THE UNIVERSITY 
 
 OF ILLINOIS 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 From the collection of 
 Julius Doerner, Chicago 
 Purchased, 1918. 
 
 Univ. Of 
 
 Librar 
 


 
 
 I oyZi,^ 
 
 - r- 
 
 et- 
 
A 
 
 PORTRAITURE 
 
 OF 
 
 METHODISM: 
 
 BEING 
 
 JN IMPARTIAL VIEW 
 
 t OP THS 
 
 RISE, PROGRESS, DOCTRINES, DISaPLINE, AND MANNERS 
 
 OP THE 
 
 WESLEYAN METHODISTS. 
 
 IN A 
 
 SERIES OF LETTERS, ADDRESSED TO A LADY. 
 
 By JOSEPH NIGHTINGALE. 
 
 
 Sit mihi fas audita loqui- 
 
 Virgil. 
 
 LONDON: 
 
 Printed by C. Stower, 32 , Paternoster Row, 
 
 POB LONGMAN, HURST, REES, AND ORME, PATER-NOSTER ROW, 
 
 1807 . 
 
Digitized by the Internet Archive 
 . in2015-^^ ' : ^ 
 
 I 
 
 https://archive.org/detairs/portraitureofmetOOnigh_0 
 
PREFACE, 
 
 As far as concerns the manner in which 
 the following work is executed, I must be 
 allowed to deprecate the severity of criti- 
 cism ; in what relates to the matter of it, 
 I desire only that it should stand upon its 
 own merits, as an impartial and fair ac- 
 count of the people whose history and inter- 
 nal economy I have attempted to develop, 
 ; If I appear to have been too personal in my 
 I remarks on some living characters among 
 j the Methodists, it has arisen from my utter 
 detestation of bigotry and intolerance ; and 
 ^from a desire of distinguishing the precious 
 from the vile. And it should be remember- 
 
 >• 
 
 ed, that those remarks refer to them in 
 
 a 2 
 
 
 802573 
 
IV 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 their public, and not in their private, capacity. 
 In this latter point of view, no man is more 
 ready than myself, to acknowledge their 
 zeal, sincerity, and moral worth. 
 
 From the candid and honest Methodist I 
 can have nothing to dread : he will observe, 
 that impartiality and truth are the leading 
 features of the work : while the enthusiast 
 and the bigot will condemn me for having 
 disclosed the 
 
 Secrets of the prison house.” 
 
 From persons of this class, however, I 
 expect, court, I desire no mercy. Let them 
 ransack the stores of abuse- — let them cast 
 their jaundiced eyes over every page ; and 
 let them see, or fancy they see, errors in . 
 every line, and mischief in every sheet; as 
 they are incapable of discerning excellences, 
 should there happen to be any, so remarks 
 on defects, from them, will not be noticed 
 or regarded by the author. I would ra- 
 ther,"^ to use the language of Dering, bear 
 the scourge of their tongues, than have 
 the kisses of their lips : the latter would 
 make me suspect myself ; the former would 
 beget a hope of some merit in me.” 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 r 
 
 To the Methodists in general, I may 
 safely appeal for the faithfulness of the fol- 
 lowing Portraiture. They will perceive that 
 I have never blamed th^ir community, either 
 individually or collectively, without also 
 awarding them their due degree of praise : 
 so that, upon the whole, I have not a doubt, 
 but an impression will be left on the mind 
 of the candid and discerning reader, favour- 
 able to the cause and interest of the Wes- 
 leyan Christians. 
 
 It has ever been my object to state, rather 
 than to controvert or defend, the opinions 
 and practices of the Methodists ; and here- 
 in, I conceive, in part, lies the merit of my 
 book above others who have attempted the 
 same subject. 
 
 The Methodists have certainly met with 
 unmerited abuse from various quarters, and 
 on various occasions ; yet I have not thought 
 it particularly necessary to notice those se- 
 veral attacks, as they have already met with 
 due censure from Mr. Benson and others. I 
 may, nevertheless, be here* permitted to re- 
 mark on one or two instances of this 
 nature* 
 
 On the detraction and disapprobation 
 of Methodists and Dissenters in general. 
 
VI 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 given in the first volume of The Orthodox 
 Churchman’s Magazine, I shall say little, 
 because, much to the credit of the for- 
 mer editor of that mis-named Miscel- 
 lany, he has ingenuously disavowed the 
 party spirit with which it was conceived 
 and conducted, and which too fatally leads 
 men to discredit and disgrace their opponents 
 rather than give them a candid hearing.” — 
 He has frankly acknowledged that the gene- 
 ral charges against Methodists and Dissenters 
 originated in inexperience and a zeal with- 
 out knowledge^ which then received no 
 check nor censure from older and wiser 
 heads than his own, and whose age and ex- 
 perience should have taught them better 
 things — Vide' The Monthly Repository 
 OF Theology and General Litera- 
 ture, for February, I8o0. Injustice to the 
 same author I must also observe, that this 
 acknowledgment applies to another work : 
 The Rise and Dissolution of Infidel Socie- 
 ties in this Metropolis.” In this copious dis- 
 sertation, so far as the author’s remarks are 
 connected with the progress of modern deism 
 and the licentiousness of anti-Christian 
 principles, they are excellent ; his informa- 
 tion is curious and important ; but as the 
 
 1 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 vn 
 
 fifth chapter of that work was written as a 
 vindication of the Established Church of 
 England, and with a particular view to de- 
 grade the character of Methodists and Dis- 
 senters in general, though it obtained the 
 warm approbation of a third of the Re- 
 viewers, the author, within a twelvemonth 
 after its appearance, took every opportunity 
 of avowing the change in his sentiments, in 
 favour of toleration, and of expressing his 
 disapprobation of a narrow, persecuting, 
 party spirit. 
 
 Such an acknowledgment, from a writer 
 allowed to possess no mean talents, is ano- 
 ther instance of the many who have pub- 
 licly renounced the old persecuting spirit, 
 and the temporal advantages attending it, 
 in favour of true Christian charity, with uni- 
 versal toleration and forbearance in matters 
 of conscience. 
 
 It is much to be lamented, that the An-^ 
 iiual Review, a work of such distinguished 
 excellence, and conducted by persons of the 
 first literary reputation, should have admitted 
 so gross a dereliction of principle as ap- 
 peared in a critique on Myles’s History of 
 the Methodists, in the second volume of 
 that work^ And it is, perhaps, the rqcre 
 
VUl 
 
 PREFACE. 
 
 to be regretted, the writer of that critique 
 being pretty generally known, that abuse, 
 so scurrilous, should have come from the 
 pen of one capable of much better things, 
 arid whose labours, in other walks of liter- 
 ature, will continue to amuse and instruct 
 while there is any taste left for works of 
 genuine and intrinsic merit. It is somewhat 
 remarkable, that more than twenty-four co- 
 lumns, in royal octavo, should have been de- 
 devoted to the Review of a work, which the 
 critic himself declares is no subject for cri- 
 ticism !” and it is equally strange, that nearly 
 one half of those columns should be filled, not 
 in reviewing Mr. Myles’s book, but in abus- 
 ing the whole body of Methodists in the 
 most shameful and unjust manner imagin- 
 able ! In like manner has Mr. Benson acted 
 in his reply to this Reviewer : Not contented 
 with answering the Critic’s objections, he 
 has taken that opportunity of shewing his 
 implacable zeal and anger towards the Uni- 
 tarians ! It is difficult to discern any con- 
 nexion between the Unitarians and the An- 
 nual Review ; but the fact is, Mr, Benson, 
 being exceedingly mad against this class of 
 Christians, is glad of every opportunity of 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 IX 
 
 abusing them. To do this, he is certainly 
 instant in season and out of season ! 
 
 Mr. Benson has manifested a similar spirit 
 and conduct with regard to Mr. Evans, au- 
 thor of the Sketch of Religious Denomina- 
 tions, which was attacked in a most rude 
 and scurrilous manner in the Methodist Ma- 
 gazine for 1805 . The paper to which I 
 here allude was written by a certain banker 
 of Hull, and is signed Inspector. Why 
 Inspector should have taken a dislike to a 
 work which has been so very favourably 
 received by the public (nearly forty thousand 
 copies having already issued from the press) 
 it is not easy to conceive. He seems indeed 
 to have taken great offence at the author for 
 having prudently avoided extolling his own 
 ' party, the General Baptists, at the expense 
 of all others ; and this is the most probable 
 motive for his conduct ; a motive truly wor- 
 thy of the head and heart of him who could 
 write such an attack on the Sketch. 
 
 The chief blame which attaches to Mr. 
 Benson, in this business, as editor, arises 
 from the mutilated and garbled copy he 
 has given of Mr. Evans’s Defence of 
 himself which appeared in the same ma- 
 gazine, some time after the appearance of 
 
X PREFACE. 
 
 Inspector’s attack. Nay^ Mr. Benson did 
 not only insert the defence in a partial man- 
 ner, but he even attempted to answer it,= 
 paragraph by paragraph ; thereby endeavour- 
 ing to prejudice the mind of the unsuspect- 
 ing reader still more against the Author of 
 the Sketch. To fill up the measure of in- 
 sult, he then triumphantly exclaims, Mn 
 Evans has now had full justice done him !” 
 The man who could thus act, is certainly 
 unworthy of having the management of any 
 publication whatsoever. The Sketch, a tenth 
 edition of which has just made its appear- 
 ance, has been re-printed in America, and 
 has also been translated into several of the 
 continental languages; and will, I doubt 
 not, continue to be read when its few 
 illiberal enemies are deservedly forgotten. 
 
 In drawing the following Portraiture, T 
 have had recourse to every publication I am 
 acquainted with, which could enable me to 
 do it fully and faithfully. It is not, how-^ 
 ever, necessary that I should enter into a de- 
 tail of those authorities : they are chiefly to be 
 found in the various biographical and histo- 
 rical works which throw any light on the 
 subject of Methodism, 
 
PREFACE. xi 
 
 In addition to those several authorities, I 
 may be allowed to mention my own per- 
 sonal knowledge of the Methodists : more 
 particularly in what relates to the internal 
 economy of this sect, and to the several 
 peculiar customs and modes of expression 
 and action which they have adopted. From 
 this source I have been able to produce 
 much original and interesting information : 
 original, at least, to the public at large ; 
 and even, I may add, to numbers of the 
 Methodists themselves. 
 
 I have throughout aimed at strict impar- 
 tiality ; and if at any time I have failed of 
 my object, it has been through mistake and 
 inadvertence, and not from any wish to ex- 
 hibit the Methodists either in a favourable 
 , or an unfavourable point of view ; but to 
 draw a faithful and accurate Portraiture of 
 the origin, progress, discipline, and manners 
 of the Wesleyan J^Iethodists. 
 
 Fleet-street, June 18, 1807. 
 
CONTENTS 
 
 Page 
 
 PREFACE. m 
 
 ^ LETTER I. 
 
 Introductory. 1 
 
 LETTER II. 
 
 Origin of the Term Methodist, and of its Application to the 
 Wesley ans. 5 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 A Brand plucked from the burning.” 12 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 The Father of Methodism," a Poet. 19 
 
 LETTER V. 
 
 Origin of Methodism at Oxford. 28 
 
 LETTER VI. 
 
 Decline of Methodism at Oxford. 33 
 
 LETTER VII, 
 
 Methodism visits America. 44 
 
 LETTER VIII. 
 
 Progress of Methodism at Georgia. 53 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 
 LETTER IX. Page 
 
 Bickerings, Persecutions, and Decline of Methodism 
 at Georgia. 54 
 
 LETTER X. 
 
 Progress of Methodism, and Conversion of the Wesleys. 74. 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Third Period of Methodism — Orders of a Religious Society — ■ 
 Mr. Wesley doubts of his Conversion — Visits Germany. 83 
 LETTER XTL 
 
 Increase of Methodism — Specimens. p3 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 A Shaking among the dry Bones” — Dialogue between Mr. 
 Wesley and the Bishop of Bristol. 103 
 
 LETTER XIV. 
 
 Fightings without, and Fears within. 115 
 
 LETTER XV. 
 
 Methodism extends itself over various Parts of the Kingdom. 
 
 125 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Formation of the Societies — General Rules — Directions given 
 to the Bands -Schism. . . 135 
 
 LETTER XVII. 
 
 Persecutions — Miraculous Escapes — Reflections. 149 
 
 LETTER XVIII. 
 
 Conference — -Prayer-Meetings — Specimens. 1(>3 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Of Class-Meetings — Specimens. 177 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Of Band' Meetings— Strictures by the Annual Reviewers — De- 
 fended by the Methodists. 19O 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 XV 
 
 LETTER XXI^ 
 
 Page 
 
 Of Agapce, or Love-Feasts — Specimens. 201 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 Of Watch-Nights — Wrestling Jacob. 214 
 
 LETTER XXIIL 
 
 Of the Yearly Covenant. 225 
 
 LETTER XXIV. 
 
 Of the Society-Meetings. 236 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Of the Qarterly Visitation of the Classes. 244 
 
 LETTER XXVI. 
 
 Of Preaching, &c. with Specimens. 251 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 Of Prayer- Leaders^ Class-Leaders, and Local-Preachers 2 d9 
 LETTER XXVIII. 
 
 Of Travelling Preachers — Specimens — Trustees — Stewards 2?S 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 Of Meetings for Business — Leaders’-Meetings — Quarterly- 
 Meetings^District-Meetings — Conference. 3^02 
 
 LETTER XXX. 
 
 Progiess of Methodism on the Field of Battle— John Nelson — 
 Preachers’ Talents — The Christian Library — Great Labours 
 — Liberality — Illiberal ity.. 321 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 Persecutions — Inconvenience of the first PreacTers— IMarriage 
 of Mr. C. Weslej? — A ’Parody — Riots — Lsstability of some 
 of the Preachers. * 331 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 Mr. Whitefield — Hypocrisy of Unbelievers^ — Dreadful Alarms 
 —James Wheatley. 344 
 
XVI 
 
 CONTENTS. 
 
 Li^TTER XX^XIIl. 
 
 Prejudices against Mr. Charles Wesley— Desists from Travel- 
 ling— His Sickness and Death — His Character— Specimens 
 
 of his Poetry. Pa^e 257 
 
 LETTER XXXIV. 
 
 Marriage of Mr. Wesley — Success of Methodism in Scotland — 
 Causes of its Failure there — Testimony in favour of the 
 established Clergy of these Kingdoms. 369 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 Mr. Fletcher — Anecdote — A Revival — Perfection — ^Mr. Max- 
 field — George Bell — Prophesying— Pandora's Box. 380 
 
 LETTER XXXVI. 
 
 A Revival at Kingswood — Erasmus — Methodistical Ordina- 
 tion. 393 
 
 LETTER XXXVII. 
 
 Methodistical Ordination, concluded. , 400 
 
 LETTER XXXVIII. 
 
 Tolerant Spirit of Methodism misiated — Conventicle Act — 
 Tolerant Spirit of the Church. - 409 
 
 LETTER XXXIX. - 
 
 Mr. Wesley’s Reflections on himself — The last Words and Sen- 
 'timents of dying Men no Test of Truth — Sickness and Death 
 of Mr. Wesley — P»,emarks on Mr. Wesley’s general Cha- 
 racter. 419 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 Of the Methodist Doctrines. 427 
 
 LETTER XLI.' 
 
 Of Bibliomancy — Scripture -Cards Women-Prcaching — ^ — • 
 
 Street and Field Singing. 44 S 
 
 LETTER XLIL 
 
 Controversies with the Calvinists, &c. — Circular Letter. 459 
 LETTER XLIII. . 
 
 Finances — Population. ' 466 
 
 LETTER XLIV. 
 
 Divisions — Conclusion. 47® 
 
A 
 
 PORTRAITURE 
 
 OF 
 
 METHODISM, &c. 
 
 LETTER 1. 
 
 Introductory, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The last time I had the pleasure of dining at 
 
 — ^ you requested me to recommend to 
 
 you some Book containing an impartial account 
 of the Wesleyan Methodists. But, you 
 may possibly remember, I then remarked, that 
 ignorance, prejudice, and selfish prepossession, 
 had hitherto united their baneful influences to 
 withhold from the public eye the information 
 you desired. Solicitous, however, of gratifying 
 
 the curiosity of a lady of Mrs. ^s charac* 
 
 ter and literary celebrity, I gladly take upon 
 myself the task of collecting into one view some 
 information concerning the origin, progress, 
 
 B 
 
2 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 doctrines, church-discipline, and singular cus- 
 toms, of the Wesleyan Methodists; and I deem 
 myself somewhat fitted for this task, because 
 they are a people with whom I have, during a 
 period of nine or ten years, been intimately con- 
 nected, and with whose doctrines and peculiari- 
 ties my situation, as minister among them, 
 must have necessarily rendered me tolerably fa- 
 miliar. 
 
 This information. Madam, it is my intention 
 to communicate to you, from time to time, as 
 the avocations of my profession may permit me ; 
 or as your more important pursuits and engage- 
 ments may allow you time and inclination to 
 peruse my several epistles. 
 
 In the performance of this engagement I an- 
 ticipate much pleasure, and some pain. It will 
 be gratifying to me to be able to satisfy your 
 laudable curiosity on the subject of Methodism, 
 as well as pleasing to observe the influence of re- 
 ligious principle on a body of Christians who, 
 in the course of less than eighty years, have 
 sprung from a number not exceeding half a 
 dozen persons, to the astonishing amount of near- 
 ly two hundred and seventy thousand. This 
 pleasure, however, must experience some abate- 
 ment, from the consideration of the necessity 
 I shall be laid under, either of repressing some 
 necessary and important facts, or of relating se- 
 veral instances of th-c evil nature and contami- 
 
INTRODUCTORy. 
 
 3 
 
 Hating influence of bigotry, enthusiasm, and su- 
 perstition. 
 
 Confident that my fidelity in the relation of 
 facts will receive due credit, and that all pos- 
 sible candour will be exercised in the perusal of 
 that relation, I shall proceed with my narrative, 
 more anxious to observe accuracy and faithful- 
 ness in its execution, than to decorate the por- 
 trait with the less necessary ornaments of ele- 
 gance of style and purity of diction. It will, 
 however grieve me, should I inadvertently fall 
 into any glaring mistake even of this latter 
 kind, which might offend the just taste and de- 
 licate ear of my correspondent. 
 
 It wilh Madam, be my chief ambition to 
 please and inform by stating facts and circum- 
 stances exactly as they are, unbiassed by any 
 difference of sentiment and opinion, or by the 
 blinding influence of interested predilection. 
 Were this not my determination, I might save 
 both you, Madam, and myself, the trouble of 
 this correspondence, by recommending to your 
 perusal the work of Bishop Lavington, on the 
 Enthusiasm of Methodists and Catholics; the 
 late publication of the rector of Killesandra, 
 entitled, “ Methodism Inspected the Me- 
 thodism Unmasked,'’ of Mr. Owen; or, the 
 “ Defences/' of Wesley, Fletcher, Benson, and 
 others, who have treated the subject of Me- 
 
 B 2 
 
4 
 
 INTRODUCTORY. 
 
 thodism in a partial, or in an uncharitable man«» 
 ncr. 
 
 The Portraiture of Methodism, as drawn by 
 the dexterous hands of these gentlemen, is too 
 often caricatured and distorted on the one 
 hand, or over-coloured and enlarged on the 
 other. Extremes having been observed on both 
 sides, it will be no very difficult task to draw 
 the line of truth between them ; and thus to de- 
 lineate such a picture of modern Methodism as 
 shall, I flatter myself, gratify you. Madam, and, 
 by so doing, confer an honour on, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Your most obedient, 
 
 Humble servant, 
 
 J. NIGHTINGALE, 
 
LETTER II. 
 
 Origin of the Term Methodist, and of its 
 application to the fVesleyans. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Themison, the John Wesley of an ancient sect 
 of physicians, flourished about thirty or forty 
 years before the Christian era. The college of 
 physicians, of which Themison was the founder, 
 affected a more easy method of teaching and 
 practising the art of physic than was at that 
 time observed in Rome, where the college was , 
 founded ; and their peculiarities, like those of 
 the Wesleyan Christians, procured them the 
 appellation of Methodists. This sect flourished 
 about three hundred years, and had some of the 
 greatest physicians of the age among its mem- 
 bers. But of its founder, Juvenal seems to have 
 entertained no very flattering idea, when he ob- 
 serves, concerning the bodily infirmities of an 
 old man, that it were as difficult to enumerate 
 
6 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE 
 
 the patients killed by Themison in one autumn, 
 as to tell the names of all the diseases which, 
 like a troop, rush upon the aged and infirm on 
 all sides— 
 
 — — Circumsilit agmine facto 
 
 Morborum omne genus, quorum si nomina quosras 
 
 Promptius expediam 
 
 Quot Themison asgros autumno occiderit uno. 
 
 It is doubtful, however, whether Juvenal here 
 alludes to the Methodist, Themison, or to some 
 other physician of the same name ; and cer- 
 tainly, Madam, there is a most material differ- 
 ence in the character of Themison, as spoken 
 of by this fiery satirist, and the venerable 
 founder of that sect of Christians concern- 
 ing which I am about to give you some infor- 
 mation. The practice of the ancient physician 
 seems to have been very extensive, and so was 
 that of the modern divine ; but while the one 
 was engaged in killing or curing the bodies of 
 his patients, the other was most successfully 
 exercised in saving the souls, and reforming the 
 morals, of many of those whose cases in other 
 hands would have been thought desperate; and 
 who indeed had been discharged as incurable 
 by practitioners of less zeal and more limited 
 experience. 
 
 Hannah Adams, in her View of all Reli- 
 gions,’* mentions a species of polemic doctors 
 
TERM METHODIST. 
 
 7 
 
 in the Roman Catholic church, who were term- 
 ed Methodists, 
 
 It has been somewlxat unusual, in the forma- 
 tion of the numerous sects into which the Chris- 
 tian world is divided, for the members of any de- 
 nomination of Christians voluntarily to adopt the 
 appellations which their enemies have given them, 
 as their regular and proper terms of distinction 
 from the rest of their Christian brethren. My 
 very worthy and much respected friend, the 
 well-known author of a “ Sketch of the Deno- 
 minations of the Christian world,” has furnished 
 his readers with a useful table, exhibiting at 
 one view the names, and origin of the names, by 
 which the chief sects in the Christian world are 
 distinguished ; and from this table you will ob- 
 serve, that these distinctive appellations are al- 
 most all of them derived either from some opi- 
 nions respecting the person of Christ ; the means 
 and extent of the divine favour; from some pe- 
 culiarities respecting church-government, and 
 the administration of ceremonies ; or from the 
 names of their respective founders : but not one, 
 I believe, of this list, amounting to upwards of 
 thirty, has unequivocally taken to itself a name 
 originally applied to it as a term of ridicule and 
 reproach, excepting the Methodists. For al- 
 though Mr. Wesley often distinguished the so- 
 ciety of which he was head, by a mode of ex- 
 pression somewhat similar to that used by the 
 
8 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE 
 
 Society of Friends, and denominated his follow- 
 ers, ‘‘ The People called Methodists,” yet in 
 several publications, he gravely sanctions the 
 term and its application ; and his people have 
 most unreservedly adopted it, by making it the 
 title of a Magazine published by themselves, 
 which the author of a critique on Myles’s His- 
 tory of the Methodists, in the second volume of 
 the Annual Review, calls their Official Ga- 
 zette, 
 
 If we remark the conduct of Mr. Wesley, both 
 in his public capacity, as head and founder of a 
 sect, and in his more private concerns, as a 
 Christian and a scholar, we shall observe a me- 
 thodical strictness in all his undertakings, which 
 will cause the term Methodist, when applied to 
 himself, to possess a great degree of pro- 
 priety. 
 
 Though an itinerant, a wanderer, through 
 the whole of his life he observed the greatest 
 regularity in the times and places of his mi- 
 nisterial engagements; and when his socie- 
 ties were in some degree organized, he might, 
 making proper allowances for the vicissitudes of 
 fortune, and the natural uncertainty of all hu- 
 man affairs and undertakings, have written a 
 large portion of his each day’s journal, a day, or 
 even a week, prior to his engagements, with 
 almost as much accuracy as when those en- 
 . gagements had been fulfilled ; so much was he 
 
TERM METHODIST. 
 
 9 
 
 addicted to those habits which are the great 
 sources of success in all momentous concerns — 
 punctuality and regularity. 
 
 In the early part of Mr. Wesley’s life, a dis- 
 position to methodical exactness in all his un- 
 dertakings displayed itself in a manner border- 
 ing up)on an unnecessary and superstitious for- 
 mality; it was, however, doubtless, of won- 
 derful assistance in his various pursuits as a 
 student and a man of letters. It is pleasing, 
 Madam, to observe this man of regularity, this 
 finished Methodist, so early in life as his twenty- 
 fourth year, entering with determined serious- 
 ness on a plan, which he had before fixed, of 
 appropriating certain hours in the mornings and 
 afternoons to certain branches of study ; and it 
 has been observed, that Mr. Wesley never suf- 
 fered himself to depart from the rules he had 
 once laid down. His hours of study on Mon- 
 days and Tuesdays were devoted to the Greek 
 ^nd Latin classics, historians, and poets ; Wed- 
 nesdays, to logic and ethics ; Thursdays, to 
 Hebrew and Arabic: on Fridays, Mr. Wesley 
 embarked on the unfathomable ocean of meta- 
 physics, or recreated himself in the amusing 
 paths of natural philosophy.’ His Saturdays were 
 very properly given to oratory, and the delight- 
 ful exercises of poetry and poetical composition; 
 and hi^ Sundays were still more appropriately 
 devoted to the study and practice of divinity. 
 
10 
 
 ORIGIN OF THE 
 
 Certain intermediate hours, in each day, were 
 given to the study of the French language. 
 
 Mr. Wesley's mode of reading was, first to 
 read an author regularly through, and in his se- 
 cond reading to transcribe favourite passages 
 into his collections. 
 
 So strictly did Mr. Wesley adhere to order, 
 ‘^Heaven's first law%” that, I believe, all his dis- 
 courses, and even many of his familiar letters, 
 were regularly divided into an almost puritani- 
 cal exactness of — firstly, secondly, thirdly, 
 fourthly, &c. Most aptly, therefore, was Mr. 
 Wesley called a Methodist. / 
 
 At what precise period this term was first ap- 
 plied to the sect of Christians now so called, is 
 not quite certain. It appears that the term was 
 first applied to Mr. Charles Wesley, one of Mr. 
 John Wesley's brothers, and to a few others, at 
 Oxford, some time before November, in the 
 year 1729, while Mr. John Wesley was at Ep- 
 worth, the place of his birth, and where his fa- 
 ther was at that time rector. Mr. Wesley's own 
 account of the matter is as follows : — The ex- 
 act regularity of their lives, as well as studies, 
 occasioned a young man of Christ Church to 
 say, " Here is a new sect of Methodists sprung- 
 up,’ alluding to some ancient physicians who 
 were so called. The name was quaint, so it 
 took immediately, and the Methodists were 
 known all over the University.” 
 
TERM METHODIST. 
 
 11 
 
 This, however, is not the only term by which 
 the disciples of Mr. John Wesley Avere distin- 
 guished Sacramentarians ; The Godly Club; 
 The Holy Club ; Supererogation-men ; and 
 Swaddlers — are all appellations which satire or 
 ridicule has at times used to apply to ‘‘ the 
 people in connection with the Rev. John Wes- 
 ley.’" The term Swaddlers was first given to 
 these people in Ireland, where one of the early 
 lay-preachers in that country took for a text that 
 passage from Ezekiel, where the prophet says, 
 Thou wert not swaddled at all.” 
 
 Thus much, Madam, for the origin and ap- 
 plication of a term which is now often used to 
 distinguish all who make pretensions to superior 
 sanctity of mind and manners, and to a more 
 than ordinary spiritual intercourse with the Al- 
 mighty. Indeed this term is now very com- 
 monly given to all who presume, on the grounds 
 of morality, to violate the boundaries of any 
 branch of modern etiquette. It is become the 
 invidious catch-word of the careless and the in- 
 different — the countersign of the unbelieving 
 sophist, as well as the pride and glory of the 
 hypocrite, the enthusiast, and the bigot. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
12 
 
 LETTER III. 
 
 A Brand plucked from the burning,'' 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Mr. John Wesley, the father of the Armi- 
 nian Methodists,” was bom at Ep worth, in Lin- 
 colnshire, in the year 1703. He was the son of 
 Samuel and Susannah Wesley, who, as appears 
 from Dr. Whitehead’s account of them, were 
 persons of much respectability, and were re- 
 markably serious and devout. 
 
 When Mr. John Wesley was about six years 
 of age, he was almost miraculously saved from 
 being destroyed by fire^ on which account he 
 used to consider himself in another besides a 
 spiritual sense, ‘‘ a brand plucked from the 
 burning.” As I wish, Madam, to have you in- 
 terested in whatever concerns the hero of my 
 history (for the history of all sects must be 
 connected with the biography of their founders), 
 
A BRAND PLUCKED, 8CC. 
 
 13 
 
 I will give you a circumstantial account of this 
 calamity which had so nearly proved fatal to 
 the whole of Mr. Samuel Wesley’s family. I 
 cannot do this better than by transcribing Mrs. 
 Wesley’s letter to the Rev. Mr. Hoole, in which 
 she gives a full account of the whole transac- 
 tion. This letter is dated August 24, 1709. 
 
 ‘‘Rev. Sir, 
 
 “ My master is much concerned that he was 
 so unhappy as to miss of seeing you at Epworth ; ^ 
 and he is not a little troubled that the great 
 hurry of business about building his house will 
 not afford him leisure to write. He has there- 
 fore ordered me to satisfy your desire as well as 
 I can, which I shall do by a simple relation of 
 matters of fact, though I cannot at this distance 
 of time recollect every calamitous circumstance 
 that attended our strange reverse of fortune. 
 
 “ On Wednesday night, February the 9th, ^ 
 between the hours of eleven and twelve, our 
 house took fire, by what accident God only 
 knows. It was discovered by some sparks fall- 
 ing from the roof upon a bed where one of the 
 children lay, and burnt her feet. She immedi- 
 ately ran to our chamber and called us ; but 1 
 believe no one heard her, for Mr. Wesley was 
 alarmed by a cry of fire in the street, upon 
 which he rose, little imagining that his own 
 ' house was on fire ; but on opening his door^ he 
 
u 
 
 A BRAND PLUCKED 
 
 found it was full of smoke, and that the roof 
 was already burnt through. He immediately 
 came to my room (as I was very ill he lay in a 
 separate room from me), and bid me and my 
 two eldest daughters rise quickly, and shift for 
 our lives, the house being all on fire. Then he 
 ran and burst open the nursery door, and called 
 to the maid to bring out the children. The 
 two little ones lay in the bed with her ; the three 
 others in another bed. She snatched up the 
 youngest, and bid the rest follow, which they 
 did, except Jacky. When we were got into the 
 hall, and saw ourselves surrounded with flames, 
 and that the roof was upon the point of falling, 
 we concluded ourselves inevitably lost, as Mr. 
 Wesley in his fright had forgot the keys of the 
 doors above stairs. But he ventured up stairs 
 once more, and recovered them, a minute before 
 the staircase took fire. When we opened the 
 street-door, the strong north-east wind drove 
 the flames in with such violence, that none 
 could stand against them. Mr. Wesley only 
 had such presence of mind as to think of the 
 garden-door, out of which he helped some of 
 the children ; the rest got through the windows. 
 I was not in a condition to climb up to the win- 
 dows ; nor could I get to the garden- door. I 
 endeavoured three times to force my passage 
 through the street-door, but was as often beat 
 back by the fury of the flames. In this distress 
 
FROM THE BURNING. 
 
 15 
 
 I besought our blessed Saviour to preserve me, 
 if it were his will, from that death, and then 
 waded through the fire, naked as I was, which 
 did me no further harm than a little scorching 
 my hands and face. 
 
 ‘‘ While Mr. Wesley was carrying the children 
 to the garden, he heard the child in the nursery 
 cry out miserably for help, which extremely af- 
 fected him ; but his affiiction was much increas- 
 ed, when he had several times attempted the 
 stairs then on fire, and found they would not 
 bear his weight. Finding it was impossible to 
 get near him, he gave him up for lost, and kneel- 
 ing down, he commended his soul to God, and 
 left him, as he thought, perishing in the flames. 
 But the boy seeing none come to his help, and 
 being frightened, the chamber and bed being on 
 fire, he climbed up to the casement, where he 
 was soon perceived by the men in the yard, who 
 immediately got up and pulled him out, just in 
 the article of time that the roof fell in, and beat 
 the chamber to the ground. Thus, by the in- 
 finite mercy of Almighty God, our lives were all 
 preserved by little less than a miracle ; for there 
 passed but a few minutes between the first alarm 
 of fire and the falling of the house.” 
 
 Mr. John Wesley’s account of this calamitous 
 affair does not exactly agree with that I have 
 just given from his mother. Permit me. Madam, 
 
 4 
 
16 
 
 A BRANt) PLtCKED 
 
 to transcribe his own account of what more 
 immediately concerns himself in what then hap- 
 pened. 
 
 I believe it was just at that time (when his 
 father supposed he heard him cry) I awaked; 
 for I did not cry, as they imagined^ unless it 
 was afterwards. I remember all the circum- 
 stances as distinctly as though it was but yes- 
 terday. Seeing the room was very light, 1 call- 
 ed to the maid to take me up : but none an- 
 swering, I put my head out of the curtains, and 
 saw streaks of fire on the top of the room. I 
 got up and ran to the door, but could get no 
 further, all the floor beyond it being in a blaze. 
 I then climbed upon a chest, which stood near 
 the window : one in the yard saw me, and pro- 
 posed running to fetch a ladder. Another an- 
 swered, there will not be time; but I have 
 thought of another expedient. Here I will fix 
 myself against the wall : lift a light man, and 
 set him on my shoulders. They did so, and 
 they look me out of the window. Just then the 
 roof fell ; but it fell inward, or we had all been 
 crushed at once. When they brought me into 
 the house where my father was, he cried out, 
 Come, neighbours! let us kneel down! let 
 us give thanks to God ! He has given me all 
 my eight children : let the house go, I am rich 
 enough !” 
 
FROM THE BURNING. 
 
 17 
 
 In the language and conduct of old Mr. Wes- 
 ley, when he found all his children safe from 
 the devouring element^ you will doubtless re- 
 cognise Dr. Primrose, the virtuous Vicar of 
 Wakefield, who, under similar circumstances, is 
 made to exclaim, holding up his rescued chil- 
 dren — “ Now let the flames burn on, and all 
 my possessions perish. Here they are ; I have 
 saved my treasures. Here, my dearest, here are 
 our treasures, and we shall yet be happy !” 
 
 In the subsequent part of Mr. Wesley^’s life he 
 had several of these ‘' hair-breadth escapes/’ 
 sometimes from one danger and sometimes from 
 another; but chiefly, I believe, from the fury 
 and bigotry of enraged and encouraged mobs. 
 The Methodists love to dwell on these miracu- 
 lous interpositions of divine Providence, as they 
 suppose them to have been. Every circum- 
 stance is generally related with the most scru- 
 , pulous exactness ; and the narrative is height- 
 ened with all the colouring which the facts will 
 possibly bear, that the picture may possess as 
 large a portion of the marvellous, as the truth, 
 sometimes, especially in verbal representations, 
 aided by a slight tincture of hyperbole, will al- 
 low. 
 
 There is a strong propensity in the human mind 
 to excite wonder and astonishment, when we are 
 relating what concerns ourselves and connec- 
 tions ; and the Methodists have come in for 
 
 c 
 
18 
 
 A BRAND PLUCKED, 
 
 their full share of this disposition. Mr. Wesley s 
 conclusion of the above account partakes not 
 a little of this spirit : he evidently wishes to 
 make every circumstance appear as astonishing 
 as possible. 
 
 “ The next day,’' continues Mr. Wesley, ‘‘ as 
 he, (his father) was walking in the garden, 
 surveying the ruins of the house, he picked up 
 part of a leaf of his Polyglot Bible, on which 
 Just those zcw'ds were legible — Fade ; vende omnia 
 quoe habes, et attolle crucem, et sequere me — Go ; 
 sell all that thou hast, and take up thy cross and 
 follow me.” 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
19 
 
 LETTER IV. 
 
 The Father of Methodismf a Poet^ 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The seeds of Methodism (if hy this term I may 
 here be permitted to mean a more than common 
 degree of piety) were early sown in the mind of 
 John Wesley. He received the first rudiments 
 of his education from his mother, who, for* de- 
 votion, appears to have been another Mrs. Rowe. 
 She was a most worthy woman, and an excel- 
 lently good mother towards all her children; 
 but her son John seems to have shared her most 
 particular attention. “ I do intend,” says she, 
 in one of her evening meditations, to be more 
 ‘particularly careful of the soul of this child, that 
 thou hast so mercifully provided for, than ever 
 I have been ; that I may instil into his mind the 
 principles of true religion and virtue, Lord, give 
 me grace to do it. sincerely and prudently^ and 
 
 c % 
 
20 
 
 MR. WESLEY, A POET. 
 
 bless niy attempts with good success.” How far 
 this good woman succeeded in her pious endea- 
 vours, you will be able to judge, when you are 
 informed that John Wesley was admitted as a 
 communicant at the Lord’s table so early as his 
 eighth year ; and it is somewhere, asserted that 
 he used to say, he had not sinned away the grace 
 of baptism until, I believe, his fifteenth or six- 
 teenth year! 
 
 In his tenth year, Mr. Wesley was placed at 
 the Charter-house ; and in his sixteenth he was 
 elected to Christ Church, Oxford, where he 
 made such progress in his learning, that in his 
 twentieth year, Mr. Baddock'writes of him, that 
 ‘‘ He appeared the very sensible and acute col- 
 legian — a young fellow of the finest classical 
 taste, and of the most liberal and manly senti- 
 ments” 
 
 You, Madam, will be pleased to find such a 
 man as John Wesley a poet of no mean rank, 
 although he was not perhaps one of the very first 
 order. I will here present you with a specimen 
 of his talents as a poetical translator from 
 the Latin, written, I believe, in his twenty- 
 first year. ‘‘ Since you have a mind,” says he, 
 in a letter to his brother Samuel, “ to see some 
 of my verses, I have sent you some, which em- 
 ployed me above an hour yesterday in the af- 
 ternoon, There is one, and I am afraid but 
 
MR. WESLEY, A POET. 
 
 one, good thing in them, that is— they 
 short. 
 
 FROM THE LATIN. 
 
 As o’er fair Cloe’s rosy cheek, 
 
 Careless a little vagrant pass’d. 
 
 With artful hand around his neck 
 A slender chain the virgin cast. 
 
 As Juno near her throne above, 
 
 Her spangled bird delights to see ; 
 
 As Vetms has her favourite dove, 
 
 Cloe shall have her favourite flea. 
 
 Pleas’d at his chains, with nimble steps 
 He o’er her snowy bosom stray’d ; 
 
 Now on her panting breast he leaps. 
 
 Now hides between his little head. 
 
 Leaving at length his old abode, 
 
 He found, by thirst or fortune led, 
 
 Her swelling lips, that brighter glow’d 
 Than roses in their native bed. 
 
 Cloe, your artful bands undo, 
 
 Nor for your captive’s safety fear ; 
 
 No artful bands are needful now 
 To keep the willing vagrant here. 
 
 Whilst on that heaven ’tis given to stay, 
 (Who would not wish to be so blest !) 
 
 No force can draw him once away, 
 
 . Till death shall seize his destin’d breast.’^ 
 
 21 
 
 are 
 
22 MR. WESLEY, A POET. 
 
 These verses, Madam, you will think not quite 
 so good as those written by Burns on a kindred 
 insecty both of which, I fear, are rather of too 
 mean and indelicate a species to be the subject 
 of poetic composition. I have transcribed the 
 poem, partly to shew you that Mr. Wesley was 
 not quite that dark, saturnine creature, which 
 Archbishop Herring took him to have been. 
 But it must be granted/ that Mr. Wesley was 
 not then so methodistical as he was at a 
 subsequent period of his life. If he had, he 
 certainly would have thought it a sin to have 
 exercised his talents in writing a poem on a 
 favourite flea — Cloe's rosy cheek — panting breast 
 ^ — and swelling lips, which he then called a hea- 
 ven, for the blessings of which he himself seems 
 so ardently to wish. He was, however, at all 
 times witty — sometimes satirical. 
 
 Mr. Wesley began to prepare his mind for 
 Methodism and ordination, by reading and 
 studying — Thomas a Keinpis, and Dr. Taylor on 
 Holy Living and Dying. His natural good 
 sense and constitutional vivacity suggested some 
 objections to the extraordinary strictness of 
 these devotees, which notwithstanding laid the 
 foundation of that seriousness — or Methodism — 
 for which he afterwards became so conspicuous. 
 The damnatory clauses of the Athanasian creed 
 also very justly furnished his mind with some 
 scruples, which bis-father^ by what species of 
 
MR. WESLEY, A POET. 
 
 23 
 
 logic I cannot tell, removed, and Mr. Wesley, 
 accordingly, was ordained deacon, on Sunday 
 the 19 th September, 1725, by Dr. Potter, the 
 author of the Grecian Antiquities, and at that 
 lime Bishop of Oxford. 
 
 Mr. Wesley now began to be more and more 
 serious — more and more devout. He com- 
 menced an inquiry into the truth and evidences 
 of that religion of which he was now about to 
 become a public teacher ; but he did not neg- 
 lect the necessary study of the classics, and 
 books of science in general. Indeed such was 
 his diligence and success as a scholar, that the 
 following year he was elected Fellow of Lincoln 
 College, and Greek Lecturer and Moderator of 
 the Classes. 
 
 You will excuse me, Madam, if I give you 
 one more specimen of Mr. Wesley’s poetical 
 talents, written about this time. It is his pa- 
 raphrase on the first eighteen verses of the him- 
 dred and fourth psalm, and will give you a more 
 pleasing idea of my hero, as a poet, than the 
 verses I have just transcribed. 
 
24 
 
 MR. WESLEY, A POET. 
 
 ‘‘ V. 1. Upborne aloft on vent’rous wing, 
 
 While, spurning earthly themes, I soar. 
 
 Through paths untried before, 
 
 What God, what seraph shall I sing ? 
 
 Whom but thee should I proclaim, 
 
 Author of this wond’rous frame ? 
 
 Eternal, uncreated Lord, 
 
 Enshrin’d in glory’s radiant blaze ! 
 
 At whose prolific voice, whose potent word. 
 Commanded, nothing swift retir’d, and worlds began their 
 race. 
 
 2. Thou, brooding o’er the realms of night, 
 
 Th’ unbottom’d infinite abyss, 
 
 Bad’st the deep her rage surcease. 
 
 And said’st — Let there be light ! 
 iEthereal light thy call obey’d. 
 
 Glad she left her native shade. 
 
 Through the wide void her living waters past; 
 
 Darkness turn’d his murmuring head, 
 
 Resign’d the reins, and trembling fled ; 
 
 The crystal waves roll’s on, and fill’d the ambient waste, 
 
 2. In light, effulgent robe, array’d 
 
 Thou left’st the beauteous realms of day ; 
 
 The golden towers inclin’d their head, 
 
 As their sovereign took his way. 
 
 3, 4. The all-encircling bounds (a shining train, 
 
 Minist’ring flames around him flew) 
 
 Through the vast profound he drew. 
 
 When, lo ! sequacious to his fruitful hand, 
 
 Heav’n o’er th’ uncolour’d void her azure curtain threw. 
 
MR. WESLEY, A POET. 
 
 25 
 
 Lo! marching o’er the empty space, 
 
 The fluid stores in order rise. 
 
 With adamantine chains of liquid glass, 
 
 To bind the new-born fabric of the skies. 
 
 3. Downward th’ Almighty Builder rode, 
 
 Old Chaos groan’d beneath the God, 
 
 Sable clouds his pompous car, 
 
 Harnest winds before him ran, 
 
 Proud to wear their Maker’s chain. 
 
 And told, with hoarse-resounding voice, his coming from afar. 
 
 5. Embryon earth the signal knew, 
 
 And rear’d from night’s dark womb her infant headj 
 
 6. Though yet prevailing waves her hills o’erspread. 
 
 And stain’d their sickly face with pallid hue. 
 
 7. But when loud thunders the pursuit began, ' 
 
 Back the affrighted spoilers ran ; 
 
 8. In vain aspiring hills opposed their race. 
 
 O’er hills and vales, with equal haste. 
 
 The flying squadrons past. 
 
 Till safe within the walls of their appointed place : 
 
 9. There firmly fix’d, their sure enclosures stand, 
 Unconquerable bounds of ever-during sand ! 
 
 10. He spake ! from the tall mountain’s wounded side 
 F resh springs roll’d down their silver tide : 
 
 O’er the glad vales the shining wanderers stray. 
 
 Soft murmuring as they flow, 
 
 11. While in their cooling wave inclining low. 
 
 The untaught natives of the field their parching thirst 
 allay. 
 
 12. High seated on the dancing sprays. 
 
 Chequering with varied light their parent streams, 
 
 The feather’d quires attune their artless lays, 
 
 Safe from the dreaded heat of solar beams. 
 
MR. WESLEY, A POET. 
 
 Genial showers at his command, 
 
 Pour plenty oT'r the barren land : 
 Labouring with parent throes, 
 
 See ! the teeming hills disclose 
 A new birth : see cheerful green, 
 Transitory, pleasing scene, 
 
 O^er the smiling landscape glow, 
 
 And gladden all the vale bdow. 
 
 Along the mountain's craggy brow, 
 Amiably dreadful now ! 
 
 See the clasping vine dispread 
 Her gently-rising verdant head : 
 
 See the purple grape appear, 
 
 Kind relief of human care ! 
 
 Instinct .with circling life, thy skill 
 Uprear’d the olive’s loaded bough; 
 What time on Lebanon's proud hill 
 Slow rose the stately cedar’s brow. 
 Nor less rejoice the lowly plains, 
 
 Of useful corn the fertile bed, 
 
 Than when the lordly cedar reigns, 
 
 A beauteous but a barren shade. 
 While in his arms the painted train, 
 Warbling to the vocal grove. 
 
 Sweetly tell their pleasing pain, 
 
 Willing slaves to genial love. 
 
 While the wild-goats, an active throng, 
 From rock to rock light-bounding fly, 
 Jehovah’s praise in solemn song. 
 
 Shall echo through the vaulted sky.” 
 
MR. WJESLEY, A POET* 
 
 27 
 
 Had these lines not been so good, some apo- 
 logy would have been necessary for my having 
 transcribed them into this letter, on account of 
 their number and extent. I will, therefore, 
 proceed, in my next, to acquaint you with the 
 progress of Methodism in the mind of Mr. 
 Wesley, and of its origin among the students at 
 Oxford. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTER K 
 
 Origin of Methodism at Oxford, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 In my last I remarked to you Mr. Wesley’s iii«i 
 crease of piety on bis entering into holy orders. 
 This spirit of religion advanced with his in- 
 crease of learning, and with his promotion at 
 the university ; which, compared with the pro- 
 gress of the generality of collegians, was, I be- 
 lieve, rather in a retrograde motion. But John 
 Wesley was destined for greater things ; he was 
 to perform on a more extensive theatre than any 
 of his fellow-collegians ; and it was perfectly 
 natural he should make advances suitable to his 
 high and important destination : high and im- 
 portant, as being supreme head, and sole direc- 
 tor, of a body of his fellow-countrymen, whose 
 union and influence affect the interests, if not 
 threaten the existence, of the ecclesiastical estab- 
 lishment in this island. 
 
ORIGIN OF METHODISM, &C. 
 
 29 
 
 He took his degree of Master of Arts, on the 
 14 th of February, 1727. His time was now- 
 more at his own disposal, and he proceeded to 
 follow his studies according to a method he had 
 previously laid down. Of this plan I gave you 
 the outlines in ray second letter. In his literary 
 pursuits he made rapid progress ; but still more, 
 as I have already remarked, did he improve in 
 spiritual matters. 
 
 Of Mr. Wesley’s manner of recommending 
 the spirit and practice of religion to others, the 
 following anecdote will afford you a very fa- 
 vourable specimen. About a year and a half 
 ago,” says he in a letter to his mother, “ I stole 
 out of company at eight in the evening, with a 
 young gentleman with whom I was intimate. 
 As we took a turn in an aisle of St. Mary’s church, 
 in expectation of a young lady’s funeral, with 
 whom we were both acquainted, I asked him if 
 he really thought himself my friend ? and if he 
 did, whv he would not do me all the o'ood he 
 could ^ He began to protest — in which I cut 
 him short, by desiring him to oblige me in an 
 instance, which .he could not deny to be in iris 
 own power — to let me have the pleasure of 
 making him a whole Christian, to which I knew 
 he was at least half persuaded already ; that he 
 could not do me a greater kindness, as both of 
 us would be fully convinced when we came to 
 follow that young woman. 
 
 4 
 
50 
 
 ORIGIN OF METHODISM 
 
 He turned exceedingly serious, and kept 
 something of that disposition ever since.’’ 
 
 The seriousness which Mr. Wesley thus re- 
 commended, and which he was so successful in 
 producing in others, he himself possessed in a 
 very eminent degree ; and as he was in all things 
 an enterprising man, so did he still make ad- 
 vancement in this spirit of piety and the prac- 
 tice of religion. 
 
 In the year 1728, he accepted one of his fa- 
 ther’s livings, for he had two, Epworth and 
 Wroote ; and accordingly left Oxford to per- 
 form the duties of a curacy at the latter place : 
 but he was soon called back to Oxford, by a 
 letter from Dr. Morely, his rector at the col- 
 lege. 
 
 It was during Mr. John Wesley’s residence in 
 Lincolnshire, that his brother Charles, with a 
 Mr. Morgan, and one or two others, formed 
 themselves into a little society, principally with 
 a view of studying the Greek scriptures, and to 
 •encourage each other in a devout and holy life ; 
 and when he left his curacy at Wroote, he be- 
 came the head of this society. This was to- 
 wards the close of the year 1729. 
 
 Notwithstanding his sincere piety, a strong 
 disposition /o rule was always very predominant 
 in his character. You doubtless have heard. 
 Madam, the anecdote of his haranguing his fel- 
 low school- boys, when very young, from the 
 
AT OXFORD. 
 
 31 
 
 writing-desks and forms ; and that when he was 
 reprimanded by his master for this forwardness, 
 he exclaimed — 
 
 Better to reign in hell than serve in heaven!’^ 
 
 What truth there is in this anecdote, I will 
 not take upon me to say; but it appears well 
 enough to accord with the spirit and conduct 
 which he manifested in the subsequent part of 
 his life. 
 
 That he was every way forward to govern, 
 is certain ; and from this persuasion, the young 
 gentlemen who met together at Oxford willingly 
 put themselves under his spiritual superintend- 
 ence. When the management of this little so- 
 ciety first devolved upon Mr. Wesley, it con- 
 sisted of the following persons — Mr. John Wes- 
 ley^ Fellow of Lincoln College ; Mr. Charles 
 Wesley, Student of Christ Church ; Mr. Morgan, 
 Commoner of Christ Church; and Mr. Kirkman, 
 of Merton College. They were soon after 
 joined by two or three of Mr. John Wesley’s 
 pupils; by Mr. Clayton, with two or three of his 
 pupils; Mr. Ingham, Mr. Broughton, and by 
 one of Mr. C. Wesley’s pupils. They were af- 
 terwards joined by the celebrated author of 
 Meditations among the Tombs, at that time one 
 of Mr. J. Wesley’s pupils ; and in the year 1735, 
 by the still more celebrated Mr. George Wlfit- 
 
52 ORIGIN OF METHODISM, &C. 
 
 field, then of Pembroke College, who after- 
 wards became the great importer of the Gene- 
 van doctrines of election and reprobation. 
 
 “ At that time,” says Mr. Myles, '' they were 
 fourteen or fifteen in number, all collegians, of 
 one heart and of one mind, and must be con- 
 sidered as the first Methodists.” Mr. Myles adds, 
 “ Our Lord’s parables of the leaven hid in three 
 measures of meal, and of the grain of mustard- 
 seed, Matt. xiii. 31 — 34, are herein strikingly 
 illustrated, for from these small beginnings what 
 a great increase has been given!” This illus- 
 tration will be still more striking, when we con- 
 sider that this grain of mmstard-seed, now grown 
 into a large and spreading tree, has some of the 
 wildest fowls of the air lodging in its luxuriant 
 branches. 
 
 The Methodists, when reflecting on the suc- 
 cess of their exertions in making proselytes to 
 their cause, often sing, in strains the most rap- 
 turous and enchanting — 
 
 Saw ye not the cloud arise, 
 
 Little as a human hand ? 
 
 Sec it spreads along the skies — 
 
 Hangs o’er all the thirsty land ! 
 
 Lol the promise of a shower 
 Drops already from above, 
 
 And the Lord will shortly pour 
 Ail the spirit of his love 
 
 I am. See, 
 
LETTER VL 
 
 Decline of Methodism at Oxford^ 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The pious and zealous collegians, whose names 
 I mentioned in my last, under the special guid- 
 ance of Mr. J. Wesley, and encouraged by the 
 indefatigable zeal of Mr. Morgan, extended the 
 sphere of their exertions beyond the pre- 
 cincts of their college. They had already be- 
 gan to communicate once a week ; and they 
 now resolved to visit the unfortunate persons, 
 confined for debt or otherwise, in the castle at 
 Oxford. They got the Bishop’s consent to estab- 
 lish a monthly service at the castle, where 
 they preached to, and conversed with, the 
 prisoners. This small society, also, com- 
 menced a regular plan of visiting the sick, and 
 of encouraging a few children to become good 
 Christians, by distributing books, or some other 
 
DECLINE OF METHODISM 
 
 54 
 
 pleasing little matters among them. This line 
 of conduct, pursued with the most unremitting 
 attention, and accompanied, if we may credit 
 their friendly historians, with a correspondent 
 behaviour in their private and individual capa- 
 city, one would have thought should have se- 
 cured to them the countenance and support of 
 the whole university. There is nothing unrea- 
 sonable, I apprehend, in the supposition, that the 
 Vice Chancellor and Heads of Houses should 
 most gladly have encouraged and forwarded so 
 good a, work. The very reverse of this conduct 
 being the fact, would lead one to suppose, that 
 t\\Q practice of religion does not enter into the 
 rules and regulations of our learned universities 
 — that the theory of Christianity is all that a 
 student ought to attend to while at college, re- 
 serving the exercise of it to a period, when, 
 settlerl in a quiet country curacy, undazzled by 
 the glare of learning, the bustle of company, 
 and the dreams of preferment, a man may find 
 his account in rendering himself beloved by his 
 pai’isliioners, and revered by the good and wise, 
 for a steady adherence to the eternal principles of 
 truth and virtue, and the uniform practice of 
 a religion, in the acquisition of which he has 
 spent four, six, or eight years, at Oxford or 
 Cambridge. 
 
 There is, however, a religious duty, which, 
 ■wheii carried to an improper extent, and per- 
 
AT OXFORD, 
 
 S5 
 
 formed in even the appearance of an unbecom- 
 ing spirit, is sure to defeat its own salutary pur- 
 poses — I mean that of reproof. It was one of 
 the divine injunctions under the Mosaical law, 
 and the duty, like all otlier moral obligations, 
 retains its force under the more perfect dispen- 
 sation of Christ, that a man should not hate his 
 brother in his heart ; that he should in anywise 
 rebuke his neighbour, and not suffer sin upon 
 him. A mistake in the performance of this 
 duty will generally produce effects which the 
 zealot will denominate persecution, but which 
 the person reproved will think only a just and 
 proper retaliation for an unbecoming insult, 
 though couched in the form of a friendly re- 
 proof. It is very certain, that the persecutions 
 which the Methodists and other zealots, have 
 at times been made to suffer, have had their ori- 
 gin in a dictatorial and insulting mode of re- 
 proof. How far this was the case in the in- 
 stance before me I will not pretend to deter- 
 mine. It is, however, certain, that these young 
 men had to encounter very considerable oppo- 
 sition : arguments of various kinds were resorted 
 to, if possible to convince them of the very great 
 impropriety of pursuing any plans, or adopting 
 any rule% contrary to the long and well-estab- 
 lished usages of the university. It was not to 
 be expected that the Vice Chancellor and Heads 
 of Houses should enter into any formal mode of 
 
36 
 
 DECLINE OF METHODISM 
 
 argumentation with these young men ; neither 
 could it be supposed that reasons, however 
 strong, which had their foundation in the minds 
 of half a dozen young collegians, should over- 
 turn the practice of a whole university. Among 
 the various methods adopted to bring these un- 
 ruly religionists to order, that is, to persuade or 
 force them to lay aside some or all of their aus- 
 terities, that of shaking one of them by the 
 collar was thought necessary. But, Madam, 
 this was a species of logic by which John Wes- 
 ley and his companions were not very likely to 
 be convinced of their errors or their disobedi- 
 ence. The cajoling plan had a far more power- 
 ful effect ; and some of the younger brethren 
 were soon persuaded, it was not absolutely 
 necessary to salvation, that a man should fast 
 two days out of every seven, or that a weekly 
 participation of the body and blood of Christ is 
 entirely needful to the eternal welfare of an im- 
 mortal spirit. Be this, however, as it may, 
 from more causes than one did the spirit and the 
 practice of Methodism begin to decline very ra- 
 pidly at the university. It is somewhat strange, 
 but it is nev^eitheless true. Madam, that as a 
 spirit of piety and devotion increased in the 
 mind of Mr. J. Wesley, a proportionate decrease 
 of zeal and number took place among the young 
 Methodists at Oxford. 
 
AT OXFORD. 
 
 37 
 
 The abuse or t!ie ridicule which tended to 
 damp the zeal, and cool the religious fervour 
 of the weak, the unstable, and the cowardly, 
 had a very dilferent effect on the mind and con- 
 duct of Mr. Wesley. Before he had set out 
 with a resolution to be more than usually de- 
 vout, he had counted the cost. He had al- 
 ready anticipated opposition. He knew, the ig- 
 norant and the vicious, would all be against 
 him; when therefore the storm arose, he- was 
 prepared for it. He puzzled his opponents with 
 questions concerning the reasonableness of liis 
 conduct. He did more ; lie confounded them 
 by an uniform regularity of life, and an astonish- 
 ing proficiency in his studies. He thus, as far 
 as respected himself, put to flight the armies of 
 the aliens. No one could vrithstand his argu- 
 ments — no one ventured to impugn his moral 
 character. He triumphed in the truth — he re- 
 joiced in the testimony of a good conscience. 
 The wise, the sober, and tlie good, encouraged 
 him ; and he determined to be yet more zealous : 
 or, as some of his followers e.xpress such a pious 
 resolution, he said, I will yet be more n:ile. But, 
 though this resolution and his still increasing 
 austerities might stand uninjured by the shafts 
 ■ of his enemies, yet did those shafts light with 
 redoubled force on the heads, of some of Ins 
 weaker colleagues ; and they shrunk from the 
 performance of duties which exposed them to 
 
58 
 
 Decline of methodise 
 
 so much obloquy aud reproach. Mr. Wesley la- 
 mcuted their want of courage : buc he soon dis- 
 covered a far greater sourt e of moarning than 
 even the decay of his infant society of col- 
 legians ; and this discovery, of whatever benefit 
 it might be to himself, was, in its couseqaences, 
 highly prejudicial to the Oxonian Methodists. 
 He began to suspect, that he himself, as yet, 
 did only possess the form of godliness, being al- 
 most wholly destitute of the power of it ! 
 The fact is as follows : — He had contracted 
 an acquaintance with Mr. Law, author of ‘‘ A 
 Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life,’" who 
 possessed much of the spirit which dwelt in 
 the minds, and directed the devotions, of 
 some of the French and German mystics ; 
 and Mr. Wesley, admiring the piety, and long- 
 ing for the devotional spirit, of tins gentle- 
 man, became, as Dr. Whitehead himself ac- 
 knowledges, too much captivated with the views 
 which some of the mystic writers gave him of 
 religion. In fact, he caught, at least to a cer- 
 tain degree, the spirit of mysticism, and became 
 restless and uneasy within himself. He read 
 Law’s Christian Perfection, studied the Theolo- 
 gia Germanica, became desirous of being all eye, 
 all ear, all soul; pure intellect; he hungered 
 and thirsted after mysteries, and sighed to know 
 what God’s presence with his people meant. To 
 obtain this information, he often rambled from 
 
AT OXFORD. 
 
 39 
 
 the university, that he might have tlie advan- 
 tage of spiritual advice and instruction from Mr. 
 Law and others more advanced in the div'me life 
 than himself. He wrote to his mother, who 
 possessed a still stronger sense of piety and in- 
 ward devotion than even old Mr. Wesley himself. 
 It must be acknowledged, that few men were 
 ever more ready to receive information from 
 others, than was Mr. John Wesley. It appears, 
 however, that neither his mother, nor even 
 Mr. Law, could satisfy the inquiring mind of 
 this pious seeker. This caused him great 
 pain. His philosophy and good sense on the 
 one hand, and his Methodism on the other, 
 seem to have given him much uneasiness, so that, 
 on the 25th January, 1738, he complains, that 
 — For many years he had been tossed about 
 with various winds of doctrine that liis ac- 
 quaintance with the mystic writers had led him 
 into numerous mistakes ; that their ‘‘ noble de- 
 scriptions of union with God and internal re- 
 ligion, had made even good works appear flat 
 and insipid” to him ; ‘‘ yea,” adds he, ‘‘ faith 
 itself, and what not?” Whether this unsettled 
 state of mind, or, which I think. Madam, is very 
 likely, this spirit of mysticism, like that of the 
 Athenians, loving to be hearing and communi- 
 cating some new thing, had inspired its victim 
 with a rambling disposition, I cannot say ; but 
 during this hurricane, or rather dead calm of 
 
40 DECLINE OF METHODISM 
 
 the soul, Mr. Wesley often visited Epworth and 
 London, and always contrived to go through as 
 in any towns as he could, often going much out 
 of his way, in order to see some friend, or to 
 converse with one after his own heart. He ob^ 
 serves, that about this time he had walked a 
 thousand and fifty miles in the course of one 
 year. The effects, however, of one of these 
 journeys had nearly proved fatal to the young 
 society at Oxford, and made him resolve to stay 
 more at college in future. While the shepherd 
 was absent the sheep began to stray. One of 
 his pupils had learned to be afraid of singula^ 
 rity— another had read an excellent piece of Mr. 
 Locke’s, which l^ad convinced him of the mis- 
 chief of regarding authority : they both con** 
 eluded that it was not quite necessary to fast on 
 Wednesdays. A third had been convinced of 
 the uselessness of fasting, by a fever and Dr. 
 Frewin. The seven and twenty communicants 
 at St* Mary’s, were shrunk to five ; and the last 
 of Mr. Clayton's pupils who continued M’ith 
 theiUj now informed them, that he did not in^- 
 tend to meet with them any more. This, Ma- 
 dam, you will readily conceive must have been 
 a terrible blow to the young methodisticai co- 
 lony, None of these things, however, moved 
 our hero, who soon reconciled himself to the 
 methodized his reasoning on the subject ; 
 
 and reduced his ill success to three causes ; dl- 
 1 
 
AT OXFORD. 
 
 41 
 
 fniniition of fortune^ loss of friends^ and of reputa- 
 iion. These three general heads he, in his usual 
 methodical way, subdivided into about six times 
 that number of' inferior heads ; comforted him- 
 self [with the consolations of Christianity; re- 
 doubled his diligence that he might recover 
 the ground he had lost; and finally syllogisti- 
 cated the whole matter away. 
 
 About this time died Mr. Morgan, one of 
 their most active members. It was reported 
 that this gentleman had shortened his days by 
 excessive fasting; but this charge, which the 
 discernment of Mr. Wesley foresaw wo4i«ld;, if 
 not timel}" refuted, prove of great hurt to his 
 society, he took care to repel in a long letter 
 to Mr. Morgan's father, who it seems had been 
 before rather averse to his son's manner of life 
 while at Oxford. Mr. Morgan was satisfied ; 
 and this stroke was very opportunely warded 
 off by the dexterity of Mr. Wesley. All these 
 things, however, made against the prosperity of 
 Methodism at Oxford ; and shortly after, on 
 Mr. Wesley’s removal to Georgia in America, 
 this young society became nearly, if not en- 
 tirely, extinct at the university. He was the 
 life and soul of the cause. His spiritual valour 
 gave courage to the cowardly; filled the droop- 
 ing with animation ; and lifted up the falling, 
 when assailed by tlie shafts of envy and re^ 
 
42 DECLINE OF METHODISM, &C. 
 
 proach. It was in his absence only, that any 
 defection of zeal in his brethren took place : 
 when, therefore, he was led by a sense of duty 
 or inclination to leave them, the work of God 
 at Oxford began to experience a visible de- 
 cay. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
43 
 
 LETTER VIL 
 
 Methodism visits America. 
 
 BEAR MADAM, 
 
 In my last, I informed you of the decay of 
 Methodism at Oxford. The few that remain- 
 ed of the society continued steadfast and im- 
 moveable, abounding in every good word and 
 work. I do not know that the society expe- 
 rienced any revival after the death of Mr. Mor- 
 gan and the backsliding of the pupils ; and an 
 event was now approaching, that threatened its 
 final dissolution : this was the removal of 
 
 Messrs. John and Charles Wesleys, and Mr. Ing- 
 ham, of Queen’s College, to America. 
 
 Be not alarmed, my dear Madam, to embark 
 with our Methodists on the rude and ungovern- 
 able ocean — where the ark of the Lord is, there 
 must be safety. We shall be in good company ; 
 
44 
 
 METHODISM 
 
 and amidst the boisterous surges, the rolling 
 billows, and the fierce combat of contending 
 elements, the song of gladness shall be heard; 
 the murmurings of despondency shall be stilled ; 
 and the consolations of hope shall be our sup- 
 port. Our cargo is religion ; and our object 
 the conversion of the Indians. 
 
 In the formation of all wise governments 
 some mode of religion has ever been deemed an 
 essential requisite. As man is a social, so also 
 is he a religious, being; hence has arisen the 
 policy of associating civil and ecclesiastical in- 
 terests in the same government. The philoso- 
 pher, from a sense of honour, and from a concern 
 for the happiness and dignity of human nature, 
 will voluntarily and cheerfully submit to the re- 
 straints which the condition of a mixed com- 
 munity render necessary. The ignorant, the 
 unruly, and the wicked, require a stronger band 
 of union than the general laws of morality; the 
 obligations of religion, the stimulus of fear, 
 and the allurements of hope, must be held out 
 to these, as inducements to order; and as re- 
 strictions on the immoderate gratification of 
 selfish interests and sensual desires. 
 
 But I must have done with my speculations, 
 Madam, and inform you, that the trustees of 
 the newly planted colony of Georgia, wanting 
 some missionaries to conduct' the service of re- 
 ligion in that settlement, and to endeavour to 
 
VISITS AMERtCA. 
 
 45 
 
 convert their neighbours, the Indians, turn- 
 ed their attention towards the two Wesleys, 
 as proper persons for such a service. It seems 
 the trustees for settling and establishing the co- 
 lony of Georgia, were men of a pious turn of 
 mind, and they could not, one should have sup- 
 posed, have made a more fortunate choice than 
 they did, in sending Messrs. John and Charles 
 Wesleys as missionaries to their colony. 
 
 A long and somewhat tedious correspondence 
 had for some time been carrying on between 
 Mr. John Wesley and his relations respecting 
 his removal to Epworth, to take charge of his 
 father’s flock. Old Mr. Wesley was now ad- 
 vanced in years ; his growing infirmities daily 
 gave him assurances that his sheep at Epworth 
 would soon lose their shepherd. If his son John 
 did not succeed him in the living, it appears 
 that a Mr. M. must ; and such was the old 
 gentleman’s dread of this, that he assured his 
 son, the prospect of that mighty Nimrod’s 
 coming thither shocked his soul ,* and was in a 
 fair way of bringing down his grey hairs with 
 sorrow to the ♦grave.” His unbending son, how- 
 ever, had no desire to leave Oxford; and he re- 
 solved not to accept the Epworth living. His 
 brother Samuel wrote to him on the subject ; 
 but it seems without hope of success, for he 
 tells him, he believes that no one could move 
 his mind but him that made it. He neverthe- 
 
46 
 
 METHODISM 
 
 less used several arguments, by way of trial, 
 but all to no purpose. John replied to them 
 in a long letter to his father, containing no 
 fewer than six-and- twenty pretty long para- 
 graphs, being so many reasons why he should 
 remain at Oxford, contrary to his father’s and 
 brother's wishes. I thought it necessary, Ma» 
 dam, to mention this circumstance, as it un- 
 folds a trait in Mr. Wesley's character, to 
 which he was so much indebted for success 
 in his subsequent conduct as head and go- 
 vernor of the Methodist connexion. His fa- 
 ther died in April, 1735, and the living was 
 disposed of in May following; so that now 
 he thought himself at rest at the univer- 
 sity. But he was soon undeceived in this mat- 
 ter; application being made to him, by Dr. 
 Burton, who introduced him to Mr. Ogle- 
 thorpe, governor of the colony of Georgia, re- 
 questing his removal to America. Mr. Wesley, 
 after having consulted his friends, with some 
 little hesitation, consented to become a mission- 
 ary to convert the Indians. Accordingly, on 
 Tuesday, the 14th of October, 1735, he set out 
 for Gravesend, in order to embark for Geor- 
 gia, accompanied by his brother Charles, Mr. 
 Ingham, and a Mr. Delamotte, a merchant's 
 son in London. “Our end,” says he, “in 
 leaving our native country, was not to avoid 
 want, God having given us plenty of temporal 
 
VISITS AMERICA. 
 
 47 
 
 blessings; nor to gain the dung or dross of 
 riches or honour ; but singly this, to save our 
 souls, and to live wholly to the glory of 
 God/’ 
 
 In the afternoon of the same day, they em- 
 barked on board the Simmonds. The next 
 day Mr. John Wesley wrote to his brother Sa- 
 muel, who kept a school at Tiverton, informing 
 him that, having presented his father’s Com- 
 mentary on the Book of Job, to the Queen, he 
 had received, in return, inany good woi^ds and 
 smiles. Good words and smiles, Madam, must 
 always be acceptable from a lady ; but when 
 they come from a Queen of England, they are 
 surely doubly enchanting. Not that I would 
 insinuate that these kind of favours are but sel- 
 dom granted at court ; yet as they were be- 
 stowed on a Methodist, I hope. Madam, you 
 will not think the mention of them unbecoming 
 the gravity of my history. In this letter, Mr. 
 Wesley cautions his brother against the bcg^ 
 garly elements of Greek and Latin in his school. 
 Not that he wished him to lay aside the use of 
 them ; but to mind the gospel much more. He, 
 however, besought him, by the mercies of God, 
 to banish all such poison as O'oid, VirgiVs 
 jEneid, and Terence's Eunuch, from his school. 
 That he should speak of these matters just at 
 a time when he was about to leave his friends 
 and his country, was owing, as he says, to the 
 
4S 
 
 METHODISM 
 
 uncertainty of having another opportunity of 
 telling his brother his thoughts in this life. 
 
 On board the Siiumonds were twenty-six 
 German Moravians ; and Mr. Wesley immedi^ 
 ately began to learn the German language, that 
 he might converse with them. David Nitch- 
 man, the Moravian bishop, and two others, be- 
 gan to learn English, that the benefit of con- 
 versation might be mutual. It was here that 
 Mr. Wesley’s acquaintance with the Moravian 
 brethren commenced; and here were confirmed 
 the notions of mysticism, of faith, and of holi- 
 ness, which he had imbibed some time before.. 
 When they had set sail from Gravesend, and 
 gotten into the Downs, We began,’" says 
 be, ‘‘ to be a little regular. Our common 
 way of living was this — From four in the morn- 
 ing till five, each of us used private prayer. 
 From five till seven, we read the bible together^ 
 carefully comparing it (that we might not lean 
 to our own understandings) with the writings 
 of the earliest ages. At seven w^e breakfasted. 
 At eight were the public prayers. From nine 
 to twelve I usually learned German, and Mr. 
 Delamotte Greek. My brother writ sermons, 
 and Mr. Ingham instructed the children. At 
 twelve we met, to give an account to one ano- 
 ther what we had done since our last meeting, 
 and what we designed to do before our next, 
 ^bovit one we dined. The time from dinner to 
 
VISITS AMERICA. 
 
 49 
 
 four, we spent in reading to those of whom each 
 of us had taken charge, or in speaking to them 
 severally, as need required. At four were the 
 evening prayers ; when either the second lesson 
 was explained (as it always was in the morning), 
 or the children catechised, and instructed be- 
 fore the cono’reo'ation. From rive to six we 
 
 c* o 
 
 again used private prayer. From six to seven 
 I read in our cabin to two or three of our pas- 
 sengers (of whom there were about eighty Eng- 
 lish on lioard), and each of my brethren to a 
 few more in theirs. At seven, I joined with the 
 Germans in their public service; while Mr. Ing- 
 ham was reading between the decks, to as many 
 as desired to hear. At eight we met again, to 
 exhort and instruct one another. Between nine 
 and ten we went to bed, where neither the roar- 
 ing of the sea, nor the motion of the ship, 
 could take away the refreshing sleep which God 
 gave us.” 
 
 Now, Madam, what think you of our Me- 
 thodists on board a ship ? This is doing busi- 
 ness systematically — in other words, it is doing 
 it to some purpose — as it ought to be done. Mr. 
 Wesley was determined that his society, large or 
 small, should not be a rope of sand. O, Madam, 
 this Methodism is the very life of business — the 
 soul of enterprise I 
 
 I cannot conclude this epistle better, Ma- 
 
 E 
 
60 
 
 METHODISM 
 
 dam^ than by transcribing Dr. Whitehead’s nar- 
 rative of the remainder of their voyage. 
 
 The wind being contrary, they did not set 
 sail from Cowes till the 10th of December. — 
 OnThursday^ the 15th of January, 1736, com- 
 plaint being made to Mr. Oglethorpe, of the 
 unequal distribution of water to the passengers, 
 new officers were appointed, and the old ones 
 were highly exasperated against Mr. Wesley, 
 who, as they supposed, had made the complaint. 
 From the 17th to the 25th they had violent 
 storms, the sea going frequently over the ship, 
 and breaking the cabin windows. On these 
 occasions, he (Mr. Wesley) found the fear of 
 death brought him into some degree of bond- 
 age ; and being a severe judge of himself, he 
 concluded, that he was unfit, because he was 
 unwilling, to die: at the same time, he could 
 not but observe the lively and victorious faith 
 which appeared in the Germans, and kept their 
 minds in a state of tranquillity and ease, in the 
 midst of danger, to which he and the English 
 on board were strangers. Speaking of these 
 humble followers of Christ, he said, ^ I had 
 long before observed the great seriousness of 
 their behaviour. Of their humility they had 
 given continual proof, by performing those ser- 
 vile offices for the other passengers which none 
 of the English would undertake, for which they 
 
/ 
 
 VISITS AMERICA. 
 
 51 
 
 desired and received no pay ; saying, ‘ It was 
 good for their proud hearts, and their loving 
 Saviour had done more for them.’ If they were 
 pushed, struck, or thrown down, they rose again 
 and went away ; but no complaint was found in 
 their mouth. 
 
 In the midst of the psalm wherewith their 
 service began, the sea broke ovei', split the 
 mainsail in pieces, covered the ship, and poured 
 in between the decks, as if the great deep had 
 already swallowed us up. A terrible screaming 
 began among the English. The Germans calmly 
 sung on. I asked one of them afterwards, ‘ Was 
 you not afraid ?’ He answered, ‘ I thank God, 
 no.’ I asked, ‘ But were not your women and 
 children afraid ?’ He replied, mildly, No ; 
 our women and children are not afraid to 
 die.’ 
 
 ‘‘ On the 29th, they fell in with the skirts of 
 a hurricane, which, however, did no damage. 
 On the 4th of February, they saw land ; and on 
 the 6th, after a stormy passage, set foot on 
 American ground, on a small uninhabited island 
 over against the Tybee, whence Mr. Oglethorpe 
 led them to .a rising ground, and they returned 
 God thaid<s ; and then he took boat for Sa- 
 vannah.” 
 
 During his passage, Mr, Wesley preached cjt- 
 tempore — discontinued the use of flesh and wine, 
 
 E 2 
 
 LIBRARY 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF ILLlNi 
 
52 
 
 METHODISM VISITS' AMERICA. 
 
 confining himself to vegetables and biscuit — 
 left off eating suppers — and as he had, when 
 his bed was wet, lain upon the floor, and slept 
 well, he concludes, in a triumphant manner, I 
 believe I shall not find it needful to go to bed, 
 as it is called, any more.” , 
 
 I am, &Co 
 
53 
 
 LETTER VllL 
 
 Progress of Methodism at Georgia, 
 
 DEAR MADAMj 
 
 I HAVE now conducted the brethren across the 
 Atlantic ; and have landed them in safety on 
 the vast continent of America. In this letter, I 
 purpose to develope the progress of Methodism, 
 as it unfolded itself in the minds of our mission- 
 aries, or made advances in the infant colony of 
 Georgia. 
 
 Methodism, coiisidered as a strong spirit of 
 piety and devotion, seems to be constitutional 
 with some persons. Like the electric fluid, 
 which pervades material substances, it often 
 remains dormant in the soul, till by friction it is 
 made visible, and brought into action. Mr. 
 John Wesley was certainly, by nature, very 
 highly charged with this spirit. Some of his 
 very warm admirers have even thought him 
 

 PROGRESS OF METHODISM 
 
 sanctified from the womh. Himself was of a very 
 different opinion ; and indeed it is congenial 
 with this spirit for its recipients to imagine, or 
 say they imagine, themselves to be the vilest 
 of the vile, I must confess, however, that I 
 once knew a trammelling preache7\ who, although 
 very pious, and very methodistical, declared to 
 me, that he did not think himself the chief of 
 sinnei^s ; but then, to be sure, he was only a 
 travelling preacher in Mr. Alexander Kilhands 
 connexion; and this may possibly account for 
 his presumption. Mr. Wesley himself, even in 
 his dying moments, more than once was heard 
 to exclaim — 
 
 “ I the chief of sinners am.’^ 
 
 If Mr. Wesley, after having spent a long life 
 in carrying on the work of God among the people 
 called Methodists, could thus denounce against 
 himself, what. Madam, will you think, when I 
 inform you, that, although he had left his own 
 country that he might convert the poor Indians 
 to the truth, and, by introducing religion, give 
 a permanency to the Georgian government, he 
 was yet a stranger to the true faith, not having 
 the witness in himself, or knowing his sins to 
 be washed away by the blood of the cross ? 
 Whatever, Madam, you may think of the mat- 
 ter, this was certainly the case, as he himself was 
 
AT GEORGIA. 
 
 55 
 
 nmcle to understand, the very day after his ar- 
 rival in America. 
 
 I have already intimated, that whatever 
 might be his opinion of himself, he was certain- 
 ly constitutionally methodistical. He was na- 
 turally devout, and he seems to have loved to 
 know the worst of his own character. When, 
 therefore, his spirit came into contact with the 
 spirit of one of the German pastors, whom Mr. 
 Oglethorpe introduced to him, he speedily 
 caught the celestial fire. “ I soon found,” says 
 Mr. Wesley, ‘Gvhat spirit he was of; and asked 
 his advice with regard to my own conduct.” — 
 Hear, Madam, the reply which this Moravian 
 divine made our inquisitive missionary. My 
 brother,” says he, I must first ask you one or 
 two questions. Have you the witness in your- 
 self? Does the spirit of God bear witness with 
 your spirit, that you are a child of God ? Do 
 you know Jesus Christ? Do you know he has 
 saved you? Do you know yourself?” Mr. 
 Wesley’s inability to answer these searching 
 questions in a satisfactory manner, half, if not 
 entirely, convinced him, that hitherto he had 
 been little more than merely a nominal Chris- 
 tian I It is true, he answered the last of these 
 questions in the affirmative : but he observes, 
 that he feared his answer was composed of min 
 words. 
 
 About a week after this conversation, some 
 
 4 
 
56 
 
 PROGRESS OF METHODISM 
 
 Indians were introduced to them, who shook 
 them by the hand, one of them saying — “ I am 
 glad you are come. When I was in England, I 
 desired that some would speak the great word to 
 me. And my nation then desired to hear it. 
 But now we are all confusion. Yet I am glad 
 you are come. I will go up and speak to the 
 Avise men of our nation ; and 1 hope they will 
 hear. But we would not be made Christians as 
 the Spaniards make Christians. We would be 
 taught before we are baptized.'' 
 
 Mr. John Wesley answered — There is* but 
 One, he that sitteth in heaven, who is able to 
 teach man wisdom. Though we are come so 
 far, we know not whether he will please to teach 
 you by us or not. If he teach you, you will 
 learn wisdom ; but we can do nothing.” This, 
 Madam, was but very poor encouragement to 
 these inquiring Indians, who looked up to the 
 white men to teach them every thing ; .and not, 
 when they made application to them for that 
 purpose, to be coldly told, that that they could 
 do nothing, W^ith impressions, as we may well 
 conjecture, not very favourable to the wisdom 
 or kindness of these Christians, the poor disap- 
 pointed Indians withdrew. Some months seem 
 to have elapsed before any thing of consequence 
 transpired between our missionaries and these 
 simple-hearted heathens. In the meantime, 
 Mr. John Wesley, and Mr. Delamotte, took a 
 
AT GEORGIA. 
 
 57 
 
 temporary lodging with some of the Moravian 
 brethren, their own house not being yet pre- 
 pared for their reception. 
 
 Mr. Wesley was a careful observer of men and 
 manners, particularly of religious men, and their 
 mode of conducting themselves. Being now 
 under the same roof with the pious Moravians, 
 he had an opportunity, day by day, of observing 
 their whole behaviour; for,” says he, ‘‘we 
 were in one room with them from morning to 
 night, unless for the little time I spent in walk- 
 ing.” To know the real state of a person’s mo- 
 ral character, it is often needful. Madam, to 
 have opportunities of observing him in the daily 
 domestic occupations of his life. To draw the 
 human character with accuracy, we must not 
 see men only, as they appear in the world, or in * 
 company. In the common concerns of social, 
 commercial, or friendly intercourse, all men, 
 whether they mean to be so or not, are more or 
 less dressed for the character they wish to ap- 
 pear in. A man may be a cheerful companion, 
 an honest trader, and even a steady friend ; but 
 he may be unreasonable and quarrelsome at 
 home ; tyrannical over his servants ; insolent 
 before his equals ; and supercilious before his 
 inferiors. It is an easy matter for some men to 
 make a fair shew in the flesh ; or, as the renown- 
 ed alegorist, John Bunyan, expresses it, to be a 
 saint abroad, though a devil at home. Nor, 
 
58 
 
 PROGRESS OF METHODISM 
 
 Madam, is this double character only found 
 among men professing religion : men who 
 
 would not for the world be thought pious ; 
 in whose vocabulary saint and fool, devotion 
 and hypocrisy, are synonymous ; even these, 
 Madam, do very often act the hypocrite; and 
 it is necessary to see them in some other capa- 
 city than that of friend, companion, or chap- 
 man, in order to form a true estimate of 
 their character, Indeed, I know none bet- 
 ter prepared to act a double part on the great 
 theatre of human life, than those who despise 
 religion, and call a man a fool and a Methodist 
 because he believes Christianity, and who can 
 see any particular advantage to be derived from 
 profligacy of manners, or licentiousness in con- 
 versation. 
 
 Mr. Wesley had already begun to entertain a 
 favourable opinion of the Moravians; and he 
 •was glad to have that opinion confirmed, as he 
 observed the Christian conduct and amiable 
 tempers which they manifested, not only among 
 themselves, but towards each other. He bears 
 the most honourable testimony to their charac- 
 ter, observing that they were always employed, 
 always cheerful themselves, and in good humour 
 with one another. They had put away all an- 
 ger and strife, wrath and bitterness, and cla- 
 mour and evil speaking. They walked worthy 
 of the vocation wherewith they were called, and 
 
AT GEORGIA. 
 
 59 
 
 adorned the gospel of our Lord in all things.’' 
 It is no wonder, Madam, that Mr. Wesley 
 should, after this, think so highly of the Mora- 
 vians. So high, indeed, was his opinion of these 
 Christians, that, having been present at the or- 
 dination of a bishop, he says, The great sim- 
 plicity, as well as solemnity of the wdiole, almost 
 made me forget the seventeen hundred years 
 between, and imagine myself in one of those as- 
 semblies where form and state were not ; but 
 Paul the tent- maker, or Peter the fisherman, 
 presided : yet with the demonstration of the 
 Spirit and of power.” 
 
 Mr. Wesley, having made rather an unpro- 
 mising visit to the Indians, entered on his mi- 
 nisterial engagements at Savannah, on ^ March 
 the 7th. Nearly a month elapsed, and finding 
 no convenient opening for the conversion of the 
 heathen, he and his companions proceeded to a 
 more methodical arrangement of the flock at Sa- 
 vannah. The more serious of them were form- 
 ed into a society, to meet once or twice a week; 
 and these again v/ere subdivided in little com- 
 panies, that they might form a more intimate 
 union with each other ; and, by a close and 
 friendly intercourse, strengthen each other’s 
 zeal, and be permanently and spiritually united. 
 Here, Madam, was laid the foundation of what 
 the Methodists call Classes and Bands, which, 
 in the subsequent periods of Methodism, have 
 
60 
 
 PROGRESS OF METHODISM 
 
 been the means of their union, and of their as- 
 tonishing success. Whether, however, the un- 
 settled state of Mr. Wesley’s own religious opi- 
 nions, or the quarrels and bickerings which had 
 already begun to agitate them, operated in an 
 unfriendly manner upon them, I know not; but 
 the Georgian Methodists seem to have made 
 very little progress ; and in a short time it was 
 thought necessary to abandon the scheme alto- 
 gether. Of this 1 will treat in my next epistle ; 
 and in the mean time, permit me, Madam, as the 
 conclusion of this, to transcribe a curious dia- 
 logue, which took place between Mr. Wesley 
 and some liidians, on the subject of religion. 
 
 Q. Do you believe there is one above, who 
 is above all things ? 
 
 Paustoobee answered — We believe there are 
 four beloved things above ; the clouds, the sun, 
 the clear sky, and He that lives in the clear 
 sky. 
 
 Q. Do you believe, there is but one that lives 
 in the clear sky ? 
 
 A. W' e believe there are two with him ; three 
 in all. 
 
 Q. Do you think he made the sun, and the 
 other beloved things ? 
 
 A. We cannot tell. Who hath seen ? 
 
 Q. Do you think he made you ? 
 
 A. We think he made all men at first. 
 
AT GEORGI A. 
 
 61 
 
 Q. How did he make them at first? 
 
 A. Out of the ground. 
 
 Q. Do you believe he loves you ? 
 
 A. I do not know : I cannot see him. 
 
 Q. But has he not often saved your life ? 
 
 A. He has. Many bullets have gone on this 
 side, and many on that side, but he would never 
 let them hurt me. And many bullets have 
 gone into these young men, and yet they are 
 alive. 
 
 Q. Then cannot he save you from your ene- 
 mies now ? 
 
 A. Yes ; but we know not if he will. We 
 have now so many enemies round about us, that 
 I think of nothing but death. And if I am to 
 die, I shall die, and I will die like a man. But 
 if he will have me to live, I shall live, though I 
 had never so many enemies. He can destroy 
 them all. 
 
 Q. How do you know that ? 
 
 A. From what I have seen. When our ene- 
 mies came against us before, then the beloved 
 clouds came for us. And often much rain, and 
 sometimes hail, has come upon them, and that 
 in a very hot day. And I saw, when many 
 French and Choctaws, and other nations, came 
 against one of our towns ; and the ground made 
 a noise under them, and the beloved ones in the 
 air behind them ; and they were afraid, and 
 went away, and left their meat and their drink, 
 
62 
 
 PROGRESS OF MEtHODISM 
 
 and their guns. I tell no lie. And these saw 
 it too. 
 
 Q. Have you heard such noises at other 
 times ? 
 
 A. Yes, often : before and after almost every 
 battle. 
 
 Q. Do you often think and talk of the be- 
 loved ones? 
 
 A. We think of them always, wherever we 
 are. We talk of them, and to them, at home 
 and abroad ; in peace, in war, before and after 
 we fight ; and indeed whenever and wherever 
 we meet together. 
 
 Q. Where do you think your souls go after 
 death ? 
 
 A. We believe the souls of red men ^valk up 
 and down near the place where they died, or 
 where their bodies lie ; for we have often heard 
 cries and noises near the place where any pri- 
 soners had been burnt. 
 
 Q. Where do the souls of white men go after 
 their death ? 
 
 A. We cannot tell. We have not seen. 
 
 Q. Our belief is, that the souls of bad men 
 only Vvalk up and down ; but the souls of good 
 men go up. 
 
 A. 1 believe so too. But I told you the talk 
 of the nation. 
 
 Q. We have a book that tells us many things 
 
) 
 
 AT GEORGIA. 63 
 
 of the beloved ones above — would you be glad 
 to know them ? 
 
 A. We have no time now but to fight. If we 
 should ever be at peace, we should be glad to 
 know. 
 
 Q. What do the French teach you? 
 
 A. The French black kings (so they call the 
 priests) never go out. We see you go about: 
 we like that : that is good. 
 
 Q. How came your nation by the knowledge 
 they have ? 
 
 A. As soon as ever the ground was sound, 
 and fit to stand upon, it came to us, and has 
 been with us ever since. But we are young 
 men. Our old men know more : but all of them 
 do not know. There are but a few; whom the 
 beloved one chooses from a child, and is in them, 
 and takes care of them, and teaches them. 
 They know these things : and our old men 
 practise ; therefore they know. But I do not 
 practise ; therefore 1 know little.’' 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
54 
 
 LETTER IX, 
 
 BkkerlngSy Persecutions, and Decline of Me- 
 thodism at Georgia. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley went with his brother 
 John to America, for the same purpose, that of 
 converting the heathen. He was appointed se- 
 cretary to Mr. Oglethorpe, and also secretary to 
 India affairs ; and having been ordained before 
 he left England, he entered upon the sacred of- 
 fice with much zeal and activity. He was ap- 
 pointed to superintend the flock at ‘Frederica. 
 Here he often read prayers and expounded in 
 the open air ; for the conveniences for social 
 worship were here fewer even than those at Sa- 
 vannah. Mr. Oglethorpe himself attended those 
 exercises, and for a short time encouraged Mr. 
 Charles Wesley by his presence and kindness : 
 but, alas ! a month had scarcely elapsed from 
 
65 
 
 DECLINE OE METHODISM, &C. 
 
 the time of their settlement, ere the private 
 bickerings of the women began to disturb the 
 infant church of Frederica. The beginning of 
 strife is as when one letteth out water. A Mrs. 
 W. and a Mrs. H. took it into their heads, for 
 what cause it does not appear, to be at variance, 
 and our missionary, well knowing that the suc- 
 cess of his labours depended much upon the 
 tempers of his flock, endeavoured to disarm the 
 flend of discord before he had done much mis- 
 chief 
 
 Mrs. W. had come in the same vessel with 
 our missionaries, and Mr. C. Wesley had in vain 
 endeavoured to persuade her to lay aside the 
 cares of the world, and to give herself up to 
 God.” Equally vain were his pious attempts to 
 reconcile her and Mrs. H. At all times, it seems, 
 these angry women rejected the word of recon- 
 ciliation. Jealousies among the women, in va- 
 rious parts of the colony, now began to disturb 
 the harmony of the church and the peace of 
 Mr. Oglethorpe. !Mr. Wesley's serious de- 
 portment, his constant presence with them, and 
 his frequent reproof of their licentious behaviour, 
 soon made him an object of hatred ; and plans 
 were formed either to ruin him in the opinion 
 of Mr. Oglethorpe, or to take him off by vio- 
 lence. 
 
 On the 11 til of March, after he had performed 
 divine service with about -a dozen women, be 
 
 F 
 
66 
 
 DECLINE OF METHODISM 
 
 met Mrs. H.’s maid, in a great passion, and 
 a flood of tears. She had left her mistress, with 
 whom she had been quarrelling, and seemed re- 
 solved to make away with herself. Mr. Wesley 
 did what he could to reconcile them ; but failed 
 in the attempt. It is insinuated by his biogra- 
 phers, that in endeavouring to perform this la- 
 bour of love, he had some way exasperated Mrs. 
 H. so as to induce her to seek private revenge ; 
 for in the evening of the same day he received 
 the first harsh word from Mr. Oglethorpe, whose 
 coldness increased to such a degree as to render 
 it impossible for Mr. Wesley to remain in his 
 presence. 
 
 It does not appear what was the real cause of 
 these disputes. A dark cloud of mystery in- 
 volves the whole affair in obscurity. Mr. Charles 
 Wesley, however, seems to have been treated ia 
 a very harsh and cruel manner. Every conve- 
 nient utensil was kept from his use. In sonic 
 instances he does not appear to have had even 
 a proper bedstead to lie down upon. Mr. John 
 Wesley visited Frederica several times, and did 
 whatever lay in his power to stem the torrent 
 that seemed to threaten the most destructive 
 consequences ; but, alas ! a most serious affair 
 was now impending over the head of Mr. John 
 himself ; and the storms of persecution and pri- 
 vate bickerings were fast gathering over the 
 church of Savannah. 
 
AT GEORGIA. 
 
 67 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley and Mr. Ingham both re- 
 turned to England; and Mr. John Wesley was 
 left to bear the burthen and heat of the day, and 
 to sustain the many trials and inconveniences 
 which are ever attendant on the spirit of discord 
 and uneasiness. 
 
 I will not trouble you, Madam, with a tire- 
 some relation of all the petty quarrels which 
 took place at Georgia. It is evident they made 
 Mr. Wesley’s life extremely uncomfortable. 
 
 Of their real cause you must be content, Ma- - 
 dam, to remain in the dark. The most serious 
 dispute, however, and that which ended in Mr. 
 Wesley’s removal from America, had its origin in. 
 a love affair, between our missionary and Miss 
 Sophy Causton, niece of Mr. Causton, the store- 
 keeper and chief magistrate at Savannah. 
 
 This affair is also involved in mystery. So 
 much, however, of the matter is made known, 
 that Mr. Wesley loved, and once intended to 
 iiave married. Miss Causton ; but being rather 
 tardy in satisfying the wishes of this lady, re- 
 specting their marriage, it seems her patience in 
 the course of one year was worn out, and she 
 married herself to a Mr. Williamson. This was 
 a most grievous affliction to the mind of Mr. 
 Wesley. He compares it to the plucking out of 
 his right eye. But he soon discovered some- 
 thing in the conduct of Mrs. Williamson which 
 caused him to bless God for his deliverance. 
 
68 
 
 DECLINE OP METHODISM 
 
 What that something was, his biographers h^ve 
 thought it prudent to keep behind the curtaim 
 Not having signified her intention, some time 
 before, of partaking of the Lord’s supper, Mr. 
 Wesley repelled her from that ordinance ; and 
 by so doing brought upon himself very consi- 
 derable mischief. He justified himself on the 
 grounds of the rubric, which requires that So 
 many as intend to partake of the holy comnui- 
 nion, shall signify their names to the curate, at 
 least some time the day before.” And also, 
 
 That if any of these — have done any thing 
 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 
 he presume not to come to the Lord’s table, un- 
 til he hath openly declared himself to have truly 
 repented.” Neither the one nor the other of 
 these conditions had Mrs. Williamson perform- 
 ed, and having done something to offend at least 
 part of the congregation, she was therefore pro- 
 ceeded against according to canon law. 
 
 On the l6th August, 1737, Mr. Wesley ac- 
 tually read in the open congregatioii, a relation 
 of the case between Mrs. Vvhlliamson and him- 
 self ; and this lady as confidently and as po- 
 sitively swore to, and actually signed, a paper,, 
 containing several matters injurious to the cha>” 
 racter of her pastor and former loverv 
 
AT GEORGIA. 
 
 ^9 
 
 A day or two after Mrs. Williamson had been 
 repelled from the holy communion, a warrant 
 was issued and served upon Mr. Wesley, and lie 
 was carried before the recorder and magistrates. 
 Mr. Williamson’s charge was, 1. That Mr. Wes- 
 ley had defamed his wife. 2. That he had cause- 
 lessly repelled her from the hoi}' communion. 
 The first charge Mr. Wesley denied ; and con- 
 cerning the second, he would not ackno'v- 
 ledge the magistrate's authority to interrogate 
 him. He was, nevertheless, given to understand, 
 that he must appear at the next court holden for 
 Savannah. 
 
 Mr. Causton, the store* keeper, also took up 
 the cause of his niece ; and, if we may credit 
 Mr. Wesley’s biographers, which I am disposed 
 to think we may, employed himself very busily 
 in preparing those who were to form the grand 
 jury at the next court-day. Monday the 22d, 
 the court was formed and forty-four jurors 
 were sworn in, to be a grand jury to find the 
 bills. A long and earnest charge was given to 
 them, to beware of spiritual tyranny, and to 
 oppose the new illegal authority which was 
 usurped over their consciences.” 
 
 A list of grievances was presented by the 
 grand jury of Savannah; and, after various de- 
 bates, examinations, sliuffiing, and quibbling, 
 the list of grievances was transformed into two 
 
7() JDECLINE OF METHODISM 
 
 presentments, containing ten bills, only two of 
 which related to the affair of Mrs. Williamson^ 
 and only one even of these was cognizable by 
 that court, tlie rest being qf an ecclesiastical 
 nature. 
 
 I will not trouble you, Madam, with any far- 
 ther detail of this trifling business. Mr. Wesley 
 was probably in some instances rash and impru- 
 dent ; but he plainly told the court, that they 
 knew their business, and that he knew his ; at 
 the same time intimating that they might act as 
 they saw best; knowing that nothing criminal 
 could be proved against him. The court of 
 Savannrdn seems to have been composed of a most 
 ignorant set; and that their general conduct 
 was such as made it desirable to them to have 
 so faithful and penetrating a minister as Mr. 
 Wesley at a distance from the scene of their li- 
 centiousness. 
 
 Mr. Wesley seeing no prospect of converting 
 the Indians, or of doingmuch good in Georgia, 
 resolved, with the advice of his friends, to re- 
 turn to England. Accordingly, on the 24th of 
 November, he put up the following advertise- 
 ment in the great square, and prepared for his 
 journey : 
 
 ‘‘Whereas John Wesley designs sliortly to set 
 
 out for England, this is to desire those who 
 
AT GEORGIA. 
 
 71 
 
 have borrowed any books of him, to re- 
 turn them as soon as they conveniently can, 
 to 
 
 JoHX Wesley.’" 
 
 The magistrates of Savannah seeing him 
 determined to leave America, sent for him, 
 and required that he should sign a bond to ap- 
 pear at Savannah when required ; and also to 
 give bail to Mr. Williamson’s action of one 
 thousand pounds damages. It should be un- 
 derstood, that Mr. Oglethorpe had before this 
 set sail for England. Had he been at the co- 
 lony, it is probable he would have prevented 
 these measures. It was now that i\Ir. Wesley, 
 seeing, as he observes, into their design of spin- 
 ning out time and doing nothing, plainly said — 
 
 ■ ‘ Sij, I will neither sign one bond nor the 
 other: you know your business and I know 
 mine.” Notwithstanding an order of the magis- 
 trates had been that day published, requiring 
 all officers to prevent his going out of the pro- 
 vince, and forbidding any person to assist him 
 so to do, Mr. Wesley left Savannah in the even- 
 ing, in company with three other persons, no 
 one attempting to hinder him. 
 
 During his voyage to England, he entered 
 into a close and severe examination of him- 
 self January 8, 1738, he writes thus: ‘^By 
 the most infallible of proofs^ inward feeling, I 
 
7^ DECLINE OF METHODISM 
 
 am convinced, 1. Of unbelief, having no such 
 faith in Christ as will prevent my heart from 
 being troubled. 2. Of pride, throughout my 
 life past ; inasmuch as I thought I had what I 
 find I have not. 3. Of gross irrecollection ; in- 
 asmuch as in a storm I cry tq God every mo- 
 ment, in a calm not. Of levity and luxuriancy 
 pf spirit— appearing by my speaking words not 
 tending to edify ; but most, by my manner of 
 
 speaking of my enemies,- Lord, save, or I 
 
 perish ! Save me, 1. By such a faith as implies 
 peace in life and death. 2. By such humility as 
 may fill my heart from this hour for ever, with a 
 piercing uninterrupted sense. Nihil est quod hacr 
 terms faci^ that hitherto I ham done nothing, 3. 
 By such a recollection as may enable me to cry 
 to thee every moment. 4. By steadiness, seri- 
 ousness, sobriety of spirit, avoiding as 
 
 fire, every word that > tendeth not to edifying, 
 and never speaking of any who oppose me, or sin 
 against God, without all my o\yn sins set in ar- 
 ray before my face.” 
 
 A few days after this he adds, I went to 
 America to convert the Indians ; but, Oh ! 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, when no danger is near ; biit 
 let death look me in the face, and my spirit is 
 troubled. Nor can 1 say — To die is gain ! 
 
at GEORGIA, 
 
 7S 
 
 I have a sin of fear, that when I’ve spun 
 *My last thread, I shall perish on the shore 1” 
 
 Such, Madam, was the success of the first 
 methodistical mission to convert the heathen, 
 and such were the reflections of the principal 
 missionary on his return home, I leave you to 
 make your own observations on the subject ; and 
 subscribe myself, 
 
 Yours, See. 
 
74 
 
 LETTER X 
 
 Progress of Methodism, and Conversion of the 
 W csle;ys. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 In my last I left Mr. John Wesley on his^ return 
 to England, writing bitter things against him- 
 self, and making the most gloomy and discou- 
 raging reflections on the state of his spiritual 
 concerns. 
 
 He landed at Deal, on February 1, 1738; 
 %vhere he was informed Mr. Whitefield had sailed 
 the day before for Georgia. He read prayers 
 and explained a portion of scripture to a large 
 company at the inn ; and on the third arrived 
 safe in London. 
 
 Mr. Chares Wesley arrived in London in De- 
 cember, 1736, in the same unhappy disposition 
 of mind in which we have just seen his brother 
 John. A confused notion of faith, and of sen- 
 
CONVERSION, 8CC, 
 
 75 
 
 sible conversion, kept him in a state of the 
 greatest abjection of soul — -the most unpleasant 
 degradation of intellect. 
 
 Some time in January, 1737, the active Mo- 
 ravian, Count Zinzindorf, arrived in England, 
 for the purpose of eifecting a union between the 
 Moravian and the English churches at Georgia. 
 This gentleman, having heard of the piety and 
 austerities of the Wesleys, soon after his arrival 
 sent for Mr. Charles, and through his influence 
 procured an introduction to those persons whose 
 power and interest were necessary to the accom- 
 plishment of his object In return for these 
 ecclesiastical services, Mr. Charles Wesley seems 
 to have received certain spiritual instructions 
 relative to the nature of faith, and the mode 
 and terms of partaking of the divine favour. 
 
 Mr. Wesley spent this year in attending on 
 the Trustees and the Board of Trade; in ex- 
 ' tending his spiritual connections in London, 
 Oxford, and the West of England. He con- 
 sulted Mr. Law on the state of his soul; but 
 seems to have received no very satisfactory in- 
 formation on that head. He had not resit^ned 
 the reins of reason into the hands of an ima- 
 ginary abstraction of soul, and could not easily 
 comprehend the force of his friend’s counseb 
 to “ renounce himself, and not be impa- 
 tient,” 
 
76 
 
 CONVERSION 
 
 About the beginning of February, 1738, one 
 Peter Bohler, another Moravian of note, arrived 
 in England. Much about the same time Mr. 
 John Wesley returned from Georgia. Peter 
 cultivated an acquaintance with the two bro- 
 thers, and seems to have laboured hard for their 
 conversion. This gentleman appears to me to 
 liave been strongly tinctured with German en- 
 thusiasm. With much zeal for protelytism, he 
 appears to have drank largely at the Bourigno- 
 nian spring of mystical speculation, and fancied 
 illuminations, lie was now at Oxford with Mr. 
 Charles Wesley, pressing upon the moral and 
 regular scholars the necessity of conversion. But, 
 as Dr. Whitehead observes, none of them seemed 
 to understand him. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley being taken dangerously 
 ill of a pleurisy, he requested Peter Bohler to 
 pray for him. Peter hesitated: but at length, 
 beginning faintly, he prayed for his recovery 
 with strange confidence. He then took him by 
 the hand, and calmly said, - ‘You will not die 
 now!!’’ What information Bohler could have 
 received concerning this matter, it is not for 
 you or me, Madam, to inquire. He asked his 
 sick friend if he hoped to be saved. This ques- 
 tion seems to have been put for a similar reason 
 to that of a bad poet, who often writes one line 
 for the sake of producing a jingle by another. 
 
OF THE WESLEYS. 
 
 77 
 
 He foresaw that Mr. Wesley would answer his 
 question in the affirmative, and immediately on 
 this being the case, asked, For what reason do 
 you hope to be saved?” Because,” replied 
 the worthy sick man, I have used my best en* 
 deavours to serve God/’ The enthusiast shook 
 his head, and was silent Mr. Charles "Wesley 
 happily recovered, and confirmed the pious 
 prognostications of his Moravian confessor. 
 
 Observe, Madam, the progress of Methodism 1 
 Remark the development of those speculations 
 which, since the effervescence of puritanism was 
 blown off the minds of our countrymen, had 
 been almost wffiolly forgotten in these islands. 
 
 On the 2§th of April, the two brothers, with 
 a Mr. Broughton, and Mrs. Delamotte, fell into 
 a w^arm dispute, whether conversion was gradual 
 or instantaneous. Mr. John Wesley, being of a 
 more sanguine disposition than his brother, very 
 positively contended for the latter; and shocked 
 his brother Charles, by producing some late in-» 
 stances of gross sinners being converted in a mo- 
 ment ! So warm was Mr. John in his defence of 
 this strange notion, that-both his brother and 
 Mrs. Delamotte found it impossible to stay any 
 •longer in the room 1 Mr. Charles, however, 
 soon came over to his brother's opinion on the 
 subject, and contended that sinners uia;^ be 
 born again in the twinkling of an eye. This, 
 Madam, 'Wili not appear so very strange, when 
 
78 
 
 CONVERSIOl^ 
 
 you are informed, that to attain this great end 
 of instantaneous conversion, or indeed of any 
 conversion at all, according to the opinion of a 
 Methodist, a certain sort of faith is requisite; 
 a kind of preparatory, accommodating, and ini- 
 tiatory principle or notion. But I will speak of 
 this, when I come to treat of the doctrines of the 
 Wesleyans. In the mean time, I must inform 
 you, that after all the virtuous toil of the two 
 Wesleys, during a period of nearly ten years, 
 they were both well convinced, that as yet they 
 had 7iot the faith of the gospel ! This great de- 
 ~ feet in the minds of these two zealous ministers, 
 it seems, was owing to a want of clear riews of 
 Christ, a living faith hi him. Accordingly, 
 
 being very sincere, everything that agonizing 
 prayer, bodily mortifications, assisted by Hali- 
 ])urton, Martin Luther, and Peter Bolder, could 
 do, was employed to effect the speedy conver- 
 sion of Messrs. John and Charles Wesley. The 
 time, however, was happily drawing near, when 
 they should emerge from Egyptian darkness ; 
 when the candle of the Lord should shine upon 
 them — the radiance of divine truth enlighten 
 them ; when the long black list ©f real or ima- 
 ginary transgressions being removedjf they 
 should receive beauty for ashes, the oil of joy 
 for mourning, and the garments of praise for the 
 spirit of heaviness, I hasten, Madam, with 
 pleasure, to the relation of so desirable an evenL 
 
OF THE WESLEYS. 
 
 7 § 
 
 This, however, is a most delicate matter to 
 touch upon; and as I would not misconceive or 
 misrepresent these facts, I will give you the ac- 
 count in their own or their friends’ words. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley was the first of the two 
 that was set at liberty. This was in Whitsun- 
 tide, about three days prior to the spiritual de- 
 liverance of his brother John. Of Charles’s 
 conversion, Dr. Whitehead writes as follows — 
 
 “ On Whitsunday, May 21, he waked 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 a hymn 
 suited to the day. When they left him, he be- 
 took himself to prayer. Soon afterwards, a per- 
 son came 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 animated him 
 with confidence. He k)oked into the scripture, 
 and read, ‘ Now, Lord, what is my hope? truly 
 my hope is even in thee.' He then cast his eye 
 on these words, ^ He hath put a new song into 
 my mouth, even thanksgiving unto our God: 
 Many shall see it and fear, and put their trust in 
 the Lord.' Afterwards be opened Isaiah, xl. h 
 * Comfort ye, comfort ye my people, saith our 
 God; speak comfortably to Jerusalem, and cry 
 unto her that her warfare is accomplished, that 
 
80 
 
 conveIisioiit 
 
 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 en^ 
 abled to view Christ as set forth to be a propi- 
 tiation for through faith in his blood, 
 
 and received that peace and rest in God which 
 he had so earnestly sought 
 
 “ The next morning he waked with a sense of 
 the divine goodness and protection, and rejoiced 
 in reading the 107th psalm, so nobly descrip- 
 tive, he observes, of what God had done for his 
 soul. This day he had a very humbling view of 
 his own weakness ; but was enabled to contem- 
 plate Christ in his power to save to the uttet^ 
 most, all those who come unto God by him. 
 Many evil thoughts were suggested to his mind, 
 but they immediately vanished away. In the 
 afternoon, he was greatly strengthened by these 
 words, in the forty-third chapter of Isaiah, 
 which he saw were spoken to encourage and 
 comfort the true Israel of God, in every age of 
 his church — ‘ But now thus saith the Lord that 
 created thee, O Jacob, and he that formed thee, 
 O Israel, Fear not : for I have redeemed thee, I 
 have called thee by thy name ; thou art mine. 
 When thou passes! through the waters, I will be 
 with thee; and through the rivers, they shall 
 not overflow thee ; when thou walkest through 
 the fire, thou shalt not be burned ; neither shall 
 the flame kindle upon thee. For I am the 
 
- OF THE WESLEYS. 
 
 81 
 
 Lord thy God, the Holy One of Israel, fhy Sa- 
 viour. ” 
 
 Such, Madam, is the account given by Mr. 
 Charles Wesley of his conversion. I forbear, 
 -at present, to make any remarks or observations 
 on this event and the mode of its procedure, and 
 hasten to lay before you the state of Mr. John 
 Wesley’s case under similar circumstances. 
 
 Wednesday, May the 24th, he writes thus — 
 
 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.’ 
 
 “ Just as I went out, I opened it again on 
 those words, *■ Thou art not far from the king- 
 dom 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, OLord ! Lord, 
 hear my voice,’ &c. 
 
 In the evening I went very unwillingly to 
 a society in Aldersgate- street, v/here one was 
 reading Luther's preface to the epistle to the 
 Romans. About a quarter before nine, while he 
 was describing the change wliich God works in 
 the heart through faith in Christ, I felt my heart 
 strangely warmed. I felt I did trust in Clrrist 
 — Christ alonc^ — for salvation : and an assur- 
 ance was given me, tliat he had taken away my 
 
 G 
 
82 Conversion, &c. 
 
 sins, even mine^ and saved me, from the law of 
 sin and death. 
 
 I began to pray with all my might, /ihr those 
 who had in a more especial manner de.'ipitefidly 
 used me and persecuted me. I then testified 
 openly to all there, what I now first felt in my 
 heart. But it was not long before the enemy 
 suggested, ‘ This cannot be faith, for where is 
 thy joy?’ Then was I taught, that peace and 
 victory o^oer sin, are essential to faith in the Cap- 
 tain of our salmtion ; hut, that as to the transports 
 of joy, that usually attend the beginning of it, 
 especially in those who have mourned deeply, 
 God sometimes grceth, sometimes zvithholdeth them, 
 according to the counsels of his ovm will” 
 
 You have now, Madam, a faithful account of 
 the conversion of these two welhmeaning and 
 r pious clergymen. It tvould be improper, pro- 
 bably rash and presumptuous, to make any fur- 
 ther observations on this matter: I therefore 
 subscribe myself, 
 
 Your’s, &c. 
 
83 
 
 LETTER XL 
 
 Third Period of Methodism — Orders of a Religi- 
 ous Society — Mr, Wesley doubts of his Comer- 
 sion — Visits Germany, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 frater, mi frater, excoquenda est ista tua 
 pbilosophia — My brother, my brother, that 
 philosophy of your’s must be purged away : 
 So said Peter Bohlec to Mr. John Wesley, who 
 could not easily exclude the use of his reason in 
 matters of religion. We have, however, seen 
 that the philosophy of Mr. Wesley did not fi- 
 nally prevent his conversion. After that event 
 Methodism began to spread most astonishingly 
 — Mau}^ run to and fro, and knowledge was in- 
 creased. 
 
 You are not to understand. Madam, that the 
 two brothers were xX^cfrst that, about this time, 
 stept into the glorious liberty of Moravian Me- 
 thodism. Afany others had already been set at 
 
 G 2 
 
84 
 
 THIRD PERIOD 
 
 liberty ; and in particidar, Mr. Hutchins, of^ 
 Pembroke College, and a Mr. Fox, who vvere 
 “ two living witnesses, that God can, at least, 
 if he does not always, give that faith whereof 
 cometh salvation, in a moment, as lightning 
 falling from heaven !” These, with the two 
 brothers, and about forty others, had formed 
 themselves into a society which met in Fetter- 
 lane every Wednesday evening, that they might 
 enjoy free conversation, and build each other 
 up in the faith. Mr. Wesley, in his Ecclesiasti- 
 cal History, calls this the third period of Me- 
 thodism. It was the first Methodist society in 
 London, since the days of Puritanism : a society 
 wherein was as much zeal, and as much piety, 
 with less rebellion and less treason, than that 
 which, about two hundred years before, met at 
 Essex-house, in the Strand ; when the fallen, 
 the degraded, the infatuated favourite of Eliza- 
 beth, employing religion to the basest of pur- 
 poses, laid up for himself (not like our Method- 
 ists in Fetter-lane, who devoutly sought a crown 
 of righteousness) a treasure of wrath, which 
 brought him to utter destruction, and gave the 
 lie to all his religious pretensions. No, Madam, 
 whatever similarity is discoverable in tlie reli- 
 gious notions, and pious practices, of the Pu- 
 ritans and Methodists, I am convinced there 
 is a very material difference in their poli- 
 tics. 
 
OF METHODISM. 
 
 85 
 
 The following are the Rules by which the So- 
 ciety I am speaking of was governed ; and were 
 entitled — 
 
 Orders of a Religious Society^ meeting 
 in Fetter Aane ; in obedience to the Command 
 of God by St. James, and by the Advice of 
 Peter Bohler.” These Rules being printed, 
 it was agreed, 
 
 That they would meet together once in a 
 week, to confess their faults one to another^ and 
 to pray for one another, that they might be 
 healed. 
 
 * “ 2. That others, of whose sincerity they 
 were well assured, might, if they desired it, meet 
 with them for that purpose. 
 
 “ 3. That the persons, so meeting, should be 
 - divided into several bands, or little companies, 
 none of which should consist of fewer than five, 
 or more than ten persons. 
 
 ‘‘ 4. That some person in each band should 
 speak to the rest in order, and be called the 
 leader of the band. 
 
 s 
 
 “ 5. That each band should meet twice a- 
 week ; once on Monday evening, and the se- 
 <:ond time as might be most convenient' every 
 meeting to be begun and ended with singing 
 and prayer. 
 
86 
 
 ORDERS OF A 
 
 6. That every one in order should speak as 
 freely, plainly, and concisely, as he could, the 
 state of his heart, with the several temptations 
 and deliverances since the last time of meet- 
 ing. 
 
 7. That all the bands should have a con- 
 ference at eight every Wednesday evening, be- 
 gun and ended with singing and prayer. 
 
 ‘‘ 8. That any who desired to be admitted 
 into this society, should be asked, ‘ What are 
 your reasons for desiring this ? Will you be en- 
 tirely open, using no kind of reserve ? Have 
 you any objection to any of our orders ?’ 
 
 9. That any one might make objections 
 to any new member that should be proposed. 
 
 “ 10. That those against whom no reason- 
 able objection appeared, should, in order for 
 their trial, be formed into one or more dis? 
 tinct bands, and some person agreed on to as- 
 sist them. 
 
 11. That after two months’ trial, if no ob- 
 jection then appeared, they might be admitted 
 into the society. 
 
 12. That every fourth Saturday should be 
 observed as a day of general intercession, which 
 might continue from twelve to two, from three 
 to five, and from six to eight. 
 
 13. That on the Sunday sevennight fol- 
 lowing, there should be a general love feast ^ from 
 seven till ten in the evening. 
 
•RELIGIOUS SOCIETY. 
 
 87 
 
 14. That DO particular person should be 
 allowed to act in any thing contrary to any or- 
 dc\‘ of this society ; but that every one, without 
 distinction, should submit to the determination 
 of his brethren: and that if any person or per- 
 sons did not, after being thrice admonished, 
 conform to the society, tliey should no longer 
 be esteemed as members. 
 
 “ 15. That any jierson wliom the whole so- 
 ciety should approve, might be accounted a 
 corresponding member, and as such be admit- 
 ted to the general meetings, provided he cor- 
 responded with the society at least once a- 
 month.'' 
 
 These, Madam, are the regulations which con- 
 stitute the basis of the whole Methodist economy 
 to the present day. It would have*^ been 
 happy,” says Dr. Whitehead, “ for the Methodist 
 societies, if these rules had been preserved 
 among them, and rigorously kept: the work 
 would in that case have been more pure than 
 it has been, and much confusion would have 
 been prevented.” A very just and rational ob- 
 servation. 
 
 It was a natural consequence, that, shortly 
 after his comxrslony i\lr. Wesley should be at- 
 tacked by various doubts, and by internal as well 
 as external conflicts. The revoltings of his sub- 
 
MR. WESLEY DOUBTS 
 
 jected reason ; the natural love of entire intel- 
 lectual liberty ; and the suggestioi^s of friends , 
 and enemies all conspired to saw asundtf 
 his tender mind. The comersion of so good a 
 man as Mr. Wesley could not be so perceptible 
 as to admit of no doubt. Havins: no other data 
 on which to build the certainty of his acceptance 
 with the Belo^edj than the fallible testimony of 
 supposed internal feelings, or remote inferences 
 from the scriptures, it was very often a matter 
 of great doubt with him whether he even yet 
 possessed the right faith ; whether even yet 
 God had pardoned his sins. Having m3^self 
 known something of this wretched state of 
 mind — this miserable halting between two opi- 
 nions — I most sincerely pity the unhappy vic- 
 tims of such spiritual scepticism. The follow- 
 ing stanzas, being part of a hymn composed by 
 one under the influence of these doubtings, 
 will give } ou a fainf idea of this state of misery 
 and suspense— 
 
 ^Tis a point 1 long to know. 
 
 Oft it causes anxious though tj 
 Do I love the Lord, or no ? 
 
 Am I his, or am I not ? 
 
 If I love, why am I thus ? 
 
 Why this dull and helpless frame } 
 
 Hardly, sure, can they be worse 
 
 Who have never heard liis name* 
 
OF HIS CONVEllSTOX. 
 
 sy 
 
 Could my heart so hard remain? 
 
 Prayer a task and burden prove? 
 Every ti'iflc give me pain, 
 
 If I knew a Saviour’s love ? 
 
 When I turn my eyes within, 
 
 All is dank, and vain, and wild ; 
 Fill’d with unbelief and sin, 
 
 Can I deem myself a child ? 
 
 If I pray, or hear, or read. 
 
 Sin is mix’d with all 1 do : 
 
 Ye who love the Lord indeed. 
 
 Tell me, is it thus with you ?” 
 
 Siicb, Madam, is the lamentable state of mind 
 which generally follows the overflowings of jo}^, 
 the divine ecstacies, the rapturous delights, of 
 instantaneous conversion ; and such was the 
 humiliating condition of Mr. John Wesley. 
 They are the after-pains of the new birth — tlie 
 melancholy forebodings of an honest but fearful 
 heart. 
 
 Never man was more desirous of building 
 on a sure foundation in religion than was Mr. 
 John Wesley. That he might be strength- 
 ened in his mind, by the example and advice of 
 the Moravian brethren, he determined to visit 
 Germany ; where, at Hernhuth in particular, he 
 would meet with many who had long trodden in 
 these paths, and who would rejoice to be the 
 
90 
 
 VISITS GERMANY. , 
 
 helpers of his joy. Accordingly, he left, his 
 mother, and embarked at Gravesend, accom^ 
 panied by Mr. Ingham, on the 15th of June, 
 and landed at Rotterdam, On his journey 
 through Holland and Germany, he found se- 
 veral who had imbibed the same notions of 
 religion with himself. At Marienborn, he met 
 with Count Zinzendorf, Count de Solmes, and 
 several other eminent Moravians, who all en- 
 couraged him to proceed in his spiritual course 
 without wavering. At Hernhuth, where he ar- 
 rived on the 1st of August, he staid a fortnight 
 At this place, he says, he was “ exceedingly 
 comforted and strengthened by the conversa- 
 tion of this lovely people,"' and that he ‘^re- 
 turned to England more fully determined to 
 spend his life in testifying the gospel of the 
 grace of God.” ‘H would gladly/’ says be^ ‘‘have 
 spent my life here ; but my Master calling me 
 to labour in another part of his vineyard, on 
 Monday, August the 14th, I was constrained 
 to take my leave of this happy place.” 
 
 “ Oh !’" he exclaims, “ when shall this 
 Christianity cover the earth, as the waters cover 
 the sea ! "• 
 
 Soon after his return to England, he entered 
 upon a strict examination of himself and the 
 grounds on which he had reason to believe 
 himself to be a new creature. Taking St. Paul's 
 
EXAMINES HIMSELF. 
 
 91 
 
 assertion, that if any man be in Christ he is a, 
 new creature, as the test of this examination, he 
 proceeded to notice five particulars in which it 
 was necessary such a one should be renewed, 
 who is a new creature. These were — his judgv 
 ments, his designs, his desires, his conversation, 
 and his actions. The first of these particulars 
 he subdivided into three separate branches — a 
 man’s judgment of himself, of happiness, and 
 of holiness. Before a man can be said to be a 
 new creature, he must judge of himself to be 
 altogether fallen short of the glorious image of 
 God ; to have no good thing abiding him, but 
 all that is corrupt and abominable; in a word, 
 to be wholly earthly, sensual, and devilish : 
 a motley mixture of beast and devil ! !” It is 
 hardly credible. Madam ; but Mr. Wesley adds, 
 ‘‘ Thus, by the grace of God in Christ, I judge 
 of myself. Therefore I am, in this respect, a 
 ' new creature 
 
 He proceeded with the other parts of bis 
 examination in like manner ; and concludes 
 thus — “Upon the whole, although I have not 
 yet that joy in the Holy Ghost, nor the full as- 
 surance of faith, much less am I, in the full 
 sense of the words, in Christ a new creature ; 
 I nevertheless trust, that I have a measure of 
 faith, and am accepted in the Beloved, I trust 
 the hand- writing that was against me is blotted 
 
92 
 
 EXAMINES HIMSELF* 
 
 out, and that I am reconciled to God through 
 his Son/' 
 
 Such was the half-doubting, half-confiden- 
 tial, language of Mr. Wesley, even after his re- 
 turn from visiting the pious and well-experienc- 
 ed Hernhutters. 
 
 I am, 
 
93 
 
 LETTER XI L 
 
 Increase of Methodism — Specimens. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 It is wonderful to remark with what rapidity 
 the new faith began to spread itself in London, 
 Oxford, and Bristol. On the 13th of October, 
 Mr. Wesley writes from Oxford to some of his 
 friends in Holland and Germany, giving them 
 an account of the success of his labours since 
 liis return. Permit me, Madam, to transcribe 
 part of these letters, for your information, con- 
 cerning this business. 
 
 To Dr. Koker he writes thus : “God’s blessed 
 Spirit has wrought so powerfully, both in Lon- 
 don and Oxford, that there is a general awaken- 
 ing, and multitudes are crying out, ‘ What must 
 we do to be saved?’’ To Mr. Ingham, at Hern- 
 huth, he writes thus: A great and effectual 
 
 2 
 
04 INCREASE OF METHOt>lSM. 
 
 door is opened ; and we continue, through evil 
 report and good report, to preach the gospel of 
 Christ to all people, and earnestly contend for 
 the faith once delivered to the saints. Indeed, 
 he hath given us many of our fiercest opposerSj 
 who now receive with meekness the ingrafted 
 word. One of the bitterest of them could have 
 no rest in his spirit, till, on Saturday, the 30 th 
 of September, Old Style, he was compelled 
 to send for me, who knew him not, so much 
 as by face, and to tell me the secrets of his 
 X heart/" This man confessed himself in the 
 most abject manner, declaring among other 
 evils, that, the very night before, he had been 
 guilty of gross drunkenness, notwithstanding 
 his strong and repeated resolutions to the con- 
 trary. Mr. Wesley adds — ‘‘ We fell on our 
 knees, and besought our Lord to bring this sin- 
 ner unto God, who through his blood justifieth 
 the ungodly. He arose, and his countenance 
 was no longer sad ; for he knew, and testified 
 aloud, that he was passed from death unto life, 
 and felt in himself that he was healed of his 
 plague. And from that hour to this, he hath 
 peace and joy in believing, and sin hath no 
 mo re dominion over him ! 
 
 “• Mr. Stonehouse hath at length determined 
 to know nothing but Jesus Christ, and him cm- 
 cifie il ; and to preach unto all remission of sins 
 through faith in his blood. j\lr. Hutchins is 
 
INCREASE OF METHODISM. 
 
 95 
 
 strong in the faith, and mightily convinces 
 gainsayers, so that no man hath hitherto been 
 able to stand before him. Mr. Kircher, Gam- 
 bold, and Wells, have not yet received com- 
 fort, but are patiently waiting for it. Mr. Rob- 
 son, who is now a minister of Christ also, is full 
 of faith, and peace, and love. So is Mr. Combes, 
 a little child, who was called to minister in holy 
 things two or three weeks ago. Indeed, I trust 
 our Lord will let us see, and that shortly, a mul- 
 titude of priests that believe. My brother and 
 I are partly here, and partly in London, till Mr. 
 Whitefield, or some other, is sent to release us 
 from hence.'’ 
 
 To Count Zinzendorf, at Marienborn, Mr. 
 Wesley writes, that the love and zeal of the 
 brethren in Holland and Germany had stirred up 
 many who would not be comforted till they 
 came to partake of the great and precious pro- 
 mises. 
 
 “ To the Church of God which is in Hernhuth, 
 John Wesley, an unworthy presbyter of the 
 Church of God in England, wisheth all grace 
 and peace in our Lord Jesus Christ. Octo- 
 ber 14th. 
 
 ‘‘ Fourteen were added to us since our return, 
 so that we have now eight bands of men, con- 
 sisting of fifty-six persons.” — As yet we have 
 only two small bands of women, the one of three, 
 the other of five, persons. But here are many 
 
 L 
 
INCREASE OF METHODISM^ 
 
 Others who only wait till we have leisure to in- 
 struct them.” 
 
 Though my brother and I are not permitted 
 to preach in most of the churches in Lna -on, 
 yet, thanks be to God, there are others it , 
 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 seiao;al 
 places, we publish the word of reconciliation, 
 sometimes to twenty or thirty, sometimes to 
 fifty or sixty, sometimes to three or four hun- 
 dred persons, met together to hear it. We be- 
 gin and end all our meetings with singing and 
 prayer ; and we know that our Lord heareth our 
 prayer, having more than once or twice, and 
 this was not done in a corner, received our peti- 
 tions in that very hour.” 
 
 ^‘Ten ministers I now know in England who 
 Jay the right foundation.” — “Over and above 
 whom, I have found one Anabaptist, and one, 
 if not two, of the teachers among the Presby- 
 terians here.'" 
 
 In another letter, to Dr. Koker, he says — - 
 “ The harvest is plenteous, and the labourers 
 few; and it increases upon us daily,” To Mr. 
 Viney, at Ysselstein — “After a long sleep, there 
 seems now to be a great awakening in this place 
 also. The Spirit of the Lord hath already shaken 
 the dry bones, and some of them stand up and 
 live. But I am still dead and cold; having 
 
INCREASE OF METHODISM. 
 
 9r ' 
 
 peace indeed, but no love or joy in the Holy 
 Ghost. O, pray for me ! that I may see and 
 feel myself a sinner,” &c. 
 
 These short extracts. Madam, will afford you 
 some information respecting the spread of the 
 work after Mr. Wesley's return from Germany. 
 You will also thereby become a little acquainted 
 with the vocabulary of Methodism. To one unac- 
 customed to the technical phraseology of these 
 people, many of their writings are as unintelli- 
 gible as the poems of Burns or Allan Ramsay to a 
 merely English ear — a glossary being almost as 
 necessary in the one case as in the other. Even 
 the language and style of the scriptures, with a 
 methodistical application, become as dark and 
 mysterious, as the newly-coined phrases by which 
 the writings and conversation of Methodists are 
 so much obscured. Mr. Wesley, however, 
 spoke much better English than did many of 
 his followers. 
 
 During his residence in Germany, and Mr. 
 Whitefield’s in America, the work of Methodism 
 had been making rapid advances in England, 
 under the auspices of Mr. Charles Wesley. Nu- 
 merous societies were formed in London, Ox- 
 ford, and Bristol ; and multitudes were brought 
 in; instantaneous conversions became common; 
 extravagances of the most marvellous nature 
 were practised ; and dreams, visions, sudden il- 
 luminations, and extraordinary agitations of 
 
 H 
 
9S 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 mind and body, gave witness that a great 
 out- pouring of the spirit was soon to be ex- 
 pected. 
 
 When Mr. Whitefield returned from America, 
 and Mr. Wesley from Germany, they found 
 things in this flourishing state. The church of 
 God in Fetter-lane continued to grow in num- 
 ber and grace almost beyond all former pre- 
 cedent ; and letters of thanks, or of petition, 
 were daily received from those who had found, 
 or were eagerly seeking, the pearl of great price. 
 Those who could not write themselves (this was 
 a very numerous class), got their friends to do 
 it for them ; and with one consent, the believers 
 and the penitents were looking for the great sal- 
 vation. Please to take the following as a speci- 
 men of what was at that time going forward 
 among the faithful — 
 
 At a love-feast in Fetter-lane, About three 
 in the morning,'' says Mr. Wesley, ‘‘ as we were 
 continuing instant in prayer, the power of God 
 came mightily upon us, insomuch that many 
 cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to 
 the ground. As soon as we were recovered a 
 little from that awe and amazement at the pre- 
 sence of his majesty, we broke out with one 
 voice — fFe praise thee, 0 God! we acknowledge 
 ihee to he the Lord r After this specimen, and 
 I do assure you it is one of the most favourable 
 I could have given you, you will not be sur- 
 4 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 99 
 
 prised that many of the churches should have 
 been shut against the Wesleys, which indeed 
 now began to be very generally the case. I 
 cannot avoid, Madam, presenting you v/ith ano- 
 ther specimen or two of methodistical raptures, 
 which I have just met with in one of the books 
 sold by the Methodists at their own preaching- 
 houses, and therefore may be relied upon as 
 authentic. They form, says the Editor, part of 
 nearly three thousand quarto MS pages, written ^ 
 by a Miss Roe, of Macclesfield. 
 
 I was so happy in the night,” says Miss 
 Roe, that I had very little sleep, and awoke 
 with these words — * The temple of indwelling 
 God 1* My soul sunk into depths of nothing- 
 ness, and enjoys closer union with him this day 
 than ever before. Every moment I feel such a 
 weight of love, as almost overpowers the facul- 
 ties of nature I I know I could bear no more 
 and live ; but I often feel ready to cry, O, give 
 me more, and let me die !'* 
 
 ‘‘At preaching this morning, I was so over- 
 come with the love and presence, and exceeding 
 glory of my Triune God, that I sunk down, 
 unable to support it ! I was long before 1 
 could stand or speak 1 All this day I have 
 been lost in depths unutterable. At the love- 
 feast, I was again overwhelmed with his igime- 
 Uiate presence ! All around me is God !*' 
 
 H 2 
 
100 
 
 SPECIMENS, 
 
 Again^ — As I came from meeting, I was so 
 overpowered with the presence of God, that 
 had not a friend supported me, I could not 
 have walked home ! I was lost in depths of 
 love, and admitted, as it were, into the irnme- 
 diate presence of my Lord’s glory ! Yet, I can- 
 not explain it — for I saw no matmer of simili- 
 tude. ” 
 
 Again — At the prayer-meeting, my body 
 w^as quite overcome for half an hour together; 
 so did my Lord unfold his fulness to my ra- 
 vished soul, I seemed as in the presence of his 
 glory, confounded, and overwhelmed with a 
 sense of his purity, his justice, his grace, and 
 love ! and was constrained to lie at his feet, in 
 speechless adoration and humblest praise — while 
 my body was covered with a cold sweat, and all 
 around thought I was dying !” 
 
 Excuse, Madam, another specimen, and 
 I will have done for the present — ‘‘ Mr. P. 
 preached from, ^ The grace of our Lord Jesus 
 Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship 
 of the Holy Ghost, be with you !’ Before he 
 had spoken ten minutes, I was filled with the 
 Triune God, and sunk motionless, under an ex- 
 ceeding great weight of love ! My outward 
 senses were locked up ; but my spirit seemed 
 surrounded with glory inexpressible ! I beheld 
 Jesus, and was, as it were, overshadowed, and 
 weighed down by tlie presence, and exceeding 
 
MR. W. VISITS BRISTOL. 
 
 101 
 
 glory of tlie whole Deity ! I knew not where 
 I was, or whether in the body I But all was un- 
 utterable bliss and glory ! After I came to my- 
 self, I continued full of the divine presence, 
 and a weight of love, such as enfeebled my 
 whole frame. For many days and nights, I 
 could eat little ; and had seldom more than one 
 hour’s sleep in twenty-four !” 
 
 Mrs. N knew this young lady, and can 
 
 remember her coming often to her father’s, to 
 hold meetino’s with those after her own heart. 
 She was the daughter of a respectable clergyman, 
 and was as exemplary in her life as enthusiasti- 
 cal in her religion. 
 
 You will excuse the above extracts being in- 
 serted a little out of the chronological order of 
 my history. I make them to let you see the 
 manner in which the doctrines of the Method- 
 ists do sometimes operate on the human mind. 
 
 In the spring of 1739, Mr. Whitefield went 
 down to Bristol, and there began to preach to 
 incredible numbers of people. Mr. Wesley con- 
 tinued his labours in London and Oxford alter- 
 nately. The latter end of March he received a 
 letter from Mr. Whitefield, who entreated him 
 in the most pressing manner to come to Bristol, 
 that he might step into the new path which 
 now lay open before him. After some hesita- 
 tion, he consented to yield to Mr. Whitefield’s 
 solicitations, notwithstanding the remonstrances 
 
102 
 
 MR. \v. VISITS BRISTOL. 
 
 of bis brother Charles, and others, to the con- 
 trary. It was a rule of the society, that any 
 person who desired, or designed, to take a jour- 
 ney, should first, if it were possible, have the 
 approbation of the bands.'’ “ So entirely,” ex- 
 claims Dr. Whitehead, “ were the ministers, at 
 this time, under the direction of the people !” 
 On the 20th, the matter was laid before them, 
 and after some deliberation, they determined 
 that he should comply with Mr. Whitefield’s re- 
 quest. He left London the next day, and on. 
 the 31st reached Bristol. 
 
 I am, &e. 
 
103 
 
 LETTER XIII. 
 
 A Shaking among the dry Bones''— Dialogue 
 between Mr, W, and the Bp. of Bristol, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Mr. Whitefield having left Bristol, Mr. Wes- 
 ley began to expound, to a small society, meet- 
 ing in Nicholas-street, the sermon on the mount. 
 On Monday, April 2,” says he, “ I submitted 
 to be more mle, and proclaimed in the highways 
 the glad tidings of salvation, speaking from a 
 little eminence in a ground adjoining to the 
 city, to about three thousand people.” 
 
 This preaching was attended with extraordi- 
 nary success ; and many societies were soon 
 formed on a plan similar to those in London. 
 
 Mr. Wesley’s labours through the week wre 
 divided in the following order : — Every morn- 
 ing he read prayers and preached at Newgate. 
 Every evening he expounded at one or more of 
 
104 
 
 A SPIAKJNQ AMONG 
 
 the societies. On Monday, in the afternoon, he 
 preached abroad near Bristol. On Tuesday, at 
 Bath and Two inile-hill alternately. On Wed- 
 nesday, at Baptist-mills. E^^ery other Thiirs- 
 ‘ day, near Pensford. Every other Friday, in 
 another part of Kingswood. On Saturday in the 
 afternoon, and Sunday morning', in the Bowl- 
 ing-green. On Sunday, at eleven, near Han- 
 nani-mount ; at two, at Clifton; at five, at 
 Row-QTeen. All this labour of mind and body 
 
 o t/ 
 
 could not but become visible in its eifects ; and 
 as Mr. Wesley’s discourses were of the most ur- 
 gent and searching nature, those effects were, 
 perhaps, such as the world never heard of or saw 
 before. To give a statement of these facts 
 will, I fear, seem to have been done with an 
 intention to throw ridicule upori the persons 
 concerned ; and a desire of bringing the Me- 
 thodists into contempt; than which nothing is 
 farther from my wishes. Impartiality, however, 
 demands, that I give some account of the 
 visible effects of Mr. Whitefield’s and Mr. Wes- 
 ley's preaching at Bristol, and other places. In 
 my last, I gave you one or two specimens of 
 these things : take the following as the complete 
 climax of enthusiasm — the marvellous effects of 
 the power of imagination when exercised on 
 the awful subjects of religion. 
 
 Under the sermon, some persons trembled 
 from head to foot : others fell down, and cried 
 
THE DRY BONES. 
 
 105 
 
 out with a loud and bitter cry; whilst others 
 became speechless, and seemed convulsed as if 
 in the agonies of death. After prayer for them, 
 many rose up rejoicing in God, and testifying* 
 they had redemption through the blood of 
 Christ, even the foi'giveness of sins, according to 
 the riches of his grace. Some afterwards said, 
 they had a strong representation of Christ to 
 their mind at that time ; that it seemed like a 
 a vision of him, evidenthj set forth crucified among 
 them: and that moment they were enabled to 
 believe on him. Others pretended they had a 
 similar representation of him in a dream, and 
 through faith received the remission of sins.’’ — 
 A woman suddenly cried out, as in the ago- 
 nies of death, and continued to do so for some 
 time, with all the signs of the sharpest anguish. 
 One felt as it were the piercing of a sword, and 
 could not avoid crying out even in the street. 
 Two others were constrained to roar, as seized 
 with great pain ; anotlier as out of the belly of " 
 hell. A young man, suddenly seized with vio- 
 lent trembling all over, sunk down to the 
 ground. One, and another, and another, sunk 
 to the earth. They dropped on every side as 
 thunderstruck. One was so wounded with the 
 sword of the Spirit, that you would have ima- 
 gined she could not live a moment. A woman 
 broke out into strong cries, great drops of sweat 
 ran down her face, and all her bones shook. A 
 
106 A SHAKING AMONG 
 
 Quaker dropped down as thunderstruck, in an 
 agony terrible to behold. Another person 
 reeled four or five steps^ and then dropped down. 
 One fallen raving mad, changed colour, fell off 
 his chair, screamed terribly, beat himself against 
 the ground, his breast heaving as in the pangs 
 of death, roaring out, ‘ O thou devil ! legions 
 of devils !’ &c. Three persons, almost at once, 
 sunk down as dead A little boy was seized in 
 the same manner ; a young man, fixing his eyes 
 upon him, sunk himself down as one dead, 
 and beat himself against the ground ; six men 
 could scarce hold him. Others began to cry 
 out, insomuch that all the house (and indeed all 
 the street for some space) was in an uproar. 
 Some were so torn with convulsive motion, in 
 every part of their bodies, that four or five per- 
 sons could not hold one of them. While I was 
 speaking, one dropped down as dead; presently 
 a second, and a third. Five others sunk down, 
 most of them in violent agonies, in the pains of 
 hell and snares of death ; one an hour in strong 
 pain ; one or two more, for three days.*' 
 
 This, and an immense quantity of the like . 
 matter, is to be found in the journals of Messrs. 
 Wesley and Whitefield ; and such, Madam, are 
 the materials on which the historian of Me- 
 thodism is doomed to work. 
 
 You will doubtless ask, And did Mr. Wesley 
 actually encourage this enthusiasm ? Not, I am 
 
THE DRY BOXES, 
 
 107 
 
 happy to say it, in every instance: he would 
 often exclaim against it in terms of just severity. 
 Mr. Wesley was, however, sometimes too credu- 
 lous concerning these extravagances, as appears 
 by the following shocking relation. This was 
 of a young woman, about nineteen years of age, 
 that could neither read nor write. She was held 
 in bed by two or three persons, with anguish, 
 horror, and despair, above description, in her 
 pale face. A thousand distortions,” says Mr. 
 Wesley, shewed how the dogs of hell were 
 gnawing her heart. She shrieked, and screamed 
 out, ‘ I am damned ! damned 1 Six days ago, 
 you might have helped me. But now it is all 
 past. 1 am the devil’s now : I have given my- 
 self to him. flis I am. Him 1 must serve. 
 With him I must go to hell. I will be his. I 
 will serve him. I will go wdth him to hell. I 
 cannot, I will not be saved. I must, I will, I 
 will be damned I’ She then began,” continues 
 Mr. Wesley, ‘‘ praying to the devil. JVe be- 
 gau, 
 
 * Arm of the Lord, awake, awake V 
 
 ^‘She immediately sunk down as asleep ; but, as 
 soon as we left off, broke out with inexpressible 
 vehemence, ‘ Strong hearts, break ! I am a warn- 
 ing to you. You need not be damned, though I 
 Viust,' She then fixed her eyes on a corner of 
 the ceiling, and said, ‘ There he is ! Aye, there 
 
108 
 
 A SHAKING AMONG 
 
 he is ! Come, good devil ! Come, take me away. 
 You said you would dash my brains out. Come, 
 do it quickly. I am your’s. I will be your’s. 
 Come, just now, take me away.’ We interrupted 
 her by calling again upon God. We continued 
 in prayer till past eleven ; when God, in a mo- 
 ment, spake peace to her soul !” 
 
 I feel some apology to be necessary. Madam, 
 for these intrusions on your feelings by the re- 
 lation of such shocking and abominable scenes. 
 I have done — and most gladly turn to a more 
 pleasing part of the subject. 
 
 It must be allowed, that, notwithstanding all 
 these horrid extravagances of raptures and de- 
 spair, much real good was done. Multitudes 
 of the vilest and most reprobate wretches were 
 brought from a state bordering upon downright 
 barbarism, to become sober, steady, useful mem- 
 bers of society ; the comfort of their families 
 and friends — the praise and admiration of the 
 wise and the good — the distinguished orna- 
 ments of religion and virtue. These instances 
 operated in the most powerful manner on the 
 mind of Mr. Wesley. His grand object was to 
 do good to the bodies and souls of his fellow- 
 creatures ; whenever this was in any degree ac- 
 complished, he rejoiced greatly ; and to forward 
 so good a purpose, he made many painful sacri- 
 fices. He most assuredly possessed, in a very 
 high degree, the charity that belie veth all things; 
 
THE DRY BONES. 
 
 109 
 
 but his credulity did himself and his cause much 
 injury. 
 
 Dr. Priestley, in his Collection of Letters, has 
 furnished the world with an interesting corres- 
 pondence on these subjects between Mr. John 
 Wesley and his brother Samuel. The last that 
 appears was by Samuel, and is in substance as 
 follows — 
 
 ‘‘You yourself doubted, at first, and inquired, 
 and examined about the ecstacies; the matter, 
 therefore, is not so plain as motion to a man 
 walking. But I have my own reason, as well as 
 your own authority, against the exceeding clear- 
 ness of divine interposition there. Your fol- 
 lowers fall into agonies. I confess it. They 
 are freed from them, after you have prayed over 
 them. Granted. They say it is God’s doing. 
 I own they say so. Dear brother, where is your 
 ocular demonstration ? Where, indeed, the ra- 
 tional proof? Their living well afterwards may 
 be a probable and sufficient argument that they 
 believe themselves ; but it goes no further.” 
 
 These are sensible and rational arguments ; but 
 they had not, alas ! sufficient weight with Mr. J. 
 Wesley, as far as relates to dreams, visions, and 
 agitations ; for, some years after this period, 
 Mr. Wesley expressed his opinion more fully 
 concerning those agitations, &c. which attended 
 the conviction of sin under his sermons this 
 summer at Bristol. He supposes, it is easy to 
 
no 
 
 DIALOGUE BETWEEN 3IR. W. 
 
 account for them either on principles of reason 
 or scripture. - 
 
 First,” says he, ‘‘on principles of reason. 
 For how easy it is to suppose that a strong, 
 lively, and sudden apprehension of the heinous- 
 ness of sin, the wrath of God, and the bitter 
 pains of eternal death, should affect the body 
 as well as the soul, during the present laws of 
 vital union ; should interrupt or disturb the or- 
 dinary circulation, and put nature out of its 
 course. Yea, ^ve may question whether, while 
 this union subsists, it be possible for the mind 
 to be affected in so violent a degree, without some 
 or other of those bodily symptoms following. 
 
 “ It is likewise easy to account for these 
 things on principles of scripture. For when 
 we take a view of them in this light, we are to 
 add to the consideration of natural causes, the 
 agency of those spirits who still excel in strength, 
 and as far as they have leave from God, will 
 not fail to torment whom they cannot destroy; 
 to tear those that are coming to Christ. It is al- 
 so remarkable, that there is plain scripture pre- 
 cedent of every symptom which has lately ap- 
 peared. So that we cannot allow even the 
 conviction attended with these to be 77iadness, 
 without giving up both reason and scripture.” 
 
 The following conversation, which Mr. Wes- 
 ley had about this time with the Bishop of Bris- 
 
AND THE BP. OF BRISTOL. 
 
 Ill 
 
 tol^ will afford you a specimen of his mode of 
 defence ; and will at the same time exhibit a 
 strong trait in his character. The subject of 
 this conversation was justification by faith alone 
 ■ — a doctrine which Mr. Wesley had been taught 
 chiefly by his Moravian brethren, and which he 
 defended with success during the whole of his 
 subsequent life. 
 
 Bishop . — ‘‘ Whyj Sir, our faith itself is a, 
 good work; it is a virtuous temper of mind. 
 
 Wesley . — ‘‘ My Lord, whatever faith is, our 
 church asserts, we are justified by faith alone. 
 But how it can be called a good work, I see not : 
 it is the gift of God ; and a gift that presupposes 
 nothing in us but sin and misery. 
 
 .B.— “ How, Sir! Then you make God a 
 tyrannical being, if he justifies some without 
 any goodness in them preceding, and does not 
 justify all. If these are not justified on account 
 of some moral goodness in them, why are not 
 those justified too ? 
 
 /F.— Because, my Lord, they resist his 
 spirit ; because they will not come to him that 
 they may have life ; because they suffer him not 
 to work in them both to will and to do. They 
 cannot be saved, because they v*^ill not be«^ 
 lieve. 
 
 Sir^ what do you mean by faith ? 
 
 W , — “ My Lord, by justifying faith, I mean, 
 a conviction wrought in a man by tfie Holy 
 
lit 
 
 DIALOGUE BETWEEN MR. W. 
 
 Ghost, that Christ hath loved km^ and given 
 himself for him, and that through Christ his sins 
 are forgiven. 
 
 I believe some good men have this, 
 but not all. But how do you prove this to be 
 the justifying faith taught by our church ? 
 
 f'F. — “ My Lord, from her homily on salva- 
 tion, where she describes it thus : ^ A sure trust 
 and confidence which a man hath in God, that 
 through the merits of Christ his sins are for- 
 given, and he reconciled to the favour of 
 Godf 
 
 B. — Why, Sir, this is quite another thing. 
 
 My Lord, I conceive it to be the very 
 
 same. 
 
 B,—^‘ Mr. Wesley, I will deal plainly with 
 you. I once thought you and Mr. Wbitefield 
 well-meaning men ; but I cannot think so now. 
 For I ha.ve heard more of you : matters of fact. 
 Sir. And Mr. Wbitefield says, in his Journal, 
 
 ‘ There are promises still to be fulfilled in me.’ 
 Sir, pretending to extraordinary revelations, and 
 gifts of the Holy Ghost, is a horrid thing, a very 
 horrid thing ! 
 
 ir . — My Lord, for what Mr. Wbitefield says, 
 Mr. Wbitefield, and not I, is accountable. I 
 pretend to no extraordinary revelations, or gifts 
 of the Holy Ghost : none but what every Ghris- 
 tian may receive, and ought to expect and pray 
 for. But I do not wonder your Lordship has 
 
AND THE BE. OF BRISTOL. 115 
 
 lieard facts asserted, which, if true, would prove 
 the contrary : nor do I wonder that your Lord- 
 ship, believing them true^ should alter the opi- 
 nion you once had of me. A quarter of an hour 
 I spent with your Lordship before, and about 
 an hour now : and perhaps you have never con- 
 versed one other with any one who spake in my 
 favour. But how many with those who spake 
 on the other side ! so that your Lordship could 
 not but think as you do. But pray, iny Lord> 
 what are those facts you have heard ? 
 
 B . — “ I hear you administer the sacrament in 
 your societies. 
 
 fV . — “ My Lord, I never did yet, and I be- 
 lieve never shall. 
 
 B . — ‘‘ I hear, too, many people fall into fits 
 in your societies, and that you pray over them. 
 
 “ I do so, my Lord; when any shew, by 
 strong cries and tears, that their soul is in deep 
 anguish, i frequently pray to God to deliver 
 them from it; and our prayer is often heard in 
 that hour. 
 
 B . — Very extraordinary, indeed ! Well, 
 Sir, since you ask my advice, I will give it you 
 very freely. You have no business here. You 
 are not commissioned to preach in this diocese. 
 Therefore I advise you to go hence. 
 
 ■ My Lord, my business on earth is to 
 do what good I can. Wherever, therefore, I 
 think 1 can do mqst good, there nmst I stay, so 
 
 1 
 
I5IAL0GUE, kc. 
 
 Hi 
 
 long as I think so. At present I lliink't can do 
 most good here : therefore here I stay. 
 
 “ As to my preaching here, a dispensation of 
 the gospel is committed to me, and woe is me if 
 I preach not the gospel, wherever I am in the 
 habitable world. Your Lordship knows, being or- 
 dained a priest, by the commission I then receiv- 
 ed, I am a priest of the church universal ; and 
 being ordained as Fellow of a College, I was 
 not limited to any particular cure, but have an 
 indeterminate commission to preach the word of 
 God in any part of the church of England. I 
 do not therefore conceive, that in preaching here 
 by this commission, I break any human law. 
 When I am convinced I do, then it vvill be time 
 to ask, ‘ Shall I obey God or man But if I 
 should be convinced in the meanwhile, that I 
 could advance the glory of God, and the salva- 
 tion of souls, in any other place more than in 
 Bristol, in that hour, by God’s help, I will go 
 hence ; wliich till then I may not do.” 
 
 I am, ^c. 
 
115 
 
 , LETTER XIV. 
 
 Fightings without, and Fears within. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The subject of my last epistle will naturally pro- 
 duce some degree of anticipation concerning 
 the leading features of this. The irregularity of 
 Mr. Wesley’s proceedings ; his forming religi- 
 ous societies not immediately under the direc- 
 tion of the bishops, nor governed by the canons 
 of the established church ; his frequent practice 
 of field-preaching; and, particularly, the en- 
 couragement which he now gave to lay-preachers 
 — were thought sufficient causes of alarm and 
 discontent to the careless and the more regular 
 part of his brother clergymen. ■ The spirit of 
 opposition was consequently excited in the 
 minds of all those who either did not under- 
 stand, or did not approve, the doctrines and 
 practices of the infant sect. ' Most of the 
 
 I 2 
 
116 TIGMTINGS \ilriTHOUT, 
 
 churches were shut against the Wesleys. Every 
 thing that ieason or railing could effect was em- 
 ployed to crush the new faith. The sober part 
 of the clergy lamented, and laboured to check, 
 the rising spirit of enthusiasm ; while the lethar- 
 gic and the vicious employed the base arts of 
 persecution and misrepresentation, to stifle that 
 disposition to inquiry which now began so much 
 to prevail among the people. 
 
 Nor was opposition from the enemies ^of Me- 
 thodism among its greatest troubles*: whilst the 
 societies had fightings without, they were har- 
 assed by fears within; and although they in- 
 creased in number daily, yet did intestine bick- 
 erings and misunderstandings begin almost to 
 threaten their existence. 
 
 Some of the Fetter-lane brethren embraced 
 tlie notion, that any Christian might preach and 
 administer the sacraments ; and that, in fact, 
 Christianity knew nothing of any distinctive 
 order of men, as spiritual church-officers. These 
 began to trouble the brethren with their specu- 
 lations, and to disturb their meetings by un- 
 seasonable intrusions. The Wesleys, it may 
 well be supposed, set their face against so dan- 
 gerous a heresy. Shaw, the leader of this fac- 
 tion, although a layman, claimed a right to bap- 
 tize, &c. and brought several of the members to 
 his own views of the matter. This was early in 
 tlie year 1739. “ I tried in vain,’* says Mr« 
 
AND FEARS WITHIN. 
 
 nr 
 
 Charles Wesley, to check Mr. Shaw in his 
 wild, rambling talk against a Christian priest- 
 hood. At last, I told him I would oppose him 
 I to the utmost, and either he or I must quit the 
 society. In expounding, I warned them strongly 
 against schism, into which Mr. Shaw’s notions 
 must necessarily lead them.” I found Mr. 
 Stonehouse exactly right (in his notions on the 
 priesthood), and warned Mrs. Vaughan and 
 Brookmans against Shaw’s pestilent errors.” — ■ 
 You see. Madam, even the ladies took an active 
 part in the disputes at Fetter-lane. 
 
 This notion of Shaw’s found its way to Ox 
 ford, where it soon produced dismal effects.” 
 Whether those effects were seen to operate on the 
 Oxonian priests, as threatening their craft ; or 
 whether their dismal tendency was to unsettle 
 the minds of the lay-brethren, it does not ex- 
 actly appear. I should suppose, however, that 
 the innovations of Shaw must have been felt both 
 in one instance and the other ; for it was soon 
 found necessary to insist upon his expulsion from 
 the society. 
 
 Those who had embraced the opinions of 
 Shaw, declared their dissent from the church 
 of England. “ Now/’ says Mr. Charles Wesley, 
 - am I clear of them : by renouncing the church 
 they have discharged me,” 
 
 But the internal commotions in the methor 
 distical church did not end here : one Bowers, 
 
11^5 FIGHTINGS without, 
 
 an enthusiastic zealot, gave much offence, by 
 preaching in the streets of Oxford, &c. and 
 thereby occasioned no small uneasiness to those 
 of Uie society who had not as yet sufficiently 
 imbibed the spirit of proselytism. 
 
 But, which was productive of greater disturb- 
 ance still, the French prophets made several pro- 
 selytes, who warmly defended their disgraceful 
 wildness in the society. Mr. Charles Wesley 
 had already been witness to the enthusiasm of 
 one of these fanatics, and had imbibed a great 
 dislike to their spirit and proceedings. Taking 
 up his lodgings one night with a Mr. Hollis, at 
 Wickham, he entertained him with his French 
 prophets, ‘‘ who,” adds Mr. Wesley, “ in his ac- 
 count, are equal, if not superior, to the prophets 
 of the Old Testament. While we were undress- 
 ing, he fell into violent agitations, and gabbled 
 like a turkey-cock. I was frightened, and be- 
 gan exorcising him with, ‘ Thou deaf and dumb 
 devil,’ &c. He soon recovered from his fit of 
 inspiration. I prayed, and went to bed, not 
 half liking my bed-fellow; nor did 1 sleep very 
 sound, with Satan so near me.” I am here re- 
 minded of an anecdote I had from a Quaker some 
 years ago. 
 
 A zealous Calvinist, and a sober Quaker hap- 
 pened to put up at an inn, where the accommo- 
 dations were so scanty, as to render it necessary 
 for them to sleep together in the same bed. The 
 
Al^D FEARS AVITHIN* 
 
 3J9 
 
 friend imciressed, and, according to the cus- 
 tom of his religion, sans ceremonie got into 
 bed. The Calvinist thought it requisite to pay 
 his evening devotions in an audible manner. 
 He accordingly knelt by the bed-side ; and, to 
 humble himself in a suitable degree, run over a 
 list of transgressions, of which, had he been 
 really guilty, would have constituted him not 
 only a grievous sinner before heaven, but a very 
 dangerous bed-fellow for the Quaker. After he 
 had finished writing bitter things against himself, 
 he put down the clothes, in order to get into 
 bed ; upon which the honest Quaker, who had 
 listened with horror and astonishment to the 
 black catalogue of his companion’s iniquities of 
 heart and practice, rose up, exclaiming, ‘‘Nay, 
 friend, if thou art but one half as bad as thou 
 representest thyself to be, I will not on any ac- 
 count sleep in the same bed with thee !” Mr. 
 Wesley, however, had more courage than our 
 Quaker; and lie slept all night without receiv- 
 ing any harm from his enthusiastical bed-fellow. 
 
 Another great source of discontent in the so- 
 'Ciety, arose from the prevailing untractablene^s 
 of the Moravian brethren. These were numer- 
 ous, and were indeed the principal heads of The 
 newly planted church of Fetter lane. They 
 introduced several disputes into the society, 
 about the degrees of faith, and the obligations 
 of Christians /o still; and not to mind the 
 
120 FIGHTINGS VHTHOUT, 
 
 outward means of grace, lest they should be 
 tempted to trust in them. 
 
 The Wesleys were, now no longer babes in 
 Christ : They were young men— nay, fathers ; 
 and needed no more to be fed with the milk pf 
 the word ; for they were themselves feeding 
 others with strong meat, All hough they acted in 
 a manner becoming the most zealous dissenters, 
 yet were they still attached to the ritual of the 
 church of England ; and every attempt to dis- 
 pense with the observance of any of h^r ordi? 
 nances, or the belief of what they conceived to 
 he her most distinguishable and glorious doc^ 
 trines, was attended with very great pain to 
 their minds ; and w^as followed by a steady re^ 
 solution to prevent, as much as in them lay, 
 any avowed dissent from a church whose glorV 
 and happiness they conceived themselves raised 
 up by the Almighty to promote and vindicate. 
 They therefore withstood, with becoming zeal 
 and fortitude, the innovations of Peter Bohler, 
 who, with a Mr. Molther, and some others, 
 seemed determined to controvert the doctrines, 
 and oppose the practices, of the two Wesleys, 
 and those who still adhered to the establish- 
 ment. These disputes were conducted with 
 considerable warmth on both sides ; and finally 
 produced a separation of sonie of the Methqdis|:§ 
 ^nd Moravians- 
 
ANI> fears with 11^'. 
 
 m 
 
 Mr. Wesley, seeing the impossibility of bring- 
 ing these disputes to a favourable issue, put am 
 end to them in his societies, by reading the foh 
 lowing paper, and taking a formal le^ave of the 
 Moravians. 
 
 About nine months ago, certain of you be- 
 gan to speak contrary to the doctrine we had 
 till then received. The sum of what you as- 
 serted is this: l.That there is no such thing as 
 weak faith: that there is no justifying faith, 
 where there is ever any doubt or fear ; or vchere 
 there is not, in the full sense, a new, a clean 
 heart. 9>. That a man ought not to use those 
 ordinances of God, which our church 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, to communi- 
 cate, before we have this faith, is to seek salva- 
 tion by works ; and till these wo|’)cs are laid aside, 
 no man can receive faith. 
 
 “ I believe these assertions to be flatly con- 
 trary 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 testimony. I 
 have borne with you long, hoping you would 
 turn ; but as 1 find you more and more confirm- 
 ed in the error of your ways, nothing now re- 
 mains, but that I should give you up to God 
 You that are pf the sgme judgment, follow me.’' 
 
L 
 
 PlGHTINGS WITHOUT, 
 
 — I then,” adds Mr. Wesley, ‘Svithout saying 
 any thing more, withdrew, as did eighteen or 
 nineteen of the society.” Thus terminated a 
 connexion, which had begun in the most ardent, 
 and apparently the most disinterested, esteem 
 and affection ; but which was followed by much 
 bitter railing and foul-mouthed calumny* 
 
 Mr. Wesley, it seems, had anticipated this 
 event ; for, several months previous to its tak- 
 ing place, he, without consulting the society 
 in Fetter-lane, the majority of which were alien- 
 ated from him, ^ had taken the building which 
 had been formerly used as the King’s foundry, 
 for cannon. Here he had often preached to 
 crowded audiences, and to this place he trans- 
 planted the church of the Methodists, which 
 mow became more than ever under his spiritual 
 superintendence and support. 
 
 Another cause of complaint to the societies, 
 originated in the unstable conduct and dubious 
 morals of some of the members. When the first 
 heats of inflamed passion had cooled; when the 
 exuberance of spiritual affection had abated, 
 and the effervescence of love or terror was re- 
 moved, they returned, like the sow that was 
 washed to her wallowing in the mire. Instances 
 of this kind were but tt)0 numerous, and caused 
 the enemies of Methodism to blaspheme. It:, 
 therefore required the most prompt and decisive 
 measures to be pursued, to stem the torrent of 
 
 1 
 
AND FEARS WITHIN. ^ 
 
 123 
 
 SO dreadful a flood ; and to prevent that devas- 
 tation and havoc which any known immora- 
 lity in the members would infallibly bring upon 
 the whole society. Proper measures were ac- 
 cordingly resorted to ; and the engines of terror, 
 or the mild allurements of persuasion, brought 
 back the straggling sheep ; or drove farther from 
 the fold the detested wolves, which had alarmed 
 the shepherds, and devoured the tender lambs of 
 the flock. r 
 
 Those disputes which in former times have so 
 successfully preyed upon the vitals of the church 
 — which have overturned states, depopulated 
 villages, and blasted the happiness of thousands, 
 were now beginning to infuse their baneful in- 
 fluence into the infant churches of the Method- 
 ists : I mean. Madam, the long-contested con- 
 troversy about unconditional election, eternal 
 - reprobation, irresistible grace, and the persever- 
 ance of the saints. As yet, however, these con- 
 troversies had not done much injury to our so- 
 cieties ; but they now begun to portend future 
 calamities and disturbances. 
 
 This, Madam, has been altogether a most dis- 
 couraging and unpromising epistle; yet be not 
 alarmed for our Methodists ; though the enemy 
 has been busy sowing his tares in different parts, 
 yet has the work of conversion been all the 
 time going on with rapidity. Mr. Whitefield 
 has paid another visit to America, where the new 
 
IS4 fightings without, &c, 
 
 doctrines are rapidly gaining ground. Mr. 
 John Wesley has sown the seeds of the gospel 
 in Wales ; where the fields were already white 
 unto the harvest, and where a most plentiful 
 crop may be expected. The heathen at Kings^ 
 wood, near Bristol, I mean the poor, ignorant, 
 wicked colliers, have heard the glad sound of 
 the truth; and light, and life, and love, and joy, 
 beam on their countenances ; while the song of 
 praise is heard from those lips which had hardly 
 ever before been opened but in blaspheinies and 
 execrations. 
 
 I am, 
 
U5 
 
 LETTER XV, 
 
 ' Methodism extends itself oner mrious Parts of 
 the Kingdom, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Roused by opposition, and encouraged by suc» 
 cess, the Wesleyan Christians continued to ex- 
 tend their influence, and spread their name, over 
 Various parts of the kingdom. In London, the 
 brethren found encouragement commensurate, 
 one would have thought, with their most san- 
 guine wishes. Agitations, dreams, and super- 
 natural illuminations, increased among the saints, 
 and still gave some little offence to the more 
 sober and prudent ; and although these might, 
 in some instances, operate unfavourably, yet 
 did the number of Methodists increase in almost 
 every part of the town ; and young persons, 
 chiefly, I believe, servant maids, flocked in 
 
126 
 
 FARTHER SPREAD 
 
 crowds to Mr. Wesley, for information or en- 
 couragement ill the duties and difficulties of 
 their new character. Mr. Wesley travelled much ; 
 his lack of service in town was, therefore, sup- 
 plied by the zeal of his colleagues, and the flock 
 in London was never without some one to feed 
 them with the food of the gospel. When cases 
 of extraordinary difficulty occurred, recourse 
 was always had, by letter, or by special messen- 
 ger, to Mr. John Wesley himself, in whatever 
 part of the kingdom he might happen to be at 
 the time. 
 
 The practice of field-p?r aching was now be- 
 come pretty common. At Moorfields, Ken- 
 iiington-coinmon, and other places in the vici- 
 nity of London, thousands, and tens of thou- 
 sands flocked to the ministrations’^of the Wes- 
 leys and their lay-helpers. All restraints of de- 
 licacy towards the establishment were fast di- 
 minishing ; and the opposition of the regular 
 clergy was, in a great measure, overpowered by 
 the zeal, or removed by the virtue, of the new 
 reformers. The judgments of men, concerning 
 the work of Methodism, were directed by the 
 warmth of their passions, by the evidence of 
 their, senses, or by the strength of their reason. 
 The humane and the pious, moved with com- 
 passion towards the misery of the penitents, or 
 astonished at the ecstacies of the converts, se- 
 cretly encouraged what they conceived to be so 
 
or'- METHODISM. 
 
 127 
 
 good a work. The gazing multitude beheld 
 with wonder the effects of Methodism, and for- 
 warded the cause by rioting and conversion. 
 The sober and the rational, regarding the whole 
 as originating in the ebullitions of a Imated ima- 
 gination, and as affecting the people only from 
 the novelty of the scene, quietly looked on the 
 whole business as one of the passing occurrences 
 of the day, which would shortly be superseded 
 by something else more novel and more at- 
 tractive. It was the poor to ''whom the gospel 
 was preached, and they received the word with 
 gladness. 
 
 Mr. Whitefield opened the way to Bristol, 
 which became a kind of nursery for Method- 
 ism. He levied contributions on his friends for 
 a methodistical school, and alms-house at 
 Kingswood. He did more ; he frightened the 
 poor ignorant colliers of that place, with the 
 most awful denunciations of divine vengeance, 
 and then allured them to peace and sobriety, by 
 promises of pardon here, and of palms, thrones, 
 rivers of pleasure, trees of life, and the soft me- 
 lody of golden harps, to ravish their souls, and 
 lull them to eternal rest, in another and a bet- 
 ter world !” 
 
 When Mr. Whitefield left Bristol and Kings- 
 wood, Mr. John Wesley went over to water the 
 good seed of eternal life in the hearts of the poor 
 colliers. With less of the terrors of the law, and 
 
i2S FARTHER SPREAD 
 
 I 
 
 perhaps too with less of the raptures of the gos-» 
 pel, he promoted the civilization of the bar- 
 barian inhabitants of Kingswood, reduced them 
 to order, and weaned them by degrees from ha- 
 bits of profaneness and drunkenness, to those of 
 religion and virtue. 
 
 Of the rooted ignorance and barbarity of the 
 Kingswood colliers, you may form some idea. 
 Madam, from the following circumstance, which 
 Vv^as told me by a gentleman, who has been a 
 travelling preacher more than thirty years, and 
 has often witnessed the fact himself. So much 
 addicted were these colliers to cursing and 
 swearing, in their ordinary conversation, that, 
 even after their conversion, when they had just 
 returned from a religious meeting, they would 
 sometimes exclaim, that they had “ had a d — d 
 sweet season This most profound ignorance, 
 and its shocking consequence, I should hope 
 were, however, shortly removed by the instruc- 
 tions of their spiritual guides, and the force of 
 better habits. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley, animated with the ac- 
 counts he received of the state of affairs at Bris- 
 tol and the neighbourhood, determined to share 
 those good things with his brother John. Accord- 
 ingly, on the 28th of August, 173.9, he arrived at 
 that city, and soon entered upon the work of the 
 ministry with ardour and success, fie contri- 
 buted largely to the common stock of Method- 
 
OF METHODISM. 
 
 129 
 
 ism. Many were concerted by his exertions, both 
 of the colliers at Kingswood, and of the sober 
 town^s people. 
 
 On the 11th September, he rode with two 
 friends to Bradford, near Bath, and preached to 
 about a thousand persons. On many of them 
 his harangues had the most powerful effect. 
 On the 25th, the Bradford congregation a- 
 inounted to about two thousand hearers. I can- 
 not help, Madam, presenting you with part of 
 the experience of one of tlie Bradfordian con- 
 verts. This was one Sarah Pearce, who re- 
 ceived comfort,” while listening to Mr. Wesley^s 
 explanation of the fifth chapter of the Romans. 
 ‘‘ I was extremely bigoted,”says this good lady, 
 “ against my brethren the dissenters, but am 
 now enlarged towards them and all mankind, 
 in an inexpressible manner. I do not depend 
 upon a start of comfort ; but find it increase 
 ever since it began. I perceive a great change 
 in myself^ and expect a greater. I find a di- 
 vine attraction in my soul to heavenly things. 
 I was once so afraid of death that I durst not 
 sleep ; but now I do not fear it at all. I de- 
 sire nothing on earth; I fear nothing, but 
 sin.” 
 
 I make no apology. Madam, for this short 
 extract: I know you will be charmed with the 
 experience of Sarah Pearce ; for in her was ac- 
 complished all the law and the prophets. O ! 
 
 K 
 
130 
 
 FARTHER SPREAD 
 
 ye Gardiners ! ye Bonners ! of our day — ^ye^ 
 vhose zeal for religion is only discoverable 
 when ye seek to persecute others^, or when ye 
 exclaim, concerning your own church, The 
 temple of the Lord ! the temple of the Lord ! 
 the temple of the Lord, are we /” When ye talk 
 of faith, and grace, and love, and joy, and hea» 
 veil and hell, call to mind the experience of Sarah 
 Pearce, and let your hearts, like her’s, be en- 
 larged TOWARDS ALL MANKIND ! 
 
 And ye, too, poor, cold, frozen-hearted for- 
 malists ! and gloomy children of monkish super- 
 stition ! ye who are dead while ye live ! who 
 see no beauty in holiness— find no pleasure, not 
 even in treading the ways of pleasantness, nor per- 
 ceive any comfort in the paths of peace ! — let 
 your hearts be expanded with the generous be- 
 nevolence of Sarah Pearce, and your joy shall 
 abound ! O ! that all the Lord’s people were as 
 this poor woman ! 
 
 Mr. Wesley’s preaching at Bradford did not, 
 however, ahvays produce such pleasing effects ; 
 or rather, the seed, being sometimes sown in 
 stony ground, could not take deep and effectual 
 root. The sons of bigotry — the children of in- 
 tolerance — raised an idle report that he was a 
 high Calvinist ; which laid him under the ne- 
 cessity of publicly declaring his opinion on this 
 head. He did this in such a manner as caused 
 him afterwards to say, that though the devil had 
 
OF METHODISM. 
 
 131 
 
 been very busy attempting to hinder his useful- 
 ness, he believed that this arch fiend would 
 
 no more slander him with being a predesti- 
 narian.'’ It is evident, Madam, that so black a 
 calumny could have proceeded from no other, 
 than that slanderous old personage, who ‘^gocth 
 about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may 
 devour f’ 
 
 About this time he preached in the open air, 
 hy nighty in a yard belonging to a Widow Jones. 
 He observes, The yard contained about four 
 hundred persons ; the house was likewise full. 
 Great power was in the midst of us. Satan blas- 
 phemed without, but durst not venture his child- 
 ren too near the gospel, when I offered Jesus 
 Christ to them. The enemy hurried them away, 
 and all we could do was to pray for them.” It 
 is somewhat strange, that the prince of darkness 
 should find himself aggrieved by an out-door 
 ■preaching, in the night ; especially as he appears 
 to have manifested so much prudence in keep- 
 ing his children at a becoming distance from 
 the gospel. One would natuially have sup- 
 posed, that the night was the most proper season 
 he could have chosen for carrying on the works 
 of darkness ; but, it seems, the dex)il himself is 
 sometimes oif his guard ; though it must be 
 owned, that, by his blaspheming withoufi he was 
 not asleep at his post. 
 
132 
 
 FARTHER SPREAD 
 
 In consequence of a pressing invitation, Mr. 
 
 , John Wesley visited the Principality. Though 
 the churches were here also shut against him, 
 yet were his zeal and perseverance repaid by the 
 formation of several societies, and by the affec- 
 tion of the Cambrian converts. I have seen,” 
 says he, ‘‘ no part of England so pleasant, for 
 sixty or seventy miles together, as those parts of 
 Wales- 1 have been in : and most of the inhabi- 
 tants are indeed ripe for the gospel I mean, if 
 the expression seems strange, they are earnestly 
 desirous of being instructed in it : and as utterly 
 ignorant of it they are, as any Creek or Chero- 
 kee Indians.” Mr. Wesley, having sown the 
 seed in Wales, shortly after left it, for a season, 
 to take root and fructify. 
 
 The year 1/40 was spent in making new 
 converts, and in adjusting differences, or fo- 
 menting fresh causes of disagreement in the 
 Fetter- lane society. I purposely omit, in this 
 place, entering into the disputes on predestina- 
 tion, &c. which took place about this time, oc- 
 casioned by a printed sermon of Mr. Wesley’s 
 against that doctrine. 
 
 One Maxfield, who afterwards turned out an 
 accuser of the brethren,^ and a violent opposer 
 of the Wesleys, had begun to excite the atten- 
 tion of several by his zeal and industry. Max- 
 field was one of the first laymen that Mr. Wes- 
 
OF METHODISM. 
 
 133 
 
 ley regularly employed as a preacher. Of this 
 man, the late Countess Dowager of Hunting- 
 don writes to Mr. Wesley as follows : never 
 
 mentioned to you, that I have seen Maxfield. 
 He is one of the greatest instances of God’s pe- 
 culiar favour, that I know. He has raised from 
 the stones one to sit among the princes of his 
 people. He is my astonishment. How is God’s 
 power shewn in weakness ! You can have no 
 idea what an attachment I have to him. He is 
 highly favoured of the Lord. Tlie first time 
 I made him expound, expecting little from him 
 I sat over against him, and thought what a 
 power of God must be with him, to make me 
 give any attention to him. But before he had 
 gone over one fifth part, any one that had seen 
 me, would have thought I had been made of 
 wood or stone, so quite immoveable I both 
 felt and looked. His power in prayer is very 
 extraordinary. To deal plainly, I could either 
 talk or write for an hour about him.” 
 
 This man, whose expounding had such an 
 astonishing effect on the mind and body of the 
 pious Countess, in, a few years, fell into the most 
 violent extravagances about perfection, and fi- 
 nally withdrew from the society, and took about 
 two hundred of the members along with him. 
 While he kept in any measure in his senses, he 
 was of wonderful use to tlie Wesleys, and was 
 instrumental of much good to the Methodists. 
 
134 
 
 SPREAD OF METHODISM. 
 
 During the years 1741 and 1742, many so- 
 cieties were formed in Somersetshire, Wiltshire, 
 Gloucestershire, Leicestershire, Warwickshire, 
 and Nottinghamshire, as well as in the south- 
 ern parts of Yorkshire. Those in London, 
 Bristol, and Kings wood, were much increased. 
 The brethren still met with opposition, some- 
 times with persecution, from various quarters ; 
 but every new attempt to check the progress of 
 lUethodism, tended only to indame the zeal, and 
 increase the number, of its advocates. Persecu- 
 tion was considered a certain badge of true 
 discipleship ; a genuine characteristic of godli- 
 ness. He that zi'iU live godli) in Christ Jesus must 
 suffer persecution. Such being the advantages 
 of persecution, it is not to be wondered at, that 
 on some occasions the Methodists should count 
 it; that they should provoke it by unseasonable 
 reproofs, and the imposition of useless austeri- 
 ties. The blood of the martyrs had long before 
 this been the seed of the church ; and though 
 none of the Methodists had ever to glory in the 
 crown of rsiartyrdom, yet did they profit by the 
 very measures which were taken to destroy them. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
135 
 
 LETTER XVI. 
 
 Formation of the Societies — General Rules- — Di- 
 rections given to the Bands — Schism. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Although I have hitherto endeavoured not to 
 be tediously minute in detailing the rise and 
 progress of Methodism, have already seen 
 thousands made converts to the opinions and 
 practices of the Wesleys, both in our own and 
 in other countries; for the preaching of White- 
 field, and others, on the continent, was attend- 
 ed with similar effects to that of their brethren 
 on this side the water. It is, therefore, time 
 you should become acquainted with the pro- 
 gressive organization, and internal economy of 
 the societies. 
 
 I have already Ikid before you the Orders 
 of the religious Society at Fetter-lane.'' In 
 
136 
 
 FORMATION OF THE SOCIETIES. 
 
 consequence of the disputes with the Moravian 
 brethren, you will remember I informed you, 
 that Mr. Wesley, with his steady adherents, had 
 removed to the Foundery. The Fetter-lane 
 church was consequently soon swallowed up, or 
 dispersed, by the growing influence of theWes- 
 leyans. Those Orders^ therefore, were no longer 
 formallv bindingon the societies. 
 
 Numerous societies being now formed in va- 
 rious parts of the kingdom, exactly on the same 
 principles, it became requisite, for the better 
 management of so large a body, and for the 
 general consolidation of the whole connexion, 
 to have some General Rules. Accordingly, the 
 'two brothers drew up a set of rules which 
 should be observed by the members of all the 
 societies throughout the nation. In the year. 
 1743, these rules were- first published under the 
 following title : — The Nature, Design, and 
 General Rules, of the United Societies in Lon- 
 don, Bristol, and Newcastle-upon-Tyne, &c.’* 
 Permit me, Madam, to lay before you an exact 
 copy of these Rules, 
 
GENERAL RULES. 
 
 137 
 
 RULES OF THE SOCIETY, 
 
 I. IN the latter end of the year 1739? eight 
 or ten persons came to me in London, who ap- 
 peared to be deeply convinced of sin, and ear- 
 nestly groaning for redemption. They desired 
 (as did two or three more the next day), that 
 I would spend some tirne with them in prayer, 
 and advise them how to flee from the wrath to 
 come, which they saw continually hanging over 
 their heads. That we might have more time for 
 this great work, I appointed a day when they 
 might all come together ; which, from thence- 
 forward they did every week ; viz. on Thursday 
 in the evening. To these, and as many more as 
 desired to join v/ith them (for their number in- 
 creased daily), I gave those advices from time 
 to time which I judged most needful for them ; 
 and we always concluded our meeting with prayer 
 suitable to their several necessities. 
 
 II. This was the rise of the United So- 
 ciety, first in London, and then in other places. 
 Such a society is no other, than ‘ A company of 
 men having the form, and seeking the power, of 
 godliness : united in order to pray together, to 
 
138 
 
 GENERAL RULES. 
 
 receive llie word of exhortation, and to watch 
 over one another in love, that tliey may help 
 each other to work out their salvation.' 
 
 111. That it may the more easily be discern- 
 ed, whether they are indeed working out their 
 own salvation, each society is divided into smal- 
 ler companies, called Classes, according to their 
 respective places of abode. There are about 
 twelve persons in every class ; one of whom is 
 styled the Leader. — It is his business, 
 
 1^^, To see each person in his class, once a 
 week at least, in order 
 
 To inquire how their souls prosper ; 
 
 ‘‘To advise, reprove, -comfort, or exhort, as 
 occasion may require ; 
 
 “To receive what they are willing to give, 
 toward the support of the gospel. 
 
 “ To meet the minister and the stewards 
 .of the society once a week, in order 
 
 “ To inform the minister of any that are sick, 
 or of any that walk disorderly, and will not be 
 reproved ; 
 
 “ To pay to the stewards what they have re- 
 ceived of their several classes in the week pre- 
 ceding ; and 
 
 “ To shew their account of what each person 
 has coiitributedo 
 
GENERAL RULES. 
 
 139 
 
 IV. There is one only condition previously 
 required of those who desire admission into 
 these societies, viz. ^ a desire to flee from the 
 wrath to come^ to be samd from their sins/ But 
 wherever this is really fixed in the soul, it will be 
 shewn by its fruits. It is therefore expected of 
 all who continue therein, that they should con- 
 tinue to evidence their desire of salvation, 
 
 1^/, By doing no harm, by avoiding evil in 
 every kind : especially that which is most gener- 
 ally practised. Such as, 
 
 The taking the name of God in vain : 
 
 The profaning the day of the Lord, either 
 by doing ordinary work thereon, or by buying 
 or sellino’ : 
 
 V . o 
 
 ^vDrunkenness ; hiiying or selling spirituous 
 liquors ; ox drinking them^ unless in cases of ex- 
 treme necessity : 
 
 Fighting, quarreUing, brawling; brother go- 
 ing to law with brother ; returning eFil for evil, 
 or railing for railing : the using many words in 
 buying or selling : 
 
 “The buying or selling uncustomed goods : 
 
 “ The giving or taking things on usury, i. e. 
 unlawful interest: 
 
 '‘^Uncharitable or improftable conversation: 
 particularly speaking evil of magistrates or of 
 ministers: 
 
140 
 
 GENERAL RULES. 
 
 Doing to Others as we would not they should 
 do unto us : 
 
 Doing what we know is not for the glory of 
 God. As, 
 
 T\\q putting on of gold or costly apparel : 
 
 The taking such dicei'sions as cannot be used 
 in the name of the Lord Jesus; 
 
 ‘‘ The singing those songs, or readdng those 
 hooks, that do not tend to the knowledge or love 
 of God : 
 
 Softness, and needless self-indulgence: 
 
 ‘‘ Laying up treasure on earth : 
 
 “ Borrowing without a probability of paying : 
 or taking up goods without a probability of pay- 
 ing for them. 
 
 V. It is expected of all who continue in 
 these societies, that they should continue to evi- 
 dence their desire of salvation, 
 
 ^dly, By doing good, by being in every 
 kind merciful after their power, as they have op- 
 portunity : doing good of every possible sort, 
 and as far as possible to all men ; 
 
 To their bodies, of the abilityrthat God 
 giveth, by giving food to the hungry, by cloth- 
 ing the naked, by visiting or helping them that 
 are sick, or in prison : 
 
 To their souls, by instructing, reproving, or 
 
GENERAL RULES. 141 
 
 exhorting all we have any intercourse with : 
 trampling under foot that enthusiastic doctrine 
 of devils, that, ^ We are not to do good, unless 
 our hearts be free to it/ 
 
 By doing good especially to them that are 
 of the household of faith, or groaning so to be : 
 employing them preferably to others, buying 
 one of another, helping each other in business ; 
 and so much the more, because the world will 
 love its own, and them only. 
 
 By all possible diligence and frugality,, that 
 the gospel be not blamed. 
 
 By running with patience the race that is 
 set before them, denying themselves, and taking 
 up their cross daily ; submitting to bear the . re- 
 proach of Christ ; to be as the filth and off- 
 scouring of the world ; and looking that men 
 should say all manner of evil of them falsely for 
 the Lord's sake, 
 
 VI. It is expected of all who desire to con- 
 tinue in these societies, that they should con- 
 tinue to evidence their desire of salvation, 
 
 3dly, By attending on all the ordinances of 
 God : such are. 
 
 The public worship of God; 
 
 The ministry of the word, either read or ex- 
 pounded ; 
 
 The supper of the Lord ; 
 
 4 
 
142 
 
 GENERAL RULES. 
 
 Family and private prayer; 
 
 Searching the scriptures ; and 
 Fasting or abstinence. 
 
 “ VII. These are the general rules of our sO“ 
 cieties ; all which we are taught of God to ob- 
 serve, even in his written word, the only rule, 
 and the sufficient rule both of our faith and prac- 
 tice. And all these we know his Spirit writes 
 on every truly awakened heart. If there be any 
 among us who observe them not, who habitually 
 break any of them, let it be made known unto 
 them, who watch over that soul, as they that 
 must give an account. We will admonish him 
 of the error of his ways : we will bear with him 
 for a season. But then, if he repent not, he 
 hath no more place among us. We have deliv- 
 ered our own souls. 
 
 J. & C. Wesley.” 
 
 May 1 , 1743. 
 
 To these very excellent Rules, the Conference 
 have since made several important additions, 
 some of w^hich I shall copy, for your informa- 
 tion, in a future epistle. 
 
 With some requisite alterations in the phrase- 
 ology of these regulations, they are, generally, 
 deserving of being adopted by all societies of 
 professing Christians ; and it is not the least that ^ 
 
DIRECTIONS TO THE BANDS. 14S 
 
 may be said in their favour, that they enjoin no 
 peculiarities of doctrine — no dissocializing qua- 
 lity, arising from subscription to articles of 
 faith, or inodes of worship. Their general prin- 
 ciples are founded on the broad, the permanent 
 basis of rational Christianity and practical mo- 
 rality. The same, however, cannot, in every 
 instance, be said of the following Directions 
 given to the Band Societies,” which w'ere drawn 
 up the year after the publication of the General 
 Rules. 
 
 Directions gwcn to the Band Societies. 
 
 You are supposed to have faith that 
 omrcometh the world. To you, therefore, it is 
 not grievous, 
 
 ‘‘ I. Carefully to abstain from doing evil: in 
 particular, 
 
 1. Neither to buy or sell any thing at all on 
 the Lord’s- day. 
 
 2. To taste no spirituous liquor, no dram of 
 any kind, unless prescribed by a physician. 
 
 3. To he, at a word both in buying and sel- 
 
 ling. 
 
 4. To pawn nothing,, no not to save life. 
 
 5. Not to mention the fault of any behind his 
 bach^ and to stop those short that do. 
 
144 
 
 DIRECTIONS TO THE BANDS. 
 
 ‘^6. To wear no needless ornaments^ such as 
 rings, ear-rings, necklaces, lace, ruffles. 
 
 ^'7. To use no needless self-indulgence^ such as 
 taking snuff or tobacco, unless prescribed by a 
 physician. 
 
 II. Zealously to maintain good works : in 
 particular. 
 
 To gwe alms of such things as you pos- 
 sess, and that to the uttermost of your power. 
 
 ‘‘2. To reprom all that sin in your sight, and 
 that in love, and meekness of wisdom. 
 
 ‘‘3. To be patterns of diligence dindi frugality, 
 of self denial, and taking up the cross daily. 
 
 III. Constantly to attend on all the ordi- 
 nances of God : in particular, 
 
 1. To be at church, and at the Lord’s table 
 every week, and at every public meeting of the 
 Bands. 
 
 ‘‘ 2. To attend the ministry of the word every 
 morning (this was always at five o’clock, winter 
 and summer, in all kinds of weather), unless 
 distance, business, or sickness prevent. 
 
 ‘‘3. To use private prayer every day, and fa- 
 mily prayer, if you are the head of a family. 
 
 “ 4. To read the scriptures, and mecHtatc 
 therein, at every vacant hour. And, 
 
 ‘‘ 5. To observe, as days of fasting or absti- 
 nence, all Fridays in the year.” 
 
SCHISM. 
 
 145 
 
 As far as my observations have extended, the 
 Methodists of the present day do certainly ob- 
 serve, with the greatest degree of exactness^ the 
 last of these general directions — that which en- 
 joins them constantly to attend all the ordi* 
 nances of God.’" 
 
 Of the first direction, the second, third, 
 fifth, sixth, and seventh clauses, are not, I 
 believe, uniformly observed : yet 1 would not 
 have it understood that the Methodists are 
 more culpable in these respects than other pro- 
 fessing Christians : the fifth, and perhaps the 
 seventh, clause alone excepted ; in the breach 
 of which they are certainly many of them 
 shamefully guilty. The crirae of scandal, I 
 believe, is promoted by the very common prac- 
 tice of neglecting to observe the admonition 
 given in the latter of these clauses. 
 
 The particular Rules by which the bands are 
 . governed, and the method of conducting the 
 class and band meetings, I will give you in a 
 future letter. 
 
 The formation of these separate societies very 
 naturally suggested some doubts in the mind of 
 Mr. Wesley, whether by encouraging them he 
 was not making a schism in the established 
 church ; whether in joining these people toge- 
 
 L 
 
14 ^ 
 
 JSCHISM. 
 
 ther he was not gathering churches out of 
 churches. 
 
 He soon satisfied himself, by the following 
 mode of reasoning : — 
 
 It is easily answered, ’’ says he, ‘Mf you 
 mean only gathering people out of buildings 
 called churches, it is. But if you mean, divid- 
 ing Christians from Christians, and so destroy- 
 ing fellowship, it is not. For, 1. These were not 
 Christians before they were thus joined. Most 
 of them were barefaced heathens. 2, Neither 
 are they Christians from whom you suppose 
 them to be divided. You will not look me in 
 the face, and say they are. What! drunken 
 Christians ? Cursing and swearing Christians ? 
 Lying Christians ? Cheating Christians ? If 
 these are Christians at all, they are Devil Chris-> 
 tians (as the poor Malabarians term them.) — • 
 3. Neither are they divided any more than they 
 were before, even from these wretched Devil 
 Christians, They are as ready as ever to assist 
 them, and to perform every office of real kind- 
 ness toward them. 4. If it be said, ‘ but there 
 are some true Christians in the parish, and you 
 destroy the Christian fellowship between these 
 and them." I answer. That which never existed 
 cannot be destroyed. Which of those true 
 Christians had any such fellowship with these ? 
 Who watched over them in love ? Who marked 
 
SCHISM. 
 
 U7 
 
 their growth in grace? Who advised and ex- 
 horted them from time to time ? Who prayed 
 with them and for them as they had need ?— 
 This, and this alone, is Christian fellowship J 
 But, alas ! Where is it to be found ? Look east 
 or west, north or south : name what parish you 
 please. Is this Christian fellowship there ? — ■ 
 Rather are not the bulk of the parishioners a 
 mere rope of sand ? What Christian connexion 
 is there between them ? What intercourse in 
 spiritual things? What watching over each 
 other’s souls ? What bearing of one another’s 
 burdens ? W’hat a mere jest is it then, to talk 
 so gravely of destroying what never was ? The 
 real truth is just the reverse of this : we intro* 
 duced Christian fellowship where it was utterly 
 destroyed. And the fruits of it have been, 
 peace, joy, love, and zeal for every good word 
 and work.” 
 
 You, Madam, 1 doubt not, with several 
 others, will be apt to suppose, that unless the 
 discipline of the church of England is indeed 
 
 a mere rope of sand,” the formation of Me- 
 thodist societies, and particularly the introduc-* 
 tion of lay preaching, was, to all intents and 
 purposes, making a schism in the church as 
 by law established, however low some, or even 
 all, of the members of that church might ht 
 fallen as to spiritual matters. 
 
m 
 
 SCHISM. 
 
 After I have given you some account of se- 
 veral persecutions which took place about this 
 time, I will proceed with a description of all 
 their different species of meetings, both for wor- 
 ship and for business. 
 
 I am, 
 
Ug 
 
 LETTER XVIL 
 
 Persecutions — Miraculous Escapes— Reflections, 
 
 r>EAR MADAM, 
 
 The years 1744, 1745, and 1746, were years of 
 alarm and agitation, both to the nation at large 
 and to the Methodists in particular. The Scotch 
 rebellion caused the greatest consternation 
 - throughout the kingdom, and prepared the 
 minds of many for the reception of Methodism. 
 Persecutions, however, of the most gross and 
 shameful nature were employed in different parts 
 of the country, to convince the poor Methodists 
 that too much prayer was offensive to God, in- 
 jurious to the good of the church, and danger- 
 ous to the safety of the nation. At Wednesbury, 
 in the county of Stafford ; at Sheffield, in York- 
 shire, and various other places in the north of 
 England, “ the floods lifted up their voice,” and 
 raged horribly.” 
 
150 
 
 PERSECUTIONS. 
 
 Mr. Wesley published an account of these pro- 
 ceedings, in a little pamphlet, to whielt he gave 
 this ironical, and very illiberal title — “ Modern 
 Christianity ; exemplified at Wedneshury, and 
 other adjacent places, in Staffordshire.” How 
 difficult it is to divest the mind of every degree 
 of spleen and bitterness, when speaking of the 
 injuries we receive from others ! 
 
 It would be both tedious and disgusting, to 
 enter into a minute detail of the riots which 
 took place at the towns I have just mentioned. 
 One or two extracts shall suffice. 
 
 “ I Jonathan Jones, in the county of Stafford, 
 farmer, am willing to pay the king and country 
 their due, might I be at peace, and go about my 
 lawful occasions, as I ought to do. 
 
 “ On the 20th of June, at my neighbour 
 Adams’s house, two or three were singing a 
 hymn, and a parcel of ’prentices and others, in 
 a very rude manner, came and threw many stones 
 through the windows ; in particular, Mr. Richard 
 Taylor’s ’prentice. So my neighbour John 
 Adams goes to Squire P. and brings a warrant 
 for him ; but Mr. Taylor goes to Walsal, to the 
 justice, before the offenders were brought, and 
 he was with Squire P. when we came, who would 
 not act at his own hall, but sent us down into 
 the town ; where a great mob was waiting for 
 
 our coming. 
 
PERSECUTIONS. 
 
 151 
 
 So the constable gave him the warrant, and 
 he said, ‘ What ! I understand you are Method- 
 ists? I will not act for you.’ Then he went 
 to the door, and told a great mob, ‘ They might 
 do what they would;’ and took olFhis hat, and 
 swung it about, and went away. They gave 
 a great shout, and some of them swore bitterly, 
 they would murder us all. We sent for the con- 
 stable, to help us out of the town, but he was 
 not to be found. So we staid in the house about 
 two hours, till we thought the mob was gone ; 
 but as soon as we came out, some began to hol- 
 low, and the street was quickly full. They beat 
 and bruised us very much ; but through God’s 
 mercy we escaped with our lives. 
 
 “ About a week after there arose a great mob 
 at Darleston, and broke me nine large windows, 
 and many of my goods. The same day my man 
 was coming home with my team, and they met 
 him, and beat him, and much abused my horses. 
 At night they came to break the rest of my 
 goods; but I gave them money, and they went 
 away. 
 
 So I was at Richard Dorset’s, our church- 
 warden, and many of the mob came in and said, 
 
 * Come now d n you, Dorset, we have done 
 
 our work, pay us our wages.’ And I saw the 
 drink come in, in large jugs, and every one drank 
 what he would.” 
 
152 
 
 PERSECUTIONS. 
 
 ‘^Janies Foster, nailer, Sarah Hires, widows, 
 and Jonathan Jones, had their windows broke 
 and money extorted, to save their houses. 
 
 “ John Foster, nailer, and Joice Wood, had 
 their windows broke, and their goods broken 
 and spoiled. 
 
 “ Jos. Spittle, collier, had his windows broke, 
 his house broke open, some goods taken, and 
 ^onie lost. 
 
 William Woods, brick-maker, had his win- 
 dows broke twice, and was compelled to go along 
 with the rioters. 
 
 Elizabeth Linghem, a widow with five child- 
 ren, had her goods spoiled, her spinning-wheel 
 (the support of her family) broke, and her pa- 
 pish allowance reduced from 2s. fid. to Is. fid. a 
 week. 
 
 Valentine Ambersly, collier, had his win- 
 dows broke twice, his wife, big with child, 
 abused and beat with clubs. 
 
 “ George W'ynn had his windows and goods 
 broke, and to save his house was forced to give 
 them drink. 
 
 ‘‘ Thomas Day had his windows and goods, 
 broke, and was forced to remove from the 
 town. 
 
 Jos. Stubs had his windows broke twice, 
 and his wife so frighted, that she miscarried.'' 
 
 ‘‘ The first that came to my house (Thomas 
 Parkes, of West Bramwick) on Tuesday, Feb. 7^ 
 
PERSECUTIONS, 
 
 153 
 
 1 743, were five with great clubs whom I met at 
 the door. They demanded, ^ Wliether I^would 
 deny hearing these parsons ?’ I told them, 
 No ; for I believed they spoke the truth as it 
 is in Jesus ; and if I were to deny them, I should 
 deny him that sent them*’ They told me, ‘ If I 
 would not they would plunder my house.’ I re- 
 plied, ‘ They must answer it at God's bar, and 
 I would meet them there.’ I asked, " Whether 
 I had done them any harm ?’ They said, ‘ No ; 
 but they would have me keep to the church.’ 
 I told them, ‘ Some of you may know that I 
 worship among the dissenters ; but I love a 
 good man, let him go vdiere he will, for there 
 is but one church of Christ; and if you do not 
 belong to that church, you had better never 
 have been born.’ 
 
 “ I told them ^ God has allowed me liberty 
 , of conscience, and so have the king and parlia- 
 ment, and hope my neighbours will too ; but if 
 not, a day is coining, when the persecuted and 
 the persecutor shall stand together ; and if you 
 MU’ong me now, God \vill right me then.’ 
 
 While I was speaking, I caught hold of their 
 clubs, and the words seemed to have some in- 
 fluenee on them ; but by this time there was a 
 great body of them gathered together ; so they 
 broke my windows, and then the door, and flock- 
 ed into my house, and began to break my goods. 
 JBut here the Lord suffered them not to go so 
 
]54 
 
 MIRACULOUS ESCAPES. 
 
 far as they liad done in other places; for they 
 soon fell to plundering and loading themselves 
 with the things I had for myself, a wife, and se- 
 ven children. 
 
 However, in a while I had prevailed with 
 some of them to stop. But they then said, ^ I 
 must set my liand to their paj?er/ I told them 
 * They were cloaked over with the name of Pro- 
 testants; but none but a Popish spirit would tie 
 men’s consciences.’ So I committed my cause 
 to God, and withdrew from my house and 
 them.” 
 
 ‘^Wednesday, October 19, 1744, IJohn Wes- 
 ley came to Birmingham, in my way to New- 
 castle. Thursday, October 20, several persons 
 from Wednesbury earnestly desired me to call 
 there. I yielded to their importunity, and went. 
 
 I was sitting writing at Francis Ward’s, in the 
 afternoon ; when the cry arose, that the Darle- 
 ston mob had beset the house. I called toge- 
 ther those that were in the house, and prayed, 
 that God would scatter the people that delight in 
 u\i)\ And it was so ; one went one way, and 
 one another; so that in half an hour the house 
 was clear on every side. But, before five, they 
 returned with great numbers. The cry of all 
 •was, ‘ Bring out the minister.’ 
 
 I desired one to bring the captain of the mob 
 into the iiouse. After a few words interchanged, 
 
MIRACULOUS ESCAPES^ 
 
 155 
 
 the lion was as a lamb. I then desired him to 
 bring in one or two more of the most angry of 
 his companions. lie did so ; and in two mi- 
 nutes, their mind was changed too. I then bade 
 them who were in the room make way^ that I 
 might go out among the people. As soon as I 
 w^as in the midst of them, I said, ‘ Here 1 am : 
 what do you want with me?’ Many cried out, 
 
 ® We w^ant you to go with us to the justice.’ I 
 told them, ‘ That I will with all my heart.’ So 
 I walked before, and two or three hundred of 
 them followed, to Bentley-hall, two miles from 
 Wednesbury : but a servant came out, and told 
 them, ‘ Justice Lane was not to be spoken with.’ 
 Here they were at a stand, till one advised, to 
 go to Justice Persehouse, at Walsal. About 
 seven we came to his bouse : but he also sent 
 word, ‘ That he was in bed, and could not be 
 ' spoken with.’ 
 
 All the company were now’’ pretty well 
 agreed to make the best of their way home: 
 but w^e had not gone a hundred yards, when the 
 mob of Walsal canie pouring in like a flood. 
 The Darleston mob stood as^ainst them for a 
 while ; but iii a short time, some being knocked 
 down, and others much hurt, the rest ran away 
 and left me in their hands. 
 
 To attempt to speak was vain, the noise be- 
 ing like that of taking a city by storm ; so they 
 dragged me along till we came to the town, at a 
 
 3 
 
156 ]^ilRACULOUS escapes^ 
 
 fevv btindred yards distance ; whefe, seeing tii^ 
 door of a large house open, I endeavoured to ga 
 in; but a tnan, catching me by the hair (my 
 hat having been caught away at the beginning)'^ 
 pulled me back into the middle of the mob, who 
 Ivere as so many tamping and roaring lionSi 
 'i'hey hurried me from thence, through the main 
 Atreet, front one end of the town to the other. 
 I continued speaking all the time to those with- 
 in hearing, feeling no pain or weariness. At the 
 West end of the town, seeing a door half open, I 
 made towards it, and would have gone in ; but 
 a gentleman in the shop would not suffer me, 
 saying, ‘ They would pull the house down, if I 
 did.’ However, here I stood, aiid asked, ^ Are 
 you willing to hear me speak ?’ Many cried out, 
 
 * No, iio; knock his brains out.’ Others said, 
 
 ** Nay, but we xvill hear him speak first.’ I be- 
 gan asking, ‘ What hurt have I done to you } 
 Whom among you have I Wrdnged in word or 
 deed?’ And continued speaking till iliy voice 
 failed. Then the floods lifted up their voice 
 again ; many crying out, ‘ Bring him away, 
 bring him away.’ 
 
 Feeling my strength renewed, 1 Spoke again, 
 and broke out aloud into prayer. And noW 
 One of the men, who had headed the mob before, 
 turned, and said, ‘ Sir, follow me : not a man 
 shall touch a hair of your head.’ Two or three 
 more confirmed his words. At the same time, 
 
MIRACULOUS ESCAPP^'. 14/ 
 
 the mayor (for it ^yas he that stood in the shop) 
 cried out, ‘ For sharne, for shame; let him go/ 
 An honest butcher spoke to the same eff’cct ; and 
 seconded hjs words by laying hold of four or 
 ^ive, one after another, who were running on thP 
 rnost fiercely^ The people then dividing to the 
 right and left, those three or four men \vho had 
 .spoken before, took me between them, and car- 
 ried me through the midst, bitterly protesting, 
 
 ‘ they would knock down any that touched hipb" 
 But, on the bridge, the mob rallied again : we 
 therefore went on one side, over a mill-dam, and 
 thence through the meadows, till a little after 
 ten, God brought me safe to Wednesbury, hav- 
 ing lost only a part of my waistcoat, and a little 
 skin from one of my hands.” 
 
 On this occasion, ]\Ir. Wesley makes the foF 
 lowing curious observations : 
 
 I never saw such a chain of providences be- 
 fore, so many convincing proofs that the hand 
 .of God is on every person and over-rnling 
 
 him as it Seemeth him good. 
 
 Among these I cannot but reckon the cir- 
 cumstances that follow : 1. That they endea- 
 voured abundance of times to trip me up, as we 
 went down hill, over the wet slippery grass to 
 the town ; as well judging, that if I ^vas once 
 .on the ground, I should hardly rise again : but 
 J made no slip, nor the least stumble at dh dll 
 I .was entirely out of their hands. 2, Tliat al- 
 
158 
 
 MIRACULOUS ESCAPES. 
 
 though many strove to lay hold on my collar, or 
 clothe-^, they could not fasten at all ; their fin- 
 gers, I cannot tell how, slipping along, without 
 fixing once : only one man seized the flap of my 
 waistcoat, and took it away with him ; the other 
 flap, in the pocket of which was a twenty pound 
 bank note, was torn but half off. 3. That a lusty 
 man, just behind, struck at me many times with 
 a large oaken stick ; with which, if he had 
 struck me on the back of the head, I should 
 probably have preached no more : but every 
 time the blow was turned aside, I know not how ; 
 for I could not move to the right hand or left. 
 
 4. That another man came rushing through the 
 press, raised his arm to strike, let it sink again, 
 and stroking my head, said, ^ What soft hair he 
 has ? I cannot find in my heart to hurt him." 
 
 5. That I went as streight to the mayor"s door, 
 when I was a little loosed, for a few moments, 
 as if I had known it (which they probably 
 thought I did), and found him standing in the 
 shop, which gave the first check to the fury of 
 the people. 6. That no creature (at least within 
 my hearing) laid any thing to my charge, either 
 true or false ; having in the hurry, it seems, for- 
 got to provide themselves with an accusation of 
 any kind. And, lastly, That they were equally 
 at a loss what to do with me, none proposing 
 any determinate thing. The cry of most was, 
 
 ^ Away with him, away with him of others, 
 
REFLECTIONS, 
 
 U9 
 
 ^ Kill him at once.’ Bat none so rniich as once 
 mentioned how; only one or two (I almost 
 tremble to relate it) screamed out (with what 
 meaning I cannot tell), ‘ Crucify the dog, cru- 
 cify him/ 
 
 By how gentle degrees does God prepare us, 
 either for doing or suffering his will ! Tw^o yearg 
 since, one threw at me a piece of brick, which 
 grazed on my shoulder, but hurt me not. It 
 was a year after, that another threw a stone, 
 which struck me between the eyes ; but the hint 
 was soon healed ; and still no man had power to 
 la}’ a hand upon me. 
 
 At St. Ives, last month, I received one 
 blow, the first I ever had, on the side of the 
 head ; and this night two, one before we came 
 into the town, and one after I was going out 
 into the meadows. But though one man struck 
 me on the breast, with all his might, and the 
 other on the mouth, so that the blood gushed 
 out, I felt no more pain, from either of the 
 blows, than if they had touched me with a 
 straw H — October 22, 
 
 It has ever been considered a matter of the 
 greatest astonishment, that the three Hebrew 
 children should pass unhurt through the burn- 
 ing fiery furnace of Nebuchadnezzar; and that 
 the presence of Daniel should suspend the sa- 
 vageness, or tame the fury, of a den of lions; 
 
160 
 
 REFLKCTlOKSc 
 
 and yet that a similar miracidous interpositiaii 
 of divine power, when manifested towards Mr. 
 Jolm Wesley, should not excite like sentiments of 
 wonder and astonishment, is somewhat strange 
 indeed. Nothing, surely, hut the most invin- 
 cible incredulity can hitherto have prevented 
 mankind from speaking of this highly-favoured 
 gentleman, in terms of equal admiration with 
 those employed when we contemplate the won- 
 ders of Omnipotence, in the deliverance of 
 the pious Hebrews ! We read of martyrs, 
 who, in the midst of devouring flames, when 
 the lower extremities of the body have been ac- 
 tually destroyed, have still declared that they 
 felt not the slightest degree of pain ; and judg- 
 ing from their appearance and language in 
 those awful circumstances, there seemed some 
 reason to admit the fact. We know not, in- 
 deed, how capable the mind of man is, when 
 .strongly impressed wirh religious or philosophi- 
 cal speculations, of sustaining the body under 
 pain. For my own part, Madam, I confess 
 myself not a little sceptical in these matters ; 
 and although no one can more sincerely admit 
 the rational doctrine of a divine superintending 
 Providence than 1 do, yet the idea I have of 
 the eternal laws of order— of the inseparable 
 concatenation of cause and event, prevents me 
 from admitting the probability of such miracu- 
 lous interpositions as those I have just mentioned. 
 
XlEFLECTIOlSrs. 
 
 161 
 
 i mean, Madam, of those' relating to our S^Ie- 
 thodist and the dying martyrs. 
 
 The general order, since the whole began, 
 
 Is kept in Nature, and is kept id Man. 
 
 From Nature’s chain, whatever link you strike, 
 
 Tenth or ten thousandth^ breaks the chain alike. 
 
 Be these conjectures right or wrong, Mr. 
 Wesley appears to have conducted himself 
 throughout the whole of these grievous suffer- 
 ings, with the fortitude of a philosopher, and the 
 patient dignity of a Christian. In the most 
 trying seasons, his temper and conduct were 
 Inch as became one whose duty it was to endure 
 hardness as a good soldier; and whose glory it 
 was to obey the injunction of his great Master, 
 hot to return evil for evil ; but to imitate him, 
 who when he was reviled, reviled not again ; 
 who when he suffered, threatened not. 
 
 However the rashness and unbecoming liber- 
 ties of some of his followers might (which cer- 
 tainly was the case) bring upon themselves the 
 fury of an enraged rabble encouraged by their 
 superiors, Mr. Wesley himself always look care, 
 if possible, to give no unnecessary offence to 
 any one. He well knew how needful it was to 
 act with caution and prudence under the vari- 
 ous circumstances in which he was placed, as 
 
 M 
 
REFLECTIONS, 
 
 16^ 
 
 a Christian minister, and as the head and chief 
 support of a large party. The sufferings of the 
 Methodists in these parts, as usual, greatly 
 promoted their cause ; d;nd multitudes still 
 flocked to the standard of the Wesley ans. 
 
 I am, &e. 
 
163 
 
 LETTER XVIIL 
 
 Conference — Prayer-Meetings—Specimenso 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Four years had now elapsed since Mr. Wesley 
 and his adherents separated from the Moravians 
 at Fetter-lane ; and from a very small number, 
 they were now increased to nineteen hundred, in 
 and about London, besides several preachers 
 and a vast increase of private members in dif- 
 ferent parts of the country. The societies had 
 acquired a tolerable degree of stability ; and that 
 Mr. Wesley might have his people, particularly 
 the preachers, more immediately under his su- 
 preme control and direction, it was necessary 
 that he should have some general plan of union. 
 — some central point of action — where he might 
 personally preside at the helm of affairs, and 
 take such measures with the preachers, or adopt 
 
 M g 
 
164 
 
 CONJ’EKENCE. 
 
 such regulations in the societies, as the state' of 
 existing circumstances would from time to time 
 require. This necessary regulation was adopted 
 by appointing a conference with the preachers. 
 Accordingly, on the 20th of June, 1744, Mr. 
 John Wesley, being in London*, he there met his 
 brother Charles, two or three other clergymen, 
 and a few of the preachers whom he liad ap~ 
 pointed to come from different parts of the 
 country for that purpose. This first Methodist 
 conference was holden on Monday, the 25th of 
 June, and the three following days. A confer- 
 ence of the preachers has been held annually ever 
 since; Mr. Wesley having presided at forty- 
 seven such conferences. The subjects of theh 
 deliberations were proposed in the form of ques- 
 tions, which were amply discussed; and the 
 questions with the answers agreed upon were 
 written down, and afterwards printed, under the 
 title of ‘‘ Minutes of several Conversations be- 
 tween the Rev. Mr. Wesley and others.” They 
 are now commonly called, “ Minutes of Con- 
 ference.” 
 
 Such is a faint outline of the origin of a Me- 
 thodist conference — a kind of conclave, a synod, 
 or convocation. Before I enter into a minute 
 detail of the proceedings of this general assem- 
 bly of methodistical divines, I will present you 
 with a regular portrait of the different meethigs]^ 
 
FRAYER-MEETINGS. 
 
 155 
 
 <>r, as the Methodists call them, ')mans of grace, 
 which obtain in their connexion. ^ 
 
 I wish you, Madam, not to look upon my Letters 
 as designed to convey a strictly regular Chro- 
 nological History of the People called Method- 
 ists,” being superseded in that plan by Mr. Myles. 
 It is not necessary, therefore, that I should be 
 over exact as to the dates when the several re- 
 gulations, or religious institutions, took 'place 
 among this people. I will begin with what may 
 be considered an institution of the lowest order 
 • — a meeting at which every member present 
 may exercise his gift for the spiritual good of 
 all present. This is called a Prayer- Meeting, 
 and is generally conducted in the following 
 manner : — 
 
 The prayer-meetings consist of an indefinite 
 number of persons, members of the society and 
 others, and are held at certain given places, 
 in town and country, once every week. The 
 leader is a member of the society, and is sup- 
 posed to possess a degree of grace at least equal 
 to the rest of his brethren. A prayer-leader 
 must also have a good gift in priwer ; be active 
 and zealous, and be able to read so as to gwe out 
 the hymns. He must also possess a sufficient 
 degree of talent or boldness occasionally to give 
 a word of exhortation. The meetings generally 
 begin at about eight o’clock in the evening with 
 ,:Singjng. The prayer-leader, standing in the 
 
166 
 
 PRAYER-MEETINGS. 
 
 jniddle of the room, reads a line or two of the 
 hymn, which is sung in full chorus by the bro- 
 thers and sisters present. He then goes to prayer, 
 extemporary of course. He generally begins in 
 a low and solemn tone ; as he finds his heart 
 warmed, or his passions fired, he raises his 
 voice, until, in some instances, a prayer- leader 
 will address the God of Heaven as if he were 
 deaf, or on a journey, or would not answer any 
 other prayers but such as are loud and boister- 
 ous. If the prayer-leader happen to have a re- 
 markably sonorous voice ; if he be very fluent 
 of speech ; if he have a good memory, and can 
 from that treasure bring forth things new and 
 old, by repeating a long string of real or imagi- 
 nary texts of scripture ; if his language in prayer 
 be more than ordinarily sweet, loving, fiery, 
 enthusiastical, and intoxicating ; and above all, 
 if he seem to be in habits of strict intimacy with 
 the Deity, and be able to manifest a very fami- 
 liar intercourse with Jesus Christ, and the Holy 
 Ghost; — in such cases, the free spirit of devo- 
 tion immediately runs from heart to heart, as oil 
 from vessel to vessel. I forbear to relate tliq 
 confusion, the tumult, the noise, and uproar, 
 which at these times disgrace the order, and 
 scandalize the exercise, of Christian worship. 
 
 After the leader has ended the first prayer, 
 the people rise, and he proceeds to give out 
 a second hymn. On some of the stanzas h§ 
 
PRAYER-MEETINGS. 
 
 167 
 
 will often feel himself disposed to expound ; 
 during which the people sit down, or continue 
 to stand, as they may find themselves inclined, 
 or as there may happen to be room and seats in 
 the house for such an accommodation. Most of 
 those exhortations which I have heard, have 
 been by no means such as would do honour to 
 the cause of a religious society, or which would 
 have benefitted any other people besides Me- 
 thodists. 
 
 I have more than once observed, that when a 
 prayer-leader has attempted , to expound the 
 verse of the hymn which the people were next 
 to have sung, he has rambled so much, or so 
 lost himself, as absolutely to forget that the 
 words he had been expounding the people had 
 not yet heard ; and the time being expired before 
 he had finished his harangue, he has given his 
 audience a half-hour’s sermon without once 
 having mentioned his text ; and the good people 
 have proceeded in their devotions without fur- 
 ther singing or exhortation. For instance, the 
 leader, stopping perhaps in the middle of a stan- 
 za, would address the people by saying, ‘‘ My 
 brethren, before we sing the following lines, I 
 feel myself inclined to call your attention to their 
 serious import.’* He would then proceed to such 
 a length in what he thought exposition, as to- 
 tally to forget his original subject, and lose 
 himself in wildness and vociferation, till, ex^ 
 
168 
 
 PRAYER'MEETIXGS. 
 
 hausted with fatigue, he would call upou 
 some Brother, or Sister, to go to prayer; — - 
 which call, with several intervals of sinp'ino' on 
 their knees, is obeyed by as many as feel them^ 
 selves impelled fo exhibit their powers of utter- 
 ance by peremptory demands, or coaxing peti- 
 tions, > that the great Father of Heaven would 
 send down his blessing, or himself make one in 
 their assembly. A 'shaking among the dry 
 hones takes place — the shout of a king is heard 
 in the camp ; and as strangers are permitted to 
 be present at these assemblies, it often happens 
 that some are so alarmed at the denunciations, 
 or roused by the fervour, of the brethren, that 
 they also begin to cry aloud for mercy ; and 
 afterwards become Methodists themselves. 
 
 These meetings, when soberly conducted, 
 ought to be concluded in the space of an hour ; 
 but when conducted in the manner I have just 
 described, the continuance is wholly ad libitum, 
 at the will of the.leader ; who having opened the 
 meeting, closes it by the usual benediction ; and 
 rises to give notice of the next. 
 
 The representation I have just given you of 
 a prayer- meeting, will not, in all its circum- 
 stances, apply to every one of that kind held by 
 the Methodists. There are numerous honour- 
 able exceptions to tlie wildness I have been de- 
 scribing : and a prayer-meeting;, when conduct- 
 ill a proper manner, with decency and in or-^ 
 
PRAYER- MEETINGS. 
 
 109 
 
 der, is a very rational mode of promoting the 
 cause of true religion, and genuine devotion. I 
 am well aware, that it is by no means the wish 
 of several of the preacliers, that any of their 
 meetings should be conducted in a manner un- 
 becoming the Christian profession and charac- 
 ter; but I speak of facts; and it is incumbent 
 upon me to represent the Methodists as tliey 
 really are, and not as their more sober and ra- 
 tional friends could wish them to be. I have 
 not yet attended one of these meetings in toven ; 
 but in the north of England, where the Melliod- 
 ists are most numerous, the picture I have just 
 sketched is, as every Metliodist, were he so in- 
 clined, could safely testify, strictly faithful and 
 exact in all its parts ; — and that not only among 
 what are called Revivalists, but among the re- 
 gular members of the society. 
 
 ' By these prayer-meetings two important ends 
 are obtained — that of strengthening tlie saints, 
 and making of converts. The first of tliese ob- 
 jects is supposed' to be promoted by the oppor- 
 tunities the prayer-meetings give to the cxhoj't- 
 ers of improving their gjfts, and thereby fitting 
 them to become local preachers, sliould tlie Lord 
 ill his Wisdom see good to give any of ihiern a call 
 to that high office. It is supposed also, tliat tb.e 
 members at large, l)y thus vraiting upon tl-e 
 Lord, renew tlieir strength ; when they mount 
 p on the wings of eagles ; when they run and 
 
370 
 
 SPECIMENS, 
 
 are not weary ; walk and do not faint. The se- 
 cond object, equally important with the first, 
 is gained in a very great degree by the zeal 
 they manifest, and the attention which they 
 at those times pay to every stranger pre- 
 sent. 
 
 The hymns selected for the purpose of being 
 used, more especially at the commencement of 
 the meeting, have a wonderful effect on the 
 feelings and passions of the audience. These 
 hymns are to be found in Parts the First and 
 Second of the Hymn-book in use among the 
 Methodists ; and are entitled, Hymns exhort- 
 ing and beseeching sinners to return to God — 
 Describing the pleasantness of Religion — The 
 Goodness of God — Death — Judgment — Heaven 
 — Hell — Praying for a Blessing — And Hymn§ 
 describing formal and inward Religion,” 
 
 I will here present you with a few specimens 
 of methodistical melody at a prayer-meeting, 
 and leave you to judge what effect it is likely 
 to have upon the minds of the people. The 
 first is a hymn of exhortation, or a kind of me- 
 trical invitation to all sinners. 
 
 “ Sinners, obey the gospel-word ! 
 
 Haste to the supper of my Lord : 
 
 Be wise to know your gracious clay ] 
 
 All things arc ready : come away \ 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 Ready the father is to own. 
 
 And kiss his late-returning son : 
 
 Ready your loving Saviour stands, 
 
 ^nd spreads for you his bleeding hands. 
 
 Pteady the Spirit of his love, 
 
 Just now the stony to remove : 
 
 T’ apply, and witness with the blood. 
 
 And wash and seal the sons of God. 
 
 Ready for you the angels wait. 
 
 To triumph in your blest estate : 
 
 Tuning their harps, they long to praise 
 The wonders of redeeming grace. 
 
 The Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 
 Js ready with their shining host ; 
 
 All heaven is ready to resound, 
 
 ^ The dead’s alive ! The lost is found T 
 
 Come, then, ye sinners, to your Lord^ 
 
 In Christ to paradise restor’d; 
 
 His proffer’d benefits embrace, 
 
 The plenitude of gospel -grace. 
 
 A pardon wrkten with his blood. 
 
 The favour and the peace of G_od ; 
 
 The seeing eye, the feeling sense, 
 
 ITie mystic joys of penitence : 
 
 The godly fear, the pleasing smart. 
 
 The meltings of a broken heart; 
 
 The tears that tell your sins forgiv’n. 
 
 The sighs that waft your souls to hcav’p 
 
SPECIMENS. ■ 
 
 The guiltless shame, the sweet distress^ 
 The unutterable tenderness ; 
 
 The genuine meek humility ; 
 
 The wonder, ‘ Why such love to me F 
 
 Th’ o’erwhelming powT of saving grace, 
 The sight that veils the seraph’s face ; 
 The speechless awe that dares not move,, 
 And all the silent hcav’n of love !” 
 
 The excellent and well-known stanzas of Dn 
 Watts, beginning, “ Come, ye that love the 
 Lord,” are used as describing the pleasantness 
 of religion. The following lines are also used 
 for the same purpose : 
 
 Happy soul, that, free from harms, 
 
 Hests within the Shepherd’s arms 1 
 Who his quiet shall molest ? 
 
 Who shall violate his rest ? 
 
 Jesus doth his spirit bear, 
 
 Jesus takes his every care ; - ' 
 
 He who found the wand’ring sheep, 
 
 Jesus still delights to keep.” 
 
 The following also are supposed to be of a 
 piilar nature : 
 
 “ Weary sonls, that wander wide 
 From the central point of bliss. 
 
 Turn to Jesus cmcify’d 
 
 Fly to those dear wounds of his : 
 
^S?EGIMEN'S. 17*^ 
 
 Sink into the purple flood ; 
 
 Rise to all the life of God 
 
 The fallowing stanzas are said to describe the 
 goodness of God : 
 
 “ Behold the Saviour of mankind 
 Nail’d to the shameful tree ; 
 
 How vast the love that him inclin’d 
 To bleed and die for me ! 
 
 Hark how he groans ! while nature shakes. 
 
 And earth’s strong pillars bend ! 
 
 The temple’s veil in sunder breaks ; 
 
 The solid marbles rend. 
 
 ^Tis done ! the precious ransom’s paidy 
 ‘ Receive my soul !’ he cries. 
 
 See where he bows his sacred head ! 
 
 He bows his head and dies ! 
 
 But soon he’ll break death’s envious chains 
 And in full glory shine : 
 
 O ! Lamb of God 1 was ever pain^, 
 
 Was ever love like thine 1” 
 
 I thirst, thou wounded Lamb of God, 
 
 To wash me in thy cleansing blood ; 
 
 To dwell within thy wounds : then pain 
 Is sweet, and life or death is gain.” 
 
 O love divine ! what hast thou done ! 
 
 The immortal God hath died for me 1 
 The Father’s co-eternal Son 
 Bore all my sins upon the tree : 
 
174 : 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 The immortal God for me hath died | 
 My Lord, my Love, is crucified P’ 
 
 Come see, ye worms, your Maker die 
 
 As a specimen of the sublime and terrible^ 
 please to take the following : 
 
 Describing Hell.’’ 
 
 “ Terrible thought ! Shall I alone. 
 
 Who may be sav’d, shall I, 
 
 Of all, alas ! whom I have known. 
 
 Through sin for ever die ? 
 
 While all my old companions dear,- 
 With whom I once did live, 
 
 Joyful at God’s right-hand appear,, 
 
 A blessing to receive ! 
 
 Shall I, amidst a ghastly band, 
 
 Dragg’d to the judgment-seat, 
 
 Far on the left with honor stand,' 
 
 My fearful doom to meet ? 
 
 While they enjoy his heavenly love, 
 
 Must 1 in torments dwell ? 
 
 And howl (while they sing hymns above), 
 
 And blow the flames of hell 
 
 One of the hymns under tL\e head, Describ- 
 ing Death,'" is very excellent in its kind. It was 
 Wi-itteu by Mr, Samuel Wesley, brotnci' to the two 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 175 
 
 Methodists, and has been taken from a quarto 
 volume of poems, written by that gentleman. I 
 close my extracts with this hymn, because I 
 should like to leave a more favourable impression 
 on your mind than 1 fear the foregoing are likely 
 to produce : 
 
 A HYMN. 
 
 ‘‘ The morning flow’rs display their sweets^ 
 And gay their silken leaves unfold. 
 
 As careless of the noon-tide heats, 
 
 And fearless of the evening cold. 
 
 Nipt by the wind^s untimely blast, 
 
 Parch'd by the sun's director ray, 
 
 The momentary glories waste, 
 
 The short-liv’d beauties die away. 
 
 So blooms the human face divine, 
 
 When youth its pride of beauty shews^: 
 Jairer than spring the colours shine. 
 
 And sweeter than the^irgin*rose. 
 
 Or worn by slowly-rolling years, 
 
 Or broke by sickness in a day^ 
 
 The fading glory disappears. 
 
 The short-liv'd beauties die away.- 
 
 Yet thou, new rising from the tomb. 
 
 With lustre brighter far shall shine ;• 
 Revive with ever-during bloom, 
 
 Safe from diseases and decline. 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 1 76' 
 
 Let sickness blast, let death devour^ 
 
 If Heav’n must rccompence our pains : 
 
 Perish the grass, and fade the flow’r. 
 
 If firm the word of God remains.” 
 
 Thus, Madani, have I given you a true de’» 
 scription of a prayer-meeting, and of some o’f 
 the hymns used on those occasions. 
 
 All the prayer-leaders are met once every 
 quarter, at least in those parts of the country 
 where I have resided, by the preacher; when in- 
 quiries are made as to their character and sue- 
 cess. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
177 
 
 LETTER XIX. 
 
 Of Class- Meetings — Specimem, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 In this letter, I purpose giving you some inform* 
 ation concerning the origin and nature of what 
 are called Class-meetings. 
 
 This is such a very important part of the eco- 
 nomy of Methodism, that I must give you a 
 circumstantial account of its origin, which I 
 will do in Mr. Wesley^s own words. 
 
 ‘‘ As much,” says he, as we endeavoured to 
 watch over each other, we soon found that 
 some did not live the gospel* I do not know 
 that any hypocrites were crept in ; for indeed 
 there was no temptation. But several grew cold, 
 and gave way to the sins which had long easily 
 beset them. We quickly perceived there were 
 many ill consequences of suffering these to re- 
 
17'S 
 
 CLASS-MEETING'S. 
 
 main among us. It was dangerous to others ; 
 inasmuch as aU sin is of an infectious nature. It 
 brought such a scandal on their brethren, as ex- 
 posed them to what was not properly the re- 
 proach of Christ. It laid a stumbling-block in 
 the way of others, and caused the truth to be 
 evil spoken of. 
 
 We groaned undei' these inconveniences 
 long, before a remedy could be found. At 
 length, while we were thinking of quite another 
 thing, we struck upon a method, for which we 
 have cause to bless God ever since. I was talk- 
 ing with several of the society in Bristol, con- 
 cerning the means of paying the debts there, 
 (which had been incurred by building, &c.) 
 wheii one stood up and said, ‘ Let every mem- 
 ber of the society give a penny a week till all 
 are paid.’ Another answered, ‘ But many of 
 them are poor, and cannot afford to do it.’ — 
 ‘Then, said he, put eleven of the poorest with 
 me; and if they can give any thing, well. I 
 will call on them weekly, and if they can giv’^e 
 nothing, I will give for them as well as for my- 
 self And each of you call on eleven of your 
 neighbours Weekly : receive what they give, and 
 make up what is wanting.’ It was done. In a 
 while some of these informed me, ‘ they found 
 such and such a one did not live as he ought/ 
 
 . It struck me immediately, ‘ This is the thing; 
 the very thing we have wanted so long.’ I 
 
CLASS-MEETINGS. 
 
 179 
 
 called together all the leaders of the classes, (so 
 we used to term them and their companies) and 
 desired, that each would make a particular in- 
 quiry into the behaviour of those whom he saw 
 weekly : they did so. Many disorderly walkers 
 were detected. Some turned from the evil of 
 their ways. Some were put away from us. Many 
 saw it with fear, and rejoiced unto God with re- 
 verence. 
 
 As soon as possible the same method was 
 used in London and all otlier places. Evil men 
 were detected and reproved. They were borne 
 with for a season. If they forsook their sins, we 
 received them gladly : if they obstinately per- 
 sisted therein, it was openly declared, that they 
 were not of us. The rest mourned and prayed 
 for them, and yet rejoiced, that, as far as in 
 us lay, the scandal was rolled away from the so- 
 ciety.- 
 
 It is the business of a leader, 
 
 I. To see each person in his class, once a week 
 at the least : in order 
 
 To inquire how their souls prosper ; 
 
 To advise, reprove, comfort, or exhort, as 
 occasion may require ; 
 
 “ To receive what they are willing to give, 
 towards the relief of the poor. 
 
 II. To meet the minister and the stewards of 
 the society, in order 
 
 To inform the minister of any that are sick, 
 
 N 2 
 
180 
 
 CLASS’-MEETINGS. 
 
 or of any that are disorderly, and will not be 
 reproved ; 
 
 To pay to the stewards what they have re- 
 ceived of their several classes in the week pre- 
 ceding. 
 
 ‘‘At first they visited each person at his own 
 house : but this was soon found not so expe-^ 
 dient And that on many accounts. 1. It took 
 up more time than most of the leaders had to 
 spare. 2. Many persons lived with masters, 
 mistresses, or relations, who would not suffer 
 them to be thus visited. 3. At the houses of 
 those who are not so averse, they often had no 
 opportunity of speaking to them but in com- 
 pany. And this did not at all answer the end 
 proposed, of exhorting, comforting, or reprov- 
 ing. 4. It frequently happened that one affirm- 
 ed what another denied. And this could not be 
 cleared, without seeing them together. 5. Little 
 misunderstandings and quarrels of various kinds, 
 frequently arose among relations or neighbours ; 
 effectually to remove which, it was needful to 
 see them all face to face>i Upon all these consi- 
 derations, it was agreed, that those of each class 
 should meet all together. 'And by this means, a 
 more full inquiry was made into the behaviour 
 of every person. Those who could not be vi- 
 sited at home, or no otherwise than in com- 
 pany, had the same advantage with others. Ad- 
 vice or reproof was given as need required; 
 
CIASS-MEETINGS. 
 
 181 
 
 quarrels made up, misunderstandings removed. 
 And after an hour or two sp^nt in this labour 
 of love, they concluded with prayer and thanks- 
 giving.” 
 
 This, Madam, is Mr. Wesley’s account of 
 the origin of class-meetings at Bristol; whicli 
 branch of Methodism being attended with the 
 most beneficial effects, though instituted at 
 first only to answer a temporary purpose, soon 
 became common throughout the whole con- 
 nexion ; and is at this time the chief support of 
 tlie methodistical hierarchy. I will, therefore, 
 be still more minute in detailing to you the na- 
 ture and objects of a class-meeting. 
 
 A clasS' meeting, at present, consists of 
 an indefinite number of persons, generally 
 from twelve to twenty; though sometimes 
 fewer even than twelve. This meeting is de^ 
 signed for the spiritual advantage of members 
 only, or of those that are desirous of becoming 
 such. It is composed either of persons of both 
 sexes, of men only, or of the fair sex. In the 
 two first cases, the leader is always a brother; 
 in the last case, the leader is chosen out of the 
 sisterhood. These meetings are generally holden 
 at private houses, and commence at eight in the 
 evening. The leader having opened the service 
 by singing and prayer, all the members sit down, 
 and be then relates to them his own experience 
 during the preceding week. His joys, and his 
 
' 18 ^ 
 
 CIASS-MEETI^J-GS. 
 
 sorrows; his hopes and his fears; his conflicts 
 with the Atorld, the flesh, and the devil; his 
 fightings without and his fears within ; his dread 
 of hell, or his hope of heaven ; his pious long- 
 ings and secret prayers for the prosperity of the 
 church at large, and for those his brothers and 
 sisters in class in particular. This experience is 
 generally concluded with some such language 
 as the following : — After all, my dear brethren, 
 I still find a determination in my own soul to 
 press forward for the mark of the prize of my 
 high calling of God in Christ Jesus. He is 
 still precious. His word is as ointment poured 
 forth. After all my short-comings — my doubts 
 and anxieties — my wanderings, weakness, and 
 weariness, his spirit still whispers to my heart 
 — ‘ Thou art black but comely. Open thy 
 mouth wide and I will fill it. Make haste, my 
 beloved, and be thou like to a roe, or to a young- 
 hart, upon the mountains of spices !’ so I still 
 inay say to my sweet Jesus— 
 
 ^ I hold thee with a, trembling hand, 
 
 And will not let thee go.’' 
 
 After some such harangue as this, the leader 
 proceeds to inquire into file state of every 
 soul present; saying, Well sister, or well bro- 
 ther, how do you find the state o? your soul this 
 evening ?” The member then proceeds, withouf 
 
CLASS-MEETINGS. 
 
 m 
 
 risings to unbosom his or her mind to the leader ; 
 not, as has often been said, by particular con- 
 fession, but by a general recapitulation of what 
 has passed in the mind during the week. Such 
 advice, correction, reproof, and consolation, is 
 then given, as the state of the case may require ; 
 so the leader passes on to the next, and the next, 
 until every one has received a porti'on of irieat 
 in due season. 
 
 ' After this, the leader, or some other on whom 
 he may be pleased to call gives out a stanza or 
 two of a hymn, which being sung, standing, 
 they proceed with prayer; when such, thanks- 
 givings, deprecations, or petitions, are poured 
 forth as the different cxperkncts may have sug- 
 gested. 
 
 Any one is at liberty to exercise the gift of 
 prayer, and no strangers being present, a freer 
 vent is given to the effusions of the mind and 
 the soft meltings of the soul, than is usual at a 
 public prayer-meeting. Those who are still un- 
 converted, or who labour in the pangs of the 
 new birth, lay their unhappy case before God ; 
 and in the most pressing manner, beseech the 
 merciful Jehovah then to pity them — at last to 
 lend a willing ear to their complaints — to how 
 the heavens of his love and come down — to open 
 the bowels of divine compassion towards them 
 ^to look upon the bleeding wounds of his suf- 
 
ISi ' GLASS-MEETINGS. 
 
 fering Son ; and to pardon all their sins upon 
 the consideration of his merits. 
 
 Those who are groaning for full redemption — * 
 who seek to have their robes washed and made 
 white in the blood of the Lamb — who will not 
 be comforted until the last remains of sin are 
 removed from their hearts, and God declares 
 that they are all fair, that their is no spot in 
 them,” are more than commonly solicitous that 
 the Holy Ghost would come and dwell in their 
 souls without a rival; and that the enemies 
 they had seen that day they should see no more 
 for ever. 
 
 For the careless, the formal, and the luke- 
 warm, the most earnest prayers are put up, lest 
 the Almighty, in disgust, should “ spue them 
 out of his mouth.” In short. Madam, every 
 case is fully canvassed, and the great Physician 
 of souls is applied to for 
 
 A sovereign balm for every wound 
 A salve for every sore. 
 
 As singing forms a considerable portion of 
 the service at a class-meeting, I must give you 
 one or two specimens of their hymns. 
 
SPECIMENS, 
 
 IBS 
 
 Praying for Repentance, 
 
 Jesu! my heart’s desire obtain! 
 My earnest suit present and gain ; 
 
 My fulness of corruption show, 
 
 The knowledge of myself bestow ; 
 
 A deeper displacence at sin, 
 
 A sharper sense of hell within l 
 A stronger struggling to set free ! 
 
 A keener appetite for Thee !” 
 
 ** Jesus, on me bestow, 
 
 The penitent desire ; 
 
 With true sincerity of woe 
 My aching breast inspire; 
 
 With softening pity look. 
 
 And melt my hardness down. 
 
 Strike, with thy love’s resistless stroke, 
 And break this heart of stone !” 
 
 A Mourner convinced of Sin, 
 
 I am all unclean, unclean, 
 
 Thy purity I want ; 
 
 My whole heart is sick of sin, 
 
 And my whole head is faint ! 
 
 Full of putrifying sores. 
 
 Of bruises, and of wounds, my soul 
 Looks to Jesus help implores, 
 
 And gasps to be made whole r 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 Poor, alas ! thou know'st I am^ 
 
 And would be poorer still, 
 
 See ray nakedness and shame, 
 
 And all ray vileness feel : 
 
 No good thing in me resides, 
 
 My soul is all an aching void. 
 
 Till thy spirit here abides. 
 
 And I am fill’d with God.” 
 
 Friend of sinners ! in thy hearty 
 Tell me, doth there not remain 
 One unarm’d and tender part, 
 
 Capable of human pain ? 
 
 Lord, I wait for the reply ; 
 
 Groan an answer from within. 
 
 Tell me, Comforter, that I, 
 
 I shall be redeem’d from sin,” 
 
 Look not on me, a beast, a fiend, 
 
 All wrath, all passion, and all pride; 
 But see thyself the sinner’s friend, 
 
 The son of man ; the ernoified ; 
 
 The God, that left his thironc above, 
 
 The bleeding Prince of peace and love.” 
 
 A Mourner Irouglit to the Birth, 
 
 Til weary thee with my complaints : 
 Here at thy feet for ever lie. 
 
 With longing, sick ; with groaning, faint r. 
 O give me love or else i die 
 
SPECIMEXS. 
 
 187 
 
 Rejoicwg. 
 
 My God, I am tliine ! What a comfort divine ! 
 
 What a blessing to know that my Jesus is mine ! 
 
 In the heavenly Lamb, thrice happy I am ; 
 
 And my heart it doth dance at the sound of his namel 
 
 True pleasures abound in the rapturous sound ; 
 
 And whoever hath found it hath paradise found ; 
 
 My Jesus to know, and feel his blood how, 
 
 Mis life everlasting, ’lis heaven below ! 
 
 Yet onward I haste to the heavenly feast ; 
 
 That, that is the fulness : but this is the taste : 
 
 And this I shall prove, till with joy I remove 
 To the heaven of heavens in Jesus’s love !’' 
 
 Ah ! why did I so late thee know, 
 
 Thee, lovelier than the sons of men ? 
 
 Ah ! why did I no sooner go 
 To thee the only ease in pain ? 
 
 Asharakl I sigh, and inly mourn, 
 
 That I so late to thee did turn 
 
 gl Believer groaning for full Redemption. 
 
 Lo ! on dangers, deaths, and snares, 
 
 I every moment tread ; 
 
 Hell without a veil appears, 
 
 And names around my head. 
 
188 
 
 SPECIMENS; 
 
 Sin Increases more and morCy 
 Sin in all its strength returns 5 
 Seven times hotter than before 
 The fiery furnace burns. 
 
 Sin in me, the inbred foe, 
 
 A while subsists in chains ; 
 
 But thou all thy power shalt show^ 
 
 And slay its last remains ; 
 
 Thou hast conquer’d my desire. 
 
 Thou shalt quench it with thy bloody, 
 Fill me with a purer fire, 
 
 And make me all like God.’^ 
 
 O, Love ! I languish at thy stay ! 
 
 I pine for thee with lingering smart I 
 Weary and faint through long delay : 
 
 When wilt thou come into my heart F 
 From sin and sorrow set me free. 
 
 And swallow up my soul in Thee !” 
 
 Such, Madam, are the hymns which are often 
 sung on these occasions. They are poured 
 forth in the most soft, soothing, languishing, 
 and melting strains that music is capable of; 
 and music, you know, has charms to soothe a 
 savage breast. 
 
 The leader having closed the meeting, in the 
 usual manner, by benediction, proceeds to call 
 over the names of every member present; and 
 to collect what they are disposed to give to- 
 Avards the support of the work of God The 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 189 
 
 usual sum is one penny each ; but some, who 
 can afford it, pay two-pence, three-pence, or 
 even six-pence, as they may be able, or willing. 
 These several sums are entered on the class- 
 paper : a sheet being provided for that purpose, 
 ruled and divided into columns and squares for 
 every separate account ; the leader himself al- 
 ways contributing his proper share. 
 
 lam, See, 
 
190 
 
 LETTER XX. 
 
 Of Band-meetings — Strictures hy the Annual 
 Reviewers — Defended by the Methodists. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I HAVE already given- you the General Direc^- 
 tions to all the bands. I now proceed to lay 
 before you the Particular Rules of the band so- 
 cieties, and to give you some account of the dif- 
 ferent kinds of band-meetings. 
 
 These rules were drawn up by Mr. Wesle}^ on 
 December 25, 1738, and with few, if any, altera- 
 tions, are still in force among the Methodists. 
 
 The design of our meeting, is to obey that 
 command of God — ‘ Gonfess your faults one to 
 another, and p,-ray one for another, that you may 
 be liealed.' To;this cud, we intend, 
 
 R To meet once a week, at the least. 
 
BAND^MEETINGS, 191- 
 
 To come punctually at the hour appoint- 
 ed, without some extraordinary reason. 
 
 3. To begin (those of us who are present) 
 exactly at the hour, with singing or prayer. 
 
 4. To speak each of us in order, freely and 
 plainly, the true state of our souls, with the 
 faults we have committed, in thought, word, or 
 deed, and the temptations we have felt since our 
 last meeting. 
 
 5. To end every meeting with prayer, suited 
 to the state of each person present. 
 
 ‘‘ 6. To desire some person among us to speak 
 his own state first, and then to ask the rest in 
 order, as many and as searching questions as 
 may be, concerning their state, sins, and temp- 
 tations. 
 
 Some of the questions proposed to every 
 one before he is admitted among us, may be to 
 - this effect — 
 
 1. Have you the forgiveness of your sins? 
 
 2. Have you peace with God, through our 
 Lord Jesus Christ P 
 
 3. Have you the witness of God’s Spirit with 
 your spirit, that you are a child of God P 
 
 ‘‘4. Is the love of God shed abroad in your 
 heart? 
 
 5. Has no sin, inward or outward, dominion 
 over you. 
 
 6 . Do you desire to be told of your faults? 
 
195 
 
 BANB^MEKTIICGS, 
 
 7. Do you desire to be told of all yom faults, 
 and that plain and home ? 
 
 ‘‘ 8. Do you desire that every one of us should 
 tell you, from time to time, whatsoever is in his 
 heart concerning you? 
 
 9. Consider ! Do you desire we should tell 
 you whatsoever we think, whatsoever we fear, 
 whatsoever we hear, concerning you? 
 
 10. Do you desire, that in doing this> we 
 should come as close as possible, that we should 
 cut to the quick, and . search your heart to the 
 bottom? 
 
 n. Is it your desire and design, to be on 
 this and all other occasions, entirely open, so as 
 to speak every thing that is in your heart, 
 without exception, without disguise, and with- 
 out reserve? 
 
 “ Any of the preceding questions may be 
 asked as often as occasion offers : the four fol- 
 lowing at every meeting : 
 
 What known sins have you committed 
 since our last meeting? 
 
 “ 2. What temptations have you met with ? 
 
 “ 3. How was you delivered ? 
 
 “ 4. What have you thought, said, or done, 
 of which you doubt whether it be a sin or 
 not?” 
 
 These, Madam,, are the rules which govern the 
 private bands, A band-meeting is composed of 
 
BAND-MEETINGS. 
 
 193 
 
 about four or five persons. The single men 
 meet by themselves ; the young, or unmarried 
 sisters, by themselves; and the married mem- 
 bers of both sexes in like manner. The time of 
 meeting is as may best suit the convenience of 
 the members. One person being appointed 
 leader opens the meeting, as usual, by singing 
 and prayer. He then proceeds, according to 
 the rules I have just tfanscribed for your inform- 
 ation. As less reserve is used in the band, 
 than in any other meeting ; and as the members 
 are generally those who have either attained, or 
 are earnestly seeking, a state of perfection or 
 complete sanctification, the hymns and prayers 
 are of as melting and warming a nature as any 
 they can adopt ; and when the regular hymns 
 fail of expressing the full sentiments of their en- 
 larged and swelling souls, the deficiency is often 
 , made up by several auxiliary ones, composed by 
 different persons, which have found their way 
 into the hands of the Methodists, in the form 
 of pamphlets, open sheets, or MS. copies. Some 
 of these poetical effusions are the most luscious 
 and enthusiastic productions you can possibly 
 conceive ; but as they are not regularly appoint- 
 ed by conference, nor indeed encouraged by the 
 sober and thinking part of the society, I spare 
 your modesty, by not transicribing any of them 
 into this letter. 
 
194 
 
 BAND-M'EETTNGS. 
 
 In perusing the rules, you have perceived that 
 the fullest and most particular confession of 
 every sin, in thought, word, or action, that any 
 in the band may have committed, is insisted 
 upon. That some inconveniences should follow 
 from this auricular confession, you will readily 
 perceive. I will not here, however, retail the 
 numerous anecdotes which have had their foun- 
 dation in the subjects often discussed ata band- 
 meeting; because I wish to bring no disgrace 
 on an institution which may be productive of 
 good, and which so many of my fellow- 
 Christians regard with such profound and reli- 
 gious veneration^ I am persuaded that the tales 
 which the late Chiswell-street bookseller has 
 heaped together, about men dressing themselves 
 in women’s apparel, and thereby taking advan- 
 tage of the innocence or the weakness of several 
 band-sisters, are wholly without foundation; 
 and I should have been disposed to have thought 
 more favourably of that gentleman’s Confessions, 
 had he unequivocally denied many of the scan- 
 dalous and indecent stories which, in his Me- 
 moirs, he thought proper to relate to the preju- 
 dice of the Methodists. 
 
 That auricular confession, in the full and pro- 
 per sense of the word, is practised at a band- 
 meeting, is certain ; but that the evils which 
 have resulted from a like practice in the church 
 
I 
 
 BAND-MEETINGS. 195 
 
 of Rome have followed these methodistical 
 confessions, is, I think, very doubtful. 
 
 A writer in the second volume of the Annual 
 RevieW;, has the following remarks on these 
 band-confessions : — Is it possible, that they 
 who devised this confession should be ignorant 
 of its consequences ? Every incipient feeling, 
 every lighter thought that would have passed 
 over the maiden’s mind, and been forgotten, is 
 to be remarked and remembered, that it may 
 be renewed and ri vetted, and burnt in to the 
 heart by the pain and shame of confession 1 — of 
 confession, not to one, whom for his age and 
 character, she has ever from her infancy been 
 taught to regard with fatherly, or more than 
 fatherly reverence, and who, by the holiest oaths 
 and the severest penalties, is bound to inviol- 
 able secrecy — but to companions of her own 
 sex and age, who will make it their tea-table 
 talk ; and each of whom is, by a similar con- 
 fession, to renew and sear her shame 1 Either 
 from natural and sacred modesty, the thought 
 will be concealed, and made more intense by 
 the imagined sinfulness of that concealment; 
 or it will be confessed, and that action will 
 strengtl>en the idea, and the idea will recur 
 more frequently, because it is thus strengthened; 
 and thus confession will be again and again re- 
 quired, till a sinful pleasure be at length ex- 
 tracted from confession itself, the atonement 
 
 o 2 
 
196 
 
 BANB-MEETIKes. 
 
 will partake of the nature of the ein^ and all 
 modesty and all shame be utterly destroyed.” 
 
 These observations. Madam, arc upon the 
 whole strictly just and proper : they manifest a 
 considerable knowledge of the human hearty 
 but they are made in a wrong place. It is the 
 office of a reviewer to state, not to controvert, 
 the opinions of an author, or the practices of a 
 sect. 
 
 It is but just I should here make you ac- 
 quainted with the manner in which the above 
 objections to the band-confession is vindicated 
 by the Methodists^i This vindication made its 
 appearance in the Methodist Magazine during 
 the last year, under the superscription “ Ve- 
 ra x.” 
 
 The reviewer having started some objections 
 to the separation of the sexes in the Methodist 
 chapels, Verax asks, “ What mischief is there 
 in this ?” He then observes, “ This introduces 
 a subject which the wicked imagination of these 
 reviewers has worked up to a delicious morsel. 
 ‘ In these societies each is to confess to all ; to 
 co?ifess in the strict and popish sense of the 
 term.’ It may not be improper to observe here, 
 that, in what are called the ^^?«d-meetings of the 
 Methodists, three or four persons, always of the 
 same sex, agree to converse and pray with each 
 other, or, according to St. James’s direction, to 
 confess their faults one to another, as far as they 
 
BAND-MEETINGS. 
 
 197 
 
 may think it useful to do so, and to pray one 
 for another, in order that, by mutual advice and - 
 prayer, they may be the helpers of each other’s 
 faith and love in Christ Jesus. But, notwith- 
 standing these reviewers know that the men 
 and the women meet separately, and have just 
 been exclaiming against the Methodists for se- 
 parating the sexes, their depraved mind imme- 
 diately brings together ‘ the father confessor (a 
 Methodist preacher) and a single woman.’ — 
 
 ‘ We must touch lightly,’ say they, ‘ on this 
 abominable subject.’ Then they begin to sug- 
 gest what must pass in ^ the maiden’s mind,’ 
 until ‘ all modesty and all shame be utterly de- 
 stroyed.’ Now this is all pure fiction of their 
 own invention, as ten thousands of persons can 
 testify, who have long been of the Methodist 
 societies, and as every honest and decent man 
 in the nation will readily believe.” 
 
 How far Verax has been successful in vindi- 
 cating the practice of the Methodists in this 
 particular, it is not for me to determine. Be 
 this, however, as it may, the Annual Reviewer 
 has certainly fallen into a most glaring error, 
 by supposing that confession is ever made by 
 any woman in the Methodist society to any 
 preacher whatsoever. I would hope, also, that no 
 band sister or brother is ever so lost to all sense 
 of shame and honesty, as to repeat abroad what 
 
198 
 
 BAND-MEETINGS. 
 
 passes in confidence at a private band- meeting. 
 For iny own part, I never knew an instance of 
 the kind during my connexion with the Me- 
 thodists, 
 
 Mr. Wesley defends the band-confessions in 
 the following manner : — 
 
 An objection boldly and frequently urged, 
 is, that ‘ all these bands are mere Popery.’ 1 
 hope I need not pass a harder censure on those 
 (most of them at least) who affirm this, than 
 that they talk of they know not what ; that they 
 betray in themselves the most gross and shame- 
 ful ignorance. Do not they yet know, that the 
 only popish confession is, the confession made 
 by a single person to a priest? (And this itself 
 is in nowise condemned by our church ; nay, 
 she recommends it in some cases). Whereas, 
 that which we practise, is the confession of se- 
 veral persons conjointly, not to a priest, but to 
 each other. Consequently, it has no analogy at 
 all to popish confession. But the truth is, this 
 is a stale objection, which many people make 
 against any thing they do not like : it is all 
 popery out of hand.” 
 
 You will understand. Madam, it is not posi- 
 tively insisted upon, though earnestly requested, 
 that all the members of the Methodist con- 
 nexion should belong to some band : a regular 
 attendance on public worship and class, being 
 
BAND-MEETINGS. 199 
 
 all that is required of this nature to entitle a per- 
 son to full membership. 
 
 At certain stated periods, all the bands as- 
 semble together in the chapel, where they are 
 met by the preacher, who relates his own expe- 
 rience, and hears the experience of any others 
 who may be disposed so to favour him. At 
 these public bands, no confession is required. 
 The meeting commences with singing, and is 
 carried on by atternate intervals of speaking, 
 singing, and prayer. No persons are admit- 
 ted to the public bands, but those who meet in 
 some one of the private bands, and can pro- 
 duce a proper certificate to that purpose. 
 
 There are also what are called select bands,— 
 These are, I believe, conducted in the same 
 manner as the public bands; but consist of 
 those members only who have attained to what 
 is called a state of perfection ; that is, those 
 who never ^ on any account,, or on any occasion, or 
 temptation whatsoever, commit the slightest sin, 
 in thought, word, or deed ! 
 
 You would suppose, Madam, that the num- 
 ber of these must be very small ; but, I assure 
 you, the select band is better attended than you 
 would imagine ! • As I had never the unspeak- 
 able happiness of having arrived at a proper de- 
 gree of perfecting grace, I never could be ad- 
 mitted into the sanctum sanctorum of a select 
 
200 
 
 BAND-MEETINGS, 
 
 band ; and cannot therefore inform you, from 
 personal observation, of all that passes on those 
 occasions. Nothing, however, I am confident, 
 that is in itself wrong, or unbecoming the cha- 
 racter of a Methodist, takes place in a select 
 bando 
 
 I am, 
 
201 
 
 LETTER XXL 
 
 Of Agopce^ or Lom-FeastsSpecimens, 
 
 DEAE MADAM, 
 
 I NOW proceed to give you some account of the 
 agap^, or love- feasts, of the Methodists. No 
 branch of the Wesleyan church-discipline has 
 been more mistaken, or more grossly misrepre- 
 sented, by persons ignorant of the subject, than 
 this. I remember, when I first attended one of 
 these meetings, I thought surely a new species 
 of beings had come among us, in the form of 
 men, to tell what was passing in the realms of 
 light, and in the regions of eternal darkness. 
 
 Mr. Wesley borrowed the practice of holding 
 love-feasts from the Moravian brethren. The 
 first he ever saw was in the year 1737, during his 
 residence in America, when he attended at one 
 among the Germans, He was so struck with tlie 
 
 4 
 
202 
 
 LOVE-FEASTS. 
 
 order and decency with which it was conducted, 
 that he afterwards introduced these agapae into 
 the economy of Methodism. 
 
 At first they were designed for the bands only. 
 Afterwards, the whole society were permitted to 
 partake with them. 
 
 The agapse, or love- feasts, or feasts of cha- 
 rity, were held among the primitive Christians, 
 during the three first centuries of Christianity. 
 St. Chrysostom derives the love-feasts from the 
 practice of the apostles ; and we know that St. 
 Jude speaks of wicked persons, who had crept 
 in among the Christians of his time, and were 
 spots in their feasts of charity. The first Chris- 
 tians had, for a short period, all things in com- 
 mon; but that equality of possession very soon 
 ceased, and it is probable that the agapae, or 
 love-feasts, were substituted in the place of it. 
 On certain days, after partaking of the Lord’s 
 supper, the primitive Christians met to eat and 
 drink together ; the rich bringing a sufficient 
 quantity of provisions for themselves and the 
 poor.” 
 
 Such is the account the Methodists give of 
 the ancient love-feasts. As I am not engaged 
 to oppose or defend this practice, 1 may be ex- 
 cused from entering further into the question. I 
 shall, therefore, proceed with my description of a 
 Methodist love- feast. 
 
LOVE- FEASTS. 
 
 203 
 
 These meetings are kept, in most places, once 
 every quarter; viz. the Sunday immediately 
 following what the Methodists call Quarter-day, 
 of which I shall give you some account by and 
 
 ty- . 
 
 After the regular public service is ended, and 
 the whole congregation is dismissed, when it 
 is intended that a love-feast should be kept, the 
 members return into the chapel ; having shewn 
 their certificates, or notes of admission, to some 
 persons, appointed for that purpose, who stand 
 at the door. 
 
 The preacher being still in the pulpit, opens 
 .the service by singing and prayer ; wliich be- 
 ing ended, every one sits down, while the stew- 
 ards hand to all present a little plain, or spiced, 
 bread and water. . It was originally the practice 
 literally to break bread with each other; but 
 much confusion and disturbance throughout the 
 whole assembly being thereby occasioned, that 
 practice is now prohibited by positive command 
 of conference. It would very often happen, 
 -that a person might have a particular attach- 
 ment to some brother or sister who might be> 
 seated several pews distant ; and when an at- 
 tempt was made to manifest this attachment by 
 breaking bread with the favourite, the noise and 
 trouble of scrambling over the backs of the 
 seats, or of pressing through the aisle, not only 
 retarded the more important business of the 
 
204 
 
 LOVE-FEASTS, 
 
 love-feast, but gave considerable offence to those 
 ■who had either more modesty or less violent 
 and impatient prepossessions. It was therefore 
 a prudent step to prohibit that species of break- 
 mg of bixad ; and I believe tliat disorderly prac^- 
 tice is now entirely laid aside. 
 
 After the ceremony of carnal feasting is ended, 
 another hymn is usually sung, during which 
 the stewards are handing the plate round, for 
 the purpose of collecting what every one is dis- 
 posed to give for the relief of the poor members. 
 
 I have known, that where the society's fi- 
 nances have been in a low state, the love- feast 
 money has been put into the general stock. 
 This, however, I believe, is not a very common 
 practice; and was not resorted to at all in the 
 days of primitive Methodism. 
 
 After this the preacher rises, and relates his 
 experience to the whole congregation. He usual- 
 ly begins, more especially if he is but lately 
 come among them, with the first drawings of the 
 Spirit on his mind. He tells how long, and some-' 
 times in what instances, he resisted those gra-^ 
 cious strivings. He relates any remarkable de- 
 liverances, and extraordinary interpositions of 
 Providence, which he may at any period of hia 
 life have experienced. He tells how his eyes 
 were first opened to the truth—who was the 
 happy instrument of his conviction — how, when, 
 arid where he found the pardon of his sins™ 
 
LOVE-FEASTS. 
 
 ^05 
 
 what have been his trials, backslidings, perse- 
 cutions, and comforts, since he first knew the 
 Lord — how his labours in the vineyard of Christ 
 have been crowned with success, or hindered by 
 opposition — and, lastly, what he then feels of a 
 spiritual nature going forward in his soul, with 
 his fixed resolution to spend and be spent in so 
 good a cause. 
 
 ‘‘ O ! that if with my latest breath 
 I may but gasp his name ! 
 
 Preach him to all, and cry in death, 
 
 Behold ! behold I the Lamb 
 
 While the preacher is thus engaged, sighs, 
 groans, devout aspirations, ;^nd even audible 
 ejaculations of prayer or praise,, are issuing from 
 the audience in every direction; who are of 
 course more or less impressed, as the experience 
 of the preacher may happen to be more or less 
 wonderful, uncommon, or striking. I have often 
 noticed, that some appropriate anecdote, or 
 smart saying, produces the most sensible and 
 visible effect. This effect, however, has not 
 been so permanent as when the preacher has re- 
 lated some of the deep things of God — ^^the secrets 
 of the Almighty. 
 
 The preacher, having concluded his harangue, 
 if no other person rises immediately, a stanza or 
 
205 
 
 LOVE-FEASTS. 
 
 two is sung, to inspire their minds with due fer- 
 vour and becoming confidence. 
 
 Come, Holy Ghost, our hearts inspire, 
 
 Let us thine influence prove, 
 
 Source of the old prophetic fire I 
 Fountain of life and love I 
 
 Expand thy wings, celestial Dove, 
 
 Brood o^er our nature’s night ; 
 
 On our disorder^ spirits move. 
 
 And let there now be light T 
 
 During the time of singing, the Methodists 
 are uniformly in a standing posture. They now 
 sit down ; and, after a few moments of ex- 
 pressive silence,"’ some one rises to tell what the 
 Lord has done for his soul. The same routine 
 of striving, resistance, yielding, conviction, con- 
 version, trials, temptations, present feelings, and 
 future resolutions, is pursued ; varying only in 
 those circumstances whieh the accidental dif- 
 ferences of condition in life may have occa- 
 sioned. 
 
 During this meeting, which usually lasts 
 about : two hours, numerous experiences are re- 
 lated, both by men and women, 
 
 I have often been exceedingly pained, on ob- 
 serving the resisting bashfulncss, and the evi- 
 dent signs of inward agitation, which some of 
 
LOVE-FEASTS. 
 
 207 
 
 the younger part of the females have betrayed, 
 just before they have risen to speak. It is 
 thought by many well-meaning Methodists, 
 that not to tell their experiences on these occa- 
 sions, is to quench the Spirit of God in their 
 hearts, if it be not even a tacit denial of Christ 
 himself. This opinion, I believe, uniformly ob- 
 tains where the modest or the cowardly member 
 has had some extraordinary work of grace on 
 the heart — where God has been deepening his 
 work — making bare his holy arm in the soul, 
 and putting to flight the inward armies of the 
 aliens. On these occasions, to feel backward to 
 speak for God, is to listen to the suggestions of 
 the devil ; who will always strive to prevent his 
 enemies from telling of any of his temptations, 
 or of any battles he may have lost, in fighting 
 against the good Spirit of Truth in the heart. 
 Thus, when these convictions happen to take 
 ■place in a modest or a fearful mind, the struggle 
 between a sense of duty, and the force of temp- 
 tation, inclination, or habit, is violent beyond 
 description. I have witnessed and felt these in- 
 ternal conflicts with the most poignant sorrow, 
 and have known them, in some constitutions, 
 productive of very alarming consequences. If 
 the enemy happen to prove victorious, the la- 
 bour of a thousand prayers is scarcely sufficient 
 to restore the unhappy victim ; but if his hellish 
 
208 
 
 LOVE- FEASTS. 
 
 power IS overcome, or the sense of shame re- 
 moved, by the virtue of inward prayer, or the 
 power of example, the most happy consequences 
 follow; and the victorious champion rises with 
 confidence to tell of the engagement, and there- 
 by so effectually shames the adversary, that he 
 skulks away in disgrace and wrath, to try his 
 powers upon less resisting subjects. 
 
 I remember being once very much struck with 
 the expressions of an old man at a love-feast, 
 who had just recovered from a very dangerous 
 fit of sickness. I was,"" said he, “ given over 
 by the doctor, and every one thought I was 
 about to take my flight into eternity. I thought 
 so myself ; and though I could easily ‘ read mj 
 title clear to mansions in the skies;’ though I 
 knew that God for Christ’s sake had pardoned 
 all my sins ; and that whenever the silver cord 
 should be loosened at the fountain, I should 
 sink into the arms of Jesus ; yet as I drew near 
 the swelling floods, I thought I fdt Jordan cold 
 to my feet, and I shrunk hack T What a fine 
 poetical figure ! 
 
 It will frequently happen, during a love-feast, 
 if the presiding preacher is either a more than 
 commonly wise and prudent man; if he is old 
 and nerveless, or careless and lukewarm ; that 
 the business of tiie meeting wall for a time, like 
 the wheelless chariots of Pharaoh, move on 
 
LOVE-FEASTS. 
 
 ‘209 
 
 heavily. In this case, recourse is always had 
 to the fascinating and invigorating power of vo- 
 cal music. 
 
 Come, Lord, from above, these mountains remove ; 
 Overturn all that hinders the course of thy love: 
 
 My bosom inspire, enkindle the fire, 
 
 And fill my whole soul with the flames of desire I’* 
 
 Ah, Lord ! enlarge our scanty thought, 
 
 To know the wonders thou hast wroughiff 
 Unloose our stammering tongue to tell 
 Thy love immense, unsearchable !’^ 
 
 Love-feasts are always well attended. Public 
 'notice having been previously given, the coun- 
 try people flock in crowds to these meetings. 
 Although they are intended for the regular 
 members only, yet vast numbers of well- 
 disposed strangers gain admittance, by pro- 
 curing notes for that purpose from the preach- 
 er, on being recommended by a member. It 
 consequently happens, that numerous conver- 
 sions take place on these occasions. When the 
 speaking is concluded, several of the people go 
 to prayer, one after another, or all at once, as 
 the preacher may be well or ill disposed to fa- 
 vour a little spiritual romping, and holy con- 
 fusion. Many of the preachers, however, of 
 the present day, having drunk a little into the 
 spirit of the world, that is, having become 
 
 p 
 
210 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 ashamed of the conduct of some of their bre- 
 thren who have encouraged noisy meetings, are 
 led to deprive their people of their Christian li- 
 berty, and consequently to check all extrava- 
 gances of this nature whenever they perceive 
 them beginning to break out. This cannot, 
 however, be said of all the Methodist preachers 
 even of the' present time. I know some who 
 would rather attend a meeting of enthusiastic 
 bawlers than peaceably to enjoy the marrow and 
 fat things of this vain world. 
 
 I will close this account of a Methodist love- 
 feast by transcribing for your perusal one or two 
 of the hymns sung on those occasions. I must 
 not, however, forget to tell you, that when two 
 or more persons rise to tell their experience, at 
 one and the same time, the preacher, like the 
 Right Honourable Speaker in the House of 
 Commons, rises to put them to rights, and to 
 say who is to have the precedence. 
 
 THE LOVE-FEAST. 
 
 ** Come, and let us sweetly join, 
 
 Christ to praise in hymns divine ! 
 
 Give we all with one accord, 
 
 Glory to our common Lord ; 
 
 Hands, and hearts, and voices raise; 
 
 Sing as in the ancient days; 
 
 Antedate the joys above. 
 
 Celebrate the feast of love. 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 2J1 
 
 Strive we, in affection strive ; 
 
 Let the purer flame revive. 
 
 Such as in the martyr^s glow’d, 
 
 Dying champions for their God; 
 
 We like them may live and love ; 
 
 Call’d we are their joys to prove ; 
 Sav’d with them from future wrath, 
 Partners of like precious faith. 
 
 Sing we then in Jesu’s name. 
 
 Now as yesterday the same ; 
 
 One in every time and place, 
 
 Full for all of truth and grace; 
 
 We for Christ, our master, stand 
 Lights in a benighted land : 
 
 We our dying Lord confess ; 
 
 We are Jesu’s witnesses. 
 
 Witnesses that Christ hath die^ 
 
 We with him are crucified : 
 
 Christ hath burst the bands of death ; 
 We his quickening spirit breathe s 
 Christ is now gone up on high. 
 Thither all our wishes fly ; 
 
 Sits at God’s right hand above : 
 
 There with him we reign in love/^ 
 
 Come thou, high and lofty Lord; 
 Lowly, meek, incarnate Word ; 
 Humbly stoop to earth again ; 
 Come and visit abject man I 
 
 P ^ 
 
2121 
 
 MR. FELLOWES 
 
 Jesii ! dear expected giieist ; 
 
 Thou art bidden to the feast ! 
 
 For thyself our hearts prepare ; 
 Co?ne, and sit, and banquet there, 
 
 jesu, vve thy promise claim : 
 
 We are met in thy great name ; 
 
 In the midst do thou appear I 
 Manifest thy presence here ! 
 
 Sanctify us. Lord, and bless ! 
 llreathe thy Spirit ! give thy peace I 
 Thou thyself within us move ; 
 
 Make our feast a feast of love. 
 
 Let the fruits of grace abound ; 
 
 Let in us thy bowels soupd ; 
 
 Faith, and love, and joy increase^ 
 Temperance and gentleness : 
 
 Plant in us thy humble mind, 
 Patient, pitiful, and kind ; 
 
 Meek and lowly let us be, 
 
 Full of goodness — full of t]iec. 
 
 Make us all in thee complete | 
 Make us all for glory meet ; 
 
 Meet F appear before thy sight, 
 Partners wUh thy saints in light ; 
 Call, O ! call us each by name I 
 To the marriage of the Lamb ! 
 
 Let us lean upon thy breast ! 
 
 Love be there our endless feast 
 
 Permit me, Madam, here to protest against 
 the very illiberal reflection of Mr. Fellowes ; 
 
^13 
 
 C0te,3CTED. 
 
 ^vlio, in his Religion without Caiit/’ asserts, 
 that, ‘‘ In the agapas of the fanatics (alluding, I 
 suppose, to the Methodists), desire is ofteii in- 
 dulged without restraint, because it is tliought 
 to contribute to the perfecting of the saints in 
 love.” If Mr. Fellowes, by tliis indecent re- 
 flection, does really mean to insinuate, that any 
 thing of a licentious nature is permitted at a 
 Methodist love-feast, I would recommend it to 
 him, before he ventures another censure of this 
 nature, to make himself a little better acquainted 
 with his subject. 
 
 I am, 
 
214 - . 
 
 LETTER XXII. 
 
 Of Watch-Nights — Wrestling Jacobs 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Permit me, in this letter, to conduct you to a 
 raethoclistical watch-night. Yet be not startled, 
 dear Madam, at the lateness of the hour at which 
 you will have to return home from this meeting. 
 The sons of Thespis will scarcely have gone to 
 rest ; and some hours before 
 
 The cock’s shrill clarion, or the echoing horn," 
 
 shall have roused the industrious to labour, or 
 the sportsman to the held, you shall have spent 
 the proper time in spiritual exercises, and be 
 calmly laid in the arms of Morpheus. 
 
 It has been often asserted, that a watch-night 
 lasts until day-break in the morning; and iliat 
 
WATCH-NIGHTS. 
 
 £15 
 
 during the soft and silent hours of midnight, 
 when all is dark, and calm, and soothing, a full 
 loose is given to the passions, and the sensual 
 desires are gratified without shame or restraint. 
 I do assure you, Madam, that such represent- 
 ations are false and wicked. I have attend- 
 ed at many watch-nights, and scarcely ever 
 knew them to last longer than one o’clock in 
 the morning, and very seldom to that hour, un- 
 less there happened to be a remarkable out 
 pouring of the Spirit, a great revival of the work 
 of God ; or there were many souls in distress ; 
 and it would have been cruel and dangerous to 
 have forsaken them before they were at liberty, 
 that is, till they believed themselves to have ob- 
 tained the pardon of their sins. In these cases, 
 indeed, I have known a watch-night to last 
 until day-light the next morning. This was the 
 case at Bolton, in Lancashire, a few years ago, 
 where, in the course of about a fortnight, near 
 two hundred persons, men and women, were 
 converted to Methodism, and joined the so- 
 ciety. 
 
 That I may be wholly impartial in my de- 
 scriptions, I will, as usual, give you Mr. Wes- 
 ley’s own account of the origin of watch-nights, 
 and his remarks in defence of them. 
 
 *■ I was informed,” says he, “ that several per- 
 sons in Kings wood frequently met together, at 
 the school,, and (when they could spare tim^) 
 
216 
 
 t^ATCH-NIGHTS. 
 
 spent the greater part of the night in prayer, sind 
 praise, and thanksgiving. Some advised me to 
 put an end to this : but upon weighing the 
 thing thoroughly, and comparing it with the 
 practice of the ancient Christians, I could see no 
 cause to forbid it. Rather, I believed, it might 
 be made of more general use. So I sent them 
 word, ‘ I designed to watch with them, on the 
 Friday nearest the full moon, that we might 
 have light thither and back again.’ I gave 
 public notice of this, the Sunday before, and 
 withal tliat I intended to preach; desiring they, 
 and they only, would meet me there, who could 
 do it without prejudice to their business or fa*^ 
 milies. On Friday abundance of people came. 
 I began preaching between eight and nine : and 
 we continued till a little beyond the noon of 
 night, singing, praying, and praising God. 
 
 This we have continued to do once a month 
 ever since, in Bristol, London, and Newcastle, 
 as ‘well as Kingswood. And exceeding great> 
 are the blessings we have found therein : it has 
 generally been an extremely solemn season; 
 when the word of God sunk deep into the heart, 
 even of those who till then knew him not. If 
 it be, said, ‘ this was only owing to the novelty 
 of the thing ( the circumstance which still draws 
 such multitudes together at those seasons) or 
 perhaps to the awful silence of the night;’ I am 
 3SLOt careful to answer in this inattei'. Be it so: 
 
WATCH-NIGHTS^ 
 
 i 
 
 nf 
 
 however, the impression then made on many 
 souls, has never since been effaced. Now, al* 
 lowing that God did make use either of the no- 
 velty, or any other indifferent circumstance, in 
 order to bring sinners to repentance^ yet they 
 are brought. . And herein let us rejoice toge-^ 
 ther. 
 
 ‘‘ Nay, may I not put the case farther yet? 
 If I can probably conjecture, that either by the 
 novelty of this ancient custom, or by any other 
 indifferent circumstance, it is in my power to 
 ‘ save a soul from death, and hide a multitude 
 of sins:' am I clear before God if I do it not? 
 If I do not snatch that brand out of the burn- 
 ing?” 
 
 You perceive. Madam, that the watch^ 
 .nights were originally kept once every month. 
 They are now held once a quarter only the 
 greatest attendance being generally on the 
 night immediately preceding the new-year’s-^ 
 day ; when the infant year is ushered in with 
 songs of gladness,' praise, and thanksgiving, 
 while the sv/eet concert of a million of bells, in 
 every ,part of the nation, loudly proclaim the 
 same returning season ! 
 
 The other tliree watch-niglits are kept on the 
 eve of the quarterly-meetings, after a day of 
 fasting and prayer. 
 
 Having been quarter-day, the preachers are 
 usually all at home that night; and the pulpit 
 
2IS 
 
 WATCH-I^IGHTS. 
 
 is adorned by the appearance, and honoured by 
 the exertions, of two or three ministers on the 
 same evening. 
 
 The service is opened, as on other occasions, 
 with singing and prayer; both of which exer- 
 cises are more than usually long. Next follows 
 a long discourse by the senior preacher, on the 
 duty and advantages of holy watching, and spi- 
 ritual waiting. By the time this is ended, it 
 may be about half past ten o’clock. After this 
 follows more singing and prayer. Then ano- 
 ther of the preachers rises, and, without taking 
 a text, harangues the audience as long as he 
 pleases, and upon any subject that may sug- 
 gest itself to his mind. They sing and pray 
 again ; and a third, if there happen to be so 
 many present, which is often the case in large 
 circuits, goes over the same round. In most 
 places, liberty is then given to any one of the 
 brothers or sisters, in the body of the chapel, 
 to exercise the gift of prayer; when several, 
 whose souls have been long ’waiting to be 
 poured forth in vocal prayer, give vent to their 
 feelings, and address the God of Heaven as they 
 may be severally disposed to make known their 
 requests, or to express their gratitude. 
 
 It now becomes a matter of the greatest dif- 
 ficulty for those preachers who are concerned 
 for the honour of religion or the credit of Me- 
 thodism, to prevent the most shameful and dls- 
 4 
 
WATCH-NIGHTS. 
 
 219 
 
 graceful vociferation and disturbance. Indeed, 
 when any one begins to cry out for pardon, 
 under an apparent sense of extraordinary guilt 
 and condemnation, no persuasions, threats, or 
 exertions of the ministers, can prevent the good 
 people from indulging themselves. I have seen 
 a preacher bite his lips with anguish and chagrin, 
 or gnash his teeth with just indignation, when 
 he has found himself so completely outpoured 
 by the obstreperousness of his audience, that he 
 has been forced to sit down with fatigue in the 
 pulpit, or to descend, and wander from pew to 
 pew, endeavouring in vain to quell the tumult, 
 of which his own sermon has often been the ef- 
 ficient cause. These disturbances are, I am in- 
 formed, not very frequent in Town. In Man- 
 chester, Liverpool, Macclesfield, and other 
 places, they are by no means, even to this day, 
 
 - unusual or uncommon : and this all the preach- 
 ers in the connexion, would they speak out, 
 know to be a fact. I speak it, however, to their 
 praise, that, both by the exclusion of the most 
 boisterous members, and by express prohibition, 
 they do all they can to stop these disgraceful 
 proceedings. Partial divisions are frequently 
 taking place on this very account. There are, 
 nevertheless, many of the preachers themselves, 
 who still openly countenance and abet this 
 work, believing, with great sincerity, that God 
 

 ggO 
 
 is al these times pouring- out his good Spirit oM 
 the people^ and that to discountenance a noise 
 among them, would be to fight against God 
 himself ! 
 
 Watch-nights, as you will readily suppose, 
 are always very prolific sources of proselytism ; 
 and the Methodist interest owes much to the 
 soothing strains and intoxicating influence of 
 watch-night prayers, and watch-night hymns. 
 
 Were I disposed to dispute the moral and reli- 
 gious advantages of any part of the Methodist 
 discipline, it would be that which enjoins the 
 holdino; of these mid nijrht assemblies. Old and 
 young, married and single, persons of both sexes^ 
 being here joined in promiscuous intercourse, 
 undoubtedly gel their senses inflamed to a pitch 
 of fervour which it will require all the prudence, 
 and all the watchfulness^ of which the most sober 
 and reflecting are capable, to prevent falling into 
 fervours less pure and innocent than those which 
 the sacred fire of devotion has enkindled. Con- 
 sequences the most dangerous may arise from the 
 temptations which are laid in the way of two 
 young persons returning home together, in the 
 dead of night, after having attended a watch- 
 night. I speak only from conjecture, and what 
 is likely to be the result of these assemblies 
 without great care and prudence on the part of 
 the persons concerned. I ‘declare, howevet, 
 tliat I never knew an instance of any materially 
 
VfRESTLIN:G JACOB. 
 
 221 
 
 evU consequence arising from an attendance at 
 watch-night; unless I may call long and vio- 
 lent colds, asthmas, and stubborn rheumatisms, 
 such; and these can but seldom happen, the 
 number of watch-nights being so few during the 
 year. 
 
 I must, Madam, be allowed to give you 
 
 Wrestling Jacob,” one of the hymns sung on 
 watch-nights ; and I am the more inclined to 
 transcribe this poem, from the great esteem in 
 which it was held by the late pious and vener- 
 able Dr. Isaac Watts, who is reported to have 
 said, That single poem, * Whestling Jacob,’ is 
 worth all the verses I ever wrote.” This, then, 
 ^liall be my apology for transcribing in my let- 
 ter so long a production. 
 
 WRESTLING JACOB. 
 
 Come, O, thou Traveller unknown. 
 Whom still I hold, but cannot 
 ISIy company before is gone. 
 
 And I am left alone with thee : 
 
 With thee all night I mean to stay, 
 
 And wrestle till the break of day. 
 
 J -need not tell thee who I am, ' 
 
 My misery or sin declare: 
 
 Thyself hast call’d me by my name; 
 
 Look on thy hands and read it there 3 
 But who, I ask thee, who art thou ? 
 
 Tell me thy name, and tell me now. 
 
WRESTLING JACOB. 
 
 In vain thou struggles! to get free, 
 
 I never will unloose iny hold : 
 
 Art thou the man that died for me? 
 
 The secret of thy love unfold : 
 
 Wrestling, I will not let thee go, 
 
 Till I thy name, thy nature know. 
 
 Wilt thou not yet to me reveal 
 Thy new, unutterable name ? 
 
 Tell me, I still beseech thee, tell ; 
 
 To know it now resolvM I am : 
 Wrestling I will not let thee go, 
 
 Till I thy name, thy nature know. 
 
 What though my sinking flesh complain, 
 And murmur to contend so long ? 
 
 I rise superior to my pain : 
 
 When I am weak then I am strong ; 
 
 And when my all of strength shall fail, 
 
 I shall with the Qod-man prevail. 
 
 yield to me now for I am weak ; 
 
 But confident in self-despair \ 
 
 Speak to my heart, in blessings speak ; 
 
 Be conquer^ by my instant prayer : 
 Speak, or thou never hence shalt move, 
 And tell me if thy name is Love. 
 
 ^Tis Love ! ^tis Love ! thou died'st for me ; 
 
 I hear thy whisper in my heart ; 
 
 The morning breaks, the shadows flee^ 
 Pure, universal Love thou art : 
 
 To me, to all, thy bowels move, 
 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love. 
 
WRESTLING JACOB. 
 
 ^23 
 
 My prayer hath power with God ; the grace 
 Unspeakable I now receive ; 
 
 Through faith I see thee face to face ; 
 
 I see thee face to face, and live : 
 
 In vain I have not wept and strove; 
 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love. 
 
 I know thee, Saviour, who thou art, 
 
 Jesus, the feeble sinner^s friend , 
 
 Nor wilt thou with the night depart, 
 
 But stay and love me to the end : 
 
 Thy mercies never shall remove ; 
 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love. 
 
 The Sun of Righteousness on me 
 
 Hath rose, with healing in his wings; 
 
 Wither^ my nature’s strength ; from thee 
 My soul its life and succour brings ; 
 
 My help is all laid up above ; 
 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love. 
 
 Contented now upon my thigh 
 
 I halt till lifers short journey end ; 
 
 All helplessness, all weakness I 
 
 On thee alone for strength depend : 
 
 Nor have I power from thee to move; 
 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love. 
 
 Lame as I am, I take the prey ; 
 
 Hell, earth, and sin, with ease overcome; 
 
 I leap for joy, pursue my way, 
 
 And as a bounding hart fly home, 
 
 Through all eternity to prove 
 Thy nature and thy name is Love.’' 
 
^24 
 
 Dn. WATTS. 
 
 The foregoing poem, from the muse of Mr, 
 Charles Wesley, has some merit as the raptur- 
 ous effusion of a zealous and devout mind.— 
 What could induce Dr. Watts to assert its su- 
 periority to all that he had ever written, I know 
 not; unless it was from the resemblance it bears 
 to his own poem, entitled Converse with 
 Christ/^ 
 
 I amj^ 
 

 
 LETTER XXIIL 
 
 Of the Yearly Covenant. 
 
 DEAR MADABI, 
 
 , I 
 
 f \ , V t . . » ‘ 
 
 The Covenant^ one of the most solemn and aw- 
 ful assemblies of the Methodists, hAs often been 
 the subject of mistake and severe animadver- 
 sion. I will therefore give a perfectly impar^ 
 tial account of this sacred ceremony, having 
 , myself attended at more than one or two of 
 them. 
 
 . The Reviewer, to whom I alluded in a former 
 epistle, asserts of the Methodists, that “ the in- 
 crease of madness, in England, has been pro- 
 portioned to the increase of Methodism,” and 
 he seems to suppose that the increase of this na- 
 tional disorder is owing, in a great measure, to 
 denunciations of damnation, and to that tre- 
 mendous blasphemy, their yearly covenant with 
 
226 
 
 YEARLY COVENANT. 
 
 Almighty God !” To this heavy charge, Verax 
 answers as follows ; — 
 
 Tremendous blasphemy 1 What is there 
 blasphemous in covenanting or agreeing to serve 
 God ? Good King Josiah, and his people, both 
 small and great, made a covenant before the 
 Lord, to ‘ keep his commandments with all their 
 heart, and all their soul. And all the people 
 stood to the covenant.’ 2 Kings, xxiii. 3. Jere- 
 miah, when describing the effects of the preach- 
 ing of the gospel, informs us, that the people 
 shall ask the way to Zion, &c. saying, ‘ Come, 
 and let us join ourselves to the Lord, in a per- 
 petual covenant that shall not be forgotten, 
 chap. 1. ver. 5. 
 
 ‘‘In the small pamphlet, entitled, ‘Directions 
 to Penitents and Believers for renewing their 
 Covenant with God/ which is extracted from a 
 larger work of the pious and excellent Richard 
 Alleine, and may be had at any of the chapels of 
 the Methodists, the whole of what these men 
 call a tremendous blasphemy, may be seen. The 
 pamphlet begins with these words — ‘ Get these 
 three principles fixed in your heart: — That 
 things eternal are much more considerable than 
 things temporal — ^That things not seen are as 
 certain as the things that are seen — That upon 
 your present choice depends your eternal lot. 
 Choose Christ and his ways, and you are blessed 
 for ever ; refuse, and you are undone for ever.’ 
 
 3 
 
yearLy covenant. 
 
 After this exordium, a short account is given of 
 the fallen state of man, and of the sentiments of 
 an awakened sinner, who sees and feels that the 
 wrath of God abideth on him. This sinner is 
 called upon to cast himself on the merit of 
 Christ Jesus for the pardon of his sin ; and he is 
 then described as choosing Christ for his por- 
 tion and salvation, and the commandments of 
 God for the rule of his conduct. ‘ I do here 
 take thee, the Lord Jehovah, Father, Son, and 
 Holy Ghost, for my portion ; and I do give up 
 myself, body and soul, for thy service, pro- 
 mising and vowing to serve thee, in holiness 
 and righteousness, all the days of my life.’ Good 
 Richard Alleine recommended, that this cove- 
 nant or engagement to serve God, should not 
 only be made in word and in heart, but in writ^ 
 ing, in order that it might be more particularly 
 remembered and adverted to, as an inducement 
 to flee from sin, in time of temptation and dan- 
 ger. But these reviewers make a mock at sin, 
 and as they think it tremendous blasphemy to co- 
 venant to serve God, it cannot be expected, that 
 they will condemn those who covenant to serve 
 the devil.” 
 
 Wednesday, August 6, 17J5, Mr. Wesley 
 writes thus : ‘‘I mentioned to the congregation 
 another means of increasing serious religion, 
 which had been frequently practised by oui 
 forefathers, and attended with eminent blessing ; 
 
 Q 3 
 
22S 
 
 YEARLY COVENANT. 
 
 namely, the joining in a covenant to serve God^ 
 with all our soul. I explained this for several 
 mornings following; and on Friday, many of us 
 kept a fast unto the Lord, beseeching him to give 
 us wisdom and strength, to promise to the Lord 
 our God, and keep it. On Monday, at six in 
 the evening we met for that purpose, at the 
 French church in Spitalfields. After I had re- 
 cited the tenor of the covenant proposed, in the 
 words of that blessed man, Richard Alleine, all 
 the people stood up, in token of assent, to the 
 number of about eighteen hundred. Such a 
 night I scarce ever knew before : Surely the 
 fruit of it shall remain for ever.” Since that 
 period, the covenant has been renewed once 
 every year, generally on the night of the new 
 year, or on the Sunday next following. 
 
 The renewal of the covenant is always, I be- 
 lieve, preceded by a sermon, very often on 
 Joshua's resolution — “ As for me and my house, 
 we will serve the Lord.” After sermon, those 
 who are disposed to enter into this most solemn 
 compact with Jehovah, return into the chapel, 
 shewing their tickets at the door. 
 
 Singing and extemporary prayer being ended, 
 the following awful address is read aloud from 
 the pulpit, all the people kneeling : — 
 
 O, most dreadful God ! for the passion of 
 thy Son, 1 beseech Thee, accept of thy poor 
 prodigal, now prostrating himself at thy door ; 
 
YKARLY COVENANT. 
 
 Sf29 
 
 I have fallen from Thee by mine iniquity^ and 
 am by nature a son of death, and a thousand- 
 fold more the child of hell, by my wicked prac- 
 tice; but of thine infinite grace thou hast pro- 
 mised mercy to me in Christ, if I will but turn 
 to thee with all my heart ; therefore, upon the 
 call of thy gospel, I am now come in, and throw- 
 ing down my weapons, submit myself to thy 
 mercy. 
 
 ‘‘ And because thou requLrest, as the condi- 
 tion of my peace with thee, that 1 should put 
 away mine idols, and be at defiance with all 
 thine enemies, which I acknowledge I have 
 wickedly sided with against thee ; 1 here, from 
 the bottom of my heart renounce them all; 
 firmly covenanting with thee, not to allow my- 
 self in any known sin, but conscientiously to 
 use all the means that I know thou hast pre- 
 scribed, for the death and utter destruction of 
 all my corruptions. And whereas I have for- 
 merly, inordinately and idolatrously let out my 
 affections upon the world, I do here resign my 
 heart to thee that madestit; humbly protesting 
 before thy glorious Majesty, that it is the firm 
 resolution of my heart, and that I do unfeigned- 
 ly desire grace from thee, that when thou shalt 
 call me hereunto, I may practise this my resolu- 
 tion, to forsake all that is dear unto me in this 
 world, rather than turn from thee to the ways 
 
5250 
 
 YEARLY COVENANT. 
 
 of sin : and that I will watch against all its 
 temptations, whether of prosperity or adversity, 
 lest they should withdraw my heart from thee ; 
 beseechino’ thee also to help me agaiust the 
 temptations of Satan, to whose wicked sugges- 
 tions I resolve, by thy grace, never to yield. 
 And because my own righteousness is but men- 
 stmous rags, I renounce all confidence therein, 
 and acknowledge that I am of myself a hopeless, 
 helpless, undone creature, without righteousness 
 or strength. 
 
 ‘‘And forasmuch as thou hast, of thy bot- 
 tomless mercy, offered most graciously to me, 
 wretched sinner, to be again my God through 
 Christ, if I would accept of thee; I call heaven 
 and earth to record this day, that I do here so- 
 lemnly avouch thee for the Lord my God ; and 
 with all possible veneration bowing the neck of 
 my soul under the feet of thy Most Sacred Ma- 
 jesty, I do here take thee, the Lord Jehovah, 
 Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, for my portion ; 
 and do give up myself, body and soul, for thy 
 servant, promising and vowing to serve thee 
 in holiness and righteousness, all the days of my 
 life. 
 
 “ And since thou hast appointed the Lord Je- 
 sus Christ the only means of coming unto thee, 
 I do here, upon the bended knees of my soul, 
 accept of him as the only new and living wayj 
 
YEARLY COVENANT, 
 
 SSI 
 
 by which sinners may have access to thee ; and 
 do here solemnly join myself in a marriage- 
 covenant to him. 
 
 ** O, blessed Jesus 1 I come to thee hungry, 
 wretched, miserable, blind, and naked ; a most 
 loathsome, polluted wretch, a guilty, condemn-* 
 ed malefactor, unworthy to wash the feet of the 
 servants of my Lord, much more to be solemnly 
 married to the King of Glory ; but since such 
 js thine unparalleled love^ I do here, with all 
 my power, accept thee, and take thee for my 
 Head and Husband, for better for worse, for 
 richer for poorer, for all times and conditions, 
 to love, honour, and obey thee before all others, 
 and this to the death. I embrace thee in all 
 thine offices ; I renounce mine own unworthi^ 
 ness, and do here avow thee for the Lord my 
 Righteousness : I renounce mine own wisdom, 
 and do here take thee for my only Guide : I 
 renounce mine own will, and take thy Will for 
 my law. 
 
 And since thou hast told me, I must suffer 
 if I will reign, I do here covenant with thee, to 
 lake my lot, as it falls, with thee, and by thy 
 grace assisting, to run all hazards with thee, 
 verily purposing, that neither life nor death shall 
 part between thee and me. 
 
 “ And because thou hast been pleased to give 
 me thy holy laws, as the rule of my life, and the 
 way in which I should walk to thy kingdom, I 
 
23^ YEARLY COVENANT. 
 
 do here willingly put my neck under thy yoke^ 
 and set my shoulder to thy burden, and sub- 
 scribing to all thy laws as holy, just, and good, 
 I solemnly take them, as the rule of my words, 
 thoughts, and actions ; promising, that though 
 my flesh contradict and rebel, I will endeavour 
 to order and govern my whole life according to 
 thy direction, and will not allow myself in the 
 neglect of any thing that I know to be my 
 duty. 
 
 ‘‘Now, Almighty God, Searcher of Hearts, 
 thou knowest that I make this covenant with 
 thee this day, without any known guile or re- 
 servation, beseeching thee, if thou espiest any 
 flaw or falsehood therein, thou would discover 
 it to me, and help me to do it aright. 
 
 “ And now, glory be to thee, O God the Fa- 
 ther ! whom I shall be bold from this day for- 
 ward to look upon as my God and Father; that 
 ever thou shouldst find out such a way for the 
 recovery of undone sinners. Glory be to thee, 
 O God the Son ! who hast loved me, and wash- 
 ed me from my sins in thine own blood, and art 
 now become my Saviour and Redeemer. Glory 
 be to thee, O God the Holy Ghost ! who by the 
 finger of thine Almighty Power hast turned 
 about my heart from sin to God. 
 
 “ O dreadful Jehovah, the Lord God Omni- 
 potent, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, thou art 
 now become my covenant-friend, and I through 
 
YEARLY COVENANT. 
 
 23S 
 
 thy infinite grace, am become thy covenant- 
 servant. Amen. So be it. And the covenant 
 which I have made on earth, let it be ratified in 
 heaven.” 
 
 In some instances, the preacher addresses the 
 people thus — 
 
 ‘‘ This covenant I advise you to make, not 
 only in Iieart, but in word ; not only in word, 
 but in writing ; and that you would with all 
 possible reverence spread the writing before the 
 Lord, as if you would present it to him as your 
 act and deed : And when you have done this, 
 set your hand to it : Keep it as a memorial of 
 the solemn transactions that have passed be- 
 tween God and you, that you may have re- 
 course to it in doubts and temptations.’" 
 
 Then is sung the following 
 
 HYMN, 
 
 Come, let us use the grace divine. 
 
 And all with one accord, 
 
 In a perpetual covenant join 
 Ourselves to Christ the Lord : 
 
 Give up yourselves, through Jesu’s power, 
 His name to glorify ; 
 
 And promise in this sacred hour 
 for God to live and die. 
 
YEARLY COVENANT, 
 
 23 ^ 
 
 The covenant we this moment make^ 
 
 Be ever kept in mind ; 
 
 We will no more our God forsake. 
 
 Or cast his words behind. 
 
 We never will throw off Iris fear. 
 
 Who hears our solemn vow : 
 
 And if thou art well pleas’d to hear. 
 
 Come down and meet us now ! 
 
 Thee, Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, 
 
 Let all our hearts receive ! 
 
 Present with the celestial host, 
 
 The peaceful answer give f 
 
 To each the covenant-blood apply. 
 
 Which takes our sins away ; 
 
 And register oui: names on high, 
 
 And keep us to that day 1” 
 
 The people then stand up, and lift their hand^ 
 in token of their determination to serve the 
 Lord from that time. 
 
 “ 1 swear, and from my solemn oath 
 Will never start aside, 
 
 That in God’s righteous judgments i 
 Will constantly abide ! 
 
 The w'orld’s contempt of his commands 
 But make their value rise 
 
 In my esteem, who purest gold 
 Compar’d with them, despise.’^ 
 
YEARLY COVE^^ANT. 
 
 How far the foregoing covenant may be said 
 to be a “tremendous blasphemy,” I will not take 
 upon me to say. People will form separate and 
 different judgments on the matter, as tliey may 
 be disposed to regard it in the light of a rational 
 or spiritual form of self-dedication, or as a for- 
 mulary unwarranted by the light of reason and 
 the scriptures of truth. I have thought it my 
 duty to give it to you verbatim as it is used by 
 the Methodists ; and I now leave it with your- 
 self to assent, differ, or remiain, like myself, 
 aeuter on the subject So highly, however, is 
 this form of covenant with the Almighty re- 
 garded by many Methodists, that instances have 
 occurred where, in the most solemn manner, it 
 has been actually signed by the blood of the crea~ 
 ture, imagining that such a mode of ratification 
 is required, from its analogy to the bloody seal 
 of the Creator 1!! The covenant-meeting is con- 
 cluded, like others, with singing and prayer. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
236 
 
 LETTER XXIV, 
 
 Of the Society-vieetings, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The members of the Methodist societies are 
 composed of persons enjoying various degrees of 
 moral attainments, or, as they express it, in dif- 
 ferent states of grace. There are careless and 
 lukewarm unbelievers, who have, nevertheless a 
 sufficient hankering after Methodism to join 
 the society ; and are so far moral in their con- 
 duct, as not to merit excommunication. There 
 are also awakened members, who, from some 
 cause or other, have not experienced the new- 
 bitth. There are the penitents, or mournera 
 convinced of sin.” Others are those who are 
 not only convinced that they are sinners, ^nd 
 mourn on that account ; but are sunk to very 
 considerable depths of sorrow ; yet, being half 
 
SOCIETY-MEETINGS. 
 
 237 
 
 inclined to think they shall not go sorrowing 
 all their days,” are denominated, ‘‘ mourners 
 brought to the birth.” Others, again, are those 
 who have stept into the glorious liberty of 
 God’s children, and know their sins to be blot- 
 ted out of the book of the divine remembrance. 
 It too frequently happens, that the vain allure- 
 ments of the world — the smiles or the frowns 
 of mankind — the force of unconquered habits — 
 the rebellions of unsubdued lusts — and the dia- 
 bolical instigations of their enemy, the devil- 
 will all combine their baneful influences to in- 
 crease the number of a fifth class of the mem- 
 bers of the Methodist societies ; I mean the 
 backsliders in heart : the open apostates are ei- 
 ther forcibly expelled, or voluntarily withdraw 
 from the connexion. Again ; a sixth class of 
 members, are those who are “ convinced of 
 hack^liding,” and are undergoing the same in- 
 and spiritual conflicts, they ex- 
 before their first conversion. A se- 
 vetith class is composed of the “ groaners for 
 full redemption that is, those who have the 
 witness of the Spirit that they are pardoned ; but 
 not satisfied with this, are earnestly seeking all 
 the mind that was in Christ ; or, in other words, 
 those whom nothing will satisfy but ptr^ 
 fection. The last class of Methodists I shall 
 mention, is made up of the pure in heart — the 
 sanctified — the saints that are already perfected 
 4 
 
SS8 
 
 S O C I ETl' - Bf E £T I N.o S . 
 
 ill love *, who literally rejoice evermore, pray 
 without ceasing, and in every thing giver 
 thanks. 
 
 It being impossible in every instance to sepa- 
 rate the precious from the vile ; the members 
 composing these several sorts or degrees of Me- 
 thodists, being promiscuously blended in the 
 classes and bands, they are all met together, on 
 a Sunday evening, immediately after public 
 preaching ; when the preacher gives them such 
 advice, &c. as their several states require. You 
 must, however, understand, that they are not 
 spoken to individually, as at a class-meeting; 
 but are addressed from the pulpit in general, yet 
 pointed, terms of reproof or advice. This iS' 
 called the Society-meeting; and is a very useful 
 and proper mode of promoting the moral and 
 spiritual good of the members. 
 
 A society-meeting, however, is not confined 
 to this object alone. At this time the preacher 
 gives such general information respecting the 
 state of the work in other parts, as he may have 
 received. He reads any circular or other letters 
 which he conceives will benefit or interest the 
 members ; in short, every thing that immedi- 
 ately concerns the purely spiritual affairs of the 
 whole society, is here made known to the 
 people; who mourn or rejoice as the reports 
 may be favourable or otherwise. Reports, how- 
 ever, of an unfavourable nature seldom are madej^ 
 
SOCIETY-MEETINGS. 
 
 239 
 
 as they would only tend to damp the fervour, 
 ■and weaken the exertions, of the brethren. 
 
 The following hymn is appropriate to a so- 
 ciety-meeting. 
 
 Two are better far than one, 
 
 For counsel or for fight ; 
 
 How can one be warm alone, 
 
 Or serve his God aright? 
 
 Join we then our hearts and hands ^ 
 Each to love provoke his friend ; 
 
 Run the way of his commands, 
 And keep it to the end. 
 
 Woe to him whose spirits droop ! 
 To him who falls alone! 
 
 He has none to lift him up, 
 
 To help his weakness on; 
 
 Happier we each other keep, 
 
 We each other’s burdens bear ; 
 
 Never need our footsteps slip, 
 Upheld by mutual prayer. 
 
 Who of twain has made us one. 
 Maintains our unity i 
 Jesus is the corner-stone, 
 
 In whom we all agree : 
 
 Servants of one common Lord, 
 Sweetly of one heart and mind, 
 Who can break a three-fold cord. 
 Or part whom God hath join’d ? 
 
240 SOCIETY-MEETING^* 
 
 O that all with us might prove 
 The fellowship of saints ! 
 
 Find supplied, in Je'iu^s love. 
 
 What every mem her wants ! 
 Grasp we our high-culling"s prizej^^ 
 Feel our sins on earth forgiv’n ! 
 Rise, in his whole image rise, 
 
 And meet our Head in heav’n V* 
 
 When we consider the cementing tendency 
 — the uniting influence — of these meetings, and 
 these hymns, need we be surprised. Madam, at 
 the union and increase of the Wesleyan Me- 
 thodists ? Here is every thing to warm the 
 imagination — to inspire the affections — to en- 
 gage the heart. All the generous passions of 
 the soul, and all the tender sympathies of love, 
 are here invited to share the sweets of benevo- 
 lence — the mystic pleasures of devotion — the 
 alluring anticipations of futurity, accompanied 
 by the rapturous delights of present enjoyment^ 
 and the upholding influence of social inter- 
 course. How far these apparent enjoyments are 
 actually realized by the Methodists, I will in- 
 quire, when I come to treat of their general 
 character. In the mean time, I cannot help 
 observing, on this occasion, the strong propen- 
 sity to amplification, hyperbole, and ekaggera- 
 tion, which some of the younger preachers ofteia 
 manifest at a society-meeting. 
 
SOCIETY -MEETINGS. 
 
 241 
 
 I have already said, that one part of the bu» 
 siness of these meetings, is to relate to the 
 people what information may have been obr ' ^ 
 tained concerning the state df the connexion in 
 distant towns, oi' in other countries. 
 
 So desirous are the preachers of having it un- 
 derstood that the cause in which they are en- 
 gaged is always in a thriving, flourishing state ; 
 and at the same time, so natural is it for a man 
 to believe whatever he wishes to be true, that 
 a' little amplification^ — a slight degree of ea^tra 
 colouring, is sometimes thought to be almost 
 allowable, when a preacher is relating the state 
 of religion, and the increase of its votaries. 
 Such a practice, however, so nearly resembles 
 lying for God, and doing evil that good may 
 come, that I am sure the preachers, as a body, 
 do by no means encourage it. This foolish 
 -propensity has been observed even by Mr. 
 Wes lev himself: and he has more than onco 
 been under the necessity of checking it aitiong 
 his preachers. Dr. Whitehead, also, seems to 
 have witnessed sometning of this disposition 
 towards enlargement of description in the 
 Methodist preachers. 
 
 But I will press thrs matter no farther. — 
 Though I have often witnessed its existence 
 with sorrow, I should hope it is not very 
 common. It is a weak and childish prac- 
 
 R 
 
242 
 
 SOCIETY-MEETINGS. 
 
 tire, unbecoming the character of a man and 
 a Cliristian ; and to which the Methodists, 
 of all others, have the least occasion to re- 
 sort. 
 
 The society-meetings end with singing; and 
 it not un frequently happens that several find 
 peace on those occasions. 
 
 Often do 1 reflect with no small pleasure 
 on the ecstatic joy I have felt on hearing the 
 accounts at a society-meeting. It was delight- 
 ful to anticipate an approaching Millennium — 
 to see the period at hand, when war and tumult, 
 sin and misery, shall no longer desolate the 
 earth ; when universal peace, charity, and 
 good-will shall be established among man- 
 kind; when the whole race of men shall rally 
 round the standard of Methodism, and every 
 one, laying aside his prejudices, and his pride, 
 shall exclaim — “This people shall be my people^, 
 and their God my God !” 
 
 “ O Jesus ! ride on, till all are subdued ; 
 
 Thy mercy make known, and sprinkle thy blood ! 
 
 Display thy salvation, and teach the new song 
 
 To every nation, and people, and tongue T' 
 
 “ How pleasant and sweet, 
 
 In his name when we meet, 
 
SOCIETY-MEETXNGS. 
 
 243 
 
 Is his fruit to our spiritual taste ! 
 
 We are banqueting here, 
 
 On angelical cheer^ 
 
 And the joys that eternally last 
 
 Such, Madam, are the effects — such the in- 
 vigorating sensations — produced at a meeting 
 of the society. 
 
 • I am, &c> 
 
 
244 
 
 LETTER XXV. 
 
 Of the Quarterly Visitation of the Classes. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 In the year 1742, commenced the quarterly vi“ 
 .sitatioii of all the classes. Mr. Wesley gives 
 the following account of this visitation 
 
 ‘‘As the society increased, I found it re- 
 quired still greater care to separate the precious 
 from the vile. In order to this, I determined, 
 at least once in three months, to talk with every 
 member myself, and to inquire at their own 
 mouths, as well as of their leaders and neigh- 
 bours, whether they grew in grace and in the 
 knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ? At these 
 seasons, I likewise particularly inquire, whether 
 there be any misunderstandings or differences 
 among them ? that every hindrance of peace and 
 brotherly love may be taken out of the way. 
 
VISITATION, See, 
 
 245 
 
 To each of those, of whos€ seriousness and 
 good conversation I found no reason to doubt, 
 I gave a testimony under my own hand, by 
 writing their name on a ticket prepared for that 
 purpose ; every ticket implying as strong a re- 
 commendation of the person to whom it was 
 given, as if I had wrote at length — ** I belieVe 
 the bearer hereof to be one that fears God and 
 works righteousness.” 
 
 ‘‘ Those who bore tliese tickets (these 
 or Tessera, as the ancients termed them ; being 
 of just the same force with the cu<ia.rixoUf 
 
 commendatory letters, mentioned by the apostle), 
 wherever they came, were acknowledged by 
 their brethren, and received with all cheerful- 
 ness. These were likewise of use in other re- 
 spects. By these it was easily distinguished 
 when the society were to meet apart, who were 
 members of it, and who not. These also sup- 
 plied us with a quiet and inoffensive method 
 of removing any disorderly member. He has 
 no new ticket at the quarterly visitation (for so 
 often the tickets are changed) ; and hereby it 
 is immediately known that he is no longer of 
 this community.” 
 
 That you may understand this very excellent 
 regulation still more clearly, I here lay before 
 you an exact representation of two of these 
 ti(ikets, viz. the common, or class-ticket, and a 
 ticket for those who meet in band ; premising 
 
n6 
 
 VISITATION 
 
 that the alphabetical letter, and the texts of 
 scripture, are varied on every renewal of the 
 tickets. 
 
 A CLASS-TICKET, 
 
 March, 1807. 
 
 That which ye have already, f 
 
 hold fast till I come. f 
 
 h 
 
 Rev. ii. 25. X 
 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 d 
 
 . J— N—\ 
 
 ? ? 
 
 A A 
 
 M 
 
 A Band-ticket. 
 
 March., ] 807. 
 
 Thou art all fair, my love, 
 there is no spot in thee. 
 
 Song of Sol. iv. 7. 
 
 M. b. 
 
 I 
 
 I M— N- 
 
 d 
 
 I 
 
 These tickets are printed at the Conference^ 
 office. North-green, Worship-street, and are re- 
 gularly sent to every town and village in the 
 United Kingdoms which contains a Methodist 
 society. - 
 
 1 he classes being now very numerous in al- 
 most every town in the kingdom, ii hasffiecome 
 necessary for the preacher to notify from the 
 pulpit, some time before the visitation, the j)ar- 
 ticular days on which he proposes to meet each 
 of them severally. Accordingly, at the appoint- 
 
OF THE CLASSES. 
 
 247 
 
 cd time, two, three, or more, of the classes, with 
 their respective leaders, are convened at the 
 chapel vestry, and, after singing and prayer, the 
 preacher proceeds to receive the testimony of 
 every individual present. He inquires how 
 their souls prosper ; what advancement they 
 make in the divine life ; or what occasion there 
 may be for correction and reprooi", or for the ex- 
 pulsion of any of the members. 
 
 While the member is answering his interro- 
 gatories, he writes his or her name on the 
 ticket, and in a very solemn manner presents it, 
 with the requisite advice, Slc. &c. 
 
 For these tickets, the metnbers are expected 
 to pay about sixpence each, more or less, as 
 may suit their several inclinations or circum- 
 stances. ^ 
 
 In answer to a question, proposed the last 
 conference, respecting further regulation in the 
 financial affairs, they say, We earne>-4ly re- 
 commend to all our societies, a strict compli- 
 ance with that original rule of Methodism, 
 which requires that each member shall pa\, for 
 the support of the work, at least one penny 
 per week, and one shilling per quarter.” li lias 
 hitherto escaped my observation, that it is an 
 original rule of Methodism, for each member to 
 pay, at least, one shilling per quarter, in addi- 
 ction to the weekly class-money and such other 
 contributions as the stated and contingent col- 
 
248 
 
 VISITATION 
 
 lections in the chapels may demand. A rule 
 pf Methodism is a law of conference. 
 
 This money is received by the preacher, and 
 is afterwards deposited in the hands of the stew- 
 ards, who are the treasurers of the society. 
 
 Now, Jesu, now thy love impart, 
 
 To govern each devoted heart, 
 
 And fit us for thy will ! 
 
 Deep founded in the truth of grace, 
 
 Build up thy rising church, and place 
 The city on the hill.*' 
 
 Now, Madam, should you hereafter be dis- 
 posed to visit a Methodist chapel, and after the 
 sermon is ended, should hear the minister en- 
 tertain his audience for five or ten minutes, with 
 a long list of names and dates, you will not be 
 entirely ignorant of what is about to be trans- 
 acted, when you hear him proclaim — ‘‘ On Sun- 
 day, the day of , immediately after 
 
 morning preaching, I shall meet the following 
 classes: Brother J.’s, Brother N.'s, and Brother 
 W/s. After the noon preaching, Brother D.^ 
 Brother R.’s, and Brother F.’s two classes. On 
 Sunday, the day of , imme- 
 
 diately after evening preaching, Brother B. will 
 meet Sister A.’s, Sister L’s, and Sister B/s 
 classes,” &c. &c. I say. Madam, on these 
 
 occasions, you will hereafter be less fidgety 2ind 
 impatient during this ceremony, because you 
 
249 
 
 OF THE CLASSES. 
 
 will be better acquainted with the nature and 
 meaning of the long bead rolls to winch your 
 attention will be called, after having heard a 
 pressing Methodist sermon. 
 
 It were to be wished the Methodists could 
 select a more convenient season for these adver- 
 tisements, than after their public services of 
 preaching, &c. It is certainly very disagreeable 
 to strangers, to be condemned either to leave 
 the chapel before the benediction, or to wait 
 while the minister reads a long list of names 
 and appointments, in wliich no one besides him- 
 self and his brethren is in the least interested. 
 This is peculiarly distressing, when it occurs on 
 a cold winter’s day, and, as is very commonly 
 the case, when the strangers, sitting in the vi- 
 cinity of the door, are nearly starved. It hap- 
 pens too, sometimes, tlial they are fartlllr mortl* 
 fed by the additional interruption of lialf a do- 
 zen written notes of request from the sick, or 
 of thanksgiving from the recovered. And when 
 to all this is added one or two proclamations, 
 
 that Brother intends, God willing, to 
 
 preach a funeral or charity sermpn that day 
 
 week, at Widow "s, in , or 
 
 Brother — ’s, in , the ceremony 
 
 becomes absolutely intolerable, and is sometimes 
 productive of much confusion and impatience. 
 All these concurring hindrances happening on a 
 
250 
 
 VISITATION, &C. 
 
 collection-night, would exhaust the patience of 
 the most forbearing. 
 
 The distribution of tickets, and the quarterly- 
 visitations, are, however, among the wisest and 
 most politic institutions in the Methodist eco- 
 nomy. I much question whether Solon himself 
 ever made a wiser law, or Lycurgus devised a 
 better statute. But, as the Wesleyans sing — 
 
 “ Except the Lord conduct the plan. 
 
 The best concerted schemes are vain, 
 
 And never can succeed.” 
 
 I am, See. 
 
LETTER XXV L 
 
 Of Pi'eachingy &^c. with Specimem. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 I HAVE now described to you, in as clear and 
 impartial a manner as I am able, almost all the 
 different modes of worship or religious service 
 which obtain in the Methodist connexion. On 
 the two ordinances of baptism, and the Lord s 
 supper, I have been silent, as those institutions 
 are not observed in any manner peculiar to this 
 people; neither are they, as yet, universally ad- 
 ministered in the Methodist chapels. It only 
 remains for me, on this head, to give you some 
 account of their manner of conducting the con- 
 stant public service of preaching, &c. 
 
 The mode of conducting divine worship a- 
 mong the Methodists, is of all others the most 
 regular and simple. If their plan be defective 
 
PREACHING/ &C. 
 
 in any point, it is in not having the scriptures 
 read to the people. This certainly ought never 
 to be dispensed with. In every other respect, 
 it is impressive and engaging in the highest de- 
 gree. 
 
 Here is no pomp ; no idle parade; no vain 
 shew of unmeaning ceremonies, nor irksomeness 
 of tedious liturgies ; all is simple and intelligible, 
 agreeable to the easy decorum and decent order 
 of a Christian temple, and a spiritual worship. 
 It is not the least of its recommendations, that, 
 although musical instruments are not generally 
 permitted in a Methodist chapel to divert the 
 attention from the inward contemplation of di- 
 vine and spiritual pleasures, the charms of vocal 
 melody warm the zeal, and animate the spirits, 
 of the numerous worshippers. Hence it is, in a 
 great degree, that the meeting-houses of the Me- 
 thodists are always so well attended by hearers, 
 /Thousands, I make no doubt, repair to the 
 meeting, as well as to the church. 
 
 Not for the worship, but the music there.'' 
 
 Public worship is begun by singing; the 
 hymns being given out, line by line, by the 
 preacher. After singing follows prayer ; then 
 singing again ; to which succeeds an extempore 
 sermon ; after this another hymn is sung ; and 
 the service is finally concluded by prayer, and* 
 
PREACHING, See, 
 
 253 
 
 the customary benediction. The whole service 
 usually lasts about an hour in the morning ; at 
 noon, and' in the evening, about an hour and a 
 half. This, however, depends much upon the 
 prudence, the zeal, the modesty, or the loqua- 
 city, of the preacher. I have known the con- 
 gregation kept in pain more than two hours. 
 This service of the Wesleyans is, however, upon 
 the whole, shorter and more simple than that of 
 the Whitefieldians, or Calvinists, whose preach- 
 ers are usually extremely tiresome. 
 
 Mr. Adam Clarke, in his admirable Letter 
 to a Methodist Preacher,"' gives his brethren the 
 following advice on this subject: In whatever 
 
 way you handle your text, take care when you 
 have exhausted the matter of it, not to go over 
 it again. Apply every thing of importance as 
 you go along; and when you have done, learn 
 to make an end. It is not essential to a sermon, 
 that it be half an hour or an hour long. Some 
 preach more in ten minutes than others do in 
 sixty. At any rate, the length of time spent in 
 preaching, can never compensate for the want 
 of matter ; and the evil is double, when a man 
 brings forth little, and is long about it. There 
 are some who sing long hymns, and pray long 
 prayers, merely to fill up the time : this is a 
 shocking profanation of these sacred ordinances, 
 and has the most direct tendency to bring them 
 into contempt. If they are of no more import- 
 
254 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 ahce to the preacher, or his work, than merely 
 to fill i<p the lirne^ the people act wisely, who 
 stay at home and mind their business, till the 
 time ill which the sermon commences. Plave 
 you never heard the following* observation ? — 
 ‘ You need not be in such haste to go to the 
 chapel: you will be time enough to hear the 
 sermon, for J\lr. X. Y. always sings a long 
 hymn, and makes a long prayer.” This is ex- 
 cellent counsel, Madam ; but the Methodist 
 preachers do not always attend to it. 
 
 Many ot the Methodist preachers shew consi- 
 derable acuteness in the choice, and dexterity 
 in the elucidation of their text. I liave known 
 the most {piaint and out of the way passages 
 chosen for tiie subject of a Methodist sermon. 
 Such as, “ Set on tl.e great pot,” — ‘‘ Two legs 
 and a piece of an ear,‘'&c. Mr. Clarke mentions 
 two of his colleagues, “ who trifled away the 
 whole year in way.” “ Thdr texts,” says 
 lie, '‘were cwntinuaily such as these: ‘Adam, 
 where art thou?’ — ‘ i liave somewliat to say unto 
 thee.' — ‘IM ouwilt deal justly and tiul\ with my 
 master, tell rne,’~-‘ 1 have put ofi iny coat, how 
 shall I put It on?’ — ‘Thy moutli is most sweet,’ 
 &c.’’ “ 1 hese solemn triflers,” adds Mr. Clarke, 
 
 “ did no good ; and they are both, long since, 
 fallen away.” 
 
 This gentleman seems to be aware of the fact, 
 that many of these “ solemn triflers” are still re- 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 255 
 
 mainitig among the Methodists. It would be 
 much to the credit of their cause, were they all 
 “ fallen away."’ 
 
 Notwithstanding Mr. Clarke’s advice, many 
 of his bretiiren still assume an air of importance 
 while in the pulpit; and have many fantastic 
 attitudes ; being still afflicted with that species 
 
 par all! sis termed St, Vitus s dance, as is evi- 
 dent from their queer noddings, ridiculous stoop- 
 ings, and erections of the body, skipping from 
 one side to the other of the desk, knitting their 
 brows; with other theatrical and foppish airs. 
 Yea, many do still flourish their handkerchiefs, 
 and gaze about upon the congregation, before 
 they begin their work. They still whisper in 
 the beginning of their prayer, storm and bellow 
 in the middle, and scream towards the end ; al- 
 ways, however, losing their fervour when they 
 . come to repeat the Lord’s prayer. 
 
 Neither has this worthy and sensible man 
 been m.ore successful in reclaiming his fellow- 
 labourers from the weak and childish practice 
 of interlarding their discourses with quotations 
 from the poets. To this practice, yoz/, Madam, 
 would probably have no objection ; especially 
 when you found that the muses had the merit of 
 all that is really excellent in tlie discourse, to 
 the aid of which they are only dragged in as 
 ornamental auxiliaries. 
 
956 
 
 SPECIMENS. , 
 
 The last time I had the honour of hearing a 
 sermon by Mr. Benson, one of their most popu- 
 lar preachers, 1 could not help remarking^ that 
 Thomson, Young, Blair, and Charles Wesley, 
 contributed as much, or more, to that discourse, 
 as the writers of the four gospels, or even St. 
 Paul himself It i-s true, Mr. Benson spouted 
 Avell, and his favourite authors were introduced 
 with spirit and grace. I must, however, be al- 
 lowed to conjecture, that when Thomson wrote 
 ‘‘The Seasons,” Young “The Night Thoughts,” 
 and Blair “ The Grave,” none of them dreamed, 
 poets as they were, that they were at that time 
 composing Methodist sermons. 
 
 Mr. Clarke very properly cautions his bretliren 
 against the common practice of treating a sub- 
 ject “ negatively and positively;” of "‘shewing 
 negatively what a thing is not,'' and adduces the 
 following instances of this injudicious mode of 
 handling the word of God, which he says have 
 come within the compass of his own observation. 
 “A gentleman took for his text, Isa. xxviii. l6. 
 
 ‘ Ee that believeth shall not make haste.’ On 
 this he preached two sermons. His division \vas 
 as follows : ‘ I shall first prove that he who be- 
 lieveth shall make haste : and, 2dly, Shew in 
 what sense he that believeth not make haste/ 
 On the first, which was a flat contradiction to 
 the text, he spent more than an hour : and the 
 4 
 
SPECIMEN’S. 
 
 257 
 
 congregation were obliged to *wait a whole ' 
 month before he could come back to inform 
 them, that he vdio believeth shall not make 
 haste'" 
 
 Another took his text from Psalm xxxiv. 19. 
 
 ‘ Many are the afflictions of the righteous, but 
 God delivereth him out of them all.’ His divi- 
 sion was as follows : ‘ In handling this text, I 
 will first prove, that there is none righteous: 
 2dly, That the afflictions of the righteous are 
 many : and, 3dly, That the Lord delivereth them 
 out of them all !” 
 
 I myself knew an instance of this kind, and 
 from this very text, with only a slight variation 
 in the words of the division. My champion, 
 
 1. Enumerated the troubles of the righteous: 
 2dly, Proved there is none righteous, no not 
 one:"" and, 3dly, Shewed how the Lord de- 
 livereth them out of them all ! 
 
 Another took Luke, xii. 32, ‘ Fear not, 
 little flock ; for it is your Father’s good pleasure 
 to give you the kingdom.’ In opposition to the 
 letter of this text, the preacher laboured to 
 prove, that the flock of Christ is not a little, 
 but a very large fiock : and in order to do this, 
 brought in multitudes of pious heathens, vast 
 numbers who sought and found mercy in their 
 last hour, together with myriads of infants, 
 idiots, &c.” 
 
 s 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 258 
 
 Instances of such glaring absurdity are not, 
 however, ^ery common; and when they do oc- 
 cur, they are chiefly among the local-preachers, 
 or the very young and very aged travelling- 
 preachers. 
 
 A disposition to allegorize and spiritualize the 
 most plain and obvious texts, is not very uncom- 
 mon with the Methodist preachers. 
 
 I was informed a few years ago, by a very re- 
 spectable and worthy gentleman, who was then, 
 and is now, a preacher among the Wesleyan Me- 
 thodists, that a certain preacher did actually al- 
 legorize that passage in the 2 Kings, iv. 38. 
 
 Set on the great pot,'’ something in the fol- 
 lowing manner: The pot itself is the church 
 - — the meat in the pot, the word of God — and 
 the broth the grace of God ! After having en- 
 larged on these several heads, the preacher, in 
 imagination and gesture, turned the pot upside 
 down, and from the circumstance of its having 
 three feet, placed in a triangular direction, took 
 occasion thence to demonstrate the mystery of 
 the Holy Trinity ! 
 
 I could enumerate a variety of similar in- 
 stances ; but I fear the disclosure would give 
 pain to the minds of those preachers who so 
 much despise this practice. They, however, 
 are not themselves at all times over delicate in 
 their representations and exposures ; and I ho- 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 259 
 
 Hour them for it : let them go on, until the 
 “ solemn triflers/' are gone to rest with their 
 forefathers, the allegorizers of the sixteenth cen- 
 tury. 
 
 Some of the preachers, who, though more ju- 
 dicious in the choice of texts, and more rational 
 in their explications, are nevertheless too much 
 disposed to eke out a text into several divisions 
 and subdivisions — to wire-draw and distort a 
 passage, till every word, and almost every letter, 
 like the well-known sermon on the word 
 MALT, is made the subject of a division. — ■ 
 From numerous instances vhich have fallen 
 within the compass of my own observation, the 
 two following shall suffice: Ezek. xviii. 31. 
 
 Why will ye die?” Divided as follows; JVhy 
 will ye die ? — Why will ye die ? — Why will ye 
 die ? Again : Rev. iii. £0. Behold, I stand at 
 the door and knock : if any man hear my voice, 
 and open the door, I will come in to him, and 
 will sup with him, and he with me.” Divided 
 as follows : (1.) Behold! (£.) / {3.) stafid 2 it 
 the (4. ) r/cor and {5.) knock; if (6.) any m?i\\ 
 hear my (7.) mice, and (8.) open tlie door, (9-) I 
 will (10.) come in to him, and will (li.) sup 
 with him, and ( 12.) he withme. These, duly and 
 appropriately subdivided, with an exordium, 
 application, recapitulation, and conclusion, made 
 up a sermon of no contemptible dimensions. 
 The person who thus exhibited his skill in 
 
 s £ 
 
960 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 the rule of division, is at this time a travellino: 
 preacher ! 
 
 The Methodist preacliers have been accused 
 of akvays [)reaching so as to inspire their hearers 
 with terror and alarm. This is rot the fact: 
 they do often fall into the other extreme; and 
 keep the congregation in a constant titter, dur- 
 ing the whole sermon. They abound in witty 
 sayings, smart repartees, and laughable anec- 
 dotes. Some of them are little inferior, in these 
 respects, to those merry preachers, who so 
 powerfully excited the risibility of the Puritans 
 during the reign of that profligate monarch 
 Charles II. and the hypocritical Protector, Oli- 
 ver Cromwell. 
 
 The practice of spiritual jesting, and pious 
 punning, is, however, fast going to decline 
 among the Wesleyan Methodists. Though some 
 6f their popular and eloquent preachers still 
 occasionally indulge in this habit, it is not 
 encouraged b\^ their more serious and useful 
 brethren. Mi\ Samuel Bradburn, whose powers of 
 oratory are neither few nor small, may be ranked 
 among those preachers who take delight in see- 
 ing their audience merry under the word ; while 
 Mr. Adam Clarke, whose learning, zeal, and in- 
 defatigable industry', do honour to his sect, 
 would rejoice to see and hear of nothing but 
 what is serious and becoming in a Christian mi- 
 nister. Upon the whole, the Wesleyan preach- 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 261 
 
 ers seem to be transferring their wit to their 
 Calvinistic bretliren ; who, with the boisterous 
 and intolerant joker of Surry chapel at their 
 head, are drawing thousands to tl eir meetings 
 by holy mirth and devout jocularity. 
 
 The Annual Reviewer, to whom I alluded in a 
 former letter, asserts that the sermons of the 
 Methodists are seasoned with brimstone, and 
 glowing with hell-fire.'^ This is not always tlie 
 case; neither are the flames of hell, and the tor- 
 ments of the damned, resorted to so frequently 
 as they were by some of the early preachers.— 
 They still, however, deal pretty largely in the 
 terrors of the Lord ; and seek to draw back the 
 wandering children of men to a sense of duty, 
 by proclaiming that hell and damnation, devils 
 and furies, brimstone and flames, tortures and 
 torments without mitigation or end, shall ere 
 long be commissioned by an angry God to pu- 
 nish their numerous transgressions. 
 
 That some of their sermons are still pretty 
 highly ‘‘ seasoned,” the following quotations 
 fully demonstrate. “ A damned spirit” — “ a 
 devil damned,” “ in the abyss of perdition, in 
 the burning pool, which spouts cataracts of fire 1” 
 ‘‘ Sinners may lose their time in disputing against 
 reality of hell-fire, till awakened to a sense 
 of their folly, by finding themselves plunged into 
 what God calls ‘ the lake that burns with fire 
 and brimstone.’ Many are desirous of seeing an 
 1 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 inhabitant of the other world, or they wish to 
 co7iverse with one to know what passes there. 
 Curiosity and infidelity are as insatiable as they 
 are unreasonable. Here, however, God steps 
 out. of the common \vay to indulge them. You 
 
 wish to see a disembodied spirit ? Make 
 
 way ! Here is a damned soul, which Christ 
 
 has evoked from the hell of fire! Hear him! 
 Hear him tell of his torments! Hear him utter 
 his anguish 1 Listen to the sighs and groans 
 which are wrung from his soul by the tortures 
 he endures ! Hear him asking for a drop of wa- 
 ter to’ cool his burning tongue ! Telling you 
 that he is tormented in that flame ; and warn- 
 ing you to repent, that you come not into that 
 place of torture ! How solemn is this warning ! 
 How awful this voice !'’ ‘‘ Hear the groans of 
 
 this damned soul, and be alarmed !” 
 
 Well, Madam, what think you ? Have thq 
 Methodists forgotten to 
 
 «« deal damnation round the land ?’* 
 
 But what will you say, when I inform you, that 
 the foregoing specimens are extracted from a 
 sermon, on Lives and Lazarus, printed the 
 very last year, and written by Mr. Adam 
 Clarke ! ! 
 
 Loudly alarming as the language in these short 
 extiacts may appear, I do assure you, Madam, they 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 263 
 
 are gentle as the vernal spring, refreshing as the 
 cooling breeze, and lulling as the gurgling ri- 
 vulet, when compared to those thunderbolts of 
 everlasting vengeance^ which a certain method- 
 istical Doctor sometimes hurls at the devoted 
 heads of the poor Arians and Socinians ! 
 
 This little man, with the most barefaced ef- 
 frontery, and in direct opposition to all truth, 
 common sense, decency, religion, and even the 
 express rules of his own society, embraces every 
 opportunity to make the pulpit a vehicle of abuse 
 and insult, especially when what he chooses to 
 call Arianism and Socinianism are concerned. 
 The fourth clause in the 2yth section of the 
 General Minutes (Rules of Conference), express- 
 ly provides, that ISlo person (among the Me- 
 thodists) shall call another heretic, bigot, or any 
 other disrespectful name, on any account, for a 
 difference in sentiment"' And in the third clause 
 of Addenda to the 26th section, called a Plan 
 of General Pacification,” it 'is said, We (the 
 Methodist preachers) all agree, that the pulpit 
 shall not be made the vehicle of abuse," These 
 identical rules and prohibitions are signed Tho- 
 mas Coke, Secretary !!! As some extenuation, 
 however, of the pious and consistent Doctor’s 
 conduct, I must not forget to inform you, that 
 Arianism is expressly mentioned in these Minutes, 
 as being a “ pernicious doctrine and that the 
 
264 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 43 1st hymn, in the Large Hymn Book, contains 
 the following very liberal and pious peti- 
 tions : 
 
 “ O ! might the blood of sprinkling cry, 
 
 For those who spurn the sprinkled blood ; 
 
 Assert thy glorious Deity ! 
 
 Stretch out thy arm, thou Triune God, 
 
 The Unitarian fiend expel, 
 
 And chace his doctrine back to hell V* 
 
 So that, every thing considered, the good Doc- 
 tor is not so highly culpable as one might at 
 the first imagine. And he no doubt thinks he 
 is doing God service, by thus damning the poor 
 Unitarians. This being the case, I do not ex- 
 pect tlie excellent Letter, lately addressed to 
 him, by the Rev. Job David, of Taunton, will 
 have any very salutary effect ; more especially 
 as his intolerant abuse is kept in countenance 
 by the oratorical railing of Mr. Bradburn, and 
 the declamatory powers, and even aclhe e.ver- 
 fions, of the Editor of the Methodist Maga- 
 zine. 
 
 “ Where is the man, who, prodigal of mind. 
 
 In one wide wish embraces human kind ? 
 
 Ail priue of sects, ail party zeal above, 
 
 Whose guide is ri ason, and whose God is love, 
 
 Fair nature’s friena, a fo(‘ to fraud and art — 
 
 Where is the man, so welcome to my heart 
 
 LaNGHORNK. 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 265 
 
 Were I here to close iriy description, I am 
 persuaded you would never, on any account, 
 enter the door of a Methodist chapel. But as 
 that would be an etfect it is not my wish to pro- 
 duce, T gladly call your attention to the favour^ 
 able side of the picture. 
 
 When, Madam, you wish to see the most im- 
 portant of all concerns engaged in with ardour 
 and seriousness — when you feel yourself weary 
 of the toil and drudgery of life, yet are still 
 clinging to the soil from whence grows all your 
 cares — when you would have your heart en- 
 gaged, and your soul warmed with the love of 
 .religion, and the beauty of holiness — when you 
 feel a more than ordinary hatred of moral evil, 
 and wish to see the monster depicted and ex- 
 posed in all its hideous deformity, go to a Me- 
 thodist chapel. See the zeal of the Wesleyans 
 • — listen to the representations of a blissful fu- 
 turity — let all within you admire the union, the 
 love, and affection, of tliose who are inquir- 
 ing the way to Zioi), with their faces thither- 
 ward ! I do not say you would not find these 
 incentives to virtue and holiness at any other 
 place of Christian worship, or that you actually 
 require them ; but this 1 do say, that no body 
 of Christians are more earnestly and sincerely 
 engaged in the service of heaven than the Wes- 
 leyan Methofiists. Nor are they without preach- 
 ers who would do honour to any party. The 
 
256 * 
 
 SPECIMENS, 
 
 learning and piety of Mr. Adam Clarke — the 
 zeal and liberality of Mr. Jabez Bunting-^the 
 simple and unaffected devotion of Mr. Joseph 
 Entwisle — and the blunt honesty of Mr. Joseph 
 BradfoiTf are noble and honourable exceptions 
 to the censure 1 have been impelled, by tlie de- 
 mands of impartiality, to pass upon one or two 
 of their brethren ; and I could mention the 
 names of several others who are perhaps equal- 
 ly deserving of praise. The very strenuous sup- 
 port which ?nost of the Methodist preachers 
 give to the common notion of the eternity of 
 hell- torments, gives an unfavourable cast to 
 their sermons, and leads them at times into heats 
 and extravagances in the pulpit, which, on 
 other occasions, they would disavow and ab- 
 hor. 
 
 The Methodists preach two, and in some places 
 three, times every Lord’s day, besides almost every 
 evening during the week, either in the town 
 where they are stationed, or in the surrounding 
 country, which forms what is called a circuit, or 
 round. The morning’s discourse is usually address- 
 ed, in a more pointed manner, to the members 
 of the society. These discourses are often very 
 excellent in their kind. They are generally up- 
 on some moral or religious duty, and are of the 
 most consoling and pressing nature. The even- 
 ing sermons are either controversial, inviting, 
 awakening, or alarming. It is at those seasons 
 
SPECIMENS. 
 
 
 the sons of thunder officiously seek to light the 
 flames of bell in the hearts of sinners — to'acce- 
 lerate the bolts of dmne fury — and to point the 
 barbed arrovv^s of conviction to the souls of the 
 'svicked, the careless, and the unawakened. It 
 is unnecessary for me to recommend morning 
 preaching to your attendance. With respect to 
 the hours of preaching, these vary in different 
 places. The seven o’clock preaching is, how- 
 ever, I believe, observed in almost all the large 
 towns ; and the usual time of preaching in the 
 evening is about five in the winter, and six in 
 the summer 'season. I speak now of the Sunday 
 services. The morning preaching on work- 
 days is at five, winter and summer; and the 
 field-preaching happens according to the fine- 
 ness of the day, the state of existing circum- 
 stances, and the zeal of the preacher. The fol- 
 - lowing is the rule concerning service in canoni- 
 cal hours ; 
 
 § XXIII, In what cases we allow Service in 
 Church- Hours. 
 
 Q. 31. In what cases do we allow service 
 in what are commonly called church-hours? 
 
 “ A. When the minister is a notoriously wick- 
 ed man. When he preaches Arian, or any equally 
 pernicious doctrine. Wuen there are not churches 
 in the town sufficient to contain the people. 
 
268 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 And when there is no church within two or 
 three miles. And it is expected that every one 
 who preaches in church-hours, will either read 
 Mr. Wesley’s abridgment of the common-prayer, 
 or else the lessons for the day.” 
 
 Pray, Madam, suspend your inquiries a little, 
 concerning the authority which a church of 
 England minister has to alter or abridge the 
 book of common'prayer. Who shall lay any 
 thing to the charge of God’s elect ? 
 
 I am, &G. 
 
269 
 
 LETTER XXVII. 
 
 Of Prayer-leaders, Class-leaders, and Local- 
 Preachers. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Having now, as I conceive, faithfully deline- 
 ated all those associations which compose what 
 niay be denominated the spiritual economy of 
 Methodism, I might proceed to describe the va- 
 rious secular meetings, which form the outward 
 discipline of its professors : but I must first 
 .make you acquainted with the different church- 
 officers of which their assemblies are composed. 
 These are six in number; four of wliom are lords 
 spiritual; the remaining two belong to the 
 lower house, but are of infinite weight and im- 
 portance in the constitution of Methodism. I 
 will treat of them in order; beginning, agreeably 
 to my plan, with those of the lowest order. 
 

 CHLJKCH-OFFiCEftS. 
 
 I have already given you some account of 
 the qualifications of a prayer- leader, orexhorter. 
 These are men of very considerable service in 
 the cause of Methodism. They are the hewers 
 of wood and the drawers of water in the church ; 
 men who labour incessantly for the conversion 
 of souls. They employ themselves with un- 
 wearied industry to gather people to the meet- 
 ing. I have often known these men to go out 
 in small parties, seeking opportunities of prayer 
 and exhortation among their country neigh- 
 bours. When one of these theological hunts 
 takes place (and they used to he pretty frequent 
 in some parts of the north of England), one of 
 tlie party must be a smoker of tobacco ; (for the 
 rule against smoking and snuff-taking is not 
 often kept). It is this person’s business, when- 
 ever he comes to a place where he knows there 
 are few if any Methodists, to call at some one 
 of the houses, and to request the liberty of 
 lighting his pipe. While he is performing this 
 ceremony, his brethren are standing near the 
 door. On some remarks being made by the 
 smoker, on the heat or coldness of the weather, 
 8cc. it not unusually happens that the good 
 people of the house will request him to take 
 a chair and rest himself vdiile he smokes his 
 pipe. To this proposal he gladly accedes^ and 
 mentioning his friends at the door, they also 
 are invited, and a familiar conversation soon 
 3 
 
CHURCH-OFFlCEUi 
 
 271 
 
 takes place between the people of the house 
 and their pious guests. While they are thus 
 employed, some one of the party is looking 
 round to see if there are any religious books 
 on the tables or desks. In short, Madam, 
 the subject of religion is some way or other 
 introduced, and recommended to the alfections 
 of the people ; and if they happen to receive 
 the counsels of the Methodists favourably, a 
 prayer-meeting is soon begun at the house — 
 Methodism is introduced into the village — some 
 of the people get converted ; these convert 
 others — a class is formed of the new converts 
 ' — the local preachers are appointed ; and if they 
 succeed pretty well, an opening is made for 
 their travelling brethren, and an out pouring of 
 the Spirit is the glorious consequence. Thus 
 are the prayer-leaders employed, although, per- 
 haps, not in every place exactly as I have been 
 describing them, to pave the way for Methodism, 
 where it would otherwise never be known. — 
 Some of the prayer-leaders are also class-leaders. 
 Of so much use are prayer-meetings to their 
 cause, that to appoint them wherever they can 
 make it convenient is an express rule of Con- 
 ference. The pra\ er leaders have meetings, 
 composed of their own body, to consider of the 
 nature and extent of their exertions, and of the 
 best means of promoting their cause. 
 
^73 
 
 CHURCH-OFFICERS. 
 
 The next order of men in the Methodist con- 
 nexion are the class-leaders, who are usually 
 chosen out of the body of prayer-leaders. With 
 the business of these persons you are already ac- 
 quainted. The following injunctions are laid 
 upon the superintendants relative to them. 
 
 It is the duty of the superintendant to take 
 care that the leaders be not only men of sound 
 judgment, but men truly devoted to God. Let 
 each of them be diligently examined concerning 
 his method of meeting a class. Let this be 
 done at the quarterly visitation of the classes. 
 And in oriler to this, allow sufficient time for 
 the meeting of each society. 
 
 Let each leader carefully inquire how every 
 soul in his class prospers ; not only how each 
 person observes the rules, but how he grows in 
 the knowledge and love of God. Endeavour 
 to make the meeting of the classes lively and 
 profitable. Therefore change improper leaders. 
 But in doing this, great care and tenderness 
 must be used ; and it is highly necessary to 
 consult the rest of the leaders on such occa- 
 sions.” ( 
 
 It w'as agreed at the conference in 1797", that 
 no person shall be appointed a leader or steward, 
 or be removed from his office, but in conjunc- 
 tion with the leaders" meeting : the nomina| 
 tion to be in the superintendant, and the ap- 
 
CBURCH-Cf'FICERS. g/S 
 
 probation or disapprobation to be in the leaders’ 
 meeting. 
 
 “ Let the leaders frequently meet each others 
 classes. 
 
 Let us observe which of the leaders are 
 most useful, and let these meet the other classes 
 as often as possible.” 
 
 These officers are, for the most partj chosen 
 from among the brethren ; there are, however, 
 not a few class-leaders in the sisterhood. 
 
 The class-leaders are the body-politic; the 
 great representatives of the people ; and as you 
 will have already observed, they are the princi- 
 pal tax-gatherers in the Methodist government. 
 That they are, therefore, of infinite importance 
 to the cause, is very evident. An insurrection 
 among the leaders would be attended with fatal 
 consequences to Methodism. Out of this body 
 iire often chosen the local-preachers ; a species 
 of officers in the Wesleyan church which I must 
 next attempt to describe. 
 
 In the early days of Methodism, all the lay- 
 preachers might be called local-preachers ; for 
 by this term is meant, in their vocabulary, all 
 those preachers who follow some secular em- 
 ployment for their livelihood; receiving no re- 
 muneration at all for their ministerial services. 
 These men are consequently employed on Sun- 
 Mays only, except where the week-night preach- 
 
 T 
 
274 
 
 .CHURCH-OFFICERS. 
 
 ing happens to be in the vicinity of their tesi- 
 dence. 
 
 ; Their call to the ministerial office is both in- 
 ward and outward ; the process being generally 
 carried on somewhat in the following manner : 
 After a person has been a regular member for 
 some time, if he possesses a tolerable share of 
 boldness, and can speak with moderate fluency 
 before a number of persons at a prayer-meeting ; 
 and especially if he be successful in making 
 converts, it not unfrequently happens that a 
 suggestion will arise in Ins mind, of his being 
 called to preach the gospel. This, at first, is 
 but a faint and transient thought, which vanishes 
 on the least exertion of rational consideration. 
 If the person thus acted upon be of rather a ti- 
 morous disposition, or if he have a considerable 
 share of natural modesty, the first thoughts of 
 his becoming a preacher are repelled as sugges- 
 tions of the devil, who thus seeks to draw him 
 away from the humble simplicity of the gospel; 
 and desires to raise him up, that he may cast 
 him down with greater force. If, however, the 
 man’s exertion in the prayer-meetings, or at 
 class, are still attended with success, the in- 
 ward motions to become a preacher will grow 
 upon him; they will return with redoubled 
 strength on every repelling attack of reason, ti- 
 morousness, or modesty. These thoughts will 
 
' CHURCH-OFFlCERS. 275 
 
 cause him to be still more active in the way of 
 exhortation, advice, &c. He will try his strength 
 in the way of reproof, wherever he has an oppor- 
 tunity ; on some occasions the reproofs will have 
 the desired effect in the conversion of the sin- 
 ner; on others,- they will re-act upon himself, 
 in quite a contrary manner, and bring upon 
 him a greater or a less degree of persecution. In 
 whatever way his reproofs operate, they tend tb 
 strengthen the thoughts of his having a lalL 
 If he is successful in his feeble attempts upon 
 others, that is a sure indication that he was so 
 employed by the motions of God’s good Spiritj 
 who speaks in him to the convinced sinner. If 
 his reproofs produce an unfavourable effect, he 
 remembers that the true prophets of the Lord 
 must expect the buffetings of the enemy; and 
 that to suffer persecution is a sure badge of dis- 
 cipleship, as well as a strong mark of a true call 
 to the ministry* 
 
 It will often happen, that some one or other, 
 seeing the zeal and usefulness of this brother, 
 will hint to him, that God has very likely 
 more work for him to do in his vineyard* This 
 is very often enough — this gives the final blow 
 to all the re vol tings of worldly prudence and 
 carnal reason. 
 
 If, however, some doubts should still remain 
 upon his mind, the}^ are removed, either by some 
 
976 
 
 REMARKABLE DREAM. 
 
 extraordinary dream, or by his having some text 
 of scripture applied to his mind, in a very power- 
 ful manner: such as — Woe is me if I preach 
 not the gospel “ Go ye out into the highways 
 and hedges, and compel them to come in 
 
 Behold I send you out as sheep among 
 wolves,” &c. &c. Accidentally to open upon a 
 text of this nature is a good prognostic of fu- 
 ture public service in the church. 
 
 As I have mentioned dreams being some- 
 times employed to thrust labourers into the vine- 
 yard, I may be allowed to mention a case in 
 point. Some time after I first joined the so- 
 ciety of Alethodists, I was induced, after a thou- 
 sand inward conflicts, which affected my health 
 not a little, to yield to the pressing solicitations 
 of some of the brethren, and to try my powers 
 .of extemporaneous effusion, before a very crowd- 
 ed audience; but not succeeding exactly as I 
 wished (though some of my friends told me 
 it was only the pride of nature and the tempta- 
 tions of the devil), I resolved to make no far- 
 ther attempts; until some time after, I w'ent to 
 hear a Mr. Thomas Wood, one of the travelling 
 preachers, who assured vne, in the presence of 
 two or three others, that a few nights prior to 
 his having seen me for tlie first time, at the 
 preaching, he had dreamed, that a young man, 
 of my name, had lately been converted to God 
 among the Methodists; that this young man 
 
REMARKABLE DREAM, 
 
 277 
 
 was possessed of considerable talents; had, be* 
 fore bis conversion, been led to entercaiu vsome 
 very erroneous opinions ; and that he was be- 
 come a preacher of the gospel ! — This apj eared 
 very extraordinary ; and what seemed to me to 
 confirm the truth of Mr. Wood’s statement, was 
 his actually calling me bv my name, and appear- 
 ing to know piy person, although 1 was certain 
 he could nevet before have seen me ; and he de- 
 clared that no one had tdd him my name. 
 
 Can you wonder, Madam, that after this, 
 your humble servant should soon become a Me- 
 thodist preacher But you will ask me, if I 
 now believe the facts asserted by IMr. Wood ? I 
 answer, I certainly do. IMr. Wood is a man of 
 some learning, of unimpeachable integrity ; and 
 so much was he at that time averse to the en- 
 thusiasm of some of the people, that I have often 
 heard it asserted of him, that be was a back- 
 slider in heart — a mere formalist, without any of 
 the true spirit of revival. This gentleman is stdl 
 living. 1 saw him a few years ago at Manches- 
 ter, where, before several of the preachers, he 
 mentioned his extraordinary dream. You will 
 smile at my credulity ; but I find an insuperable 
 objection to believe that Mr. Wood is capalde of 
 any species of known fdsebood. And after all, 
 the thing is not so wonderful as to render the 
 J&elief of it impossible. 
 
278 
 
 DIFFIDENCE OF SOME MEN. 
 
 All dreams are more or less defective. In one 
 instarice, Mr. Wood's was particularly so : his 
 young’ man possessing “ very considerable ta- 
 lents.” Ill every other respect his ramblings of 
 fancy were tolerably correct ; for I had formerly 
 entertained a very, strong prejudice against the 
 truth of Christianity ; and, at the time of the 
 dream, had been recently converted to Me- 
 thodism. 
 
 A young man, who formerly resided at my 
 house in the country, was strongly convinced 
 that he was called to preach the gospel ; but be- 
 ing of an uncommonly timid disposition, as well 
 as of a most unpromising address, he was never 
 able to break through his timidity and bashful- 
 ness; so that he actually threw himself into a 
 consiimption, and died in the work' house, in 
 the most abject state of poverty and distress. 
 
 lie was a viituous and worthy young man; 
 but so 11 rich was he harassed with what he 
 concei\C(i to be an inward call to the ministry, 
 that 1 liHve known him, after a restless and 
 sleepless niglit, to throw himself across the bed, 
 and tliere to he, groaning and bempaning his 
 want of resol u tion the whole of the day. “ Lord, 
 1 an. not Coquent !” — Send me not against this 
 people ;” was his constant cry. But the more 
 lie sought to get rid of these impressions, the 
 stronger they grew upon, him; until it became 
 
LOCA L- PRE A C H ERS. S79 - 
 
 impossible for him to attend to his businesSj" 
 and he left my house to go to his own town, 
 where he soon sunk under the weight of his 
 eonflicts. 
 
 Many of the Methodists are not, however, so 
 backward to do the Lord’s work : the slightest 
 impulse, and the most distant encouragement, 
 will cause some of them to stand forward with 
 boldness'; saying, — Here am I, Lord, send 
 me!’’ 
 
 The society are prudent enough not to accept 
 the overtures^ of every one who may think he 
 has the inw'ard call; he must also have the 
 outward call, or he is no true minister of 
 Christ. 
 
 The following are the rules respecting local 
 preachers: — 
 
 Of the Local- Preachers, and their Meetings. 
 
 1. The superintendant shall regularly meet 
 the local preachers once a quarter, and no per-’ , 
 son shall receive a plan as a, local-preacher, nor 
 be suffered to preach among us as such, without - 
 the approbation of that meeting. Or, if in any 
 circuit a regular local-preachers’ meetingcannot 
 be held, they shall be proposed and approved 
 
^80 
 
 tO€AL-PREAGHERS. 
 
 at the general quarterly-meeting of the cir- 
 cuit. 
 
 “2. All local-preachers shall meet in class. 
 No exception sliall be made in respect to any 
 who have been travelling preachers in former 
 years. 
 
 “ 3. Let no local-preacher, who will not 
 meet in class, or who is not regularly planned by 
 the supeiinteiidant of the circuit where he re- 
 sides, be permitted to preach. 
 
 “ 4. Let no local- preacher be permitted to 
 preach in any other circuit than his own, with- 
 out producing a recommendation from the su- 
 peiintendant of that circuit in which he lives ; 
 nor suffer any invitation to be admitted as a 
 plea, except from men in office, who act in con- 
 junction with the snperintendant of that cir- 
 cuit which he visits. 
 
 5. Let no local' preacher keep love-feasts, 
 without the consent of the snperintendant, nor 
 in any wise interfere with his business. Let every 
 one keep in his own place, and attend to the 
 duties of his station. 
 
 “ 6. No preacher who has been suspended 
 or expelled, shall, on any account, be employed 
 as a local -preacher, witliout the authority of 
 Conference.” 
 
 Tliougb some of the local- preachers are ex- 
 tremely ignorant, they are, the whole, a 
 
LOCAL- PREACHERS. 
 
 £8i 
 
 useful and valuable body of men ; and they are 
 gradually improving in point of learning and 
 abilities. I know one, however, at this time, 
 who very lately knew not the use of a coininon 
 English dictionary : nay, there are some among 
 them, I believe, that cannot read at ail. 
 
 The respectable local-preachers by no means 
 despise human learning, nor neglect to avail 
 themselves of every opportunity of cultivating 
 it. From a tolerably extensive acquaintance 
 with these men, I am well persuaded, that as 
 they are more independent, so are they more 
 useful in spreading the name, and promoting 
 the influence, of Methodism, tha.n even the tra- 
 velling preachers themselves ; wdio, many of 
 them, to their great shame be it spoken, often 
 act as if they affected to despise them. In the 
 circuit where I last resided, it was agreed, that 
 when a local- preacher had an appointment 
 which led him to the distance of six miles from 
 his own home, he should be allowed what would 
 defray the expense of horse-hire, &c. But, as 
 this money was to he raised by a subscription 
 in the poor country places, to be made by the 
 local preachers themselves, it almost always 
 happened that these gentlemen Lad to defray 
 their own costs; as they had not sufneient im» 
 pudtmce to levy contributions upon die people, 
 wdiO they knew could scarcely afford to p/ay 
 their weekly ciass-money ; and who very often 
 
282 
 
 LOCAL- PREACHERS. 
 
 had been pretty well drained by the travelling- 
 preachers, by collections on sundry occasions, 
 Avhich I will explain to you in a future Letter/ 1 
 do not know what are the regulations in other 
 towns; but in the circuit to which I am allud- 
 ing, if most of the local- preachers were not men 
 of some little property, and very willing to con- 
 tribute every thing in their power to the cause 
 in which they are engaged, both travelling and 
 every other kind of preaching among the Me- 
 thodists, would very speedily be at an end. 
 I would hope some more equitable mode of pro- 
 ceeding has since been adopted. 
 
 When it is considered that many of the local- 
 preachers are not at all inferior to their travel- 
 ling brethren, either in zeal, piety, usefulness, 
 or learnino-, it is a most flao’rant abridgment of 
 their Christian liberty, as well as an insult to 
 their character and judgment, that they are ne- 
 ver, on any account, admitted into the sanctum 
 sanctorum — a yearly confeience. 
 
 The travelling-preachers have, doubtless, good 
 and sufficient reason for thus shutting the con- 
 ference doors against tlicir local brethren ; lest, 
 therefore it should be imperiously and pettishly 
 demanded of ;ne, as it is of the Annual Reviewer, 
 respecting Kingswood-school — ‘‘ What right 
 have you. Sir, to meddle about tlie rules of con- 
 ference?” — I will say no more on this priestly 
 law. I must, however, be permitted to add, that 
 
EXTRACT, &C. 
 
 283 
 
 in an address to conference, written by one of 
 tbe local preachers a few years ago, it is asserted 
 that they (the trcivelling preachers) are extreme- 
 ly God-like — their ways, in many instances, be- 
 ing finding out. 
 
 From the body of local-preachers are chosen 
 the travelling, or, as a couijtry friend of mine 
 used to call them, the gentlemen preachers. 
 
 1 will close this account of the local preachers 
 with one or two extracts from a publication en- 
 titled, ‘‘The Methodist Monitor,” published 
 in the year 1796. 
 
 There seems something contaminating in 
 the ministry. While a man follows a lawful 
 trade, and preaches the gospel among us, he re- 
 mains on a level with his brethren. But take a 
 number of persons of this character, from a va- 
 riety of places, and let them travel in union with 
 the itinerant preachers, and \ou will soon per- 
 ceive what rapid progress the spirit of priest- 
 craft generally makes in their hearts. There 
 may be exceptions. Some think theni but 
 few.” 
 
 “At present, they (tlm local preachers) go to 
 break up new ground, as it is called, and after 
 they get a congregation established, and see 
 some fruit of their labour, the travelling- preach- 
 ers are introduced, and form classes immediate- 
 ly, A great number of places have been opened 
 .Fnis way. With propriety they might say, MVe 
 
^84 EXTRACT FROP.I THE 
 
 have laboured, and they have entered into the 
 fniiiS oF'oiir labours.’ 
 
 It would be impossible to support the cause 
 without local-preachers. They are numerous 
 in many circuits, and all employed. They preach 
 a great deal more than tlie circuit preachers. If 
 it were not for their labours, the people would 
 be ill a very trying situation.'’ 
 
 If matters were brought to this alternative, 
 tl^at either the travelling or tlie local preachers 
 must be parted with, it would be easy to deter- 
 mine which could be best spared. The people 
 wmuld suffer no loss, comparatively s})eaking, by 
 all the travelling preachers being dismissed, troni 
 what they would sustain by all the local preach- 
 ers being silenced ; because it would be easy to 
 ill! up the places of the former out of the body 
 of the latter, with men every w ay as acceptable 
 preachers, and for considerable less expense. 
 Because, if they were ever so disposed, it would 
 be several years before tliey became as much ef- 
 feminate — as afraid to go out in a stormy day — 
 as indifferent about supplying the circuit — as 
 expensive in their houses, See. — or, to speak all 
 in one word, as much gentlemen as n^any of the 
 travelling- preachers aie.'’ 
 
 I do both hope and believe, that some of the 
 insinuations in the latter part of tins extract are 
 both illiberal and unjust. This writer, consider- 
 ing’ bt. Paul as a kind of Methodist local preach- 
 
METHODIST MONITOR. 
 
 '285 
 
 er, thus indulges his fancy in describing him 
 and his labours : — 
 
 “ I often fancy in my own mind, when St. 
 Paul first went to Athens, that he had not a good 
 coat to put on, nor was he able to appear de- 
 cent in public without his cloak ; which he once 
 forgot, and desired his son in the gospel to 
 bring to him. With a knapsack on his shoulders, 
 filled with tools for making tents, his books, 
 and provisions, he entered that populous city. 
 Having just as much in his purse as would pay 
 for his lodgings that night, and as much bread, 
 &c. in his scrip, as served for his breakfast, be 
 was obliged to look out for a job of tent-making 
 or mending, to keep body and soul together. 
 After he bad been sweating at work, as be re- 
 turned to bis lodging, he saw an inscription 
 upon one of their altars — ‘ To the Unknown 
 God.’ While he refreshed himself with the fruit 
 of the labours of the day, and performed the 
 other duties necessary to fit him for public com- 
 pany, he digested his subject, and prepared to 
 give the. Atlienians a lecture. He repaired to 
 Mars-Hill, and preached to the wise phiiaso- 
 phers and others, that frequented that place. 
 When he had finished, several were ready to dis- 
 pute with him ; and some went so far as to pro- 
 pose giving him a second hearing; but we do 
 not read of any offering him a niglit’s lodgiiig, 
 or the least refreshment. The apostle, liowever, 
 1 
 
286 EXTRACT, kc, 
 
 greatly rejoiced that his own hands were able to 
 administer to his own necessities.” 
 
 Whether, if St. Paul were now living, he 
 would become a local-preacher, go to dispute 
 at the Old ’Change, or settle upon a curacy in 
 the church of England, I will not undertake to 
 determine; but it is evident, that every sect 
 seems desirous of having it thought he would 
 be on that side to which each member now at- 
 taches himself. 
 
 The local-preachers, in these kingdoms, and 
 on the continent of America, amount to about 
 four thousand in number. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
LETTER XXVllL 
 
 Of Travelling Preachers — Specimens—^ 
 T r us tees — Stewards. 
 
 BEAR MADAM^ 
 
 Da RING the lifetime of Mr. Wesley, such per- 
 sons were admitted itinerant preachers as he 
 himself might think proper to raise to that high 
 office. His well-known credulity introduced 
 many persons who proved a disgrace to Method- 
 ism ; but since his decease, more caution has 
 been observed in transplanting the brethren 
 from their humble stations as local preachers. 
 Still the door of Methodism is very wide, and 
 various are the ways by which a local preacher 
 may become an itinerant ; as the people have 
 not the power of choosing their own ministers. 
 1 he writer I quoted in my last Letter states the 
 following : — 
 
288 
 
 Travelling I’reachers. 
 
 “ I,” says he, as an assistant, may wish to 
 have the honour of sending many labourers into 
 the vineyard of Christ, and therefore thrust out, 
 against the minds of the people, such men as are 
 unfit for the work, to gratify my vanity. Or, I 
 may like to lounge at home with my family, 
 when I ought to go to disagreeable or distant 
 places, and appoint a local preacher to supply 
 for me. He does it cheerfully, hoping one good 
 turn will make way for another. When he has 
 hacked about for me throughout the year, as a 
 reward for his services, I get him a place among 
 the travelling preachers, without stooping to 
 ask at a quarterly-meeting, whether it will be 
 suitable or not. Or, I may see a man that has 
 not attended well to his business, and is on the 
 border of being a bankrupt, and does not know 
 'what to turn his hand to. His pitiful stories 
 may work upon my passions, and, without con- 
 sulting with the people in the circuit where I la- 
 bour, I may get him accepted both at the dis- 
 trict-meeting and at the conference.'^" 
 
 These hindrances to a pure ministry have been 
 in some measure removed by a law made in th« 
 year 1797 , requiring every candidate to be ap- 
 proved of at a quarterly-meeting. The follow- 
 ing are the rules on the admission of perons to 
 become travelling- preachers ; — 
 
TRYING CANDIDATES, &C. 
 
 §89 
 
 § III. The method of trying Candidates for 
 the Ministry. 
 
 Q. 3. How shall we try those who think 
 they are moved by the Holy Ghost to preach the 
 gospel ? 
 
 “ A. Inquire, Do they know God as a par- 
 doning God ? Have they the love of God abid- 
 ing in them ? Do they desire and seek nothing 
 but God? And are they holy in all manner of 
 conversation ? Have they gifts as well as grace 
 for the work ? Have they a clear, sound under- 
 standing? Have they a right judgment in the 
 things of God ? Have they a just conception 
 of salvation by faith? And has God given them 
 an acceptable way of speaking? Do they speak 
 justly, readily, and clearly ? Have they had any 
 fruit of their labour? Have any been truly 
 convinced of sin, and converted to God by their 
 preaching ? 
 
 “ As long as the above marks concur in any 
 one, we believe he is called of God to preach. 
 These we receive as sufficient proof, that he is 
 moved thereto by the Holy Ghost. 
 
 ‘‘ Before any one can be received even upon 
 trial among us, it is necessary, that he should 
 have been a member of the society for some 
 considerable time ; that he should have acted 
 
 u 
 
290 
 
 TRYING CANDIDATES 
 
 as a local-preacher ; that he should be recom- 
 mended by the quarterly-meeting to the dis- 
 trict-meeting, and by that to the conference : 
 and at the conference in 1797, it was agreed, 
 that before any superintendent propose any 
 preacher to the conference as proper to be ad- 
 mitted on trial, such preacher must not only be 
 approved of at the March quarterly-meeting, 
 but must have read and signed the General Mi- 
 nutes, as fully approving of them. Nor must 
 any one suppose, or pretend to think, that the 
 conversations which have been on any of these 
 minutes were intended to qualify them, as in 
 the least to affect the spirit and design of them. 
 That he should then travel four years upon trial, 
 during which time he must not marry. And 
 being well recommended by the people where he 
 has laboured, and by the preachers who have 
 laboured with him, he shall then be received 
 into full connexion. The proper time for doing 
 this is at a conference. After serious solemn 
 prayer, the following questions shall be proposed 
 to each candidate, which he shall be required to 
 answer as in the presence of God : — 
 
 ‘‘ Have you a lively faith in Christ? Do you 
 enjoy a clear manifestation of the love of God to 
 your soul ? Have you constant power over all 
 sin ? Do you expect to be perfected in love 
 in this life? Do you really desire and earnestly 
 seek it ? Are you resolved to devote yourself 
 
291 
 
 FOR THE MINISTRY. 
 
 wholly to God, and to his work ? Do you know 
 the Methodist plan of doctrine and discipline ? 
 Have you read the plain account of the Me- 
 thodists ? The appeals to men of reason and 
 religion ? Do you know the rules of the society 
 and of the bands ? Are you determined hy the 
 help of God to keep them ? Do you take no 
 snuff, tobacco, or drams ? Have you read and 
 seriously considered the minutes of the confer- 
 ence ? Especially, have you considered the rules 
 of a helper? And above all, the first, tenth, and 
 twelfth, and will you keep them for conscience 
 sake? Are you determined to employ all your 
 time in the work of Ood ? Will you preach every 
 morning and evening, when opportunity serves, 
 endeavouring not to speak too long or too loud ? 
 Will you diligently instruct the children where 
 you can ? Will you visit from house to house 
 where it may be done ? Will you recommend 
 fasting and prayer, both by precept and ex- 
 ample? Are you in debt?'’ 
 
 ‘^Having answered the above questions to our 
 satisfaction, we then give him the minutes of the 
 conference inscribed thus ; 
 
 To A. B. 
 
 ‘‘ You think it your duty to call sinners to 
 repentance. Make full proof hereof, and we 
 shall rejoice, to receive you as a fellow-la- 
 bourer.” 
 
 v9 
 
BUSINESS OF A 
 
 •'292 
 
 We have been disappointed by married 
 preachers coming out to travel, in expectation 
 of being tliemselves able to maintain their wives 
 independently of the conference, who very soon 
 became entirely dependent. How shall this be 
 prevented ^ Let no preacher be received on 
 this plan, unless he can bring in writing such 
 an account of his income, signed by the super- 
 intendent, as shall satisfy the conference. And 
 if any person shall promise to maintain a 
 preacher’s wife, or children, he shall give a 
 bond to the conference for the sum he intends 
 to allow. ” 
 
 Every preacher, before he is admitted into 
 full connexion, shall write an account of his 
 life, and give it to Mr. Story,” (at that time Edi- 
 tor of the M. Magazine ). 
 
 Mr. Wesley appointed one of the preachers in 
 each circuit to assist in governing the societies 
 in the places where they were stationed. The 
 other preachers were called Elelpers. The assist- 
 ant is now denominated the Superintendent. 
 
 The office and duties of a superintendent are 
 as fallow. 
 
 § V. The peculiar Busmess of a Superintendent, 
 
 Q. 6. What is the business of a superin- 
 tendent ? 
 
SUPERINTENDENT. 
 
 293 
 
 A. To see tliat the other preachers in his 
 circuit behave well, and want nothing. He 
 should consider these (especially if they are 
 young men), as his pupils : into whose behavi- 
 our and studies he should frequently inquire; 
 and at proper times should ask, Do you walk 
 closely with God ? Have you now fellowship 
 with the Father and the Son? At what hour 
 do you rise ? Do you punctually observe the 
 morning and evening hour of retirement? Do 
 you spend your time profitably? Do you con- 
 verse seriously, usefully, and closely ? Do you 
 use all the means of grace yourself, and enforce 
 the use of them on all other persons ? These 
 are either instituted ov prudential. 
 
 1. The instituted are these : 
 
 ‘‘ 1. Prayer: in private, in the family, and in 
 public; consisting of deprecation, petition, in- 
 tercession and thanksgiving. Do you use each 
 of these ? 
 
 ‘‘ Do you use private prayer every morning 
 and evening at least ; if you can, at six in the 
 evening, and the hour before or after morning 
 preaching? Do you forecast daily, wherever 
 you are, howto secure these hours? Do you 
 avow it every where ? Do you ask every where, 
 Have you family prayer ? Do you retire at six 
 o’clock ? 
 
 2. Searching the scriptures, 1, By reading 
 constantly, some part every day, all the Bible,- 
 
294 
 
 BUSINESS OF A 
 
 in order, carefully, seriously, and with earnest 
 prayer, before and after, ^w^do this fruitfully, 
 immediately practising what you learn there. 
 
 2, Meditating, at set times, by a fixed rule. 
 
 3, Hearing the word preached at all oppprtu- 
 nities, carefully, with earnest prayer to God for 
 a blessing upon his word. Have you a New- 
 Testament always about you ? 
 
 3. The Lord’s Supper. Do you use this at 
 every opportunity ? With solemn prayer, and 
 with earnest and deliberate self-devotion ? 
 
 4. Fasting. Do you fast every Friday ? 
 The neglect of this is sufficient to account for 
 our feebleness and faintness of spirit. We are 
 continually grieving the Holy Spirit by the ha- 
 bitual neglect of a plain duty ! Let us amend 
 from this hour. There are several degrees of 
 fasting which cannot hurt your health. Begiu 
 next Friday, and avow this duty wherever you 
 go. Touch no tea, coffee, or chocolate in the 
 morning; but if you want it a little milk, or 
 water-gruel. Dine on potatoes ; and if you 
 want it, eat three or four ounces of fiesh in the 
 evening. But at other times eat no flesh-sup- 
 pers. These exceedingly tend to breed nervous 
 disorders. 
 
 5 . Christian conference. Are you convinced 
 how important, and how difficult it is to order 
 your conversation aright ? Is it always in grace, 
 seasoned with salt, meet to minis^r grace to the 
 
' SUPERINTENDENT. 295 
 
 hearers ? Do not you converse too long at a 
 time? Is not an hour commonly enough? — • 
 Would it not be well always to have a deter- 
 minate end in view ? And always to conclude 
 with prayer? 
 
 II. Prudential means, we may use either 
 as common Christians, or as preachers of the 
 gospel. 
 
 ‘M. As common Christians. What particular 
 rules have you in order to grow in grace? 
 What arts of holy living ? 
 
 “2. As preachers. Do you meet every so- 
 ciety, also the leaders, and the bands, if there 
 are any? Do you live in holy watchfulness; 
 denying yourself ; taking up your cross ; and in 
 the exercise of the presence of God ? Do you 
 steadily watch against the world, the devil, 
 yourself, and your besetting sin ? Do you deny 
 yourself every useless pleasure of sense, ima- 
 gination, and honour ? Are you temperate in all 
 things ? Instance in food ? Do you use only 
 that kind, and that degree, which is best both 
 for your body and soul ? Do you see the ne- 
 cessity of this ? Do you eat no more at each 
 meal than is necessary? Do you eat no flesh 
 suppers, and no late suppers ? Do you use only 
 that kind and degree of drink which is best 
 both for your body and soul ? Do you drink 
 water, or wine, or ale ? Do you want these ? 
 
296 
 
 BUSINESS OF A 
 
 Wherein do you take up your cross daily? 
 Do you cheerfully bear your cross (whatever is 
 grievous to nature) as a gift of Godj and labour 
 to profit thereby ? 
 
 Do you endeavour to set God always before 
 you ? To see his eye continually fixed upon 
 you ? Nemr can you use these means but a 
 blessing must ensue. And the more you use 
 them the more you will grow in grace. 
 
 A superintendent ought also to visit the 
 classes quarterly, to regulate the bands, and to 
 deliver tickets. To take in or to put out of the 
 society, or the bands. At the conference in 
 1797, it was agreed that the leaders' meeting 
 shall have a right to declare any person on trial, 
 improper to be received into the society : and 
 after such declaration, the superintendent shall 
 not admit such person into the society. And 
 no person shall be expelled from the society for 
 immorality, till such immorality be proved at a 
 leaders'-meeting. To keep watch-nights and 
 love-feasts. To hold quarterly-meetings, and 
 there diligently to inquire both into the tempo- 
 ral and spiritual state oG the societies. To take 
 care that every society be supplied with books. 
 To send to London a ciroumstantial account 
 of every remarkable conversion, and of every 
 remarkable death. To take an exact list of all 
 the societies in his circuit once a year. To meet 
 
SUPERINTENDENT, 
 
 297 
 
 the married men and women, and the single 
 men and women, in the large societies once 
 a year, and to over-look the accounts of the 
 stewards. 
 
 The following advices are recommended to 
 all the superintendents. 
 
 Leave your successor a regular catalogue of 
 all the societies in the circuit. See that every 
 band-leader has the band-rules. Calmly and 
 vigorously enforce the rules concerning need- 
 less ornaments, drams, snuff, and tobacco. 
 Give no band-ticket to any person who does 
 not promise to leave them off. As soon as 
 there are four men or women believers in any 
 place, put them into a band. Suffer no love- 
 feast to last more than an hour and a half: And 
 instantly stop all from breaking the cake with 
 - one another. Warn all from time to time, that 
 none are to remove from one society to another, 
 without a certificate from the superintendent in 
 these words : ‘ A. B. the bearer, is a member of 
 our society in C. I believe he has a sufficient 
 reason for removing.’ Every where recommend 
 decency and cleanliness. Cleanliness is next to 
 godliness. Read the thoughts upon dress once 
 a year in every large society. In visiting the 
 classes be very mild, but very strict. Give no 
 ticket to any who follow the foolish fashions of 
 the world. Meet the bands once a week, and 
 keep a love-feast for them only^ once a quarter. 
 
-9^ BUSINESS OF A HELPER. 
 
 Exhort every believer to embrace the advantage.^ 
 Give a band-ticket to none, till they have met a 
 quarter on trial/" 
 
 § IX. The proper Business of a Helper, 
 
 Q. 9. What is the particular business of 
 those preachers who do not act as superin- 
 tendents ? 
 
 “ A. To feed the flock, by constantly preach- 
 ing morning and evening. To meet the society 
 and the bands weekly. To meet the leaders 
 weekly. To preach every morning where he 
 can have twenty hearers; but where he cannot, 
 then to sing and pray with them. And to do 
 any other part of the work which the superin- 
 tendent may desire him to do. 
 
 ‘‘ Q. 10. Should any of our preachers follow 
 trades ? 
 
 ‘‘ A. The question is not, whether they may 
 not occasionally work with their hands, as St. 
 Paul did : But whether it be proper for them to 
 buy or sell any kind of merchandize ? It is fully 
 determined, that this should not be done by 
 any preacher, no not the selling of pills, drops, 
 or balsams.” 
 
 As I wish to give you a general view of the 
 whole system of Methodism, I have been paiia- 
 
 ■" ^ 4 
 
TRUSTEES, &C. 
 
 299 
 
 cular in detailing the rules by which their officers 
 are appointed and governed. 
 
 Circumstances of rather a disagreeable nature 
 having sometimes taken pi e e among the preach- 
 ers, it is become necessary to enforce the follow- 
 ing advice — Converse sparingly and cautious- 
 ly with women, particularly with young wo- 
 men.” 
 
 The travelling preachers in these kingdoms 
 are in number about five hundred, and in America 
 also about five hundred ; making the total num- 
 ber of Methodist preachers, including the local 
 brethren, in the Wesleyan connexion only, about 
 five thousand. These gentlemen (the travelling 
 preachers), says Mr Kilham, who had himself 
 travelled several years, “ have access within the 
 veil, and should they write what they have see/i 
 and heard^ it would amazingly affect the whole 
 body of the people.” • 
 
 In the year 1739, the first Methodist preach- 
 ing-house was built at Bristol. It was settled 
 by Mr. John Wesley on eleven feoffees. Being 
 soon convinced, by a letter from Mr. Whitefield, 
 that these men had too much power, and that 
 they could even turn both himself and his 
 preachers out of the chapel, he called them to- 
 gether, cancelled the writings, and took the 
 whole management respecting the building into 
 his own hands. 
 
300 
 
 TRUSTEES 
 
 Soon after, he got a form of trust-deed drawn 
 lip for the settlement of the preaching-houses. 
 This trust-deed, with only a few alterations and 
 additions, is still in use among his followers. 
 
 It would be tiresome in the extreme to lay 
 before you the words of this instrument. It 
 provides, that the persons in whose trust the 
 chapels are vested, shall admit such preachers as 
 shall be appointed at the }^early conference, and 
 no others, to have and enjoy the chapels, &c. 
 provided always, that the said persons preach 
 no other doctrines than those contained in Mr. 
 Wesley’s Notes on the New-Testament, and his 
 four volumes of sermons. 
 
 The stewards of the society are of two orders, 
 town and circuit. The town-stewards have the 
 management of what more immediately concerns 
 the business of the society in the town ; and the 
 circuit-stewards superintend the temporal con- 
 cerns of the country societies belonging to their 
 respective circuits. 
 
 The trustees are not, in every instance, re- 
 quired to be members of the society ; yet it is 
 always desirable to have them men at least well- 
 disposed towards Methodism ; otherwise their 
 powers being extensive, they might do great 
 mischief, by cramping the authority and in- 
 fluence of the preachers. 
 
 The rules of the stewards are: Be frugal 
 
AND STEWARDS. 
 
 301 
 
 —Save every thing that can be saved honestly. 
 2. Spend no more than you receive — Contract 
 no debts. 3. Have no long accounts — Pay 
 every thing within the week. 4. Expect no 
 thanks from any man.” These rules were parti- 
 cidarly adapted to the state of the society in 
 London, at the time they were first made by Mr. 
 Wesley. They are not now always attended to ; 
 particularly in what relates to the weekly pay- 
 ment of all monies, See. 
 
 You are now, Madam, I hope, pretty well ac- 
 quainted with the duty and business of the dif- 
 ferent officers, both spiritual and temporal, which 
 are appointed to govern the church of the Me^ 
 thodists. ’ When I have described to you their 
 various secular associations, I will proceed v/ith 
 the history before and after the death of Mr. 
 Wesley. 
 
 I am, &p. 
 
302 
 
 LETTER XXIX. 
 
 Of Meetings for Business — Leaders^ -meetings— 
 Quarterly-meetings — District -meetings — Con- 
 ference, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The Leaders' -meetin gs 2ire held once every week. 
 The superintendent presides at them as a kind 
 of chairman. Into his hands the different lead- 
 ers pay their respective collections of class- 
 money. At this meeting the preacher looks 
 over the several class-papers ; when, by the num- 
 ber of Ps, As, Is, or blanks, which are to be 
 found in the several squares and columns, he 
 sees, at one view, which of the members have 
 been present or absent ; who have paid, and 
 who have not. By this admirable regulation, 
 the preacher is enabled to exhort, reprove, re- 
 buke, or praise, the several members of his 
 church ; and by this he is also enabled to form 
 
QUARTERLY-MEETINGS, 
 
 303 
 
 a judgment of each persons’s zeal and attention 
 to the great concerns of his own mind, and to 
 the society to which he belongs. 
 
 At a leaders’-meeting, almost every other 
 temporal concern of the society may be in- 
 vesti orated. 
 
 o 
 
 The friends of the late Mr. Alexander Kil- 
 ham thought that the leaders’-meeting had not 
 sufficient power and weight in managing the af- 
 fairs of the society; but the conference have 
 since extended the power of that meeting ; and 
 it now seemis to have a pretty fair and adequate 
 share in the management of the connexion, and 
 in checking the power and influence of the 
 preachers, with respect to the admission and re- 
 jection of members, the sending out preachers 
 to travel, &c. 
 
 The Quart erlij -meetings are composed of all 
 the travelling* preachers in the circuit where 
 such meetings are held ; of the leaders and stew- 
 ards of the society ; and of such of the local- 
 preachers and members as may be invited by 
 any of the travelling-preachers or stewards. 
 
 At this meeting, the whole of the society’s 
 books are audited ; the preachers paid their re- 
 spective salaries; and such other receipts and 
 disbursements settled as circumstances may re- 
 quire, or the finances permit. In some circuits, 
 a dinner is provided at the quarterly-meetings, 
 
304 lOCAL-PREACIIERS’ MEETINGS. 
 
 / 
 
 when, if there be no jarring-strings, much so- 
 ber pleasantness and hilarity takes place. The 
 quarterly-meetings are often followed by a 
 watch-night. 
 
 The Local-preachers' meetings are usually held 
 once every quarter of a year. At these times ' 
 their plans are renewed, and such arrangements 
 made as are necessary for the furtherance of the 
 •work. A local-preacher’s plan, is a paper pro- 
 perly divided and subdivided into columns and 
 squares, on which the names of all the preachers 
 are inserted, the respective places of their preach- 
 ing-appointments, and the dates of the month; 
 by which it is known at what time and at what 
 place each of the brethren is to officiate. — 
 One of these plans is given to every local- 
 preacher. 
 
 As the societies continued to increase, the 
 circuits became both more numerous and ex- 
 tensive : it consequently was more difficult for 
 Mr. Wesley and the assistants to manage so 
 vast a concern. That the government might be 
 carried on with success, the kingdom was divid- 
 ed into districts ; each district comprehending 
 two, three, or more circuits. Over each of these 
 united methodistical provinces or states, there is 
 appointed a kind qf supreme governor, called 
 the Chairman of the District, who has a power 
 
IDISTRICT-MEETIXOS. 30J 
 
 of assembling all the preachers in full connexion; 
 i. e. who have travelled four years, in his domi- 
 nions, to form a distiict-meeting, which has au- 
 thority, 1. To try and suspend preachers who 
 are found immoral, erroneous in doctrine, or de- 
 ficient in abilities. 2. To decide concerning 
 the building of chapels. 3. To examine the de- 
 mands from the circuits respecting the support 
 of the preachers, and of their families. And, 
 4. To elect a representative to attend and form 
 a committee four days before the meeting of the 
 conference, in order to prepare a draft of the 
 stations of the preachers for the ensuing year. 
 These are the general matters which form the 
 business at a district-meeting. These districts 
 have, however, several other powers, privileges, 
 and immunities, which make them of very con- 
 siderable consequence in working the great ma- 
 chine of modern Methodism. The additional 
 laws and Regulations which are yearly taking 
 place in this and in almost every other depart- 
 ment, render it difficult to define all the power 
 and influence of the districts. If the confer- 
 ence proceed in enacting laws at the rate they 
 have done of late, a few years hence the gene- 
 ral minutes must be littlednferior in bulk to the 
 statutes at large ; and it will be as difficult to 
 tell what is law and what is not, in the court of 
 Methodism, as in the high court of chancery, or 
 any other circumlocution register-office in Great 
 
 X 
 
$06 
 
 CONFERENCE. 
 
 Britain. This is pretty clear, that every 
 circuit is a kind of parish, where the superin- 
 tendent is rector or vicar ; every district a 
 diocese, over which the chairman is bishop ; and 
 the conference a sort of conclave, or general 
 council. The chapels in the large towns may 
 be called methodistical cathedrals ; those in the 
 surrounding villages, parish-churches, and the 
 consecrated barns, out-houses, &c. See. so many 
 chapels of ease. 
 
 I hasten, with pleasure, to conduct you to 
 conference, to which, as a kind of theological 
 watering-place, all the beaux and belles, the old 
 men and matrons,- among the Methodists, resort 
 in shoals, that they may have their natural pro- 
 pensity to novelty gratified for a season, by the 
 glorious sight of hundreds of priests; that they 
 may catch the healing virtues of grace, as they 
 drop from the lips of a favourite preacher, or 
 descend in torrents from an inspired multitude ; 
 and that they may be near the fountain-head of 
 intelligence, ready to join in the disputes, or 
 to participate in the union, of all their bre- 
 thren. 
 
 The first conference was held in London, on 
 the 25th of June, 1744. There attended six 
 clergymen and four travelling preachers ; all of 
 whom, with only, I believe, two exceptions, 
 afterwards forsook the Wesleys, either from not 
 
GOyFERENCE. 
 
 m 
 
 liking their proceedings, or from a want of 
 zeal. 
 
 At the early conferences were settled what 
 doctrines the Methodists shoidd preach ; what 
 plans they should pursue to spread their tenets ; 
 and what regulations were necessary to preserve 
 union among those persons who had already be- 
 lieved : so that the minutes of those conferences 
 may now be referred to, in case of any dispute, 
 as so many decrees of council. 
 
 Since the death of Mr. Wesley, according 
 to Mr. Myles's account, when the preachers 
 assemble, the first thing they do is to elect a 
 president and secretary, which is done by ballot. 
 £Who has the nomination of candidates The 
 minutes of the districts are then read over : after 
 which the conference proceeds to inquire — • 
 . 1 . What preachers are admitted into full con- 
 nexion? 2. Who remain on trial ? 3. Who are 
 
 admitted on trial ? 4. Who desist from travel- 
 ling ? 5. Who have died this year ? 6. Are 
 
 there any objections to any of the preachers ? 
 ( They are then named one by one ; examined they 
 cannot properly be said to be, as no one besides 
 Themselves are admitted within hearing of this 
 farcical naming). 7. How are the preachers 
 stationed this year? 8. What numbers are in 
 the societies ? 9* What is the Kingswood col- 
 
 lection? 10. What boys are received this year? 
 11. What girls are assisted? 12. What is con- 
 
 X 2 
 
SOS 
 
 CONFERENCE. 
 
 tributed for the yearly expenses ? 13. How was 
 
 it expended? (This question may be properly 
 answered ; but the answer is never published — 
 or at best, in a very partial and imperfect man- 
 ner). 1-1. What is contributed for superan- 
 nuated preachers and widows ? 15. What de- 
 
 mands are there upon it? lb. How many 
 preachers’ wives are to be provided for ? 17. By 
 
 what societies? 18. YvTien and where may our 
 next conference begin ? 
 
 The above, and such other questions as cir- 
 cumstances may require, are made the subject of 
 an annual iHethodist conference. Every old law 
 is repealed (if any laws are ever repealed by the 
 Lfethodist government), and all new ones pro- 
 posed and enacted in the form of question and 
 answer. Acts of conference may very properly 
 be called. The Asscmblij’s Catechism. 
 
 The conference, considered in a legal sense, 
 consists of one hundred preachers, who were 
 first chosen by Mr. VvTsIey, empowering them 
 to fill up all vacancies in their body, occasioned 
 by death or otherwise, by an election by bal- 
 lot. 
 
 One of the many treacherous friends of the 
 late Mr. Kilham, who is to this day a travelling 
 preacher, thus divulges 
 
 The secrets of the prison house:" 
 
 In a letter addressed to iMr. Kilham, prior to 
 
CONTEREXCE*. 
 
 309 
 
 that gentleman’s trial and subsequent expulsion, 
 Mr. J. Crowther represents their proceedings as 
 an annual sublime sight of six or seven men, 
 getting round the table at conference, and fight- 
 ing with each other, talking by turns (except 
 when several of them talk together), engrossing 
 all the speechifying ; while the rest sit round in 
 sullen, stupid, or indignant silence — the devil 
 perching on the front of the gallery ; while love, 
 meekness, and wisdom, together with our guar- 
 dian angels, and even the Holy Ghost, quit the 
 assembly; and the confused group appears to 
 the weeping heavens, somewhat like the assem- 
 bly in a cock-pit.’ 
 
 As this gentleman has never yet been called 
 to account for this representation, which was 
 published a few’ years ago, I should suppose it is 
 - a tolerably just picture : but having myself been 
 only a local brother, I have not had an opportu- 
 nity of seeing the original. It is, however, but 
 just to give the counter part of this representa- 
 tion. They describe themselves at conference, 
 as doing every thing as in the immediate pre- 
 sence of God ; that they meet with a single eye, 
 and as little children, who have every thing to 
 learn : that every point w’hich is proposed may 
 be examined to the foundation : that every per- 
 son may speak freely whatever is in his heart ; 
 and that every question which arises may be 
 thoroughly debated and settled. They say that 
 
310 
 
 CONFERENCE. 
 
 they act upon the grand principle of private 
 judgment^ on which all the reformers proceeded 
 ' — “ Every man must judge for himself, because 
 every man must give an account to God.” These 
 were their professions at the first conference, and 
 the present race of Methodists pretend to act 
 upon the same liberal principles. 
 
 At the forty-ninth conference, held in 1792, 
 which sat nearly three weeks, the brethren pro- 
 posed the following question : What shall we 
 
 do more to promote the work of God ? — Ans. 
 We do, at this solemn hour of the night, (past 
 ten oVlock, on the 15th of August) devote our^ 
 selves to the service of Almighty God, in a more 
 unreserved and entire manner than ever we have 
 hitherto done; and are all determined to spend 
 and be spent in this blessed work. And this 
 our solemn dedication of ourselves to God, we 
 do unanimously signify, by rising from our seats 
 in the presence of the Lord.” 
 
 Mr. Crowther’s letter, which speaks of the 
 absence of love, meekness, wisdom, the guardian 
 angels, and the Holy Ghost ; and of the devil 
 perching on the front of the gallery at one 
 of these conferences, is dated January 12, 
 1794 !!! 
 
 At the fifty-sixth conference, held at Man- 
 chester, in 1799, I was present when Mr. Sa-' 
 niuel Brad burn, being president, preached the 
 coiifcrence-sermpn, fropi these words in the se^ 
 
CONFERENCE. 
 
 311 
 
 cond and third verses of the 126th psalm : — 
 Then said they among the heathen, The Lord 
 hath done great things for them. The Lord 
 hath done great things for us; whereof we are 
 glad.'" After the worthy president had dis- 
 charged his pious virulence against the Kil- 
 hamites, who had separated themselves from the 
 connexion, he called upon every preacher pre- 
 sent who was still determined to be on the 
 Lord’s side, to signify that determination, by then^ 
 publicly rising from his seat. As Mr. Bradburn 
 pronounced the word of command, he suddenly 
 clapped his hands ; and in the same moment the 
 preachers, being placed in the front seats of the 
 gallery, and other conspicuous parts of the 
 chapel, rose up as one man ! They continued 
 on their feet a few seconds — the president was 
 silent — the most rapturous sensations and en- 
 thusiastic ardour were diffused throughout the 
 whole congregation — some, nearly fainting with 
 delight, fell back in ecstacies ; others loudly ex- 
 claimed, “ Glory be to God ! Glory be to God 
 and had not the chief actor in this scene inter- 
 posed, by requesting the brethren to sit down, 
 I am confident there had been no more occa- 
 sion for the preacher that day. I sat in the gal- 
 lery, and heard a female voice, from the farthest 
 corner of the chapel, cry out with all her might, 
 “ Come and pray for a soul in distress !” so that 
 it appeared t^e exhibition had produced sensa« 
 
31^ CONFERENCE. 
 
 tions of a painful nature upon some stranger 
 who happened to be present. The chapel was 
 exceedingly crowded indeed. 
 
 Erom these circumstances, Madam, one would 
 be led to hope that Mr. Crowther must have 
 mistaken the spirit and conduct of Ins speechi- 
 fying brethren, at that sublime sight — an an- 
 nual conference. 
 
 I would recommend it to conference, to pub- 
 lish Mr. B.’s sermon of 1799, with a plate, in- 
 troduced in that part of the discourse where he 
 gives the alhcommanding clap of his hands. 
 As the thing itself was performed in the pre- 
 sence of hundreds of strangers, there could be 
 no danger in publislung an engraved drawing 
 of the exhibition, of thereby casting pearls be- 
 fore swine. 
 
 When will solemn trifling,” and theatrical” 
 manoeuvres be excluded fron^ the pulpit! When 
 will modesty and Christian simplicity take place 
 of high 'Sounding professions, and boisterous 
 declamation ! — That Mr. Brad burn is capable of 
 better things, is evident from the following ad- 
 vices which he drew up for the conduct of the 
 preacliers duringthe time of the sitting of con- 
 ference - 
 
 Be tender of the character of every brother, 
 but keep at the utmost distance from cqunte- 
 nancing sin. 
 
CONFERENCE. 
 
 313 
 
 Say nothing in the conference but what is 
 strictly necessary, and to the point in hand. 
 
 If accused by any one, remember, recrimi- 
 nation is no acquittance, therefore avoid it. 
 
 “Beware of impatience of contradiction; be 
 firm, but be open to conviction. The cause is 
 God's, and he needs not the hands of an Uzzah 
 to support the ark. The being too tenacious of 
 a point, because 2 /ow brought it forward, is only 
 feeding self. Be quite easy if a majority decide 
 against you. 
 
 “ Use no craft or guile, to gain a point. Ge- 
 nuine simplicity will always support itself. But 
 there is no need always to say all you know or 
 think. 
 
 “ Beware of too much confidence in your own 
 abilities, and never despise an opponent. 
 
 “Avoid all lightness of spirit, even what would 
 be innocent any where else. ‘Thou God seesl 
 me.” 
 
 I cannot but exclaim, with Young — ■ 
 
 How poor, how rich, how abject, how august. 
 
 How complicate, how wonderful, is Man I 
 
 Tile answers which are given to two or three 
 of the conference-questions, are worthy of par- 
 ticular remark. 
 
 “1. What preachers are admitted into full 
 connexion?” You have already observed, Ma- 
 dam, that every travelling-preacher is to be four 
 
514 - 
 
 CONFERENCE. 
 
 years on trial beforehe is admitted into full con- 
 nexion. To be in full connexion, has some very 
 capital advantages. 1. Relating to marriage. 
 A person cannot marry among the travelling- 
 preachers, until he is admitted into full con- 
 nexion. This may be sound policy with the 
 Methodists ; but it is both unjust and unscvip- 
 tural. It savours too strongly of popery; and 
 it is no wonder that effects of a most scandalous 
 and disgraceful nature should’ sometimes be the 
 result of so cruel a law. 2. As it relates to 
 power and authority. Until a preacher is ad- 
 mitted to full connexion he is not eligible to 
 any post. He can neither be made a superin- 
 tendent, nor a chairman of the district ; neither 
 can he, being only a probationer, have any vote 
 or influence at conference, nor consequently be 
 elected on any conference- committee ; nor de- 
 rive any advantage from the sale of the society’s 
 books in his circuit. These are considerations 
 of no small importance. 3. Until a preacher 
 has travelled four years, he is liable to be dis- 
 missed from the service, without that formal 
 trial which the other preachers might demand. 
 So that you see, Madam, while a preacher is on 
 trial, he may be said to stand in jeopardy every 
 hour, as a slight offence given to the superin- 
 tendent might be attended Avith very fatal coiir 
 sequences to the probationary preacher^ 
 
CONFERENCE. 
 
 ais 
 
 I have the honour to know a very respectable 
 dissenting minister, who once travelled among 
 the Methodists, but was expelled for marrying 
 before the expiration of his years of probation. 
 The language of St. Paul is very strong against 
 the doctrine of forbidding to marry. How far 
 it will apply to a certain law of Methodism, the 
 reflecting mind will judge.' 
 
 The following extracts from the minutes of the 
 last conference, shall close mv account of the 
 meetings both for worship and business, which 
 gre established in the Methodist connexion 
 
 The Sixty -third General Conference of the 
 . People called Methodists, late in connexion 
 with the Rev. John TVesley, deceased, held in 
 Leeds by several Adjournments, from July 
 §18, to August 9, 1 806. 
 
 We are happy in having it in our power to 
 inform our readers, that all our affairs, temporal 
 and spiritual, at this conference, were transact- 
 ed with the utmost peace and harmony ; and 
 that the accounts received from different parts 
 of the United Kingdom, as well as from the West 
 India islands, and from America, afford ample 
 proof of the great prosperity of the work of God, 
 in general, among us. In Great Britain, the 
 
 1 
 
816 
 
 MINUTES OF 
 
 numbers in society have received an increase of 
 more than eight thousand souls last year, and 
 fifty new chapels are erecting, or appointed to 
 be erected. Some of the manufacturing districts 
 have been peculiarly favoured ; and a multitude 
 have been converted to the Lord. In one large 
 .village, in the West of Yorkshire, in particular, 
 almost the whole of the inhabitants have been 
 brought under good impressions. In North and 
 in South Wales, the work continues to revive 
 and prosper, and it has been conducted with a 
 degree of order which affords us the greatest 
 consolation. 
 
 In many parts of Ireland, also, much good 
 has been done, through the preaching of the 
 word. A spirit of hearing has been excited in 
 the minds of people of almost all descriptions, 
 insomuch that no inconveniences of' time or si- 
 tuation could prevent hundreds, in various 
 places, from assembling in the streets, to hear 
 the gospel of Christ. These encouraging open- 
 ings, we have reason to believe, will be fol- 
 lowed up by the brethren, and will, we doubt 
 not, be productive of the greatest benefit to man- 
 kind. 
 
 Our great doctrines were again taken into 
 serious consideration ; and, for their security, 
 three of the brethren were appointed to draw 
 up a digest, or form, expressive of them, con- • 
 firmed by a sufficient number of texts of Scrip- 
 
CONFERENCE. 317 
 
 ture, properly selected ; a copy of which form 
 or digest, is ordered to be sent to the chairman 
 of each district before next May. 
 
 We are happy to observe, likewise, that a 
 plan for the improvement of the young preach- 
 ers was laid before the conference, the heads of 
 which were ordered to be printed, and a copy 
 thereof sent to every preacher, that the brethren 
 may have the opportunity of considering it ma- 
 turely at their next district-meetings, and may 
 report their collective judgment concerning it to 
 the ensuing conference. 
 
 Matters of discipline also engaged the pecu- 
 liar attention of the preachers ; and from the 
 sundry regulations made respecting this, we 'se- 
 lect the following : — 
 
 Q. 24. How may the union of the brethren, 
 who labour together in the same circuit, be 
 more effectually promoted ? 
 
 A. 1. The conference insists, that no helper 
 shall countenance or encourage any person who 
 opposes the superintendent, in the proper dis- 
 charge of his official duties, according to our 
 rules. 
 
 ‘‘ 2. We advise the brethren to meet toge- 
 ther once a week, or as often as it is practicable^ 
 in order to converse freely with each other, re- 
 specting the affairs of their circuits. 
 
 4 
 
318 
 
 MINUTES of 
 
 Q. 25. Is any advice necessary respecting 
 the Lord’s supper ? 
 
 A. 1. We once more earnestly beseech all 
 the members of our societies, conscientiously to 
 attend this sacred ordinance God our Savi- 
 our, at every opportunity ; and do entreat them 
 to approach the Lord's table, at leasts once in 
 every mouth, either in our own chapels, or else- 
 where ; and to make a point of staying till the 
 whole service be concluded. 
 
 “ 2. In the visitation of the classes, let every 
 preacher closely examine the members on this 
 head, and strongly enforce our rules concerning 
 it. And, in order to remove every excuse, let 
 this blessed sacramient be regularly and Jre- 
 ^quently administered, wherever it has been ap- 
 pointed by the conference. 
 
 ‘‘ Q. 26. Can any advice be given concern- 
 ing the mode of conducting the Sunday-service 
 in our chapels ? 
 
 ‘‘ A. We insist upon it, that the Holy Scrip- 
 tures shall be constantly and statedly read in 
 public, wherever we have preaching in the fore- 
 noon of the Lord’s day. Our fixed rule is, that 
 ' Wherever divine service is performed by us 
 in England, on the Lord’s day, in church-hours, 
 the officiating preacher shall read either the 
 service of the established church, our vener- 
 able father, Mr. Wesley’s Abridgment of it, or at 
 
CONFERENCE. 
 
 3W 
 
 least the Lessons appointed by tiie Calendar." — 
 See the Minutes of 179o> 
 
 Q. 31. What can be done to prevent extra- 
 vagant and costly dress? 
 
 A. Let us all enforce our rules concerning 
 dress ; and, with love and meekness, endea- 
 vour to put an end to every unjustifiable cus- 
 tom. 
 
 Q. 32. One of the standing rules of our so- 
 cieties expressly prohibits ‘ the buying or selling 
 uncustomed goods.'" How may this rule be 
 
 more fullv enforced ? 
 
 «/ 
 
 “ A. Let our old minute on this subject, be 
 executed with respect to every species of smug- 
 gliiflg. It is as follows, viz. 
 
 Q. How shall we put a stop to smug- 
 gling? 
 
 “ A. 1. Speak tenderly and frequently of it in- 
 every society near the coasts. 
 
 2. Carefully disperse Mr. Wesley's ‘ Word 
 to a Smuggler.’ 
 
 3. Expel all those wdio will not leave it 
 off. 
 
 4. Silence every local preacher who de- 
 fends it. 
 
 There Were present at this conference of 
 the Methodists about 240 itinerant preachers, 
 and an amazing concourse of people ; probably 
 on some days, especially Sunday, August 3, not 
 
320 
 
 MINUTES OF 
 
 fewer than fifteen or twenty thousand. The ef- 
 fects of this day's solemnities, we doubt not, 
 will be found after many days. Tiiesda}^, Au- 
 gust 5, in the evening, was appointed by the con- 
 ference for the admission, and stdemn dedica- 
 tion to God, of the candidates for the ministry. 
 They had been examined in private by the pre- 
 sident, and in full conference. A crowded au^ 
 dience was present in the chapel. The young 
 men were in the front seat of tlie gallery. They 
 were called, in succession, to give an account 
 of their experience, and the ground on which 
 they exercised the office of the Christian minis- 
 try. The examination concluded with appro- 
 priate addresses by the president, and Mr. Tho- 
 mas Taylor, wffien the young men were com- 
 mended to God by solemn prayer. 
 
 Thirty-two preachers have been admitted 
 into full connexion this conference, having been 
 four years on trial. 
 
 “ There remain still on trial, ninety-foufj 
 
 having not yet completed their four years. 
 
 Admitted on trial, forty-five. Ten of the 
 
 preachers died the last year." 
 
 I am, 8cc. 
 
LETTER XXX, 
 
 Progress of Methodism in the Field of Battle— 
 John Nelson — Preachers' Talents — The Chris- 
 tian Library — Great Labours — Liberality — ^ 
 Illiberality. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 In' the year 1745, the spirit of Methodism had 
 .Dot only spread over the greatest part of these 
 kingdoms ; but had also found its way into 
 the English army abroad. Societies were formed 
 by the soldiers, and some of the dragoons had 
 begun to preach ! John Haime, William Cle- 
 ments, and John Evans, were all three courage- 
 ous soldiers, both in the service of the king, 
 their master, and in that of the King of kings. 
 In the hottest moments of battle, w^en the 
 swift-winged messengers of death were flying 
 about with desolating velocity; when the de- 
 mons of destruction were stalking around; and 
 when the shrieks of the wounded and the groans 
 
^522 METHODISM IN THE 
 
 of the dying, were unheard amidst the tremend- 
 ous roar of cannon, and the sickening clangour 
 of martial music — these men were heard to en- 
 courage each other with loud assurances of soon 
 meeting the face of their Saviour in another 
 and a better world !” 
 
 William Clements writes as follows, after th^ 
 battle of Fontenoy — On the 29th, we marched 
 close to the enemy, and when I saw them in 
 their camp, my bowels moved toward them, in 
 love and pity for their souls. We lay on our 
 arms all night. In the morning, April 30th, 
 the cannons began to play at half an hour after 
 four : and the Lord took away all fear from me ; 
 so that I went into the field with joy. The balls 
 flew on either hand, and men fell in abundance ; 
 but nothing touched me till about two o’clock. 
 Then I received a ball through my left arm, and 
 rejoiced so much the more. Soon after, I re- 
 ceived another into my right, which obliged me 
 to quit the field. But I scarce knew whether I 
 was on earth or in heaven. It was one of the 
 sweetest days I ever enjoyed.'’ 
 
 John Haime says, The Lord has been pleased 
 to try our little flock, and to shew them his 
 mighty power. Some days before the late battle, 
 one of them, standing at his tent-door, broke 
 out into raptures of joy, knowing his departure 
 was at hand, and was so filled with the love of 
 God, that he danced before his comrades. In 
 
FIELD OF BATTLE. 3^3 
 
 the battle, before he died, he openly declared, 
 
 ‘ I am going to rest from my labours in the bo- 
 som of Jesus.’ I believe nothing like this was 
 ever heard of before, in the midst of so wicked 
 an army as ours. Some were crying out in their 
 wounds, am going to my Beloved ;’ others, 
 
 ‘ Come, Lord Jesus, come quickly ^ and many 
 that were not wounded, were crying to their 
 Lord to take them to himself. There was siich. 
 boldness in the battle among this little despised 
 flock, that it made the officers, as well as com- 
 mon soldiers, amazed. And they acknowledge 
 it to this day. As to my own part, I stood the 
 fire of the enemy for above seven hours. Then 
 my horse was shot under me ; and I was ex- 
 posed both to the enemy and our own horse. 
 But that did not discourage me at all; for I 
 knew the God of Jacob was wdth me. I had a 
 long way to go, the balls flying on every side ; 
 and thousands lay bleeding, groaning, dying, 
 and dead on each hand. [Ye gods, what ha- 
 voc does ambition make among your works !] 
 Surely I was in the fiery furnace ; but it never 
 , singed one hair of my head. The hotter it grew, 
 the more strength was given me. I was full of 
 joy and love, as much as I could well bear. Go- 
 ing on, I met one of our brethren with a little 
 dish in his hand, seeking for water. He smiled, 
 and said, he had got a sore wound in his leg. 
 
 Y 2 
 
. JOHN NELSON. 
 
 Tasked, ^ Have you got Christ in your heart r’^ 
 He answered, ^ I have, and I have had him all 
 the day. Blessed be God, that I ever saw your 
 face.' Lord, what am I that I should be counted 
 worthy to set my hand to the gospel plough ? 
 Lord, humble me, and lay me in the dust !” 
 
 John Evans belonged to the train. At the 
 battle of Fontenoy, one of his companions saw 
 him laid across a cannon (both his legs having 
 been taken off by a chain-shot), praising God, 
 See. until he fell down dead ! 
 
 One John Nelson, a stone-mason, who had 
 been pressed for a soldier, refused at the same 
 time to be an ambassador from the Prince of 
 Peace and to choose the weapons of his war- 
 fare from among the carnal instruments of 
 death. 
 
 John very justly thought, that a fighting 
 minister of the gospel would be a strong con- 
 tradictory character ; and as he was resolved to 
 preach, so he refused to fight. Which of these 
 Methodist soldiers acted the most consistent 
 part, I leave to the decision of those who can 
 fully comprehend the meaning of that prohibi- 
 tion in the gospel — Put up thy sword into its 
 ))lace ; for every one that taketh the sword 
 shall perish with the sword.” 
 
 ]Mr. Wesley, encouraged by the accounts 
 which he every day received of the wonderful 
 
preachers’ talexts. * 5^5 
 
 success of his and his assistants’ labours, pro- 
 ceeded with increasing ardour in the business of 
 proselytism. He rejoiced in the work of his 
 hands, and he thought his spiritual sons who la- 
 boured with him in the gospel were men of a 
 most extraordinary character. He saw multi- 
 tudes added to his societies wherever they went; 
 but he knew they were men of no education, 
 having been taken from the meanest and most 
 common occupations, to become ministers of 
 the gospel. Their abilities, as Methodist preach- 
 ers, were certainly great. Considered in any 
 other capacity, than as tradesmen, labourers, 
 mechanics, and Methodists, their talents were 
 quite mMiocre, Mr. Wesley was aware of this; 
 and foresaw much reproach would fall upon his 
 cause, unless something were done to enlighten 
 and instruct his lay-preachers. He wished to 
 have them workmen that needed not be 
 ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” 
 We have already seen how far some of the breth- 
 ren succeeded m dividing the word ; whether they 
 do it rightly or no is another question. That the 
 early preachers were men of very scanty literary 
 attainments, will admit of no doubt ; and it is 
 to be feared, that the plan of instruction which 
 Mr. M^esley laid down for their improvement, 
 was not very likely to expand their views be- 
 yond the sphere of their own notions in theo- 
 or favourite prejudices in politics.— 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LIBRARY. 
 
 Indeed, as to general politics, the Methodists 
 have never, as a body, known any thing about 
 the matter. 
 
 It is much to the honour of Mr. Wesley, that 
 he previously consulted that very excellent and 
 worthy man. Dr. Doddridge, on the choice of 
 books for the perusal of his lay-preachers. Af- 
 ter .some time, the Doctor sent him a list of 
 such theological books as he thought would be 
 of service to them. These Mr. John. Wesley 
 thought proper to garble, mutilate, and abridge, 
 to make them speak, in every point, his owit 
 sentiments. He then published them at his own 
 press, in fifty duodecimo volumes, under the 
 titleof The Christian Library.” 
 
 I believe, comparatively few of the present 
 Methodist preachers have ever read all the vo- 
 lumes of the Christian Library. The collection 
 ' abounds with much sound practical morality, 
 such as you may suppose the author of the Rise 
 and Progress of Religion in the Soul would re- 
 commend. They are chiefly the works of the 
 most eminent Puritan divines. Dr. Doddridge, 
 in his answer to Mr. Wesley’s letter which re- 
 quested his assistance in the compilation of 
 books for this undertaking, writes of himself 
 thus : ‘‘I trust I can call God to record, on 
 my soul, that to bring sinners to believe in 
 Christ, and universally to obey him, from aprin-., 
 ciple of grateful love, has been the main busi^ 
 
THE CHRISTIAN LIl^RART. 527 
 
 ness of my life/" The man who could thus 
 write, would be cautious how he selected books 
 for the improvement of others. 
 
 It never was Mr. Wesley’s intention to make 
 scholars of his lay-preachers. The great bulk 
 of Methodists, to this (fay, have a sort of dread 
 of human learning. The preachers may raise 
 an outcry against this charge ; but it is never-* 
 theless just, as every one who has been at all 
 conversant with the private manners of this 
 people must acknowledge. The majority ot 
 Methodists, notwithstanding the present much 
 improved and refined state of the connexion, 
 are still to be sought for among persons in the 
 lowest ranks of life, and these have nearly as 
 strong an aversion to what they call head^ 
 knowledge, as any of their brethren in the life- 
 time of Mr. Wesley. A local-preacher whom I 
 know, was a few years ago forbidden to preach 
 at one of the places in his circuit, because he 
 spoke rather better English than did the rest of 
 his fellow-labourers in the same plaee ! If such 
 be the character of the Methodists at this day, 
 what must it have been at the time when Mr, 
 Wesley projected the Christian Library? 
 
 We may form some notion of the labours of 
 the itinerant preachers, from a letter written to 
 Mr. Wesley by one of them, who travelled 
 through various parts of Yorkshire, Lancashire, 
 Perbyshire, and Cheshire, 
 
328 
 
 GREAT LABOURS. 
 
 Many doors,” says' he, “ are opened fo? 
 preaching in these parts, but cannot be supplied 
 for want of preachers. I think some one should 
 be sent to assist me, otherwise we shall lose 
 ground. My circuit is one hundred and fifty 
 miles in two weeks ; during which time I preach 
 publicly thirty-four times, besides meeting the 
 societies, visiting the sick, and transacting the 
 temporal business. I think the above is too 
 much for me, considering my weak constitu-^ 
 tion.” 
 
 Great as these exertions wTre, they bear a 
 very small proportion to the labours of the two 
 brothers. They preached as many times, fre- 
 quently travelled near treble the number of 
 miles in the same space of time, and had be- 
 sides upon them the “ care of all the 
 churches.” 
 
 About this time, 1747, Mr. Wesley received 
 a letter from one of the preachers who had been 
 sent to Ireland. A society had been formed in 
 Dublin, and Mr. Wesley determined to visit 
 them immediately. Accordingl 3 ^ August 4, he 
 set out from Bristol, and passing through Wales, 
 he arrived in Dublin on Sunday the 9th, about 
 ten o'clock in the forenoon. At three, the 
 same day, he wrote to the curate of St. Mary's, 
 offering his assistance, which was thankfully 
 received : ‘‘ So,” says he, “ 1 preached tliere, 
 another gentleman reading prayers, to as, gay 
 
LIBERALITY. 
 
 329 
 
 and senseless a congregation as ever I saw.’^ 
 In the course of the day, he went to wait on the 
 archbishop ; but he was out of town. He saw 
 him the next day, and had the honour of con- 
 versing with him two or three hours ; during 
 which he answered abundance of objections. 
 
 Both the Wesleys were very much abused by 
 mobs during their labours in Ireland ; at the 
 head of which were generally the Roman Ca- 
 tholics. Their brethren, the Protestants, were 
 nevertheless, at times pretty active in persecut- 
 ing the poor Methodists. Still they triumphed 
 over every difficulty ; still they exulted in the 
 success of their labours. 
 
 On the 1 7 th of the same month in which Mr. 
 John Wesley arrived in Ireland, he began to exa- 
 mine the society, which contained about two 
 hundred and eighty members. Notwithstand- 
 ing the opposition he met with in that island, he 
 remarks that the people in general are of a more 
 tractable spirit than in most parts of England ; 
 but on that account, he adds, they must be 
 watched over with the more care, being equally 
 susceptible of good and ill impressions. 
 
 The following letter, written in November, 
 may shew us how careful Mr. Wesley was, at 
 times, to guard the preachers against a party^ 
 spirit in their public labours: ‘‘ My dear bro- 
 ther,’" says he, “in public preaching, speak not 
 one word against opinions of any kind. We 
 
530 
 
 ILLIBERALITT. 
 
 arc not to fight against notions, but sins.” Mr. 
 John Wesley has compiled many books, he has 
 preached many sermons, and said many good 
 things in his time, but he never uttered a finer 
 sentiment, nor one more agreeable to the mild 
 spirit of Christianity, than the one I have just 
 quoted. But do his disciples follow this advice 
 at present ^ Did Dr. Coke follow this advice, 
 when he said that the Lord Jesus Christ vomited 
 forth Arianlsm, which ran like a stream into the 
 gulph of hell ? Or, did Mr. Samuel Bradburn, 
 when he publicly asserted, at Bolton, not long 
 ago, that a certain character was a devil in the 
 shape of a man, like a spunge dipped in the de^ 
 vil’s lake, and squeezed in wrath over the guiltp 
 nations; and that Socinians are not only con^ 
 demned sinners, but damned fools I and that they 
 are as certain of being damned in hell, as if the^ 
 were already there ? 
 
 What ought we to think of the piety of men 
 who can thus transfer the language of the tap-» 
 room to the pulpit ? Surely their zeal is com- 
 posed of the rankest bigotry; their sanctity is 
 the most disgusting grimace, and their pretend- 
 ed holiness is founded on the very worst species 
 of hypocrisy. 
 
 I am, 
 
331 
 
 LETTER XXXI. 
 
 fersecutions — Incorweniences of the first Preach- 
 ers — Marriage of Mr. C. Wesley — A Parody, 
 r — Riots — Lnstability of some of the Preachers. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 On Sunday, the 23d August, 174^7, Mr. Wesley 
 took ship for England ; on the Wednesday fol- 
 lowing, he landed at Holyhead, in Wales. On 
 Saturday, 29th, he preached at Garth, in Breck- 
 nockshire, where he met his brother Charles, on 
 his way to Ireland. 
 
 Mr. Charles arrived in Dublin on the 9th of 
 September following. 
 
 ‘‘ The hrst news we heard,"’ says he, was, 
 that the little flock stands fast in the storm of 
 persecution, which arose as soon as my brother 
 left them. The popish mob bioke open their 
 foom, and destroyed* all before them. Some of 
 
PERSECUTIONS. 
 
 Ou4> 
 
 them arc sent to Newgate, others bailed. Wliat 
 will be the event we know not, till we see whe- 
 tker the grand jury will find the bill.” 
 
 The grand jury threw out the bilb and thus 
 gave up the Methodists to the unrestrained 
 fury of a popish mob. Still undaunted, Mr. 
 C. Wesley proceeded to the Green adjoining 
 the barracks, and crying out, ‘^Come unto me 
 all ye that are weary and heavy laden, and I 
 will give you rest,” was presently surrounded 
 by a large concourse of people, both Catholics 
 and Presbyterians. 
 
 To the Papists he quoted Thomas a Kempis 
 and their own Liturgy ; so that none lifted up 
 his voice or hand to oppose; but all listened 
 with strange attention, and many were in tears. 
 He advised them to go to their respective 
 places of worship; and thus, for that time, 
 conciliated the favour of all. The Papists de- 
 clared he was a good Catholic at heart. 
 
 On a future visit to Ireland, when he was at 
 Kinsale, it is remarked, that every denomina- 
 tion of Christians claimed him as their own. 
 “The Presbyterians say 1 am a Presbyterian ; 
 the people who go to church, say I am a mini^ 
 ster of theirs ; and the Catholics are sure I am 
 a s:ood Catholic in mv heart.” 
 
 As Mr. Wesley maintained many of the fuDr 
 damental doctrines of all these denominations, 
 such as the trinity, atonement, original sin, 
 
,IK-CONVENIENCES, &C. 333 
 
 See. it were very easy so to manage the phraseo- 
 logy of his discourses as to be taken for a friend 
 to any or all of them. 
 
 At this early period of Methodism, the two 
 brothers and the lay-preachers suffered great in- 
 conveniences at the places where they lodged^ 
 even in large towns; and we may suppose, says 
 Dr. Whitehead, that both their accommodations 
 and provisions were worse in country societies. 
 The rooms also where they assembled, when 
 they could not preach in the open air, began to 
 be much too small for the number of people 
 who attended. This being the present state of 
 things in Dublin, Mr. Charles Wesley purchased 
 a house near the place called Dolphin's Barn. 
 The whole ground-floor was forty-two feet in 
 length, and twenty-four in breadth. This was 
 to be turned into a preaching- house, and the 
 ■preachers were to be accommodated with the 
 rooms over it ; but before he completed the 
 purchase, he wrote to hisbrother for his opinion 
 on the matter. His letter is dated October 9, in 
 which he says, one advantage of the house was, 
 that they could go to it immediately ; and then 
 adds, “ I must go there, or to some other lodg- 
 ings, or take my flight; for here 1 can stay no 
 longer. A family of squalling children, a land- 
 lady just ready to lie-in, a maid who has no time 
 to do the least thing for us, are some of our con- 
 veniences. Our two rooms for four people (six 
 
S34 
 
 INCONVENIEXCES, 8CC. 
 
 'svlien J. Healy and Haugbton come), allow no 
 opportunity for retirement. Charles (he means 
 Mr. Charles Perrenot) and I groan tor elbow- 
 room in our press-bed ; our diet answerable to 
 our lodgings ; no one to mend our clothes and 
 stockings ; no money to buy more. I marvel 
 that we have stood our ground so long in these 
 ^lamentable circumstances. It is well I could 
 not foresee, while on your side of the water.” — 
 October 17, he observes, “ I passed the day at 
 the house we have purchased, near Dolphin’s 
 Barn, in writing and meditation. I could ab 
 most have set up my rest here ; but I must not 
 look for rest on this side eternity.’* 
 
 The Methodist preachers of the present day 
 sometimes speak of their hardships in the exer- 
 cise of their ministerial duties. They, however, 
 feed upon marrow and fat things, when com- 
 pared with the manner in which their ances- 
 tors fared. Surely the lines are fallen to them 
 in pleasant places, and they have a goodly he- 
 ritage. 
 
 On the 9th February, 1748, Mr. C. Wesley 
 left Dublin, and took an excursion into the 
 country, where, particularly at Tyrrel’s Pass, 
 much good had been done among the poor 
 people by the instrumentality of the lay- 
 preachers. At this place, which had long been 
 a proverb of wickedness, one hiindrr persons 
 were joined in society ; and a visible alteration 
 
MARRIAGE OF MR. C. ^VESLEY. 33S 
 
 had taken place in their moral character. Not 
 an oath was then heard, nor a drunkard seen 
 among them — aperio mviiur horto, 
 
 Mr. C. Wesley continued his labours in the 
 country, through much opposition, but with 
 wonderful success, till the 15th of February, and 
 then returned to Dublin, where the society was 
 also rapidly increasing. On the 8th March, his 
 brother John arrived from England, and g-ave 
 him relief from his present situation. He left 
 Dublin on the 20th, and on the day following 
 reached Holyhead ; from thence, after great fa- 
 tigue, he arrived at Garth, where he forgot his 
 troubles in company with Miss Gwynne, for 
 whom he had for some time entertained a very 
 great regard ; and to whom he had in fact a 
 tind of embryo intention of making proposals 
 of marriage. 
 
 During his present visit at Garth, this inten- 
 tion ripened into a fixed resolution; and he 
 thought it necessary to take the advice of his 
 friends. 
 
 For one that is in love, to ask advice concern- 
 ing what steps he should take, is generally no- 
 thing more than mere ceremony. When the 
 obstacles to marriage are not absolutely insur- 
 mountable, a union of the parties will always 
 take place, whatever may have been the advice 
 of real or pretended friends. Miss Gwynne was 
 a young lady of good sense, piety, and agreeable 
 
SS6 
 
 A PARODY, 
 
 accomplishments. Mr. John Wesley did not 
 oppose the match; and if he had, Mr. Charles 
 loved the lady, and was of a bold and independ- 
 ent spirit: so that on the 9th of April, 1749, he 
 was married by his brother John, at Garth, who 
 observes of the marriage»day, that it was a 
 solemn day, such as became the dignity of a 
 Christian marriage.” 
 
 On the 15th of February, 1748, Mr. John 
 Wesley left Bristol, and proceeded through 
 Wales, on his way to Ireland. Being detained 
 at Holyhead abovtt twelve days, he says^, “ I ne- 
 ver knew men make such poor excuses, as these 
 captains did for not sailing. It put me in mind 
 of the epigram— 
 
 * There are, if rightly I may think. 
 
 Five causes why a man may drink.^ 
 
 Which, with a little alteration, would just suit 
 them— 
 
 ^ There are, unless my memory fail, 
 
 Five causes why we should not sail — 
 
 The fog is thick : the wind is high : 
 
 It rains : or may do by and by : 
 
 Or any other reason why.'” 
 
 He arrived at Dublin on the evening of the 
 8th of March. 
 
HYPERBOLE. 
 
 337 
 
 . On tlae 1 6 th, he made inquiries into the state 
 of the society. Most pompous accounts,” says 
 he, ‘‘ had been sent me from time to time, of 
 the great numbers that were added to it ; so that 
 I confidently expected to find therein six or se- 
 ven hundred members. And how is the real 
 fact ? I left three hundred and ninety-four mem- 
 bers; and I doubt if there are now three hun- 
 dred and ninety-six ! 
 
 “ Let this be a warning to us all, how we give 
 in to that hateful custom of painting things be- 
 yond the life. Let us make a conscience of 
 magnifying or exaggerating any thing. Let us 
 rather speak under than above the truth. We, 
 of all men, should be punctual in all we say, 
 that none of our words may fall to the ground.’^ 
 On this advice Dr. Whitehead makes the follow- 
 ing very just and necessary observations: ‘‘ It 
 is to be greatly lamented, that some few of the 
 preachers have not given more attention to this 
 caution, and to some others Mr. Wesley has left 
 on record, concerning evil-speaking, than they 
 seem to hsiVt done. I cannot conceive how a 
 man can keep a good conscience, who does not 
 religiously observe them.” 
 
 That some of the Methodist preachers do still 
 deal pretty largely in amplification, Mdien speak- 
 ing concerning the success of their labours, it is 
 very certain. I could produce some shameful 
 instances of this species of pious fraud. Of evil- 
 
 z 
 
338 
 
 SCANDAL. 
 
 speaking, I believe it may fairly be said, that it 
 is the great besetting sin of Methodism. Cer- 
 tainly there are few professing Christians so 
 much guilty of slander and back-biting as these 
 people. They exercise this disagreeable propen- 
 sity even against their own friends : what then 
 have those to expect who they regard as their 
 enemies ? 
 
 Who steals my purse, steals trash — ’twas something — no- 
 thing — 
 
 ^Tvvas mine — ^tis his, and has been slave to thousands : 
 
 But he that filches from me my good name, 
 
 Robs me of that which not enriches him, 
 
 And makes me poor indeed ! 
 
 During this visit to Ireland, Mr. Wesley seems 
 to have had little success ; for the people in the 
 country places were very kind. A shower of 
 stones which had been poured against his bro- 
 ther by the papists, so far prejudiced the pro- 
 testants in his favour, as to cause the people to 
 weep when he left them ; yet none of them seems 
 to have been set at liberty from the guilt and bur- 
 then of their sins, “ The waters,’’ says he, 
 “ were too wide to be deep.” In Dublin, the 
 cause prospered rather better ; for there he 
 had the satisfaction to find, that the work of 
 God not only spread wider and vvdder, but was 
 also much deepened in many souls.” On Wed- 
 nesday, the 18 th, he prepared to leave Ireland, 
 and arrived at Holyhead the next day. 
 
lANCASTRIAN METH01)ISTS* 
 
 339 
 
 June 24th, he opened the school at Kings* 
 wood, for the reception of boarders, and preach- 
 ed there on — “ Train up a child in the way he 
 should go, and when he is old he will not depart 
 frdm it/* 
 
 During the summer of 1748, the Methodist 
 doctrines and discipline made wonderful pro- 
 gress in Northumberland, the county of Dur- 
 ham, and in the savage parts of Lancashire, as 
 Dr. Whitehead very politely denominates the 
 dounty that gave birth to your humble ser- 
 vant. In the village where I was born, being 
 to the full, perhaps, as savage a part of Lanca- 
 shire as any other district of that county, the 
 Methodists were never able to get much foot- 
 ing. I allude to Chowbent, a pretty large vil- 
 lage, lying between Manchester and Wigan, 
 where there are three places of public worship, 
 viz. a large and very respectable Unitarian 
 chapel, an Episcopal chapel of ease, and a chapel 
 originally built by a Methodist, who afterwards 
 became a Moravian, and opened his meeting- 
 house to the Unit as F rat rum. Some few years 
 ago I preached in this chapel to a very numer- 
 ous audience, composed of Deists, Methodists, 
 Moravians, Calvinists, Baptists, Arians, what 
 are called Socinians, and Swedenborgians. Thi^ 
 chapel was at that time in the possession of the 
 friends of the illuminated Swedish Baron. There 
 
 z 2 
 
540 
 
 RIOTS. 
 
 were then very few Methodists in the place; indeed 
 the preachers under the superintendence of Mr. 
 John Wesley were never successful at Chowbent. 
 I would, therefore, fain persuade myself that the 
 village of my nativity is not to be really inclufled 
 in the samge parts of Lancashire.” It was, 
 however, samge enough, God knows ! when it 
 drove one of the best men I ever knew, the Rev. 
 Harry Toulmin, to seek shelter, from the fury of 
 an enraged mob of pretended churchmen, in the 
 woods of Kentucky, in North America. 
 
 It is certain, however, that some of the Lan- 
 castiLans abused Mr. Wesley and his preachers 
 in a most shameful manner ; and it was often 
 with very great difficulty that he escaped with 
 his life. 
 
 Mr. Wesley seemed to delight in a storm: when 
 the waters were troubled, many poor impotent 
 sinners stepped into the pool of Methodism, and 
 were healed of their diseases. It was in these 
 troubled waters that our hero delighted to fish. 
 Accordingly^, in the beginning of September, 
 1750, having been informed of the violence of 
 the mobs atCoik, he determined to set out for 
 the scene of riot. He arrived at Cork on the 
 loth of May; and the next day proceeded to 
 pi each on Hamm ond's-marsh, then a large opem 
 space The congregation was very large, and 
 very attentive ; but the floods soon began to 
 lilt up tlieir voice, and the most shocking out- 
 
INSTABILITY, &C. * S-il 
 
 rages were permitted by the magistrates. Scenes 
 of riot and persecution took place at Cork and 
 the neighbourhood, which will be an eternal 
 blot on the memory of the magistrates of those 
 places. 
 
 During these shameful proceedings, the cause 
 of Methodism made rapid progress in various 
 parts of Ireland. Many, both of the Roman 
 Catholic and the Protestant faith, were brought 
 over to the interest of the Wesleyans ; and many 
 more of the Papists would have been converted, 
 had not the Protestants, as well as their own 
 priests, taken pains to hinder them. 
 
 Violent as was the oppposition which Mr. 
 Wesley met with from avowed enemies, he had 
 to encounter evils of a more dangerous and 
 alarming kind from some of his preachers and 
 people. Many of the preachers had begun to 
 wish to have the Methodists a body distinct 
 from the church of England, from which Mr. 
 Wesley had never avowed his dissent. The 
 slightest hint of a rebellion of this nature gave 
 him no small pain. He thus writes to a confi- 
 dential friend, Mr. Edward Perronet — 
 
 ‘‘ I have abundance of complaints to make, 
 as well as to hear. I have scarce any on whom 
 I can depend, when I am an hundred miles off. 
 Tis well Ido not run away soon, and leave them 
 to cut and shuffle for themselves. Here is a 
 
 5 
 
342 
 
 INSTABILITY OF SOME 
 
 glorious people. But, O ! where are the shep- 
 herds ? 
 
 ‘‘ The society at Cork have fairly sent me 
 word, that they will take care of themselves, 
 and erect themselves into a dissenting congre- 
 gation. I am weary of these sons of Zeruiah r 
 they are too hard for me. Dear Ted, stand fast, 
 whether I stand or fall.” 
 
 He afterwards writes to the same person, say- 
 ing, Charles (Charles Perronet, the brother of 
 Edward) and you behave as I w'ant you to do. 
 But you cannot, or will not, preach where I de- 
 sire. Others can and will preach where I de- 
 sire ; but they do not behave as I w'ant them to 
 do.” Again — 1 think both Charles and you 
 have a right sense of what it is to serve as sons 
 in the gospel. And, if all our helpers had had 
 the same, the work of God would have pros- 
 pered better, both in England and Ireland.” — 
 And again — You put the thing right. I have 
 not one preacher with me, and not six in Eng- 
 land, whose wills are broken enough to serve 
 me as sons in the gospel.” 
 
 These w^ere alarming symptoms, Madam ; and 
 they seem to have shocked the ambition of Mr. 
 John Wesley not a little. The fact is, the Me- 
 thodists were already practical dissenters ; and 
 it was but honest in the society at Cork, and all 
 the ingenuous preachers, to avow their dissent 
 
OF THE PREACHERS. 
 
 S43 
 
 at once. It was Mr. Wesley himself who was 
 cutting and shuffling between the church of 
 England and the Protestant dissenters, and not 
 those societies which determined to act an ho- 
 nest, open part, by leaving the church whose 
 rubric they had broken, and whose ritual they 
 had in a great measure discarded. How the 
 Methodists of the present day can persist in cal- 
 ling themselves members of the church of Eng- 
 land, I cannot tell. When will they lay aside 
 their double-dealing ? 
 
 Mr. Wesley left Ireland on the 22d of July, and 
 proceeded to vmt the societies through the West 
 of England. 
 
 I am, kc. 
 
344 
 
 LETTER XXXII. 
 
 Mr. White field— Hypocrisy of Unhelie^cers— 
 Dreadful Alarms — James Wheatley. 
 
 BEAR MADAM, 
 
 Mr. Whitefield, having become a zealous 
 Calvinist, had separated himself from the Wes- 
 leyan connexion, and was proceeding with 
 astonishing success in making proselytes to the 
 cause of Predestinarianism. With respect to 
 the notion of sensible and instantaneous con- 
 version, and of almost all the other peculiarities 
 of Methodism, the Whitefieldian and the 
 Wesleyan Methodists still agreed pretty well. 
 
 Whitefield’s manner in the pulpit was more 
 engaging than that of either of the two Wes- 
 leys : he had formerly been very much attached 
 to theatrical entertainments, and after his con- 
 version, when he had become a preacher, he 
 carried along with him many of the graces of 
 
MR. WHITEFIELD. 
 
 345 
 
 oratory and the attractive gestures of the stage 
 into the pulpit : his ministrations were conse- 
 quently always very well attended. SometimeSj 
 indeed, he was honoured with the attendance 
 of some great personages, who, at that time, 
 were making a figure in the literary and politi- 
 cal world. Under the patronage of the cele- 
 brated Countess of Huntingdon, he acquired 
 considerable celebrity both as a Christian 
 preacher and an orator. 
 
 After his return from Georgia, in 1748, the 
 Countess wrote to him, informing him that 
 several of the nobility and gentry were desirous 
 of hearing him preach. In a few days that 
 complete man of the world, the Earl of Ches- 
 terfield, and a large circle of his friends attend- 
 ed at the preaching, and having heard him 
 - once, expressed a desire of hearing him again. 
 
 I therefore preached again,'' says he, ‘‘ thfe 
 same evening, and went home, never more sur- 
 prised at any incident in my life.” This, Ma- 
 dam, is perhaps the first and only instance in 
 which a sermon has been known to be encored . 
 Mr. Whitefield adds, All behaved quite well, 
 and were in some degree affected. The Earl 
 of Chesterfield thanked me, and said, ‘ Sir, I 
 will not tell you what I shall tell others, how 
 I approve of you or words to this purpose. 
 At last Lord Bolingbroke came to hear, sat like 
 an archbishop, and was pleased to say, ^ I had 
 
346 
 
 MR. WHiTEriELiX. 
 
 done great justice to the divine attributes in my 
 discourse.’ Soon afterwards her Ladyship re- 
 moved to town, when I preached generally twice 
 a- week to very brilliant auditories — Blessed be 
 God, not without effectual success on some.” — 
 It has been said that the celebrated Scotch 
 historian, Hume, was occasionally a hearer of 
 Mr. Whitefield, and that he was much capti- 
 vated with his eloquence. We must not, how- 
 ever, look among the Chesterfields, the Boling- 
 brokes, and the Humes for converts either to 
 Arminian or Calvinian Methodism. Had the 
 preaching of Whitefield been attended with any 
 lasting effects on the mind of the Earl, he 
 might perhaps have been spared some of those 
 gloomy and heart-appaling reflections which 
 made the close of his days bitter to him ; in- 
 stead of looking upon his entrance upon ano- 
 ther state of existence as ‘‘a leap in the dark,” 
 he might have left the world, which he had so 
 long and so faithfully worshipped, with a hope 
 blooming and full of immortality. He would have 
 learned also in his lifetime to have guarded the 
 morals of his son against the fascinating allure- 
 ments of a gay and thoughtless age. Instead 
 of endeavouring to initiate him into the mys- 
 teries of fashion, and of teaching him to pre- 
 varicate for good manners’ sake, he would, 
 probably, have learned himself in simplicity 
 and godly sincerity to have had his conversa- 
 
HYPOCRISY OF UNBELIEVERS. 
 
 347 
 
 tion among men. I greatly fear, when this 
 votary of flattery told Mr. Whitefield he ap- 
 proved of him, by which he meant to be un- 
 derstood that he approved of his preaching, he 
 was only paying the preacher a compliment; 
 which he might think it his duty to do from a 
 regard to the demands of good breeding. 
 
 Of the sincerity of Lord Bolingbroke’s pro- 
 fessions I would say less. He has been said to 
 be a Deist ; but he certainly at one time thought 
 highly of Christianity. No religion,'^ says 
 he, “ ever appeared in the world whose natural 
 tendency was so much directed to promote the 
 peace and happiness of mankind as Christian- 
 ity.” But indeed. Madam, there is no trusting 
 to the professions of those who have thrown 
 off all obligation to the restraints imposed upon 
 them by the religion of Christ ; a religion which 
 requireth truth in the inward parts. I know 
 some unbelievers, and those too men of respect 
 in the world, who have scrupled not, in writ- 
 ing, to signify their belief of the Christian 
 Doctrine ; but who, in conversation, are pro- 
 fessed enemies to our common faith. That most 
 fallacious and pernicious of all worldly maxims, 
 to ‘‘think with the wise, and speak with the 
 foolish,” is near a-kin to this species of preva- 
 rication, which, if it had been always acted 
 upon, would have left the world in a fixed state 
 of barbarism and misery. Voltaire received 
 
548 
 
 HYPOCRISY OF UJ^BELIEVERS. 
 
 the Sacrament, at the very time he was engaged 
 in a conspiracy with the king of Prussia and 
 others to crush the wretch, meaning Christ. 
 Rousseau declares that the evang'eiic history 
 does not bear the mark of fiction. On the 
 contrary,'’ sa^^s he, the history of Socrates, 
 which nobody presumes to doubt, is not so well 
 attested as that of Jesus Christ !” Thomas 
 Paine, wlio tells us that the Bible teaches rapine, 
 cruelty and murder, and that the New Testa- 
 ment teaches us, that but I must not be 
 
 allowed to repeat his very indecent blasphemy 
 about the Virgin Mary and the Holy Spirit ; — 
 that to love our enemies was only one out of 
 many others of our Saviour's dogmas of false 
 morality ; I say, Madam, this man also con- 
 fesses, that “ Jesus Christ taught and lived the 
 purest morality," that he was “ a virtuous re- 
 former;” and that his morality has not been 
 exceeded by any.' I forbear to quote from one 
 or two authors of the present day, who have 
 thus shamefully and basely prevaricated. I 
 repeat it then, that no dependance can be placed 
 on the professions of unbelievers. 
 
 As to flume, he might possibly admire the 
 eloquence of Whitefield ; but surely he despised 
 his Christian virtues : else he would have had 
 more manly and exalted enjoym.ents on a bed 
 of death, than a game at whist, or a joke 
 ,5ibout Lucian, Charon, and the River Styx, 
 
HYPOCRISY OF UNBELIEVERS. 
 
 349 
 
 Had poor Emerson, the mathematician, lived 
 the morality which Christ taught, instead of 
 creeping on his hands and knees, covered with 
 dirt, shame, and infamy, alternately praying 
 and blaspheming, he might have been as happy 
 as he was learned, and have closed his days, 
 exclaiming, Though I walk through the val- 
 ley of the shadow of death, I > will fear no 
 evil ; for thou art vvith me ; thy rod and thy 
 staff they comfort me.’ O, death ! where 
 is thy sting ? O, grave ! where is thy vic- 
 tory ?” 
 
 Excuse this digression, Madam. I now pro- 
 ceed with the progress of our Wesleyan Chris- 
 tians. 
 
 While Whitefield, by his eloquence, was 
 drawing some of .the mighty and the noble to 
 th.e Tabernacle, and while John Wesley was 
 fghting with beasts in Ireland, Mr. Charles 
 Wesley was making converts in England, and 
 labouring to purge the Church of the Metho- 
 dists from those members, preachers and others, 
 Avho were a disgrace to the society. His mar- 
 riage, which v/as rather an unusual one, had 
 not lessened his zeal for Methodism, nor hin- 
 dered his exertions to spread its name and in- 
 fluence. He had, however, much to labour 
 against, by the^ unsoundness of some; the re- 
 bellion oCothers ; and the enthiisiasm of a third 
 class. 
 
350 
 
 DREADFUL ALARMS. 
 
 In the months of February and March, 1750, 
 the city of London felt several shocks of an 
 earthquake, which alarmed the inhabitants ex- 
 ceedingly, particularly the Methodists, who 
 flocked in shoals to the Foundery and the Ta- 
 bernacle. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley wrote to his brother 
 John, on the 8th March, giving some account 
 of this affair. ‘‘This morning,” says he, “a 
 quarter after five, we had another shock of an 
 earthquake, far more violent than that of Fe- 
 bruary 8. I 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 im- 
 mediately cried out, Therefore we will not fear, 
 though the earth be mov^ed 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. 
 
 “ He filled my heart with faith, and my mouth 
 with words, shaking their souls as well as their 
 bodies. The earth moved westward, then east, 
 then westward again, through all London and 
 Westminster. It was a strong and jarnng mo- 
 tion, attended with a rumbling noise. Like that 
 of thunder. Many houses were much shaken, 
 and some chimnies thrown down, but without 
 any further hurt.” 
 
DREADFUL ALARMS. 
 
 351 
 
 Earthquakes not being very common in Eng- 
 land, when they do happen, are always pro- 
 ductive of great terror and alarm to the inha- 
 bitants ; while every unusual phenomena in 
 nature, is sure to find work for the dreamers of 
 dreams ; every total eclipse of the sun, every 
 appearance of a comet, every agitation of the 
 earth, the combination of sulphureous and me- 
 tallic particles, yea, every extraordinary storm 
 of thunder and lightning, will rouse the pro- 
 phets to action ; who will cause confusion to 
 be worse confounded” by their alarming prog- 
 nostications. The convulsions of nature are 
 always regarded by the Prophets of our day, as 
 the sure harbinger of its final dissolution. I 
 have seen nearly all the inhabitants of a village 
 running about the streets, in the most wild and 
 frantic state of consternation, quite certain 
 - that the day of judgment was about to com- 
 mence, because there had been a long and vio- 
 lent tempest of hail, thunder, and lightning. 
 This was the case on the 3d of August, 1793, at 
 Tildsley-Banks, near Manchester ; at which 
 place there was such a storm of this kind as 
 perhaps the inhabitants of our island never saw 
 before. During the space of eighteen minutes, 
 the heavens were in one continual roar. The 
 lightnings blazed incessantly, and the hail 
 descended in such large stones, and with so 
 much velocity, as to break almost every pape 
 
352 DREADFUL ALARMS. 
 
 of glass in the village that fronted southward. 
 It might truly be said, that “ fire mingled with 
 hail ran along upon the ground.’’ In a farm- 
 house, where I was then sitting, I saw the glass 
 and leads in the windows torn away as by an 
 invisible hand. This being just after the sur- 
 render of Valenciennes to the British troops, 
 it had been proclaimed through the village, 
 that a general illumination should take place in 
 the evening- — When, lo ! if the stars in 
 their courses could once be said to fight against 
 Sisera, it might then be concluded, that con- 
 tending elements combined to check ' the un- 
 hallowed triumphs of .ambition and bloodshed. 
 It appears, Madam, that the storm I have just 
 been describing was not wholly confined to the 
 village of Tildsley-Banks ; for the Prophet, 
 Brothers, then in r.ondon, mentions it, in one 
 of his pamphlets, as being one of the angels 
 then engaged in pouring out his vial on the 
 sun 1 To return to the earthquake. On the 
 4th of April, Mr. Wesley observes, Fear fill- 
 ed our Chapel, occasioned by a prophecy of 
 the return of the earthquake this night. I 
 preached my written sermon on the subject, 
 with great effect, and gave out several suitable 
 hymns. It was a glorious night for the disciples 
 of Jesus. April 5, I rose at four o’clock, after 
 a night of sound sleep, while my neighbours 
 watched. I sent an account to M. G. as fol- 
 
i)READFUL ALARMS. , S6S 
 
 lows t— The late earthquake has found me work. 
 Yesterday 1 saw the Westminster end of the 
 town full of coaches, and crowds flying out of 
 the reach of divine justice, \Vith astonishing 
 precipitation. Their panic was caused by a 
 poor madman’s prophecy. Last night they were 
 all to be swallowed up. The vulgar vv^ere almost 
 in as great consternation as their betters. Most 
 of them watched all night ; multitudes in the 
 fields and open places ; several in their coaches : 
 many removed their goods. London looked 
 like a sacked city. A lady just stepping into 
 her coach to escape, dropped down dead. 
 Many were all night knocking at the Foundery 
 door, and begging admittance for God’s sake T’ 
 This account is confirmed by a letter from a 
 W. Biggs to Mr. John Wesky, dated on the 
 fifth of the same month, . in which he says, 
 This great city has been, for some days past, 
 under terrible apprehensions of another earth- 
 quake. Yesterday thousands fled out of town, 
 it having been confidently asserted by a dra- 
 goon, that he had a revelation, that great part 
 of London, and Westminster, especially, would 
 be destroyed by an earthquake the 4th instant, 
 between twelve and one at nio'hl. The whole 
 
 O 
 
 city was under direful apprehensions. Places 
 of worship were crowded with frightened sin- 
 ners, especially our twa) Chapels and the Taber- 
 nacle, where Mr. Whitefield preached. Several 
 
 A A 
 
354 
 
 DREADFUL ALARMS, 
 
 Classes came to tlleir Leaders, and desired th^t 
 they would spend the night with them in' 
 prayer; which was done, and God gave them 
 a blessing. Indeed all around was awful!” — 
 
 Though crowds left the town on Wednesday 
 night, yet crowds were left behind ; multitudes 
 of whom, for fear of being suddenly over- 
 whelmed, left their houses, and repaired to the 
 fields and open places in the city. Tower-IIill, 
 Moorfields, but above all Hyde-Park, were 
 filled best part of the night, with men, v/omen, 
 and children, lamenting. Some, with stronger 
 imaginations than others, mostly women, ran 
 crying in the streets, an earthquake ! an earth- 
 quake ! Such a distress, perhaps, is not re- 
 corded to have happened before in this careless 
 city. Mr. Whitefield preached at midnight in 
 Hyde-Park. Hereby God will visit this city : 
 it will be a time of mercy to some. ^ O may I 
 be found watching !” Does not this last re- 
 mark amount to something like a belief in the 
 dragoon’s revelation? 
 
 These confusions, like all other public dis- 
 turbances, turned to good account in • the 
 cause of Methodism. Many who had been 
 driven to the preaching through dread of the 
 earthquake, when the prophecy xame not to 
 pass and their fears were abated, still continued 
 attached to the Wesleyans and the Whitefield- 
 ians, and thereby augmented tlie numbers in 
 
JAMES WHEATLEY. 
 
 355 
 
 society, and the hearers at the Foundery and 
 Tabernacle. But these alarms also increased 
 the number of enthusiasts and fanatics, which 
 gave much pain to Mr. Charles Wesley. 
 
 A worse calamity befel the Methodists soon 
 after, through the lewdness of one of their 
 preachers. His name was Wheatley, and was a 
 kind of a quack in physic as well as in theolog}^ 
 This man made dreadful havoc among the 
 sisterhood. Your modesty forbids that I 
 should enter into farther detail of this wretch’s 
 dealings among the women. Wheatley con- 
 tinued his licentious depredations until he was 
 discarded by the two brothers on the 25th of 
 June, 1751. Such was the notoriety of this 
 man’s lewdness, that it became necessary, for 
 the credit of the cause, to publish the note of 
 his expulsion, which was as follows : 
 
 ‘‘ Because you have wrought folly in Israel, 
 grieved the holy spirit of God, betrayed your 
 own soul into temptation and sin, and the souls 
 of many others, whom you ought, even at the 
 peril of your own life, to have guarded against 
 all sill ; because you have given occasion to the 
 ehbniM of God, whenever they shall know 
 these things, to ^blaspheme the ways and truth 
 of God. — We can in no wise receive you as a 
 fellow-labourer, till we see clear proofs of your 
 real and deep repentance. Of this you have 
 given us no proof j^et. You have not so much 
 
 AA 2 
 
James wheatley. 
 
 ^56 
 
 as named one single person, in all England or 
 Ireland, with whom you have behaved ill, ex- 
 cept those we knew before. 
 
 “ The least and lowest proof of such repent- 
 ance which we can receive is this. That till 
 our next Conference (which we hope will be in 
 October) you abstain both from preaching and 
 practising physic. If you do not, we are clear ; 
 tve cannot answer for the consequence. 
 
 John Wesley, 
 
 ‘^ Charles Wesley.’* 
 
 / 
 
 This Wheatley was such a sad rake among 
 the ladies, that even three years after his ex- 
 pulsion, we find the Mayor of the city of 
 Norwich employed a whole day in taking the 
 affidavits of the women whom he had tried to 
 corrupt. These accounts being printed and 
 cried about the streets, occasioned great con- 
 fusion. Fresh discoveries were daily made of 
 his lewdness, ‘^enough,” it is said, ‘‘to make 
 the ears of all who hear it tingle.” I will have 
 mercy on your ears. Madam, and drop the sub- 
 ject, observing, that this Methodistical Adonis 
 published a book, which I have read, entitled 
 “ Advice to Married Persons !” 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
^ 357 
 
 LETTER XXXlll 
 
 Prejudices against Mr, Charles^ Wesley — Desists 
 from Travelling — His Sickness and Death — Hi$ 
 Character — Specimens of his Poetry, 
 
 BEAR MADAM, 
 
 The conduct of James Wheatley put the bro- 
 thers upon a strict inquiry into the character 
 and abilities of the rest of the lay-preachers. 
 This unpleasant office fell, with very great pro- 
 priety, on Mr, Charles Wesley. He accordingly 
 commenced a kind of inspecting tour through 
 all the circuits. This service, as we may well 
 suppose, was attended with no very pleasing 
 effects. Many were found deficient in abilities; 
 many were discovered to be disobedient and 
 ungovernable, especially in what regarded the 
 union of the Methodists with the church of 
 f.ngla|id; many were found careless and luke- 
 4 
 
358 PREJUDICES AGAINST 
 
 warm in their duties ; and some were discovered 
 to have been immoral in their conduct. It 
 was neither safe nor possible to siience all these 
 offending preachers. Charles Wesley, being of 
 a more resolute and discerning mind than his 
 brother John, acted under these circumstances 
 with as much prudence and courage as he 
 possibly could. But his high-church principles, 
 nearly amounting to bigotry, induced him, at 
 times, to number among the sins of tlie preachiir 
 ers, their non-attendance on the service and 
 ordinances of the church of England. He con- 
 sequently created himself many enemies ; some 
 from motives of moral principle, and others from 
 those of revenge. The lukewarm and the im- 
 moral hated him as an enemy that had found 
 them out; the dissenting brethren, sometimes 
 looker} upon him as one seeking to lord it over 
 God’s lieritage ; those who were deficient in 
 abilities to preach, despised him, as one wish- 
 ing to oppose h liman learning and head-know- 
 ledge to the inspiration and operations of the 
 Spirit. 
 
 Concerning a preacher of this last class, he 
 writes as follows— 
 
 August 5, I went to the room, that I might 
 hear with my own ears, one of whom many 
 strange things bad been told me. But such ^ 
 preacher never have I heard before, and hope I 
 
MR. C. WESLEY. 
 
 359 
 
 never shall again. It was beyond description. 
 I cannot say he preached false doctrine, or true, 
 or any doctrine at all ; but pure unmixed non- 
 sense. Not one sentence did he utter that 
 could do the least good. Now and then a text 
 of scripture was d l agged in by head and shoul- 
 ders. I could scarcely refrain from stopping 
 him. He set my blood a galloping, and threw 
 me into such a sweat, that I expected the fever 
 to follow. (He was then just recovering from a 
 severe indisposition). Some begged me to step 
 into the desk, and speak a few words to the dis- 
 satisfied hearers. 1 did so, taking no notice of 
 M. F k (meaning, I suppose, Mich. Fen- 
 
 wick, who died in the connexion, in 1797), late 
 superintendent of all Ireland ! I talked closely 
 with him, utterly averse to working, and told 
 him plainly he should either work with his 
 hands, or preach no more. He complained of 
 my brother. I answered, I would repair the 
 supposed injury, by setting him up again. At 
 last he yielded to work.” The same day he 
 silenced anotlter preacher; for what offence it 
 does not appear. 
 
 It is very commonly thought among the Me- 
 thodists, that Mr. Charles Wesley used, at times, 
 to backslide from his religious course ; and that 
 on one of these occasions he wrote the follow- 
 ing stanza — 
 
360 DESISTS FROM TRAVELLING, 
 
 “ Ah ! where am I now ? 
 
 M' hen was it, or how, 
 
 That I fell from my heaven of grace ^ 
 
 I am brought into thrall, 
 
 I am strip t of my all ; 
 
 I am banish'd from Jesus’s face 
 
 The rumour of Charles Wesley failing from 
 grace, and of his being deficient in zeal, was, I 
 believe, unfounded. Be this, however, as it may, 
 he did certainly desist from travelling in conjunc- 
 tion with his brother John, some time before 
 his death. The cause of this circumstance is 
 perhaps to be sought for in the spirit of dissent 
 from the chutch, which began to prevail among 
 the brethren, and which John had not sufficient 
 courage to oppose, as Charles thought he ought 
 to have done. The foolish and ridiculous prac- 
 tice, which his brother had begun, of ordaining 
 some of the lay-preachers, who vainly thought 
 that such an honour would give them greater in- 
 fluence with ihe people, considerably strengthen- 
 ed him in his separation. Charles was very desir- 
 ous of abiding by his ordination-oaths ; and 
 when John began to make siich very glaring in- 
 novations, as to take upon himself the power an^ 
 office of ordination, it grieved him exceedingly. 
 Not that he formally withdrew himself from the 
 connexion : for although he laid aside, in a great 
 measure, his itinerant plan, he still preached. 
 
HIS DEATH. 
 
 361 
 
 at the chapel in London, and sometimes visited 
 that at Bristol. 
 
 Mr. Charles Yv^esley having now in a great 
 measure resigned the very active part which he 
 took in the societies, we must proceed to take 
 our final leave of him. 
 
 Of the last hours of this champion of Method- 
 ism, we are not furni>hed with any thing very 
 important. He possessed,” says Dr. White" 
 head, that state of mind which he had beert 
 always pleased to see in others — unaffected hu- 
 mility, 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 — 
 
 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 29, 1788, aged seventy-nine 
 years and three montljs ; and was buried, April 
 5, in Mary bone church-yard, at his own de- 
 sire. The pall was supported by eight clergy- 
 men of the church of England. On his tomb- 
 
562 
 
 HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 Stone are tlie following lines, written by him- 
 self on the death of one of his friends — - 
 
 With povcrtyof spirit blest. 
 
 Rest, bappv saint, in Jesus rest : 
 
 A sinner sav’d, through grace forgiv’n, 
 
 Redeem’d from earth, to reign in heaven I 
 Thy labours of unwearied love, 
 
 Ey thee forgot, are crown’d above ; 
 
 Crown’d, through the mercy of thy Lord, 
 
 With a free, full, immense reward i” 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley is described as a man of a 
 warm and lively disposition, of great frankness 
 and integrity, and generous and steady in his 
 friendships. In conversation he is said to have 
 been pleasing, instructive, and cheerful ; and 
 that his observations were often seasoned with 
 wit and Immour. As a husband, a father, and a 
 friend, his character was amiable; and that, as 
 a minister, he delivered from the pulpit what 
 flowed from the present views and feelings of his 
 own mind. 
 
 No one will be disposed to call in que'stion the 
 faithfulness of this account. But was he not at 
 times severe, haughty, over- bearing, and dog- 
 matical in his manner ? Too tenacious of his 
 own opinion ? Was he not tinctured with bi- 
 gotry, when he declared that the scripture came 
 with a peculi-ar sweetness to him when read in 
 a church ? Though he often opposed the spixit 
 
HIS CHARACTER. 
 
 363 
 
 of enthusiasm among his brethren, was he not 
 sometimes enthusiastical himself? He became 
 almost as firm a believer in sudden conversions, 
 in extraordinary illuminations, as his brother 
 John. He did not always check the ecstacies, 
 and wild raptures, into which his commanding 
 eloquence and terrible descriptions often threw 
 his hearers. 
 
 Charles Wesley was the great poet of Method- 
 ism — the bard of the saints. Of the Collection 
 of Hymns made and I believe chiefly composed, 
 by the two brothers, Mr. John says, that they 
 will not soon be worn 'thread-bare ; that the 
 book is large enough to contain all the import- 
 mit truths of our most holy religion, whether spe- 
 culative or practical ; yea, to illustrate them all, 
 and to prove them both hij scripture and reason F 
 May I be permitted,” he continues, to add 
 a few words with regard to the poetry? Then I 
 will speak to those ivho are judges thereof, wit^i 
 all freedom and unreserve. To these I may say, 
 without offence, 1. In these hymns there is no 
 doggerel ; no botches ; nothing put in to patch 
 up the rhyme; no feeble expletives. 2. Here 
 is nothing turgid or bombast on the one hand, 
 or low and creeping on the other, 3. Here are 
 no cant expressions ; no words without mean- 
 ing. — 4. Here are both the purity, the strength, 
 and the elegance of the English language ; and 
 the same time the utmost simplicity and 
 5 
 
364 
 
 SPECIMENS 
 
 plainness, suited to every capacity. Lastly, I 
 desire men of taste to judge ( these are the only 
 competent judges), whether there is not in some 
 of the verses the true spirit of poetry; such as 
 cannot be acquired by art and labour, but must 
 be the gift of nature. By labour a man may be- 
 comea tolerable imitator of Spenser, Shakespeare, 
 or Milton,, and may heap together pretty coiur 
 pound epithets, as pak^eyedj meek-eyed, and the 
 like. But unless he is horn a poet, he will never 
 attain the genuine spmt of poetry d" 
 
 I have already laid before you several speci- 
 mens of these hymms, mostly by Charles ' Wes- 
 ley; I cannot, however, resist the pleasure of 
 transcribing the following 
 
 FUNERAL HYMN, 
 
 AH ! lovely appearance of death ! 
 
 What sight upon earth is so fair ? 
 Not all the gay pageants that breathe 
 Can with a dead body compare. 
 With solemn delight 1 survey 
 
 The corpse when the spirit is fled, 
 In love with the beautiful clay, 
 
 And longing to lie in its stead ! 
 
 How blest is our brother bereft 
 Of all that could burden his mind ! 
 How easy the soul that has left 
 This wearisome body behind ! 
 
OF HIS POETRY. 
 
 365 
 
 Of evil incapable thou, 
 
 Whose relics with envy I see, 
 
 No longer in misery now, 
 
 No longer a sinner like me* 
 
 This earth is affected no more 
 
 With sickness, or shaken with pain : 
 The war in the members is o’er, 
 
 And never shall vex him again: 
 
 No anger henceforward or shame 
 Shall redden this innocent clay ; 
 Extinct is the animal flame. 
 
 And passion is vanish’d away. 
 
 This languishing head is at rest. 
 
 Its thinking and aching are o’er; 
 
 This quiet immoveable breast 
 Is heav’d by affliction no more. 
 
 This heart is no longer the seat 
 Of trouble and torturing pain ; 
 
 It ceases to flutter and beat — 
 
 It never shall flutter again. 
 
 The lids he so seldom could close, 
 
 By sorrow forbidden to sleep, 
 
 Seal’d up in eternal repose. 
 
 Have strangely forgotten to weep : 
 The fountains can yield no supplies ; 
 
 These hollows from water are free ; 
 The tears are all wip’d from these eyes, 
 And evil they never shall see. 
 
 To mourn and to suffer is mine, 
 
 While bound in a prison I breathe, 
 And still for deliverance pine, 
 
 And press to the issues of death : 
 
366 
 
 SPECIMENS 
 
 What now with my tears I bedew, 
 
 O might 1 this moment become ! 
 
 My spirit created anew, 
 
 My flesh be consign’d to the tomb ! 
 
 These verses do not, I conceive, disgrace the 
 muse of Mr. Charles Wesley, whose production 
 I believe they are. But you will perceive, Ma- 
 dam, that very great poetic licence has been 
 taken with some of the doctrines of Christianity, 
 as well as with the common experience of men 
 concerning a state of death. 
 
 Mr. John Wesley, in his preface to these 
 hymns, asserts, that ^^no word is there used but 
 in a fixed and determinate sense.” In what 
 sense, then, are we to understand the third line 
 of the fifth stanza ? — 
 
 Seal’d up in eternal repose 
 
 And how are we to reconcile that petition in the 
 LiVduy, RgRinst sudden' death, with many of the 
 expressions, and the general sentiment of the 
 above stanzas? particularly with part of the 
 last ? — 
 
 And still for deliverance pine, 
 
 And press to the issues of death : 
 
 What now with my tears 1 bedew, 
 
 O might I t/iis moment become I 
 
OF HIS POETRY. 
 
 367 
 
 But they who feel not the beauty and the 
 poetic fire of the verses altogether, have never 
 paid their court to the muses. 
 
 I may be allowed to give you one or two spe- 
 cimens of Charles Wesley's lighter and more 
 lively poetry. 
 
 THE MAN OF FASHION. 
 
 WRITTEN IN 1784. 
 
 WHAT is a modern Man of Fashion? 
 
 A man of taste and dissipation: 
 
 A busy man, without employment; 
 
 A happy man, without enjoyment. 
 
 Who squanders all his time and treasures, 
 On empty joys and tasteless pleasures; 
 Visits, attendance, and attention. 
 
 And courtly arts too low to mention. 
 
 In sleep, and dress, and sport, and play. 
 He throws his worthless life away ; 
 
 Has no opinion of his own, 
 
 But takes from leading beaux the ton. 
 With a disdainful smile or frown^ 
 
 He on the rif-raf croud looks down : 
 
 The world polite, his Iriends and he, 
 
 And all the rest are — Nobody ! 
 
 Taught by the great his smiles to sell. 
 And how to write, and how to spell; 
 
 The great his oracles he makes. 
 
 Copies their vices and mistakes ; 
 
 Custom pursues, his only rule, 
 
 And lives an ape, and dies a Tool ! 
 
368 
 
 SPECIMENS. 
 
 From a perusal of the following lines, ond 
 would almost be led to conclude, that Mn 
 Charles Wesley was a dissenter : 
 
 Inventions added in a fatal hour* 
 
 Human appendages of pomp and power j 
 Whatever shines in outward grandeur great^ ' 
 
 I give it up — a creature of the State ! 
 
 Wide from the church as hell from heaven is wide^' 
 The blaze of riches, and the glare of pride, 
 
 The vain desire of being entitl’d Lord, 
 
 The worldly kingdom, and the princely sword*. 
 
 But should the bold usurping spirit dare 
 Still higher climb, and sit in Moses’ chair, 
 
 Power o’er my faith and conscience to maintain. 
 
 Shall I submit, and suffer it to reign ? 
 
 Call it The Churchy and darkness put for light, 
 Falsehood with truth confound, and wrong with right ? 
 No ! I dispute the evil’s haughty claim, 
 
 The Spirit of the World be still its name ; 
 
 Whatever call’d by men, ’tis purely evil, 
 
 ’Tis Babel, Antichrist, and Pope, and Devil 1” 
 
 I am, k.Q, 
 
369 
 
 LETTER XXXIF, 
 
 Marriage of Mr, tVesley — Success of Methodism 
 in Scotland— Causes of its Failure there — Testi- 
 ‘ mony in favour of the established Clergy of these 
 Kingdoms, 
 
 BEAR MADAMj 
 
 In the year 1750, Mr. John Wesley began toen« 
 tertain thoughts of marriage ; but his brother 
 Charles, for reasons which do not now appear, 
 set his face against that measure. Mr. Wesley 
 was not, however^ to be diverted from the pur*' 
 pose he had once seriously embraced. He had 
 long been accustomed to. follow the dictates of 
 his own will in things less important than that 
 of carnal love. It could not then be expected 
 from him that he should suffer a determination 
 of such consequence to his happiness to be frus- 
 trated by any of the ordinary occurrences of 
 life^ Accordingly, in the year 1751, he gave 
 
 B B 
 
370 
 
 MARRIAGE OF 
 
 ' liis hand to Mrs. Vizelle, a widow lady of inde- 
 pendent fortune. This was a most unhappy 
 match indeed. He loved his wife, but he loved 
 to travel and preach much more. Indeed he 
 made it a kind of marriage-article during his 
 courtship, that he should not preach one sermon 
 or travel one mile less on that account. If I 
 thought I should,” said he, ‘‘ my dear, as well 
 as I love you, I would nev’er see your face more.” 
 It seems Mrs. Wesley soon broke this engage- 
 ment, and at last took her leave of him, signify- 
 ing her resolution that she would never more re- 
 turn. On this event Mr. Wesley coolly ob- 
 serves, “ Non earn rellqiii, non dimissi ; 7ion re- 
 mcabo, 
 
 She died in the year 1781, at Camberwell, near 
 London. The stone, which is placed at the 
 head of her grave, sets forth, ‘‘ That she was a 
 woman of exemplary piety, a tender parent, and 
 a sincere friend.” 
 
 Her fortune, which had been secured to her 
 prior to her marriage with Mr. Wesley, she left 
 to her son by her former husband. To Mr. Wes- 
 ley she bequeathed a ring ! 
 
 Mr. Wesley found it less difficult to govern a 
 society, consisting of some thousands of mem- 
 bers, than he did to bring his wife into due sub- 
 jection. He was determined in all his under- 
 takings with others to be complete lord and 
 master himself. Of the importance of his own 
 
MR. WESLEl. 
 
 371 
 
 character, contrasted with that of his wife’s, he 
 had very high notions. In one of his letters he 
 thus asks her : “ Of w^hat importance is your 
 character to mankind ? If you was buried just 
 now ; or if you had never lived, what loss would 
 it be to the cause of God ?” 
 
 According to the accounts which his bio- 
 graphers have given us of this unfortunate match, 
 it appears, that Mrs. Wesley used her husband 
 in a most unjustifiable manner : robbing him— 
 susj>ecting him of a criminal intercourse with 
 other women — aspersing his moral character, &c. 
 Yet he writes to her, saying, I love you still, 
 and am as clear from all other women as the day 
 I was born. At length know me, and know 
 yourself. Your enemy I cannot be; but let me 
 be your friend : asperse me no more ; provoke 
 me no more. Do not any longer contend for 
 mastery, for power, money or praise. Be con- 
 tent to be a private insignificant person, known 
 and loved by Gorl and me. Attempt no more to 
 abridge me of my liberty, which I claim by the 
 laws of God and man. Leave me to be governed 
 by God and my own conscience. Then shall I 
 govern you wdtli gentle sway, and shew that 
 I do indeed love you as Christ loved the 
 church.” 
 
 Though I am disposed to believe Mrs. Wesley 
 was very ceusurahle ; yet, if I have not mis- 
 taken tlie general temper of you ladies, Madam, 
 
 B B 2 
 
S72 
 
 SUCCESS OF METHODISM 
 
 tliere are some very obnoxious words and phrases 
 in the letter from which I have made this short 
 extract. The question respecting Mrs. Wesley’s 
 importance in society— “ know do 
 
 not contend for mastery^, for power, or praise'' 
 — a “ private insignificant person” — I will go* 
 you with gentle sway,” &c. are such phrases 
 which few wives will patiently submit to from 
 their husbands. 
 
 Mr. Wesley paid his first visit to Scotland in 
 this year ( 1751 ). The labours of the Methodists 
 have, however, never been crowned with extra- 
 ordinary success in that country; and Mr. 
 Myles seems to intimate that their reason for 
 still preaching in Scotland is, that Methodism 
 there may act by way of check upon the spread 
 of Arianism and Socinianism. The manner in 
 which the ^Tethodists proceed against these he- 
 resies^ as they suppose them to be, is not by the 
 common mode, such as force of argumentation, 
 or strength of reasoning; but simply by rank- 
 ing Arians and Socinians with Atheists and De- 
 ists. It is an easy matter to knock down a man 
 of straw. But 1 Vvdll be bold to assert, that not 
 one out of a hundred of the members have read 
 a single line on the subject, and that not one out 
 of fifty, even of the preachers, ever gave it half 
 an hour’s impartial consideration in their whole 
 lives. Satisfied with the verbal representations 
 of Di'. Coke and a few others, and thereby relying 
 
IX SCOTLAND. 
 
 07 " 
 xJ i >J 
 
 on the accounts of professed enemies, they take 
 it for granted that Arianism and Socinianism are 
 synonymous with Deism and Atheism ; though 
 I much question whether many of the good bre- 
 thren know what is meant by those two last 
 terms. They very justly think it unfair in 
 others to condemn them and their doctrines 
 without first having given them an impartial 
 hearing; but do they always attend to this 
 themselves r The Unitarians have, however, 
 nothing to fear from the attacks of the Me- 
 thodists, who are every way incompetent to 
 the question. The Methodists have other work 
 to do than the conversion of Unitarians; work 
 in which they are more likely to succeed. — 
 That is not their calling ; neither is a spirit of 
 accurate investigation, or of unrestrained in- 
 quiry their forlCx Let them be content to ci- 
 vilize the mob, and they will continue to do 
 good. If they attempt more than this, they 
 labour in vain. They ought not to meddle in 
 matters they do not understand. Highly as I 
 think of the editor of the Bibliographical Dic- 
 tionary, I am well persuaded that were all the 
 preachers like to that gentleman, ^Methodism 
 would shortly be no more. It is said. Madam, 
 tliat Mr. Wesley declared, he never could re- 
 tain a bookseller in his society for any length 
 of time ; and Charles Wesley says he never knew 
 a genius that did any good. 
 
S74 FAILURE OF METHODISM 
 
 I would not be understood to pass these cen- 
 sures indiscriminately. I have the pleasure of 
 knowing and corresponding with some whose 
 minds are as liberal as their hearts are good, and 
 their views raethodistical. To one of them, a 
 "much esteemed friend, whose virtues reflect an 
 honour on his connexions, 1 applied for some of 
 the Methodists’ publications, to assist me in this 
 work; and he answered me — Though I am a 
 member of the Methodist society, I have notone 
 of their books in my library, excepting an odd 
 volume of the Magazine, and Wesley’s tract on 
 Electricity.” To proceed : 
 
 What with Unitarianism on the right hand, 
 and Calvinism on the left, the Wesleyan Chris- 
 tians have not succeeded so well in North Bri- 
 tain as in other parts of the world. Besides, the 
 state of morals among the North Britons leave 
 very little for Methodism to work upon ; whose 
 business it is, not so much to change the opi- 
 nions, as to reform the manners, of the people. 
 It were much to be wished, that other denomi- 
 nations would be more ambitious to emulate the 
 Methodists in this particular. But every one in 
 its own order : — How many of the members of 
 other communities can now look through Me- 
 thodism, to the rock from whence they were 
 hewn, and to the hole of the pit from whence 
 they were dug ! 
 
IN SCOTLAND. 
 
 ^ The Methodists have never been persecuted 
 in Scotland ; that is another reason tvhy they 
 have succeeded so ill in that country. We have 
 already observed, that the Wesley aus fish the 
 best in troubled waters. The Calvinists have 
 no power, and if they had, I believe they would 
 not now use it; and the Unitarians have no in- 
 clination to persecute others ; therefore has Me- 
 thodism in Scotland been left to make its way 
 by its own inherent excellence: the conse- 
 quence has hitherto been, that they have done 
 ittle good there. The Methodists, however, 
 have not been wholly unsuccessful in that part 
 of the Lord’s vineyard ; and they do not de- 
 spair of yet doing more to bring the people to 
 embrace their opinions and practices. 
 
 ‘‘ Scotland,’’ they say, ‘‘ it is certain, like Ge- 
 neva, has, since the Reformation, ran from 
 high Calvinism, to almost as high Arianism or 
 Socinianism : the exceptions, especially in the ci- 
 ties, are but few. And who can stem the torrent?’" 
 Not, I am persuaded, the Methodist preachers. 
 If Arians and Socinians are to be subdued, it 
 must be by reason and argument, not by abuse 
 and declamation ; and these latter are the only 
 weapons the Wesley ans have in their power to 
 use against them. They, however, wield them 
 with all their might ; while the objects of their 
 implacable hatred seem to smile at the feebleness 
 
376 
 
 TESTIMONY IN FAVOUR OF 
 
 of their attempts ; and to flourish with the in*# 
 crease of learning and sound morality in the 
 kingdom. 
 
 About this time arose various disputes in the 
 societies, concerning their union with the church 
 of England. The dissenters, who had been 
 converted to Methodism, retained their former 
 non-conforming prejudices : many who had 
 before been used to consider themselves church^ 
 people, became dissenters ; and, lastly, the in^ 
 temperate conduct of some of the preachers, in 
 pointing out what they conceived to be the 
 crimes of the clergy, are said to be the leading 
 causes of those disputes which ever after gave 
 Mr. Wesley great uneasiness, and which have 
 increased so much since his death. 
 
 It is necessary to make one or two remarks 
 on the last of the above mentioned causes of 
 disturbance; viz. the intemperate conduct of 
 some of the preachers, in pointing out the er- 
 rors of the clergy. We may ask. Madam, Who 
 made these Methodists judges in Israel? Who 
 gave them authority to abuse, in public and 
 private, the character of a body of men whose 
 learning, piety, and morality, are in a great de- 
 gree the honour of our island ? Although myself 
 a dissenter, I am constrained to acknowledge, 
 that the great bulk of our national learning is to 
 be found among the clergy of the establisl]^ 
 
THE ESTABLISHED CLERGV. 
 
 377 
 
 ment In the practice of morality in general, 
 what body of men in the Mmrld exceeds that of 
 the regular clergy of these kingdoms? I am 
 persuaded, not any. Pray who are the great 
 promoters of those public charities, those learn- 
 ed and beneficent institutions which are at once 
 the glory, the happiness, the bulwarks, of our 
 country ? Not the Methodists ; but the 
 bishops and clergy of the established church. 
 Were they to withdraw their patronage and 
 support from every charitable institution in the 
 kingdom, the widow’s heart that now sings for 
 joy would droop within her; the poor, now 
 raised by their munificence and public spirit, 
 would fall to rise no more. Let us only look 
 at the lists of names which are printed with the 
 periodical reports of almost every literary and 
 charitable institution in these kingdoms, and 
 we shall fixiid this feeble testimony to the worth 
 of our national clergy confirmed in the amplest 
 manner. Considered as a body, they are, 
 doubtless, the ornaments of the religion they 
 teach, and of the country that supports them. 
 And shall a few mistaken Methodist preachers 
 take upon them, without censure, to vilify these 
 men as ‘‘dumb dogs;” as unenlightened, 
 Y/orldly, unregenerate, unconverted sinners, 
 without hope and without God in the world? 
 Is it to be tolerated, that because the regular 
 clergy are disposed to act soberly in their pub- 
 
578 
 
 TESTIMONY IN FAVOUR OF 
 
 lie ministrations, and to read their discourses, 
 instead of pouring out upon the people a heap 
 of crude, undigested, extemporaneous matter, 
 that, therefore,' they shall be considered as blind 
 leaders of the blind ? 
 
 It is in vain for the Methodists to pretend to 
 be of a spirit different to the one I have been 
 here alluding to, concerning their respect for 
 the clergy. Every Methodist in the kingdom- 
 knows, if he would confess it, that those 
 clergymen who do not preach extempore, are 
 looked upon as unevangelical, unconverted 
 men. Nothing is a surer test of a clergyman’s 
 being an unenlightened man, than his using notes 
 in the pulpit. Tlie exceptions to this illiberal 
 notion are very few indeed. Else, whence is it 
 that those clergymen who preach extempore are 
 alone called gospel, evangelical, and enlightened 
 ministers? Many aged and truly respectable 
 ministers of the established church may now 
 say: Those who are younger than I, have 
 
 me in derision, whose fathers I would have 
 scorned to have set with the dogs of my 
 flock r; 
 
 I am aware, Madam, that the praise I have 
 here bestowed on the ministers of our church, 
 must be given with some painful exceptions; 
 that pluralists, and non-residents, do still dis- 
 grace the establishment; and that some of the 
 clergy are immoral men, regardless of the flock, 
 
THE ESTABLISHED CLERGY. 
 
 379 
 
 while they secure tlie fieece ; I)ut I repeat it 
 with pleasure, tlie bulk of tlie clergy is com- 
 posed of men of profound learning, sincere piet}% 
 and extensive liberality. I should be sorry to 
 see these men removed from their livings, to 
 make room for their calumniators. J should be 
 sorry to see our ecclesiastical establishment re- 
 duced to that state of barbarity from wliicli it 
 has long been emerging. It has been said, that 
 we have an Arminian clergy and a Calvinistic 
 liturgy. Admit this : but we had better have 
 only one evil than two ; and if we let them alone, 
 the time will come, I make no doubt, when the 
 evil will be purged away by the growing influ- 
 ence of the good. 
 
 At any rate, such serio-comic-episcopo-dis- 
 senting clergymen as the author of The Scile of 
 Curates, are not the men to reform the churcli ; 
 but rather to augment the number of her ble- 
 mishes, and to re-harbarize her ministers and 
 supporters. Under their hands she will be 
 
 Worse formending — wasiEd to fouler stains.” 
 
 You will excuse, Madam, this apparent di- 
 gression from the subject in hand; and believe 
 me to be, 
 
 'Yours, &c. 
 
S80 
 
 LETTER XXXV. 
 
 Mr. Fletcher— Anecdote — A Reviml — Perfection 
 — Mr. Maxfield— George Bell — Prophesijing — - 
 Pandora! s Box, 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 The disputes, which I mentioned in my last, 
 greatly agitated the Methodist connexion, and 
 produced many partial divisions and separations 
 from the societies, in different parts of the 
 kingdom ; yet upon the whole the work went 
 on well ; that is, the members in the societies 
 continued to increase. 
 
 In the year 1757, Mr. Wesley first received 
 assistance in his ministerial labours from John 
 William de la Flech^re, a Swiss gentleman, 
 who had just taken Priest’s orders in this 
 country. i 
 
MR. FLETCHER. 
 
 381 
 
 Mr. Wesley notices this circumstance in the 
 following manner : — “March 13, 17^7, finding 
 myself weak at Snowfields, I prayed that God, 
 if he saw good, would send me help at the 
 chapel. He did so. As soon as I had done 
 preaching, Mr. Fletcher came, who had just 
 then been ordained Priest, and hastened to the 
 chapel, on purpose to assist me, as lie supposed 
 me to be alone. How wonderful are the ways 
 of God ! When my bodily strength failed, 
 and no clergyman in England was able and 
 willing to assist me, he sent me help from the 
 mountains of Switzerland ! And a help meet 
 for me in every respect ! Where could I have 
 found such another !’" 
 
 Mr. Fletcher is said to have been one of the 
 holiest men of the age ; and I am not disposed 
 -to call the truth of this assertion into question : 
 There have been many holy men this age : Mr. 
 Fletcher was eminently of the number. Pie 
 certainly p7'ofessed to have attained a state of 
 perfection! and he wrote much in defence of 
 that notion. Whatever were his spiritual at- 
 tainments, his abilities as an able and powerful 
 reasoner must remain undoubted while The 
 Checks to Antinomianism are extant. These books 
 never were, they never can be, answered. The 
 late venerable Member of Parliament for Shrews- 
 bury, and his witty brother, the author of The 
 Sale of Curates, to whom I alluded in a former 
 
382 
 
 ANECDOTE. 
 
 letter, did all they could to overturn Fletcher's 
 arguments ; but in vain — Never were the ad- 
 mirers of that man who gave Servetus such a 
 warm reception, more completely foiled, than 
 when they fell into the hands of the Rev. John 
 Fletcher. This gentleman's polemic writings 
 made the Countess of Huntingdon tremble. — * 
 To ease her mind, her minions railed against the 
 Wesleyans, and gnashed their teeth at John 
 Fletcher. But John kept his temper and his 
 ground, until the disciples of Calvin retired 
 from the field in disgrace. The pious 
 Countess, however, was pretty well contented 
 that Fletcher had been answered. The pious 
 Countess was more easily satisfied than was 
 James I. Avhen under somewhat similar circum- 
 stances. When this monarch had read Calder- 
 wood’s book, entitled, ‘‘ Alter Damascenum,” he 
 manifested great uneasiness: ‘^Letnotthisdisturb 
 your Majesty,” cried one of the Bishops, ‘^we 
 will answer the book.” — Tush, mon,” replied 
 the King, ‘‘ what wid ye aunser ! 'tis nothing 
 l>ut scraptur and razon !” 
 
 Nothing reniarkahle seems to have taken 
 place in the Methodist society from the time 
 of Mr. Fletclier’s debut, till the year 17d0, in 
 whicli year a mighty retinal cominenced, which 
 lasted some years. This was that glorious 
 work of Sanctification, which,” Mr. Wesle}^ 
 
A REVIVAL. 
 
 385 
 
 says, had been nearly at a stand for twenty 
 years.” But which ^‘from time to time spread, 
 first through various parts of Yorkshire, after- 
 wards in London, then through most parts of 
 England, next to Dublin, Limerick, and 
 through all the south and west of Ireland.” 
 One would almost suppose that Mr. Wesley is 
 here describing the course of a real meteor, 
 such as that which made its appearance in the 
 year 1783, and was seen by so many thousands 
 of his Majesty’s subjects, in most parts of his 
 dominions ! No, Madam, it is a meteor of the 
 mind which our hero is here speaking of. He 
 calls it is day of Penticost — the perfecting of 
 the saints. Dr. Whitehead speaks of it as fol- 
 lows From the present year (1756) I find 
 little more than a recurrence of circumstances 
 similar to those already related, till we come to 
 the year 17b0; when religious experience, or 
 at least the profession of it, began to assume an 
 appearance among the Methodists^ in some re- 
 spects quite new.” The thing is this : ]\Ir. Wes- 
 ley had long entertained an opinion similar to 
 that held by the Papists and the Quakers, ( viz. ) 
 that it is possible for a person to attain to a 
 state of perfection in this life. Barclay, the 
 Apologist of the Quakers, thus describes this 
 doctrine. “ In whom this pure and holy birth 
 is fully brought forth, the body of death and 
 sin comes to be crucified, and removed, and 
 
 o 
 
384 
 
 PERFECTION'. 
 
 their hearts united and subjected to the truth J 
 so as not to obey any suggestions or tempta^ 
 tions of the evil one, to be free from actual 
 sinning and transgressing of the law of God, 
 and in that respect perfect : Yet doth thisy;er^ 
 fection still admit of a growth ; and there re- 
 inaineth always in some part a possibility of 
 sinning, when the mind doth not most dili- 
 gently and watchfully attend unto the Lord.” 
 
 How Mr. Wesley held this notion, I will explain 
 to you, when I come to treat of his doctrines : 
 suffice it at present to observe, that he improv- 
 ed upon Barclay’s opinion. One of his improve^ 
 ments was, that this state of perfection might be 
 attained in a moment^ during preaching, prayer^ 
 reading, conversation, or any other spiritual 
 exercise ; nay, I have known it take place 
 while the person was smoking a pipe of to- 
 bacco ! 
 
 Against the doctrine itself. Dr. Whitehead 
 thinks there can be no just objections : but,” 
 
 say^s he, “ this instantaneous manner of attain- 
 ing perfection in the Christian temper, seems to 
 have no foundation in scripture ; it even appears 
 contrary to reason, ’and to the constitution and 
 order which God has established through all 
 animated nature, where we see no instance of 
 any thing arriving at perfection in a moment. 
 And though there can be no doubt but some of 
 those who made professions of this happy stater 
 1 
 
M%. MAXFIJELD. 
 
 385 
 
 were both sincere and deeply pious, perhaps 
 beyond most of their brethren, yet there seems 
 just reason to affirm they were mistaken in the 
 judgment they formed of their own attffin- 
 ments.” From the consequences which attend- 
 ed this revival, it is just to conclude that many 
 of the perfectionists were thus mistaken. 
 
 About the beginning of this business, Mr. 
 Maxfield, the first regular lay-preacher among 
 the Methodists, having been ordained by the 
 Bishop of Londonderry, was in London. For 
 some lime he laboured conjointly with the rest of 
 the preachers. But this did not continue. He 
 became, with many others, a mighty dreamer 
 of dreams. Antinomianism began to rear it 
 head, as it had often done before. Dreams, 
 visions, and revelations were now honoured 
 more than the written word. The reproofs of 
 . some preachers only made things worse. One 
 George Bell, whom I before mentioned, as an 
 intimate of Mr. Maxfield, was a serjeant in the 
 life-guards. This man fell into strange errors, 
 if the accounts published of him are true. He 
 believed he had the miraculous discernment of 
 spirits, and prophesied, in January, 17d3, that 
 “ the end of the world would be on the 28th of 
 February following !” Mr, Wesley warmly op- 
 posed this, both from the pulpit and the press. 
 When the day arrived he preached at Spital- 
 fiekls in the evening, on Prepare to meet thy 
 
386 
 
 GEORGE BELL. 
 
 God.’' This text, taken at such a time, no 
 doubt increased the superstitious fears of the 
 poor Methodists, many of whom, notwithstand- 
 ing all he could say against Bell’s absurd pro- 
 phesies, were afraid to go to bed, and some 
 wandered about in the fields, being persuaded, 
 that if the world did not end, at least London 
 would be swallowed up by an earthquake ! 
 
 Mr. Wesley silenced Bell, and a separation, 
 with Maxfield at the head of it, soon took 
 place. 
 
 Mr. Maxfield lived about twenty years after 
 this, and preached in a meeting-house, near 
 Moorfields, to a large congregation. So little 
 do some ministers regard their ordination 
 oaths ! 
 
 George Bell died very lately, at his house 
 near Paddington. He had, I believe, long 
 given up all pretensions to religion. 
 
 Though the separation had removed one hun- 
 dred and seventy- five persons from the Wes- 
 leyan connexion, yet was not the revival thereby 
 stopped ; many still professed, that after a 
 deep conviction of inbred sin, and of their total 
 fall from God, they were so filled with faith 
 and love, (and generally in a moment) that sin 
 vanished, and they found, from that time, no 
 pride, anger, evil desire, or unbelief! You 
 may, therefore, well suppose, that his Majesty, 
 the king of the bottomless pit, would rage ter- 
 
ipandora’s box. 
 
 387 
 
 ribly ; and stir up all his Antinomian, Calvinian^ 
 and Pelagian subjects to oppose this great work 
 of perfection. He did so. Hov7 far he succeeded 
 I will describe to you in the words of Mr. 
 Fletcher himself, who was the great champion 
 of the Doctrine of Perfection ; and who pro* 
 fessed to have attained it himself. Speaking of 
 the increase of Methodism, he says, ‘‘‘Leaning 
 on her fair daughters. Truth and Lorn, she 
 took a solemn walk through the kingdom, 
 and gave a foretaste of heaven to ail that en- 
 tertained her.” “ She might,” says he, “ by 
 this time have turned this favourite isle into a 
 land, flowing with spiritual milk and honey : if 
 Appollyon, disguised in his angelic robes, had 
 not played, and did not continue to play, his 
 old game.” 
 
 “ At this time we stand particularly in dan- 
 - ger of splitting upon the Antinomian rock. 
 Many smatterers in Christian experience talk of 
 finished salvation in Christ, or boast of being in 
 a state of justification and sanctification, while 
 they know little of themselves, and less of 
 Christ. 'Their whole behaviour testifies, that 
 their heart is void of humble love, and full of 
 carnal confidence. They cry Lord ! Lord I 
 with as much assurance, and as little right, as 
 the foolish virgins. They pass for sweet Chris- 
 tians, dear children of God ; but their secret 
 reserves, evidence them to be only such be- 
 
 c c 2 
 
388 
 
 pandora’s box. 
 
 lievers as Simon Magus, Ananias, and Sapphira, 
 Some with Diotrophes love to have the pre- 
 eminence, and prate malicious words ; and not 
 content therewith, they do not themselves re- 
 ceive the brethren, and forbid them that would. 
 Some have forsaken the right way, and are gone 
 astray, following the way of Balaam, who 
 loved the ways of unrighteousness ; they are 
 wells without water, and clouds without rain, 
 and trees without fruit: with Judas they try to 
 load themselves with thick clay, endeavour to 
 lay up treasures on earth, and make provision 
 for the flesh to fulfil the lusts thereof. Some, 
 with the incestuous Corinthian, are led captive 
 by fleshly lusts, and fall into the greatest enor- 
 mities* Others, ^yith the language of the 
 awakened publican in their mouths, are fast 
 asleep in their spirits : You hear them speak of 
 
 the corruptions of their hearts in as unaffected 
 and airy a manner, as if they talked of freckles 
 upon their face. It seems they run down their 
 sinful nature only to apologise for their very 
 sinful practices ; or to appear great proficients 
 in self-knowledge, and court the praise due to 
 genuine humility. 
 
 ‘‘ Others quietly settled on the lees of the 
 J>aodicean state, bv the whole tenor of their 
 life say they are rich and increased in goods and 
 liave need of nothing: utter strangers to hun- 
 ger and thirst after righteousness, they never 
 
pandora’s box.’ 
 
 S$9 
 
 importunately beg, never wrestle hard for the 
 hidden manna: on the contrary, they sing a 
 requiem to their poor dead souls, ending, Soul 
 take thine ease, thou hast goods laid up in 
 Christ for many years, yea, for ever and ever ; 
 and thus, like Demas, they go on talking of 
 Christ and heaven, but loving their ease, and 
 enjoying this present world. 
 
 “Yet many of these, like Herod, hear and 
 entertain us gladly ; but like him also they keep 
 their beloved sin, pleading for it as a right eye, 
 and saving it as a right hand. To this day their 
 bosom-corruption is not only alive, but indulg- 
 ed ; their treacherous Delilah is hugged ; and 
 their spiritual Agag walks delicately, and boasts 
 that the bitterness of death is past, and he shall 
 never be hewed in pieces before the Lord : nay, 
 to dare so much as to talk of his dying before 
 the body, becomes almost an unpardonable 
 crime. 
 
 “ Forms and fair shews of godliness deceive 
 us : many, whom our Lord might well compare 
 to whited sepulchres, look like angels of light 
 when they are abroad, and prove tormenting 
 fiends at home. We see them weep under ser- 
 mons, we hear them pray and sing with the 
 tongues of men and angels ; they even profess 
 the faith that removes mountains ; and yet by 
 and by we discover they stumble at every mole- 
 hill ; every trifling temptation throws them into 
 
390 
 
 pandora's box. 
 
 peevishness, fretfulness, impatience, ill-humour, 
 discontent, anger, and sometimes into loud 
 passion. 
 
 ‘‘ Relative duties are by many grossly ne- 
 glected : husbands slight their wives, or wives 
 neglect and plague their husbands ; children 
 are spoiled, parents disregarded, and masters 
 disobeyed : yea, so many are the complaints 
 against servants professing godliness on account 
 of their unfaithfulness, indolence, pert answer- 
 ing again, forgetfulness of their menial condi- 
 tion, or insolent expectations, that some serious 
 persons prefer those who have no knowledge of 
 the truth, to those who make a high profession 
 of it." 
 
 With more truth than ever we may say, 
 
 ‘ Ye different sects, who all declare, 
 
 Lo! here is Christ, or Christ is there; 
 
 Your stronger proofs divinely give, 
 
 And shew us where the Christians live. 
 
 Your claim, alas ! ye cannot prove. 
 
 Ye want the genuine mark of love * 
 
 The consequences of this high, and yet 
 lifeless profession, are as evident as they are 
 deplorable. Selfish views, sinister designs, in- 
 veterate prejudice, pitiful bigotry, party-spirit, 
 self-sufficiency, contempt of others, envy, jea- 
 lousy, making men offenders for a word — possi- 
 bly a scriptural word too, magnifying innocent 
 
pandora’s box. 
 
 391 
 
 mistakes, putting the worst construction upon 
 each others words and actions, false accusa- 
 tions, backbiting, malice, revenge, persecution, 
 and a hundred such evils, prevail among reli- 
 gious people, to the great astonishment of the 
 children of the world, and the unspeakable grief 
 of the true Israelites that yet remain among 
 us. 
 
 ‘‘ But this is not all. Some of our hearers do 
 not even keep the great outlines of heathen mo- 
 rality : not satisfied practically to reject Christ’s 
 declaration, that it is more blessed to give than 
 to receive, they proceed to that pitch of covet- 
 ousness and daring injustice, as not to pay their 
 just debts ; yea, and to cheat and extort, when- 
 ever they have a fair opportunity. How few of 
 our societies are there, where this, or some 
 other evil has not broken out, and given such 
 shakes to the ark of the gospel, that had itot 
 the Lord wonderfully interposed, it must long 
 ago have been overset ? And you know how 
 to this day the name and truth of God are 
 openly blasphemed among the baptized heathen, 
 through the Antinoraian lives of many, who 
 say they are Jews when they are not, but by 
 their works declare they are of the synagogue 
 of Satan.” 
 
 This Pandora’s box of Methodism, was 
 opened, Madam, not by an enemy, nor yet by 
 one differing in opinion from the Wesleyans, 
 
39 ^ 
 
 PANDORA’S BOX. 
 
 but from their best friend, and great defender 
 of all their doctrines — not by one whose own 
 bad spirit and evil conduct might lead him to 
 expose the crimes of others as some excuse for 
 his own ; but by one, on whose morals and sph 
 rit his most bitter enemies could never fix a 
 stain, whom even the corrosive rancour of 
 Calvinian malice could never blacken or con-* 
 vince of sin. 
 
 Had any other man besides Mr. Fletcher, 
 drawn such a portrait of the Methodists, a nest 
 of hornets had been raised to torment him 5 
 and the guilt of the accused would have level- 
 led a blow at the honesty and faithfulness of the 
 accuser. 
 
 I am, &c« 
 
3pS 
 
 LETTER XXXFl 
 
 A Remml at Kingswood — Erasmus — Methodisti- 
 cal Ordination^ 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Although hindred by separations, and scan- 
 dalised by false brethren, the society of Me- 
 thodists continued to increase ; so that in the 
 year 17d6, notwithstanding four of the preach- 
 ers had desisted from travelling, during the pre- 
 ceding year, there were one hundred and 
 four preachers, twenty-five thousand nine hun- 
 dred and eleven members, and forty districts, 
 in England, Ireland, Scotland, and Wales 
 united. 
 
 In the following year a great revival took 
 place among the children at Kingswood ! Many 
 of them were converted, and became zealous 
 Methodists. I mention this circumstance be- 
 
354- METIIODISTIGAL ORDJNATIOJf. 
 
 cause it is somewhat remarkable, both from the 
 age of the converts, and the unfrequency of the 
 scholars at this Methodistical colletre hecoiniiip' 
 serious. Kingswood sends few members to the 
 JMethodist societies, and very few preachers to 
 Conference. 
 
 During the 7'evival, wliich I mentioned in my 
 last, a Greek Bishop, named Erasmus, came to 
 London on a visit. Application having been 
 made to the Patriarch of Smyrna, respecting 
 the leality of his office, it appeared that he was 
 Bishop of Arcadia in Crete. This point being 
 ascertained, Erasmus was shortly after beset 
 with a whole host of applications from the Me- 
 thodist preachers, both local and traroeUing, to 
 give them episcopal ordination I This real or 
 supposed Greek, (for many still thought the 
 matter extremely doubtful) having nothing to 
 fear in this country from such a measure, will- 
 ingly complied with the request of these ambi- 
 tious Methodist preachers. It was even said, 
 that Mr. Wesley himself did strongly press Eras- 
 mus to ordain him a Bishop ! This charge, Mr. 
 Wesley partly denied ; but not so as to leave no 
 doubt on the minds of some of his friends. Or- 
 dained Bishop, however, he was not ; yet that 
 did not hinder him from exercising the power 
 and office of one : for, strange to tell ! Mr. 
 Wesley did afterwards actually take upon him- 
 self to ordain some of the lay-preachers ; yea, 
 
HETHODISTICAL ORDINATIOIC. 3^5 
 
 some of them he made into a kind of Episcopal 
 Bishops ! — Was ever such a thing known before 
 or since in the annals of our Church history ? — 
 Blit he was teazed into that weakness by the 
 repeated importunities of Dr. Coke and a few 
 others ; and though Mr. Wesley often boasted 
 that he did nothing in a corner ; yet was this 
 mock ordination — this episcopal farce^ per- 
 formed in a private manner, in a chamber ! 
 
 A great increase of Methodism had been 
 brought about in America by the labours of 
 Whitefield and some others ; and after the In- 
 dependence of the American Colonies had been 
 acknowledged, Mr. Wesley thought himself justi- 
 fied in ordaining Dr. Coke, and through him, 
 Francis Asbury, to be joint superintendants over 
 the brethren in North America. That is to say, 
 he made Dr. Coke into a Methodistical Bishop, 
 who communicated his second-hand functions 
 to F. Asbury ! Ricliard Whatcoat and Thomas 
 Vasey were ordained Elders, to administer the 
 blessed Sacraments to the newly emancipated 
 Americans ! 
 
 Mr. Wesley also prepared a Liturgy, little 
 differing from that of the Church of England, 
 which he advised the travelling-preachers to 
 use on the Lord’s day, in all the congregations, 
 reading the Litany only on Wednesdays and Fri- 
 days, and praying extempore on all other days ; 
 at the same time he advised the newly-created 
 
3^6 METRO DISTICAL OKDINATIOK'. 
 
 Eiders to administer the Supper of the Lord on 
 every Lord s day. 
 
 ‘‘ If any man,” says he, ‘‘ will point out a 
 more rational and scriptural way of feeding and 
 guiding those poor sheep in the wilderness, I 
 will gladly embrace it. At present I cannot sec 
 any better method than that I have taken. 
 
 It has indeed been proposed to desire some 
 of our English Bishops to ordain part of our 
 preachers for America. But to this I object, 
 ]. I desired the Bishop of London to ordain 
 only one; but could not prevail. 2. If they 
 consented, we know the slowness of their pro- 
 ceedings; 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 ! (Mark this, 
 Madam !) 4. As our American brethren are 
 
 ROW totally disentangled, both from the state 
 and the English hierarchy, we dare not entangle 
 them again, either with the one or the other ! 
 (And mark this also!) They are now at full 
 liberty to follow the Scriptures and the Primitive 
 Church. And we judge it best that they should 
 stand fast in that liberty, wherewith God has 
 so strangely made them free ! ! !” 
 
 This reasoning, and the consequent practice 
 of ordination, came. Madam, not from a Dis- 
 senting Minister and one who had always been 
 
FORGETFULNESS. 
 
 397 
 
 friendly to the cause of the oppressed Colonists, 
 but from the Rev. John Wesley, M. A. some- 
 time Fellow of Lincoln College, and at that 
 time a true son of the Church — a Presbyter of 
 the Church of England ; who had a little before 
 written A calm Address to the American Co- 
 lonies,” in which he takes the side of their op- 
 pressors ! It is probable that he had '^forgot- 
 ten'’ both that he had ever written the Address, 
 and that he was Presbyter of the Church of 
 England, for surely nothing but forgetfulness 
 could have allowed so gross a dereliction of all 
 his former principles, as appeared both in the 
 practice of ordination, and his manner of de- 
 fending it. We know Mr. Wesley could, oc- 
 casionally, remember to forget, as he did in 
 the instance which formed part of his short con- 
 troversy with the late Dr. Evans of Bristol. In 
 - that instance, Mr. Wesley did actually pretend 
 to have forgotten ever having read a certain 
 pamphlet, written in favour of the Americans, 
 and vrhich he strongly recommended for notice 
 in a Bristol newspaper to Mr. Pine the printer. 
 Mr. Wesley had changed his opinion concern- 
 ing the subject of dispute between the Ameri- 
 cans and the mother country, and when he was 
 charged with a deviation from his former prin- 
 ciples, he said he had forgotten ever seeing or re- 
 commending the book which had, if not actu- 
 ally produced, yet very much strengthened, his 
 
398 
 
 METHODISTICAL ORDINATION 
 
 favourable opinion of the Colonists ! I Court 
 politicians can occasionally such import- 
 ant matters; as our late celebrated Premier could 
 once have testified ; but that Mr. Wesley had 
 really forgotten the circumstance here alluded 
 to is the most unlikely thing in the world. 
 Those who have read Dr. Evan's sensible and 
 interesting Letter to Mr. Fletcher, will be able 
 to form their own opinion of the matter ; for 
 the credit of my hero I will not enter farther 
 into the question. For the same reason, I 
 should wish to decline any farther observation 
 on the practice of Methodistical ordination ; 
 but as this affair forms a new case in the history 
 of Methodism, I cannot pass it over slightly. 
 
 Mr. Charles Wesley set his face against the 
 practice, and opposed it with all his might ; so 
 did several of the lay-preachers, and other per- 
 sons of respectability in the society. Yet how- 
 ever repugnant it might be to the wishes of 
 the English Methodists, it met the approbation 
 of the Americans, who at their Confeience, 
 held at Baltimore, in the year 1785, agreed to 
 publish Dr. Coke’s Letter Testimonial, with 
 their own sanction of the affair. ‘^Therefore,” 
 say they, ‘‘ at this Conference we formed our- 
 selves into an independent church : and follow- 
 ing the counsel of Mr. John Wesley, who re- 
 commended the episcopal mode of church go- 
 vernment, we' thought it best to become an 
 5 
 
m AMERICA. 
 
 399 
 
 episcopal church, making the episcopal office 
 elective, and the elected superintendant, or 
 bishop, amenable to the body of ministers and 
 preachers. 
 
 As the translators of our version of the 
 Bible have used the English word bishop instead 
 of superintendant, it has been thought by us, 
 that it would appear more scriptural to adopt 
 their term bishopP 
 
 At that time there were more than eighteen 
 thousand members in the societies in America, 
 who submitted to his advice and authority. 
 About this time Mr, Wesley observes, ‘‘ I was 
 considering, how strangely the grain of mus- 
 tard-seed, planted about fifty years ago, had 
 grown up. It has spread through all Great Bri- 
 tain 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.” 
 
 I am, 
 
LETTER XXXVIL 
 
 Methodistical Ordination, concluded. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 When Mr. Wesley ordained some of the itine- 
 rants, says Dr. Whitehead, a foundation was laid 
 for a change in the ancient constitution of Me- 
 thodism, of very extensive influence, and which, 
 if frequently acted upon, would effect the down- 
 fal of the present order of things among them, 
 if not totally extirpate the name of Me- 
 thodist. 
 
 Mr. Wesley had long claimed the power or 
 right of ordaining to the ministry, but said it 
 was not probable that he should ever exercise it. 
 For a long course of years he steadily resisted 
 every measure which tended to alter *the relative 
 situation of the societies to the etablished church, 
 and to the various denominations of dissenters 
 
METHODISTICAL ORDINATION. 401 
 
 to which any of the members might belong. It 
 is not easy, says one of his biographers, to as- 
 sign a sufhcient reason why Mr. Wesley, in the 
 eighty-second year of his age, should depart 
 , from a line of conduct he had hitherto so strict- 
 ly observed ; especially if he acted according to 
 his own judgment, and of his own free choice. 
 However this may be, a plan was proposed in 
 private, to a few clergymen who attended the 
 conference in the year 1784, at Leeds, that Mr. 
 Wesley should ordain one or two of the preach- 
 ers for the societies in America. But the cler- 
 gymen very properly opposed it. Mr. Fletcher 
 was consulted by letter ; who advised, that a 
 bishop should be prevailed upon to ordain them, 
 
 ' and then Mr. Wesley might appoint them to such 
 offices in the societies as he thought proper, and 
 give them letters testimonial of the appoint- 
 ' ments he had given them. Mr. Wesley well 
 knew, that no bishop would ordain them at his 
 recommendation, and therefore seemed inclined 
 to do it himself ! In this purpose, how^ever, he 
 appeared so languid, if not wavering, that Dr. 
 Coke thought it necessary to use some further 
 means to urge him to the performance of it. — 
 Accordingly, August 9, Mr. Wesley being then 
 in Wales, on his way to Bristol, the Doctor sent 
 him the following letter : — 
 
 D D 
 
402 
 
 METHODISTICAL ORDINATION. 
 
 Honoiirod and dear Sir, 
 
 The more maturely I consider the subject^ 
 the more expedient it appears to me, that the 
 power of ordaining others should be receded by me 
 from you, by the imposition of your hands; and 
 that you should lay hands on Brother Whatcoat 
 and Brother Vasey, for the following reasons : 
 
 ] . It seems to me the most scriptural way, and 
 most agreeable to the practice of the primitive 
 churches. 2. I may want all the influence in 
 America which you can throw into my scale. 
 'Mr. Bi;ackenbury informed me at Leeds, that he 
 saw a letter in London from Mr. Asbury, in 
 which he observed, that he would not receive 
 any person deputed by you, with part of the su- 
 perintendency of the work invested in him ; or 
 w’ords which evidently implied so much. I do 
 not find any the least degree of prejudice in my 
 mind against Mr. Asbury; on the contrary, a very 
 oTeat love and esteem ; and am determined not 
 to stir a finger without his consent, unless mere 
 sheer necessity obliges me; but rather to lie at 
 his feet in all things. But as the journey is long, 
 and you cannot spare me often, and it is well to 
 provide against all events, and an authority for- 
 mally received from you will (I am conscious of 
 it) be fully admitted by the people, and iny ex- 
 ercising the office of ordination without thatj^r- 
 
METHODISTICAL ORDINATIOIf. 403 
 
 authority may be disputed, if there be any 
 opposition on any other account ; I could there- 
 fore earnestly wish you would exercise that 
 power in this instance, which I have not the 
 shadow of a doubt but God hath invested you 
 with for the good of our connexion. I think 
 you have tried me too often to doubt whether I 
 will in any degree use the power you are pleased 
 to invest me with, farther than I believe abso- 
 lutely necessary for the prosperity of the work. 
 3. In respect to my brethren ( Brothers What- 
 coat and Vesey) ; it is very uncertain, indeed, 
 whether any of the clergy mentioned by Brother 
 Rankin, will stir a step with me in the work, 
 except Mr. Jarrit ; and it is by no means cer- 
 tain that even he will choose to join me in or- 
 daining: and propriety and universal practice 
 make it expedient, that I should have two pres- 
 byters with me in this work. In short, it ap- 
 pears to me that every thing should be prepared, 
 and every thing proper be done, that can pos- 
 gibly be done this side the zvater. You can do 
 
 ail this in Mr. C n's house, in your chamber ; 
 
 and afterwards (according to Mr. Fletcher's ad- 
 vice) give us letters testimonial of the different 
 offices with which you have been pleased to in- 
 vest us. I For the purpose of laying hands on 
 Brothers Whatcoat and Vasey, I can bring Mr. 
 
 C down with me, by which you will have 
 
 two presbyters with you. In respect to Brother 
 
 p D 2 
 
404 METHODISTiCAt ORDINATION. 
 
 Rankin’s argument, that you will escape a great 
 deal of odium by omitting this, it is nothing. 
 Either it will be known or not known ; if not 
 known, then no odium will arise : but if known, 
 you will be obliged to acknowledge that I acted 
 under your direction, or suffer me to sink under 
 the weight of my enemies, with perhaps your 
 brother at the head of them. I shall entreat 
 you to ponder these things. 
 
 Your most dutiful, 
 
 T. Coke.” 
 
 / 
 
 Soon after the ordination, Dr. Coke, with his 
 two companions, sailed for America ; where they 
 arrived in time to meet the American confer- 
 ence held at Baltimore. Here the Doctor open- 
 ed his commission, and consecrated Mr. i\sbury 
 a bishop ; and gave the societies, formed by the 
 preachers on that continent, a new name, calling 
 them “ The Methodist Episcopal Church in 
 America.” Ele preached a sermon on this occa- 
 sion, vvhich was afterwards printed, and in which 
 he labours to defend this new order of things. 
 He begins this sermon by abusing ihe English 
 hierarchy; yet, in a letter from Ireland, written 
 some time after, he tells Mr. Wesley, that he 
 would as soon commit adultery as preach pub- 
 licly against the church. On this, Dr. White- 
 head observes, I must say this of the Doctor, 
 that with respect to adultery 1 think him veiy 
 
METHODISTICAL ORDINATION. 
 
 405 
 
 innocentj but in bringing railing accusations 
 against others, 1 think him very guilty."’ It has 
 already appeared, in the course of these letters, 
 that this observation is strictly just and pro- 
 per. 
 
 I have already said, that Mr. Charles Wesley 
 opposed his brother’s ordination-work with all 
 his might. He did so, to his great credit as a 
 minister of the church of England and an honest 
 man. As a dissenter, I can have no objection 
 to Mr. Wesley, or any other Christian man, lay- 
 ing hands on as many of their fellow-Christians 
 as wish it ; but I do contend, that as a regular 
 clergyman, Mr. Wesley did certainly violate 
 every principle of the church to which he still 
 professed to belong ; and that, by taking upon 
 himself to ordain others to the ministry, he 
 threw off that subjection to the legal bishop 
 which every regular clergyman is supposed to 
 owe to those under whose authority he acts. 
 
 There may, perhaps, be no express law for- 
 bidding presbyters of the church 6f England to 
 make bishops of their brethren ; but that law 
 which gives the power of ordination to the 
 bishops themselves, plainly implies, that it shall 
 not be assumed by any inferior order of men in 
 the church. 
 
 It may be remarked, that had Mr. Wesley re- 
 fused to exercise his supposed power of ordina- 
 
40$ METHODISTICAL ORDINATION, 
 
 tion, by not listening to the earnest solicitations 
 of his ambitious counsellors^ Dr. Coke might 
 have exercised his own power ; for he also is a 
 presbyter of the church of England. He might 
 have agreed with some ambitious lay-preacher, 
 first to ordain him presbyter, when he would be 
 on an equal footing with Mr. Wesley himself; 
 and in return for this honour, the newly-made 
 episcopal brother might have conferred a 
 greater honour on the Doctor, by consecrating 
 him a bishop. Thus would the lay-preacher 
 pay the ordained presbyter with interest, for 
 the honour which had been conferred on him- 
 self! This method would have ' been equally 
 legal with that which w^as taken with Mr. Wes- 
 ley. But it Avas influence the Doctor sought af- 
 ter, as well as power and a title ; and this could 
 not be obtained through any other channel 
 than that of Mr. Wesley-^the great father of all 
 the churches. Whenever he spake, it was done ; 
 when Ae commanded, it stood fast ! Yes, Ma- 
 dam, had the name, and even the office of 
 bishop, been all the good Doctor had wanted, 
 he might easily have obtained the end of his 
 wishes, by taking the method I have just laid 
 down. The bargain would shortly have been 
 struck ; it was only saying, ‘‘ lil make you 
 a presbyter of the church, if you’ll afterwards 
 consent to make me a bishop,” Gr as sojn^ 
 
METHODISTICAL ORDINATION. 
 
 407 
 
 Eomati Catholics have expressed themselves 
 concerning the broken order of succession at 
 the Reformation : If you’ll make me arch- 
 
 bishop of York, ril make you archbishop of 
 Canterbury !” 
 
 As Mr. Wesley was never publicly elected by 
 any presbyters and people to the office of a bi- 
 shop, nor ever consecrated to it, when he pre- 
 sumed to usurp that office, his brother Charles 
 exclaimed — 
 
 ' So easily are bishops made, 
 
 By man’s or woman’s whim, 
 
 Wesley his hands on Coke hath laid ; 
 
 But who laid hands on him 
 
 Dr. Whitehead concludes his very able rea- 
 soning on the subject of methotlistical ordina- 
 tion, with the following observations: — A 
 scheme of ordination so full of confusion and 
 absurdity, as that among the Methodists, can 
 surely never filiate itself on Mr. Wesley : it 
 must have proceeded from a mere chaotic* 
 brain, where wild confusion reigns. Nor can 
 I easily believe that Mr. Wesley would ever 
 have adopted so mis-shapen a brat, had not 
 his clear perception of things been rendered 
 feeble and dim, by flattery, persuasion, and 
 
408 
 
 METHODISTICAL ORDINATION. 
 
 Should you be disposed to enter farther in- 
 to the subject of methodistical ordination, give 
 me leave to refer you to Dr. Whitehead’s Life 
 of Wesley, volume the second, where this mat- 
 ter is treated in a perfectly full and satisfactory 
 manner. 
 
 I am, 
 
409 
 
 LETTER XXXniL 
 
 Tolerant Spirit of Methodism mist at ed — Conven- 
 ticle-Act — Tolerant Spirit of the Church, 
 
 DEAR -MADAM, 
 
 - Jn the year 1788, Mr. Wesley taking a review 
 of the nature of the work in which he had so 
 long been engaged, thus speaks of it: “ There 
 is no other religious society under heaven, 
 which requires nothing of men in order to their 
 admission into it, but a desire to save their souls. 
 Look all around you ; you cannot be admitted 
 into the church or society of the Presbyterians, 
 Baptists, Quakers, or any other, unless you 
 hold the same opinions with them, and adhere 
 to the same mode of worship. The Methodists 
 alone do not insist on your holding this or that 
 opinion, but they think and let think. Neither 
 
410 TOLERANT SPIRIT OF METHODISM 
 
 do they impose a particular mode of worship, 
 hut you may continue to worship in your for- 
 mer manner, be it what it may. Now I do not 
 know any other religious society, either ancient 
 or modern, wherein such liberty of conscience 
 is now allowed, or has been allowed since the 
 age of the apostles ! Here is our glorying, and 
 a glorying peculiar to us ! What society shares 
 it with us ?’* 
 
 Were this representation, in all its parts, ex- 
 actly true and just, the Methodist would indeed 
 be the Church of God — the glory of every other 
 church — the Lamb’s wife, adorned as a bride 
 for the bridegroom. We should never hear of 
 expulsions for supposed heresies — there would 
 no longer be proud looks and disdainful carriage 
 manifested towards those who differ in opinion 
 from their brethren — all anger and strife and 
 bitterness would be done away — persecution 
 would hide its horrid visage — bigotry would be 
 forgotten, and uncharitableness be swallowed 
 up of Christian love and philosophical forbear- 
 ance. But is this the case among Methodists 
 more than any other sect ? I know it is not I 
 know, that to call into question any of their 
 doctrines, or to dispute the validity of any part 
 of their discipline, is a sure ground of excom- 
 munication. Nay, the very last Conference, 
 (1806) they expelled one of the travelling 
 preachers, for holding some opinions concerning 
 
MISTATED. 
 
 411 
 
 justification by faith and the witness of the 
 spirit^ which the Conference thought were Anti- 
 Methodistical ; .but which the expelled preacher 
 has sinco attempted to prove, are strictly agree- 
 able to the doctrines taught by Wesley and 
 Fletcher. 
 
 Whatever the society of Methodists may re- 
 quire of candidates on their admission, it is cer- 
 tain, that, having once entered, it is expected 
 they will not vary one jot or tittle from the true 
 Methodistical creed. Else why is it that the 
 trust deeds of their chapels have a clause in 
 them, requiring all the preachers to preach only 
 such doctrines as are laid down in Wesley's Ser- 
 nvons and Fletcher’s Checks ? Nay, Madam, 
 if any private member should broach any other 
 faith than theirs, expulsion from the society 
 would infallibly be the consequence! What 
 confidence then are we to place in the boasting 
 professions of liberality contained in the extract 
 I have just made ? Truly it may be said of it 
 that All is false a'Ad hollow !” 
 
 Mr. Wesley did not, I am persuaded, design 
 to deceive when he made those declarations 
 concerning his connexion ; bat he forgot him- 
 self in the warmth of his admiration ; and spoke 
 of Methodism rather as he wished it to be, 
 than as it really was. I have thought it neces- 
 sary to let you know this that yon may not be 
 misled by false appearances, and partial repre- 
 
412 
 
 CONVENTICLE ACT, 
 
 sentations; and let not the Methodists deem 
 me their enemy because I have told the truth. 
 
 I ought to have informed you before, that 
 after a long conversation with Mr. Clulovv, an 
 attorney, Mr. Wesley judged it expedient to 
 have all his chapels and travelling preachers 
 duly licenced according to the act of tolera- 
 tion, hoping thereby, notwithstanding their 
 professing to belong to the church, to escape 
 the inconvenience arising from the conventicle 
 act. This was certainly a safe and prudent 
 step; but they ought from the moment of tak- 
 ing the oath, to consider the meeting-houses 
 as dissenting chapels, and the preachers as dis- 
 senting ministers ; for the act, whose protection 
 they claim, was made for persons ‘‘ Dissenting 
 from the Church of England.” While Mr. Wes- 
 ley and his people continued to belong to the 
 church, I know not why they should expect to 
 be exempted from the penalties of the conven- 
 ticle act. That act, like all others that would 
 infringe the liberty of conscience, I grant is 
 ‘‘ an execrable act,” as Mr. Wesley himself calls 
 it; but that gentleman ought not to have lost 
 sight of his still being a churchman, and that 
 as such he was bound to obey all the laws of 
 the church to which he belonged. He had 
 taken the church for better and for worse ; and 
 ought either to have submitted to her dictates, 
 or honestly to have withdrawn from her com^ 
 munion. 
 
TOLERANT SPIRIT OF THE CHURCH. 413 
 
 It argues very strongly for the spirit of libe- 
 rality which is now found among the members 
 of our national establishment, that so few pro- 
 secutions take place against clergymen holding 
 doctrines, and following practices, contrary to 
 the canons and articles of the church to which 
 they belong. Here we have Calvinian, Ar- 
 minian, Unitarian, Swedenborgian, Pelagian, 
 Arian, Socinian, Sabellian, Trinitarian, and I 
 do not know how many other sorts of clergy- 
 men in our church, some starving on a curacy, 
 and others fattening on a bishopric ; we have 
 Methodist clergymen, and clergymen following 
 no method at all, but that of lounging at home, 
 and hiring others, at half price, to do their duty. 
 All these classes of clergymen are retained in 
 the church ; live upon her revenues, and are 
 protected by her laws. And yet we are some- 
 times told of the intolerance of the church, of 
 persecutions for righteousness’ sake, and of the 
 operations of certain execrable acts !” Truly, 
 Madam, I think our national church is the 
 most liberal of churches; and her pale every 
 way the most extensive. 
 
 The test acts will ever be a stumbling block 
 to the Dissenters, and the Catholics have just 
 cause of complaint ; but let these men once 
 enter the church, and they may follow any 
 practices, and hold any doctrines they please. — 
 They have only to find out the true method of 
 
 5 
 
414 TOLERANT SPIRIT O'F THE CHUREH. 
 
 stifling conscience ; and the ingenious one of 
 reconciling principles and practiAs otherwise in 
 opposition to each other; and then sign Arch- 
 deacon Paley's ‘‘Terms of Pacification;” and 
 none shall afterwards dare to make them afraid ! 
 
 Were the ItUtr of our canon laws agreeable 
 to the spirit and general practice of their present 
 supporters, I should have very few objections to 
 uniting in fellowship with the Church of Eng- 
 land, neither do I see how any reasonable man 
 could object to such an union. The example 
 and influence of Dissenters have made it un- 
 fashionable to persecute for conscience sake; 
 and hence it is that a great majority of our re- 
 gular clergy have imperceptibly imbibed that spi- 
 rit of toleration, which prevents the laws against 
 Dissenters being put into execution, 1 look 
 forward with pleasure to the time when even the 
 letter of our ecclesiastical laws shall breathe a 
 perfectly mild an(i liberal spirit, when the pious 
 wish of Archbishop Tillotson shall be accom- 
 plished ; and we shall no longer hear of Chris- 
 tians “ perishing everlastingly” for any venial 
 error of judgment. To the light of science 
 and the humanizing influence of reason and 
 philosophy, I look for that spirit which will 
 counteract the growing authority of Calvinian 
 bitterness, and finally triumph over puritanic 
 barbarity. Yet while we hear men, and those 
 calling themselves the only true sons of the 
 4 
 
CONVENTICLE ACT. 
 
 415 
 
 church, pleading for persecution, by the vin- 
 dication of Calvir/s atfair \vith the unfortunate 
 Servetus, there is certainly something to dread 
 from the spread of this branch of Methodists, 
 especially when we consider how many of their 
 preachers have found their way into the church. 
 This alarm is not a little strengthened when we 
 see the crowds that attend the ministry of these 
 pretended evangelicals. 
 
 Finding great inconvenience from a professed 
 adherence to the church, and not willing either 
 to alter the mode of his proceeding, nor yet to 
 acknowledge h'mself a Dissenter, Mr. Wesley 
 stated the case to a member of parliament, hop- 
 ing the legislature might be prevailed on to in- 
 terpose, and free the Methodists from the penal- 
 ties of the conventicle act. He states the cause 
 thus : — Last month a few poor people met to- 
 gether in Lincolnshire, to pray, and to pjaise 
 God, in a friend’s house : there v/as no preach- 
 ing at all. Two neighbouring Justices fined 
 the man of the house twenty pounds. I suppose 
 he was not worth twenty shillings. — Upon this, 
 his household goods were distrained and sold to 
 pay the fine. He appealed to the quarter-sessions, 
 but all the. Justices averred, ‘ The Methodists 
 could have no relief from the act of toleration, 
 because they went to church ; and that, so 
 long as they did so, the conventicle act should 
 be executed upon them.’ 
 
415 
 
 CONVENTICLE ACT. 
 
 Last Sunday, when one of our preachers 
 was beginning to speak to a quiet congregation, 
 a neighbouring Justice sent a constable to. seize 
 him till he had paid twenty pounds — telling him 
 his licence was good for nothing, ‘ Because he 
 w'as a Churchman.’ 
 
 Now, Sir, what can the Methodists do ? 
 They are liable to be ruined by the conventicle 
 act, and they have no .relief from the act of 
 toleration ! If this is not oppression, what is? 
 Where then is English liberty ? The liberty 
 of Christians, yea, of every rational creature, 
 who as such, has a right to worship God ac- 
 cording to his own conscience ? But waving 
 the question of right and wrong, what prudence 
 is there in oppressing such a body of loyal sub- 
 jects ? If these good magistrates could drive 
 them, not only out of Lincolnshire, but out of 
 England, who would be gainers thereby ? Not 
 his Majesty, whom we honour and love : not 
 his ministers, whom we love and serve for his 
 sake. Do they wish to throw away so many 
 thousand friends,' who are now bound to them 
 by stronger ties than that of interest? — If you 
 will speak a word to Mr. Pitt on that head, you 
 will oblige,” See. 
 
 This reasoning is certainly very just and pro- 
 per ; yet it must be granted, that the Justices 
 in Lincolnshire did no more than they were 
 bound to do by the laws. While the church 
 
OBEDIENCE TO THE CHURCH. 4l7 
 
 and state continue to be united, it is the busi- 
 ness of the civil magistrate to see that the eccle- 
 siastical, as well as all the other laws, are duly 
 kept and obeyed ; and surely it must be allow- 
 ed, that the church of England has as much 
 right as other churches to make what laws she 
 chooses for the government of her own mem- 
 bers ; and such the Methodists professed them- 
 selves to be. If any do not like those laws and 
 regulations which she has enacted, they are at 
 liberty to dissent ; after which neither the church 
 of England, nor any other church, has a right 
 to interfere with them : But while they con- 
 tinue in membership, they ought to pay proper 
 deference to all established rules of her 
 communion. The Methodists may thank the 
 lenient spirit of the churchmen of the present 
 day, that they are not forcibly expelled as un- 
 ruly members. This they would think a hard 
 case; and so it would be: But law is law, said 
 the facetious George Alexander Steevens ; and I 
 wish the Wesleyans would imitate the forbear- 
 ance of their brethren of the church, when any 
 one of their own members sees fit to violate the 
 conventicle acts of Methodism. Whatsoever ye 
 would that men should do to you, do ye even 
 so to them. 
 
 The time is now approaching that we must 
 take our leave of the chief hero of this history, 
 IMr. John Wesley. The last annual Conference 
 
 E £ 
 
418 STATE OF THE CONNEXIONS. 
 
 at which he presided, was held at Bristol, in 
 the year 1790- At that time there were in the 
 connexion, 216 circuits; 511 preachers; and 
 120,233 members ! 
 
 When we consider that all these preachers 
 and people had arisen among the Methodists in 
 little more than fifty years, we shall be astonish- 
 ed at the success which attended the preaching 
 of Mr. Wesley and his lay-brethren. Thus have 
 they continued to increase, yea, and they do 
 still continue to make converts to their faith 
 and practices with equal, if not with greater, 
 rapidity than ever. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
419 
 
 LETTER XXXIX, 
 
 Mr. Wesley* s Reflections on himself— The last 
 Words and Sentiments of dying Men no Test of 
 Truth — Sickness and Death of Mr. Wesley— 
 Inscriptions — Remarks on Mn W ^.slef s general 
 Character. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 On the 28th of June, 1790, Mr. Wesley ob- 
 serves > — 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 sud- 
 den change ; my eyes were so dim that no glasses 
 would help me ; my strength likewise quite for- 
 sook me, and probably will not return in this 
 world. But I feel no pain from head to foot, 
 
 E E 2 
 
420 DYING WORDS NO TEST OF TRUTH. 
 
 only it seems nature is exhausted, and huiDanly 
 speaking, will sink more and more, till — 
 
 ‘‘ The weary springs of life stand still at last." 
 
 The reflections of a great man, on his own ap- 
 proaching dissolution, must always be interest- 
 ing. We watch such a one with anxious curio- 
 sity, and listen to his dying words as the test of 
 his former sincerity, if not of the truth of his 
 former opinions. The notion, however, which 
 Dr. Young has broached, that though men may 
 live fools, they cannot die such, is certainly not 
 in every instance to be relied upon. For we may 
 be certain, that as the wicked have no bands 
 in their death, neither will the circumstance 
 of approaching dissolution operate upon the 
 mind so as to remove ignorance and infuse 
 knowledge. If we would be truly wise, we must 
 suffer the discipline of the mind in life; and cor- 
 rect our mistaken notions or vicious propensities 
 while in health and vigour. The night cometh, 
 when no man can work. It is easy from hence 
 to infer, that the dying language of a man ought 
 never to be regarded as the sure test of any 
 thing more, respecting the truth of his opi- 
 nions, or the propriety of his former ac- 
 tions, than that he was a man of honesty and 
 sincerity. 
 
LAST SICKNESS OF MR. WESLET, 
 
 421 
 
 Mr. John Wesley, and Dr. Joseph Priestley, 
 held sentiments in religion directly opposite; 
 yet both these gentlemen left this world, as every 
 good and wise man must wish to leave it. 
 
 The momentous period which Mr. Wesley had 
 so calmly anticipated, at length arrived ; and he 
 met the last attack of the king of terrors with 
 true Christian fortitude. After having dined at 
 Islington, on Saturday, the 19 th of February, 
 1791, he desired a friend to read, to him from the 
 fourth to the seventh chapter of Job, inclusive. 
 The next morning he rose at his usual hour, 
 but found himself quite unfit for the duties of 
 the day. He lay down again about seven in the 
 morning, and slept several hours. In the even- 
 ing, he came down to supper. On Monday, the 
 21 st, he seemed much better, and rode to Twick- 
 enham to see a friend. The next mornins: he 
 proceeded with his labours, as usual, at the City- 
 Road ; and on the Wednesday, he preached his 
 last sermon, at Leatherhead, from “ Seek ye the 
 Lord while he may be found ; call ye upon Ihin 
 while he is near.” 
 
 On Friday he returned from visiting a Mr. 
 Wolf’s family, at Balaam, and found himself ex- 
 tremely ill. He immediately requested to be 
 left alone for half an hour, lie afterwards drank 
 a little mulled wine, which he immediately threw 
 up, and said, “ I must lie down.” Dr. White- 
 
DEATH OF MR. WESLEY. 
 
 head, his future biographer, visited him. When 
 that gentleman came into the room, ‘‘ Doctor/’ 
 said Mr. Wesley cheerfully, they are more 
 afraid than hurt.”' Most of the day he had a 
 quick pulse, and a degree of fever and stupor; 
 which continued till Sunday morning, when he 
 got up, and attempted to resume his wonted 
 cheerfulness. But attempting to converse much, 
 his strength failed him, and he lay down, say^ 
 ing, after his friends had prayed with him— 
 ‘‘ There is no need of more ; when at Bristol (in 
 J783) my words were^^ 
 
 I the chief of sinners am, 
 
 ^ut Jesus died for me." 
 
 Intimating that such were his present feelings 
 and lano'uap’e. 
 
 o o 
 
 On Tuesday morning, the 29th, he sung two* 
 stanzas of a hymn : then lying still a short time, 
 he called for pen and ink, and attempted to 
 write ; but could not. A person desired to 
 write for him, and requested to know what he 
 would say. He replied, Nothing, but that 
 God is with us !” These words he repeated 
 more than once before his departure, with con- 
 siderable force and energy. His weakness, and 
 his joyful state of mind, continued till the last 
 great struggle of nature gave him release fronr 
 
character, &c. 423 
 
 his pain and weakness, and sent him triumph- 
 ing to 
 
 Another and a better world 
 
 He died without a groan, on the second of 
 March, while a number of his friends were kneel- 
 ing around his bed. This was in the eighty- 
 eighth year of his age, and the sixty-fifth of his 
 public ministry. His death was such as we 
 might reasonably expect such a life as he had 
 spent would naturally produce — 
 
 “ The chamber where the good man meets his fate 
 Is privileged beyond the common walk of virtuous lif(#3 
 Quite in the verge of heaven I” 
 
 Various have been the attempts to delineate 
 the character of the late Rev. John Wesley ; and 
 these uniformly bear testimony to his patient in- 
 dustry, great zeal, and moral worth. That 
 drawn by Mr. John Hampson, in his Life of Mr. 
 Wesley, is perhaps the most just and impartial 
 of any that has yet appeared. Most others are 
 too much in the sickening style of fulsome j)ane- 
 gyric ; and some fe'ware found to have been too 
 severe upon Mr. Wesley's foibles; for foibles he 
 certainly had, and those at times rather glaring ; 
 but his excellencies outshone all his errors, and 
 his name and character must continue to be 
 
424 
 
 CHARACTER, &C. 
 
 respected, while the human mind retains its in- 
 herent love of virtue and order. 
 
 He was honest, punctual, and regular ; cheer- 
 ful, warm, and generous ; but credulous, ambi- 
 tious, and cnthusiastical. Some people ha\^ 
 thought, that his character had something of 
 cunning in it; and indeed his affair with the 
 late Dr. Evans, which I mentioned in a former 
 letter, seems to justify such an opinion : but it 
 should be remembered, that he was placed in a 
 very critical situation. His private principles 
 might sometimes be at variance with the gene- 
 ral good of his societies ; and this latter con- 
 sideration outweighed every other with him. In 
 such cases, it is hard to withstand the tempta- 
 tions to pious fraud, and to the doing of evil 
 that good may come. If, therefore, Mr. Wesley 
 was at any time the slave of circumstances, or 
 the dupe of others, great charity ought to be ex- 
 ercised towards him. Perhaps not another man 
 then living could have been found, who would 
 have acquitted himself with greater credit to his 
 own character, and to the cause in which he was 
 engaged, than did the Rev. John Vfesley. 
 
 In controversy, he was sometimes dogmatical 
 in a very great degree ; and when be conceived 
 any of his people in danger of being drawn 
 aside from his communion, he would interpose 
 his authority in a manner that bore the appear- 
 ance of much self-confidence and authority. The 
 
 I 
 
ORIGINAL LETTER OF MR. WESLET. 425 
 
 following original Utter ^ furnished me by the 
 gentleman to whom it was addressed, will exhi- 
 bit a fair specimen of his manner on those occa- 
 - sions — 
 
 To Mr. John Simpson^ Yarmouth. 
 
 London^ Nov. 28, 1774. 
 
 My dear Brother, 
 
 Read over, with earnest humble prayer, Mr. 
 Fletcher’s three Checks, and I think you will 
 see things clearly. Or read the Farther Appeal, 
 in the beginning of which those points are clearly 
 stated. You ask, 1. Are any persons mentioned 
 in the New Testament, seeking who have 
 not found \t} Certainly there are. Seek and ye 
 shall fnd. They had not found it yet, and every 
 man must seek for the good pearl before he can 
 find it. But the word seeker you do not use 
 2. Is any thing proposed to a convinced sinner 
 in scripture, but to believers only ? Yes. How 
 readest thou ? Cease from evil, learn to do well ; 
 or God will not give you faith. Bring forth 
 fruits meet for repentance ; otherwise you are 
 never likely to believe. 3. Ought every unbe- 
 liever to pray or communicate ? Yes. Ask, and 
 it ( faith) shall be given you. And if you be- 
 lieve Christ died for guilty, helpless sinners, then 
 eat that bread, and drink of that cup. 
 
426 
 
 CHARACTER, 8CC. 
 
 ‘"The Philistines are upon thee, Sampson ! — 
 Beware the Lord do not depart from thee ! I am 
 afraid, in confidence of your own strength, you 
 have been disputing with some subtle Antino- 
 mian, and he has confounded your intellects. 
 Talk with him no more, at the peril of your soul, 
 and beware of their pernicious books. You have 
 been warned by me, now, escape for your life ! 
 
 I am your affectionate brother, 
 
 John Wesley.” 
 
 I shall, in my next, lay before you a full and 
 impartial view of the principal doctrines that are 
 taught by the ^lethodists. In the mean time, 
 believe me, 
 
 Yours sincerely. 
 
427 
 
 LETTER XL. 
 
 Of the Methodist Doctrines. 
 
 DEAU MADAM, 
 
 I MUST now proceed to give you an account of 
 the doctrines maintained by the Methodists ; 
 and lest I should be accused of partiality in the 
 - performance of this duty, I will state the opi- 
 nions of this people in their own words. 
 
 In a pamphlet written by Mr. Wesley, entitled, 
 A further Appeal to Men of Reason and Re- 
 ligion/’ he has laid before the world a summary 
 of his religious opinions. I shall, therefore, 
 give such extracts from this book as are neces- 
 sary to communicate the needful information on 
 this subject. 
 
 All I teach respect^ either the nature and 
 icondition of justification; the nature and con- 
 
4^8 
 
 METHODIST 
 
 dition of salvation ; the nature of justifying and 
 saving faith ; or the Author of faith and salva- 
 tion. 
 
 First, The nature of justification. It some- 
 times means, our acquittal at the last day. But 
 this is altogether out of the present question : 
 that justification whereof our articles and homi- 
 lies speak, meaning present forgiveness, pardon 
 of sins, and consequently acceptance with God : 
 who therein declares his righteousness or mercy, 
 by or for the remission of the sins that are past, 
 saying, I will be merciful to ihy unrighteous- 
 ness, and thine iniquities I will remember no 
 more. 
 
 I believe the condition of this, is faith : I 
 mean, not only, that without faith we cannot be 
 justified ; but also, that as soon as any one has 
 true faith, in that moment he is justified. 
 
 ‘‘ Good works follow this faith, but cannot go 
 before it : much less can sanctification, which 
 implies a continual course of good works, spring- 
 ing from holiness of heart. But it is allowed, 
 that entire sanctification goes before our justifi- 
 cation at the last day. 
 
 “ It is allowed also, that repentance and fruits 
 meet for repentance, go before faith. Repent- 
 ance absolutely must go before faith : fruits 
 meet for it, if there be opportunity. By repent- 
 ance, I mean, conviction of sin, producing real 
 desires and sincere resolutions of amendment: 
 
DOCTRINES. 
 
 A<29 
 
 and by fruits meet for repentance, forgiving our 
 brother, ceasing from evil, doing good, using 
 the ordinances' of God, and in general obeying 
 him according to the measure of grace which 
 we have received. But these I cannot as yet 
 term good works ; because they do not spring 
 from faith and the love of God. 
 
 By salvation, I mean, not barely, according 
 to the vulgar notion, deliverance from hell, or 
 going to heaven ; but a present deliverance from 
 sin, a restoration of the soul to its primitive 
 health, its original purity; a recovery of the 
 divine nature ; the renewal of our souls after the 
 image of God, in righteousness and true holi- 
 ness, in justice, mercy, and truth. This implies 
 all holy and heavenly tempers, and by conse- 
 quence all holiness of conversation. 
 
 ■ ‘ Now, if by salvation we mean, a present 
 salvation from sin, we cannot sav, holiness is the 
 condition of it. For it is the thing itself. Sal- 
 vation, in this sense, and holiness, are synony- 
 mous terms. We must therefore say, We are 
 saved by faith. Faith is the sole condition of 
 this salvation. For without faith we cannot be 
 thus saved. But whosever believeth is saved al- 
 ready. 
 
 ‘‘ Without faith we cannot be thus saved. For 
 we cannot rightly serve God, unless we love him. 
 And we cannot love him unless we know him ; 
 neither can we know God, unless by faith. 
 
430 
 
 METHODIST 
 
 Therefore, salvation by faith is only, in other 
 words, the love of God by the knowledge of 
 God : or, the recovery of the image of God, 
 by a true spiritual acquaintance with him. 
 
 “ Faith, in general, is a .divine, supernatural 
 sXeIxos- (evidence or conviction) of things not 
 seen, not discoverable by our bodily senses, as 
 being either past, future, or spiritual. Justifying 
 faith implies not only a divine eXs/^oy. That 
 God was in Christ, reconciling the world unto 
 himself, but a sure trust and confidence, that 
 Christ died for my sins, that he loved me, and 
 gave himself for me. And the moment a peni- 
 tent sinner believes this, God pardons and ab- 
 solves him. 
 
 And as soon as this pardon or justification 
 is witnessed to him by the Holy Ghost, he is 
 saved. He loves God and all mankind. He has 
 the mind that was in Christ, and power to walk 
 as he also walked. From that time (unless he 
 make shipwreck of the faith) salvation gradually 
 increases in his soul. For so is the kingdom of 
 God, as if a man should cast seed into the 
 ground — and it springeth up, first the blade, 
 then the ear, after that the full corn in the 
 car. 
 
 ‘‘ The first sowing of this seed, I cannot con- 
 ceive to be other than instantaneous ; whether I 
 consider experience, or the word of God, or the 
 very nature of the thing. However, I contend 
 not for a circumstance, but the substance ; if 
 
DOCTRINES. 
 
 431 
 
 you can attain it another way, do. Only see 
 that you do attain it; for if you fall short, you 
 perish everlastingly. 
 
 ‘‘This beginning of that vast inward change, 
 is usually termed The new birth. Baptism is 
 the outward sign of this inward grace, which is 
 supposed by our church to be given with and 
 through that sign to all infants, and to those of 
 riper years, if they repent and believe the gospel. 
 But how extremely idle are the common dis- 
 putes on this head ! I tell a sinner, ‘ You must 
 be born again.’ ‘ No, say you, he was born 
 again in baptism. Therefore he cannot be born 
 again now.’ Alas ! what trifling is this ! What 
 if he was then a child of God ? He is now ma- 
 nifestly a child of the devil. For the works of 
 his father he doth. Therefore do not play upon 
 words. He must go through an entire change 
 of heart. In one not yet baptized, you your- 
 .self would call that change, the new birth. In 
 him, call it what you will; but remember, mean- 
 time, that if either he or you die without it, 
 your baptism will be so far from profiting you, 
 that it will greatly increase your damnation. 
 
 “ The author of faith and salvation is God 
 alone. It is he that works in us both to will 
 and to do. He is the sole giver of every good 
 gift, and the sole author of every good work. 
 There is no more of power than of merit in man ; 
 but as all merit is in the Son of God, in what he 
 
432 
 
 METHODIST 
 
 has clone and suffered for us, so all power is in 
 the Spirit of God. And therefore every man, in 
 order to believe unto salvation, must receive the 
 Holy Ghost. This is essentially necessary to 
 every Christian, not in order to his working 
 miracles, but in order to faith, peace, joy, and 
 love, the ordinary fruits of the Spirit. 
 
 “ Although rio man on earth can explain the 
 particular manner wherein the Spirit of God 
 works on the soul, yet whosoever has these fruits 
 cannot but know and feel that God has wrought 
 them in his heart. ' 
 
 . “ Sometimes he acts more particularly on the 
 understanding, opening or enlightening it, (as 
 the scripture speaks) and revealing, unveiling, 
 discovering to us the deep things of God. 
 
 Sometimes he acts on the wills and affec- 
 tions of men ; withdrawing them from evil, in^ 
 dining them to good, inspiring ( breathing, as 
 it were) good thoughts into them : so it has fre- 
 quently been expressed, by an easy, natural me- 
 taphor, strictly analogous to Tinvyud, spiritus, 
 and the words used in most modern tongues 
 also, to denote the third person in the ever- 
 blessed Trinity. But however it be expressed, 
 it is certain, all true faith, and the whole work 
 of salvation, every good thought, word and 
 work, is altogether by the operation of the 
 Spirit of God. 
 
tIOCTlilNES. 
 
 43S 
 
 In order to be clearly and fully satisfied, what 
 the doctrine of the church of’ England is <as it 
 stands opposite to the doctririe of the; Antino- 
 inians, on the one hand, and to that of justifi- 
 cation by works on the other ) I will simply set 
 down what occurs on this head, either^in her 
 Liturgy, Articles ot Homilies? 
 
 “ Spare thou the rn, O God, which confess 
 their faults : Restore thoti then! / that are peni- 
 tent, according to thy promises declared-iihto 
 rnfaiikind in Christ Jesus, ouf^Eord.” ^ 
 
 “ He pardoneth and absol^^eth all them that 
 truly repent and unfeignedly believe his holy 
 gospel.” 
 
 “ Almighty* God, who’ dost' forgive the’ sins" 
 of them that are penitent,- create and make in 
 us new and contrite hearts ; that we, worthily 
 lamenting our siiis and acknowledging our 
 wretchedness, may obtain of thee perfect remis- 
 sion and forgivenessj through Jesus Christ our 
 Lord.” Collect for Ash-Wednesday. 
 
 “ Almighty God hath promised forgiveness of 
 sins to all them that with hearty repentance and 
 true faith turn unto him.” Communion Office. 
 
 “ Our Lord Jesus Christ hath left power to 
 absolve all sinners who truly repent and believe 
 in him.” Visitation of the Sick. 
 
 “ Give him unfeigned repentance and stedfast 
 faith, that his sins may be blotted out.” Ibid. 
 
 F'F 
 
434 
 
 METHODIST- 
 
 ‘VHe is a I)jei:^riful,4?ec€iver of all true, peni- 
 tent sin ners,^^ an d is,., ready to pardon us, if we 
 come ainto Jfim Avitli faitidul repentance.” Com^ 
 mi mi t ion Off ce, ^ p, t , 
 
 Infants indeed "our cliurch supposes to be jus-, 
 tided b}- baptism, -although they cannot then 
 either believe or repen f j But she expressly re 
 quires both repentance and faith, ( in those who 
 come tp be baptized iWhen they/ are of riper 
 yeai]s.'. - 
 
 As earnestly therefore as our church incul-;. 
 cates justification J>y faith alone, she neverthe- 
 less supposes repentance to be previous to faith, 
 and fruits meet for repentance : Yea, and uni- 
 
 versal holiness to be previous to final justitica- 
 tion, as evidently appears from the following 
 words : 
 
 - “ Let us beseech him, that the rest of our 
 life may be pure and holy, so that at the last we 
 may come to his eternal joy.” Absolution. 
 
 ‘‘ May we seriously apply our hearts to that 
 holy and heavenly wisdom here, which may in 
 the end bring us to life everlasting.” Visitation 
 of the Sick. 
 
 “ Raise us from the death of sin unto the life 
 of righteousness, that at the last day we may 
 be found acceptable in thy sight. ” Burial Office. 
 
 ‘‘ If we from henceforth walk in his ways, 
 seeking always his glory, Christ will set us on 
 his right hand.” Commination Office. 
 
DOCTRINES. 
 
 435 
 
 We come next to the articles of our church : 
 The former part of the ninth runs thus : 
 
 Of Original or Birth- Sin. 
 
 Original sin, is the fault and corruption of 
 the nature of every man, whereby man is very 
 far gone from original righteousness, and is of 
 his own nature inclined to evil, so that tlie flesh 
 lusteth always contrary to the spirit : And there- 
 fore in every person born into this world, it de- 
 serveth God’s wrath and damnation.” 
 
 Art. X.~Of Free-miL 
 
 “ The condition of man after the fall of Adam 
 is such, that he cannot turn and prepare him- 
 self by his own natural strength and good works 
 to faith and calling upon God. Wherefore we 
 have no power to do good works, pleasant and^ 
 acceptable to God, without the grace of God 
 by Christ preventing us, that we may have a 
 good will, and working with us when we have 
 that good will.” 
 
 Art. XL — Of the Justification of Man. 
 
 “We are accounted righteous before God, 
 only for the merit of our Lord and Saviour Je- 
 
 Christ, by faith, and not for our pwn works 
 F F 2 
 
435 
 
 METlIODISt 
 
 or clescrvings. Wherefore that we are justified 
 by faith only, is a most wholesome doctrine, 
 and very full of comfort, as more largely is ex- 
 pressed in the homily of justification.’" 
 
 I believe this article relates to the meritorious 
 cause of justification, rather than to the condi- 
 tion of it. On this therefore I do not build 
 any thing concerning it, but on those that 
 follow. 
 
 Art. XII. — Of Good Works. 
 
 ‘‘ Albeit that good works which are the fruits 
 of faith and follow after justification, cannot 
 put avray our sins — yet are they pleasing and 
 acceptable to God in Christ, and do spring out 
 necessarily of a true and lively faith : Insomuch 
 that by them a lively faith may be as evidently 
 known, as a tree may be known by the fruit.’" 
 We are taught here, 1. That good works in 
 general, follow after justification. 2. That they 
 spring out of a true and lively faith, that faith 
 whereby we are justified : 3. That true, justify- 
 ing faith may be as evidently known by them, 
 as a tree discerned by the fruit. 
 
 Does it not follow. That the supposing any 
 good work to go before justification, is full as 
 absurd as the supposing an apple or any other 
 fruit to grow before the tree ? 
 
 . But let us hear the church, speaking yet 
 more plainly^ 
 
doctrines; 
 
 isr 
 
 Art. XIII . — Of JVorhs done before Justification. 
 
 « Works clone before the grace of Christ and 
 the inspiration of his spirit, {L e. before justi- 
 fication, as the title expresses it) are not pleasant 
 to God, forasmuch as they spring not of faith 
 in Jesus Christ — Yea rather, for that they are 
 not done as God hath willed and commanded 
 them to be done, we doubt not they have the 
 nature of sin.” 
 
 ' Now, if all works done before justificatioi^ 
 have the nature of sin, (both because they spring 
 not of faith in Christ, and because they are not 
 done as God hath willed and commanded them 
 to be done) what becomes of sanctification 
 previous to justification 1: It is utterly excluded : 
 Seeing whatever is previous to justification, is 
 not good or holy, but evil and sinful. 
 
 Although therefore our church does frequently 
 assert, That we ought to repent and bring forth 
 fruits meet for repentance, if ever we would at- 
 tain to that faith, whereby alone we are justifi- 
 ed : Yet she never asserts (and here the hinge 
 
 of the question turns) That these are good 
 works, so long as they are previous to justifica- 
 tion. Nay she expressly asserts the direct con- 
 trary, viz. ‘That they have all the nature of sin.* 
 
 Mr. Wesley next proceeds to shew what oc- 
 @urs in the Homilies on these subjects. 
 
438 
 
 METHODIST 
 
 ‘‘ These things must go together in our justi- 
 fication ; upon God’s part, his great mercy and 
 grace ; upon Christ’s part, the satisfaction of 
 God’s justice ; and upon our part, true and lively 
 faith in the merits of Jesus Christ.” Homily on 
 ^Imtion, Pa?'t I. 
 
 So that the grace of God doth not shut out 
 the justice (or righteousness) of God in our jus- 
 tification ; but only shutteth out the righteous- 
 ness of man — as to deserving our justification/’ 
 And therefore St. Paul declareth nothing on 
 the behalf of man, concerning his justification, 
 but only a true faith.” 
 
 And yet that faith doth not shut out repent- 
 ance, hope, love, to be joined with faith (that 
 is, afterwards ; see below) in every man that is 
 justified— Neither doth faith shut out the righte- 
 ousness of our good works, necessarily to be 
 done afterwards. But it excluded them so, that 
 we may not do them to this intent, to be made 
 just (or, to be justified) by doing them.” 
 
 “ That we are justified by faith alone, is 
 spoken, to take away clearl}^ all merit of our 
 works, and wholly to ascribe the merit and de- 
 serving of our justification unto Christ only,” 
 Ibid. Part II, 
 
 • ‘ Tlie true meaning of this saying, We be 
 justified by faith only, is this. We be justified 
 by the merits of Christ only, and not of our 
 own works.” Ibid. Pari III. 
 
P0CTRINES.- 
 
 439 
 
 ; Thus far touching the meritorious cause of 
 our justification : referred to me in the 11th ar- 
 ticle. The 12th and 13th are a summary of 
 what now follows, with regard to the condition 
 of it. 
 
 - "" Of (justf^ing) true faith, three things are 
 specially to be noted, 1. That it bringeth forth 
 good works. 2. That without it can no good 
 work be done. 3. What good works it doth 
 bring forth.” Sermon on laith, Part I. 
 
 ‘‘ Without faith can no good work be done, 
 accepted and pleasant unto God. For as a 
 branch cannot bear fruit of itself, saith our Sa- 
 viour Christ, except it abide in the vine, so 
 cannot you, except you abide in me. Faith 
 giveth life to the soul; and they be as much 
 dead to God that lack faith, as they be to the 
 world, whose bodies lack souls. Without faith- 
 all that is done of us, is but dead before God. 
 Even as a picture is but a dead representaiion of 
 the thing itself, so be the works of all unfaith- 
 ful (unbelieving) persons before God. They be 
 but shadows of lively and good things, and not 
 good things indeed. For true faith doth give 
 life to the works, and without faith no work is 
 good before God.” Ibid. Part III. 
 
 “ We must set no good works before faitli, 
 nor think that before faith a man may do any 
 good works, For such works are as the cuurs.^ 
 
440 
 
 MET«PDIST 
 
 of an horse that runneth out of the way, which 
 taketh great labour, but to no purpose.” Ibid, 
 
 Without faith wp have no virtues, but only 
 the shadows of them. All the life of them that 
 lack the true faith is sin.’' Ibid. 
 
 As men first have life, and he nourish- 
 ed, so must our faith go before, and after be 
 nourished with good works. And life may be 
 without nourishment, but nourishment cannot 
 be without life.” Homily of Works annexed to 
 Faithy Ft. 1, 
 
 I can shew a man, that by faith without 
 works lived and came to heaven. But without 
 faith never man had life. The thief on the 
 cross only believed and the most merciful God 
 justified him. Truth it is, if he had lived and 
 not regarded faith and the works thereof, he 
 should have lost his salvation again. But this I 
 say, faith by itself saved him. But works by 
 themselves never justified any man.” 
 
 '‘Good works go not before, in him which 
 shall afterwards be justified. But good works 
 do follow after, when a man is first justified.” 
 Homily on Fasting, Fart I. 
 
 From the whole tenor then of her liturgy, 
 articles and homilies, the doctrine of the church 
 of England appears to be this : 
 
 1. That no good work properly so called, can 
 go before justification. 
 
 2. That no degree of true sanctification can 
 be previous to it. 
 
DOCTRINES. 
 
 441 
 
 3. That as the meritorious cause of justifica- 
 tion is, The life and death of Christ ; so the con- 
 dition of it, is faith. Faith alone ; and 
 
 4. That both inward and outward holiness, 
 are consequent on this faith, and are the ordi- 
 nary stated condition of final justification. 
 
 And what more can those desire, who have 
 hitherto opposed justification by faith alone, 
 merely upon a principle of conscience ; because 
 they were zealous for holiness and good works ? 
 Do I not effectually secure these from contempt, 
 at the same time that I defend the doctrine of 
 the church ? I not only allow, but vehemently 
 contend, That none shall ever enter into glory, 
 who is not holy on earth, as well in heart, as in 
 all manner of conversation. I cry aloud. Let 
 all that have believed, be careful to maintain 
 good works : And, Let every one thatnameth the 
 name of Christ, depart from all iniquiiy. I ex- 
 hort even those who are conscious they do not 
 -believe. Cease to do evil, learn to do well : The 
 kingdom of heaven is at hand ; therefore re- 
 pent, and bring forth fruits meet for repent- 
 ance. 
 
 Many of those who are perhaps zealous of 
 good works, think I have allowed too much: — ■ 
 Nay, my brethren, but how can we help allow- 
 ing it, if we allow the Scriptures to he from God^ 
 For is it not written, '^ahd do not yourselves be- 
 
METHODIST 
 
 in 
 
 lieve, Without holiness no man shall see the 
 Lord ? And how then, without fighting about 
 words, can we deny, That lioliness is a condi- 
 tion of final acceptance? And, as to the first 
 acceptance for pardon, does not all experience 
 as well as Scripture prove, That no man ever yet 
 truly believed the Gospel, who did not first re- 
 pent ? That none was ever yet truly convinced 
 of righteousness, who was not first convinced 
 of sin? Repentance therefore in this sense, we 
 cannot deny to be necessarily previous to faith. 
 Is it not equally undeniable. That the running 
 back into known, wilful sin, (suppose it were 
 drunkenness or uncleanness) stifles that repent- 
 ance or conviction ? And can that repentance 
 come'toany good issue in his soul, who resolves 
 not to forgive his brother ? Qr who obstinately 
 refrains from what God convinces him is 
 right, whether it be prayer or hearing his 
 word ? 
 
 And yet I allow this. That although both re- 
 pentance and the fruits thereof are in some sense 
 necessary before justification, yet neither the 
 one nor the other is necessary in the same sense 
 or in the same degree with faith. Not in the 
 same degree. For in whatever moment a man 
 believes (in a Christian sense of the word) he is 
 justified, his sins are blotted out, his faith is 
 counted to him for righteousness. But it is not 
 
DOCTRINES. 
 
 44.1 
 
 so, at whatever moment he repents, or brings 
 forth any or all the fruits of repentance. Faith 
 alone therefore justifies ; which repentance 
 alone does not ; much less any outward work. 
 And consequently, none of these are neces- 
 sary to justification, in the same degree with 
 faith. 
 
 Nor in the same sense. For none of these 
 has so direct, immediate a relation to justifica- 
 tion as faith. This is proximately necessary 
 thereto ; repentance, remotely, as it is neces- 
 sary to the increase or continuance of faith. 
 And even in this sense, these are only necessary, 
 on supposition — if there be time and opportu- 
 nity for tliem : For in many instances there is 
 
 not; But God cuts short his work, and faith 
 prevents the fruits of repentance. So that the 
 general proposition is not overthrown, but 
 clearly established by these concessions ; and 
 we conclude still, both on the authoiity of 
 Scripture and the Church, That faith alone is 
 the proximate condition of justification.’' 
 
 You will observe, Madam, that in drawing 
 up the foregoing formulary of the Methodist 
 doctrines, Mr. Wesley’s chief aim has been to 
 prove, that the religious opinions of the Metho- 
 dists are the same as those tauo’ht in the articles 
 and homilies of the church of England. It is 
 not my business to enter into the questions which 
 
METHODIST' 
 
 iU 
 
 have been agitated among the Arminian or Wes- 
 leyan, and the Calviiiistic, or Whitefieldian 
 Methodists, respecting the true meanirig of these 
 articles. 
 
 There are some leading points in both their 
 systems, which tend to bind them together in 
 the same general interests. The doctrines of the 
 Trinity, satisfaction to Divine Justice for the 
 sins of men, by the sufferings of Christ, original 
 or birth sin, sensible, and, generally speaking, 
 instantaneous conversion, the necessity of su- 
 pernatural influences to good works, justifica- 
 tion by faith only, and the eternity of hell tor- 
 ments are points in which these two branches of 
 Methodists agree. There are other sects of Me- 
 thodists, agreeing with one or other of these 
 in most points ; but differing either as to bap- 
 tism or the nature and order of church govern- 
 ment. 
 
 The chief points in which the Wesleyan and 
 Whitefi^l^an Methodius differ, are those re- 
 specting perfection, irresistible grace, the per- 
 severance of the saints, imputed ri g hteousness, 
 and elecHoh'andnieprobation. The former be- 
 lieve that Christians may, nay, ought to attain 
 a state of perfection before death ; and that 
 this may be attained in a moment, just as they 
 received the forgiveness of their sins. This work 
 they chiefly assign to the third person ra the 
 
DOCTRINES; 
 
 445 
 
 Trinity, who is said to commence his cleansing 
 operations in the soul, the same moment in 
 which he speaks peace to the soul by the absolu- 
 tion of the sinner from all his past sins ; and 
 that he, the Holy Ghost, silently and gradually, 
 sometimes almost imperceptibly ; ‘ but at other 
 times, as it were irresistibly, proceeds to work 
 upon the remains of inbred sin, till in a mo- 
 ment the old man with his deeds is wholly put 
 off, the soul is purged from every stain, and the 
 saint stands up, complete in the whole armour 
 of God, not having spot or wrinkle or any such 
 thing ! This state of perfection needs never be 
 lost; and, indeed, it seems morally impossible 
 it ever should, because nothing but sin, we may 
 suppose, could rob the believer of so precious 
 a gift, and he being freed from sin ; the world 
 the flesh and the devil having no more domi- 
 • nion over him ; having in fact lost the power 
 of sinning,” it does not appear how any perfect 
 Christian can ever become imperfect or any way 
 in the least sinful. It is, however, a lament- 
 able truth, that the perfect Methodist is as liable 
 to sin as the imperfetone ; which abundance of 
 facts have long proved. Nor could I ever per- 
 ceive any moral difference in these two charac- 
 ters, though I have had the honour of being 
 intimately, acquainted with many of the perfec- 
 tionists. In fact, except in the bare profession 
 
446 
 
 METHODIST 
 
 of the parties, a state of mere justification, and 
 the highest attainments of sanctification are no 
 wise morally diiferent, at least to an ordinary 
 beholder. I knew a good woman, who de- 
 clared tome, that she had never said, thought, 
 or acted any thing contrary to the pure will of 
 God for the space of two- and- twenty years ; 
 except once, when she, through the violence 
 of sudden temptation, just tasted a little wine> 
 which she had been desired to purchase for a 
 sick neighbour ! And I know a man, who is^ 
 so constantly filled with the love of God, and 
 has such constant communion with the Father 
 and the Son, through the Spirit, that the bare 
 mention of the Holy Ghost will bring tears of 
 joy into his eyes, check the powers of utter- 
 ance, and sometimes throw him on the ground 
 in the most devout ecstasies ! 
 
 The Calvinistic Methodists do not believe in 
 the doctrine of perfection ; but as they admit 
 that of divine influence, they also are sometimes 
 lost in devout and holy raptures. 
 
 The doctrines of irresistible grace and of the 
 final perseverance of the saints are not held by 
 the Wesleyans ; but are strenuously contended 
 for by the Calvinists. 
 
 The Wesleyans reject the Calvinistic doctrine 
 of imputed righteousness, and admit that of 
 imputed faith, in lieu of it. 
 
DOCTKIiCES. 
 
 447 
 
 But the grand point of difference is that re- 
 specting predestination ; which the Wesleyan 
 Methodists reject, but which the Whitefieldians 
 admit, and contend for on all occasions. 
 
 I am, See. 
 
 
LETTER XLL 
 
 Of Bibliomancy — Scripture- Cards — JV omen^ 
 Preaching — Street and Field Singing. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Hating detailed the rise, progress, and doc- 
 trines of the Wesleyan Methodists, I must 
 now proceed to give you some information con- 
 cerning certain religious practices which obtain 
 among this people, but which are not publicly 
 acknowledged as forming any part of the eco- 
 nomy of Methodism. These are Bibliomancy, 
 or the practice of determining the present or fu- 
 ture state of the soul by accidental opening upon 
 texts of Scripture — religious card playing — fe- 
 male preaching and exhorting — and street and 
 field singing. 
 
 In the Encyclopasdia Perthensis, it is ob- 
 served, ‘‘ the Methodists have long practised 
 Bibliomancy, with regard to the future state of 
 
 1 
 
OF BIBLIOMANCY. 
 
 449 
 
 tlieir souls ; but that some of their members 
 having been driven to despair, by texts occur- 
 ring to them, that threatened the most awful 
 judgments, their late pastor, Mr. Wesley, to 
 prevent such fatal consequences from recurring, 
 improved upon the system of sacred lottery^ by 
 printing several packs of cards with a variety 
 of texts, containing nothing but the most com- 
 fortable promises : and thus his disciples drew 
 ^ with courage and comfort, in a lottery where 
 there were various prizes, great and small, but 
 no blanks,'' This statement is not, I believe, ex- 
 ,actly correct. 
 
 The manner in which Bibliomancy is prac- 
 tised among the Methodists is as fo^ows : At a 
 
 religious gossiping, when the tea-board is re- 
 moved, the subjects of pious scandal are nearly 
 exhausted, and religious chit-chat grows lan- 
 - guid, it is not unusual, a word of prayer^ 
 to introduce the Bible, as a kind of auxiliary, 
 to the fading energy of evangelical conversa- 
 tion, as well as to secure obedience to the sa- 
 cred command, to have all their words “ mixt 
 with grace.’" The company being placed in 
 proper order, one of them takes the Bible, and 
 asks the next person near her, (for this prac- 
 tice is mostly prevalent among the sisterhood) 
 which text she will hx upon as the object of 
 her present choice. It is answered by naming 
 ^ome particular number, and applying it to the 
 
 G G 
 
450 
 
 ANECDOTE. 
 
 corresponding text on either the right or left 
 page of the book, ivhichever the party may think 
 proper to adopt. The Bible is then opened, with 
 great solemnity, and every heart is engaged for 
 tlie success of the enterprise. The all-important 
 verse is then read aloud, which is immediately 
 followed by such ejaculations of prayer or praise 
 as the text chosen may happen to suggest ! This 
 ceremony is performed for the benefit of every in- 
 dividual in succession, who chooses to risk her 
 peace of mind on the event of so solemn a lottery. 
 
 This practice is also very frequently resorted to 
 in private; when a person is perplexed concerning 
 the state of his mind, or l3efore some important 
 undertaking. I remember, on the day of my 
 cori'cersion, which was the 18th of June, 1795, 
 being extremely distressed on a religious ac- 
 count, and living a few miles distant from the 
 place where a class-meeting was held, 1 was in- 
 duced to run, as if life and salvation depended 
 thereon, through much rain, to the meeting, 
 all in my undress, because I had opened upon 
 that passage where our Lord tells his disciples, 
 that they knew the truth, and that the truth 
 should make them free. Had the meeting been 
 at five times the distance ; and had my good 
 mother, who opposed, or wished to moderate, 
 my youthful zeal, been much more averse to 
 my going than she was, nothing could have 
 stopt me, so fully was I persuaded, that that very 
 
451 
 
 ANECDOTE. 
 
 night, and at that very meeting, I should be 
 set free from the pains of the new-birth, and 
 be born again of the spirit of truth ! I could 
 enumerate several instances of the like nature, 
 yea, where the most important concerns have de- 
 pended on the accidental choice of a passage of 
 scripture. 
 
 The practice of choosing texts naturally in- 
 troduced that of choosing stanzas out of the 
 hymn-book for the same pious purposes. Mr. 
 C. Wesle}'’s scripture hymns are often used on 
 those occasions. It is known among some of 
 the Methodists, that a preacher, now living, 
 was indebted to the choice of a verse for a 
 very amiable and rich wife. The case was this : 
 Mr. R. a travelling preacher, having recently 
 lost his wife, was one day employed with a lady 
 or two, in choosing mrses, “ And pray, sister 
 R.,” said he, “ what verse do you make choice 
 of?” A certain number was given, and the text 
 proved to be “Where thou lodgest there will 1 
 lodge, &c. !” The hint was good, and a visit 
 to the shrine of Hymen was the happy conse- 
 quence 1 It would be well if all the prizes in 
 these sacred lotteries were equally valuable. 
 The lady, who was a most excellent wife, and a 
 sincere Christian, died a few years ago ; but her 
 worthy survivor is now too old to venture his 
 fortune again in so precarious a manner, 
 e G 2 
 
452 
 
 SCRIPTURE CARDS. 
 
 The practice of religious card playing is now 
 seldom used among the Methodists ; and I be- 
 lieve the scripture cards are out of print ; a few 
 copies are, nevertheless, still extant ; and are 
 sometimes resorted to in a manner similar to 
 that of text and stanza choosing. 
 
 These cards are very small ones, with a text 
 of scripture printed on one side, and the same, 
 in a poetical paraphrase, on the other. 1 have 
 seen several packs of these ^‘religious trifles,” 
 and have often witnessed their use and effects 
 with no small degree of pain. 
 
 iMr. Adam Clarke, in his Letter to a Methodist 
 Preacher, from wdiich I made some extracts in 
 a former letter, gives his brethren the following 
 excellent advice. ‘‘ Wherever you go,” says he, 
 discountenance that disgraceful custom (pro- 
 perly enough termed) Bibliomancy; e. divi- 
 nation by the Bible. I need scarcely observe, 
 that this consists in what is called dipping into 
 the Bible, taking passages of scripture at ha- 
 zard, and drawing indications thence concern- 
 ing the present and future state of the soul. 
 This is a scandal to Christianity. So also are 
 those religious trifles, impiously and ominously 
 called scripture cards. Thank God 1 these have 
 never been very common among us ; and are 
 certainly not of Methodist growth. In an evil 
 hour they were first introduced ; and have since 
 2 
 
SCRIPTURE Cards. 453 
 
 been criminally tolerated. I have found them 
 the constant companions of religious gossips; 
 and have seen them drawn for the purpose of 
 shewing the success of journies, enterprises, 
 &c. Very great mischief they have done to 
 my own knowledge ; and sensible persons have 
 through them been led to despise the whole of 
 that system from which they never sprung, on. 
 Avhich they have never been engrafted, and in 
 which they have never been more than barely 
 tolerated. Giving the authors of them all the 
 credit we can for the goodness of their inten- 
 tion, we cannot help saying of their produce 
 tions, ( and this is giving them the very best 
 character they deserve) that they are the dri- 
 vellings of religious nonage, or of piety in super- 
 annuation. , I do not find, that Mr. Wesley 
 ■ ever made, used, or approved, of these things ; 
 
 ' but as they were tolerated in his time, they have 
 been attributed to himself.” 
 
 He then proceeds to observe, concerning 
 what the editors of the Encyclopaedia Perthen- 
 sis have said about the practice of Bihliomancy 
 and the scripture cards, I am sorry that there 
 should have ever been the least shadow of ground 
 for the above calumny : but let these gentlemen 
 know, and let all men by these presents know, 
 that the great body of Methodists never used 
 them ! that the preachers in general highly dis- 
 approve of them ; and that what is said about 
 
^54 WOMEN-rREACHING. 
 
 Mr. Wesley’s fabricating them, See, is, to use 
 a lilliputian expression, the thing that is not, I 
 am glad to find that they are daily dying among 
 the few that did use them : I hope soon to hear 
 that they are all finally buried, and earnestly 
 pray that they may never have a resurrection, 
 except to shame and everlasting contempt” 
 
 This is very judicious counsel • and the prayer 
 with which it concludes is wise and good : I 
 wish all the Methodists may attend to it 
 
 It has been thought by some, that the Methodr 
 ists allow female preaching : this is not the 
 case, if we must consider that practice as al- 
 lowable by any express rule qf Conference . — 
 The practice has nevertheless been tolerated, 
 and in some cases sanctioned even by Mr. Wes- 
 ley himself, as the following letter, addressed 
 to Miss Bosanquetj the present Mrs. Fletcher, 
 of Madeley, will fully shew : — 
 
 Londonderry, June \% 1771. 
 
 My dear Sister, 
 
 I think the strength of the cause rests there, 
 in your having extraordinary call: So I arp 
 
 persuaded has every one of our lay-preachers : 
 otherwise, I could not countenance their preach- 
 ing at all. It is plain to me that the whole work 
 of God termed Methodism, is an extraordinary 
 
WQMEN-PREACHING. 
 
 455 
 
 dispensation of his providence. Therefore I do 
 not wonder if several tilings occur therein which 
 do not fall under ordinary rules of discipline. 
 St. Paul’s ordinary rule was, ‘ 1 do not permit 
 a woman to speak in the congregation yet in 
 extraordinary cases, he made a few exceptions, 
 at Corinth in particular. 
 
 ** J am, 
 
 ‘‘ My dear Sister, 
 
 “ Your affectionate brotlier, 
 
 - “ John Wesley.” 
 
 What practice may not be allowed under 
 the notion of having “ an extraordinary 
 call 
 
 At the Dublin conference, in the year 1802, a 
 debate took place on the propriety of women 
 preaching and exhorting in public congrega- 
 tions ; which ended by making the following 
 rule: “ It is the judgment of the conference, 
 that it is contrary both to scripture and pru- 
 dence, that women should preach, or should ex- 
 hort in public; and we direct the superintend- 
 ants to refuse a society-ticket to any woman in 
 the Methodist connexion, who preaches or who 
 exhorts in any public congregation, unless she 
 entirely ceases from so doing.” I am informed 
 that this oiotion was carried by a very small ma- 
 jority. In the English conference, no such 
 1 
 
456 
 
 MARY BARRET. 
 
 rule has yet been made. I have often heard 
 Miss Mary Barret, now, if I mistake not, Mrs. 
 Taft, preach, both in the pulpit and the open 
 air, to immense crowds of hearers. l^f one 
 might judge of ]\liss Barret’s call by thfe suc- 
 cess of her labours, it was very extraordindry in- 
 deed ! She made numerous proselytes ; but, as I 
 remember, in Macclesfield and in Manchester, 
 several of them soon began to backslide. She had 
 a wonderful knack at inflaming the passions ; 
 hut was extraordinarily defective in the art of in- 
 forming the judgment. I took the substance of 
 several of her sermons in short-hand ; and they 
 are very curious specimens of pulpit-eloquence, 
 I assure you. 
 
 Though the practice of women preaching is 
 not very common, particularly in the present 
 day, yet that of female exhortation is frequent 
 enough ; and there are great numbers of wo- 
 men regularly appointed to be leaders of classes. 
 The women pray in public as frequently as the 
 men, and no censure is attached to the practice. 
 Indeed the sisterhood are generally remarkably 
 gifted m prayer. The warmth of feeling, the 
 quickness of wit, and the extraordinary volubi- 
 lity of tongue, with which many ladies are pos- 
 sessed, render them peculiarly fitted for the pub-^ 
 lie exercises of prayer and praise at a Methodist 
 meeting. For my own part, I see no solid reason 
 
STREET AND FIELD SINGING. 
 
 457 
 
 why our fair country women should not be allow- 
 ed to exercise gifts as well as the men. 
 
 Why boast, O arrogant, imperious man, 
 
 Perfections so exclusive ! Are thy powers 
 Nearer approaching to the Deity ? Canst thou solve 
 Questions which high infinity propounds, 
 
 Soar nobler flights, or dare immortal deeds, 
 
 Unknown to woman, if she greatly dare 
 
 To use the powers assignhl her ? Active strength, 
 
 The boast of animals, is clearly thine : 
 
 By this upheld, thou think'st the lesson rare 
 That female virtue teaches, poor the height 
 Which female wit obtains. The theme unfolds 
 Its ample maze, for Montague befriends 
 The puzzhd thought, and blazing in the eye 
 Of bolden’d opposition, straight presents 
 The soul’s best energies, her keenest powers. 
 
 Clear, vigorous, and enlightened. 
 
 Mrs. Axi'f Yearsley. 
 
 Of the practice of street and held singing I 
 shall say but little ; because it is not very com- 
 mon among the Methodists, except at fune- 
 rals. It is sometimes the custom, when a party 
 of young people have been at a country love- 
 feast, to return in a body, with some one at their 
 head, giving out lines of several hyrnns, which 
 they ail sing, to the wonder of passing strangers, 
 and to the sorrow of the sober and modest part 
 of their own community. I have often heard 
 
458 
 
 STREET SINGING. 
 
 them pass my window, at very late hours, sub- 
 limely chanting — 
 
 Ye virgin souls arise, 
 
 With all the dead awake ! . 
 
 Unto salvation wise. 
 
 Oil in your vessels take : 
 
 Upstarting at the midnight cry, 
 
 Behold the heavenly Bridegroom nigh ! 
 
 I am, 
 
459 
 
 LETTER XLIL 
 
 Controversies with the Calvinist Circular 
 Letter. 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 In a work of this nature, it would seem impro- 
 per not to notice some of the controversies in 
 which Mr. Wesley and his friends were so long 
 engaged. These were of various kinds, and 
 ■^vith opponents of various sentiments and abili- 
 ties. Indeed there is hardly any topic of theo- 
 logical controversy, in which, at one time or 
 other, Mr. Wesley was not engaged. Arians, 
 Calvinists, Antinomians, Papists, Swedenbor- 
 gians, Moravians, and Moralists, all have felt 
 the stroke of his pen ; while under his auspices 
 the odium theologicum has increased and multi- 
 plied with astonishing rapidity. Hardly yet is 
 the wide champaign cleared of the dead and the 
 
460 
 
 CONTROVERSIES. 
 
 dying, who have fallen in those polemic battles. 
 Their wounds yet smoke: though the tight 
 is nearly over, the cries of the victorious, and 
 the groans'of the vanquished, are still heard in 
 the camp. 
 
 It must be acknowledged, that Mr. John Wes- 
 ley was the first that drew the ungracious 
 sword of controversy between the Calvinists 
 and himself ; and it must also be owned that, 
 by the aid of his commander in chief, Mr. 
 Fletcher, he has come off complete conqueror. 
 
 Passing by the many flying skirmishes which 
 took place between these angry religionists, I 
 will give you some account of the war wdien the 
 first pitched battle was agreed upon. This was 
 about the year 1771, and was occasioned by 
 certain strong expressions, and anti-calvinistic 
 sentiments, contained in the minutes of the con- 
 ference which was held the year before at Bris- 
 tol. 
 
 The following: extract will exhibit the most 
 objectionable passages — 
 
 “ We said in 1744, ‘ We have leaned too much 
 towards Calvinism." Wherein? 
 
 1. With regard to man’s faithfulness. Our 
 Lord himself taught us to use. the expression, 
 and therefore we ought never to be ashamed of 
 it. We ought steadily to assert upon his autho- 
 rity, that if a man is not faithful in the un- 
 
CONTROVERSIES. 
 
 A6l 
 
 righteous mammon, God will not give him the 
 true riches. 
 
 With regard to working for life, which 
 our Lord expressly commands us to do, ‘ Labour, 
 that is, work for the meat that endureth 
 to everlasting life.’ And in fact, every believer, 
 till he comes to glory, works for, as well as from, 
 life. 
 
 “ 3. We have received it as a maxim, That a 
 man is to do nothing in order to justification. 
 Nothing can be more false. Whosoever desires 
 to find favour with God, should cease from evil, 
 and learn to do well. So God himself teaches 
 by the prophet Isaiah. Whosoever repents, 
 should do works meet for repentance. And if 
 this is not in order to find favour, what does he 
 do them for?” 
 
 ' 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 
 mcTita operum ? Which is no more than, as 
 our works deserve. Let him that can, split the 
 hair.” ‘ 
 
 To the above minutes the following remon- 
 strances against Calvinism have since been 
 added, which tend still more to widen the 
 breach. 
 
CONTROVERSIES/ 
 
 i62 
 
 Against Antlnomianism^ 
 
 Q. What is most destructive of Method-^ 
 ism^ or the doctrine of inward holiness ? 
 
 “ A. Calvinism, that is, the doctrine of un- 
 conditional predestination. Ail the devices of 
 Satan, have done far less towards stopping this 
 work of God, than that single doctrine. It 
 strikes at the root of salvation from sin, previous 
 to glory ; it puts the matter quite upon another 
 footing. This doctrine seems to magnify Christ ; 
 although in reality it supposes him to have died 
 in vain. For the absolutely elect, must have 
 been saved without him, and the non-elect can- 
 not be saved by him. It is highly pleasing to 
 flesh and blood; unconditional perseverance in 
 particular. 
 
 Let all our preachers carefully read over Mr- 
 Wesley’s and Mr. Fletcher’s tracts. 
 
 Let them frequently and explicitly preach 
 the whole truth, though not in a controversial 
 way. Let them take care to do it in love and 
 gentleness. 
 
 “ Lay hold upon any that you find newly con- 
 vinced of the truth, and warn them against pre- 
 destination. Answer all their objections as oc- 
 casion offers, both in public and in private. 
 But do this with all possible sweetness both of 
 
CIRCULAR LETTER. 
 
 463 
 
 look and accent. Frequently warn our people 
 against hearing that doctrine. And pray much, 
 that the Lord may prevent the evil.” 
 
 The minutes I first quoted produced the fol- 
 lowing circular printed letter from Lady Hunt- 
 ingdon’s chaplain, which was addressed to all 
 gospel ministers, both episcopal and dissenting, 
 i. e, to those who hold the doctrines of Calvin— 
 
 Sir, 
 
 “ Whereas Mr. Wesley’s conference is to be 
 held at Bristol, on Tuesday the 6th August 
 next, it is proposed by Lady Huntingdon, and 
 many other Christian friends (real Protestants) 
 to have a meeting at Bristol, at the same time, 
 of such principal persons, both clergy and laity, 
 who disapprove of the underwritten minutes; 
 and as the same are thought injurious to the very 
 fundamental principles of Christianity, it is fur- 
 ther proposed, that they go in a body to the 
 said conference, and insist upon a formal recant- 
 ation of the said minutes ; and in case of a re- 
 fusal, that they sign and publish their protest 
 against them. Your presence, Sir, on this oc- 
 casion, is particularly requested : but if it should 
 not suit your convenience to be there, it is de- 
 sired that you will transmit your sentiments on 
 the subject to such person as you think proper 
 to produce them. It is submitted to you, whe- 
 ther it would not be right, in the opposition to 
 
464 
 
 ' CONTROVEl'iSIES. 
 
 be made to such a dreadful heresy, to recom- 
 mend it to as many of your Cliristian friends, as 
 well of the dissenters, as of the estahlislied 
 church, as you can prevail on to be there, the 
 cause being of so public a nature. I am, 
 
 ‘‘Sir, 
 
 “ Your obedient servant, 
 
 “ Walter Shirley.’' 
 
 P. S. Your answer is desired, directed to the 
 Countess of Huntingdon, or the Rev, Mr. Shir- 
 ley, or John Lloyd, Esq. in Bath; or Mr. James 
 Ireland, merchant, Bristol ; or to Thomas 
 Powis, Esq. at Berwick, near Shrev'sbury ; or 
 to Richard Hill, Esq. at Hawkstone, near Whit- 
 church, Shropshire. Lodgings will be provided. 
 Enquire at Pvir. Ireland’s, Bristol.” 
 
 It M'as now that Mr. Fletcher appeared in de- 
 fence of his brethren the Methodists. What he 
 wrote upon that subject, is contained in seven 
 volumes duodecimo. He certainly put to flight 
 the antagonists, for which their survivors will 
 never, I believe, cordially forgive him. It is a 
 fact, that a certain Calvinist, being asked if he 
 had read The Checks, replied, “No; nor do I 
 intend to read them ; for were I to do so, I 
 should turn Anninian ; a thing I am fully deter- 
 mined never to do while I live i” 
 
CONTROVERSIES. 465 
 
 Of the other controversies in which the Wes- 
 leyans have been engaged, it is not necessary to 
 dilate. They bear a very small proportion of 
 magnitude or importance to the one I have just 
 been mentioning. Yet it would be deemed an 
 unpardonable omission to pass unobserved 
 the famous circular letter which Mn Wesley 
 addressed to the Gospel Ministers of the church 
 of England ; in which he proposed to them a 
 plan of union and co-operation with himself, in 
 the great work of making proselytes to.Me^ 
 thodism. 
 
 The substance of this circular letter was, that 
 all those ministers of the church of England, 
 who held the doctrines of original sin, justifica- 
 tion by faith, and holiness of heart and life, 
 should cordially unite in one comthon cause to 
 convert the world. They were to do this, by 
 removing all hindrances from themselves, by 
 not judging, hating, despising, slandering, nor 
 devouring, each other. They should^ on the 
 contrary, think speak, and act towards each 
 other as brethren. Of between thirty and forty 
 of these ministers to whom the letter was ad- 
 dressed, only three of them deigned to givfe him 
 an atiswer. So the matter ended ; but not 
 until ^K>me unpleasant altercations had taken- 
 place. 
 
 1 am> &c. 
 
 HH 
 
466 
 
 LETTER XLIII. 
 
 Finances — Population 
 
 DEAR MADAM, 
 
 Yo u will readily conceive that a concern of so 
 much magnitude as that of the Methodist con- 
 nexion cannot be carried on without the aid of 
 that great engine of power— the primum mohiU 
 of almost every important undertaking — mo- 
 ney, I will, therefore, in this letter, present 
 you with such a statement of the Methodist 
 finances as will, I flatter myself, give you every 
 necessary information on the subject. 
 
 The public and private collections among the 
 Methodists are numerous, and are made on a 
 variety of pretences. The following I believe 
 to be a pretty correct list of them: 
 
 Weekly class-money, at one penny each mem- 
 ber, will produce about ^29,218 per annum, 
 in Great Britain and Ireland.; — Monthly collec- 
 tion for the poor of the society ; say at two- 
 pence each member, will produce about £ 14,609 
 
FINANCES. 
 
 46T 
 
 per arm. ; but this last collection is not now uni- 
 versally levied. — Quarterly collection for tickets: 
 the rule is to pay one shilling each member : I 
 estimate the average at six-pence only; thereby 
 making ample allowance for the printing of the 
 tickets, and also for deficiencies arising from 
 non-payments, &c. This will produce about 
 
 ^13,457 per annum. Love-feast money, 
 
 at one penny each member, will produce about 
 per annum. — This money, in some 
 places, is partly expended in the purchase of 
 bread : the overplus is given to the poor. — 
 Sacrament-money : As the sacrament is not 
 
 allowed to be administered at all the Methodist 
 chapels, no estimate can be made of the sum 
 collected on those occasions. There are, how- 
 ever, but few large towns where the sacrament 
 is not administered among the Methodists. — The 
 yearly collection : the last year ( 1806) this col- 
 lection amounted to s£S,263 16s. 9d. — Kings- 
 wood school collection, the same year, amounted 
 to ^3,699 11s. 3d. — ^The Methodist preachers’ 
 merciful fund, from which provision is made for 
 superannuated preachers, and preachers’ wi- 
 dows, the last year produced ^1,922 7s. 6d. — 
 Money cleared by the book-room : This, I be- 
 lieve, amounts to about ^2000 per annum. — 
 Seat-money, or pew-rent : idiis source of finance, 
 you will readily conceive, must be exceedingly 
 prolific. It is impossible, however, I should make 
 
 H H 2 
 
468 
 
 FINANCES. 
 
 an exact estimate of the sums so collected : There 
 are in all nine hundred and forty chapels, every 
 one of which is generally wed filled with hearers : 
 should suppose that the money collected for 
 pew-rent cannot be less, per annum, than 
 ^S6,()14. In addition to the above collections, 
 are to be reckoned sundry extraordinary collec- 
 tions, such as Missionary — Sunday-schColT— 
 Collections for distressed chapels — and other 
 contingent collections, producing very consi- 
 derable sums annually. 
 
 Xt wards of ^1948, says Mr. Hubbert, was 
 collected last year in aid of the patriotic fund, 
 independent of the large sums which many re- 
 spectable i ndividuals subscribed. In the year 
 1798, when such large sums were collected 
 for Government by voluntary subscription, in 
 Hull alone, at the vestry of the Methodist cha- 
 pel, no less a sum than 5^940 was subscribed at 
 one time ! 
 
 It appears from the above estimate, that the 
 total amount of the several sums of money, an- 
 nually collected from the members of^ the Me- 
 thodist societies, in Great Britain and Ireland, 
 is upwards of ^97,285. I have said nothing of 
 the voluntary donations of many wealthy gen- 
 tlemen, who are friendly to the Methodists, and 
 who regularly contribute to the funds of the 
 society : I leave the money so collected to 
 
 make up for deficiencies, should there be any, 
 
 the several collections above stated. 
 
POPULATION. 
 
 4Q9 
 
 It has been often said, that the Methodists 
 are much drained of their money to support their 
 preachers ; and if only look at the foregoing 
 list of collections, we shall be led to suppose it 
 is indeed the case. I will now present you with 
 an account of the number of their preachers, 
 and of the people from whom the money is col- 
 lected ; and you will then be able to judge how 
 far a Methodist preacher is likely to become 
 rich by his profession. 
 
 There are at present about five hundred tra- 
 velling preachers in the connexion, who have 
 sixteen pounds, clear money, per annum. Their 
 wives have the sarne ; with six pounds for a ser- 
 vant, and, I believe, the same, per head, for every 
 child ; with an allowance for their education, 
 if they do not go to Kingswood school. The 
 expenses of housekeeping, &c. are defrayed by 
 the respective circuits. 
 
 The state of the connexion, as to numbers, 
 according to the minutes of the last conference, 
 held at Leeds, August, 180b, is as follows: 
 
 In Great Britain ..... 110,803 
 
 In Ireland . ..... 23,773 
 
 Gibraltar ...... 40 
 
 Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Newfoundland 1418 
 West India whites 3775 7 
 Coloured people, &c. 13165 3 
 
 14,940 
 
 United States — whites 95628 
 
 1 
 
 Coloured people, &c. 24316 y 
 
 119,944 
 
 Total 
 
 . 270,918 
 
470 
 
 POPULATION. 
 
 ‘‘Of these,’" Mr. Hulbert observes, “up- 
 wards of 109,000 are found in England and 
 Wales, to which we may add 109,000 more, 
 who are thorough Methodists in sentiment, 
 equally aa upright in their conduct, and as con^ 
 stant at their places of worship, but from some 
 modest motive or other, have not yet ventured 
 to have their names enrolled on the class papers. 
 
 “To these we may further add, the younger 
 branches of families, and tliose who are only 
 generally influenced by their doctrines, fond of 
 their preaching, and considerably reformed in 
 life, making about 218,000 more, forming in 
 the whole, nearly half a million of souls, or 
 one twentietli part of the population of the 
 kingdom and principality."" 
 
 If to all these vye add the numbers of Metho- 
 dists who are separated from the old connexion 
 on some difference respecting the ‘ administra- 
 tion of the sacraments, or the mode of church 
 government, the Wesleyan Methodists will make 
 a very large body indeed. By the minutes of 
 the last conference (May, 1807) of ministers 
 and delegates of what is called the new con- 
 nexion, it appears th^ir number was six thou- 
 sand four hundred and twenty*eight. I believe 
 we may safely calculate on as many more, in 
 various parts, who are separated in point of 
 discipline, but who all agree in doctrines. By 
 this it will appear, that the effective force, re- 
 
POPULATION. 
 
 471 
 
 gular and volunteer, of the Methodists, is about 
 seven hundred thousand strong ! Saying no- 
 thing of their allies, of yarjous descriptions, 
 both in the church, and among the evangelical 
 dissenters, avIio all belong, more or less, to the 
 same body, or compose what has been called, 
 I hope improperly, “ the combined armies against 
 the Church of England.” 
 
 I am, &Co 
 
4TS 
 
 LETTER XLIK 
 
 Pwmom^Cpndusipn, 
 
 PEAR MADAM, 
 
 I SHALL conclude my series of Letters with giv- 
 jng you some information relative to one or two 
 divisions which have taken place in the Wesley-^’ 
 an connexion of Methodists, since th# death of 
 its founder. 
 
 here have been, from time to time, numerous 
 partial separations from the Methodists, con- 
 cerning the administration of the sacraments, 
 service in church- hours, &c. but the most forr 
 midable divisions have been those relative to the 
 pature and exercise of religious liberty, and to 
 the forms of church government. Disputes Qn 
 these subjects have produced the Methodist new 
 itinerancy, and also th^ society of Revival 
 Methodist§. 
 
DIVISIONS, 
 
 473 
 
 It has been observed, that there does not 
 exist a denomination of Christians but what at 
 one time or other has been guilty of persecu- 
 tion ; the Quakers alone excepted : but since the 
 recent transactions relative to Hannah Barnard, 
 Mr. Rathbone, and others, have transpired, even 
 this sect is shorn of its glory ; and on its cha- 
 racter also must now be written the humiliating 
 word— iCHABOD ! A more glaring instance of 
 persecution is, perhaps, not to be found in the 
 annals of modern sectarian bigotry, than that 
 relating to the trial and e.xpulsion of the late Mr. 
 Alexander Kilham from the Methodist con- 
 nexion. If ever man suffered for righteousness* 
 sake, he most assuredly did, and that too from 
 his own brethren; yea, even from many who had 
 pledged themselves, in the most solemn manner, 
 to stand by and support him. It appears from 
 copious extracts of more than twenty letters, 
 addressed to Mr. Kilham, from those very per- 
 sons who afterwards signed his expulsion, that 
 he was made the dupe of cunning and designing 
 men. Those extracts are to be found in Messrs. 
 Thom and GrundeFs Life of Kilham. They ex- 
 hibit a farrago of abuse and satire against many 
 of the most eminent men among the Methodists, 
 which one might have supposed would have 
 ended either in their voluntary resignation, or 
 their excommunication from the society qf Me- 
 thodbtSj 
 
474 
 
 DIVISIONS. 
 
 Even Mr. Myles, who insinuates that Mr. 
 Kiiham died by the particular judgment of Hea- 
 ven, himself acknowledges, that he was a sm~ 
 cere, though a mistaken and troublesome man. 
 The great sacrifices he made, for the cause in' 
 which he was embarked^ give indubitable proof 
 sincerity ; his various publications, com- 
 pared with the v/eak and puerile answers of the 
 old Methodists, afford demonstrative evidence 
 that he was not very much mistaken' on the snl)- 
 jects he took in hand ; while the effects which 
 his inquiries have produced on the minds and 
 conduct of his enemies, shew him to have been 
 troublesome to those only, whose quiet it would 
 have been criminal in him to have studied. 
 
 The division which took place on Mr. Kil- 
 ham’s expulsion from the society of Methodists, 
 is of a magnitude and importance sufficient to 
 entitle it to particular notice in this work. 
 
 The friends of the new Methodist connexion 
 say, that the cause of the division was .a few 
 leading preachers having obtained such a power 
 over the people and the junior preachers, as to' 
 keej) them in the greatest subordination ; and 
 that this is effected by forming their confer- 
 ence, which they have attempted to support by 
 the civil power, and by a legal claim over all 
 the chapels in the kingdom. The exercise, of 
 this power they say is necessary to the support 
 pf the itinerant plan ; but it is at length fully 
 
DIVISIONS. 
 
 475 
 
 discovered, to be only a pretence to introduce 
 an episcopal government, by establishing a few 
 with certain privileges, either given to them 
 from their own body, or perhaps obtained by 
 force or by fraud, as other freebooters have ob- 
 tained their power, and establish themselves as 
 ghostly rulers over their brethren, whom they 
 mean to govern by a code of laws of the most 
 singular nature, and which the preachers shevv% 
 by their silence on the subject, to be entirely 
 indefensible. 
 
 The people, say they, have always joined with 
 the preachers in a determination to maintain 
 itinerancy ; and had the preachers pursued those 
 steps that reason and common prudence would 
 have dictated unto them; had they plainly ad- 
 hered to their profession of having no other view 
 in establishing their conference, but to preserve 
 itinerancy, no division would have taken 
 place. 
 
 But at the time of Mr. Wesley’s death, a pe- 
 riod to which the attention of the societies had 
 been long directed, expecting then to have a li- 
 beral form of government established, they 
 found themselves quite neglected ; they saw 
 themselves left out in all the new regulations 
 that were made, and they were treated with the 
 greatest contempt. 
 
 ' The conference now began to shew plainly 
 the end at which they had been aiming; they 
 
476 
 
 DIVISIONS. 
 
 endeavoured to establish themselve^ into a hier- 
 archy, or priestly corporation, totally excluding 
 the people from among them, and endeavoured 
 to have all their acts, which were to be register- 
 ed in a Statute Book, provided and kept for 
 that purpose, supported and acknowledged by 
 the government of this country. It now began 
 to be fully discovered, that though to preserve 
 the itinerant plan had been the original and 
 ostensible reason for establishing the conference, 
 there were other latent motives in the breasts of 
 the leading preachers, that began to be deve- 
 loped. This was no less than to form them- 
 selves into the most arbitrary, and despotic sys- 
 tem of government that human ingenuity could 
 possibly invent. This first appeared in the 
 forming district meetings, that were held by the 
 preachers in many of the principal towns in the 
 kingdom. These, like the Jewish sanctum sanc- 
 torum, were only open to the high priests ; the 
 local or stated preachers were entirely rejected. 
 These meetings were in all respects so conducted 
 as to cast the greatest insult on the people ; the 
 rejection of whom, and the secrecy observed by 
 the members of these meetings, were facts that 
 shewed very plainly the intention of the preach- 
 ers as to their future government. During 
 
 Mr. Wesley’s life, he frequently admitted his se- 
 lect friends into the conference ; but that which 
 followed his decease was fully closed to every 
 
 5 
 
DIVISIONS. 
 
 ’477 
 
 individual, but the travelling preachers. None 
 of the people have, since that period, been per- 
 mitted to enter those hallowed walls, except in- 
 deed on some occasions as errand-boys; and 
 their business being dispatched, they were ex- 
 pected to retire with due obedience. So that no 
 persons but the preachers have ever been pre- 
 sent, either to advise on important business, to 
 inspect accounts of large sums of money col- 
 lected from them, or even to behold it with 
 their eyes. For the preachers, amongst many 
 other pretensions equally strange, claim the pri- 
 vilege of disposing of various contributions to a 
 considerable amount, without giving any ac- 
 count to the societies. A preacher at Notting- 
 ham, having received contributions from the 
 fiocieties, refused to give any account of it to 
 the people, saying he was accountable only to 
 God and the conference for his conduct : had he 
 denied giving account to the conference also, 
 this circumstance would not have been men- 
 tioned, as it would have been only the conduct 
 of an imprudent individual, and no general con- 
 clusion would arise from it. But this honest 
 man spake at once the truth, and acted quite 
 consistently with the laws of Methodism : he 
 had not, it seems, been initiated into the art of 
 managing the people ; he at least acted openly 
 and fairly, as all men, but particularly Chris- 
 tian ministers, ought to do. 
 
478 
 
 DIVISIONS.' 
 
 Moreover, the conference at some of their 
 meetings, but particularly at those of their com- 
 mittees, require from the members of them pro^ 
 mises of secrecy ; a circumstance highly dis- 
 graceful to them, and, as might naturally be ex- 
 pected, draws on them the suspicions and cen- 
 sures of all men acquainted with these singular 
 transactions. 
 
 Thus the societies sooh began to perceive 
 they had been completely out-witted by 
 the preachers. When the conference made this 
 declaration, “The trustees (of the various 
 chapels) may have the fullest assurance that the 
 conference loves them, and has not the shadow 
 of a desire to oppress them it was received by 
 the people with that blushing indignation that a 
 man feels when he discovers his prudence has 
 been asleep till he has fallen into the snare, and 
 •becomes the dupe of others. 
 
 The societies now found that the preachers 
 were attempting to form the most detestable 
 priestly oligarchy that could be invented. Their 
 eyes began to open ; they saw the situation their 
 credulity had brought them into, and that the 
 preachers had completely juggled them out of 
 every shadow of liberty. 
 
 For six years the societies remonstrated 
 with the conference, and requested at different 
 times an alteration in its laws and form of go- 
 
DIVISIONS. 
 
 479 
 
 vernment, which they thought highly oppres- 
 sive; but all was to no purpose : and they were 
 at length fully convinced that the conference 
 would never make any of those alterations in fa- 
 vour of the people, that they thought so reason- 
 able and necessary : and the various refusals they 
 had received irritated them, as might naturally 
 be expected, and stirred them up to opposition. 
 In August, 1797, the conference v>^as held at 
 Xeeds, and a number of delegates from societies 
 in various parts of the kingdom assembled^ to 
 make another application to have their govern- 
 ment placed on a liberal footing. They de- 
 manded of the conference that delegates should . 
 be suffered to meet with them, and this request 
 was positively refused. After this the delegates 
 requested that they might be permitted to as- 
 semble by themselves, and give their sanction 
 or disapprobation to any important business that 
 might be debated by the conference : this was 
 not only refused, but the delegates were inform- 
 ed also, that they should not have the privilege 
 of meeting with the preachers in the district 
 meetings. These various refusals of these most 
 reasonable requests of the societies, brought 
 matters to a conclusion : a division immediately 
 took place ; many societies rejected the preach- 
 ers sent to them by the conference, and a new 
 conference and itinerancy was established on li- 
 beral and scriptural principles. 
 
480 
 
 DIVISIONS. 
 
 These people conclude with the following so- 
 lemn declaration : — 
 
 Be it known to all the world, that we have 
 not separated on account of any difference of 
 opinion as to doctrines ; nor is it an ahectation of 
 singularity, love of change, nor want of regard 
 to the preachers of the old connexion, many of 
 whom we highly esteem, that determined us to 
 proceed in supporting the rights and liberties of 
 the people ; and therefore, every suggestion of 
 that kind is entirely groundless. No : it was a 
 conviction, arising from scripture evidence, and 
 the constant practice of the primitive church, 
 which, from the apostolic age to the time of 
 Constantine, looked upon all the members of 
 Christ as one, and always acknowledged their 
 nnquestionable right to the choice of their own 
 officers, the formation of their own laws, and 
 the distribution of their own property.” 
 
 Mr. Alexander Kilham, the chief actor in tlnV 
 business, on the side of the people, was expelled 
 the connexion, at the London conference, in the 
 y^ear 179b ! 
 
 You will observe, Madam, that the principal 
 grounds of complaint among the people were 
 that the preachers had too much power ; and 
 that they exercised that power in divers ways $ 
 particularly in refusing the ordinances to many 
 of the societies. Numerous pamphlets were 
 Written for and against the adiilinistration of the 
 
DIVISIONS^ 
 
 431 
 
 Lord's supper and of Baptism by the hands of 
 the preachers ; and surely they disclose, when 
 put together, such a spirit of rancour and 
 hatred as the religious world have seldom seen ! 
 The parties abused each other without shame and 
 without mercy. The Sacramentarians were ac- 
 cused of an attempt to undermine the original 
 foundation of Methodism, and to shake off their 
 allegiance to the church. They were repre- 
 sented as the whigs — the innovators — the level- 
 lers of Methodism. The cry of The old Plan ! 
 was raised, sent forth, and reverberated, not in- 
 deed ‘‘ from Siam to California,” but from the 
 Land’s End to the Tweed — from the Thames to 
 the Severn ! while the votaries of liberty and 
 the rights of conscience were heard to exclaim, 
 
 Who art thou, O great mountain ! before Ze- 
 rubbabel thou shalt become a plain !” After the 
 fight had been kept aip, with great heat, for 
 some tinie ; and the connexion began to be 
 threatened with very alarming consequences, a 
 
 Plan of Pacification” was concluded on, by 
 ballot, in which the leading preachers made 
 some concessions, but still retained, in effect, all 
 their original power ; demanding the “consent 
 of conference,” before any important alteration 
 could take place. 
 
 Mr. Kilham saw through the dust that was 
 attempted to be thrown into the eyes of the 
 people ; and being of an undaunted and enter- 
 
482 
 
 DIVISIONS. 
 
 prising spirit, be did all in his power to repre- 
 sent the matter in a clear and distinct point of 
 view. In short, Madam, he publicly exposed, 
 hot only the errors of the Methodist govern- 
 ment, and the domineering spirit of some of the 
 preachers ; but he also unfolded many scenes of 
 baseness and hypocrisy in the ruling preachers. 
 He published a book, called The Progress of 
 Liberty among the People called Methodists, 
 in which he exposed the defects of the “ Old 
 Plan,” and proposed a form of church govern- 
 ment on a broad and liberal basis. This brought 
 upon him denunciations of vengeance and re- 
 venge from the offended party. They branded 
 him as a heretic, a leveller, a jacobin, a rebel — 
 they likened him to the devil — they consigned 
 him to hell — they made some feeble efforts to 
 raise the secular power against him and his ad- 
 herents — and they finally expelled him the con- 
 nexion ! 
 
 ' He was tried at the London conference, on 
 charges, the most childish and frivolous imagin- 
 ary, picked and culled from his pamphlets with 
 all possible diligence. They even refused to 
 give him a list of the charges they meant to ex- 
 hibit against him, until he was summoned to 
 the bar of conference, to give extemporary an- 
 swers to such questions as the very persons he 
 had accused should think proper to put to 
 him ! 
 
DIVISIONS. 
 
 483 
 
 The accusations/' says he, that were cul- 
 iech with all possible diligence from my pam- 
 phlets, were, ‘ that I had complained of want of 
 abilities for the ministry in some of the preach- 
 ers/ 
 
 “ That ‘ the preachers tyrannised over their 
 brethren in the societies, and restrained them in 
 those liberties and privileges, that as a Christian 
 church they ought to expect-.’ 
 
 “That ^ many preachers had been taken out to 
 travel against the consent of the societies, and 
 that they were improper for the work, and that 
 some of these were great weights to the socie^ 
 ties.’ 
 
 “That ‘the .examination of the preachers’ cha- 
 racters, under the particular circumstances in 
 M^hich they stoocl when at the conferences, tak- 
 ing into consideration that the preachers were 
 the accusers of eacli other, at a remote distance 
 from the place where they had laboured ; that it 
 was a mock examination, and made sensible 
 people laugh at us.’ 
 
 “ That I had affirmed, ‘ there was great waste 
 and want of economy in managing the public 
 money, and a criminal secrecy in their ac- 
 counts,' and many other affairs of importance. 
 
 “ These and many other charges of the same 
 kind were brought against me; to all which I 
 answered particularly, as related at large in the 
 account I have published of my trial. During 
 
 I I 2 
 
484 
 
 DIVISIONS, 
 
 my trial and the debates it occasioned, an im- 
 portant one took place, which was, ‘ Whether 
 the conference was trying me or I was trying 
 them ?’ Notwithstanding the reason I had to be 
 dejected, 1 could not help smiling at it, which 
 was imputed to levity, and want of respect. — 
 Some of the preachers said I was trying them ; 
 but Dr. Coke and some others said they were 
 trying me; but at length they came to the de- 
 termination, ‘ that unless 1 would retract what 
 I had said, or at least make certain concessions, 
 that they would expel me;’ but, as I refused 
 these conditions, they proceeded to pronounce 
 sentence on me, which the president did with 
 all the gloom and gravity of an inquisitor. To 
 make my expulsion secure, it was nof only con- 
 firmed by every preacher standing up and giv- 
 ing his consent to the transaction, but everyone 
 of them was required to sign a paper, signifying 
 the justness and uprightness of the transaction. 
 The paper was taken to the communion table, 
 and laid on the place where the memorials of the 
 body and blood of Christ are laid, when the so- 
 lemn ordinance of the Lord’s supper is admini- 
 stered ; and Mr. Bradburn (I cannot mention 
 this tragical story without weeping), who had 
 formerly professed himself a friend to liberty 
 and to the rights of the people— Mr. Bradburn, 
 
 I say, stood by the rails of the communion table, 
 like the governor of the inquisition, to see that 
 5 ■ - 
 
DIVISIONS. 
 
 485 
 
 none omitted signing. Here we find one hundred 
 and fifty preachers of the gospel of Christ con- 
 firming the sentence of condemnation, in a way 
 unheard of in the records of Methodism, if not 
 in the records of ecclesiastical history, and stands 
 as a sufficient proof that the leading men in that 
 process, supposed that what I had written (to 
 enlighten and save the people from the evils that 
 they groan under) was worse than any crime 
 that had ever been examined in any former con-^ 
 ference. 
 
 The same day they lost no time in preparing 
 a circular letter to be sent through the king- 
 dom, giving an account of my expulsion, and 
 among other things, affirming I had -not sup^ 
 ported any of my charges that I had published 
 against them. How far I have done this, all who 
 take the trouble to read the trial at large will be 
 capable of judging. But if I had not discharged 
 myself with that adroitness, so as to preclude 
 all reflections of that nature, it is not much to 
 be wondered at, when my situation is fully con- 
 sidered. I was without any friend to support 
 me, singly opposed to one hundred and fifty per- 
 sons, all my judges and accusers, and every one 
 of them racking their inge uity to embarrass or 
 entrap me in any thing I said ; and I may add, 
 they were so disorderly, that they were fre- 
 quently five or six speaking at one time. When 
 I was called to the bar of the conference, I had 
 
485 DIVISIONS. 
 
 not the least knowledge of the charges that were 
 to be brought against me ; when these were read 
 I was required to answer immediatdy, without 
 a single advocate ; I was e^^pected to give ex- 
 temporary answers to the questions that were 
 put to me, and was refused the liberty to exa- 
 mine them alone, and prepare for my defence. 
 Can it be supposed that in such a situation I 
 could make the best of my cause, and defend 
 myself to advantage ?” 
 
 It has always been my practice, in my ac- 
 counts of disputable points, to give, as far as 
 possible, both sides of the question : it shall be 
 the case in this instance also. I, therefore, here 
 present you with the substance of what Mr. 
 Myles, in his History of the Methodists, has said 
 relative to this subject. 
 
 The Plan of Pacification had satisfied all the 
 moderate people, who only desired scriptural and 
 rational liberty. But there was a party who were 
 not satisfied with this, but remained still conten- 
 tious. A young man [thirty-four years of age !] 
 named Alexander Kilham, (who had been ad- 
 mitted upon trial as a preacher, in the year 1785) 
 became the champion of this party, and occa- 
 sioned great uneasiness by various pamphlets 
 which he published. He had not only unhappily 
 imbibed the levelling doctrines which were com- 
 mon in that day, but had even strangely applied 
 them to religion, and the order of the church of 
 
DIVISIONS. 
 
 487 
 
 Christ. He insisted that the people were held 
 in gross bondage. That they ought to rise up 
 an"cl deliver themselves, and assume that power 
 which of right belonged to them. That the 
 preachers were merely their servants, and ought 
 to be obedient to their will : and every thing 
 contrary to this wild unscriptural theory he 
 termed popery and priestcraft 1 He also traduced 
 the character of the preachers in the vilest man- 
 ner. The party whose cause he espoused sup- 
 ported and abetted him by every means in their 
 power, so. that the societies in several places 
 were rent in pieces in the dispute. When the 
 conference assembled, he was unanimously ex- 
 pelled the coniiexion. The minutes of the trial 
 were published, and every preacher signed his 
 name to a paper, testifying his approbation of 
 the sentence. (This was the only instance, of 
 that kind.) He afterwards used all his influence 
 from the pulpits of the dissenters to which he 
 had access, and also from the press, to bring the 
 preachers into disrepute, not only with the Me- 
 thodists, but with the nation at large. But he 
 failed of his object, and on December 20, 1798, 
 while employed in his revolutionary schemes, 
 he was called into eternity, at Nottingham, af- 
 ter a few days illness, occasioned by a bone 
 sticking in his throat !” 
 
 ‘‘ The disaifected party being irritated by the 
 expulsion of their partizan, Mr. Kilham, and 
 
488 
 
 DIVISION^ 
 
 having no hope of being permitted to rule in 
 the connexion (through the old pretence of vin- 
 dicating the rights of the people), they laboured 
 incessantly to bring about a division : and they 
 determined that it should be as considerable as 
 calumny, and the popular cry of liberty, could 
 make it. Among other things, they asserted, in 
 various publications, that the preachers were 
 really divided in sentiment, and that a consider- 
 able number were of Mr. Kiiham’s judgment, 
 only they wanted his courage to declare it."' 
 
 A declaration of allegiance to the conference 
 (held at Leeds, July 31, 1797), was drawn up, 
 which was signed by all the preachers present, 
 except Messrs. Thom and Eversfield : a third, 
 Mr. Cummin, signified his dissent by letter. — 
 
 They,” says Mr. Myles, joined Alexander 
 Kilhain, and made a schism, under the name of 
 The New Itinerancy, ” 
 
 The division which the conduct of the preach- 
 ers towards Mr. Kilhain occasioned, consisted of 
 about five thousand members. They are now 
 increased to more than six thousand. Five 
 hundred new members were added the last year. 
 They have nineteen circuits ; thirty travelling or 
 circuit preachers ; and, I suppose, about sixty 
 local preachers. They have lately purchased 
 the large and elegant meeting-house, called Gib- 
 raltar chapel, in Church-street, leading to Beth- 
 nal-green; where there is an extensive public 
 
DIVISIONS,' 489 
 
 burial-ground. The Rev. W. Brown, is the 
 tioned minister there at present. 
 
 I would gladly have enlarged on the circum- 
 stances connected with this division ; but it is 
 time I should hasten towards a conclusion ; Bo- 
 sides, that I have been unsuccessful in endeavour- 
 ing to procure several documents necessary to 
 form a complete account of the Methodist New 
 Itinerancy. 
 
 The Revival Methodists form a numerous body 
 of the Wesleyan Christians. They are not, how- 
 ever, all of them formally separated from the old 
 connexion ; though they have, in many towns, 
 separate places for religious worship. 
 
 The Revivalists are those Methodists who are 
 more particularly partial to noisy meetings. — 
 They claim, as a Christian privilege, a right to 
 indulge their propensities to prayer and praise, 
 at all times, and on all occasions. This liberty 
 they will take during the time the minister is 
 engaged in preaching ; and indeed at any other 
 time they think themselves called upon by the 
 motions of the Spirit of God. They are a simple, 
 harmless, and well-meaning body ; but enthusi- 
 astical and ungovernable to an extraordinary 
 degree. In Manchester, Liverpool, Leeds, Stock-* 
 port, Preston, and Macclesfield, they are very 
 numerous. At the last-mentioned place, they 
 have lately erected a neat chapel, having been 
 Jong separated from their brethren of the old 
 
490 
 
 CONCLUSIO^^ 
 
 connexion. They have published their Rules, 
 in a small pamphlet, entitled, ‘‘ General Rules 
 a Society of Christian Revivalists, at Maccles- 
 field, with a Preface, containing a Declaration 
 of Doctrines."" The mottoes to this pamphlet are 
 as follow — 
 
 “ Let us walk by the same kule/^ — “ We may truly pro. 
 uounce those churches happy^ however plain and poor, in 
 which 
 
 ' * No simony nor sinecure is known, 
 
 Where works the bee — no honey for the drone/ 
 
 In the primitive church, profession of faith in Christ, ac- 
 credited by a holy life, was accounted a sufficient title to mem- 
 bership. Robinson’s Claude. 
 
 These mottoes will give you some idea of the 
 spirit of the pamphlet to which they are pre- 
 fixed. 
 
 I must now conclude my Portraiture of Method- 
 ism. I hope, Madam, you have found, in my se- 
 ries of epistles, all the information you wished to 
 obtain, respecting the origin and history of the 
 Wesleyan Methodists. I am not sensible of 
 having omitted any point of sufficient import- 
 ance to merit your attention ; and I close my 
 labours on the subject, with the tranquil con- 
 sciousness of having used my best endeavours 
 to gratify your curiosity ; and to add something 
 to the general stock of useful information. 
 
 I am, &c. 
 
 FINIS. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 A. 
 
 AgAP-® 5 or liove-fcasts . ; 
 
 Alarms, dreadful 
 
 Anecdote, of Mr. Wesley and a young man, 29. 
 
 a Quaker, 118. Of King James I. 38a. Of the author, 450. 
 cerning text-choosing 
 Annual Review 
 
 Antinomianism, testimony against , , 
 
 Author, his happiness at a society-meeting 
 
 Page 
 
 . OOI— 203 
 
 * . 350— 35a 
 
 Of a Calvinist and 
 
 Con- 
 
 451 
 
 195 
 
 46a 
 
 2^Z 
 
 B. 
 
 144. 
 
 Bands, directions given to the, 143, 
 
 How conducted 
 Barret, Miss Mary 
 
 Bashfulness, some Methodists affected thereby 
 Battle, description of one 
 
 Bell, George, falls into enthusiasm and prophesies 
 Bibliomancy 
 
 Biggs, William, his account of an earthquake 
 Bishop, why the American Methodists adopt the term 
 Bohler, Peter, visits England, 76. Prays with Mr. C Wesley 
 Bradburn, Mr. Samuel, a6o. 264. Theatrical trick of, at conference, 
 31 1. Advice of, to the preachers 
 Bradford, Mr. Joseph 
 Bristol, a nursery for Methodism 
 
 Birth-sin . , . . ; 
 
 Brothers, the prophet . 
 
 Bunting, Mr. Jabez 
 Burns, the poet, mentioned 
 
 Rules of the, 190 — 192. 
 
 193 
 456 
 
 ao6 
 
 zn 
 448,449 
 
 353 
 398 
 76 
 
 31a 
 
 266 
 
 127 
 
 435 
 
 266 
 22. 97 
 
 C 
 
 127 
 
 Calvinism, disputes concerning 
 
 Calvinists, slander of some, concerning Mr. C. Wesley, 130. In what 
 they agree and differ with Methodists . , 
 
 Causton, Miss Sophia, refuses her hand to Mr. J. Wesley, 67; and 
 marries Mr. Williamson, ib. Is repelled the communion * 68 
 
 Causton, Mr. commences a law- suit against Mr. Wesley 69 
 
 Chesterfield, Lord, politeness of . . . , 
 
 Church, discipline of the, exeeedingly lax, 147.' Why the Methodists 
 ought to obey her, 417. Tolerant spirit of, 413. Summary of her 
 doctrines . . . . . 440 
 
INDEX. 
 
 49Z 
 
 Church-hours, in what cases preaching is then allowed . 267 
 
 Circular letters .... 463.465 
 
 Class-meetings, origin of, 177. Described . . 181—189 
 
 Class-leaders, business of, 179, 180. Their importance , 273 
 
 Clarke, Mr. A. extract from a sermon of his, 253. His opinion con- 
 cerning bibliomancy . . . , 452 
 
 Classes, quarterly visitation of the . . . 244 
 
 Clements, William, courage and zeal of . . 32Z 
 
 Clergy, testimony in favour of the, 376. Abused by Methodists and 
 Calvinists, 377. Censured, and why . . 378 
 
 Congregation, a mixed one . . . 339 
 
 Conference, Methodist, 306, Outline of the first, 163, 164. Business 
 of, 307. What, 308. Address of, 315. Crowther’s description of 
 one . . . . 309 
 
 Confession, auricular, practised by the Methodists, 1 94. Defended by 
 Verax, 197. Defended by Mr Wesley . . 198 
 
 Connexion, Methodist, state o/, at Mr. Wesley’s death . 418 
 
 Controversies, . ■ . . , 459 
 
 Conventicle-act, .... 412 — 415. 
 
 Conversion, the author’s . . . 450 
 
 Coke, Dr. his letter on ordination, 402. His ambition, 406. Guilty 
 
 of railing 
 
 404 
 
 D. 
 
 Dialogue, between Mr. Wesley and the Bp. of Bristol 
 
 Diffidence of some men . . . 
 
 District-meetings 
 
 Disturbances at watch-nights 
 
 Divisions .... 
 
 Doctrines, Methodist 
 
 Dream, a remarkable one . . 
 
 Dry bones, a shaking amongst 
 
 E. 
 
 Earthquakes 
 Emerson, Mr. 
 
 Encyclopsedia Perthensis, extract from 
 Entwisle, Mr. 
 
 Escapes, miraculous ones 
 Evans, Rev. J. alluded to 
 Evans, Dr. his controversy with Mr. Wesley 
 Exaggeratbn, the Methodist preachers addicted to 
 Experience . . . • 
 
 F. 
 
 JIX — 114 
 
 278 
 
 305 
 
 219 
 
 47^ 
 
 427—447 
 
 276 
 104. 168 
 
 350 
 
 349 
 
 448 
 
 266 
 
 154—158 
 
 7 
 
 397,398 
 
 241 
 
 204 
 
 Faith, what .... 43® 
 
 Father of Methodism, a poet ♦ • • 20. 26, 27 
 
 Fellowes, Mr. mistake of, about love feasts . . 212 
 
 Field-preaching . ^ • • • 1^6 
 
 Fightings without and fears within . . 116 
 
 Figure, a fine poetical one . • • 208 
 
 Finances . • • 4^7 
 
 Fletcher, Mr. 380. 391. Extracts from, on the fall of Methodists, 
 
 387 — 391. Opposes the Calvinists ^ ’ . 4^4 
 
 Forgetfulness . . ^ ^ ! 397 
 
INDEX. 
 
 493 
 
 Foundcry, preached at by Methodists 
 
 Free-will 
 
 French prophets 
 
 Page 
 
 12Z 
 
 435 
 
 ii8 
 
 G. 
 
 Georgia, visited by Mr. Wesley, 5 1. Progress of Methodism there, 53. 
 
 Decline of Methodism there ... 64 
 
 Good w'ords and smiles . . . . 47 
 
 Good works .... 430 
 
 H. 
 
 Haime, John, courage and zeal of . . . 32a 
 
 Hampson, John, his character of Mr. Wesley recommended 423 
 
 Hell-fire . . . . . z6i 
 
 Helper, business of one , . . Z98 
 
 Homilies, extracts from them . . . 438 — 450 
 
 Hume, his profanity .... 346 
 
 Hunting, species of religious . . . 
 
 Huntingdon, Countess of, charmed with Maxficld’s expounding 133 
 
 Hymn-book, contents of the Methodists’ . . 170 
 
 Hyperbole ..... 337 
 
 Hypocrites, 57. Unbelievers may be . . 58 
 
 I.&J, 
 
 Jesting, pious ^ . . . . z6d 
 
 Indians, disappointed by Mr. Wesley . . 56.59 
 
 Introductory Letter .... i 
 
 Irish Methodists, shallowness of their religion . . 338 
 
 Justification, the nature of . . . 448. 435 
 
 K. 
 
 Kilham, Mr. Alexander, 54. 473. Expelled the society, 480. Charges 
 against ..... 483 
 
 Kingswood, colliers, their ignorance and profanity, laS. Revival at 393 
 
 L. 
 
 Lackington, the Chlswcll-street bookseller . . 1^4 
 
 Lancastrian Methodists . . . 299 
 
 Law, Mr., Serioui Call of, how useful to Mr. Wesley . . 38 
 
 Library, The Christian . . . 3^5 
 
 Local-preachers, 273. 279. Call of, 274. Rules concerning, 279, 
 Their use and importance, 281. 284. Compared to St. Paul, 285. 
 
 !N umber of, 286. Their meetings . . 304 
 
 Love-feasts, of one held at Fetter-lane, 98. Described aoi, 202 
 
 Love-feast hymn .... 210 
 
 M. 
 
 Marriage, when forbidden by Methodists . . ^14 
 
 Maxfieid, Thomas, 132. 385. Preaches before Lady Huntingdon, 
 
 133. Fails into enthusiasm ... 
 
 Methodism, rise and decline of, at Oxford, 36 — 40. Visits America, 
 
 43. Progress of, in Georgia, 53. Like the electric fluid, 54. Third 
 period of, 84. Increases in England, 93. Progress of, in the field of 
 Wttle, 321. Liberality of, 329. 409. lUiberality of 330, 
 
494 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Methodist, 314- Origin of the term, 5. Certain doctors so called, 6. 
 Propriety of the term, 8—10. Why the Wesleyans were so called, 
 
 10. Sometimes improperly used, II. Various kinds of, ^36. Mo- 
 nitor, extract from it, 283. Melody, specimens of hymns to promote 
 it, 170—176. How far they agree and differ with Calvinists, 444. 
 
 A perfect one . . , . 446 
 
 Ministry, method of trying candidates for it , . 289 
 
 Minutes of conference, 164. Extract from the last . 317 
 
 Miraculous interpositions . ’ , . 17, 18 
 
 Moravians, Wesley’s first acquaintance with them, 48. Testimony in 
 their favour . . . jyg 
 
 Morgan, Mr. death of, supposed to have been caused by excessive 
 fasting • . . . . 41 
 
 Myles, Mr. 32. His account of the New Itinerancy . 486 
 
 Mysticism, how far Mr. Wesley was tinctured with it . 38 
 
 National faith, why necessary 
 Nelson, John 
 
 New-birth ■ . ~ . 
 
 Night -preaching 
 
 Notifications, various unseasonable 
 
 N. 
 
 O. 
 
 Ordination, Methodistical, 394- 
 Gld Plan, cry of 
 
 •396. 400 — 408. 
 
 P. 
 
 44 
 
 324 
 
 431 
 131 
 *48, 249 
 
 In America 398 — 399 
 « 481 
 
 How held by the Quakers, 
 
 387 
 
 336 
 
 129 
 
 444 
 
 134 
 
 ■Pandora’s box . . • . 
 
 Parody . 
 
 Pearce, Sarah, experience of 
 Perfection, 199. Instantaneous, 384. 
 
 383. How held by Methodists 
 Persecutions, 147. 331. Advantages of 
 
 Poetry — Juvenal’s lines on Themison, 6. From the Latin, 21. One 
 hundred and fourth psalm, 24. Exulting hymn, 32. Doubting 
 hymn, 88. Invitation, 170. Goodness of God, 173. Thirsting, ib. 
 Hell, 174. On the frailty of human life, 175. Praying for repent- 
 ance, 185. A mourner convinced of sin, ib. Brought to the birth, 
 
 186. Rejoicing, 187. Groaning for full redemption, ib. Love- 
 feast hymn, 209. Wrestling Jacob, 221. Covenant hymns, 233. 
 Society-meeting, 239. Funeral hymn, 364. The man of fashion, 
 
 367. Lines by Mr. C. Wesley, 368. By Mci. Ann Ycarsley 45^ 
 Population . . . . . 469 
 
 Prayer-meetings, described, i6y. teaders, 269. Their qualifica- 
 tions, 165. Ignorance of sonie leaders ' . • 167 
 
 Preaching, 251. How conducted by Methodists, 25a, House, the 
 first . . . . 399 
 
 Preachers, their talents, 325.. Their labours, 328. Their inconveni- 
 ences, 333. Instability o£ some, 341. Odd gesticulations of some 25’a 
 Priestley, Dr. . - ,v, ^ , . 421 
 
 public and select bands 199 
 
 Q- 
 
 Quakers, one who was afraid to sleep with a Calvinist, I19. 
 fectionists , - • . . . . 
 
 Are per-; 
 
 •383 
 
INDEX. 
 
 495 
 
 R. 
 
 Ramsay, Allan 
 
 Reasons for the author’s undertaking this work 
 Reflections on a particular Providence 
 Religion, how recommended by Methodists 
 Religious society, orders of one 
 Reproof should not be given in a bad spirit 
 Revivalists, account of . 
 
 Revivals 
 
 Riots 
 
 Roe, Miss, her raptures 
 Rules, general 
 
 S. 
 
 Page 
 
 97 
 
 1 
 
 159 
 
 ^65 
 
 35 
 
 489 
 
 383-395 
 
 99, 100 
 137—141& 
 
 Scandal . , . . 
 
 Schism . ' . 
 
 Scotland, success of Methodisni there, 37a. Causes of the failure of 
 Methodism there . . . . 
 
 Scripture-cards , . , . 
 
 Shaw, Mr. 
 
 Society- meetings .... 
 
 Socinianism, hinders the progress of Methodism in Scotland 
 Spirit of God . . . , » 
 
 Stewards . . 
 
 Storm, account of a dreadful one 
 
 Sti’eet and field singing . . , 
 
 Superintendants, their business 
 
 T. 
 
 Texts, some singular ones, 257. How divided 
 Themison, a physician so called . . 
 
 Ticlcets, 245. Specimens of two . ... 
 
 Travelling'-preachers, one that thinks himself not the vilest of sinners, 
 54. How a local-preacher may become one, 288. Rules concern- 
 ing them, 289. Number of . . . 
 
 Trust-deed 
 
 Trustees , . . . . — 
 
 338 
 
 145 
 
 374 
 4ja 
 1 16 
 238 
 37* 
 43^ 
 
 300 
 
 351 
 
 457 
 
 apa 
 
 259 
 
 2^ 
 
 299 
 
 300 
 ‘ib. 
 
 U. 
 
 Unbelievers, hypocrisy of 
 
 Unitarians, how they ought to be treated 
 
 University, the practice of religion not insisted on there 
 
 V. 
 
 Verax, defends the Methodists 
 
 Visions, how accounted for by Mr. Wesley 
 
 Voltaire, his hypoerLy 
 
 W. 
 
 347 
 
 373 
 
 34 
 
 196 
 
 no 
 
 347* 348 
 
 Watch-nights, origin of, 214. Defended 
 
 Wesley, Rev. John, a proper Methodist, 8. lO. Manner in which he 
 pursued his studies, 9. His escape from fire, 13. His father and the 
 Vicar of Wakefield compared, 17. His zeal and perseverance, 37. 
 42. Unsettled in his opinions, 39, Refuses to become his father^ 
 
 227 
 
INDEX. 
 
 successor at EpWorth, 46. His opinion concerning the classics, 47. 
 How employed on his voyage to America,’ 48. Thinks himself the 
 chief of sinners, 54. Was constitutionally methodistical,_J5. In- 
 capable of teaching the Indians, 56 Discourses with Indians at Sa- 
 vannah, 60. Falls in love with Miss Causton, 67. Is disappointed, 
 ib Is involved in a law-suit, 69. Returns to England, 71. His 
 reflections on himself, 7a. 419. Disputes about instantaneous con- 
 version, 77. Is converted, 81. Doubts, 87, 88. Visits Bristol, 103. 
 Makes a schism in the church of Fetter-lane, lai. His zcaland sin- 
 cerity, 161. His prudence, ib. His critique on the large hymn- 
 book, 363. His marriage, 369. Extract from a letter of his to 
 Mrs. Wesley, 371. His last sickness, 421. His death, 42a. His 
 character, 423. Original letter of his, 425, His letter on womenr 
 preaching 
 
 Wesley, Mr. Charles, the first Methodist, 10. Loses the favour of 
 General Oglethorpe, 66. Is converted, 80. Marries, 355, Preju- 
 dices against him, 358. Desists from travelling, 360. His sickness 
 and death, 361. His character, 362. Opposed his brother’s ordina- 
 tion work . . . . 398. 
 
 Wesley, Mrs. Susannah, her letter to Mr. Hoole, 13. Her care of her 
 
 son John . . . . 
 
 Wesley, Mr. Samuel, extract of a letter from him 
 Wesley, Mrs., John Wesley’s wife 
 Wheatley, James, his lewdness 
 
 Whitefield, Rev. George, visits Bristol, loi. Was formerly attached 
 to the theatre, 344. Favoured by Lady Huntingdon, 345. His 
 preaching attended by several eminent men 
 W hitehead, Dr. his account of the voyage of the Methodists to Ame- 
 rica, 50. His remarks on Methodistical ordination 
 Women, jealousy among those at Georgia, 65. A perfect, 446. 
 
 Preachingof .... 
 
 Wood, Mr. Thomas, remarkable dream of his 
 Words, dying, no test of truth 
 Works done ^fore justification 
 
 Y. 
 
 Yearly covenant, origin of, 225. 227. Defended, 226- Form of, 
 228 — 233. How signed by some Methodists 
 
 Z. 
 
 Zinzendorf, Count . . . 
 
 ERRATA. 
 
 Preface, page iv. Une 13 , after against, I, 
 Page 31 , fine 10, for forward, read formed, 
 
 6S, 14, can, cannot. 
 
 398 , 14, case, era. 
 
 ■419, A, dele Inscriptions. 
 
 Page 
 
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 109 
 
 370 
 
 355 
 
 345 
 
 407 
 
 434 
 
 276 
 
 420 
 
 437 
 
 »35 
 
 75 
 
 C. Stower, Printer, Paternoster- R<m, 
 
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