THE LIFE
OF THE
REV. JOHN WESLEY, A.M.,
SOMETIME FELLOW OF LINCOLN COLLEGE, OXFORD,
AND FOUNDER OF THE METHODIST SOCIETIES.
BY RICHARD WATSON.
'Ev kSttois ssepiaaotipvs.
[in labours more abundantly.]
FIRST AMERICAN OFFICIAL EDITION,
WITH TRANSLATIONS AND NOTES
BY JOHN EMORY.
NEWYORK,
PUBLISHED BY J. EMORY AND B. WAOGH,
FOR THE METHODIST EPISCOPAL CHURCH, AT THE CONFERENCE
OFFICE, 14 CROSBY-STREET.
J. Collord, Printer.
1831.
"Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year J831, by
J. Emory and B. Waugh, in the Clerk's Office of the District Court
of the Southern District of New-York."
CONTENTS.
CHAPTER I.
Mr. Wesley's Parentage—Mrs. Susanna Wesley—Samuel Wesley,
jun.—Mr. Wesley at School and College—Religious Impressions
and Inquiries—Ordination—College Honours—Charles Wesley's
early Life—Methodists at Oxford—Origin of th'e name Method¬
ist Pages 7-17
CHAPTER II.
The Wesleys at Oxford—Their Efforts to do good—Opposition—
Correspondence with Mr. Wesley, sen.—Mr. Samuel Wesley, and
Mrs. Wesley—Mr. John Wesley refuses to settle at Epworth—
Remarks—Death of Mr. Wesley, sen.—The Wesleys engage to
go out to Georgia—Letter of Mr. Gambold 17-34
CHAPTER III.
fhe Wesleys on their Voyage—Intercourse with the Moravians—
Conduct, Troubles, and Sufferings in Georgia—Affair of Miss
Hopkey—Mr. Wesley returns to England 34-46
CHAPTER IV
Mr. Wesley's Review of his religious.Experienoe—Trouble of Mind—
Interview with Peter Bohler—Receives the Doctrine of Justification
by Faith—Preaches it—Mr. Charles Wesley's religious Experience
—Remarks 46-59
CHAPTER V.
State of Religion in the Nation—Mr. Wesley's Visit to Germany—
Return to England—His Labours in London—Meets with Mr.
Whitefield—Dr. Woodward's Societies—Mr. Charles Wesley's
Labours—Field Preaching—Remarks 59-72
CHAPTER VI.
Effect of the Labours of the Messrs. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield at
Kingswood—Mr. Wesley at Bath—Statement of his doctrinal
Views—Separates from the Moravians in London—Formation of
the Methodist Society—Mr. Wesley's Mother—Correspondence
between Mr. John and Mr. Samuel Wesley on extraordinary Emo¬
tions, and the Doctrine of Assurance—Remarks—Enthusiasm—
Divine Influence—Difference between Mr. Wesley and Mr. White-
field— Their Reconciliation—Mr. Maxfield—Mr. Wesley's De¬
fence of his calling out Preachers to assist him in his Work—
Remarks 72-95
CHAPTER VII.
Persecution in London—Institution of Classes—Mr. Wesley charged
with being a Papist—His Labours in Yorkshire, Northumberland,
agpd Lincolnshire—Death of Mrs. Susanna Wesley—Labours and
4
CONTENTS.
Persecutions of Mr. Charles Wesley in Staffordshire and York¬
shire—Increase of the Societies—Mr. Wesley's Danger and Escape
at Wednesbury—His first Visit to Cornwall—Riots in Stafford¬
shire—Preaches for the last time before the University of Oxford—
Correspondence with the Rev. J. Erskine—His Sermon on "A
Catholic Spirit"—First Conference held- Remarks.. Pages 95-116
CHAPTER VIII.
Mr. Charles Wesley's Labours in Cornwall, Kent, Staffordshire, and
the North of England—Persecution at Devizes—Remarks—Mr.
Wesley at Newcastle—His Statement of the Case between the
Clergy and the Methodists—Remarks—Labours in Lincolnshire,
&c.—Persecutions in Cornwall—Count Zinzendorf—Dr. Doddridge
—Mr. Wesley a Writer of-Tracts—His Sentiments on Church Go¬
vernment—Extracts from the Minutes of the early Conferences—
Remarks—Mr. Wesley's Labours in different parts of the King¬
dom—His zeal to diffuse useful Knowledge—Mobs in Devonshire
—Visits Ireland—Succeeded there by his Brother—Persecutions in
Dublin 116-166
CHAPTER IX.
Labours of the Preachers—Doctrinal Conversations of the Confer¬
ences—Justification—Repentance—Faith—Assurance—Remarks
—Fruits of justifying Faith—Sanctification—Witness of the Spirit
—Remarks—Spirit in which Mr. Wesley sought Truth—Miscel¬
laneous Extracts from the Minutes of the early Conferences—No¬
tices of the Deaths of Preachers—Remarks 167-181
CHAPTER X.
Early List of fJirouits—Mr. Charles Wesley in London—Earthquake
there—Differences between Mr. Charles Wesley and the Preach¬
ers—Remarks—Respective Views of the Brothers—Mr. Wesley's
Marriage—Mr. Perronet—Kings wood School — Remarks—Mr.
Wesley visits Scotland—Letters—Sickness—Mr. Whitefield's Let¬
ter to him in Anticipation of his Death—Mr. Wesley's Remarks on
Books—His Address to the Clergy—Remarks—Hervey's Let¬
ters 181-200
CHAPTER XI.
Methodism in America—Revivals of Religion—Remarks—Mr. Wes¬
ley's Labours—Notices of Books from his Journals—Minutes of the
Conference of 1770—Remarks—Mr. Shirley's Circular—Mr. Wes¬
ley's " Declaration"—Controversy respecting the Minutes—Re¬
marks—Increase of the Societies—Projects for the Management of
the Connection after Mr. Wesley's Death 200-228
CHAPTER XII.
Mr. Wesley's Sickness in Ireland—Letter to the Commissioners of
Excise—Visit to the Isle of Man—Opening of City Road Chapel—
"Arminian Magazine"—Disputes in the Society at Bath—Mr.
Wesley's Letter to a Nobleman—His Visit to Holland—"Deed of
Declaration"—Remarks 228-242
CONTENTS.
5
CHAPTER XIII.
State of the Societies in America—Ordination of Superintendents
and Elders for the American Societies—Remarks—Dr. Coke—Mr.
Asbury—Mr. Charles Wesley's Remonstrances—Ordinations "for
Scotland—Remarks—Mr. Wesley's second Visit to Holland—His
Labours in England, Ireland, and the Norman Isles—Return to
London—Remarks—Extract from a Sermon by Bishop Copleston
.—Mr. Wesley's Reflections on the progress of the Work, and on
entering his eighty-fifth Year Pages 242-272
CHAPTER XTV.
Death of Mr. Charles Wesley—His Character—His Hymns—Re¬
marks—Mr. Montgomery's "Psalmist"—Anecdote of the Rev.
Samuel Wesley, sen.—Mr. Wesley's continued Labours—Reflec¬
tions on entering his eighty-eighth Year—Last Sickness—Death—
Funeral—Epitaph—Sketches of his Character by different Wri¬
ters 273-306
CHAPTER XV.
Mr. Wesley and the Church—Modern Methodism and the Church—
Charges refuted—Mr. Wesley's Writings—Extent of the Methodist
Societies at his death, and at the present time—Conclusion 306-323
1*
ADVERTISEMENT.
Various Lives or Memoirs of the Founder of Methodism have
already been laid before the public. But it has been frequently
remarked that such of these as contain the most approved accounts
of Mr. "Wesley have been carried out to a length which obstructs
their circulation, by the intermixture of details comparatively unin¬
teresting beyond the immediate circle of Wesleyan Methodism. The
present Life, therefore, without any design to supersede larger publi¬
cations, has been prepared with more special reference to general
readers. But, as it is contracted within moderate limits chiefly by
the exclusion of extraneous matter, it will, it is hoped, be found
sufficiently comprehensive to give the reader an adequate view of the
life, labours and opinions of the eminent individual who is its subject;
and to afford the means of correcting the most material errors and
misrepresentations which have had currency respecting him. On
several points the Author has had the advantage of consulting unpub¬
lished papers, not known to preceding biographers, and which have
enabled him to place some particulars in a more satisfactory light.
London, May 10, 1831.
ADVERTISEMENT TO THIS EDITION.
In this edition, translations are given of sueh passages in the dead
languages as are left untranslated in the London edition. It is en¬
larged, too, and we hope enriched, by a variety of notes, on points of
peculiar importance in an American edition. The price, nevertheless,
is so extremely low as to be justified solely by the confident antici¬
pation of very extensive sales. The profits, if any, (as of all other
publications from the Methodist Episcopal Press,) will be scrupulously
applied to the spread of the Gospel, and to strictly charitable objects.
THE LIFE
THE REV. JOHN WESLEY, A. M.
CHAPTER I.
John and Charles Wesley, the chief founders of that
religious body now commonly known by the name of the
Wesleyan Methodists, were the sons of the Rev. Samuel
Wesley, rector of Epworth, in Lincolnshire.
Of this clergyman, and his wife Mrs. Susanna Wesley,
who was the daughter of the Rev. Dr. Annesley, as well
as of the ancestors of both, an interesting account will be
found in Dr. Adam Clarke's " Memoirs of the Wesley
Family," and in the "Life of Mr." John Wesley" by Dr.
Whitehead, and the more recent one by Mr. Moore. They
will be noticed here only so far as a general knowledge of
their character may be necessary to assist our judgment as
to the opinions and conduct of their more celebrated sons.
The rector of Epworth, like his excellent wife, had
descended from parents distinguished for learning, piety,
and nonconformity. His father dying whilst he was young,
he forsook the Dissenters at an early period of life; and his
conversion carried him into High Church principles, and
political toryism. He was not however so rigid in the
former as to prevent him from encouraging the early zeal
of his sons, John and Charles, at Oxford, although it was
even then somewhat irregular, when tried by the strictest
rules of Church order and custom ; and his toryism, suffi¬
ciently high in theory, was yet of that class which regarded
the rights of the subject tenderly in practice. He refused
flattering overtures made by the adherents of James II, to
induce him to support the measures of the court, and wrote
,in favour of the Revolution of 1688; admiring it, probably,
less in a political view, than as rescuing a Protestant Church
from the dangerous influence of a Popish head. For this
service, he was presented with the living of Epworth, in
Lincolnshire, to which, a few years afterward, was added
that of Wroote, in the same county.
8
LIFE OF THE
He held the living of Epworth upward of forty years,
and was distinguished for the zeal and fidelity with which
he discharged his parish duties. Of his talents and learn¬
ing, his remaining works afford honourable evidence.
Mrs. Susanna Wesley, the mother of Mr. John Wesley,
was, as might be expected from the eminent character of
Dr. Samuel Annesley her father, educated with great care.
Like her husband, she also, at an early period of life,
renounced nonconformity, and became a member of the
Established Church, after, as her biographers tell us, she
had read and mastered the whole controversy on the sub¬
ject of separation ; of which, however, great as were her
natural and acquired talents, she must, at the age of thir¬
teen years, have been a very imperfect judge. The serious
habits impressed upon both by their education, did not for¬
sake them;—" they feared God, and wrought righteous¬
ness but we may perhaps account for that obscurity in
the views of each on several great points of evangelical
religion, and especially on justification by faith, and the
offices of the Holy Spirit, which hung over their minds for
many years, and indeed till toward the close of life, from
this early change of their religious connections. Their
theological reading, according to the fashion of the Church
people of that day, was now directed rather to the writings
of those divines of the English Church who were tinctured
more or less with a Pelagianized Arminianism, than to the
works of its founders ; their successors, the Puritans ; or
of those eminent men among the Nonconformists, whose
views of discipline they had renounced. They had parted
with Calvinism ; but, like many others, they renounced
with it, for want of spiritual discrimination, those truths
which were as fully maintained in the theology of Arminius,
and in that of their eminent son, who revived, and more
fully illustrated it, as in the writings of the most judicious
and spiritual Calvinistic divines themselves. Taylor, Til-
lotson, and Bull, who became their oracles, were Armi-
nians of a different class.
The advantage of such a parentage to the Wesleys was
great. From their earliest years they had an example in
the father of all that could render a clergyman respectable
and influential; and, in the mother, there was a sanctified
wisdom, a masculine understanding, and an acquired
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
9
knowledge, which they regarded with just deference after
they became men and scholars. The influence of a piety
so steadfast and uniform, joined to such qualities, and
softened by maternal tenderness, could scarcely fail to
produce effect. The firm and manly character, the prac¬
tical sense, the active and unwearied habits of the father,
with the calm, reflecting, and stable qualities of the mother,
were in particular inherited by Mr. John Wesley ; and in
him were most happily blended. A large portion of the
ecclesiastical principles and prejudices of the rector of
Epworth was also transmitted to his three sons ; but whilst
Samuel and Charles retained them least impaired, in John,
as we shall see, they sustained in future life, considerable
modifications.
Samuel, the eldest son, was born in 1692 ; John, in
1703 ; and Charles, in 1708.
Samuel Wesley, junior, was educated at Westminster
school; and in 1711 was elected to Christ Church, Oxford.
He was eminent for his learning, and was an excellent
poet, with great power of satire, and an elegant wit. He
held a considerable rank among the literary men of the
day, and finally settled as head master of the free school
of Tiverton, in Devonshire, where he died in 1739, in his
forty-ninth year.
Mrs. Wesley was the instructress of her children in their
early years. " I can find," says Dr. Whitehead,*" no evidence
that the boys were ever put to any school in the country;
their mother having a very bad opinion of the common
methods of instructing and governing children." She was
particularly led, it would seem, to interest herself in John,
who, when he was about six years old, had a providential
and singular escape from being burned to death, upon the
parsonage house being consumed.* There is a striking
passage in one of her private meditations, which contains
a reference to this event; and indicates that she considered
it as laying her under a special obligation " to be more
particularly careful of the soul of a child whom God had so
mercifully provided for." The effect of this special care
* The memory of his deliverance, on this occasion, is preserved in
one of his early portraits, which has, below the head, the represent¬
ation of a house in flames, with the motto, "Is not this a brand plucked
from the burning ?"
10
LIFE OF THE
on the part of the mother was, that, under the Divine bless¬
ing, he became early serious ; for at the age of eight years
he was admitted by his father to partake of the sacrament.
In 1714, he was placed at the Charter house, " where he
was noticed for his diligence, and progress in learning."
(Whitehead's Life.) " Here, for his quietness, regularity,
and application, he became a favourite with the master,
Dr. Walker; and through life he retained so great a pre¬
dilection for the place, that on his annual visit to London,
t>e made it a custom to walk through the scene of his boy¬
hood. To most men, every year would render a pilgrimage
of this kind more painful than the last; but Wesley seems
never to have looked back with melancholy upon the days
'hat were gone ; earthly regrets of this kind could find no
room in one who was continually pressing onward to the
goal." (Southey's Life.) When he had attained his seven¬
teenth year, he was elected to Christ Church, Oxford,
" where he pursued his studies with great advantage, I
believe under the direction of Dr. Wigan, a gentleman
eminent for his classical knowledge. Mr. Wesley's natural
temper in his youth was gay and sprightly, with a turn for
wit and humour. When he was about twenty-one years
of age, 'he appeared,' as Mr. Badcock has observed, 'the
very sensible and acute collegian; a young fellow of the
finest classical taste, of the most liberal and manly senti¬
ments.' (Westminster JWagazine.) His perfect knowledge
of the classics gave a smooth polish to his wit, and an
air of superior elegance to all his compositions. He had
already begun to amuse himself occasionally with writing
verses, though most of his poetical pieces, at this period,
were, I believe, either imitations or translations of the Latin.
Some time in this year, however, he wrote an imitation of
the sixty-fifth Psalm, which he sent to his father, who says,
'■ J like your verses on the sixty-fifth Psalm ; and would not
have you bury your talent.' " (Whitehead's Life.)
Some time after this, when purposing to take deacon's
orders, he was roused from the religious carelessness into
which he had fallen at college, and applied himself dili¬
gently to the reading of divinity. This more thoughtful
frame appears to have been indicated in his letters to his
mother, with whom he kept up a regular correspondence ;
for she replies, " The alteration of your temper has occa-
KEV. JOHN WESLEY
11
sioned me much speculation. I, who am apt to be san¬
guine, hope it may proceed from the operations of God's
Holy Spirit, that, by taking off your relish for earthly
enjoyments, he may prepare and dispose your mind for a
Itoore serious and close application to things of a more
sublime and spiritual nature. If it be so, happy are you
if you cherish those dispositions ; and now, in good earn¬
est, resolve to make religion the business of your life;
for, after all, that is the one thing which, strictly speaking,
is necessary: all things beside are comparatively little to
the purposes of life. I heartily wish you would now enter
upon a strict examination of yourself, that you may know,
whether you have a reasonable hope of salvation by Jesus
Christ. If you have, the satisfaction of knowing it will
abundantly reward your pains ; if you have not, you will
find a more reasonable occasion for tears than can be met
with in a tragedy. This matter deserves great considera¬
tion by all, but especially by those designed for the minis¬
try ; who ought, above all things, to make their own calling
and election sure ; lest, after they have preached to others*
they themselves should be cast away."
This excellent advice was not lost upon him; and indeed
his mother's admirable letters were among the principal
means, under God, of producing that still more decided
change in his views which soon afterward began to dis¬
play itself. He was now about twenty-two years of age.
The practical books most read by him at this period,
which was probably employed as a course of preparation
for holy orders, were, " The Christian's Pattern," by
Thomas h Kempis ; and Bishop Taylor's "Rules of Holy
Living and Dyingand his correspondence with his
parents respecting these authors shows how carefully he
was weighing their merits, and investigating their mean¬
ing, as regarding them in the light of spiritual instructers.
The letters of his mother on the points offered to her con¬
sideration by her son, show, in many respects, a deeply
thinking and discriminating mind; but they are also in proof
that both she and her husband had given up their acquaint¬
ance, if they ever had any, with works which might have
been recommended as much more suitable to -the state
of their son's mind, and far superior as a directory to
true Christianity. This to him would have been infinitely
12
LIFE OF THE
more important than discussing the peculiar views, and
adjusting the proportion of excellency and defect, which
may be found in such a writer as Kempis, whose " Chris¬
tian's Pattern" is, where in reality excellent, a manual
rather for him who is a Christian already, than for him who
is seeking to become one.
A few things are however to be remarked in this cor¬
respondence which are of considerable interest, as showing
the bearings of Mr. Wesley's views as to those truths of
which he afterward obtained a satisfactory conviction, and
then so clearly stated and defended.
The son, in writing to his mother on Bishop Taylor's
book, states several particulars which Bishop Taylor makes
necessary parts of humility and repentance ; one of which,
in reference to humility, is, that "we must be sure, in some
sense or other, to think ourselves the worst in every com¬
pany where we come." And in treating of repentance he
says, "Whether God has forgiven us, or no, we know not;
therefore be sorrowful for ever having sinned." " I take
the more notice of this last sentence," says Mr. Wesley,
" because it seems to contradict his own words in the next
section, where he says, that by the Lord's Supper all the
members are united to one another, and to Christ the
head. The Holy Ghost confers on us the graces neces¬
sary for, and our souls receive the seeds of, an immortal
nature. Now, surely, these graces are not of so little
force as that we cannot perceive whether we have them,
or not: if we dwell in Christ, and Christ in us, which he
will not do unless we are regenerate, certainly we must be
sensible of it. If we can never have any certainty of our
being in a state of salvation, good reason it is that every
moment should be spent, not in joy, but in fear and trem¬
bling ; and then undoubtedly, in this life, we are of all men
most miserable. God deliver us from such a fearful ex¬
pectation as this ! Humility is, undoubtedly, necessary to
salvation; and if all these things are essential to humility,
who can be humble 1 who can be saved 1"
The mother, in reply, suggests to him some good thoughts
and useful distinctions on the subject of humility ; but
omits to afford him any assistance on the point of the pos¬
sibility of obtaining a comfortable persuasion of being in a
state of salvation, through the influence of the Holy Spirit;
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
13
which he already discerned to be the privilege of a real
believer, though as yet he was greatly perplexed as to the
means of attaining it. At this period too he makes the
important distinction between assurance of present, and
assurance of future, salvation ; by confounding which, so
many, from their objection to the Calvinistic notion of the
infallible perseverance of the saints, have given up the doc¬
trine of assurance altogether. " That we can never be
so certain of the pardon of our sins, as to be assured they
will never rise up against us, I firmly believe. We know
that they will infallibly do so if ever we apostatize ; and I
am not satisfied what evidence there can be of our final
perseverance, till we have finished our course. But I am
persuaded we may know if we are now in a state of salva¬
tion, since that is expressly promised in the Holy Scrip¬
tures to our sincere endeavours ; and we are surely able
to judge of our own sincerity."
The latter part of this extract will, however, show how
much he had yet to learn as to " the way to the Father."
Mrs. Wesley also corrects a defective definition of faith,
which her son's letter had contained, in the following
sensible remarks; which are just, as far as they go, but
below the true Scriptural standard, and the proper concep¬
tion of that saving faith after which her son was inquiring:
" You are somewhat mistaken in your notions of faith.
All faith is an assent, but all assent is not faith. Some
truths are self-evident, and we assent to them because
they are so. Others, after a regular and formal process
of reason by way of deduction from some self-evident
principle, gain our assent. This is not properly faith, but
science. Some again we assent to, not because they are
self-evident, or because we have attained the knowledge
of them in a regular method by a train of arguments, but
because they have been revealed to us, either by God or
man ; and these are the proper objects of faith. The true
measure of faith is the authority of the revealer; the weight
of which always holds proportion to our conviction of his
ability and integrity. Divine faith is an assent to whatever
God has revealed to us, because he has revealed it."
Predestination was another subject touched upon in this
interesting correspondence. Mr. Wesley was probably led
to it by. his review of the Articles of the Church previous
2
14
life of the
to his ordination; and he thus expresses himself on this
oontroverted subject: " What then shall I say of predesti¬
nation? An everlasting purpose of God to deliver some
from damnation, does, I suppose, exclude all from that
deliverance who are not chosen. And if it was inevitably
decreed from eternity, that such a determinate part of man¬
kind should be saved, and none beside them, a vast ma¬
jority of the world were only born to eternal death, without
so much as a possibility of avoiding it. How is this con¬
sistent with either the divine justice or mercy 1 Is it merci¬
ful to ordain a creature to everlasting misery 1 Is it just to
punish a man for crimes which he could not but commit 1
That God should be the author of sin and injustice, which
must, I think, be the consequence of maintaining this
opinion, is a contradiction to the clearest ideas we have of
the divine nature and perfections." (Whitehead's Life.)
From these views he never departed ; and the terms he
uses contain indeed the only rational statement of the whole
question.
He was ordained deacon in September, 1725, and the
year following was elected fellow of Lincoln College. His
previous seriousness had been the subject of much banter
and ridicule, and appears to have been urged against him,
in the election, by his opponents ; but his reputation for
learning and diligence, and the excellence of his character,
triumphed; and, what was probably to him the greatest
pleasure, he had the gratification of seeing the joy this event
gave to his venerable parents, and which was emphatically
expressed in their letters. Several specimens of his poetry,
composed about this time, are given by his biographers,
which show that, had he cultivated that department of
literature, he would not have occupied an inferior plaee
among the tasteful and elegant votaries of verse: but he
soon found more serious and more useful employment.
He spent the summer after his election to the fellowship
with his parents, in Lincolnshire, and took that opportunity
of conversing with them at large upon those serious topics
which then fully occupied his mind. In September, he
returned to Oxford, and resumed his usual studies. " His
literary character was now established in the university;
he was acknowledged by all parties to be a man of talents,
and an excellent critic in the learned languages. His
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
15
compositions were distinguished by an elegant simplicity
of style, and justness of thought, that strongly marked the
excellence of his classical taste. His skill in logic, or the
art of reasoning, was universally known and admired. The
high opinion that was entertained of him in these respects
was soon publicly expressed, by choosing him Greek lec¬
turer, and moderator of the classes, on the seventh of No¬
vember ; though he had only been elected fellow of the
college in March, was little more than twenty-three years
of age, and had not proceeded master of arts." (White¬
head's Life.) He took this degree in February, 1727;
became his father's curate in August the same year; re¬
turned to Oxford in 1728, to obtain priest's orders ; and
paid another visit to Oxford in 1729 ; where, during his
stay, he attended the meetings of a small society formed
by his brother Charles, Mr. Morgan, and a few others, to
assist each other in their studies, and to consult how to
employ their time to the best advantage.
After about a month, he returned to Epworth ; but
upon Dr. Morley, the rector of his college, requiring his
residence, he quitted his father's curacy, and in November
again settled in Oxford. He now obtained pupils, and
became tutor in the college ; presided as moderator in the
disputations six times a week ; and had the chief direction
of a religious society. From this time he stood more
prominently forward in his religious character, and in
efforts to do good to others; and began more fully to.
prove that " they that will live godly in Christ Jesus, must
suffer persecution." It is however necessary to turn to
the history of Mr. Charles Wesley, whose labours in the
early periods of Methodism were inferior only to those of
his brother.
Charles Wesley was, as above stated, five years younger
than his brother John ; and was educated at Westminster
school, under his eldest brother, Samuel, from whom he
is said to have derived a still stronger tincture of High
Church principles than was imbibed under the paternal
roof. " When he had been some years at school, Mr. R.
Wesley, a gentleman of large fortune in Ireland, wrote to
his father, and asked if he had any son named Charles ; if
so, he would make him his heir. Accordingly, a gentle¬
man in London brought money for his education several
16
LIFE OF THE
years. But one year another gentleman called, probably
Mr. Wesley himself, talked largely with him, and asked if
he was willing to go with him to Ireland. Mr. Charles
desired to write to his father, who answered immediately,
and referred it to his own choice. He chose to stay in
England." (Whitehead's Life, vol. i, p. 98.) " Mr. John
Wesley, in his account of his brother, calls this a fair
escape. The fact is more remarkable than he was aware
of; for the person who inherited the property intended for
Charles Wesley, and who took the name of Wesley, or
Wellesley, in consequence, was the first Earl of Morning-
ton, grandfather of Marquis Wellesley and the Duke of
Wellington." (South-ey's Life.)
The lively disposition of Charles, although he pursued
his studies diligently, and was unblamable in his conduct,
repelled all those exhortations to a more strictly religious
course which John seriously urged upon him, after he was
elected to Christ Church. During his brother's absence,
as his father's curate, his letters, however, became more
grave; and when Mr. John Wesley returned to Oxford,
in November, 1729, "I found him," he observes, "in great
earnestness to save his soul." His own account of him¬
self is, that he lost his first year at college in diversions ?
that the next, he set himself to study; that diligence led
him into serious thinking; that he went to the weekly
sacrament, persuading two or three students to accompany
him; and that he observed the method of study prescribed
by the statutes of the university. "This," says he, "gained
me the harmless name of MethodistThus it appears
* From the name of an ancient sect of physicians, say some of Mr.
Wesley's biographers; but probably the wits of Oxford, who imposed
the name, knew nothing of that sect of the middle age,s. The Non¬
conformists were often called, in derision, Methodists; and the name
was probably transmitted from them; or it might be given merely
from the rigid adherence to method in study by Mr. Charles Wesley.
It is, however, somewhat worthy of notice, that before the times of
Nonconformity, properly so called, we find Methodists mentioned as
one of the minor sects in conjunction with the Anabaptists; for, as
early as 1639, in a .sermon preached at Lambeth, they are rated in
good set style for their aversion to rhetorical sermons:—" Where are
now our Anabaptists and plain pack-staff' Methodists, who esteem of
all flowers of rhetoric in sermons no better than stinking weeds, and
of all elegancies of speech no better than profane spells?" &c. Their
fault in those days, it appears, was to prefer plain preaching; no bad
compliment, though an undesigned one. The epithet used to describe
rev. john wesley.
17
that Charles was the first modern Methodist, and that he
in fact laid the foundations of the religious society which
continues to be distinguished by that appellation. To this
society Mr. John Wesley joined himself on his return to
reside at Oxford; and by his influence and energy gave
additional vigour to their exertions to promote their own
spiritual improvement, and the good of others. The union
of system and efficiency which this association presented
well accorded with his practical and governing mind ; and,
no doubt, under the leadings of a superior agency, of which
he was unconscious, he was thus training himself to those
habits of regular and influential exertion and enterprize
which subsequently rendered him the instrument of a re¬
vival of religion throughout the land. Of the little society
of which, by the mere force of his character, he thus be¬
came the head, Mr. Hervey, the author of the " Medita¬
tions," and the celebrated Whitefield, were members.
CHAPTER II.
The strictly religious profession which Mr. Wesley must
now be considered as making at Oxford,—a profession so
strongly marked as to become matter of public notice, and
accompanied with so much zeal as to excite both ridicule
and opposition, requires to be carefully examined. After
all, he thought himself to be but " almost," and not " alto¬
gether," a Christian,—a conclusion of a very perplexing
kind to many who have set up themselves for better judges
in "his case, than he himself. From a similar cause, we
have seen St. Paul all but reproved by some divines for
representing himself "as the chief of sinners," at the time
when he was " blameless" as to " the righteousness of the
law;" and, but for the courtesy due to an inspired man, he
them, may also intimate that they were plain in dress and manners..
At a later period, 1693, some of the Nonconformists who had renounced
the imputation of Christ's righteousness in justification, except in the
merit of it, and whose views were somewhat similar to those of the
Wesleyan Methodists on the imputation of faith for righteousness,
were called by their brethren, the New Methodists. They were not
however a sect, but were so denominated from the new method
which they took in stating the doctrine of justification. Thus we have
aCalvinistic pamphlet, under this date, written against " the principles
of the New Methodists in the great point of justification."
18
UPB OF THE
would, probably, in direct contradiction to his own words,
have been pronounced the chief of saints ; although his
heart remained a total stranger to humility and charity.
The Wesleys at Oxford were indeed not only in a higher
but in an essentially different state of religious experience
from that of Saul of Tarsus, notwithstanding his array of
legal zeal and external virtue ; but if our views of personal
religion must be taken from the New Testament, although
as to men they were blameless and exemplary, yet, in
respect to God, those internal changes had not taken place
in them which it is the office of real Christianity to effect.
They were, however, most sincere ; they were " faithful
in that which is little," and God gave them " the true
riches." They " sought God with all their heart;" and
they ultimately found him, but in a way which at that time
"they knew not." The very writers, Bishop Taylor and
Mr. Law, who so powerfully wrought upon their con¬
sciences, were among the most erring guides to that
" peace of God which passeth all understanding," for
which they sighed ; and those celebrated divines, excelled
by none for genius and eloquence, who could draw the
picture of a practical piety so copious and exact in its
external manifestations, were unable to teach that mystic
connection of the branches with the vine, from which the
only fruits which are of healthy growth and genuine flavour
can proceed. Both are too defective in their views of faith,
and of its object the atonement of Christ, to be able to
direct a penitent and troubled spirit into the way of salva¬
tion, and to show how all the principles and acts of truly
Christian piety are sustained by a life of " faith in the Son
of God." To this subject, however, Mr. Wesley's own
account of himself will, subsequently, again call our at¬
tention.
Bishop Taylor's chapter on purity of intention first con¬
vinced Mr. Wesley of the necessity of being holy in heart,
as well as regular in his outward conduct; and having,
for the first time, formed an acquaintance with a religious
friend, " he began to alter the whole form of his conversa¬
tion, and to set in earnest upon a new life." " He com
municated every Aveek. He watched against all sin,
whether in word or deed, and began to aim at, and pray
for, inward holiness;" (Journal;) but still with a painful
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
W
consciousness that he found not that which he so earnestly
sought. His error, at this period, was drawn from his
theological guides just mentioned ; he either confounded
sanctification with justification, that is, a real with a rela¬
tive change, or he regarded sanctification as a preparation
for, and a condition of, justification. He had not yet
learned the Apostle's doctrine, the gratuitous justification
of " the ungodly," when penitent, and- upon the sole con¬
dition of believing in Christ; nor that upon this there fol-
loios a " death" unto all inward and outward sin ; so that
he who is so justified can " no longer continue therein."
It is, however, deeply interesting, to trace the progress of
his mind through its agitations, inquiries, hopes, and fears,
until the moment when he found that steadfast peace which
never afterward forsook him, but gave serenity to his coun¬
tenance, and cheerfulness to his heart, to the last hour of
a prolonged life.
The effects of the strong impression which had been
iqade upon him by the practical writings of Taylor and
Law promptly manifested themselves. The discipline he
maintained as a tutor over his pupils was more strict than
the university had been accustomed to witness; and for
this reason, that it was more deeply and comprehensively
conscientious. He regarded himself as responsible to
God for exerting himself to his utmost, not only to pro¬
mote their learning, but to regulate their moral habits, and
to form their religious principles. Here his disciplinary
habits had their first manifestation. He required them to
rise very early; he directed their .reading, and controlled
their general conduct, by rules to which he exacted entire
obedience. This was not well taken by the friends of some;
but from others he received very grateful letters; and
several of his pupils themselves were not insensible of the
obligations they owed to him, not only on a religious
account, but for thus enabling them to reap the full advan¬
tages of that seat of learning, by restraining them from its
dissipations.
The little society of Methodists, as they were called,
began now to extend its operations. When Mr. Wesley
joined them, they committed its management to him, and
he has himself stated its original members:—
" In November, 1729. four young gentlemen of Oxford,
20
LIFE OF THE
Mr. John Wesley, fellow of Lincoln College; Mr. Charles
Wesley, student of Christ Church ; Mr. Morgan, com¬
moner of Christ Church ; and Mr. Kirkman, of Merton
College, began to spend some evenings in a week together,
in reading chiefly the Greek Testament. The next year,
two or three of Mr. John Wesley's pupils desired the liber¬
ty of meeting with them ; and afterward one of Mr. Charles
Wesley's pupils. It was in 1732 that Mr. Ingham, of
Queen's College, and Mr. Broughton, of Exeter, were
added to their number. To these, in April, was joined
Mr. Clayton, of Brazen-nose, with two or three of his
pupils. About the same time Mr. James Hervey was per¬
mitted to meet with them, and afterward Mr. Whitefield."
{Journal.)
Mr. Morgan led the way to their visiting the prisoners
in the Oxford gaol, for the purpose of affording them reli¬
gious instruction. They afterward resolved to spend two
or three hours a week in visiting and relieving the poor
and the sick, generally, where the parish ministers did not
object to it. This was, however, so novel a practice, and
might be deemed by some so contrary to Church order,
that Mr. Wesley consulted his father upon the point. Mr.
Wesley, senior, answered the inquiry in a noble letter,
equally honourable to his feelings as a father, and a minis¬
ter of Christ. They had his full sanction for prosecuting
their pious labours; he blessed God who had given him
two sons together at Oxford, who had received grace and
courage to turn the war against the world and the devil; he
bids them defy reproach, and animates them in God's name
to go on in the path to which their Saviour had directed
them. At the same time, he advjses them to consult with
the Chaplain of the prison, and to obtain the approbation of
the bishop. This high sanction was obtained ; but it was
not sufficient to screen them from the rebukes of the gravely
lukewarm, or the malignantly vicious'. Sarcasm and serious
opposition robbed them of one of their number, who had
not fortitude to bear the shafts of ridicule, or to resist the
persuasion of friends ; and the opposition being now headed
by some persons of influence, Mr. Wesley had again
recourse, by letter, to his father's counsel. The answer
deserves to be transcribed at length :—
" This day I received both yours, and this evening, in
rev. john wesley,
21
the course of our reading, I thought I found an answer that
would be more proper, than any I myself could dictate;
though since it will not be easily translated, I send it in the
original. IIoXXtj (xot xour^dig Wsp up,wv* 35sirX?jpwp.ai t*) zsap-
AxXyrfsr uirspir£pi<f<f£uopai rfj ^apa.* What would you be 1
Would you be angels 1 I question whether a mortal can
arrive to a greater degree of perfection than steadily to do
good, and for that very reason patiently and meekly to suf¬
fer evil. For my part, on the present view of your actions
and designs, my daily prayers are, that God would keep you
humble ; and then I am sure that if you continue ' to suf¬
fer for righteousness' sake,' though it be but in a lower
degree, the Spirit of God and of glory shall in some good
measure rest upon you. And you cannot but feel such a
satisfaction in your own minds as you would not part with
for all the world. Be never weary of well doing ; never
look back, for you know the prize and the crown are before
you; though I can scarce think so meanly of you, as that
you should be discouraged with the ' crackling of thorns
under a pot.' Be not high-minded, but fear. Preserve an
equal temper of mind under whatever treatment you meet
with, from a not very just or well-natured world. Bear no
more sail than is necessary, but steer steady. The less
you value yourselves for these unfashionable duties, (as
there is no such thing as works of supererogation,) the
more all good and wise men will value you, if they see your
works are all of a piece ; or, which is infinitely more, He
by whom actions and intentions are weighed will both
accept, esteem, and reward you.
" I hear my son John has the honour of being styled the
' Father of the Holy Clubif it be so, I am sure I must
be the grandfather of it; and I need not say, that I had
rather any of my sons should be so dignified and distin¬
guished, than to have the title of His Holiness." (White¬
head's Life.)
Thus encouraged, they proceeded in their course with
meekness and constancy; to relieve the poor they sacrificed
all the superfluities, and sometimes the conveniences of
life; and they redoubled their efforts to produce religious
impressions upon their college acquaintance, as well as
* 2 Cor. vii, 4. Great is my glorying of you. I am filled with
comfort. I am exceeding joyful.—Authorized Version.
22
LIFE OF THE
upon the ignorant, the poor, and the sick. The apology
for these piqus and praiseworthy efforts, which, on the
increase of the outcry made against them, Mr. Wesley pub¬
lished in the modest form of queries, amply indicates the
low state of religious feeling in the university ; and we
may well conclude with one of Mr. Wesley's biographers,
that " a voluntary scheme of so much private and public
good, such piety, with such beneficence, certainly merited a
different return; and, if the university in general, instead
of ridiculing or persecuting them, had had the grace to imi¬
tate their example, it would have been much better both
for the public and themselves."
Even their eldest brother Samuel added his seasonable
exhortations to perseverance, in a short, but vigorous letter:
—" I cannot say, I thought you always in every thing right;
but I must now say, rather than you and (Charles should
give over your whole course, especially what relates to the
castle, I would choose to follow either of you, nay, both
of you, to your graves. I cannot advise you better, than
in the words I proposed for a motto to a pamphlet,
sSpaTog wj dxjxwv <rw<rop.£vo£' xaXS yap aSXyrx SspstfSai xai vixav.
' Stand thou steadfast as a beaten anvil; for it is the part
of a good champion to be flayed alive and to conquer.' "
[Whitehead's Life.)
Sickness, and cowardly desertion arising from weariness
of the cross, some time after this, reduced the number of
this little society of zealous young men, and the brothers
Were left to stand almost alone ; but they still persevered
with unabated zeal and diligence in their attempts to do
good, exhibiting a rare example of decision, only to be
accounted for by a preparing influence of God upon their
hearts, thus training them up for still more arduous service.
This it was which had implanted in them those admirable
principles which are unreservedly laid open in a letter of
Mr. John Wesley to his brother Samuel, who had begun
to think that they were pushing the strictness of their per¬
sonal piety too far:—
"1. As to the end of my being, I lay it down for a rule,
that I cannot be too happy, or therefore too holy ; and
thence infer that the more steadily I keep my eye upon the
prize of our high calling, and the more of my thoughts and
words and actions are directly pointed at the attainment of
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
23
it, the better. 2. As to the instituted means of attain¬
ing it, I likewise lay it down for a rule, that I am to use
them every time I may. 3. As to prudential means, I
believe this rule holds of things indifferent in themselves ;
whatever I know to do me hurt, that to me is not indiffer¬
ent, but resolutely to be abstained from: whatever I know
to do me good, that to me is not indifferent, but resolutely
to be embraced." (Whitehead's Life.)
Adverting to this charge of over strictness, and being
" righteous overmuch," he also earnestly requests his
mother to point out any instance in which she might judge
from their unreserved communications to her of every part
of their conduct, that they were too superstitious or enthu¬
siastic on the one hand, or too remiss on'the other. Some
anxiety had indeed been created at home by the singularity
of their proceedings, and the opposition they had roused at
Oxford, which was probably the chief reason why the father
extended his journey from London to Oxford at the close
of the year 1731. He was, however, evidently satisfied
with his personal observations and inquiries; for on his
return to London he writes to Mrs. Wesley, that he had
been well repaid for the expense and labour of his journey
to Oxford, " by the shining piety of our two sons."
In the midst of all this zeal, devotedness, and patience
of reproach, when the eye of man could see nothing but
a mature and vital Christianity, we are enabled to ascer¬
tain the state of Mr. Wesley's own heart as laid open by
himself. Speaking of a time a little subsequent to the
decided impressions he had received from the reading of
Bishop Taylor's "Holy Living and Dying," and Mr. Law's
" Serious Call," he says, "I was convinced, more than ever,
of the exceeding height and breadth and depth of the
law of God. The light flowed in so mightily upon my
soul, that every thing appeared in a new view. I cried
to God for help, and resolved not to prolong the time of
obeying him as I had never done before. And by my
continued endeavour to keep his whole law, inward and
outward, to the best of my power, I was persuaded that
I should be accepted of him ; and that I was even then in
a state of salvation."
He was now manifestly, seeking justification before
God by efforts a a perfect obedience to his law ; nor was
24
LIFE OF THE
he then quite hopeless as to success. Some time after¬
ward, still clearly convinced as he had been from the first
that he was not in that state of mind, that settled enjoy¬
ment of conscious peace with God, that love to him,
delight in him, and filial access to him, which the New
Testament describes as the privilege of a true believer,
but still diligently persevering in the rigid practice of
every discovered duty in the hope of seizing the great
prize by this means, he became greatly surprised that he
was so far from obtaining it. He was often dull and
formal in the use of the ordinances, and was on that
account thrown " into distress and perplexity; so that he
seemed at a loss which way to proceed, to obtain the
happiness and security he wanted." (Whitehead.) The
deep tone of feeling, and the earnestness of his inquiries,
in the following passages from a letter to his mother,
written in 1732, present this state of his mind in a very
affecting light. He then needed some one more fully
instructed in the true doctrine of salvation, than even this
excellent and intelligent " guide of his youth," to teach
him to lay down the burden of his wounded and anxious
spirit, in self-despair as to his own efforts, at the foot of
the cross of Christ.
After mentioning Mr. Morgan, he observes: " One
consideration is enough to make me assent to his and
your judgment concerning the holy sacrament; which is,
that we cannot allow Christ's human nature to be present
in it, without allowing either con- or tran-substantiation.
But that his Divinity is so united to us then, as he never
is but to worthy receivers, I firmly believe ; though the
manner of that union is utterly a mystery to me.
" That none but worthy receivers should find this effect
is not strange to me, when I observe, how small effect
many means of improvement have upon an unprepared
mind. Mr. Morgan and my brother were affected, as they
ought, by the observations you made on that glorious sub¬
ject : but, though my understanding approved what was
excellent, yet my heart did not feel it. Why was this, but
because it was preengaged by those affections with which
wisdom will not dwell? Because the animal mind can¬
not relish those truths which are spiritually discerned.
Yet J. have those writings which the good Spirit gave to
KEV. J. WESLEY.
25
that end! I have many of those which he hath since as¬
sisted his servants to give us; I have retirement to apply
these to my own soul daily; I have means both of public
and private prayer; and, above all, of partaking in that
sacrament once a week. What shall I do to make all
these blessings effectual ? to gain from them that mind
which was also in Christ Jesus ?
"To all who give signs of their not being strangers to
it, I propose this question,—and why not to you rather
than any ?—Shall I quite break off my pursuit of all learn¬
ing, but what immediately tends to practice ? I once
desired to make a fair show in languages and philosophy ;
but it is past; there is a more excellent way ; and if 1
cannot attain to any progress in the one, without throwing
up all thoughts of the other, why, fare it well! yet a little
while, and we shall all be equal in knowledge, if we are in
virtue.
" You say, you have renounced the world. And what
have I been doing all this time ? What have I done ever
since I was born? Why, I have been plunging myself
into it more and more. It is enough: awake thou that
sleepest. Is therejiot one Lord, one Spirit, one hope of
our calling? one way of attaining that hope? Then I am
to renounce the world as well as you. That is the very
thing I want to do: to draw off my affections from this
world, and fix them on a better. But how ? What is the
surest and the shortest way ? Is it not to be humble ?
Surely this is a large step in the way. But the question
recurs, How am I to do this ? To own the necessity of
it, is not to be humble. In many things you have inter¬
ceded for me and prevailed. Who knows but in this, too,
you may be successful ? If you can spare me only that
little part of Thursday evening which you formerly be¬
stowed upon me in another manner, I doubt not but it
would be as useful now, for correcting my heart, as it was
then for forming my judgment.
" When I observe how fast life flies away, and how
slow improvement comes, I think one can never be too
much afraid of dying before one has learned to live. I
mean, even in the course of nature. For were I sure that
4 the silver cord should not be violently loosed;' that ' the
wheel' should not be 4 broken at the cistern,' till it was
26
LIFE OF THE
quite worn away by its own motion; yet what a time would
this give me for such a work ! a moment, to transact the
business of eternity ! What are forty years in comparison
of this ? So that were I sure, what never man yet was
sure of, how little would it alter the case! How justly
still might I cry out,
' Downward I hasten to my destined place ;
There none obtain thy aid, none sing thy praise!
Soon shall I lie in death's deep ocean drown'd;
Is mercy there, is sweet forgiveness found ?
O save me yet, while on the brink I stand;
Rebuke these storms, and set me safe on land.
O make my loiigings and thy mercy sure!
Thou art the God of power.'" (Whitehead's Life.)
It was not, therefore, as it'has been hastily stated, that
he first learned from the Moravians that he was not a true
Christian. He had, at Oxford, a most painful conviction
that he was far below the evangelical standard. He had
then, as this letter sufficiently slio.ws, a.large measure of
" the spirit of bondage unto fearand that after which
his perplexed heart panted, was the "Spirit of adoption,"
by which he might " cry, Abba, Father."
During^ the summer of this year, 1732, Mr. Wesley
visited London, where he formed ah acquaintance with
several respectable and pious persons. He also made
two journeys,to Epworth. The, latter of these was in or¬
der to meet the whole family, which had assembled, upon
the father's request, once more before their final separa¬
tion by death. These and other journeys he performed
on foot, partly, no doubt, to avoid what he considered
needless-expense, that he might, according to his rule,
have the more to distribute in charity; and partly to
accustom himself to* fatigue and hardship. " In these
excursions, he constantly preached on the Lord's day ; so
that he might now be called, in some degree, an itinerant
preacher." In the following year, he again visited Ep¬
worth, Manchester, and some other places ; but his occa¬
sional absence had a bad effect upon the still persecuted
society at Oxford, whose members shrunk from the storm,
and took the opportunity of his being away to shake off the
strictness of the rules. The five-and-twenty communi¬
cants at St. Mary's, he informs his father had shrunk to
REV. J. WESLEY.
27
five. Still his courage was unshaken, and he exerted him¬
self the more, upon his return, to repair the loss. • To¬
ward the end of the year, his exertions of mind and body,
with an excess of abstemiousness, greatly affected his
health, and induced spitting of blood. His state was such
as greatly to alarm his friends ; but the vigour of his con¬
stitution triumphed; and this atfack of disease served to
impress him the more deeply with eternal things, and to
give renewed ardour to his endeavours a£te'r ftniversail
holiness, and to his plans for the religious benefit of* his
fellow creatures. • . " ^ ,
A considerable trial-to his feelings no.w' Awaited him.
The declining age of his father,4 who anxiously de^iyed to
provide for the spiritual wanf^ of his parishioners in a
suitable manner, joined witlr t^e'.wishes pf* the people of
Epworth, and the concerns- ©fjjife family for which jio pro¬
vision, it-se,ems, had been made;,* induced him to "write to
his son, to'make interest forthe' next presentation'to the
living. Mr. Wesley, from his Teluctance to leave Oxford,
where -he thought he Jshoul'd; be far more useful, and
where, according'to his own convictions, he was - placed
in circumstances more conducive to his spiritual improve¬
ment, refused the proposal { and "the most urgent letters
of the .different branches of fhe" family weW insufficient to
bend his resolution. " His father wrote *him a pathetic let¬
ter, in which every consideration was" urged which might
answer his objections, or move his feelings. His brother
Samuel addressed him in a sterner mood, urging that he
was not at liberty to resolve againt undertaking a cure of
souls, to which he was solemnly pledged by his ordina¬
tion ; and ridiculed his notion that he could not,, so safely
to himself, or so usefully to others, take the charge of a
parish priest, as remain at Oxford. - To all this he reite¬
rates, that his own holiness and usefulness could be pro¬
moted no where so effectually as in his present station;
that his retirement, his friends, and other advantages were
essential to his improvement; that he was inadequate to the
charge of two thousand parishioners ; and that he did not
consider his ordination vows in the same light as his bro¬
ther. On the last point, indeed, he was supported by the
opinion of the bishop who ordained him, and whom he con¬
sulted on the question. These and other topics run through
28
LIFE OF THE
the correspondence, which, though it is not necessary to
give entire, affords considerable insight into the state of
Mr. Wesley's mind. His conduct in this matter has been
criticised as unfeeling, without considering that the kind¬
ness of his general character is a sufficient pledge, that the
refusal of the urgent request of a venerable father, and a
beloved mother whose widowhood would be unprovided for,
must have been to him sufficiently painful. Dr. Southey
thinks the correspondence not " creditable to his judg¬
ment,;" (Life of Wesley;) but it would be hard to prove
that the leading consideration which influenced him, that
he was more usefully employed in doing good at the very
"fountain" from which the nation was to be so largely
supplied with its clergy, than as a country parish priest,
was not a very obvious truth. This conclusion, true or
false, was at least a very plausible -one, and as such con¬
cerned his conscience ; and his disregard of his Own tem¬
poral advantage, which certainly lay on the side of the
Epworth rectory, and his merging all consideration of the
interests of the family in the higher question of what he
regarded as a duty, might not appear instances of " good
judgment" to worldly minds, and yet be so in reality. His
leading reason, drawn from his greater usefulness at Ox¬
ford, being strong in itself, that he, with his wonted decision
of character, should stand firmly upon it, will create no
surprise; but that some of his other reasons are less
weighty may be granted. They show that he had more
confidence in a certain class of means, to secure his reli¬
gious safety, than in the grace of God. This was the
natural effect of those notions of the efficacy of retirement,
and self-denial, and " the wisdom of flight" from danger,
which he had learned from Bishop Taylor ; whilst the
views he entertained of the necessity of exercising a minute
personal superintendence over every individual committed
to his charge, as being equally necessary to his own good
conscience, and to their saltation, led him to regard a
parish, containing two thousand souls, as too formidable
and fearful an undertaking. His religious judgment was
indeed as yet immature and perplexed; but in reasoning
from his own principles, his natural judgment showed its
usual strength in the conclusions to which it conducted
him. Whatever weakness there might be in the case was
REV. JOHN WE&LEY.
29
the result of the imperfect state of his religious experience,
and of that dependence upQn his own plans of attaining
spirituality, to which it gave rise ; but connecting him with
that great work which he was designed afterward to effect,
we must shut out also the doctrine of Providence, if we do
not see a higher hand than that of man in this determina¬
tion ; a hand which is not the less certainly employed,
when it works its ends through the secret volitions, aver¬
sions, inclinations, and even prejudices of the human heart,
than when it more sensibly and immediately interposes to
hasten or retard our purposes. Mr. Wesley's father died
m April, 1735. He had been manifestly ripening for his
change; and in his last moments had the consolation of
the presence of his two sons, John and Charles. " He had
no fear of death; and the peace of God which he enjoyed
appeared sometimes to suspend his bodily sufferings, and,
when they recurred, to sustain his mind above them.
When, as nature seemed spent, and his speech was fail¬
ing, his son John asked him whether he was not near
heaven, he answered, ' Yes, I am,' distinctly, and with a
voice of hope and joy. After John had used the com¬
mendatory prayer, he said, 'Now you have done all:' these
were his last words, and he passed away so peacefully
and insensibly, that his children continued over him a
considerable time in doubt whether or not the spirit was
departed. Mrs. Wesley, who for several days, whenever
she entered his chamber, had been carried out of it in a
fit, recovered her fortitude now, and said her prayers were
heard, for God had granted him an easy death, and had
strengthened her to bear it." (Souihey's Life.) Brighter
views of the doctrine of faith had opened upon his mind,
during his sickness, and shed their influence upon his last
hours. This his sons afterward more clearly understood
than at the time.*
About the middle of this year, the trustees of the new
colony of Georgia, who wished to send out clergymen
* In some of the biographical notices which have been published of
this venerable man, he is represented as of a harsh and stern character.
On this point the late MissWesley observes, in a MS. letter before
me, "I never understood this from any of his children, who idolized
his memory, and spoke of his kindness. He certainly never forced his
daughter to marry Wright, as it has been suggested."* In the same
letter, Miss Wesley also corrects the current anecdote respecting the
so
LIFE OF THE
both to administer to the spiritual wants of the colonists,
and also to attempt the conversion of the Indians, directed
their attention to Mr. John Wesley, and some of his friends
at Oxford, as peculiarly qualified, both by zeal and piety,
and their habits of self-denial, for this service. After some
delay, and consultation with his family, he accepted the
offer; and thus, though Epworth could not draw him
from Oxford, an enterprize of a missionary character, and
presenting no temptations to ease and sloth, such as he
feared in a parish at home, overcame his scruples. This
itself is in proof that he had not resolved to remain in
Oxford, in preference to accepting the living of Epworth,
from selfish motives. In the question of usefulness, the
balance before inclined to Oxford; and now that he
thought a greater field for doing good opened in America,
he yielded to that consideration. This mission was accom¬
panied also with the certainty of great hardships and suffer¬
ings, which, according to his then defective, but most
sincere views, were necessary to his perfection. His
residence at Oxford now terminated, and this portion of
his life may be properly concluded with some passages of
a letter written by Mr. Gambold, a man of fine genius., as
some of his poems show, and of eminent holiness ; who,
some years afterward, left the Church of England, and
became a Moravian bishop. The letter was addressed to
one of Mr. Wesley's relations, and contains a lively descrip¬
tion of the character and proceedings of a friend, whom he
did not then expect to see again on earth:—
44 About the middle of March, 1730,1 became acquaint¬
ed with Mr. Charles Wesley, of Christ Church. After
some time, he introduced me to his brother John, of Lin¬
coln College. ' For he is somewhat older,' said he,4 than
I am, and can resolve your doubts better.' I never ob¬
served any person have a more real deference for another
Epworth clerk and the rector's wig, which, though laughable enough,
implicates Mr. Wesley in an irreverent act, in the house of God, of
which he was not capable. The clerk did appear one Sunday, in
church, in the ill-befitting, cast-off wig- of his master; and, to the dis¬
turbance of the gravity of the congregation, gave out the psalm,
" Like to an owl in ivy bush,
That fearsome thing am I."
But Mr. Wesley had no hand in selecting the psalm, which appears
to have been purely accidental.
REV- JOHN WESLEY.
31
tiian he had for his brother; which is the more remark¬
able, because such near relations, being equals by birth,
and conscious to each other of all the little familiar pas¬
sages of their lives, commonly stand too close to see the
ground there may be for such submission. Indeed he
followed his brother entirely; could I describe one of
them, I should describe both. I shall therefore say no
more* of Charles, but that he was a man formed for friend¬
ship, who, by his cheerfulness and vivacity, would refresh
his friend's heart; with attentive consideration, would
enter into, and settle all his concerns as far as he was able;
he would do any thing for him, great or small; and, by a
habit of mutual openness and freedom, would leave no
room for misunderstanding.
" The Wesleys were already talked of for some religious
practices, which were first occasioned by Mr. Morgan, of
Christ Church. From these combined friends began a
little society. Mr. John Wesley was the chief manager,
for which he was very fit; for he had not only more learn¬
ing and experience than the rest, but he was blessed with
such activity as to be always gaining ground, and such
steadiness that he lost none. What proposals he made to
any were sure to alarm them, because he was so much in
earnest; nor could they afterward slight them, because they
saw him always the same. What supported this uniform
vigour was the care he took to consider well every affair
before he engaged in it, making all his decisions in the
fear of God, without passion, humour, or self-confidence.
For though he had naturally a very clear apprehension,
yet his exact prudence depended more on his humility and
singleness of heart. He had, I think, something of autho¬
rity in his countenance, yet he never assumed any thing
to himself above his companions; any of them might speak
their mind, and their words were as strictly regarded by
him as his words were by them.
" Their undertaking included these several particulars :
).o converse with young students ; to visit the prisons ; to
instruct some poor families ; to take care of a school, and
a parish workhouse. They took great pains with the
younger members of the university, to rescue them from
bad company, and encourage them in a sober, studious life.
They would get them to breakfast, and over a dish of tea
32
LIFE OF THE
endeavour to fasten some good hint upon them. They
would bring them acquainted with other well-disposed
young men, give them assistance in the difficult parts of
their learning, and watch over them with the greatest ten¬
derness.
" Some or other of them went to the Castle every day,
and another most commonly to Bocardo. Whoever went
to the Castle was to read in the chapel to as many prison¬
ers as would attend, and to talk apart to the man or men
whom he had taken particularly in charge. When a new
prisoner came, their conversation with him for four or five
times was close and searching. If any one was under
sentence of death, or appeared to have some intentions of
a new life, they came every day to his assistance, and par¬
took in the conflict and suspense of those .who should now
be found able, or not able, to lay hold on salvation. In
order to release those who were confined for small debts,
and to purchase books and other necessaries, they raised
a little fund, to which many of their acquaintance contri¬
buted quarterly. They had prayers at the Castle most
Wednesdays and Fridays, a sermon on Sunday, and the
sacrament once a month.
" When they undertook any poor family, they saw them
at least once a week ; sometimes gave them money, admo¬
nished them of their vices, read to them, and examined
their children. The school was, I think, of Mr. Wesley's
own setting up ; however, he paid the mistress, and clothed
some, if not all, the children. When they went thither,
they inquired how each child behaved, saw their work,
heard them read and say their prayers, or catechism, and
explained part of it. In the same manner they taught the
children in the workhouse, and read to the old people as
they did to the prisoners.
" They seldom took any notice of the accusations brought
against them for their charitable employments ; but if they
did make any reply, it was commonly such a plain and
simple one, as if there Was nothing more in the case, but
that they had just heard such doctrines of their Saviour,
and had believed, and done accordingly.
" I could say a great deal of his private piety, how it
was nourished by a continual recourse to God, and pre¬
served by a strict'watchfulness in beating down pride, and
feEVi John weslet.
33
educing the craftiness and impetuosity of nature to a child¬
like simplicity, and in a good degree crowned with divine
love, and victory over the whole set of earthly passions.
He thought prayer to be more his business than any thing
else; and I have seen him come out of his closet with a
serenity of countenance that was next to shining; it dis¬
covered what he had been doing, and gave me double hope
of receiving wise directions, in the matter about which I
came to consult him. In all his motions he attended to the
will of God. He had neither the presumption nor the.
leisure to anticipate things whose season Was not now; and
would show some uneasiness whenever any of us, by imper¬
tinent speculations, were shifting off the appointed improve¬
ment of the present minute.
" Because he required such a regulation of our studies
as might devote them all to God, he has been accused as
one that discouraged learning. Far from that; for the first
thing he struck at, in young men, was that indolence which
will not submit to close thinking. He earnestly recom¬
mended to them a method and order in all their actions.
" If any one could have provoked him, I should ; for I
was very slow in coming into their measures, and very
remiss in doing my part. I frequently contradicted his
assertions ; or, which is much the same, distinguished upon
them. I hardly ever submitted to his advice at the time he
gave it, though I relented afterward. He is now gone to
Georgia as a missionary, where there is 'ignorance that
aspires after divine wisdom, but no false learning that is
got above it. He is, I confess, still living; and I know
that an advantageous character is more decently bestowed
on the deceased. But, beside that his condition is very like
that of the dead, being unconcerned in all we say, I am not
making any attempt on the opinion of the public, but only
studying a private edification. A family picture of him
his relations^ may be allowed to keep by them. And this
is the idea of Mr. Wesley, which I cherish for the service
of my own soul, and which I take the liberty likewise to
deposit with you." (Whitehead's Life.)
This letter is honourable to Mr. Gambold's friendship:
but he was not himself, at that time, of mature spiritual
discernment, nor had Mr. Wesley opened the state of his
heart to him with the freedom which we have seen in his
31
life of the
letters to his mother. The external picture of the man is
exact; but he was not inwardly that perfect Christian which
Mr. Gambold describes, nor had he that abiding "interior
peace." He was struggling with inward corruptions,
which made him still cry, "O wretched man that I am, who
shall deliver me from the body of this death 1" And he as
yet put mortification, retirement, and contempt of the world,
too much in the place of that divine atonement, the virtue
of which, when received by simple faith, at once removes
the sense of guilt, cheers the spirit by a peaceful sense of
acceptance through the merits of Christ, and renews the
whole heart after the image of God. He was indeed
attempting to" work out " his own salvation with fear and
trembling;" but not as knowing that "it is God thatwork-
eth in us to will and to do of his good pleasure." He had
not, in thig respect, learned "to be nothing," that he might
" possess all things."
CHAPTER in.
Mr. Wesley now prepared for Georgia, the place where,
as he afterward said, " God. humbled me, and proved me,
and showed me what was-in my heart." But he was not
suffered to depart without remonstrances from friends,
which he answered calmly and at length, and the scoffs of
the profane, to which he made but brief reply. " What is
this^sir s" said one of the latter class to him ; " are you
turned Quixote top? Will nothing serve you, but to en¬
counter windmills?" To which he replied, " Sir, if the
Bible be not true, I am as very a fool and madman as you
can conceive; but if it be of God, I am sober minded."
Mr. Charles Wesley, although in opposition to the opinion
of bis brother Samuel, agreed to accompany him to Georgia,
and received holy orders. They were accompanied by Mr.
Ingham, of Queen's College, and Mr. Delamotte. That
Mr. Wesley considered the sacrifices and hardships of their
mission in the light of means of religious edification to
themselves, as well as the means of doing good to others,
is plain from his own account: " Our end in leaving our
native country was not to avoid want; God had given us
plenty of temporal blessings; nor to gain the dung and
dross of riches and honour; but singly this, to save our
REV..JOHN WESLEY.
35
souls, to live wholly to the glory of God." These observa¬
tions are sufficiently indicative of that dependence Upon a
mortified course of life, and that seclusion from the tempt¬
ations of the world, which he then thought essential to
religious safety.
Georgia is now a flourishing state, and the number of
Methodist societies in it very considerable; a result not
then certainly contemplated by the Wesleys, who laboured
there with little success, and quitted it almost in despair.
The first settlers from England embarked in 1732, with
Mr. James Oglethorpe at their head, who was also one of
the trustees under the charter. This gentleman founded
Savannah, and concluded a treaty with the Creek Indians.
Wars with both Spaniards and Indians, however, subse¬
quently arose, as well as domestic feuds ; and in 1752 the
trustees surrendered their charter to the king, and it was
made a royal government. -It was, therefore, in the infancy
of the colony that the Wesleys commenced*their labours.
That they should experience trouble,* vexation, and dis¬
appointment, was the natural result "both of the circum¬
stances in which they were placed, and their own religious
habits and views. A small colony, and especially in its
infancy, is usually a focus of faction, discontent, and cen-
soriousness. The colonists are often disappointed, uneasy
in their circumstances, frustrated in their hopes, and impa¬
tient of authority. This was the case in Georgia"; and
although Mr. Oglethorpe upon the whole was a worthy
governor, he was subject to prejudices, and prone to be
misled by designing men. He* certainly did not support
the Wesleys with that steadiness and uniformity which were
due to them ;* and on the other hand they were not fault¬
less, although their intentions were, entirely upright. They
had high notions of clerical authority; and their pastoral
faithfulness was probably rigid and repulsive ; for in spite
of the excellence of their own natural temper, an austere
cast had been given to their piety. They stood firmly on
little things, as well as great; and held the reins of ecclesi¬
astical discipline with a tightness unsuitable to infant colo-
* Oglethorpe's good opinion of the brothers was, however, shown
by his anxiety to persuade Charles to return again to 1$\e colony, after
he had visited England; and by the marked respect and even reverence
with which at a future period he treated John,
36
LIEE OP THE
nists especially, and which tended to provoke resistance.
Their integrity of heart, and the purity of their intentions,
came forth without a stain: they must also be allowed to have
proceeded •according to the best light they had ; but they
knew not yet " the love of Christ," nor how to sway men's
hearts by that all-commanding and controlling motive; and
they aimed at making men Christians, in the manner they
sought that great attainment themselves,—by a rigid and
ascetic discipline.
On their passage, an exact plan for the employment of
time was arranged, and observed ; but the voyage is most
remarkable for bringing Mr. Wesley acquainted with the
members of the Moravian Church; for, among the settlers
taken out, were twenty-six Germans of this communion.
Mr. Wesley immediately began to learn German, in order
to converse with them; and David Nitchman, the Mora¬
vian bishop, and two others, received lessons m English.
On the passage they had several storms, in which Mr.
Wesley felt that the fear of death had not been taken away
from him, and concluded therefore that he was not fit to
die; on the contrary, he greatly admired the absence of all
slavish dread in the Germans. He says, " I had long
before observed the great seriousness of their behaviour.
Of their humility they had given a continual proof, by per¬
forming those servile offices for the other passengers which
none of the English would undertake; for which they
desired and would receive no pay; saying it was ' good for
their proud hearts, and their loving Saviour had done more
for them.' And every day had given them occasion of
showing a meekness, which no injury could move. If they
were pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again and
went away; but no complaint was found in their mouth.
There was now an opportunity of trying whether they were
delivered from the spirit of fear, as well as from that of
pride, anger, and revenge. In the midst of the psalm
wherewith their service began, the sea broke over, split the
main-sail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured in be¬
tween the decks, as if the great deep had already swallow¬
ed us up. A terrible screaming began among the English.
The Germans calmly sung on. I asked one of them
afterward, ' Was you not afraid!' He answered, ' I thank
God, No.' I asked, 'But were not your women and
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
37
children afraid?' He replied mildly, 'No; our women
and children are not afraid to die.'" (Journal.)
Thus he had the first glimpse of a religious experience
which keeps the mind at peace in all circumstances', and
vanquishes that feeling which a formal and defective reli¬
gion may lull to temporary sleep, but cannot eradicate,-—
" the fear of death."
They landed on the 6th of February, 1736, on a small
uninhabited island; from whence Mr. Oglethorpe proceed¬
ed to Savannah, and returned the next day, bringing with
him Mr. Spangenberg, one of the Moravian pastors,
already settled there.
"I soon found," says Mr. Wesley, " what spirit he was
of; and asked his advice with regard to my own conduct.
He said, 'My brother, I must first ask you one or two
questions. Have you the witness within yourself ? Does
the Spirit of God bear witness with your spirit, that you
ue the child of God V I was surprised, and knew not
what to answer. He observed it, and asked, 'Do you
know Jesus Christ V I paused and said, I know he is the
Saviour of the world. ' True ;' replied he ; 'but do you
know he has saved you?' I answered, I hope he has died
to save me. He only added, ' Do you know yourself?'
I said, I do. But I fear they were vain words." (Journal.)
Mr. Charles Wesley took charge of Frederica, and Mr.
John of Savannah, where, the house not being ready, he
took up his residence with the Germans, with whose spirit
and conduct he became still more favourably impressed,
and whose mode of proceeding in the election and ordina¬
tion of a bishop carried him back he says to those primitive
times " where form and state were not; but Paul the tent-
maker, and Peter the fisherman, presided; yet with demon¬
stration of the Spirit, and power."
Mr. Wesley had not been long at Savannah before he
heard from Charles of his troubles and opposition at Fred-
erica. His presence among the licentious colonists, and
the frequent reproofs he administered, made hirn an object
of great hatred, and " plots were formed either to ruin him
in the opinion of Oglethorpe, or to take him off by vio¬
lence." (Whitehead's Life.) Oglethorpe was for a time
successfully practised upon, treated him with coldness,
and left him to endure the greatest privations. He lay
4
33
LIFE OF THE
upon the ground in the corner of a hut, and was denied the
luxury of a few boards for a bed. He was out of favour
with the governor; even the servants on that account
insulted him ; and, worn out with vexation and hardships,
he fell into a dangerous fever. In this state he was visited
by his brother John, who prevailed upon him to break a
resolution which " honour and indignation" had induced
him to form, of "starving rather than ask for necessaries."
Soon after this, Mr. Oglethorpe discovered the plots of
which he had been the victim, and was fully reconciled to
him. He then took charge of Savannah, whilst John sup¬
plied his place at Frederica ; and in July, 1736, he was
sent to England, charged with despatches from Mr. Ogle¬
thorpe to the trustees and the board of trade, and in Decem¬
ber, arrived at Deal; thus terminating a service in which
he had preached with great fidelity and zeal; but had met
with very unworthy returns.
Of the two places, Savannah appears to have been more
hopeful than Frederica ; and as Mr. John Wesley did not
find the door open for preaching to the Indians, he con¬
sulted with his companions, in what manner they might be
most useful to the flock at Savannah. It was agreed,
1. To advise the more serious among them, to form them¬
selves into a little society, and to meet once or twice a
week, in order to reprove, instruct, and exhort one another.
2. To select out of these a smaller number for a more
intimate union with each other ; which might be forwarded
partly by their conversing singly with each, and inviting
them all together to Mr. Wesley's house : and this accord¬
ingly they determined to do every Sunday in the afternoon.
"Here," says Dr. Whitehead, " we see the first rudiments
of the future economy of classes and bands."*
In this respect he probably learned something from the
Moravians and the whole plan fell in with his previous
* There was however notning new in this. Mr. Wesley had doubt¬
less heard, in his visits to London, of the religious societies described
by Dr. Wood ward, which were encouraged by the more serious clergy,
and held weekly private meetings for religious edification. It is pro¬
bable that he had even attended such meetings in the metropolis.
Wherever indeed a revival of serious religion has taken place, and
ministers have been in earnest to promote it, we see similar means
adopted, as by Baxter at Kidderminster, during his eminently suc¬
cessful ministry there.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
39
views ©f discipline and method. • The character of his
mind was eminently practical; he was in earnest, and he
valued things just as they appeared to be adapted to pro¬
mote the edification and salvation of those committed to
his charge. A school was also established ; and the chil¬
dren regularly catechised by Mr. Wesley, both in private
and in the church. Evening meetings for the more seri¬
ous were also held at his house ; so actively did he apply
himself not only to the public services of the sanctuary, but
to every kind of engagement by which he might make "full
proof of his ministry." The religious state of his own
mind, however, remained much the same. He saw another
striking instance of the power of faith, in the peaceful and
edifying death of one of the Moravians; and had another
proof that he himself was not saved from " the fear which
hath torment," in a severe storm of thunder and lightning.
Both indicated to him that he had not attained the state
of " the sons of God but his views were still perplexed
and obscure. From a conversation which he had with
some Indians who had visited Savannah, he concluded that
the way was opened for him to preach among the Choc-
taws, and this he was desirous of attempting ; but as
Savannah would have been left without a minister, the
governor objected ; and his friends were also of opinion,
that he could not then be spared from the colony.
In his visits to Frederica he met with great opposition
and much illiberal abuse; in Savannah he was, however,
rapidly gaining influence, when a circumstance occurred
which issued in his departure from Georgia altogether. He
had formed an attachment to an accomplished young lady,
a Miss Hopkey,* niece to the wife of Mr. Causton, the
chief magistrate of Savannah, which she appears to have
returned, or at least encouraged. The biographers of Mr.
Wesley, Dr. Whitehead and Mr. Moore, differ as to the
fact, whether this connection was broken off by him, or by
the lady herself in consequence of his delays. The latter
professes to have received the whole account from Mr.
Wesley, and must therefore be presumed to be the best
authority. From his statement it appears that Mr. Dela-
inotte' suspected the sincerity of the lady's pretensions to
piety, and thought his friend Mr. Wesley, whose confiding
* Incorrectly called Miss Causton by Mr. Wesley's biographers.
40
LIFE OF THE
and unsuspecting heart prevented him at all times from
being a severe judge of others, was likely to be the victim
of artifices which he had not the skill or the inclination
to discern. His remonstrances led Mr. Wesley to refer
the question of his marriage with Miss Hopkey to the judg¬
ment of the elders of the Moravian Church, which he thought
he was at liberty to do, since the acquaintance, though it
had ripened into regard and thoughts of marriage, had not,
it seems, proceeded to any thing determinate. The Mo¬
ravians advised him to proceed no farther; and his con¬
duct toward Miss Hopkey became cautious and distant,
very naturally to her mortification, and perhaps pain.
An entry in his Journal shows that he had a consider¬
able struggle with his own feelings, and that his sense of
duty had exacted a great sacrifice from his heart. The
lady soon afterward married a Mr. Williamson ; but a
hostile feeling toward him had been left in the minds of
her friends, which the gossiping and censorious habits of a
small colony would not fail to keep alive. Though Mr.
Wesley did not certainly see her married to another with
perfect philosophy, it was not in his generous nature to
allow his former affection to turn into resentment, which
was the fault subsequently charged upon him; and as he
soon saw many things in her to reprove, it is probable that
he thought his escape a fortunate one. Perhaps, consi¬
dering the singularity of his habits at that time, it was well
for the lady also ; which seems, indeed, jocosely intimated
in a passage of a letter of his brother Samuel to him on the
occasion,—" I am sorry you are disappointed in one match,
because you are unlikely to find another."
An opportunity for the manifestation of the secret preju¬
dice which had been nourished by the friends of the niece
of Mrs. Causton was afforded in about five months after
her marriage. Mr. Wesley adhered to the rubric of the
Church of England as to the administration of the sacra-
rsent, without respect of persons, and with a rigidness which
was not at all common. He repelled those whom he
thought unworthy; and when any one had neglected the
ordinance, he required him to signify his name the day
before he intended to communicate again. Some time
after Mrs. Williamson's marriage, he discovered several
things which he thought blamable in her oonduct. These,
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
41
as she continued to communicate, ne mentioned to her,
and she in return became angry. For reasons therefore,
which he stated to her in a letter, he repelled her from the
communion. This letter was written by desire of Mr.
Causton, who wished to have his reasons for repelling his
niece in writing:—
" At Mr. Causton's request I write once more. The
rules whereby I proceed are these : 'So many as intend to
partake of the holy communion shall signify their names
to the curate, at least some time the day before.' Thjs
you did not do.
"' And if any of these—have done any wrong to his
neighbour by word or deed, so that the congregation be
thereby offended, the curate shall advertise him, that in
any wise he presume not to come to the Lord's table, until
he hath openly declared himself to have truly repented.'
" If you offer yourself at the Lord's table on Sunday, I
will advertise you, as I have done more than once, wherein
you have done wrong: and when you have openly declared
yourself to have truly repented, I will administer to you
the mysteries of God." {Journal.)
The storm now broke forth upon him. A warrant was,
issued, and he was brought before the recorder and magis¬
trates, on the charges of Mr. Williamson, 1. That he had
defamed his wife. 2. That he had causelessly repelled her
from the holy communion. Mr. Wesley denied the first
charge; and the second being wholly ecclesiastical, he
would not acknowledge the authority of the magistrate to
decide upon it. He was however told that he must appear
before the next court, holden at Savannah.
The Causton family became now most active in their
efforts to injure him. By them, the reason why Mr. Wesley
had repelled Mrs. Williamson from the Lord's table was
stated to be his resentment against her for having refused
to marry him ; which they knew to be contrary to the fact.
Garbled extracts of his letters were read by Causton to
those whom he could collect to hear them, probably in
order to confirm this; and Mrs. Williamson was prevailed
upon to swear to and sign a paper containing assertions
and insinuations injurious to his character. {Journal.)
The calm courage of the man who was thus so violently
and unjustly persecuted, was not however to be shaken.
4*
42
LIFE OF THE
" I.sat still at home," says Mr. Wesley, " and I thank God
easy, having committed my cause to him, and remem¬
bered his word, ' Blessed is the man that endureth tempt¬
ation ; for when he is tried, he shall receive the crown
of life, which the Lord hath promised to them that love
him.'" (Journal.)
As the sitting of the court drew near, Causton used every
art to influence the grand jury ; and when they met, gave
them " a long and earnest charge, ' to beware of spiritual
tyranny, and to oppose the new illegal authority which was
usurped over their consciences.' Mrs. Williamson's affi¬
davit was read; and he then delivered to them a paper,
entitled, A list of grievances, presented by the grand jury
for Savannah, this day of August, 1737. In the after¬
noon Mrs. Williamson was examined, who acknowledged
that she had no objections to make against Mr. Wesley's
conduct before her marriage. The next day Mr. and Mrs.
Causton were also examined, when she confessed, that it
was by her request Mr. Wesley had written to Mrs. Wil¬
liamson on the 5th of July: and Mr. Causton declared,
that if Mr. Wesley had asked his consent to have married
his niece, he should not have refused it. The grand jury
continued to examine these ecclesiastical grievances, which
occasioned warm debates till Thursday ; when Mr. Caus¬
ton being informed they had entered on matters beyond his
instructions, went to them, and behaved in such a manner,
that he turned forty-two, out of the forty-four, into a fixed
resolution to inquire into his whole behaviour. They
immediately entered on that business, and continued ex¬
amining witnesses all day on Friday. On Saturday, Mr.
Causton finding all his efforts to stop them ineffectual,
adjourned the court till Thursday, the first of September,
and spared no pains, in the meantime, to bring them to
another mind. September 1.—He so far prevailed, that the
majority of the grand jury returned the list of grievances
to the court, in some particulars altered, under the form of
two presentments, containing ten bills, only two of which
related to the affair of Mrs. Williamson; and only one of
these was cognizable by that court, the rest being merely
ecclesiastical. September 2.—Mr. Wesley addressed the
court to this effect: ' As to nine of the ten indictments
against me, I know this court can take no cognizance ot
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
43
them; they being matters of an ecclesiastical nature, and
this not an ecclesiastical court. But the tenth, concerning
my speaking and writing to Mrs. Williamson, is of a secular
nature ; and this therefore I desire may be tried here, where
the facts complained of were committed.' Little answer
was made, and that purely evasive.
" In the afternoon he moved the court again, for an
immediate trial at Savannah ; adding, ' that those who are
offended may clearly see whether I have done any wrong
to any one; or whether I have not rather deserved the
thanks of Mrs. Williamson, Mr. Causton, and of the whole
family.' Mr. Causton's answer was full of civility and
respect. He observed, ' Perhaps things would not have
been carried so far had you not said, you believed if Mr.
Causton appeared, the people would tear him to pieces;
not so much out of love to you, as out of hatred to him for
his abominable practices.' If Mr. Wesley really spake
these words, he was certainly very imprudent, considering
the circumstances in which he was placed. But we too
often find in disputes, that the constructions of others on
what has been said are reported as the very words we have
spoken; which I suspect to have been the case here. Mr.
Causton, however, sufficiently discovered the motives that
influenced his conduct in this business.
" Twelve of the grand furors now drew up a protest
against the proceedings of the majority, to be immediately
sent to the trustees in England. In this paper they gave
such clear and satisfactory reasons, under every bill, for
their dissent from the majority, as effectually did away all
just ground of complaint against Mr. Wesley, on the sub¬
jects of the prosecution." (Whitehead's Life.)
" He attended the court holden on November the third :
and again at the court held on the twenty-third ; urging an
immediate hearing of his case, that he might have an op¬
portunity of answering the allegations alleged against him.
But this the magistrates refused, and at the same time
countenanced every report to his disadvantage : whether it
was a mere invention, or founded on a malicious construc¬
tion of any thing he did or said. Mr. Wesley perceiving
that he had not the most distant prospect of obtaining jus¬
tice ; that he was in a place where those in power were
combined together to bppress him; and could any day
44
life of The
procure evidence (as experience had shown) of words he
had never spoken, and of actions he had never done ; be¬
ing' disappointed too, in the primary object of his mission,
preaching to the Indians ; he consulted his friends what he
ought to do ; who were of opinion with him, that by these
circumstances Providence did now call him to leave Sa¬
vannah. The next day he called on Mr. Causton, and told
him he designed to set out for England immediately."
(Whitehead's Life.)
The magistrates made a show of forbidding him to leave
the colony; but he embarked openly, after having publicly
advertised his intention, no man interposing to prevent
him; one leading object of these persecutions being to
drive him away. His sermons had been too faithful, and
his reproofs too poignant, to make his continuance desirable
to the majority of an irreligious colony.*
The root of all this opposition no doubt lay in the enmity
of his hearers to truth and holiness ; but its manifestation
might be occasioned in part by the strictness with which
he acted upon obsolete branches of ecclesiastical discipline,
and the unbending manner in which he insisted upon his
spiritual authority. In the affair of Mrs. Williamson, he
stands perfectly exculpated from the base motives which
his enemies charged upon him; but in the first stages, it
neither appears to have been managed with prudence, nor
[* The affair above explained, and other matters respecting Mr.
Wesley in Georgia, have been most unfairly and unjustly represented
in various illiberal publications, and particularly in Lempriere's Biogra¬
phical Dictionary, and Hale's History of the United States. The injus¬
tice done to Mr. Wesley's memory in the latter work is the more
especially reprehensible, as pains have been taken to introduce it
extensively into " schools." In this way many a youthful mind
becomes prepossessed with strong early prejudice against one of the
most devoted and the most honoured ambassadors for Christ that has
ever graced any age or nation, since the days of the holy Apostles.
The influence of such prejudices extends itself in after life as well to
the Christian denomination generally of which that eminent man was,
under God, the Founder, as to his own memory. This the contrivers
of such school publications well know; and it is this effect of such
books particularly that greatly aggravates the injustice and the mis¬
chief, as it tends, in fact, seriously to impede the spread of the Gospel
itself. In these circumstances it is with peculiar pleasure that we are
now enabled to issue a Life of Wesley which, as well from the cele¬
brity of its eminent author and its own intrinsic excellence, as from
its remarkable cheapness, will, we doubt not, have a most extensive
circulation.—American Edit."
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
45
a proper degree of Christian courtesy. His enemies have
sneered at his declaration, that, after he left Georgia, he
discovered that he who went out to teach others Christianity
was not a Christian himself; but had he been a Christian
in that full, evangelical sense, which he meant; had he been
that which he afterward became, not only would the exclu^
sion of Mrs. Williamson from the sacrament have been ef¬
fected in another manner, but his mission to Georgia woqld
probably have had a very different result. His preaching
was defective in that one great point, which gives to preach¬
ing its real power over the heart, " Christ crucified and
his spirit, although naturally frank and amiable, was not
regenerated by that " power from on high," the first and
leading fruits of which are meekness and charity.
In the midst of his trials, Mr. Wesley received very con¬
solatory letters from his friends, both in England and in
America; and there were many in" Georgia itself who
rightly estimated the character and the labours of a man
who held five or six public services on the Lord's day, in
English, Italian, and French, for the benefit of a mixed
population;—wno spent bis whole time in works of piety
and mercy, and'who distributed his income so profusely in
charity that, for many months together, he had not " one
shilling in the house." His health, whilst in America, con¬
tinued good ; and it is in proof of the natural vigour of his
constitution, that he exposed himself to every change of
season, frequently slept on the ground, under the dews of
the night in summer, and in winter with his hair and clothes
frozen to the earth. He arrived in London, February 3d,
1738, and, notwithstanding his many exercises, reviewed
the result of his American labours with some satisfaction :
—" Many reasons I have to bless God for my having been
carried into that strange land contrary to all my preceding
resolutions. Hereby I trust he hath in some measure
' humbled me, and proved me, and shown me what was in
my heart.' Hereby I have been taught to ' beware of men.'
Hereby God has given me to know many of his servants,
particularly those of the Church of Hernhuth. Hereby my
passage is open to the writings of holy men, in the Ger¬
man, Spanish, and Italian tongues. All in Georgia have
heard the word of God; some have believed, and began
to run well. A few steps have been taken toward pub-
46
life of the
lishing the glad tidings bpth to the African and American
Heathens. Many children have learned ' how they ought
to serve God,' and to be useful to their neighbour. And
those whom it most concerns have an opportunity of know¬
ing the state of their infant colony, and laying a firmer
foundation of peace and happiness to many generations."
CHAPTER IV.
The solemn review which Mr. Wesley made of the state
of his religious experience, both on his voyage home, and
soon after his landing in England, deserves to be particu¬
larly noticed, both for general instruction, and because it
stands in immediate connection with a point which has
especially perplexed those who have attributed his charges
against himself, as to the deficiency of his Christianity at
this period, to a strange and fanatical fancy. By the most
infallible of proofs, he tells us,—that of his feelings,—he
was convinced of his having " no such faith in Christ" as
prevented his heart from being troubled ; find he earnestly
prays to be " saved by such a faith as implies peace in life
and death." " I went to America to convert the Indians ;
but O, who shall convert me! Who is he that will deliver
me from this evil heart of unbelief? I have a fair summer
religion; I can talk well, nay, and believe myself, while
no danger is present; but let death look me in the face,
and my spirit is troubled, nor can I say, ' To die is gain.'
' I have a sin of fear, that when I've spun
My last thread, I shall perish on the shore.'"
He thought therefore that a faith was attainable, wnich
should deliver him entirely from guilty dread, and fill him
with peace; but of this faith itself, his notions were still
confused. He manifestly regarded it, generally, as a
principle of belief in the Gospel, which, by quickening hte
efforts to self-mortification and entire obedience, would
raise him, through a renewed state of heart, into acceptance
and peace with God. This error is common. It regards
faith, not so much as the personal trust of a guilty and help¬
less sinner upon Christ for salvation and all the gifts of
spiritual life, but as working out sanctifying effects in the
heart and life, partly by natural, partly by supernatural
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
47
process, and thus producing peace of conscience.—But he
goes oh with this interesting history of his heart.
" I was early warned against laying too much stress on
outward works, as the Papists do, or on a faith without
works, which, as it does not include, so it will never lead
to, true hope or charity." {Journal.),
Here he manifestly confounds the faith by which/a man
is justified, which certainly does not " include" in itself the
moral effects of which he speaks, with the faith of a man
who is in a justified state, which necessarily produces them
because of that vital union into which it brings him with
Christ, his Saviour, by whom he is saved from the power
and love, as well as from the guilt, of sin.
"I fell among some Lutheran and Calvinist authors,
whose confused and indigested accounts magnified faith to
such an amazing size, that it quite hid all the rest of the
commandments." {Journal.)
This is perhaps a proof that he did not understand these
writers, any more than he did the Moravians in Georgia,
who failed to enlighten him on the subject of faith, although
fie saw that they in fact possessed a " peace through believ¬
ing," which he had not, and yet painfully felt to be neces¬
sary. The writers he mentions probably represented faith
only as necessary to justification ; whilst he conceived them
to teach, that faith only is necessary to final salvation.
" The English writers, such as Bishop Beveridge,
Bishqp Taylor, and Mr. Nelson, a little relieved me from
these well-meaning, wrong-headed Germans. Their ac¬
counts of Christianity I could easily see to be, in the main,
consistent both with reason and Scripture." {Journal.)
Beveridge would have met his case more fully than
either Taylor or Nelson, had he been in a state of mind to
comprehend him; and still better would he have been
instructed by studying, with as much care as he examined
Taylor and Law, the Homilies of his own Church, and the
works of her older divines.
The writings of the Fathers then promised to give him
farther satisfaction ; but to them he at length took various
exceptions. He finally resorted to the Mystic writers,
" whose noble descriptions of union with God, and inter¬
nal religion, made every thing else appear mean, flat, and
insipid. But in truth they made good works appear so too,
48
LIFE OF THE
yea, and faith itself, and what not ? These gave me an
entire new view of religion, nothing like any I had before.
But, alas! it was nothing like that religion which Christ
and his Apostles lived and taught. I had a plenary dis¬
pensation from all the commands of God ; the form ran
thus, ' Love is all; all the commands beside are only
means of love ; you must choose those which you feel are
means to you, and use them as long as they are so.' Thus
were all the bands burst at once. And though I could
never fully come into this, nor contentedly omit what God
enjoined, yet, I know not how, I fluctuated between obe¬
dience and disobedience. I had no heart, no vigour, no
zeal in obeying, continually doubting whether I was right
or wrong, and never out of perplexities and entanglements.
Nor can I at this hour give a distinct account how or when
I came a little back toward the right way ; only my present
sense is this :—all the other enemies of Christianity are
triflers; the Mystics are the most dangerous of its ene¬
mies. They stab it in the vitals; and its most serious
professors are most likely to fall by them. May I praise
Him who hath snatched me out of this fire likewise, by
warning all others that it is set on fire of hell!" [Journal.)
He was, however, delivered from the errors of the Mys¬
tics, only to be brought back to the point from which he
set out; but his humble conclusion from the whole shows
that the end of this long and painful struggle was about
to be accomplished:—he was now brought fully to feel
and confess his utter helplessness, and was not " far from
the kingdom of God."
" And now," says he, " it is upward of two years since
I left my native country, in order to teach the Georgia
Indians the nature of Christianity; but what have I learn¬
ed myself in the meantime I Why, (what I least of all
suspected,) that I who went to America, to convert others,
was never converted myself. ' I am not mad,' though I
thus speak ; but' speak the words of truth and soberness
if haply some of those who still dream may awake, and
see, that as I am, so are they.
" Are they read in philosophy ? So was I. In ancient
or modern tongues? So was I also. Are they versed in
the science of divinity ? I too have studied it many years.
Can they talk fluently upon spiritual things ? The very
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
49
same I could do. Are they plenteous in alms ? Behold,
I give all my goods to feed the poor.
" Do they give of their labour as well as their substance ?
I have laboured more abundantly than they all. Are they
willing to suffer for their brethren 1 I have thrown up my
friends, reputation, ease, country ; I have put my life in my
hand, wandering into strange lands ; I have given my body
to be devoured by the deep, parched up with heat, con¬
sumed by toil and weariness, or whatever God shall please
to bring upon me. But does all this (be it more or less, it
matters not) make me acceptable to God? Does all I
ever did, or can know, say, give, do, or suffer, justify me
in his sight? yea, or the constant use of all the means of
grace ? (which, nevertheless, is meet, right, and our
bounden duty,) or that I know nothing of myself, that I
am, as touching outward, moral righteousness, blameless ?
or, to come closer yet, the having a rational conviction ot
all the truths of Christianity ? Does all this give a claim
to the holy, heavenly, divine character of a Christian ? By
no means. If the oracles of God are true, if we are still •
to abide by ' the law and the testimony,' all these things,
though when ennobled by faith in Christ, they are holy,
and just, and good, yet without it are ' dung and dross.'
" This then have I learned in the ends of the earth, that
I am 'fallen short of the glory of God;' that my whole
heart is * altogether corrupt and abominable,' and, conse¬
quently, my whole life ; (seeing it cannot be, that ' an evil
tree' should ' bring forth good fruit;') that my own works,
my own sufferings, my own righteousness, are so far from
reconciling me to an offended God, so far from making
any atonement for the least of those sins which ' afe more
in number than the hairs of my head,' that the most spe¬
cious of them need an atonement themselves, or they can¬
not abide his righteous judgment; that having the sentence
of death in my heart, and having nothing in or of myself
to plead, I have no hope but that of being justified freely
' through the redemption that is in Jesus ;' I have no hope,
but that if I seek I shall find the Christ, and ' be found in
him, not having my own righteousness, but that which is
through -the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of
God by faith.'
" If it be said that I have faitn, (for many suca things
50
LIFE OF THE
have I heard from many miserable comforters,) I answef
so have the devils—a sort of faith; but still they are
strangers to the covenant of promise. So the Apostles
had even at Cana in Galilee, when Jesus first ' manifested
forth his glory;' even then they, in a sort, 'believed on
him but they had not then ' the faith that overcometh the
world.' The faith I want is 'a sure trust and confidence
in God, that, through the merits of Christ, my sins are for¬
given, and I reconciled to the favour of God.' I want that
faith which St. Paul recommends to all the world, espe¬
cially in his Epistle to the Romans,—that faith which
enables every one that hath it to cry out, ' I live not; but
Christ liveth in me ; and the life which I now live, I live
by faith in the Son of God, who loved me, and gave him¬
self for me.' I want that faith which none has, without
knowing that he hath it; (though many imagine they have
it, who have it not;) for whosoever hath it is freed from
sin ; the whole ' body of sin is destroyed' in him : he is
freed from fear, ' having peace with God through Christ,
and rejoicing in hope of the glory of God.' And he is freed
from doubt, 'having the love of God shed abroad in his
heart, through the Holy Ghost which is given unto him;
which Spirit itself beareth witness with his spirit, that he is
a child of God.' " {Journal.)
A spirit thus breathing after God, and anxious to be
taught " the way of God more perfectly," could not be
left in its darkness and solicitude. A few days after his
arrival in London, he met with Peter Bohler, a minister of
the Moravian Church. This was on February 7th, which
he marks as " a day much to be remembered," because
the conversation which he had with Bohler on the subject
of saving faith, a subject probably brought on by himself,
fifst opened his mind to true views on that subject, not¬
withstanding the objections with which he assaulted the
statements of the Moravian teacher, and which caused
Bohler more than once to exclaim, " My brother, that philo¬
sophy of yours must be purged away." At Oxford, whither
he had gone to visit Charles, who was sick, he again met
with his Moravian friend, "by whom," he says, "in the hand
of the great God, I was clearly convinced of unbelief, of
the want of that faith whereby alone we are saved with the
full Christian salvation."
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
51
"He was now convinced that his faith had been too
much separated from an evangelical view of the promises
of a free justification, or pardon of sin, through the atone
ment and mediation of Christ alone, which was the reason
why he had been held in continual bondage and fear."
(Whitehead's Life.) In a few days he met Peter Bohler
again,—"who now," he says, "amazed me more and more,
by the account he gave of the fruits of living faith, the holi¬
ness and happiness which he affirmed to attend it. The
next morning I began the Greek Testament again, resolv¬
ing to abide by 'the law and the testimony,' being confident
that God would hereby show me whether this doctrine was
of God." {Journal.)
In a fourth conversation with this excellent man, he was
still more confirmed in the view, " that faith is, to use the
words of our Church, a sure trust and confidence which a
man has in God, that, through the merit of Christ, his sins
are forgiven, and he reconciled to the favour of God."
Some of his objections to Bohler's statements on instanta¬
neous conversion were also removed by a diligent exami¬
nation of the Scriptures. " I had," he observes, " but one
retreat left on this subject: Thpls, I grant God wrought in
the first ages of Christianity ; but the times are changed.
What reason have I to believe he works in the same man
ner now? But, on Sundayy 22d, I was beat out of this
retreat, too, by the concurring evidence of several living
witnesses, who testified God had so wrought in themselves
giving them, in a moment, such a faith in the blood of his
Son as translated them out of darkness into light, and from
sin and fear into holiness and happiness. Here ended my
disputing. I could now only cry out, ' Lord, help thou my
unbelief I'"
He now began to declare that doctrine of faith which he
had been taught; and those who were convinced of sin
gladly received it. He was also much confirmed in the
truth by hearing the experience of Mr. Hutchins of Pern
broke College, and Mrs. Fox: " Two living witnesses,"
he says, " that God can, at least, if he does not always,
give that faith whereof cometh salvation in a moment, as
lightning falling from heaven." {Journal.)
Mr. Wesley and a few others now formed themselves
into a religious society, which met in Fetter-lane. But
52
LIFE OF THE
although they thus assembled with the Moravians, they
remained members of the Church of England ; and after¬
ward, when some of the Moravian teachers introduced new
doctrines, Mr. Wesley and his friends separated from them,
and formed that distinct community which has since been
known as " The Methodist Society." The rules of the
Fetter-lane society were printed under the title of "Orders
of a Religious Society, meeting in Fetter-lane; in obedi¬
ence to the command of God by St. James, and by the
advice of Peter Bohler. 1738."
As yet Mr. Wesley had not attained the blessing for
which he so earnestly sought, and now with clearer views.
His language as to himself, though still that of complaint,
was become, in truth, the language of a broken and a con¬
trite heart. It was no longer in the tone of a man, disap¬
pointed as to the results of his own efforts, and thrown into
distressing perplexity, as not knowing-where to turn for
help. He was now bowed in lowly sorrow before the
throne ; but he knew that it was "the throne of graceand
his cry was that of the publican, " God be merciful to me
a sinner." In a letter to a friend, he says,—
"I feel what you say, though not enough ; for I am under
the same condemnation. I see that the whole law of God
is holy, just, and good. I know every thought, every tem¬
per of my soul, ought to bear God's image and superscrip¬
tion. But how am I fallen from the glory of God ! I feel
that ' I am sold under sin.' I know that I too deserve
nothing but wrath, being full of all abominations, and having
no good thing in me to atone for them, or to remove the
wrath of God. All my works, my righteousness, my pray¬
ers, need an atonement for themselves. So that my mouth
is stopped. I have nothing to plead. God is holy: I am
unholy. God is a consuming fire : I am altogether a sin¬
ner, meet to be consumed.
" Yet I hear a voice, (and is it not the voice of God?)
saying,' Believe and thou shalt be saved. He that.believeth
is passed from death unto life. God so loved the world,
that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believ-
eth on him should not perish, but have everlasting life.' "
{Journal.)
In this state of mind he continued till May the 24 th, 1738,
and then gives the following account of his conversion:—-
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
53
** I think, it was about five this morning, that I opened
my Testament on those words, ' There are given unto us
exceeding great and precious promises, that by these ye
might be partakers of the divine nature,' 2 Peter i, 4. Just
as I went out, I opened it again on those words,' Thou art
not far from the kingdom of God.' In the afternoon I was
asked to go to St. Paul's. The anthem was, ' Out of the
deep have I called unto thee, 0 Lord: Lord, hear my voice.
O let thine ears consider well the voice of my complaint.
If thou, Lord, wilt be extreme to mark what is done amiss,
O Lord, who may abide it ? But there is mercy with thee;
therefore thop shalt be feared. O Israel, trust in the Lord,
for with the Lord there is mercy, and with him is plen¬
teous redemption. And he shall redeem Israel from all
his sins.'
" In the evening I went very unwillingly to a society in
Aldersgate-street, where one was reading Luther's preface
to the Epistle to the Romans. About a quarter before nine,
while he was describing the change which God works in
the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart strangely
warmed. I felt I did trust in Christ, Christ alone for sal¬
vation : and an assurance was given me, that he had taken
away my sins, even mine, and saved me from ' the law of
sin and death.'
" I began to pray with all my might, for those who had
in a more especial manner despitefully used me, and perse¬
cuted me. I then testified openly to all there, what I now
first felt in my heart. But it was not long before the ene¬
my suggested, 'This cannot be faith, for where is thy joy?'
Then was I taught, that peace and victory over sin are es¬
sential to faith in the Captain of our salvation : but, that as
to the transports of joy, that usually attend the beginning
of it, especially in those who have mourned deeply, God
sometimes giveth, sometimes withholdeth them, according
to the counsels of his own will." (Journal.)
After this he had some struggles with doubt; but he
proceeded from " strength to strength," till he could say,.
"Now I was always conqueror." His experience, nur¬
tured by habitual prayer, and deepened by unwearied exer¬
tion in the cause of his Saviour, settled into that steadfast;
faith and solid peace, which the grace of God perfected i&i
him to the close of his long and active life.
34
LIFE OF THE
His brother Charles was also made partaker of the same
grace. They had passed together through the briers and
thorns,* through the perplexities and shadows of the legal
wilderness, and the hour of their deliverance was not fai
separated. Bohler visited Charles in his sickness at Ox¬
ford, but " the pharisee within" was somewhat offended
when the honest German shook his head at learning that
his hope of salvation rested upon " his best endeavours."
After his recovery, the reading of Halyburton's Life pro¬
duced in him a sense of his want of that faith which brings
" peace and joy in the Holy Ghost." Bohler visited him
again in London, and he began seriously to consider the
doctrine which he urged upon him. His convictions of his
state of danger, as a man unjustified before God, and of
his need of the faith whereof cometh salvation, increased,
and he spent his whole time in discoursing on these sub¬
jects, in prayer, and reading the Scriptures. Luther on
the Galatians then fell into his hands, and on reading the
preface he observes:—
" I marvelled that we were so soon and entirely removed
from him that called us into the grace of Christ, unto an¬
other Gospel. Who would believe that our Church had
been founded on this important article of justification by
faith alone? I am astonished I should ever think this a
new doctrine ; especially while our Articles and Homilies
stand unrepealed, and the key of knowledge is not yet
taken away. From this time I endeavoured to ground as
many of our friends as came to see me in this fundamental
truth,—salvation by faith alone,—not an idle, dead faith,
but a faith which works by love, and is incessantly produc¬
tive of all good works and all holiness." (Journal.)
" On Whit Sunday, May 21st, he awoke in hope and
expectation of soon attaining the object of his wishes, the
knowledge of God reconciled in Christ Jesus. At nine
o'clock his brother and some friends came to him and Sung
^ hymn suited to the day. When they left him he betook
himself to prayer. Soon afterward a person catne and
said, in a very solemn manner, ' Believe in the name of
Jesus of Nazareth and thou shalt be healed of all thine
infirmities.' The words went through his heart, and ani¬
mated him with confidence. He looked into the Scripture,
and read ' Now Lord, what is my hope ? truly my hope is
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
55
even in thee.' He then cast his eye on these words,
* He hath put a new song into ray mouth, even thanks¬
giving unto our God; many shall see it and fear, and put
their trust in the Lord.' Afterward he opened upon
Isaiah xl, 1 : ' Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith
our God ; speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry unto
her, that her warfare is accomplished, that her iniquity is
pardoned, for she hath received of the Lord's hand double
for all her sins.' In reading these passages of Scripture,
he was enabled to view Christ as set forth to be a propi¬
tiation for his sins, through faith in his blood; and he
received that peace and rest in God which he had so
earnestly sought.
'J The next day he greatly rejoiced in reading the 107th
Psalm, so nobly descriptive, he observes, of what God had
done for his soul. He had a very humbling view of his
own weakness; but was enabled to contemplate Christ
in his power to save to the uttermost all those who come
unto God by him." (Whitehead's Life.)
Such was the manner in which these excellent men,
whom God had been long preparing for the great work
of reviving Scriptural Christianity throughout these lands,
were at length themselves brought " into the liberty of the
sons of God." On the account thus given, a few observa¬
tions may not be misplaced.
It is easy to assail with ridicule such disclosures of the
exercises of minds impressed with the great concern of
salvation, and seeking for deliverance from a load of anxi-.
ety in " a way which they had not knownand flippantly
to resolve all these shadowings of doubt, these dawnings
of hope, and the joyous influence of the full day of salva¬
tion, as some have done, into fancy, nervous affection, or
natural constitution. To every truly serious mind, these
will however appear subjects of a momentous character;
and no one will proceed either safely or soberly to judge
of them, who does not previously inquire into the doctrine
of the New Testament on the subject of human salvation,
and apply the principles which he may find there, authen¬
ticated by infallible inspiration, to the examination of such
cases. If it be there declared that the state of man by
nature, and so long as he remains unforgiven by his of¬
fended God, is a state of awful peril, then the all-absorbing
56
LIFE OF THE
seriousness of that concern for deliverance from spiritual
danger, which was exhibited by the Wesleys, is a feeling
becoming our condition, and is the only rational frame of
mind which we can cultivate. If we are required to be
of " an humble and broken spirit," and if the very root of
a true repentance lies in a " godly sorrow " for sin ; then
their humiliations and self-reproaches were in correspond¬
ence with a state of heart which is enjoined upon all by
an authority which we cannot dispute. If the appointed
method of man's salvation, laid down in the Gospel, be
gratuitous pardon through faith in the merits of Christ's
sacrifice, and if a method of seeking justification by works
of moral obedience to the divine law, be plainly placed by
St. Paul in opposition to this, and declared to be vain and
fruitless ; then, if in this way the Wesleys sought their jus¬
tification before God, we see how true their own statement
must of necessity have been, that with all their efforts they
could obtain no solid peace of mind, no deliverance from
the enslaving fear of death and final punishment, because
they sought that by imperfect works which God has ap¬
pointed to be attained by faith alone. If it be said, that
their case was not parallel to that of the self-righteous
Jews, who did not receive the Christian religion, and there¬
fore that the argument of the Apostle does not apply to
those who believe the Gospel, it will remain to be inquired,,
whether the circumstance of a mere belief in the Christian
system, when addedto works of imperfect obedience, makes
any essential difference in the case ; or, in other words,
whether justification may not be sought by endeavours to
obey the law, although the Judaism neeessarily implied
in it may be arrayed in the garb of Christian terms and
phrases. If indeed by " works of the law" St. Paul had
meant only the ceremonial observances of the Jewish
Church, the case would be altered ; but his Epistle to the
Romans puts it beyond all doubt, that in his argument re¬
specting justification he speaks of the moral law, since his
grand reason to prove that by the works of the law no man
can be justified, is, that " by the law is the knowledge of
sin." That, law is recognized and embodied in the New
Testament, but its first office there is to give " the know¬
ledge of sin," that men may be convinced, or, as St. Pauf
forcibly says, " slain" by it: and it stands there in con--
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
57
nection with the atonement for sin made by the sacrifice
upon the cross. Nor is the faith which delivers men from
the condemnation of a law which has been broken, and
never can be perfectly kept by man, a mere belief in the
truth of the doctrine of Christ, but reliance upon his sacri¬
fice, in which consists that personal act by which we be¬
come parties to the covenant of free and gratuitous justifi¬
cation ; and which then only stands sure to us, because then
only we accept the mercy of God, as exercised toward
us through Christ, and on the prescribed conditions. If
therefore in the matter of our justification, like the Wes-
leys before they obtained clearer light, and the divines who
were their early guides, we change the office of the moral
law, though we may still regard it as in some way con¬
nected with the Gospel, and call it by the general term of
Christianity, of which it in truth forms the preceptive part,
and resort to it, not that we may be convinced of the great¬
ness of our sins, and of our utter inability to commend
ourselves to a holy God, the requirements of whose law
have never been relaxed; but as the means of qualifying
ourselves, by efforts of obedience to it, for the reception
of divine mercy, and acquiring a fitness and worthiness for
the exercise of grace toward us ; then we reject the per¬
fection and suitableness of the atonement of Christ; we
refuse to commit our whole case in the matter of our justi¬
fication to that atonement, according to the appointment of
God ; and as. much seek justification by works of the law,
as? did the Jews themselves. Such was the case with the
Wesleys, as stated by themselves. Theirs was not indeed
a state of heartless formality, and self-deluding Pharisaism,
aiming only at external obedience. It was just the reverse
of this: they were awakened to a sense of danger, and
they aimed, nay struggled with intense efforts after uni¬
versal holiness, inward and outward. But it was not a
state of salvation: and if we find a middle state like this de¬
scribed in the Scriptures ; a state in transit from dead for¬
mality to living faith and moral deliverance, the question
with respect to the truth of their representations, as to their
former state of experience, is settled. Such a middle state
we see plainly depicted by the Apostle Paul in the seventh
chapter of the Epistle to the Romans. There the mind
of the person described " consents to the law that it is
58
LIFE OF THE
good," but finds in it only greater discoveries of his sin¬
fulness and danger; there the effort too is after universal
holiness,—" to will is present," but the power is wanting ;
every struggle binds the chain tighter; sighs and groans
are extorted, till self-despair succeeds, and the true Deli¬
verer is seen and trusted in,—" O wretched man that I
am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death ?" I
thank God through Jesus Christ my Lord.* The deliver¬
ance also in the case described by St. Paul is marked with
the same characters as that exhibited in the conversion of
the Wesleys, " There is now no condemnation to them that
are in Christ Jesus, who walk not after the flesh; but after
the Spirit; for the law of the Spirit of life in Christ Jesus
hath made me free from the law of sin and death,"—
" Therefore being justified by faith we have peace with
God, through our Lord Jesus Christ." Every thing in
the account of the change wrought in the two brothers,
and several of their friends about the same time, answers
* "All the time I was at Savannah I was thus beating tne air.
Being ignorant of the righteousness of Christ, which, by a living faith
in him, bringeth salvation ' to every one that believeth,' I sought to
establish my own righteousness, and so laboured in the fire all my-
days. I was now properly under the law ; I knew that ' the law of
God was spiritual'I consented to it"that it was good. Yea, I de¬
lighted in it after the inner man.' Yet I was 'carnal, sold under sin.'
Every day was I constrained to cry out, 'What I do, I allow not;
for What I would I do not, but what I hate, that I do. To will is
indeed present with me; but how to perforin that which is good, I find
not. For the good which I would I do not; but the evil which I would
not, that I do. I find a law, that when I would do good, evil is present
with me: even the law in my members warring against the law of my
mind, and still bringing me into captivity to the law of sin.'
" In this state, I was indeed fighting continually, but not conquering.
Before, I had willingly served sin ; now it was unwillingly; but still I
served it. I fell and rose, and fell again. Sometimes I was overcome,
and in heaviness: sometimes I overcame, and was in joy. For, as in
the former state, 1 had some foretastes of the terrors of the law, so had
I in this, of the comforts of the Gospel. During this whole struggle
between nature and grace, which had now continued above ten years,
I had many remarkable returns to prayer, especially when I was in
trouble: I had many sensible comforts, which are indeed no other than
short anticipations of the life of faith. But I was still under the law,,
not under grace, the state most who are called Christians are content
to live and die in. For I was only striving with, not freed from, sin:
neither had I ' the witness of the Spirit with my spirit.' And indeed
could not; for ' I sought it not by faith, but, as it were, by the works,
of the law,'" {Wesley's Journal.)
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
59
therefore to the New Testament. Nor was their expe¬
rience, or the doctrine upon which it was founded, new,
although in that age of declining piety unhappily not com¬
mon. The Moravian statement of justifying faith was that
of all the Churches of the Reformation; and through Peter
Bohler Mr. Wesley came first to understand the true doc¬
trine of that Church of which he was a clergyman. His
mind was never so fully imbued with the letter and spirit
of that Article in which she has so truly interpreted St. Paul
as when he learned from him, almost m the words of the
Article itself, that " we are justified by faith onlyand
that this is " a most wholesome doctrine." For the joyous
change of Mr. Wesley's feelings, upon his persuasion of his
personal interest in Christ through faith, those persons who
like Dr. Southey, (Life of Wesley,) have bestowed upon it
several philosophic solutions, might have found a better rea¬
son had they either consulted St. Paul, "who says, " We joy
in God, by whom we have received the reconciliation," or
their own Church, which has emphatically declared that
the doctrine of justification by faith is not only very whole¬
some, but also " very full of comfort."
CHAPTER Y.
From this time Mr. Wesley commenced that laborious
and glorious ministry, which directly or indirectly was
made the instrument of the salvation of a multitude, not to
be numbered till " the day which shall make all things
manifest." That which he had experienced he preached
to others, with the confidence of one who had " the wit¬
ness in himselfand with a fulness of sympathy for all
who wandered in paths of darkness and distress, which
could not but be inspired by the recollection of his own
former perplexities.
At this period the religious and moral state of the nation
was such as to give the most serious concern to the few
remaining faithful. There is no need to draw a picture
darker than the truth, to add importance to the labours of
the two Wesleys, Mr. Whitefield, and their associates.
The view Kere taken has often been drawn by pens un¬
connected with and hostile to Methodism.
The Reformation from Popery which so much promoted
the instruction of the populace in Scotland, did much less
60
LIFE OF THE
For the people of England, a great majority of whose lower
classes at the time of the rise of Methodism were even
ignorant of the art of reading ; in many places were semi-
barbarous in their manners ; and had been rescued from
the superstitions of Popery, only to be left ignorant of
every thing beyond a few vague and general notions of re¬
ligion. Great numbers were destitute even of these ; and
there are still agricultural districts in the southern and
western counties, where the case is not even at this mo¬
ment much improved. A clergyman has lately asserted
in print, that in many villages of Devonshire the only form
of prayer still taught to their children by the peasantry
are the goodly verses handed down from their Popish
ancestors,—
" Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on," &c.
The degree of ignorance on all Scriptural subjects, and
of dull, uninquiring irreligiousness which prevails in many
other parts, is well known to those who have turned their
attention to such inquiries, and would be incredible to those
who have not.* A great impression was made in many
places by the zealous preachers who sprang forth at the
Reformation; and in the large towns especially they turn¬
ed many of the people " from darkness to light." But
the great body of the Popish parish priests went round with
the Reformation, without conviction, and performed the
new sendee, as they performed the old, in order to hold
fast their livings. As what was called Puritanism prevail¬
ed, more zealous preaching and more careful instruc¬
tion were employed ; and by such ministers as the two
thousand who were silenced by the act of uniformity, with
many equally excellent men who conformed to the re¬
established Church, a great body of religious and well-
instructed people were raised up ; and indeed before the
civil wars commenced the nation might be said to be in a
state of hopeful moral improvement. These troubles how¬
ever arose before the effect produced upon a state of
society sunk very low in vice and ignorance, could be
widely extended ; and the keen and ardent political feel-
* By far the greater number of the peasants in Hampshire and
Berkshire, lately tried under the special commissions for riots and
stack burning, were found unable to read.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
61
Jigs which were then excited, and the demoralizing effects
of civil warfare, greatly injured the spirit of piety, by occu¬
pying the attention of men, and rousing their passions by
other, and often unhallowed, subjects. The effect was as
injurious upon the advocates of the old Church discipline
as upon those of the new, and probably worse ; because
it did not meet in them, for the most part, with principles
so genuine and active to resist it, In many of the latter
Antinomianism and fanaticism became conspicuous ; but
in the former a total irreligion, or a lifeless formality,
produced a haughty dislike, of the spiritualities of religion,
or a sneering contempt of them. The mischief was com¬
pleted by the restoration of the Stuarts; for whatever
advantages were gained by that event in a civil sense, it let
in a flood of licentiousness and impiety which swept away
almost every barrier that had been raised in the public
mind by the labours of former ages. Infidelity began its
ravages upon the principles of the higher and middle
classes ; the mass of the people remained uneducated, and
were Christians but in name, and by virtue of their bap¬
tism ; whilst many of the great doctrines of the Reforma¬
tion were banished both from the universities and the
pulpits. Archbishop Leighton complains that his " Church
was a fair carcass without a spiritand Burnet observes,
that in his time " the clergy had less authority, and were
under more contempt, than those of any Church in Europe;
for they were much the most remiss in their labours, and
the least severe in their lives." Nor did the case much
amend up to the period of which we speak. Dr. Southey
says, that " from the Restoration to the accession of the
House of Hanover the English Church could boast of its
brightest ornaments and ablest defenders, men who have
never been surpassed in erudition, in eloquence, or in
strength and subtlety of mind." This is true : but it is
equally so, that, with very few exceptions, these great
powers were not employed to teach, defend and inculcate
the doctrines of that Church on personal religion as it is
taught in her Liturgy, her Articles, and her Homilies, but
what often was subversive of them; and the very autho¬
rity therefore which such writers acquired by their learned
and able works was in many respects mischievous. They
stoodbetween the people and the better divines oftheearlier
62
LIFE OF THE
age of the Church, and put them out of sight; and they set
an example of preaching which, being generally followed,
placed the pulpit and the desk at perpetual variance, and
reduced an evangelical liturgy to a dead form which was
repeated without thought, or so explained as to take away
its meaning. A great proportion of the clergy, whatever
other learning they might possess, were grossly ignorant
of theology, and contented themselves with reading short
unmeaning sermons, purchased or pilfered, and formed
upon the lifeless theological system of the day. A little
Calvinism remained in the Church, and a little evangeli¬
cal Arminianism; but the prevalent divinity was Pelagian,
or what very nearly approached it. Natural religion was
the great subject of study, when theology was studied at
all, and was made the test and standard of revealed truth.
The doctrine of the opus opera-turn of the Papists, as to
sacraments, was the faith of the divines of the older school;
and a refined system of ethics, unconnected with Christian
motives, and disjoined from the vital principles of religion
in the heart, was the favourite theory of the modern. The
body of the clergy neither knew nor cared about systems
of any kind. In a great number of instances they were
negligent and immoral; often grossly so. The populace
of the large towns were ignorant and profligate ; and the
inhabitants of villages added to ignorance and profligacy
brutish and barbarous manners. A more striking instance
of the rapid deterioration of religious light and influence in
a country scarcely occurs, than in our own, from the Res¬
toration till the rise of Methodism. It affected not only
the Church, but the dissenting sects in no ordinary degree.
The Presbyterians had commenced their course through
Arianism down to Socinianism; and those who held the
doctrines of Calvin had, in too many instances, by a course
of hot-house planting, luxuriated them into the fatal and
disgusting errors of Antinomianism. There were indeed
many happy exceptions ; but this was the general state of
religion and morals in the country, when the Wesleys,
Whitefield, and a few kindred spirits came forth, ready to
sacrifice ease, reputation, and even life itself, to produce
a reformation.
Before Mr. Wesley entered upon the career which after¬
ward distinguished him, and having no preconceived plan
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
63
or course of conduct, but to seek good for himself, and to
do good to others, he visited the Moravian settlements in
Germany. On his journey he formed an acquaintance
with several pious ministers in Holland and Germany;
and at Marienbourn was greatly edified by the conversa¬
tion of Count Zinzendorf, and others of the brethren, of
whose views he did not however in all respects even then
approve. From thence he proceeded to Hernhuth, where
he staid a fortnight, conversing with the elders, and observ¬
ing the economy of that Church, part of which with modi¬
fications he afterward introduced among his own societies.
The sermons of Christian David especially interested him ;
and of one of them, on " the ground of our faith," he gives
the substance ; which we may insert, both as excellent in
itself, and as it so well agrees with what Mr. Wesley after¬
ward uniformly taught:—
" The word of reconciliation which the Apostles preach¬
ed, as the foundation of all they taught, was, that ' we are
reconciled to God, not by our own works, nor by our own
righteousness, but wholly and solely by the blood of
Christ.'
" But you will say, Must I not grieve and mourn for my
sins 1 Must I not humble myself before my God 1 Is
not this just and right] And must I not first do this be¬
fore I can expect God to be reconciled to me ] I answer,
It is just and right. You must be humbled before God.
You must have a broken and contrite heart. But then
observe, this is not your own work. Do you grieve that you
are a sinner 1 This is the work of the Holy Ghost. Are
you contrite 1 Are you humbled before God 1 Do you
indeed mourn, and is your heart broken within you ] All
this worketh the self-same Spirit.
" Observe again, this is not the foundation. It is not this
by which you are justified. This is not the righteousness,
this is no part of the righteousness, by which you are re¬
conciled unto God. You grieve for your sins. You are
deeply humble. Your heart is broken. Well. But all
this is nothing to your justification.* The remission of
your sins is not owing to this cause, either in whole or in
* " This is not guarded. These things do not merit our justifica¬
tion, but they are absolutely necessary in order to it. God never
pardons the impenitent." (Wesley's Journal.)
64
LIFE OF THE
part. Nay, observe farther, that it may hinder your justifi¬
cation ; that is, if you build anything upon it; if you think,
I must be so or so contrite : I must grieve more, before 1
can be justified. Understand this well. To think you
must be more contrite, more humble, more grieved, more
sensible of the weight of sin, before you can be justified,
is, to lay your contrition, your grief, your humiliation for
the foundation of your being justified : at least for a part
of the foundation. Therefore it hinders your justification;
and a hinderance it is which must be removed, before you
can lay the right foundation. The right foundation is, not
your contrition, (though that is not your own,) not your
righteousness, nothing of your own; nothing that is
wrought in you by the Holy Ghost; but it is something
without you, viz. the righteousness and blood of Christ.
" For this is the wctrd, ' To him that believeth on God
that justifieth the ungodly, his faith is counted for right¬
eousness.' See ye not, that the foundation is nothing in
us? There is no connection between God and the ungodly.
There is no tie to unite them. They are altogether sepa¬
rate from each other. They have nothing in common.
There is nothing less or more in the ungodly, to join them
to God. Works, righteousness, contrition ? No. Ungod¬
liness only. This then do, if you will lay a right founda¬
tion :—Go straight to Christ with all your ungodliness.
Tell him, Thou whose eyes are as a flame of fire, search¬
ing my heart, seest that I am ungodly. I plead nothing
else. I do not say, I am humble or contrite : but I am
ungodly. Therefore bring me to Him that justifieth the
ungodly. Let thy blood be the propitiation for me ; for
there is nothing in me but ungodliness.
" Here is a mystery. Here the wise men of the world
are lost, are taken in their own craftiness. This the
learned of the world cannot comprehend. It is foolishness
unto them. Sin is the only thing which divides men from
God. Sin (let him that heareth understand) is the only
thing which unites them to God; that is, the only thing
which moves the Lamb of God to have compassion upon
them, and by his blood to give them access to the Father.
" This is the word of reconciliation which we preach.
This is the foundation which never can be moved. By
faith we are built upon this foundation; and this faith also
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
65
is the gift of God. It is his free gift, which he now and
ever giveth to every one that is willing to receive it. And
when they have received this gift of God, then their hearts
will melt for sorrow that they have offended him. But
this gift of God lives in the heart, not in the head. The
faith of the head, learned from men or books, is nothing
worth. It brings neither remission of sins, nor peace with
God. Labour then to believe with your whole heart. So<
shall you have redemption through the blood of Christ. So
shall you be cleansed from all sin. So shall ye go on from
strength to strength, being renewed day by day in right¬
eousness and all true holiness." {Journal.)
"I would gladly," says Mr. Wesley, " have spent my
life here; but my Master calling me to labour in another
part of his vineyard, I was constrained to take my leave of
this happy place. 0 when shall this Christianity cover
the earth, as the ' waters cover the sea!' " He adds in
another place, "I was exceedingly comforted and strength¬
ened by the conversation of this lovely people ; and
returned to England more fully determined to spend my
life in testifying the Gospel of the grace of God."
{Journal.)
He arrived in London in September, 1738. His fu¬
ture course of life does not appear to have been shaped
out in his mind; no indication of this appears in any of
his letters, or other communication: so little ground is
there for the insinuation, which has been so often made,
that he early formed the scheme of making himself the
head of a sect. This, even those inconsistencies, con¬
sidering him as a Churchman, into which circumstances
afterward impelled him, sufficiently refute. That he was
averse to settle as a parish minister is certain; and the
man who regarded " the world as his parish," must have
had large views of usefulness. That he kept in mind the
opinion of the bishop who ordained him, that he was at
liberty to decline settling as a parish priest, provided he
thought that he could serve the Church better in any other
way, is very probable; and if he had any fixed pur¬
pose at all, at this time, beyond what circumstances daily
opened to him, and from which he might infer the path of
duty, it was to attempt to revive the spirit of religion in
the Church to which he belonged and which ho loved, by
6*
66
LIFE OF THE
preaching " the Gospel of the grace of God" in as many
of her pulpits as he should be permitted to occupy. This
was the course he pursued. Wherever he was invited,
he preached the obsolete doctrine of salvation by grace
through faith. In London great crowds followed him;
the clergy generally excepted to his statement of the doc¬
trine ; the genteeler part of his audiences, whether they
attended to the sermon or not, were offended at the bus¬
tle of crowded congregations; and soon almost all the
churches of the metropolis, one after another, were shut
against him. He had, however, largely laboured in vari¬
ous parts of the metropolis in churches, rooms, houses,
and prisons ; and the effects produced were powerful and
lasting. Soon after, we find him at Oxford, employed in
writing to his friends abroad, communicating the good
news of a great awakening both in London and in that
city. To Dr. Koker, of Rotterdam, he writes, Oct. 13,
1738 : " His blessed Spirit has wrought so powerfully
both in London and Oxford, that there is a general
awakening, and multitudes are crying out, What must we
do to be saved ? So that till our gracious Master sendeth
more labourers into his harvest, all my time is much too
little for them." And to the Church at Hernhuth, he
writes under the same date : "We are endeavouring here,
also, by the grace which is given us, to be followers of
you, as ye are of Christ. Fourteen were added to us
since our return; so that we have now eight bands of
men, consisting of fifty-six persons, all of whom seek for
salvation only in the blood of Christ. As yet we have
only two smaH bands of women, the one of three, the
other of five persons. But here are many others who
only wait till we have leisure to instruct them how they
may most effectually build up one another in the faith and
love of Him who gave himself for them.
" Though my brother and I are not permitted to preach
in most of the churches in London, yet, thanks be to
God, there are others left, wherein we have liberty to speak
the truth as it is in Jesus. Likewise every evening, and
on set evenings in the week, at two several places, we
publish 4he word of reconciliation, sometimes to twenty
or thirty, sometimes to fifty or sixty, sometimes to three
or four hundred persons, met together to hear it."
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
67
In December he met Mr. Whitefield, who had returned
to London from America, " and they again took sweet
counsel together." In the spring of the next year, he
followed Mr. Whitefield to Bristol, where he had preach¬
ed with great success in the open air. Mr. Wesley first
expounded to a little Society,* accustomed to meet, in
Nicholas-street; and the next day he overcame his scru¬
ples, and preached abroad, on an eminence near the city,
to more than two thousand persons. On this practice he
observes, that though till lately he had been so tenacious
* The "Societies" which Mr. Wesley mentions in his Journals as
visited by him, for the purpose of expounding the Scriptures, in Lon¬
don and Bristol, were the remains of those which Dr. Woodward
describes, in an account first published about 1698 or 1699. They
began, about the year 1667, among a few young men in London, who,
under Dr. Horneck's preaching, and the morning lectures in Cornhill,
were brought, says Dr. Woodward, " to a very affecting sense of their
sins, and began to apply themselves in a very serious way to religious
thoughts and purposes." They were advised by their ministers to
meet together weekly for " good discourseand rules were drawn
up " for the better regulation of these meetings." They contributed
weekly for the use of the poor, and stewards were appointed to take
care of and to disburse their charities. In the latter part of the reign
of James II, they met with discouragement; but on the accession of
William and Mary they acquired new vigour. When Dr. Woodward
■wrote his account, there were about forty of these societies in activity
within the bills of mortality, a few in the country, and nine in Ireland.
Out of these societies about twenty associations arose, in London, for the
prosecution and suppression of vice; and both these, and the private soci¬
eties for religious edification, had for a time much encouragement from
several bishops, and froi& the queen herself. By their rules they were
obliged, at their weekly meetings, to discourse only on such subjects as
tended to practical holiness, and to avoid all controversy; and beside
relieving tie poor, they were to promote schools, and the catechising of
" young and ignorant persons in their respective families." These socie¬
ties certainly opened a favourable prospect for the revival of religion in
the Church of England: but, whether they were cramped by clerical
jealousy lest laymen should become too active in spiritual concerns;
or that from their being bound by their orders to prosecute vice by
calling in the aid of the magistrate, their moral influence among the
populace was counteracted; they appear to have declined from about
1710; and although several societies still remained in London, Bristol,
and a few other places, at the time when Mr. Wesley commenced his
labours, they were not in a state of growth and activity. They had,
however, been the means of keeping the spark of piety from entire
extinction. The sixth edition of Dr. Woodward's account of these
societies was published in 1744; but from that time we hear no more
of them; they either gradually died away, or were absorbed in the
Methodist societies. This at least was the case with several of them
in London and Bristol; mid with that of St. Ives, in Cornwall.
68
LIFE OF THE
of every point relating to decency and order, that he
should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it
had not been done in a church, yet, " I have since seen
abundant' reason to adore the wise providence of God
herein, making a way for myriads of people, who never
troubled any church or were likely so to do, to hear that
word which they soon found to be the power of God unto
salvation." ,
The manner in which he filled up his time, may be seen
from the following account of his weekly labours, at this
period, at or near Bristol. " My ordinary employment in
public was now as follows : Every morning I read prayers
and preached at Newgate. Every evening I expounded
a portion of Scripture, at one or more of the societies.
On Monday in the afternoon I preached abroad near
Bristol. On Tuesday at Bath and Two Mile Hill, alter¬
nately. On Wednesday at Baptist Mills. Every other
Thursday, near Pensford. Every other Friday, in another
part of Kingswood.- On Saturday in the afternoon, and
Sunday morning, in the Bowling Green. On Sunday at
eleven, near Hannam Mount, at two at Clifton, at five at
Rose Green. And hitherto, as my day is, so is my
strength." (Journal.)
During Mr. Wesley's visit to Germany, his brother
Charles was zealously employed in preaching the same
doctrines, and with equal zeal, in the churches in London ;
and in holding meetings for prayer find expounding the
Scriptures. At this time he also visited Oxford, and was
made useful to several of his old college friends. When
his brother returned from Hernhuth, he met him with
great joy in London, and they " compared their experience
in the things of God." The doctrine of predestination,
on which so many disputes have arisen in the church, and
which was soon to be warmly debated among the first
Methodists, was soon after started at a meeting for expo¬
sition. Mr. Charles contented himself with simply pro¬
testing against it. He now first began to preach extem¬
pore. In a conference which the brothers had with the
bishop of London, they cleared up some complaints as
to their doctrine which he had received against them,
and were upon the whole treated by him with liberality.
He strongly disapproved, however, of their practice of
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
69
rebaptizing persons who had been baptized by Dissenters,
in which they exhibited the firm hold which their High
Church feelings still retained upon their minds. His
lordship showed himself, in this respect, not only more
liberal, but better versed in ecclesiastical law and usage.
The bishop at this, and at other interviews, guarded them
strongly against Antinomianism, of which, however, they
were in no danger. He was probably alarmed, as many
had been, at the stress they laid on faith, not knowing the
necessary connection of the faith they preached with uni¬
versal holiness. Mr. Whitefield was at this time at Ox¬
ford, and pressed Charles earnestly to accept a college
living ; which, as Dr. Whitehead justly observes, " gives
pretty clear evidence that no plan of itinerant preaching
was yet fixed on, nor indeed thought of: had any such
plan been in agitation among them, it is very certain Mr.
Whitefield would not have urged this advice on Mr.
Charles Wesley, whom he loved as a brother, and whose
labours he highly esteemed." (Whitehead's Life.)
About this time some disputes took place, in the Fetter-
lane society, as to lay preaching, and Mr. Charles Wes¬
ley, in the absence of his brother, declared warmly against
it. He had also, whilst Mr. John Wesley was still at
Bristol, a painful interview at Lambeth, with the arch¬
bishop of Canterbury. His Grace took no exceptions to
his doctrine, but condemned the irregularity of his pro¬
ceedings, and even hinted at proceeding to excommunica¬
tion. This threw him-into great perplexity of mind, until
Mr. Whitefield, with characteristic boldness, urged him to
preach " in the fields the next Sunday : by which step he
would break down the bridge, render his retreat difficult
or impossible, and be forced to fight his way forward."
This advice he followed. " June 24th, I prayed," says
he, " and went forth in the name of Jesus Christ. I
found near a thousand helpless sinners waiting for the
word in Moorfields. I invited them in my Master's
words, as well as name : Come unto me, all ye that labour
and are heavy-laden ; and I will give you rest. The
Lord was with me, even me, the meanest of his mes¬
sengers, according to his promise. At St. Paul's, the
psalms, lessons, &c, for the day, put new life into me :
and so did the sacrament. My load Was gone, and all
70
LIFE OF THE
my doubts and scruples. God shone on my path, and I
knew this was his will concerning me. I walked to Ken-
nington Common, and cried to multitudes upon multitudes,
Repent ye, and believe the Gospel. The Lord was my
strength, and my mouth, and my wisdom. O that all
would therefore praise the Lotffl for his goodness !"
At Oxford also, he had to sustain the severity of the
dean on the subject of field preaching; but he seized
the opportunity of bearing his testimony to the doctrine of
justification by.- faith, by preaching with great boldness
before the university. On his return to London, he re¬
sumed field preaching in Moorfields, and on Kennington
Common. At one time it was computed that as many as
ten thousand persons were collected, and great numbers
were roused to a serious inquiry after religion. His word
was occasionally attended with an overwhelming influence.
That great public attention should be excited by these
extraordinary and novel proceedings ; and that the digni¬
taries of the Church, and the advocates of stillness and
order, should take the alarm at them, as "doubting where-
unto this thing might grow," were inevitable consequences.
A doctrine so obsolete, that on its revival it was regarded
as new and dangerous, was now publicly proclaimed as
the doctrine of the Apostles and Reformers; the con¬
sciousness of forgiveness of sins was professed by many,
and enforced as the possible attainment of all; several
clergymen of talents and learning, which would have given
influence to any cause, endued with mighty zeal, and with
a restless activity, instead of settling in parishes, were
preaching in various churches and private rooms, and to
vast multitudes in the open air, alternately in the metro¬
polis, and at Bristol, Oxford, and the interjacent places.
They alarmed the careless by bringing before them the
solemnities of the last judgment; they explained the spi¬
rituality of that law, upon which the self-righteous trusted
for salvation, and convinced them that the justification of
man was by the grace of God alone through faith; and
they roused the dozing adherents of mere forms, by teach¬
ing that true religion implies a change of the whole heart
wrought by the Holy Ghost. With equal zeal and earnest¬
ness, they checked the pruriency of the Calvinistic system,
as held by many Dissenters, by insisting that the law which
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
71
cannot justify, was still the rule of life, and the standard of
holiness to all true believers ; and taught that mere doc¬
trinal views of evangelical truth, however correct, were
quite as vain and unprofitable as Pharisaism and formality,
when made a substitute for vital faith, spirituality, and
practical holiness. All this zeal was supported and made
more noticeable, by the moral elevation of their character.
Their conduct was scrupulously hallowed; their spirit,
gentle, tender, and sympathizing; their courage, bold and
undaunted; their patience, proof against all reproach,
hardships, persecutions; their charities to the poor abound¬
ed to the full extent of all their resources ; their labours
were wholly gratuitous ; and their wonderful activity, and
endurance of the fatigues of rapid travelling, seemed to
destroy the" distance of place, and to give them a sort ol
ubiquity in the vast circuit which they had then adopted as
the field of their labours. For all these reasons, they
"were men to be wondered at," even in this the infancy
of their career; and as their ardour was increased by the
effects which followed, the conversion of great numbers to
God, of which the most satisfactory evidence was afford¬
ed, it disappointed those who anticipated that their zeal
would soon cool, and that, " shorn of their strength" -by
opposition, reproach, and exhausting labours, they would
become "like other men."
An infidel or semi-Christian philosophy has its theories
at hand to account for the appearance and conduct of such
extraordinary men. If their own supposed " artifices,"
and the " temptation to place themselves at the head of a
sect," will not solve the case ; it then resorts " to the cir¬
cumstances of the age," or to " that restless activity and
ambition" which finds in them "a promising sphere of
action, and is attracted onward by its first successes."
Even many serious Churchmen of later times, who con¬
tend that the great men of the Reformation were raised up
by Divine providence in mercy to the world, are kept by
sectarian prejudices from acknowledging a similar provi¬
dential leading in the case of the Wesleys, Whitefield, and
Howell Harris, because the whole of the good effected has
not rested within their own pale, and all the sheep collect¬
ed out of the wilderness have not been gathered into their
own fold. The sober Christian will, however, resort to
72
life of the
the first principles of his own religion in order to form his
judgment. He will acknowledge that the Lord of the har¬
vest has the prerogative of " sending forth his labourers
that men who change the religious aspect of whole nations
cannot be the offspring of chance, or the creation of cir¬
cumstances ; that, whatever there may be of personal
fitness in them for the work, as in the eminent natural and
acquired talents of St. Paul; and whatever there may be
in circumstances to favour their usefulness, these things
do not shut out the special agency of God, but make it the
more manifest; since the first more strikingly marks his
agency in preparing his own servants, and training his sol¬
diers ; and the second, his wisdom in choosing the times
of their appearance, and the scenes of their labours, and
thus setting before them " an open door, and effectual."
Nor can it be allowed, if we abide by the doctrine of the
Scriptures, that a real spiritual good could have been so
extensively and uniformly effected, and "multitudes turned
to the Lord," unless God had been with the instruments,
seconding their labours, and "giving his own testimony to
the word of his grace." The hand of God is equally con¬
spicuous in connecting the leading events of their earlier
history with their future usefulness. They were men
" separated to the Gospel of God and every devout and
grateful Christian will not cease to recognise in their ap¬
pearance, labours, and successes, the mercy of God to a
land where "truth had fallen in the streets," and the people
were sitting in darkness, and in the shadow of death.
CHAPTER VI.
We left Mr. Wesley at Bristol, in the summer of 1739,
to which scene of labour, after a visit to London, he again
returned. Kingswood was mentioned in the account given
by Mr. Wesley, in the preceding chapter, of his labours;
and in this district, inhabited by colliers, and, from its rude¬
ness, a terror to the neighbourhood, the preaching of the
two brothers and of Mr. Whitefield was eminently success¬
ful. ^ The colliers were even proverbial for wickedness ;
but many of them became truly exemplary for their piety.
These had been exhorted, it seems, to go to Bristol to
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
78
receive the sacrament; but their numbers were so consi
derable that the Bristol clergy,* averse to the additional
labour imposed upon them, repelled them from the com¬
munion, on the plea that they did not belong to their
parishes.
The effect of the leaven which had been thus placed in
this mass of barbarism was made conspicuous in the fol¬
lowing year, in the case of a riot, of which Mr, Charles
Wesley gives the following account. Being informed that
the colliers had risen, on account of the dearness of corn,
and were marching for Bristol, he rode out to meet them,
and talk with them. Many seemed disposed to return with
him to the school which had been built for their children;
but the most desperate rushed violently upon them, beat¬
ing them, and driving them away from their pacific adviser.
He adds, u I rode up to a ruffian, who was striking one of
our colliers, and prayed' him rather to strike me. He
answered, ' No, not for all the world,' and was quite over¬
come. I turned upon another, who struck my horse, and
he also sunk into a lamb. Wherever I turned, Satan's
cause lost ground, so that they were obliged to make one
general assault, and the violent colliers forced the quiet
ones into- the town. I seized one of the tallest, and ear¬
nestly besought him to follow me. Yes, he said, that he
would, all the world over. I pressed about six into the
service. We met several parties, and stopped and exhort¬
ed them to follow us ; and gleaning some from every com¬
pany, we increased as we marched on singing to the school.
From one till three o'clock we spent in prayer, that evil
might be prevented, and the lion chained. Then news
was brought us that the colliers were returned in peace.
They had walked quietly into the city, without sticks or
the least violence. A few of the better sort of them went
to the mayor, and told their grievance; then they all re¬
turned as they came, without noise or disturbance. All
* Several of the Bristol clergy were at that time of a persecuting
character. They induced a Captain Williams, the master of a vessel
trading to Georgia, to make an affidavit of some statements to- the dis¬
advantage of Mr. Wesley in the affair of Mrs. Wil'iamson; but they
took care that he should set sail before they published it. This led to
the publication of Mr. Wesley's first Journal, as he states in the
preface. In that Journal he gave his own account of the matter, and
they were silenced.
7
74
LIFE OF THE
who saw it were amazed. Nothing could more clearly
have shown the change wrought among them than this
conduct on such an occasion."—" I found afterward that
all our colliers to a man had been forced away. Having
learned of Christ not to resist evil, they went a mile with
those who compelled them, rather than free themselves by
violence. One man the rioters dragged out of his sickbed,
and threw him into the fish pond. Near twenty of Mr.
Willis's men they had prevailed on, by threatening to fill
up their pits, and bury them alive if they did not come up
and bear them company."—" It was a happy circumstance
that they forced so many of the Methodist colliers to go
with them; as these, by their advice and example, restrain¬
ed the savage fury of the others. This undoubtedly was
the true cause why they all returned home without making
any disturbance."
To a gentleman who requested some account of what
had been done in Kingswood, Mr. John Wesley wrote the
following statement:—
"Few persons have lived long in the west of England
who have not heard of the colliers of Kingswood, a people
famous, from the beginning hitherto, for neither fearing
God nor regarding man ; so ignorant of the things of God,
that they seemed but one remove from beasts that perish,
and therefore utterly without the desire of instruction, as
well as without the means of it.
" Many last winter used tauntingly to say of Mr. White-
field, ' If he will convert Heathens, why does not he go to
the colliers of Kingswood? In the spring he did so. And
as there were thousands who resorted to no place of public
worship, he went after them into their own ' wilderness, to
seek and save that which was lost.' When he was called
away, others went into ' the highways and hedges, to com¬
pel them to come in.' And, by the grace of God, their
labour was not in vain. The scene is already changed.
Kingswood does not now, as a year ago, resound with
cursing and blasphemy. It is no more filled with drunk¬
enness .and uncleanness, and the idle diversions that natu¬
rally lead-thereto. It is no longer full of wars and^fightings,
of clamour and bitterness, of wrath and envyings.".* Peace
and love are there. Great numbers of the people are mild,
gentle, and easy to be entreated. They ' do not cry, neither
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
75
striveand hardly is ' their voice heard in the streets,' or
indeed in their own wood, unless when they are at their usual
evening diversion, singing praise unto God their Saviour."
At this time Mr. Wesley visited Bath, where the cele¬
brated Beau Nash, then lord of the ascendant in that city,
attempted to confront the field preacher.
" There was great expectation at Bath, of what a noted
man was to do to me there: and I was much entreated
' not to preach ; because no one knew what might happen.'
By this report I also gained a much larger audience, among
whom were many of the rich and great. I told them plain¬
ly, the Scripture had concluded them all under sin, high
and low, rich and poor, one with another. Many of them
seemed to be not a-little surprised, and were sinking apace
into seriousness, when their champion appeared, and,
coming close to me, asked by what authority I did these
things. I replied, By the authority of Jesus Christ, con¬
veyed to me by the (now) archbishop of Canterbury, when
he laid his hands upon me, and said, ' Take thou authority
to preach the Gospel.' He said, ' This is contrary to act
of parliament. This is a conventicle.' I answered, ' Sir,
the conventicles mentioned in that act (as the preamble
shows) are seditious meetings. But this is not such. Here
is no shadow of sedition. Therefore it is not contrary to
that act.' He replied, ' I say it is. And beside, your
preaching frightens people out of their wits.' ' Sir, did you
ever hear me preach V ' No.' ' How then can you judge
of what you never heard ,!' ' Sir, by common report. Com¬
mon report is enough.' "^Give me leave, sir, to ask, Is not
your name Nashl' 'My name is Nash.' ' Sir, I dare
not judge of you by common report. I think it is not
enough to judge by.' Here he paused awhile, and having
recovered himself, asked, ' I desire to know what this peo¬
ple come here fori' On which one replied, 'Sir, leave
him to me. Let an old woman answer him.' ' You, Mr.
Nash, take, care of your body. We take care of our souls,
and for the good of our souls we come here.' He replied
not a word, but walked away.
" As I returned, the street was full of people, hurrying
to and fro, and speaking great words. But when any of
them asked, ' Which is he 1' and I replied, ' I am he,'
they were immediately silent. Several ladies following
76
life of the
me into Mr. Merchant's house, the servant told me, there
were some wanted to speak with me. I went to them,
and said, ' I believe, ladies, the maid mistook; you only
wanted to look at me.' I added, ' I, do not expect that
the rich and great should want either to speak with me, or
to hear me, for I speak the plain truth; a thing you hear
little of, and do not desire to hear.' A few more words
passed between us, and I retired." (Journal.)
After visiting London, and preaching to vast multitudes
in Moorfields, on Kennington Common, and other places,
some of whom were strangely affected, and many effectu¬
ally awakened to a sense of sin, in October Mr. Wesley
had a pressing invitation to Wales, where, although the
churches were shut against him, he preached in private
houses, and in the open air, often during sharp frosts, and
was gladly received by the people. " I have seen," says
he, " no part of England so pleasant, for sixty or seventy
miles together, as those parts of Wales I have been in;
and most of the inhabitants are indeed ripe for the Gospel.
I mean, if the expression seems strange, they are earn¬
estly desiroils of being instructed in it; and as utterly
ignorant of it they are as any Creek or Cherokee Indians.
I do not mean they are ignorant of the name of Christ;
many of them can say both the Lord's Prayer and the
Belief ; nay and some, all the Catechism ; but take them
out of the road of what they have learned by rote, and
they know no more (nine in ten of those with whom I
conversed) either of Gospel salvation, or of that faith
whereby alone we are saved, than Chicali or Tomo Cha-
chi. Now what spirit is he of who had rather these poor
creatures should perish for lack of knowledge than that
they should be saved, even by the exhortations of Howell
Harris, or an itinerant preacher ? The word did not fall
to the ground. Many repented, and believed the Gospel.
And some joined together to strengthen each other's
hands in God, and to provoke one another to love and to
good works." (Journal.)
About this time he stated his doctrinal views in perhaps
as clear a manner, though in a summary form, as at any
period subsequently:—
" A serious clergyman desired to know in what points
we differed from the Church of England. I answered,
REV.. JOHN WESLEY.
77
To the best of my knowledge, in none ; the doctrines we
preach are the doctrines of the Church of England, in¬
deed the fundamental doctrines of the Church clearly laid
down, both in her Prayers, Articles, and Homilies.
" He asked, ' In what points then do you differ from
the other clergy of the Church of England!' I answered,
In none from that part of the clergy who adhere to the
doctrines of the Church; but from that part of the clergy
who dissent from the Church (though they own it not) I
differ in the points following :—
" First, They speak of justification, either as the same
thing with sanctification, or as something consequent upon
it. I believe justification to be wholly distinct from sanc¬
tification, and necessarily antecedent to it.
" Secondly, They speak of our own holiness or good
works as the cause of our justification, or that for the
sake of which, on account of which, we are justified before
God. I believe, neither our own holiness nor good works
are any part of the cause of our justification; but that
the death and righteousness of Christ are the whole and
sole cause of it, or that for the sake of which, on account
of which, we are justified before God.
" Thirdly, They speak of good works as a con¬
dition of justification, necessarily previous to it. I
believe, no good work can be previous to justification,
nor, consequently, a condition of it; but that we are
justified (being till that hour ungodly, and therefore
incapable of doing any good work*) by faith alone; faith,
without works ; faith, though producing all, yet including
no good works.
"Fourthly, They speak of sanctification, or holiness,
as if it were an outward thing ; as if it consisted chiefly,
if not wholly, in these two points : 1. The doing no harm :
2. The doing good, as it is called; that is, the using the
means of grace, and helping our neighbour.
" I believe it to be an inward thing, namely, ' the life
of God in the soul of man; a participation of the divine
nature ; the mind that was in Christor, ' the renewal
of our heart after the image of Him that created us.'
" Lastly, They speak of the new birth as an outward
thing; as if it were no more than baptism, or, at most, a
change from outward wickedness to outward goodness,.
7*
78
FIFE OF THE
from a vicious to what is called a virtuous life. I believe
it to be an inward thing; a change from inward wicked¬
ness to inward goodness ; an entire change of our inmost
nature from the image of the devil, wherein we are born,
to the image of God; a change from the love of the
creature to the love of the Creator, from earthly and sen¬
sual to heavenly and holy affections ; in a word, a change
from the tempers of the spirits of darkness to those of
the angels of God in heaven.
" There is therefore a wide, essential, fundamental,
irreconcilable difference between us ; so that if they speak
the truth as it is in Jesus, I am found a false witness before
God. But if I teach the way of God in truth, they are
blind leaders of the blind." {Journal.)
Disputes having arisen between the Methodists and
Moravians, who still formed one society at Fetter-lane,
Mr. Wesley returned to London. Over this society he
professed to have no authority, and, as it appeared, had
but little influence. Yarious new doctrines of a mystical
kind, which he thought dangerous, had been introduced by
several of the teachers ; and it seems he foresaw a sepa¬
ration from them to be inevitable, for he had taken a place
near Moorfields, which had been used as a foundery for
casting cannon; and on this visit he preached in it to very
numerous congregations. He was on this and other
visits to London unsuccessful in settling the disputes
which had arisen in the society; and in June, 1740, he
again came to London, and spent upward of a month
among them, occupied at intervals in the same attempt.
His efforts being fruitless, he read to them the following
paper :—
" About nine months ago, certain of you began to speak
contrary to the doctrine we had till then received. The
sum of what you asserted is this : 1. That there is no such
thing as weak faith : that there is no justifying faith, where
there is ever any doubt or fear; or where there is not, in
the full sense, a new, a clean heart. 2. That a man ought
not to use those ordinances of God, which our Chnrch
terms means of grace, before he has such a faith as ex¬
cludes all doubt and fear, and implies a new, a clean heart.
3. You have often affirmed, that to search the Scriptures,
to pray, or to communicate, before we have this faith, is to
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
79
seek salvation by works ; and till these woiks are laid aside,
no man can receive faith.
" I believe these assertions to be flatly contrary to the
word of God. I have warned you hereof again and again,
and besought you to turn back to the law and to the testi¬
mony. I have borne with you long, hoping you would
turn. But as I find you more and more confirmed in the
error of your ways, nothing now remains but that I should
give you up to God. You that are of the same judgment
follow me."—"I then," adds Mr. Wesley, "without saying
any thing more, withdrew, as did eighteen or nineteen of
the society."
Those who continued to adhere to him then met at the
Foundery, the whole number amounting to about seventy-
two. The Moravian teacher Molther appears to have been
the chief author of the novel opinions objected to by Mr.
Wesley, whom however Peter Bohler thought Mr. Wesley
misunderstood ; which was not likely, as Mr. Charles
Wesley mentions the same things in his Journal. Toward
the Moravian Church at large, Mr. Wesley continued to
feel an unabated affection; but as he was never a member
of that Church, and maintained only a kind of co-fraternity
with those of them who were in London, when these became
infected with novel opinions, his departure from them, with
such as were of the same mind as himself, and were also
members of the Church of England, was a step of prudence
andtcfofipedfce. From a conversation which he had with
Count Zinzendorf a short time afterward, and which he has
published, it would seem that a refined species of Antino-
mianism had crept in amongst the Moravians; and that the
Count was at that time by no means a teacher of the class
of Peter Bohler. But, to affirm with Zinzendorf, that there
is nothing bnt imputed righteousness, and to reject in¬
herent righteousness ;—to insist upon all our perfection
being in Christ, and to deny the Christian perfection or
maturity which believers derive from him,—was not in
accordance with the Moravian Church, appears from the
following extract from the authorized exposition of their
doctrines by Spangenberg, which, as the perversions of
these "wrong headed men" have been mentioned, it would
be unjust to the body of Moravians to withhold :—
"Although this faith, which is so peculiar to all the
80
LIFE OF THE
children of God, that whoever has it not is no child of God,
does no outward wonders and signs, raises none from the
dead, removes no mountains, yet it does and performs other
things, which are of much greater importance. What are
those things? Answer: We through faith attain to the
enjoyment of that which Christ hath by his sacrifice pur¬
chased for us. We are, (1.) Through faith in Jesus Christ
made free from the dominion of sin. Paul says, 4 Sin shall
not have dominion over you, for ye are not under the law,
but under grace,' Rom. vi, 14.
" All those who believe in Jesus Christ are freed from
the curse and condemnation of the law ; they obtain forgive¬
ness of sins, become the adopted children of God, and are
sealed with the Holy Ghost. These are they, then, who
are made free from the dominion of sin, because they are
under grace. Now when they are thus exhorted, 'Let not
sin reign in your mortal body, that ye should obey it in the
lusts thereof; neither yield ye your members as instruments
of unrighteousness unto sin,' &c, Rom. vi, 12, 13; they
cannot say, O that is impossible for us ; we are but sinful
men; the flesh is weak, and the like. For they have Jesus
Christ, who saveth his people from their sins ; they have a
Fathgr in heaven, who heareth their prayer and supplica¬
tion. The Holy Ghost d wells in their hearts, and strength¬
ens them in all that is good. If they therefore do but
rightly make use of the grace wherein through f|iith they
stand, then sin can have no dominion over therit. *• ^F&s is
exactly what John says, IstEpist. iii, 9,4 Whosoever is born
of God, doth not commit sin,' (he doth not let sin reign, or
have the dominion in his mortal body, that he should obey
it in the lusts thereof,) 4 for his seed remaineth in him; and
he cannot sin, because he is born of God.' That is, his
heart will comply with no such thing; for he loves our
Saviour, being a child of God, and a partaker of the Holy
Ghost." (Exposition, pp. 215, 216.)
Not only Antinomian errors, but mystic notions of ceas¬
ing from ordinances and waiting for faith in stillness, greatly
prevailed also among the Moravians in London at this time,
and were afterward carried by them into many of the coun¬
try Methodist societies in Yorkshire, Derbyshire, and other
places. Of the effect at Nottingham Mr. Wesley gives a
curious account in his Journal for June, 1743 :—
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
81
" In the afternoon we went on to Nottingham, where
Mr. Howe received us gladly. At eight the society met,
as usual. I could not but observe, 1. That the room was
not half full, which used, until very lately, to be crowded
within and without. 2. That not one person who came in
used any prayer at all; but every one immediately sat
"down, and began either talking to his neighbour, or looking
about to see who was there. 3. That when I began to
pray, there appeared a general surprise, no one offering to
kneel down, and those who stood, choosing the most easy,
indolent posture which they conveniently could. I after¬
ward looked for one of our hymn books upon the desk, (fori
knew Mr. Howe had brought one from London,) but both
that and the Bible were vanished away. And in the room
lay the Moravian Hymns, and the Count's Sermons."
{Journal.)
That incautious book, Luther on the Galatians, appears
to have been the source of the Antinomianism of the Mo¬
ravians ; and their quietism they learned from Madame
Guion, and other French mystic writers.
The Methodist society, as that name distinguishes the
people who to this day acknowledge Mr. Wesley as their
founder under God, was, properly speaking, as a society
specially under his pastoral charge, collected in this year,
(1740,) at the chapel in Moorfields, where he regularly
preached, and where, by the blessing of God upon his and
Mr. Wesley's labours, the society rapidly increased.
For this, and for the societies in Bristol, Kingswood, and
other parts, he, in 1743, drew up a set of rules, which con¬
tinue in force to the present time, and the observance of
which was then, and continues to be, the condition of mem¬
bership. They are so well known as to render it unneces¬
sary to quote them. It may only be observed, that they
enjoin no peculiar opinions, and relate entirely to moral
conduct, to charitable offices, and to the observance of the
ordinances of God. Churchmen or Dissenters, walking
by these rules, might become and remain members of these
societies, provided they held their doctrinal views and dis¬
ciplinary prepossessions in peace and charity. The sole
object of the union was to assist the members to " make
their calling and election sure," by cultivating the reli¬
gion of the heart, and a holy conformity to the laws of
82
LIFE OF THE
Christ. These rules bear the signature of J ohn and Charles
Wesley.
Mr. Wesley's mother about this time began to attend
his ministry. She had been somewhat prejudiced against
her sons by reports of their " errors" and " extravagancies
but was convinced, upon hearing them, that they spoke
" according to the oracles of God." There is an inte¬
resting entry in Mr. Wesley's Journal respecting this
venerable woman:—
" September 3. I talked largely with my mother, who
told me, that, till a short time since, she had scarce heard
such a thing mentioned as the having forgiveness of sins
now, or God's Spirit bearing witness with our spirit: much
less did .she imagine, that this was the common privilege
of all true believers. ' Therefore,' said she,' I never durst
ask for .it myself. But two or three weeks ago, while my
son Hall was pronouncing those words, in delivering the
cup to me, The blood of our Lord Jesus Christ which was
given for thee; the words struck through my heart, and I
knew God for Christ's-sake had forgiven me all my sins.'
" I asked, whether her father (Dr. Annesley) had not
the same faith; and, whether she had not heard him
preach it to others. She answered, ' He had it himself,
and declared a little before his death, that, for more than
forty years, he had no darkness, no fear, no doubt at all
of his b.eing accepted in the Beloved.' But that, neverthe¬
less, she did not remember to have heard him^lHfell, no,
not once, explicitly upon it: whence she supposed he also
looked upon it as the peculiar blessing of a few, not as
promised to all the people of God." (Journal.)
The extraordinary manner in which some persons were
frequently affected under Mr. Wesley's preaching, as well
as that of his coadjutors, now created much discussion,
and to many gave great offence. Some were seized with
trembling; others sunk down and uttered loud and piercing
cries ; others fell into a kind of agony. In some instances
whilst prayer was offered for them, they rose up with a sud¬
den change of feeling, testifying that they had "redemption
through the blood of Christ, even the forgiveness of sins,
according to the riches of his grace." Mr. Samuel Wesley,
who denied the knowledge of the forgiveness of sins, treated
these things, in a correspondence with his brother, alter
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
83
nately with sarcasm and serious severity, and particularly
attacked the doctrine of assurance. In this controversy,
Mr. John Wesley attaches no weight whatever to these out¬
ward agitations; but contends that he is bound to believe
the profession made by many, who had been so affected,
of an inward change, because that had been confirmed by
their subsequent conduct and spirit. On the subject of
assurance, the disputants put forth their logical acuteness ;
but the result appears to have been upon the whole in¬
structive to the elder brother; whose letters soften con
siderably toward the close of the dispute. Mr. Samuel
Wesley died in the following November. The circum¬
stances to which he objected, although he knew them only
by report, and was too far removed from the scene to be
an accurate judge, have since that time furnished ample
subject for serious or satirical animadversion to many
writers, and to none more than to Dr. Southey. {'Life of
Wesley.) A few general remarks upon this point may not
therefore be here out of place. By this writer it is affirm¬
ed, that great importance was attached by Mr. Wesley to
those emotions, and bodily affections, Which occasionally
occurred ; and that the most visionary persons, and those
who pretended ecstasies, dreams, &c, were, at least in
the early part of his ministry, the objects of his special re¬
spect, as eminently holy and favoured. This is so far
from the fact, that it. is difficult to meet with a divine
whose views of religion are more practical and definite.
He did 'not deny that occasionally "God," even now,
"speaketh in a dream, in a vision of the night," and that he
may thus*" open the ears of men to instruction, and com¬
mand them to depart from iniquity;" he believed that, in
point of fact, many indisputable cases of this kind have
occurred in modern times ; and in this belief he agreed
with many of the wisest and the best of men. He has re¬
corded some cases of what may be called ecstasy, generally
without an opinion of his own, leaving every one to form
his own judgment from the recorded fact. He unques¬
tionably believed in special effusions of the influence of
the Holy Spirit upon congregations and individuals, pro¬
ducing powerful emotions of mind, expressed in some
instances by bodily affections ; and he has furnished some
facts on which Dr. Southey has exercised his philosophy
84
LIFE OF THE
with a success, probably, more satisfactory to himself
than convincing to his readers. But that any thing ex¬
traordinary, either of bodily or mental affection, was with
Mr. Wesley, at any lime of his life, of itself, deemed so
important as to be regarded as a mark of superior piety, is
a most unfounded assumption. Those of his Sermons
which contain the doctrines which he deemed essential ;
his Notes on the New Testament; and the rules by which
every member of his societies was required to be governed,
are sufficiently in refutation of this notion. In them no
reference is made to any thing visionary as a part, how¬
ever small, of true religion ; unless, indeed, all spiritual
religion, changing the heart, and sanctifying the affections,
be thought visionary. The rule of admission into his so¬
cieties was "a desire to fly from the wrath to come," but
then the sincerity of this was to be evidenced by cor¬
responding " fruits" in the conduct; and on this condition
only, farther explained by detailed regulations, all of them
simple and practical, were the members to remain in con¬
nection with him. These rules are the standing evidence,
that, from the first formation of the Methodist societies,
neither a speculative nor a visionary scheme of religion was
the basis of their union. Had Mr. Wesley placed religion,
in the least, in those circumstances, he would have set up
a very different standard of doctrine in his Sermons ; and
the rules of his societies would have borne an equivocal
and mystic character.
That cases of real enthusiasm occurred at this and sub
sequent periods is indeed allowed. There aro always
nervous, dreamy, and excitable people to be foihid; and
the emotion which w&s produced among those who were
really so " pricked in the heart" as to cry with a sincerity
equal to that which was felt by those of old, " What shall
we do to be saved 1" would often be communicated to
such persons by natural sympathy. No one could be
blamed for this, unless he had encouraged the excitement
for its own sake, or taught the people to regard it as a sign
of grace, which most assuredly Mr. Wesley never did.
Nor is it correct to represent these effects, genuine and
factitious together, as peculiar to Methodism. A great
impression was made by the preaching of the Wesleys
and Mr. Whitefield in almost all places where they went.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
85
Thousands in the course of a few years, and of those too
who had lived in the greatest unconcern as to spiritual
things, and were most ignorant and depraved in their
habits, were recovered from their vices, and the moral ap¬
pearance of whole neighbourhoods was changed. Yet the
effects were not without precedent even in those circum¬
stances in which they have been thought most singular and
exceptionable. Great and rapid results of this kind were
produced in the first ages of Christianity, but not without
" outcries," and strong corporeal as well as mental emo¬
tions, nay, and extravagancies too. By perversion, even
condemnable heresies arose, and a rank and real enthu¬
siasm : but will any man from this argue against Chris¬
tianity itself; or asperse the labours and characters of those
holy men who planted its genuine root in Asia, Africa, and
Europe 1 Will he say, that as, through the corrupt nature
of men, evil often accompanies good, one is to be con¬
founded with the other, and that those great Evangelists
were the authors of the evil because they were the instru¬
ments of the benefit 1 Even in the decline of true piety
in the church of Christ, there were not wanting holy and
zealous ministers to carry out the tidings of salvation to
the barbarous ancestors of European nations ; and strong
and effectual impressions were made by their faithful and
powerful preaching upon the savage multitudes who sur¬
rounded them, accompanied with many effects similar to
those which attended the preaching of the Wesleys and
Whitefield : but all who went on these sacred missions
were not enthusiasts; nor were all the conversions effected
by them a mere exchange of superstitions. Such objectors
might have known that like effects often accompanied the
preaching of eminent men at the Reformation, and that
many of the Puritan and Nonconformist ministers had
similar successes in large districts in our own country.
They might have known that, in Scotland, and also among
the grave Presbyterians of New-England, previous to the
rise of Methodism, such impressions had not unfrequently
been produced by the ministry of faithful men, attended by
very similar circumstances ; and they might have been in¬
formed that, though on a smaller scale, the same results
have followed the ministry of modern missionaries of
different religious societies in various parts of the world.
8
86
LIFE OF THE
It may be laid down as a principle established by fact, that,
whenever a zealous and faithful ministry is raised up, after
a long spiritual death, the early effects of that ministry are
not only powerful, hut often attended with extraordinary
circumstances ; nor are such extraordinary circumstances
necessarily extravagancies because they are not common.
If there be an explicit truth in Scripture, it is, that the suc¬
cess of the ministry of the Gospel, in the conversion of
men, is the consequence of divine influence ; and if there
be a well ascertained fact in ecclesiastical story, it is, tha
no great and indisputable results of this kind have been
produced but by men who have acknowledged this truth,
and have gone forth in humble dependence upon that pro¬
mised cooperation contained in the words, " And, lo, I am
with you always, even to the end of the world." This
fact, equally striking and notorious, is a strong confirma
tion that the sense of the sacred oracles on this point was
not mistaken by them. The testimony of the word of G od
is, that, as to ministerial success, " God giveth the in¬
crease the testimony of experience is, that no success
in producing true conversion has ever taken place in any
church, but when this cooperation of God has been ac¬
knowledged and sought by the agents employed in it.
The doctrine of divine influence, as necessary to the
conversion of men, being thus grounded on the evidence
of Scripture, and farther confirmed by fact, it may follow,
and that in perfect conformity with revelation, that such
influence may be dispensed in different degrees at different
periods. That it was more eminently exerted at the first
establishment of Christianity than at some other periods, 'is
certain; and that not only in extraordinary gifts, (for
though these might awaken attention and silence unbelief,
we have the evidence of Scripture history to prove, that
miracles cannot of themselves convert men from vice,) but
in sanctifying energy, without which the heart is never
brought to yield to the authority and will of God in its choice
and affections. That in various subsequent periods there
have been special dispensations of favour to nations, with
reference to the improvement of their moral state, is clear
from a fact which cannot be denied, that eminently holy
and gifted men have been raised up at such periods for the
benefit of the countries and the age in which they appeared.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
87
from whose exertions they have derived the highest moral
advantages. For the reasons we have given, we cannot
refer the appearance of such men to chance, nor the for¬
mation of their characters to the circumstances and spirit
of " stirring times." We leave these conclusions to the
philosophy of the world ; and recognise in the appearance
of such instruments, the merciful designs and special
grace of Him " who worketh all and in all." But the argu¬
ment is, that if such men have really been the instruments
of "turning many to righteousness," and that if the princi¬
ples of our religion forbid us to believe that this can be
done by any gifts or qualities in them, however lofty ; then
according to the Scripture doctrine, they were " workers
together with God," and the age in which they laboured was
distinguished by a larger effusion of the Holy Spirit upon
the minds of men. Why this should occur at one time
more eminently than at another, we pretend not to say: but
even this notion, so enthusiastic probably to many, is still
in conformity to the word of God, which declares that "the
wind bloweth where it listeth," and that the influence of the
Holy Spirit, like the atmosphere, is subject to laws not
ascertainable by man; and if this effusion of his influence
argue especial, though undeserved, favour to particular
nations and ages, this is not more difficult to account for
than that, at some periods and places, men of eminent useful¬
ness should be sent into the world, when they do not appear
in others, which being a mere matter of fact, leaves no
room for cavil. This view, likewise accords with what the
Scriptures teach us to expect as to the future. For the
accomplishment of the sublime consummation of the divine
counsels, agents of great efficiency and qualifications, we
believe, will from time to time appear; but our hope does not
rest on them, but on Him only who has explicitly promised
to " pour out his Spirit upon all flesh," at once to give effi¬
ciency to instruments in themselves feeble, however gifted,
and so " to order the unruly wills and passions of men,"
that they may be subdued and sanctified by the truth. If
such effusions of divine influence be looked for, and on
such principles, as the means of spreading the power of
Christianity generally, we may surely believe it quite
accordant both with the spirit and letter of Scripture, that
the same influence should often be exerted to preserve
88
LIFE OF THE
and to revive religion; and that if nations already Chris¬
tian, are to be the instruments of extending Christianity,
not m name only, but in its spirit and sanctity into all the
earth, they should be prepared for this high designation by
the special exercise of the same agency turning them from
what is merely formal in religion to its realities, and mak¬
ing them examples to others of the purifying grace of the
Gospel of God our Saviour. Let it then be supposed,
(no great presumption, indeed,) that Christians have quite
as good a foundation for these opinions as others can boast
for that paltry philosophy by which they would explain the
effects produced by the preaching of holy and zealous
ministers in different ages ; and we may conclude that such
effects, as far as they are genuine, are the result of divine
influence; and, when numerous and rapid, of a divine
influence specially and eminently exerted, giving more
than ordinary assistance to the minds of men in their reli¬
gious concerns, and rendering the obstinate more inexcus
able bylouder and more explicit calls. Of the extraordinary
circumstances which have usually accompanied such visit¬
ations, it may be said, that if some should be resolved into
purely natural causes, some into real enthusiasm, and
(under favour of our philosophers) others into Satanic
imitation, a sufficient number will remain, which can only
be explained by considering them as results of a strong
impression made upon the consciences and affections of
men by an influence ascertained to be divine, though
usually exerted through human instrumentality, by its un¬
questionable effects upon the heart and life. Nor is it
either irrational or unscriptural to suppose, that times of
great national darkness and depravity, the case certainly
of this country at the outset of Mr. Wesley and his col¬
leagues in their glorious career, should require a strong
remedy ; and that the attention of a sleeping people should
be roused by circumstances which could not fail to be no¬
ticed by the most unthinking. We do not attach primary
importance to secondary circumstances ; but they are not
to be wholly disregarded. The Lord was not in the wind,
Dor in the earthquake, nor in the fire, but in the " still small
voice yet that " still small voice" might not have been
heard, except by minds roused from their inattention by
the shaking of the earth, and the sounding of the storm.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
89
If, however, no special and peculiar effusion of divine
influence on the minds of many of Mr. Wesley's hearers
be supposed ; if we only assume the exertion of that ordi¬
nary influence which, as we have seen, must' accompany
the labours of every minister of Christ to render them
successful in saving men, the strong emotions often pro¬
duced by the preaching of the founder of Methodism might
be accounted for on principles very different from those
adopted by many objectors. The multitudes to whom he
preached were generally grossly ignorant of the Gospel;
and he poured upon their minds a flood of light; his dis¬
courses were plain, pointed, earnest, and affectionate ; the
feeling produced was deep, piercing, and in numberless
cases, such as we have no right, if we believe the Bible,
to attribute to any other cause than that inward operation
of God with his truth which alone can render human means
effectual. Many of those on whom such impressions were
made retired in silence, and nurtured them by reflection.
The "stricken deer" hastened into solitude, there to bleed,
unobserved by all but God. This was the case with the
majority ; for visible and strong emotions were the occa¬
sional, and not the constant, results. At some seasons
indeed effects were produced which, on Christian princi¬
ples, we may hesitate not to say, can only be accounted for
on the assumption that the influence was both divine and
special; at others, the impression was great, but yet we
need assume nothing more than the ordinary blessing of
God which accompanies " the word of his grace," when
delivered in the fulness of faith and love, in order to ac¬
count for it. But beside those who were silently pierced,
and whose minds were sufficiently strong to command
their emotions, there were often many of a class not ac¬
customed to put such restraints upon themselves. To a
powerful feeling they offered but a slight resistance, and
it became visible. To many people, then, as now, this
would appear extravagant; but on what principle can the
genuineness of the impression be questioned! Only if no
subsequent fruit appeared. For if a true conversion fol¬
lowed, then, if there be truth in religion itself, the " finger
of God" must be acknowledged.
We have hitherto seen Mr. Wesley and Mr. Whitefield
labouring together in harmony, and uniting in a common
90
LIFE OF THE
design to promote the revival of Scriptural Christianity
through the land. But Mr. Wesley about this time, being
impressed with, the strong tendency of the Calvinistic
doctrines to produce Antinomianism, published a sermon
against absolute predestination, at which Mr. Whitefield,
who some time previously had embraced that notion, took
offence. A controversy between them, embracing some
other points, ensued, which issued in a temporary estrange¬
ment ; and they laboured from this time independently of
each other; their societies in London, Kingswood, and
other places, being kept quite separate.
A reconciliation however took place between Mr. Wes¬
ley and Mr. Whitefield in January 1750, so that they
preached in each other's chapels. The following entry on
this subject appears in his Journal:—"Friday 19th. In
the evening I read prayers at the chapel in West-street,
and Mr. Whitefield preached a plain, affectionate discourse.
Sunday 21. He read prayers, and I preached. Sunday
28. I read prayers, and Mr. Whitefield preached. How
wise is God, in giving different talents to different, preach¬
ers! So by the blessing of God, one more stumbling blqpk
is removed." (Journal.)
The following extract from Mr. Whitefield's Will is a
pleasing instance of generous, truly Christian feeling:—
"I 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 difference in judgment about some particular points of
doctrine." (Journal.)
Mr. Wesley, at Mr. Whitefield's own desire, preached
his funeral sermon at the Tabernacle, Moorfields.
Several preachers were now employed by Mn Wesley
to assist in the growing work, which already had swelled
beyond even his and his brother's active powers suitably
to supply with the ministration of the word of God. Mr.
Charles Wesley had discouraged this from the beginning,
and even he himself hesitated ; but with John, the promo
tion of religion was the first concern, and church order
the second, although inferior in consideration to that only.
With Charles, these views were often reversed. Mr. Wes¬
ley in the year 1741, had to caution his brother against
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
91
joining the Moravians, after the example of Mr. Gambold,
to which he was at that time inclined; and adds, " I am
not clear, that brother Maxfield should not expound at
Greyhound-lane ; nor can I as yet do without him. Our
clergymen have increased full as much as the preachers."
Mr. Maxfield's preaching had the strong sanction of the
countess of Huntingdon; but so little of design, with
reference to the forming of a sect, had Mr. Wesley, in the
employment of Mr. Maxfield, that, in his own absence
from London, he had only authorized him to pray with the
society, and to advise them as might be needful; and upon
his beginning to preach, he hastened back to silence him.
On this his mother addressed him, "John, you know what
my sentiments have been. You cannot suspect me of
favouring readily any thing of this kind. But take care
what you do with respect to that young man, for he is as
surely called of God to preach, as you are. Examine
what have been the fruits of his preaching, and hear him
also yourself." He took this advice, and could not venture
to forbid him.
His defence of himself on this point 'we may pronounce
irrefutable, and turns upon the disappointment of his hopes,
that the parochial clergy would take the charge of those
who in different places had been turned to God by his
ministry, and that of his fellow labourers.
""It pleased God," says Mr. Wesley, "by two or three
ministers of the Church of England, to call many sinners
to repentance, who, in several parts, were undeniably turn¬
ed from a course of sin to a course of holiness.
" The ministers of the places where this was done
ought to have received those ministers with open arms;
and to have taken those persons who had just begun to
serve God, into their particular care ; watching over them
in tender love, lest they should fall back into the snare of
the devil. -
" Instead of this, the greater part spoke of those minis¬
ters, as if the devil, not God, had sent them. Some repel¬
led them from the Lord's table; others stirred up the
people against them, representing them even in their public
discourses, as fellows not fit to live; Papists, heretics,
traitors ; conspirators against their king and country.
' And how did they watch over the sinners lately re-
92
LIFE OF THE
formed? Even as a leopard watcheth over his prey. They
drove some of them from the Lord's table; to which, till
now, they had no desire to approach. They preached all
manner of evil concerning them,' openly cursing them in
the name of the Lord. They turned many out of their
work, persuaded others to do so too, and harassed them in
all manner of ways.
" The event was, that some were wearied out, and so
turned back to the vomit again: and then these good
pastors gloried over them, and endeavoured to shake others
by their example.
" When the ministers by whom God had helped them
before, came again to those places, great part of their work
was to begin again, if it could be begun again; but the
relapsers were often so hardened in sin, that no impres¬
sion could be made upon them.
" What could they do in a case of so extreme necessity,,
where so many souls lay at stake 1
"No clergyman would assist at all. The expedient
that remained was, to find some one among themselves
who was upright of heart, and of sound judgment in the
things of God ; and to desire hi'm to meet the rest as often
as he could, in order to confirm them, as he was able, in
the ways of God, either by reading to them, or by prayer,
or by exhortation."
, This statement may indeed be considered as affording
the key to all that which, with respect to church order,
may be called irregularity in Mr. Wesley's future proceed¬
ings. God had given him large fruits of his ministry in
various places ; when he was absent from them, the peo¬
ple were " as sheep having no shepherd," or were rather
persecuted by their natural pastors, the clergy; he was
reduced therefore to the necessity of leaving them without
religious care, or of providing it for them. He wisely chose
the latter; but true to his own principles, and even preju¬
dices, he carried this no farther than the necessity of the
case : the hours of service were in no instance to interfere
with those of the Establishment, and at the parish church
the members were exhorted to communicate. Thus a
religious society was raised up within the national Church,
and with this anomaly, that as to all its interior arrange¬
ments, as a society, it was independent of its ecclesiasti-
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
93
cal authority. The irregularity was, in principle, as great
when the first step was taken as at any future time. It was
a form of practical and partial separation, though not of
theoretical dissent; but it arose out of a moral necessity,
and existed for some years in such a state, that, had the
clergy been disposed to cooperate in this evident revival
and spread of true religion, and had the heads of the
Church been willing to sanction itinerant labours among
its ministers, and private religious meetings among the
serious part of the people for mutual edification, the great
body of Methodists might have been retained in commu¬
nion with the Church of England.
On this matter, which was often brought before the lead¬
ing and influential clergy, they made their own election.
They refused to cooperate; they doubtless thought that they
acted right; and, excepting the obloquy and persecution
with which they followed an innocent and pious people,
they perhaps did so; for a great innovation would have
been made upon the discipline of the Church, for which,
at that time at least, it was little prepared. But the clergy,
having made their election, have no right, as some of
them continue to do, to censure either the founders of
Methodism or their people for making more ample provi¬
sion for their spiritual wants. It was imperative upon the
former to provide that pastoral care for the souls brought
to God by their labours, which the Church could not or
would not afford ; and the people had a Christian liberty
to follow that course which they seriously believed most
conducive to their own edification, as well as a liberty by
the very laws of their country. The violent clerical
writers against Methodism have usually forgotten, that no
man in England is bound to the national Church by any
thing but moral influence; and that from every othei tie
he is set free by the laws which recognise and protect reli¬
gious liberty. Mr. Wesley resisted all attempts at formal
separation, still hoping that a more friendly spirit would
spring up among the clergy; and he even pressed hard
upon the consciences of his people to effect their uniform
and constant attendance at their parish churches, and at
the sacrament; but he could not long and generally suc¬
ceed. Where the clergyman of a parish was moral or
pious there was no difficulty; but cases of conscience were
94
LIFE OF THE
continually arising among his societies, as to the lawful¬
ness of attending the ministry of the irreligious and pro¬
fane clergymen, who were then and long afterward found
throughout the land; and as to hearing, and training up
children to hear, false and misleading doctrines, Pelagian,
Antinomian, or such as were directed in some form against
the religion of the heart as taught in the Scriptures, and
in the services of. the national Church. These cases ex¬
ceedingly perplexed Mr. Wesley ; and though he relaxed
his strictness in some instances, yet as he did not sufficient¬
ly yield to meet the whole case, and perhaps could not do
it without adopting such an ecclesiastical organization of
his societies as would have contradicted the principles to
which, as to their relation to the Church, he had, perhaps,
overhastily and peremptorily committed himself; the effect
was, that long before his death, the attendance of the Me¬
thodists at such parish churches as had not pious ministers
was exceedingly scanty ; and as they were not permitted
public worship among themselves in the hours of Church
service, a great part of the Sabbath was lost to them, except
as they employed it in family and private exercises. So
also as to the Lord's Supper ; as it was not then adminis¬
tered by their own preachers, it fell into great and painful
neglect. To meet the case in part, the two brothers, and
a few clergymen who joined them, had public service in
Church hours, in the chapels in London and some other
places, and administered the Lord's Supper to numerous
communicants; a measure, which, like other inconsisten¬
cies of a similar kind, grew out of a sense of duty, warring
with, and restrained by, strong prepossessions, and the
very sincere but very unfounded hope just mentioned, that
a more friendly spirit would be awakened among the clergy,
and that all the sheep gathered out of the wilderness would
at length be kindly welcomed into the national fold. As
ecclesiastical irregularities, these measures stood, how¬
ever, precisely on the same principle as those subsequent
changes which have rendered the body of Methodists still
more distinct and separate ; a subject to which reference
will again be made. The warmest advocates of Church
Methodism among ourselves were never consistent Church¬
men ; and the Church writers, who have set up the exam¬
ple of Mr. Wesley against his more modern followers, have
rev. john wesley.
95
been wholly ignoiant or unmindful of his history. Dr.
Southey, and others who have fancied a plan of separation
in Mr. Wesley's mind from the beginning, though-followed-
cautiously and with policy " step by step," have shown a
better acquaintance with the facts of the progress of Me¬
thodism ; though they have been most unjust to the pure
and undesigning mind of its founder ; who walked " step
by step," it is true, but only as Providence by an arrange¬
ment of circumstances seemed to lead the way; and would
make no change but as a necessity, arising from conscien¬
tious views of the prosperity of a spiritual work, appeared
to dictate. Had he looked forward to the forming of a
distinct sect, as an honour, he would have attempted to
enjoy it in its fulness during his life ; and had he been so
skilful a designer as some have represented him, he would
not have left a large body unprovided for, in many respects
essential to its prosperity and permanence, at his death.
He left his work unfinished, and knew that he should leave
it in that state ; but he threw the final results, in the spirit
of a strong faith, upon the care of Him whose hand he had
seen in it from the beginning.
CHAPTER VII.
We have now to follow these Apostolic men into still
more extended fields of labour, and to contests more for¬
midable. They had sustained many attacks from the press;
and some frowns from the authorities of the Church. By
mobs they had occasionally been insulted both in England
and Wales. But in London, some riotous proceedings,
of a somewhat violent character, now occurred at their
places of worship. With respect to these, the following
anecdote is curious, as it shows that Mr. Wesley's zeal
was regarded with favour in a high quarter: " On the last
day of 1742, Sir John Ganson called upon Mr. Wesley
and said, ' Sir, you have no need to suffer these riotous
mobs to molest you, as they have done long. I and all
the other Middlesex magistrates have orders from above
to do you justice whenever you apply to us.' Two or
three weeks after they did apply. Justice was done, though
not with rigour; and from that time the Methodists had
peace in London.", (Whitehead's Life.)
96
LIFE OF THE
In the discipline of Methodism, the division of the soci¬
ety into classes is an important branch. Each class is
placed under a person of experience and piety, who meets
the others once a week, for prayer, and inquiry into the
religious state of each, in order to administer exhortation
and counsel. The origin of these classes was, however,
purely accidental. The chapel at Bristol was in debt;
and it was agreed that each member of the society ^ould
contribute one penny a week to reduce the burden. The
Bristol society was therefore divided into classes; and
for convenience, one person was appointed to collect the
weekly subscriptions from each class, and to pay the
amount to the stewards. The advantage of this system,
when turned to a higher purpose, at once struck the
methodical and practical mind of Mr. Wesley : he there¬
fore invited several " earnest and sensible men" to meet
him ; and the society in London was divided into classes
like that of Bristol, and placed under the spiritual care of
these tried and experienced persons. At first they visited
each person, at his own residence once a week; but the
preferable mode of bringing each class together weekly
was at length adopted. These meetings are not, as some
have supposed, inquisitorial; but their business is confined
to statements of religious experience, and the administra¬
tion cf friendly and pious counsel. Mutual acquaintance
•with each other is thus formed ; the leader is the friend
and adviser of all; and among the members, by their pray¬
ing so often with and for each other, the true " fellowship
of saints" is promoted. Opportunities are also thus afford¬
ed for ascertaining the wants of the poorer members, and
obtaining relief for them ; and for visiting the sick: the
duty of a leader being to see his members once in the
week, either at the meeting, or, if absent from that, at
home. Upon this institution Mr. Wesley remarks, "Upon
reflection, I could not but observe, this is the very thing
which was from the beginning of Christianity. In the
earliest times, those whom God had sent forth 'preach¬
ed the Gospel to every creature.' The body of hearers
were mostly either Jews or Heathens. But as soon as
any of these were so convinced of the truth as to forsake
sin, and seek the Gospel of salvation, they immediately
joined them together, took an account of their names,
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
97
advised them to watch over each other and met these
xarrj^x(ji,£voi, catechumens, .as they were then called, apart
from the great congregation, that they might instruct,
rebuke, exhort, and pray with them, and for them, accord¬
ing to their several necessities." (Journal.)
A current charge against Mr. Wesley, about this time,
was, that he was a Papist; and from the frequent refer¬
ences to it in his Journal, although it was treated by him
with characteristic sprightliness, it appears to have been
the occasion of much popular odium, arising from the fears
entertained by the nation of the movements of the Pre¬
tender. In his Journal, March, 1741, he says, "Calling
on a person near Grosvenor Square, I found there was
but too much reason here for crying out of the increase of
Popery, many converts to it being continually made by the
gentleman who preaches in Swallow-street three days in
every week. Now, why do not the champions, who are
continually crying out, * Popery, Popery,' in Moorfields,
come hither, that they may not always be fighting ' as one
that bcateth the air?' Plainly, because they have no
mind to fight at all, but to show their valour without an
opponent. And they well know, they may defy Popery at
the Foundery without any danger of contradiction." And
some time afterward, he remained in London, from whence
all Papists had been ordered by proclamation to depart, a
week longer than he intended, that he might not seem to
plead guilty to the charge. The notion that the Method¬
ists were Papists was also, in those times, the occasion of
their being persecuted in several places in the country.
Mr. Wesley now extended his labours northward. He
first accepted an invitation into Leicestershire, and has
the following amusing anecdote in his Journal: " I stop¬
ped a little at Newport Pagnell, and then rode on till I
overtook a serious man, with whom I immediately fell into
conversation. He presently gave me to know what his
opinions were ; therefore I said nothing to contradict them.
But that did not content him; he was quite uneasy to
know whether I held the doctrine of the decrees as he did.
But I told him, over and over, we had better keep to prac¬
tical things, lest we should be angry at one another; and
so we did for two miles, till he caught me unawares, and
dragged me into the dispute before I knew where I was.
9
9S
LIFE OF THE
He then grew warmer and warmer ;—told me I was rotten
at heart, and supposed I was one of John Wesley's fol¬
lowers. I told him, 'No! I am John Wesley himself!'
Upon which he appeared,
Improvisum aspris veliili qui sentibus anguem
Pressit
' as one who had unawares trodden on a snake,' and would
gladly have run away outright. But being the better
mounted of the two, I kept close to his side, and endea¬
voured to show him his heart till we came into the street
of Northampton." In this journey he visited Yorkshire.
At Birstal and the neighbourhood many persons had been
awakened to a serious concern by the conversation and
preaching of honest John Nelson, who had himself been
brought to the knowledge of God in London, by attending
the service at the Foundery, and had returned to his friends
in Yorkshire, chiefly moved by a strong desire to promote
their salvation. The natural genius of this excellent
man, who afterward suffered much persecution, and was
barbarously treated by the magistrates and clergy, was
admirably acute, and gave to his repartees a surprising
power and convincingness. He greatly excelled in con¬
versation on religious subjects ; and his Journal is one of
the most interesting pieces of biography published among
the Methodists. When Mr. Wesley reached Birstal, he
found that he had been the instrument of very extensive
good, so that the moral aspect of the town had been
changed. After preaching to a large congregation on
Birstal Hill, and on the side of Dewsbury Moor, and en¬
couraging Mr. Nelson in his endeavours to do good, Mr.
Wesley proceeded to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, hoping to
have the same fruit of his labours among the colliers of
that district as he had seen among those of Kingswood.
So true was this lover of the souls of men to his own
advice to his preachers, " Go not only to those who need
you, but to those who need you most."
On walking through the town, after he had taken some
refreshment, he observes, " I was surprised ; so much
drunkenness, cursing, and swearing, even from the mouths
of little children, do I never remember to have seen and
heard before in so short a time." Sunday, May 30th, at
seven in the morning he walked down to Sandgate, the
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
99
poorest and most contemptible part of the town, and stand¬
ing at the end of the street with John Taylor, began to
sing the hundredth psalm. " Three or four people," says
he, " came out to see what was the matter, who soon in¬
creased to four or five hundred. I suppose there might be
twelve or fifteen hundred before I had done preaching, to
whom I applied these solemn words, ' He was wounded
for our transgressions, he was bruised for our iniquities;
the chastisement of our peace was upon him, and by his
stripes we are healed.' '*
In returning southward, he preached in various parts of
Yorkshire ; and visiting Epworth, where a small society of
Methodists had been collected, and finding the use of the
church denied.him, he stood upon his father's tomb, and
preached to a numerous congregation, who, as well as
himself, appear to have been deeply impressed with the
circumstance of the son speaking to them, as from the
ashes of his father, on those solemn subjects on which that
venerable parish priest had faithfully addressed them for so
many years. This was Sunday, June 6, 1742, and on the
Wednesday following, he humourously relates, "I rode
over to a neighbouring town, to wait upon a justice of
peace, a man of candour and understanding ; before whom,
I was informed, their angry neighbours had carried a whole
waggon load of these new heretics. But when he asked
what they had done, there was a deep silence; for that
was a point their conductors had forgot. At length one
said, ' Why, they pretend to be better than other people;
and, beside, they pray from morning to night.' Mr. S
asked, ' But have they done nothing besideV 'Yes, sir,'
said an old man, ' An't please your worship, they have
convarted my wife. Till she went among them, she had
such a tongue; and now she is as quiet as a lamb.' 'Carry
them back, carry them back,' replied the justice, ' and let
• them convert all the scolds in the town.' " (Journal.)
On the Sunday following he also preached at Epworth,
and remarks, " At six I preached for the last time in Ep¬
worth church-yard (being to leave the town the next morn¬
ing) to a vast multitude gathered together from all parts,
on the beginning of our Lord's Sermon on the Mount. I
continued among them for near three hours; and yet we
scarce knew how to part. 0 let none think his labour of
100
LIFE OF THE
love is lost, because the fruit does not immediately appear.
Near forty years did my father labour here; but he saw
little fruit of all his labour. I took some pains among this
people too; and my strength also seemed to be spent in
vain. But now the fruit appeared. There were scarce
any in the town, on whom either my father or I had taken
any pains formerly, but the seed sown so long since now
sprung up, bringing forth repentance and remission of
sins." {Journal.)
The following remarks on a sermon he heard at Pains-
wick occur in his Journal about this time, and deserve
notice :—" I went to church at ten, and heard a remarkable
discourse, asserting, ' that we are justified by faith alone;
but that this faith, which is the previous condition of justifi¬
cation, is the complex of all Christian virtues, including all
holiness and good wolks in the very idea of it.'
" Alas ! How little is the difference between asserting,
either, 1. That we are justified by works, which is Popery
bare-faced; (and indeed so gross that the sober Papists,
those of the Council of Trent in particular, are ashamed ot
it;) or 2. That we are justified by faith and works, which
is Popery refined or veiled; (but with so thin a veil, that
every attentive observer must discern it is the same still;)
or, 3. That we are justified by faith alone, but by such a
faith as includes all good works.* What a poor shift is
this,—41 will not say we are justified by works, nor yet by
faith and works, because I have subscribed Articles and
Homilies which maintain just the contrary. No; I-say,
we are justified by faith alone. But then by faith I mean
works!'"
After visiting Bristol, he was recalled to London to at¬
tend the last moments of his mother:—"Friday, July 30th,
about three in the afternoon, I went to my mother, and
found her change was near. I sat down on the bed side.
She was in her last conflict, unable to speak, but, I believe,
quite sensible. Her look was calm and serene, and her
eyes fixed upward, while we commended her soul to God.
From three to four, the silver cord was loosening, and the
wheel breaking at the cistern; and then, without any
* Although the faith which justifies does not include good works,
it will, when it has justified us, produce and be followed by good works;
because it brings us into vital union with Christ.
rev. john wesley.
101
struggle, or sigh, or groan, the soul was set at liberty. W e
stood round the bed, and fulfilled her last request, uttered
a, little before she lost her speech, ' Children, as soon a3 I
am released, sing a psalm of praise to God.' " (Journal.)
So decided a witness was this venerable and intellectual
woman of the assurance of faith ; a doctrine she had learn¬
ed from her sons more clearly to understand. To then
sound views, on this Scriptural and important subject, the
latter years of her life, and her death, gave a testimony
which to them must have been, in the highest degree,
delightful and encouraging. The following beautiful epi¬
taph, written by her son Charles, was inscribed on her
tombstone in Bunhill Fields :—
" In sure and steadfast hope to rise,
And claim her mansion in the skies,
A Christian here her flesh laid down,
The, cross exchanging for a crown.
True daughter of affliction, she,
Inured to pain and misery,
Mourn'd a long night of griefs and fears,
A legal night of seventy years.
The Father then reveal'd his Son,
Him in the broken bread made known:
She knew and felt her sins forgiven,
And found the earnest of her heaven.
Meet for the fellowship above,
She heard the call, 'Arise, my love!'
'I come,' her dying looks replied,
And lamb-like, as her Lord, she died."
The labours of Mr. Charles Wesley had been very ex¬
tended and arduous during the early part of the year 1743,
and, by the divine blessing, eminently successful. From
the west of England he proceeded to the colliers of Staf¬
fordshire, who had before been visited, and found that the
society at Wednesbury had increased to more than three
hundred, of whose religious state he speaks, in his Journal,
with strong feelings of joy. At Walsall, he preached on
the market-house steps :—
" The street was full of fierce Ephesian beasts, (the
principal man setting them on,) who roared and shouted,
and threw stones incessantly. At the conclusion a stream
of ruffians was suffered to beat me down from the steps : I
rose, and having given the blessing, was beat down again
9*
102
LIFE OF THE
and so a third time. When we had returned thanks to the
G od of our salvation, I then from the steps bid them depart
in peace, and walked through the thickest of the rioters.
They reviled us, but had no commission to touch a hair of
our head."
He then proceeded to Birmingham, Nottingham, and
then to Sheffield. Here the infant society was as a " flock
among wolves; the minister having so stirred up the
people, that they were ready to tear the Methodists in
pieces. At six o'clock, I went to the society house, next
door to our brother Bennet's. Hell from beneath was
moved to oppose us. As soon as I was in the desk, with
David Taylor, the floods began to lift up their voice. An
officer in the army contradicted and blasphemed. I took
no notice of him, but sung on. The stones flew thick,
striking the desk and the people. To save them, and the
house from being pulled down, I gave out, that I should
preach in the street, and look them in the face. The
whole army of the aliens followed me. The captain laid
hold on me, and began rioting: I gave him for answer,
'A Word in Season, or Advice to a Soldier.' I then
prayed, particularly for his majesty King George, and
' preached the Gospel with much contention.' The
stones often struck me in the face. I prayed for sinners,
as servants of their master, the devil; upon which the
captain ran at me with great fury, threatening revenge for
abusing, as he called it, 'the king his master.' He forced
his way through the brethren, drew his sword, and pre¬
sented it to my breast. I immediately opened my breast,
and fixing my eye on his, and smiling in his face, calmly
said, ? I fear God, and honour the king.' His counten¬
ance fell in a moment, he fetched a deep sigh, and putting
up his sword, quietly left the place. He had said to one
of the company who afterward informed me, 'You shall
see if I do but hold my sword to his breast, he will faint
away.' So, perhaps, I should had I only his principles to
trust to ; but if at that time I was not afraid, no thanks to
my natural courage. W e returned to our brother Bennet's,
and gave ourselves up to prayer. The rioters followed,
and exceeded in outrage all I have seen before. Those
at Moorfields, Cardiff, and Walsall, were lambs to these.
As there is no ' king in Israel,' I mean no magistrate in
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
103
Sheffield, every man doeth as seemeth good in his own
eyes."—The mob now formed the design of pulling down
the society house, and set upon their work, while Mr.
Charles Wesley and the people were praying and praising
God within. " It was a glorious time," says he, " with
us; every word of exhortation sunk deep, every prayer
was sealed, and'many found the spirit of glory resting upon
them." The next day the house was completely pulled
down, not one stone being left upon another. He then
preached again in the street, spmewhat more quietly than
before ; but the rioters became very noisy in the evening,
and threatened to pull down the house where he lodged.
He went out to them and made a suitable exhortation, and
they soon afterward separated, and peace was restored.
At five the next morning, he took leave of the society
in these words, " Confirming the souls of the disciples,
and exhorting them to continue in the faith, and that we
must through much tribulation enter into the kingdom of
God." He observes, " Our hearts were knit together,
and greatly comforted : we rejoiced in hope of the glorious
appearing of the great God, who had now delivered us
out of the mouth of the lions. David Taylor had informed
me, that the people of Thorpe, through which we should
pass, were exceedingly mad against us. So we found
them as we approached the place, and were turning down
the lane to Barley Hall. The ambush rose, and assaulted
us with stones, eggs, and dirt. My horse flew from side
to side, till he found his way through them. They wound¬
ed David Taylor in the forehead, and the wound bled
much. I turned back, and asked, what was the reason,
that a clergyman could not pass without such treatment.
At first the rioters scattered, but their captain rallying
them, answered with horrible imprecations and stones.
My horse took fright, and turned away with me down a
steep hill. The enemy pursued me from afar, and fol¬
lowed shouting. Blessed be God, I received no hurt,
only from the eggs and dirt. ' My clothes indeed abhorred
me,' and my arm pained me a little from a blow I received
at Sheffield." {Journal.)
Such was the calm heroism with which these admirable
men prosecuted their early labours; shrinking from no
danger, and firmly trusting their lives in the hands of God.
104
LIFE OF THE
Proceeding to Leeds, Mr. Charles Wesley preached " to
thousands," before Mr. Shent's door, and found the people
" prepared for the Lord." The clergy of Leeds treated
him with respect and deference, and obliged him to assist
at the sacrament: such indeed was their kindness, that
he began to fear this gleam of sunshine, " more than the
stones at Sheffield." He then went on to Newcastle,
where he not only abounded in public labours, but, as the
society had rapidly increased, he instituted a strict inves¬
tigation into their spiritual state, accurately distinguishing
between animal emotions, and the true work of God in the
heart, and leading all to try themselves by the only infalli¬
ble rule, their conformity to the word of God. So unjust
are the insinuations, that the founders of Methodism
allowed excited affections to pass as admitted proofs of a
change of heart. On this visit to Newcastle, Mr. Charles
Wesley remarks in his Journal, that, since he had preached
the Gospel, he had never had greater success than at this
time at Newcastle. Soon after, his brother laid the
foundation of a place for the public worship of the society
the size of which greatly startled some of the people, as
they doubted whether money could be raised to finish if.
" I was of another mind," he observes, " nothing doubting,
but as it was begun for the Lord's sake, he would provide
what was needful for finishing it." Many pecuniary diffi¬
culties arose in the completion of this work: but he
received timely supplies of money, sometimes from very
unexpected quarters.. During this year new societies
were formed in the Western, Midland, and Northern
Counties, whilst those before collected continued greatly
to increase.
In the latter end of this year, 1743, Mr. Wesley appoint¬
ed in London visiters of the sick, as a distinct office in his
society. He says, " It was not long before the stewards
found a great difficulty, with regard to the sick. Some
were ready to perish before they knew of their illness.
And when they did know, it was not in their power, (being
persons generally employed in trade,) to visit them so
often as they desired. When I was apprized of this, I
laid the case at large before the whole society; showed
how impossible it was for the stewards to attend all that
were sick in all parts of the town ; desired the leaders of
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
105
the classes would more carefully inquire, and more con¬
stantly inform them, jvho were sick; and asked, Who
among you is willing, as well as able, to supply this lack
of service 1
" The next morning, many willingly offered themselves.
I chose six and forty of them, whom I judged to be of the
most tender, loving spirit, divided the town into twenty
three parts, and desired two of them to visit the sick in
each division.
" It is the business of a visiter of the sick,
" 1. To see every sick person within his district thrice
a week. 2. To inquire into the state of their souls, and
advise them as occasion may require. 3. To inquire into
their disorders, and procure advice for them. 4. To
relieve them if they are in want. 5. To do any thing for
them, which he (or she) can do. 6. To bring in his
account weekly to the steward."—" Upon reflection, 'I
saw, how exactly in this also we had copied after the
primitive church. What were the ancient deacons ?
What was Phebe the deaconess, but such a visiter of
the sick 1
" I did not think it needful to give them any particular
rules, beside those that follow :—
" 1. Be plain and open in dealing with souls. 2. Be
mild, tender, patient. 3. Be cleanly in all you do for the
sick. 4. Be not nice."
The same year was remarkable in the life of Mr. Wes
ley, for his escape from one of the most dangerous of his
encounters with deluded and infuriated mobs. It was
first incited by a sermon preached in Wednesbury church,
by the clergyman. " I never," says Mr. Wesley, " heard
so wicked a sermon, and delivered with such bitterness of
voice and manner." Whilst Mr. Wesley was at Bristol,
he heard of the effect produced by this charitable address
of the minister to his parishioners, who was assisted in
stirring up the persecution against the society, as was very
frequent in those days, by the neighbouring magistrates,
—full of what they called churchmanship and loyalty.
At Wednesbury, Darlaston, and West Bromwich, the mobs
were stimulated to abuse the Methodists in the most out¬
rageous manner ; even women and children were beaten,
stoned, and covered with mud; their houses broken open,
106
LIFE OF THE
and their goods spoiled or carried away.* Mr. Wesley
hastened to comfort and advise this harassed people as
soon as the intelligence reached him, and preached at
noon at Wednesbury without molestation; but in the after¬
noon the mob surrounded the house. The result will best
be given from his own account, which displays at once
his own admirable presence of mind, and the singular
providence of God :—
"I was writing at Francis Ward's in the afternoon,
when the cry arose that the mob had beset the house.
We prayed that God would disperse them: and so it was ;
one went this way and another that, so that in half an
hour not a man was left. I told our brethren, Now is the
time to go ; but they pressed me exceedingly to stay.
So, that I might not offend them, I sat down, though I
foresaw what would follow; Before five the mob sur¬
rounded the house again, and in greater numbers than
ever. The cry of one and all was, ' Bring out the minis¬
ter, we.will have the minister.' I desired one to take the
captain by the hand and bring him into the house. After
a few sentences interchanged between us, the lion was
become a lamb. I desired him to go, and bring one or
two of the most angry of his companions. He brought
in two, who were ready to swallow the ground with rage ;
but in two minutes they were as calm as he. I then bade
them make way, that I might go out among the people.
As soon as I was in the midst of them, I callbd for a
chair, and asked, ' What do any of you want with me V
Some said, 'We want you to go with us to the justice.'
I replied,' That I will with all my heart.' I then spoke a
few words, which God applied; so that they cried out
with might and main, ' The gentleman is an honest gen¬
tleman, and we will spill our blood in his defence.' I asked,
' Shall we go to the justice to-night, or in the morning 1'
Most of them cried, ' To-night, to-night !' on which I
went before, and two .or three hundred followed, the rest
returning whence they came.
" The night came on before we had walked a mile,
* The descendants of some of these persecuted people still remain,
and show, one a cupboard, another some other piece of furniture, the
only-article saved from the wreck, and preserved with pious care, as
a monument of the sufferings of their ancestors,
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
107
together with heavy rain. However, on we went to
Bentley Hall, two miles from Wednesbury. One or two
ran before, to tell Mr. Lane they had brought Mr. Wesley
before his worship. Mr. Lane replied, ' What have I to
do with Mr. Wesley 1 Go and carry him back again.'
By this time the main body came up, and began knocking
at the door. A servant told them Mr. Lane was in bed.
His son followed, and asked what was the matter. One
replied, ' Why, an't please you, they sing psalms all day ;
nay, and make folks rise at five in the morning : and
what would your worship advise us to do 1' 'To go
home,' said Mr. Lane, ' and be quiet.'
" Here thdy were at a full stop, till one advised to go
to Justice Persehouse, at Walsal. All agreed to this; so
we hastened on, and about seven came to his house. But
Mr. Persehouse also sent word that he was in bed. Now
they were at a stand again : but at last they all thought it
the wisest course to make the best, of their way home.
About fifty of them undertook to convoy me ; but we had
not gone a hundred yards, when the mob of Walsal came
pouring in like a flood, and bore down all before them.
The Darlaston mob made what defence they could ; but
they were weary, as well as outnumbered ; so that, in
a short time, many being knocked down, the rest went
away, and left me in their hands.
"To attempt speaking was vain ; for the noise on every
side was like the roaring of the sea. So they dragged
me along till we came to the town, where seeing the door
of a large house open, I attempted to go in; but a man
catching me by the hair, pulled me back into the middle
of the mob. They made no more stop till they had car¬
ried me through the main street, from one end of the town
to the other. I continued speaking all the time to those
within hearing, feeling no pain or weariness. At the
west end of the town, seeing a door half open, I made
toward it, and would have gone in ; but a gentleman in
the shop would not suffer me, saying they would pull the
house to the ground. However, I stood at the door and
asked, ' Are you willing to hear me speak V Many cried
out, ' No, no ! knock his brainy out; down with him,;
kill him at once.' Others said, ' Nay, but we will hear
him first.' I began asking, 'What evil have I done?
108
LIFE OF THE
Which of you all have I wronged in word or deed V and
continued speaking for above a quarter of an hour, till
my voice suddenly failed. Then the floods began to lift
up their voice again ; many crying out, 4 Bring him away!
bring him away!'
" In the meantime my strength and my voice returned,
and I broke out aloud into prayer. And now the man
who just before headed the mob, turned and said, ' Sir, I
will spend my life for you; follow me, and not one soul
here shall touch a hair of your head.' Two or three of
his fellows confirmed his words, and got close to me
immediately. At the same time the gentleman in the
shop cried out, 4 For shame, for shame; let him go.' An
honest butcher, who was a little farther off", said it was a
shame they should do thus ; and pulled back four or five,
one after another, who were running on the most fiercely.
The people then, as if it had been by common consent
fell back to the right and left; while those three or four
men took me between them, and carried me through them
all: but on the bridge the mob rallied again; we there¬
fore went on one side, over the mill-dam, and thence
through the meadows ; till, a little before ten, God
brought me safe to Wednesbury ; having lost only one
flap of my waistcoat, and a little skin from one of my
hands.
44 From the beginning to the end I found the same
presence of mind as if I had been sitting in my own
study. But I took no thought for one moment before
another; only once it came into my mind, that if they
should throw me into the river, it would spoil the papers
that were in my pocket. For myself, I did not doubt but
I should swim across, having but a thin coat, and a light
pair of boots.
44 The circumstances that follow I thought were par¬
ticularly remarkable : 1. That many endeavoured to throw
me down while we were going down-hill, on a slippery
path, to the town; as well judging, that if I was once
on the ground I should hardly rise any more* > But I
made no stumble at all, nor the least slip, till ,1 was
entirely out of their hjpnds. 2. That although many
strove to lay hold on my collar or clothes to pull me
down, they could not fasten at all; only one got fast hold
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
109
of Jhe flap of my waistcoat, which was soon left in his
hand. 3. That a lusty man just behind, struck at me
several times with a large oaken stick ; with which if he
had struck me once on the bgick part of my head, it would
have saved him all farther trouble : but every time the
blow.was turned aside, I know not how. 4. That another
came rushing through the press, and raising his arm to
strike, on a sudden let it,.drop, and only stroked my head,
saying, ' What soft hair he has !' 5. That I stopped
exactly at the mayor's door, as if I had known it, which
the mob doubtless thought I did, and found him standing
in the shop ; which gave the first check to the madness
of the people. 6. That the very first men whose hearts
were turned, were the heroes of the town, the captains
of the rabble on all occasions ; one of them having been
a prize fighter at the bear gardens. 7. That from first to
last I heard none give a reviling word, or call me by any
opprobrious name whatever. But the cry of one and all
was, ' The preacher ! the preacher ! the parson! the
minister !' 8. That no creature, at least within my hear¬
ing, laid any thing to my charge, either true or false;
having in the hurry quite forgot to provide themselves with
an accusation of any kind. And, lastly, they were utterly
at a loss what they should do with me ; none proposing
any determinate thing, only, 4 Away with him; kill him
at once.'
" When I came back to Francis Ward's, I found many
of our brethren waiting upon God. Many also, whom I
had never seen before, came to rejoice with us ; and the
next morning as I rode through the town, in my way to
Nottingham, every one I met expressed such a cordial
affection, that I could scarce believe what I saw and
heard."
At Nottingham he met with Mr. Charles Wesley, who
has inserted in his Journal a notice of the meeting, highly
characteristic of the spirit of martyrdom in which both of
them lived:—
44 My brother came, delivered out of the mouth of the
lions ! His clothes were torn to tatters; he looked like a
soldier of Christ. The mob of Wednesbury, Darlaston, and
Walsal, were permitted to take and carry him about for
several hours, with a full intent to murder him: but his
10
110
LIFE OF THE
work is not yet finished, or he had been now with the souls
under the altar." Undaunted by the usage of John,
Charles immediately set out for Wednesbury, to encourage
the societies.
In this year Mr. Wesley made his first journey into
Cornwall, where his brother, led by the same sympathies
to communicate the Gospel to the then rude and neglected
miners of that extreme part of the kingdom, as had induced
him to visit the colliers of Kingswood, Staffordshire, and
the North, had preceded him. Here he had preached in
various places, sometimes amidst mobs, "as desperate as
that at Sheffield." Mr. Wesley followed in August, and
came to St. Ives, where he found a small religious society,
which had been formed upon Dr. Woodward's plan. They
gladly received him, and formed the nucleus of the Method¬
ist societies in Cornwall, which from this time rapidly
increased. In this visit he spent three weeks, preaching
in the most populous parts of the mining district, with an
effect which still continues to be felt. In no part of Eng¬
land has Methodism obtained more influence than in the
west of Cornwall. It has become in fact the leading pro¬
fession of the people, and its moral effects upon society
may be looked upon with the highest satisfaction and
gratitude. Nor were the Cornish people ungrateful to the
instrument of the benefit. When he was last in the county,
in old age, the man who had formerly slept on the ground
for want of a lodging, and picked blackberries to satisfy
his hunger, and who had narrowly escaped with his life
from a desperate mob at Falmouth, passed through the
towns and villages as in a triumphal march, whilst the
windows were crowded with people, anxious to get a sight
of him, and to pronounce upon him their benedictions.
Between this visit andHhat of the next year, a hot perse¬
cution, both of the preachers and people, broke forth. The
preaching house at St. Ives was pulled to the ground : one
of the preachers was impressed and sent for a soldier, as
were several of the people : whilst being stoned, covered
with dirt, and abused, was the treatment which many others
of them met with from day to day. But notwithstanding
this, they who had been eminent for hurling, fighting,
drinking, and all manner of wickedness, continued eminent
for sobriety, piety, and meekness. The impressment of
RE'V, JOHN WESLEY.
Ill
the preachers for soldiers by the magistrates was not, how¬
ever, confined to Cornwall. About the same time John
Nelson and Thomas Beard were thus Seized, and sent for
soldiers, for no other crime, eithei\cornmitted or pretended,
than that of calling sinners to repentance. The passive
heroism of John Nelson is well known. Thomas Beard
also was " nothing terrified by his adversaries but his
body after a while sunk under affliction. • He was then
lodged in the hospital of Newcastle, where he still praised
God continually. His fever increasing, he was let blood:
his arm festered, mortified, and was cut off; two or three
days after which, God signed his discharge, and called him
to his eternal home. v
The riots in Staffordshire, also, still continued. " The
mob of Walsal, Darlaston, and Wednesbury, hired for the
purpose by their superiors, broke open their poor neigh¬
bours' houses at their pleasure by day and by night;
extorting money from the few that had it, taking away or
destroying their victuals and goods, beating and wounding
their bodies, insulting the women, and openly declaring
they would destroy every Methodist in the country. Thus
his majesty's peaceable and loyal subjects were treated
for eight months, and were then publicly branded in the
Whitehall and London Evening Post, for rioters and
incendiaries !" (Whitehead's Life.)
Several other instances of the brutal maltreatment of
the preachers occurred in these early periods, which ended
in disablement, or premature death. The persecution at
St. Ives, Mr. Wesley observes, " was owing in great
measure to the indefatigable labours of Mr. Hoblin, and
Mr. Simmons, gentlemen worthy to be had in everlasting
remembrance for their unwearied endeavours to destroy
heresy.
Fortunati ambo! Siquid mea pagina possit,
Nulla dies unquam memori vos eximet cevo. (
" Happy both! Long as my writings, shall your fame
remain."
In August, 1744, Mr. John Wesley preached for the
last time before the university of Oxford. Mr. Charles
Wesley was present, and observes in his Journal: " My
brother bore his testimony before a crowded audience,
much increased by the races. Never have I seen a more
112
1IFE OF THE
attentive congregation ; they did not suffer a word to
escape them. Some of the heads of colleges stood up the
whole time, and fixed their eyes upon him. If they can
endure sound doctrine, like his, he will surely leave a
blessing behind him. The vice-chancellor sent after him,
and desired his notes, which he sealed up and sent imme¬
diately."
His own remarks upon this occasion are, "I am now
clear of the blood of those men. I have fully delivered
my own soul. And I am well pleased that it should be
the very day on which, in the last century, near two thovi-
sand burning and shining lights were put out at one stroke.
Yet what a wide difference is there between their case and
mine ! They were turned out of house and home, and all
that they had; whereas I am only hindered from preaching
in one place, without any other less, and that in a kind of
honourable manner; it being determined, that, whdn my
next turn to preach came, they would pay another person
to preach for me. And so they did twice or thrice, even
to the time I resigned my fellowship." (Journal.)
Mr. Wesley had at this time a correspondence with the
Rev. James Erskine, from whom he learned that several
pious ministers and others, in Scotland, duly appreciated
his character, and rejoiced in the success of his labours,
notwithstanding the difference of their sentiments. Mr.
Erskine's letter indeed contains a paragraph which
breathes a liberality not very common in those days, and
which may be useful in the present, after all our boast¬
ings of enlarged charity : " Are the points which give the
different denominations, (to Christians,) and from whence
proceed separate communities, animosities, evil speakings,
surmises, and, at least, coolness of affection, aptness to
misconstrue, slowness to think well of others, stiffness in
one's own conceits, and overvaluing one's own opinion,
&c, &c : are these points (at least among the far greatest
part of Protestants) as important, as clearly revealed, and
as essential, or as closely connected with the essentials of
practical Christianity, as the loving of one another with a
pure heart fervently, and not forsaking, much less refus¬
ing, the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of
some was, and now of almost all is 1" (Journal.)
In a subsequent letter this excellent man expresses an
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
113
ardent wish for union among all those of different denomi¬
nations and opinions who love the Lord Jesus Christ; and
on such a subject, he was-speaking to a kindred mind ; for
no man ever set a better example of Christian charity, and
nowhere is the excellence and obligation of that temper
more forcibly drawn and inculcated than in his most in¬
teresting Sermon on " A Catholic Spirit." With such a
testimony and example before them, his followers would
be the most inexcusable class of Christians were they to
indulge in that selfish sectarianism with which he was so
often unjustly charged; and for which they, though not
faultless in this respect, have also been censured more
frequently and indiscriminately than they have merited.
It would scarcely be doing justice to this part of Mr.
Wesley's character not to insert an extract from the Ser¬
mon alluded to:—
" Is thy heart right with God 1 If it be, give me thy
hand. I do not mean, ' Be of my opinion.' You need not.
I do not expect or desire it. Neither do I mean, ' I will
be of your opinion.' I cannot. It does not depend on
my choice ; I can no more think, than I can see or hear,
as I will. Keep you your opinion : I mine ; and that as
steadily as ever. You need not endeavour to come over
to me, or bring me over to you. I do not desire you to
dispute those points, or to hear or speak one word con¬
cerning them. Let all opinions alone on one side and the
other. Only'give me thine hand.'
" I do not mean, ' Embrace my modes of worship ; or,
I will embrace yours.' This also is a thing which does
not depend either on your choice or mine. We must both
act as each is fully persuaded in his own mind. Hold you
fast that which you believe is most acceptable to God, and
I will do the same. I believe the Episcopal form of church
government to be Scriptural and Apostolical. If you
think the Presbyterian or Independent is better, think so
still, and act accordingly. I believe infants ought to be
baptized, and that this may be done either by dipping or
sprinkling. If you are otherwise persuaded, be so still, and
follow your own persuasion. It appears to me, that forms
of prayer are of excellent use, particularly in the great
congregation. If you judge extemporary prayer to be of
more use, act suitable to your own judgment. My senti-
10*
114
LIFE OF THE
ment is, that I ought not to forbid water, wherein persons
may be baptized ; and, that I ought to eat bread and drink
wine, as memorials of my dying Master. However, if you
are not convinced of this, act according to the light you
have. I have no desire to dispute with you one moment
upon any of the preceding heads. Let all these smaller
points stand aside. Let them never come into sight. ' If
thine heart be as my heart,' if thou love God and all man¬
kind, I ask no more : ' Give me thy hand.'
" I mean, First, love me. And that not only as thou
lovest all mankind ; not only as thou lovest thine enemies,
or the enemies of God, those that hate thee, that ' despite-
fully use thee, and persecute thee :' not only as a stranger,
as one of whom thou knowest neither good nor evil. I am
not satisfied with this. No; 'If thine heart be right, as
mine with thy heart,' then love me with a very tender affec¬
tion, as a friend that is closer than a brother, as a brother
in Christ, a fellow citizen of the New Jerusalem, a fellow
soldier engaged in the same warfare, under the same
Captain of our salvation. Love me as a companion in the
kingdom and patience of Jesus, and a joint heir of his
glory.
" Love me (but in a higher degree than thou dost the
bulk of mankind) with the love that is ' long-suffering and
kind;' that is patient, if I am ignorant or out of the way,
bearing and not increasing my burden ; and is tender, soft,
and compassionate still; that ' envieth not,' if at any time
it please God to prosper me in this work even more than
thee. Love me with the love that' is not provoked' either
at my follies or infirmities, or even at my acting (if it should
sometimes so appear to thee) not according to the will of
God. Love me so as to ' think no evil' of me, to put away
all jealousy and evil surmising. Love me with the love
that 'covereth all things;' that never reveals either my
faults or infirmities, that ' believeth all things,' is always
willing to think the best, to put the fairest construction on
all my words and actions ; that ' hopeth all things ;' eithei
that the thing related was never done, or not done with
such circumstances as are related ; or at least, that it was
done with a good intention, or in a sudden stress of temp¬
tation. And hope to the end, that whatever is amiss will,
by the grace of God be corrected, and whatever is want-
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
115
ing supplied, through the riches of his mercy in Christ
Jesus." (Sermons.)
And then, having shown how a Catholic spirit differs
from practical and speculative latitudinarianism and indif¬
ference, he concludes : " A man of a Catholic spirit is one
who, in the manner above mentioned, ' gives his hand' to
all whose 'hearts are right with his heart.' One who
knows how to value and praise God for all the advantages
he enjoys, with regard to the knowledge of the things of
God, the true Scriptural manner of worshipping him ; and
above all, his union with a congregation fearing God and
working righteousness. One who, retaining these bless¬
ings with the strictest care, keeping them as the apple of
his eye, at the same time loves as friends, as brethren in
the Lord, as members of Christ and children of God, as
joint partakers now of the present kingdom of God, and
fellow heirs ofhis eternal kingdom, all, of whatever opinion,
or worship, or congregation, who believe in the Lord Jesus
Christ, who love God and man, who, rejoicing to please
and fearing to offend God, are careful to abstain from evil,
and zealous of good works. He is the man of a truly
Catholic spirit, who bears all these continually upon his
heart, who, having an unspeakable tenderness for their
persons, and longing for their welfare, does not cease to
commend them to God in prayer, as well as to plead their
cause before men ; who speaks comfortably to them, and
labours by all his words to strengthen their hands in God.
He assists them to the uttermost of his power in all things,
spiritual and temporal. He is ready ' to spend and be
spent for them yea, ' to lay down his life for their sake.'"
(Sermons.)
The first Conference was held in June, 1744. The
societies had spread through various parts of the kingdom;
and a number of preachers, under the name of assistants
and helpers, the former being superintendents of the latter,
had been engaged by Mr. Wesley in the work. Some
clergymen, also, more or less cooperated to promote these
attempts to spread the flame of true religion, and were not
yet afraid of the cross. These circumstances led to the
distribution of different parts of the kingdom into circuits,
to which certain preachers were for a time appointed, and
were then removed to others. The superintendence of the
116
life of the
whole was in the two brothers, but particularly in Mr. John
Wesley. The annual conferences afforded, therefore, an
admirable opportunity of conversing on important points
and distinctions of doctrine, that all might " speak the same
thing" in their public ministrations ; and of agreeing upon
such a discipline as the new circumstances in which the
societies were placed might require. The labours of the
preachers for the ensuing year were also arranged; and
consultation was held on all matters connected with the
promotion of the work of God, in which they were engaged.
Every thing went on, however, not on preconceived plan,
but " step by step," as circumstances suggested, and led
the way. To the great principle of doing good to the
souls of men, every thing was subordinated ; not excepting
even their prejudices and fears, as will appear from the
Minutes of the first conference, which was held in London,
as just stated, in 1744. The ultimate separation of the
societies from the Church, after the death of the first agents
in the work, was at that early period contemplated as a
possibility, and made a subject of conversation; and the
resolution was, "We do and will do all we can to prevent
those consequences which are supposed to be likely to hap¬
pen after our death; but we cannot, in good conscience,
neglect the present opportunity of saving souls while we
live, for fear of consequences which may possibly, or pro¬
bably, happen after we are dead." To this principle Mr.
Wesley was " faithful unto death," and it is the true key to
his public conduct. His brother, after some years, less
steadily adhered to it; and most of the clergymen, who
attached themselves to Mr. Wesley in the earlier periods
of Methodism, found it too bold a position, and one which
exposed them to too severe a fire, to be maintained by
them. It required a firmer courage than theirs to hold out
at such a post; but the founder of Methodism never be¬
trayed the trust which circumstances had laid upon him.
CHAPTER YIH.
The year 1745 was chiefly spent by Mr. Charles Wes¬
ley in London, Bristol, and Wales. In the early part of
the next year, he paid a visit to a society raised up by Mr.
Whitefield at Plymouth, and from thence proceeded-into
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
117
Cornwall, where he preached in various places with great
success ; but in some of them amidst much persecution.
He reviewed this journey with great thankfulness, because
of the effects which had been produced by his ministry ;
and at the close of it he wrote the hymn beginning with
the stanza,—
" All thanks be to God,
Who scatters abroad
Throughout every place,
By the least of his servants, his savour of grace:
Who the victory gave
The praise let him have;
For the work he hath done;
All honour and glory to Jesus alone!"
On his return to London, through the introduction of
Mr. E. Perronet, a pious young man, he visited the Rev.
Yincent Perronet, the venerable vicar of Shoreham in Kent,
a very holy and excellent clergyman, of whose wise and
considerate counsels the Wesleys afterward frequently
availed themselves, in all matters which involved particu¬
lar difficulty. The name of Wesley was however, it seems,
every where become a signal for riot; for being invited to
perform service in Shoreham church, " as soon," says he,
" as I began to preach, the wild beasts began roaring,
stamping, blaspheming, ringing the bells, and turning the
church into a bear garden. I spoke on for half an hour,
though only the nearest could hear. The rioters followed
us to Mr. Perronet's house, raging, threatening, and throw¬
ing stones. Charles Perronet hung over me to intercept
the blows. They continued their uproar after we got into
the house." (Journal.) Mr. E. Perronet returned with
him to London, and accompanied him on a tour to the
north. On the way, they visited Staffordshire, which was
still riotous and persecuting; and Mr. Charles Wesley's
young friend had a second specimen of the violent and
ignorant prejudice with which these modern apostles were
followed. The mob beset the house at Tippen Green, and,
beating at the door, demanded entrance. " I sat still," says
he, " in the midst of them for half an hour, and was a.little
concerned for E. Perronet lest such rough treatment, at
-jftfs first setting out, should daunt him. But he abounded
in valour, and was for reasoning with the wild beasts before
they had spent any of their violence. He got a deal of
118
LIFE OF THE
abuse thereby, and not a little dirt, both of which he took
very patiently. I had no design to preach ; but being
called upon by so unexpected a congregation, I rose at
last, and read, 'When the Son of man shall come in his
glory, and all the holy angels with him, then shall he sit
on the throne of his glory.' Wrhile I reasoned with them
■of judgment to come, they grew calmer by little and little.
I then spake to them, one by one, till the Lord had dis¬
armed them all. One who stood out the longest, I held
by the hand, and urged the love of Christ crucified, till, in
spite of both his natural and diabolical courage, he trembled
like a leaf. I was constrained to break out into prayer for
him. Our leopards were all become lambs ; and very kind
we were at parting. Near midnight the house was clear and
quiet. We gave thanks to God for our salvation, and slept
in peace." (Journal.)
Proceeding onward to Dewsbury, he met with an in¬
stance of clerical candour, which, as it was rare in those
times, deserves to be recorded : " The minister did not
condemn the society unheard, but talked with them, ex¬
amined into the doctrine they had been taught, and its
effects on their lives. When he found that as many as had
been affected by the preaching were evidently reformed
and brought to church and sacrament, he testified his ap¬
probation of the work, and rejoiced that sinners were con¬
verted to God." (Whitehead's Life.)
After visiting Newcastle, he went, at the request of Mr.
Wardrobe, a dissenting minister, to Hexham, where the
following incidents occurred: "I walked directly to the
market place, and called sinners to repentance. A multi¬
tude of them stood staring at me, but all quiet. The Lord
opened my mouth, and they drew nearer and nearer, stole
off their hats, and listened ; none offered to interrupt, but
oae unfortunate esquire who could get no one to second
him. His servants and the constables hid themselves;
one he found, and bid him go and take me down. The
poor constable simply answered, ' Sir, I cannot have the
face to do it, for what harm does he do V Several Papists
attended, and the Church minister who had refused me his
pulpit with indignation. However, he came to hear with
his own ears. I wish all who hang us first would, like him,
try us afterward.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
119
" I walked back to Mr. Ord's through the people, who
acknowledged, ' It is the truth, and none can speak against
it.' A constable followed, and told me, 'Sir Edward
Blacket orders you to disperse the town,' (depart, I suppose
he meant,) ' and not raise a disturbance here.' I sent my
respects to Sir Edward, and said, if he would give me
leave, I would wait upon him and satisfy him. He soon
returned with an answer that Sir Edward would have
nothing to say to me; but if I preached again, . and
raised a disturbance, he would put the law in execution
against me. I answered that I was not conscious of break¬
ing any law of God or man ; but if I did, I was ready to
suffer the penalty ; that, as I had not given notice of
preaching again at the Cross, I should not preach again at
that place, nor cause a disturbance any where. I charged
the constable, a trembling submissive soul, to assure his
worship that I reverenced him for his office' sake. The
only place I could get to preach in was a cock-pit, and I
expected Satan would come and fight me on his own
ground. 'Squire Roberts, the justice's son, laboured hard
to raise a mob, for which I was to be answerable ; but the
very boys ran away from him, when the poor 'squire per¬
suaded them to go down to the cock-pit and cry fire. I
called, in words then first heard in that place, ' Repent
and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out.' God
struck the hard rock, and the waters gushed out. Never
have I seen a people more desirous of knowing the truth
at the first hearing. I passed the evening in conference
with Mr. Wardrobe. O that all our dissenting ministers
were like-minded, then would all dissensions cease for
ever ! November 28th, at six, we assembled again in our
chapel, the cock-pit. I imagined myself in the Pantheon,
or some Heathen temple, and almost scrupled preaching
there at first; but we found ' the earth is the Lord's, and
the fulness thereof.' His presence consecrated the place.
Never have I found a greater sense of God than while we
were repeating his own prayer. I set before their eyes
Christ crucified. The rocks were melted, and gracious
tears flowed. We knew not how to part. I distributed
some books among them, which they received with the
utmost eagerness, begging me to come again, and to send
our preachers to them." (Journal.
120
LIFE OF THE
After preaching in various parts of Lincolnshire, and the
midland counties, Mr. Charles Wesley returned to Lon¬
don : but soon, with unwearied spirit, in company with Mr.
Minton, he set off for Bristol, taking Devizes by the way,
where he had as narrow an escape for his life as his brother
had experienced at Wednesbury. An account of these
distinguished ministers of Christ would be imperfect with¬
out a particular notice of a few of their greatest perils.
They show the wretched state of that country which they
were the appointed instruments of raising into a higher
moral and civil condition, and they illustrate their own
character. Each of the brothers might truly say with an
Apostle, and his coadjutors, "We have not received the
spirit of fear, but of power, (courage,) of love, and of a
sound mind." They felt, too, that they had "received"
it; for, with them, " boasting was excluded" by that " law
of faith" which led them in all things to trust in and to
glorify God. The account is taken from Mr. Charles
Wesley's Journal. The Devizes mob had this peculiarity,
that it was led on not only by the curate, but by two Dis¬
senters ! thus "Herod and Pilate were made friends:"—
"February 25th,—a day never to be forgotten. At
seven o'clock I walked quietly to Mrs. Philips's, and began
preaching a little before the time appointed. For three
quarters of an hour, I invited a few listening sinners to
Christ. Soon after, Satan's whole army assaulted the
house. We sat in a little ground-room, and ordered all
the doors to be thrown open. They brought a hand engine
and began to play into the house. We kept our seats, and
they rushed into the passage ; just then, Mr. Borough, the
constable, came, and seizing the spout of the engine,
carried it off. They swore if he did not deliver it they
would pull down the house. At that time they might have
taken us prisoners ; we were close to them, and none to
interpose ; but they hurried out to fetch the larger engine.
In the meantime, we were advised to send for the mayor;
but Mr. Mayor was gone out of town, in the sight of the
people, which gave great encouragement to those who
were already wrought up to a proper pitch by the curate,
and the gentlemen of the town, particularly Mr. Sutton
and Mr. Willy, Dissenters, the two leading men. Mr. Sut¬
ton frequently came out to the mob to keep up their spirits
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
121
He sent word to Mrs. Philips, that if she did not turn that
fellow out to the mob, he would send them to drag him out.
Mr. Willy passed by again and again, assuring the rioters
he would stand by them, and secure them from the law,
do what they would.
" The rioters now began playing the larger engine,
which broke the windows, flooded the rooms, and spoiled
the goods. We were withdrawn to a small upper room
in the back part of the house, seeing no way to escape
their violence, as they seemed under the full power of the
old murderer. They first laid hold on the man who kept
the society house, dragged him away, and threw him into
the horse pond, and, it was said, broke his back. We
gave ourselves unto prayer, believing the Lord would de¬
liver us ; how, or when, we saw not, nor any possible
way of escaping; we therefore stood still to see the salva¬
tion of God. Every now and then some or other of our
friends would venture to us, but rather weakened our hands,
so that 'we were forced to stop our ears and look up.
Among the rest, the mayor's maid came, and told us her
mistress was in tears about me, and begged me to disguise
myself in women's clothes, and try to make my escape.
Her heart had been turned toward us by the conversion of
her son, just on the brink of ruin. God laid his hand on
the poor prodigal, and instead of running to sea, he entered
the society. The rioters without continued playing their
engine, which diverted them for some time; but their num¬
ber and fierceness still increased ; and the gentlemen sup¬
plied them with pitchers of ale, as much as they would
drink. They were now on the point of breaking in, when
Mr. Borough thought of reading the proclamation; he did
so at the hazard of his life. In less than the hour, of above
a thousand wild beasts, none were left but the guard. Our
constable had applied to Mr. Street, the only justice in
town, who would not act. We found there was no help in
man, which drove us closer to the Lord ; and wo prayed
with little intermission the whole day.
" Our enemies at their return made their main assault
at the back door, swearing horribly they would have me
if it cost them their lives. Many seeming accidents con¬
curred to prevent their breaking in. The man of the
house came home, and instead of turning me out, as they
11
122
LIFE OF THE
expected, took part with us, and stemmed the tide for some
time. They now got a notion that I had made my escape
and ran down to the inn, and played the engine there.
They forced the innkeeper to turn out our horses, which
he immediately sent to Mr. Clark's, which drew the rabble
and their engine thither. But the resolute old man charged
and presented his gun till they retreated. Upon their
revisiting us, we stood in jeopardy every moment. Such
threatenings, curses, and blasphemies, I have never heard.
They seemed kept out by a continual miracle. I remem¬
bered the Roman senators, sitting in the forum, when the
Gauls broke in upon them, but thought there was a fitter
posture for Christians, and told my companion they should
take us off our knees. We were kept from all hurry and
discomposure of spirit by a divine power resting upon us.
We prayed and conversed as freely as if we had been in
the midst of our brethren, and had great confidence that
the Lord would either deliver us from the danger, or in it.
In the height of the storm, just when we were falling into
the hands of the drunken, enraged multitude, Mr. Minton
was so little disturbed that he fell fast asleep.
" They were now close to us on every side, and over
our heads untiling the roof. A ruffian cried out, 'Here
they are, behind the curtain.' At this time we fully
expected their appearance, and retired to the furthermost
corner of the room, and I said, ' This is the crisis.' In
that moment, Jesus rebuked the winds and the sea, and
there was a great calm. We heard not a breath without,
and wondered what was become of them. The silence
lasted for three quarters of an hour, before any one came
near us; and we continued in mutual exhortation and
prayer, looking for deliverance. I often told my compa¬
nions, ' Now God is at work for us ; he is contriving our
escape ; he can turn these leopards into lambs ; can com¬
mand the Heathen to bring his children on their shoulders,
and make our fiercest enemies the instruments' of our de¬
liverance.' About three o'clock Mr. Clark knocked at the
door, and brought with him the persecuting constable. He
said, ' Sir, if you will promise never to preach here again,
the gentlemen and I will engage to bring you safe out o'
town.' My answer was, ' I shall promise no such thing ;
setting aside my office, I will not give up my birth-right, as
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
123
an Englishman, of visiting what place I please of his
majesty's dominions.' ' Sir,' said the constable, ' we ex¬
pect no such promise, that you will never come here
again ; only tell me that it is not your present intention,
that I may tell the gentlemen, who will then secure your
quiet departure.' I answered, ' I cannot come again at this
time, because I must return to London a week hence.
But, observe, I make no promise of not preaching here
when the door is opened; and do not you say that I do.'
"He went away with this answer,.and we betook our¬
selves to prayer and thanksgiving. We perceived it was
the Lord's doing, and it was marvellous in our eyes. The
hearts of our adversaries were turned. Whether pity for
us, or fear for themselves, wrought strongest, God know-
eth; probably the latter, for the mob were wrought up to
such a pitch of fury, that their masters dreaded the conse¬
quence, and therefore went about appeasing the multitude,
and charging them not to touch us in our departure.
" While the constable was gathering his posse, we got
our things from Mr. Clark's, and prepared to go forth. The
whole multitude were without, expecting us, and saluted us
with a general shout. The man Mrs. Naylor had hired to
ride before her was, as we now perceived, one of the
rioters. This hopeful guide was to conduct us out of the
reach of his fellows. Mr. Minton and I took horse in the
face of our enemies, who began clamouring against us; the
gentlemen were dispersed among the mob, to bridle them.
We rode a slow pace up the street, the whole multitude
pouring along on both sides, and attending us with loud
acclamations. Such fierceness and diabolical malice 1
have not before seen in human faces. They ran up to our
horses as if they would swallow us, but did not know
which was Wesley. We felt great peace and acquiescence
in the honour done us, while the whole town were specta¬
tors of our march. When out of sight we mended our
pace, and about seven o'clock came to Wrexall. The
news of our danger was got thither before us; but we
brought the welcome tidings of our deliverance. We
joined in hearty prayer to our Deliverer, singing the hymn,
' Worship, and thanks, and blessing,' &c.
" February 26. I preached at Bath, and we rejoiced like
124
LIFE OF THE
men who take the spoil. We continued our triumph ai
Bristol, and reaped the fruit of our labours and sufferings."
Amidst such storms, more or less violent, were the foun¬
dations of that work laid, the happy results of which tens
of thousands now enjoy in peace. But even the piety
which could hazard such labours and dangers for the sake
of " seeking and saving the lostand the heroic devoted-
ness which remained constant under them, has not been
able to win the praise of prejudiced writers on the subject
of Methodism. Dr. Southey {Life of Wesley) has little
sympathy with the sufferings which a persecuted people
were doomed in many places so callously to endure ; and
he finds in the heroism of their leaders a subject of reproach
and contempt, rather than of that admiration which, had
they occupied some poetical position, he had doubtless
expressed as forcibly and nobly as any man.
Mr. Whitefield, he tells us, had " a great longing to be
persecuted," though the quotation from one of his letters,
on which he justifies the aspersion, shows nothing more
than a noble defiance of suffering, should it occur in the
course of what he esteemed his duty. Similar sarcasms
have been cast by infidels upon all who, in every age, have
suffered for the sake of Christ; and like those in which
Dr. Southey has indulged, they were intended to darken
the lustre of that patient courage which sprang out of love
to the Saviour and the souls of men, by resolving it into
spiritual pride, and a desire to render themselves conspicu¬
ous. Of John Nelson, one of Mr. Wesley's first lay
coadjutors, who endured no ordinary share of oppression
and suffering, as unprovoked and unmerited as the most
modest and humble demeanour on his part could render it,
Dr. Southey truly says, that "he had as high a spirit, and
as brave a heart as ever Englishman was blessed with
yet even the narration of his wrongs, so scandalous to the
magistracy of the day, and which were sustained by him
in the full, spirit of Christian constancy, is not dismissed
without a sneer at this honest and suffering man himself.—
"To prison therefore Nelson was taken, to his heart's con¬
tent." And so because he chose a prison rather than
violate his conscience, and endured imprisonments and
other injuries, with the unbending feeling of a high and
noble mind, corrected and controlled by " the meekness
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
125
and gentleness of Christ," imprisonment was his desire,
and the distinction which he is supposed to have derived
from it, his motive! Before criticism so flippant an J. cal¬
lous, no character, however sacred and revered, could
stand. It might be applied with equal success to the per¬
secutions of the Apostles, and the first Christians them¬
selves ; to the confessors in the reign of Mary; and to
the whole " noble army of martyrs."
The real danger to which these excellent men were ex¬
posed is, however, concealed by Dr. Southey. White-
field's fears, or rather hopes of persecution, he says, " were
suited to the days of Queen Mary, Bishop Gardiner, and
Bishop Bonner; they were ridiculous or disgusting in
the time of George the Second, Archbishop Potter, and
Bishop Gibson." This is said because Mr. Whitefield
thought that be might probably be called to " resist unto
blood;" and our author would have it supposed, that all
this was "safe boasting," in the reign of George the Se¬
cond, and whilst the English Church had its Archbishop
Potter and its Bishop Gibson. But not even in the early
part of the reign of George the Third, and with other
bishops in the Church as excellent as Potter and Gibson,
was the anticipation groundless. The real danger was in
fact so great from the brutality of the populace, the igno¬
rance and supineness of the magistrates, and the mob-
exciting activity of the clergy, one of whom was usually
the instigator of every tumult, that every man who went
forth on the errand of mercy in that day took his life in his
hand, and needed the spirit of a martyr, though he was not
in danger of suffering a martyr's death by regular civil or
ecclesiastical process. Dr. Southey has himself in part
furnished the confutation of his own suggestion, that little
danger was to be apprehended, by the brief statements he
has given of the hair-breadth escapes of the Wesleys, and
of the sufferings of John Nelson. But a volume might be
filled with accounts of outrages committed from that day
to our own, in different places, (for they now occasionally
occur in obscure and unenlightened parts of the country,)
upon the persons of Methodist preachers, for the sole fault
of visiting neglected places, and preaching the Gospel of
salvation to those who, if Christianity be true, are in a
state of spiritual darkness and danger. To be pelted with
11*
126
LIFE OF THE
stones, dragged through ponds, beaten with bludgeons,
rolled in mud, and to sutler other modes of ill treatment,
was the anticipation of all the first preachers when they
entered upon their work; and this was also the lot of many
of their hearers. Some lives were lost, and many shorten¬
ed ; the most singular escapes are on record ; and if the
tragedy was not deeper, that was owing at length to the ex¬
plicit declarations of George III. on the subject of tolera¬
tion, and the upright conduct of the judges in their circuits,
and in the higher courts, when an appeal was made to the
laws in some of the most atrocious cases. Assuredly, the
country magistrates in general, and the clergy, were en¬
titled to little share of the praise. Much of this is acknow¬
ledged by Dr. Southey ; but he attempts to throw a part
of the blame upon the Wesleys themselves. " Their doc¬
trines of perfection and assurance" were, he thinks, among
the causes of their persecution; and "their zeal was not
tempered with discretion." With discretion, in his view
of it, their zeal was not tempered. Such discretion'would
neither have put them in the way of persecution, nor
brought it upon them ; it would have disturbed no sinner
and saved no soul; but they were not indiscreet in seek¬
ing danger, and provoking language never .escaped lips in
which the law of meekness always triumphed : and as for
doctrines, the mobs and their exciters were then just as
discriminating as mobs have ever been from the beginning
of the world. They were usually stirred up by the clergy,
and other persons of influence in the neighbourhood, who
were almost as ignorant as the ruffians they employed to
assault the preachers and their peaceable congregations.
The description of the mob at Ephesus, in the Acts of the
Apostles, suited them as well as if they had been the origi¬
nal and not the copy,—" Some cried one thing, and some
another ; for the assembly was confused ; and the most
part knew not wherefore they were come together." They
generally, however, agreed to pull down the preacher, and
to abuse both him and his hearers, men, women, and even
children ; and that because " they troubled them about
religion."
That immediate resort to God in prayer, which was
practised, in cases of " peril and danger," by these perse¬
cuted ministers; and their ascription of deliverances to
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
127
the divine interposition, as in the instances above given,
have also been subjects of either grave rebuke, or semi-
infidel ridicule. It is not necessary to contend that every
particular instance which, in the Journals of the Wesleys,
is referred to an immediate answer to prayer, was so in
reality; because a few cases may reasonably appear
doubtful. These, however, only prove that they culti¬
vated the habit of regarding God in all things, and of
gratefully acknowledging his hand in all the events of life;
and if there was at any time any over application of these
excellent views and feelings, yet in minds so sober as to
make the word of God, diligently studied, their only guide
in all matters of practice, no injurious result could follow.
But we must reject the Bible altogether, if we shut out
a particular providence ; and we reduce prayer to a real
absurdity, unless we allow that its very grpund and reason
is special interposition. Why, for instance, should a Col¬
lect teach us to pray that " this day we may fall into no
sin, neither run into any kind of danger," if we do not
thereby place ourselves under a special protection of God,
and if our interests must necessarily be dragged after the
wheel of some general system of government! Divine
interposition is indeed ordinarily invisible, and can be
known only from general results; it impresses no mark
of interruption or of quickened activity upon the general
courses of things with which we may be surrounded; it
works often unconsciously through our own faculties, and
through the wills and purposes of others, as unconscious
of it as we ourselves; yet even in this case, where the
indevout see man only, the better instructed acknowledge
God who " worketh all in all." But to say that the
hand of God is never specially marked in its operations ;
that his servants who are raised up by him for important
services shall never receive proofs of his particular care ;
that an entire trust in him in the most critical circumstances
shall have no visible honour put upon it; that when we
are " in all things" commanded to make our requests
known unto God, the prayers which, in obedience to that
command, we offer to him in the time of trouble shall
never have a special answer, is to maintain notions wholly
subversive of piety, and which cannot be held without
rejecting, or reducing to unrpeaningness, many of the
128
life of the
most explicit and important declarations of Holy Scripture.
These were not the views entertained by the Wesleys;
and in their higher belief they coincided with good men
in all agbs. They felt that they were about fheir Master's
business, and they trusted in their Master's care, so long
as it might be for his glory that they should be permitted
to live. Nor for that were they anxious ; desiring only,
that whilst they lived they should " live unto the Lord,"
and that when they died " they should die to him and
that so " Christ might be magnified in their body whether
by life, or by death."
The labours of Mr. John Wesley, during the same
period of two years, may be abridged from his Journal.
In the first month of the year 1745, we find him at Lon¬
don, and at Bristol and its neighbourhood. In February,
he made a journey, in the stormy and wintry weather of
that season, to Newcastle, preaching at various interme¬
diate places. The following extract shows the cheerful
and buoyant spirit with which he encountered these dif¬
ficulties :—
" Many a rough journey have I had before; but one
like this I never had, between wind and hail, and rain and
ice, and snow, and driving sleet, and piercing cold. But
it is past. Those days will return no more, and are there¬
fore as though they had never been.
'"Pain, disappointment, sickness, strife,
Whate'ermolests or troubles life;
However grievous in its stay,
It shakes the tenement of clay,
When past, as nothing we esteem-,
And pain, like pleasure, is a dream.'" (Journal.)
As a specimen of that cool and self-possessed manner
which gave him so great a power over rude minds, wc
may take the following anecdote. A man at Newcastle
had signalized himself by personal insults offered to him
in the streets ; and, upon inquiry, he found him an old
offender in persecuting the members of the society by
abusing and throwing stones at them. Upon this he sent
him the following note :—
" Robert Young,—I expect to see you, between this
and Friday, and to hear from you, that you are sensible of
your fault. Otherwise, in pity to your soul, I shall be
rev. john wesley.
129
obliged to inform the magistrates of your assaulting me
yesterday in the street.
' I am your real friend,
"John Wesley.
Within two or three hours, Robert Young came, and
promised a quite different behaviour. So did this gentle
reproof, if not save a soul from death, yet prevent a multi¬
tude of sins." (Journal.)
Whilst at Newcastle, he drew up the following case:—
"Newcastle-upon-Tyne, March 11, 1745-6.
" I have been drawing up this morning a short state of
the case between the clergy and us : I leave you to make
any such use of it as you believe will be to the glory of God.
" 1. About seven years since we began preaching inward,
present salvation, as attainable by faith alone.
"2. For preaching this doctrine we were forbidden to
preach in the churches.
"3. We then preached in private houses, as occasion
offered ; and when the houses could not contain the people,
in the open air.
" 4. For this many of the clergy preached or printed
against us, as both heretics and schismatics.
" 5. Persons who were convinced of sin, begged us to
advise them more particularly, how to flee from the wrath
to come. We replied, if they would all come at one time
(for they were numerous) we would endeavour it.
"6. For this we were represented, both from the pulpit
and the press, (we have heard it with our ears, and seen it
with our eyes,) as introducing Popery, raising sedition,
practising Loth against Church and State : and all manner
of evil was publicly said both of us and those who were
accustomed to meet with us.
" 7. Finding some truth herein, viz. that some of those
who so met together, walked disorderly, we immediately
desired them not to come to us any more.
" 8. And the more steady were desired to overlook the
rest, that we might know if they walked according to the
Gospel.
" 9. But now several of the bishops began to speak
against us, either in conversation or in public.
" 10. On this encouragement several of the clergy stir¬
red up the people to treat us as outlaws or mad dogs.
130
LIFE OF THE
"11. The people did so, both in Staffordshire, Corn¬
wall, and many other places.
" 12. And they do still, wherever they are not restrain¬
ed by their fear of the secular magistrate.
" Thus the case stands at present. Now what can we
do, or what can you our brethren do toward healing this
breach ? which is highly desirable ; that we may withstand
with joint force, the still increasing flood of Popery, Deism,
and immorality.
" Desire of us any thing we can do with a safe con¬
science, and we will do it immediately. Will you meet
us here ? Will you do what we desire of you, so far as you
can with a safe conscience ?
" Let us come to particulars. Do you desire us, 1. To
preach another, or to desist from preaching this, doctrine ?
" We think you do not desire it, as knowing we cannot
do this with a safe conscience.
" Do you desire us, 2. To desist from preaching in pri¬
vate houses, or in the open air ? As things are now cir¬
cumstanced, this would be the same as desiring us not to
preach at all.
" Do you desire us, 3. To desist from advising those
who now meet together for that purpose? or, in other
words, to dissolve our societies ?
"We cannot do this with a safe conscience: for we
apprehend many souls would be lost thereby, and that God
would require their blood at our hands.
" Do you desire us, 4. To advise them only one by one ?
"This is impossible, because of their number.
" Do you desire us, 5. To suffer those who walk disor¬
derly still to mix with the rest ?
"Neither can we do this with a safe conscience; be¬
cause evil communications corrupt good manners.
" Do you desire us, 6. To discharge those leaders of
bands or classes (as we term them) who overlook the rest ?
" This is in effect, to suffer the disorderly walkers still
to mix with the rest, which we dare not do.
"Do you desire us, lastly, to behave with reverence
toward those who are overseers • of the church of God ?
and with tenderness, both to the charactei and persons of
our brethren, the inferior clergy?
" By the grace of God, we can and will do this. Yea,
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
131
our conscience beareth us witness, that we have already
laboured so to do ; and that, at all times and in all places.
" If you ask, what we desire of you to do, we answer,
1. We do not desire any of you to let us preach in your
churches, either if you believe us to preach false doctrine,
or if you have, upon any other ground, the least scruple
concerning it. But we desire that any who believes us to
preach true doctrine, and has no scruple at all in this mat¬
ter, may not be either publicly or privately discouraged
from inviting us to preach in his church.
"2. We do not desire that any one who thinks that we
are heretics or schismatics, and that it is his duty to preach
or print against us as such, should refrain therefrom, so
long as he thinks it his duty (although in this case the
breach can never be healed.)
" But we desire, that none will pass such a sentence,
until he has calmly considered both sides of the question;
that he would not condemn us unheard, but first read what
we have written, and pray earnestly that God may direct
him in the right way.
"3. We do. not desire any favour, if either Popery, sedi¬
tion, or immorality be proved against us.
" But we desire, you will not credit, without proof, any
of those senseless tales that pass current with the vulgar;
that, if you do not credit them yourselves, you will not
relate them to others ; (which we have known done ;)
yea, that you will confute them, so far as ye have oppor¬
tunity, and discountenance those who still retail them
abroad.
"4. We do not desire any preferment, favour or recom¬
mendation from those that are in authority, either in Church
or State. But we desire,
" 1. That if any thing material be laid to our charge, we
may be permitted to answer for ourselves. 2. That you
would hinder your dependents from stirring up the rabble
against us, who are certainly not the proper judges of
these matters ; and 3. That you would effectually sup¬
press, and thoroughly discountenance, all riots and popular
insurrections, which evidently strike at the foundation of
all government, whether of Church or State.
"Now these things you certainly can do, and that with
a safe conscience ; therefore, until these things are done,
132
LIFE OF THE
the continuance of the breach is chargeable on you and
you only." (Works, vol. iii, pp. 329-331.)
It is evident from this paper, that Mr. Wesley's difficul¬
ties, arising from his having raised up a distinct people,
within the national Church, pressed upon him. He desired
union and cooperation with the clergy, but his hope was.
disappointed; and perhaps it was much more than he
could reasonably indulge. It shows, however, his own
sincerity, and that he was not only led into his course of
irregularity, but impelled forward in it, by circumstances
which his zeal and piety had created, and which all his
prejudices in favour of the Church could not control.
After spending some time in Newcastle and the neigh¬
bouring places, he visited Lincolnshire, Yorkshire, Lan¬
cashire, and Cheshire. On his return southward, he called
at Wednesbury, long the scene of riot, and preached in
peace. At Birmingham he had to abide the pelting of
stones and dirt; and, on his return to London, he found
some of the society inclined to Quakerism : but by read¬
ing " Barclay's Apology" over with them, and commenting
upon it, they were recovered. Antinomianism, both of
Mystic and Calvinistic origin, also gave him trouble ; but
his testimony against it was unsparing. To erroneous
opinions, when innocent, no man was more tender; but
when they infected the conduct, they met from him the
sternest resistance. " I would wish all to observe, that
the points in question between us and either the German
or English Antinomians are not points of opinion, but of
practice. We break with no man for his opinion. We
think and let think." (Journal.)
In the summer he proceeded to Cornwall, where Dr.
Borlase, the historian of that county, in the plenitude of his
magisterial authority, still carried on a systematic persecu¬
tion against the Methodists. He had made out an order
for Mr. Maxfield, who had been preaching in various
places, to be sent on board a man of war, but the captain
would not take him. A pious and peaceable miner, with
a wife and seven children, was also apprehended under the
Doctor's warrant, because he had said " that he knew his
sins forgivenand this zealous anti-heretic finally made
out a warrant against Mr. Wesley himself, but could find
no one to execute it. From Cornwall, where his ministry
REV, JOHN WESLEY.
133
had been attended with great effect, Mr. Wesley proceeded
to Wales, and thence to Bristol.
Count Zinzendorf, about this time, directed the publica¬
tion of an advertisement, declaring that he and his people
had no connection with John and Charles Wesley; and
concluded with a prophecy, that they would " soon run
their heads against a wall." On this Mr. Wesley contents
himself with coolly remarking, " We will not, if we can
help it."
He now proceeded northward; and at Northampton
called on Dr. Doddridge, from whom he had previously
received several letters, breathing the most catholic spirit.
At Leeds the mob pelted him and the congregation with
dirt and stones; and the next evening, being " in higher
excitement, they were ready," says he, " to knock out our
brains for joy that tho Duke of Tuscany was emperor."
On his arrival at Newcastle, the town was in the utmost
consternation, news having arrived that the Pretender had
entered Edinburgh. By the most earnest preaching, he
endeavoured to turn this season of alarm to the spiritual
profit of the people, and the large congregations whom he
addressed in the streets heard with solemn attention. He
then visited Epworth, but speedily returned to Newcastle,
judging probably, that the place of anxiety and danger was
his post of duty. Here he made an offer to the general,
through one of the aldermen, to preach to the troops en¬
camped near the town, whose dissolute language and man¬
ners greatly affected him ; but he seems to have received
no favourable answer: so, after preaching a few times near
the camp, he returned southwards, endeavouring, at Leeds,
Birmingham, and other places, to turn the public agitation,
arising from the apprehension of civil war, to the best ac¬
count, by enforcing " repentance toward God, and faith in
our Lord Jesus Christ."
Mr. Wesley had occasionally employed himself in writ¬
ing and getting printed small religious tracts, many thou¬
sands of which were distributed. This was revived with
vigour on his return to London this year ; and he thus, by
his example, was probably the first to apply, on any large
scale, this important- means of usefulness to the reforma¬
tion of the people. In the form of those excellent institu¬
tions called " Tract Societies," the same plan has now long
12
134
LIFE OF THE
been carried on systematically, to the great spiritual advan¬
tage of many thousands. At this period he observes, ad¬
verting to the numerous small tracts he had written and
distributed, " It pleased God hereby to provoke others to
jealousy; insomuch that the lord mayor had ordered a
large quantity of papers, dissuading from cursing and
swearing, to be printed, and distributed to the train-bands.
And this day, an ' Earnest Exhortation to Serious Repent¬
ance' was given at every church door in or near London,
to every person who came out, and one left at the house of
every householder who was absent from church. I doubt
not but God gave a blessing therewith."*
In the early part of 1746, we find the following entry in
Mr. Wesley's Journal:—" I set out for Bristol. On the
road I read over Lord King's account of the Primitive
Church. In spite of the vehement prejudice of my educa¬
tion, I was ready to believe that this was a fair and impar¬
tial draught. But if so, it would follow, that Bishops and
Presbyters are (essentially) of one order; and that origin
ally every Christian congregation was a church indepen¬
dent on all others!"
The truth is, that Lord King came in only to confirm
him in views which he had for some time begun to enter¬
tain ; and they were such as show, that though he was a
Church of England man as to affection, which was strong
and sincere as far as its doctrines and its liturgy were con¬
cerned, and though he regarded it with great deference as
* Journal.—Previous to this, we find him a tract writer and distri¬
butor; for he observes in the year 1742, "I set out for Brentford with
Robert Swindels. The next day we reached Marlborough. When
one in the room beneath us was swearing desperately, Mr. Swindels
stepped down, and put into his hand the paper entitled Swear not at
all. He thanked him, and promised to swear no more. And he did not
while he was in the house." Mr. Wesley had already written tracts
entitled, "A Word to a Smuggler," "AWordto a Sabbath breaker,"
" A Word to a Swearer," " A Word to a Drunkard," " A Word to a
Street-walker," "AWord to a Malefactor," and several others. He
published these that his preachers and people might have them to give
away to those who were guilty of these crimes, or in danger of falling
into them. He considered this as one great means of spreading the
knowledge of God. He also early gave his influence to the Sunday
school system. Mr. Raikes began his Sunday school in Gloucester
in 1784; and in January, 1785, Mr. Wesley published an account of
it in his Magazine, and exhorted his societies to imitate that laudable
example.
REV-. JOHN WESLEY.
135
a legal institution, yet in respect of its ecclesiastical polity
he was even then very free in his opinions. At the second
conference in 1745, it was asked, " Is Episcopal, Presby¬
terian, or Independent church government, most agreeable
to reason 1" The answer is as follows :—
" The plain origin of church government seems to be
this :—Christ sends forth a person to preach the Gospel:
some of those who hear him, repent and believe in Christ:
they then desire him to watch over them, to build them up
in faith, and to guide their souls into paths of righteousness.
Here then is an independent congregation, subject to no
pastor, but their own; neither liable to be controlled, in
things spiritual, by any other man, or body of men whatso¬
ever. But soon after, some from other parts, who were
occasionally present whilst he was speaking in the name
of the Lord, beseech him to come over and help them also.
He complies, yet not till he confers with the wisest and
holiest of his congregation; and with their consent appoints
one who has gifts and grace to watch over his flock in his
absence. If it please God to raise another flock, in the
new place, before he leaves them, he does the same thing,
appointing one whom God hath fitted for the work to watch
over these souls also. In like manner, in every place where
it pleases God to gather a little flock by his word, he ap¬
points one in his absence, to take the oversight of the rest,
to assist them as of the ability which God giveth.
" These are deacons, or servants of the church, and they
look upon their first pastor, as the common father of all
these congregations, and regard him in the same light,
and esteem him still as the shepherd of their souls. These
congregations are not strictly independent, as they depend
upon one pastor, though not upon each other.
" As these congregations increase, and the deacons
grow in years and grace, they need other subordinate
deacons, or helpers, in respect of whom they may be called
presbyters or elders, as their father in the Lord may be
called the bishop or overseer of them all."*
[* It was in this relation, and from pressing necessity in circum¬
stances of extreme emergency, that Mr. Wesley, assisted by other
presbyters, ordained Dr. Coke, and through him Mr. Asbury, as
superintendents, or bishops, of the American Methodist Churches.—
American Eimt.]
336
LIFE OF THE
This passage is important as it shows that from the first
he regarded his preachers, when called out and devoted to
the work, as, in respect of primitive antiquity and the
universal Church, parallel to deacons and presbyters.
He also then thought himself a Scriptural bishop. Lord
King's researches into antiquity served to confirm these
sentiments, and corrected his former notion as to a dis¬
tinction of orders.
It should here be stated, that at these early conferences
one sitting appears to have been devoted to conversation
on matters of discipline, in which the propriety of Mr.
Wesley's proceedings in forming societies, calling out
preachers, and originating a distinct religious community,
governed by its own laws, were considered; and this neces¬
sarily led to the examination of general questions of church
government and order. This will explain the reason why
in the conferences which Mr. Wesley, his brother, two or
three clergymen, and a few preachers held in the years
1744, 1745, 1746, and 1747, such subjects were discussed
as are contained in the above extract and in those which
follow. On these, as on all others, they set out with the
principle of examining every thing " to the foundation."
" Q. Can he be a spiritual governor of the church who
is not a believer, not a member of it 1
" A. It seems not; though he may be a governor in out¬
ward things, by a power derived from the king.
" Q. What are properly the laws of the Church of Eng¬
land 1
" A. The Rubrics : and to these we submit, as the ordi¬
nance of men, for the Lord's sake.
" Q. But is not the will of our governors a law 1
"A. No; not of any governor, temporal or spiritual;
therefore if any bishop wills that I should not preach the
Gospel, his will is no law to me.
" Q. But if he produce a law against your preaching 1
" A. I am to obey God rather than man."
" Q. Is mutual consent absolutely necessary between
the pastor and his flock 1
" A. No question. I cannot guide any soul, unless he
consent to be guided by me; neither can any soul force ma
to guide him, if I consent not.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
137
" Q. Does the ceasing of this consent on either side
dissolve this relation ?
" A. It must in the very nature of things. If a man no
longer consent to be guided by me, I am no longer his
guide ; I am free. If one will not guide me any longer, I
am free to seek one who will."
" Q. Does a church in the New Testament always
mean a single congregation ?
" A. We believe it does; we do not recollect any
instance to the contrary.
" Q. What instance or ground is there then in the New
Testament for a National Church ?
"A. We know none at all; we apprehend it to be a
merely political institution.
" Q. Are the three orders of bishops, priests, and
deacons plainly described in the New Testament?
"A. We think they are, and believe they generally
obtained in the church of the Apostolic age.
" Q. But are you assured that God designed the same
plan should obtain in all churches, throughout all ages ?
" A. We are not assured of it, because we do not know
it is asserted in Holy Writ.
" Q. If the plan were essential to a Christian church,
what must become of all foreign Reformed Churches ?
" A. It would follow they are no part of the church of
Christ: a consequence full of shocking absurdity.
" Q. In what age was the divine right of Episcopacy
first asserted in England ?
" A. About, the middle of Queen Elizabeth's reign : till
then all the bishops and clergy in England continually
allowed and joined in the ministrations of those who were
not episcopally ordained.
" Q. Must there not be numberless accidental variations
in the government of various churches ?
A. There must, in the nature of things. As God
variously dispenses his gifts of nature, providence, and
grace, both the offices themselves, and the officers in each,
ought to be varied from time to time.
" Q. Why is it that there is no determinate plan of
church government appointed in Scripture?
12*
138
LIFE OF THE
" A. Without doubt because the wisdom of God had a
regard to that necessary variety.
" Q. Was there any thought of uniformity in the govern¬
ment of all churches, until the time of Constantine 1
" A. It is certain there was not, nor would there have
been then had men consulted the word of God only."
Nothing therefore can be more clear, than that Mr.
Wesley laid the ground work of hi& future proceedings
after much deliberation, at this early stage of his progress.
He felt that a case of necessity Kad arisen, calling upon
him to provide a ministry and a government for the people
who had been raised up; a necessity which rested upon
the obvious alternative, that they must either be furnished
with pastors of their own, or be left without sufficient aid
in the affairs of their souls. This led him closely to
examine the whole matter; and he saw that when the
authority of Scripture alone was referred to in matters of
church arrangement and regulation, it enjoined no parti¬
cular form of administration as binding, but left the appli¬
cation of certain great and inviolable principles to the piety
and prudence of those whom God might honour as the
instruments of usefulness to the souls of men. Here he
took his stand; and he proceeded to call forth preachers, and
set them apart or ordain them* to the sacred office, and to
* The act of setting apart ministers by Mr. Wesley, but without
imposition of hands, is here called their ordination, although that term
has not been generally in use among us; and may be objected to by
those who domot consider that imposition of hands, however impres¬
sive as a form, and in most churches the uniform practice, is still but
a circumstance, and cannot enter into the essence of ordination. That
every religious society has the power to determine the mode in which
" the separation" of its ministers " to the Gospel of God" shall be visibly
notified and expressed, will only be questioned- by those whom preju¬
dice and a wretched bigotry have brought under their influence. What
the body of Methodists now practise in this respect, will, however, be
allowed to stand on clearer ground than the proceedings of Mr. Wes¬
ley, who still continued in communion with the Church. It has there¬
fore been generally supposed that Mr. Wesley did not consider his
appointment of preachers without imposition of hands, as an ordina¬
tion to the ministry; but only as an irregular employment of laymen
in the spiritual office of merely expounding the Scriptures in a case of
moral necessity. This, however, is not correct. They were not
appointed to expound or preach merely, but were solemnly set apart
to the pastoral office, as the Minutes of the conferences show; nor
were they regarded by him as laymen, except when in common par¬
lance they were distinguished from the clergy of the Church; in which
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
139
enlarge the work by their means, under the full conviction
of his acting under as clear a Scriptural authority as could
be pleaded by Churchmen for Episcopacy, by the Presby¬
terians for Presbytery, or by the Congregationalists for
Independency. Still he did not go beyond the necessity.
He could make this Scriptural appointment of ministers and
ordinances, without renouncing communion with the Na¬
tional Church, and therefore he did not renounce it. In
tnese views Charles Wesley too, who was at every one of
the early conferences, concurred with him ; and if he
thought somewhat differently on these points afterward, it
was Charles who departed from first principles, not John.
So much for the accuracy of Dr. Whitehead, who con¬
structed his Life of the two brothers upon just the opposite
opinion! .
case he would have called any dissenting minister a layman. The
first extract from the Minutes of the conferences above given, suffi¬
ciently shows that as to the church of Christ at large, and as to his
own societies, he regarded the preachers when fully devoted to the
work, not as laymen, but as spiritual men, and ministers; men, as he
says, " moved by ^he Holy Ghost," to preach the Gospel, and who
after trial were ordained to that and other branches of the pastoral
office. In his sketch of the origin of church government in that extract,
he clearly had in view the conformity between what had taken place
in his own case, and that which must, in a great number of instances,
have occurred in the earliest periods of Christianity; and whilst he evi¬
dently refers to himself as the father and bishop of the whole of the socie¬
ties, ne tacitly compares his "assistants" to the ancient "presbyters,"
and his "helpers" to the ancient " deacons." In point of fact, so fully
did he consider himself even in 1747, (whether consistently or not as a
Churchman, let others determine, I speak only to the fact,) as setting
apart or ordaining to the ministry, that he appears to have had thoughts
of adding imposition of hands to his usual mode of ordination, which
was preceded by fasting and" private prayer, and consisted of public
examination, prayer, and appointment ,• and he only declines this for
prudential reasons. "Why," says he, "do we not use more form in
receiving a new labourer ? 1. Because there is something of stateliness
in it, and we would be little and inconsiderable. 2. Because we would
not make haste: we desire barely to follow Providence as it gradually
opens." {Minutes of 1747.) Even this form therefore was regarded as
what might, in other circumstances be required. The bearing of these
remarks upon rome future ordinations of Mr. Wesley by imposition of
hands, will be pointed out in its proper place.*
[* Among the American Methodists, ordination, by imposition of hands, has
been uniformly practised from the time of the organization of the Methodist Epis¬
copal Church in the year 1784. Our forms of ordination were prepared by Mr.
Wesley himself) and are substantially the same as those used in the Church of
England, and the Protestant Episcopal Church in this country.—Amebic an
Edit.]
140
LIFE OF THE
The discipline which Mr. Wesley maintained in the
societies, was lenient and long-suffering; but where there
was an evil at the root, he had an unsparing hand. In
March, 1746, he came to Nottingham, and observes, "I
had long doubted what it was which hindered the work of
God here. But upon inquiry the case was plain. So many
of the society were either triflers, or disorderly walkers,
that the blessing of God could not rest upon them. So. I
made short work by cutting off all such at a stroke, and
leaving only that little handful, who, as far as could be
judged, were really in earnest to save their souls."
At Wednesbury and Birmingham he found that some
Antinomian teachers, the offspring of that seed which be¬
fore the recent revival of religion had been sown in various
parts of the country, and who, in that concern about spirit¬
ual things which now prevailed, began more zealously to
bestir themselves to mislead and destroy the souls of men,
under pretence of preaching a purer Gospel, had troubled
the societies. By personal conversation with some of these
teachers, in the presence of the people, he drew out the
odious extent to which they carried their notions of "Chris¬
tian liberty and thus took an effectual method of expos¬
ing and confuting the deadly error.
Upon his return to London, it appeared that certain
pretended prophets had appeared in the metropolis, and had
excited the attention of many. He gratified his curiosity
by going to visit one of them, and with good humoured
sarcasm observes, that as " he aimed at talking Latin and
could not, he plainly showed that he did not understand his
own calling." Sober Scotland has in our own day exhibited
a similar fanaticism; and the gift of tongues, pretended by
some persons there, appears to have proved quite as un¬
satisfactory an evidence of a divine commission, as in this
case. In visiting Newgate he found a penitent and hopeful
malefactor; and his Journal affords a specimen of that
originality of remark, which peculiar cases, often perplex¬
ing to others, called forth from him. " A real, deep work
of God seemed to be already begun in his soul. Perhaps by
driving him too fast, Satan has driven him to God ; to that
repentance, which shall never be repented of." When he
subsequently visited Dr. Dodd under condemnation, he is
reported to have replied to his apologies for receiving him
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
141
iti the condemned cell, " Courage, brother; perhaps God
saw that nothing else would do."
Bristol, Wales, Devonshire, and Cornwall, occupied
Mr. Wesley's attention during the summer of 1746, and
London, Bristol, and the places adjacent, for the remainder
of the year. About this time also he received various
letters from the army abroad, giving an account of the
progress of religion among the soldiers, and of the brave
demeanour in battle of many of their Methodist comrades.
These accounts appear to have given him great satisfac¬
tion ; as showing the power of religion in new circum¬
stances, and as affording him an answer to his enemies,
who asserted that his doctrines had the effect of making
men dastardly, negligent of duty, and disloyal. In the
early part of the year 1747, we find him braving the snows
of February in Lincolnshire; and in March he reached
Newcastle, to supply the absence of his brother from that
important station.
Among other excellencies possessed by this great man,
he was fond of smoothing the path of knowledge, to the
diffusion of which he devoted much attention, and for
which end he published several compendiums and brief
treatises on its most important branches. In this respect
also he was foremost to tread in a path which has been of
late years vigorously pursued, and must be reckoned as
one of the leaders of that class of wise and benevolent men,
who have exerted themselves to extend the benefits of use¬
ful information from the privileged orders of society, into
the middle and lower classes. " This week," says he, " I
read over with some young men, a Compendium of Rheto¬
ric, and a System of Ethics. I see not why a man of
tolerable understanding may not in six months' time, learn
more of solid philosophy than is commonly learned at Ox¬
ford in four (perhaps seven) years."
On his return from his labours in the north of England,
he called at Manchester, which he had formerly several
times visited in order to take counsel with his college friend
Clayton, and Dr. Byrom, and had preached in the churches.
He was now seen there in a new character. The small
house which was occupied by the society could not contain
a tenth part of the people, and he therefore walked to Sal-
ford Cross. " A numberless crowd of people partly ran
142
LIFE OF THE
before, partly followed after me. I thought it best not to
sing, but looking round, asked abruptly, 4 Why do you look
as if you had never seen me before 1 Many of you have
seen me in the neighbouring church, both preaching and
administering the sacrament.' I then gave out the text,
Seek ye the Lord while he may be found; call upon him
while he is near. None interrupted at all, or made any
disturbance, till, as I was drawing to a conclusion, a big
man thrust in, with three or four more, and bade them
bring out the engine.' Our friends desired me to remove
into a yard just by, which I did, and concluded in peace."
From the north he proceeded through Nottingham and
Staffordshire to London, and from thence to the west of
England. The influence which his calm courage often
gave him over mobs was remarkably shown on this jour¬
ney. " Within two miles of Plymouth, one overtook and
informed us, that the night before, all the Dock was in an
uproar; and that a constable endeavouring to keep the
peace, was beaten and much hurt. As we were entering
the Dock, one met us, and desired we would go the back
way. ' For,' said he, ' there are thousands of people wait¬
ing about Mr. Hyde's door.' We rode up straight into the
midst of them. They saluted us with three huzzas ; after
which I alighted, took several of them by the hand, and
began to talk with them. I would gladly have passed an
hour among them, and believe if I had, there had been an
end of the riot; but the day being far spent (for it was past
nine o'clock) I was persuaded to go in. The mob then
recovered their spirits, and fought valiantly with the doors
and windows. But about ten they were weary, and went
every man to his own home. The next day I preached at
four, and then spoke severally to a part of the society.
About six in the evening I went to the place where I
preached the last year. A little before we had ended the
hymn came a lieutenant, a famous man, with his retinue
of soldiers, drummers, and mob. When the drums ceased,
a gentleman-barber began to speak; but his voice was
quickly drowned in the shouts of the multitude, who grew
fiercer and fiercer as their numbers increased. After wait¬
ing about a quarter of an hour, perceiving the violence of
the rabble still increasing, I walked down into the thickest
of them, and took the captain of the mob by the hand. He
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
143
immediately said, ' Sir, I will see you safe home. Sir, no
man shall touch you. Gentlemen, stand off. Give back.
I will knock the first man down that touches him.' We
walked on in great peace ; my conductor every now and
then stretching out his neck, (he was a very tall man,) and
looking round, to see if any behaved rudely, till we came
to Mr. Hyde's door. We then parted in much love. I
stayed in the street near half an hour after he was gone,
talking with the people, who had now forgot their anger,
and went away in high good humour."
In Cornwall we have a specimen of his prompt and
faithful habits of discipline.
" Wednesday 8 : I preached at St. Ives, then at Sithney.
On Thursday the stewards of all the societies met. I
now diligently inquired, what exhorters there were in each
society? Whether they had gifts meet for the work?
Whether their lives were eminently holy ? And whether
there appeared any fruit of their labour ? I found upon the
whole, 1. That there were no fewer than eighteen exhort¬
ers in the county: 2. That three of these had no gifts at
all for the work, neither natural, nor supernatural: 3. That
a fourth had neither gifts nor grace, but was a dull, empty,
self-conceited man: 4. That a fifth had considerable gifts,
but had evidently made shipwreck of the grace of God.
These therefore I determined immediately to set aside, and
advise our societies not to hear them. 5. That J. B., A. L.,
and J. W., had gifts and grace, and had been much blessed
in the work. Lastly, That the rest might be helpful when
there was no preacher, in their own or the neighbouring
societies, provided they would take no step without the
advice of those who had more experience than themselves."
In August he visited Ireland for the first time. Method¬
ism had been introduced into Dublin by Mr. Williams,
one of the preachers, whose ministry had been attended
with great success, so that a considerable society had been
already formed. Mr. Wesley was allowed to preach once
at St. Mary's, " to as gay and senseless a congregation,"
he observes, " as I ever saw." This was not, however,
permitted a second time; and he occupied the spacious yard
of the meeting house, both in the mornings and evenings,
preaching to large congregations of both poor and rich.
Among his hearers he had also the ministers of various
144
I.IFE OF THE
denominations. The state of the Catholics excited his
peculiar sympathy; and as he could have little access to
them by preaching, he published an address specially for
their use. In his Journal he makes a remark on the reli¬
gious neglect of this class of our fellow subjects by Pro¬
testants, which contains a reproof, the force of which has,
unhappily, extended to our own times:—"Nor is it any
wonder, that those who are born Papists, generally live
and die such; when the Protestants can find no better
ways to convert them, than penal laws and acts of parlia¬
ment." The chief perplexities which Ireland has occa¬
sioned to the empire are to be traced to this neglect; and
the dangers which have often sprung up to the state from
that quarter, have been, and continue to be, its appropriate
punishment. Mr. Wesley's visit, at this time, to Ireland
was short; but he requested his brother to succeed him.
Mr. Charles Wesley, therefore, accompanied by another
preacher, Mr. Charles Perronet, one of the sons of the
venerable vicar of Shoreham, arrived there in September.
A persecution had broken out against the infant society in
Dublin, and "the first news," says Mr. Charles Wesley,
" we heard was, that the little flock stood fast in the storm
of persecution, which arose as soon as my brother left
them. The Popish mob broke open their room, and de¬
stroyed all before them. Some of them are sent to New-
gatef others bailed. What will be the event we know not,
till we see whether the grand jury will find the bill." He
afterward states that the grand jury threw out the bill, and
thus gave up the Methodists to the fury of a licentious
mob. " God has called me to suffer affliction with his
people. I began my ministry with, ' Comfort ye, comfort
ye my people,' &c. I met the society and the Lord knit
our hearts together in love stronger than death. We both
wept and rejoiced for the consolation. God hath sent me,
I trust, to confirm these souls, and to keep them together
in the present distress." (Whitehead's Life.)
Mr. Charles Wesley spent the winter in Dublin," being
daily employed in preaching, and visiting the people. In
February he made an excursion into the country, where a
few preachers were already labouring, and, in some places,
with great success. Thus was the first active and sys¬
tematic agency for the conversion of the neglected people
rev. john wesley.
145
of Ireland commenced by the Methodists ; and, till of late
years? it is greatly to be regretted that they were left to
labour almost alone. From that time, however, not only
was the spirit of religion revived in many Protestant parts
of the country, and many Papists converted to the truth,
but the itinerant plan, which was there adopted as in Eng¬
land, enabled the preachers to visit a great number of
places where the Protestants were so few in numbers as
not to be able to keep up regular worship, or to make head,
when left to themselves, against Popish influence. A bar¬
rier was thus erected against the farther encroachments of
Popery ; and the light was kept burning in districts where
it would otherwise have been entirely extinguished. The
influence of the Methodist societies, would, however, have
been much more extensive, had not the large emigrations
which have been almost constantly setting in from Ireland
to America, borrte away a greater number of their mem¬
bers in proportion than those of any other community. Mr.
Charles Wesley spent part of the year 1748 in Ireland,
and preached in several of the chief towns, and especially
at Cork, with great unction and success.
CHAPTER IX.
The notices of the journeys and labours of these inde¬
fatigable ministers of Christ, given in the preceding chap¬
ter, afford but a specimen of the manner in which the
foundations of the Methodist Connection were carried out
and firmly laid. Nor were the preachers under their direc¬
tion, though labouring in more limited districts of country,
scarcely less laboriously employed. At this period one of
them writes from Lancashire to Mr. Wesley :—" Many
doors are opened for preaching in these parts, but can¬
not be supplied for want of preachers. I think some one
should be sent to assist me, otherwise we shall lose
ground. My circuit requires me to travel one hundred -
and fifty miles in two weeks ; during which time I preach
publicly thirty-four times, beside meeting the societies,
visiting the sick, and transacting other affairs." (White¬
head's Life.) . '
Of the preachers some were engaged in business, ang
preached at their leisure in their own neighbourhoods;
13
146
LIFE OF THE
bat still, zealous for the salvation of men, they often took
considerable journeys. Others gave themselves up, for
a time, to more extended labours, and then settled: but
the third class, who had become the regular "assistants"
and " helpers" of Mr. Wesley, were devoted wholly to the
work of the ministry ; and, after a period of probation, and
a scrutiny into their character and talents at the annual
conferences, were admitted, by solemn prayer, into what
was called " full connection," which, as we have stated,
was their, ordination. No provision was, however, made
at this early period for their maintenance. They took
neither " purse nor scrip ;" they cast themselves upon the
providence of God, and the hospitality and kindness of the
societies, and were by them, like the primitive preachers,
"helped forward after a godly sort,"* on their journeys, to
open new places, and to instruct those for whose souls
" no man cared." It might be as truly said of them as of
the first propagators of Christianity, they had " no certain
dwelling place." Under the severity of labour, and the
wretched accommodations to which they cheerfully sub¬
mitted, many a fine constitution was broken, and prema¬
ture death was often induced.
The annual conferences have been mentioned; and
that a correct view may be taken of the doctrines which
at those meetings it was agreed should be taught in the
societies, it will be necessary to go back to their com¬
mencement. At first every doctrine was fully sifted in
successive " Conversations," and the great principles of a
godly discipline were drawn out into special regulations,
as circumstances appeared to require. After the body had
acquired greater maturity, these doctrinal discussions
became less frequent; a standard and a test being ulti¬
mately established in a select number of Mr. Wesley's
doctrinal sermons, and in his "Notes on the New Testa¬
ment." The free and pious spirit in which these inquiries
were entered into was strikingly marked at the first con¬
ferences, in the commencing exhortation:—" Let us all
pray for a willingness to receive light, to know of every
doctrine whether it be of God." The widest principle of
* The want of a provision for their wives and families, in the early
periods of Methodism, caused the loss of many eminent preachers, who
were obliged to settle in independent congregations.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
147
Christian liberty was also laid down, as suited to the infant
state of a society which was but just beginning to take its
ground, and to assume the appearance of order.
" Q. 3. How far does each of us agree to submit to the
judgment of the majority 1
" A. In speculative things, each can only submit so far
as his judgment shall be convinced; in every practical
point, each will submit so far as he can, without wounding
his conscience.
" Q. 4. Can a Christian submit any farther than this to
any man, or number of men, upon earth 1
" A. It is plain he cannot; either to bishop, convoca¬
tion, or general council. And this is that grand principle
of private judgment on which all the Reformers at home
and abroad proceeded: ' Every man must judge for him¬
self ; because every man must give an account of himself
to God.' " (-Minutes.)
Never, it may be affirmed, was the formation of any
Christian society marked by the recognition of principles
more liberal, or more fully in the spirit of the New Testa¬
ment.
To some of the doctrinal conversations of the first con¬
ferences, it is necessary to refer, in order to mark those
peculiarities of opinion which distinguish the Wesleyan
Methodists. It is, however, proper to observe that the
clergymen and others who thus assembled did not meet to
draw up formal articles of faith.. They admitted those of
the Church of England ; and their principal object was to
ascertain how several of the doctrines relative to experi¬
mental Christianity, which they found stated in substance
in those articles, and farther illustrated in the Homilies,
were to be understood and explained. This light they
sought from mutual discussion, in which every thing was
brought to the standard of the word of inspired truth.
Their first subject was justification, which they describe
with great simplicity; not loading it with epithets, as in
the systematic schools, nor perplexing it by verbal criticism.
It is defined to be " pardon," or " reception into God's
favoura view wb'.ch is amply supported by several
explicit passages of Scripture, in which the terms, " par¬
don," " forgiveness," and " remission of sins," are used
convertibly with the term "justification." To be " received
148
LIFE OF THE
into God's favour," according to these Minutes, is neces-
-sarily connected with the act of forgiveness, and is the
immediate and inseparable consequence of that gracious
procedure. The same may be said of adoption; which, in
some theological schemes, is made to flow from regenera¬
tion, while the latter is held to commence previously to
justification. In Mr. Wesley's views adoption, as being
a relative change, is supposed to be necessarily involved
in justification, or the pardon of sin ; and regeneration to
flow from both, as an inward mor.al change arising from the
powerful and efficacious work of the Holy Spirit who is in
that moment given to believers.* To their definition of
justification, the Minutes add, " It is such a state that, if
we continue therein, we shall be finally savedthus
making final salvation conditional, and justification a state
which may be forfeited. All wilful sin was held to imply
a casting away of vital faith, and thereby to bring a man
under wrath and condemnation; " nor is it possible for
him to have justifying faith again without previously re¬
penting." They also agree that faith is " the condition of
justificationadding, as the proof, " for every one that
believeth not is condemned, and every one who believes
is justified." In Mr. Wesley's sermon on justification by
faith, the office of faith in justifying is thus more largely
set forth:—
"Surely the difficulty of assenting to the proposition,
that faith is the only condition of justification, must arise
from nofunderstanding it. We mean thereby thus much,
that it is the only thing, without which no one is justified;
the only thing that is immediately, indispensably, absolute-
lyrequisite in order to pardon. As on the one hand,
though a man should have every thing else, without faith,
yet he cannot be justified; so on the other, though he be
supposed to want every thing else, yet if he hath faith, he
cannot but be justified. For suppose a sinner of any kind
or degree, in a full sense of his total ungodliness, of his
* The connection of favour and adoption with pardon, arises from
the very nature of that act. Pardon, or forgiveness, is release from
the penalties and forfeitures incurred by transgression. Of.those
penalties, the loss of God's favour, and of filial relation to him was
among the most weighty;—pardon, therefore, in its nature, or at least
in its natural consequences, implies a restoration to the blessings for¬
feited, for else the penalty would in part remain in force.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
149
utter inability to think, speak, or do goojd, and his ab¬
solute meetness for hell fire;"suppose,I say, this sinner,
helpless and-hopeless, casts himself wholly on the mercy
of God in Christ, (which indeed he cannot do but by the
grace of God,) who can doubt but he is forgiven in that
moment ? Who will affirm that any more is indispensably
required, before that sinner can be justified 1
" And at what time soever a sinner thus believes, be it
in his early childhood, in the strength of his years, or
when he is old and hoary-headed, God justifieth that un¬
godly one ; God, for the sake of his Son, pardoneth and
absolveth him, who had in him, till then, no good thing.
Repentance, indeed, God had given him before; but that
repentance was neither more nor less than a deep sense of
the want of all good, and the presence of all evil. And
whatever good he hath or doeth from that hour, when he
first believes in God through Christ, faith does not find, but
bring. This is the fruit of faith. First, the tree is good,
and then the fruit is good also."
Mr. Wesley's views of repentance in this passage will
also be noted. Here, as at the first conference, he insists
that repentance, which is conviction of sin, and works meet
for repentance, go before justifying faith; but he held, with
the Church of England, that all works, before justification,
had " the nature of sin and that, as they had no root in
the love of God, which can only arise from a persuasion
of his being reconciled to us, they could not constitute a
moral worthiness preparatory to pardon. ■ That a true
repentance springs from the grace of God is certain ; but
whatever fruits it may bring forth, it changes not man's
relation to God. He is a sinner, and is justified as such;
" for it is not a saint but a sinner that is forgiven, and under
the notion of a sinner." God justifieth the ungodly, not
the godly. (Sermons.) Repentance, according to his state¬
ment, is necessary to true faith; but faith alone is the
direct and immediate instrument of pardon.
Those views of faith (of that faith by which a man, thus
penitent, comes to God through Christ) which are express¬
ed in the Minutes of this first conference, deserve a more
particular consideration. # Here, as in defining justifica¬
tion, the language of the schools, and of systematic philo¬
sophising divines, is laid aside, and a simple enunciation
13*
150
LIVE OF THE
is made of the doctrine of the New Testament.' " Faith
in general is a divine, supernatural elenchos. [evidence or
conviction] of things not seen, that is, of past, future, or
spiritual things. It is a spiritual sight of God, and the
things of God." (JVLinutes*)
In this description, faith is distinguished from mere
belief, or an intellectual conviction which the consideration
of the evidences of the truth of Scripture may produce,
and yet lead to no practical or saving consequence; and
that there may be a sincere and undoubting belief of the
truth, without producing any saving effect, is a point which
our very consciousness may sufficiently assure us of;
although, in order to support a particular theory on the
subject of faith, this has sometimes been denied. Trust
is constantly implied in the Scriptural account of accept¬
able and saving faith, and this is the sepse in which it
was evidently taken in the above definition; for its pro¬
duction in the heart is referred to supernatural agency,
and it is made to result from, and to be essentially con¬
nected with, a demonstration of spiritual things,—such a
conviction, wrought by the teaching Spiiit, as " produces
not merely a full persuasion but a full reliance. Six
years before this time, Mr. Wesley, in a sermon before
the university of Oxford, had more at large expressed
the same views as to justifying faith: " Christian faith is
not only an assent to the whole Gospel of Christ, but also
a full reliance on the blood of Christ, a trust in the merits
of his life, death, and resurrection; a recumbency upon
him as our atonement and our life, as given for us, and
living in us. It is a sure confidence which a man hath in
God that, through the merits of Christ, his sins are forgiven,
and he reconciled to the favour of God; and, in conse¬
quence hereof, a closing with him, and cleaving to him,
as our ' wisdom, righteousness, sanctilication, and Vedemp-
tion,' or, in one word, our salvation." (Sermons.)
It will however be remarked, that, in order to suppoit
his view of the nature of justifying faith by the authority of
the Church of England, Mr. Wesley has quoted her words
from the Homily on Salvation in the lat.ter part of the
above extract; and he thereby i^volved-'fhe subject in an
obscurity which some time afterward he detected and
acknowledged. The incorrectness of the wording of the
REV; JOHN WESEEf.
151
Homily is indeed yery apparent, although in substance it
is sound and Scriptural. When that Homily defines justi¬
fying faith to be " a sure trust and confidence which a
man hath in God that his sins are forgiven, and he recon¬
ciled to the favour of God," it is clear that, by the founders
of the English Church, saving faith was regarded not as
mere belief, but as an act of trust arid confidence subsequent
to the discovery made to a mafi of his sin and danger, and
the fear and penitential sorrow which are thereby produced.
The object of that faith they make to be God, assuredly
referring to God in the exercise of his mercy through the
atonement and intercession of Christ; and the trust and
confidence of which the Homily speaks must be therefore
•taken to imply a distinct recognition of the merits of Christ,
and a full reliance upon them. So far all is scripturally
correct, although not so fully expressed as could be desired.
That from such a faith exercised in these circumstances,
a " confidence," taking the word in the sense of persuasion
or assurance, that " a man's sins are forgiven, and he
reconciled to the favour of .God," certainly follows, is the
doctrin^ of Scripture; and the authority oF the Homily
maf therefore also be quoted in favour of that view of
assurance at which Churchmen have so often stumbled, and
to which they have so often scornfully referred as the
fanatical invention of modern sectaries. There is, how¬
ever, an errorin the Homily which lies not in its substance
and general intent,*but in this, that it applies the same
terms, " trust and confidence," both to God's mercy in
Christ, which is its proper object, and to " the forgiveness
of sins," which is the consequence of a sure trust and confi¬
dence in God as exercising mercy " through Christ,"
because it is that in order to which the trust or confidence
is exercised. It follows, therefore, that either there is an
error in the latter part of the statement itself; justifying
faith not being a confidence that sin is forgiven, which is
absurd, because it is the condition previously required i$
order to the forgiveness of sin; or otherwise, which is
probable, that the term " confidence," in the mind of the
writer of the Homily, was taken in a different sense when
applied to God the object of trust, and to the forgiveness
of sin ; and, when referred to the latter, meant that persua¬
sion of the fact of being forgiveq which must be attributed
152
LIFE OF THE
to a secret assurance of remission and acceptance by the
spirit of adoption, and which ordinarily closely follows, or
is immediately connected with, justifying faith, but which
is not of its essence. But " confidence" in this sense
implies filial confidence, the trust of a child, of one already
passed into the family of God, and hence this is rather the
description of the habitual faith of a justified man than of
the act by which a sinner is justified and adopted. Mr.
Wesley therefore soon perceived that the definition of
justifying faith in this Homily, needed some correction,
and he thus expressed his views in 1747, in'a letter to
his brother:—
" Is justifying faith a sense of pardon ? Negatur." It
is denied.
" By justifying faith I mean that faith which whosoever
hath not, is under the wrath and the curse of God. By a
sense of pardon I mean a distinct, explicit assurance that
my sins are forgiven.
" I allow, 1. That there is such an explicit assurance.
2. That it is the common privilege of real Christians.
3. That it is the common Christian faith, which purifieth
the heart, and overcometh the world." * J* * *
" But the assertion, that justifying faith is a sense of
pardon, is contrary to reason: it is flatly absurd. For how
can a sense of our having received pardon, be the condition
of pur receiving it ?
" But does not our Church give this account of justify¬
ing faith? I am sure she does of saving or Christian faith :
I think she does of justifying faith too. But to the law
and to the testimony. All men may err: but the word of
the Lord shall stand for ever."
Mr. Wesley, however, still regarded that trust in the
merits of Christ's death, in which justifying faith consists,
as resulting from a supernatural conviction that Christ
" loved me" as an individual, and "gave himself for me" In
this he placed the proof that faith is " the gift of God," a
work of the Holy Spirit, as being produced along with this
conviction, or immediately following it. From this super¬
natural conviction, not only that God was in Christ
" reconciling the world unto himself," but that he died
" for my sins," there follows an entire committal of the
case of the soul to the merits of the sacrifice of Christ, in
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
153
an act of trust;—in that moment, he held, God pardons
and absolves him that so believes or trusts, and that this,
his pardon or justification, is then witnessed to him by the
Holy Ghost. Nor can a clearer or simpler view of stating
this great subject, in accordance with the Scriptures, be
well conceived. The state of a penitent is one of various
degrees of doubt, but all painful. He questions the love
of God to him, from a deep sense of his sin, although he
may allow that he loves all the world beside. Before he
can fully rely on Christ, and the promises of the Gospel,
he must have heightened and more influential views of
God's love in Christ, and of his own interest in it. It is
the office of the Holy Spirit " to take of the things of
Christ, and show them" to the humble mind. This office
of the Spirit agrees with that sXefyps or " divine convic¬
tion," of which Mr. Wesley speaks, and which shows,
with the power of demonstrative evidence, the love of
Christ to the individual himself in the intention of his
sacrifice. From this results an entire and joyful acqui¬
escence with the appointed method of salvation, and a full
reliance, upon it, followed, according to the promise of
Scripture, with actual forgivenesSj and the cheering testi¬
mony of the Spirit of adoption. Of this faith he allowed
different degrees, yet the lowest degree saving; and also
different degrees of assurance, and therefore of joy. He
was'careful to avoid binding the work of the Spirit to one
rule, and to distinguish between that peace which flows
from a comfortable persuasion of " acceptance through
Christ," and those higher joys which may be produced by
that more heightened assurance which God is pleased in
many cases to impart. He taught that the essence of true
justifying faith consists in the entire personal trust of the
man of a penitent and broken spirit upon the merits of
his Saviour, as having died for him; and that to all who so
believe, faith is " imputed for righteousness," or in other
words, pardon was administered.*
* That Mr. "Wesley did not hold that assurance of personal pardon
is of the essence of justifying faith is certain, from the remarks in his
letter to his brother before quoted, in which he plainly states, that to
believe that I am pardoned in order to pardon, is an absurdity and a
contradiction. There will, however, appear some obscurity in a few-
other passages in his writings, unless we notice the sense in which he
uses certain terms, a ma tter in which he never felt himself bound by
154
LIFE OF THE
The immediate fruits of justifying faith are stated in
these Minutes to be " peace, joy, love; power over all
outward sin, and power to keep down inward sin."
Justifying faith, when lost, is not again attainable, except
by repentance and prayer; but " no believer need come
again into a state of doubt, or fear, or darkness; and that
(ordinarily at least) he will not, unless by ignorance or
the systematic phraseology of scholastic theologians. Thus there is
an apparent discrepancy between the statement of his views as given
above, and the following passage in his sermon on the " Scripture Way
of Salvation—
"Taking the word in a more particular sense, faith is a divine evi¬
dence and conviction, not only that 'God was in Christ, reconciling
the world unto himself;' but also that Christ loved me, and gave him¬
self for me. It is by faith (whether we term it, the essence, or rather a
property thereof) that we receive Christ, that we receive him in all his
offices, as Prophet, Priest, and King. It is by this that he is 'made of
God unto .us wisdom, and righteousness, and sanctification, and
redemption.'
" 'But is this the faith of assurance, or the faith of adherence ? The
Scripture mentions no such distinction. The Apostle says, 'There
is one faith, and one hope of our calling,' one Christian, saving faith,
'as there is one Lord,' in whom we believe, and 'one God and Father
of us all.' And it is certain, this faith necessarily implies an assurance
(which is here only another word for evidence, it being hard to tell the
difference between them) that? Christ loved me, and gave himself for me.
For ' he that believeth,' with the true living faith, ' hath the witness
in himself:' 'The Spirit witnesseth with his spirit, that he is a child
of God.' 'Because he is a son, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son
into his heart, crying, Abba, Fathergiving him an assurance that
he is so, and a child-like confidence in him. But let it be observed that,
in the very nature of the thing, the assurance goes before the confi¬
dence. For a man cannot have a child-like confidence in God till he
know he is a child of God. Therefore, confidence, trust, reliance,
adherence, or whatever else it be called, is not the first, as some have
supposed, but the second branch or act of faith."
Yet in fact the only difficulty arises from not attending to his mode
of stating the case, and his use of the term assurance. When he says
that faith includes both adherence and assurance, it is obvious that he
does not mean by assurance, the assurance of personal acceptance,
which he distinctly, in the same passage, ascribes to the direct testi¬
mony of the Spirit of God; but the assurance that Christ "died for
me," " for my sins," which special manifestation of God's love in Christ
to me as an individual, producing an entire trust in the divine sacrifice
for sin, he attributes to a supernatural elenchos or conviction. This,
however, he considers as a " conviction" in order to faith or trust; and
then the act of personal and entire trust in this manifested love and
goodness is succeeded by the direct testimony of the Spirit of adop¬
tion, which he tells us gives a man " the assurance that he is a child
of God, and a child-like confidence in him." And when he goes on so
truly to state, that "in the very nature of the thing, the assuranc
REV. JOHN WESLEY
155
unfaithfulness." Assaults of doubt and fear are however
admitted, even after great confidence and joy; and " occa¬
sional heaviness of spirit before large manifestations of the
presence and favour of God." To these views of doctrine
may be added, that regeneration or the new birth is held to
be concomitant with justification. " Good works cannot go
before this faith; much less can sanctification, which implies
a continued course of good works, springing from holiness
of heart; but they follow after and the reason given for
this is, that as salvation, which includes a present deliver¬
ance from sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive health,
the renewing of the soul after the image of God, all holy
and heavenly tempers and conversation, is by faith, it can¬
not precede faith, which is the appointed instrument of
attaining it. To increase in all these branches of holiness,
the exercise of faith in prayer, and the use of all the means
appointed by God, are also necessary; a living faith being
that which unites the soul to Christ, and secures the con¬
stant indwelling and influence of the Holy Spirit in the
heart. Such a faith must therefore necessarily lead to
universal holiness of heart and life, and stands as an im¬
pregnable barrier against Pharisaism on the one hand, and
the pollutions of Antinomianism on the other,
goes before the confidence," and that " confidence, trust, or reliance,"
is not the first but the second branch of faith, he evidently does not
here mean that confidence and trust in the merit of Christ by which
we are justified, but filial trust and confidence in God as our reconciled
Father, which must necessarily be subsequent to the other. Accord¬
ing to Mr..Wesley's views, the order of our passing into a state of
justification and conscious reconcilement to God, is, 1. True repent¬
ance, which, however, gives us no worthiness, and establishes no claim
upon pardon, although it so necessarily precedes justifying faith, that
all trust even in the finerits of Christ for salvation would be pre¬
sumptuous and unauthorized without repentance; since, as he says,
" Christ is not even to be offered to the careless sinner." (Sermon on
" the Laio established through Faith") 2. A supernatural elenchos, or
assured conviction, that "Christ loved me, and gave himself for me,"
in the intention of his death; inciting to and producing full acquies¬
cence with God's method of saving the guilty, and an entire personal
trust in Christ's atonement for sin. Of this trust, actual justification
is the result; but then follows, 3. The direct testimony of the Holy
Spirit, giving assurance in different degrees, m different persons,
and often in the same person, that I am a child of God ; and, 4. Filial
confidence in God. The elenchos, the trust, the Spirit's witness, and the
filial confidence he held, were frequently, but not always, so closely
united as not to be distinguished as to time, though each is, from its
nature, successive and distinct.
156
life of; the
On another doctrine* in defence of which Mr. Wesley
afterward wrote much, these early Minutes of Conference
contain perhaps the best epitome of his views, and may be
somewhat at length quoted.
" Q. 1. What is it to be sanctified?
" A. To be renewed in the image of God, in righteous¬
ness and true holiness.
" Q. 2. Is faith the condition, or the instrument, of
sanctification ?
" A. It is both the condition and instrument of it. When
we begin to believe, then sanctification begins. And as
faith increases, holiness increases, till we are created anew.
" Q. 3. What is implied in being a perfect Christian ?
" A. The loving the Lord our God with all our heart,
and with all our mind, and soul, and strength, Deut. vi, 5;
xxx, 6 ; Ezek. xxxvi, 25-29.
" Q. 4. Does this imply that all inward sin is taken
away?
" A. W'.thout doubt: or how could he be said to be
saved ' from all his uncleannesses ?' Ezek. xxxvi, 29."
And again,—
" Q. 1. How much is allowed by our brethren who differ
from us, with regard to entire sanctification ?
" A. They grant, 1. That every one must be entirely
sanctified in the article of death.
" 2. That, till then, a believer daily grows in grace,
comes nearer and nearer to perfection.
" 3. That we ought to be continually pressing after this,
and to exhort all others so to do.
" Q. 2. What do we allow to them ?
"A. We grant, 1. That many of those who have died
in the faith, yea, the greater part of those we have known,
were not sanctified throughout, not made perfect in love,
till a little before death.
" 2. That the term ' sanctified,' is continually applied by
St. Paul to all that were justified, were true believers.
" 3. That by this term alone, he rarely (if ever) means,
saved from all sin.
"4. That, consequently, it is not proper to use it in
this sense, without adding the word ' wholly, entirely,' or
the like.
" 5. That the inspired writers almost continually speak
REV. JOfiN WESLEY
157
of or to those who were justified; but very rarely, either of
or to those who were wholly sanctified.
" 6. That, consequently, it behooves us to speak in pub¬
lic almost continually of the state of justification ; but more
rarely, at least in full and explicit terms, concerning entire
sanctification.
" Q. 3. What then is the point wherein we divide 1
" A. It is this : whether we should expect to be saved
from all sin, before the article of death.
" Q. 4. Is there any clear Scripture promise of this!
that God will save us from all sin]
" A. There is : Psalm cxxx?>8,4 He shall redeem Israel
from all his sins.'
" This is more largely expressed in the prophecy of
Ezekiel: 4 Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and
you shall be clean; from all your filthiness and from all
your idols will I cleanse you. I will also save you from all
your uncleannesseschap, xxxvi, 25, 29. No promise
can be more clear. And to this the Apostle plainly refers
in that exhortation,' Having these promises, let us cleanse
ourselves from all filthiness of flesh arid spirit, perfecting
holiness in the fear of God,' 2 Cor. vii, 1. Equally clear
and express is that ancient promise, " The Lord thy God
will circumcise thine heart, and the heart of thy seed, to
love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy
soul,' Deut. xxx, 6.
" Q. 5. But does any assertion answerable to this, occur
in the New Testament]
" A. There does, and that laid down in the plainest terms.
So St. John iii, 8, ' For this purpose the Son of God was
manifested, that he might destroy the works of the devil;'
the works of the devil, without any limitation or restriction ;
but all sin is the work of the devil. Parallel to which is
that assertion of St. Paul, Eph. v, 25, 27,' Christ loved the
church, and gave himself for it—that he might present it
to himself a glorious church, not having spot or wrinkle,
or any such thing, but that it should be holy and without
blemish.'
" And to the same effect is his assertion in the eighth of
Romans, (verses 3, 4,) ' God sent his Son—that the right¬
eousness of the law might be fulfilled in us, walking not
after the flesh, but after the Spirit.'
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LIFE OF THE
" Q. 6. Does the New Testament afford any farther
ground for expecting to be saved from all sin ?
" A. Undoubtedly it does, both in those prayers and
commands which are equivalent to the strongest assertions.
" Q. 7. What prayers do you mean ?
" A. Prayers for entire sanctification ; which, were there
no such thing, would be mere mockery of God. Such in
particular, are 1. ' Deliver us from evilor rather, ' from
the evil one.' Now when this is done, when we are
delivered from all evil, there can be no sin remaining.—
2. ' Neither pray I for these alone, but for them also which
shall believe on me through their word ; that they all may
be one, as thou Father art in me, and I in thee ; that they
also may be one in us : I in them and thou in me, that they
may be made perfect in one,' John xvii, 20, 21, 23.—
3. ' I bow my knees unto the God and Father of our Lord
Jesus Christ—that he would grant you—that ye, being
rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend
with all saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height,
and to know the love of Christ which passeth knowledge,
that ye might be filled with all the fulness of God,' Eph.
iii, 14, 16-19. 4. 'The very God of peace sanctify you
wholly. And I pray God, your whole spirit, soul, and
body, be preserved blameless, unto the coming of our Lord
Jesus Christ,' 1 Thess. v, 23.
" Q. 8. What command is there to the same effect?
" A. 1. ' Be ye perfect, as your Father which is in hea¬
ven is perfect,' Matt, vi, ult.
"2. ' Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy
heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy mind,' Matt,
xxii, 37. But if the love of God fill all the heart, there
can be no sin there.
" Q. 9. But how does it appear, that this is to be done
before the article of death?
"A. First, from the very nature of a command, which
is not given to the dead, but to the living.
" Therefore, ' Thou shalt love God with all thy heart,'
cannot mean, Thou shalt do this when thou diest, but
while thou livest.
" Secondly, from express texts of Scripture :—
"1. 'The grace of God that bringeth salvation hath
appeared to all men ; teaching us, that having renounced
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
159
(ApvuitfttfJi-svoi) ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should
live soberly, righteously, and godly in this present world :
looking for—the glorious appearing of our Lord Jesus
Christ; who gave himself for us, that he might redeem
us from all iniquity ; and purify unto himself a peculiar
people, zealous of good works,' Tit%ii, 11-14.
"2. ' He hath raised up a horn of salvation for us—
to perform the mercy promised to our fathers: the oath
which he sware to our father Abraham, that he would
grant unto us, that we, being delivered out of the hands
of our enemies, should serve him without fear, in holiness
and righteousness before him, all the days of our life,'
Luke i, 69, &c.
" Q,. 16. Does not the harshly preaching perfection,
tend to bring believers into a kind of bondage or slavish
fear 1
" A. It does. Therefore we should always place it in
the most amiable light, so that it may excite only hope,
joy, and desire.
" Q. 17. Why may we not continue in the joy of faith,
even till we are made perfect 1
" A. Why indeed 1 since holy grief does not quench
this joy : since, even while we are under the cross, while
we deeply partake of the sufferings of Christ, we may
rejoice with joy unspeakable.
" Q. 18. Do we not discourage believers from rejoicing
evermore ?
"A. We ought not so to do. Let them, all their life
tong, rejoice unto God, so it be with reverence. And
even if lightness or pride should mix with their joy, let us
not strike at the joy itself, (this is the gift of God,) but
at that lightness or pride that the evil may cease, and the
good remain.
" Q. 20. But ought we not to be troubled on account
of the sinful nature which still remains in us 1
" A. It is good for us to have a deep sense of this,
and to be much ashamed before the Lord. But this
should only incite us the more earnestly to turn unto
Christ every moment, and to draw light, and life, and
etrength from him, that we may go on, conquering and to
conquer. And therefore, when the sense of our sin most
abounds, the sense of his love should mueh more abound."
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LIFE OF THE
The doctrine of assurance, and the source of it, the
testimony of. the Holy Spirit, as the Spirit of adoption,
are frequently referred to in these early doctrinal con¬
versations. This however is more fully stated in Mr.
Wesley's sermons, and the following extracts will be
necessary to present his views on this subject in their true
light:—
" But what is the ivitness of the Spirit ? The original
word /utaprupi'a, maybe rendered either, (as it is in several
places,) the witness, or, less ambiguously, the testimony,
or the record: so it is rendered in our translation, 1 John
v, 11, 'This is the record,' the testimony, the sum of
what God testifies in all the inspired writings, 'that God
hath given unto us eternal life, and this life is in his Son.'
The testimony now under consideration is given by the
Spirit of God to and with our spirit. He is the Person
testifying. What he testifies to us is, ' that we are the
children of God.' The immediate result of this testimony
is, ' the fruit of the Spiritnamely, ' love, joy, peace ;
long-suffering, gentleness, goodness.' And without these,
the testimony itself cannot continue. For, it is inevitably
destroyed, not only by the commission of any outward
sin, or the omission of known duty, but by giving way to
any inward sin : in a word, by whatever grieves the Holy
Spirit of God.
" 2. I observed many years ago,"' It is hard to find
words in the language of men, to explain the deep things
of God. Indeed there are none that will adequately
express what the Spirit of God works in his children.
But, perhaps, one might say, (desiring any who are taught
of God to correct, soften, or strengthen the expression,)
By the ' testimony of the Spirit' I mean, an inward impres¬
sion on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God immediately
and directly witnesses to my spirit, that I am a child of
God; that' Jesus Christ hath loved me, and given himself
for me*,' that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am
reconciled to God.
" 3. After twenty years' farther consideration, I see no
cause to retract any part of this. Neither do I conceive
how any of these expressions may be altered, so as to
make them more intelligible. I can only add, that if any
of the children of God will point out any other express
REV. JOHN WESLEY
161
sions which are more clear, or more agreeable to the word
of God, I will readily lay these aside.
" 4. Meantime let it be observed, I do not mean hereby,
that the Spirit of God testifies this by any outward voice:
no, nor always by an inward voice, although he may do
this sometimes. Neither do I suppose, that he always
applies to the heart (though he often may) one or more
texts of Scripture. But he so works upon the soul by his
immediate influence, and by a strong, though inexplicable
operation, that the stormy wind and troubled waves subside,
and there is a sweet calm: the heart resting as in the
arms of Jesus, and the sinner being clearly satisfied that
all his ' iniquities are forgiven, and his sins covered.'
" 5. Now what is the matter of dispute concerning this 1
Not, whether there be a witness or testimony of the
Spirit. Not, whether the Spirit does testify with our
spirit, that we are the Children of God. None can deny
this, without flatly contradicting the Scriptures, and charg¬
ing a lie upon the God of truth. Therefore that there is
a testimony of the Spirit, is acknowledged by all parties.
" 6. Neither is it questioned, whether there is an indi¬
rect witness or testimony, that we are the children of God.
This is nearly, if not exactly, the same with ' the testimony
of a good conscience toward Godand is the result of
reason, or reflection on what we feel in our own souls.
Strictly speaking, it is a conclusion drawn partly from the
word of God, and partly from our own experience. The
word of God says, Every one who has the fruit of the
Spirit is a child of God. Experience or inward con¬
sciousness tells me, that I have the fruit of the Spirit;
and hence I rationlly conclude, therefore I am a child of
God. This is likewise allowed on all hands, and so is
no matter of controversy.
" 7. Nor do we assert, that there can be any real testi¬
mony of the Spirit, without the fruit of the Spirit. We
assert, on the contrary, that the fruit of the Spirit imme¬
diately springs from this testimony; not always indeed in
the same degree even when the testimony is first given;
and much less afterward: neither joy nor peace is always
at one stay. No, nor love: as neither is the testimony
itself always equally strong and clear.
" 8. But the point in question is, whether there be any
14*
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LIFE OF THE
direct testimony of the Spirit at all; whether there be any
other testimony of the Spirit, than that which arises from
a consciousness of the fruit.
"1. I believe there is, because that is the plain, natural
meaning of the text,' the Spirit itself beareth witness with
our spirit, that we are the children of God.' It is manifest,
here are two witnesses mentioned, who together testify the
same thing, the Spirit of God, and our own spirit. The
late Bishop of London, in his sermon on this text, seems
astonished that any one can doubt of this, which appears
upon the very face of the words. Now ' the testimony of
our oivn spirit, (says the Bishop,) is one, which is the
consciousness of our own sincerityor to express the
same thing a little more clearly, the consciousness of the
fruit of the Spirit. When our spirit is conscious of this, of
love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, it
easily infers from these premises, that we are the children
of God.
" 2. It is true, that great man supposes the other witness
to be ' the consciousness of our own good works.' This,
he affirms, is ' the testimony of God's Spirit.' But this is
included in the testimony of our own spirit: yea, and in
sincerity, even according to the common sense of the word.
So the Apostle, 'Our rejoicing is this, the testimony of our
conscience, that in simplicity and godly, sincerity we have,
our conversation in the world:' where it is plain, sincerity
refers to our words and actions, at least as much as to our
inward dispositions. So that this is not another witness,
but the very same that he mentioned before: the conscious¬
ness of our good works being only one branch of the con¬
sciousness of our sincerity. Consequently here is only
one witness still. If therefore the text speaks of two wit¬
nesses, one of these is not the consciousness of our good
works, neither of our sincerity: all this being manifestly
contained in ' the testimony of our spirit.'
" 3. What then is the other witness 1 This might easily
be learned, if the text itself were not sufficiently clear, from
the verse immediately preceding. ' Ye have received, not
the spirit of bondage, but the Spirit of adoption, whereby
we cry, 'Abba, Father.' It follows, 'The Spirit itself
beareth witness with our spirit, that we are the children
of God.'
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
163
" 4. This is farther explained by the parallel text, Gal. *
iv, 6 : ' Because ye are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit
of his Son into your hearts, crying, Abba, Father.' Is not
this something immediate and direct, not the result ol
reflection or argumentation! Does not this Spirit cry,
' Abba, Father,' in our hearts, the moment it is given !
antecedently to any reflection upon our sincerity, yea, to
any reasoning whatsoever! And is not this the plain,
natural sense of the words, which strikes any one as soon
as he hears them! All these texts then, in their most
obvious meaning, describe a direct testimony of the Spirit.
" 5. That the testimony of the Spirit of God must, in the
very nature of things, be antecedent to the testimony of our
own spirit, may appear from this single consideration. We
must be holy in heart and life, before we can be conscious
that we are so. But we must love God before we can be
holy at all, this being the root of all holiness. Now we
cannot love God, till we know he loves us: 'we love him
because he first loved us.' And we cannot know his love
to us, till his Spirit witnesses it to Qur spirit. Since there¬
fore the testimony of his Spirit must precede the love of
God arid all holiness, of consequence it must precede our
consciousness thereof."
A doctrine so often misrepresented and misunderstood
could not be so properly stated, as in Mr. Wesley's own
words; and as many, and those even professing to be sober
Christians, have, principally with reference to this doctrine,
frequently opened upon this venerable man the full cry of
enthusiasm and fanatical delusion, it may be proper to add
a few explanatory and defensive remarks, and that not
merely for the sake of justice to his opinions, but in
support of a great doctrine of revelation, most intimately
connected with the hope and comfort of man.
And, 1. The doctrine of assurance as held by the founder
of Methodism was not the assurance of eternal salvation
as held by Calvinistic divines ; but that persuasion which
is given by the Holy Spirit to penitent and believing per¬
sons, that they are " now accepted of God, pardoned, and
adopted into God's family." It was an assurance, there¬
fore, on the ground of which no relaxation of religious
effort could be pleaded, and no unwatchfulness of spirit or
irregularity of life allowed : for he taught, that only by the
164
LIFE OF THE
lively exercise of the same humble and obedient faith in
the merits and intercession of Christ, this state of mind
could be maintained, and it was made by him a motive
(influential as our desire of inward peace can be influential)
to vigilance and obedience.
2. This doctrine cannot be denied without disconnecting
religion from peace of mind, and habitual consolation.
For if it is the doctrine of the inspired records, and of all
orthodox churches, that man is by nature prono to evil,
and that in practice he violates that law under which as a
creature he is placed, and is thereby exposed to punish¬
ment ;—if also it is there stated, that an act of grace and
pardon is promised on the conditions of repentance toward
God and faith in our Lord Jesus Christ;—if that repent¬
ance implies consideration of our ways, a sense of the
displeasure of Almighty God, contrition of heart, and con
sequently trouble and grief of mind, mixed, however, with
hope, inspired by the promise of forgiveness, and which
leads to earnest supplication for the actual pardon of sin so
promised, it will follow from these premises, either, that
forgiveness is not to be expected till after the termination
of our course of probation, that is, in another life; and
that, therefore, this trouble and apprehension of mind can
only be assuaged by the hope we may have of a favourable
final decision on our case ;—or, that sin is, in the present
life, forgiven as often as it is thus repented of, and as often
as we exercise the required and specific acts of trust in the
merits of our Saviour; but that this forgiveness of our sins
is not in any way made known unto us : so that we are
left, as to our feelings, in precisely the same state as if sin
were not forgiven till after death, namely, in grief and
trouble of mind, relieved only by hope ;—or, that when sin
is forgiven by the mercy of God through Christ, we are,
by some means, assured of it, and peace and satisfaction
of mind take the place of anxiety and fear.
The first of these conclusions is sufficiently disproved
by the authority of Scripture, which exhibits justification
as a blessing attainable in this life, and represents it as
actually experienced by true believers. " Therefore being
justified by faith," &c. " There is now no condemnation
to them who are in Christ Jesus." "Whosoever believeth
is justified from all things," &c. The quotations might
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
165
be multiplied, but these are decisive. The notion, that
though an act of forgiveness may take place, we are unable
to ascertain a fact so important to us, is also irreconcilable
with many texts in which the writers of the New Testament
speak of an experience, not confined personally to them¬
selves, or to those Christians who were endowed with
spiritual gifts, but common to all Christians. " Being
justified by faith ws have peace with God." " We joy in
God, by whom we have received the reconciliation."
" Being reconciled unto God by the death of his .Son."
"We have not received the spirit of bondage again unto
fear, but the Spirit of adoption whereby we cry, Abba,
Father." To these maybe added innumerable passages
which express the comfort, the confidence, and the joy of
Christians ; their " friendship" with God ; their " access"
to him; their entire union and delightful intercourse with
him; and their absolute confidence in the success of their
prayers. All such passages are perfectly consistent with
deep humility, and self-diffidence ; but they are irreconcil¬
able with a state of hostility between the parties, and with
an unascertained, and only hoped-for, restoration of friend¬
ship and favour.
3. The services of the Church of which Mr. Wesley
was a minister, may be pleaded also in support of his
opinions on this subject. Those services, though, with
propriety, as being designed for the use not of true Chris¬
tians only, but of mixed congregations, they abound in
acts of confession, and the expressions of spiritual grief,
exhibit also this confidence and peace, as objects of earnest
desire and hopeful anticipation, and as blessings attainable
in the present life. We pray to be made "children by
adoption and grace;" to be " relieved from the fear of
punishment by the comfort of God's gracenot to be
" left comfortless, but that God, the King of Glory, would
send to us the Holy Ghost to comfort us;" and that by
the same Spirit having a right judgment in all things, " we
may evermore rejoice in his holy comfort." In the prayer
directed to be used for one troubled in mind or in con¬
science, we have also the following impressive petitions:
" Break not the bruised reed, nor quench the smoking flax.
Shut not up thy tender mercies in displeasure, but make
him to hear of joy and gladness, that the bones which thou
166
LIFE OF THE
hast broken may rejoice. Deliver him from the fear of
the enemy, and lift up the light of thy countenance upon
him, and give him peace.'''' Now unless it be contended,
that by these petitions we are directed to seek what we
can never find, and always to follow that which we can
never overtake, the Church, in the spirit of the New Tes¬
tament, assumes that the forgiveness of sins, and the relief
of the sorrows of the penitent state, are attainable, with
those consequent comforts and joys which can only arise
from some assurance of mind, by whatever means and in
whatever degree communicated, that we have a personal
interest in the general promise, and that we are reconciled
to God by the death of his Son. For since the general
promise is made to many who will never be benefited by
it, it cannot of itself be the ground of a settled religious
peace of mind. As it is a promise of blessings to -be indi¬
vidually experienced, unless I can have personal experience
of them, it holds up to hope what can never come into
fruition.*
* " Faith is not merely a speculative but a practical acknowledgment
of Jesus as the Christ,—an effort and motion of the mind toward God ;
when the sinner, convinced of sin, acceptswith thankfulness the prof¬
fered tenns of pardon, and in humble confidence applying individually
to himself the benefit of the general atonement, in the elevated language
of a venerable father of the Church, drinks of the stream which flows
from the Redeemer's side. The effect is, that in a little he is filled with
that perfect love of God which casteth out fear,—he cleaves to God
with the entire affection of the soul. And from this active lively faith,
overcoming the world, subduing carnal self, all those good works do
necessarily spring, which God hath before ordained that we should
walk in them."—Bishop Horslty's Sermons.
"The purchase, therefore, was paid at once, yet must he,severally
reckoned to every soul whom it shall benefit. If we have not a hand
to take what Christ's hand doth either hold or offer, what is sufficient
in him cannot be effectual to us. The spiritual hand, whereby we
apprehend the sweet offer of our Saviour, is faith, which, in short, is
no other than an affiance in the Mediator. Receive peace, and be
happy: believe, and thou hast received. Thus it is that we have an
interest in all that God hath promised, or Christ hath performed. Thus
have we from God both forgiveness and love, the ground of all whether
peace or glory."—Bishop Hall's Heaven upon Earth.
' It is the property of saving faith, that it hath a force to appropri¬
ate, and make Christ our own. Without this, a general remote belief
would have been cold comfort. 'He loved me, and gave himself for
me,' saith St. Paul. What saith St. Chrysostom? 'Did Christ die
only for St. Paul ? No. JVon excludit, sed appropriate he excludes not
others, but he will secure himself."—Bishop Brownrigg's Sermon an
Easter Day.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
167
An assurancej therefore, that those sins which were felt
to " be a burden intolerable" are forgiven, and that all
ground of that apprehension of future punishment which
causes the penitent to " bewail his manifold sins" is re¬
moved by restoration to the favour of the offended God,
must be allowed, or nothing would be more incongruous
and indeed impossible than the comfort, the peace, the
rejoicing of spirit, which, in the Scriptures, are attributed
to believers. If, indeed, self-condemnation, and the appre¬
hension of danger, had no foundation but in the imagina¬
tion, the case would be totally altered. Where there is
no danger, deliverance is visionary ; and the joy it inspires
is raving, and not reason. But if a real danger exists;
and if we cannot escape it except by an act of grace on
the part of Almighty God, we must have some evidence of
his gracious interposition in our case, or the guilty gloom
will abide upon us. The more sincere and earnest a
person is in the affairs of his salvation, the more miserable
he must become if there be no possibility of his knowing
that the wrath of God no longer abideth upon him :—then
the ways of wisdom would be no longer "ways of pleasant¬
ness, and paths of peace."
4. Few real Christians therefore have ever denied the
possibility of our becoming so persuaded of the favour and
good will of God toward us as to produce substantial com¬
fort to the mind ; but they have-differed in opinion as to
the means by which this is acquired. Some have said that
we obtain it by inference ; others, by the direct inward tes¬
timony of the Holy Spirit. The latter, as we have seen,
was the opinion of Mr. Wesley; but he never failed to
connect this doctrine with another, which, on the authority
of St. Paul, he calls " the witness of our own spirit,"—
" the consciousness of having received, in and by the Spi¬
rit of adoption, the tempers mentioned in the word of God,
as belonging to his adopted children—a consciousness that
we are inwardly conformed, by the Spirit of God, to the
image of his Son, and that we walk before him in justice,
mercy, and truth, doing the things which are pleasing in
his sight." These two testimonies he never put asunder,
although he assigned them distinct offices; and this cannot
be overlooked if justice be done to his opinions. In order
to prevent presumption, he reminds his readers that the
168
LITE OF THE
direct testimony of the Holy Spirit is subsequent to true
repentance and faith ; and on the other hand, to' guard
against delusion, he asks, " How am I assured that I do
not mistake the voice of the Spirit? Even by the testi¬
mony of my own spirit, 'by the answer of a good con¬
science toward Godhereby you shall know that ycu
are in no delusion, that you have not deceived your own
soul. The immediate fruits of the Spirit ruling in the
heart are love, joy, peace, bowels of mercies, humbleness
of mind, meekness, gentleness, long-suffering. And the
outward fruits are the doing good to all men, and a uniform
obedience to all the commands of God." Where then is
the enthusiasm of the doctrine as thus stated ? An enthu¬
siastic doctrine is unsupported by the sacred records ; but
in confirmation of this we read, " The Spirit itself beareth
witness with our spirit, that we are the children of God."
Here the witnesses are the Spirit of God, and our own
spirit; and the fact to which the testimony is given, is,
that " we are the children of God."—" And because ye
are sons, God hath sent forth the Spirit of his Son into your
hearts, crying, Abba, Father!" To these passages may
be added all those texts which speak of the inward inter¬
course of the Spirit of God with believers ; of his dwelling
in them, and abiding with them as the source of comfort
and peace ; and which, therefore, imply the doctrine. Nor
can such passages be interpreted otherwise than as teach¬
ing the doctrine of assurance, conveyed immediately to
the mind of true believers by the Holy Spirit, without allow¬
ing such principles of construction as would render the
sense of Scripture uncertain, and unsettle the evidence of
some of the most important doctrines of our religion.
It is true that a more " sober" and " less dangerous"
method, as it has been called, of obtaining a comfortable
assurance of our justification before God, has been insist¬
ed upon as equally consistent with the word of God ; but,
upon examination, it will be found delusive. This is what
is termed a process of inference, and is thus explained.
The question at issue is, " Am I a child of God ?" The
Scriptures declare that " as many as are led by the Spirit
of God are the sons of God." I inquire then, whether I
have the Spirit of God ; and, in order to determine this, I
examine whether I have " the fruits of the Spirit." Now
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
169
* the fruits of the Spirit are love, joy, peace, gentleness,
goodness, meekness,»faith, temperanceand having suffi¬
cient evidence of the existence of these fruits, I conclude
that I have the Spirit of God, and am, therefore, a pardoned
and accepted child of God. This is the statement. But
among theife enumerated fruits of the Spirit we find love,
joy, and peace, as well as gentleness, goodness, meekness,
fidelity, and temperance; and if it be said that no man has
a right to assume that " he is so led by the Spirit of God,"
as to conclude that he is a child of God, who has only the
affections of "peace and joy" to ground his confidence
upon, we have as good a reason to affirm the same thing,
if he has "meekness and temperance," without " love, and
peace, and joy ;"—the love, the peace, and the joy, being
as much fruits of the Spirit as the moral qualities also
enumerated.
But can "love," love to God as our Father; "peace,"
peace with God, as in a state of friendship with us; and
"joy,," "joy in God by whom we have received the recon¬
ciliation," exist at all without a previous or concomitant
assurance of the divine forgiveness and favour 1 Surely
nothing is so clear, that it is not possible to love God as a
Father and a Friend, whilst he is still regarded as an offend¬
ed Sovereign and a vengeful Judge; and that to feel a
sense of his displeasure, and to be at " peace" with him,
and to rejoice in him, are contradictions: and if soothe
very ground of this inference, that we are in the divine
favour, and adopted into his family, is taken away. This
whole inferential process proceeds upon dividing the undi¬
vided fruit of the Spirit, for which we have assuredly no
authority ; nor indeed have we any reason to conclude that
we have that gentleness, that goodness, that meekness,
&c, which the Apostle describes, should the "love, joy,
and peace," which he places among the leading fruits of
the Spirit, be wanting. If then the whole undivided fruit of
the Spirit be taken as the medium of ascertaining the fact
of our forgiveness and adoption, and if it is even absurd
to suppose that we can love God, whilst yet we feel him
to bo angry with us; and that we can rejoice and have
peace, whilst the fearful apprehensions of the consequences
of unremitted sin are not removed from our minds, then
the only ground of our " love, joy, and peace," is pardorj
15
170
life of the
revealed and witnessed, directly and immediately, by the
Spirit of adoption.*
The mind cf Mr. Wesley was also too discriminating not
to perceive, that, in the scheme of attaining assurance by
inference from moral changes only, there was a total neglect
of the offices explicitly ascribed to the Holy Spirit in the
New Testament, and which, on this scheme, are unneces¬
sary. These are clearly stated to be that of " bearing
witness" with the spirits of believers, that they are the chil¬
dren of God ; -that of the Spirit of adoption, by which they
call God Father, in the special sense in which it is correla¬
tive to that sonship which we obtain only by a justifying
faith in Christ; and that of a Comforter, promised to the
disciples to abide with them "for ever," that their "joy
might be full."
Enough has been said on this subject to show that
* The "precedence of the direct witness of the Spirit of God to the
indirect witness of our own, and the dependence of the latter upon the
former, are very clearly stated by three divines of great authority; to
whom I refer the rather, because many of their followers of the present
day have become very obscure in their statements of this branch of
Christian experience:—
" St. Paul means that the Spirit of God gives such a testimony to
us, that he being cur guide and teacher, our spirit concludes our adop¬
tion of God to be certain. For our own mind, of itself, independent
of the preceding testimony of the Spirit, [nisi prceeunte Spiritus testi-
monio,] could not produce this persuasion in us. For whilst the Spirit
witnesses that we are the sons of God, he at the same time inspires
this confidence into our minds, that we are bold to call God our Fa¬
ther."—Calvin on Romans viii, 16.
" Romans viii, 16, ' The Spirit itself beareth witness with our spirits
that we are the sons of God the witness which our own spirits do
give unto our adoption is the work and effect of the Holy Spirit in us;
if it were not, it would be false, and not confirmed by the testimony of
the Spirit himself, who is the Spirit of truth. ' And none knoweth the
things of God but the Spirit of God,' 1 Cor. ii, 11. If he declare not
our sonship in us and to us, we, cannot know it. How doth he then
bear witness to our spirits ? What is the distinct testimony ? It must
be some such act of his as evidenceth itself to be from him, immediately,
unto them that are concerned in it, that is, those unto whom it ia
given."—dr. owen on the Spirit, sect. 9.
" The Spirit of adoption doth not only excite us to call upon God
as our Father, but it doth ascertain and assure us, as befeyre, that we
are his children. And this it doth not by an outward voice, as God
the Father to Jesus Christ, nor by an angel, as to Daniel and the Vir¬
gin Mary, but by an inward and secret suggestipn, whereby he raiseth
our hearts to this persuasion, that God is our Father, and we are his
children. This is not the testimony of the graces and operations of the
Spirit, but of the Spirit itself."—poole on Romans viii, 16.
KEV. JOHN WESLEY.
171
Mr. Wesley, on this doctrine, was neither rash nor incon¬
siderate, much less enthusiastic. It is grounded on no
forced, no fanciful interpretation of Scripture ; and it main¬
tains, as of possible attainment, one of the most important
and richest comforts of the human mind. It leaves no
doubt as to a question which, whilst problematical, must, if
we are earnest in seeking our salvation, be fatal to our
peace; it supposes an intercourse between God and the
minds of good men, which is, surely in the full and genuine
spirit of the Christian religion, eminently called the "minis¬
tration of the Spiritand it is, as taught by him, vitally
connected with sober, practical piety. That, like the doc¬
trine of justification by faith alone, it is capable of abuse,
is very true. Many have perverted both the one and the
other. Faith with some has been made a discharge from
duty; and with respect to the direct witness of the Spirit,
fancy has no doubt been taken, in some instances, for
reality. But this could never legitimately follow from the
holy preaching of the founder of Methodism. His view of
the doctrine is so opposed to license and real enthusiasm,
to pride and self-sufficiency, that it can only be made to
encourage them by so manifest a perversion, that it has
never occurred except among those most ignorant of his
writings. He never encouraged any to expect this grace
but the truly penitent, and he prescribed to them "fruits
meet for repentance." He believed that justification was
always accompanied by a renewal of the heart, and as con¬
stantly taught, that the comfort " of the Holy Ghost" could
remain the portion only of the humble and spiritual, and
was uniformly and exclusively connected with a sanctify¬
ing and obedient faith. He saw that the fruits of the Spirit
were " love, joy, peace," as well as " gentleness, goodness,
meekness, and faith but he also taught that all who were
not living under the constant influence of the latter would
fatally deceive themselves by any pretensions to the former.
Such were the views of the first Methodists, on these
important points, and such are the unchanged opinions of
their successors to this day. They may be called peculiari¬
ties, because they differed in some respects from the same
doctrines of justification, faith, assurance, and sanctifica-
tion, when associated with various modifications of Calvin¬
ism ; and although somewhat similar doctrines are found
172
LIFE OF THE
in many Arminian writers, yet in the theology of the Wes-
ieys they derive life and vigour from the stronger views of
the grace of God which were taught them by their Mora¬
vian and Calvinistic brethren.
No man more honestly sought truth than Mr. Wesley,
and none more rigidly tried all systems by the law and the
testimony. As to authority he was " a man of one book
and whatever may be thought peculiar in his views, he
drew from that scairce by the best application of his judg¬
ment.* He wanted not, however, authority of another
kind for his leading opinions. On the article of justifica¬
tion he agreed with all the Reformed Churches ; his notion
of saving faith was substantially that of the divines of the
best ages of the Reformation, and of still earlier times;
nor was his doctrine of the direct witness of the Spirit to
our adoption one as to which any exclusive peculiarity
could be attributed to him, except that he more largely and
zealously preached it than any other man in modern times.
It was the doctrine of Luther, Calvin, Beza, Arminius, and
others of equally eminent rank abroad and at home. We
* The following beautiful and striking passage, illustrative of the
above remark, is from the preface to his Sermons:—
" To candid, reasonable men, I am not afraid to lay open what have
been the inmost thoughts of my heart. I have thought, I am a creature
of a day, passing-through life, as an arrow through the air. I am a
-spirit come from God, and returning to God: just hovering over the
great gulf ■ till, a few moments hence, I am no more seen! I drop into
an unchangeable eternity! I want to know one thing, the way to hea¬
ven : how to land safe on that happy shore. God himself has conde¬
scended to teach the way; for this very end he came from heaven.
He hath written it down in a book! O give me that book! At any
price, giye me the book of God! I have it: here is knowledge enough
for me. Let me be homo unius libri. [A mam of one book.] Here then
I am, far from the busy ways of men. I sit down alone! only God is
here. In his presence I open, I read his book; for this end, to find the
way to heaven. Is there a doubt concerning the meaning of what I
read ? Does any thing appear dark and intricate ? I lift up my heart
to the Father of Lights.—Lord, is it not thy word, ' If any man lack
wisdom, let him ask of God.' Thou ' givest liberally, and upbraidest
not.' Thou hast said,-' If any be willing to do thy will, he shall know.'
I am willing to do: let me know thy will. I then search after and
consider parallel passages of Scripture, 'comparing spiritual things
with spiritual.' I meditate thereon, with all the attention and earnest¬
ness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt still remain, I consult
those who are experienced in the things of God; and then, the writ¬
ings, whereby, being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus learn,
that I teach."
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
173
may add also that such prelates and divines qs Hooper,
Andrews, Hall, Hooker, Usher, Brownrigg, Wake, Pear¬
son, Barrow, Owen, and Poole, have expressed it in terms
as explicit, and with equal deference to the testimony of
the word of God.
The Minutes of the early conferences are not confined
to doctrinal discussions ; but we see in them the frame of
the discipline of the body, growing up from year to year,
and embodied in many copious directions and arrange¬
ments. The most important of these remain in force to
this day, although some in a maturer state of the society
have gone into disuse. This discipline need not particu¬
larly be specified, as being for the most part well known
and established ; but a few miscellaneous particulars may
be selected from the Minutes of several successive years,
as being in some instance-s of great importance, and in
others characteristic, and occasionally amusing.
The duty of obeying bishops was considered at the very
first conference of 1744 ; and the conclusion is, that this
obedience extends only to things indifferent; a rather strict
narrowing up of canonical obedience, at this early period.—
The establishment of " a seminary for labourers" was a
subject of consideration at this conference also, but was
postponed. The reasons why it was not afterward
carried into effect appear to have been, the rapid spread
of the work, and the consequent demand for additional
preachers. Mr. Wesley also looked to Kingswood school
as subsidiary to this design. In the meantime he enjoined
the study of the Greek -and Latin poets and historians, as
well as the original Scriptures, upon the preachers; and a
large course of theological and general reading. This
shows his views as to the subserviency of literature to
usefulness in the ministry.*
* As the subject of a seminary or college has been of late brought
under discussion, it may be not uninteresting to those who have not
access to the manuscript copies of the first Minutes, extracts from which
only are in print, to give the passages which relate to this subject
from the complete Minutes of 1744 and 1745. In the former year it is
asked, " Can we have a seminary for labourers?" and the answer is,
"If God spare us till another conference." The next year the subject
was resumed, " Can we have a seminary for labourers yet ?" Answer.
"Not till God gives us a proper tutor." So that the institution was
actually resolved upon, and delayed only by circumstances*
174
LIFE OF THE
No preaching was to be continued where societies were
not raised up. It seems to have been a fixed maxim with
the Wesleys, not to spend time in cultivating barren ground.
No band ticket was to be given to the wearers of ruffles,
—a practice which, though then common, accorded not
with their notions either of good taste, or of the duty of
economizing money in order to charity.—Equal strictness
was observed as to the dress of females. Simplex
mundiiiis [plainness with neatness] was Mr. Wesley's
classical rule; and the exclusive " ornament of a meek and
quiet spirit," his Scriptural one.—All who married un¬
believers were to be expelled from Society.—The people
were required not only to stand during singing, but whilst
the text was read. This excellent custom now continues
only in Ireland.—Dram-drinking and pawnbroking were
also sins of exclusion: so that, in fact, the Methodist
societies were the first Temperance Societies.—Reading
was enjoined as a religious duty, and every preacher was
bound to circulate every new book published or recom¬
mended by Mr. Wesley; so anxious was he to spread
useful knowledge through society, and to improve at once
the intellects and the hearts of his people.—The officers
of the society are said to be " clergymen, assistants,
nelpers, stewards, leaders of bands, leaders of classes,
visiters of the sick, schoolmasters, and house-keepers."
The last class will in the present day create a smile; but
at that time their business was to reside in the houses built
in several of the large towns, where both Mr. Wesley and
the preachers took up their abode during their stay. They
were elderly and pious women, who, being once invested
with an official character, extended it sometimes from the
house to the church, to the occasional annoyance of the
preachers. As married preachers began to occupy the
houses, they were at length dispensed with.—Smuggling
and the buying of uncustomed goods had frequent anathe¬
mas dealt out against them, and expulsion was the unmiti¬
gated penalty.—Respect of persons was strictly forbidden
to the preachers, who were also enjoined to be easy of
access to all.—Every preacher was to promise rather to
break a limb than to disappoint a congregation.—No
preacher was to be continued who could not preach twice
every day.—He was to take care that only suitable tunes
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
175
should be sung; and was advised to use in public only
hymns of prayer and praise, not those descriptive of states
of mind.—Lemonade was to be taken after preaching, or
candied orange-peel, or a little warm ale; but egg and wine,
and late suppers, are denounced as downright poison.—
The views entertained of a call to the ministry, deserve
quoting in full:—
"Q. How shall we try those who think they are moved
by the Holy Ghost, and called of God to preach 1
"A. Inquire, 1. Do they know God, as a pardoning
God? Have they the love of God abiding in them? Do
they desire and seek nothing but God ? And are they holy
in all manner of conversation ?
"2. Have they gifts (as well as grace) for the work?
Have they a clear, sound understanding ? Have they a right
judgment in the things of God? Have they a just concep¬
tion of salvation by faith ? And has God given them any
degree of utterance? Do they speak justly, readily,
clearly ?
" 3. Have they fruit ? Are any truly convinced of sin,
and converted to God, by their preaching ?
"As long as these three marks concur in any, we believe
he is called of God to preach."
The probation of the preachers was at first one year; but
was afterward extended to four.—The following minute
of 1745 shows, that Mr. Charles Wesley was never consi¬
dered as coordinate with his brother in the government of
the societies:—
" Q. Should not my brother follnio me step by step, and
Mr. Meriton (another clergyman) him ?
"A. As far as possible."
What Mr. Wesley was next to write, was a matter on
which he asked the advice of the conference for several
years.—A little stock of medicines, to be dispensed to the
poor, was ordered to be provided for London, Bristol, and
Newcastle. It is not generally known that Mr. Wesley
pursued a course of regular medical study, whilst at
Oxford.—Preachers werecautibned against giving out long
hymns; and were exhorted to choose the tunes, that so
they might be suitable to the hymn.—Copies of the
minutes of the conference were to be written out and
given to each member present: when the number of
176
LIFE OF THE
preachers increased, printing was adopted.* In 1749, it
seems to have been proposed that the societies every where
should be considered one, of which the London society
should be the mother church. This however came to
nothing. The societies indeed were one, but the centre
of union was first Mr. Wesley himself, then the conference
of preachers. In the same year all chapels were directed
to be built after the model of that of Rotherham, and the
number of circuits, each very extensive, had increased
to twenty-two.—Regular funds for the support of the
preachers, and for aiding worn-out preachers, began now
to be established.—A regular settlement of the chapels
upon trustees had been enjoined in 1749 ; and in 1765, a
person was appointed to be sent through England to
survey the deeds, and supply wanting trustees.—All
chapel windows were to be sashed ; no " tub pulpits" were
to be allowed ; and men and women were every where to
sit apart.—The societies are warned against little oaths,
such as " my life," " my honour," &c, and against " com¬
pliments," and unmeaning words.—In general, many are
reproved for talking too much, and reading too little.—In
1776, all octagon chapels ai'e directed to be built like that
at Yarm ; and all square ones like that at Scarborough.—
No Chinese paling was to be set up before any chapel;
and the people are forbidden to crowd into the preacher^'
houses, as though they were coffee houses.—No leaders*
meeting was to be held without the presence of a preacher,
and the spirit of debating at all meetings was to be strictly
guarded against.—If bankrupts did not pay their debts
when they are able, they were to be excluded the society.
—Sluts were to be kept out of the preachers' houses, and
cleanliness tvas held to be next to godliness.
Thus to a number of little things among many greater
and weightier matters, the active mind, the taste, and the
orderly habits, of the founder of Methodism applied itself.
Every thing was, however, kind and bland in his manner
* Perhaps not more than one or two manuscript copies of the com¬
plete minutes of the conferences from 1744 to 1747 are in existence.
That which lies before me, and from which extracts have been made
in the preceding pages, wants* two or three of the first pages of the
minutes of 1744. It was not written by Mr. Wesley; but is a copy
oorrected by his own hand in different places. This is mentioned, as
several of the extracts will be new even to some of the senior preachers^
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
177
of injunction ; and when he was disappointed as to the
exact observance of his regulations, his displeasure was
admirably proportioned to the weight of the case. No man
generally knew better how to estimate the relative import¬
ance of things, and to give each its proper place and rank,
although it would be to deny to him the infirmity of human
nature to suppose that this rule of proportion was always
observed. If little things were by him sometimes made
great; this praise, however, he had without abatement, that
he never made great things little.
The notices of the deaths of the preachers year by year
in the early Minutes, all bear the impress of the brevity and
point of Mr. Wesley's style. The first time that the regular
question, "What preachers have died this year V appears,
is in the Minutes of 1777. A few sketches of character
from this laconic obituary in different years, will illustrate
his manner of keeping these annual records :—
" Thomas Hosking, a young man, just entering on the
work; zealous, active, and of an unblamable behaviour.
And Richard Burke, a man of faith and patience, made
perfect through sufferings : one who joined the wisdom and
calmness of age, with the simplicity of childhood."
" Richard Boardman, a pious, good-natured, sensible
man, greatly beloved of all that knew him. He was one
of the two first that freely offered themselves to the service
of our brethren in America. He died of an apoplectic
fit, and preached the night before his death. It seems he
might have been eminently useful, but good is the will of
the Lord.
" Robert Swindells had been with us above forty years.
He was an Israelite indeed. In all those years I never
knew him to speak a word which he did not mean: and
he always spoke the truth in love ; I believe, no one ever
heard him speak an unkind word. He went through ex¬
quisite pain (by the stone) for many years; but he was not
weary. He was still
' Patient in bearing ill, and doing well.
" One thing he had almost peculiar to himself; he had no
enemy! So remarkably was that word fulfilled, 'Blessed
are the merciful; for they shall obtain mercy.'
" James Barry was for many years a faithful labourer
in our Lord's vineyard. And as he laboured much, so he
178
LIFE OF THE
suffered much; but with unwearied patience. In his death
he suffered nothing, stealing quietly away in a kind of
lethargy.
" Thomas Payne was a bold soldier of Jesus Christ.
His temper was uncommonly vehement: but before he
went hence, all that vehemence was gone, and the lion was
become a lamb. He went away in the full triumph of faith,
praising God with his latest breath.
" Robert Naylor, a zealous, active young man, was
caught away by a fever in the strength of his years. But
it was in a good hour; for he returned to Him whom his
soul loved, in the full assurance of faith.
" A fall from his horse, which was at first thought of
little consequence, occasioned the death of John Liver-
more ; a plain, honest man, much devoted to G od, and
determined to live and die in the best of services."
"John Prickard, a man thoroughly devoted to God,
and an eminent pattern of holiness: and Jacob Rowell,
a faithful old soldier, fairly worn out in his Master's
service."
" Thomas Mitchell, an old soldier of Jesus Christ."
" JohnFletcher, [vicar of Madeley,] a pattern of all holi¬
ness, scarce to be paralleled in a century ; and J. Peacock,
young in years, but old in grace ; a pattern of all holiness,
full of faith, and love, and zeal for God.
" Jeremiah Robertshaw, who was a good soldier of
Jesus Christ, fairly worn out in his Master's service. He
was a pattern of patience for many years, labouring under
sharp and almost continual pain, of meekness and gentle¬
ness to all men, and of simplicity and godly sincerity.
"Joshua Keighley, who was a young man deeply devoted
to God, and greatly beloved by all that knew him. He
was
" About the marriage state to prove,
But death had swifter wings than love."
" 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
JDr. Watts did not scruple to say, that ' that single poem,
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
179
Wrestling Jacob, was worth all the verses he himself had
written.'
" John Mayly, worn -out in the service of his Master :
he suffered much in his last illness, and died triumphant in
the Lord."
Thus neither his brother Charles, nor Mr. Fletcher, had
a longer eulogy than any other preacherso great was
Mr. Wesley's love of brevity.
The " care of the churches" now had come upon him,
and was increasing ; he had a responsibility to man as well
as to God for the right management of a people whom his
labours and those of his coadjutors had formed into a body
distinct from the National Church, and indeed as to all
ecclesiastical control separate from it, although, in part,
the members were attendants on her services. He was
most anxious that this people should be raised to the high¬
est state of religious and moral excellence ; that they should
be exemplary in all the relations of life, civil and domestic ;
wise in the Scriptures; well read in useful books; self-
denying in their conduct almost to severity ; and liberal in
their charities, in order to which they were enjoined to
abstain from all unnecessary indulgences, and to be plain
and frugal in dress. They were expected to rise early to
a religious service at five o'clock, and to attend some
evening service, if possible, several times in the week; and,
beside their own Sabbath meetings, to be punctual in
observing the services of the Church. They were to add
to all this the most zealous efforts to do good to the bodies
and souls of those who were around them; and to per¬
severe in all these things with an ardour and an unwea-
riedness equal to his own. With these great objects so
strongly impressed upon his mind, that he should feel com¬
pelled to superintend every part of the system he had put
into operation, and ^ttend to every thing great or little
which he conceived to retard or accelerate its motion, was
the natural consequence, and became with him matter 01
imperative conscience. A nobler object man could not
propose to himself, than thus to spread the truth and the
example of a living and practical Christianity through the
land, and to revive the spirit of piety in a fallen Church,
and among a neglected people; and he had sufficient
proofs from the wonderful success which had followed.
180
EIFE OF THE
success too of the most unequivocal kind, because the
hearts of " multitude's had been turned to the Lord," that he
was in the path of duty, and that the work was of God ;
but the standard which he set up in his own mind and in
his rules, both for his preachers and people, was so high,
that, in the midst of all those refreshing joys which the
review of the work often brought, feelings of disappoint¬
ment, and something like vexation, occasionally break
forth in the Minutes of his conferences. On the preach¬
ers in their circuits an activity, an occupation of time, and
an attention to various duties had been enjoined, similar to
his own; but the regulations under which they were placed,
were often minute, and in minor matters they were often
failing, even when in other respects they most faithfully
and laboriously fulfilled their ministry. Stewards, leaders,
and trustees, come in also occasionally for their share of re¬
monstrance and rebuke on account of inattention ; whilst
the societies, as being exposed to the various errors of the
day, and to the ordinary influences of the temptations of an
earthly state, sometimes declined, and then again revived ;
in some places were negligent, and in others were almost
every thing he could wish them to be, so that he could say
with an Apostle respecting them, "Great is my glorying."
To Mr. Wesley's frequent trials of patience were to be
added the controversies, often very illiberal, in. which he
was engaged, and the constant misrepresentations and per¬
secutions to which he and the societies were for many
years exposed. When all these" things are considered, and
when it is also recollected how much every man who him¬
self works by a strict method is apt to be affected by the
irregularities and carelessness of others; the full and
tranquil flow of his zeal and energy, and the temper, at
once so strict and so mild, which breathes in the Minutes
of the conferences, place him in a very admirable point of
light. Yexation and disappointment passed over his serene
mind like the light clouds over the bright summer field.
The principle of an entire devotedness to serve God"; and
" his generation according to the will of God," in him
never relaxed ; and the words of one of his own beautiful
hymns, to which in advanced life, in a conversation with a
friend, he once alluded, as expressing his own pasf and
habitual experience, were in him finely realized :-r—
REV. JQHN WESLEY.
181
Jesus, confirm my heart's desire,
To work, and. speak, and think for thee ;
Still let me guard the holy fire,
And still stir up thy gift in me.
"Ready for all thy perfect will,
My acts of faith, and love repeat.
Till death thy endless mercies seal,
And make the sacrifice complete."
CHAPTER X.
The doctrines and principal branches of the discipline
of the body being generally settled, Mr. Wesley desisted
from publishing extracts from the Minutes of the annual
conferences from 1749 to 1765. In the Minutes of the
latter year we find for the first time a published list of the
circuits, and of the preachers.* The circuits were then
twenty-five in England, extending from "Cornwall to New¬
castle-upon-Tyne ; in Scotland four; in Wales two; in
Ireland eight; in all thirty-nine. The total number of the
preachers, given up entirely to the work, and acting under
Mr. Wesley's direction, had then risen to ninety-two. But
it will be necessary to look back upon the labours of the
two brothers during this interval. Instead, however, of
tracing Mr. Wesley's journeys into various parts of the
kingdom in detail from his Journals, which present one
uniform and unwearied activity in his high calling, it will
be sufficient to notice the principal incidents.
Mr. Charles Wesley married in 1749, yet still continued
his labours with but little abatement. He was in London
at the time of the earthquake, and was preaching at the
Foundery early in the morning when the second shock oc¬
curred. The entry in his Journal presents him in a sublime
attitude, and may be given as an instance of what may be
truly called the majesty of faith : " March 8th, 1750. This
morning, a quarter after five, we had another shock of an
earthquake far more violent than that of Februaiy Sth. I
* In the manuscript copy of the first Minutes before mentioned,
fists of circuits occasionally appear, as in 1746 :—"How many cir-
cults are there ? Jlnswer.—Seven. 1. London, including Surrey and
Kent. ' 2. Bristol, including Somersetshire, Portland, "Wiltshire,'Ox¬
fordshire and Gloucestershire. 3. Cornwall. 4. Evesham, including
Shrewsbury,Leominster,Hereford, Stroud, andWednesbury. 5. Yom,
including Yorkshire, Cheshire, Lancashire, Derbyshire, Nottingham¬
shire. and Lincolnshire. 6. Newcastle. 7. Wales."
16
182
LIFE OF THE
was just repeating my text, when it shook the Foundery so
violently, that we all expected it to fall on our heads. A
great cry followed from the women and children. I imme¬
diately called out,' Therefore we will not fear, though the
earth be moved, and the hills be carried into the midst of
the sea; for the Lord of Hosts is with us; the God of
Jacob is our refuge.' He filled my heart with faith, and
my mouth with words, shaking their souls as well as their
bodies. The earth moved westward, then eastward, then
westward again, through all London and Westminster. It
was a strong and jarring motion, attended with a rumbling
noise like that of thunder. Many houses were much shaken,
and some chimneys thrown down, but without any farther
hurt." {Journal.)
The impression produced in London by this visitation
is thus recorded in a letter from Mr. Briggs to Mr. John
Wesley:—" This great city has been, for some days past,
under terrible apprehensions of another earthquake. Yes¬
terday, thousands fled out of town, it having been confi¬
dently asserted by a dragoon, that he had a revelation that
great part of London, and Westminster especially, would
be destroyed by an earthquake on the 4th instant between
twelve and one at night. The whole city was under dire¬
ful apprehensions. Places of worship were crowded with
frightened sinners, especially our two chapels, and the Ta¬
bernacle, where Mr. Whitefield preached. Several of the
classes came to their leaders, and desired that they would
spend the night with them in prayer ; which was done, and
God gave them a blessing. Indeed all around was awful.
Being not at all convinced of the prophet's mission, and
having no call from any of my brethren, I went to bed at
my usual time, believing I was safe in the hands of Christ;
and likewise, that, by doing so, I should be the more ready
to rise to the preaching in the morning ; which I did, prais¬
ed be my kind Protector." In a postscript he adds,
" Though crowds left the town on Wednesday night, yet
crowds were left behind; multitudes of whom, for fear of
being suddenly overwhelmed, left their houses, and repair¬
ed to the fields, and open places in the city. Tower Hill,
Moorfields, but above all, Hyde Park, were filled, the best
part of the night, with men, women, and children, lament¬
ing. Some, with stronger imaginations than others, mostly
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
183
women, ran crying in the streets, ' An earthquake! an
earthquake!' Such distress, perhaps, is not recorded to
have happened before in this careless city. Mr. White-
field preached at midnight in Hyde Park. Surely God will
visit this city; it will be a time of mercy to some. O may
I be found watching!" ( Whitehead's Life.)
So ready were these great preachers of the time to take
advantage of every event by which they might lead men to
God. One knows not which most to admire, Mr. White-
field preaching at midnight in Hyde Park to a crowd of
affrighted people, expecting the earth to swallow them up ;
or Mr. Charles Wesley, with the very ground reeling under
him, calling out to the congregation, " Therefore will we
not fear, though the earth be moved, and the hills be car¬
ried into the midst of the sea; for the Lord of Hosts is
with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge and using this
as his text.
The detected immorality and expulsion of one of the
preachers, James Wheatley,* led the brothers to determine
upon instituting a more strict inquiry into the life and be¬
haviour of every preacher in connection with them. Mr,
Charles Wesley undertook that office, as being perhaps
more confident in his own discernment of character, and
less influenced by affection to the preachers. The result
was, however, highly creditable to them, for no irregularity
of conduct was detected; but as the visitation was not con¬
ducted, to say the least pf it, in the bland manner in which
it would have been executed by Mr. John Wesley, who
was indeed alone regarded as the father of the Connection,
it led, as might be expected, to bickerings. Many of the
preachers did not come up to Mr. Charles Wesley's no¬
tions of attachment to the Church; some began to wish a
little larger share in the government; and a few did not
* Mr. Wesley has been censured by some persons for sanctioning
the publication of a pamphlet on the11 Duties of Husbands and Wives,"
written, as they suppposed, by this wretched man, and especially for
doing this after the misconduct of the author had been brought to light.
But the charge is without foundation. The pamphlet in question was
not written by James Wheatley, the preacher, but by William Whate-
ley, the Puritan minister of Banbury; a man of the most exemplary
piety, and one of the best practical writers of his age, who died in 1639.
The work from which the pamphlet was extracted is entitled, " A
Bride-Bush," and bears the date of 1619 • which was at least a hun¬
dred years before Wheatley was born.
184
LIFE OF THE
rise to his standard of ministerial abilities, although of this
he judged only by report. From this time a stronger feel¬
ing of disunion between the preachers and him grew up,
which ultimately led to his taking a much less active part
in the affairs of the body, except to interfere occasionally
with his advice, and, in still later years, now and then to
censure the increasing irregularity of his brother's proceed¬
ings. The fact was, Mr. John Wesley was only carried
forward by the same stream which had impelled both the
brothers irretrievably far beyond the line prescribed to
regular Churchmen ; and Charles was chafing himself with
the vain attempt to buffet back the tide, or at least to ren¬
der it stationary. He saw, no doubt, during the visitation
which he had lately undertaken, a growing tendency to
separation from the Church both among many of the preach¬
ers and the people, which, although it was the natural,, nay,
almost necessary, result of the circumstances in which
they were placed, he somewhat uncandidly attributed to
the ambition of the former; and, laying it down as a neces¬
sary qualification, that no preacher ought to be employed
without giving some explicit pledge as to his purpose of
adherence to the Church, he attempted to associate him¬
self with his brother in the management, with equal power
to call preachers into the work, and then to govern them.
He appears laudably to have wished to improve their
talents ; but he proposed also greatly to restrict their num¬
ber, and to subject them to stricter tests as to their attach¬
ment to the Establishment. Here began an important
difference between the two brothers. Some impression
w;as made upon the mind of Mr. John Wesley by his bro¬
ther's letters written to him during his tour of inquisition,
principally as they exaggerated the growing danger of sepa¬
ration from the Church; and upon Charles's return to
London, John was persuaded, although " with difficulty,"
to sign an agreement, engaging that no preacher should be
called into the work except by both of them conjointly, nor
any readmitted but with mutual consent. The" intention
of Charles was evidently to obtain a controlling power over
his brother's proceedings ; but there was one great rule to
which Mr. John Wesley was more steadily faithful. This
was to carry on and extend that which he knew to be the
work of God, without regarding probable future conse-
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
185
quences of separation from the Church after his death ;*
which was in fact the principle on which they had agreed
at the first conference of 1774, (See pages 115,116,) and
to which Charles stood pledged as fully as himself. It
seems, therefore, that when Mr. John Wesley more fully
discovered his brother's intention to restrict the number of
preachers, under the plea of employing only men of supe¬
rior abilities ; and more especially after all that had passed
between Charles and them during the inquisitorial visita¬
tion just named had been reported to him, he felt little
disposed to assent to his having co-authority with himself
in the management of the Connection; and Charles with¬
drawing more from public life, the government remained
with J ohn still more exclusively than before. This acqui¬
sition of entire authority, as it has been called, has been
referred to by one of Mr. Wesley's biographers as a proof
of his ambition, and his inability to bear a rival. The affec¬
tion of the brothers itself affords a. strong presumption
against the existence of any such jealousy between them :
and beside we find no previous instance of a single strug¬
gle for authority. But the fact was, that John always led
the way, as sole director, with Charles as a confidential
adviser ; and they long acted together in this relation as
with one soul. In the present case it was Charles only
who grasped at a power which he had not previously pos¬
sessed ; and this was for a moment yielded, though hesi¬
tatingly, upon an ex parte statement, and under views not
fully manifested. When, however, those were disclosed,
John recoiled ; and his brother, by a partial secession from
the work, left the whole care of it upon his hands. Mr.
Charles Wesley had indeed, some time before this, rather
hastily interposed to prevent the marriage of his brother
with a very pious and respectable woman, Mrs. Grace
Murray, to whom he was attached, and that probably under
the influence of a little family pride, as she was not in an
elevated rank of life ;j" and this affair, in which there ap¬
pears to have been somewhat of treachery, although no
* " Church or no Church," he observes in one of his letters to
Charles, " we must attend to the work of saving souls." And in
another, " I neither set it up, nor pull it down; but let you and I
build the city of God."
| Mr. Charles Wesley and Mr. Whitefield got the lady hastily
married to Mr. Bennett, one of the preachers, whilst his brother was
16*
186
LIFE OF THE
doubt well intended, had for the first time interrupted their
harmony. But it is not at all likely that any feeling of re¬
sentment remained in the mind of John; and indeed the
commission of visitation, with which Charles had been
invested, was a sufficient proof that confidence had been
at a distance, probably not being himself aware, any more than she,
of the strength of his attachmeht. The following extract from one of
Mr. Wesley's unpublished letters shows, however, that he deeply felt
it;—"The sons of Zeruiah were too strong for me. The whole world
fought against me, but, above all, my oion familiar friend. Then was
the word fulfilled, ' Son of man, behold, I take from thee the desire of
thine eyes at a stroke, yet shalt thou not lament, neither shall thy
tears run down.' The fatal, irrecoverable stroke was struck on
Thursday last. Yesterday I saw my friend, (that was,) and him to
whom she is sacrificed. ' But why should a living man complain, a
man for the punishment of his sins?"' The following passages, from
a letter of the venerable vicar of Shoreham to Mr. Charles, intimate
how much he sympathized with Mr. John Wesley on the occasion,
and how anxious he was to prevent a breach between the brothers,
which this, certainly unbrotherly, act, the only one into which Charles
seems to have been betrayed, was near producing. The letter is dated,
Shoreham, 1749:—"Yours came this day to hand. I leave you to
guess how such news must affect a person whose very soul is one
with yours, and our friend. Let me conjure you to soothe his sorrows.
Pour nothing but oil and wine into his wounds. Indulge no views,
no designs, but what tend to the honour of God, the promoting the
kingdom of his dear Son, and the healing of our wounded friend
How would the Philistines rejoice Could they hear that Saul and
Jonathan were in danger from their own swords!" »
I have seen an explanation of Mr. Charles Wesley's conduct in this
affair by the late Miss Wesley; but as the matter occurred before her
birth, I have much doubt as to her perfect knowledge of the circum¬
stances, so that I shall not fully state it. She lays the fault chiefly on
the lady's want of explicitness; states that she had formed a previous,
but concealed, attachment to Mr. Bennett; and that Mr. Charles
having discovered this, he hastened the marriage.
Whatever the ostensible reason might be, it was no doubt eagerly
seized by Mr. Charles Wesley as an occasion of breaking off a match,
which he appears some time before to have interfered with, influ¬
enced, it is most probable, by the consideration of Mrs. Murray's
inferior rank. From this feeling Mr. John Wesley was much more
exempt, as the following anecdote, found in one of Miss Wesley's let¬
ters, indicates in a way very creditable to his amiable temper:—"My
brother Charles had an attachment in early youth to an. amiable girl
of inferior birth; this was much opposed by my mother and her family,
who mentioned it with concern to my uncle. Finding from my father
that this was the chief objection, my uncle only replied, ' Then there
is no family blood ? I hear the girl is good; but of no family ?' 'Nor
fortune either,' said my mother. He made no reply; but sent my
brother a sum of money as a wedding present; and I believe sincerely
regretted that he was ultimately crossed in his inclination."
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
187
Testored. The true reason of the difference was, that the
one wished to contract the work, from fear of the probable
consequence of separation from the Church; the other
pursued his course of enlarging and extending it, resolving
to prevent separation to the best of his power, but leaving
that issue in higher hands. Still, however, the affection of
the brothers remained unimpaired.
In the year 1751, as Mr. Wesley was still resolved to
marry, believing that his usefulness would be thereby pro¬
moted, he took to wife, Mrs. Vizelle, a widow lady of
independent fortune. She was a woman of a cultivated
understanding, as her remaining letters testify; and that
she appeared to Mr. Wesley to possess every other qualifi¬
cation, which promised to increase both his usefulness and
happiness, we may conclude from his having made choice
of her as his companion. We must suppose, also, that as
he never intended to relax his labours, and adopt a more
settled mode of life, this matter also was fully understood,
and agreed to before marriage. But whatever good quali¬
ties Mrs. Wesley might appear to have, they were at length
wholly swallowed up in the fierce passion of jealousy. For
some time she travelled with him; but becoming weary
of this, and not being able 4o bind him down to a more
domestic life, this passion increased. The violence of her
temper broke out also against Mr. Charles Wesley and
his wife. This arose from very trifling circumstances,
magnified into personal slights ; and various unpleasant
scenes are mentioned in Mr. Charles Wesley's unpublished
letters, and described with a sprightliness which, whilst it
shows that he was unconscious of having given her any
just cause of offence, equally indicates the absence of
sympathy. Perhaps this had been worn out by the long
continuance of her caustic attacks upon him and his family,
both by word and by letter. Certainly Mr. Charles Wes¬
ley must have felt her to be an annoying correspondent, if
we may judge from some of her letters still preserved, and
in which, singular as it may appear, she zealously contends
for her husband's superiority, and is indignant that he
should be wearing himself out with excessive labour, whilst
Charles was remaining at home in ease. Dr. Southey
has candidly and justly stated the matter between her and
her persecuted husband :—
188
LIFE OF THE
" Had Mrs. Wesley been capable of understanding her
husband's character, she could not possibly have been
jealous; but the spirit of jealousy possessed her, and drove
her to the most unwarrantable actions. It is said that she
frequently travelled a hundred miles for the purpose of
watching, from a window, who was in the carriage with
him when he entered a town. She searched his pockets,
opened his letters, put his letters and papers into the hands
of his enemies, in hopes that they might be made use of
to blast his character, and sometimes laid violent hands
upon him and tore his hair. She frequently left his house,
and, upon his earnest entreaties, returned again ; till, after
having thus disquieted twenty years of his life, as far as it
was possible for any domestic vexations to disquiet a man
whose life was passed in loco-motion, she seized on part
of his Journals, and many other papers, which were never
restored, and departed, leaving word that she never in¬
tended to return. He simply states the fact in his Journal,
saying, that he knew not what the cause had been; and
he briefly adds, Non earn reliqui, non dimisi, non revocabo;
' I did not forsake her, I did not dismiss her, I will not
recall her.' " (Southey's Life.)
The worst part of Mrs. Wesley's conduct, and which
only the supposition of a degree of insanity, excited by
jealousy, can palliate, was that she interpolated several
letters, which she had intercepted, so as to make them bear
a bad construction ; and as Mr. Wesley had always main¬
tained a large correspondence with all classes of persons,
and among others with pious females, in some of whose
letters there were strong expressions of Christian affection,
she availed herself of this means of defaming him. Some
of these she read to different persons in private, and espe¬
cially to Mr. Wesley's opponents and enemies, adding
extempore passages in the same tone of voice, but taking
care not to allow the letters themselves to be read by
the auditors; and in one or two instances she published
interpolated or forged letters in the public- prints. How
he conducted himself amidst these vexations, the follow¬
ing passages in a letter from Miss Wesley to a friend,
written a little before her death, will show. They are
at once important as explanatory of the kind of annoy¬
ance to which this unhappy marriage subjected her uncle.
REV. JOHN WESLESf.
IS9
and as containing an anecdote strongly illustrative of his
character:—
"I think it was in the year 1775 my uncle promised to
take me with him to Canterbury and Dover. About this
time Mrs. Wesley had obtained some letters which she
used to the most injurious purposes, misinterpreting spirit¬
ual expressions, and interpolating words. These she read
to some Calvinists, and they were to be sent to the Morn¬
ing Post. A Calvinist gentleman, who esteemed my
father and uncle, came to the former, and told him that,
for the sake of religion-, the publication should be stopped,
and Mr. John Wesley be allowed to answer for himself.
As Mrs. Wesley had read, but did not show, the letters to
him, he had some doubts of their authenticity; and though
they were addressed to Mr. John Wesley, they might be
forgeries ; at any rate he ought not to leave town at such
a juncture, but clear the matter satisfactorily.
" My dear father, to whom the reputation of my uncle
was far dearer than his own, immediately saw the import¬
ance of refutation, and set off to the Foundery to induce
him to postpone his journey, while I, in my own mind,
was lamenting such a disappointment, having anticipated
it with all the impatience natural to my years. Never
shall I forget the manner in which my father accosted my
mother on his return home. ' My brother,' says he, ' is
indeed an extraordinary man. I placed before him the
importance of the character of a minister ; the evil conse¬
quences which might result from his indifference to it;
the cause of religion ; stumbling blocks cast in the way of
the weak; 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.'
" I ought to add, that the letters in question were satis¬
factorily proved to be mutilated, and no scandal resulted
from his trust in God."
Some of these letters mutilated, interpolated, or forged
by this unhappy woman, have got into different hands, and
are still preserved. In the papers of the Wesley family,
recently collected, there are, however, sufficient materials
for a full explanation of the whole case in detail; but as
190
LIFE OF TIIE
Mr. Wesley himself spared it, no one will, I presume, ever
farther disturb this unpleasant affair, unless some publica¬
tion on the part of an enemy, for the sake of gain, or to
gratify a party feeling, should render it necessary to defend
the character of this holy and unsuspecting man.*
A school at Kingswood, near Bristol, for the children of
the poor, had been long built; but that neighbourhood was
also fixed upon by Mr. Wesley for an institution, in which
the sons of the preachers, and those of the richer Method¬
ists, should receive at once the best education, and the
most efficient religious training. It was opened in June,
1748, and he published soon after a " Short Account" of
the institution, with the plan of education adopted, par¬
ticularly for those who were to remain so long in it as to
go through a course of academical learning; and adds,
" Whoever carefully goes through this course will be a
* The following passage, in a letter from Mr. Perronet, to Mr.
Charles Wesley, dated Shoreham, Nov. 3, 1752, shows that Mr. Wes¬
ley's matrimonial afflictions must have commenced a very short time
after marriage:—" I am truly concerned that matters are in so melan¬
choly a situation. I think the unhappy lady is most to'be pitied,
though the gentleman's case is mournful enough. Their sufferings
proceed from widely different causes. His are the visible chastise¬
ments of a loving Father. Her's the immediate effects of an angry,
bitter spirit; and, indeed, it is a sad consideration, that, after so many
months have elapsed, the same warmth and bitterness should remain."
This truly venerable and holy man died in 1785, in the ninety-second
year of his age. Two days before his cfeath, his grand-daughter, Miss
Briggs, who attended him day and night, read to him the three last
chapters, of Isaiah. He then desired her to go into the garden, to take
a little fresh air. Upon her return, she found him in an ecstacy, with
the tears running down his cheeks, from a deep and lively sense of the
glorious things which she had just been reading to him; and which,
he believed, would shortly be fulfilled in a still more glorious sense
than heretofore. He continued unspeakably happy all that day. On
Sunday, his happiness seemed even to increase, till he retired to rest.
Miss Briggs then went into the room to see if any thing was wanting;
and as she stood at the feet of the bed, he smiled and said, "God bless
thee, my dear child, and all that belongs to thee! Yea, he will bless
thee!" This he earnestly repeated till she left the room. When she
went in the next morning, his happy spirit had returned to God!
Mr. Perronet, like those great and good men, Messrs. Grimshaw
and Fletcher, continued steadily attached to Mr. Wesley and to the
Methodists. He received the preachers joyfully, fitted up a room in
the parsonage house for their use, and attended their ministry himself
at every opportunity. His house was one of the regular places of the
Kent circuit, and so continued to the day of his death. All his family
were members of the society, and two of his sons preachers.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
191
better scholar than nine in ten of the graduates at Oxford
and Cambridge." In this great and good design he grasped
at too much; and the school came in time to be confined
to the sons of the preachers, and ceased, as at first, to re¬
ceive boarders. Indeed, from the increase of the preachers'
families, the school was rapidly filled, and required enlarge¬
ment at different times; and finally it was necessarry to
establish a second school at Woodhouse Grove, in York¬
shire. The circumstance of the preachers being so much
from home, and removing every one or two years from
their circuits, rendered an institution of this kind impera¬
tive ; and, as it necessarily grew out of the system of itine¬
rancy, it was cheerfully and liberally, though often inade¬
quately, supported by private subscriptions, and a public
annual collection throughout all the congregations. The
most gratifying moral results have followed ; and a useful
and religious education has been secured to the sons of the
preachers, many of whom, especially of late years, having
afforded undeniable proofs of genuine conversion, and of a
divine call to public labours in the church of Christ, have
been admitted into the ministry, and are among its highest
ornaments, or its brightest hopes. It is however to be
regretted that the original plan of Mr. Wesley, to found
an institution for the connection at large, which should
unite the advantages of a school and a college, has not
been resumed in later and more favourable times. Yarious
circumstances, at that early period, militated against the
success of this excellent project, which have gradually dis¬
appeared ; and if in that infant state of the cause, Mr.
Wesley wisely thought that Methodism should provide for
all its wants, religious and educational, within itself; much
more incumbent is it to do so now. Many of the sons of
our friends, for want of such a provision, have been placed
m schools where their religious principles have been ne¬
glected or perverted; and too often have been taught to
ridicule, or to be ashamed of, the religious profession of
their fathers.*
[* The striking application of the above remarks to the state of
things in relation to Methodism in this country, cannot escape the
observation of intelligent readers; and it is no little gratification to
perceive that the testimony of both Mr. Wesley's and Mr. Watson's
approbation stahds thus recorded in support of the views which, with
uiany others of our brethren in America, we have steadily entertained
192
LIFE OF THE
In 1753, Mr. Wesley visited Scotland a second time,
and preached at Glasgow to large congregations. He had
gone there on the invitation of that excellent man, Dr.
Gillies, minister of the College kirk, who, a few days after
he left, wrote to him as follows :—" The singing of hymns
here meets with greater opposition than I expected. Seri¬
ous people are much divided. Those of better under¬
standing and education are silent; but many others are so
prejudiced, especially at the singing publicly, that they
speak openly against it, and look upon me as led to do a
very wrong or sinful thing. I beg your advice, whether to
answer them only by continuing in the practice of the thing,
with such as have freedom to join, looking to the Lord for
a blessing upon his own ordinance : or, if I should publish
a sheet of arguments from reason, and Scripture, and the
example of the godly. Tour experience of the most
effectual way of dealing with people's prejudices, makes
your advice on this head of the greater importance.
" I bless the Lord for the benefit and comfort of your
acquaintance, for your important assistance in my His¬
torical Collections, and for your edifying conversation and
sermons in this place. May our gracious God prosper you
wherever you are. 0 my dear sir, pray for your brother,
that I may be employed in doing something for the ad¬
vancement of His glory, who has done so much for me,
and who is my only hope."
This prejudice in favour of their own doggerel version
of the Psalms of David generally remains among the
Scotch to this day; and even in the Wesleyan societies
raised up there, great opposition was at first made to the
use of hymns. The Historical Collections of Dr. Gillies,
mentioned in his letter, do justice to that revival of religion
in this country of which Methodism was the instrument,
and gives many valuable accounts of similar revivals, and
special effusions of the Holy Spirit upon the churches of
Christ in different ages.
The following extracts from two of Mr. Wesley's letters
and frequently expressed, on this important subject. The public
developments recently made of the fatal consequences of sending Pro¬
testant youth to seminaries under the direction of Papists especially,
are worthy of the deepest and most .serious consideration.—(Amer.
Edit.]
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
193
written about this time, show how meekly this admirable
man could take reproof; and with how patient a temper he
could deal with peevish and complaining men.
" You give," says he, " five reasons why the Rev. Mr.
P will come no more amongst 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 is4not suffered ; all possible means are usedT
both to prevent and remove it. 3. 4 Because I, who have
written so much against hoarding up money, have put out
seven hundred pounds to interest.'—I never put sixpence
out to interest since I was born; nor had I ever one hun¬
dred pounds 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. 4 But we might have made his case known
to Mr. G , Lady H , &c.' 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 re¬
move 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."
The other letter from which I shall give an extract was
written apparently to a gentleman of some rank and influ¬
ence :—" I do not recollect, for I kept no oopy of my last,
that I charged you with want of humility, or meekness.
Doubtless these may be found in the most splendid palaces.
But did they ever move a man to build a splendid palace ?
Upon what motive you did this, I know not; but you are
to answer it to God, not to me.
" If your soul is as much alive to God, if your thirst
after pardon and holiness is as strong, if you are as dead
to the desire of the eye and the pride of life, as you were
six or seven years ago, I rejoice; if not, I pray God
you may; and then you will know how to value a real
friend,
17
194
LIFE OF THE
"With regard to myself, you do well to warn me against
' popularity, a thirst of power and of applause; against
envy, producing a seeming contempt for the conveniences
or grandeur of this life ; against an affected humility ;
against sparing from myself to give to others, from no
other motive than ostentation.' I am not conscious to
myself, that this is my case. However the warning is
always friendly; and it is always seasonable, considering
how deceitful my heart is, and how many the enemies that
surround me.—What follows I do not understand :—'You
behold me in the ditch, wherein you helped, though inno¬
cently, to cast me, and with a Levitical pity pass by on
the other side. He and you, sir, have not any merit, though
Providence should permit all these sufferings to work
together for my good.'—I do not comprehend one line of
this, and therefore cannot plead either guilty, or not guilty.
I presume, they are some that are dependent on me, who,
you say, 'keep not the commandments of God ; who show
a repugnance to serve and obey ; who are as full of pride
and arrogance, as of filth and nastiness; who do not pay
lawful debts, not comply with civil obligations; who make
the waiting on the offices of religion, a plea for sloth and
idleness; who, after I had strongly recommended them,
did not perform their moral duty, but increased the number
of those incumbrances which they forced on you, against
your will.'—To this I can only say, 1. I know not wnom
you mean; I am not certain that I can so much as guess
at one of them. 2. Whoever they are, had they followed
my instructions, they would have acted in a quite different
manner. 3. If you will tell me them by name, I will re¬
nounce all fellowship with them."
In the autumn of 1753, Mr. Wesley was threatened with
consumption, brought on by repeated attacks of cold. By
the advice of Dr. Fothergill he retired to Lewisham ; and
here, not knowing how it might please God to dispose of
him, and wishing "to prevent vile panegyric" in case of
death, he wrote his Epitaph as follows
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
195
1$tu tfetlj
the body of john wesley,
a brand plucked out of the burning;
who died of a consumption in the fifty-first
year of his age.
not leaving, after his debts are paid,
ten pounds behind him :
praying,
God be merciful to me an unprofitable servant!
He ordered that this, if any, inscription, should be placed on his tomb-stone
During Mr. Wesley's illness, Mr. Whitefield wrote to
him in a strain which shows the fulness of affection which
existed between those great and good men, notwithstand¬
ing their differences of opinion :—
"Bristol, Dec. 3, 1753.
" Rev. and very Dear Sir,—If seeing you so weak
when leaving London distressed me, the news and pros¬
pect of your approaching dissolution hath quite weighed
me down. I pity myself and the church, but not you. A
radiant throne awaits you, and ere long you will enter into
your Master's joy. Yonder he stands with a massy crown,
ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring throng of
saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have been waiting
for my dissolution these nineteefi ySars, must be left behind
to grovel here below! Well! this is my comfort: it can¬
not be long ere the chariots will be sent even for worthless
me. If prayers can detain them, even you, Rev. and very
dear sir, shall not leave us yet: but if the decree has gone
forth, that you must now fall asleep in Jesus, may he kiss
your soul away, and give you to die in the embraces of
triumphant love ! If in the land of the dying, I hope to pay
my last respects to you next Week. If not, Rev. and very
dear sir, F—a—r—e—w—e—11. Ego sequar, etsi non
passibus oequis.* My heart is too big, tears trickle down
too fast, and you are, I fear, too weak for me to enlarge.
Underneath you may there be Christ's everlasting arms!
I commend you to his never failing mercy, and am,
Rev. and very dear sir, your most affectionate, sympa¬
thizing, and afflicted younger brother in the Gospel of
our common Lord,
" G. Whitefield."
* "I shall follow, though not with equal steps."
196
LIFE OF THE
From Lewisham he removed to the Hot Wells, near
Bristol; and, ever intent upon improving time, began his
Notes on the New Testament. For some time after this,
he appears to have remained in an invalid state. During
his retirement at Paddington he read a work which made a
forcible attack upon his prejudices as a Churchman; and
soon afterward, another, which still farther shook the de¬
ference he had once been disposed to pay to ecclesiastical
antiquity.
" In my hours of walking, I read Dr. Calamy's Abridg-
ment.of Mr. Baxter's Life. What a scene is opened there!
In spite of all my prejudices of education, I could not but
see, that the poor Nonconformists had been used without
either justice or mercy; and that many of the Protestant
bishops of King Charles had neither more religion nor
humanity than the Popish bishops of Queen Mary."
" I read Mr. Baxter's History of the Councils. It is
utterly astonishing, and would be wholly incredible, but
that his vouchers are beyond all exception. What a com¬
pany of execrable wretches have they been, (one cannot
justly give them a milder title,) who have, almost in every
age since St. Cyprian, taken upon them to govern the
church! How has one council been perpetually cursing
another; and delivering atl over to Satan, whether prede¬
cessors or contemporaries, who did not implicitly receive
their determinations, though generally trifling, sometimes
false, and frequently unintelligible, or self-contradictory!
Surely Mohammedanism was let loose to reform the Chris¬
tians ! I know not but Constantinople has gained by the
change."
During Mr. Wesley's illness, Mr. Charles Wesley went
forth to visit the societies, and to supply his brother's place.
In 1755, at the conference held in Leeds, a subject
which had been frequently stirring itself, was formally
discussed:—
" The point on which we desired all the preachers to
speak their minds at large, was, whether we ought to se¬
parate from the Church. Whatever was advanced on one
side or the other was seriously and calmly considered:
and on the third day we were all fully agreed in that gene¬
ral conclusion, that, whether it wa3 lawful or not, it was
no ways expedient."
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
197
Part of the preachers were, without restraint, permitted
to speak in favour of a measure which in former confer¬
ences would not have been listened to in the shape of
discussion; and the conclusion was, that the question of
the lawfulness of separation was evaded, and the whole
matter was reduced to " expediency." Of this confer¬
ence we have no Minutes ; but where was Mr. Charles
Wesley 1* Mr. Charles Perronet and some others, for
whom Mr. Wesley had great respect, were at this time
urging him to make full provision for the spiritual wants of
his people, as being in fact in a state of real and hopeless
separation from the .Church ; and he did some years after¬
ward so far relax, as to allow of preaching in Church
hours under certain circumstances, as 1. When the minister
was wicked; or held pernicious doctrine; 2. When the
churches would not contain the population of a town ; or
where the church was distant. In that case he prescribed
reading the psalms and lessons and part of the liturgy.
And for this purpose, as well as for the use of the American!
societies, he published his Abridgment of• the Common
Prayer under the title of the " Sunday Service of the
Methodists."
In 1756 he printed an Address^ to the Clergy, plain,
affectionate, and powerful; breathing at once the spirit of
an Apostle, and the feeling of a brother. Happy if that
call had been heard! He might perhaps be influenced in
this by a still lingering hope of a revival of the spirit of
zeal and piety among the ministers of the Established
Church; in which case that separation of his people from
the Church, which he began to foresee as otherwise inevi¬
table, he thought might be prevented ; and this he had
undoubtedly much at heart. Under the same view it proba¬
bly was that in 1764 he addressed a circular to all the
serious clergy whom he knew, inviting them to a closer
cooperation in promoting the influence of religion in the
land, without any sacrifice of opinion,, and being still at
liberty, as to outward order, to remain "quite regular, or
* Three years after Mr. Wesley published twelve reasons against
separation, all however of a prudential kind. To these Mr. Charles
Wesley added his separate testimony; but as to himself, he adds that
he thought it not lawfxd. Here then was another difference in the,
views of the brothers.
17*
198
LIFE OF THE
quite irregular, or partly regular and partly irregular." Of
the thirty-four clergymen addressed, only three returned
any answer. This seems to have surprised both him and
some of his biographers. The reason is, however, very
obvious : Mr. Wesley did not propose to abandon his plan
and his preachers, or to get the latter ordained and settled
in curacies, as proposed a few years before by Mr. Walker
of Truro ; and the matter had now obviously gone too far
for the clergy to attach themselves to Methodism. They
saw, with perhaps clearer eyes than Mr. Wesley's, that the
Methodists could not now be embodied in the Church; and
that for them to cooperate directly with him, would only
be to partake of his reproach, and to put difficulties in
their own way, to which they had not the same call. A
few clergymen, and but a few, still continued to give him,
with fulness of heart, the right hand of fellowship, and to
cooperate in some degree with him. Backward he could
not go ; but the forward career of still more extended use¬
fulness was before him. From this time he gave up all
hope of a formal connection with even the pious clergy.
" They are," he observes, " a rope of sand, and such they
will continueand he therefore set himself with deep
seriousness to perpetuate the union of his preachers. At
the conference of 1769, he read a paper, the object ol
which was to bind the preachers together by a closer tie,
and to provide for the continuance of their union after his
death. They were to engage solemnly to devote them¬
selves to God, to preach the old Methodist doctrines, and
to maintain the whole Methodist discipline; after Mr. Wes¬
ley's death they were to repair to London, and those who
chose to act in concert were to draw up articles of agree¬
ment ; whilst such as did not so agree were to be dismissed
"in the most friendly way possible." They were then to
choose a committee by vote, each of the members of which
was to be moderator io his turn, and this committee was to
enjoy Mr. Wesley's power of proposing preachers to be
admitted or excluded, of appointing their stations for the
ensuing year, and of fixing the time of the next conference.
This appears to have been the first sketch of an ecclesias¬
tical constitution for the body, and it mainly consisted in
the entire delegation of the power which Mr. Wesley had
always exercised, to a committee of preachers to be chosen
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
199
by the rest when assembled in conference. The form of
government he thus proposed was therefore a species of
Episcopacy to be exercised by a committee of three, five,
or seven, as the case might be. Another and a more eligi¬
ble provision was subsequently made; but this sufficiently
shows that Mr. Wesley had given up all hope of union
with the Church; and his efforts were henceforth directed
merely to prevent any thing like formal separation, and the
open renunciation of her communion, during his own life,
by allowing his preachers to administer the sacraments.
About this time much prejudice was excited against
Mr. Wesley in Scotland by the republication of Hervey's
Eleven Letters. He had three times visited this coun¬
try; and, preaching only upon the fundamental truths of
Christianity, had been received with great affection. The
societies had increased, and several of his preachers were
stationed in different towns. Lady Frances Gardiner, the
widow of Colonel Gardiner, and other persons eminent
for piety and rank, attended the Methodist ministry; but
the publication of this wretched work caused a temporary
odium. Hervey, who had been one of the little band at
Oxford, became a Calvinist; and as his notions grew more
rigid with age, so his former feelings of gratitude and
friendship to Mr. Wesley were blunted. He had also fallen
into the hands of Cudworth, a decided Antinomian, who
" put in and out" of the Letters " what he pleased." They
were not, however, published until Hervey's death, and
against his dying injunction. It is just to so excellent a
man to record this fact; but the work was published in
England, and republished, with a violent preface by Dr.
Erskine, in Scotland; and among the Calvinists it produced
the effect of inspiring great horror of Mr. Wesley as a
most pestilent heretic, whom it was doing God service to
abuse without measure or modesty. The feelings of Mr.
Charles Wesley at this treatment of his brother may be
gathered from the answer he returned upon being requested
to write Hervey's Epitaph:—
on being desired to write an epitaph for mr. james hervey.
" O'er-reach'd, impell'd by a sly Gnostick's art,
1*0 stab his father, guide, and faithful friend,
Would pious Hervey act the accuser's part?
And could a life like his in- malice end ?
200
life of the
" No: by redeeming love the snare is broke;
In death his rash ingratitude he blames;
Desires and wills the evil to revoke,
And dooms the unfinish'd libel to the flames.
" Who then for filthy gain betray'd his trust,
And show'd a kinsman's fault in open light ?
Let him adorn the monumental bust,—
The' encomium fair in brass or marble write:
Or if they need a nobler trophy raise,
As long as Theron and Aspasio live,
Let Madan or Romaine record his praise;
Enough that Wesley's brother can forgive
The unfavourable impression made by Hervey's Letters,
surcharged by Cudworth's Antinomian venom, was how¬
ever quickly effaced from all but the bigots; and with
them, judging from Moncrief's Life of Erskine, it remains
to this day. In his future visits to Scotland Mr. Wesley
was received with marks of the highest respect, and at
Perth he had the freedom of the city handsomely conferred
upon him.
CHAPTER XL
Methodism having begun to make some progress in
America, in consequence of the emigration of some of the
* Mr. Charles Wesley, however, afterward wrote and published
some verses upon Mr. Hervey's death, in which the kind recollections
of old friendship are embodied, and the anticipations of a happy
meeting in heaven are sweetly expressed. The following are the
concluding stanzas:—
" Father, to us vouchsafe the grace,
Which brought our friend victorious through:
Let us his shining footsteps trace,
Let us his steadfast faith pursue;
Follow this follower of the Lamb,
And conquer all through Jesus' name.
" Free from the law of sin and death,
Free from the Antinomian leaven,
He led his Master's life beneath;
And, labouring for the rest of heaven,
By active love and watchful prayer,
Efe show'd his heart already there.
" O might we all, like him, believe,
And keep the faith, and win the prize!
Father, prepare and. then receive
Our hallow'd spirits to the skies,
To chant with all our friends above,
Thy glorious, everlasting love."
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
201
members of the society from England and Ireland,* Mr.
Wesley inquired of the preachers at the conference of
1769, whether any of them would embark in that service.
Messrs. Boardman and Pilmoor, two excellent men, of
good gifts, volunteered their services, and were sent to
take the charge of the societies. From this time the work
spread with great rapidity; more than twenty preachers
had devoted themselves to it previously to the war of inde¬
pendence ; and societies were raised up in Maryland,
Virginia, New-York, and Pennsylvania."f* During the
war they still prosecuted their labours ; though as several
of them took the side of the mother country, they were
exposed to danger.J Others, with more discretion, held
on their way in silence, speaking only of the things of
God. The warm loyalty of Mr. Wesley led him to pub¬
lish a pamphlet on the subject of the quarrel, entitled,
[* Ireland seems to have had the SDecial honour of furnishing the
chief instruments in forming the first Methodist societies in America.
Mr. Philip Embury, who formed the first permanent society in the city
of New-York, in 1766, and Mr. Robert Strawbridge, in Frederick
county, Maryland, in the same year, were both from Ireland.—Ame¬
rican Edit.] i
[j New-Jersey, and we think Delaware, oWght to be added here,
and in 1776 a circuit was formed in North Carolina also. Delaware
especially ought ever ,to be honoured by us for her generous and early
protection afforded to Methodism in the time of its greatest trial. It
was within that small state, where the laws, (to quote the words of
Mr. Cooper,) were more favourable, and the rulers and influential
men more friendly, that Mr. Asbury, when the storm of the revolu¬
tionary war was at its height, and persecution raged furiously, found
an asylum in the house of his never to be forgotten friend Judge White.
—American Edit.]
[] Some of the English preachers did act imprudently in this respect,
and were under the necessity, in consequence, of leaving America.
Mr. Asbury's course was marked " with more discretionwhich we
are happy to perceive is also Mr. Watson's view of the subject. Of
the American preachers, there is no evidence within our knowledge
that any of them " took the side of the mother countryalthough
some of them, as well as of the members, were subjected to suspicion
and persecution, in consequence of their connection with Mr. Wesley,
a known loyalist, and of the imprudence of some of the English
preachers above mentioned; and also on account of their own consci¬
entious scruples in relation to the spirit and practice of war in general,
and particularly in regard to the nature of the oaths required of them
in some of the states, and which they refused to take. For a fuller
account of those times and scenes, the reader may consult the Life oj
GaiTeltson by Dr. Bangs, and a small volume entitled Cooper on
Asbury, by the Rev. Ezekiel Cdbper.—American Edit.]
202
LIFE OF THE
" A Calm Address to thr American Colonies but the
copies which were shipped for America were laid hold of
by a friend, who suppressed them; so that the work
remained unknown in the colonies until a considerable
time afterward. This was probably a fortunate incident
for the infant cause. After the war had terminated, politi¬
cal views were of course laid aside, and Mr. Wesley made
a provision for the government of his American societies,
which will be subsequently adverted to. They became, of
course, independent of British Methodism, but have most
honourably preserved the doctrines, the general discipline,
and, above all, the spirit of the body. Great, and even
astonishing, has been their success in that new and rising
country, to the wide-spread settlements of which their plan
of itinerancy was admirably adapted. The Methodists
are become, as to numbers, the leading religious body of
the Union ; and their annual increase is very great. In
the last year it was thirty-six thousand, making a total in
their communion of one thousand nine hundred ministers,
and four hundred and seventy-six thousand members,
having, as stated in a recent statistical account published
in the United Stales, upward of two millions, five hun¬
dred thousand of the population under their immediate
influence. In the number of their ministers, members, and
congregations, the Baptists nearly equal the Methodists;
and these two bodies, both itinerant in their labours,* have
left all the other religious denominations far behind. It is
also satisfactory to remark, that the leading preachers and
members of the Methodist Church in the United States
appear to be looking forward with enlarged views, and
with prudent regard, to the future, and to aim at the culti¬
vation of learning in conjunction with piety. Several
colleges have been from time to time established; and
recently a university, for the education of the youth of the
[* As regards the Baptists, this is a mistake. In their numbers
too, both of ministers and members, however respectable, they are,
we think, much less nearly equal to those of the Methodist commu¬
nion than our excellent author seems to suppose. In making a correct
statistical comparison of the number of ministers particularly, in the
two communions, on the principle of enumeration which we believe
our Baptist brethren adopt, all the localas well as the itinerant minis¬
ters of the Methodist Episcopal Church ought to be included; and
then there is almost no comparison. We make not this note with any
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
203
American Connection, has been founded.* The work in
the United States has been distinguished by frequent and
extraordinary revivals of religion, in which a signal effect
has been produced upon the moral condition of large
districts of country, and great numbers of people have been
rapidly brought under a concern for their salvation. In
the contemplation of results so vast, and in so few years,
we may devoutly exclaim,What hath God wrought!"
The mention of what are called revivals of religion in
the United States may properly here lead us to notice,
that, in Great Britain also, almost every Methodist society
has at different times experienced some sudden and extra¬
ordinary increase of members, the result of what has been
believed to be, and that not without good reason, a special
effusion of divine influence upon the minds of men.
Sometimes these effects have attended the preaching of
eminently energetic preachers, but have often appeared
where those stationed in the circuits have not been
remarkably distinguished for energy or pathos. Some¬
times they have followed the continued and earnest prayers
of the people; at others they have come suddenly and
unlooked for. The effects however have been, that the
piety of the societies has been greatly quickened, and
rendered more deep and active, and that their number
has increased; and of the real conversion of many who
have thus been wrought upon, often very suddenly, the
best evidence has been afforded. To sudden conversions,
as such, great objections have been indeed taken. For
these, however, there is but little reason; for if we believe
the testimony of Scripture, that the Spirit is not only given
to the disciples of Christ, after" they assume that character,
but in order to their becoming such; that, according to
view or disposition to disparage, in any respect, the numerous and
respectable denomination to which it relates ; but simply for the sake
of what we believe to be due in a faithful record of historical facts.—
American Edit.]
[* The Wesleyan University, recently established at Middletown,
in the state of Connecticut, is by no means designed for the education
of the youth of the Methodist Connection exclusively. It is founded
on the general principles of other American colleges and universities,
and for the education of youth generally. All classes, without sub¬
jection to any religious test, or any question in regard to their religious
tenets, provided only their moral conduct be good, are admitted on
the some terms, and to the enjoyment of equal privileges.—Am. Edit.]
204
LIFE OF THE
the words of our Lord, this Spirit is sent "to convince the
world of sin," to the end that they may believe in Christ;
and that the Gospel, faithfully and fully proclaimed by the
ministers of Christ, is " the power of God unto salvation
to every one that believeth," and is made so by the accom¬
panying influence of the Holy Ghost; who shall prescribe
a mode to divine operation 1 Who, if he believes in such
an influence accompanying the truth, shall presume to say
that when that truth is proposed, the attention of the care¬
less shall be roused only by a gradual and slow process ?—
that the heart shall not be brought into a state of right
feeling as to eternal concerns, but by a reiteration of
means which we think most adapted to produce that
effect 1—that nq influence on the mind is genuine and
divine, if it operates not in a prescribed manner"?—that
the Holy Spirit shall not avail himself of the variety
which exists in the mental constitutions of men, to effect
his purposes of mercy by different methods ?—and that the
operations of grace shall not present, as well as those of
nature, that beauteous variety which so much illustrates
the glory of Him " who Worketh all in all ?" And,
farther, who shall say, that even the peculiarities of men's
natures shall not, in some instances, be set aside in the
course of a divine and secret operation, which touching
the springs of action, and opening the sources of feeling,
gives an intensity of energy to the one, and a flow to the
other, more eminently indicative of the finger of God in a
work which his own glory, and the^humility proper to man,
require should be known and acknowledged as His work
alone"? Assuredly there is nothing in the reason of the
case to fix the manner of producing such effects to one
rule, and nothing in Scripture. Instances^of sudden con¬
version occur in th^New Testament in sufficient number
to warrant us to conclude, that this may be often the mode
adopted by divine wisdom, and especially in a slumbering
age, to arouse attention to long despised and neglected
truths. The conversions at the day of pentecost were
sudden, and, for any thing that appears to the contrary,
they 'were real; for the persons so influenced were
thought worthy to be "added to the church." Nor was it
by the miracle of tongues that the effect was produced. If
miracles could have converted them, they had witnessed
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
205
greater than even that glorious day exhibited. The dead
had been raised up in their sight, the earth had quaked
beneath their feet, the sun had hid himself and made an
untimely night, and Christ himself had arisen from a tomb
sealed and watched. It was not by the impression of the
miracle of tongues alone, but by that supervenient gracious
influence which operated with the demonstrative sermon
of Peter, after the miracle had excited the attention of his
hearers, that they were " pricked in their hearts, and cried,
Men and brethren, what shall we do ?"
The only true rule of judging of professed conversion is
its fruits. The modes of it may vary from circumstances
of which we-are not the fit judges, and never shall be,
until we know more of the mystic powers of mind, and of
that intercourse which Almighty God, in his goodness,
condescends to hold with it.
It is granted, however, that in such cases a spurious
feeling has been often mixed up with these genuine visit¬
ations ; that some ardent minds, when even sincere, have
not sufficiently respected the rules of propriety in their
acts of worship; that some religious deception has taken
place ; that some persons have confounded susceptibility
of feeling with depth of grace; that censoriousness and
spiritual pride have displaced that humility and charity
which must exist wherever the influence of the Spirit of
God is really present; and that, in some cases, a real
fanaticism has sprung up, as in the case of George Bell and
his followers in London, at an early period of Methodism.
But these are accidents,—tares sown in the field among
the good seed, which were never spared by Mr. Wesley
or his most judicious successors. In the early stages of
their growth indeed, and before they assumed a decided
character, they were careful lest, by plucking fchem up,
they should root out the good seed also; but both in Great
Britain and in America, no extravagance has ever been
encouraged by the authorities of either society, and no im¬
portance is attached to any thing but the genuine fruits of
conversion.
In the early part of 1770, we find Mr. Wesley, as usual,
prosecuting his indefatigable labours in different parts of
the kingdom, and every where diffusing the influence of
spirituality and zeal, and the light of a " sound doctrine."
18
206
LIFE OF THE
His Journals present a picture of unwearied exertion, such
as was perhaps never before exhibited, and in themselves
they form ample volumes, of great interest, not only as a
record of his astonishing and successful labours, but from
their miscellaneous and almost uniformly instructive cha¬
racter. Now he is seen braving the storms and tempests
in his journeys, fearless of the snows of winter, and the
heats of summer; then, with a deep susceptibility of all
that is beautiful and grand in nature, recording the plea¬
sures produced by a smiling landscape, or by mountain
scenery:—Here turning aside to view some curious object
of nature; there some splendid mansion of the great; show¬
ing at the same time in his pious and often elegant, though
brief reflections, with what skill he made all things contri¬
bute to devotion and cheerfulness. Again, we trace him
into his proper work, preaching in crowded chapels, or to
multitudes collected in the most public resorts in towns, or
in the most picturesque places of their vicinity. Now he
is seen by the side of the sick and dying, and then, sur¬
rounded with his societies, uttering his pastoral advices.
An interesting and instructive letter frequently occurs;
then a jet of playful and good humoured wit upon his perse¬
cutors, or the stupidity of his casual hearers; occasionally,
in spite of the philosophers, an apparition story is given as
he heard it, and of which his readers are left to judge ; and
often we meet with a grateful record of providential escapes,
from the falls of his horses, or from the violence of mobs.
Notices of books also appear, which are often exceedingly
just and striking; always short and characteristic; and as
he read much on his journeys, they are very frequent. A
few of these notices, in his Journal of this year, taken
without selection, may be given as a specimen :—
" I read with all the attention I was master of, Mr.
Hutchinson's Life, and Mr. Spearman's Index to his
Works. And I was more convinced than ever, 1. That
he had not the least conception, much less experience, of
inward religion: 2. That an ingenious man may prove
just what he pleases, by well-devised Scriptural etymolo¬
gies : especially if he be in the fashion, if he affect to read
the Hebrew without vowels : and, 3. That his whole hypo¬
thesis, philosophical and theological, is unsupported by any
solid proof.
REV. JOHN WESEEV.
207
' I sat down to read and seriously consider some of the
writings of Baron Swedenborg. I began with huge preju¬
dice 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, entertain¬
ing 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.
" I met with an ingenious book, the late Lord Lyttle-
ton's ' Dialogues of the Dead.' A great part of it I could
heartily subscribe to, though not to every word. I believe
Madam Guion was in several mistakes, speculative and
practical too; yet I would no more dare to call her, than
her friend Archbishop Fenelon, ' a distracted enthusiast.'
She was undoubtedly a woman of a very uncommon under¬
standing, and of excellent piety. Nor was she any more
' a lunatic,' than she was a ' heretic.'
" Another of this lively writer's assertions is, ' Martin
has spawned a strange brood of fellows, called Methodists,
Moravians, Hutchinsonians, who are madder than Jack
was in his worst days.' I would ask any one who knows
what good breeding means, Is this language for a noble¬
man or for a porter? But let the language be as it may,
is the sentiment just? To say nothing of the Methodists,
(although some of them too are not quite out of their
senses,) could his lordship show rne in England many more
sensible men than Mr. Gambold, and Mr. Okeley? And
yet both of these were called Moravians. Or could he point
out many men of stronger and deeper understanding than
Dr. Home and Mr. William Jones? (if he could pardon
them for believing the Trinity!) And yet both of these
are Hutchinsonians. What pity is it that so ingenious a
man, like many others gone before him, should pass so
peremptory a sentence, in a cause which he does not under¬
stand ! Indeed, how could he understand it? How much
has he read upon the question? What sensible Methodist,
Moravian, or Hutchinsonian, did he ever calmly converse
with ? What does he know of them, but from the carica¬
tures drawn by Bishop Lavington, or Bishop Warburton 1
208
LIFE OF THE
And did he ever give himself the trouble of reading the
answers to those warm, lively men ? Why should a good
natured and a thinking man thus condemn whole bodies
of men by the lump ? In this I can neither read the gen¬
tleman, the scholar, nor the Christian."
" I set out for London; and read over in the way that
celebrated book, ' Martin Luther's Comment on the Epis¬
tle to the Galatians.' I was utterly ashamed. How have
I esteemed this book, only because I had heard it so com¬
mended by others! or, at best, because I had read some
excellent sentences, occasionally quoted from it! But what
shall J say, now I judge for myself? now I see with my
own eyes ? Why, not only that the author makes nothing
out, clears up not one considerable difficulty; that he is
quite shallow in his remarks on many passages, and muddy
and confused almost on all: but that he is deeply tinctured
with Mysticism throughout, and hence often dangerously
wrong. To instance only in one or two points. How
does he (almost in the words of Tauler) decry reason,
right or wrong, as an irreconcilable enemy to the Gospel
of Christ! Whereas, what is reason (the faculty so called)
but the power of apprehending, judging and discoursing?—
which power is no more to be condemned in the gross,
than seeing, hearing, or feeling. Again, how blasphemously
does he speak of good works and of the law of God;
constantly coupling the law with sin, death, hell, or the
devil; and teaching, that Christ delivers us from them all
alike. Whereas it can no more be proved by Scripture,
that Christ delivers us from the law of God, than that he
delivers us from holiness or from heaven. Here (I appre¬
hend) is the real spring of the grand error of the Mora¬
vians. They follow Luther, for better for worse. Hence
their 'No works, no law, no commandment.' But who
art thou that ' speakest evil of the law, and judgest the
law V
"I read over, and partly transcribed, Bishop Bull's 'Har-
monia Apostolica.' The position with which he sets out
is this, 'that all good works, and not faith alone, are the
necessarily previous condition of justification,' or the for¬
giveness of our sins. But in the middle of the treatise he
asserts, ' that faith alone is the condition of justification
' for faith,' says he, ' referred to justification, means all
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
209
inward and outward good works.' In the latter end he
affirms, 'that there are two justifications: and that only
inward good works necessarily precede the former, but
both inward and outward the latter.' "
Mr. Wesley meant this brief but just analysis to be
Bishop Bull's refutation, and it is sufficient.
"Looking for a book in our college library, I took down,
by mistake, the Works of Episcopius; which opening on an
account of the Synod of Dort, I believed it might be useful
to read it through. But what a scene is here disclosed!
I wonder not at the heavy curse of God, which so soon
after fell on the Church and nation. WThat a pity it is,
that the holy Synod of Trent, and that of Dort, did not sit
at the same time!—nearly allied as they were, not only as
to the purity of doctrine, which each of them established,
but also as to the spirit wherewith they acted;—if the
latter did not exceed.
"Being in the Bodleian library, I lit on Mr. Calvin's
account of the case of Michael Servetus; several of
whose letters he occasionally inserts: wherein Servetus
often declares in terms, ' I believe the Father is God, the
Son is God, and the Holy Ghost is God.' Mr. Calvin,
however, paints him such a monster as never was, an
Arian, a blasphemer, and what not; beside, strewing over
him his flowers of dog, devil, swine, and so on, which are
the usual appellations he gives to his opponents. But still
he utterly denies his being the cause of Servetus's death.
' No,' says he : 'I only advised our magistrates, as having
a right to,restrain heretics by the sword, to seize upon and
try that arch-heretic. But after he was condemned, I said
not one word about his execution!' "
The above may be taken as instances of his laconic re¬
views of books.
Mr. Wesley's defence of the power he exercised in the
government of the Methodist societies may also here be
given ; observing that it is easier, considering the circum-.
stances in which he was placed, to carp at it, than to find
a solid answer. Few men, it is true, have had so much
power : but on the other hand he could not have retained
it in a perfectly voluntary society, had he not used it mild¬
ly and wisely, and with a perfectly disinterested and public
spirit.
18*
210
LIFE OF THE
" What is that power 1 It is a power of admitting into
and excluding from the societies under my care ; of choos¬
ing and removing stewards ; of receiving or not receiving
helpers ; of appointing them when, where, and how to help
me, and of desiring any of them to confer with me when I
see good. And as it was merely in obedience to the
providence of God, and for the good of the people, that I
at first accepted this power, which I never sought; so it
is on the same consideration, not for profit, honour, or
pleasure, that I use it at this day.
" 'But several gentlemen are offended at your having so
much power.' I did not seek any part of it. But when
it was come unawares, not daring to bury that talent, I
used it to the best of my judgment. Yet I never was
fond of it. I always did, and do now, bear it as my bur¬
den, the burden which God lays upon me; and therefore
I dare not lay it down.
" But if you can tell me any one, or any five men, to
whom I may transfer this burden, who can and will do
just what I do now, I will heartily thank both them and
you." (Wesley's Works.)
This year, 1770, is memorable in the history of Me¬
thodism, for having given birth to a long and very ardent
controversy on the doctrines of Calvinism. It took its
rise from the publication of the Minutes of the Confer¬
ence, in which it was determined, that, in some particulars
then pointed out, the preachers had " leaned too much to
Calvinism." This is easily explained. Mr. Whitefield,
and Howell Harris, the early coadjutors of the Wesleys,
became Calvinists ; but the affection which existed among
this little band, was strong; and as they all agreed in
preaching, what was at that time most needed, the doctrine
of salvation by faith, " an agreement" was made at a very
early period, between the Wesleys and Howell Harris, to
forget all peculiarities of opinion as much as possible in
their sermons, to use as far as they could, with a good con¬
science, the same phrases in expressing the points on
which they substantially agreed, and to avoid controversy.
Such an agreement shows the liberal feeling which existed
among the parties; but it was not of a nature to be so
rigidly kept as to give entire satisfaction. On these arti¬
cles of peace, we find therefore, endorsed, at a subsequent
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
211
period, in the hand-writing of Mr. Charles Wesley, "Vain
agreement." Mr. Wesley's anxiety to maintain unity of
effort as well as affection with Mr. Whitefield, led him
also, in 1743, to concede to his Calvinistic views, as far
as possible ; and he appears not to have been- disposed to
deny, though he says he could, not prove it, that some per¬
sons might be unconditionally elected to eternal glory;
but not to the necessary exclusion of any other from salva¬
tion. And he was then " inclined to believe" that there
is a state attainable in this life, " from which a man can¬
not finally fall." But he was subsequently convinced by
the arguments of Mr. Thomas Walsh, that this was an
error.* These considerations will account for the exist¬
ence of what Mr. Wesley called "a leaning to Calvinism,"
both in himself, and among some of the preachers, and
rendered a review of the case necessary."f Though the
leaders had approached so near " the very edge of Calvin¬
ism" on one side, and "of Antinomianism" also, with
safety, it was not to be wondered at that others -should
overstep the line. Beside, circumstances had greatly
changed. A strong tide of Antinomianism had set in,
and threatened great injury to practical godliness through¬
out the land. Dr. Southey attributes this to the natural
tendency of Methodism; but here he shows himself only
partially acquainted with the subject. The decline of reli-
* Mr. Walsh was received by Mr. Wesley as a preacher, in 1750,
and died in 1759. The following is Mr. Wesley's character of him:—
" That blessed man sometimes preached in Irish, mostly in English;
and wherever he preached, whether in English or Irish, the word was
sharper than a two-edged sword. So that I do not remember ever to
have known any preacher, who, in so few years as he remained upon
earth, was an instrument of converting so many sinners from the error
of their ways. By violent straining of his voice, he contracted a true
pulmonary consumption, which carried him off. O what a man to he
snatched away in the strength of his years ! Surely thy ' judgments
are a great deep!'
" He was so thoroughly acquainted with the Bible, that if he was
questioned, concerning any Hebrew word in the Old, or any Greek
word in the New Testament, he would tell, after a little pause, not
only how often one or the other occurred in the Bible, but also what
it meant in every place. Such a master of Biblical knowledge I never
knew before, and never expect to see again."
f Mr. Wesley's Sermon on Imputed Righteousness is an instance of
his anxiety to approach his Calvinistic brethren, in his modes of
expression, as far as possible; and in this attempt he sometimes laid
himself open to be misunderstood on both sides.
212
Life of the
gion among many of the Dissenting Chuiv-ies, had scat¬
tered the seeds of this heresy all around them, though not
without calling forth a noble testimony against it from
some of their ablest ministers; and when they began to
feel the influence of the revival of piety in the last century,
the tares sprung up with the plants of better quality. The
Calvinism taught by Mr. Howell Harris, and Mr. White-
field, was also perverted by many of their hearers to sanc¬
tion the same error. Several of the evangelical clergy,
likewise, who had no immediate connection with Mr.
Wesley, were Calvinists of the highest grade; and as
their number increased, their incautious statements of the
doctrines of grace and faith, carried beyond their own
intentions, became more mischievous. To show, how¬
ever, that Antinomianism can graft itself upon other stocks
beside that of the Calvinistic decrees, it was found also
among many of the Moravians; and the Methodists did
not escape. Wherever, indeed, the doctrine of justifica¬
tion by faith is preached, there is a danger, as St. Paul
himself anticipated in his Epistle to the Romans, lest
perverse, vain, and evil minds should pervert it to licen¬
tiousness ; heavenly as it is in authority, and pure in its
influence, when rightly understood. In fact, there is no such
exclusive connection between the more sober Calvinistic
theories of predestination, and this great error, as some
have supposed. It is too often met with, also, among
those who hold the doctrine of general redemption; though
it must be acknowledged, that for the most part, such
persons,, at length, go over to predestinarian notions, as
affording, at least, some collateral confirmation of the
solifidian theory. That Calvinistic opinions, in their
various forms, were at this time greatly revived and dif¬
fused, is certain. The religious excitement produced gave
activity to theological inquiries; and speculative minds,
especially those who had some taste for metaphysical dis¬
cussions, were soon entangled in questions of predestina¬
tion, prescience, necessity, and human freedom. The
views of Calvin on these subjects were also held by many,
who, connecting them with vital and saving truths, were
honoured with great usefulness; and as the Wesleyan
societies were often involved in these discussions, and in
danger of having their faith unsettled, and their practical
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
213
piety injured by those in whom Calvinism had begun to
luxuriate into the ease and carelessness of Antinomian
license, no subject at that period more urgently required
attention. For this reason, Mr. "Wesley brought it before
his conference of preachers. The withering effects of
this delusion were also strongly pointed out in his sermons,
and were afterward still more powerfully depicted by the
master pencil of Mr. Fletcher, in those great works to
which he now began to apply himself, in order to stem
the torrent. Dr. Southey has fallen into the error of
imagining that Mr. Fletcher's descriptions of the ravages
of Antinomianism were drawn from its effects upon the
Wesleyan societies ; but that mistake arose from his not
adverting to the circumstance, that neither Mr. Wesley
nor Mr. Fletcher confined their cares t6 these societies,
but kept an equally watchful eye upon the state of reli¬
gion in the land at large, and consequently in the Church
of which they were ministers. The societies under Mr.
Wesley's charge were indeed at no time more than very
partially affected by this form of error. Still, in some
places they had suffered, and in all were exposed to dan¬
ger; and as Mr. Wesley regarded them, not only as a
people given to him by God to preserve from error, but to
engage to bear a zealous and steadfast testimony " against
the evils of the time in every place he endeavoured to
prepare them for their warfare, by instructing them fully
in the questions at issue.
The Minutes of 1770 contained, therefore, the following
passages :—
"We said, in 1744, ' We have leaned too much toward
Calvinism.' Wherein 1
" 1. With regard to man's faithfulness. Our Lord him¬
self 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,'
literally, ' work for the meat that endureth to everlasting
life.' And in fact, every believer, till he comes to glory,
works for as well us from life.
' 3. We have received it as a maxim, that ' a man is to
214r
LIFE OF THE
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?
44 He that feareth God and worketh righteousness ac
cording 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.
44 6. What have we then been disputing about for these
thirty years ?
" I am afraid, about words.
" 7. The grand objection to one of the preceding pro¬
positions 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, whether 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 slate
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, 4 according to our works;'—according to the whole
of our inward tempers, and our outward behaviour."
That these were passages calculated to awaken suspi¬
cion, and that they gave the appearance of inconsistency
to Mr. Wesley's opinions, and indicated a tendency to run
to one extreme, in order to avoid another,—an error which
Mr. Wesley more generally avoided than most men, can
not be denied. They, however, when fairly examined-
expressed nothing but what is found in substance in the
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
215
doctrinal conversations at the conferences from 1744 to
1747 ; but the sentiments were put in a stronger form, and
were made to bear directly against the Antinomian opinions
of the day. To " man's faithfulness" nothing surely
could be reasonably objected ; it is enjoined upon believers
in the whole Gospel, and might have been known by the
objectors to have been always held by Mr. Wesley, but so
as necessarily to imply a constant dependence upon the
influence of the Holy Spirit. That the rewards of eternity
are also to be distributed in higher or lower degrees
according to the obedient works of believers, yet still on a
principle of grace, is a doctrine held by divines of almost
every class, and is confirmed by many passages of Scrip¬
ture. To the Antinomian notion, that a man is to do
nothing in order to justification, Mr. Wesley opposes the
same sentiment which he held in 1744, that previously to
justification men must repent, and, if there be opportunity,
do works meet for repentance; and when he asks, " if
they do them not in order to justification, what do they do
them fori"—these words are far enough from intimating
that such works are meritorious, although they are capable
of being misunderstood. Repentance is indeed a condition
of justification, as well as faith, but indirectly and remotely,—
" Repent ye, and believe the Gospeland seeing that Mr.
Wesley, so expressly in the same page, shuts out the
merit of works, no one could be justly offended with this
statement (except as far as the phrase is concerned) who
did not embrace some obvious form of practical error.
The doctrine of the acceptance of such Heathens as
"fear God and work righteousness," might be offensive to
those who shut out all Heathens, as such, from the mercies
of God,—a tenet, however, which is not necessarily
connected with Calvinism; and it ought not to have been ob¬
jected to by others, unless Mr. Wesley had stated, as some
of his opponents understood him to do, that " a Heathen
might be saved without a Saviour." No such thought was
ever entertained by him, as Mr. Fletcher observes in his
defence; for he held that whenever a Heathen is accepted,
it is merely through the merits of Christ, although it is in
connection with his " fearing God, and working righteous¬
ness." " 'But how comes he to see that God is to,be
feared, and that righteousness is his delight V Because a
LIFE OF THE
beam of our Sun of righteousness shines in his darkness.
All is therefore of grace; the light, the works of righteous¬
ness done by that light, an# acceptance in consequence oi
them." (Fletcher's [Works.)
But when the Minutes went on to state that this shows
thai salvation is by works as a " condition, though not
by the merit of works," the highest point of heresy was
supposed to be reached. Yet from this charge, though
it derived some colour from a paradoxical mode of ex¬
pression not to be commended, Mr. Fletcher brings off his
friend unhurt:—
" Our Church expresses herself more fully on this head
in the Homily on Salvation, to which the Article refers.
' St. Paul,' says she,' declares nothing [necessary] on the
behalf of man concerning his justification, but only a true
and lively faith, and yet (N. B.) that faith does not shut out
repentance, hope, love, [of desire when we are coming,
love of delight when we are come,] dread, and the fear of
God, to be joined with it in every man that i? justified;
but it shutteth them out from the office of justifying ; so
that they be all present together in him that is justified, yet
they justify not all together.' This is agreeable to St.
Peter's doctrine, maintained by Mr. Wesley. Only faith
in Christ for Christians, and faith in the light of their
dispensation for Heathens, is necessary in order to accept¬
ance : But though faith only justifies, yet it is never alone;
for repentance, hope, love of desire, and the fear of God,
necessarily accompany this faith, if it be living. Our
Church therefore is not at all against works proceeding
from or accompanying, faith in all its stages. She grants,
that whether faith seeks or finds its object, whether it
longs for or embraces it, it is still a lively, active, and
working grace. She is only against the vain conceit that
works have any hand in meriting justification or purchas¬
ing salvation, which is what Mr. Wesley likewise strongly
opposes.
" If any still urge, ' I do not love the word condition;'
I reply, it is no wonder; since thousands so hate the thing,
that they even choose to go to hell, rather than perform it.
But let an old worthy divine, approved by all but Crisp's
disciples, tell you what we mean by condition: ' An
antecedent condition (says Mr. Flavel in his ' Discourse
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
217
of Errors') signifies no more than an act of ours, which,
though it be neither perfect in any* degree, nor in the least
meritorious of the benefit con&rrtecl, nor performed in our
own natural strength, is yet, Jfflfeordmg to the constitution
of the covenant, required of us, m cader to the blessings
consequent thereupon, by virtue^ the promise; and
consequently, benefits and mercies granted in this order
are and must be suspended by the donor, till it be per¬
formed.' Such a condition we affirm faith to be, with all
that faith, necessarily implies." (Fletcher's Works.)
The greatest stone of stumbling was, however, the
remarks on merit:—-
" 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 mcrita operum, ' as our works deserve V Can
you split this hair? I doubt I cannot."
The outcry of " dreadful heresy" raised against him,
particularly on this article, was the more uncandid, because
by explaining the phrase secundum merila operum, to
mean, as our works deserve, it was clear, especially taking
the passage in connection with what he had previously
stated, that he understood merit in that loose, and not
perhaps always correct, sense in which it had often been
used by several of the ancient fathers; and also that he
was not speaking of our present justification, but of our
final reward. But here Mr. Fletcher shall again be
heard:—
" If Mr. Wesley meant, that we are saved by the merit
of works, and not entirely by that of Christ, you might
exclaim against his proposition as erroneous ; and I would
echo back your exclamation. But as he flatly denies it in
those words, 'Not by the merit of works,' and has con¬
stantly asserted the contrary for above thirty years, we
cannot, without monstrous injustice, fix that sense upon
the word merit in this paragraph.
" Divesting himself of bigotry and party spirit, he gene¬
rously acknowledges truth even when it is held forth by
his adversaries: an instance of candour worthy of our
imitation! He sees that God offers and gives his children,
here on earth, particular rewards for particular instances
19
218
LIFE OF THE
of obedience. He knows that when a man is saved me¬
ritoriously by Christ, and conditionally by (or if you please,
upon the terms of) the work of faith, the patience of hope,
and the labour of love, he shall particularly be rewarded in
heaven for his works: and' he observes, that the Scriptures
steadily maintain, we are recompensed according to our
works, yea, because of our works.
" The former of these assertions is plain from the para¬
ble of the talents, and from these words of our Lord, Matt,
xvi, 27,' The Son of man shall come in the glory of his
Father, and reward every man according to his works
unbelievers according to the various degrees of demerit
belonging to their evil works ; (for some of them shall
comparatively 'bebeaten with few stripes ;') and believers
according to the various degrees of excellence found in
their good works; 'for as one star differeih from another star
in glory, so also is the resurrection of the' righteous ' dead.'
" If we detach from the word merit the idea of ' obliga¬
tion on God's part to bestow any thing upon creatures, who
have a thousand times forfeited their comforts and exist¬
ence,'—if we take it in the sense we fix to it in a hundred
cases ; for instance this : ' A master may reward his scho¬
lars according to the merit of their exercises, or he may
not; for the merit of the best exercise can never bind him
to bestow a premium for it, unless he has promised it of
his own accord,'—if Ave take, I say, the word merit in this
simple sense, it may be joined to the word good works, and
bear an evangelical meaning.
" To be convinced of it, candid reader, consider, with
Mr. Wesley, that' God accepts and rewards no work but
so far as it proceeds from his own grace through the Be¬
loved.' Forget not that Christ's Spirit is the savour of
^ach believer's salt, and that he puts excellence into the
good works of his people, or else they could not be good.
Remember, he is as much concerned in the good tempers,
words, and actions of his living members, as a tree is con¬
cerned in the sap, leaves, and fruit of the branches it bears,
John xv, 5. Consider, I say, all this, and tell us whether
it can reflect dishonour upon Christ and his grace, to affirm,
that as his personal merit—the merit of his holy life and
painful death—' opens the kingdom of heaven to all be¬
lievers so the merit of those works which he enables his
rev. john wesley.
219
members to do, will determine the peculiar degrees of glory
graciously allotted to each of them." (Fletcher's Works.)
Mr. Fletcher came forward to defend his venerable
friend, on account of the great uproar which the Calvin-
istic party had raised against him upon the publication of
these Minutes. The countess of Huntingdon had taken
serious alarm and offence; and the Rev. Walter Shirley,
her brother and chaplain, had written a circular letter to all
the serious clergy, and several others, inviting them to go
in a body to the ensuing conference, and " insist upon a
formal recantation of the said Minutes, and, in case of a
refusal, to sign and publish their protest against them."
Mr. Shirley and a few others accordingly attended the
Bristol conference, where, says Mr. Wesley, " We had
more preachers than usual in consequence of Mr. Shirley's
circular letter. At ten on Thursday morning he came,
with nine or ten of his friends : we conversed freely for
about two hours ; and, I believe, they were satisfied, that
we were not such ' dreadful heretics' as they imagined, but
were tolerably sound in the faith.".
The meeting was creditable to each party. Mr. Wes¬
ley acknowledged that the Minutes were " not sufficiently
guarded." This must be felt by all; they were out of his
usual manner of expressing himself, and he had said the
same truths often in a clearer, and safer, and even stronger
manner. He certainly did not mean to alter his previous
opinions, or formally to adopt other terms in which to ex¬
press '.hem ; and therefore to employ new modes of speak¬
ing. though for a temporary purpose, was not without
danger, although they were capable of an innocent expla¬
nation. Even Mr. Fletcher confesses that the Minutes
wore " a new aspectand that at first they appeared to
him " unguarded, if not erroneous." Mr. Wesley showed
his candour in admitting the former; and to prevent all
future misconstruction, he and the conference issued the
following " Declaration," to which was appended a note
from Mr. Shirley, acknowledging his mistake as to the
meaning of the Minutes :—
"Bristol, August 9, 1771.
" 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
220
life of 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 salva¬
tion, either in life, death, or the day of judgment. And
though no one is a real Christian believer (and conse¬
quently cannot be saved) who doeth not good works,
where there is time and opportunity ; yet our works have
no part in meriting or purchasing our justification, from
first to last, either in whole or in part.
" Signed by the Rev. Mr. Wesley and fifty-three
preachers."
mr. shirley's note.
" Mr. Shirley's Christian respects wait on Mr. Wesley.
The declaration agreed to in conference the 8th of Au¬
gust, 1771, has convinced Mr. Shirley he had mistaken
the meaning of the doctrinal points in the Minutes of the
conference held in London, August 7, 1770 ; and he here¬
by wishes to testify the full satisfaction he has in the said
declaration, and his hearty concurrence and agreement
with the same.
"Mr. Wesley is at full liberty to make what use he
pleases of this.—August 10, 1771."*
* This affair is capable" of more illustration than it has received
from Mr. Wesley's biographers hitherto. Mr. Shirley's circular let¬
ter was naturally resented by Mr. Wesley, as being published before
any explanations respecting the Minutes had been asked from him
their author; and also from its assuming that Mr. S., and the clergy
Who might obey his summons, had the right to come into the confer¬
ence, and to demand a recantation. Mr. Shirley, therefore, soon
found, that he must approach in a more brotherly - manner, or that
Mr. Wesley and the conference would have no intercourse with him.
This led Lady Huntingdon and Mr. Shirley to address explanatory
letters to Mr. Wesley. " As the method 'of proceeding, as well as the
terms in which we had delivered ourselves," says Mr. Shirley, "was
objected to by many as by no means proper, and in submission to the
precept, 'Give no offence to Jew or Gentile, or to the church of God,'
Lady Huntingdon and I wrote the following letters, which were deli¬
vered to Mr. Wesley the evening before the conference met." Lady
Huntingdon says, " As you and your friends, and many others, have
objected to the mode of the application to you in conference, as an
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
221
Mr. Fletcher had entitled his Defence of Mr. Wesley
" The First Check to Antinomianism but he did not
arbitrary way of proceeding, we wish to retract what a more delibe¬
rate consideration might have prevented," &c. Mr. Shirley's letter
acknowledges " that the circular was too hastily drawn up, and im¬
properly expressed; and therefore, for the offensive expressions in it
we dgsire may be hereby understood to make eyery suitable sub¬
mission t<#you." On this explanation, Mr. Shirley and his ^friends
were invited by Mr. Wesley to come to the conference on the third
day of its sitting. Mr. Shirley's published narrative thus proceeds,—
" To say the truth, I was pleased that the invitation came from Mr.
Wesley, without any application made on our parts, that there might
not be left the least room for censuring our proceedings as violent.
On that day therefore, I went thither, accompanied with the Rev.
Mr. Glascot, the Rev. Mr. Owen, (two ministers officiating in Lady
Huntingdon's chapels,) John Lloyd, Esq., of Bath ; Mr. James Ire¬
land, merchant of Bristol; Mr. Winter, and two students belonging
to Lady Huntingdon's college.
" I shall only give you a brief detail of what passed, and rather the
substance of what was spoken,-than the exact words ; omitting like¬
wise many things of no great weight or consequence.
"After Mr. Wesley had prayed, I desired to know whether Lady
Huntingdon's letter and mine to Mr. Wesley had been read to the
conference. Being answered in the negative, I begged leave to read
the copies of them; which was granted. I then said that I hoped the
submission made was satisfactory to the gentlemen of the conference.
This was admitted; but then it was urged, that as the offence given
by the circular letter had been very public, so ought the letter of sub¬
mission. I therefore readily consented to the publication of it, and
have now fulfilled my promise. Mr. Wesley then stood up; the pur¬
port of his speech was a sketch of his ministry from his first setting
out to the present time ; with a view (as I understood) to prove that
he had ever maintained justification by faith, and that there was
nothing in the Minutes contrary thereunto. He complained of- ill
treatment from many persons, that he apprehended had been under
obligations to him ; and said that the present opposition was not to
the Minutes, but to himself personally.—In answer I assured them in
the most solemn manner, that, with respect to myself, my opposition
was not to Mr. Wesley, or any particular person, but to the doctrines
themselves.—And they were pleased thus far to give me credit.—I then
proceeded to speak to the point; informed them of the great and gene¬
ral offence the Minuteslhad given ; that I had numerous protests and
•testimonies against thepti sent me from Scotland, and from various
parts of these kingdoms; that it must seem very extraordinary indeed,
if so many men of sense and learning should be mistaken, and that
there was nothing really offensive in the plain natural import of the
Minutes ; that I believed they themselves (whatever meaning they
might have intended) would allow that the more obvious meaning was
reprehensible; and, therefore, I recommend to them, nay I begged and
intreated for the Lord's sake, that they would go as far as they could
with a good conscience, in giving the world satisfaction. I said I
hoped they would not take offence, (for I did not mean, to give it,) as
222
LIFE OF THE
content himself with evangelizing the apparently legal
Minutes, and defending the doctrinal consistency and or¬
thodoxy of Mr. Wesley. He incidentally discussed various
my proposing to them a declaration which I had drawn up, wishing
that something at least analogous to it might be agreed to. f,.'then
took the liberty to read it; and Mr. Wesley, after he had made some
(not very material) alterations in it, readily consented to sign it; in
which he was followed by fifty-three of the preachers in'connection
with him; there being only one or two that were against it.
"Thus was this important matter settled.. But one of the preachers
(namely, Mr. Thomas Olivers) kept us a long time in debate; stren¬
uously opposed the declaration; and to the last would not consent
to sign it. He maintained that our second justification (that is, at
the day of judgment) is by works ; and he saw very clearly that for
one that holds that tenet solemnly ' to declare in the sight of God that
he has 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,' would be acting neither a consistent nor an
upright part; for all the subtilties of metaphysical distinction can
never reconcile tenets so diametrically opposite as these. But, blessed
be God, Mr. Wesley, and fifty-three of his preachers, do not agree
with Mr. Olivers in this material article; for it appears from their
subscribing the declaration, that they do not maintain a second justi¬
fication by works.
" After the declaration had been agreed to, it was required of me,
on my part, that I would make some public acknowledgment that I
had mistaken the meaning of the Minutes. Here I hesitated a little;
for though I was desirous to do every thing (consistently with truth
and a good conscience) for the establishment of peace and Christian
fellowship ; yet I was very unwilling to give any thing under my
hand that might seem to countenance the Minutes in their obvious
sense. But then, when I was asked by one of the preachers whether
I did not believe Mr. Wesley to be an honest man; I was distressed
on the other hand, lest, by refusing what was desired, I should seem
to infer a doubt to Mr. Wesley's disadvantage. Having confidence,
therefore, in Mr. Wesley's integrity, who had declared he had no such
meaning in the Minutes, as was favourable to justification by works ;
and considering that every man is the best judge of his own meaning,
and has a right, so far, to our credit, and that, though nothing else
could, yet the declaration did convince me, they had- some other
meaning than what appeared;—I say, (these things considered,) I
promised them satisfaction in this particular; and,' a few days after¬
ward, sent Mr. Wesley the following message, with which he was
very well pleased :—
[Then follows Mr. Shirley's note as given above.]
" Thus far all was well.—The foundation was secured.—And, with
respect to lesser matters of difference, we might well bear with one
another; and if either party should see occasion to oppose the other's
pecidiar opinion, it might be done without vehemence, and without
using any reproachful terms. The whole was conducted with great
decency on all sides. We concluded with prayer, and with the
warmest indications of mutual peace, and love. For my own part,
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
223
other points of the quinquarticular controversy; and he,
as well as Mr. Wesle/5 was quickly assailed by a number
of replies not couched in the most courteous style. Mr.
Fletcher's skill and admirable temper so fully fitted him to
conduct the dispute which had arisen, that .Mr. Wesley left
the contest chiefly to him, and calmly pursued his labours ;
and the whole issued in a series of publications, from the
pen of the vicar of Madeley, which, as a whole, can scarce¬
ly be too highly praised or valued.* While the language
endures, they will effectually operate as checks to Antino-
mianism in every subtle form which it may assume; and
present the pure and beautiful system of evangelical truth,
as well guarded on the other hand against Pelagian self-
sufficiency. The Rev. Augustus Toplady, Mr. (afterward
Sir Richard) Hill, and his brother, the Rev. Rowland Hill,
with the Rev. John Berridge, were his principal antago¬
nists ; but his learning, his acuteness, his brilliant talent at
illustrating an argument, and above all, the hallowed spirit
in which he conducted the controversy, gave him a mighty
superiority over his opponents ; and although there will be
a difference of opinion, according to the systems which
different readers have adopted, as to the side on which the
victory of argument remains; there can be none as t<
which bore away the prize of temper. Amidst the scur
rilities and vulgar abuse of Mr. Toplady, otherwise an able
writer, and a man of learning, and the coarse virulence or
buffoonery of the Hills and Berridge,| it is refreshing to
believe me, I was perfectly sincere; and thought this one of the hap¬
piest, and most honourable days of my life."
The whole conduct of Mr. Shirley, in this affair, affords a pleasing
contrast to that of the Hills, Toplady, and others, who soon rushed
hot and reckless into the controversy. Mr. Shirley, it is true, com¬
plains, that after this adjustment, Mr. Fletcher should have so severely
attacked him in his five'letters; but he appears never to have departed
from the meekness of a Christian and the manners of a gentleman.
* It ought to be observed, that Mr. Fletcher's writings are not to
be considered, in every particular, as expressing the views of Mr.
Wesley, and the body of Methodists j and that, though greatly
admired among us, they are r ot reckoned among the standards of our
doctrines.
f The titles of several of the pieces, written by Toplady and others,
such as " An old Fox tarred and feathered" The Serpent and the
Fox" Pope John," &c ; are sufficient evidences of the temper and
manners of this band of controversialists. In what the Rev. Rowland
Hill calls " Same Gentle Strictures" on a sermon by Mr. Wesley,
224
life of the
remark, in the writings of 44 the saintly Fletcher," so fine a
union _of strength and meekness ; an edge so keen, and
yet so smooth; and a heart kept in such perfect charity
with his assailants, and so intent upon establishing truth,
not for victory, but for salvation.
In this dispute Mr. Wesley wrote but little, and that
chiefly in defence of his own consistency, in reply to Mr.
Hill. His pamphlets also are models of temper, logical
and calm, but occasionally powerfully reproving; not so
much as feeling that he had received abuse and insult, as
holding it his duty to bring the aggressor to a due sense of
his own misdoings. The conclusion of his first reply to
Mr. Hill is a strong illustration :—
44 Having now answered the queries you proposed, suffer
mc, sir, to propose one to you; the same which a gentleman
of your own opinion proposed to me some years since -
4 Sir, how is it that as soon as a man comes to the know¬
ledge of the truth, it spoils his temper V That it does
so I had observed over and over, as well as Mr. J. had.
But how can we account for it? Has the truth (so Mr. J.
termed what many love to term the doctrine of free grace)
a natural tendency to spoil the temper? To inspire pride,
haughtiness, superciliousness ? To make a man 4 wiser in
his own eyes than seven men that can render a reason?'
Does it naturally turn a man into a cynic, a bear, a Top-
lady? Does it at once set him free from all the restraints
preacned on laying the foundation stone of the City Road Chapel,
Mr. Wesley is subjected to' certain not very gentle objurgations,
which it would be too sickening a task to copy or to read. The Gos¬
pel Magazine, so called, was equally unmeasured in its abuse, and
as vulgar ; but to do justice to all parties, the Calvinists even of that
day disapproved of this publication, and it was given up. Even Mr.
Rowland Hill appears to have incurred the displeasure of some of his
brethren; for in a second edition of his 44 Gentle Strictures," he
explains himself,—awkwardly enough, certainly,—that when he
called Mr. Wesley "wretch," and 44miscreant," they must remember
that44 wretch" means "an unhappy person and 44miscreant," "one
whose belief is wrong!" We have happily no recent instances of
equally unbrotherly and unchristian temper in connection with this
controversy, except in the bitter and unsanctified spirit ofBogue and
Bennett's History of the Dissenters. The two doctors, however, were
in the habit of declining the merit of the passages on Methodism, in
favour cf each other; and to which of. them the honour of their
authorship is due, has never yet, I believe, been ascertained.—
44 Where there is shame," says Dr. Johnson, 44 there may in time be
virtue.".
p.ev. john wesley.
225
of good nature, decency, and good manners'? Cannot a
man hold distinguishing grace, as it is called, but he must
distinguish himself for passion, sourness, bitterness ? Must
a man, as soon as he looks upon himself to be an absolute
favourite of Heaven, look upon all that oppose him as Dia-
bolonians, as predestinated dogs of hell ? Truly, the melan¬
choly instance now before us would almost induce us to
think so. For who was of a more amiable temper than
Mr. Hill, a few years ago ? When I first conversed with
him in London, I thought I had seldom seen a man of for¬
tune who appeared to be of a more humble, modest, gentle,
friendly disposition. And yet this same Mr. H., when he
has once been grounded in the knowledge of the truth.
is of a temper as totally different from this, as light is from
darkness! He is now haughty, supercilious, disdaining
his opponents, as unworthy to be set with the dogs of his
flock! He is violent, impetuous, bitter of spirit! in a word,
the author of the Review!
" 0 sir, what a commendation is this of your doctrine ?
Look at Mr. Hill the Arminian! The loving, amiable,
generous, friendly man. Look at Mr. Hill the Calvinist!
Is it the same person1? this spiteful, morose, touchy man?
Alas, what has the knowledge of the truth done 1 What
a deplorable change has it made ? Sir, I love you still;
though I cannot esteem you, as I did once. Let me en¬
treat you, if not for the honour of God, yet for the honour
of your cause, avoid, for the time to come, all anger, all
spite, all sourness and bitterness, all contemptuous usage
of your opponents, not inferior to you, unless in fortune.
O put on again bowels of mercies, kindness, gentleness,
long-suffering; endeavouring to hold, even with them that
differ from you in opinion, the unity of the Spirit in the
bond of peace!"
This controversy, painful as it was in many respects,
and the cause of much unhallowed joy to the profane wits
of the day, who were not a little gratified at this exhibition
of what they termed " spiritual gladiatorship," has been
productive of important consequences in this country. It
showed to the pious and moderate Calvinists how well the
richest views of evangelical truth could be united with Ar-
minianism ; and it effected, by its bold and fearless exhi¬
bition of the logical consequences of the doctrines of the
226
LIFE OF THE
decrees, much greater moderation in those who still admit¬
ted them, and gave birth to some softened modifications of
Calvinism in the age that followed :—an effect which has
remained to this day. The disputes on these subjects
have, since that time, been less frequent, and more tem¬
perate ; nor have good men so much laboured to depart to
the greatest distance from each other, as to find a ground
on which they could make the nearest approaches. This
has been especially the case between the- Methodists and
the evangelical Dissenters. Of late a Calvinism of a higher
and sterner form has sprung up among a certain sect of
the clergy of the Church of England; though some of
them, whatever their private theory may be, feel that these
points are not fit subjects for the edification of their con¬
gregations in public discourses. Of Calvinism since the
period of this controversy the Methodist preachers and
societies have been in no danger; so powerful and com¬
plete was its effect upon them. At no conference, since
that of 1770, has it been necessary again to ask, 44 Wherein
have we leaned too much to Calvinism?" There has been
indeed, not in the body, but in some of its ministers occa¬
sionally, a leaning to what is worse than Calvinism,—to a
sapless, legal, and philosophizing theology. The influence
of the opinions of the majority of the preachers has always,
however, counteracted this ; and the true balance between
the extremes of each system, as set up in the doctrinal
writings of Mr. Wesley, has been of-late years better pre¬
served than formerly. Those writings are, indeed, more
read and better appreciated in the Connection, than at
some former periods ; and perhaps at the present time they
exert a more powerful influence than they ever did over
the theological views of both preachers and people. To
this the admirably complete, correct, and elegant edition of
Mr. Wesley's Works, lately put forth by the labour and
judgment of the Rev. Thomas Jackson, will still farther
contribute. Numerous valuable pieces on different sub¬
jects, which had been quite lost to the public, have been
recovered; and others, but very partially known, have
been collected.*
[* An American stereotype edition of this Complete and Standard
Edition of Mr. Wesley's Works, carefully revised, will be issued from
the Methodist Episcopal Press in November next. It will be hand-
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
227
In the midst of all these controversies and cares, the
societies continued to spread and flourish under the influ¬
ence of the zeal and piety of the preachers, animated by
the ceaseless activity and regular visits of Mr. Wesley,
who, though now upward of seventy years of age, seemed
to possess his natural strength unabated.* His thoughts
were, however, frequently turning with anxiety to some
arrangement for the government of the Connection after
his death; and not being satisfied that the plan he had
sketched out a few ye.ars before would provide for a case
of so much consequence, he directed his attention to Mr.
Fletcher, and warmly invited him to come forth into the
work, and to allow himself to be introduced by him to the
societies and preachers as their future head. Earnestly as
this was pressed, Mr. Fletcher could not be induced to
undertake a task to which, in his humility, he thought him¬
self inadequate. This seems to have been his only objec¬
tion ; but had he accepted the offer, the plan would have
failed, as Mr. Fletcher was a few years afterward called
into another world. From Mr. Charles Wesley, who had
become a family man, and had nearly given up travelling,
he had no hope as'a successor; and even then a farther
settlement would have been necessary, because he could
not be expected long to survive his brother. Still there¬
fore this important matter remained undetermined. At the
time the overture was made to Mr. Fletcher, the preachers
who were fully engaged in the work amounted to one hun¬
dred and fifty ; and the societies, in Great Britain and Ire¬
land, to upward of thirty-five thousand, exclusive of the
regular hearers. This rapid and constant enlargement of
somely cxecuteu on cnree qualities oi* paper, and will be farther
improved by numerous translations, notes peculiarly adapted to
America, and an original preface.—American Edit.]
* In his seventy-second year he thus speaks of himself, " This
oeing my birth day, 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 1 that I have none of the infirmi¬
ties 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 in a year."
228
life of the
the Connection heightened the urgency of the question of
its future settlement; and it is pleasing to remark, that
Mr. Charles Wesley at length entered into this feeling, and
offered his suggestions. In spite of the little misunder¬
standings which had arisen, he maintained a strong interest
in a work, of which he had been so eminent an instrument;
and this grew upon him in his latter years. Thus we have
seen him springing into activity upon the sickness of his
brother, before mentioned, and performing for him the full
" work of an evangelist," by travelling in his place ; and,
upon Mr. Wesley's recovery, his labours were, afforded
locally to the chapels in London and Bristol, to the great
edification of the congregations. In one of his latest let¬
ters to his brother, entering into the question of a provision
for the settlement of the future government of the Con¬
nection, he says, "I served West-street chapel on Friday
and Sunday. 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, [let it be given to
the worthiest individual,] or rather, dignioribus, [to the
worthiest individuals.] You cannot settle the succession.
You cannot divine how God will settle it."
Thus Charles gave up as hopeless the return to the
Church, and suggested the plan which his brother adopted,
to devolve the government, not indeed upon one, but upon
many whom he esteemed "the worthiest," for age, expe¬
rience, talent, and moderation.
CHAPTER XII.
In 1775, Mr. Wesley, during a tour in the north of
Ireland, had a dangerous sickness occasioned by sleeping
on the ground, in an orchard, in the hot weather, which he
says he had been "accustomed to do for forty years without
ever being injured by it." He was slow to admit that old
age had arrived, or he trusted to triumph long over its
infirmities. The consequence in this case, however, was
that, after manfully struggling with the incipient symptoms
of the complaint, and attempting to throw them off by
reading, journeying, and preaching, he sunk into a severe
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
229
fever, from which, after lying insensible for some days,
he recovered with extraordinary rapidity ; and resumed a
service which, extended as it had been through so many
years, was not yet to be terminated. Whilst in London
the next year, the following incident occurred :—
An order had been made by the house of lords, " That
the commissioners of his majesty's excise do write cir¬
cular letters to all persons whom they have reason to
suspect to have plate, as also to those who have not paid
regularly the duty on the same," &c. In consequence
of this order, the accountant-general for household plate
sent Mr. Wesley a copy of the order, with the following
letter :—
"Reverend Sir,—As the commissioners cannot doubt
but you have plate for which you have hitherto neglected
to make an entry, they have directed me to send you the
above copy of the lord's order, and to inform you, they ex¬
pect that you forthwith 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.
"N. B. An immediate answer is desired."
Mr. Wesley replied as follows :—
"Sir,—I have two silver tea-spoons 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 around me
want bread. I am, sir, your most humble servant,
"John Wesley."
No doubt the commissioners of his majesty's excise
thought that the head of so numerous a people had not
forgotten his own interests, and that the interior of his
Episcopalresidence in London was not without superflui¬
ties and splendour.
The bishop of Sodor and Man having written a pastoral
letter to all the clergy within his diocess, to warn their
flocks against Methodism, and exhorting them to present
all who attended its meetings in the spiritual courts, and to
repel every Methodist preacher from the sacrament, Mr.
Wesley hastened to the island, and in May, 1777, landed
at Douglas. In every place he appears to have been cor-
20
230
LIFE OF THE
dially received by all ranks; and his prompt visit probably
put a stop to this threatened ecclesiastical violence, for no
farther mention is made of it. The societies in the island
continued to flourish ; and, on Mr. Wesley's second visit,
he found a new bishop of a more liberal character.
The Foundery having become too small for the comfort¬
able accommodation of the congregation in that part ot
London, and being also gloomy and dilapidated, a new
chapel had been erected. "November 1st," says Mr.
Wesley, "was the day appointed for opening the new
chapel in the City Road. It is perfectly neat, but not fine
and contains far more than theFoundery; I believe, together
with the morning chapel, as many as the Tabernacle. Many
were afraid that the multitudes, crowding from all parts,
would have occasioned much disturbance ; but they were
happily disappointed ; there was none at all: all was quiet¬
ness, decency, and order. I preached on part of Solo¬
mon's prayer at the dedication of the temple ; and both in
the morning and afternoon God was eminently present in
the midst of the congregation." (Journal.)
Here the brothers agreed to officiate as often as possi¬
ble till the congregation should be settled. Two resident
clergymen were also employed at this chapel as curates,
for reading the full Church service, administering the
sacraments, and burying the dead. But Mr. Charles Wes¬
ley took some little offence at the liberty given to the
preachers to officiate in his brother's absence, and when
he himself could not supply. His letter of complaint pro¬
duced, however, no change in his brother's appointments,
nor was it likely. Mr. Wesley knew well that his own
preaching at the new chapel, and the ministrations of the
other clergymen, during the hours of service in the parish
church, without a license from the bishop, or the acknow¬
ledgment of his spiritual jurisdiction, was just as irregular an
affair, considered ecclesiastically, as the other. The City
Road chapel, with its establishment of clergy, service in
canonical hours, and sacraments, was in the eye of the law,
as much as any Dissenting place of worship in London, a
conventicle; though, when tried by a better rule, it was
eminently, in those days of power and simplicity, "none
other than the house of God, and the gate of heaven," to
devout worshippers. An influence of a very extraordinary
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
231
kind often rested upon the vast congregations assembled
there; thousands were trained up in it for the kingdom of
God; and the society exhibited a greater number of mem¬
bers, perhaps, than any other, except that in Bristol, who,
for intelligence, deep experience in the things of God, sta¬
bility, meekness of spirit, and holiness of life, were at once
the ornaments of Methodism, and an influential example
to the other societies of the metropolis.
In 1778, Mr. Wesley began to publish a periodical work,
which he entitled, " The Arminian Magazine ; consisting
of Extracts and Original Treatises on Universal Redemp¬
tion." He needed a medium through which he could
reply to the numerous attacks made upon him; and he
made use of it farther to introduce into general circulation
several choice treatises on Universal Redemption, and to
publish selections from his valuable correspondence with
pious persons. He conducted this work while he lived;
and it is still continued by the conference, under the title
of the " Wesleyan Methodist Magazine," on the same
general principles as to its theology, though on a more
enlarged plan.
A dispute of a somewhat serious aspect arose in the fol¬
lowing year out of the appointment of a clergyman by Mr*
Wesley to preach every Sunday evening in the chapel at
Bath. It was nbt probable that the preachers of the circuit
should pay the same deference to a strange clergyman,
recently introduced, as to Mr. Wesley ; but when this ex¬
clusive occupation of the pulpit on Sunday evenings was
objected to by them and part of the society, Mr. Wesley,
supported by his brother, who had accompanied him to
Bath, stood firmly upon his right to appoint when and
tt'here the preachers should officiate, as a fundamental part
of the compact between them ; and the assistant preacher,
Mr. M'Nab, was suspended until "he came to another
mind." As Mr. M'Nab who had thus fallen under Mr.
Wesley's displeasure was supported by many of the other
preachers, a stormy conference was anticipated. To this
meeting Mr. Wesley, therefore, foreseeing that his autho¬
rity would be put to the trial, strongly invited his brother,
in order that he might assist him with his advice. At first
Mr. Charles Wesley declined, on the ground that he could
not trust to his brother's vigour and resolution. He, how-
232
LIFE OF THE
ever, attended, but when he saw that Mr. Wesley was
determined to heal the breach by concession, he kept entire
silence. The offending preacher was received back with¬
out censure; and, from this time, Dr. Whitehead thinks that
Mr. Wesley's authority in the conference declined. This
is not correct; but that authority was exercised in a differ¬
ent manner. Many of the preachers had become old in
the work ; and were men of great talents, tried fidelity, and
influence with the societies. These qualities were duly
appreciated by Mr. Wesley, who now regarded them more
than formerly, when they were young and inexperienced,
as his counsellors and coadjutors. It was an eminent
proof of Mr. Wesley's practical wisdpm, that he never
attempted to contend with circumstances not to be con¬
trolled ; and from this time he placed his supremacy no
longer upon authority, but upon the influence of wisdom,
character, and age, and thus confirmed rather than dimi¬
nished it. Had Mr. Charles Wesley felt sure of being
supported by his brother with what he called " vigour," it
is plain from his letter on the occasion, that he would have
stood upon the alternative of the unconditional submission
of all the preachers, or a separation. His brother chose
a more excellent way, and no doubt foresaw, not only that
if a separation had been driven on by violence, it would
have been an extensive one ; but that amOng the societies
which remained the same process would naturally, and
necessarily, at some future time'take place, and so nothing
be ultimately gained, to counterbalance* the immediate
mischief. The silence maintained by Mr. Charles Wesley
in this conference did him also great honour. He suspected
" the warmth of his temperhe saw that, as his brother
was bent upon conciliation, any thing he could say would
only endanger the mutual confidence between him and his
preachers, and he held his peace. He himself believed
that a formal separation of the body of preachers and people
from the Church would inevitably take place after his
brother's death, and thought it best to bring on the crisis
before that event. " You," says he to his brother, "think
otherwise, and I submit." The fact has been, that no such
separation as he feared, that is, separation on such princi¬
ples, and under such feelings of hostility to the Established
Church, has yet taken place.
ret. john wesley.
233
The following letter written by Mr. Wesley in 1782, to
a nobleman high in office, shows how much his mind was
alive to every thing which concerned the morals and reli¬
gion of the country, and is an instance of the happy man¬
ner in which he could unite courtesy with reproof without
destroying its point. A report prevailed that the ministiy
designed to embody the militia, and exercise them on a
Sunday.
" 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 parlia¬
ment, for raising and embodying the militia, and for exer¬
cising 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 1 And from what I have seen, I can-
riot 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 1 And would not all
serious persons say, 'We have little religion in the land
now ; but by this step we shall have less still. Forwhere-
ever 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
already!'
"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
20*
234
life of the
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 1 1 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."
In 1783 Mr. Wesley paid a visit to Holland, having
been pressed to undertake this journey by a Mr. Fergu¬
son, formerly a member of the London society, who had
made acquaintance with some pious people, who, having
read Mr. Wesley's Sermons, were desirous of seeing hinu
The following are extracts from his Journal ; and they
will be read with pleasure, both as exhibiting his activity at
so advanced an age, and as they present an interesting
picture of his intercourse with a pious remnant in several
parts of that morally deteriorated country:—
"Wednesday, June 11.—I took coach with Mr. Bracken-
bury, Bvoadbent, and Whitfield; and in the evening we
reached Harwich. I went immediately to Dr. Jones, who
received me in the most affectionate manner : about nine
in the morning we sailed ; and at nine on Friday 13, land¬
ed at Helvoetsluys. Here we hired a coach for Briel;
but were forced to hire a waggon also, to carry a box, which
one of us could have carried on his shoulders. At Briel
we took a boat to Rotterdam. We had not been long there,
when Mr. Bennet, a bookseller, who had invited me to his
house, called for me. But as Mr. Loyal, the minister oi
the Scotch congregation, had invited me, he gave up his
claim, and went with us to Mr. Loyal's. I found a friendly
sensible, hospitable, and I am persuaded, a pious man.
" Saturday 14.—I had much conversation with the two
English ministers, sensible, well-bred, serious men. These,
as well as Mr. Loyal, were very willing I should preach in
their churches; but they thought it would be best for me
to preach in the episcopal church. By our conversing
freely together many prejudices were removed, and all our
hearts seemed to be united together.
" Sunday 15.—-The episcopal church is not quite so large
as the chapel in West-street: it is very elegant both with¬
out and within. The service began at half past nine. Such
a congregation had not often been there before. I preached,
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
235
on, 'God created man in his own image.? The people
' seemed-all, but their attention, dead.' In the afternoon
the church was so filled, as (they informed me) it had not
been for these fifty years. I preached on, ' God hath given
us eternal life ; and this life is in his Son.' I believe God
applied it to-many hearts. Were it only for this hour, I am
glad I came to Holland.
"Monday 16.—We set out in a track-skuit for the
Hague: by the way we saw a curiosity;—the gallows near
the canal surrounded with a knot of beautiful trees ! so the
dying man will have one pleasant prospect here, whatever
befals him hereafter!
"At eleven we came to Delft, a large, handsome town;
where we spent an hour at a merchant's house; who, as
well as his wife, a very agreeable woman, seemed both to
fear and to love God. Afterward we saw the great church,
I think, nearly, if not quite, as long as York Minster. It
is exceedingly light and elegant within, and every part is
kept exquisitely clean.
"When we came to the Hague, though we had heard
much of it, we were not disappointed. It is indeed beauti¬
ful beyond expression. Many of the houses are exceed-
ingly grand, and are finely intermixed with water and
wood ; yet not too close, but so as to be sufficiently ven¬
tilated by the air.
"Being invited to tea by Madam de Yassenaar, (one of
the first quality in the Hague,) I waited upon her in the
afternoon. She received us with that easy openness and
affability, which is almost peculiar to Christians and per¬
sons of quality. Soon after came ten or twelve ladies
more who seemed to be of her own rank, (though dressed
quite plainly,) and two most agreeable gentlemen: one
of whom, I afterward understood, was a colonel in the
prince's guards. After tea I expounded the three first
verses of the thirteenth chapter of the First Epistle to the
Corinthians: Captain M. interpreted, sentence by sen¬
tence. I then prayed, and Colonel Y. after me. I believe
this hour was well employed.
" Tuesday 17.—We dined at Mrs. L 's, in such a
family as I have seldom seen. Her mother, upward of
seventy, seemed to be continually rejoicing in God her
Saviour. The daughter breathes the same spirit; and he?
236
LIFE OF THE
grandchildren, three little girls and a boy, seem to be all
love. I hav.e not seen four such children together in
England. A gentleman coming in after dinner, I found a
particular desire to pray for him. In a little while he melted
into tears, as indeed did most of the company. Wednes¬
day 18.—In the afternoon Madam de Yassenaar invited us
to a meeting at a neighbouring lady's house. I expounded
Gal. vi, 14, and Mr. M. interpreted as before.
" Thursday 19.—We took boat at seven. Mrs. L.,.and
one of her relations, being unwilling to part so soon, bore
us company to Leyden, a large and populous town, but not
so pleasant as Rotterdam. In the afternoon we went on
to Haerlem, where a plain good man and his wife received
us in a most affectionate manner. At six we took boat
again: as it was filled from end to end, I was afraid we
should not have a very pleasant journey. After Mr. Fer-
guson had told the people who we were, we made a slight
excuse, and sung a hymn: they were all attention. We
then talked a little, by means of our interpreter, and desired
that any of them who pleased would sing. Four persons
did so, and sung well: after awhile we sung again. So
did one or two of them: and all our hearts were strangely
knit together, so that when we came to Amsterdam, they
dismissed us with abundance of blessings.
"Friday 20.—At five in the evenipg we drank tea at a
merchant's, Mr. G 's, where I had a long conversation
with Mr. de H,, one of the most learned as well as popular
ministers in the city; and I believe (what is far more im¬
portant) he is truly alive to God. He spoke Latin well,
and seemed to be one of a strong understanding, as well as
of an excellent spirit. In returning to our inn, we called
at a stationer's, and though we spent but a few minutes, it
was enough to convince us of his strong affection, even to
strangers. What a change does the grace of God make in
the heart! Shyness and stiffness are now no more !
" Sunday 22.—I went to the New Church, so called
still, though four or five hundred years old. It is larger,
higher, and better illuminated than most of our cathedrals.
The screen that divides the church from the choir, is of
polished brass, and shines like gold. I understood the
psalms that were sung, and the text well, and a little of the
sermon; which Mr. de H. delivered with great earnestness.
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
237
At two I began the service at the English church, an ele¬
gant building, about the size of West-street chapel; only it
has no galleries, nor have any of the churches in Holland.
I preached on Isaiah lv, 6, 7, and I am persuaded many
received the truth in the love thereof.
" After service I spent another hour at Mr. Y.'s. Mrs.
V. again asked me abundance of questions concerning
deliverance from sin, and seemed a good deal better, satis¬
fied with regard to the greatand precious promises;'"Whence
we went to Mr. B., who had lately found peace with God.
He was full of faith and love, and could hardly mention the
goodness of God without tears. His wife appeared to be
of the same spirit, so that our hearts were soon knit to¬
gether. From thence we went to another family, where a
large company were assembled: but all seemed open to
receive instruction, and desirous to be altogether Christians.
"Wednesday 25.—We took boat for Haerlem. The
great church here is a noble structure, equalled by few
cathedrals in England, either in length, breadth, or height:
the organ is the largest I ever saw, and is said to be the
finest in Europe. Hence we went to Mr. Van K.'s, whose
wife was convinced of sin, and brought to God, by reading
Mr. Whitcfield's Sermons.
" Here we were at home. Before dinner we took a walk
in Haerlem wood. It adjoins to the town, and is cut out
in many shady walks, with lovely vistas shooting out every
way. The walk from the Hague to Scheveling is pleasant j
those near Amsterdam more so ; but these exceed them all.
" We returned in the afternoon to Amsterdam, and in the
evening took leave of as many of our friends as we could.
How entirely were we mistaken in the Hollanders, suppos¬
ing them to be of a cold, phlegmatic, unfriendly temper! I
have not met with a more warmly affectionate people in all
Europe! No, n®t in Ireland !
" Thursday 26.—Our friends having largely provided us
with wine and fruits for our little journey, we took boat in
a lovely morning for Utrecht, with Mr. Van K.'s sister,
who in the way gave us a striking account. ' In that house,'
said she, (pointing to it as we went by,) ' my husband and I
lived : and that church adjoining it, was his church. Five
years ago, we were sitting together, being in perfect health,
when he dropped down, and in a quarter of an hour died ;
238
LIFE OF THE
I lifted up my heart and said, Lord, thou art my husband
now; and found no will but his.' This was a trial worthy
of a Christian: and she has ever since made her word good.
We were scarcely got to our inn at Utrecht when Miss L.
came; I found her just such as I expected. She came
on purpose from her father's country house, where all the
family were. I observe of all the pious people in Holland,
that, without any rule but the word of God, they dress as
plainly as Miss March did formerly, and Miss Johnson
does now! And considering the vast disadvantage they
are under, having no connection with each other, and
being under no such discipline at all as we are, I wondei
at the grace of God that is in them.
" Saturday 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, is 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.'
" Sunday 29.—At ten I began the service in the English
church in Utrecht. I believe all the English in the city
were present, and forty or fifty Hollanders. I preached on
the 13th of the First of Corinthians, I think as searchingly
as ever in my life. Afterward a merchant invited me to
dinner: for six years he had been at death's door by an
asthma, and was extremely ill last night; but this morning,
without any visible cause, he was well, and walked across
the city to the church. He seemed to be deeply acquainted
with religion, and made me promise! if I came to Utrecht
again, to make his house my home.
" In the evening, a large company of us met at Miss L.'s,
where I was desired to repeat the substance of my morning
sermon. I did so, Mr. Toydemea, (the professor of law
in the university,) interpreting it sentence by sentence.
They then sung a Dutch hymn, and we an English one.
Afterward Mr. Regulet, a venerable old man, spent some
time in prayer for the establishment of peace and love
between the two nations.
" Tuesday, July 1.—I called on as many as I could of
my friends, and we parted with much affection. We then
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
239
hired a yacht, which brought us to Helvoetsluys, about
eleven the next' day. At two we went on board: but the
wind turning against us, we did not reach Harwich till
about nine on Friday morning. After a little rest, we
procured a carriage, and reached London about eleven at
night.
" 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.'.'
That provision for the stability and the government of
the Connection after his death, which had been to Mr. Wes¬
ley a matter of serious concern for several years, was
accomplished in 1784, and gave him, whenever he subse¬
quently adverted to the subject, the greatest satisfaction.
From this time he felt that he had nothing more to do,
than to spend his remaining life in the same spiritual la¬
bours in which he had been so long engaged ; and that he
had done all that a true prudence required, to provide for
the continuance and extension of a work which had so
strangely enlarged under his superintendence.
This settlement was effected by a legal instrument,
enrolled in chancery, called " A Deed of Declaration," in
which one hundred preachers, mentioned by name, were
declared to be " the conference of the people called Me¬
thodists." By means of this deed, a legal description was
given to the term conference, and the settlement of the
chapels upon trustees was provided for; so that the ap¬
pointment of preachers to officiate in them should be vested
in the conference, as it had heretofore been in Mr. Wes¬
ley. The deed also declares how the succession and iden¬
tity of the yearly conference is to be continued, and con¬
tains various regulations as to the choice of a president
and secretary, the filling up of vacancies, expulsions, &c.
Thus " the succession," as it was called in Mr. Charles
Wesley's letter, above quoted, was provided for; and the
conference, with its president, chosen annually, came into
the place of the founder of the Connection, and has so
240
LIFE OP fHE
continued to the present day. As the whole of the preach¬
ers were not included in the deed, and a few who though!
themselves equally entitled to be of the hundred preachers
who thus formed the legal conference, were excepted,
some dissatisfaction arose ; but as all the preachers were
eligible to be introduced into" that body, as vacancies oc¬
curred, this feeling was but partial, and soon subsided.*
All the preachers in full connection were also allowed to
vote in the conference ; and subsequently, those who were
not of the hundred, but had been in connection a certain
number of years, were permitted, by their votes, to put the
president into nomination for the confirmation of the legal
conference. Thus all reasonable ground for mistrust and
jealousy was removed from the body of the preachers at
large; and with respect to the hundred preachers them¬
selves, the president being chosen annually, and each being
eligible to that honour, efficiency of administration was
wisely connected with equality. The consequence has
been, that the preachers have generally remained most
firmly united by affection and mutual confidence, and that
few serious disputes have ever arisen among them, or have
extended beyond a very few individuals. Ecclesiastical
history does not, perhaps, present an instance of an equal
number of ministers brought into contact so close, and
called so frequently together, for the discussion of various
subjects, among whom so much general unanimity, both
as to doctrines and points of discipline has prevailed, join¬
ed with so much real good will and friendship toward
each other, for so great a number of years. This is the
more remarkable, as by their frequent changes from sta¬
tion to station, opposite interests and feelings are very
* "Messrs. John Hampson, sen. and John Hampson, jun. his son;
"William Eells, and Joseph Pilmoor, with a few other travelling
preachers, were greatly offended that their names were not insert¬
ed in the deed. By Mr. Fletcher's friendly efforts, a partial reconcilia¬
tion was effected between them and Mr. Wesley; but it was of short
continuance. Soon after the conference, 1784, Air. Hampson, senior,
became an independent minister; but being old and infirm, and the
people poor among whom he laboured, he was assisted out of the
preachers' fund while he lived. He died in the year 1795. Mr.
Hampson, jun. procured ordination in the Established Church, and'got
a living in Sunderland, in the north of England. Mr. Eells also left
the Connection, and, some time after, joined Mr. Atlay at Dewsbury;
and Mr. Pilmoor went to America."—Myles.
REV. jrofatf WESLEY.
241
often brought into conflict. The final decisions of the
conference on their appointment to these stations, general¬
ly the most perplexing part of its annual business, are
however, cheerfully or patiently submitted to, from the
knowledge that each has of the public spirit with which
that body is actuated, and the frank and brotherly manner
in which all its proceedings are conducted. The order of
proceeding in the business of the conference is the same
as in the days of Mr. Wesley. It admits candidates for
the ministry, on proper recommendation from the superin¬
tendents and district meetings; examines those who have
completed their probation of four years, and receives the
approved into full connection, which is its ordination;
investigates, without any exception, the character and
talents of those who are already in connection year by year;
appoints the stations of the year ensuing; sends additional
preachers to new places; receives the reports of the com¬
mittees appointed to manage and distribute various funds ;
reviews the state of the societies; and issues an annual
pastoral address. At the time of the meeting of the con¬
ferences, beside the Sunday services, public worship is
held early in the morning, and in the evening of every day
except Saturday, which is usually attended by great multi¬
tudes. The business of each conference, exclusive of
that done in committees which meet previously, occupies,
on the average, about a fortnight in every year. Were it
not for the district meetings, composed of the preachers,
and the stewards of a number of circuits, or stations, in
different parts of the kingdom, (an arrangement which was
adopted after Mr. Wesley's death,) the business of the
conference would require a much longer time to transact;
but in these meetings much is prepared for its final deci¬
sion.
In this important and wise settlement of the government
of the Connection by its founder, there appears but one
regulation which seeins to controvert that leading maxim
to which he had always respect, namely, to be guided by
circumstances in matters not determined by some great
principle. I allude to the proviso which obliges the con¬
ference not to appoint any preacher to the same chapel for
more than three years successively, thus binding an itine¬
rant ministry upon the societies for ever. Whether this
21
242
life of the
system of changing ministers be essential to the spiritual
interests of the body or not, or whether it might not be
usefully modified, will be matters of opinion ; bnt the point
ought perhaps to have been left more at liberty.*
CHAPTER XIII.
The state in which the separation of the United States
from the m?i.her country left the Methodist American
societies had become a matter of serious concern to Mr.
[* With the most respectful deference for the judgment of our be¬
loved author, whose Methodistical orthodoxy can so rarely even be
questioned, we must beg leave to say that in our humble opinion this
very proviso in Mr. Wesley's Deed of Declaration, for the permanent
establishment of the fundamental principles by which the Conference
should ever thereafter be governed, was one of the wisest measures in
the whole instrument; and in this opinion, we greatly mistake if
ninety-nine hundredths, at least, of the whole American Methodist
Episcopal body, do not accord. The great inconvenience of this sys¬
tem to itinerant ministers themselves, and the consequent temptation
to modify or to depart from it, we well know; and so did Mr. Wes¬
ley. His own inclination from youth, he often declared, was to
saunter among Academic shades, and be a philosophical sluggard,
rather than an itinerant preacher. He knew that similar temptations,
with the enjoyments of domestic life, &c, would increase in their en¬
ticing power, as Methodism itself should increase, and the circum¬
stances both of the people and of the preachers become improved.
And believing, as he firmly did, that an itinerant ministry was essen¬
tial to the most rapid and extensive spread of the Gospel, and to the
salvation of the greatest number of souls, till time shall end, he hence,
in conformity with this conviction, made this an unalterable principle
in the economy of which he was the Founder. And has not all our
experience attested his wisdom? Mr. Watson, we know, says no
more than that " perhaps" the point ought to have been left more at
liberty; and is by no means to be understood, we are persuaded, as
being in favour of a change, even if the liberty were possessed. In¬
deed other denominations are now beginning both to see the incom¬
parable efficiency of the itinerant system, and to'act upon it;—not
only by the establishment of itinerant missions, but of regular circuits,
very much on our plan. We wish them God speed. But let us not
retrograde whilst others advance. Rather, let us give the more earnest
heed that none take our crown,—that we lose not the things we have
already wrought, but receive a full reward. It is the glory of reviving
this apostolical system that sheds its br ightest lustre on the name and
the memory of Wesley. May it be that of his successors to perpe¬
tuate it, and, in order thereto, to keep themselves beyond the reach
of even temptation to do otherwise. If in this note we seem to
dissent in any measure from an incidental suggestion of our excellent
author, we have the satisfaction, on the other hand, to be sustained
by the judgment and wisdom of Mr Wesley.—American Edit.]
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
243
Wesley, and presented to him a new case, for which it was
imperative to make some provision. This however could
not be done but by a proceeding which he foresaw would
lay him open to much remark, and some censure, from the
rigid English Episcopalians. But with him, the principle
of making every thing indifferent give place to the neces¬
sity of doing good or preventing evil, was paramount; and
when that necessity was clearly made out, he was not a man
to hesitate. The mission of Messrs. Boardman and Pil-
moor to America has been already mentioned. Two
years afterward, in 1771, Mr. Wesley sent out Messrs.
Asbury and Wright; and in 1773, Messrs. Rankin and
Shadford. In 1777, the preachers in the different circuits
in America had amounted to forty, and the societies had
also greatly increased. These were scattered in towns
and settlements so distant that it required constant and
extensive travelling from the preachers to supply them with
the word of God.* The two last-mentioned preachers
returned, after employing themselves on the mission for
about five years ; and Mr. Asbury, a true itinerant, who in
this respect followed in America the unwearied example of
Mr. Wesley, gradually acquired a great and deserved influ¬
ence, which, supported as it was by his excellent sense,
moderating temper, and entire devotedness to the service
of God, increased rather than diminished to the end of a
protracted life. The American preachers, like those in
England, were at first restrained by Mr. Wesley from
administering either of the sacraments ; but when, through
the war, and the acquisition of independence by the States,
most of the clergy of the Church of England had left the
country, neither the children of the members of the Me¬
thodist societies' could be baptized, nor the Lord's Supper
[* Messrs. Boardman and Pilmoor returned to England in 1774;
Messrs. Rankin and Rodda in 1777 ; and Mr. Shadford in 1778. Mr.
Pilmoor came to America again after the revolutionary war, took
orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church, and died, at an advanced
age, in Philadelphia. Mi-. Watson states, in a preceding note, that
Mr. Pilmoor was one of those few itinerant preachers who were much
offended because his name was not inserted in Mr. Wesley's Deed ot
Declaration, constituting the legal Conference. This, in all proba¬
bility, had a principal influence in his coming to America again, and
taking orders in the Protestant Episcopal Church. We believe, how¬
ever, that he always continued friendly with our body, and lived and
died an evangelical and highly respected minister.—American Edit.]
244
LIFE OF THE
administered among them, without a change of the original
•plan. Mr. Asbury's predilections for the former order of
things prevented him from listening to the request of the
American societies to be formed into a regular church,
and furnished with all its spiritual privileges; and a divi¬
sion had already taken place among them. This breach,
however, Mr. Asbury had the address to heal; and at the
peace he laid the whole case before Mr. Wesley. The
result will be seen in the following letter :—
" To Dr. Coke, J\Ir. Asbury, and our Brethren in
North America.
"Bristol, September 10, 1784.
" By a very uncommon train of providences, many of
the provinces of North America are totally disjoined from
their 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 assem¬
blies. But no one either exercises or claims any eccle¬
siastical 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 parislt
ministers. So that, for some hundred miles together, there
is none either to baptize or to administer the Lord's Sup¬
per. 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 right, by .appointing and sending labourers
into the harvest.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
245
" 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
Yasey 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 Scrip¬
tural way of feeding and guiding those poor sheep in the
wilderness, I will gladly embrace it. At present I cannot
see any better method than that I have taken.
" It l)as, 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 only one, but could not prevail: 2. If they consent¬
ed, we know the slowness of their proceedings; but the
matter admits of no delay : 3. If they would ordain them
now, they would likewise expect to govern them. And
how grievously would this entangle us 1 4. As our Ameri¬
can brethren are now totally disentangled both from the
state and from 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 pri¬
mitive chu/ch. And we judge it best that they should
stand fast in that liberty wherewith God has so strangely
made therii free.
" John Wesley."
Two persons were thus appointed as superintendents or
bishops, and two as elders, with power to administer the
sacraments, and the American Methodists were formed
into a Church, because they could no longer remain a so¬
ciety attached to a colonial establishment which then had
ceased to exist. The propriety and even necessity of this
step is sufficiently^apparent; but the mode adopted expos¬
ed Mr. Wesley to the sarcasms of his brother, who was
not a convert to his opinion as to the identity of the order
of bishops and presbyters ; and to all High Churchmen the
21*
246
LIFE OF THE
proceeding has had the appearance of great irregularity.
The only real irregularity, however, has been generally
overlooked, whilst a merely apparent one has been made
the chief subject of animadversion. The true anomaly
was, that a clergyman of the Church of England should
ordain, in any form, without separating from that Church,
and formally disavowing its authority; and yet, if its spi¬
ritual governors did not choose to censure and disown him
for denying the figment of the uninterrupted succession,
which he openly said "he knew to be a fablefor maintain¬
ing that bishops and priests were originally one order only;
(points, let it be observed, which perhaps but few Church¬
men will now, and certainly but few at that time, would
very seriously maintain, so decisive is the evidence of Scrip¬
ture and antiquity against them, and so completely was the
doctrine of the three orders given up by the founders of the
English Church itself ;)* nor, finally, for proceeding to act
upon that principle by giving orders ; it would be hard to
prove that he was under any moral obligation to withdraw
from the Church. The bishops did not institute proceed
ings against him, and why should he formally renounce
them altogether 1 It was doubtless such a view of his lib¬
erty, in this respect, that made him say on this occasion,
* " I am not ashamed of the room and office which I have given
unto me by Christ to preach his Gospel; for it is the power of God,
that is to say, the elect organ or instrument ordained by God, and
endued with such virtue and efficacy, that it is able to give, and
administer effectually, everlasting life unto all those that will believe
and obey unto the same.
" Item. That this office, this power and authority, was committed
and given by Christ and his Apostles unto certain persons only, that is
to say, unto priests and bishops whom they did elect, call and admit
thereunto, by their prayers, and imposition of .their hands,
" The truth is, there is no mention made of any degrees err distinctions
in orders, but only of deacons or ministers, and of priests or bishops."—
A declaration made of the functions and divine institution of
bishops and priests, Regno Hen. [in the reign of Henry] viii, circiter
[about] JLD. 1537-40.
This declaration was signed by Cromwell, the vicar-general, Cran-
mer and Holgate, the archbishops, with many of their suffragans,
together with other persons intituled
" Sacra Theologies, Juris Ecclesiastici et CivUis, Professores," [Profes¬
sors of Divinity, and of Ecclesiastical and Civil Law.]
Archbishop Usher's plan for comprehending the Presbyterians and
Episcopalians in the time of Charles I, was also founded upon the
principle of bishops and presbyters being one order.
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
247
in answer to his brother, " I firmly believe that I am a
Scriptural irtfoxovos 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."
The point which has been most insisted upon is the ab¬
surdity of a priest ordaining bishops. But this absurdity
could not arise from the principle which Mr. Wesley had
adopted, viz. that the orders were identical; and the cen¬
sure therefore rests only upon the assumption, that bishops
and priests were of different orders, which he denied. He
never did pretend to ordain bishops in the modern sense,
but only according to his view of primitive episcopacy. Lit¬
tle importance therefore is to be attached to Mr. Moore's
statement, (Life of Wesley,) that Mr. Wesley having named
Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury simply superintendents, he was
displeased when, in America, they took the title of bishops.
The only objection he could have to the name was, that
from long association it was likely to convey a meaning
beyond his own intention. But this was a matter of mere
prudential feeling, confined to himself: so that neither are
Dr. Coke and Mr. Asbury to be blamed for using that
appellation in Mr. Wesley's sense, which was the same as
presbyter as far as order was concerned ; nor the Ameri¬
can societies, (as they have sometimes inconsiderately
been,) for calling themselves, in the same view, " The
American Methodist Episcopal Churchsince their epis¬
copacy is founded upon the principle of bishops and pres¬
byters being of the same degree,—a more extended office
only being assigned to the former, as in the primitive church.
For though nothing can be more obvious than that the
primitive pastors are called bishops, or presbyters indis¬
criminately in the New Testament; yet at an early period,
those presbyters were, by way of distinction, denominated
bishops, who presided in the meetings of the presbyters,
and were finally invested with the government of several
churches, with their respective presbyteries; so that two
offices were then, as in this case, grafted upon the same
order. Such an arrangement was highly proper for Ame¬
rica, where many of the preachers were young, and had
248
LIFE OF THE
also to labour in distant and extensive circuits, and were
therefore incapable of assisting, advising, or controlling
each other. A travelling episcopacy, or superintendency,
was there an extension of the office of elder or presbyter,
but it of course created no other distinction; and the bish¬
ops of the Methodist Church in America have in practice
as well exemplified the primitive spirit, as in principle they
were conformed to the primitive discipline. Dr. Coke was
only an occasional visitant in America, and though in the
sense of office he was a bishop there, when he returned
home, as here he had no such office, so he used no such
title, and made no such pretension. Of this excellent man,
it ought here to be said, that occasional visits to America
could not satisfy his ardent mind ; he became the founder
and soul of the Methodist missions in various parts of the
world, first under the direction of Mr. Wesley, and then in
conjunction with the conference; and by his voyages, tra¬
vels, and labours,he erected a monument of noble and disin¬
terested zeal and charity, which will never be obliterated.*
But Mr. Asbury remained the preaching, travelling, self-
denying bishop of the American societies, till afterward
others were associated with him, plain and simple in their
manners as the rest of their brethren, and distinguished
from them only by " labours more abundant."
It was by thus absurdly confounding episcopacy in the
modern acceptation, and in Mr. Wesley's view, that a
good deal of misplaced wit was played off on this occa¬
sion ; and not a little bitterness was expressed by many.
He, however, performed a great and a good work, and not
only provided for the spiritual wants of a people who indi¬
rectly had sprung from his labours ; but gave to the Ame¬
rican Church a form of administration admirably suited to
a new and extensive empire, and under which the socie¬
ties have, by the Divine blessing, prospered beyond all
precedent. Some letters passed between him and Mr.
Charles Wesley on the subject of the American ordina-
* Di\ Coke connected himself with Mr. Wesley in 1776, as stated
,by the latter in his Journal:—"Being at Kingston, near Tauntofi, I
found a clergyman, Dr. Coke, late gentleman commoner of Jesus Col¬
lege, in Oxford, who came twenty miles on purpose. I had much
conversation with him, and a union then began, which, I trust, shall
never end." His name did not appear on the Minutes till the year
1778. In that year he was appointed to labour in London.
rev john wesley.
249
tions. The first, written by Charles, was warm and re-
monstrative; the second, upon receiving his brother's
calm answer, was more mild, and shows, that he was less
afraid of what his brother had done for America, than that
Dr. Coke, on his return, should form the Methodists of
England into a regular and separate church also! The
concluding paragraph of this letter is, however, so affect
ing, so illustrative of that oneness of heart which no
difference of opinion between the brothers could destroy,
that it would be unjust to the memory of both, not to
insert it:—
" I thank you for your intention to remain my friend.
Herein my heart is as your heart. Whorn God hath joined,
let not riivin put asunder. We have taken each other for
better for worse, till death do us—.part 1 no: but eternally
unite. Therefore, in the love which never faileth, I am
" Your affectionate friend and brother,
" C. Wesley."
Some time after this Mr. Wesley appointed several of
the English preachers, by imposition of hands, to adminis¬
ter the sacraments to the societies in Scotland. There
the English establishment did not extend, and a necessity
of a somewhat similar kind existed, though not of so press¬
ing a nature as in America. He, however, steadily objected
to give this liberty, generally, to his preachers in England;
and those who administered the sacraments in Scotland
were not permitted to perform the same office in England
upon their return. The reason why he refused to appoint
in the same manner, and for the same purpose, for Eng¬
land, is stated in the letter above given. He was satisfied
of his power, as a presbyter, to ordain for such an admi¬
nistration ; but, he says, " I have still refused, not only for
peace' sake, but, because I was determined as little as pos¬
sible to violate the established order of the National Church
to which I belonged." This was a prudent principle most
sincerely held by him ; anclit explains his conduct in those
particulars for which he has been censured by opposite
parties. When it could not be avoided, without sacrificing
some real good, he did violate " the established order,"
thinking that this order was in itself merely prudential.
When that necessity did not exist, his own predilections,
and the prejudices of many members of his societies.
250
LIFE OF THE
enforced upon him this abstinence from innovation. It may,
however, be asked, in what light Mr. Wesley's appoint¬
ments to the ministry, in the case of his own preachers,
ought to be viewed. That they were ordinations to the
work and office of the ministry, cannot be reasonably and
Scripturally doubted ; and that they were so in his own
intention, we have before shown from his own Minutes.
It was required of them, as early as 1746, to profess to be
" moved by the Holy Ghost, and to be called of God to
preach." This professed call was to be tested by their
piety, their gifts, and their usefulness ; all which points
were investigated ; and after probation they were solemnly
received by prayer " to labour with him in the Gospel
and from that time were devoted wholly to their spiritual
work,* including the pastoral care of societies. Here was
ordination, though without imposition of hands, which,
although an impressive ceremony, enters not, as both the
Scriptures and the nature of the thing itself point out, into
the essence of ordination; which is a separation of men,
by ministers, to the work of the ministry by solemn prayer.
This was done at every conference, by Mr. Wesley, who,
as he had, as early as 1747, given up the uninterrupted
succession, and the distinct order of bishops as a fable,
left himself, therefore, at liberty to appoint to the ministry
in his own way. He made, it is true, a distinction at one
time between the primitive offices of evangelists or teach¬
ers, and pastors, as to the right of giving the sacraments,
which he thought belonged to the latter only ; but as this
implied, that the primitive pastors had powers, which the
primitive evangelists, who ordained them, had not, it was
too unsupported a notion for him long to maintain. (See
JVfoore's Life of Wesley, book viii, chap, ii.) Yet, had
this view of the case been allowed, the preachers were not
mere teachers, but pastors in the fullest sense. They not
only taught, but guided, and managed the societies ; receiv¬
ing members, excluding members, and administering pri¬
vate, as well as public, admonitions; and if they were
constituted teachers and pastors by his ordination, without
* It is observable, that in the conference of 1768 he enjoined absti¬
nence from all secular things upon them, both on the Scriptural prin¬
ciple, 1 Tim. iv, 13; and on the ground, that the Church, "in her
office of ordination," required this of ministers.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
251
the circumstance of the imposition of hands, it is utterly
impossible to conceive that that ceremony conveyed any
larger right, as such, to administer the sacraments, in the
case of the few he did ordain in that manner for Scotland
and America. As to them it was a form of permission
and appointment to exercise the right. His appointments
to the ministry every conference necessarily conveyed all
the rights of a pastor, because they conveyed the pastoral
office ; but still it did not follow, that all the abstract rights
of the ministry, thus conveyed to the body of the preachers,
should be actually used. It was not imperative upon them
to exercise all their functions ; and he assumed no impro¬
per authority as the father and founder of the Connection,
to determine to what extent it was prudent to exercise
them, provided he was satisfied that the sacraments were
not put out of the power of the societies to observe. He ex¬
ercised this suspending authority even ever those preachers
whom he appointed to give the sacraments in Scotland, by
prohibiting them from administering in the English socie¬
ties, over which they became pastors. So little difference
did his ordination by imposition of hands make in their
case, even in his own estimation.* It was, when it fol¬
lowed the usual mode of introducing candidates into the
ministry, a mere form of permission to exercise a previous
right in a particular place, and a solemn designation to
this service according to a liturgical form which he greatly
admired; but the true ordination of those who were so
set apart to administer the sacraments to the ministry itself,
was the same as that of the rest of their brethren, and took
place at the same time. Thus, in Mr. Wesley's strongest
language to Mr. Charles Perronet and the other preachers
who thought it their duty to administer, he places his objec¬
tion upon the decisive ground of his thinking it "a sin;"
but not from their want of true ordination, to which he
makes no allusion but he thought it sinful, because it
* When a few of the preachers received ordination from a Greek
bishop, then in England, and from whom he was falsely reported
himself to have sought consecration; he would not suffer them to
administer, although he did not doubt that the Greek was a true
bishop.
f As early as 1756, he says to some of the preachers, "You think
it is a duty to administer. Do so, and therein follow your own con¬
science." That is, they were at liberty to leave him; but not a word
252
LIFE OF THE
would be injurious to the work of God, and so contrary to
his word and will. That it was not in his view " a sin,''
for want of mere imposition of hands, is clear from the
facts, that, in one case, he gave to one of the preachers
leave to baptize and give the sacrament in particular cir
cumstances, although he had no other ordination than his
being " received into full connection'- at the conference
like the rest; and allowed two others, Mr. Highfield in
England, and Mr. Myles in Dublin, to assist him in giving
the sacrament to the great offence of the Church people
there.* That the original designation of the preachers to
the ministry was considered by the conferences after his
death,—when they were obliged, in order to meet the
spiritual wants and Scriptural demands of the people, to
administer the Lord's Supper to the societies in England,
—as a true and full ordination to the whole office of the
Christian ministry, is clear from their authorizing the
preachers to give the sacraments, when requested by the
societies, without reordination for this purpose, although
they had Mr. Wesley's Presbyterian ordination by impo¬
sition of hands among themselves, and at their command,
if they had judged it necessary to employ it. Their whole
proceeding in this respect was merely to grant permission
to exercise powers which they believed to have been pre¬
viously conveyed by Mr. Wesley, in doing which they
differed from him only in not marking that permission with
any new form. Perhaps it might have been an improve¬
ment, had they accompanied all their future ordinations by
the laying on of the hands of the president for the time
about the invalidity of their appointment to the whole work of the
ministry.
* Mr. Wesley's innovations on church order in Dublin, appear, from
several of his letters, to hare produced somewhat outrageous attacks
upon him from several quarters in that city. In one of them he says,
" Every week I am bespattered in the public papers. Many are in
tears on the occasion; many terribly frightened, and crying out, ' 0
what will the end be?' What will it be? Why, glory to God in the
highest, and peace and good will among men." Such was his rejoinder
to these High Church alarms. At the same time it must be conceded,
that, however faithful Mr. Wesley was in abiding by his leading prin¬
ciple of making mere adherence to what was called "regular," give
place to the higher obligation of doing good, he was sometimes apt,
in defending himself, to be too tenacious of appearing perfectly con¬
sistent.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
253
being, assisted by a few of the senior preachers, and by
using the fine Ordination Service of the Church of Eng¬
land : not indeed, that this would have given a tittle more
of validity to the act; but the imposition of hands would
have been in conformity to the usage of the majority of
churches, and an instance of deference to an ancient
Scriptural form of solemn designation and blessing, used
on various occasions. The whole of Mr. Wesley's pro¬
ceedings, both as to America and Scotland, would have
been as valid on Scriptural grounds, had there been no
other form used than simple prayer for men, already in the
ministry, going forth on an important mission ; but as the
New Testament exhibited a profitable example of imposi¬
tion of hands in the case of Paul and Barnabas, who had
been long before ordained to the highest order of the
ministry, when sent forth into a new field of labour, this
example was followed.*
* From the preceding observations, it will appear that Mr. Wes¬
ley's ordinations, both for America eftid Scotland, stood upon much
the same ground. The full powers of the ministry had before been
conveyed to the parties; but now they had a special designation to
exercise them in every respect, in a new and peculiar sphere. Still
their ordination, by imposition of hands, did not imply that their
former ordination was deficient, as to the right of administering the
sacraments which it conveyed; for then, how came Dr. Coke, who
was already a presbyter of the Church of England, to be ordained
again, when, according to Mr. Wesley's own View, he could not be
higher in order than a presbyter, although his powers might be enlarged
as to their application ? The conference after Mr. Wesley's death
took therefore the true ground, in considering the act of admission
into the ministry, so as to be devoted wholly to it, and to exercise the
pastoral charge, to be a true and Scriptural ordination both to preach
the word and to administer the sacraments; making wholly light of
the absurd pretensions of a few among the preachers, who thought
that they had received something more than their brethren from the
mere ceremony of the imposition of Mr. Wesley's hands, subsequent
to their ordinary appointment by him when received into the body.
Some of these, at the first conference after Mr. Wesley's death, stood
upon this point; but Mr. Benson refuted their notion, that imposition
of hands was essential to ordination. He proved from the New Tes¬
tament that this was but a circumstance, and showed that the body
had always possessed a ministry Scripturally and therefore validly
ordained, although not in the most customary or perhaps in the most
influential form. With Mr. Benson the conference coincided-; so that
ordination, without imposition of hands, has continued to be the gene¬
ral practice to the present time. It is remarkable, that the few preachers
who insisted upon imposition of hands being essential to ordination,
and plumed themselves upon being distinguished from their brethren
254
LIFE OF THE
But we return to the continued and unabated labours of
this venerable servant of God. In 1786, at the Bristol
conference, the old suDject of separating from the Church
was again discussed, and, " without one dissenting voice,"
it was determined to continue therein ; " which determina¬
tion," he remarks, " will, I doubt not, stand, at least till I
am removed into a better world." After the conference
was concluded, he paid a second visit to Holland, in
company with Mr. Brackenbury and Mr. Broadbent,
preached in various places, expounded to private companies,
and engaged in conversation with many learned and pious
individuals. On his return to England, his Journal presents
the usual record of constant preaching and travelling,
inteispersed with useful remark, and incident. A few
gleanings from it will be read with interest:—
" Dec. 23, 1786.—By great importunity I was induced
(having little hope of doing good) to visit two of the felons
in Newgate, who lay under sentence of death. They
appeared serious : but I can lay little stress on appearances
of this kind. However, I wrote in their behalf to a great
man. And perhaps it was in consequence of this that they
had a reprieve.
" Sunday 24.—I was desired to preach at the Old Jewry;
but the church was cold, and so was the congregation. We
had congregations of another kind the next day, Chrismas-
day, at four in the morning, as well as five in the evening,
at the New Chapel, and at West-street Chapel about
noon.
" Sunday 31.-—From those words of Isaiah to Hezekiah,
' Set thy house in order,' I strongly exhorted all who had
not done it already, to settle their temporal affairs without
because Mr. Wesley's hands had been laid upon them, did not remem¬
ber a passage in a published letter of Mr. Wesley to Mr. Walker of
Truro, dated as long before as 1756, which sufficiently shows how
totally disconnected the two things were in his mind; or that, if they
adverted to it, its bearing in his controversy with Mr. Walker should
not have been perceived: "That the seven deacons were outwardly
ordained even to that low office, cannot be denied. But Paul and Bar¬
nabas were separated for the work to which they were called. This
was not ordaining them; it was only inducting them to the province
for which our Lord had appointed them. For this end the prophets
and teachers fasted, prayed, and 'laid their hands upon them,' a rite
which was used, not in ordination only, but in blessing, and on many
<other occasions."
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
255
delay. It is a strange madness which still possesses many
who are in other respects men of understanding, that they
put this off from day to day, till death comes in an hour
when they looked not for it.
" Friday, Jan. 5, ,1787, and in the vacant hours of the
following days, I read Dr. Hunter's Lectures. They are
very lively and ingenious. The language is good, and the
thoughts generally just. But they do not suit my taste. I
do not admire that florid way of writing. Good sense does
not need to be so studiously adorned. I love St. John's
style, as well as matter.
" Sunday, Feb. 25.—After taking a solemn leave of our
friends, both at West-street and the New Chapel, I took
the mail coach, and the next evening reached Exeter a
little after ten o'clock. Tuesday 27.—We went on to
Plymouth Dock. The large, new house, far the best in
the west of England, was well filled, though on so short a
warning : and they seemed cordially to receive the exhort¬
ation, ' Rejoice in the Lord, 0 ye righteous.' I had the
satisfaction to find the society here in a more flourishing
state than ever. Notwithstanding all the pains that have
been taken, and all the art that has been used to tear them
asunder, they cleave close together, and consequently
increase in number as well as in strength.
" Wednesday, March 7.—It rained much while we were
at Plymouth and at the Dock, and most of the way from
the Dock to Exeter. But we had lovely weather to-day,
and came into Bath early in the evening. So crowded a
house I had not seen here for many years. I fully delivered
my own soul, by strongly enforcing those awful words,
' Many are called, but few are chosen.' I believe the word
sunk deep into many hearts. The next evening we had
another large congregation equally serious. Thursday 8.
I went on to Bristol, and the same afternoon Mrs. Fletcher
came thither from Madeley. The congregation in the
evening was exceedingly large. I took knowledge what
spirit they were of. Indeed the work of God has much in¬
creased in Bristol since I was here last, especially among the
young men, many of whom are a pattern to all the society.
" Monday, April 2.—About noonl preached at Stockport,
and in the evening at Manchester, where I fully delivered
my own soul, both then and the next day. Wednesday 4.1
256
LIFE OF THE
went to Chester, and preached in the evening on Heb. iii, 12.
Finding there was no packet at Parkgate, I immediately
took places in the mail coach for Holyhead. The porter
called us at two in the morning on Thursday, but came
again in half an hour to inform us the coach was full: so
they returned my money, and at four I took a post chaise.
We overtook the coach at Conway, and crossing the ferry
with the passengers, went forward without delay: so wo
came to Holyhead an hour before them, and went on board
between eleven and twelve o'clock. At one we left the
harbour, and at two the next day came into Dublin bay.
" On the road, and in the ship, I read Mr. Blackwell's
' Sacred Classics Illustrated and Defended.'^ I think he
fully proves his point, that there are no expressions-in the
New Testament which are not found in the best and purest
Greek authors. In the evening we had a Sunday's con¬
gregation, and a blessing from on high.
" SundayS. (Easter-day.)—-I preached in Bethesda, Mr.
Smyth's new chapel: it is very neat, but not gay, and I
believe will hold about as manyspepple as "WesttStreet
chapel. Mr. Smyth read prayers, and-^ave out the hynfiltfe',
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 Ave/had
between seven and eight hundred communicants: and
indeed the power of God was in the midst of them. Our
own room in the evening was well filled with people, and
with the presence of God.
" On Monday and Tuesday! preached again atBethesda,
and God touched several hearts, even of the rich and great:
so that, for the time at least, they were ' almost persuaded
to be Christians.' It seems as if the good providence oi
God had prepared this place for those rich and honourable
sinners who will not deign to receive any message from
God, but in a genteel way.
"Friday 27.—We went to Kilkenny, nine and twenty
Irish miles from Mount Mellick. Religion was here at a
low ebb, and scarcely any society left, when God sent
three troops of horse. Several of the men are full of faith
and love ; since they came,, the work of God has revived.
REV. JOHN WESLEY
257
I never saw the house so filled since it was built. And
the power of God seemed to rest upon the congregation,
as if he would still have a people in this place.
" Wed. April 9.—We went to Bandon : here also there
has been a remarkable work of God, and yet not without
many backsliders. It was therefore my chief business to
strengthen the weak, and recall the wanderers. So in
the evening I preached in the assembly room, (which was
offered me by the provost,) on, 4 How shall I give thee
up, Ephraim?'—and God applied his word. At noon we
took a walk to Castle Barnard. Mr. Barnard has given it
a beautiful front, nearly resembling that of Lord Mans¬
field's house at Caen Wood, and opened part of his lovely
park to the house, which I think has now as beautiful
a situation as Rockingham-house in Yorkshire. Mr.
Barnard much resembles, in person and air, the late Sir
George Saville. Though he is far the richest person in
these parts, he keeps no race horses or hounds, but loves
his wife and home, and spends his time and fortune in
improving his estate, and employing the poor. Gentlemen
of this spirit are a blessing to their neighbourhood. May
God increase their number!
" In the evening, finding no building would contain the
congregation, I stood in the main street, and testified to a
listening multitude, ' This is not your rest.' I then
administered the Lord's Supper to the society, and God
gave us a remarkable blessing.
"Friday, May 25.—I had a day of rest in this lovely
family, (Mr. Slack's,) only preaching morning and evening.
Saturday 26.—I preached at Ballyconnel about eleven. In
the afternoon I took a walk in the bishop of Kilmore's
garden. The house is finely situated ; has two fronts, and
is fit for a nobleman. We then went into the church yard,
and saw the venerable tomb, a plain flat stone inscribed,
* Depositum Gulielmi Bedel, quondam Episcopi Kilmo-
rensis [' The body of William Bedel, formerly bishop of
Kilmore;'] over whom even the rebel army sung, ' Re-
quiescat in pace ultimus AnglorumJ' 4 Let the last of the
Englishmen rest in peace.' At seven I preached to a
large congregation : it blew a storm, but most of the con¬
gregation were covered by a kind of shed raised for the
purpose : and not a few were greatly comforted.
22*
258
LIFE OF THE
"Tuesday 29.—One of my horses I was obliged to
leave in Dublin, and afterward another; having bought
two to supply their places. The third soon got a swelling
in his shoulder, 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:
however, we went on softly to Aughalun, and found such
a congregation as I had not seen before in the kingdom.
The tent (that is, a covered pulpit) was placed at the foot of
a green, sloping mountain, on the side of which the huge
multitude sat (as their manner is) row above row. While
I was explaining,' God hath given unto us his Holy Spirit,'
he was indeed poured out in a wonderful manner. Tears
of joy, and cries were heard on every side; only so far
suppressed as not to drown my voice. I cannot but hope
that many will have cause to bless God for that hour to all
eternity.
. " Thursday 31.—We went over mountains and dales to
Kerlish Lodge, where we met with a hearty welcome, both
from Alexander Boyle, and his amiable wife, who are pat¬
terns to all the country. Mr. Boyle had spoken to Dr.
Wilson, the rector of a neighbouring town, concerning my
preaching in the church, who wrote to the bishop, and re¬
ceived a letter in answer, giving a full and free consent.
The doctor desired me to breakfast with him. Meantime
one of his parishioners, a warm seceder, took away the key
of the church, so I preached in a neighbouring orchard :
I believe not in vain. The rector and his wife were in the
front of the congregation. Afterward we took a view ol
Lord Abercorn's place. The house has a lovely situation .
and the front of it is as elegant as any I have seen eithei
in Great Britain or Ireland. The grounds are delightful
indeed, perhaps equal to any in the kingdom.
"About five in the evening I preached at Killrail. No
house would contain the congregation; so I preached in
the open air. The wind was piercingly cold, but the peo¬
ple regarded it not. Afterward I administered the Lord's
Supper to about a hundred of them, and then slept in peace.
" Wednesday, June 6.—I took leave of my dear friends
at Londonderry, and drove to Newton Limavady. I had
no design to preach there. Dut while we were at break¬
fast, the people were gathered so fast that I could not deny
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
259
them. The house was soon filled from end to end. I
explained' to them the fellowship believers have with God.
Thence I went on to Colerain, and preached at six, (as I
did two years ago,) in the barrack yard. * The wind was
highand sharp enough; but the people here are good old sol¬
diers. Many attended at five in the morning, and a large
congregation about six in the evening; most of whom, I
believe, tasted the good word ; for God was with us of a
truth.
" Tuesday 12th.—We came through a most beautiful
country to Downpatrick, a much larger town than I ima¬
gined; I think not much inferior to Sligo. The evening
was uncommonly mild and bright, there not being a
cloud in the sky. The tall firs shaded us on every side,
and the fruitful fields were spread all around. The peo¬
ple were, I think, half as many more as were at Lisburn
even on Sunday evening. On them I enforced those im¬
portant words, 'Acquaint thyself now with him, and be at
peace.' '
"Wednesday 13th.—Being informed we had only six
and twenty miles to go, we did not set out "till between six
and seven. The country was uncommonly pleasant, run¬
ning between two high ridges of mountains ; but it was up
hill and down all the way, so that we did not reach Rath-
friland till nearly noon. Mr. Barber, the Presbyterian
minister, (a princely personage, I believe six feet and a
half high,) offering me his new, spacious preaching house,
the congregation quickly gathered together. I began with¬
out delay to open and enforce, 'Now God command-
eth all men, every where, to repent.' I took chaise the
instant I had done; but the road being still up hill and
down, we were two hours going what they called six miles.
I then quitted the chaise, and rode forward. But even
then, four miles, so called, took an hour and a half riding ;
so that I did not reach Dr. Lesley's, at Tandaragee, till
half an hour past four. About six I stood upon the steps
at Mr. Godly's door, and preached on, ' This is not your
rest,' to a larger congregation, by a third, than even that at
Downpatrick. I scarcely remember to have seen a larger,
unless in London, Yorkshire, or Cornwall.
" Tuesday 26th.—Dublin- We were agreeably surpris¬
ed with the arrival of Dr. Coke, who came from Philadel-
260
LIFE OF THE
phia, in nine and twenty days, and gave us a pleasing
account of the work of God in America. Thursday 28th.
I had 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 dan¬
gerous employments. But what can hurt us, if God be on
our side l
"Sunday, July 22.—Manchester. Our service began
at ten. Nothwithstanding the severe cold, which has con¬
tinued many days, the house was well filled ; but my work
was easy, as Dr. Coke assisted me. As many as could
crowded in, in the evening; but many were obliged to
go away. Afterward I spent a comfortable hour with the
society.
"Friday 27th.—We went on 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 sung so true, that, all singing together, they seemed
to be but one voice. The house was thoroughly filled,
while I explained and applied the first and great command¬
ment, What is all morality or religion without this 1 A
mere castle in the air. In the evening, many of the chil¬
dren 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.
" Monday, August 6th.—Having taken the whole coach
for Birmingham, we set out, expecting to be there, as usual,
about five in the evening. But having six persons within,
and eight without, the coach could not bear the burden,
but broke down before three in the morning. Having
patched it together as well as- we could, we went on to
Congleton, and got another. In an hour or two this broke
also; and one of the horses was so thoroughly tired, that
he could hardly set one foot before the other. After all
these hinderances, we got to Birmingham just at seven.
Finding a large congregation waiting, I stepped out of the
coach into the house, and began preaching without delay.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
261
And such was the goodness of God, that I found no more
weariness when I had done than if I had rested all the day.
" Here I took a tender leave of Mrs. Heath and her
lovely daughters, about to embark with Mr. Heath for
America, whom I hardly expect to see any more till we
meet in Abraham's bosom.
"Friday 10th.—Southampton. At six I preached on
Hebrews iv, 14. In the afternoon I went with a gentle¬
man (Mr. Taylor) to hear the famous musician that plays
upon the glasses. By my appearing there, (as I had fore¬
seen) a heap of gentry attended in the evening. And I
believe several of them, as well as Mr. T. himself, did not
come in vain.
"Tuesday 14th.—Sailing on with a fair wind, we fully
expected to reach Guernsey in the afternoon; but the wind
turning contrary, and blowing hard, we found that would
be impossible. We then judged it best to put in at the
isle of Alderney; but we were very near being shipwreck¬
ed in the bay. About eight I went down to a convenient
spot on the beach, and began giving out a hymn; a
woman and two little children joined us immediately.
Before the hymn was ended, we had a tolerable congre¬
gation, all of whom behaved well: part indeed continued
at forty or fifty yards' distance, but they were all quiet and
attentive.
" It happened, to speak in the vulgar phrase, that three
or four who sailed with us from England, a gentleman, with
his wife and sister, were near relations of the governor.
He came to us this morning; and when I went into
the room behaved with the utmost courtesy. This little
circumstance may remove prejudice, and make a more
open way for the Gospel.
" Soon after we set sail; and after a very pleasant pas¬
sage, through little islands on either hand, we came to the
venerable castle, standing on a rock, about a quarter of a
mile from Guernsey. The isle itself makes a beautiful
appearance, spreading as a crescent to the right and left;
about seven miles long and five broad, part high land and
part low. The town itself is boldly situated, rising high¬
er and higher from the water. The first thing I observed
in it was very narrow streets, and exceedingly high houses.
But we quickly went on to Mr. de Jersey's, hardly a mile
262
LIFE OF THE
from the town. Here I found a most cordial welcome,
both from the master of the house and all his family. I
preached at seven, in a large room, to as deeply serious a
congregation as I ever saw, on ' Jesus Christ, of God
made unto us wisdom, righteousness, sanctification, and
redemption.'
" Monday 20.—We took ship between three and four in
the morning, in a very small inconvenient sloop, and not a
swift sailer, so that we were seven hours in sailing what
is called seven leagues. About eleven we landed at St.
Helier's, and went straight to Mr. Brackenbury's house.
It stands very pleasantly near the end of the town, and
has a large convenient garden, with a lovely range of
fruitful hills, which rise at a small distance from it. I
preached in the evening to an exceedingly, serious congre¬
gation, on Matt, iii, ult. And almost as many were pre¬
sent at five in the morning, whom I exhorted to go on to
perfection, which many of them, Mr. Clarke informs me,
are earnestly endeavouring to do.
" Thursday 23.—I rode to St. Mary's, five or six miles
from St. Helier's, through shady, pleasant lanes. None
at the house could speak English, but I had interpreters
enow. In the evening our large room was thoroughly
filled. I preached on, ' By grace ye are saved, through
faith:' Mr. Brackenbury interpreted sentence by sen¬
tence, and God owned his word, though delivered in so
awkward a manner : but especially in prayer ; I prayed in
English, and Mr. B. in French.
" Saturday 25.—Having no.w leisure, I finished a sermon
on ' Discerning the Signs of the Times.' This morning I
had a particular conversation, (as I had once or twice be¬
fore) with Jeannie Bisson of this town, such a young
woman as I have hardly seen elsewhere. She seems to
be wholly devoted to God, and to have constant commu¬
nion with him. She has a clear and strong understanding,
and I cannot perceive the least tincture of enthusiasm. I
am afraid she will not live long. I am amazed at the grace
of God which is in her. I think she is far beyond Madam
Guion in deep communion with God : and I doubt whether
I have found her fellow in England. Precious as my time
is, it would have been worth my while to come to Jersey,
had it been only to see this prodigy of grace.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
263
" Monday 27.—I thought when I left Southampton to
have been there again at this day; but God's thoughts
were not as my thoughts. Here we are, shut up in Jer¬
sey, for how long we cannot tell. But it is all well; for
thou, Lord, hast done it. It is my part to improve the time
as it is not likely I should ever have another opportunity
of visiting these islands.
"Tuesday 28.—Being still detained by contrary winds, I
preached at six in the evening, to a larger congregation
than ever, in the assembly room. It conveniently contains
five or six hundred people.
" Wednesday 29.—I designed to have followed the blow
in the morning ; but I had quite lost my voice : however,
it was restored in the evening, and I believe all in the
assembly room (more than the last evening) heard dis¬
tinctly, while I explained and applied, 'I saw the dead, small
and great, stand before God.' In the morning, Thursday
30, 1 took a solemn leave of the society. We set out
about nine, said reached St. Peter's in the afternoon.—
Good is the will of the Lord. I trust he has something
more for us to do here also. After preaching to a larger
congregation than was expected, on so short a notice, on,
' God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto himself,' I
returned to Mont Plaisir, to stay just as long as it should
please God. I preached there in the morning, Friday 31,
to a congregation serious as death.
" Saturday, September 1.—This day twelvemonth I was
detained in Holland by contrary winds. All is well, so
we are doing and suffering the will of- our Lord. In the
evening, the storm driving us into the house again, I
strongly exhorted a very genteel audience, (such as I have
rarely seen in England,) to ' ask for the old paths, and
walk therein.'
" Sunday 2.—Being still pent up by the north-east wind,
Dr. Coke preached at six in the morning,to a deeply af¬
fected congregation. I preached at eight, on Rom. viii,
33. At one, Mr. Yivian, a local preacher, preached in
French, the language of the island. At five, as the house
would not contain half the congregation, I preached in a
tolerably sheltered place, on the ' joy there is in heaven
over one sinner that repenteth;' and both high and low
seemed to hear it gladly. I then designed to meet the
2G4
LIFE OF THE
society, but could not. The people pressed so eagerly on
every side, that the house was filled presently; so that I
could only give a general exhortation, 'to walk worthy ol
their profession.'
" I was in hopes of sailing in the morning, Monday 3,
but the storm so increased, that it was judged impractica¬
ble. The congregation, however, in the evening increased
every day; and they appeared to be more and more af¬
fected ; so that I believe we were not detained for nothing:
but for the spiritual and eternal good of many.
" Tuesday 4.—The storm continued, so that we could
not stir. I took a walk to-day, through what is. called the
New Ground, where the gentry are accustomed to walk in
the evening : both the upper ground, which is as level as a
bowling green, and the lower, which is planted with rows
of trees, is wonderfully beautiful. In the evening I fully
delivered my own soul by showing what it is to 'build upon
a rock.' But still we could not sail, the wind being quite
contrary as well as exceedingly high. It was the same on
Wednesday. In the afternoon we drank tea at a friend's
who was mentioning a captain just come from France, that
proposed to sail in the morning for Penzance, for which the
wind would serve, though not for Southampton. In this
we plainly saw the hand of God : so we agreed with him
immediately.
" Penzance, Saturday 8.—Dr. Coke preached at six to
as many as the preaching house would contain. At ten I
was obliged to take the field, by the multitude of people
that flocked together. I found a very uncommon liberty
of speech among them, and cannot doubt but the work of
God will flourish in this place. In the evening I preached
at St. Ives, (but it being the market day, so that I could
not stand, as usual, in the market place,) in a very con¬
venient field at the end of the town, to a very numerous
congregation, I need scarcely add, and very serious ; for
such are all the congregations in the county of Cornwall.
" Sunday 9.—About nine I preached at the copper works,
three or four miles from St. Ives, to a large congregation,
gathered from all parts, I believe ' with the demonstration
of the Spirit.' I then met the society in the preaching
house, which is unlike any other in England, both as to
its form and materials. It is exactly round, and composed
RljlV. JOHN WESLEY.
265
wholly of brazen slags, which I suppose will last as long
as the earth. Between one and two I begun in the mar¬
ket place at Redruth to the largest congregation I ever
saw there. They not only filled all the windows, but sat
on the tops of the houses. About five I began in the
amphitheatre at Gwennap : I suppose we had a thousand
more than ever were there before : but it was all one ; my
voice was strengthened accordingly, so that every one
could hear distinctly.
" London, Sunday, Nov. 4.—The congregation at the
New Chapel was far larger than usual; and the number ot
communicants was so great, that I was obliged to conse¬
crate thrice. Monday 5.—In my way to Dorking, I read
Mr. Duff's Essay on Genius. It is beyond all comparison
deeper and more judicious than Dr. G.'s essay on that
subject. If the doctor had seen it, which one can hardly
doubt, it is a wonder he would publish his essay: yet I
cannot approve of his method. Why does he not first
define his term, that we may know what he is talking
about 1 I doubt, because his own idea of it was not clear.
For genius is not imagination, any more than it is inven¬
tion. If we mean by it a quality of the soul, it is, in its
widest acceptation, an extraordinary capacity either for
some particular art or science, or for all, for whatever may
be undertaken. So Euclid had a genius for mathematics,
Tully for oratory: Aristotle and Lord Bacon had a uni¬
versal genius applicable to every thing.
" Friday 9.—A friend offering to bear my expenses, I set
out in the evening, and on Saturday 10, dined at Notting¬
ham. The preaching house, one of the most elegant in
England, was pretty well filled in the evening.
"Sunday 11.—At ten, we had a lovely congregation;
and a very numerous one in the afternoon : but I believe
the house would hardly contain one half of those that came
to it. 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 every thing about it is so neat, so convenient, and so
well ordered, that I have seen none like it in the three
kingdoms. Monday 12.—In the afternoon we took coach
again, and on Tuesday returned to London.
" Sunday 25.—I preached two charity sermons at West
23
266
LIFE OF THE
street in behalf of our poor children; in which I endea¬
voured to warn them, and all that have the care of them,
against that English sin, ungodliness, that reproach of our
nation, wherein we excel all the inhabitants of the earth.
" Tuesday, Dec. 4.—T retired to Rainham to prepare
another edition of the New Testament for the press.
" London, Sunday 9.—I went down at half an hour past
five, but found no preacher in the chapel, though we had
three or four in the house : so I preached myself. After¬
ward enquiring why none of my family attended the morn¬
ing 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.
" Monday 10.—I was desired to see the celebrated ^ax-
work at the museum in Spring Gardens. It exhibits most
of the crowned heads in Europe, and shows their charac¬
ters in their countenances. Sense and majesty appear in
the king of Spain: dulness and sottishness in the king of
France : infernal subtilty in the late king of Prussia : (as
well as in the skeleton Yoltaire :) calmness and humanity
in the emperor, and king of Portugal: exquisite stupidity
in the prince of Orange : and amazing coarseness, with
every thing that is unamiable, in the Czarina.
" Sunday 16.—After preaching at Spitalfields, I hastened
to St. John's, Clerkenwell, and preached a chanty sermon
for the Finsbury Dispensary, as I would gladly counte¬
nance every institution of the kind.
" Saturday 22.—I yielded to the importunity of a painter,
and sat, an hour and a half in all, for my picture. I think
it is the best that ever was taken. But what is the picture
of a man above fourscore !"
These extracts are from the Journal of 1787, when Mr.
Wesley was in his eighty-fifth year. The labours and
journeys of almost every day are similarly noticed, exhibit¬
ing at once a singular instance of natural strength, sus¬
tained, doubtless, by the special blessing of God, and of
an entire consecration of time to the service of mankind,
of which no similar example is probably on record, and
which is rendered still more wonderful by the consi¬
deration that it had been continued for more than half a
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
267
century, on the same scale of exertion, and almost without
intermission. The vigour of his mind at this age is also
as remarkable; the same p^wer of acute observation as
formerly is manifested; the same taste for reading and.
criticism ; the same facility in literary composition. Nor
is the buoyant cheerfulness of his spirit a less striking
feature. Nothing of the old man of unrenewed mature
appears ; no forebodings of evil; no querulous compari¬
sons of the present with the'past;—there is the same
delight in the beautiful scenes of nature ; the same enjoy¬
ment of conversation, provided it had the two qualities ot
usefulness and brevity; the same joy in hopeful appear¬
ances of good; and the same tact at turning the edge of
little discomforts and disappointments by the power of an
undisturbed equanimity. Above all we see the man of
one business, living only to serve God and his generation,
"instant in season and out of season," seriously intent,
not upon doing so much duty, but upon saving souls ; and
preaching, conversing, and writing for this end alone. And
yet this is the man whom we still sometimes see made the
object of the sneers of infidel or semi-infidel philosophers;
and whom book makers, when they have turned the inter¬
esting points of his character and history into a marketable
commodity, endeavoqr to dress up in the garb of a fanatic,
or a dreamer, by way of rendering their works more ac¬
ceptable to frivolous readers^—the man to whose labours,
few even of the evangelical clergy of the National Church
have the heart or the courage to do justice; forgetting
how much that improved state of piety which exists in the
Establishment is owing to the indirect influence of his long
life of labour, and his successful ministry ; and that even
very many ofthemselves have sprung from families where
Methodism first lighted the lamp of religious knowledge,
and produced a religious influence. It will indeed provoke
a smile, to observe what effort often discovers itself in
writers of this party, when referring to the religious state
of the nation in the last and present century, to keep this
Apostolic man wholly out of sight, as though he had never
existed ; feeling, we suppose, that because he did not con¬
form to the order of their Church in all particulars, it
would be a sin against their own orthodoxy even to name
him as one of those great instruments in the hands of God.
268
LIFE OF THE
who; in mercy to these lands, were raised up to effect that
vast moral and religious change the benefits of which they
themselves so richly enjoy. This may be attributed not
only to that exclusive spirit which marks so many of the
clergy of this class, even beyond others, notwithstanding
their piety and general excellence, but to the Calvinism
which many of them have imbibed. The evangelical
Arminianism of Wesley has been forgiven by the orthodox
Dissenters ; but, by a curious anomaly, not by the Calvin-
istic party of the Church.—It is probably better understood
by the former.*
* The following passage from a sermon lately preached in his
diocess, by Bishop Coplestone, may be quoted both as a better speci¬
men of the spirit of a Churcnman than that above referred to, and as,
perhaps, the only instance in which any thing approaching to a due
estimate of Mr. Wesley's character, and the value of his labours, has
been suffered publicly to escape the lips of a prelate. It was dictated
evidently by a candid' and liberal feeling, though not without being
influenced by some of those mistaken views which will be corrected
at the close of this account of Mr. Wesley's life :—
"And here, not only candour and equity, but a just sense of the
constitution of Christ's church, compels rne to draw a marked line of
distinction between those whose religious assemblies are supplemen¬
tary, as it were, to our own establishment, offering spiritual comfort
and instruction to. hundreds unable to find it ebewliere, and those
organized communities which exclude from tb' .r society any that
communicate in the blessed sacrament of the Lo d's Supper with the
National Church.
" Of the former, I would not only think and speak mildly, but in
many cases I would commend the piety and zeal which animates them,
full of danger as it is to depart from the Apostolic ordinance, even in
matters 01 outward discipline and order. The author and founder of
those societies (for he was careful himself to keep them from being
formed into a sect) was a regularly ordained minister, a man orthodox
in his belief, simple and disinterested in his own views, and adorned
with the most amiable and distinguishing virtues of a true Christian.
He found thousands of his countrymen, though nominally Christians,
' yet as ignorant of true Christianity as infidels and Heathens ; and in
tob many instances (it is useless to conceal or disguise the fact) igno¬
rant, either through the inattention of the government in not providing
for increased numbers, or through the carelessness and neglect of those
whom the National Church had appointed to be their pastors.
" But the beginning of schism, like that of strife, is as when one
lettcth out water. The gentle stream of piety and benevolence in
which this practice originated, irrigating only and refreshing some
parched or barren lands, soon became a swelling and rapid torrent,
widening as it flowed on, and opening for itself a breach which it
may yet require the care and prudence of ages to close. And even
the pious author himself was not proof against that snare of Satan
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
269
At the time to which the above extracts from his Jour¬
nal refer, Mr,. Wesley, had", however, no reason to com¬
plain of any want of respect, or of a due appreciation of
his labours by the serious of all parties, although he re-
which, through the vanity and weakness of human nature led him in
his latter years to assume the authority of an Ap- -stle, and to esta¬
blish a fraternity within the Church, to be called after his own name,
and to remain a lasting monument of his activity aha zeal. But over
errors such as these let us cast a veil; and rather rejoice in reflecting
on the many whom he reclaimed from sin and wickedness, and taught
to seek for salvation through the merits of their Saviour.
" Of such, I repeat, wherever a like deficiency of religious means is
found, we ought to speak, not only with tenderness, but with brother¬
ly love and esteem."
It seems pretty obvious that Bishop Coplestone has taken his im¬
pressions from Southey's Life of the Founder of Methodism, although
somewhat modified by better views of spiritual religion. The moral
destitution of the country, and the negligence of the Church are
acknowledged, as well as the'important effects produced by Mr.
Wesley's labours, at least in their early stages; and yet these results
are spoken of as somewhat of a religious calamity! The beginning of
"schism," as to church order, is compared to the letting out of water;
and a fearful "breach" out of the Established Church completes the
picture. How little does this' sensible and amiable bishop know of the
facts of the case!—as for instance, 1. That the Methodist societies
were in great part gathered not out of church-goers, but church-
neglecters. 2. That the effect was generally, for many years, to increase
the attendance at church, and to lay the foundation in a great num¬
ber of places, especially in the more populous towns, of large church
congregations which have continued to this day. 3. That the still
more extensive and ultimate result was, after persecution or silent
contempt had been tried in vain, and when it was found that obsti¬
nate perseverance in neglect would not be any longer tolerated, that the
Establishment was roused into an activity by which it has doubtless
been greatly benefited as far as respects its moral influence, the only
influence of a church which can be permanent or valuable. 4. That
very fe w of the Methodists of the present day would in all probability
have been, in any sense which Bishop Coplestone would value,
Church people; and so this supposed loss of ecclesiastical members
affords but an imaginary ground for the regrets with which he seems
to surround it. The intimation of Mr. Wesley's ambition is imitated
from Southey. But of this enough has been said in refutation. Bishop
Coplestone indeed regards it mildly as an infirmity, which he would
charitably cover with Mr. Wesley's numerous and eminent virtues.
That is kind; but Mr. Wesley himself would have taken a severer
view of this " weakness," had he been conscious of the passion of am¬
bition, in the sense in which it is here used. One might ask this
respectable prelate to review the case, and say where Mr. Wesley,
allowing him his conscientious conviction that he was bound to inces¬
sant activity in doing good to the souls of men, could have stopped 1
how he could have disposed of his societies, in the then existing state
23*
270
LIFE OF THE
garded it not with improper exultation, but passed through
" honour," as he had passed through " dishonour" in the
former years of his life, as "seeing Him who is invisible."
This period of his life must have been to him, on a much
higher account, one of rich reflection. In his Journal of
1785, March 24, he observes,—" I was now considering
how strangely the grain of mustard seed, planted about
fifty years ago, had grown up. It has 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 that religion is in holy tempers, and striving to-
worship God, not in form only, but likewise in spirit and in.
truth."
He must, indeed, have been insensible to the emotions
of a generous nature, had he not felt an honest satisfaction,
that he had lived down calumnies ; and that where mobs
formerly awaited him, he met with the kind and cheering
attentions of the most respectable persons of all religious
persuasions, in every part of the country. But, more than
this, he could compare the dearth and barrenness of one
age with the living verdure and fertility of another. Long-
forgotten truths had been made familiar;—a neglected
population had been brought within the range of Christian
instruction, and the constant preaching of the word of life
by faithful men;—religious societies had been raised up
through the land, generally distinguished by piety and
zeal;—by the blessing of God upon the labours of Mr.
Whitefield, and others of his first associates, the old
Dissenting Churches had been quickened into life, and
new ones multiplied; the Established Church had been
of the Church ? And whether, if he had this " ambition " to be the
head of a sect, his whole life did not lay restraints upon it, since, from
nearly the very first outset of his itinerancy and success, it has been
shown in this work, by extracts from the Minutes of his first con¬
ferences, that he took views of ecclesiastical polity which then set
him quite at liberty, had he chosen it, to form his societies into a regu¬
lar Church, to put himself at their head, and to kindle up a spirit ot
hostility to the Establishment, and of warm partizanship in his own
favour, throughout the land ? A vicious ambition would have pre¬
ferred this course. But it is not necessary to anticipate the remarks
which will follow on these subjects.
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
271
awakened from her lethargy; the number of faithful
ministers in her parishes greatly multiplied ; the influence
of religion spread into the colonies, and the United States
of America; and above all, a vast multitude, the fruit of
his own ministerial zeal and faithfulness, had, since the
time in which he commenced his labours, departed into a
better world. These thoughts must often have passed
through his mind, and inspired his heart with devout
thanksgivings, although no allusion is ever made to them
in a boastful manner. For the past, he knew to whom
the praise belonged ; and the future he left to God, certain
at least of meeting in heaven a greater number of glorified
spirits of whose salvation he had been, under God, the
instrument, than any minister of modern ages. That
" joyful hope" may explain an incident, which occurred
toward the close of life, at the City Road Chapel, London.
After prayers had been read one Sunday forenoon, he
ascended the pulpit; where, instead of announcing the
hymn immediately, he, to the great surprise of the congre¬
gation, stood silent, with his eyes closed, for the space of
at least ten minutes, wrapt in thought; and then with a
feeling which at once conveyed to. all present the subject
which had so absorbed his attention, gave out the hymn
commencing with the lines :—
" Come, let us join our friends above,
Who have obtained the prize," &c.
It was also his constant practice to preach on All Saints'
Day, which was with him a favourite festival, on commu¬
nion with the saints in heaven ; a practice probably arising
out of the same delightful association of remembrances
and hope.
On his attaining his eighty-fifth year, he makes the
following reflections :—
" I this day enter on my eighty-fifth year. 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,
£ am not so agile as £ 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
272
LIFE OF THE
time 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 once did,) 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 con¬
tinue 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 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, 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!'"
And, referring to some persons in the nation who
thought themselves endowed with the gift of prophecy, he
adds, " If this is to be the last year of my life, according to
some of these prophets, 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.'"
rev. john wesley.
273
CHAPTER XIV.
The brothers, whose affection no differences of opinion
and no conflicts of party, could diminish, were now to be
separated by death. Of the last days of Mr. Charles
Wesley, Dr. Whitehead gives the following account:—
" Mr. Charles Wesley had a weak body, and a poor
state of health, during the greatest part of his life. I
believe he laid the foundation of both at Oxford by too
close application to study, and abstinence from food. He
rode much on horseback, which probably contributed to
lengthen out life to a good old age. I visited him several
times in his last sickness; and his body was indeed
reduced to the most extreme state of weakness. He pos¬
sessed that state of mind which he had been always
pleased to see in others,—unaffected humility, and holy
resignation to the will of God. He had no transports of
joy, but- solid hope and unshaken confidence in Christ,
which kept his mind in perfect peace. A few days before
his death he composed the following lines. Having been
silent and quiet for some time, he called Mrs. Wesley to
him, and bid her write as he dictated :—
'In age and feebleness extreme,
Who shall a sinful worm redeem ?
Jesus, my only hope thou art,
Strength of my failing flesh and heart;
O could I catch a smile from thee,
And drop into eternity !'
" He died, March 29th, 1788, aged seventy-nine years
and three months ; and was buried, April 5th, in Mary-
bone church yard at his own desire. The pall was sup¬
ported by eight clergymen of the Church of England. On
his tomb stone are the following lines, written by himself
on the death of one of his friends: they could not be
more aptly applied to any person than to Mr. Charles
Wesley:—
' With poverty of spirit bless'd,
Rest, happy saint, in Jesus rest;
A sinner sav'd, through grace forgiven,
Redeem'd from earth to reign in heaven!
Thy labours of unwearied love,
By thee forgot, are crown'd above;
Crown'd through the mercy of thy Lord,
With a free, full, immense reward!'
274
LIFE OF THE
" Mr. Charles Wesley was of a warm and lively dispo¬
sition, of great frankness and integrity, and generous and
steady in his friendships. In conversation he was pleas¬
ing, instructive, and cheerful; and his observations were
often seasoned with wit and humour. His religion was
genuine and unaffected. As a minister, he was familiarly
acquainted with every part of divinity; and his mind was
furnished with an uncommon knowledge of the Scriptures.
His discourses from the pulpit were not dry and systematic,
but flowed from the present views and feelings of his own
mind. He had a remarkable talent of expressing the mosl
important truths with simplicity and energy; and his dis¬
courses were sometimes truly Apostolic, forcing conviction
on the hearers in spite of the most determined opposition.
As a husband, a father, and a friend, his character was
amiable. Mrs. Wesley brought him five children, of whom
two sons and a daughter are still living.* The sons dis¬
covered so fine a taste for music, at an early period of life,
*Miss Wesley, a lady of eminent talents, and great excellence,
died September 19, 1828. * t
It would be improper to withhold, as I have them before me, in
the unpublished letters with which I have been favoured, some inci¬
dental remarks of the late Miss Wesley, on the character of her
father:—
" Mr. Moore seems to think that my father preferred rest to going
about to do good. He had a rising family, and considered it his duty
to confine his labours to Bristol and London, where he laboured most
sedulously in ministerial offices ; and judged that it was incumbent
upon him to watch over the youth of his sons, especially in a profes¬
sion which nature so strongly pointed out, but which was peculiarly
dangerous. He always said his brother was formed to lead, and he
to follow. No one ever more rejoiced in another's superiority, or was
more willing to confess it. Mr. Moore's statement of his absence of
mind in his younger days, was probably correct, as he was born
impetuous, and ardent, and sincere. But what a change must have
taken place when we were born! For his exactness in his accounts,
in his manuscripts, in his bureau, &c, equalled my uncle's. Not in
his dress, indeed; for my mother said, if she did not watch over
him, he might have put on an old for a new coat, and marched out.
Such was his power of abstraction, that he could read and compose,
with his children in the room, and visiters talking around him. He
was near forty when he married, and had eight children, of whom we
were the youngest. So kind and amiable a character in domestic life
can scarcely be imagined. The tenderness he showed in every weak¬
ness, and the sympathy in every pain, would fill sheets to describe.
But, I am not writing his eulogy; only I must add, with so warm a
temper, he never was heard to speak an angry word to a servant, or
known to strike a child in anger,—and he knew no guile!"
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
275
that they excited general astonishment; and they are now
justly admired by the best judges for their talents in that
pleasing art. The Methodists are greatly indebted to
Charles Wesley for his.unwearied labours and great use¬
fulness at the first formation of the societies, when every
step was attended with difficulty and danger. And being-
dead he yst speaketh by his numerous and excellent hymn*
written for the use of the societies, which still continue to
be the means of daily edification and comfort to thousands."
(Whitehead's Life.)
For the spiritual advantages which the Methodists have
derived from his inestimable hymns, which are in constant
use in their congregations, as well as for his early labours,
the memory of Mr. Charles Wesley indeed deserves to be
had in their everlasting remembrance ; and they are not
insensible of the value of the gift. Their, taste has been
formed by this high standard ; and, notwithstanding all the
charges of illiteracy, and want of mental cultivation, which
have been often brought against them, we may venture to
say, there are few collections of psalms and hymns in use
in any other congregations, that would, as a whole, be
tolerated amongst them ;—so powerful has been the effect
produced by his superior compositions. The clear and
decisive character of the religious experience which they
describe; their force, and life, and earnestness; com¬
mended them, at the first, to the piety of the societies, and,
through that, insensibly elevated the judgment of thousands,
who, otherwise, might have relished, as strongly as others,
the rudeness of the old version of the Psalms, the tame-
ness of the new, and the tinsel metaphors and vapid sen-
timentalisms which disfigure numerous compositions of
different authors, in most collections of hymns in use. It
would seem, indeed, from the very small number of really
good psalms and hymns, which are adapted to public wor¬
ship and the use of religious societies, that this branch of
sacred poetry has not been very successfully cultivated;
and that the conduction of genius, judgment, and taste,
requisite to produce them, is very rarely found. Germany
is said to be more abundant in good hymns than England ;
and some of the most excellent of the Wesleyan hymns are
imitations of German hymns admirably versified. But in our
language the number is small. Hymns, indeed, abounding
276
• LIFE OF THE
in sweet thoughts, though often feebly expressed, and such
as may be used profitably in the closet or the family circle,
are not so rare. But the true sacred lyric, suited for
public worship, and the select assemblies of the devout,
is as scarce as it is valuable. From the rustic rhyming of
Sternhold and Hopkins, to the psalms and hymns of Dr..
Watts, the advance was indeed unspeakably great. A few,
however, only of the latter, in comparison of the whole
number, are unexceptionable throughout. When they are
so, they leave nothing to be desired; but many of Dr.
Watts's compositions begin well, often nobly, and then fall
off into dulness and puerility; and not a few are utterly
worthless, as being poor in thought, and still more so in
expression. The piety and sweetness of Doddridge's
hymns must be felt; but they are often verbose and lan¬
guid, and withal faulty and affected in their metaphors.
The Olney Collection has many delightful hymns for pri¬
vate use ; but they are far from being generally fit for the
public services of religion, and are often in bad taste ; not
even excepting many of Cowper's. This may be spoken
without irreverence, for the greatest poets have not proved
the best hymn makers. Milton made but one tolerable
psalm ; and still more modern poets of note have seldom
fully redeemed the credit of their class. The fact seems
to be, that when the mind is very rich in sentiment and
imagery, those qualities are usually infused into sacred
song in too large proportions. Sentiment and genuine
religious feeling are things quite distinct, and seldom har¬
monize ; at least, though they may sometimes approach to
the verge of each other, they will not amalgamate; and
exuberance of'metaphor is inconsistent with strong and
absorbing devotion, and proves too artificial to express the
natural language of the heart. The talent of correct and
vigorous versification is, for these reasons^ more likely to
produce the true " spiritual song" than luxuriance of ima¬
gination and great creative genius, provided the requisite
theological and devotional qualities &e also present. A
hymn suitable for social worship ought to be terse and
vigorous ; and it is improved when every verse closes with
a sense so full and pointed as frequently to make some
approach to the character of the ancient epigram ; or, as
Mr. Montgomery has happily expressed it, " each stanza
REV JOHN WESLEY.
277
should be a poetical tune, played down to the last note."
The meaning ought also to be so obvious as to be compre¬
hended at once, that men may speak to God directly,
without being distracted by .investigating the real meaning
of the words put into their lips. And when metaphor is
efficiently employed, it must be generally such as the
Scriptures have already sanctioned; for with their imagery,
we are all familiar, and it stands consecrated to the service
of the sanctuary by inspired authority. Y et even this ought
not to • be adopted in an extended form, approaching to
allegory; and is always more successful when rather lightly
touched and suggested, than when dwelt upon with parti¬
cularity. Cowper's fine hymn on Providence is greatly
improved by omitting the stanza
" His purposes will ripen fast,
Unfolding every hour;
The bud may have a bitter taste,
But sweet will be the flower."
This is a figure not only not found in sacred inspired
poetry, but which has too much prettiness to be the vehicle
of a sublime thought, and the verse has moreover the fault
of an absurd antithesis, as well as a false rhyme. Many
modern hymns are indeed as objectionable from the cha¬
racter of their imagery., as from the meagreness of their
thoughts; and there are a few somewhat popular, which
leaving out or changing a few sacred terms, would chime
agreeably enough to the most common sentimental sub¬
jects.
To Dr. Watts and to Mr. Charles Wesley the largest
share of gratitude is due, in modern times, from the
churches of Christ, for that rich supply bf " psalms and
hymns and spiritual songs," in which the assemblies of
the pious may make melody unto the Lord, in strains
which "angels might often delight to hear." No others
are to be named with these sweet singers of the spiritual
Israel; and it is probable that, through the medium of their
verse chiefly, will the devotions of our churches be poured
forth till time shall be no more. No other poets ever
attained such elevation as this. They honoured God in
their gifts, and God has thus honoured them to be the
mouth of his people to him, in their solemn assemblies, in
their private devotions, and in the struggles of death itself.
24
278
LIFE OF THE
It would be an unpardonable task to compare the merits
of these two great psalmists. Each had excellencies not
found in the other. Watts, however, excels Mr. Charles
Wesley, only in the sweeter Jlow of his numbers, and in
the feeling and sympathy of those of his hymns which are
designed to administer comfort to the afflicted. In compo
sition, he was, in all respects, decidedly his inferior,—in
good taste, classic elegance, uniformity of excellence, cor¬
rect rhyming, and vigour. As to the theology of theii
hymns respectively, leaving particular doctrines out of the
question, the great truths of religious experience are also
far more clearly and forcibly embodied by Mr. Charles
Wesley than by Dr. Watts. Most justly does his brother
say of them in his Preface to " the Collection of Hymns
for the use of the people called ■ Methodists," of which,
only a few are his own, and almost all the rest fropi the
pen of Mr. Charles Wesley,—" In these hymns, there is
no doggerel, no botches, nothing put in to patch up the
rhyme, no feeble expletives. Here is nothing turgid or
bombastic, on the one hand, or low and creeping on the
other. Here are no cant expressions, no words without
meaning. Here are (allow me to say) both the purity, the
strength and the elegance of the English language ; and,
at the same time, the utmost simplicity and plainness,
suited to every capacity."*
* In this collection, beside a few hymns by Mr. John Wesley, there
are four or five from Dr. Watts. Several are translations by the
Wesleys: one from the Spanish, " O God, my God, my all thou art,"
&c: one from the French, "Come Saviour Jesus, from above:" and
the others from the German hymns of the Lutheran and Moravian
Churches. Severed, of these translated hymns Mr. Montgomery has
inserted in his " Psalmist," and marked " Moravian." They appear
indeed in the Moravian Hymn Book, but in departments there, in
which are also found the hymns ofDr.Watts and other English authors.
The preface of the edition of'1754, the first authorized collection of the
English Moravians, and which embodies their former unauthorized
publications, acknowledges "the foregoing labours of Mr. Jacobi and
the Rev. Mr. Wesley" in the translation of German hymns of the six¬
teenth and seventeenth centuries, beside extracts of English ones of
tire eighteenth, from "Watts, Stennett, Davis,Erskine,Wesley," &c;
which acknowledgment was no doubt overlooked by Mr. Montgo¬
mery. The hymns translated by the Wesleys, and said by Mr.
Montgomery in his collection to be " Moravian" are, " Thou hidden
love of God, whose height" Thee will I love, my strength, my
tower;" "Shall I for fear of feeble man"O thou who earnest from
above" Now I have found the ground wherein;" " My soul before
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
279
Few persons ever wrote so much poetry of the sacred
and devotional kind, as Mr, Charles Wesley. It amounts
thee prostrate liesand " Holy Lamb, who thee receive." Now all
these were published by theWesleys before the Moravian Hymn
Book of 1754, in which the " foregoing labours of Mr. Wesley," in
translating from the German are acknowledged; and indeed most of
them appear in the very first hymn books published by John and
Charles Wesley, two of which bear date so early as 1739, fifteen
years previous to the publication of the authorized Moravian Collec¬
tion. As translations, they are not therefore " Moravianand, when
they are translated from " the German," it does not follow that they
all have a Moravian original, though some of them may; for the
Moravian German book, like the English,#as we learn from the preface
to their English hymn book, " consists as well of hymns out of pre¬
ceding church collections of their neighbours as of others composed by
themselves." The hymn, " High on his everlasting throne," marked
" Moravian" by Mr. Montgomery, and mentioned also in his preface,
is a Moravian German hymn ; but the translation is by Mr. Charles
Wesley; whilst" Give to the winds thy fears," also marked Moravian,
is a German hymn of the Lutheran Church, and the translation is Mr,
Charles Wesley's, pf this hymn there is a version in the Moravian
English Hymn Book; the last stanza of which, when placed beside
Mr. C. Wesley's, will show with what strength of internal evidence
his translations distinguish themselves:—■
Wesley's. Moravian.
Thou seest our weakness, Lora,« O Lord, thou seest our weakness,
Our hearts are known to thee: Yet know'st what our hearts mean
O lift thou up the sinking hand, Against desponding slackness,
Confirm the feeble knee 1 Our feeble knees sustain.
Let us in life'and death, Till, and beyond death's valley,
Thy steadfast truth declare; Let us thy truth declare;
And publish with our latest breath Yea, then emphatically,
Thy love and guardian care. Boast of thy guardian care.
Some other comparisons might be made between Mr. C. Wesley's
translations from German hymns and those from the same originals
found in the Moravian Hymn Book, which would sufficiently show
that the Moravians, then at least, had no translator into English verse
at all comparable to him; and indeed they had sufficient taste gene¬
rally to adopt his translations in preference. But this is no reason
why he should lose the credit of his own admirable performances in
this department. Respect to literary justice has drawn out this note
to so great a length; and it was the more necessary to state the
matter correctly, because Mr. Montgomery's " Psalmist" might in
future mislead. The first editions of the Hymns and Sacred Poems,
by the Wesleys, viz. those of 1739, 1743, and 1745, in which most of
the above hymns are found, with several others*in the Moravian
Hymn Book, are now become scarce, and in a few years may not be
forthcoming to correct the error. For this reason it may also be
noticed that Mr. Montgomery has inserted in his Collection several
hymns by Charles Wesley as the composition of" authors unknown."
These, too, are found in the early editions of the Wesley Hymns and
Poems, and in some later ones, as, " Come let us who in Christ
believe;" " Come, O thou all-victorious Lord" Fountain of being,
280
LIFE OF THE
to forty-eight distinct publications of different sizes, from
the duodecimo volume, to the pamphlet of one or two sheets.
Beside what is published, several thick quarto volumes
of poetry in MS. remain, chiefly consisting of brief illus¬
trations or paraphrases of the leading texts in the Gospels
and Acts of the Apostles, and not inferior to his " Short
Hymns on the chief passages of the Old and New Testa
ments," which have passed through several editions. A few
of his poems are playful, a few others are keenly satirical.
He satirized his brother's ordinations, and the preachers ;
but, High Churchman as he was, he is very unsparing in
the use of his poetic whip upon the persecuting and irre¬
ligious clergy. Of this, some of his published, and several
of his unpublished paraphrases, on passages of the Gospels,
and the Acts of the Apostles, in which the persecuting deeds
source of good;" "God of my life, whose gracious powe#;" "Jesus,
my strength, my hope" Jesus, the name high over all" Leader
of faithful souls, and guide" O that thou would'st the heavens rent
" Spirit of truth, come down " Thee, O my God and King" Thy
ceaseless, unexhausted love and, "When quiet in my Louse I sit."
There are two ways of accounting for Mr. Montgomery's want of
information as to these hymns ;•—that -he was not in possession of the
early editions of hymns published by John and Charles Wesley ;—
and that some of the hymns in the hymn book in use amongst us,
which he has ascribed to authors unknown, are parts of longer hymns,
and were selected by Mr. John Wesley from his brother's poetry,
sometimes from the middle or end of a piece, so that the first lines
would not be found in the old indexes when consulted. Mr. Charles
Wesley's hymns have not been unfrequently claimed for others, with¬
out any design to be unjust. In the Christian Observer, a few years
ago, that exquisite production ofone of his happiest moments, "Jesus,
lover of my soul," was assigned to Mr. Madan, although published
by Mr. Charles Wesley, in the year 1743; and the translation from
the French, "Come, Saviour Jesus, from above," is found in the
poetical works of Dr. John Byrom, published in 1773, although it
appears in the Wesley "Hymns and Poems" of 1739. The proba¬
bility is, that a copy of it was found among Byrom's papers, and so
the editor of his Poems concluded it to be his. A correct list of the
different editions of the Hymns and Sacred Poems published by the
Wesleys will be found in the last volume of Wesley's Works, recently
completed. The editions of 1739 are scarce, and it ought to be noticed
that there are two distinct works published under the same title of
" Hymns and Sacred Poems," each bearing that date. The hymn
book now in use was compiled by Mr. John Wesley out of tl^e pre¬
ceding hymn books, of different sizes and editions, and from his bro
ther's " Festival Hymns," " Scripture Hymns," &c. The whole
underwent his severe criticism, and he abridged and corrected them
with a taste and judgment which greatly increased their value.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
281
of the Scribes and Pharisees are recorded, afford some caus¬
tic specimens ;* and sufficiently indicate that he did not bear
the contumely and opposition of his High Church brethren
with the equanimity and gentleness of his brother John.
He also took a part in the Calvinistic controversy, by
writing his Hymns or Poems on God's universal love. But
by far the greater part of his poetry was consecrated to
promote the work of God in the heart. Never were its
different branches, from the first awakening of the soul out
of the sleep of sin, to its state of perfected holiness, with
all its intermediate conflicts and exercises, more justly or
scripturally expressed; and there is, perhaps, no uninspired
book from which, as to "the deep things of God," so
much is to be learned, as from his hymn book in use in
the Methodist congregations. The funeral hymns in this
collection have but little of the softness of sorrow,—per¬
haps too little ; but they are written in that fulness of faith,
which exclaims over the open tomb,—" Thanks be to God
who givethus the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ."
The hymns on the last day are characterized also by the
same unflinching faith, which, rejoicing in the smile of the
Judge, defies the wild uproar of elements, and the general
conflagration itself. In several of these, Mr. Charles
* As almost all the family were poets, so they were all charac¬
terized by a vein of satire. This they appear to have inherited from
their father, whose wit was both ready and pungent. The following
is an instance copied from the Gentleman's Magazine, for the year
1802 :~
" The authenticity of the following extempore grace by the Rev.
Samuel Wesley, (father of the Rev. John,) formerly rector ofEpworth,
may be relied on. It is given on the authority of the late William
Barnard, Esq. of Gainsborough, whose father, the preserver of John
from the fire of 1707, was present at the time it was spoken, at Tem¬
ple Belwood, after dinner. Mr. P., at whose house they dined, was
a strange compound of avarice and oddity; many of his singularities
are still remembered.
' Thanks for this feast, for 'tis no less
Than eating manna in the wilderness;
Here meagre Famine bears controlless sway,
And ever drives each fainting wretch away
Yet here, (O how beyond a saint's belief!)
We've seen the glories of a chine of beef;
Here chimneys smoke, which never smoked before,
And we have dined, where we shall dine no more.'"
The design of this odd extemporaneous effusion we are bound to
believe, was not to indulge in levity, but to convey a useful reproof,
282
LIFE OF THE
Wesley has admirably Christianized the "just man" of
Horace, dreadless, amidst the ruins of a world ;
" Sifractus Ulabatur orbis,
Impavidum ferient ruince
[If a dissolved world should fall upon him, its ruins would strike
him fearless;]
placing the same fine thought in various aspects, and illus¬
trating it by different circumstances. His hymns of invi¬
tation are sweet and persuasive ; and those on justification
by faith, admirably illustrative of that important doctrine.
Of the value set upon this Hymn book by the Methodist
congregations, this is a sufficient proof, that above sixty
thousand copies are sold yearly in the United Kingdom
alone.* The number in the United States of America
must be considerably larger.
With reference to his brother's poetry, a remark is inci¬
dentally and somewhat oddly introduced, by Mr. Wesley,
in his Journal of 1790, Jan. 28:
"1 retired to Peckham, and at leisure hours read part
of a very pretty trifle, the life of Mrs. Bellamy. Surely
never did any since John Dryden study more
' To make vice pleasing, and damnation shine.'
than this lively and elegant writer. She has a fine ima¬
gination, a strong understanding, an easy style, improved
by much reading; a fine, benevolent temper, and every
qualification that could consist with a total ignorance of
God: but God was not in all her thoughts. Abundance
of anecdotes she inserts, which may be true or false. One
of them, concerning Mr. Garrick, is curious : she says,
' When he was taking ship for England, a lady presented
him with a parcel, which she desired him not to open till he
was at sea. When he did, he found Wesley's Hymns,
which he immediately threw over board.' I cannot believe
it. I think Mr. G. had more sense. He knew my brother
well. And he knew him to be not only far superior in
learning, but in poetry, to Mr. Thomson, and all his thea¬
trical writers put together : none of them can equal him,
* As the number of hymns in this book, adapted for mixed congre¬
gations and festival occasions, was not thought sufficient, a supplement
is now added ; containing about an equal number of hymns, by Mr.
Charles Wesley, and by other authors. Some of the best hymns he
ever wrote are found in this smaller collection, chiefly on the festivals.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
283
either in strong nervous sense, or purity and elegance of
language. The musical compositions of his sons are not
more excellent than the poetical ones of their father."
The last end of the truly venerable John Wesley was
now also approaching.. He was on his regular pastoral
visit to Ireland, when he entered his eighty-seventh year,
on which he remarks in his Journal. " This day I enter
on my eighty-seventh year. 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 decay¬
ed, 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 stubborn¬
ness, by the decrease of my understanding, or peevishness*
by the increase of bodily infirmities : but thou shalt answer
for me, O Lord my God !"
Notwithstanding these infirmities, we find him still act¬
ing under the impression—" I must be about my Father's
business." Although in comparison of his former rapidity
of movement, he crept rather than ran ; it was still in the
same ceaseless course of service. After holding the Irish
Conference in Dublin, and the English Conference at
Leeds, in August, he returned to London; from thence
he set out to Bristol, and proceeded on his usual tour
through the west of England, and Cornwall. Notwith¬
standing his regular visits to Cornwall, he appears, from
some reason, not to have turned aside to Falmouth, since
the time of his preaching there forty years before, when he
met with so violent a reception. He now paid that place
a visit, and remarks,—" The last time I was here, about
forty years ago, I was taken prisoner by an immense mob,
gaping and roaring like lions ; but how is the tide turned !
High and low now lined tile streets from one end of the
town to the other, out of stark love and kindness, gaping
and staring as if the king were going by. In the evening
I preached on the smooth top of the hill, at a small dis¬
tance from the sea, to the largest congregation I have
ever seen in Cornwall, except in or near Redruth; and
such a time I have not known before, since I returned
from Ireland, God moved wonderfully on the hearts
284
LIFE OF THE
of the people, who all seemed to know the day of their
visitation."
From Cornwall he returned by way of Bristol and Bath
to London. In the early part of the next year, we find him
again at Bristol; from whence he proceeded, preaching at
several of the intermediate towns, to Birmingham ; and
from thence through Staffordshire to Madeley, where we
find the following affecting entry in his Journal:—
" At nine I preached to a select congregation on the
deep things of God; and in the evening on, ' He is able
to save unto the uttermost all them that come unto God
through him.' Friday 26, I finished my sermon on the
'Wedding Garment;' perhaps-the last that I shall write.
My eyes are now waxed dim. My natural force is abated;
however, while I can, I would fain do a little for God, be¬
fore I drop into the dust."
The societies in Cheshire, Lancashire, and the north of
England, once more, and for the last time, saw the man,
to whom, under God, they owed their religious existence.
On his return southward, he passedthrough theEast Riding
of Yorkshire, to Hull; preaching in every place as on the
brink of eternity. He also visited Epworth, and various
parts of Lincolnshire; and, upon attaining his .eighty-eighth
year, has the following reflections :—
" 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 pro¬
bably 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.'"
' This," says Dr. Whitehead, " at length was literally
the case ; the death of Mr. Wesley, like that of his brother
Charles, being one of those rare instances in which nature,
drooping under the load of years, sinks by a gentle decay
For several years preceding his death, this decay was, per¬
haps, more visible to others than to himself, particularly by
a more frequent disposition to sleep during the day, by a
growing defect in memory, a faculty he once possessed in
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
285
a high .degree of perfection, and by a general diminution
of the vigour and agility he had so long enjoyed. His
labours, however, suffered little interruption; and when
the summons came, it found him, as he always wished it
should, in the harness, still occupied in his Master's work!"
Still his Journal records his regular visitation of the
principal places where societies existed, and exhibits the
same variety and raciness of remark on men and books,
and other subjects, although writing must, at'that time,
have become exceedingly difficult to him from the failure
of his sight. This most interesting record of unparalleled
labours "in the Gospel" was, for this reason, it is pre¬
sumed, discontinued, and closes on Sunday, October
24th, 1790, when he states that he preached twice at
Spitalfields church. He continued, however, during the
autumn and winter,.to visit various places till February,
continually praying, " Lord, let me not live to be useless."
The following account of his last days is taken from the
Memoir prefixed to the edition of his Works by the Rev.
Joseph Benson, and is there inserted as a proper close to
his Journal:—
" He preached, as usual, in dlkerent places in London
and its vicinity, generally meeting the society after preach¬
ing in each place, and exhorting them to love as brethren,
to fear God, and honour the king, which he wished them
to consider as his last advice. He then usually, if not in¬
variably, concluded, with giving out that verse,—
10 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.'
' He proceeded in this way till the usual time of his
leaving London approached, when, with a view to take his
accustomed journey through Ireland or Scotland, he sent
his chaise and horses before him to Bristol, and took places
for himself and his friend in the Bath coach. But his mind,
with all its vigour, could no longer uphold his worn-out
atid sinking body. Its powers ceased, although by slow
and almost imperceptible degrees, to perform their sundry
offices, until, as he often expressed himself,
' The weary wheels of life stood still at last.'
"Thursday, February 17, 1791, he preached at Lam
286
L'FE OF THE
beth ; but, on his return, seemed much indisposed, and
said, he had taken cold. The next day, however, he read
and wrote as usual: and in the evening, preached at Chel¬
sea, from, " The King's business requires haste," although
with some difficulty, having a high degree of fever upon
him. Indeed he was obliged to stop once or twice, inform¬
ing the people that his cold so affected his voice as to
prevent his speaking without those necessary pauses. On
Saturday he still persevered in his usual employments,
though, to those about him, his complaints seemed evi¬
dently increasing. He dined at Islington, and at dinner
desired a friend to read to him four chapters out of the
book of Job, viz., from the fourth to the seventh inclusive.
On Sunday he rose, early, according to custom, but quite
unfit for any of his usual Sabbath day's exercises. At
seven o'clock he was obliged to lie down, and slept be¬
tween three and four hours. When he awoke, he said, " I
have not had such a comfortable sleep this fortnight past."
In the afternoon, he lay down again, and slept an hour or
two. Afterward two of his own discourses on our Lord's
Sermon on the Mount were read to him, and in the even¬
ing he came down to suffer.
" Monday the 21st, he seemed much better ; and though
his friends tried to dissuade him from it, he would keep
an engagement, made some time before, to dine at Twick¬
enham. In his way thither he called on Lady Mary
Fitzgerald: the conversation was truly profitable, and
well became a last visit. On Tuesday he went on with
his usual work, preached in the evening at the chapel in
the City Road, and seemed much better than he had been
for some days. On Wednesday he went to Leatherhead,
and preached to a small company on, " Seek ye the Lord
while he may be found; call ye upon him while he is near."
This proved to be his last sermon: here ended the public
labours of this great minister of Jesus Christ. On Thurs¬
day he paid a visit to Mr. Wolff's family at Balham, where
he was cheerful, and seemed nearly as well as usual, till
Friday, about breakfast time, when he grew very heavy.
About eleven o'clock he returned home, extremely ill.
His friends were struck with the manner of his getting
out of the carriage, and still more with his apparent weak¬
ness when he went up stairs and sat down in hi»s chair.
REV.. JOHN WESLEV.
287
He now desired to be left alone, and not to be interrupted
by any one, for half an hour. When that time was expired,
some mulled wine was brought him,, of which he drank a
little. In a few minutes he threw it up, and said, ' I must
lie down.' His friends were now alarmed, and Dr. White¬
head was immediately sent for. On his entering the room,
he said in a cheerful voice, ' Doctor, they are more afraid
than hurt.' Most of this day he lay in bed, had a quick
pulse, with a considerable degree of fever and stupor.
And Saturday, the 26th, he continued in much the same
state; taking very little either of medicine or nourishment.
" Sunday morning he seemed much better, got up, and
look a cup of tea. Sitting in his chair, he looked quite
cheerful, and repeated the latter part of the verse, in his
brother Charles's Scripture Hymns, on ' Forsake me not
token my strength failel/t,' viz.—
' Till glad I lay this body down,
Thy servant, Lord,, attend;
And, O! my life of mercy crown
With a triumphant end.'
Soon after, in a most emphatical manner, he said, ' Our
friend Lazarus sleepeth.' Exerting himself to converse
with some friends, he was soon fatigued, and obliged to
lie down. After lying quiet some time, he looked up, and
said, ' Speak to me ; I cannot speak.' On which one of
the company said, ' Shall we pray with you, sir V He ear¬
nestly replied, ' Yes.' And while they prayed, his whole
soul seemed engaged with God for an answer, and his
hearty Jhnen showed that he perfectly understood what
was said. About half an hour after, he said, ' There is
no need of more ; when at Bristol my words were,
' I the chief of sinners am,
But Jesus died for me.'*
* At the Bristol conference, in 1783, Mr. Wesley was taken very
ill; neither he nor his friends thought he could recover. From the
nature of his complaint, he supposed a spasm would seize his stomach,
ind, probably, occasion sudden death. Under these views of his situ¬
ation, he said to Mr. Bradford, " I have been reflecting on my past
life: 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
288
LIFE OF THE
" One said,' Is this the present language of your heart,
and do you now feel as you did then? He replied 'Yes.'
When the same person repeated,
i Bold I approach the eternal throne,
And claim the crown, through Christ my own
and added, ' 'Tis enough. He our precious Immanuel has
purchased, has promised, allhe earnestly replied, ' He
is all! He is all!' After this the fever was very high, and,
at times, affected his recollection ; but even then, though
his head was subject to a temporary derangement, his
heart seemed wholly engaged in his Master's work. In
the evening he got up again, and, while sitting in his chair,
he said, ' How necessary it is for every one to be on the
right foundation!
' I the chief of sinners am,
But Jesus died for me!'"
" Monday, the 28th, his weakness increased. He slept
most of the day, and spoke but little ; yet that little testi¬
fied how much his whole heart was taken up in the care
of the societies, the glory of God, and the promotion of
the things pertaining to that kingdom to which he was
hastening. Once he said, in a low but distinct manner,
' There is no way into the holiest, but by the blood of
Jesus.' He afterward inquired what the words were from
which he had preached a little before at Hampstead. Being
told they were these, 'Ye know the grace of our Lord
Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet for your sakes
he became poor, that ye through his poverty might be
rich:' he replied, ' That is the foundation, the only founda¬
tion : there is no other.' This day Dr. Whitehead desired
he might be asked, if he would have any other physician
called in to attend him; but this he absolutely refused.
It is remarkable that he suffered very little pain, never
complaining of any«dilring his illness, but once of a pain
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.'"
The sentiment here expressed, and his reference to it in his last sick¬
ness, plainly show how 'steadily he bad persevered in the same views
of the Gospel.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
289
in his left breast. This was a restless night. Tuesday
morning he sung two verses of a hymn: then lying still,
as if to recover strength, he called for pen and ink; but
when they were brought, he could not write. A person
said, 4 Let me write for you, sir : tell rile what you would
say.' He replied, ' Nothing, but that God is with us.'
In the forenoon he said, 4 I will get up.' While they we're
preparing his clothes, he broke out in a manner which
considering his extreme weakness, astonished all present,
in singing,
4 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!'
" Having got him into his chair, they observed him
change for death. But he, regardless of his dying body,
said, with a weak voice, ' Lord, thou givest strength to
those that can speak, and to those who cannot. Speak,
Lord, to all our hearts, and let them know that thou loosest
tongues.' He then sung,
4 To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost,
Who sweetly all agree,—'
Here his voice failed. After gasping for breath, he said,
4 Now we have done all.' He was then laid in the bed,
from which he rose no more. After resting a little he
called to those that were with him to ' pray and praise.'
They kneeled down, and the room seemed to be filled
with the divine presence. A little after, he said,4 Let me
be buried in nothing but what is woollen, and let my
corpse be carried into the chapel.' Then, as if he had
done with all below, he again begged they would pray and
praise. Several friends that were in the house being
called up, they all kneeled down again to prayer, at which
time his fervour of spirit was manifest to every one pre¬
sent. But in particular parts of the prayer, his whole soul
seemed to be engaged in a manner which evidently showed
how ardently he longed for the full accomplishment of
their united desires. And when one of the preachers was
praying in a very expressive manner, that if God were
about to take away their father to his eternal rest, he
25
290
LIFE OF THE
would be pleased to continue and increase his blessing"
upon the doctrine and discipline which he had long made
his servant the means of propagating and establishing in
the world ; such a degree of fervour accompanied his loud
Amen, as was every way expressive of his soul's being
engaged in the answer of the petitions. On rising from
their knees, he took hold of all their hands, and, with the
utmost placidness, saluted them, and said, ' Farewell,
farewell.'
" A little after, a person coming in, he strove to speak,
but could not. Finding they could not understand him,
he paused a little, and, then with all the remaining strength
he had, cried out, The best of all is, God is with us; and,
soon after lifting up his dying arm in token of victory, and
raising his feeble voice with a holy triumph not to be ex¬
pressed, he again repeated the heart-reviving words, The
best of all is, God is with us. Being told that his brother's
widow was come, he said, 'He giveth his servants rest.'
He thanked her, as she pressed his hand, and*affection¬
ately endeavoured to kiss her. On his lips being wetted,
he said, .' We thank thee, 0 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!' At another time he said, 'He causeth his servants
to lie down in peace.' Then pausing a little, he cried,
' The clouds drop fatness !' and soon after, ' The Lord is
with us, the God of Jacob is our refuge!' He then called
those present to prayer: and though he was greatly ex¬
hausted, he appeared still more fervent in spirit. These
exertions were, however, too much for his feeble frame ;
and most of the night following, though he often attempted
to repeat the psalm before mentioned, he could only utter,
'I'll praise—I'll praise!'
" On Wednesday morning the closing scene drew near,
Mr. Bradford, his faithful friend, prayed with him, and the
last words he was heard to articulate were, 'Farewell!'
A few minutes before ten, while several of his friends were
kneeling around his bed, without a lingering groan, this
man of God, this beloved pastor of thousands, entered into
the joy of his Lord.
" He was in the eighty-eighth year of his age, had been
sixty-five years in the ministry; and the preceding pages
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
291
will be a lasting memorial of his uncommon zeal, diligence,
and usefulness, in his Master's work, for more than half a
century. His death was an admirable close to so laborious
and useful a life.
" At the desire of many of his friends his corpse was
placed in the new chapel, and remained there the day
before his interment. His face during that time had a
heavenly smile upon it, and a beauty which was admired
by all that saw it.
" March the 9th was the day appointed for his interment.
The preachers then in London requested that Dr. White¬
head should deliver the funeral discourse ; and the execu¬
tors afterward approved of the appointment. The intention
was to carry the corpse into the chapel,' and place it in a
raised situation before the pulpit during the service. But
the crowds which came to see the body while it lay in the
coffin, both in the private house, and especially in the chapel
the day before his funeral, were so great, that his friends
were apprehensive of a tumult, if they should adopt the
plan first intended. It was therefore resolved the evening
before, to bury him between five and six in the morning.
Though the time of notice to his friends was short, and
the design itself was spoken of with great caution, yet a
considerable number of persons attended at that early hour.
The late Rev. Mr. Richardson, who now lies with him in
the same vault, read the funeral service in a manner that
made it peculiarly affecting. When he came to that part
of it, ' Forasmuch as it hath pleased Almighty God to take
unto himself the soul of our dear brother,'' &c, he substi¬
tuted, with the most tender emphasis, the epithet father,
instead of brother, which had so powerful an effect on the
congregation, that from silent tears they seemed universally
to burst out into loud weeping.
INSCRIPTION ON HIS COFFIN.
JOHANNES WESLEY, A. M.
Olim Soc. Coll. Lin. Oxon.
Ob. 2do. die Martii, 1791.
An. ^Et. 88.*
* "John Wesley, Master of Arts, formerly Fellow of Lincoln
College, Oxford, died on the second day of March, 1791, in the eighty-
eighth year of his age."
292
LIFE of THE
" The discourse by Dr. Whitehead, was delivered in
the chapel at the hour appointed in the forenoon, to an
astonishing multitude of people; among whom were many
ministers of the Gospel, both of the Establishment and
Dissenters. The audience was still and solemn as night;
and all seemed to carry away with them enlarged views
of Mr. Wesley's character, and serious impressions of the
importance of religion."
The following is the inscription on the marble tablet,
erected to his memory, in the chapel, City Road :—
garret! to ttje Jftemorp
Of the Rev. JOHN WESLEY, M. A.
Sometime Fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford ;
A Mam in Learning and sincere Piety
Scarcely inferior to any;
In Zeal, Ministerial Labours, and extensive Usefulness,
Superior, perhaps, to all Men,
Since the days of St. Paul.
Regardless of Fatigue, personal Danger, and Disgrace,
He went out into the highways and hedges
Calling Sinners to Repentance,
And Publishing the Gospel of Peace.
He was the Founder of the Methodist Societies,
And the chief Promoter and Patron
Of the Plan of Itinerant Preaching,
Which he extended through Great Britain and Ireland,
The West Indies, and America,
With unexampled Success.
He was born the 17th of June, 1703;
And died the 2d of March, 1791,
In sure and certain hope of Eternal Life,
Through the Atonement and Mediation of a Crucified Saviour.
He was sixty-five Years in the Ministry,
And fifty-two an Itinerant Preacher:
He lived to see, in these Kingdoms only,
About three hundred Itinerant,
And one thousand Local Preachers,
Raised up from the midst of his own People;
And eighty thousand Persons in the Societies under his care.
His Name will be ever had in grateful Remembrance
By all who rejoice in the universal Spread
Of the Gospel of Christ.
Soli Deo Gloria.
[Glory to God alone.]
It would be superfluous in closing this account of a man
at once so extraordinary and so truly great, for me to at-
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
293
tempt a delineation of his character, since this has been
done so ably that nothing can easily be added, with good
effect. 1 shall therefore insert Dr. "Whitehead's own
summary, with notices by others who were personally
acquainted with him. Taken together they transmit an
interesting and instructive picture of the Founder of
Methodism, to future ages.
Dr. Whitehead observes :—
" Some persons have affected to insinuate that Mr.
Wesley was a man of slender capacity; but certainly with
great injustice. His apprehension was clear, his penetra¬
tion quick, and his judgment discriminative and sound;
of which his controversial writings, and his celebrity in the
stations he held at Oxford, when young, are sufficient
proofs. In governing a large body of preachers and peo¬
ple, of various habits, interests, and principles, with aston¬
ishing calmness and regularity for many years, he showed
a strong and capacious mind, that could comprehend and
combine together a vast variety of circumstances, and
direct their influence through the great body he governed.
As a scholar, he certainly held a cdnspicuous rank. He
was a critic in the Latin and Greek classics ; and was well
acquainted with the Hebrew, and with several modem
tongues. But the Greek was his favourite language, in
which his knowledge was extensive and accurate. At
college, he had studied Euclid, Keil, Sir Isaac Newton's
Optics, &c: but he never entered far into, the more ab¬
struse parts, or the higher branches, of the Mathematics ;
finding they would fascinate his mind, absorb his attention,
and divert him from the pursuit of the more important
objects of his own profession.
"Natural History was a field in which he walked at
every opportunity, and contemplated with infinite pleasure
the wisdom, the power, and the goodness of God, in the
structure of natural bodies, and in the various instincts and
habits of the animal creation. But he was obliged to view
these wonderful works of God, in the labours and records
of others ; his various and continual employments of a
higher nature, not permitting him to make experiments and
observations for himself.*
* He, however, employed much leisure time whilst at college in tho
study of anatomy and m&dicine.
25*
294
LiFE OF THE
"As a writer, Mr. Wesley certainly possessed talents,
sufficient to procure him considerable reputation. But
he did not write for fame : his object was chiefly to instruct
and benefit that numerous class of people who have little
learning, little money, and but little time to spare for read¬
ing. In all his writings he constantly kept these circum¬
stances in view. Content with doing good, he used no
trappings merely to please, or to gain applause. The dis¬
tinguishing character of his style is brevity and perspicuity.
He never lost sight of the rule which Horace gives :—
' Est brevitate opus, ut currat sententia, ncu se
Impediat verbis lassas onerantibus auresd
'Concise your diction, let your sense be clear,
Nor with a weight of words fatigue the ear.'
In all his writings his words are well chosen, pure, proper
to his subject, and precise in their meaning. His senten¬
ces commonly have the attributes of clearness, unity, and
strength : and whenever he took time, and gave the neces¬
sary attention to his subject, both his manner of treating it,
and his style, show the hand of a master.*
"The following is a just character of Mr. Wesley as a
preacher : ' His attitude in the pulpit was graceful and
easy; his action calm and natural, yet pleasing and expres¬
sive : his voice not loud, but clear and manly: his style
neat, simple, and perspicuous; and admirably adapted to
the capacity of his hearers. His discourses, in point of
composition, were extremely different on different occa¬
sions. When he gave himself sufficient time for prepara¬
tion, he succeeded; but when he did not, he frequently
failed.' It was indeed manifest to his friends for many
years before he died, that his employments were too many,
and that he preached too often, to appear with %e same
advantage at all times in the pulpit. His sermons were
always short: he was seldom more than half an hour in
delivering a discourse, sometimes not so long. His sub¬
jects were judiciously chosen; instructive and interesting to
the audience, and well adapted to gain attention and warm
the heart.
* His Treatise on Original Sin; his Appeals, and some of his Ser¬
mons, are instances of finished and careful composition; and are
equally to be admired for clearness of method, and the force of many
passages which are Jtruly eloquent.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
295
" The labours of Mr. Wesley in the work of the minis¬
try, for fifty years together, were without precedent.
During this period, he travelled about four thousand five
hundred miles every year, one year with another chiefly
on horseback. It had been impossible for him to accom¬
plish this almost incredible degree of exertion, without
great punctuality and care in the management of his time.
He had stated hours for every purpose : and his only re¬
laxation was a change of employment. His rules were
like the laws of the Medes and Persians, absolute and irre¬
vocable. He had a peculiar pleasure in reading and study,
and every literary man knows how apt this passion is to
make him encroach on the time which ought to be em'
ployed in other duties: he had a high relish for converse
tion, especially with pious, learned, and sensible men: but
whenever the hour came when he was to set out on a jour¬
ney, he instantly quitted the company with which he might
be engaged, without any apparent reluctance. For fifty-
two years, or upward, he generally delivered two, frequent¬
ly three or four, sermons in a day. But calculating only
two sermons a day, and allowing, as a writer of his life has
done, fifty annually for extraordinary occasions, the whole
number of sermons he preached during this period will be
forty thousand five hundred and sixty. To these must be
added, an infinite number of exhortations to the societies
after preaching, and in other occasional meetings, at which
he assisted.
"In social life, Mr. "Wesley was lively and conversa¬
tional. He had the talent of making himself exceedingly
agreeable in company: and having been much accustomed
to society, the rules of good breeding were habitual to him.
The abstraction of a scholar did not appear in his beha¬
viour; but he was attentive and polite. He spoke a good
deal where he saw it was expected, which was almost always
the case wherever he visited. Having seen much of the
world in his travels, and read more, his mind was stored
with an infinite number of anecdotes and observations:
and the manner in which he related them was no inconsi¬
derable addition to the entertainment and instruction they
afforded. It was impossible to be long in his company,
either in public or private, without partaking of his placid
cheerfulness; which was not abated by the infirmities of
296
LIFE OF THE
age, or the approach of death; but was as conspicuous at
fourscore and seven, as at one and twenty.
"A remarkable feature in Mr. Wesley's character, was
his placability. Having an active penetrating mind, his
temper was naturally quick, and even tending to sharpness.
The influence of religion, and the constant habit of patient
thinking, had in a great measure, corrected this disposition.
In general he preserved an air of sedateness and tranquilli¬
ty, which formed a striking contrast to the liveliness con¬
spicuous in all his actions. Persecution, abuse, and injury,
he bore from strangers, not only without anger, but without
any apparent emotion; and what he said of himself was
strictly true, that he had a great facility in forgiving inju¬
ries. Submission, on the part of the offender, presently
disarmed his resentment, and he would treat him with great
kindness and cordiality. No man was ever more free from
jealousy or suspicion than Mr. Weslev, or laid himself
more open to the impositions of others. Though his con¬
fidence was often abused, and circumstances sometimes
took place which would have made almost any other man
suspicious, yet he suspected no one; nor was it easy to
convince him that any one had intentionally deceived him ;
and when facts had demonstrated that this was actually the
case, he would allow no-more than that it was so in that
single instance. If the person acknowledged his fault, he
believed him sincere, and would trust him again. If we
view this temper of his mind in connection with the circum¬
stance that his most private papers lay open to the inspec¬
tion of those constantly about him, it will afford as strong
a proof as can well be given, of the integrity of his own
mind; and that he was at the farthest distance from any
intention to deceive, or impose upon others.
"The temperance of Mr. Wesley was extraordinary.
When at college he carried this so far, that his friends
thought him blamablel But he never imposed upon
others the same degree of rigour he exercised upon himself.
He only said, I must be the best judge of what is hurtful or
beneficial to me. Among other things, he was remarkable
for moderation in sleep ; and his notion of it cannot be
better explained, than in his own words. Healthy men,
says he, ' require about six hours' sleep ; healthy women,
a little above seven, in four-and-twenty. If any one desires
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
297
to know exactly what quantity of sleep his own constitution
requires, he may very easily make the experiment, which I
made about sixty years ago. I then waked every night
about twelve or one, and lay awake for some time, I
readily concluded, that this arose from my being in bed
longer than nature required. To be satisfied, I procured
an alarum, which waked me the' next morning at seven,
(nearly an hour earlier than I rose the day before,) yet
I lay awake again at night. The second morning I
rose at six; but notwithstanding this, I lay awake the
second night. The third morning I rose at five; but,
nevertheless, I lay awake the third night. The fourth
morning I rose at four, as, by the grace of God, I have
done ever since : and I lay awake no more. And I do not
now lie awake, taking the year round, a quarter of an hour
together in a month. By the same experiment, rising
earlier and earlier every morning, may any one find how
much sleep he wants.'
" It must however be observed, that, for many years
before his death, Mr. Wesley slept more or less during the
day; and his great readiness to fall asleep at any time
when fatigued, was a considerable means of keeping up
his strength, and enabling him to go through so much
labour. He never could endure to sleep on a soft bed.
Even in the latter part of life, when the infirmities of age
pressed upon him, his whole conduct was at the greatest
distance from softness or effeminacy.
"A writer of Mr. Wesley's Life, from whom some
observations respecting his general character have already
been taken, has farther observed, Perhaps the most chari¬
table man in England, was Mr. Wesley. His liberality to
the poor, knew no bounds but an empty pocket. He gave
away, not merely a certain part of his income, but all that
he had : his own wants provided for, he devoted all the rest
to the necessities of others. He entered upon this good
work at a very early period. We are told, that, ' when he
had thirty pounds a year, he lived on twenty-eight, and
gave away forty shillings. The next year, receiving sixty
pounds, he still lived on twenty-eight, and gave away two
and thirty. The third year he received ninety pounds, and
gave away sixty-two. The fourth year he received qne
hundred and twenty pounds. Still he lived on twenty-eight,
298
LIFE OF THE
and gave to the poor ninety-two.' In this ratio he pro¬
ceeded during the rest of his life ; and, in the course of
fifty years, it has been supposed, he gave away between
twenty and thirty thousand pounds ;* a great part of which,
most other men would have put out at interest, upon good
security.
" In the distribution of his money, Mr. Wesley was as
disinterested as he was charitable. He had no regard to
family connections, nor even to the wants of the preachers
who laboured with him, in preference to strangers. He
knew that these had some friends; and he thought that the
poor destitute stranger might have none, and therefore had
the first claim on his liberality. When a trifling legacy has
been paid him, he has been known to dispose of it in some
charitable way before he slept, that it might not remain his
own property for one night. He often declared that his
own hands should be his executors; and though he gained
all he could by his publications, and saved all he could,
not wasting so much as a sheet of paper ; yet, by giving all
he could, he was preserved from laying up treasures upon
earth. He had said in print, that, if he died worth more
than ten pounds, independent of his books, and the arrears
of his fellowship, which he then held, he would give the
world leave to call him, ' a thief and a robber.' This
declaration, made in the integrity of his heart, and the
height of his zeal, laid him under some inconveniences
afterward, from circumstances which he could not at that
time foresee. Yet in this, as all his friends expected, he
literally kept his word, as far as human foresight could
reach. His chaise and horses, his clothes, and a few trifles
of that kind, were all, his books excepted, that he left at
his death. Whatever might be the value of his books, this
altered not the case, as they were placed in the hands of
trustees, and the profits arising from the sale of them were
to be applied to the use and benefit of the conference for
public purposes; reserving only a few legacies and a rent-
charge of eighty-five pounds a year to be paid to his
brother's widow, which was in fact a debt, in consideration
for the copy-right of his brother's hymns.
' " Among the other excellencies of Mr. Wesley, his mo-
* Money chiefly arising from the constant and large sale of hig
writings, and the works he abridged.
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
299
deration in controversy deserves to be noticed. Writers
of controversy too often forget, that their own character is
intimately connected with the manner in which they treat
others: and if they have no regard for their opponents,
they ought to have some respect for themselves. When
a writer becomes personal and abusive, it affords a fair
presumption against his arguments, and tends to put his
readers on their guard. Most of Mr. Wesley's opponents
were of this description; their railing was much more
violent than their reasons were cogent. Mr. Wesley kept
his temper, and wrote like a Christian, a gentleman, and a
scholar. He might have taken the words of the excellent
Hooker, as a motto to his polemical tracts, ' To your
railing, I say nothing; for your reasons take what follows.'
He admired the temper in which Mr. Law wrote contro¬
versy : only in some instances Mr. Law shows a contempt
for .his opponents, which Mr. Wesley thought highly
improper."
To these remarks of Dr. Whitehead may be added two
or three sketches of Mr. Wesley's character drawn up by
different persons, and printed soon after his death. The
first is anonymous :—
" Now that Mr. John Wesley has finished his course
upon earth, I may be allowed to estimate his character,
and the loss the world has sustained by his death. Upon
a fair account, it appears to be such, as not only annihilates
all the reproaches that have been cast upon him ; but such
as does honour to mankind, at the same time that it
reproaches them. His natural and acquired abilities were
both of the highest rank. His apprehension was lively and
distinct; his learning extensive. His judgment, though not
infallible, was, in most cases, excellent. His mind was
steadfast and resolved. His elocution was ready and clear,
graceful and easy, accurate and unaffected. As a writer,
his style, though unstudied, and flowing with natural ease,
yet for accuracy and perspicuity was such as may vie with
the best writers in the English language. Though his
temper was naturally warm, his manners were gentle,
simple, and uniform. Never were such happy talents
better seconded by an unrelenting perseverance in those
courses which his singular endowments, and his zealous
love to the interests of mankind, marked out for him. His
300
LIFE OF THE
constitution was excellent: and nevei was a constitution
less abused, less spared, or more excellently applied, in
an exact subservience to the faculties of his mind. His
labours and studies were wonderful. The latter were not
confined to theology only, but extended to every subject
that tended either to the improvement or the rational enter¬
tainment of the mind. If we consider his reading by itself,
his writings and his other labours by themselves, any one
of them will appear sufficient to have kept a person of
ordinary application busy during his whole life. In short,
the transactions of his life could never have been per¬
formed, without the utmost exertion of two qualities, which
depended, not upon his capacity, but on the uniform stead¬
fastness of his resolution. These were inflexible temper
ance, and unexampled economy of time. In these he was
a pattern to the age he lived in ; and an example, to what a
surprising extent a man may render himself useful in his
generation, by temperance and punctuality. His friends
and followers have no reason to be ashamed of the name
of Methodist, which he has entailed upon them : as, for an
uninterrupted course of years, he has given the world an
instance of the possibility of living without wasting a
single hour; and of the advantage of a regular distribution
of time, in discharging the important duties and purposes
of life. Few ages have more needed such a public testi¬
mony to the value of time ; and perhaps none have had a
more conspicuous example of the perfection to which the
improvement of it may be carried.
" As a minister, his labours were unparalleled, and
such as nothing could have supported him under but the
warmest zeal for the doctrine he taught, and for the
eternal interests of mankind. He studied to be gentle,
yet vigilant and faithful toward all. He possessed himself
in patience, and preserved himself unprovoked, nay, even
unruffled, in the midst of persecution, reproach, and all
manner of abuse both of his person and name. But let
his own works praise him. He now enjoys the'fruits of
his labours, and that praise which he sought, not of men,
but of God.
" To finish the portrait. Examine the general tenor of
his life, and' it will be found self-evidently inconsistent
with his being a slave to any one passion or pursuit, that
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
301
Can fix a blemish on his character. Of what use were the
accumulation of wealth to him, who, through his whole
course, never allowed himself to taste the repose of indo¬
lence, or even of the common indulgence in the use of the
necessaries of life 1 Free from the partiality of any party,
the sketcher of this excellent character, with a friendly
tear, pays it as a just tribute to the memory of so great
and good a man, who, when alive was his friend."
Of Mr. Wesley, Mr. Alexander Knox sa^ :—
"Very lately, I had an opportunity, for some days
together, of observing Mr. Wesley with attention. I en¬
deavoured to consider him, not so much with the eye of a
friend, as with the impartiality of a philosopher; and I
must declare, every hour I spent in his company afforded
me fresh reasons for esteem and veneration. So fine an
old man I never saw. The happiness of his mind beamed
forth in his countenance. Every look showed how fully
he enjoyed ' the gay remembrance of a life well spent
and wherever he went, he diffused a portion of his own
felicity. Easy and affable in his demeanour, he accommo¬
dated himself to every sort of company, and showed how
happily the most finished courtesy may be blended with
the most perfect piety. In his conversation, we might be
at a loss whether to admire most, his fine classical taste,
his extensive knowledge of men and things, or his over¬
flowing goodness of heart. While the grave and serious
were charmed with his wisdom, his sportive sallies of
innocent mirth delighted even the young and thoughtless ;
and both saw, in his uninterrupted cheerfulness, the excel¬
lency of true religion. No cynical remarks on the levity
of youth imbittered his discourse; no applausive retro¬
spect to past times marked his present discontent. In him,
even old age appeared delightful, like an evening without
a cloud; and it was impossible to observe him without
wishing fervently, 4 May my latter end be like his !'
" But I find myself unequal to the task of delineating
such a character. What I have said may to some appear
as panegyric; but there are numbers, and those of taste
and discernment too, who can bear witness to the truth,
though by no means to the perfectness, of the sketch I
have attempted. With such 1 have been frequently in his
company; and every one of them, I am persuaded, would
302
LIFE OF THE
subscribe to all I have said. For my own part, I never
was so happy as while with him, and scarcely ever felt
more poignant regret than at parting from him; for, well I
knew, 41 ne'er should look upon his like again.' "
The following account of Mr. Wesley appeared soon
after his death in a very respectable publication; and
was afterward inserted in Woodfall's Diary, London,
June 17, 1791:—
" His indefatigable zeal in the discharge of his duty has
been long witnessed by the world; but, as mankind are
not always inclined to put a generous construction on the
exertions of singular talents, his motives were imputed to
the love of popularity, ambition, and lucre. It now ap¬
pears that he was actuated by a disinterested regard to the
immortal interests of mankind. He laboured, and studied,
and preached, and wrote, to propagate what he believed to
be the Gospel of Christ. The intervals of these engage-
men .'s were employed in governing and regulating the
concerns of his numerous societies; assisting the neces¬
sities, solving the difficulties, and soothing the afflictions
of his hearers. He observed so rigid a temperance, and
allowed himself so little repose, that he seemed to be above
the infirmities of nature, and to act independent of the earth¬
ly tenement he occupied. The recital of the occurrences of
every day of his life would be the greatest encomium.
" Had he loved wealth, he might have accumulated it
without bounds. Had he been fond of power, his influ¬
ence would have been worth courting by any party. I do
not say he was without ambition; he had that which
Christianity need not blush at, and which virtue is proud
to confess. I do not mean that which is gratified by
splendour and large possessions ; but that which com¬
mands the hearts and affections, the homage and gratitude,
of thousands. For him they felt sentiments of veneration,
only inferior to those which they paid to Heaven: to him
they looked as their father, their benefactor, their guide to
glory and immortality: for him they fell prostrate before
God, with prayers and tears, to spare his doom, and pro¬
long his stay. Such a recompense as this is sufficient to
repay the toils of the longest life. Short of this, greatness
is contemptible impotence. Before this, lofty prelates
bow, and princes hide their diminished heads.
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
303
w His zeal was not a transient blaze, but a steady and
constant flame. The ardour of his spirit was neither
damped by difficulty, nor subdued by age. This was
ascribed by himself to the power of divine grace ; by the
world, to enthusiasm. Be it what it will, it is what philo¬
sophers must envy, and infidels respect; it is that which
gives energy to the soul, and without which there can be
no greatness or heroism.
" Why should we condemn that in religion, which we
applaud in every other profession and pursuit? He had a
vigour and elevation of mind, which nothing but the belief
of the divine favour and presence could inspire. This
threw a lustre round his infirmities, changed his bed of
sickness into a triumphal car, and made his exit resemble
an apotheosis rather than a dissolution.
"He was qualified to excel in every branch of litera¬
ture : he was well versed in the learned tongues, in
metaphysics, in oratory, in logic, in criticism, and every
requisite of a Christian minister. His style was nervous,
clear, and manly ; his preaching was pathetic and persua¬
sive ; his Journals are artless and interesting; and his
compositions and compilations to promote knowledge and
piety, were almost innumerable.
" I do not say he was without faults, or above mistakes ;
but they were lost in the multitude of his excellencies and
virtues.
" To gain the admiration of an ignorant and superstitious
age, requires only a little artifice and address; to stand
the test of these times, when all pretensions to sanctity are
stigmatized as hypocrisy, is a proof of genuine piety and
real usefulness. His great object was, to revive the obso¬
lete doctrines and extinguished spirit of the Church of
England ; and they, who are its friends, cannot be his
enemies. Tet for this he was treated as a fanatic and
impostor, and exposed to every species of slander and per¬
secution. Even bishops and dignitaries entered the lists
against him ; but he never declined the combat, and gene¬
rally proved victorious. He appealed to j;he Homilies, the
Articles, and the Scriptures, as vouchers for his doctrine;
and they who could not decide upon the merits of the
controversy, were witnesses of the effects of his labours;
and they judged of the tree by its fruit. It is true, he did
304
LIFE OF THE
not succeed much in the higher walks of life; but that
impeached his cause no ipore, than it did that of the first
planters of the Gospel. However, if he had been capable
of assuming vanity on that score, he might have ranked
among his friends some persons of the first distinction,
who would have done honour to any party. After surviv¬
ing almost all his adversaries, and acquiring respect among
those who were the most distant from his principles, he lived
to see the plant he had reared, spreading its branches far and
wide, and inviting not only these kingdoms, but the west¬
ern world, to repose under its shade. No sect, since the
first ages of Christianity, could boast a.founder of such
extensive talents and endowments. If he had been a can¬
didate for literary fame, he might have succeeded to his
utmost wishes ; but he sought not the praise of man ; he
regarded learning only as the instrument of usefulness.
The great purpose of his life was doing good. For this
he relinquished all honour and preferment; to this he
dedicated all his powers of body and mind ; at all times
and in all places, in season and out of season, by gentle¬
ness, by terror, by argument, by persuasion, by reason, by
interest, by every motive and every inducement, he strove,
with unwearied assiduity, to turn men from the error of
their ways, and awaken them to virtue and religion. To
the bed of sickness, or the couch of prosperity; to the
prison, the hospital, the house of mourning, or the house
of feasting, wherever there was a friend to serve, or a soul
to save, he readily repaired; to administer assistance or
advice, reproof or consolation. He thought no office too
humiliating, no condescension too low, no undertaking too
' arduous, to reclaim the meanest of God's offspring. The
souls of all men were equally precious in his sight, and
the value of an immortal creature beyond all estimation.
He penetrated the abodes of wretchedness and ignorance,
to rescue the profligate from perdition ; and he communi¬
cated the light of life to those who sat in darkness and the
shadow of death. He changed the outcasts of society
into useful members; civilized even savages, and filled
those lips with prayer and praise that had been accustomed
only to oath's and imprecations. But as the strongest
religious impressions are apt to become languid without
discipline and practice, he divided his people into classes
REV. JOHN WESLEV.
and bands, according to their attainments. He appoik
frequent meetings for prayer and conversation, where thev
gave an account of their experience, their hopes and fears,
their joys and troubles ; by which means they were united
to each other, and to their common profession. They
became sentinels upon each other's conduct, and securities
for each other's character. Thus the seeds he sowed
sprang up and flourished, bearing the rich fruits of every
grace and virtue. Thus he governed and preserved his
numerous societies, watching their improvement with a
paternal care, and encouraging them to be faithful to the
end.
" But I will not attempt to draw his full character, nor
to estimate the extent of his labours and services. They
will be best known when he shall deliver up his commis¬
sion into the hands of his great Master."
The following is a description of Mr. Wesley's person:—
" The figure of Mr. Wesley was remarkable. His
stature was low; his habit of body, in every period of life,
the reverse of corpulent, and expressive of strict temper¬
ance and continual exercise; and, notwithstanding his
small size, his step was firm, and his appearance, till within
a few years of his death, vigorous and muscular. His
face, for an old man, was one of the finest we have seen.
A clear, smooth forehead; an aquiline nose ; an eye, the
brightest and most piercing that can be conceived ; and a
freshness of complexion, scarcely ever to be found at his
years; and, impressive of the most perfect health, con¬
spired to render him a venerable and interesting figure.
Few have seen him without being struck with his appear¬
ance : and many, who had been greatly prejudiced against
him, have been known to change their opinion the moment
they were introduced into his presence. In his counte¬
nance and demeanour, there was a cheerfulness mingled
with gravity; a sprightliness, which was the natural result
of an unusual flow of spirits, and yet was accompanied
with every mark of the most serene tranquillity. His
aspect, particularly in profile, had a strong character of
acuteness and penetration.
" In dress, he was a pattern of neatness and simplicity:
a narrow plaited stock; a coat, with a small upright collar;
no buckles at his knees; no silk or velvet in any part of
26*
306
life of the
his apparel; and a head as white as snow, gave an idea of
something primitive and Apostolic ; while an air of neat¬
ness and cleanliness was diffused over his whole person.'"
CHAPTER XV.
A few miscellaneous topics remain to be noticed. One
of the chief reasons why full and willing justice has not
been always done to the labours of Mr. Wesley, has
doubtless arisen from the facts, that whatever his views
might be, he raised up a people who in his life time formed
a religious body independent of the Church, whilst yet not
nominally separated from it; and that since his death,
although that separation does not affect all the members,
yet the great mass of the societies, with all the preachers,
are as completely separated from the Establishment, as
any body of professed Dissenters. That a strict Church¬
man should consider this as a great counterbalance to the
good effected by Methodism is very natural,—and he has
a right to his opinions, provided he holds them in charity.
Still, however, this subject is so frequently dwelt upon
under mistaken and imperfect views, that it demands a few
additional remarks.
As far as Mr. Wesley's character is concerned, enough
has been said to show the sincerity with which he disa¬
vowed all intention of separating from the Church, and of
making his people separatists. This, certainly, notwith¬
standing the freedom of his opinions on church govern¬
ment, cannot be charged upon him in the early period of
his career; and although, in what we may call the second
period, he saw so strong a tendency to separation that his
fears were often excited, yet he may surely bo allowed still
to have proceeded straight forward, with perfect honesty
of mind, in the same course, with more of hope on this
subject, than of fear. Several eminent writers of the Church
party have thought, that even modern Methodism, though
existing now in a form apparently less friendly to union,
might still with advantage be attached to the Church, and
have seen but little difficulty in the project. Why then
might not Mr. Wesley, even after his societies had acquir¬
ed considerable maturity, still hope that those simple institu¬
tions for promoting piety, which he had commenced, might
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
307
have been recognised by the Church, and hoped that the
spirit of religion, revived already to so great an extent,
might still farther so influence the members of the Church
and its clergy, as to dispose them to view his societies with
more cordiality] He took care, therefore, and all his prin¬
ciples and feelings favoured the caution, that no obstacles
should be placed in the way of the closest connection of
his societies with the Establishment. Their services were
very seldom held in the hours of her public service; the
Methodists formed in many parishes the great body of her
communicants; thousands of them died in her communion;
and the preachers were not ordinarily permitted to admi¬
nister either of the sacraments to the people among whom
they laboured. There can be no charge, therefore, against
his sincerity at this period, any more than in the first. We
may think his hopes to have been without any foundation ;
and so they proved; and the idea of uniting the modern
Methodists to the Church is a very visionary one, but has
doubtless been maintained by several Churchmen with great
sincerity. Separation from the Church, at a later period
of Mr. Wesley's life, was certainly anticipated] That must
be allowed ; but an enlightened Churchman ought to think
that Mr. Wesley's conduct was still worthy of praise, not
of censure; for when a partial separation was in reality
foreseen as probable, it had no sanction from him, and he
appeared determined so to employ his influence to his last
breath, that if separation did ensue, it should assume the
mildest form possible, and be deprived of all feelings of
hostility. His example, the spirit of his writings, and his
advices all tended to this; and the fact is, that, though
Methodism now stands in a different relation to the Esta¬
blishment than in the days of Mr. Wesley, dissent has never
been formally professed by the body, and for obvious rea¬
sons. The first is, that the separation of the greater part
of the society from the Church, did not in any great degree
result from the principles assumed by the professed Dis¬
senters, and which are usually made prominent in their
discussions on the subject of establishments ; the second,
that a considerable number of the Methodists actually con¬
tinue in the communion of the Church of England to this
day; and the third, that to leave that communion is not,
in any sense, a condition of membership with us. All the
308
LIFE OF THE
services of the Church and her sacraments may be observ¬
ed by any person in the Wesleyan societies who chooses it,
and they are actually observed by many.
It was owing to these circumstances that Methodism did
not rush down, but gently glided, into a state of partial
division from the Churchand this, by neither arousing
party passions, nor exciting discussions on abstract points
of church polity, has left the general feeling of affection to
all that is excellent in the Establishment unimpaired. No
intemperate attacks upon it have been ever sanctioned;
the attendance of the Methodists upon its services was
never discouraged ; and it is surely of some account that
a vast mass of people throughout the country have been
held in a state of friendly feeling toward a clergy wjro have
nevertheless generally treated them with disdain and con¬
tumely, and many of whom have zealously employed them¬
selves in nursing feelings of bigoted dislike to them among
their friends and neighbours. Yet after all, the prevalent
sentiment of the Methodists, as a body, toward the Esta¬
blishment has been that of friendship. It was so, when the
Church was in a lower religious state than it is at present;
and its more recent religious improvement has not dimi¬
nished the feeling. I may venture to say, that there is a
warmer regard toward the Church among the body of the
Methodists now, than there was in the days of Mr. Wes¬
ley ; although there were then more Methodists than at pre¬
sent who professed to be of her communion. We have no
respect at all to her exclusive claims of divine right, or her
three orders of ministers ; and yet have no objection to her
episcopacy, when Scripturally understood, or her services.
We smile at the claims she sometimes assumes to be the
exclusive instructress of the people, in a country where the
statute law has given them the right to be taught by whom
they please, and as explicitly protects dissent as conformi¬
ty ; but we rejoice that she has great influence with the
mass of the population, whenever that influence is used for
the promotion of true religion and good morals. We wish
her prosperity and perpetuity, as we wish all other Chris¬
tian churches ; and the more so, as we recognise in her
" the mother of us all," and can never contemplate without
the deepest admiration her noble army of confessors and
martyrs, and the illustrious train of her divines, whose
REV. JOHN WESLEY-.
writings have been, and continue to be, the light of Chris¬
tendom. If Churchmen think this feeling of any import¬
ance, let them reciprocate it; and though the formal union
of which some of them have spoken is visionary, a still
stronger bond of friendship might be established; and each
might thus become more formidable against the errors and
evils of the times ;—for a people who have nearly half as
many places of worship in the kingdom as there are parish
churches, cannot be without influence.
Nor have the true causes which led to the separation of
the Methodists from the Church, been in general rightly
stated. Some of the violent adherents of " the old plan,"
as it was called, among ourselves, have, ignorantly or in a
party spirit attributed this to the ambition and intrigues of
the preachers ; but the true causes were—that the clergy,
generally, did not preach the doctrines of their own Church
and of the reformation; and that many of them did not
adorn their profession by their lives. It may be added,
that in no small number of cases, the clergy were the per¬
secutors and calumniators of the Wesleyan societies ; that
the sermons in the churches were often intemperate attacks
upon their characters and opinions ; and that the Method¬
ists were frequently regarded as intruders at the table of the
Lord, rather than as welcome communicants. These were
the reasons why, long before Mr. Wesley's death, a great
number of his societies were anxious to have the sacra¬
ments from the hands of their own preachers, under whose
ministry they were instructed and edified, in whose charac¬
ters they had confidence, and with respect to whom they
knew, that if any one disgraced his profession, he would
not be suffered long to exercise it.
Such were the true causes which led to the partial sepa¬
ration of the Methodist societies from the communion of
the Church, after the death of Mr. Wesley; and this is an
answer to the objection, repeated a thousand times, that
we have departed from Mr. Wesley's principles. The
fact is, that though full relief to the consciences of the
societies in general was refused by Mr. Wesley's authority,
yet he himself was obliged to allow a relaxation from his
own rule in London, and some other principal towns, by
giving the Lord's Supper himself, or obtaining pious cler¬
gymen to administer it in his chapels. After his death it
310
LIFE OF THE
was out of the power of the conference, had they not felt
the force of the reasons urged upon them, to prevent the
administration of the sacraments to the people by their own
preachers. Yet in the controversy which this subject ex¬
cited, speculative principles had little part. The question
stood on plain practical grounds:—Shall the societies be
obliged, from their conscientious scruples, to neglect an
ordinance of God 1 Or shall, we drive them to the Dissent¬
ers, whose peculiar doctrines they do not believe ? Or shall
we under certain regulations accede to their wishes 1 So
far from Mr. Wesley's principles and views having lost their
influence with the conference, the sacraments were forced
upon none, and recojtnmended to none. The old principles
were held as fast as higher duties would allow. Many
indeed of the people, and some of the preachers, opposed
even these concessions; but the plan which was adopted
to meet cases of conscientious scruple, and yet to avoid
encouraging a departure from the primitive system, leaving
every individual to act in this respect as he was persuaded
in his own mind, and receive the Lord's Supper at church
or at chapel, was at length by both parties in England cor¬
dially acquiesced in, at warranted equally by principle and
by prudence. Assuredly the Church would have gained
nothing by a different measure, for the dissidents would
have been compelled to join other communions. Had the
Church been provided early with an evangelical and a holy
ministry, that separation would not have taken place ; for
the controversy between the Church and the Dissenters
was little known, and still less regarded by the majority of
the Methodist societies at that time ; and the case is not
greatly altered at the present day. The clergy had lost
their hold upon the people generally, through neglect; and
that revival of the spirit of truth and holiness, which We are
now so happy to witness axiong them, came too late to
prevent the results just stated.
And what should we do now, if we were disposed to re¬
vert to the state of things in Mr. Wesley's time 1 It is true
we should more rarely meet with immoral clergymen; and
so that part of the case would be relieved as a matter ot
conscience. But would the Methodist societies meet with
friendly clergymen; with men who would bear with so
many communicants, in addition to those who now attend
REV; JOHN WESLEY.
311
their churches 1 And if they were brought to attend the
services of their parish churches, would they be disposed
long to hear those of the clergy who never preach the doc¬
trines of the articles of their own Church 1—or those who
follow some great names of the present day, and neologise
as far as decency permits 1—or those of the evangelical
party, whose discourses are strongly impregnated with Cal¬
vinism 1—or those who place their speculations on the
prophecies among the means of grace and salvation 1 Our
people would neither hear such clergymen themselves, nor
could they conscientiously train up their families to listen
to what they believe great error ; and so if we were to go
back, as we have been exhorted, to Mr. Wesley's first
plan, the majority of our people would, as then, neither
attend church nor sacrament, and the same process would
have to be repeated again, with probably less peaceful
results.
" But 'great evil' has resulted to the Church from Me¬
thodism." This has been often said, certainly never
substantiated ; and this defence of the hostile feeling of
many Churchmen toward Mr. Wesley and his societies
stands upon no solid ground. On the contrary, it seems
not at all difficult to make it plainly appear that great
good has resulted to the Church, as well as to the nation.
Whe-n this-question is under consideration by Churchmen,
they look at the mere fact that a great body of people
have been raised up, as they say, out of the Church, within
a century past, excelling in number almost, if not entirely,
the whole of the old bodies of Dissenters; and they as¬
sume that if the Wesleys and Mr. Whitefield had never
appeared, the Church would have been in as improved a
state as now, with none but the old Dissenters to contend
with. There is great fallacy in both these views, which
merits to be pointed out.
When the Messrs. Wesley, Mr. Whitefield, and their
early coadjutors entered upon their itinerant career, it is a
matter of fact and history, that no general plans for the
illumination of the nation were either in operation, or in
the contemplation of any one. Nothing had this bearing.
There were no persons associated in such institutions of
any kind, making this a common object. The pious labours
of a few zealous clergymen, (and few they were,) and of
312
LIFE OF THE
the ministers of other denominations, were confined to their
own parishes and congregations. There were no means
of general application in existence, to remove the ignorance
and correct the vices which were almost universal. The
measures taken by the founders of Methodism to correct
existing evils were on a large scale. They acted in con¬
cert ; they conceived noble designs. They visited the large
towns; they laboured in the-populous mining, manufac¬
turing, and commercial districts ; they preached in places
of public resort; they formed religious societies, and in¬
spired them with zeal for the instruction and salvation of
their neighbours ; they employed men of zeal, character,
and competent acquaintance with practical and experi¬
mental religion, to assist them in this work as it widened
before them; and they gave it their vigilant superintend¬
ence. The benefits they were the means of producing
were not confined to individuals; they influenced whole
neighbourhoods. Religious knowledge was spread, and
religious influence exerted. The manners of the rude
were civilized ; barbarous sports and pastimes fell greatly
into disuse ; and a higher standard of morals was erected,
of itself of no small importance to the reformation of man¬
ners.
It is a matter of history, that, beside those means which
were afforded by their personal labours, and by the auxil¬
iaries they brought forward to their assistance, in order to
revive and extend the spirit of religion in the nation, for a
great number of years no other means of extensive appli¬
cation were employed to promote this end. The effects
which were thus produced began, however, after a consi¬
derable time had elapsed, to operate collaterally as well as
directly. Many of the clergy were aroused, and the doc¬
trines of the Articles and the Homilies began to be heard
more distinctly and more frequently in their pulpits. Holy
and zealous men ip different denominations began to labour
for the public instruction and reformation. The institution
of Sunday Schools, though devised by a Churchman, was,
at first, but slowly encouraged. The Methodists and Dis¬
senters were carrying those schools to a great extent when
the members of the Church followed : some from a fear,
laudable enough, lest the body of the poor should be alien¬
ated from the Establishment; others, as perceiving in the
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
313
institution the means of conveying instruction and religious
influence to those who most needed them. The circula¬
tion of the Scriptures by Bible Societies followed; but still
that was an effect of the new order of principles and feel¬
ings which ha.d been introduced into the nation. These
principles of zeal for the moral improvement of society
farther led, at a later period, to general measures for the
education of the poor by the two great national education
societies, which promise so much benefit to the country.
All these efforts for enlightening and moralizing the people
may be traeed to several intermediate causes; but it is
only justice to the memory of such men as the Wesleys
and Wh^efield, men so often flippantly branded as enthu¬
siasts, to state, that they all primarily sprung from "that
spirit which, under God, they were the means of exciting
in a slumbering Church, and in a dark and neglected land.
This is a point not to be denied; for long before any of
those efforts for public instruction and reformation which
could be considered national were called forth, those as¬
persed men were pursuing their gigantic labours among the
profligate population of London, and of the principal towns
of the kingdom ; among the miners of Cornwall, the col¬
liers of Kingswood and Newcastle, and the manufacturers
of Yorkshire and Lancashire ; whilst the preachers they
employed were(every year spreading themselves into dark
semi-barbarous villages in the most secluded parts of the
kingdom; enduring bitter privations, and encountering,
almost daily, the insults of rude mobs, that they might
convey to them the knowledge of religion.
Now, in order to judge of these efforts, and to ascertain
what " evil" has resulted to the Church of England from
Mr. Wesley's measures, it is but fair to consider what the
state of the country and of the Church must in all human
probability have been, had he and his associates never
appeared, or confined themselves to the obscurity of Ep-
worth and similar parishes. It is not denied that other
means and agents might have been raised up by God to
effect the purposes of his mercy ; but it is denied that any
such were raised up,—for this is matter of fact. No agency
has appeared in the Church, or out of it, tending to the
geppral instruction and evangelizing of the nation, and
operating on a large scale, which is not much subsequent
314
LIFE OF THE
m its origin to the exertions of the Messrs. Wesley and
Whitefield; and which may not be traced to the spirit which
they excited, and often into the very bosoms of those who
derived their first fight and influence, either directly or
indirectly, from them. What was and not what might
have been, can only be made the ground of argument.
But for their labours, therefore, and the labours of those
persons in the Church, among the Dissenters, and their
own people, whom they imbued with the same spirit, that
state of things in the Church of England, and in the coun¬
try at large, which has been already described, must have
continued, at least, for many years, for any thing which
appears to the contrary;—for no substitute for their exer¬
tions was supplied by any party. They took the place of
none who were exerting themselves : they opposed no
obstacle to the operation of any plan of usefulness, had it
been in preparation. If they therefore had not appeared,
and kindled that flame of religious feeling which ultimately
spread into many denominations of Christians, and thus
gave birth to that variety of effort which now diffuses itself
through the land, it is a very erroneous conclusion to sup¬
pose, that a later period would have found the nation and
the Church at all improved. The probability, almost
amounting to certainty, is, that both would have been
found still more deteriorated, and in a state which would
have presented obstacles much more formidable to their
recovery. For all who have given attention to such sub¬
jects must know, that a number of those demoralizing
causes were then coming into operation, which, with all
the counteractions since supplied by the Church, and the
different religious sects, by schools, and by Bibles, have
produced very injurious effects upon the morals and prin¬
ciples of the nation;—that the tide of an unprecedented
commercial prosperity began then to flow into the country,
and continued, for a long succession of years, to render
the means of sensual indulgence more ample, and to cor¬
rupt more deeply all ranks of society-that in conse¬
quence of the independence thus given to the lower orders
in many of the most populous districts, the moral control
and influence of the higher became gradually weaker;—
that the agitation of political subjects, during the American
quarrel and the French revolution, with the part which
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
315
oven the operative classes were able to take in such dis¬
cussions by means of an extended education, produced, as
will always be the ease among the half-informed, a strong
tendency to republicanism, a restless desire of political
change on every pinching of the tinges, and its constant
concomitant, an aversion to the National Establishment,
partly as the result of ill-digested theories, and partly
because this feeling was encouraged by the negligent
habits of many of the clergy, and the absence of that influ¬
ence which they might have acquired in their parishes by
careful pastoral attentions. To all this is to be added the
diffusion of infidel principles, both of foreign and home
growth, which, from the studies of the learned, descended
into the shop of the mechanic, and, embodied in cheap and
popular works, found their way into every part of the em¬
pire. To counteract agencies and principles so active
and so pernicious, it is granted that no means have yet
been applied of complete adequacy. This is the reason
why their effects are so rife in the present day, and that
we are now in the midst of a state of things which no con¬
siderate man can contemplate without some anxiety.—
These circumstances,'so devastating to morals and good
principles, could only have been fully neutralized by the
ardent exertions of every clergyman in his parish, of every
dissenting minister in his congregation, of every Methodist
preacher in his circuit, of every private Christian in his
own circle, or in the place which useful and pious institu¬
tions of various kinds would have assigned him ; and even
then the special blessing of God would have been neces¬
sary to give effect to the whole. But had no correctives
been applied, what had been the present state of the
nation and of the Church] The labours of the founders of
Methodism were, from the beginning, directly counteractive
of the evils just mentioned ; and those have little reason
to stigmatize them who deplore such evils most, and yet
have done least for their correction and restraint. Where-
ever these men went, they planted the principles of religion
in the minds of the multitudes who heard them; they acted
on the offensive against immorality, infidelity, and error;
the societies they raised were employed in doing good to
all; the persons they associated with them in the work of
national reformation were always engaged in diffusing
LIFE OF THE
piety; and though great multitudes were beyond their
reach, they spread themselves into every part of the land,
turning the attention of men to religious concerns, calm¬
ing their passions, guarding them against the strifes of the
world, enjoining the §criptural principles of " obedience to
magistrates," and a sober, temperate, peaceable, and bene¬
volent conduct. The direct effect of their exertions was
great; and it increased in energy and extent as the demo¬
ralizing causes before mentioned acquired also greater acti¬
vity ; and when their indirect influence began to appear more
fully in the National Church, and in other religious bodies,
remedies more commensurate with the evils existing in
the country began to be applied. I shall not affect to say
what would have been the state of the Church of England
under the uncontrolled operation of all the causes of moral
deterioration, and civil strife, to which I have adverted;
or what hold that Church would have had upon the people
at this day, if the spirit of religion had not been revived in
the country, and if, when ancient prejudices were destroyed
or weakened by the general spread of information among
men, no new bond between it and the nation at large had
been created. But if, as I am happy to believe, the
National Churdh has much more influence and much more
respect now than formerly; and if its influence and the
respect due to it are increasing with the increase of its
evangelical clergy, all this is owing to the existence of a
stronger spirit of piety; and in producing that, the first
great instruments were the men whose labours have been
mentioned in the preceding pages. Not only has the
spirit which they excited improved the religious state ot
the Church, but it has disposed the great body of religious
people, not of the Church, to admire and respect those
numerous members of the Establishment, both clergymen
and laics, whose eminent piety, talents, and usefulness,
have done more to abate the prejudices arising from differ¬
ent views of church government, than a thousand treatises
could nave effected, however eloquently written, or ably
argued.
It may also be asked, Who are the persons whom the
Methodists have alienated from the Church ? In this too,
the Church writers have laboured under great mistakes.
They have "alienated" those, for the most part, who neve?
REV. JOHN WESLET.
317
were, in any substantial sense, and never would have been,
of the Church. Yery few of her pious members have at
any time been separated from her communion by a con¬
nection with us; and many who became serious through
the Methodist ministry, continued attendants on her ser¬
vices, and observers of her sacraments. This was the
case during the life of Mr. Wesley, and in many instances
is so still; and when an actual separation of a few persons
has occurred, it has been much more than compensated
by a return of others from us to the Church, especially of
opulent persons, or their children, in consequence of that
superior influence which an established Church must always
exert upon people of that class. For the rest, they have
been brought chiefly from the ranks of the ignorant and
the careless ; persons who had little knowledge, and no
experience of the power of religion ; negligent of religious
worship of every kind, and many of whom, but for the
agency of Methodism, would have swelled the ranks of
those who are equally disaffected to Church and state. If
such persons are not now Churchmen, they are influ¬
enced by no feelings hostile to the institutions of then-
country.
Such considerations may tend to convey more sober
views on a subject often taken up in heat:—that they will
quite disarm the feeling against which they are levelled is
more than can be hoped for, considering the effects of
party spirit, and the many forms of virtue which it simu¬
lates. However, it is nothing new for the Methodists to
endure reproach, and to be subject to misrepresentations.
Perhaps something of an exclusive spirit may have grown
up amongst us in consequence ; but, if so, it has this pal¬
liation, that we are quite as expansive as the circumstances
in which we have ever been placed could lead any reason¬
able man to anticipate. It might almost be said of us, " Lo,
the people shall dwell alone." The high Churchman has
persecuted us because we are separatists; the high Dis¬
senter has often looked upon us with hostility, because we
would not see that an establishment necessarily, and in se.
[in itself,] involved a sin against the supremacy of Christ;
the rigid Calvinist has disliked us because we hold the
redemption of all men; the Pelagianized Arminian, because
we contend for salvation by grace; the Antinomian, be-
27*
318
life of the
cause we inaist upon the perpetual obligation oT the moral
law; the moralist, because we exalt faith; the disaffected,
because we hold that loyalty and religion are inseparable ;
the political tory, because he cannot think that separatists
from the Church can be loyal to the throne ; the philoso¬
pher, because he deems us fanatics; whilst semi-infidel
liberals generally exclude us from all share in their libe¬
rality, except it be in their liberality of abuse. In the mean¬
time, we have occasionally been favoured with a smile,
though somewhat of a condescending one, from the lofty
Churchman; and often with a fraternal embrace from pious
and liberal Dissenters : and if we act upon the principles
left us by our great founder, we shall make a meek and
lowly temper an essential part of our religion: and, after
his example, move onward in the path of doing good,
through " honour and dishonour, through evil report and
good report," remembering that one fundamental principle
of Wesleyan Methodism is anti-sectarianism and a
catholic spirit.
To return, however, to Mr. Wesley: Among the cen¬
sures which have been frequently directed against him* are
his alleged love of power, and his credulity. The first is
a vice ; the second but a weakness ; and they stand there¬
fore upon different grounds.
As to the love of power, it may be granted that, like
many minds who seem born to direct, he desired to acquire
influence; and, when he attained it, he employed his one
talent so as to make it gain more talents. If he had loved
power for its own sake, or to minister to selfish purposes,
or to injure others, this would have been a great blemish ;
but he sacrificed no principle of his own, and no interest
or right of others, for its gratification. He gained power,
as all great and good men gain it, by the very greatness
and goodness with which they are endowed, and of which
others are always more sensible than themselves. It
devolved upon him without any contrivance ; and when he
knew he possessed it, no instance is on record of his hav¬
ing abused it. This is surely virtue, not vice, and virtue
of the highest order. The only proof attempted to be given
that he loved power, is, that he never devolved his authority
over the societies upon others; but this is capable of an
easy explanation. He could not have shared his power
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
319
among many, without drawing up a formal constitution of
church government for his societies, which would have
amounted to a formal separation from the Church; and it
would have been an insane action had he devolved it upon
one, and placed himself, and the work he had effected,
under the management of any individual to whom his
societies could not stand in the same filial relation as to
himself. He, however, exercised his influence by aid of
the counsel of others ; and allowed the free discussion of
all prudential matters in the conference. Had he been
armed with legal power to inflict pains and penalties, he
ought to have distrusted himself, as every wise and good
man would do, and to have voluntarily put himself beyond
the reach of temptation 'to abuse what mere man, without
check, can seldom use aright. This I grant; but the
control to which he was subject was, that the union of his
societies with him was perfectly voluntary, so that over
them he could have no influence at all but what was
founded upon character, and public spirit, and fatherly
affection. The power which he exercised has descended
to the conference of preachers ; and, as in his case, this
has been often very absurdly complained of, as though it
were parallel to the power of civil government, or to thai
of an established church, supported by statutes and the civil
arm. But this power, like his, is moral influence only,
founded upon the pastoral character, and can exist onlj
upon the basis of the confidence inspired by the fact of its
generally just and salutary exercise among a people whc
neither are nor can be under any compulsion.*
On the charge of credulity, it may be observed, tha
Mr. Wesley lived in an age in which he thought men ir
danger of believing too little, rather than too much, anc
his belief in apparitions is at least no proof of a credulous
ness peculiar to himself. With respect to the " Strang*
accounts" which he inserted in his Magazine, and Strang*
indeed some of them were, it has been falsely assume*
[* This topic is one on which the calumniators of Methodism i:
America also have often harped. The just and obvious view of it s
forcibly exhibited above by Mr. Watson, has been repeatedly presents
too, in answer to the croakers in this country. It is one which ca:
neither be misapprehended nor resisted, except by sheer ignorance, o
by an invincible determination to persist in calumny for its own sake
American Ed.]
320
LIFE OF THE
that he himself believed them entirely. This is not true.
He frequently remarks, that he gives no opinion, or that
" he knows not what to make of the account," or that "he
leaves every one to form his own judgment concerning it."
He met with those relations in reading, or received them
from persons deemed by him credible, and he put them on
record as facts reported to have happened. Now as to an
unbeliever, one sees not what sound objection he can make
to that being recorded which has commanded the faith of
others ; for as a part of the history of human opinions, such
accounts are curious, and have their use. It neither fol¬
lowed, that the editor of the work believed every account,
nor that his readers should consider it true because it was
printed. It was for them to judge of the evidence on which
the relation stood. Many of these accounts, however,
Mr. Wesley did credit, because he thought that they stood
on credible testimony; and he published them for that very
purpose, for which he believed they were permitted to occur,
.—to confirm the faith of men in an invisible state, and in
the immortality of the soul. These were his motives for
inserting such articles in his Magazine; and to the censure
which has been passed upon him on this account, may be
opposed the words of the learned Dr. Henry More, in his
Letter to Glanville, the author of " Sadducismus Trium-
phatus[Sadducism triumphed over:] "Wherefore let
the small philosophic Sir Toplings of this present age
deride as much as they will, those that lay out their pains
in committing to writing certain well attested stories of
apparitions, do real service to true religion and spund phi¬
losophy; and they most effectually contiibute to the con¬
founding of infidelity and Atheism, even in the judgment
of the Atheists themselves, who are as much afraid of the
truth of these stories as an ape is of a whip, and therefore
force themselves with might and main to disbelieve them,
by reason of the dreadful consequence of them, as to them¬
selves." It is sensibly observed by Jortin, in his remarks
on the diabolical possessions in the age of our Lord, that
" one reason for which Divine Providence should suffer
evil spirits to exert their malignant powers at that time,
might be to give a check to Sadducism among the Jews,
and Atheism among the Gentiles, and to remove in some
measure these two great impediments to the reception of
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
321
the Gospel." For moral uses, supernatural visitations
may have been allowed in subsequent ages ; and he who
believes in them, only spreads their moral the farther by
giving them publicity. Before such a person can be fairly
censured, the ground of his faith ought to be disproved,
for he only acts consistently with that faith. This task
would, however, prove somewhat difficult.
Mr. Wesley was a voluminous writer; and as he was
one of the great instruments in reviving the spirit of reli¬
gion in these lands, so he led the way in those praiseworthy
attempts which have been made to diffuse usefid informa¬
tion of every kind, and to smooth the path of knowledge
to the middle and lower ranks of society. Beside books
on religious subjects, he published many small and cheap
treatises on various branches of science; plain and excel¬
lent grammars of the dead languages ; expurgated editions
of the classic authors ; histories, civil and ecclesiastical;
and numerous abridgments of important works.*
It is his especial praise, that he took an early part in
denouncing the iniquities of the African slave trade, and
in arousing the conscience of the nation on the subject.
In Bristol, at that time a dark den of slave traders, he
courageously preached openly against it, defying the rage
of the slave merchants and the mob ; and his spirited and
ably reasoned tract on slavery continues to be admired
and quoted to the present time. It may be added, that
*Mr. Wesley's principal writings are, his translation of the New
Testament, with Explanatory Notes, quarto; his Journals, 6 vols,
duodecimo; his Sermons, 9 volumes duodecimo; his Appeal to Men
of Reason and Religion; his defence of the Doctrine of Original Sin,
in Answer to Dr. Taylor; his answers to Mr. Church, and bishops
Lavington and Warburton; and his Predestination Calmly Consider¬
ed, besides many smaller Tracts on various important subjects. His
works were published by himself in thirty-two volumes, duodecimo,
in the year 1771. An edition of them in fourteen large octavo volumes
has just been completed; with his work on the New Testament in
two volumes of the same size. In addition to his original composi¬
tions, Mr. Wesley published upward of a hundred and twenty differ¬
ent works, mostly abridged from other authors; among which are
grammars in five different languages; the Christian Library, in fifty
duodecimo volumes; thirteen volumes of the Arminian Magazine; a
History of England, and a general Ecclesiastical History, in four
volumes each; a Compendium of Natural Philosophy, in five
volumes; and an Exposition of the Old Testament, in three quarto
volumes.
322
LIFE OF THE
one of the last letters he ever wrote was to Mr. Wilber-
force, exhorting him to perseverance in a work, of which
he was one of the leading instruments,—the effecting the
abolition of the traffic in the nerves and blood of man.
At the time of Mr. Wesley's death, the number of mem¬
bers in connection with him in Europe, America, and the
West India islands, was 80,000. At the last conference,
1830, the numbers returnedwere, inGreatBritain 249,278;
in Ireland 22,897 ; in the foreign missions 41,186 ; total
313,360, exclusive of near half a million of persons in the
societies in the states of America. As to the field of labour
at home, the number of circuits in the United Kingdom,
was, at the time of his death, 115. At present they are
399. The number of mission stations was -8 in the West
Indies, and 8 in British America: at present there are
150. The number of preachers left by him was 312. It
is now 993, in the United Kingdom ; and 193 in the foreign
missions. In the United States of America the number
of preachers is about 2000.
Such have been the results of the labours of this great
and good man. Whether they are still to diffuse a hal¬
lowing influence through the country, and convey the bles¬
sings of Christianity to Heathen lands with the same rapidity
and with the same vigour, will, under the divine blessing,
depend upon those who have received from him the trust
of a system of religious agency, to be employed with the
same singleness of heart, the same benevolent zeal for the
spiritual benefit of mankind, and the same dependence
upon the Holy Spirit. I know not that it bears upon it
any marks of decay, although it may require to be accom¬
modated in a few particulars to the new circumstances
with which it is surrounded. The doctrinal views which
Mr. Wesley held, were probably never better understood,
or more accurately stated in the discourses of the preach¬
ers ; and the moral discipline of the body, in all its essen¬
tial parts,was nevermore cordially approved by the people
generally, or enforced with greater faithfulness by their
pastors. Yery numerous are the converts who are every
year won from the world, brought under religious influence,
and placed in the enjoyment of means and ordinances
favourable to their growth in religious knowledge and holy
habits ; and many are constantly passing into eternity, of
REV. JOHN WESLEY.
323
whose "good hope through grace," the testimony is in the
nighest degree satisfactory. If Methodism continue in
vigour and purity to future ages, it will still be associated
with the name of its founder, and encircle his memory
with increasing lustre ; and if it should fall into the for¬
mality and decays which have proved the lot of many other
religious bodies, he will not lose his reward. Still a glo¬
rious harvest of saved souls is laid up in the heavenly gar¬
ner, which will be his " rejoicing in the day of the Lord
whilst the indirect influence of his labours upon the other
religious bodies and institutions of the country will justly
entitle him to be considered as one of the most honoured,
instruments of reviving and extending the influence of re^
ligion that, since the time of the Apostles, have beentaised
up by the providence of God.
THE END