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THE CHURCHMAN'S
LIFE OF WESLEY.

THE HOME LIBRARY.

THE CHURCHMAN'S
LIFE OF WESLEY.

E. DENNY UELIN,
OF THE MIDDLE TEMPLE, BARRISTER, F.S.S.

NEW EDITION,
REVISED AND CORRECTED.

PUBLISHED UNDEK THE DIRECTION OF THE TBACT COMMITTEE.

LONDON:
SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNOWLEDGE,
NORTHUMBERLAND AVENUE, CHARING CROSS, W.C.;
43, QUEEN VICTORIA STREET, E.C,
BRIGHTON : 135, north street.
New York ; E. & J. B. YOUNG AND CO.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTER PArcK
Chronological Table . . . .vii
I. Eaklt Days at Epwobth and Charterhouse 1
II. Wesley at Oxford ..... 9
III. The Missioner of the S.P.G. ... 27
IV. Converse with Moravians . . .35
V. A Trip to Germany .... 44
VI. The Eclectic Anglican .... 56
VII. The Parish chosen .... 76
VIII. A Time of Persecution .... 102
IX. Charles Wesley .... 108
X. Other Clerical Helpers .... 119
XI. The Lay Preachers .... 137
XII. Wesley in Ireland ..... 147
XIII. Methodism in America . ... 163
XIV. Wesley in Scotland .... 174
XV. Author, Compiler, and Editor . . 188
XVI. Wesley at the New Chapel, City Road . 207
XVII. Last Days of the Founder . . . 224
XVIII. The Secession, 1791-1836 . . . .231

vj CONTENTS.

PAGB
List of Books and Editions referred to . 256

APPENDICES.
I. The Biographers ..... 257
II. Some Recent Essays . . . 266
III. The Religious Societies .... 275
IV. The Events of May, 1738 . . 277
V. Mr. Ingham's Advice .... 281
VI. The Eucharistical Volume . . . 283
VII. Holy Baptism ...... 298
VIII. King on the Primitive Chuuch . . 303
IX, Wesley on Schism ..... 310
X. The Ministerial Office .... 315
XI. The Wesley Manuscripts .... 327
XII. Wesley s Journals .... 332
XIII. Portraiture and Character . . . 334
XIV. Statistics ...... 347
lNDEX  349

CHKONOLOGICAL TABLE.

a.d.
1703. John Wesley born at Epworth, Lincolnshire.
1713. Went to Charterhouse School.
1720. Proceeded to Christ Church, Oxford.
1725. Ordained deacon by Bishop Potter.
1726. Elected fellow of Lincoln, Oxford.
1735. Embarks under S.P.G. for Georgia.
1737. Returns to London, and joins Fetter Lane Society.
1738. (February 7 to May 4). Converse with Bohler.
1739. Methodist movement begun by the Wesleys and White-
field.
1740. Society organized, and the Moravians forsaken.
1744. First Conference, held at the Foundry.
1747. First journey to Ireland.
1751. Marriage, and resignation of Lincoln fellowship.
1753. At Bath, and in ill health : " New Testament Notes."
1755-56. Crisis with preachers : resolve against secession.
1758. Disputations with Rev. A. M. Toplady.
1763. Secession of Maxfield and Bell.
1772. Receives the freedom of Perth and Arbroath.
1775. American revolt, which Wesley deprecates.
1776. Fletcher's health fails : friendship formed with Coke.
1778. New Chapel (City Road) opened.
1783. Journey to Rotterdam and the Hague.
1784. The Conference legally constituted : ministers sent to
America.
1786. Methodist missions to the West Indies, etc.
1788. Death of Charles Wesley.
1790. Last visit to Scotland and the North.
1791. (March 2). Death of Wesley.

THE CHURCHMAN'S
LIFE OF WESLEY.
CHAPTER I.
EARLY DAYS AT EPWORTH AND CHARTERHOUSE.
The origin of the family of Wesley or Wellesley 1
has been ascribed to a village in Somersetshire ;
but it will suffice, coming within the limits of his
tory, to say that Wesleys were found in Dorsetshire
in the seventeenth century. Their favourite univer
sity was Oxford ; and the profession chosen by many
of them was the ministry of the English Church.
Bartholomew Wesley was one of the Puritan clergy
\
1 The following are the variations in the spelling of the name :
— Wellesleigh, Wellesley, Westleigh, Westley, Weisley, Weisly,
Wesley. The Irish Weisleys lived in Wicklow and Meath ; and
the most wealthy of them, Garrett Weisley of Dangan, offered to
adopt one of the Epworth family. He afterwards, having no
child of his own, adopted his young relative Richard Colley, who
took the name of Wesley, and becaiae the first Earl of Morning.
ton. His third son, Colonel Arthur Wesley, became first Duke
of Wellington. The name was, by this branch of the family,
always written as Wellesley after the year 1800. B

2 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
who, being ejected from his living in 1662, after
wards, for a livelihood, practised medicine. John, of
New Inn Hall, Oxford, the son of Bartholomew,
was intimate with Owen, the eminent Nonconform
ist ; and sharing to the full in the troubles which
befell his family and many others, he died at an
yearly age. His son Samuel found his v/ay in
poverty to Oxford; and there in 1684 he entered
Exeter College as a poor scholar or servitor, wholly
severing himself from that Puritan school to which
his father and grandfather had belonged. After a
service of a year as chaplain in the navy, he held
the living of Ormsby, Lincoln, for six years, remov
ing to Epworth about the year, 1697. While at
Ormsby he published a long epic poem, " The Life of
Christ," dedicated to Queen Mary. In former years
of trouble he had openly resisted the encroach
ments of James II., and now he may have indulged
a vain hope of obtaining the favour of the new
> dynasty. Soon after obtaining a curacy, Samuel
Wesley married Susanna, the daughter of Dr.
, Annesley, who was also an ejected minister. Both
husband and wife were exceptionally well read in
the controversies of the time, and were on a higher
intellectual level than most of their contemporaries.
The fruits of their own ability and conscientious
care were very apparent in the lives and characters
of their children. It is singular that Puritan tra
ditions should have been discarded alike by the
elder Wesley and his wife, and that both of them
should have early shown an ardent attachment to

EARLY DAYS: EPWORTH AND CHARTERHOUSE. 3
those principles in Church and State which were
known as "High Church." Their sons, Samuel,
John, and Charles, followed in the footsteps of
parents whom they revered. John Wesley, writing
to Lord Stanhope in 1775 on the American ques
tion, said, "lama High Churchman and the son of
a High Churchman." But although he resembled
his father in many ways, it is reasonable to conclude
that in the moulding of his character his mother's
hand was more largely concerned. She is known to
have been highly cultivated, of strong will, of acute
mental faculties, in all respects the pattern of a
Christian wife and mother. Of all her children,
three sons and three daughters only attained to
mature years.
The family home at Epworth in Lincolnshire has
often been described. The elder Wesley held the
two small livings of Epworth and Wroote, and his
task of maintaining and educating a large family
was a difficult one. Amongst the incidents which
are best known, and need not be here described,
were the fire, and the mysterious knockings in the
house. The former is always stated to have been
the work of an incendiary ; and, though it caused
serious loss to the vicar, the family were, though
with difficulty, rescued. A well-known engraving
represents John as a child, at much risk, saved — " a
brand from the burning," as he said — through the
nursery window ; while in front of -the vicarage his
father kneels to thank Heaven that only house and
furniture are suffered to perish in the flames. The

4 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Epworth ghost story of 1716, which is related in
every book on supernatural wonders, has never
been fully explained, nor are distinct traces of
mischief, trickery, or illusion to be found.1 What
ever the true solution, the fact is that John Wesley
remained throughout life very strongly impressed
with a sense of the supernatural, believing that
evil spirits are allowed to trouble, as well as good
angels to assist, during the earthly career both of
the just and unjust.
In due time the three sons successively left a
home which was marked by high culture, and by
a strictly religious, if somewhat severe, discipline.
Little of material help could their parents afford to
them ; but the lessons of home were never effaced,
nor was the intercourse with home suffered to cease.
Throughout the Wesley family was found a rare
facility in that art of letter-writing which is now
becoming extinct ; and the correspondence between
Mrs. Wesley and her sons appears to have been
frequent, and as full of good sense as of vivacity
and vigour.
Mrs. Wesley's three sons were in age separated
from each other by intervals of several years.
Samuel, the eldest, born in 1690, was educated at
Westminster School, proceeding thence to Christ
Church, Oxford. Being admitted to Holy Orders,
he returned to Westminster as an under master.
1 " The testimony upon which it rests is far too strong to be
set aside because of the strangeness of the relation." — Southey,
i. 17. The narrative is there given at length.

_ EARLY DAYS : EPWORTH AND CHARTERHOUSE. 5
When the second mastership became vacant, his
reputation for scholarship was such that his pro
motion was expected ; but his friendship with
Atterbury and Pope had been sufficient to injure
him in the estimation of the authorities. He was
afterwards appointed to the mastership of the
school at Tiverton, where he died in the year 1739.
He was wise, amiable, patient, and solicitous as
regards the welfare of his younger brothers ; and to
them his death at a critical moment of their career,
when his advice was more than ever wanted, was a
misfortune. Samuel Wesley will be remembered,
if for no other reason, as the author of the hymn
beginning —
" The morning flowers display their sweets."
The year 1703 is famous in our annals for two
events. A great storm — the most violent and
destructive storm on record — passed over the south
of England, dashing houses to the ground and ships
against the shore. Thousands of lives were lost,
and the damage was estimated at a sum in those
days gigantic. The other event of the year was the
birth, on the 17th of June (Old Style), of John Ben
jamin, to be known in history as John, second son of
the Epworth rector. John was many years younger
than Samuel, to whom he looked up as to the rela
tive on whom, after the father's death, devolved to
some extent the care of the whole family. When
John was about ten and a half years old, he went
up to the Charterhouse School, on the nomination of

6 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

the Duke of Buckingham, as one of the foundation
scholars. These were limited in number, wore a
distinctive" dress, and enjoyed some advantages,
especially that of exemption from fees and charges.
The old schoolroom was a single apartment of large
size, and it stood in a large playground, opening
by a gate from Charterhouse Square.1 Little was
taught, then or long afterwards, even in the best
of English schools, beyond Greek and Latin. If a
pupil wished to learn something of history, of the
sciences, or of any modern language, he had to
acquire such knowledge out of school hours, for it
had no recognition in the regular course of study.
"John suffered at the Charterhouse under the
tyranny which the elder boys were permitted to
exercise. This evil at one time existed very gene
rally in English schools." 2 To his spareness of diet
at a time when his seniors in school had, and exer
cised, the right of appropriating part of his daily
allowance of food, he afterwards attributed no evil
results. On the contrary, he was disposed to think
that, by enforced fasting and daily exercise round
the square, his constitution had been hardened.
1 All this is now changed. The educational branch of Charter
house is removed to Godalming ; and the school is seven times as
large as formerly. The old site has been sold to the Merchant
Taylors' Company.
2 Southey. " Fagging '' prevailed in a harsh form at Charter
house, as at some other famous schools, up to a, recent date.
Although mitigated, it survives, and is defended by many, who
argue that it teaches subordination, and is therofore useful dis
cipline.

EARLY DAYS : EPWORTH AND CHARTERHOUSE. 7
The severities endured by him as a boy could not
have been of a very distressing kind, or he would
not have cherished that regard for the old school
which led him often to revisit Charterhouse.
The years spent by John at Charterhouse are
almost a blank for the biographer. No school
fellow or early friend seems to have handed down
any anecdote which might help to show what kind
of boyhood was that of the future organizer of " the
united societies." Did he avoid the playground,
and devote each hour to study? and if it was not
so, how came he in after years to declare that
boyish recreations were unnecessary and injurious ?
There is, indeed, a story that John Wesley pre
ferred, as an elder boy, to dominate his juniors,
rather than to take equal rank amongst those of
his own age ; but this rests on very slight founda
tion.1 He was diligent, studious, and well-behaved : 2
and beyond this nothing authentic is known, or
probably will ever be known, of Wesley's student
days. The Kev. Samuel Wesley was a man of much
erudition, although he failed to gain such a position
as relieved him from anxiety. He hoped, like many
other learned men of his time, to obtain due recog
nition, by publishing ambitious works, dedicated
to exalted personages. But his Bible History in
verse, published in 1704 and dedicated to Queen
Anne, and his Latin folio on the Book of Job,
brought out in an expensive manner by Eiving-
i Tyerman, i. 20. 2 Notes and Queries, January 31, 1874.

8 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
ton, and containing a fine portrait of its author,
did not help to improve his condition. He was,
to some extent, identified with the hot-headed
Dr. Sacheverell, whom he is known to have as
sisted. Falling into bad health, he was unable to
attend properly to his two Lincolnshire parishes.
This weakness (which led to the employment of
his son John as his curate) was but the precursor
of his death, which occurred at Epworth in April,
1735.

( 9 )

CHAPTEE II.
WESLEY AT OXFORD.
In 1720 John Wesley left Charterhouse, the time
having come at which it was usual for the founda
tion boys of highest repute and longest standing
in the school to go- up — not empty-handed — to
Oxford. For his old schoolroom and playground
he always had an affection ; and at intervals he
would walk round the familiar square, and wonder
how it was that its dimensions should appear so
shrunken. It does not seem that he formed any
close friendships at Charterhouse. On the contrary,
it is stated that he failed while there to meet with
any congenial friend. Nor was the vacant place
in his heart supplied until he had been for several
years at Oxford.
At Christ Church his days were spent in study,
and uneventfully the years went by. His thoughts
were often with the family at Epworth, who had
more than their share of troubles. Even at this
time of his life, Wesley began to regard the
annoyances which beset the path of poverty with

10 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
a philosophic calmness. His purse being scantily
supplied, and luxury being out of his reach, he
took much interest in abstinence as a medical
question — found that it agreed with his hardy frame,
and recommended it to others. Extreme simplicity
of living and seclusion he found suitable alike to
his means and to his habits of thought.
During the undergraduate years, his letters to
his relatives, and also his daily pursuits, gave no
indication of a special leaning towards the study
of theology. Not before the age of twenty-two do
his thoughts seem to have been in any way directed
towards the Church as a profession ; and even then
the desire of his father was, at least at first, the
, most powerful motive.
The immediate ancestors of the Wesleys had all
passed from Oxford into the sacred ministry ; and
there were the two small livings in Lincolnshire,
to which the elder Wesley's health would not per
mit him much longer to do justice. The family
at Epworth, in short, were desirous that John
Wesley should go into Holy Orders ; and he
seriously pondered over this important matter, con
sulting his parents as usual. He felt some difficulty
as to the questioned or minatory clauses of the
Athanasian Creed ; but finally his father's explana
tion of them he accepted as sufficient. His reading
now was shaped by the new choice of a path in
life, and (according to his own statement) Divine
Providence directed him to the book ascribed to
Thomas dt Kempis. About the same time Bishop

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 11
Jeremy Taylor's devotional works attracted his
closest thought. These bopks had a lasting in
fluence on his mind, preparing the way for the
spiritual development of four years later. Now
he began for the first time to find religious friends ;
and the scope and object of his life and thoughts
began to change. The development cannot here
be closely described ; but, with the aid of John
Wesley's own words, its outline is sufficiently clear.
In 1725 he received deacon's orders from the
Bishop of Oxford, Dr. Potter (afterwards primate),
whom he regarded as "a great and good man."
Half a century later he recalled, with thankfulness,
the archbishop's advice to him "not to spend his
time in contending for or against things of a dis
putable nature, but in testifying against vice, and
in promoting real, essential holiness." And it is
remarkable that Wesley bore this, in mind so clearly
as to avoid many controversies, sometimes devolving
the work on others, and sometimes allowing them
to drop. His first sermon was preached at South
Leigh ; and immediately after this he preached at
Epworth a funeral sermon on the death of a young
and promising parishioner. In March, 1726, he was
elected to a fellowship at Lincoln College — a definite
promotion, and one which, if he had valued money,
would have made life more easy. Hitherto he had
been poor; so much so, that his habit of wearing
the hair long, begun in opposition to the prevailing
fashion, was boldly set down by himself to a motive
of economy — he had nothing to spend on hair-

12 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
dressers. This habit he retained through life, as
appears by the numerous portraits.
In November, 1726, he was chosen Greek Lecturer
and " moderator of the classes " in his college. This
was a compliment ot no slight kind to a fellow who
had lately reached his twenty-third birthday. The
duty was, as he afterwards thought, of great service
to him ; for disputations were held daily, and regular
attendance on them gave him "expertness in arguing,
and especially in discerning and pointing out fal
lacies." Closely now did Wesley apply himself to his
pupils ; so much so that, as he afterwards said, he
should have thought it dishonest not to read with
them for the allotted number of hours on every
week-day. Nor does it appear that vacations were
allowed to interfere with these studies.
Wesley, while at Oxford, entered little into general
society ; and the only glimpse of his social life is
the statement that once a month he received in his
own rooms the other fellows of Lincoln.
In 1727 there was a change of a deep and per
manent kind, showing that this date is really the
momentous one in Wesley's spiritual history. He
now studied the two famous treatises of the Eev.
William Law— the " Serious Call " and " Christian
Perfection." The result of this study was of the
highest moment in his development. Hitherto he
had been rather a teacher of morality, placing much
dependence upon forms and observances. After
reading these two books, he said, « I was convinced

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 13
more than ever of the impossibility of being half a
Christian, and determined to be all devoted to God,
and give Him all my soul, my body, and my sub
stance." He now began not merely to read, but to
study the Bible; and he saw in a clearer and
clearer light the indispensable necessity of having
the mind that was in Christ. Eeligion then for
the first time appeared as " the inward and outward
conformity to the Master." From that day forth he
became a faithful follower of the great Example,
and accepted of Him.1 He doubtless received a
great accession of spiritual strength and light nine
years later ; but so far as conversion can be said to
follow upon the teachings of another, and so far as it
can be exemplified by a change of all that constitutes,
and grows out of, the inner life, Wesley's conversion
to righteousness must be ascribed to the year 1727,
when the religious treatises of Law produced on
him an effect which it would be hard to express in
language. " He now insisted on a high standard of religious
consecration and personal holiness, both active and
passive. He presently united with these views not a
little of the High Church doctrine and discipline." 2
These two books convinced him, he said, of the
" exceeding height and breadth and depth of the
love of God ; " and the " light flowed in so mightily
upon his soul, that everything appeared in a new
view." This was therefore the true date of his con
version. ¦ Tyer. i. 50, 72 ; Southey, chap. ii. * Rigg, 22.

14 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
In the February of the same year, Wesley took
the degree of M.A., delivering (according to usage)
Latin lectures or exercises, of which there is no
record. In July following he received priest's
orders from Archbishop Potter, while serving the
curacy of Wroote. This he undertook for the sake
of helping his father, who had fallen into bad health.
The same filial devotion might have kept him for
many years between Wroote and Epworth, but for the
fact that he had established a reputation at Oxford,
and could not now be spared from his college.
Dr. Morley, then Rector of Lincoln, wrote to
Wesley, strongly urging his return to the duties of
his fellowship and lectureship ; and towards the end
of 1729 Wesley left the Lincolnshire curacy, and
returned to residence at Oxford, where he remained
steadily for six years.
Faithful and learned men were just then specially
required in their colleges; for there was an irre
ligious spirit abroad. The university authorities
were much alarmed at the spread of new and per
nicious notions amongst the undergraduates; and
measures had already been taken to expel three of
the students, who had gone out of their way to make
a profession of deism. The state of England was at
that time alarming, and even in the Church there
was a terrible falling away. There is proof that
the candidates for orders were often ignorant of the
Scriptures, and even of the catechism of the Church.
On returning to Oxford, Wesley was placed in
charge of eleven pupils, to whom he devoted himself

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 15
with characteristic care and punctuality. There was,
however, a new demand upon all the hours which he
could spare from the regular round of duty.
For some months a little Society of Churchmen at
Oxford had been attracting some notice, and not a
little ridicule. It was sometimes called the " Godly
Club," and sometimes the " Sacramentarian," and it
contained a number of university men, chiefly of
undergraduate standing. It seems strange, but is
unquestionably true, that to belong to such a society
in those days was to incur some odium. George
Whitefield, who had lately entered Pembroke as a
servitor, was junior to the Wesleys ; and when, on
a certain Sunday, he saw some of these devout
students forcing their way "through a ridiculing
crowd," to receive the Holy Eucharist at St. Mary's,
he boldly joined with them. Whitefield has left an
account of the Sacramentarian, or Holy, or Godly
Club, which clearly shows it to have been one of
many of the same character then existing in Eng
land, although it probably was the only society of
the kind then flourishing at Oxford. Charles
Wesley was its most prominent member until John's
return from the Lincolnshire parish. That the
elder brother, immediately after settling down again
at Oxford, should have been chosen as its leader is
a proof that his reputation was already high amongst
the best of his contemporaries. He was even then
a man of mark, although there were many who
regarded him as a " queer enthusiast." To one of
the latter the bishop's chaplain foretold that the

16 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
" curator of the Godly Club " would become " a
standard-bearer of the Cross." The society in
question was so far from showing mere youthful
enthusiasm, that its members from time to time
wrote for counsel to an aged clergyman, whose name
did not appear, but who has been identified as the
father of the Wesleys. The members of the society
had rules by which all were bound, and they
together resorted to the Holy Communion every
Sunday, but their paths of self-imposed duty
during the week diverged. Some visited the homes
of the poor, while some frequented the workhouse
and taught its inmates. The schools and the gaol
received due and systematic attention from other
members of the club ; nor could any ridicule divert
them from their great object of doing good to the
souls and bodies of their poorer brethren around.
They numbered from twenty to thirty, and were
influenced by the resolute character of their leader,
who' was, even as a young man, calmly defiant of
scorn and opposition.
Other traits marked him as a strong individuality
at Oxford. He carried out a severe economy, as
regarded both time and money. As his income in
creased he still limited his personal expenditure to
the lowest possible sum, and he devoted the growing
surplus to charitable objects. Thirty pounds a year
was all that he spent, and resolved to spend, on him
self. Finding that five hours of sleep out of the
twenty-four sufficed for him, he established a rule
of rising at 4 a.m., to which he always adhered.

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 17
All this earnestness and self-denial was of so strange
and exceptional kind, that it attracted much remark.
Of the many nicknames, there was but one which
adhered to the Oxford society for any long time.
The term "Methodist" was sufficiently new and
distinctive, and so far was it from being offensive
that it was adopted by those to whom it was
applied.1 The Oxford Methodists prided themselves
on their strict adherence to all the rules and rubrics
of the Church ; and it is not surprising to find that
the bishop expressed himself as quite content with
their proceedings.
John Wesley's special talents first showed them
selves in the guidance of this society. In his
curacy his success was not so apparent, while on
his return to Oxford he was at once recognized as
a fit leader of other minds. Here was first shown
forth that power of ruling which marked him as
one fitted to guide and control large numbers of his
fellow-Christians, and which received in later years
as large a field for exercise as often falls to the lot
of prelate or of statesman.
In other respects the six years spent in Lincoln
College were not eventful. There was, indeed, a
long correspondence with Mrs. Pendarves (after
wards Delany), a lady of fashion, whose elaborate
letters show culture not unmixed with affectation.
This appears to have been no more than a senti
mental friendship on either side, in the course of
1 Mention was made in a tract printed in 1693 of some " New
Methodists " who had set forth an old doctrine in a new light.
C

18 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
which little additional light is thrown on the
character and doings of the ascetic fellow of Lin
coln. In 1732 he wrote, for the use of his pupils,
his sermon on the Eucharist, a topic on which his
thoughts were much bent. Wesley's republication of
the sermon of 1732, fifty years later, confirms the
opinion that in no essential matter had his theology
altered in the interval. About the same time,
in answer to an admirably expressed letter from his
mother, he gave the clearest definition which per
haps was ever given by him of his view of that
doctrine. He disavowed alike transubstantiation
and consubstantiation, while speaking of an union
of the Divinity with the believer in that sacrament,
the manner of the union being a mystery. This
is probably a fair statement of the view held by the
Oxford sacramentarians.
It was during this period that Wesley became
known to the eminent nonjuror William Law, then
living in a tranquil seclusion near to London. At
this time there was an identity of religious opinion
between them, and the elder divine was "as an
oracle " to his younger disciple. That their re
lations afterwards changed is owing to the fact that,
as years rolled on, Law fell under the influence
of mystical writers like Behmen. At the point
where practical religion was abandoned for wild and
fanciful speculation, Wesley took his stand, de
clining to follow even one to whom he was so
deeply indebted, and for whose early writings he
had through life high admiration. The pupil did

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 19
not in after years sit at the feet of his master, but
the obligations to Law were never forgotten. " His
philosophy and theology were permanently elevated
and enriched through the familiarity which he had
gained with some at least of the writers to whom
Law had introduced him, as well as through the
direct influence of Law himself." x
While still sitting at the feet of William Law,
Wesley wrote the two sermons which contained his
doctrine of Christian perfection.2 One of them,
entitled "The Circumcision of the Heart," was
perhaps the sermon to which he most often referred
in after life. As though to answer in anticipation
those who should impute to him a changing theo
logy, Wesley wrote in 1765: "This sermon con
tained all that I now teach concerning salvation
from all sin, and loving God with an undivided
heart." In 1733 Wesley's name first appeared
in print as that of an author, his earliest work
being a collection of prayers.
Immediately after this it was, for family reasons,
thought expedient that efforts should be made
to obtain the Epworth living for John; but the
latter doubted if the plan could be carried out,
and, on the whole, he preferred his quiet and
useful mode of life at Oxford. His reasons
he explained at length in a letter written in
1 Rigg, 27.
* "it is a gross mistake to imagine that the doctrine of Divine
Influence, with its cognate truths, was not discovered and embraced
by Wesley until his meeting with Bohler in 1738." — Tyer. i. 88.

20 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
December, 1734, to his father. He valued retire
ment, time for study, freedom from care, and those
very frequent opportunities for worship which
Oxford ever afforded. But his letter, far from
showing an indisposition for work, goes on to ex
plain that under the shadow of the college walls
were fields " white unto harvest," abundant room for
charity — schools, prisons, and workhouses, "where
both old and young gladly received the word of
exhortation." He also referred to "tho schools
of the prophets" at Oxford, where there was an
opening, much wider than in any parish, for him
who would become, not merely a drop of heavenly
dew, but a fertilizing river. Such, he said in con
clusion, were part of his reasons for choosing to
abide as yet in the station where he was, and not
seeking a different sphere in the Lincolnshire
parish. Samuel Wesley tried to convince his brother that
as a clergyman he was under some degree of obliga
tion to accept the cure of souls, and reminded him
of his oath on receiving orders. John felt some
misgivings on this point, and submitted it to the
bishop, whose reply was remarkable. " It doth not
seem to me," answered the bishop, "that at your
ordination you engaged yourself to undertake the
cure of any parish, provided you can as a clergy
man better serve God and His Church in your
present or some other station." These words had
a wider application than their writer intended ; for
they came to the mind of the self-appointed mis-

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 21
sionary to all England when, five years later, he
finally renounced all idea of respecting parochial
limits or working in any one locality.
But while John Wesley was hesitating — drawn in
one direction by a wish to gratify and help the
Epworth family, and in another by his own pre
dilections — the elder Wesley died, and the chance of
succeeding to the vicarage passed away. The next
two years of his life were to be passed as a mis
sionary under the S.P.G. Before, however, follow
ing him across the Atlantic, it may be convenient
to glance at his later visits to Oxford. Eevisiting
the old haunts at intervals of three or four years,
he seems to have continued on friendly terms with
the authorities of his college, who treated him
with much indulgence, until the resignation of his
fellowship. This did not occur until his ill-con
sidered marriage in 1751 rendered that step,
according to college statutes, unavoidable.
In the mean time Wesley was under an obligation
to preach (or to find a substitute) in his turn, which
came once in three years, before the university of
St. Mary's. In 1738, after his return from the
banks of the Ehine, he spent a fortnight at Oxlord.
Just at this time his mind was much exercised on
the doctrine of justification. An interview with
Charles Delamotte, who had been one of his com
panions in the voyage to Georgia, did not tend to
quiet, nor did the expedient of opening at hazard
on Scripture texts — learned from the Moravians,
More assuring was the quiet study, in the libraries,

22 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
of such works as set forth the doctrine of his own
Church on justification. Much that he found in the
Homilies he " extracted, and afterwards printed for
the use of others." Eightly or wrongly, Wesley
was convinced by this investigation that his views
were in accordance with the writings of St. Paul,
and with the standards of the English Church.
His severer studies in theology may be said to have
concluded at the libraries of Oxford at the close
of the year 1738.
In 1741 he again spent several days in the old
city, finding to his regret that the original society
of "Methodists" had dwindled almost to nothing.
Gambold, one of its early members, he however
discovered, and the meeting must have been a
pleasant one to both of them. Again he looked
through old folios at his college library and the
Bodleian. Calvin's own account of his dealings
with Servetus now attracted his scornful notice. In
truth, Wesley rarely spoke of either the foreign or
the Scottish reformers with much respect.
On the 25th of July, 1741, Wesley again stood
in that pulpit at St. Mary's from which John
Wycliffe had preached three centuries earlier. His
text was, "Almost thou persuadest me to be a
Christian ; " and the discourse was afterwards pub
lished as a tract. His Journal gives but a laconic
note of these university sermons. The harvest was
plenteous, he now remarked ; but of the way in
which an unusual crowd received his message,
nothing is recorded. Three years later, when his

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 23
name was more widely known, and his irregular
services and mission chapels were much discussed,
he once more preached at St. Mary's, the congre
gation being again very large. The sermon was not
a smooth, elegantly turned essay of the kind then
most admired. It«was a severe and plain-spoken
warning to triflers, and to such — of whatever rank
— as neglected their duties and obligations. Dr.
Kennicott, who heard and described this sermon,
tells us that the Vice-Chancellor, offended by
the severity of the preacher's censure, sent to ask
for the sermon, but wisely took no further step.
The Dean of Christ Church, being asked for his
opinion, expressed it thus cautiously : " John Wes
ley will always be thought a man of sound sense,
although an enthusiast."
In January, 1751, Wesley received a pressing
letter from Dr. Isham, Eector of Lincoln, whom he
described as " a generous and friendly man," asking
him to go and vote at an impending election. He
went, and made some notes of more than ordinary
interest. The demeanour of the people at Oxford
had much improved since 1744, for now all was
civility and attention, and the Methodistic leader
was no longer pointed "at in the streets. He even
felt in doubt as to the right explanation of all this,
as he asked whether the scandal of the Cross had
ceased.1 Wesley had long before committed himself to the
opinion that there ought to be no marriage in
1 Journal, ii. 213.

24 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the ranks of the priesthood ; and on this point he
remained firm in theory. Yet deeming that there
might be exceptional cases, and that his own was
one of them, he consulted Mr. Perronet, one of the
very few persons ever consulted by him. The
answer was such as he hoped for — although, if it
had been otherwise, tho marriage was too far ar
ranged to have been broken off. Shortly afterwards,
he addressed to the rector and fellows of his college
a letter resigning his fellowship.
In later years John Wesley sometimes revisited
Oxford in the course of his preaching tours.
In 1769, while on his way to Oxford, he for the
first time visited Wallingford, where he noted that
the fields were white unto harvest, all the people,
rich and poor, flocking to hear him in the evening.
"Abundance of blossoms" he saw, but he had
misgivings as to the future of many of them.
Like all other revivals, this one had its splendid
displays of blossom ; yet the season of fruit brought
much disappointment to over-sanguine husbandmen.
Wesley by this time was less hopeful as to results ;
but this did not affect his capacity or his zeal for
work. On reaching Oxford he found no place in which
to preach. He had an invincible dislike to Dis
senting chapels, and here the chapel was safely
locked against one whom they perhaps regarded as
" a Eitualist." At last, the sermon was given in the
garden of one James Mears ; and no such congre
gation had he spoken to in Oxford since the

WESLEY AT OXFORD. 25
memorable day at St. Mary's, exactly a quarter of
a century earlier. Two days later, he spent an hour
quite agreeably with some serious students before
leaving for Northampton. At this town many
people were that night " frightened into good reso
lutions " by an aurora of stupendous brilliancy.1
In July, 1783, there had been a fearful storm,
and the lightning and thunder such that the
country people in Oxfordshire thought that the day
of judgment had come. This terror brought with
it a " spirit of seriousness," which was favourable to
the reception of the preacher's message. In Oxford
itself his new preaching-house was " filled with rich
and poor, scholars as well as townsmen." He com
pared the halls and gardens around with those
which he had lately seen in Holland, much to the
advantage of the former.
Another visit to Oxford, and perhaps the last, was
paid in 1784, when his congregation was also large,
and "both students as well as townsmen were
deeply serious," as he addressed them.
Even Oxford has witnessed many changes under
the shadow of her antique towers and spires; and
while many of the old rules framed to ensure con
formity are swept away, students may now call
themselves Methodists without incurring remark,
much less ridicule. But whatever changes, now or
in the future, may be wrought, it will never be
forgotten that in nis rooms at Lincoln John Wesley
first exhibited those powers of controlling others
' Journal, iii. 362.

26 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
which have given him a place amongst the greatest
leaders of mankind. Nor is the historic city of
learning likely to forget that in her midst, exactly
a century and a half ago, was found the cradle of
Methodism.

( 27 )

CHAPTEE III.
THE MISSIONER OF THE S.P.Q.
No portion of Wesley's career has been so fully
narrated as his Georgian expedition, his Journals,
on some topics scanty, here entering minutely into
detail. The circumstances which led to his becoming
" a missioner " are briefly told. Soon after the
death of the elder Wesley, Dr. Burton (of Corpus
Christi), who had long taken a deep interest in the
new colony of Georgia, asked both John and Charles
Wesley to proceed thither. He had noted them at
Oxford as specially adapted for mission work. The
consent of their mother,, lately widowed, was nobly
and promptly given. John Wesley's chief advisers,
his brother Samuel and William Law, were also
consulted. General Oglethorpe, whose most enduring
monument is a famous couplet by Alexander Pope,
was the leader of the expedition. Charles Wesley
acted as the general's secretary ; while John went
out under the auspices of the Propagation of the
Gospel Society.
The thoughts of many of the best men of that

28 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
age were bent in the same direction. The ad
mirable Berkeley (afterwards Bishop of Cloyne)
had made great exertions to bring into operation
a scheme " for the reformation of manners among
the English in our Western plantations, and the
propagation of the Gospel among the American
savages." And when Berkeley was nominated to a
valuable deanery, he rejoiced that it would enable
him to carry out his " scheme of Bermuda." x In
joining this mission under Oglethorpe, John Wesley
thought less of the colonists than of the Indian
tribes amongst whom he expected to labour. They
were known to be numerous in Georgia, and the
new colony afforded a way of reaching them.
But his idea of work amongst the Indians was
never realized, and his short mission was to be
only amongst the settlers at Savannah, the chief
town of the promising colony. The nucleus of an
industrious community had already been found in
a band of persecuted Lutherans from Salzburg ; and
many other German families now resolved to find a
home in Georgia. On the 14th October, 1735, the
Wesleys embarked at Gravesend, amongst their
fellow-voyagers being Benjamin Ingham,, an old
Oxford friend and contemporary, and Charles Dela
motte, a younger follower of much energy, and
blessed with a " loving and simple " spir#. About
thirty German emigrants, headed by their bishop,
Nitschman, and accompanied by their wives and
families, were also on board. They were Moravians •
1 Seventh Report on Historical Manuscripts.

THE MISSIONER OF THE S.P.G. 29
and of their Christian demeanour and simplicity of
mind and life, approving notice was taken both by
Wesley and by Ingham. During the voyage rough
weather was met with ; and once a squall split the
mainsail, and the ship was all but overwhelmed.
The English passengers on board screamed with
terror, while the Germans were quite calm — not
afraid to die, they said. This contrast made a deep
impression on Wesley. He had applied himself,
with characteristic energy, to the study of German,
in order that he might understand the emigrants ;
and being much interested in them, he learned as
much as possible of their religious system, and of
the personal history of their leaders. His ardent
wish to see Herrnhut, the religious centre of these
brethren, was not gratified until nearly three years
later. The virtues of the Moravians were evident — dis
cipline and obedience, courage and fidelity, earnest
ness and the " single eye." Wesley was justified in
drawing conclusions most favourable to those whom
he now met ; but he erred in hastily supposing that
Moravian teachings were in other places certain of
producing similar results; nor was he undeceived,
until closer observation of the Moravians, in England
four years later, led him to form a very different
opinion. Now he declared that his heart's desire
had been given : he had found people whose con
versation was in heaven — quite unlike the so-called
Christians of England.
The voyage, though tedious and stormy, was

30 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
relieved by diligent studies, and by the acquisition
of new ideas ; and the whole party landed at
Savannah in February, 1736.
One of the first persons met with was Spangen
berg, a prominent Moravian, who asked several
questions as to his religious state, in language to
which the Oxford fellow was not accustomed. This
led to further inquiries into the Moravian pecu
liarities. The fruits were good, so Wesley argued ;
and the tree must therefore be a perfect one. Why
were not devotion and piety of this kind found
amongst his own people ?
Of the mission in Georgia it needs to say little.
The Wesleys were unworldly and precise, destitute
of tact, firm even to obstinacy, and at that time
unfit for rough work on uncultivated soil. They
accomplished little; and rapidly becoming unpopular
in the colony, they had no inducement to remain in
it. The place was evidently unfavourable for carry
ing out their ideas of rubrical exactness. Yet they
insisted on immersion in baptism ; they required
sponsors to be communicants ; and they refused the
Holy Communion to such as had received irregular
or lay baptism, and to such as omitted to send in
a previous notice. But they not only offended by
strict adherence to the letter of the rubrics, or by a
degree of rigour which the law ecclesiastical has
never authorized. The dividing of the usual
morning service into separate portions, though
well intended, only gave fresh offence. Evidently
Savannah was not the place for either carrying out

THE MISSIONER OF THE S.P.G. 31
with great strictness the system of the Church, or
for endeavouring to improve on it. Charles Wesley,
who, in nerve and endurance, was not equal to his
brother, speedily gave up the contest, and returned
to England. John remained in Georgia for another
year, during which he resumed his theological
studies; and while on a trip with Delamotte to
Frederica, they went carefully over Bishop Beve-
ridge's work on the Councils. Amidst all dis
couragements, it was pleasant to Wesley to find
that many in England were grateful for his past
counsels, and prayed for his return. Amongst other
letters which reached him was one from Whitefield,
who said, " May you go on and prosper, and in the
strength of God make the devil's kingdom shake
about his ears."
Before his return to England occurred the strange
dispute which has received an undue share of notice
in the biographies. Mr. Causton, a man of vindictive
temper, a magistrate and leading citizen of Savannah,
conceived a dislike to Wesley. This may have
arisen from the fact that Causton's niece, Miss Sophy
Hopkey, had, for reasons unexplained, hastily broken]
off a kind of engagement which she had formed I
with the missionary, and had married a Mr. William
son. Shortly after this marriage, Wesley, who had !
not recovered trom his sharp and bitter disappoint
ment, carrying out as before his strict rubrical rule, i
repelled from the Holy Table this Mrs. Williamson,
by so injudicious a step giving rise to rumours as
to his real motives. Mr. Causton now became the

32 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
aggressor. He brought together all the complaints
which had been uttered amongst the colonists, into
one long indictment of twelve counts ; and on this
he formally prosecuted Wesley in the local court,
a "true bill" being found thereon by the grand
jury. Eleven out of the twelve accusations were
solely connected with Church law and usage. Wesley
as to these most properly demurred to the juris
diction of the court ; and on the solitary charge of
which a secular tribunal could take notice, he
"joined issue," and demanded a speedy trial. Mr.
Causton now temporized, neither withdrawing nor
proceeding with the charges ; and the necessary
conclusion is that the whole affair was spitefully
arranged, with no other object than to annoy the
missioner, and to drive him from the colony.
In November, 1737, his position being in a high
degree disagreeable as regarded the colonists, and
there being no heathens within his reach, Wesley
resolved to return to England. His journey to
Charleston, with his faithful friend Delamotte, was
one of danger ; but ultimately they secured a passage
in a homeward-bound ship. Even while at sea an
indolent season was impossible with Wesley. To
those on board he gave regular instruction ; and he
now completed (for the press) an account of M. de
Eenty, whom he regarded as the pattern saint of
modern times. But although he strove thus to
" redeem the time," Wesley could not drive away
unpleasant thoughts, or save himself from falling
into a state of mental depression, which certainly
has no parallel in his life-history.

THE MISSIONER OF THE S.P.G. 33
On the voyage there was a frightful storm, when
Wesley, probably for the dnly time, was oppressed by
the fear of death. A judicious friend would have
seen in this merely another proof of the low state
into which the frustrated hopes and aims of two
years had brought him. In truth, he was at that
time, and for many weeks later, in a state of de
spondency almost morbid. That the Moravians on
the outward voyage were calm and fearless, seemed
the clearest proof that they were perfect Christians ;
that he himself in a tempest at sea was in terror of
death, now appeared to him a proof that he did not
possess true Christian faith. At this painful time
of introspection and self-accusation, he wrote down
some bitter things of himself in his Journal, which
have been frequently, and not always fairly, quoted.
A less candid man, while revising his Journal
for the press, years later, when the cloud had long
passed away, would have omitted these passages.
Wesley, however, now transcribed them, merely
adding brief notes for the purpose of showing that
the passages, written under illusion and excited
feeling, did not truly represent his state.1 Amongst
these passages was. an oft-quoted and misleading
one, to the effect that, having gone to America to
1 Examples are these : In the original entry he wrote that he
was " alienated from the life of God, and a child of wrath." When
revising this afterwards, he appended the important words, " I
believe not." To the passage accusing himself of want of faith,
he added a note : " I had even then the faith of a servant, though
not that of a son." — Journal, i. 72. D

34 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEV.
convert the Indians, he was never himself converted.
In after life his impression was far otherwise :
although it may be true that on his return from
America he was still wanting in that spiritual power
which marks " a Christian in the highest sense of
the word." 1 But although at the close of the year
1737, and for ten years previously, he thought and
spoke of himself only as an " unprofitable servant,"
there is all reason to believe that the Master, whom
he very closely followed, accepted and owned him,
and rewarded his service.
In this state of depression John Wesley landed at
Deal, having been away from Englandfor more than
two years. His future was all obscure, as he had just
now no definite aim or employment. His duties as
a curate-in-charge and as a college tutor, and later
still as a missionary, had all come to an end, never
to be resumed.
It only remains, before opening a new chapter of
his life, to say that his voyage to America, while
full of instruction and warning to his own mind, was
not wholly destitute of results to those amongst
whom he laboured. At the time, indeed, all seemed
to be vexation and disappointment, and there was no
gleam of sunshine visible. But there was, later on,
some evidence to prove that the earnest, though not
always judicious, labours of the missioner in Georgia
had not been in vain.
1 Ri-g, 32 ; Journal, i. 77.

( 35 )

CHAPTEE IV.
CONVERSE WITH MORAVIANS.
The emigrants, whose Christian fortitude had im
pressed John Wesley on the voyage, were members
of the Unitas fratrum, or Moravian Church, the exact
history and claims of which have been much
debated and are still obscure. The Moravians with
whom he was for a time associated after his return
to London, were not strictly entitled to that name,
though they accepted Moravian teachings, holding
close intercourse with Moravian leaders like Zin
zendorf and Spangenberg. But in one way or the
other — in America and in Europe — the Moravian
system was closely brought before Wesley's mind ;
and some portions of it influenced his action when
founding and directing the Methodist societies.
It is curious to contrast his notes of Moravianism
made in 1735-37, with those made some four years
later, when he had gained a deeper insight into their
system and its tendencies. It is probable that his
first knowledge of the Moravians while on his out
ward voyage led him to the study of their favourite

36 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
writers. Amongst those recommended to him by
Nitschman, the leader of the band of emigrants,
would be the " Lutheran and Calvinistic writers "
mentioned in the Journal as pervaded by " an over
grown fear of popery " — a tendency to r> agnify the
doctrine of faith, and to minimize or obscure all other
Christian doctrine. From a perplexity resulting
from the study of the " well-meaning, wrong-headed
Germans," Wesley was relieved while in America
by the careful study of such standard English
writers as Beveridge and Nelson. But even then
he was at a loss to find a safe rule for the interpreta
tion of Scripture ; for the English writers did not
altogether agree among themselves as to the inter
pretation of Scripture. It was not long, he added,
before Providence led him to those who showed him
a sure rule, the famous maxim of Vincentius.1 If
he had been content with so safe a resting-place, all
might have been well. But his mind was unquiet,
and at that time apt to rush into extremes. The
pendulum was now swung the other way ; and he
fell into an error of another kind when he thought
too highly of the usages of antiquity, and " extended
it too far " — in other words, he drank of the stream
too far down from its source. It must have been
now that the excess of rubrical and ritual exactness
was shown in Georgia ; for instance, the refusal to
1 " Consensus Veterum : quod ab omnibus, qnod ubique, quod
semper creditum " It is curious that Tyerman and Rigg, in re
counting these passages, omit Wesley's own statement that Pbo-
viue>;ce ted him in the direction of this maxim;

CONVERSE WITH MORAVIANS. 37
recognize lay or irregular baptism. These "en
tanglements," as Wesley termed them, came to an
end speedily ; but how, and at what date, cannot
exactly be stated. More than one recent writer,
with more boldness than discretion, has attempted
to trace out minutely this part of his development ;
yet Wesley himself wrote that he could not give " a
distinct account of his return towards the right way."
When he reached London and rejoined his brother
Charles, the entanglements caused by discursive
reading while in a state of mental unrest, were
nearly at an end, for (with two slight exceptions)
there are no later traces of perplexing studies in
theology. His first misreading of rules and rubrics
had been corrected by wider knowledge and by
deeper thought. So far as his theology was con
cerned, the edifice was now complete — only warmth
and illumination were wanting. It was ordained
that the clouds should be cleared away, and the
new impulse conferred, in the May of 1738 ; and
this through the instrumentality of an obscure
German. Two things are clear — that Peter Bohler,
the young Moravian immigrant, was at this juncture
of essential serviee to John and Charles Wesley in
their spiritual development ; and that his views of
doctrine were such that it was not in the character
of a mere instructor that he was capable of rendering
them any service. His intercourse with them was
of short duration, compressed into a few weeks ; and
although for the time he gained their assent to his
view, and that of other Moravians, of "justification

38 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
by faith," they speedily returned to the more sober
estimate formed by the standard English writers.
Living faith is always, said Bohler, given in a
moment; and its recipient is conscious of a great
and vital change, without which consciousness he
is no true Christian.1
If Bohler had described this as a gift possible
indeed, and sometimes for special objects and on
favoured persons bestowed, as on St. Paul and
Cornelius, none would have dared to gainsay him.
But going far beyond this, he declared that to be
a fixed and invariable rule which more experienced
Christians knew to be the rare exception. Thus
presented to him, the doctrine appeared to Wesley
as being different from all that he had learned at
Oxford — " he regarded it as a new gospel." 2
Again he consulted William Law, and he made
exertions to bring this eminent man and Bohler
together. The interview took place ; but Law was
ill satisfied with the explanations given by the
German, and he remarked on the inaccuracy of
his memory. A petulant letter was now sent to
Law by Wesley,8 reproaching him with not having
unfolded a vital portion of the Gospel. The reply
showed much dignity and forbearance, and it con
tained some noteworthy passages. " I have been
governed," wrote Law, " through all I have written
and done, by these two fundamental, unchangeable
maxims of our Lord — ' Without Me ye can do no
thing ; ' ' If any man will come after Me, or be My
1 Journal, i. 104. " Tyer. i. 177. » Moore, i. 364.

CONVERSE WITH MORAVIANS. 39
disciple, let him take up his cross and follow Me.'
If you are for separating the doctrine of the Cross
from faith in Christ, or following Him, you have
numbers and names on your side, but not me."
Then followed some words which Wesley, while
under the glamour of Moravian teaching, little
regarded at the time, but which, came back to his
mind with powerful effect in after life. "Let me
advise you not to be too hasty in believing that,
because you have changed your language or expres
sions, you have changed your faith. The head can
as easily amuse itself with a living and justifying
faith ... as with a'ny other notion : and the heart,
which you suppose to be a place of security, ... is
more deceitful than the head." Such warnings had
no effect on Wesley at the time, while on Bohler
they were thrown away. The latter firmly believed
that all Christianity was summed up in a right
doctrine of justification, which, long hidden in the
Bible, had now been brought to light by his German
friends. When met by arguments, his only reply
was, " Tour philosophy must be purged away."
But however crude and misleading as a theologian,
Bohler had the power of touching other hearts as
with an electric spark. He was at that time hardly
more qualified to instruct others than was the " little
maid " of Syria ; x yet the " word in season " may be
given by a messenger endowed only with a simple,
earnest faith. Justin Martyr, as Wesley knew, one
1 Law thought little of his mental powers, though desoribing
him as an " extraordinary good young man.''

40 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
day wandering perplexed on the sea-shore, met with
an unknown stranger, who told him to pray that the
gates of light might be opened to him, and then
disappeared, and was seen no more ; but that one
conversation led to the kindling in Justin's heart of
a fire which never was put out. Wesley, while
sorrowful and very heavy under a cloud of vexations,
aud almost in despair, was also stirred to seek and
to find new light and strength. His own record of
these days of May, 1738, is precise. On the 24th,
rising early as usual, his eye fell on the mention
by St. Peter of " great and precious promises." In
the afternoon he attended service at St. Paul's,
when the anthem was, "Out of the deep have I
called." In the evening he went to one of the
devotional meetings then common amongst earnest
Churchmen. St. Paul's Epistle to the Eomans was
the subject of their study ; and while thus occupied
a divine peace came over his troubled spirit.1 It
was not the absolute calm of which the Moravians
had talked, for immediately afterwards he was " in
heaviness because of manifold temptations ; " and
when, by Bohler's advice, he took every occasion
of preaching to others, there was still " a kind of
soreness at the heart." But such opportunities of
preaching became daily fewer. His manner was
unconventional, and he uttered burning words which
the London clergy hardly liked to encourage. Ee-
ceiving many hints that the invitations to preach
would not be repeated, and anxious for the support
1 See Appendix IV., " Events of May, 1738."

CONVERSE WITH MORAVIANS. 41

of other minds, and for the story of other conflicts
and conquests, he resolved to visit that Herrnhut of
which he had three years before heard so much.
There he would find, so he was assured, "living
witnesses of the full power of faith."
Before leaving England, Wesley visited his mother
at Salisbury. He preached on the way at Stanton-
Harcourt, and he remained a few days at Oxford,
where he preached a university sermon (11th June,
1738). Here he studied anew the English writers
on the doctrine of justification. A tract of sixteen
pages, which he now drew up for publication, was
entitled, "The Doctrine of Salvation, Faith, and
Good Works." Favourably thinking, as he did,
of the Moravians, he was already on his guard
against the Antinomian tendencies of their system.
So far as his judgment went with them, he was glad
to find corroboration in the Homilies of his own
Church. So far as the dangers of Moravian teaching
were seen or suspected, he resolved to inquire and
observe for himself at their chief settlement in
Germany. This journey is briefly sketched in the
next chapter.
Meanwhile, Samuel Wesley, a wise and cautious
man, heard of his brother's new religious phase,
and he connected it with strange reports which
had reached him of other conversions attended by
unwonted symptoms and doubtful incidents. He
wrote to Mrs. Hutton, an old and faithful friend
of the Wesleys, expressing surprise that "Jack,
who from his baptism had been in the covenant,"

42 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

should now talk of not having been until lately
a Christian. His brother's reply was somewhat
lame, as he qualified his own hasty language
materially. By the word Christian he only meant
one who so believed as that sin had no more
dominion over him.1 The victory he had lately
obtained was " by such a sort or degree of faith
as he had not" previously. A victory it unques
tionably was, yet it was far from the victory which
his German friends had described and led him to
expect. " The witness of the Spirit," he added, " I
have not, but I wait patiently for it." That "full
assurance " which the Moravians spoke of as absolute
and as indispensable to the true Christian, Wesley
also disclaimed. He only now professed to have
" a measure of faith." The more sober Anglican
theology was finally reasserting its claims to his
regard ; and the vision of a sudden and conscious
translation into the highest state of the Christian
life had passed away.2
Here it is convenient to note the fleeting nature
of the Moravian influences, especially as regards
that doctrine which the Moravians set forth to the
exclusion of all other Christian doctrine, and de
scribed in misleading language. Years later, John
1 A peculiar rendering of the word Christian appears again iu
his Journal of many months later (January, 1739), when he de.
clared that after all he was "not a Christian." Other statements
of the same kind, if not due to temporary delusion, must be
explained by his nse at that time of some well-known words in
new or unusual senses.
2 See Tyer. i. 188-192 ; Journal, i. 153, 161.

CONVERSE WITH MORAVIANS.

Wesley acknowledged the wisdom of the warning
which Law had given him in 1738. Phrases and
high-sounding expressions had lost their power over
his mind; and he placed far above all high-flown
Moravian speculations the old rule — "He that feareth
God and worketh righteousness is accepted with
Him."1 1 Journal, iii. 294.

44 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTEE V.
A TRIP TO GERMANY.
Wesley's resolve to see some "living witnesses"
in their own chosen centre was carried out shortly
after the momentous conversations with Bohler. In
various ways he had become interested in the re
ligious life of Germany before, as well as sub
sequent to, the Eeformation. The history and the
writings of the illustrious John Tauler were well
known to him ; and he could not fail to observe a
strange parallelism between the circumstances of
Tauler's spiritual enlightenment and his own. That
famous preacher, at a critical time in his career,
was in a state of darkness and depression. When
all was gloom, within and without, Divine Provi
dence had sent, by a lay brother of low degree, a
" word in season," a word of hope and lasting com
fort. The " man from Basle " was allowed to place
a message of consolation, and with it new life and
happiness, in the way of even the most effective
and learned preacher of the Ehineland.
Then Wesley was much impressed with the

A TRIP TO GERMANY. 45

virtuous life and earnest goodness of those Mora
vians with whom the American voyage had made
him acquainted. Strongly prepossessed in their
favour, he desired to learn from themselves the
secret of their piety ; and when the way opened
in June, 1738, he began the journey which he had
long meditated. Accompanied once more by his
old college friend Ingham, he crossed over to
Eotterdam. Of this and many other places on the
route there are graphic notes in the printed Journal.
The travellers proceeded slowly through Holland
to Cologne, where they observed the vast pile of
the unfinished cathedral — " heaps upon heaps — a
huge misshapen thing." The worship in this and
in the other Eoman Catholic churches was not,
they remarked, united worship. One man prayed
at one shrine, and one at another ; and there was
no " common " prayer. Taking boats up the
Ehine, they admired the demeanour of the boat
men, who, before starting, devoutly prayed for a
safe journey ; nor was any profanity heard, as
amongst men of that class in England. Passing
through Mainz and Frankfort, they reached Marien-
born, where they were received by Count Zinzen
dorf, the Moravian leader — a strange compound of
piety, fanaticism, and pride. Wesley, not having
sufficiently mastered German, conversed in Latin
with Zinzendorf. Passing on through Weimar, the
travellers reached Jena, a university city, where
they noted that the students wore swords and did
not reside in college. Here the two young men

46 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
from Oxford were regarded with some suspicion by
officials, who inquired as to their destination. To
the question why they wanted to go to Herrnhut,
their reply was, " To see the place where the
Christians live." At Halle they observed with
interest a large and well-managed orphanage;
while at Meissen they noted their disapproval of
the behaviour of the people in church. Dresden
they thought very fine, architecturally ; but Wesley
asked — as he often did in after life when a fine
palace or a noble mansion was shown to him — " Of
what good would be all these buildings to the owners
of them when the earth should be burned up? "
At last the travellers reached Herrnhut, thirty
miles beyond Dresden. They found it a pleasant
village of about one hundred dwellings, situate on
a fertile hillside. At once they attended some of
the Moravian gatherings — a Bible meeting and a
love-feast. Daily at five they found instituted an
open meeting, at which strangers were welcome;
and here the doctrine of justification was again
found to be the one constant topic. For several
days Wesley conversed with the more experienced
of the brethren, taking voluminous notes of all
they said for entry in his Journal.
This singular religious brotherhood, though hold
ing to many and special " means of grace " of their
own, were in no rivalry with the authorized Church
of the locality. On the contrary, they kept up
their allegiance as parishioners of Bertholdsdorf,
which was about a mile distant. The Sunday

A TRIP TO GERMANY. 47

worship and ritual of the parish church was thus
described by Wesley: "At nine began a long"
voluntary on the organ, closed with a hymn, which
was sung by all the people sitting ; in which pos
ture, as is the German custom, they sung all that
followed. Then the minister walked up to the
altar, bowed, sung these Latin words, ' Gloria in
excelsis Deo," bowed again, and went away. This
was followed by another hymn, sung, as before, to
the organ, by all the people. Then the minister
went to the altar again, bowed, sung a prayer, read
the Epistle, and went away. After a third hymn
was sung, he went a third time to the altar, sung
a versicle (to which all the people sung a response),
read the third chapter to the Eomans, and went
away. The people having then sung the Creed in
rhyme, he came and read the Gospel, all standing.
Another hymn - followed, which being ended, the
minister in the pulpit used a long extempore
prayer, and afterwards preached an hour and a
quarter on a verse of the Gospel. Then he read
a long intercession and a general thanksgiving,
which before twelve concluded the service."
On another day they witnessed the solemn in
terment of a child in "God's acre." Four times
they listened to discourses by Christian David, the
earliest planter of the settlement, who seems to
have been a man of no ordinary kind. He fully
unfolded to them the economy and purposes and
legal constitution of the place, and its relations to
Bertholdsdorf. Another brother, Gradin by name,

48 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
described to them in beautiful language that higher
Christian state, the instant attainment of which was
supposed to be the denoting mark of every genuine
Christian. Wesley would willingly have remained
longer amongst these interesting people, but the
impulse was strong within him towards work in
England. In September he returned by the same
route to England, much revived and strengthened,
ready to do and suffer all that might be designed
for him by Providence.
On reaching London, he sent to his hospitable
friends at Herrnhut a valedictory letter, passages
of which have some significance. This letter shows
that the Wesleys were then invited to preach in
some of the churches, and that even in those early
days there were many who took their part. It
observes in its language the distinction between
" ministers " of the Church and " teachers " of the
Presbyterian and other religious bodies — a distinc
tion of which Wesley could not lose sight. He
also wrote to Zinzendorf a letter, marked by much
friendliness and candour, which refers not only to
the Christian lives and characters of the Moravians
generally, but to several things visible amongst
them, of which the writer did not approve. Already
he saw that, under an attractive covering, there was
much that was unsound — not in doctrine only, but
in a tendency to foster " guile and dissimulation,"
and even worse evils.
In October, 1738, immediately after returning
from the German trip, Wesley preached at St.

A TRIP TO GERMANY. 49
George's (East), St. Antholin's, and the Savoy
Chapel. But there were some who suspected both
the brothers of " strange doctrine," and it became
necessary that they should give explanations to the
Bishop of London, the learned Dr. Gibson. The
bishop listened to and considered their statement.
" If by assurance," he said, " you mean an inward
persuasion whereby a man is conscious in himself,
after examining his life by the law of God and
weighing his own sincerity, that he is in a state of
salvation and acceptable, I do not see how any good
Christian can be without such assurance." A sus
picion of Antinomian tendencies they easily dis
pelled. The question of rebaptizing, which had
given them trouble in Georgia, then came up ; and
John Wesley even now signified his readiness to
rebaptize such as had only received irregular or
lay baptism. The brothers then asked advice and
information as to the law ecclesiastical. Was a
simple religious meeting a "conventicle"? The
bishop advised them to read and investigate such
matters for themselves; and he promised to listen
to no hasty or prejudiced stories in their disfavour,
and encouraged them to come to him again. So
ended a satisfactory interview, a minute report of
which would be infinitely more valuable than many
of those lengthy narratives which are preserved in
Wesley's Journals. Some weeks later, they had
another interview with the bishop, as to which far
too little is on record. He was kind and fatherly ;
he denied that he had spoken harshly of them ;
E

50 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
and he described their friend Whitefield as " pious
and well meaning, but too enthusiastic." About
this time they also waited on the primate, Dr.
Potter, who had known them at Oxford. He also
gave them friendly advice.
If the minds of the bishops were favourably
inclined, and if many of the clergy wished well
to the Methodist movement, why were not the
Wesleys kept within the system of the Church ?
To this question, now often and sorrowfully asked,
the answer is found in the history of the last cen
tury. Convocation had died out: and the idea
seems to have been lost of the Church as one grand
corporate body, deliberating and acting together for
the common good. Each prelate and each parochial
minister acted timorously, and on his own responsi
bility. There was no benefit of mutual consult
ation, and of concerted action. Only in our day
have the "sacred synods" been revived, and the
smaller assemblies for the diocese and the rural
deanery convened.
There being no opportunities of fair deliberation,
and very imperfect models of gaining information in
those days, there yfras much diversity of opinion
as to the nature/and tendencies of the movement ;
while there was no attempt tb\take it in hand and
give it.a--rfght direction. The first public criticism
worthy of the name now appeared in the form of a
sermon by the Eev. A. Bedford, preached in St.
Lawrence, Jewry, and widely circulated. It re
minded those who were in danger of the Moravian

A TRIP TO GERMANY. 51
errors that " assurance " is the privilege of few, and
that to profess it savoured of spiritual pride. Who
shall say that this warning and others were given in
vain ? It is undeniable that the Wesleys (whatever
many of their followers may have done) did not
themselves make any such profession, while they
looked with some suspicion on such as ventured to
make it.1
They were now busily engaged in London for
several months. Late in 1738, John Wesley
preached in the City and elsewhere. At Islington
parish church he was often found; and of this he
wrote : " We had the blessed Sacrament every day
this week, and were comforted on every side."
The religious society to which he now belonged
was composed of some Church-people who were to
a certain extent under Moravian influences. Its
members assembled every week in Fetter Lane ;
and its annals, although brief and stormy, are of
high interest in Methodist history. In March,
1739, the proposal was made that John Wesley
should depart for Bristol, where heathenism was
even more rampant than in London. The simple-
minded people at Fetter Lane could not readily
decide whether to allow of his going, and they
resorted to the ancient expedient of drawing lots.
On the same question they also had recourse to the
casual opening upon some one text of Scripture,
a practice which the earlier Journals of Wesley
show to have been most common. On this occasion
" » Tyer. i. 462.

52 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the texts opened on did not help them, being in no
way apposite. It was, however, resolved to allow
John Wesley to proceed westwards, where his friend
Whitefield had been for some time daily engaged
in preaching in the open air. The Bristol journey
has some importance, not only because it led to
the erection of the first of all the Wesleyan
chapels (" preaching-houses " they were then
called), but because Wesley there, for the first
time, preached with only the blue sky above him
for a ceiling.
Fetter Lane soon, however, found the want of his
directing hand ; and pressing letters told him that
all was in confusion. Again and again he en
deavoured to restore peace ; but his efforts were
frustrated by a newly arrived Moravian, Molther by
name, who openly scorned good works, and made
a jest of going to church. Anxious conversations
with this man only made it clearer to Wesley's
mind that continued union was impossible with such
as neglected public worship and spoke lightly of
the sacraments.
The year 1740 found the Wesleys trying to stay
the plague, as they called it — trying to convince
the little societies not only in Fetter Lane, but at
Beading and elsewhere, that contempt for worship,
for the ordinances, for the study of Holy Scripture,
really amounted to irreligion. In vain did John
read and enforce to them the Epistle of St. James ;
and in vain did Charles preach to them on sacra
mental doctrine. Their hearts were estranged, and

A TRIP TO GERMANY. 53
a complete and final severance between the Metho
dists and the Moravians was but a question of time.
On the 20th of July, 1740, things came to a crisis,
as John Wesley stood up in the midst of the
Fetter Lane assembly, and read a paper which he
had carefully drawn up, so as to express the points
of difference between them. He then left the room,
and with it all special leanings towards a system
which for nearly five years had dazzled a mental
eyesight usually strong. "I have not for many
years," he wrote in 1763, " thought a conscious
ness of acceptance to be essential to justifying
faith."1 Of the London Moravians little more need be
said. Wesley continued to think kindly of many
of them who were " simple and artless ; " but their
teachers — the Zinzendorfs and Molthers — he spoke
of as "no better than Protestant Jesuits." Count
Zinzendorf he regarded as half an impostor, and
as potent for mischief. " Cruel and deceitful men,"
and abounding in guile and selfishness, they ap
peared to him in later years.2
Even Bohler, whose conversations had been of
signal use to both the brothers, and who contrasts
favourably with other Moravians, shared to some
extent in the offences of Zinzendorf. He was com
promised, it seems, by "profane balderdash," which
rendered the very name of Moravian odious through
England.8 Bohler, of whom little more is heard,
1 Tyer. ii. 491. * Journal, ii. 28, 199, 204.
» Tyer. ii. 59, 156.

54 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
went to America ; and, later on, he returned to
London, where for many years he seems to have been
the pastor of a small congregation. The intercourse
between him and the Wesleys does not seem to
have been renewed, although a kindly feeling
towards him remained. Shortly before Bohler's
death in 1775, he received an affectionately worded
letter from John Wesley. He who wrote it, and he
who read it, must have been touched by the memory
of their walks together, and their earnest con
versations on spiritual matters thirty-seven years
earlier, when both of them were, according to the
testimony of the philosophic William Law, " extra
ordinary good young men."
A few words must be added on two of Wesley's
intimate friends and early companions in travel.
Mr. B. Ingham (of Queen's), who was at one time
a curate in Essex, was with the Wesleys in Georgia,
and he afterwards took a part, though not a leading
one, in the religious revival at home. In 1740 he
is found working amongst the ignorant and poor, in
an out-of-the-way part of Yorkshire. Consulted by
Wesley on a point of difficulty, he sent him a helpful
and suggestive letter,1 which may have been of use
against some of the dangerous tendencies of the
movement. After this, little is heard of this chosen
friend of Wesley's younger days.
Mr. C. Delamotte, a youth of good position and
much religious zeal, went also with the Wesleys to
Georgia, and he appears to have afterwards settled
1 Appendix V., " Ingham's Advice."

A TRIP TO GERMANY. 55
down near Hull, where John Wesley visited him
occasionally. In 1782, when both were old, his
friend described Delamotte as " the same loving,
simple man still." 1 Delamotte, who was junior to
Wesley, survived him about five years.
1 Journal, iv. 217.

56 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTEE VI.
THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN.
A minute survey of Wesley's opinions on doctrinal
matters, and of the sources whence he derived the
special portions of his own system, would be beyond
the scope of this volume. Incidentally, however, it
will be seen that he explored in many and opposite
quarters, and that he was often for ideas indebted to
those who might be regarded rather as adversaries
than as friends. His system, which was a composite
one, took some years for its completion ; but when
any portion was finished, there was no trace of a
weak desire for subsequent alterations. The work
proceeded slowly and with caution ; but once- done,
it was suffered to stand.
It was natural that the framer of a great religious
system should have had long training in theology.
Wesley began this study at Oxford in the year
1722. He finished it at Oxford in 1738, when he
finally examined the Homilies, the English writers,
and the Pauline epistles, as a verifying, and to some

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 57
extent also a rectifying process, after his discussions
with the Moravians on the doctrine of justification. 1
His mission, first to Bristol, then to the whole of
England and beyond it, was about to begin. Hence
forward he had no time for systematic study. To
the end of his days, indeed, he spent his spare half-
hours in reading books of all kinds, with more or
less of haste; and many hundreds of volumes he
skimmed over as he abridged them for the press.
But his full stature as a man of learning and a
theologian was already attained in the year 1738.
This statement finds ample confirmation by him
self. "Forty years ago," he wrote in 1778, "I
knew and preached every Christian doctrine which
I preach now." His sermons on the Eucharist
(1732) and on Christian perfection (1733) he did not
attempt to recast or to improve upon. Deeming
them complete, he simply reprinted and reissued
them in all the later years. In 1763 he wrote as
follows : — " I believe there will be found few, if any,
real contradictions in what I have published for
near thirty years." Strange to say, there are some
who, in the face of declarations such as these, con
tinue to assert that Wesley in middle age changed
his views on important points, both of doctrine and
of Church government.
For some years prior to 1738, there had been
witn him some fluctuation of view ; for example, as
to the interpretation of Scripture. He had strayed
amongst Genevan, and Lutheran, and Eoman writers,
1 Tysr. iii. 595.

58 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
and was not even content when Providence (as he
himself declared) led him to a safe guide. An
" entanglement " followed, his exact way of release
from which he declared his inability to describe.
The name of William Law again comes in view ;
for we are told that Wesley rejected "mysticism."
What he really rejected was only the mysticism of
writers who, like Behmen, slighted the ordinances
and the means of grace, and spoke contemptuously
of good works.1 In his later years, Law undoubtedly
became tinged with an advanced and dangerous
kind of mysticism, from which his earlier and more
famous treatises are wholly free. Of these latter,
Wesley remarked that they would " remain so long
as England stands, almost unequalled standards of
the strength and purity of the English language, as
well as of sound practical divinity." Law was not
only the writer by whom Wesley himself had been
so mightily influenced in 1727 ; he was, according
to most competent judgments, the forerunner of
the religious revival of the last century — " one who
did more to originate it than any other individual,
perhaps more than the others collectively." 2 It is
necessary to recall such passages of history, for a
loosely worded condemnation by Wesley of " mys
ticism" has led several writers into error. If
mysticism be indeed found in the earlier writings
of William Law, it is mysticism of a kind which
Wesley viewed with admiration. In the better
6ense of the word, therefore, he never rejected mystic
1 Tyer. i. 133. * Coke and Moore, 17-

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 59
influences. They always clung around the deeper
devotional language of the Wesleys.
We have seen that Wesley was at Oxford deeply
imbued with the ascetic spirit. Highly austere was
his standard, though he modified his own practices
to some degree when he entered into family and
social life. But this spirit pervades the later
volumes of the Journals, as it pervaded his in
structions to the preachers, and his rules for the
management of Kingswood School.
In the ordinary or modern sense of the word,
neither of the Wesleys was a Eitualist. In the last
century there were no English clergymen to whom
the word can properly be applied, though there
were some who strictly adhered to rules and rubrics.
The Wesleys were distinguished in this particular
way, probably at Oxford, and certainly in Georgia.
Throughout life they professed strong attachment
to the rules and rubrics of their Church ; and
although they did not in fact always conform, it
would be hard to condemn them of wilful and
intentional violation of a rule which they openly
and repeatedly professed.
In the Christian Church there always have been
those who have attached special importance to the
sacraments, as the ordinary channels of Divine
grace. Vulgarly, and by those who are not exact in
language, such are in our day called " Eitualists."
Taking instead the term "sacramentarian," by
which the earliest Methodists were known, it is
evident to all who are conversant with the early

60 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Wesleyan literature that, throughout life and to
their old age, the two brothers were as fully entitled
to that term as they had ever been in their Oxford
days. They wrote no new treatise on the Eucharist,
because they found one by Dr. Brevint, Dean of
Lincoln, clearly and carefully written many years
earlier, which exactly set forth their views. To
their edition of this they appended more than one
hundred of their sacramental hymns ; and of the
little volume so put together many editions were
issued.1 Briefly, this volume explained the nature
and effects of the Sacrament as a commemorative
or " representative sacrifice ; " while the hymns
set forth a "Beal Presence," but without any at
tempt to define its manner.
This volume, if not now out of circulation yet
extremely scarce, was dear to the early Methodists.
The very terms used by Dean Brevint may be
found in Wesley's own " New Testament Notes : "
" This sacrifice once offered is still represented."
Many entries in the printed journal also show the
old Methodist doctrine of the Eucharist.2
The sacrament of Baptism was also by the
Wesleys regarded as a " converting ordinance," in
1 " Few of the books which they published passed through so
many editions ; for the authors had succeeded in impressing upon
the minds of their societies the great importance of frequent
communion. They administered the Lord's Supper in London
every sabbath day." — Jackson's " C. Wesley," 181, 248.
2 Journal, iii. 148, 234, 279. See Appendix VI., " The Eucha-
ristical" volume.

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 61
which the inward grace accompanied the outward
sign.1 In his " New Testament Notes " 2 John Wesley
wrote that in the Primitive Church the pardon of
sins was not ordinarily conveyed in any other way ;
also that by means of being engrafted in baptism,
spiritual life is obtained. In 1756 Wesley repub
lished a tract written long before by his father,
which used in regard to the sacrament of Baptism
what to modern Methodists appears " strong and
startling language."3 One result, however, has
been to leave amongst modern Methodists complete
freedom of view as to the nature and effect of this
sacrament.4 The Wesleys were often accused of violating the
rules of their Church. Their answer always was
that they varied in nothing of moment. They had
" punctually observed the rubrics ; " " the Church
had nowhere forbidden outdoor preaching, or a
resort to lay helpers ; " " the doctrines they preached
were those of the Church." To such objectors they
further declared that they simply set forth "the
plain old religion of the Church, now everywhere
spoken against under the name of Methodism."
Towards the close of their labours they replied to
those who charged them with varying from the
Church: "In the course of fifty years they had
neither premeditately nor willingly varied from it
1 Journal, ii. 259, 368, 498 j also iv. 33. See Appendix VII.,
" Holy Baptism."
s Notes on Acts xxii. 16 ; also Rom. vi. 3.
• Tyer. ii. 264. * Rigg, 42.

62 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
[the Church] in one article of doctrine or discipline,"
although under stress of peculiar circumstances
they had felt themselves compelled to resort to a
iew irregularities. Lastly, in 1790, we find this :
r' The Methodists in general are members of the
Church of England ; they hold all her doctrines,
attend her services, and partake of her sacraments."
The Wesleys punctually observed the principal
feasts and fasts appointed by the Church.1 During
the festival days of Christmas, and during the
octave of Easter, they had " the Lord's Supper every
morning ; " and All Saints' Day John Wesley kept
with a special regard, which was often remarked
with some surprise in an age when such regard was
rare. It is unnecessary to add that the theory of
a National Church they approved, although they
deemed that special circumstances justified their
somewhat erratic behaviour towards their own.
John Wesley (the least rigid of the two) was " a
Tory in Church and State"— a High Churchman,
and the son of a High Churchman.2 Too much has
been made of some hasty words to the effect that
the establishment might fall for him— he would not
set it up nor pull it down. His meaning was rather
that his chief anxiety was for the Church as a
religious body— "the city of God "—and not as an
institution legally connected with the State.
The suggestion lately for the first time made that
John Wesley was as a Churchman " broad," like the
late Archdeacon Hare, raises a cluster of difficulties.
1 Journal, Christmas 1774, Easter 1777, etc. 2 Rigg, 72.

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 63

Wesley held to the verbal and literal inspiration of
the Bible, and to an eternity of future punishment.
He believed in the instant interposition, to check or
change the course of nature, of an ever-watchful
Providence. He believed in the special privileges
of an ordained priesthood, and in a supernatural
grace abiding in the sacraments. None of these
are notes of what is called "Broad Church." Passing
.on from doctrine to practice, we find that, like
Keble, whom he in many ways resembled, he loved
daily celebrations and very early services. He
insisted on free and open benches in his chapels,
so arranging the sexes as that they should be
separated during worship. Personally, he held
austere views as regarded amusements, expenditure,
and general self-denial ; and these he imposed on
his preachers, in the early years imposing on them
celibacy also.
Further to understand the somewhat composite
nature of Wesley's system, it is necessary to note
Wesley's introduction of usages which were never
before found in England. Some of them he bor
rowed from German Protestant sources. Very few,^
if any, did he borrow from the Church of Eome.
For the memory of many devout Eoman Catholics
he had reverence; but that Church had added to
" the things written in the Book," and all that he
wrote of her in her corporate character was un
favourable. He drew up a list of the points in
which he deemed that Church to have fallen into

serious error.

64 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
When convinced that he had in his early re
searches come too far down the stream, when satisfied
that even general Councils had gone astray, Wesley
went back to the days of the undivided or Primi
tive Church. Other national Churches might be
equally deserving of his study ; but the fullest details
had been preserved of the Church in North Africa,
over which St. Cyprian ruled. Therefore he took
this as the model for imitation, wherever he judged
it necessary to supplement the system of his own
Church. The example of the Church of Carthage
was ever present to his mind. When in the octave
of All Saints, or at Christmas, or in Easter-tide, he
daily administered the Holy Communion, he added
in his Journal that this was after the example of the
Primitive Church. So in numerous other instances.
The peculiar institutions of Methodism — such as lay
preaching, the issue of the quarterly class-tickets,
and of recommendatory notes on removal, the " love-
feasts" and the vigils or watch-nights — nearly all
of them may be found described more or less pre
cisely in such a work as Bingham's "Antiquities."
After primitive days there was, as he considered,
little beyond decay and declension in the Christian
Church — he only found divided councils and irreligi
ous rulers.1 Therefore he cared not to look for hints
or examples to the Church of the later centuries.
Of Wesley's attachment to his own English
Church, it is hardly necessary to say more than
th«t. the proofs of it lie broadcast through his
1 Journal, ii. 300.

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 65
Journals and all other writings. It was strong in
middle life as in the early days at Oxford : it was
in some respects stronger in his extreme age than
ever before.1
As to the attempts made to classify Wesley
amongst " High " or " Low " or " Broad " Churchmen,
they have necessarily failed. It is impossible
accurately to label the Churchman of one century
with one of the distinguishing titles which are in
vogue in another century. Wesley had derived his
opinions, and also his ideas of Church government,
from many sources; and was therefore in a high
degree eclectic. There are eminent prelates and
writers amongst us to whom the term may be
applied: but John Wesley, a century ago, stood
almost alone in this character.
The latest biographer has said that Wesley " was
a Puseyite a hundred years before Dr. Pusey
flourished." a The times were, however, different, and
other controversies occupied the minds of men. So
far as the analogy is complete (and it is by no
means a fanciful one), it is complete for the whole
lifetime of Wesley ; for, as we have seen, in all
material points the theology of the Oxford Eitualist,
and of the aged director of all the societies, was
unchanged and identical. When we are told that
during his Oxford life he was "under a singular
combination of influences, partly ritualistic, partly
mystical, and always ascetic,"8 it is well to re
member that not to John Wesley only throughout
1 Bigg, 45. » Tyer. i. 148. > Rigg, 25.
F

66 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
nis long career, but to many other eminent divines,
the same language may be applied. For himself,
more than once and in the plainest terms, he dis
claimed any change of views; while, during the
long span of sixty years, there was a singular uni
formity in his habits of thought, of speech, and of
daily life.
Although Wesley would hardly be called a
Eitualist now, he was scrupulous on some points of
ritual — at least, as careful as any of his cotem-
poraries. A memorandum in his own handwriting,1
which appears to have followed his final studies of
what the Anglican writers had said of the Councils,
runs thus : —
" I believe [myself] it a duty to observe, so far as 1
can [without breaking communion with my own
Church] —
"1. To baptise by immersion.
\ " 2. To use Water, Oblation of Elements, Invoca-
cation, Alms, a Prothesis? in the Eucharist,
; " 3. To pray for the faithful departed.
" 4. To pray standing on Sunday in Pentecost.
\ " 5. To observe Saturday and Sunday Pentecost as
festival.
| 'f 6. To abstain from blood, things strangled.
1 These papers were first mentioned in "Wesley's Place in
Church History " (1870) . They were preserved when Wesley more
than once looked through all his papers, and might have been pub.
lished, but for the curious ill fortune which befell the Wesley
manuscripts. See Appendix XT., " The Wesley MSS."
s i.e. Credence table.

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 67
"I think it prudent (our own Church not con
sidered) —
" 1. To observe the Stations.1
" 2. Lent, especially the Holy Week.
" 3. To turn to the east at the Creed,"
This document, which bears no date, is probably
little earlier or later than the year 1741. By that
time the studies in theology had been completed,
and the opinions of the student were settled. On
the same sheet of paper appears a list of thirty-four
families, probably visited by him about this time;
also notes, partly in Latin, partly in English, on the
Apostolical Canons and Constitutions. Other sheets
of paper of the same kind contain lists of names
of persons evidently near Bristol and Newcastle-on-
Tyne. It is therefore reasonable to ascribe all these
memoranda to the interval after the final studies
in theology, and several of them evidently date
from the rearrangement of the classes in 1742.
The Wesleys at all times held themselves to be
very strict Churchmen on the important points,
reserving to themselves (it must be owned) the
claim to say what was important. They were not
in maturer life so strict as regards rubrics as they
had been in Georgia. In 1755 John Wesley pon
dered over the rubrics and the Canons : — What did
they forbid ? Was the open disregard of some of
them by the authorities equivalent to a dispensa
tion from them? Card-playing was,_he remarked,
1 Partial fasts on Wednesday and Friday of each week, as
observed by the Primitive Church.

68 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY,
forbidden by the Canons, while field-preaching was
nowhere forbidden. Yet Church dignitaries, who
infringed the rules in many ways, were found to be
exacting and censorious where Methodism was con
cerned. Strict as the Wesleys were on some points,
there were doubtless by-rules and usages of their
Church which they little regarded. There were
also habits of obedience, and deference to the higher
authorities, in which they were no more cpnspicuous
as examples than are some energetic and eminent
clergymen of our own day.
John Wesley's opinions as to the nature and
authority of the Christian ministry were always of
the most definite kind. They were sharply brought
out into notice, as it became more necessary to
remind the growing body of the preachers that
their functions, although important, were not those
\ of the sacred ministry. They were "expounders,"
| or, as they would now be called, " lay readers." It
is said that towards the close of his life, Wesley
became, if possible, more resolute on this point;
certainly his expressions 1 were as strong as they could
be. Wesley doubted, however, if the threefold order
of the ministry, although found in the Holy Scrip
tures, was divinely appointed, and for all time.
\ His final theory of the episcopal office,2 derived, it
seems, from Stillingfleet's " Iremcon," was one which
1 In what is called the " Korah, Dathan, and Abiram Sermon."
See page 160.
2 New Testament Note on Acts xx. 17: "Perhaps a bishop
and his clergy resembled the reotor of a large parish and his
curates."

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 69

recognized Presbyterian orders as sufficient. This
opinion was not very decidedly expressed ; and he
declared episcopacy to be "both scriptural and apos
tolical." It appears to have been favoured by him
rather because the higher or Anglican view of episco
pacy logically excludes many of the reformed commu
nities, such as the Scottish kirk and the Lutherans.
At the end of 1745 their brother-in-law, Mr.
Hall, whom they knew to be " unstable as water,"
advised the Wesleys to secede from the Church.
He endeavoured to persuade them that regular
ordination conveyed no special authority to
minister. Their reply, drawn up with evident
care, gives the clearest sketch which appears in
any of their writings of the nature of an episcopal
Church, and of the authority of her ministers.
This, after being written by John Wesley (who
was somewhat less rigid on such points than his
brother), was placed in his Journal, where it has
always been reprinted. Some of the more im
portant passages run thus : —
" It would not be right for us to administer either
Baptism or the Lord's Supper, unless we had a com
mission so to do from those bishops whom we appre
hend to be in a succession from the Apostles.
"There is, and always was in every Christian
Church ... an outward priesthood . . . and an
outward sacrifice offered by men authorized to act,
as ambassadors of Christ and stewards of the
mysteries of God. 1 Tyer. ii. 244.

70 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
" The threefold order of ministers ... is not
only authorized by its apostolical institution, but
also by the written Word."
This important document proceeds to admit that
some of the minor rules and practices of the Church,
and especially of the ecclesiastical courts, were
indefensible. Stress has been laid by some writers upon a
certain essay by Peter King, which Wesley read
early in the year 1746, while on a journey to
Bristol. He then noted in his Journal King's
"supposition" (not proof) that the early bishops
were not of essentially different order to those
elders over whom they ruled. Evidently this view
is not inconsistent with an exalted estimate of the
office of presbyter, and of the " power of the keys."
It is easily explained by the fact that King was
a young student of a Presbyterian college when
he wrote the essay. In after life he altered his
views,1 became a Churchman, and, although not of
remarkable abilities, attained to the Chancellorship.
Peter King's juvenile essay deserved some notice,
for it described minutely that Primitive Church
which Wesley loved. In chapter iv. of the little
volume the author correctly states that in each
city there was a summus Saeerdos, or chief priest,
having authority over a number of inferior clergy.'
Anglicans will not, however, assent to the next
statement, or, as Wesley called it, "supposition,"
1 Hockin's essay, 3rd edition, 12. See Appendix VIIL, " Kind's
Essay." s

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 71
that though the elders were as assistants or curates
to the bishop, and were under his control, yet that
their inferiority was only one of station or degree,
the two orders being essentially equal. It would,
King added, have been " impudent and usurping
for a presbyter to exercise any function without the
bishop's leave." To intrude on the parish of
another was, he said, a " detestable act of schism,"
as well as a breach of peace, unity, and order.
Perhaps these latter passages may account for the
fact that Wesley rarely quoted from, and never repub
lished, this essay. He laid the book aside ; and the
next day we find him deep in Butler's " Analogy."
In the following year (1747) there appeared in
the Minutes of Conference several questions and
answers on this subject, drawn up, perhaps, not by
Wesley, but by an inferior hand. They possess for
any purpose little value or significance, except that
they contain an important admission. The threefold '
order of ministers was, they declared, plainly de
scribed in the New Testament, and they obtained
in all the Churches of the apostolic age. This
admission that episcopacy was always found in the
early Church repeatedly appears through the
Methodist annals; and none who could make i(
can fairly be styled a Presbyterian.
On one occasion Wesley inquired of a friend
whether a presbyter could ordain. He desired
advice, he said, being doubtful of his own under
standing. The " supposition " of Peter King he
doubtless had in his mind ; but he dared not to

72 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
accept it as a certainty, still less could he bring
himself to act upon it. His doubt was soon, as it
seems, resolved in the way of which all Churchmen
must approve; and for thirty years no more was
heard in Methodism of the supposed right of pres
byters to ordain.
More than once John Wesley (differing from his
brother Charles) threw doubt on the succession of
bishops from the apostolic days. His remarks on
this are not free from obscurity, as it may fairly
be contended that what he questioned was the
authenticity of__thg_ljst_of_the names of bishops
given for any one see, and not the fact ofThlTsuc-
cession itself; That a man, usually credulous to
a fault, should have been sceptical here and there,
is worthy of note : nor was his unwillingness to
accept the succession of bishops the only instance
of unreasonable doubt which we find in Wesley.
He refused to believe in that narrative of Captain
Cook's adventures in distant seas, which is now
accepted by all as perfectly true.1
If Wesley meant that the succession of bishops
is not to be proved as a problem of Euclid is
proved, he was doubtless right. But probabilities
enter largely into the conclusions arrived at in
daily life ; and even the courts of justice are ac
customed to act on many presumptions. Amongst
these is a presumption, having the force of a legal
rule, that things are presumed to have been rightly,
properly, and lawfully done. So strong is the pre-'
1 Journal, iv. 6.

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 73
sumption that every Christian bishop has been
duly consecrated by senior bishops, that even
Lord Macaulay, while quite indifferent as to the
doctrine of the succession, declared the fact of it to
be beyond question.1 He knew that the common
sense of mankind has always rejected the notion of
demanding slrict proof of ail the actual facts which
constitute heirship, pedigree, and the title to
possessions. In all such inquiries the evidence ac
cepted is that which Bishop Butler calls probable
evidence, as distinguished from demonstrative. On
evidence of the probable kind Christianity itself, to
a certain extent, bases her claims to acceptance ; and
there are few facts in the Christian history more
firmly established^fcrrau the succession of bishops in
office as ha^tdea down from the apostles. Whether
Wesley perceived this or not is, however, of little
moment, since he held most firmly to rules which
are quite sufficient to uphold an episcopal system.
There was, he held, a succession of ministers ; and
he held high views as to "the sacerdotal office."
Whether the senior ministers who ruled over the
rest were a distinct body, or whether (as Stilling-
fleet and Peter King thought) they differed in
seniority and not in intrinsic rank, was of small
moment, when the avowal was made, and always
adhered to, that the rule of bishops has prevailed
always — even from the apostolic age.
Lastly, we may observe in Wesley as a theologian
two distinguishing notes — his breadth of charity,
and his intense regard for the Holy Scriptures.
1 Letter in Clerical Journal, March 27, 1860, quoted by Hockin,

\

74 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
As he grew older, he attached less and less value
to mere opinions. In 1738 he had looked upon
exact views of the doctrine of justification as of great
moment. Years later, he came to look on this
rather as a matter of nomenclature. "Imputed
righteousness " and " justification by faith " he
found to be rather phrases than realities, as William
Law had told him long before ; and men who had
never heard of them, or who even denied them,
might be secure within the fold.1 What were these,
then, he aeked, but high-sounding forms of speech,
without determinate meaning ? Opinions were, he
s dd, little regarded in heaven. Many heretical per
sons had been highly favoured ; and with them he
hoped to sit down in the kingdom of his Father, On
Marcus Antoninus, and on other "seekers after God"
of old heathen days, gleams of the Divine favour
had rested ; and the Creator would certainly punish
no man for doing what he could not avoid, or for
omitting what he knew not of. In modern times
there had been true piety in the hearts and lives
of some who held very heterodox opinions. What
he longed to see was the work of faith, the patience
of hope, the labour of love. " Let my soul be with
these Christians," he said, " wheresoever they are,
and whatsoever opinions they are of." 2 Charming is
the brief note of a conversation which he held in 1760
with General Cavaignac, a French Eoman Catholic.
As the latter listened to Wesley, he said, more than
¦ Journal, iii. 294, 297. * Snuthey, ii. 67, 68.

THE ECLECTIC ANGLICAN. 75
once, and with emotion, " Why, this is my religion !
there is no true religion besides it ! "
Last in order, though first in importance, is
Wesley's supreme regard for Holy Scripture. He
firmly believed in the truth of every line, and every
word, of a book in which, he said, mistake was not
possible.1' Where the Book was silent, he looked for
guidance to the teaching and tradition of the early
Cliristian Church. But where the Book had spoken,
he accepted its utterance with the reverence due to
an authority paramount, and far above question.
His mental attitude towards the Book of all books
was expressed by himself 2 in these noble words : —
" I am a spirit come from God, and returning to
God. I want to know one thing — the way to
heaven. God Himself has condescended to teach
me the way. He hath written it down in a book.
0, give me that book ! at any price, give me the
book of God ! ... In His presence I read His book ;
for this end, to find the way to heaven. Is there a
doubt concerning the meaning of what I read ? I
lift up my heart to the Father of lights, and ask
Him to let me know His will. I then search after
and consider parallel passages of Scripture. I
meditate thereon with all the attention and earnest
ness of which my mind is capable. If any doubt
still remains, I consult those who are experienced in
the things of God ; and then the writings whereby,
being dead, they yet speak. And what I thus
learn, that I teach."
1 Journal, iv. 77. 2 Pref. to " Sermons," vol. i.

76 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTEE VII.
THE PARISH CHOSEN.
The year 1739 was spent at Bristol, a city which
Wesley always liked, and which may almost claim
to be the metropolis of old Methodism. He preached
at Clifton, and in some of the city churches; but
his labours were chiefly amongst such as had no
physician. The Kingswood collieries were at that
time some miles distant from any church, and their
population was more neglected than the Indians of
Georgia. George Whitefield, whose simple enthu
siastic nature had led him to preach amongst these
English heathens, now embarked for America ; and
his friend and elder now stepped into the gap, and
opened out at these collieries his mission, a mission
committed to him by no human hands. Now did
Wesley preach in open air for the first time, as his
friend had done.1 What at first seemed strange, and
even repugnant to his sense of decorum, soon became
1 Tyerman errs in calling this " a shocking departure from
Church rules." Outdoor preaching was once common, and the
Church has never spoken against it.

THE parish CHOSEN. 77
easy; and the habit so formed was never wholly
discontinued. This Kingswood campaign brought up many new
questions to his view. Whither was his call ? How
could he be most useful? Should he settle down
in one spot, like his brother clergy ? Should he, on
the contrary, carry the Good News into many other
parts of the land, at the risk of being pitied as an
enthusiast, and frowned at as an intruder ?
At this crisis of his public life Wesley wrote
down the reasons which influenced his decision.1
In substance they were as follows : — Church order,
which forbids intrusion into other parishes, must be
disregarded at a time of prevailing wickedness, with
which the Church is quite unable to grapple. " God
commands me," he said, "according to my power,
to instruct the ignorant and reform the wicked. . . .
I LOOK UPON ALL THE WORLD AS MY PARISH, N
thus far I mean, that in whatever part of it I am,
I judge it meet, right, and my bounden duty, to
declare unto all that are willing to hear, the glad
tidings of salvation."
To some who questioned the wisdom of this
resolve, he gave full reply. As to settling down
again at Oxford, he had neither pupils nor regular
duty in a college. As to taking a cure, none had
been offered him. As to preaching in churches,
the invitations were few — less frequent than for
merly. Available rooms or public halls were not
1 Journal, i. 189.

78 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
large enough to contain those who flocked to hear,
therefore open-air sermons were of necessity. This
preaching abroad, of which many of their friends
disapproved, was not from choice ; but it had done
much good, and therefore, at all risks, it must be
continued. The Wesleys declared that they had no
grudge against the authorities ; nor did they wish to
be rivals, much less opponents, of the parochial
clergy. Their only object was to show the way
of life to those who know not of it — to those who
would not, or could not, come into the churches.
Such was their excuse when they began their
irregular mission.
The state of England was certainly alarming.
Divine service was generally neglected, and (as we
have seen) devout students could not enter St.
Mary's without being jeered at by the idlers at the
church door. Few observers of the age were more
keen-witted than Oliver Goldsmith ; and this was
his account of the English people : —
" No person who has travelled will contradict mo
when I aver that the lower order of mankind in
other countries testify on every occasion the pro-
foundest awe of religion, while in England they are
scarcely awakened into a sense of its duties, even in
circumstances of the greatest distress. This disso
lute and fearless conduct, foreigners are apt to
attribute to climate and constitution. May not
the vulgar, being pretty much neglected in our
exhortations from the pulpit, be a conspiring cause ?
Our divines seldom stoop to their mean capacities ;

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 79

and they who want instruction most, find least in
our religious assemblies."
A committee of the House of Lords sat to inquire
into " the present notorious immorality and pro-
faneness," and the evidence brought before themN
was such that parts of it could not even be printed.
There was, according to such high authority, a
greater neglect of worship and a greater desecration
of Sunday than had ever been known in England.
Idleness, gambling, intoxication, had increased
- alarmingly. Beyond a full measure of crimes of
the kinds found all over Europe, England had
special disorders of her own — luxury, profanity,
open apostasy from the Christian faith.1 The Church
was then under many disabilities ; and it was found
almost impossible to plant new chapels, even where
the growth of population had rendered them neces
sary. Only in London was any organized and serious
effort made to increase the number of the churches.
Many of the bishops were absentees from their
dioceses ; and a large proportion of the clergy had
all the habits of country squires, and paid little
attention to their spiritual duties.
These facts must be weighed by such as incline
to censure the course taken by the Wesleys. Doubt
less the bishops gave to them full consideration ; for
not one member of the episcopal bench ever issued
an inhibition, or took any legal step to check the
proceedings of the Methodist clergy. There were,
indeed, remonstrances now and then on the part of
1 Tyer. i. 174, 503.

80 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Church dignitaries, against certain fanatical or wild
tendencies. Charges, sermons, and tracts contained
warnings against excess and over-enthusiasm. These
were of service in restraining the movement within
the bounds of reason and sobriety. But the asser-
i tion frequently met with, that the English Church
or that the bishops " cast out the Wesleys," can only
I now proceed from gross ignorance or from malice.
The movement had just begun, when the learned
Bishop Gibson sounded a note of warning in a
pastoral letter. It was written with Whitefield in
view, and not the Wesleys. Passages were quoted
showing that the former had laid claim to a new
inspiration, to the spirit of prophecy, and to an
extraordinary commission from heaven. Whitefield
was an ardent and impassioned speaker, rhetorical,
and little accustomed to weigh phrases which were
perhaps susceptible of an interpretation not intended
by him. His reply to the bishop was respectful and
quiet in tone. He denied that he had preached
any doctrine but that of the English Church, yet
he boldly put forward his claim to spread the Good
News amongst all men and everywhere, both in
season and out of season.
Just at this time John Wesley was sojourning in
Bristol, and was in communication with the bishop
of that diocese, who was uneasy as to the painful
scenes often witnessed at these revival sermons.
Hearers were convulsed and contorted, and there
were cries and groanings which were beyond any
control. Theee " strange scenes " have accompanied

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 81
revival services, even in our own time ; and they
have always had the effect of creating much doubt
and disapproval. That for some years these phe
nomena rendered Methodism an object of just
suspicion cannot be doubted. In this instance the
bishop of the diocese, disliking strange scenes
arising from over-excitement, gave Wesley a hint
that he had no duty in that locality. Wesley now
told the bishop that he had been ordained as a
fellow of a college, and not for any one parish.
His commission was in general terms — to preach in
the Church universal. Doubtless he bore in mind
the answer of Bishop Potter to the question put to
him at Oxford five years previously.1
Eight years later, Wesley had to vindicate his
course more elaborately, and in the form of a pam
phlet, for he was pointed at in an episcopal charge.
In powerful language did he plead the duty which
lay on him of doing his utmost to save " poor souls ^
for whom Christ died." At Moorfields (the favourite
place near London for open-air preaching) there
were, he said, ten thousand of such lost sheep. If
Dr. Bulkeley, the incumbent of that parish, would
see to them, he (Wesley) would go elsewhere and
call other sinners to repentance. In concluding
this apologetic letter to the aged bishop, Wesley
referred to the solemn responsibility which lay on
both of them in regard to such as were perishing
in their iniquity.2 In other places also Wesley
defended the line of action which he had taken with
' See page 20, ante. * Tyer. i. 563. G

82 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
much force and ingenuity. Open-air preaching was,
he said, resorted to by them, not from choice, but as
an expedient, and they kept to it simply because
by it they were able to reach those who could not
otherwise be reached. Surely preaching in this way
must be better than none ? 1 ' He often noted that
he preferred to preach in a church. Evidently it
was more regular and decorous, and there was a
freedom from noise and from the chance of wanton
interruption. On the other hand, as the celebrity
of the preacher grew, large crowds were gathered
when his arrival was made known, and the church,
even if placed at his disposal, was rarely large
enough. A market-place, or, better still, a capacious
town hall, was often chosen : and it was observed that
many persons listened there who would have re
fused to enter the doors of a church.2
Eesuming the chronological order of events, we
find that the learned Wheatley was amongst those
who criticized the Methodists, near the outset of
the movement. Some facts reached his ear which
led him to describe them as " rapturous enthusiasts."
He and other learned divines of his day had no
actual knowledge of that which they described, and
they did not foresee that, outliving its early period of
crude excitement, Methodism would become a steady
power in modern civilization, and a great fact in
religious history. Dr. Stebbing, about the same time,
published a sermon which contained earnest cautions
1 Journal, ii. 490 ; Coke and Moore, 146.
' Journal, ii. 52, 109, 158.

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 83
against " tumultuous assemblies " and " vain boast
ings." He also issued, through the medium of the
S.P.C.K., a warning to the Methodists, which could
not but have exerted a useful influence. This
writer was the first to point out that the laymen
concerned in the movement would grow opinionated
and proud of their own gifts, finding at length " the
pale of the Church too strait for them."
That warnings of this kind were excusable, and
were even necessary, is clear from candid state
ments by Wesley himself. When he preached, at
Bristol or elsewhere, many of his hearers sank to
the floor in " violent agonies " or convulsions. If
of the stronger sex, they often roared loudly ; and
the scene defied description when many of such
cases were found together. The Wesleys could not
understand these phenomena — were inclined to at
tribute them to Satanic power ; in any case, regarded
them as permitted by Providence. They had, they
said, no right to dictate the mode of the reception
of their message, and its effects on hearers. For
such reasons, though not personally encouraging
the " strange scenes," they did not set their faces
with firmness against them. It is important to add
that St. Cyprian, whom they professed to follow,
always claimed for the Church of his day the power
of casting out devils. He described the howling
and groaning as the evil spirits were ejected from
the possessed persons, when adjured, and in answer
to prayer. Only after the lapse of years did the
Wesleys fully realize the truth that a good work may

84 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
equally proceed "in quietness and confidence,"
without physical excitement or factitious uproar.
The verdict to be passed on these special incidents
of the movement must be unfavourable. They had,
moreover, the undoubted effect of arraying in
opposition to it most of the learned and eminent
divines of the period, who were apt to mistrust
" rapturous enthusiasts." The bishops, who were
always courteous to the Wesleys, and tolerant of
their peculiarities, could not but hesitate to approve
of a movement marked by such wild occurrences.
They were naturally at a loss to reply when the
Wesleys consulted them, " for they did not like to
sanction irregularities, or to deal harshly with men
whose intentions were pure, and whose Churchman
ship was indisputable." x To open-air preaching
there could, of course, be little demur, since there
was no law against it, but many precedents for it,
both in Scripture and in modern Church history.
The mission was not only to the degraded popu
lation of the colliery districts ; it also involved a
gathering up of those religious societies which had
existed for nearly half a century, and were still
found in many parts of the kingdom. There were
not a few of these societies remaining, though some
had come to an end, while others had developed
into great associations — the S.P.G. and S.P.C.K.
Still there were religious societies — inner circles
within the Church — which welcomed the movement,
and with which Wesley was in close intercourse in
1 Jackson's " C. Wesley."

THE PARISH CHOSEN.

London and elsewhere. One important part of his
work was to gather up these scattered threads into
one ; and hence the phrase " The United Societies,"
which was commonly used in the last century in
reference to Wesley's new brotherhood.1 Eooms
suitable for their meetings were with difficulty
found ; and one by one large, but simply planned
and inexpensive, " preaching-houses " were erected.
In 1739 the first of them was built, under John
Wesley's direction, in the horse-fair of Bristol. In
the same year he purchased an extensive but ruinous
shed in Windmill Street, near Finsbury Square,
which, having been formerly used for the casting
of guns, was known, aud will always in history be
known, as " The Foundry." This became the head
quarters of Wesley, and the chief meeting-place of
the London Methodists. It was thoroughly re
paired, and on the 23rd of July, 1740, Wesley and
the other seceders from Fetter Lane met here for
the first time. The arrangements were of the
simplest and severest kind, plain benches only
being provided. There were no pews for those who
disliked " plain benches ; " and, in truth, there were
few Methodists in those early days who were not of
the poorer ranks. This was what would now be
called a mission chapel, of humble pretensions, with
rooms adjoining in which the classes met, and other
1 The Church societies which were in the end absorbed by
Methodism have been described frequently. See Church Congress
Report, 1868, p. 185 ; see also Appendix III., " The Religious
Societies."

86 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
rooms adapted as residences. Here John Wesley
lived (when in London) for more than thirty years-
Daily at 5 a.m. a bell rang for the early service ,
and again it rang at nine in the evening. The
Methodists were all expected and enjoined to attend
their parish churches on the Sunday, especially
when there was to be an administration of Holy
Communion. In no sense was there any rivalry
with the parish church, their own system being in
all ways but supplementary. The devotions of the
I old Methodist chapels " were meant to be a mere
; supplement to the more perfect devotional service
, of the Church ; " 1 and the hours were arranged with
i this object strictly in view. In very rare cases was
; the service allowed during church hours. This was
! contrary to general rule, and Wesley always dis-
; approved of it : " We have profited nothing by our
service in church hours. ... I do not know that
I it has done more good anywhere in England." 2
The Foundry was an important place, as the centre
of Methodistic life ; but Wesley only bestowed on
it a share of his time and attention. Frequently
did he traverse the road between London and
Bristol, even when the Foundry was but newly
open; for the Moravian leaven had been at work
amongst the societies,8 and there were threatenings
of Antinomian danger. No sooner was this anxiety
1 Tyer. ii. 576.
! Journal, iv. 387. This, of course, does not apply to the two or
three chapels in which the services were conducted by clergymen.
3 Tyer. i. 320.

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 87
at an end, than a great dispute arose amongst the
Methodists, some of whom held Arminian and some
Calvinistic views. Election, Predestination, Free
Grace : these terms, little heard now, towards the
middle of the last century had in all religious circles
become familiar as household words. They were
inscribed on the banners of large armies of dis
putants. Wesley had always been a firm Arminian ;
more than this, he was an obstinate and pugnacious
Arminian. He was incapable of any disguise ; and
some of his outspoken phrases were painful to
Whitefield, who was Calvinistic, though he had
never read the writings of John Calvin. He re
ceived from Whitefield a letter, which was one long
cry of sorrow, imploring him, with many protesta
tions of humility and love, to shun " the decrees,''
and so avert a public severance between them.
Other letters passed between these two; but the
chasm was daily widening, and it soon became
manifest to all. As the logomachy, or war of words,
proceeded, there was some loss of temper, and a
much greater loss of time and energy. In 1741
came the final separation, the Methodists forming
themselves into two camps. The Calvinists followed
Whitefield, and spread rapidly in Wales, but have
never been so strong in England. They may, how
ever, claim the limited but highly respectable
religious community which still bears the name of
Selina, Countess of Huntingdon; and they have
leavened all the ranks of Independency. The Ar-
minians — that is to say, those who held that all the

88 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
children of Adam may be saved if they will — adhered
to the Wesleys : and it so happens that those who
have split off into new Methodist bodies from time
to time, have always firmly held Arminian views.
These disputes need not be enlarged upon, although
it will be necessary to glance hereafter at the part
taken in them, twenty years later, by Fletcher of
Madeley. The period 1740-1742 is marked by the arrange
ment and consolidation of " the United Societies,"
which at a later period took the name of him who
was their re-constructor, and in this sense their
founder. Many were already in existence. As to
the whole, he now combined, enlarged, reorganized,
and ruled over them. The " classes " were divided
or more carefully organized, first in Bristol, after
wards in other places. Wesley placed over each a
trusted lay follower as "leader." It was the duty
of the leader to meet the others once a week, to
pray with them, and to give them advice and, if
necessary, reproof. The leader also received from
each that stated weekly contribution which has been
a powerful factor in the system. Once a quarter
each class was visited by Wesley or one of his
assistants. Lists, in Wesley's handwriting, of the
members of society in various places, which appear
to have been made about this time, show the atten
tion to details which marked his character.1
About this time Wesley, referring to the many
places in which the churches were not thrown open
1 See Appendix XL, " The Wesley MSS."

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 89
to them, addressed the clergy thus : — " We do not
desire any of you to let us preach in your church
either if you believe us to preach false doctrine, or
if you have the least scruple ; " and he proceeded
to explain that their inability to preach in the
churches left them, as they considered, no choice
but to preach in the open air or in private houses.
It would not be correct to say that the Wesleys
were, even at this early time, when their motives
were misunderstood, systematically excluded from
the churches. The truth was, that the clergy
generally regarded their movement in a doubtful
rather than in a hostile spirit ; while in many places
great courtesy was shown to them. Charles Wes
ley's visit to Yorkshire in 1743 well illustrates the
different kinds of treatment experienced. At Shef- "
field the mob pulled down the preaching-house.
Charley Wesley, who was very unlikely to make so
grave an accusation without reason, attributed this
to the open hostility of the parochial clergy. On
reaching Leeds all was changed; the clergy pro
bably wishing to mark their disapproval of what
had occurred at Sheffield. Five of them who were '
at the old church treated him with marked atten
tion, and they requested him to assist in the Cele
bration. The " watch-night " at first was observed one
evening of every month ; but these unseasonable
gatherings gave rise to idle gossip. Ultimately the
last night only in each year was kept as a watch-
night. The solemnity and appropriateness of such

90 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
a service has always drawn to it many who take no
part in other Methodist services, and it has led to
imitation in many and opposite quarters.
Wesley now opened a dispensary for the poor,
and at a later period a loan fund. In the Foundry
premises he opened that bookselling department
which every year became more important and re
munerative. Wesley's Journals and his sermons,
tracts, and other writings ; the hymns of his brother,
very numerous, and published in various forms ;
many other works, large and small, some of them
original, but more frequently compilations or abridg
ments — all these increased, and were in requisition
all over the land. The " book-room" was really a
j very large publishing business, of which, however,
Wesley never personally received any of the growing
profits. It is needless to multiply proofs of a talent
for organizing and directing which has rarely been
equalled. The Methodist doctrineyol " perfection " cannot
be wholly overlooked in/any survey of the move
ment. " Sinless perfection," it was called by White-
field and by others ; but Wesley himself never used
a term for which there seems to be no authority.
It is perhaps unfortunate that he brought the word
" perfection " inro common use, for there never was
a clear defymion of its meaning.1 As John ex
plained if/4here were hundreds of excellent men
and women known to him, to whom the word might
1 " His statements Nd: this dootrine . . . appear to be philo-
Bophically obscure, if noksometimes inconsistent." — Rigg, 39.

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 91

be applied. Charles, as he was accustomed to set
the standard higher, could never find any whom he
regarded as perfect. Yet the doctrine'was preached
from all Methodist pulpits ; and it was regarded as
something specially committed to their trust. Here
a phrase was invested with undue importance, it
not being remembered that the thing signified by
the phrase had always been found in the teaching
of the Church, and often exemplified in the lives of
her sons. Wesley's adversaries in the polemical
field chose to misrepresent the doctrine ; and some
of his own people thought and spoke of it in a way
of which he could not approve. But, apart from
the incautious use of a misleading word, there
seems to have been little of substantial error in
the Methodistic teaching. The learned Bishop
Gibson was satisfied with the explanations which
Wesley gave on this point, and advised him to
explain his doctrine of perfection more clearly, for
the benefit of others. We have seen that Wesley
did not hold himself up as an example of the higher
Christian life, while he looked with some suspicion
on others who did so. In his opinion the saintly
life had in modern times been exemplified by De
Eenty, whose Christian zeal and charity were abso
lutely without limit, and whose life was that of an
ascetic. He also spoke with praise almost enthusi
astic of Madame Guyon, and of Fenelon and some
other eminent Eoman Catholics. Their Church he
did not profess to admire ; but as he grew older he
thought less of the opinions held, and more of the
Christian life shown forth.

92 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

At first sight it appears strange that the Wesleys,
who were thoroughly imbued with the principles of
the Anglican Eeformation, should have been widely
suspected, and openly accused, of "popery." The
times were not favourable to the rapid spread of
correct information. Any strange and absurd delu
sion, if once started, had a long run, and was with
difficulty in the end overtaken. The word ritual
ism was unused and almost unknown ; and re
ligious innovators of the time of the second George
were readily spoken of as " papists." No divine of
that or any other century brought in more " inno
vations " than John Wesley ; and both their origin
and their object were thoroughly misunderstood by
the general public.
The sacranrental teaching of the brothers, and
the austere habits which they recommended to
others, and themselves practised in an age of
luxury, had much \o do with the accusation of
popery. Their services at unusual hours, very
early and very late; their select band-meetings,
around which was an aik of mystery ; their fre
quent Eucharists, and theiVprayers for the faithful
dead — all helped to foster thNe delusion. For many
years they were suspected oX belonging to some
Eomanist order ; and even educated persons shared
in this curious error. When th\ uprising of the
friends of the young Prince Charles Edward caused
a panic, some magistrates suspected Wesley of com
plicity in the plot matured at St. Sermains ; and
he was solemnly questioned as to hrls loyalty, and

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 93
his willingness to sign the " declaration against
popery." He at once professed his readiness to
comply, and was not further troubled.
Of those who helped to attach this suspicion
upon the Wesleys and their movement, the most
important was Bishop Lavington, of Exeter. In
1749 he published, without prefixing his name,
a book against this "dangerous and presumptuous
sect." They were, he fancied, doing the work of the
Eoman Catholics, with whom they had so much in
common. Eeplies quickly appeared, at first by
Whitefield and Perronet. Lastly, John Wesley re
sponded/but not with his accustomed calmness and
urbanity. His reply, printed in 1750, made far too
much of the fact that the bishop's criticism was
anonymous. In truth, Wesley himself is stated to
have at least once withheld his name while making
a sharp controversial attack.1 He was, however, not
far wide of the truth, when he said that the bishop
knew little or nothing about Methodism. It is
gratifying to find that twelve years later Wesley
met his old antagonist in the cathedral of Exeter.
The sermon on that day, and the playing of the
organ, he praised ; but, above all, he rejoiced to
meet at the Lord's Table the bishop ; and in a fine
spirit he closed the entry in his Journal with the
words, " 0, may we sit down together in the king
dom of our Father ! " 2
Of the details of the system so consolidated
between the years 1739 and 1742, little more may
1 Tyer. ii. 93, 96. * August 29, 1762.

94 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
here be said. There is, however, one point — the
employment of lay preachers — one then regarded as
of novelty and importance, which cannot be passed
over, even in the briefest sketch of Methodism.
Whitefield had accepted the aid of some lay
preachers in 1739. Two of them, Messrs. Cennick
and Humphreys, for a time helped Wesley in the
western counties ; but they soon left him, being
strong adherents of Calvinism. The first lay
preacher, of Wesley's own following, and after the
separation from Whitefield, appears to have been
Thomas Maxfield. His help in the pulpit of the
Foundry was, after full consideration of the step,
accepted heartily by John Wesley, and more doubt
fully by his brother. If they could have obtained
a sufficient number of clerical assistants, the case
would have presented itself differently to their
minds. But at this time very few of the clergy
regarded the movement with favour ; nothing,
therefore, remained (as they argued) but to select
laymen of suitable " gifts and graces," laborious
and zealous, fitted " to give help to the poor sheep
whose shepherds heeded them not."
The number of the lay preachers increased
rapidly ; and before long Wesley distributed them
all over England. They were sent out two and
two, and were stationed for a year at a time in
their "circuit" or definite tract of country. At
first the circuits were very large, but there has been
a process of subdivision always going on. London
and Bristol held their original position as the chief

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 95

centres, receiving a large portion of the personal
attention of the Wesleys. Next in importance
came Newcastle-on-Tyne, a place for which Wesley
always had a special regard.
Of his first visit to Newcastle and the North, of
his sermons delivered " near the pump in Sandgate,"
and on the hill close to the hospital, graphic ac
counts by contemporaries have been preserved.1
He often revisited the town, being warmly welcomed
there, and finding, year after year, a more rapid
increase in the number of his adherents than in
other towns.
On his way southwards, he remained some days
at Epworth. The rector is not mentioned ; and
Mr. Eumley, whose name so often appears in the
Journals, was probably the curate-in-charge. Wesley
was not permitted to preach in the well-remembered
church of his younger days ; but in the church
yard, and standing on his father's tomb, he ad
dressed the largest throng ever seen in the village.2
The scene was affecting, as old familiar faces were
reoognized, and many sad recollections awakened.
" Let no one," he wrote in his Journal, " think his
labour is lost, because the fruit does not imme
diately appear. Nearly forty years did my father
labour here, but he saw little fruit of all his
labours. I took some pains among this people too.
. . . Now the fruit appears." His own relatives
1 Tyer. i. 386.
s This scene appears on the marble memorial in Westminster
Abbey.

)

96 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
had left the place, but he found Mr. Whitelamb,
who had married one of the sisters, and who was
now serving in that quiet village of Wroote, where
John Wesley thirteen years before had held his
only curacy. Whitelamb was delighted to renew
the intercourse with Wesley, whom he described in
a letter " as heretofore the gentleman, the friend,
the brother, and the Christian."
The venerable Mrs. Susanna Wesley died shortly
after her son's return from this northern journey.
He read the service at her interment in the adjacent
cemetery of Bunhill Fields, where her tomb may be
seen. Methodism was now — amidst evil report and good
report — becoming a fact in English history.
Pamphlets attacking or defending it became nume
rous. The " United Societies " became prominent
in the larger towns ; and their modest preaching-
houses, for the early and the late services, multi
plied on all sides. That public attention was drawn
to them appeared from the announcement of a new
farce, thus entitled, " Trick upon Trick, or Metho
dism Displayed." The clergy were much divided in
opinion, but most of them were quiet, tolerant, and
observant. There were some exceptions. At Ep
worth the curate would not allow John to come
to the Holy Table ; while at Bristol, a like indig
nity was cast upon Charles, and on some of those
devout and reclaimed colliery men of Kingswood
who owed so much to the irregular mission.
Charles Wesley, rigidly attached as he was to

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 97
Churoh order, deemed this a sufficient excuse for
himself administering the Sacrament to them in the
preaching-house. In many other places the Metho
dists were frowned upon, and " preached at," by the
parochial clergy. Equally hostile were some of the
Dissenting ministers.1 One of the latter, doubtless
misled by Wesley's well-known tendencies towards
"asceticism and ritualism," publicly declared that
Methodism was " but a new form of popery."
The first of the series of annual Conferences of the
Methodistic clergy took place in London at the end
of June, 1744. It was attended by the two Wesleys,
and by four of their clerical friends — Messrs. Piers,
Hodges, Meriton, and Taylor.2 They spent several
days in deliberation and in prayer ; and there was
an administration of Holy Communion to all the
London societies, then estimated at 2000 persons.
Amongst the resolutions passed at this first Con
ference was one binding them to fidelity to the
Church. Eules were drawn up for the guidance of
the lay preachers, and of those inner band-societies
which were selected from the general body of the
Methodists. In 1745, a time of great public anxiety, Wesley
went again to Newcastle. The news of the defeat
of the king's troops at Preston Pans, in Scotland, had
led to new warlike preparations, and a royal army
• Journal, March 12th and 28th, 1743.
1 The last named a descendant of Rowland Taylor, burnt in
the Marian persecntion. Four out of the forty lay preachers were
also present at the first Conference. — Tyer. i. 442. H

98 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
was encamped near the Tyne. Wesley did not omit
to preach in the camp ; and to the Hanoverian
soldiers, who could not understand the sermon, he
afterwards addressed some exhortations in their own
tongue. By this time Wesley's labours were marked by
some uniformity of system ; his tours of direction of
the societies began to be marked out with regularity,
so that his adherents through the land might almost
know when to expect his presence. Bristol and
Newcastle always were favoured spots. Other cities
of equal importance saw much less of Wesley.
Even Birmingham and Liverpool are rarely men
tioned in the Journals— the people there were less
sympathetic — and he did not feel at home in a town
which, like Yarmouth, appeared to him a "cold,
uncomfortable place." His happiest days were
spent where the people were hearty and enthusiastic.
Such a district was Cornwall, where Methodism took
root as in congenial soil. Amongst English towns,
there was perhaps none where Wesley felt more at
home than Macclesfield. The hearty welcome there,
followed by lively and crowded services, made
Wesley's frequent visits the chief events in the
annals of the town. Of his journeys to Scotland and
Ireland mention is made in subsequent chapters.
For twenty years or more these English tours of
inspection were mostly performed on horseback, the
"machine" or stage-coach being sometimes used.
Wesley had some wonderful escapes, for he was a
careless rider ; and, neglecting his reins, he held in

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 99
one hand a book, in the other a pencil, while on the
road. His Journal contains many of those adven
tures which an ardent and too hasty traveller on
indifferent highways could not but meet with ; and
they were such as to confirm his own belief in a
special protection of Providence. The work under
taken on these tours was of the most unremitting
kind. His arrival in any town, whether expected or
not, was quickly made known to all ; and on the
same evening a crowd assembled in the town-hall, or
in the market-place, and he rarely omitted to preach.
There were also the classes to visit, and interviews
to be held with the chief members of the society.
All this time a large correspondence was kept up on
all kinds of topics. Frequently differences had to
be inquired into and adjusted, and a variety of
other matters, both spiritual and temporal, duly
attended to. It is no exaggeration to say that so
long as he lived Wesley was the autocrat and
arbiter, to whom everything was referred, and whose
decision was accepted always with willingness, and
during his last years with a kind of reverence with
out parallel in English history.
Of quiet days John Wesley had few ; but he
required them less than other men. Now and then
he retreated to the vicarage of Shoreham (Kent),
and spent a tranquil day with his adviser, Vincent
Perronet. In his old age he is found now and then
in other calm resting-places, at Balham and at
Lewisham. But these days of leisure were ex
ceptional. Firmly knit and strong in texture,

100 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
bodily and mental, he had a capacity for hard and
continuous work, such as is rarely met with.
An interesting episode of his middle age was a
long correspondence with "Mr. Smith," who was
really Dr. Seeker, Bishop of Oxford, and afterwards
primate. The letters are on various matters,
doctrinal and practical, and seem to have been
mutually edifying. They would now be called
" heavy reading ; " and having been printed but
once, as a ponderous supplement to the Life of
Wesley by Henry Moore, they are not now readily
met with.
In 1747 there were indications of an altered tone
on the part of some of the clergy. They had
watched the movement, and they found all reason
to approve of its results, especially in the lower
ranks of society, where its influence was mainly
shown. The convulsions and shoutings of the con
verts, which had marred the early stage of the
movement, were now rarely met with. Wesley
formed a friendship with the Eev. E. T. Bateman,
the Eector of St. Bartholomew's, and was invited to
preach in that church. One of the churchwardens
was timorous, and thought it necessary to exercise
his right of consulting the bishop, before admitting
to the pulpit an unbeneficed and unlicensed clergy
man. The bishop saw no reason to interfere : " Mr.
Wesley was a regular clergyman, and under no
'ecclesiastical censure." So the question dropped,
never to be revived, nor was inhibition ever issued
in any diocese. This marks the beginning of a

THE PARISH CHOSEN. 101
changed attitude on the part of the clergy, who had
for some years given Wesley few invitations to preach
in their churches. The results of some years of
Methodist labours were now before reflective persons,
and there was a visible improvement in the populace.
A single page of Wesley's Journal of 1747 — a year
which seems to have been in some ways a turning-
point — contains three significant entries.
A Captain H  , who had up to this time been
strongly prejudiced against Wesley, now sent, re
questing to see him. On the next day, at Moor
fields, there was an improvement in the behaviour
of the crowd, chiefly of the lowest kind of people,
who gathered around the preacher. On the 12th of
June, Wesley preached at St. Bartholomew's, where
he remarked that "deep attention sat on every face."
The seed-time had been long and anxious, but
the harvest now began to show itself.

102 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTEE VIII.
A TIME OF PERSECUTION.
It is necessary, diverting the strict chronological
order, to glance at some troubles which in the year
1743 beset the course of the Wesleys. Persecution
has in all ages been a test of earnestness, and a
benefit to the Christian Church. Purified by per
secution, the Church of the first three centuries was
enabled to set to all succeeding ages a bright
example, the perfect following of which has rarely
been attempted, and perhaps never with success.
A persecuted Church has always found sympathizers,
and the bystanders, touched in their hearts, in time
have furnished new adherents.
Early in their career the Wesleys took note of
Staffordshire, as containing some very neglected and
godless districts. Even now portions of the " Black
Country " have an indifferent repute. A century
since, the state of things was worse ; and at the fre
quent fairs and wakes there were scenes of disorder
of the wildest kind. Bull-baiting was a common
amusement, and cock-fighting brought together

A TIME OF PERSECUTION. 103
large and excited crowds. The moral condition of
the working people may be imagined, and to amend
it the Wesleys had made some efforts before May,
1743, when the riots broke out. At Wednesbury
the seeds of trouble appear to have been sown by
Williams, an injudicious adherent, who was said to
have vilified the clergy, and to have thereby set the
minds of the vicar and many of the inhabitants
against the Methodists. Whatever the true ex
planation, when Charles Wesley arrived the storm
broke over him and his friends. There was some
organization amongst the enemy, for in several of
the Staffordshire towns the mob resolved that there
should be no more preaching. They threw volleys
of stones, and they threatened with death or violence
all who opposed their will. The windows and even
the roofs of the preaching-houses were shattered ;
and many of the houses of the Methodists were
entered and ransacked.
The accounts of these riots have been so fully
p:iven that the story need not be here repeated.
While they lasted they were very dangerous to
life and limb; yet it is clear that they would
have been put an end to speedily but for the
weakness of the magistrates. A few of these,
perhaps, were willing that the riots should succeed
in crushing out Methodism. Two of the clergy are
said to have openly encouraged the rioters. When
the news of the outbreak in Staffordshire reached
John Wesley, with his usual courage he hastened to
the spot. In vain he demanded for the insulted

104 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
and outraged Methodists the protection of the law ;
the indolent and unworthy magistrates would do
nothing. His escape from personal injury in these
riots was so extraordinary as to appear to, some
miraculous. It may be partly, not altogether, ac
counted for by his gift of personal influence. A
word, or even a look, from him had power to soften
an enemy, and change him into a friend. The ring
leader of the angry mob in Staffordshire thus
changed his tone suddenly, swore to protect the
man whom he had just been threatening, and rescued
him from a position of actual danger. These Stafford
shire disturbances lasted, though not with their
first intensity, for some months. Describing the
fiercer form of opposition, Wesley made it clear
that to the denial of justice by its appointed
guardians was to be set down these continued
scandals. " We continued," he afterwards said, " to
call sinners to repentance in London, Bristol, Bath,
and a few other places; but it was not without
violent opposition both from high and low, learned
and unlearned." In 1744 some of the sufferers,
while drawing up their narrative of the persecution,
wrote in the spirit of early martyrs : " We are
nothing terrified by our adversaries. God grant we
may endure to the end ! "
But such outrages were not limited to the Black
Country, or even to Walsall and Birmingham, and
the other towns on its confines. At St. Ives, in
Cornwall, a mob rushed into the room where Charles
Wesley was holding a service, threatened to murder

A TIME OF PERSECUTION. 105
him and his hearers, and actually beat and trampled
on many of them. Mr. Hoblin, a neighbouring
curate, had been heard to use abusive language, and
the rioters felt encouraged. At last the mayor
manfully declared that no man's malice should
hinder him of his duty ; and, in spite of the curate,
he enrolled constables, and restored peace to the
town. At Sheffield, where a mob was actually
allowed to pull down the preaching-house, the
magistrates, by reason of their gross neglect of duty,
were, by legal process, compelled to make good the
damage. This example had a good effect on the
minds of other magistrates.
At Hull, in 1752, Wesley's lodgings were attacked
by a mob, and volleys both of stones and of curses
were showered in upon him through the broken
windows, until midnight. At Manchester the mob
was kept in check by the magistrates, who were more
alive to their duties than their brethren had been at
Sheffield. In Dublin opposition of the violent kind
came to an end when several rioters were arrested
and committed for trial. Though a conviction did
not follow, peace was restored ; and Wesley and his
friends could again walk unmolested through the
streets. So late as the year 1768, Wesley remarked
that the roughs, or, as he termed them, " the beasts
ofthe people," at Gloucester were only tamed by the
magistrates, who were quite able, he said, to pre
serve quiet everywhere if they chose.
Persecution of the sharper kind was therefore
stopped wherever the local authorities performed

106 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
their duty. At Epworth the hostility of the curate
has already been mentioned. At the same village
John Wesley's preaching was once stopped by an
invasion of drunken and noisy men, led by "a kind
of gentleman," who stirred the courage of his
followers by means of a French horn. At Halifax,
in the year 1772, a man struck the venerable
preacher in the face ; but long before this time con
certed opposition had everywhere come to an end,
outrages being now casual and unfrequent. There
were, however, milder forms of persecution which
are noticed in the annals. Some one discovered
that the press-gang, by means of which the king's
regiments and ships of those days were manned,
might be used to vex the lay preachers. Several
of them were actually " impressed " and sent away
to foreign service. In course of time, the injuries
which the law had caused, or which the law failed to
redress, came to an end ; but the tribunals and the
legislature were proverbially slow, and in the mean
time a sense of unredressed hardship did much to
alienate the Methodists from the National Church.
The intolerant spirit was shown in 1768, when
six students, otherwise well behaved, were actually
expelled from St. Edmund's Hall, Oxford, for no
other crime than sympathy with Methodism, and
suspicion of being helped in their career by the good
Countess of Huntingdon.1
There was another mode of annoyance, not
amounting to persecution, which could not be
1 Tyer. iii. 33.

A TIME OF PERSECUTION. 107
stopped by any appeal to higher authorities. Evi
dently it was injudicious, as well as unchristian
and unkind, for any clergyman to drive away well-
behaved and devout persons, who were willing to
attend the services of the Church. But several
such instances are on record. This was the case at
Scarborough, where a " new vicar " preached against
the Methodists ; x and also at Epworth, where, in
consequence of black looks and bitter words, the
followers of Wesley declined any longer to enter
the parish church. Of all men, he was ordinarily
fertile in resources ; but to this special exigency he
was unequal. He could not bring his mind to force
his followers into the parish church in such circum
stances, while he would not sanction in them even
the appearance of dissent. This was Wesley's chief,
and perhaps his only, crux; nor could all his
ingenuity find any way of escape.
1 Journal, iv. 269.

108 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTEE IX.
CHARLES WESLEY.
The younger brother of the founder was some years
his junior, having been born at the end of 1707.
He was educated at Westminster School, of which
Samuel Wesley, the eldest of the family, was one of
the under-masters. Charles proceeded in due time,
with the aid of a studentship, to Christ Church, Ox
ford, the college to which John had been elected
from Charterhouse.
While John was at Wroote, relieving their
father of part of his parochical cares, Charles re
mained at Oxford ; and he now became a prominent
member of that " Sacramentarian Club " which has
been described. Strictly, therefore, Charles was a
Methodist at a date somewhat earlier than his more
famous brother. In 1735 they embarked together
for Georgia, Charles returning alone in the following
year. Early in 1788 we find them both in London,
lodging with a Mrs. Hutton, an old friend of the
family and a person of discretion. When John,

CHARLES WESLEY. 109
in his bitterness of spirit, denied that he was a
Christian, she contradicted him very effectively.1
Charles was at his brother's side, when the illumi
nation and the new impulse came to both, in the
early summer of that year. He shared fully in the
inward and irresistible call to save their ignorant and
depraved brethren in the Kingswood collieries and
elsewhere. The brothers were not exactly alike in
temperament. John was harder, more sinewy and
enduring. Travelling in all weathers and over bad
roads he did not dislike ; and he was ever ready to
address a large crowd at a market cross. Charles
was equally laborious and equally zealous ; but he
preferred regular ministrations, and had a keener
sense of ecclesiastical decorum. Hence in the
course of a few years he settled down to stated duties
in the chapels at London and Bristol. This was
much in favour of John's design of inspecting the
societies in all parts of the United Kingdom. He
could leave home for several months together, in
confidence that Charles would act the part of a
faithful deputy.
John, as the elder, and as marked by more acute-
ness and vigour of mind, was the first to throw off
the Moravian influence. He had occasion to give to
his brother some strong and effectual warnings on
these tendencies. He also deemed that Charles
was for a time in some danger of falling into the
" quiet " state, which he deemed an evil develop
ment of mysticism. As they grew old together,
1 Tyer. i. 189.

110 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the parts were changed ; for Charles had reasons for
warning his brother against some tendencies of
Methodism, and especially against secession from the
Church. But this is anticipating.
In 1749 Charles was happily married to the
daughter of Mr. Gwynne, a Welsh gentleman of good
position, who encouraged Methodism, and who, as a
lay upholder of the cause, had attended at least one
Conference. Charles Wesley soon ceased to be
itinerant ; he resided for some years in Bristol, and
finally in London. He aided his brother in the
supreme direction of all the societies, and he con
ducted the services and administered the sacraments
in some of the larger chapels. Perhaps he furthered
the movement still more effectually by his sacred
and devotional poetry.1 It is impossible to estimate
the influence of Charles Wesley's hymns in main
taining and spreading abroad Methodism. It would
be as easy a task to measure the effects of the
national songs and popular ballads on the life of
^the nation.
i Shortly after his own well-omened marriage,
Charles had reasons for fearing that his brother was
! in danger of forming an unsuitable alliance with
Mrs. Grace Murray. He interfered in this delicate
matter with such effect, that the lady was hastily
married to another admirer, John Bennet, one of
1 He wrote an enormous number of hymns and paraphrases, some
printed, and some remaining in manuscript, until the whole were
edited by the Rev. Dr. Osborn and published in many volumes.
A selection only appears in the Wesleyan Hj mn Book.

CHARLES WESLEY. Ill
the preachers.1 The disappointment was for the
time keenly felt by the elder brother, and it was
inevitable that a temporary coolness between them
should ensue. Then they differed much in their
estimate of the lay preachers. John defended them
as a class, and on the whole thought very highly
of them ; while Charles held them in much lower
estimation. In many of the preachers he observed a
disposition to " pride of place " and an unreasonable
ambition. He clearly foresaw that when obstacles
which fretted them were removed, the preachers, or
at least the larger number of them, would ignore
the terms of their engagement, and lay claim to the
full ministerial office.2
Such were points of difference between the two
brothers, which must be taken into account by any
student of their lives. Yet there was an enduring
brotherly affection which differences of view could
not lessen; nor is it too much to say that the
brothers remained one in heart. They were one not
only in the early days, but during the half century
when, with a diversity of gifts but the same spirit,
they sought to reanimate the Church, and quicken
the religious life of the nation.
When the news came that some of the preachers
at Norwich had taken on themselves, without show
of authority, to administer the sacraments, Charles
Wesley's sorrow and indignation were extreme. His
1 " Narrative of a Transaction," etc., from manusoript in British
Museum. J. R. Smith, 1862.
» Whitohead, i. 332, 339, 346 ; ii. 280.

/

112 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
own choice would have been to dissolve the societies,
break up the system — anything rather than that
original Methodism should be dishonoured. He
felt that the Methodists had been honoured instru
ments in reviving religion ; but he knew well that
no one system, built up by human hands, can ever
be essential to its existence. The instruments may
be changed, but the work proceeds. He hoped and
prayed that in time the Bishops might see their
way to reclaim and commission the preachers, and
so bring the whole of Methodism within the pale
of the Church. In 1752 he was on the point of
leaving the Methodists, but was induced to remain
by the fact of a more distinct declaration against
secession from the Church. This appears clearly
from a letter written by him in 1756, which also
advised a more close union with the Church. It
refers further to a projected interview with the
primate, who appears to have been willing to confer
with the Wesleys on this important matter. This
project did not end as Charles Wesley desired ; and
he again wrote that he remained in the Methodist
ranks in the hope of doing good, and of preventing
evil {i.e. secession from the Church). Yet he knew
that he was regarded on this very account with
fear and dislike by many of the lay preachers.1
Happily there was a quieting down at the next
Conference. There were renewed promises of fidelity
to the Church, which must have been owing in no
small degree to Charles Wesley's endeavours. Two
1 Tyer. ii. 245-247.

CHARLES WESLEY. 113
or three preachers " of a froward and unhumbled
spirit " departed, to the relief of many hearts ;
while all who remained declared themselves willing
to uphold original Methodism. John Wesley now
promised to write an appeal to the societies, for
the purpose of confirming them in Churchmanship.
Charles, for his part, began a lecturing tour through
the midland and northern counties. The special
object he had in view in this tour was to warn the
societies " against the wiles of Satan," " whereby
he would draw them away from the Church and the
other means of grace."
Before the year 1760 there were repeated dis
cussions in the Conference, resulting at last in a
clear understanding of the exact position and the
limited powers of the lay preachers. For a whole
quarter of a century after this there was peace in
the land. No more threatenings of secession were
heard, and the " expounders " were content with
their own sphere of useful labour. The Wesleys
were now made anxious, not by threats of secession,
but by the wild language and erratic teaching of
some of their followers on matters of doctrine.1
Great must have been the special dangers which
beset Methodism in the year 1763, when Charles
Wesley wrote thus : " Sad havoc has Satan made
of the flock. What they will do after my brother's
departure I leave to the Lord, for I dare not think
of it. I gave warning four years ago of the flood
of enthusiasm which has now overflowed us, and
1 Tyer. ii. 461. I

114 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
of the sect of ranters which should arise out of the
witnesses" (of perfection). At this critical time
Maxfield and Bell, who had become " ranters,"
left the connexion. John Wesley wrote to Lady
Huntingdon, complaining of the defection "in the
most trying times " of some of his ablest followers,
as to whom he said, "If I am bereaved of my
children, I am bereaved." At the same time Mr.
Komaine wrote that the societies were in great
confusion, and that brotherly love" was lost in these
disputes.1 In 1768 Charles removed to London, where his
last twenty years of life were happily passed.
After the new chapel was opened, he was chiefly
responsible for the services there, aided by one or
two junior clergymen. His home was in Chester
field Street, not far from the parish church of
St. Marylebone. The house was known to people
of taste and culture — for his two sons were, even
in their early days, eminent as musicians, and their
drawing-room concerts became famous. Charles,
the elder son, who was eminent as a composer and
a teacher, died in 1834. Samuel, the younger son,
also a composer, died a few years later, the father
of a family renowned for musical talent.
The name of "the Poet of Methodism" was
placed next in order to that of his brother, when
a legal, settlement was arrived at in 1784 ; and if
he had survived he would have succeeded as pre
sident and supreme director. His latter years were
1 Tyer. ii. 463.

CHARLES WESLEY. 115
tranquilly spent, his chief anxiety arising from the
disposition of younger brethren, like Dr. Coke, to
drive the patriarch from his old position into one
of more distinct separation from the Church. On
all questions of episcopal authority and Church
order Charles exhibited much firmness and con
sistency ; but the time came when even his cor
rective influence failed, and when his soul was
grieved by acts which he regarded as tantamount
to secession.
The elaborate paper of 1745 will be remembered,
which declared that full ministerial rights only
appertained to such as received them in ordination
from the successors in office of the Apostles. John
Wesley is said to have retreated from this position.
However this may have been, his brother adhered
to*.-it most firmly. If Charles could not demon
strate the exact succession of bishops, he accepted
it as a probability that the rules of the Church
catholic had been complied with. Apart from the
law of episcopal succession, the brothers seem to
have always been in accord as to the nature and
the privileges of the Christian priesthood, the elder
inclining, however, to the "supposition" that a
presbyter was inferior to a bishop only in rank and
degree. Under a singular pressure of circumstances, John
Wesley was led, in extreme old age, to carry this
idea into practice. Charles Wesley was at Bristol
when the " ordinations " for America took place ;
but he was only informed of them when it was too

116 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
late. John Wesley's words were significant when
he wrote to his brother, " Perhaps if you had kept
close to me, I might have done better." Charles
did not conceal his alarm, and he wrote to his
brother in terms of the strongest disapproval.
The discussion was at its height just before the
Conference of 1787. Charles Wesley now addressed
the members of the society, and he used burning
words. He had before warned them that wolves
would enter and rend the flock — the self-created
bishops and priests were the men ; and he solemnly
charged the people not to receive the Sacrament
from unauthorized hands. The persons aimed at
were Dr. Coke and some of the preachers, the latter
being the only objects of the last injunction. Mr.
Pawson, who was prominent amongst these, gave
his own version of Charles Wesley's address to the
London societies, and he spoke of that address as
showing " cursed prejudice " and " furious bigotry." 1
On this point, at least, there was little hope of
agreement between the brothers, the youngest of
whom was then on the verge of eighty years.
Charles was in failing health, and he felt certain
that his brother would be the survivor. "Keep
your authority," he wrote to him, " while you live,
and after your death let it pass to those most
worthy of it. You cannot settle the succession."
On the 29th of March, 1788, Charles Wesley passed
away, at the age of eighty. Just before his death
he sent to the Hector of St. Marylebone, to whom
1 Tyer. iii. 497.

CHARLES WESLEY. 117
he said, " I have lived and I die in the communion
of the Church of England, and I will be buried in
the yard of my parish church." The cemetery
attached to the new chapel in the City Eoad was
unconsecrated, and of this he disapproved. His
interment, therefore, took place at Marylebone,
according to his directions, all the pall-bearers
being clergymen. The City Eoad society showed
that the slight on their little cemetery was resented
by them, when they declined (contrary to Metho-
distic usage) to pay the funeral expenses of their
regular minister.1
This true Christian poet and most estimable
man was to a certain degree overshadowed through
life by the fame of hir brother, as in his early days
by that of George Whitefield. At the outset he
was hardly less remarkable as a preacher than
either of them. One who heard him at Bristol
has placed on record a description of one of his
sermons, given without any notes, and of one hour's
duration. His preaching was "with vehemence,"
and " with rich variety of expression." 2 There '
could hardly be higher praise than words which
sum up the chief qualifications of a true orator.
Some critics have described Charles Wesley as
1 A special subscription was opened for this purpose. — Tyer.
iii. 225.
1 Tyer. i. 253. The early Methodist sermons presented few
and simple ideas, each worked out completely, and viewed under
a variety of aspects. This has been defined as the highest
kind of preaching. — " Classic Preachers," 2nd series.

118 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
being rather too narrow and rigid. It is therefore
the more interesting to find in him all the marks
of true catholicity of spirit. When he preached
to miscellaneous audiences in Ireland, all his
hearers were alike impressed, and all were willing
to claim him as one of themselves. He had the
power of stirring the soul of the Eoman Catholics
and of the Presbyterians alike. These facts will
suffice to show that Charles Wesley had the higher
endowments of the Christian preacher. Any
modern hymnal or book of praise will testify to
his rare excellence as a Christian noet.

( 119 )

CHAPTEE X.
OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS.
It would be an injustice to the memory of a great
man to make no mention of the very active part
taken by the Eev. George Whitefield in the move
ment. He shared with the Wesleys in the honours
and toils of those early years, 1738-1741, when
England began to be aroused from a kind of re
ligious lethargy. Whitefield was actually the first
to conceive and carry out the plan of preaching in
the fields to the thousands who never entered the
door of a church. The Calvinistic controversy soon
separated these early friends, but there was mutual
esteem to the last.1 In 1769 Wesley noted his
last conversation with his " old friend and fellow-
labourer," who was then in failing health, and near
to the close of an eventful life. Exactly forty
years had passed away since they had been asso-
1 There were minor differences also. Wesley was an earnest
hater of slave-trading and of slavery, whereas Whitefield was the
owner of slaves in America. They do not appear to have met
often after the year 1742.

120 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
ciated, in prayers and in charitable works, as
members of the little society at Oxford. When
Whitefield died, Wesley preached in memory of
him more than one funeral sermon — the chief
occasion being in the Tabernacle of Tottenham
Court Eoad, before a vast congregation.
It would be difficult to ascertain how much of
help, occasional or regular, the Wesleys received
from. the clergy. Their active life stretched over
more than half a century, and they outlived all
their early friends and associates ; so that they may
be said to have witnessed the rise and decay of two
or three generations of cotemporaries. Some of
their early associates — Whitefield was, of course, the
most eminent of these — were separated from them
by the unfortunate disputes on " the decrees."
Wesley had many friends whom he saw in London
or on his periodical tours, sometimes preaching,
or assisting them, in their churches. But friendly
incumbents whose good offices were limited
to the occasional reception of the founder cannot
be therefore reckoned amongst the Methodistic
clergy. It is more to the purpose to look at those
clergymen who were at the Conference, or otherwise
closely identified with the movement.
Taking a central date in Wesley's career, such as
the year 1764, there seems to have been at that time
about forty of the clergy whose sympathies were
avowedly with him. But many of his early coad
jutors had already passed away ; and the younger
race of his clerical helpers, amongst whom Fletcher

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 121
and Coke were the most prominent, had not then
risen up.
Of the first race of clergymen who joined in the
movement was the Eev. Henry Piers, Vicar of
Bexley (Kent). In 1742 he preached the visita
tion sermon of the deanery of Shoreham. It was
what Wesley called a "thundering" discourse, and
in its preparation he was himself suspected of
having taken part. The Dean of Arches, who was
present as Visitor, did not like the sermon, and he
tried to shorten it ; but the preacher, refusing to
take the hint, brought it leisurely to an end, most
of his official hearers having in the mean time with
drawn. Mr. Piers afterwards attended the first
Methodist Conference ; and shortly afterwards is
found as companion of John Wesley at Oxford,
when his last university sermon was preached at
St. Mary's. Mr. Meriton, another of those who were
at the first Conference, was from the Isle of Man.
He and also Mr. Taylor, Vicar of Quinton, in the
diocese of Gloucester, died in their prime. The
fourth clergyman who assisted at the first Con
ference was Mr. Hodges, Kector of Wenvoe, in
Wales, of whom little mention is afterwards made.
The next name met with in the annals, and a more
important one, is that of the Eev. Vincent Perronet,
Vicar of Shoreham (Kent). His career was long,
and he was closely associated with the Wesleys,
of whom he was the senior, and the chosen friend
and counsellor in difficulties. Often did John
Wesley retire to his friend's rural vicarage for

122 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
quiet, and for friendly converse. That self-reliant
man was little in the habit of asking advice from
any ; but when he did so, Perronet was more often
the adviser. When Wesley, who had written in
favour of a celibate life, and had recommended it
to his preachers, altered his mind on this point, he
consulted Perronet. The friendship between them
was, in short, of the closest kind ; and it was of un
usual duration, for the " venerable saint," as Wesley
styled him, lived to enter his ninety-second year.
One of his sons became a preacher under Wesley's
direction, but he did little honour to his name when
he wrote and published a satire on the Church, con
taining humour of a low kind. His publication
naturally excited the wrath of Charles Wesley.
The skirmish, with a hundred other skirmishes
occurring in the earlier Methodist history, may be
found described in the industrious pages of Tyer
man. Miss Briggs, the grand-daughter of Perronet,
who had soothed his last days, afterwards became
the wife of the Eev. Peard Dickenson, one of the
clerical helpers of the Wesleys towards the close
of their career. Mr. Dickenson's name is very fre
quently found in the annals. He continued to
officiate at the New Chapel long after the founder's
death ; in truth, his legal right so to do was secured
in the lifetime of Wesley. There he performed
regular duty, and administered the sacraments, after
the present century had opened, and within the
memory of some who have but lately passed to their
rest.

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 123
More energetic and original in character was
the Eev. William Grimshaw, formerly of Christ's,
Cambridge. He early declared himself an ad
herent and imitator of Wesley, to whom he was
some years junior. He was known in Yorkshire, not
only in his own parish, but for many miles round,
as a revivalist — the Body, or Aitken, of the north.
When he heard of the irregular doings of the
preachers at Norwich, he was, like Charles Wesley,
indignant. He wrote to say that if such actions
were allowed, he must in future disclaim all con
nection with Methodism. He showed much insight,
of a kind which Wesley himself did not possess,
when he said that in course of time the Methodists
would become Dissenters — nor could he see any
way of preventing it. His own vicarage was at
Haworth, a secluded spot on the moors of West
Yorkshire, since rendered famous as the home of
the gifted Bronte family. Grimshaw's premature
death in 1762 was a severe blow to Yorkshire
Methodism ; and the important place which he held
in Wesley's estimation is shown by the longest
biographical notice of all those which are found in
the printed Journals.
Better known to modern readers is the name of
the Eev. John W. Fletcher, of Madeley, who has
been called the saint of Methodism. Southey has
described the character, the labours, and the last
days of this excellent man in a chapter which rises
to the level of the subject. Fletcher was a native
of Northern Switzerland, early in life naturalized in

124 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
England. His remarkable merits led to his selec
tion as the principal of Lady Huntingdon's College
of Trevecca, in the days before the Calvinistic
controversy had become fast and furious. Then
he retired into the comparative seclusion of his
country cure ; but he had become known to Wesley,
and to many others, as a man of rare d^voutness
and singleness of mind. Beyond this, he had a
reputation for scholarship, and for unusual power
of the logical and dialectic kind. In July, 1764,
Wesley visited Madeley — "an exceeding pleasant
village, encompassed with trees and hills." The
vicar he described as one wholly bent on the
Christian life. The church on Sunday was quite
inadequate to hold the congregation who thronged
to hear the distinguished visitant. Fletcher's
reverence for Wesley was that of a loving and
obedient disciple ; and, although not fond of con
troversy, he was induced to enter the lists as the
champion of those Arminian views which were held
with enthusiasm by Wesley and all his followers.
Fletcher, whose own choice would have been a life
of holiness in retirement, showed much chivalrous
and self-denying love for Wesley, when he entered
into the warfare with the upholders of " the decrees."
It is simply impossible now to understand the
bitterness of this protracted controversy. The
language used by the disputants was of a kind
never in these days employed. The Gospel Magazine,
for instance, asked whether it was not awful that
the twenty-nine thousand souls then in Wesley's

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 125
societies should be seduced from Protestant
doctrine ? Lady Huntingdon, a person of some
culture and much piety, said that the Wesleys
ought to be regarded as papists. Her friend and
adviser, the Eev. Mr. Shirley, proposed an oppo
sition or Calvinistic Conference, for the purpose of
counteracting their " dreadful heresies." Fletcher,
in spite of his gentle and devout habits of life,
entered into the thickest of the fray. He issued
from the press essay after essay, said by those who
are conversant with them to be extremely able
vindications of the doctrine of Free Grace. His
chief antagonists were the excellent Toplady, Mr.
Shirley, and two young brothers, one of whom was
to become famous as Eowland Hill.
Wesley took delight in the society of Fletcher,
a man of rare excellence, in whose life and character
there was no visible flaw. In 1774 they " took
sweet counsel together " at Wolverhampton. Like
most of the chief favourites of Heaven, Fletcher was
of delicate frame, and he was long supposed to be
very near to the grave and gate of death. For a
time he regained strength — " in answer to many
prayers," as Wesley said, in the belief that Provi
dence designed his friend for some special work.
None was so fitted, he said, to cope in argument
with Dr. Priestley, whom Wesley regarded as an
arch-heretic of the time. About the year 1776,
Wesley, who was seventy-three years of age, and
who had the highest possible opinion of the talents
and virtues of Fletcher, looked on him as of all

126 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
men most fitted to be his successor. The position
of director-general of all the growing societies was
one which an ambitious man might have coveted.
But Fletcher had no aspirations of this kind, nor
was his health assured : and he did not consent
to be so designated. He longed for quiet, and
he sought it, not in vain, amongst his native
Jura Mountains. On his return to his Shrop
shire vicarage, he married Miss Bosanquet, one of
most eminent Methodists of her sex; but the re
vival of his strength was not to be of long continu
ance. On the 6th of November, 1785, Wesley had
lost the follower and friend whom he at that time
most regarded; and himself preached the funeral
sermon of one whom he described as " a great and
good man."
Frequent mention is also made in the annals of
the Eev. John Berridge (formerly of Clare, Cam
bridge), who, in 1749, was the Curate of Stapleford,
and a close friend of the Wesleys. Some years
later, he became Vicar of Everton. He was studious,
and marked by much originality of mind. His
labours were " grandly negligent " of parochial
limits, for they extended to all the country round.
He was of Calvinistic tendencies, and once a year he
came to London as a. special preacher in Whitefield's
Tabernacle. His friend and neighbour, Mr. Hicks,
Incumbent of Wrestlingworth, like himself, was a
"revivalist;" and their exciting services caused
a renewal of those curious physical symptoms which
came over hearers in the days of the first Methodist

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 127
sermons.1 Wesley again refused to condemn the
" strange scenes," when, after long cessation, they
were again found at revivalist services. He thought
that Providence might, for some undiscovered reason,
have ordained that such results should sometimes
follow evangelistic teachings. Mr. Berridge was
unconventional and even eccentric, but of trans
parent sincerity; and he continued to help on the
Methodist cause until, at a good old age, he passed
away. The Eev. Henry Venn, of Huddersfield, also
entered into the spirit of the movement, though
more careful than was Berridge of Church order.
In 1761 he found that some of Wesley's preachers,
stationed in his own town, were drawing the minds
of good people away from the Church. He made
a strong representation of this to Wesley, who tried
to smooth matters over. It was agreed that the
preachers should be allowed to invade Mr. Venn's
parish only once a month. The compact was
duly observed for a short time. Further complaints
drew forth from Wesley a long and characteristic
letter ; but it does not seem that the matter was ever
arranged to Mr. Venn's satisfaction. It is curious
that in this letter Wesley already described himself
as a worn-out soldier, little knowing that a full
quarter of a century of hard work was still in front
of him. The name of Venn afterwards became one
of high repute in the annals of the English Church.
There is a slight obscurity as to the Eev. John
1 Southey, ii. 143-154.

128 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY,
Eichardson, who resigned a curacy in Sussex in
order that he might assist the Wesleys in their work
in London. Tyerman, usually full of detail, does
not give the name of the clergyman who read the
funeral service at John Wesley's tomb in 1791.
Other historians say that it was Mr. Eichardson,
who had long been one of Wesley's curates at
the New Chapel, who for many years " served him
as a son in the Gospel," and who, dying shortly
afterwards, was buried in the same tomb.1
The Eev. David Simpson gave important aid to
the Methodist cause, not in London, but in his own
town of Macclesfield. At St. John's, Cambridge, he
had become intimate with Eowland Hill, and with
some others who gave their thoughts to religion.
At first he served as the Curate of Macclesfield ; but
there were those who spoke of him, doubtless in
error, as holding unsound doctrine. His explanations
satisfied the Bishop of Chester ; but a different
position had to be found for him ; and a new church
was speedily built in the same town, in whioh he
officiated until his death in 1799. His reception
was always of the heartiest kind; and it is not
surprising to find that Wesley was glad to halt at
Macclesfield on his long north-country tours. On
such occasions the communicants were found to
number from seven to twelve hundred. Sunday
schools are said to have been established in con-
1 The doubt is caused by the mention of a Mr. Richardson who
succeeded Grimshaw at Haworth — perhaps another clergyman of
the name.

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 129
nection with his church by this excellent man so
early as the year 1778.1
Beyond the circle of those who were openly
identified with Wesley and the movements, there
were many other friends and correspondents, of
whom no mention can here be made. Some of them,
like Whitefield, the popular preacher, and Law,
the thoughtful mystic, were critical rather than
approving. The Eev. James Hervey was an early
member of the Oxford society — a man of distinct
literary power. He looked on, but he had some
misgivings which prevented him from joining the
Wesleys in their great undertaking. Ingham, the
kindly companion of their early days, who had been
with them in their Georgia mission, and had after
wards joined in the exploration of Herrnhut — even
this most faithful of early friends did not actively
aid them in the later years. He did, however, send
to John Wesley letters full of friendly counsel,
which show the earnest and generous disposition
of the man. How little did the retiring Ingham
dream of a coming day when his name, as that of
Wesley's frequent companion, would be familiar to
several millions of English-speaking Christians !
Appreciative of its founder, yet critical as regards
Methodism. This description will also apply to the Eev. Wm.
Baddiley, of Hayfield, in Derbyshire. He, like the
Wesleys, was entitled to be called an innovator and
a revivalist. He, like them, had formed religious
» Tyer. iii. 370, 501. K

130 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
guilds, and he had enlisted the aid of lay helpers,
a full century before the time when such things
were commonly heard of in the Church and came to
be regarded as permissible.1 His sympathy was
rather with Charles, as the more consistent Church
man. Like him, he censured such Levites as were
too ready to encroach on the office of the priesthood.
The quaintness of an appeal which he made to the
elder brother entitles it to special mention.
He entreated John not to fall off in his affection
for that mother who, notwithstanding his irre
gularities, had dandled him on her knees ; and he
doubted whether the Methodists, if they left the
Church and became Dissenters, would not split up
into "subdivisions, like the Anabaptists in Germany."
Several of Wesley's itinerant helpers took exactly
the course which might be expected, and which not
a few of their successors now are found to take.
They had received valuable teaching, and more
valuable experience: and they desired to be more
publicly useful. They felt that within the pale of
the National Church they might labour with equal
success, and even with larger openings for useful
exertion. The transition to the regular army will
always be easy to any well-trained volunteer. But
before looking at the career of John Jones, the type
of a preacher who entered the ranks of the clergy,
it is necessary to mention Thomas Maxfield. He
was a valuable assistant to Wesley at the Foundry,
at first in a capacity analogous to that of a Scripture-
1 Tyer. Li. 205, 211.

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 131
reader ; and he became in a singular way the first
recognized lay preacher, after Methodism had found
a local habitation and a name. The tradition is
that during Wesley's absence no regular minister
could be found for a stated service, and that, rather
than disappoint the people, Maxfield himself entered
the pulpit and preached to them. Hearing of this
and returning home at once, Wesley felt as any
clergyman would now feel, if he heard of a like
assumption on the part of his Scripture-reader. The
venerable Susanna Wesley, who resided at the
Foundry and had listened to Maxfield, now inter
posed : she advised her son to consider the matter
more carefully, and to hear the expounder. He did
so, and after much consideration he deemed it right
to allow Maxfield to preach.1 Yet he always main
tained that lay preaching did not come by design
— it was only permitted at an emergency. Maxfield
was a man of no ordinary powers; and Lady
Huntingdon had a very high opinion of him, and
would have been glad to take him away from the
Foundry. There, however, he remained for many
years, aiding the Wesleys effectively, yet unable
to render aid of the kind most needed by them ;
for the clerical staff was in no proportion to the
number of the communicants in their London
chapels. Dr. Barnard, the friendly Bishop of
Derry, at length offered to ordain Maxfield, in order,
as he said, that Wesley "might' not work himself
to death." In 1762 Maxfield showed a tendency to
1 Southey, i. 252.

132 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

drift into doctrinal error, not alone, but in company
with Bell, a preacher, who had been a corporal in
the Guards, and with several members of the London
Society. Wesley, who had a genuine regard for
Maxfield, now addressed to him a long letter, kindly
expressed, yet conveying censure. He made similar
attempts in the case of the other " honest enthu
siasts," who were fast becoming ranters. All these
efforts were in vain ; and the first secession of im
portance now took place, for Maxfield and Bell were
followed by two hundred of the Methodists, who
opened for themselves a new chapel in Little Moor.
fields. This was a painful event ; but Wesley bore
it meekly, remarking that a falling off in the con
tributions at the Foundry was " the fruit of Bell's
enthusiasm and Thomas Maxfield's gratitude.1 "
Wesley's former curate is afterwards found taking
an active part at a meeting at Lady Huntingdon's,
although he does not seem to have joined her
community. In 1772 he intimated a wish to return
to his old position at^we Foundry, and there was
some renewal of intes&frrse ; but he was destined
never again to serve under his old chief, and as the
minister of a very small Independent cause he
ended his days.
After losing ,i?he valuable aid of the man who
will in history "be regarded as the first "Methodist
preacher," Wesley was again in a difficulty. John
Jones, an experienced lay preacher, was highly
qualified for Holy Orders, but no bishop was found
1 Tyer. ii. 434 556.

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 133
to confer them. About this time there arrived in
London Erasmus, Bishop of Arcadia, in Crete ; and
the idea was suggested that if English orders could
not be obtained, Greek orders were valid and suffi
cient. Inquiries were duly made, and replies came
from Smyrna showing that Erasmus was all that he
professed to be. After this, and with Wesley's full
approval, John Jones was ordained by the Greek
bishop. This episode alone proved that Wesley
was not quite convinced of the validity of Presbyte
rian orders ; for if Peter King's " supposition " was
correct, Wesley might as well have acted on it.
On such a theory as is ascribed to him he had no
occasion to send John Jones for ordination to an
unknown ecclesiastic from the far East. Toplady
aud the other hostile critics of Wesley's proceed
ings did not fail to seize on this incident. They
called Bishop Erasmus a foreign mendicant and
an impostor ; and they even circulated a story that
Wesley had offered money in hope of obtaining the
episcopal succession from Erasmus, but that the
latter had declined to give it on the ground that
three bishops are required for a regular conse
cration. This was of course a fiction.
The ordination of John Jones was but a tem
porary expedient. It was not satisfactory to the
mind of Charles Wesley, who hoped that the best
of the preachers might receive, not Greek, but
English orders. Nor was it satisfactory to Mr.
Jones himself, for he shortly afterwards applied to
the Bishop of London, was reordained according to

134 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

the English rite, and accepted the living of Har
wich. Years afterwards, Wesley, while suffering
from a fever, received a letter full of kind solicitude
from Mr. Jones ; and this is the last mention of him
in the Methodistic annals.
Another of Wesley's preachers who at the same
time received orders from the Cretan bishop was
Lawrence Coughlan. He. also was reordained, and
at once he went to Newfoundland, under the
auspices of the S.P.G. He was active as a mis
sionary, and he wrote letters to Wesley full of
words of affection for his former chief. Eeturning
to London, he was struck with sudden and danger
ous illness while conversing with Wesley, and his
death occurred soon afterwards. The name of the
Eev. James Creighton appears frequently in the
later annals, as one of the clergymen attached to
the New Chapel. He and the Eev. Peard Dickenson
had certain legal rights, secuxedjto them, which placed
them, so long as they lived, in a position of inde
pendence, and of superiority with regard to all
unordained preachers ; and they continued to
officiate long after Wesley's death. The Eev. E.
Smyth, who had been a popular preacher at the
chapel-of-ease known as Bethesda, in Dublin, for
many years, took permanent charge of Wesley's
chapel at -Bath in the--jold age of the founder.
Mr. Smyth was regarded with jealousy by some of
the preachers, who refused to admit the superior
claims of the ordained clergy. Passing by many
incidents and manv other names, we close this

OTHER CLERICAL HELPERS. 135
chapter with a brief notice of Wesley's most
energetic and most trusted clerical helper in his
latest years — the Eev. Thomas Coke, LL.D.
Dr. Coke was a Welshman, and had been a fellow-
commoner of Jesus, Oxford. He was a man of
independent fortune, and of unusual activity, men
tal and bodily. He was small in person, with a
shrill voice, and a temper sharp, impetuous, and
often obstinate. Wesley, who was sometimes blind
to the failings of those whom he loved, did not
perceive that Coke's judgment was by no means
equal to his zeal, and that he was more ready to
raise strife and difficulty than to allay them.1
The bond of union between the aged founder and
his trusty lieutenant of the later days, although
quickly formed, was very close. A single conver
sation between them in 1776 led to the resignation
of his curacy by Coke, and to his placing his
services wholly at the disposal of Wesley. He
rapidly gained influence over the aged man ; and
this he did not always exercise in the way ap
proved of by Charles Wesley, who saw reason to
regard Coke as rash, interfering, and bent on self-
aggrandizement. There is reason to conclude that
such grave errors as the " ordinations for America,"
and the mutilation of the Prayer-Book and Psalter
— that is to say, the most serious errors which can
be charged against the venerable Wesley — were
really owing to Coke's influence.
From these criticisms, suggested by passages of
1 Tyer. iii. passim.

136 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEt,
nistory now for the first time elucidated in the
industrious volumes of Tyerman, it is pleasant to
turn to the brighter side of Dr. Coke's character
and career. His name appears at the head of the
first subscription list for Methodist mission purposes.
With all the ardour of his character he entered into
the cause of foreign missions; and often did he
cross the Atlantic as their organizer and chief
manager. When his venerable friend arrived at the
end of his labours, Dr. Coke happened to be away
on one of these journeys. For many years after
wards he directed with great success the missionary
work of the Methodist body ; and in the year 1814
he died on mid-ocean, and was buried under the
waves which he had so often traversed. A memorial
tablet, which sets forth his merits and his labours, is
found in the New Chapel, close to the monuments
of the Wesleys.

( 137 )

CHAPTEE XI.
THE LAY PREACHERS.
There will never be, even amongst thoughtful men,
complete agreement as to Methodism. Some will
hold that it was far more than excused by the
benefits which it conferred on the world — benefits
so great as to more than compensate for the greatest
schism which has marked the annals of the English
Church. Others will hold that many of these
benefits might have been secured without any
schism, and that all of them have been purchased
at a very high price. From whatever point of view
regarded, Methodism may truly be said to owe
its character, and its very existence as a permanent
system, to the organized body of the lay preachers.
It will be remembered that this important feature
of the system was not designed — it might even be
described as accidental. There was at a certain
date a scarcity of ordained clergymen, and some
zealous lay expounders came forward to fill the gap.
Lay preaching, therefore, was not invented — it was
only permitted by Wesley, or forced on him by ,

138 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

circumstances. He knew that there were many
precedents for it, since as well as before the
Eeformation ; and that the idea of preaching as of
a duty solely appertaining to the priestly office, is
quite a modern one. In those primitive days which
he loved to study, selected and approved laymen
were accustomed to preach in the Church, and even
in the presence of the clergy.1 Hence the step
hastily taken on his own responsibility by Thomas
Maxfield was, after much thought, sanctioned by the
superior ; and year by year the number of the
expounders increased, until at Wesley's death there
were about four hundred of the itinerant order
alone. If these had not been at hand to carry on
the work, it must then have dropped through ; for
the clerical adherents were few in number at any
one time, and they alone could not have ministered
to the societies, much less could they have ensured
the continuity of the system. When the half-dozen
clergymen who acted as assistants to the Wesleys
came to the end of their work, there would have
been no succession of ministers to carry it on ; and
Methodism, though it might leaven the Church,
would certainly, as a distinct system, have come to
an end. Therefore, the organization of the band of
preachers was the fact which has given permanence
to Methodism.
It is, however, curious to find them always spoken
of by Wesley as no more than extraordinary mes
sengers, raised up to excite the ordinary ministers
1 Bingham, " Antiquities," Book xiv. cap. iv.

THE LAY PREACHERS. 139
to diligence, and to carry the good news to those who
were out of hearing, and not to be reached by regu
lar ministrations. On one occasion Wesley drew
a parallel between the unordained preacher and a
female teacher. Both were abnormal, and only to
be made use of at a time of emergency.1 Their
function, though highly useful, was inferior to that
of the ordained clergy. The preacher's commission
was, so far as may be gathered from Wesley's own
words, not unlike the commission now given by
many bishops of the English Church to lay readers.
All this was perfectly clear to Wesley's own
mind; but it may be doubted whether it was
equally clear to the minds of those whom he em
ployed. Charles Wesley was apt to take a some
what harsh view of the efforts from time to time
made by the preachers to assert their claims and
improve their position in the system. They were,
he thought, warped by ambition — by the desire of
becoming more important. They were apt to accuse
him, in return, of pride and bigotry ; and, in short,
there was little cordiality between them at any time,
while occasionally there was an open opposition.
John Wesley resolutely and calmly kept the peace,
and held the balance between the contending in
fluences, yet he maintained his own position with
singular steadiness of will.
The lay preacher usually entered the ranks at
the age of twenty or rather more, and not without
a careful examination of his spiritual state and his
1 Tyer. iii. 112.

140 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

mental faculties. He had opportunities for im
provement, of which, indeed, he stood in need, for,
as a rule, his early education had been of the
simplest kind. Wesley helped them in this so far
as lay in his power, and when he met with them,
which could not be often in the year. He advised
every young preacher to form his style by a study
of St. John's first epistle, as the model of " sublimity
and simplicity." There was no theological school or
training college for Methodists in those days, and
most of the preachers had to acquire such learning as
they did acquire with little or no assistance from
others. Still many of these self-taught men became
very fair scholars; and the' whole of them, as a
class, are believed to have been, on an average,
fully equal to the candidates who then presented
themselves for orders in the Church.
The work on which the preachers entered was
laborious, especially in the early years, when the
circuits were very extensive. The discipline was
also strict. In these particulars there has been a
great change in the course of a century. The
preacher of Wesley's time was expected to be in
the preaching-house at five o'clock a.m. There were
places far apart to be visited by him in all weathers ;
and there were a multitude of other regular duties
requiring constant attention, and no small physical
endurance. No preacher was suffered to remain
more than a year, or at the most two years, in one
locality. In the large towns several preachers were
stationed ; in the rural circuits, two only. The

THE LAY PREACHERS. 141
seniors amongst them met Wesley at the Conference
once a year, for deliberation and prayer, the com
parison of notes, and the rearrangement of stations.
His own ascetic system he, to some extent, im
posed on all his preachers. They received advice,
amounting to command, as to their hours of rising
and of retiring, their diet, and habits of life generally.
In the early years, celibacy was their rule ; nor was
the stipend sufficient for the maintenance in the
most frugal manner of even one person. Some of
them eked out a scanty livelihood by retailing
medicines and other small wares ; but this was
talked about, and finally was prohibited. The only
kind of traffic thenceforward open to them was the
sale of the numerous books and tracts, on which
a commission was allowed them by the Methodist
publishing office in London. As the number and
wealth of adherents increased, the position of the
preachers improved. They were allowed to marry,
and a special school was provided, free of expense
to them, for the education of their sons. But the
hardships endured by the early race must have
been extreme. The preachers had long distances
to traverse in all weathers. One of them, John
Jane by name, brought on #a fever by overwalking,
and of this he died " without a struggle, a smile on
his face." The catalogue of his personal effects, I
which does not mention any books, was so scanty
that, after sale of them and payment of his funeral
expenses, there was a surplus of no more than
sixteen-pence left for his representatives. John

142 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Wesley was not by nature harsh or unkind, but ho
was doctrinaire ; and this sum was, he said, " enough
for any unmarried preacher of the Gospel to leave."
The Kingswood School, at which the sons of the
preachers were educated, has been already mentioned.
It was from its foundation an object of solicitude
and frequently of trouble also.1 All the details
were arranged by Wesley himself with great care.
He drew up, and from time to time revised, the
plan of study, and the lists of the class-books. In
the rules for the management of this school (which
was perhaps his favourite institution) is observable
the same hardness of theory which prompted his
curious comment on the residuary property of poor
John Jane. He did not find the accumulation ot
wealth to be with him an object of desire ; nor
did he stand in need of relaxation or mere amuse
ment. Hastily forming the conclusion that human
beings are constituted after one pattern, he too
freely applied to others all rules which he found
convenient and applicable to himself. And at
Kingswood it was ordained that there were to be
no hours of play. Such ideas, not of harshness or
unkindness, but -of utilitarian and ascetic severity,
, have given excuse to those who, like Southey, have
compared Wesley _ with the founders of the great
monastic orders.
The important line of demarcation drawn before the
year 1760 between the " itinerant " and the " local "
preachers remains to the present day. The former
1 Journal, ii. 287 ; iii. 419.

THE LAY PREACHERS. 143
gave up all secular pursuits, and devoted themselves
wholly to evangelistic work, being maintained by a
small fixed stipend out of the contributions of the
societies amongst whom they laboured. Wesley
designed them as a permanent diaconate (to use
a modern phrase), and on their aid he was compelled
to rely, because of the extreme difficulty which he
at all times found in gaining an ample supply of
clerical helpers. More than once he sent circulars
to a number of clergymen, but the responses were few
and discouraging. They were many of them friendly
and sympathetic, and they asked him to preach
in their churches ; but only now and then could
a clergyman be found, like Fletcher or Grimshaw,
to join the order of which Wesley was the director.
- Therefore the preachers, who increased in number
every year, became more indispensable as coadjutors
to Wesley, and more esteemed by the societies.
In 1784 Wesley, in naming one hundred persons
for the first legal Conference, selected ninety-six of
his preachers: and if this had been by seniority only
no offence would have arisen. But Mr. Hampson
and a few others of long standing were passed over ;
and they naturally took umbrage and resigned.
Hampson became a Dissenting minister; and his son,
also leaving the ranks of the itinerancy, became
a clergyman, and settled at Sunderland.1 Now and
1 It has often been said that Mr. Hampson, junior, nourished a
resentment on this score, which tinged his " Life of Wesley," pub
lished in 1791. But there was no permanent ill feeling between
them. — Journal, May, 1788.

144 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

again other preachers, like Skelton and Bennet, grew
tired of the work, and became Dissenting ministers,
or returned to secular pursuits ; but, on the whole,
the secessions appear to have been few, for Wesley
had the power of firmly attaching his followers to
himself and to the service.
Thomas Walsh, whose name appears frequently
in the annals, was a man after Wesley's own heart.
Early in life he worked in Ireland with extraordinary
zeal and success; and while undergoing daily
labours more than sufficient to occupy all his time
and tax all his powers, he contrived to teach himself
Greek and Hebrew. Brought over to England as
a chosen helper, by one who had the gift of dis
cerning character, his efforts saw no falling off.
They were, in short, too great, and Walsh died of
consumption at the age of twenty-eight, to the great
sorrow of Wesley, who could only write in his
Journal, " Surely Thy judgments are a great deep."
As the century drew towards its close, the con
ditions of the service became easier, and the social
position of the itinerants much improved. Their
incomes, indeed, remained on a very low scale, but
extra allowances and advantages were provided for
wives and children. Young men now entered the
service who had been fairly educated, and who were
very different to Haime and Staniforth and Nelson,
the converted soldiers and colliers of the first days.
The rough, impetuous, untaught evangelists of the
early generation made room in time for a more
cultivated class of preachers.

THE LAY PREACHERS. 145
Forty years since, there were still living a few
venerable men, who in their early youth had been
selected and commissioned by Wesley himself. It
was easy to discover, by talking to these survivors
of the old army of eighteenth-century Methodism,
the qualities which their chief most valued in his
subordinates. Beyond a moderate but sufficient
amount of learning, partly self-acquired, they pos
sessed extraordinary common sense, energy, nerve,
stability of character, and general aptitude for work.
They cared little for abstract questions of Church
government, and avoided theological controversies.
Their range of teaching was narrow, but it em
braced all that is of highest moment; and their
distinguishing notes were simplicity, zeal, and
straightforwardness. Such were men whom Wesley
in his later years enrolled as evangelists and ex
pounders ; and thus he exemplified the maxim, yet
unwritten, of the first Napoleon, that genius con
sists in knowing how to make the best use of the
materials at hand.
Of the " local" preachers, or those whose services
are gratuitous, little need be added, though they have
been factors of moment in the work of Methodism.
They have always remained at their homes and
occupations, and they are chiefly relied on for
preaching at the smaller places, or on the week-day
evenings. They have never been drawn from any
one class exclusively; and there were, nearly a
century since, such distinguished "locals" as Dr.
Hamilton, who preached the sermon before the Con-

146 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
ference at Leeds in July, 1789,1 and Dr. Whitehead,
who preached Wesley's funeral sermon in 1791.
Similarly, there are now amongst them some who
are well known in their professions and in public
life. The line as regards ministerial duty and
privilege is now very sharply drawn; and the
" local," although allowed to preach, is for all
intents and purposes regarded as a layman.
t This sketch of Methodism will provoke the
' criticism that " preaching " seems to have been the
beginning and the end — little mention having been
made of the other means of grace. It is certainly
true that those of the last century, who were so
highly honoured as instruments in reviving true
religion, attributed very much to preaching. They
did not undervalue those two sacraments which
Wesley was wont to describe as, " converting ordi
nances;" yet they felt that if Christianity is to
spread, and English heathenism to be subdued, it
must be chiefly by means of sermons. Like the
Baptist, they came preaching and saying, " Eepent."
Hence the art of extempore address has always
been cultivated with care and success by Wesley's
followers; and if ever the happy day of reunion
should come, the Methodists would naturally fall
', into their place, in the Church of the nation, as a
.Home Missionary and a Preaching Order.
: In this discourse Dr. Hamilton set forth to the assembled
preacherB one of Wesley's favourite ideas — that of a special class
of laymen commissioned to teach and preach, but who " had
nothing to do with the priesthood." — Tyer. iii. 585.

( 147 )

CHAPTEE XIL
WESLEY IN IRELAND.
The founder of Methodism was by nature a good
traveller, not easily fatigued, equable in temper,
bent on completing his journey in the face of all
obstacles. Intercourse with Ireland was in the last
century immeasurably more difficult than now. On
land the roads and the carriages were but indifferent,
while on the sea the delays and perils were such as
to be hardly intelligible to readers in our day. The
traffic across the Channel was carried on only by
means of very small sailing packets, which took a
day and a night, or even more, to perform a voyage
now effected in four hours. To sail from Holy
head to the landing-place near Dublin in twelve
hours was to have an expeditious passage in those
days. Wesley first visited Ireland in 1747 ; and
thenceforward, to the end of his life, he repeated his
visit in alternate years with much regularity.
It is worthy of note that he was gladly received,
not merely by the common people, but by numbers
of superior station. Many of the clergy and gentry

148 the churchman's LIFE OF WESLEY.
came forward to welcome him, at a time when but
few of their own class in England had overcome
early prejudices. On the very day of his first
arriving in Dublin, he was asked to officiate in the
parish church of St. Mary. There he addressed a
congregation which he described as " gay and sense
less " — a phrase which means little more than that
they were well dressed, and did not listen with deep
attention. The leaders of the religious revival were
in the habit of speaking to audiences of another
kind, capable of being more easily impressed.
Wesley's reputation had gone before him to Ireland,
and in Dublin he found a small society was already
formed, which met at a house in Marlborough
Street. A representation had been made, it seems,
by some very cautious clergyman or churchwarden,
to the archbishop, who did not approve of lay
preaching, and probably expressed a wish to know
more about the movement. Wesley had an inter
view with this prelate at once ; but of their meeting,
unfortunately, no particulars are on record. Wesley
" visited the classes " as usual on these Lish tours ;
and, after a hasty survey, made remarks in his
Journal on the city and its inhabitants ; but he did
not now prolong the journey. On the subsequent
visits to Ireland, his stay was of much longer
duration, embracing visits to many of the chief
towns. It will suffice to say that his impressions of the
people were favourable — he found them teachable,
courteous, and hospitable. In spite of the "penal

WESLEY IN IRELAND. 149
laws," the social relations of Protestants with Eoman
Catholics were of a more agreeable kind than they
afterwards became, or than they are at the present
time. The former used their privileges with much
forbearance; while the latter felt that the harsh
enactments had been made in times of panic, rather
to frighten than to oppress them. The Eoman
Catholic priesthood then contained men of a mild
and tolerant type, educated in France, and pos
sessing an amount of culture which Maynooth has
failed to impart. Under the charge of such pastors,
the common people were not as hostile to the race
and religion of "the Saxon" as they have since
become ; and when the Wesleys preached in the open
air, many Eoman Catholics were found to listen to
them. The era of persecution through which Methodism
passed in Ireland was short, and it was almost
confined to one locality — Cork. Here was, in the
year 1749, the memorable " presentment " by the
grand jury, finding that Charles Wesley and some
of his friends were persons of ill fame and vagabonds.
John Wesley's Journals are nowhere more minute
and graphic than when descriptive of, Irish scenes
and persons; nor can a correct impression of the
Ireland of a century since be more readily obtained
than through their pages.
In Ireland Wesley found some of the most
energetic and most cultivated of his followers.
High in renown amongst the preachers was Thomas
Walsh in the earlier, and Adam Clarke in the later

150 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

annals. The former was a man of intense zeal and
force of character — a man after Wesley's own heart.
It was remarked that after Walsh had left Dublin,
to work under the founder's eye, as one of his most
trusted lieutenants in England, the good people
whom he left behind him heard little or nothing
more about self-denial. Wesley's keenness of obser
vation, led him at once to the discovery that
rigorous discipline is necessary to correct the
"slackness" of the Irish character. He saw that
the people who had received him with so much
geniality and heartiness of welcome were " unstable
as water ; " and he conveyed to them more than a
hint when he explained to an Irish audience, in a
sermon, the character of Eeuben.1
Ecclesiastical Ireland was not then exactly as now.
The clergy were not overworked, while they were
for the most part well endowed. On the whole, they
showed too little of dissatisfaction with their
position as the teachers of but a small minority of
the people. The prelates of the Church were
courteous and amiable ; but they were in the habit
of making long visits to England, and therefore of
shutting up and forsaking their large and lonely
mansions in the dioceses. Wesley's intercourse with
several of them with whom he came in contact was
pleasant on either side ; and with Dr. Barnard, the
Bishop of Derry, he contracted a friendship of no
ordinary kind.
Passing by the narratives of many of his tours in
1 Journal, ii. 416.

WESLEY IN IRELAND. 151
Ireland, and coming down to the year 1783, we find
Wesley at an advanced age, yet famous as a
preacher and "a wonder to many."1 He did not
omit to meet his own people in the City Eoad as
Sunday came round : yet he could find time and
strength to preach at "St. Thomas's in tne after
noon, and at St. Swithin's in the evening." His own
health in the March of the year was hardly as
vigorous as before. Probably east winds were felt by
him as they had not been of old, and hence his
complaints of weakness and a " tearing cough," not
unaccompanied by some feverish symptoms. Still
nothing should divert him from his long journey to
Ireland ; and, according to custom, he traversed the
midland counties, and crossed over the Channel from
Holyhead. On landing at Dunleary (where the
harbour of Kingstown now stands) no carriage could
be found, and, incredible as it seems, the aged man
walked on to Dublin. There he spent many quiet
days amongst his friends and followers. During his
sojourn there was an ordination at St. Patrick's.
He noted in his Journal that the archbishop's
demeanour at this solemn service was impressive ;
yet he also noted the vacant unconcern on the faces
of some of the young men who were admitted into
the sacred ministry.
Two years later, Wesley is again found on the
accustomed voyage from Holyhead to Ireland — a
favourable one this time, as it occupied but twelve
hours. It would have been far otherwise, but that
1 Coke and Moore.

152 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the wished-for breeze sprang up at the right
moment, " in answer to prayer." This is but one of
many illustrations of his firm belief in the ever-
present and interposing hand of Providence. On
this visit to Ireland the patriarch found the number
of his societies much increased ; and when, according
" to rule and custom, his Dublin followers assembled
at St. Patrick's, the number of the communicants
was extraordinary. This was the wish of his heart
— that the growth of Methodism should be accom
panied and attested by a large gathering "at
church and Sacrament."
It is not strange that at so advanced an age
Wesley should feel the isolation of one whose
friends had already passed away. Day by day he
heard of some fresh gap in the circle. At Limerick
tffose for whom he inquired were removed to
" Abraham's bosom." At the cathedral of that city
the services of the Sunday morning lasted for four
hours, and would have lasted somewhat longer, but
that Wesley, at the request of the clergy, assisted
them in the administration. There is no mention
by him of fatigue after this service of four hours'
duration. On the contrary, the aged man was ready
to preach on the very same evening, in an open
space ; but some obstructives of the period showed
themselves, and he and his people thought it better
to retire into their " own house " — for " chapel " he
never called it. Some days later, and by Whit
suntide, he had arrived at Castlebar, in Mayo.
His chosen text on Whit-Sunday was the Heavenly

WESLEY IN IRELAND. 153
Witnesses ; nor is any word of doubt found as to the
authenticity of the passage. In the evening two
clergymen of the neighbourhood joined with him in
an administration to the members of his society.
The belief in the supernatural was with Wesley
an active living principle. How often he drew the
line, refusing credence beyond a certain point, is not
easy of discovery. During this tour in the north
west of Ireland, a good woman, to him unknown,
came and declared to him that four years previously
she had been restored to health by his touch.
Doubtless he had no recollection of the incident;
nor is there the least ground for supposing that he
had ever " touched " any person with any such
intent. Still he simply records the fact that this
woman came to him gratefully with her story of
former relief. Was it a genuine cure ? and if so,
was the right cause assigned ? On points such as
these little light is thrown by Wesley's own simple
narrative. In such cases — and they are frequent — he
gives the facts, leaving the reader to take his own
view of them. He may be called credulous : and he
rarely said or wrote anything which might encourage
incredulity in the mind of any other person.1 For
the rest, he treated this particular story of the cure,
and a hundred stories equally strange, with much
patience and impartiality. " There are the facts and
there is the evidence of witnesses," he seemed to say :
" but I do not force belief on others." As regards
1 For instances of credulity, see Journal, ii. 164, 279, 397 j
iv. 130.

154 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the modern miracles an equal freedom is left by the
Eoman Catholic Church. Belief is not obligatory ;
but for the persons who have the requisite amount
of faith the narratives are deemed to be to edifi
cation. While on this same journey, Wesley completed
his eighty-second year, thankfully in his Journal
recording his freedom from pain or even weak
ness. The Conference of his Irish connexion
was then proceeding, and its unanimity was grati
fying to him. A better feeling towards the Church
he remarked in the preachers, and a larger gather
ing of them than ever came round the Holy Table
at St. Patrick's.1 Immediately after this he em
barked for the homeward voyage.
In 1 787 the venerable man again started on his
long north-western tour. On the road he visited
Wednesbury, where he could not but recall to
memory the dangerous riot of forty -four years before.
In his Journal he only remarked that his followers
of that locality showed their "ancient spirit,"
which was one of single-minded heroism. He did
not omit to add that most of his early hearers had
now gone to their rest. After halting at Manchester
and some other places, he was disappointed of finding
place in the coach to Holyhead, and was obliged to
hire a post-chaise. On the road, and also in the
sailing packet, he read a new book on " sacred
classics ; " and on reaching Dublin he revisited all
the old haunts, and some new ones. In " Bethesda "
Journal, iv. 302.

WESLEY IN IRELAND. 155
chapel-of-ease (near the Eotundo) there was intro
duced into worship some singing of the operatic
kind, to which he listened with much impatience.
Yet there was consolation when he found at this
church more than seven hundred communicants.
Persons of distinction were now found amongst his
hearers; "fair blossoms," he remarked, from which
he hoped that fruit might some day come.
At Carlow town, described by an earlier traveller
of celebrity as "low church — high steeple," the
venerable man admired what he saw, and enjoyed
converse with firm friends in the little county town.
Proceeding towards the south-east, he remarked in
Wexford that the farming people were much like
those of Yorkshire. At Clonmel the ill-behaviour
of the people in church somewhat angered him, yet
it was hardly likely that in a little town of Tipperary
the demeanour of worshippers would be found more
correct than that he had observed in the churches
of Dublin, or of many of the English towns. Far
above the long valleys of the adjoining counties of
Tipperary and Cork is the mountain range, which
is traversed by a road. When the aged traveller
wrote of this as the " horrid road " to Cappoquin, he
may have referred to its roughness ; yet it is more
likely that he shared in the feeling of even the
most cultured men of his own time, who commonly
applied the word " horrid " to mountains and rocks,
and, in truth, to all but smooth and cultured
natural scenery. Castle Barnard, near Bandon, being
passed, not without much praise of the ruling family

156 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
there (the Barnards), Wesley reached Cork, where
once the Methodists had been proscribed as rogues
and vagabonds.
Leaving Cork, Wesley went northwards, by many
tedious stages, to the county of Cavan, where he saw
and mused over the last resting-place of the learned
Bishop Bedell, whose memory is still dear to Irish
Protestants. Thence another long and wearisome
journey, which saw an adventure, not the only one
of its kind, yet characteristic and calling for men
tion. The reader must here be reminded that Wesley,
like other men of tough fibre, and hardened frame,
and rare bodily endurance, was somewhat intolerant
of anything like indolence or weakness, either in
man or beast. He looked on men, or on animals, as
constituted much like himself, and therefore well
able to begin the day early, and to take prodigious
exercise until nightfall. Making, therefore, no
allowance for a diversity in bodily powers, he was
apt to expect too much from those mute obedient
animals to whom he was so much indebted. Many
of them had carried him round tho kingdom, from
year to year, faithfully ; nor had accident befallen him
while on many a journey on horseback he read his
pocket volume, the reins carelessly thrown in front.
When more advanced in life, he had been drawn in
his " chaise " from south to north — in fact, all over
the three kingdoms — in such a way as to inspire too
much confidence in the endurance of his hard-worked
steeds.

WESLEY IN IRELAND. 157
Wesley, be it remembered, believed in a personal
and active Satan, who was ever ready to check his
course. And when on this journey one horse had
a swollen shoulder, and soon afterwards another fell
lame, and at a later point a third poor animal broke
down, it did not occur to the hardy patriarch to
accuse himself of demanding too much from them.
Not to overdriving did he ascribe the failures on this
journey. He simply deemed that Satan, although
rendered powerless over himself, had power over the
inferior animals, and took this particular way of
hindering the work of evangelization.1
At Omagh on this tour there was also a curious
incident. Dr. Wilson, a neighbouring rector, wished
that Wesley should preach in his church ; but,
having some scruple, wrote to the bishop, whose
reply at once conveyed " a full and free consent."
One of Dr. Wilson's parishioners was, however, of a
different mind, and took an effectual method of
enforcing his own wish by hiding away the key
of the church door. After all preliminaries, in
cluding the bishop's consent, Wesley was therefore
excluded from the church, and was fain to preach
in an orchard. In this locality the stately man
sion of the Abercorn family called forth his ad
miration. He went on to' Strabane, once more
hindered on the road by the inadequacy of a horse.
Significant is a later note of a single stage of
twenty-six miles, performed not on a level road, but
in one of the most hilly districts in the kingdom.
1 Journal, iv. 363.

158 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
And the roads of Ireland, now so smoothly en
gineered, were then roughly metalled — enough to
break any carriage in pieces.
All through this district the scenery and the
cultivation drew forth comment in the Journal, no
less than the attention of the people in the towns,
as shown by crowded and earnest congregations.
No entry in the Journals surpasses in interest that
made in Dublin on the 28th of July, 1787 :— " I had
the pleasure of a conversation with Mr. Howard,
I think one of the greatest men in Europe.
Nothing but the mighty power of God can enable
him to go through his difficult and dangerous
employments. But what can hurt us if God is on
our side ? " Would that a Boswell had been present
to record this conversation. Passing by some
curious notes descriptive of Dublin and its Parlia
ment, we find Wesley once more on board a
" Parkgate packet," bound for Wales. In the night
the vessel was nearly wrecked on the rocks near
Holyhead. The passengers " went to prayer," and
they were all saved from death, which seemed im
minent.1 The sudden return from America of his
faithful lieutenant, Dr. Coke, with good news of the
progress of the work there, helped to brighten up
this summer of 1787.
Before returning to the south, Wesley rested for
a day at Bury, in Lancashire, where he was hos
pitably received by " Mr. Peel, a calico printer " —
an energetic man of obscure origin, who founded
1 Journal, iv. 372.

WESLEY .IN IRELAND. 159
a wealthy family, and whose son was to become
eminent as a statesman. The journeying this year
was longer than usual, for it included the islands of
Wight, Jersey, and Guernsey, as well as Cornwall.
At St. Helier's Wesley became acquainted with a
" prodigy of grace," whom in deep devotion he was
disposed to rank with Madam Guyon, the pious
mystic, whom he always thought of with admira
tion. In short, incidents were plentiful. Once
more the aged man resolved to visit his friends in
Ireland ; and when, in 1789, this farewell was under
taken, its nature seemed to be understood on all
sides. The voyage across the uncertain waters of
the Irish Sea was an unpleasant one, and naturally
was felt to be less tolerable with the advance of
extreme old age. On landing, the veteran once
more shbwed his loyalty by a sermon on the re
covery of Hezekiah — referring to the improved
state of King George III. "Great was our re-v
joicing," he said. Very early on the Sunday
morning he met the society in the " New Eoom ; "
and, faithful to old usage, he asked all of those who
were not going to their own parish churches to meet
him at St. Patrick's. This was the trysting-place
for Irish Methodists, and long it so continued ; and
on that day they again met their venerable director
at the Holy Table, where there were five hundred
communicants. Afterwards he met the society, and
once more addressed them.
From Dublin, the venerable man set forth on a
southward journey, once more to see people who

160 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
more than forty years before had gained his affec
tionate regard. His natural force had now abated ;
but still he preached in court-houses and barracks,
as well as in churches. The last Conference in
Ireland at which Wesley was present was held in
July, 1789. He spoke of the preachers there
assembled in words of high commendation, espe
cially as regards their unanimous resolve to abide
in the Church. On the Sunday they all were
gathered as usual at St. Patrick's, when the dean
preached, and there was, as always on these occa
sions, a large throng of communicants. Then came
the affecting "farewell" to his warm-hearted fol
lowers. The last voyage from Ireland was a tedious one
of thirty-six hours. True to his old habits, the
venerable man preached on the deck of the packet.
On landing he made his way to Leeds, to meet his
English preachers at their annual Conference. One
memorable circumstance of this year was the pro
duction of that sermon on the " ministerial office,"
which pointed out that, under the Christian and the
Jewish dispensations, there had always been a clear
distinction between those ordained or appointed to
sacerdotal functions, and those in the lower rank of
the evangelists, or, as Wesley called them, " ex
pounders" or lay preachers. This sermon was
written while he was sojourning in Cork in the
May of 1789 ; and it seems to have been preached
before the Conference both in Ireland and England.1
1 Whitehead, ii. 498.

WESLEY IN IRELAND. 161
£t was first printed in Wesley's Arminian Magazine,
for May, 1790.
We may glance briefly at the later history of
Methodism in Ireland. The dissensions which arose
soon after the death of their patriarch, between what
may be styled the Church and the Anti-Church
sections of his preachers, do not seem to have
extended to Ireland, where the " original plan " was
faithfully adhered to for many years. The question
came to the surface, however, in 1814-1816 ; and it
was arranged in the manner which had become
inevitable. The Conference followed the lines of
the English " plan of pacification," which, in fact,
left it optional with the societies either to remain
in union with the Church, or to have their plenary
services conducted by their own preachers in their
own chapels. This plan for Ireland (dated August
3rd, 1816) declares, however, that all the members
were left free to communicate where they pleased.
Some thousands of them were dissatisfied with this
variation from the original plan as laid down by the
founder ; and they resolved to remain apart, under
the appropriate title of " Primitive Methodist."
For nearly half a century they maintained this
attitude, resorting to the church for the sacraments,
and to their own chapels (especially in the evening)
for prayer and the discourses of their own lay
preachers. Once a year they assembled at St.
Patrick's, when one of the canons preached to them,
and there was a special celebration. Of late years
this society, historically so full of interest, has again
M

I

162 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
seen important change, the larger section of its
members having been absorbed within the Wesleyan
Methodist body. The smaller section retains its
name and its ancient fidelity to the Church. Once
| a year it holds a Conference. The " Primitive
! Church Methodists " of Ireland ought, in short, to Le
j studied by all who are interested in the question of
, corporate reunion; for they maintain their special
usages as they derived them from Wesley, without
j in the slightest degree swerving from their allegiance
to the Church. Perhaps in England there is no
j living illustration of the old Methodism; while in
j Ireland there are still such Methodists as Wesley
\ himself would have commended, and who adhere to
v. what was so often called the " original plan."

( 163 )

CHAPTER" XIII.
METHODISM IN AMERICA.
This is not the place for a review of Transatlantic
Methodism, strong as the temptation may be to
linger over a narrative of strange and almost
romantic interest. The beginnings were of the
humblest kind, soon to be followed by a check
arising from the momentous strife between the
fast-growing colonies and the mother country.
The great States of the West achieved their inde
pendence at a moment when ecclesiastically they
might be regarded as unclaimed and vacant ground.
At this juncture some of Wesley's more resolute
followers entered the gap, and took possession of
the territory which none had occupied, laying the
foundations of a structure, the size of which was
soon to astonish the world.
In the year 1760 a few Methodists embarked at
Limerick, in a small vessel bound for what was then
a little English colony. A local preacher, Philip
Embury by name, was the leader of the little band
of emigrants which first introduced into America

164 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the distinctive name and usages of. Methodism.1
Eight years later, Wesley was earnestly requested
to send over to New York, not money only, but
teachers : and this demand was made known
through him to the Conference of 1768. Two of
the preachers, Pillmoor and Boardman by name,
voluntered to go ; and by their hands was sent over,
not only many kind messages, but also a contribu
tion of fifty pounds. On reaching America, the
two envoys found a good work carried on by Captain
Webb, whose name frequently appears in these
annals. He, although an officer in the British
army, was a ting as the virtual head of a little society
of a hundred persons at Philadelphia; while at
New York there was already a large and crowded
chapel. A few years later, Wesley sent over as his
deputy in the oversight of the American Methodists,
a rough but trusty lieutenant, Thomas Eankin ; but
he soon gave offence to those whom he found
engaged in the work, and he returned to England
having accomplished little. Then the mission was
for a time broken up, and the missionaries were
scattered by the revolutionary war. Only one of
them remained, and the name of Francis Asbury
has long been one of renown in America. New
foundland saw a different and a more tranquil
history. Laurence Coughlan, whose career was
short, although a hearty Methodist, was a missionary
working under the auspices of the S.P.G. That
vast and thinly populated territory was as destitute
1 Strickland's " Life of Asbury."

METHODISM IN AMERICA. 105
a-i were the adjoining States of the ministrations of
religion ; and in the extensive district of which St.
John's is the centre, there was to be found but one
aged clergyman.
Wesley was true to his character of a Tory and
High Churchman. When the exciting discussions
on the great American question arose, he deviated
from his rule by entering the arena of political
strife. When this great dispute came to an end,
the question was presented to his mind in a more
clear and urgent way than before — How was provision
to be made for supplying the ministrations of religion
to these vast continents ?
The Anglican Church at that moment had, by
various obstacles, been prevented from taking pos
session of the vacant territory. Letter after letter
reached the hands of Wesley, showing that through
tracts of country hundreds of miles in extent, there
was no religious teaching whatever. There was, of
course, no administration of the sacraments ; nor did
the scattered settlers, whose children remained un-
baptized, know how to obtain aid in the emergency.
Wesley deeply felt for the condition of these neg
lected Christians ; and he asked the Bishop of
London to ordain one missionary for them. The
answer was unfavourable, for there were difficulties,
le^al and political, in the way ; and they were such
that no English bishop could then be induced to
ordain for America.1
1 Shortly afterwards missionaries were duly ordained by
Scottish bishops, free from the legal constraints which at that
time impeded the action of their English brethren.'

166 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
The position of Nova Scotia was no better than
that of Newfoundland. Urgent calls for assistance
came thence ; and, in reply to one of these applica
tions, Wesley wrote to Mr. Black a letter, in which
he explained once more that the Bishop of London
had felt himself unable to ordain even one mis
sionary. Yet he hoped to be able in some way to
supply the need. He could not, he added, advise
any one to go alone. Our Lord had sent out His
disciples two and two. Again he wrote to a corre
spondent in Nova Scotia, expressing no surprise at a
reported falling off in visible results, for such had
been found to be the case at home : " a swift
increase is generally followed by a decrease equally
swift." Eevivals, as he by this time well knew,
were never to be counted on as to the permanence
of their results. Two years later, there was a better
organization in Nova Scotia, which then took rank
as a circuit in Methodism.
In many other ways the urgency of the case- in
the great American continent was made apparent.
Letter after letter came. " We are greatly in need
of help," wrote that most earnest and self-denying
of missionaries, Francis Asbury, in 1784. This
appeal led Wesley into one of the most momen
tous acts of his life, and, as many deem it,
one of the most indefensible — the "ordinations for
America." Dr. Coke now appears to have suggested
to Wesley that he was willing to cross the Atlantic
and organize a mission, if authorized so to do ; and
he probably suggested also that a new commission

METHODISM IN AMERICA. 167
might be given to himself and to Whatcoat and
Vasey, who were to accompany him, by the " laying
on of hands " by Wesley himself. It was, however,
felt that Charles Wesley and the more ardent friends
of the Church would regard such an ordination with
sorrow, if not with scorn, and therefore that secrecy
was desirable. The result of the pressure from
America and of Coke's solicitations appears to have
been this. Early one morning, at Bristol and in his
own room, with the knowledge of very few others,
Wesley went through a form of ordination, after
which Coke regarded himself as equivalent to a
bishop, and Whatcoat and Vasey regarded them
selves as ordained presbyters. The former was to
" superintend " the missions in America, while the
two latter were to act as ministers of the Word and
sacraments. At the same time Wesley addressed
to his followers in America the letter (Bristol,
September 10, 1784) of which, as it has often
been reprinted, it will suffice to give a summary.
This letter set forth the unusual position of the
American States, freed as at the moment they were
alike from secular and from ecclesiastical jurisdiction.
It also states that, according to King's account of
the Primitive Church, elders were, equally with
bishops, able to ordain; but that Wesley had hitherto
never acted on this theory, being determined as
little as possible to violate the order of the Church
to which he belonged. The case of America was,
however, new and exigent, there being few ministers
of religion there, and no present means of increasing

1G8 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
their number. Therefore, wrote Wesley, he had
appointed Dr. Coke and Asbury to act as " superin
tendents," also Whatcoat and Vasey to act as "elders"
by administering the sacraments.
The letter was read at the Conference at Baltimore
on Christmas Day, 1784, Dr. Coke being there
present: and it was at once proposed by a Mr.
Dickins, and agreed to without dispute and almost
without discussion, that the American Methodists
should take the title of " The Methodist Episcopal
Church" — a title which they have ever since re
tained and used. This assembly further declared
"the office of bishop elective," and by a vote they
adopted Dr. Coke and Francis Asbury as their
first bishops, manifesting even at this early period
a desire for the utmost degree of independence, as
well of Wesley, as of England. Asbury at this
period had received no kind of ordination ; but Dr.
Coke was at hand and ready to supply whatever was
wanting ; and the latter, by a written memorandum
(Baltimore, December 27, 1784), declared that he
had " set apart " Asbury for the offices successively
of deacon, elder, and superintendent of the Amer
ican Methodists. The American historian states
that Asbury 's nomination .to the office of bishop
" did not increase his power or his usefulness." His
influence was, without doubt, considerable, both
before and after his being " set apart " by Dr. Coke ;
yet he was always treated rather as an equal than a
superior by Garrettson, and by the other American
ministers whom he superintended. Asbury 's own

METHODISM IN AMERICA. 169
ideas of his office also were of a very humble and
moderate kind ; and he refused to accept the pro
motion offered to him until assured of the full con
sent of his brethren. Following the example of
him whom they call the " pioneer bishop," succeed
ing superintendents or " bishops " of the American
Methodists have always refrained from such inter
ference in Church matters as would be not only
proper, but inevitable, in the case of rightly j
appointed and duly consecrated bishops. Certainly
Asbury, or rather his office, was treated with no ex
traordinary respect by his brethren, for they ad
dressed him as though one of themselves while he
lived. Since his death they have fitly honoured
his memory, as that of a singularly earnest and
able pioneer of religion over vast and neglected
territories.1 Wesley, in his appointment of Coke and Asbury, '
was most careful to omit the word " bishop " and to
use only the word " superintendent." When he
heard that the title of " bishop " had been, on their
own responsibility, hastily assumed by his followers
in America, he was deeply grieved. He never
affected to confer the episcopal office on Coke, or
on any other clergyman ; and he expressed in strong
terms his discontent and annoyance at the course
taken by the American Methodists.
1 Asbury was bom in England in 1745, went to America in
1771, and after incessant and fruitful labours died in Virginia in
1816. These details are taken from Strickland's " Life of Asbury,"
and from the memoirs of F. Garrettson.

170 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Wesley did, however, purport to give — perhaps
without due thought, but still with full intention—
a commission to administer the sacraments.
This is not the place for weighing the excuses
which were deemed sufficient by himself and his
followers. The urgent and derelict case of America
was a fact by which his mind was oppressed ; and
there can be no doubt of his perfect sincerity and
truthfulness, both as to the course taken and the
^narrative given of it. Evidently, however, after
making all due allowances, Wesley went astray in
this matter of the ordinations for America. For it
has been a rule of the Church universal from the
earliest age that only one holding the rank, bearing
the title, and fulfilling the duties of a bishop shall
ordain presbyters and deacons ; and the concur
rence of three bishops has always been regarded as
essential for canonical consecration to the office of
bishop.
' Wesley, while he explained the circumstances of
this new appointment of ministers to his American
followers, commended to their notice a revised
Liturgy, " little differing from that of the English
Church " — a Church which Wesley again described
as " the best-constituted national Church in the
world." He further enjoined on his people in
America a weekly administration of the Lord's
Supper. Even now he retained the fixed belief that none
of these steps involve! him, or any of his followers,
in separation from tLe Church. When the super-

METHODISM IN AMERICA. 171
intendents in America assumed the title of
" bishop," John Wesley was almost as indignant
as his brother Charles. Both of them felt that the
border line, if not crossed, had been very nearly
approached, and that it was now for them more
difficult than before to rebut the charge of seces
sion. Still they argued that nothing done in the
American continent affected their status as English
Churchmen. That no rivalry with the Church was
intended is apparent from the instructions issued
to the preachers in America. These harmonized
with all the instructions given from time to time
in England. Where there was a church no services
were to be held in the chapels during church hours ;
in brief, Methodism was, even in America, designed
by the founder to be supplementary to the Church.
This clear indication of Wesley's own design must
be taken into account when his proceedings with
regard to America are criticized. For the proceed
ings of the American Methodists after the arrival of
Coke amongst them, Wesley was hardly responsible.
Before quitting this branch of the subject, it
must be noted that some delay in responding to
the urgent calls from America would have wrought
no real injury. Although the English bishops
could not, at one time, see their way to ordain
missionaries, a short interval only elapsed before
the Scottish bishops, under no bondage to the civil
power, were able to send out Bishop Seabury, and
so to supply the deficiency.
It is also to be noted that after Wesley, in ex-

172 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
treme old age, had allowed Coke and the others to
involve him in this new and doubtful course of
action, those across the Atlantic, for whom this
great sacrifice had been made, refused to be bound
by any of his limitations. They had, as they
thought, gained from him the " ministerial succes
sion ; " and they cared little for anything else.
Their breaking away from his control, and their
disregard of his monitions, was a source of natural
grief to the patriarch ; and it would hardly be too
much to say that, in very few years, he regretted
the new and exceptional line of action into which
he had been led by over-anxiety to meet and pro
vide for the spiritual needs of the dwellers in
America.1 The growth of Methodism in America has been
extraordinary. Little regard is paid on that con
tinent to tradition, or the possession of ancient title-
deeds ; so that a new system is, on the whole, quite
as likely to prevail as an old one. The " super
intendents" (who are now called bishops) of the
Methodists there count their followers by millions.
It only remains to mention that through this
channel several of the English • Methodist ministers
of our time can trace what may be called a Pres
byterian succession. In the year 1842 Dr. Soule,
who, through Asbury, and therefore mediately
through Coke and Wesley, could claim to be in
such a line of succession, visited England. He
took part in the ordination service of the Conference
1 Tyer. iii. 498.

METHODISM IN AMERICA. 173
of that year ; and laid his hands on some who have
in their turn become senior ministers, and have laid
their hands on others. To an undefined extent,
therefore, there is a " Presbyterian succession " in
modern English Methodism. Little or no value
is set on the authority so derived : for the Metho
dist ministers base their claim, as their predecessors
of forty years since did, upon a spiritual " call,"
followed by appointment to, and recognition by
" the congregation." Still, when the question of
ministerial pedigree is concerned, a question always
interesting to Churchmen, the episode of the super
intendents sent by Wesley to America, and its con
sequences, have some significance, and therefore
they call for mention here.

174 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTEE XIV.
WESLEY IN SCOTLAND.
There are not a few reasons for the comparative
ill success of Methodism across the northern border.
The Scots pride themselves, and with some justice,
on their early training, even in the lowest ranks
of society. Their temperament, calm and critical,
is such that they are less affected by novelty or
by sentiment than their southern fellow-subjects.
From the first there were some who doubted
whether Methodism had any mission in Scotland ;
and Dr. Adam Clarke himself deemed that, except
in Glasgow and Edinburgh, there was no occasion
for Wesleyan chapels.
Wesley, however, at an early period, was im
pressed by the belief that the fields were ripe unto
harvest in all parts of the United Kingdom. Ee-
solving to visit Scotland, he exchanged letters on
this point with his early friend Whitefield, who
warned him that the Scots had their own fixed
opinions — doubtless referring to their preference for
the theology of Calvin and Knox. Wesley replied

WESLEY IN SCOTLAND. 175
that when opening a mission in Scotland, he would
give no provocation to disputers — he would only
address the people on fundamental truths.
His labours in North Britain, though not pro
ducing great results, have, however, some interest
for us. In his Journal the Presbyterian and the
Anglican modes of worship are contrasted, and
always to the disadvantage of the former. Again,
having been in his old age persuaded to exercise
the supposed power of ordaining ministers for
America, Wesley was led to suppose that the like
excuse existed in the case of Scotland ; and, obscure
as are the facts at this distance of time, it is beyond
question that he gave some commission, by " laying
on of hands," to a few of his preachers to officiate
in Scotland.
In 1753 he visited Glasgow, and noted that the
fine cathedral of that city was at that time miserably
defaced, having no symmetry or beauty. The
worship of the Kirk he did not admire; yet he
noted that the people were devout — indeed, more de
vout than ordinary worshippers in England. They
did not gaze round, and bow to their acquaintances.
In 1764 he spent a day, merely as a visitor, in the
hall of the General Assembly of the Kirk. The dull
verbosity of the speakers wearied him, and there
was a visible waste of time and energy. He now
»ttended a Communion Service of the Kirk, and he
described it as at once far less simple and far less
solemn than that of his own Church of England.
Thenceforward, Scotland appears to have been

176 THE CHURCHMAN'S LTFF, OF WESLEY.
usually comprised in his long journeys of inspection,
undertaken with some regularity at intervals of
about two years. In 1766, after resting for many
days amongst his warm-hearted friends at New
castle, he went northwards, but hardly with the
same fresh, untiring vigour as before. The age of
sixty-three is, with most men, a kind of turning-
point ; and the traveller noted on this journey a
new sense of weariness. Mrs. Wesley and her
daughter Jenny were, his companions ; and the tour
embraced places so far apart as Dundee and Dum
fries. In those days travelling in a chaise was a
service of danger. Once when a horse was "em-
bogged," Wesley, though rolled into the mud,
escaped, as he usually did, without injury. He
was slight, active, wiry, and much alive to sur
rounding facts ; and if he believed that Provi
dence specially protected him against all accidents
and disasters, it would be impossible to prove that
he was wrong in that belief.
On this tour in particular he commented freely
on Scottish Kirk history, to him a topic far from
agreeable. The old Scottish reformers he described
as " fierce, sour, and bitter of spirit." If they could
but have manifested a Christian disposition, he
doubted not but that they would have been far
more useful in their day and generation. These
extracts will give a fair notion of Wesley's im
pressions of the past religious history of Scotland.
Passing over several years we come to 1774,
when Wesley again traversed a large portion of the

WESLEY IN SCOTLAND. 177
country, now without the companionship of a wife.
He witnessed a Scottish funeral, and was shocked
by the absence of any religious service — "a coffin
put into the earth, and covered up without a word."
This reminded him of " the burial of an ass," in the
record of Jehoiakim. On arriving at Arbroath, he
rejoiced to find a people as loving and simple of
heart as any in England ; but this was a town for
which he had a special affection. The peculiarities
of Scottish law — always unintelligible "except to
Scottish lawyers — were brought home forcibly by
an incident during this journey. He was arrested
for debt, and suddenly, at the instance of a dis
honest suitor, to whom, however, justice was in the
end meted out.
In 1776 Wesley was at Greenock, on what is in
Scotland called a " fast-day ; " and he noted that the
day was not observed by the natives with any kind
of abstinence. At Aberdeen he read the newly
published western tour of his venerable friend, Dr.
Johnson, and he praised it highly. At the kirk he
only noted the dull formality which reigned there ;
while at the Anglican Church of the same city he
remarked on the excellence of the sermon, and
on the pious demeanour of both priest and people.
At Banff the intention was that Wesley should
preach in the assembly-room, but an invitation
being given to the Anglican Church, this was
readily accepted. He took the occasion, on finding
a congregation of persons of a higher class than
usual, to repeat for their benefit some of those
N

178 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
scathing monitions which he was always ready to
address to wealthy or fashionable hearers. At St.
. Andrews he noted the peculiarities of the Scottish
University system. The period of study seemed to
him very short ; and he contrasted with that his old
round of duty as a tutor at Oxford, when every week
day in the year found him hard at work amongst
his pupils.
Somewhat later — in 1779 — again visiting Glasgow,
he awarded high praise to the Anglican congregation
there. Evidently their demeanour was far more
commendable than that of ordinary church-goers of
that period in England. Again he contrasted the
worship of his own Church with that of the Presby
terian Kirk : " I attended the Church of England
service in the morning, and that of the Kirk in the
afternoon. Truly ' no man, having drank old wine,
straightway desireth new.' How dull and dry did
the latter appear to me, who had been accustomed
to the former ! "
The Scots at all times received Wesley with
much deference and attention. In 1772 he was
presented with the freedom of the old city of
Perth ; and shortly afterwards the same compli
ment was conferred on him by the magistracy of
Arbroath. In the last-mentioned town his atten
tion was drawn to the massive ruins of the abbey,
and he was told that the Eeformers had burnt
down the aisles. " God deliver us from reforming
mobs ! " was his exclamation.
It was on the last but one of his many journeys

WESLEY IN SCOTLAND. 179
to Scotland that Wesley took special pains to make
the good people of Glasgow understand the exact
position of Methodism. It was not designed to be
the rival of any Church, he said. It stood alone in
this respect, as a brotherhood requiring of those
who entered its ranks no holding of definite
opinions, nothing but " the desire to be saved." N
The Methodist still adhered to his old accustomed
mode of worship. " Here is our glorying," said the
founder of the great society which in his day was
marked by comprehensiveness. There was no
narrow wish of separation off within the boundary
lines of a sect. How little did Wesley dream that
what to him appeared the noblest feature of his
system should disappear in less than half a century !
In 1790 the aged man undertook his last long
journey to the North. On the road he halted, as
had always been his wont, at the pleasant town of
Macclesfield, within view of the lofty moorlands
of Derbyshire. This was his last Easter-tide spent
amidst the Church militant ; and here, and also at
Manchester, he was again cheered and revived by
the sight so dear to him, of a large throng of earnest
communicants. This, by the patriarch and by his
warm-hearted friends in many towns and cities, was
felt to be a last leave-taking. Wesley was now
eighty-seven years of age; yet he preached both
morning and evening without much weariness.
Several pages of his Journal are at this point
missing, a fact that will excite no wonder in those who
know the history of the Wesley manuscripts.

180 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
The narrative reopens with Scotland, where the
venerable man took "a solemn farewell" of his friends
at Aberdeen. Glasgow and Dumfries were also re
visited; and the latest of these Scottish journeys
was brought to a close in the month of June, 1790.
There is ample evidence that, although Wesley
managed to perform these journeys, marks of fatigue
and weakness were very perceptible to others. He
became, however, more interesting to the general
public as his age and his reputation increased ; and
numbers flocked to see, rather than to hear, the
remarkable man whose name had even then become
historical. In the private circle he was cheerful
and talkative as ever, with a charm of his own,
which all around him acknowledged.1 Levity he
always disliked ; yet there was the rare combination
of wisdom with artless simplicity, which always
rendered his company attractive to the best of his
cotemporaries. Such was Wesley in advanced age ; but it is
no derogation from his merits and his fame to
say that his immediate helpers and familiar friends
had an influence over him, in his last years, which
none had ever gained before. We have seen
that the patriarch, when at Bristol, was persuaded
to appoint Coke and his fellows "superintendent"
and ministers of the missions in America. The case
of the Transatlantic States was one so strange, that,
in view of it, ordinary rules might almost be disre
garded. " Necessity has no law " — so the jurists
' Tyer. iii. C08.

WESLEY IN SCOTLAND. 1S1
say ; and even canonical rules have admitted of
exceptional cases. Therefore there is some excuse,
plausible if not adequate, for those ordinations by
which Wesley too hastily sought to provide for the
spiritual needs of North America.
Scotland was otherwise situated — there being
within her borders a true episcopal Church, of
undoubted claims and evident vitality. Wesley
himself had often taken part in the worship of the
Scottish Church, and had noted with approval her
superiority to the Kirk of the majority. Why then
did he take upon himself to ordain several of his
preachers for Scotland ? No very satisfactory reply
to this question can be found. Evidently the excuse
that Wesley's own Church of England had no juris
diction in Scotland was inadequate, based as it was
on an imperfect conception of the nature of the
Church. If Wesley held the higher view of those
who obey the bishops as successors in office of the
Apostles, his ar-tion with regard to a country under
true episcopal jurisdiction was indefensible. If
he held the lower view of those who recognize
as a proper Christian Church the Presbyterian
established Kirk, still the apologist must be at
fault. In either view he had no shadow of right to
intrude any of his preachers, claiming the full
ministerial office, into a territory occupied by duly
appointed and orthodox pastors. We must en- |
deavour to make the best excuse for the aged man I
which the facts themselves will justify.
In 1785 his most trusted friends had passed away.

182 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Grimshaw, and Perronet, and Fletcher, and the rest
of the group, were no longer at his side ; Charles
Wesley was, moreover, an invalid who had long
survived the force and activity of his prime. John
Wesley was only under the influence of some
ambitious and active followers of the new generation.
Dr. Coke, the most prominent of these, great as
were his merits as a missionary, was as unsound and
inconsistent an adviser in matters of Church polity as
could well be imagined. He appears to have thrown
his influence into the scale, when some of the
preachers, not for the first or the fiftieth time, urged
Wesley again to act on the theory of the virtual
equality of presbyters with bishops. In his days of
vigour such solicitations were firmly disregarded:
now the old man, " over persuaded " by those around
him, "yielded to their judgment," and "laid his
hands " on certain of the preachers before he sent
them away to Scotland. In August, 1785, he thus
" set apart," to act in Scotland, Messrs. Pawson,
Hanby, and Taylor. This function, as it seems, also
took place in secret, nor is any record of its exact
nature preserved ; but it is most probable that it was
" by imposition of hands," and that Mr. Creighton and
another of Wesley's ordinary clerical helpers took
part in the transaction. Strict limitations as to the
future sphere of work were, as we have all reason to
believe, duly given, in order that this act should
not appear a violation of Church law and usage;
and Wesley certainly persuaded himself, if he failed
to persuade others, that these " ordinations for Scot-

WESLEY IN SCOTLAND. 183
land " did not involve any secession from the
English Church. During the three following years
some other preachers wero " set apart " by him for
Antigua and other distant places. The ordinees
were about nine in all.
Some persons have thought that Wesley per
formed similar acts of ordination for England;
but, while any direct evidence of this is absent,
there are several distinct reasons for believing
that the story has no real foundation. Wesley pro
bably gave " letters of orders " to all his ordinees.
If these can be found, they may throw light on a
very obscure passage of his history. The only
document of this nature hitherto published is that
which he gave in 1784 to Dr. Coke. Many of its
passages are very significant, as they set forth, in
the language of deprecation and even of apology,
the absence of spiritual oversight and jurisdiction
in America. What, we may ask, could the "pre
amble " have been in the case of Scotland ? His
own Church (argued Wesley) had no jurisdiction
in Scotland : therefore any action of his, in or for
Scotland, was in no sense an interference with, or
an opposition to, his Church. This is intelligible,
though defective, reasoning. It is of moment to
observe that this reasoning is utterly subversive of
the idea that Wesley ordained for England, and it
is but one of many pieces of evidence, all pointing
to the same conclusion. Were these functions really
accompanied by " imposition of hands " ? A vener
able Wesleyan minister, who had been president of

184 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the Conference, told the present writer that he had
received from Dr. Coke " letters of orders " without
any imposition of hands. Perhaps the preachers, if
there were any " set apart " to act in England, were
"set apart" by a written document, and not otherwise?
Mr. Watson, whose authority none will dispute, states
the " ordinations " to been been for America and
Scotland only ; and the trustees' declaration of 1793
agrees with this exactly.1 The verdict with regard
to any such appointments for England must be " not
proven." Significant also was the reception in England of
Mr. Pawson, who, having been ordained by the aged
man for Scotland, lost little time in coming south,
bringing with him, as he thought, the title of Reve
rend and the other authorities of the full ministry.
He was at once told that south of the Tweed
he was now, as before, only a layman. Wesley^
rightly or wrongly, in extreme old age deemed
himself enabled, for missionary purposes only,
to confer a eertain ministerial authority out of
England. We do not defend the course he took
with regard to America and Scotland, but we con
fidently point to his own reasonings as showing that
they did not allow of his assuming any such sup
posed power in and for England ; and, unless new
and much better evidence be forthcoming, we may
fairly question the statement sometimes met with,
that he on any one occasion affected to ordain
ministers for England. 1 See page 242.

WESLEY IN SCOTLAND. 185
Charles Wesley strongly disapproved of these
transactions. While they were going on they were
concealed from him ; and when they reached his ear,
he wrote to his brother in terms of remonstrance,
pathetic rather than fiery. His last days were, he
said, embittered, and an indelible blot had been
placed on the very name of Wesley. The reply of
John to his afflicted brother was far less satisfactory
and candid than his letters were wont to be. It was
evasive and even weak, and it closed with words
implying, though not expressing, regret for what
had occurred.1 It intimated that if Charles had
been at hand to be consulted, the elder brother
might not have fallen victim to the over-persuasion
of persons at his elbow. Charles Wesley's reply
was full of dignity and good feeling. As to seces
sion, there was, he said, less excuse for it now than
ever: the bishops had never molested them, and
several of the bishops were now very friendly, while
the churches were all open to them. It was un
necessary to argue on that uninterrupted succession
(of bishops) which he (Charles) believed in, while
his brother did not. The alarm had arisen from
Dr. Coke's rashness, and from John Wesley's sup
porting him (Dr. Coke) in his ambitious designs.
When the "fatal step" was taken at Bristol, Charles
was close by, and if he had been taken into counsel,
the elder brother would have done better. (John
Wesley had admitted this in his last letter.) Charles
Wesley now closed by declaring his unalterable
» Tyer. iii. 445.

186 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
affection for his brother. John wrote again, briefly
defending Dr. Coke, and intimating that it was
better to agree to differ. Even this did not close
the correspondence, for Charles wrote again, " I
believe you have been too hasty in ordaining. I
believe God left you to yourself in that matter, as
He left Hezekiah, to show you the secret pride
which was in your heart." To write thus was, he
finally declared, to discharge a duty to God and to
His Church.
These transactions, as they became known, not
unreasonably led to the revival of a rumour that
John Wesley was about to secede from the Church.
There was then, as now, much liberality shown
towards the clergy in construing unusual and even
erratic passages of their lives ; but even the more
liberally inclined thought that the exercise of
a supposed right to ordain by a presbyter of an
episcopal Church was going too far. Many things
might be done, but surely this must amount to
secession ? Such was the view which Lord Mans
field took; and expressing this to Charles Wesley,
it tended to increase the mental distress of the poet
of Methodism. John was, however, unshaken ; and
he again publicly declared, to the astonishment
of many, that he had no more thought of secession
now than forty years earlier.
We have seen that when the preachers who had
received this new commission returned to England,
they expected to bring it back with them. Their
mistake was soon made evident, and in a manner

WESLEY IN SCOTLAND. 187
to them far from pleasant. Wesley, hearing that
Pawson wore gown and bands, and acted the part
of a clergyman south of the Tweed, administered a
sharp and decisive rebuke.1 After Wesley's death
the whole Conference took exactly the same course,
refusing to recognize as in any way superior to
their brethren the very few preachers who had
received from the patriarch the new and question-^
able commission.
1 Tyer. iii. 497, 574. While Pawson and MoAllum — the latter
" set apart " only after much entreaty — were in Sootland, they
were treated as clergymen and were addressed as " Reverend."
When they came south again, all was altered — their commission, in
Wesley's opinion, having no shadow of validity in England. Paw.
sou did not like the loss of dignity. " We are to be," he wrote,
"just what we were before we went to Scotland — no sacraments, .
no gowns, no nothing at all."

188 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTEE XV.
AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR.
So far we have regarded the founder of Methodism
in his character of a religious " revivalist," and the
organizer of a new brotherhood of Christians. In
modern literature it has become common to bracket
his name with that of his early friend Whitefield,
as though there were a complete resemblance be
tween them. The truth is that they were, in con
stitution, in training, and in career, widely apart.
Whitefield had unequalled power of swaying great
crowds, and had, therefore, the more distinct place
of a popular orator. Wesley's influence, though
of a more peaceful, was of a more enduring kind.
It was felt, on the wholo, less in the highway and
the market-place than in the comparative quiet of
his " preaching-houses " or mission chapels. White-
field's followers were not united in one brotherhood,
and they were described by himself as but a " rope
of sand." The followers of Wesley were, on the
contrary, gathered within a zone of personal in
fluence, and they fell into habits of close association.
The organization of the classes and bands mainly

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 189
secured this result; while there were other in
fluences which bound together the Methodists with
ties as strong as any which had existed in mediasval
guild or religious confraternity. Amongst these
ties was the .possession of a separate literature.
Wesley was a diligent student, whose habits
were formed during long years of tutorial work at
Oxford. His range of reading was too wide to
admit of very close and special attention to one
branch of study; but discursive habits of reading
rather fitted him for his special position as regarded
the large and ever-widening circle of his followers.
Popular literature, especially of the religious kind,
hardly then existed; and he therefore found it
desirable to provide, for the Methodists of all ages,
reading both for Sundays and week-days. With
this view he opened his publishing and book
selling rooms, and devoted no small part of his
time to the work of editing and compiling. He
had little opportunity of producing original work
of the higher kind, and therefore he is not now
classed amongst the more eminent of the English
writers of the last century. His powers of sharp
insight and rapid condensation were bestowed on
the preparation of a long series of publications,
intended for the benefit of readers of the middle
and lower classes. He addressed himself, not to
a few scholars, but to many thousands of the com
paratively unlearned and ignorant.
We have seen that his earliest attempts at
authorship were in the Oxford days, when be wrote

190 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
some sermons and devotional books. Influenced by
the example of his brother, he also composed some
hymns ; and he was especially happy in his trans
lations from the German. Several of these will
always maintain a high place in literature of this
kind, and perhaps they may all bo ascribed to the
period 1736-1741, when he was intimate with some
of the best of the Moravians.
One of his favourite books — that attributed to
Thomas d Kempis — he had translated and pub
lished in two editions (8vo and 24mo) in the year
1735. In 1738 his sermon preached before the
university on the text,- " By grace are ye saved
through faith," was published ; and henceforth for
fifty years he issued from the press sermons at
frequent intervals. Most of these appear in the
standard collection of his works, though it so
happens that the first four volumes of the sermons
have a special importance of their own. They
alone find place amongst the standards of doctrine
which are legally binding on the whole Wesleyan
connexion. Wesley's friends and biographers, Coke
and Moore, who knew him intimately, say of these
four volumes that they contain " the substance of
what he usually declared in the pulpit. He de
signed by them to give a view of what St. Paul
calls ' the analogy of faith.' They are written with
great energy, and as much as possible in the very
words of the inspired writers. . . . He has often
told us that he made a conscience of using no more
words on any subject than were strictly necessary

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 191
... his perspicuity is as remarkable as the manli
ness of his style."
From time to time small volumes of hymns and
sacred poems were issued by the two brothers.
Little method was observed in these early pub
lications, as they contained new compositions and
reprints of old ones — a few written by John, but
the larger number by Charles. At length, in 1780,
they issued a goodly collection in a single volume,
containing all that they deemed of highest value in
the numerous earlier issues. This book, which was
systematically arranged, prefaced by some quaint
remarks on hymnody, may be regarded as the
nucleus of that hymn-book whioh now, after two
or three enlargements, is used by the Methodists.1
Soon after the commencement of his active
career in England, Wesley published a selection
from that private Journal which he kept (in a kind
of shorthand) almost to the end of his life. At
intervals of a few years he revised and published
further portions, and this custom he continued
down to the year 1786. The Journal, as it now
appears in print subsequent to that date, was not
revised by himself — a distinction which the student
will bear in mind. But, excepting this last portion,
1 Five of the hymns in Lord Selborne's well-known " Book of
Praise " are ascribed to John Wesley :— " Jesu, behold the wise
from far" (No. 70) j "Lo! God is here, let us adore" (No. 135) ;
" 0 Thou to whose all-searching sight " (No. 230) ; " Now I have
found the ground wherein " (No. 348) ; and lastly, " Commit
thou all thy griefs " (No. 406), and Part 2 of the same, " Give
to the winds thy fears."

192 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the four volumes of the Journals are as thoroughly
authentic as they are graphic and interesting. If
they were carefully edited, and the numerous blanks
for names, etc., supplied, they would take their
place with the most valuable memoirs illustrative
of the last century.1
In 1742 appeared the first defence of Methodism,
in the shape of a small tract by John Wesley.
Some of his numerous critics had accused him of
holding " a medley of opinions," for- the composite
nature of his system had even then attracted special
notice. It was scarcely worth his while to reply
that, while reproducing " many things said before
by Calvin or Arminius, by Montanus or Barclay or
the Archbishop of Cambray," his theology was not
a mere medley. This was his first appearance in
print as a controversialist ; and although often
driven again into the polemical arena, it was not
one which he ever entered from choice. His aver
sion to mere controversy is well shown by the
readiness with which he deputed his friend Fletcher
to enter the lists, when the fierce dispute arose with
Toplady and the Hills, on the decrees of Calvinism.
Amongst Wesley's original works of the con
troversial kind must be mentioned his "Farther
Appeal " (1745), which meets the charge of bring
ing in new doctrine. Now, as at other times, he
argues that the Methodist view of the doctrine of
Justification is that alike of Holy Scripture and
of the English Church. In reply to a charge by
1 See Appendix XII., ¦" Wesley's Journals."

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 193
the Bishop of Lichfield (Dr. Smalbroke), he affirmed
—and few will now contradict him — that the " en
thusiasm," of which so much complaint had been
made, was chargeable on standard Anglican writers,
like Pearson and Eidley, and much more so on some
of the most renowned of the Fathers. This work,
a well-considered and systematic defence of Metho
dism, had a very large circulation. From the sale "*
of this and -other publications it soon appeared that
a considerable profit arose. The question how to
dispose of the increasing profits of the Methodist
press arose, and it was easily settled. Personally,
Wesley refused to allow himself to be enriched.
In the early days at Oxford, when religion first
dominated his mind and daily life, he resolved to
keep his personal expenditure at the lowest point,
and not to "lay up treasure on earth." As his
income increased, his personal outlay was still
limited to some thirty pounds a year. Yet while
he lived, there were always those Who said that,
from the profits of a large and successful publishing
business, he must needs be enriching himself. But
at his death there was found little beyond the
property in copyright, etc., which was necessary for
the carrying on of his various publications. HeN
had earned, and had given away in charity, about
a thousand a year : and he had laid up absolutely
nothing. J
Very few were his intervals of leisure. The
longest of them enabled him to undertake, and
nearly complete, one of his most important works—
o

194 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY
the " New Testament Notes." In 1753, under medical
advice, he remained at Bath for many weeks, writing
more closely than usual, for that was for him a state
of rare quiet and seclusion. In this work he received
some aid from Charles Wesley, Philip Doddridge,
and other friends ; but he was more largely indebted
to the " Gnomon " of Bengel, then recently issued — a
work which he always praised in high terms. These
" New Testament Notes," first published in 1755, still
hold their ground; nor can they ever pass out of
date, since they also are among the legal standards
of doctrine in Methodism. They have been much
praised for their clear and concise style ; and when
the famous James Hervey wrote to his friend of
early days, to acknowledge the newly published
volume, he found fault only with its extreme brevity.
Early in his career Wesley began the practice of
reading over, and abridging for the press, books
dealing with a wide variety of subjects. Many of
these compilations were done on his journeys through
the kingdom. In the chaise or the public coach he
was thus employed, and even sometimes on horse
back. Now and then he abridged, for the use of his
own people, books written by contemporary authors,
not always, as it seems, with a due regard for copy
right claims. Young complained that this freedom
had been taken with his "Night Thoughts;" and
Dodsley, the publisher, also declared himself a
sufferer through Wesley's too hasty appropriation
of the literary work of others. But more commonly
the abridging and reprinting was of books of a much

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 195
older date. Thus, there was an edition of the early
Christian writers, which was a work of much time
and labour. The "Christian Library " occupied no
fewer than fifty volumes, the first containing the
Epistles of SS. Clement, Ignatius, and Polycarp.
Deeming these three Fathers to be in some measure
inspired, he placed them on a higher level of
authority than the later FatherSi1
Sometimes he condensed and reprinted works of
which he did not wholly approve, deeming them to
contain passages of value. Mosheim's well-known
"History " was one of this class. Science and general
literature were not overlooked ; and John Wesley
even ventured on a popular book of household
medicine, which, although crude and unscientific,
testified to the industry of its compiler. . Once he
condensed and republished a work of pure fiction,
" The Fool of Quality," written by Henry Brooke, of
Dublin.-2 Being no Puritan, Wesley held this very
romantic story to be worthy of regard, not only as
amusing, but as calculated to soften and amend the
heart by opening avenues to pity and benevolence.3
In 1775 there was high excitement through
England, when it was known that the colonists of
the North American colonies were likely to throw
1 The " Christian Library," came out during the years 1749-
1755. In his own copy of the work Wesley made many correc
tions, with the aid of which there was a republication in thirty
volumes, 1819-182S.
2 Ancestor ofthe late Dr. B. S. Brooke and of Mr. Stopford Brooke.
* Coke and Moore, 365.

196 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

off their allegiance to the English crown. Parlia
ment resolved to increase the military forces, and to
take all other measures to suppress a rising, the
extent and outcome of which were very much under
estimated. The most eminent Tory of the day, Dr.
Johnson, published a famous pamphlet, " Taxation
no Tyranny ; " and Wesley at once took the same
side, with an amount of warmth which surprised
alike his friends and his enemies. No slight occa
sion could, indeed, have led to his appearance as a
pol itical pamphleteer ; but here he felt deeply, and
he hesitated not to exert all his influence on be
half of the British power. He printed, under his
own name, the " Calm Address to our American
Colonies," which is stated to be nothing but a
translation, somewhat abridged, of Dr. Johnson's
essay. Far from resenting this freedom, the mag
nanimous Johnson spoke of it as a compliment paid
to himself, in a letter which is the hands of the
present writer. This letter acknowledges a presenta
tion through Mrs. Hall (Wesley's sister), and though
printed before, it must be given here : —
J)r. Johnson to J. Wesley.
"Sir, " When I received your ' Commentary on
the Bible,' I durst not at first flatter myself that I
was to keep it, having so little claim to so valuable
a present; and when Mrs. Hall informed me of
your kindness, was hindered from time to time
from returning you those thanks which I now
entreat you to accept.

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 197

" I have thanks likewise to return for the addi
tion of your important suffrage to my argument
on the American question. To have gained such
a mind as yours may justly confirm me in my
own opinion. What effect my paper has had upon
the publick I know not, but I have now no reason
to be discouraged. The lecturer was surely in the
right, who, though he saw his audience slinking
away, refused to quit the chair while Plato staid.
" I am, " Eeverend Sir,
" Your most humble servant,
" Samuel Johnson.
"Feb. 6, 1776."
There was an active party on the side of the
colonists in the American dispute, and they were
not backward in their reproaches. One of the tracts
issued at this time against Wesley was entitled,
" A Wolf in Sheep's Clothing, or an Old Jesuit Un
masked." Mr. Toplady, of whose more religious
labours his celebrated hymn "Bock of ages" will
give an idea, was full of indignation and bitterness ;
and, good man as he was, he vilified Wesley most
unworthily, in a tract entitled, " An Old Fox Tarr'd
and Feather'd." Such were the amenities of contro
versy in the religious world of England, only one
hundred years ago.
The circulation of Wesley's " Calm Address " was
immense, the more so as the Government were
delighted with it, and helped to distribute it broad-

198 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
cast. On the other hand, there was much anger
amongst the " poor deluded rebels," as the colonists
were then styled. The result was that Methodism
in America passed under a cloud ; and the pioneer
missionaries whom Wesley had sent thither were
obliged to withdraw, or to hide themselves. After
a short interval, all was quiet once more, and the
cloud of unpopularity passed away. Wesley's ap
pearance in the lists as a political writer was
forgiven by the Americans ; and his system was
welcomed in the liberated States, where Methodism
has ever since flourished as it has done on no other
soil. Wesley, as " an old Tory," could not be silent
when, in 1776, Dr. Price brought out his " Observa
tions on Liberty." Such opinions would, he said, if
encouraged, "upset all government, and bring in
universal anarchy." It is not surprising that the
king's ministers should have been glad to secure the
good-will of one who wielded rare personal influence
through the country ; and therefore Wesley's
interference for a time in political literature seems
reasonable. But these instances were exceptional.
He adhered with much firmness to the special work
which he deemed prescribed for him by Divine
Providence, without any desire of fame as a political
writer. A different walk of literature was the careful
preparation of the various class-books for his
favourite school of Kingswood. He drew up ele
mentary books on history, natural philosophy, and

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 199
other subjects of study ; and amongst those enjoined
for the upper forms were abridgments of the two
best works of his early friend and adviser, the Eev.
William Law. Other abridgments were published
with a view to the training of his young preachers,
who, when they joined his standard, were, with
a few exceptions, "raw and unlettered." When
opportunity arose, he formed a class of them, and
read with them as he had done with his pupils at
Oxford.1 His favourite books of practical divinity — d
Kempis and the treatises of Law — have already been
mentioned. Where he found a book thoroughly
well drawn up, he was not led by any feeling of
vanity to draw up another. Henee that Eucharis-
tical volume, so often reprinted, and so long sold
" at all the preaching-houses in town and country."
This scarce volume was in great request and increas
ing demand so long as the Wesleys lived.2 After
their death, sacramental doctrine being to a great
extent lost sight of by the preachers, the volume
was disused and forgotten. The same appreciation
of good work already done, the same fixed desire to
economize time and labour, led to the use of a very I
few tracts, frequently reprinted, on the other sacra- .
ment. When, therefore, it is said that few of
Wesley's sermons direetly enforee and exalt the
sacraments, the statement is literally true, while
the inference attempted to be drawn from it is
unfounded and misleading. Wesley's own discourses
1 Tyer. ii. 34. 2 Jackson's " C. Wesley."

200 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
on Holy Baptism, and the Eucharistical volume
which he edited, were regarded as ample and
exhaustive ; and they were placed in the hands of
all the early Methodists. The Wesleys had no
leisure to say things over again in other words —
no wish to multiply books and tracts unnecessarily.
In 1778 began the publication of a monthly
magazine in form not unlike the Gentleman's and
the European, containing about eighty pages, and
designed for the amusement as well as the edifica
tion of the Methodists. Its name, the Arminian,
shows the nature of the controversy then uppermost
in the minds of the founders ; while its contents
were so varied as to commend themselves to all
classes of readers. There were essays, religious
"experiences," and frequent sermons for the elder
readers. There were also scraps of poetry, anecdotes,
and narratives, some of them of most startling kind.
Wesley himself was the editor, and Thomas Olivers
was sub-editor — a very careless one, as it appears.1
At first the printing was of a coarse kind, only
exceeded by the engravings, which were hardly better
than caricatures of well-known Methodistic faces.
Ten years later the magazine was more carefully
brought out ; and the portraiture improved rapidly
when confided to the care of the engraver Eidley.
1 Tyer. iii. 285. Olivers was the author of those two fine
hymns, " Lo ! He comes," and " The God of Abraham praise."
When he essayed to enter the lists against Toplady and Hill,
they took unworthy advantage of his early pursuits, and ridiculed
V him as " Tom the Cobbler."

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 201
The magazine changed its name when the Arminian
and Calvinist controversy ceased to interest the
public ; but it has flourished to the present day,
and is said to be the oldest " monthly " known to
the religious world.
John Wesley's early controversy with Bishop
Lavington, of Exeter, has been mentioned. Another
dispute he had at a later date with a clever and caustic
priest, Father O'Leary, of Cork. That the latter
had the best of the controversy when he condemned
those penal laws in Ireland which Wesley defended,
appears from one simple fact. Those laws were
afterwards swept away, with the approval of all men.
It is pleasing to find that the Eoman clergyman,
whose controversial powers were of high order, and
his former antagonist met and enjoyed each other's
society at a friendly breakfast table in Cork.
The last original work of Wesley seems to have
been a biography of his friend Fletcher, published
in 1786. Thenceforth he only revised and reprinted
former writings — sometimes compelled so to do by
the fact that others were found to be reprinting his
works without permission. As a rule, he contributed
a new sermon to his Arminian Magazine every other
month. In 1788, through this medium, he advised
his followers to adhere to the parish church, even
where the incumbent did not preach, or did not
even know, the truth. The great question of sacra
mental administration here was involved. Though
the. preachers had " scriptural knowledge " worthy
of all praise, they had not, as he again and again

202 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
pointed out, the authority of the ministerial
office.1 At the close of this year he allotted several days
to the correcting and editing of five volumes of
poems by his deceased brother Charles. Some of
these verses were, he confessed, indifferent; while
others were " excellently good.1' He noted a dis
tinction between himself and his brother. The
poet was, poet-like, addicted to solitary contem
plation ; while for himself, the busy organizer and
man of the world, " to the desert " had at no time
been a watchword.
The candid historian is bound to state, though
regretfully, that John Wesley published a revised
Psalter and Prayer-Book. This was primarily, if
not entirely, for the use of the American Metho
dists ; nor does it seem to have been adopted in
England. Its preface states that it differs from
the Book of Common Prayer in a few specified ways.
(1) Many of the Holy Days are omitted; (2) the
Sunday service is shortened ; (3) some sentences
in the Baptismal Office and in the Burial Service
are omitted ; (4) many of the Psalms are omitted,
and others are shortened. It is worthy of note that
some years previously Wesley had read, without
sympathy, an essay finding fault with the English
Liturgy. If we give up this, he asked, who could
supply us with a better Liturgy ? Throughout his
life he had spoken in terms of high admiration of
the book which now, when more than eighty years
] Tyer. iii. 564.

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 203
old., he was induced to revise and expurgate. A
national Church has, according to our Articles, full
power to make such changes, and the Church of
Ireland has lately revised her Prayer-Book. But
for an individual clergyman to do this, and more,
was clearly indefensible. It seems that Dr. Coke,
of whose ambitious and meddlesome turn of mind
there is abundant evidence, was largely concerned
in this affair ; and he probably made some changes
in the book without the knowledge or concurrence
of his aged friend. If Wesley did venture on a
revision of the handiwork of the great English
Eeformers, if he struck out passages which Eidley
and his fellows deliberately retained, it is hard to
believe that even the Methodistic founder should
dare to abridge and revise the devotional Psalms of
the royal singer of Israel.
In 1789, amongst the contributions of Wesley to
his magazine, was a sermon on the remarkable
history of the rich man and Lazarus, which he held
to be no mere parable, but a true narrative. Also he
contributed an essay on " Inspiration," and another
on the manners of the times. These productions,
which show a wonderful amount of mental energy
in the man of eighty-six years, are not all found in
the standard edition of his works.
At this very advanced time of life, resolved, as
ever, that no uncertain sound should reach the ears
of his followers on the momentous question of
secession from the Church, he published the
" Thoughts on Separation." It was customary with

204 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
many persons to speak of this as a mere question
of expediency; and many of the more prominent
of the Methodists.i so regarding it, only waited until
his death should allow of their following their own
devices. He now warned them alh and nearly for
the last time, that this was not a matter of expe
diency but of principle, though his charitable
spirit would not acknowledge that the tendency
on their part was so strong as to be irresistible.
" In spite of all temptations^ they will not separate
from the Church," wrote the aged man, with more
of apostolic zeal and of love for Christian unity
than of prophetic foresight.
In 1790 he reprinted, with some alterations, a
translation of the New Testament, which had been
first issued, with his explanatory notes, some thirty-
five years earlier. I
The Arminian Magazine oi .{bis year contained
another protest against secession from the Church —
if possible stronger than tmose which had preceded
it. After referring to his lifelong admiration for
the Church as the best in the world, and to his
perfect assent to her doctrines, he again recounted
the strange facts which had attended the origin of
Methodism, and the irregularities, or rather vari
ations from Church order, which had so often been
laid to his charge. The concluding passage, though
it has been often quoted, cannot here be omitted :
" I never had any design of separating from the
Church. I have no such design now. I do not
\ believe the Methodists in general design it, when

AUTHOR, COMPILER, AND EDITOR. 205
I am' no more seen. I do, and will do, all that is
in my power to prevent such an event. Neverthe
less, in spite of all that I can do, many of them
will separate from it. . . . In flat opposition to
these, I declare once more that I live and die a
member of the Church of England ; and that none
who regard my judgment or advice will ever sepa
rate from it."
The magazine now also contains that famous
sermon on the ministerial office, which reminded
his preachers of the limited nature of their calling
as lay evangelists and teachers of the Word, and
contrasted that with the higher calling of the fully
authorized ministry.1
These last utterances of the venerable Wesley were
evidently drawn from him by the exigency of the
time. His societies were large and flourishing, and
remarkably so within the ten years preceding ; and
as they grew, the desire for independence grew with
them and strengthened with their strength. The
tendency to Nonconformity was more visible to
bystanders than to those within the Methodistic
circle ; and many remarks were made, and forecasts
given, as to the destination of the movement, so soon
as its founder's personal influence should be with
drawn. Yet to the last, judging kindly of the
minds and designs of others by the standard of his
own, Wesley denied that secession (he did not use
the word schism) was intended, or was ever likely
to occur. Even now he maintained that the varia-
1 See Appendix VII., " The Ministerial Office."

206 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
tions from Church order into which he had been
forced did not involve secession. He always now,
he said, as through his life, attended the regular
services of the Church; and he advised others to do
the same. To the Church he would adhere, for to
secede would be a sin, although to vary from its
established order in some points was right.1 Some
of his followers — even the best of them— felt seces
sion for the time inexpedient, not sinful. They
deemed it lawful, yet not so necessary as that it might
not be postponed. He, on the contrary, deemed it
wholly and under any circumstances wrong. "He
lived and died," writes the latest biographer, " a
hearty but inconsistent Churchman."
The last of the long series of sermons by Wesley
was on "Faith, the evidence of things not seen,"
and it was written but a few weeks before his death.
This is full of deepest interest, when it is considered
by whom, and when, it was written. It pictures,
as with the hand of a seer of old, the passing away
of the land of shadows, and the dispersion of all the
clouds. Then at the end the released spirit comes,
in the new break of lasting day, to discern Him
who "in unclouded majesty is over all, blessed for
\ ever." 1 Tyer. iii. 636.

( 207 )

CHAPTEE XVI.
WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD.
For thirty years the modest building known as
" The Foundry," in Windmill Street, Finsbury, was
sufficient. The time came when it was all too
strait for the growing societies, of which it was the
central office, depository, and head-quarters. Even
had the place been large enough, the leasehold
interest was coming near to an end ; and it was
necessary to find new and more commodious premises.
A large plot of ground was secured, facing the
great Bunhill Fields Cemetery, in the City Eoad,
less than two hundred yards from the old Foundry.
It was not freehold, being held for a term of years
under the City, and derivatively under an eccle
siastical lease. But Wesley doubted not of the
permanence of his new house of prayer. Nor was
his confidence misplaced ; for in our own day, the
lease being nearly at an end, terms were made for
a better tenure ; and this being now secured, " the
New Chapel," although not as Wesley left it, will
for a certainty be visited by unborn generations of
pilgrims from afar.

208 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
It was built by subscription ; and not only
Methodists, but many Church people who were not
of that order, were amongst the contributors to the
building fund. Its first stone was solemnly laid
by Wesley in April, 1777; and the edifice, being
completed, was publicly opened for divine service
on All Saints' Day, 1778. On the day of its opening,
Wesley preached twice in the " New Chapel," as it
long was called. In the morning his text was from
Solomon's prayer, on the dedication of the Temple ;
and in the afternoon on the multitude around the
Lamb in the Apocalyptic vision. The chapel was
opened on the " free and open " system, against
which the trustees, from motives of economy, soon
afterwards protested. But Wesley maintained his
own opinion on this point ; beyond this, anticipating
those of our own day who require " the men to sit
on one side, and the women on the other." 1
In earlier years Wesley had frequently made notes
in his Journals, showing an appreciation of detail
in architecture. The form of auditorium which he
approved of was the round or hexagonal : and some
of his acquaintances adopted this form, as may be
seen in Spa Fields and Tottenham Court Eoad. But
instances of this were always rare in England, and
the architects soon abandoned it ; so that when his
model chapel came to be built, it was in the
conventional oblong form. It was a large and
substantially built structure, of a kind not uncommon
in the early years of George III,, low-roofed, but not
1 Tyer. iii. 222,

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 209
without a certain dignity. Of ornament there was
little. A small portico of four stone columns at
the west, and a semi-circular chancel at the east
end, both of Portland stone, impart some grace to
the design, tho rest of the edifice being of brick.
The " restorers," indeed, wrought some injury of late
years, adding balustrades of stucco, and some other
adornments ; but all this left the " New Chapel "
sufficiently attractive to such as loved to trace out
the historical landmarks of Methodism.1
Eight and left of the chapel are various smaller
structures, designed as dwellings for assistants and
as class-rooms. The largest residence of the group
stands in front of the rest, and is at once seen by
the stranger on his right hand as he approaches from
the highway. This house was built as a home for
Wesley, and from 1779 to his death in 1791 he
resided here when in London. His own rooms were
on the principal floor, where are still shown the
place of his death, and the bureau and armchair
which he used. A widowed sister (who was not one
of his society) acted as his housekeeper; and in
the manse there also resided some junior preachers,
who assisted him in his work. One of them acted
as his secretary and travelling companion.
The pulpit, from which the Wesleys preached, will
be noticed by the visitor; but he will miss the
1 After the chapel had stood for a hundred and one years, a fire
broke out and partly destroyed it, on the 7th of December, 1879.
Unfortunately, a hard frost prevailing, the fire brigade could not
procure water to quench the flames. P

210 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
prayer-desk, from which . the prayers and lessons
were for many years read by one of the assistant
clergy of those days. In the chancel the Ten
Commandments were inscribed according to the
canon. It also contained six marble tablets, bearing
long inscriptions. Two of them were in memory of
the Wesleys ; while the other four recorded the
merits and services of Fletcher and Coke, and of two
eminent preachers of a somewhat later period, Dr.
Clarke and Mr. Benson. The visitor will not omit
to find, in the cemetery at the rear, the modest tomb
of the founder of Methodism.
The chapel was built for regular services by
clergymen, weekly Communions being held from
the outset. But minor services being frequent,
a capacious vestry or " morning chapel " formed
part of the group of buildings ; and to this Charles
Wesley would have willingly limited the lay
preachers. Their desire to take part in the services
of the chapel itself was soon manifested, and a
difference arose, in which their claims were, as usual,
opposed by Charles Wesley. His desire was that
the New Chapel, although not consecrated, should
virtually become a chapel-of-ease in the parish of
St. Luke, served only by regular clergy. Finally a
special arrangement was made, under which some
clergymen were always attached to the chapel for
the purposes of the weekly Communion and the
frequent services, while the preachers were recog
nized as helpers. Messrs. Creighton, Dickenson, and
Richardson might be styled the regular curates at

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 211
City Road of the Wesleys ; but the race of these
clergymen died out early in the present century, no
successors being appointed to them.
The New Chapel, damaged as it is by the restorer
and by the flames, possesses much of historical
interest ; and it will ever be regarded as the central
shrine of Methodism. Year by year it is visited by
increasing numbers of those who in the American
and Australian continents bear the name of Wesley.
It is said that thirteen millions of Christians are
more or less strongly attached to Methodism, a fact
which will give some idea of the historical position
of the chapel which Wesley built, the house in
which he died, and the enclosure which contains his
tomb. With the last twelve years of his life, as
with his death, this place is very closely associated.
At this time Wesley was no longer viewed with
suspicion as a dangerous "enthusiast." He had
outlived all opposition, and the voice of detraction
and of envy had t-ubsided. Many of the bishops
and clergy — though hardly alive to the importance
of the movement— held him in high esteem, and
showed in many different ways their appreciation
of his ability and his character. His career was
known to have been one of unselfish and most suc
cessful labour; and in extreme old age he had
come to be regarded in the twofold light of a public
benefactor and an ecclesiastical celebrity.
He now, as for many years before, had a living
wife, but unhappily into the scheme of his daily
life she entered not. In his earlier years he had

212 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
spoken and written against matrimony, but in 1751
his opinion changed ; and after some consideration,
and doubtless in all sincerity, he thought it right
to marry though this involved the resignation of
his Oxford fellowship. Wesley married Mary, the
widow of Mr. Vazeille, a Threadneedle Street mer
chant, her fortune being settled on herself. There
is much obscurity as to the real character of this
lady ; and, according to some accounts, she was
imperfectly educated, irritable, and suspicious. But
it is fair to remember that she was in a position of
extreme difficulty, as the wife of a public man who
was frequently absent on long journeys, and who
maintained a large and confidential correspondence
with Methodists of both sexes. More than once
the ill-assorted pair resumed their separate paths in
life : yet in a will of 1768 Wesley named his wife
his residuary legatee. It has often been incorrectly
stated that when they finally severed, Wesley wrote
of her : Non earn reliqui — non dimisi — non revocabo.
This was really written in 1771 ; and in the follow
ing year Mrs. Wesley was again travelling with her
husband through Yorkshire. On some of their
journeys they were accompanied by her daughter
Jenny, for whom Wesley had an affectionate regard,
and to whose children he finally bequeathed the
coins and other articles in his bureau/ After resid
ing apart for several years, Mrs. Wesley died in
1781, a very laconic note of her death appearing in
her husband's Journal. It is clear that the mar
riage was an unsuitable one, and that the blame of

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 213
their unhappy married life cannot be wholly laid
on either.1
Wesley, when he took possession of his abode in the
City Eoad, although seventy-six years of age, was
as active as at any earlier period. His self-imposed
duties were, indeed, of the most weighty and diver
sified kind. The services of the New Chapel formed
but the smallest portion of his work, for there he
was assisted not only by his brother and by a junior
clergyman, but by some of his preachers also.
Over those scattered through London and its ever-
widening suburbs, he had of course the oversight^
while the general supervision of his chapels and
preachers through the United Kingdom also rested
on him. Each year he undertook a long tour of
inspection, in addition to several shorter journeys.
In religious and disciplinary matters he had the sole
direction of the increasing ranks of the preachers ;
while he gave counsel to a large number of persons
of both sexes, whose letters to him on all imaginable
subjects were duly answered. He had the exclusive
control of several schools, and of several charitable
institutions. He was sole judge and arbiter in all
differences and difficulties arising between and
among preachers, trustees, stewards, and other office
bearers in the societies.. Beyond all this, he was
the responsible chief of a large publishing and
printing business. To its literature he had always
been the chief contributor ; while in his later years
he was a frequent writer in the pages of that
monthly magazine of which he was the editor.
1 Tyer, ii. 288 ; Southey, ii. 131.

214 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
During this closing period of his life (1779-
1791), Wesley was one of the most famous of
Englishmen. We have seen that his illustrious
cotemporary, Dr. Johnson, found but one fault in
him, that his society and conversation could not be
obtained for the space of more than an hour. But
though he could hardly find time to chat with a great
literary celebrity, Wesley deemed it a duty, though
an unpleasant one, to visit more than once or twice
the unfortunate Dr. Dodd, when under sentence of
death for forgery ; and he found time to give advice
and consolation to the flighty and mischievous
Lord G. Gordon, when he also was in a prison cell.
And fully occupied as were his moments, he also
deemed it right to accept frequent invitations to
preach charity sermons in the London churches.
Many of these he briefly noted in his Journal ; and
such entries show him to have been the popular
preacher of the day, the Magee or Liddon of one
hundred years ago. A few instances may illustrate
the altered attitude of the Church towards Wesley
in his later years. On the 23rd of November, 1777,
he preached at Lewisham Church for the Royal
Humane Society. On the following day he spent
a pleasant afternoon with Bishop Lowth, whose easy
yet dignified manner he much admired. Another
meeting with a courteous bishop occurs during a
Welsh tour in the August of 1784. Later on, he
spent an hour with the Bishop of Gloucester, of
whom he spoke most kindly, though as an ascetic,
nx.t in theory only, he was unable to repress a fear

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 215
of the consequences — on the mind of any man — of
living in a noble palace. At Worcester, at Cardigan,
and elsewhere, the clergy came around him ; for no
longer did they suspect his orthodoxy, or augur
unfavourably as to the results of his mission. It is ,
needless to multiply proofs that in his old age
Wesley was highly reverenced throughout the
length and breadth of England.
His fidelity as a preacher of truth is well shown,
towards the end of his life, by his behaviour when
he was courted in general society. Increasing
honour and popularity did not affect the style of
his sermons, which still warned the rich amongst
his hearers in more severe terms than the poor, i
His sermon on " the Good Steward," preached before
the Countess of Buchan in the character of chaplain
to the countess, was a most direct and faithful
warning that an account will be required of all
earthly gifts and advantages. In his later days
Wesley was much in the society of the wealthy ;
yet he declared that he had found the more genuine
specimens of Christians amongst the poor.
Is there any record of a clergyman at the age of
seventy-six going through the work described in the
Journal for Christmas Day, 1779? At four o'clock
a.m. he conducted a short service in the New Chapel,
City Road. At West Street Chapel (near Leicester
Square), Wesley read prayers and preached at noon.
In the afternoon he preached again at the New
Chapel. In the evening he preached at St.
Sepulchre's, one of the largest of all the London

216 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
churches. And this is not a selected instance of
" labours more abundant," but one taken almost at
random from his Journal.
On a Sunday of that year Wesley happened to be
at Leeds ; and his aid being requested, he took part
in the administration to over seven hundred com
municants. Another Sunday he spent in the same
town, two years later, when the number of the com
municants was very much larger. The old church
of Leeds in which Wesley preached, and helped in
the administrations, was destroyed to make way for
the new one, under the late Dr. Hook. The last
sojourn at Leeds was an unusually happy one, for
there was opportunity given to Wesley for converse
with Fletcher, the best beloved of all his followers.
Leeds was one of those towns which Wesley always
delighted to visit. On the other hand, there were
some large towns which were unsympathetic, and
of them he spoke in quite another tone. Bir
mingham, for instance, he never seems to have
praised ; and he spoke in slighting terms, not only
of his own chapel at Birmingham, but of the sermon
which he heard in the old church.
In June, 1781, Wesley spent a fortnight in the
Isle of Man. Here there had been fierce opposition
at one time, but all was now changed. He had a
good word for every one in his Journal — for the
governor, the bishop, and the clergy. His own
preachers he thought a more healthy and active set
of men than those in England. It was a model
place, for there were throughout the island no

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 217:
Romanists, no Dissenters of any kind. The whole
population belonged to the Church, while the pro
portion of Methodists amongst them he noted with
much content. Amongst other spots of interest he
visited was the ancient abode — " venerable, though
not magnificent " — of " good Bishop Wilson."
In 1783 Wesley went over to Holland, merely for
change of scene and friendly intercourse with
foreign Protestants. His notes on the cities which
he saw, and the people with whom he met, are very
graphic. Evidently he liked those grave Dutch
gentlefolks, who treated him with so much atten
tion ; and, old as he was, he went across the sea to
visit them again, three years later. The port of
embarkation was Harwich, and the landing-place
was Helvoetsluys. The voyage back was stormy
and tedious ; and now, as on some former occasions
of danger on travel, Wesley noted that there were
answers to the prayers of faith. He had a most
firm belief that it was possible to call in the aid of
Divine Providence to assuage the present trouble,
and so move the mountains on land, and calm those
of the raging sea.
The New Chapel, although not under licence of
the bishop, of the diocese, and therefore in some
sense a rival to the parish church by reason of its
weekly Communions, appears to have aroused no
opposition or ill will amongst the clergy. There
was to be found amongst them some apathy, some
curiosity, and also some friendliness. There is no
record of distinct ill will. It was reserved for the

218 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
true Dissenters, represented by their ablest spoke-
man, Rowland Hill, to denounce and vilify the aged
minister of the New Chapel. Wesley was now
described in print as a crafty slanderer and an
unfeeling liar. It is hard to believe that such
language could be used, even by pious Dissenters
of his own time, towards one whom they knew to be
the most resolute of Churchmen.
Some glimpses of the inner life of Wesley's
manse (formerly numbered 23, and now 47, in the
City Road) appear on the pages of Tyerman. He
mentions the customary breakfast of the local
preachers on every Sunday morning as an ancient
usage, not aware, as it seems, that this survived to
a recent period. The vast teapot, with the thanks
giving verse inscribed on its side, which was used
on these occasions, probably for a full half-century,
may (or lately might) be seen in the house. There
was little of luxury visible in the City Road arrange
ments. Some silver plate was carried away from
Wesley's house by burglars in 1784; and but for
the vigilance of Henry Moore,1 one of the young
preachers then resident with Wesley, the robbery
would have extended to the money (product of
collections, as may be supposed) in the house. The
silver spoons and forks so abstracted were not re
placed ; for when Wesley was afterwards questioned
1 An early biographer of Wesley, and one of his executors. He
was an Irishman, able, energetic, versatile, and — in old age at
least — of a warm temper. The present writer, having in early
days met with Mr. Moore, writes from actual knowledge.

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 219
by the Inland Revenue officials, it appeared from
his laconic reply that he was almost destitute
of any of those articles of silver plate which would
render their possessor liable to duty.
Amongst the younger men who now sought for
Wesley's friendship were two who became deservedly
famous in the annals of the English Church. Of
the Rev. Charles Simeon, Wesley had a high
opinion.1 With William Wilberforce the tie was
much closer ; for Wesley had very strong opinions,
which he did not care to disguise, as to the immo
rality of that slave system which English statesmen
then upheld. He gave the warmest encouragement
to the earnest young man from Yorkshire, whose
enviable destiny it was to remove the chains from
the slave, nearly half a century later.
When over eighty years of age, the venerable
Wesley began to feel a burden before either unnoticed
or very lightly borne. Naturally he could not walk
so fast or see so clearly. Still he remained active
and courageous, not shrinking from toil, and rather
avoiding than seeking repose. At some length he
jotted down, for the benefit of others, the causes to
which he ascribed his own extraordinary health and
vitality — constant exercise in the open air, early
rising, strict temperance, the power of sleeping often
and soundly, absence of care or worry.
His equable mind did not dwell on painful topics,
nor were any anxieties allowed to weigh heavily ;
yet there were at times misgivings, especially when
1 Journal, iv. 281, 386.

220 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
he thought of what must follow when his controlling
hand should be withdrawn. At Glasgow he found
a new "preaching-house" — chapel he never called
it — which had a look of Presbyterianism by no means
to his liking. " Perhaps an omen of what will be
when I am gone," was the comment. Even over
the most active of beings a thought of coming rest
will pass now and again. At Raithby he saw what
appeared to be almost an earthly paradise ; yet as
quickly as the idea of repose came, it was discarded
— only in the better world did he expect to find any
repose. This particular tour has more than ordinary
interest, for it embraced the last visit of the patriarch
to his birthplace. Epworth, unhappily, was but
little improved since the days of ill-conditioned Mr.
Romley, and here arose the one difficulty which
this man of unfailing courage and resource was
unable to surmount. The Methodists of Epworth
refused to enter a church where they were assailed
from the pulpit in unjust and bitter language. How
is it possible to blame them ?
This trying difficulty — the existence of Methodism
in the shape of actual nonconformity with powerful
excuse — did not arise in many places. Wesley found
it, however, in the place of his own birth during
this excursion to the midland counties.
While on the road towards Derby, in a valley
now most smooth and fertile, but then roughly
paved and wild, near the famous Peacock of Rowsley,
the travelling chaise was overturned through the
breaking of the axle. Wesley and his. companion,

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 221
Jenny Smith (the daughter of Mrs. Wesley), escaped
injury : but he always had good fortune in finding
personal safety, though in journeyings often and in
perils in the sea.
In July and August of that year he spent some
quiet days. Few quiet days had been his for half
a century, and now he thought over earthly matters
and " revised his papers." 1 The decease of his
brother Charles was much in his thoughts, though
it cannot be said to have had a serious effect on
either mind or body. There was current a kind of
expectation that the elder brother would not long
survive.2 On hearing of a prophecy of this kind,
his only remark was that he was not careful about
a matter which he left serenely with Providence.
That he should again face the tedious journeys to
Ireland and Scotland seems wonderful ; they were,
however, accomplished without detriment. After
his return the aged man preached three times on a
certain Sunday in November, in two of the large
churches of London and in the New Chapel ; but he
truly added, " It was too much for me."
The constant round of work admitted but of few
holidays, though now and then a day was passed at
some quiet rural place, where, enjoying the hospi
tality of a chosen friend, the hours were spent in
1 After such a process more than once gone through, it cannot
fairly be said that any of his remaining manuscripts were allowed
to remain by accident. Therefore, being so selected by himself,
they deserve publication.
' Journal, iv. 415.

222 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
writing or in reading. In January, 1790, he had a
brief interval of repose at Peckham, then a peaceful
suburban village, where he read the memoirs of
Mrs. Bellamy, and was diverted. One passage,
, indeed, in this gossiping book he utterly disbelieved.
The authoress told how that David Garrick, while
on a sea voyage, meeting with a volume of Charles
Wesley's hymns, had thrown it overboard contemptu
ously. This was an idle fabrication, said Wesley,
for two reasons : firstly, Garrick was a man of sense ;
and, secondly, he was personally acquainted with
the poet.
Wesley's last northern journey must have been
affecting to himself, and much more so to many of
those firm friends to whom he now bade farewell.
'• The lovely people of Newcastle," as he called
them, were endeared to him by long memories of
happy days spent amongst them and their fathers.
In Norwich he had "become an honourable man,"
and writing this in his Journal, his thoughts must
have reverted to the days long past, when the clergy
there looked askance at his "enthusiasm." Now,
; by special invitation, he preached in two of the
Norwich churches. There were no less than thirty-
seven churches in that city, and it is highly signifi
cant and instructive to find that on the Sunday
morning sermons were usually preached at only two
churches out of thirty-seven! Two sermons on
Sunday morning among thirty-seven churches ! Is
it necessary to add anything to this ? Are not the
irregularities of the movement, the chapels, the

WESLEY AT THE NEW CHAPEL, CITY ROAD. 223
lay preachers, the open-air sermons, excused when
one fact so astonishing comes home to the mind?
And this was not at an early day in the century.
It was towards its close when the Church had been
partly aroused from slumber.
By this time Wesley had outlived all enmity,
and was revered by his fellow-men. At Swaffham
the clergy came to the preach ingrhouse ; and long
before the time' announced for the arrival of the
venerable man, extraordinary interest and curiosity
was sure to be excited in any town. At Diss there
was a timorous rector, willing to invite Wesley to
his pulpit, yet half afraid to do so without con
sulting the bishop. The bishop's opinion was asked,
and his reply was favourable, as the replies of all
bishops to similar queries had been for forty years
past. The last entry in the printed Journal bears date
20th October, 1790. Wesley was in London, as
was usual with him, towards the end of the year.
In the morning he preached in the great church of
Spitalfields, and in the afternoon at St. Paul's,
Shadwell. Highly characteristic was the last of
all the long series of texts — " One thing is needful."
So appropriately closed his own record of the
earnest and unfaltering labours of sixty years. Such
was the last entry in Wesley's own Journal.

224 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.

CHAPTER XVII.
LAST DAYS OF THE FOUNDER.
The Journal for so many years diligently kept up,
and filled with personal adventures and graphic out
lines of men and events, was now laid aside. At
the age of eighty-seven, Wesley, with much vitality
remaining, yet felt some measure of that weariness
which rendered the grasshopper a burden to many
who were much junior to him. He was less able to
write, and that to use the pen had become difficult is
shown by his handwriting at this period. Yet his
supervision of the societies did not relax ; and the
increase in the numbers had been considerable of
Lite years. In 1780 there were in England about
43,000 enrolled Methodists; in 1790 there were
62,000. During the same period the number of
the regular preachers, or itinerants, wholly devoted
to the work, had increased from 166 to 382. The
movement which had its beginning amongst the
lower grades of the people, had now reached upwards
so as to affect the middle or substantial citizen class.
Many of those who had once been poor, by industry

LAST DAYS OF THE FOUNDER. 225
and sobriety and thrift, had betteref their position.
Tne improved worldly position of no small number
of his followers caused anxiety to Wesley in his ex
treme age. Many of the opulent traders and small
gentry who were now in the " United Societies " did
not follow the old ascetic self-denying rules by
which the earlier Methodists had been governed.
The new generation did not deem it necessary to
attend the services at four, or even at six, o'clock in
the morning. Nor were they content to sit side by
side with poor persons, on plain benches, or to adhere
to the primitive simplicity in dress, and in the ap
pointments and usages of their homf s. Handsomer
chapels were built, and in them comfortable pews
were set apart for the more wealthy Methodists.
Wesley was, as we have seen, no Puritan at heart,
nor was he severe on all who wore ornaments, or
otherwise aimed in their costume at some degree
of elegance. Yet he deemed it necessary to address
solemn warnings to those who were in danger of
falling under the influence of wealth and growing
.luxury. To such he spoke in a sermon of startling
directness of language, which set forth " the danger
of riches."
Perhaps he showed less of wisdom when he im
plored some who were physically unfit to follow his
example, to attend the service before sunrise. To
this he attached what must be regarded as undue
importance. " Give this up," he said, " and Metho
dism will degenerate into a mere sect." The de
generation which he foresaw must be ascribed to
Q

226 THE CHUECHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
other causes — not to the mere omission to gather
at five o'clock a.m., for religious exercise in a school
room or vestry.
In the early days Methodists were in dress hardly
distinguishable from Quakers ; and this peculiarity
(which has now disappeared) Wesley strove to main
tain. " Be dressed," he said, " from head to foot as
persons professing godliness." Observing the ten
dencies of the daughters of the Methodists, he de
nounced " ribbons and gauze," as also " elephantine
hats or bonnets," which he described as " scandals
of female modesty." With more of insight, he re
commended plainness of living, the habit of self-
denial, and of benevolence to others. Conformity to
the mind of the world he denounced in the very
spirit of the apostle ; and he had a fear that the
rapid accumulation of money which he witnessed all
around him, might lead to a consuming love of
money : and this was, he declared, enough to sink
them " to the nethermost hell." x Who will take the
warning ? he asked ; and more than once he wrote
as though quite hopeless as to the spiritual state of
the more wealthy of his people. The true Christians
were, he declared, found not in the rich citizen class,
but amongst the poor.
At this time Adam Clarke, known in later years as
a classical and Oriental scholar and a Biblical com
mentator, was in vigorous youth, spreading Metho
dism in his native Ireland. In Dublin there was a
revival, and consequent on it were some irregulari-
1 Tyer. iii. 325, 347, 516, 520.

LAST DAYS OF THE FOUNDER. 227
ties, such as noisy prayer-meetings which lasted until
midnight. Clarke wrote to his venerable leader in
the City Road for guidance. The reply was full of
interest. Courage and prudence were necessary to
avoid the rocks on either hand. In the great
revival in London, wrote Wesley, " my first diffi
culty was to bring into temper those who opposed
the work ; and my next to check and regulate the
extravagances of those who promoted it." This
letter was valuable for Clarke's immediate purpose,
and, armed with this, he found himself able to
put a stop to the " irregular and turbulent prayer-
meetings." The law requiring the taking out of licences for
chapels and preachers for years gave rise to un
pleasant disputes. Wesley was strongly opposed to
their being licensed as Nonconformist, and it grieved'
him deeply when ill-natured magistrates taunted
the Methodists with their neutral position, refusing
that protection of law to which only avowed Dissen
ters were entitled. In 1790 Wesley wrote a touching
letter to a bishop (whose name is not known), claim
ing for the Methodists some consideration. " Suffer
these people to enjoy religious as well as civil
liberty," wrote the aged man. He knew that to
register his followers as Dissenters did not really
make them such ; yet he felt that to be so registered
was to some extent a severance from the Church.
The Act which caused all this annoyance was re
pealed in 1812, but too late to repair much of its
mischief.

228 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Wesley was now feeble, for his natural force had
abated. He was still able to take short journeys,
and his sermons were almost as frequent as ever.
To use his own graphic words, he crept about a little,
and made shift to preach once a day. He even
ventured on the somewhat rash step of preaching
once again in the open air ; and, strange to say, he
felt revived by the effort. His voice was at this
time almost gone, and although crowds assembled
when he was announced as preacher, they came
rather to see a famous veteran than with any ex
pectation of understanding what he said.1 With
the full intention of " dying in harness," a pro
gramme was drawn up as usual, giving the details
of an intended tour of inspection for the year 1791.
Those who were in daily intercourse with Wesley
now saw plainly that he was — to use a common
though hardly accurate phrase — " dying of old age."
Dr. Whitehead, his medical adviser and friend, and
the Rev. P. Dickenson, were much affected when
they saw the languid and feeble state of the
- patriarch. Asked as to his plans, he only replied,
" I know not at present how I shall proceed : we
must follow the leadings of Providence in the best
manner we can."2 But reviving somewhat, he
thought the usual journey might be undertaken ;
and his chaise and horses were actually sent
on to Bristol. It was supposed that he would
quickly follow in the stage-coach, and visit Bristol,
1 H. Crabb Robinson's Diary, i. 20.
* Dickenson's Memoirs (1803).

LAST DAYS OF THE FOUNDER. 229
Gloucester, and Worcester — the latter city on the
22nd of March. During this month of February he
wrote a few letters containing passages of interest.
Animal magnetism — now called electro-biology — he
described as " a device of Satan." The last letter i
written by him has often been printed. It was the
remarkable letter to William Wilberforce, containing
high praise of his noble efforts against negro slavery,
and concluding with some words of affectionate
solicitude. Wesley was now visibly unwell, but he refused
to see any physician but Dr. Whitehead. It was
evident to all around him that his last hour was
near. On the 1st of March, after a restless night,
he was calm and hopeful : now, as frequently before,
reciting one of his favourite hymns. He called for
a pen, but was unable to write. " Let me write for
you," said a friend. " What do you wish to say ? "
"Nothing, but that God is with us," he replied.
Being again placed in bis armchair, he uttered
words of prayer and praise, then slept a while, and
on awaking bade farewell to those around. On
receiving from one of them some slight refreshment,
he repeated his accustomed grace after meat, which
ended thus : " Bless the Church and king, and grant
us truth and peace for ever." During the night
the power of speaking all but left him, still he was
able to utter the word " farewell." And so at ten in
the morning of the 2nd of March, 1791, he died
in perfect peace. . . .
The funeral took place one week later, and in

230 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
the mean time there was a ceremonial only to be
described by the phrase " lying in state," when the
noble features of the old man x were last seen by
some thousands of his friends and followers. The
funeral took place at an unusually early hour, for
a scene of inconvenient crowding in the little ceme
tery was feared. The burial service was read by
the Rev. John Richardson, who acted as one of his
curates, and who, dying shortly afterwards, was laid
in the same tomb with Wesley. Tyerman's bio
graphy, though extending to nigh two thousand
pages, strange to say, omits mention of the funeral
sermon, and of the memorial tablet in the City
Road. Much significance there was in both of
them. The funeral sermon was, by special request,
preached by Dr. Whitehead, and it appears in his
life of Wesley — the first, and in some respects the
best, of the authentic biographies. Dr. Whitehead
also wrote the epitaph for that marble tablet in the
chancel of the New Chapel, which has been removed
to make way for a tablet with the amended inscrip
tion. Another inscription appears on the tomb itself,
which stands in the centre of the City Road Ceme
tery. Lastly, a marble tablet, bearing a well-ex
ecuted group in relief, and also medallion portraits
of John and Charles Wesley, has been fitly placed
in the south aisle of Westminster Abbey.
1 A powerful sketch of his features was now taken by Ridley,
who was his friend and the illustrator of his magazine ; and ol
this a copy was published in "Wesley's Place in Church History,"
1870.

( 231 )

CHAPTER XVIII.
the secession: 1791-1836.
The reader who has followed the narrative of John
Wesley's life and labours will now ask a question
to which it is necessary to return some answer. He
will inquire how it came to pass that Methodism
became separated from the Church which Wesley
loved, and finally took its place amongst the systems
of Nonconformity. It is, in truth, not easy to
explain exactly why, or when, Wesley's system
ceased to be an auxiliary to that of the Church of
England. The process was slow, as it arose from
individual feeling and the tendencies of the system
— all taking time for growth and development.
There never has been, to this clay, any decree or
formal declaration of secession from the Church.1
Yet the separation is practically as complete as
though it had been formally resolved on, and
carried out by distinct resolve and clear enactment.
This singular fact cannot be explained without some
reference to the events of nearly ninety years.
> Rigg, 103, 107.

232 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
The early Methodists formed, as we have seen,
an inner circle of devout people within the Anglican
enclosure; and the evidence is abundant that his
original plan, Wesley hoped and prayed, might be
perpetual. Yet there were amongst his followers
some who showed what would now be called Dis
senting proclivities ; and this was a source of anxiety
from a very early date. Even in 1746 the tendency
was apparent, and special efforts were made to
retain the. members of the society in their allegiance
to the Church ; and at Bristol the preachers, by
way of giving a good example, attended service in
St. James's Church every Wednesday and Friday.1
How to get the members of "the societies to attend
church regularly? this was always the standing
difficulty ; and an effectual mode of meeting it was
to induce the preachers to set them the example.
Once at Normanby there was stationed a "well-
meaning preacher," who neither advised the people
to go to church, nor himself went there. He was
"pressed for a soldier," and this strange event
removed the difficulty ; for, when he was marched
away, the people went as before to church. A more
troublesome disciple was McNab, who flamed out
into anger because in Wesley's chapel at Bath
there had been given to a clergyman that precedence
which was given to the clergy in all the chapels.
McNab " would not suffer the clergy to ride over
his head," and the uproar was so serious that it had
to be quieted by John and Charles Wesley in
1 Tyer. i. 528.

THE SECESSION: 1791-1836. 233
person. McNab, whose hasty and insubordinate
spirit had before given trouble, was now on the
point of being expelled ; but Wesley, who was of a
forgiving temper, relented, and received him again.
In 1751, "railing against the Church," then a
specific and very grave offence, was brought home
to two of the preachers. Wesley introduced some
new and stringent rules of discipline, as he was
resolved to put down that which he described as
" the spirit of Ham, if not of Korah." x The diffi
culty became, however, so great that it amounted to
a crisis in 1755-56, and it is so described in the
annals. The special reasons why the danger of
secession was greater now than at any other period
appear to have been these : The clergy had in some
places frowned upon many of their best parishioners
and most regular communicants, merely because
these were Methodists; and two of the foremost,
because the most energetic and able, of the lay
preachers had openly favoured the idea of secession.
And not only had Walsh and Cownley raised for
the time the anti-Church standard, but some other
preachers of less note, encouraged by their example,
were flocking around them. There were even
instances of the latter taking on themselves to
administer the sacraments. Charles Wesley felt
this to be a crisis, and he urged on his brother the
need for prompt and decided action. His warnings,
and those of other friends, had their due effect ;
and John Wesley, though not so speedily as his
1 Tyer. ii. 129.

234 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
brother wished, set his face against the agitators.
Peace was restored for a time; for, as Charles
Wesley strongly phrased it, "Satan had done his
worst." l
Walsh, the best of the preachers — the typical
preacher of that day — set the example of patience
and moderation to his fellows ; and Wesley, whose
mind was now firmly made up, praised him for his
regard to the voice of reason and authority. In
the letter which commended Walsh's conduct he
drew, as he often drew, the distinction between
exhortation and prayer, which was the function of
evangelists or lay preachers, and the higher duties
of what he described as "the sacerdotal office."
This distinction again he drew, at greater length
and more powerfully, many years later, in his
famous sermon on the ministerial office. The ques
tion of secession was in 1755-56 much discussed
in the Conference; and the end was that a kind
of compromise was arrived at. The assembled
preachers agreed that, whether secession were lawful
or not — and on this point they were divided — it was
not expedient. It is important to add that though
Wesley sanctioned this concordat, he did not per
sonally assent to the propositi! in that secession from
the National Church was, under any amount of
provocation, lawful. Whatever others might do,
he dare not separate, believing that " it would be
a sin so to do." 2
In 1756 the question was reopened at the Con-
1 Tver. ii. 200-204. ! Ibid. iii. 636.

the secession: 1791-1836. 235
ference. Two or three preachers, now finding it
in vain to struggle against the fixed opinion of
their brethren on so momentous a point, left the
connexion, going into avowed dissent. Ed war I
Perronet, unworthy of his name, had printed some
ribald rhymes against the Church : and this effusion
Wesley exerted himself to suppress. The result
of the discussions of this year was thus summed
up by Wesley : " We largely considered the neces
sity of keeping in the Church, and using the clergy
with tenderness, and there was no dissenting voice.
God gave us all to be of one mind and of one
judgment. My brother and I closed the Conference
by a solemn declaration of our purpose never to
be separate from the Church ; and all our brethren
concurred therein."
The difficulty pressing on his mind during these
critical years was no slight one, and it rendered
his action less decisive and speedy than Charles
Wesley could have desired. It was explained by
the poet in a letter to Walker of Truro. The
preachers were for a time determined and threaten
ing. Wesley could not make up his mind to part
with them ; and, on the other hand, he dare not
secede from the Church. The only alternative was
submission on their part ; and this was gained,
except in the case of a very few, who, being " of
a froward, unhumbled spirit," had left them. The
crisis of 1755-56 was clearly, therefore, brought on
by a small fraction of the whole body ; and when
it subsided there was peace, which lasted for many
years.

236 the churchman's life of wesley.
In 1758 John Wesley's promised essay against
separation appeared. It gave concisely twelve
reasons for not seceding from the Church. Espe
cially cogent was the twelfth : To separate would
be to act in direct opposition to the very end for
which Methodism had been raised up by Provi
dence. In 1761 Wesley wrote that, not from choice but
from necessity, he had varied in some particulars
from the system of the Church ; and he used a
new argument in defence of his own isolated posi
tion. He had, he said, been ordained not for any
cure, but as a fellow of Lincoln College, Oxford,
which had been founded, as appeared by its statutes,
for the spread generally of the Christian faith.
Something was done at the Conference of that year
to secure the Methodists in their allegiance to the
Church ; but as no minutes are forthcoming of
what then took place, the nature of the steps then
taken cannot be ascertained.
In 1763 appeared the " Larger Minutes," contain
ing amongst the questions and answers on discipline
and regulation of the growing societies the follow
ing : — " Are we not- unawares by little and little
tending to a separation from the Church ? Oh,
remove every tendency thereto. . . . Let all our
preachers go to church. . . . Let all our people
go constantly. . . . Keceive the Sacrament at every
opportunity. . . . Warn them [the people] against
calling our society a Church, or the preachers
ministers."

the secession : 1791-1836. 237
In 1766 Wesley, while in the West Eiding,
visited Haworth ; but his beloved friend Grimshaw
was there no longer. "The communicants alone
filled the church." Yet here, as at Bingley, he
found that heresy had crept in ; and this he
deemed the sure result, unless his people adhered
more firmly to the Church.1 The Conference was
held at Leeds, when it was again solemnly resolved
not only to remain in the Church, but "to do
nothing willingly which tends to a separation."
Stricter discipline over the preachers was enforced;
and amongst the searching questions drawn up for
probationers was this : " Do you constantly attend
the church and sacraments ? "
Thus did the Methodists resolve, after much
consideration ; and for twenty years the question
was hardly ever raised. If it was ever referred to,
it was as a question not open, but decisively settled.
Even the preachers had agreed to "abide by the
old plan." "I advise all our friends to keep to
the Church," wrote Wesley in 1778. "God has
surely raised us up for the Church chiefly, that a
little leaven may leaven the whole lump." It may
be asked whether Wesley's friends were all as blind
as himself to the helpless drifting of his system
towards Nonconformity. We have seen that his
chosen ally, Mr. Grimshaw, had foretold the result.
Mr. Hey, a medical man of the highest repute at
Leeds, was so impressed with a sense of coming
secession, that he ventured to warn the Conference
* Tyer. ii. 573.

238 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
¦ji 1781 ; and when his warnings were received
with impatience, he felt it a duty to withdraw from
a body which, as he foresaw, would soon sever itself
from Catholic unity.1 Wesley himself continued
firm. The pilot's hand was at the helm, which was
directed Churchward, though the ship was carried
by currents in an opposite direction. In the year
1785 he said, " I openly declared in the evening
[to his society at Bristol] that I had no more
thought of separating from the Church than I
had forty years ago."
In the following year troubles arose at Deptford,
where services were demanded in the chapel during
church hours. Wesley replied that this was not
only inexpedient, but wholly unlawful. For a time
there was much irritation at Deptford — probably
elsewhere also; but it was seen to be useless to
attempt to shake Wesley's resolve, while those who
were " Nonconformist at heart " felt that the day
was not far distant when they might renew the
agitation with much better chance of success.
Towards his last days, Wesley wrote and spoke more
strongly, if possible, on the point ; and there was
need so to do, for Dr. Coke's tendencies towards
secession became more dangerous as his influence in
Methodism increased. Wesley had been compelled
to interfere with a strong hand in Dublin, where
Sunday services had been held in open rivalry with
those of the Church. For these Dr. Coke was
responsible. He had returned from America with
1 Tyer. ii. 364.

the secession : 1791-1836. 239
stronger Dissenting tendencies than before. His
utterances in the Conference of 1786 were such that
poor Charles Wesley, on the verge of the grave, and
no longer able to do battle for the Church against
superior numbers, could only answer with a cry of
" No." John Wesley, however, held to his fixed
course, and refused to sanction a new departure, so
that Dr. Coke was discomfited for the time. Of the
result of this Conference Charles Wesley wrote to a
friend in graphic and familiar style, as follows : —
" My brother, and I, and the preachers were unani
mous for continuing in the old ship. The preachers
of a Dissenting spirit will probably, after our death,
set up for themselves, and draw away disciples after
them. An old Baptist minister, forty years ago,
told me he looked on the Methodists as a seminary
for the Dissenters. Their desire and design, from
the beginning to this day, is, to leave them in the
lap of their mother. The bishops might, if they
pleased, save the largest and soundest part of them
back into the Church ; perhaps to leaven the whole
lump, as Archbishop Potter said to me. But I fear,
betwixt you and me, their lordships care for none of
these things. The great evil which I have dreaded
for nearly fifty years, is a schism."
A letter written at this time by one who knew all
the actors in the scene contained this passage : " The
preachers in general have agreed to abide by the old
plan. I sincerely pity Dr. Coke, but I really believe
good will be brought out of evil." There was, how
ever, a concession of some importance, which Charles

21.0 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Wesley in vain opposed. Services were now allowed
to be held during church hours in some places,
under fixed and special conditions. They were
allowed where the parish minister was notoiiously
wicked or heretical, or where, from distance or want
of church accommodation, there was evident neces
sity for the irregular service. Such service was to
include the psalms and lessons, and part of the
Church prayers.1 Wesley allowed of this un
willingly, nor would he afterwards admit that any
benefit resulted from it. At Dorking — and not only
there — he observed that Methodism had profited
nothing by having service in church hours.2
Shortly afterwards occurred the death of the
venerable man ; and the opportunity came, to which
many had looked forward, of making grave changes.
His chosen friends had died before him, nor did
his mantle fall on any successor. It is remarkable
that the first president of the Conference after the
death of the founder should be a Mr. Thompson, as
to whom the annals are nearly silent. There were
some active spirits to whom the idea of secession
was familiar — such as. Dr. Coke, and Messrs. Taylor, _
Moore, and Pawson, all of whom had a firm belief
in Wesley's power to ordain ministers, and so insti
tute a new Christian Church. Attached to two or
three of the chapels there were regular clergymen :
but their influence was declining, and as one by-
one they disappeared, their places were filled by no
successors. 1 Tyer. iii. 478. * Ibid. 488, 514, 543, 550.

THE SECESSION: 1791-1S36. 241
Looking at the societies at large, it is easy to
discern that there was a large and growing section
who were in favour of services, sacramental and
otherwise, by the preachers during church hours;
while the majority were at that moment well
inclined to adhere to original Methodism. It is
fair to refer again to the important fact that Metho
dists had often been compelled by the Justice
Shallows and Slenders of the day to register them
selves as Dissenters ; and it necessarily followed
from this that with many of them, especially in
the larger towns, the tie remaining between them
and the Church was slight.
Such were the elements, somewhat discordant,
which were found active through Methodism at the
death of the founder. For four years there was
some conflict and much uncertainty. There was, in
truth, a strongly conservative Church party ; and
there was an equally strong, but more active and
determined, anti-Church party. Foremost amongst
the ranks of the former was Dr. Whitehead,
Wesley's intimate friend-and early biographer. He
was in possession of his deceased leader's Journals
and papers, and for a time was the representative of
old Methodist traditions. He had been invited to
preach the funeral sermon of Wesley, and to write
his epitaph — facts which outweigh all depreciatory
remarks which the preachers soon acquired the
habit of using at his expense. For his part, he
regarded himself as their equal, although a local
preacher ; and it may be that ho gratified himself,

242 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
while he annoyed them, when he described them as
" lay preachers " on the memorial tablet in the
New Chapel. Dr. Whitehead did not stand alone ;
for many laymen of high repute and long expe
rience in Methodism, like him, feared the growing
ambition of the preachers, and were anxious to
abide in the old paths. They, like him, had been
on terms of intimacy with the founder; and they
deemed it due to his memory to obey the solemn
warnings which were still fresh in their minds.
The struggle, which lasted for three years, be
tween those who wished to uphold and those who
endeavoured to change the old relations between
Methodism and the Church, cannot here be traced
out. Nor would the task be an easy one, for the
dispute, according to high authority, is " among the
obscurest passages in Methodist history." Perhaps
the best evidence of its nature -is afforded by an
address to the Conference of 1793, drawn up and
circulated by the trustees of the principal chapels
in London and Bristol. Of this important docu
ment a few passages must be given. It recounts
Wesley's attempts to prevent secession, and his
last appeal of April, 1790. It states that though
Wesley, by dint of importunity, in old age, had
been prevailed on to ordain a few preachers for
America and Scotland, he never intended further
action of this kind ; and that the societies chiefly
consisted of Churchmen, while the liberty to all
of following their own modes of worship had been
the characteristic feature and peculiar glory of the

the secession: 1791-1836. 243

system. Therefore it was impossible to " encourage
or support those preachers who promote the new
plan of ordination." This would subvert the original
constitution, and would directly oppose " that eco
nomy which we have hitherto been taught to con
sider as the order of Providence."
The address then proceeds : " The minutes of
our Conference, the rules of our societies, and the
[trust] deeds of our [preaching] houses, all concur
in one testimony, namely, that the Methodists are
no distinct or separate party, and the preachers
are there described as only- 'preachers and ex
pounders of God's holy Word.' And though their
primary and avowed call was and is to the Church
of England, yet they held out the right hand of
friendship and brotherly love to all. ... In short,
if the present goodly fabric of Methodism has been
raised under the peculiar direction of Providence,
we cannot, conceive that any man, or body of men,
have a right to pull down the building, lay a new
foundation, and raise another structure with the
old materials. Let those who do not like the old
building quit, and build a new one for themselves.
If they will not do this voluntarily, but continue
to disturb and annoy the peaceable inhabitants, we
entreat you to unite with us in endeavouring to
defend and preserve the same as complete and
entire as possible.
" The attempts that have been lately made to
introduce the Ordination scheme have produced
many and great evils in various places, and if

244 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
persisted in must divide the people, and in the end
destroy the cause.
" We therefore stand forward, as trustees of two
of the principal societies in the kingdom, to declare
our intention of abiding by and supporting the
original Methodist plan."
The address then refers to certain persons as
" troublers of our Israel," and calls on the brethren
throughout the empire to resist them.
This was signed by the London and Bristol
trustees, who were amongst the most influential
and best-informed of the Methodists of that day.
Amongst the more noteworthy signatures were those
of Mr. Wolley,1 and of Messrs. Horton and Wolff,
who both were named as executors in Wesley's will.
Others were the signatures of men equally esti
mable, though less prominent in the annals. One
name, however, had a special significance. It was
that of Mr. Clulow, who for years had been Wesley's
friend and confidential adviser in legal matters.
No one living knew so well the objects kept in view
by Wesley in framing his connexional polity, the
' ends which he sought to attain, and those which
he strove to avoid.
Let us glance briefly at the legal arrangements
which had placed Methodism, with its large cor
porate property in buildings, on a permanent basis.
The trusts of the chapels and other premises be
longing to the societies throughout the kingdom
1 His monument was, until lately, in the place of honour, close
to those of the Wesleys at City Road.

THE SECESSION: 1791-1836. 245
were not exactly uniform from the outset. Yet it
is sufficiently accurate to state that all this large
and rapidly increasing property was vested in
trustees, who, in each instance, were bound to hold
the property for such purposes as John and Charles
Wesley (or the survivor of them) should direct.
Personally, the brothers held none of the lands or
buildings, yet to them was reserved an absolute
control ; and when they did not themselves occupy
or use the structures, they had the legal right of
nominating the clergymen, or other persons, who
should from time to time officiate in the chapels or
reside in the houses.
Some years after the annual Conference had be
come an institution, it occurred to Wesley that on
that body might fitly devolve, in the times to come,
the supreme direction and the legal rights of
patronage. . In 1769 this idea developed into a
sketch of the Conference as one " united group
accustomed to act in concert," and therefore well
fitted to succeed the author and autocrat of Me
thodism. There was, however, no legal definition
of the Conference. It was a somewhat informal
body, consisting of a fluctuating number of
preachers, with a few clergymen, and fewer laymen ;
in short, of such persons as Wesley chose to invite
from time to time to meet him for counsel and for
mutual help. His extraordinary power of organ
izing had full scope when, in 1784, he devised, with
his legal friend, Mr. Clulow, a permanent body of
one hundred persons, in whom, after his death, all

246 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
legal powers should centre. Most lawyers would
have recommended the cumbrous and costly ma
chinery of a private Act of Parliament ; but Mr.
Clulow, aided by the advice of Mr. Madocks, a
Chancery barrister, saw his way to the settlement
of a great difficulty and the consolidation of a great
scheme, by an expedient of masterly simplicity.
This was a short deed of declaration, which was
put on record, 9th March, 1784, in the Chancery
enrolment office. It gave the names of John and
Charles Wesley, and of two other clergymen (Coke
1 and Creighton), and of ninety-six gentlemen, further
described as "preachers and expounders" of the
Gospel, who were to meet under fixed conditions
every year, under the care and in connection with
the said John Wesley, keeping up as a first duty
their number of one hundred by co-option. This
body so made perpetual, under the legal style of
" Yearly Conference of the people called Metho
dists," succeeded Wesley in the general direction
and legal control of the entire system. They have
always met and fulfilled all their legal functions ;
and of courtesy, though not of right, they have
always admitted a large number of other preachers
to their deliberations. They have lately consented
to admit representative laymen also. The assembly
is therefore, in practice, a large one, and its dis
cussions have a wide range. But to the eye of
the lawyer the Conference is still the select annual
gathering of one hundred governors or patrons, who
exercise the chief control over the corporate in
terests and possessions of Methodism in England.

THE secession: 1791-1836. 247
But no title-deed of Methodism prescribes or
even contemplates secession from the National
Church, the entire machinery being so ingeniously
framed as to admit of conformity. Charles Wesley
hoped and believed that the Conference would find
a recognized place, sooner or later, within the
Church of England. He knew that the Francis
cans, Augustinians, and other orders were governed
by their own rules, and held their separate property,
all within the wide enclosure of the Church of
Eome. If John Wesley spoke less of ultimate
reunion, it was not that he differed in opinion from
his brother. He was by nature more apt to bend
his thoughts on the immediate work under his
hand, and to leave the outcome to Providence.
By constitution the reverse of dreamy or specula
tive, he simply worked while it was day, without
anxiety as to the future. For the future he did
nevertheless provide in this effective manner, the
high credit of which he ascribed to Mr. Clulow.
This was by no means the only, though it was the
chief, obligation which Methodism owed to this
excellent lawyer. And finding his name attached,
with that of Wesley's executors and other most
intimate lay friends, to the trustees' address of
1793, posterity will recognize in that document the
voice of the best and truest friends of original
Methodism — of the Methodism which revived re
ligion in the last century.
As to the reception of this address by those to
whom it was sent, no account has reached us.

248 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
Probably some of the trustees of other chapels,
finding that no technical breach of trust was
threatened, did not respond to the appeal. The
Conference did, in fact, disclaim any plan of general
ordination of preachers. Unquestionably it was
within its legal powers when, after much hesitation,
it resolved on a course which was a turning point in
Methodistic history.
In 1795 the Conference, though giving up what
the trustees of 1793 described as "the Ordination
scheme," took a course which was wholly in the
same direction. As implied by the name of " plan
of pacification," it was designed to quiet down
complaints and anxieties on all sides. It was now
finally ruled and resolved by the Conference, that
in any place where the members of the society, in
a formal and prescribed way, should signify their
wish to have sacramental services by their own
preachers, that this concession should be made. As
a fact, this wish has been everywhere signified ; and
consequently the preachers in time were found, not
preaching and expounding merely, but discharging
all the other duties which pertain to the ministerial
office. This is (as we are told on good authority)
the only separation from the Church which has ever
taken place. In theory, therefore, any Methodist
is as free as were his predecessors in Wesley's time
to regard the society as a devotional guild or
association, and to resort to his .parish church on
the Sunday morning as his forefathers did. In
practice, the Methodist preachers act as if ministers

the secession: 1791-1836. 249
of a separate and a duly authorized Christian
Church ; and this with the approval and support of
their people.
The process of separation was not rapid, for it
went on through fifty years ; and in its early stages
the inevitable result was not apparent to all. Even
after the momentous decision of the Conference in
1795, there were Methodists who, in perfect good
faith, maintained that there was, on their part,
no secession from the Church.1 In the diocese
of Lincoln, many of the clergy bestowed much
thought on what they deemed to be the anomalous
position of their Methodist parishioners : Were they
Churchmen, or were they Dissenters? Eightly or
wrongly, the opinion of many of the clergy was
that the tendency was to draw people away from the
Church. This conclusion they made public, thereby
grieving the minds of the conservatively inclined
amongst the Methodists. Mr. Benson, one of the
most eminent of the preachers of his day, wrote and
published a very able reply, disclaiming any such
tendency, and describing the Methodists as con
sistent Church-people.2 Of his sincerity there can
be no question; and the only possible explanation
is that Mr. Benson, himself fond of the old paths
and not far seeing, was not alive to the fact that the
whole connexion was fast drifting away from the
Church. Perhaps Mr. Benson was the last of the
eminent members of his own order to whom secession
1 Arminian Magazine, 1797, p. 314.
» Eccles. Gazette, 1879, p. 152. " A Vindication of the People
called Methodists." London, 1800.

250 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
from the Church seemed something distant, un
desirable, and to be avoided. Year by year his
brethren were regarded by others, and came to regard
themselves, as the ministers of a new and distinct
Christian Church. And this change of attitude
no doubt led, amongst other things, to the with
drawal, about the year 1820, of the original monu
ment in the City Eoad, and the substitution of that
in which the term " lay preachers " does not appear.
When Mr. Watson wrote his Life of Wesley,
the separation from the Church, although rapidly
} roceeding^ was by no means complete. He stated,
in 1831, that the societies even then included many
Churchmen ; he might have added that most of
the Methodist families still kept up the traditional
connexion for sacramental and for some other
purposes. When the law of marriage was so altered
as to allow of the performance of that solemnity
elsewhere than in a church, many of the Methodists,
and even some of the preachers, refused to avail
themselves of a privilege which they spoke of in
scornful terms. Yet it was inevitable that the few
remaining links should one by one be severed.
The present generation of Methodists is the first
which may accurately be said to hold completely
aloof from the National Church.
So much for the present attitude of English
Methodism towards the Church. Any further de
scription of it would be apart from our present task ;
and it is better that the reader should, from the
facts coming within his daily range of vision, form

THE SECESSION: 1791-1836. 251
his own conclusions on this point. It may, however,
be as well to add some historical notes on points
which have rarely been elucidated in print. We
have seen that the Conference of 1793 refused to
take cognizance of the new commission said to have
been conferred by the venerable Wesley on certain
of his preachers. It was supposed by that body,
and by their successors for forty-two years, that the
fact of appointment to minister, and of recognition
by a body of Christians, was fully equivalent to
ordination. In 1836 the rule was altered, and ordination by
imposition of the hands of senior ministers was
adopted, as in accordance with the ancient and
scriptural mode. Under this rule the president, ex-
president, and secretary of the Conference of 1 836,
being three of the most eminent of the Wesleyan
ministers of that day,1 laid their hands on the new
candidates; and the rule and usage so estab
lished has ever since been followed. But although
the practice is now firmly established, there is no
change in the theory that a minister may be validly
appointed and accepted as such, without any im
position of hands ; and littie value is therefore set
by them on the succession which, as we have seen,
many of the ministers can trace, through the
1 The ministers so ordaining in 1836 were Mr. (afterwards Dr.)
Bunting, Mr. Reece, aud Mr. (afterwards Dr.) Newton. It is
certain that these estimable men, although they had all been recog-
n'zed " in the congregation " as ministers for about forty years, had
never been ordained by imposition of hands.

252 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
American channel, from Dr. Coke, and mediately
from Wesley himself.
English Methodism, which has seen some vicissi
tudes in modern times, is now peaceable and
flourishing. Immense sums have been of late years
expended on chapels, and on educational institu
tions of all kinds. Especially may the foreign
missions be mentioned as constituting the chief glory
of the system, and as showing that the zeal and
liberality of its adherents are not diminished. As
regards numbers, Methodism in England is not fast
increasing, for it scarcely holds its position when the
annual increase of the population is considered.1
This is not the place for discussing the various
suggestions which have been made for a corporate
reunion between the British followers of Wesley
and that Church which he loved, and from which
nothing could induce him to sever. Those who
have made such proposals have most properly taken
for granted that the Methodists must, in any case,
be invited to bring in with them their separate rules
and usages, so as to remain a separate order within
the Anglican pale. The first man of note who
studied with critical attention the peculiar history
and the modern position of Methodism, was the
poet-laureate, Dr. Southey. Half a century h;is
now passed away since that eminent and learned
writer sketched out, in few but distinct phrases, a
1 " It is not an uncommon complaint of Methodists to-day that
their children, when they grow up, migrate into the Churoh."
— Rigg, 14. See Appendix XIV., " Statistics."

THE secession: 1791-1836. 253
possible reunion in the well-known words with which
he closed his Life of Wesley : —
" Nor is it beyond the bounds of reasonable hope
that, conforming itself to the original intention of
its founders, it may again draw towards the establish
ment from which it has seceded . . . the obstacles
to this are surely not insuperable, perhaps not so
difficult as they may appear. And were this effected,
John Wesley would then be ranked, not only
amongst the most remarkable and influential men
of his age, but among the great benefactors of his
country and kind."
In days when supernatural religion has many
and powerful enemies, and when Eoman Catholicism
is striving to recover lost ground, there is a growing
belief amongst Churchmen that the separate exist
ence of the Methodists as a body of Nonconformists
is a misfortune to English Christianity. There is,
at the present time, much anxiety to discover the
true reasons why Wesley's followers should hold
aloof from the National Church. Many of the
reasons alleged are found to be in reality weak and
inconclusive. Perhaps the more weighty of them
may be summed up thus : Methodists themselves
do not manifest any strong desire to return; and
their ministers could not do so without open avowal
of an opinion, or acceptance of a theory, on the
question of ordination which they do not hold.
In other words, Unity is not at present valued ;
while no slur can be allowed to be cast on the minis
terial claims of the present race of preachers. These

254 THE CHURCHMAN'S LIFE OF WESLEY.
are serious obstacles, no doubt, and are felt to be such
even by those who refuse to regard them as hopeless
and irremovable.
The first difficulty will wane and disappear when
it shall please Divine Providence to open the eyes
of good men to the importance of organic union
amongst Christians. Perhaps increased trials and
difficulties, which shall in the latter days surround
and threaten the faith and its upholders, may one
day cause a drawing together in sympathy amongst
such as hold to the Christian creeds. Perhaps
Judah may cease from vexing Ephraim, and Ephraim
from envying Judah ; and restored good will and a
full sense of brotherhood may quickly draw together
in heart those who never ought to have been separated.
It is not for us to know the times and the seasons.
If the disposition for Unity shall exist, the other
obstacles will appear small, and readily to be moved
away. The submission to the Anglican form of
ordination will then as a difficulty block the path
no longer. When He, who needed no baptism from
the hand of any man, desired to comply with an
ancient rule,1 saying, " Suffer it to be so now, for
thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness," He
spoke along the centuries to all who deem but
lightly of forms and ceremonies, and to all who are
ruled by that feeling which by some is called pride,
and by others self-respect. To enter more minutely
into questions such as these would now be premature.
But so surely as the gloom changes into day, and
> St. Matt. iii. 15.

THE SECESSION : 1791-1836. 255
as harsh winter softens into genial spring, there shall
come over Christendom a longing for Unity, when
all the apparent difficulties, now large and lowering,
will dwindle and vanish. Knowing that only the
Divine Power can accomplish this, and that human
efforts are unavailing towards so transcendent a
purpose, " He that believeth shall not make haste."

The following are the boolcs and edition* moat frequently
referred to throughout these pages :-—
Life of the Rev. John Wesley, M.A., etc., copied chiefly from
a London edition published by John Whitehead, M.D. 2 vols.
Dublin, 1805-1806.
Life of Wesley, by Dr, Coke and Mr. Moore. Reprinted at
Derby, 1843.
Life of Wesley, by Robert Southey (with Coleridge's notes).
2 vola. London, 1864.
Life of the Rev. John Wesley, A.M., by Richard Watson.
Eleventh edition. (No date j the first edition appears to have
been in 1831.)
Memoirs of the Rev. C. Wesley, M.A. (abridged from the larger
work), by Thomas Jackson. Third edition. London, 1862.
Wesley's Journals. 4 vols. Conference Office, London, 1864.
John Wesley's Place in Church History determined, etc., by
R. Denny Urlin. London, 1870.
John Wesley and Modern Methodism, by F. Hockin, Rector of
Phillack. Third edition. London (no date).
The Churchmanship of John Wesley, and the Relations, etc., by
James H. Rigg, D.D. London (no date, but published in 1879).
The Life and Times of Wesley, by Rev. L. Tyerman. 3 vols,
London, Hodder and Co., edition of 1878

APPENDICES. APPENDIX I.
THE BIOGRAPHERS.
The first biographer of Wesley was Mr. Hampson,
Junior, son of the John Hampson who had for
many years been one of Wesley's trusted preachers,
and sometimes his secretary and travelling com
panion. Father and son together left the connexion
about the year 1785, under the circumstances
briefly stated at p. 143, deeming themselves slighted
and injured by their exclusion from the first legal
conference. Mr. Hampson, Senior, continued, how
ever, to receive from his former brethren a small
pension; while his son obtained holy orders, was
appointed to an incumbency at Sunderland, and
wrote a Life of Wesley, which must have been
begun, if not nearly completed, when the patriarch
died. It was published at Sunderland in 1791, in
three small volumes, and cannot be said to possess
any distinct value, as the author had no original
documents in his hands. This work is rarely met
with, and is not likely to be reprinted, as the very
s

258 APPENDIX I.

few passages of importance to be found in it have
been transcribed by later and more careful writers.
Wesley's will contained the following : " I give
all my MSS. to Thomas Coke, Dr. Whitehead, and
Henry Moore, to be burnt or published as they see
good." Dr. Coke was absent on a mission journey
to America when Wesley died, and all the MSS.
were at once handed over to Dr. Whitehead, who
was requested to write the authorized Life of the
Founder of Methodism. There was much delay
about this, partly owing to the bankruptcy of the
printer who was first employed, and partly, it may
well be supposed, to a growing feeling of dissatis
faction with its author on the part of the preachers,
which made itself apparent very quickly.
Whitehead's Life of Wesley appeared at last in
two vols. 8\o; but befoie its publication Dr. Coke
and Mr. Moore were so little contented with the
labours of their colleague, that they had anticipated
him in the task of writing a biography.1 They were,
however, met by the difficulty that all the MSS.
had been entrusted to Dr. Whitehead, and were
then in his hands; and they were therefore com
pelled to write their own book as best they could.
Dr. Whitehead's biography must always hold a
high place as an authority, the advantages enjoyed
by its author being considered ; yet it will disappoint
any reader. ' It is one which any mere book-maker,
1 " Coke and Moore " appeared in 1792, and the volumes of
Whitehead in 1793 and 17$6. The latter is very scarce, and tho
Dublin edition is not an exact reprint.

THE BIOGRAPHERS. 259
furnished with materials and without personal
knowledge of Wesley, might as well have produced.
Page after page is filled with the author's dull
discussion of points of theology, while he has failed
by graphic touches or reminiscences to impart any
living interest to his work.
Dr. Coke and Mr. Moore, like Dr. Whitehead, had
been closely intimate with Wesley in his old age, and
from their own recollections they were well able to
make up, to some extent at least, for the absence of
all the MSS. As a literary performance, their book
is hardly on a higher level than that of their rival ;
and, like his, their book cannot be said to merit
republication. Fortunately for the world of intelligent readers,
some accident, or perchance the request of the
publisher, turned the attention of Dr. Robert
Southey towards the same theme a quarter of a
century later. Evidently it was easy to object
that Southey had no special aptitude for the •'task
and no fresh sources of information. He compiled
a Life of Wesley for the general reader, as he
had compiled a " Life of Nelson." But the founder
of a religious system is not so easily portrayed as
a victorious admiral. Southey's theory of Methodism
was hastily formed, on few and superficial data.
Starting with the idea that Wesley, with all his
virtues, was an enthusiast, with an ambition to form
a great religious sect, Southey allowed this in
adequate and erroneous idea to tinge all his narra
tive. Thus he laid himself open to the free and

260 APPENDIX I.

friendly rebukes administered by his friend Samuel
Taylor Coleridge, and printed in the notes which
appear in the later editions of the book. He also
laid himself open to the still sharper criticism of a
less distinguished critic, who summed up his opinion
of the laureate's fitness for his task in the significant
words, " Thou hast nothing to draw with, and the
well is deep."
So much for the defects of Southey's biography —
one of the most justly popular biographies known
to English readers.
Its merits are such as to be at once evident to
all. The clear, bright, sympathetic spirit of the
amiable writer is impressed on every chapter of a
book which alone makes good the claim of Southey
to rank amongst the first of prose writers, whatever
place may finally be assigned to him as a poet. By
a wide circle of cultivated and thoughtful readers
of the time, Southey's booR was hailed as a perma
nent addition to the small list of standard English
biographies. Half a century has now passed by, and Southey's
Life still holds its place as a deeply interesting,
and on the whole a trustworthy book. A more
careful examination of its pages, after an interval
of years, has convinced the present writer of its
surpassing merit. New controversies have arisen
which Southey could hardly foresee; yet, considering
the time at which it was written, and the materials
which its author had at his command, it is simply
wonderful that so full, so graphic, so well-informed

THE BIOGRAPHERS. 261
and so accurate a Life of Wesley could have been
written by a professional writer of books in the
reign of the Fourth George.
Amongst those who were keenly alive to the few
defects of Southey's book, and who were insensible
to its many merits, was Mr. Moore. He has already
been mentioned as a follower of Wesley, well known
and trusted, living in the house, and finally charged
by his venerable "friend and patron " with the joint
possession of all his manuscripts.
Mr. Moore was the last survivor of the three
literary executors of Wesley ; and, obtaining posses
sion of the MSS., he deemed it expedient to attempt
another biography. It appears that the recent
publication of Southey's admirable work was the
inciting cause. Still Mr. Moore was one who had
an indisputable claim to place before the public
his own account of the friend and leader of his
early years.
One of the defects to be noted in Moore's book
is a bitter and unreasoning dislike to Southey. That
admirable man, whose whole life was such as to
defy detraction and command esteem of the highest
kind, Mr. Moore thought fit to vilify. He went so
far as to impute infidelity to one of the most con
sistent and orthodox of Christians. Perhaps it was
by reason of this transparent error, and of other
errors of taste, that Mr. Moore's Life of Wesley
failed to attract much notice, and is now forgotten.
Even the Methodists of the period, for whom it was
written, so little esteemed it, that by their general

262 APPENDIX I.

desire a new Life of Wesley, from their own —
modern Wesleyan — point of view, was undertaken
very few years later by Richard Watson, one of
the most eminent Wesleyan ministers of his day. '
Mr. Watson, about the year 1830, ojcupied a fore
most place in Methodism. His writings on abstruse
questions are still highly esteemed by many of those
who have sounded the depths of the Calvinistic
and Arminian controversy. Watson had access to
all the connexional archives ; and he is understood
to have written his Life of Wesley at the request
of his brethren, who were dissatisfied with Southey's
portraiture of their founder, and required a concise
and popular book, written from their own point
of view, which they could place in the hands of
young and old in their societies. The separation of
Methodism from the Church was at that time by
no means complete ; and the tone of Mr. Watson's
remarks where they concern the Church is notably
more deferential, not to say apologetic, than that
of more recent Wesleyan writers. As may be
expected, he enters into an elaborate justification
of the secession so far as it had gone. Otherwise
his book, which may be described as a clearly
written and very concise epitome of Wesley's printed
journals, touches little on any of those momentous
points which have, since the year 1831, come up
prominently to the surface.
A long interval followed, during which the
Wesleyans were content with Watson's concise
account of their founder, while Southey's more

THE BIOGRAPHERS. 2G3
entertaining book amply sufficed for the reading
public. In course of years, however, new questions arose,
and the claims of the Anglican Church were pre
sented in a new light. There was a revived interest
in the history of the early centuries ; and earnest-
minded persons began to ask the real meaning of
these words ofthe Creed — " One Catholic and Apos
tolic Church." The history of the last century and
of that revival of religion, in which the Wesleys
and Whitefield took active parts, began to be
minutely inquired into. The existing books were
found to be almost silent on some points of high
interest; and students groped their way through
magazines, journals, sermons, and scattered writings
in frequent wonder that notable passages had not
received the slightest attention on the part of the
biographers of Wesley. Yet for several years no
noteworthy attempt was made to throw further
light on the history of Methodism and of its
founder. Those who were called by the name of
Wesley were satisfied with Mr. Watson's concise
sketch — excellent so far as it went, but inadequate
considering the changed aspect of the times and the
nature of the newly opened controversies. Anglican
students found that Southey gave them little infor
mation on some points of high interest; and they
found themselves now and then corroborated, in a
manner quite unexpected and startling, when they
happened to turn to Wesley's own journals and
sermons, even in imperfect editions. This was the
position of things for a long space of time.

264 APPENDIX L

About the year 1870 a new Life of Wesley
appeared, from the pen of Miss Wedgwood The
literary merits of this modest volume were at once
evident ; but, commenced on too large a scale, the
later chapters were scanty and contracted. No
previous writer had examined the Wesleyan history
with greater capacity, and with equal breadth of
view. Notwithstanding the singular excellence of
the early chapters, where a fine appreciation and
a thoughtful insight were apparent, Miss Wedg
wood's book was judged to resemble rather a torso,
or an incomplete sketch, than a duly proportioned
and a well-finished work of art.
About the same time (1870) there appeared
several independent essays and sketches of more
or less value, dealing with questions in dispute
between Wesleyans and Churchmen. As these did
not claim the dignity attaching to biographies, they
are briefly described in Appendix II. In addition
to the books above referred to there are some
others, less thoroughly known to the present
writer, and for which therefore a bare enumeration
must suffice. Mr. G. Smith and Dr. Stevens, an
American, have written at length on Wesley and
Methodism ; and the life of the excellent Charles
Wesley has been fully set forth by the late Rev.
T. Jackson.
The most complete biography remains to be
noticed — that by the Rev. L. Tyerman, a Wesleyan
minister. Its three large volumes, comprising nearly
2000 closely printed pages, bear evidence to the
loving and laborious efforts of many years.

THE BIOGRAPHERS. 265
Of a book so well known, it would be super
fluous to give any lengthened notice; and this is
hardly the place for critical remarks. Yet as these
pages will meet the eyes of many persons who have
not seen, and may never see, the portly volumes
of Tyerman, a very few bines of description may
properly be added.
Tyerman's Life of Wesley is by very much the
most full and complete biography which has ever
appeared. It is on a scale so comprehensive as to
make it inevitable that every biographer coming
after Tyerman must be largely indebted to his
untiring industry and his wide research. -Hundreds
of letters hitherto unpublished have been obtained,
from various quarters, and all possible exertions have
evidently been made to render the work complete
and exhaustive.
Even an unfriendly critic could find but little
fault with such a book. A few singular omissions :
an error of taste now and then: a tendency to
discursive remark: some readiness of the author
(occasionally shown— not always) to ignore one
set of facts, and to keep his attention alive to
another set of facts :— these, if all told, form a not
very serious indictment where some two thousand
octavo pages of careful, industrious, and, on the
whole, candid narrative come up for judgment.
This comprehensive work, therefore, in spite of
many blemishes, confers infinite credit on its
author, while it throws a flood of light on the
history and the motives of the illustrious man of
whom he has written.

266 APPENDIX It.

APPENDIX II.
SOME RECENT ESSAYS.
It has been mentioned that the years 1869-70 saw
a marked revival of interest in all that relates to
old Methodistic hisiu^. The valuable contribution
of Miss Wedflj^enj^ra^iiterature of this class,
written frq^^^T^bjagKhurch point of view, was
almost simTRg<^n»%rith the publication of some
other books less '"borate, and not claiming to rank
amongst the /Siop-Taphies. Some of these were
avowedly written from the Anglican point of view :
and all of them entered largely into the questions
which had sprung into notice since the days of
Southey and Watson.
"Wesley in Company with High Churchmen,"
by the Rev. H. W. Holden, a Yorkshire, curate,
attracted much attention from its novelty of plan
and the boldness and ingenuity with which the
plan was carried out. Although but a small
volume, it was compactly filled, and arranged with
much system, bringing together, as it were into
a focus, all the evidence (and the amount of this

SOME RECENT ESSAYS. 267
was to all readers surprising) to show that Wesley
had anticipated some eminent churchmen of this
century in the revival of what is called Sacra-
rnentalism and ritualism. Mr. Holden did not,
however, stay to inquire, perhaps considering it no
part of his task to do so, into the points in which
the Wesleys differed from the Puseys and Kebles
of a later period.
While Mr. Holden was with much industry
making his notes from voluminous sources of in
formation, the present writer happened to be
engaged in an inquiry not undertaken with the
same object in view, although there was found to
be a general similarity in many of the results
arrived at.
" John Wesley's Place in Church History," which
appeared in 1870, contained the results of a some
what careful inquiry into the origin of the various
distinguishing features of Methodism, and into the
relations which that system originally held, and
was designed to hold, towards the Church of Eng
land.. Some of the documentary evidence set forth
in its pages was altogether new, while all of it was
examined with a genuine desire to arrive at the
truth. It was gratifying to find that even such
authorities as the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine
did not complain of the tone and temper of the
essay. The little work, as its title implied, did not
profess to be a life of Wesley; while it was
addressed rather to a special class of students than to
the general public. Consisting mainly of argument

268 APPENDIX II.

on points of history and theology, such a book was
not likely to become popularly known ; and as it
is out of print, friendly suggestions have led the
writer to recast it, omitting many pages of mere
disquisition, and expanding the narrative. With
many changes and additions, the volume now sub
mitted to the reader may therefore be looked upon
as a new and enlarged edition of " John Wesley's
Place in Church History."
About the year 1868 a magazine article by Dr.
J. H. Rigg, "On the Relations of Wesley and
Methodism to the Church," had been expanded by
him into an essay. Dr. Rigg professed to handle
his subject with " rare advantages." One of them
appeared to be a rare sense of freedom in the
use of epithets, such as "semi-popish," "bigoted
and ritualistic," etc. In this essay there was
such a skilful disposition of light and shade as
made John Wesley to appear in the new character
of a lax and half-hearted Anglican, whose scheme
of life was to originate and point the way to a
great secession. This incomplete and misleading
sketch, by the criticisms which it drew forth, gave
a great impetus to the exploration of Wesley's own
writings. It was soon found that himself had, as
though in anticipation, provided the answer; and
all that was really necessary was to reprint a
variety of passages from his own Journals and
Sermons. Many tracts have appeared, consisting
partly or wholly of excerpts, made more or less care
fully as regards context, etc., from Wesley's works

SOME RECENT ESSAYS. 269
— perhaps none of them proving more successful
than the repeated editions of a simple tract entitled
" Pastoral Advice of the Rev. J. Wesley." This
tract (by an anonymous compiler) did not contain
a single line from any other pen than that of Wesley.
These extracts concluded with the following
analysis of Wesley's " Pastoral Advice " : —
" The Rev. John Wesley was a Churchman from
conviction (No. 36), felt it his duty to remain in
the Church (No. 4), and frequently expressed his
determination to do so (Nos. 12, 39, 51, 52, 56),
" Charged the Methodists not to leave the Church
(Nos. 3, 9, 31, 34, 47, 56), even though they thought
their minister's life or doctrine was bad (Nos. 14,
19, 20).
"Required the Society to attend church con
stantly, and to receive the Holy Communion there
(Nos. 1, 5, 17, 25), and urged them to do so even if
they did not esteem their minister (Nos. 14, 20, 45).
" Spoke from his own experience (No. 6) and
that of another (No. 7) of the great blessing
obtained in going to church, and described the loss
which he said some persons had sustained by not
doing so (No. 23).
" Would not let the Methodists hold their meet
ings in church hours, as he considered that this
WOULD BE A FORMAL SEPARATION FROM THE CHURCH
(Nos. 41, 43), showed how experience proved that
the adoption of this course would not benefit the
Society (No. 44), enforced his rule on this point as
strictly as he could (No. 49), and was careful to
follow it himself (Nos. 34, 50).

270 APPENDIX II.

" Took steps to prevent separation from the
Church (title-page, Nos. 8, 10, 13, 18, 49).
"Reported the decisions of eight 'Conferences'
in favour of continuing in the Church (Nos. 12, 14,
32, 35, 40, 46, 53, 54), and with regard to each of
them, said, or implied, that the decision was unani
mous. " When he was dying, and just before he "changed
for death,' expressed strongly his wish that no
change should be made in the condition of affairs ;
and, in almost his last words, prayed for God's
blessing on the Church (No. 57)."
Dr. Eigg's second edition the present writer has
not been able to meet with. The third appeared
in the shape of a neat volume early in 1879. At
the end is a "list of books and pamphlets" relating
to the subject; and, incredible as it may appear,
from this list are omitted not only all the recent
books written by Churchmen, but even Tyerman's
most valuable work. In this third edition by Dr.
Eigg there are some modifications of view and of
language. For example, Wesley is no longer pre
sented as having " thrown overboard the last of his
High Church leanings," in 1746, or in any other
year. Shortly afterwards appeared Mr. Hockin's essay
on " Wesley and Modern Methodism."
In the series entitled "The Church's broken
Unity," edited by the Rev. W. J. E. Bennett, there
appeared a carefully-written sketch of Wesley and

SOME RECENT ESSAYS. 271
Methodism. This closes with an account of the
various secessions or off-shoots from the Connexion
— information which it is by no means easy to meet
with in a concise form elsewhere.
Another pamphlet which attracted much atten
tion was a letter on " The Church and Wesleyan-
ism," by the Rev. P. G. Medd, formerly fellow of
"University Coll., Oxford. While upholding the
claims of his own Church, Mr. Medd admits that
the separation which he deplores was caused by
Anglican neglect a century ago ; and of Methodism
he speaks in the language of cordial and thorough
esteem. H Mr. Medd falls into any error it is the
praiseworthy one of freely attributing to other
minds that longing after a realized and visible
unity which pervades his own. He describes the
sense of a "need of reunion amongst all who hold
the Nicene faith," as though that sense of need
" were universal in all thoughtful Christian hearts."
That it ought to be, and in some future day may
become so, can hardly be denied : unhappily the
dawn is not yet visible of that day which shall see
"reunion with all orthodox believers, whether
within or without the recognized ecclesiastical
organizations." Mr. Medd does what he may to
hasten it; thus he mentions the Nicene Creed as
that which may well be accounted the present test
of orthodoxy, and the future keystone of that unity
which prejudice and indifference and want of
earnest charity now place out of reach.
Touching the religious services and the evange-

272 APPENDIX II.

listic work of the Wesleyans, Mr. Medd uses
language which probably would be adopted by
most Churchmen of this day : —
"Happily 'he that is not against us is on our
part,' All good work done for Christ, however less
in quantity and lower in quality, when done amid
disunion and separation, is blessed by Him, as
Wesley's work has been abundantly blessed, and
redounds to the benefit of the whole Church " (p. 7).
Again : "... It is quite open to us without any
sacrifice of principle to acknowledge to the full, and
with thankfulness, the blessed works of grace which
God may work by the hands of unordained evange
lists preaching the truth in love. Neither need we,
nor ought we, to doubt that He can and does give
even a sacramental blessing to those who, brought
up (by whose fault?) in total ignorance of true
Church principles, and acting to the best of their
knowledge, attend with pious hearts and right dis
positions on Eucharistic services conducted by un
ordained persons " (p. 8, note).
Mr. Medd discusses Methodism in a kindly spirit
— characterizing its origin as " essentially good and
religious," and estimating its modern aspect by
great practical results connected with missions,
education, and general philanthropy.
Unquestionably the result of all these recent
publications has been to reveal the real character
and motives of Wesley much more clearly in the
light of his own writings. Not many years have
passed away since so well informed a writer as the

SOME RECENT ESSAYS. 273
late Mr. H. T. Buckle was found to describe Wesley
as a " great schismatic," whose aim was to found a
system which should " rival the Established Church."
More accurate views now prevail. Wesley is re
cognized as the founder of a new brotherhood, by
the consistent and active piety of whose members his
own Church might have been leavened and improved.
Ardently attached to the English Church, he hoped
to strengthen her position ; and his design was not
to establish any rival camp, but to render the old .
fortress impregnable by placing in its very midst
an inner, and a carefully built, circle of defence.
In closing this branch of the inquiry, it may
be noted that the early biographers exhibited a
candour which must be admired. Dr. Whitehead
showed no disposition to conceal or to obscure any
part of his illustrious friend's character or work.
Dr. Coke and Mr. Moore in the same spirit spoke of
Wesley's " High Church principles " as well known
• — and this after the time when he had gathered
together the Societies at the Foundry. They
further described him in his old age as " peculiarly
attached to every rite of the Church of Eng
land." 1
Of late, again, Wesley's real character and position
with regard to the English Church have been set
forth very clearly. Probably the discussions of the
1 Pages 192, 349. " Punctilious about forms, yet no formalist
— thinking much about Lent, Ember Weeks, and Church-rites,
yet not to the neglect of spiritual religion." — Stotjshton's account
of Geo. Hebbekt. T

274 APPENDIX II.

last ten years have had a clarifying effect. Certain
it is that Mr. Tyerman, at the close of his long
and patient inquiry, sums up by describing the
Methodistic founder as a hearty Churchman, though
not always a consistent one.

( 275 )

APPENDIX III.
THE RELIGIOUS SOCIETIES.
Miss Wedgwood remarks in her Life of Wesley
that on the return of the Wesleys from America
they would naturally resort to these societies.
Further, that many of the peculiarities of Method
ism may be traced to that source. The Methodist
Class-meeting was no more than the weekly meeting
of young communicants — " to admonish and watch
over each other." In its essentials the class-meeting
had been described by Dr. Woodward before Wesley
was born. Each little society had also its charitable
fund, which was managed by an elected steward.
Robert Nelson, writing in 1703, also described
the religious societies, of which there seem to have
been about forty in London alone.
Samuel Wesley, the father of John and Charles,
mentioned them in a letter written about the same
time ; and while defending them against the suppo
sition of their "fomenting new schisms and divisions,"
he declared that they had brought many back to
the Church who were divided from it. Dr. Coke

276 APPENDIX III.

and Mr. Moore state that " Many of these Societies
remained in being in the year 1738, and received
Wesley with open arms when he entered on his
most extensive sphere of action."
The late Rev. F. C. Massingberd (Chancellor of
Lincoln), who had described these societies in the
Christian Remembrancer of June, 1851, reprinted
his essay with notes and additions, and with some
particulars of the early connection of the Wesley
family with Epworth, in a small volume entitled
"Sermons on Unity; with an Essay on Religious
Societies, and a Lecture on the Life and Time i of
Wesley," London, 1868.

( 277 )

APPENDIX IV.
THE EVENTS OF MAY, 1738.
The biographers Coke and Moore give a clear
account of the momentous consequences in the
spiritual development of John Wesley, of his many
conversations with Peter Bohler, quoting freely
from his own Journals. After giving his own ver
sion of the unfavourable state in which he conceived
himself to have remained for many years prior to
the May of 1738, and of the events of the 24th day
of that month, the biographers say : —
" His heart was now enlarged to declare, as he"
never had before, the loving-kindness of the
Lord. . . . The word of God dwelt richly in him*
and was in his mouth as a sharp two-edged sword
to the wicked; but to those who felt the anguish
of a wounded spirit, who had turned at God's
reproof, he was an able minister of the New
Testament." Coke and Moore, however, state that many of
the expressions used by Wesley at this time, in
describing his own spiritual condition prior to 1738,

278 APPENDIX IV.

were too strong. He was in the earlier period " in
a state of salvation as a servant — having a measure
of faith, but not the proper Christian faith."
In other words, when Wesley, under excited feel
ings, declared that he was "not a true Christian,"
he fell into an error which he afterwards acknow
ledged And his brother Samuel, and the other
friends who expressed their astonishment at the
statement, better able to judge of his condition than
he himself was, knew that he had been a true
Christian for many years.
Whitehead, Coke and Moore, and Tyerman all
agree in this, that Wesley at a later period regarded
the events of 1738 in a different light. William Law
had warned him that any set phrase of words might
possibly lead astray ; and the time came when
Wesley himself acknowledged that " justification by
faith" might be misunderstood, or might even be
denied, by the best of men.1
An important passage occurs in a sermon of
Wesley's entitled "The Lord our Righteousness." Mr.
Hervey had said that he was " not solicitous as to
any particular set of phrases ; " all that was re
quired for safety was deep, sorrowful humility, and
an entire reliance on a personal Saviour. Wesley
in his later years could appreciate and adopt this
passage ; and while quoting it he said that it
deserved to be written in letters of gold.
That in all the later years Wesley regarded the
events of May, 1738, as marking not the beginning,
1 Journal, Dec. 1st, 1767.

THE EVENTS OF MAY, 1738. 279
but the increase and deepening, of the spiritual life
is evident from many passages in his writings. 1
In 1778 Wesley thus replied to a correspondent
who wrote " bitter things '' against herself : — ¦
"You are easily persuaded to believe him that
tells you that you are void of every degree of saving
faith. No. That is not the case. . . . You have
received a degree of salvation : you are saved from
many outward sins . . . you are saved in a degree
from inward sins . . . you are saved from seeking
happiness in the world. This is not a small thing.
O praise God for all you have, and trust Him for
all you want."
A thoughtful writer has thus described the events
of May, 1738 (Life of Wesley, by Miss Wedg
wood) : —
"No candid person can read the account of
Wesley's life before and after the change he so
described and doubt that something did really
happen then. ... It is the most memorable of
all events when any one wakes up to the conviction
that besides all the men and women he sees round
about him there is a Person Who is not seen, but
Who is just as real as they, and an agent in a sense
in which they are not ; when he comes to feel that
certain results are due to the will of God, not only
in the sense in which any one must believe in it
who believes in Him at all — that He is almighty,
1 See tho passages quoted in Southey, ii. 359.

280 APPENDIX IV.

and could prevent it if He chose — but in that same
direct, personal sense in which a man's lifting his
hand is the result of his choosing to do so.
" It is literally and simply a new life."

NOTE.
Wesley's own tract on Christian Perfection (eighth edition, London,
1804) gives an account of what he had learned from Bishop Taylor,
A Kempis, and William Law ; also of the striking definition of the
doctrine given to him in 1739 by Gradin the Moravian. It makes
no mention of Bohler, confirming the view taken in the text that
the latter had but a small part in Wesley's religious development

( 281 )

APPENDIX V.
MR. INGHAM'S ADVICE.
The following is an extract from Mr. Ingham's
letter to John Wesley, dated from Osset, February
20th, 1740, referred to on page 54 : —
"Justified persons are meek, simple, and child
like ; they have doubts and fears ; they are in a
wilderness state ; and, in this state, they are to be
kept still and quiet, to search more deeply into
their hearts, so that they may become more and
more humble. They are likewise to depend wholly
upon Christ; and to be kept from confusion;
for if they come into confusion} they receive incon
ceivable damage.
" On the other hand, if they continue meek, gentle,
still, — if they search into their hearts and depend
on Christ, they will find their hearts to be sweetly
drawn after Him ; they will begin to loathe and
abhor sin, and to hunger and thirst after righteous
ness ; they will get strength daily ; Christ will be^
gin to manifest Himself by degrees ; the darkness
will vanish, and the day-star will arise in their

282 APPENDIX V.

hearts. Thus they will go on from strength to
strength, till they become strong; and then they
will begin to see things clearly ; and so, by degrees,
they will come to have the assurance of faith.
"You ask whether, in this intermediate state,
they are 'children of wrath/ or 'heirs of the
promises ' ?
" Without doubt, they are children of God, and in
a state of salvation. A child may be heir to an
estate, before it can speak, or know what an estate
is ; so we may be heirs of heaven before we know
it, or are made sure of it. However, the assurance
of faith is to be sought after. It may be attained ;
and it will be, by all who go forward."

[First printed in 1 Tyer. 306.]

( 283 )

APPENDIX VI.
THE EUCHARISTICAL VOLUME,
The full title of this book is as follows : — " Hymns
on the Lord's Supper, by John Wesley, M.A., Fellow
of Lincoln College, Oxford, and Charles Wesley, M.A.,
student of Christ-Ch., Oxford. With a preface
concerning the Christian Sacrament and Sacrifice,
extracted from Dr. Brevint. The seventh edition.1
' This do in Remembrance of Me.' 1 Cor. xi. 24.
London, printed by R. Hawes, and sold at the
Foundry in Moorfields, and at the Rev. John
Wesley's Preaching Houses in Town and Country.
1776." Daniel Brevint was born at Jersey in the year
when Shakespere died, 1616. He studied logic and
philosophy at Saumur, and in October, 1638, took
his degree as MaslSr of Arts at Oxford ; afterwards
he acted as French Protestant chaplain in the army
of the Viscount de Turenne. At the restoration of
Charles II. he came to England, and was appointed
a Prebendary of Durham, and in 1681 Dean of
Lincoln. He died May 5, 1695. Besides writing a
1 The first edition (141 pages) was dated 1745, and printed by
Felix Farley, Bristol.

284 APPENDIX VI.

work on the Roman Mass, and on " Saul and
Samuel at Endor," and translating English books
into French, he wrote that Treatise on the Eucharist
which the Wesleys adopted, and made a household
book in their time and amongst their followers.
" Its language," said the late Rev. W. Gresley,
'• will be found to concur remarkably with that of
the best divines of the English Church." It is so
little known in these days, that it is important to
ascertain what were the doctrines of the early
Methodists, by examining this remarkable treatise.
It has been stated in the text that many hymns by
Charles Wesley, directly bearing on the sections of
the treatise, and sometimes rather closely para
phrasing them, were added to the numerous editions
of the little volume.
The treatise of Brevint, as edited by the Wesleys,
is divided into eight sections, as follows : — Section 1-
The importance of well understanding the nature of
this Sacrament. Section 2. Concerning the Sacra
ment, as it is a memorial of the sufferings and
death of Christ. Section 3. The Sacrament, as it is
a sign of present graces. Section 4. The Sacrament,
as it is a means of grace. Section 5. The Sacra
ment, as it is a pledge of future glory. Section 6.
The Sacrament, as it is a sacrifice, and first of the
commemorative sacrifice. Section 7. Concerning the
sacrifice of ourselves. Section 8. Concerning the
sacrifice of our goods.
The following is from section 3 : —
J* This Sacrament represents the blessings which

THE EUCHARISTICAL VOLUME. 285
we received by His Passion. Now as without
bread and wine, or something answerable to it, the
strongest bodies soon decay ; so, without the virtue
of the body and blood of Christ, the holiest souls
must soon perish. And as bread and wine keep up
our natural life, so doth our Lord Jesus, by a con
tinual supply of strength and grace, represented by
bread and wine, sustain that spiritual life which He
hath procured us by His cross.
" The first breath of spiritual life in our nostrils
is the first purchase of Christ's blood. But, alas !
how soon would this first life vanish away, were it
not followed and supported by a second 1 There
fore the sacrifice of Christ procures also grace to
renew and preserve the life He hath given. As the
blood which He shed satisfied the Divine justice,
and removed our punishment, so the water washes
and cleanses the pardoned soul ; and both these
blessings are inseparable, even as the blood and
water were which flowed together out of His side.
" There remains yet another life, which is an
absolute redemption from death and our miseries.
This, as to the right of it, is, together with the
other, purchased by the same sacrifice 4 but as to the
possession, it is reserved for us in heaven, till Christ
become our full and final redemption. Now the
giver of these lives is the preserver of them too ;
and to this end He sets up a table by His altar,
where He engages to feed our souls with the con-
jfcant supply of His mercies, as really as He feeds
our bodies with this bread and wine. In the de-

286 APPENDIX VI.

liverance from Egypt, here is a people saved by the
sacrifice of the Passover ; and lest they should die
in the wilderness, there you see an angel leading
them with His light, keeping them cool under the
shadow of His cloud, and feeding them with manna.
Jesus is the truth foreshowed by these figures. He
was the true Passover when He died upon the cross ;
and He feeds from heaven by continual pouring out
His blessings on the souls He redeemed by pouring
out His blood.
" Thus this sacrament alone represents at once
both what our Lord suffered and what He still doth
for us. What we take and eat is made of a sub
stance, cut, bruised, and put to the fire — that shows
my -Saviour's Passion ; and it was used thus, that it
might afford me food — that shows the benefit I
received by His Passion.
" In the Sacrament are represented both life and
death ; the life is mine, the death is my Saviour's.
O blessed Jesus, my life comes out of Thy death ;
and the salvation I hope for is purchased with all
the pains and agonies which Thou didst suffer !"
,i Of section 4 it will be necessary to present a
longer specimen. It commences thus : —
" Hitherto we have considered this holy Sacra
ment both as a memorial of the death of Christ and
a sign of those graces wherewith He sustains and
nourishes believing souls. But this is not all, for
both the end of the Holy Communion, the wants
and desires of those who receive it, and the strengtsh
of other, places of Scripture, require that much more

THE EUCHARISTICAL VOLUME. 287
be contained therein than a bare memorial or
representation. (1.) The end- of the Holy Com
munion, which is to make us partakers of Christ in
another manner than when we only hear His word ;
(2.) The wants and desires of those who receive
it, who seek not a bare representation or remem
brance. I want and seek my Saviour Himself, and
I haste to this Sacrament for the same purpose that
S. Peter and S. John hasted to His sepulchre ;
because I hope to find Him there. (3.) The strength
of other places of Scripture which allow it a far
greater virtue than that of representing only, ' The
cup of blessing which we bless, is it not the
communion of the blood of Christ ? ' A means of
communicating the blood there represented and
remembered to every beUeving soul.
"And that it doth convey grace and blessing
to the true believer, is evident from its convey
ing a curse to the profane. 'Whosoever eateth
unworthily,' saith S. Paul, 'eateth damnation to
himself.' And how can we think that it is thus
really hurtful when abused, but not really blissful
in its right use? Or that this bread should be
effectual to procure death, but not effectual to
procure salvation? God forbid that the body of
Christ, who came to save, not to destroy, should not
shed as much of its savour of Ufe to the devout soul
as it doth of its savour of death to the wicked and
impenitent. " I come then to God's altar, with a full persuasion
that these words, 'This is my body,' promise me

288 APPENDIX VI.

more than a figure ; that this holy banquet is not a
bare memorial only, but may actually convey as
many blessings to me as it brings curses on a profane
receiver. Indeed in what manner this is done I
know not; it is enough for me to admire. 'One
thing I know ' (as said the blind man of our Lord),
' he laid clay upon my eyes, and behold I see.'
He hath blessed and given me this bread, and my
soul received comfort. I know that clay hath
nothing in itself which can impart grace, holiness,
and salvation. But I know also, that it is the
ordinary way of God to produce His greatest works
at the presence (though not by the power) of the
most useless instruments. At the very stroke of a
rod he divided the sea. At the blowing some
trumpets he threw down walls. At the washing
in Jordan, he cured Naaman of a plague that was
naturally incurable. And when but a shadow went
by, or some oil was dropped, or clothes were touched
by those that were sick, presently virtue went out,
not of rods, or trumpets, or shadows, or clothes,
but of Himself.
" It was the right hand of the Lord which of old
time brought these mighty things to pass, either
when the Red Sea opened a way for Israel to march,
or when the rock poured out rivers to refresh them.
And so now, it is Christ Himself, with His body and
blood once offered to God upon the cross, and ever
since standing before Him as slain, who fills His
Church with the perfumes of His sacrifice, whence
faithful communicants return home with the first-

THE EUCHARISTICAL VOLUME. 289
fruits of salvation. Bread and wine can contribute
no more to it than the rod of Moses, or the oil of the
Apostles. But yet since it pleaseth Christ to work
thereby, O my God, whensoever Thou shalt bid me
'go, and wash in Jordan/ I will go, and will no
more doubt being made free from my sins than if I
had bathed in Thy blood. And when Thou sayest
' Go take and eat this bread ' which I have blessed,
I will doubt no more of being fed with the bread of
life, than if I were eating Thy very flesh.
" This Victim having been offered up in the
fulness of time, and in the midst of the world,
which is Christ's great temple, and having been
thence carried up to heaven, which is His sanctuary,
from thence spreads salvation all around, as the
burnt-offering did its smoke. And thus His body
and blood have everywhere, but especially at this
Sacrament, a true and real presence. When He
offered Himself upon earth, the vapour of His
atonement went up and darkened the very sun :
and by rending the great veil, it clearly showed
He had made a way into heaven. And since He
is gone up, He sends down to earth the graces that
spring continually both from His everlasting sacri
fice and from the continual intercession that attends
it. So that we need not say, ' Who will go up into
heaven?' since without either ascending or de
scending this sacred body of Jesus fills with atone
ment and blessing the remotest parts of the
temple."

D

290 APPENDIX VI.

The last passage was thus vigorously paraphrased
in one of the hymns : —
" Victim Divine, Thy grace we claim,
While thus Thy precious death we show ;
Once offer'd up a spotless Lamb,
In Thy great temple here below,
Thou didst for all mankind atone,
And standest now before the throne.
Thou standest in the holiest place,
As now for guilty sinners slain;
The blood of sprinkling speaks, and prays
All-prevalent for helpless man ;
Thy blood is still our ransom found,
And speaks salvation all around.
The Bmoke of Thy atonement here
Darken'd the sun, and rent the veil,
Made the new way to heaven appear,
And show'd the great Invisible ;
Well pleased in Thee, our God look*d down,
And caU'd His rebels to a crown.
He still respects Thy sacrifice,
Its savour sweet doth always please ;
The offering smokes through earth and skies,
Diffusing life, and joy, and peace :
To these Thy lower courts it comes,
And fills them with divine perfumes.
We need not now go up to heaven,
To bring the long-sought Saviour down j
Thou art to all already given,
Thou dost even now Thy banquet crown :
To every faithful soul appear,
And show Thy Real Presence here."
• ef. " Olney Hymns," book ii., no. 58.
" Jesus, the bread of life, is given
To be our daily food," etc., etc.

THE EUCHAR1STICAL VOLUME. 291
The following is from section 6 : —
The Holy Communion alone brings together these
two great ends, atonement of sins, and acceptable
duty to God, of which all the sacrifices of old were
no more than weak shadows.
"As for the atonement of sin, it is sure the
sacrifice of Christ alone was sufficient for it : and
that this great sacrifice, being both of an infinite
value to satisfy the most severe justice, and of an
infinite virtue to produce all its effects at once, need
never more be repeated. This perhaps was the
want of faith in Moses (Numb. xx. 12) : to strike
a second time, and without order, that mysterious
rock, which to strike once had been enough. For
this second blow could only proceed from a faithless
mistrust, as if the first, which alone was enjoined,
could not suffice. But it were much greater offence
against the blood of Christ, to question its infinite
worth. The offering of it therefore must needs be
once only, and the repeating thereof utterly super
fluous. " Nevertheless, this sacrifice, which by a real
oblation was not to be offered more than once, is
by a devout and thankful commemoration to be
offered up every day.
" This is what the Apostle calls ' to set forth the
death of the Lord : ' to set it forth as well before
the eyes of Gi.d the Father as before the eyes of
men ; and what S. Austin explained, when he said,
The holy flesh of Jesus was offered in three manners :
bj' prefiguring sacrifices under the law before His

292 APPENDIX VI.

coming into the world, in real deed upon His cross,
and by a commemorative sacrament after He
ascended into heaven.
"All this comes to, 1. That the sacrifice in itself
can never be repeated; 2. That nevertheless, this
Sacrament, by our remembrance, becomes a kind of
sacrifice, whereby we present before God the Father
that precious oblation of His Son once offered. And
thus do we every day offer unto God the meritorious
sufferings of His Son our Lord, as the only sure
ground whereon God may give, and we obtain, the
blessings we pray for. Now, there is no ordinance
or mystery that is so blessed an instrument to reach
this everlasting sacrifice, and to set it solemnly
forth before the eyes of God, as the Holy Com
munion is.
" To men it is a sacred table, where God's minister
is ordered to represent from God his master, the
Passion of His dear Son, as still flesh, and still
powerful for their eternal salvation. And to God
it is an altar, whereon men mystically present to
Him the same sacrifice, as still bleeding and suing
for mercy. And because it is the High Priest Him
self, the true anointed of the Lord, who hath set up
both this table and the altar for the communication
of His body and blood to men, and for the repre
sentation of both to God : it cannot be doubted but
that the one is most profitable to the penitent
sinner, and the other most acceptable to His
gracious Father.
" The people of Israel, in worshipping, ever turned

THE EUCHARISTICAL VOLUME. 293
their eyes and their hearts towards that sacrifice,
the blood whereof the high priest was to carry into
the sanctuary.
" So let us ever turn our eyes and hearts towards
Jesus our eternal High Priest, who is gone up into
the true sanctuary, and doth there continually pre
sent both His own body and blood before God, and
(as Aaron did) all the true Israel of God in a memo
rial In the meantime We, beneath in the Church,
present to God His body and blood in a memorial,
that under this shadow of His Cross, and figure of
His Sacrifice, we may present ourselves in very
deed before Him."
The Eucharistical hymn, freely paraphrasing this
section, is as follows : —
" All hail, Redeemer of mankind !
Thy life on Calvary resign'd
Did fully once for all atone,
Thy blood hath paid our utmost price,
Thine all-sufficient Sacrifice
Remains eternally alone :
AngelB and men might strive in vain,
They could not add the smallest grain
To augment Thy doath's atoning power.
Thy sacrifice is all complete,
The death Thou never canst repeat,
Once offer'd up to die no more.
Yet may we celebrate below,
And daily thus Thy offering show
Exposed before Thy Father's eyes !
In this tremendous mystery
Present Thee bleeding on the tree
Our everlasting sacrifice j

294 APPENDIX VL

Father, behold Thy dying Son j
Ev*n now He lays our ransom down,
Ev"n now declares our sins forgiven ;
His flesh is rent, the living way
Is open'd to eternal day,
And lo, through Him we pass to heaven ! "
Of the 7th section the following is an example : —
" Now though we are called at all times to this
conformity and communion in the sufferings of
Christ, yet more especially when we approach this
dreadful mystery, let us take a peculiar care that
as both the principal and additional sacrifices went
up toward heaven in the same flame, so Jesus
Christ and all His members may jointly appear
before God, that we may offer up our souls and
bodies, at the same time, in the same place, and
in the same oblation.
"Let us take care to attend on this sacrifice in
such a manner, — first, as may become faithful dis
ciples who are resolved to die for and with their
Master; (2.) as true members that cannot outlive
their -Head; and (3.) as penitent sinners, who
cannot look for any share in the glory of their
Saviour, unless they really enter into the com
munion of that sacrifice and those sufferings which
their Master, their Head, and their Saviour has
passed through, and which they are engaged to,
by this very Sacrament.
" To this effect the faithful worshipper, presenting
that soul and body which God hath given him at
the altar, may say, Lo I come, if this soul and body
may be useful to anything, to do Thy will, 0 God.

THE EUCHARISTICAL VOLUME. 29a
And if it please Thee to use the power Thou hast
over dust and ashes, over weak flesh and blood,
over a brittle vessel of clay, over the work of Thine
hands, lo, here they are, to suffer also Thy good
pleasure. " If Thou please to visit me either with pain or
dishonour, I will humble myself under it, and,
through Thy grace, be obedient unto death, even
the death upon the cross."
The treatise concludes thus : —
" Now though our Lord, by that everlasting sacri
fice of Himself, offers Himself at all times and in
all places, as we likewise offer ourselves and all
that is ours, to be a continual sacrifice ; yet because
Christ offers Himself for us at the Holy Com
munion, in a peculiar manner, we also should then,
in a more especial manner, renew all our sacrifices.
Then and there, at the altar of God, it is right both
to repeat all the vows and promises, which, for
some hindrance or other, we had not the conveni
ence to fulfil; and to renew all those other per
formances, which can never be fulfilled but with
the end of our days.
"But at the same time that the Christian be
liever does any good work, let him draw out of the
good treasure of his heart fire and frankincense,
that is, such zeal and love as may raise good, moral
works into religious sacrifices. Whenever he helps
his neighbour, let him so reverently and fervently
lift up his heart to God as may become both that
Majesty he adores, and the pious act which he

296 APPENDIX VI.

intends. And then whenever he do it, at his door,
or in the way, or in the temple, it matters not ; for
the hour is long since come, that acts of religion
are not confined either to Jerusalem or to this
mountain. " Wheresoever thou hast the occasion of doing a
holy work, there God makes holy ground for thee ;
only in order to become a spiritual worshipper, the
work must be done in spirit and in truth: with
such a mind and thought, with such faith and love,
as though thou wert laying thy oblation upon the
altar, where thou knowest that Christ will both
effectually find and graciously accept it."
Wesley's sermon on the duty of constant com
munion (revised by himself in 1788) contains the
following passages. The ancient canon quoted is
one of those Apostolical canons which he had so
often studied in early life, and had never forgot
ten : —
"Let every one, then, who has any desire to
please God, or any love for his own soul, obey God,
and consult the good of his own soul by communi
cating every time he ean : like the first Christians,
with whom the Christian Sacrifice was a constant
part of the Lord's-day service. And for several
eenturies they received it almost every day, foUr
days a week always, and every Saint's-day besides.
Accordingly, those who joined in the prayers of
the faithful never failed to partake of the blessed
Sacrament. What opinion they had of any who

THE EUCHARISTICAL VOLUME. 297
turned his back upon it, we learn from that ancient
canon, ' If any believer join in the prayers of the
faithful, and go away without receiving the Lord's
Supper, let him be excommunicated, as bringing
confusion into the Church of God."

NOTE.
I am obliged to Mr. G. J. Stevenson, one of the best living
authorities on Wesleyan literature, for a note of the hymns in the
" Eucharistical Volume " which set forth the Anglican or Mystical
doctrine of the Real Presence : —
Hymns No. 33, 57, 65, 77, 81, 116, and 124.

298 APPENDIX VII.

APPENDIX VII.
HOLY BAPTISM.
If but a few of Wesley's Sermons set forth the
doctrine of Christian Baptism, those in which it is
set forth are extremely clear and pointed. The
original Wesleyan doctrine will be found at length
in one treatise or tract (referred to on page 61), and
more briefly in at least three of Wesley's printed
Sermons. His treatise on Baptism, dated November 11,
1756, is reprinted in Vol. X. of the Works (standard
edition). In it Baptism is defined as the initiatory
sacrament, which enters us into covenant with God.
It was instituted by Christ, who alone has power
to institute a proper sacrament, a sign, seal, pledge,
and means of grace, perpetually obligatory on all
Christians. We know not, indeed, the exact time
of its institution ; but we know it was long before
our Lord's ascension. And it was instituted, in the
room of circumcision. For as that was a sign and
seal of God's covenant, so is this.
Then follows a demonstration that sprinkling is

HOLY BAPTISM. 299

equal to immersion (showing that in the course of
some years Wesley had modified his opinion on this
point. See page 66 of the text).
The second section considers the benefits received
in Baptism: — The first of these is the washing
away the guilt of original sin. 2nd, We enter into
covenant with God. 3rd, We are admitted into
the Church, and consequently made members of
Christ, its Head (1 Cor. ii. 13; Eph. iv. 12). From
which spiritual vital union with Him proceeds the
influence of His grace on those that are baptized.
4th, By baptism " we who were by nature the chil
dren of wrath are made the children of God, and
this generation which our Church in so many places
ascribes to baptism, is more than being barely
admitted into the Church, being grafted into the
body of Christ's Church. We are made the children
of God. This is grounded on the plain words of
our Lord (John iii 5). By water, then, as a means,
the water of baptism, we are regenerated or born
again. Our Church, therefore, ascribes no greater
virtue to baptism than Christ Himself has done.
Nor does she ascribe it to the outward washing
only, but to the inward grace, which, added thereto,
makes it a sacrament. Herein a principle of grace
is infused which will not be wholly taken away,
unless we quench the Holy Spirit by long-con
tinued wickedness." 5th, In consequence of our
being made children of God, we are heirs of the
kingdom of heaven. " If children," as the Apostle
observes, " then heirs, heirs of God, and joint-heirs

300 APPENDIX VII.

with Christ." Herein we receive a title to, and an
earnest of, "a kingdom which cannot be moved."
Baptism doth now save us, if we live answerable
thereto ; if we repent, believe, and obey the Gospel :
supposing this, as it admits us into the Church
here, so into glory hereafter.
The third section shows that this was designed to
remain always in the Church ; and that infants are
equally with adults proper subjects of baptism.
The argument for this is summarized thus: — If
outward baptism be generally, in an ordinary way,
necessary to salvation, and infants may be saved as
well as adults, nor ought we to neglect any means
of saving them; if our Lord commands such to
come, to be brought unto Him, and declares, " Of
such is the kingdom of heaven ; " if infants are ca
pable of making a covenant, or having a covenant
made for them by others, being included in Abra
ham's covenant (which was a covenant of faith, an
evangelical covenant), and never excluded by
Christ; if they have a right to be members of
the Church, and were accordingly members of the
Jewish ; if, suppose our Lord had designed to ex
clude them from baptism, He must have expressly
forbidden His Apostles to baptize them (which none
dares to affirm He did), since otherwise they would
do it of course, according to universal practice of
their nation; if it is -highly probable they did so,
even from the letter of Scripture, because they
frequently baptized whole households ; if the whole
Church of Christ, for seventeen hundred years

HOLY BAPTISM. 301

together, baptized infants, and were never opposed
till the last century but one, by some not very holy
men in Germany ; lastly, if there are such inestim
able benefits conferred in baptism, the washing away
the guilt of original sin, the engrafting us into
Christ, by making us members of His Church, and
thereby giving us a right to all the blessings of the
Gospel ; it follows that infants ought to be baptized, '
and that none ought to hinder them.
Wesley's sermon "of the Church" speaks thus
of Holy Baptism — the text being from Eph. iv.
1-6:— " ' There is one baptism ; ' which is the outward
sign our one Lord has been pleased to appoint, of
all that inward and spiritual grace which He is
continually bestowing upon His Church. It is like
wise a precious means, whereby this faith and hope
are given to those that diligently seek Him. Some,
indeed, have been inclined to interpret this in a
figurative sense ; as if it referred to that baptism of
the Holy Ghost which the Apostles received at the
day of Pentecost, and which, in a lower degree, is
given to all believers : but it is a stated rule in
interpreting Scripture, never to depart from the
plain, literal sense, unless it implies an absurdity."
Wesley's Sermon on " the New Birth " contains
the following passage : —
" A man may possibly be born of water, and yet
not be born of the Spirit. There may sometimes be

302 APPENDIX VII.

the outward sign, where there is not the inward
grace. I do not now speak with regard to infants ;
it is certain, our Church supposes, that all who are
baptized in their infancy are at the same time born
again. And it is allowed that the whole office for
the baptism of infants proceeds upon this supposi
tion. Nor is it an objection of any weight against
this, that we cannot comprehend how this work can
be wrought in infants. ..."
Wesley's Sermon on " the Marks of the New
Birth " contains the same doctrine in other words : —
"The question is not what you were made in
baptism (do not evade), but what are you now ?
.... Who denies that you were then made ' chil
dren of God, and heirs of the kingdom of heaven ? '
But, notwithstanding this, ye are now children of
the devil. Therefore ye must be born again 
If ye have been baptized, your only hope is this —
that those who were made the children of God by
baptism, but are now the children of the devil, may
yet again receive power to become the sons of God,
that they may receive again what they have lost."

( 303 )

APPENDIX VIII.
KING ON THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH.
Peter King, who was born of a dissenting family
in the West of England in 1669, went to the
Calvinistic University of Leyden, where he appears
to have diligently studied the writings of many of
the early fathers. It seems to have been in 1690
that he published an ingenious Httle book, entitled
"An Inquiry into the Constitution, Discipline,
Unity, and Worship of the Primitive Church — by
an impartial hand." Certainly the inquiry is very
fairly and temperately conducted, which is the
more remarkable as its author had been biassed
by education, and even then was but twenty-one
years of age.
The copy before me was printed in the year 1712,
and is in two parts, with separate title pages, and
containing respectively 181 and 176 pp. small 8vo.
From the internal evidence afforded by this in
teresting little work (which well deserves to be
reprinted, with a few notes and corrections) I con
clude that the inquiry into the Primitive Church,

304 APPENDIX VIII.
instead of confirming its author in the opinions
in which he had been reared, led him (though,
perhaps, not at once) to join the English Church.
The whole tenor of his essay is strongly against
dissent, and in favour of the claims of one Catholic
and Apostolic Church, under chief pastors, deriving
their authority mediately from the Apostles. Mr.
Hockin, in his recent essay, states that King, being
vigorously answered by Sclater, a non-juring
divine, was afterwards convinced that he had fallen
into error as to the nature of the episcopal office.
Although Wesley did not hold to some of the
opinions expressed in Peter King's essay, it seems
that he retained in memory several portions of it.
His own sermons "on the Church " and on " Schism"
certainly contain expressions which appear to have
been taken from this source.
King's opening chapter deals with the various
significations of the word " church " ; and taking
that word to signify one district or parish under
the care of one, and only one, chief pastor or bishop,
he closes the chapter with extracts from Tertullian,
proving that the orthodox were in those days wont
to maintain their own position, and to impeach that
of the heretics, by reference to the well-known fact
of the succession in office of their bishops from the
Apostles, The catalogue or pedigree of the bishops
was even then made out and pointed at as a title-
deed ofthe Church to apostolic authority.
The object of Chapter II. is to show that during
the first three centuries the parishes, or (as we

KING ON THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 305
should call them) dioceses, were small, and were so
arranged as that the faithful could all meet on the
Sunday in one place. "The bishop had but one
altar or communion table in his whole diocese, at
which his whole flock received the Sacrament." It
was an act of schism to set up a rival altar ; and
the well-known quotations on this point are given
from St. Ignatius and St. Cyprian. King's argu
ment is very weak when he endeavours to show
that there was but one church; with one altar
throughout the vast city of Rome. He admits that
in Alexandria there were several distinct congrega
tions, all under one bishop ; but he does not seem to
see that this instance of Alexandria cuts the ground
from under his feet.
Chapter III. states very fairly that a bishop when
nominated by the faithful of the diocese, had to be
approved of, and installed, by several other bishops ;
and three is arrived at as the necessary number of
consecrating or " installing " bishops.
Chapter IV. endeavours to prove that the presby
ters were in the primitive centuries simply the
helpers, or curates, of a bishop — inferior only in
rank. Yet they were unable to perform any
functions without the permission of the bishop of the
place or parish. King states that for any presbyter
to officiate without the bishop's consent was "un
accountable impudence and a most detestable act
of schism." In the bishop's absence, his presbyters
"performed," as King thought, "all those eccle
siastical offices which were incumbent on him." He
x

S06 APPENDIX VIIL

thought that they were empowered to confirm and
ordain, as well as to administer the Sacraments ;
and he made ready use of the well-known passage
of St. Clement, which describes the regular suc
cession from the Apostles of only " Bishops and
Deacons." The chief pastor, or summus sacerdos,
was he who sat on an elevated seat in the chancel,
at the head of the semicircle, different in degree
and authority from the rest, not in Order.
Chapter V. describes fairly the inferior order of
the deacons.
Chapter VI. treats of the powers of the laity.
Chapter VII. describes the strict discipline of the
early church. Chapter VIII. treats of the relation
of one church to another ; and the whole tendency
is utterly against any theory of independency.
Chapter IX. gives a definition of " schism," which
was probably rather too strong for Wesley, inasmuch
as unity is very strongly insisted on. " Schism " is
described as involved in the act of separation from
the pastor or bishop — unless for very grave and
obvious reasons, such as heresy or public scandal.
Strong passages from St. Cyprian are quoted, ac
cording to which to erect a new altar is impious and
sacrilegious. With such extracts the first section of
the work comes to a close.
Part II. of King's essay is, on the whole, well
designed and well executed, though, on some points,
open to objection. It describes the public worship
of the primitive Church — the lessons, the psalms,
the sermon. The congregation after the sermon all

KING ON THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 307
turned towards the east, and joined in the Lord's
Prayer — the only "fixed public form of prayer."
The next chapters treat of the administration of the
two Sacraments in the early Church ; and there is
an elaborate vindication of the baptism of infants.
The origin of the Apostles' Creed is then inquired
into ; and the author surmises that various passages
were inserted from time to time to meet certain
heresies as they arose ; e.g. "the Holy Catholic Church,
to exclude thereby all heretics and schismatics from
being within the pale thereof." Following on the
description of Holy Baptism, is that of Signation, or
the sign of the Cross. Confirmation is then dealt
with — this, as King supposed, being a function of
the priesthood. The celebration of Holy Com
munion on the Lord's day is treated of at length ;
after which the fixed and the occasional Fasts are
described. It is stated that as to the observance of
Fasts and Festivals there was little uniformity in
ancient days.
The author closes with some remarks on the
desirability of union amongst Christians. Existing
differences were, he thankfully states, not about
faith or morals, or the essentials of religion, but on
lesser matters; and he expresses a hope that, by
the advancement to the head of affairs of men of
prudence and moderation, the nation may become
united. His reference to the hierarchy is so respect
fully worded as to justify the belief that, even in
the student days when he wrote that essay which
contains errors and imperfections of an obvious

308 APPENDIX VIII.

kind, he had strong leanings towards the English
Church. King became Lord Chancellor in 1725,
and died in 1733. He was "not of the highest
genius, but of most respectable talents." (Campbell's
" Chancellors," iv. 567.)
King's essay was written probably while he was
a student at Leyden, and certainly when he had
hardly yet attained to man's estate. It is not a
little singular that the "Irenicon," which Wesley also
sometimes cited in support of his peculiar views of
the episcopal office, was written when Stillingfleet
was but twenty-four. If Wesley could have fore
seen the use which was to be made of his somewhat
incautious quotations on matters of Church govern
ment, he would doubtless have taken pains to
secure his own position otherwise than by the aid
of two writers who had hardly attained to " years of
discretion." Further, it is interesting to note that Wesley
entirely differed from Peter King as to the coming
together of all the Christians of the same city to
one altar and in one congregation. His sermon " Of
the Church " contains the following passage, which
is in direct opposition to King's description of the
primitive Church in Rome : —
" Those whom God called out of the world (so the
original word properly signifies), uniting together in
one congregation, formed a larger church ; as ' the
church at Jerusalem ; ' that is, all those in Jerusa
lem whom God had so called. But considering how
swiftly these were multiplied after the day of Pente-

KING ON THE PRIMITIVE CHURCH. 309
cost, it cannot be supposed that they could continue
to assemble in one place ; especially as they had not
then any large place, neither would they have been
permitted to build one. In consequence, they must
have divided themselves, even at Jerusalem, into
several distinct congregations. In like manner,
when St. Paul, several years after, wrote to the
church in Rome (directing his letter, ' To all that
are in Rome, called to be saints ') it cannot be sup
posed that they had any one building capable of
containing -them all; but they were divided into
several congregations, assembling in several parts
of the city."

310 APPENDIX IX.

APPENDIX IX
WESLEY ON SCHISM
One of Wesley's peculiar views was that concern
ing Schism ; and it is curious to observe that in his
interpretation of this word he by no means followed
the oft-quoted essay by Peter King on the Primi
tive Church. In that ingenious essay schism is
described as separation from the lawfully appointed
bishop, and the erection of another or a rival altar,
without regard to the claims of that chief pastor
who held his office by succession from the apostles.
Wesley, as we know, upheld throughout his long
career the value and excellence of his own Church
of England. Out of many passages in his journal
and writings which might be quoted, it is sufficient
to give that from a letter which he wrote late in
life to Sir Henry Trelawney, with whom he had
some correspondence on the Calvinistic controversy.
In it he expressed satisfaction at the removal of
"prejudices against the Church;" and he further
says, " Having had an opportunity of seeing several
of the Churches abroad, and having deeply con-

WESLEY ON SCHISM. 311
sidered the several sorts of dissenters at home, I am
fully convinced that our own Church, with all her
blemishes, is nearer the Scriptural plan than any
other in Europe." (Whitehead, ii. 373.)
It will be at once observed that Wesley here
relies on the intrinsic superiority, and the truly
Scriptural character, of the English Church, and
not on her high prerogative, or her exclusive claims
on the allegiance of Christians in England.
Separation from the Church, however objection
able on other grounds to his mind, he did not regard
as coming within the exact definition of " schism,"
which he described, not as the departure from a
church, but as the stirring up of strifes within her
pale and by her own adherents. This was a view
peculiar, or nearly so, to himself; and it naturally
led to a very cautious and very unfrequent use on
his part of the word " schism."
But, while Wesley declined to place on the word
" schism " the interpretation which is usually placed
on it, he warned his people against "separation."
His sermon " on Schism " (from the text 1 Cor. xii.
25) explains at length his peculiar interpretation
of that word. Reviewing the several passages in
which the word occurs, he arrives at the conclusion
that in the New Testament schism always means
party spirit, with resulting anger and contention,
ivithin a church.
This sermon then proceeds to ask — " ' Is there
no sin resembling what so many learned and pious
writers have termed schism, and against which

312 APPENDIX IX.

all the members of religious communities have need
to be carefully guarded ? ' I do not doubt but
there is; and I cannot tell, whether this, too, may
not, in a remote sense, be called schism : I mean,
' a causeless separation from a body of living Chris
tians.' There is no absurdity in taking the word
in this sense, though it be not strictly scriptural.
And it is certain all the members of Christian com
munities should be carefully guarded against it.
For how little a thing soever it may seem, and how
innocent soever it may be accounted, schism, even
in this sense, is both evil in itself, and productive of
evil consequences.
" It is evil in itself. To separate ourselves from a
body of living Christians, with whom we were before
united, is a grievous breach of the law of love. It
is the nature of love to unite us together ; and the
greater the love, the stricter the union. And while
this continues in its strength, nothing can divide
those whom love has united. It is only when our
love grows cold, that we can think of separating
from our brethren. And this is certainly the case
with any who willingly separate from their Chris
tian brethren. The pretences for separation may
be innumerable, but want of love is always the
real cause : otherwise they would still hold the
unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. It is
therefore contrary to all those commands of God,
wherein brotherly love is enjoined: to that of
St. Paul, ' Let brotherly love continue ; ' — that of
St. John, ' My beloved children, love one another ; '

WESLEY ON SCHISM. 313
and especially to that of our blessed Master, ' This
is my commandment, That ye love one another, as
I have loved you.' Yea, ' By this/ saith He, * shall
all men know that ye are my disciples, if ye love
one another.' "
Wesley then describes the mischievous conse
quences arising from that which he called separa
tion, and which others call schism ; and he continues
thus : —
" These consequences are not imaginary, are not
built on mere conjectures, but on plain matter
of fact. This has been the case again and again
within these last thirty or forty years : these have
been the fruits which we have seen, over and over,
to be consequent on such a separation.
"And what a grievous stumblingblock must these
things be to those who are without, to those who
are strangers to religion, who have neither the form
nor the power of godliness ! How will they
triumph over these once eminent Christians ! How
boldly ask, ' What are they better than us ? ' How
will they harden their hearts more and more against
the truth, and bless themselves in their wicked
ness ! from which, possibly, the example of the
Christians might have reclaimed them, had they
continued unblamable in their behaviour."
Coming then to a practical question, which would
arise in the minds of his hearers, he admitted that
if it were not possible to remain in the Church of
England without doing what the law of God for
bade, or omitting what it enjoined, then separation

314 APPENDIX IX.

from the Church might be justifiable. But such
(he declared) was not the case, either with his
hearers or himself: This he was anxious to point
out, because many who were really religious people
had no clear conception of the sin of separation ;
and it was necessary to point out to them that they
were chargeable with an action in itself evil, and
with all the serious consequences to follow from it.
Finally, he entreated his hearers to pause before
rashly tearing asunder sacred ties, and rending the
body of Christ.
This sermon, therefore, while it tends to dis
courage the use (in its ordinary acceptation) of the
word " schism," ranges John Wesley on the side of
those who look upon "separation" from a long
planted and an orthodox Church like that in Eng
land as a very serious evil, involving a most grave
responsibility.

( 315 )

APPENDIX X.
THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE.
About the year 1756, a Mr. Norton wrote a letter
to John Wesley, finding fault with his very strict
exercise of discipline over his preachers. Much
stress was laid on the fact that the preachers were
in many things not allowed the liberty of acting
" according to their own consciences." With regard
to this particular accusation, Wesley replied thus : —
"I again allow the fact, but deny the consequence.
I mean, I allow the fact thus far : some of our
preachers, who are not ordained, think it quite
right to administer the Lord's Supper, and believe
it would do much good. I think it quite wrong,
and believe it would do much hurt. Hereupon I
say I have no right over your conscience nor you
over mine : therefore both you and I must follow
our own conscience. You believe it is a duty to
administer : do so ; and herein follow your own
conscience. I verily believe it is a sin; which,
consequently, I dare not tolerate, and herein I
follow mine. Yet this is no persecution were I to
separate from our society those who practise what

316 APPENDIX X.

I believe is contrary to the woi'd and destructive of
the work of God."
In December Mr. Wesley wrote to a friend as
follows : —
"I do not see that Diocesan Episcopacy is
necessary, but I do that it is highly expedient.
But whether it were or no, the spirit shown in
those verses1 is wrong from end to end. Neither
J. E nor any other separatist can eVer be expected
to own prejudice, pride, or interest to be his motive.
Nevertheless I do and must blame every one of
them, for the act of separating. Afterwards I leave
them to God.
"The Apostles had not the Lordships or the
revenues, but they had the office of Diocesan
Bishops. But let that point sleep ; we have things
to think of which are magis ad nos. Keep from
proselytizing others; and keep your opinion till
dooms-day ; stupid, self-inconsistent, unprimitive,
and unscriptural as it is.
"I have spoken my judgment concerning lay-
administering at large, both to C. P.1 and N. Norton.
I went as far as I could with a safe conscience. I
must follow my conscience, and they their own.
They who dissuade people from attending the
Church and Sacrament, do certainly ' draw them
from the Church.' "
Such were Wesley's opinions in middle age ; and
it is desirable to recall the passages, that we may
see whether he really varied from this position
' Reference to rhymes against the Church, by Perronet, jun.
See p. 122, ante.

THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 317
when he became old. On many occasions, but most
clearly and minutely, in the Sermon on the Minis
terial Office, he explained to his preachers the limits
of their commission.
This celebrated discourse, which was first printed
in the Arminian Magazine, was written by Wes
ley, while at Cork, in 1789. He seems to have
preached it not only before his Conference in
Ireland, but also before that in England ; for it is
most distinctly stated by Dr. Whitehead that it
was more than once preached before the " assembled
preachers." The text was Heb. v. 4 — " No man taketh this
honour unto himself, but he that is called of God as
was Aaron."
This sermon described the priestly office, as it
existed under the Mosaic Law, and as it was con
tinued under the new dispensation ; and it defined
the inferior rank in the ministry of those who did
not belong to the priesthood, but who were only
called to teach and to expound. It pointed out
that under the old dispensation there had been
prophets and teachers who were not qualified to
serve at the altar ; and that in the Christian Church
there originally had been, and still were found in
many countries, those who, under various designa
tions, occupied a place important, but still sub
ordinate.1 1 More than a century and a half earlier the learned Hooker
(Eccl. Polity, Book V.) had described prophets as having "a
Bpecial gift of expounding scriptures," but as " not therefore to be
reckoned with the clergy."

318 APPENDIX X.

The preacher then described the revival of re
ligion in the earlier part of the century — the sow
ing of the good seed by a few earnest members
of the Church of England, and the formation of the
Methodist Society. Thomas Maxfield and others
had offered to serve as sons in the Gospel, and
the preacher called attention to the terms of their
commission in these terms : —
" We received them as prophets, not as priests, —
wholly and solely to preach, not to administer
sacraments. And those who imagine these offices
to be inseparably joined are totally ignorant of the
constitution ofthe whole Jewish as well as Christian
Church. Neither the Romish, nor the English, nor
the Presbyterian Churches ever accounted them so.
Otherwise we should never have accepted the ser
vice either of Mr. Maxfield, Richards, or Westell.
" In 1774, all the Methodist Preachers had their
first conference. But none of them dreamed that
the being called to preach gave them any right to
administer sacraments. And when that question
i was proposed, ' In what light are we to consider
ourselves?' it was answered, 'As extraordinary
messengers, raised up to provoke the ordinary ones
to jealousy.' In order hereto, one of our first rules
was, given to each Preacher, 'You are to do that
part of the work which we appoint.' But what
work was this ? Did we ever appoint you to ad
minister sacraments ; to exercise the priestly office ?
Such a design never entered into our mind ; it was
the farthest from our thoughts : and if any Preacher

THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 319
had taken such a step, we should have looked upon
it as a palpable breach of this rule, and consequently
as a recantation of our Connexion.
" For, supposing (what I utterly deny) that the
receiving you as a Preacher, at the same time gave
an authority to administer the sacraments ; yet it
gave you no other authority than to do it, or
anything else, where I appoint. But where did I
appoint you to do this ? Nowhere at all. There
fore, by this very rule, you are excluded from doing
it. And in doing it, you renounce the first
principle of Methodism, which was wholly and
solely to preach the gospel.
"It was several years after our society was formed
before any attempt of this kind was made. The
first was, I apprehend, at Norwich. One of our
Preachers there yielded to the importunity of a few
of the people, and baptized their children. But as
soon as it was known, he was informed it must not
be, unless he designed to leave our Connexion. He
promised to do it no more ; and I suppose he kept
his promise.
"Now, as long as the Methodists keep to this plan,
they cannot separate from the Church. And this is
our peculiar glory. It is new upon the earth. Revolve
all the histories of the Church, from the earliest
ages, and you will find, whenever there was a great
work of God in any particular city or nation, the
subjects of that work soon said to their neighbours,
' Stand by yourselves, for we are holier than you ! '
As soon as ever they separated themselves, either

320 APPENDIX X.
they retired into deserts, or they built religious
houses ; or at least formed parties, into which none
was admitted but such as subscribed both to their
judgment and practice. But with the Methodists it
is quite otherwise : they are not a sect or party :
they do not separate from the religious community
to which they at first belonged ; they are still mem
bers of the Church — such they desire to live and die.
And I believe, one reason why God is pleased to
continue my life so long is, to confirm them in
their present purpose, not to separate from the
Church. "But, notwithstanding this, many warm men
say, ' Nay, but you do separate from the Church.'
Others are equally warm, because they say I do not.
I will nakedly declare the thing as it is.
"I hold all the doctrines of the Church of England.
I love her liturgy. I approve her plan of discipline,
and only wish it could be put in execution. I do
not knowingly vary from any rule of the Church,
unless in those few instances, where I judge, and as
far as I judge, there is an absolute necessity.
" For instance, (1.) As few Clergymen open their
churches to me, I am under the necessity of preach
ing abroad.
" (2.) As I know no forms that will suit all
occasions, I am often under a necessity of prayimg
extempore. " (3.) In order to build up the flock of Christ in
faith and love, I am under a necessity of uniting
them together, and of dividing them into little

THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 321
companies, that they may provoke one another to
love and good works.
" (4.) That my fellow-labourers and I may more
effectually assist each other, to save our own souls
and those that hear us, I judge it necessary to meet
the Preachers, or at least the greater part of them,
once a year.
" (5.) In those Conferences we fix the stations of
all the Preachers for the ensuing year.
" But all this is not separating from the Church.
So far from it, that, whenever I have opportunity, I
attend the Church Service myself, and advise all our
societies so to do.
" Nevertheless, as the generality even of religious
people, who do not understand my motives of acting,
and who on the one hand hear me profess that I
will not separate from the Church, and on the other
that I do vary from it in these instances, they will
naturally think that I am inconsistent with myself.
And they cannot but think so, unless they observe
my two principles : The one, that I dare not separate
from the Church, that I believe it would be a sin so
to do; the other, that I believe it would be a sin
not to vary from it in the points above mentioned.
I say, put these two principles together, First, I
will not separate from the Church ; yet Secondly, in
cases of necessity, I will vary from it (both of
which I have constantly and -openly avowed for
upwards of fifty years), and inconsistency vanishes
away. I have been true to my profession from
1730 'to this day. Y

322 APPENDIX X.

" ' But is it not contrary to your profession to
permit Service in Dublin at Church hours ? For
what necessity is there for this ? or what good end
does it answer ? ' I believe it answers several good
ends, which could not so well be answered any other
way. The First is (strange as it may sound), to
prevent a separation from the Church. Many of
our society were totally separated from the Church ;
they never attended it at all. But now they duly
attend the church every first Sunday in the month.
' But had they not better attend it every week ? '
Yes ; but who can persuade them to it ? I cannot.
I have strove to do it twenty or thirty years, but in
vain. The Second is, the weaning them from at
tending Dissenting Meetings, which many of them
attended constantly, but have now wholly left.
The Third is, the constantly hearing that sound
doctrine which is able to save their souls.
"I wish all of you who are vulgarly termed
Methodists would seriously consider what has
been said. And particularly you whom God hath
commissioned to call sinners to repentance. It does
by no means follow from hence, that ye are com
missioned to baptize, or to administer the Lord's
Supper. Ye never dreamed of this, for ten or
twenty years after ye began to preach. Ye did not
then, like Korah, Dathan, and Abiram, 'seek the
priesthood also.' Ye know 'no man taketh this
honour unto himself, but he that is called of God, as
was Aaron.' 0 contain yourselves within your own
bounds ; be content with preaching the Gospel ; ' do

THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 323
the work of Evangelists ;' proclaim to all the world
the lovingkindness of God our Saviour ; declare to
all, ' The kingdom of heaven is at hand : Repent ye
and believe the Gospel ! ' I earnestly advise you,
abide in your place ; keep your own station. Ye
were, fifty years ago, those of you that were then
Methodist Preachers, extraordinary messengers of
God, not going in your own will, but thrust out,
not to supersede, but to ' provoke to jealousy,' the
ordinary messengers. In God's name, stop there !
Both by your preaching and example provoke them
to love and good works. Ye are a new phenomenon
in the earth, — a body of people who, being of no
sect or party, are friends to all parties, and endea
vour to forward all in heart-religion, in the knowledge
and love of God and man. Ye yourselves were at
first called in the Church of England ; and though
ye have and will have a thousand temptations to
leave it, and set up for yourselves, regard them not ;
be Church-of-England men still ; do not cast away
the peculiar glory which God hath put upon you,
and frustrate the design of Providence, the very end
for which God raised you up."
After deprecating unjust criticism on the part of
Churchmen unconnected with the society, and after
again warning the rich of the special dangers which
were around them, the discourse closed with the
following appeal : —
"But whether ye will hear, or whether ye will
forbear, we, by the grace of God, hold on our way ;
being ourselves still members of the Church of

324 APPENDIX X.

England, as we were from the beginning, but re
ceiving all that love God in every Church, as our
brother, and sister, and mother. And in order to
their union with us, we require no unity in opinions,
or in modes of worship, but barely that they 'fear
God and work righteousness/ as was observed.
Now this is utterly a new thing, unheard of in
any other Christian community. In what Church
or congregation beside, throughout the Christian
world, can members be admitted upon these terms,
without any other conditions ? Point any such
out, whoever can : I know none in Europe, Asia,
Africa, or America ! This is the glory of the
Methodists, and of them alone ! They are them
selves no particular sect or party ; but they receive
those, of all parties, who ' endeavour to do justly,
and love mercy, and walk humbly with their God.' "
The following is prefixed to a recent edition of
this discourse, by the Rev. G. T. Stokes of Blackrock
near Dublin : —
" The history of this sermon is very remarkable.
It was preached in 1789, on his last visit to Ireland,
when he was eighty-five years of age, and within
two years of his death. The Dublin and Cork So
cieties were just then much troubled with proposals
to leave the Church and become Dissenters. Wesley
arrived in Dublin on the 29th of March in that
year. On Easter Day — and here we quote from
his Journals, vol. iv. p. 450 — he met ' the Society,
and explained to them at length the original design
of the Methodists, viz., not to be a distinct party,

THE MINISTERIAL OFFICE. 325
but to stir up all parties, Christians or heathens, to
worship God in spirit and in truth, but the Church
of England in particular, to which they belonged
from the beginning. With this view/ he continues,
' I have uniformly gone on for fifty years, never
varying from the doctrine of the Church at all ; nor
from her discipline of choice ; but of necessity ; so
in a course of a few years necessity was laid upon
me, (1) To preach in the open air; (2) To pray
extempore ; (3) To form societies ; (4) To accept
of the assistance of Lay Preachers.' Next morning
he set out on a tour through the south of Ireland ;
and within three weeks he preached the following
sermon at Cork, ' to quench the fire which some had
laboured to kindle amongst the poor quiet people
about separating from the Church.'
" It is sometimes said, however, that this sermon
was preached when Mr. Wesley was old and failing
in mind. Let us appeal to the Larger Minutes,
one of the standards of Methodism, drawn up in
1774 and revised from time to time. We quote
from a copy dated the year in which he died, 1791.
One question is, 'Who is the Assistant ? A. That
Preacher in each circuit who is appointed, from
time to time, to take charge of the societies and the
other Preachers therein. Q. How should an Assis
tant be qualified for his charge ? A. By walking
closely with God, and having His work greatly at
heart ; by understanding and loving discipline, ours
in particular; and by loving the Church of England
and resolving not to separate from it. Let this be

326 APPENDIX X.

well observed. I fear when the Methodists leave
the Church, God will leave them.' (Works, vol.
viii. p. 319.)
"On the next page we find the question, 'Are
there any other advices you would give the Assist
ants ? A. Exhort all that were brought up in the
Church to continue therein. Set the example your
self; and immediately change every plan that would
hinder them being at church at least two Sundays
in four. Carefully avoid whatever has a tendency
to separate men from the Church, and let all the
servants in our preaching-houses go to church once
on Sunday at least. Exhort all our people to keep
close to the Church and sacrament. Warn them
all against despising the prayers of the Church —
against calling our preachers ministers, our houses
meeting-houses ; call them plain preaching-houses
or chapels.' Finally (on page 299) he asks, ' What
may we reasonably believe to be God's design in
raising up the people called Methodists ? A. Not
to form any new sect; but to reform the nation,
particularly the Church, and to spread Scriptural
holiness over the land.' "

( 327 )

APPENDIX XI.
THE WESLEY MANUSCRIPTS.
These were (as we have seen) looked through and
" revised " from time to time by Wesley, so that he
appears to have left none which were not liable
to— if not intended for — publication, or which he
was unwilling to place most unreservedly in the
hands of his literary executors. Immediately after
his death, they were all handed over to Dr. White
head, who published a selection from them in his
Life of Wesley.
When Dr. Coke and Mr. Moore were engaged
on a similar task, they had not the MSS. before
them. A very few years later — probably in the year
I795_the MSS. were deposited in the Minister's
house adjoining City Road Chapel ; and there they
fell into the hands of Mr. Pawson, who has more
than once been mentioned in the text. He was a
zealous preacher, but a man of little culture or
judgment. Some of Wesley's most valuable papers
he seems to have given away to friends. Two of

328 APPENDIX XI.

them, including that described on page 196, are
thus endorsed — " Given to R. Reece in 1796, by Mr.
Jno. Pawson, " in the handwriting of the late Rev.
Richard Reece, then the junior preacher at City
Road, and afterwards President of the Conference
in 1816 and 1835. He was one ofthe venerable
men referred to on page 145.
At the same time, Mr. Pawson took on himself,
without any shadow of authority, to throw away,
literally as waste paper, a number of clearly written
notes and memoranda in Wesley's own handwriting.
Mr. Reece personally rescued many of these from
destruction ; and for fifty years or more he pre
served them carefully. Some of them are now in
the possession of the present writer, including the
remarkable MS. described on page 67. Many others
being cut into sections, and mounted on cards, found
ready purchasers at a great bazaar held at the
Wesleyan Centenary Hall and Mission House, in
the year 1841.
Several of the sheets of paper which now remain,
contain notes by Wesley, evidently made while he
was engaged in the study of the records of the
early Church. Notes on the Apostolical Canons
occupy the first and second pages of the sheet de
scribed on page 66 ante. Of these notes the follow
ing will serve as an example : —
" No other Canons were ever termed Apostolic.
" John, Bishop of Constantinople, about the year
500, collected all the Canons then in force in the
Eastern Church. The first of these he entitled—

THE WESLEY MANUSCRIPTS. 329
The 85 Canons which the Apostles publisht by
Clemens. Justinian gives the same account of
them ; and ever since they have been in force in the
Eastern Church.
" No ancient Canon is quoted by any Council in
the former (?) age which is not in this collection.
" Nor yet can it be that all the laws of the
Primitive Church are contained in this. "
Three pages of an exactly similar sheet contain
also notes on these Canons and on the " Apostolical
Constitutions." The handwriting of the whole is
clear and firm. The interesting memorandum on
rites and observances (see p. 66) occupies the third
page of the same sheet of paper. The fourth page is
occupied by a list of names of persons — probably
those visited in the course of pastoral duty. The sur
names are added here, as they may lead possibly to
the identification of the place : — Batty, Grub, Dyer,
Clark, Setterton, Smith, Rowland, Benson, Hallifaxj
Glen, Snow, Ellis, Gardiner, Kitchin, Piguot, Snow,
Brown, Jaques, Anderson, Coggan, Johnson, also
three or four which are so contracted as not to be
readable. Some of the notes on the " Constitutions," con
tained on similar sheets of paper, are critical; for
example : —
After the quotation, "On the fourth day Judas
bargained to betray him," Wesley adds, "No, on
the 6th. See John 13."
" Philemon, Bishop of Colosse," he adds, " There-
fore S. Hilary knew not these Constitutions, for he
calls Philemon a layman."

330 APPENDIX XI.

To the followine notes no criticism is added : —
" We are twelve — and the seven deacons."
" Let your servants rest on the Feast of the
Nativity, the Epiphany, on the days" of us Apostles,
of Stephen, and of the other martyrs."
" Celebrate the third day of the Departed, the
9th and the 40th."
There follow five additional notes on the "Apos
tolical Canons" (which, it may be observed, are of
earlier date and more assured authenticity than the
" Constitutions "). These notes being brief, are here
given entire : — "Canones Apost.
" Canon 27 [? 26]. Forbidding the clergy to marry
— not extant before the Council of Nice.
" Canon 52. Commanding to receive penitents — ¦
not extant before the grand dispute about it.
" Canon 68. The Baptism [of] by hereticks null —
not extant before S. Cyprian.
" Canon 69. Commanding to keep Lent and the
Stations — not extant in Tertullian's time.
"Canon 85. Reciting Judith, Clement's epistles,
etc., among the Canonical Scriptures — quite novel."

These interesting notes in Wesley's handwriting,
although given to the public so long since as the
year 1867, are ignored by Tyerman in his Life of
Wesley — usually so full of detail.
To assign a date to these notes is only to hazard
a guess. It is, in fact, open to any one to argue

THE WESLEY MANUSCRIPTS. 331
that the principal memorandum, that which begins
with the words, " I believe myself " (see p. 66), was
written so late as the month of January, 1746,
immediately after Wesley had read King's essay
on the Primitive Church.
On smaller scraps of paper lists of names appear ;
for example, one list of names is headed " Guther-
ton ; " on the same leaf is a list of seventeen names
headed "Kington, February 17," and parallel with
it a list of fifteen names headed " Stroud ; " opposite
to another list of names is written "Painswick."
These may be set down to the time when the
" classes " were re-arranged, about the year 1742.

332 appendix xii.

APPENDIX XII.
Wesley's journals.
The voluminous Journals which Wesley had kept in
shorthand for the greater part of bis life, and from
which he now and then published selections, passed
under the terms of his will to Dr. Whitehead, Dr.
Coke, and Mr. Moore, who were directed " to burn
or publish." Wesley's own selections from his
Journals, down to the year 1786, and a selection
from the subsequent portion made by his executors,
have been printed in successive editions by the
Wesleyan Conference Office. They are in four
volumes, and to the later issues only there is an
index, with a preface by the late Dr. Jackson. It
is to be regretted that Dr. Jackson (who was more
competent for the task than any one now living)
did not take the trouble to annotate the volumes
and fill up the numerous blanks.
Mr. Moore survived his colleagues for more than
a quarter of a century, and the Wesley MSS., ex
cepting, of course, such as had been lost or given
away, or destroyed by Mr. Pawson, remained in his

Wesley's journals. 333
hands. When people asked Mr. Moore if he was
not bound either to publish them or to burn the
MSS., his reply was that Wesley had fixed no time
within which this should be done. There was a
dispute more than once as to the custody of the
papers; and, finally, when Mr. Moore died (about
1843) all the remaining Wesley MSS. passed to
his own personal representative, Mr. W. Gandy,
who long resided near Norwich.
Application was made more than once by the
present writer for an inspection of the original
Journals ; but it was courteously refused. Mr.
Gandy stated that the Journals were contained
in many volumes of shorthand. With them was
a mass of letters, correspondence with Mrs. Delany
and others ; reports by Charles Wesley to his
brother ; inventories by Wesley of his own library,
wardrobe, etc. ; and his account books. Mr. Gandy
expressing some anxiety as to the fate of all these
papers, the present writer advised him to deposit
them all in the British Museum.
Mr. Gandy died at an advanced age in 1884;
and the writer has hitherto failed to discover in
whose custody these MSS. now are, or what is to be
their final destination.

334 appendix xin.

APPENDIX XIII.
PORTRAITURE AND CHARACTER.
The personal appearance of the Founder has fre
quently been described. Engravings and paintings
without number have rendered familiar the low
spare form arrayed in most exact clerical costume,
the clear forehead, piercing eyes, aquiline nose, all
marked by acuteness and firmness, without any
trace of harshness, and all testifying to an un
doubted, although remote, kinship with the great
Duke of Wellington.
The portrait of Wesley most commonly met with,
and that which formed the frontispiece of all the
Wesleyan Hymn Books for some forty years, is,
however, not a genuine work of art. It was com
posed by Jackson, R.A., as a cento from more
genuine likenesses, and it is now going out of
favour. Prefixed to the three volumes of Mr. Tyer-
man's biography are three Wesley portraits taken
at different- times of life, and all of interest. The
latest, which represents Wesley in old age, is boldly
ascribed to the eminent painter Romney. Wesley

PORTRAITURE AND CHARACTER. 335
undoubtedly gave sittings to Romney, as he noted
in his Journal ; and this recently discovered portrait
may be the work of Romney; but there is still
some obscurity resting on a point for the full con
sideration of which this is not the place. The
" Romney portrait " was first exhibited in the Ken
sington portrait collection of 1868, and it has been
for several years the property of Rev. G. S. Rowe.
The present writer has had the advantage of
hearing the personal appearance of Wesley described
by more than one aged person who saw him in his
later years. Such reminiscences fully confirm the
accuracy of the description of his person given by
the early biographers. The current description of
Wesley was first sketched by Hampson, and the
outlines of the picture were filled in and adopted by
Dr. Whitehead, and by Dr. Coke and Mr. Moore.
All of these were intimately acquainted with
Wesley, and their description of him may be
relied on.
He is described as low in stature, of slight figure,
but well proportioned. His frame was muscular,
wiry, capable of great exertion, and he exhibited
all the symptoms of a sound constitution. His
features were clear cut, and fine ; and his complexion
was singularly fresh and healthy, even to the
end of life. His countenance was expressive and
benign; and it was a common thing for persons
who were much prejudiced against him, to change
their opinions on seeing him for the first time, and
from that moment to become admiring friends.

336 APPENDIX XIII.

He was a pattern of neatness and simplicity in
his dress and arrangements, and the clerical charac
ter was always scrupulously maintained. " In his
study there was rarely a book misplaced, a paper
unheeded, or a letter unanswered. He could enjoy
the conveniences and amenities of life, and yet was
ready at any hour to undertake a long journey."
The following account of Wesley as a preacher
was given by Dr. Whitehead : —
"His attitude in the pulpit was graceful and
easy. His action calm and natural, yet pleasing
and expressive. His voice not loud, but clear and
manly. His style neat, simple, and perspicuous,
and admirably adapted to the capacity of his
hearers. His discourses in point of composition
were extremely different on different occasions.
When he gave himself sufficient time for study, he
succeeded ; but when he did not, he frequently
failed. ... It was indeed manifest to his friends,
for many years before he died, that his employments
were too many, and he preached too often to appear
with the same advantage at all times in the pulpit.
His sermons were always short, seldom more than
half an hour, and sometimes not so long. His
subjects were judiciously chosen — instructive and
interesting to the audience, and well adapted to
gain attention and warm the heart."
" He had stated hours for every purpose, and his
only relaxation was a change of employment. His
rules were like the laws of the Medes and Persians,
absolute and irrevocable. He had a peculiar plea-

portraiture and character. 337
sure in reading and study. He had a high relish for
polite conversation, especially with pious, learned,
and sensible men ; but whenever the hour came he
was to set out on a journey, he instantly quitted
any subject or any company, in which he might be
engaged, without any apparent reluctance.
"For fifty-two years or upwards he generally
delivered two, frequently three or four, sermons in
a day. But calculating at two sermons a day, and
allowing, as a writer of his life has done, fifty
annually for extraordinary occasions, the whole
number during this period will be 40,560. To
these might be added an infinite number of exhort
ations to the society after preaching, and in other
occasional meetings at which he assisted."
"In social Hfe, Mr. Wesley was lively and con
versable. . . . Having seen much of the world in
his travels, . and read more, his mind was well
stored with an infinite number of anecdotes and
observations ; and the manner in which he related
them was no inconsiderable addition to the enter
tainment they afforded. And in private life among
his friends, his manner was equally sprightly and
pleasant. It was impossible to be long in his
company, either in public or private, without
partaking of his placid cheerfulness, which was
not abated by the infirmities of age or the approach
of death, but was conspicuous at four score and
seven as at one and twenty."
Dr. Whitehead then proceeds to comment on a
passage in a letter by Archbishop Herring, which
z

338 appendix xin.

said that Wesley, " with parts and learning, was a
dark and saturnine creature ; " and he justly ques
tioned the accuracy of the hasty sketch, contrasting
with it the opinion of Dr. Johnson, who, with far
'jetter opportunities of judging, wrote of him thus :
" Mr. Wesley's conversation is good. He talks well
on any subject. I could converse with him all
night." (Whitehead, ii., 479.)
Wesley's equanimity was thus spoken of by
Dr. Whitehead :—
" Having an active, penetrating mind, his temper
was naturally quick, and even tending to sharpness.
The influence of religion and the constant habit of
close thinking had in a great measure corrected this
disposition. In general he preserved an air of
sedateness and tranquillity. . . . Persecution, abuse,
or injury he bore from strangers, not only without
anger, but without any apparent emotion ; and
what he said of himself was strictly true — that he
had a great facility in forgiving injuries. Submis
sion on the part of the offender disarmed his resent
ment. . . . Though his confidence was often abused
. . yet he suspected no one, nor was it easy to
convince him that any one had intentionally de
ceived him."
The following is also from Dr. Whitehead : —
"His apprehension was clear, his penetration
quick, and his judgment discriminative and sound.
. . In governing a large body of preachers and
people, of various habits, interests, and principles,
with astonishing calmness and regularity, for many

portraiture and character. 339

years, he showed a strong capacious mind. ... Aa
a scholar he certainly held a conspicuous rank.
He was a critic in the Latin and Greek classics, and
was well acquainted with the Hebrew, as well as
with most of the European languages now in use.
But Greek was his favourite language, in which his
knowledge was extensive and accurate. At college
he had studied, with a good deal of care, Euclid, Sir
I. Newton's optics, etc., etc., but he never entered far
into the more abstruse parts, or the higher branches
of mathematics, finding that they would fascinate
his mind and absorb all his attention, and divert
him from the pursuit of the more important objects
of his own profession. . . . He was a most deter
mined opposer of those systems of natural philo
sophy which represent the powers of matter as the
efficient causes of all the phenomena of nature. . . .
Natural history was a field in which he walked at
every opportunity, and contemplated, with infinite
pleasure, the wisdom, the power, and the goodness
of God in the structure of natural bodies and in the
various instincts and habits of the animal creation.
" His moderation in controversy deserves to be
noticed. Writers of controversy too often forget
that their own character is intimately connected
with the manner in which they treat others ; and
if they have no regard for their opponents, they
should have some for themselves. When a writer
becomes personal and abusive, it affords a fair pre
sumption against his arguments, and ought to put
us on our guard against deception. Most of Mr.

340 appendix xiii.

Wesley's opponents were of this description : their
railing was much more violent than their reasons
were cogent. Mr. Wesley kept his temper, and
wrote like a Christian, a gentleman, and a scholar.
He might have taken the words of the excellent
Hooker, as a motto to his polemical tracts, ' To
your railing I say nothing , to your reasons I say
what follows.' "
Alexander Knox was a gentleman of good family
and position in Ireland, who had a sincere admira
tion for Wesley, and saw him frequently. On the
whole he has left the best description extant : and
of this some passages must be given : —
" So fine an old man I never saw. The happiness
of his mind beamed forth in his countenance.
Every look showed how fully he enjoyed 'the gay
remembrance of a life well spent ; ' and wherever he
went he diffused a portion of his own felicity.
Easy and affable in his demeanour, he accommo
dated himself to every sort of company, and showed
how happily the most finished courtesy may be
Wended with the most perfect piety. In his con
versation we might be at a loss whether to admire
most, his fine classical taste, his extensive know
ledge of men and things, or his overflowing good
ness of heart. While the grave and serious were
charmed with his wisdom, his sportive sallies of
innocent mirth delighted ever the young and
thoughtless; and both saw in his uninterrupted
cheerfulness the excellency of true religion. No

portraiture and character. 341

cynical remarks on the levity of youth embittered
his discourse ; no applause retrospect to past times
marked his present discontent. In him, even old
age appeared delightful, like an evening without a
cloud ; and it was impossible to observe him without
wishing fervently, 'may my latter end be like
his ! ' "
Southey, while admitting the rare excellence of
Wesley's character, made a more than doubtful use
of ambiguous words when he described him as
ambitious and enthusiastic. Alexander Knox, who
was intimately acquainted with Wesley, made on
these points some remarks of value ; —
"The prevalent tempers and habits of Wesley's
mind appear to have been inconsistent with am
bitious feelings. ... There never was a human being
less accessible to care of whatever kind. . . . Sensible
as he was both to pleasure and pain, and in
tensely as he desired the happiness of his disciples,
still the impression made on him by adverse occur
rences, though no doubt often sharp, was always
transient. Be the exigence what it might, after
adopting what appeared the best measures, he dis
missed it from his thoughts. This happy faculty
secured to him, through his long life, unbroken rest
by night, and unclouded cheerfulness in the day;
but it was a faculty which, I conceive, he could not
have possessed had not his views been perfectly
pure and disinterested. . . . Another charge against
Mr. Wesley I cannot equally dispute, namely, that
of enthusiasm. Still he was an enthusiast of no

342 APPENDIX XIII.

vulgar kind : as Nelson was an enthusiast for his
country, so was John Wesley for religion. Where
the highest interests of men were concerned, Wesley
made no account of precedent, or public opinion, or
maxims of human or even of ecclesiastical preced
ence. . . . Singular as was his course, he no more
supposed himself raised above the guidance of his
reason than of his conscience.
" It may perhaps be asked, whether the revolu
tion which Mr. Wesley describes as having taken
place in his mind at the Society in Aldersgate
Street on the 24th of May, 1738, does not fix a
charge of enthusiasm both on his mental character,
and on all his subsequent plans of conduct?
I should be obliged to~ answer that if that oc
currence justified such a charge, several of the
most eminent persons in the Christian world must
equally be deemed enthusiasts: for example, St.
Cyprian and St. Augustine in former times ; and in
times nearer to our own, George Herbert, Robert
Boyle, and Bishop Ken. This last-mentioned orna
ment of our Church has told his own story, in a
poem on the Divine Attribute of Truth. I could
wish Mr. Southey to turn to it, and to judge
whether it is not in substance the very counterpart
of John Wesley's statement."
Shortly after Wesley's death a description of him
was written by some very competent though un
known hand in Wood/all's Diary of June 17, 1791 ;
and from this some passages may be quoted : —
"Had he loved wealth he might have accumu-

portraiture and character. 343
lated it without bounds. Had he been fond of
[worldly] power, his influence would have been
worth courting by any party. I do not say he was
without ambition : he had that which Christianity
need not blush at, and which virtue is proud to
confess. I do not mean that which is gratified by
splendour and large possessions, but that which
commands the hearts and affections, the homage
and gratitude of thousands . . .
"... His zeal was not a transient blaze, but a
steady and constant flame. The ardour of his
spirit was neither damped by difficulty nor subdued
by age. This was ascribed by himself to the power
of Divine grace — by the world to enthusiasm. . . .
"... To gain the admiration of an ignorant and
superstitious age requires only a little artifice and
address ; to stand the test of these times, when all
pretensions to sanctity are stigmatized as hypocrisy,
is a proof of genuine piety and real usefulness.
His great object was to revive the obsolete doctrines
and extinguished spirit of the Church of England ;
and they who are its friends cannot be his enemies."
Perhaps the reader may think that the foregoing
passages are little required to elucidate the character
of a man whose life and labours form his most true
eulooy and most enduring monument. Still the
verdict of contemporary observers must always
possess a lasting interest, and it is well that the
impression made by Wesley on competent judges
of character should be again placed on record.
It must be remembered that the descriptions ol

344 APPENDIX XIII.

Wesley which have come down to us are written
by those who knew him in his old age, when be
had become a celebrity. He was then surrounded
by much younger men, who were his disciples, his
admirers, and, in the inoffensive sense of the word,
his satellites. They were hardly in a position to
converse freely and on equal terms with him, and
they accepted, with much submission and readiness,
all that the patriarch said or did. This accounts
for the absence of any reports of conversations
which might throw light on a few passages towards
the end of the history which are somewhat incon
sistent with the earlier passages. It also accounts
for the statement, made on good authority, that few
were really intimate with him in his advanced age.
(Ann'tml Register, 1792).
After the famous discourse on the Ministerial
Office (see Appendix, X.) which could not have been
gratifying to the preachers, one of them who was
most frequently with him, Henry Moore, ventured
on a mild remonstrance. He "respectfully re
marked " (as he tells us) that some who were
styled evangelists acted as bishops, as though
Timothy, when ordained a bishop, necessarily ceased
to discharge the minor duty of an evangelist.
Wesley merely smiled, and changed the subject,
probably doubtful as to the utility of a discussion
on so intricate a question with the young Irishman.
The late George Dawson of Birmingham, a diligent
student of the lives and characters of many fore

PORTRAITURE AND CHARACTER. 345
most men in English annals, thus described Wesley
in one of his lectures : —
" He was liberal, upright, noble, charitable, and
wise ; superstitious, fond of marvel-mongering, fond
of education. He has never had justice done him
as one of the educators of the people. He was
afraid of ignorance, dreaded fanaticism, told his
preachers to study, and made them do it. And
this great man, who preached the wide world
through almost, lived till his wide heart was apos
tolic; and, having literally preached under the trees
of his youth, he died, his sect covering England,
stretching to America, being found in almost every
country of the civilized world. And probably this
man called more people in England to wakefulness
and watchfulness than any other man."
The last extract to be given is from the late
Chancellor Massingberd (Lincoln), who wrote thus
of Wesley's mission : —
"Whatever judgment may be formed of his
character, it cannot be denied that he left the
stamp of that character deeply engraven on his
country and his times. The effect of the preaching
of one of his missionary laymen is thus strikingly
described by the poet Wordsworth : —

' Though clamorous as a hunter's horn
Re-echoed from a naked rock,
Tis from that tabernacle. List !
Within a fervent Methodist
Is preaching to no heedless flock !

346 APPENDIX XIII.

' " Repent ! repent ! " he cried aloud,
" While yet ye may find mercy — strive
To love the Lord with all your might ;
Turn to Him, seek Him day and night,
And save your souls alive ! " '
" And the effect of these words on a reckless out
cast, who heard them as he passed —
E'en as he passed the door, these words
Did plainly fall upon his ears ;
And they such joyful tidings were,
The joy was more than he could bear,
He melted into tears.'
" Oh, how we ought all to wish that some way
might be yet opened by the good Providence of
God for the re-uniting of these societies with the
Church that Wesley loved 1 "

( 347 )

APPENDIX XIV.
STATISTICS.
In Great Britain the number of accredited members
of the Wesleyan Methodist body (original connexion)
was as follows : —
In 1870  367,306
„ 1878  380,876
„ 1879  377,612
In round numbers there are fifteen hundred
ministers wholly devoted to their work, and twelve
thousand "local " preachers.
In Ireland there has also been a slight de
crease of late years. There are five other distinct
Methodist bodies in Great Britain, viz., Primitive
Methodists, New Connexion, United Free Church
Methodists, Bible Christians, and Wesleyan Re
formers; of which that first mentioned is larger
than the rest combined. These five bodies num
bered — In 1870  290,491
„ 1878  326,847
Turning to America the figures are much larger,

348 APPENDIX XIV.

as the Methodist body there claims to have more
than two millions of enrolled members. There are
also large societies in most of the British Colonies,
and small ones in many European and other foreign
States. The total is estimated at four millions and
a half. It is impossible to estimate with anything like
accuracy the number of friends and adherents, or
those who, with more or less frequency, attend
services in Methodist Chapels, without being en
rolled as members. Large numbers of them belong
to other churches and sects. The total number
of persons, old and young, throughout the world,
claimed as belonging in some sense to Methodism,
was estimated by the Rev. L. H. Wiseman at
" eleven millions and upwards."
The above was written in 1880.
In 1885 the President of the Conference, in his
Pastoral address, referred with much emphasis to
the fact that although there were nearly 50,00 J
new members during the past year, the loss had
been nearly as great — the net increase for the year
being only 2797.
The only reasonable explanati'>n is the constant
flow of the younger people back to the National
Church.

INDEX.

Aberdeen visited, 177
All Saints' Day observed, 64
America, voyage to, 28
American Methodism, 163
Apostolical Canons, notes on,
330
Apostolical succession, 72, 304
Arbroath visited, 177, 178
Arcadia, Bishop of, 133
Arminian Magazine, 200
Asbury, Francis, 166, 168
Baddiley, Rev. William, 129
Baptism, sermons on, 298
Bateman, Rev. R. T., 100
Bennet, John, 110
Benson, Rev. J., 249
Berridge, Rev. J., 126
Bertholdsdorf visited, 46
Biographies described, 257
Bohler, Peter, infliieuce of, 37 ;
later history of, 53
Book-room, profits of, 189
Bosanquet, Miss, 126
Brevint, editions of, 60; his
book described, 283
Bristol visited, 51, 76
Brooke, Henry, mentioned, 195
Buckle, H. T., misstatements
of, 273
Buiial of Charles Wesley, 117;
of John Wesley, 230
Burton, Dr., of Oxford, 27
Calvin mentioned, 22

Calvinism, disputes on, 119,
125
Causton, Mr., 31
Charity sermons preached, 214
Charterhouse School, 5, 6
Christian Library, the, 195
Church and State, 62
Church of Rome, 63
Church societies, 275
Circuits of preachers, 140
City Road Chapel, built, 208;
partly destroyed, 209
Clarke, Dr. Adam, 174, 226
Classes visited, 88
Class-meetings, origin of, 275
Clulow, Wesley's solicitor, 244
Coke, Rev. Dr., meeting with,
135 ; later history of, 136
Communion, weekly, 210
Conference, first, 97 ; constitu
tion of, 246
Cork visited, 149, 160
Coughlan, Eev. L., 134, 164
Creighton, Rev. J., 134
Curacy held by Wesley, 14
Cyprian, St., followed, 64, 83
Dawson, G., quotation from,
345
Declaration of trustees, 1793,
242
Deed-poll of 1784, 246
Delany (Pendarves), Mrs., 17
333
Delamotte, Mr. C, 32, 55

350

INDEX.

Derry, Bishop of, 131, 150
Dickenson, Rev. P., 122, 134
Dodd, Dr., mentioned, 214
Dublin visited, 148, 160
Editorial labours, 200
Embury, Philip, 163
Episcopacy, views on, 69, 316
Epworth, disturbances at, 3;
revisited, 95, 220
Erasmus, Bishop, from Crete,
133
Eucharist, doctrine of, 18
Eucharistical volume, 60 ; con
tents of, 283
Fellowship at Oxford, 11 ; re
signed, 24
Fletcher, Rev. J. W., 123;
death of, 126
Foundry at Moorfields, 85 ;
abandoned, 207
Gandy, Mr. William, 333
Garrick, anecdote of, 222
Georgia, voyage to, 28 ; return
from, 33
Germany visited, 44
Gibson, Bishop of London, 49, 80
Glasgow visited, 175, 178
Gordon, Lord G., visited, 214
Greek bishop, a, 133
Greenock visited, 177
Grimshaw, Eev. W., 123, 237
Gwynne, Mr., 110
Hall, Mr. Westley, 69
Hamilton, Dr., 145
Hampson, sen. and jun., 143 ;
Life by, 257
Haworth, Yorkshire, 123, 237
Herrnhut visited, 46
Hervey, Eev. J., 194, 279
Hey, Mr., of Leeds, 237
Hicks, Eev. Mr., 126
Hill, Rowland, 218
Hockins' Essay, 270

Holden's Essay, 266
Holland, trips to, 217
Homilies studied, 22, 56
Hopkey, Miss, 31
Howard, interview with, 158
Huntingdon, S . Countess of,
106
Hymns of the Wesleys, 110,
191
Ignatius, St.-, 195, 305
Ingham, Eev. B., travels with,
28,45
Ireland, first visit to, 147; last
visit to, 160; Primitives in,
162
Isle of Man, 216
Jackson's edition of Journals,
332
Johnson, Dr., letter of, 196
Jones, John, 132
Journals of Wesley, 332
Justification, views of, 74, 278
Keble, resemblance to, 63
Kempis, a, republished, 190
King, Peter, 70 ; account of his
book, 303
Kingswood School, 142
Knox, Alexander, 340
" Korah, Dathan, and Abiram,"
322
Larger Minutes quoted, 236,
325
Lavington, Bishop, 93
Law, William, influence of, 18;
writings of, 38, 199
Lay preachers. See Preachers
Leeds visited, 160, 216
Lincoln College, Oxon, 14, 21
Locals. See Preachers
Love-feasts, 64
Lowth, Bishop, 214
Macclesfield, visit to. 179

INDEX.

351

Madeley visited, 124
Manuscripts of Wesley, 327
Marriage, views of, 24 ; of Wes
ley, 212
Massingberd's Essay, 276
Maxfield, Thomas, 130, 318;
secession of, 132
McNab, a preacher, 232
Medd, Mr., on union, 271
Meiiton, Mr., 121
Miracles, modern, 153
Molther, a Moravian, 52
Moore, Henry, 218, 261
Monument at Westminster, 230
Moorfields, preaching in, 81 ;
the Foundry, 85
Moravians, the, 35 ; separation
from, 53
Murray, Mrs. Grace, 110
Newcastle-on-Tyne, 95, 222
NewChapelbuilt,208; burnt,209
Norwich mentioned, 222
Notes on New Testament, 194
Oglethorpe, General, 27
O'Leary, Father, 201
Olivers, Thomas, 200
Open-air preaching, 76
Orders, Presbyterian, 173
Ordination, for America, 167;
question, 180, 248; made
general 1836, 251
Osborn's edition of the poems,
110
Oxford, religious society at, 15 ;
revisited (1741), 22; (1784), 25
Patrick's, St., Dublin, 152, 160
Pawson, Mr. John, 187, 327
Perfection, doctrine of, 90
Perronet, Eev. V., 121
Perronet, Mr., jun., 122, 316
Persecutions in 1743, 102
Perth visited, 178
Piers, Eev. H., 121
Popery, accusation of, 92

Portraits of Wesley, 334
Potter, Archbishop, 11
Prayers for the faithful dead,
66
Preachers, first lay, 138 ; second
race of, 144 ; local, 142, 145 ;
la t survivors of, 145 ; ordi
nations by, 251 ; sermons to,
317
Presbyterian orders, 173, 251
Primitive Church, 64
Primitive Methodists, 162, 347
Psalms of David revised, 203
Pusey, Dr., anticipated, 65
Eankin, Mr. Thomas, 164
Eeece, Eev. E., 251, 328
Eeformers in Scotland, 178
Eich, warnings to the, 226
Eichardson, Eev. J., 230
Eigg, Dr. J. H., essay by, 268
Eioting in Staffordshire, 103
Eitualistic notes, 66
Eomney's portrait, 334
St. Cyprian imitated, 64
St. Patrick's, Dublin, 152, 160
Sacramentarian Club, Oxford,
15
Sacraments, views on, 60 ; trea>
tises on, 283, 298
Saints' days and festivals, 62,
64
" Schism," Wesley on, 310
School discipline, 7
Sclater mentioned, 304
Scotland, ordinations for, 182
Scottish Kirk remarked on,
175, 178
Secession deprecated, 232, 236,
313
Seeker, Archbishop, 100
Sermons of Wesley, 190, 336;
on baptism, etc., 298
Shoreham (Kent), 99, 121
Simeon, Rev. C, 219
Smyth, Eev. Edward, 134

352

INDEX.

Societies, religious, 275
Society, the, at Oxford, 15
Southey, Eobert, Life by, 252,
259
S.P.C.K. mentioned, 83
S P.G., mission by, 27
Stations, or partial fasts, 67
Statistics of Methodism, 347
Stillingfleet's Irenicon, 68, 308
Tauler, Dr. John, 44
Tertullian quoted, 304
Toplady, Eev. A. M., 197
Trelawney, Sir H., letter to,
310
Trustees' declaration in 1793,
242
Trusts of chapels, 244
Tyerman, biography by, 264;
omissions in, 36, 128, 230, 330
Union with the Church, 247
University, sermons before, 22 ;
fellowship resigned, 24
Venn, Eev. Henry, 127
Verbal inspiration, 63
" Vigil " or Watch-night, 89
Walsh, Thomas, 234
Watson, Eev. E, 250, 262
Webb, Captain, 164

Wedgwood, Miss, Life by, 2G4 ;
quotation from, 279
Wesley, Mrs. Mary, 212
Wesley, Mrs. Susanna, 2 ; her
death, 96
Wesley, Eev. Charles, account
of, 108; his hymns, 110; his
death, 116
Wesley, Eev. John, early davs
of, 6 ; at Oxford, 9, 22, 25 ; in
Georgia, 30; marriage of,
212; moves to City Eoad,
213; death of, 229; his will,
258; Journals of, 332; ap
pearance and character of,
334
Wesley, Eev. Samuel, 7
Wesley, Samuel, jun., 4
Westminster, monument at, 230
Westminster School, 108
Whitefield, at Oxford, 15; Wes
ley's separation from, 87 ; his
death, 120
Whitehead, Dr., 230 ; book by,
258
Wilberforce, William, 219, 229
Will of Wesley, 258
Wolley and Wolff, Messrs., 244
Wroote, near Epworth, 14
Zinzendorf, Count, 53

THE END.

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