the other, out of stark love and +kindness”; and he preached to the largest congregation he had ever +seen in Cornwall, except in or near Redruth. The same sort of scenes +awaited him at Helstone, St. Just, Newlyn, and Penzance. In Gwennap +pit his congregation was calculated at five-and-twenty thousand. This +remarkable spot was first used by Wesley, as a place for preaching, in +1762, on account of the wind being so boisterous as to prevent him +occupying his usual stand in the town itself. “At a small distance,” +says he, “was a hollow capable of containing many thousand people. I +stood on one side of this amphitheatre, toward the top, with the +people beneath, and on all sides.” Many since then had been the +marvellous scenes he had witnessed in this “the finest natural +amphitheatre in the kingdom.” There can be little doubt, that the +estimated numbers were sometimes greater than the real; but still, it +was here, on this Cornish common, that Wesley had the largest +congregations to whom he ever preached. The place is now one of the +“sights” of Cornwall. Here an annual service has been held ever since +Wesley’s death; and now, on every Whitmonday, thousands wend their +way, in every style of conveyance, from the donkey cart of the poor +peasant to the dashing carriage of the wealthy squire, and assembling +within the area and around the banks of this consecrated hollow, join +in one vast act of worship, offered to the God of heaven. Here we have +Methodism’s yearly pilgrimage, made by hosts of Cornish Methodists, +not to honour man, but to commemorate the mercies of their fathers’ +God, and to ask His help and blessing on behalf of themselves and +their posterity. + +Eleven days were spent in Cornwall, during which Wesley preached, at +least, seventeen times, nine of which were in the open air. “There +is,” says he, “a fair prospect in Cornwall, from Launceston to the +Land’s End.” + +On his way back, we find him preaching at Tavistock, Plymouth, Exeter, +Tiverton, Halberton, Taunton, Castle Carey, Ditcheat, and Shepton +Mallet, eleven sermons, in seven days, besides the travelling from +Cornwall to Bristol. No wonder that the venerable traveller sometimes +started at three o’clock in the morning! + +Bristol was the centre of Wesley’s labours from September 5 to October +5. On one of the Sundays, he preached twice in his own chapel, and +once in Temple church; but writes: “It was full as much as I could do. +I doubt I must not hereafter attempt to preach more than twice a day.” + +On October 5, he started from Bristol at four o’clock in the morning, +for London. Arriving in town, he wrote: + + “I am now as well, by the good providence of God, as I am + likely to be while I live. My sight is so decayed, that I + cannot well read by candlelight; but I can write as well as + ever; and my strength is much lessened, so that I cannot easily + preach above twice a day. But, I bless God, my memory is not + much decayed; and my understanding is as clear as it has been + these fifty years.” + +Having spent five days in London, he set out for Norfolk. The +remainder of the year was employed, as usual, partly in London, and +partly in his long accustomed preaching tours to the surrounding +counties. On the last Sunday in the year, he occupied the pulpit of +St. Luke’s, his parish church. “The tables are turned,” says he; “I +have now more invitations to preach in churches than I can accept of.” + +One of his London retreats was, what he calls, “the lovely family at +Balham.” This was, doubtless, the family of George Wolff, Esq., one of +his executors,--a merchant, and also consul general to the court of +Denmark,--a gentleman of unassuming manners, deeply pious, and one of +the most liberal of the metropolitan Methodists,--for many years the +confidential friend of Wesley, and who died at Balham, in 1828, at the +age of ninety-two.[690] + +Before concluding the year, we insert a further selection from +Wesley’s letters. + +The first was to his nephew, Samuel Wesley, the musical genius, now +twenty-three years of age, and is strikingly characteristic of the +venerable writer. + + “NEAR BRISTOL, _September 16, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR SAMMY,--It gives me pleasure to hear, that you have so + much resolution, that you go to bed at ten, and rise at four + o’clock. Let not the increase of cold affright you from your + purposes. Bear your cross, and it will bear you. I advise you + carefully to read over Kempis, the Life of Gregory Lopez, and + that of Mons. de Renty. They are all among my brother’s books. + + “I am, dear Sammy, your affectionate uncle and friend, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[691] + +The next beautifully illustrates the benevolence of Wesley, and the +faithfulness of his friendship. Mr. Salmon, at the time referred to, +was not a member of the Methodist society, but only an occasional +hearer; and, yet, the instance of his liberality, which Wesley +mentions, was not the only one which does honour to his character. In +1762, Wesley opened a new chapel at Shepton Mallet, with a mudden +floor; and, in this state, it was occupied for years, when Mr. Salmon +gave the stewards £40 to improve the floor, and to supply back rails +to the benches.[692] Richard Rodda, to whom the following was +addressed, now filled the office of assistant at Manchester. + + “WALLINGFORD, _October 24, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You are a man whom I can trust: whatever you + do, you will do it with your might. Some years since, we wanted + a preaching place near Coleford, in Somersetshire. A + neighbouring gentleman, Mr. Salmon, gave us ground to build on, + and timber for the house, and desired me to use his house as my + own. He is now by wicked men reduced to want. + + “I am informed, a master for a poorhouse is wanted at + Manchester. Pray inquire, and, if it be so, leave no means + untried to procure the place for him. Apply, in my name, to B. + Barlow, D. Yates, T. Phillips, Dr. Easton, Mr. Brocklehurst, + Stonehouse, and all that have a regard for me. Make all the + interest you can. Leave no stone unturned. ‘Join hands with God + to make a good man live.’ I hope you will send me word in + London, that you have exerted yourself, and are not without a + prospect of success. + + “I am, dear Richard, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[693] + +The following letter is now, for the first time, published. The +Liverpool Methodists were about to build their Mount Pleasant chapel. +An expenditure of £1100 startled Wesley. What would he have said to +the expenditure of as many thousands? And yet Liverpool Methodism does +the one now with as much nonchalance as it did the other then. The +letter was addressed to Mr. Lawrence Frost. + + “LONDON, _October 23, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You are bold people! Two hundred pounds, + purchase money, besides nine hundred pounds! But I do not use + to damp any good design. Go on in the name of God. It is true, + your deed is clumsy enough. I am surprised, that no Methodist + will take my advice. I have more _experience_, in these things, + than any attorney in the land. And have I not the Methodist + interest as much at heart? Oh, why will you alter the beautiful + deed we have already? why will you employ any attorney at all? + Only to seek a knot in a bulrush; only to puzzle the cause. + Well, comfort yourself. You will not long be troubled with + + “Your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The next, which was written to William Black, in Nova Scotia, is +interesting as containing a reference to Wesley’s labours, and his +professed adherence to the Church. + + “LONDON, _November 21, 1789_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Your letter has given me great satisfaction. + My fears are vanished away. I am persuaded, brother Wray, + Stretton, and you, will go on hand in hand, and that each of + you will take an equal share in the common labour. I do so + myself. I labour now just as I did twenty or forty years ago. + By all means, proceed by common consent, and think not of + _separating_ from the Church of England. I am more and more + confirmed in the judgment which our whole conference passed on + that head, in the year 1758. + + “I am your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[694] + +Thirty-two years before, Wesley preached his first and last sermon in +Bideford. For long it had been a barren soil, but, in 1788, was made a +circuit town; and now simple minded, sanctified Samuel Bardsley was +labouring with great success. “I am glad,” says Wesley to this godly +man, “to hear so good an account of the work of God at Bideford. It +had held out long, and seemed to bid defiance to the gospel.”[695] +Bardsley was all alone; and Michael Fenwick, fond of meddling, wrote +to him: “Dear Sammy,--Write a pressing letter every post, until Mr. +Wesley sends you another preacher. It is cruel to let you be all alone +in that great wide circuit; and I will tell Mr. Wesley so. I am glad, +that Col. Buck is the reigning mayor with you. Pray, when you see him, +give my Christian respects to him, and tell him, I am glad he is +raised to be the first magistrate in Bideford.” Fenwick was without an +appointment, and was resident at Hexham. Wesley took him at his word, +and sent him to Bideford. Poor Michael seems to have been a stormy +petrel. No sooner was he come, than there was serious trouble. Hence +the following. + + “_December 25, 1789._ + + “MOST ESTEEMED FRIEND,--Yesterday, I waited upon the lord + lieutenant for this county, Lord Fortescue, and we spent an + hour together in a close, pointed conversation, respecting the + hot persecution at Bideford. His lordship told me, he will go + over and inquire into matters, for he thinks our lives are in + danger, seeing that the mayor of Bideford and the other + justices have thrown open the flood gates to the mob, to do + with us as they please. I recommended to his lordship the 23rd + of Matthew, (only changing the word Jerusalem into that of + Bideford,) in which our blessed Lord describes the men. His + lordship is greatly alarmed at our present situation; but, the + next week, he will be with his majesty, and will let him know + of our treatment; and they must take the consequences. My dear + brother, never fear: only believe; and we shall see great + things in due time. I shall conquer, or die in the field. + + “I am your affectionate friend, + + “MICHAEL FENWICK.”[696] + +The above not only furnishes a glimpse of Methodist affairs at +Bideford, but casts light on the following letters, which Wesley sent +to Bardsley. + + “NORTHAMPTON, _November 25, 1789_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--Yours of the 21st instant was sent to me hither. + You have done exceeding well to take the upper room. If need + be, we will help you out. Let us have no law, if it be possible + to avoid it: that is the last and worst remedy. Try every other + remedy first. It is a good providence, that the mayor of + Bideford is a friendly man. Prayer will avail much in all + cases. Encourage our poor people to be instant in prayer. Take + care of poor Michael; and do not forget, + + “Dear Sammy, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[697] + + “NEWCASTLE UNDER LYNE, _March 29, 1790_. + + “DEAR SAMMY,--Take particular care, that neither Michael + Fenwick, nor any other, give any just offence; and especially, + that they offend not God; then He will make your enemies to be + at peace with you. + + “If I remember well, I did write to the mayor of Bideford; and + I expect, that makes him more quiet. By meekness, gentleness, + and patience, with faith and prayer, you will prevail at + Torrington also. You have only to go on calmly and steadily, + and God will arise and maintain His own cause. Only let us + labour to have a conscience void of offence toward God, and + toward man. + + “I am, dear Sammy, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[698] + +All must admire this advice. During this year of storm and tempest, +the Bideford Methodists increased from eighty-three to one hundred and +forty. + +We insert one more letter. In the Isle of Man there were 2569 +Methodists, within five hundred of the number there are at present. +Then there was one circuit; now there are four: then there were three +itinerant preachers; now there are ten. George Holder was assistant; +and to him Wesley addressed the following. + + “NEAR LONDON, _November 29, 1789_. + + “DEAR GEORGE,--You did well to remember the case of Dewsbury + house, and to send what you could to Mr. Mather. + + “I exceedingly disapprove of publishing anything in the Manx + language. On the contrary, we should do everything in our power + to abolish it from the earth, and persuade every member of our + society to learn and talk English. This would be much hindered + by providing them with hymns in their own language. Therefore, + gently and quietly let the proposal drop. + + “I hope you and your fellow labourers are of one heart. Peace + be with your spirits! + + “I am, dear George, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[699] + +Wesley would take no step to gratify the linguistic folly of the Manx +Methodists; but he was still actively employed in supplying books to +his English readers. His publications, in 1789, were: + +1. “The Life of Mr. Silas Told.” 18mo, 113 pages. + +2. “A Short Account of the Life and Death of Jane Newland, of Dublin.” +12mo, 12 pages. + +3. “An Extract of the Rev. Mr. John Wesley’s Journal, from September +4, 1782, to June 28, 1786.” 12mo, 134 pages. + +4. “Minutes of Several Conversations between the Rev. Mr. Wesley and +others. From the year 1744, to the year 1789.” 12mo, 51 pages. + +5. His chief publication, of course, was his _Arminian Magazine_, 8vo, +679 pages. + +As usual, it contains six of his own sermons. Those on Man, Faith, and +the Omnipresence of God, are among the ablest he ever wrote. That on +the Rich Man and Lazarus is a powerful exposition of the text, which +Wesley believed to be, not merely a parable, but a history. The sermon +on Riches is boldly faithful, and must have made the rich Methodists +of that period wince and tremble; as, indeed, it ought to make such +Methodists wince and tremble at the present day. The following, +addressed to rich men, are the concluding paragraphs. + + “O how pitiable is your condition! And who is able to help you? + You need more plain dealing than any men in the world; and you + meet with less. For how few dare to speak as plain to _you_, as + they would to one of your servants? No man living that either + hopes to gain anything by your favour, or fears to lose + anything by your displeasure. Oh that God would give me + acceptable words, and cause them to sink deep into your hearts! + Many of you have known me long, well-nigh from your infancy! + You have frequently helped me, when I stood in need. May I not + say, you loved me? But now the time of our parting is at hand; + my feet are just stumbling upon the dark mountains. I would + leave one word with you, before I go hence; and you may + remember it when I am no more seen. + + “O let your heart be whole with God! Seek your happiness in + Him, and Him alone. Beware, that you cleave not to the dust! + This earth is not your place. See that you use this world as + not abusing it; _use_ the world, and _enjoy_ God. Sit as loose + to all things here below, as if you were a poor beggar. Be a + good steward of the manifold gifts of God; that, when you are + called to give an account of your stewardship, He may say, + ‘Well done, good and faithful servant; enter thou into the joy + of thy Lord.’” + +Nothing can be plainer than that, for several of the last years of his +life, Wesley regarded the growing riches of the Methodists as one of +their greatest dangers. His magazines, to say nothing of his letters +and his journals, are full of this. Hence, his eighteen lengthy +extracts on the Surest Way of Thriving, running through the whole of +the magazine of 1788, and part of that for 1789. Hence, the solemn +warning, contained in his brief article on “The Origin of Image +Worship among Christians”; an article meriting the serious thought of +those wealthy Methodists, who are adorning (?) their chapels with +painted windows and emblematic pulpits. Citations might be multiplied, +all tending to show that, rightly or wrongly, Wesley regarded the +growth of riches among Christians, not as a good to be desired, but as +a necessary evil, and a serious danger. + +The only sermon, which remains unnoticed, is that on God’s +Vineyard,--a sermon on the doctrine, spiritual helps, discipline, and +outward protection of Methodism. He tells us that, notwithstanding the +assistance they received from Peter Bohler, he and the other Oxford +Methodists “were never clearly convinced, that we are justified by +faith alone, till they carefully consulted the homilies of the Church +of England, and compared them with the sacred writings, particularly +St. Paul’s epistle to the Romans.” He propounds the principle, which +Dr. James Hamilton enlarged upon in his conference sermon, already +mentioned, that for the Methodists to have become a separate sect, +like the Moravians, “would have been a direct contradiction to the +whole design of God in raising them up, to spread scriptural religion +throughout the land, among people of every denomination, leaving every +one to hold his own opinions, and to follow his own mode of worship.” +Having shown the great advantages that the Methodists had enjoyed, his +early hopes concerning them, and how these hopes had hardly been +realised, he concludes with the following address to the rich members +of the society. + + “O ye that have riches in possession, once more hear the word + of the Lord! Ye that are rich in this world, that have food to + eat, and raiment to put on, and something over! Are you clear + of the curse? of loving the world? Are you sensible of your + danger? Do you feel, ‘How hardly will they that have riches + enter into the kingdom of heaven’? Do you continue unburnt in + the midst of fire? Are you untouched with the love of the + world? Are you clear from the desire of the flesh, the desire + of the eye, and the pride of life? Do you _put a knife to your + throat_ when you sit down to meat, lest your _table_ should be + a _snare to you_? Is not your belly your god? Is not eating and + drinking, or any other pleasure of sense, the greatest pleasure + you enjoy? Do not you seek happiness in dress, furniture, + pictures, gardens; or anything else that pleases the eye? Do + not you grow soft and delicate? unable to bear cold, heat, the + wind or the rain, as you did when you were poor? Are you not + increasing in goods, laying up treasures on earth; instead of + restoring to God, in the poor, not so much or so much, but all + that you can spare! Surely ‘it is easier for a camel to go + through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter the + kingdom of heaven!’” + +There are other contributions by Wesley, in the _Magazine_ for 1789, +which ought to have attention. There is an exquisitely drawn up +article on “The Nature of Inspiration, clearly explained and enforced, +as applicable to the Old and New Testament”; and also his piece “On +the Manners of the Times”; neither of which has been included in +Wesley’s collected works. And there are also his “Thoughts on +Separation from the Church,” and his “Thoughts upon a late +Phenomenon;” both of them really on the same subject. After showing +how revivals of religion have generally ended in the formation of +separate sects, and thereby rarely lasted, according to Luther’s +_dictum_, “longer than a generation, that is, thirty years,” Wesley +remarks: + + “The Methodists have been solicited again and again, to + separate from the Established Church, and to form themselves + into a distinct body, independent of all other religious + societies. Thirty years ago, this was seriously considered + among them, at a general conference. All the arguments, urged + on one side and the other, were considered at large; and it was + determined, without one dissenting voice, that they ‘ought not + to separate from the Church.’ + + “This is a new thing in the world; this is the peculiar glory + of the people called Methodists. In spite of all manner of + temptations, they will not separate from the Church. What many + so earnestly covet, they abhor; they will not be a distinct + body. Now what instance have we of this before, either in + ancient or modern history, of a body of people, in such + circumstances, who will not be a distinct party, but choose to + remain in connection with their own church, that they may be + more effectually the servants of all? This, I say again, is an + utterly new phenomenon! I never saw, heard, or read of anything + like it. The Methodists will not separate from the Church, + although continually reproached for doing it; although it would + free them from abundance of inconveniences, and make their path + much smoother and easier; and although many of their friends + earnestly advise, and their enemies provoke them to it,--the + clergy in particular; most of whom, far from thanking them for + continuing in the Church, use all the means in their power, + fair and unfair, to drive them out of it.” + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [666] The photographic portrait, in the present volume, is + taken from Romney’s painting, by the kind permission + of its possessor, the Rev. G. Stringer Rowe. + + [667] Life of Garretson. + + [668] _Methodist Magazine_, 1867, p. 623. + + [669] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 313. + + [670] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 253. + + [671] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 254. + + [672] _Methodist Magazine_, 1831, p. 298. + + [673] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 117. + + [674] Atmore’s “Methodist Memorial.” + + [675] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 379. + + [676] _Methodist Magazine_, 1840, p. 543. + + [677] It ought to have been eighty-seventh. + + [678] “Anecdotes of the Wesleys,” p. 312. + + [679] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 404. + + [680] _Methodist Magazine_, 1823, p. 134. + + [681] A reference to Richard Brothers, the prophecy + expounder of that period. + + [682] Cowper’s Works, Bohn’s edit., vol. iii., p. 370. + + [683] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 409. + + [684] Crowther’s manuscript autobiography. + + [685] Thomas Rutherford was sent in this emergency. + + [686] _Wesleyan Times_, June 11, 1866. + + [687] _Methodist Magazine_, 1797, p. 313. + + [688] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 115. + + [689] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 115. + + [690] _Methodist Magazine_, 1828, p. 286. + + [691] _Wesley Banner_, 1851, p. 405. + + [692] _Methodist Magazine_, 1827, p. 285. + + [693] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 478. + + [694] Black’s Memoirs, p. 251. + + [695] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 472. + + [696] Manuscript letter. + + [697] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 675. + + [698] Wesley’s Works, vol. xii., p. 473. + + [699] Ibid. vol. xiii., p. 108. + + + + + 1790. + Age 87 + + +Wesley’s career is drawing to a close. He himself was on the +“Delectable mountains,” basking in the sheen of the celestial city; +but all around him, or rather beneath him, was darkness and confusion. +The riots of 1789 were about to culminate in the indescribable horrors +of the French revolution. Burke wrote against this terrible upheaving; +Dr. Price applauded it. English newspapers, all at once, became +Gallican and republican; and overflowed with abuse of the old +constitution,--abuse of the Church,--abuse of the aristocracy,--abuse +of almost everything except the French insurrection, and the men who +made it. Thomas Paine and his friends were in the highest feather; and +infidel and revolutionary pamphlets were published with prodigal +profusion. Even Fox, in parliament, declared that the French army, by +refusing to obey the court and to act against the people, had set a +glorious example to all the armies of Europe; to which Burke, who had +hitherto been Fox’s friend, replied, that the revolutionists were “an +irrational, unprincipled, proscribing, confiscating, plundering, +ferocious, bloody, tyrannical democracy.” It was amid such excitement, +that Wesley spent his last days on earth. + +He began the year in London, and wrote in his journal: + + “1790, January 1.--I am now an old man, decayed from head to + foot: my eyes are dim; my right hand shakes much; my mouth is + hot and dry every morning; I have a lingering fever almost + every day; my motion is weak and slow. However, blessed be God, + I do not slack my labour; I can preach and write still.” + +Henry Moore observes: + + “Being in the house with him when he wrote thus, I was greatly + surprised. I knew it must be as he said; but I could not + imagine his weakness was so great. He still rose at his usual + hour, four o’clock, and went through the many duties of the + day, not indeed with the same apparent vigour, but without + complaint, and with a degree of resolution that was + astonishing.”[700] + +On Saturday, January 2, he preached at Snowsfields. The next day, +Sunday, he held the covenant service in the City Road chapel, at which +nearly two thousand persons were present. A few days were then devoted +to writing letters, two of which we give. The first has not before +been published. It was addressed to Daniel Jackson, then appointed to +the Stockport circuit. + + “LONDON, _January 2, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--It is no wonder many of the societies should + be in a poor condition, considering what poor care has lately + been taken of them. They will soon find the difference. + + “The books that are damaged you may give away as you judge + proper. + + “None ought to have made a collection for any place before the + house at Dewsbury was built. However, do what you can, and you + do enough. + + “I am, with love to sister Jackson, + “Your affectionate friend and brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +The next was written to John Mason, the assistant in the St. Austell +circuit. + + “NEAR LONDON, _January 13, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--As long as I live, the people shall have no + share in choosing either stewards or leaders among the + Methodists. We have not, and never had, any such custom. We are + no republicans, and never intend to be. It would be better for + those, that are so minded, to go quietly away. I have been + uniform, both in doctrine and discipline, for above these fifty + years; and it is a little too late for me to turn into a new + path, now I am old and grey headed. Neither good old brother + Porna (God bless him!) expects it from me, nor brother Wood, + nor brother Flamank. + + “If you and I shall be called hence this year, we may bless God + that we have not lived in vain. Come, let us have a few more + strokes at Satan’s kingdom, and then we shall depart in peace! + + “I am, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[701] + +On Sunday, January 17, Wesley buried Mrs. Dornford, a good woman; and +preached her funeral sermon. In the afternoon, he preached to a large +congregation, in the church of Great St. Helen’s. + +On Monday, January 25, he went to Dorking, “and laboured to awaken a +harmless, honest, drowsy people, who, for many years, seemed to stand +stock still, neither increasing nor decreasing.” + +On January 29, Wesley writes: “We held our general quarterly meeting, +whereby it appeared, that the society received and expended about +£3000 a year; but our expense still exceeds our income.” + +The next eight days were employed in meeting the London classes, +containing about 2500 members. + +During the month of February, we find him preaching a funeral sermon +for Robert Windsor; and sermons to children--beautiful sights--at West +Street, and at City Road. He retired to his friend Mr. Wolff’s, at +Balham, “to finish his sermons, and to put all his little things in +order.” He “submitted to importunity, and once more sat for his +picture.” He “dined at Mr. Baker’s, one of the sheriffs of London; a +plain man, who still lived in an inn yard!” + +On Sunday, February 28, which, for five months, was his last day in +London, he preached to enormous congregations, at City Road, West +Street, and Brentford; and then started off on his long journey to the +north. Before we follow him, two short letters may be welcome; the +first to Adam Clarke at Bristol, the second to Miss Bisson in the +Channel islands. + + + “LONDON, _February 11, 1790_. + + “DEAR ADAM,--On Monday, March 1, I hope to set out hence; and + to preach that evening, and on Tuesday, at half-past six + o’clock, at Bath. On Thursday, if he desires it, I will dine at + Mr. Durbin’s; and, on Monday following, begin as usual to meet + the classes. I am not at all sorry that James Gore is removed + from this evil world. You and I shall follow him in due time; + as soon as our work is done. Many of our friends have been + lately gathered into the garner, as ripe shocks of wheat. Peace + be with both your spirits! I am, dear Adam, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[702] + + “LONDON, _February 13, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--I love to see your name at the bottom of a + letter, especially when it brings me the good news, that your + spirit is still rejoicing in God your Saviour. My sight is so + far decayed, that I cannot well read a small print by + candlelight; but I can write almost as well as ever I could; + and it does me no harm, but rather good, to preach once or + twice a day. A few days since, I had a letter from one of our + sisters in Scotland, whose experience agrees much with yours; + only she goes farther; she speaks of being ‘taken up into + heaven, surrounded with the blessed Trinity, and let into God + the Father.’ I commend you to His care; and am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +Wesley spent a fortnight at Bath, Bristol, and Kingswood; preached +daily; visited the sick; and met the Bristol classes. On one of the +Sundays, at least, he preached thrice; having on the night previous +occupied the pulpit of his friend, the Rev. Joseph Easterbrook, in +Temple church. He writes: “Mr. Easterbrook has lately been very ill; +but God has again lifted up his head to be a father to the poor a +little longer.”[703] + +This indefatigable clergyman was the son of the Bristol bellman; was +educated at Kingswood school; became assistant master at Trevecca +college; obtained ordination; was presented to Temple church by the +Bristol corporation; and succeeded James Roquet as chaplain of Newgate +prison.[704] Fletcher, in writing to the Countess of Huntingdon +concerning him, says, when he first entered Trevecca, he began to live +upon water and potatoes; and yet, besides attending to his scholastic +duties, he preached every evening in the week, and occasionally as +many as four times on Sundays. Atmore states that, in Bristol, it was +Easterbrook’s invariable rule to send those, who were awakened under +his ministry, to meet in class among the Methodists. His work was now +nearly ended. When Wesley came again to Bristol, in September, he +wrote: “Mr. Easterbrook is ill of a disorder which no physician +understands, and which it seems God alone can cure. He is a pattern to +all Bristol, and indeed to all in England; having, besides his other +incessant labours, which were never intermitted, preached in every +house in his parish!” Within four months after this, Easterbrook was +dead, and Henry Moore preached for him a funeral sermon, which was +printed. He died on the 21st of January, 1791, in the fortieth year of +his age, some of his last words being “God does all things well. I +have no fear of death or of judgment.”[705] + +While at Bristol, Wesley addressed the following characteristic +letter, not before published, to Jasper Winscomb, one of his preachers +in the Isle of Wight. What would Wesley have said concerning the +circuit divisions of the present day? + + “BRISTOL, _March 13, 1790_. + + “DEAR JASPER,--The story of Thomas Whitwood is very remarkable, + and the story is well told, and God has done much honour to him + by the happy effects which have been consequent on his death. I + am in no haste at all concerning building, without having paid + some more of our debts. I am likewise in no haste to multiply + preachers, or to divide circuits. Most of our circuits are too + small rather than too large. I wish we had no circuit with + fewer than three preachers on it, or less than four hundred + miles’ riding in four weeks. Certainly, no circuit shall be + divided before conference. If we do not take care we shall all + degenerate into milksops. ‘Soldiers of Christ, arise!’ + + “I am, dear Jasper, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +On leaving London, the following circular, bearing Wesley’s signature, +was issued, indicating to his friends the places he meant to visit, in +his journey to the north. It furnishes a bird’s eye view of the +Herculean labours of an old man nearly eighty-seven years of age, and +also helps to fill up a gap in Wesley’s journal. It must be +remembered, that the means of transit in 1790 were not what they are +at present; and that, at every place mentioned, Wesley preached at +least once, and often several times more than that. It will also be +seen, that from three to four days were employed in some of the +principal societies, where he arranged to spend his Sundays. + + “LONDON, _March 1, 1790_. + + “As many persons desire to know where I am from this time till + the conference, I here set down my route, which, if God permit, + I shall keep till that time. + + _March._ + + Monday, 15, Stroud; 16, Gloucester; 17, Worcester; 18, + Stourport; 19, Birmingham. + + Monday, 22, Wednesbury; 23, Dudley and Wolverhampton; + 24, Madeley; 25, Salop; 26, Madeley; 27, Newcastle under + Lyne; 28, Lane End and Burslem. + + Monday, 29, Congleton; 30, Macclesfield. + + _April._ + + Thursday, 1, Stockport; 2, Manchester. + + Monday, 5, Nantwich and Liverpool; 7, Warrington and + Chester; 9, Wigan; 10, Bolton. + + Monday, 12, Blackburn; 13, Colne; 17, Keighley; 18, + Haworth and Halifax. + + Tuesday, 20, Huddersfield; 21, Dewsbury; 24, Wakefield; + 25, Birstal and Leeds. + + Tuesday, 27, Bradford; 29, Otley. + + _May._ + + Saturday, 1, Parkgate; 2, York; 4, Pocklington; 6,Newcastle. + + Monday, 10, Alnwick; 12, Dunbar; 13, Edinburgh. + + Tuesday, 18, Dundee; 19, Arbroath; 20, Aberdeen. + + “N.B. I have not yet finally settled the rest of my plan. I + probably shall, if I come to York. Many persons are continually + teasing me to visit more places. Now let them judge whether + I have not work enough. + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +To this circular, two postscripts were added, by some other hand, +namely: + + “Those persons, who have occasion to write to Mr. Wesley, are + requested to direct their letters according to this plan, and + not to London.” + + “Our friends here earnestly desire that Mr. Wesley may be + remembered in prayer, especially at the next quarterly fast, + that his strength may be continued, and, if it please God, + increased also.” + +Such was Wesley’s plan of travel and of labour for the next ten weeks; +but even this was a mere outline; and it will be found, as we follow +him, that he preached at many places besides the above mentioned. + +At Stroud, on March 15, hundreds were unable to get into the chapel. +On the day following, he preached to two other crowds, at Painswick, +and at Gloucester, March 17, the chapel at Tewkesbury was not large +enough to hold the noonday congregation; and at Worcester, in the +evening, he “found much comfort among a well established people.” + +Twenty years before this, Stourport did not exist; now there were a +couple of streets, at least, and also a prosperous trade. In 1780, +John Cowell came with his family from Wolverhampton; and, soon after, +Thomas Hanby preached the first Methodist sermon, in an upper room, at +Mr. Morris’s.[706] A chapel was soon erected, towards which Mr. Cowell +was a large contributor. The chapel was to be occupied by both +Calvinist and Arminian preachers. The Arminians were speedily ejected; +and, rather than appeal to law, Mr. Cowell, at his own expense, built +another and a larger chapel, which Wesley opened in 1788. He now +visited them again; had a crowded congregation; was pleased with their +attention; but writes: “The moment I ceased speaking, fourscore or one +hundred begun talking all at once. I do not remember to have been +present at such a scene before. This must be amended; otherwise, if I +should live, I will see Stourport no more.” + +March 19, at eleven a.m., Wesley preached at Quinton; and, at night, +to a densely packed congregation at Birmingham. Next day, Saturday, +the same scene was repeated; and, on Sunday, when he opened a new +meeting-house, and preached twice, hundreds of people were unable to +get in. Joseph Benson, at this time stationed in Birmingham, met +Wesley at Stourport, and writes: “I found him much stronger and better +than I expected. Still his sight is so defective, that he is much at a +loss in giving out hymns, in reading his text, and in referring to any +portion of Scripture. In conversation, he seemed much as usual, lively +and entertaining.”[707] + +On Monday, March 22, at Wednesbury, as many as could _squeezed_ into +the chapel, and the rest were fain to be listeners outside. The next +day, he opened a new meeting-house, “one of the neatest in England,” +at Dudley; and, at night, preached at Wolverhampton. Three days were +spent at Madeley and Salop; one sermon was written; and four were +preached. Week day though it was, Madeley church was crowded; and so +also was the meeting place at Salop; but concerning the Salopians, +Wesley writes: “I was much ashamed for them. The moment I had done +speaking, I suppose fifty of them were talking all at once; and no +wonder they had neither sense nor good manners, for they were +gentlefolks!” + +The halt at Madeley gave him the opportunity, not only to write his +sermon on the wedding garment, but to write letters to his friends. To +Adam Clarke he expresses the opinion, that “animal magnetism is +diabolical from the beginning to the end;” he also advises him to +consult Dr. Whitehead about his health, and requests him to follow all +the doctor’s directions, “except the leaving off preaching”; naively +adding, “I think, if I had taken this advice many years since, I +should not have been a living man.”[708] + +Charles Atmore had recently commenced a Sunday-school, in the Orphan +House, at Newcastle, consisting of seventy teachers and more than a +thousand children.[709] And Michael Longridge, one of Wesley’s best +local preachers, in the north of England, had published a 12mo +pamphlet of 13 pages, entitled, “Sunday-schools Recommended as a +Religious Institution: with a Plan for their Extension at a small +Expense.” All this had Wesley’s cordial approval; and, hence, the +following letter to Atmore, which, besides a reference to the +Sunday-schools, also contains an addition to Wesley’s _preaching +plan_. + + “MADELEY, _March 24, 1790_. + + “DEAR CHARLES,--I am glad you have set up Sunday-schools in + Newcastle. It is one of the noblest institutions which has been + seen in Europe for some centuries, and will increase more and + more, provided the teachers and inspectors do their duties. + Nothing can prevent the increase of this blessed work, but the + neglect of the instruments. Therefore, be sure to watch over + these with all care, that they may not grow weary in well + doing. + + “I shall be at Darlington, if God permit, on Tuesday and + Wednesday, May 4th and 5th; on Thursday, at Durham to preach at + twelve o’clock at noon; and at Newcastle between four and five + in the afternoon. Grace be with you and yours! + + “I am, dear Charles, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[710] + +To return. According to announcement, Wesley, on Saturday, March 27, +preached at Newcastle under Lyne; and, on the day following, twice, to +large crowds, in the open air, at Lane End, and at Burslem. At nine +o’clock on Monday morning, he opened Tunstall new chapel, “the most +elegant he had seen since he left Bath”; and, at night, preached at +Congleton, the clergyman of the parish, “the mayor, and all the heads +of the town,” forming a part of his congregation. He quietly remarks: +“That I might not overshoot them, I preached on, ‘So teach us to +number our days that we may apply our hearts unto wisdom.’” + +Two days were spent at Macclesfield, and two crowded audiences were +addressed. Here, also, one of his horses died. On April 1, he had a +large congregation at Stockport. The next day, Good Friday, he +preached at Oldham and Manchester; and, at the latter place, again on +Saturday. + +On Easter Sunday, at Manchester, he preached twice, and held a +sacramental service at which there were about sixteen hundred +communicants! + +Next day, he preached thrice, at Altrincham, Northwich, and Chester; +and, in each place, had crowded congregations. At Warrington, “the +chapel was well filled with serious hearers”; and, at Liverpool, +multitudes were not able to get in. At Wigan, the chapel “was more +than filled”; and “in the lovely house at Bolton” he preached to, what +he calls, “one of the loveliest congregations in England.” This was on +April 10; and, from this date to May 24, there is a chasm in Wesley’s +journal, which we shall endeavour to fill up; first of all, however, +giving an unpublished letter, addressed to Thomas Taylor, who, with +William Simpson, was stationed at Hull. + + “MANCHESTER, _April 4, 1790_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--I did not approve of Dr. Coke’s making + collections either in yours or any other circuit. I told him + so, and am not well pleased with his doing it. It was very ill + done. It is exceeding probable, that sea bathing will be of use + to brother Simpson, especially if he be temperate in all + things. + + “I do not know what you mean concerning talking ‘about the + Church.’ I advise all our brethren, that have been brought up + in the Church, to continue there; and there I leave the matter. + The Methodists are to spread life among all denominations; + which they will do, till they form a separate sect. + + “I am, dear Tommy, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +According to Wesley’s plan, the week, intervening between April 10 and +17, was to be spent in visiting Blackburn, Colne, Keighley, Haworth, +and Halifax. But, besides these places, he also preached at Preston, +from Revelation xxii. 17; and was the guest of Mrs. Emmett of +Walton,[711] where he wrote the following letter to the celebrated Ann +Cutler, commonly called “praying Nanny.” + + “WALTON, _April 15, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--There is something in the dealings of God + with your soul, which is out of the common way. But I have + known several whom He has been pleased to lead in exactly the + same way, and particularly in manifesting to them distinctly + the three Persons of the ever blessed Trinity. You may tell all + your experience to me any time; but will need to be cautious in + speaking to others, for they would not understand what you say. + Go on in the name of God, and in the power of His might. Pray + for the whole spirit of humility; and I wish that you would + write and speak without reserve to, dear Nanny, + + “Yours affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[712] + +Wesley spent April 21 at Halifax;[713] and, in connection with his +visit here, preached at Bradshaw, where, on his tottering up the +pulpit stairs, the whole congregation burst into a flood of tears. +More than once, his memory failed him, and Joseph Bradford and William +Thompson had to act the part of remembrancers. The visit was memorable +in more respects than one. While the congregation was waiting for the +venerable preacher, and a crowd was assembled at the door, a woman of +the name of Wilson mockingly exclaimed, “They are waiting for their +God”; no sooner was the sentence uttered than she fell senseless to +the ground, and, the day following, she expired.[714] + +The next few days, according to Wesley’s plan, were employed at +Huddersfield, Dewsbury, Wakefield, Birstal, Leeds, Bradford, and +Otley. On the 3rd of May, he came to York. Thomas Taylor, in his +unpublished diary, remarks: “May 3--I went to York, and was amazed to +meet such a number of travelling preachers, fifteen or sixteen of +them. Mr. Wesley preached a useful sermon; and, after preaching, we +had a meeting respecting one of our number who was accused of +drunkenness.” + +On the 5th of May, Wesley was met at Darlington by his son in law, Mr. +William Smith, and by Charles Atmore, from Newcastle. Atmore writes: +“We heard him preach in the evening, from ‘He is before all things, +and by Him all things consist.’ He appears very feeble; and no wonder, +he being nearly eighty-seven years of age. His sight has failed so +much, that he cannot see to give out the hymn; yet his voice is +strong, and his spirits remarkably lively. Surely this great and good +man is the prodigy of the present age.” + +Old as he was, Wesley set out next morning, at half-past three +o’clock, for Newcastle, where he preached, in the evening, from Isaiah +lvii. 1, 2. The following night (Friday) he preached again his +remarkable sermon to the children of the Sunday-school, taking as his +text Psalm xxxiv. 11; the sermon being literally composed and +delivered in words of not more than two syllables.[715] On Saturday, +May 8, we find him at North Shields, preaching, says Atmore, “an +excellent sermon, from ‘What things were gain to me, these I counted +loss for Christ.’” Next day, Sunday, May 9, he addressed a crowd of +several thousands, on Byker Hill, from Matthew vii. 24; and, in the +evening, at the Orphan House, took his old favourite text, “By grace +are ye saved, through faith.” “The house,” writes Atmore, “was much +crowded, and many hundreds returned, not being able to obtain an +entrance.” Atmore continues: + + “He was highly honoured in his ministry; particularly to one + who had been in a state of great despair for many years. As + soon as he arrived at the Orphan House, Mr. Wesley inquired + after this individual, and I accompanied him in visiting him. + As soon as he entered the room, where the poor man was, he went + up to him, and said, ‘Brother Reed, I have a word from God unto + thee; Jesus Christ maketh thee whole.’ He then knelt down to + pray; and such a season I have seldom experienced. Hope + instantly sprang up, and despair gave place; and, although Reed + had not been out of his habitation, nor even from his wretched + bed, for several years, he went that evening to hear Mr. Wesley + preach; and God graciously confirmed the testimony of His + servant in restoring him to ‘the light of His + countenance.’”[716] + +On Monday, May 10, Wesley proceeded on his journey to Scotland. Of his +labours during the next fortnight, we have no record; but, on May 25, +we find him preaching to a crowded audience at Aberdeen; then at +Brechin, Glasgow, and Dumfries. The last mentioned town was now a part +of the Glasgow circuit, and had, as its resident preacher, Mr. +Yewdall, who writes: “In the latter end of May, Mr. Wesley visited us. +He came from Glasgow that day, (about seventy miles,) but his strength +was almost exhausted, and, when he attempted to preach, very few could +hear him. His sight was likewise much decayed, so that he could +neither read the hymn or text. The wheels of life were ready to stand +still; but his conversation was agreeably edifying, being mixed with +the wisdom and gravity of a parent, and the artless simplicity of a +child.”[717] + +From Dumfries, Wesley proceeded, on June 2, to Carlisle, where the +chapel would not near contain his congregation. Thence he went to +Hexham, where he “found a loving people, much alive to God, and +consequently increasing daily.” + +On Friday, June 4, he once again, and, for the last time, reached +Newcastle. He writes: + + “In this and Kingswood house, were I to do my own will, I + should choose to spend the short remainder of my days. But it + cannot be; this is not my rest. This and the next evening, we + had a numerous congregation; and the people seemed much alive. + Sunday, June 6, I was invited to preach in Lemsley church, on + the side of Gateshead Fell; but, some hours after, the minister + changed his mind. So I preached in our own preaching house, + which contained the greater part of the congregation; among + whom were Sir Henry Liddell and his lady, with a great number + of his servants. The chapel was hot as a stove; but neither + high nor low seemed to regard it: for God was there! The Orphan + House was equally crowded in the evening; but the rain would + not suffer me to preach abroad. Monday, June 7, I transcribed + the stations of the preachers. Tuesday, June 8, I wrote a form + for settling the preaching houses, without any superfluous + words, which shall be used for the time to come, verbatim, for + all the houses to which I contribute anything. I will no more + encourage that villainous tautology of lawyers, which is the + scandal of our nation. In the evening, I preached to the + children of our Sunday-school; six or seven hundred of whom + were present. Observe, none of our masters or mistresses teach + for pay; they seek a reward that man cannot give.” + +Two days after this, Wesley left Newcastle, where he had spent so many +happy hours, for ever. Before we follow him, three more of his letters +may be acceptable; the first to Henry Moore, the second to the wife of +Adam Clarke, the third to Miss Bisson. + + “DUMFRIES, _June 1, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR HENRY,--So I am upon the borders of England once + again. My sight is much as it was, but I doubt I shall not + recover my strength, till I use that noble medicine, preaching + in the morning. But where can we put poor Adam Clarke? He must + not preach himself to death. What circuit is he equal to? Where + can he have rest as well as labour? The best place I can think + of, at present, is Leeds. + + “The dying words of the Prince of Orange are much upon my mind + this morning: ‘Lord have mercy upon the people!’ I never saw so + much likelihood of doing good in Scotland as there is now, if + all our preachers here would be Methodists indeed! Tell dear + Nancy to love me as well as she can. + + “I am, my dear Henry, etc., + + “J. WESLEY.”[718] + + “DUMFRIES, _June 1, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--The great question is, What can be done for + Adam Clarke? Now, will you save his life? Look round; consider + if there be any circuit where he can have much rest, and little + work; or shall he and you spend September in my rooms at + Kingswood, on condition that he shall preach but twice a week, + and ride to the Hotwells every day? I think he must do this, or + die; and I do not want him (neither do you) to run away from us + in haste. You need not be told, that this will be attended with + some expense; if it be, we can make it easy. I am apt to think + this will be the best way. In the meantime, let him do as much + as he can, and no more. + + “It is probable, I shall stay with you a little longer, as my + strength does not much decline. I travelled yesterday nearly + eighty miles, and preached in the evening without any pain. The + Lord does what pleases Him. Peace be with all your spirits! + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[719] + + “NEWCASTLE, _June 6, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--To hear from you is always a pleasure to me; + though it is a pleasure mixed with concern when I hear of your + weakness or sickness; only I know the Lord loveth whom He + chasteneth. But of what kind is your illness? Perhaps I might + be enabled to tell you how to remove it; and if you can recover + your health, you ought; for health is a great blessing. + + “In August last, my strength failed almost at once; and my + sight, in a great measure, went from me. But all is well; I can + still write almost as easily as ever; and I can read in a clear + light; and, I think, if I could not read or write at all, I + could still say something for God. When you have more strength, + tell me more of the work of God, whether in yourself or those + round about you. And ought you not to let me know if you are in + any temporal distress? For everything that concerns you, + concerns, my dear Jenny, yours most affectionately, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[720] + +On leaving Newcastle, on the 10th of June, Wesley proceeded, over +rough roads and high hills, a distance of at least thirty miles, to +Weardale, where he preached both at noon and night. On the 11th, he +preached twice in the open air, at Stanhope and at Durham, the crowds +being so immense that the chapels were utterly unable to contain them. +The 12th and 13th he spent at Sunderland, where he preached thrice: +once in the Methodist chapel; a second time in Monkwearmouth church, +for the benefit of the Sunday-school; and a third, to many thousands +of people, out of doors. + +During the ensuing week, we find him preaching at Hartlepool, +Stockton, Yarm, Potto, Hutton Rudby, Stokesley, and Whitby. At the +last mentioned town, he spent Sunday, June 20, preached twice, +attended church, and wrote in his journal: “It was very providential, +that part of the adjoining mountain fell down, and demolished our old +meeting-house, with many houses besides; by which means we have one of +the most beautiful chapels in Great Britain, finely situated on the +steep side of the mountain. In all England, I have not seen a more +affectionate people than those at Whitby.” + +This was high praise of these Yorkshire fishermen; but it was not +unmerited. Warm hearts often beat under rough exteriors. Besides, the +Methodist society at Whitby was now well-nigh a model. Most of the two +hundred and fifty members met in _band_. Their itinerant preachers +preached to them three mornings every week; and, on the other +mornings, they were either supplied with local preachers, or held +prayer-meetings. At noon, every Friday, they had their intercession +meeting; and, after the toils of the week were ended, they met +together every Saturday night, to ask God to fit their minds and +hearts for the services of Sunday.[721] + +On June 21, Wesley preached at Pickering and Malton; and, on the +following days, at Scarborough, Bridlington, Beverley, and Hull. At +Hull, he spent Sunday, June 27, and also his birthday. He writes: + + “Friday, June 25--About noon I preached at Beverley, to a + serious, well behaved congregation; and, in the evening, to one + equally serious, and far more numerous, at Hull. Saturday, 26, + was a day of satisfaction. I preached at seven in the morning, + and at six in the evening, to as many as our house would + contain; the ground being too wet for the congregation to stand + abroad.” + +This is a simple entry, and gives no idea of the commotion created by +Wesley’s visit. Thomas Taylor, who was now the assistant in the Hull +circuit, writes in his diary: “I and many friends from Hull met Mr. +Wesley at Beverley. We dined at an inn. He preached, and we hastened +to Hull. Many people attending this evening.” Taylor is as laconic as +Wesley; but, from another source, we learn, that the “many friends +from Hull” were a regular cavalcade of forty persons, some in chaises, +and the rest on horses. All these dined with Wesley at his inn at +Beverley; spirits were lively, and conversation brisk; but, in the +midst of it, and while all present were utterly oblivious of the +flight of time, Wesley pulled out his watch, started on his feet, bid +his friends good day, stepped into his carriage, and was gone before +they had time to remonstrate, or to wish him to wait for the cavalcade +to attend him. Horses were saddled, and carriages got ready with as +much celerity as possible; but the old man was on his way, and it was +with the utmost difficulty that “the horsemen and the chariots” +overtook the illustrious visitor in sufficient time to do him honour +in the sight of their fellow citizens.[722] + +On his birthday, he wrote: + + “Monday, June 28.--This day, I enter into my eighty-eighth + year. For above eighty-six years, I found none of the + infirmities of old age; my eyes did not wax dim, neither was my + natural strength abated; but, last August, I found almost a + sudden change. My eyes were so dim, that no glasses would help + me. My strength likewise now quite forsook me; and probably + will not return in this world. But I feel no pain from head to + foot; only it seems nature is exhausted; and, humanly speaking, + will sink more and more, till ‘the weary springs of life stand + still at last.’” + +Thus did the venerable man calmly contemplate the inevitable closing +of his remarkable career. No weary child of innocence ever went to its +welcome couch with greater serenity than Wesley went down the steps +leading to his sepulchre. + +Here we pause again, to insert another selection of his letters. The +first was addressed to William Black, in Nova Scotia. + + “SUNDERLAND, _June 14, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You did well to send me an account of your + little societies. Here is a good beginning, though it is, as + yet, in many places, a day of small things; and although it + does not please God to carry on His work so rapidly with you as + in the United States. But one soul is worth all the merchandise + in the world; and, whoever gets money, do you win souls. + + “Never was there, throughout England, Scotland, and Ireland, so + great a thirst for the pure word of God as there is at this + day. The same we find in the little islands of Man, Wight, + Jersey, Guernsey, and Alderney in the Western Ocean. In the + Isle of Man alone (thirty miles long) the societies contain + about four-and-twenty hundred members. I have just now finished + my route through Scotland, where I never had such congregations + before. So it pleases God to give me a little more to do, + before He calls me hence. + + “What has become of brother Scurr, Dodson, and our other + Yorkshire friends? Some of them doubtless are gone into a + farther country; but some I suppose remain. I doubt you do not + keep up a constant intercourse with each other. Love as + brethren! + + “I am, dear William, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[723] + +The following, kindly lent by Charles Reed, Esq., M.P., has not before +been published. It was addressed to William Thom, the assistant +appointed to Sarum circuit. + + “MALTON, _June 21, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--I concur in the judgment of my brother, that + the using of the form of prayer will tend to unite our people + to the Church, rather than to separate them from it; especially + if you earnestly insist on their going to church every fourth + Sunday. + + “I am very indifferent concerning the preaching house, and + shall not concern myself about it any more. I have lost £10 by + it already, although to no purpose. If anything more is done + concerning it, it must be done by the people at Sarum + themselves. + + “I am, with love to sister Thom, dear Billy, your affectionate + friend and brother, + + “J. WESLEY.” + +The next was addressed to a bishop, whose name is not given. + + “HULL, _June 26, 1790_. + + “MY LORD,--It may seem strange, that one, who is not acquainted + with your lordship, should trouble you with a letter. But I am + constrained to do it; I believe it is my duty both to God and + your lordship. And I must speak plain; having nothing to hope + or fear in this world, which I am on the point of leaving. + + “The Methodists, in general, my lord, are members of the Church + of England. They hold all her doctrines, attend her service, + and partake of her sacraments. They do not willingly do harm to + any one, but do what good they can to all. To encourage each + other herein, they frequently spend an hour together in prayer + and mutual exhortation. Permit me then to ask, ‘_Cui bono?_ for + what reasonable end, would your lordship drive these people out + of the Church?’ Are they not as quiet, as inoffensive, nay, as + pious, as any of their neighbours? except perhaps here and + there a hairbrained man, who knows not what he is about. Do you + ask, ‘Who drives them out of the Church?’ Your lordship does; + and that in the most cruel manner; yea, and the most + disingenuous manner. They desire a licence to worship God after + their own conscience. Your lordship refuses it; and then + punishes them for not having a licence! So your lordship leaves + them only this alternative, ‘Leave the Church or starve.’ And + is it a Christian, yea, a protestant bishop, that so persecutes + his own flock? I say _persecutes_; for it is persecution, to + all intents and purposes. You do not burn them, indeed, but you + starve them; and how small is the difference! And your lordship + does this, under colour of a vile, execrable law, not a whit + better than that _de hæretico comburendo_! So persecution, + which is banished out of France, is again countenanced in + England! + + “O my lord, for God’s sake, for Christ’s sake, for pity’s sake, + suffer the poor people to enjoy their religious, as well as + civil liberty! I am on the brink of eternity! Perhaps so is + your lordship too! How soon may you also be called, to give an + account of your stewardship, to the great Shepherd and Bishop + of our souls! May He enable both you and me to do it with joy! + So prays, my lord, your lordship’s dutiful son and servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[724] + +The following letter is without date, but is too characteristic to be +omitted. + + “You give five reasons why the Rev. Mr. P---- will come no more + among us. 1. Because we despise the ministers of the Church of + England. This I flatly deny: I am answering letters, this very + post, which bitterly blame me for just the contrary. 2. Because + so much backbiting and evil speaking is suffered amongst our + people. It is not suffered; all possible means are used, both + to prevent and remove it. 3. Because I, who have written so + much against hoarding up money, have put out £700 to interest. + I never put sixpence out to interest since I was born; nor had + I ever £100 together, my own, since I came into the world. 4. + Because our lay preachers have told many stories of my brother + and me. If they did, I am sorry for them; when I hear the + particulars, I can answer, and, perhaps, make those ashamed who + believed them. 5. Because we did not help a friend in distress. + We did help him as far as we were able. ‘But we might have made + his case known to Mr. G., Lady H., etc.’ So we did, more than + once; but we could not pull money from them, whether they would + or no. Therefore, these reasons are of no weight. You conclude + with praying, that God would remove pride and malice from + amongst us. Of pride, I have too much; of malice, I have none; + however, the prayer is good, and I thank you for it.”[725] + +The next was addressed to Adam Clarke, then at Bristol. + + “_June 28, 1790._ + + “DEAR ADAM,--I often wonder at the people of Bristol. They are + so honest, yet so dull, ’tis scarce possible to strike any fire + into them. Only with God all things are possible. Many years + ago, I put the society at Bath into a way wherein, if they had + persevered, they would now have owed nothing. They were at + Plymouth but thirty in number, and their debt was £1400. I + advised them, let every member subscribe monthly what he can; + and a hundred at the Dock promised to do the same. ‘I,’ said + one, ‘will give a crown a month’; ‘I,’ said another, + ‘half-a-crown.’ Many subscribed a shilling, sixpence, or + threepence a month. And now the debt is paid. I began such a + subscription in Bath; as I have done in many places with + success. But they left it off in two or three weeks. Why? + Because I gave four guineas to prevent one, that was arrested, + from going to jail! Good reason, was it not? ‘Why,’ said one + and another, ‘might he not have given it to _me_?’ + + “On Monday four weeks, I shall probably set out for Bristol. + Peace be with your spirits. + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[726] + +While on money matters, let an explanation be given. Wesley asserts, +in one of the foregoing letters, that he never had, at one time, since +he was born, £100 that was his own. No doubt, excepting an occasional +legacy, this was strictly true; and yet, towards the close of life, a +year never passed without his giving hundreds of pounds away in +charity. Wesley not only kept a journal of his labours, but account +books of his income and expenditure. The last of these has, at the end +of it, the following entry, in Wesley’s own handwriting, but in +penmanship which it is extremely difficult to decipher: + + “N.B. For upwards of eighty-six years,[727] 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. + + “JOHN WESLEY, + “_July 16, 1790._” + +What was Wesley’s income? He had £30 a year from the London +circuit;[728] and, in the country, the Methodists occasionally, but +not often, paid his hostelry bill, and other similar expenses incurred +in travelling. But this was not all. Wesley was the proprietor of a +large publishing and book concern, from which he derived considerable +profits; but be the profits what they might, they were at once +distributed in the work of God, and in acts of charity. In as brief a +form as possible, we give, from the book above mentioned, a few items +belonging to the last nine years of Wesley’s life. + +In 1782, Wesley received £361 19_s._ Of this, he spent £5 19_s._ for +clothes. The balance, £356, he, with his own hands, gave away; and, +during the same year, John Atlay, his book steward, by his directions, +gave a further sum of £237 13_s._; making £593 13_s._ for the year. + +In 1783, he, and his steward by his orders, gave £832 1_s._ 6_d._ In +1784, £534 17_s._ 6_d._ In 1785, £851 12_s._ In 1786, £738 5_s._ In +1787, including his travelling expenses, £961 4_s._ In 1788, the last +year Atlay acted for him, the two united gave in charity £738 4_s._ + +At the end of his accounts for 1789, he writes: + + “I have given this year by myself £206 0 0 + By George Whitfield[729] 560 0 0 + Travelling 60 0 0 + “But I can be accurate no[730] ... ‘Not as _I_ will, but as Thou + wilt.’” + +No one can dispute that the profits of Wesley’s book establishment +were as much his own property as the profits of any of the great +publishing houses in Paternoster Row; but, of these profits, he +literally spent none upon himself, except for an occasional suit of +clothes. All were most scrupulously given, as fast as they were +realised, and sometimes faster, to the support and extension of the +great work to which his long life was cheerfully devoted, and to the +relief of the distresses of his fellow creatures as far as he had the +power. Dr. Whitehead says, it was supposed that, in the course of +fifty years, Wesley gave away between twenty and thirty thousand +pounds. Henry Moore writes: “Mr. Wesley’s accounts lie before me, and +his expenses are noted with the greatest exactness. Every penny is +recorded; and, I am persuaded, the supposed £30,000 might be increased +several thousands more.”[731] + +Wesley made a will, in which he bequeathed his book business, and his +books then on sale, (subject to a rent charge of £85 a year to the +widow and children of his brother,) to the Methodist conference, in +trust “for carrying on the work of God, by itinerant preachers”; his +furniture, books, and whatever else belonged to him at Kingswood, to +Coke, Mather, and Moore, “in trust, to be still employed in teaching +and maintaining the children of poor travelling preachers”; all the +books which belonged to him in his studies at London and other places, +to Coke, Whitehead, and Moore, “in trust, for the use of the preachers +who shall labour there from time to time”; all his manuscripts to the +same Coke, Whitehead, and Moore, “to be burned, or published, as they +saw good”; his gowns, cassocks, sashes, and bands in City Road chapel, +“for the use of the clergymen attending there”; his “pelisse to the +Rev. Mr. Creighton”; all the rest of his “wearing apparel to four of +the travelling preachers that wanted it most”; his watch to Joseph +Bradford; his gold seal to Elizabeth Ritchie; his chaise and horses to +James Ward and Charles Wheeler, “in trust, to be sold, and the money +to be divided, one half to Hannah Abbott, and the other to the members +of the select society”; and copies of the eight volumes of his sermons +to “each travelling preacher who should remain in the connexion six +months after his decease.” + +All this was property, but not money. Hitherto, not a _coin_ has been +bequeathed; but still there are six clauses in Wesley’s will, which +may be designated _monetary_. We give them in substance, though the +first two seem to contradict each other. (1) All the coins, and +whatever else was found in the drawer of his bureau at London, to his +granddaughters, Mary and Jane Smith. (2) Whatever money remained in +his bureau and pockets, to Thomas Briscoe, William Collins, John +Easton, and Isaac Brown. (3) Out of the first money arising from the +sale of books, £40 to his sister Martha, £40 to Mr. Creighton, and £60 +to the Rev. Mr. Heath. (4) The annuity of £5, left by Roger Shiel to +Kingswood school, to be paid to Henry Brooke, Arthur Keene, and +William Whitestone. (5) A pound each to the six poor men who should +carry his body to the grave. (6) Any personal estate, undisposed of, +to be given to his two nieces, E. Ellison, S. Collet, equally. + +The reader has here the substance of Wesley’s will. Where were his +hoardings, his money put out to interest, his landed, household, and +chapel property? He had none. He died, as he had lived, without a +purse. He had been his own executor as far as possible; and now had +nothing to bequeath, except what, in his lifetime, could not easily be +turned into current coin. + +We return to his itinerary. Leaving Hull, Wesley proceeded to +Lincolnshire. On June 29, the crowd at Owston was such that he had to +preach in the open air. At Lincoln, his text was, “One thing is +needful.” “Is this the great Mr. Wesley?” exclaimed a lady when +retiring: “why, the poorest person in the chapel might understand +him.” “Yes,” replied a gentleman; “in this he displays his greatness, +that while the most ignorant can understand him, the most learned are +edified, and can take no offence.”[732] On Friday, July 2, he preached +twice, once out of doors at Newton, and a second time in the chapel at +Gainsborough. On Saturday, he preached at Epworth, and met the +society. On Sunday, July 4, he attended his father’s church, where the +congregation was five times, and the attendance at sacrament ten +times, larger than usual. Besides this, he preached at Misterton, to a +great multitude, “under a spreading tree”; and, in Epworth market +place, to “such a congregation as was never seen at Epworth before.” + +Here occurs an eight weeks’ hiatus in Wesley’s journal. The space +between July 4 and August 27 we shall fill up in the best way we can. + +At Doncaster, where he had a crowded congregation, a burly butcher, +noted for his popery, his wickedness, and his pugilistic feats, was +converted, became a Methodist, and, to his dying day, continued a +peaceful, humble, loving Christian.[733] This was probably on July 5, +as, on the day following, he was at Rotherham.[734] There can be no +question, that Sheffield also would be visited; and, most likely, +Derby and Nottingham; also perhaps Castle Donington, Leicester, +Coventry, and other places. At all events, the Castle Donington old +stewards’ book contains this item: “1790. Paid for Mr. Wesley’s +carriage through the circuit, £1 6_s._”[735] + +We cannot trace him farther; but, three weeks after he was at +Doncaster and Rotherham, he opened his conference at Bristol,--the +last that he attended. Charles Atmore writes: “Mr. Wesley appeared +very feeble; his eyesight had failed so much that he could not see to +give out the hymns; yet his voice was strong, his spirit remarkably +lively, and the powers of his mind, and his love towards his fellow +creatures, were as bright and as ardent as ever.”[736] + +The only legislation at this conference was concerning preachers and +preaching houses. + +In reference to the latter, it was determined: (1) That, in future, +all chapels should be built on the same plan as those in Bath and in +City Road. (2) No chapel should be undertaken without the consent of a +majority of the connexional building committee. (3) Not a stone was to +be laid, till the chapel was settled after the Methodist form, +verbatim; nor until two thirds of the estimated expense were +subscribed; and no collections were to be made for any chapel except +in the circuit where it was to be erected. + +Then in reference to preachers: (1) None, in future, were to attend +conference, except those whose travelling expenses were paid by the +circuits in which they respectively laboured. Those in Scotland and +Wales were to be the only exceptions. (2) The assistants were to tell +the people, that every circuit must bear its own burden, and that +those circuits which “did not provide for their preachers and their +children, (except Scotland, Ireland, and Wales,) should have no more +preachers sent to them, for the time to come, than they would provide +for.” (3) No assistant was to take into society any one put out by his +predecessor, without consulting him. (4) Preachers were never to +hasten home to their families, after evening preaching, till they had +met the society. (5) No preacher was to leave conference before the +conclusion of it, without consent publicly obtained. (6) No preacher +was to preach three times the same day to the same congregation; or +oftener than twice on a week day, or thrice on Sundays. + +In reference to the last of these regulations, Adam Clarke relates +that Wesley was outwitted. In a private meeting with some of his +principal and senior preachers, Wesley proposed that no preacher +should preach thrice on the same day. Messrs. Mather, Pawson, +Thompson, and others objected. Wesley replied: “It must be given up; +we shall lose our preachers by such excessive labour.” They answered: +“We have all done so; and you, even at a very advanced age, have +continued to do so.” “What I have done,” said he, “is out of the +question: my life and strength have been under an especial providence; +besides, I know better than they how to preach without injuring +myself; and no man can preach thrice a day without killing himself +sooner or later; and the custom shall not be continued.” The objectors +pressed the point no further, finding that he was determined; but +deceived him after all, by altering the minute thus, when it was sent +to press: “No preacher shall preach three times the same day, _to the +same congregation_.” + +This was not ingenuous. Wesley was right; and Methodism has paid an +incalculable penalty by disregarding his almost dying wish. Clarke +justly remarks: + + “He who preaches the gospel, as he ought, must do it with his + whole strength of body and soul; and he who undertakes a labour + of this kind thrice every Lord’s day will infallibly shorten + his life by it. He who, instead of _preaching_, _talks_ to the + people,--merely _speaks_ about good things, or _tells_ a + religious story,--will never injure himself by such an + employment: but such a person does not _labour_ in the word and + doctrine; he tells his tale; and, as he preaches, so his + congregation believes; and sinners are left as he found them.” + [737] + +During the last decade of years in Wesley’s life, Methodism had made +amazing progress. In 1780, there were 64 circuits in the United +Kingdom; now there were 115. Then there were 171 itinerant preachers +employed; now there were 294. Then there were 43,380 members of +society; now there were 71,568. Then there were no missionary +stations; now 19 missionaries were appointed to Antigua, Barbadoes, +St. Vincent’s, St. Christopher’s, Nevis, Tortola, Jamaica, Nova +Scotia, and Newfoundland, which had an aggregate membership of 5350 +persons,--800 in Nova Scotia and Newfoundland, and 4550 in the West +Indies. In 1780, there were in America twenty circuits, 42 itinerant +preachers, and 8504 members of society. In 1790, there were 114 +circuits, 228 itinerant preachers, and 57,631 members of society. + +These statistics, put into another form, will stand thus. + + ------------+-------------+------------+------------- + | Methodist | Methodist | Methodist + | Circuits | Itinerant | Members. + | throughout | Preachers. | + | the world. | | + ------------+-------------+------------+------------- + =1790= | 240 | 541 | 134,549 + =1780= | 84 | 213 | 52,334 + ------------+-------------+------------+------------- + INCREASE | ⎫ 156 | 328 | 82,215 + in 10 years | ⎭ | | + ------------+-------------+------------+------------- + +Marvellous had been the success of Methodism up to the year 1780; and, +yet, the results during the last ten years of Wesley’s life were much +more than double the united results of the forty years preceding! + +Before leaving the conference of 1790, we insert an unpublished +letter, addressed by Miss Ritchie to the wife of one of Wesley’s +clerical assistants, the Rev. Peard Dickenson. + + “_August 3, 1790._ + + “... I felt much for our Zion previous to the conference. Our + dear and honoured father’s state of health was alarming; but + prayer was heard, and he is much better, and things have such + an appearance as revives my hope that we shall still go on in + the good old way. + + “Mr. Wesley has very openly and fully declared his sentiments + respecting the impropriety of a separation from the Church; and + the preachers, in general, have agreed to abide by the old + plan. I sincerely pity Dr. Coke; but I really believe good will + be brought out of evil. + + “The preachers have had a most searching conference, and the + Lord has been very present. The preachers’ dress has been + largely debated, and what is verging towards worldly conformity + is to be laid aside. We all lament dress as a growing evil + among the Methodists; and, if the preachers are not patterns in + this respect, how can they exhort the people? One morning, at + breakfast, among a very few select friends, Mr. Wesley said he + had some things to complain of, which he had better mention + before half-a-dozen persons than before a hundred. Among other + things, he spoke with disapprobation of the ruffles on Mr. + Dickenson’s shirts. I endeavoured to soften matters, saying, + that you desired to take them off, and that, if this was not + already done, it was because you had been prevented; on which I + was requested to mention to you the conversation which had + taken place. My dear sister, let me beg of you then, never to + let Mr. Dickenson wear a ruffled shirt again. You both love our + dear father too well to grieve him. Yours in Jesus, + + “ELIZABETH RITCHIE.” + +As soon as the Bristol conference was ended, the veteran evangelist +again set out on his glorious mission, and spent the next three weeks +in Wales. At Brecon, he preached in the town hall; and in Watton +chapel, on the state of the church at Ephesus, and our Lord’s +lamentation over Jerusalem.[738] At Haverfordwest, he wrote as +follows, to Thomas Roberts, then a young preacher, of four years’ +standing, whom he had just appointed to the Bristol circuit. + + “HAVERFORDWEST, _August 13, 1790_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--Now I shall make a trial of you, whether I can + confide in you or no. Since I came hither, I have been much + concerned. This is the most important circuit in all Wales; but + it has been vilely neglected by the assistant, whom, therefore, + I can trust no more. I can trust you, even in so critical a + case. I desire, therefore, that, whoever opposes, you will set + out immediately, and come hither as soon as ever you can. I + wish you could meet me at Cardiff, or Cowbridge. You will see, + by the printed plan, when I shall be at either of those places. + If you have not notice enough to do this, meet me to-morrow + sennight at the New Passage, unless you can get a passage by + the weekly boat to Swansea. If it be possible, do not fail. It + may be, this may be the beginning of a lasting friendship + between you and, dear Tommy, yours, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[739] + +At Pembroke, Wesley wrote the following to Mr. William Mears, a useful +local preacher, at Rochester. + + “PEMBROKE, _August 16, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--It is my desire that all things be done to + the satisfaction of all parties. If, therefore, it be more + convenient, let brother Pritchard’s[740] family be at + Canterbury, and sister Boone[741] lodge in Chatham house. + + “Why do you not again set on foot a weekly subscription in + order to lessen your debt? Have neither the preachers nor the + people any spirit in them? Who begins? I will give half-a-crown + a week for a year, if all of you will make it up twenty + shillings. + + “I am, dear Billy, your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[742] + +In a letter to his niece, Miss Sarah Wesley, dated “Near Cowbridge, +August 18, 1790,” he writes: “I always reprove profane sailors, or, +what is worse, profane gentlemen; and many of them will receive it +civilly, if not thankfully. They all know, captains as well as common +men, that swearing is not necessary. And, even now, we have captains +of several men-of-war who do not swear at all; and never were men +better obeyed.”[743] + +Thus was Wesley always about his heavenly Father’s work. On August 27, +he returned to Bristol, in the neighbourhood of which he was busily +employed till September 27. + +In the morning of Sunday, August 29, he read prayers, preached, and +administered the Lord’s supper, a service in which, without +assistance, he was occupied for three full hours; and, yet, in the +afternoon, he preached again, out of doors. The next day, we find him +preaching twice, at Castle Carey, and Ditcheat. + +On Tuesday 31, he was visited by a _lusus naturæ_, William Kingston, +born without arms, who, in Wesley’s presence, took his teacup between +his toes, and the toast with his other foot; and afterwards, by +another feat, showed himself to be a man of no mean penmanship. On the +same day, Wesley had “a lovely congregation at Shepton Mallet,” and a +crowded one at Pensford. + +During the remainder of the week, he preached at Bristol, and +corrected and abridged the Life of Mrs. Scudamore. + +On Saturday, September 4, he went to Bath and preached; and on Sunday, +the 5th, writes: “At ten we had a numerous congregation, and more +communicants than ever I saw here before. This day, I cut off that +vile custom, I know not when or how it began, of preaching three times +a day by the same preacher to the same congregation; enough to weary +out both the bodies and minds of the speaker, as well as his hearers.” +On Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, in the ensuing week, he preached +once daily, and on Friday twice. + +On Sunday, September 12, he employed himself in Bristol, and, during +the week following, met the classes, containing 944 members, and +likewise preached at Thornbury, and at Kingswood. + +In labour like this the whole month was spent. + +At the preceding conference, Wesley had appointed Adam Clarke to the +Dublin circuit, and, on September 5, Adam wrote him a long letter, +telling him that Thomas Rutherford had been laid aside by rheumatic +fever, and that the results of a religious revival had been destroyed +by the extravagant irregularities of those who conducted the +prayer-meetings during Mr. Rutherford’s illness. These meetings had +been, and still were, kept up till ten or eleven o’clock on Sunday +nights, and sometimes till twelve and one; and it was no uncommon +thing for a person, in the midst of them, to give an exhortation of +half or three quarters of an hour’s continuance. Clarke wished to +correct these irregularities, and wrote to Wesley for advice,[744] who +replied to him as follows. + + “BRISTOL, _September 9, 1790_. + + “Dear Adam,--Did not the terrible weather that you had at sea + make you forget your fatigue by land? Come, set one against the + other, and you have no great reason to complain of your + journey. + + “You will have need of all the courage and prudence God has + given you. Indeed, you will want constant supplies of both. + Very gently, and very steadily, you should proceed between the + rocks on either hand. In the great revival at London, my first + difficulty was, to bring into temper those who opposed the + work; and my next, to check and regulate the extravagances of + those that promoted it. And this was far the hardest part of + the work; for many of them would bear no check at all. But I + followed one rule, though with all calmness: ‘You must either + bend or break.’ Meantime, while you act exactly right, expect + to be blamed by both sides. I will give you a few directions. + (1) See that no prayer-meeting continue later than nine at + night, particularly on Sunday: let the house be emptied before + the clock strikes nine. (2) Let there be no exhortation at any + prayer-meeting. (3) Beware of jealousy, or judging one another. + (4) Never think a man is an enemy to the work, because he + reproves irregularities. Peace be with you and yours! + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[745] + +Clarke acted upon Wesley’s good advice, and wrote him the results. +Wesley answered. + + “BEDFORD, _October 28, 1790_. + + “DEAR ADAM,--I am glad my letter had so good an effect. I + dearly love our precious society in Dublin, and cannot but be + keenly sensible of anything that gives them disturbance. I am + glad our leaders have adopted that excellent method of + regularly changing their classes. Wherever this has been done, + it has been a means of quickening both the leaders and the + people. I wish this custom could be more extensively + introduced. + + “You did well to prevent all irregular and turbulent + prayer-meetings, and, at all hazards, to keep the meetings of + the society private. + + “Poor Mr. Smyth is now used just as he used _me_. He must + either bend or break. Although you cannot solicit any of + Bethesda to join with us, yet neither can you refuse them when + they offer their hand. + + “You do well to offer all possible courtesy to Mr. William + Smyth and his family. + + “As long as the society in Dublin continues upward of a + thousand, you will have no reason to complain. + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[746] + +Before returning to Wesley’s journal, another letter may be welcome. +It was addressed to Mr. Robert C. Brackenbury. Wesley’s reference to +himself is touching; and his remarks on the doctrine of Christian +perfection ought to be remembered. + + “BRISTOL, _September 15, 1790_. + + “DEAR SIR,--I am glad to find you are in better bodily health, + and not weary and faint in your mind. My body seems nearly to + have done its work, and to be almost worn out. Last month, my + strength was nearly gone, and I could have sat almost still + from morning to night. But, blessed be God, I crept about a + little, and made shift to preach once a day. On Monday, I + ventured a little further; and, after I had preached three + times (once in the open air), I found my strength so restored, + that I could have preached again without inconvenience. + + “I am glad brother D---- has more light with regard to full + sanctification. This doctrine is the grand _depositum_ which + God has lodged with the people called Methodists; and, for the + sake of propagating this chiefly, He appeared to have raised + them up. + + “I congratulate you upon sitting loose to all below; stedfast + in the liberty wherewith Christ has made you free. Moderate + riding on horseback, chiefly in the south of England, would + improve your health. If you choose to accompany me, in any of + my little journeys on this side Christmas, whenever you were + tired you might go into my carriage. I am not so ready a writer + as I was once; but, I bless God, I can scrawl a little,--enough + to assure you that, + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[747] + +On Monday, September 27, Wesley set out from Bristol to London, and +preached at Devizes and Salisbury. On Wednesday we find him preaching +at Winchester and Portsmouth; and on Thursday and Friday at Newport, +in the Isle of Wight. + +On Saturday, October 2, he left Portsmouth, at two o’clock in the +morning; and, at Cobham, twenty miles from London, was met by James +and Hester Ann Rogers, and six other friends, in carriages, to welcome +him.[748] Mr. Rogers writes: “He arrived in good health and spirits. +We all dined at Cobham, and, about six in the evening, reached London, +where we praised the Lord with joyful hearts.”[749] + +The next day, Sunday, October 3, he preached twice in the City Road +chapel, and held a lovefeast. Rogers says: + + “Many souls were greatly comforted. Indeed, his preaching, + during the whole winter, was attended with uncommon unction; + and he frequently spoke, both in his sermons and exhortations, + as if each time were to be his last; and often desired the + people to receive what he advanced as his dying charge. His + conversation also, in his family, seemed to indicate a + presentiment of death. He frequently spoke of the state of + separate spirits, and their particular employments; and, for + the last three months of his life, there were scarcely three + evenings passed together, but he gave out and sung, in the + family, the hymn beginning with the line, ‘Shrinking from the + cold hand of death.’”[750] + +After spending two short days in London, Wesley set off, on October 5, +to Rye, a distance of upwards of sixty miles, and preached to a large +and serious congregation. The day after, for the last time, he +preached in the open air. This was at Winchelsea, beneath an ash tree, +in the churchyard,--a tree long protected by the vicar of the parish, +and known for miles round, by the name of “Wesley’s Tree,” though +often mutilated by pilgrim Methodists, who chopped and lopped it for +wood to make it into Methodist snuff boxes, and other _un Wesleyan_ +mementoes of Wesley’s last outdoor preaching service. On one occasion, +a local preacher was detected in the act of bearing away a bough in +pious triumph, was apprehended for the theft, had to beg for mercy, +was solemnly reprimanded, and was threatened with transportation, in +case of repeating the offence. Wesley’s text, at Winchelsea, was a +part of Christ’s first outdoor sermon, “The kingdom of God is at hand; +repent ye, and believe the gospel;” and he writes: “It seemed as if +all that heard were, for the present, almost persuaded to be +Christians.” Robert Miller was with him at the time, and says: “The +word was attended with mighty power, and the tears of the people +flowed in torrents.”[751] On the evening of the same day, he preached +again at Rye. + +Returning to London, for the services on Sunday, October 10, Wesley +started on the day following for Norfolk. At Colchester, things were +disheartening, but he says he had, “on Monday and Tuesday evenings, +wonderful congregations of rich and poor, clergy and laity.” One of +his hearers was a shoemaker, a young man of twenty-four, who was then +convinced of sin, became a useful local preacher, and often returned +from his appointments besmeared, from head to foot, with the filthy +missiles of persecuting mobs. William Candler, the preaching +shoemaker, took a deep interest in the spiritual welfare of soldiers, +and was not unrewarded; for, one morning, to his great surprise, he +received a government commission to make military shoes, and an +extraordinary despatch, from the Colchester commanding officer, that +all the shoemakers in the regiments stationed at Harwich, Ipswich, and +Colchester, should assist him in executing the martial order. For near +fifty years, William Candler rendered important service to the cause +of Christ, and then, in 1838, died, kissing his family, and whispering +to each, “Good bye; God bless you!”[752] + +In years past, Colchester had been one of Wesley’s favourite places; +but now, he says, “the society was lessened, and cold enough; +preaching was discontinued, and the spirit of Methodism quite gone, +from the preachers and the people.” All this was the result of the +clerical interference of the Rev. Mr. S----, of St. Peter’s, who had +adopted the theory, that, wherever there was a gospel ministry in the +Church, Methodist preaching ought to cease, and Methodist societies be +handed over to the care of the gospel clergyman. To accomplish this at +Colchester, no pains were spared, and even gifts and bribes were used. +Wesley was annoyed, and, in the course of his sermon, said: “I +understand there is a sheep stealer in Colchester, who takes both +sheep and lambs from his neighbour’s fold at will. Now, I charge that +man to desist; or to meet me, and answer for his deeds, at the bar of +God, in the day of judgment.” The reverend gentleman was present; and +his subsequent conduct showed that he was not a forgetful hearer.[753] + +Wesley had, in his congregation, at Colchester, another remarkable +hearer, Henry Crabb Robinson, who writes: + + “It was, I believe, in October 1790, that I heard John Wesley + in the great round meeting-house at Colchester. He stood in a + wide pulpit, and on each side of him stood a minister, and the + two held him up, having their hands under his armpits. His + feeble voice was barely audible; but his reverend countenance, + especially his long white locks, formed a picture never to be + forgotten. There was a vast crowd of lovers and admirers. It + was for the most part a pantomime, but the pantomime went to + the heart. Of the kind, I never saw anything comparable to it + in after life.” + +Considering the long picturesque life which Mr. Robinson lived +subsequent to this, the last sentence is remarkable. In a letter dated +October 18, 1790, this young auditor, then fifteen years of age, +remarks: + + “I felt great satisfaction last week in hearing that veteran in + the service of God, the Rev. John Wesley. At another time, and + not knowing the man, I should almost have ridiculed his figure. + Far from it now. I looked upon him with a respect bordering + upon enthusiasm. After the people had sung one verse of a hymn, + he arose and said: ‘It gives me a great pleasure to find that + you have not lost your singing; neither men nor women. You have + not forgotten a single note. And I hope, by the assistance of + God, which enables you to sing well, you may do all other + things well.’ A universal ‘Amen’ followed. At the end of every + head or division of his discourse, he finished by a kind of + prayer, a momentary wish as it were, not consisting of more + than three or four words, which was always followed by a + universal buzz. His discourse was short. The text I could not + hear. After the last prayer, he rose up and addressed the + people on liberality of sentiment, and spoke much against + refusing to join with any congregation on account of difference + in opinion.”[754] + +On Wednesday, October 13, Wesley went from Colchester to Norwich, and +writes: “I preached; but the house would in nowise contain the +congregation. How wonderfully is the tide turned! I am become an +honourable man at Norwich. God has, at length, made our enemies to be +at peace with us; and scarce any but antinomians open their mouths +against us.” + +The next day, he preached at Yarmouth, to a congregation “far too +large to get into the chapel.” And the day following at Lowestoft. +Here again, he had another distinguished hearer, the poet Crabbe; and +repeated the well known lines from Anacreon, with an application of +his own. + + “Oft am I by woman told, + Poor Anacreon! thou grow’st old; + See, thine hairs are falling all: + Poor Anacreon! how they fall! + Whether I grow old or no, + By these signs, I do not know; + But this I need not to be told, + ’Tis time to _live_, if I grow old.” + +Crabbe was greatly struck with the reverend appearance of the aged +preacher, with his cheerful air, and the beautiful cadence he gave to +the lines he quoted; and, after the service, was introduced to him, +and was received with benevolent politeness.[755] + +On Saturday, October 16, Wesley preached at Loddon and at Norwich; +and, next day, twice again in the latter city, besides administering +the sacrament at seven o’clock in the morning, to about one hundred +and fifty persons. He writes: “I take knowledge, that the last year’s +preachers were in earnest. Afterwards, we went to our own parish +church; although there was no sermon there, nor at any of the +thirty-six churches in the town, save the cathedral and St. Peter’s.” +Who will say that Methodist preaching was not needed in this +_non-preaching_ diocesan city? + +On Monday, October 18, Wesley preached at Swaffham, and at Lynn. At +the latter place, he preached again on Tuesday, administered the +sacrament,[756] made a collection for the Sunday-schools, and had +present to hear him all the clergymen of the town, except one, whose +lameness prevented his attending. On Wednesday, the 20th, he occupied +the church at Diss, one of the largest in the county. “I suppose,” +says he, “it has not been so filled these hundred years.” His text +was, “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found”; and the results of the +sermon were remarkable and lasting.[757] + +On the evening of the same day, and also on the day following, he +preached at Bury St. Edmunds; and on Friday, October 22, returned to +London. + +The last entry, in Wesley’s published journal, is dated two days +later. “Sunday, October 24--I explained, to a numerous congregation, +in Spitalfields church, ‘the whole armour of God,’ St. Paul’s, +Shadwell, was still more crowded in the afternoon, while I enforced +that important truth, ‘one thing is needful’; and I hope many, even +then, resolved to choose the better part.” + +There can be little doubt, that the rest of the year was occupied with +what Wesley often called his “_little journeys_,” into Bedfordshire, +Northamptonshire, Hertfordshire, Kent, etc. The reader will catch +glimpses of him in the following letters. + +The first was addressed to his niece, Miss Sarah Wesley, at Mrs. +Whitcomb’s, in Margate. The reference to his relatives is significant +and painful. + + “LONDON, _October 5, 1790_. + + “DEAR SALLY,--I am glad you are situated so comfortably. Mrs. + Whitcomb does really fear God; and, I hope, before you leave + her house, will know what it is to love Him. Providence has not + sent you to spend a little time in Margate merely on your own + account. Before you leave it, she, with several others, shall + have reason to praise God that you came. See that you lose no + time. A word spoken in season how good is it! Warn every one, + and exhort every one, if by any means you may save some. ‘In + the morning sow thy seed, and in the evening withhold not thy + hand; for thou knowest not which shall prosper.’ Say not, ‘I + can do nothing, I am slow of speech.’ True; but who made the + tongue? You have seen sister Boon, a loving, simple hearted + woman. Be a follower of her, as she is of Christ. Why should + you not meet in her class? I think you will not be ashamed. Is + it not a good opportunity of coming a little nearer to them + that love you well? Let me have the comfort of one relation, at + least, that will be an assistant to me in the blessed work of + God. + + “I must visit other places before I come into Kent, as well as + visit the classes in London; so that I cannot be at Margate + till the latter end of next month. If you stay there till then, + you will see me. + + “I am, my dear Sally, your affectionate uncle, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[758] + +The next was written the day after his return to town from Norfolk, +and was addressed to James Macdonald, then stationed at Newry, in +Ireland. It will be seen, that the Methodist sin of neglecting fasting +is not of recent growth. + + “LONDON, _October 23, 1790_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You have great reason to praise God for His + late glorious work at and near Newry; and I make no doubt, but + it will continue, yea, and increase, if the subjects of it + continue to walk humbly and closely with God. Exhort all our + brethren steadily to wait upon God in the appointed means of + fasting and prayer; the former of which has been almost + universally neglected by the Methodists, both in England and + Ireland. But it is a true remark of Kempis: ‘The more thou + deniest thyself, the more thou wilt grow in grace.’ + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[759] + +Something has been already said respecting the division of circuits. +The Dales circuit in 1790 had forty-three preaching places, including +Barnardcastle, Bishop Auckland, Appleby, Alstone, Allendale, +Wolsingham, Hexham, Penrith, and Kendal,--now all of them circuit +towns themselves. The nearest neighbouring circuit, eastwards, was +Yarm; westwards, Whitehaven; northwards, Newcastle; and southwards, +Thirsk. This will give the reader an idea of the enormous region +embraced in the Dales circuit at the time to which we are now +adverting. Within the same border, there are now not fewer than at +least twenty circuit towns, most of them the centre of a large cluster +of smaller towns and villages.[760] The Dales circuit, in 1790, had +three itinerant preachers, and 980 members of society, who contributed +for the maintenance of their preaching triumvirate, during the quarter +in which Wesley died, the sum of £29 8_s._ 6_d._, sevenpence per +member per quarter, and affording £9 16_s._ 2_d._ for the support of +each preacher, his wife, and family, and the general maintenance of +Methodist machinery throughout the circuit.[761] George Holder was the +assistant, and Jonathan Hern and John Wittam were his colleagues. The +feed was poor, the pay pauperish, the journeys long, the roads bad, +the region mountainous, and the work heavy. There was a wish to divide +the circuit; but the following was Wesley’s reply to Holder. + + “LONDON, _October 30, 1790_. + + “DEAR GEORGE,--The assistant in every circuit (not the leaders) + is to determine how each preacher is to travel. If Jonathan + Hern will not, or cannot, take his turn with his fellow + labourers, I must send another that will. I do not like + dividing circuits. Could not three or more of the northern + places be added to the Sunderland or Newcastle circuits, in + order to lessen yours, and bring it into a six weeks’ circuit? + Pray send me the manner of your travelling through your + circuit. I think, I shall order it better. + + “I am, with love to sister Holder, dear George, yours, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[762] + +A small circuit then was one of the things which Wesley thought +inimical to the interests of Methodism. Was Wesley right? Unless +Methodist preachers can become thoroughly pastoral in their habits,--a +thing which triennial changes render extremely difficult,--would it +not be better for circuits to be of such a size as to make daily +preaching a healthy duty, instead of being so circumscribed that one +or two sermons, between sabbaths, is all that their necessities +require? This is a serious problem, which we must leave to be solved +by others. + +Another hindrance, as Wesley thought, to Methodist progress, was the +neglect of reading. Hence the following extract from an unpublished +letter, dated November 8, 1790. + + “If you and your wife strengthen each other’s hands in God, + then you will surely receive a blessing from Him. But it is not + abundance of money, or any creature, that can make us happy + without Him. + + “It cannot be that the people should grow in grace, unless they + give themselves to reading. A reading people will always be a + knowing people. A people who talk much will know little. Press + this upon them with your might; and you will soon see the fruit + of your labours.” + +An extract from another letter may be given here. The letter was +addressed to Alexander Mather. + + “No, Aleck, no! The danger of ruin to Methodism does not lie + here. It springs from quite a different quarter. Our preachers, + many of them, are fallen. They are not spiritual. They are not + alive to God. They are soft, enervated, fearful of shame, toil, + hardship. They have not the spirit which God gave to Thomas Lee + at Pateley Bridge, or to you at Boston. Give me one hundred + preachers, who fear nothing but sin, and desire nothing but + God, and I care not a straw whether they be clergymen or + laymen, such alone will shake the gates of hell, and set up the + kingdom of heaven upon earth.”[763] + +As we have often shown, Wesley regarded the preaching of the doctrine +of Christian perfection as of the utmost importance. The following +letter to Adam Clarke is to the same effect. + + “LONDON, _November 26, 1790_. + + “DEAR ADAM,--To retain the grace of God, is much more than to + gain it; hardly one in three does this. And this should be + strongly and explicitly urged on all who have tasted of perfect + love. If we can prove that any of our local preachers or + leaders, either directly or indirectly, speak against it, let + him be a local preacher or leader no longer. I doubt whether he + should continue in society. Because he, that could speak thus + in our congregations, cannot be an honest man. I wish sister + Clarke to do what she can, but no more than she can. Betsy + Ritchie, Miss Johnson, and Mary Clarke are women after my own + heart. Last week I had an excellent letter from Mrs. Pawson, (a + glorious witness of full salvation,) showing how impossible it + is to retain pure love without growing therein. I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[764] + +Such letters might be greatly multiplied. We only add another. He was +now an old man, and extremely feeble; and Mr. Ireland, having heard +that claret wine had been recommended to him by his medical adviser, +sent him a small case as a present. The wine was seized by the custom +house authorities, to whom Wesley addressed the following laconic +letter. + + “CITY ROAD, _November 14, 1790_. + + “GENTLEMEN,--Two or three days ago, Mr. Ireland sent me, as a + present, two dozen of French claret, which I am ordered to + drink, during my present weakness. At the White Swan it was + seized. Beg it may be restored to, + + “Your obedient servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY. + + “Whatever duty comes due, I will see duly paid.” + +The letter seems to have been returned to the dying man; and, across +it, a government official curtly wrote: “No. M. W.”[765] + +Wesley’s only publication, in 1790, besides the thirteenth volume of +his _Magazine_, was his translation of “The New Testament, with an +Analysis of the several Books and Chapters.” 16mo, 424 pages. In his +preface, he remarks: + + “In this edition, the translation is brought as near as + possible to the original; yet the alterations are few and + seemingly small; but they may be of considerable importance. + Though the old division of chapters is retained, for the more + easy finding of any text, yet the whole is likewise divided, + according to the sense, into distinct sections; a little + circumstance which makes many passages more intelligible to the + reader. The analysis of every book and epistle is prefixed to + it. And this view of the general scope of each will give light + to all the particulars.” + +It ought to be remarked, that this is, by no means, a verbatim reprint +of Wesley’s translation, published with his Notes in 1755. The book is +extremely scarce; but the variations are too numerous and minute to be +pointed out in a work like this. + +As it respects the _Magazine_, there can be no doubt, that all the +articles composing it may be considered to be in harmony with Wesley’s +own sentiments; but, as usual, in this review, we only notice the +articles which Wesley himself contributed; and that, principally, for +the purpose of obtaining knowledge of his latest opinions and +feelings. We pass over his “Thoughts on Memory”; his critique on +Captain Wilson’s “Account of the Pelew Islands”; and his “Thoughts on +Suicide”; and direct attention to his last, his dying manifesto, on +separation from the Established Church. The article is dated, +“December 11, 1789,” and is in the April number of the _Magazine_ for +1790. + +He states that, next to the primitive church, he had, from childhood, +esteemed the Church of England as the most scriptural, national church +in the world; and had, therefore, not only assented to all the +doctrines, but observed all the rubric in the liturgy; and that with +all possible exactness, even at the peril of his life. He proceeds to +give the history of the rise of Methodism, and of his own +_irregularities_; and thus concludes: + + “I never had any design of separating from the Church. I have + no such design now. I do not believe, the Methodists in general + design it, when I am no more seen. I do, and will do, all that + is in my power to prevent such an event. Nevertheless, in spite + of all that I can do, many of them will separate from it + (although, I am apt to think, not one half, perhaps not one + third of them). These will be so bold and injudicious as to + form a separate party, which, consequently, will dwindle away + into a dry, dull, separate party. In flat opposition to these, + I declare once more, that I live and die a member of the Church + of England; and that none, who regard my judgment or advice, + will ever separate from it.” + +To the same effect is his sermon on “No man taketh this honour unto +himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron,”--a sermon which +he wrote at Cork, in May 1789, and published in his magazine, twelve +months afterwards. He correctly maintains that, in ancient times, the +offices of priest and preacher were entirely distinct. Priests were +not preachers; and preachers, or prophets, were not priests. He argues +that, in the New Testament, the office of an evangelist is not the +same as that of a pastor. Pastors presided over the flock, and +administered the sacraments; evangelists helped them, and preached the +word. He asserts that the same distinction is recognised in the +English, presbyterian, and Roman churches; and then, coming to +Methodism, tells his readers that Methodist itinerant preachers are +evangelists, not pastors; and that their work is wholly and solely to +preach, not to administer sacraments. His address to them is worth +quoting. + + “God has commissioned you to call sinners to repentance; but it + does by no means follow from hence, that ye are commissioned to + baptize, or to administer the Lord’s supper. Ye never dreamt of + this, for ten or twenty years after ye began to preach. Ye did + not then, like _Korah Dathan_, and _Abiram_, _seek the + priesthood also_. Ye knew, ‘No man taketh this honour to + himself, but he that is called of God, as was Aaron.’ O contain + yourselves within your own bounds. Be content with preaching + the gospel. Do the work of evangelists. I earnestly advise you, + abide in your place; keep your own station. Ye were fifty years + ago,--those of you that were then Methodist + preachers,--_extraordinary messengers_ of God, not going in + your own will, but _thrust out_, not to supersede, but to + _provoke to jealousy_ the _ordinary messengers_. In God’s name, + stop there! Both, by your preaching and example, provoke them + to love and good works. Ye are a new phenomenon in the earth; a + body of people, who, being of no sect or party, are friends to + all parties, and endeavour to forward all, in the knowledge and + love of God and man. Ye yourselves were, at first, called in + the Church of England; and though ye have and will have a + thousand temptations to leave it, regard them not. Be Church of + _England_ men still. Do not cast away the peculiar glory which + God hath put upon you, and frustrate the design of Providence, + the very end for which God raised you up.” + +In reply to the charge that he himself had already separated from the +Church, Wesley allows, that he deviated from the rules of the Church +in “preaching abroad,” in “praying extempore,” in forming societies, +and in employing lay preachers; but he adds: + + “All this is not separating from the Church. So far from it, + that, whenever I have opportunity, I attend the Church service + myself, and advise all our societies so to do. Nevertheless, + the generality even of religious people naturally think, ‘I am + inconsistent.’ And they cannot but think so, unless they + observe my two principles. The one, that I dare not separate + from the Church, that I believe it would be a sin so to do; the + other, that I believe it would be a sin not to _vary_ from it + in the points above mentioned. I say, put these two principles + together, first, I will not _separate_ from the Church; yet, + secondly, in cases of necessity, I will _vary_ from it; and + inconsistency vanishes away. I have been true to my profession + from 1730 to this day.” + +Here we leave the matter. This is the last time we shall quote Wesley +on separation from the Church. We care not either to vindicate or to +condemn his thoughts and course of conduct. In a few lines, Wesley +here says all that can be said in favour of the anomalous position in +which he stood: he did not _separate_, but he _varied_ from the Church +of England. It will be difficult for either sophistry or sound +argument to make either more or less than this of the vexed +question,--the difference between Wesley’s profession and his practice +in reference to his continued adherence to, or separation from, the +Established Church. He lived and died a hearty, but inconsistent +Churchman. + +There is another point which must be mentioned. The reader has already +seen Wesley’s intense anxiety in reference to rich Methodists. In the +last fourteen sermons that he wrote, during the last two years of his +eventful life, and which were, for the first time, published in the +magazines for 1790, 1791, and 1792, he again and again, in the +strongest and most affecting language, reverts to this momentous +matter. Exception may be taken to his opinions; but they are worthy of +being quoted. They are the last sentiments of an old man, with +unparalleled experience; and, throughout a long life, were by himself +reduced to practice. The following are extracts. + +In the remarkable sermon, on Jeremiah viii. 22, written in Dublin, +July 2, 1789, in which he tries to answer the question, “Why has +Christianity done so little good in the world?” he writes: + + “Who regards those solemn words, _Lay not up for yourselves + treasures upon earth_? Of the three rules, which are laid down + on this head, in the sermon on _The Mammon of Unrighteousness_, + you may find many that observe the first rule, namely, _Gain + all you can_. You may find a few that observe the second, _Save + all you can_. But how many have you found, that observe the + third rule, _Give all you can_? Have you reason to believe, + that five hundred of these are to be found among fifty thousand + _Methodists_? And, yet, nothing can be more plain, than that + all who observe the two first rules, without the third, will be + twofold more the children of hell than ever they were before. + + “O that God would enable me once more, before I go hence and am + no more seen, to lift up my voice like a trumpet to those who + _gain_ and _save_ all they can, but do not _give_ all they can! + Ye are the men, some of the chief men, who continually grieve + the Holy Spirit of God, and, in a great measure, stop His + gracious influence from descending on our assemblies. Many of + your brethren, beloved of God, have not food to eat; they have + not raiment to put on; they have not a place where to lay their + head. And why are they thus distressed? Because _you_ + impiously, unjustly, and cruelly detain from them what your + Master and theirs lodges in _your_ hands, on purpose to supply + _their_ wants. In the name of God, what are you doing? Do you + neither fear God, nor regard man? Why do you not deal your + bread to the hungry? And cover the naked with a garment? Have + you laid out, in your own costly apparel, what would have + answered both these intentions? Did God command you so to do? + Does He commend you for so doing? Did He entrust you with + _His_,--not _your_,--goods for this end? And does He now say, + ‘Servant of God, well done’? You well know He does not. This + idle expense has no approbation, either from God or your own + conscience. But, you say, ‘You can _afford_ it!’ O be ashamed + to take such miserable nonsense into your mouths. Never more + utter such stupid cant, such palpable absurdity! Can any + steward _afford_ to be an arrant knave? to waste his lord’s + goods? Can any servant _afford_ to lay out his master’s money, + any otherwise than his master appoints him? So far from it, + that whoever does this ought to be excluded from a Christian + society. + + “I am distressed. I know not what to do. I see what I might + have done once. I might have said peremptorily and expressly, + ‘Here I am: I and my Bible. I will not, I dare not, vary from + this book, either in great things or small. I have no power to + dispense with one jot or tittle of what is contained therein. I + am determined to be a Bible Christian, not almost but + altogether. Who will meet me on this ground? Join me on this, + or not at all.’ With regard to dress in particular, I might + have been as firm, (and I now see it would have been far + better,) as either the people called quakers, or the Moravian + brethren. I might have said, ‘This is _our_ manner of dress, + which we know is both scriptural and rational. If you join with + us, you are to dress as we do: but you need not join us unless + you please.’ But alas! the time is now past. And what I can do + now, I cannot tell. The Methodists grow more and more self + indulgent, because they _grow rich_. Although many of them are + still deplorably poor (_Tell it not in Gath; publish it not in + the streets of Askelon!_), yet many others, in the space of + twenty, thirty, or forty years, are twenty, thirty, yea, a + hundred times richer than they were when they first entered the + society. And it is an observation which admits of few + exceptions, that nine in ten of these decreased in grace, in + the same proportion as they increased in wealth. Indeed, + according to the natural tendency of riches, we cannot expect + it to be otherwise. + + “But how astonishing a thing is this! Does it not seem (and yet + this cannot be!) that true scriptural Christianity has a + tendency, in process of time, to undermine and destroy itself? + For, wherever it spreads, it must cause diligence and + frugality, which, in the natural course of things, beget + riches. And riches naturally beget pride, love of the world, + and every temper that is destructive to Christianity. Now, if + there be no way to prevent this, Christianity is inconsistent + with itself, and, of consequence, cannot stand, cannot long + continue among any people; since, wherever it generally + prevails, it saps its own foundation. + + “But, allowing that diligence and frugality must produce + riches, is there no means to hinder riches destroying the + religion of those that possess them? I can see only one + possible way; find out another who can. Do you gain all you + can, and save all you can? Then you must, in the nature of + things, grow rich. Then if you have any desire to escape the + damnation of hell, _give_ all you can; otherwise I can have no + more hope of your salvation, than for that of Judas Iscariot. + + “I call God to record upon my soul, that I advise no more than + I practise. I do, blessed be God, gain, and save, and give all + I can. And so, I trust in God, I shall do, while the breath of + God is in my nostrils. But what then? I count all things but + loss, for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus, my Lord! + Still + + ‘I give up every plea beside, + Lord, I am damned! but Thou hast died!’”[766] + +To the same effect is Wesley’s searching and terrible sermon, on the +Rich Fool, written at Balham, February 19, 1790; and another written +at Bristol, September 21, 1790, on the text, “If riches increase, set +not thine heart upon them.” In the latter sermon, he writes: + + “By whatsoever means thy riches increase, whether with or + without labour; whether by trade, legacies, or any other way, + unless thy charities increase in the same proportion,--unless + thou givest a full tenth of thy substance, of thy fixed and + occasional income, thou dost undoubtedly set thy heart upon thy + gold, and it will _eat thy flesh as fire_. + + “But O! who can convince a rich man, that he sets his heart + upon riches? For considerably above half a century, I have + spoken on this head, with all the plainness that was in my + power. But with how little effect? I doubt whether I have, in + all that time, convinced fifty misers of covetousness. + + “I have a message from God unto thee, O rich man, whether thou + wilt hear, or whether thou wilt forbear. Riches have increased + with thee; at the peril of thy soul, _set not thine heart upon + them_. Be thankful to Him that gave thee such a talent, so much + power of doing good. Yet dare not to rejoice over them, but + with fear and trembling. + + “Let us descend to particulars; and see that each of you deal + faithfully with his own soul. If any of you have now twice, + thrice, or four times as much substance as when you first saw + my face, faithfully examine yourselves, and see if you do not + set your hearts, if not directly on riches themselves, yet, on + some of the things that are purchaseable thereby, which comes + to the same thing. Do you not _eat_ more plentifully or more + delicately than you did ten or twenty years ago? Do not you use + more _drink_, or drink of a more _costly_ kind, than you did + then? Do you sleep on as hard a bed as you did once, suppose + your health will bear it? Do you _fast_ as often now you are + rich, as you did when you were poor? Ought you not in all + reason to do this, rather more often than more seldom? I am + afraid, your own heart condemns you. You are not clear in this + matter. + + “Do not some of you seek no small part of happiness in that + trifle of trifles, dress? Do not you bestow more money, or, + which is the same, more time and pains upon it, than you did + once? I doubt this is not done to please God. Then it pleases + the devil. If you laid aside your needless ornaments, some + years since, ruffles, necklaces, spider caps, ugly, unbecoming + bonnets, costly linen, expensive laces, have you not, in + defiance of religion and reason, taken to them again? + + “After having served you between sixty and seventy years, with + dim eyes, shaking hands, and tottering feet, I give you one + more advice before I sink into the dust. Mark those words of + St. Paul, _Those that desire_, or endeavour, _to be rich_, that + moment, _fall into temptation_; yea, a deep gulf of temptation, + out of which nothing less than Almighty power can deliver them. + Permit me to come a little closer still: perhaps I may not + trouble you any more on this head. I am pained for you that are + _rich in this world_. Do you give all you can? You who receive + £500 a year, and spend only £200, do you give £300 back to God? + If not, you certainly rob God of that £300. ‘Nay, may I not do + what I will with _my own_?’ Here lies the ground of your + mistake. It is not your _own_. It cannot be, unless you are + Lord of heaven and earth. ‘However, I must provide for my + children.’ Certainly. But how? By making them rich? When you + will probably make them heathens, as some of you have done + already. Leave them enough to live on, not in idleness and + luxury, but by honest industry. And if you have not children, + upon what scriptural or rational principle can you leave a + groat behind you, more than will bury you? I pray consider: + What are you the better for what you leave behind you? What + does it signify, whether you leave behind you ten thousand + pounds, or ten thousand shoes and boots? Oh, leave nothing + behind you! Send all you have before you into a better world! + Lend it, lend it all unto the Lord, and it shall be paid you + again! Is there any danger that _His_ truth should fail? It is + fixed as the pillars of heaven. Haste, haste, my brethren, + haste! lest you be called away, before you have settled what + you have, on this security!”[767] + +To say the least, this was plain speaking, such as is seldom heard at +present; the following, in the sermon on Matthew vi. 22, 23, written +at Bristol, September 25, 1789, is terrific. + + “How great is the darkness of that execrable wretch (I can give + him no better title, be he rich or poor), who will sell his own + child to the devil! who will barter her own eternal happiness, + for any quantity of gold or silver! What a monster would any + man be accounted, who devoured the flesh of his own offspring! + And is he not as great a monster, who, by his own act and deed, + gives her to be devoured by that roaring lion? As he certainly + does (so far as is in his power), who marries her to an ungodly + man. ‘But he is rich; he has £10,000!’ What if it were + £100,000? The more the worse; the less probability will she + have of escaping the damnation of hell. With what face wilt + thou look upon her, when she tells thee in the realms below, + ‘Thou hast plunged me into this place of torment! Hadst thou + given me to a good man, however poor, I might now have been in + Abraham’s bosom!’ + + “Are any of you, that are called Methodists, seeking to marry + your children well (as the cant phrase is), that is, to sell + them to some purchaser, that has much money, but little or no + religion? Have _ye_ profited no more by all ye have heard? Man, + woman, think what you are about. Dare _you_ also sell your + child to the devil? You undoubtedly do this (as far as in you + lies), when you marry a son or a daughter to a child of the + devil, though it be one that wallows in gold and silver. O take + warning in time! Beware of the gilded bait! Death and hell are + hid beneath. Prefer grace before gold and precious stones; + glory in heaven, to riches on earth! If you do not, you are + worse than the very Canaanites. They only made their children + _pass through the fire_ to Moloch. You make yours _pass into + the fire_ that never shall be quenched, and _to stay in it for + ever_. O how great is the darkness that causes you, after you + have done this, _to wipe your mouth and say, you have done no + evil_! + + “Upwards of fifty years, I have ministered unto you. I have + been your servant for Christ’s sake. During this time, I have + given you many solemn warnings on this head. I now give you one + more, perhaps the last. Dare any of you, in choosing your + calling or situation, eye the things on earth, rather than the + things above? In choosing a profession or a companion of life + for your child, do you look at earth or heaven? And can you + deliberately prefer, either for yourself or your offspring, a + child of the devil with money, to a child of God without it? + Repent, repent of your vile earthly mindedness! Renounce the + title of Christians; or prefer, both in your own case and the + case of your children, grace to money, and heaven to earth. For + the time to come, at least, _let your eye be single_, that your + _whole body may be full of light_!” + +These were Wesley’s last words to the Methodists. The extracts are +long; but, in this money making, mammon worshipping, intensely worldly +age, they may be useful. + +The other sermons, published in the last year of Wesley’s life, and in +the year subsequent to his death, are well worthy of the reader’s +notice. That on “Knowing Christ after the flesh” is perhaps the only +one, in the English language, on such a subject. That on the text, +“There is one God,” is characteristically thoughtful, keen, logical, +and evangelical. That on “Walking by Faith,” terse, vigorous, earnest, +practical, and terribly faithful. That on “The Wedding Garment,” an +excellent exposition of an often ill used text. That on “The +Deceitfulness of the Human Heart” is one which none but a man like +Wesley could have preached. That on “Atheism,” ingenious, searching, +and powerful. That on “The Treasure in Earthen Vessels,” simple and +beautiful. While that on “Life like a Dream” was being printed on the +very day when Wesley’s corpse lay in the chapel in City Road; and that +on “Faith, the evidence of things not seen,” was the last he ever +wrote, and was finished only six weeks previous to his death. + +Both the last mentioned deserve quoting. They are the profoundly +interesting musings of an old man, conscious that he must soon enter +the spiritual and unseen world. Imagining a disembodied soul before +him, he thus soliloquises. + + “Now that your eyes are open, see how inexpressibly different + are all the things that are now around you! What a difference + do you perceive in yourself! Where is your body? Your house of + clay? Where are your limbs? your hands, your feet, your head? + There they lie; cold, insensible! What a change is in the + immortal spirit! You see everything around you: but how? Not + with eyes of flesh and blood! You hear; but not by a stream of + undulating air, striking on an extended membrane. You feel; but + in how wonderful a manner! You have no nerves to convey the + ethereal fire to the common sensory; rather are you not now all + eye, all ear, all feeling, all perception?” + +Again, in his last, the sermon on faith: + + “How will this material universe appear to a disembodied + spirit? Who can tell whether any of these objects, that now + surround us, will appear the same as they do now? What + astonishing scenes will then discover themselves to our newly + opening senses! Probably fields of ether, not only tenfold, but + ten thousand fold, ‘the length of this terrene.’ And with what + variety of furniture, animate and inanimate! How many orders of + beings, not discovered by organs of flesh and blood! Perhaps + ‘thrones, dominions, principalities, and, powers!’ And shall we + not then, as far as angels’ ken, survey the bounds of creation, + and see every place where the Almighty + + ‘Stopped His rapid wheels, and said, + This be thy just circumference, O world!’ + + Yea, shall we not be able to move, quick as thought, through + the wide realms of uncreated night? Above all, the moment we + step into eternity, shall we not feel ourselves swallowed up of + Him, who is in this and every place, who filleth heaven and + earth? It is only the veil of flesh and blood which now hinders + us from perceiving, that the great Creator cannot but fill the + whole immensity of space; He is every moment above us, beneath + us, and on every side. Indeed, in this dark abode, this land of + shadows, this region of sin and death, the thick cloud, which + is interposed between, conceals Him from our sight. But then + the veil will disappear, and He will appear in unclouded + majesty, God over all, blessed for ever!” + +The blessed old man already had glimpses of the shining ones, and of +the gates of that celestial city, into which, six weeks after these +words were written, he triumphantly entered. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [700] Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 380. + + [701] _Methodist Magazine_, 1830, p. 251. + + [702] Dunn’s Life of Clarke, p. 72. + + [703] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 105. + + [704] Pawson’s manuscripts. + + [705] Moore’s sermon. + + [706] _Methodist Magazine_, 1832, p. 594. + + [707] Benson’s Life, by Macdonald, p. 209. + + [708] Dunn’s Life of Clarke, pp. 72, 73. + + [709] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 119. + + [710] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 113. + + [711] “Methodism in Preston,” p. 44. + + [712] Cutler’s Life, p. 5. + + [713] _Methodist Magazine_, 1792, p. 66. + + [714] “Methodism in Halifax,” p. 181. + + [715] See page 472 of this volume. + + [716] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 121. + + [717] _Methodist Magazine_, 1795, p. 423. + + [718] Moore’s Life, p. 89. + + [719] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 94. + + [720] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 105. + + [721] Kilham’s Life, by Blackwell, p. 114. + + [722] _Methodist Magazine_, 1836, p. 494. + + [723] Black’s Memoirs, p. 265. + + [724] Moore’s Life of Wesley, vol. ii., p. 384. + + [725] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 139. + + [726] Dunn’s Life of Clarke, p. 73. + + [727] Ought it not to be sixty-eight. + + [728] An error occurred in the first edition of this + volume, on page 224. It was there stated, that Wesley + received £60 a year; it ought to have been £30. + According to the old circuit book, at City Road, it + was the custom to pay him £15 in the first quarter of + each year, and £15 in the last. + + [729] Now his steward. + + [730] The sentence is unfinished. + + [731] Samuel Bradburn remarks: “I know that, from the + conference of 1780 to the conference of 1781, he gave + away, in _private charities_, above £1400. He told me + himself, in 1787, that he never gave away, out of his + own pocket, less than £1000 a year.” Bradburn adds: + “He never relieved poor people in the street, but he + either took off, or removed, his hat to them, when + they thanked him.” + + [732] _Methodist Magazine_, 1825, p. 25. + + [733] Ibid. 1828, p. 741; and _Christian Miscellany_, 1847, + p. 173. + + [734] _Methodist Magazine_, 1792, p. 288. + + [735] Ibid. 1856, p. 234. + + [736] Ibid. 1845, p. 123. + + [737] Clarke’s Life, vol. i., p. 277. + + [738] _Methodist Magazine_, 1847, p. 211. + + [739] _Methodist Magazine_, 1837, p. 11. + + [740] The assistant in Chatham circuit. + + [741] The wife of Charles Boone, the assistant in + Canterbury circuit. + + [742] _Local Preachers’ Magazine_, 1851, p. 75. + + [743] _Methodist Magazine_, 1847, p. 656. + + [744] _Wesleyan Times_, June 11, 1866. + + [745] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 98. + + [746] _Wesleyan Times_, June 11, 1866. + + [747] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 8. + + [748] This was done with the approbation of the London + stewards, who paid £1 19_s._ for the carriages and + expenses. (City Road society book.) + + [749] Life of James Rogers, p. 44. + + [750] Life of James Rogers, p. 44. + + [751] _Youth’s Instructor_, 1833, p. 330. + + [752] _Methodist Magazine_, 1841, p. 1. + + [753] Ibid. + + [754] “Diary, Reminiscences, and Correspondence of Henry + Crabb Robinson,” vol. i., p. 20. + + [755] Crabbe’s Life. + + [756] _Methodist Magazine_, 1856, p. 203. + + [757] Reynolds’ “Anecdotes of Wesley,” p. 39. + + [758] _Methodist Magazine_, 1846, p. 1189. + + [759] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 113. + + [760] Merely in the circuits above mentioned (a fraction + of the Dales circuit) there are, at present, 7819 + members. (See Minutes of Conference, 1870.) + + [761] Circuit manuscript books. + + [762] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 109. + + [763] Sigston’s Life of Bramwell. + + [764] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 99. + + [765] Manuscript letter, kindly lent by Charles Reed, Esq., + M.P. + + [766] _Methodist Magazine_, 1790, pp. 348, 400, etc. + + [767] _Methodist Magazine_, 1792, p. 341, etc. + + + + + 1791. + Age 88 + + +Only two months of Wesley’s eventful life are left unnarrated. The +following letters, belonging to this period, will be read with +interest. + +The first was addressed to Adam Clarke, who, in Dublin, had buried his +eldest daughter, and was himself dangerously afflicted with rheumatic +affection in the head.[768] + + “_January 3, 1791._ + + “DEAR ADAM,--You startle me when you talk of grieving so much + for the death of an infant. This is certainly a proof of + inordinate affection; and, if you love them _thus_, all your + children will die. How did Mr. De Renty behave when he supposed + his wife to be dying? There is a pattern for a Christian. + + “But you forget to send me anything about magnetism. John + Bredin is a weak brother: let him not complain. He behaved ill + both at Jersey and Guernsey; but let him behave well now, and + that will be forgotten. I wish my dear sister Clarke and you + many happy years; and am, dear Adam, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[769] + +The next has not before been published. It was written to Thomas +Taylor, then in the Hull circuit. Dr. King was made archbishop of +Dublin in 1702, and died in 1729. He was author of “_De Origine +Mali_,” written to prove, that the existence of natural and moral evil +is not incompatible with the power and goodness of the Deity, and may +be accounted for without the supposition of an evil principle. + + “LONDON, _January 6, 1791_. + + “DEAR TOMMY,--With regard to the powerful workings of the + Spirit, I think those words of our Lord are chiefly to be + understood: ‘The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou + hearest the sound thereof,’ (thou art sure of the fact,) ‘but + canst not tell whence it cometh, or whither it goeth.’ + + “Make your yearly subscription when you see best, only take + care it does not interfere with any other subscription. + + “The tract of Archbishop King has been particularly admired by + many persons of excellent sense. I do not admire it so much as + they do; but I like it well. Yet, I have corrected a far better + tract on the same subject, perhaps, the last I shall have to + publish.[770] + + “Indeed, I hope I shall not live to be useless. I wish you and + yours many happy years, and am, dear Tommy, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The next letter, addressed to Miss Bolton of Witney, contains an +important reference to Wesley’s state of health. + + “LONDON, _January 12, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR NANCY,--I thank you for your welcome present, and + rejoice to hear that your health is better. What is it, which + is good for us, that our Lord will not give, if we can but + trust Him? + + “These four last days, I have had better health than I had for + several months before. Only my sight continues much as it was. + But good is the will of the Lord. + + “I am, dear Nancy, affectionately yours, + + “J. WESLEY.”[771] + +The following was addressed to the wife of Adam Clarke, and refers to +her husband’s serious affliction, as well as to the loss of their +daughter. + + “LONDON, _January 18, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--Before this time, I hope God has heard + prayer, and given brother Clarke a little more ease. I should + suspect a dropsy in the brain, which, though formerly judged + incurable, has lately been cured. + + “Both brother Clarke and you have large proofs that whom the + Lord loveth He chasteneth. He knoweth the way whence you go; + when you have been tried, you shall come forth as gold. + + “I wonder at the folly of Mr. V. Surely, he is a very weak man. + But I shall judge better when I have seen his performances. + Peace be multiplied again! + + “I am, my dear sister, ever yours, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[772] + +John Booth was now assistant in Keighley circuit, and to him was +addressed the following. + + “LONDON, _January 29, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--You give me a very agreeable account of the + progress of the work of God in your circuit. As to the poor, + self conceited enthusiasts in Keighley, it seems best that you + should never name them in public; but, when occasion offers, + strike at the root of their errors, by clearly proving the + truth which they deny. And whenever you meet with any of them + in private, then speak and spare not. Whenever you have + opportunity of speaking to believers, urge them to go on to + perfection. Spare no pains; and God, even our own God, still + give you His blessing! + + “I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[773] + +Miss Cambridge was an Irish Methodist, twenty-nine years of age, and +had established meetings in various parts of the town of Bandon, at +which she prayed and occasionally exhorted. She had also held similar +meetings at Kinsale, Youghal, and other places. Many of the +Methodists, and some of the Methodist preachers, pronounced her public +addresses to be entirely irregular, and what ought not to be tolerated +in the Christian church. She wrote to Wesley for advice; and received +the following reply,--Wesley’s last utterance on female preaching. + + “LONDON, _January 31, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR SISTER,--I received your letter an hour ago. I thank + you for writing so largely and so freely; do so always to me as + your friend, as one that loves you well. Mr. Barber has the + glory of God at heart; and so have his fellow labourers. Give + them all honour, and obey them in all things as far as + conscience permits. But it will not permit you to be silent + when God commands you to speak; yet, I would have you give as + little offence as possible; and, therefore, I would advise you + not to speak at any place where a preacher is speaking at the + same time, lest you should draw away his hearers. Also, avoid + the first appearance of pride or magnifying yourself. If you + want books, or anything, let me know; I have your happiness + much at heart. During the little time I have to stay on earth, + pray for, + + “Your affectionate brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[774] + +Ezekiel Cooper was the son of an officer in the army of the American +revolution, and was now twenty-eight years of age, and a Methodist +preacher at Annapolis. He was a man of great mental vigour and +versatility, almost unequalled in debate, and was called, by the +American Methodists, _Lycurgus_, in reference to his profound wisdom. +He was a diligent student, and a close observer of men and things, +lived a long life of celibacy, was frugal to a fault, left behind him +an estate of about fifty thousand dollars, and died in 1847, the +oldest Methodist preacher in the world. When he entered the ministry +in 1783, the American Methodists numbered eighty-three preachers, and +fifteen thousand members; when he died, their ministry numbered five +thousand, and their membership above a million.[775] To him Wesley +wrote the last letter which he posted to America. + + “NEAR LONDON, _February 1, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Those that desire to write, or to say + anything, to me, have no time to lose, for time has shaken me + by the hand, and death is not far behind. But I have reason to + be thankful for the time that is past. I felt few of the + infirmities of old age, for fourscore and six years. It was not + till a year and a half ago, that my strength and my sight + failed. And still I am enabled to scrawl a little, and to + creep, though I cannot run. Probably I should not be able to do + so much, did not many of you assist me by your prayers. + + “I have given a distinct account of the work of God, which has + been wrought in Britain and Ireland, for more than half a + century. We want some of you to give us a connected relation, + of what our Lord has been doing in America, since the time that + Richard Boardman accepted the invitation, and left his country + to serve you. See that you never give place to one thought of + separating from your brethren in Europe. Lose no opportunity of + declaring to all men, that the Methodists are one people in all + the world, and that it is their full determination so to + continue,-- + + ‘Though mountains rise, and oceans roll, + To sever us in vain.’ + + “To the care of our common Lord I commit you, and am your + affectionate friend and brother, + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[776] + +Such was Wesley’s dying legacy to the transatlantic Methodists. + +The next is brief, but full of interest. For many years Wesley had +been accustomed to leave London, on, or about, the 1st of March, for +what he was accustomed to call his long journey, to the north, or to +Ireland. Though so aged and feeble, he fully intended to do the same +again; and Henry Moore relates, that, in reference to this, he +actually sent his chaise and his horses before him to Bristol, and +took places for himself and his friends in the Bath coach; but, almost +on the very day when he purposed to begin afresh his “long journey” on +earth, the venerable pilgrim left earth for heaven. + + “LONDON, _February 6, 1791_. + + “DEAR SIR,--On Wednesday, March 17, I purpose, if God permit, + to come from Gloucester to Worcester; and, on Thursday, the + 18th, to Stourport. If our friends at Worcester are displeased, + we cannot help it. Wishing you and yours all happiness, + + “I am, dear sir, your affectionate servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The letter was addressed to Mr. York, of Stourport; but was not sent. +At the bottom of it is the last line that Wesley ever wrote. + + “February 28--This morning I found this in my bureau.”[777] + +In a letter, given on page 622, Mr. Thomas Roberts was directed, in an +emergency, to leave Bristol for Haverfordwest circuit. He went, and +had to encounter difficulties. Wesley now wrote to him as follows. + + “LONDON, _February 8, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR BROTHER,--Who was it that opposed your reducing the + preachers, in the circuit, to two? and on what pretence? We + must needs reduce all our expenses everywhere as far as + possible. You must never leave off till you carry this point, + and constitute bands in each large society. When the lecture + begins at Carmarthen, it will then be time enough to prevent + any ill effects of it. I am glad to hear your journey home has + not been in vain. My best wishes attend my friends at Traison + and Langwair. + + “I am, dear Tommy, yours, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.” + +The original, from which this is copied, was written by an amanuensis, +but is signed in Wesley’s own tremulous handwriting. + +We have already seen that Adam Clarke had been dangerously ill in +Dublin. In fact, it was reported in England that he was dead; and +William Stevens actually preached his funeral sermon in the isle of +Jersey. He was now slowly recovering, had entered himself a medical +student in Trinity college, Dublin, and had founded a “Strangers’ +Friend Society,” like those already instituted in London, and in +Bristol.[778] To him Wesley now addressed the following. + + “LONDON, _February 9, 1791_. + + “DEAR ADAM,--You have great reason to bless God for giving you + strength according to your day. He has indeed supported you in + an uncommon manner under these complicated afflictions. You may + well say, ‘I will put my trust in Thee as long as I live.’ I + will desire Dr. Whitehead thoroughly to consider your case, and + to give us his thoughts upon it. I am not afraid of your doing + too little, but too much. I am in continual danger of this. Do + little at a time, that you may do the more. My love to sisters + Cookman and Boyle, but it is a doubt with me whether I shall + cross the seas any more. + + “What preacher was it who first omitted meeting the select + society? I wonder it did not destroy the work! + + “You have done right in setting up the strangers’ society: it + is an excellent institution. + + “I am quite at a loss concerning Mr. Maddan; I know not what to + think of him. Send me your best thoughts concerning him. + + “Let not the excluded preachers by any means creep in again. In + any wise, write, and send me your thoughts on _animal + magnetism_. I set my face against that device of Satan. Two of + our preachers here are in danger of that satanical delusion; + but, if they persist to defend it, I must drop them. I know its + principles full well. + + “With much love to your wife, I am, etc., + + “JOHN WESLEY.”[779] + +Wesley was quite ready to “cross seas,” as he had already done so +often, in his Master’s service; but he might well doubt his ability. +Exactly three weeks after writing thus to Adam Clarke, he crossed the +dark river of death. + +For sixty-five years, Wesley had been an earnest, laborious, self +denying, and unceasing preacher of “the glorious gospel of the blessed +God”; and, notwithstanding his extreme age and feebleness, he +continued in his beloved employ until within seven days of his +decease. The following was his last week of public labour. + +On Thursday, February 17, he preached at Lambeth, then a thriving +suburban village, from the text, “Labour not for the meat which +perisheth; but for that which endureth to everlasting life.” Returning +home, he seemed to be unwell, and said he had taken cold. + +Friday the 18th, he read and wrote as usual, dined at Mr. Urling’s, +and preached at Chelsea, in the evening, from the words, “The king’s +business requireth haste.” Once or twice he was obliged to stop, and +to tell the people that his cold so affected his voice as to prevent +his speaking without these necessary pauses. He had, as usual, +arranged to meet the classes for the renewal of their tickets; but was +persuaded to leave this part of his work to his companions, James +Rogers, and Joseph Bradford. + +Saturday, the 19th, was principally employed in reading and writing. +The following was addressed to Mrs. Susanna Knapp, of Worcester, and +shows his unquenchable Christian ardour. + + “LONDON, _February 19, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR SUKY,--As the state of my health is exceeding + wavering, and waxes worse, I cannot yet lay down any plans for + my future journeys. Indeed, I propose, if God permit, to set + out for Bristol on the 28th instant; but how much further I + shall be able to go, I cannot yet determine. If I am pretty + well, I hope to be at Worcester about the 22nd of March. To + find you and yours in health of body and mind will be a great + pleasure to, + + “My dear Suky, yours affectionately, + + “J. WESLEY.” [780] + +On the same day, Wesley went out to dinner, at Mrs. Griffith’s, +Islington, and, while there, desired a friend to read to him the +fourth and three following chapters of the book of Job, containing the +speech of Eliphaz, and the answer of Job, and strikingly appropriate +to the case of a dying man. After dinner, he purposed to meet the +penitents at City Road, but was prevailed on to allow Mr. Brackenbury +to take his place. + +Next morning (Sunday) he rose, at his usual hour, but was utterly +unfit for the sabbath services. At seven o’clock, he was obliged to +lie down again; and slept for above three hours. In the afternoon, he +had again to go to bed; had another sleep; and then, after two of his +own sermons had been read to him, came downstairs to supper. + +On Monday, the 21st, he seemed better, and, despite persuasion, would +fulfil an engagement he had made to dine at Twickenham. His niece, +Miss Sarah Wesley, and Miss Ritchie, went with him. On the way he +called upon Lady Mary Fitzgerald, and conversed and prayed most +sweetly. + +Tuesday, the 22nd, he proceeded with his usual work; dined at Mr. +Horton’s, Islington; and preached in City Road chapel, from, “We +through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith.” After +this, he met the leaders. + +Wednesday, February 23, he arose at four a.m., as he also did the day +following, and, accompanied by Mr. Rogers, set out to Leatherhead, +eighteen miles from London, to visit a magistrate, in whose dining +room he preached, from “Seek ye the Lord while He may be found; call +upon Him while He is near.” This was Wesley’s last sermon. + +Thursday, February 24, he spent with his old friend, Mr. Wolff, at +Balham, where he was cheerful, and seemed nearly as well as +usual.[781] + +During the day, he wrote his last letter, which was addressed to +Wilberforce, who had brought before parliament the question, which +Wesley was one of the first to advocate, the abolition of slavery. + + “LONDON, _February 24, 1791_. + + “MY DEAR SIR,--Unless the Divine Power has raised you up to be + as Athanasius, _contra mundum_, I see not how you can go + through your glorious enterprise, in opposing that execrable + villainy, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of + human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, + you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils; but, + _if God be for you, who can be against you_? Are all of them + together stronger than God? O! ‘_be not weary in well doing_.’ + Go on, in the name of God, and in the power of His might, till + even American slavery, the vilest that ever saw the sun, shall + vanish away before it. + + “Reading this morning a tract, wrote by a poor African, I was + particularly struck by that circumstance,--that a man who has a + black skin, being wronged or outraged by a white man, can have + no redress; it being a _law_, in our colonies, that the _oath_ + of a black, against a white, goes for nothing. What villainy is + this! + + “That He who has guided you, from your youth up, may continue + to strengthen you in this and all things, is the prayer of, + dear sir, + + “Your affectionate servant, + + “JOHN WESLEY.” [782] + +Friday, February 25, Mr. Wolff having brought him home, to City Road, +Wesley went upstairs, and requested that, for half an hour, he should +be left alone. When the time expired, faithful Joseph Bradford found +him so unwell, that he sent for Dr. Whitehead. “Doctor,” said the +dying patriarch, “they are more afraid than hurt.” + +Saturday, February 26, was principally passed in drowsiness and sleep. + +Sunday morning, February 27, he seemed better, got up, sat in his +chair, looked cheerful, and repeated, from one of his brother’s +hymns,-- + + “Till glad I lay this body down, + Thy servant, Lord, attend! + And oh! my life of mercy crown + With a triumphant end!” + +And then, soon after, with marked emphasis, he said, “Our friend +Lazarus sleepeth.” His niece, Miss Wesley, and Miss Ritchie prayed +with him. “When at Bristol,” said he, alluding to his illness there in +1753, “my words were, + + ‘I the chief of sinners am, + But Jesus died for me!’” + +Miss Ritchie asked, “Is that your language now?” “Yes,” said he. +“Christ is all! He is all!” He then dozed, and sometimes wandered; +but, in his wanderings, was always preaching or meeting classes. + +On Monday, February 28, his weakness increased. Dr. Whitehead wished +for further assistance. Wesley replied: “Dr. Whitehead knows my +constitution better than any one. I am quite satisfied, and will have +no one else.”[783] Most of the day was spent in sleep. He seldom +spoke; but, once, in a wakeful interval, was heard saying, in a low, +distinct voice, “There is no way into the holiest, but by the blood of +Jesus.” Then referring to the text, “Ye know the grace of our Lord +Jesus Christ, that, though He was rich,” etc., he remarked, with +solemn emphasis, “That is the foundation, the only foundation, there +is no other.” It was now evident to all, that he was beginning to +sleep his last sleep. His friends were intensely anxious and alarmed. +Poor, broken hearted, Joseph Bradford despatched notes to the +preachers, asking their prayers, in the following terms. + + “_February 27, 1791._ + + “DEAR BROTHER,--Mr. Wesley is very ill: pray! pray! pray! + + “I am your affectionate brother, + + “JOSEPH BRADFORD.”[784] + +All was unavailing. Wesley’s work was ended. On Tuesday, March 1, +after a restless night, being asked if he suffered pain, he answered, +“No,” and began singing,-- + + “All glory to God in the sky, + And peace upon earth be restored! + O Jesus, exalted on high, + Appear our omnipotent Lord. + Who, meanly in Bethlehem born, + Didst stoop to redeem a lost race, + Once more to Thy people return, + And reign in Thy kingdom of grace. + + Oh, wouldst Thou again be made known, + Again in the Spirit descend; + And set up in each of Thy own + A kingdom that never shall end! + Thou only art able to bless, + And make the glad nations obey, + And bid the dire enmity cease, + And bow the whole world to Thy sway.” + +Here, while breathing faith and universal benevolence, his strength +failed. “I want to write,” said he. A pen was put into his hand, and +paper was placed before him. His hand had forgot its cunning. “I +cannot,” said the dying man. “Let me write for you,” remarked Miss +Ritchie: “tell me what you wish to say.” “Nothing,” he replied, “but +that God is with us.” + +“I will get up,” said he; and, while his friends were arranging his +clothes, the happy old man again began singing,-- + + “I’ll praise my Maker while I’ve breath; + And, when my voice is lost in death, + Praise shall employ my nobler powers: + My days of praise shall ne’er be past, + While life, and thought, and being last, + Or immortality endures. + + Happy the man whose hopes rely + On Israel’s God; He made the sky, + And earth, and seas, with all their train; + His truth for ever stands secure, + He saves the’ oppressed, He feeds the poor, + And none shall find His promise vain.” + +Once more seated in his chair, he, in a weak voice, said: “Lord, Thou +givest strength to those that can speak, and to those that cannot. +Speak, Lord, to all our hearts, and let them know that Thou loosest +tongues.” And again he began to sing, what proved to be his last song +on earth: + + “To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, + Who sweetly all agree.” + +But here his voice failed, and, after gasping for breath, he said: +“Now we have done. Let us all go.” + +Full of happiness, but utterly exhausted, he was put to bed, where, +after a short but quiet sleep, he opened his eyes, and, addressing the +weeping watchers who stood around him, said, “Pray, and praise!” and, +of course, they at once complied. Then he asked Joseph Bradford about +the key and contents of his bureau, remarking, “I would have all +things ready for my executors. Let me be buried in nothing but what is +woollen, and let my corpse be carried in my coffin into the chapel.” +And then, as if no other earthly matters required his attention, he +again called out, “Pray and praise!” Down fell his friends upon their +knees, and fervent were the dying patriarch’s responses, especially to +John Broadbent’s prayer, that God would still bless the system of +doctrine and discipline, which Wesley had been the means of +establishing. On rising, from prayer, each watcher drew near to the +bed of the expiring saint, and, with affectionate solicitude, awaited +the coming of the shining ones to conduct him home. With the utmost +placidity, he saluted each one present, shook hands, and said, +“Farewell! farewell!” + +Conflict there was none. The scene was the peaceful setting of a +glorious sun, undisturbed by the slightest soughing wind, undimmed by +the smallest intervening cloud. + +He tried to speak; but his friends found it difficult to make out what +he meant, except that he wished his sermon on “The Love of God to +Fallen Man,” founded on the text, “Not as the offence, so also is the +free gift,” to be “scattered abroad, and given to everybody.”[785] +Seeing that those around him were at a loss to understand what he +tried to say, the grand old Christian gladiator paused; and, +summoning, for a final effort, all the little strength he had +remaining, he exclaimed, in a tone well-nigh supernatural, “The best +of all is, God is with us!” And then, after another pause, and while +lifting his arm in grateful triumph, he emphatically reiterated, “The +best of all is, God is with us!” + +Nature was once more exhausted. Some one wetted his parched lips. “It +will not do,” said he; “we must take the consequence. Never mind the +poor carcase.” + +James Rogers and Thomas Rankin were standing by his bed; but his sight +was so nearly gone, that he was unable to recognise their features. +“Who are these?” he asked. “Sir,” said Mr. Rogers, “we are come to +rejoice with you; you are going to receive your crown.” “It is the +Lord’s doing,” replied Wesley, “and it is marvellous in our eyes.” + +Being told that his brother’s widow had come to see him, he thanked +her, affectionately endeavoured to kiss her, and remarked, “He giveth +His servants rest.” She wet his lips; on which he repeated his +constant thanksgiving after meals: “We thank Thee, O Lord, for these +and all Thy mercies. Bless the Church and king, and grant us truth and +peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, for ever and ever!” Then, +pausing a little, he cried, “The clouds drop fatness.” After another +pause, “The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our refuge! +Pray and praise!” And again his friends fell upon their knees. + +During the night, he scores of times repeated the words, “I’ll praise. +I’ll praise!” but could say nothing more. Next morning, Wednesday, +March 2, Joseph Bradford prayed with him. It was a few minutes before +ten o’clock. Around the bed there knelt his niece, Miss Sarah Wesley; +one of his executors, Mr. Horton; his medical attendant, Dr. +Whitehead; his book steward, George Whitfield; the present occupants +of his house, James and Hester Ann Rogers, and their little boy; and +his friends and visitors, Robert Carr Brackenbury, and Elizabeth +Ritchie,--eleven persons altogether. Bradford, so long Wesley’s +faithful friend and travelling companion, was the mouthpiece of the +other ten. “Farewell!” cried Wesley,--the last word he uttered; and +then, as Joseph Bradford was saying, “Lift up your heads, O ye gates; +and be ye lift up, ye everlasting doors; and this heir of glory shall +come in!” Wesley gathered up his feet in the presence of his brethren; +and, without a groan and without a sigh, was gone. He died about ten +o’clock a.m., on Wednesday, March 2, 1791.[786] + +What followed? “Children!” said John Wesley’s mother, “as soon as I am +dead, sing a song of praise!” As soon as Wesley himself died, his +friends, standing about his corpse, sang: + + “Waiting to receive thy spirit, + Lo! the Saviour stands above; + Shows the purchase of His merit, + Reaches out the crown of love.” + +And then they knelt down, and prayed, that the mantle of the ascended +Elijah might rest upon his followers.[787] + +Wesley’s remains were interred, behind the chapel in City Road, on the +9th of March. Such was the excitement created by his death, that, +within twelve hours only before the funeral took place, it was +determined, in order to prevent the assembling of an inconvenient +crowd, that the funereal solemnities should be performed at the early +hour of five a.m. The notice to his friends was short; but hundreds +attended; and to each one was given a biscuit, in an envelope, +engraven with a beautifully executed portrait of the departed, dressed +in canonicals, surmounted by a halo and a crown. + +Much remains unsaid; but our space is gone. Whilst the present pages +are passing through the press, we learn, that “a most eligible site, +in Westminster Abbey, has been courteously offered,” by the dean of +that noble edifice, for the erection of a “public monument” to Wesley +and his brother Charles; and that arrangements are being made to +secure the services of “a first class sculptor,” at the cost of about +£800. Thus the wheel turns round. One hundred and thirty years ago, +Wesley was shut out of every church in England; now marble medallion +profiles of himself and his brother, accompanied with suitable +inscriptions, are deemed deserving of a niche in England’s grandest +cathedral. The man who, a century since, was the best abused man in +the British isles, is now hardly ever mentioned but with affectionate +respect. In the literature of the age; in its lectures and debates; in +chapels and in churches; in synods, congresses, and all sorts of +conferences; by the highest lords and the most illustrious commoners, +the once persecuted Methodist is now extolled; and the judgment of +Southey, in a letter to Wilberforce, is tacitly confirmed: “I consider +Wesley as the most influential mind of the last century,--the man who +will have produced the greatest effects, centuries, or perhaps +millenniums hence, if the present race of men should continue so +long.” + +In person, Wesley was rather below the middle size, but beautifully +proportioned, without an atom of superfluous flesh, yet muscular and +strong; with a forehead clear and smooth, a bright, penetrating eye, +and a lovely face, which retained the freshness of its complexion to +the latest period of his life. + +In _general_ scholarship and knowledge, he had few superiors; whilst +such was his acquaintance with the New Testament, that, when at a loss +to repeat a text in the words of the authorised translation, he was +never at a loss to quote it in the original Greek. + +As an author, the chief characteristics of his style are brevity, +perspicuity, and strength. He abhorred verboseness, and constantly +endeavoured to say everything in the fewest words possible. “I never +think,” said he, “of my style at all, but just set down the words that +come first. Only when I transcribe anything for the press, then I +think it my duty to see that every phrase be _clear_, _pure_, +_proper_, and _easy_. Conciseness, which is now as it were natural to +me, brings _quantum sufficit_ of strength.” Not for want of genius, +but for want of time, and for want of disposition to make it +otherwise, his style is one of naked and self dependent strength, +unaccompanied with gaudy colouring, and equally undiluted with the +pretentious puerilities of weak and little minds. It is impossible to +abridge his writings without omitting thoughts as well as words. Who +can abridge Euclid’s Elements without maiming them? And who can take +from the works of Wesley without reducing their specific gravity? + +In the pulpit, Wesley’s attitude was graceful and easy; his action +calm, natural, pleasing, and expressive; and his voice, not loud, but +clear and manly. Whitefield was the greater orator; Wesley the better +divine. Wesley’s preaching was without Whitefield’s Demosthenic +eloquence; but it had the accuracy of a scholar, the authority of an +ambassador, the unction of a saint, the power of God. It was always +searching; but not often terrible and severe, except when addressed to +congregations rich, respectable, and polite. “Sir,” said a friend to +him, after he had preached to a genteel audience from the words, “Ye +serpents, ye generation of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of +hell?” “Sir,” said Wesley’s offended hearer, “such a sermon would have +been suitable in Billingsgate; but it was highly improper here”; to +whom Wesley quietly, but significantly, remarked: “If I had been in +Billingsgate, my text should have been, ‘Behold the Lamb of God, which +taketh away the sin of the world.’” The poor need to be told the +terribleness of their danger, and the rich more; but, unfortunately, +the poor hear most of this, and the rich least. Wesley was a faithful +minister to both. + +In social life, Wesley was a Christian gentleman, and, with perfect +ease, accommodated himself to both the high and low, the rich and +poor. Placid, benevolent, and full of anecdote, wit, and wisdom, his +conversation was not often equalled; and was generally concluded with +two or three verses of a hymn, applicable to what had just been +spoken. Though never trifling, he was always cheerful; sometimes +saying, “I dare no more _fret_ than _curse_ or _swear_.” His +sprightliness among his friends never left him; but was as conspicuous +at eighty-seven as at seventeen. He was at home in mansions, and +equally in cottages; courteous to all, and especially to the young, +often remarking, “I reverence the young, because they may be useful +after I am dead.” + +Of his piety nothing need be said. “His modesty,” writes Bradburn, +“prevented him saying much concerning his own religious feelings. In +public, he hardly ever spoke of the state of his own soul; but, in +1781, he told me that his experience might almost at any time be +expressed in the following lines: + + ‘O Thou, who camest from above, + The pure celestial fire to’ impart, + Kindle a flame of sacred love + On the mean altar of my heart! + + There let it for Thy glory burn, + With inextinguishable blaze, + And trembling to its source return, + In humble love and fervent praise!’” + +His industry is almost without a parallel. In many things, he was +gentle and easy to be entreated; but, in his earnestness in redeeming +time, he was decisive and inexorable. While kept waiting for his +carriage, on one occasion, he passionately exclaimed, “I have lost ten +minutes for ever!” “You have no need to be in a hurry!” said a friend: +“Hurry,” he replied, “I have no time to be in a hurry.” It has been +calculated, that, during the fifty years of his itinerant ministry, he +travelled a quarter of a million of miles, and preached more than +forty thousand sermons. In these volumes, we have seen him rising with +the lark, travelling with the sun, preaching throughout the three +kingdoms, and always acting in harmony with his own well known +utterance, “The world is my parish!” Looking at his travelling, the +marvel is how he found time to write; and, looking at his books, the +marvel is how he found time to preach. His hands were always full; but +his action was never fluttered. He was always moving, and yet, in the +midst of his ceaseless toils, betraying no more bustle than a planet +in its course. His mission was too great to allow time for trifles. + +Was Wesley without faults? Not so; no man but “_the Man Christ Jesus_” +ever was. Wesley, for instance, was naturally irritable; but even that +was better than being apathetic. “Tommy,” said Wesley once, “touch +that!” pointing to a dock. The itinerant did so. “Do you feel +anything?” asked Wesley. “No,” replied his friend. “Touch that!” +continued Wesley, pointing to a nettle. His companion obeyed, and, in +consequence, was stung. “Now, Tommy,” remarked Wesley, “some men are +like docks; say what you will to them, they are stupid and insensible. +Others are like nettles; touch them, and they resent it. Tommy, you +are a nettle; and, for my part, I would rather have to do with a +nettle than a dock.” + +Numberless instances of Wesley’s wit and repartee might easily be +given. “Stop that man from speaking!” exclaimed Charles Wesley at one +of the early conferences, when a preacher rose up, and, full of the +love of Christ and irrepressible emotion, began to relate his +religious experience. “Stop that man from speaking!” said Charles; +“let us attend to business!” but still the good man proceeded. “Unless +he stops, I’ll leave the conference,” continued Charles. Wesley +himself, revelling in the itinerant’s religious recital, effectually +cooled the warmth of his brother’s temper by quietly remarking, “Reach +him his hat!” + +On another occasion, when about to dine with a rich Methodist, one of +his preachers, who was present, with more piety than politeness, cried +out: “O sir, what a sumptuous dinner! Things are very different to +what they were formerly! There is now but little self denial amongst +the Methodists!” Wesley pointed to the abundantly furnished table, and +then silenced the preacher’s untimely eloquence by saying, “My +brother, there is a fine opportunity for self denial now.” + +Thus was Wesley always “instant in season, and out of season.” Always +and everywhere he was ready to turn passing incidents to practical +account. “Pray, sir, let us go,” said one of his friends, whilst two +women, near Billingsgate market, were quarrelling most furiously, and +using language far more forceful than pious: “Pray, sir, let us go; I +cannot stand it.” “Stay, Sammy,” replied Wesley, as he looked at the +viragoes, who were evidently _inspired_, though not from heaven. +“Stay, Sammy,” answered the man who had eyes for everything; “stay, +and learn how to preach!” + +We must close. Taking him altogether, Wesley is a man _sui generis_. +He stands alone: he has had no successor; no one like him went before; +no contemporary was a coequal. There was a wholeness about the man, +such as is rarely seen. His physique, his genius, his wit, his +penetration, his judgment, his memory, his beneficence, his religion, +his diligence, his conversation, his courteousness, his manners, and +his dress,--made him as perfect as we ever expect man to be on this +side heaven. “A greater poet may rise than Homer or Milton,” writes +Dr. Dobbin, “a greater theologian than Calvin, a greater philosopher +than Bacon, a greater dramatist than any of ancient or modern fame; +but a more distinguished revivalist of the churches than John Wesley, +never.” “He was a man,” says Lord Macaulay, “whose eloquence and +logical acuteness might have rendered him eminent in literature; whose +genius for government was not inferior to that of Richelieu; and who +devoted all his powers, in defiance of obloquy and derision, to what +he sincerely considered the highest good of his species.” + +But, in the case of a man like Wesley, panegyric is out of place. He +is one of the very few, whose memory can afford to do without it. His +well won and world wide fame requires no inscription on his monumental +marble,--whether in England or in America, in Westminster or in +Washington,--more elaborate than this: + + + JOHN WESLEY, + Born, A.D. 1703. + Died, A.D. 1791. + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [768] Clarke’s Life, vol. i., pp. 278, 283. + + [769] _Wesley Banner_, 1852, p. 275; and _Wesleyan Times_, + June 1, 1866 + + [770] This was probably “An Essay on the Liberty of Moral + Agents,” published consecutively in the first five + numbers of the _Arminian Magazine_ for 1791, and + concerning which Wesley writes: “I do not remember to + have ever seen a more strong and beautiful treatise + on moral liberty than the following; which I, + therefore, earnestly recommend to the consideration + of all those who desire ‘to vindicate the ways of God + with man.’” + + [771] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 157. + + [772] Dunn’s Life of Clarke, p. 80. + + [773] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 146. + + [774] Memoir of Miss A. Cambridge, p. 39. + + [775] Sprague’s “Annals of the American Methodist Pulpit.” + + [776] _Methodist Magazine_, 1804, p. 46. + + [777] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 147. + + [778] Everett’s Life of Clarke. + + [779] _Wesleyan Times_, June 1, 1866. + + [780] Manuscript letter, kindly lent by Mr. Dimbleby of + Malvern. + + [781] Life of James Rogers. + + [782] Wilberforce’s Life, vol. i., p. 297; and Moore’s Life + of Wesley, vol. ii., P. 437. + + [783] Jacob Jones, Esq., however, seems to have been called + in. He was then a young man, and had just joined + the Methodists. He died, in Finsbury Square, in + 1830.--(_Methodist Magazine_, 1830, p. 511.) + + [784] Smith’s “History of Methodism,” vol. i., p. 608. + + [785] In compliance with his wish, ten thousand copies were + printed, and gratuitously distributed. (Rogers’ Life.) + + [786] James Rogers’ Life. + + [787] “Authentic Narrative,” 1791. + + + + + APPENDIX. + + + [As some American Methodists have expressed dissatisfaction with Mr. + Tyerman’s views (vol. iii., p. 426 _et seq._) of Wesley’s ordination + of Coke and organization of the Methodist Episcopal Church, the + following exhaustive review of the question is cited from Dr. Abel + Stevens’s History of Methodism, vol. ii., p. 209 _et seq._] + +It is another of the great providential facts of Wesley’s history that +the same year which gave a constitutional security to Methodism in +Great Britain was signalized by its episcopal organization in America, +a measure which, by its consequences, may well be ranked among the +most important events of Wesley’s important life. Here again did he +follow, with simple wisdom, the guidance of that divine Providence, +the recognition of which in the affairs of men, and especially in the +affairs of the Church, was the crowning maxim of his philosophy and +the crowning fact of his policy. He had been providentially preparing +for this new and momentous exigency by that gradual development of +his personal opinions which we have already traced. Bigoted even, +as a High-Churchman, at the beginning of his career, we have seen +him, year after year, attaining more liberal views of ecclesiastical +policy. Nearly forty years before his ordinations for America, he +had, after reading Lord King’s “Primitive Church,” renounced the +opinion that a distinction of order, rather than of office, existed +between bishops and presbyters.[788] Fifteen years later he denied the +necessity, though not the expediency, of episcopal ordination. Bishop +Stillingfleet had convinced him that it was “an entire mistake that +none but episcopal ordination was valid.”[789] Henceforth he held that +presbyters and bishops, identical in order, differing only in office, +had essentially the same right of ordination. It was not possible +for a man like Wesley, keen, quick, fearless, and candid, to remain +long in any ecclesiastical prejudice now that he was on this track of +progressive opinions. He soon broke away from all other regard for +questions of Church government than that of Scriptural expediency; +and as early as 1756, when in his maturest intellectual vigor, he +declares: “As to my own judgment, I still believe ‘the episcopal form +of Church government to be Scriptural and apostolical’--I mean, well +agreeing with the practice and writings of the apostles; but that it is +prescribed in Scripture I do not believe. This opinion, which I once +zealously espoused, I have been heartily ashamed of ever since I read +Bishop Stillingfleet’s ‘Irenicon.’ I think he has unanswerably proved +that ‘neither Christ nor his apostles prescribe any particular form +of Church government, and that the plea of divine right for diocesan +episcopacy was never heard of in the primitive Church.’”[790] + +It was, then, by no new assumption in his old age--in his imbecility, +as some of his critics allege, that he now met the necessities +of American Methodism by ordaining men to provide for them. His +keenest-eyed associates could as yet detect no declension of his +faculties; and if they could, still his course in this case was in +accordance with the reasonings of his best days, and he but repeats +his long-established opinions when he now asserts, “I firmly believe +I am a Scriptural _episcopos_ as much as any man in England, for the +uninterrupted succession I know to be a fable, which no man ever did or +can prove.”[791] + +Methodism had spread rapidly in America, notwithstanding the war of +the Revolution. It now comprised eighty-three traveling preachers, +besides some hundreds of local preachers, and about fifteen thousand +members and many thousands of hearers, and its ecclesiastical plans +were extending a network of powerful agencies over the country. +The Revolution had not only dissolved the civil, but also the +ecclesiastical relations of the colonies to England. Many of the +English clergy, on whom the Methodist societies had depended for +the sacraments, had fled from the land, or had entered political or +military life, and the Episcopal Church had been generally disabled. +In Virginia, the centre of its colonial strength, it had rapidly +declined, morally as well as numerically. At the Declaration of +Independence it included not more than one third of the population of +that province.[792] At the beginning of the war the sixty-one counties +of Virginia contained ninety-five parishes, one hundred and sixty-four +churches, and ninety-one clergymen. At the conclusion of the contest +many of her churches were in ruins, nearly a fourth of her parishes +“extinct or forsaken,” and thirty-four of the remaining seventy-two +were without pastoral supplies; twenty-eight only of her ninety-one +clergymen remained, and these, with an addition, soon after the war, +of eight from other parts of the country, ministered in but thirty-six +parishes.[793] In the year in which Wesley ordained an American +Methodist bishop, “memorials” to the Virginia Legislature for the +incorporation of the “Protestant Episcopal Church in Virginia,” and +for other advantages to religion, were met by counter petitions that +“no step might be taken in aid of religion, but that it might be left +to its own superior and successful influence.”[794] The memorials were +postponed till the next session, and then rejected; but a bill for the +“incorporation of all religious societies which may apply for the same” +was adopted. In other parts of the country the English Church never had +been numerically strong, and its existence was now precarious, except +in two or three large cities. + +Under these circumstances the Methodists demanded of their preachers +the administration of the sacraments. Many of the societies had +been months, some of them years, without them. The demand was not +only urgent, it was logically valid, but by the majority of the +preachers it was not deemed expedient. The prudent delay which Wesley, +notwithstanding his liberal ecclesiastical principles, had practiced in +England, afforded a lesson which their good sense could not disregard. +They exhorted their people, therefore, to wait patiently till he could +be consulted. Thomas Rankin, one of Wesley’s missionaries, presiding at +the Conference of Deer Creek, Maryland, 1777, induced them to delay one +year. At the next session the subject was again prudently postponed, +as no English preacher was present, Rankin having returned to England, +and Asbury being absent and sick. In 1779 the question occasioned a +virtual schism, the preachers of the South being resolute for the +administration of the sacraments, those of the North still pleading for +patient delay. The latter met in Conference at Judge White’s residence, +the retreat of Asbury, in Delaware; the former at Brockenback Church, +Fluvanna County, Virginia, where they made their own appointments, and +proceeded to ordain themselves by the hands of three of their senior +members, unwilling that their people should longer be denied their +right to the Lord’s Supper, and their children and probationary members +the rite of baptism. At the session of 1780 Asbury was authorized to +visit the Southern preachers, and, if possible, conciliate them. He met +them in Conference; they appeared determined not to recede, but at last +consented to suspend the administration of the sacraments till further +advice could be received from Wesley. The breach was thus happily +repaired, but must evidently soon again be opened if redress should not +be obtained.[795] + +What could Wesley do under these circumstances? What but exercise the +right of ordination which he had for years theoretically claimed, but +practically and prudently declined? He had importuned the authorities +of the English Church in behalf of the Americans. In this very year +he had written two letters to Lowth, Bishop of London, imploring +ordination for a single preacher, who might appease the urgency of the +American brethren by traveling among them as a presbyter, and by giving +them the sacraments; but the request was denied, Lowth replying that +“there are three ministers in that country already.” “What are these,” +rejoined Wesley, “to watch over all that extensive country? I mourn +for poor America, for the sheep scattered up and down therein--part +of them have no shepherds at all, and the case of the rest is little +better, for their shepherds pity them not.”[796] If there was any +imprudence on the part of Wesley in this emergency, it was certainly +in his long-continued patience, for he delayed yet nearly four years. +When he yielded, it was only after the triumph of the American arms and +the acknowledged independence of the colonies; and not then till urged +to it by his most revered counselors. Fletcher, of Madeley, was one of +these. That good man’s interest for American Methodism should endear +his memory to the American Church. He had thoughts at one time of going +to the New World and of giving himself to its struggling societies, but +his feeble health forbade him. + +Fletcher was present with Wesley and Coke at the Leeds Conference of +1784, and there, with his assistance,[797] the question was brought to +an issue. Wesley had previously consulted with Coke respecting it. He +represented to Coke that as the Revolution had separated the United +States from the mother country, and the Episcopal Establishment was +utterly abolished in the States, it became his duty, as providentially +at the head of the Methodist societies, to obey their demand and +furnish for them the means of grace. He referred to the example of +the Alexandrian Church, which, at the death of its bishops, provided +their successors through ordination by its presbyters--a historical +fact exemplified during two hundred years. Recognized as their founder +by the American Methodists, required by them to provide for their new +necessities, and unable to induce the English prelates to do so, he +proposed to appoint Coke, that he might go to the American societies +as their superintendent or bishop, ordain their preachers, and thus +afford them the sacraments with the least possible irregularity. Coke +hesitated, but in two months wrote to Wesley accepting the office.[798] +Accordingly, accompanied by Rev. James Creighton, a presbyter of +the Church of England, Coke met him at Bristol, and on the second +of September, 1784, was ordained _superintendent or bishop of the +Methodist societies in America_, an act of as high propriety and +dignity as it was of urgent necessity. Richard Whatcoat and Thomas +Vasey were at the same time ordained presbyters; and on the third of +November, attended by his two presbyters (the number necessary to +assist a bishop in ordination, according to the usages of the English +Church), Coke arrived in the Republic, and proceeded to ordain Francis +Asbury, first as a deacon, then as a presbyter, and finally as a +bishop, and to settle the organization of American Methodism, one of +the most important ecclesiastical events (whether for good or evil) +of the eighteenth century, or indeed since the Reformation, as its +historical consequences attest. + +The Colonial English Church being dissolved by the Revolution, its +dwindled fragments were yet floating, as had been the Methodist +societies, on the stormy tide of events. Methodism preceded it in +reorganization. The Methodist bishops were the first Protestant +bishops, and Methodism was the first Protestant Episcopal Church of +the New World;[799] and as Wesley had given it the Anglican Articles +of Religion (omitting the seventeenth, on Predestination), and the +Liturgy, wisely abridged, it became, both by its precedent organization +and its subsequent numerical importance, the real successor to the +Anglican Church in America. + +Of course this extraordinary but necessary measure met with opposition +from Charles Wesley. He still retained his High-Church opinions; +he denounced the ordinations as schism; with his usual haste he +predicted that Coke would return from “his Methodist Episcopal Church +in Baltimore” to “make us all Dissenters here.” The poet was no +legislator; he became pathetic in his remonstrances to his brother; +“alas!” he wrote, “what trouble are you preparing for yourself, as well +as for me, and for your oldest, truest, best friends! Before you have +quite broken down the bridge, stop and consider! If your sons have no +regard for you, have some for yourself. Go to your grave in peace; at +least suffer me to go first, before this ruin is under your hand.” +He did soon after go to his grave in peace, except the alarms of his +imaginary fears, and the only evidence of the predicted “ruin” is seen +to-day in the prevalent and permanent success of Methodism in both +hemispheres. + +The next year after the ordination of Coke, Wesley records in +his Journal: “I was now considering how strangely the grain of +mustard-seed, planted about fifty years ago, had grown up. It spread +through all Great Britain and Ireland, the Isle of Wight, and the Isle +of Man; then to America, through the whole continent, into Canada, the +Leeward Islands, and Newfoundland. And the societies in all these parts +walk by one rule, knowing religion is holy tempers, and striving to +worship God, not in form only, but likewise in spirit and in truth.” +His policy becomes more and more liberal as he now finds it necessary +to fortify his cause before his approaching death. The following +year (1786) he ordained six or seven more preachers, sending some to +Scotland, and others to the West Indies,[800] but he ordained none as +yet for England, where he and his clerical friends could partially +supply the sacraments. Three years later he ordained Mather, Rankin, +and Moore.[801] About a score of lay preachers received ordination +from his hands, and for no other purpose but that they might administer +the sacraments in cases of necessity. + +Thus did providential events give shape and security to Methodism, as +its aged leader approached his end. + +No act of Wesley’s public life has been more misrepresented, if +not misunderstood, than his ordination of Coke, and the consequent +episcopal organization of his American societies. Churchmen, so called, +have especially insisted that he did not design to confer upon Coke +the character of a bishop; that Coke’s new office was designed to be +a species of supervisory appointment, vague and contingent--something +widely different from episcopacy, however difficult to define; and +that, therefore, the distinct existence of American Methodism, as an +episcopal Church, is a fact contrary to the intention of Wesley. + +No extant forensic argument, founded upon documentary evidence, is +stronger than would be a right collocation of the evidence which +sustains the claim of American Methodism respecting this question. All +Methodist authorities, British as well as American, support that claim; +its proofs have been more or less cited again and again, but they have +not usually been drawn out in detail. Presented in their right series, +they become absolutely decisive, and must conclude the controversy with +all candid minds. It is appropriate, at this point of our narrative, to +review the argument. In stating the facts which compose it, in their +successive relations one to another, some repetition will be necessary; +but the highest logic--mathematical demonstration itself--is that in +which not only the postulates, but the successive proofs most often +recur to strengthen the advancing demonstration. + +It has been seen that, as before the American Revolution the two +countries were under one government, the two Methodist bodies were +also. Wesley’s “Minutes” were the discipline of the American as well as +the British Methodists; and Asbury represented his person in America, +vested with much greater powers than have since belonged to the +American Methodist bishops. Thus was the American Church governed for +years by the paternal direction of Wesley. It has been further shown +that, as none of the American preachers were ordained, the societies +were dependent for the sacraments upon the clergy of the English Church +in the colonies; that at the Revolution most of these left the country, +and the Methodists were thereby deprived of those means of grace; that +many societies insisted upon having them without ordination; that a +general strife ensued, and a large portion of the Southern societies +revolted; that a compromise was effected until they could apply to +Wesley for powers to ordain and to administer the sacraments; and +that, in meeting their demand, he ordained and sent over Dr. Coke, +with episcopal powers, under the name of superintendent, to ordain +Francis Asbury a “joint superintendent,” and to ordain the preachers +to the offices of deacons and elders. He sent also a printed liturgy, +or “Sunday Service,” containing, besides the usual prayers, forms for +“ordaining superintendents, elders, and deacons,” the “Articles of +Religion,” and “A Collection of Psalms and Hymns.” Coke also bore from +him a circular letter to the societies, stating reasons for the new +measures, the chief one being the demand of the American societies. +When Coke arrived, the preachers assembled in Baltimore to receive him +and the new arrangements borne by him from Wesley. The adoption of the +provisions thus made by Wesley, at the request of “some thousands of +the inhabitants of these states,” is what is called the “organization” +of the Methodist Episcopal Church. The “Minutes,” which had before +been the law of the Church, were continued, with such additions as +were required by these new arrangements. There was no revolution of +the Church polity, and no new powers were imparted to Asbury, except +authority to ordain. Every thing proceeded as before, except that the +American societies no longer depended upon the Church of England for +the sacraments, but received them from their own preachers. Thus, then, +it appears that the so-called “organization” of the Methodist Episcopal +Church at Baltimore was simply and substantially the adoption of the +system appointed by Wesley. In respect to the very term “episcopal” +itself, the Conference of Baltimore said, in their “Minutes” of the +so-called organization, that, “following the counsel of Mr. John +Wesley, _who recommended the episcopal mode_ of Church government, +we thought it best to become an episcopal Church.”[802] The Minutes +containing this declaration were, six months afterward, in the hands of +Wesley, and were published in England without a word of disapprobation +from him; and when Coke was attacked in an English pamphlet for his +proceedings at Baltimore, he publicly defended himself by declaring +that he had “done nothing without the direction of Mr. Wesley.” This he +did in a publication, under the eye of Wesley.[803] + +It should be frankly admitted, however, that Wesley, while he +established the American episcopacy, did not approve the use of the +title of “bishop,” because of the adventitious dignities associated +with it. But let it be borne in mind that the American societies +had been in existence nearly four years under the express title +of an “Episcopal Church,” with the uninterrupted approbation of +Wesley, before the name bishop was personally applied to their +superintendents.[804] Not till this term was so applied did he demur. +He then wrote a letter to Bishop Asbury objecting strongly to his being +“called a bishop.” And it is on this letter, more than any thing else, +that the opponents of Methodism have founded their allegation that +Wesley did not design to establish the American Methodist episcopacy, +but that Coke and the Baltimore Conference exceeded his intentions in +assuming it. Quotations from this letter have been incessantly given +in a form adapted only to produce a false effect, for the letter can +be rightly comprehended only by the aid of the historical facts of the +case. + +Did Wesley, then, design, by his ordination of Coke, to confer on +him the office of a bishop, and to constitute the American Methodist +societies an episcopal Church? Three things are to be assumed as +preliminary to this inquiry: + +1. That Wesley was a decided Episcopalian. What man was ever more +attached to the national episcopacy of England? We have already cited +proofs that he believed the “episcopal form of Church government to +be Scriptural and apostolical,” that is, “well agreeing with the +practice and writings of the apostles,” though that it is prescribed in +Scripture he did not believe. + +2. That Wesley, while he believed in episcopacy, belonged to that +class of Episcopalians who contend that episcopacy is not a distinct +“order” (in the usual technical or ecclesiastical sense of the term), +but a distinct office in the ministry; that bishops and presbyters, +or elders, are of the same order, and have essentially the same +prerogatives; but that, for convenience, some of this order may be +raised to the episcopal office, and some of the functions originally +pertaining to the whole order, as ordination, for example, may be +confined to them; the presbyter thus elevated being but _primus inter +pares_--the first among equals--a presiding officer.[805] + +3. That the words _episcopos_ (Greek), _superintendent_ (Latin), and +bishop (English)[806] have the same meaning, namely, an overseer. + +With these preliminaries, we recur to the questions, Did Wesley appoint +Coke to the episcopal office? Did he establish the American Methodist +episcopacy? Let us look at the evidence. + +1. Wesley mentions, in Coke’s certificate of ordination, as a reason +for ordaining him, that the Methodists in America desired “still to +adhere to the doctrine and discipline of the Church of England.”[807] +That Church in America was dissolved by the Revolution; he therefore +appointed Coke, with an episcopal form of government, a ritual, and +articles of religion, to meet the exigency. If Coke was appointed +merely to some such indefinite and contingent supervisory office +as “Church” writers allege, if he possessed not the authoritative +functions of episcopacy, wherein did his appointment answer the purpose +mentioned by Wesley--“the discipline of the Church of England?” Wherein +consists the main feature of the discipline of the English Church? +In its episcopal superintendence. Wherein does American Methodism +resemble it? Certainly not in class-meetings, itinerancy, and other +characteristic peculiarities, but in its episcopal regimen. Wesley’s +language is without sense if this is not its meaning. + +2. Why did Wesley attach so much importance to the appointment if it +was of the secondary character alleged? He says in his circular letter +respecting Coke’s ordination, “For many years I have been importuned, +from time to time, to exercise this right by _ordaining_ part of our +traveling preachers; but I have still refused, not only for peace’ +sake, but because I was determined as little as possible to violate +the established order of the national Church to which I belonged. But +the case is widely different between England and America. Here there +are bishops who have a legal jurisdiction. In America there are none, +neither any parish ministers, so that for some hundred miles together +there are none either to baptize or administer the sacrament. Here, +therefore, my scruples are at an end!” + +Scruples! What could have been his “scruples” about sending Coke on +such a secondary errand as the opponents of the Methodist episcopacy +assert? He had already sent Asbury and others to America, and to Asbury +he had actually assigned such a special yet secondary office, but +unaccompanied with the ordination and authority of episcopacy. This he +had done years before, without any scruple whatever; but during all +this time he had been scrupling about this new and solemn measure, +till the Revolution relieved him by abolishing the jurisdiction of the +English bishops in the colonies. There is certainly sheer absurdity in +all this if Wesley merely gave to Coke and Asbury a sort of indefinite +though special commission in the American Church, not including in it +the distinctive functions of episcopacy. We can conceive of nothing in +the nature of such a commission to excite such scruples--a commission +which had long since been given to Asbury. + +Again: When Wesley proposed to Coke his ordination to this new office, +some six or seven months before it was conferred, Coke “was startled +at a measure so unprecedented in modern days,” and doubted Wesley’s +authority to ordain him, as Wesley himself was not a bishop.[808] +Wesley recommended him to read Lord King’s Primitive Church, and gave +him time to reflect. Coke passed two months in Scotland, and, on +satisfying his doubts, wrote to Wesley accepting the appointment, and +was afterward ordained, with solemn forms and the imposition of hands, +by Wesley, assisted by presbyters of the Church of England. What could +have possibly been the pertinency of all these former scruples of +Wesley, this surprise, and doubt, and delay of Coke, this reference to +ecclesiastical antiquity, and to a book which demonstrates the right of +presbyters to ordain bishops in given cases, and these solemn forms, if +they related merely to the alleged species of appointment, especially +as this very species of commission had already existed for some years +in the person of Asbury? + +3. It is evident, beyond all question, that Wesley did not consider +this solemn act in the subordinate sense of an appointment, but as +an “ordination,” using the word in its strictest ecclesiastical +application. In his circular letter he says, “For many years I have +been importuned ... to exercise this right by _ordaining_ a part of +our traveling preachers; but I have still refused ... because I was +determined as little as possible to violate the established order of +the national Church.... Here my scruples are at an end.” Here the +word ordaining is expressly used; and if the new appointment was not +a regular “ordination,” but a species of nondescript commission, +solemnized by the mere forms of ordination, how could it be an +interference with the “established order of the national Church?” +How, especially, could it be such an interference, in any important +sense different from that which Wesley had already, for years, been +exercising without “scruple,” in sending to America his unordained +preachers? It was clearly an ordination, in the ecclesiastical sense +of the term; but there have been only three ordinations claimed in the +Christian world, namely, to the offices of, 1. Deacons; 2. Elders or +presbyters; and, 3. Bishops. If, then, Coke was ordained by Wesley, +and was not ordained a bishop, it becomes at once a pertinent but +unanswerable question, To what was he ordained? He had been a presbyter +for years. To what, then, did Wesley ordain him, if not to the next +recognized office? + +Let it be remembered that Whatcoat and Vasey were ordained elders +for America at the time of Coke’s ordination, but by a distinct act. +If Coke did not receive a higher ordination (that is, episcopal, for +this is the only higher one), why was he ordained separately from +them, though on the same occasion? And why did Wesley, in his circular +letter, declare to the American Methodists that, while Whatcoat and +Vasey were “to act as elders among them,” Coke and Asbury were “to be +joint superintendents over them?” + +4. Wesley, in his circular letter, appeals to Lord King’s Sketch of +the Primitive Church to show that he, as a presbyter, had a right, +under his peculiar circumstances, to perform these ordinations. Lord +King establishes the second of the above preliminary statements, and +the right of presbyters to ordain. And Wesley cites particularly his +reference to the Alexandrian Church, where, on the decease of a bishop, +the presbyters ordained his successor. + +Why now this reference to Lord King and the Alexandrian Church--proving +that presbyters could ordain--in justification of Wesley’s proceedings, +if he did not ordain? And if he did ordain Coke, it may again be +asked, as Coke was already a presbyter, To what was he thus ordained, +if it was not to the only remaining office--the episcopacy? And still +more pointedly may it be asked, What propriety was there in Wesley’s +justifying himself by referring to the ordination of bishops by the +presbyters of Alexandria if he himself had not ordained a bishop? + +5. Wesley prepared at this time a Prayer-Book for the American +Church--an abridgment of the English Liturgy--to be used under the new +arrangement. It contains the forms for the ordination of, 1. Deacons; +2. Elders; 3. Superintendents; and directs expressly that all preachers +elected to the office of deacon, elder, or superintendent shall be +presented to the superintendent “to be ordained.” Let it be remarked +then, 1. That here the very word ordain is used. 2. We have here the +three distinct offices of the ministry stated in order, according +to the understanding of Wesley, and of all Episcopalians throughout +the world. 3. That not only is the name of bishop changed to that +of superintendent, but the name of presbyter, or priest, to that of +elder--the new names being in both cases synonymous with the old ones. +If the change of the former name implies a difference in the office +also, why does not the change in the latter imply the same? 4. These +forms of ordination were taken from the forms in the English Liturgy +for the ordination of deacons, presbyters, and bishops, the names of +the latter two being changed to synonymous terms, namely, elders and +superintendents. The opponents of the Methodist episcopacy readily +grant that elder means presbyter, yet, as soon as superintendents are +mentioned as bishops, they protest. 5. These forms show that Wesley +not only created the Methodist episcopacy, but designed it to continue +after Coke and Asbury’s decease; they were printed for permanent use. + +6. By reading Coke’s letter to Wesley, consenting to and directing +about his proposed ordination, it will be seen that Whatcoat and Vasey +were ordained presbyters at Coke’s request, because “propriety and +universal practice,” he says, “make it expedient that I should have +two presbyters with me in this work.”[809] That is, Coke requests, and +Wesley grants, that two presbyters shall be ordained to accompany Coke +in his new office, because “propriety and universal practice” require +that two presbyters assist a bishop in ordaining; and yet Coke was +not appointed to the office of a bishop! Coke in this letter, let it +be repeated, requests that these two men should be made “presbyters;” +Wesley complies; and yet, in the forms of the Prayer-Book, or +Discipline, they are called “elders.” The name only was changed, +therefore, not the thing; why, then, is not the inference just, that +the other change in these forms, that of bishop to superintendent, is +only in the name, not in the thing? The rule certainly ought to “work +both ways.” + +7. Charles Wesley was a rigid High-Churchman, and opposed to all +ordinations by his brother. The latter knew his views so well that he +would not expose the present measure to interruption by acquainting him +with it till it was consummated. Though Charles Wesley was a presbyter +of the Church of England, and in the town at the time, yet other +presbyters were summoned to meet the demand of “propriety and universal +practice” on such occasions, while he was carefully avoided. Now why +this remarkable precaution against the High-Church prejudices of his +brother respecting ordinations if he did not in these proceedings +ordain? If it be replied that Charles was not only opposed to his +brother’s ordaining a bishop, but equally to his ordaining to the other +offices of the ministry, and, therefore, the ordinations might have +been confined to the latter, and yet such precautions be proper, it +may then be asked again, How can we suppose Coke to be now ordained +to these lower offices when he had already received them, and had +exercised them for years? + +8. As soon as Charles Wesley learned these proceedings he was +profoundly afflicted. His correspondence with his brother[810] shows +that he understood them in the manner that the American Methodists do, +and Wesley never corrected this interpretation. He defends himself, +but never denies the facts. Charles Wesley speaks of Coke’s “Methodist +Episcopal Church in Baltimore,” alluding to the name assumed by the +American Church at its organization in that city. Wesley, in his reply, +utters not a word in denial or disapproval of this title, but simply +vindicates the necessity of his course in respect to the American +Methodists. Charles Wesley, in response, speaks of the doctor’s +“ambition” and “rashness.” Wesley, though he knew the Church had been +organized at Baltimore with the title of “Episcopal,” and had used +the very word “bishop,” but not as a personal title, says, “I believe +Dr. Coke as free from ambition as covetousness. He has done nothing +rashly that I know.” Charles Wesley, in his letter to Dr. Chandler, +a clergyman about to sail for America, speaks of his brother having +“assumed the episcopal character, ordained elders, _consecrated a +bishop_, and sent him to ordain our lay preachers in America,” showing +thus what the office really was, though the name was changed. Evidently +it was only the appellation of bishop, applied to the superintendents +in person, that Wesley disapproved. + +9. The Conference at which the Church was organized terminated +January 1, 1785. The Minutes were published by Coke, with the title +“General Minutes of the Conferences of the Methodist Episcopal Church +in America.” The Minutes, as has been stated, expressly say that the +American societies were formed into an Episcopal Church, and this, +too, at the “recommendation” of Wesley. By July, Coke was with Wesley +at the British Conference. By the 26th of the preceding June, his own +Journal, containing this phrase, was inspected by Wesley. Coke also +took to England the American Minutes, and they were printed on a press +which Wesley used, and under his own eye. The Baltimore proceedings +were therefore known to Wesley, but we hear of no remonstrance from +him. They soon became known, by the Minutes, to the public; and when +Coke was attacked publicly for what he had done, he replied, as we +have seen, through the press, that “he had done nothing but under +the direction of Mr. Wesley.” Wesley never denied it. How are all +these facts explicable on the supposition that Coke and Asbury had +ambitiously broken over Wesley’s restrictions? + +10. One of Charles Wesley’s greatest fears was, as we have noticed, +that the English preachers would be ordained by Coke. He had prevailed +upon his brother to refuse them ordination for years. He now writes, +with deep concern, that “not a preacher in London would refuse orders +from the doctor.” “He comes armed with your authority to make us all +Dissenters.” Now, why all this sudden disposition of the English +preachers to receive “orders from the doctor,” if it was not understood +that he had received episcopal powers, and they despaired of ever +getting ordination from the national bishops? If it is replied, they +believed, with Wesley, that, under necessary circumstances, presbyters +could ordain, and therefore desired it from Coke, not in view of +his new appointment, but because he was a presbyter of the Church +of England, then it may be properly asked, why did they not seek it +before? for Coke had been a presbyter among them for years. Why start +up with such a demand all at once as soon as they learned of the new +position of Coke? And how could Charles Wesley say in this case, “He +comes armed with your authority?” for his authority as a presbyter +he obtained from a bishop of the English Church years before he knew +Wesley. + +11. The term bishop was not personally applied in the Discipline +to the American superintendents till about three years after the +“organization” of the Church, and Wesley’s objurgatory letter to Asbury +was not written till four years after it. During all this interval, +however, the American societies were called an “Episcopal Church.” +Six months after adopting the name, its Minutes were, as stated, +inspected by Wesley, and published under his auspices; they were called +the “Minutes of the Methodist Episcopal Church in America;” and they +expressly declare that, “following the counsel of Mr. John Wesley, who +recommended the episcopal mode of Church government, we thought it best +to become an Episcopal Church;” yet, as has been shown, during this +long interim Wesley never uttered a syllable against this assumption! +When his brother writes him, accusing Coke of rashness, he replies that +“the doctor has done nothing rashly;” and when Coke is accused through +the press, he declares, under Wesley’s eye, and without contradiction, +that “he had done nothing without the direction of Mr. Wesley.” What, +now, do all these incidents imply? What but that Wesley did approve the +American episcopacy--that it was established by his direction? Yet four +years after, when the appellation of bishop had been applied personally +to the American _episcopoi_, this letter of Wesley was written. +What further does this imply? What but that it was not the thing he +condemned, but the name? The thing had existed for years uncondemned, +nay, defended by him; the very name “Episcopal,” so far as it applied +to the Church collectively, he did not condemn; the title “bishop,” as +a definition or synonym of “superintendent” in the Minutes, he did not +condemn; but the personal title of bishop he disapproved, because of +its objectionable associations. Is it possible to escape this inference? + +Thus we see that, whatever view we take of the subject, we are +compelled to one conclusion: that Wesley did create and establish the +American Methodist episcopate. The man who gainsays such evidence must +be given up as incorrigible. There can be no reasoning with him. + +And now, what is the sum of this evidence? It has already been +presented with sufficient detail, but let us retrace the successive +and decisive steps of the argument. Here we have Wesley proposing to +establish “the discipline of the Church of England” among the American +Methodists, and to do so he ordains for them bishops, and gives them +an episcopal regimen; yet, according to their antagonists, he never +designed them to be a distinct Church, but only a “society” in the +Protestant Episcopal Church! Wesley and Coke have “scruples,” delays, +references to antiquity, imposition of hands, and other solemn forms, +conforming to the “universal practice” of episcopal ordination, and +yet all concerning some nondescript kind of appointment, analogous to +that which is conferred upon a missionary in charge over his brethren +in a foreign station! Wesley speaks of it as “ordaining,” and of his +refusing to use the right before the Revolution because it would have +interfered with the “established order of the national Church;” and +yet a mere secondary commission of Coke, such a one as had existed in +the person of Asbury for years, is the momentous interference with the +established order of the national Church--though there was nothing in +that order with which it could interfere, the national Church never +having had any such appointments! Wesley solemnly “ordains” Coke; and +yet it is not to the episcopal office, though he had been ordained to +all the other offices to which ordination is appropriate years before! +Wesley ordains two other men to the office of elders, and at the same +time separately and formally ordains Coke, who had already borne this +office; but still Coke’s new office is not the only remaining one that +could be conferred upon him! Wesley refers to the ordination of bishops +by the presbyters of Alexandria in justification of his ordination of +Coke, and yet he does not ordain Coke a bishop! Wesley prepares for +the American Church a Prayer-Book, abridged from that of the Church +of England, prescribing the English forms for the three offices +of deacons, presbyters, and bishops; the two former are admitted +unquestionably to be what they are in England, and yet the latter is +explained into something new and anomalous, answering to nothing ever +heard of in the Church of England or in any other episcopal Church! In +these forms the old names of two of the offices are changed to new but +synonymous appellations--that of presbyter or priest to elder, that of +bishop to superintendent; in the former case, the change of the name +is not for a moment supposed to imply a change of the thing, and yet, +in the other case, the change of the name invalidates entirely the +thing, without a particle more evidence for it in one case than in the +other! Charles Wesley, being a High-Churchman, is kept unaware of his +brother’s proceedings till they are accomplished, though he is in the +town at the time of the ordination; and yet it is no ordination, but +a species of appointment against which he could have had no episcopal +prejudice whatever! When he learns the facts he is overwhelmed with +surprise, and in his correspondence exclaims against his “brother’s +consecration of a bishop,” and “Dr. Coke’s Methodist Episcopal +Church” at Baltimore; and Wesley, in his replies, never denies these +titles, but simply vindicates his ordinations, and says that Coke had +“done nothing rashly;” yet there was no bishop, no episcopal office +appointed, no distinct episcopal Church established, but Coke had +fabricated the whole! When the preachers in England, trained, from +childhood, under episcopacy, hear of Coke’s new office, they are, to +the great alarm of Charles Wesley, suddenly seized with a desire to be +ordained by Coke, though they fully know that he is no bishop, but the +same presbyter that he had been among them for years! In six months +after the organization of the American Church, Coke publishes its +Minutes, with the title “Methodist Episcopal Church in America,” in +London, under the eye of Wesley, and in these Minutes it is declared +that Wesley “recommended the episcopal mode of Church government;” but +no remonstrance is heard from Wesley! When Coke is condemned through +the press for his proceedings, he publicly replies that he had done +“nothing without the direction of Mr. Wesley;” no rebuke follows +from Wesley, but Coke goes on as usual, active in his Conferences, +and maintained in his new position; and yet his American proceedings +were an ambitious plot, contrary to the will of Wesley! The American +Methodists had borne the title “Episcopal Church,” with Wesley’s full +approval, for four years, when, on the use of the personal title of +bishop, Wesley writes his letter to Asbury; and yet it is not the mere +personal title he condemns, but the office which for four years he had +left uncondemned, nay, had vindicated! + +And now, looking again at this series of arguments, will not the +American Methodists be acquitted of presumption when they assume +that they may here make a triumphant stand, surrounded by evidence +altogether impregnable? The mighty ecclesiastical system under which +it has pleased God to give them and their families spiritual shelter +and fellowship with his saints, and whose efficiency has surprised +the Christian world, is not, as their opponents would represent, an +imposition of their preachers, and contrary to the wishes of Wesley, +but was legitimately received from his hands as the providential +founder of Methodism. + +If Wesley’s strong repugnance to the mere name of bishop had been +expressed before its adoption by the American Church, it would probably +not have been adopted. Still, the American Church was now a separate +organization, and was at perfect liberty to dissent from Wesley on a +matter of mere expediency. The Church thought it had good reasons to +use the name. The American Methodists were mostly of English origin. +The people of their country among whom Methodism was most successful +were either from England or of immediate English descent, and had been +educated to consider episcopacy a wholesome and apostolical government +of the Church. The Church approved and had the office, why not, then, +have the name? especially as, without the name, the office itself would +be liable to lose, in the eyes of the people, its peculiar character, +and thereby fail in that appeal to their long-established opinions +which Methodism had a right, both from principle and expediency, +to make? The English Establishment having been dissolved in this +country, and the Protestant Episcopalians not being yet organized on +an independent basis, and the episcopal organization of the Methodists +having preceded that of the Protestant Episcopalians, the Methodist +Church had a clear right to present itself to the American public as +competent to aid in supplying the place of the abolished Establishment, +having the same essential principles without its peculiar defects. + +And may not the circumstance of the assumption of an episcopal +character, nominally as well as really, by the American Methodists, be +considered providential? Episcopacy, both in America and England, has +reached an excess of presumption and arrogance. The moderate party, +once declared by Bishop White, of the Protestant Episcopal Church, to +include a large majority of American Episcopalians,[811] has nearly +disappeared. Was it not providential, under these circumstances, that a +body of Christians should appear, exceeding every other in success, and +nominally and practically bearing an episcopal character, without any +of its presumptuous pretensions? Amid the uncharitable assumptions of +prelatical Episcopalians, the Methodist Episcopal Church stands forth +a monument of the laborious and simple episcopacy of the early ages, +its success, as well as its humility, contrasting it signally with its +more pretentious but feebler sister. It has thus practically vindicated +episcopacy as an expedient form of ecclesiastical government, and +assuredly it needs vindication in these days. + +Such, then, is the evidence which should, with all men of +self-respectful candor, conclude decisively the question of Wesley’s +design and agency in the organization of American Methodism. + +Driven from this ground, objectors retreat to an equally untenable +one by alleging that the episcopal organization of the societies in +America is to be attributed to the influence of ambitious counselors +over Wesley in the imbecility of his old age. It has already been shown +that he as yet betrayed no such imbecility; but it has still more +conclusively been demonstrated that the ecclesiastical opinions which +sanction this great act were adopted in the prime of his manhood. They +were the well-considered and fully demonstrated convictions of two +score years, before he yielded to the unavoidable necessity of giving +them practical effect. Few facts in the history of Methodism are more +interesting and instructive than the gradual development of Wesley’s +own mind and character under his extraordinary and accumulating +responsibilities; it has therefore been studiously traced throughout +the preceding pages. No reader who has followed our narrative will +accept this last objection to the American Methodist episcopacy, and +no possible ground of argument remains for its opponents but the +prelatical charge against its legitimacy, founded in the traditional +and exploded ecclesiasticism of obsolete ages. Methodists are content, +with Wesley, to pronounce the apostolic succession “a fable which no +man ever did, or ever can prove,” and believe that, in this age, they +need not anxiously challenge any advantage which their opponents can +claim from a pretension so incompatible alike with the letter and the +charity of the Gospel, as well as with the Christian enlightenment of +modern times.[812] + +[Attempts have been made to impugn Coke, as having overweeningly led +Wesley into this important measure.[813] The charge, however, were +it valid, could not affect the validity of the measure itself as +genuinely Wesleyan, and as giving to American Methodism an Episcopal +organization. After the preceding review, no one can doubt that the +whole proceeding was in accordance with Wesley’s own views of Church +government. He was, as we have seen, a decided Episcopalian, and he +designed to give the American Methodist, as he says, “the discipline +of the Church of England;” that is to say, an Episcopal regimen. His +appeal to Lord King’s proof, that the presbyters of Alexandria ordained +bishops, could otherwise have no relevancy. His use of this proof with +Coke, while the latter hesitated, shows what was his original design, +and it is impossible to conceive what merely Presbyterian system, +without a “superintendency” or episcopate, could at this time fit into +the itinerant ministerial scheme of the American Church, where Rankin +and Asbury had hitherto been superintendents, though without ordination +or the power to ordain. + +Whether Coke influenced Wesley or not does not, then, let it be +repeated, affect the main question. Whether Wesley was influenced or +not, he did construct and solemnly appoint the Episcopal system of +the American Methodists, such as it was adopted by the Conference of +1784; he did provide for its perpetuation by abridging, printing, and +sending over with Coke the English Liturgy, containing its forms of +ordination for the threefold ministerial functions recognized in the +Anglican Church, and all these acts were in strict accordance with his +long-avowed ideas of Church government. + +Coke’s character alone, then, is concerned in this charge. That +character, however, is dear to all Methodists, and important, not +to the validity, but to the historical character of the American +episcopate. He is to stand forever as its first representative. I have +elsewhere sketched his remarkable life and character.[814] Though he +had essential greatness, he had, doubtless, characteristic weaknesses +also. There have been few great men without them. The faults of such +men become the more noticeable, either by contrast with or by partaking +of their greatness; and the vanity of ordinary human nature is eagerly +disposed, in self-gratulation, to criticise, as peculiar defects +of superior minds, infirmities which are common to all. Practical +energy was his chief intellectual trait, and, if it was sometimes +effervescent, it was never evanescent. He had a leading agency in the +greatest facts of Methodism, and it was impossible that the series of +momentous deeds which mark his career could have been the result of +mere accident or fortune. They must have been legitimate to the man. +Neither Whitefield nor Wesley exceeded him in ministerial travels. It +is probable that no Methodist of his day, it is doubtful whether any +Protestant of his day, contributed more from his own property for the +spread of the Gospel. His biographer says that he expended the whole +of his patrimonial estate, which was large, on his missions and their +chapels. He was married twice; both his wives were like-minded with +himself, and both had considerable fortunes, which were used like +his own. In 1794 was published an account of his missionary receipts +and disbursements for the preceding year, from which it appeared +that there were due him nearly eleven thousand dollars; but he gave +the whole sum to the cause. Flying, during nearly forty years, over +England, Scotland, Wales, and Ireland; crossing the Atlantic eighteen +times; traversing the United States and the West Indies; the first who +suggested the organization of English Methodism by Wesley’s Deed of +Declaration; the organizer, under Wesley, of American Methodism; one of +the first, if not the very first, of Protestant bishops in the Western +hemisphere; the founder of the Methodist missions in the West Indies, +in Africa, and in Asia, as well as in Ireland, Wales, and England; +the official and almost sole director of the missionary operations of +the denomination during his long public life, and the founder of the +first Tract Society in the world, he must be recognized as one of the +chief representative men of modern religious history, if not, indeed, +as Asbury pronounced him, “the greatest man of the last century as a +minister of Christ.” + +Asbury, who hesitated not thus to place him above Wesley “as a +minister of Christ,” knew him well, and especially knew him in those +transactions for which he has been most blamed. A settled and wealthy +clergyman of the Establishment, bearing the highest literary title +which its universities could give, a man of high family and high +prospects, he forsook, under the influence of deepened religious +feelings, all his apparent advantages, to become a wandering evangelist +in Wesley’s despised but heroic band of itinerants. He became, as +Wesley called him, “the right hand” of the great founder. His spirit +flamed with evangelic zeal. He expressed truly his own character in the +exclamation, recorded on the high seas, when passing for the first time +to America, “I want the wings of an eagle and the voice of a trumpet, +that I may proclaim the Gospel through the East and the West, the North +and the South.” He seemed almost ubiquitous in the United States, +superintending its ministry, and in the United Kingdom, administering +the affairs of the Wesleyan Church, founding and conducting its +Irish, its Welsh, its “Domestic,” and its Foreign Missions, virtually +embodying in his own person the whole missionary enterprise of English +Methodism. When an old man of nearly seventy years he conceived the +project of introducing Methodism into Asia. He presented himself before +the British Conference, and, against great opposition, entreated, with +tears, to be sent as a missionary to India, offering to defray the +expenses of himself and seven chosen colleagues. The Conference could +not resist his appeal, and at length, on the 30th of December, 1813, +he departed with his little band, consisting of nine persons besides +himself. He died on the voyage, and was buried in the Indian Ocean; +but, though the great leader was no more, his spirit remained, and the +successful East Indian Missions of Methodism are the sublime results. +History should respect the reputation of such a man. + +The charge of his leading Wesley into the measures for the organization +of the American Church is made in spite of the express testimony of +Drew, his intimate friend and biographer, who says that “Wesley, in +his study, ‘City Road,’ first divulged his purpose to Coke,” and that, +arguing with him there on the ordination of bishops by presbyters in +the Alexandrian Church, he concluded by proposing “that, being himself +a presbyter, Coke should accept ordination from his hands, and proceed +to the continent of America to superintend the societies in the United +States.”[815] + +A letter from Coke to Wesley, proposing that a messenger should be +sent to America to inspect the field and report to Wesley, has been +cited as proof of Coke’s overweening wish for such an appointment.[816] +The hostile critic seems not to be aware that this letter was written +_after_ Wesley’s proposition to send Coke as superintendent. The +conversation in Wesley’s London study was in February, 1784. Coke’s +letter, proposing a preliminary inspection and report of the wants +of the American societies, was not written till the middle of April +[“Near Dublin, April 17, 1784”]. It was actually sent while he was yet +considering Wesley’s proposition. It showed his hesitancy rather than +his eagerness for the new office. + +Thus far, then, no solicitation, no selfish management, is apparent +in the course of Coke. If, contrary to Drew’s express statement, the +particular act of Coke’s ordination by Wesley was by the request of +Coke himself, it does not materially affect the question of either +the American Church system or Coke’s character. Wesley undoubtedly +designed, as we have seen, that the former should be a system of +superintendency, of practical episcopacy “conformed to the discipline +of the Church of England,” as he expressly says--such as, in fact, it +had hitherto been, except that its superintendents had not yet the +function of ordination, which was now to be supplied. If he had not +at first designed to ordain Coke (according to his reasoning about +the Alexandrian example), it was doubtless because he had assumed +that Coke, being already a presbyter, could, in accordance with that +example, ordain Asbury a superintendent, and complete the organization +of the American Church. Now Wesley had, as we have seen, for years +believed in the essential parity of presbyters and bishops, and their +equal right to ordain. Coke’s request (if any there were) for more +formal authorization by Wesley himself was perfectly correspondent +with Wesley’s theory and design, and, this being the fact, it was +indisputably expedient, as Wesley himself saw. The agitations and +debates among the American Methodists rendered it necessary that he +should bear with him the highest possible sanction of Wesley, who +was recognized as founder and superintendent of the whole Methodist +cause. Coke’s liability to disaffected criticism at home, especially +from Charles Wesley (whose opinions were well known), gave him a right +to claim, as he did in his letter to Wesley, that the latter should +“be obliged to acknowledge that I acted under your direction”--a +phrase which would have been inadmissible had not Wesley’s designs +corresponded fully with his own. This objection to Coke, then, is not +relevant. His course was logical; it was prudent; it was necessary; and +its historical results have proved its supreme wisdom. + +Almost every other disputed act of Coke’s life has been adduced to +confirm the unfounded objection to his course in this great measure. +It has been alleged that he wrote to Bishop White, of Philadelphia, +that “he would like the Methodists of America to be reunited to the +English [American Protestant Episcopal] Church on condition that he +himself were ordained to be their bishop.”[817] Coke was already a +bishop, and Asbury another, in America; their denomination was already +more extended than the Protestant Episcopal Church, and it had an +immeasurably better prospect in the new republic. Coke’s impulsive +zeal and catholicity led him to think, what many Churchmen, if not +Methodists, have since thought, that a union of the two bodies would +be a blessing to common Christianity. If he was imprudent, he was +nevertheless charitable in his desire. It did more credit to his heart +than discredit to his head. He did not propose it, as alleged, in order +to be “ordained their bishop.” He included his Episcopal colleague, +Asbury, and all his ministerial brethren. The union was to be made +“on terms which in no wise compromised the honor or rights of the +Methodist Episcopal Church.”[818] “I never did apply,” says Coke, “to +the General Convention, or any other Convention, for reconsecration. I +never intended that either Bishop Asbury or myself should give up our +episcopal office if the junction were to take place.” + +It has been alleged against him, as an “unpleasant fact,” and as +illustrating his course in the present case with Wesley, that he +solicited the “Prince Regent and the government to appoint him their +bishop in India,” and this “within twelve months of his lamented +death.”[819] This aspersion is founded in incidents connected with +that last heroic mission to India above noticed, for which, in his old +age, he sublimely sacrificed his property, his episcopal functions in +America, and his life, but founded the whole East India Methodist work. +The British domination there had, to his eyes, opened a door for the +Gospel to all Asia. For some years he had been planning and working +for a mission to the Hindoos; the East India Company’s government +“had steadily opposed” their evangelization; Coke knew that he could +not accomplish his grand designs without authority from the home +government in an episcopal appointment; for this reason he sought +that appointment. He was still a priest of the national Church, and +the Wesleyans were all yet considered as members of that Church. He +proved the purity of his purpose when his application failed, for +then, as we have seen, he stood, an aged and broken man, before the +British Conference, and extorted, by his entreaties, his tears, and the +pledge of his own property, its consent to let him go, with a corps of +Methodist evangelists, and attempt the great work in the only way that +remained for him.[820] + +Again, it is alleged that “in 1794 he secretly summoned a meeting of +the most influential of the English preachers, and passed a resolution +that the Conference should appoint an order of bishops to ordain +deacons and elders, he himself, of course, expecting to be a member +of the prelatical brotherhood.”[821] The real facts of this case, as +in the others, need but to be correctly stated to fully vindicate +Coke. Wesley had been dead some three years; the Wesleyans were in +the greatest anxiety and distraction respecting their permanent +organization during these years; the very existence of the body +seemed periled; ministerial disputes and popular agitation prevailed, +ending at last in the Kilham schism; the people were clamoring for +the sacraments--the preachers were not empowered, by ordination, to +administer them. “At present we really have no government,” wrote +Pawson, the president of the Conference, toward the latter part of +1793. “It will by no means answer our ends to dispute one with another +as to which is the most scriptural form of Church government. We should +consider our present circumstances, and endeavor to agree upon some +method by which our people may have the ordinances of God, and, at the +same time, be preserved from division. I care not a rush whether it +be Episcopal or Presbyterian; I believe neither of them to be purely +scriptural. But our preachers and people in general are prejudiced +against the latter; consequently, if the former will answer our end, we +ought to embrace it. Indeed, I believe it will suit our present plan +far better than the other. The design of Mr. Wesley will weigh much +with many, which now evidently appears to have been this: He foresaw +that the Methodists would, after his death, soon become a distinct +people; he was deeply prejudiced against a Presbyterian, and was as +much in favor of an Episcopal form of government. In order, therefore, +to preserve all that was valuable in the Church of England among the +Methodists, he ordained Mr. Mather and Dr. Coke bishops. These he +undoubtedly designed should ordain others. Mr. Mather told us so at +the Manchester Conference, but we did not then understand him. I see +no way of coming to any good settlement but on the plan I mentioned +before. I sincerely wish that Dr. Coke and Mr. Mather may be allowed +to be what they are, bishops. We must have ordination among us at any +rate.”[822] It was in these circumstances that Coke met some of the +most venerable and devoted preachers at Litchfield. He “addressed them +on the agitated state of the Connection, and the perils which menaced +it; he referred to the success of Methodism in the New World under its +Episcopal organization, and the relief which Wesley’s establishment +of this form of government there had given to a similar controversy. +He offered ordination to the brethren who were present. His motive +was disinterested, for he already possessed the Episcopal office and +dignity, conferred by an authority which they all venerated above +that of any archbishop of the realm. Most of the meeting approved his +proposition, but Moore, who had been ordained by Wesley, very wisely +suggested that they should confine their proceedings to the discussion +of its practicability, and defer its decision to the next Conference. +He, however, pronounced the measure a scriptural and suitable +expedient for the government of any Christian Church. Mather concurred +with Moore. They adjourned after adopting a series of resolutions +which were to be submitted with all their signatures to the Annual +Conference.”[823] It is certainly remarkable that a sinister motive +could be imputed to Coke in these circumstances--to him who had already +a diocese co-extensive with the United States of America. + +An impartial revision, then, of all the facts directly or indirectly +involved in this discussion, results, first, in a vindication of the +Episcopal government, adopted at Baltimore in 1784, as the genuine work +of Wesley himself, accordant with his previously declared opinions on +the subject; and, secondly, of Coke’s conduct respecting it, as also +in the other above facts alleged against him. Wesley was just when, +after the whole measure had transpired, he declared Coke to “have +done nothing rashly,” and that he was “as free from ambition as from +covetousness.”] + + +FOOTNOTES: + + [788] History of Methodism, vol. i., book iii., chap. v. + The persistent misrepresentations of him on this + point are astonishing. The Rev. Edwin Sidney (Life of + Walker, of Truro, p. 260) says that “when he wanted + ordained preachers for America, he, of a sudden, + _in his old age_, found out, by reading Lord King’s + Account of the Primitive Church, that bishops and + presbyters are of the same order.” This inexcusable + violation of historical truth is common in the + writings of Churchmen against Methodism. + + [789] A Letter to a Friend, Works, vol. vii., p. 301. + + [790] Letter to Rev. Mr. Clark, Works, vol. vii., p. 284. + + [791] “On the Church,” Works, vol. vii., p. 312. + + [792] Burk’s History of Virginia, vol. ii., p. 180. Hawks + (Contributions to the Ecclesiastical History of the + United States of America, vol. i., chap. ix.) doubts + Burk’s estimate. Dr. Hawks’s volume needs important + emendations, especially in respect to Methodism. + + [793] Hawks’s “Contributions,” vol. i., chap. x. + + [794] Journals of the Virginia Assembly, 1784. + + [795] Bangs’s Hist. M. E. Church, vol. i., pp. 135-7. + + [796] Works, vol. vii., p. 231. + + [797] Coke’s Letter to Wesley, Smith’s History of Wesleyan + Methodism, vol. i., book ii., chap. 6. + + [798] Drew’s Life of Coke, chap. 5. + + [799] Unless the Moravians are to be considered an + exception. + + [800] Jackson’s Charles Wesley, chap. 26. + + [801] “To administer the sacraments of baptism and the + Lord’s Supper according to the usages of the Church + of England,” says the certificate of ordination (see + it in Life of Henry Moore, p. 134, Am. ed.); and yet + a living Churchman (Dr. Pusey’s Letter to the Bishop + of Oxford, p. 151) says that “Wesley reluctantly took + the step of ordaining at all;” and that “to the last + _he refused, in the strongest terms, his consent + that those thus ordained should take upon them to + administer the sacraments_. He felt that it exceeded + his powers, and so inhibited it, however it might + diminish the numbers of the society he had formed.” + The biographers of Wilberforce (vol. i., p. 248) also + say: “Nor were any of his preachers _suffered during + his lifetime to attempt to administer the sacraments + of his Church_.” It is high time that such fictions + should cease among English Churchmen. It seems that + they have yet to learn how thorough and noble a + heretic Wesley really was. + + [802] Minutes of 1785, in Minutes of the Annual Conference + of the M. E. Church, vol. i., p. 22. New York, 1840. + + [803] Drew’s Life of Coke, chap. 6. His assailant is + supposed to have been Charles Wesley. Etheredge’s + Coke, book ii., chap. 7. + + [804] It had been used, however, all this time, in the + Minutes, as explanatory of the word “superintendent.” + The Minutes say that, “following the counsel of + Mr. John Wesley, who recommended the episcopal + mode of Church government, we thought it best to + become an episcopal Church, making the episcopal + office elective, and the elected superintendent, + or _bishop_, amenable to the body of ministers and + preachers.” Minutes, vol. i., p. 22. New York, 1840. + It was not in the bishops’ address to Washington in + 1789 that the title was first _personally_ assumed. + The Discipline of 1787 so used it. Emory’s History + of the Discipline, p. 82. But, as we have just + seen, the title was inserted in the Minutes of the + Organization of the Church (1784, 1785) as synonymous + with “superintendent.” Minutes 1785, vol. i., p. 22. + Wesley’s letter of reproof to Asbury was written + before the bishops’ address to Washington. + + [805] See his circular letter to the American Societies, + Drew’s Coke, chap. 5. + + [806] Bishop (Saxon, bischop) is a corruption of the + Latinized Greek word episcopus. Its analogy to the + second and third syllables of the latter is obvious. + + [807] Drew’s Life of Coke, chap. 5. + + [808] Drew’s Life of Coke, chap. 5. + + [809] Smith’s History of Methodism, vol. i., book ii., + chap, vi., p. 541. + + [810] Jackson’s Charles Wesley, chap. 26. + + [811] Case of the Prot. Epis. Church in the United States, + etc., p. 25. + + [812] Wesley was in good company among Churchmen in his + denunciation of the “fable” of the succession. + Chillingworth said, “I am fully persuaded there + hath been no such succession.” Bishop Stillingfleet + declares that “this succession is as muddy as the + Tiber itself.” Bishop Hoadley asserts, “It hath not + pleased God, in his providence, to keep up any proof + of the least probability, or moral possibility, of + a regular uninterrupted succession; but there is a + great appearance, and, humanly speaking, a certainty + to the contrary, that the succession hath often been + interrupted.” Archbishop Whately says “there is not a + minister in all Christendom who is able to trace up, + with approach to certainty, his spiritual pedigree.” + + [813] Tyerman’s Wesley, vol. iii. An. 1784. + + [814] History of Methodism, vol. iii., _passim_. History of + the M. E. Church, vol. ii., p. 151; vol. iv., p. 503. + + [815] Drew’s Life of Coke, p. 62. Etheridge (Life of + Coke, p. 101) says: “A writer in the Quarterly + Review affirms that it was Coke who first requested + Wesley to make him a bishop, and send him as such + to America. The opposite is the truth: the request + came from Wesley, and took Coke by surprise. He had + not even given the clerical question involved in + the project any serious consideration; and he first + required of Wesley some time for investigation, + before he could express with confidence an opinion + upon it at all. He now applied himself to those + Biblical and patristic studies which bear upon the + subject, and after the lapse of two months, spent + partly in Scotland, communicated to Wesley that the + conclusions at which he had arrived enabled him, + without any hesitation, to concur with himself as to + the abstract lawfulness of the measure which had been + propounded.” + + [816] Tyerman’s Wesley, vol. iii., p. 428. + + [817] Tyerman, vol. iii., p. 344. + + [818] History of M. E. Church, vol. iii., p. 41. Also vol. + iv., p. 443. + + [819] Tyerman, vol. iii., p. 434. + + [820] See Etheridge’s Coke, p. 368. Etheridge gives all the + facts of the case, and fully vindicates Coke from the + charge of unchristian ambition. + + [821] Tyerman, vol. iii., p. 434. + + [822] Smith, History of Methodism, etc., vol. ii., p. 4, 3. + Stevens’s History of Methodism, vol. iii., p. 51. + + [823] History of Methodism, vol. iii., p. 52. + + + + + INDEX. + + + Aberdeen, ii. 404, 470, 568; iii. 10, 411. + + “Act of Toleration,” ii. 385. + + Adam, Rev. Thomas, ii. 209, 251; iii. 18. + + Adams, Rev. Mr., i. 485. + + Adams, Thomas, i. 536. + + “Advice to a Young Clergyman,” i. 106. + + Affleck, Andrew, ii. 471. + + African Methodist Episcopal Church, i. 9. + + African Mission proposed, iii. 272. + + Agutter, Rev. Mr., iii. 536. + + Alemouth, ii. 140. + + Alliance, Quadruple, ii. 557. + + Alnwick, ii. 166, 276, 328; ii. 473, 573. + + Alpraham, iii. 352. + + Ambition, i. 20. + + American Colonies, i. 114. + + American Indians, i. 115, 124, 130. + + American Methodism, i. 8, 9; iii. 47, 60, 62, 75, 116, 151, 175, 194, + 248, 331, 426, 498, 646. + + American Rebellion, iii. 147, 185, 237. + + American Wesleyan Methodists, i. 9. + + Amsterdam, i. 197; iii. 394, 395. + + Andrews, Mr., iii. 28. + + Andrews, Rev. John, i. 428; ii. 493. + + Animal Magnetism, iii. 603, 648. + + Annesley, Dr. Samuel, i. 285. + + Antigua, iii. 151, 195, 273. + + Antinomianism, i. 477, 481, 519; ii. 400; iii. 14. + + Antislavery Society, iii. 508. + + Apparitions, i. 22, 23; iii. 11, 40, 41. + + Appleton, John, iii. 449. + + Arbroath, iii. 66, 120, 457. + + Armagh, ii. 601; iii. 41, 154. + + _Arminian Magazine_, iii. 251, 280, 316, 344, 346, 367, 388, 406, + 455, 469, 488, 508, 515, 563, 594, 634. + + Asbury, Francis, ii. 610; iii. 7, 110, 175, 195, 248, 429, 435, 438. + + Ashbourne, ii. 195. + + Ashburton, ii. 585. + + Ashby de la Zouch, ii. 501. + + Ashton under Lyne, iii. 371. + + Assistants, duties of, i. 445, 499. + + Athlone, ii. 4, 35, 37, 78, 601. + + Atlay, John, iii. 207, 297, 315, 404, 552-558, 565, 567. + + Atmore, Charles, iii. 441, 533, 604, 607, 618. + + Atterbury, Bishop, i. 42, 60. + + Aughrim, ii. 4, 78. + + Aylesbury, iii. 29. + + + Backhouse, Rev. William, ii. 489. + + Baddiley, Rev. William, ii. 195, 205, 211. + + Bagshaw, Matthew, ii. 560. + + Baildon, iii. 362. + + Bailey, Rev. Mr., ii. 90. + + Balham, iii. 589, 599, 650. + + Ball, Hannah, ii. 534; iii. 241. + + Ball, Roger, ii. 77. + + Ballinrobe, iii. 460. + + Bandon, ii. 36, 81, 304, 354; iii. 645. + + Bandroom Methodists, i. 5. + + Bands, Methodist, i. 445, 463; ii. 475, 516; iii. 22, 542. + + Banff, Lady, iii. 412. + + Baptism, i. 229; ii. 135, 264. + + Barber, John, iii. 441, 474, 533, 645. + + Barclay’s Apology, i. 489. + + Bardsley, Samuel, ii. 540; iii. 156, 164, 208, 348, 353, 402, 591, + 592. + + Barlow, Margaret, iii. 535. + + Barnardcastle, ii. 141, 434, 472, 535, 569; iii. 18, 293, 537. + + Barnes, John, ii. 552. + + Barnet, iii. 488. + + Barnsley, iii. 474. + + Bate, Rev. James, i. 249. + + Bateman, Rev. Richard T., i. 548. + + Bath, ii. 557, 587; iii. 252, 290, 305, 614, 623. + + _Bath Journal_, ii. 41. + + Baxter, John, iii. 273. + + Bayley, Dr. Cornelius, ii. 261; iii. 397, 416. + + Beard, Thomas, i. 441. + + Beau Nash, i. 237. + + Bedford, ii. 160, 274, 300, 340, 358. + + Bedford, Rev. Arthur, i. 209, 364. + + Behmen, Jacob, ii. 265; iii. 341, 388. + + Belfast, ii. 240, 445, 600. + + Bell, George, ii. 433, 441, 444, 450, 460, 462, 507, 556; iii. 13, + 29, 59. + + Benefactions, Wesley’s, iii. 615. + + Benezet, Anthony, iii. 115. + + Bennet, John, i. 472; ii. 42, 57, 129; iii. 119. + + Bennett, Rev. Mr., i. 458. + + Bennis, Elizabeth, iii. 45. + + Benson, Joseph, ii. 474; iii. 35, 51, 70, 73, 110, 152, 168, 215, + 247, 270, 272, 324, 334, 341, 538, 603. + + Beresford, Miss, ii. 195. + + Berridge, Rev. John, ii. 309, 324, 331-333, 356, 370, 397, 444, 459, + 463, 491; iii. 2, 158. + + Berwick, ii. 328. + + Bethnal Green, iii. 193. + + Beverley, ii. 330, 502; iii. 611. + + Bible Christians, i. 6. + + Bible, Study of, i. 532. + + Bideford, iii. 591. + + Bigg, Thomas, ii. 53. + + Bingham, iii. 69. + + Bingley, ii. 275, 411, 573; iii. 225, 243, 325, 414. + + Birmingham, i. 488; ii. 115, 163, 195, 348, 399, 500; iii. 7, 392, + 472, 493, 503, 568, 603. + + Birr, ii. 4. + + Birstal, i. 369, 383, 440; ii. 121, 139, 331, 412; iii. 270, 373, 404. + + Bishop of Bristol, i. 246. + + Bishop, Letter to a, iii. 513, 613. + + Bishop, Miss, ii. 559; iii. 86, 97, 278, 357, 450. + + Bishops, Interview with, i. 230. + + Bisson, Miss, iii. 599, 609. + + Black, William, iii. 401, 452, 484, 492, 506, 541, 591, 612. + + Blackburn, iii. 325. + + Blackheath, i. 359. + + Blackwell, Ebenezer, i. 555, 558, 559; ii. 5, 26, 83, 107, 142, 169, + 174, 185, 196, 219, 236, 275, 304, 326, 352, 414, 506; iii. 251. + + Blackwell, Richard, ii. 587. + + Blades, John, iii. 536. + + Blair, Andrew, iii. 459. + + Blarney, ii. 37. + + Blendon, i. 173, 178. + + Boarding Schools, iii. 120. + + Boardman, Richard, iii. 47, 54. + + Bogie, James, iii. 362. + + Bohler, Peter, i. 177, 179, 181, 186, 197, 532; ii. 156-158; iii. + 201, 595. + + Bolton, i. 547; ii. 18, 57, 116; iii. 191, 351, 472, 501, 527. + + Bolton, Edward, ii. 498. + + Bolton, Miss, ii. 498; iii. 644. + + Bolzius, Martin, i. 151. + + Book Stewards’ Circular, ii. 179. + + Books recommended by Dr. Doddridge, i. 517. + + Books recommended by Wesley, iii. 359, 450. + + Booth, Alice, i. 546. + + Booth, John, iii. 645. + + Boothbank, i. 546. + + Borlase, Dr., i. 453, 470. + + Bosanquet, Miss, ii. 286, 289, 517, 588; iii. 68, 111, 206, 208, 213, + 240, 329. + + Boston, ii. 327, 413; iii. 327. + + Boswell, James, iii. 294. + + Bourke, Richard, ii. 603. + + Bourne, Hugh, ii. 609. + + Bowden, Dr. Samuel, ii. 190. + + Bowman, Rev. William, i. 328. + + Brackenbury, Robert C., iii. 338, 393, 408, 429, 487, 504, 507, 625, + 649, 655. + + Bradburn, Samuel, iii. 177, 251, 287, 315, 334, 336, 355, 376, 525, + 526, 546, 616. + + Bradford (Yorkshire), ii. 12, 331, 569. + + Bradford (Wilts), iii. 52, 409. + + Bradford, Joseph, iii. 16, 156, 203, 204, 338, 403, 557, 606, 649, + 651, 652, 655. + + Brainerd, David, iii. 36. + + Brammah, Alice, iii. 29. + + Brammah, William, iii. 243. + + Bramwell, William, iii. 354. + + Brandon, John, ii. 170, 281. + + Breage, ii. 218. + + Brecon, i. 457. + + Bredin, John, iii. 151, 643. + + Brettell, Jeremiah, iii. 403. + + Bribery, i. 554; ii. 515. + + Briggs, William, ii. 176-179. + + Briscoe, Thomas, iii. 375. + + Bristol, i. 234, 296, 390, 391, 425, 461; ii. 1, 25, 75, 85, 86, 171, + 190, 235, 255, 290, 339, 362, 425, 481, 512, 514, 546, 587; + iii. 28, 52, 75, 110, 129, 157, 165, 178, 236, 349, 364, 370, + 391, 396, 404, 492, 530, 568, 589, 600, 622. + + _Bristol Weekly Intelligencer_, ii. 85. + + Broadbent, John, iii. 393, 487. + + Brooke, Henry, iii. 172, 342, 392. + + Broughton, Rev. J., i. 68, 83, 102, 108, 132, 178. + + Broughton, Sir Thomas, iii. 119. + + Brute Creation, iii. 347. + + Bryan, Jonathan, iii. 117. + + Bryant, Thomas, ii. 487. + + Buchan, Earl, iii. 2. + + Bull, Patrick, iii. 189. + + Bulmer, Agnes, iii. 541. + + Bumby, John H., ii. 277. + + Bunting, Dr., i. 340. + + Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, i. 434. + + Burbeck, Edward, iii. 507. + + Burgess, Joseph, iii. 577. + + Burnet, Bishop, i. 64. + + Burnley, iii. 414. + + Burslem, ii. 349; iii. 8, 127, 472, 493. + + Burton, Dr. John, i. 108, 136. + + Burton on Trent, ii. 560. + + Bury, iii. 166. + + Bush, Elijah, iii. 231, 364. + + Butterworth, Joseph, i. 545. + + Butterworth, Rev. John, i. 545. + + Butts, Thomas, ii. 142, 176-179. + + Buxton, iii. 393. + + Byrom, Dr., i. 135, 210, 243, 484. + + Byron, James Mac, iii. 7, 466. + + + Cadogan, Dr., iii. 110, 182. + + Cadogan, Rev. W. B., iii. 179. + + Calling of Methodist Preachers, iii. 635. + + “Calm Address,” Publication of, iii. 186-192. + + Calvinism, i. 39; ii. 191-193; iii. 278. + + Calvinist Concessions, i. 349. + + Calvinist Controversy, iii. 71, 81, 86, 97, 136, 158, 179, 209, 228, + 232, 259. + + Calvinistic Methodists, i. 402, 511. + + Camborne, i. 453. + + Cambridge, Miss, iii. 645. + + Candler, William, iii. 627. + + Canterbury, ii. 69, 230, 309, 339, 425, 511. + + Cardiff, i. 560. + + Carlisle, iii. 63. + + Carrickfergus, ii. 240, 350, 445. + + Castle Carey, iii. 506. + + Castlebar, iii. 153. + + Catechism, ii. 64. + + Catechumen Classes, ii. 362. + + Catholic Spirit, ii. 374. + + Causton, Thomas, i. 143, 152, 162. + + Cavignac, General, ii. 350. + + Cayley, Cornelius, ii. 317. + + Celibacy, i. 432; ii. 6, 551. + + Cennick, John, i. 225, 263, 274, 277, 295, 331, 343, 344, 360, 402, + 419, 556, 559; ii. 23, 101. + + Chandler, Samuel, ii. 493. + + Channel Islands, iii. 503-505. + + Chapel Affairs, i. 11, 270, 519; ii. 291, 539, 584, 610; iii. 30, 70, + 152, 216, 325, 511, 533, 614, 619, 622. + + Chapel-en-le-Frith, iii. 472. + + Chapman, Mrs., i. 138. + + Chapman, Rev. Jacob, ii. 482. + + Chapman, William, i. 133. + + Charlton, Mary, iii. 353. + + Charter House School, i. 19. + + Chatham, iii. 6. + + Cheltenham, ii. 559; iii. 7. + + Chester, i. 547; ii. 142, 448, 565; iii. 410, 500. + + Chesterfield, iii. 226. + + Chester-le-Street, ii. 277, 329, 538. + + Cheyne, Dr., i. 27. + + Children’s Meetings, i. 446; iii. 23. + + Chinley, i. 459. + + Chipping, ii. 116. + + Christian, Almost a, i. 175. + + Christian, David, i. 200. + + “Christian Library,” ii. 26, 65. + + Church Government, i. 499; ii. 257. + + Church, Rev. Thomas, i. 455, 478, 530. + + Church, Stephen, ii. 376. + + Church, William, iii. 277. + + Churchey, Walter, iii. 244, 282, 547, 579. + + Circuits, Division of, iii. 601, 632. + + City Road Chapel, iii. 220, 241, 243, 251, 255, 275, 297. + + Clanmain, ii. 445. + + Clark, Rev. James, ii. 244, 373. + + Clarke, Adam, ii. 119, 227; iii. 342, 386, 397, 504, 507, 583, 599, + 609, 614, 619, 623, 643, 644, 648. + + Clarkson, Thomas, iii. 115. + + Class Meetings, i. 379, 380; ii. 516; iii. 215, 328, 550. + + Classes, Methodist, i. 353, 377; iii. 391. + + Classical Learning, i. 117. + + Classleaders, i. 446; iii. 109. + + Clayton, Rev. John, i. 68, 83, 93, 94; ii. 138. + + Clements, William, i. 494. + + Clergy, Advice to Young, ii. 63. + + Clerical Costume, ii. 338. + + Clippendale, Mrs., iii. 116. + + Clive, Sir Edward, ii. 300. + + Clones, iii. 202. + + Clonmel, ii. 237. + + Clowes, William, ii. 609. + + Clulow, Elizabeth, iii. 8. + + Coates, Alexander, ii. 413. + + Cobham, Mr., ii. 351. + + Cockburn, Dr., ii. 278. + + Cocker, Jeremiah, ii. 502; iii. 226, 474. + + Coke, Dr. Thomas, iii. 16, 214, 222, 244, 271, 297, 299, 310, 334, + 361, 378, 396, 403, 421, 428-432, 478, 480-485, 492, 542, 552, + 562, 570, 580, 605. + + Colbeck, Thomas, ii. 14. + + Colchester, ii. 313, 324, 327, 334, 342; iii. 627. + + Coleford, i. 487; ii. 236; iii. 590. + + College, Methodist, proposed, ii. 360. + + Colley, Rev. Benjamin, ii. 413, 614. + + Collins, Rev. Brian, iii. 310, 315, 335, 391, 454, 573. + + Colne, ii. 15; iii. 226, 243. + + Cologne, i. 197. + + Communion of Saints, iii. 157. + + Community, The Christian, iii. 134. + + Companions, Trifling, i. 54. + + Conferences, Methodist, i. 441, 497, 527, 551; ii. 5, 60, 104, 120, + 144, 166, 187, 240, 278, 305, 333, 354, 415, 448, 474, 479, + 511, 538, 584, 608; iii. 21, 45, 70, 110, 126, 156, 177, 209, + 226, 245, 270, 302, 328, 361, 372, 396, 465, 477, 496, 547, + 584, 598, 618. + + Congleton, ii. 349; iii. 8, 165, 604. + + Coningsby, ii. 11, 327. + + Connexion, Lady Huntingdon’s, i. 5; iii. 430-432. + + Consecration of Churches, etc., ii. 512; iii. 528. + + Conversation, iii. 3. + + Conversion, Instantaneous, i. 178. + + Convicts, i. 175; ii. 27. + + Conyers, Rev. Dr., ii. 335, 473, 502. + + Coolylough, ii. 354. + + Cooper, Jane, ii. 450, 494. + + Cooper, Ezekiel, iii. 645. + + Cooper, Miss, i. 382. + + Cordeux, Rev. Mr., ii. 571. + + Cork, ii. 36, 80, 147, 237, 304; iii. 42, 269, 460. + + Cornwall, i. 415, 555; ii. 362. + + Costerdine, Robert, iii. 48. + + Coughlan, Lawrence, ii. 313; iii. 25, 177. + + Courcy, Rev. Richard de, ii. 471; iii. 65, 84. + + Coventry, iii. 295, 399. + + Coward, William, ii. 276. + + Cownley, Joseph, ii. 53, 83, 117, 129, 200, 206, 230, 253, 381, 387; + iii. 441, 543, 581. + + Crabbe, the Poet, iii. 629. + + _Craftsman_, i. 475. + + Credulity, iii. 537. + + Creighton, Rev. James, iii. 276, 429, 434, 441. + + Cricket, John, iii. 391. + + Crook, John, iii. 228, 476. + + Crosby, Sarah, ii. 286, 289, 398, 436, 565; iii. 41, 68. + + Crowther, Jonathan, iii. 507, 581. + + Cudworth, William, i. 482; ii. 400, 527. + + Cussons, George, i. 11; ii. 410; iii. 315. + + Cutler, Ann, iii. 606. + + + “Dairyman’s Daughter,” The, iii. 387, 503. + + Dales Circuit, iii. 631. + + Dall, Robert, iii. 225, 304, 532. + + Darlington, ii. 407; iii. 293, 535, 606. + + Darney, William, i. 545; ii. 128; iii. 68. + + Dartmouth, Lord, ii. 509, 511; iii. 197. + + Davenport, Rev. Thomas, iii. 383. + + Deal, i. 173. + + Deaths, Happy, i. 294, 355, 395; iii. 218, 219. + + Deed of Declaration, iii. 408, 417, 465. + + Delamotte, Charles, i. 117, 118, 134, 135, 140, 146, 164. + + Delamotte, William, i. 299. + + Delany, Dr., i. 80. + + Deleznot, Rev. Mr., i. 353. + + Delph, iii. 323. + + Demoniacs, i. 401, 531; iii. 541. + + Depravity, National, i. 62. + + Deptford, iii. 488, 490. + + Derby, ii. 398, 501; iii. 244. + + Devizes, i. 538. + + Dewsbury, iii. 275, 565. + + Dewsbury Chapel Case, iii. 551. + + Dickenson, Rev. Peard, iii. 621. + + Dillon, John, ii. 603. + + Dingle, Thomas, iii. 27. + + Dispensary opened, i. 11, 525. + + Diss, iii. 629. + + Diversions, iii. 517. + + Dixon, Rev. Mr., i. 160. + + Dixon, Thomas, iii. 295, 326, 414. + + Dobbin, Dr., quoted, iii. 660. + + Dobinson, Mr., ii. 501. + + Dodd, Dr., ii. 231, 526, 597; iii. 237-240. + + Doddridge, Dr., i. 251, 300, 383, 490, 515, 516. + + Dodwell, Rev. William, iii. 356, 383. + + Dogmatism, ii. 542. + + Doncaster, i. 493; ii. 502; iii. 618. + + Dover, ii. 339, 363, 548. + + Downes, John, i. 402, 418, 441, 518; ii. 26, 134, 226, 450, 461. + + Downes, Rev. John, ii. 342. + + Dram Drinking, ii. 390, 540; iii. 44. + + Dress, i. 139; ii. 390; iii. 413, 470, 517, 621. + + “Drummer Jack,” ii. 19. + + Drunkenness, i. 503. + + Dublin, i. 556; ii. 3, 35, 77, 82, 143, 236, 272, 301, 350, 445, 447, + 537; iii. 41, 109, 202, 206, 251, 269, 313, 392, 459, 493, 542, + 568, 623. + + _Dublin Chronicle_, iii. 570. + + _Dublin Evening Post_, iii. 568. + + Dudley, ii. 115, 500. + + Dumfries, ii. 164; iii. 532, 608. + + Dunbar, ii. 276, 471; iii. 66. + + Dundee, ii. 567. + + Dunlop, Andrew, iii. 315. + + Dunstan, Edward, i. 543. + + Durham, i. 458; ii. 277, 407, 588; iii. 610. + + + Earthquakes, ii. 71, 212. + + Easingwold, iii. 473. + + Easterbrook, Rev. Joseph, iii. 35, 600. + + Easton, John, iii. 342. + + Edinberry, ii. 35, 302. + + Edinburgh, ii. 118, 470, 503, 568; iii. 63, 121, 371, 411, 534. + + Education of Children, iii. 399. + + Education of the Wesleys, i. 17. + + Edwards, John, i. 537; ii. 241. + + Edwards, Rev. Jonathan, i. 218, 500. + + Eels, William, iii. 558. + + Egginton, Rev. Mr., i. 407, 414. + + Election, i. 311, 334, 349; ii. 144, 145, 536. + + Electricity, ii. 161. + + Elizabeth, Queen, iii. 32. + + Ellison, Richard, ii. 139. + + Elmoor, Micah, i. 541. + + Elocution, ii. 60. + + Ely, iii. 178. + + Embury, Philip, ii. 146, 239, 607; iii. 47. + + England needed Methodism, i. 173. + + England, State of, i. 16, 42, 60; ii. 393; iii. 185, 286, 318. + + Enniskillen, iii. 153. + + Entwisle, Joseph, iii. 29, 509. + + Episcopacy, ii. 244, 257. + + Epitaphs, iii. 457. + + Epworth, i. 91, 387, 405, 458, 488, 493, 540; ii. 8, 120, 278, 300, + 327, 413, 473; iii. 371, 413, 539, 545, 618. + + Epworth, Fire at, i. 17. + + Epworth Rectory, i. 95. + + Erasmus, Bishop, ii. 486. + + Erskine, Rev. Ralph, i. 264. + + Escrick, George, iii. 351. + + Eustick, Mr., i. 507. + + Evans, Caleb, iii. 187, 188. + + Evans, John, i. 494. + + Evans, Rev. Theophilus, ii. 229. + + Everton, ii. 311, 331, 341, 397, 444. + + Evesham, ii. 163, 399, 560; iii. 47. + + Exeter, i. 419, 473, 554; ii. 448; iii. 302, 384, 492. + + + Faith, i. 52, 167, 177, 182, 186, 238, 552; ii. 216. + + Falmouth, i. 471; ii. 279; iii. 587. + + Family Religion, i. 466. + + Fanaticism, i. 188, 395; ii. 434, 454, 460. + + Fasting, i. 81; iii. 157, 164, 179, 287, 631. + + Faversham, i. 173; ii. 548. + + Female Preaching, ii. 398; iii. 41, 111, 645. + + Fenwick, John, ii. 612. + + Fenwick, Michael, ii. 219, 278; iii. 351, 391, 522. + + Ferguson, William, iii. 394. + + Ferrars, Earl, ii. 364. + + Fetter Lane Society, i. 301, 308. + + Field Preaching, i. 227, 233, 235, 446; ii. 329, 339; iii. 588, 626. + + Final Perseverance, i. 313; ii. 135, 536. + + Fitzgerald, Lady Mary, iii. 650. + + Fleetwood, William, i. 364. + + Fletcher, Rev. John, ii. 220, 262, 299, 308, 437, 464, 556, 563; iii. + 3, 19, 34, 87, 92, 95, 100, 136, 140, 147, 158, 181, 190, 209, + 212, 232, 234, 247, 290, 361, 370, 416, 429, 463, 472, 480, 487. + + Fleury, Claude, ii. 64. + + Fleury, Rev. Mr., iii. 113. + + _Fogg’s Weekly Journal_, i. 85, 86. + + “Fool of Quality,” iii. 342. + + Foote, Samuel, ii. 366, 591. + + Fothergill, Dr., ii. 161, 174, 189. + + Foundery, Old, i. 271, 551; ii. 498; iii. 220, 303. + + Fox, John, ii. 421. + + Francke’s Orphanage, i. 199. + + Francks, Samuel, ii. 345; iii. 155, 207. + + Franklin, Benjamin, ii. 161. + + Frederica, i. 124, 131, 134. + + “Free Grace,” Sermon, i. 317, 320, 323. + + Free, Rev. Dr., ii. 321. + + Freedom of Speech, i. 497. + + French Invasion, threatened, i. 438; ii. 323. + + French Language, ii. 260. + + French Prisoners, ii. 339. + + French Revolution, iii. 597. + + Frome, i. 473; ii. 190; iii. 28. + + Fulneck, i. 544. + + Funeral, Irish, ii. 79. + + Furley, Rev. Samuel, ii. 186, 450. + + + Gainsborough, ii. 330, 331, 413, 502. + + Gallatin, Colonel, ii. 117, 189. + + Gambold, Rev. John, i. 68, 70, 108, 179, 281, 337, 339, 361; iii. 222. + + Garden, Rev. Mr., i. 139, 326. + + Gardiner, Lady, ii. 470. + + Gardner, John, ii. 253. + + Garretson, Freeborn, iii. 461, 484, 566. + + Gateshead, ii. 328. + + Gawksham, ii. 275. + + Gayer, Mr., iii. 203. + + _Gentleman’s Magazine_, i. 357. + + Georgia, i. 109-117, 120, 122. + + Georgian Mission, i. 169. + + German Methodists, i. 9. + + Ghosts, i. 22. + + Gib, Rev. Adam, i. 374. + + Gibraltar, iii. 46. + + Gibson, Bishop, i. 207, 217, 244, 454, 548. + + Gifted Itinerants, ii. 84. + + Gilbert, Francis, ii. 298, 535; iii. 151. + + Gilbert, Miss Mary, ii. 535. + + Gilbert, Nathaniel, ii. 297, 535; iii. 273. + + Gilbert, Nicholas, ii. 382. + + Gill, Rev. Dr., ii. 148, 191. + + Gillies, Rev. John, ii. 164, 165, 276, 328; iii. 9. + + Girl, Starving, i. 71. + + Giving, ii. 516. + + Glasbrook, James, ii. 353, 587. + + Glasgow, ii. 164, 276, 328, 568; iii. 9, 533. + + Glass, John, ii. 293. + + Glenorchy, Lady, ii. 471, 604; iii. 64. + + Gloucester, iii. 6, 503. + + Godfathers, ii. 148. + + Goldney, Edward, ii. 375. + + Goodday, Rev. Thomas, ii. 334, 335, 606. + + Goodenough, Matthew, iii. 259. + + Gordon, Lord George, iii. 323, 341. + + Gordon Riots, iii. 318. + + _Gospel Magazine_, iii. 89, 105, 179, 233, 237, 256, 314. + + Gospel Preaching, iii. 135. + + Grant, Sir Archibald, ii. 404. + + Grant, Sir Lodowick, iii. 412. + + Grantham, iii. 356. + + Grantham, Rev. Thomas, i. 366. + + Granville, Mary, i. 74. + + Graves, Rev. C. G., i. 339, 382, 391, 406, 414. + + Green, Rev. Dr., ii. 370. + + Green, Rev. Thomas, ii. 217. + + Greenwood, Parson, iii. 352, 553-555. + + Greenwood, Paul, ii. 381. + + Gregory, Dr., iii. 122. + + Grey, Rev. Zachary, i. 325, 476. + + Griffith, Rev. Thomas, ii. 229. + + Grimsby, i. 406, 488; ii. 11, 278, 327, 502; iii. 294. + + Grimshaw, Rev. William, i. 536, 544; ii. 13, 17, 165, 166, 204, 211, + 245, 275, 327, 363, 384, 387, 412, 415, 423, 478, 573; iii. 373. + + Grou, Monsieur, ii. 11. + + Guier, Philip, ii. 144, 146. + + Guisborough, ii. 409. + + Guiseley, ii. 330. + + Gwennap, i. 524, 540; ii. 289; iii. 275, 364, 588. + + + Haime, John, i. 494; ii. 164, 190. + + Hales, Rev. Dr., i. 265. + + Halifax, i. 544; ii. 12, 573; iii. 126, 291, 606. + + Hall, Westley, i. 68, 99, 117, 132, 285, 337, 496, 561; ii. 87; iii. + 212. + + Hall, Mrs., iii. 567. + + Halyburton, Thomas, i. 287. + + Hamilton, Dr. James, iii. 122, 163, 584. + + Hammet, William, iii. 441. + + Hampson, John, ii. 102, 189, 226, 381, 398, 511, 579; iii. 251, 277, + 298, 334, 420, 423, 424, 449, 534, 552. + + Hampton, i. 426. + + Hanby, Thomas, ii. 470, 560; iii. 71, 85, 118, 417, 441, 574, 602. + + Harman, John, ii. 373, 498. + + Harris, Howel, i. 220, 275, 277, 299, 307, 315, 321, 342, 349, 375, + 402, 535; ii. 68, 154, 236, 479, 555, 608; iii. 128. + + Harrison, Hannah, ii. 421; iii. 41. + + Harrison, Nathaniel, i. 384. + + Hart, Joseph, i. 364. + + Hartlepool, ii. 277, 330. + + Hartley, Rev. Thomas, ii. 518. + + Haverfordwest, ii. 595. + + Haweis, Rev. Dr., ii. 463, 499; iii. 34. + + Hawes, Dr., i. 564. + + Hawnby, ii. 277. + + Haworth, ii. 12, 33, 69, 155, 275, 330, 363, 412, 573; iii. 292, 325. + + Hayes, ii. 70. + + Hayes, Eleanor, i. 165. + + Hayfield, ii. 195. + + Healey, John, i. 440; ii. 2. + + Hebrew Points, ii. 260. + + Heck, Barbara, ii. 239, 607; iii. 47. + + Helme, John, ii. 455. + + Helmsley, ii. 335, 473, 502. + + Helstone, ii. 218, 585. + + Heptonstall, ii. 18, 141. + + Heresy, ii. 244. + + Herrnhuth, i. 199, 202-207. + + Hertford, iii. 28. + + Hervey, Rev. James, i. 68, 132, 133; ii. 194, 227, 261, 293, 315, + 526, 535; iii. 56. + + Hervey, T., i. 252. + + Hewgill, William, ii. 277. + + Hexham, i. 507. + + Hey, William, iii. 363. + + Hicks, Rev. Mr., ii. 310. + + High Churchism, i. 95, 147, 152, 160, 496. + + Hill, Rev. Rowland, iii. 106, 137, 255, 258, 266. + + Hill, Sir Richard, iii. 32, 34, 54, 75, 106, 136, 159, 179, 266. + + Hilton, John, iii. 245. + + Hinckley, iii. 295, 392. + + Hitchcock, Rev. Dr., ii. 428. + + Hitchins, Thomas, i. 524. + + Hoblin, Rev. Mr., i. 417. + + Hobson, Elizabeth, iii. 10. + + Hodges, Rev. John, i. 442. + + Hodgson, Ralph, iii. 536. + + Holder, George, iii. 362, 593, 631. + + Holland, i. 196; iii. 393, 487. + + “Honest Munchin,” i. 413. + + Hooker, Mr., i. 326. + + Hopkey, Miss, i. 146-149, 169. + + Hopper, Christopher, i. 543, 545; ii. 52, 75, 118, 254, 381, 383, + 404, 407, 462, 612; iii. 152, 169, 297, 355, 382. + + Horncastle, ii. 327, 413, 566. + + Horne, Bishop, ii. 457; iii. 34. + + Horne, Melville, i. 11. + + Horton, John, iii. 17, 650, 655. + + Hoskins, John, iii. 176. + + Hosmer, John, ii. 408. + + Hospital, Methodist, proposed, ii. 360. + + How, John, ii. 290. + + Howard, John, iii. 495, 581. + + Huddersfield, ii. 274, 414, 541; iii. 292. + + Hull, ii. 139, 330, 410; iii. 473, 538, 611. + + Humane Society, Royal, iii. 251. + + Hume, David, iii, 121. + + Humphreys, Dr., i. 141. + + Humphreys, Joseph, i. 346, 402. + + Hunt, John, ii. 606. + + Huntingdon, Lady, i. 339, 341, 369, 381; ii. 20, 68, 245, 326, 337, + 364, 448, 462, 508, 556, 604; iii. 2, 34, 59, 73, 88, 92, 431. + + Hurd, Dr., ii. 493. + + Husk, General, i. 492. + + Hutchins, Mr., i. 179. + + Hutchinson, John, ii. 260; iii. 491. + + Hutton, James, i. 108, 132, 181, 182, 236, 298, 300, 307, 342, 420, + 477; ii. 158, 159, 220, 222. + + Hutton, Mrs., i. 189. + + Hutton, Rev. Mr., i. 189. + + Hutton Rudby, ii. 409, 570. + + Hymn Book, Methodist, ii. 181; iii. 343. + + Hymn Singing in Scotland, ii. 164. + + Hymn Writing, i. 397. + + “Hymns and Sacred Poems,” i. 290. + + + I‘Anson, Mr., ii. 358. + + Ilkestone, iii. 475. + + Imputed Righteousness, ii. 458, 469, 551; iii. 14. + + Infidelity and Popery, i. 140. + + Infidelity at Oxford, i. 65. + + Ingham, Benjamin, i. 68, 108, 117, 118, 122, 126, 127, 135, 137, 196, + 198, 250, 277, 299, 306, 328, 338; ii. 116, 164, 166, 534; iii. + 255. + + Innys, Rev. Mr., i. 538. + + Inverness, iii. 65, 293, 507. + + Ireland, i. 556. + + Irish Methodists, iii. 42, 227. + + Irish Primitive Methodists, i. 6. + + Isle of Man, iii. 228, 241, 354, 593. + + Isle of Wight, i. 121, 171; ii. 304; iii. 386. + + Itinerancy, iii. 167, 168, 561. + + Itinerant Preachers Advised, ii. 163, 199. + + Itinerant Preachers in 1744, i. 459. + + + Jackson, Daniel, iii. 598. + + Jackson, Thomas, ii. 114. + + Jaco, Peter, i. 555; iii. 297. + + Jane, John, ii. 75. + + Janitor, Grateful, i. 24. + + Jarratt, Rev. Mr., iii. 151. + + Jenkins, Herbert, i. 537. + + Jephson, Rev. Alexander, ii. 369. + + Johnson, Dr. Samuel, i. 51, 61; iii. 185, 238, 294, 406. + + Johnson, John, ii. 359, 383. + + Johnson, Miss, iii. 272. + + Johnson, Thomas, ii. 416. + + Jones, Jacob, iii. 651. + + Jones, Rev. Griffith, i. 221. + + Jones, Rev. John, ii. 11, 202, 203, 358, 486, 507; iii. 205. + + Jones, Rev. Thomas, ii. 324. + + Jumpers, Welsh, ii. 480. + + Justification, i. 52, 306, 443, 497. + + + Keighley, i. 544; ii. 330; iii. 243, 289. + + Keighley, Joshua, iii. 441, 507. + + Keith, Jeannie, i. 542; ii. 52, 166. + + Kelso, ii. 276; iii. 371. + + Kempis, Thomas à, i. 33-36, 106; iii. 631. + + Kendal, ii. 164, 505, 535. + + Kennicott, Dr., i. 448. + + Kennington Common, i. 228. + + Kershaw, James, ii. 531, 535; iii. 362. + + Kilham, Alexander, iii. 408, 504. + + Kinchin, Charles, i. 67, 225. + + King, Archbishop, iii. 643. + + King, John, iii. 207. + + King, Lord, i. 508. + + Kingsford, William, iii. 562. + + Kingswood, i. 227, 268, 519; ii. 34, 75, 86, 89, 290, 425; iii. 110. + + Kingswood School, i. 269; ii. 7, 121, 171, 241, 287, 297, 454, 559; + iii. 51, 70, 129, 367, 396-400. + + Kinnard, iii. 41. + + Kinsale, ii. 147, 354; iii. 460. + + Kirkby, Rev. John, ii. 70. + + Kirkham, Robert, i. 49. + + Knaresborough, ii. 411. + + Knight, Titus, ii. 573. + + Knox, Alexander, ii. 536, 577. + + Koker, Dr., i. 196; ii. 57. + + + Lackington, James, i. 550. + + Lacy, David, ii. 275. + + Lambeth, iii. 217, 649. + + Lancaster, John, iii. 416. + + Lancaster, Rev. Nathaniel, ii. 616. + + Land, Rev. Tristam, i. 242. + + Landau Church, i. 458. + + Lane End, iii. 411, 472. + + Laneast, i. 458. + + Langhorne, Dr., ii. 213, 455. + + Langston, Mr., ii. 375. + + Languages, ii. 135. + + Larwood, Samuel, ii. 187. + + Latrobe, Benjamin, i. 556. + + Laughing, i. 293. + + Launceston, ii. 190, 218, 361. + + Lavington, Bishop, ii. 23, 91, 134, 150. + + Law, William, i. 50, 83, 99, 132, 185-187, 284, 330, 399; ii. 63, + 265, 269; iii. 36. + + Lay Preaching, i. 201, 276; ii. 246. + + Learning, Wesley on, i. 367; ii. 64, 491. + + Leatherhead, iii. 650. + + Lee, Thomas, ii. 572; iii. 326, 327. + + Leeds, i. 490, 495, 513; ii. 2, 33, 120, 139, 166, 316, 399, 448, + 584; iii. 45, 68, 126, 206, 270, 292, 356, 415. + + Leek, iii. 118. + + Lefevre, Mrs., ii. 109. + + Leicester, ii. 170, 281. + + Leifchild, Rev. Dr., iii. 488. + + Leighton Buzzard, iii. 114. + + Leith, iii. 123. + + Leland, Dr. Thomas, ii. 493. + + Lending Society, i. 550. + + Leominster, i. 524. + + Letters for first time published, i. 26, 27, 29, 37, 94, 131, 132, + 136, 137, 224, 233, 306, 312; ii. 112, 167, 201, 253, 281, 360, + 416, 503, 508, 563, 564, 612; iii. 3, 5, 31, 54, 55, 69, 70, + 72, 78, 83, 88, 95, 150, 177, 204, 212, 225, 230, 273, 277, + 284, 288, 289, 293, 304, 315, 324, 336, 337, 349, 355, 358, + 376, 377, 378, 382, 392, 404, 408, 428, 442, 454, 467, 477, + 482, 486, 491, 497, 507, 522, 525, 532, 542-544, 546, 565, 580, + 590, 592, 598, 601, 605, 621, 632, 633, 643, 649. + + Leven, Lord, iii. 412. + + Lewen, Miss, ii. 588. + + Ley, William, ii. 353; iii. 17. + + Leytonstone, ii. 287. + + Libraries, i. 499. + + Licensing Chapels, iii. 511. + + Lichfield, Bishop of, i. 61. + + Limerick, ii. 36, 37, 78, 354, 448; iii. 460. + + Lincoln, iii. 327, 617. + + Lisbon, Earthquake at, ii. 223. + + Lisburn, ii. 240, 445; iii. 154. + + Liskeard, ii. 290. + + List of Itinerants, ii. 126. + + Liverpool, ii. 196, 274, 301, 328, 448, 566, 600; iii. 9, 486, 590. + + Lloyd, Rev. David, iii. 402. + + Lloyd, Rev. Richard, ii. 79. + + _Lloyd’s Evening Post_, ii. 348, 388, 428. + + Logic, ii. 90. + + _London Chronicle_, ii. 460. + + London Circuit Plan in 1792, iii. 223. + + _London Daily Post_, ii. 58. + + _London Evening Post_, i. 473. + + London in 1739, i. 213. + + _London Magazine_, ii. 292, 427. + + London Methodist Chapels, ii. 89; iii. 216. + + London Methodist Day School, i. 550. + + London Methodist Society, i. 420, 461, 489. + + Londonderry, ii. 536; iii. 42, 202. + + Longden, Henry, iii. 474. + + Longridge, Michael, iii. 604. + + Lots, Casting, i. 147, 232, 323, 531. + + Loughborough, iii. 69. + + Lovefeast at Fetter Lane, i. 229. + + Lovefeasts, Methodist, ii. 341, 539. + + Lowes, Matthew, iii. 6, 70, 71, 78. + + Lowestoft, ii. 512; iii. 628. + + Lowth, Bishop, ii. 596; iii. 251, 332. + + Loyalty, Methodist, i. 439, 440, 491; iii. 235, 236, 286. + + Lunell, Mr., i. 557; ii. 5. + + Lurgan, ii. 303, 445; iii. 202. + + Lutheran Reformation, i. 2. + + Luton, iii. 114. + + Lynn, iii. 629. + + + McAllum, Duncan, iii. 272, 293, 497, 507, 565. + + Macaulay, Lord, iii. 660. + + Macclesfield, ii. 448; iii. 8, 165, 370, 393, 404, 493, 501, 605. + + M‘Donald, James, iii. 630. + + M‘Geary, John, iii. 493. + + M‘Geary, Thomas, iii. 399. + + M‘Gowan, John, ii. 407; iii. 34, 314. + + Machiavel, Nicholas, i. 134. + + M‘Kersey, J., iii. 466. + + Mackford, Mr., ii. 14. + + Mackie, George, iii. 134. + + M‘Nab, Alexander, iii. 84, 85, 303, 348, 559. + + Madan, Rev. Martin, ii. 283, 448, 499, 556. + + Maddox, Mr., iii. 421. + + Madeley, ii. 299; iii. 290, 370, 411, 472, 603. + + Maldon, ii. 300. + + Malton, ii. 570. + + Manchester, i. 92, 174, 545; ii. 138, 164, 327, 399, 448, 478, 540; + iii. 119, 313, 337, 350, 353, 393, 411, 416, 496, 605. + + Mann, John, iii. 544. + + Manners, John, ii. 415, 570. + + Manners, Nicholas, ii. 306; iii. 559. + + Manning, Rev. Charles, i. 551; ii. 70, 101. + + March, Miss, iii. 177. + + Marienbourn, i. 197. + + Marriage with deceased wife’s sister, ii. 259. + + Marriages, Improper, iii. 364, 640. + + Marriott, Thomas, i. 465. + + Marvellous Escape, iii. 169. + + Mary, Queen of Scotland, iii. 32. + + Maskew, Jonathan, ii. 411; iii. 68. + + Mason, John, ii. 170; iii. 598. + + Mason, William, iii. 75. + + Massiot, James, ii. 304. + + Mathematics, ii. 389. + + Mather, Alexander, ii. 184, 488; iii. 155, 204, 327, 375, 441, 478, + 553, 558, 575. + + Maud, Rev. J., i. 474. + + Maxfield, Thomas, i. 274, 302, 369, 454, 470; ii. 381, 432, 436, 440, + 450, 454, 462, 464, 474, 482, 486, 507, 556; iii. 26, 59, 115, + 261, 296. + + Maxwell, Lady, ii. 471, 503, 603; iii. 40, 65, 84, 86, 561. + + Mayer, Matthew, ii. 328, 473; iii 290. + + Mayor, First Methodist, ii. 274. + + Mayor of Grampound, ii. 290. + + Means of Grace, i. 304. + + Mears, William, iii. 622. + + Meek, Jenny, i. 487. + + Meggot, Samuel, ii. 472. + + Mellar Barn, ii. 142. + + Meriton, Rev. John, i. 442, 458, 539; ii. 3. + + Merryweather, George, ii. 408, 415, 565, 612; iii. 69, 83. + + Methodism, Growth of, ii. 538. + + Methodism’s first Lay Preacher, i. 274. + + Methodist Episcopal Church, i. 8. + + Methodist Manifestoes, i. 484; ii. 533. + + Methodist, Name of, i. 67, 331. + + Methodist New Connexion, i. 5. + + Methodist Newspapers, i. 11. + + Methodism, Perpetuation of, iii. 49. + + Methodist Protestant Church, i. 9. + + Methodist Statistics, i. 7, 9; ii. 608, 609; iii. 330, 620. + + Methodists not perfect, ii. 540, 580. + + Middleton, Dr. Conyers, ii. 34, 61. + + Middleton, John, ii. 409. + + Midsomer Norton, iii. 231. + + Mill, Peter, iii. 573. + + Millard, Henry, i. 453. + + Millenarianism, ii. 220, 521; iii. 544. + + Miller, Robert, ii. 483; iii. 626. + + Milner, Rev. J., ii. 116, 141, 164, 166, 330. + + Milton, John, ii. 495. + + Ministerial Responsibility, iii. 121. + + Ministers, Unconverted, iii. 564. + + Minulla, ii. 304. + + Miracles, i. 531; ii. 87. + + Missionary Collection, First Methodist, ii. 606. + + Missionary Report, First Methodist, iii. 480. + + Missionaries, Wesley on, i. 135, 142; ii. 606. + + Missions, Methodist, iii. 46; iii. 272-274, 480-484. + + Missions to India proposed, iii. 483. + + Mitchell, Thomas, ii. 44, 381; iii. 68. + + “Mitre,” The, ii. 241, 254. + + Molther, Philip H., i. 297, 301, 302. + + Monmouth, iii. 339. + + Monro, Dr., iii. 122. + + Montanists, ii. 87. + + Moon, Elizabeth, ii. 409. + + Moore, Henry, i. 147, 350; ii. 101, 115; iii. 16, 224, 246, 441, 543, + 566, 575, 598, 609, 616, 647. + + Moore, William, iii. 458. + + Moorfields, i. 214. + + Moorhouse, Michael, iii. 467. + + Moravian Missions, i. 300. + + Moravianism, i. 205, 206, 210, 281; ii. 155, 467; iii. 72. + + Moravians, i. 121, 126, 195, 279, 310, 337, 477, 478, 535; ii. 58, 95. + + Morgan, James, ii. 358; iii. 16, 23, 41. + + Morgan, R., i. 131. + + Morgan, William, i. 67, 84. + + Morley, ii. 331. + + Morley, Dr., i. 58. + + Morning Preaching, iii. 22, 167, 410. + + Morpeth, ii. 329. + + Morris, James, ii. 315. + + Moss, Richard, i. 471, 482; ii. 11. + + Murgatroyd, John, i. 385. + + Murlin, John, ii. 381; iii. 292. + + Murray, Grace, i. 541, 543; ii. 12, 45-56. + + Music, ii. 500. + + Musselburgh, ii. 118, 276. + + Myles, William, iii. 154, 568, 572, 583. + + Mystics, The, i. 133; ii. 519. + + + Nantwich, ii. 163; iii. 118. + + National Alarm, iii. 267, 286. + + National Churches, i. 509. + + National Commotion, ii. 234; iii. 39. + + National Distress and its Remedies, iii. 130. + + Naval and Military Bible Society, iii. 315. + + Neath, i. 525; iii. 20. + + Nelson, John, i. 369, 381, 383, 418, 420, 441, 458, 507, 544; ii. 53, + 169, 383, 573; iii. 70, 373. + + Nervousness, iii. 274, 489. + + New Birth, i. 230. + + New Mills, iii. 9. + + New York, ii. 607; iii. 47. + + Newark, iii. 327, 491, 549. + + Newbury, iii. 29, 62, 471. + + Newcastle on Tyne, i. 385, 392, 403-405, 425, 431, 461, 483, 487, + 490, 494, 513, 541; ii. 12, 33, 49, 56, 112, 117, 120, 140, + 166, 212, 328, 406, 418, 470, 503, 537, 567, 569, 595, 603, + 606; iii. 7, 17, 66, 123, 169, 202, 215, 241, 294, 355, 412, + 573, 604, 607, 608. + + Newfoundland, iii. 25, 176, 458. + + Newgate Prison, ii. 396. + + Newlyn, i. 555; ii. 25. + + Newman, Miss, ii. 560. + + Newry, ii. 445, 600. + + Newspaper, First Methodist, i. 346. + + Newton, Rev. John, ii. 295, 314, 349, 363; iii. 33. + + Nitschmann, David, i. 117, 119, 146. + + Nitschmann, Hannah, ii. 157. + + Norris, Dr. John, i. 367. + + North, Lord, iii. 197. + + Northallerton, i. 486, 487. + + Northampton, ii. 587. + + Northtawton, ii. 544. + + Northwich, i. 547. + + Norton, Mr., ii. 256. + + Norwich, ii. 123, 189, 218, 273, 290, 309, 313, 317, 325, 333, 342, + 348, 381, 397, 444, 482, 512, 534, 615; iii. 178, 405, 465, 629. + + Norwood, ii. 290. + + “Notes on New Testament,” ii. 184, 226. + + “Notes on Old Testament,” ii. 552. + + Nottingham, i. 339, 440, 507, 518; ii. 514, 560; iii. 409, 514. + + Nova Scotia, iii. 401, 497, 545. + + Novels, iii. 172, 450. + + Nowell, Dr., iii. 32, 54, 108. + + + Oastler, Robert, iii. 424. + + Oddie, James, iii. 70, 71, 420, 559, 574. + + Oglethorpe, General, i. 110, 117, 118, 122, 129, 136, 146. + + Okeley, Francis, ii. 301. + + Oldham, iii. 290, 371. + + Oldham, Adam, iii. 119. + + O’Leary, Arthur, iii. 320. + + Oliphant, Lawrence, ii. 190. + + Oliver, John, iii. 71. + + Olivers, Thomas, ii. 489, 588; iii. 41, 104, 106-108, 140, 156, 158, + 166, 181, 188, 259, 285. + + Oratorios, ii. 499. + + Ordination, i. 510. + + Ordination of Methodist Preachers, ii. 202, 487; iii. 311, 331, 427. + + Ordination Vows, i. 100. + + Original Sin, i. 443; ii. 294. + + Orphan House, Newcastle, i. 393, 519, 543. + + Orphanage, Methodist, ii. 517. + + Orton, Rev. Job, iii. 19. + + Osborn, Thomas, ii. 359. + + Osmotherley, i. 485, 487, 490, 541, 544; ii. 12, 107, 140, 212, 277, + 409. + + Otley, ii. 330, 410, 416. + + Oulton, John, ii. 370. + + Owen, Miss, iii. 129. + + Oxford, i. 174, 179, 182, 224; iii. 29, 32. + + Oxford Methodists, 66-74, 83-88, 90, 92, 106, 182, 361. + + + Padiham, ii. 275; iii. 291. + + Palatines, ii. 146, 238, 354. + + Paoli, General, iii. 454. + + Papists, i. 485; ii. 384; iii. 318-323. + + Parkhurst, Dr., ii. 180. + + Pastoral Visitation, i. 420, 446; ii. 313, 580; iii. 23, 125, 164. + + Pateley, ii. 572; iii. 326. + + Pawson, John, ii. 112, 443, 511, 547; iii. 163, 221, 297, 300, + 310-312, 420, 423, 428, 441, 442, 496, 529, 557, 573, 582. + + Payne, John, ii. 493. + + Pearse, Colonel, iii. 460. + + Pearson, George, iii. 8. + + Pebworth, iii. 7. + + Peel, Sir Robert, iii. 499. + + Pembroke, iii. 20, 110. + + Penitents, i. 445. + + Penn, Rev. James, ii. 456. + + Pennington, William, ii. 532. + + Penrith, iii. 327. + + Pensford, i. 236. + + Perfection, Christian, i. 88, 288, 313, 316, 334, 339, 349, 365, 444, + 461, 498, 535, 553; ii. 215, 232, 306, 346, 399, 413, 416, 431, + 439, 442, 447, 449-453, 461, 465, 482, 494, 507, 535, 546, 550, + 562, 593, 596; iii. 12, 14, 22, 26, 59, 121, 462, 625, 633. + + Periam, Joseph, i. 247. + + Perronet, Charles, i. 559; ii. 2, 34, 84, 109, 189, 200, 201, 206, + 381, 548. + + Perronet, Edward, ii. 57, 84, 101, 104, 200, 230, 241, 254, 419. + + Perronet, Rev. Vincent, i. 512, 525; ii. 6, 8, 54, 62, 92, 104, 107, + 108, 129, 130, 149, 179, 230, 298, 467, 549; iii. 53, 96, 122, + 296, 390, 463. + + Persecution, i. 236, 238, 296, 331, 356, 396, 425, 453, 470, 547; ii. + 2, 37, 272, 291, 353. + + Persecutors, Death of, ii. 278. + + Perth, iii. 10, 120, 168. + + Peters, Sarah, ii. 27, 28. + + Philanthropy, i. 294, 332, 352; ii. 348, 467; iii. 458, 491. + + Philips, Sir John, i. 132. + + Pickering, ii. 570. + + Pickles, Joseph, ii. 411. + + Piercy, George, ii. 607. + + Piers, Rev. Henry, i. 375, 427. + + Pilkington, Mrs., ii. 77. + + Pilmoor, Joseph, iii. 47, 54, 178. + + Pine, William, iii. 188, 211. + + Piracy, i. 465. + + Pitt, Right Hon. William, iii. 450. + + Placey, ii. 276. + + Plagiarism, i. 366. + + Plainness, ii. 183. + + Playdell, Mrs., iii. 532. + + Plendelieth, Rev. Mr., iii. 13. + + Plummer, Stephen, ii. 171. + + Plymouth, i. 554; ii. 190, 361, 585; iii. 28, 384, 459, 492, 587. + + Pocklington, ii. 140, 278. + + Poor House, Methodist, i. 549. + + Popery, iii. 315, 318, 388. + + Poplar, iii. 115. + + Port Isaac, i. 555; ii. 361. + + Portadown, ii. 600. + + Portarlington, ii. 37, 78, 82, 302, 353, 447; iii. 42. + + Portsmouth, ii. 170. + + Potter, Archbishop, i. 43; ii. 16; iii. 571. + + Potter, Rev. Mr., ii. 317. + + Potto, ii. 409. + + Power, Autocratic, ii. 577; iii. 305, 309. + + Prayer Answered, i. 232; iii. 204. + + Prayer Book, Methodist, iii. 548. + + Prayer Meetings, iii. 135, 522, 623. + + Preachers’ Allowances, iii. 550. + + Preachers, how to mend, ii. 582. + + Preachers, First Methodist, iii. 455. + + Preaching, Extempore, iii. 563. + + Preaching, Gospel, ii. 130. + + Preaching the Law, ii. 84. + + Preaching, Lay, i. 369; ii. 245. + + Preaching, Methodist, i. 515. + + Predestination, i. 40, 318, 319, 366; ii. 148; iii. 14, 54. + + Preston, iii. 354. + + Preston Pans, ii. 567. + + Pretender, The, i. 42, 489. + + Price, Dr., iii. 234. + + Primitive Methodists, i. 6; ii. 609. + + Prince Edward’s Island, iii. 66. + + Pritchard, John, ii. 547. + + Protestant Association, iii. 318. + + Publications, Anti-Methodist, i. 325, 364, 426, 454, 474, 513; ii. + 180, 217, 229, 270, 291, 367, 427, 455, 489, 525, 537, 550, + 590, 616; iii. 35, 56, 79, 255, 261, 314. + + Publications, Wesley’s, i. 90, 105, 210, 288, 333, 365, 397, 430, + 463, 500, 529, 562; ii. 29, 60, 89, 135, 142, 147, 181, 191, + 220, 264, 293, 317, 345, 389, 429, 457, 494, 532, 550, 593, + 617; iii. 36, 57, 80, 112, 145, 161, 182, 210, 234, 260, 267, + 280, 315, 342, 366, 387, 406, 455, 469, 488, 515, 593, 633. + + Publow, iii. 129. + + Punctuality, iii. 539. + + + Quakerism, i. 489; ii. 30; iii. 245, 246. + + Quarterly Meetings, ii. 42. + + Quarterly Visitation, i. 380; iii. 514. + + Questions to Candidates, ii. 583. + + Quick, Catherine, i. 416. + + Quincy, Rev. Samuel, i. 114, 126, 127. + + + Rankin, Thomas, ii. 507, 532, 545; iii. 69, 97, 194, 248, 297, 299, + 300, 429, 441, 510, 566, 567, 575, 654. + + Reading (Berks.), ii. 218. + + Reading recommended, ii. 515; iii. 359, 632. + + Redemption, Universal, i. 535. + + Reece, Richard, iii. 29, 509. + + Reeves, Jonathan, i. 453, 454, 473. + + Religion, how to Revive, iii. 22. + + Religious Cheerfulness, i. 138. + + Religious Reformations Compared, i. 533. + + Religious Revivals, i. 218, 220, 222, 223, 467; iii. 124. + + Religious Societies, i. 254. + + Relly, James, i. 536; ii. 240, 400. + + Relly, John, i. 537. + + Renty, Monsieur de, i. 366. + + Repentance, i. 52, 497; iii. 24. + + Reprobation, i. 317; ii. 144, 145. + + Reproving Sin, iii. 622. + + Reynolds, John, ii. 484. + + Richardson, Rev. John, ii. 507, 573; iii. 222, 299. + + Rich Methodists Warned, iii. 456, 516, 519, 563, 594, 636. + + Riches, Danger of, iii. 347. + + Richmond (Yorkshire), iii. 18. + + Ridley, Mr., i. 491, 494. + + Rimius, Henry, ii. 156. + + Riots in Staffordshire, i. 407. + + Ripon, ii. 569; iii. 326. + + Ritchie, Miss, ii. 411; iii. 243, 337, 461, 621, 650, 651. + + Ritualism, i. 168. + + Robe, Rev. James, i. 222. + + Roberts, Thomas, iii. 621, 647. + + Robertson, Dr., iii. 120. + + Robin Hood’s Bay, ii. 277, 330, 409. + + Robinson, Archbishop, i. 277. + + Robinson, Henry Crabb, iii. 628. + + Rochdale, ii. 57. + + Rochester, iii. 622. + + Rodda, Richard, iii. 248, 500, 574, 590. + + Rogers, Hester Anne, iii. 166, 371, 392, 650. + + Rogers, James, iii. 178, 348, 459, 625, 649, 650, 654. + + Rolvenden, ii. 359. + + Romaine, Rev. William, ii. 219, 277, 412, 448, 459, 463, 534, 556; + iii. 75. + + Romley, Rev. Mr., i. 405, 458, 488, 493; ii. 11. + + Roquet, Rev. James, ii. 11, 546; iii. 16, 188. + + Rotherham, ii. 69, 278, 331, 412, 502. + + Roughlee, ii. 14. + + Rousseau, iii. 58. + + Rowell, Jacob, ii. 144, 381, 565. + + Rules of Methodist Societies, i. 430. + + Rutherford, Thomas, iii. 304, 623. + + Rutherforth, Rev. Dr., ii. 490; iii. 36. + + Ryan, Sarah, ii. 109, 285, 297, 517, 562. + + Rye, iii. 566. + + Ryles, Mr., iii 8. + + + Sabbath Desecration, i. 501; iii. 366, 372. + + Sacraments, i. 81, 353, 501; ii. 263; iii. 574-576. + + Sagar, William, iii. 243. + + Salisbury, ii. 87, 218; iii. 52, 503. + + Salmon, Mr., i. 117; iii. 118. + + Saltzburghers, i. 112. + + Salvation by Faith, i. 183, 238. + + Sandeman, Robert, ii. 293, 534; iii. 3. + + Sandemanianism, ii. 293, 550. + + Saunderson, Hugh, iii. 42. + + Savannah, i. 123, 126, 128, 161, 163. + + Scarborough, ii. 330, 410, 509; iii. 413. + + Schism, ii. 244. + + Schisms, i. 325, 344. + + Scilly Islands, i. 419. + + Scotch Funerals, iii. 167. + + Scotch National Assembly, ii. 567. + + Scotland, Methodism in, ii. 119. + + _Scots Magazine_, i. 239, 357. + + Scott, Captain, ii. 587. + + Scott, Francis, ii. 12. + + Scott, Sir Walter, iii. 371. + + Seabury, Dr. Samuel, iii. 440. + + Secker, Archbishop, i. 500. + + Selby, ii. 327. + + Select Societies, i. 445. + + Sellon, Rev. Walter, ii. 8, 11, 201, 281, 359, 531; iii. 54, 55, 81, + 87, 91, 108, 117, 140, 180, 408, 431. + + Separation from Church of England, ii. 198, 200, 241, 279, 317, 380, + 402, 416, 444, 477, 526, 575; iii. 12, 18, 23, 270, 278, 330, + 363, 391, 413, 431, 436, 449, 465, 468, 477, 488, 490, 496, + 511, 523, 534, 542, 545, 547, 569, 613, 634. + + Sermons before University, i. 362, 448. + + Settle, iii. 242. + + Sevenoaks, i. 376, 525; iii. 562. + + Seward, William, i. 342. + + Shackerley, ii. 18. + + Shadford, George, iii. 175, 248. + + Shaftesbury, ii. 86, 87, 218, 585. + + Sharpe, Granville, iii. 114. + + Shaw, Mrs., iii. 465. + + Sheerness, ii. 615. + + Sheffield, i. 390, 425, 488; ii. 139, 278, 328, 331, 501, 561; iii. + 48, 328, 336, 348, 474. + + Shent, William, ii. 118, 595; iii. 289, 296. + + Shepherd, Mr., i. 416, 418. + + “Shepherd of Salisbury Plain,” iii. 53. + + Shepton Mallet, i. 524; ii. 1, 2, 86; iii. 590. + + Sherlock, Bishop, ii. 72. + + Shields, i. 404; ii. 329; iii. 18, 573. + + Shirley, Lady Frances, ii. 32, 194. + + Shirley, Rev. Walter, ii. 337, 364, 380; iii. 65, 93. + + Shoreham, i. 507, 525; iii. 53. + + Short Prayers, ii. 577. + + Shrewsbury, iii. 19, 449. + + Silvester, Rev, Tipping, i. 209. + + Simeon, Rev. Charles, iii. 454, 510. + + Simpson, Rev. David, iii. 165, 336, 370, 404, 501. + + Simpson, Rev. Mr., i. 302, 303, 338, 476. + + Simpson, Thomas, iii. 397. + + Simpson, William, iii. 486, 522, 542. + + Singing, i. 398; ii. 429; iii. 20, 22, 352, 502. + + Skelton, Charles, ii. 36, 129, 134, 187, 241. + + Skerret, Rev. Dr., i. 239. + + Skircoat Green, i. 513. + + Slanders, i. 357. + + Slavery, ii. 132; iii. 114, 183, 650. + + Sleep, i. 72; iii. 357, 359. + + Sligo, ii. 354, 445; iii. 269. + + Slocomb, John, i. 440. + + Smalbroke, Bishop, i. 504. + + Smith, Christopher, ii. 408. + + Smith, John, ii. 350. + + Smith, Rev. Haddon, iii. 80. + + Smith, Rev. Thomas, iii. 337. + + Smith, William, ii. 112; iii. 16, 169, 607. + + Smyth, Agnes, iii. 241. + + Smyth, Aquila, i. 326. + + Smyth, Rev. Edward, iii. 241, 304, 313, 454, 494, 571, 572, 583, 624. + + Smuggling, ii. 277, 449, 515, 617; iii. 215. + + Snowsfields Chapel, i. 421. + + Snuff taking, ii. 540. + + Societies, Methodist, i. 278, 444. + + Society for Reformation of Manners, ii. 468. + + Society Meetings, i. 446. + + Socinianism, ii. 295. + + Soldiers, i. 432; ii. 231, 237. + + South Leigh, ii. 498. + + South Sea Bubble, i. 43. + + Southall, Mr., ii. 500. + + Southampton, iii. 503. + + Southey, Robert, i. 265; iii. 656. + + Spangenberg, Rev. Mr., i. 125, 420. + + Sparrow, Samuel, iii. 117. + + Spence, Robert, iii. 496, 539. + + Spencer, William, ii. 11. + + Spitalfields, ii. 534; iii. 25. + + St. Agnes, i. 554; ii. 289, 361. + + St. Austell, ii. 290; iii. 465, 587. + + St. Helens, iii. 371. + + St. Ives, i. 416, 453, 454, 554; ii. 87, 171, 218, 361, 587, 610. + + St. Just, i. 489, 524; ii. 25, 87, 218, 289, 361. + + Stafford, iii. 403, 411. + + Stamp, John, iii. 573. + + Stanhope, iii. 535. + + Staniforth, Samson, ii. 487. + + Stanton Harcourt, i. 174, 179. + + Stationing Preachers, iii. 271, 339, 373, 418. + + Stebbing, Rev. Dr., i. 240, 475. + + Stennett, Dr., iii. 13. + + Stephens, Joseph Rayner, iii. 462. + + Stephens, William, i. 162, 164. + + Sterne, Lawrence, ii. 369, 590; iii. 114. + + Stevens, William, iii. 648. + + Stewards, London, i. 422, 549. + + Stockport, iii. 327. + + Stockton, ii. 12, 120, 277, 330, 407; iii. 412. + + Stokesley, ii. 330. + + Stonehouse, Rev. Mr., i. 179, 305, 514. + + Stourport, iii. 602, 647. + + Strangers’ Friend Society, i. 11; iii. 252. + + Stroud, ii. 500, 535; iii. 391, 410. + + Sunday Schools, i. 10; ii. 534; iii. 414, 500, 522, 604. + + Sunderland, i. 404; ii. 140, 277, 329, 618; iii. 48, 328, 336, 348, + 474. + + Suter, Alexander, iii. 497. + + Swaddlers, i. 559. + + Swearing, i. 502. + + Sweden, Methodism in, iii. 66, 462. + + Swedenborg, iii. 59, 407. + + Swindells, Robert, ii. 2, 3, 29, 122, 129. + + Syke House, i. 458. + + + Tadcaster, ii. 327, 330. + + Taunton, i. 419; ii. 133; iii. 27, 211, 214. + + Taxes, ii. 390; iii. 451. + + Taylor, David, i. 10, 382, 383, 390, 426; ii. 42. + + Taylor, Dr., ii. 18, 291, 294. + + Taylor, Rev. Mr., iii. 431. + + Taylor, Isaac, i. 266. + + Taylor, Jeremy, i. 35, 36. + + Taylor, Joseph, iii. 391, 441, 549, 574. + + Taylor, Thomas, iii. 9, 20, 177, 225, 227, 243, 246, 271, 284, 287, + 292, 306, 334, 361, 496, 544, 606, 611, 643. + + Tea Drinking, i. 521. + + Teetotalism, i. 117; iii. 111. + + Tennant, Thomas, iii. 224. + + Terryhugan, ii. 303. + + Teulon, Mr., iii. 17. + + Tewkesbury, iii. 411. + + Theatres, ii. 514. + + Theological Institution, i. 543. + + Thirsk, i. 544; ii. 567, 595; iii. 424. + + Thom, William, iii. 612. + + Thompson, Joseph, ii. 568; iii. 573. + + Thompson, Rev. Mr., i. 458; iii. 384. + + Thompson, Thomas, iii. 272. + + Thompson, William, iii. 152, 606. + + Thornton, Mrs., iii. 78. + + Thorold, Sir John, i. 132, 478. + + Thurot, Commodore, ii. 350. + + Ticket, Unique Society, ii. 188. + + Tipton, i. 406. + + Tissot, Dr., ii. 345; iii. 57. + + Tiverton, ii. 86, 87, 133; iii. 275. + + Todmorden, ii. 141. + + Told, Silas, i. 273; ii. 387; iii. 279. + + Toltschig, John, i. 196. + + Tomo Chichi, i. 114, 126. + + Tompson, Richard, ii. 214. + + Toplady, Rev. Augustus, ii. 315, 487; iii. 54, 81, 139, 158, 179, + 190, 210, 228, 232, 258, 266. + + Tottie, Rev. Dr., ii. 591. + + Towcester, ii. 348. + + Townsend, Rev. Joseph, ii. 604. + + Tract Distribution, i. 496. + + Tract Society, Methodist, i. 11; iii. 369. + + Tracts, Publication of, i. 505. + + Trapp, Rev. Dr., i. 241, 329; ii. 63. + + Tratham, David, ii. 129. + + Trelawney, Sir Harry, iii. 339. + + Trembath, John, i. 493, 558; iii. 385. + + Trevecca, ii. 236. + + Trevecca College, iii. 34, 50, 88, 128, 255. + + Tripp, Ann, ii. 289. + + Troutbeck, Dr., ii. 8. + + Trowbridge, ii. 190; iii. 338. + + Truro, ii. 449, 585; iii. 587. + + Tucker, Rev. Dr., i. 244, 399. + + Tullamore, ii. 4, 78, 303; iii. 269. + + Tunstall, iii. 604. + + Tyerman, Elizabeth, i. 486. + + Tyerman, Rev. Daniel, iii. 387. + + Tyrell’s Pass, ii. 2, 78, 353. + + + Ulverstone, ii. 69. + + Union, i. 321; ii. 542. + + Union, Clerical, proposed, ii. 508. + + Union of Methodists, i. 511. + + United Methodist Free Churches, i. 6. + + Unthank, John, ii. 407. + + Uxbridge, ii. 71. + + + Valton, John, iii. 337, 383, 552. + + Vasey, Thomas, iii. 428. + + Vegetarianism, i. 117, 525. + + Venn, Rev. Henry, i. 11; ii. 186, 252, 337, 412, 414, 448, 459, 541; + iii. 18. + + Visitors, Methodist, i. 353, 422. + + Voltaire, iii. 58, 288. + + Voltaire and Wesley contrasted, i. 44. + + Vowler, Rev. Mr., ii. 279. + + + Wakefield, i. 440; ii. 12, 139; iii. 184. + + Waldron, Isaac, ii. 387. + + Walker, Rev. Samuel, ii. 207, 211, 244, 250, 279, 317, 414, 585. + + Walpole, Horace, ii. 32, 72, 558. + + Walpole, Sir Robert, i. 103, 136. + + Walsal, i. 407; ii. 501. + + Walsh, Thomas, i. 462; ii. 146, 147, 200, 202, 206, 239, 261, 273, + 304, 534, 597. + + Wandsworth, ii. 25, 297. + + Wanley, Dean, ii. 570. + + Warburton, Bishop, i. 208; ii. 450, 454, 492, 519. + + Ward, Elizabeth, ii. 407. + + Ward, Valentine, ii. 471. + + Warminster, ii. 1, 308. + + Warne, Jonathan, iii. 139. + + Warrener, William, iii. 441. + + Warrington, ii. 565; iii. 352. + + Watchnight, First, i. 333. + + Watchnight Service, iii. 252. + + Waterford, ii. 147; iii. 153, 202. + + Waterland, Rev. Daniel, i. 330. + + Watson, Richard, i. 265; ii. 102. + + Watteville, Baron, i. 196. + + Watts, Dr., iii. 334, 346. + + Weardale, ii. 406, 503, 569; iii. 123, 610. + + Webb, Captain, ii. 546, 607; iii. 47, 451. + + Webster, Rev. Dr., iii. 64, 304. + + Webster, Eleazer, i. 543. + + Wednesbury, i. 406, 495; ii. 115, 348, 399, 501, 600; iii. 603. + + _Weekly Miscellany_, i. 250, 326, 358. + + Welch, Thomas, iii. 399. + + Wells, Samuel, iii. 302. + + Welsh Calvinistic Methodists, i. 4. + + Wentworth, General, i. 493. + + Wentworth House, iii. 475. + + Wesley, Charles, jun., iii. 345, 360. + + Wesley, Mrs. Charles, ii. 35; iii. 654. + + Wesley, Rev. Charles, i. 67, 117, 126-128, 131, 137, 178, 179, 181, + 188, 210, 226, 229, 232, 253, 260, 264, 279, 295, 299, 302, + 303, 310, 317, 324, 331, 336, 341, 343, 349, 404, 406, 407, + 412, 416, 425, 437, 439, 440, 448, 458, 470, 487, 506, 538, + 559; ii. 2, 6, 32-34, 40, 52, 73, 95, 101, 103, 107, 113, 118, + 122, 127, 130, 137, 138, 143, 147, 172, 175, 189, 201, 206, + 230, 244-253, 271, 307, 319, 357, 358, 361, 365, 381, 387, 388, + 396, 416, 431, 441, 448, 453, 459, 462, 487, 497, 506, 507, + 511, 556, 562, 574, 595, 596, 602; iii. 1, 5, 12, 92, 97, 100, + 135, 171, 194, 204, 207, 222, 225, 233, 246, 257, 261, 296, + 309, 312, 316, 330, 355, 376, 434, 439, 443, 478, 497, 522, + 529, 562, 659. + + Wesley Family, The, i. 16. + + Wesley’s Brother Samuel, i. 24, 29, 46, 133, 188-194, 252, 264, 286, + 287. + + Wesley’s Father, i. 16, 30, 39, 41, 45, 98, 102, 103. + + Wesley’s First Convert, i. 49. + + Wesley’s Journals Commenced, i. 35. + + Wesley’s Marriage and Wife, ii. 101, 111-115; iii. 20, 30, 84, 126, + 207, 233, 365. + + Wesley’s Mother, i. 23, 26, 27, 29, 32, 34, 37-39, 127, 132, 285, + 369, 390. + + Wesley’s Nephew Samuel, iii. 345, 361. + + Wesley’s Niece Sarah, iii. 356, 524, 622, 630, 650, 651, 655. + + Wesley’s Poetry, i. 47. + + Wesley’s Sister Emily, i. 33, 94, 424; ii. 406. + + Wesley’s Sister Keziah, i. 99, 161. + + Wesley’s Sister Martha (Mrs. Hall), ii. 406, 589; iii. 16, 567. + + Wesley’s Sister Mehetabel (Mrs. Wright), ii. 74, 406. + + Wesley’s Will, in 1768, iii. 15. + + Wesley’s Will, in 1789, iii. 616. + + Wesleyan Methodism, i. 3. + + Wesleyan Reform Union, i. 7. + + West, Hon. James, ii. 234. + + West Bromwich, i. 406; iii. 7, 290. + + West Street Chapel, i. 421. + + Westall, Thomas, i. 440, 453. + + _Westminster Journal_, i. 473; ii. 397. + + Whatcoat, Richard, i. 442; iii. 428. + + Wheatley, Benjamin, i. 543. + + Wheatley, James, ii. 121, 189, 309, 313, 325. + + Wheatley, Rev. Charles, i. 240. + + Whiston, Rev. Thomas, i. 325. + + Whitaker, John, ii. 410. + + Whitby, ii. 409; iii. 68, 413, 538, 610. + + Whitchurch, ii. 339. + + White, Rev. George, ii. 15. + + Whitefield, Rev. George, i. 68, 104, 108, 132, 141, 171, 179, 221, + 226, 232, 233, 243, 247, 250, 252, 254, 269, 277, 311-316, 321, + 322, 327, 336, 342, 344, 346-349, 372, 402, 414, 426, 437, 455, + 470, 477, 506, 535; ii. 19, 22, 24, 32, 33, 42, 53, 68, 95, + 118, 132, 137, 147, 150, 154, 156, 167, 175, 185, 209, 219, + 223, 228, 234, 272, 297, 366, 371, 373, 396, 415, 416, 426, + 431, 448, 459, 463, 470, 493, 497, 537, 548, 556, 562, 595, + 608, 614; iii. 1, 34, 39, 60, 71, 76, 78, 85, 89, 255, 261. + + Whitehaven, ii. 117, 504; iii. 411. + + Whitehead, Dr., ii. 103, 474; iii. 16, 298, 616, 650, 651. + + Whitelamb, Rev. John, i. 68, 389. + + Whitfield, George, iii. 393, 557, 650. + + Whitford, John, ii. 57, 187. + + Wickedness, Abounding, i. 215, 503, 532; ii. 72. + + Wickham, ii. 141. + + Wigan, ii. 566; iii. 352, 371. + + Wilberforce, William, iii. 115, 509, 650. + + Wilder, Rev. John, i. 239. + + Wilkes, John, iii. 37, 81, 145. + + Wilkinson, Benjamin, ii. 411. + + Williams, Rev. Joseph, i. 252, 536. + + Williams, Robert, i. 429. + + Williams, Thomas, i. 557; ii. 536. + + Williams, William, ii. 481. + + Williamson, William, i. 146, 149, 163. + + Wills, Rev. Mr., iii. 431. + + Winchelsea, iii. 566, 626. + + Windsor, i. 174. + + Windsor, Robert, ii. 189. + + Winscomb, Jasper, iii. 546, 561, 601. + + Winter, Cornelius, ii. 616; iii. 128. + + Witchcraft, iii. 11, 171. + + Witness of the Spirit, i. 190-195, 201, 207, 285, 552; ii. 168, 216, + 491; iii. 24, 57. + + Witney, ii. 498. + + Wogan, William, i. 138. + + Wolfenden, Mrs., iii. 203. + + Wolff, George, iii. 589, 599, 650. + + Wolverhampton, ii. 399; iii. 7, 164, 493. + + Wood, John, iii. 354. + + Wood, Samuel, ii. 144. + + Wooler, ii. 276. + + Worcester, ii. 127; iii. 7, 647, 649. + + Worksop, iii. 328. + + Worship, Methodist, ii. 282, 576. + + Wrangel, Dr., iii. 66. + + Wray, James, iii. 546. + + Wrestlingworth, ii. 311. + + Wride, Thomas, iii. 466. + + Wright, Duncan, ii. 569; iii. 362, 522. + + Wroote, i. 57. + + Wycombe, ii. 534; iii. 241, 251. + + + Yarm, ii. 12, 277, 408, 569; iii. 83. + + Yarmouth, ii. 555, 615. + + Yeadon, iii. 68. + + Yearly Collection, iii. 5, 551. + + Yewdall, Zechariah, ii. 471; iii. 338, 608. + + York, ii. 120, 140, 214, 278, 327, 410, 500, 571; iii. 539, 606. + + Yorkshire Methodism, ii. 608. + + + Zeal, Christian, iii. 346. + + Zinzendorf, Count, i. 181, 196-198, 206, 298, 300, 339, 477; ii. 58, + 88, 97, 116, 220. + + + + VALUABLE RELIGIOUS WORKS + + PUBLISHED BY + + HARPER & BROTHERS, NEW YORK. + + + ☞ HARPER & BROTHERS _will send either of the following + works by mail, postage prepaid, to any part of the + United States, on receipt of the price_. + + + Barnes’s Notes on the New Testament. + New Edition. 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Illustrated. 12mo, Cloth, $1 50. + + KRUMMACHER’S DAVID, KING OF ISRAEL. David, the King of + Israel: a Portrait drawn from Bible History and the Book of + Psalms. By FREDERICK WILLIAM KRUMMACHER, D.D., Author of + “Elijah the Tishbite,” &c. Translated under the express + Sanction of the Author by the Rev. M. G. EASTON, M.A. With a + Letter from Dr. Krummacher to his American Readers, and a + Portrait. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75. + + LAMB’S COMPLETE WORKS. The Works of Charles Lamb. Comprising + his Letters, Poems, Essays of Elia, Essays upon Shakspeare, + Hogarth, &c., and a Sketch of his Life, with the Final + Memorials, by T. NOON TALFOURD. Portrait. 2 vols., 12mo, + Cloth, $3 00. + + LIVINGSTONE’S SOUTH AFRICA. Missionary Travels and Researches + in South Africa; including a Sketch of Sixteen Years’ + Residence in the Interior of Africa, and a Journey from the + Cape of Good Hope to Loando on the West Coast; thence across + the Continent, down the River Zambesi, to the Eastern Ocean. + By DAVID LIVINGSTONE, LL.D., D.C.L. With Portrait, Maps by + Arrowsmith, and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $4 50. + + LIVINGSTONES’ ZAMBESI. Narrative of an Expedition to the + Zambesi and its Tributaries, and of the Discovery of the + Lakes Shirwa and Nyassa. 1858-1864. By DAVID and CHARLES + LIVINGSTONE. With Map and Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00. + + M‘CLINTOCK & STRONG’S CYCLOPÆDIA. Cyclopædia of Biblical, + Theological, and Ecclesiastical Literature. Prepared by the + Rev. JOHN M‘CLINTOCK, D.D., and JAMES STRONG, S.T.D. _3 vols. + now ready._ Royal 8vo. Price per vol., Cloth, $5 00; Sheep, + $6 00; Half Morocco, $8 00. + + MARCY’S ARMY LIFE ON THE BORDER. Thirty Years of Army Life on + the Border. Comprising Descriptions of the Indian Nomads of + the Plains; Explorations of New Territory; a Trip across the + Rocky Mountains in the Winter; Descriptions of the Habits of + Different Animals found in the West, and the Methods of + Hunting them; with Incidents in the Life of Different + Frontier Men, &c., &c. By Brevet Brigadier-General R. B. + MARCY, U.S.A., Author of “The Prairie Traveller.” With + numerous Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Beveled Edges, $3 00. + + MACAULAY’S HISTORY OF ENGLAND. The History of England from the + Accession of James II. By THOMAS BABINGTON MACAULAY. With an + Original Portrait of the Author. 5 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $10 00; + 12mo, Cloth, $7 50. + + MOSHEIM’S ECCLESIASTICAL HISTORY, Ancient and Modern; in which + the Rise, Progress, and Variation of Church Power are + considered in their Connection with the State of Learning and + Philosophy, and the Political History of Europe during that + Period. Translated, with Notes, &c., by A. MACLAINE, D.D. A + new Edition, continued to 1826, by C. COOTE, LL.D. 2 vols., + 8vo, Cloth, $4 00. + + NEVIUS’S CHINA. China and the Chinese: a General Description of + the Country and its Inhabitants; its Civilization and Form of + Government; its Religious and Social Institutions; its + Intercourse with other Nations; and its Present Condition and + Prospects. By the Rev. JOHN L. NEVIUS, Ten Years a Missionary + in China. With a Map and Illustrations. 12mo, Cloth, $1 75. + + OLIN’S (DR.) LIFE AND LETTERS. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, $3 00. + + OLIN’S (DR.) TRAVELS. Travels in Egypt, Arabia Petræa, and the + Holy Land. Engravings. 2 vols., 8vo, Cloth, $3 00. + + OLIN’S (DR.) WORKS. The Works of Stephen Olin, D.D., late + President of the Wesleyan University. 2 vols., 12mo, Cloth, + $3 00. + + OLIPHANT’S CHINA AND JAPAN. Narrative of the Earl of Elgin’s + Mission to China and Japan, in the Years 1857, ’58, ’59. By + LAURENCE OLIPHANT, Private Secretary to Lord Elgin. + Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50. + + OLIPHANT’S (MRS.) LIFE OF EDWARD IRVING. The Life of Edward + Irving, Minister of the National Scotch Church, London. + Illustrated by his Journals and Correspondence. By Mrs. + OLIPHANT. Portrait. 8vo, Cloth, $3 50. + + RAWLINSON’S MANUAL OF ANCIENT HISTORY. A Manual of Ancient + History, from the Earliest Times to the Fall of the Western + Empire. Comprising the History of Chaldæa, Assyria, Media, + Babylonia, Lydia, Phœnicia, Syria, Judæa, Egypt, Carthage, + Persia, Greece, Macedonia, Parthia, and Rome. By GEORGE + RAWLINSON, M.A., Camden Professor of Ancient History in the + University of Oxford. 12mo, Cloth, $2 50. + + RECLUS’S THE EARTH. The Earth: a Descriptive History of the + Phenomena and Life of the Globe. By ELISÉE RECLUS. Translated + by the late B. B. Woodward, and Edited by Henry Woodward. + With 234 Maps and Illustrations, and 23 Page Maps printed + in Colors. 8vo, Cloth, $5 00. + + POETS OF THE NINETEENTH CENTURY. The Poets of the Nineteenth + Century. Selected and Edited by the Rev. ROBERT ARIS + WILLMOTT. With English and American Additions, arranged by + EVERT A. DUYCKINCK, Editor of “Cyclopædia of American + Literature.” Comprising Selections from the Greatest Authors + of the Age. Superbly Illustrated with 132 Engravings from + Designs by the most Eminent Artists. In elegant small 4to + form, printed on Superfine Tinted Paper, richly bound in + extra Cloth, Beveled, Gilt Edges, $6 00; Half Calf, $6 00; + Full Turkey Morocco, $10 00. + + SHAKSPEARE. The Dramatic Works of William Shakspeare, with the + Corrections and Illustrations of Dr. JOHNSON, G. STEEVENS, + and others. Revised by ISAAC REED. Engravings. 6 vols., Royal + 12mo, Cloth, $9 00. + + SMILES’S LIFE OF THE STEPHENSONS. The Life of George + Stephenson, and of his Son, Robert Stephenson; comprising, + also, a History of the Invention and Introduction of the + Railway Locomotive. By SAMUEL SMILES, Author of “Self-Help,” + &c. With Steel Portraits and numerous Illustrations. 8vo, + Cloth, $3 00. + + SMILES’S HISTORY OF THE HUGUENOTS. The Huguenots: their + Settlements, Churches, and Industries in England and Ireland. + By SAMUEL SMILES. With an Appendix relating to the Huguenots + in America. Crown 8vo, Cloth, $1 75. + + SPEKE’S AFRICA. Journal of the Discovery of the Source of the + Nile. By Captain JOHN HANNING SPEKE, Captain H. M. Indian + Army, Fellow and Gold Medalist of the Royal Geographical + Society, Hon. Corresponding Member and Gold Medalist of the + French Geographical Society, &c. With Maps and Portraits and + numerous Illustrations, chiefly from Drawings by Captain + GRANT. 8vo, Cloth, uniform with Livingstone, Barth, Burton, + &c., $4 00. + + STRICKLAND’S (MISS) QUEENS OF SCOTLAND. Lives of the Queens of + Scotland and English Princesses connected with the Regal + Succession of Great Britain. By AGNES STRICKLAND. 8 vols., + 12mo, Cloth, $12 00. + + THE STUDENT’S SERIES. + France. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Gibbon. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Greece. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Hume. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Rome. By Liddell. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Old Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + New Testament History. Engravings. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Strickland’s Queens of England. Abridged. Engravings. 12mo, + Cloth, $2 00. + Ancient History of the East. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Hallam’s Middle Ages. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + Lyell’s Elements of Geology. 12mo, Cloth, $2 00. + + TENNYSON’S COMPLETE POEMS. The Complete Poems of Alfred + Tennyson, Poet Laureate. With numerous Illustrations by + Eminent Artists, and Three Characteristic Portraits. 8vo, + Paper, 75 cents; Cloth, $1 25. + + THOMSON’S LAND AND THE BOOK. The Land and the Book; or, + Biblical Illustrations drawn from the Manners and Customs, + the Scenes and the Scenery of the Holy Land. By W. M. + THOMSON, D.D., Twenty-five Years a Missionary of the + A.B.C.F.M. in Syria and Palestine. With two elaborate Maps of + Palestine, an accurate Plan of Jerusalem, and several hundred + Engravings, representing the Scenery, Topography, and + Productions of the Holy Land, and the Costumes, Manners, and + Habits of the People. 2 large 12mo vols., Cloth, $5 00. + + TYERMAN’S WESLEY. The Life and Times of the Rev. John Wesley, + M.A., Founder of the Methodists. By the Rev. LUKE TYERMAN, + Author of “The Life of Rev. Samuel Wesley.” Portraits. 3 + vols., Crown 8vo. + + VÁMBÉRY’S CENTRAL ASIA. Travels in Central Asia. Being the + Account of a Journey from Teheran across the Turkoman Desert, + on the Eastern Shore of the Caspian, to Khiva, Bokhara, and + Samarcand, performed in the Year 1863. By ARMINIUS VÁMBÉRY, + Member of the Hungarian Academy of Pesth, by whom he was sent + on this Scientific Mission. With Map and Woodcuts. 8vo, + Cloth, $4 50. + + WOOD’S HOMES WITHOUT HANDS. Homes Without Hands: being a + Description of the Habitations of Animals, classed according + to their Principle of Construction. By J. G. WOOD, M.A., + F.L.S. With about 140 Illustrations. 8vo, Cloth, Beveled + Edges, $4 50. + + + + +Transcriber’s Note: + +Words and phrases in italics are surrounded by underscores, _like +this_. Footnotes were renumbered sequentially and were moved to the end +of each chapter. There is no anchor for Footnote [703]. It was added +where it may belong. There are two anchors to Footnote [134]. Sidenotes +displaying Wesley’s age were changed to follow the chapter title. +Obsolete and alternative spellings were not changed. Nine misspelled +words were corrected. + + + +*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK 76882 *** |