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RECOLLECTIONS

MY OWN LIFE AND TIMES.

BY THOMAS JACKSON.

"tHOD SHALT KEMEMEEK ALL THE WAY WHICH THE LOUD
THY GOD LED THEE." — DEDT. VIII. 2.

EDITED BY • ' • I : .
THE EEV. B. FBANKLAND, B.A. . ,

, WITH AN INTEODUCTION AND A POSTSCllIPT W
G. OSBOKN, D.D.

LONDON :
AVESLEYAN CONFEEBNCE OFFICE,
2, CASTLE-ST., CITY-ROAD;
SOLD AT 66, PATEENOSTEE-EOW. 1873.

LONDON :
JEINTED EY WILLIAM NICHOLS,
KOXTCN BQUAIIE.

INTRODUCTION.

It was the custom of John Wesley to ask from those
¦whom he admitted into full connexion with himself as
Preachers a written statement of their personal history and
religious experience. Many of these accounts he published
in the Arminian Magazine ; and some of them were after
wards enlarged and continued, and published in a separate
form by the writers themselves. Thus originated those
"Lives of the Early Methodist Preachers," Afhich the
author of this volume published in three volumes in 1839 ;
and again, with many additional Lives, in six volumes,
nearly thirty years afterwards.
"Wesley's rule was a good one. It enabled both Preachers
and people to know each other better than they otherwise
could have done, and contributed to promote that mutual
affection and confidence to which the growth of Methodism
is in great part OAving. It fell into disuse when the number
of Preachers was largely increased, and the only trace of it
which remains is the viva voce statement given in the
open sessions of the Conference, before admission into
full connexion, which answers the same ends, though
only to a limited extent. Beyond the requirements of
either the original rule or later practice, however, many
of the brethren, in successive generations, have been led
to record their experiences and labours greatly to the
edification and delight of survivors: by means of their
posthumous "Journals," "Accounts," "Narratives," and
*' Letters," thousands have had fellowship in their labours,
enjoyments, and sufferings, long after they have passed to
their rest. By such publications we have been enabled, as
it were, to live along the whole line of our denominational
history, and to gather encouragement and instruction from
a 2

iv Introduction.
the varying course of events. The faithfulness of God has
been displayed to animate our hopes ; the snares of the
great enemy have been exposed ; while the weakness of
men illustrates "the excellency of the power" which
has wrought in them and by them. The elevating influ
ence of true religion is thus exemplified through successive
ages. The poor are seen to be lifted up out of the dust
to sit among the princes of God's people, as truly to-day
as when the blessed Virgin responded to her cousin Elisa
beth, or when Hannah sang her joyful strain on the birth
of Samuel.
Some of these documents, autobiographical in substance,
if not in form, have been edited in a manner which
leaves nothing to be desired ; but in other instances there
have been traces of haste, or insufficient acquaintance Avith
the subject, or want of sympathy Avith the writers, on the
part of their respective editors, which have rendered such
publications less serviceable to the general interest of the
Connexion than they might have been.
Whether the remembrance of this last-mentioned fact
influenced the writer of the following pages in determining
to prepare his "Eecollections" for the press, I have
no means of knowing, though I think it highly probable.
At all events the reader will have no cause to regret that
this work has been marred by the negligence or unskilful-
ness of others. Mr. Jackson here paints his own portrait,
and is solely responsible, whether for likeness, colouring,
or expression.
Another memorial of our fathers, differing in many
important respects from all that have gone before it, is
thus added to our already large collection. Mr. Pawson,
Dr. Clarke, Mr. Moore, and Mr. Entwisle, had all
been in personal intercourse with Wesley, and laboured
under his direction. Mr. Jackson could only preserve
traditions concerning him. Nor had he the varied acquire
ments of Dr. Clarke ; the long experience of Circuit-life of

Introduction. v
Messrs. Pawson and Entwisle ; or the polish and poignancy
of Mr. Moore ; but in the general features of his character
he Avill not be found inferior to them. The same con
scientious fidelity to all his obligations, the same laborious
endeavours to discharge them, the same quenchless love
for the work of God which men call Methodism, which
appeared in distinguished predecessors, will be found in
him also. Christianity had come to him in the form of
Methodism. But for Methodism he might, and in all
human probability would, have grown up in poverty,
ignorance, and religious formalism ; and his deep sense of
indebtedness to the system which had made him whatever
he was, needs no justification. It was never inconsistent with
the due recognition of other forms of Christianity, and par
ticularly of that Communion which, since the Eeformation,
has had precedence of all others in these realms. But it was
a preference "without partiality and without hypocrisy:" a
thing which some of the Episcopal clergy, and even Bishops
themselves, appear utterly unable to understand. Because
a man comes to find in Methodism all that makes his
religion a vital force, as distinguished from a theory on
paper, and by consequence loves and adheres to Method
ism, he is counted a schismatic, and as such disqualified
for future blessedness. All his holy tempers, enjoyments,
and practices go for nothing, because he does not submit
to a certain specified form of Church-government which is
believed to have been originated by the Apostles ; and Chris
tianity as a life, is subordinated to the Chm-ch as an insti
tution. That which is but a means to a means becomes the
end, and the entire moral system of the New Testament is thus
confused, if not subverted. " In Christ Jesus," accordingto
these believers in episcopacy by divine right, neither faith,
jaor the love by which faith works, " availeth anything," but
three orders of ministers. " No Bishops, no sacraments ;
no sacraments, no sure salvation," has been echoed and re
echoed throughout the United Kingdom, and especially for

vi Introduction.
the last forty years, until multitudes have come to believe
it as firmly as the great deceiver could desu-e.
It is in this state of things that Mr. Jackson's Auto
biography makes its appearance, a seasonable testimony
to the " power of godliness " so beautifully exemplified in its
writer's life, and pro tanto a seasonable apology for Meth
odism, which had its origin in the revival of that "power,"
and which only exists to conserve and extend it. Who
that was privileged to know him can ever forget the cheer
ful smile of his greeting, the glowing warmth of his part
ing salutation, the genial tone of his conversation, the
quiet humour which betokened a mind at ease, the tender
sympathy with sorrow, the firm maintenance of truth and
right, the love that overflowed on young and old, and in
his declining years literally "made his face to shine," as if
in anticipation of its resurrection brightness ?
We are asked to believe that this venerated man lived
and died in damning sin. He was a schismatic — ^had no
right to preach without episcopal license — no right to
administer the sacraments without episcopal ordination ;
and though, like Moses, he might give drink to famishing
multitudes, he must, like Moses, be excluded from the
promised land for his disobedience to a positive injunction.
The pitiful narrowness of this doctrine is not at all dimin
ished by the solemnity with which it is announced ; nor
by the high personal character of our latest monitor. And
it is perhaps not to be regretted that Bishop Wordsworth's
" Pastoral " should make its appearance while these pages
are passing through the press, so that the Methodists of
Lincolnshire, — many of whom Mr. Jackson knew and loved
so well, and Avlth such good reason, — and all others, may
understand how the Bishop regards our position.* But it is
• " You may perhaps say in reply, that God has visibly blessed the wori
of those who mimster the Sacraments in your congregations. "We do not
deny it. But are they, therefore, safe who minister ? The Israelites were
refreshed by the water flowing from the rook struck by Moses ; but he was
excluded from Canaan for striking it. Balaam and Caiaphas prophesied of

Introduction. vii
wonderful that so learned a Avriter should threaten Methodist
Preachers with the fate of Moses, in addition to that of
Korah and his company. He must have forgotten that the
man of God, though excluded from Canaan, was not shut
out of Paradise, but that ages after his decease he "appeared
in glory," communing with the incarnate Son of God
while Apostles were terrified and slept.
But we have no wish to be drawn into controversy over
the remains of this Methodist patriarch. Eather let us
learn from him where, under God, our strength lies. Sim
ple and entire devotion to the cause and service of Christ,
constant communion with God as a reconciled Father, daily
renewed acts of faith in the atoning Sacrifice, a com
fortable sense of the presence and agency of the Holy
Spirit, maintained by watching unto prayer, — these things
characterized Thomas Jackson's religion; They were the
life of his life. Some will weU remember, perhaps none
who heard it wlQ ever forget, his avowal at one Conference
that since he first obtained " the favour and the peace of
God " he had not lost it for a single day. No wonder that
at times his joys were ecstatic. A friend who was with
him in the vestry of BrunsAvick chapel, Liverpool, on the
memorable day referred to on page 305, told me at
the time that he appeared almost overpowered with the
transporting joy and the sense of gratitude which the
occasion had excited, until it seemed as if nature could
bear no more. It was literally a " w;eight of glory."
Yet of all this he says little or nothing. He was not
puffed up. His modesty and humility are seen throughout
this volume, perhaps nowhere more remarkably than in
the prominence given to his lowly origin.
Christ, and many have been edified by their prophecies ; but nevertheless
they who prophesied were objects ol God's wrath  We do not deny that
persons who resort to schismatical teachers  may derive benefit  ;
but this does not in any way diminish the guilt of those who schismatically
preach and minister," etc.— A Pastoral to the AVesleyan Methodists in the
Diocese of Lincoln, pp. 11, 12.

viii Introduction.
The soundness of his piety appears no less in his unvary
ing diligence. Some who have had remarkable Divine com
munications have looked upon them as substitutesfor human
learning; and being taught of God have supposed that they
needed not to learn from men. At one period in the history
of Methodism this delusion proved very mischievous. But
Mr. Jackson never came under its influence ; and, while he
prayed without ceasing for the highest wisdom, used aU
available means for his OAvn improvement. So laborious
a student I never knew. It appeared as though his powers
of application were unlimited. Even in advanced age he
would read for many consecutive hours, and then seek
refreshment in writing. His delight was in his books, as
these pages abundantly testify ; and he loved not only to
accumulate and examine them, but to master their con
tents. What he read he made his own ; so that after the
lapse of years he could give almost as good an account
of it as though he had it still on hand. Considering
that he had no early advantages, his acquirements
in English literature were wonderful ; and his great
familiarity Avith the writings of John Wesley doubtless
helped much to form that manly habit of mind by which
he was distinguished ; all that was of trifling importance,
or sickly in sentiment, being very unwelcome to him,
whUe the beauties of our standard literature were keenly
relished. His habit of diligent reading was kept up to the
last. Living, for some years after he became a Super
numerary, in the immediate neighbourhood of Dr. Wil
liams's Library, he gladly availed himself of its treasures,
and made them serviceable for his enlarged "Life of
Goodwin." He read Wesley's and Fletcher's Works
through once more, as well as each successive volume of
the new edition of the Wesley Poetry; and had begun
to read again the Works of Dr. Thomas Jackson when the
Master's summons found him. When his eye-sight failed,
he had " Paradise Lost " read to him, often anticipating the

Introduction. ix
reader as to the contents of the several books, and reciting
passages which he had long ago learned by heart. It may
be doubted if any of John Wesley's sons in the Gospel were
more observant of his golden rules : — " Be diligent. Never
be unemployed. Never be triflingly employed. Never
while away time. Bead steadily the most useful books, and
that for six hours out of twenty-four at least."
Strangers might suppose that so much study would
make him unsocial or taciturn. But the reverse was the
fact. He was as ready to dispense his treasures as to
accumulate, and his conversation was enlivened by many
an interesting anecdote supplied from his books, as well as
from personal observation. His Avit was kept under strict
restraint, but occasionally it sparkled, and the merry
twinkle of his eye, even when he said nothing, told you
that he was capable of much more than he chose to
accomplish. But his excursions into the regions of fancy
or of humour were comparatively short, and he was glad to
retm-n to the great business to which his life was devoted.
Mr. Jackson sometimes wondered why his life was so
prolonged, though no one else did. Had he outlived his
faculties, the case would have been very different ; but as
it was, he seemed to be spared to be a pattern of a happy
old age. FuU of peace and love, thankful for aU the deal
ings of God with him, awakening sentiments of pleasm-e
.and gratitude wherever he went, there appeared to be but
one step between him and Paradise. That gracious pro
mise, which might serve as a motto for this volume,
received in him a visible accomplishment : " The righteous
shall flourish like the palm-tr6e: he shaU grow like a
cedar in Lebanon. Those that be planted in the house of
the Lord shall flourish in the courts of our God. They
shall stUl bring forth fruit in old age ; they shall be fat
and flourishing ; to shew that the Lord is upright : He
is my Eock, and there is no unrighteousness in Him." To
Him be glory for ever ! Amen.

CONTENTS.

CHAPTEB I.
PAQB-.
Sanoioh and its Vicinity— Parentage— Family Surroundings— Early Life
—The Parish School  1

CHAPTER IL
Introduction of Methodism into Sancton — A Class formed — Eeligieu
in the Family — Youthful Employment — Apprenticeship — ^Village
Preaching — State of popular Education  23
CHAPTER III.
Decline of early religious Impressions — Remarks on New Testament
" Prophesying" — Prophetesses — Preaching of Mary Barritt — Repent
ance toward God — Faith toward our Lord Jesus Christ — Joy of the
Holy Ghost — Meeting in Class — Chapel erected at Sancton — Exten
sion of Religion to neighbouring Places — Opposition of the Ungodly.' 41

CHAPTER IV.
Youthful Zeal — Books and Reading — Rev. Joseph Pescod — First Sermon
— Rev. John Brown — Humble Sanctuaries and simple Worshippers
— A canonically-regular Clergyman — An Instance of clerical
Liberality — Canon Law and Apostolic Practice — Intercourse of
Preachers with the People  56
CHAPTER V.
Sent into the Ministry (1804)— Journey to Spilsby- Dr. Coke at Grimsby
— Circuit Work — Mr. Carr Brackenbuiy — Library at Raithby Hall

xn Contents. pAoa
—Ministerial CoUeagues— Learning and Unlearning— Discourage
ment— Miry Roads— Horse and Saddle-Bags— Want of Books— An
eccentric Doctor — Mrs. Wedd and the Boston Chapel — A Dis
appointment  '"
CHAPTER VI.
Homcastle (1805) — Acquisition of Books— Study of Greek Testament —
Use of a Library — Early Morning Studies — ^Ague — A Year's Read
ing — Literary Composition — Conversations with old Methodists —
John Hampson and Homcastle Rioters — An upright Cottager and
a candid Steward — Village Evangelists— Lincoln (1807)— Unhappy
Effects of a Parliamentary Election — First Methodist Preaching at
Saxilby  86
CHAPTER VII.
Admitted into fiiir Connexion (1808) — Journey to Bristol — Conference
Notes — " Three Mighties : " Samuel Bradbum, Joseph Benson,
Jabez Bunting — ^Renewed Self-Dedication to the Work of the
Ministry — Appointed to Leeds— Journey : new Aspect of People and
Country — Characteristics of Colleagues — Anecdote of Mr. Wesley —
Rev. Joseph Taylor's Reminiscences of the Conference of 1784 —
Circuit Work — ^A Hardship — Two Years' Reading — Meeting Chil
dren Weekly for Religious Instruction — An old Book-Shop — James
Nichols — A memorable Conversion — A remarkable Interposition of
Providence — Marriage  102
CHAPTER Vin.
Preston (1810) — Long Walks — A Romanist Caviller silenced — The Power
of Conscience illustrated — " Lord Sidmouth's Bill " — Sheffield Con
ference .(1811) — Remarkable Sermon by Mr. Bradbum — Use of
Organs in Places of Worship — List of Volumes read — Birth of a
Son— Sowerby-Bridge (1812)— The " Luddites "—Study and the
Pulpit — Liverpool Conference (1813) — Unexpected Appointment to
preach — Beva. Richard Watson and Josiah Hill — Dr. Coke and
Missions — Wesleyan-Methodist Missionary Society : Organization
at Leeds — ^Revs. George Morley and Jabez Bunting — Prayer and
Speeches — Library for the Use of Local Preachers — Rev. Samuel
Broadbent : an exemplary missionary Spirit  125

Contents. xiii
CHAPTER IX. PAOE
Wakefield (1814) — Controversy with a Dissenting Minister on the " Five
Points " — John Goodwin : Misrepresented by Bishop Burnet and
Augustus Toplady — Life of John Goodwin — Dr. Adam Clarke's
Ministry — Notices of Mr. Bradbum — Additions to Library —
Course of Reading— Sheffield (1816) — Prosperity of the Circuit —
Routine of Labour — Worthies — Sub-Secretary of the Conference
(1817) — Rev. Edward Hare — Revival of Religion at Sancton —
Robert Hall — Dr. Oliuthus Gregory.  147

CHAPTER X.
Manchester (1818)— Death of the Rev. Samuel Bardsley ; Destruction of
his Manuscripts — Letter from the Vicar of Arreton to Hannah Damp
— A nervous Superintendent — • Popular Discontent — Political
Agitators — Disturbed State of the Town — Religious Declension-
Riots and Bloodshed — Erection of Grosvenor-Street Chapel — Mr.
Samuel Stocks and other loyal Methodists — Visiting the Sick — The
Cheetham Library — ^Death of the Eev. Joseph Benson — A sudden
Change : Removal to London (April 1821) as temporary Connexional
Editor — Annual Meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society :
Messrs. Hughes, Wilberforce, Owen, and Joseph John Gurney —
Editing the Magazine and Youth's Instructor — City-Road Chapel,
Book-Establishment, and Bunhill-Fields Buiying-Ground — Resolu
tion of the Conference (1821) approving of the Conduct of the
Preachers stationed iu Manchester during the previous three Years... 167

CHAPTER XI.
First London Circuit (1821) — Sketches of CoUeagues — Leading Meth
odists in London — " A goodly Heritage " — A generous BookseUer —
PubUcation of the Life of John Goodwin ; Object of the Book —
Methodist Literature and Calvinism — Criticism and Opinions —
Letter from Dr. Southey — Fur Prcedestinatus : Historians at Fault
— ^Life in Danger — Elected into the "Legal Hundred " — A threatened
domestic Calamity averted : Conflict of Nature with Grace — Tried
Friends — Methodist Preaching : Earl Grey and Mr. Allan — Baxter's
Works " amended " — 111- matched Disputants — A Methodist Excise
man and a Eight Rev. Prelate : Intolerance disappointed — Proposed
Celebration of the Centenary of Methodism in 1825— The Conversion
of the Wesley s the tme Date of the Rise of Methodism  185

xiv Contents.
CHAPTEB XIL PAGE
Appointed Connexional Editor (1824) ; Personal Objections overmled by
the Conference — Difficulties surmounted — ^Eighteen Years' Routine
— Helps : the Bev. Eichard Watson and Mr. James Nichols — Meth
odism in Barbadoes opposed by Slave-holders : Outrages by Eioters
and consequent Debate in the House of Commons — Mr. Buxton,
M.P. — The Under-Secretary of State for the Colonies and Mr.
Canning — New Edition of Wesley's Sermons — Death of the Eev.
Walter Griffith and his Burial in Mr. Wesley's Tomb— Mr. Griffith's
Share in important Services rendered by faithful Men to Methodism
after the Death of its Founder — Certificate of the Eev. Heuiy Moore's
Ordination by Mr. Wesley  210
CHAPTEB XIII.
The Eev. Charles Wesley's FamUy — Purchase of C. Wesley's Papers— Pre
paration of the Supplement to the Wesleyan-Methodist Hymn-
Book — Dr. Samuel Johnson's Eegard for the Wesley FamUy — Mr.
Wesley's Works : a New Edition called for ; Defects and Incom
pleteness of former Editions ; Contents of the new Edition (1829-
1831) — Domestic Affliction — Marriage of Daughter with a French
Protestant Clergyman — Visits to France and Belgium : Images of
the Virgin Mary; Interior of a Belgian Prison; Bible Society's
Agents ; Scene in a Church at Ostend ; a royal Embarkation —
Colporteurs at Lille ; a French " GalUo "  227
CHAPTEB XIV.
Re-appointed Connexional Editor for a Term of Six Years — Conversation
with Dr. Adam Clarke : the Manuscript of the First Volume Of Dr.
Eobinson's "Christian System" revised by Mr. Wesley; Bishop
Warburton's imperfect Knowledge of Greek ; Mr. Wesley's Letter to
Lord North on the American War — Editorial Difficulties : Animad-
rersions in Book-Committee (Liverpool Conference, 1832) on Para
graphs in the "Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine" alluding to the
Scheme of National Education for Ireland — Thanks of the Conference
for "faithful and valuable" Services, and a Bequest to continue
them--EeligionB educating Bodies and Government Grants — ^The

Contents. xv
PAQB
Eev. Samuel Jackson's Advocacy of Day and Sunday Schools — The
Eev. John Storry — The Cholera iu Liverpool : a memorable Prayer-
Meeting held during the Sittings of the Preparatory Committees. ... 244
CHAPTEB XV.
Affecting Mortality of Methodist Preachers after the Conference of 1832
— Dr. Adam Clarke ; Notes respecting the PubUcation of his Com
mentary ; Bemarks on his Dissent from the Doctrine of our Lord's
Divine and Eternal Sonship — The Eev. Thomas Stanley — The Eev.
John James — The Eev. Eichard Watson ; Purchase of the Copyright
of his Works ; " Memoirs " of his " Life and Writings " — Agitation
for the Abolition of the Church of England as a National Establish
ment : Speech in the Conference — Publication of " The Church and
the Methodists " — HostiUty both of Church and Dissent to Meth
odism — Establishment of the Theological Institution — Dr. Warren's
Attempt to overthrow the Connexional Discipline — Uniform Edition
of Mr. Watson's Works — Literary Helpers — Republication of three
of John Goodwin's Theological Works (1839) — A, Contrast to Trac-
tarian Bitterness  257
CHAPTEB XVL ;
Third Term of Editorship — Appointment of an Assistant Editor, the
Eev. George Cubitt — ^Editorial Work : " Lives of Early Methodist
Preachers ; " " Library of Christian Biography ; " etc. — Publication
of the Pamphlet " The Wesleyans Vindicated," etc. — Elected Presi-
dentof theCouference(1838) — Preachingan "official" Sermon — Cele
bration of the Centenary of Methodism — The Centenary Sermon
and the Centenary Volume — ^Visit to Parents at Sancton — Pleasant
Days at Oakworth — Meeting in Manchester for making Arrange
ments in Eeference to the Centenary Movement — Princely Giving —
Deputation and Meetings — Impressive Scene in the Chapel at Bed-
ruth — Letter of the Bev. Joseph Entwisle describing Meetings at
Tadcaster and PockUngton — Letter of Sir Lancelot Shadwell — Visit
to Scotland; an uncivU Coach-guard; Aberdeen; Arbroath; a
pithy Saying of John Knox— The Centenary Conference, Liverpool
(1839) — Centenary Sermon; Delivery; PubUcation; Testimoiues to
jts Value — Bemarks on the Centenary Celebration and jts Benefits, . 284

xvi Contents.
CHAPTEB XVII. PACfE
PubUcation of "Expository Discourses "—Designated Theological Tutor,
Eichmond — Life of the Eev. Charles Wesley— Description of C.
Wesley's Preaching in 1786, by the Eev. Joseph Sutcliffe— Pam
phlets in Defence of Methodism : " Why are you a Methodist?" —
Letter to the Bev. Dr. Pusey— Eemoval to Eichmond — Course of
Theological Lectures — Scenery around Eichmond — Notices of the
Earl of Liverpool, Prime Minister, (1820-7)— The Futility of past
Concessions to Eoman Catholic "Claims"  310
CHAPTEB XVIII.
President a second Time (1849)—" Fly Sheets ; '' Mischiefs of a clandes
tine Press — The Methodist Discipline enforced — Visits to the
Societies at Bristol, Bath, and Norwich — The Proceedings of " Ee-
formers " of Methodist Eule and Order — Allegations of Agitators
examined — Missionary Enterprise of the Methodists of Leeds —
Missionary Meetings in Birmingham — Presidential Duties and
Anxieties — " Official " Sermon, and Charge to newly-ordained Minis
ters (1850) — Faulty Logic of the Disturbers of the Connexion — Death
of the Eevs. WiUiam France, Dr. Bobert Newton, Dr. Beecham,
Jonathan Crowther, and Joseph Sutcliffe, M.A.^ — Seventy Years a
'¦ Methodist Preacher : Mr. Sutcliffe ; Value of his Commentary on
the Bible  332
CHAPTEB XIX.
Death in its Eelation to Believers in Christ — Eeunion in Heaven of
godly Families — Accounts of the Lives and happy Deaths of Rela
tives : Uncle Thomas Vanse; Aunt Vanse; Sister Mary; Uncle
Thomas Marshall ; Uncle Samuel Jackson ; Uncle James Marshall
and his Wife  363
CHAPTEB XX.
Family Annals : Father's last Afiliction and Death — Mother's last Words
— Eldest Sister's triumphant End — Mrs. Jackson : her religious Cha
racter ; Notices of her family Connexions — ^Eldest Brother — The
Eev. Samuel Jackson : Conversion; Ministry; Zeal for the religious
Welfare of the Young ; Sketch of his Character — Sister Ann — The
Value of the System of Itinerancy instituted by the Wesleys ...'.  377

Uontents. xvii
CHAPTEB XXI. PAQB
Eevision and Transcription of ; Theological Lectures— Treatise on the
Duties of Christianity (1857) — Death of Dr. Bunting: the Preacher;
the Debater ; his Power in Prayer ; Influence In Methodism ; Zeal
in Behalf of Negro Emancipation ; Views on the Admission of
Eoman Catholics into Parliament (1829) ; Why sometimes bitterly
assailed — Thomas Fanner, Esq. : an Example of sanctified Pros
perity ; Mrs. and Miss Farmer— FaUure of Health, and Eetirement
from ofiicial Duties — Eesidence in London — Employment in old
Age — Eeply to Bishop Fitzgerald's Contribution to "Aids to
Faith"— Treatise on the Providence of God (1862)— Life of Good
win '"revised and enlarged (1872)— Breakfast-Meeting and Address
at Manchester  403

CHAPTEB XXII.
At the Cornish Conference (1862) — Scenes of ministerial Labour re
visited — A Stranger in Sancton — An Octogenarian : invited to
Luncheon by the Wesleyan Ministers stationed in London — Death
of the Bev. WilUam Maclardie Bunting : Sketch of his Character —
Pamphlet occasioned by an Attempt to introduce Popery into Sane- ;
ton — Memorials of Friends : Mr. James Nichols ; the Bev. John
Mason ; Dr. Hannah ; the Eev. John Scott — The LoneUness of old
Age — Sojourn at Clifton — Beply to a Letter from the Conference,
Liverpool (1868) : Summary of Contents; Purpose misapprehended ;
an Explanation — Comments on certain Proposals for the Union of
Wesleyan-Methodism with the Establishment — Services rendered by
the English Beformers — ^Value of the Writings of many Anglican
Bishops and Clergymen — Testimony against Popery and Eational-
ism iu the National Church — Opening of a new Chapel at Market
Weighton : Sermon; Eetrospect of nearly fourscore Years  427
CHAPTEB XXIII.
Review of Life : Gratitude for a godly Parentage and early religious Train
ing—Preparation for the Christian Ministry ; Course of Studies;
the Scriptures; English divines; Classical Literature — Controver
sies concerning Eeligion — Controversies on ecclesiastical Order —
Ecclesiastical History— Christian Biography— Metaphysics— General
Literature — Favourite Authors — Attitude as a Controversialist —
Views as to the Influence of EeUgious Establishments on Christian
6

xviii Contents. PAQE
Unity — Methodism misrepresented both by Churchmen and Dis
senters ; Necessity for a vigilant Uterary Police ; honourable Excep
tions — Short Strictures on various Writers who have concerned them
selves with Wesley and Methodism  469
CHAPTEB XXIV.
Studies induced by official Duties — Wesleyan-Methodism : Essential to
the Welfare of the Nation ; neither the Established Church nor
Dissent capable of supplying its Place ; its VitaUty dependent on
the evangelical Character of its Ministry — The Class-Mee'ting : its
providential Origin ; its Importance to Methodism ; the natural
Besult of religious Life — The Claims of the Young upon the Pas
torate — Connexional Disturbances : often traceable to poUtical
Causes ; Agitations in the EstabUshed Church and Dissent less
violent in Form, but more Serious in their Nature — Notes of Con
nexional Progress during the last Sixty Years and Upwards — "May
it Live for Ever !"  489

ADVERTISEMENT.
The reader of an autobiography is not usually a severe
critic ; and when the laudator temporis acti is far advanced
in life, criticism is almost entirely disarmed. The vener
able author of the present volume, writing after he had
completed his threescore years and ten, and touching and
retouching his pages tUl he was not far from ninety, will
readUy be pardoned a few repetitions which in earlier days
he would doubtless have guarded against. An occasional
iteration, in the Autobiographer's own words, seemed to
the Editor a less evil than the dislocation of sentences and
paragraphs.
B. P.
August 21st, 1873.

TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER AND MOTHER, THOMAS AND MARY
JACKSON OF SANCTON, I INSCRIBE THESE RECOLLECTIONS, WITH A DEEP
FEELING OF REVERENT AFFECTION, AND WITH AN EARNEST HOPE THAT
I SHALL ERE LONG MEET THEM IN THE PARADISE OF GOD.
THOMAS JACKSON.
DECEMBER 12TH, 1870,
MY EIGHTY-EIGHTH BIRTH-DAY.

" Not out of a vain affectation of my]own glory, which I know how Uttle it
can avail me when I am gone hence ; but oui of a sincere desire to give
glory to my God, — ^whose wonderful providence I have noted in aU my
ways, — I have recorded some remarkable passages of my forepast life.
¦What I have done is worthy of nothing but silence and forgetfulness ; but
what God hath done for me Is worthy of everlasting and thankful memory."
— ^Bishop Hall.

RECOLLECTIONS

MY OWN LIFE AND TIMES.

CHAPTEll T.
SANCION AND ITS VICINITY  PAKENTAGE— FAMILY SUHEOUXDINGS — EAELY LIFE
 THE PAKISH SCHOOL.
T WAS born December 12th, 1788, in a thatched cottage, buUt
-L of gray stone, at Sancton, a small agricultural viUage, at
the foot of the Wold HUls, about two miles from Market
Weighton, in the East Eiding of Yorkshire. There is nothing
remarkable in the village, except the steeple of the church,
which is a neat and quaint octagon, such as I have not observed
anywhere else in the United Kingdom. The ornamental spires
having decayed and faUen down, I remember when a boy to
have witnessed their renewal at the expense of Philip Langdale,
Esq., of Houghton Hall ; the vaults of the Langdale family
being in the church. One inscription upon a tombstone within
the communion-rails I have often read : " Pray for the soul of
Dorothy Langdale."
Though there is nothing in the viUage itself to interest the
antiquary, yet in remote ages the neighbourhood presented
scenes of sniserstition and misery which it is fearful to contem
plate, being one of the strongholds of that form of heathenism
of which the Druids were the teachers and the priests. These
men exercised a formidable ijower over the people, whose
destinies it was thought were, to a groat extent, at their disposal.

2 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
They are described as wearing long white garments, especially
on public and festive occasions ; as residing in gloomy and
dense forests ; as attaching an especial sanctity to the oak ; and
as offering human sacrifices to the imaginary deities whom they
worshipped, and whom they taught the people to honour. Their
character and religious rites are mentioned by Cffisar, in the
account which he has given of his wars in Gaul ; by Pliny, in
his Natural History ; and Lucan thus describes them, and their
horrid superstitions, by which the people were terrified into the
most abject and miserable submission : — ¦
/' Not far away for nges past had stood
Au old unviolated sacred wood ;
Whose gloomy boughs thick interwoven made
A chilly, cheerless, everlasting shade :
There, nor the rustic gods, nor satyrs sport.
Nor fawns nor sylvans with the nymphs resort :
But barb'rous priests some dreadful power adore.
And lustrate every tree with human gore.
If mysteries in times of old received,
Aud pious ancientry be yet believed,
There nor the feather'd songster buUds her nest.
Nor lonely dens conceal the savage beast ;
There no tempestuous winds presume to flj',
Ev'n lightnings glance aloof, and shoot obliquely by,
No wanton breezes toss the dancing leaves.
But shiv'ring Horror in the branches heaves.
Black springs with pitchy streams divide the ground..
Aud bubbling tumble with a sullen sound.
Old images of forms mis-shapen stand.
Elide and unknowing of the artist's hand ;
With hoary filth begrimm'd, each ghastly head
Strikes the astouish'd gazer'^'s soul with dread.
No gods, who long in common shapes appear'd.
Were e'er with such religious awe revered :
But zealous crowds in ignorance adore,
And still the less (hey know, they fear the more.
Oft (as Fame tells) the earth iu sounds of woe
Is heard to groan iu hollow depths below ;
The baleful yew, though dead, has oft been seen
To rise from earth, and spring with dusky green ;
With sparkling flames the trees unburning shine,
.And round the boles prodigious serpents twine. '

„ Driddical Cnstoms and Remains. 3
The pious worshippers approach not near.
But shun their gods, and kneel with distant fear :
The priest himself, when, or the day, or uigUt,
Eolling, have reaoh'd their full meridian height,
Refrains the gloomy paths with wary feet,
"Dreading the demon of the grove to meet ;
TiVho, terrible to sight, at that fixed hour,
StiU treads the round about his dreary bower." *
'One 'article in the Dvuidical creed was, that nothing but the
life of man can redeem the life of man when forfeited by sin.
Their altars therefore streamed with human blood, and great
numbers of wretched men fell as sacrifices to their barbarous.
ETiperstitions. On some great occasions they formed a huge
colossal figure of a man, of osier twigs, and, having filled it
with men, and surrounded it with hay and other combustible
materials, set fire to the pile, and reduced it to ashes, with
all the miserable beings it contained. For this horrid purpose,
indeed, they are said to have preferred such men as had been
guilty of theft, robbery, or other crimes, as most acceptable to
their gods ; but when there was a scarcity of criminals, they
did not hesitate to supply their place with innocent persons.
These dreadful sacrifices were offered by the Druids for the
public at the eve of a dangerous war, or in a time of national
calamity ; and for particular persons of high rank, when they
were afflicted with any dangerous disease. By such acts did
the ancient Britons endeavour to avert the displeasure and
gain the favour of their gods, i It has been justly
observed that all "the principles of their wild theology will
never be thoroughly ascertained, but that we know too much
of its sanguinary rites. The imagination shudders to penetrate
those shaggy forests, ringing with the death- shrieks of ten
thousand human victims, and with the hideous hymns chanted
by smoke aud blood-stained priests to the savage gods whom
they served. "J
Could the rocks in the neighbourhood of my native place
* Eowe's Translation of Lucan's Pharsalia, book iii.
t Henry's History of Great Britain, book first, chap. 2.
t Motley.
B 2

4 Rccullcctions of mj/ own Life and Times.
speak, or did they contain in the form of authentic inscrip
tions a record of ancient times, they would disclose many a
deed of darkness and of blood perpetrated under the sacred
name of religion. About three miles to the south of Sancton
is the village of Drewton, originally doubtless Druid-Town,
where are said to have resided a body of these heathen priests-
and soothsayers, who practised their abominable ceremonies
before the introduction of Christianity. A tangible relic of
their superstitious worship still remains. It is a stone of hug&
dimensions, being upwards of twelve feet in height, and
situated in tlie declivity of a steep hill. The Christian Mis
sionaries who came to England found the people so deeply
impressed with the apprehended sanctity of this stone, that
nothing could restrain them from assembling round it to
perform their customary devotions. They' chose it therefore as-
the scene of their own exertions in the cause of truth ; and
here they preacbed the Gospel to idolaters from the altar of
their own superstition, calling upon them to turn from thO'
worship of idols, to the true and living God. Hence the rock,
which I distinctly remember to have seen in my boyhood,
bears to this day the name of St. Augustine's stone ; so eaUed
from the Missionary who was sent from Kome to convert the
people of England.
About two miles to the north of Sancton is the village of
Goodmanham, the ancient Godmundingham, another strong
hold of the Druids, where they had a temple, in which they
performed their bloody rites. It is mentioned by the Venerable'
Bede, who states that Coifi, the high priest of the Druids
resident at this place, being convinced of the truth of Chris
tianity, led the way in the abolition of heathen worship. On a
public occasion, being girt with a sword, and having a spear in
his hand, he mounted a horse, provided for him by the king wh*
was present, and proceeded to the idols in this attitude of
hostUity. " The multitude, beholding it, concluded that he was
distracted ; but he lost no time ; for as soon as he drew near
the temple he profaned the same, casting into it the spear
which he held ; and rejoicing in the knowledge of the worship
of the true God, he commanded his companions to destroy the

TnmuU nearSaneton. 5
temple, with all its enclosures, by fire. This place where the
idols were is still shown, not far from York, to the eastward,
beyond the river Derwent, and is now called Godmundingham,
where the high priest, by the inspiration of the true God, pro
faned and destroyed the altars which he had himself consecrated. " *
In this now quiet and retired spot there is reason to believe
tlaat human victims were once burnt alive in great numbers.
¦ About two miles to the east of Sancton is an extensive plain,
which is known by the name of Arras, an din those remote ages
was used as a place of interment. I well remember to have
seen in my youthful days in this open space a large number of
tumuli, of whose origin and design I had no apprehension. In
the month of May, 1817, about two hundred of these were
oisened by the Eev. E. Stillingfleet, of Hotham, and Barnard
Clarkson, Esq., of Selby, who found in them a variety of
ornaments, which competent judges have pronounced to be
British. They found in almost all the tumuli they opened
human skeletons, lying generally from north to south ; some
of them perfect, and others in a state of decay. Some of the
skeletons had ornamental rings of brass round their arms and
I^s, and one of them had a simUar ornament round the neck.
One tumulus contained the skeleton of a horse on one side of
the site of interment, and that of a pig on the other ; and near
the horse were two very large bridle-bits, one of fine brass, very
neatly wrought, the other of iron, much corroded. In the
same barrow were two chariot wheels about three feet in
diameter, and the rim two inches wide. The boss of a sliield
of iron was found on the side of one skeleton, and a string of
coloured glass beads on the side of another ; all of which are
said to be striking indications of a British settlement.
Tumuli of a somewhat different form were afterwards opened
in a field a few miles distant, belonging to the parish of Bishop
Burton, which were found to contain urns, fiUed with charcoal,
and what appeared to be the ashes of bones that had been
consumed by fire.i
* "Works of the Venerable Bede, translated by Dr. GUes, vol. ii., pp. 33-1,
335. Edit. 1843.
t Oliver's History and Antiquities of Beverley, chapter i. Edit. 1829.

€ Recollections of my own Life and Times.
In Sancton, I well remember, when the foundation of any
building was dug, it was not uncommon to find human bones a
little below the surface of the ground; but by what means
they came there, tradition gave no information, and I never
heard of any one who bad the curiosity to inquire. They may
have belonged to heathen worshippers who perished on the
occasion of their visits to Druid-Town, or to Godmundingham.
My father was a farmer's labourer, a native of Gilberdike,
a vUlage situate between Howden and North Cave. When a
boy he was placed under the care of an uncle, who phed a boat
upon the river Humber; but not liking this kind of service
upon the water, he ran away, and after enduring some
hardships obtained a situation as a farmer's servant. He was.
about the middle stature, of black hair, of dark complexion,
weU buUt, his shoulders broad, his breast prominent ; he
enjoyed robust health and great muscular power. His features
were regular, and his countenance indicative of intelligence,
wit, and good nature. He was accustomed to hard labour, and
to plain food ; but his spirit was cheerful and buoyant, his
native humour ready and varied in its salhes, and his honesty
unimpeachable. To those of his neighbours who might be
guUty of any act of meanness, such as lying or pilfering, he
was a perfect terror ; for his rebukes were cutting and effective.
I remember to have heard him admonish a feUow workman,
who had been detected in the commission of a petty theft ;
when he said, " I would not for the world steal any thing ; for
if I did, I could not faU out with any of my neighbours." Not
that he was addicted to quarrels ; but he meant, that whatever
liberties might be taken with his name, or whatever iusults he
might receive, he could never successfuUy defend himself, but
must either sneak away, or endure in cowardly silence any
gibes or sarcasms that mischievous persons might utter against
him. I have heard him say, that through the entire course of
his life he never had the sum of five pounds beforehand. Yet
he succeeded every year in so adjusting his income to his
expenditure, as to "owe no man any thing." His entire bearing
therefore was honourable and independent. He was an
admirable specimen of an English peasant.

Father's Character and Calling. 7
In the latter years of his hie, when Ms strength began to
decline, so tliat he could not use the flail and the scythe with
his former vigour and effect, he applied himseU' to the art of
IdUing moles, — a class of underground animals, by whose
depredations both meadows and cornfields are not only dis
figured, but often greatly injured, to the annoyance of graziers
and of those who cultivate the soU. In this useful art he was
acknowledged to be an adept, so that ia a comparatively short
time he succeeded in clearing two extensive townships of these
destructive vermin, to the gratification of the farmers ; and as
the benefit was permanent, they cheerfuUy remunerated him
for his services when, through growing infirmities, he was no
longer able to traverse their grounds. The subtUe enemies,
with few exceptions, were slain, and the unsightly hUlooks
which they were accustomed to throw up had disappeared.
The ambition which affects to despise these employments, as
if they were degrading and dishonourable, is contemptible for
its shaUowness, betraying, as it does, the absence of just thought
and correct feeling. Persons of the highest rank are nothing
more than the servants of their species ; and none are more
usefuUy employed than those who cultivate the soil, and thus
supply the staff of Ufe to aU classes of the community. The
man who guides the plough, reaps the harvest, and threshes
the corn, is in his place quite as honourable as the physician,
the lawyer, the merchant, or even the magistrate, aU of whom
are the servants of mankind, and in then several degrees are
the instruments of a kind and bountiful Providence. The-
truth is, ' ' Honour and Shame from no condition rise ;
Act well your part, — there aU the honour lies.
Fortune in men has some smaU diff'rence made ;
One flaunts in rags, one flutters in brocade ;
The cobbler aprou'd, and the parson gown'cl.
The friar hooded, and the monarch crowu'd.
What differ mure, you cry, than crown and cowl ?
I'll tell you, friend, — a wise man and a fool.
You'll find, if once the monarch acts the monk.
Or, cobbler-like, the parson will be drunk.
Worth makes the man, and want of it the fellow ;
The rest is aU but leather, or prunella."

8 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
One of the greatest of our philosophic statesmen has justly
said, " We have heard many plans for the reUef of ' t/ie lahouring
pom:' This puling jargon is not as innocent as it is foolish.
In meddling with great affahs weakness is never innoxious.
Hitherto the name of poor (in the sense in which it is used to
excite compassion) has not been used for those who can, but
for those who cannot, labour,— for the sick and infirm, for
orphan infancy, for languishing and decrepit age ; but when
we affect to pity, as poor, those who must labour or the world
cannot exist, we are trifling with the condition of mankind.
It is the common doom of man that he must eat his bread by
the sweat of his brow ; that is, by the sweat of his body, or the
sweat of his mind. If this toU was inflicted as a curse, it is, as
might be expected from the curses of the Father of all blessings,
— it is attempered with many aUeviations, many comforts.
Every attempt to fly from it, and to refuse the very terms of
our existence, becomes much more truly a curse, and heavier
pains and penalties faU upon those who would elude the tasks
which are put upon them by the great Master Workman of the
world, who in His deaUngs with His creatures sympathizes with
their weakness, and, speaking of a creation wrought by mere
wiU out of nothing, speaks of six days of labour, and one of
rest. 1 do not caU a healthy young man, cheerful in his mind,
and vigorous in his arms, I cannot caU such a man 2'oor; I
cannot pity my kind, as kind, because they are men. This
affected pity only tends to dissatisfy them with their condition,
and to teach them to seek resources where no resources are to
be found, — in something else than their own industi-y, and
frugality, and sobriety."*
When the labour-market is overstocked, so that the wages
of the working classes are insufficient to support them and their
famUies, emigration becomes both a privilege and a duty.
MiUions of unoccupied acres await the tiUer's toil in Canada, in
South Africa, in Australia, and in other places ; and the voice
of nature and of Providence, addressed to men of bodily strength
and vigour, is, " Eeplenish those distant wastes, and subdue
them." When the people in ancient times were unwiUing to
* Burke.

Mother's Appearance and ILdjits. 9
remove from their native haunts, the Almighty compeUed them
to disperse by confounding their language.
The habits of my father through life were those of activity ;
and untU his strength entirely failed, in consequence of age and
disease, he was constantly engaged in some useful employment.
Indolence is a vice which never could be charged upon him. To
the sentence by winch faUen man is doomed to eat his- bread in
the sweat of his brow he submitted without a murmur. For
such a father my thanks are eminently due, and have often been
presented to the Author Of all good.
My mother was a little woman, of light hair, of fair complexion,
of a fine open countenance, rather sharp features, her nose
slightly aquiUne ; she was good-natured, but of excitable
temperament. Her manners were gentle, and she had a nice
and delicate perception of what is just and becoming in social
intercourse. In fact, without intending it, she was a lady,
though in humble life, and the wife of a man who rather affected
a roughness of speech and demeanour, which he thought became
persons of his rank and condition. She gave birth to ten
children, one of whom, a daughter, died in her infancy ; the rest,
four sons and five daughters, Uved to be men and women. Her
patrimony was a substantiaUy-built cottage, connected with
about half an acre of land, of the richest soil, which produced a
yearly supply of potatoes, sufficient for the use of the family,
and the support of a pig, whose carcase was nearly the whole of
the animal food upon which the mother and her children
subsisted from year to year. The clear water of the viUage
spring was our daily beverage ; bread and milk, with potatoes
and bacon, our constant diet. These wholesome viands were
eaten with a healthy reUsh ; and the* suppUes of them wliich
were regularly provided were speedily cleared off by a thriving
family, intent only upon supplying the eravings of hunger, and
on resuming their boisterous play. My father usuaUy left home
early in the morning, and did not return tiU night ; so that the
task of providing for the children, and of keeping them in order
through the day, devolved upon the mother, whose patience was
often severely tried ; but hers ivas a mother's patience, which is
not easily overcome. When her authority had not been duly

10 Recollections of my own Life and 'Times.
respected through the day, a report to the father in the evening
brought upon the offenders such a sternness of aspect and
power of rebuke as made them tremble and turn pale. He was
not wont to strike ; but when he did, he made an impression
which was sure to be remembered.
How it was that my mother was able to fulfil aU the duties
which she undertook, I can scarcely conceive ; giving birth to
a child upon an average every two years, and never having any
assistance in the management of her family, except that of a
nurse during her confinement. Not only was the food of the
family from day to day prepared by her hands ; but the stock
ings of her husband and children were of her knitting ; theii-
Unen was spun by her hands, and bleached under her direction ;
and to keep thesg articles of clothing in constant repair was no
easy matter. Yet she never encroached upon the sanctity of
the Sabbath, and never failed, when that sacred day returned,
to send forth her husband and chUdren with their apparel clean
and whole ; neither coat, jacket, trousers, frock, pinafore, nor
even a stocking, presenting a rent. For the famUy thus to
appear was regarded as "menseful:" a term which denoted a
combination of neatness and cleanliness. Fashion in the shape
of our clothing was never aimed at ; but to be " menseful " was
an object of constant solicitude ; for a failure in this respect was
felt to be a real dishonour. Such were the habits of my
mother ; and with pleasure I place upon record her honest
industry, in which she foUowed the example of ladies of the
highest rank in the best and purest ages. For,
" Whtn great Augustus ruled the world and Eome,
The cloth he wo»e was spun and wove at home ;
His Empress plied t le distaff and the loom
Aud English laws the proudest Beauty name,
When single, spinster, and when marnel, dame."
I have learned that one day, when she was comparatively
inexperienced as a mother, having occasion to leave the house
for a little while, the fire (I suppose) being extinguished, she
locked the door, and left me, then very young, in the care of
my eldest brother. As she did not return so soon as he

Domestic Thrift. 11
expected, my guardian, being impatient of her absence, and of
the restraint under which he was placed, availed himself of the
only means of rehef that he could devise, by breaking the-
window with the tongs, and making his escape through the
opening ; and on her arrival she found him in the street
dragging me through the window after him. She was thus-
impressively taught that young children cannot be safely trusted
as guardians of each other.
In a winter's evening, when my father occupied his arm-chair,
and his children formed a circle round the fire, I have kno-wn
him relate some ghost-story, tiU our hair has stood on end, and
every face indicated unutterable terror. He would then, with a
smiling countenance, teU us that we might aU go, one by one,
but without a candle, into the chamber where the apples were
kept, and appropriate to ourselves as many as we chose ; knowing
that not one of us durst venture into the dark, tempting as was
the offer, and strong as were the cravings of the appetite for the
pleasant fruit. He then laughed at our childish fears, but he
could not aUay them by any forms of ridicule that he could.
devise, so deep is the conviction in the human mind that there
is a spiritual world, closely bordering upon that in which we
live. My mother was the daughter of Eichard MarshaU, who carried
on in the vUlage of Sancton the business of a carpenter, and
also occupied a farm of considerable extent. I have learned.
that he was opposed to the marriage of his daughter with a.
servant ; and that, for a time, she was sent "away from home,
that the attachment which my father and she had formed lor
each other might be broken off; but when the marriage had
taken place, he was reconciled both to his daughter and his
son-in-law, whom he visited in the most friendly manner. He
buUt for them the cottage which has been aheady mentioned,
to which they afterwards removed, and gave it them, with the
ground annexed, as their freehold. He did not long survive
their union, and I believe never saw them in their new habita
tion. I have no recoUection of him whatever, but have been.
given to understand that he was a strict disciplinarian in his
own family, having his children and servants in absolute sub-

12 Recollections of my own Life and. Times.
jection, so that none of them dared to indulge in any unbe
coming levity in his presence, or linger in the act of obedience
when he had uttered a command.
He left six chUdren, three sons and three daughters. Thomas,
his eldest son, succeeded to his father's business as a carpenter,
and James succeeded to the farm. Eichard, the other son, was
never married, and died about the same time that his father did.
His eldest daughter, Elizabeth, was married to an honest, hard
working man, of the name of William Mell, v/hom I can just
remember, and who died after an illness of a few hours. Going
to his work one morning, he was observed to be in great pain,
¦and was advised by one of his neighbours to return home. He
took the advice ; but the sympathy of his young wife, and the
«kiU of the medical man who was sent for to attend him, were
oquaUy unavailing. His widow was afterwards married to
Thomas Vanse, who, having received an injury in the spine, by
an attempt to raise a sack of corn to his shoulders, turned his
attention to scholarship, and became the viUage schoolmaster,
a character which he sustained for several years. The power
of his arm in tlie infliction of punishment I weU remember. He
was not a hard-hearted and cruel man, but, like many school
masters of his time, he had mistaken views respecting the con
nexion between mental culture and bodily pain ; and, in the
attempt to make bis pupils scholars, drew more tears from their
eyes, and inflicted more weals upon their shoulders, than were
at all necessary.
My mother's youngest sister, who bore the name of Ann, was
married to John Wandby, an ingenious man, somewhat given
-to speculation, who had been apprenticed to her brother Thomas
as a carpenter. She was a pretty woman, of low stature, cheer
ful and active, and died in giving birth to her first child. I was
very young when she died, but I have a distinct remembrance
of her, and of the grief that was occasioned in the family by her
death. A brother of her husband, Brian Wandby, composed
Some verses on the subject of her death, one stanza of which I
remember. It is no mean specimen of versification, regarded
as the composition of an unlearned scribe : —

Popnlar Hnperstitions. 13
" Lo, when blooming youth aud beauty
Death relentless will not spare,
Sure we learn the solemn duty,
Man, to meet thy God prepare."
After the death of his wife, John Wandby carried on with
success his business as a carpenter, and to him my brother
Samuel was apprenticed. He married a second time ; and at
length took a farm, for the rent of which my uncle, Thomas
MarshaU, was unhappily bound. As a farmer, he was unsuc
cessful, became insolvent, emigrated to America ; and my
generous uncle lost a considerable part of his property, so that
his charities in future life were unavoidably curtailed.
In the days of my boyhood, the labouring people in Sancton
were generally rude, iU-informed, profane, and superstitious.
A young man, who died of consumption, remained several hours
in his last conflict, his mother being almost distracted. It was
believed that his dying agonies were prolonged by feathers of
pigeons in the bed upon which he lay ; and it was suggested
that he would linger in a state of intense suffering tiU they were
removed. The wife of a labouring man in the village was for several
months in a declining state of health ; her husband and some of
their confidential friends thought that she was bewitched, and
suspected that a poor old widow, who lived in the neighbour
hood, was the author of all the mischief. Having been instructed
by some persons whom they thought to be wiser than themselves,,
as to the means by which they might detect and punish the
witch, and efl'eetually relieve the afflicted woman,, they pur
chased of a butcher the heart of a slaughtered ox ; stuck
as many pins into it as it could well contain ; used a form
of incantation which they had carefully learned ; and then
placed the whole close to a blazing fire. The process of roasting
the heart full of pins was begun early iii the evening, and con
tinued till midnight ; and all this while it was supposed the
witch felt as much pain as if her own heart were full of pins, and
burning before a fire. At twelve o'clock it was believed the
witch could bear her pain no longer, would come to the house
of the bewitched woman, beg in the most earnest manner for

.14 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
admission, confess her sin, and ask forgiveness of the injured
family. While the beast's heart was aU but dried up before the
fire, the hearts of all the party who were engaged in the punish
ment of witchcraft were fuU of wrath against the offender, whom
they supposed to be in agonies of pain, and whose penitent
confession they expected soon to receive. At last the desired
hour arrived ; the incantations were finished, the clock struck
twelve, and all listened to hear the shrieks and entreaties of "the
poor old widow at the door. No voice was heard. The aged
woman, whom I distinctly remember, and who was as innocent of
-witchcraft as those who suspected her were of wisdom, was, I
presume, fast asleep in her bed. So after several hours spent
in high mental excitement, the party confessed themselves to be
¦disappointed, and, like children who are afraid of ghosts and
apparitions, " To bed they creep,
By whistling winds soon luU'd asleep."
This account is no fiction ; for, as I happened to be in the
¦confidence of the afflicted woman's husband, though I was
then a youth, he related the whole to me as a profound and
awful secret.
Some of the people every summer examined the ash trees
with great care, to see whether or not they produced any
seed ; for the barrenness of the ash was said to be a sure
sign of public calamity. It was a tradition among aged and
thoughtful men, that the ash trees of England produced
no seed during the year in which Charles the First was
beheaded. While such was the state of knowledge among the labour
ing classes, and even among the farmers, the professional men,
in respect of science, were not entitled to the highest admira
tion. One case of skiU in surgery I may mention. I believe
it was never reported in any medical journal for the public
benefit. A farmer in a neighbouring village, whom I weU
knew, missed his aim in the use of his axe, and inflicted a
deep wound in his foot, which bled profusely, so that his
famUy were alarmed. They sent for a surgeon, a man of many

Unskilful Surgery. 15
years' standing in his profession. On his arrival, instead of
closing the wound, so that the severed parts might unite, he
thought that his first concern was to stop the bleeding ; but
how to effect this object was his difficulty. He set his wits to
work, and soon recollected that blood is a fluid, and flour a dry
substance ; and that by fiUing the wound with flour, the blood
would be effectuaUy obstructed. He made the experiment,
which answered admirably ; and he returned home, thankful
that he had given relief to an anxious family, and not dis
satisfied with his professional skUl. On visiting his patient
the next day, he found that the blood and flour had formed a
hard substance, which rendered it impossible that the wound
should heal ; but how to remove that substance was now the diffi
culty. The misery of the sufferer may be easily imagined ;
and I well remember to have heard him publicly prayed for as
a dying man. He did, however, recover his health, but was a
cripple for life.
Another sad case of unskilful surgery I shall have here
after to report, by which the valuable life of an uncle of
mine was sacrificed, his wife was a second time made a
widow, and eight children were deprived of a father's care and
example. Some aged people think that " the former times were
better than these ; " and that the affairs of mankind are grow
ing worse and worse ; but such an opinion does not accord
with either my experience or observation.
While men professedly scientific were thus ill qualified for
the duties they undertook, and the common people were the
dupes of superstitious folly, the state of reUgion and morals
was deplorable. There was no clergyman resident in Sancton ;
and no regular service took place in the parish church except
once a fortnight, the incumbent having the charge of two
parishes, and being unable to support a curate. He bad a large
family, with a scanty income, which he endeavoured to augment
by a com-miU and a smaU shop for the sale of groceries and
drapery ; in the management of which he and his family were
unsuccessful, and his imprisonment for debt was the conse
quence. His manner in the pulpit was pompous and oratorical ;
but his sermons, in respect of their matter, were not at all

16 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
adapted either to instruct or impress the few ignorant and
ungodly people who heard them.
In those times, when any great calamity occurred, by fire
or flood, or by pestilential diseases among cattle, an appeal was
made to the Government, who issued a brief to the different
parishes, directing that a collection should be made in the
churches at the time of Divine service for the relief of the
sufferers. When one of these authoritative documents came
to Sancton, the clergyman read it aloud from the sacred desk,
but with such rapidity that the congregation could only guess
at its meaning. When he had done, one of the churchwardens
walked along the aisle in the middle- of the Church, carrying in
his baud a coUecting-box, which he presented to neither man,
woman, nor child ; and thus ended the farce of a pubhc col
lection for a charitable purpose, not a penny being contributed,
and the box deposited in its place for future use. The whole
affair was a simple mockery ; but, being played in the house'
of God, and in the midst of a solemn religious service, was
nothing less than profane ; yet all appeared to be satisfied..
The clergyman and his churchwarden had done their duty •
and the people kept their money in their pockets.
In the neighbourhood of Sancton is Houghton Hall, then
the residence of Philip Langdale, Esq., the representative of
an ancient Eoman Catholic famUy of that name. He had a
chapel connected with his own mansion, and supported a priest
who had some knowledge of medicine, which he applied to the
benefit of indigent families, many of whom were employed upon
Mr. Langdale's estate. The consequence was, that one nomi
nal Protestant after another passed over to the Papal com
munity, having, as it was said, changed their reUgion; yet
without forsaking their sins, so that their tempers and conduct
remained the same. By their neighbours they were generally
called " cheese-and-bread Papishes ; " worldly advantages being
regarded as the dhect cause of their conversion. The truth is,
the people in general knew nothing of the real nature of
reUgion. It does not appear that family prayer was practised
in the entire parish, or was ever thought of as a duty. One
form of devotion the children were taught to commit ta

Low Tone of Public Morals-. 17
memory, and repeat in the evening, as each of them retired to
rest : — " Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John,
Bless the bed that I lie on."
No one had any direct pastoral intercourse with the clergyman,
or cared to have any ; few attended his miaistrations ; while
Sabbath-breaking, profane swearing, an irreverent use of the
Almighty's name, and drunkenness on the part of those who
could afford to indulge themselves in that odious vice, charac
terized the people in general ; who were rapidly degenerating
into Popery and practical heathenism. Thefts were common,
and property was insecure.
The writings of Hobbes and of Spinoza were not read in the
viUage, nor even those of Leibnitz, or of Edwards ; yet some of
the people were stanch believers in the doctrine of Necessity,
and pleaded it as an excuse for crime. The body of a man who
was hanged at York for stealing a cow, was delivered up to his
mother, who lived in Sancton ; and she exposed it to the view
of her neighbours, who might desire to see it. To a company
of the spectators I heard her say, in a tone of dogged resigna
tion, " Ah ! poor man 1 he could not help it. He was born to
it." That " he was born to it " was undeniable ; for if he had
not been " born," he would neither have committed the crime,
nor suffered the penalty ; but that he could not " help " either
the one or the other was a very different question. The most
illiterate people can invent ingenious excuses for their mis
doings. Old men used to tell of the highway robberies that
occurred in their time ; and I distinctly remember the gaUows
that stood about half-way between Market Weighton and
Shipton, where a formidable company of marauders had been
executed, who were a terror to that part of the country, and
were known by the name of " the Fife gang."
It is a remarkable fact, that amidst all this ignorance and
irreligion some vestiges of ecclesiastical discipUne stiU lingered
in the village. Two examples of public- penance I remember to
have witnessed. A farmer's son, the father of an iUegitimate
chUd, came into the church at the time of Divine service on the

18 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Lord's day, covered with a sheet, having a white wand in his
hand ; he walked barefoot up the aisle, stood over against the
desk where the prayers were read, and there repeated a con
fession at the dictation of the clergyman ; after which he
walked out of the church. The other case was that of a young
woman, " Who bore unhusbanded a mother's name."
She, also, came into the church barefoot, covered with a
sheet, bearing a white wand, and went through- the same cere
mony. She had one advantage, which the young man had
not. Her long hair so completely covered her face, that not
a feature could be seen. In a large town few persons would
have known who she was ; but in a small village every one is
known, and no public delinquent can escape observation, and
the censure of busy tongues. These appear to have been the
last cases of the kind that occurred in Sancton. The sin was
perpetuated, but the penalty ceased ; my father observed, that
rich offenders evaded the law, and then the authorities could
not for shame continue to inflict its penalty upon the labouring
classes. Some provision was made in Sancton for the education of
the children, but it was inadequate, and not sufficiently valued
by the people. There is in the parish an endowed school,
which is open to all the children whom their parents choose to
send ; but the salary of the master is of so small an amount,
that no duly qualified teacher could be found to accejpt it. It
would not support a single man, and much less a man with a
family. The master must therefore either have property of his
own, or connect some other employment with the charge of the
school ; for no one seems ever to have entertained the thought,
that the salary might be augmented by voluntary contributions,
and the services of an efficient master secured. When I attended
this place of instruction, the entire range of tuition included
nothing more than reading, writing, a few rules of arithmetic,
and the Church Catechism ; which the scholars had to repeat
once a week, as they stood in a semicircle, the master before
them with the book in one hand, and a substantial hazel-stick

The Horn-Book. 19
in the other. This terrible weapon and the dreaded ferula were
in daily requisition, and never failed to fall with dire effect upon
the shoulders or the bands of the hapless lad who betrayed signs
of inattention, whose memory failed him at the time, or whose
apprehension was duU. A grammar, a book of geography, or
a volume of history we never saw or even beard of in the school ;
so that, had the best instructed of our master's pupils been ques
tioned as to the meaning of such words as " substantive," ' ' verb,"
" ]pronoun," " nominative case," or the position of any nation
in Europe, he would have been as completely perplexed as if he
had been asked to explain an equal number of words in Arabic
or Sanscrit, or to describe the cities that were built and occupied
before the general deluge.
Yet even the limited course of instruction provided for the
young people of Sancton was often interrupted ; and at some
seasons of the year the attendance of the scholars was greatly
reduced. When the labourers' children could obtain employ
ment from the farmers, the school was abandoned, and the
youthful pupils were sent to cut weeds in the cornfields in the
spring ; to frighten away the birds from the standing corn ;
then to assist in harvest operations ; and next, to glean the
fields which had been reaped. In some cases they were em
ployed in tending cattle in the fields during the entire summer.
In this manner much of my time was spent after I had begun
to attend the school. The sons and daughters of the farmers,
generally speaking, had no education beyond that which the
parish school supplied.
In those times the horn-book, which is now so rare as to be
an object of antiquarian research, was common in country
¦schools. It consisted of a single page, upon which the alphabet
and a few short words were printed. The page was pasted upon
a small piece of board, with a handle ; and the printed matter
was covered with transparent horn, so that the busy fingers of
the child could not obliterate the letters. A book so substantial
in its construction could not easily be destroyed, and might
serve several learners in succession. In the progress of refine
ment the horn-book feU into disuse : yet so strongly is the
organ of destructiveness developed in children, that a specimen
c 2

20 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
of this early instrument of education, with which the great
grandsires of the present generation were so familiar, is rarely
to be seen.
As the clergyman was not resident in the village, we never
saw him in the school, nor did I ever hear a prayer offered in
it, or a psalm or a hymn ever sung. The Bible was used as a
lesson-book by some of the elder scholars ; but no attempt was
ever made to explain and enforce either its doctrines or precepts.
As to the Church Catechism, nothing more was done beyond the
proposal of its questions, and the repetition of its answers.
The school stood in the churchyard, but the master was a
Methodist, and a class-leader. Whether he was under any
restriction in respect of religion in the school, I know not.
Connected with our school duties, which in themselves were
not very oppressive, were some events and occasions of boister
ous hilarity. Every forenoon the boys were aUowed to retire
from the school into the churchyard as a means of relaxation,
but the time allowed was very brief. A piece of lead, suspended
by a string from a cross-beam, was set a-swinging by one of
the elder boys when we retired ; and if we did not return before
the lead had ceased to vibrate, the master came out with the
dreaded hazel in his hand, and every delinquent was expected
to pass before him, and receive the well-known penalty of
disobedience. As soon as he appeared brandishing this instru
ment of pain, we formed ourselves into a square, and rushed
past him in a soUd body, so that the stick could only faU upon
one or two of the rebellious crowd, the rest escaping unhurt.
An occasion of still greater triumph over authority occurred
every twelve months ; when from time immemorial the scholars
claimed the liberty to lock the master out of the place where he
was accustomed to rule in undisputed power. They watched
for the opportunity when the weU-known season returned ; and
if ever he then retired, leaving the key in the door, he found it
fastened on his return. If he could not force it open, he con
fessed himself beaten, and promised the rioters a feast, consist
ing of tea and plum-cake, to the expense of which every one
was expected to contribute. When the time of the annual
mutiny approached, he often carried the key in his pocket;

Barring out the Schoolmaster. 21
and then there remained no means of fastening the door but by
placing benches and desks against it. When he was able to
effect a forcible entrance, the hazel-stick was brought into
requisition, and fell in many a terrible thwack upon the backs
and shoulders of the offenders, who had expected a holiday
and a feast. Yet a body of hardy lads were not disheartened
by one or two faUures, nor by a thrashing, however severe.
The weals upon their shoulders were healed in a few days, and
they hoped for success at the next opportunity. They felt that
ithe honour of the school, which their fathers had attended, was
confided to them ; and that to maintain that honour they must
lock the master out, and keep him out, once every year.
The fifth of November was a high day with our master's
pupils. It was known by the name of "the ringing day; " on
which we were not only exempt from attendance at school, but
from tasks at home, and had the free use of the parish church
as the place of racket and diversion. Some of the boys were
employed in ringing the bells ; and others in beating one
another with balls made of hard leather fastened to a string,
with which many a heavy blow was inflicted as matter of
amusement, the sanctity of the place being never thought of.
The lads who had no taste for this boisterous play spent the
day in begging or stealing combustibles for the bonfire in the
¦evening. Their success was often great, and the accumulation
¦of whins and other materials so large, that the fire might be
seen from afar ; and the shouting of a noisy crowd so loud as
to disturb the equanimity of all the Eomanists in the neigh
bourhood. Yet I never heard that the Eoman Catholic
'Squire attempted to suppress this uproarious ceremony; and
he so far forgave it as on Shrove Tuesday to supply these
young vociferous Protestants with as many pancakes as they
could eat ; and certainly the quantity was not small. To his
servants it was an occasion of great merriment to furnish a
sufficient supply to satisfy the cravings of a troop of hungry
lads, many of. whom had tasted nothing so savoury since they
had the last dinner at Houghton Hall.
Mr. Langdale kept a pack of hounds, and took great delight
in the sports of the field. I have seen him return in the even-

22 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
ing, in aU the triumph of a sportsman of the old school, at the'
head of his party, surrounded by his dogs, with the tail of a
fox dangUng down his back, as an indication that when the
dogs had seized upon reynard, he was the first that reached the
dying animal, and therefore claimed its brush as his perquisite
and trophy. For such an honour men of rank were accustomed
to risk their limbs and lives, and would have been laughed at
as cowards, had they hesitated to leap their horses over gates
and hedges : " Contusion hazarding of neck or spine.
Which rural gentlemen caU sport divine."
In those times Sancton contained many examples of longe
vity both in men and women. One aged man I remember who^
used to state that he was working in a field when the total
eclipse of tlie sun took place, April 22nd, 1715. He said that
when the sudden darkness ensued, the larks suspended their
songs, and retired to their nests upon the ground; and the
domestic fowls went to their roosts, as if the night had actually
arrived.

CHAPTER IL
INTBODUCTION OF METHODISM INTO S-VNCTON— A CLASS POUMED— nELIGION IS
THE I'AllILY— YOUTHFUL EMI'LOYMENT — APPKENTICESnir— VILLAGE PBEACH-
ING— ST-ATE OF POPULAB EDUCATION.
IT was a happy day for England and for the world, when the
two Wesleys, having obtained by faith in Christ the salvation
of God, entered upon their mission as Itinerant and Field
Preachers. By their personal efforts, and the instrumentality
which they had the honour of originating, the Ught of saving
truth has been conveyed to many dark villages and hamlets, as
well as into large towns and cities, by which the most important
changes have been effected in the character and condition of the
people; and Sancton was at length destined to share in the
benefit. Two aged men, whom I well remember, one of whom, Eobert
Hudson, was a retired shepherd, and the other, Thomas WaUis,
a superannuated schoolmaster, began seriously to think of their
latter end, of their want of a due preparation for the approaching
judgment, and of the sad state of their neighbours with respect
to religion and morals. On these weighty subjects they
consulted together, and resolved to invite some Methodist
Preacher to visit them regularly, and proclaim the Gospel in
Thomas Wallis's cottage. There were, however, difficulties in
the way. Thomas lived alone. He had no wife, and no house
keeper ; he had only one bed, which stood upon the mud floor
of his humble dwelling. Eobert Hudson's accommodation for
the entertainment of the stranger was deemed not equal even
to this. Yet they ventured to carry their scheme into practical
effect. The Preacher whom they invited was the Eev. George
Holder. When they had expressed to him their wishes, they
told him that they could give him some refreshment in the
evening of his arrival ;' that he should have Thomas Wallis's

24 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
cottage to preach in ; half of Thomas's bed for the night,
provender and shelter for his horse, and a breakfast for him
self the next morning ; adding, with an expression of regret,
that they could not give him a dinner. He received their
offer with aU readiness, in the true spirit of his Lord, teUing
them that he would visit them once a month, on the Friday,
which he observed as a weekly fast. In the year 1786 Pock
Ungton was made the head of a Methodist Circuit ; Mr. Holder
was appointed the second Preacher in it ; and I presume
it was during that year that this arrangement was made. The
parties knew not the results that would follow. They "did
what they could," and left the issue with God.
At that time my father and mother had been married about
seven or eight years ; their eldest chUd, William, was in the
sixth year of bis age ; their second child was dead ; and I was
from two to three years old. The place of preaching was not
inviting. Thomas WaUis's cottage was low, like nearly every
other in the village ; it was covered with thatch ; it had but one
story ; the floor was much lower than the street ; and the
entrance to it was by 'a descent of two or three steps. Mr.
Holder fulfilled his engagement, and opened his commission in
this humble sanctuary. His word was made a blessing to the
people who attended to hear, among whom was my mother. A
class was formed, of which she became one of the earliest mem
bers ; and was soon made happy in the. enjoyment of God's
pardoning mercy and renewing grace, as was also her sister
Elizabeth. Provision Was thus made for the Christian train
ing of our rising family. At that time there was a Methodist
chapel at Market Weighton ; but the pulpit was only occupied
in the afternoon and evening of every alternate Sunday.
My father attended the Methodist ministry, but did not at
once connect himself with the Society. He had a taste for
reading ; and, meeting with some books of Calvinistic divinity,
he yielded a sort of unconscious assent to then' tenets ; and,
perhaps without intending it, was rather a disciple of Calvin
than of Arminius and of Mr. Wesley. Bunyan was one of his
favourite authors ; and he thoroughly digested the " Pilgrim's
Progress," the "Holy War," and the "Doctrine of Law and

Books brought by the Preachers. 25
Grace," of that ingenious and popular writer. The minister
whose sermons he particularly admired was Mr. Stillingfleet,
an evangelical clergyman, the incumbent of Hotham, about three
miles from Sancton ; to which place he often walked on the
Sabbath day, after the hard labour of the week, when rest would
have been eminently acceptable ; but be well knew how to
appreciate a good sermon ; and " the word of the Lord," in its
truth and power, "was precious in those days." At Hotham,
he sometimes heard the Eev. Joseph MUner, of HuU, the eccle
siastical historian, whose "long words" and elaborate diction
some of the common people confessed their inabUity to under
stand. After the public service, my father had occasionaUy a
brief interview with Mr. Stillingfleet, from whom he received
spiritual counsel, and the loan of such books as his spiritual
adviser deemed suitable, Among these, I remember, were
Eomame's "Life of Faith," "Walk of Faith," and Boston's
" Human Nature in its Four-Fold State." Mr. StiUingfleet, I
have understood, kept a stock of such books for the purpose of
lending them to persons who were reUgiously inclined, and were
likely to profit by them.
The introduction of Methodism into Sancton soon produced
changes of the most beneficial kind. The two Preachers belong
ing to the PockUngton Circuit, after the way had been prepared
by Mr. Holder, visited it alternately once a fortnight, on a week
day, and preached mostly to the labouring classes. At length,
other doors were opened for the entertainment of these itinerant
evangeUsts, especially by John Wandby and Thomas Vanse ;
but the. public services were generaUy held in the cottage of
Thomas Wallis, into which a moveable pulpit was introduced.
When a preacher could be obtained on a Sunday, and there was
no public service in the church, a carpenter's shop was used for
the occasion. The Preachers who came on the week-days
brought cheap books, such as the single sermons of Mr. Wesley,
and the hymns of his brother Charles ; short biographies, con
taining authentic accounts of the conversion, the holy lives, and
the happy deaths, of persons of both sexes, and in every rank of
society, the poor as well as the rich. The "Arminian Magazine,"
the monthly organ pf Methodism, was also introduced, two or

26 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
more famUies uniting in the purchase of it. My father resolved
that each of his chUdren should have a volume of this periodical
bound in calf. The volume that fell to my share I still possess,
and highly prize for the donor's sake. In this manner a taste for
reading was created in families, and profitable books supplanted
profane conversation and sports on the Lord's Day. Useful
knowledge was diffused, and especially on the all-important
subject of true reUgion. For a time the farmers and their
families stood aloof from this work, and refused to Usten to the
warnings and instructions of Methodist Preachers; but several
of " the common people heard them gladly," and to their endless
advantage. In addition to the class-meeting, which was held for the
benefit of the Society, one or two prayer-meetings were held
every week, and especiaUy on the Sabbath day. The godly
women who attended these services appeared in plain bonnets,
somewhat in the Quaker fashion, and in red cloaks. Any repe
tition in a tune was assigned to them separately ; and sweetly
did they sing the praises of their Saviour, connecting this part
of their devotions with a gentle and apparently unconscious
motion of their bodies. The prayers of the men were not marked
by any extraordinary range of thought, or variety of expression ;
but they were earnest, and consisted mostly of texts of Scripture,
uttered in the form of supplication, intercession, thanksgiving,
and praise. The voices which were heard in these assemblies,
both male and female, are now silent in death. All the first
race of Sancton Methodists have disappeared, and their graves,
generally speaking, are undistinguished in the churchyard ; but
" sweet is the memory of their names," and the effects of their
pious fidelity are to be seen in many who are now alive, and
are following them to a better world.
Well do I remember the godly zeal of my mother, when she
was left in the daily charge of her children, in the unavoidable
absence of her husband, who was toUing for their daily bread.
When the frugal breakfast was ended, and before we went to
school, she was accustomed to take us with her into the parlour ;.
and whUe we all knelt around her, she commended us to God's
mercy in Christ, in a manner the most fseUng and importunate.

Sundays at Market Weighton. 27
The tones of her voice were most affecting ; they seem at this
moment to ring in my ears as if they had been uttered only
yesterday, and have left an impression which no lapse of time
can ever efface. Earnestly did she plead with God for the
salvation of her children and the other members of her family.
In those days there was ho regular Methodist preaching at
Sancton on the Sabbath day ; btit once a fortnight, when the
Travelling Preachers visited Market Weighton, our family,
headed by my father, used to attend the chapel there at two-
o'clock in the afternoon. As a matter of course, we were hooted
in the streets of that town, under the name of " Culamites,"
by companies of idle men, congregated for the purpose of
mischief. No answer was ever given to these " sons of Belial;"'
but their gibes and loud laughter, at our expense, were intensely
mortifying to my youthful heart, which was ill-disposed to-
suffer shame for Christ's sake. Yet I was often deeply affected
under the preaching that I heard, alarmed for the consequences
of sin, and secretly drawn to God in prayer. On the Sunday,
when we had no pubhc service to attend till the prayer-meeting-
in the evening, I have occasionally stolen away from home, to
see the boys and men playing at marbles in the street ; and
though I durst not take part in the game, I felt that I ought not
to be even a spectator of Sabbath desecration ; and when the
day was over, I have wept before God on account of the sin of
which I had thus been* guilty, and could find no rest in my
spirit because God was angry with me. Such were my feelings
when I was not more than seven or eight years of age. We had
no Sunday-school, where our young minds might be relieved
from the monotony of a Sabbath spent at home, without any
kind of employment ; for we had no books that would fix our
attention, or excite our feelings. In a Sunday-school, our minds
would have been occupied with the stirring ¦ facts of Scripture
history, with the "singing of hymns, and the acquisition of
religious knowledge. But such schools in our viUage and.
neighbourhood were then unknown.
At this period, though a silent Sabbath was a burden, I
began to take great pleasure in the duties of the day-school,.
especiaUy in arithmetic, in which I made a rapid progress, and

28 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
would have been glad to persevere ; but during long intervals
my studies were interrupted by such labour as I was capable
of performing upon my uncle's farm, especially in tending
cattle upon the Wold hills. The consequence was, that much
of what I had learned was forgotten.
The prospect from these hills, where much of my time in my
boyhood was spent, is one of the most extensive and varied I
have ever seen. Looking towards the south, at a distance pf
about nine miles, is the river Humber, flUing its channel, its
broad waters glittering in the sun, with the rising ground of
Lincolnshire on the opposite coast. Inclining a little to the
west, at a distance of some seventeen or eighteen miles, is seen
the lofty tower of Howden church, the intervening space
being a perfect level, varied by woods and cultivated grounds.
Inclining still more to the right is a somewhat lofty hiU, rising
out of a vast plain, and bearing on its summit Holme church,
as a sbUtary object, the village to which it belongs being on the
opposite side of the hill. StiU further to the right, at a dis
tance of more than twenty miles, appears York minster, with its
¦antique and stately towers. Nearly in the same direction, but
still inclining to the right, appears the broad steeple of Pock
Ungton church, at a distance of some six or eight mUes. At
about half the distance, appear the church of Shipton and that
of Market Weighton ; and at the right of them the picturesque
viUage of Londesborough, with its rich mountains and profu
sion of lofty trees ; formerly a Eoman station, with the name
of Delgovitia ; in more recent times containing a noble mansion
belonging to the Dukes of Devonshhe, and now the property of
a nobleman who has adopted its name as his title.
Such a prospect, presenting an area of vast extent, with the
historical recollections connected with the different objects,
would afford a rich gratification to an adult person of taste and
historic lore, and produce a momentary transport of delight ;
but to a lad of eight or nine years old, who knew nothing of
history, and whose mind had never been awakened to a percep
tion of the grand or the beautiful, either in nature or art, the
¦finest scenery has no charm ; and especially scenery with which
the eye is familiar for ten or twelve hours every day in per-

LoneUness on the Wolds. 29
petuity. Many a dreary day at this early period of my life
have I spent upon these hills, watching the cattle, lest they
should stray beyond the prescribed boundary, never seeing a
human face, or hearing a human voice, from an early hour in
the morning tUl the setting of the sun; eating my cold and
frugal dinner alone. A feeling of loneliness has often come
over me, tiU my heart was ready to break ; and tears and sighs
have afforded me a temporary relief. My only companions were
the dumb animals of which I had the charge, some of which had
an unconquerable propensity to resist my authority, and rush
into the turnip -field ; my only shelter from the rays of the sun, ,
the drizzling mist, or the pelting rain, was a slender hut of my
own construction, consisting of a few sods placed upon each
other, the covering being a bundle of straw, or of weeds
gathered from the turnip-field, or the standing corn.
Sometimes I took a book with me to relieve the tedium of
the hours ; but there were then no volumes accessible to me
that were calculated to interest a boyish mind. Such books
were then comparatively rare ; they could only be purchased
by sums of money which I did not possess ; and jp shops of
some twenty miles' distance, into which I could never hope to
enter. My mind was thus left to prey upon itself; and the-
most interesting object that ever met my sight upon these Wolds.
was the setting sun, which indicated the time of my return
to company, whose voices afforded me as sincere a pleasure as
Handel's music ever produced even in a cultivated mind. My
lot was cast with that of large classes of the community, of
whom it has been too truly said, that
 " Knowledge to their eyes her ample page,
Bich with the spoUs of Time, did ne'er unrol;
Chill penury repress'd their noble rage.
And froze the genial current of the soul."
Yet painful as were my feeUngs upon the Wold hiUs, they
never assumed the form of terror, such as seized upon a youth
ful contemporary and acquaintance, who was entrusted with
the care of a herd of cattle at a greater distance from the
viUage than the fields to which I was sent. A beautiful bird of

:30 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Ught colour, about the size of a pigeon, is common upon those
"hiUs, and utters a plaintive cry, from the sound of which its
name is taken. When this youth heard the cry of the
"curlew," he interpreted it to be " kiU you;" and became
-apprehensive that the "voice came from a being of the hobgobUn
tribe, and was sent to warn him of instant death. In a
paroxysm of fright, therefore, he ran home, in a state border
ing upon distraction, driving the cattle before him, and afraid
to look behind him., lest he should see the gobUu, which he
-thought was pursuing him to take away his life. My own feeling
was not that of fright, but of lonehness. I was not terrified
with the thought of seeing " spirits " in the day time, however
I was in the dark ; but I wanted company.
When I had just entered upon this kind of life, my father
was balloted for the militia ; and had he been a single man,
would doubtless have served his king and country as a soldier ;
but he felt that to enter upon military service would be the
probable ruin of his family ; yet how to provide a substitute
was the difficulty ; for the means were not at his command.
He laid his-case before a few persons who were able to assist him
without inconvenience to themselves ; and with their generous
aid he was enabled to hire a man to take his place as a soldier,
and he was allowed to remain at home with his wife aud
• children. Among other persons to whom he stated his case
was Mr. Langdale, of Houghton Hall, who, alluding to what
Thomas and James Marshall had done, and adopting the
language of the common people, said, "WeU, Tom; I will be
to thee as a brother." On this occasion my father, in the
fulness of his heart, composed some verses. I cannot say that
he wrote them ; for I do not remember to have ever seen him
use a pen. Two stanzas I remember. The first was : —
"The' apostate Preuc'n destroy'd their king.
And made their boast, and said
They would a numerous army bring.
This nation to invade."
It was under this threat that the militia was then organized.
Alluding to the repulse that he met with from certain parties
to whom he appUed for help, he said : —

Exhausting physical Labour. 31
" Some there were who did me jeer,
And told me I might ' go ; '
Their ignorance I ought to bear,"
My case they did not know."
I was about eight or nine years old when I heard that my
father was to be a soldier, who might be slain in battle with
the French ; and my young heart was ready to break. I wept
bitterly, and was mightily relieved when the threatening
calamity was averted.
When childhood had passed away, and a few years had been
spent in alternating between the studies of the school and the
labour of the field, I left my father's house to become a farmer's
servant, hired by the year. Sometimes my strength was
severely taxed, especially when I was employed in threshing
corn, and was required to give stroke for stroke with the flail,
in common with a fuU- grown man. I have panted for breath ;
my arms have ached beyond endurance ; and I did indeed eat
my bread in the sweat of my brow. Words can scarcely express
the satisfaction and joy with which I retired to rest in the evening
.after the hard toil of the day, or the feeling with which I
welcomed the return of the Sabbath. To rise in the morning
while it was yet dark, and my eyelids were half closed, was a
:Sore trial; but there was no alternative. I cculd guide the
plough, and perform several other kinds of service connected
with husbandry, with comparative ease; but for a lad who
had only just entered into his teens to stand beside a muscular
¦man, and equal him in the use of the flail upon the barn floor,
was a real hardship ; and even now, in old age, I retain a deep
impression of the pain and exhaustion I then endured. At
that time machines for threshing corn were scarcely heard of,
at least in that part of the country. Farmers were not aware
of the beneficial purposes to which steam might be applied, so
: as to reduce both expense and labour.
It may serve to give some idea of agricultural life in those
times, if I state that an honest lad, an acquaintance of my own,
" having worked hard in the harvest-field all the day, durst not
retire to rest at night tiU he had said his prayers, for which
purpose he knelt by the side of his bed ; but he was so over-

32 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
powered by sleep, that he found himself in the same position
the next morning, when he awoke at the sound of the well-
known voice which called him to his wonted labour.
" Let not Ambition mock their useful toil,
Their homely joys, and destiny obscure ;
Nor Grandeur hear with a disdainful smile
The short and simple annals of the poor."
"Moreover the profit of the earth is for aU: the king himself
is served by the field." Since those times the furniture in
farm-houses has undergone a material alteration. Plates have
superseded the wooden trencher ; the basin has taken
the place of the wooden dish ; and the metal spoon has been
substituted for the broad, clumsy spoon which was cut out of a
piece of solid timber. Society is in a state of constant progress.
The trencher was an improvement upon an earlier practice, of
which a few specimens then remained. Hollow places of a
circular form were cut in the large oak tables in the kitchens
of farm-houses, at equal distances, in which the viands of the
men were placed ; so that neither a moveable trencher nor a
plate was required. In these houses, a rack usually covered
one side of a large room, and on the shelves were ranged pe^wter
plates and dishes of various sizes, which were preserved with a
bright polish, and only used on state occasions, such as the
yearly feast, a wedding, or the christening of a child.
Three years I spent as a hired servant, and two of them at
farm-houses distant from any town or village. During those
two years, being far from any place of worship, and having
many duties to perform on the Lord's day, especiaUy in con
nexion with the live stock, whose food must be regularly sup
pUed, I had few opportunities of hearing God's word, and of
mingling with worshipping assemblies. My attention was
therefore seldom caUed from the things of earth to the higher
purposes of my being. The consequence was a practical forget
fulness of God, a neglect of prayer in the morning and evening,
and A comparatively caUous state of heart. Yet the fear of God,
in some degree, I stiU retained. Though accustomed daily to^
hear oaths and curses, with an irreverent use of God's holy

Apprenticed to a Carpenter. 33
name, I stood aloof from such practices, and neither then, nor
at any other time, did I dare to utter a profane oath, even when
such utterances were regarded by my companions as indications
of a manly character and bearing, and I was wishful to have
their good opinion. "But this did not I, because of the fear
of God," with which my mind was imbued by His blessing upon
parental instruction, warning, and example, and the Methodist
sermons I had heard in Thomas WaUis's cottage and elsewhere.
Whatever my sins were, in other respects, — and I confess they
were many and .great, — I never did, in the whole course of my
life, utter a profane oath, nor, to the best of my remembrance,
take the name of God in vain.
When I was about fifteen years of age, my father entered
into an agreement with Peter Beal, of Shipton, to take me as
his apprentice, and teach me the business of a joiner and car
penter. The motive which led to this arrangement was a pro
babiUty that in future life. I should be able to make a better
provision for myself than I was likely to do as a farmer's
servant. I could entertain no hope of ever having a farm of
my own ; but I might perchance, after a small beginning,
become a master carpenter, and carry on a profitable business
on my own account. It has been wisely said, " There are many
devices in a man's heart ; nevertheless the counsel of the Lord,
that shall stand." The object then contemplated by my father
and myself has never been realized, and never "wUl be : but the
transition from the character of a farmer's boy to that of a
carpenter's apprentice led to results of a much higher and more
important kind. I was thus removed from the poUuting example
and conversation of the profane men with whom for three years
I had been accustomed to associate ; and what to me was per
haps a still greater advantage, I had the full and unrestricted
use of the Sabbath. Having no cattle to attend, as hereto
fore, I could employ the whole of that sacred day in useful
reading, and in attending the" public worship of God. My
master, though not professedly religious, was not an immoral
man, and indulged himself in no hostiUty to the Methodists ;
who, as might be expected, were, above all other people, the
objects of my esteem.

84 Recollections of my oicn Life and Times.
At that time there was in Shipton a Methodist Society, con
sisting of one class, of which my father's brother, Samuel
Jackson, was the leader. There was also regular preaching in
the cottage of Betty Ashton, a pious widow, who was related to
Thomas Ashton, who afterwards became a well-known Minister in
the Methodist Connexion. On my removal to my new situation,
I obtained a Hymn-Book, and became an habitual attendant
upon the prayer-meetings, and the ministry of the Preachers,
both traveUing and local ; but had no such feeling as induced
me to request admission into the Society. I also attended the
worship of God every Sunday afternoon in the Methodist chapel
at Market Weighton, the pulpit being at this time supplied on
alternate Sundays by the TraveUing and Local Preachers. Some
times Local Preachers from the neighbouring Circuits favoured
the congregation with their services. Among these I well
remember Eobert Thurlow, a schoolmaster, who was very expert
in the use of his pen ; and as he was often observed to take
notes of the sermons which he" heard from the lips of other
men, when he delivered a good sermon himself, he did not
always get the credit to which he was entitled ; for people were
apt to say that he had stolen it from some other preacher.
Another schoolmaster, of the name of Acklam, I also remem
ber, who had in the earlier years of his hfe been an habitual
drunkard, and after bis conversion was an example of piety.
In an evil hour he was induced to taste his favourite beverage,
when his insatiable appetite for it returned, he lost his power
of self-control, and drank tUl he was intoxicated. Filled "with
remorse, and covered with shame before both God and man,
because of the reproach which he had brought upon the cause
of reUgion, he made a solemn vow, that if God would merci-
fuUy forgive him, he would never again touch any intoxicating
Uquor. That vow he sacredly kept-; and he was greatly
respected for his deep and consistent piety, as weU as for his
useful talents as a preacher.
We were also favoured with occasional -visits from Eobert
Spence and Eichard BurdsaU, of York, Local Preachers, both of
whom were " famous in their generation, men of renown." Mr.
Spence, who carried on ihe business of a bpokseUer, was dis-

Robert Spence and Richard BurdsaU. 85
tinguished by spirituality of mind ; and his sermons, relating
often to " the deep things of God," were listened to with lively
interest by fathers in Christ and mothers in Israel. Mr. Burd
saU was, in some respects, one of the most remarkable men of
his age. He was low in stature, and somewhat slender in his
make ; his eyes were small, and his countenance was marked
by a singular archness of expression. He was gifted with an
uncommon power of memory. Sometimes his sermons con
sisted, to a great extent, of texts of Holy Scripture, every one
of which he used to repeat with verbal accuracy, specifying at
the same time the chapter and verse where they occur. In the
pulpit he occasionally said witty things, which provoked an
involuntary smile among his hearers, and sometimes even more
than a smile ; but his sermons were otherwise very impressive.
I have wept under his preaching, and, after hearing him, have
repeatedly gone home to pray. Once, in particular, I retired
into a field to weep and pray under the shade of a hay- stack,
after listening to one of his powerful discourses. One habit
he had which I never observed in any other man. As the
Clergy used to read their sermons, and the Methodist Preachers
were reported to deliver theirs extempore, it was sometimes sug
gested that in this respect their preaching was a fraud ; for
they might have their written sermons in the Bible. It was
probably to render nugatory this popular allegation, that Mr.
BurdsaU, when he had read his text, closed the Bible, and
placed it on the seat behind him. This practice, to say the
least, was not in good taste ; for every sermon is, or ought to
be, an exposition of God's Word ; and for a man to place behind
him the Word which he is about to expound and enforce, appears
neither respectful to Him whose messenger the preacher is, nor
to the people whom he is sent to warn and instruct, not in his
own name, but in the name of God. Yet we would not attach
too grave an importance to this habit, but would rather regard
it as a singular inadvertency in a sensible and good man. But
Clergymen, who take -with them into the pulpit nothing but a
manuscript, are not entitled to censure Eichard BurdsaU. He ¦
placed the Bible behind him ; and they leave the Bible in the
D 2

36 Recollections of my oicn Life and Times.
desk below. I would suggest, that for both parties there is " a
more excellent way."
The Local Preachers then belonging to the PockUngton Circuit
are entitled to a respectful mention in this place. Among these
was Mr. Luke Eichardson, whose voice was singularly smooth
and musical, and whose sermons were delivered with fluency
and power. He was a good man, who served God with fidelity
and blamelessness through a long life, both as a teacher of
youth and a preacher of Christ's Gospel. Thomas Bailey was
also deservedly esteemed for his" simpUcity and godly fervour.
By the common people especiaUy his preaching was well under
stood and highly appreciated. He also, with the other men just
mentioned, rests from his labours, and the people who esteemed
and loved him have mostly foUowed him to the world of spirits.
In the year 1798, when I removed to Shipton, the Eev. George
Lowe was the second Preacher in the PockUngton Circuit, and
visited Shipton once a month. There lived in the viUage a
man somewhat advanced in years, who had been trained to the-
manufacture of trenchers and wooden dishes, such as were then
generally used in farm-houses, as well as in cottages. These-
articles he carried about the country for sale, and connected.
¦with this business the collecting of skins; usuaUy employing
two asses in his journeys ; one of which carried his wares, and
upon the other he was accustomed to ride. He was a very pro
fane man, but zealous in support of ' ' the established religion "
of the country, and hostile to aU Methodistical innovations.
Whenever he met with a Methodist Preacher, he never failed to
assaU him with a flood of vulgar abuse. Meeting with Mr.
Lowe, this eager disputant commenced a violent attack upon
him, applying to him the foulest names, and uttering against
him the fiercest maledictions. But he soon found that he had
mistaken his man. Mr. Lowe was a person of great energy and
courage, possessed of a powerful voice, and would never after
wards suffer this revUer to have the first word ; but whenever he
met with him addressed him in a strain of earnest warning and
admonition, declaring the certain doom of all profane swearers
and blasphemers, tiU the old man quailed before him; and,
whenever he saw Mr. Lowe, flogged his asses, rushing into any

A Scoffer silenced. 37
bye-lane, to escape the dreaded voice of the Methodist Preacher.
But as Mr. Lowe was on horseback, and this son of Shimei
upon an ass, escape was impossible ; and he who had deemed
himself authorized to insult every Methodigt Preacher that he
met with became not only an object of ridicule in the viUage,
but was taught to put his licentious tongue under restraint.
What other benefits he received I am not able to state ; but his
dread of Mr. Lowe subjected him to many a sarcasm from the
lips of men who took a pleasure in seeing blustering impudence
effectuaUy rebuked and cowed.
At this time Shipton was on a par with Sancton and other
neighbouring viUages in respect of education and knowledge.
Great uneasiness prevailed in the pubhc mind on account of
the war which was then carried on between this country and
France ; the spirits of many were chafed by the dearness and
scarcity of provisions ; and emigration to America was much
talked about as promising effectual relief both to smaU farmers
and to labouring men. In these circumstances one of the most
respectable men in Shipton was wishful to ascertain in what
direction America lay with respect to England. I heard him
propose an inquiry on this subject to a man who had been in
America ; but he could get no answer. AU that this traveller
knew was, that he went to America in a ship, and returned in
the same manner ; but whether he sailed east, west, north, or
south, he really could not teU. One farmer in the viUage, who
lived upon his own estate, grew up to manhood nearly ignorant
of letters; his mother fearing that, if he were a scholar, he might
commit an act of forgery and be hanged.
WhUe geographical science was neglected, and in one case, at
least, writing was dreaded as a dangerous accomplishment,
language was not cultivated with extraordinary success. An
apprehension was extensively prevalent, that the French army
would attempt to land on the Holderness coast ; and in this
emergency a letter was sent from the mansion of the Duke of
Devonshire, at Londesborough, calling upon the young men in
the neighbouring places to offer their services to the nation as
volunteers. This important document was placed in the hands
of the Shipton schoolmaster, who expressed his surprise that

38 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
the Duke, or his secretary, did not know how to speU correctly.
The letter stated that the country was in " imminent danger of
an invasion; " and this accomplished pedagogue remarked, that
the first letter in the word "eminent "is e; and that, when
correctly spelt, the word contains only one m . so that the
word " eminent," as it was given in this letter, sent from th&
mansion of a Duke, contained no less than two mistakes ; an t
instead of an e, and a superfluous m .' Thus, with an air of
authority and self-importance, did this instructor of youth
affect to be wiser than his betters ; utterly unconscious that he
was exposing his own ignorance. He might have been told
that if he were upon one of the high towers of York minster,
he would be in an " eminent " position ; and if he were to faU
from that dizzy elevation, he would be in " imminent " danger
of losing his life. But the subtUe distinction between that
which is lofty, and that which is threatening, had not engaged
his attention. Yet it may be said of the peasants among whom
he dwelt, and whose hapless children were committed to his
tuition, — " And stiU they gazed, and still the wonder grew
That one small head could carry aU he knew."
The ridiculous criticism of our erudite schoolmaster did not,
however, affect the national defences ; and although I was not
far advanced beyond half of my teens, my patriotic feelings
were roused, and I resolved to risk my Ufe in my country's
cause. Beacons were erected, and tar-barrels placed in them,
ready to be ignited at a moment's warning, in case the enemy
should appear. In this state of public alarm, I embraced the
first opportunity, with the consent of my master, to walk to
Market Weighton, to offer my services as a volunteer; but on
my arrival there, the first inteUigence I received was, that a
soldier belonging to the regular army had that day been nearly
flogged to death in an open field, having received some hundreds
of lashes upon his naked back. I had np distinct conception of
the difference between volunteers and the regular army, and
was so disgusted with this outrage upon humanity, that I re
turned home again without making the offer I intended. I had
no inchnation for a soldier's life, if such were a soldier's doom>

Confirmation at Bcrcrley. 89
If it were necessary, I felt that I could stand before the fire of
the enemy, in the field of battle ; but the thought of being
whipped like a dog, my spirit could not brook. But for the
merciless flogging of that poor fellow, I might have learned the
miUtary exercise, and have contracted 'such a taste for military
service and honour, as to be diverted from the very different
kind of service to which I was soon after called, and to which
my life has been devoted. The providence of God is to be ac
knowledged in all things, and in aU events ; and for this change
in my purposes my thanks are due to Him who . has hitherto
been my Guide. In this case, by His overruling providence,
the terrible sufferings inflicted upon a man whom I never saw,
were made subservient to my benefit, and that I trust for ever.
About this time, notice was given to young persons iu Shipton,
that the Archbishop of York was about to hold a confirmation
in Beverley, which was about ten mUes distant ; and aU who
were desirous of sharing in the benefit of that rite, were re
quested to meet the clergyman on certain evenings for the
purpose of being catechized. I attended these preparatory
services, with several others, " mine equals " in age and position,
and was not a little gratified to find that I, who attended the
Methodist preaching in Betty Ashton's cottage, and rarely went
to the parish church, was the only youth among the Shipton
catechumens who could answer the question which our Eeverend
instructor proposed, " Who is your ghostly enemy ? " Several
of his hopeful charge having answered, "I don't know, Sir," he
looked at me, and I answered, "The devil. Sir." "Ay, to be
sure," said he, " the devil." Having given this proof of my
theological attainments, I returned home at the close of the
service greatly pleased with myself, and admired by my com
peers, a hopeful subject of the ecclesiastical rite which an Arch
bishop was about to administer, and which I was preparing to
receive. Of the imposition of the hands of the Archbishop I
confess, hke many others, I thought but Uttle. My attention
was mainly directed to the holiday connected with it.
I give these details, concerning my parentage, and the facts
of my early Ufe, in accordance with the advice of a devout man,
the most eloquent prelate that England ever bred. Addressing

40 Recollections of my cum Life and Times.
his readers individually, Jeremy Taylor says, " Never be
ashamed of thy birth, or thy parents, or thy trade, or thy
present employment, for the meanness or poverty of any of
them ; and when there is occasion to speak of them, such an
occasion as would invite you to speak of any thing that pleases
you, omit it not ; but speak as readUy and indifferently of thy
meanness as of thy greatness. Primislaus, the first king of
Bohemia, kept his country shoes always by him, to remember
him from what he was raised : and Agathocles by the furniture
of his table confessed that from a potter he was raised to be the
king of Sicily." ''= For a man to be ashamed of his parentage,
and of his condition in early life, over which he had no kind of
control, is to be ashamed of his Providential lot, which it is
difficult to reconcile with a right state of mind and heart. God
knows what is best for every one, and what He wills is best.
It should therefore be received not only with submission, but
¦with thankfulness. Shall I be ashamed to have it known that
I worked at a carpenter's bench, when it was said respecting
my Lord and Saviour, the incarnate Son of God, " Is not this
the carpenter's son?" and, "Is not this the carpenter?"
(Matt. xiii. 55 ; Maik yi. 3.) It is enough that the servant be
as his Lord. " My boast is not that I deduce my birth
From loins enthroned, and rulers of the earth ;
But higher far my proud pretensions rise, —
A son of parents passed into the skies."
* " Holy Living," p. 85. Edit. 1719.

CHAPTER III.
DECLINE OP EAULY EELIGIOUS IMPEESSIONS — EBM.ARKS ON NEW TESTAMENT
" PEOPHESYING "— PEOPHETESSES— PBBACHING OP MAEY B.iEEITT— EEPENT-
ANCE TOWABD GOD— PAITH TOWAED OUE LOED JESUS CIIBIST— .TOY OF THE
HOLY GHOST— MEETING IN CLASS— CHAPEL EBECTED AT SANCTON— EXTENSION
OP EELIGION TO NEIGHBOUBING PLACES— OPPOSITION OP THE UNGODLY.
IN early Ufe I was taught that, being a sinner in the sight of
God, both by nature and by practice, I stood in need of the
double blessing of forgiveness and a new nature. Unless I
was restored to inward and outward hoUness, I could never be
admitted into heaven ; and unless the guilt of my sins were
taken away in this world, I must for ever bear the punishment
of them in a future state. These principles were deeply im
pressed upon my mind and heart ; a conviction of their truth
grew with my growth, and was strengthened with my strength ;
and I often thought of the time when I should undergo this
mighty change ; but hesitated to make the sacrifices which it
required, hoping that at some future time the process of salva
tion would be less difficult, or that hindrances in the way of it
would be less formidable. With the faithless Hebrews, whose
duty it was to rebuild the demoUshed temple, my rebellious
•heart said, " The time is notyet." Such was my feeUng under
many an awakening sermon that I heard after my removal to
Shipton. As years advanced I became less and less concerned
for the salvation of my soul ; the public worship of God was
less attractive than it had been ; and I shunned, rather than
affected, the company of religious persons. This state of mind
was to be attributed mostly to a friendship I then contracted
with a young man, somewhat older than myself, the son of
godly parents, respectable for their rank in life. He was not
profligate, but he was irreligious ; and my intercourse with him
gave sad proof that " evU communications " not only " corrupt
good manners," but also serve to harden the heart, which is

42 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
otherwise incUned to obey the caU of God, and yield itself to
Him. The way to perdition is an easy descent, especiaUy in
company with the thoughtless and the gay, who forget to con
sider their latter end.
But God, who is rich in mercy, did not take His Holy Spirit
from me, but bore with my waywardness and folly ; and the
time at length arrived when there was wrought in me that
great change to which my attention had often been directed
by the ministers of Christ, and of which I had often seriously
thought. In the year 1801 there was a revival of religion in some parts
of the PockUngton Circuit, connected partly with an agency
concerning which there were considerable differences of opinion
even among good men. Mary Barritt, a sister of the Eev. John
Barritt, a zealous and useful Minister in the Methodist Con
nexion, visited several towns in Yorkshire, and attracted great
attention as a preacher of Christ's Gospel. She did not confine
her addresses to persons of her own sex, as many zealous and
gifted women have done, but took her place in the pulpit, read
a text of Holy Scripture, and preached to mixed congregations,
like an ordinary minister, without any indication of timidity,
or apprehension that she had mistaken her Providential calUng.
Her elocution was distinct, her voice somewhat powerful, her
manner serious, impressive, and occasionaUy commanding;
and her discourses were methodical, relating mostly to the first
principles of the Gospel, especiaUy to personal conversion. The
novelty of female preaching, as it is natural to suppose, attracted
general attention ; and crowds of people flocked to the places
where she was expected to appear; many of them doubtless
drawn by curiosity, wishful to witness the strange sight of a
woman in a pulpit. I suppose she might then be from twenty-
five to thirty years of age.
That female agency was extensively employed in the original
propagation and estabUshment of the Gospel is undeniable,
but as to the perpetuity of that agency professed Christians are
not agreed. Under the Evangelical dispensation " I "wiU,"
said God, " pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh : and your sons
and your daughters shaU prophesy," " And on My servants

Christian Prophets. 43
and on My handmaidens I will pour out in those days of My
Spirit; and they shaU prophesy." (Acts ii. 17, 18.) To "pro
phesy " is to speak under the immediate inspiration of the Holy
Ghost, whether that which is spoken relate to the future or not.
In the case of Zacharias, the term is applied to the utterance
of inspired truth, in a devotional spirit and manner, on the
occasion of the Baptist's birth, and in the immediate prospect
of the birth of our Lord ; (Luke i. 67-79 ;) and the word is
equally applicable to the utterances of Elisabeth and the Virgin
Mary, as they stand recorded in the same chapter.
Christian "prophets" are placed by St. Paul next to Apostles
as the gift of Christ to mankind, and before EvangeUsts, Pastors,
and Teachers ; (1 Cor. xii. 28 ; Eph. iv. 11 ;) and, he describes
the endowment they had received as having a more direct bear
ing upon the spiritual interests of mankind than either an
inspired knpwledge of various languages, or an abihty to
interpret them. (1 Cor. xiv. 2-5.)
The truth evidently is, that Christian prophets were persons
to whom Divine truth was revealed by the Spirit of God, as
it was revealed to the Apostles, though probably not to the
same extent. St. Paul speaks of the admission of the Gentiles
into the Church of God, and of their religious equality with
the Jews, as a " mystery" which " in other ages was not made
known unto the sons of men, as it is now revealed unto the
holy Apostles and j^rophcts by the Spirit." (Eph. iii. 5.) The
edifice of the Church he therefore speaks of as " built upon the
foundation of the Apostles and iirophets, Jesus Christ Himself
being the chief corner-stone." (Eph. ii. 20.) He assumes, too,
that during the public services of the Church the prophets
received revelations from the Holy Spirit ; and therefore directs
that when one was addressing the assembly, " If anything be
revealed to another that sitteth by, the first should hold his
peace." (1 Cor. xiv. 30.) Various commentators, copying each
other without inquiry, state, that to " prophesy," in the New
Testament sense of the term, is to expound the Old Testament
Scriptures ; but this is a mere assumption, unsupported by any
thing in the form of proof. To '.' prophesy" is clearly to speak
under the direct teaching of the Holy Spirit. St. Paul says

44 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
that things were " revealed" to the " prophets " by the Spirit,
just as they were revealed to the " Apostles."
This extraordinary gift appears to have been widely diffused
in the Apostolic times ; and perhaps there were then but few
•churches from which the gift was absolutely withheld. St.
Paul directs the Corinthians as to the right use of the gift ;
(1 Cor. xi. 4-7 ; xiv. 29-33 ;) and to the Thessalonians he said,
" Despise not prophesyings," (1 Thess. v. 20,) assuming that
"they had prophets among them. There were also prophets " in
the church that was at Antioch," to whom " the Holy Ghost
said, Separate me Barnabas and Saul for the work whereunto
I have called them." (Acts xiii. 2.) When St. Paul laid his
hands upon the disciples at Ephesus, "the Holy Ghost came
upon them ; and they spake with tongues, and prophesied."
-(Acts xix. 6.) A simUar result ensued at Cesarea when St.
Peter preached to Cornehus and his friends. The Jews who
had accompanied the Apostle were "astonished;" "because
that on the Gentiles also was poured out the gift of the Holy
'Ghost. For they heard them speak with tongues, and magnify
¦God." (Acts X. 45, 46.)
This miraculous endowment was especially intended to
^awaken and convert the heathen, and at the same time to pro
mote the improvement of believers in knowledge and holiness.
" If aU prophesy," says the Apostle, " and there come in one
that believeth not, or one unlearned, he is convinced of aU,
he is judged of aU : and thus are the secrets of his heart made
manifest ; and so falling down on his face he wUl worship God,
and report that God is in you of a truth." (1 Cor. xiv. 24, 25.)
With respect to those who are already converted, St. Paul adds,
" He that prophesieth speaketh unto men to edification, and
exhortation, and comfort." " He that prophesieth edifieth the
ohurch." (1 Cor. xiv. 8, 4.)
This important gift was not confined to men, but, according
to the purpose of God, declared by Joel, and repeated by St.
Peter on the day of Pentecost, was bestowed upon many
"daughters" of Israel, and "handmaidens" of the Lord.
There were therefore prophetesses in the church at Corinth,
whom St. Paul directed both in praying and prophesying to

The Gift of Prophetesses miraculous. 45
appear with a vaU or a covering upon then- heads ; (1 Cor. xi.
5 ;) and Philip the EvangeUst " had four daughters which did.
prophesy." (Acts xxi. 9.) To what extent the prophetesses
exercised their gift in public religious assemblies it is impos
sible to determine ; nor is the solution of the question of any-
great moment; for as the gift was strictly miraculous, and
appears to have been confined to the Apostolic age, the conduct
of those who possessed it can be no rule of action to those who-
possess it not. The gift indeed seems to have been a neces
sary and merciful provision for the wants of the Church before
the canon of the New Testament was completed, and before
men bad time by prayer and sanctified study to form such an
acquaintance with the truths of the Gospel as to be fully
qualified to teach them in pubhc assemblies, to the instruction
of the ignorant, the conviction of the incredulous, and the
edification of believers. The preaching of females, in modern
times, I therefore think, receives no sanction from the ministra
tions of prophetesses in the first age of Christianity ; because
no woman can now justify her claim to the prophetic gift, which
was the gift of direct revelation from God ; the utterance of
that which the Holy Spirit dictated at the time. The cases are
not paraUel.
But other women, besides the prophetesses, it would appear,
lent their aid to the Apostles in the propagation of the Gospel,
and the edification of the churches. In his Epistle to the
Philippians, St. Paul makes honourable mention of " those
women which laboured with him in the Gospel : " (Phil. iv. 8 :)
and in his Epistle to the Eomans he speaks of other women by
name from whom he had received aid of the same kind. They
had not only been helpful to him personally, but to the cause
of Christ, which it was the business of his Ufe to promote. To
PrisciUa and AquUa, the wife and the husband, he assigns the
honour of being aUke his " helpers in Christ Jesus." (Eom. xvi.
3.) Phebe he describes as "a servant of the church at Cen-
chrea ; " Tryphena and Tryphosa he classes among those " who
labour in the Lord;" and "the beloved Persis," he says,
" laboured much in the Lord." (Eom. xvi. 1, 12.) The Hnd of
service which these godly women rendered is not specified..

46 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Whether they communicated evangeUcal instruction to young
persons generally ; whether they gave instruction in public, or
in private only ; we are not able to say. The language used
by the Apostle certainly impUes more than the exercise of hos-
pitaUty towards himself and his feUow-labourers in the Gospel :
yet it is not probable that they ever addressed mixed assem
blies of adult people, especiaUy in deliberate and set discourses ;
for the Apostle said to the Corinthians, " Let your women keep
silence in the churches : for it is not permitted unto them to
speak; but they are commanded to be under obedience, as also
saith the law. And if they wiU learn any thing, let them ask
their husbands at home : for it is a shame for women to speak
in the church." (1 Cor. xiv. 34, 85.) On another occasion he
says, " Let the woman learn in silence with aU subjection. For
I suffer not a woman to teach, nor to usurp authority over the
man, but to be in silence:" (1 Tim. ii. 11, 12:) clearly showing
that the charge which he gave to the Corinthians on this
subject was of general application, and did not arise out of any
peculiarity in their case. Yet these expressions which forbid
women to " teach," are to be understood with some restriction ;
for the same Apostle not only recognized the public services of
the women who had the gift of " prophecy," but directs that "the
aged women," generally, should "teach the young women" how
to conduct themselves with Christian propriety, so that the Word
of God should not "be blasphemed:" (Titus ii. 4, 5:) and Pris-
cUla united with her husband in expounding to the learned and
eloquent ApoUos the way of the Lord " more perfectly " than he
had before known it. (Acts xviii. 26.)
The conclusion then to which we are led is this, that female
teaching was to a certain extent sanctioned by the Apostles of
Christ ; but that teaching had its limits. Mr. Wesley thought
that no females but such as had the gift of ' ' prophecy, ' ' and there
fore spoke under the immediate dictation of the Holy Spirit,
were allowed to address mixed congregations on the subject of
Gospel truth ; * yet he appears, from the countenance he gave
to the ministrations of Mrs. Fletcher, and of a few other women
¦of age and piety, to have thought that this rule admitted of
* On 1 Cor. xiv. 3-i.

Strictures on Female Preaching. 47
occasional exceptions. In cases of this kind it is indeed diffi
cult to lay down a rule of universal appUcation. Much must
be left to circumstances, and to private conscience. When large
masses of people are evidently perishing in ignorance and sin,
it is hard to say that they shall not be instructed and warned
by a sensible and godly matron ; but for an unmarried woman,
comparatively young in years, boldly to stand up before large
and mixed congregations, as a preacher, proclaiming the warn
ings and invitations of the Gospel, in the presence of accredited
ministers of the other sex, — so that there is no lack of evan
gelical instruction, — seems neither to accord with the delicacy
of the female character, nor with New Testament teaching and
practice. That a considerable amount of spiritual and moral good was
effected in direct connexion with Mary Barritt's instrument
ality, few persons who know the facts of the ease wiU deny.
Those who thought her proceedings to be in accordance with
the letter and spirit of the Sacred Writings regarded this success
as a direct proof of a Divine sanction ; but those who deemed
her course opposed to the Holy Scriptures attributed the suc
cess to the overruling providence and grace of God. Notwith
standing this departure from Apostolic rule and order, they
thought that God put honour upon His own truth ; just as He
sometimes makes that truth the instrument of salvation when
delivered by ungodly ministers, whom He never sent. Yet the
deep and earnest piety of Mary Barritt was undeniable ; and
the sincerity of her zeal for the glory of Christ, and the salva
tion of souls, will admit of no dispute. She was a woman of
much prayer, and evidently intended to do her Saviour's will,
whatever may be thought of the means which she adopted in
order to the attainment of that object. Very few persons of her
sex, however, have followed her example ; and the general
feeling of professed Christians is in opposition to it.
The doings of this remarkable woman were talked of at the
time in aU directions, sometimes in terms of strong censure, and
at other times in terms of high commendation ; some persons
regarding her as a special messenger sent by God to a careless
and irreligious people ; and others maintaining that she was

48 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
acting in direct opposition to the true character of her sex, and
the letter of the Bible. Amidst this division of sentiment
notice was given that she would preach in the Methodist chapel
at Market Weighton, on the 15th of July, 1801, being a week
day ; and the service was appointed to be held in the evening.
Curiosity was alive, and I was not exempt from the general
feeling. The chapel was crowded with people, and the entire
service was conducted with becoming seriousness and propriety;
the sermon being delivered in a tone of solemn warning, and
with unflinching firmness of manner. Yet it impressed me
far less than many sermons I had previously heard both from
Travelling and Local Preachers.
At the close of the service a prayer-meeting was held in the
chapel, when many supplications were offered to God, for the-
awakening power of His Spirit, and the conversion of sinners
to Himself. In the course of this prayer-meeting I was deeply
affected. Sins which I had long since committed were brought
to my remembrance ; with the vows I had made to God, but
violated, and the religious convictions I had resisted and stifled ;¦
I felt that God was angry with me ; my heart dissolved in peni
tential sorrow ; I wept in the anguish of my spirit, and prayed
as I had never prayed before. Men who had passed through the
same mental conflict observed my distress, and spoke to me words
of comfort. They reminded me of the blood of the Cross, of
the tender mercy of Christ, who died that I might Uve, who is
the Advocate of sinners, and to all who caU upon Him a present
Saviour. They told me that it is by faith in Him that the-
guUty are justified, and that sinners, such as I felt myself to be,
pass from death unto life. They urged me without delay to
believe, to confide, to trust in Christ as my Saviour, assuring
me that I should thus receive the peace of God, which ariseth
from a sense of forgiveness. No relief, however, did I find ;
and after a while I returned home weary and heavy-laden,
under the burden of a guilty conscience, and with an agonizing-
apprehension that I should perish for ever.
The next day I applied myself to the duties of my calling,
with a sad heart, my eyes dim with weeping, sorrow depicted
in my countenance, availing myself of every opportunity of

Conversion and its Effects. 49
kneeling before God in prayer, deprecating His wrath, and
begging of Him to forgive me all that was past. When the
labour of the day was ended, I returned to the chapel at Market
Weighton, where I had learned that another prayer- meeting was
to be held. Here I was recognized as the penitent youth, who on
the preceding evening so earnestly wept and prayed under a
sense of sin. Again prayer was made for me by the united
assembly, and before the meeting concluded, I obtained effec
tual relief I did with all my heart trust in Christ as a Sacrifice
and a Saviour ; and then my guUty fear at once departed, and
my heart, before lacerated and broken, was filled with aU joy
and peace in beUeving.
The change which I had now undergone was as much a
matter of personal consciousness, as the removal from my
shoulders of an intolerable burden, that was sinking me into
the earth. I could no more doubt of my acceptance with God
than of my own existence ; and love to God, in return for so
great and undeserved a benefit, sprang up within me, ¦with a
train of spiritual and heavenly affections. The world was then
presented to my view in aU its vanity ; sin, in all its forms, I
abhorred, as worse than death ; the service of God I regarded
as the great business of life ; while heaven appeared to be near,
and as my final and endless home. I could then have died with
perfect satisfaction, that I might see and more fuUy enjoy my
Saviour, to whom my heart clave with adoring thankfulness and
admiration. Mine was a change not only from misery to happi
ness, from sorrow to joy, but from the love and practice of sin
to the love and practice of hoUness. The entire bent and habit
of my nature were changed. My views and feelings, my appre
hensions and inclinations, my desires, hopes, and prospects
were aU new. The experience of nearly seventy years has
served only to strengthen my oon"viction that the change I then
underwent was no delusion, but a blessed reality, the effect of
a Divine operation. At this moment, 1870, the love of Christ
is as sweet as it was on the 16th day of July, 1801, when, for
the first time, in its richness and power, it was shed abroad in
my heart by the Holy Ghost given unto me.
I returned home from this prayer-meeting, a distance of

50 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
about two mUes, scarcely knowing whether I was in the body
or out of the body. Every object in nature, above, around,
beneath, appeared in an aspect entirely new ; and, gazing upon
the heavens and the earth, I felt, as I never felt before, the
touching sentiment : —
" My Father made them aU ! "
From my own experience, I learned the great importance of
prayer-meetings, especially at the close of religious services,
when the public interest is strongly excited, and the attention
of the people has been impressively called to the subject of
personal conversion. But for the prayer-meetings on the occa
sion just mentioned, the probabUity is that I shotdd have
remained in a state of indecision in respect of my compUance
with the invitations of the Gospel, and the surrender of myself
to God through our Lord Jesus Christ. It was in the first of
those prayer-meetings that my religious convictions assumed a
deep and practical character, and in the second that I obtained
'actual salvation from the guilt and dominion of sin. St. Paul
repeatedly requested that his ministry, and that of his feUow-
labourer in the Gospel, might be accompanied by the earnest
prayers of devout and godly men and women.
The first Sabbath that dawned upon me after I had found
peace with God was indeed a happy day, such as I had never
conceived of before. I rose early in the morning, and hastened
to Sancton, to tell my father and mother what great things the
Lord had done for me. They had heard a rumour of what had
occurred, and my mother met me at the door of the cottage ;
when, without any introduction or ceremony, — for I could think
only of one thing, — I exclaimed, " I have found peace with
God ! " and we shed tears of joy together. My father received
the inteUigence with sUent thoughtfulness. He said nothing,
but evidently felt much. I accompanied my mother to her
weekly class-meeting in the forenoon of that day, the first
meeting of the kind I had ever attended ; and in the afternoon
went with her to Market Weighton, where a love-feast was held ;
a service which was also new to me. I told the people present
what a blessing I had received in that chapel in the course of

Attendance at a Lovefeast. 51
the past week ; adding, that as to my new and spiritual birth,
I was " only three days old, " but hoped to share in the happiness
of heaven for ever, and to sing the praises of God my Saviour
in strains which would " ijiake the heavenly arches ring."
This was the beginning of a new and happy era in my father's
famUy. About a fortnight after I had obtained the peace of
Crod, my brother Samuel, then serving his apprenticeship in
Sancton, was made a happy partaker of the same blessing ; and
our eldest brother WilUam a few days afterwards. Thomas
MarshaU also, my mother's eldest brother, who had formerly
been hostUe to Methodism and its meetings, — thinking that the
reUgion of the past generation might suffice for the present, —
received the truth, and with it the salvation of God. He was
somewhat eccentric in his habits, but generous and kind-
hearted, and greatly beloved. Immediately after his conversion,
he became anxious for the erection of a chapel in his native
viUage. Being weU known, and generaUy respected, he appUed
to his friends in the neighbourhood, and, indeed, wherever he
went, and soon raised the requisite amount of money ; and a
neat little chapel was built at the end of my, father's garden,
with the fuU consent of the family. Some favourite apple-trees,
whose fruit had often gratified the taste of the juvenile members
of the household, were destroyed to make way for this sanctuary ;
but every one felt that the change was a mighty advantage.
Blessings incalculable have followed this modest erection.
Here, for more than sixty years, the truth has been faithfuUy
preached, prayer-meetings and class-meetings held ; and here
farmers with their wives, sons, and daughters, labouring men
with their famiUes, young men and maidens, old men and
children, have heard words whereby they might be saved ; and.
many of them have been actuaUy saved from sin, and are gone
to heaven. Here many a hymn of praise has been sung, and:
many a prayer has been offered to the God of all grace, by voices
which wiU be heard no more in this world ; but instead of the
fathers have come up the chUdren, and the grandchUdren, to
maintain a cause, humble in its origin, but endless in its benefits.
A barrier has been thus raised against the encroachments of
Popery ; and Christian godliness, intelligence, and civility havQ:
E 2

52 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
taken the place of profanity, ignorance, vulgarity, and sin.
Before this chapel was built, companies of idle men and boy*
were seen in the streets on the Lord's day, as a matter of course,
indulging themselves in sports, in tJie utterance of low jokes,
in loud laughter, and in offering insults to any decent person
that might happen to pass by ; and now, on that sacred day,
silence and decorum generaUy prevaU, attesting an entire change-
in the sentiments and habits of the people.
My father, whose theological leanings have been aheady
stated, now turned his attention more closely to the doctrines of
Methodism, with which he perceived that his family was hkely
to be permanently identified. He read with care the Sermons
of Mr. Wesley, and Mr. Fletcher's " Checks to Antinomianism,"
and subscribed to the " Arminian Magazine ; " and with an
intelUgent apprehension embraced the tenets which are there-
expounded and defended. When his opinions were thus formed,
he acted accordingly. He joined the Methodist Society, became
an efficient Class-Leader, and to the end of his Ufe adorned his
profession, labouring to advance the cause of true religion and
of a pure morality : for his strong and honest mind frowned
with withering indignation upon every departure from justice,
trath, and mercy, that came under his observation. Other-
members of his famUy were in subsequent years turned to-
righteousness ; and their characters, as professors of religion,
were, to a great extent, formed by his maxims, counsel, and
example. Often and earnestly was he pressed to allow his
name to appear on the Circuit-plan as a Local Preacher ; but
to this he would never consent, having no con-viction that
public preaching was his duty, and being naturaUy modest and.
retiring, though possessing great firmness and strength of wiU.
^ The revival of reUgion, in the benefits of which our family
so largely partook, extended to other places beside those-
aheady mentioned, and not a few wandering sheep were
gathered into the fold, reclaimed by the good Shepherd. Many
people were saved from the love and practice of sin, united to
gether in religious feUowship, and became examples of Christian
godliness. Numerous were the happy meetings that we held,
and great was our glorying in the displays of the Divine power-

Preachers in the PockUngton Circuit (1801). 53
and mercy that we witnessed. Some extravagancies and irregu
larities, as might be expected, took place among us, which caUed
for animadversion from old disciples, and from the Pastors who
had the oversight of us. The noise that attended our social
worship was often greater than was either seemly or edifying ;
but the young converts loved one another with a pure heart
•fervently, and meant well, even when their proceedings appeared
the least discreet.
The Preachers who were stationed in the PockUngton Circuit,
and had the pastoral charge of the Societies, when this revival
took place, were the Eev. Isaac Brown and the Eev. WilUam Har
rison. Mr, Brown, who was the Superintendent, was venerable
both in respect of age and character. Though far advanced in
years, he was " strong for service stiU." He wore a large white
wig, as • did many others of the old Methodist Preachers who
were trained by Mr. Wesley; his ministry was gentle, but
impressive and edifying ; and in the management of the
Societies he was wise and forbearing, anxious to encourage the
good and repress evil ; but careful not to pull up the wheat
with the tares. He did not expect to find the ¦wisdom of age in
young persons ; nor did he look for the discretion and stabUity
of fathers and mothers in Israel in those who are only babes in
Christ. His countenance was an index to his pure and upright
mind. It was indicative of inteUigence, meekness, and good
nature. With Mr. Wesley he was evidently a favourite ; as ia
indicated by an entry in his wiU, where he says, " I give what
ever money remains in my bureau and pockets, at my decease,
to be equaUy divided between Thomas Briscoe, WilUam CoUins,
John Easton, and Isaac Brown."
Mr. Harrison was a very different man. He was young in
years, of a slender habit, quick in his movements, fluent in
speech, of ardent temperament, and much addicted to scream
ing in the pulpit : a fault against which the founder of Meth
odism used to warn his Preachers, and one which has brought
not a few of them to an untimely grave. His example in this
respect had an unfavourable influence upon the young con
verts, leading them to regard shouting in prayer as an indica-
iion of zeal, and a subdued tone of voice as a sign of Inke-

54 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
warmness in reUgion. Yet Mr. Harrison was a man of undoubted:
piety. He desired and intended to be useful, and was not.
disapj)ointed. He was blessed, and made a blessing.
As to myself, when it pleased God to renew my nature, and
make me happy in His love, I renounced at once all unneces
sary connexion with my ungodly companions ; became a mem
ber of the Methodist Society in Shipton ; attended with diligence:
every means of grace ; took great delight in reading the Holy
Scriptures, every page of which appeared in a new Ught ; took
a part in conducting prayer-meetings, in which I occasionaUy
addressed a brief exhortation to the people, especiaUy when there
were any persons present who were known to be Uving in sin.
At that time I believe the Lord's Supper was not administered
in any Methodist chapel belonging to the PockUngton Circuit ;
but feeling it to be a sacred duty to " eat of that bread and
drink of that cup," I availed myseU of the first opportunity of
receiving the holy communion in the parish church, where I
renewed and ratified my baptismal vows to be the Lord's entirely
and for ever. Sometimes I walked seven or eight miles on the;
Lord's day to receive the sacred elements at the hands of Mr.
StiUingfleet, at Hotham, in company with my father. Worldly
amusements, profane language, and "fooUsh talking and jest^-
ing," were now distasteful to me ; and prayer, holy meditation,
and religious discourse, were the very element of my being.
To some persons with whom I had formerly been connected
this change in my character was very offensive. Two farmers
at Londesborough, for whom I had been accustomed to work,
refused to admit me any more upon their premises, not because
my services were in themselves unacceptable, for my work was
done as well as it had ever been ; but because, as they
expressed themselves, they " could not bear the sight of me."
Folly and laughter, and even profane swearing, they could tole
rate and admire ; for such was the daUy practice of their own
families ; but habitual seriousness and circumspection in a
youth of seventeen, they neither could nor would endure. One
of them protested, that if I belonged to him, he would hang
me. He did not long survive this expression of his hostility ;.
but though he would not aUow me to come near him while he^

Godliness and Persecution. 55
Uved, it became my duty to assist in the services connected with
his funeral.
Some mischievous person, regardless of truth, and wishful to
involve me in trouble, informed a neighbouring Clergyman that
I had pronounced him an unconverted man. . This roused his
indignation, and he came to me with his horsewhip to vindicate
himself from the charge. He vapoured over me with his whip
for some time ; but when he heard what I had to say in seK-
defence, he forbore to strike, and assumed a less violent tone ;
yet assured me that if ever I should pronounce such an opinion
concerning him, he would certainly inflict the punishment which
he had that morning intended. This appeared to me a singular
mode of proving the genuineness of his conversion ; but every
man either is or ought to be the best judge in his own case, so
as to select in seU-defence the evidence which to him appears
the most decisive.
These events, and some others of the same kind, taught me,
that those " who wUl Uve godly in Christ Jesus shaU suffer per
secution " in one form or another ; for the introduction of
Christ's holy religion among opposite elements is sure to pro
duce a colUsion more or less violent, as our Saviour and His
Apostles have expressly declared. (2 Tim. iii. 12 ; Luke xii.
51-53.) My master and mistress, however, did not view with
hostility the change which they saw in myspirit and conduct.
They bad with pain observed in me indications of growing
indifference to reUgion, and a corresponding levity of behaviour,
and were gratified rather than otherwise when they saw me in
a new character. They allowed me to pray with the famUy ;
and both of them afterwards joined the Methodist Society,
and became devoted followers of Christ. We Uved happUy
together, and I beUeve aU 'felt a sincere regret when we parted.
After I had left them, I learned that they mourned for me as for
a lost son. After the lapse of several years, I have reason to
believe, they both died in the Lord.

CHAPTEll IV.
YOUTHFUL ZEAL— BOOKS AND KEADING— EEV. JOSEPH PESCOD— PIBST SEEMON—
BEV. JOHN BEOWN— HUMBLE SANCTU.4EIES AND SIMPLE WOESHIPPEBS — ^A
CANONIOALLY-EEGDLAB CLEEGYMAN — AN INSTANCE OP CLEEICAI. LIBEBALITY
—CANON LAW AND APOSTOLIC PBAOTICE— INTEEOOUESE OP PEEACHEBS
WITH THE PEOPLE.
ONE direct effect of my conversion to ^od was an intense
love for the souls of men, and a consequent desire that aU
mankind might be made partakers of God's mercy in Jesus Christ.
I felt it my duty to reprove sin when I saw it openly committed,
and could gain access to the offenders ; and the profane oaths,
and the irreverent use of God's holy name, which I often
heard, brought me into collision with ungodly men, some
of whom thought it intolerable that they should be admonished
by a youth. Aged men I met with who had been accustomed
to swear, and to sport with the name of Almighty God, from
their boyhood, without ever thinking that they were doing
wrong. I therefore soon discovered that the successful adminis
tration of reproof required a greater amount of skill than I
possessed; for my interference with the sinful habits of the
ungodly often produced irritation rather than amendment, and
sometimes subjected me to the threat of personal violence.
To draw ignorant and careless people into religious con
versation, for the purpose of recommending to them the free
salvation of the Gospel, I also felt to be a duty, which I ought
on no account to neglect, though the performance of it was
often a matter of difficulty. A persuasion that I should be
caUed at some time to preach the Gospel was all but coeval
with my conversion; and as time advanced, the subject of
preaching was suggested to me by Christian friends. Whatever
might be the design of God in this riespect, I felt that I ought
to acquire as much useful knowledge as I could, and especially

Purchase of Llndlcy Murray's " Grammar." 57
knowledge of Eevealed Truth. This appeared equaUy necessary
in order to my own religious stabihty, and my usefulness to other
people ; for how could I Uve as becomes the Gospel, unless I
had a just apprehension of its doctrines and spirit ? and unless
I knew the truth myself, I could neither expound it correctly,
nor defend it with any hope of success.
Instructers, however, except such as appeared in the pulpit,
I had none ; and therefore perceived that whatever knowledge
I might gain could only be acqnired through the medium of
books, and my own unaided meditation upon what I heard and
read. In these circumstances my first concern was to get a
pocket Bible, such as might be always at hand, and supply
subjects of daily thought. This my companion in early life I
stUl retain, with many marks, directing attention to passages of
special importance. Next, the Sermons of Mr. Wesley, the
Works of Mr. Fletcher, the Journal of John Nelson, and the
Life of John Haime, engaged my eager attention, with other
Methodist classics of inferior note. To obtain books, however,
was a matter of great difficulty ; for the aUowance I received in
the form of wages was not sufficient to supply me with clothing
of even the cheapest kind. I could not therefore say, as
Dr. Chalmers once did to a friend of mine, who was showing
him the curiosities of Paris, " I am flush of money, and must
meet aU these expenses myself." Alas for me ! with aU my
yearning after books, I could make no such boast. When I had
gained a few shUUngs I spent them wisely. One evening, after
the duties of the day were discharged, I walked to PockUngton,
a distance of some five or six mUes, to purchase a copy of
Lindley Murray's " Grammar " of a schoolmaster, who I
understood dealt in such articles. At a subsequent period,
when my funds were somewhat replenished, I requested a
carrier, who frequented the HuU market, to purchase for me
Dr. Watts's " Logic," and afterwards I obtained his " Improve
ment of the Mind." To these Uterary treasures were at length
added the " Night Thoughts " of Dr. Young, and Hervey's
" Meditations." My first difficulty was to obtain these books ;
and the next, which was equaUy great, was to find time to read
them ; for I was generaUy employed from an early hom* in the

58 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
morning tiU night in manual labour ; and on the Sabbath-day
a prayer-meeting or a class-meeting in the morning, preaching
at Market Weighton in the afternoon, and a prayer-meeting in
the evening, left but Uttle time for consecutive reading and
study : besides, grammar and logic I felt were not appropriate
to the day which is to be kept holy to the Lord.
Not"withstanding these disadvantages, my acquaintance "with
Divine truth increased, and I was secretly drawn by a power
which I was scarcely able to resist, to deliver brief exhortations
in our pubhc meetings, especiaUy when the people were dis
appointed of the Preacher whom they expected : an inconve
nience which not unfrequently occurred in those times, when
there was no printed plan of the Circuit, and the supplies
from the Local Preachers were matter of private arrangement.
In this manner I acquired strength, and was graduaUy pre
pared for more public and extensive service in the cause of
Christ. At this time both Mr. Brown and Mr. Harrison had left the
Circuit, and their places were supplied by the Eev. Joseph
Pescod and the Eev. John Foster. Mr. Pescod was a man of
gentlemanly appearance and manners, kindly in his disposi
tion, eminently spiritual and devout. His sermons, which were
evidently prepared with great care, were highly instructive, and
deUvered in an earnest and impressive manner. He was
seized with paralysis before he left the Circuit, and died at
Loughborough in the course of the foUowing year. He was
the author of a weU-written pamphlet against country wakes,
which at that time were a fruitful source of immoraUty, espe
ciaUy to young people. After his death, there were found
among his papers pertinent observations on texts of Holy Scrip
ture, several of which were inserted in the "Wesleyan-Methodist
Magazine." Mr. Foster was possessed of useful talents as a preacher,
having a powerful voice, a fluent tongue, and an animated.
mode of address ; but I felt at that time, Umited as was my
knowledge of divinity and of literature, that he did not pay due
attention to the cultivation of his mind. In the apphcation of
words he made mistakes, which I was able to detect. He was

First Text. 5^
mined in consequence of his marriage with a young woman who-
possessed a considerable amount of money, which she aUowed
him to expend in the purchase of land, of the real value of
which he knew nothing. The consequence was, that he squan
dered away his wife's fortune, and involved himself in pecuniary
difficulties, which rendered his dismission from the Methodist
ministry indispensable. After wandering about the country
several years, begging his support from the charitable and
humane, and offering for sale a printed record of his foUy, I
have heard that he died in a workhouse : a warning to aU
who, having been caUed to preach the Gospel of Christ, forget
their high and holy vocation, entangle themselves with the
affairs of this world, instead of employing aU their time and
energies in sanctified study, and in the discharge of their
pulpit and pastoral duties. A fallen minister of the Gospel
is one of the most guUty and pitiable objects on which the eye
can rest. Salt which has lost its savour is thenceforth good for
nothing, " but to be cast out, and to be trodden underfoot of
men." The faU and ruin of Mr. Foster I felt was attributable
to the neglect of habitual, close, and prayerful study. He
was a loose thinker, though possessed of a power of ready
speech. As in duty bound, I have ever cherished the memory of Mr.-
Pescod, whose attention to me at this important period of my
Ufe was of the utmost value. It was under his advice and
encouragement that I was induced to address a congregation
upon a text of Holy Scripture, which I ventured to do after
much hesitation and many fears. The place selected for my
first appearance in the novel character of a preacher was
Barmby Moor, a viUage near PockUngton. There, in a thatched
cottage, which stood in a flower-garden, on a sunshiny morning
of the Lord's day, I endeavoured to expound and apply, to a few
plain people, as unsophisticated as myself, the words of the
prophet : " Say ye to the righteous, that it shaU be well with
him : for they shaU eat the fruit of their doings. Woe unto
the wicked ! it shall be iU with him : for the reward of his
hands shaU be given him." (Isaiah in. 10, 11.) I went through
the service with tolerable ease and comfort, with an intense

'60 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
•desire to do the people good, and at the close received marks
of their approval ; so that I felt encouraged, and hoped that I
had not mistaken my Providential calUng. From my own
oxperience, as well as from Scripture testimony, I could state
the manner in which sinners become " righteous " men, and the
character which they are then bound to maintain ; together
with the happiness, present and eternal, which is consequent
upon a righteous life. In awful contrast to these topics, I
endeavoured to set forth the misery that is connected with
the love and practice of sin ; the necessity of repentance, and
of a beUeving appUcation to Christ for mercy, as the only
means of fleeing from the wrath to come.
In the afternoon of the same day I went to Thornton, a viUage
a few miles distant, and in another cottage preached as weU as
I was able from the charge which King David, in the immediate
prospect of death, gave to the man who was appointed to succeed
him upon the throne of Israel : "And thou, Solomon my son,
inow thou the God of thy father, and serve Him with a perfect
heart and with a wiUing mind : for the Lord searcheth aU
hearts, and understandeth aU the imaginations of the thoughts :
if thou seek Him, He wUl be found of thee ; but if thou forsake
Him, He "will cast thee off for ever." (1 Chron. xxviu. 9.) Here
.again I was encouraged by the hearty salutations of a company
of good people, sincere worshippers of God ; and having passed
through this service also without any distressing embarrassment,
I returned home, wondering at the character I had that day
assumed, resolved to foUow the leadings of Providence, let them
be what they might; and to give myself more than ever to
prayer, and to the reading of God's Word. I was not anxious
as to the issue, but had a supreme desire to please God, to
preserve a pure conscience, and promote the salvation of sinners.
The report that I had become a preacher was soon circulated
abroad in the neighbourhood ; yet among my reUgious friends,
old and young, no one offered any objection, but aU in effect
encouraged me to persevere. Even my father, who could not
endure an obtrusive and forward piety, gave me at least a sUent
approval after he had heard me ; and more from him I could
-not expect. Flattery I never heard him utter; and he was

A happy Evangelist. 61
too wise a man to say anything that was Ukely to produce a
feeling of^pride in a mind that was young and comparatively
inexperienced. At the same time, he forbore, either by ridicule
or by serious opposition, to throw any hindrances in my way.
He was a sUent but strict observer of my doings ; and had he-
detected in me any signs of vanity or self-exaltation, his upright
mind would soon have made me quaU under the power of his
sarcastic rebukes.
Applications came to me from many places, near and remote,
requesting visits from me on the Lord's day; some of the parties
having heard a favourable account of my ministrations, and
others of them probably actuated by curiosity, feeUng a desire
to hear what an uneducated youth could say Pn the subject of
reUgion. Friends residing in various parts of the Howden
Circuit, having before seen and heard me in their love-feasts,
pressed me to occupy their pulpits ; and at Holme, Foggathorpe,
Bubwith, and other places, to the best of my ability, I preached'
Christ and Him crucified. Often have I left home at an early
hour on the Sunday morning, walked eight or ten miles, preached
two or three times, putting forth my full strength in every
service, and arrived home again about midnight, expecting the
next morning to rise with the sun, to resume my daily labour.
Yet this was no hardship, for my health was good ; my soul was
happy in God; and I have often thought that, next to the
language of inspiration, no words could more correctly express
the feelings of my heart in those days of pure reUgious enjoy
ment, — even when walking along miry lanes, in dark nights,
weary, and exposed to the rain and snow, — than the fine hymn
of Charles Wesley : —" How happy are they
Who the Saviour obey.
And have laid up their treasure above !
Tongue cannot express
The sweet comfort, and peace,
Of a soul in its earliest love.
" That comfort was mine,
When the favour Divine
I first found in the blood of the Lamb ;

62 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
When my heart it believed,
What a joy I received,
What a heaven in Jesus' s name ! *
" 'Twas a heaven below.
My Saviour to know ;
The angels could do nothing more
Than fall at His feet.
And the story repeat,
Aud the Lover of sinners adore.
" Jesus all the day long
Was my joy and my song ;
O that all His salvation may see !
He hath lov'd me, I cried.
He hath suffer'd and died.
To redeem such a rebel as me.
" On the ¦wings of His love
I was carried above
All sin, and temptation, and pain ;
I could not believe
That I ever should grieve,
That I ever should suffer again.
" I rode on the sky,
(Freely justified I !)
Nor envied Elijah his seat ;
My soul mounted higher
In a chariot of fire.
And the moon it was under my feet.
" 0 the rapturous height
Of that holy delight
"Which I found in the life-giving blood !
Of my Saviour possess'd,
I was perfectly bless'd.
As if fill'd with the fulness of God."
While my heart glowed with these joyous and holy feelings,
my utterance in the pulpit was rapid, and my voice elevated ;
so that one Sunday evening, when I was preaching at Bubwith,
on the dying love of Christ, a man in the congregation, who
was under the influence of strong drink, cried out, " Speak a
little slower ; you speak too fast ! " Some of the friends went to

Short Course of a promising. Minister. 63
him, and perceiving his condition, requested him to retire.
"No," said he, "I will not leave the chapel ; but I -wiU not
interrupt the young man any more." After a brief pause, I
recovered my recoUeotion, and resumed the theme on which I
delighted to expatiate.
When my long Sabbath-days' journeys, performed on foot,
came to be generally known, Mr. Thomas Eichardson, a retired
farmer, living at Shipton, whose beautiful daughter was married
to my uncle James Marshall, kindly offered me the use of his
horse, when I was engaged to visit distant places, which to me
was a great reUef. The horse was jet black, of the Flemish
breed, and of enormous size, admirably adapted to draw heavy
loads, but slow in its movements. I have often thought that a
slender youth, as I then was, of light complexion, riding upon
a black horse of vast dimensions, moving at the pace of a very
gentle trot, must have presented a singular appearance. But it
was kindly intended by my aged friend, and by me was grate-
fuUy received and enjoyed. In the latter years of his life, Mr.
Eichardson was a regular attendant upon the Methodist ministry,
and there is jceason to beUeve that he derived from it everlasting
advantage, though he did not connect himself with the Society.
To me he was a true friend, and I delight to think of the interest
which he ever took in my comfort and welfare.
At this time Mr. John Brown was the second preacher in
the Howden Circuit, and with him I had much profitable
intercourse. He was young in years, but full of holy zeal, and
fearless in the cause of God. Having received a Uberal edu
cation, possessing great inteUectual power and energy of cha
racter, he was highly esteemed in the Circuits which had the
benefit of his labours ; and aU who knew him rejoiced in the
prospect of his future eminence as a minister of Christ.
Being myself greatly under the influence of fear in the pros
pect of preaching, and in preaching itself, I asked him if he was
not affected in the same manner. " Never,'' said he : " when
I had found peace with God, and saw the people everywhere
perishing for lack of knowledge, I said, ' Here am I ; Lord,
send me ; ' and such has been my feeling ever since that
time." Happy would it have been for mc, if I could with

64 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
truth have expressed myself in the same terms. A few years
after this, Mr. Brown was appointed to the London Circuit ;
but, soon after he had arrived in the MetropoUs, he was seized
with fever and died. Had he Uved, the probability is, that he
would have taken his place among the masters in our Methodist
Israel ; for he was weU-principled, as weU as richly gifted, firm
in the maintenance of truth, and undaunted by opposition..
The early death of John Brown shows that eminent talents,.
and the prospect of great usefulness, are no guarantee for a
long ministerial life ; so that the servants of Christ, whether -
young or old, whether richly endowed, or possessed of only-
ordinary abilities, should work with aU their might while
opportunity is afforded ; for no man knows how soon his
labours may end. Many young men, highly gifted as was my
friend John Bro"wn, have I since known, whose brilliant career
was of short duration. Their sun went down while it was
yet day.
There were many persons of wealth and intelligence in the
Howden Circuit when Mr. Bro"wn was stationed there, a part
of whom were able Local Preachers, and from sqme of them
I received great kindness. They lent me their countenance, and.
did everything in their power to further my improvement and
usefulness. Their memory I hold in affectionate esteem.
They rest from their labours of zeal and love, and their works
foUow them.
In the PockUngton Circuit at this time there were few
chapels ; so that our meetings for preaching and public wor
ship were mostly held in the kitchens of farm-houses and the
cottages of labouring men. The preacher usuaUy stood behind
a chair, the back of which supported a moveable desk, upon
which lay his Bible and Hymn-Book; the people standing, or
sitting upon chairs, tables, stools, or chests of drawers, as the
case might be. In these humble sanctuaries the people wor
shipped God in spirit and in truth, as their entire beha"viour
indicated. The sermons to which they listened contained no
elaborate phraseology, no disquisitions on dark and doubtful
questions, and no hard technical terms ; their substance being
the essential truths of Christ's Gospel, and their garb pure

Heartfelt Religion. 65
Saxon EngUsh, which even the chUdren understood, delivered
with a broad Yorkshire accent. The sentiments embodied in
the hymns that were sung, and in the prayers that were offered,
the people feU in their own hearts. There was nothing artificial
in their services. They heard no
" Pealing organ blow
To the full-voiced quire below ; ''
they saw no long-drawn aisles, no lofty arches, no
" Windows richly dight,
Casting a dim religious light ;"
but they could testify that the place of meeting was " none
other but the house of God, and the gate of heaven." They
made "melody in their hearts to the Lord," and often said,
"It is good to be here." The love-feasts in the Circuit were
mostly held in PockUngton and Market Weighton ; and of the
people that attended them it might be said, that " divers of
them came from far." In these meetings many a tale of true
personal conversion was told, and listened to, with tears of
grateful joy ; godly men and women residing in distant locali
ties were brought into religious intercourse with one another ;
and at the close of the service they parted with many a hearty
shake of the hand, and many an expression of good-"wiU,
hoping that they should aU at length meet in heaven, "where
pain and parting are no more."
These people were not conversant with Church History.
They had never read the records of early Christianity ; and
beyond the information contained in the New Testament, they
knew not " how Christians lived in days of old." But their
character was formed by the combined operation of the truth
and grace of Christ, just as the character of the Jewish, Syrian,
Greek, and Eoman Christians was formed in the primitive
Church. Hence their resemblance to these ancient foUowers
of our Saviour ; concerning whom Dr. Paley has said, with his
characteristic candour, " After men became Christians, much of
their time was spent in prayer an3» devotion, in religious meet
ings, in celebrating the Eucharist, in conferences, in exhorta-.

66 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
tions, in preaching, in an affectionate intercourse with one another,
and in correspondence with other societies. Perhaps their
mode of life, in its form and habit, was not very unUke the
Unitas Fratriim, or the modern Methodists." *
In one thing the Methodists at that time belonging to the
PockUngton Circuit did not bear that close resemblance to the
primitive Christians which Dr. Paley has recognized. They
did not receive the Lord's Supper in their ownlplaces of wor
ship, but in their parish churches, where, in some cases, they
were unwelcome guests at the table of the Lord. They knelt
by the side of men the whole of whom were not even moral
in then lives ; and they sometimes received the sacramental
elements at the hands of men of doubtful piety; so that in
this holy ordinance they could not fully realize that " com
munion of saints " which it is intended to symbohze. The intro
duction of the Sacraments into the Methodist chapels is a
decided improvement upon the former practice ; for, generaUy
speaking, it is an equal relief to the Clergy and to the Method
ists themselves. To be pireached at in the church, when they
appeared there, was no profitable preparation for the holy ordi
nance which was to ensue, and of which they had come to par
take, and the sight of them was not always gratifying to the
officiating Minister: a fact which they could easUy perceive
and feel.
Two Clergymen belonging to the EvangeUcal school were
then in that part of Yorkshire, and were highly esteemed by
the Methodists,^ — Mr. StiUingfleet, of Hotham, and Mr. Michi-
son, of Everingham. Mr. Stillingfleet I have already men
tioned. He was, I beUeve, canonicaUy regular: at least, I
never heard of his preaching in unconsecrated places, or in
any parish but his own. When the Methodist chapel at Sanc
ton was in the course of erection, my father asked him whether
or not it would be agreeable to him to contribute anything
towards the expense, as he weU knew that the spiritual interests
of the people were greatly neglected. To this he objected,
aUeging that my father and one or two others had not thought
it too much to come to Hptham on the Sabbath day ; and
• Evidences of Christianity, Part First, chap. i.

A zecdous Clergyman. 67
ihat they might continue the practice, and thus dispense with
the chapel. My father replied, that there were mothers in
Sancton who could not leave their children, nor require them
to walk six mUes in every kind of weather to attend the wor
ship of God ; and that there were in the viUage other persons
who were li-ring in ignorance and sin, and yet would hear
the Gospel if it were brought to their own doors. To these
facts he could offer no answer, but refused his aid. He had
admitted Mr. Wesley into his pulpit, but would contribute
nothing to the support of Methodism as a distinct agency, even
when he knew the people were perishing through the lack of
-evangelical knowledge, resolving, it would appear, at aU hazards,
to be canonicaUy regular.
Mr. Michison entertained more just.and liberal views. While
he saw the people living in ignorance and ungodliness, through
a wide extent of country, he could not bear to confine his
•ministry within the limits of his own parish, but preached in
other churches, when he could obtain a welcome from the
Clergy and their congregations. It was in one of these his
casual visits that his sermons were a means of the conversion
of the fashionable young lady who afterwards became the devout
and exemplary wife of the late Dr. Eobert Newton. When he
had fulfilled his regular duties at Everingham, in the morning
and afternoon of the Lord's Day, he used frequently to come to
Market Weighton in the evening ; and as he was denied the
use of the church, although there was no service in it at the
time, he was accustomed to preach in a large warehouse con-
•nected with a tan-yard, where many went to hear him, and
Methodists among the rest. These irregularities appear to have
been winked at by the ecclesiastical authorities of those times.
They might be violations of canon law ; but they were conform
able to Apostolic practice. After our Lord's ascension to heaven,
" the eleven went abroad everywhere preaching the Word," in
obedienee to His command, and in imitation of His example ;
" the Lord working with them, and confirming the Word -with
signs foUowing." Whether " Simon the tanner " at Joppa, who
accommodated St. Peter with a lodging, offered him also the
use of a warehouse for the exercise of his ministry, we know'
F 2

68 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
not ; but there can be no doubt that this zealous Apostle.
delivered the Gospel message on the premises of his generous
host ; and the ministers of Christ's Gospel who preach the Word,,
" instant in season, out of season," at home and abroad, seeking
by every means to save lost souls, act best in accordance "with
their high commission. When our blessed Lord saw multitudes-
of people around Him, " as sheep having no shepherd," He had
compassion upon them, and " said many things to them" in-
order to their conversion and salvation ; and many a time
have I heard Mr. Michison minister the Word of Life, with
fideUty and zeal, beyond the limits of his parochial cure, where
such labours were greatly needed, and thankfuUy appreciated,
by the people.
It is freely conceded that many are the advantages connected
with the parochial system ; and he is a rash man that would
attempt to supersede it ; but it has never yet provided for aU
the religious and moral wants of the people. If the Clergy,,
therefore, are not allowed to intrude into one another's parishes,,
it is matter of pious gratitude that Methodism has provided an
agency by which the necessities of the people who are otherwise
neglected may be supplied.
In the times of which I am now speaking the Preachers, in.
their regular visits to the villages, usually remained all night ;
so that they met the Societies after the evening service ; and.
the next morning, before their departure, visited the people at
their own houses, especially the sick and the wavering, prayed
with the families, addressed a few kind words to the children,
thus giving proof that they cared for all. Hence the people
loved the Preachers, the Preachers loved the people, and
"great gi-ace was upon them all." But for Methodism in
these its forms of operation what would have been the state
of reUgion and morals in England at this day, especiaUy among
the working-classes in the agricultural villages ? In many cases
the teaching of the Clergy never went beyond the decencies of an
external morality, and the mere forms of reUgion ; forgetting
that "the kingdom of God is not meat and drink" — not any
outward thing — " but righteousness, peace, and joy in the
Holy Ghost." They caUed upon the people to lead " godly.

Baptism not Conversion. 69
righteous, and sober lives ;" but taught them not how to become
godly, righteous, and sober themselves ; expecting to gather
grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles ; assuming that every one
of their hearers was in baptism " made a member of Christ,
a child of God, and an inheritor of the kingdom of heaven;"
and was therefore qualified for the acceptable discharge of all
the duties of the Christian life : a common but fatal error !
Mr. Wesley felt that the world was his parish ; and such was
evidently the feeling of the holy Apostles, produced in them by
the commission which they had received from the Lord Jesus,
and by the spirit of universal charity which was produced in
them by the Holy Ghost. " Preach the Gospel to every crea
ture " is the solemn command of the Son of God ; a com
mand which ought to be obeyed, whatever forms of opposition
may be arrayed against it.

CHAPTEll V.
SENT INTO THE MINISTEY (1804) — JOUENEY TO SPILSBY— DE. COKE AT GEIMSBY
— OIECUIT-WOBK— JSIB. CAEE BEACKENBUEY— LIBBABY AT EAITHEY HALL—
JUINISTEBIAL COLLEAGUES- LEAENING AND UNLEAENING— DISCOUEAGEMENT—
miEY EOADS— HOESE AND SADDLE-BAGS— WANT OP BOOKS— AN ECCENTBIC-
DOCTOB — MES, 'WEDD AND THE BOSTON .CHAPEL — A DISAPPOINTMENT.
AT the Methodist Conference of 1804, which was held in
London, a great difficulty was felt in meeting the necessi
ties of the numerous Cheuits of the Connexion. After aU the
young men who were recommended by the various District-
Meetings had been appointed, it was found that some Circuits
were still deficient in respect of the requisite number of
Preachers. An inquiry was therefore made whether there were
not other men to be found, whose labours might be avaUable in
this emergency. Mr. Pescod, my faithful friend and Superin
tendent, was not able to attend the Conference in consequence
of his paralytic seizure ; so that he could not respond to the
inquiry so far as his Circuit was concerned. The Eev. Joseph
Sutcliffe was then the Chairman of the York District, and, as I
understood, he stated to the Conference that there was a young
man in the PockUngton Circuit, of whom he bad heard a
favourable account, and whom he had sometimes seen and
heard in the love-feasts of the Howden Chcuit a year
or two before, when he was stationed there. At his suggestion,
I presume, an inquiry was made by letter to Mr. Pescod con
cerning me ; and I was asked whether I was willing to accept
an appointment as a TraveUing Preacher. To this question I
answered that I was yet an apprentice ; that I bad no money to
purchase my freedom ; that my master eould not afford to sacri
fice the service that I still owed him ; and in these circumstances
I could only say, that if I was deemed competent to the duties of
the itinerant Ministry, my name might be placed on the list of

Leaving Home. 71
reserve, so that when the period of my apprenticeship had
expired, I might be called out in the course of the year, should
any vacancy occur. The only reply to this proposal was a
report which I heard, that the Conference had appointed me to
the Spilsby Circuit : a report which was confirmed by the
printed Minutes of that Body.
I had never offered myself as a candidate for the itinerant
Ministry, nor was I a consenting party to this arrangement.
The men who were over me in the Lord had acted for me in the
whole affair. I therefore could not but regard the appoint
ment now made as my Providential caUing, and resolved to act
accordingly. I borrowed a sum of money from my eldest
brother, to enable me to indemnify my master for the loss of my
services ; and he deUvered up the indenture by which I was
bound. A general feeling in my favour was excited among the
people where I had gone preaching ; by their combined efforts,
without even my knowledge, the necessary outfit was provided ;
and on the 22nd day of September, 1804, with many prayers
and tears, I parted from my father and mother, my other rela
tions and friends, and went forth in the name of the Lord, not
to instruct inteUigent Christians, — for of such service I was not
capable, — but to call sinners to repentance ; having for three
years known the Lord as the God of my salvation, but having
not yet attained to my majority by some two or three months.
My uncle Thomas Marshall accompanied me part of the way
to my new sphere of action. We went on horseback to Hull ;
and I remember that, on our way, he saw a labouring man
working in a field, whom he recognized as an old acquaintance ;
and with his characteristic kindness threw him a shilling over
the hedge. From HuU we passed over the Humber to Grimsby
in a boat, with a strong side wind, so that the deck of our vessel
on the leeward side was often under water. To me this was an
alarming circumstance ; for this was my first voyage. My
uncle screamed aloud at almost every gust of wind. I bore my
terror in silence, but was right glad when I set my foot upon
the soUd ground on the coast of Lincolnshire : a coast which I
had often seen in the distance, but never trod before.
At Grimsby we inquired for the house of the Methodist

72 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Preacher, where we found the Eev. Philip Garrett, then a
young man, who showed me no little kindness. Often in subse
quent years did he remind me of my boyish appearance,
of the singular form of my luggage, and of his prepossessions
in my favour. He took me to a man who lent horses on hire ;
for there was then no stage-coach of which I could avail myself,
and much less any raUway train ; and having bargained for a
nag, which was to carry me to Louth, I took an affectionate
leave of my kind-hearted uncle, and of my new friend, and set
off alone for the place of my destination, not knowing what
reception I should meet with there, but trusting in God as " the
Guide of my youth," and presenting to Him many a prayer.
Before we parted my uncle gave me a sum of money for the
purchase of a horse when I should arrive at the end of my
journey. It was Saturday evening when I reached Louth. Having
been previously recommended to a Methodist there, who carried
on the business of an ironmonger, I went to him, and told him
my name and my errand, and received from him a hearty
welcome. He told me that Dr. Coke was then in Louth, with
Mr. and Mrs. Brackenbury, of the Spilsby Circuit, and invited
me to remain till Monday, so that I might hear the Doctor
preach the next day. This friendly offer I thankfuUy accepted,
as it combined two advantages, — that of bearing Dr. Coke,
and of avoiding Sunday traveUing.
The next morning the Doctor preached in the Methodist
chapel on Lev. xi. 44 : "I am the Lord your God : ye shaU
therefore sanctify yourselves, and ye shall be holy; for I am
holy." The part of his sermon in which he described the safety
and happiness of the people who have the Lord for their God
was as a healing bahn to my anxious mind. To guard them
from barm, and secure their real welfare, he said, all the per
fections of the Godhead are combined in harmonious operation :
so that infinite Wisdom will be their guide in aU the journeyings
of life ; almighty Power is their support and shield of defence ;
and infinite Goodness will impart to them all the happiness of
which they are capable, and that through everlasting ages. I
was then in circumstances which fiUed me with anxiety; but

A Horse bought. 73
-with this cheering truth before me, "I thanked God, and took
courage ; " for I knew that the God of Israel was my God. In
the afternoon the Doctor was engaged to preach at the opening
of a new chapel in a country viUage, a few miles from Louth.
I accompanied him to the place, and was somewhat amused at
the peculiarity of his horsemanship, short and portly as he was,
and evidently unaccustomed to that kind of exercise. The
concourse of the people was so great, that the chapel could not
contain them. He therefore preached in an adjoining barn,
and I occupied the pulpit of the new chapel in the evening.
The next day Mr. and Mrs. Brackenbury returned to their
mansion at Eaithby, near Spilsby, taking the Doctor with them
in their carriage, and I was accommodated with a place behind.
Two days after I was conveyed to Wrangle, where I preached
my first sermon in my first Circuit on Luke xii. 82: "Fear
not, Uttle flock ; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give
you the kingdom." A few days after I bought a horse of a
Methodist farmer, and then a saddle and bridle, and next a
pair of saddle-bags ; and was thus prepared for- active service
in my new sphere of labour. Wrangle is the viUage where
Thomas MitcheU, several years before, was repeatedly thrown
into a horsepond, and had a narrow escape from drowning;
the mob who thus maltreated him being instigated by the
Clergyman of the parish, who was impressively taught by a
¦decision of the Court of King's Bench to avoid such practices
for the future. Under the discipline of the Lord Chief Justice
he became quiet and harmless, so that Methodist preaching
was perpetuated in the village, to the spiritual benefit of the
people. The Spilsby Circuit at that time comprehended a vast extent
of country, which is now divided into four Circuits, and requires
the labours of nine Preachers. Our principal Sunday places
were SpUsby, Burgh, Wainfleet, Boston, and Eaithby. My
first Sunday appointment was at Boston, where we had a smaU
¦chapel near the parish church, and some respectable famUies
formed a part of the congregation. My home in that town was
the house of Captain KUwood, a seafaring man, by whom I was
treated with the utmost kindness. His daughter was afterwards

74 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
married to Mr. WUshaw, a Methodist Preacher's son, who held!
an important office in the Excise, and was resident in London..
On the second Sunday in my new situation I was appointed,.
to preach at Halton in the morning, at SpUsby in the afternoon,
and at Eaithby in the evening. Mr. Brackenbury on this day
showed his kind consideration in behalf of a young evangeUst,.
whom he evidently regarded with tender sympathy, which I
feel a pleasure in recording. He met me at SpUsby in the
afternoon, and took the pulpit in my stead ; and in the evening
at Eaithby, lest the sight of him and his lady should discourage-
me, they both remained in the Hall, and left me to address-
myself to the common people. Their servants were all reUgious
persons ; and when they returned from the chapel, inquiry was
made of them as to the manner in which the young man had.
performed his duty. Their report, I imderstood, was, that the
doctrine of the sermon was sound, and highly important, and
the delivery of it vehement and rapid. From this the 'Squire
and his lady concluded that my timidity was not so great and
distressing as they had imagined ; and they gave me to
understand that in future I must always expect to have them
among my hearers.
Mr. Brackenbury was a man of family and fortune ; he was
educated at the University of Cambridge ; and in early life was
brought to a saving knowledge of God. He formed an intimate
friendship with Mr. Wesley, and became a feUow-labourer in
connexion with him. He was one principal means, in concur
rence with Adam Clarke, of introducing Methodist preaching
into the Channel Islands. In the isle of Portland also, and in
the town and neighbourhood of Stamford, his ministry was
eminently successful ; and his name appeared as long as he
Uved in the Minutes of the Methodist Conference. In the later
years of his Ufe he resided mostly at Eaithby ; yet making-
frequent excursions through Lincolnshire and the neighbouring-
counties, ministering the truth with acceptance and success,.
accompanied by his lady and his footman, who was generaUy a
Local Preacher. He was rather below the middle size, portly
and well-proportioned, with an open and placid countenance,
rather reserved, but gentlemanly in his manners. In the pulpit

Mr. Carr Brackenbury. 75
his address was calm, but impressive ; bis sermons were polished,
instructive, and edifying, so that he was everywhere received by
the Methodist congregations with gratitude and respect. When
young, I heard him preach at Market Weighton on our Saviour's
invitation to two of John's disciples, who inquired of Him,
" Eabbi, where dweUest Thou ? He saith unto them. Come and
see." By " coming " to Christ, Mr. Brackenbury observed that
men are made to " taste and see " that He is gracious, in the
forgiveness of their sins, and the sanctification of their nature ;
so that theirs is a life of purity and of holy joy, and their end
triumphant : as Mr. Fletcher of Madeley proved, when in his
last hours he exclaimed, —
" 0 for that gust of praise I long to sound ! "
He was somewhat nervous in his temperament ; and occa
sionally, when he was engaged to preach, thought himself unable
to perform the duty ; and then the footman was required to take
the pulpit, and the disappointed congregation heard the man
instead of the master, who was mourning in secret over his
infirmities. One Sunday evening, at Eaithby, I remember, he
was sorely troubled on account of the imperfect manner in which
he had that day ministered the Word of life ; and said he
thought that he would never attempt to preach again. Mrs.
Brackenbury, a shrewd and sensible person, who knew that in
these seasons of depression words of condolence and sympathy
only increased his grief, replied that indeed he was not qualified
to preach, and would do well never again to enter a pulpit, but
leave the people to find the way of salvation as best they might,.
or perish in their sins. This roused him from his despondency ;.
and after observing that she resembled " Job's comforters," he
dropped the subject.
Mr. and Mrs. Brackenbury bad an unconquerable aversion
to the fumes of tobacco, and would on no account tolerate
smoking in their mansion. Mr. John Barritt, who was enter
tained as a Preacher at Eaithby HaU, and knew the law of the
house, did not like to forego the use of the pipe. He was found
by one of the servants to have secreted this article and his
tobacco in his bedroom, which was in the third story. To^

'76 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
punish the transgressor, the servant fiUed the pipe with tobacco,
mixing with it a few grains of gunpowder ; a dangerous experi
ment, though meant only as a joke. In the evening, after
supper and family prayer, Mr. Barritt rethed to his room for
the night, thinking that he should enjoy his pipe without dis
covery. He therefore placed his chair before the fire, put his
feet upon the two sides of the grate, leaned back, and began
to draw and emit his narcotic fume with his accustomed zest,
when an explosion took place ; which was so sudden and unex
pected that he lost his balance, and fell backwards upon the
floor. The noise alarmed the family ; the 'Squire rushed into
the Preacher's room to know what was the matter ; when the
sad truth was disclosed, and the offender was compeUed to
•confess his fault, and ask forgiveness. He had, however, paid the
penalty of his offence, and Mr. Brackenbury was not vindictive.
This very devout and exceUent man was a diligent student of
prophecy, and had his own theory of the MiUennium and kindred
subjects. To some extent he sympathized with the mystic
writers, and would occasionally mention " the blessed Behmen."
Under the influence of these erring guides, he gave directions
to his family that no biographical account of him should ever
be published. I suppose, therefore, that every document in
their possession that would have cast any light upon his personal
history has been destroyed. Yet this charge I cannot but regard
as a dictate of mistaken humility. Mr. Brackenbury might
feel, and feel justly, that he was not worthy of the grateful
.remembrance of posterity ; but the great things which the Lord
had done for him, in making him a spirituaUy-minded man,
.and in rendering him an instrument of salvation to many others,
were worthy of special record, to the glory of Di-vine grace.
The biographical sketches of Holy Scripture are not the least
useful parts of the Inspired Volume, and God is glorified in
-His people. Suppose a perfect silence to have been preserved
respecting the saints of the Old Testament, and the Christians
in the New ; and suppose the biography of the Church to be
annihUated; how vast would be the amount of spiritual loss to the
world ! I cannot think that Mr. Brackenbury now adheres to the
^charge which he gave with respect to his life and character ;

A guarded Library. 77'
and therefore hold that the late Mrs. Smith, a pious and intelU
gent daughter of the late Dr. Adam Clarke, did well in coUecting
the scattered fragments of his history, and in presenting them
to the world, in her beautiful volume, entitled, "Eaithby Hall;"'
in which she has given a just view of the piety and usefulness
of this very holy man, and of his intelligent and generous lady.
I suspect, however, that certain parties have interfered, so as
to destroy aU the copies of this pubUcation upon which they
could lay their hands ; for many years have now passed away
since I saw this book, or even heard it mentioned.
Mr. Brackenbury had a considerable Ubrary, the sight of
which set my soul on fire. His books covered one side of a
room in his mansion. Such a collection I had never seen
before. It contained the works of England's greatest divines,
Episcopal, Puritan, and Nonconformist; with a considerable
amount of general literature, historical, poetic, and philosophic.
There I saw embodied in volumes of every size, the thoughts of
many of the most accomplished men that England ever bred ;
and I resolved, as much as in me lay, to make this vast amount
of intellectual wealth my own, by diligent reading and hard
study. For the present, however, my mental cravings were
vain ; for on no account would the owner of this library lend
a volume to a needy student. I spent a day at this place once
a month, and on that day might enter the room where the
books were, and read to my heart's content ; but no book was
any Preacher, either old or young, allowed to take away.
Whether some volumes belonging to this Ubrary had been
borrowed, and never returned, or whether they had been returned
in a damaged state, I know not; but, as the lawyers say, "the
rule " against lending books out of the study " was made
absolute." The principal use, therefore, that I was able to
make of the literary treasures of Eaithby HaU was that of con
sulting the commentators on the particular texts upon which I.
intended to preach. I remember to have seen in that hbrary
a manuscript volume, containing a poetical narrative of the
early life and conversion of the owner ; and a copy of Cowper's
Poems, minus "the diverting story of John Gilpin," which had.
been cut out, as not tending to edification.

78 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
My colleagues in the Spilsby Circuit were the Eev. Samuel
Botts and the Eev. John Lee, both of them kind and faithful
men, whose memory I have ever held in deep respect. We
laboured together in unbroken harmony and affection, seldom
seeing each other, but aU aiming at one object — the salvation
of souls redeemed by the blood of Christ. Mr. Botts' was a
man of age and experience, whose sermons were prepared with
great care. Mr. Lee was an honest Scotchman, zealous and
earnest, but somewhat abrupt in his manner.
On entering upon my new course of life I was beset with
-difficulties. To learn and to unlearn required close and unin
terrupted attention. I had to acquire a new mode of pro
nunciation ; for my broad Yorkshire accent was neither suited
to the pulpit, nor to the respectable families into which I was
now introduced. Nor was it less necessary that I should acquire
a new vocabulary ; many of the words to which I had been
.accustomed from my childhood being deemed insufferably
vulgar and offensive, such as "eyen," " shoen,'' " gang,'' etc.
I learned therefore to say " eyes," " shoes," " go," etc. ; yet I
;afterwards found that many of the words which I had discarded,
though now obsolete, were pure old English, such as poUte
¦scholars of by-gone ages were accustomed to use as matter of
course. In Wickliffe's translation of the Bible we have the foUowing
renderings: — "God seide to him, Vnbind the shon of thi feet,
for the place in which thou stondest is hooli erthe." (Exod. Ui.
5.) "I sonde you: as lambren among wolues, therefor nyle ye
here a sachU nether scrip nether schoon : and greete ye no man bi
the weye." (Luke x. 4.) " God seide to hym. Do of the schoon of
thi feet." (Acts vii. 32.) John Knox describes a servant boy in
Scotland as one that ""wiU have three shilUngs of fee, a sark,
and a pair of shoon by the year."* Speaking of a particular
flower, Milton also says, " The dull swain
Treads on it -daily with his clouted shoon."\
Wickliffe thus translates John ix. 6, 7 : " He spette in
• History of the Eeformation, p. 14.
-f Comus, line 643.

Provincialisms and old English. 79
to the erthe, and made cleie of the spotel, and anoyntid the
cleie on his eyen, and seide to hym, go and be thou waischen
in the watir of Siloe ;': and Spenser, describing the adventures
of Plorimel, says, " Out of her christall eyene
Few trickling teares she softly forth let fall." *
The word in this form was used in stUl later times. The very
learned and ingenious Platonic divine, Henry More, who
flourished in the middle of the seventeenth century, thus
expresses himself in his elaborate Poem on the Soul, published
-in the year 1647 : —
" Dear lads ! How do I love your harmless years,
Aud melt in heart, while I the morning-shine
Do view of rising virtue which appears
In your sweet faces, and mild modest eyne !
Adore that God that doth Himself enshrine
In your untainted breasts ; and give no ear
'I'o wicked voice that may your souls incline
Unto false peace, or unto fruitless fear.
Lest, loosen'd from yourselves, harpies away you bear."
* ::= =:= :ic * *
" I saw three sisters there, in seemly wise,
Together walking on the flowery green,
Yclad in snowy stoles of fair agguize.
The glist'ring streams of silver waving shine.
Skilfully interwove with silken line,
So variously did play in that fair vest,
That much it did delight my wond'ring eyne :
Their face with love and vigour was ydrest
With modesty and joy ; their tongue with just behest."t
From these examples it -will be seen that had I been
acquainted with the Uterature of former times, I might have
pleaded high authority for forms of speech which I was now
taught to discard ; but being provided with no such apology, I
was quite willing to conform to the practice of my contem
poraries, although an occasional failure was no matter of
surprise. * Faery Queen, book iiis", canto vii., stanza 9.
t Philosophical Poems, pp. -46, 76, Edit. 1647.

80 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
I had not been long on this my first Circuit before a feeling
of painful discouragement came over me. I thought of my
family and friends whom I had left, andwhom I had no pros
pect of soon seeing again. I was especially depressed on
account of my limited acquaintance with Divine truth, and
with other branches of kno-wledge. I suspected that many of
my hearers were better instructed than myself; so that my
sermons, instead of profiting them, would rather be despised.
Once, when preaching in Boston, I experienced such a feeling
of despondency, that I found it difficult to stand, and therefore^
knelt upon a projection in the pulpit, and delivered the greater.-
part of the sermon in that attitude. Whether the congregation
perceived my trepidation I know not ; but I was certainly
among them "in weakness, and in fear, andinmuchtrembUng;"
and I must confess that " my speech and my preaching was not
with enticing words of man's wisdom," whatever there might
be in it of Divine " power." But for the kindness and forbear
ance of the people in general I never could have borne up
under the pressure of these feeUngs. I owe it to the Methodists
of the Spilsby Circuit that I remained a preacher, and have-
therefore been able to render any service to the cause "with which
I have been connected through life. Often did I resolve to
return home again ; but when the time came, I durst not leave
my work. In these circumstances interviews with my friend
and coUeague Lee were welcome and refreshing. He was
somewhat older than I was ; but we were both young in years,.
and young in our work ; so that our sympathies were mutual,
and we felt that we could strengthen each other's hands in God.
He was a thoroughly trustworthy man, and my heart clave to him
with entire confidence and affection. By teUing him my troubles,
my own heart was relieved. He married a daughter of the
Eev. Thomas GiU, one of the Itinerant Preachers, and died
comparatively young.
During the year that I was in the SpUsby Circuit, a plan
for the inteUectual improvement of the junior Methodist
Preachers was proposed by Adam Clarke, and some other
Ministers like-minded, then stationed in London. The project
did not meet with due encouragement, and was not therefore

Rough Roads. 81
carried into effect. It was, however, approved by the pious
and intelligent inmates of Eaithby Hall ; and Mrs. Bracken
bury addressed a letter to the parties who were engaged in the
scheme, promising them pecuniary support, and encouraging
them to persevere. Her letter, which was published at the
time, stated that it was an invariable rule of the Conference to
" send novices to the Spilsby Circuit." When I read the
letter, I intirnated to the writer that I was not prepared to dis
pute her statement, but felt it was no comjpliment to me and
my friend Lee. To this remark she offered no reply. Had the
scheme of a Theological Institution then succeeded, and had I
been allowed to partake of its teaching,
" How had it bless'd mankind, and rescued me "
from difficulties which pressed heavily upon me for months
and years, and which to old age I have been unable fuUy to
surmount !
The tract of country which then formed the SpUsby Circuit
was pleasant enough during the months of summer, but in
winter it presented a very different aspect. A large part of
it lay in the fens, being a perfect level, with a rich clay soil,
thousands of acres being sometimes under water ; so that the
people were often compeUed to use boats in going from one
place to another. The drainage was effected by deep trenches,
wind-machines being used in throwing the water from one
channel into another, so as to conduct it into the sea when
the tide was down. Thorn hedges there were none, and trees
were very rare. The fences were ditches, which divided one
field from another. No stones or gravel were ever placed
upon the roads ; so that in winter time they were impassable,
except on horseback. There were holes at regular distances
into which the horses put their feet ; but when they missed
these holes, a fall was the natural consequence. Yet by falling
upon his knees on the soft clay the animal sustained no injury,
though the rider might be shaken, and perhaps a little terrified.
To walk upon such roads, or to drive a carriage upon them,
was out of the question. When the frost set in, and the ice
broke at every step of the horse's foot, traveUing was any:

82 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
thing but agreeable. Our ordinary pace upon these roads in
the winter was from two to three miles an hour; and to-
pass along them in a dark night was perilous ; for on either
hand there was a deep ditch, escape from which, should the-
traveller happen to slide into it, was a doubtful affair. Among
the people whose homes were thus -difficult of access, there was
much sincere piety ; and their friendliness and hospitality sur
passed aU praise. During one half of the year the Methodist
Preachers were almost the only strangers many of them ever
saw ; and the visits of an angel could scarcely have been more
welcome. In summer the cattle, grazing in the rich meadows of the
fenny country, grew to an enormous size, and might be seen,
with their legs stretched out, gasping for breath under the weight
of their own fat. The roads were then hard and smooth ; but
the water was bad, being taken from the stagnant drains, and.
almost as green as the grass of the fields. Wonderful is the
change which has been made in this part of Lincolnshire within
the last fifty years. The roads are now covered with gravel'
brought from the sea-shore ; trees have been planted where
scarcely a shrub was to be seen ; substantial houses have taken
the place of mud-waUed cottages ; and extensive tracts of land
that were fprmerly under water, and supported scarcely any
thing but immense flocks of geese, are now effectually drained,
and reward with rich harvests the labour which has been
expended upon them.
During the year that I spent in this Circuit, with the excel
lent men as colleagues I have already mentioned, the Societies
were preserved in peace, and some of them were enlarged ; so
that at the ensuing Conference the Superintendent was able
to report a smaU increase ; and some of the people who were
" added unto the Lord " ascribed their conversion to my bumble
labours in the pulpit. As time advanced, my feelings of dis
couragement gradually subsided, and I acquired tolerable self-
possession before the congregations. I hungered and thirsted
for sacred knowledge, but it came slowly ; for I had few books,
and no means of increasing them ; nor was there any one to
whom I could look for appropriate counsel in the prosecution of

Intellectual Cravings. 83
my studies. I still read, however, with care and attention, the-
Sermons of Mr. Wesley, and the Works of his gifted friend and
apologist, the Vicar of Madeley ; and these I found to be of per
manent advantage, not only on account of the sound theology
which they contain, but also of the logical manner in which it
is proposed ; so that I derived from them instruction in the
two forms of matter and method. I saw indeed once a month in
the library at Eaithby Hall volumes which I longed to read,
and hoped some time to possess ; but as yet they were beyond
my reach ; like flowers on the opposite side of a river,
" Not to be come at by the willing hand."
I wanted especially works of systematic theology, expositions of
Holy Scripture, Church History, the biography of eminent minis
ters, and models of pulpit eloquence. 0 what would I not have
parted with, could I but have obtained forty or fifty volumes of
this description ! I should scarcely have " given sleep to mine
eyes, or slumber to my eyelids," till they had aU been read, and
their contents treasured up in my memory.
Many inestimable friends I yet remember who resided at Wain-
fleet, Friskney, Wrangle, Leek, Boston, Chapel HiU, Dog-dike,
Billinghay, Coningsby, Frisby, and other places, and whom I
hope to meet in heaven. They bore with my infirmities ; they
supported the cause of Christ when it was feeble, and had
many adversaries ; and they adorned their profession by the
practice of Christian hoUness.
Two persons I must particularly mention, both of them
remarkable in their way. One of them was known by the
name pf Dr. Bass. He lived at HaUon, near SpUsby, and
hospitably entertained the Preachers when they visited the
viUage. On going into his house, after preaching my first ser
mon in Halton, on a Sunday morning, I observed him with his
boots on, as if he had been visiting his patients. He said that
perhaps I might be surprised at his absence from the chapel ;
and then added, that for thhty years he had not crossed thp
threshold of his house : for that, were he to venture into the
open air, he should lose aU power of self-control, fall helpless
upon the ground, and there remain utterly unable to rise. Yet
Cr 2

84 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
he presented no appearance of infirm health. I found him to be
a good man, greatly respected both on account of his piety and
his medical skill, but so completely under the power of this
delusion, that no one could persuade him to venture out of
doors. Whether he ever recovered from this singular hallucina
tion, I know not. When I left the Circuit he showed no signs
of emancipation from the spell which had bound him during
the greater part of his useful and godly life. As a medical
practitioner, he was spared the toil of visiting his patients either
by night or by day. All who desired to profit by his skill waited
upon him in his own dwelling.
The other person to whom I have referred was an aged widow
residing in Boston, of the name of Mrs. Wedd, from whom I
received an account of the state of Methodism in that town
through many years. She told me, that at one time the con
gregations were so small, and the Society so reduced, that the
Trustees resolved to sell the chapel, and wind up the concern.
They accordingly sent the bellman through the town, announc
ing the time and place of the sale. She said, " When I heard
the bellman cry the sale of the chapel, I also began to cry. But
what to do I knew not ; till I recollected that I used to wash
for the family of a lawyer, and resolved to go and tell him my
trouble. He heard what I had to say, and promised to prevent
the sale, if he eould. He found, on inquiry, that the Trustees
could not give a legal title to the property. He made this
known, and the consequence was, that no one would purchase.
Soon after, the cause revived, and the sale of the chapel was
talked of no more." The Methodists in Boston have now one
of the largest and most handsome chapels in the county, if not
in the kingdom ; and while they rejoice in the respectability and
success of their cause, let them not forget the godly washer
woman who was a means of saving it from extinction, and thus
became a golden link in their chain of Apostolical succession.
Though occupying a lowly position both in the world and the
Church, she loved the Saviour and His truth ; her memory is
therefore blessed ; and in a future state of retribution she will
perhaps appear to greater advantage than many of the men
who now figure in Ecclesiastical History, but were strangers to

A Hope disappointed. 85
Christian godliness. Methodism, at every stage of its progress,
has been efficiently served by the prayers and efforts of both
men and women in humble life ; and these examples of fidelity
and zeal I delight to contemplate, and to place upon record.
Notwithstanding my youth and numerous defects, the Stew
ards of the Circuit, at the Quarterly Meeting, proposed that I
should remain with them another year ; but this kind offer I
thought it right to decline. My stock of divinity was small,
and aU but expended ; I wanted better means of mental
improvement, and therefore deemed it desirable that I should
remove to, some other station.
The mare that I purchased when I entered into the Circuit
greatly improved in the course of the year ; and as I hoped
that the next Circuit to which I might be appointed would pro
vide a horse for me, — for this was now becoming the general
practice in the Connexion, — I resolved to sell my beautiful
steed ; hoping to realize a considerable sum, which I purposed
to expend in the enlargement of my poor Ubrary. I began
even to think what books I most needed, what they would
cost, how soon I might expect to be in possession of them, with
the pleasure and benefit I should derive from them when
obtained. It is no uncommon thing for people of hopeful
temperament to anticipate happiness which they will never
reaUze. So it has often been with me, and so it was in the
present instance ; for just before I left the Circuit I preached
one Sunday afternoon at Spilsby ; and at the close of the ser
vice a heavy shower of rain detained me so long, that I had
Uttle time for my journey to Eaithby, where I was expected in
the evening. On the way, when riding at a quicker pace than
usual, my mare feU upon the sharp flints, and cut both her
knees to the bone, so as to be altogether unfit for the same kind
of work. I was therefore glad to sell her at a sad discount
to a kind farmer, to whom I gave my saddle and bridle to boot.
Thi;s ended in disappointment one of my pleasant dreams ;
and since then, though I have obtained possession of many
books which I at that time sorely wanted, I have never called
a horse my own.

CHAPTER VI.
HOBNCASTLE (1805) — ACQUISITION OP BOOKS— STUDY OF 6BEEK TESTAMENT— USE
OP A LIBBABY — EAELY MOBNING STUDIES — AGUE — A YEAE'S EE.\DING— LITE-
B-ABY COMPOSITION— CONYEBSATIONS WITH OLD METHODISTS— .JOHN HAMPSON
..iND HOBNCASTLE BIOTEBS— -AN UPEIGHT COTTAGEE AND A CANDID STEW-AED
—VILLAGE EVANGELISTS— LINCOLN (1807)— UNHAPPY EPPECTS OF A P-ARLI,A-
MENTABY ELECTION — FIEST METHODIST PBEACHING AT SAXILBY.
BY the Conference of 1805, which was held in Sheffield, I was
appointed to the Homcastle Circuit, under the superin-
tendency of the Eev. Thomas Gee, who had been stationed
there the preceding year. I found him to be a good-natured,
pious, faithful, and friendly man, diligent in his work, and a
useful preacher, though not fluent as a public speaker. We
spent a year together without an unkind word or feeling. His
wife, too, was a godly, cheerful, and generous woman ; so that
I spent a happy year as an inmate of their family. When I
arrived in Homcastle he had just returned from the Conference ;
and as I had never seen that assembly of Methodist Preachers,
and now felt myself to be one of the fraternity, I was greatly
interested in the account he gave me of the personal appearance
and manner of some of the most distinguished of them. He
had evidently been tried with the length of some of the sermons
he had heard, and declared his purpose in consequence to
shorten his own. This I perceived to be one advantage which
Preachers derive from hearing one another, — an advantage in
which congregations also participate.
The Circuit in which we were appointed to labour was of
great extent, including what are now the Circuits of Homcastle,
of Bardney, and of Alford. Everywhere the people at whose
houses we were received manifested the perfection of kindness,
though some of them were poor, and could only accommodate
the Preacher with homely fare and the half of a bed, which he
shared with a member of the family. In this Circuit I usually

The Greek Testament studied. 87
preached nine times every week; thrice on the Sunday, and
every evening of the week besides : but this was no hardship,
for my heart was in my work.
I now found myself in circumstances more favourable to
mental improvement than I had been at any former period of
my life, and resolved to make the best of my advantages. The
roads were much better than those in the Spilsby Circuit ; so
that I did not spend so much time in traveUing from place to
place ; and I was better supplied with books. A young Clergy
man near Homcastle had involved himself in pecuniary diffi
culties, and his library was sold to meet the demands of his
creditors. Some of these literary treasures, which had probably
been suppUed by a father's liberality, I was able to purchase,
.and along with others. Dr. George Campbell's very elaborate
Tvork on the four Gospels, which I read with intense interest,
-especially the PreUminary Dissertations. They showed me at
once what I had scarcely suspected, how incompetent a man is
to explain with correctness the New Testament Scriptures,
unless behave an acquaintance with the language in which they
were written. These Dissertations also showed me the immense
importance of ascertaining the precise meaning of words, in
order to a correct apprehension of things. Under these im
pressions, I forthwith procured a Greek Testament, and the
¦Greek Grammar and Lexicon of Parkburst, — the onlj' works of
the kind that were then available to students in my circum
stances, and which I soon found to be an inestimable boon.
With these volumes before me, I immediately applied myself to
ihe study of the Greek Grammar, and the copying of the Greek
words of the New Testament, with their meaning in EngUsh.
These studies soon yielded advantages of which I had no
previous conception. I seemed to be introduced into a new
world. Few men have been more busy than I was at this period of
my life. I was engaged in a work more momentous than words
can express ; not merely the work of preaching the Gospel of
Christ, but of so preaching it as to save souls redeemed by His
blood ; and my qualifications I felt to be scanty and inadequate.
I therefore resolved, in the strength of Divine grace, to apply

88 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
myself with all my might to study, to preaching, and to prayer.
Mr. George Eobinson, — of whom honourable mention is made
in Mr. Wesley's Journal, who had built a chapel upon his own
premises at Langham Eow, and accommodated the Preachers in
his own house, — allowed me the free use of his Ubrary ; a few
other volumes I had also been able to purchase ; and with these
appliances I set myself to study in good earnest, resolving
strictly to observe the rule to which I was pledged as a Method
ist Preacher, " never to while away time ; never to be unem
ployed; never to be triflingly employed." In the fulness of
my heart I wrote, in the house of Mr. Eobinson,
" 0 God, to Thee
My life, my blood, I here present.
If for Thy thuth they may be spent."
I had a journey on horseback almost every day, which
greatly conduced to my health ; but in some of the houses
where I was entertained I had no place of retirement, and was
therefore compelled to sit with the family. In summer I could
go into the fields and lanes, and there quietly read and meditate.
I recollected, too, that what could not be done in the day
might be done in the night, or early in the morning ; I there
fore obtained a supply of matches,* which would readily ignite ;
and these I carried about with me in my saddle-bags, that they
might be always ready for use. Many a time, in the farm
houses, have I risen as early as three o'clock in the morning,
Ughted my candle, put on my great coat when the weather was
cold, and taken my seat near the fire-place, whUe the grate was
yet warm, and have read several hours before the family rose to
their daUy labour. In these morning studies I met with no
interruption, and my intellectual and spiritual enjoyments were
often rich and deep. Once, in particular, when for the first
time I read in Bishop Lowth's translation the sixth chapter of
Isaiah's prophecies, containing a description of the prophet's
vision in the temple, my feelings rose to rapture, and I could
scarcely refrain from joining the seraphim before the throne,
¦* Tipped with brimstone, and lighted by means of a tinder-box. flint, aud
steel; "lucifers " being at that time unknown.

A travelling Folio. 83
so as to shout aloud the high praises of God. My health was
good ; and at the end of the year I found that, in addition to
my other engagements and mental exercises, I had read
- through nearly fifty volumes ; including Pearson on the Creed,
Prideaux's Connexion of Sacred and Profane History, the
Sermons of Bishop Browne, Job Orton's Exposition of the Old
Testament, Mr. Wesley's Compendium of Natural Philosophy,
his treatise on Original Sin, Notes on the New Testament, the
whole of his Sermons, Simpson's Plea for Eeligion, Owen on
Psalm cxxx., Sherlock on a Future State, several of Mr.
Fletcher's volumes, and Evans on the Christian Temper.
Pearson's Exposition, being in folio, I could not thrust into my
saddle-bags, which contained my wardrobe, my tin box of
matches, and my moveable library ; and therefore carried it
under my arm, -wrapped up in a handkerchief, as I travelled
through the Circuit ; the people whom I passed on the road
perhaps often wondering what it was that the young man in a
plain coat carried so near his heart.
In the town of Homcastle this year we witnessed a consi
derable amount of religious prosperity. Several persons of
respectability joined themselves to the Society ; the congrega
tions so increased, that the chapel was too small, and the
friends resolved to take it down, and buiid a larger one on its
site. This was done ; and the new chapel was opened by Mr.
Brackenbury in June, 1806, when he delivered an appropriate
sermon on Jer. Ii. 10 : " Come, and let us declare in Zion the
work of the Lord our God."
At the village of Withern, near Alford, we preached in the
house of Mr. Tickler, himself a Local Preacher of good abUity,
under whose roof the Eev. Thomas CarliU, one of the old
Ministers of the Methodist body, died in the year 1801. I
remembered this venerable man, who was in the PockUngton
Circuit when I was a lad. He was an able and faithful
preacher, and by the keenness of his wit controlled the mis
chievous spirits in his congregations, who had come for the
purpose of disturbance, or whose behaviour was unbecoming.
Mr. Tickler told me, that just before this veteran servant of
Christ expired, he said to him, " I am right, man! I feel I am

90 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
right." The late Joseph Agar, of York, informed me, that
when he was a young man, travelling for commercial purposes,
he met Mr. CarliU in one of the northern Circuits, and thought
his appearance indicated poverty. " I offered him," said Mr.
Agar, " half-a-guinea ; and the answer I received was, 'Keep
thy haU-guinea for thyself ; or give it to somebody that needs
it. I have every thing I want.' " Such was the spirit of an
old Methodist Preacher in a threadbare coat, carrying the
Gospel message to the neglected masses of the English pea
santry. Mr. Tickler gave it as his opinion, — but not to me, —
that the young Preacher who was then in the Homcastle
Circuit would at some time be the President of the Methodist
Conference : an elevation of which I had never even dreamed.
At the request of the Quarterly Meeting, I consented to
remain a second year in the Circuit, and was so appointed by
the Conference of 1806, which was held in Leeds ; and the Eev.
Satnuel Kittle was sent as my Superintendent. He was an
ingenious man, a hard student, possessed of an inquiring mind,
and was the first colleague I ever had that took any particular
interest in my studies. He arrived in Homcastle when I was
in the country part of the Circuit ; but I found, on my return,
that he had been in my room, had seen what books I had, and
thus ascertained the bent of my mind. When we met, he soon
began to question me, and in a short time discovered the extent
of my acquirements ; which truth compels me to confess was no
very difficult matter. His own attainments in sacred scholar
ship were considerable, as bis volume on the seven Churches of
Asia amply proves. Mrs. Kittle was a Christian lady, who
invariably treated me with kindness ; so that when I was in the
town of Homcastle their house was to me a happy home. The
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Kittle, then a child, whom I used occa
sionaUy to carry in my arms, on arriving at womanhood was
happily married to Mr. John Corderoy, of Lambeth, and a few
years since died in the Lord, having spent many years in a state
of affliction.
The example and counsel of my new Superintendent gave
a fresh impulse to my mind ; and on my entrance upon the
second year in the Circuit, I solemnly recorded, in a manu-

Ten Resolutions. 91
script volume that I carried about with me, the following ten
resolutions : — " To be more spiritual in my conversation ; more
abstemious in eating, drinking, and sleep ; to read more than I
have done the past year ; to study more closely than ever ; to
pray more frequently, and with greater fervour ; to be short in
my visits when in health ; to be more than ever attentive to
the cultivation of my mind ; always to have an eye to the
glory of God; and to bear my trials with patience. Lord,
help me ! "
A few months afterwards I transcribed into the same manu
script volume the following lines of President Davies, as
expressive of my own feelings and resolves : —
" While I am dreaming life away,
Aud books and studies charm the day.
Sinners are dying one by one ;
Convey'd beyond my warning voice,
To endless pains or endless joys,
For ever happy, or undone.
" I, too, ere long must yield my breath,
This mouth, for ever closed in death,
Shall sound the Gospel trump no more :
Then while my charge is in my reach,
AVith fervour let me pray and preach.
And eager catch the flying hour !
" Almighty grace, my soul inspire,
And touch my lips with heavenly fire !
Let faith, and love, and zeal arise !
O teach me that Divinest art.
To reach the conscience, gain the heart,
Aud train immortals for the skies !"
Such were the purposes of my heart at this time ; and for a
few months I endeavoured in good faith to carry them into
practical effect. But at length, when the winter bad set in, I
was seized with ague, which from time immemorial had been
the plague and dread of the people living in the marshes and
fens. The fit was upon me every day for some months, and
nothing gave me relief It came on with a cold shivering,
which the hottest fire faUcd to remove ; then a burning

92 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
fever foUowed ; and last, a profuse perspiration. The three stages;
of the fit occupied about six or seven hours ; and this was my
condition from day to day. I was entertained and nursed "with
tenderness and assiduity at the house of Mr. and Mrs. Abbott,
of Thurlby Grange, near Alford. Every two or three hours,
by night and by day, my medical attendant required me to take
a mixture of port- wine and bark, which became at length offen
sive in the extreme, especiaUy when the doses were prepared
beforehand, as they were every evening, and placed by the side
of my bed. At the incessant repetition of this nauseous draught,
I was ready to say, " My soul chooseth strangling, and death
rather than Ufe. ...I would not live alway."
I endeavoured to profit by this sad visitation ; and, when I
had partiaUy recovered, preached in the house of my kind host
and hostess, to a few friends then assembled as a social party,
on the words of the Psalmist, "It is good for me that I have
been afflicted." When the warm weather returned, but not till
then, the ague left me ; and I am thankful to say, it has never
troubled me since. It was a painful interruption to my studies
andministry ; but it taught me howfrail I was, and how entirely at
the disposal of a power which I could not resist. Some of the
friends thought I might stiU preach, notwithstanding my fits of
shivering and fever; and to satisfy them I made an attempt
one Sunday morning at Langham Eow. In the middle of the
sermon the cold seized me, my teeth chattered, my speech was
unintelUgible ; so that I was compelled to leave the pulpit, and
seek relief by the side of a great fire.
Not-withstanding the state of weakness to which I was
reduced by this long illness, I was still bent upon the acquisi
tion of knowledge, and especiaUy of such knowledge as would
better qualify me for the ministry of Christ's Gospel, which I
regarded as the great business of my lUe, to which every thing
beside ought to be subordinated. In the course of the year I
succeeded in reading about forty volumes, among which were
Bentley's Sermons delivered at the Boyle Lecture, the Sermons
of Saurin and of President Davies, the Berry Street Lectures,
Knox on Education, Limborch's Body of Divinity, and the
Sermons of Maclaurin. Mr. Wesley's Sermons I generaUy

Review of early Compositions. 93
read through every year, and also the principal writings of Mr.
Fletcher. These volumes have given a character to my think
ings and preaching through hfe.
At this time I began in earnest to exercise myself in literary
¦composition, which I perceived to be necessary as a means of
acquiring a habit of correct expression ; and I soon found that
whUe learning to select the most appropriate words to express
my meaning and to give them a grammatical arrangement, I
was also acquiring a habit of just thought. These early efforts
at composition are now before me ; and on reading them, after
ihe lapse of more than sixty years, I find the diction often bald
and feeble ; but the thoughts and arrangement, in many cases,
are such as even now I should find it difficult to improve.
The substance of these sermons is the very truth of God ;
though the garb in which it is presented indicates an unpractised
Jiand. I am willing, therefore, to believe that at this period
my preaching, though juvenile, was not despicable ; and that
"the marks of approval with which I was generally received
-were not altogether unmerited. This I can say, that it was my
sincere and earnest desire to please and glorify Christ, by pro
moting the conversion and salvation of the people among whom
1 was appointed to labour.
At the District Meeting, which was held in Lincoln, during
the second year of my appointment to the Homcastle Circuit,
I met with the Eev. WUliam France, who was then one of the
Ministers in the SpUsby Circuit. Our spirits clave to each
other from the time of our first meeting. He was a man of a
fine temper and genius, of a tender spirit, thoroughly honest, an
able theologian, and possessed of a considerable amount of
Biblical scholarship ; though he was somewhat deficient in
practical judgment, and did not always succeed in conveying
his thoughts correctly to his hearers. The consequence was,
that he met with many discouragements in the course of his
ministerial Ufe. I loved him as one of the most upright men I
¦ever knew, and in some respects one of the ablest. In his
-doctrinal views he was strictly orthodox ; and he was " vaUant
for the truth." He pubUshed several single sermons, of great
Talue, characterized alike by sound doctrine, forcible argument,

94 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and commanding eloquence ; though he was far .from being
a fluent speaker. For a long time he was employed in writing
an exposition of the book of the Prophet Zechariah, which he
finished some years before he died ; but what became of his
manuscript I could never learn. He also translated from the
original Latin Grotius's Treatise on the Satisfaction of Christ :
a work which I fear is also lost.
In the Homcastle Circuit, as weU as in other places, I took a.
pleasure in conversing with old Methodists, and in hearing
them relate the doings which they had witnessed in the early
periods of their reUgious life, or the things which they had
heard as having been done " in the old time before them." A
few of the things which I then heard I will here relate.
Mr. Smith, of Bardney, who was then far advanced in Ufe,
told me that within his recollection a disturbance took place at
a love-feast in Homcastle, when several lawless men rushed into-
the meeting, to the dismay of the quiet people, who were telling
each other what the Lord had done for their souls, evidently
intending to break up the assembly. The service was conducted
by John Hampson, a man of great courage and muscular-
power, who in seU- defence did not always conflne himself to
the use of strictly spiritual weapons ; and who on this occasion
so pommelled the rioters, as effectually to clear the place of
them in a short space of time. Some of them professed to be
injured in the conflict ; and it was thought that the Methodist
Preacher might be successfully prosecuted as the aggressor in
this affray. A subscription was set on foot, by the enemies of
Methodism, to meet the expenses of the suit ; and the cause was
heard at the assizes in Lincoln, which my informant attended,
anxious to know the issue of the affair. The barrister who was^
retained for the prosecution began a vehement invective against^
the Methodists, when the Judge interrupted him by the inquiry,
" Does this court sit to encourage riots, or to protect the peace
able subjects of the crown ? " "Far be it from me to encourage-
riots," said the learned advocate, and sat down ; whUehis Lord
ship addressed these lawless men in a strain of stem rebuke,
warning them never to engage in such mal-practices again.
In the meantime, the adversaries of Methodism in Homcastle-

A Shepherd's Constancy. 95
had prepared a barrel of ale in the market-place, with which
they intended to celebrate their triumph, as soon as the
intelUgence should arrive from Lincoln that the Preacher was
convicted. But when the issue of the trial was reported, the
crowd dispersed, murmuring ; and, as in the case of the Jewish
Sanhedrim, " every man went to his own home."
Mr. Smith also told me that on another occasion John Hamp
son stopped at the viUage of Thimbleby, near Homcastle, to
get his horse shod ; and that when he resumed his journey,
the blacksmith persuaded an idle man, who was lounging in
the shop, to run after the Preacher, and rate him soundly ;
telling him that the Methodist Preachers never offer any resist
ance to their assailants. The man took this specious advice,
but was soon convinced of his mistake ; for Mr. Hampson gave
him such a horsewhipping, as sent him to his home a wiser man
than he was when he left it, and far better behaved.
At Hogsthorpe, in the same Circuit, there was a member of
our Society about eighty years of age, but singularly hale
and cheerful. His name was Harry Woodford. He told me
that in his youthful days he hired himself to a farmer, as a
shepherd ; that while he retained his situation, Methodist
preaching was introduced into the viUage ; and that he and
some of his fellow-servants attended it. After a time the
master called them into his presence, and said, that unless they
would give him an immediate promise that they would dis
continue their attendance, he would pay them their wages, and
dismiss them from his service ; for he would have no Methodists
in his employ. When the question was proposed to them
personally, one after another expressed his regret that be had
in this matter disobliged his master, and promised never to
offend again. When the appeal was made to the shepherd, he
said, that under the Methodist preaching he had received
religious benefit, and on no account would he be hindered from
attending it in future ; adding, that the salvation of his soul
was of more value than any~Worldly situation. The master then
said, " Thou art an honest fellow, Harry ; but as for these men,
they would sell their souls for money." He then dismissed them
aU, except the shepherd, alleging that they were unworthy of

96 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
his confidence. Yet it would perhaps not be difficult to prove
that this capricious man was quite as faulty as bis servants
whom he so summarily dismissed. He had no right to test
their character by a lie ; and the men whom he so merci
lessly entrapped might have rendered him good service, although
the preaching they attended had not taken any deep and per
manent hold upon their consciences. Every one, however, may
learn from the conduct of the young shepherd that honesty is
the best policy ; and that nothing is ultimately lost by trusting
in God, and obeying the dictates of conscience.
Another fact I will relate, which serves to. confirm the eame
maxim. Eobert Kent was a poor man, a widower, living at
Woodhouse, near Homcastle. He occupied a thatched cottage,
with mud walls and a mud floor, and with it as much land as
enabled him to keep a cow and a pig, and to grow as many
potatoes as were needful for his family. Having found peace
with God, he opened his house for Methodist preaching. I slept
in bis humble dwelling once a month, and gave him and his
neighbours a sermon on a week-night. A Class was also
formed, and prayer-meetings were held, in the same place. These
innovations were distasteful to certain parties, and Eobert
received intimations that the loss of his house and land would
be the consequence. The whole or the greater part of the parish
belonged to one landlord ; and thehumble tenant was warned that
appUcation would be made to the steward for his ejectment ; for
Methodism was regarded as an intolerable evil. Eobert was a
timid man, with a tender conscience ; and as he was getting
into years, and had buried his wife, he was not prepared to
meet the storm that appeared to be gathering. He therefore
looked for help and protection from God, remembering that the
hearts of all men are in His hands. The rent-day came, and
;Eobert received notice to meet the steward at the viUage inn.
He went with a palpitating heart, breathing a silent prayer
-to the God of heaven, as did Nehemiah in the presence of a
heathen sovereign, to whom he was about to prefer a request.
Arrived at the house where the steward sat, Eobert waited to
hear his name announced, as the next in order that was to
appear in the presence of the man by whose decision he

Evangelists and open-air Preaching. 97
was to be ruined, or confirmed in the occupation of his
tenement. The signal was at length given, and the anxious cottager
obeyed the call. The steward said, " Well, Eobert, your rent
is  ." "Yes, Sir," said Eobert; "here it is ;" handing
him the money. " Ay, this is right," said the steward ; "but,
Eobert, I understand you have made your house a preaching-
place ; that you lodge the Methodist Preachers ; and that you
hold other meetings for singing hymns and for prayer." " Yes,
Sir," said Eobert ; " I was an ignorant, wicked, and miserable
man tiU I heard these Preachers ; but now I am entirely
changed ; and I wish all the people in Woodhouse to enjoy the
happiness I feel in the love and service of God." " I am glad
to hear it," answered the steward. " The farmers have requested
me to give you notice to quit ; but I have given them such an
answer as they will not soon forget. Before I go away, I
shaU speak to the Clergyman on the subject, and shaU see that
no one molests you. When are your meetings held ? for if you
have any whUe I stay, I wiU attend them myself. I am directed
to raise the rents of all the tenants in the parish ; but I am so
pleased with the account you have given me, that I shall only
raise you a few shillings." Eobert's heart was too full, when
he heard these kind words, to utter any laboured expressions
of gratitude. He returned thanks as well as be was able, and
retired with tears in his eyes. He gave me this account him
self the next time I went to Woodhouse, and we united in
thanksgiving to God.
Eobert Kent belonged to an order of men who have rendered
good ser-vice to the cause of true religion in England. In
many a "village a Methodist chapel is now seen, lifting its
modest head among the dweUings of the labouring classes,
where they are accustomed to assemble for the purpose of
hearing God's Word, of enjoying Christian feUowship with
each other, and of united prayer and praise. But from the
beginning it was not so. Methodist preaching was introduced
into many of these places by a faithful evangelist, who took
his stand in the open air, and called the people to repentance
and salvation, in the midst of revilings, stones, putrid eggs,

98 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and brick-bats. It was only when the truth had produced its
legitimate effect, that a cottage, or the kitchen of a farm-house,
was offered for the accommodation of the preacher and of
those who said, " We wUl hear thee again of this matter."
The erection of the chapel was an indication of the third
stage of progress. After the lapse of sixty years, it is possible
that the name of Eobert Kent may be forgotten even in Wood-
house, but it is not forgotten in heaven. The house of Obed-
edom, where the ark of God was received and sheltered, we con
ceive to be blessed both in this world and the next. All honour
to the memory of such men as Eobert Kent, as weU as to the
John Nelsons of a former age !
During my second year in this Circuit I made an offer of
marriage to Miss Ann HolUnshead, who, with her sister, con
ducted a boarding-school in Homcastle. After taking counsel
with some members of her family, and especially her mother,
she accepted my proposal, and we pledged ourselves to each
other. The vows we then made we faithfuUy kept, though
our union did not take place till more than two years'
afterwards. Of this engagement I never had any reason to
repent ; but in my heart have thanked God for it a thousand
times. Having spent two years in this station, at the Conference of
1807, which was held in Liverpool, I was appointed to the
Lincoln Circuit. Here I was placed under the superintendency
of the Eev. Francis Wrigley ; and had, as my other colleague,
Mr. Stephen -Butler, then a newly-married man, who died a few
years afterwards. Mr. Wrigley was somewhat stern in his
manner, a strict disciplinarian, and thoroughly conversant with
the rules and usages of Methodism. His sternness was more in
his manner than in his temper ; for I bear him record that to
me he was invariably kind. Little did either of us then think,
that, after the lapse of many years, I should pray with him
when he was dying, — he being an aged Supernumerary Preacher
in London ; and that I should draw up the character of him
which the Conference inserted in its yearly Minutes. To this
character an exception was taken by Mr. Gaulter, when it
was read in the District Meeting ; but Dr. Adam Clarke, who

A pleasant Retrospect. 99
was present, said he knew not who had written it, but it
was a just description of the aged Minister to whom it
referred. The Lincoln Circuit was then of wide dimensions, including
what are now the Lincoln and Sleaford Circuits, which require
the labour of six Ministers. Among its worthies were many
honoured men, such -as Mawer, of Lincoln ; Dixon, of Bassing-
ham ; Lambe, of Auburn ; Matthews, of Sleaford ; and many
others, equally upright, zealous, and faithful, whom I hope ere
long to meet in the heavenly paradise. The Societies in the
¦Circuit generaUy were preserved in prosperity and peace ; but in
the city of Lincoln this was not a prosperous year, so far as
religion was concerned. A severely-contested election cast a
blight upon our cause. For some weeks crowds of people were
daily drawn together in the streets by music and party ban
ners ; ale was freely distributed in the public-houses, and the
people drank without restraint ; votes were bought and sold as
, a matter of course ; and as the sad result of this display of
noise, intemperance, and venality, our congregations on the
Sabbath-day were grievously reduced. Many of the hearers
had lost their relish for the Word and worship of God amidst
the dissipation of the election ; others, having been seen in a
state of intoxication, were ashamed to appear in the places
which they had been accustomed to occupy in the chapel ; and
•even some of the members of the Society could see no harm in
taking ten pounds from a Parliamentary candidate, for others
received the same sum for their votes. Our honest Superin
tendent raised his voice manfully against bribery ; for he was a
genuine disciple of John Wesley, who denounced this mean
and beggarly sin in the strongest terms ; but he found it no
¦easy matter to persuade " the free and independent electors,"
as they were called, to shake their hands from the accursed
thing. Many events connected with my appointment to the Lincoln
•Circuit afford me pleasure in the retrospect ; but, above aU
others, there is one that I think of with gratitude. In the year
1808, accompanied by a zealous friend, I went, on a cold day
H 2

100 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
in March, to SaxUby, a large vUlage a few miles from Lincoln,
where the voice of no Methodist Preacher had been previously
heard. My companion went from house to house informing the
people that a young man would deliver a sermon in the open air
at a particular time and place. A shopkeeper lent me an empty
tea-chest to stand upon ; and I fulfiUed, in the best manner I
could, the engagement which my friend had made in my behaU.
A considerable number of people attended, and formed a large
semicircle, but not one of them would venture to come very near
me. But, by lifting up my voice, which was tolerably clear and
strong, I succeeded in making them hear ; and not in vain. This
beginning was foUowed up by others ; regular preaching was
introduced, and a Society formed. In passing through: this
viUage of late years by the railway, I have observed a respectable-
looking Methodist chapel in the midst of the population ; indi
cating that the people are at present more famihar with the
preaching which half a century ago they were willing to
hear, but not without suspicion as to the preacher's inten
tions. They kept at a respectful distance from the man
who warned them of the evil and danger of a Ufe of sin, and
recommended to them a believing application to Christ as
their Saviour. >
At Auburn, in this Circuit, I received one of the most
effective and unexpected rebukes that I ever brought upon
myself A poor half-witted man in that place was a regular
attendant upon the religious services in our chapel ; and
having no notion of a tune, he used, when the congregation
sang, to lift up his voice to such a pitch as often to make
a serious discord. One evening, when he had left the
chapel, I said to him, " I wish you would not attempt to
sing ; for, as you have no tune, you disturb the people."
He looked sternly at me, and said, " What right have you
to require me to be sUent, when the Bible says, ' Let every
thing that hath breath praise the Lord?'" I had not a
word to say in reply ; and never afterwards attempted to
interfere with his mode of worshipping the Lord his Maker.
He did npt claim to be a man, but only a breathing

An unexpected Rebuke. 101
" thing,'' and in that character maintained his right to
"praise the Lord" in the best manner he could. I thought
that while the sound of his voice feU harshly upon human
ears, it was possible that in his heart he might make as
acceptable melody to the Lord as the best-trained singer in
the assembly.

CHAPTER VII.
admitted into full CONNEXION (1808)— JOUENEY TO BBISTOL— OONPEKENCE.
NOTES—" THEEE jncHTIES : " SAMUEL BEADBUEN, JOSEPH BENSON, JABEZ
BUNTING — ^EENEWED SELF-DEDICATION TO THE WOBK OF THE MINISTEY 
-APPOINTED TO LEEDS— JOUENEY : NEW ASPECT OF PEOPLE AND COUNTEY
— CHAEACTEEISTICS OF COLLEAGUES  ANECDOTE OP MB. "WESLEY 
EEV. JOSEPH TA-YLOE'S BEMINISCENCES OP THE CONPEBENCE OF 1784 
CIBCUIT WOEK — AHAEDSHIP  TWO YEAES' BEADING — MEETING CHILDEEN
¦WEEKLY FOB EELIGIOUS INSTEUCTION— AN OLD BOOK-SHOP — JAMES NICHOLS
 A MEMOBADLE CON-VEESION — A BEM-iBKAELE INTEEPOSITION OF PBO\TDENCE
— MABBIAGE.
WHEN I had spent a year in the Lincol nCircuit, the time
of my probation as a candidate for the Wesleyan min
istry was at an end ; and as I had incurred no official censure,
I expected to be admitted into fuU connexion with the Confer
ence, so as to be authorized not only to preach the Word, but alsO'
to administer the sacraments, and take the pastoral oversight of
Societies. The Conference of this year (1808) was held in
Bristol ; and having paid a brief visit to Homcastle, not know
ing where my lot might be cast the next year, I left Lincoln by
coach, in company with the Eev. George DevereU, the Super
intendent of the Louth Circuit, to attend that assembly of the
Methodist Preachers, with whom I expected to be identified to-
the end of my life. We passed through Newark, Nottingham,
and other intermediate towns, receiving fresh accessions of
Preachers as we went, who were aU aiming at the same place,
tiU we became a considerable company ; and although some of
us had never seen each other before, we were not strangers ; for
we had one creed and one heart.
At Birmingham we found the Bristol coach pre-engaged ; so
we took the coach to Bath, where we arrived late in the even
ing of the next day, and remained aU night at the inn. It
became known, by some means or other, that a company of
Methodist Preachers, on their way to the Conference, had.

A generous Host. 103
arrived by the Birmingham coach ; and we aU received a press
ing invitation the next morning to breakfast at the house of
two brothers, the Messrs. Shum, Germans by birth, then resi
dent in Bath, members of the Methodist Society, and examples
of Christian godUness. We accepted the invitation, and were
hospitably entertained ; and after praying with the famUy, and
expressing our sense of obligation, we returned to our inn, to
pay for our suppers and accommodation for the night, and pre
pare for our departure to Bristol. To our surprise, we found
that one of the good men whose hospitable abode we had just
left had been to the inn during our absence, and discharged aU
our obligations there. After the lapse of more than sixty years,
¦I feel a pleasure in recording this act of kindness, thus deli
cately performed. Tt reminds one of the journey of Paul and
Barnabas, from Antioch to the conference in Jerusalem, con
vened for the settlement of the question concerning circumci
sion, when they were " brought on their way by the Church ; "
and of "the weU-beloved Gaius," who was a "fellow-helper to
the truth," by aiding its ministers in their journeys, not in a
niggardly manner, but " after a godly sort." The same spirit
actuated the Shums of Bath ; and as long as the record I am
now writing shall remain, their pious hberality shall not be for
gotten. They have passed to the society of the blessed, and
their works foUow them.
When we arrived in Bristol I seemed to be in the far west,
having never before been at such a distance from my native
place. Everything bore an aspect of novelty ; but what I
wanted most to see was the Conference, and especiaUy the
Preachers of leading influence and talent, with whose
names I had been famihar from my boyhood, and whose
writings I had read with attention and pleasure ; particularly
Messrs. Bradbum, Benson, and Adam Clarke. Dr. Coke I had
once heard at Market Weighton, and at other places, and had
been in his company at Eaithby HaU ; so that with his person
and manner I was weU acquainted. The other three great
men and worthies I had never seen. We arrived in Bristol on
a Saturday ; and the Conference was to assemble on the Mon
day morning foUowing, at six o'clock.

104 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
On the Sunday, having attended the ministrations of other
men in the morning and afternoon, I heard Mr. Bradbum in
the evening, at the Portland chapel. His text was, 1 Peter v.
10: "But the God of all grace, who hath caUed us unto His
eternal glory by Christ Jesus, after that ye have suffered
awhile, make you perfect, stablish, strengthen, settle you." In
the introduction of his sermon he passed a censm-e upon what
he called " the essay form of preaching," and stated that he
should divide the discourse which he was about to deUver " in
a rational and edifying manner,'' that his hearers might the
better understand his drift, and remember what he had said.'-'
I was charmed and instructed by the entire service ; and won
dered at the beautiful light which he shed upon many passages'
of Holy Scripture he had occasion to cite, and the power
with which he riveted the attention of the people, and excited
their feelings.
During the Conference he also preached on a week-night, in
the King- Street chapel, taking for his text 1 Cor. vi. 17:
" But he that is joined to the Lord is one spirit." On this
occasion I admired the same clearness of doctrinal statement,
lucid argumentation, the felicitous application of words, the
same impressiveness, spirituaUty, power over the attention and
feeUngs of his congregation, and rich vein of evangelical senti
ment. He observed that the mind and heart of St. Paul were
BO full of Christ, that when he was warning the Corinthians
against one of the most degrading vices of heathenism, he
passed by an easy and sudden transition to the subject of union
with Christ, and its direct effect upon the human character.
"He which is joined to an harlot is one body, but he that is
* " Another matter deserving your attention is, to divide your sermons
into a few distinct heads. This mode was carried too far by the divines of
the last century, and it has been too much neglected by our present divines.
Our predecessors in the ministry divided and subdivided their subjects till
their hearers were confounded by the great variety of topics recommended
to their consideration ; but without some division a sermon is like an essay,
which is forgotten by the generality as soon as it is read. A congregation
is amused by it, but not instructed." — Bishop Watson's Charge to the
Clergy, 1788.

" Three Mighties." 105
joined unto the Lord is one spirit." I perceived from this and
his former sermon that the person and work of Christ were the
themes on which he most deUghted to dweU. Like St. Paul,
he preached Christ. When he had finished his sermon, and the
people were singing the concluding hymn, Mr. Eeece went into
the pulpit, and whispered something into the ear of Mr. Brad-
burn, which he evidently did. not like ; but as Mr. Eeece per
sisted, Mr. Bradburn submitted; and, looking at the congrega
tion, he said, " I am desired to state, that a hat and an umbrella
were taken from this chapel last night. If any of you have
stolen them, you are desired to bring them back again : " a
rebuke which was evidently intended for the parties who would
not be satisfied unless the petty robbery which they had suf-
¦fered were pressed thus unseasonably upon the attention of a
worshipping assembly. Honest people, who had taken such
things away in a mistake, would bring them back of their own
accord ; but that thieves would return stolen goods at the ¦
-simple request of those whom they had plundered could hardly
be expected by sane persons.
But my highest admiration of this extraordinary man was
reserved for another occasion, which occurred during the same
-Conference, when he preached in Guinea- Street chapel, in the
morning of the Lord's day, on Philippians iii. 3 : " For we are
'the circumcision, which worship God in the spirit, and rejoice
in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh." The
•sermon which he delivered on these words, in respect of effect,
surpassed all that I ever felt or witnessed either before or since.
I wept for joy ; my feeUngs were uncontroUable ; I was agitated
from head to foot, and could not sit still in my pew ; especially
when he expatiated on the subject of " rejoicing in Christ
•Jesus." " When I was convinced of sin," said he, " my heart
¦was wrung with anguish because I had offended God ; my eyes
were swelled and dim with weeping, so that I could scarcely
see where to put the instrument I was working with. My atten
tion was^ directed to the sacrifice of Christ : I saw Him dying
for me ;"l saw that He loved me ; and I trusted in Him as
my Saviour. WhUe my anxious mind was thus employed, ' /
¦listened, and heaven sprang up in my heart.' " The manner in

106 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
which he made this statement was inimitable. I never saw a
congregation so affected. The people sobbed, and wept aloud.
At this time the African slave-trade was carried on, without
restraint, and some of the Bristol merchants were understood to
be deeply concerned in the infamous and horrible traffic, as well
as in the system of colonial slavery, with its untold amount of
misery and guUt. To these men, and to the deeds of cruelty
and blood in which they were impUcated, Mr. Bradburn alluded
in the course of his sermon, and that with withering effect. He
had pubUshed an admirable pamphlet on these subjects ; and
his generous and righteous soul was vexed with the murderous
oppressions which he knew to be practised on the coast of
Africa, and under the West Indian sun. He used no delicate
reserve in denouncing these foul abominations, " the execrable
sum of aU vUlaniesi"
I feel unable to give an adequate description of the preaching
of this remarkable man, or to specify the secret of.his power as
a Christian orator. Thus much, however, I may say, that he
had a combination of advantages, such as seldom meet in the
same person. He had a fine countenance, a fine voice, a fine
elocution, a perfect command of language, which never hesitated
for the right word ; and over all his powers he had an absolute
control. His features, his tones of voice, his words, all com
bined to express his meaning. His utterance was not rapid;
his action was gentle, consisting mostly of a slight motion of
his right hand ; his language was never stiff and elaborate, but
simple, terse, and often conversational. Yet he seemed, hke
our great dramatist, to know all the avenues to the human.
heart, and all its springs pf action, which he could touch and
play upon with the utmost facihty. His hearers wept or smUed
alternately, or uttered ejaculations, just as he chose that they
should be affected. His oratory was indeed " nature all, and
all delight." It flowed in the sweetest strains, yet sometimes
terrifying the conscience, like a sudden clap of thunder, accom
panied by a flash of forked lightning, which laid bare the deep
depravity of the unregenerate heart.
But to me the principal charm of his ministry was its
thoroughly evangehcal character. What he preached was

" Three Mighties." lOT
Gospel. Of the glories of Christ's person, the perfection of His
sacrifice, and the endless benefits of His mediation, this gifted
man never lost sight. I have heard the most distinguished
preachers that have appeared within the last half-century, in
the Established Church, in the various Dissenting bodies, in
the Methodist Connexion, and in the Scottish Chm'ches, many"
of whom far surpassed him in scholarship, in comprehensive-
range of thought, in logical acumen, in consecutive argument,.
in polished diction, and in originaUty of conception ; but an
extemporary speaker equal to Samuel Bradburn I never heard. I
have heard Clergymen in the reading-desk utter the confession,
the absolution, and the Gloria Patri, without any variation of
voice ; I have heard Methodist Preachers in the pulpit give out
to a congregation of worshippers the most spiritual and beautiful
hymns as if they v/ere reciting the items of a tradesman's bill »
and I have heard Ministers describe the miseries of heU, expos
tulate with the impenitent and unbeheving, invite the broken
hearted to come to Christ for mercy, and address words of
consolation to the destitute and afflicted, in the same tone,
and that an unnatural one ; while their hearers have remained
in a state of hstless indifference. Whereas God has supplied
human nature with a variety of tones adapted to every variety
of subject and feeling ; and of these Mr. Bradburn appeared ta
be a perfect master.
At this Conference my attention was also specially directed
to the Eev. Joseph Benson, whose writings I had read, and of
whose preaching I had received the most surprising accounts.
I found him to be somewhat below the ordinary stature, the
reverse of corpulent, his head singular in its conformation,
with a piercing eye, his voice feeble and inharmonious, with
a Cumberland dialect somewhat strongly marked. Through
the early part of his sermon he seemed to speak with difficulty,
— not for want of matter, but of physical power, — and to be
straining himself to make the people hear ; so that I reaUy felt
a pain in my breast through sympathy, as I often did after
wards when hearing him preach. The sermon, however, de
monstrated that the preacher was "a master in Israel." It
displayed an accurate, profound, and comprehensive knowledge

108 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
of Holy Scripture, was delivered with deep seriousness, appa
rently under an anxious feeling of responsibility; and the
appUcation was singularly powerful and impressive. This very
able discourse was delivered on a week-night, in the King-Street
¦chapel, and was especially adapted to the occasion. The text
was, 2 Cor. iii. 4-6 : " And such trust have we through Christ
to Godward: not that we are sufficient of ourselves to think
anything as of ourselves ; but our sufficiency is of God ; who
hath made us able ministers of the new covenant ; not of the
letter, but of the spirit : for the letter kUleth, but the spirit
.giveth life." The sermon left a deep impression of Mr. Benson's
sanctity and faithfulness, and of the awful responsibilities under
which the Ministers and Pastors of the Church are placed by
the Lord Christ, whose servants they are. In prayer Mr
Benson was copious, powerful, and earnest.
The next Preacher that engaged my particular attention at
¦this time was Mr. Bunting, then a young man, but rapidly
rising into notice as a public speaker. There was no printed
plan of the religious services connected with the Conference ;
and the appointments for the Sabbath were usually made in
the Conference on the Saturday morning. Mr. Bunting was
then earnestly requested to take one of the Bristol pulpits the
next day ; but he excused himself by saying that he was going
to Bath that evening. To Bath he doubtless went ; but he did
not remain there ; for the next morning I met him in one of
the streets of Bristol, apparently on his return from Bath. He
consented, however, to occupy the pulpit of the King- Street
¦chapel on a week-night, when I went to hear him fuU of curiosity
and of eager expectation ; for I wanted to learn aU that could
¦be learned on the subject of preaching, both in respect of its
substance and form. His text was, John xvii. 15 : "I pray not
that Thou shouldest take them out of the world, but that Thou
shouldest keep them from the evU." His manner was singularly
•modest and unassuming, his elocution clear and distinct ; and
the sermon, which embodied a comprehensive range of thought,
presented a completeness and a finish such as I had never
¦observed in any sermon that I had previously heard. Every
word seemed to be selected -with the nicest care, placed exactly

Aspiect of the Conference (1808). 109-
where it ought to be ; and all the topics were arranged in the
best order. Yet neither in the sermon nor in the delivery of it
did there appear anything artificial ; both seemed rather to be
the natural offspring of an inteUect pure, powerful, discriminat
ing, weU cultivated ; and of a heart full of holy love, chastened
and regulated by godly fear. The sermon was deUvered with
becoming earnestness and warmth, but not with the vehemence-
whioh characterized his ministry at some subsequent periods of
his Ufe. The singular modesty of his manner gave a charm ta
the whole service. He did not then take any prominent part in
the business of the Conference, but appeared rather as an atten
tive listener and observer.
Several other Preachers I heard during this Conference, who
presented various degrees of talent and zeal, but none of them
came up to "the first three" that I have mentioned, who seemed
to me to resemble the " three mighties " in David's army. To
me it was a sore disappointment that Mr. Adam Clarke did not
appear. My heart yearned to see and hear the man of whose
sanctified scholarship I had heard so much, and whose writings
I had read with deUght and profit.
The aspect and business of the Conference engaged my earnest
attention. It was held in the King- Street chapel, not imme
diately before the pulpit, but under the front gallery; and I
think did not consist of a greater number of men than at present
constitute some of our annual District Meetings. The first day
of the Conference was observed as a fast, and every one was
expected to spend as much time as possible in prayer for God's
blessing upon all its deliberations and acts. The discontinuance
of the Conference fast is no sign of good to the Connexion. The
Eev. James Wood was chosen President, and Dr. Coke the
Secretary ; and that these two important functionaries might
be the better seen and heard, they were placed with their seats
and desks on a little elevation above the floor of the chapel.
The senior Preachers were placed in order near the President
and Secretary, and next to them the junior men, according to
their standing in the work. The faces of many of the old men
presented a weather-beaten appearance, as if they had been long
accustomed to traverse wide Circuits, exposed to the rays of the

110 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
sun, rain, bail, and snow, yet cheerful and happy in each other's
society. The President exercised a strict control over all present.
Every one that came in after the time of assembling was required
to assign a reason for his late attendance ; and no one was
aUowed to retire without the permission of the Chair. I was
particularly impressed yith the conscientious fidelity which the
Preachers manifested in the investigation of each other's cha
racters, and their care to maintain the purity of the Body, so
that "the ministry" might not be "blamed," and its purpose
•defeated. Anything even approaching to sin was -visited with
severe animadversion. Some cases of the exercise of discipline
I witnessed, which seemed to speak to me as the angel did to
Adam, after he had given an account of the sin and piinishment
of the fallen angels : —
" Bemember, and fear to transgress."
Thirty young men, having passed acceptably through their
four years of trial, were at this Conference recognized as Ministers,
and set apart for the sacred office. We underwent a private
examination by the President, a more open examination before
the Conference ; and were required, in the presence of a public
and crowded congregation, to relate the fact and circumstances
• of our conversion, the manner in which we were led to preach,
and our present purposes with respect to the ministry. When
we stood before the Conference, Mr. Benson proposed a theo
logical question to one of our number, which he was not prepared
to answer. He made an attempt, but was confused and per
plexed. Happily for me, no one attempted to "prove" me with
"hard questions," as the Queen of Sheba did Solomon; sol
passed through the ordeal with comparative ease ; but, as in
duty bound, I solemnly vowed before God, His servants, and
the public congregation, to devote myself in body, soul, and
^ spirit, to the work for which I was then set apart, and that to
the end of my, Ufe. Of the thirty men with whom I then stood,
I am the only survivor. When I write this, the rest are all
fallen asleep. God be merciful to me, and prepare me also for
- my great change !
At this Conference Mr. Benson referred to a report, that Mr.

A harsh Society-steward. 11%
Bradburn, when preaching a sermon in HuU, on the occasion
-of Mr. Bradford's death, had cast some unjust reflections upon
Mr. Wesley, and inquired of Mr. Bradburn whether or not the
report was true. "Nobody who knows me," said Mr. Brad
burn, "wiU ever credit such a report. My opinion of Mr.
Wesley has long been before the world. I pubUshed a cha
racter of him immediately after his death ; which, by the bye,
I think is, after aU that has been written, the best character of
him that has yet appeared." And then, aUuding to some
recent publications, which he thought had been put forth for
the purpose of gain, he archly added, " I am so satisfied with
the sermon I preached at Hull, that I declare I would publish
it, if I thought I could get a pienny hy it."
He then related some facts illustrative of the trials through
which Mr. Bradford had passed ; observing that, though poor,
he possessed a noble and independent spirit. When traveUing
with Mr. Wesley, he was once taken iU at Bristol, so that Mr.
Wesley was compeUed to leave him ; but committed him to the
¦care of the Society- steward, who, instead of pro-viding for him a
nurse and medical attendance, sent him to one of the city hos
pitals, as an object of public charity. " I can hardly forbear,"
said Mr. Bradburn, in a tone of indignation, " to mention the
steward's name." He also stated, that when Mr. Bradford was
in the Cohie Circuit, his -wife died ; and as he had not the means
of meeting the expenses of her funeral, and no one offered to
aid him, he was under the painful necessity of collecting the
wearing apparel of his late wife, and of taking it to Manches
ter in the night, that by the sale of it there he might obtain the
means of her decent interment. Such, I learned, were the
hardships endured by the old Methodist Preachers, into whose
labours I now entered :
" Godlike men, how firm they stood ! "
In adjusting the stations of the Preachers, it was found that
a young man, unmarried, was wanted for Leeds, and another
for London ; and the question arose, who should be selected
for these important stations. Some one suggested, — I think,
Mr. Wrigley, — that " Thomas Jackson would be a suitable

112 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
supply for London." To this Mr. Pipe objected, saying, " I
understand that young man has a very weak voice ; so that
he could not be heard in the London chapels." " I beg your
pardon," exclaimed my friend and Superintendent Wrigley,
" Thomas Jackson can make as loud a noise as John Pipe
himseU can." " I only spoke from report," said Mr. Pipe ; " I
do not know the young man." An appeal was then made to
me, as to whether I should prefer the London Circuit.. I
answered that my only desire was to be useful ; that I did not
wish on any account to choose my own station ; that I would
go just where those who knew me thought I should best serve
the cause which we all had at heart ; that as I did not feel
myself qualified to occupy with advantage the London pulpits,
I earnestly requested that I might not be sent to the metropoUs,
but have an appointment to a country Circuit. Mr. Benson
expressed his approval of my answer, and called me his " bro
ther." It was finaUy determined that I should go to Leeds,
and my friend and contemporary, John Newton, should be
sent to London. For this arrangement I was thankful, espe
ciaUy as Jonas Jagger, who had been stationed as a young man
in London, a few years before, came and whispered in my ear,
" Do not go to London, if you can avoid it. If you do, you wUl
have to preside in Leaders' meetings, in which there are some
rich men, who are bent upon having their own way in the-
management of the Societies. They wUl take advantage of
your youth, and place you in collision with your Superintend
ent." What truth there might be in this statement, I know-
not ; but I was glad to be exempted from a post of such
difficulty. WhUe the Conference was employed in determining the sta
tions of thePreachers, I saw how easy it is for a man to make-
a speech which may be turned against himself, and which he
may wish he had never uttered. Mr. Highfield was leaving
Bath, and the Stationing Committee had given him an appoint
ment to London, which he hoped the Conference would con
firm. When he heard one Preacher after another plead per
sonal or family reasons why they should go to one Circuit
rather than another, Mr. Highfield rose, and expressed his deep

Mr. Highfield : a fair Retort. 113
regret ; observing that in the matter of stations the brethren
ought to submit to one another ; and asked, " What would our
good people think of us, if they were present, and heard these
objections ? " This speech did not produce conviction in every
mind ; and after the delivery of it another difficulty quickly
arose ; when some one suggested that it might be effectually
overcome, if Mr. Highfield, instead of going to London, were
sent to Hull ; for then the claims of other men would be met
and satisfied. On hearing this Mr. Highfield rose in consterna
tion, and urged the unreasonableness of sending him with his
large famUy across the country from Bath to Hull ; requesting
that his appointment to London might not be disturbed. A
brother then arose, and repeated almost verbatim Mr. High-
field's former speech ; remarking that, of course, Mr. High-
field could not complain of the application of his own
doctrine to himself; and concluding with special emphasis,
that in the matter of stations the Preachers " ought to submit
to one another, and not to choose and decide for themselves."
The Conference assented, and to Hull Mr. Highfield was sent,
where he remained two years. During that period his appoint
ment to London was postponed.
• The Eev. Joseph Taylor was, then the Superintendent of the
Leeds Circuit ; and when the act of my admission into fuU
connexion with the Conference had been performed, and the
most important business of the Conference was transacted, he
expressed a wish that I would repair to my new appointment
without delay, so that the pulpits in Leeds might be supplied.
To this suggestion I readily assented, for I. loved my work;
and having received an assurance that my station should not
be changed, I left Bristol for Leeds before the Conference
ended. Having lived only in the agricultural parts of York
shire and Lincolnshire, I was surprised, in passing through the
cider counties of Gloucester and Worcester, to see the apple-
trees growing in the hedge-rows, by the sides of the public
roads ; and stUl more to witness the'smoke and fires and din of
the Staffordshire colUeries, blast furnaces, and iron works.
Nor was I less surprised, on my arrival in Leeds and the
neighbourhood, to find myself in the midst of coal-mines.

114 Recollections of my own. Life and Times.
steam-engines, call chimneys, and large factories, sending forth
crowds of work-people, old and young, male and female ; with
immense masses of smoke resting upon the town and populous
viUages all around. Here I saw the people, not in secluded
hamlets, nor in isolated families, thinly scattered through
extensive districts, as I had been accustomed to see them, but
crowded together, like bees in their hives ; many of them liv
ing in utter forgetfulness of God, of the great end of their
being, and of their redemption by the death of Christ. I saw
that indeed here was ample scope for evangeUcal labour, and
that to assist in turning these busy multitudes from worldUness
and sin to Christ as their Saviour, was worthy of all the efforts
that I could by possibility put forth.
At that time the Leeds Circuit included what are now the
five Leeds Circuits and the Bramley Circuit. It engaged the
labours of five Travelling Preachers ; and now twenty are
employed within the same space. In the town of Leeds we
had only two chapels, one near St. Peter's Square, usually
called " the Boggard House ; " and another, a comparatively
new erection, in Albion Street. We preached in a carpenter's
shop in Meadow Lane, fitted up once a week for our use by its
godly owner ; and on the Friday evenings we preached in a
private house in Park Lane. The smaU companies of labour
ing people we then addressed in both these places have swelled
into large assemblies, and now occupy chapels of imposing
dimensions. I spent two happy years in the Leeds Circuit, having agree
able colleagues, plenty of work, and Uving among a kind,
generous, and friendly people. In my first year I was associated
with the Eevs. Joseph Taylor, John Eeynolds, Joseph SutcUffe,
and Thomas Stanley ; and during the second year, with the
Eev. Charles Atmore, MUes Martindale, John S. Pipe, and
Thomas Stanley ; with the whole of whom I lived in unbroken
harmony and affection.
Joseph Taylor was a fine character, and had evidently been
a favourite with Mr. Wesley. He was deeply pious, amiable
in his temper, a lover of peace and of good men, an edifying
preacher, sociable, regular in his habits, attentive to every

Taste and no Taste. 115
part' of his duty, with an occasional sally of innocent humour.
He had no children, and his mother-in-law lived with him and
Mrs. Taylor. I spent a year very pleasantly, as an inmate of
his famUy. The only time that he addressed me in an un-
-friendly tone was on a Sunday evening, when I had been in
"/the Birstal Circuit making collections in behalf of the Stan-
-ningley chapel ; and the Steward at Morley would not give me
-.the money, unless I would remain and sup with him ; so that
it was late when I arrived at home. Mr. Taylor was gone to
bed, and the good man did not like to be disturbed by coming
down the stairs to open the door. Yet the fault was not mine ;
I would have come home sooner if I could. When he had
heard my explanation, he ceased to chide, and resumed his
former kindness and friendship.
Like other aged men, Mr. Taylor took pleasure in relating
the particulars of his early history, and especially of his life as
a Methodist Preacher, including bis intercourse with Mr.
Wesley and Mr. Fletcher; his adventures in Scotland, where
he spent some years ; and the events which he witnessed in the
various Circuits where he had laboured. Among other things
he told me that one day Mr. Wesley was walking up a hill with
several of his Preachers, when he was getting out of breath,
which he was unwiUing to confess. Then stopping suddenly,
he said, " I am surprised, brethren, at your want of taste. You
are pressing up the hiU, regardless of the beautiful prospect
that is behind you." Having directed then attention to the
¦different objects in the plain below, he caUed upon them to
sing,— " Ye mountains and vales. In praises abound ;
Ye hills, and ye dales. Continue the sound ;
Break forth into singing, Ye trees of the wood ;
For Jesus is bringing Lost sinners to God."
While they sang he recovered his breath ; and then the aged
man was able to keep pace with his more vigorous companions.
Mr. Taylor used to speak of the Conference of 1784 with
considerable emotion. It was held in Leeds, a few months
after Mr. Wesley had executed the Deed of Declaration, and
was attended by Mr. Fletcher, who died twelve months after-
I 2

116 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
wards. John Hampson, father and son, and a few other-
Preachers, whose names were not inserted in the Deed, were-
offended with the omission, and had endeavoured to excite a
disturbance in the Societies, alleging that the Deed was not
only unnecessary, but would be mischievous in its operation..
These sons of discord were c^Ued to an account for their mis
conduct, when Mr. Fletcher interceded with Mr. Wesley in-
theh behalf. Mr. Wesley urged the greatness of their offence,.
in attempting to create iU-will against him on account of that
which he had done merely for the benefit of both the preachers
and the people. " It is true," said Mr. Fletcher, " their offence
is great, but they are your sons in the Gospel ; and their mis
conduct is no reason why their father should be unforgiving.""
His advocacy prevailed, and these discontented men were
appointed to Circuits ; but Mr. Wesley knew them better than
Mr. Fletcher did ; for in the following year they renounced
their connexion with Methodism, and departed from the work
to which they were solemnly pledged. The younger Hampson>
who had been educated at Mr. Wesley's expense, obtained the
vicarage of Sunderland, and prepared an unfriendly narrative
of Mr. Wesley's Life, which he had ready for publication as
soon as the breath had left his body. The elder Hampson became
a schoolmaster in Kent ; but in the latter years of his Ufe he
received pecuniary help from the Methodist Preachers, in con
sideration of what he had been and done.
At this Conference, Mr. Fletcher preached his celebrated'
sermon on the case of the old prophet who was sent by God to
Bethel, to bear witness against the system of idolatry which
Jeroboam was then introducing among the revolted tribes of
Israel. While the prophet was in the act of delivering his
message, the King " put forth his band from the altar, saying,'
Lay hold on him ; and the hand which he put forth against
him dried up, so that he could not puU it in again to him ; "
and there he stood before the people, whom he was attempting
to seduce into the sin of idolatry, a pitiable object of helpless
ness, begging of the prophet to offer prayer to God in his
behalf. Mr. Fletcher addressed himself particularly to the
Preachers, assuring them that while they were faithful in the

Mr. Fletcher at the Conference of 1784. 117
fulfilment of their evangelical commission, every arm that was
stretched out against them God would "dry up," as in the case
of Jeroboam. At the same time, he warned them against the
subsequent disobedience of the prophet, who was slain by a
Uon, and whom Mr. Fletcher described in respect of this part of
his conduct as an " Antinomian." Mr. Taylor spoke of Mr.
Fletcher's prayer in that religious service as having been even
more remarkable than his sermon. He said that Mr. Fletcher's
attitude was that of a man who had eome even to the seat of God,
his hands stretched out, and his face lifted up ; while the power,
importunity, and unction with which he pleaded with God were
indescribable and overwhelming.
At this time, Mr. Fletcher had ended his Uterary warfare
against Calvinism in its Antinomian form, but had not divested
himself of the feeling with which he contemplated the evil against
which he had been contending. In a private interview which
Mr. Taylor had with this holy man, Mr. Fletcher said : " Brother
Taylor, do you preach against Calvinism ? " To which he
Answered, " No, Sir ; I think controversy adapted to the press
rather than the pulpit." Mr. Fletcher answered, " Oh, Brother
Taylor, don't say so ! Preach' against it "with aU your might,
as a great hindrance to practical holiness." Of course, he
meant the kind of Calvinism which he had written against, and
which embodied some of the worst principles of the Antinomian
delusion. Mr. Taylor possessed an aptitude for versification. Some of
his poetical compositions have been extensively read in manu
script, and have commanded a considerable amount of admira
tion ; particularly an epistle addressed to Mrs. Taylor before
their marriage, when she appears to have hesitated as to
whether or not she should submit to the inconveniences of an
itinerant life. But the most successful effort of his muse was
an address to a clergyman, who made a fierce and unprovoked
attack upon the Methodists at Ashby-de-la-Zouch, when Mr.
Taylor was fulfilling his appointment in that part of the Not
tingham Circuit. A musical and dancing festival was annuaUy
held in Asbby, which was regularly attended by a clergyman,
who came from a distant place to enjoy the amusement. One

118 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
year he came a few days beforehand, and on the Sunday pre
ceding the festival preached in the parish church a flaming-
sermon against Mr. Wesley and the Methodists. Mr. Taylor,
who happened to be in Ashby at the time, wrote a witty and
spirited address to the pugnacious stranger, in eleven stanzas,
which was immediately put to press, and copies distributed in.
the town the next day. This production was so distasteful to
the Eev. gentleman, that he left Ashby before the festivities
began ; so that he forfeited his amusement by his intemperate
and untimely zeal. He had, however, his revenge upon the-
Methodists : they had theirs upon him, and thus the account
between them was balanced.
The Eev. John Eeynolds, the second Preacher in the Leeds
Circuit, was a hard student, a useful Minister, friendly in his
spirit, and was blessed with a larger family of chUdren than any
one of his itinerant brethren. He had a considerable knowledge
both of Biblical and French literature.
The Eev. Joseph Sutcliffe was a genius, a scholar, an amiable-
man, unsuspecting, apt to be imposed upon by designing men ;
and bis sermons presented an endless variety of interesting and
edifying matter. He was
" In wit a man, simplicity a child ; "
SO that, had not his godly and intelUgent wife taken upon her
self the management of their pecuniary affairs, he would have
given aU that he had to plausible beggars, and left his children
without either food or clothing.
The Eev. Thomas Stanley was an upright, sensible, and
devout man; his voice was not strong, nor was his speech
fluent ; but be preached the truth with clearness and fideUty,
and his sermons possessed one pecuUarity, which many hearers
regard as an exceUence ; they were always brief To me he
was a sincere and a constant friend. His wit was ready ; and
when it was necessary, he could administer an effective rebuke
to insolence and foUy. A man in Leeds, whose name I forbear
to mention, was expeUed from the Society for bad conduct ; and
yet used to force his way into the love-feasts and other private
meetings, to the great annoyance of the people. One Saturday-

The Rev. Thomas Stanley : ready wit. 119
evening, when Mr. Stanley had just pronounced the blessing
at the close of the band-meeting, the intruder exclaimed, " Mr.
Stanley, I accuse you before these people of having taken away
my character! " "Have I taken away your character?"
responded Mr. Stanley. " You have, Sir," rejoined the man.
" I am glad to hear it," answered Mr. Stanley ; " it is the best
thing that could have ever been done for you. I hope the next
character you get will be a benefit to you. I am sure the last
would not." The man knew not what to say. The people
smiled, and retUed. He told me that once, when he was preach
ing at Sheerness, a sailor was in the congregation, and feeling
that the sermon did not proceed with due rapidity, exclaimed,
" Come, Sir, crowd a little more sail there ! " Mr. Stanley,
who was not ignorant of nautical terms, promptly answered,
" I will, as soon as I have weathered this point."
Mr. Atmore, my second Superintendent in Leeds, was an
earnest and impressive preacher, and of an affectionate disposi
tion. Mr. Martindale, the second Preacher, was a man of
letters, a poet, a friendly colleague, and an able theologian.
He was the author of a Theological Dictionary in two octavo
volumes, and of a translation of Mr. Fletcher's French poem
entitled, " Grace and Nature," wUh notes and dissertations.
Mr. Pipe, the third Minister, was kind-hearted, zealous, a
thoroughly good preacher, and deservedly popular. To be
associated with such men I felt to be a high privUege.
The Leeds Circuit at this time possessed a body of Local
Preachers who were an honour to their order ; men of talent,
of high character, weU able to instruct their congregations.
Among them the names of Eipley, Dawson, Scarth, Turkington,
Foljambe, Woodcock, and Simpson are worthy of special
mention. In the town of Leeds, also, there were several women,
mothers in Israel, who were not only an ornament to the Society,
but greatly assisted, as the leaders of classes, in promoting its
spiritual interests. Such were Mrs. Mather, Mrs. Pawson, the
widows of eminent Ministers; and such were Mrs. Dickenson,
Mrs. Baiston, Miss Tripp, Mrs. Smith, and Mrs. Viokers, who
were always seen in the bouse of God at the time of pubUc
worship, and whose classes were examples to the whole Society.

120 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
In the country parts of the Circuit, too, there were many
persons of intelligence and of deep piety, whose friendship was
equaUy agreeable and improving. In various places we saw
the Societies in a state of prosperity and enlargement, especiaUy
at KirkstaU, where many sinners were awakened and turned to
the Lord.
One thing, however, in the Leeds Circuit I felt to be a real
hardship. The Circuit was wide, including many Local
Preachers ; and when any of them found it inconvenient to
fulfil their appointments on the Lord's day, it was their custom
to give information to that effect to the Superintendent ; and I,
as the junior man, was expected to provide for all the vacancies
thus created : so that I was often employed on the Saturday,
even untU late in the evening, in traversing the town, beseech
ing the men who were unemployed to fulfil the engagements of
their less faithful brethren ; when I ought to have been in my
study, meditating on the texts I intended to preach from the
next day, and pleading with God in prayer for a blessing upon
myseU and my congregations. This was " a sore evU under
the sun," which I deeply felt, though it was never "seen" by
Solomon, and not mentioned by him among other evils that
came under his observation ; but it pressed heavily upon me.
The two years I spent in Leeds I reckon among the busiest
years of my lifei The Circuit included many preaching-
places ; the Societies and congregations were large ; the duties
of the pulpit numerous and important; the meeting of the
classes occupied five or six weeks every three months ; I had a
large number of children in Leeds whom I met for religious
instruction once a week ; the visitation of the sick, and many
other engagements of a similar kind, devolved upon me as
the junior Preacher, and the Superintendent's right-hand man ;
yet, by the redemption of time, I was able during those two
years to read about a hundred volumes, from some of which
I derived important accessions of knowledge. Among these
were EoUin's Ancient History ; Sherlock on Prophecy ;
Doddridge's FamUy Expositor ; the Works of Henry Grove ;
Newton's Dissertations on the Prophecies ; Harmer's Observa
tions on Various Passages of Scripture ; Watson's Apology for

Feeding Christ's Lambs. 121
•Christianity ; Bossuet's Universal History ; Campbell on
Mhacles ; Henry's History of Great Britain ; Macknight's
Harmony of the Gospels, and Exposition of the Epistles ;
Foster's Essays ; BosweU's Life of Johnson ; the Letters of
Junius ; the Sermons of Chandler, Jay, Saurin, Lambert,
Dunlop, Eobinson, Home ; Cowper's Homer ; Dryden's Virgil ;
West's Odes of Pindar ; the Spectator and Idler ; never neglect
ing the Works of Mr. Wesley and Mr. Fletcher.
The weekly meeting which I held of a large number of
¦chUdren in Leeds afforded me sincere pleasure in the retro
spect, as weU as at the time. Many years afterwards, on the
occasion of my visits to that town, when coming out of the
pulpit, I was not unfrequently accosted both by men and
women, then heads of families, who reminded me of those
meetings, which they had themselves attended, and in which
they received permanent religious impressions, to their great
spiritual advantage. From these cases I learned that the care
of children and of young people forms a very important ele
ment in the charge which Christ has committed to the Pastors
•of His flock. They are appointed to feed His lambs, as weU
as His sheep ; and will be required to give an account of both
in the day of His final appearance. After the lapse of sixty
years, the persons whom I have just mentioned who used to
salute me in my occasional visits to Leeds have gone the way
¦of all the earth ; but we shall meet again in the presence of the
Chief Shepherd, to whom we must every one render a strict
account. At the lower end of Briggate was an old-book shop, kept by
Mr. John Heaton, where many valuable works in divinity and
general hterature were on sale, including the library of the Eev.
Peter Haddon, a late Vicar of Leeds. From that shop have I
often returned all but pennUess, and yet revisited it whenever
my humble exchequer was at aU replenished. Many of the
books I purchased there contained the autograph of " Peter
Haddon," whose name was therefore familiar to me for more
than fifty years. Among other literary treasures which had
been in his possession, and which I thus obtained, were his
common-place book, and an interleaved Greek Testament, which

122 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
I lent to a learned member of the University of Oxford, who had
been Mr. Haddon's college friend. He retained it till his death,.
and I have never seen it since.
Soon after my arrival in Leeds I formed an intimate acquaint
ance with Mr. James Nichols, then a bookseller in that town,
since known as a printer in London, the learned translator of
the Works of Arminius, and the editor of many important pub
lications. We were nearly of the same age ; our tempers and
tastes were alike ; our theological and political views coincided ;
to a great extent our studies were directed to the same objects ;,
and I know not that our esteem and affection for each other
suffered either interruption or abatement for more than fifty
years, when he died in peace. Pleasant is the retrospect of the
many hours which, during that period, I spent in listening to
his cheerful and intelligent conversation :
"Kindred minds
By a mysterious sympathy unite."
During the second year of my residence in the Leeds Circuit,
a case of conversion occurred in Bramley, upon which I have
often reflected with gratitude. A man in that town bad become
so deaf, that he absented himself from the public worship of God,
had not heard a sermon for many years, and seemed to be fast
verging to the mental state of a heathen. His case was reported
to me ; and as he expressed a wiUingness to hear the truth,.
if such a thing were possible, I placed him at my elbow in the
pulpit, with a trumpet which he held to his ear ; and as I spoke
distinctly and deliberately, he heard the entire sermon ; and
the Word was applied to his heart by the blessed Spirit. Such
an expression of grateful feeUng I never witnessed either before
or since, as that which took place in the vestry at the close of
the service. He seized my band, kissed it again and again, and
even danced for joy. Truths which he had long forgotten came
to his mind -with such freshness and power, that his feeUngs,
were irrepressible. Like the lame man in the temple, he
attracted general attention, when the people saw him "leap
ing and praising God." Persons in his situation are entitled
to commiseration, and every attempt ought to be made, by

The Providence of God illustrated. 123"
Ministers and other people, to meet their sad case. The deaf,
the blind, the lame, and the diseased, in common with the rest
of mankind, are all redeemed by the blood of Christ, and are
therefore dear to Him.
During my residence in the Leeds Circuit, a remarkable case
of Providential interposition occurred at Berwick, where the
celebrated WiUiam Dawson lived, and where the no less cele
brated David Stoner was bom. The father and mother of this
devoted young Minister accommodated the preachers with a
lodging when they visited the vUlage in the fulfilment of their
pastoral duties. Mrs. Stoner made an arrangement for a tea-
party in her dweUing-house, and engaged several of her friends
to partake of her hospitality. In the meanwhile one of her
neighbours resolved to have a simUar party at the same hour,
and pressed the guests of Mrs. Stoner to break off the engage
ment they had made, and become her visitors. So earnest was
she in her entreaties, that she would receive no denial ; so that
Mrs. Stoner was compelled to relinquish her claim, and went
herself to join the second party, not one of them being able to
assign a reason for the new arrangement, beyond the urgency of
the application. The reason, however, soon appeared. An
unseen agency was at work. The heavens gathered blackness ;
a fearful thunderstorm passed over the village ; the flashes of
Ughtning were terrific ; and the electric fluid struck the house
of Mr. and Mrs. Stoner, especiaUy the room where the guests
were intended to assemble, and at the very time when they were-
expected to be aU present. I visited the house a few days after,
and witnessed the effects of the lightning. It had shattered
the ornaments around the fire-place, displaced the brick-work
above the mantelpiece, and made a large - opening into the
chimney. Thus it pleases God to frustrate the arrangements
of mankind, and accomplish His own purposes of judgment
or of mercy. In this case His purpose was, the display of His
mercy ; for had the party been assembled iu that room at
the precise time they intended, the ;ProbabiUty is, that the
greater part of them would have been killed in a moment,
their husbands and children bereaved, and their famUies filled
with lamentation and mourning and woe. Not only did these

124 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
godly women render thanks to God for His goodness, but their
neighbours united with them in grateful acknowledgmen,t of
His guardian care. " Even the hairs of your head are aU num
bered " by Him.
On the 21st of November, 1809, being then in the second year
of my appointment to Leeds, I was married to Miss Ann Hol
Unshead in the parish church of Homcastle. Ours was a mar
riage of esteem and affection, sanctified by the Word of God and
prayer, and was blessed by Him who in love to mankind insti
tuted the sacred ordinance. Next to my conversion to God, I
regard this as the greatest blessing of my Ufe. A thousand
benefits were consequent upon it, many of which wiU attend me
aU my days on earth, and others will extend through eternity.
They caU for my gratitude and thanksgiving to God, and to
that caU my wilUng heart responds. " A virtuous woman is a
¦crown to her husband ;" " A prudent wife is from the Lord ;"
and both "virtuous" and "prudent" was the woman whom
¦God in His merciful providence assigned to me in the most
-sacred and tender of aU earthly relations.
" Whoe'er thou be, that in this world hast found
The heart of friendship, give to Heaven thy praise I
But if that friend, the nearest of all names,
A wife's should bear, think thyself bless'd indeed
For thou hast found, 'mid this inclement world.
In all that touches the interior man,
A refuge from its storms, a nobler prize
Than crowns and diadems."

CHAPTER YIII.
PEBSTON (1810)— LONG WALKS— A EOMANIST CAVILLEB SILENCED-THE POWER
or CONSCIENCE ILLUSTBATED— " LOED SIDMOUTH'S BILL "-SHEFFIELD CON-
PESENCE (1811)— BEMAEICABLE SEBMON by me. BEADBUEN- use OF OEGANS
IN PLACES OF WOBSHIP— LIST OF VOLUMES BEAD— BIBTE OF A SON—
SOWEBBY-BKIDGE (1812)— THE " LUDDITES "—STUDY AND THE PULPIT—
LIVEEPOOL CONFEEBNCE (1813)— UNEXPECTED APPOINTMENT TO PEEACH—
BEVS. BICHABD WATSON AND JOSIAH HILL— DB. COKE AND MISSIONS— -WES
LEYAN-METHODIST MISSIONARY SOCIETY: OEGANIZATlON AT LEEDS—
EEVS, GEOBGE MOBLEY AND JABEZ BUNTING— PEAYEE AND SPEECHES—
LIBBABY FOE THE USE OF LOCAL PEEACHEES— EEV. SAMUEL BKOADBENT :
AN EXBMPLAEY MISSIONAEY SPIBIT.
BY the Conference of 1810, which was held in London, I was
appointed to the Preston Circuit, and the office of Superin
tendent was assigned to me. Mr. Eoger Crane, a man of
leading influence in the Society there, when on a visit to Leeds,
heard me preach, and requested that I might be sent thither.
He pressed this matter upon Mr. Atmore, whose first wife was
Mr. Crane's sister ; and by Mr. Atmore's interference at the
Conference, this appointment was made.
The scenery around Preston I found to be exceedingly rich
and beautiful ; and the town itself to be genteel, a stronghold
of Popery, the place where a large amount of the legal business
of the county was transacted, and therefore the residence of
numerous lawyers. The manufacture of cotton in the town
and neighbourhood was also carried on to a considerable extent,
gradually diminishing the aristocratic appearance of the place :
but as yet, raihoads, with their carriages, engines, steam,
smoke, and din, were not seen and heard in the beautiful valleys
upon which the eye was accustomed to gaze with admiration
and delight. Here I spent two years, having, as my fellow-
labourers for the first year, William Ault ; and the second, my
brother Samuel, who had then been five years in the ministry,
and was therefore in full connexion with the Conference.', Mr. Ault
was a young man of earnest piety and zeal. He died a few

126 Recolleetlons of my own Life and Times.
years afterwards in the island of Ceylon, being one of the de
voted band of men who embarked with Dr. Coke, when he went
¦on his mission to India.
With respect to physical labour, this was the hardest station
1 had ever occupied. The Circuit was of considerable extent,
including what are now the two Preston and the Chorley Circuits.
The chapels and congregations were not particularly large, nor
the preaching appointments more numerous than I had been
accustomed to ; but several of the places were distant, and the
walks long and wearisome. In the early periods of Methodism
the Preachers generally pro-vided their own horses ; and the
people who afforded entertainment to the man, provided also
for the horse that carried him. The Circuits at length felt that
it was not equitable to require the Preachers to provide their own
horses, considering the smallness of their incomes ; and when
they became sufficiently large and wealthy, they undertook to
provide horses for the use of the men who carried the Gospel
message to the several Societies. This change unhappily led to
another. Not a few of the Circuits which had purchased horses
for the accommodation of the Preachers claimed the right of
seUing them, and of leaving the Preachers to prosecute then-
journeys on foot. This was every way proper when the Circuits
were so divided as to be reduced to narrow limits ; but when
the places were far distant, and the walks unreasonably long,
the sale of the horse was a sore evil, — having shortened the
lives of some exceUent men, and compelled others to retire from
their public labours sooner than they would otherwise have
done. A Preacher is expected to fulfil aU his appointments, let the
weather be what it may ; and it is too severe a tax upon the
strength of an ordinary man, and much more, of a man of
delicate health, to require him to walk eight or ten miles along
miry roads, his feet "laden with thick clay," sometimes amidst
hea"vy rain. For such journeys in every Circuit where I had
hitherto laboured, I was provided with a horse, but in the
Preston Circuit we had none ; and to me the change was painful
on many accounts. I was not able to carry with me the books
that I wanted in the prosecution of my studies ; the journeys

Misapplied Strength. 127
'Occupied a large amount of time, which I could ill spare, con
sidering the branches of knowledge I had yet to acquire ; I felt
that when my strength and spirits were exhausted by a long
walk, my mind was incapable of close and consecutive study ; and
the journeys themselves were sometimes connected with a con
siderable amount of suffering, especially in hot weather, when
I had to sit down in the lanes, take off my stockings, let the
water out of the blisters on my feet, and then resume my
journey, counting the milestones as I Umped past them, longing
to be seated in a quiet room, with my Bible before me. I
preached to the people at the different places as weU as I could,
and they generally expressed their approval of my sermons ;
but my pulpit labours would have been more worthy of attention,
had less of my time been spent in pedestrian feats, which a
horse would have performed incomparably better. It is true,
that in some of the roads along which I had to pass, there were
¦coaches for the conveyance of passengers; but coach-hire is
a serious matter to a man of limited income ; and I often found
the coaches full when they were the most needed ; and in some
of my longest journeys no public conveyance was available.
Since then the Circuit has been divided into three ; the number
of Ministers increased from two to seven ; and raihoads enable
them with comparative ease to fulfil their most distant
appointments. Yet my two years at Preston were neither unpleasantly nor
unprofitably spent. The friends were exceedingly kind both to
me and my young "wife ; the congregations in Preston so
increased, that the enlargement of the chapel became neces
sary, and was accomplished ; and Methodist preaching was
permanently introduced into two important villages, — Leyland
and Eccleston. Thomas Bradshaw, a calico-weaver, assisted
by a few friends, went to live at Leyland, for the express pur
pose of renting a small cottage as a residence and a place of
preaching. At every visit we gave him a small sum of money
for a cup of tea and the use of a bed. A Society was formed,
and in the course of two or three years a chapel was erected,
and afterwards enlarged. From Eccleston two young men,
the thoughtful sons of a farmer, attended our chapel a few times

128 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
at Chorley, and then invited us to preach in their house, where
a Society was also formed. We slept in a chamber, the floor-
of which was all but covered with cheeses, the product of their
own dairy.
In the Preston Circuit were many exceUent persons, friends
of Christ, and of His cause, whom I remember with sincere-
respect and pleasure. Among these were Mr. Crane, Mr. Ark-
wright, Mr. Hardy, Mr. France, Mr. Howard, Mr. Parkes and
his two sons, Mr. John and Edward Leece, and Mr. Smethurst
of Chorley. Mr. Crane was a sort of father to the Society in
Preston, having joined it when young, and remained in con
nexion with it through a long hfe. He was somewhat eccen
tric, but an upright and faithful man, who, through good
report and evU report, adhered to the cause of truth and right
eousness. One morning, when walking in his garden, he told
me a Eoman Catholic neighbour came to him, and said, " WeU,.
Mr. Crane, it is all over with Methodism now." " What is the
matter?" responded Mr. Crane. "Matter!" said the gentle
man, "why, a Methodist is to be hanged at Lancaster to-day ;
and people say they see now what the Methodists are, notwith
standing their professions." " Does the case excite much
attention ? " rejoined Mr. Crane. " Attention ! why, people
are talking of nothing else," was the reply. " That is very
creditable to the Methodists," said Mr. Crane. " Creditable to-
the Methodists that one of them should be hanged ! That is
impossible," said the gentleman. "So it is," answered Mr.
Crane; "but the public astonishment is creditable to them.
It is so common to hang Papists and Church-people, that their
crimes and executions are expected as matter of course ; and
nobody is surprised when they occur ; but, according to your
statement, if a Methodist commit a felony and come to an
untimely end, every one is fiUed with wonder : a clear proof
that the Methodists are not the people that fiU our jails, and.
find employment for the Judges and executioners." The
Eomanist dropped the subject, and retired, unable to make
the same honest boast in behalf of his own community.
John Watson, an aged Methodist residing at Plumpton, told
me that he knew Mr. BramweU when he was a Local Preacher

Clerical Satirists confounded. 129
living in Preston ; and mentioned a place in the neighbourhood
to which Mr. BramweU occasionally retired, and spent con
siderable portions of time in a state of complete seclusion, after
the example of Isaac Ambrose, the Puritan Minister of Gar-
stang. It was once announced that he would preach at Plump-
ton on a week-night, when the Clergyman of the parish gave
notice to his congregation that he would attend the service,
and on the foUowing Sunday entertain them -with an exposure
of the anticipated blunders of the Methodist Preacher. " I
went to the church to hear him," said my informant ; " but as
soon as he began to speak, his voice faltered, and his utterance
was so indistinct, that he immediately closed his book, and dis
missed the congregation." It appeared as if he was withstood
by a secret power which he was unable to resist.
Two examples of the same kind have since come under- my
notice. They occurred in the time of Charles the Second, and
are thus described in the valuable history which Eichard
Baxter has given of his own life and times : — " Bishop Morley
ha"ving preferred a young man, named S [outh] , orator to the
University of Oxford, a fluent, witty satirist, and one that was
sometime mentioned to me, to be my Curate at Kidderminster ;
this man, being household chaplain to the Lord Chancellor,
was appointed to preach before the King, where a crowd had
high expectations of some vehement satire. But when he had
preached a quarter of an hour, he was utterly at a loss, and so
unable to recoUect himself, that he could go no further, but
cried, ' The Lord be merciful to our infirmities,' and so came
down. About a month after, they were resolved that Mr.
S [outh] should preach the same sermon before the King, and
not lose the expected applause ; and preach it he did, little
more than half an hour, with no admiration at aU of the
hearers ; and for his encouragement the sermon was printed.
When it was printed, many desired to see what words they
were that he was stopped at the first time ; and they found in
the printed copy aU that he had said first ; and one of the next
passages, which he was to have deUvered, was against me for
my ' Holy Commonwealth.' " *
* Page 380.

130 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
"In AprU, 1668, Dr. Creighton, Dean of WeUs, the most
famous, loquacious, ready-tongued preacher of the Court, who
was used to preach Calvin to hell, and Calvinists to the gal
lows, and by his scornful revUings and jests to set the Court on
a laughter, was suddenly in the pulpit, without any sickness,
surprised with astonishment, worse than Dr. South, the Oxford
orator, had been before him. When he had repeated a sentence
over and over, he was so confounded that he could go no
further at all, and was fain, to aU men's wonder, to come
down. His case was more wonderful than that of almost any
other man's, being not only a fluent extempore speaker, but
one that was never known to want words to express his satirical
and bloody thoughts.' " *
It is difficult to account for these cases except on the prin
ciple that the reverend orators had a secret conviction that
they were not only abusing the just liberty of the pulpit, but
were uttering things that were not true. The mental confu
sion, which they felt to be disgraceful, and did their best to
overcome, I conceive to be a striking example of the power of
conscience. . The year 1811, the .first I spent at Preston, was rendered
memorable in the Methodist Connexion by an abortive attempt
that was made in ParUament to alter the law of religious tolera
tion, and curtail the liberties of Protestant Nonconformists. The
professed object was to render the Nonconformist ministry
more respectable; but the real object was to make the local
Magistrates throughout the country the judges as to what
teachers should enjoy the protection of law in the communica
tion of public religious instruction; thus subverting the true
principle of religious Uberty in the United Kingdom. By the
Act of William and Mary, aU Protestant teachers of religion
•who took the prescribed oaths were placed under the protection
of law in their public ministrations ; and it was rendered
imperative upon the Magistrates to administer the oaths when
ever the parties made application for that purpose. The altera
tion intended was that of demanding, from every one who
required) a license to preach, a certificate signed by " sis-
• Page 36.

Religious Toleration threatened. 131
substantial and reputable householders," specifying his com
petency and character. The Magistrate was not made the
•direct judge of the Minister who appeared before him ; but
he was made the judge of the certifying "householders;"
and this circumstance gave him the power to harass and
annoy Nonconformist Ministers to an unlimited extent.
This most unwise measure was introduced into the House
of Lords by Lord Sidmoutb, then a Cabinet Minister ; and
the "Quarterly" and "Edinburgh Eeviews," the organs of
the two great poUtical parties in the country, the Whigs and
Tories, vied with each other in vilifying Methodism as a public
-evil, thus attempting to prepare the way for the Parliamentary
restraint which it was intended to impose upon its ministry.
So specious were the reasons assigned in favour of Lord
"Sidmouth's BiU, that some Methodist Preachers, of high
character and standing, were so far misled as to approve of
it. The Eev. John Barber, a Methodist Preacher of plain
manners, but of strong common sense, at once saw the mis
chievous character and bearing of the measure, and sounded
the trumpet of alarm ; others followed in the same strain ; and
in a few days Petitions were poured into the House of Lords,
in such unprecedented and overwhelming numbers, that the
author of the measure was glad to withdraw it, terrified at the
formidable opposition which he saw arrayed against it through
out the country. Had this obnoxious BiU been carried
into practical effect, it would have thrown the nation into a
state of perfect discord, at the very time when, above all
others, a spirit of unity was required in order to the national
defence against the powerful enemy -with whom we were then
at war, and by whom we were menaced with invasion. A noble
Lord, in the course of the debate, spoke in a tone of complaint
of " the flood of petitions with which the. House was deluged ; "
and another, in reply, appropriately observed that " the deluge
was caused by the flagrant sin of the BiU."
While this offensive measure was pending, our annual Dis
trict Meeting was held in Liverpool, where Mr. Bunting was
then stationed. He prepared a series of spirited Eesolutions,
bearing upon the subject of Lord Sidmouth's BUl, embodying;.
K 2

132 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
the true principles of reUgious Uberty, which the meeting-
gladly adopted, and made arrangements for sending printed
copies of them through the Connexion, and pubUshing them
in the London newspapers. Before this purpose could be ful
fiUed, the BUl was withdrawn, and therefore all further opposi
tion to it was unnecessary. The meeting, however, thought
the Eesolutions too good to be lost, and therefore got them
printed, and sent them to the Circuits generally. They set
forth principles with which it was of the utmost importance
that the public mind should at that time be thoroughly imbued ;
for there was a strong desire in various quarters to place Meth
odist preaching under Parliamentary oversight. For the pre
sent the danger was averted ; yet there was a fixed purpose,
among both Whigs and Tories, if possible, to arrest the pro
gress of Methodism by gi"ving the local Magistrates a power ta
control its operations ; and what other measure might be devised
for the attainment of this object it was impossible to foresee.
Almost immediately after the excitement, bordering even upon
consternation, caused by what is stUl emphatically called " Lord
Sidmouth's BiU," the Conference met in Sheffield. Its sittings.
were to begin on the Monday morning, and in the forenoon of
the day preceding Mr. Bradburn preacbed in the Carver- Street
chapel ; the Preachers having arrived on the Saturday ; so that
this was their first meeting. According to custom, they occu
pied the front seats in the gaUery, so as to be directlybefore the
preacher, who commenced the service by giving out the hymn, —
" Ye servants of God, Your Master proclaim.
And publish abroad His wonderful name ;
The name all-victorious Of Jesus extol ;
His kingdom is glorious, Aud rules over all."
Never can I forget the manner in which he recited the Unes of
that fine composition. It appeared to have been written for
the occasion, and as if it referred directly to the abortive attempt
which had just been made to subvert the liberties of the Con
nexion, the peril through which Methodism had passed, and the
interposition of Almighty Providence in the hour of trial.
Never before did I see the importance of giving out the hymns
with a just emphasis and feeUng, so that they may produce

Organs in Places of Worship. 133
their legitimate impression upon a congregation. In reciting
the hymn, and especially the following stanza, Mr. Brad-
burn's countenance, tones, and entire manner, were in such
perfect accordance with his words, that the whole seemed to
be the direct effusion of his own inteUect and heart. No one
could forget either the obnoxious Bill, or its defeated and mor
tified abettors : —
" The waves of the sea Have lift up their voice,
Sore troubled that we In Jesus rejoice ;
The floods they are roaring. But Jesus is here ;
While we are adoring, He always is near."
He selected as his text Isaiah hi. 7 : " How beautiful upon the
mountains are the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, that
publisheth peace ; that bringeth good tidings of good, that
publisheth salvation ; that saith unto Zion, Thy God reigneth ! "
The sermon corresponded with the hymn ; and the entire service
was an admirable preparation for the business which the
Preachers had met to transact ; tending to strengthen their
confidence in the cause with which they were identified, to draw
them nearer to each other in affection, and to stimulate their
:zeal for the spread and success of the Gospel which they were
•called to preach.
At this Conference, the Trustees of the Brunswick chapel in
Liverpool requested permission to erect an organ in that place
• of worship. This was one of the earliest applications of the
iind that had been made to that body, and was viewed by many
¦of the Preachers with great alarm ; so that several earnest speeches
-were made against it, particularly by the Eev. Daniel Isaac and
the Eev. WiUiam E dward Miller, who had himself been brought up
•to the profession of music. Mr. Bunting, who had spent the last
•two years in Liverpool, and was rapidly rising into notice as a
public man, advocated the cause of the Trustees in a speech of
uncommon eloquence and power, in which he analyzed and
«,nswered the arguments which had been urged on the other
.side ; and the permission was granted. This decision had an
ultimate bearing, which at that time was not perceived. Into
several of the Methodist chapels the choirs had introduced

134 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
almost every variety of musical instrument, destroying the>
simplicity and devotional character of the singing, to the great
annoyance of the preachers, and of the more sober part of the
congregations; and they often threatened to -withdraw their
services altogether, imless they might be aUowed in this matter
to have their own way. In many places organs have corrected
this evU ; and when they are so used as not to overpower and
supersede the singing of the congregation, but to guide and aid
it, especiaUy in large chapels, they are a real benefit ; incom
parably better than the " flute, harp, sackbut, dulcimer, and aU
kinds of music," -with which men of perverted taste used to stun
the ears of our congregations when they stood up to sing the
praises of God.
During my residence in Preston, I formed an acquaintance
with Mr. Thomas Crook, then Uving in Lancaster, but after
wards in Liverpool ; and that acquaintance soon ripened into-
a sincere and enduring friendship. He belonged to a class of
men who are the pUlars and ornaments of religious bodies. He
was inteUigent, weU-read, weU-principled, kind-hearted, generouSr
a wise adviser, firm and undeviating in his attachment to the
Wesleyan people, theology, and discipUne, and ready for every
good work. For many years he was accustomed to attend the
meetings of the Conference Committees, where his counsel was
invaluable, especiaUy in matters of finance, with which he was
thoroughly conversant. Mrs. Crook was the daughter of Mr..
Smethurst, of Chorley, and was worthy of her parentage and of
her husband.
In the course of these two years I was enabled to read, in the
midst of my other engagements, from seventy to eighty volumes ;
among which were Newcome on the Minor Prophets ; King on
the Constitution of the Primitive Church ; Blair's Lectures on
Ehetoric; Hurd on the Prophecies; several volumes of the
Ancient Universal History ; Lowth's Lectures on the Sacred
Poetry of the Hebrews ; CampbeU's Philosophy of Ehetoric ;
Mihier's History of the Church ; Warburton's Divine Legation
of Moses ; Whiston's Josephus ; Olinthus Gregory's Letters on
Christianity ; Horsley's Sermons ; Bryant on the Plagues of
Sigypt, and on the Authenticity of the Scriptures; Porson'a.

The "Luddites." 135
Letters to Travis ; Spenser's Faery Queen ; Magee on the
Atonement ; Eobinson's Ecclesiastical Eesearches ; Buchanan's
Christian Eesearches in India ; and several volumes of Mr.
Wesley's Works.
Before I left Prestpn, a son was bom to me ; an event which
placed me in a new relation, increased my responsibilities, has
often made me anxious ; but has, nevertheless, been to me a
source of satisfaction, and often of solid joy. " Lo, children
are an heritage of the Lord ; " and to train them to a life of
piety and of usefulness in the world and in the Church is at once
a privUege and a duty.
At the Conference of 1812 I was appointed to the Sowerby-
Bridge Circuit, to which I removed with my wife and child as
soon as .they were able to bear the journey. The Circuit had
to be organized, as it was just separated from HaUfax, and was
eaUed to assume an independent position. Some of the
Societies were formed many years before, by Mr. Grimshaw,
the devoted Clergyman of Haworth, and had never been used
to the entUe financial economy of Methodism ; and to recon-
cUe them to regulations which they regarded as novelties was
no easy task ; but I had a wise counseUor in Mr. Bunting, then
in the neighbouring Circuit of Halifax, who had sustained the
pastoral charge of these people before they were placed under
my care. By patience and kindness our difficulties were at
length overcome, and we were blessed with peace and general
prosperity. My coUeagues in this station were, for the first
year, Joseph Agar, and for the second, WUUam Stones ; both of
them zealous young men, but vastly dissimUar in their temper
and habits. Mr. Agar was active, so as to be always on the
alert, and in his disposition generous and open in the extreme.
Mr. Stones was reserved, not remarkably docUe, and in after
years involved himself in difficulties and troubles, which
embittered the latter part of his life. He placed more confi
dence in his own judgment, and less in that of his brethren,
than they were fairly entitled to ; and to himself the conse
quences were disastrous.
While our congregations were good, and the Societies in peace,
the general state of the surrounding population was unfavour-

136 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
able to reUgious prosperity. The war with France had been
carried on for many years, and there seemed no prospect of its
speedy termination ; the taxes were heavy ; provisions were
dear ; trade and manufactures were subject to fluctuations,
and occasionally depressed ; political agitators attempted to per
suade the labouring classes that their sufferings were owing to
the government of the country, and to the owners of large pro
perty. The public press, to a considerable extent, advocated
these -views ; and the consequence was, a wide-spread discontent
among the labouring people, hostility to the Government, and a
reckless desire to possess the property of the rich. A report
was extensively circulated and believed, that a personage,
known by the fictitious name of General Ludd, was arranging his
plans -and coUecting his forces, and would soon appear as the
author of great political changes, and as the avenger of the
wrongs of the poor. The persons who desired his appearance
were known by the name of "Luddites." In the meanwhile gangs
of desperate men, in the neighbourhood of Sowerby Bridge,
used to saUy forth in the dark nights ; surround the isolated
houses of respectable famUies ; demand admittance, on the pain
of setting fire to their residences ; bind the inmates with cords,
and take away what plunder they could carry ; leaving the famUy
in bonds, unable either to defend themselves or give any alarm.
There was no police in those times to resist these poUtical bur
glars. After this system had been carried on for some time, to
the terror and dismay of the country, a part of the guilty men
were discovered, apprehended, tried, convicted, and executed at
York. Their bodies were given to their friends, who brought
them to their several homes, some to Sowerby Bridge, others
to the neighbouring viUages and hamlets, where they were
exhibited to the pubhc as martyrs for, and friends of, the people.
An attempt was made to connect Methodism with the character
and doings of these misguided and unhappy persons. Their
friends resolved, on a given day, to bring their bodies to our
chapel at Greetland ; (a vUlage in the Sowerby-Bridge Circuit ;)
take forcible possession of it ; deUver addresses to the people
from the pulpit ; and then inter the bodies of the executed men
in the grave-yard connected with the chapeL The scheme was

A " Luddite " Plot discovered. 137
to be kept a profound secret tiU the appointed time, so that no
opposition might be prepared. Yet the plot was discovered in
HaUfax, and Mr. Bunting, having heard of it, sent a messenger
4o me early in the morning ; when I hastened to the place where
the outrage was to be perpetrated. I inforined the acting Trus
tee of the plot which was laid, and intended on that day to be
carried into execution ; and he engaged, without delay, to
secure the gates and doors by strong locks, and to warn any
one who should attempt to take forcible possession of the
premises. When the parties found that their scheme had been
¦disclosed, and that resistance was offered, they became very
wroth, threatened to puU down the chapel, and commit other
acts of violence ; but they saw, in the case of their deceased
friends, that the law was stronger than they, and retired. A
magistrate in the vicinity, hearing of this case afterwards,
¦expressed his regret that an appeal had not been made to him
at the time, saying that he would have made provision against
the annoyance we had been caUed to resist. " The con
victs," he observed, " were not Methodists, but nominal
Ohurchmen ; it was therefore right that they should be interred
in the churchyards of the parishes to which they belonged."
In these calamitous times I never hesitated to preach obedi
ence to the laws, according to the precepts of the New Tes
tament, and to warn the people against the dangerous
courses to which they were incited ; yet I was never interrupted
in any of my night journeys across the moors, or in lonely
roads. Amidst all these perils and discouragements, we had a noble
band of faithful men in the Circuit, who stood by the good
cause of true religion, adorned it by their Uves, and assisted
to support and extend it in every possible way. Of this
number were Mr. Sutcliffe, Mr. Walker, Mr. Haslam, Mr.
Garside, Mr. FarneU, Mr. EUey, of Greetland, Mr. Walker, of
Stainland, and many others, with their devoted wives. The
greater part of these exceUent people, if not the whole of them,
are gone to their endless rest ; but their works foUow them,
and pleasant is the remembrance of their names and honour-
jible doings.

138 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
In many respects this was the most agreeable Circuit iv
which I was ever appointed. Its Umits -were comparatively
narrow ; the preaching-places were contiguous ; the congrega
tions were good ; the people were friendly ; the Circuit-funds^
were liberaUy supported ; we had a horse to carry us to the more
distant places, and up the steep hUls ; and the country was
populous, so that there was no lack of work. GeneraUy speak-.
ing, I was able to devote the forenoon of every day to study ;
the benefit of which I greatly enjoyed, and I trust the con
gregations too ; for I am thoroughly convinced, that, without
dUigent and sanctified study, no man can permanently appear
with advantage in the pulpit. If
" Authors, before they write, must read,"
Ministers, before they preach, must read, and study, and pray-
According to our Saviour, the "scribe" that "bringeth forth.
things new and old," is himself " instructed," and is possessed
of a "treasure." But mental indolence accumulates no-
" treasure ; " an^d the man who is not himself " instructed "
can impart no instruction to others. It is not difficult for a
man of ready] utterance, "with a good memory, to speak on.
reUgious subjects for three quarters of an hour, even with vehe
mence and apparent warmth ; but to preach, so as to open the,-
true meaning of Holy Scripture, and effectuaUy to apply that
meaning to the understandings and consciences of the people,
that they may be convinced of the truth, and feel its power, i&
a very different thing. At Sowerby-Bridge I entered upon the
study of Hebrew, that I might be the better able to understand
and explain " the law and the prophets."
At the end of my first year in this Circuit, I attended tha
Conference in Liverpool; and on going into the Pitt- Street
chapel in the evening, immediately after my arrival, I was
astounded to hear the announcement made, -without any previous
warning, that I would preach there the next morning at five
o'clock, the brother who was appointed to take the pulpit not
having arrived. I dreaded the thought of preaching before
Ministers who were older and wiser than myself ; and returned
to my lodging anxious and sprrowful. I went to bed, but sleep.

Early Morning Preaching. 139^'
departed from,me ; a burning fever ensued, "with an intelerable
restlessness. I rose, left the house, and wandered aU night by
the side of the river, Ustening to the bells of the churches,
seeking relief from the cool breezes, and dreading the service
assigned me in the morning. As the hour of five o'clock
approached, I began to wend my way towards the Pitt-Street-
chapel, anxious even to dejection, but praying for the help of
the Holy Spirit. On entering the pulpit I saw a considerable-
congregation before me, and the front seats in the gallery occu
pied by Preachers, old and young. When I entered upon the
service, a change at once came over my spirit ; my fears de
parted ; and I scarcely ever preached with greater freedom and
comfort. When the service was ended, and I retired into the
vestry, a respectable-looking man followed me, and, taking hold.
of my hand, declared with tears that, after a long season of
penitential grief and sorrow, he had, while listening to the
sermon that morning, found -rest to his soul, a sense of God's:
forgiving love being shed abroad in his heart by the Holy Ghosfc
given unto him. I need not say that we rejoiced together
with a joy which a stranger does not intermeddle with.
Mr. Alderman Bowers, of Chester, was present at this time ;
and twelve months afterwards, when I was expected to leave
Sowerby-Bridge, I received an in-vitation from the Chester-
Circuit, to be one of then- Ministers the ensuing year ; that
service having, as I was informed, made a favourable impres
sion upon the Alderman's mind.
In this Conference two men appeared, who were objects of
deep interest to many, as weU as to myself ; although at that
time I had only an inadequate conception of their talents and
moral worth. The Eevs. Eichard Watson and Josiah HiU had^
for a few years been separated from their brethren, with whom.
they had been associated in evangelical labour ; and they were-
both now returned to a feUowship which past experience taught
them highly to prize, and from which they never after departed.
They sat in the same pew ; and many members of the Confer
ence looked at them with a deep feeling of thankfulness, that
men so gifted, and in every respect so inestimable, were again
in their right place, and restored to their proper work as Meth-

140 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
odist Preachers. Yet at that time Mr. Watson's extraordinary
abUities both as a preacher and a writer were but partiaUy
developed. To him it was the commencement of a brilUant
career. This was the last Conference that Dr. Coke attended. He had
then set his heart upon the formation of a Methodist Mission in
India. Many of his brethren attempted to dissuade him from
his purpose, thinking the enterprise too difficult for him at his
advanced period of life ; but he was deaf to aU their entreaties.
' ' I live only for India, " was his reply to every adverse suggestion ;
and, bursting into tears, he said, " If you wiU not let me go to
India, you "will break my heart ! " He did embark for India
some months afterwards, accompanied by a band of faithful
men, and died on the voyage. But the scheme which he had
formed did not die with him. The Mission which he had
planned was carried into practical effect, and has been followed
by blessings innumerable and lasting. He was low in stature,
ardent in his temperament, for many years the right-hand man
of Mr. Wesley, Uberal in the appUcation of his property to reU
gious purposes, full of godly zeal, and half a century in advance
of the generaUty of his contemporaries in respect of Mission
ary enterprise. He gave his property and his Ufe to Method
ism, especially its Missions, of which he may be justly regarded
as the founder, the patron, and the director tUl the time of his
decease. Few men connected with Methodism are entitled to
higher esteem, although Dr. Pusey in one of his publications
has declared that Dr. Coke was " an ambitious and worldly-
minded man ; " apparently unmindful of the inquiry, " Who
art thou that judgest another man's servant ? To his own
master he standeth or faUeth."
Dr. Coke crossed the Atlantic Ocean eighteen times for the
advancement of the cause of Christ ; and with a reference to
these his evangeUcal wanderings I heard him repeat, with
inimitable pathos and effect, the fine lines of the poet Thomson ;
substituting, however, the word " Providence" for "Fate : " —
" Should Fate command me to the furthest verge
Of the green earth, to distant barbarous climes.

Tlie first Methodist Missionary Meeting. 141
Kivers unknown to song ; where first the sun
Gilds Indian mountains, or his setting beam
Flames on the' Atlantic isles ; 'tis nought to me :
Since God is ever present, ever felt.
In the void waste, as in the city full ;
And where He vital breathes, there must be joy.
"When e'en at last the solemn hour shall come.
And wing my mystic flight to future worlds,
I cheerful will obey."
When this devoted man left England for India, it was felt
that other efforts ought to be made for the support of the
Missions of which he had hitherto sustained the main charge.
The expense connected with them had been met by a public
coUection made once a year in the Methodist places of worship,
by the private resources of Dr. Coke, and by subscriptions,
which he obtained from persons of wealth, upon whom he was
accustomed to wait, in aU parts of the kingdom. The pro
jected Mission to India was expected to incur a large additional
outlay, and the personal services of the Doctor, as a coUector,
were now withdrawn. In this new emergency the Methodists
of Leeds set an example to the whole Connexion, by organizing
a Society for the District to which they belonged, for the purpose
of setting forth the claims which the Methodist Missions had
upon the pubhc countenance and support, and of thus securing
the requisite pecuniary suppUes. They found an additional
reason for this movement in the fact, that the Independents of
that town had lately formed an association in aid of what was
then caUed " The Missionary Society," to which several Meth
odists had given their adhesion as regular subscribers, under
an apprehension that they were contributing to the support of
the Missions belonging to their own denomination, being misled
by the ambiguity of a name.
The projected Methodist Missionary Society was formed at a
pubhc meeting which was held in the Leeds Old Chapel in the
afternoon, on the sixth of October, 1813 ; the Eev. James
Buckley, of the Wakefield Circuit, having delivered an introduc
tory sermon at Armley, in the preceding evening, on Isaiah Iv.
9-11 ; and the Eev. Eichard Watson another in the Albion-
Street chapel, in the forenoon of the day of the meeting, on

"142 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Ezek. xxxvU. 9. The Eev. Eichard Eeece preached in the
evening of the same day in the Old Chapel, on Psalm Ixxiv. 20.
In the Eeport of the JubUee of the Methodist Missionary Society
it is erroneously stated that the sermon at Armley was preached
by the Eev. Samuel Bradburn, who was then in London, en
feebled by age both in body and mind. The mistake is the
more remarkable, as Mr. Buckley's sermon was published in
the Methodist Magazine, with a statement of the occasion upon
which it was delivered. At all these interesting services I was
present, with the exception of that at Armley. When Mr.
Watson concluded his very eloquent and impressive sermon,
Mr. Atmore, beside whom I was sitting, whispered in my ear,
"Bradburn could never equal this;" referring particularly to-
the substance of the sermon ; for there was reason to believe
that Mr. Bradburn's manner would have produced a deeper
impression upon the people.
There has been some difference of opinion as to the party
who first suggested these arrangements, but this honour has
generally been awarded to the Eev. George Morley, who was
then stationed in the Leeds Circuit. No doubt, however, can
be entertained respecting the guiding spirit that directed the
whole proceeding ; bearing as it does the distinct impress of
the mind and heart of Jabez Bunting, who was then also sta
tioned in Leeds.
The Committee who arranged the business of the public
meeting were eminently practical men. They prepared seven
teen resolutions, aU of which were to be moved and seconded,
not with the expectation that thirty-four speeches were to be
delivered, but that as many men as possible should be publicly
pledged to support the sacred cause. One of these resolutions
was entrusted to me ; but ha"ving never seen a Missionary meet
ing before, I really knew not what to say, for preceding speakers
seemed to have exhausted the entire subject ; and as the time
for the announcement of my name drew near, I became very
• uneasy, and anxiously endeavoured to discover some means of
getting out of the difficulty. At last an expedient presented
itself to my mind, which answered admirably. When called
•upon to move my resolution, I rose and stated, that a rnonth

A prayerful Chairman. 143
hence it was intended to hold a Missionary meeting at Halifax,
the head of the District to which I belonged ; and on that occa
sion I pledged myself to express my views on the important
subject of Missions to the heathen, in favour of which I had a
deep feeUng. This statement was received with marked satis
faction ; and I sat dawn with more honour than I had any right
to expect.
One thing I observed in the Leeds meeting, which I have often
thought of since. Mr. Thomas Thompson, of HuU, a Local
Preacher, a banker, and a Member of Parliament, occupied the
chair. When he addressed the meeting, though his thoughts
were weighty, and his expressions correct, he occasionally
hesitated, the right word not always presenting itself to his
mind ; but at the close of the meeting, when he engaged in
prayer, he expressed himseU with fluency and power. I imme
diately came to the conclusion that this exceUent man was more
accustomed to address his Maker in prayer, than the senate in
set speeches. When upon his feet, Uke Moses, he was " not
-eloquent," but upon his knees in prayer his thoughts and ex
pressions flowed in a strong and limpid stream. How far this
is true of other senators, it is not for me to say.
At HaUfax, a bookseUer, Mr. Edwards, had a fine collection
of old theological works, to which I paid as many visits as were
at aU compatible with the claims of my wife and infant son ;
and when it pleased God, at the same place, to bless me with a
•daughter, from my heart I. thanked Him for the boon, and
resolved, as in duty bound, to subordinate my inteUectual
cravings to the interests of my growing family.
During these two anxious but happy years, I read nearly
-seventy volumes ; among which were MUner's Answer to Gibbon ;
Dick's Essay on the Inspiration of Scriptm-e ; the Sermons of
South, of Styles, of Ogden, and of Jeremy Taylor ; Horsley's
Tracts against Priestley; Graves on the Pentateuch; Ap-
thorpe's Discourses on Prophecy; Chandler's Life of King
David ; Good's Translation of the Book of Job ; WhUe's Bamp-
ton Lectures ; Jeremy Taylor's Life of the Holy Jesus ; Cicero's
Orations ; Colman's Terence ; Street's Version of the Psalms ;
Burnet's History of his own Times; Barron's Lectures on

144 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
Ehetoric and Logic ; Skelton on Deism ; Goodwin's Eedemp-
tion Eedeemed ; Leland's View of the Deistical Writers ; Bur
ton's Anatomy of Melancholy; Butler's Analogy; Pope's Works ;-
Eowe's Translation of Lucan's PharsaUa ; Pitt and Warton's
VirgU ; Co-wper's Poems.
During the first twelve months I spent at Sowerby-Bridge,.
I lived in habits of intimacy with Mr. Bunting, then at Halifax.
I often heard him preach, and avaUed myself of every oppor
tunity for being in his company ; and from his sermons and
conversation I received many lessons which to me have been of
inestimable benefit. He was an instructive companion, wiUing
to communicate his stores of correct thought, and one of the best
preachers of his age. He was not prompt in company to obtrude
his opinions upon the attention of others, but might be pro
fitably dra-wn out by suitable questions modestly proposed.
While I had the charge of the Sowerby-Bridge Circuit, I could
not forbear to cherish a Uvely interest in the case of the Local
Preachers, especially those of them who were young in years,
and therefore young in their work ; remembering especiaUy the
disadvantages under which I had myself laboured in early life.
EecoUecting, also, that there were persons of property in most
of our congregations, who were benefited by the labours of these
devoted men, I appealed to their generosity, and succeeded in
obtaining a valuable library for the use of the brethren just
mentioned, especiaUy Commentaries on the Holy Scriptures,
the benefit of which was ahke enjoyed by them and by thek
hearers. Among the promising young men then resident in the Circuit
was the late Samuel Broadbent, who afterwards proved himself
to be one of the most laborious and seU-denying Missionaries
of modern times. I heard him preach his trial sermon, and
placed his name upon the Circuit-plan. When, at a subsequent
period, he was examined at the Leeds District Meeting, as a
candidate for the Itinerant Ministry, and offered his services as
a Missionary to the heathen, Mr. WaUer Griffith, the Chairman,
inquired whether or not his father was wUUng that he should ga
abroad. His answer was, " My father says, that to part with
me wUl be a great and painful sacrifice ; but whUe he feels it

A pleasing Salutation. 145
his duty to pray for the conversion of the heathen, he does not
see with what consistency he can withhold his son, when God
calls him to carry His Gospel to the countless multitudes of
those unhappy people who are perishing for lack of knowledge : "
an answer which it will be weU for parents in similar circum
stances to ponder ; and which candidates for the ministry will
themselves do well to consider. There may be cases in which
parental authority may be lawfully pleaded as a reason why a
young minister should confine his labours to his native land ;
but it may be fairly doubted whether this excuse wiU in every
case avail before the judgment-seat of Christ. When He said
to St. Paul, " Depart ; for I will send thee far hence unto the
Gentiles;" would that holy Apostle have dared to say, "I
decline the service in deference to the wishes of my father and
mother ; but I am willing to preach to my countrymen in my
native land ? " When St. Peter urged creaturely considerations
in opposition to the purposes of God, which involved pain and
sorrow, Jesus said to His erring disciple, " Get thee behind Me,
Satan : thou art an offence to Me : for thou savourest not the
things that be of God, but those that be of men." To a man
who pleaded for delay, that he might bury bis father, Jesus said,
" Let the dead bury their dead ; but go thou and preach the
kingdom of God." Samuel Broadbent not only obeyed the call
of God, but after a long life spent in the Gospel field, both
abroad and at home, had the honour and gratification of seeing
the same spirit in his son, who, in this respect, has entered into
the labours of his father.
More than twenty years after I had left this Circuit, I went
during a Leeds Conference to preach at Sowerby-Bridge on a
week-night ; and after the service, while I was sitting alone in
the waiting-room of the railway-station, intending to return to
Leeds by the next train, a plain but decent-looking woman
came within the door, and stood there for some time, looking
earnestly at me ; and then said, with every indication of grate
ful feeling, " Many years ago you prayed with my mother, when
she was dying." That simple salutation spoke volumes to my
heart. I felt that whatever had been the effect of my sermon
that evening, I had not come to Sowerby-Bridge in vain. Visits

146 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
to the sick are remembered on earth, and no less in heaven.
May I never loiter in the fulfilment of this important duty!
Anxious families surrounding a sick-bed are often susceptible
of deep reUgious impressions, as well as the sufferer whose
death is hourly expected. After the lapse of several years, this
good woman came to acknowledge what she regarded a.s an act
of kindness to her dying mother.

CHAPTER IX,
¦-W-AltEPIELD (1814) — CONTEOVEESY WITH A DISSENTING MINISTEB ON THE "PPVE
points" — JOHN GOOD-WIN : MISEEPBESENTED BY BISHOP BUENET AND
AUGUSTUS TOPLADY — LIFE OF JOHN GOODWIN — DE. ADAM CLAEKE'S MINISTEY
— NOTICES OP ME, BEADBUEN — ADDITIONS TO LIBEAEY' — COUESE OF BEADING
— SHEFFIELD (1816) — PEOSPEBITY OF THE CIBCUIT — EOUTINE OF L,VBOUR 
WOETHIES — SUB-SECEETABY OF THE CONFEEENCE (1817)— BEV. EDWAED
HAEE — EEVIVAL OF EELIGION AT SANCTON— EOBEET HALL— DE, OLINTHUS
GEEGOEY.
BY the Conference of 1814 1 was removed from Sowerby-Bridge,
and appointed to the Wakefield Circuit, under the super
intendency of the Eev. Eobert Newton. Taking leave, therefore,
'of my friends with whom I had spent two happy years, I repaired
with my wife and two children to my new field of labour. Wake
field at that time was a genteel and comparatively quiet town,
distinguished by its corn and cattle market, but free from the
smoke and din of factories and railroads, which have since
greatly changed its general appearance.
Our Society in the town at that time was highly respectable,
'Containing many persons of wealth, intelUgence, and pubha
¦influence ; such as Mr. Holdsworth, Mr. Walton, Mr. Colvard,
Mr. SwaUow, Mr. Spicer, Mr. Eobinson, Mr. Clarkson, and
many others. The chapel in Wakefield was in a good situation,
-and weU attended. The people had been accustomed to an
--enhghtened and instructive ministry, some of the ablest men in
the Connexion having been stationed there ; and they had then
in Mr. Newton one of the most popular preachers of the age,
Tf Ustening to the sermons of Mr. Bunting in Halifax had
stimulated me to use aU requisite care in the preparation and
deUvery of my sermons, motives equally powerful were brought
to bear upon me in my new situation. In Wakefield I occupied
the house which Eichard Watson had just vacated, and stood
in pulpits where he had been accustomed to stand during tha
L 2

148 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
two preceding years. With such a predecessor as Mr. Watson,.
and such a colleague as Mr. Newton, I felt that it was no easy
matter to meet the expectations of the people who thronged our
places of worship.
The Wakefield Circuit was not one of excessive labour. To-
the viUages in the immediate neighbourhood of the town we
could walk with ease ; and to the more distant places we had an
aged mare to carry us ; and she had been so long accustomed.'
to visit them, that she knew them all as well as the man whom
she carried on her back. If any one attempted to force her
beyond the well-known house and stable, she offered a firm
resistance, and pertinaciously disputed the matter with him.
She was wiUing to do the duty of the Circuit, but nothing
more. Our congregations generaUy were good ; and although they
had been accustomed to a ministry of the highest order, they
were not fastidious, but loved the truth, and received it with
cordiality when it was presented to them with simplicity and
earnestness. They attached more importance to power than
to ornament ; so that to preach to them was an agreeable-
duty. A few years before my appointment to the Wakefield Circuit,
Mr. Bradburn was stationed there ; and, as it might be expected,
he left a deep impression of his genius, wit, and extraordinary
powers as a preacher ; and many things I heard concerning
him, which it is not easy to forget. In the town of Wakefield
he was greatly annoyed by a set of singers, who introduced
tunes which he felt to be utterly unsuitable in the worship of
God, and who persisted in calUng to their aid on the Lord's day
persons of lax morals. These evils he laboured for some time
to remove, but without success ; so that he deemed it necessary-
to adopt more decisive measures : for he was not a man whom
light difficulties could discourage. On going into the pulpit,
therefore, on a week-night, he said to the congregation, " You
are, perhaps, surprised to see the singing-gaUery empty. The
fact is, I have nailed up the door. I have borne with those
feUows long enough, and am resolved to bear with them na
longer. They shaU either conduct the singing in a manner

singers and Divine Worship, 149
•different from what they have done, or they shall not conduct
it at aU."
He also wrote a preface to a smaU collection of hymns for the
use of the Methodist Sunday-school in Wakefield, in -which he
speaks in terms of strong censure of such evils as have been
Just mentioned. When he saw ungodly and immoral persons
leading the devotions of worshipping assemblies, singing the
praises of God in a theatrical manner, and uttering with
their lips sentiments which were perfectly alien from their
hearts, he said he could scarcely forbear to address them in the
language of Lord Eoseommon : — -
" Te dragons, whose contagious breath
Peoples the dark retreats of death.
Change your dire hissings into heavenly songs,
¦And praise your Maker with your forked tongues."
He expressed a hope that Sunday-schools would improve the
congregational singing in our chapels. This ingenious and
characteristic preface was inserted in the Methodist Magazine
An the year 1868.
When conducting the lovefeasts in the Circuit, he found that
the people had acquired a habit of occupying nearly half of the
time in singing ; every person giving out one or two verses of a
hymn before he related his religious experience; Wishful to
put an end to the practice, when holding one of these religious
services at Eothwell, he said that he would himself give out a
verse or two occasionally, and requested the people to confine
themselves to a simple relation of the Lord's dealings with them
in the matter of their personal salvation. When he had spoken
to this effect, a man more bold than discreet immediately rose,
a,nd gave out two lines of a hymn, expecting the people te
unite with him, in defiance of the preacher. They, however,
-sat stiU, and left him to sing his stave alone ; and as his voice
was not very harmonious, Mr. Bradbum coolly looked at him
when he had done, and said, " If a man would not come out of
.-a red-hot oven to hear you sing, he would deserve to be burnt
to death." Not another word was requisite. No one after this
-offered to offend in the same manner ; and we may safely say.

150 Recollections of my own Lije and Times.
that the man himself never forgot either his indiscretion or
the penalty that followed.
During the first year of my residence in Wakefield I was-
dra-wn into a public controversy which excited some attention
at the time in that part of the country. A Dissenting Minister,
a few mUes distant, who assumed a high tone of authority in
theological matters, and had previously rendered himself offen
sive to his Methodist neighbours, printed a sermon on occasion^
of the death of a good woman belonging to his congregation,,
containing strong censures upon all who held the Arminian
tenets in opposition to those of Calvin ; describing their Utera
ture in terms of contempt, and extoUing the writings of men
who held the opposite views. In his estimation, Calvin's theory
of absolute and unconditional election and reprobation was
orthodoxy, and the opposite theory of Arminius he declared to<
be a " heresy." The sermon, however, contained indubitable^
evidence that the author had only a very limited acquaintance
with the subjects on which he expressed his opinions with suck
confidence, and in such offensive terms.
His text was, " These aU died in faith," (Heb. xi. 13,) which.
lefers directly to Abraham, Sarah, Isaac, and Jacob. Ta
" die in faith," the author said, was to die in the belief
of " the doctrines of faith," which he described as the doc
trines of Calvinism ; the persons spoken of in the text, he
said, " found those doctrines in the Holy Scriptures," believed
them upon Scripture authority, and both Uved and died in that
beUef. Before these statements can be received, there are-
serious difficulties that require solution. First, how Sarah and
the three patriarchs of the Hebrew nation could read the Scrip
tures many ages before the Scriptures were written ? Secondly,,
how it can be known that these distinguished personages, having,
read books which did not exist, gave a Calvinistic rather than
an Arminian interpretation to those parts of them which
relate to election and reprobation ? Thirdly, how it is known
that the whole of them actually died, as weU as Uved, in the-
beUef which is here assigned to them ? The sermon contained.,
other positions quite as difficult as these. President Edwards,.
it was said, wrote his book pn the Human WiU in answer tp Mr.

A rash Controversialist.
Fletcher's " Checks to Antinomianism." But if so, Edwards
wrote that metaphysical volume in his grave ; for he died some
twelve or fo'urteen years before Mr. Fletcher penned a single
paragraph of his " Checks." The author was not more fortu
nate in his attempts to define the Calvinistic and Arminian
tenets than in his statement of facts. The sermon was indeed
a singular composition, unique in its kind, replete with cen-
soriousness, pretension, and absurdity.
The temptation to enter the lists with this assailant was too
powerful for me. No provocation had been given him; his
attack upon his Arminian neighbours was perfectly gratuitous ;
I therefore accepted his chaUenge, in defence of my own people,
attempting to show that he had grossly misrepresented their
tenets, and that in undertaking to " grapple "with the difficulties
of the quinquarticular controversy " he was manifestly going out
of his depth. He did not like to yield, after he had assumed so
high a tone of authority. Four pamphlets were published on each
side ; and after two attempts to defend his sermon, he retired,
and aUowed me to have the last word. This controversy bore
too much the character of a personal altercation. My object
was not to assail the Calvinistic tenets, but to show that the
man who had made such statements concerning Sarah and the
patriarchs of the Jewish nation was not authorized to dog
matize on some of the most difficult questions in Theology,
and to speak contemptuously of divines, many of whom were
incomparably wiser than himself. I wished to give my opponent
a lesson of self-knowledge, in the hope that he would be less
pugnacious than he had been. That I was successful I will
not affirm ; but he certainly ever after kept the peace with
those who differed from him with respect to " the five points."
The pamphlets which I then published contain passages
which I should not now either -write or commit to the
press. My opponent in this controversy was not fault
less, nor was I unblamable. We neither of us, to say the
truth, exemplified the "meekness of wisdom" which an
Apostle has recommended.
From the beginning of my reUgious course I had taken au
interest in the questions relating to predestination, election.

152 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
reprobation, the extent of Christ's redemption, the freedom of
the human will, and the perseverance of the saints, as I found
them discussed in the writings of Mr. Wesley and Mr. Fletcher ;
and the controversy in which I was now engaged gave a bias
to my mind, such as I never felt before, and led me to investi
gate the rise and progress of the disputes concerning them
¦ both in this country and in Holland. , John Goodwin I found
to have been one of the very ablest advocates of the universal
redemption of mankind, and of the other points connected with
that great doctrine. I had read with profound admiration his
.treatise on Justification, and his " Eedemption Eedeemed."
They were quite equal, I thought, to the ablest theological
- works that ever came under my notice ; and I felt curious to
know something of the personal history of a man so dis
tinguished by the extent of his reading, his Biblical scholar
ship, and his unrivaUed power in argument. But no biogra
phical account of him could I anywhere find, nor any complete
.list of his writings. Brief notices of him I occasionaUy met with ;
but nearly the whole of them placed him in a most unfavour
able light, and indeed made him little better than a monster
in a human form : yet this view of his character I could not at
all reconcile with the learning, sobriety, and fine temper which
pervaded those of his writings that came under my observation.
At this time Walter WUson's " History and Antiquities of Dis
senting Churches " made its appearance, with a short but fair
and candid account of this distinguished man. This record
encouraged me to make further inquiries on the subject ; and I
soon perceived that his history was intimately connected with
the civil, ecclesiastical, and Theological affairs of this coimtry
at one of the most stirring and eventful periods : — the time of
Charles the First, of the Long Parliament, the Commonwealth,
and the Eestoration. I was thus drawn, almost imperceptibly,
into an extensive course of reading on all these subjects, hardly
knowing to what it would ultimately lead ; and I reaUy became
more famUiar with the leading statesmen and ecclesiastics of
that distant period than I was with the public men of my own
time.
¦ That course of reading on which I had now, entered issued in

John Goodwin vindicated. 153
the publication of a volume which I shall hereafter have occa
sion to mention ; and the researches which led to this result
gave a settled character to my thinkings concerning civil and
¦ecclesiastical polity, the extent of Christ's redemption, and the
nature of God's decrees relative to the salvation of mankind,
from which I have never seen reason to depart, and which are
likely to remain with me to the close of Ufe. By keeping John
Goodwin in my mind whenever I went into an old book-shop,
and in reading contemporary authors, and authors who treat of
his time, I was surprised at the amount of information that I
was able to collect respecting a man whose history seemed to
be involved in impenetrable mystery, and whom men differing
on almost every other subject had united to revile. In the pro
secution of these inquiries I was astonished to find how often
writers copy from one another without inquiry, improve upon
one another's mistakes and misrepresentations, so as grievously
to mislead their unsuspecting readers. They are often the
most confident when they are the deepest in error. Two fla
grant offenders in this way I found in Bishop Burnet and the
late Eev. Augustus Toplady. The Bishop, in sheer ignorance,
ascribes to John Goodwin the principles of the Fifth Monarchy
men, which he strenuously opposed ; and Toplady, improving
upon the Bishop's mis-statements, ascribes to Goodwin the
practical exemplification of those principles, against which he
Ufted up the voice of earnest and solemn warning, as being sin
ful in the sight of God, and immoral in the estimation of wise
and good men.
The Bishop's account is throughout a direct and scandalous
untruth, the publication of which can admit of no excuse.
It is not only at variance with truth, but directly opposed to it;
and Toplady, assuming Burnet's statements to be correct, has
¦adopted them as the basis of various charges of his own inven
tion, attempting to make it appear that John Goodwin was a
fool, intimately connected with a body of fanatics, the leaders of
whom expiated their crimes at the gaUows. Thus the gossip-
ping prelate and the unscrupulous predestinarian united to
vilify a man into whose history and character they did not
think it worth their whUe to inquire. In this manner history

154 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and biography have too often been written ; their authors
being more anxious to interest their readers by startUng nar
ratives, than by a record of that which is strictly and literaUy
true. If we believe them, their favourite characters are
examples of every perfection ; and the men whom they
happen to disUke are monsters either of wickedness or of foUy.
Burnet, it would appear, heard some vague statements-
concerning Goodwin and the Fifth Monarchy men, and.
without inquiring whether they were true or false placed
them upon record as historic facts, which others have blindly
repeated. My greatest diffiiculty in writing the Life of Goodwin arose
from the fact, that, Uke his distinguished contemporary, Milton,
he pubUshed a defence of the execution of his unfortunate
king, Charles the First, and was therefore exempted from
the Act of Indemnity, which was passed at the time of the
Hestoration. This I could not but regard as a serious blemish
in his character, yet admitting of considerable extenuation.
Had he Uved in our own times, when aU classes of people
enjoy equal Uberty, there can be no doubt that he would have
been as loyal to the reigning sovereign as any subject in the
realm ; but it was his misfortune to Uve in times when Episco
palians claimed it as their right to cut off the ears of
their ecclesiastical opponents, to brand them on the cheek with
a red-hot iron, and confine them for Ufe in horrible dungeons ;
when the rival sect of the Presbyterians contended that what
they deemed incorrigible heresy should be punished by fines,
whipping, imprisonment, hanging, and even burning aUve ;
and when both these formidable bodies clamoured for the
restoration of the King, after he had made unsuccessful war
upon his own subjects, hoping that he would secure to them
the exercise of their intolerant claims ; which, so far from
being matters of mere theory, were known to be matters
pf undeniable fact. Presbyterianism had burned Servetus iru
Geneva ; it had deprived the Dutch Arminians of their pastors,,
whom it sent into exile, and closed their places of worship ; it
afterwards hanged the Quakers in New England ; and would
certainly have done the same in old England, but for the parties

Dr. Clarke on entire Sanctification, 155"
-whom Goodwin and Milton defended. These men intended ta
secure for British subjects both civU and religious liberty ; but
the means which they adopted were politicaUy and morally
wrong, though approved at the time by generous men, of
powerful and cultivated inteUect ; for such unquestionably
were John Goodwin, John MUton, John Canne, and John.
Owen, who aU took the side of CromweU and his associates in
those calamitous times.
While I was in the Wakefield Circuit, I had a favourable
opportunity for hearing from Dr. Adam Clarke a sermon, which
might be considered a specimen of his ordinary ministry. I
had heard him at the Sheffield Conference in the year 1811,
and again in Liverpool, in 1813; but on both these occasions
he preached by appointment on the being of a God ; in the one
case urging the a priori argument, and in the other the argu
ment a posteriori ; so that the sermon in neither case could be
regarded as an example of evangelical preaching in the usual
sense of that term. I went, therefore, with great eagerness to
Holbeck, near Leeds, where he was to preach in the forenoon.
of a week-day, at the opening of a new chapel. His text was,
2 Peter i. 4 : " Whereby are given unto us exceeding great and
precious promises : that by these ye might be partakers of the
Divine nature, having escaped the corruption that is in the
world through lust." A sermon on this text he afterwards
published -with other valuable discourses. When I heard him,
he took considerable pains in explaining the principal terms
that occur in the text ; and then proceeded to defend at large-
the doctrine of salvation from aU sin, and of entire sanctifica
tion to God ; showing that an adequate provision for this is
made by the sacrifice of the cross, and the gift of the Holy
Spirit. Christians, rightly apprehending the promises of God,
and trusting in Him for their fulfilment, are purified from aU
the evils of their fallen nature, and made partakers of His
hoUness. He stated that so perfect was his conviction of the
truth of this doctrine, arising from the study of the Holy
Scriptures, that he should never change his opinion unless a-
miracle were wrought to convince him that he was in error.
At the close of his sermon he observed that the Methodists.

156 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Preachers are now almost the only men in the world who,
statedly and of set purpose, maintain this great privUege of the
Christian dispensation; and then added, "If your coUection
this morning be a scanty one, I shall say that this great and
glorious truth meets -with a cold reception among the Methodists
at Holbeck." The people, on hearing this, looked significantly
at one another, and seemed to feel that they were pledged to a
more than ordinary exercise of liberality. But at that time
the Methodist congregations in general were not accustomed to
give as liberaUy on such occasions as they have more
recently been.
I often heard Dr. Clarke afterwards, and observed that his
manner in the pulpit was simple and unostentatious. He used
.little action ; the tones of his voice were natural, and strongly
indicative of earnestness and sincerity ; his diction was plain,
lucid, and energetic. As to their form, his sermons were ex
pository and argumentative, and his applications singularly
varied and powerful. He dwelt mainly upon the great truths
of the Gospel, and his manner of treating them was always
interesting and instructive. He never failed to rivet the atten
tion of his hearers, and he never wearied them by the immo
derate length of his discourses. I always admired him as a
noble specimen of a Methodist Preacher. For his brethren in
the ministry he manifested a sincere respect, and was jealous
for their honour. I once heard him say in the pulpit, when
preaching on a public occasion: " There are men who say that
we preach justification by the merit of good works. They lie,
-and they know they lie."
At this time, Mr. Bradburn was hastening to the end of his
briUiant career. He was in a state of decay both in body and
mind, so as to be only a shadow of the man he had formerly
been. His utterance and his inteUect became feeble, his memory
failed, and his ministry was unable any longer to sustain the
high character that it had formerly borne. He expired in London,
July 26th, 1816. With the young Preachers he was a special
favourite ; his unrivalled eloquence, and the innate kindliness
of his heart, commanded their ceaseless admiration. At the
¦annual Conferences we used to gather round him, and request

Genius and Grace. 157
him to preach as often as possible ; and with these requests he
was never loth to comply, for he evidently enjoyed his pulpit
labours. He would willingly take an appointment, on a week-
night, in a village near the Conference town, accompanied by a
band of young men, whose hearts clave to him as a father, a
friend, and a model preacher, except in the occasional sallies of
his exuberant wit. I have heard him in the Conference refer,
in a tone of meekness and regret, to those unhappy occurrences
which at one period of his Ufe subjected him to an act of disci
pUne from his brethren.
He was a noble specimen of human nature, and a fine
example of the power of religion in its Methodistic form to ele
vate men from humble life to respectability and usefulness.
The son of a common soldier, he was born at Gibraltar, and there
in childhood received the only formal education it was his
privilege to enjoy. He was sent to a school, the terms of which
were one penny a week. The fee being raised to three half
pence, and the parents not being able to bear the. additional
charge, the hopeful pupU was kept at home, and left to acquire
knowledge as best he might. He was at length bound as an
apprentice to a shoemaker in Chester, where he was made a;
partaker of the converting grace of God, by which his inteUect
was thoroughly awakened, his heart was bent upon advancing
the cause of Christ in the world; and in this manner he became
one of the most remarkable of the self-made men of Methodism ;
or rather, by God's blessing upon his own industry, he became
not only an able theologian, but one of the best preachers in
England. His sermons were as excellent in respect .of their
matter and substance, as they were effective in the delivery.
Nature made him an orator, but hard study made him a correct
thinker and speaker. While I write this, (in 1870,) two
daughters of this gifted man survive, interesting relics of a
former age, both of whom, though far advanced in years, present
unmistakeable indications of their father's genius and spirit.
Eespect for his memory, as weU as for their own exceUencies,
has procured for them generous and ' sympathizing friends.
They are duly alive to the just honour of their noble-minded
father, and have therefore been deeply grieved at the exaggera-

158 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
tions and misstatements which have appeared in a recent bio
graphy of him.
The truth is, that the gossips of Methodism have been busy
for more than haU a century in " hearing and telling some new
thing" respecting this extraordinary man, iUustrative of his
.genius, wit, and eccentricity; and as an unavoidable conse
quence of frequent repetition, especially by persons who never
saw Mr. Bradburn, and who therefore know nothing of him
¦ except by hearsay, things are ascribed to him which are directly
¦ untrue. His private diary, which stUl exists in his own hand
writing, and which was in my possession for many years, proves
undeniably that he was a devout and conscientious man, who
maintained feUowship with God by humble and earnest prayer ;
¦but in that document he owns that there were times when his
inteUect had lost its balance. Through life he was exercised
by poverty, often acknowledging his embarrassments, and the
seasonable supply of money which he received from wealthy
friends. The reason is, that with a scanty income, he possessed
one of the most generous hearts that ever beat in a human
breast. He could keep no money in his pocket whUe he saw
men, women, and chUdren in a state of destitution. His mind
was thoroughly upright and truthful ; and oftener than ones he
administered an effectual rebuke to persons of humble origin
who affected gentiUty of descent. In one word,
" He was a man, take him for all in all,
"We ne'er shall look upon his like again."
I cherish the memory of Samuel Bradburn with profound
respect, and deem it one of the high privUeges of my life that I
often saw and heard him both in the Conference and the pulpit.
Through the prudent economy of my ever-faithful wife, I was
able to make some important additions to my library when
resident in Wakefield. Mr. Hurst, a bookseUer in that town,
had a large stock of valuable works ; and not a few of them
were lawfully transferred from his shelves to my own. During
the first year of my residence here, I read with care nearly
sixty volumes ; including the Works of John Howe ; Paley's
.Evidences of Christianity ; the Works of the Eev. WUliam Jones,

Stated Amount of Reading. 159
of Nayland ; Andrew FuUer's Sermons ; Whitby on the Five
Points ; SeUon on General Eedemption ; Symmond's Life of
Milton ; Burigny's Life of Grotius ; Milton's Prose Works ;
Leland on the Necessity and Advantages of the Christian Eeve-
lation ; Dugald Stewart's Elements of the PhUosophy of the
Human Mind ; the Works of Bishop Hopkins ; M'Crie's Life
of John Knox ; Goodwin's Exposition of the Ninth Chapter of
the Epistle to the Eomans ; Fitzosborne's Letters ; Bird's Fate
and Destiny inconsistent with Christianity ; Blayney's Transla
tion of Jeremiah; Good"win on Justification; Pierce's Divine
Philanthropy defended ; Wakefield's Memoirs ; Fletcher's
Purple Island ; Tooke's Diversions of Piirley ; Faber on the
Operations of the Holy Spirit ; Horsley's Translation of the
Book of Psalms ; Francis's Horace ; Gilpin's Lives of Latimer,
Gilpin, and Cranmer. From this time I ceased to keep an exact
record of the books I read ; but never diminished the amount
of my reading at any subsequent period of my Ufe.
At the Conference of 1816, I left Mr. Newton and my kind
friends in Wakefield, and removed with my wife and children
to the Sheffield Circuit, where I was placed under the super
intendency of the Eev. Thomas Kelk, with the Eevs. John
Brownell and John Davis as my other fellow-labourers. They
were all good and faithful men, and we spent a year together in
perfect peace and harmony. Mr. Kelk was advanced in years,
but was stiU able and willing to work in the vineyard of his
Lord. He was an impressive and useful preacher. Mr.
BrowneU had spent some years as a Missionary in the West
Indies, a,nd had endured there, as a friend of the Negro race,
not only reproach, but personal violence and injury. He was
a good preacher and pastor, and a friendly coUeague. Mr.
Davis was also friendly and agreeable. His sermons were brief,
pertinent, pointed, and edifying. During my second year in
Sheffield, Mr. BrowneU took the office of Superintendent, and
Mr. Eobert Wood was added to our number. He was then in
all the vigour of his youthful manhood ; was the popular man
in the Circuit ; and deserved aU the popularity that he enjoyed.
He was active, intelUgent, and friendly ; and his preaching was
lively, instructive, and powerful.

160 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
We had three chapels in the Circuit-town, aU of which were-
well attended ; one in Carver Street, another in Norfolk Street,
and a third in Bridgehouses. The Circuit was very extensive,
embracing a large number of country places, where we had
considerable Societies and congregations. The Local Preachers
were a numerous body, able and willing to work ; and two
horses enabled the TravelUng Preachers to visit the distant
vUlages and hamlets on the week-nights with regularity and
comfort. The Societies were in peace, and the work of God
steadily advanced in almost every place. Two new chapels, of
respectable dimensions, were erected during these years ; one
at Thurgoland, and the other in Ecclesfield ; and were with joy
consecrated to God, as places of Christian worship and of evan
gelical instruction.
In the Sheffield Circuit at this time there were several per
sons of established character and tried fideUty connected with
Methodism, whose names ought never to be forgotten by those
who have entered into their labours. Among these I particu
larly remember Mr. Holy, Mr. Beet, Mr. Smith, Mr. Fentem,.
Mr. Owen, Mr. Jones, Mr. Barlow, Mr. Vickers, Mr. Branson,
Mr. Chambers, Mr. Newton, Mr. Fawley, Mr. Longden, Mr.
Eyre, and Mr. Furness. Several godly women, also, rendered
essential service to the good cause, as the leaders of classes, and
examples of Christian order. Of this number were Mrs. Bar
ber, widow of the Eev. John Barber, Mrs. Harwood, and Mrs..
Holy. They resembled the pious women mentioned in the New
Testament, who helped the Apostles in their evangeUcal labours,
and were faithful witnesses for Christ.
A pithy saying was reported in Sheffield, as having been
uttered when the Carver- Street chapel was in the course of
erection, which is worth remembering. A Quaker passing by,
and seeing the workmen employed, observed that the Methodists
were building another "converting furnace:" an expression
which in that town and neighbourhood has a special significancy,
" converting furnaces " being the well-known name of the fur
naces in which iron is converted into steel. Hitherto Methodist
chapels have been " converting furnaces ; " and it is hoped they
wiU retain this character in perpetuity. If ever they cease ta

" Converting Furnaces." 161
be such, Wesleyan Methodism will become extinct ; for its
institutions are only adapted to a converted people. Persons
who are in an unconverted state, whether they have the form of
godUnefes or not, will never maintain with regularity either the
weekly class-meeting, or the quarterly love-feast. The interest
of these services is kept up by those who are "turned from
darkness unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God,"
and by them only. Men who know not the Lord as the God of
their salvation can never " declare what He hath done for the
souls " of His believing people.
At the village of Dore, where we had a preaching-place, I
went to see a man who was said to be in the hundred and
seventh year of his age. It was a warm day in the month of
June ; and I found him sitting as near the fire as he could, and
yet scarcely able to preserve the proper heat of his body. He
told me that his business was that of a weaver ; that he had
worked hard in the course of his Ufe ; having provided for
his wife and their twelve children. He had a profusion of
white hair upon his venerable head, and forcibly reminded me
of what we may suppose the aged men were in the patriarchal
times, before human life was reduced to its present span.
With an inteUect impaired, and his senses blunted, he^ was
waiting for his change, an affecting proof that man is not des
tined to a permanent residence upon this earth. Happy day,
when the body of our humUiation, which now presses do"wn the
mind, shall be fashioned Uke unto the glorious body of the
Son of God, which knows neither infirmity nor decay, and Uves
in ever-during bloom 1
One Sunday, when I was in the Sheffield Circuit, I preached
three times, administered the Lord's Supper, traveUing also
many miles on horseback upon a difficult and unfrequented
road ; and was then earnestly pressed to take the pulpit a
fourth time. To this request I acceded, but not under the
influence of the motive which was urged by one of the friends,
who said, " Do preach to us again. Eemember,
' The rougher our way.
The shorter our stay.' "

162 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
I thought this friend might regard the shortness of my " stay "
in this world rather desirable than otherwise, but my wife and
chUdren would view the matter in a different light. I did, how
ever, preach a fourth time, and then rode home some eight
or ten mUes, weary enough, and with an aching head. This
was the hardest day's work I ever had as a Methodist Preacher.
My first sermon on that day was deUvered in the Norfolk- Street
chapel in the morning ; my second, "with the Lord's Supper, at
HaUam, in the forenoon ; my third and fourth at Bradfield in
the aifternoon and evening. To the mind such labour is rest.
It is the body only that faUs under the exertion.
The Conference of 1817 was held in Sheffield ; and as the
Eev. Edward Hare, who for some years had sustained the
office of Sub- Secretary to that body, was disabled by Ulness, I
was appointed to take his place. Mr. Bunting was then the
Secretary to the Conference, and at his request this appoint
ment was made ; not because of any aptitude for business that
I possessed, but because of some Uterary habits which my
Wakefield pamphlets were thought to display. This office,
which was imposed upon me for several years, I found to be
very onerous, because of the amount of writing that devolved
upon me. It occupied a fuU month every year.
Mr. Hare never returned to his desk in the Conference, but
died of consumption in the course of a few months. His death
was a great loss to the Connexion ; for he was a man of rare
endowments, possessed of great mental vigour, aouteness, and
activity, and not discouraged by any amount of either physical
or mental labour. To the doctrines of Christianity, as they
are held by the Methodist body, he was firmly attached, and
defended them both from the pulpit and the press with equal
zeal and power. One of his latest pubUcations was an answer
to a missive sent forth by the Calvinistic Vicar of Harewood.
Just after that answer appeared, I caUed to see him, and thank
him for that defence of our tenets. I found him in a state of
great weakness, lying on the sofa ; but when I referred to " the
five pomts," one of which he had so recently discussed, his eyes
sparkled, he rose from his recumbent posture, and said with
his accustomed warmth, " If it please God to restore my health,

A Family in Christ. 163
I shall have no objection to enter into the entire subject." I
admired him as an able preacher, lively, energetic, argumenta
tive ; faithful to his brethren, and to the cause with which they
were identified. When a preacher of the name of Joseph Cooke,
having renounced his connexion with Methodism, and become
an Independent Minister in the town of Eochdale, published
a pamphlet against the doctrine of the Holy Spirit's witness to
the fact of the believer's adoption, Mr. Hare suppUed an able
defence of that important tenet. So complete was his success
in the controversy, that a witty Lancashire man observed, " It
is common for cooks to haste the hare ; but here the Hare
obviously bastes the Cooke."
There are mysteries connected wfth revivals of religion which
mo human, sagacity has ever been able to unravel. One of those
"mysteries relates to the times at which revivals occur, and the
circumstances in which they take place. They are sometimes
preceded by no particular signs ; but their effects declare their
Divine origin ; for who can create in men and women, young
and old, educated and Uliterate, a new heart, and renew in
them a right spirit, but the God of all grace ? A season of
special visitation from the Lord the Spirit was, in the year
1818, while I was stationed in Sheffield, granted to my native
viUage ; and, as in the revival of 1801, our family shared largely
in the benefit. My brother Eobert, then in his teens, and my
younger sisters, with the junior members of the MarshaU family,
and several other persons, were effectually turned from the
love and practice of sin, to a directly opposite temper and course
of life. They were first made deeply sorrowful and penitent on
account of their past sins, and then, beUeving in Christ as their
Sa"viour, they were made happy in the pardoning love of God,
and yielded themselves to Him as His devoted servants. Their
ontire spirit and conduct demonstrated the reaUty of the change
they had undergone. My father and mother were deUghted
witnesses of this great work of God, and shed tears of grateful
joy when they saw the whole of their nine chUdren converted to
God, and members of the Methodist body.
A few years afterwards, when their youngest son Eobert
entered upon the duties of a Circuit as a Methodist Preacher, a
M 2

164 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
neighbour of my father said to him, " Jackson, it was not likely,.
when you first came to Sancton, that you would ever have three-
sons in the ministry." " It was one of the most Ukely things
in the world," rejoined my father, " according to the doctrine
of St. Paul, that ' God hath chosen the foolish things of the
world to confound the -wise ; and God hath chosen the weak
things of the world to confound the things that are mighty ;
and base things of the world, and things which are despised,
hath God chosen, yea, and things which are not, to bring to
nought things that are: that no flesh should glory in His
presence.' " (1 Cor. i. 27-29.)
During my residence in Sheffield, the far-famed Eobert Hall
visited that town, and preached on behalf of the Baptist Missions
in India. Having read his sermon on "Modern Infidelity,"
and been charmed with the acute reasoning and poUshed diction
of that remarkable discourse, I went with high expectations to-
hear him. His voice appeared to me the feeblest I had ever
heard from a pulpit ; but as the small chapel was not
very crowded, and I obtained a seat in the front of
the gallery, I heard every word through the entire service.
His manner was plain and inartificial. In the delivery of his
sermon he rested with his arms upon the Bible, as it lay open
before him, occasionally raising himseU, and stepping back
wards, as if he were relieving himself of a weakness or a pain
in his back. The sermon was extempore, but delivered -with
singular fluency ; the diction being as elegant and correct as if
every sentence had been prepared with the nicest care. The
preacher never hesitated, nor paused even a moment for the
most appropriate word to express his meaning. The sermon
was founded upon Eev. xxi. 22 : " And I saw no temple therein :
for the Lord God Almighty and the Lamb are the temple of it; "
and presented a delightful view of the new Jerusalem, and of"
the transcendent happiness of those who shall be accounted
worthy to dwell therein. To them every place is alike holy,
and their Sabbath is eternal. Mr. HaU's tone and manner were
eminently reverent and devout.
Several years afterwards, I went to hear him in the Methodist
chapel in Great Queen Street, London, when he preached again

Robert Hall's feebleness of Voice. 165
on behalf of the Baptist Missions. His subject here was the
example of Christ, which aU who profess faith in Him are bound
to imitate. The chapel, as might be expected, was crowded
with people, anxious to hear so eminent a man. They leaned
forward with breathless attention, many of them placing their
hands behind their ears, in order to catch the sound of his
voice ; and in this position they remained about ten minutes or
a quarter of an hour, and then leaned back in their pews in
blank despair. One exception there was,^Dr. Olinthus Gregory,
Mr. HaU's personal friend, who occupied a favourable place in
the gaUery, and gave unmistakable signs of intense gratification,
standing up in his pew, and looking round upon the congrega
tion with an admiring smile, which seemed to say, "Did you
ever hear such a sermon before ? " Yet few of the people were
partakersof his joy; for they could only occasionaUy catch a word,
or a part of a sentence. Yet such was the desire to hear him,
that some men actuaUy climbed upon the mouldings of the
pulpit, placing themselves as near to him as they possibly
-could. The two sermons which I heard from this gUted man
appeared to be specimens of his ordinary ministry. They were
preached on behalf of Christian Missions, but neither of them
had any direct reference to the spread of the Gospel in heathen
lands. That apreacher possessing such stores of theological truth,
such a command of appropriate language, combined with such
mental acuteness and power, should have been denied a corr'e-
sponding voice to communicate his intellectual treasures, is one
of the mysteries of Providence which we attempt in vain to
miravel. WhUe some men have a richness and power of voice far
beyond what they have occasion to use, and while thousands
yearnedto share in the benefit of the favoured few who congregated
around his pulpit, Eobert Hall, one of the most eloquent nien
of his age, and as learned, logical, and orthodox as he was elo
quent, was only able to make himself heard within a very
narrow circle.
Having mentioned Dr. Oliuthus Gregory, perhaps an addi
tional reference to him may not be inappropriate.
This very able mathematician and sincere Christian had a.
iabit of .giving free expression to his emotions under the

166 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
sermons which were agreeable to his taste. In one of his visits
to Brighton he is said to have strayed into the Methodist chapel
on a Sunday afternoon, when the pulpit was occupied by a
Local Preacher of sound sense, and of deep piety, but of un
polished manner. Dr. Gregory was deUghted, and indicated
his feelings in a manner to which he was not unaccustomed,
but which the people present did not understand. At the close
of the service, a lady, not knowing who he was, contrived ta
meet him at the chapel-door, and remonstrated with him as to
the impropriety of his behaviour ; observing, that although the
preacher was a plain man, he weU understood the nature of
true reUgion, had given utterance to important truth, and ought
not to be despised. The Doctor offered her hisi card, and the
next morning caUed upon the resident Minister, stating that
what had been mistaken as disrespect for the preacher was
reaUy an expression of admiration ; for that he had been edified
under the sermon, and was grieved to find that he had unin-
tentionaUy given offence to some persons in the congregation
by the manner in which he had indicated his approval.

CHAPTEll X.
MANOHESTEB (1818) — DEATH OF THE EEV. SAMUEL EAEDSLEY ; DESTBUCTION OP
HIS MANUSCBIPTS — LETTER FEOM THE VICAE OF AEEETON TO HANNAH
DAMP — A NEI4V0US SUPEEINTENDENT — POPULAB DISCONTENT — POLITICAL
^GITATOBS — DISTUBBBD STATE OF THE TOWN — ^EELIGIOUS DECLENSION 
EIOTS AND BLOODSHED — EEEOTION OF GEOSVENOE-STEEET CHAPEL — MB.
SAMUEL STOCKS AND OTHEE LOYAL METHODISTS — VISITING THE SICK — THE
CHEETHAM LIBBABY — DEATH OF THE EEV. JOSEPH BENSON — A SUDDEN
CHANGE : EEMOVAL TO LONDON (APBIL, 1821) AS TEMPOEAEY CONNEXIONAL
EDITOE — ANNUAL MEETING OF THE BEITISH AND POEEIGN BIBLE SOCIETY :
MESSBS. HUGHES, WILBEEFOECE, OWEN, AND JOSEPH JOHN GUBNEY —
EDITING THE MAGAZINE AND YOUTH's INSTBUCTOB — CITY-EOAD CHAPEL,
BOOK-EST.ABLISHMENT, AND BUNHILL-FIELDS BUEYING-GEOUND— EESOLW-
TION OF THE CONFEEBNCE (1821) APPEOVING OP THE CONDUCT OF THE
I'EEACHEES STATIONED IN MANCHESTEE DUEING THE PEEVIOUS THEEE
TEMKS.
BY the Conference of 1818 I was removed from the Sheffield
Circuit, and appointed to Manchester, under the superin
tendency of the Eev. John Stephens ; the other Preachers being
Mr. Pipe, with whom I had been associated in Leeds many
years before, and Mr. M'Kitrick, a sensible and warm-hearted
Irishman. The Eev. Samuel Bardsley, a native of Manchester, and now
aged and infirm, was also appointed to the Circuit ; but was,
in faet, a Supernumerary Preacher, although, in deference to
his feelings, he was not so designated in the printed Minutes.
He had travelled upwards of fifty years, and had a great dread
of being a Supernumerary : and, to relieve his mind, a few
junior Preachers, of whom I was one, who were stationed in
good Circuits, entered into a written agreement, that, by an
annual subscription, we would augment his income, so as to
secure his personal comfort to the end of his life. The vener
able man, however, did not need our aid. He was accompanied
from Leeds, where he had attended the sittings of the Confer-

168 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
ence, on his way to Manchester, by his friend and fellow-
townsman, Mr. Wrigley. They rested at Delph, in Saddle-
worth, intending there to spend the night. Having taken his
tea, he expressed a wish to retire to his bed. On arriving at
the top of the stairs, he leaned his head upon the shoulder
of his companion, and calmly said, " My dear, I must die,"
and expu-ed. His remains were brought to Manchester, and
interred in the burying-ground connected with the Bridgewater-
Street chapel, where a flat stone rests upon his grave. Mr.
Bardsley was taU in stature, very corpulent, kind and obliging
in his disposition, respectful to every one ; so that in private
life he was a general favourite. His ministry was simple and
conversational, yet popular and edifying ; and to the end of his
protracted life he maintained a character pure and blameless.
He was usuaUy elected the Chairman of the District to which
he belonged ; and when his election was announced in the Con
ference, he invariably rose, and in a respectful manner thanked
his brethren for this renewed expression of their fraternal con
fidence. He was always prepared to give a word of kind and
appropriate counsel, especiaUy to young persons. One example
I may mention. To a newly-married couple, whom he recog
nized in London as children of his friends, he said, " Take care
that in future life you are never both of you angry at the same
time." A recent biographer of Mr. Bradbum has spoken of
Samuel Bardsley as if he were a man of feeble intellect, and
therefore entitled to Uttle respect ; which is quite a mistake.
Moses was no fool, though he was "not eloquent;" and
although Mr. Bardsley lisped in his speech, he was not oiUy a
man of sound understanding, but of high reUgious and pioral
worth, Mr. Wesley himseU being the judge. Few men have
been more highly esteemed either by their brethren in the
ministry, or by the Societies in general. But for the faithful
and effective ministry of such men as Samuel Bardsley, the
Methodist Preachers of the present age would have had
far inferior accommodations in their Circuits than they at
present enjoy. Few things grieve me more than to hear the
old Preachers spoken of disrespectfuUy ; men who bore the
burden and heat of the day ; traversing extensive Circuits ;

Treasures lost. 169
being often scantUy prpvided for; pelted with stones, brick
bats, and rotten eggs ; delivering the Gospel message
often at the hazard of their lives. AU honour to the
memory of the venerable Samuel Bardsley ! May there
never be wanting a succession of such men in the Methodist
Connexion !
He left a vast accumulation of manuscripts and other docu
ments relating to Methodism, and illustrative of its history,
which came into my hands after his decease. As they were of
pubhc interest, and did not properly belong to me, I felt that. I
ought not to retain them in my possession, greatly as I
wished that they were my own ; and therefore sent a report
concerning them to the Conference Book- Committee in Lon
don, asking their advice as to the right disposal of them.
They requested me to forward them to London without delay,
and with that request I promptly complied. On inquiring after
wards where they had been deposited, I had the mortification
to learn that they had been placed in the hands of one of
the London preachers, that he might examine and report upon
them ; that when he removed from the Circuit he left them in
the house he had occupied ; that the servant-maid of his suc
cessor, — regarding them as waste paper which the owner did
not think it worth his while to take away with him, — had used
them in kindling fires ; so that not a scrap remained of the
entire load which I had been so anxious to preserve for the use
of some future historian of Methodism ! They consisted of
private letters relating mostly to the state of reUgion iu different
¦Circuits, and of printed circulars on Connexional affairs, em
bracing a period of about haU a century ; for Mr. Bardsley
appears scarcely ever to have destroyed any papers that came
into his possession.
One of the documents which he left, however, I found that I
iad retained, and will here insert it as a curiosity of its kind.
It is a letter addressed by a Clergyman to " Hannah Damp," a
young woman in Chester, who had begun to attend the Meth
odist meetings, and was thought on that account to be on the
very brink of ruin. It shows the estimate that was formed of
Methodism in that part of the country a hundred years ago.

170 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
The letter is written in a fine bold hand, and either with a new
pen, or a pen newly mended. The censures contained in this
document apply with equal force to Samuel Bradburn, who was
then young in years, connected with the Methodist Society in
Chester, and just about to enter upon his brilUant career of
ministerial duty, having received his first Society-ticket from
Mr. Bardsley.
" Hannah, "You must allow me to tell you, that I -was very much
shocked and surprised with the account I had from your good
mother yesterday ; and the more so to find that religion was
made a pretence to justify what every sober Christian must be
convinced is absolutely condemned by it. It gives me much
concern to hear that you have given any part of the time which
ought to be faithfully and conscientiously employed in dis
charging the common duties of life, to an attendance upon a
set of men who call themselves Methodists ; though their dan
gerous delusions never fail to end in confusion and disorder
amongst famiUes, and a total neglect of those plain and honest
rules and methods, which common sense, under the authority
of a sober and reasonable faith, has prescribed to the rest of
the world. I am reaUy sorry for your situation, because from
the many examples of this kind which have faUen in my way I
am strongly inclined to think it a desperate one. The principles
adopted by these enthusiasts are such a disgrace and debase
ment of the human understanding, as well as the human heart,
that when the infection of this poison has once got thorough
possession, there is nothing left in the mind for a reasonable
persuasion to take hold of : and indeed, if I really knew you to
be far gone in this way, I should not have employed your time
or my own so iU, as to have given you this trouble. Instead of
running through any other points that might expose these
wretched doctrines and their teachers to the contempt and
abhorrence they so justly deserve, I shall confine myseU to the
circumstances of your own case in particular. The common
duties of Ufe, mentioned above, which these deceivers affect to
despise so much, are most important parts of the religion we

« An Infirmity checked. 171
profess, absolutely necessary to the salvation of aU men, to a
degree, that the Gospel, which is so mUd and merciful in other
respects, speaks "with some rigour and severity upon this. St.
Paul teUs us that if a man wiU not work, neither must he eat ;
that those who neglect their own households are worse than
infidels, and have denied the faith. If, therefore, you should
prevail upon yourself, under any pretext whatsoever, to desert
the duties of that state of life unto which it hath pleased' God
to call you, I shall recommend it strongly to your mother not
to receive you. May God Almighty give you a just and sober
sense of His most holy reUgion ; and to His good providence I
commend you. " J. Shan,
" June 2Gth, 1770. " Vicar of Arreton."
What effect this epistle produced upon poor " Hannah Damp,"
we have no means of knowing. That she was taught by those
" wretched deceivers," the Methodist Preachers, to neglect and
despise the common duties of life, was notoriously untrue, such
conduct being a direct violation of the rules of the Societies,
to the practical observance of which they were individuaUy
pledged. Whether she was induced to burn her Hymn-Book
and her Society-ticket, and discontinue her attendance upon
her class -meeting, or whether she retained her connexion -with
her reUgious companions, and was turned out of doors by her
"good mother," as the Vicar of Arreton said he should
" strongly recommend," the day will declare. These parties
have aU long since passed to their final account ; but the same
course of misrepresentation, and of hostiUty to spiritual
religion under the name of Methodism, is stiU pursued,.
and other " Hannah Damps " have to pass through the same
fiery trial.
Mr. Stephens, my Superintendent in Manchester, was a man
of fine temper, and possessed of admirable talents as a preacher,
which he had cultivated with assiduity and success. He was
weU-principled, but of a nervous temperament, apt to be dis
couraged at the prospect of his pubhc duties ; not unwiUing to
work, but easily persuaded that he could not preach, if there-

172 Recollections of my own Life and Tim^s.
was any one at hand that could supply his place. At first I
iound that he was invariably unweU when I had a vacant even
ing ; until at length I gave him to understand that I would
readily serve him when he reaUy needed my aid ; but I would
not knowingly be a party to the indulgence of a morbid dis
position, which Jarooded over imaginary ailments, when he
ought to be in the pulpit, proclaiming to the people and to
himself the mercy and salvation of God. His knowledge of
this fact tended to the improvement of his health ; yet he stiU
leaned upon me to a greater extent than was either convenient
to me or necessary to himseU. In him this was an infirmity
rather than a fault ; for he was a man of uprightness and of
high moral worth. For nearly three anxious years I was his
next-door neighbour, and a daily witness of his fidelity as the
Superintendent of Ms Circuit, and of his patience in circum
stances of sore trial. Had he yielded to the democratic
pressure which was then brought to bear upon him, even
when his life was in peril, it is impossible to estimate the mischief
that would have ensued both to religion and the pubUc
welfare. At this time the Manchester Circuit was a most unpromising
field of evangelical labour. A fearful spirit of discontent, of
hostility to the Government and to wealthy people, pervaded
the labouring classes. Commerce was stagnant, manufactured
goods were piled up in warehouses, and in httle demand; so
that wages were low, many thousands of people out of employ
ment, and therefore in a state bordering upon starvation. A
liberal subscription was raised for the relief of the destitute ;
the Ministers of aU denominations lent their aid in finding out
the most necessitous objects by personal canvass. In this
service I took an active part, and witnessed scenes of immo
rality and wretchedness which I can never forget ; such as entire
famUies, including father and mother, with aU their children*
whether grown up or young, male or female, aU sleeping in the same
room ; famUies Uving in damp eeUars, half clad, in the middle
of winter, without a fire, their small amount of bedding resting
upon the floor ; with even the dead bodies of some, who had
perished through the cold and the want of wholesome food.

Patrolling the Streets. 173
In this state of things political agitators went about inflaming^
the passions of the suffering multitudes, telling them that their
privations were aU owing to the government of the country ;
and the pubhc press contributed largely to the same result ; so that
thousands of people desired the overthrow of all government,
and a general scramble for the property which the rich pos
sessed. Some refused to work unless they could obtain higher
wages ; and others would gladly have worked, " but no man
hired them." Strong, muscular men, in great numbers, per
ambulated the streets of Manchester daUy, four abreast,
menacing the pubhc peace, and producing a feeling of general
alarm. For many months the town was looked upon as in a
state of incipient rebellion. A general rising of the masses was
apprehended ; the soldiers stood by their horses through the
night, prepared for immediate action ; the householders were
required in turn to serve on " the watch and ward," taking the
charge of their respective districts through the night. I myself
was forced by the magistrates, even after the public services of
the Sabbath-day, to walk the streets through the night, in
company with others, for the purpose of reporting any suspicious
movements that might appear. Breast-works, for the protection
of the miUtary, were erected in one or two of the principal
streets, in anticipation of an outbreak ; and on the Sunday the
soldiers went to the parish church, carrying their muskets with
fixed bayonets as in a time of war.
In one of the- popular newspapers, published in Manchester,
the Methodist Preachers were constantly animadverted upon,
as enemies of the people, because they appeared as the friends
of government and order, in opposition to the revolutionary
changes which many wished to introduce. Every week the pro
ceedings of our Leaders' Meeting in the to"wn were reported
in this journal ; the worst construction was put upon every
thing that the Preachers either said or did ; and the poor mem
bers of the Society were taught to hate us as their oppressors.
To guard them against this delusion, in every instance, was
impossible ; and not a few of our people, in this " day of rebuke
and blasphemy," lost their piety by the indulgence of a worldly
and maUgnant spirit. As in the days of our Lord, " many of

174 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
His disciples," offended with His teaching, " went back, and
walked no more with Him."
This state of things continued during the whole of the first
year that I spent in Manchester. PoUtical parties were exaspe
rated against each other ; the unhappy dispute between George
the Fourth and his Queen — with the daUy reports of her aUeged
misdoings, during her trial before the House of Lords — after
wards occurring, occupied the eager attention of aU classes, and
suppUed matter for angry discussion in families and social
circles ; the privations of the poor irritated then- spirits, and
diverted their attention from their higher interests and the rich
provisions of the Gospel ; and persons of property were so con
cerned for the preservation of their possessions, that they had
Uttle time to think of the higher treasures which endure through
eternity. To a people whose minds were thus pre-occupied we
proclaimed the " truth which is after godliness," but with Uttle
apparent success. Our places of worship were weU attended,
both on the Sunday and the week-day evenings ; but spiritual
religion did not generally increase. Conversions were rare, and
the love of many waxed cold.
At the end of a year of discouragement and patient toil, I
went to Bristol, to attend the Conference, and to fulfil the
duties that were assigned to me in connexion with it. The
state of the country generally, and of the Methodist Societies
in particular, engaged the attention of the Ministers present ;
and it was resolved to send forth a Pastoral Address, warning
the people under their care of the dangers to which they were
exposed, especially from political agitators of the infidel school,
and suggesting to them topics of encouragement in the hour of
trial. The task of preparing this document was assigned to
Mr. Watson, whose ready mind produced a composition worthy
of his piety and genius. It was the first of a series of Addresses,
of the same kind, which embody a large amount of instruction
relative to Christian privUege and duty. The Conference, in
this Address, exhorted the more wealthy members of the
Societies to a fr-ee and liberal distribution of bounty to the poor;
and warned the suffering poor to beware of the machinations of
the men who sought to render them disaffected to the Govern-

An anxious Journey. 175
ment, and at the same time to poison their minds with infidel
principles, thus robbing them of their peace in this world, and
of all hope with respect to a future state.
After the Conference was ended, I was detained some days
in Bristol, by the official duties which devolved upon me ; and
when I arrived in Birmingham, on my return home, I found a
crowd of people assembled in the street, waiting for a coach
from Manchester ; a report being in circulation, that serious
riots and bloodshed had taken place in that town ; and aU were
eager to hear the facts of the case. Knowing the hostility that
existed there towards Methodist Preachers and Methodist
chapels, I was concerned for the welfare of my family, and for
our places of worship. At every stage the next day, rumours
were rife and alarming as to what had been done at Manchester,
but nothing definite could I ascertain. On my arrival at home,
I found that an immense assemblage of people had taken place
at a political demonstration ; the magistrates, believing that
the public safety was endangered, had directed the mUitary to
interfere, and disperse the people ; that some lives were lost,
several persons seriously injured, and the entire assembly
terribly frightened. The dispersion of this meeting by the
military increased the political excitement, and extended it
through the country ; some maintaining that it was necessary
in order to the safety of the town and neighbourhood ; and
others, that in the circumstances of the case," it was an uncon
stitutional stretch of power.
The forcible breaking up of this monster meeting produced a
lasting impression upon the disaffected masses in Manchester
and the neighbourhood, who felt that the Government, with the
army under its direction, was stronger than they ; so that their
hopes as to its overthrow were vain. Never again, therefore,
did they congregate in such numbers ; but their spirits were
chafed and irritated, and they brooded in silence over
what they were taught to believe were their wrongs. The
truth is, they wanted employment, and therefore wanted bread,
which the Government would have been glad to supply, had it
been possible ; but the protracted war, which had but recently
¦ceased, had thrown not only the affairs of England, but of

176 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Europe, into disorder ; and no human sagacity could at once
adjust every interest. After such a tempest, it required time
to calm the agitated sea, to right the vessel of the State, and to
fit her for a safe and prosperous voyage. Happy was it
for the country, both then and in subsequent times, that
the British Constitution, strong in the affections of the
nation, weathered .the storm, and remained a blessing
to posterity.
In those times the wearing of a white hat was the signal of
hostiUty to the government, and defiance of authority ; and one
Sunday afternoon, when I was preaching in the Swan- Street
chapel, and had deUvered about one haU of my sermon, a man
entered the congregation, walked up the aisle to the middle of
the chapel, there took his stand, looked at me fuU in the face,
and held up his white hat. I immediately accepted his chaUenge,
dropped the subject that I was discoursing upon, and announced,
in a firm and decisive tone, the law of Christ, with respect to
civU government, as it is laid down in the New Testament;
-with the consequences of disregarding His authority, seeing He
is the Judge of the Uving and the dead. As I proceeded, the
man lowered his hat, and fixed his eyes upon the ground.
I then resumed the subject of my discourse; and the man,
behaving with strict propriety, remained tiU the close of the
service. In the Manchester Circuit at this time there was a noble
band of men connected with Methodism, who supported the
cause -with unwavering fideUty, and steadUy adhered to the
recorded principles of Mr. Wesley. While infidel agitators
and a Ucentious press combined to effect the overthrow of
Methodism, and some of its professed adherents, from whom
better things might have been expected, were staggered, and
would have sacrificed even truth and righteousness to pubhc
clamour, these men of faith and enterprise were not satisfied
¦with the mere maintaining of the ground that had been won,
but were intent upon further conquests. The congregations in
the Oldham- Street chapel were large and highly respectable;
many famiUes of wealth and inteUigence being regular in their
attendance ; a powerful chcir, under the conduct of Mr»

Mr. Samuel Stocks. 177
Wilkinson, discharged their part of the service with admirable
effect ; but for additional hearers there was no accommodation,
though several, with their families, desired to attend. In these
circumstances ground was purchased, and another large cha.pel
was erected in Grosvenor Street. Like the walls of Jerusalem,
it was "buUt in troublous times." This praiseworthy effort of
Christian zeal has since been foUowed by other erections in
Manchester, where many wanderers from God have been re
claimed, and many others trained up for the worship of heaven.
Among other faithful Methodists to whom reference has just
been made, were Mr. Stocks, Mr. James Wood, Mr. Westhead,
Mr. Marris, Mr. Marsden, Mr. Parker, Mr. Lomas, Mr. Eea,
Mr. Burton, Mr. Brookes, Mr. ChappeU, Mr. Yates,' Mr. FUdes,
Mr. Henson, Mr. AUen. Mr. Stocks, who removed afterwards
to Wakefield, took a special interest in the building of the
Grosvenor-Street chapel. Many months did he and I walk the
streets of Manchester, soliciting subscriptions for this object ;
and with encouraging effect, so that the project was brought to
a successful issue. For this kind of service he was admirably
qualified, being extensively known, and universally esteemed.
His own liberal subscription authorized him to plead with con
fidence in favour of the scheme ; and the frankness with which
' he made his appeals rendered it difficult for any one to give a
direct denial. He was one of the most estimable men I ever
knew ; successful as a man of business, one that would venture
nothing upon mere speculation, thoroughly upright, transparent
as a sunbeam, generous, cheerful, energetic and persevering in
action, loyal, patriotic, a lover of good men ; above all, devoted
to God, and zealons for His glory. Mr. Stocks was a true
Methodist. In Manchester he sustained the office of a class-
leader; and was remarkably punctual in attending to his
duties. When I was resident in Manchester, an opinion was extensively
prevalent amongthe working classes, that the Lord's Supper is an
effectual preparation for heaven, however men may have spent
their lives. Often, therefore, was I sent for to administer that
ordinance to dying people, even when they were in a state of
insensibility, and when I had no means of knowing the character

178 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
of the persons to whom I was requested to give the sacred
elements. Yet to refuse compliance with the wishes of anxious
families was to wound them in the tenderest part, and even to
give mortal offence. At no period of my life was so much of
my time spent in the visitation of the sick as in Manchester.
One night I was sent for in great haste to visit a dying man,
whom I found in a large room nearly filled with people. I
knew nothing of the character of the man. He had the locked-
jaw ; and whether he was sensible or not, I could not ascertain.
Because I refused to thrust the bread between his lips, — for it
could not pass into his mouth, — and to pour the wine upon the
bread, with the certainty that it would be spilled, I witnessed
such marks of displeasure in the formidable company around
me, as made me apprehensive of personal violence, and glad tP
retreat with as much speed as possible. It was in vain to attempt
to convince them that the man could neither "eat of that
bread, nor drink of that cup." The semblance of the holy
ordinance they seemed to think quite sufficient as a means of
salvation. Sometimes I had reason to beUeve that I was sent for to visit
persons who feigned sickness, in the hope of obtaining pecuniary
relief; for I could not bear the thought of visiting the afflicted
poor without attempting to relieve the wants of the body as well
as of the mind, even when I had little to give. One morning I was
urgently requested to visit a man who was reported to be near
death. I took down his name and address, and foUowed the
messenger sooner than I was expected. When I arrived at the
house, and inquired after the sick man, his -wife said, with
great simpUcity, "He is not in the house. Sir; he has just
gone to the barber's shop, to get shaved." Had I delayed my
visit, I suppose I should have found him in his bed, perhaps
gasping for breath, and scarcely able to speak !
In Manchester there is a fine old library, open to the public,
founded by Humphrey Cheetham, from which I might have
derived much benefit, could I have commanded the requisite
leisure ; but my other engagements pressed so heavily upon
me, that my visits tp that favoured spot were few and
brief. The deUvery of sermons, preparation for the pulpit, the

Busy Days. 179
•visitation of classes, with visits to the sick and destitute, occu
pied every hour ; so that scarcely
" A moment lingered unemployed,
Or unimproved,"
from the beginning of each month to its termination.
During my residence in Manchester I learned many lessons
which I hope never to forget. I saw the evils of a rampant and
lawless democracy, and the inestimable value of a strong con
stitutional government. I saw the blighting influence of dis
affection to just authority upon spiritual religion, and the
necessity of order both in general society and in the Church.
To inflame the passions of men against lawful rule is one of the
foulest crimes. A long affliction of my wife, and the disturbed
state of the Societies in the Circuit, often led me to the mercy-
seat of God in prayer, where I found that effectual rehef can
be obtained when aU human aid is unavailing.
The third year of my appointment to the Manchester Circuit
1 was not allowed to complete in that town. The venerable
Joseph Benson, who had the charge of the Methodist Magazine,
and of other publications belonging to the Methodist body, died
in the month of February, 1821, fuU of days and honour. As
a theologian, a commentator on Holy Scripture, and a preacher,
he had few equals. To the Methodist Connexion he bequeathed
one of the best Expositions of the sacred Volume that has yet
appeared in the English language ; and, what is scarcely less
important, an example of holy zeal, of purity, and of ministerial
fidelity and usefulness. From the published sermons of this
.great and good man only a very inadequate apprehension of his
Jiving ministry can be gathered. They convey no idea of his
-earnestness and power in the pulpit. As a public speaker,
Hobert HaU is said to have compared him to Demosthenes, who
.not only commanded the admiration of the Athenians, but
roused them to vehement action. As a preacher, he perhaps
resembled Eichard Baxter more than any other man. His
appeals to the consciences of his hearers were often terrific. I
learned from aged Methodists in Manchester, that his
congregations there were sometimes so affected, that in
N 2

180 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
the course of his sermons he knelt down to pray, that the
people might give vent to their feelings by sighs and tears. In
meeting classes, for the renewal of their quarterly tickets, he
would never satisfy himself with general expressions, but
inquired minutely into the spiritual state of every one,
fearful lest any should deceive themselves by mistaking a form
of godliness for the power. Besides the Wesleys and Mr.
Whitefield, few men have been so successful in turning many
to righteousness.
At the request of the Book-Committee in London, Mr. Bunting
undertook the duties of the editorship in this emergency ; but
being the President of the Conference, and pledged in that
character to visit Scotland and Ireland early in the summer,
another vacancy occurred in this department of service ; and!
as I was invited to the First London Circuit, to be one of their
preachers the ensuing year, it was proposed that I should
remove with my family to London, and take the charge of the
literary work of the Connexion tiU the Conference. To this
arrangement the friends in Manchester gave their consent ; and ta
the metropolis I went with my family in the latter end of April.
The journey occupied about twenty-four hours ; and at the end
of it we found ourselves safe in the house where Mr. Benson
spent many years of his holy and useful life, where he wrote
his Commentary, and from which he went to bis final rest.
Having never been in London before, every object was not
only new, but surprising. I arrived just in time to attend the
May Meetings, of which I had often heard and read, but which
I had hardly hoped ever to see. The Annual Meeting of our
own Missionary Society in the City-Eoad chapel not only gra-
• tified my curiosity, but gave a fresh impulse to the best feelings
of my heart. But my deepest interest was connected with the
meeting of the British and Foreign Bible Society ; where I saw,
for the first time, its noble President, Princes of the blood,
Cabinet Ministers, distinguished Members of ParUament, men
of eminence in the army and navy, Ministers and gentlemen of
the various Protestant denominations, with lovers of the Bible
from other lands ; and last, but not least, the two honoured
Secretaries : Hughes, whom every one loved and esteemed for

A Group of Celebrities. 181
Ms talents and the native goodness of his heart ; and Owen,
who was certainly one of the best extempore speakers of the
age. In Freemasons' Hall, where the meeting was held,
I saw and heard Ministers of State, whom conspirators had
marked out for assassination, and whom the radicals of Lanca
shire were accustomed to revile and curse. One of the most
popular of the pubhc speakers, I confess, disappointed me.
Mr. Wilberforce had obtained, and that justly, a world-wide
reputation as a Christian philanthropist, and especially as the
friend of the Negro race; and- the very announcement of
his name everywhere called forth thunders of applause. In
person he was diminutive and the reverse of imposing ; but his
countenance seemed to be the very picture of intelligence,
benevolence, and joy ; and his mellifluous tones and flowing
sentences fell upon the ear like music. Every one was charmed
and delighted, and I among the rest ; but when the meetings
were over, I could not, do what I would, ever remember any
thing he had said. I often heard him, and found him always
popular, but never heard him enunciate any great and original
thought that laid hold upon the understanding and conscience,
and supplied matter for future meditation. It is, however, but
justice to him to state, that in the meetings where I heard him
speak there was no opposition. Had I listened to a debate in
Parliament, in which he was one of the speakers, the impression
upon my mind would probably have been very different. I
.found him to be a much higher Churchman than I had sup
posed him to be. After Mr. Watson had distinguished himself
,by his abihty and zeal as an advocate of Negro emancipation,
Mr. Wilberforce invited him to spend a few days at his house ;
but he would not aUow the Methodist Minister to pray with his
.family ! He was himself an Evangelical Churchman ; but his
•children have shown a sad propensity to adopt the super
stitions and idolatry of Papal Eome. There must surely have
been something wrong in their education.
No man interested me more than Mr. Owen, who at the close
•of every meeting of the Bible Society gave a sort of summary
of what the different speakers had advanced ; directing atten
tion tp any matter of high importance, and supplying an anti-

182 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
dote to any thing that might have given offence, or was likely
to be misapprehended. Mr. Joseph John Gurney, I remember,.
at one time delivered a speech at the anniversary of the Bible
Society, stating what was done in the city of Norwich, in the
distribution of Bibles, and commending the Bishop of Norwich
for his zeal in the sacred cause. He then proceeded to express
his disapproval of aU votes of thanks in the meetings of the-
Society, and of aU commendation of one another, whatever-
services might be rendered, either by the Society's offlcers, or
by any other friends. These sentiments, however weU intended,,
were not generaUy acceptable to the meeting ; for every one
was thankful to those who lent efficient aid in the distribution
of God's Word ; and why should the feeling of gratitude be
repressed ? In his summary, at the close of the meeting, Mr.
Owen observed that all present were greatly obliged to the
gentleman who had left his business engagements in the city of
Norwich, to favour them with bis presence and counsel. Yet
his address, to which aU had listened with respectful attention, ,
showed how difficult it is always to adapt our practice to our
theories. Mr. Gurney, who had warned them against aU com
mendation of one another, — ^though not a member of the
Church of England, — no sooner uttered the name of the Bishop
of Norwich, than he pronounced an eulogium upon the Eight
Eeverend Prelate ; thus showing that it is of the very nature of
the Bible Society to unite aU hearts ; and when hearts are-
united, they "will, in one form or another, give expression ta
the kind and generous leeUngs with which they are charged^
The meeting was charmed with the turn thus given to a dis
cordant note; and even Mr. Gurney could not be offended.
He received his due share of commendation, and was simply
taught that if he would successfully recommend his own theory
of pubhc meetings, he must not contradict it by his practice.
From the time of my arrival in London till the Conference,
my time was fully occupied. I fulfiUed all the appointments of
a Preacher in the Circuit, prepared for publication three num
bers of the Methodist Magazine, three numbers of the Youth's
Instructor, and was answerable for the correctness of the other
works that were then passing through the press ; and had»

An interesting Locality. 183
therefore, no time to wander abroad for the gratification of my
curiosity, by visiting the endless objects of interest with which
London always abounds. My attention was, however, directed,
and that with deep feeling, to the house in the City Eoad,
where Mr. Wesley lived and died; the chapel which was
buUt under his direction, in which he and his brother were
accustomed to preach, and administer the Lord's Supper;
where his remains were placed, and were seen by thousands,
preparatory to their interment ; the tablets erected to his
memory, and that of his gifted brother ; and the tomb where
his body lies, surrounded by what Halyburton caUs " the bonny
dust " of many that sleep in Jesus ; including that of
Bradburn, Benson, Olivers, and of hundreds more, both Min
isters and people. Neither could I look without much interest
at the Book-establishment founded by Mr. Wesley, which had
issued the religious volumes that were read in my father's famUy
when I was a boy, and from which had gone miUions of other
pubUcations, sent into every quarter of the globe, conveying the
Ught of truth, correcting sin and error, comforting the sorrow
ful, and guiding multitudes in the way to heaven. Nor could I
look without emotion upon the burying-ground on the opposite
side of the road, where rest the remains of Bunyan, of Watts,
, and of other great divines of Nonconformity, with the mother
of the Wesleys. Every object in this locality spoke to my
heart ; and I could have said to a passing stranger, —

" I hear a voice you cannot hear, 
I see a hand you cannot see."

The Conference of this year was held in Manchester, and the
difficulties with which the Preachers stationed there had for the
last three years been called to contend occupied the attention
of the assembled Pastorate of the Connexion. After hearing
our statements they passed the foUowing Eesolution, which
they pubUshed in the Minutes of their proceedings :—" The
Conference highly approves of the firmness, prudence, and
Christian loyalty evinced by Mr. Stephens, Mr. Thomas Jack
son, and the other Preachers of the Manchester Circuit, during
the last three years, in reference to the agitations which have

184 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
pccurred in that town ; and also of their conduct in the general
management of the Societies during that period."
Such a testimony of approval could not but be cheering to
the minds of men who for years had borne the reviUngs of a
licentious press, and whose Uves had often been in peril from
the hands of violent and unruly men, who were impatient pf
aU restraint, and anxious to subvert all government and law.

CHAPTER XI.
FIEST LONDON CIBCUIT (1821)— SKETCHES OF COLLEAGUES — LEADING METH
ODISTS IN LONDON — "a GOODLY HEBITAGE " — A GENEEOUS BOOKSELLEE —
PUBLICATION OP THE LIFE OF JOHN GOOD-VnN— OBJECT OP THE BOOK 
METHODIST LITEEATUEE AND CAL-yiNISM — CBITICISM AND OPINIONS— LETTEE
PEOM DE. SOUTHEY— .F-wr Frcedestinatus : histoeians at fault — life
In DANGEE — ELECTED INTO THE " LEGAL HUNDEED "  A THREATENED
Domestic calamity aveeted : conplict of natube with gbace — tbied
FBIENDS — METHODIST PBEACHING : EAEL OBEY AND ME. ALLAN — BAXTEE'S
WOBKS " AMENDED " — ILL-MATCHED DISPUTANTS  A METHODIST EXCISEMAN
AND A BIGHT BEV. PBEL.ATE •- INTOLEEANCE DISAPPOINTED — PEOPOSED
CELEBEATION OP THE CENTENAEY OP METHODISM IN 1825  THE CONVEBSION
OF THE WESLEYS THE TEUE DATE OF THE EISE OP METHODISM,
WHEN the business of the Conference in Manchester was
ended, I returned to my family in London, and entered
apon my new sphere of labour, being appointed to the First
London Circuit, according to the request of its Quarterly
Meeting. My Superintendent was the Eev. Walter Griffith ;
and the other preachers were the Eevs. George Morley, John
BurdsaU, and Edmund Grindrod. We remained together three
years, with one exception. At the end of the second year Mr.
Grindrod was removed, and WUliam Martin took his place.
With these able and faithful men I lived and laboured in perfect
harmony of purpose and of feeUng.
Mr. Griffith was a native of Ireland, and in respect of
personal appearance one of the finest men I ever saw. His
complexion was fair, his countenance open, his spirit bland and
cheerful, and his bearing portly and commanding. His preach
ing was eminently adapted to instruct and edify the chUdren of
God, presenting a lucid exposition of Divine truth, especially in
its bearing upon the conversion, the spiritual advancement,
the comfort, and the religious stability of individual men. On
the privUeges and duties of Christianity his trumpet never gave
an uncertain sound. In the pulpit he dwelt particularly upon
the mediatorial work of Christ, and the operations of the Holy
Spirit upon the human heart, — subjects of universal interest,
and inexhaustible in their fulness,— and I have heard him say.

186 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
" I should be ashamed if any man's preaching were more-
evangeUcal than my own." His habits were sociable ; he was
given to hospitality ; and never appeared to be happier than
when conversing with his brethren on some important question
of theology ; his own views being singularly clear and definite.
On all the leading points of evangelical truth he told me he had
conversed personaUy with Mr. Wesley ; and as a pupil of that
apostolic man, he appeared to great advantage.
As the Superintendent of a Circuit, I never saw his equah
He seemed indeed to have been made to "take care of the
Church of God." His coUeagues, the Local Preachers, the
Class-Leaders, and the private members of the Societies, seemed
aU naturaUy to faU into their proper places under his plastic
hand, without any painful constraint ; for his was the govern
ment of inteUigence and love ' combined. His judgment
inspired confidence ; the kindhness of his disposition subdued
hostiUty ; and all felt themselves safe and happy under his
fostering oversight. Gratitude was a distinguishing feature in
his character. His health was deUcate, so that he was some
times ill able to fulfil his appointments, especiaUy in the more
distant parts of the Circuit; and it was a pleasure to me
to supply his lack of service, whenever I could. This I felt
to be nothing less than an absolute duty, considering his age
and character ; but had I conferred upon him the greatest
favour that one man can confer upon another, his expressions of
thankfulness could scarcely have been more strong and ardent ;
and, considering the disparity between us, his grateful acknow
ledgments often made me very uneasy. For three years I hved
in habits of intimacy with him, and shall never lose the impres
sion I received of his sanctified inteUigence, and of the good
ness of his heart.
I have often thought that Sir George Panic's beautiful descrip
tion of Archbishop Whitgift's preaching was strictly applicable
to that of Walter Griffith : " His gift that way was exceUent, as
if you had heard Saint Augustine himself, or some of the
ancient Bishops in the primitive Church. His gesture and
action in the pulpit so grave and decent ; his words coming,
from him so fatherly and comely, and though plainly and with-

Religious Liberty : a Deputation enlightened. 187'
out affectation, yet always elegantly, with special choice and
substantial matter,  plentiful in authorities out of Scripture,
 so singularly appUed, that he much affected his auditory
there-with. Thus he often sthred and moved men's minds and
affections ; and that not by the force of eloquence only, but by
his pious Ufe, answerable to his religious sentences; the
opinion and confidence which the people had of his integrity
being very great, because he did live unspotted of the world,.
and would not any way be corrupted. '"¦=
Mr. Griffith weU understood the true theory of religious
Uberty, and was careful to pursue a corresponding course of
action. One morning, during his residence in the City Eoad,.
he was waited upon by some gentlemen^ who stated that they
were sent as a deputation from a society formed for the purpose
of extending the Dissenting ministry in the neighbourhood of
London ; and that the object of their visit was to propose ta
him, as the Superintendent of the First London Circuit, that
the Methodists should not introduce their ministry into any
locality where the Dissenters had a place of worship ; and that
their society would engage never to introduce preaching into
any locality where the Methodists were in possession. This
proposal they thought to be fair and equitable, and Ukely ta
prevent any hostUe feeUng between the two parties. Mr.
Griffith answered, "And pray. Gentlemen, who has authorized
you and me thus to interfere with the reUgious interests of the
people in the neighbourhood of London ? Suppose any persons^
living near a Methodist chapel conscientiously to prefer the
Dissenting ministry ; or any people living near a Dissenting.
chapel to prefer the Methodist ministry, as being in their esti
mation" more conducive to their spiritual interests; what right
have we to interfere with their religious preferences and convic
tions, so as to compel them to attend a ministry of which they do
not heartily approve, or travel with their famUies an inconvenient-
distance to satisfy their religious cravings ? " " That is a view
of the subject," said the gentlemen, " that we have not thought^
of" " Perhaps not," repUed Mr. Griffith ; " but it is a matter
of grave consideration. I can be a party to no arrangement
• Paule's Life of John "Whitgift, pp. 87, 88. Edit. 1699.

188 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
that interferes with the religious rights of any person. Liberty
of conscience is the birthright of every man. Let us do all the
good we can in our own way, and leave every one to judge and
act for himself in the great concern of salvation." The
gentlemen thanked him for his candour, shook hands with him,
and retired.
Mr. Morley was weU known, and deservedly esteemed by his
brethren. They showed their confidence in him by appointing
him one of the Secretaries of their Missionary Society, by
placing him in the chair of the Conference, and by entrusting
their sons to his care at the Woodhouse-Grove Schopl fpr
several years ; and in no instance did he betray the trust that
was reposed in him. Mr. Watson said he regarded Mr. Morley
as one of the happiest of men ; for he had a good name, good
health, a good temper, and a good conscience. I need scarcely
¦add, that he was an agreeable and faithful coUeague. His
preaching was acceptable and useful, and his spirit and conduct
won for him the respect of aU.
Mr. BurdsaU was the son of Eichard BurdsaU of York, and
was in many respects a remarkable man. His sight was defec
tive, but so relieved by glasses, that he was one of the hardest
readers I ever knew. He was weU read in English divinity,
and used to carry about with him in his pocket a Bible of the
octavo size. In the pulpit, like Elihu, he was "fuUof matter,"
and found it difficult to finish his sermons, so that the people
could retire at the usual hour. Many complaints were made
against him on this account, especiaUy on the Sunday morning,
by persons who, Uke the poet Dryden, were
" In haste to finish, and to dine ; "
but thoughtful people, who loved the truth, valued his dis
courses ; for he was an able theologian. In his family he was
greatly afflicted ; being, in a comparatively short time, caUed
to foUow the whole of his children, and then his wife, to "the
house appointed for all living." He was a pleasant and instruc
tive companion. An obstinate and severe cough, which seemed as
if it would wear Put the strpngest constitution, failed to make any
deep impression upon him ; for he Uved to be very aged.

Increase in the Number of London Circuits. 189"
Mr. Grindrod was also a man of considerable distinction as a
Methodist Preacher; mild and gentle in his spirit, pious,
thoughtful, conscientious, upright. His sermons were weU
digested, full of important matter, but somewhat heavy in the
delivery. His ministry therefore was not attractive to the
multitude, but was highly prized by spiritually-minded and
thinking people, who are more attentive to what is spoken, than
to the speaker's manner. The solidity of his doctrine more
than compensated for the want of vivacity in the pulpit. He
belonged to a class of men whose principles of action are so
fixed and understood, that every one knows beforehand how
they wiU act in any given emergency. Many posts of duty
were assigned to him by his brethren in the ministry, involving
great responsibUity, and among the rest the Presidency of the
Conference ; and in every post he was " found faithful."
Mr. William Martin was a Cprnishman, of more than
ordinary talent as a preacher ; zealous, energetic, useful, and
greatly beloved. Being threatened with pulmonary consump
tion, he left the Circuit, and went to the south of France, in
the hope that a change of cUmate might arrest the progress of
the disease ; but in this he was disappointed, and resolved to
return, that he might die in his own land. On his way home,
he was accompanied by Mr. Walter Oke Croggon, a faithful
brother in the ministry. On their arrival at Calais, he became
worse ; and his friend proposed to call in the aid of a physician.
"What is the use," said Mr. Martin, "of calling a physician
to see a man that is dying of a consumption ? If you send for
him, I wUl not see him." Without proceeding any further in
his way, he died there in the faith and hope of the Gospel ; and
his remains were brought to London for interment. He was a
young man of great promise. The early removal of such men
is a mystery of Providence which we are often called to
acknowledge. At that time the First London Circuit included what are now
fourteen London Circuits, with Barking and Eomford. At Isling
ton, which has become the head of one of the most important of
the London stations, we had no chapel, but held our religious.
services. in a private house in White Lion Street ; and at Clerk-

190 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
enweU Green, near which the chapel in St. John's Square is
now situated, we preached in the upper room of a private
dwelling. The chapels in the City Eoad, Spitalfields, St.
George's in the East, and Southwark, were weU attended ; and
at aU these places the cause of Methodism was supported by
persons of property and of public reputation. The congrega
tion at City Eoad was large and inteUigent, requiring sermons
that would not merely excite devout feeling at the time, but
supply matter for future thought. Among many other persons
of this class were the families of Dr. Hamilton, Mr. Jacob Jones,
Mr. Allan, Mr. Bulmer, Mr. Haslope, Mr. Hunter, Mr. Bruce,
Mr. ChaiUe, Messrs. WilUam and Thomas Marriott, Mr. Eance,
Mr. Howden, and many more. Among the female leaders of
classes, who were an ornament and a blessing to the Society,
Mrs. Mortimer, Mrs. Bruce, Mrs. Baynes, Mrs. Howden> and
Mrs. Bulmer, are especially entitled to a grateful remembrance,
as women of deep and enlightened piety.
The three years that I spent in this Circuit, I reckon among
the happiest years of my life. My colleagues were faithful and
"friendly men ; the congregations were generally good, and the
Societies in a state of peace and prosperity. The respectful
attention of the people was a constant source of encouragement ;
my contiguity to Mr. Blanshard, the dUigent and friendly
Book- Steward, — who was frequently receiving letters from
all parts of the Connexion, — supplied me with authentic
information as to the progress of the work of God at home ;
and the regular meetings of the Missionary Committee, of which
I was a member, made me acquainted with the state of things
in the foreign department of our work. I felt, therefore, that in
respect of personal comfort, and of religious intelligence, " the
lines were faUen to me in pleasant places, and I had a goodly
heritage," such as I had never known before. Here I was free
from the noise and turmoil of political agitation, which so sorely
annoyed me in Manchester ; and had nothing to do but attend
to the regular duties of my Circuit, co-operate with others in
extending the work of God abroad, and labour with aU diligence
to acquire that further knowledge of Scripture and divinity which
I needed to qualify me more fuUy for the ministry of the Gospel.

A generous Bookseller. 191
I had not been long in London before I formed an acquaint
ance with Mr. WiUiam Baynes, who carried on an extensive
business as a bookseller in Paternoster Eow. With his
name I had long been famiUar ; and I now found him to be
not only an enterprising tradesman, but generous in his treat
ment of poor students and scholars. He used frequently to
visit Germany and HoUand, and make large purchases of
Biblical and Theological works, of whose marketable value he
seemed to have an instinctive perception ; for he was not a
reader himself. I asked him if he ever went to Leyden, where
Arminius, whose theological tenets so greatly agitated the
Netherlands after his death, delivered his lectures more
than two hundred years ago. He told me that he did ; and
that the Professors were remarkably respectful, and pressed
him to visit the libraries belonging to the University. I said,
" Of course, you accept their invitations, and go to see the
extent of their literary treasures?" "Go!" said he; "no,
never ! Why should I look at their libraries ? They would
not sell them." In his estimation, a Ubrary was no object of
interest unless it were on sale.
Yet I found that the old gentleman, with all his gravity and
practical habits, bad no objection to be a party in a hoax that
was likely to try the men who considered themselves adepts in
antiquarian lore. In one of his catalogues he advertized for
sale an old manuscript, — a Saxon homily, written on vellum.
Wishful to possess such a treasure, — for I took great delight in
tracing English words to their origin, — I hastened to his shop,
and requested a sight of this rarity, I was just such a customer
as was likely to take the bait, — curious, ardent, inexperienced.
On examining it, however, I said, " This is not an old manu
script, but a modern copy ; though great pains have been taken,
by means of smoke and other appliances, to give it an appear
ance of age. And further, I think I perceive from the shape
•of some of the letters, that it is the writing of Mr.  ." He
laughed, confessed I was right, and replaced it upon a sheU,
as a test to be again applied.
From Mr. Baynes I purchased many valuable books, and
some that enabled me to" make important additions to

192 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
what I had written of the Life of John Goodwin, upon the
pubUcation of which I now set my heart ; thinking that the
personal history of a man so eminently gifted, who had written
so weU upon many subjects, and who for ages had been so
unjustly reviled, ought to be placed in its true light, and
especially before the Methodist people, of whose theological
tenets he was one of the ablest advocates. It was clear also
that in the defence of his own views Mr. Wesley had derived
considerable aid from the writings of this learned and venerable
divine. The book appeared in the spring of 1822. In it I endeavoured
to place in a just light those parts of Goodwin's conduct to which
exceptions had been taken, and to justify him from the false
charges which had been preferred against him by various
writers, and especially by Bishop Burnet. The publication ©f
this volume gave me an opportunity, of which I was not un"wil-
Ung to avail myself, to expose the unfairness of Neal, in his
History of the Puritans ; and the scandalous misrepresentations
of Doctors Bogue and Bennett, in their History of the Dissenters.
I was able to show that John Goodwin was the first man in
England that excited general attention by writing in defence of
universal hberty of conscience, in opposition to all coercion in
matters purely religious ; that in this respect he took the pre-.
cedence, not only of MUton and Locke, but of Dr. Owen, whom
he vastly surpassed in the correctness and hberality of his
views. When the Presbyterians, having supplanted the Epis
copal party, loudly called upon the civil power to estabUsh
their system of theology and Church order, to the exclusion of
every other, John Goodwin manfully resisted their intolerant
claims, and demanded for every sect, and for every individual
man, freedom of religious thought, speech, and action in reference
to religion. On this subject his argumentation, in respect
of clearness and force, has never been surpassed. When some
of the Independent Ministers, as the agents of Cromwell's govern
ment, in the character of " Triers," endeavoured to secure a
uniformity of Calvinistic belief in aU the men who occupied the
pulpits of the parish churches, Goodwin, though he belonged
to their party, withstood them to the face, and exposed theh

John Goodwin's Theological System. 198
inconsistency with unflinching firmness and effective sarcasm.
But that which speciaUy recommended John Goodwin to me
was his theological system. I had a deep conviction especially
that Calvin's doctrine of the unconditional election of some
men to eternal Ufe, and of the absolute reprobation of others
to eternal misery, is not only opposed to the teaching of Holy
Scripture, but hurtful to godUness and moraUty. When
adopted as a mere theory, it may by possibiUty be innoxious ;
but when practicaUy received, it must be injurious. The elect
cannot be lost ; the reprobate cannot be saved ; for the per
sonal conduct of neither the one nor the other can ever change
an absolute decree. To me therefore it appeared that the
theory when practically appUed must encourage presumption
in some, and despair in others ; for the human heart is in
genious in devising expedients to secure exemption from duty.
That there are difficulties connected with the subject, I was
aware ; but the impression left upon my mind by the general
tenour of Holy Scripture was, that the decrees of God, accord
ing to which the eternal states of mankind wUl be determined,
are respective of personal character and conduct, and are there
fore conditional. Under the Gospel dispensation believers in
Christ, as such, are the elect of God, appointed to eternal life ;
and unbelievers, as such, are the reprobate, righteously appointed
to eternal death ; and no writer that I ever met with gave me
such satisfactory reasons for my own opinions on this subject
as I found in the writings of this very able man, according to
whose teaching the government of God presents a beautiful
combination of mercy, equity, and justice. From no faUen
chUd of man is the saving grace of God withheld ; but it does
not ordinarUy necessitate the actions of men. The reprobate may
become elect by penitence and faith ; and the elect may become
reprobate by apostasy.* Good-win's fine temper, the inimit-
* In his Explanatory Note upon 1 Cor. ix. 27, Mr. "Wesley says, " This
single text may give us a just notion of the Scriptural doctrine of election
and reprobation ; and clearly shows us that particular persons are not iu
Holy "Writ represented as elected absolutely and unconditionally to eternal
life, or predestinated absolutely and unconditionally to eternal death ; but
that believers in general are elected to enjoy the Christian privileges on
earth ; which if they abuse, those very elect persons will become reprobate.
St. Paul was certainly an elect person, if ever there was one ; and yet he
0

194 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
able ease and simplicity with which he opens the Scriptures,
the keenness of his wit occasionaUy introduced, and, above all,
the application of his logic, charmed and delighted me ; and I
could not bear to see a man so gifted, and from whose volumes
I had received such substantial benefit, overwhelmed with
calumnies, which one lazy author copied from another in per
petuity, without ever once asking the question which the Jewish
High Priest proposed to the first Christian martyr : " Are these
things so ? " More than two hundred years have passed away
since Goodwin's " Eedemption Eedeemed " made its appear
ance ; yet it is stiU the most complete defence of God's universal
love to men that has emanated from the British press, though
the author did not live to finish the work according to the plan
which he has sketched. Its argumentation has been evaded,
cavilled at, and contemned, but never refuted ; and the same
may be confidently said of his equally remarkable treatise on
Justification, which was published nearly two hundred and
fifty years ago.
The late Eichard Watson once observed to me, that the
Methodist press is specially bound to do justice to Methodist
literature ; because such is the spirit of party, that in no other
quarter has a Methodist writer, who puts forth the doctrinal
principles of his own community, any reason to expect fair
and equitable criticism. This I felt to be specially true with
respect to the Life of John Goodwin. The author of the
volume was not known in the world of letters ; the very name
of John Goodwin was sufficient to rouse the indignation of all
who sincerely held the tenets of Calvin, whether in the Estab
lished Church, or in the ranks of Dissent ; and the man who
had taken the side of Cromwell and the army in the civil
troubles of the seventeenth century was sure to be looked upon
with disfavour in many quarters. For ages
" The man that mention'd him at once dismiss'd
All mercy from his lips, and sneer'd and hiss'd.
His crimes were such as Sodom never knew,
And Perjury stood up to swear all true."
declares it was possible he himself might become a reprobate. Nay, he
actually would have become such, if he had not kept bis body under, even
though he had been so long an elect person, a Christian, and an Apostle."-

Reception of the Life of Goodwin. 195
A brief account of the volume appeared in the Methodist
Magazine, (1822,) acknowledging that few would " rise from the
perusal of it, without a higher opinion of the general character and
talents of Goodwin, or without great respect for the judgment
and principles of his biographer." But it took comparatively
little notice of the noble stand which Goodwin made in defence
•of religious liberty when such writers as even Samuel
Eutherford clamoured for the infliction of capital punish
ment upon men who were deemed heretical in their opinions ;
and it did but scant justice to Goodwin's great merits as
a theological writer, who had been oftener than once of
¦essential service to the founder of Methodism when
pressed by his opponents. I could easily understand this,
and forgive it. The times were peculiar. Political feeling
ran high ; and there was evidently a fear lest the fact that
a Methodist Preacher had written the Life of a man who
was associated with Milton in political delinquency, and
with him was exempted from the Act of Indemnity at the
Eestoration, should be made a matter of reproach against the
religious community to which Goodwin's biographer belonged.
However, I knew that the book was written upon sound con
stitutional principles, and was a truthful record, for I had
¦carefully examined all my authorities ; I knevr that Churchmen
of high rank, too, had written the Life of Milton, who was a
•far greater offender than Goodwin was ; I therefore left the
book to its fate, and waited the issue without painful anxiety.
As I had every reason to expect, it was spoken of in terms of
strong censure in the Congregational Magazine, in an article
written by Mr. Orme, the biographer of Dr. Owen ; but in other
•quarters it was highly commended ; especially by Dr. Southey,
whose monarchical principles were unquestionable ; and by Mr.
Allan, an eminent solicitor in London, who belonged to the
same school of politics, and was an unexceptionable judge.
Dr. Adam Clarke confessed to me, that I had completely
refuted Bishop Burnet's statements concerning Goodwin, but
thought I formed too low an estimate of the Whig historian
himseU. I told him my judgment was that Burnet was, in the
main, an upright and honest-minded man, but was too much

196 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
attached to bis party to be always trustworthy ; and certainly
he was not duly careful in the examination of his authorities.
If he had chosen to say nothing about John Goodwin, it might
be no part of his duty to read the writings of this eminent man,.
and to form an acquaintance with his opinions ; but when he-
undertook to describe his character in a grave history,
intended to go down to posterity, it became his duty to institute
a strict inquiry into what Goodwin believed and taught. This
he entirely neglected, and in sheer ignorance, with the means
of ample information within his reach, he described one of the
most accomplished divines of a learned age as a fanatic and a
fool; a man who "headed the Fifth Monarchy Men," — not
knowing that he appeared as their pubhc opponent, and had
openly denounced their scheme of doctrine as essentially anti-
christian. He held up Goodwin to public reprobation as an advo
cate "for liberty of all sorts; " whereas he simply contended
for Uberty of conscience in matters purely religious ; a liberty
which Burnet himself claimed, and in the exercise of which he
chose to be an Episcopalian, rather than a Presbyterian, an
Independent, or a Baptist. For two hundred years ona
¦writer after another repeated the Bishop's idle gossip, and the-
world believed it !
When no harm ensued from the publication of Goodwin's Life,.
and testimonies in its favour were given by competent judges,.
I received many thanks from individuals for the information
they professed to have received from the volume. The late-
Mr. Atherton used to tell me that no work I afterwards wrote
exceUed the Life of John Goodwin, either in respect of its com
position, or of its interest and value. The probabUity is, that
his judgment was swayed by the novelty of the subject, which was
so different from Methodist biography in general, and embodied
a considerable amount of civil and ecclesiastical history relating
to a period of great national interest.
At this time Dr. Eobert Southey held the honourable-
post of Poet-Laureate, and was at the summit of his^
popularity as a man of letters. He had professedly renounced
the Socinianism in which he was educated, and the Deism and
democracy into which he was subsequently drawn ; and was a

Complimentary Letter from tlie Poet-Laureate.
'zealous advocate of the monarchy, a member of the Church of
England, and opposed to the fierce Eadicahsm which at that
time was rampant. As he had given proof of an intimate
acquaintance with the state of parties during the civU troubles
of the seventeenth century, and was understood to have in hand
a Life of Oliver Cromwell, I addressed a letter to him,
requesting his acceptance of a copy of Goodwin's Life, at the
same time expressing my regret at certain passages in his
"LUe of Wesley," and my admiration of his writings in
¦defence of constitutional monarchy. To this communica
tion he sent the following friendly answer, which to me was no
smaU encouragement. " Keswick, June 15th, 1822.
¦" Dear Sie,
" I THANK you heartily for your Life pf John Goodwin, (which
reached me two days ago,) and for the gratifying letter that
accompanied it.
' ' Your book is written in a fair and manly spirit, and is a
Taluable addition to the history of those times. You have done
justice to the merits of a good man, while at the same time you
have not dissembled his errors. If history were always written
in this spirit, the world might be better than it is. I
endeavoured so to write concerning Mr. Wesley, beUeving that
ihose readers who might not approve my views would do justice
to my motives. You have done so, and I thank you for it.
" I shaU consult your book with advantage when I arrange
jny materials for the Life of CromweU ; it will give me pleasure
to acknowledge my obligations to it, and to express my sense of
your civility by sending you the volume. But a considerable
time must elapse before this can be ready for the press.
Meantime if any circumstances should bring you into this part
of the North, I hope you will give me an opportunity of shaking
you by the hand. " I remain, dear Sir, with sincere respect,
' ' Your obliged and obedient servant,
" Egbert Southey."
-" To the Rev. Thomas Jackson,
-"jVeto Chajiel, City Eoad."

198 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
At this period I received a letter from my faithful friend and.
esteemed correspondent the venerable Joseph Sutcliffe, in whicL
he says, "I am pleased with Goodwin's LUe. It will throw
light on the times; do justice to our doctrines, long insulted
by a high supralapsarian tone ; and edify the reader with
a knowledge of the times in which the venerable subject of the
memoir lived."
The minute researches into which I was drawn in writing-
this volume produced in me a degree of permanent scepticism
with regard to many things in our popular histories. I found
that mere hearsay reports are not unfrequently published as
undoubted facts ; that party- writers suppress important cir
cumstances, and give a colouring to their narratives, so as ta
mislead the unwary reader.
During the time of the Commonwealth a Latin tract was^
published in London under the title of Fur Praidestinatus,
intended, by means of a feigned dialogue between a convicted.
thief and a Calvinist Minister, to expose the doctrine of absolute
predestination. After many uncertain conjectures as to its
author had been advanced, some persons thought it might be
written by Dr. Sancroft, who afterwards became the Archbishop
of Canterbury ; and accordingly Dr. D'Oyly, who isubUsbed a
Life of the Archbishop, about a hundred years after his Grace's
death, assigns it to him, gives the whole of it in an appendix to
his narrative, and founds upon it an eulogium upon Sancroft?'s
character, describinghim as an able and faithful opponent of theo
logical error. Mr. Henry HaUam, also, one of the most learned,
sober, and trustworthy of our historians, ascribes it to the pen of
Sancroft, but confesses that it is unlike every publication with
which the Archbishop connected his name. Then comes Lord.
Macaulay, the popular historian of his time, who confidently
declares that Sancroft was its author, and founds upon it a
harsh and severe censure upon the Archbishop, as having
insulted the English Puritans by a scandalous caricature of
their theology.
Now what are the facts of the case ? Had these grave men,
instead of surrendering themselves to a vague tradition, spent a
little time in the careful examination of the tract in question,.

Conceit and Mischief. 199
they would have perceived at once that it was not of EngUsh
but of Dutch origin. The thief who is there personated is a
Dutchman ; his place of early education is a Dutch University ;
the numerous divines from whom he quotes in support of his
creed are Dutch authors, with one soUtary exception. Had our
historians, with these facts before them, looked into Brandt's
History of the Eeformation in the Low Countries, which might
have been naturally expected of them, they would have learned,
on the authority of that honest Dutchman, that the Fur
Praidestinatus was published in Holland immediately after the
Synod of Dort, when Sancroft was a mere infant, and had not
learned to write his name. Had they further prosecuted
their inquhies, they might have found that old copies of the
"Predestinated Thief" exist in the Dutch language, with a
frontispiece, representing the culprit looking through the gates
of his prison, conversing with a clergyman in a Dutch cloak,
and a jailer in Dutch costume standing by, holding the keys of
the prison.
One would not expect such men as Burnet, D'Oyly, HaUam,
and Macaulay to publish fiction under the name of " history; "
yet such is the fact, and their inexcusable mistakes, with others
of the same kind, which have come under my own observation,
have shaken my faith in history, especially when the characters
of great and good men are concerned. I have reason to know
that when it was suggested to Lord Macaulay that Sancroft was
not the author of Fur Praidestinatus, he would hear nothing in
opposition to what he had written, being obstinately dogmati
cal when he was unquestionably in error.
Not long after the Life of John Goodwin was pubUshed my
life was placed in imminent peril, partly through disease, and
partly through the negligence and conceit of a young man who
was then in a course of training for the medical profession.
The early part of the summer of 1822 was intensely hot ; the
Conference was to be held in London in the months of
July and August ; lodgings were to be provided for the Ministers
who were expected to attend it ; and upon me, as the junior
Preacher in connexion with the City-Eoad chapel, where the
Conference was to hold its sittings, devolved the principal

200 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
labour of providing the accommodations. Much of my time was
therefore spent from day to day in the streets, under the burn
ing sun, and upon the hot pavement. The consequence
was a severe bilious derangement ; and one Sunday night,
after preaching on the words, " Ye know not what shaU be on
the morrow," I awoke in great pain, which rapidly increased
till it rose to agony ; and I felt as if I must die. I caUed up my
family, and sent for Mr. Eance, our medical adviser, who lived
in the immediate neighbourhood, requesting him to come with
aU speed. After -U'aiting a considerable time, as he did not
come, I sent again, begging him to come without delay:
and then for the first time the answer given was, " Mr. Eance
is not at home." The young man, his assistant, then proposed
to send for Mr. Eance's brother-in-law, residing in a distant
part of London. My answer was, " On no account. Call in
Dr. Hamilton, who lives on the opposite side of the street. TeU
him to come immediately ; for if the inflammation be not speedUy
arrested, I shall be dead in a few hours." Again I waited;
and again I waited in vain. No Dr. Hamilton came. I then
requested a member of my own famUy to go to the Doctor, explain
to him the urgency of the case, and hasten him to my relief.
The Doctor was in bed, knowing nothing of the matter ; the
young man, resolved to have his own way, had sent to a remote
part of London, and left me to my fate. Understanding that
the case ,was urgent. Dr. Hamilton requested Mr. CampUn,
then a surgeon in the neighbourhood, to foUow him. As soon
as he saw me, he directed copious bleeding. Ever since I can
remember I had a fear of being bled ; but in this extremity of
pain I felt that I could, without even shrinking, stretch out a
limb for amputation, if it would give me reUef When the
blood began to flow, the pain graduaUy abated ; the inflammation
was thus arrested ; and when the venerable physician visited
me a few hours afterwards, he prayed over me in a manner
which I can never forget. My recovery was slow ; and nearly
twelve months passed away before my health was fully restored.
The youth, by whose inattention and foUy my life was aU but
sacrificed, afterwards abandoned the study of medicine, and
entered upon the study of law; and truly, U his conduct

" Effectual fervent Prayer." 201
towards me was a specimen of what he would have been as a
medical practitioner, the change of his profession was a pubUo
benefit. A Chancery suit wiU sometimes admit of delay ; but
in some forms of bodily disease, the delay of suitable remedies,
even for an hour, is certain death.
When the Conference assembled I was superseded in my
office of sub- Secretary, in consequence of the feeble state of my
health ; but in consideration of my past services, I was elected
a member of the Legal Hundred. One circumstance connected
with this act of the Conference I cannot forbear to mention.
Without any forethought or contrivance, I was elected in the
place of the Eev. George Holder, the man that introduced
Methodist preaching into my native village, and under whose
ministry my mother was converted and saved, and was thus
prepared to train up her chUdren in the way they should go.
Some time after my recovery it pleased God to lay His hand
upon my son, then about to enter into his teens. He appeared
to have all the symptoms of a pulmonary consumption. When
we lived in Manchester, Mr. James Wood, observing the com
plexion of the child, remarked that the delicate red and white
of his face indicated a consumptive tendency ; and added,
" You wUl never rear that cbUd : " words that went like a
dagger to my heart. Yet I hoped the best. Now, however, it
appeared as if those sad words were about to be verified ; and in
the expectation of the child's death, I requested my mother to
come from Yorkshire, hoping to profit by her sympathy and
counsel. By the advice of Dr. HamUton, I took a private
lodging at Clapton, and removed the boy thither. For a time I
found it difficult to command my feeUngs so as to be able to
preach, and my colleagues kindly lent me their help. I wept,
and prayed for resignation, but my heart clave to my son,
and I longed for the preservation of his life. Early one morn
ing, being unable either to sleep or rest, I rose, and retired into
a field to weep, and meditate, and pray; and while thus
employed, a spirit of perfect resignation came over me. I
ackno"wledged the right of Christ to appoint my child either
"to Ufe or death. I felt that I could, without a murmur,
place my son, my first-born, in the hands of his Saviour, that

202 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
He might take him, even then, that morning, to the heavenly
paradise, if such were His pleasure. The conflict of nature
was ended. The act of submission was complete. From that
day he began to recover. He is now the father of eight chil
dren, and has been in the Christian ministry many years.
One of his expressions during his illness I cannot forget.
Observing my distress, and conjecturing its cause, he said, with
inimitable simplicity and true filial affection, "Father, do not
weep on my account : I am quite willing to die, if such be the
wiU of God."
In these seasons of affliction and sorrow, the kindness and
sympathy of friends in the Circuit were particularly acceptable
and soothing. A sad heart is often effectually cheered by a look
of affection, or by a word spoken in season. Among other tried
friends, I am bound speciaUy to mention Mr. and Mrs. Nichols,
Mr. and Mrs. Blanch, Mr. and Mrs. Buttress, Mr. and Mrs.
HaUam, Mr. and Mrs. Howden, and Mr. Shepherd, whose
kindness was tender and unfaiUng. They have aU entered into
rest. Mr. AUan, with whom at this period I was brought into
frequent intercourse, appeared to me one of the most estimable
men among the London Methodists. He did not take any very
active part in the affairs of the Circuit, but to the Connexion
his services were invaluable. He carried on the business of a
soUcitor in the Old Jewry, and was the legal adviser of the
Committee that was annually appointed by the Conference to
guard the privileges of the Methodist body. He was a man of
strong sense, firm in purpose, a decided Protestant, a zealous
friend of religious liberty, a consistent supporter of government
and of social order ; and to him the Nonconformist bodies are
mainly indebted for the new and improved law of toleration
which was enacted in the year 1812. He told me that when
the BiU was prepared, he waited personally upon all the leading-
Members of both Houses of Parliament, to explain to them the
unsatisfactory state of the law as it then stood, — the consequent
necessity of some new enactment, — the propriety of passing the
Bill that had been prepared, — and to bespeak their advocacy of
the proposed measure. From the professed friends of popular-

A suspicious Edition of Baxter's Works. 203^
liberty he did not receive all the encouragement that he desired.
When he stated the case to Earl Grey, his Lordship rephed,
" Don't you think, Mr. Allan, that Methodist preaching ought
to be placed under Parliamentary restraint?" The answer
was, "No, my Lord; I think it ought not; but rather to be
protected and encouraged, as a national benefit." His Lordship
was not the only statesman of the same school, who showed
himself unfriendly to spiritual religion under the name of
Methodism. Mr. Allan made an exception in the case of Lord
Erskine, who used to weep when mention was made of his
pious relative. Lady Fitzgerald, a personal friend of Mr. Wesley,
and a member of his Society ; a tablet to whose memory appears
in the City-Eoad chapel. Whig statesmen have not in every
case been favourable to freedom of action in the matter of
religion. The name of Mr. Allan was on the Local Preachers' plan,
but he would only offlciate in the workhouses and small chapels,
deUghting mostly to address Gospel truth to the poor, the aged,
the infirm, the friendless, and the afflicted. He had a pro
found respect for Mr. Benson, and obtained a beautiful
portrait of him, painted by a Eoyal Academician. It
adorned his own drawing-room while he lived, and since
his death has been presented by his son to the Theological
Institution at Eichmond, where it remains as an appropriate
memorial of one of the ablest divines and best preachers that
Methodism ever called her own. The placing such a memorial
before young and generous minds is weU adapted to excite in
them a noble emulation.
During the early part of my residence in London, Mr. E  ,
a printer, who was conducting through the press an edition of
Baxter's Practical Works, understanding that I was a coUector
of old books, called upon me, requesting the loan of some scarce
volumes of that remarkable man, which I felt a pleasure in
placing in his hands, although I never saw them again. He
said to me that Baxter was not always careful in the selection
of his words; and added, " Whenever I meet with an indelicate
expression, I ahoays alter it." This statement was enough for
me. I resolved never to x^urchase a cojpy of that edition, and

¦204 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
never to read it ; for how could I know, . in respect of any
passage, whether I was reading Eichard Baxter himself, or
Hichard Baxter amended by Eichard E  , a London
printer? In his lifetime Baxter made Oliver Cromwell and
Eight Eeverend Prelates quail under his rebukes ; and had he
.been permitted to visit the meddUng printer in Crane Court,
he would have shaken that delinquent " with such fits of awe "
and terror, as would have extorted from him a penitent con
fession, and a promise that he would do so no more.
At the Quarterly Meetings of the City-Eoad Circuit in those
times, a certain hatter in Gracechurch Street was usuaUy one of
the chief speakers, and seemed to enjoy the opportunity of giving
the Preachers the benefit of his counsel, and of enunciating his
-views of ecclesiastical order every three months. He generaUy
placed himseU in an attitude of opposition to Mr. Bunting,
whom he addressed as " Brother Bunting." Every one, except
the hatter himself, felt that the disputants were not fairly
matched. The refutation of his opinions was to him a matter
of no moment. Whether or not he was a lineal descendant
from Goldsmith's Schoolmaster, I am not able to say ; but " in
arguing" he bore a striking resemblance to that celebrated
functionary ;
" For, e'en though vanquished, he could argue still,"
and that with unabated pertinacity. Men of limited knowledge
and fluent speech, with strong democratic tendencies, and perfect
•confidence in their own judgment, are often a great obstruction
to business in Church-meetings, and are apt to produce irrita
tion where it is of the utmost importance that charity and
mutual confidence should be maintained.
Among many other excellent men with whom I was acquainted
in the First London Circuit was Mr. BrunskiU, an aged and
intelUgent gentleman, who held an important office in connexion
with the Excise. He had lived in Newcastle some years before,
when the Eev. Daniel Isaac was stationed in that town, and
greatly admired that very able and eccentric man, concerning
whose integrity, talents, and usefulness, he was always wiUing
±0 converse. He gave me an account of a Methodist Excise-

Religious Intolerance frustrated. 205'
man in the north of England, who, on his appointment to a
new district, not finding any reUgious companions with whom
he could associate, therefore opened his house for Methodist
preaching, and had the gratification of seeing a Society organ
ized under his own roof, and a favourable impression made
upon the minds of other people. With these arrangements the
clergyman of the parish was greatly offended, and applied to
the Bishop of the diocese for assistance in opposition to what
he regarded as an intolerable evU. His Lordship, nothing loth,
addressed a memorial to the Board of Excise in London, com
plaining that one of their agents was employing the influence -
which his offlce gave him in promoting Methodism, to the injury
of the EstabUshed Church. The Board were not in the habit
of interfering with the religious opinions and habits of their
offlcers ; but as the complaint came from a Eight Eeverend'
Prelate, they deemed it requisite to institute an inquiry inta
the alleged grievance. It happened that the man whom they
sent upon this service was himself a Methodist ; but he acted
fairly in the matter, stating that the officer had indeed intro
duced Methodist preaching into the viUage where he was
stationed, and that his dwelling-house was the place where the
reUgious services were held. He added, at the same time, that
the person against whom complaints were made was a meritorious
servant, discharging his official duties in a manner the most
exact and unexceptionable. On receiving this report, the
Board resolved that, as the man had given offence in the place
where he was stationed, he should be removed ; but as his
conduct otherwise was unexceptionable and praiseworthy, he
should be indemnifled for any inconvenience his removal might
occasion, by being sent to a better district ; so that his position
was improved. In the meanwhUe, the. secret conspiracy against
the Exciseman became known in the village, and gave offence
to many ; for the man had commanded respect by his benevo
lence and uprightness. Among other persons upon whose
minds a good impression had been made was a farmer, wba
said, "If the Methodist preaching is to be removed from the
dwelling of the Exciseman, it shaU be transferred to the farm
house ; and the Ministers shaU have every requisite accommo-

206 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
dation under my roof" The Exciseman might therefore have
said, with St. Paul, "The things which happened unto me have
fallen out rather unto the furtherance of the Gospel." The
man himself obtained advancement, and ,the form of religion
which he loved gained influence, by the very means which
were intended to be a check upon both.
Early in the year 1824 a project was started in London, I
think by Mr. Butterworth, which excited considerable attention,
and for a while promised important results. It was recoUected
that nearly a hundred years had elapsed since the rise of Meth
odism ; and considering the benefits connected with' it, as a
revival of Christianity in its apostolic form, and the wide extent
to which it had attained, it was suggested that the centenary of
its existence might be celebrated with advantage. It was there
fore resolved to convene a meeting in the month of May, when
several friends from the country might be expected to be in
London, for the purpose of carrying the scheme into practical
effect. The meeting was held in the morning chapel. City
Eoad, on the 4th of May, when a public breakfast was provided,
a large number of friends were present, several animated
speeches were delivered, and a cordial approval of the scheme
was expressed. It was agreed to recommend to the ensuing
¦Conference that September the 19th, 1825, being the centenary
of Mr. Wesley's ordination, should be religiously observed
throughout the Connexion ; that pubhc worship should be con-
;ducted in the various chapels ; that thanks should be offered
to Almighty God for the success which attended the ministry
¦of Mr. Wesley and his fellow-labourers in the Gospel ; that the
Preachers in their sermons on that day should direct attention
to the rise and progress of Methodism as a work of God ; and
that pecuniary contributions should be presented as an expres
sion of grateful feehng. At this meeting a spirit of unwonted
liberality was called forth, in which Mr. Butterworth led the
way. He promised a donation of £550 ; Mr. Farmer promised
an equal sum for himself and the Lambeth Society and con-
-gregation ; and others followed in swift succession ; so that on
that morning no less than £2,528. 2s. was promised.
The money thus raised, it was agreed, should be appUed to

A Methodist Inconsistency avoided. 207
the erection of a monumental building in London, of ample
dimensions, adapted to the holding of public meetings for
religious and philanthropic purposes, connected with suitable
rooms for the transaction of business belonging to the Meth
odist Missionary Society, and available for other Connexional
objects. The want of such a building was generally felt,
Exeter HaU not being then erected, and it was hoped that
Methodism would supply the public deficiency.
This scheme, so popular in its origin, and which it was
thought would command general support, was approved by the
Conference, and, in its printed Minutes, recommended to the
Connexion ; yet it was never practically adopted. The objects
proposed, it was acknowledged, were worthy of all possible sup
port ; but the event which it was intended to commemorate did
not recommend itself to the Methodist mind : for at the time of
his ordination Mr. Wesley, although he was an accomplished
scholar, a man of pure morals, and earnestly devoted to reli
gious duties, was ill qualified for the sacred office with which
he was invested by the imposition of prelatic hands. He had
no distinct apprehension either of the real nature of a sinner's
justification before God, or of the faith by which it is obtained ;
and in some other respects his religious state was dubious.
Thirteen years after his ordination, when he returned from his
mission in Georgia, he placed the following affecting record in
his Journal, and soon after published it to the world : " I left
my native country to teach the Georgian Indians the nature of
Christianity ; but what have I learned myself in the mean
time ? Why, (what I least of all suspected,) that I who went
to America to convert others, was never myself converted to
God." It was felt to be a strange inconsistency for the Meth
odist congregations, from Penzance to Inverness, from Bandon
to the Giant's Causeway, to render public thanks to God for the
ordination of an unconverted man, when they would not
knowingly tolerate such a man in one of their own pulpits.
Such an act, had it ever taken place under the sanction of the
Conference, would have sadly embarrassed the future advocates
of Methodism, when defending the system against the claims of
ecclesiastical uniformity.

208 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
At the time of his ordination Mr. Wesley was a docile disciple
of WUUam Law, a Nonjuring Clergyman, a powerful and earnest
practical writer, but a man whose views of religion were singu
larly unevangelical. As he denied that there is anger in God
on account of the sins of men, he did not believe that the
death of Christ was a propitiatory sacrifice ; and his apprehensions
concerning the office of the Holy Spirit as the Lord and Giver
pf Life, the Comforter, and the Sanctifier of the elect people
of God, were essentiaUy defective. He regarded a life of entire-
devotedness to God as the true end of human existence, and
the purpose for which the Son of God was incarnated and.
died upon the cross ; and he caUed upon all classes of people to
make an immediate and entire surrender of themselves to God,
in body, soul, and spirit, but without ever teUing them how their
past transgressions were to be forgiven, and how they might
obtain the victory over the sinful propensities of their faUen
nature. In the vain attempt to exemplify the doctrine of his
erring master, Mr. Wesley spent many years of his life in
endeavouring to gather grapes of thorns, and figs of thistles ; for
getting that a greater than William Law has said, " A corrupt
tree cannot bring forth good fruit." Before men can become " the
servants of righteousness," in the fuU and adequate meaning of
that expression, they must be " made free from sin," its guUt and
curse, its defilement and dominion ; and this freedom they can
never obtain but by faith in Christ crucified, — faith exercised in
a penitent state of the heart. Of the doctrine of present salvation
by faith Mr. Wesley was profoundly ignorant at the time of his
ordination ; but it was afterwards pressed upon his attention by
Peter Bcihler, who on such matters was a wiser man than WUliam
Law. He received it on the authority of Holy Scripture ; he
reaUzed its truth in his own experience ; he preached it with zeal
and fidelity ; and hence the true secret of his power and success
as a religious reformer. But had he remained to the end of his
lUe what he was at the time of his ordination, he wbuldnothave
been a means of any such revival of reUgion as that to which
the name of Methodism is applied. He knew not then what it is,
being justified by faith, to have peace with God through our
Lord Jesus Christ; nor did he know what it is to be born of

A Connexional Celebration postponed. 209
God, sp as to have power over aU sin both inward and outward.
His external righteousness was as strict as that of Saul of
Tarsus ; but his religious state did net cprrespond with that of
the primitive believers, whose character is described in the
ApostoUcal Epistles. He had not the Spirit of adoption, crying
inhis heart, "Abba, Father." It was therefore "wisely determined
io defer the celebration of the Centenary, and to calculate the
hundred years of Methodism from a more appropriate event
than that which had been recommended.

CHAPTER XII.
APPOINTED CONNEXIONAL EDITOE (1824) — PEBSONAL OBJECTIONS OVEEEULED EY
THE CONFEEBNCE — DIFFICULTIES SUEMOUNTED — EIGHTEEN YEjUSS' EOUTINE
¦ — helps: the eev. BICHAED WATSON and he. J.iMES NICHOLS — METHODISM
IN BAEBADOES OPPOSED BY SLAVE-HOLDEES : OUTEAGES BY EIOTEES .4.ND
CONSEQUENT DEBATE IN THE HOUSE OF COMMONS — ME. BUXTON, M.P. — THE
UNDEE SECEETAEY OF STATE EOB THE COLONIES AND ME. CANNING — NEW
EDITION OF Wesley's seemons — death of the eev. -\valtee gbipfith
AND his BUBL^IL IN MB. WESLEY'S TOMB — MB. GBIFFITH'S SHAKE IN IMPOET-
ANT SEEVICES BENDEBED BY FAITHFUL MEN TO METHODISM AFTEE THE
DEATH OP ITS FOUNDEE — CEETIPICATE OP THE EEV. HENEY MOOEe'S
OEDINATION BY MB. WESLEY.
WHEN I had spent three. years in the First London Circuit,
• my labours as a Travelling Preacher ended in perpetuity,
not by my own contrivance and wUl, but by a power which I
had solemnly pledged myself to obey, and which, in the circum
stances, I could not resist. Mr. Wesley accepted the ser-vices
of several men who offered to assist him in his zealous and seU-
denying effort to " spread Christian holiness through the
land ; " but those who made the offer he accepted only as
" sons in the Gospel," who should labour where he judged they
would be the most useful. The power which he possessed in
this respect he bequeathed to the Conference, as a solemn trust ;
and every Methodist Preacher, as to his sphere of service, is
subject to the united Pastorate of the Body in its Annual
Meeting ; and from this subjection I could claim no exemption
without violating my ordination vows.
In the year 1824, when Mr. Bunting had for three years
sustained the office of Editor of the Methodist Magazine, it was
deemed desirable that he should again take his part in the
Circuit work of the Connexion ; and it was proposed that the
office thus vacated should be assigned to me. To this proposal
I felt a strong repugnance on several grounds. It seemed unfair

New Duties assigned. 211
!to require from me, who had never enjoyed the advantages of a
regular education, the performance of literary duties which
men of indubitable scholarship, and of high intellectual abiUty,
had hitherto been selected to fulfil ; for such were Mr. Benson
and Mr. Bunting. I had done the best I could during the last
twenty years, by hard study and extensive reading, to aoqu.ire
theological and literary information ; but these pursuits had
been carried on under great disadvantages, without the assist
ance of any one, and in the midst of pressing engagements ;
so that I had Uttle confidence in myself. I had indeed written
and published some controversial pamphlets, and an octavo
volume of biography ; but to send forth every month pubUca
tions embracing a great variety of subjects, appeared to be
a far more formidable undertaking than any that I had even
contemplated. At the same time I was aware that to please all the readers
'of the Methodist Magazine was an impossibility. I had not
been trained to bear constant censure as a matter of indiffer
ence and with unruffled equanimity ; and whether I could ever
be brought to such a state of mind was a problem which I
oould not solve. Some readers of that periodical, I knew,
would be satisfied with nothing less than elaborate and polished
¦diction, while others, with equal tenacity, would require the
most homely and colloquial forms of expression. The Meth
odist Magazine, 1 remembered, too, is the official organ of a
.large body of religious people, whose every movement is watched
by hostile parties ; and anything erroneous in doctrine, or in
the statement of fact, that might even inadvertently appear in
its pages, would bring upon the hapless editor a clamorous
• outcry, because the honour of the Body would be compromised,
and its enemies gain a triumph. Yet to such a mishap there
would be a constant liabUity, because of the haste with which
the editor of a periodical work must often decide upon the
articles before him ; for with him the day of publication is
fixed, and no delay is allowed for prolonged deliberation.
Nor could I forget that the Methodist Preachers in general,
whose tastes are endlessly diversified, — while they are one in
the beUef of essential truth, — claimed a special interest in the
p 2

212 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Magazine, as their own organ of communication with the
outside world; that it had become the practice to subject
the Editor to a sort of annual trial, by proposing in every Con
ference a vote of thanks for his services during the past year,
thus provoking hostile as well as friendly remarks from critics,
all of whom it would be simply impossible for any man to-
please ; and who, in all probability, would not be able to please
themselves, if the management of the Magazine were placed in
their own hands. To have twice ten thousand people sitting
in judgment upon me every month, — and three or four hun
dred Ministers, old and young, with aU their pecuUarities of
taste and mental habits, giving a formal judgment every year,
as to my claims upon their gratitude, — was to me, young as I
then was in authorship, not only a discouraging prospect, but
absolutely appaUing. I had heard the wise and learned Joseph
Benson severely reflected upon in the Conference for articles
which he had inserted in the Magazine, and had seen him wince
under animadversions which he evidently felt to be unjust as
well as unkind, when he had sincerely intended to serve the
common cause ; and I could not but anticipate a handling yet
more painful, were I to be placed in the same office.
One object that Mr. Wesley had in view when he commenced
his monthly Magazine was to provide a regular medium of seU-
defence against hostile attacks ; this character of the Magazine
it had been found necessary to maintain ; and hence arose
another difficiilty. To be pledged to defend the tenets, the
economy, and the ecclesiastical position of Methodism and
Methodists against the assaults of their adversaries. Episcopal
and Dissenting, was a formidable undertaking, requiring
a more extensive range of knowledge, and a greater amount of
dialectical skill, than I possessed. At that time I had also pro
posed to myself a careful and extensive study of old English
authors, especially of old English divines ; and this favourite-
project, I saw, would be seriously interfered with, were this-
office to be imposed upon me.
With these views, in the sincerity of my heart, I entreated
the Conference to excuse me, and appoint some other man,
more competent to the task, to the vacant post, and allow me

• Editorial Responsibilities. 213
to live and die in the regular work of a Methodist Circuit,
which was my highest ambition. On this subject my entreaties
were unavailing ; the Conference was inflexible ; and in the
printed Minutes of its proceedings stands the record : " Thomas
Jackson is our Editor." The appointment was, however,
attended by this sentence, added at my earnest solicitation :
" The Conference request that the Eev. Jabez Bunting, and
the Eev. Eichard Watson, will afford to the Eev. Thomas
Jackson, our present Editor, such assistance as their other
ongagements wUl allow, in the general management of the
Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine,"
At this time Mr. Griffith warned me against requesting any
one to be associated with me. He said, " Were I as weU quali
fied as you are to conduct our periodicals, I would get what
help I could from every quarter, but would take the entire
responsibility upon myself. The interference of other men will
be sure to involve you in trouble at one time or another."
This was wise counsel, though I did not act upon it. Of the
truth of Mr. Griffith's warning I had afterwards painful proof;
but at this time I was fuU of fear, arising from my want of
experience, and from what I regarded as the formidable cha
racter of the undertaking. I soon found, however, that neither
of the gifted men whom I had requested to be associated with
me would at all share with me in any responsibility ; neither
'Were they agreed on every question of public interest ; so that
what one of them wrote gave offence to the other, and I had
to bear the blame.
When the die was cast, I felt it to be my duty to apply
myself with all diligence and assiduity to the duties of my new
situation, and to do the best I could in the management of the
Methodist Magazine and the Youth's Instructor ; the two monthly
publications that were entrusted to my care. To render them
vehicles of important truth, and to present that truth in a
¦form the most impressive, agreeable, and inviting, I regarded
as my special charge. Laying aside, therefore, to a great
extent, the study of old books, in which I had taken a profound
¦delight, I carefully examined the current literature of the day,
that I might be the better able to enrich the pages of these

214 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
two widely-circulated periodicals with whatever was likely ta
gratify an innocent curiosity, or tend to religious edification.
Eighteen years I spent in this service, reading, thinkings
writing, day and night ; preparing manuscripts for the printer,
correcting proof-sheets, reporting the progress of the Gospel at
home and abroad ; censuring boois of bad tendency, com
mending such as were likely to benefit the general reader;
supplying illustrations of particular texts of Holy Scripture ;
refuting error ; repelling the attacks of hostile parties ; ex
pounding truth in the form of sermons, and of doctrinal essays ;
and especially exhibiting the nature and power of Christianity,
in the holy lives and peaceful deaths of individual beUevers.
WhUe thus employed, my attention was constantly directed ta
the efficiency of the Wesleyan ministry, in raising up a spiritual
people, whose upright and useful lives, and whose calm resig-.
nation and joyous hope in death, furnish ample proof of the
presence and agency of the Holy Ghost, " the Lord and Giver-
of Ufe." WhUe other men were therefore clamouring for form
and ceremony, and in effect denying that any spiritual good
can be found in the absence of prelatical ordination, traced in
an unbroken succession from the Apostles, — a mere theory,
which no man ever did or can prove, — I was forcibly impressed
every successive month with the truth of the statement made
by an old divine of the Church of England : " The power of
sa"ving men's souls depends not upon succession of persons
according to human institutions, but upon the apostoUcal
doctrine, accompanied by the Divine Spirit. If upon the
exercise of their ministerial power men are converted, find
comfort in their doctrine and the Sacraments, and at their end
deliver up their souls unto God the Eedeemer, and that with
unspeakable joy ; this is a Divine confirmation of their ministry,
and the same more real and manifest than any personal suc
cession."* Tried by this test, I could not but feel that the
Wesleyan ministry is as valid as that which is exercised by any
other body of men whatever. Of such facts as Lawson has
specified, the Methodist Magazine is one of the most copious
records in existence.
* Lawson'S Politica Sacra et Civilis, pp. 336, 337. Edit. 1689.

Effective Helpers. 215
In Mr. Watson I had, during his life, an invaluable
auxiliary. The ampUtude of his information, his singular
readiness in literary composition, and the innate generosity of
his noble heart, rendered him equally able and wiUing to assist
in every emergency. He was not responsible for the articles
that appeared in the Magazine; yet he generaUy supplied it
with the reviews of books which it contained. Many of these
appear in his collected works, where they retain a permanent
interest and value, as able defences and Ulustrations of Divine
truth. At the time of their original publication they were
justly admired, and by competent judges were regarded as
equal to the best articles of the kind that appeared in periodical
works of much higher pretensions.
From Mr. Bunting I received no aid of the same kind. He
was a wise counseUor ; and his advices, verbaUy given,
were often most valuable; but a single sentence in "writing
I could never prevail upon him to furnish, however hard
1 was pressed. This disappointment I felt the more keenly,
because I had a document in his handwriting, and signed by
him, Mr. Watson, and myscU, which I understood to contain a
pledge, that, in the event of my appointment to the office of
Editor, he would supply original contributions to the Magazine ;
because, during his editorship, I had in many instances
rendered him the best service in my power, at his own earnest
request ; and because I knew that any thing from his pen would
possess a high value, be cordially received by the whole Con
nexion, and greatly tend to the popularity of the Magazine.
But no forms of importunity that I could devise were of any
avail. To me it was a great advantage, inexperienced as I was in
matters connected with the periodical press, that our Magazine
was printed by a man of extensive ecclesiastical and theological
reading, and of accurate scholarship, and that man my personal
friend, in whom I had an entire confidence. Mr. Bunting, on
"whom I had relied for original articles, was removed to Man
chester, and pleaded the urgency of his other engagements as
the reason why he could not afford me the kind of help I re
quested ; but with Eichard Watson as a reviewer, and my friend

216 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
James Nichols as a printer, critic, and adviser, I was thankful,
and took courage.
Yet with all the help I could obtain, I found myself to be an
anxious and a busy man. To provide suitable matter for the
Magazine in aU its departments; to render the Youth's In
structor and Guardian all that its title professed it to be, and
to present the instruction it contained in so inviting a form as
to insure the attention of the junior members of Methodist
famiUes, required no smaU amount of thought and care. Other
works, also, called for a "vigUant oversight ; such as the reprint
of Mr. Wesley's Christian Library, a volume of which, in the
octavo form, was expected every two months ; and a miniature
edition of Mr. Fletcher's Works, with such reprints as
were passing through the press. Every Sunday I preached
twice in London or the neighbourhood, which was a rehef from
the sedentary employment of the other days of the week ; for I
usually walked to my pulpit appointments, unless the places
were very distant. On the Sunday evenings, when I arrived
at home, after my pulpit duties and long walks, I was ac
customed to take a draught of cold water, and go supperless to
bed. The consequence was, that on the Monday morning I
had no head-ache and no feverish symptoms, and was therefore
prepared with renewed zest to resume my daily toil.
Towards the close of the first year in this my new employ
ment, I went to the House of Commons, expecting to hear a
debate in the issue of which the Methodist people felt a lively
interest. The Wesleyan Mission to the Negroes in the West
Indies had been successfully carried on for many years, at a
large expense of money and of human life, and' often in the midst
of formidable opposition, raised by the slave-holders, many of
whom deemed their secular gains, arising from unrequited labour,
of more importance than the salvation of the hapless men,
women, and children, whom they claimed as their " property."
Among the men of this class several people in the island of
Barbadoes acquired an uhen"viable distinction. In a paroxysm
of violence they pulled down the Methodist chapel, where the
black population were taught the way of salvation ; and the
Missionary, Mr. Shrewsbury, with his wife near the time of

Missions and Slave-holders : Debate in Parliament. 217
her confinement, was driven from his pastoral charge, and com
peUed to flee for his life. Mr. Buxton gave notice of his inten
tion to bring this outrage before the House of Commons, so
that a warning might be given to other parties in the West
Indies, not to offend in the same manner. The debate took
place on the 23rd of June, 1825.
Mr. Buxton was not only a Christian phUanthropist, but also
a fine specimen of human nature. He was tall, and well-
proportioned, calm, dignified, and self-possessed ; and well pre
pared by his personal bearing, his intellectual power, and
general character, to command respect, even in the British
senate, where talent of the first order is not unfrequently dis
played. He related with minuteness, in exact detail, and in a
tone of just indignation, the facts of the Barbadian outrage ;
and called upon the House to declare its condemnation of this
daring violation of law and right. The proposal being seconded
by Mr. Smith, of Norwich, Mr. E. WUmot Horton, the Under
Secretary of State for the Colonies, rose to reply, and make the
best excuse that he could for the rioters. He deprecated the
discussion of such matters in ParUament, as tending to per
petuate religious animosity in the Colonies. The slave-holders
in Barbadoes, he said, were favourable to the instruction of the
Negroes, but they preferred the ministrations of the regular
clergy to those of the Missionaries, believing that the doctrine
of the latter rendered the slaves discontented with their con
dition. This was doubtless a mistake ; but such was the ground
of thiSj hostility to the Missionaries. He confessed that Mr.
Shrewsbury himseU was a man of unexceptionable character ;
yet he had written a letter to the managing Committee in Lon
don, reflecting upon certain parties in Barbadoes ; that letter
the Committee had indiscreetly printed ; it had fotind its way
to Barbadoes, and was there placed upon the table of a public
news-room, where it had provoked the people, and stimulated
them to acts which every one must lament ; but the House, he
hoped, would not interfere in the matter.
When Mr. Horton sat down, and other members of the
House had expressed their sentiments on the subject, Canning,
who was then Secretary of State for the Colonies, rose, and

218 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
addressed the House, every member of which listened to him in
breathless silence. He was a complete orator. His voice was
music ; his tones were expressive of the most perfect candour,
adapted at once to disarm all opposition ; his elocution was
ready, and singularly elegant ; his sentences were not only cor
rect, but beautUul in their construction ; and the sparks of
genius which he occasionaUy emitted charmed every one. In
this debate he was, of course, the organ of the Government ;
and all were anxious to know how the Ministers of the Crown
intended to act in the case. Unlike his Under Secretary, Can
ning branded the conduct of the Barbadian rioters in terms of
unmeasured censure, with all their abettors in the island ; and
then moved, as an amendment upon Mr. Buxton's proposition,
a resolution in full accordance with his own speech, couched in
stronger language than even Mr. Buxton had used. He was
foUowed by Mr. Butterworth, Mr. Brougham, Dr. Lushington,
and others, on the same side ; and the .amendment, which every
one confessed to be such, was passed without opposition. In
the issue of this debate, Mr. Horton appeared to great disad
vantage, forsaken, as he was, by the chief in his own depart
ment, subjected to the withering sarcasm of Brougham, and in
effect rebuked by a unanimous vote of the House of Commons,
passed in opposition to the tenour of his speech. The House
pledged itself, in the terms of Canning's resolution, to sup
port the Crown in any measures that might be deemed necessary
to prevent the recurrence of any similar outbreak, and to
secure to the people of Barbadoes, as weU as to all the colonies
of the empire, complete religious toleration. The consequence
was, that Canning was applauded as the friend of liberty and
order; his conduct was characterized as "most manly and
honourable ; " and the unlucky Under Secretary was regarded
-with suspicion by all who were concerned for the civU and reli
gious welfare of the Negro race.
Some years after, Mr. Horton was appointed the Governor of
Ceylon, where he was brought into intercourse with our Mis
sionary, the Eev. Benjamin Clough, to whom he made a con
fidential communication concerning this memorable debate.
He said that when Mr. Buxton gave notice of his motion, Can-

Secretary and Under Secretary of State : an Explanation . 219'
ning, who was over him in the Colonial Office, required him to
address the House of Commons in palliation of the Barbadian
riots. He was un"willing to undertake the suspicious and
unwelcome task ; but Canning insisted upon it, and would take-
no denial ; so that Mr. Horton had no alternative but to sub
mit, and make a speech in opposition to his better feelings and
judgment, or to resign his office, which at that time would have
seriously embarrassed the Government. He stated that he had
reason to apprehend he had suffered in the estimation of the
Wesleyan Body in consequence of that unfortunate speech,
which was forced from him; and requested Mr. Clough, if it
should ever be in his power, to set him right with the Meth
odist people, by making known to them the facts of the case.
For the performance of this friendly act no opportunity seemed
to offer itself to Mr. Clough, who, when he came to England,
requested me to undertake the service. At the same time he
placed in my hands a letter of considerable length, which he
had received from Mr. Horton, containing abundant evidence
pf the confidential intercourse they had with each other.
Mr. Horton's statement does not place Canning in the most
favourable light, but there is no reason to doubt its truth*
That very eloquent and popular statesman was a genius, a wit,
a man of great versatility of talent, and a general favourite
with the people of England ; but on some occasions, perhaps,
was more dexterous and clever than simple-minded and straight
forward. Temptations to the same effect must often beset the
paths of public men in the administration of government,
when they wish to disarm hostihty, and yet maintain the
supremacy of law. Perhaps Canning had both these objects
in view when he adopted this double policy. We cannot sup
pose that so great a man would put Mr. Horton into the wrong,
that he might himseU appear to advantage by the contrast.
He probably thought that as criminals in our courts of justice
have the benefit of counsel, who, if they cannot justify their-
clients, may succeed in extenuating their crimes, and secure a
mitigation of punishment ; so the Barbadian rioters might
-with propriety have a similar benefit in Parliament. Or it is
possible he may have deemed it a matter of policy that tha

220 Recollections of m,y own Life and Times.
planters in the island should receive an impression that they
had some sympathy in the Colonial Office, whUe this outrage
was condemned. Yet, after all that can be said, I apprehend
that Mr. Horton had just ground of complaint.
My connexion with the Uterary estabUshment of Methodism
brought me into constant intercourse with Mr. Kershaw, who
then sustained the office of Book-Steward ; and whom I ever
found to be a most amiable, friendly, and upright man. His
preaching I greatly admired. His sermons, like those of Dr.
Ogden and Mr. Edmondson, were short, but sententious,
instructive, and edifying. It was no dishonour to him that he
felt himself inadequate, at his time of life, to the successful
management of a large and complicated business-concern, aUen
from the habits to which he had been trained; and that he
therefore resigned a situation which ought never to have been
forced upon him. My recollections of him are all of a
pleasurable kind. In his countenance and general appearance,
it was often observed, that he bore a striking resemblance to
the Duke of Kent. I have a distinct remembrance of Mr.
Kershaw's father, whom I heard preach in the parlour of a
farm-house in my boyhood. He was a fine-looking man, and
was known in Yorkshire by the name of " Dr. Kershaw." He
travelled through the country in his own vehicle, preaching in
villages, and giving medical advice to the labouring classes ;
thus manifesting a laudable concern both for the bodies and
souls of the people ; many of whom, but for his instrument
ality, would have remained under the double evil of bodUy
¦disease and the curse of sin. He was the author of a small
work, intended to expound the Eevelation of St. John to
ordinary readers.
Mr. Kershaw was succeeded in the office of Book- Steward by
Mr. Mason in the year 1827 ; who sustained the office for a
much longer period than any other man, and surpassed all his
predecessors in the successful management of the business of
the Book-Eoom.
When I had spent a year in the editorship, I attended the
Conference in Bristol, where I expected to be subjected to a
fiery ordeal as to my services during the last twelve months ;

Wesley's Sermons : former Editions collated. 221
fpr, although I had spent the time in my quiet study, my
doings, by means of the press, had been open to the inspection
of many readers, from Bandon to Belfast, and from Penzance to
Inverness ; and I expected to hear the opinions of men, some of
whom were only intent upon the gratification of their own tastes,
and had Uttle sympathy with the hapless Editor, who desired
to please and profit every one, and whose censors persisted in
forgetting the fable of the miller, his son, and his ass. I passed
the ordeal, however, far better than I had any reason to expect;
and the foUowing record appears in the printed Minutes of the
Conference proceedings : — " The cordial thanks of the Confer
ence are hereby given to the Eev. Thomas Jackson for his able
and esteemed services as our Editor during the past year ; and
particularly for the satisfactory manner in which he has con
ducted the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, and for his new and
correct edition of Mr. Wesley's Sermons, lately published."
The edition of Mr. Wesley's Sermons, here referred to, was
begun during the editorship of Mr. Bunting ; but as he, at that
time, declined the responsibihty of conducting it through
the press, that task was by the Book- Committee confided to
me. On examination I found that these incomparable sermons
had not only been carelessly printed, so as to contain inex
cusable inaccuracies, but had been actually tampered with,
either by meddling printers or editors, or both, especially in
respect of their arrangement, the author's order being mate
rially changed; so that doctrinal sermons, to which a legal
importance is attached, because of the reference that is made
to them in the trust-deeds of Methodist chapels, and which Mr.
Wesley therefore intended to be kept distinct, were mixed up
with others of a different character. In the arrangement of
the sermons I therefore resolved to restore the author's own
order ; and determined to spare no pains, by a careful coUa-
tion of various editions printed during Mr. Wesley's Ufe-time,
to secure a pure text, and especially of those sermons in
which the Founder of Methodism has embodied his mature
thoughts concerning the nature and method of salvation,
according to the teaching of the New Testament. This was a
work of considerable labour and care, but one which appeared.

•222 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
to me of high importance. Often did I caU my children from
their companions and their play, to read from one edition of
Mr. Wesley's Sermons whUe I looked over the pages of another,
¦for the purpose of noting any discrepancy between them. To
read discourses which they did not understand was to them a
sore trial of patience ; but the discipline and self-denial did
them no harm ; and the public benefit was great and perma
nent. The proof-sheets of this edition, which was comprised
in two volumes octavo, as a matter of course passed through
the hands of Mr. Bunting before they were put to press, as he
was the responsible editor ; and he could not resist the temp
tation of attempting an occasional emendation of Mr. Wesley's
grammar and phraseology. His correct eye could not bear such
phrases as, "I have wrote;" "he is older tha,nme;" "I was
stronger than Mm; " which pass current in the writings of Mr.
Wesley. But whatever might be the value of these emenda
tions, I cancelled every one of them, as I thought myseU in
duty bound, the responsibility of the edition having been
entrusted to me, however irregularly. I could be no party to
even the slightest verbal alterations in the works of Mr. Wes
ley, because every such alteration would serve to deprive them
of their distinctive character. With respect to expression, Mr.
Wesley wrote according to the practice of the best authors of
his time.
What liberties are usuaUy taken with standard works, as they
pass through the press in successive editions, I know not ; but
I hold it to be an act of injustice to a deceased author, and
iberefore a crime, to make him answerable for things that he
never wrote, and for forms of expression which he did not use.
Should it be said, that if Mr. Wesley were now aUve, he would
himself make these proposed alterations in his compositions;
the answer is, that he is not alive ; that much of what he wrote
was printed more than a hundred years ago ; that, in respect
of then- phraseology, his writings resemble those of the most
accomplished of his contemporaries ; and that as he "wrote
and published them they ought to remain untU the end of time.
Were Geoffrey Chaucer now alive, he would doubtless express
himself in the diction of the present age ; but is that a reason

Opening of Mr. Wesley's Tomb. 223
why his " Canterbury Tales " should be translated into such
EngUsh as was wrUten by Southey and Sir Walter Scott, and
then published in Chaucer's name ?
It is, of course, perfectly lawful to revise, abridge, and other
wise alter and modify the works of deceased authors, and adapt
them to modern use ; but in aU such Cases due notice ought to
be given, that the author may not be injured, nor the
reader misled. To make a deceased "writer answerable for
sentences and paragraphs which be never saw is at once a
violation of truth and justice, which merits the severest con
demnation; I had almost said, should be "punished by the
judges." An author who is duly alive to his own reputation
would rather choose that his bones should be disturbed in their
last resting-place, than that his literary compositions should be
tampered with; so that he should be made answerable for
things which other men have written.
On the 30th of January, 1825, the Eev. WaUer Griffith
-ended his honourable and useful life in London, where he had
long been known and highly esteemed, having spent upwards
¦of forty years in the Methodist ministry. In the immediate
prospect of his dissolution, he exclaimed, in a rapture of holy
joy, " Let all go but Christ and heaven ! Glory, glory, glory!
The blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin. I have gained the
victory through the blood of the Lamb." Great respect was
-shown to his memory ; sermons on the occasion of his death
were preached in most of the Methodist chapels in London, the
pulpits being covered "with black cloth, and his funeral was
numerously attended. His remains were deposited in Mr.
Wesley's tomb, the opening of which was an occasion of intense
interest to many. It was found that Mr. Wesley's outei: coffin
had almost entirely disappeared, leaviaig the lead coffin, con
taining his body, exposed and bare. I observed it to be of
very short dimensions. It was placed in another wood coffin
¦of substantial material, and then in a massive stone coffin, after
which the tomb was closed, with the intention that it should
never be opened again tiU the great archangel's trumpet shall
sound, summoning both the living and the dead to appear
before the judgment-seat of Christ. In addition to the body of

224 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
Mr. Wesley, the tomb now contains the body of his sister, Mrs.
Martha Hall, with the bodies of the following ministers, his-
fellow-labourers in the Gospel : John Murlin, John Eichardson,
Thomas Olivers, Duncan Wright, and Walter Griffith. A
memoir of Mr. Griffith's Ufe and ministry, drawn up by
Mr. Grindrod, was afterwards inserted in the Methodist
Magazine. Mr. Griffith may be fairly considered as belonging to an
honourable body of men who were called into the ministry by
Mr. Wesley, were trained by his example and teaching, and
upon whom devolved the care of the Connexion when he was
no more. Although he was comparatively a young man when
Mr. Wesley died, he took a lively interest in the affairs of
Methodism, and was personaUy concerned in the changes which
then took place in its economy. He was stationed in Bristol
when the question was practicaUy tried, whether the itinerant
system should be perpetuated through the medium of the Con
ference, or whether the preachers should be appointed to the
chapels by the trustees, acting in their separate and corporate
capacity. At that time other questions also arose, and were
warmly debated. The preachers and people were all resolved
that the doctrines which they had received should be main
tained in-violate, regarding them as the truth which is in Jesus.
They were also fuUy agreed that the Methodist discipline, with
respect to classes, bands, and love-feasts, is thoroughly Scrip
tural in its character, and directly adapted to the advancement
of spiritual religion. On some other matters their opinions
varied. A part of them thought that the members of the Soci
eties should still be denied the Sacraments in their own places
of worship, and be therefore compeUed to go to their parish
churches to commemorate the death of their Saviour, by
"eating of that bread, and drinking of that cup." Others of
them thought that the yearnings of their people should be met
and gratified by receiving the symbols of redeeming mercy at
the hands of their own ministers, by whose instrumentality
they had been turned from the love and practice of sin, and
joined together in Christian feUowship ; they thought also that
the Methodist chapels ought to be generally open for pubUc

Connexional Arrangements after Mr, Wesley's Death. 225
worship at the most convenient times on the Lord's day, irre
spective of the services in the parish churches, leaving the
people at liberty to attend those places which they conscien
tiously preferred.
These questions they argued with each other in an earnest
and godly spirit ; some of them contending for a strict adherence
to the order which Mr. Wesley had generally observed ; and
others urging the fact, that Mr. Wesley had anticipated these
changes in the event of his decease, and had prepared the way
for them, by admitting in some cases reUgious service in his
chapels during church hours, and especially by ordaining
several of his Preachers to administer the Sacraments, giving
them letters of orders to this effect. The parties were not hasty
in deciding these matters, but took time for consideration,
paying a respectful deference to each other's opinions and con
scientious convictions ; taking also into the account the just
claims of the people whose spiritual interests were deeply
involved. The questions were at length settled, so as to secure
general liberty, both to the Preachers and people, the con
science of no man being subjected to even the semblance of
coercion. To the men who engaged in these discussions, and
who adopted these wise decisions, the Methodists owe a debt of
permanent gratitude : they carefuUy preserved those vital ele
ments of Methodism which have a direct bearing upon personal
godliness, and at the same time secured to them means of per
sonal edification which they had not previously enjoyed, and
to which they were fairly entitled, especially with respect to the
Christian Sacraments, and public preaching and worship in
the forenoon of the Lord's day. In these arrangements Mr.
Griffith decidedly concurred ; and he pleaded for the Scriptural
rite of the imposition of hands in the ordination of men to the
Wesleyan Ministry some years before the Conference consented
to adopt it. " The laying on of the hands of the presbytery," •
in Conference assembled, when Preachers, after due trial, are
invested with the full ministerial character, had his hearty
approval, and indeed was no novelty in Methodism, Mr. Wes
ley, with the aid of his clerical brethren, having done the same
thing, assuming that, according to the teaching of Holy Scrip-

226 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
ture, Bishops and Presbyters are one order, and therefore have
the same right to ordain.
As Mr. Wesley's ordinations have been denied by some
parties, and as there is reason to believe that many of his
spiritual children are imperfectly acquainted with the real
nature of these important acts, I will transcribe from the auto
biography of the late Eev. Henry Moore the certificate which
he received when he was formally appointed to the pastoral
office ; simply premising that it was written on vellum, and
bore the signature and seal of Mr. Wesley.
"Know all men by these Peesents, that I, John Wesley,
late Fellow of Lincoln CoUege, Oxford, Presbyter of the Church
of England, did on the day of the date hereof, by the imposition
of my hands, and prayer, (being assisted by other ordained
Ministers,) set apart Henry Moore for the office of a Presbyter
in the Church of God : a man whom I judge qualified to feed
the flock of Christ, and to administer the Sacraments of Bap
tism and the Lord's Supper, according to the usage of the
Church of England, and as such I do hereby recommend him
to all whom it may concern.
" In TESTIMONY wHBBEOP I havc hcreunto set my hand and
seal this twenty-seventh day of February, in the year of our
Lord One Thousand Seven Hundred and Eighty-nine. " John Wesley."
" Present and Assisting : —
The Eeverend James Ceeighton,
The Eeverend Peakd Dickenson,
Presbyters of the Church of England."

CHAPTER XIII.
THE EEV. CHAELES WESLEY'S FAMILY — PUECHASE OF !.¦. WESLEY'S PAPEES—
PEEPABATION OF THE SUPPLEMENT TO THE WESLBY-'i.N-METHODIST HYMN-
BOOK — DB. S.4-MUEL JOHNSON'S BEGAEO FOE THE WESLEY FAMILY — ME.
WESLEY'S WOEKS : A NEW EDITION C.iLLED FOB; DEFECTS AND INCOM
PLETENESS OF FOBMEE EDITIONS ) CONTENTS OF THE NEW EDITION (1829-
1831) — DOMESTIC AFFLICTION  M.iEBIAGE OP DAUGHTEB WITH A FRENCH
PEOTESTANT CLEEGYMAN — VISITS TO FBINCE AND BELGIUM : IJCAGES OF
THE -VCEGIN M.4EY J INTEEIOE OF A BELGIAN PEISON ; BIBLE SOCIETY'S
AGENTS ; SCENE IN A. CHUECH -AT O'STEND ; A EOYAL EMB.iEKATION — COL-
POETEUES AT LILLE J A PEENCH " GALLIC."
AFTEE I became resident in London, no persons to whom I
was introduced, and with whom I formed an acquaint
ance, awakened in me a more lively interest than the family
of the Eev. Charles Wesley, consisting of two sons and a
•daughter. His widow was living when I arrived in the metro
polis, but she was then very aged, and did not long survive ;
her I never saw, but with her children I became familiar.
Charles, the eldest son, held the office of organist in the
¦church of St. Marylebone, and lived in the neighbourhood, with
his sister, who may be said to have been his housekeeper and
his guardian, though neither of them appeared to have any just
apprehension of the value of money, or of a wise economy in
the expenditure of it. Their mode of living may be appropri
ately characterized by the terms " genteel poverty.'' They had
been accustomed to associate with the nobUity and gentry of a
former generation ; and he, as a musician, had enjoyed the
direct patronage of two Kings, — the third and fourth Georges :
their dresses, which had been fashionable half a century
before, were now antique, and worse for the wear they had
"undergone. In his manners Charles had the ease and elegance of a
Q 2

228 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
courtier ; in music he seemed to be inspired, so that the organ
under his touch appeared to be possessed of both inteUigence
,and feeling ; but of the affairs of ordinary life he knew nothing.
What he was when he was a young man, caressed by the rich
and great on account of his musical genius and talent, may be
learned from the following epigram, by which his father intended
to correct certain habits which the son had begun to affect :—
" ' Take time by the foreloelr,' is old Charles's word ;
' Time enough,' qnoth his son, with the air of a lord ;
• Let the vulgar he punctual ; my humour and passion
Is to make people wait, or I can't be in fashion.
If I foUow the great only when they do weU,
To the size of a hero I never can swell.
But for me, insignificant wight, j' gt,fficjg
To copy them close in their frj^j^^ ^^^ ^j^g^. „•
His extraordin-^^y powers as an organist recommended him»
t? ^^? rtttention of the two Monarchs just mentioned, with both.
of whom he was evidently a favourite. Some of the things
which he related to me I have inserted in the Life of his father,
and perhaps may be forgiven if I also relate them here. He
told me that he once offered himself for the vacant office of
organist at St. Paul's cathedral ; but when he waited upon the
ecclesiastical dignitaries who had the appointment, he was
abruptly repelled with the announcement, "We want no Wes
ley here ! " George the Third heard of this rude and unseemly
rebuff, and sent for the disappointed candidate to Windsor,
that he might know from him the particulars of the case. After
hearing them he said, " Never mind, SU ; the name of Wesley
is always welcome to me."
At another time, when he was with the King at Windsor,
after His Majesty had lost his sight, he said, " Mr. Wesley, is
there anybody in the room beside you and me ? " "No, your
Majesty," was his reply." " Then I -wUl teU you what I think,"
said the King. " It is my judgment that your father, and your
uncle, and George Whitefield, and Lady Huntingdon, have-
done more to promote true religion in England than aU the-
dignified clergy put together."
George the Fourth, who he told me was a good judge of

Genius in Straits. 229
"jnusic, also extended to him a kind patronage. The father and
the son were both great admirers of Handel's music ; and as no
one could play it with greater effect than this gifted man, he
received from them every mark of respect. ' Once when he
waited upon George the Fourth, then Prince Eegent, residing
in Carlton House, the Prince saw him approach by a back
•entrance, and inquUed of him why he came that way.
-"Because I was refused admission by the other door," was
the answer. The Prince immediately ordered into his presence
the man who had done this, and charged him never again to
offend in the same manner when Mr. Wesley applied for
admission. Miss Sarah Wesley, like her two brothers, was somewhat
below the middle size. She strongly resembled the portraits of
her late father, and possessed a fine literary taste, with much
of the mental acuteness for which the Wesley family were so
remarkable. She was one of the most inteUigent ladies I ever
knew, being accustomed to associate with the distinguished
writers of the age ; and her own published compositions were
numerous and valuable, though her name was not given in
connexion with them. Her friend. Dr. George Gregory, I
understood, entered into contracts with the London publishers
for certain literary services, and she was employed under his
direction. Aware that her father differed from her uncle, the
Eev. John Wesley, on ecclesiastical affairs, and that he had
consequently fallen under some suspicion among what were
¦called " the Lay Preachers," she appeared rather shy of me at
the first ; but when she perceived that I reaUy had a profound
respect for her father, she laid aside her reserve, and we became
sincere friends. She showed me a part of the family papers,
over which my heart yearned, and occasionally gave me an
original document relating to the early progress of Methodism,
with which I was able to enrich the pages of the Magazine.
Neither Charles nor his sister was ever married ; and when it
was found that they wero in straitened circumstances, a regular
aiUoiVance was made to them from the Wesleyan Book-Establish
ment in the City Eoad.
They usually resided in lodgings ; and when they left Londoii.

S30 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
in the summer of 1828, intending to spend sometime in Bristol,.
where they were born and had many friends, I engaged to take
the charge of their furniture, and thus save them the expense-
of sending it to a pubhc warehouse. Miss Wesley never returned
to London, but died in Bristol, September 19th, and was interred
in the famUy grave in St. James's churchyard in that city. In
the latter years of their lives they were both members of the
Methodist Society connected with the Hinde- Street chapel, near
Manchester Square.
When deprived of his sister, Charles was thrown upon the
resources of his own mind as to the management of his affairs ;
and that those resources were not remarkably ample appears
from the faet, that instead of returning to London, as he might
have done, by a stage-coach, he came all the way by post-
chaises, upon which he expended nearly thirty pounds, the
drivers having discovered that he had more money than thrifts
Knowing how liable he was to be imposed upon, now that he
was deprived of his sister's care and counsel, and being aware
of the immense importance of the famUy papers to the future
historian of Methodism, as well as on other accounts, I was^
anxious to secure those documents for the benefit of the Con
nexion, to which they seemed of right to belong. What ta
do with them their owner knew not ; and, after taking advice,
he sold them to me ; the same annuity which had been given-.
to him and his sister being guaranteed to him, in addition
to the sum agreed on. Mr. Mason, our Book-steward,
being in doubt as to the real value of these documents,.
decUned to advance any money towards the purchase, which
appeared to me a matter of high importance, and one that
would admit of no delay. I therefore borrowed the money of
my friend Mr. Buttiress ; and, on the assembling of the Confer
ence, reported what I had done. The manuscripts were gladly
accepted at the price I had paid for them: thus a copy
right was secured in the Supplement to the Wesleyan Hymn-
Book ; and materials were obtained for a Life of Charles.
Wesley, the Poet of Methodism ; along with an invaluable-
treasure of devotional poetry, -n'hich, while I write, is in
course of publication, under the able editorship of my friend

Preparation of the Supplement to the Hymn-Book. 231
Dr. Osborn. In this treasure were comprehended five quarto
volumes of hymns upon the principal texts in the four Gospels
and the Acts of the Apostles, corrected with great care by the
venerable author, and prepared for the press by his own hand,
besides other compositions both in prose and verse, including
the private journal of Charles Wesley, which has since been
pubhshed. The Supplement to the Wesleyan Collection of Hymns was
published early in the year 1831. The task of preparing it was
confided by the Conference to Mr. Bunting, Mr. Watson, and
myself. The hymns were mostly selected by Mr. Watson ;
and as both he and Mr. Bunting had a greater partiaUty for
the hymns of Dr. Watts than I had, there are more of them in
that selection than there otherwise would have been. I
thought that Watts, with aU his exceUencies, which are many
and undeniable, is often careless, feeble, and unevangeUcal ;
and that the space occupied by some of his compositions would
have been better occupied by terse and spirited productions of
Charles Wesley's genius. My associates judged otherwise ; and
two to one were formidable odds. The Supplement has been
weU received, and extensively useful, especially in respect of
public worship on the Sabbath-day, and of occasional religious
services, such as Missionary Anniversaries, and the ordination
of ministers.
When Charles Wesley of musical memory died, the annuity
which he and his sister had been accustomed to receive was
given to their brother Samuel, and paid to him in monthly in
stalments. He often observed to me, when he came to receive
these sums, that the Jew's curse had faUen upon him, — " old
age and poverty." He had not been so attentive to the reli
gious teaching of his devout father as he ought to have been ;
and the sins of his youth pressed heavily upon him as he drew
to the close of life. He felt that "the way of transgressors is
hard." Yet he was anxious to uphold the honour of^the family
whose name he bore. When he was unable himseU to come
for the monthly sum that was due to him, he used to send one
of his sons, about nine or ten years of age, whose manners pre
sented unmistakable proof of the care that was taken of his

232 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
training. He was a complete gentleman in miniature ; was per
fectly seU-possessed, and could bow as gracefully as if he had
belonged to the court of George the Fourth. Upon his death
bed the father said to another of his sons, "Keep up thy
knowledge of Latin, Jack. Eemember, the Wesleys were all
gentlemen and scholars." I prayed with him when he had
lost the power of speech, and was apparently unconscious,
commending him to the tender mercy of God through the
atonement and intercession of Christ. Just before his depar
ture, although he had not spoken for some time, he cried out
in his usual tone, " 0 Lord Jesus ! Lord Jesus ! " and imme
diately added, " Good bye all, good bye— all," and expired. His
remains were interred in the grave of his late father, in the
churchyard of St. Marylebone. Out of respect for his memory,
as one of the most distinguished musicians of the age, some of
the finest singers, belonging to the most eminent of the London
choirs, especially that of Westminster Abbey, attended his
funeral; and, after chanting a considerable part of the service
in the church, formed a large circle in the burying-ground, ahd
sang an appropriate anthem with wonderful power and effect.
I was impressed beyond all that I had ever felt before from the
combination of human voices.
For the family of the Wesleys Dr. Samuel Johnson showed
more than ordinary respect to the very end of his Ufe. He
honoured the Eev. John Wesley with bis friendship, and ex
pressed a high opinion of his talents and conversational powers ;
his sister, Mrs. HaU, was one of his chosen companions ; and
with the entire family of the Eev. Charles Wesley he Uved in
free and affectionate intercourse. Two notes in his hand
writing, which now Ue before me, contain ample proof of this
fact, if even other evidence were wanting. The first of them is
addressed to " Charles Wesley, Esq.," the organist.
" Sir, "I beg that you and Mrs. and Miss Wesley will dine with
your brother and Mrs. Hall at my house in Bolt Court, Fleet
Street, to-morrow.

Dr. Johnson and the Wesleys. 233
" That I have not sent sooner, U you knew the disordered
state of my health, you would easily forgive me.
" I am. Sir, " Your most humble servant,
" Wednesday. " Sam. Johnson."
The other is addressed " to Miss Wesley." It is as foUows : —
" Madam, " I "WILL have the first day that you mention. Come, my
dear, on Saturday next ; and if you can, bring your aunt with
you, to " Your most humble servant,
" October 26th, 1783. " Sam. Johnson."
The Methodist Conference not only holds its Editor respon
sible for what appears in its monthly periodicals, but also for
the correctness of all its books whenever they are reprinted.
This I found to be a large addition to my other duties. When
the reprinting of the second edition of the Christian Library
was finished, and also the miniature edition of Mr. Fletcher's
Works, a new and complete edition of Mr. Wesley's Works was
called for ; and the task of conducting it through the press feU
upon me. This I felt to be a serious charge ; for what the
Thirty-nine Articles are to the Church of England, and what
the Westminster Assembly's Confession of Faith is to the
Scottish Church, that certain parts of Mr. Wesley's writings
are to the Methodist body ; and to the whole of them a respect
ful attention is ever paid, because of their pious tendency,
and the soUd instruction they contain. Yet it may be fairly
questioned whether any eminent writer in the English language
has suffered so much from the carelessness of printers, and the
officious meddling of professed correctors, as he has done, both
during his lifetime and Since his decease. He was himseU a
busy man, sounding the Gospel trumpet through the three
kingdoms, and was therefore unable to superintend the print
ing of his own books ; and the men to whom he entrusted his
Uterary fame were faithless to an extent which is hardly credible.

234 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Two editions of his Works, both of them professing to be
complete, had already appeared ; one in the years 1771-1774,
in thirty-two volumes duodecimo ; and the .other in 1809-1813,
in sixteen volumes octavo. The first of these editions was pub
lished under Mr. Wesley's personal sanction, and was intended
to embody his mature thoughts on the subject of religion, what
he had previously written being then revised and corrected by
his own hand. The printer whom he employed on this occasion
was William Pine, of Bristol, a member of his own Society, but
one of the most careless owners of a printing press that ever
tried the temper of an author. It was well for him that he had
to deal with so meek a man as John Wesley, rather than with
Dr. Samuel Johnson, who would certainly have felled him to
the ground, when the extent of the mischief he had done was
ascertained. He not only defeated Mr. Wesley's design to
send out his Works in a correct and amended form, but sent
them forth in a far worse condition than they had ever been in
before. For this edition Mr. Wesley had provided excellent
paper, and an elegant type ; but on reading the volumes after
they had been issued, he found not only important words and
clauses, but whole paragraphs left out, and more than a hun
dred pages of his Journal omitted ! In many places the sense
was seriously marred, and in others entirely perverted. Having
found out the extent of the evil, the author affixed to each
volume a frightful list of errata; and in the copy which he
retained in his own library he corrected every volume with his
own pen. As time advanced, this edition of Mr. Wesley's
Works became increasingly incomplete ; for as he lived some
sixteen years after its publication, and continued his practice
of writing till the time of his death, the additions which he
made to bis Works were both numerous and important.
With respect to the octavo edition, which was published after
Mr. Wesley's death, truth requires^ the statement, that the
printer and editor entirely overlooked the tables of errata which
the author had prepared with great care, so that in many places
it is grievously inaccurate ; and it not only contains a few pieces
which Mr. Wesley did not write, but it omits more than twenty
tracts and pamphlets which he published at different periods.

Collection of Pieces puhUshed by Mr. Wesley. 235
These I had been able to collect, by a careful examination of
book-staUs and- old book shops, continued through several
years, not imagining, when I was forming my coUections, the
use that I should be called to make of them.
In the spring of 1828 I sent forth the Prospectus, announcing^
the forthcoming edition of Mr. Wesley's Works, specifying the
terms of publication, and the fact that it would include some
twenty pamphlets and tractates that had never before appeared
in any coUected edition of the author's Works ; little thinking
what a storm of displeasure I was provoking, and of the hostility
I should soon have to meet. I had been at great pains and
considerable expense in collecting copies of the various editions
of all the tracts and volumes that Mr. Wesley had ever pub
lished, and intended to render them all available in the con
templated edition ; assuming that I should honour Mr. Wesley
by a complete and accurate reprint of aU his pubUcations, and
confer a real benefit upon the Connexion, the Preachers in
particular, who are the natural guardians of his literary
reputation. I was therefore astounded, when the General Book-Committee
assembled, preparatory to the meeting of the Conference in
London, to find that my Prospectus was made an occasion of
severe animadversion upon the writer ; some of the senior
Preachers evidently regarding me as an upstart, who was
"wishful to exalt myself at the expense of my betters. They
refused to beheve that I had any books and pamphlets written
by Mr. Wesley, with which the last editor of his Works was
unacquainted. It was aUeged that he was a personal friend of
Mr. Wesley, an eminent scholar, and superior to me in eveiry
respect. AU this I confessed was very true, but it did not
invalidate my Prospectus, which was strictly correct in every
particular. My defence was, that the question which my assailants had
mooted was one of fact, which could be very easily decided.
Not being aware of the attack about to be made upon me, I had not
brought with me to the meeting the publications in question ; but
I was ready to show them to any persons whom the meeting
might depute to inspect and report upon them. Being strong in

'236 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
the consciousness of my own integrity, I felt that I could bear
the reflections that were cast upon me ; for I "knew that a few
months would suffice to set me right with the public ; and that,
at least, posterity would do me justice, as Mr. Wesley would
iave done had he been alive.
The edition was completed in fourteen volumes, a volume
:appearing every two months till the whole was issued. The
first bears the date of 1829, and the last that of 1831. This
-edition contains upwards of twenty distinct publications, unde-
;niably written by Mr. Wesley, more than five hundred of his letters,
and many other documents, which were never before embodied
in any collection of his Works. It includes also the titles of
the several prose works which he abridged from various authors,
with the prefaces connected with them ; and also the titles df
the poetical pubhcations of the two brothers. These prefaces
are upwards of seventy in number, and some of them are sin
gularly racy and valuable. I have since discovered, what I
then suspected, but could not prove, that the " Eoman Cate
chism,... with a Eeply thereto," inserted in the tenth volume,
was written before Mr. Wesley was born, in the seven
teenth century, and was only revised and abridged by him ;
and that the tract entitled, "Directions concerning Pro
nunciation and Gesture," in the thirteenth volume, is part
of a larger work, written by the Port-Eoyalists. The Ser
mon on the "Cause and Cure of Earthquakes," I have also
discovered to have been written by Charles Wesley, not by John.
It was preached and published on the occasion of the shock
of an earthquake which was felt in London, March 8th, 1760.
A copious Index is appended to the fourteenth volume, drawn
up with great care ; so that Mr. Wesley's opinions on any given
subject may be readily a.scertained. When the edition was
completed, it was seen that the Prospectus, which brought upon
me such an amount of censure, was more than reahzed ; and
Mr. Watson, in his Life of Mr. Wesley, -written at the time,
speaking of the attention which was paid to the writings of this
eminent man, says, " To this the admirably complete, correct, and
elegant edition of Mr. Wesley's Works, lately put forth by the
labour and judgment of the Eev. Thomas Jackson, wUl stiU

Editions of Wesley's '" Notes " collated. 28T
further contribute. Numerous valuable pieces, on different-
subjects, which had been quite lost to the public, have been
recovered ; and others, but very partially known, have been
coUected." *
When this labour was ended, I was caUed to conduct thi-ough
the press an edition of Mr. Wesley's revised translation of the
New Testament, with his Explanatory Notes, of which I
endeavoured to furnish a pure and correct text, which could
only be done by a careful coUation of various editions, and by
avaiUng myself of the author's manuscript corrections, con
tained in a copy which he left in his own library. This edition
was comprised in two volumes octavo.
While I was thus engaged in editing the writings of Mr.
Wesley, and in providing matter for the two important periodi
cals that were confided to my care, for many months my heart
was sad on account of my daughter, who appeared to be destined
to an early removal from my little family circle. When she
was bringing her studies to a close, and was fast verging upon
womanhood, her health broke down entirely. Medicine afforded
no relief, and an early death appeared inevitable. Mr. Hunter,
of Islington, who attended her through the winter, advised a
removal to the sea-side as soon as the weather would permit, as^
the only probable means of recovery. Very early in the
spring of 1830, therefore, her mother accompanied her to-
Margate ; and the friends there, "learning whose chUd she was,.
whispered to one another, " They wiU never take her back again
aUve." After a whUe she was placed in sea-water; but she
came out shivering wiUi cold, and a considerable time was spent
in rubbing her Umbs before their natural warmth was recovered.
After this experiment, hope further declined, and fear predomi
nated. Yet it was felt that while life remained, we ought not ta
despair. After a few days therefore she was again placed in the
sea-water ; and this time she came out in a glow. From that
time she graduaUy recovered ; so as at length to become the
•wUe of a French Protestant Clergyman, and the healthy mother
of five healthy chUdren, over whom my heart yearns with
• Watson S "Works, vol. v., pp. 243, 244. Edit. 1835.

¦238 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
tender affection. Their father is descended from an ancient
Huguenot family, the elder members of wJiich held and pro
fessed the truth in times of bloody persecution. My heart
expands with joy and gratitude, when I recollect that my chUd
was not only raised up from the verge of death, but raised up
to be allied to a faithful pastor belonging to a Church, which,
above almost every other Protestant community, except perhaps
the Piedmontese, has augmented "the noble army of martyrs."
That the blood of my father's famUy should be mixed with
Huguenot blood, I feel to be a high honour, such as wealth can
never confer.
After my daughter had become a resident, first in Lille, and
afterwards in Brussels, I used to pay her and her family an
occasional visit, and had thus an opportunity of seeing the
effects of Popery in countries where it is under little or
no restraint from a Protestant population. On entering
into France and Belgium, I at once perceived that the
Virgin Mary was the goddess of the people. She is worshipped
on all hands. An effigy of her, in the form of a great doll in
fine clothes, meets the eye everywhere, not merely in the
churches, but by the side of the public roads, and in the front
of private houses. In one populous neighbourhood, a few
miles from Lille, I observed her effigy in a smaU chapel, by the
side of a gateway, leading into a large burying-ground, with
an inscription to this effect, " 0, all ye that pass by, offer a
prayer to Mary, that our souls may rest in peace." Such is
Popery !
The French and Belgians have a Sunday, but they have
no holy Sabbath. When going to ''the Protestant place
of worship in the forenoon of the Lord's day, I observed
the people engaged in business, just as at other times.
Not a shop was closed, but tailors, grocers, smiths, brick
layers, and carpenters were employed in their several caU-
ings ; and carts and waggons were rumbling along the
streets as a matter of course. The churches were open for
several hours together ; the congregations consisting mostly of
women, with a few aged men, none of whom were expected to

Churches and Congregations in France and Belgium. 239
remain during the entire service, but to come and retire when
they pleased.
I visited a prison in the neighbourhood of Lille, where
a large number of persons, men and women, were doomed to
Tarious periods of confinement as the penalty of crime. In one
very spacious room, filled with looms, a large number of
convicts were employed in weaving. The stench, arising from
the sizing that was used, and the want of ventilation, was to
me intolerable. I rushed out of the place, wondering how it was
possible for the people to live in such an atmosphere, and
praying that God would have " pity upon all prisoners and
captives." The table from which these outcasts of society took
their food was placed under a long and low arch, dark andgloomy,
the light being admitted only at the ends ; so that the sight
of each other, and of what they were eating, was very indistinct.
The chapel where they worshipped was so divided by partitions that
the prisoners could not see one another, but only the officiating
priest. The governor of the estabUshment said that occasion
ally a Protestant was brought thither, but that he invariably
found the Protestants less depraved than the Eomanists.
Twice, on the occasion of my visits to the Continent, I spent
a few days at Ostend, at the bathing- season, when a consider
able number of strangers are generally present from different
parts of Belgium, France, Germany, and other places. Nothing
that I saw there afforded me so much pleasure as the presence
of an agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, with a
staU by the water-side, where the bathers congregate, exhibiting
for sale, at cheap prices, copies of the Holy Scriptures in most
of the continental languages. Many persons, there is reason
to hope, Eomanists and others, who had lived in ignorance of
God's written Word, were by this arrangement put in posses
sion of that inestimable treasure, uncontrolled by a ghostly
confessor. On a Sunday afternoon I went to the principal church in
Ostend, where I was told a Flemish sermon would be deUvered,
expecting to hear many words which are familiar to an English
ear. In this I was disappointed, for there was no sermon.

240 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
The church and congregation were large ; and I was snrpriseij^
to see a taU man, in military costume, with his hat npon bis-
head, a halberd in one hand and a whip in the other, walking'
among the worshippers, apparently observing every person
and every thing, but taking no part whatever in the service.
When one of the choristers, with a very fine voice, stood up
in the orchestra to sing a solo, this guardian of order applied.
his whip to a poor dog which had strayed into the church,
where it was conceived he had no appropriate employment.
The yelping of the animal, and the notes of the scientific
singer, formed such a combination of sound as produced a
general titter in the congregation. Another dog, feeling
itself insecure, ran for shelter under my chair, whence it
was glad to escape, when the man with the whip had discovered
its retreat. Every one, so far as I could observe, behaved with^
the strictest propriety, except the person who was appointed ta
preserve order. He only created a disturbance by the indiscreet
exercise of his authority over the dogs. I observed no benches or
pews in any of the churches ; but a large pile of chairs, with rush
bottoms, just within the doors. Every worshipper, on his
entrance, if he wished to be accommodated with a seat, paid
about the value of a halfpenny, and took his chair ta
any place he might choose, or find unoccupied. The
people knelt upon their chairs at the time of prayer, there
being no hassocks ; and the floors of the churches were
filthy. The generality of the priests, both in France and
Belgium, appeared to me a vulgar race of men, spitting upon
the ground when engaged in public worship, and walking
with long strides and indecent haste when heading funeral
processions along the streets.
One fine morning in summer, while I was at Ostend, I went
to the quay to see the King and Queen of the Belgians embark
for England. I arrived at the place about seven or eight
o'clock, and found the steamer ready for the reception of the
illustrious passengers, a few soldiers with their muskets as a
guard, and some forty or fifty people. WhUe we waited a few
more spectators arrived, making in all about sixty or seventy "

A loyal EngUshman. 241
persons. At length the royal carriages, attended by outriders,
came dashing up to the side of the steamer ; the captain
handing their Majesties on board, and the people maintaining
a perfect silence. I remembered that Leopold was a King, and
had been the husband of the Princess Charlotte of Wales, once
the hope of England, and now sleeping in her tomb. Ashamed,
as an Englishman, to be seen in a sUent crowd on such an
occasion, I puUed off my hat, and raised a loyal shout. The
people looked at me, and seemed to wonder what was meant.
The men, however, raised their hats, and joined in the accla
mation, which the King acknowledged by a royal bow.
The steamer which bore their Majesties away sailed by the
side of a long jetty, at the farther end of which several men
were at work. I watched to see whether they would pay any
attention to the King and Queen as they passed slowly by. But
they never suspended their operations for a moment, any more
than they would have done had a fisherman sailed by them in
his boat. I thought of the enthusiastic feeUng which the sight
of royalty creates in England, and of the utter indifference
which I now witnessed. But then I recoUected that Leopold
was a German and a professed Lutheran ; and these people
were Belgians and Eomanists, many of whom had been taught
to believe that Luther was scarcely less than an incarnate fiend :
whereas the Sovereigns of England are Enghsh Sovereigns,
professing the same religion that the majority of their subjects
profess, and are endeared by a long Une of English ancestors,
as weU as by a steady adherence to the principles of constitu
tional government.
During my first visit to Ostend I witnessed an interposition
of Divine Providence which awakened my gratitude at the
time, and which I have often remembered since "with the same
feeUng. One day, when the family came home from a walk
by the sea-side, the maid-servant placed my second grand
daughter, then about a year old, in a Uttle chair, in one of
the rooms that we occupied ; and almost immediately after took
her up, and carried her into an adjoining apartment, uncon
scious of any particular design in so doing. Within about a
minute of the child's removal, a large and solid mass of hard
B

242 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
plaster fell down from the ceiling upon the very spot where she
had been sitting ; so that, had she remained there another
minute, the probabiUty is that she would have been killed upon
the spot. Yet no one in the house had the slightest apprehen
sion of any danger. "Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing ?
and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your
Father. But the very hairs of your head are all numbered."
(Matt. X. 29, 30.) " Glory be to' Thee, 0 Lord ! "
I was no less pleased with the colporteurs of the Bible
Society, whom I saw at Lille and the neighbourhood, than I
was with the agent of that Institution, whom I saw seUing
Bibles by the sea-side at Ostend. They were strong miiscular
men, dressed in blouses, not unlike farmers' labourers in
England. Their employment was that of carrying upon their
backs packages of the Holy Scriptures, which they offered for
sale at cheap prices in the towns and vUlages. While I was at
Lille, one of them was brought before a Magistrate, and charged
with disturbing families by ringing the bells at their doors, and
inquiring of them whether or not they would purchase a Bible.
Two classes of people, it seems, complained of this as an annoy
ance. The Magistrate decided that the man might cry his
wares in the streets, but must not disturb famiUes by ringing
the beUs of their houses. To this decision the man demurred ;
observing, that people placed bells in their houses for the pur
pose of being used ; that some families regarded it as a great
benefit to have the Holy Scriptures, and were grateful for the
supply which he was prepared to furnish ; that whether any
family wished to have the Bible or not, he could not possibly
know tiU he had made the inquiry. He then asked what law of
France forbade him to ring the beU of any house, when he had
an important proposal to make to the inmates. The Magistrate
was not prepared to answer this question ; and finding that the
man in the blouse had the best of the argument, he directed
the parties to retire; saying, in effect, with GaUio, "I wiU be
no judge in such matters." The man smiled, made his bow,
and resumed the duties of his caUing.
I learned that in France all the vUlages, as well as the large
towns, have their Mayors, spme of whom were npt able to read ;

Colporteurs and intolerant Mayors. 243
¦and that these gentlemen, dressed in a little brief authority,
sometimes interfere so as to place a colporteur under restraint ;
so that when the man with his Bibles has entered upon his
canvass, the Mayor interposes, and forbids him, at his peril, to
seU a single copy in the parish. The colporteur receives the
earning with all respect, calls at every house, tells every family
that he has come to sell Bibles at a very cheap rate ; but that,
being forbidden by the Mayor to sell a single copy in the parish,
he shall open his wares at a particular time and place, a few
yards beyond the limits of the parish, and shall be then and
there prepared to accommodate any persons who may desire to
possess the sacred volume. How the French people act in these
circumstances, I know not ; but many an Englishman would
purchase a Bible, were it only to mortify the Mayor for an
:abuse of his power, and to declare his own independence.

CHAPTER XIV.
BE-APPOINTED CONNEXIONAL EDITOE FOE A TEEM OP SIX YEAES — CONVEKBATIOK'
WITH DE. ADAM CLARKE : THE MANUSCEIPT OP THE FIEST VOLUME OF DB^
eobinson's "cHEISTIAN system" EEVISED bt MB. WESLEY; BISHOP WAB-
BUETON'S IMPEEFECT KNOWLEDGE OP GEEEKJ MB. WESLBY'S LETTEE TO
LOED NOETH ON THE AMEEICAN WAE — EDITOEIAL DIFFICULTIES; ANI-
MADVEESIONS IN BOOK-COMMITTEE (LIVEEPOOL CONrEBENCB, 1832) ON
PAEAGEAPHS IN THE WESLEYAN-METHODIST MAGAZINE ALLUDING TO THE
SCHEME OP NATIONAL EDUCATION FOE EBELAND — THANKS OF THE CON
FEEENCE FOE "faithful and VALUABLE" SEEVICES, AND A BEQUEST
TO CONTINUE THEM — EELIGIOUS EDUCATING BODIES AND GO-VEENMENT
GEANTS — THE EEV. SAMUEL JACKSON'S ADVOCACY OP DAY AND SUNDAY
SCHOOLS — THE EEV. JOHN STOEEY — THE CHOLEEA IN Lrs-EEPOOL : A
MEMOEABLE PEAYEB-MEETING HELD DUEING THE SITTINGS OF THE PBE-
PAEATOEY COMMITTEES.
AT the Conference of 1830 my term of service as Editor
ended, according to the rule as it then existed, which
limited the appointment to six years ; but the rule was then
changed, and the following modification of it was adopted r
"If, under peculiar circumstances, it shall appear to the Book-
Committee for the time being, and also to a Special Com
mittee, appointed by the Conference to consider their recom
mendation, that an extension of the usual term will materially
benefit the interests of the Connexion, the Editor may in such
case be re-appointed for whatever term the Conference may
judge proper, not exceeding six additional years." In accord
ance -with this new regulation I received a second appointment
for six years, though liable to be removed at every Conference,
as were the rest of my brethren, whether sustaining particulalf.;
offices, or engaged in the regular duties of a Circuit, should
such a removal be deemed necessary or expedient.
The Conference of this year was held in Leeds ; and in the
number of the Methodist Magazine which was published just
before the assembling of that body, I had inserted a review of
the third volume of Dr. Adam Clarke's Sermons, containing a
respectful but decided caveat against his peculiar opinions con-

Unwelcome Criticism. 245
¦cerning the Sonship of our blessed Saviour. The Doctor was
so far from resenting this, that he showed me more marked
kindness than he had ever done before. One day, while I was
sitting in the Conference, he came into the pew where I was,
•and knelt on the floor, that he might not interrupt the business
of the assembly by a private conversation, nor be observed
¦by the President. I said, " Doctor, I cannot sit while you are
upon your knees." " Then," said he, " I wiU go away. Other
wise I have come to teU you some things which I received
many years ago from Mr. Wesley, and which I should Uke you
to know, beUeving that you are likely to make a good use of
them." On hearing this I answered, " Say on, Sir ; and put
jourself just in the attitude that wiU please you best." He
then said, that before Dr. Eobinson pubUshed his " Christian
System," he placed the first volume of the manuscript in Mr.
"Wesley's hands, requesting him to read it, and suggest any
amendments that he might deem expedient. He read it
through, and marked several passages which he thought might
be omitted with advantage, so as considerably to reduce the
work in size ; for in books, as weU as in sermons oraUy deUvered,
he was in faveur of brevity. The author adopted the whole of
Mr. Wesley's emendations, but never asked him to read the
eecond volume, which is therefore more bulky than the first.
This, I suspect, is not an uncommon case. An author is often
glad to find his compositions sanctioned by the favourable
opinion of a competent friend; but is naturally disappointed
when he is told that he will do weU to obliterate considerable
portions of what he has written. For who likes to hear it said
that paragraphs, in the composition of which he has taken
great pains, are not worth reading ? Yet it is very possible
that such may be the fact ; and it would be a benefit to readers
if authors more frequently suspected the correctness of their
own judgment, and would submit what they have -written to
the revision of a faithful and impartial friend. Many a book is
much larger than is either necessary or edifying. On this sub
ject I am free to confess that I speak from experience. Seme
of my own compositions were improved by curtailment before
they were placed in the hands of the printer.

246 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Dr. Clarke further stated, that when Mr. Wesley wrftte in,
defence of himself against the attack made upon him by
Bishop Warburton, he detected some examples of inaccurate-
scholarship, especiaUy in respect of his Greek quotations, which.
his Lordship betrayed. Upon these he offered no animadver
sion in the defence which he published, but pointed them out in
a private letter which he addressed to the Bishop, and for which:
he received his Lordship's thanks. This forbearance on the part
of Mr. Wesley was the more remarkable, because the Bishop had
treated him with bitter scorn, and had assumed an air of very
offensive dogmatism. Addressing his brother Charles, Mr..
Wesley says, " I was a little surprised to find Bishop War-
burton so entirely unacquainted with the Greek Testament:..
and, notwithstanding all his parade of learning, I beUeve he is
no critic in Greek." " I have answered the Bishop, and have
had advice upon my answer. If the devil owes him a
shame, he wiU reply. He is a man of sense ; but I verily
think he does not understand Greek.'"'^ Mr. Wesley mentions
some others of his opponents whom he had treated in the same
generous manner, and from whom he had received thanks in
return ; but he does not in any of his printed works mention
Bishop Warburton in the same category. " Upon men of an.
ingenuous temper," says he, "I have been able to fix an obliga
tion. Bishop Gibson, Dr. Church, and even Dr. Taylor, were
obUged to me for not pushing my advantage."! When this
statement was published. Bishop Warburton was stiU living ;
and this is probably the reason why Mr. Wesley has not men
tioned him along with the other "men of an ingenuous temper "
on whpm he had been " able to fix an obUgation."
Another fact which Dr. Clarke told me he received from Mr.
Wesley was this: That when he pubUshed his " Calm Address.
to the American Colonies," exhorting them to submission, he^
sent a private letter to Lord North, then at the head of the-
Government in England, pressing upon him the necessity oi
moderate counsels, assuring his Lordship, from what he knew
* Wesley's Works, vol, xii., pp. 122, 123. Edit. 1861.
t Jbid., vol, X., p. 376; ¦ -

The American War: Mr. Wesley's Foresight. 247
of the Americans, that if matters were driven to an extremity,
and war actually begun, the Americans would assuredly gain
their independence, and Great Britain lose some of her most
valued colonies. A copy of this letter the Doctor said that he
himself possessed. The letter here referred to has since been
published. It is given entire in the Appendix to the second
volume of Dr. George Smith's History of Wesleyan-Methodism,
and wiU be found to anticipate, to a great extent, the events of
the war. The original document, I have reason to beUeve, is
among the papers of the late Lord Dartmouth. The advice which
Mr. Wesley voluntarily tendered was not taken, and the results
of which he gave warning aU ensued.
During the eighteen years that I sustained the office of
Editor my services were received with unvarying kindness by
the Conference, whose servant I was : but by individuals
among the preachers I was oftener than once subjected to.
hostUe criticism. The heaviest "blow" and greatest "dis-,
couragement " of the kind came upon me in the year 1832. At
that time the Cathohc Belief BiU had become the law of
the land. The Legislature had laid aside its strictly Pro
testant character, and Eoman Catholics were admitted
as members of Parliament, and to certain offices of State.
Ireland had long been, not only the "difficulty," but the
plague of the Government, large masses of the people being
ignorant and unruly, prepared for any scheme of mischief
that might be recommended to them by the priests,, or by
crafty demagogues, and actuaUy accustomed to deeds of outrage
and murder. Wishful to improve their general character, the
Government provided a scheme of National Education, tha
principle of which was, that the State would supply secular
instruction, and the different religious bodies should themselves
supply the religious element, according to their several creeds,
a due proportion of time being aUowed for the purpose. The
entire Bible was not to be used in the schools ; for this reason,
— the Eomanists would not read the Protestant version, nor the
Protestants that of the Eomanists ; but a selection was to be
made from the sacred books, such as the representatives of
bpth parties would approve. Concerning this scheme, as might.

248 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
be expected, great diversity of opinion prevailed at the time,
and no smaU amount of party strife ; many of the people who
took an interest in the matter being more intent upon the
maintenance of their own theories of education, than to find
out and adopt what was reaUy practicable in the case. Mr.
Watson, whose fluent pen supplied from month to month
articles in the Methodist Magazine, containing a notice of pubUc
events bearing upon reUgion and morals, briefly referred to the
Government plan of education in three numbers of that
periodical, not in a controversial spirit, but as a matter of
great moment, and showing how it might be turned to a good
practical account.
In these paragraphs no intimation is given that the Govern
ment scheme of education in Ireland comprehends aU the
instruction that Christian parents are bound to secure for their
children, and that children ought to receive. The reverse is
expUcitly stated. No man was more deeply sensible than Mr.
Watson, that Christian children ought to be trained in the
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, in the beUef of their suffi
ciency and perfection, and in the great principles of revealed
truth, as his admirable Sermon entitled, " EeUgious In
struction an Essential Part of Education," abundantly
proves. But such an education the Government could not
give to chUdren of the Eoman Catholic peasantry in Ireland ;
for this plain reason, that their parents and the priests would
not aUow them to receive it. The question therefore was,
Whether it was better to give Irish chUdren in general secular
instruction, and leave the different denominations to teach
them rehgion, or to suffer them to remain ignorant of letters.
If they were taught to read, it was thought that the Bible might
be at length successfuUy circulated among them ; so that some
of them at least would claim the right of private judgment, and
shake off the Papal yoke ; but to supply them with Bibles whUe
they were unable to read was a solemn mockery. It was easy
to find fault with the Irish system, and to point out its defects ;
but how tp devise a better that was really practicable, was np
easy matter. Whatever might be said in favour of schools con
ducted nppn purely Protestant principles, based upon the

The Scheme of National Education for Ireland, 1832. 249
"Written Word of God, — a subject upon which it is scarcely
possible to exaggerate, — the plain answer was. The chUdren of
the Eoman Catholics wUl not be aUowed to attend such
schools ; and therefore they can never elevate the character of
the Irish peasantry, whose ignorance, turbulence, and crimes
have long been a disgrace to the empire, and even to
-civiUzation. The Irish system of education was no party measure, but
kindly and patriotically intended, and would doubtless have
been a great benefit to the country, had aU the people united in
good faith to carry it into practical effect. But instead of
this, in. many quarters it was met in a spirit of direct hostUity.
The clanio.ur that was raised against it was loud and widely
extended. It was represented as a profane attempt to mutUate
the Holy Scriptures ; as an unwarrantable homage paid to
" the man of sin, the son of perdition ; " and it might be ex
pected to be followed by fearful judgments inflicted upon the land
that should countenance and adopt it. Many of the Protestant
clergy in Ireland refused to identify themselves with it, and in
their opposition were encouraged by not a few of their brethren
in England. The Methodists in Ireland cherished the same
feeling, and so did many Methodists in England, without taking
time for due consideration. The paragraphs in the Magazine,
which gave nothing more than a quaUfied approval of the
scheme, were written before these strong feeUngs were fuUy
developed in the Protestant mind, and on this account were
less carefuUy worded than they otherwise would have been.
Yet their tone was moderate ; they were not controversial, but
simply intended to show how the scheme might be rendered
subservient to the pubhc good.*
, A few weeks after their pubUcation I went to Liverpool to
attend the Conference, Uttle apprehensive of "the things that
would befall me there ; " understanding only that the Asiatic
cholera was frightfuUy prevalent in that town, the Ufe of every
one being in continual perU. Many persons were carried to
* [The venerable auto-biographer appears in this and the succeeding
-paragraph to assume that a sincere general approbation of a public servant
must needs be entire, — nnlversal and unqualified, — au assumption which
is contrary to all experience. — Bditob.]

250 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
their graves who, a few hours before, were in the vigour of
health, engaged in their usual avocations. The Book-Ooni'
mittee, which consisted of EngUsh and Irish Preachers, met
preparatory to the Conference, and in their assembly I learned
that the paragraphs in question had given very great offence, and a
formal complaint was there made against me. The Irish system
of education was denounced in the strongest terms, as a violation
of one of the most important principles of the Protesttot
Eeformation, — the paramount authority of Holy Scripture ;
and I, who had inserted the obnoxious remarks in the Methodist
Magazine, had betrayed the trust which was confided to me. I
endeavoured to offer an explanation and defence ; but it was
with difficulty that I could obtain even a brief hearing ; and
much less could I make any impression upon the minds of the
men who toolr such strong views of the subject. The chief
ground of complaint was, that lessons selected from the Bible,
instead of the Bible itself, were appointed to be read in the;
schools. My comfort was, that I had intended nothing wrong..
If I had erred, mine was an error of judgment ; nor could E
forget that if it were a sin to make selections from the Bible to
be used as school-lessons, Mr. Wesley and the people in reUgious-
connexion with him were not innocent; for he pubUshed a
volume of Scripture Lessons expressly for that purpose. This*
volume had been reprinted, and at that time was on sale at tha
Wesleyan Book-establishment in London. If there were sin ia
the case then in dispute, it ought to be charged upon the Eoman
CathoUcs of Ireland, who would not suffer their children ttt-
attend schools where the entire Bible was used. My object
had been to show that the Government system, notwith-*
standing this defect, might nevertheless be turned to a good
account, if Protestants themselves, instead of standing
aloof from the schools and raUing against them, would send
their o-wn agents to explain the Bible, and teach religion
according to their own creeds, at the times which were left
vacant every week for that purpose. Dr. Adam Clarke said
that he would not give up even the tenth chapter of the book of
Nehemiah to please the Papists : no more would I ; but I would
give » few pages of the Bible te a poor Eomish QhUd who was

Request to he released from Editorial Responsibilities. 251
not allowed to read the whole. In the censures which were
then passed upon me Mr. Bunting took the lead, and the severest
things that were uttered fell from his lips. He had been an
earnest advocate for the admission of Eoman CathoUcs into
ParUament, and now appeared to shrink from the consequences
of an arrangement which he had done his best to promote. No
administration can carry on the government of the country
but in general accordance with the ParUament ; and after
admitting Eoman Catholic members into both Houses, to
expect every measure of the Government to bear a strictly
Protestant character is the perfection of absurdity. Such ia
the fact, and such is its bearing upon the principles of the
Eeformation. I could not but feel that if the sentiments which were ex
pressed in the Book-Committee were entertained by the Preachers
generally, I no longer possessed their confidence as the editor-
of their Magazine, and therefore the sooner I was superseded in
that office the better. With this impression, when the Confer
ence assembled, I stated what had taken place in the Book-
Cpmmittee, and tendered my resignation, requesting to be;
released from my editorial responsibiUties, and appointed to a
Circuit, which I should greatly prefer. I was the servant of
the Conference ; and if in the estimation of that body I was.
an offender, or had "committed any thing worthy " of a Metho
distical "death," " I refused not to die;" but. I had been
censured and condemned in a Committee, without any previous^
warning, and without even the semblance of a trial ; and tO'
such treatment I did not think it my duty to submit ; the-
Book-Committee having no constitutional power to inflict such
a penalty. This brought up the whole subject, and the .things.
which, had been said in the Committee were repeated in the-
Conference, but in a less offensive tone and manner. After
hearing the case on both sides the Conference passed the follow
ing resolution, no one opposing: — "The cordial thanks of the?
Conference are given to our Editor, the Eev. Thomas Jackson,:
for his faithful and valuable services during the past year ; and
he is earnestly and affectionately requested to continue hisi
aetvkss -is .tiat important officej','

'252 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
When the Conference, after hearing the case, adopted' this
resolution, with every indication of confidence and kind feeUngP
I could not refuse to resume the duties of my office, though I
would much rather have gone into a Circuit. I feared espe
cially that, after the severe things which had been said, Mr.
Watson would withhold his kind and efficient aid as a -writer
for the Magazine. He was, beyond comparison, the most
^valuable correspondent I had. His noble and generous spiritj
however, betrayed no signs of withdrawal from me, though he
was deeply grieved at the course which had been taken in the
¦Book-Committee : and in the Conference he said that never
were harmless paragraphs more grievously tortured to find in
them matter of complaint and accusation, than were the three
which had been inserted in the Magazine. He did not declare
the fact of their authorship, and I was honourably bound to
take upon myself the entire responsibility of their pubUcation.
Through the whole of this painful business, " I kept my meuth
as with a bridle," saying no more than I deemed strictly neces
sary, being under a constant apprehension of the cholera, and
not knowing how soon I might be summoned into another
state of being. I hardly expected to survive the Conference ;
and if my life should then terminate, as did the Uves of many
in Liverpool and other places, my earnest desire was to die in
jieace. After the lapse of twenty-eight years the Methodist Confer
ence in Ireland declared its acceptance of the Government
plan of Education, and the Societies cordiaUy availed them
selves of it. The subject is thus adverted to in the address of
the Irish Conference to their brethren in England, and pub
Ushed in the Minutes of their proceedings (1860) : —
"You wiU expect us to say something as to our action in
relation to National Education. With aU that you have said
on the subject of Scriptural Education we cordiaUy agree ; and,
side by side with you, we shall ever contend that Methodist Edu
cation must be emphaticaUy Scriptural Education. We do not
beUeve that we have compromised this principle in the slightest
degree by accepting of National aid. It is true that we post
poned action on the matter long after some of the leading minds

Education of Irish Peasantry and Emigration. 253^
amongst us were as fnUy satisfied as they are now in regard to
our duty ; but we do not regret this fact. We regard it as far
from discreditable to us, as a Church, that we paused long and
thoughtfuUy on so important a question as that of Scriptural
Education. But seeing that the Eules of the Board admit of
our opening and closing the school each day with singing and
prayer, and of giving direct religious instruction at a fixed hour
in any day, or every day, during which period we may teach the
Bible, our Catechism, or Hymn-Book, or any thing we please ;
and moreover, that we may have the greater portion of one day
in each week exclusively for religious instruction, and may use-
the buUdings for preaching-places, and have the services of the
masters as Local Preachers; we do not find reason longer to-
forego the opportunity of taking our proper place in the educa
tion of the youth of our country, even though some of the
Eules of the Board are not just what we could have wished.
We believe that those who regarded our proceedings with doubt,
whether in our own or other bodies, ere long wUl be fuUy satis
fied that our course of action was the best under aU the circum
stances, and every way worthy of our antecedent history, and
of our union with you."
Thus does time modify the opinions of men, and teach them
thankfuUy to receive as a boon what they once looked upon as
a fearful evil, to which it was a sin to give even a qualified
approval.* But whether it required the long space of nearly
thirty years to enable a body of sensible and good men to come
to a right conclusion on this subject, and all this while to
deprive some thousands of poor chUdren of educational advan
tages which to them might have been of inestimable benefit,
may admit of a serious doubt.
It is worthy of observation that the National System of
Education, which provoked a vast amount of controversy and
of hostile feeling, has been attended by important results in
Ireland generaUy. The peasantry, formerly unacquainted with
letters, have not only learned to read, but so to read as to
think and to act. They have read newspapers, and other pub-
* [It should, however, be observed, that between the years 1831 and 1860-
the plan had been in various ways modi&ed. — Bdiiob.]

254 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
lications; and have seen that they could improve their
condition by emigration: they have therefore gone to America
by thousands, and by tens of thousands, and have there found
not only the necessaries of life in abundance, but also emanci
pation from the grasping tyranny of their ghostly fathers. The
Papal Hierarchy in the United States complain bitterly that
many of the Irish there refuse any longer to observe their
rites, and submit to their domination.
After the Irish system of education was formed and brought
into operation, the ParUament voted a sum of money to be
applied to popular education in England ; which gave rise to
considerable discussion. At length it was determined to assist the
various educating bodies by Government grants, leaving them at
liberty to teach religion according to their own views ; the
'Government ascertaining, by their own Inspectors, the amount
of secular learning that was actually given in each case, so that
the public Uberality should not be abused. Since this equitable
arrangement was made, our own Connexion has shared some
what largely in the benefit ; and the system of day-schopl
instruction in connexion with Methodism has been widely
extended, and is continually increasing.
Some time before any Parliamentary grant was made for this
ipurpose, my late brother Samuel had put forth strenuous and
persevering efforts to induce the Methodists to estabUsh day-
schools wherever it was practicable ; but his efforts, though
;paithetioaUy urged, produced little effect, until it was proposed
that the children of the labouring-classes generally, and those
of the Methodists among the rest, should in effect be educated
under the direction of the clergy. Then, but not tiU then, did
the Methodists as a body bestir themselves in this department of
Christian service. My brother's affecting speeches in the Confer
ence, and powerful appeals through the press, were comparatively
disregarded until a BiU was actuaUy introduced into ParUa
ment proposing that the education of the labouring-classes
should be placed in clerical hands. Our Connexion, stimu
lated by this startUng proposal, as if awakening out of
¦ sleep, then assumed its right position as one of the educating
.bodies of the country. This very important part Of our Con-

Tlie Rev. John Storry. 255
•nexional work, from its commencement, was confided to the
general superintendence of my esteemed friend the Eev. John
Scott, whose practical wisdom, energy, firmness, and urbanity,
admirably qualified him for the task ; aided as he long was by
the talent and fideUty of the Eev. Michael C. Taylor, and
afterwards by the efficient services of Mr. Olver. Yet the Con
nexion has never yet realized that numerical increase in the
¦Societies which might be fairly expected from its educational
operations. Some efficient plan for attaching the youth of
Methodism permanently to the system remains yet to be
¦discovered and adopted.
I cannot conclude this chapter without again referring to the
'Conference of 1832. Among other excellent men who were
ihen reported as having died during the preceding year was the
Eev. John Storry, who had recently faUen a victim to the
•cholera in the Lambeth Circuit. He began his ministry
^3 the pastor of an Independent Church at Thirsk, where he
was esteemed and useful. In the prosecution of his studies he
became dissatisfied with the Calvinistic system of theology in
which he had been trained, and which he was pledged to teach,
¦and became attached to the Wesleyan doctrine of conditional
predestination and election, general redemption, and entire
sanctification during the present life ; and preferred the Con
nexional principle to Independency : he therefore offered his
services to the Wesleyan body, was cordially accepted by the
•Conference, and became a most esteemed and useful Methodist
preacher. His sermons were powerful and impressive ; he was
an affectionate and faithful colleague ; a diligent pastor of the
flock ; ciUtivating a minute and extensive acquaintance with
the Societies under his care, and gathering wanderers into the
fold of Christ. He died in the vigour of his manhood, the
maturity of his talents, the ardour of his zeal, and in the full
success of his pulpit and pastoral labours. The premature
extinction of such lights in the Church is a mystery of Provi
dence. Cases of this kind are a loud warning even to popular
Ministers, admonishing them to remember their mortality ; and
to hearers, calUng upon them to profit by gifted men, not know
ing how soon their labours may end. The manly, loving, cheer-

256 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
ful, and buoyant spirit of John Storry often reminded me of
the fine character of Greatheart, as it is drawn by Bunyan in
the Pilgrim's Progress.
A few days before the Conference assembled, and during the
sittings of the preparatory Committees, a public prayer-meeting
was held in the Brunswick Chapel, in which several of the
Ministers engaged in earnest intercession, beseeching the
Almighty that the pestUence which then prevaUed in Liverpool
and in various parts of the country might be arrested and with
drawn ; and that its ravages might be a means of religious and
moral good to the people. The feeling that prevailed in the
meeting was intense, and a cheerful confidence in God was pro
duced in the minds of many who were present. It was observed
that from that day the cases were less numerous and severe thait
they had previously been ; and that no Minister during the-
time of the Conference was attacked by the disease ; nor any
individual belonging to the famiUes by whom the Ministers were
entertained. These facts were deemed so remarkable, that
they were referred to by the Conference in its Pastoral Address
to the Societies.

CHAPTER XY.
irPEOTING MOETALITY OP METHODIST PEEACHEES APTEE THE CONFEEENCE OF
1832 — DB. ADAM CLABICE; NOTES EESPEOTING THE PUBLICATION. OP HIS
COMMENTAEY ; EEM.iEKS ON HIS DISSENT PBOM THE DOCTEINE OP OUE
LOED'S di-vine and ETEBNAL sonship — THE EEV. THOMAS ST.iNLEY — THE
EEV. JOHN lAMES — THE BEV. EIOHAED WATSON ; PUBCHASE OF THE COPY-
BIGHT OP HIS WOEKS; "mEMOIES" of his "life and WEITINGs" — AGITA
TION FOE THE ABOLITION OP THE CHUECH OF ENGL.IND AS A NATIONAL
ESTABLISHMENT 1 SPEECH IN THE CONFEEENCE — PUBLICATION OP " THE
CHUECH AND THE METHODISTS " — HOSTILITY BOTH OF CHUECH AND
DISSENT TO METHODISM — ESTABLISHMENT OF THE THEOLOGIOjlL INSTITUTION
 ^DE. WAEBEN's ATTEMPT TO O-VEETHEOW THE CONNEXIONAL DISCIPLINE 
UNIPOEM EDITION OP ME. WATSON'S WOEKS — LITEEABY HELPEES — EEPUB-
LICATION OF THEEE OP JOHN GOODWIN'S THEOLOGICAL WOEKS (1839) — A
CONTBAST TO TEACTAEIAN BITTEENESS.
AFTEE the Conference of 1832 an affecting mortality
occurred among the Methodist Preachers, and some of the
most honoured men in their ranks foUowed each other to the
grave in rapid succession. Of those stationed in London Dr.
Adam Clarke was the first victim. He left the Conference in
Liverpool with the incipient symptoms of Asiatic cholera, and
neglected to use the requisite means for their removal. The
truth is, that untU within a few weeks of his death, he did not
beUeve that any new disease had appeared in England ; and
through lUe he had indulged unreasonable prejudices against
the medical profession. After spending a few days with his
son at Frome, he returned to his home at Pinner, and thence
came to Bayswater, where he had engaged to preach ; and there
he expired on Sunday, August 25th, the day on which he was
expected to occupy the pulpit. His remains were interred in
the burying-ground connected with the City-Eoad chapel, by the
side of Mr. Wesley's tomb. When the reading of the funeral

258 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
service by the grave was ended, his eldest son took up a handful
of moist earth, which he pressed into the shape of a ball, then
threw it upon his . father's coffin, and instantly retired ; which
was said to be an Irish custom. The Eev. Henry Moore, who
had known the Doctor from his boyhood, preached a sermon
on the occasion of his death in the City-Eoad chapel, in the
evening of Thursday, September 6th, to a vast congregation,
whose deeply- serious demeanour indicated their sense of the
greatness of the loss which the Church and the world had
sustained. No man that I ever knew commanded my admiration in a
higher degree than Adam Clarke. He had his infirmities and
crotchets ; but, like that of all great men, his entire conduct
was marked by a dignified simplicity; so that among his brethren,
I never saw him affect any superiority of wisdom, nor treat them
with disrespect. He was a powerful, edifying, impressive,
encouraging, and instructive preacher ; natural, earnest,
fervent, and mighty in prayer ; a hard and successful student ;
a diligent improver of his time ; a zealous assertor of God's
universal love to men, of the redemption of the whole of man
kind by the death of Christ, and of the doctrine of entire
sanctification ; sincere and unwavering in his friendships ;
consistent and inviolable in his attachment to Wesleyan-
Methodism. He honoured me with his friendly attention, sent
me occasionally a paper for the Magazine, and I love his
memory. Dr. Clarke's Commentary was, in the first instance, published
by his brother-in-law, Mr. Butterworth. After it was completed
and pubUshed, he revised the whole with great care, and then
made an offer of it to Mr. Mason, as the Book-Steward of the
Conference. Mr. Mason was wUUng, and even anxious, to make
the purchase ; but he observed to the Doctor that there were
difficulties in the way, arising especiaUy from the fact that
there were things in the Commentary to which serious
exceptions were taken, especially on the Divine Sonship of
our Saviour. When Mr. Mason related to me the particulars
of this conversation, I understood him to say, the Doctor's

Dr. Adam Clarke on Heb. i. 3. 259
answer as to the difficulty which he had suggested was, that if
the work became the property of the Conference, the passages
to which exceptions were taken might be omitted, or such
alterations made in them as would render it generally accept
able. While matters were in this hopeful state of adjustment,
other parties stepped in, and urged upon the author an imme
diate sale of it to a London bookseller, to the mortification of
Mr. Mason, who thought the work might be rendered beneficial
to the Connexion both religiously and financially. The truth
is, the excellent Doctor, whose devotion to Methodism was pro
found and unwavering, suffered other men, whose attachment to
the system was only partial and vacillating, to acquire an
undue influence over him. This was the weakness and the
misfortune of a great and good man ; yet I have it under his
-own hand that he never did, and never would, identify himself
with these men in any of their divisive and revolutionary
schemes and efforts.
Whether Dr. Clarke intended to retract what he had written
against the doctrine of our Lord's Divine and Eternal Sonship,
I will not say ; but in his note upon Hebrews i. 3, he has,
"Under another name, not only asserted, but defended, that
important doctrine as earnestly as Bishop Pearson, Bishop
Bull, Dr. Waterland, or even the Fathers of the Nicene
CouncU. The words, ajTouyaor/ia T^s So'^ijs  avTov, " the bright
ness of His glory," the Doctor explains as denoting, " the
resplendent outbeaming of the essential glory of God." He
adds, " The word avyaa-jj-a is that which has splendour in itself,
iwaiyaa-fia is the Splendour emitted from it ; but the inherent
splendour and the exhibited splendour are radicaUy and essen
tiaUy the same." The following are the theological conclusions
he deduces from the text thus explained :— " From these words
it is evident, — 1. That the Apostle states Jesus Christ [the
term which St. Paul uses is the Son] to be of the same
Essence with the Father, as the d-n-aiyaa-fj.a, or proceeding
splendour, must be the same with the aHyaa-fia, or inherent
splendour. " 2. That Christ, [the Son,] though proceeding from the
Eather, is of the same Essence ; for if the cvyij, or splendour,
s 2

260 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
produce another avy^, or splendour, the produced splendour
must be of the same essence with that which produces it.
" 3. That although Christ [the Son] is thus of the same
essence -with the Father, yet He is a distinct Person from the
Father ; as the splendour of the sun, though of the same
essence, is distinct from the sun itself, though each is essential
to the other ; as the avyacrjm, or inherent splendour, cannot sub
sist -without airavyaa-im, or proceeding splendour, nor the proceeding
¦splendour subsist without the inherent splendour from which it
proceeds. " 4. That Christ [the Son] is eternal -with the Father, as the
proceeding splendour must necessarily be co-existent with the
inherent splendour. If the one therefore be uncreated, the other
is uncreated ; U the one be Eternal, the other is Eternal."
Here, then, we have the very doctrine which the Christian
Church has ever held concerning the Di"vinity of our blessed
Saviour, although the terms in which it is expressed are new
and pecuUar. The Doctor explains this important text as
referring to the Divine nature of the Son of God ; yet he drops
the title of " Son," which the inspired Apostle uses, and which
is expressive of nature, and substitutes for it the term " Christ,"
which is expressive of office. He declines to mention the " gene
ration " of the Son ; yet he speaks of Him, even in respect of
His Godhead, as " proceeding " from the Father. He speaks
of the First and Second Persons of the Holy Trinity under the
names of " Inherent Splendour,'' and " Proceeding Splendour ;"
and declares that in respect of Essence they are identical ;
and are both alike eternal. If these words have any meaning,
they mean that the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is an
Eternal Father ; and that our Lord Jesus Christ is an Eternal
Son ; " God of God, Light of Light, very God of very God,
begotten, not made, being of one substance with the Father.'"
Dr. Adam Clarke, therefore, here takes his place among the
advocates of the Nicene Faith ; and I hail his admission into
that honourable fraternity with a hearty cheer ; for with all his
eccentricities he was a true man.
Seven weeks after the death of Dr. Clarke, the Eev. Thomas
Stanley, then the Superintendent of 'the Sixth London Circuit,

Death of the Rev. Richard Watson. 261
¦suddenly departed this Ufe to enter upon his eternal rest in
heaven. He was returning home fr-om a visit to Mr. Charles
Wesley, a portrait of whose father he had borrowed for the
purpose of having an engraving taken from it, when he
was observed to stagger in the street, and almost immediately
¦expired. He was the first to bring me tidings of Dr. Clarke's
death, that I might report it in the Magazine, when I Uttle
thought that his own end was so near, and would so soon be a
.subject of mournful record in the same pages. He was a man
of peaceful temper and habits, affectionate in aU the relations
•of domestic lUe, faithful as a colleague and as the Superintendent
of a Circuit ; and, though not a popular preacher, his ministry
was edifying to beUevers, and owned of God in the conversion
of many people, especially in Cornwall, where he laboured in
early life.
A month after the death of Mr. Stanley, the Eev. John James,
one of the General Secretaries of the Wesleyan Missionary
Society, ended his useful career of ministerial service, and
passed to his final reward. Two days before he died he
preached in the City-Eoad chapel, when signs of languor,
¦and a few lapses of memory, were observed by the people
j)resent. On his return home apoplexy ensued, and his
useful life was soon terminated. He was an eloquent preacher,
a cheerful, generous, large-hearted, and friendly man, faithful,
upright, and therefore generaUy esteemed and beloved. Since
his death, two of his sons, both of them worthy of such a father,
have entered the Wesleyan ministry, and one of them has
foUowed him to heaven.
At the time of Mr. James's death the state of Mr. Watson's
-health was such as to create great uneasiness among his friends.
For many years he had been subject to an internal ailment,
the precise nature of which medical skUl failed to discover,
-and which no medicine could either remove *or alleviate.
Jlis paroxysms of pain were often terrible ; and they
inow became more fr-equent and agonizing. The conse-
.quence was a rapid decay of strength. Yet he lingered
-in great weakness, and occasionally in intense pain, till
January 8th, 1838, when he died in the faith and hope of the

262 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Gospel. Few men have been more honoured in their death
than was this remarkable man. His inteUect retained its
clearness and strength to the last ; his faith never lost its hold
of Christ in His mediatorial character ; his patience never
faUed ; his hope never wavered ; and with deep seU-abasement
and holy resignation he yielded up his spirit into the hands of
his Almighty and most mercUul Saviour. His remains were
interred in the City-Eoad burying-ground, and Mr. Bunting, at
the request of the famUy, preached and pubUshed a sermon on.
the occasion of his decease.
Plutarch has compared the characters of several dis
tinguished men, whose history he has recorded; and I cannot
but think that if a comparison were instituted between Eichard
Watson and his Ulustrious contemporary, Eobert HaU, the
result would redound to the honour of the Methodist Preacher.
They were both men of acknowledged genius, of extraordinary
intellectual power and acuteness, of briUiant imagination, of
refined taste, of comprehensive knowledge, of rich and com
manding eloquence; both were Nonconformist Ministers, and
men of the highest pulpit talent, who stood out from the gene
raUty of their ministerial brethren in bold relief. Both of them
were great sufferers from bodily pain. In the pulpit Mr. Wat
son was calm and recoUected, often betraying signs of bodUy
weakness. Mr. HaU's utterance was rapid, but his voice^
extremely feeble. Mr. HaU had the advantage of a regular-
academical education ; first at a Baptist CoUege, and after
wards in the University of Aberdeen, under the tuition of Dr.
George CampbeU, one of the most correct scholars of his age.
Mr. Watson enjoyed no such advantages ; but, after spending a
few years of his boyhood in classical studies, was apprenticed
to a carpenter, and sent to earn his bread by the sweat of his
brow ; so that his scholarship was mostly the result of his own.
dUigent and jinaided application, carried on in the midst of
numerous and pressing engagements. The Ufe of Mr. HaU was
a lUe of comparative leisure and retirement, having Uttle to
occupy bis attention beyond the pastoral charge of a small
Baptist church. For many years Mr. Watson's was eminently
a busy lUe; when he was appointed to Methodist CUcuits^

Richard Watson and Robert Hall : a Comparison. 263
preaching four or five times a week, — in large to"wns on the
Sunday, and in country villages on the week-nights ; and when
he sustained the office of Secretary to the Wesleyan Missionary
Society, spending the greater part of the day in the Mission-
House, reading and answering letters, watching over the
interests 'of distant missions, particularly those in the West
Indies, at a time when the planters were specially tenacious
of their human " property," and memorials to the Government
at home were almost constantly caUed for ; the lives and liberty
of the Missionaries being often in danger, and schemes being
perpetuaUy devised to deprive the Negroes of the benefit of
Christian instruction. His journeys were frequent, and often
long, railroads at that time being unknown ; for he was caUed
to attend Missionary meetings in different parts of the king
dom, and to preach Missionary sermons, the preparation of which
requUed time and care ; for an ordinary discourse from him
would have been scarcely tolerated at a Missionary anniversary.
Yet, in the midst of aU these occupations, he wrote many valuable
works in the exposition and defence of revealed truth, from
which thousands of readers have derived reUgious and
moral benefit, and unborn generations will be instructed and
edified. Whereas the productions of Mr. HaU's pen, which are
likely to be permanently read, are confined within a narrow
compass, and a Umited range of thought. In literary compo
sition Mr. Hall was careful and exact even to fastidiousness,
paying the nicest attention to the selection of his words, and
their collocation in a sentence. Mr. Watson was mainly atten
tive to things ; and his chief fault, as an author, was, that he
composed with rapidity, and scarcely ever would take due time
to transcribe and revise what he had written.
It is a fact worthy of record, that no man expressed a
more profound admiration of Mr. Watson's preaching than
Eobert HaU, who was always one of his hearers when
he visited Leicester. In these cases he invariably announced
to his own congregation the visitor's pulpit appointments, and
urged his own people to attend, describing Mr. Watson as one
of the most eminent preachers of the age. To Mr. Lessey;
whom he honoured with his friendship, he said, " Mr. Watson

264 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
soars into regions of thought where scarcely any human being
has ever ventured before."
The death of Mr. Watson placed me in new circumstances.
I seemed to have lost my right hand, and my labour and
responsibUity were greatly increased. I could no longer consult
him in cases of difficulty, nor rely upon him for an able review
of any important publication that might appear; and was there
fore compeUed to look into other quarters for help, or to rely
upon my own judgment. At the close of his life his mind was
in aU its maturity and vigour, prepared to pour forth its rich
stores of BibUcal and theological knowledge, which thousands
of grateful students and general readers were eager to receive.
But the Lord Christ, whose servant he was, saw gopd to termi-"
nate his useful labours ; and, instead of indulging in unavaUing
regrets, our thanks ought rather to be given for the amount of
service he was able to render to the cause of religion and
humanity, during the comparatively few and suffering years
that he was aUowed to spend upon the earth.
The copyright of his principal works he had aheady given to
the Conference for the use of the Connexion ; but he had left
in manuscript an Exposition of St. Matthew's Gospel, and of
some other detached parts of the New Testament, with a large
number of outlines of Sermons, and other papers, which were
deemed worthy of publication; and a biographical record of
him was expected as a matter of course, especiaUy by the
Methodist body, of which he had been so distinguished an
ornament. Eemembering his great liberaUty to the Connexioiij
with the, fact, that he had made no adequate provision for his
family, the Methodist Book-Committee offered to his represen
tatives the sum of two thousand pounds for his papers, in order
that a unUorm and handsome edition of his Works might be
published ; which was felt to be a just tribute to his memory,
and likely to be a lasting benefit to mankind.
The labour of preparing the manuscripts for the press, and
of superintending the printing of the whole of his Works, feU
upon me ; and in addition to this, I was requested to under
take the writing of his Life. Our first concern was to pubUsh
the Exposition of St. Matthew's Gospel, which the author had

A hidden inner Life. 265
revised with unusual care. It was therefore put to press with
out delay, and in the course of a few months appeared in a
large octavo volume ; certainly one of the finest specimens of
theological exposition in the EngUsh language. While many
other " Commentators each dark passage shun,
And hold their farthing candle to the sun,"
Mr. Watson resolved to grapple with every difficulty that he
might meet "with in aU its force, and to exhibit in all the
strength of their evidence, as far as in him lay, the great truths '
of the Gospel, as they are embodied in the evangelical records,
and especiaUy in the personal teaching of the Son of God. He
had intended to write an Exposition of the whole of the New
Testament. The Life of Mr. Watson was a great difficulty. The lead
ing events of what may be caUed his outer Ufe, it was easy to
relate ; but I had no documents that could enable me to trace
the progress of his studies, the manner in which he had
acquired those profound, comprehensive, and in some respects
original views of revealed truth, by the clear and forcible repre
sentation of which he was able from year to year to deUght,
astonish, and edUy his hearers, and which his writings so
amply unfold. His course of reading I was unable to record,
and also his method of study ; nor had I any means of dis
covering the state of his heart, at the various periods of bis life,
in respect of God, of Christ, and of the Holy Spirit. His
spiritual conflicts, victories, triumphs, and progress, he had not
disclosed in any memoranda to which I had access : I had no
means of tracing the steps by Which he had attained to that
eminence in piety of which he was an example ; that steadfast
faith ; those reaUzing views of God and eternity ; that Uvely
hope ; that fervent love to God and man ; tbat unfeigned
humility ; which his entire conduct for many years exhibited.
Fain would I have disclosed the workings of his mind and
heart ; but the means of doing this was withheld ; and I had
scarcely anything to guide me in the narrative besides published
documents : for when the disease which proved fatal assumed
its most formidable character, so that he felt he must die, he

266 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
destroyed a vast accumulation of papers, and among the rest in
aU probabiUty many that would have enabled me to describe the
state and workings of " the inner man." I made the best use
that I could of the scanty materials at my disposal ; but no one
is more sensible than myself that in the Memoirs of Richard Watson
is presented only an imperfect view of the inteUect, the piety, the
virtues, and the useful labours of that great and good man-
One advantage I had. I lived in habits of intimacy with him
many years, and conversed largely with him on theological
questions, and on public events ; so that I was no stranger to
his opinions and temper, and I can claim for the narrative of
his Ufe a character of truth, though not of completeness. Had
I been aware, during his lifetime, that I should ever be requested
to "write his biography, I should have proposed to him questions,
which after his decease no one was able to answer.
The volume appeared in the spring of 1834. A writer in the
Quarterly Review spoke of it in terms of commendation, and
promised an extended account of it in a future number,
apparently forgetful of the character of that periodical. This
pledge was, of course, never redeemed ; for Mr. Watson was a
Methodist Preacher; his biographer belonged to the same
obnoxious class ; the Quarterly Review had never borne a friendly
aspect towards Methodism; and in the early years of its
existence it was as bitterly hostile as its contemporary and
rival oi Edinburgh, The Conference, however, at its assembling,
passed the foUo-wing resolution: — "The cordial thanks of the
Conference are hereby presented to the Eev. Thomas Jackson,
for the ability, fidelity, and diligence with which he has ful
fiUed the general duties of his office as our Editor during the
past year ; for the very valuable and acceptable ' Memoirs of
the Life and Writings of the Eev. Eichard Watson,' compiled
at the request of our Book-Committee ; and for his kind and
disinterested presentation of the copyright of that work to the
Conference, for the benefit of the Connexion."
The personal character of Mr. Watson was so pure and
unexceptionable, and his public services as a preacher and
pastor, as a director of missions, and an author, were of such
importance, that his bipgraphy, with aU its defects, was wellL

Methodism and the Establishment. 267
received, and has been extensively read. Immediately after its
appearance my friend Isaac KeeUng said in a letter now lying
before me, " It is a book to be devoured at the first reading,
and to be judged of in the calmer mood of re-perusal. In the
hasty enjoyment of it which I have been able to indulge myself
¦with, I have not observed any thing improper, deficient, or
redundant; and have indeed been too delightfuUy feasted to-
Judge very critically of the feast."
In a letter to Mr. Mason the Eev. Jonathan Edmondson said,
" The Life of Watson is a fine composition. It shows the good.
taste of our Editor ; and, as a literary work, though rather too-
minute, is a rich treasure. But what a man was Watson t
When shall we see his Uke again ? "
When sending to me some papers for insertion in the
Methodist Magazine, Mrs. Brackenbury of Eaithby Hall added
as a postscript to her letter : "The Life of Watson surpasses
praise. That heart must be dead indeed that can read it with
out being touched, edified, deUghted. To God be aU the
glory I "
These and other testimonies, which came unsolicited and.
unexpected, afforded me encouragement, and led me to hopa
that in writing this volume I had not laboured altogether im
vain. It was a work that I had not sought, which was executed
under many other pressing engagements, and which I would
have gladly declined.
At the Conference of 1834 another attack was made upon me
in my character of Editor of the Methodist Magazine ; not indeed
so grave and formidable as that which was made at Liverpool,
two years before, but stiU annoying to a man of sensitive
temperament, who never exceUed in oral debate, and had
no aptitude for self-defence. One subject of public agita
tion which at this time was rUe in some parts of the country,
was the abolition of the Church of England as a National
EstabUshment, by its severance from the State ; and consider
able eagerness was manifested in some quarters to engage the
Methodists in this movement. Wishful to guard them against.
this snare, I reminded them in the Magazine of the relation in
which the two Wesleys stood to the Church, and of the profes-

268 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
sions which the Conference and the Connexion had invariably
made respecting her ; so that whatever might be the opinions
of individuals, as to the abstract question of an Ecclesiastical
Establishment, we could never, as a religious community, belie
our own professions, and those of our forefathers, nor dishonour
the name of our venerable Founder, by aUying ourselves with
the advocates of this revolutionary movement, among whom
there might indeed be good men, but it was notorious there
were avowed infidels.
The .Eev. Thomas Galland, sympathizing at that time, to
some extent, with the agitation, complained repeatedly during
the Conference of the manner in which the subject was treated
in the Magazine, intimating that Mr. Wesley, if he were alive,
would favour the movement ; for in his published sermons he
speaks of the union between the Church and the State as
"unnatural," and as having infected the Church wit ] hea
thenism." As he would not let the matter rest, but referred to
it again and again, assuming a tone of authority, and charging
me with a departure from Mr. Wesley's principles, I felt myself
bound at last to accept his challenge. I adduced several pas
sages from Mr. Wesley's writings in which he declares his
strong and conscientious attachment to the Church of England,
" as by law established ; " and observed, that while he com
plained of the abuses in the Church, and of the defective
manner in which it fulfils its mission to the people at large, he
never ascribes these evUs to its union "with the State, and never
caUs for a separation of one from the other. As to the pas
sages in his Sermons, upon which so much stress was laid, I
endeavoured to show that they are explained by corresponding
paragraphs in his " Ecclesiastical History," where he speaks of
the union which Constantino effected between the Christian
Church and the civU constitution of Pagan Eome ; when
ieathen temples were made Christian sanctuaries, and heathen
rites were incorporated with the pure forms of Christian wor
ship ; the changes which were then introduced at length
issuing in the abominations of Popery, the errors and super-
¦stitions of which are nearly aU of heathen origin . This view of Mr.
Wesley's Sermons and " Ecclesiastical History " is ccnfirmedj as

The Rev. Thomas Galland, A.M. 269*
I proceeded to show, from the dates of these pubUcations,
which made their appearance nearly at the same time. The
argument occupied nearly an hour in the delivery ; and
I concluded by a quotation from a pamphlet written a few
years before by Mr. Galland himself, in which he used even
stronger words than I had done on the friendly relation between
the Methodist Connexion and the Established Church, the
disturbance of which he then earnestly deprecated. After hearing
Mr. Galland's accusation and my defence, the Conference
passed the following Eesolution, which appeared in the printed.
Minutes : —
"The Conference gladly takes the present opportunity
of publicly expressing its entire satisfaction with the great
principles which have been ably and faithfully maintained,
during the past year, in the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine, under
Mr. Jackson's superintendence ; and requests that he -wUl take
the earliest opportunity of printing, in such form as he may
judge expedient, the substance of the statement which he has
made to the Conference, in illustration and defence of those
principles, and of the real sentiments and conduct of Mr.
Wesley, and of the Conference since Mr. Wesley's removal
from the bead of our Body, in relation to the Established
Church of Great Britain and Ireland, and to certain questions
connected therewith."
After this discussion in the Conference, Mr. GaUand came to
me, and said, " It would have been far better. Brother Jackson,.
for you and me to have had a private conversation on the sub
ject at issue between us, rather than tbat it should have been
brought before the Conference." "As to that matter," I
replied, " I entirely agree with you ; and you wUl bear me wit
ness, that I was compelled to speak in self-defence. You
assailed me again and again, without any provocation on my
part." " Well," said he, " after all, there is no great differ
ence bet-ween us. But how came you to remember that pam
phlet of mine ? " I had a sincere respect for Mr. Galland, as
a scholar, a man of strong intellect, an instructive and edifying-
preacher, and a faithful pastor of the flock ; but his mind, at this
particular period, was warped in favour of principles which he-

"270 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
-did not generaUy avow. I respected him also because of his
descent. His mother was a Sancton lady, whom I distinctly
remember as residing there before her marriage, and as being
one of the most elegant horsewomen in the neighbourhood. A
few years afterwards Mr. GaUand died suddenly in Hull, his
native town, where he was esteemed and loved, as a good man,
and a good minister of Jesus Christ.
As the Conference requested the publication of the substance
of my speech, I began with all speed to prepare it for the press,
omitting all aUusion to Mr. Galland, whose censures had called
it forth, and adapting it to the state of public feeling which
then prevailed. ,' It was intended to guard the Methodist
Societies generally from joining in the crusade against the
EstabUshed Church, to which they were earnestly invited ; but
which would have been perilous to their piety ; for it would, in
many instances, not only have inflamed their passions, but
have brought them into direct intercourse with infidels and
scoffers ; and it would have been no less dishonourable to the
memory of Mr. Wesley, into whose labours they had entered.
The pamphlet speedily passed to a third edition, " numbering
good intellects," though the times have changed, and it is " now
seldom pored on." It is entitled, " The Church and the Meth
odists. The Principles and Conduct of Mr. Wesley, and of
the EeUgious Connexion founded by him, in regard to the
Church of England : being the substance of a Speech addressed
to the Wesleyan Conference, on Tuesday, August 12th, 1834,
and published at the request of that Body."
The caU of the Conference for the publication of this pam-
- phlet was not the only act of the Methodist Preachers then
assembled which showed a friendly disposition towards the
Established Church, and a resolution to discountenance in the
¦^Connexion aU hostile demonstrations intended to effect its
¦overthrow. One Minister, who had entered upon a course
of pubhc agitation for the separation of the Cburch from the
State, and had been placed under suspension on that account by
his District Meeting, was required, as the condition of his con
tinuance in the Body, to desist from the course he had chosen.

Assaults on the Methodistic Tenets and Economy. 271
He determined rather to be a political agitator than a Methodist
Preacher, and therefore withdrew.
Yet these acts of the Conference failed entirely to soften the
spirits of High Churchmen, and produce a reciprocal feeUng
towards their Methodist neighbours ; so that the hope of a kind
lier understanding between the Methodist body and the Estab
Ushed Church, in which some persons had indulged,
was entirely, and to all appearance for ever, cut off. The
Tractarian party arose in Oxford, claiming for ministers who
had received Episcopal ordination the exclusive right to preach
the Gospel, and to administer the Christian sacraments ; pro
nouncing all other ministers, Presbyterian, Independent, Baptist,
and Methodist, schismatics and intruders into the sacred office,
whose services therefore are unauthorized and unblessed. The
Methodists especially were objects of attack. Dr. Pusey and
others published offensive misrepresentations of their tenets
and character ; and when they died, several of the clergy
refused them the rites of Christian burial.
At the same time, the ¦ Christian Observer, and the Christian
Guardian, the organs of Evangelical Churchmen, and the
British Magazine, and the British Critic, the organs of the
orthodox party in the Church, rivaUed each other in hostUity
to the Methodist Conference and people, indulging themselves
in such a course of vituperation and invective, as if they had
forgotten that every man is bound to " speak truth to his neigh-
Isour," and that " charity " is an essential element in the
reUgion which the Son of God came to teach. Methodism had
its separate places of worship, and professed instrumentally to
conduct men to heaven without the general use of the Liturgy,
«:nd "witbout Episcopal ordination ; and therefore evils of the
worst kind were aUeged against its tenets, economy, and
^adherents, by men who professed to be the advocates of the
only true reUgion.
It is, however, gratifying to state that although clerical hos
tility to Wesleyan Methodism at this period was bitter and
¦general, it was not universal. Two honourable exceptions I
wiU mention. Archdeacon Dealtry at this time published a
•Charge to the Clergy, with a copious appendix, in which he

272 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
made respectful mention of the Methodist Conference, and
introduced large extracts from my speech, with strong
expressions of approval. At the same time I received a letter
from the Eev. George Pearson, B.D., Christian Advocate in the
University of Cambridge, and author of a valuable work on
the canonical authority of the Eevelation of St. John, present
ing to me another of his publications, and thanking me for my
pamphlet. He says, " My more immediate object is to thank
you for the admirable speech which you deUvered in the Wes
leyan Conference. My attention was directed to it by an extract
which appeared in the St. James's Chronicle, upon which I pro
cured it ; and I cannot help expressing my gratification at its
perusal."  " I believe that Southey's Life of Wesley, defec
tive as it is in many respects, was the first to open the eyes of
the Church of England to the real character of the Wesleyan
body : but I am sure that their recent conduct wiU prevent aU
mistake for the future."  "I Uved from 1818 to 1825 at
Chester, which is on the border of a district where the Wes
leyans are very numerous ; and I was no stranger to the
exemplary and loyal conduct of many of their Ministers at the
time when great distress and agitation prevailed in the manu
facturing districts."  "I am now reading with great pleasure
the Life of Mr. Watson. I had conceived a very high opinion
of his talents from the time that I read his Observations on
Southey's Life of Wesley. Such a man must" be a great loss to
you. I could not help expressing to you my feelings on this
subject ; but you may be aware that your good feeUngs, and
those of so many of your friends, are not thrown away upon
many of us."
Meanwhile, Dissenters were not a whit less hostile either in
their spirit or language than the most intolerant Churchmen.
Dr. Eeed, Dr. Styles, Mr. Isaac Taylor, Mr. Josiah Conder,
the Congregational Magazine, and a Dissenting newspaper, all
opened their batteries against Wesleyan-Methodism, provoked
by its anti-Calvinistical theology, audits Connexional economy :
its adherents held the doctrine of General Eedemption, and of
Conditional Predestination, and its Ministers and Societies
formed one compact and united body. To cover them with

The Theologiccd Institution commenced at Hoxton, 273
odium, therefore, as heterodox in their belief, and to break up
the Connexion, by persuading the Societies to renounce their
union with the Conference, and assume the form of inde
pendent churches, were objects which the Dissenting press
laboured with great earnestness to accomplish. Thus Church
men and Dissenters, in these times of party zeal, partially for
getful of their own differences, united in a crusade against
Wesleyan-Methodism, adopting, as if by mutual consent, the
cry of the chUdren of Edom, " Ease it, rase it, even to the
foundation thereof ! "
The twelve months which foUowed the Conference of 1834
were a season of sore trial to the Methodist Connexion, exposed
as it was to "fears within," as well as to "fightings without."
After much deUberation and patient thought, the Conference
resolved, in concurrence with the most faithful and inteUigent
of the lay members of the Connexion, to adopt a plan for the
mental improvement of its junior Ministers : a measure the
neglect of which had long been painfuUy felt, and which ought
to have been brought into operation many years before.
Premises were taken at Hoxton, where the Theological Institu
tion was commenced ; Mr. Entwisle, an aged Minister, anij an
eminent example of Christian godUness, being appointed to
take the pastoral oversight of the students. Dr. Hannah their
theological training, and an Irish preacher, a graduate of
Trinity CoUege, DubUn, their tuition in the classical and
mathematical departments. Dr. Samuel Warren, who had
been a member of the preparatory Committee, and had con
curred in the various arrangements, finding that one of his
nominations was not accepted, and that no office wa6 assigned
to him in the establishment, suddenly veered round, and
declared his disapproval of the entire scheme. As it was pro
posed that the Missionaries should enjoy the benefit of the
Institution before they entered upon their public work, the
Doctor caUed upon the Missionary CoUectors in the First Man
chester Circuit, of which he was the Superintendent, to with
hold their services, and the subscribers to .withhold their contri
butions, because a part of the money raised was to be thus
appUed ; just as if the preparation of men for the efficient

274 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
discharge of their official duties abroad were not as important
as their outfit, their conveyance across the sea, and their
support in their work : many of them having to acquire difficult
foreign languages, to translate the Holy Scriptures, and to
provide a Uterature for savage tribes. Other men, bent upon
mischief, and thinking that this was a convenient opportunity
for revolutionizing the system of Wesleyan-Methodism, so as to
give it a democratic character, joined the Doctor's standard;
a " Central Association " was organized, money was collected,
pamphlets were published, public meetings were held, agents
were sent forth to agitate, and every means employed to bring
the authorities of the Connexion into disrepute. To a consider
able extent the public mind was at that time unsettled;
Parliamentary Eeform, as it was caUed, had been recently
carried; the national Legislature had been deprived of its
pm-ely Protestant character; and some people thought that
similar extensive changes should be introduced into Methodism
under the plausible name of " Eeform." The estabUshment of
the Theological Institution, for the inteUectual and spiritual
improvement of the Methodist ministry at home and abroad,
was made a pretext for overthrowing the discipUne which Mr.
Wesley had been careful to form, not as matter of theory,
but of practical utUity, and for substituting — the parties
knew not what. Their object was to puU down: what they
should build up, they had not considered ; nor whether they
should be able to build up anything.
In aU cases of this kind, when pubUc clamour takes the
place of Christian order, the evil that ensues is irreparable.
Infidels and scoffers triumph ; " the lame are turned out of the
way;" persons who are but imperfectly instructed in the
subject of reUgion are stunned and confounded; irreligious
men are hardened in sin ; devout persons weep in secret places,
while they are made the " song of the drunkard." Nor is
it to this world only that the mischief is confined. Evil
speaking and maUgnant tempers are to be answered for in a
future state.
The proceedings of Dr. Warren in this matter wUl admit of
no excuse. He had not formed the First Manchester Circuit,

J)r, Wai-ren's Appeal to the Court of Chancery rejected. 275
into which he introduced every element of disorder. The
chapels were not buUt by him ; nor had he collected the con
gregations, or organized the Societies that were connected with
them. All this had been done by the liberality and hard toil
of other men, many of whom were gone to their reward in
heaven. The right to occupy the pulpits of these chapels,
and the pastoral care of these people, he had received as a
sacred trust ; and now he used the powers that had been
conferred upon him for purposes directly opposite to those
for which he knew they had been given, and for which he
had tacitly pledged himself to use them. A more sad and
lamentable violation of a religious trust it would be difficult
to conceive.
This part of his conduct acquired a special aggravation from
the course which he had himself pursued. A few years before
these events he was stationed in Scotland, as a Methodist
Preacher ; and whUe there, instead of devoting aU his time to
ministerial aud pastoral duties, he entered himseU- as a student
in one of the Universities, to the mortification of the people
who regarded him as one of their Pastors, and who saw him
flaunting in the streets in the habiUments of a mere tyro. In
this manner he acquired his scholarship and academical degrees ;
and now he came forward to prevent the candidates for the
Wesleyan ministry from receiving any educational preparation
before their entrance upon the momentous duties of their office.
He himseU had pubhcly dishonoured his pastoral character for
the sake of the acquisition of learning, and then protested against
the provision that was made for conferring upon other men, in
a manner the most unexceptionable, the very advantage he had
•obtained by means which gave deep offence to the people of his
¦charge. Justly was he put upon his trial before the District Com
mittee to which he was amenable, and placed under suspen
sion for these his misdoings, such as no Methodist Preacher
had ever indulged in before. He then tried to subvert the dis
cipUne of the Body by an appeal to the Court of Chancery,
hopingi that a secular Court would sanction him in the viola
tion pf those rules which he had pledged himseU before God.
X 2

276 Recollections of my own Life a7icl Times.
and man to observe. In this he was disappointed ; his appeaP
being rejected, first by the Viee-Chancellor ShadweU, and after
wards by the Lord Chancellor Lyndhurst, both of whom declared
that the recognized discipUne of the Connexion had been faith
fuUy administered in the case.
When his appeal was argued before the Vice-Chancellor, I
was on a visit to my daughter on the continent ; but when it.
was heard before Lord Lyndhurst in the higher Court, and
when he gave judgment, I was present. In both cases the
excitement in the Connexion was deep and general; for how
secular judges would view the rules of Methodism, dra"wn up by
unprofessional men,, and intended to guard and foster spiritual'
religion, was felt to be uncertain. Sir Lancelot ShadweU was
known as a religious man ; but Lord Lyndhurst, at that time,
was regarded mainly as one of the ablest statesmen and
lawyers of the age. Many fears, as to his decision, were enter
tained whUe the case was argued before him, because of the
frequent interruptions which he gave to the Counsel who were
opposed to Dr. Warren. He was slow in his attempt to under
stand the case, but came in the end to the right conclusion.
His judgment occupied an hour within a few minutes in
deUvery. In this important affair the Trustees of the Oldham-
Street chapel in Manchester acted a noble part in upholding
the discipUne of the Connexion.
The Conference of 1835 was held in Sheffield, and after the-
events of the year many eyes were directed to that assembly,
anxious to know whether it would uphold Methodist rule and'
order, or yield to the senseless clamour which had been raised
by the agitators. A large number of the most respectable lay
men of Methodism, trustees of chapels and others, from all
parts of the kingdom, met in Sheffield at the same time, assur
ing the Conference of their determination to stand by it in the
maintenance of the Methodist discipline, in opposition to the
destructive projects of disaffected men ; and others, in great num
bers, who could not personally attend, affixed their signaturesi
to a Declaration to the same effect. Thus sustained by their
own people, there was no reason to fear that the Ministers.
would be unfaithful to their trust.

Faithfulness of the Conference to its Trust. 277
Having failed in the Court of Chancery, Dr. Warren made his
last appeal to the Conference, whose power he had attempted
to overthrow, claiming stiU to be acknowledged as a member of
the Body. AU right to such an appeal he had on various
¦grounds clearly forfeited, yet it was conceded to him; and
surely never did any man who had assumed the character of a
-" reformer," in which he had figured in pubUc meetings, appear
in more piteous guise. He wished to remain a Methodist
Preacher, and a member of the Conference which he had
bitterly maUgned, and whose constitution he had laboured to
subvert. He could produce absolutely nothing in justification
of his past conduct, nor assign any reason why he should be
trusted in future. He was, of course, righteously severed from
a Connexion of which he had proved himseU unworthy.
Dr. Warren was not in himseU an unamiable and violent
man, but he was hurried on by other parties, who flattered him
«,nd made him their tool ; and when they found that he could
do nothing more in furtherance of their revolutionary schemes,
they abandoned him, and left him to his fate. He was not
strong-minded, nor were his general habits turbulent; but
when he became a " Doctor," he thought himself greater than
he reaUy was ; so that flattery and vanity proved his ruin. I
inew him weU, and cherished for him a very sincere respect till
the Conference of 1834, when he entered upon his downward
career. I once observed to a very sensible lady, a near relation
of his, that for several years he maintained a highly respect
able character in the Connexion ; and that, had he per-
«evered as he thus began, there can be no doubt that he would
have been made the President of the Conference. " Had
he beUeved that," said she, "he would never have turned
agitator." After his expulsion, and the abandonment of him
by his "re-forming" associates, he succeeded in obtaining
ordination from the Bishop of Chester, dragged out a feeble
ministerial lUe, and died in comparative obscurity. As an
orderly Methodist preacher he was respectable and respected ;
but in no other pubhc character did he appear to any
advantage. At -this Conference, (1835,) whUe many faithful laymen of

278 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Methodism lent their aid in maintaining the disciplinary action
of the Body, several other persons appeared in Sheffield, claim
ing to be delegates from various Circuits, sent to demand
important changes, in its economy. They addressed a memorial
to the Conference, requesting to be informed when it would be
convenient to admit them to an interview, in order to the settle
ment of the questions which they were prepared to moot. To
this memorial the Conference repUed that they had received no
official intelligence from any Circuit of such appointments ; and
that in the absence of proof they could receive no man, and
much less a body of men, in any such character. The leading
men among these self-styled " delegates," having no such evi
dence to adduce as that which was demanded, left Sheffield
without delay, feeling doubtless the ridiculousness of their
position ; being also taught never in future to assume the office
and dignity of diplomatists in behaU of pubUc bodies without
furnishing themselves with the requisite credentials ; aware
that a scrutiny might be instituted, and they have to retire
with shame, ha"ving their useless protocols in their pockets.
After a storm at sea the waves are not wont immediately to
subside into perfect calmness ; and after Dr. Warren had been
dismissed, and his officious friends rebuked, the effects of
their misdoings were felt for some time. At the Confer
ence next ensuing, which was held in Birmingham, it was
found that in some of the dependent Circuits the usual pecu-^
niary contributions had to some extent been withheld, so as ta
have subjected the preachers and their famUies to painful aud
even distressing privations. In such cases, when some men
fail in then- duty, the virtues of others are called forth, so that
the intended mischief is neutralized. When the Committee of the
Contingent Fund assembled preparatory to the Conference, it was
found that all the claims which were made upon it could not be
adequately met ; preachers and their famiUes having in some
cases been denied the necessaries of Ufe. Mr. George ChappeU
of Manchester was a member of this Committee; and when
cases of this kind were reported, he announced a sum
of money, which he would himself advance to supply the defi
ciency. After the morning sitting of the Committee he said to

Mr. George Chappell's Christian Generosity. 279
me, " I shaU not be able to attend the evening sitting; but if
you will watch the cases, as I have done, and when you think
the grants insufficient, especiaUy when the famUies of the
preachers have suffered, promise such sums as you deem requi
site, I -wiU be answerable for the entire amount." I was
happy in fulfiUing his commands, and have great pleasure in
placing upon record this act of Christian generosity. WhUe
some men of set purpose withheld the "cup of cold water"
from the disciples of Christ, he went out of his way to supply
their lack of service. George ChappeU was ne-ver raised to the
peerage by an act of royal favour, but he was one of nature's
noblemen ; raised to the highest order of his class by the grace
of his Saviour.
Amidst these troubles the complete and uniform edition of
Mr. Watson's Works, which was passing through the press,
required my ceaseless attention ; and Mr. GaUand's attack upon
me in the Conference showed the jealousy with which the editor
ship of the Magazine was watched, "with the care which was
therefore necessary to render it both interesting and instructive,
and to preserve its Wesleyan character. The Works of Mr.
Watson extended to twelve pctavo volumes ; the first of which
was published in 1834, and the last in 1837. They have been
extensively read, and have greatly contributed, by God's blessing,
to the maintenance in the Wesleyan body of sound views of
revealed truth, whUe rash and unauthorized speculations have
prevaUed to a fearful extent in some other Christian commu
nities, to the injury of spiritual religion. The characteristics
of his writings are, an absolute deference to the authority of
Holy Scripture, and a spirit eminently devout and reverent.
After the death of Mr. Watson, I found an able and wiUing
feUow-helper in the Eev. George Cubitt, who was then stationed
in London. He was a weU-read man, possessed of extensive
information, kindly in his disposition, thoroughly orthodox,
decided in his attachment to the Wesleyan theology and dis
cipUne, which he weU understood. He lent me efficient help in
the review department of the Magazine, and in the transcrip
tion of Mr. Watson's manuscripts ; a work which required both
care and judgment. He was an able advocate of the truth, and

280 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
BO gentle in bis spirit, that it would have been difficult to engage
him in a personal quarrel. Dr. Beecham and the Eev. George
Osborn also lent their friendly aid in the review of books, and
thus enhanced the value of the Magazine, as an organ of Uterary
intelUgence, and an advocate of truth.
Having at various periods of Ufe derived great benefit from
the writings of John Goodwin, I resolved to republish three of
his Theological Works, in one volume, under the foUo"wing title :
" An Exposition of the Ninth Chapter of the Epistle to the
Eomans. With the Banner of Justification Displayed. By
John Goodwin, M.A. To which is added, EIPHNOMAXIA:
The Agreement and Distance of Brethren. With a Preface.
1835." The " Exposition " contained in this volume is one of
the ablest specimens of BibUcal interpretation that ever appeared
in the English language, and contains several profound theo
logical disquisitions ; the " Banner of Justification " presents
a more comprehensive view of the aU-unportant subject of Justifi
cation than perhaps any other writer has supplied in the same
compass ; and the other tract is an exhibition in miniature of the
entire quinquarticular controversy, specifying the precise points
on which the disciples of Arminius differ from those of Calvin,
with some of the principal reasons of their dissent. These tracts
were aU extremely scarce, and by the repubUcation of them I
felt that I was supplying a valuable addition to the Ubrary of a
theological student. To me, when I was prosecuting my
youthful studies, such a volume would have been an inesti
mable boon. No one can read this " Exposition of the Ninth
Chapter of the Epistle to the Eomans " with candour and due
attention, and withhold his assent to the statement of Calamy
respecting the writer : " He had a clear head, a penetrating spirit,
and a marvellous faculty in descanting on Scripture." Dr. Pearson,
whom I have already mentioned as a member of the University of
Cambridge, having sent me one of his pubUcations, I forwarded
to him a copy of my reprint of Goodwin's Exposition, and of
the tracts connected with it. From his answer I learned, what,
I before suspected, that the Arminian Puritan was scarcely
known among the clergy, even those of them who made divinity
their special study. He said in his first letter: "From the

Goodwin's Expositimi of Romans ix. : Correspondence. 281
perusal of your Preface, and just casting my eye over the
contents of the volume, I am sure that it must be an interesting
and most valuable work. The subject itseU wUl make it so to
me. Not aU the talents and learning and piety by which it has
been supported, have ever been able to reconcile me to the
opposite doitrine ; nor have the explanations by which its
difficulties have been attempted to be got rid of, ever reconciled
it to my mind. And anything which can serve to clear up to
common minds the argument contained in the ninth chapter
of the Epistle to the Eomans, is very valuable. ¦ I am engaged
this year — my office obliging me — ^in a work on the canonical
authority, the prophetical character, and the inspiration of the
Apocalypse. The subject was suggested to me by an article in
the Edinburgh Review on the subject of my pamphlet, in which
the Eeviewer, amidst other ribaldry, asked whether the Christian
Advocate was not aware that most divines of authority either
doubted or denied the canonicity and inspiration of the Apoca
lypse. Of course I did [not] think it necessary to answer such stuff ;
bnt it did occur to me that it might be useful, if I could produce
something readable on that difficult and interesting subject."
In a subsequent letter he says, in referring to Goodwin's
volume : " At the time I received it I was so occupied with my
book on the Apocalypse, that I was unable to undertake it ;
and my mind and time were so employed with that subject, till I
got clear of the press, that I was unable to look at it. However,
I read it twice over with great pleasure. It certainly is one of
the most powerful works I ever read ; and the dissertation on
the case of Pharaoh is a most masterly and satisfactory per
formance, — to select one out of many very exceUent parts. The
two treatises annexed to the ' Exposition ' are very valuable. The
last contains a very valuable summary of the points at issue
between the Calvinists and their opponents. I hope to make
myseU acquainted with his other works."
As I had derived no smaU amount of instruction from the
writings of Dr. Edward Burton, the Eegius Professor of Divinity
in the University of Oxford, I took the hberty of sending him
also a copy of Goodwin's " Exposition," and received from him
the foUowing letter : —

282 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
" Oxford, February 10th, 1835.

">

"I AM much concerned to see your letter lying before me
with the date of January 29th ; and to think that you may have
been feeUng surprise at my having taken no notice of it, and
of your very kind present. The fact is, that I have been staying
rather longer than usual at my Uving in the country, and the
book was not forwarded to me, so that I have only met with it
to-day. I should have Uked to have looked it through before
I wrote to thank you for having sent it me ; but I know very
weU that the business of the term wiU not aUow me to read it
for a long time ; and I must put it by till I return again to my
parochial retirement at Easter. I could not, however, resist
looking through your Preface, and I expect to be much inter
ested in the volume ; for the exposition which Goodwin seems
to have given of Eomans ix. is exactly that which I have
ventured to give to several successive classes of pupUs. The
works of Goodwin are at present unknown to me ; and I. look
forward to deriving much pleasure as weU as information from
the perusal of them.
" I rather infer from your letter that you have seen my two
volumes upon the ecclesiastical history of the first three centu
ries ; but you may not happen to possess them ; and I should
take it as an additional act of kindness, if you would aUow me
to present you with a copy of them. I would have sent them
at once ; but I did not wish to trouble you vrith a duplicate ;
and you wUl perhaps have the goodness to send me a Une.
" I remain, Eev. Sir, yours very faithfuUy, E. BUBTON."
Eight days after J;he date of this letter I received another
from this learned and friendly man ; in which he says, " I have
great pleasure in having ordered a copy of my Bampton Lectures
to be sent to you, which I hope you wiU receive in a few days ;
if you should not do so, I would thank you to jog Eivington's
memory, as he is apt to be careless in such matters. You
mentioned my Bampton Lectures, or the Testimonies of the
Ante-Nicene Fathers; and I would have asked you to accept a

Catholicity exemplified. 283
copy of both, but the latter work was printed by the Delegates
of the Press, and I have not any more copies at my disposal.
If you ever visit this place, I hope you wiU aUow me the grati
fication of becoming personaUy acquainted with you."
Such was the kind and catholic spirit of this very able
advocate of Christian orthodoxy, forming a perfect contrast to
the Tractarian bitterness which other parties plentUuUy poured
forth upon their Methodist contemporaries.

CHAPTER XVI.
thied teem op editobship — appointment op an assistant editob, the
eev. geoege cubitt — editoeial woek: "lives op eaely methodist
peeachees;" " libbaby op cheistian bioqbaphy;" etc. — publication
op the pamphlet "the wesleyans vindicated," etc. — elected peesi-
dent of the confeeence (1838) — pbeaching an official sebmon —
celebeation op the centenaey of methodism — the centenaey sebmon
and the centenary volume — -visit to pabents at sancton — pleas.1nt
days at oakwoeth  meeting in manchestee foe making aeeange-
ments in bepeeenoe to the centenaey movement — pbincely
giving — deputation and meetings — impeessive scene in the chapel
at eedbuth — ^lettee op the eev. joseph entwisle dbsceieing
meetings at tadcastee and pocklington — letteb of sib lancelot
shadwell — ^visit to scotland; an uncivil coaoh-guaed; abebdeen;
aebeoath; a pithy saying of john knox — the centenaey conpeeence,
liveepool (1839) — centenaey sebmon; delivbby ; publication j tes
timonies to its value — eemabks on ihe centenaey celebeation and
its benefits.
AT the Conference of 1836 the second period of editorial
service assigned me ended, and I was requested to accept
a reappointment. To this I objected, unless I might have a
coUeague, and made a statement to that effect. The truth is,
I was overworked, having for twelve years stood alone under a
heavy burden of responsibility, and passed through an amount
¦of labour which was too much for any one man ; confining me
generally to my desk from an early hour in the morning tUl
late in the evening, with scarcely any time for exercise in the
open air ; and often causing me to retire to rest with feverish
symptoms, an aching head, and a disinclination to sleep. The
¦consequences were successive attacks of neuralgia, erysipelas,
indigestion, spasms in the stomach, and at length gout. The
last ailment was slow and gradual in its approaches, but at
length was formidable in its character, producing often an
utter inability either to walk or stand, and attended by
excruciating pain. This frightful disease appeared to abate

Appointment of an assistant Edilor. 285
the other complaints ; but it was a desperate remedy, and con
vinced me that unless I could be reUeved so as to be able to
take exercise in the open air, my life would be unavoidably
shortened. My plea, supported by such reasons, was success
ful ; and after toiUng long and single-handed, the Conference
gave me an efficient assistant in Mr. Cubitt, with whom I
laboured in unbroken harmony for six years more. On this
occasion the Conference passed the foUowing resolution : —
" The Eev. Thbmas Jackson, having completed the second
term of six years as our Editor, is unanimously reappointed to
that office ; and the Eev. George Cubitt is appointed assistant
Editor for the ensuing year, according to the plan and regula
tions recommended by the Book-Committee in their Minutes,
now laid before the Conference, and entered in our Journal."
This arrangement was to me a great relief, but it did not ga
to the extent I desired. I pleaded hard that my coUeague
might be regarded as joint Editor, so that he might share the
responsibility with me ; but this point the Conference would
not concede. I was stUl held responsible for aU that passed
through the Wesleyan press, and therefore corbelled to read
every thing that was pubUshed at the Conference Office, and to
read with care. Yet it was a mighty advantage to have a
coUeague always at hand, on whom I might daily rely, instead
of being under the necessity of seeking casual aid from men
who were themselves occupied with their own appropriate
duties, and therefore often unable to undertake any additional
service. To Mr. Cubitt was assigned the general editorship of the
" Youth's Instructor." He also furnished original articles for
the Magazine, and wrote several smaU volumes of permanent
interest and value ; some of them historical, and others on
Scripture subjects, adapted to family reading and personal edifi
cation. He did not observe fixed hours of study, but he
was, nevertheless, a hard worker, on whom I could rely in
any emergency: and being thus relieved, I turned my
attention to the preparation of such books as were Ukely
to promote the inteUectual, reUgious, and moral benefit of the
Methodist people.

286 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
When Mr. Watson's Works were completed, I prepared for
pubUcation a small volume under the title of " The Christian
Armed against Infidehty. A CoUection of Tracts in Defence of
Divine Eevelation. 1837." The volume contains Porteus's
" Beneficial Effects of Christianity on the Temporal Condition
of Mankind;" his " Summary of the Principal E"vidences for
the Truth and Divine Origin of the Christian Eevelation ; "
Bishop Taylor's " Moral Demonstration of the Truth of the
Christian Eeligion ; " LesUe's " Short and Easy Method with
the Deists;" and Dr. Mason's "Conversation with a Young
TraveUer." My object in the compilation was to produce a
manual adapted to the use of young people, especiaUy senior
boys belonging to Sunday-schools, when they leave those insti
tutions, and enter upon the duties and trials of life, and are
likely to meet with men who would persuade them to
renounce aU faith in Moses and the Prophets, Christ and His
Apostles. My next attempt to serve the Connexion, through the medium
of the press, was the pubUcation of the "Lives of Early
Methodist Preachers," in three duodecimo volumes. These
fiimple and unpretending narratives were mostly written by the
Preachers themselves, in letters addressed to Mr. Wesley. To
the general reader they are important, as showing the manner
in which the men were trained, whose ministrations were
mainly instrumental in effecting a vast moral and reUgious
revolution in the country. Befoire they were accepted by Mr.
Wesley as feUow-labourers, they gave proof of personal con
version to God, and could explain from their own experience
the nature and method of salvation, as weU as from Scripture
testimony. These men, who went forth to caU sinners to
repentance, had themselves felt its sorrows; .and as to the
peace, joy, and hoUness, which are consequent upon a vital
faith in Christ, they uttered no vain theory, and no mere
report which they had heard from others, or learned from
books, but spoke out of the fulness of their hearts ; saying in
effect, —

Literary Undertakings. 287
" What we have felt and seen
"With confidence we tell.
And publish to the sons of men
The signs infallible."
To Methodists these volumes must possess an undying
interest. They show what Methodist Preachers were in
the time of the Wesleys, and what Methodist Preachers must
•ever be, as to their spirit, self-denial, and holy zeal, if they
woiUd maintain in perpetuity the revival of spiritual religion
which their fathers witnessed, — for the furtherance of which
they laboured and suffered, and were wiUing even to die. The
" Lives " are thirty-seven in number. The first volume was
pubUshed in 1837, and the last in 1838.
My next literary project was a " Library of Christian
Biography," which extended to twelve small volumes, and con
tains a considerable amount of ci"vil and ecclesiastical history,
as weU as of personal incident and adventure. The work was
intended especially for the use of young people, of private
famiUes, and for the libraries of Sunday-schools. It presents
many fine examples of Christian godliness in Protestant
Eeformers, Episcopalians, Presbyterians, Puritans, Independ
ents, Baptists, and Methodists, English and American, laymen
and Ministers. The " Lives " are mostly abridged from larger
works, some of which are rarely to be met with, divested of the
parts which are the least interesting, and adapted to popular
use. The first volume of the series bears the date of 1837, and
the last of 1840. The work contains the Lives of thirty-two
persons, among whom are three ladies, Mrs. Eowe, Lady Betty
Hastings, and Mrs. Agnes Beaumont, a personal friend of John
Bunyan. Among the minor services which I was caUed to render about
this time was the writing of prefaces to Mr. Hare's " Treatise
on Justification," Watts's " Death and Heaven," and the " LUe
of Miss Hannah Ball," and the conducting of these volumes
through the press. I felt it my duty also to publish an octavo
pamphlet of thirty-two closely-printed pages, under the title of
" The Wesleyans Vindicated from the Calumnies contained in
a Pamphlet entitled, ' The Church of England compared with

288 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Wesleyan Methodism,' and recommended by the British Maga
zine for General Distribution : in a Dialogue between a Church
man and a Methodist. 1839." Two large impressions of this
tract were sold in a few days, and a third was caUed for. The
pamphlet to which it was an answer professed to have been
written by a Clergyman, and was published by a house in
London, which dealt mostly in books written by Churchmen of
the Evangelical school ; and strenuous attempts were made ta
press it upon the public attention, by engaging aU classes of
Church-people in the distribution of it. Seldom has such a
tissue of falsehood and intolerance issued from the press, Ucen
tious as the press has often been. It was with great reluctance
that I -wrote a reply to this most offensive publication, pro
fessing as it did to come from the pen of an EvangeUcal clergy
man ; but necessity was laid upon me ; for the mendacity aud
insolence of the assaUants of the Methodists at that time were
unbearable. If slander could have extinguished Methodism,
the system would have disappeared for ever. The editor of the
British Magazine dishonoured his scholarship and his high
reUgious character by a strong and unquaUfied recommendation
of this scandalous missive ; and when he was unable to deny
its mendacious character, he excused himself by saying that he
had not recommended it to general circulation, but only for cir
culation where Methodism was prevalent : as U falsehood ought
to be circulated anywhere !
When Mr. Cubitt and I had laboured together for two years,
as true yokefeUows, (for such we were,) the Conference of 1838,
assembled in Bristol, were pleased to choose me as their
President : an office which I not only never desired, but
earnestly deprecated whenever I heard it mentioned as Ukely to
devolve on me. I never had an aptitude for business, and
especially for public business. To preach, to read and write,
to visit the sick, I felt to be my special caUing. In work of this
kind I was happy, and desired nothing higher. But when the Con
ference, unsought, invested me with this trust, it did not become
me to " bandy compUments " "with them, by aUeging my unfit
ness, but to apply myself to the fulfilment of my new obliga
tions with all the assiduity of which I was capable, taking

Its Righteousness the true Power of the Conference. 289
counsel from the men who had sustained the office before me,
and endeavouring, as much as in me lay, to promote the holy
objects for which the Conference was instituted.
There is one peculiarity in the character of the Methodist
Preachers, which I have heard remarked upon in conversation,
but never saw specified in print. Nothing can surpass the
brotherly confidence and the freedom of speech in which they
are accustomed to indulge in their general intercourse with
each other ; but no sooner is one of them placed in the Presi
dential chair, than he becomes an object of profound respect.
Men who had hitherto lived in habits of famUiarity with me,
and would have said anything to me in the freedom of private
friendship, now addressed me in a subdued tone of voice, and "with
an air of respectful deference. The reason is, thatthe President is
regarded as the embodiment of the Conference ; and the Con
ference is the governing power to which every Preacher is
amenable. I have seen men of lofty spirit and bearing, when
the discipline of the Conference has been brought to bear upon
them, and they have felt themselves to be in the wrong, weep
like children. It is the righteous character of the Conference
that produces this effect, making delinquents quaU before it.
This is its true power ; and while its righteousness remains,
the effect will continue. To a right-minded Methodist Preacher
a censure from the Chair of the Conference is more dreaded
than any amount of bodUy pain, or the infliction of a civil
penalty. During the sittings of the Conference one of the duties that
devolved upon me was the preaching of what is designated an
"official" sermon before the assembled Ministers. This duty I
was caUed upon to discharge in the King- Street chapel, in the
evening of Sunday, July 29th. I chose for my subject the doc
trine of redemption by Jesus Christ, as it is stated in 1 Peter i.
18-20. The publication of the sermon was requested by the
Conference, and it was accordingly inserted in the Methodist
Magazine for October and November following. I had the grati
fication afterwards to learn that, whatever might be its defects,
either as to its substance or deUvery, a penitent man in Lin
colnshire, while reading it, was encouraged to beUeve in Christ,

290 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
so as to find rest to his soul. As this was the first time that I
delivered an official sermon before the Conference, I felt a con
siderable degree of excitement ; not so as to produce any confu
sion of thought in the pulpit, but so as to render me unable to
sleep through the night. I went to bed; but was as broad
awake till the next morning, as if it had been noonday, or as
if I had been engaged in the business of the Conference.
This was, however, the only physical inconvenience that fol
lowed the service.
The most remarkable pecuUarity connected with this Con
ference consisted in the preparation which was then made for
the celebration of the Centenary of Methodism, nearly one
hundred years having elapsed since the formation of the first
Society under the pastoral care of the two Wesleys. Towards
the end of the year 1739 they opened the Foundery in Moor-
fields as a place of Christian worship ; and in connexion with
it they organized a reUgious Society, to which others were
speedily added in various parts of the kingdom, forming one
Body, under the name of the United Societies. Up to this
time the two Wesleys, although Clergymen of the Church of
England, retained a sort of quasi connexion with the Church
of the United Brethren. Methodism then assumed a distinct
and independent position ; and with a reference to this period
the Centenary was celebrated, the day of Mr. Wesley's ordina
tion having been passed over as before mentioned.
With respect to the celebration of the Centenary, I was
directed to caU a meeting of Ministers and laymen, from aU
parts of the kingdom, in Manchester, as soon as convenient,
that by their counsels the most appropriate manner of conduct
ing it might be determined. I was also requested to prepare,
with as little delay as possible, a volume on the subject of the
Centenary, describing the rise and progress of Wesleyan
Methodism, with the benefits, personal, domestic, and social,
which had resulted from it both at home and abroad, including
notices concerning John and Charles Wesley. The next Con
ference, which was to be held at Liverpool, twelve months
hence, was to be regarded as the Centenary Conference ; and
upon me was imposed the duty of preaching the Centenary

Honours and Cares. 291
"Sermon, should it please God to spare my life. These were
serious burdens, against the imposition of which I earnestly
remonstrated, and requested that at least a part of them
might be assigned to other men. But my remonstrances
were unavailing. Mr. Bunting said, "We have him in the
chair ; he cannot escape ; and we can impose upon him any
amount of labour we please." These words were pleasantly
spoken, but they conveyed no pleasant feeUng to my mind.
When the Conference closed its sittings I retired to my home
in London, having before me a year of hard toil, and of hea'vy
responsibiUty ; for what might be done by the meeting in
Manchester no one could foresee ; yet I was not unmindful of
the promise, " My grace is sufficient for thee."
Having prepared for pubUcation my sermon before the late
¦Conference, I began to coUect materials for the Centenary
volume, and drew up a Circular Letter for the purpose of con-
Tening the meeting in Manchester. The discharge of editorial
duties was now out of the question, so far as I was concerned.
The Conference had assigned me, as my assistant through the
year, Mr. Benjamin Waddy, who had just been ordained to the
ministry; a young man of fine temper, and of good pulpit
talents ; who devoted much of his time to Circuit duties, thus
reUeving Mr. John Farrar, who was then stationed in London,
a,nd kindly l6nt his aid to Mr. Cubitt in the editorial depart
ment. At that time a new edition of Mr. SutcUffe's Commen
tary on the Bible was passing through the press, and received
the benefit of Mr. Farrar's correct scholarship, which greatly
enhanced its value.
As the autumn advanced I paid a visit to my father and
mother at Sancton. Since the time at which I left my home
in 1804, Ij had generaUy seen them every twelve months ; but
as they were now upwards of eighty years of age, I began to
think that my future visits to them would be few in number.
I knew, too, something of the joy which parents feel in- the
advancement of their chUdren, and thought it would gratify
them to see one of their sons, — once a wayward lad, who had
tried their patience and fiUed them with anxiety,: — invested
with the highest honours that the Methodist Conference has
n 2

292 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
the power to confer. They were gratified, of course ; but I
could observe in them no undue elation. They had too much
piety and good sense for that ; and evidently looked on their
son, once more in their cottage, as raised from humble life ta
his present position by the providence and grace of God ; not
for the gratification of human vanity, but for purposes con
nected with His own glory. As to myself, any feeling of seU-
importance that would have arisen in me was held in check by
a deep consciousness of responsibUity, both to God and man -
and gladly would I have laid aside all the honours of office,
could I have returned to my quiet study, there tp resume the
use pf my pen and pf my books. Having prayed and wept^
together, my parents and I parted in the joyous hope of
meeting again in a world where
" Adieus and farewells are a sound unknown."
From Sancton I went to Oakworth, a hamlet in the Keigbley
Circuit, where I had engaged to preach at the opening of a new
chapel. The day appointed for this service was cloudy,
¦with a drizzling rain. The population in the immediate
neighbourhood was comparatively small ; the labouring-people
were at their work ; so that neither the chapel nor the congre
gation was large. The gaUery, containing perhaps from one-
to two hundred people, was tolerably well fiUed ; and the
ground floor of the chapel was mostly occupied by children,
and those who had the charge of them. When I came out of
the pulpit, at the close of the service, the friends had counted
the coUection, and the money was taken away. They said
nothing as 'to the amount, and I made no inquiry, supposing
that it was not much.
Dinner was provided in a warehouse, for the accommodation
of strangers, and of persons resident on the spot ; and when
the cloth was removed, one of the Ministers reported to the
company that the spirit of old Methodism was not extinct in-
Oakworth, — in the immediate vicinity of which was Haworth,
the scene of Grimshaw's apostolic labours, — in proof of which
he would announce the fact, that the collection that morning,
which was the first of six, amounted to the sum of one hundred

How Methodism may conserve its Vigour. 293
^nd twenty-eight pounds. I was^ astonished. No such collec
tion had ever before been made after any sermon of mine ;
and I at once perceived that it was intended as a declaration
of respect for the Conference, whose representative I then was,
¦and whose reputation Dr. Warren and his fellow- agitators had
-endeavoured to destroy. I immediately caught the theme,
and declared what I knew as to the uprightness and fidehty of
the Conference, and the blessing of which God is pleased to
make it the instrument, as the centre of union to the Circuits
and Societies ; declaring my beUef that while the Conference
.and the people remain united in confidence and affection' Metho
dism wUl remain in unimpaired power, as a means of spiritual
good to the nation and the world. I remained in Oakworth a
few days, preaching in the morning of the following Sunday,
and greatly admiring the godly zeal and Uberality of the
people. Two families especiaUy engaged my attention,,
bearing the names respectively of Sugden and Craven :
God had blessed them with prosperity, and they honoured
Him with theh substance, as weU as by their evangeUcal
obedience. From Oakworth I went to Manchester, to meet the brethren
and friends, who were to make the requisite arrangements
for the proposed celebration of the Centenary. They assem
bled in the morning of November 7th, 1838, in the Oldham-
¦Street chapel. The meeting consisted of the President and
Secretary of the Conference, seven Ex-Presidents, and about
two hundred and fifty other persons. Ministers and lay friends,
come from aU parts of Great Britain and Ireland. They con
tinued their deliberations three days ; and even then, when
they had finished their work, they were so united in heart, that
they seemed unwiUing to separate. They were not only joined
together in the same judgment, but were eminently one in
affection. They held different opinions on some of the various
subjects which occupied their attention ; but so perfect was the
¦deference they paid to one another, that not an unkind word
.feU from the Ups of any one. They passed twenty-six resolu
tions, without the sUghtest dissension, relating to the rehgious
services connected with the Centenary, the pecuniary contribu-

294 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
tions which should be presented as thank-offerings to God, andl
•the purposes to which the money should be applied.
It would be difficult to give such a description of this meeting
as would convey an adequate apprehension of it, especiaUy as
to the spirit which animated the entire, assembly. It was at
once a meeting for business and a religious meeting, beauti
fully combining secular transactions with a lovefeast. Finan
ciers directed attention to the institutions of Methodism which
most needed pecuniary support, and the best mode of relieving
them ; mixing their practical suggestions with grateful acknow-
ledgmenls to God for the benefits, inestimable and endless, which
they and their families had derived from their connexion with
Methodism and its people. A princely style of giving was
there adopted, the example being set by the late Mrs. Bealey ;
who had been left a widow in comparatively early life, with
several young children, and an extensive business, and who-
had been so blessed and prospered by the providence of God,
that she proposed to give a thousand guineas, as an expression
of thankfulness to her heavenly Benefactor. Others instantly
caught her spirit, and resolved to follow her example ; so that
contributions of unwonted liberaUty were presented, not slowly,,
but in quick succession. " Then the people rejoiced, for that
they offered willingly, because with a perfect heart they offered.
-wiUingly to the Lord." It was thought that eighty thousand
pounds might be reaUzed by the whole Connexion, and that
this was -the smallest amount at which the friends should aim ;
but when only two meetings had been held, that in Manchester,
and another in Liverpool, considerably more than haU the
amount was freely promised.
The meeting in Manchester recommended that Friday,.
October 25th, 1839, should be the day set apart for religious
worship throughout the Connexion, in grateful acknowledgment
of God's great mercy displayed in the rise and progress of Wes
leyan Methodism ; and that, in the meanwhUe, meetings should.
be held in the various Districts and Circuits of the Connexion,
for the purpose of explaining the nature and design of
the Centenary movement, and of caUing forth the liberaUty
of the friends. Deputations were also appointed to attend.

Charactenstics of the Centenary Meetings, 295
the meetings in several of the more important towns and
cities. In the course of the next few months I visited HuU,
Newcastle-upon-Tyne, Leeds, Sheffield, Birmingham, Bristol,
Exeter, Plymouth, Devonport, Penzance, Eedruth, Truro,
Dublin, Cork, Bandon, and BeUast, accompanied by a noble
band of men, whose hearts were in the work, and whose godly
cheerfulness and zeal secured for them in everyplace a grateful
reception. I am bound especially to mention, among other
devoted friends who accompanied me, and lent their valuable
aid, Mr. Bunting, Mr. Newton, Mr. ChappeU, Mr. Percival
Bunting, Mr. Adam Bealey, and Mr. A. Suter. No forms of ex-
ptession that I can de"vise eould by possibility convey a fuU
impression of the feeUng that characterized these meetings.
Aged men and heads of famihes spoke of their own conversion
and spiritual enjoyments, and of the conversion of their relatives,
some of whom had died in the Lord. In many cases they
presented their contributions in memory of the pious dead;
husbands in memory of their wives, wives in memory of their
husbands, parents in memory of their children, and children in
memory of their parents, with tears of affection and of holy
joy. Deep was the gracious feeling in every place ; but the
deepest, according to my apprehension, was in the meeting at
Eedruth, and that at HuU. The large chapel at Eedruth was
thoroughly filled with people, both in the gaUery and on the
ground floor, presenting one solid mass of human faces.
Having described the rise and progress of Methodism, with its
effects upon individuals and famUies ; the holy Uves and happy
deaths which had invariably marked its progress ; I observed
that it was unquestionably a great work of God, and ought to
be ascribed to the direct agency of the Holy Ghost. At the
simple announcement of this principle, a supernatural influence
seemed at once to faU upon the entire assembly ; so that almost
aU faces, which had previously been directed to the platform,
at once disappeared; the people either covering them with
their handkerchiefs, or turning them downwards, that their
tears might faU on the floor. The scene reminded me of a
remarkable stanza of the poet Smart : —

296 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
" Tell them I am, Jehovah said
To Moses ; while Barth heard in dread.
And, smitten to the heart.
At once above, beneath, around,
All Nature, without voice or sound,
Eeplied, 0 Lobd, Thou aet ! "
The new and spiritual creation bears as distinct a testimony to
its Author as does the material universe.
"Nothing could exceed the reUgious enthusiasm of the
movement. PubUc meetings were generally and earnestly.
caUed for. Deputations from the central committee were hailed
with joy, and one feeUng pervaded every assembly. AU re
joiced that they were permitted to see such a day. The youngfelt
that they were connected with bygone times, and associated with
the fathers of Methodism, to catch their mantle, and a double
portion of their spirit. Men of aU ages were present. Some,.
tottering on the verge of the grave, with heads ' white as snow
in Salmon,' and hands Ufted up in blessing, told of the perse
cutions and sorrows of their early days, and of the labours and
successes of tlieir fathers ; that their chUdren, fallen on happier
times, might tell it to their children, and to the generations
foUowing. Many a tear was shed when these patriarchs, with
a tremulous voice and withered hands, invoked the blessing of
God to rest upon their children, and upon their chUdren's
children, and fervently implored Him to preserve their beloved
Connexion as long as sun ahd moon shaU endure." *
When the Centenary Deputation were in the west of Corn-
waU, several of them went early one morning to see the Land's
End ; and in our return we passed by a neat Methodist chapel
in a secluded spot, and alighted to look at this little sanctuary ;
a plain middle-aged woman coming out of an adjoining cottage
with the key. AU admired the cleanness and comfort of this
house of prayer, when Mr. ChappeU observed a ring upon the
third finger of the good woman's right hand, and said, "My
friend, you have got the ring on the wrong hand." "No, Sir,"
she replied, "it is where it should be. A few years ago a man
in this, neighbourhood took a liking to me and my brother, who
¦* Eeport of "Wesleyan Centenary Fund, p. xxxiv.

Godly Gatherings at Tadcaster and PockUngton, 297
lives with me, and bequeathed a legacy to each of us. I said to
my brother, ' If you wiU give your legacy for the erection of a
chapel, I wiU give mine.' He assented, and the chapel was
accordingly buUt. It cost more than these two sums, but we
paid aU the biUs ; and there is no debt upon it. If the ring had
been on the other hand, I might have had a famUy to provide
for ; and you might have seen no chapel here." Her answer
called forth expressions of admiration from Mr. ChappeU,
which were repeated on many subsequent occasions by that
generous man.
As a further iUustration of the spirit which characterized
the Centenary meetings, I wiU here insert an extract from a
letter which I received from the Eev. Joseph Entwisle, who had
then retired from the full work of the ministry, in conse
quence of advancing age and infirmities, and was resident in
Tadcaster. It bears the date January 28th, 1839. With respect
to the meeting in that town, he says,—
" From the exceUent spirit I observed, I expected we should
raise the sum of three hundred pounds ; but was surprised, and
of course gratified, when I found it amounted to seven
hundred. Additional sums continue to come in ; and it is
probable the amount for this small country Circuit wiU rise
to more than eight hundred pounds. About three hundred
friends took tea in the two school-rooms in the interval
between the pubhc meetings. Many old members spoke
admirably ; so did Mr. BurdsaU, Mr. Harrison, and Alderman
Meek. " On Tuesday, the 19th instant, I attended the meeting at
PockUngton, and have to attend one at York, February 20th.
The York meeting is postponed on account of the exertions
made for the erection of a Centenary chapel in that city.
More than five f -id pounds are already subscribed
for that object, ini, __^ and Mr. Alderman Meek have
given five hundred guineas each : yet they do not intend
to be behind others in their subscriptions to the Centenary
Fund. "Perhaps a detailed account of the meeting at PockUngton
will be gratifying to your mind. My Superintendent, Mr.

298 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
ft
Crompton, and Mr. Harris accompanied me. The chapel was-
crowded to excess at two and at six o'clock. About three
hundred friends took tea together in the school-rooms, which
were fiUed more than once. Every one appeared to be happy.
It might have been said, ' See how these Christians love one
another ! ' Glory be to God ! We were entertained at the-
house of Mr. James Peart, whose father and grandmother I
knew weU. He is aU aUve to God. The same unfeigned faith
that dwelt in his grandmother, his mother, and his father,
dwells in him also. The subscriptions at the close of the
meeting amounted to four hundred and thirty- two pounds ; and
more is expected.
" Age, infirmities, and severe weather prevented the attend
ance of your honoured father ; but several of your cousins and
many of your old friends were there. Brother Bradley, sixty
years a Methodist, gave us a dehghtful speech, containing
an interesting account of his convictions, conversion, and
receiving of the Preachers into his house. 0 how animated
was the old man ! Thomas Bailey, fifty-six years a Local
Preacher, gave us an affecting history of his life, of Drummer
Johnson and John Pawson, who first preached in his viUage-
He moved us all. David Eobinson, from your native viUage,.
spoke well. He said, ' Methodism is like an old oak. In the
late storm it was not rooted up, though some of its branches
were blown away ; but the tree stUl stands.'
" It was a day to be remembered. I could not help wishing
that you were there. Love and harmony prevailed. On Wed
nesday aU the widows and poor women in the Society were
treated with tea, and the more respectable females waited upon
them. Is not this primitive Christianity revived ? I see and
admire the propriety of offering subscriptions in memory of
the pious dead. The act produces associations aud feelings
favourable to piety. James Peart gave sums, in addition
to his o"wn subscription, in memory of two old Local
Preachers, and of two ancient women, now with God; the
announcement of whose names evidently produced a strong
and pious feeUng.
" Before I left PockUngton several persons were introduced

Note of a Convert from Popery. 299>,
to me, who were desirous of shaking hands with a Preacher
who had traveUed in Mr. Wesley's days. I assure you I am
come to great honour in connexion with our venerable
Founder. I hope it is not vanity in me to find pleasure-
therein. I preach much, ' from Dan to Beersheba ; ' and iu
most places the people are anxious to see a man that was
personaUy acquainted with Mr. Wesley. The best of aU is,
God is with us."
In the Centenary meetings it was not uncommon for parties
in announcing the sums which they intended to contribute to
the general fund, to send a note to the chairman, indicating
the motive by which they were actuated. The foUowUtg is a
specimen. It was handed to me in the meeting at DubUn : —
" A convert from Popery begs your acceptance of the smaU
sum of two shiUings and sixpence ; and wishes to return God
thanks that her friends are not paying it for the pretended
redemption of her soul out of purgatory." In the same meet
ing a good man, standing on the floor of the chapel, delivered.
a short address, and mentioned the amount of his intended.
contribution. His wife occupied a place in the front of the
gaUery, from which she looked down upon him. He caught
her eye, and immediately recaUed his words, saying, " I perceive
from the countenance of my "wife that the sum I have men
tioned is not sufficient. I therefore request time for a little
further consideration." I whispered in the ear of Mr.Lessey,.
who was sitting by me, " There is a couplet in one of Prior's
poems that you may apply with good effect to this case in the.
address which we are expecting from you. It is this : —
' That eye dropp'd sense distinct and clear.
As any muse's tongue could speak; '"
but his memory faUed him at the time, so that he quoted the
lines inaccurately and without effect.
During the intervals between one Centenary meeting and.
another, I appUed myself with all diUgence to the preparation
of the Centenary Volume, which was pubUshed early in the.
year 1839. I endeavoured, as much as possible, to make it a
book of facts, which would tell their own tale, and produce

300 Recollections of my own lAfe and Times.
their own impression ; giving an account first of the state of
religion and morals in England before the rise of Methodism,
and at the time of its rise ; the conversion of the Wesleys ; the
means which they adopted for the revival of Christian
godliness ; their success ; their principal fellow-labourers ;
their deaths ; the subsequent progress of the work ; the
existing state of Methodism ; and some concluding reflec
tions. The volume was weU received, and had a wide circulation.
The Conference, at its assembling, gave me a vote of thanks
for it; and Mr. Montgomery, in a speech delivered in a
Methodist Missionary Meeting at Bristol, said to the people,
" That book ought to be in the hands, and the knowledge of its
contents in the minds, and the spirit of it in the hearts, of you
aU  Every portion of it is more or less illustrious with some
manifestation of light from heaven, its pages differing but as
one star differeth from another star in glory."
Among the letters which I received concerning the Centenary
Volume none gave me greater pleasure than the foUowing, from
the Vice-Chancellor of England, who had rendered an import
ant service to the Wesleyan body by his decision in the case
of Dr. Warren. •
" Lincoln's Inn, September 2nd, 1839.
"Eev. Sir,
"About three months ago I received from the Wesleyan
Centenary Committee a handsome copy of the work which, as
I understand it, was drawn up by your hand. When it first
arrived I was so much occupied that I could not read it
through. But I have now had a season of leisure, and have
perused the whole with the greatest interest, pleasure, and, I
may add, profit. Many years ago a LUe of the ever-to-be
revered and venerated John Wesley— a title more than once to
be met with in your book — feU into my hands : since that time
I have read others also ; but none has gratified me so much as
yours. I do not recoUect to have seen in any other work the
beautiful lines upon the death of his mother. But I value your
-work as a succinct and clear account of Methodism, and concur
in the general spirit of your observations, particularly those to

The Centenary Volume translated into German. 301
be found in the concluding remarks. I beg you wiU accept for
yourseU, and the exceUent men associated with you, my best
thanks, and the assurance of my kindest wishes for your
present and eternal weUare. Your much-obliged, "Lancklot Shadwell.
" Tlie Rev. Thomas Jackson,"

There is one mistake in the volume which I feel it right in
this place to point out. In page 102 the hymn beginning,
" Lo ! He comes with clouds descending,"
as well as the fine melody which is adapted to it, and called Helms-
ley, is said to have been composed by Thomas Olivers. That he
composed the tune there can be no doubt ; for it is ascribed to him by
Mr. Wesley ; but the hymn was published by John and Charles
Wesley at an early part of their public career, and is doubtless
the offspring of Charles's sanctified genius. I was led into this
error by the late Mrs. Bulmer, who said she received the infor
mation from Mr. Olivers himseU. But in this she was certainly
mistaken. The tune was his, but not the hymn.
The volume was translated into the German language, by
M. Kuntze, a Lutheran Clergyman, and published at Berlin,
in 1840, many devout Protestants in Germany taking an
interest in the spread of spiritual religion in England.
In the spring of this memorable year I visited Scotland, to
meet the Ministers stationed there at their two annual District
Meetings ; and as this was my first -visit to that country, I was
more than usually observant of wbat I heard and saw. Some
things were new to me; such as the sight of young women,
respectably clad, walking along the roads barefoot, carrying
their shoes and stockings in their hands ; as if they had worn
them in the towns, but were glad to get rid of them as soon as
possible. On entering a place of worship I observed that the
men did not generally take off their hats tiU they had arrived
at their pews ; and that, when the blessing was pronounced, at
the close of the service, they immediately put on their hats,
and walked out of the house of God with their heads covered.

¦S02 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
The congregations appeared to be more quiet than those in
England ; but I thought I discovered in them as deep feeUng as
I had witnessed elsewhere, only they restrained their emotions.
Two things afforded me an especial pleasure, — the sacred still
ness of a Scottish Sabbath, and the appearance of the clergy
upon the platform of a Methodist Missionary Meeting, without
any of that reserve and assumption of ecclesiastical superiority
which I had been accustomed to witness in the Episcopalians
-of the south. They appeared to have no difficulty in acknow
ledging the true ministerial character of the Methodist
Preachers. One untoward incident I met with in Scotland, which gave
me some annoyance. I took the coach at Edinburgh for Aber
deen on a Saturday morning; and on arriving at Montrose
somewhat late in the afternoon, the passengers were informed
that time would be aUowed for dinner, which was there pro
vided. This inteUigence was not unwelcome to me ; but I was
the only passenger that sat down at the table. Having dis
patched a hasty meal, I went to resume my place upon the
coach, and learned to my dismay that it was gone. Having
never received any warning to this effect, I complained to the
innkeeper, who I found was one of the proprietors of the coach ;
but he expressed little regret, and seemed to treat the ease as a
matter of indifference.
Here then I was, some thirty miles from Aberdeen, where I
was pledged to preach the next morning, and the evening was
.just at hand. I remembered to have heard that in the prin
cipal towns of Scotland there is a civil officer, who is known by
the name of the Provost ; so I salUed forth, and inquired for
this functionary, in the hope that I should obtain some redress.
Having stated my case to him, he kindly engaged to accompany
me to the inn ; and at the sight of him by my side, the landlord
at once altered his looks and tone. Addressing him, the Provost
said, in a firm and decisive manner, " You see the gentleman
is a Clergyman, who has come aU the way from London to
-preach at Aberdeen to-morrow morning ; and to Aberdeen he
must be conveyed in time ; for I understand he has paid his
fare to that town." The innkeeper immediately answered that

Good Services of the Provost of Montrose, 303
the mail-coach for Aberdeen would pass through Montrose at
three o'clock in the morning ; if there should be room for me in
the inside, I should occupy it free from aU expense ; and if the
coach should happen to be full, he would have a gig in readiness,
which should convey me with all speed to the place of my des
tination. With this arrangement I was satisfied, and thanked
the Provost for his kind interference. The mail-coach at length
appeared, and afforded me the requisite accommodation.
On my arrival at Aberdeen on the Sunday morning, I was
informed that the friends had strictly questioned the guard of
the coach which had arrived the evening before, respecting an
EngUshman of the name of Jackson, whom they were expect
ing; but he stoutly declared that he had seen no such man,
although the rascal had my name on his way-biU, and my
luggage in his charge ; and in the morning, before we left
Edinburgh, I heard one of our friends request him to pay me
special attention on the journey, as I was a stranger in Scot
land, which he promised to do. I discovered, therefore, that in
moral and reUgious Scotland, as weU as in other places, a man
may be found, who, when he has committed a fault, wiU tell a
Ue to conceal it.
I greatly enjoyed my -visit to Aberdeen, where my old and
faithful friend France was then stationed, and where some of
the clergy attended our Missionary Meeting with every indica
tion of true Christian fraternity. Having attended the District
Meeting, preached three times to the people, and been cheered
by my intercourse with good men, I left Aberdeen for Arbroath,
in the steam-packet, in company with several of the Preachers
returning to their Circuits. In the cabin of our vessel I
observed several books provided for the use of the passengers ;
and remarked to an elderly gentleman, that I was a stranger in
.Scotland, but had always understood that the people there were
diUgent reader's of Holy Scripture ; and was therefore surprised
to find that the Novels of Sir Walter Scott were nearly worn
out, whUe the fine quarto Bible was perfectly clean, as if it were
scarcely ever opened. He answered significantly, " Ah, there
is in this country more of the form of religion than of the
power ! "

304 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
At Arbroath I went to see the fine ruin of the cathedral,
and found flowers planted where the high altar had stood. To
the aged man who conducted us over the place, I said, " You
are a singular people in Scotland, to have destroyed so noble
and beautiful a building as this appears to have been at the
time of its demolition." "Don't you know," answered he,
"what John Knox said?" "I do not know," I repUed, "to
what saying of his you refer." He added, with a fine Scottish
accent, " He said, ' If you would get rid of the rooks, you
must cut down the trees : ' meaning. You will never get rid
of the monks, while their monasteries and cathedrals remain
to harbour them." I thanked him for his explanation, and
departed. Having visited Edinburgh, Aberdeen, Arbroath, Dundee, and
Glasgow, and being gratified with the signs of industry, intel
ligence, correct morals, and attention to the ordinances of
religion, which I had seen in Scotland, and especiaUy with the
catholic spirit of the clergy, I sailed down the Clyde, and
crossed the Channel to Belfast, where the Irish Conference
was to be held, which it was my duty to attend.
A special influence from God rested upon the body of Minis
ters then assembled, and upon the people who attended the
various services connected with the Conference. My heart
clave to the Preachers. They were a fine body of men, faithful
to one another, and to the cause with which they were en
trusted. Many of them, with their famUies, evidently endured
severe privations in the Circuits where they laboured ; but in
the midst of aU their hardships, their lightheartedness and the
buoyancy of their spirits fiUed me with admiration. During
my stay in Belfast I was hospitably entertained at the house of
the Messrs. Lindsay, who, with their exceUent sisters, rivaUed
each other in their friendly attentions, which made a deep im
pression upon my heart.
The EngUsh Conference of 1839, which was held in Liverpool,
was regarded as the Centenary Conference. On this account,
as weU as on others, it was numerously attended, both by
Preachers and laymen. A week-day, August 5th, was set
apart for purposes of devotion ; and in the forenoon of that

A Perplexity well resolved. 305
day I was called to fulfil the task which was assigned me twelve
months before, by preaching the Centenary Sermon. The
Brunswick chapel was fuU of people, all of whom appeared to
be "prepared of the Lord." The expectation of this service
had long filled me with anxiety. Whether I could so far com
mand my feehngs as to deliver a discourse extempore, on such an
exciting occasion, I thought very doubtful. I had never com
mitted a sermon to memory, and was afraid to try that method.
After much thought and many fears, I resolved to read the
pages which I had prepared. Yet having never read a sermon
to a congregation, I was apprehensive that in this attempt I
might fail ; for, should my sight be obstructed by tears, which
I thought not at all unlikely, the service which many had come
from far to attend would be a failure ; and a failure at such a
time I knew would be a subject of deep, wide-spread, and
permanent regret. In these embarrassing circumstances, all
I could do was to put forth all my strength, and to trust in the
Lord for help ; for I remembered that on some occasions Mr.
Wesley to the end of his life employed this mode of preaching,
and it was possible tbat I also might succeed in it. When I
had fairly entered into the subject, every difficulty seemed to
vanish, and the path appeared plain and open before me ; so
that I never deUvered a discourse with deeper feeling, or with
more cheering indications of the Divine presence and bless
ing. It occupied three hours in the delivery, within about
seven minutes ; but the excitement was such, that I was not
sensible of any exhaustion tiU the service was ended, when I
found that I could scarcely walk. No one left the chapel till
the blessing was pronounced. In the evening Mr. Lessey, who
was then the President, preached an eloquent and impressive
discourse, appropriate to the occasion.
In the morning of the next day the Conference thanked
me for my sermon, and requested that it might be printed
without delay. The Preachers were amused when I told
them that their request was unnecessary ; for what I had said
was printed before I left London, and therefore before it was
delivered from the pulpit. I knew that the Centenary Sermon
ought to be pubUshed ; and as I had done my best in the way

306 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
of preparation, I had assumed that the Conference would call
for its publication ; and that there might be no time lost, I had
caused it to be printed beforehand. But if, after aU, the Con
ference had made no such request, the copies would have been
destroyed. In a short time the Sermon passed to a seventh
edition. When describing the proceedings of this memorable day,
in their Answer to the Address from the Irish Conference,
the Preachers say, " The crowning glory of the present Con
ference consists in the religious feeUng which prevails, the
unction of the Holy Spirit poured out, and the blessing of God
which rests on the proceedings of His servants. The devo
tional and religious services connected with the Centenary
celebration were remarkable times of refreshing from the ' pre
sence of the Lord.' ' Devout men ' had assembled from almost
every part of our extended Connexion to "witness or attest this
' wonderful work of God.' Joy, mingled with tenderness and
tears, appeared to pervade one of the most numerous and
respectable congregations that ever met since the estabUsh
ment of Methodism. A spirit of prayer and faith, which
appeared to bring the Saviour near, in the relations of His
mercy and power, was given to an assembly which bowed in
deep humility before ' the throne of the heavenly grace.' In
this frame of devotion, all hearts seemed to feel the power
and enter into the glorious realities of the kingdom of God,
realize the presence of ' the spirits of just men made perfect,'
and to receive a pentecostal baptism of the Holy Spirit. Our
beloved brethren, the President and Ex-President, were greatly-
assisted in the discbarge of their official duties on this auspi
cious day. The latter, having been previously appointed to
this service, was enabled to enter fuUy into it, to the great edi
fication and delight of aU who heard him. In connexion with
a comprehensive view of Methodism, as a revival of ApostoUcal
Christianity, he evidently caught the subUmity of his theme ;
or, rather, it pleased God to dnimate His servant -with so high
a tone of religious sentiment and joy, as to enable him tothi'ow
such a haUowed glow of feeling into the entire service as
deeply affected every heart."

Impressions produced, by the Centenary Sermon. 307
The Eev. Dr. Olin, an esteemed Minister belonging to the
Methodist Episcopal Church of America, was present at the
Centenary services, of which he sent the following account
in a letter to one of his friends on the other side of thfe
Atlantic : — " Yesterday I heard Mr. Jackson's Centenary
Sermon ; a sound and exceUent production, which wiU be
immediately published, and republished, I trust, in America.
It takes lofty ground, worthy pf the occasion. His positions
wiU be violently assailed ; but I believe they cannot be shaken.
I hope this sermon will be read by every intelligent Methodist
on both sides of the Atlantic."*
Francis HaU, Esq., of New York, who was also present,
describes the service in the subjoined terms : — " Monday was
-set apart for the Centenary services, which commenced at six
o'clock A.M., by a public prayer-meeting in the Bruns-wick
chapel, where the Conference was held. At tbat hour the large
building, which I think wiU contain two thousand persons, was
¦crowded. At half-past ten o'clock the great service commenced,
at which, by the appointment of the previous Conference, the
Eev. Thomas Jackson, the Ex-President, was to deliver the Cen
tenary Sermon. The chapel was crowded to its utmost limits,
and hundreds went away, who were not able to enter the doors.
The Morning Service of the Church of England was beauti
fully read by President Lessey, and then the Ex-President
¦entered the pulpit, and gave out, —
' See how great a flame aspires,' -etc.
He then prayed, and gave out, —
' Jesus, the Conqueror, reigns,' etc.
The Sermon then foUowed, founded on 1 Cor. i. 26-31. It
occupied in the deUvery two hours and fifty-three minutes ; and
no one appeared to move whUe it was delivering. The im
pression produced was of the highfest order. In the afternoon
a pubhc meeting was again held, and in the evening President
Lessey preached to a crowded audience. His text was Psalm
• Life of Dr. Olin, vol. i., p. 318. Edit. 1854.
X 2

•30^9 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
xc. 16, 17. I need not tell you that the discourse was an
admirable one." *
When the 25th of October arrived, the day appointed for the-
general celebration of the Centenary, the year of my Presi
dency had passed away ; and, considering the onerous dutiesi
had been called to discharge during the last twelve months, in
relation to that event, I deemed myseU fairly exonerated from
aU future ser-vices of that kind. Mr. Grindrod, the Superin
tendent of the First London Circuit, pressed me hard to
occupy the pulpit of the City-Eoad chapel in the morning
of that day ; but I declined, and he preached a Centenary
Sermon there "with honour to himseU, and benefit to the-
jjeople. The celebration of the Centenary of Wesleyan Methodism,
of which I have given but a feeble description, was an event
of lively interest, and of vast importance. It was attended by
an extraordinary amount of spiritual good, caUing attention ta
first principles, and to the original design of Methodist preach
ing, of class-meetings, and all the other appliances of the
system. It was also a means of permanent reUef to the various^
Institutions of the Connexion. The sum of more than two
hundred and sixteen thousand pounds was actuaUy raised,
and applied to the benefit of the Wesleyan Theological Insti
tution, the Wesleyan Missionary Society, the Trusts of Wes
leyan Chapels in England and Ireland, the Support of Aged
Ministers and Ministers' Widows, Wesleyan Education, and
the British and Foreign Bible Society. One of the permanent
benefits arising from the Centenary movement has been an
imj)roved Uberality in the Connexion at large ; greater sums
being now given for the erection of chapels, the extension of
foreign missions, and the advancement of reUgion generally,
than were previously contributed.
The New AuxiUary Fund for the permanent assistance of
disabled Ministers, and Ministers' widows, which was at this time
established, was a matter of pressing necessity. Up to this period,
these persons, unless they were possessed of private property,
were iU-supplied with the necessaries of life ; so that widow-
* Life of Dr. Olin, vol. i., pp. 307, 308. Edit. 1854.

An important Connexional Fund established. 309
.hood and supernumeraryship, in the families of Methodist
Preachers, were objects of dread. Dr. Adam Clarke used to
say, that to be a Supernumerary was to be super-miserable ;
a,nd many an aged and many an ailing man continued their
'Circuit labours longer than they were able efficiently to fulfil
the duties to which they were pledged. Since the time of the
-¦Centenary movement these inconveniences have been greatly
diminished.

CHAPTER XVII.
publication 01- " e.kpositoby discoueses " — designated theologicai, thioe..
eichmond— lite of the eev. chaeles -n'esley — desceiption o? c.
¦Wesley's peeaching in 1786, by the eev. Joseph suiclifee — pam
phlets IN defence op METHODISM : " WHY ABE YOU A METHODIST ? " —
LETTEE TO IHE EEV. DE. PUSEY — ^EEMOVAL TO EICHMOND — COUESE OF'
THEOLOGICAL LECTUEES — SCENEEY ABOUND EICHMOND— NOTICES OF THE
EAEL OF LIVERPOOL, PEIME MINISTEB (1820-7)— THE FUTILITY OF PAST
CONCESSIONS TO EOMAN C.VTHOLIC " CLAntS."
THE employment to which I was caUed during the Centenary
year formed a perfect contrast to that in which I had
long been engaged. Instead of being confined to my study
from morning till night, preparing copy for the printers, correct
ing proof-sheets, writing books and prefaces, I traveUed through
a considerable part of England, Scotland, and Ireland, presided
in innumerable meetings, enlarged my circle of acquaintance,
gained many new friends, and witnessed the power and blessed
ness of true religion in several places which I had never before^
seen. Yet, after aU, such a mode of Ufe, though attended
with much enjoyment, was not at aU adapted to my taste and
habits; and I returned with renewed zest to my study, aud
its less exciting duties.
At this period I sent into the world a volume of " Expository
Discourses on various Scripture Facts and Characters," in
tended principaUy to show the lessons of truth and of practical
instruction which may be fairly drawn from the historical and.
biographical parts of the sacred writings. This work was weU-
intended, but was never popular, and was in greater demand in
the general book-market than among the Methodist people ;.
teaching me that whatever the Methodists thought of me other
wise, they had no high opinion of me as a writer of sermons :
so I never obtruded upon the world another volume of the
same kind.
Several years after the publication of these Discourses L

" Expository Discourses : " a Testimony after many Days. 311
received a letter from a Clergyman, in which he says, " Having
ascertained that you are stiU alive, I take the earUest oppor
tunity of writing to express my gratitude to you for the very
large amount of good I have indirectly derived from you at
different periods of my Ufe. I am quite unknown to you ; and
perhaps in this world it wUl never be otherwise. Nearly forty
years ago I was born of Wesleyan parents, and brought up in
a Wesleyan Sabbath-school, (the only one in the viUage, I
beUeve, at that time,) where I heard and learned truths which,
under the blessing of God, at a very early age, led to my con
version. Believing also that the sacred office of the ministry
was that which the great Head of the Church designed for me,
I began in earnest to study theology. But of all the books I
met with, none ever seemed to my mind to be Uke those
written by yourseU. Your ' Expository Discourses ' I read
with intense interest : indeed I had them almost in my mind
verbatim. They made me think ; they taught me how to
think, and gave me such a taste for expository theology, as made
me care httle or nothing for any other, especiaUy for the pul
pit. Arriving at manhood, I became, for reasons I need not
give in this letter, a member of the EstabUshed Church, of which
I am a Minister, and feel bound to say, Eev. Sir, that to you,
more than to any other man, I am indebted for the commence
ment of my theological course. I have often thought that
should I ever see you, and have the opportunity of speaking to
you, I would teU you ; but never have, so I do it now by letter.
" I have seen you twice only in my Ufe ; once in London, and
once ill the country : the first time in City-Eoad chapel, when
you preached Dr. Newton's funeral sermon ; and the other time
on the platform, on which occasion I distinctly recoUect, you
very quaintly said, when speaking of Southey's attempt to injure
Methodism, ' Sir, the well is deep ; and thou hast nothing to
draw with.' I do not expect ever to see or hear you again in
this world ; nor shaU I ever disclose who I am further than I
have done, but send you this by way of showing that good has
resulted from your labours in ways perhaps you little thought
of ; and it may be. Sir, that what has occurred to me may have
been the case with many others, the particulars of which may

312 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
not be known to you untill the secrets of all hearts shall be
known. 'O Kipios 'Iriaoiis XpiiTTos pxTO, tov TTVfvfiaTos <rov. i) X''/"r F*^
Vfiav. Apjjv.
On the 2nd day of March, 1841, 1 attended a meeting of the
London Book-Committee, intending to call their attention to
the fact that it was then exactly fifty years since the death of
Mr. Wesley, hoping that some profitable conversation might be
elicited as to his character and the permanent success of bis
labours ; but I soon found, to my dismay, that other subjects
of a very different kind were prepared to engage my thoughts.
It was there observed that in the foUowing year my third term
of service as Editor would end, and it was not intended to re
commend to the Conference my re-appointment; but that I
should be transferred to the Theological Institution, which at
tbat time was to be divided into two branches ; and that the
theological training of the students in one of these branches
should be confided to me. To a resignation of the editorship I
had no objection whatever. That office I had never desired,
but was willing any day to lay it down, and take my place
among my brethren in the work of a Circuit. But when
I was bordering upon sixty years of age, to be forced into an
employment so onerous as that of a Theological Tutor, I felt
to be unreasonable, and a real hardship. How could it be
expected that at my time of life I should be able to prepare a
system of instruction, in the form of written lectures, so com
prehensive as to meet the inteUectual cravings of young men
every day for three successive years ? No arguments and
remonstrances of mine, however, appeared to make any im
pression upon the men who claimed to have the disposal of me
in future life. The matter I found had been previously deter
mined ; and by a vote of the meeting I was given to understand
that the next year I must leave my present office, and take the
charge of preparing young men for the ministry, by placmg
before them a body of dogmatical, polemical, experimental,
and practical divinity. Such was the proposal which the Com
mittee agreed to recommend to the ensuing Conference, and
which it actuaUy adopted. • 2 Tim. iv. 22.

Life of Charles Wesley completed. 313
In the meanwhile, I was engaged in the largest literary
project that I had hitherto undertaken : the Life of the Eev.
•Charles Wesley, in two ample octavo volumes. This work was
to a great extent deduced from original documents obtained by
purchase from his son ; so that the narrative in many parts
was new, even to readers who were skilled in Methodist lore.
For several years this gifted man, as a travelUng and field
preacher, was all but unrivalled, even by his brother and Mr.
Whitefield ; and when he had ceased to itinerate, he exercised
a powerful and effective ministry in London and Bristol. He
also supplied the Connexion with hymns of the highest order,
which have been sung by millions of voices, and wiU be sung
l)y millions more in ages yet to come. In theory he was an
itnbending Churchman ; but in practice was quite as
irregular as his brother John ; being the first man that
administered the Lord's Supper in Methodist places of worship ;
a practice which he continued to the end of his life ; and never,
from the time of his ordination, was he, any more than his
brother, under the direct control of any Bishop, evidently feeUng
that the reUgious wants of the nation required from them both
an independent course of action. I felt a special pleasure in
presenting to the world an authentic history of this extraor
dinary man.
Immediately after the publication of these volumes, a bold
and determined attack was made upon me, iu the Book-Com
mittee which met preparatory to the Conference in Manchester,
by one of the Preachers, who alleged that I had betrayed the
cause of Methodism by stating that Charles Wesley disapproved
of some of his brother's measures, and entertained strong
fears that Methodism might ultimately injure the Church,
regarded as a national Establishment : as if this fact were not
previously known ; and as if any valuable end could be gained
by the suppression of historic truth. The Conference took
a different view of the subject, and passed the following
resolution : — " The thanks of the Conference are presented
to the Eev. Thomas Jackson, the Editor, for the distinguished
fidelity, abUity, and diligence, which he has displayed in the
discharge of his duties; and especially for the important

314 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
service he has rendered to the Connexion at large, and to the-
cause of truth and experimental piety, by the publication of the
valuable and interesting Life of the Eev. Charles Wesley."
The LUe was afterwards abridged, and published in a cheap-
form, for the benefit of those readers who could hot afford to
pay a guinea for a biographical narrative, and yet desired to
know something concerning the personal history of the most
gifted writer of Christian hymns that ever lived. At a later
period I conducted thrpugh the press his private Journal, from
the original manuscript, and prefixed to it an Introduction,
giving a detailed account of the emancipation of the insolvent
debtors from the prisons of London, and the formation of the-
Colony of Georgia for their benefit ; the two Wesleys accom
panying these friendless outcasts to the new settlement,.
together with several German Protestants driven from their
homes by Papal intolerance.
After the pubUcation of Mr. Charles Wesley's Life I received
the following letter from the venerable Joseph Sutcliffe, then
far-advanced in years, and one of the most estimable men I
ever knew. It is only requisite to observe that the " young.
man " of whom he speaks was himself : —
" Every public speaker has some proper gift and endowment-
of nature in all the variety of character which distinguishes
human eloquence. These endowments a man should cultivate
and improve, and make the best use of what God has con
ferred. He should compare them with those of others ; but
never imitate them in characters which do not coincide with
his own.
" The chief forte of Mr. Charles Wesley, as a preacher, was
a torrent of impetuous and commanding eloquence. He was
often led out beyond himself ; and in those enlargements of
soul his age and infirmities were altogether forgotten. His
ardours, often uttered in the breathings of faith and prayer,
produced the most desirable effects on his hearers. They
caught the spirit of the preacher, and retained the impression
of lasting good.
"This good man was not unacquainted with his vocal
powers, and the character of his own eloquence. With those

" Mr. Charles " in the Pulpit (1786). 315-
views, in the beginning of his sermons, he reserved his strength
for the more interesting parts of his discourse. In fact, he was
deliberate to a fault. One might add, the most deliberate
preacher of his age.
" In the year 1786 a young man, going from the north to his
Circuit at Eedruth, put up his horse at the stables adjoining the
Old Eoom of Broadmead, in Bristol. He heard singing, and
made what haste he could to hear the sermon, and got in just
in time to hear the text, Heb. vU. 25. The Preacher was an
aged man, in a plain coat and white wig. His voice, though
not strong, was clear and sonorous. He spoke with ease, and
a high degree of calm self-possession. His sentences, ever
distinguished ' by propriety and good sense, dropped from his
lips in slow succession, so as to allow the hearer time to-
treasure them up in his memory and heart.
" After the deUvery of about t-wenty sentences, the preacher-
made a pause for eight or ten seconds at least. This a stranger
might naturaUy attribute to the preacher's years and infirmi
ties. He proceeded for a minute or two, and then made a
complete pause, twice as long as before. The young man
looked round to see whether the congregation did not take
some alarm, or discover signs of uneasiness ; but aU was stiU,
the people waiting with expectation. This to him was rather
painful; but he had already perceived that the preacher had
the address of a gentleman, and understood his work in the
sanctuary ; so, like the people, he waited in hope.
" Ho-wever, whUe the young man was impressed with some
commiseration fpr the venerable preacher, he was not a Uttle
surprised to hear him quote the greater part of his text in Greek,
with perfect fluency : ' Wherefore He is able also to save them
to the uttermost that come unto God by Him.' ' He is able to
save in perpetuity, or absolutely, those who come by Him to^
God.' He now entered on the subject, the subject which
engrossed his soul. He raised his voice, and poured forth the
emanations of his heart, in a manner the young man had never
heard before. His quotations of Scripture were pertinent ; and.
especiaUy so were the Unes : —

•S16 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
' Five bleeding wounds He bears,
Beoeived on Calvary ;
They pour effectual prayers.
They strongly speak for me ;
" Forgive him, 0 forgive," they cry,
" Nor let that rausom'd sinner die." '
" The young man, on hearing these warm and powerful
effusions, said to himself, ' This is no ordinary preacher. This
is pulpit eloquence in the power of the Holy Spirit. Though
he has no gown, no bands, yet it must be Charles Wesley, who
on a wefek-night has dispensed with his robes.' He whispered
to a man at his elbow, whether it was not Mr. Charles, who
answered in the affirmative. The recoUection has left a grate
ful feeUng in the young man's heart, that he had for once heard
that man of God ; who in his former years had gone through
England and Ireland, like the flery Tishbite, calling sinners to
«iwake out of sleep."
The Life of Charles Wesley was published in the year 1841 ;
and in the year foUowing I deemed it my duty to publish two
large pamphlets in defence of Methodism and its adherents,
against the resolute and incessant attacks which were made
upon both by the Tractarian party in the Church of England ;
who then employed every available means to establish a system
of modified Popery in the land, and directed their special
attention to the Methodist Societies, endeavouring to unsettle
their minds, and alienate them from the ministry which had
been the means of their conversion fr-om sin to holiness, and
from the power of Satan to God. As certain men went from
¦Jerusalem to Antioch, telling the people there who had believed
in Christ that unless they were circumcised, and submitted
otherwise to the Mosaic law, they could not be saved ; so these
agents of proselytism went from house to house in various
localities, teUing the Methodist people that they could only be
saved by means of the Christian Sacraments ; that the Sacra- .
ments are only attended by a saving efficacy when they are
^administered by men who have received their commission from
i:the Apostles in an unbroken line of -succession, through the
hands of bishops, as a distinct and peculiar order ; that the

Dr. Pusey's Attacks on Methodism. 317
national clergy are in that succession ; but that Methodist
preachers, and every other class of Nonconformist Ministers,..
are intruders into the sacred office, and as such ought to be
shunned by all Christian people. To guard the Methodist
Societies, to whom these unfounded statements were made,.
against the delusion, I wrote, "An Answer to the Question,.
Why are you a Wesleyan Methodist ? " stating various reasons-
for preferring Methodism to that kind of Churchmanship whichi
these men alleged to be essential to salvation.
The pamphlet was pubhshed anonymously ; and immediately-
after its appearance I had occasion to visit my daughter in
France. During my absence from England, the Ex-Presidents-
of the Conference, thinking the tract seasonable, and likely ta
be useful, agreed to prefix to it a strong recommendation, to-
which they appended their names ; and as I happened to be an.
Ex-President, they affixed my name to the recommendation
among the rest. This is the reason why I appear to-
recommend my own performance. I certainly believed the-
contents of the pamphlet to be both true and seasonable, or-
I should not have written and published them ; but my
signature was not affixed by my own hand to that recom--
mendation. My other pamphlet published at this time is entitled, "A
Letter to the Eev. Edward Pusey, D.D., Eegius Professor of
Hebrew in the University of Oxford ; being a Vindication of
the Tenets and Character of the Wesleyan Methodists against
his Misrepresentations and Censures." The attacks of Dr.
Pusey upon the Wesleyan body present a humiliating exhibitioui
of party-spirit. Here is a learned Professor in one of the first .
universities in the world endeavouring to fix upon a large body
of Christian people the double charge of " heresy " and " Anti
nomianism." To establish this charge, he ascribes to the-
Wesleyan body theological principles which not a man among -
them beheves, or ever did beUeve ; and relates a few ridiculous
stories as to certain foolish things which some Methodist people
are reported to have said; but the names and residences of
these people are all withheld. By such a process it would be
an easy matter to convict even Bishop Pearson of "heresy,""

"318 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and George Herbert of " Antinomianism." The Methodist
system of doctrine, both theoretic and practical, is before the
world, and has been for more than a hundred years. Why did
not Dr. Pusey assail that ? Why ? Because it is much easier
gratuitously to impute heresy and Antinomianism to people
whom we do not like, than to cpnvict them of either. Suppose
half-a-dozen people without " a local habitation and a name,"
but calUng themselves members of the Church of England,
should utter some foolish things, — a very possible case, — what
would Dr. Pusey say, if any Methodist were, on such authority,
to prefer an indiscriminate charge of "heresy" and "Antino
mianism " against the members of the national Establishment ?
The aspersions which the learned Professor oast upon the
good name of Dr. Coke are especiaUy unjust and offensive.
The Doctor wrote a letter to the Earl of Liverpool, then the
Prime Minister, requesting an appointment as Bishop in India ;
and another to Mr. Wilberforce, asking him to assist in securing
this object. The request in neither case was Ukely to be
granted; but such were the Doctor's yearnings for India at
that time, and the improbability that the Methodists would
then institute a Mission to that populous region of idolatry and
sin, that his feelings prevailed over his better judgment, and he
was induced to make this indiscreet appUcation. The two
sons of Mr. WUberforce published the letter which Dr.
¦Coke confided to their father's " delicacy and honour ; " and
Dr. Pusey made it the basis of an attack upon Dr. Coke's per-
-sonal character. According to St. Paul, " charity thinketh no
«vil," where no evil is manifest; but "hopeth aU things," espe
ciaUy where matters wiU bear a favourable interpretation ; but
the Professor of Hebrew " thought" of nothing but "evil" in
this case. He put the worst possible construction upon the
letter of Dr. Coke, whom he declares to have been a " worldly
and ambitious " man ; and that he should be held in esteem by
the Methodists he thinks is a proof that there is very little
reUgion among them. It appears then that these assaUants of
Methodism feel themselves at liberty to violate the law of truth,
the law of "honour," and the law of "charity," if they may
but bring that obnoxious system and its adherents into disrepute.

An unanswered Letter. 319
Dr. Coke's fear respecting the Methodists was at length dissi
pated. They did resolve to establish a Mission in India, which
they confided to his superintendence; and this exceUent
man, this prince of modern Missionaries, died in the fulfilment
of that noble enterprise. He had already expended an
ample fortune in the spread of Christ's Gospel, and crossed
the Atlantic Ocean eighteen times for the same purpose ; and
because the Methodists cherish his memory. Dr. Pusey
thinks that the tone of piety among them must be very low !
I sent my pamphlet to this learned assaUant of Methodism,
accompanied by the following letter, to which, of course, I
received no reply : —
" Eeveeend Sie,
"I HAVE taken the liberty of forwarding you a copy of a
pamphlet which I have felt it my duty to publish in defence of
a large body of Christians, whose tenets and character you have
assailed. If they merit the censures which you have passed
upon them, they iU deserve the name of Christians. If they
possess the exceUencies for which I claim credit in their behalf,
no ingenuity can justify the manner in which you have spoken
of them. On one side or the other, therefore, there is some
thing more than mere mistake and inadvertency. May it please
God, in the greatness of His mercy, to forgive the offending
party! " I am, Eeverend Sh, your obedient servant,
"Thomas Jackson."
This very able man, and accomplished scholar, at the outset
of his pubhc career, appeared as the apologist of the theological
sceptics of Germany, in opposition to Mr. Eose, who sounded
the trumpet of alarm as to the infidel character of their specu
lations. He next appeared as a leader in the semi-Popish
movement in the Church of England, when many Clergymen
and others renounced their Protestantism, and joined the Church
of Bome. Of late he has assumed the character of an unfiinch-
ing advocate of Christian orthodoxy and of Holy Scripture, in
opposition to the profane speculations of which he once under-

320 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
took the defence. His Exposition of the Minor Prophets, and'
his Lectures on the Book of Daniel, are among the most valu
able publications of modern times.
It is a singular fact that Dr. Pusey should never have sus
pected himself guilty of that which he openly charges upon the-
Methodists. He tries to fix upon them the brand of " Antino
mianism," by placing to their account tenets and practices
which they abhor, never supposing that in doing this he was
violating the ninth commandment of the Decalogue. If this:
be not "Antinomianism," what is it? After nobly defending-
Christian orthodoxy against the scepticism of many of his
clerical brethren, the learned Professor has appeared as the-
advocate of a union between the Church of England and
the Church of Eome ; * although he acknowledges that the
idolatrous worship of the Virgin Mary is practised by that
community at present in a worse form than at any former
period. Before the members of the Established Church adopt
the Doctor's recommendation, it is earnestly hoped that they
will duly weigh the consequences of such a step. The Church
¦with which he recommends them to identify themselves stands.
convicted of some milUons of atrocious murders, of which the-
bumings of Smithfield are only a sUght specimen. Her whole
sale slaughters in the Netherlands, under the Duke of Alva, are
matters of historic record, as are also the bloody deeds of her
Inquisition in Italy, Spain, Portugal, and India, along with
her horrible massacres in the valleys of Piedmont, in France,
and in Ireland. These murders are aU registered on high, and
are yet to be accounted for. St. John " heard a voice from
heaven, .saying. Come out of her, My people, that ye be not
partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues.""
(Eev. xviii. 4.) Eush into her arms, adopt her tenets, and
conform to her modes of worship, as matter of Christian duty,
and in the hope of endless benefit, cries a voice from the cloisters
of Oxford. Is there any doubt which of these voices should be
obeyed ?
* He declares, " There is not one statement in the elaborate chapters on
Justification in the Council of Trent which any of us could fail of receiving."'
{Eirenicon, p. ID.)

' At Richmond. 321
The Conference of 1841 adopted the recommendation of the
London Book-Committee, already mentioned, aud thus gave me
notice that twelve months hence, if I should live so long, I must
resign my office as Editor, and enter upon the duties of a Theo
logical Tutor ; for by that time it was expected the building at
Didsbury would be completed, and the Wesleyan Theological
Institution divided into two branches. Accordingly at the
Conference of the foUowing year, 1842, I received" my
dismission from editorial engagements, Mr. Cubitt, my friend
and coUeague, succeeding to the office.
When I was released from editorial duties, I was not only
severed from direct intercourse with my esteemed coUeague, but
also from Mr. Mason, the Book-Steward, with whom I had been
associated for the space of sixteen years. During this time I
had been a daily witness of his diligence, fideUty, and judgment
in matters of business ; supremely anxious as he was to promote
the interests of the Connexion in the department of its literature,
and yet retaining the spirit of his calling by preaching twice
every Lord's Day.
At this time, " Abney House," at Stoke Newington, in which
Dr. Watts spent the latter years of his life, and in which he
died, was occupied by the Southern Branch of the Institution.
To Newington I therefore removed when the Conference had
ended its business, and entered upon an employment which to
me was perfectly new. At the end of twelve months the building
at Eichmond was completed; and when the Institution was
removed thither, I remained there until November, 1861.
During the greater part of this time, the Eev. John Farrar was
my coUeague, being entrusted with the tuition of the students
in classics and mathematics, while their theological training
was confided to me. I found this exceUent man amiable in his
temper, peaceful in his habits, diUgent in the fulfilment of his
duties, ever attentive to the improvement of the students, firm
in the maintenance of discipUne, an instructive preacher,
delivering the truth with singular clearness, and with an easy
and natural elocution; so that in these respects he was an
admirable example to the students. We regretted his removal,
Y

322 Recollections of my own Life and Times. »
in the year 1857, when he deemed it his duty to resume the
labour of a Circuit.
The students are expected to remain three years in the Insti
tution ; and the full course of instruction includes the Latin,
Greek, Hebrew, and English languages, logic, natural and
moral phUosophy, arithmetic, and mathematics. Their tuition
in these branches of study devolves upon the Classical Tutor
and his .assistant. I gave a somewhat comprehensive course of
instruction, in the form of Lectures on the E-vidences, Doctrines,
Duties, and Institutions of Christianity ; the Pastoral Office and
Work; and on the leading events of Ecclesiastical History.
My Lectures I resolved from the beginning to write out in fuU,
fearful lest in any case my memory should faU ; and using due
eare that every argument should not only be pertinent and
conclusive, but appear so ; aware that an argument which is
not rightly apprehended serves to perplex a student, and to
produce doubt rather than cou'viction. I was anxious also to
prepare myself to answer any question the students might be
likely to propose on the various subjects under discussion.
I felt both the difficulty of the task, and my responsibiUty,
but I resolved to put forth aU my strength ; and as I had
not chosen the work for myself, I was encouraged to look to
Christ, whose servant I was, for " grace to help in the time
of need."
We began our theological course with the Doctrines of Chris
tianity, under an impression that the young men would study
the Evidences of Natural and Eevealed EeUgion with greater
advantage in the third year of their residence,' when they would
be more habituated to close thinking, and had attained to better
ekUl in dialectics. Assuming therefore the inspiration of Holy
Scripture, and its consequent Divine authority, we first inquired
what the Bible teaches concerning God ; examining His attri
butes in succession, with the theological and practical conclu
sions to which they lead. We next investigated the Scripture
doctrine of the Trinity in Unity, including the Divinity of
Christ and of the Holy Spirit ; "tracing the gradual revelation of
this doctrine in the patriarchal times, and under the Mosaical
dispensation, tiU it appeared in the fulness of its evidence in

Course of Theological Lectures. 323
the perfected Gospel of the Son of God. Here we endeavoured
to show that the doctrine stands in inseparable connexion with
the stupendous scheme of redemption by the death of Christ,
and the appUcation of its benefits to mankind ; that it is no
matter of mere theory, but it is practicaUy recognized in the
process of personal salvation and in every act of truly Christian
worship. We connected with our Lectures on the doctrine of
the Holy Trinity an historical sketch of the various forms of
error concerning it which have appeared at different periods,
and of the controversies to which they have given rise, espe
ciaUy in this country; with notices concerning the ablest men
who have appeared as the advocates of the truth, from the
era of the Protestant Eeformation to the present times.
We next examined the teaching of Holy Scripture concern
ing man ; his creation, his primitive state, the covenant under
which he was originally placed ; his faU, with its consequences
to himseU and his posterity ; imputed guilt, and hereditary de
pravity, with the proof of both arising from Scripture testimony
and matter of fact ; the errors of Pelagianism, and of Semi-
Pelagianism.with the arguments of their principal advocates and
opponents, both in ancient and modem times.
A view of these subjects prepared our way for the Scripture
doctrine of Eedemption, and of man's recovery from his lapsed
condition ; including the Incarnation of the Son of God ; the
union in Him of two natures, the Di-vine and the human ; His
Prophetic, Priestly, and Kingly offices ; the reality of His
Sacrifice, as an Atonement for Sin, as the ground of His Inter
cession in heaven, and of His ability to save from sin and its
penal consequences. At the close of our Lectures on the
Mediation of Christ we gave some account of Laelius and
Paustus Socinus, the leaders of the men who in modern times
have denied that the death of Christ was a propitiatory sacri
fice for sin, and of their principal foUowers ; with the names
and writings of those who have refuted their errors and success
fully defended that essential element of the Gospel.
Next in order, the benefits of Christ's Sacrifice and Interces
sion, and the manner of their application, occupied our atten
tion. Under this head we considered the means of grace ; th^
y 2

824 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
preventing grace of God ; repentance, with its appropriate-
fruits ; saving faith, its nature, objects, Author, and warrant ;
justification, in its various aspects, and the blessings conse
quent upon it ; the Holy Spirit's -witness to the personal adop
tion of beUevers ; the new birth, its Author, nature, and evi
dences ; progressive and entire sanctification ; the Christian
Ufe, including the repentance of beUeVetS, living and walking
by faith ; and aU the graces of the Christitin character. Here-
we inquired into the order of God in the process of conver
sion, and of salvation from sin ; and the perplexity which
must arise in the minds of those who attempt in themselves
a practical observance of the order which is laid down in the
Westminster Confession of Faith ; which places justification,
adoption, and sanctification before saving faith, and repent
ance unto Ufe the last of aU ; that is, in effect, when the man-
is actually deUvered from the guilt of sin, and is made both
inwardly and outwardly holy. On these subjects we showed
that the teaching of Mr. Wesley, in his doctrinal sermons, is
singularly clear, Scriptural, and satisfying.
Prom these topics we passed to the doctrine of the inter
mediate state, the resurrection of the dead, the final judgment,
the endless happiness of the just in heaven, and the endless-
misery of the wicked in heU ; to which both classes wiU be
assigned by the Almighty Son of God, in His character of
Judge ; who wiU then deliver up the mediatorial kingdom to
the Father, from whom it was received, " that God may be aU
in aU " for ever.
After the Doctrines of Christianity, its Institutions came
next under our consideration ; including the Sabbath, as insti
tuted at the Creation, and as given to the Patriarchs, to the
Jews, and to Christians ; the ministry which Christ has insci-
tuted as a standing ordinance in His Church, including
preaching and the pastoral care of His people ; the original
identity of Bishops and Presbyters ; Baptism, in respect of its
subjects, and the mode of its administration; the Lord's
Supper, with the most popnlar errors concerning it ; the con
stitution of the Christian Church, with the various forms of
Church-government that now exist ; Diocesan Episcopacy,

Course of Theological Lectures. 325
Presbyterianism, Independency, Erastianism, and Wesleyan-
Methodism. ,
The Duties of Christianity came next under our investiga
tion ; comprehending piety to God ; the principal branches of
which resolve themselves into prayer, self-government, includ
ing the due regulation and control of the bodily appetites, the
temper, and the inteUect, the whole of which is expressed by
the word '.' sobriety;" the duties of social lUe, — those of hus
bands and wives, of parents and chUdren, of masters and
¦servants, of civU rulers and subjects ; with an exposure of
the essential wickedness of slavery, and an answer to the
pleas which have been urged in defence of that enormous
•evil. In the discussion of the various subjects now specified, it
was my ceaseless endeavour to ascertain the true sense of
the texts of Holy Scripture that were cited; and to satisfy
myseU that they were reaUy applicable to the questions at
issue ; for I felt it to be no light offence to pervert the mean
ing of the Sacred Oracles, by adducing them in support of
principles and tenets to which they have no just reference.
Endless examples occur in popular sermons and reUgious
treatises of the appUcation of Scripture passages, according
to the mere sound of the words, with Uttle or no regard for
their strict and proper meaning, which an examination of the
connexion in which they stand in the Sacred Volume would
readUy discover.
Under om- next division we examined the Evidences of
Natural and Eevealed Eeligion, including the Atheistical and
Deistical Controversies ; explaining the nature of the two forms
of argument which have been used in proof of the being of
a God, — the argument a priori, and that a posteriori; point
ing out the value of each : the former deduced from space
and duration, the other from the phenomena of nature. We
then directed our attention to the evident marks of wisdom
and benevolent design in the bodily and mental constitution
of man, in the conformation and instincts of brute creatures,
and in the entire material universe, which everywhere ex-
iibits the same adaptation of pne thing to another, ¦\Yisdom,

326 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
benevolence, design, suppose a Being in whom these attributes:
reside ; for in themselves they are mere abstractions, and
therefore incapable of direct action. The universe, then, is
to be regarded as the creation of a Being possessed of wis
dom and benevolence, as well as of almighty power. The con
stitution of human nature," especiaUy the inward monitor we
caU conscience, indicates the righteousness of the great Creator,
and proves that He holds mankind responsible for their
conduct. Various reasons, deduced from the Divine perfections and
the constitution of human nature, lead us to expect that He
would vouchsafe a revelation of His will. He has provided
light for the eye, sounds for the ear, and food to nourish the
body ; and wUl He withhold the Ught of heavenly wisdom from
the mind ? the sound of mercy from the inward ear ? and from
the soul the truth which is necessary in order to its spiritual
nourishment ? The general sinfulness of mankind is a notorious
and undeniable fa'ct, however it may be accounted for ; men in
general are self-convicted, being sensible that they have done
that which is morally wrong ; and this fact renders a revelation
doubly necessary, that they may know whether or not mercy
is provided for them ; and if it be, upon what terms it may be
obtained. Guilt impUes a liabUity to punishment ; and no man who
duly considers what it is to be guilty in the sight of an Almighty
Lawgiver and Judge can ever be happy either in Ufe or death,
while he remains uncertain as to whether or not his sin may be
forgiven. But without a revelation from God this great ques
tion can never be determined; for it rests with Him, and
Him only, to decide whether He will forgive sin, or in every
instance inflict the just penalty. Nor is it less His preroga
tive to decide, in case there be forgiveness with Him, in what'
manner and upon what terms it shaU be granted. Hence the
necessity of a revelation for the double purpose of imparting
hope to a guUty world, and of giving a right direction to their
conduct, by discovering to them the means by which their
righteous doom may be averted. Sinners may forget their
condition with respect to God ; but forgetfulness is not safety ;

Course of Theological Lectures, 327
and no wise man wiU ever resort to it as a refuge from his
misery. The Bible professes to be just such a revelation as we need ;
and it is recommended to our belief by prophecy and by miracles,
neither of which can be satisfactorily accounted for but upon the
principle of a Divine interposition ; for who but God can know
the future ? and who but God can suspend and control the great
and established laws of nature ? The Holy Scriptures are also
recommended to our practical belief by internal e-vidence of
the strongest kind ; especiaUy by the beneficial effects of their
teaching upon individuals, famiUes, and nations ; and by the
fact that an inward witness to the truth of the Gospel is
granted to every sincere Christian ; for " he that believeth on
the Son of God hath the witness in himself," the "witness
that God hath given to us eternal Ufe, and this life is in His
Son." (1 John v. 10, 11.)
The nature and proofs of the Inspiration of Holy Scripture
were the next subjects of our inquiry, with the canons of Scrip
ture interpretation. Then followed an exposition of the
various Types of the Old Testament, and of the Parables of
our Saviour, exempUfying those canons.
As a supplement to this part of our Course, several Lectures
were given on the Scripture doctrine concerning good and evU
angels ; and on the Quinquarticular Controversy, its history,
and the doctrines comprehended in it, especiaUy predestina
tion, election, the operations of the Holy Spirit, the free agency
of mankind, and the perseverance of the saints.
We had also a series of Lectures on the Pastoral Office and
Character ; including preaching, the administration of the
Sacraments, the conducting of public worship, psahnody,
extemporary prayer, the maintenance of Christian order in the
Church, the visitation of the sick, the care of the young,
visiting from house to house ; the constant stud^ of Holy
Scripture, and of Christian theology, with notices concerning
the authors that may be read with the greatest advantage.
On the characteristics of good and effective preaching, the
cultivation of the gift of prayer, and the benefit to be derived
from the study of our EngUsh divines, we dwelt most at large.

328 Recollections ofniy own Life and Times,
We took also a brief survey of general literature in its several
departments, including poetry, history, and phUosophy, with an
account of the best writers of sermons, Episcopal, Scottish,
and Nonconformist.
On Ecclesiastical History our Lectures were less copious
than on the subjects now specified. We directed our attention
mostly to the state of the Church till the time of Constantine ;
to the Protestant Eeformation ; and to its results in the various
countries of Europe.
Two objects I kept steadUy in view in aU my intercourse
with the students : That they should at aU times maintain a
habit of serious and earnest thought, so as to be always
enlarging their sphere of sacred knowledge; and that they
should live continuaUy in the spirit of prayer: aware that
without diligent reading, and the study of the Bible, their
ministry would become trite and uninteresting; and that
without an habitual intercourse with the Lord the Spirit, their
studies would be languid and barren, and their pulpit labours
wanting in unction, energy, and success. Mr. Wesley told those
of his Preachers who aUeged that they had "no taste for read
ing," that they must acquire such a taste, or retire from their
ministry. Dr. Young has also observed, with his characteristic
terseness and point, that a man should no more read than eat
without an appetite; for if he do, the book wiU be nearly
as much amused and edified by the man as the man by the
book. Our Theological Institution at Eichmond is beautifuUy
situated. Within a few yards of it is the entrance into the
royal park ; an inclosure of -wide extent, where the students
and the Tutors may range among the stately oaks; some of
which, having stood for ages, are in a state of decay. At the
foot of Eichmond HiU the far-famed Thames winds his course,
beautifyiAg the scenery, and augmenting the wealth of the
neighbourhood. Viewed from the park, inclining to the left, is
the vUlage of Twickenham, once the residence of Pope, and
the pastoral charge of Waterland, a far greater and better
man. StiU more to the left is Kingston, the county town of
Si^rey ; and in its immediate vicmity is Hampton- Court, once

Lord Liverpool In his Garden. 329
the favourite abode of royalty, and stiU famous for its rich
coUection of paintings, its avenue of stately trees, and its
beautiful gardens, to which many thousands of people an
nually resort from the smoke and din of the metropolis.
Directly in front of the spectator, upon an eminence, across a
plain of sixteen or eighteen miles, stands Windsor Castle, which
has been for centuries the principal residence of the Kings and
Queens of England ; and to the right is the viUage of Kew, with
its rich Botanic Garden, formed many years ago by Queen
Charlotte, containing trees and plants from every region
of the earth ; visited by tens of thousands of people during
¦the months of summer, some of them enraptured with the
beauties of nature; others of them mainly intent upon a
hoUday. During my residence in Eichmond, I used, in common with
my brethren, to preach every Sunday, either there or in one of
the neighbouring towns. Among other places that I was ac
customed to visit, was Kingston, where I partook of the hospi
tality of two maiden sisters, far advanced in life, who had spent
their best days in genteel famiUes, and now Uved partly upon
their savings, and partly upon the pensions which were settled
on them in consideration of their former services. One of
them, an intelhgent and godly woman, though uneducated, had
spent several years in the famUy of the late Earl of Liverpool,
a Statesman for whom I had long cherished a profound respect,
and concerning whom I made many inquiries of my friendly
hostess. She told me that on the Sunday evenings he used to
summon his famUy into his drawing-room, read the Holy Scrip
tures, and pray with them- I learned also from her, that pre
paratory to any important debate in the House of Lords he
used to spend a day or two at his seat in Coombe Wood, where
it was his custom to walk for hours together in his garden,
striking off the heads of the tuUps and other flowers with his
cane, apparently unconscious of the mischief he was perpe
trating, to the great annoyance of the gardener, who dreaded
the thougluful visits of his noble master.
¦ She also stated to me, with great simplicity, that "there
was a man ia Parliament, of the name of Earl Grey, who used

330 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
to give my lord a great deal of trouble." "Whether Earl Grey
were then living or not, she did not know ; but she added, that
often after a debate with him, " My lord, when he came home,
had to change his Unen ; for it was as wet as if it had been
just taken out of the water." AU this I could readily beUeve,
considering the weight of responsibiUty and care which rested
upon that upright and conscientious nobleman, when this
country was at war with France, in the time of the first Buona
parte, and a fearful amount of misery and discontent, stimu
lated by ParUamentary opposition, prevailed at home; sa
that he might have said with the weeping Prophet, " Abroad
the sword bereaveth, at home there is as death." The
intense anxiety caused first by the war ; then by commercial
depression and discontent in the country ; then by the rupture
between George the Fourth and his Queen ; and by an inces
sant and formidable opposition in ParUament, at length
exhausted the physical powers of this estimable Statesman,
and brought him prematurely to the grave. He lived on the
eve of great political changes, upon which he and the pubUc
men wh» were associated with him were afraid to venture,
and which were reserved for other men to introduce and carry
into effect, whether for better or for worse time wiU show.
Many of those changes have been to me no occasion of
either satisfaction or of hope, especiaUy the admission of
Papists to poUtical power, they having proved themselves
to be the invariable enemies of liberty, and of evangehcal
truth. For many years the Eoman Catholics clamoured for ad
mission into the British Senate ; and it was vehemently
asserted, by them and their friends, that if this point only were
conceded, Ireland would be tranquilUzed, political agitation
would cease, and the United Kingdom be at one with itself.
After many years of debate and strife, the concession was made ;
the doors of Parliament were opened to Eomanists, both Irish
and EngUsh. And what is the result ? These men, by banding
together, can, in the present divided state of parties, carry
almost any measure against the existing Government ; so that^
Conservatives and Liberals, when in power, rival each other m

The real Meaning of Popish " Claims," 331
making concessions to Popery, the adherents of which in
Ireland are as restless and turbulent as ever. With nothing
short of ascendancy wiU this grasping and intolerant sect ever
be satisfied ; and how it vriU use that ascendancy, should.
it be gained, let the past history of every European nation.
declare.

CHAPTER XVIII.
:P»ESIDENT A SECOND TIME (1849) — "PLY SHEETS;" MISOHIEPS Of Jl CLAN
DESTINE PBESS — THE METHODIST DISCIPLINE ENroBOED — VISITS TO THE
SOCIETIES AT BBISTOL, BATH, AND NOBWICH — THE PBOCEEDINGS OP "be-
POEMEES" OP METHODIST BULE AND OBDEB — ALLEGATIONS OP AGITATOBS
EXAMINED — MISSIONABY ENTEBPBISE OP THE 3IETH0DISTS OP LEEDS —
MISSIONABT MEETINGS IN BIBMINGHAM — PKESIDENTIAL DUTIES AND
ANXIETIES — OITICIAL SEBMON, AND CHARGE TO NE-WLY-OBD.UNED MISISTEBS
<1850)-^PAIILTY LOGIC OP THE DISTUBBEES OP THE CONNEXION — DEATH OP
THE BEVS. WILLIAM FEANOE, DB. BOBEET NEWTON, DB. BEECHAM, JONA
THAN CBOWTHEE, AND JOSEPH SUTOLIFPE, M.A. — SEVENTY YEABS A METHO
DIST PEEACHEE : MB. SUTCLIFFE • VALUE OP HIS COMMENTAEY ON THE
BIBLE.
WHEN I had been employed seven years in the office of
Theological Tutor, it pleased the Conference a second
time to elect me its President, and entrust to my care the
interests of the Connexion during the twelve months next en
suing. The Conference this year, 1849, was held in Manchester;
and as its affairs and those of the Connexion generaUy were
such as to create a feeUng of uneasiness, the attendance of
Ministers was unusually large, and the Societies, from one end of
the kingdom to the other, looked to it for the removal of existing
evils, which seriously hindered the progress of true reUgion.
For a considerable time a purpose was evidently formed
to destroy the influence of some of the leading Ministers of the
Body, by the ruin of their character. The means employed
for this object was a clandestine press. Pamphlets charged
with virulent abuse were sent by post through the Connexion,
reckless aUke of truth and charity, holding up to reprobation
Dr. Bunting, Dr. Newton, Dr. Beecham, and other Ministers
less distinguished. These documents bore the name of no
printer ; and for the purpose of concealment, they were put
into the post at various and remote places, so as to bear
di#erent post-marks. Notwithstanding these precautions,

Character of the " Fly Sheets " (1849). SSS-'
scarcely any doubt existed as to the real author of this mischief.
His Spirit and his speech bewrayed him. Every one ascribed
the pamphlets to a man who had long enjoyed the honour and
emohiments of a Methodist IVeacher ; but who declined, under
the plea of deUcate health, the seU-dcnying labour to which his
brethren submitted. He doubtless had associates ; but from
his hand and heart the general scheme of this assault upon
character, and the worst charges, were beUeved to emanate.
Most of the men who are apt to faU into vindictive moods have
their intervals of moderation, and even of kind feeling ; but in
this case there was from month to month, and from year to-
yeat, an uninterrupted and unmixed display of sarcastic bitter
ness and hostiUty. Instead of any relaxation, there was rather
a greater boldness of defamation. In these circumstances, the-
"Wesleyan Ministers in general, Uke upright and honest men,
affixed their names to a public document, solemnly declaring
before God and men, that they were no parties to these dis
honourable transactions. " One sinner destroyeth much good,"
especiaUy by an affectation of superior wisdom and virtue, and
by operating upon the bad passions of human nature, under
the pretence of correcting abuses in public bodies.
It is scarcely possible to conceive of any thing more revolting
to a pure and upright mind than these incessant attacks upon
ChriStittn Ministers, carried on under a mask. The accused
parties declared their innocence of the charges preferred against
them, and offered again and again to meet their accusers face
to faefe ; but in vain. The accusations were repeated with the
utmost pertinacity, and sent into quarters Where the injured
men had no means of meeting them ; and the writers appeared
to glory in the wounds which they inflicted.
No forms of vice are more strictly and frequently forbidden in
Holy Scripture than falsehood, slander, detraction, and back
biting ; and these evils acquire a special aggravation when they
are directed against the servants of Christ, whom He has en
trusted with the Gospel message, as a means of saving the souls
which He has redeemed by His blood ; and when such reviUngs
are calculated to defeat the gracious purpose of their ministry.
The conduct pursued by these unhappy men was a direct

834 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
violation of the discipline which every Methodist Preacher has
pledged himself to observe. The Wesleyan Ministers stand in
a near and peculiar relation to one another ; so that- any mis
understandings and disagreements among them lead to the
most disastrous consequences. The character of every one of
them therefore undergoes a yearly examination ; and every one
is chaUenged to specify any thing against another, which he
may deem matter of just complaint ; giving the accused man
information beforehand, allowing him a fuU opportunity of seU-
defence, and leaving others to judge and decide in every case.
Addressing his Preachers, Mr. Wesley says, " Speak evU of no
one; else your word especiaUy would eat as doth a canker.
Keep your thoughts within your own breast, tiU you come to
the person concerned. Tell every one what you think wrong
in him, and that plainly, as soon as may be ; else it will fester
in your heart. Make aU haste to cast the fire out of your bosom.'-'*
" Let them, [the Preachers,] beware how they despise each
other's gifts. Let them never speak sUghtingly of each other
in any kind. Let them defend one another's characters in every
thing, 80 far as consists with truth ; and let them labour in honour
each to prefer the other before himseU."t
These rules, so equitable in themselves, and so promotive of
brptherly confidence and affection, it was now attempted to set
-aside altogether, and to substitute for them a system of direct
hypocrisy ; the Preachers declaring in their annual District
Meetings, and in the Conference, that they had no objection to
-each other, whUe they were assailing one another's reputation
in anonymous pamphlets sent through the land. Were this
practice to become general, — and Uit might be tolerated in some,
it might be tolerated in aU, — brotherly confidence and kind
feeling in the Wesleyan ministry would be at an end ; jealousy,
•evil surmising, and rash judging, would ensue ; and at no distant
-period there must have been a disruption of the Body ; for no
religious community, pervaded by such elements, could by
(possibiUty remain. The men who were engaged in these clan-
«destine courses in effect confessed that they were doing that
* Wesley's Worlis, vol. viii., pp. 309, 310. Octavo edition.
-t- Ibid., p. 324.

A Canker arrested. 335
which is moraUy wrong ; for they were manifestly afraid of
detection, and were ashamed to be seen in their true character.
" For every one that doeth evil hateth the Ught, neither cometh
to the light, lest his deeds should be reproved. But he that
doeth truth cometh to the light, that his deeds may be made
manifest, that they are wrought in God." (John iii. 20, 21.)
The mental blindness that is often connected with the com
mission of sin is very observable, and strikingly confirms the
teaching of Holy Scripture concerning the " strong delusion "
to which the deliberate workers of mischief are "given up."
It appears never to have occurred to the authors of these vUe
missives that they were exemplUyJng to the very letter the five
vices against which the Holy Spirit by St. Peter has warned all
Christian people to the end of the world ; charging them habitu
ally and for ever to " lay aside all malice, and all guile, and
hypocrisies, and envies, and evil speakings." Seldom has "maUce"
more notorious been displayed than by these pamphlets against
some of the best and most useful men the Methodist Connexion
-ever knew. The parties showed their " guile " by putting their
productions into different post-offices, to deceive the persons to
whom they were sent. " Hypocrisy" consists in the assumption
•of a fictitious character; and these men professed by their
silence in District-Meetings and in the Conference to have "no
objection " to the brethren against whom they were secretly pre
ferring most injurious accusations. That the men who were
thus assailed were objects of "envy" is strongly indicated by
the fact, that they were men of eminence, distinguished from the
generaUty of their brethren. As to " evil speakings," the "Fly-
.Sheets " consisted of nothing else. To suppose that such a
combination of vices, forbidden by name in the Word of God,
was consistent with the ministerial character, was a strange
¦example of seU-deceit. Such offences are an obvious violation
of the first principles of Christian moraUty.
The Conference resolved at length to deal with this enormous
¦evil, which, being left unchecked, gathered strength from year
to year; and one of its members, the Eev. Dr. Hannah, in the
presence of about five hundred Ministers, in a spirit of deep
^seriousness, and in the fear of God, 'asked the man whom every

336 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
one suspected, whether or not he was concerned in the pubUcav
tion of the pamphlets which were known by the name of the-
"Fly Sheets." " Why is that question proposed to me," said
he, "rather than to other brethren?" "Because universal
suspicion falls upon you," was the answer given ; which was
assented to by nearly five hundred Ministers then present,
whose eyes were fixed upon him, and who as with one voice-
responded, " Hear, hear." He at once shrunk from the sound
of those voices, and the earnest looks by which they were^
accompanied, and said, " That question I wiU not answer. L
will submit to expulsion rather than answer it." He was
expostulated with, and time was given him for reflection ; but
he was inflexible. It was then felt that the man who would
not purge himseU from the attempt to destroy the reputation
and ministerial usefulness of his brethren, by the pertinacious
and deUberate propagation of anonymous slander, ought no-
longer to receive the sanction of the Methodist Conference as
a co-Pastor and a Minister of Christ. If other parties chose to
receive him in these characters, be it so ; to their own Master
they must stand or fall ; but the body of Methodist Preachers
refused to partake of the sin by conniving at it.
Two other men, against whom direct and formal charges were
preferred for commencing a periodical pubUcation, which was
declared to promote actual strife and contention in the Societies,.
and which they positively refused to discontinue, were severed
from the Body at the same time. They had long taxed the-
patience of their brethren ; and there was no prospect of peace in
{ihe Connexion whUe any of the three remained in it. The
two men last mentioned were combined in a direct attempt to
subvert the essential principles of Methodistical union. Mr.
Wesley's " Deed of Declaration," by which the Conference is
defined and constituted, provides that " the act of the majority
in number of the Conference assembled shall be had, taken,.
and be the act of the whole Conference, to aU intents, purposes,
and constructions whatsoever." These men determined, in
opposition to this equitable arrangement, that if the Conference-
decided any question in opposition to their views, they would
make it a matter of pubUc agitation, regardless of the peace of

A priinary Condition of Church-Communion. 337
the Societies, claiming to be the judges of their brethren, and
constituting themselves a court of final appeal. When any
matter was under debate in the Conference, they had the same
right of expressing and defending their opinions that the rest
of their brethren possessed ; and if a majority decided against
them, their duty was that of quiet submission, — a rule which a
minority in the Conference is always bound to observe. If the
men now dismissed were at liberty, in every case when they
could not have their own way, to appeal to the public through
the medium of the press, so might any half-dozen men who
happened to think themselves wiser than the rest of their
brethren ; and thus, instead of directing all their energies to
the spread of spiritual religion at home and abroad, the atten
tion of both Ministers and people would be incessantly occupied
with angry controversy, the fruit of which could be nothing
but confusion and every evil work. In such a state of things
no voluntary Church could subsist. It would first become a
pubhc nuisance, and then disappear. "Every kingdom
divided against itseU is brought to desolation; and a house
divided against a house falleth."
These acts of discipUne it was my painful duty to perform,
as the organ of the Conference ; but acts of duty I then feU
them to be, and as such I stiU regard them. They were not
acts of personal hostihty to the offenders, whom I was sincerely
grieved to see in such a position ; and some of whom I had
formerly regarded as my friends ; but such was their spirit at
the time, that their further connexion with the Conference was
impossible. Every reUgious community has an unquestionable
right to determine the terms of its own communion ; and every
man has an equal right to judge of those terms, and determine
for himseU whether or not he wUl accept them. "When he has
accepted them, he may lawfully change his opinion, and
disapprove of that to which he formerly declared his assent.
His duty then is quietly to retire, and leave his brethren in the
peaceful possession of a discipUne which they feel it their duty
and privilege to observe. To remain in a Christian community
for the purpose of harassing its members by agitation and
secret slander is a conduct from which every pure and honour-

338 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
able mind will most religiously abstain. We have it under
Mr. Wesley's own hand, that it "is better that forty members
should be lost, than our discipline lost. They are no Method
ists that wiU bear no restraints."*
The three men who were at this time severed from their con
nexion with the Conference entered immediately upon a course
of pubUc agitation, which they carried on from one end of the
kingdom to the other, through a series of years, using every
means in their power to [injure the funds of the Connexion,
especiaUy that of the Missions to the Heathen ; to bring the
Conference and the Wesleyan Ministers in general into disre
pute ; and to divide and scatter the Societies. They republished
the " Fly Sheets " in a cheap form, and endeavoured by placards
and other appliances to secure their circulation to the widest
possible extent ; thus far throwing off the mask, and openly
identifying themselves with those vehicles of defamation. To
further their objects the Dissenting press, to a considerable
extent, lent its aid ; and Dissenting Ministers not unfrequently
appeared on the platforms of their pubhc meetings, aiding and
abetting them, as if wishful to effect a complete severance of
the Methodist Societies from the Conference, and from the
Ministers by whose labours they had been formed.
In some of the meetings which were held such representations
were given of me as to leave it almost doubtful whether I was
reaUy born of a woman, and was not rather a spirit of darkness,
escaped from the lower regions, and aUowed for a time to
torment mankind. An offensive and fooUsh saying, concerning
the proprietorship of the Methodist chapels, and the debts upon
them, was ascribed to me, circulated in print, and proclaimed
in pubhc meetings ; yet that saying my Ups never uttered, and
my heart never entertained. It was also pubhcly stated, not
only orally but also in print; that I had in effect recommended
to the students and other friends at Eichmond to render homage
to the marble statue of Mr. Wesley, which through the muni
ficence of Mr. Farmer adorns the Theological InstUution in
that place. I went to Leeds, Burslem, Gloucester, Birmingham,
Wolverhampton, Dudley, Derby, Nottingham, Grantham, Lynn,
* Wesley's Works, vol. xiii., p. 132. Edit. 1831.

Conduct of " Reformers " at Bristol. 339
-Norwich, Ely, Sheerness, Maidstone, Yeovil, Bath, Bristol,
Oxford, Witney, Wrexham, Euabon, Cefn-Mawr, Newbury,
Pontefract, Stoney- Stratford, Midsomer- Norton, Heanor, and
other places, often accompanied by my faithful friend Mr.
Battenbury ; and many noble and cheering demonstrations of
Methodist loyalty it was our privilege to witness. Various
opinions respecting me were expressed by the people where I
happened to be seen and beard. One good woman at Derby
came to hear me on a Sunday morning, and, on rething from
the chapel at the close of the service, emphaticaUy said, in the
hearing of a crowd of people around her, " He does not look
like a rogue ! " On a Sunday evening, after I had preached
in the King-Street chapel, Bristol, another good woman, walking
np Stokes- Croft with her husband, was heard to say, "Bless
the old man that preached to-night. I think he must be a good
man. I was very happy under his sermon." Her husband,
who had not a simUar impression, repUed, " Hold your tongue.
He is an old scoundrel, and deserves to be drummed out of the
town." The man who made this declaration was not the only person
in Bristol and its vicinity who entertained this opinion. ' On
my visit to that city I proposed to meet the members of the
Society apart from the congregation in the Langton- Street
¦chapel on a Monday evening, the people being admitted by
their Society-tickets. Determined to prevent this service, the
agitators coUected a body of desperate men, who broke open the
chapel doors, and took forcible possession of the principal pews
both in the gaUery and on the ground floor. When I attempted
to begin the service, by giving out two lines of a hymn, I was met
by the most discordant noises, accompanied by a cry from every
¦quarter, " No reUgious service ! We wUl have no religious
service ! " I remained in the pulpit about an hour, hoping
that the hostUity of the rioters would abate ; but I waited in
vain. Every time that I attempted to begin the worship of
Ood, the same form of resistance was offered ; and when the
few godly people who had been able to effect an entrance into
the chapel began to sing, their voices were drowned by the yeUs
and vocUerations of the men who cried, " We wiU have no
z 2

340 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
religious service ! " The scene created by these professed'
reformers of Methodism corresponded exactly -with the riots
described in Mr. Wesley's Journal, headed by the common
swearers and drunkards of his day. The pulpit where I stood-
was guarded by a body of faithful men, who were admitted by
the vestry door ; but such was the violence of the principal
rioters, tbat eould they have gained access to me, it is doubtful
whether I should have escaped with my life. Two of the men
whom the Conference had discarded, I was informed, were iu'
the immediate neighbourhood of the chapel ; but as the law
was openly violated, they had too much prudence to mingle
¦with the fray. What counsel they gave to their friends, the
authors of the outrage, " the day " wiU declare.
Something of the same kind these two persons attempted at
Bath, when I visited that city, and met the members of our
Society there. They rushed into the chapel, with a body of
their partizans, in a noisy and offensive manner, in the middle
of the service ; and while I was addressing the people, one of
them rose and contradicted me. I then stated that I had not
come there to reflect upon the character of any man, but for a
purely religious purpose, and would not be interrupted. The^
penalty for disturbing a religious congregation in a place duly
registered, I reminded him, was a serious matter ; and if it were
necessary, we would appeal to the laws of our country for pro
tection in the exercise of our religious rights. On hearing this^
he sat down, and left me to finish my address. My friend and
companion Mr. Eattenb ury next addressed the meeting, defend
ing the Wesleyan Missions, and other institutions of Methodism,.
which were then publicly assailed. When the blessing was
pronounced, both these men rose and began to address the-
meeting ; but our friend Mr. Shum, who presided at the organ,
at once settled the account with them by the tones of that^
instrument. When they shouted, he put forth more power.
The orderly people smUed ; the disturbers, who had come from
a considerable distance, were disappointed; "and every man
went unto his own house." One of the Dissenting journals in
London described the attempt to disturb this meeting as " a
master-stroke of poUcy." In what its " mastery" consisted I

The Forbearance of the Conference abused. '341
pretend not to know. It was an unsuccessful endeavour to
break up an assembly of Christian worshippers. *
At the request of the friends at St. Faith, in the Norwich
Circuit, I engaged to preach to them in the afternoon and
evening of Whitsunday this year, and consented to occupy the
pulpit of our principal chapel in the city' in the forenoon of that
day. The singers, having assumed the character of "reformers
of Methodism," aU absented themselves on the occasion, as one
means, I presume, of attaining their object. Mr. John HanweU,
a Supernumerary Preacher resident there, began the tunes;
.and the godly women in the congregation sang gloriously ; so
that we suffered no serious disadvantage from the absence of
•our musical friends. Towards the close of the sermon, a body
of men, earnest " reformers," came into the chapel, evidently
-wishful to annoy me. They stood before me with their hats on,
and engaged in conversation -with one another, whUe I was
addressing the congregation on the gift of the Holy Spirit,
"the Lord and Giver of life." I said nothing to them, but left
them to pursue their own course ; which was perhaps their
greatest punishment ; for it was manifest that their minds were
iU at rest. A part of them, I was informed, walked some
anUes to hear me in the afternoon and evening ; and at the
close of the day, when appealed to by some of the friends, they
answered, " We have nothing to say against the preacher.
Our quarrel is with the system of Methodism which he
supports."
, These events are recorded merely as a specimen of the efforts
which were put forth during that sad and memorable year to
" reform " the institutions of Methodism ; or rather to annoy
and grieve its devoted friends.
It may be fairly inquired whether the Conference was not
seriously to blame for these acts of discipUne, which were fol
lowed by so great an amount of clamour and of public scandal.
I am fr-ee to confess, that in my judgment the Conference was
justly blamable in this matter. Not for the acts of discipline,
vwhich were imperatively called for ; but on account of its for
bearance. The evU ought to have been met at an earUer period,
in a firm and decisive tone, before it had gained so much

S42" Recollections of my own Life and Times.
strength, and had so widely extended its deadly poison. Tha
touch of Ithuriel's spear, provided by Mr. Wesley, — " They were-
examined one by one," — when faithfuUy applied, detected the
guUty party, and ought not to have been so long delayed. Such
mistaken lenity on the part of the Conference when sin is con
cerned, as it was in this case, it is earnestly hoped, wiU never
be repeated. The ' ' fly-sheet " nuisance was a violation not only
of conventional rules and usages, but of the law of Christ,
who expressly forbids His disciples to speak evil one of
another. Some of the most popular topics upon which the itinerant
agitators dwelt in the pubhc meetings which they convened
were these : That they had been expeUed without a trial ; that
the discipline of Methodism is an interference with the Uberty
of free-born EngUshmen ; and that no man is bound to criminate >
himself. These announcements, of course, were eagerly received
by mixed assemblies, convened by pubUc advertisement, con
taining frequenters of pubUc-houses, and many others, who hate
aU restraint, and are glad to hear that, as "freeborn EngUsh
men," they may live as they list, in defiance of all ecclesiastical
regulations. The editors of " liberal " newspapers endorsed
these statements as exactly adapted to the popular taste, and
condemned the Methodist Conference as an arbitrary and in
tolerant Body. The Times led the way on this occasion, and
pronounced me a "fanatic," for speaking of spiritual religion
as the work of God.
But let us examine these aUegations ; for popular assembUes
are not always remarkable for just discrimination ; nor are th6-
editors of newspapers infallible.
That these men had been " expeUed without a trial " was
not true. They had placed themselves beyond the protection of
the law by avowed opposition to the fundamental laws of the
Connexion to which they belonged. They had been admitted
to the Wesleyan ministry on the express condition that they
would in peipetuity submit to a personal examination as to
their moral conduct, as well as to their doctrinal sentiments-
and teaching ; and that they would, according to Mr. Wesley's
*\ Deed of Declaration," submit to the decisions of a maj,ority of

Society incompatible with lawless individual LibeHy. .343
the Conference from time to time assembled. Whereas one of
the three men declared that he would not submit to a personal
examination as to his moral conduct ; and the other two
declared that they would not bow to the decisipns of the Con
ference majorities, but would make such decisions as they did
not approve matter of public controversy and agitation. In
this manner they aU set the fundamental laws of the Body at
defiance. Surely this was " trial " enough. It was an open
avowal of rebeUion, and left the Conference no alternative, unless
it would betray its trust, and stultify itseU. The parties were
aU called to an account, and declared that they would not any
longer submit to the laws of the Connexion, which they had
pledged themselves to observe, and the observance of which
was the express condition of their continuance in the Body.
Their severance from it was therefore unavoidable. The truth
is, that, as honourable and upright men, they were bound
voluntarily to retire, so as to render unnecessary the act of
expulsion. " The rules of the Methodist Conference," it was said, " inter
fere with the liberty of a freeborn Englishman." This is un
doubtedly true ; for rules are always a restraint upon personal
liberty. In all the relations of social lUe mankind are under
obligations to observe corresponding rules of action, so that no
individual can justly claim a lawless liberty. A man cannot
become a member of even a Benefit Society without giving up
a part of his freedom ; for he then becomes bound to certain
payments of money, which before he was free to keep in his pocket.
When these men became members of the Methodist Society, did
they not professedly come under an obUgation to observe Mr.
Wesley's -Eules, which otherwise as "free-born Englishmen "
they were at liberty to break every day ? When they became
Methodist Preachers, did they not resign their liberty, to a
certain extent, for the higher object of doing and receiving
spiritual good ? As " free-born Englishmen," they were at
Uberty to spend every day and every evening as they pleased,
without being required to give an account of the manner in
which they were employed ; but when they became Methodist
Preachers, did they not engage to devote all their time aud

344 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
energies to the duties of their caUing, and every year to be
" examined one by one " as to their conduct, beUef, and teach
ing ? Yet this subjection to rule is no real hardship ; for every
man that is connected with Methodism, either as a private
member or a Preacher, is at liberty to retire whenever he
chooses. Only, whUe he belongs to the Body, he must observe
its rules. He has no alternative. This is the common lot.
Nor must we forget that " free-born Englishmen " must submit
to English law ; otherwise the civil courts wiU deal with them
just as a Leaders' Meeting will deal with a delinquent member
of the Society, and as the Conference deals with a refractory
Preacher. To talk of absolute liberty is absurd : no man is
abpve law.
John Locke, I presume, was as zealous and enlightened an
advocate of liberty as the Methodist agitators, and had they
placed themselves under his wise tuition, he would have taught
them that " no government aUows absplute liberty ; the idea
of gpvernment being the establishment of society upon certain
rules or laws, which require conformity to them ; and the idea
of absolute Uberty being for any one to do whatever he pleases.
I am as capable of being certain of the truth of this proposition
as of any in the mathematics."*
With respect to the other principle which the agitators
maintained, and which is said to have been received with
acclamation by admiring crowds, — :that " no man is bound to
criminate himself," — ^it sounds strange as coming from the Ups
of men professing to believe the Bible. The truth is, that U a
man refuse to " criminate himseU," so as to confess his sin,
and that with penitential shame and sorrow, he must bear the
punishment of it for ever. The confession and abandonment
of sin are indispensable conditions of forgiveness. And there
are cases in which sin is required to be confessed to men as
weU as to God. So Joshua thought, when, bending over Achan,
he said to the guilty man, " My son, give, I pray thee, glory to
the Lord God of Israel, and make confession unto Him ; and
tell me now what thou hast done : hide it not from me." So
also the trembUng culprit thought, when he " answered Joshua,
* " Essay concerning Human Understanding," book iv., chap, iii., sec. 18.

Confession indispensable to Forgiveness of Sin. 345
«.nd said. Indeed I have sinned against the Lord God of Israel,
and thus and thus have I done." (Joshua vii. 19, 20.)
But this question is set at rest for ever by our blessed Lord,
who in certain cases declares such a confession a necessary
condition of acceptance with God when men come before Him
with their gifts and offerings. What else can be the meaning
of these solemn words, which follow His warning against the
use of reviling language ? " Therefore if thou bring thy gift to
the altar, and there rememberest that thy brother hath ought
against thee ; leave there thy gift before the altar, and go thy
way; first be reconcUed to thy brother, and then come and
offer thy gift." (Matt. v. 23, 24.) The case here supposed is
that of a man who comes to worship God, and then remembers
that some other man has just ground of complaint against him,
on account of an injury done to him in his person, reputation,
or property ; or by applying to him any reproachful name, as
" Eaca," or " fool." He is forbidden to offer his sacrifice tiU
he has done what he can, by confession, restitution, and every
other means, to pacify the injured man. The text is thus
paraphrased by the excellent Doddridge : —
" Eemember therefore to lay aside aU your animosities, and
to live in peace and love, as ever you would escape God's
wrath, and secure His favour. Without this, your most ex
pensive sacrifices would be so vain, that I must inculcate it on
every one of you, as a most necessary caution, If thou an
lyringing thy gift, however costly and free, even to the very altar,
and there reeollectest that thy brother has any just cause of [com-
plaintl against thee, do not ccntent thyseU with a secret, and it
may be a treacherous, purpose, that thou wilt hereafter accom
modate the affair, but bring it to an immediate issue ; and,
leaving thy gift there, in the hand of those that are ministering
before the altar, go away, and first make it thy care to be reconciled
to thy brother, by an acknowledgment of thy fault, and by a
readiness to make him any reasonable satisfaction ; and then
come, and offer thy gift, which thou mayest then cheerfuUy hope
God wiU accept at thine hands." *
To the same effect is the exposition of our Lord's words by
• Family Expositor.

846 Recollectipns of my own Life and Times.
Dr. Macknight, who says, "This exhertation Jesus enforced
from the consideration of what is reckoned prudent in ordinary
law-suits. In such cases wise men always advise the party
that has done the wrong to make up matters vrith his adver
sary whUst it is in his power, lest the sentence of a Judge being
interposed faU heavy on him. For the same reason, we who
have offended our brother ought to make it up with him,
whilst an opportunity of repentance is aUowed us, and that
though our quarrel should have proceeded to the greatest
lengths ; lest the sentence of the Supreme Judge overtake us,
and put reconciliation out of our power for ever."*
No less expUoit is the interpretation of our Saviour's words
which is given by Dr. Adam Clarke. "It is^ our duty and
interest," says that very able man, " both to bring our gUt, —
and offer it too ; but God wiU not accept of any act of reUgious
worship from us, whUe any enmity subsists in our hearts towards
any soul of man; or while any subsists in our neighbour's
heart towards us, which we have not used the proper means to
remove. A reUgion, the very essence of which is love, cannot
suffer at its altars a heart that is revengeful and uncharitable,
or which does not use its utmost endeavours to revive love in
the heart of another."  " ' Then come and offer thy gift : '
then when either thy brother is reconcUed to thee, or thou hast
done all in thy power to effect this reconciliation. My own obsti
nacy and uncharitableness must render me utterly unfit to
receive any good from God's hands, or to worship Him in an
acceptable manner ; but the vrickedness of another can be no
hindrance to me, when I have endeavoured earnestly to get it re
moved, though without effect." i
One of the most noble-minded of the men who were a means
of effecting the Protestant Eeformation, the venerable Latimer,
entertained views of Christian worship and morality very
different from those which were professed by the men who
aspired to be the reformers of Methodism. Thus he addressed
a congregation in his own racy style in the year 1529 : — " If so
be that thou hast spoken to pr by thy neighbour, whereby he
is moved to ire or wrath, thou must lay down thy oblation.
• Harmony of the Gospels. -j- Commentary. .

The unacceptable Gift, Matt. v. 23, 24. 347'
Oblations be prayers, alms-deeds, or any work of charity.
These be all caUed oblations to God. Lay down therefore thy
oblation ; begin to do none of these aforesaid works before thou
goest unto thy neighbour, and confess thy fault unto him; declaring
thy mind that if thou hast offended him, thou art glad and
wiUing to make him amends so far as thy words and substance
wiU extend, requiring him not to take it at the worst. Thou
art sorry in thy mind that thou shouldest be occasion of his-
offending. "  "If thy neighbour hath any thing, any mahce
against thee, through thine occasion, 'lay even down,' saith
Christ, ' thine oblation. Pray not to Me ; do no good deeds
for Me; but go first unto thy neighbour,  then do thy de
votion ; then do thy alms-deeds ; then pray, if thou wUt have
Me to hear.'"*
The assertion then which was so boldly made, and so often
repeated in pubhc assembUes by the " reformers " of Mr..
Wesley's rules, is a direct contradiction of our Saviour's teach
ing. An offender must " criminate himself " before the man
whom he has offended and injured, in order to the acceptance-
of his offering.
It is no less the duty of Christian people, and especiaUy of
Christ's Ministers, when falsely accused or suspected of evU,
to declare their innocence, and justify themselves. In the-
case of secret murder the ancient Hebrews were required by
the law of God to purge themselves of suspicion by sacrifice,
and by solemnly declaring, as in the presence of the Almighty,
" Our hands have not shed this blood ; " and it is fair to con
clude that when they refused to comply with this reUgious form
of purgation they were dealt with as the guilty parties. (Dent.
xxi. 1-9.)
AU the professed disciples of Christ are His "witnesses,"'
whose duty it is, in every possible way, to spread His truth in.
the world, and promote a practical reception of it. Individual
believers. Ministers, and Christian communities are in their-
several degrees employed in this service ; but in order to their
success they must keep themselves pure. Private Christians
and Ministers of the word with a blemished reputation are
J" " Latimer's Works," vol. i., pp. 17, 18. Parker Society's Edition.

348 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
alike powerless for all purposes of spiritual and moral goodi
When unjustly suspected or accused, it is therefore their duty
to declare their innocence, and to make it appear, as did our
Saviour and St. Paul when under false accusation. The cha
racter and usefulness of a reUgious community are seriously
affected by the conduct of its members. When therefore any
one of them is vehemently suspected of secret wickedness,
his brethren have an undoubted right to question him on the
subject, and he is morally and religiously bound to answer their
inquiries. The professor of reUgion, who is generaUy sus
pected of evil, and will neither confess his sin, nor affirm his
innocence, is unworthy of a place in any Christian community ;
and much less is he worthy of recognition as a Minister and
Pastor of the flock. " Giving no offence in anything, that the
ministry be not blamed." The Gospel ministry is an ordinance
of Christ, upon which the salvation of men is made instru
mentally to depend ; and woe be to the man who dishonours it
by a course of conduct which will not bear the Ught !
' It is true, indeed, that a man who is under accusation in an
English court of justice is not absolutely bound by law to crimi
nate himself; but he is required to declare whether or not he is
guUty, and to adduce proof of his innocence, U he would escape
the penalty of the law. Before the trial begins, a question as to
his guilt or innpcence is proposed to him ; and to that question
he is required to give an explicit answer. When the passions
of men are inflamed, it is not difficult to persuade themselves
that even the breach of New-Testament law is matter of duty)
¦" We beseech you, brethren, to know them which labour among
you, and are over you in the Lord, and admonish you ; and to
esteem them very highly in love for their work's sake." (1 Thess.
TT. 12, 13.) Such is the charge given by an Apostle to the mem
bers of a Christian Church ; and through them to professed
Christians to the end of the world. The counsel given to the
Methodist Societies by the agitators was, that they should
despise and revUe theU Ministers and Pastors, and throw every
hindrance and discouragement in their way. " So hath the
Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of
the Gospel," is the declaration pf St. Paul. (1 Cor. ix. 14.) In

Stoppage of " Supplies" to Wesleyan Missions threatened. 349
opposition to this ordinance of "the Lord," the advice of the
agitators was, that the Methodists should withhold all support-
from their Ministers, and leave them with their wives and
ohildren without bread. We ought to "be feUow-helpers to-
the truth," says St. John, by affording aid to the servants of
Christ, who carry the Gospel to the Heathen. (3 John 4-8.)
Contribute nothing more to the Missions, said these self-styled
" reformers," unless the Conference will let us have our own
way. Such conduct, viewed in its most favourable light, was a
practical adoption of the maxim : " Let us do e-vil, that good
may come."
One of the most remarkable fields of Missionary labour
ever occupied by the Wesleyan body is that of Fiji, in many
parts of which the adult persons generaUy were blood-stained
murderers. At the very time when these troublers of our
Israel were urging the people of England to withhold aU
pecuniary supplies from the Wesleyan Missions, some half-a-
dozen faithful men, with their noble-minded partners, were
labouring beyond their strength, and at the hazard of theii:
lives, to convert and save these outcasts of mankind ; and their
appeals to England for additional help were heart-rending.
The help which the Conference was able to send was not equal
to the exigency of the case, and would have been greater if the
" suppUes " had been more liberal. The Missionaries, however,,
toiled on, aided by their heroic wives, and the truth mightUy
prevaUed ; so that many thousands of these cannibals were not,
only reclaimed from their horrid practices, but were also changed.
into holy and happy believers in Christ. Yet attempts were
made to break up this Mission, with many others of equal'
importance. It has been observed by one of the most eloquent and philo
sophical statesmen of modern times, that " a spirit of innova
tion is generaUy the result of a selfish temper and confined
views. People will not look forward to posterity who never
look backward to their ancestors."* Suppose regulations,
intended to guard and foster a revival of spiritual reUgion,
drawn up by the hand of Mr. Wesley, and afterwards enlarged
* Burke.

350 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and modified by such men as William Thompson, Alexander
Mather, Joseph Benson, Samuel Bradburn, John Pawson,
Adam Clarke, and Henry Moore, to have been scattered to the
winds, by the passion for change which the agitators laboured
to create and inflame ; what would have been the effect upon
the succeeding generations of Methodists, and upon the cause
of religion in general ? This is a question which these men
appear never to have proposed to one another. Burke has
further said that "a man should approach the faults of the
State as to the wounds of a father, with pious awe and trembling
soUcitude." What then must be thought of the professed
attempt to correct alleged faults in a reUgious community, even
supposing them to exist, by sarcastic levity, caUing fo^h
shouts of laughter in mixed assembUes ? and especiaUy a
religious community formed by the faithful and self-denying
ministry of the venerable Wesley and his chosen feUow-labourers ?
This was indeed "a day of rebuke and of blasphemy."
WhUe it lasted, Methodism and its adherents were subjected to
the severest trial they had ever known. Many members of the
Societies, misled by ex parte statements, renounced their con
nexion with their Christian friends, and sought other associations ;
and not a few abandoned their religious profession, and relapsed
into their former state of ungodliness and sin. Yet the
discipline of Methodism was preserved. Had that been given
up in the struggle, it could never have been recovered. But
John Wesley's sons in the Gospel better understood their
¦ calling, and like hardy mariners weathered the storm.
WhUe the agitators were exerting themselves to injure the
Wesleyan Missions, using both the platform and the press for
the purpose of inducing the coUectors to discontinue their
services, and the subscribers to withhold their contributions,
the friends of this grand scheme of Christian benevolence
were roused to efforts more strenuous than ever to counteract
this anti-Christian design. In this noble enterprise the
Methodists of Leeds led the way. The anniversary of the
AuxiUary Missionary Society for the Leeds District is held in
the autumn ; and in the year 1849 it acquired a special interest,
the standard of public opposition to the Missions having been

Origin of the Leeds " Missionary Breakfast." 351
just erected. All eyes were therefore turned towards that town,
and every one was anxious to know how the people there
would act in this new and painful emergency. Preparatory to
the two public meetings, which were to be held on the Monday
and Tuesday evenings, sermons were preached and public
coUections made in aU the chapels on the Lord's day ; and on
the Monday morning Mr. and Mrs. Thackray invited several of
the principal friends to breakfast, that they might act by united
counsels, and afford an efficient support to a cause which was
dear to their hearts.
To this seasonable gathering I was accompanied by my
friend and host Mr. Joshua Burton, of Eoundhay, one of the
best of men, but singularly modest and retiring in his habits.
At the close of the breakfast Mr. WiUiam Smith, who was
remarkable for his Uberality, especially to the Missions, rose
and said, " I am no speech -maker, but a plain practical man.
We must not let the Missionary cause go down at this very
serious crisis. I hope we shall have a good coUection at this
Anniversary ; and it has occurred to me that my friend Mr.
Joshua Burton should strike the key-note, by teUing us what
he intends to give when the collection is made at the pubUc
meeting this evening." "Why do you look to me?" repUed
Mr. Burton. " We always expect you to lead the way in cases
of this kind, and then we follow according to our ability."
" WeU," answered Mr. Smith, " if it must be so, I wiU teU you
that I intend to give one hundred and fifty pounds, U you, Mr.
Joshua, wiU do the same ; which you are weU able to do."
" 0," responded Mr. Burton, " you intend to give one hundred
and fifty pounds ! Why did you not say two hundred ? for
that is the sum I purpose to give." " Very weU," rejoined Mr.
Smith; "I accept your chaUenge." On hearing this brief
conversation, other friends caught the same generous feeUng,
and in rapid succession announced the liberal sums which they
pledged themselves to contribute. Prom that morning to the
end of his protracted Ufe, Mr. Smith was accustomed every
year to invite a large number of friends to breakfast at his
house at Gledhow in the morning of the day on which the
:first public meeting connected with the Anniversary of the

352 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
Society for the Leeds District was held. At these social
parties the guests provoked one another to deeds of liberality,
which served as an example to their brethren in every part of
the Connexion ; so that the gathering at the house of Mr.
Thackray proved to be not only a mighty benefit at the time,
but a permanent advantage, and that of a high order.
In the evening the Brunswick chapel was thoroughly filled,.
friends and foes being anxious to see and hear. Nothing would'
satisfy the friends, but that I, as representing the Conference,
should occupy the chair; and weU did they supply me with-
bank-notes, that the chair should not be dishonoured when the
coUection was made. Mr. Arthur was present ; and before the
business of the meeting began, he suggested to me that in his
speech he was quite prepared to " take the bull by the horns : "
meaning, to undertake an open and fearless defence of the
Missions against the hostile attacks which had been made upon
them. I told him that I would impose upon him no restraint ;
and he defended both them and the conduct of the managing
Committee with admirable ability and effect. Other speakers
followed in the same tone and spirit ; the meeting caught the
right feeUng ; and the noble sum of more than eight hundred
pounds was immediately collected, foUowed by other large and
handsome coUections in the course of the same week.
The example set by the friends in Leeds gave new heart to
the Connexion generaUy, so that the Missionary meetings
through the year assumed a tone of confidence, and were
marked by Uberality. I attended the annual meetings of the
Birmingham District Auxiliary Society, in the spring of the
next year, and was a joyful witness of the spirit which had'
characterized the friends in Leeds some months before. The
meetings were held in the spacious Town Hall, which was weU
filled on the occasion. The people mustered in great strength'
from the neighbouring Circuits in Staffordshire, some of whom
came over night, that they might attend the morning meetmg,
as weU as that in the evening. The speakers, with fearlessness
and courage, vindicated the Society against the charges which
had been wantonly preferred against it, and obtained a Uberal
responfie from the crowds who were present. -

A Contrast, 353'
Some of the persons, however, belonging to the hostile party,
banded together to create a disturbance at the Annual Meeting
of the Society in Exeter HaU. But the chair was occupied that
year by the Eight Honourable Pox Maule, who had been trained
in the House of Commons, where unruly spirits are effectuaUy
controlled : and he speedily reduced these sons of discord
to order.
To me this was a year of hard labour, and of deep anxiety,
being incessantly caUed upon to give counsel and encourage
ment to the brethren, many of whom were sorely pressed in.
their Circuits by unreasonable and disorderly men, and looked
to me as their adviser. I did what I could ; I -wrote many
letters, visited several places to strengthen the hands of those
who were in danger of being overborne by popular clamour ;
and I published a pamphlet in defence of the Conference, show
ing that its recent acts of discipUne were in perfect accordance
with the rules and usages of the Body, to which the agitators
themselves had formerly given their adhesion. In aU our
troubles I had a perfect con-viction that the providence of God
would guide the Connexion through its difficulties, and ulti
mately bring good out of the evil.
At the end of the year I resigned my charge to my friend
Dr. Beecham, one of the most faithful and upright of men,
who was appointed to succeed me in the office of President. At
this Conference (1850) I chose, as the subject of my "official"
sermon, delivered in the forenoon of a week-day in the City-
Eoad chapel, " Christian Presbyters, their Office, Duty, and
Eeward ; " asserting what I conceive to be the just preroga
tives and responsibiUties of the Ministers and Pastors of the
Church of God, according to the teaching of the New Testa
ment. The Sermon was published at the request of the Con
ference, as well as the Charge which was then addressed to the
newly-ordained Ministers.
Thus ended my Presidential honours, anxieties, and— re
proaches. Eleven years before, for twelve months, I witnessed
one uninterrupted scene of holy gladness and love, and unex
ampled manifestations of UberaUty in support of our various
reUgious institutions; and" now for twelve months I had- wit-
A A

354 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
nessed the most reckless and determined attempts to spread
discord among brethren ; to break up the Missions to the
Heathen ; to deprive aged Ministers and widows of bread ; to*
divide and scatter the Societies, which had been formed by a
long course of ministerial labour and earnest prayer ; whUe
upon my own head were lavished bitter censures for words
which I had never uttered, and for dispositions which were
entirely alien from my heart. These censures were poured upon
me in public meetings from one end of the kingdom to the other,
and echoed by the press ; but as they were a consequence of the
resistance which the Conference had offered to sin, I felt that I
could bear them with perfect equanimity. I often thought of a
beautUul observation made by John Goodwin, that David had
his adversaries, whose words were drawn swords ; but whUe he
had a good conscience, he " turned aU their hard speeches into
matter of music and song, and played them off upon his harp."
My chief concern was for the unhappy men who were pursuing
a course directly opposed both to the letter and spirit of New-
Testament Christianity ; and for the unsuspecting people, who
were drawn into evil-speaking, with the Consequent loss of their
spiritual enjoyments ; and then, with respect to many of them,
the abandonment of even their reUgious profession.
During this dark season of trial my brother Samuel, assisted
by Dr. Jobson and other faithful men, conducted Tlie Vindicator,
a monthly periodical originated for the express purpose of neu
tralizing the evil which the agitators were labouring to promote.
Many papers in that pubUcation possess a permanent interest,
and wiU amply repay the student of Methodism for the time
that he may spend in the perusal of them. The arguments and
facts which they embody, the pungent wit and solemn warn
ings which they contain, and the mis-statements and sophistry
of which they convict the men who sought to promote discord
by their pubhc speeches, served greatly to open men's eyes as to
the acts of expulsion which it had been the painful duty of the
Conference to perform. It is a remarkable fact, that the attempt
to injure the character of the Conference, and to aUenate the
Societies from that Body, — attempts which were persevered in
for years, and in which the platform and the press were used

Evil overruled for Good. 355
with equal earnestness and .pertinacity, — have only served to
•unite them more closely than they ever were united since the
first Society was formed, and the first Conference held. Never
was the Wesleyan Connexion more at unity with itself than it
has been since its disruption was attempted in the manner just
described. The agitators pursued their divisive course, tiU the public
grew weary of their thrice-told tale, and refused any longer to
congregate in considerable numbers at their caU. Indeed, every
thoughtful person perceived from the beginning that the
excitement could not last. It was too violent for that, and
had no basis of truth and righteousness to rest upon. Besides,
the logic employed was bad, and could deceive no one who took
the pains to think. What the complainants said was, in sub
stance, this : That the Methodist Conference was a corrupt
body ; and that they were treated with great injustice in being
severed from it. Whereas, if half the evil they said of it were
true, they ought of themselves to have renounced aU connexion
with it, and not to have waited for an act of expulsion. To
complain of the hardship and injustice of being severed from a
" corrupt " community was, in effect, to declare themselves the
friends of corruption.
After these men had succeeded in unsettUng the minds of
many members of the Wesleyan Societies, they left other parties
to repair the injury they had done. Two of them adopted the
theory of Independency, and the third would appear to have
retained only a sort of quasi connexion -with the people whom
he had assisted in separating from their Pastors and Christian
brethren. They could destroy brotherly confidence and affection ;
but they could not unite the discordant elements which they had
created. They could throw discredit upon regulations which
Mr. Wesley and his feUow-labourers had agreed upon, as a
means of guarding and extending a great work of God, but
they could not find any thing better as a substitute. To other
men therefore was confided the task of uniting in reUgious fel
lowship the people whose minds they had unsettled, and of
organizing plans of usefulness and of Christian union resem
bling those which they had just discarded. So much easier is
2 A 2

356 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
it to demoUsh than to reconstruct. Jonathan Martin could set
fire to York Minster ; but he could not repair the damage which
he did, nor could he erect another building of equal dimen-'
sions and architectural beauty.
A few weeks after the close of the Conference of 1850, when
I was released from my Presidential duties, William France,
one of my earliest and most endeared friends among the Meth
odist Preachers, ended his upright and holy life. Some notices
of him I have given in the former part of this narrative. He-
died in great peace at Ardrossan, October 11th, 1850, in the
seventieth year of his age. He was an indefatigable and suc
cessful student of Holy Scripture, an able and orthodox theo
logian, a devout, upright, and conscientious Christian, and 'to
me a most valued and affectionate friend. Very pleasant to me
is the remembrance of the hours I have spent in company with
this inteUigent and amiable man.
On the 30th of April, 1854, the venerable Dr. Eobert Newton
died in the Lord, after a long life spent in the service of Christ.
He was one of the most spotless characters I ever knew, and
certainly one of the most laborious and useful ministers of his
time. Yet because he was true to his calling as a Methodist
Preacher, and faithful to his trust as a member of the Confer
ence, so that he would not surrender the discipline of Mr.
Wesley into the hands of persons who sought its subversion, he
was basely slandered by the men of "Ply- Sheet" notoriety.
At the request of the London Ministers, I consented to preach
a sermon, on the occasion of his death, in the City-Eoad chapel;
and afterwards, published it in compliance with their wishes.
At the solicitation of his family, I also undertook the compUa- .
tion of a narrative of his life and labours. Of this volume-
upwards of twenty-four thousand copies have been sold. Not
long before his death, this holy and upright man was asked
what was the foundation of aU the clamour which the agitators
were making against the Conference ; when he repUed to this-
effect: "It has no foundation, and is utterly inexcusable. In
the course of a long life I have observed that when people are
gttting religion they are full of self-abasement, and are even
ready to condemn themselves; but when they are losing

The Rev. Jonctthan Crowther .- Dr. Beecham. 357
religion, or have lost it, they are often fuU of self-confidence,
and find their pleasure in censuring and condemning other
persons." The year 1856 was a time of unusual mortahty among the
.Ministers of our Body. The Minutes of the Conference, bearing
•that date, record the names of thirty-three honoured men who,
in England, Ireland, and the Foreign Missions, finished their
course. Among other men of mark belonging to the
number were Jonathan Crowther, John Beecham, and Joseph
Sutcliffe. Mr. Crowther exceUed in classical and general scho
larship, in the use of which he rendered valuable service to
the Connexion as the Head Master of Kingswood School,
as the Classical and Mathematical Tutor in the Theological
Institution at Didsbury, and as the General Superintendent of
our Missions in India. He was a man of genial disposition,
faithful to Methodism, and to his brethren, by whom he was
trusted and sincerely beloved.
For many years Dr. Beecham sustained the office of General
Secretary to our Missionary Society. He was a sensible and
upright man, diligent, and eminently trustworthy. Both he
iand Mr. Crowther rendered good service to the Connexion by
writing in defence of its discipline against its agitating
assaUants, and therefore had their fuU share of abuse from
imruly men, who were the more violent when they found them
selves worsted in argument. Dr. Beecham's tract on the Con
stitution pf Methpdism possesses a permanent value. The loss
of these two able Ministers was felt severely and deeply lamented.
They were among my intimate and valued friends.
Mr. SutcUffe was in some respects one of the most remark
able men I have known. He was connected with the Confer
ence as a Methodist Preacher for seventy years, and during the
whole of that period maintained a character of unblemished
purity. He was ingenious and inquisitive, seeking and inter-
meddhng with almost every branch of knowledge, but especiaUy
¦the knowledge of the Holy Scriptures, of which he was a
¦successful student. He translated from the French a volume
of Saurin's Sermons, and Ostervald's "Essay on the Composi
tion and DeUvery of a Sermon ; " and was the author of a

S58 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
Grammar of the EngUsh language, of two octavo volumes of
Sermons, of a volume of hymns, besides a large number of minor
pubUcations on theology, personal religion, geology, and
poUtics. His pulpit discourses were generaUy brief, but always
interesting, and original in their arrangement and cast of
thought. Yet dUigent as he was in his studies, he was a faith
ful Pastor, -risiting the people of his charge from house to
house, caring for aU, and commanding in a high degree their
confidence and affection. The late Dr. Olinthus Gregory, who
attended Mr. SutcUffe's ministry in Woolwich, was so deeply
impressed in his favour, as to request one of the Scottish.
Universities to confer upon him the degree of Master of Arts, a
distinction which he had fairly won by his scholarship and
talents. His principal work is an Exposition of the Bible,
which he began in Leeds in the year 1808, at the request of a
bookseUer in that town, who published it in foUo along with
the sacred text. This Exposition he afterwards revised and
enlarged, and presented it to the public in two volumes. It is
not copious, but it is pertinent, and embodies information which
is not generally accessible to the mere EngUsh reader. The
Eeflections appended to the different chapters are remarkable
for their variety, elegance, spirituality, and edifying tendency.
Of the great doctrines of the Gospel, especiaUy the Divinity
and Atonement of Christ, Mr. SutcUffe was an earnest and
zealous advocate, and in his various publications he has:
administered strong and teUing rebukes, not only to ¦writers
professedly Socinian, such as Dr. Priestley and Dr. Lant Carpen
ter ; but also to some of the dignified Clergy, whom he beUeved
to have tampered with these momentous verities. Archbishop
Newcome and Dr. Blayney both cpme under the lash of his
pious indignation.
When this venerable man was upwards of ninety years
of age, he was thrown down by a butcher's cart, driven
furiously along the streets of Bayswater, and one of his legs-
was broken. Yet he survived this accident, and resumed his
pulpit labours after his recovery. In spirit he was meek, gentie,
kind, condescending, affable, simple as a child, and one of the
most loveable of men. That he was never elected as the President

A self-made Man : the Rev. Joseph Sutcliffe. 359
of the Conference is to be accounted for from the fact that he
manifested no particular aptitude for matters of business, and
seldom took part in the discussions of that assembly.
Mr. Sutcliffe is entitled to a place among the most eminent
of the self-made men of Methodism. He was a native of
Baildon, near Leeds, and according to his own account enjoyed
but few advantages of education in early life ; but by God's
blessing upon his own pious industry, he surmounted the diffi
culties that beset his path, wisely avaiUng himself of every help
that came in his way. It would appear that he acquired the
French language in the year 1791, when he was stationed in
ihe island of Jersey. Mr. Brackenbury, of Eaithby HaU, who
himself spent some years in the Channel Islands, assisted him
in acquiring the elements of Greek and Latin ; and he learned
Hebrew from a German Jew. The Eev. John Crosse, Vicar of
Bradford, having become nearly blind, made him a present of
his Hebrew Bible, saying that he knew of no man who was
Ukely to make a better use of it. That no person of competent
abUity has been furnished with the requisite materials for
supplying a biography of this very devout, laborious, and useful
Methodist Preacher, is matter of deep regret. He was a man
of extensive reading, and had carefuUy digested what he read.
I reverenced and loved him as a father.
In the later years of his Ufe I received many letters from him,
which contain decisive proof of his ardent attachment to Wes
leyan-Methodism and its adherents ; his yearning desire that
its ministry might be perpetuated in unimpaired purity and
zeal ; his profound regret to find that certain men were banded
together to revolutionize the system, to take away the pastoral
character of the Ministry, and to promote agitation and strife in
the Societies. That these things embittered the last days of this
venerable servant of Christ I have affecting proof under his
own hand, which trembled while he recorded them.
Mr. SutcUffe loved his brethren, and deUghted to do honour
to their talents and character. In his note on Prov. xviii. 9,
he says, " The late Dr. Adam Clarke, my contemporary, and
brother Minister for almost haU a century, made this text the
motto of his conduct. As an acorn rises tP a majestic pak, so

.360 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
the Doctor raised himseU to the first class of distinguished men,
as a Biblical scholar, an antiquary, and a popular preacher.
Above aU, he was a good man. The like characters, in the
different departments of science, have raised Europe to its
. present glory ; the culture of the mind by literature has given
perfection to the arts, and wealth to the nations."
Mr. SutcUffe's remark upon Mal. i. 10 is to some extent
appUcable to himseU: " The faithful minister, who works night
and day for his people, is often not appreciated tUl after his
death. Then his writings praise him in the gate, and others
reap pecuniary profit from them." His commentary on the
Bible contains many valuable hints on preaching and pastorgj
duties, which young ministers might turn to a good practical
account. A few brief specimens I here subjoin.
" Our sermons have too much of the didactic. We divide,
explain, and teach. We dweU on words and truths aheady
understood. But after setting good things before an audience,
¦why may we not assist piety in uttering the wishes of their
hearts to obtain them ? The frequent prayers which St. Paul
mixes with his discourses are the most pathetic and touching
parts of his writings." " No man is so much despised as an
ignorant and profane minister. The pastor of a Christian
church ought to be a regenerate man, of holy conversation, and
mighty in the Scriptures. He should have a fountain of elo
quence in his own breast, should be possessed of talent and
science, able to instruct the ignorant, and face an ungodly
world. He should ever have his eye upon his ministry, and
make the care of souls his sole deUght."
" Learn a lesson, 0 Christian ministers, so to read and study
the Holy Scriptures, that your plain hearers may never put you
to the blush, by asking a fair Bible question which you cannot
answer. Let the word of God dweU in you richly in aU wisdom,
and be your morning study to the end of life."
" While a good man is providing for his household, he should
sometimes cast a glance on his minister, and make an estimate
on the state and wants of his famUy. From the combined
efforts of the people he should also have food and raiment. If
he be a studious man, perhaps he suffers for want of books,

A missing History of Methodism. S>61
which he can neither borrow nor buy. His acquisitions wUl
amply repay his auditory with effusions of wisdom and knowledge,
and his productions will delight a future age."
"The ancient seers struck at the reigning vices of their
country with all good fidelity. And what is our ministry worth,
if we do not, Uke the surgeon, cauterize the old and ulcerous
wounds of the human heart ? Our own age peculiarly requires
this. It abounds with men who profess the Christian name,
and deny the Lord by 'wicked works."
Among other manuscripts which were left by this exceUent
and godly man was a History of Methodism ; but what became
of it I know not. Considering the character of the writer, it
must have embodied both facts and sentiments that were well
worthy of the public attention. Having spent seventy years in
the Christian ministry, during the whole of which he preserved
the true spirit of the sacred office, in the time of extreme old
age he was stUl ready to say, —
" My heart is full of Christ, and longs
Its glorious matter to declare."
The foUowing is the last letter I received from his loving
ieart and trembling hand : —

" Bayswateb, March 1th

" My dear Bkotheb,
" I have now passed my ninetieth year in fine health for an
old man. I want, Wesley-like, to take some pulpit on a Sunday
morning, and to stop a gap on a week-night. BiUy Naylor has
delicately got rid of me from the Chelsea monthly plan on
account of cross-roads, weather, etc., etc. Sunday, the 21st, I
am down for Kensal Town, otherwise I have no work on the
plan. My brethren never ask me to take a Sunday morning
turn. They seem to treat me as defunct before I am reaUy
dead. " I am reading a fourth time my History of Methodism ; and
my judgment says it will edUy posterity. I keep it as clear
as I can from dirty words. It extends to one thousand
six hundred quarto pages, demy paper. What shaU I do with
it ? If times were good, it would be worth money.

362 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
" My Comment has a wide run through the United States.
Two letters have unexpectedly arrived ; one via Hastings, and
the other to Mr. Ehick, saddler. Long Acre. But no offer.
Praise is to be my reward. WeU; to see my Comment go
through both empires is great for me, a poor nothing.
" May Methodism Uve, and live for ever !
"Joseph Sutcliffe.
" The Bev. Dr. Jackson.
" In haste."

CHAPTER XIX.
DEATH IN ITS BELATION TO EBLIE-VEBS IN CHKIST — KEDNION IN HEA-VTEN OF-
GODLY FAMILIES — ACCOUNTS OF THE LI-VTES AND HAPPY DEATHS OP RELA
TIVES : UNCLE THOMAS VANSE ; AUNT VANSE ; SISTER MARY ; UNCLE THOMAS..
MARSHALL; UNCLE SAMUEL JACKSON; UNCLE JAMES MARSHALL AND HIS.
¦WIPE.
DEATH is inflicted upon mankind as the pimishment of sin,
and as such it cannot but be regarded as a calamity, the
extent of whose ravages it is even fearful to contemplate. It
is often connected with bitter suffering, arising from the various
forms of disease; and the sorrow which it entails upon famiUes
no language can fuUy express. It deprives youth of its beauty,
and manhood of its strength ; it effects a final separation
between a man and his property ; and it dissolves aU the tender
ties of domestic lUe. Aged people generaUy find that their
early companions and friends have disappeared ; and they are
thus reminded that they too must soon foUow into a new and
untried state of being.
By the mediation of Christ, however, the character of death
is completely changed; and that which was originally threatened
and inflicted as a curse becomes a blessing. In respect of those-
who beUeve in Christ, and thus partake of his salvation, death
ends for ever aU their sufferings ; it introduces the disembodied
spirit into the heavenly paradise, there to join "the spirits of
just men made perfect ; " and to enjoy delights far surpassing
aU that they ever felt or apprehended on earth ; and, above aU,
it admits them to a sight of their gtorified Saviour. WeU as it
is with them in this world, it is " far better " with them when-
" absent from the body : " which, though now dishonoured and
.turned to dust, shaU rise again, conformed to the glorified body
of the Son of God, and then live through eternity in the beauty
and vigour of undying youth.
Families, therefore, in which the blessings of vital Chris
tianity are realized, though separated upon earth, shall soon.

364 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
meet in a better world, and enjoy an eternal union through
Christ their common Lord. In the happiness resulting from
this assurance my own relations have largely shared, as wiU
appear from the examples I will now relate.
My uncle, Thomas Vanse, died November 4th, 1813, in the
fifty-third year of his age. For more than thirty years he was
a member of the Methodist Society, and during a considerable
part of that period was an esteemed and useful Class-Leader.
He also accommodated the Preachers in his own house, in their
regular visits to the vUlage. Among other good and faithful
men whom he received as his guests was the celebrated Eobert
Newton, then a young evangelist, just entering upon his
laborious and briUiant career of ministerial duty.
The death of this good man was remarkable. While in the
¦enjoyment of his usual health, he suffered for some days from
the toothache ; and finding that the pain was likely to con
tinue, he went to Market- Weighton, to have the aiUng tooth
drawn. As a sermon was to be deUvered in the Methodist
chapel there, he stayed to attend the service, and took cold in
.returning home. Inflammation of the face ensued, and the
pain and swelling so increased, that it was deemed necessary
to call in the aid of a neighbouring surgeon. He was not the
jnedical practitioner whom I have already mentioned, who
fiUed the wound in the foot of the farmer with flour to stop the
bleeding ; but he was not much farther advanced in the science
of his profession ; for the treatment which he adopted increased
the malady which he was employed to cure. My uncle Thomas
Marshall, perceiving that the case was becoming more and
more alarming, rode to Beverley, and fetched a physician, who,
on his arrival, pronounced the case hopeless ; for mortification
.had aheady begun. Addressing his patient, the physician
said, " I have come too late. You are a dying man." My
uncle answered, " Never mind ; all is right." The physician
-ordered him to be bled immediately ; when the sufferer said,
" The Lord be thanked. Sir ; you have given me ease." The
physician added, "I am surprised that you are not raving
mad ; for the inflammation, has extended to the brain." " Q
jSir," repUed the afflicted man, "it is all in answer to prayer.

Last Hours of Uncle Vanse. 365-
I have prayed that the Lord would preserve my senses to the-
last ; and I beUeve He wiU ! " " WeU," answered the physician,
"I never knew such an instance in the entire course of my
life." He then inquired of the surgeon as to the treatment he
had used, and on learning the truth, gave unmistakable signs.
that he had sacrificed the life of the patient, by increasing the
inflammation. This was poor comfort to the sorrowing-
family. When the medical men had left, and my uncle knew his
doom, he said, "Eeach me that precious book, the Bible;"
and began to read and expound, saying that he never had
such -views of the meaning of Holy Scripture before ; so that all
present were astonished, considering his state of suffering.
In the evening before he died, he said to his wife, " Betty,
I shall soon be gone. I should like to see the whole of my eight
children before I die, that I may give them my last blessing."
Her kind-hearted brother, Thomas Marshall, who was ready for
every friendly service, set off early the next morning to collect.
them together from the surrounding country, where they were
engaged in various kinds of work, to see their dying father.
Two of his daughters first arrived ; and on seeing them, their
mother said, with tears, " He cannot live tiU theyaU get here."
He overheard the remark, and answered, " 0 yes, I shaU; and
yet I shall be in heaven before twelve o'clock." When they had
all arrived, he said to my mother, who was present, " Eaiseme
up in my bed, that I may speak to them." He then warned
and blessed them in order, beginning with the firstborn. When
he had finished, he said to his wife, " Betty, thou wilt have
much to struggle ¦with ; but thou wilt get to heaven." He then
added, " Lay me down ; my work is finished ; I die in peace
with God, and with aU mankind ;
' Happy soul, thy days are ended ! ' "
and expired.
His widow survived him upwards of thirty years, tenderly
sohcitous for the welfare of her children, a pattern of holy
cheerfulness and circumspection, discharging the duties of ordi
nary life with dihgence, attending all the means of grace,.

"366 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
"providing things honest in the sight of all men," Uving in
peace -with her neighbours, and maintaining constant com
munion with God by faith and prayer. Towards the close of
Ufe her memory faUed, so that sometimes she hardly knew her
own children ; but before her departure, her mental faculties
wonderfuUy revived. On the day before her death she said to
her daughter Eachel, " Come, and sit beside me ; and teU me
how many chUdren I have on this side of the flood, and how
many on the other; for I shall soon join them." Having
received the desired information, she said, " Get the Pilgrim's
Progress, and read to me about Little Faith. He had only a
Uttle ; but it was good ; and he did not sink. I have been
very unfaithful ; but, I praise the Lord, I have a Uttle faith ;
and I believe it wiU land me safe." Her daughters observed to
each other, that her feet were cold. She overheard them, and
said, " Never mind. It is death. Glory be to God ! " Soon
after she fell into a peaceful slumber, in which she breathed
her last. She died February 2nd, 1844, in the eighty-fourth year
of her age.
About a week before her death she said to my mother,
" Polly, wilt thou come to my funeral ? " My mother answered,
" 0 Betty, I may go first." " No," was her reply, " I shaU go
first ; but thou wUt not be long after me." So it was. My
mother survived her only about five weeks. May it not be
said of these aged and godly women, as weU as of Thomas
Vanse, that in them " Old experience did attain
To something like prophetic strain" ?
The first death in my father's own famUy, that came under
my observation, was that of my sister Mary, which took place
October 8th, 1823, in the twenty-eighth year of her age. She
was a handsome young woman, with a fine open counte
nance, and a heart ever frank, generous, and kind. Yet she
was by nature a chUd of wrath, even as others, and lived in a
state of alienation from God tiU the year 1817, — a time of re
ligious revival, — when she was deeply convinced of sin, and
became sincerely penitent on account of her past negUgence

Sister Mary .- Deliverance from the Fear of Dying. 367
and folly, in having so long turned a deaf ear to the threatenings
of God's law, and the invitations of His Gospel. Under a dis
tressing consciousness of guilt she remained a considerable
time, crying to God for mercy, but hesitating to trust in Christ,
through whom alone that mercy can be obtained. At length,
however, while engaged in prayer with one of her brothers and
a few religious friends, the power of living faith was imparted
to her ; she trusted in Christ as her Eedeemer and Saviour,
and thus obtained "redemption through His blood, the for
giveness of sins; " the Holy Ghost attesting the cheering fact
to her heart, so that doubt and fear fled away, and she was
filled with peace and joy in believing. From that happy time she
" held fast the beginning of her confidence," walking -with God,
foUowing the example of her Saviour, and labouring to advance
in the divine Ufe. Her private jpumal bears witness to her
conscientious regard for the means of grace, and to her habit of
seU-examination. To secure her continuance in the favour of
God was her great and daUy concern.
After her conversion, as weU as before that event, she was
no stranger to trouble and sorrow, having been for the space of
nine years subject to attacks of disease, which were Ukely to
prove suddenly fatal. About six weeks before her decease,
being unable any longer to discharge the duties of her situation,
she returned to her father's house, apprehending that her end
was near, and fearful lest she should sin against God by an
unwiUingness to die as the solemn hour of her departure
approached. This fear, however, proved to be groundless;
for on the morning of her death, though in a state of extreme
weakness, occasioned by almost incessant convulsions during
two days and nights, she received such a manifestation of God's
love, as induced her to place herself in an attitude of prayer,
and exclaim, " 0, I am happy now ! Welcome Ufe ! Welcome
death ! 0 grave, where is thy victory ? I never thought that
I could have been so saved." After giving utterance to these
ecstatic feeUngs of confidence and joy, she languished about
four hours, and then gently feU asleep in the Lord. Her re
mains were interred in the church-yard of her native viUage ;
and near them have since been deposited the bodies of other

368 ^ Recollections of my own Life and Times.
members of the famUy, waiting for the coming of the Saviour,.
and the promised resurrection to eternal Ufe.
On the 19th of April, 1837, my uncle Thomas MarshaU died
in the Lord. His character and history, as I have aheady
stated, were alike remarkable. He was ingenious, witty, active,
full of inventions, and always intent upon new discoveries ; but
had derived no advantages from education, either literary, scien
tific, or religious. When he had arrived at manhood, being no-
longer under the direct restraint of his father, he became a
companion of drunkards and profane swearers ; so that he was
not only confirmed in habits of ungodUness, but so indulged
himseU in acts of intemperance, as to injure his health, and
occasionaUy to endanger his life. Being warned by his medical'
adviser, that unless he would abandon the -vicious course upon
which he had entered, he would soon be in his grave, he abstained
from the frequent use of strong drink, and became a compara
tively temperate man. During aU this time, and until he was
about fifty years of age, he professed to be a decided Church
man, and cherished a feeling of hostUity to Methodism, which
some members of his family had embraced : often declaring
that he would rather be a Papist than a Methodist ; though it
was manifest that he knew very little concerning the real
nature of either one or the other. In truth, he had no appre
hension of religion, except as an outward form of Divine
worship. Yet in this state his conscience was ill at rest. He had
serious misgivings, and an uneasy feeling that matters were not
right between God and his soul. When a member of the family
had attended a Methodist meeting, he used to inquire what was
the Preacher's text ; what was the tenour of the sermon ; and
what effect it appeared to have upon the people : untU at length,
like Agrippa, he was led to say, " Iwould hear the manmyseU."
Actuated partly by curiosity, and partly by a desire to know the
truth, he ventured to attend a Methodist meeting in his native
village. But, afraid at first lest he should go too far, and
resolved that he would not identify himself with the congrega
tion, he stood in the doorway of the cottage, with his hat in his
hand, during the entire service, prepared to retire if he should

Uncle Thomas Marshall : Piety and/ Zeal. 369
hear any thing of which he did not approve. He Ustened with
fixed attention to the sermon, and the impression upon his mind
was favourable rather than otherwise. Not long after, he heard
that a black man was appointed to preach in the Methodist
chapel at Market Weighton ; and he went thither also. In this
manner his prejudice and false shame were graduaUy removed ;
he was prepared to received the truth ; and it was noised
abroad that Thomas MarshaU had turned Methodist. Peeling
his need of God's mercy, and his want of further instruc
tion, he united himself to the Society, became an earnest
seeker of salvation ; and his altered deportment proved the
reaUty and strength of his desire to flee from the wrath to
come. Some time elapsed before he found peace with God
through our Lord Jesus Christ ; but at length he received that
great blessing, which he thankfully enjoyed to the end of his
protracted lUe.
Prom the time of his conversion he was not an ordinary
Christian ; for, like Bunyan's PUgrim, he could feelingly
say,— " 'T is true, 't -was long ere I began
To seek to live for ever ;
But now I run fast as I can ;
'T is better late than never."
His piety was deep, and his zeal intense. Many hours in a
day did he spend upon his knees before God in his cham
ber ; and no one could be in his company without feeling
that God was with him, and that reUgion was the very element
of his being. There was an originaUty and a raciness in his
thoughts and forms of expression which never faUed to awaken
attention ; and even his eccentricities were aU sanctified, and
rendered subservient to the one object for which he hved, — the
glory of God. In aU companies, whether rich or poor, he never
failed to recommend his Saviour; and he not unfrequently
traveUed eight or ten mUes on foot for the purpose of giving
suitable warning and admonition to persons of his acquaintance,
who he feared were Uving in the neglect of life's' great busmess
and concern. Sometimes he found his way, as a religious

370 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
monitor, into the mansions of the rich, where his benevolent
spirit and manifest sincerity scarcely ever failed to command
respect. On one of these occasions he contrived to leave his
Hymn-Book, hoping that it might be a means of spiritual
benefit to one or more members of the famUy when he was far
away.- As he advanced in Ufe his sense of hearing graduaUy decayed,
tiU he could scarcely derive the sUghtest benefit either from
conversation or the public ordinances of God's house. Yet
even then his attendance upon the services of the sanctuary
was regular and devout. He could hear nothing; but he
delighted to see Ministers in the pulpit proclaiming the Word
of life ; and he was no less gratified to see the people in the
attitude of hearers, upon their knees in prayer, or standing
with their Hymn-Books in their hands, singing the high praises
of God. At the close of the service, in his own chapel, he not
unfrequently broke out in prayer, in such a manner as to show
what had been his train of thought while all around him were
engaged in the worship of God, but not a sound had entered
into his ear. Some of his expressions, uttered on those occa
sions, are distinctly remembered in the vUlage, and will
probably be transmitted to the next generation of Methodists
in Sancton, on account of then- truth and originaUty.
Pious zeal is often ingenious in its expedients for the attain
ment of its objects. When companies of people belonging to
the neighbouring villages were on their way to and from the
fairs which were held at Market Weighton, this godly man, as
an earnest witness for Christ, used to take his stand in the
public road ; and as these groups passed by him, he would, in
the kindest manner, and with becoming seriousness, address to
them a few words on the shortness of life's journey, and the
momentous consequences of walking in the broad or the narrow
way. When they stopped, and he perceived from their coun
tenances and manner that they were displeased, and uttering
remonstrances, he told them that it was in vain for them to
speak to him, Tsecause he could not hear what they said ; and
that they would better employ their time in hearing a few words
from him. Yet his tenderness and goodwiU were so manifest,

Uncle Samuel Jackson : a holy and useful Life. 371
that he seldom gave offence, or was treated with rudeness. He
reminded those who were on their way to the fair, where they
expected much pleasure, that there is a famous city, the
new Jerusalem, to which they would do weU to undertake a
journey. As he approached the close of Ufe the infirmities of age
pressed heavUy upon hint, and he felt that his stay upon earth
was no longer desirable. His limbs were feeble, and his
mouth was dry and parched. For about three weeks he was
confined to his bed ; but he felt no alarm ; for he knew that
heaven was his home, and that there his heart and treasure
Jong had been. He testified of the goodness of God, of his hope
of future blessedness, and exhorted all around him to surrender
themselves to the Saviour whom he loved. According to the
visions of St. John, he regarded heaven as the "new Jeru
salem ; " and just before he expired, he spoke of death as his
¦" Jerusalem journey." He died in the eighty-seventh year of
his age, esteemed and loved by a large circle of friends, some
¦of whom have followed him to the paradise of God ; and those
•who still survive never mention his name but with reverent
and tender affection. He was one of the most generous men I-
•ever knew. His charities had no limit but an empty purse.
It was through his exertions mostly that the Methodist chapel
at Sancton was erected.
On the 2nd of May, 1837, my uncle Samuel Jackson, of
Shipton, died in the Lord. When a young man he was -wild as
;an untaught Indian; wayward, thoughtless, ungodly. In
•opposition to the wishes of his family and friends, he entered
into the army, and was sent to America, to assist in maintain
ing the authority of the British crown against the claim of
•colonial independence : but the regiment to which he belonged
was too late to take part in the conflict, the war being virtuaUy
-ended when they arrived. I have heard him give a most
revolting account of the filthy condition of the troops during
•the voyage. The soldiers were covered with vermin.
When he and his companions in arms returned to England,
he received his discharge, and after a while took up his residence
2 B 2

372 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
at Shipton, where, by virtue of his marriage, he became-
possessed of a cottage, a garden connected with it, and a few
acres of land ; and about the same time he was made a partaker
of true religion, with its inestimable benefits. He received his
first ticket, as a member of the Methodist Society, from the
hands of the Eev. George Holder ; the man who introduced the-
Wesleyan ministry into Sancton, and who was the instrument
of my mother's conversion to God. I have often heard him
say, that as soon as he heard the truth from the lips of Mr. Holder
and his fellow-labourers, he fell under its power, as an ox faUs
under the death-blow of the slaughterer's axe. " Sin, taking
occasion by the commandment, slew him ; " and he died to aU
hope of salvation except through the blood of the cross. He
had no good works, no righteousness of his own, to plead before
God, as a reason why he should be exempted from the curse of
the law; and therefore received with eagerness and joy the
tidings of forgiveness and peace on the ground of God's free
grace and mercy through the sacrifice of Christ. Justly might
he have said, as did the Wesleys when the true method of
salvation was disclosed to their wondering minds, after a long
night of doubt and darkness, —
" My mouth was stopp'd, and shame
Cover'd my guilty face :
I fell on the atoning Lamb,
And I was saved by grace."
Thus instructed and saved, he was prepared to enter upon a
holy and useful life. He learned to sing Mr. Wesley's hymns,
not perhaps according to the rules of an exact science, but in a
devout spirit, and to the edification of his neighbours who chose
to unite with him in the holy exercise. He read his Bible, the
Journal of John Nelson, the Life of John Haime, the PUgrim's
Progress, and other books of a simUar kind which the Wesleyan-
press supplied ; and being thus acquainted with the nature and
method of salvation, he was prepared to speak a word in season
to those who were weary under the burden of sin, as well as a
word of warning to such persons as he saw walking in the broad
way tbat leadeth to destruction. For about fifty years he was
the principal supporter of Methodism in Shipton. His cottage

village Methodism : a Standard-Bearer. 373
was too small to accommodate a congregation; but when a
Preacher of celebrity could be obtained, he used to prepare his
barn for the pubhc service; he took the lead in the prayer-
meetings, which were held two or three times a week ; he con
ducted the weekly class-meeting of the Society ; he provided
provender and a stable for the horses of the Preachers, whUe
Betty Ashton accommodated these messengers of the churches
with a lodging, and a room for the exercise of their ministry.
Through good and through evil report, in times of religious
prosperity, and in times of backsliding and declension ; when
the members of the Society adorned their profession, and when
faithless men feU into open sin, and were a cause of public
scandal ; he pursued the even tenour of his way, adhered to the
good cause with unwavering fideUty, commanding general con
fidence and respect. The value of such a man in a country
village no words can express.
His was not a mere form of religion, cold and heartless, but
the reUgion of faith and love, with its corresponding fruits.
His piety was deep, serious, and habitual, sustained by acts of
fervent devotion. He spent much time in secret prayer, and
suffered permanently in his health from the dampness of his
cottage floor, upon which he was accustomed daUy to kneel,
sometimes, it would appear, for hours together. TiU I left
home, to enter upon the duties of a Circuit, he was my
Class-Leader ; and from his spirit and counsel I derived les
sons which have been of advantage to me through life. He
iad several chUdren, for whose salvation he was tenderly
concerned. It is a curious fact, that ' an official report of his death was
given while he was aUve and in his usual state of health. The
Coroner of the district was paid according to the number of
inquests that he held over the remains of persons who had died
Suddenly ; and to increase his income he reported deaths which
had never taken place, and inquests which he never held.
Among other cases of the same kind he registered the death of
Samuel Jackson, of Shipton ; and reported, as the result of an
inquest held in this case, that the deceased was accidentaUy
iilled by falUng from a haystack. As it was found, on inquiry.

874 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
that the " deceased " was alive and weU, the demand for the-
alleged inquest was disallowed, and the faithless Coroner dis
missed in dishonour.
Yet the time at length arrived when this good man must die ;.
not by an untoward accident, but by disease connected with
old age. He had attained to his seventy-eighth year, when a
painful illness of eighteen weeks' continuance ended his useful
life. He passed through this period of suffering with uninter
rupted cheerfulness and resignation, sustained by the grace of
his Saviour, and animated by the hope of endless blessedness..
Among his other dying sayings, which his family thankfuUy
remember, were the following : —
" There is my house and portion fair.
My treasure and my heart are there.
And my abiding home :
For me my elder brethren stay.
And angels beckon me away.
And Jesus bids me come."
"What should I have done now if my sins had been unpar
doned ? " " Precious Jesus ! He hath loved me, and washed
me from my sins in His own blood." "I have nothing to make
me unhappy." In this state of mind he yielded up his soul tO'
God. My uncle Samuel Jackson belonged to a class of men whom
Wesleyan-Methodism delights to caU her own ; steady, faithful,
sincere, zealous, prayerful, constant in attendance upon the
means of grace, never ashamed of the Christian profession,
diUgent in business, strictly honest, anxious to receive good
from God, and to do good both to the Church and the world.
He was not rich, though he possessed a competency ; nor had he
more than an ordinary share of mental power ; but he was a
man of plain common sense, and of decided piety. His children
never blush at the mention of his name. Having held fast tha-
beginning of his confidence steadfast unto the end, he has
taken his place among " the dead in Christ."
Among other members of our family who obtained the sal
vation of the Gospel, and died in the Lord, were my uncle and

Uncle James Marshall and his Wife, 375
aunt, James MarshaU and his exceUent mie. For many years,
like his elder brother Thomas, he lived in ignorance and sin.
The religion which he professed, and in which he had been
trainecl, consisted merely in an occasional attendance upon the
ser-vices of the parish church, without any just apprehension
of the real nature of Christian godliness, as it is expressed in
the Book of Common Prayer, which he was accustomed to use.
He knew nothing of reUgion as an inward principle, the effect
of the Holy Spirit's operation upon the mind and heart. To
aU appearance his thoughts, pleasures, and occupations were
aU worldly ; and though not addicted to profane swearing, yet,
like his neighbours, the farmers around him, he not unfre
quently returned from the market in a state of intoxication,
especially when wheat and barley were in brisk demand, and
were sold at high prices.
When he was considerably advanced in life, a favourable
change took place in his views, dispositions, and habits.
After much prejudice and many misgivings, he was induced
to attend the Wesleyan ministry in his native viUage, espe
cially after a chapel was built, and Methodism had in conse
quence assumed a character of increased respectabiUty. He
received the Word in the love of the truth, renounced every
sinful practice, became a member of the Society, found peace
to his soul through faith in Christ crucified, freely supported the
cause of Methodism with his purse, and opened his house for
the accommodation of the Preachers, both TravelUng and
Local ; thus showing himself to be a " feUow-helper to the
truth ; " fitting up also his spacious barn for preaching on
special occasions, when a popular Preacher visited the village,
or a Missionary Meeting was held, and the chapel could not
contain the congregations. His wife received the mercy of
God about the same time ; and cordiaUy united with him in
every attempt to sustain and extend the interests of religion
both at home and abroad.
Having acquired property to a considerable amount, he
resigned his farm to his two sons, and retired to one of his own
cottages in Sancton, hoping to spend the evening of Ufe " in
rest and quietness," cheered by the society of his faithful wife.

376 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and preparing for a better world. In this respect he was to
some extent disappointed. After a whUe Mrs. MarshaU sickened
and died. For about nine weeks her sufferings were great;
but patience had in her its perfect work. In answer to the
inquiries of her friends, as to the state of her mind, she
said, " The Lord has helped me ; He does help me ; and He
will never leave me." Speaking of the Divine support which
was vouchsafed to her when suffering strong pain, she emphati
cally said, " Firm as a rock ; firm as a rock ! " She died in
this state of mind, March 26th, 1838, in the sixty-sixth year of
her age.
¦ After the lapse of two years and seven months her husband
followed her "through the gates into the city." Notwithstanding
the peaceful manner of his -wife's departure, he was painfuUy
sensible of the loss he had sustained. He was several
years older than she, aged and infirm, suffering from a
painful disease which no medicine could either remove or
aUeviate ; and he had hoped that she would be his friend and
stay till his life and sufferings should end. Yet the bereave
ment, though painful and unexpected, was sanctified. He
mourned his loss, but he mourned with meekness and resigna
tion ; for his " soul was even as a weaned child." He gave
himself to prayer ; he read the Holy Scriptures, and the Wes
leyan hymns ; he was gentle and docUe as a Uttle child ; he
thirsted for richer communications of comforting and sanctify
ing grace ; and thus waited for the coming of his Lord. In
this state he was found when the summons came, and he yielded
up his spirit into the hands of his Saviour. Before his depar
ture he charged his sons, to whom he had delivered his farms,
to afford in perpetuity a home for the Methodist Preachers in
their visits to Sancton : a charge which fully accorded with
their own con-victions, and which they fulfilled -with equal kind
ness and fidelity. He died, November Brd, 1840, at the
advanced age of about eighty-six years ; having been through
life a generous friend to the whole of his relations, both near
and remote. He was thoughtful, prudent, economical, and
unselfish, and some years before he died his habitual tempers
afforded cheering proof that he was made wise unto salvation.

CHAPTER XX.
TASnLY ANNALS : PATHER'S last AFFLICTION AND DEATH — MOTHER'S LAST
-WORDS— ELDEST SISTER'S TRIUMPHANT END — MRS. JACKSON : HER RELIGIOUS
CIURACTER; notices -of her F-AMILY CONNEXIONS — ELDEST BROTHER —
TEE BEV. S.iMUBL JACKSON . CON-VERSION ; MINISTRY ; ZEAL FOB THE
EELIGIOUS WELFARE OP THE YOUNG J SKETCH OF HIS CHARACTER — SISTER
ANN — THE VALUE OP THE SYSTEM OP ITINERANCY INSTITUTED BY THE
WESLEYS.
AFTEE my father had united himself to the Methodist
Society, he was appointed the leader of a class : an
office which he was qualified to fiU with advantage to the people,
and which he sustained to the end of his life. He was well
read in divinity, thoroughly grounded in the leading truths of
the Gospel, and able both to state and apply them in an edify
ing manner ; so that he had the entire confidence of the persons
who were under his care, and of the whole Society, to whom
he was a centre of unity ; for they all loved and honoured him.
Among other young persons, whom he disciplined and trained
in the early part of their reUgious course, were his two nephews,
Thomas and WiUiam Marshall, who greatly respected his
memory, well exemplified the wise and holy counsels which they
received from his Ups, and have both foUowed him to the home
of the blessed. His modesty was as remarkable as his piety
and wisdom ; so that he never assumed any airs of self-import
ance among his religious friends. Yet he was firm and decided
in his adherence to the Wesleyan tenets and order, and in his
place resisted all attempts to innovate upon them.
Other persons, who were not members of. the Methodist
Society, occasionally resorted to him for spiritual advice, aware
of his uprightness and religious knowledge. One example I.
will specify : a neighbour of his, a native of Scotland, who
had been many years in the service of 'Squire Langdale, and
who, partly to please his master, and perhaps to secure his own
temporal interests, renounced the Presbyterianism in which he

378 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
had been brought up, and assumed the profession of Popery..
When far advanced in years, and apprehending that his great
change was near at hand, he became very uneasy, fearing that
aU was not right between his soul and God ; and that, after aU
his prayers to the Virgin Mary, his confessions to the Priest,
the penances to which he had submitted, and the absolutions he
had received, he might be for ever lost, he not unfrequently'
came to my father for the purpose of disclosing his anxieties,'
and of asking advice. My father generaUy addressed him to
the foUowing effect : " When the Priest and others connected
with him direct you to pray to the Virgin Mary, to St. Peter,
and to other Saints, do not you take any notice of them, John ;
but in your prayers go directly to Christ as your Saviour. Yea
need no Saint to introduce you to Him. He says, ' Come unto
Me;' and you cannot do better than accept His invitation. He
died for you ; He ever Uves to intercede for you ; there is salva
tion for you in Him, but in no other. Neither saint nor angel
can save you ; nor can they do anything to recommend yon.'
to Him. Go then to Christ, with all your sins and wants.
Plead His promises ; trust in His faithfulness, power, and
mercy, and especially in the sacrifice of His death. His blood
cleanseth from all sin." The truth, thus delivered, recommended
itself to the understanding and conscience of this aged man ;
who used eagerly to respond with every indication of sincerity:
" I thank you, Thomas ; I wUl take your advice ; I wiU, I -vpiU
go to Christ as my Saviour, and trust in Him only." How far
he fuLfiUed his promises, and acted upon the evangeUcal
counsel he received, " the day " will declare. The greatest
evU connected -with Popery is, that it calls the attention of
sinners from the perfect sacrifice of the cross, and fixes it upon
the pretended sacrifice of the mass, which is no propitiatory
sacrifice at aU ; and it diverts their minds from the aU-prevalent
intercession of Christ in heaven, by teaching them to apply to an
endless train of intercessors among the angels and disembodied
human spirits, whom the Holy Scriptures never acknowledge:
under that character.
At length the time arrived when my father received decisive
evidence that with him the journey of Ufe must soon end. For

Father's last Years, and Death. 379
a long time he had perceived in himself indications of a formid
able disease ; and when he was bordering upon eighty years of
age, it was so far developed, that unless a cure could be effected,
death would inevitably ensue ; but a cure could only be hoped
for as the result of a surgical operation of a painful and perUous
kind, which the constitution of so aged a man could hardly be
expected to bear. As immediate danger was not apprehended,
the operation was decUned, and he waited the issue with calm
resignation to the wUl of God.
From this period about three years passed away before nature
was exhausted, and he sank into the grave. During this
period, though his sufferings were not severe, he endured greats
inconvenience, seldom spending a single hour in unbroken sleep,
either by night or by day ; and being unable to attend the public
worship of God, in which for more than half a century he had
taken the highest deUght. He spent much time in his old arm
chair, in the corner which he had long occupied in the evenings
after the labour of the day, employed in reading and in conver
sation, receiving the visits of his neighbours with his usual
urbanity and good humour. The firmness of character by
which he had been distinguished through Ufe never forsook
him. No gloom ever rested upon his spirit, nor did a murmur
or a querulous expression escape his lips. I visited him a few
months before he died, and was a witness of his manly fortitude
and seU-possession, as well as of his Christian joy and hope.
I saw him totter as he walked across the floor of his cottage ;
he told me that he felt his strength rapidly decline, and was sure
that his end was near. I took my leave of him early in the
morning of my departure, as he sat up in his bed. He perceived
my voice to falter ; and then addressed me in a tone and in
words of even unwonted cheerfulness as to the future ; but I
felt that I should never see that venerable face again tUl the
morning of the resurrection ; and to avoid weeping was.
impossible. A few days before he died, he repeated the foUowing lines of
a Methodist hymn, as expressive of his feeUngs ; which was
the more remarkable, as he was never forward to speak con
cerning himself.

-380 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
" Saviour of all, what hast Thou done,
¦What hast Thou suffer'd on the tree?
'Why didst Thou groan Thy mortal groan,
Obedient unto death for me ?
The mystery of Thy passion show.
The end of all Thy griefs below.
" Thy soul, for sin an offering made,
Hath clear'd this guilty soul of mine ;
Thou hast for me a ransom paid.
To change my human to divine.
To cleanse from aU iniquity.
And make the sinner all like Thee.
" Pardon, and grace, and heaven to buy,
My bleeding Sacrifice expired ;
But didst Thou not my Pattern die,
That, by Thy glorious Spirit fired,
Faithful to death I might endure.
And make the crown by suffering sure ? "
Me died December 2nd, 1889, aged eighty-three years. At the
moment of his departure, my mother, who witnessed the scene,
exclaimed in a rapture of holy excitement,
" 'Why do we mourn departing friends,
Or shake at death's alarms ?
'T is but the voice that Jesus sends.
To call them to His arms ! "
At this time I was confined to my house in London, by an
attack of erysipelas, so as to be unable to attend his funeral.
He was foUowed to the grave by the other members of his
family, and by a long train of sincere mourners. A company
of pious friends who led the procession, as it passed through
the quiet viUage, sang bare-headed the hymn beginning, —
" Hark ! a voice divides the sky,
Happy are the faithful dead !
In the Lord who sweetly die.
They from all their toils are freed.
Them the Spirit hath declared
Blest, unutterably blest ;
Jesus is their great Beward,
Jesus is their endless Best."

Father's Character. 381
While the procession moved slowly along, the weU-known
funeral knell announced in solemn tones, to all the inhabitants
of the village, that the remains of one of their oldest neighbours
were on their way to the sUent grave, which was open to re
ceive them. They sleep in a spot of the churchyard, which
he had himself selected, beside the grave of his daughter Mary.
In aU the relations of social and domestic life, my father's
conduct was exemplary. As a servant, he was diligent and
faithful ; as a husband, kind and considerate. I never heard
him utter an angry word to my mother ; and never beard tbat
such a word, during the entire period of their married Ufe, at
any time escaped the lips of either of them towards the other.
Amidst all their anxieties and cares, a more perfect example of
conjugal affection I never witnessed. It is a complete mistake
to suppose that delicacy and tenderness of feeling in the
marriage relation are peculiar to persons of education and of
poUshed manners. They adorn many of the humble dweUings
of the working classes. My father laboured long and hard to
supply his children with food and clothing, and to enable them
to provide for themselves. As a neighbour, he abstained from
idle gossip and tale-bearing, and was careful to " owe no man
any thing." His children, for whom he had so tenderly cared,
rejoiced that they were able to return his kindness, so as to
meet all his necessities in the time of his old age, and to render
him in the evening of life free from want and anxiety as to his
temporal suppUes. To him the beautiful character of Isaac
Ashford, drawn by the hand of the poet Crabbe, is strictly-
applicable :
" Noble he was, contemning all things mean,
His truth unquestioned and his soul serene :
Shame knew him not, he dreaded no disgrace ;
Truth, simple truth, was -written in his face :
Yet while the serious thought his soul approved,
- Cheerful he seemed, and gentleness he loved ;
To bliss domestic he his heart resigned.
And with the firmest had the fondest mind :
¦Were others joyful, he looked smiling on.
And gave allowance where he needed none ;
Good he refused with future ill to buy,
Nor knew a joy that caused reflection's sigh ;

;882 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
A friend to virtue, his unclouded breast
No envy stung, no jealousy distressed.
Yet far was he from stoic pride removed ;
He felt humanely, and he warmly loved.
If pride were his, 't -was not their vulgar pride,
¦Who, in their base contempt, the great deride ;
Nor pride in rustic skill, although we knew
None his superior, and his equals few :
But if that spirit in his soul had place.
It was the jealous pride that shuns disgrace ;
A pride in honest fame, by virtue gained.
In sturdy boys, to virtuous labours trained ;
Pride in the power that guards his country's coast,
And all that Englishmen enjoy and boast ;
Pride in a life that Slander's tongue defied, —
In faet, a noble passion, misnamed pride."
My honoured mother, who lived with him in unbroken har
mony for the long space of fifty-nine years, survived him four
;years and four months. She wept at the remembrance of him,
and at the mention of his name ; but was wonderfully sustained
by Divine grace, and cherished a full conviction that she should
soon overtake him in the paradise of God. By the people of
the viUage, both before and after her widowhood, she was
regarded as a common friend, her counsel 'and presence being
-generally requested in cases of affliction and bereavement.
Her disposition was kind ; and the neighbours were glad to
avail themselves of her aid and sympathy in times of trouble.
She often took part in the prayer-meetings which were held in
the chapel ; and in those services sometimes pleaded with God
for the revival and extension of His work, till nature was
exhausted, and she was ready to faint. Her eldest daughter
once attempted to persuade her to restrain her feelings in these
•exercises, lest she should expire under the intensity of the
•excitement. Her answer was, " If I die while praying in the
chapel, I shall go straight to heaven from the place I dearly
love." She died in a most triumphant manner, after an iUness
of a few days, in the eighty- sixth year of her age. When her
eyes were closed, and she appeared to be in a state of absolute
unconsciousness, some one gently said, " She will soon see
-Jesus." At the sound of that name she suddenly opened her

Mother's triumphant Departure. 383
¦eyes, sparkling with intelligence and hope, and, with a strength
of voice which excited general surprise, exclaimed, " Glory be
to God ! ' My Jesus's love the battle shall win.' "
Within two hours after the utterance of these words her spirit
fled. " Life, take thy chance ; but 0 for such an end I "
Her remains were interred in the grave of her late husband ;
at the head of which stands a massive stone, bearing the
ioUowing inscription : —
" Saoeed to the memory of Thomas Jackson, who died Decem
ber 2nd, 1839, aged eighty-two years ; of Mary his wife, who
died March 9th, 1844, in the eighty-sixth year of her age ; and
of Maey their daughter, who died October 8th, 1828, in the
twenty-eighth year of her age.
"Being justified by faith, they bad peace with God through
our Lord Jesus Christ, and all died rejoicing in the earnest
hope of everlasting life."
Thus Uved and died my venerated father and mother, Thomas
and Mary Jackson. In a retired country viUage, ¦within a few
yards of a Methodist chapel,
" Far from the madding crowd's ignoble strife,
Their sober wishes never learn'd to stray ;
Along the cool sequester'd vale of life,
They kept the noiseless tenour of their way; "
and now " sleep in Jesus."
Five years after the death of my mother, my eldest sister,
EUzabeth Wray, was gathered home to God. Very early in
Ufe she was deeply impressed with the reUgious and moral
excellencies of her father and mother, and cherished a strong
desire to be like them. When she was thirteen years old
she heard her mother pray earnestly for the conversion of an
ungodly relative, and exclaimed, " 0 mother, why do you not
pray for me ? You cannot tell how great a sinner I am ! "

384 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
The mother acceded to her child's request, and the youthful'
penitent after a while was fiUed with peace and joy through
believing in Christ. She immediately began to meet in class,
and remained a steady member of the Methodist Society to the
end of her life.
When nineteen years of age she was married to Thomas
Wray, an industrious and sensible young man, a carpenter,
and also a member of the same reUgious community. They
Uved alternately at Sancton and Market Weighton, through
the entire period of their union, and were blessed with nine
children, two of whom are in the Wesleyan ministry, Samuel
and James Wray. Her chief characteristics were humiUty,
thankfulness, trust in God for the fulfilment of His promises,
cheerfulness, and sympathy with the afflicted and the sorrowfuL
With a deep and abiding sense of personal unworthiness, she
possessed an unfaltering faith in Christ as her Eedeemer and.
Advocate ; so that, although she was always humble, she was
always happy. During the later period of her Ufe few days
passed without bringing one or more persons to her house, to-
have their doubts resolved, or to be cheered by her spirit and
conversation. She had a special talent for diverting the atten
tion of troubled minds from the dark aspects of their several
cases. At the same time, her charitable temper led her to
impute the faults of other people to infirmity, misinformatioui.
or mistake. After hearing unfavourable reports concerning,
her neighbours, she would say, " If we were in their circum
stances, we should probably be far worse than they are." Under-
the influence of this feeling, she often reaUzed the promised:
blessedness of the peacemaker.
Upon the weekly meeting of her class she was a constant
attendant, and no less so upon the week-night prayer-meeting.
In these services she took an active part, possessing as she
did the gift of prayer, and a large measure of its sphit ; sQ
that it was often a privUege to hear her importunate pleadings
with God for the conversion of ungodly people. Such prayers
as she was accustomed to offer could only be presented by a
person possessed of clear and comprehensive views of evangeU
cal truth, and of a heart fuU of faith in God, of zeal for His

Eldest Sister, Elizabeth Wray .- a Woman of Faith. 385
glory, and of love for the souls whom Christ hath redeemed by
His blood. Her friends who were accustomed to attend those
meetings can never lose the impression of the power and pathos
of her prayers. They were the wrestlings of a spirit, quickened
and sanctified by the grace of God, grasping His power, and
in effect saying, " I hold, and -will not let Thee go.
Till I my suit obtain."
To the end of her life her love and- veneration for her parents
were very deep. For them she was often heard to thank God,
attributing, under Him, to their instruction and example, the
formation of her own character, with her religious enjoyments
and hope. Many a time was she heard to sing, in clear and
cheerful tones, " ¦With thanks I rejoice In Thy Fatherly choice
Of my state and condition below ;
If of parents I came 'Who honour'd Thy name,
'Twas Thy wisdom appointed it so."
She had a singular facility in metrical composition, and many
specimens of her versification are preserved in her family.
AU her children, in their turns, she characterized in verse, and
almost every domestic incident of any importance. These
effusions of her fertile mind are graphic and humorous,
invariably adapted and designed to produce a salutary impres
sion upon her youthful charge.
For some months before her death it was observed by her
famUy, and by the persons who met with her in class, that her
piety assumed a richer tone, and the spirituality of her mind
became increasingly manifest. A natural fear of dying, which
she had long felt, entirely forsook her ; and her hope of heaven
was bright and unclouded ; preparing her for the affecting cir
cumstances which attended her departure. In the month of
September, 1849, tidings arrived that her daughter Hannah,
who was married and resident in Hull, was seized with the
Asiatic cholera, then fearfuUy prevalent and fatal in that town ;
and that her recovery was aU but hopeless. Under the strong
c Q

386 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
impulse of motherly feeling, she immediately resolved to visit
her suffering child ; observing that, although she might not be
able to save her life, she might comfort her in her last hours.
Her famUy entreated her not to expose herself to the danger
which would attend such a visit. They said, " You can do uo
good by going. It is said that Hannah cannot recover ; and if
you take the cholera and die, what shaU we do ?" " Do ! " she
exclaimed ; " what is there to hinder you from doing well ?
God has mercifuUy spared me till my chUdren can do well for
themselves ; but if Hannah die, what will her helpless children
do ? If God wiU take me for Hannah, I wiU cheerfully die in
her stead." These words ended the debate ; and she instantly
set off for HuU, where she found her daughter to aU appear
ance on the verge of eternity. The Eev. William Jackson, then
stationed in HuU, caUed to see her ; and while he was pleading
with God, in compassion to the young husband and the helpless
children, to spare the wife and the mother, my sister said she
felt assured, as by a voice from heaven, that the prayer was
heard and answered. Under that impression, she confidently
declared, even when others thought that Hannah had actuaUy
expired, " She has many years to Uve ! " From that time her
daughter recovered rapidly, and is now the mother of a large
and happy family.
In the midst of these exciting scenes, her sister Catharine,
then living in Hull, said to Mrs. Wray, " I am in an agony!
The cholera is in every house but ours in the street where we
reside ! and in almost every house the blinds are drawn, and
one shutter is closed, to show that death is there ! When I
return home, my husband, or my children, may be -writhing in
the cholera. I know not where to go, or what to do." Tathis
sad address Mrs. .Wray repUed, with a tranquU and pleasant
smUe, " Why, Kate, you need not fear. I was always afraid of
dying tUl I came here into the midst of death ; but now that
hundreds are dying around me, death is no longer terrible.
It seems to me no more than passing from one room into
another. We are in the hands of a gracious Father. He
knows what He is doing. He never strikes at random.

Death of Mrs. Jackson. 387
' Thrice-comfortable hope.
That calms my troubled breast;
My Father's hand prepares the cup.
And what He wills is best.' "
Within a few hours after uttering these sentiments, she was
seized with the dreadful malady in its severest form, so that
¦she was fearfully tortured. To her son WilUam, who had
been long in a state of ill health, she said, "Dying is hard
work, WiU." "Yes, mother," he replied, "it is a dreadful
Talley that you are going through ; but Jesus has passed
through it before you." She added, with a voice indicative of
confidence and joy, " 0 yes. He has ; and for me." Then, as
if forgetting her own sufferings, she, looking lovingly upon
him, and putting her hand upon his throbbing forehead, said,
•"My poor boy! The Lord be gracious to thee!" In the
last fierce paroxysm she said to her friends around her,
" Now, all of you kneel down, and entreat the Lord to put
an end to my sufferings, and take me home to heaven." Pre-
¦sently after she feU into a profound sleep, and in that stats
expired, September 29th, 1849.
My faithful and beloved wife died in peace, September 24th,
1854, in the seventieth year of her age. She was rather below
the middle stature, of fair complexion, deUcate and slender in
her make, but healthy ; singularly clean and neat in her dress
and habitation ; and no less remarkable for the cheerfulness of
her temper, and the transparent purity and simpUcity of her
mind. She wasted nothing; and until her strength failed
through age, she was never unemployed. She was strictly and
scrupulously honest, and could not bear that the payment of
any debt should be delayed. When I received my quarterly
ealary, I usually placed it in her hands ; and such was the skil-
fulness of her economy, that whUe she provided liberally for the
daily wants of the famUy, a surplus was always forthcoming for
purchase of the books which were necessary to enable me to
•discharge my official duties. She often suggested, tbat we
should endeavour to save something for our children, so as to
be pf advantage to them when we were dead, and expressed her
regret tbat my craving for books rendered this impossible. It
2 c 2

388 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
has happened, however, that, since her decease, and my retire
ment from public life, the sale of my library has realized as
large a sum for them as it was ever likely that any saving of
ours could have accumulated. But for her wise management
we never could have given our children the education they have
received, nor could I have secured that amount of reading
which, to some extent, has supplied my want of early educa
tion. As a Class-Leader and visiter of the sick, she was very useful
in various Circuits where I was appointed to labour; and
greatly did she rejoice in the religious prosperity of the
Societies. To all tale-bearing, idle gossip, and curious prying
into the affairs of other people, she had an instinctive aversion ;
carefully stood aloof from all evU speaking ; and could not bear-
the companies where these vices were practised. She held
communion with God in secret prayer, and took great delighfc
in the public means of grace, particularly in attending
the ministry of the Word ; and, most of aU, in hearing such
sermons as were the result of patient thought, and wei-e-
delivered with becoming earnestness and warmth. While
Ustening to such discourses her attitude was an index to the
feelings of her heart. She leaned forward, her eyes fixed upon
the Preacher, her hands clasped, her two forefingers pressing-
each other ; her head occasionaUy gi^ving a nod of assent when
an argument was completed, or an important sentiment
advanced. For many years her sufferings were great, not from acute
pain, but from a feeling of exhaustion and of fainting ; so that
life was a burden, and she often prayed, with resignation, that
the Lord would hasten His coming, and take her to Himself.
She frequently expressed her persuasion that her end was near ;
yet nothing could surpass the calmness and placidity with
which she spoke of her death, inquired respecting the place of
her interment, and referred to her entrance into the disem
bodied state. She had known the Lord from early life ; had
walked in the Ught of His countenance for nearly sixty years ;
and had in herself the seal and witness of her adoption into the
family of God. Her home, her treasure, and her heart were in

Tranquillity in Prospect of the great Change. 389
Iieaven, where she knew her Saviour was. When the time of
her great change arrived, it was found that all her affairs were
arranged with a reference to that solemn event ; and she was
-quite ready to obey the caU of her Lord. The papers relating
to the famUy were all carefuUy classified and labeUed, and aU
her accounts regularly adjusted. She betrayed not the slightest
fear or alarm; but expressed to me her love to Christ, her
trust in His unchanging faithfulness and grace; and added,,
that for many years she had been looking for His mercy to
•eternal lUe.
She was confined to her bed only for about three days, when
she feU into what appeared to be a profound sleep, Uke tbat of
a person in perfect health ; and in that state she expired ; so
gently, that it was difficult to ascertain the exact moment of
her departure. A slight contraction of her eyebrows was the
only perceptible signal of her spirit's flight. When it was
a,pparent that she had breathed her last, my two chUdren and I
knelt by the side of her bed, and, as well as we were able,
.-fulfilled a request which she had often made, by rendering
thanks to God for her happy release ; yet while we were .thank
ful on her account, they could not but feel that they had lost
their mother ; nor I, that I had lost my wUe, and in her my
dearest earthly friend.
Of her, as weU as of Solomon's "virtuous woman," whose
" price is above rubies," it might have been said, " She openeth
Jier mouth with wisdom ; and in her tongue is the law of kind
ness. She looketh weU to the ways of her household, and
eateth not the bread of idleness. Her children arise up, and caU
her blessed; her husband also, and he praiseth her." Sweet
is the remembrance of her name and virtues.
Her remains rest in the new cemetery at Eichmond ; to which
I have a melancholy pleasure in paying an occasional visit ; ' ' For
precious is the spot where virtue sleeps ; " and my request to my
children is, that when it shall please God to take me to Himself,
my body may be placed in the same grave. We were one in
mind and heart, united by the most sacred of aU earthly bonds,
for nearly forty-four years ; and my hope is, that by the infinite
mercy of God we shaU both rise together to the hfe eternal.

390 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Words cannot express the full amount of the loss that I felt
when she was no more. That loss I daily feel, and shaU feel
till I too shall go the way of aU the earth. To some extent my
daughter, could she have been with me, would have supplied.
her mother's place ; but she was resident in Brussels, where-^
she had to care for her own family. I sat down to my meals-
alone. In secret prayer, from the time of our marriage, I was
accustomed daily to commend her to the tender mercies of
Almighty God ; but now I recollected and felt that she could.
no longer be benefited by any request that I could offer. She^
was the depository of aU my troubles and cares and joys ; but
now, when I returned home on the Sunday evening, after my
pulpit labours, there was none to whom I could with equal
freedom express my thankfulness for the comfort I had felt in
the service of God, or my regrets under the consciousness of
my defects. I felt as U I was riven in two ; that one haU of
me was in the grave, and only the other half aUve. Time, by.
the blessing of God, is the great healer of such sorrows ;.
yet the loss of an affectionate and faithful wUe is a sadi
reality. My late wife belonged to a famUy several members of which
were examples of Christian godliness, and died in the Lord,
Her father, Mr. Thomas HoUinshead, was a taU venerable man,
wearing a large white wig, and very taciturn in his habits.
Though attached to the principles of the Baptists, he was a
regular and devout attendant upon the Wesleyan ministry in
Homcastle, where he lived. In the devotions of the closet he-
was regular and earnest. Such was the strength of his con
stitution, that when he was upwards of eighty years of age^
he had not lost a tooth, and walked as erect as a youth of
nineteen. He had a faU upon the ice in the street ; his hip
joint was dislocated; and he languished in great pain till he
died, December 21st, 1810, at the advanced age of eighty-six
years. His wife was a pious member of the Methodist Society..
They had three sons, and three daughters, all of whom have
departed this lUe. One of the sons, Benjamin, entered into the
army, fought under the Duke of WelUngton in Spain, received.

Eldest Brother, WilUam. 391
an honourable discharge at the end of the war, and returned
home uninjured. The daughters aU belonged to the Methodist
Body. Jane, the eldest of them, died in the faith and hope of
the Gospel, September 11th, 1818, aged thirty-five years. She
was married to Mr. John WilUams, of Homcastle, an upright
man, and a useful Class-Leader in the Methodist Society. She
left two chUdren, a son and a daughter. The daughter is
married to Mr. Watson, a Local Preacher in Homcastle. Their
son, the Eev. Thomas WiUiams, is a member of the Australasian
Conference, and was for many years a zealous and successful
Missionary in Fiji. He is the author of an interesting volume
on the manners and customs of the natives. The father of this
exceUent Minister died at Homcastle, February 29th, 1856,
aged seventy- seven years.
Martha, the youngest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. HoUinshead,
died in London, July Srd, 1829, in the forty-fourth year of her
age ; ha-ving endured the wasting languor of a pulmonary
consumption with Christian meekness and resignation. Her
remains were interred in the burying-ground connected with
the City-Eoad Chapel.
Mrs. HoUinshead, the mother of these Christian women, died
in great peace, March 17th, 1826, aged seventy-three years.
My eldest brother William, who is also numbered among
" the dead in Christ," was about the middle stature, strongly
built, of great muscular power, and bore a striking resemblance
to his father, both in his features and general form. His life
was mostly spent in his native viUage, and in farming opera
tions, in which he was acknowledged to excel, especiaUy in the
use of the scythe. When occasion served, and he desired to
show his strength, he left his feUow-mowers far behind. He
was a fine example of an English peasant ; of whom it may be
said, " Eemote from towns he ran his godly race,
Nor e'er had changed, nor wished to change, his place."
When he was about twenty years of age he obtained the salva
tion of God, and held fast the beginning of his confidence steadfast
unto the end of his Ufe. During these sixty years he was an

392 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
approved member of the Methodist Society, and long a useful
Class-Leader. He was strictly upright, a worthy son of worthy
parents ; firm and unwavering in his attachment to the tenets
and economy of Wesleyan-Methodism ; taking a Uvely interest
in the progress of its Missions, and its prosperity at home;
being a diligent reader on these subjects, and therefore weU-
informed concerning them. Modesty and humUity were pro
minent traits in his character. He was peaceful in his temper
and conduct, a constant attendant upon the means of grace ;
lived in habits of devotion ; took a leading part in prayer-meet
ings ; and often expressed himself in these services with un
common ardour, comprehensiveness, importunity, and power.
His vrife, who was a godly woman, and a helpmate for him,
died several years before him ; and his children being aU
settled, he spent the latter years of his life in comparative
soUtude. His sight also faUed him, so that he read with diffi
culty. This to him was a sore trial ; for he was a diUgenfc
reader, and had always deUghted in the perusal of a good book..
Yet he retained his wonted cheerfulness, knowing in whom he
had behoved, and being happy in the enjoyment of the favour
of God. A friend who was accustomed to -visit him in his
cottage, and read to him, often found him upon his knees, in
converse with the Lord his Maker.
When he had attained to the age of fourscore years, his
strength failed; his appetite departed, and his flesh wasted
away ; so that the man of ample size became shriveUed aud
diminutive. He had no disease, and no pain ; but nature was
exhausted ; and he felt that death was hastening on.
In this state, expecting a speedy entrance into the presence
of God, he observed that the doctrine of salvation through the
mediation of Christ acquired in his estimation a special interest
amd value. It seemed to present itself to his mind even in a
new aspect, and to be indeed "worthy of aU acceptation."
Oftener than once he repeated with deep feeling the weU-knovm
lines : — " I the chief of sinners am,
Bnt Jesus died for me."

A sacred Spot in Sancton Churchyard. 393
frequently did he express his wiUingness to die, his confidence
in Christ as his Saviour, and his weU-grounded hope of eternal
life through the sacrifice of the Cross. His feeling of unworthi
ness before God was very deep, and he claimed no higher
character than that of a sinner saved by grace.
I saw him a year or two before he died, when we went together
to the church-yard, where rest the remains of many that were
dear to us both. He then pointed out to me the place which
he had selected for his own interment, by the side of his wife's
grave, and close by the grave of our honoured parents. There
they aU now rest, and form what Halyburton caUs, " a knot of
bonny dust," destined to rise glorious and immortal.
I requested the Eev. James Findlay, the Superintendent of
the PockUngton Circuit, to give me some account of his latest
interviews with my brother ; and from him I received the fol
lowing particulars : — " I loved to look upon him, as he sat in
his old arm-chair, or in his accustomed place in the Uttle chapel,
as a fine specimen of what, through the Divine blessing, Meth
odist preaching can effect. He was very graciously let down to
his final rest, with scarcely any pain, and no particular form
of disease, but a gradual weakening and decay of the whole
physical man. He expressed to me, three or four months before
death, his beUef that his increasing infirmities and weakness
were the beginning of the end : and he added, in his quiet and
deUberate way, ' I think I would rather it should be so ; for to
die would be gain. Blessed be God, I have a good hope through
grace.' On a later occasion, he spoke with unaffected humility
of his shortcomings and unworthiness ; adding, that he now saw
these matters in a somewhat new light, which made the mediation
of Christ increasingly precious. With a burst of feeling, which
made the tears course down his cheeks, he exclaimed, ' I thank
<jrod, it is not through works of righteousness that I have done,
but of His mercy that He saves me by the washing of regenera
tion and renewing of the Holy Ghost.'
" I think it was on the last occasion that I found him
sitting in his chair by the fire-side, when he remarked, ' I was
thinking, just before you came in, that I should feel at the last
much as my poor father did when he was dying. We were

394 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
standing by his bed-side, when, opening his eyes, and looking
steadfastly at us, he said, " Now, when you see that the breath ,
is gone out of my body, you must go down upon your knees, ,
and give thanks to God." I think that will be my wish, whether ^
I am able to express it or not : for you see I have had a long
Ufe, crowned with mercy and goodness ; but now Ufe is becoming
a burden, and I could only Uve to be a burden to others ; while
I have a good hope through grace. If it please the Lord, I
would rather die than live.'
" I happened to be at Sancton on a Sabbath evening only
a day or two before his death. On going into his cottage, I
found his son William had come, and that his end was
hourly expected. It seemed to be with him just as he had
expected. He was laid upon his bed, and reaUy looked,
younger, and his cheeks had more colour than they had pre-"
sented for many months before. He was unable to speak, but
evidently understood what was said to him, and appeared to
have Uttle or no pain. I asked him whether he had now, at,
the end, ' the fuU assurance of hope ; ' and the visible emotion,
which passed over his countenance, and the pressure of the
hand, told me that his end was peace.
" I have referred to his character and end in almost every
place at which I have since preached in the Circuit.
" Sancton has long been, and is now, a notable example of the
value and blessing of the Methodist form of Christianity ; and
not the least worthy among its worthies was our late venerable
Leader and father in Christ, William Jackson."
He died June 28th, 1860, in the eightieth year of his age.
Among the members of my father's famUy who " rest from
their labours," and whose " works follow them," I must now
rank my brother Samuel, who ended his honourable and useful
Ufe, August 4th, 1861, in the seventy-sixth year of his age, and
fifty-fifth of his ministry.
In many respects he was a remarkable man. He was the
taUest member of our famUy, and, inteUectually considered, the
ablest. His complexion was dark ; his eyebrows prominent
and shaggy. A rich vein of humour played upon his coun
tenance ; but it was kept under due restraint, so as never to.

The Rev. Samuel Jackson : Characteristics. 395'
give unnecessary pain to either man, woman, or child. His.
exterior seemed to indicate roughness ; but he was singularly
gentle, mild, and even tender-hearted, except when he saw the
principles of morality and religion violated ; and then he could
utter rebukes which were sure to be remembered. A more-
thoroughly upright man I never knew. In mental power he
was perhaps not superior to his father ; but he possessed means
and opportunities of acquiring and applying knowledge, such
as his father never enjoyed.
He was deeply convinced of sin, clearly justified through
faith in Christ, effectually changed in his temper and practice.
by the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit, in his early days,
and presented to the end of his life a fine example of steady
perseverance in the ways of God. There was nothing mystical
and cloudy in his religious experience ; after his conversion his.
conduct at once became blameless, presenting an undeviating
course of devotion, of evangelical obedience, and of pious zeal.
Early caUed into the Wesleyan ministry, he gave himseU to its-
duties, devoting his life to the prayerful study of the Bible, and
to the preparation of original sermons ; so that his pulpit labours
preserved an undecaying freshness and variety; being admi
rably adapted to command attention, to awaken the conscience,
to encourage, to instruct, to edify : in one word, to advance the
interests of spu-itual religion, and of universal righteousness.
His sermons were eminently his own ; the fruit of his careful
study of the Word of God, often ingenious and original in their
cast of thought ; yet never fancUul, but invariably weighty and
practical. His prayers in the pulpit, as weU as on all other occasions,
were as remarkable as his sermons ; being comprehensive, end
lessly diversified, yet always evangelical in their character, and
devout in their spirit. Pew men have ever more successfuUy
cultivated the gift of prayer, or entered more fuUy into the
spirit of that great duty. It was manifest that he was a man
of prayer, and had power with God.
Though constitutionaUy modest, taciturn, and rething, he,
possessed in a high degree the confidence of his brethren in the
ministry, and was therefore placed by them in offices which in-

'396 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
volved responsibiUties of the most momentous kind ; and he'
never disappointed their hopes. As the Superintendent of a
Circuit, the Chairman of a District, the Governor and Chaplain-
of the Theological Institution, and the President of the Con--
ference, he fulfilled his trust, so as not only to afford satisfaction,
and to command respect, but to excite admiration and gratitude,-
When the Connexion was annoyed by disorderly men, who
attempted by public clamour and agitation to subvert the
essential principles of its economy, he remained faithful to his
ordination-vows, rendered efficient aid in resisting the tide of
innovation, and nobly maintained the good deposit which John
Wesley had confided to his sons in the Gospel ; and he lived to
be a thankful witness of the peaceful fruit of his firmness and
fidelity. The agitators felt him to be a formidable antagonist,
as their writhings and outcries abundantly testified.
The zeal and tenacity with which he laboured through a
long series of years to promote the reUgious and moral benefit
of the children and youth of Methodism were equally honour
able to himseU and advantageous to the Connexion. He was
the first man, since the death of Mr. Wesley, that called upon
the Methodist body to establish day-schools in connexion with
their principal places of worship ; and to his exertions, more
than those of any other person, is to be attributed the origin of
-the system of public education which is now carried on in
Methodism. He was equally zealous for the improvement of
the numerous Sunday-schools of the Connexion; which he
effected by introducing into them the Lesson-system ; in con
sequence of which an immense amount of Scriptural knowledge
has been imparted to thousands and tens of thousands of
chUdren belonging to the labouring-classes. For he justly
regarded the baptized children of Christian parents as included
in the pastoral charge of Christ's Ministers, who wiU be
answerable for them, in the last day, to " the great Shepherd
of the sheep," as well as for the adult persons who are com
mitted to their care. On this subject his convictions were
deep and solemn ; and he left no means untried to produce in
his brethren the same feeUng, and to stimulate them to corre
sponding efforts. These objects he pursued with untUing

A Fiiend of Christ's "Lambs." 397
energy ; and his comparative want of success, so far from pro
ducing discouragement, served only to give increased intensity
to his zeal, and strength to his exertions. His anxieties for
the children and youth of Methodism became more and more
tender, yearning, and effective, tiU he breathed his last. The
truth is, that having for years used the pulpit, the platform,
and the press for the purpose of promoting the spiritual inter
ests of Methodist children, he thought of them in death, and
may be said to have expired in the utterance of prayers for
their salvation.
In all the relations of domestic and social life, as a husband,
a father, a coUeague in the ministry, his conduct was exem
plary, worthy of his inteUigence, and of the goodness of his
heart. It is possible that some persons who did not know my late
brother, may think that this brief sketch is to be regarded as the
dictate of fraternal affection, rather than as a truthful record ;
I will therefore confirm it by the testimony of competent wit
nesses, who -wUl also supply its defects. In the address which
he deUvered at the funeral. Dr. Hannah said : —
, "As a Christian man he was an example of godUness and
charity, worthy of emulation : and it is most pleasing to think
of his life, as it was carried on from stage to stage, and shining
brighter and yet brighter to the end. In the moral character
of our departed friend, we are struck ¦with his uprightness,
which was always so apparent. I have looked upon him as
the impersonation of integrity. He despised all that was little
and mean, of which he seemed himself to be incapable. The
law of God, in aU its claims, was his rule of action. In him
was combined aU that is yearning and tender in charity, with
all that is firm in truth. His Christian character never needed
an excuse. His was eminently a useful course. When we
think of him as a Christian Minister, what reason have we to
glorify God in him ! His trumpet gave no uncertain sound.
It was the JubUee trumpet of the Gospel, that proclaims Uberty
to the captives. His preaching was highly evangeUcal. It
was able in thought, able in expression, and often most power
fully persuasive in its motives and exhortations."  "He was

'398 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
one of the firm men of our Body. He knew how to maintain
right principles in the right spirit. His charity was the more
warm because it was sustained by truth ; and truth in him
¦was the more firm because it was mixed with charity."
The conductors of the London Quarterly Review, in their
notice of his volume of Sermons, say, — " He was one of the
men at whose grave-sides Churches wake up to the conscious
ness that they are no longer themselves. A stranger might
have thought Mr. Jackson's aspect stern, and his bearing hard
and rugged. He had, in fact, the gentleness of a child, joined
with sensibilities as exquisite as those of a woman. He was
shy, reserved, and taciturn ; but he was removed to the utter
most from self-absorption, moodiness, and misanthropy. He
did not affect to be learned, or brilliantly endowed ; yet liis
powers of mind were robust and well-knit above most men's,
and he cultivated them with eminent conscientiousness, and, as
these Sermons and his other writings, both didactic and
polemical, testify, with ample success. A sparkle of rich
humour played perpetually over the depths of his thought and
feeling ; and, if occasion required, he could wield a satire which
was the dread of aU who either felt or witnessed its power.
¦Slow in forming his judgments, but resolute in adhering to
them ; of marveUous perseverance and iron wiU ; with a soul
in which selfishness had no place, and which yearned with a
consuming earnestness to do good to others, he lived a life of
personal sanctity and ministerial laboriousness."  " We need
add Uttle respecting the Sermons. They reflect alike the moral
-and the intellectual exceUencies of Mr. Jackson's character.
Of fiippancy, glitter, affectation, there is never the faintest trace.
They are the product of a mind that never did its work by
proxy, and that scorned as much as it feared to resort to
¦rhetorical manceu-wres for securing holy ends. Plain in language,
masculine in sentiment, abounding in simple but forcible illus
tration, mighty in their practical appeals, imbued throughout
with the spirit of a profound and fervent reverence, they belong
to a noble type of preaching, and should be read by all young
Ministers who aspire to the proper dignity of their office as
ambassadors for Christ."

sister AnnBalnbridge: an Example of Christian Slm2yllcity, 399
The foUo-wing sketch, which was drawn up by the Eev. Isaac
Keeling, was adopted by the Conference, and inserted in its
pubUshed Minutes: — "The most obvious quality of his mind
"was vigour ; of his character, earnest integrity. His sermons
were richly evangelical, weighty, and powerful. His discretion
in difficult circumstances was exercised in conjunction with
high moral courage ; and, when need so required, with serious
argument, with keenness of wit, and with forcible appeals to
the principles and feelings of godly men. When firmly main
taining, in debate, the views at which he had thoughtfully and
conscientiously arrived, an occasional faltering in his tones
indicated that the tenderness of his nature was strongly moved
on ha-ving to differ from esteemed brethren. He was an
example of manly and Christian virtues. Those who knew him
•but slightly, or merely as hearers in our congregations, must
-naturally have regarded him with sincere respect; while those
-who were in a position to observe him more nearly were aware
-that for him to be intimately known was to be loved as weU as
-venerated." I felt it an honour to call Samuel Jackson my brother ;
and since his death have been sensible of a blank, which
no other man in this world can ever fiU. In him I had
^n entire confidence, and could tell him aU that was in my
heart. On the 23rd of October, 1865, my sister, Ann Bainbridge,
died in the Lord. She was made a partaker of God's pardon
ing mercy and regenerating grace in the revival of reUgion
which took place in the year 1818, of which I have already
given an account, when other members of our famUy were also
made happy in God. She was then about twenty-three years
¦of age. Her conversion was strongly marked, being attended
by penitential sorrow deep and agonizing, and foUowed by
-spiritual enjoyments rich and abiding, and by conduct holy and
upright. To the end of her Ufe, in intercourse with her reUgious
-friends, she often referred with deep emotion to this solemn and
momentous event. From this time she was an example of
"Christian simpUcity, retaining her confidence in Christ as her
Saviour, treading in His footsteps, and adorning His doctrine.

400 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Such was her general character for the long space of nearly fifty
years.
• The trials to which she was subjected were numerous, and
often severe ; but the grace of her Saviour was sufficient for
her, and brought her through with unimpaired faith and purity..
She maintained a reverent affection for her father and mother
while they lived, and cherished the same feeling for then-
memory when they were no more, and never dishonoured their
name by any inconsistency in her Christian profession. After
their example, she preserved an undeviating attachment to the
Wesleyan Body tUl her spirit returned to God.
She was thrice married, and thrice a widow. When her
first husband died she was comparatively young, and had to
provide for two little children. In this sad emergency she-
held fast her confidence in God, and applied herself -with aU
dUigence to secure an honest subsistence for herseU and her
fatherless offspring. She learned the business of bread-baking,
in which her residence in HuU promised a fan- prospect of
success. Some charitable ladies belonging to the EstabUshed
Church, who took a kind interest in her weUare, urged her ta
bake hot rolls on the Sabbath, for the accommodation of such
famiUes as desired to enjoy that luxury, promising her their
recommendation and support ; but this suggestion, she told
them, she never could adopt, whatever prospect of gain it might
seem to offer. The day of the Lord she never would violate,.
nor encourage the violation of it in others. She thanked the
ladies for their sympathy, telling them that as a widow she-
appreciated their kindness ; but from the habit of sanctUying
the Sabbath, in which she had been trained by her parents, she
never would depart. Of this resolution she had no cause at
any time to repent ; for to the end of her life her wants, and
those of her children, were suppUed by a bountiful Providence.
She honoured God by faith in His promises, and by obedience-
to His law ; and He supplied all her necessities.
Her last Ulness was long and tedious, but not connected with
severe suffering. While her strength graduaUy decayed, her-
resignation and holy cheerfulness were never interrupted. She
had no inordinate attachments of an earthly kind to court her-

" Gentle Death." 401
stay ; no guUty gloom rested upon her spirit ; she had walked
in the light of God's countenance for nearly half a century,
serving Him with humility and pious fervour; and now she
felt that her treasure and her home were in heaven, whither
her parents and many of her family and friends were gone.
Days and weeks and months of decUning health she spent in
prayer, in singing and repeating appropriate verses of hymns,
conversing about her Saviour, about her old companions in
heaven whom she expected soon to see, and about the joys of
that bright world. In this peaceful and happy frame of mind
she passed through her affiiction, and then yielded up her
spirit into the hands of her Saviour. Thus lived and died one
of the most truthful, honest, simple-minded, and godly women
I ever knew. Her chUdren survive her, and call her blessed ;
and the other members of her famUy think of her, and of her
unpretending virtues, with unmingled pleasure. She passed
her days in what is caUed humble life, but was rich in every
Christian grace.
With respect to the character and end of these loved relations
I would say, " All was gentle death :
One after one, with intervals of peace,
A happy consummation !"
I cannot close these biographical notices without expressing
the grateful sense I entertain of the goodness and mercy of
God in raising up the Wesleys to institute the system of
itinerant preaching, by means of which the Gospel in its truth
and power has been carried into obscure viUages, as weU as into
populous towns and cities, and immense multitudes of people
belonging to the labouring classes have been instructed, con
verted, united together in Christian fellowship, and thus con
ducted to heaven. But for Methodist preaching, what would
have been the character and condition of the various members
of my own family, whose conduct and end I have attempted to
describe ? The probabUity is, that they would have been prac
tical heathens in a professedly Christian land, and have died
without hope. What Wesleyan-Methodism has done for my
own family is only a specimen of what it has done for ten thou-

402 Recollections of my own Life and Times,
sand other famUies at home and abroad. May the men who
shall stUl be entrusted with the administration of it prove
faithful, as the men of former generations have been ; carrying
the Gospel of Christ into obscure and neglected villages and
hamlets, submitting to mean fare and the very humblest accom
modations, if they may but bring lost sinners to God ! Little
did that blessed man, George Holder, think, when, on his fast-
day, he opened his commission in the thatched cottage of old
Thomas WaUis, of the benefits which would result from the
work so humble in its origin ; and of the number of people who
through eternity will glorify God in him for that labour of love.

CHAPTER XXI.
EEYISION .IND TBANSCBIPTION OB THEOLOGIC.IL LECTUEES — TREATISE ON THE
DUTIES OF CHRISTIANITY (1857) — DEATH OF DB. BUNTING; THE
PBEACHER; THE debater; his POWEB in PBAYEE; influence in METH
ODISM; ZEAL IN BEHALF OF NEGBO EMANCIPATION — VIEWS ON THE ADMIS
SION OF BOMAN CATHOLICS INTO PARLIAMENT (1829) — -WHY SOMETIMES
BITTEELY ASSAILED — THOMjVS FABMEE, ESQ. : AN EXAMPLE OF S.^NCTIFIED
PEOSPEBITY; MBS. AND MISS FAEMEE — FAILURE OF HEALTH, AND EETIRE
MENT FEOM OFPICI.tL DUTIES — EESIDENCE IN LONDON — EMPLOYMENT IN
OLD .AGE — EEPLY TO BISHOP FITZGEBALD's CONTEIBUTION TO " AIDS TO
F-AITH " — TEEATISE ON THE PEOYLDENCE OF GOD (1862) — LIPE OF GOODWIN
EEVISED AND ENL.ARGED (1872)— BEEAICFAST-MEETING .AND ADDRESS AT
MANCHESTEE.
WHEN my second Presidency ended, and the honours, toils,
and anxieties connected -with that office were trans
ferred to my friend Dr. Beecham, I returned to my quiet
'Course of life at Eichmond with a feeling of satisfaction and
thankfulness which no words can express. I resumed my
^studies with renewed zest, and applied myself to the duties of
the Lecture-room with a resolution stronger than ever, to do
i©very thing in my power to aid the young men in then- studies,
<and to assist in raising up a zealous, inteUigent, and efficient
aninistry in the Connexion.
I had long been accustomed to review my Lectures ; to
strengthen the argument on different topics ; to make such
additions as seemed requisite to render them more complete
both in respect of matter and expression ; and I now resolved
to - transcribe the whole of what was strictly theological, com
prising the doctrines, duties, and institutions of Christianity ;
so that if a part or the whole of them should ever be deemed
worthy of publication, they might be available for that purpose.
The Lectures on the evidences of natural and revealed reUgion
I did not transcribe, thinking that works on these subjects are
aheady numerous, and easUy accessible ; but that a condensed
-view of dogmatic, polemical, and practical theology, such as I
2 D 2

404 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
had been accustomed to deliver, might be useful to young men
employed in the Wesleyan ministry, and especiaUy to the great
and increasing body of faithful and justly-esteemed labourers,
the Local Preachers. As I proceeded in the task of transcription,
it occurred to me that the Lectures on the duties of Chris
tianity, divested of their scholastic form, and adapted to general
use, might -with propriety and advantage be published as a dis
tinct work. This project was carried into effect in the year-
1857. The sale of the volume has not been rapid, (for it is in
human nature to prefer pri-vilege to duty,) yet it has been
remunerating ; and the book I trust has been useful ; for even
the best of men need, amidst the turmoil of active Ufe, to be
reminded of their religious and moral obUgations ; so that they
may babituaUy exercise themselves unto godUness, preserve a-
conscience void of offence both towards God and men, and not
be ashamed before Christ at His appearing. A second edition
of the volume has been caUed for, and is now in circulation.
On the 16th of June, 1858, Dr. Bunting died, in the eightieth
year of his age, and the fifty- ninth of his ministry. In respect-
of public influence and of administrative talent, he surpassed
aU Mr. Wesley's sons in the Gospel, and was second only ta
Mr. Wesley himself. At the request of his famUy I preached
his funeral sermon in the City-Eoad chapel, London, in the
forenoon of Friday, July 9th, and in compliance with the wishes
of friends deUvered it in Manchester on the following Tuesday,
and at Leeds on Thursday, the 15ih. The discourse was after
wards printed. I did the best I could within the narrow Umits
assigned me to do something like justice to the memory of this
great and good man ; but to give a complete view of his cha
racter, labours, and usefulness, would require an ample volume.
It is a matter of deep regret that his biography remains stiU
incomplete. But surely it wiU not thus continue. Eespect
for his reputation and for the- public good requires that an
authentic record of his Ufe and doings should be given to the
Church and the world.
For many years he took his place among the most popular
and effective preachers of the age. His style was pronounced
by Eobert HaU " a limpid stream of classic elegance." In the

Prayer in the Holy Ghost. 405
pulpit he was " fuU of matter ; " his sermons were crowded
with just and important thoughts, logicaUy arranged, and
-expressed in language, which for its clearness and precision
gratified the educated part of his hearers, and was understood
by all. Like Mr. Benson, whom he greatly admired, he was
specially powerful and searching in the application of his
discourses, anxious to save himseU and them that heard him,
and to be " free from the blood of all men." His mental habit
was that of analysis, so that he viewed every subject in its
details. Yet great as he was in the pulpit, he was stiU greater
in debate. In the consideration of difficult subjects in the
Conference he had no equal. Neither Mr. Bradburn, nor Mr.
Henson, nor Dr. Clarke, nor Mr. Watson, could there be
compared 'with him. Often have we seen him, after a long
and earnest discussion, and after every thing that could
be said concerning the question at issue had been advanced by
the different speakers, undertake a complete analysis of what
had been said, divest it of aU extraneous matter, weigh the
arguments that had been adduced on both sides, so as to secure
an almost unanimous decision, men not unfrequently giving
their votes in opposition to the speeches which they had just
delivered : such were the acuteness and the power of his
inteUect, and the clearness and force with which he expressed
his views.
For few things was he more remarkable than for the gUt of
prayer, which beautifuUy corresponded with his preaching
ability. He greatly admired the Liturgy of the Church of
JEngland, and advocated the use of it in the Methodist chapels
in the morning of the Lord's day ; and yet no man stood in
less need of it than himseU. His prayers in the pulpit, before
the sermon, were distinguished by their variety, comprehensive
ness, and adaptation to passing events ; and after the sermon
they embodied the principal subjects that he had been dis
coursing upon, with a direct apphcation to the people who
were present. In both cases they were eminently calculated to
¦convey instruction, and to fan the flame of devotional feeling.
On special occasions he was not unfrequently drawn out into
such a strain of earnestness and pleading importunity as we

406 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
have seldom witnessed in any other man. He seemed as if he
could not conclude his petitions, and must die unless he received
an immediate answer. In such cases he evidently prayed under
a power more than human, wrestling in strength divine.
No man better understood the true genius of Wesleyan-
Methodism than Dr. Bunting ; and no man has done so much
to adapt its institutions and agencies to the existing state of
things after the death of its Founder. Its missions, its system
of finance, its arrangements with respect to the buUding and
pecuniary relief of chapels, and its educational plans, aU
bear the indelible impress of his sagacity. In spirit and in
the comprehensiveness of his views, he belonged to the Church
catholic ; but he was eminently and especiaUy a man of
Methodism, and, though not infaUible, a man whom Methodism
deUghts to caU her own.
He was a man of singular energy of character ; and as he
took a Uvely interest in such political affairs as have a direct
bearing upon religion and morals, his influence was great, and
was often put forth in a beneficial manner. When some philan
thropic Members of Parliament began to agitate the question
of Negro Emancipation, he at once took part in the movement,
introduced the subject into the Methodist Magazine, with the
editorship of which he was then entrusted, and never relaxed
in his zeal to put an end to that system of injustice and oppres
sion till every slave in the British Empire was declared to be
free. When he first caUed upon the Methodists to espouse the
cause of Emancipation, considering the formidable power of the
slave-holders and the abject condition of the Negroes, there
was reason to apprehend that increased difficulties would be
thrown in the way of the Missions in the West Indies; bufc
whatever evils might ensue, when the passions of interestei
parties were excited, he persevered with a strength of purpose
which nothing could move, feeling that slavery was a sin,
freedom one of the most sacred rights of our common humanity^
and that the bondage of man to man must soon or late come;
to an end. In this he judged correctly, and was nobly sup^-
ported by his Methodist brethren. But he led the way.
On another great question of national interest he entertained

Catholic Emancipation (1829) .- Dr. Bunting's Views. 407
strong and decisive -views, in which I confess I could never
agree with him ; yet if he erred, he erred with many wise and
exceUent men, whose religion and patriotism were unquestion
able. He thought that Eoman Catholics should be admitted
into the British Parliament, and therefore expressed himseU
in favour of the measure for their admission which, in the year
1828, the Government were seeking to carry, after many years
of agitation and resistance. He did not satisfy himself with
the mere expression of his personal opinion on the subject, but
being at that time the President of the Conference, he used the
influence with which that office invested him to prevent the
Connexion generaUy from declaring an opposite judgment by
petitions to ParUament. Dr. Adam Clarke, Mr. Thomas
AUan, and several other ministers and laymen, deemed
the measure fraught with permanent mischief of the worst
kind, and were anxious to express their sentiments in the
most emphatic manner ; and hence a meeting of the Committee
appointed to guard the privileges of the Connexion was con
vened in the vestry of the City-Eoad chapel, to consider the
propriety of caUing upon the Societies and congregations
throughout the kingdom to send petitions to the ParUament,
so as to prevent what was regarded as an impending calamity.
Dr. Bunting, who was then stationed in Manchester, received
inteUigence of this meeting, and in the midst of its deliberations
unexpectedly appeared, asking for wbat purpose the Committee
had been caUed together. On being informed, he said the
Committee had no authority to meet for any such purpose;
and that, if it should pass any resolution in opposition to the
Catholic claims, or propose to send any petition to Parliament
against the BUl which was then pending, he would inform
the Government that the Committee was acting without autho
rity, and would enter his protest against its proceedings in the
pubhc papers. The consequence was, that the meeting broke
up, its members deprecating a public dispute between the
President of the Conference, and one of its most important
Committees. Those Methodists who were on principle opposed
to the measure affixed their names to petitions dra-wn up by
Christians of other denominations ; and the Methodist voice.

408 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
as such, was not heard at this momentous crisis, when the
British Legislature was divested of its purely Protestant
character, and the adherents of the most hideous tyranny that
ever existed were admitted as the makers of laws for free men.
The question which then occupied the public mind was not
a question of reUgious freedom. It was not denied that the
members of the Papal community, being personaUy account
able to God, should be at liberty to worship Him in the manner
which their own consciences deem the most acceptable to Him ;
but whether men belonging to a Church which claims absolute
dominion over the understandings and consciences of aU man
kind, — a Church which has shed rivers of innocent blood in
the support of that claim, — a Church which has never dis
avowed that claim, nor expressed regret for the horrible cruel
ties it has perpetrated, — a Church which it may be therefore
fairly assumed is watching for an opportunity to assert its
claim, by a repetition of its former deeds ; — whether the mem
bers of such a Church should be invested with the power of
making laws for a people who regard liberty of conscience as
their best and most cherished right. That Dr. Bunting had
a right to his opinion on this occasion, no one wiU deny;
but that he had a right to control the action of his brethren
in the manner now stated, I for one was never convinced.
If the Committee of Privileges was not appointed by the Con
ference to petition Parliament against the admission of Eoman
Catholics to legislative power ; did the Conference, on the other
hand, appoint him to issue what was, in fact, a prohibition ;
and to hinder the Societies and congregations generally from
pubUcly expressing their conscientious judgment on a question
which affected the dearest interests of the nation, and that in
perpetuity ?
The admission of Eoman Catholics into the British ParUa
ment was the beginning of a series of concessions to the Papal
power, the number and tendency of which no EngUshman who
sincerely believes the Bible can contemplate without alarm.
One concession is but the prelude to another ; and the men who
make the concessions appear never to ponder the inquiry,
"WhatwiU ye do in the end thereof?" If the Bible is an

Greatness and Envy. 409
inspired book, the Papal power is doomed to destruction ; and
a fearful amount of misery awaits its advocates and supporters.
ShaU Great Britain ever again become " the seat of the beast,"
in consequence of supineness and the false liberalism of men
who profess to know the truth ? Bishop HaU deprecated the
thought when he wrote and pubUshed his memorable tractate
entitled, " No Peace with Eome." Every Government in
Europe has felt the necessity of resisting the encroachments of
that subtUe, intolerant, and ever-grasping power ; and shaU
Protestant England submit to be its dupe ?
It has been aheady intimated that Dr. Bunting was the special
•object of hostiUty with the men of " Fly Sheet " notoriety, so
that neither Dr. Newton nor Dr. Beecham would have been
reproached and contemned as they were, had they not been his
iriends and supporters. Considering the value of his services
to the Connexion, the question naturally arises. Why such a
feeling of hostUity towards him was indulged by men who stood
to him in the relation of brethren ? Why should they be
his bitter adversaries ? ¦ The question admits of a threefold
answer. 1. His greatness rendered him an object of envy. His singu
lar tact in matters of business, his administrative talent, his
eloquence, and his consequent influence, raised him far above
the generality of his brethren ; and some there were who
could not bear to see him occupying an eminence to which
they could never hope to attain.
2. Some there were who desired offices of honour and
responsibility,- to which they had reason to believe they might
attain if he would only lend them his powerful aid, but -without
it they had no hope of success in these aspUations. He had
not so favourable an opinion of them as they had of them
selves, and hence their hostility ; just as the two Hampsons,
father and son, were offended because Mr. Wesley refused to
insert their names in the " Deed of Declaration," and therefore
cherished towards him a feeling of bitter resentment, which
led tp their separatipn frpm him, and frpm the itinerant
ministry. 3. It cannot be denied, that in the ardour of debate the

410 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Doctor did not invariably preserve that " meekness of -wisdom"
which characterized his general intercourse with his brethren.
He did occasionaUy give point to an argument by a sarcasm
which inflicted a wound ; the men in silence brooding over
what they considered as a wrong, instead of making an instant
appeal to his generosity or to his sense of justice, from which
they would have received an immediate apology.
If it be inquired, why the men who were so hostUe to him
employed anonymous writing instead of meeting him face to
face in District-Meetings, and in the Conference, the answer
is. They did not dare thus to meet him. In the use of a clan
destine press they could gratify their feeUng of hostility by
insinuations, hard names, and indefinite charges ; but they
knew that they had no facts to allege which could bear the test
of a strict analysis ; and therefore chose to Ue in ambush, and
fire at him from behind a wall. Yet, after all, they have
inflicted no permanent injury upon his honest fame. Those
who assailed him with such bitterness have paid the penalty
of their misconduct ; they have, doubtless, had their seasons
of remorse ; and, we may fairly hope, have obtained the for
giving mercy of God, as they certainly had the forgiveness
and the prayers of the very able and good man whom they
vainly sought to ruin.
On the 11th of May, 1861, the Methodist Connexion lost
another of its pillars and ornaments in the death of Thomas
Farmer, Esq. In early life he became a subject of the eon-
verting grace of the Holy Spirit, joined the Methodist Society
at Lambeth, and to the end of his life maintained an unde
viating attachment to the people of his choice. He was the
most striking example I have known of sanctified prosperity.
To his concerns as a man of business he was dUigently
attentive, and no less so to the duties of reUgion, and to the
cultivation of personal godliness. His property increased with
rapidity ; yet it does not appear tbat he ever encroached upon
the sanctity of the Sabbath, neglected any of the pubhc
means of grace, absented himseU from the weekly meeting
of his class, or dechned in spirituality of mind. As liis
wealth accumulated, his UberaUty increased, tiU it assumed a

Princely Liberality : Thomas Farmer, Esq. 411
princely character, and he became one of the most distin
guished philanthropists of the age. His charities were not
confined to one or two favourite objects, but were endlessly
diversified. They were not adapted to secure for their author
monumental fame in perpetuity : it was enough that they were
known to God. They had respect to the relief of the poor,
the erection of places of worship, the extension of Christian
education, the spread of the Gospel in heathen lands, the cir
culation of the Holy Scriptures, and the promotion of Christian
union among Protestant communities.
Many persons will contribute sums of money for objects of this
kind, but ¦will not give their time to the meetings of committees
which are entrusted with the application of public moneys.
Not so Mr. Farmer, who gave his time, valuable as it was, as
freely as he gave his money, to the cause of religion and bene
volence. As a member of the various Committees of Methodism,
as weU as of the Committee of the British and Foreign Bible
Society, his counsel was invaluable ; for he was a man of sound
practical judgment, and of large experience. Though his-
UberaUty commanded general admiration, and every one was
ready to pay a respectful deference to his wishes ; yet we never
saw him assume an air of authority in the application of public
funds, however largely he might have contributed to their
amount ; for his spirit was as peaceful as it was benevolent^
and he readily submitted to the judgment of his brethren, so as
cordiaUy to co-operate with them in every project that was
Ukely to advance the cause of religion and humanity. Like
his friend. Dr. Bunting, he was a genuine Methodist, and there
fore a cathohc Christian.
I visited him repeatedly during his last iUness, and a death
bed scene more tranquil, calm, and joyous, I never witnessed
either in young or old, rich or poor. " Mark the perfect man,
and behold the upright ; for the end of that man is peace."
When the noble givings of this generous Christian are remem
bered, as they often wiU be, Mrs. Farmer aud her chUdren
ought not to be forgotten ; for they must have been consenting
parties to his munificent charities, having a common interest
in his property. Their example has had a salutary influence

412 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
upon others ; and Methodist contributions are at present more
liberal than they ever were at any former period. Mrs. Farmer
followed her godly husband to the land of the blessed, March
19th, 1868, aged seventy-one years. She was the daughter of
Samuel Stocks, Esq., of Wakefield, by his first wife, and was
worthy of her parentage. I knew her in early Ufe, when she
was an example of youthful piety ; and when she attained to
womanhood, and entered into the marriage relation, I admired
her as a noble Christian lady, frank, generous, hospitable, and,
like her father and her husband, ready for every good work. I
saw her during her last illness, which was of several months'
¦continuance, and found her, when in a state of great bodUy
weakness, strong in faith, and fuU of heavenly consolation. In
a tone of her wonted cheerfulness she expressed her gratitude
to God for perfect freedom of access to Him through the sacri
fice and intercession of Christ. She was a useful Class-Leader,
and an ornament to the Methodist Society. I attended her
funeral, and with tears saw her remains placed beside those of
her husband in the family vault in the Highgate cemetery.
The eldest daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Parmer, Uke the other
members of their weU-ordered family, was a fine example of
Christian piety, zeal, and liberaUty. She not only gave her
heart to God in early Ufe, but employed her money, her time,
and personal labour in the advancement of reUgion both at
home and abroad. She was the writer of an interesting volume
on the Wesleyan Missions in the Tonga Islands, and of the bio
graphy of Zephaniah Job, a Methodist Preacher, remarkable for
his zeal and usefulness. This estimable lady died in the Lord,
somewhat unexpectedly, before her mother, deeply lamented
by many whom she had befriended, and by others who admired
the many excellencies of her character.
In the winter of 1860-1 my health seriously failed, so as to pro
duce an apprehension that the time was near at hand when my
public services must cease, and that life itself must soon end.
For several years I had been subject to alarming attacks of
spasm in the stomach, attended by agonizing pain ; and they
now became more than usually severe, being also attended by
a loss of strength, and at length by the jaundice. In these

Fifty-seven Years' full ministerial Service closed. 413
circumstances I gave notice to the Committee of the Theological
Institution, that I must retire at the ensuing Conference, and
reminded them that no time ought to be lost in nominating a
successor, who would require the intervening months to prepare
for his onerous duties. Their choice feU upon my esteemed
friend the Eev. John Lomas, to whom I felt that I could with
entire confidence resign my charge ; his piety, scholarship, and
Christian orthodoxy eminently qualifying him for its duties.
In the meanwhile, my disease yielded to medicine, so that
my health was restored ; but my strength did not return ; and
considering my advanced age, I could not hope ever to be
strong again. I therefore deemed it right to abide by the
choice I had made, and requested the Conference to allow me
to retire, and be placed upon the list of Supernumeraries. I
had served the Connexion fifty-seven years; twenty, in the
work of a Travelling Preacher ; eighteen years as Editor ; and
nineteen as Theological Tutor. My hearing and physical
strength were both impaired ; I had attained to my seventy-
eighth year; death therefore could not be far distant. If it
should please God to spare me a little longer, I wished to have
a season of comparative retirement at the close of a busy life,
that I might review the past, anticipate the future, and for a
time " 'Walk thoughtful on the silent, solemn shore
Of that vast ocean I must sail so soon."
The Conference yielded to my request, and adopted a reso
lution on the occasion, which I could not myself endorse ; but
which I gratefully accepted as an expression of confidence and
good-will concerning an old fellow-labourer, who claimed na
higher merit than that of having honestly intended, through a
long life, to serve the good cause of Christianity in its Metho
distical form. The resolution was printed in the "Minutes "
of 1861. Any undue elation of mind which the adoption and
pubUcation of it might have produced in me, was effectually
checked by the recollection of another tribunal before which I
knew that I must soon appear ; by which cognizance wiU be
taken of things which the wisest of men cannot at present know,
and to which even the rules of Methodism do not apply. " He

414 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
that judgeth me is the Lord ; " " to whom aU hearts are open,
all desires known, and from whom no secrets are hid." To me
this was the most solemn Conference I ever attended ; my own
retirement from public service, the unexpected decease of my
brother Samuel, which took place at the same time, suggested
thoughts of approaching death and judgment which prompted
me to prayer, and to the formation of holy purposes. I felt
-that it was high time to awake out of sleep ; and that, whatever
had been my habits in days that were past, there was no further
room for negUgence or apathy.
The Conference at length finished its business ; the journal
of its proceedings was signed ; and the preachers, with their
-accustomed frankness and affection, took leave of each other, and
went forth in all directions to fulfil the work assigned them ; whUe
I, for the first time in the long space of fifty-seven years, had no
-official appointment to any kind of service, but was left at liberty
to choose my place of residence, and employ my time as my own
conscience might dictate. I cannot say that on resigning my
post of duty in connexion 'with the Conference, I did not
" Cast one longing, lingering look hehind ; "
for who can retire from strict official intercourse with such a pious,
honest, open-hearted, and affectionate body of men as I have
always found the Methodist preachers to be, but with emotion
relieved by tears ? Yet I felt that thankfulness was stiU a duty,
:and that discontent would be a sin. I did not " retire to hunger
and philosophy," as Dr. Johnson says Milton did when he was
•deprived of the office to which Cromwell had appointed him;
for by the kindness of my brethren my temporal necessities
were supplied ; and religious consolation I hoped to enjoy as a
continual feast to the end of life. I therefore left the Newcastle
Conference with feelings chastened by the death of a beloved
brother, whose remains I had just foUowed to the grave ; but
otherwise thankful for the past, and fuU of hope as to
the future.
When Mr. Lomas should have entered upon his duties, as
Theological Tutor at Eichmond, he requested me to supply his
:place for two or three months, and allow him to spend the time

Leaving Richmond: 415
in preparing himseU for the course of tuition in which he was
now to be employed. To this proposal I assented, and
remained at Eichmond as his substitute tiU the 15th of
November, when I resigned my charge, and came to reside
with my daughter and her family in London. To be separated
from Mr. Barrett, Mr. Hellier, Mr. Moulton, my faithful, intelU
gent, and friendly coUeagues in Eichmond, I felt to be a pain
ful sacrifice ; for to associate with such men is a high privUege.
It was also matter of regret to leave other friends in Eichmond,
with whom I had spent many happy hours, and whose society
was equally agreeable and improving. But this is a world of
change ; and we only deceive ourselves when we calculate upon
permanent friendships, and uninterrupted intercourse with
those we love. There is, however, a world where changes of
this kind are unknown ; and in that world I hope to meet my
Eichmond friends, with whom I was accustomed to take sweet
counsel, and unite in acts of di-vine worship. Happy shall we
be, if permitted to meet in heaven, and there renew our feUow
ship with each other, and with our blessed Saviour, the centre
of our union !
Since I have entered upon my new mode of life, as a Super
numerary Preacher, I have felt, in an increasing degree, my
obUgations to be thankful to God for aU the blessings of His
goodness. In my daughter's family I have every accommoda
tion; and they aU seem daily to vie with each other in
showing me respect, and in doing every thing. in their power to
meet my wishes. There are also many families, especially in
London and the neighbourhood, who in this season of my age
and infirmities, treat me with more than ordinary respect and
kindness. Among these I am bound especiaUy to mention
the family of Mr. Walter Griffith, of Guildford Street ; of Mr.
Ingoldby, of Finsbury Square ; of Mr. Broad, of Hornsey Else ;
of Mr. EU, of Fitzroy Square ; of Mr. Green, of Gower Street ;
of Mr. Chubb, of Brixton HiU; and of many, many more,
whom I hope to meet in
" The house of our Father above,
The palace of angels and God."

416 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
I spend my time in reading books of piety, especially the Holy
Scriptures ; in re-vising my manuscripts ; in occasionally
writing an article for the Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine; in
meeting a class of godly women committed to my care ; in
visiting at their own houses those members of the class who
have large families, or are afflicted, so that their attendance
upon our weekly meeting is difficult and irregular. I generaUy
preach once on the Sabbath, but feel that I have not strength
for a second ser-vice on the same day. The duties of a Class-
Leader I have been compelled to resign, after a trial of two or
three years, in consequence of increasing deafness.
In this respect I am under a great disadvantage in attending
pubUo worship. I enjoy the Liturgy and the singing in the
Great Queen- Street chapel, which I usuaUy attend; but in
many cases I scarcely hear any of the sermon. Some preachers
I can hear without difficulty, but others are quite uninteUigible.
Every sound they utter is audible, but what they say I am
unable to ascertain, and am reminded of the lines which Milton
has put into the mouth of Samson : —
" I hear the sound of words ; their sense the air
Dissolves unjointed ere it reach my ear."
If I can discover the text, I employ the time in endeavouring to
frame a sermon for my own edification. At no period of my
life was I so impressed with the vast importance of a clear and
distinct elocution in public speakers. In every congregation
there are probably cases of at least partial deafness. How
necessary then it is that the truth should be so deUvered that
even the persons who are thus afflicted may, if possible, hear
and understand it ! This does not depend so much upon the
loudness of the preacher's voice, as upon the distinctness of his
utterance. Next to an acquaintance with Gospel truth, ought
not this qualification to engage the earnest and conscientious
attention of every man who enters a Christian pulpit ? Whis
pering and mumbling are not preaching.
Amidst the attractions of London, while taking exercise in
the open air, few things interest me more than
" The humble book-stalls in the streets.
Exposed to eye and hand where'er I turn ; "

Pamphlet in Reply to Bishop Fitzgerald. 417
and were I still a coUector, I could occasionaUy make a
valuable purchase at a small expense ; but with me the time
is gone by for traffic of this kind.
In my retirement I have felt it my duty to write a some
what bulky pamphlet in defence of Methodists and Methodism
against an unfair and disingenuous attack upon both by an
Irish prelate. A volume of a sceptical character, directly
adapted to bring the Bible into disrepute, and to destroy the
faith of Christian people in some of its niost important verities,
was published, as the joint production of several clergymen of
high rank and name, under the title of "Essays and Ee-yiews."
To this mischievous and revolting publication many replies
were sent forth, and among the rest a volume bearing the name
of " Aids to Faith ; " the several parts of which were -written
by Bishops, and by men who had won for themselves an
honourable distinction by their piety and sacred scholarship.
It was edited by Dr. Thomson, then Bishop of Gloucester, who
has since been elevated to the Archbishopric of York. The
second essay in this volume was written by Dr. Fitzgerald, then
Bishop of Cork and Eoss, and since translated to KiUaloe. In
supplying " aids to faith," in opposition to clerical scepticism,
this Eight Eeverend Prelate assaUed the character and tenets
of John and Charles Wesley, and of their friend and fellow-
labourer Mr. Whitefield. He not only spoke disparagingly of
their talents and usefulness, but misrepresented their doctrine,
and declared that, so far were they from originating a revival
of evangeUcal religion, as is generally supposed, they rather
spoUed such a revival, which wiser and better men had begun,
and which was in hopeful progress when they appeared, and
" threw themselves " into it. As to the state of clerical teaching
and of morals and religion in England, when Methodism arose,
without adducing a vestige of proof, he contradicted the solemn
and recorded testimonies of Bishop Burnet, Bishop Atterbury,
Bishop Gibson, Bishop Butler, Bishop Lavington, Archbishop
Seeker, Bishop Squire, Bishop Newton, Bishop Horsley, Bishop
Home, Dr. E chard, and Mr. Philip Skelton ; and, what is
more, his Lordship contradicted himself. He also passed an
unjust censure upon the doctrinal teaching of the Methodists
E E

418 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
generally. That the honoured names of such men as the
Archbishop of York, Bishop EUicott, and Bishop Harold Browne,
should be placed in connexion with the trash which my Lord
of KUlaloe chose to write against the Methodists, is matter of
deep regret. They ought to be better judges of what is due to
their own reputation. It is no good sign as to the spirit of
the times, that a body of men, occupying posts of dignity in the
National Church, could not combine to supply an antidote to
the scepticism of their brethren, but they must connect with
it a libel upon tens of thousands of Christian people, who
offered them no provocation, and who, to say the least, are as
orthodox as themselves. It might be worth their whUe to
ponder the expostulation which Abner addressed to Joab;
for their unjust censures are sure, in the long run, to recoil
upon their own heads, and upon the Establishment which
they intend to uphold. " Then Abner caUed to Joab, and
said. Shall the sword devour for ever ? knowest thou not that
it wiU be bitterness in the latter end ? how long shaU it be
then, ere thou bid the people return from following their
brethren ? "
The kind of " faith " which Bishop Fitzgerald intended to
"aid" may be easily ascertained from the fact, that while
he passed unqualified censures upon the Methodists and their
leaders, he spoke in terms of respect and honour concerning
Eomanists and Arians ; thus expressing his preference of anti-
Christian error, in its most perilous form, to Methodism which
is neither less nor more than the doctrine of the Church of
England carried into practical effect.
My next publication was a treatise on the " Providence of
God, viewed in the Light of Holy Scripture." By placing
before reUgious people the teaching of the sacred writers, and
especially the teaching of the Son of God, respecting the
Divine agency in the operations of nature, and in the affairs of
men, I hoped to assist, in some humble degree, in counteract
ing the latent Pantheism which to a great extent pervades our
popular literature ; attributing to " nature," and to " the laws
of nature," simply and in themselves considered, events in
which the hand of God ought to be devoutly acknowledged.

Revision of the Life of John Goodwin. 419
For wfeat is " nature " without its Author ? and what are " the
laws of nature " but the will of God in constant operation ?
The Scripture doctrine of Providence, rightly apprehended,
supplies constant motives to faith, to gratitude, to submission,
to prayer, to thanksgiving, and to praise. This volume has also
passed to a second edition.
Since my release from official duties I have revised through
out my Life of John Good-win, and have made important addi
tions to the narrative ; but whether it wUl ever be republished
I know not. I have not myself the means of reprinting it, and
whether any other person will send it forth again is uncertain ; *
although the venerable Puritan has strong claims upon the
gratitude of aU classes of EngUsh Nonconformists, and upon
the Methodists in particular ; being, as I have already stated,
the first man in England that engaged general attention by
writing in defence of universal liberty of conscience in mat
ters purely religious against the intolerant claims of the
Eomanists, Episcopalians, and Presbyterians of his times ; and
his incomparable volumes on Imputed Eighteousness, and on
the Universal Eedemption of Mankind, having prepared the way
for the adoption of the system of evangelical Arminianism which
Methodists cordiaUy entertain. These parties at least ought to
cherish his memory.
After I had tendered to the Conference the resignation of
my office at Eichmond, I received many pressing invitations
to visit distant places, to assist at the opening of new chapels,
to preach anniversary sermons, and thus renew my acquaint
ance with old friends. Several of these I was compelled
to decline, but as many as I could I accepted. Our friends
in Manchester, having erected a chapel in the City-Eoad,
requested me to take part in the opening ser-vices ; and after
• That this sentence was not cancelled or altered by the author can only
he due to an inadvertence, natural enough to one approaching his ninetieth
year. The generosity of three friends, the Bev. 'William Boyce, 'Winiam
M' Arthur, Esq., M.P., and Alexander M'Arthur, Esq., enabled Mr. Jackson
himself, a few months before his death, to conduct through the press his
revised and enlarged Life of Goodwin. The Preface is dated July 29 th,
1872.— Editor.
2 E 2

420 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
my engagement with them was made, I was asked to meet a
few of them at breakfast before I returned home. To this
proposal I assented, with the understanding that there should
be no display, but a religious gathering of Methodist people,
in which we would pledge ourselves afresh to support and
extend the good work with which we were aU identified. I
was therefore surprised, on my arrival in Manchester, to learn
that a large room connected with the Free- Trade HaU had
been engaged ; a public breakfast was provided ; tickets of
admission were on sale; and that these arrangements were
made out of respect for me. True it is, that on a cold damp
morning in November, 1861, from three to four hundred friends
assembled, not from the Manchester Circuits only, but from
Liverpool, Bolton, Bury, Eochdale, Bradford, Stockport, Old
ham, Euncorn, and other places ; ministers, laymen, and godly
women ; who, after hearing the foUowing address read, pre
sented it to me by a unanimous vote : —
" To THE Ee-vekend Thomas Jackson.
" Venerable and dear Sir, the Methodists of Manchester
and its neighbourhood welcome your presence among them
this' day. It seems meet to them that they should take this,
the first opportunity afforded them, of expressing to you their
affection and respect, on the occasion of your retirement from
the more public and responsible service of the Methodist
Connexion. " Far be it from us to ' give flattering titles to man.' ' Let
no man glory in men.' If in your hearing we review the
merciful dealings of God with you, and by you, with the
people before whom you have gone in and out, during your
nearly sixty years' service in the ministry, it is that we may
refresh your spirit and our own ; that you may be coniforted
together with us by our mutual faith ; that we may bring you
forward on your journey, — now towards its end, in near sight
of heaven, — ' after a godly sort ; ' and that God in aU things
may be glorified through Jesus Christ. Amen. So when King
David parted with that ' very aged man,' Barzillai, no longer
fit for court or camp, 'the king kissed Barzillai, and blessed him.'

Address at Manchester (1861). 421
" Your Master, when He dwelt on earth, was the reputed
«on of a carpenter ; and you claim no higher birth. But you
were born in a land where each one of us feels warm in every
vein the rich and varied blood of the oldest nations of the
race ; inherits, entailed inalienably on him by the virtue and
valour of his fathers, the rights and dignities of an English
man ; and is noble, because free. We read your face and
form. You are of the strong and stalwart common people.
* By reason of strength,' indeed, the days of your years are
nearly ' fourscore years ; ' yet your ' strength ' is not very
obviously ' labour and sorrow.' If your ' natural strength '
is ' abated,' your ' eye ' is not yet so ' dim,' that it cannot see
the reverent smUes of those who now gather round you. Of
such as you was it spoken by Zophar the Naamathite : ' Thine
eye shaU be clearer than the noonday ; thou shalt shine forth ;
thou shalt be as the morning.'
" But we greet you also as a child of primitive Methodism.
Some seventy years ago its brave and godly Preachers traveUed
through the land, lighting up wherever they went the decaying
embers of truth and godliness. ' There was nothing hid from
the heat thereof ; ' and George Holder came to the hamlet, now
no longer obscure, where you lived ; — came on a Friday, because
it was his fast- day, and not even a Pharisee asked him to dine.
But he sat to an humble meal at some peasant's table, and there
brake to hungry souls the bread of everlasting Ufe. That day
salvation came. Nor was this aU. They who 'received a
prophet in the name of a prophet ' received ' a prophet's
reward ; ' the wonder-working mantle of his office was left
behind him ; and three of your father's sons, and some of his
sons' sons, can say as Amos said, — and scarcely in a figure, —
' I was no prophet, neither was I a prophet's son ; but I was a
herdman, and a gatherer of sycamore fruit ; and the Lord took
me as I followed the flock, and the Lord said unto me. Go
prophesy unto My people Israel.' ' No slightest touch of sorrow
stains our purity of joy ' this day, as we remember one of the
elder three ; who, full of years and wisdom, and rich in
humility and love, vrith prayers for children on his dying

422 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Ups, has recently faUen asleep like a child on the bosom of his
Sa-viour. "By God's great mercy you also have been true to the
solemn charge ¦with which you were entrusted. When you
began your course you owed Uttle to human learning, or to the
refinements of poUshed Ufe. But we ' thank Christ Jesus our
Lord who hath enabled you, for that He counted you faithful,'
to discharge the duties of your caUing. To very few Ministers has
a task so various and comprehensive been aUotted. Preacher
and Pastor, Editor and author. Theological Tutor and Presi
dent ; in aU these capacities you have laboured -with abiUty,
fidelity, and success.
"It is because your 'heart was estabUshed with grace,' that
you have not been 'carried about with divers and strange
doctrines ; ' although, during the long period on which you look
back, so many ' fables,' and so many ' endless genealogies,'
have perplexed the Churches generaUy, not always without
disquieting our own. You have been a patient, earnest, and
prayerful student of the Bible ; and you have studied also, -with
a caution and a candour of which we know few simUar
examples, the -writings of great and good men of aU ages and
lands, and those, especiaUy, of the illustrious divines of our own
country. But you have uniformly ' obeyed from the heart,' —
with aU your heart, and that it might be kept 'right in the
sight of God,' — that very form of doctrine into which you were
first and early moulded ; that theology, ' common ' indeed
in its essentials, Uke the salvation which it teaches, to aU the
saints ; but in its breadth and fulness the special pri'vilege and
trust of the disciples of John Wesley. It is this theology which
you have preached to vast multitudes of your feUow-men, not
as an abstract system, but so as to instruct the understanding
and awaken the conscience, and thus to save souls from heU
and sin to God and heaven. And truly, if your speech and
your preaching has not been with enticing words of man's
¦wisdom, it has been in ' demonstration of the Spirit and of
power.' Simple and nervous in style ; manly and unaffected
in dehvery ; fuU of truth, because abounding in the sound and
plain exposition of Scripture ; your ministry of the Word has

Address at Manchester (1861). 423
also been eminently marked by tenderness and zeal, by an
anxious regard for the 'wiU and honour of Christ, and by a
sohcitous affection for the flock over whom the Holy Ghost
made you overseer, and for them that are ignorant and out of
the way. So stUl, and ever, may your sons and successors
preach till time shall be no more !
" The patient hours, however, which you have devoted to the
study, that you might prepare for the pulpit and the press, were
never taken from the time sacred to the pastoral care of your
people, and to the various other engagements of a laborious Meth
odist Minister. It is nearly forty years since you left the usual
course of the itinerancy; but there still survive those, some
amongst ourselves, who remember from the first day that you
came, after what manner you were -with them, at all seasons,
serving the Lord with aU humility of mind, and with many
tears and temptations which befel you, by the lying in wait of
unreasonable and wicked men, and how you kept back nothing
that was profitable, but have showed and have taught pubUcly,
and from house to house, the repentance, faith, and hoUness of
the Gospel.
" At a time when you were much maturer in knowledge than
in age, you were chosen to conduct the literary undertakings of
the Connexion ; a position which you sustained for nearly
twenty years, with characteristic diligence, with great advan
tage to that department of the general work, and with the con
tinually-increasing confidence of your brethren, and of the
Connexion at large.
"It is weU that your labours of this kind have not been
mainly editorial. The catalogue of your own writings com
prises several works which posterity will read not less commonly
or profitably than men of your own time have read them ;
besides sermons and tracts, which, as one pleasurable occupa
tion of old age, and that not your only literary occupation,
we hope you wiU collect and arrange in a more permanent
form. By these means, while you have advocated and Ulus
trated Christian truth in general, you have also recorded the
history, and vindicated the distinctive character and claims, of
Methodism, and have become the authorized exponent of its

424 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
relations to other reUgious communities. Your biographical
writings, however, wUl best preserve your name and memory ;
even as you have embalmed those of one great father of evan
geUcal Arminianism; of some of the greatest of our own
fathers ; and, above aU, of Charles Wesley,— EvangeUst, Poet,
and saint, — never fully kno-wn as such until you caught the
inspiration of his piety and genius, and drew for us the perfect
Ukeness of the benignant angel who walks by our side all our
Methodist Ufetime, whispering to us the words in which we
hope to meditate and pray, to beUeve and love, — to adore,
exult, and worship, — tUl we reach heaven.
"The latest, and perhaps the most useful, period of your
Ufe has been spent in training those who are to emulate your
ministerial labours and success. Some of them are with us
this morning ; and, if we love and honour them, and if they
are now fiUing posts of the highest responsibility, with an abUity
and diUgence which are the joy of your decUning years, — they
join with us in thanking God for your godly example, wise and
affectionate advices, and complete, systematic, and painstaking
instructions, and for His rich blessing upon them all. By
others of them, your ' Une is gone out through aU the earth,'
and your ' words to the end of the world.' What you taught
them, they have preached, and with force and fervour like your
own, to every nation under heaven. Some aheady wait you in
Paradise, and more wiU foUow.
" Honours, such as our churches can give, have foUowed the
various services you have thus rendered ; and in your hands
honours have always been held as trusts. Your first Presidency
inaugurated the Centenary of Methodism ; and nobly did you
sustain the office. Then, to borrow the motto of your own
Centenary Volume, our ' Joseph ' was emphatically ' a faithful
bough by a well, whose branches ran over the waU.' But there
came a time when 'the archers' more sorely than ever 'grieved
him, and shot at him, and hated him.' Then you were again
summoned to preside over the Connexion. Your character was
an answer to every slander ; your fidelity and fortitude begat
universal patience and courage ; and your counsels, and those
of the men who shared your responsibilities and cares, resulted

Address at Manchester (1861). 425
in Connexional unity and peace. Once more we took up our
parable and said, ' His bow abode in strength ; and the arms
of his hands were made strong by the hands of the mighty God
of Jacob.'
" We turn from the past to the future, possibly not a pro
tracted one, of your continuance amongst us. May your last
days be your best days ! May God spare you, as He shall see
best, the sorrows and infirmities which often enfeeble and afflict
advancing age ! May He yet permit you to labour gently in
His service, amidst the prayers and blessings of His people !
' God, before whom your fathers did walk, the God which fed
you all your life long, the angel which redeemed you from all
evil,' bless those who share among them the priceless heritage
of your fatherly love ! May you stiU see your children's children,
and peace and great prosperity upon Israel ; yea, upon all the
Israel of God ! May you have ' fuU assurance,' ' everlasting
consolation, and good hope through grace ' 1 May God make aU
your bed in sickness ; and, when heart and flesh shaU fail, be
the strength of your heart, and your portion for ever ! And
so an entrance shaU be administered unto you abundantly into
the everlasting kingdom of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ.
Meanwhile, man greatly beloved, ' go thou thy way tiU the end
be ; for thou shalt rest, and stand in thy lot at the end of the
days.' " For ourselves, also, we turn unto the Lord, and take with
us words from the Liturgy, in the use of which you have so
often excited and embodied our devotions. ' 0 Lord God
Almighty, who didst endue Thy holy Apostle Barnabas with
singular gifts of the Holy Ghost, leave us not, we beseech Thee,
destitute of Thy manifold gifts, nor yet of grace to use them
alway to Thy honour and glory, through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.' "
This address I have reason to beUeve was written by Mr.
Percival Bunting, who, both before and since the death of his
honoured father, has treated me with kindness and respect, a
feeling which I cheerfuUy reciprocate both towards him and his
friendly and excellent family.

426 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times.
At this meeting of Methodist friends many kind things were
said of me by Mr. Eattenbury, then the President of the Con
ference, by Dr. Hannah, Mr. Kelk, Mr. John D. Geden, Mr.
Eobinson Kay, and Mr. Bowers. It did not become me to
offer a direct contradiction to the statements and opinions of
these godly and upright men, when they were expressing too
favourable an estimate of my past services. I knew that my
intentions had been good through the whole of my public life.
I had intended to do that which is right ; and I knew that the
principles by which I had been guided I had learned from Mr.
Wesley and his sons in the Gospel, — men who were wiser and
better than myself ; but I knew, too, to my shame and sorrow,
that I had often failed in the fulfilment of my purposes, and I
was otherwise sensible of defects, faults, and imperfections, of
which my friends around me knew nothing. I felt that their
commendations described what I ought to have been, and what
I ought to have done ; my faUures I hoped that God in mercy
would forgive; and that I had so far succeeded as to have
obtained the approval of good men was matter of thankfulness.
Their favourable opinion I regarded not as any just ground of
seU-gratulation, but as a trust and a talent to be employed for
the good of others. The Apostles, by manifestation of the
truth, commended themselves to every man's conscience in the
sight of God. I desire to follow their example ; and in propor
tion to my success I would render thanks to the God of all
grace, without whose guidance and aid nothing that is wise and
holy ever was or ever can be done.

CHAPTER XXII.
AT THE COENISH CONFEBENCE (1862) — SCENES OF MINISTEEIAL LABODB EE-
VISITED — ^A STEANGEE IN SANCTON — AN OCTOGENAEIAN : INVITED TO LUN
CHEON BY THE WESLEYAN MINISTEES STATIONED IN LONDON — DEATH OP
THE EEV. WILLIAM MACLAEEIE BUNTING: .SKETCH OP HIS CHAEACTEE —
PAMPHLET OCCASIONED EY AN ATTEMPT TO INTEODUOE POPEBY INTO SANC
TON — MEMOKIALS OP FEIENDS : MB. JAMES NICHOLS ; THE EEV. JOHN MASON ;
DB. HANNAH; THE EEV. JOHN SCOTT — THE LONELINESS OF OLD AGE —
SOJOUEN AT CLIFTON — BEPLY TO A LETTEE FEOM THE CONFEEENCE, LIVEE
POOL (1868): BDMMABY OP CONTENTS; PUBPOSE MISAPPEEHENDED ; AN
EXPLANATION — COMMENTS ON CEETAIN PEOPOSALS FOB THE UNION OF -WES
LEYAN-METHODISM -WITH THE ESTABLISHMENT — SEEVICES BENDEBED BY THE.
ENGLISH KEFOBMEES— VALUE OF THE WEITINGS OP MANY ANGLICAN BISHOPS.
AND CLEEGYMEN — TESTIMONY AGAINST POPEBY AND BATIONALISM IN THE
NATIONAL CHUBCH — OPENING OP A NE-W CHAPEL AT MABKET WEIGHTON ::
SEBMON; EETEOSPECT OF NEARLY FOUESCOBE "YEAES.
IN the spring, the summer, and the autumn of the year 1862
I undertook journeys and public services which to me were
somewhat new and strange. In compliance with the urgent
invitations of friends, and to assist in promoting the good cause
of Methodism, besides attending the Cornish Conference, I
visited Birmingham, Leeds, HuU, Preston, Alford, Keal, and
Louth, 'vrith several towns in the PockUngton Cfrcuit. In some
of these places I was stationed more than haU a century before,
and had not seen them during this long interval of time. Here
I could not but regard myself as a relic of a former age. Not
one of my old friends did I find. They had gone the way of
aU flesh ; but I met with some of their chUdren, now advanced in
years ; and I was introduced to some of their grandchildren.
The face of the country in the fens and marshes of Lincoln
shire I found to be wonderfuUy improved, and the cause of true
reUgion also advanced. In respect of agriculture, morals, and
reUgion, I was compelled to confess that in this part of Lin-
colnshUe the days of the present generation are incomparably
better than those of their forefathers. This ought indeed ta
be the case everywhere. With the enterprise and experience of

428 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
former generations to guide and encourage them, it is a shame
to any people if they do not improve in all that is wise and
good. At AUord I had great pleasure in renewing my acquaintance
with the three sons of Mr. and Mrs. Abbott, who nursed me
with tenderness and assiduity, during a long Ulness, when I
was a young man, far from my native place. I rejoiced to find
them aU walking in the steps of their sainted parents. At
Keal, too, I was hospitably entertained by the son and daughters
of Mr. and Mrs. Thompson, whose house more than half a
century before was my home and that of my colleagues in the
Spilsby Circuit. To me it is intensely gratifying to find the
same "unfeigned faith " in successive generations of the same
famiUes. In the PockUngton Circuit I preached in various places
which I used to visit as a Local Preacher in my youthful days ;
and thought of former events, and of families that have passed
away, no more to return. On the Sabbath-day I witnessed a
gratifying improvement in the habits of the people in my native
village. When I was a lad groups of boys and idle men were
seen in the streets on the Lord's day engaged in various kinds
of sport, and indulging themselves in ribaldry and profane
swearing. But now, during the hours of that sacred day I
observed a solemn stiUness, which at least seemed to indicate
respect for the authority of God, whose command is,
" Eemember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy." In the
morning, for the purpose of meditation, I retired into a by-
lane in the neighbourhood of the village, where I found two
boys playing at marbles, evidently expecting to escape obser
vation in the secluded spot. As soon as they saw me, though
I was a perfect stranger, and had no opportunity of speaking
to them, they ran with aU haste into an adjoining field, and
hid themselves under a hedge. I pursued my walk, and in
coming back found that these youthful transgressors had
returned to their sport. In this case I got near to them un-
perceived ; but as soon as they saw me, though I uttered not
a word, such was their alarm, that they left their marbles-
on the ground, and ran away with as much apparent terror as if

No Jackson now in Sancton. 429
they had been detected in a theft, and a police-officer were
pursuing them. These incidents may appear trifiing, but to
me they were fuU of meaning; indicating, in the most im
pressive manner, an improved state of feeling in both old and
young people. Seventy years ago these lads would not have
retired into a by-lane, but would have played in the open
street; they would have set at defiance any one that might
have interfered with the"m ; and would have been supported by
men, and even by heads of families. This change God hath
wrought to a great extent by the instrumentality of Methodist
preaching, and by a Methodist Sunday-school. To His name
be all the glory !
To me this visit to my native vUlage suggested thoughts
which moved me to tears. I looked at the cottage where my
father and mother lived and died, where I had often heard them
pray, and where they had often given me counsel and admoni
tion. It is now occupied by a family I did not know. I
looked over the wall into the "garth," which my parents had
caUed their own, but which is now owned and cultivated by
other parties. I preached in the Uttle chapel close by ; but
there were few persons in the congregation whom I could
recognize. My father and mother were not there. Strangers
occupied the places where they were accustomed to sit. I
visited the graves of the various members of our family in the
church- yard, and thought of venerable faces and forms I shaU
never again see in this world. No Jackson now remains in
Sancton ; but many who once bore that name are registered on
high. " Where once we dwelt our name is heard no more."
"When I was nearly approaching that period of human Ufe
which experience proves to be generally attended by "labour
and sorrow," I was surprised by the reception of the following
letter from my friend Mr. WiUiam M. Bunting :—
" November IQth, 1863.
"Bb-vekend and deak Sik,
"I am honoured by the Wesleyan-Methodist Ministers com-

430 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
posing the Book-Committee, ¦with a commission, which it affords
me, personally, extreme pleasure to fulfil.
"At their last monthly meeting, (which was very nume
rously attended,) on learning that the 12th day of December
would be the eightieth anniversary of your birth, they promptly
and most cordially resolved that you should be in-vited, with aU
respect, to favour them with your company at luncheon, in the
large Committee-room of the Centenary HaU, in the afternoon
of that day.
" In conveying this invitation to you, it is needless for me to
say that by the proposed friendly reunion, on an occasion
scarcely less interesting to us as a body than to your famUy
and to yourseU, we desire to express our united sense of the
inestimable value of your life-long services in every department
of Methodism, our veneration for your personal character, and
our thankfulness to Him who cro^wns your years with His
goodness, and makes your green old age even more fruitful and
honoured than your prime. The impossibility of accommo
dating so large a number of your lay friends in London, as
would fain have met you on the 12th, obliges us to limit the
privilege to your brethren and sons in the ministry. But it
will very much add to their pleasure, — I might also say to
their ease of mind, in tempting you away from your own fire
side on such a day, — if Mrs. Marzials, and any and all the
members of your family, to whom it may be agreeable and con
venient, ¦will join our quiet Methodist Preachers' party.
"The 12th falUng on a Saturday, and the valedictory
address and service at Westminster being fixed for six o'clock
that evening, we propose to have luncheon on the table
punctuaUy at two o'clock. You would thus be able, after
giving us your first public benediction as an octogenarian, to
return by sunset to bless your house.
"Anxious to receive your kind reply at your earliest con
venience, so that the needful arrangements may be completed
before the next meeting of the Book-Committee, I remain, Eev.
and dear Sir, most faithfuUy and affectionately yours,
"William M. Bunting.
"Necessity shuts us up to the Centenary Hall as the place

Eightieth Birth-day. 431
of meeting ; and the Missionary Secretaries have gladly placed
it at our disposal. The President of the Conference, if able to
be present, wiU, of course, preside."
With this invitation I felt it my duty to comply. When an
act of kindness is intended, especiaUy by a body of Christian
men, I hold that it ought to be met in the same spirit, so as
neither to be regarded with indifference, nor rejected under the
plea of humiUty. That I had, in the main, intended honestly
through life to serve the cause of Christ in its Methodistical
form, I had a personal consciousness ; tbat my general conduct
was approved by my brethren, I felt to be matter of thankfulness ;
and their esteem I could not but regard as a talent, not to be
trifled with, but used for the good of others. I thought that
in the proposed meeting I might be able to say something,
which, as coming from the Ups of an old man, and as the
result of long experience and observation, might conduce to the
benefit of my junior brethren.
The meeting was numerously attended, nearly all the minis
ters stationed in London and the neighbourhood being present ;
and the tables were spread before them, covered at their own
expense with wholesome viands. The President of the Con
ference, the Eev. Dr. Osborn, occupied the chair, and conducted
the proceedings. I was attended by my own children, with the
greater part of their respective families. The time was occupied
in sifiging and prayer, and in the delivery of brief extemporary
addresses. All regretted the absence of Mr. Bunting, who was
detained at home by severe domestic affliction ; one of bis
daughters passing at that time through the last stages of her
mortal iUness. This young lady was remarkable for her intelli
gence, possessing in a high degree the genius of her gifted
family ; to the survivors of whom it was a great alleviation of
their grief, that in approaching the end of the dark vaUey she
distinctly recognized Christ as a present Saviour.
To me this was a day of subdued and chastened feeling,
Uke that which I experienced when leaving the Newcastle Con
ference two years before. My brethren, young and old, were
free in the expression of esteem and affection ; but I could not

432 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
forget that I had now spent eighty years in a state of probation,
every day of which must be accounted for ; that this state must
soon end ; that the ten thousand circumstances and events of
eighty years involved an amount of responsibility far surpassing
aU that I was able to comprehend ; and that while friends are
partial, there is no respect of persons with God, before whom I
must shortly stand. In the sacrifice and intercession of Christ
I therefore found my only hope and refuge. The impressive
lines of Gambold occurred to my remembrance with special
emphasis : —
" Ere long, vfhen sovereign 'Wisdom wills.
My soul an unknown path shall tread.
And strangely leave, who strangely fiUs
This frame, and waft me to the dead.
0 what is death ? 'tis life's last shore.
Where vanities are vain no more ;
Where aU pursuits their goal obtain,
And life is all retouched again ;
Where in their bright results shall rise
Thoughts, virtues, friendships, griefs, and joys."
Since this meeting of my brethren was held my friend Mr.
Bunting, at whose suggestion I believe it was convened, has
foUowed his excellent father and mother to the paradise of God.
He was a remarkable man, worthy of his parentage and of his
connexions. For many years he was disquaUfied for the itine
rant ministry, to which he had devoted his life, by an incurable
asthma ; yet he preached as he was able ; and employed bis time
otherwise in pastoral visitation, especiaUy of the sick ; as weUas
in epistolary correspondence with his friends, particularly 'with
the afflicted and bereaved, endeavouring to administer seasonable
encouragement and consolation. He was an able scholar ; an
interesting and instructive preacher of Christ's Gospel; an
accurate theologian ; an elegant poet ; a faithful, affectionate,
and sympathizing friend ; eminently cathohc in ¦ his spirit,
loving good men of every denomination ; singularly generous,
BO as to be always ready to render kind services to aU who
might need his aid. He was witty, yet spirituaUy-minded,
and thoroughly upright. He had little of that aptitude for
matters of business which his father possessed in an eminent

Portrait and Marble Bust, 433
degree. On the subject of preaching he entertained an
opinion which the whole of his hearers did not always agree
¦with. He thought that when a minister in the pulpit feels
himself at liberty to pursue an important subject, he should not
be Umited in respect of time, but prolong the service to any
extent he may deem requisite. Acting occasionaUy in accord
ance ¦with this impression, he gratified a discerning few, whose
time was at their own disposal, and who had a taste for theo
logical discussion, but provoked the complaints of those whose
tastes were different, or whose other engagements were urgent.
When his sermons were of ordinary length, they were greatly
admired, particularly by inteUigent and godly persons ; for they
were full of instruction, replete with devout feehng, and fine
specimens of sacred eloquence. His last illness was of short
duration. He does not appear to have thought himself dying
tiU ¦within a very short period of his dissolution. But he was
a good man, and lived in habitual readiness for the coming of
his Lord. He had a large number of attached friends, who
deeply felt and lamented his removal from them ; for he was an
inteUigent and agreeable companion. He died November
13th, 1866.
During my residence at Eichmond the students entered
into a subscription, and engaged Mr. G. P. Green to paint a
three-quarter-length portrait of their Theological Tutor, to
be presented as a gift to the Institution ; and it is now sus
pended in the dining-haU of that establishment. Since my
removal James S. Budgett, Esq., has commissioned Mr.
Adams, an eminent sculptor in London, to execute a
marble bust, which may be expected to remain when the
original shall have disappeared. These tokens of respect I
place upon record, not I trust for the gratification of personal
vanity, but as a debt which I and my family owe to those
valued friends ; for when esteem and love are spontaneously
expressed, they ought always to be met with a corresponding
feeUng, although the expression of that feeling may in some
cases be attributed to a sinister motive. This observation will
apply to many similar facts of which I have given an account
in these memoirs, such as the resolutions of thanks passed by
F F

434 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
the Conference, the friendly gathering at Manchester, and
the meeting of Preachers in London just recorded. I wiU
acknowledge the kindness of my friends, though I may be
accused of vanity ; nor wiU I deny that their kindness has
often gladdened my heart.
In the autumn of the year 1867, accompanied by my beloved
daughter, I again visited my native place, a spot endeared to
me beyond aU that words can express. I was grieved to find
the parish school sadly out of repair, and the church scarcely
less so ; but still more was I grieved to find a part of a small
field adjoining the church-yard enclosed as a burying ground
for Eoman Catholics, and a chapel dedicated to the Virgin
Mary in the midst of it, with her effigy as large as life, the dead
body of our Saviour lying across her lap ; her face indicating
the deepest anguish, as if the redemption of the world, which
fills heaven and earth with joy and wonder, and is the ground
of aU His mediatorial glory, were to her an occasion of deep
and permanent wretchedness. She is represented as appealing
to the spectators for sympathy, in the words which Jeremiah
puts into the mouth of Jerusalem, as he personifies her reduced
to ruin by Nebuchadnezzar's army: "0 all ye that pass by the
way, attend and see if there be any sorrow like my sorrow."
Provoked by this impudent attempt to introduce the worship
of the Virgin, and pervert a passage of Holy Scripture, on my
return home I ¦wrote and published a pamphlet exposing the
fraudulent character of the entire affair, and warning the
people in the viUage .and neighbourhood against the attempt
thus made to beguile them into the practice of idolatry, a sin
of special atrocity in the sight of God. Before I left Sancton I
presented such a subscription as I could afford towards the
repair of the school and the church, hoping that they wiU both
be preserved for the permanent benefit of the adult population
and of the rising race. In the attainment of this object the
vicar has taken an honourable and liberal interest, and has my
best wishes and thanks, as a native of the village.
Since I left Eichmond, and have entered upon the last stage
of life, as a Supernumerary Preacher, I have lost four of my
most intimate and esteemed friends, — Mr. James Nichols, the

Loss of intimate Friends : Mr. James Nichols. 43 5
Eev. John Mason, Dr. Hannah, and the Eev. John Scott. The
friendship between Mr. Nichols and myself was uninterruptedly
continued, as I have before intimated, for more than fifty years.
He was educated at the Leeds Grammar School, intending to
go from thence to Cambridge, and become a clergyman of the
Established Church. But he was led to change his purpose in
consequence of a suggestion made to him by the Eev. John
Gaulter, then stationed in Leeds, to the effect that the hie
rarchy of the Establishment is unscriptural. Bishops and Pres
byters being identical according to the New Testament. Instead
of pursuing his studies, therefore, with a reference to episcopal
ordination, he entered into business as a bookseUer, in which
he was unsuccessful; and subsequently removed to London,
where he pursued an honourable career to the end of his life as
an editor and printer. Though he did not enter into the minis
try, he stUl prosecuted his studies in divinity, and attained to
an eminence in them far surpassing that of many who sustain
the sacred office. He edited and printed many important works
in divinity and ecclesiastical history, and translated from the
Latin two-thirds of the Works of Arminius, with copious notes
illustrative of the Ufe of that great and holy man, of the times
in which he lived, and of the cruel persecution which the Dutch
Calvinists inflicted upon those who entertained his views of
the Gospel. He rendered important aid to Mr. Watson in the
¦compilation of his Theological and Biblical Dictionary, and
enjoyed in a high degree the esteem and confidence of that
very eminent man. He was an able scholar, weU read, exten
sively informed, modest and retiring, but genial in his spirit ;
free, open, and communicative. Many clergymen of rank urged
him to resign his business, and accept ordination from the
hands of a Eight Eeverend Prelate; but he chose rather to
serve the cause of religion and of sacred literature by the use
-of his press and his pen, and to attend the Wesleyan ministry
on the Lord's day, being a regular attendant at the City-Eoad
chapel. He was a grandson of the Eev. William Hunter, one
of the early preachers in connexion with Mr. Wesley. After a
tedious and painful Ulness, he died in peace in Hoxton Square,
2 F 2

486 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
November 26th, 1861, aged about seventy-six years. The last
words he was heard distinctly to utter were, "HaUelujah!
Praise the Lord ! Amen ! Amen ! "
It is hoped that his son, who inherits his father's talents
and scholarship, will complete the translation of Arminius's
Works, which would be an honour to his father's memory, and
a real boon to many students, who are more familiar with
English than with the scholastic Latin of the great Dutch
divine. Arminius was a profound thinker, a thorough BibUcal
and theological scholar, spirituaUy-minded, gentle and candid,
modest in proposing his own sentiments, but firm and unyield
ing in his adherence to what he beUeved to be the truth of God.
Few men have been more grossly traduced and misrepresented,
though he was unquestionably one of the wisest and hoUest men
of his age. He lived to see the dark clouds of Calvinistic -wrath
gather over his Ul-fated countrymen ; but he was safely lodged
in his grave when those clouds burst in sevenfold vengeance
upon the heads of the Dutch ministers and congregations that
entertained his evangelic tenets. In the estimation of the
predestinarians of HoUand the belief of the redemption of aU
mankind by the death of Christ was an inteUectual felony which
they did well to punish ¦with confiscation and banishment. This
dark chapter of ecclesiastical history my friend James Nichols
fairly placed before the EngUsh reader.
Mr. Mason survived this learned printer two years and four
months, when he also finished his course of useful toU. In
early life, before he thought of entering into the ministry, he
had a thorough commercial education, and to this was added a
natural aptitude for matters of business and finance ; and these
qualifications, after he had become generaUy known in the
Connexion, pointed him out as the man who should superintend
the publishing department of Methodism, which was originated
by Mr. Wesley, and bequeathed to his sons in the Gospel, as
one means of carrying on the system of itinerant preaching.
For many years larger sums had been taken from the concern
under the name of profits than had been actuaUy reaUzed, and
appUed to the relief of dependent Circuits ; and the consequence

The Rev. John Mason. 437
was, the accumulation of an appaUing debt. To Mr. Mason
was confided the task of removing this encumbrance, and of
putting the establishment into working order. By his prudence,
decision, and forethought, he not only retrieved past errors,
but rendered important aid to the various funds of Methodism.
At the same time, he had the high gratification every month,
through a long series of years, of sending forth large supplies of
truly Christian literature through the three kingdoms, and to
the various colonies of the empire. I knew him weU, Uving
in daUy intercourse with him for many years, and bear wiUing
testimony to his fideUty, and readiness to serve any one that
might need his aid ; but, like an upright man as he was, he
knew how to rebuke impertinence, and to resist the encroach
ments of selfishness. While his employment partook to some
extent of a secular character, he felt that he was serving the
Lord Christ. His public ministry was plain, practical, experi
mental. In the domestic relations he was a pattern to aU. A
better regulated famUy than his I never knew. He died March
1st, 1864, in the eighty-third year of his age.
Mr. Mason has been succeeded in his very important office
by Dr. Jobson, whose services I earnestly trust vriU be as suc
cessful as were those of his predecessor. He has not indeed an
appaUing debt to reduce, nor has he Eichard Watson, with his
richly- endowed mind and his fluent pen, to write books which
an eager and inteUigent people are ready to purchase and read ;
but he has an ample market in Great Britain and her colonies,
and a greater number of gifted Methodist authors than existed
at any former period. This body of able men he wiU doubt
less induce to persevere in their career of useful labour, so as
further to enrich the literature of the Connexion, and assist
in preserving the good deposit of evangeUcal doctrine which
former generations have bequeathed to us. The Methodist
press has hitherto been a faithful witness for Christ; and
such may it ever remain ! One very important service Dr.
Jobson has already rendered, not only to the Methodist Con
nexion, but to the Christian Church in aU its evangelical sec
tions, by publishing, in a beautUul and readable form, the

438 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
poetical Works of the Eevs. John and Charles Wesley : a project
upon which my heart was set for many years ; but in which I
never could prevail upon my friend Mason heartily to engage.
These admirable compositions are beautifully characteristic,
not only of early Methodism, but of primitive Christianity,
cannot be too widely circulated, nor too attentively read, directly
adapted as they are to fan the flame of true devotion, and
preserve doctrinal orthodoxy.
Dr. Hannah and Mr. Scott died within a few days of each
other ; Hannah, December 29th, 1867, and Scott, on the 10th
of the foUowing January. " Lovely and pleasant they were in
their lives, and in their death they were not " long " di-vided."
When I was stationed in Lincoln, in the year 1807-8, Hannah
was a youth in his teens, and attended the Methodist ministry
in that city, of which he was a native. He was early caUed to
labour in the Word and doctrine, and through many years
commanded deep and general respect by his talents and
character; being eminently open-hearted, affectionate, and
bland. Pew men have been more accurately acquainted with
the Holy Scriptures, especially the New Testament, or have
loved the sacred oracles with a stronger or a holier passion.
To the devout and prayerful study of them his Ufe was devoted ;
and hence his ministrywas richly varied, thoroughly evangelical,
and justly popular from the beginning to the end of his active
and useful career. As an extemporary speaker he combined
fluency with correctness beyond any other man I ever knew ;
his utterance being free and ready, and his sentences as accu
rately constructed and arranged as U they had been studied
with the nicest care. To the essential truths of the Gospel he
adhered with a tenacity and firmness which nothing could
move, his creed being in exact harmony with every feeUng and
movement of his heart. As a theologian, he was a genuine
disciple of Bishop Pearson and of John Wesley, and of Ben-
gelius as a Biblical critic and interpreter. Often was he the
Secretary of the Conference, and twice he occupied the chair.
as its President ; and in these offices, as well as in every other
that he fiUed, he commanded the approval and admiration of

Dr. Hannah. 439
his brethren. Using the term " wit " in its ancient and legiti
mate sense, as denoting inteUect, we may apply to him, as well
as to the venerable Joseph Sutcliffe, the well-known line,
" In -wit a man, simplicity a child."
His influence upon the Wesleyan ministry was probably greater
than that of any other man ; for he occupied the divinity chair
of the Theological Institution from its origin till -within a few
weeks of his death. Not a few therefore of the best preachers
in the Connexion are indebted to him for the right direction
given to their talents and energies. He had just resigned his
office as Theological Tutor when it pleased God to terminate
his holy and useful lUe, and take him to Himself.
Within a few days of his lamented death I received from
him the foUowing characteristic letter : —
" DiDSBDEY, MaNCHESTEE,
" November 29«/t, 1867.
" Feiend of many days,
" I THANK you for a copy of the ' Warning against Popery,'
which I duly received this morning, and which I have read with
much satisfaction and pleasure. Yes ! I acknowledge the old
ling which I heard sixty years ago, and the true old Protestant
feeling, which time and change have not yet abated. The effigy
is faithfully exposed in your tractate, whatever it may be in the
Sancton Eomish chapel.
" Yet matters are not quite so bad as I had at first appre
hended. When I first read the advertisement of your good and
able piece, with a notice of the church and school of your
native viUage, I did not know but that someoftheEomanizers,
Eitualists, or whatever other title pleases their ear, had been
sporting a few pranks amidst the old famiUar scenes. But I
find it is plain, undisguised Popery that has done it. ' Bad
enough ! ' yet not so bad as the other would have been.
Courage, however ! The Word of God is not bound ; and
where it spreads and prevaUs Popery cannot long hold its
ground. " Tidings came to me of your preaching ' a beautiful ser-

440 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
mon,' at Brixton HiU, and of your baptizing Mr. Chubb's little
one, surrounded by a circle of glad faces. Success to aU your
doings ! I have not yet tasted very largely of the repose of
supernumeraryship ; for I seem to myself to be very busy,
Bometimes rather apt to over-do it, — by long journeys, and
exciting public services. And my dear -wUe, the loved com
panion of more than fifty years, is a confirmed invalid. She
has, for the most part, kept her bed the last month. Yet I am
thankful to have her even as she is. Now you must please to
accept her truest and best remembrances, and mine too, for
your own seU, and Mr. and Mrs. Marzials. I beg to claim Mrs.
M. as one of my special friends, her father's own daughter.
Please excuse an old man's talk, and beUeve me ever to be, my
dear friend, yours very sincerely and affectionately, " John Hannah.
" The Reverend Thomas Jackson."
Mr. Scott possessed a fine temper, accompanied by genuine
humour ; yet the sallies of his wit were kept under the restraint
of a just decorum. They provoked a cheerful smUe, but never
wounded the sensitive, and never gave unnecessary pain. His
health was dehcate from his youth, so that his voice and man
ner in the pulpit were less impressive than they otherwise would
have been ; for in respect of the matter of his sermons I have
thought him one of the best preachers of the age. He was
extensively read, a diligent student of the Bible, and weU able
out of his rich mental stores to bring forth things both new
and old. As a pastor, he cared for the flock with a yearning
affection, and firmly withstood the agents of mischief, who sought
to divide and scatter them. He was also a wise counseUor,
with respect to the general affairs of the Connexion, having
a singular aptitude for the conduct of business, and an accu
rate acquaintance with every part of the Methodist economy ;
so that in Committees and in the Conference his services were
invaluable, being second to none, except those of Dr. Bunting.
Yet he was never dogmatical and overbearing, but always paid
a just deference to the judgment of others ; at the same time,
he generally succeeded in obtaining the sanction of his brethren

The Rev. John Scott. 441
for any project that he advocated. His reasons, gently and
modestly proposed, usuaUy carried conviction. By the suf
frages of his brethren he was twice placed in the chair of the
Conference ; and never had they any reason to complain of
the manner in which he fulfiUed his trust. He was caUed
to active service in almost every department of Methodism ;
and its missions, foreign and domestic, its Connexional schools,
its funds for the support of worn-out Ministers and widows,
for the erection and reUef of chapels, the providing of houses
for Preachers' families, and especiaUy for day and Sunday-
schools, all bear marks of his wisdom and forethought. Of John
Scott it may with confidence be said. He did " faithfully what
soever he did ;" and that, as the direct result of his fideUty, he
had " a good report of aU men, and of the truth itself." He
was a kind, sensible, thoughtful, sociable, and upright man,
and left no one that is in all things quaUfied to take his
place. Every one loved and trusted him. Thus it is that
" Friend after friend departs,"
and sur-vivors seem more and more to be left alone. Among
the friends to whom I have immediate access I look in vain
to find a contemporary. " My company before is gone,"
and blank places present themselves on every side. Happy
they who in aU the joyousness of Christian hope can antici
pate their entrance into a world where "there is no more
death, neither sorrow nor crying!" Next to my brother
Samuel, I miss my friend John Scott as a wise counseUor
and sympathetic companion. The members of his famUy
desired me to write his biography ; but this task I was com
peUed to decline on two grounds, — my growing infirmities,
and the want of materials. A meagre Ufe of so eminent a
man I could not bear to contemplate ; and nothing beyond a
meagre narrative was it in my power to supply : for I was not
resident in London during the several eventful years in which
he displayed his skiU, fidelity, and perseverance in the arrange
ment of the "Wesleyan system of day-school instruction.

442 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Having now spent sixty-six years in the Wesleyan ministry,
taking thirty years as the average life of man, I have seen two
generations of Ministers pass through their course of labour to
their final account. I look at the Conference at the time of its
assembling, and see a large body of men, who, with one solitary
exception, are my juniors. Men now take a leading part in the
business of the Conference who were not born when I entered
into that Body ; and the voices of the men who then guided its
deliberations are now silent in death. Joseph Benson, Samuel
Bradburn, Adam Clarke, John Gaulter, Henry Moore, James
Wood, John Barber, Joseph Taylor, senior, William Myles,
Thomas Taylor, WaUer Griffith, Francis Wrigley, who seem all
present to my mind's eye, with some hundreds of their juniors,
men of strong sense and of genial spirit, are no more seen
in that annual assembly. Among those with whom I was the
most intimate, and whom I most esteemed and loved, were
William France, Eichard Waddy, David M'NicoU, John James,
John Hannah, and John Scott, the sight of whom never failed
to excite in me affection as tender as that of childhood. The
friendship that subsisted between David and Jonathan was
scarcely more deep and cordial than that which subsisted'
between these esteemed brethren and me. I loved them as I
love my own soul. With them I felt that I was more on an
intellectual equality than with such men as Dr. Bunting and
Mr. Watson ; and these whose names I have just recorded were
so far my superiors as rather to command my admiration and
reverence, than admit of perfect freedom and familiarity.
"When in this vale of years I backward look.
And miss such numbers, numbers too of such,
Firmer in health, and greener in their age.
And stricter on their guard, and fitter far
To play life's subtile game, I scarce believe
I still survive ;"
and inquire why I yet Unger in this imperfect state of being. ,'
May the end for which I am spared be fuUy answered !
" Jesus, I cast my soul on Thee,
Mighty and merciful to save ;

At Clifton. 443
Thou wilt to death go down with me,
And gently lay me in the grave.
" This body there shall rest in hope,
This body which the worms destroy ;
For surely Thou wilt bring me up
To glorious life and endless joy.
" A few more days preserve me here,
And when from earth my spirit flies,
0 let a child of mine be near,
- ¦ A CHILD OF GoD, to close mine eyes .' "
Such was the prevalent feeling of my heart at this period,
expecting as I did a speedy summons into the world of spirits ^
a world where the dominion of Christ is absolute, and where-
His presence constitutes the happiness of those who have lived
and died in Him.
In the summer of 1868 the weather was extremely hot, so
that I was afraid to go to the Conference in Liverpool, being
apprehensive that I could not attend its sittings with regularity
but at the hazard of my life ; and to spend my time in the
house of a family in the immediate neighbourhood while my
brethren were deliberating on subjects of the highest importance
to the Connexion generaUy, I felt to be neither becoming nor
desirable ; so, after consulting two medical friends, I accepted
the generous invitation of one of the kindest families I ever
knew, and spent the time at ClUton, attended by my daughter
and the youngest of her daughters, both of whom were in a
deUcate state of health. In the family of Mr. and Mrs. Petbick
we had every accommodation and means of enjoyment, and the
time passed pleasantly away, being spent partly in retirement,
partly in social intercourse, partly in walks and drives upon the
beautiful and picturesque downs, and partly in attending reli
gious meetings. My daughter and I had been the guests of
this truly Christian family twelve months before, at the time of
the Bristol Conference, when friendships were formed with
them, tender and confidential, which I beUeve death itself wiU
not dissolve :

444 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
" So many human souls divine.
Some at one interview display'd,
Some oft and freely mix'd with mine,
In lasting bonds my heart have laid."
During my stay at CUfton I received a letter from the Con
ference, signed by the President and Secretary, expressing
regret- at my absence, continued respect for me, and concern
for my future welfare. To this fraternal communication I sent
a reply, slightly touching upon matters of public interest,
thinking that my advanced age, and the offices which I had
sustained in the Connexion; would be deemed a sufficient
apology. The public mind was in a state of feverish excite
ment on the subject of Parliamentary reform, and the compara
tive merits of the two rival parties in the State. I was aware that
thePreachers themselves, as weU as the private members of the
Societies, entertained differing and even opposite views of public
questions, and expressed a hope that no attempt would be
made to control the freedom of thought which Englishmen are
accustomed to claim; that mutual forbearance would be
exercised ; that the organization of Methodism would never be
employed for political pm-poses, but be preserved for purposes
purely religious, as it ever had been ; and that my brethren in
the ministry would never suffer the din of secular poUtics to
divert their minds from the great purpose of their caUing, so
justly and forcibly expressed by Mr. Wesley, when he said to
his feUow-labourers, " You have nothing to do but to save
souls." At that time several letters had appeared in the public papers,
written by individual clergymen, proposing that steps should
be taken to effect a formal union between the EstabUshed
Church and the Wesleyan Body ; such a union as would amount
to an amalgamation; the Wesleyan places of worship being
made chapels of ease ; some of the Preachers being ordained by
the Bishops, and then acknowledged as regular clergymen ; the
Wesleyan Body ceasing to exist as a distinct and seU-governing
community. Some of the men who advocated this scheme
were doubtless actuated by pure motives, intending to advance

A Letter addressed to the Conference (1868). 445
the cause of true religion, yet mistaking an external uniformity
for "the unity of the SpUit." Others, in aU probability,
intended simply to strengthen the Church as a national Estab
lishment, by an accession of active members ; and a third party,
there is reason to believe, were wishful to connect the Method
ists with the Church, and then, when their plans were matured,
to transfer the whole to the Papal community. None of them
appear to have taken into the account the difficulties that were
to be overcome. The Methodist chapels have been erected by
an outlay of some miUions of money, voluntarUy contributed
for the ministry of men preaching a specified set of doctrines,
and appointed by the Conference, and are settled upon trusts
accordingly. Would the Court of Chancery allow all those
trusts to be violated by the intrusion into the pulpits of those
chapels of men whom the Conference never recognized, incul
cating "divers and strange doctrines" which the people never
heard before ? Would venerable men, who had been in the
ministry forty, fifty, or even sixty years, submit to re- ordina
tion, and thus publicly confess that their former ministrations
in the pulpit and at the communion-table were all null and void,
presumptuous and unauthorized, to the scandal and horror of
the thousands of people who had been under their pastoral
care ? and all this for the purpose of obtaining access to the
pulpits of the Establishment, where they are not desired, and
where they have no wish to appear ?
If a part of the Methodist Preachers were to be ordained by
the Bishops, what was to be done with the other Preachers, to
whom their Lordships would refuse ordination ? The chapels
were erected for their use, as well as for the use of their more
favoured brethren. Were they to be turned adrift, with the
thousands of Local Preachers, whose public services have been
of inestimable value, for more than a hundred years, especiaUy
in the viUages and hamlets of England ?
These are questions which appear never to have occurred to
the minds of the men who with such facUity proposed the
absorption of Methodism in the Established Church. They
never thought of the difficulties connected with the breaking up
of a religious system, long identified with the best feelings of

446 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
many thousands of godly people ; their theological tenets and
forms of worship being to them incomparably dearer than the
most valued of their worldly property. The truth is, they
would lay down their lives rather than abandon their
Methodism. The men who recommended the Methodists to merge their
pecuUarities of doctrine and discipline in strict Churchmanshi^'
had taken so little pains to acquaint themselves with the scheme
they proposed, as to imagine they were advocating Mr. Wesley's
views and purposes ; thus showing a misapprehension of the
entire question. Mr. Wesley was indeed a clergyman of the
Church of England, and cherished a sincere and deep attach
ment to it as long as he lived. He admired its Liturgy, and
took great delight in the use of it ; he admired its general
system of doctrine, as he found it embodied in the Articles and
Homilies, to which he was accustomed to refer in confirmation
of his own doctrinal teaching. He never even hinted any
objection to its union with the State. He did not indeed pro
fess to find an exact correspondence between its hierarchy and
ihe constitution of the New Testament churches, but he thought
ihere was a general agreement between them. He was a friend
to the Dissenters, but was no Dissenter himself; and he
-expressed his cordial dislike of the sarcastic and bitter spirit of
such opponents of the Church as Micaiah Towgood. Opposi
tion to the Church was one of the last things that he contem
plated in the course which he adopted.
At the same time, when he entered upon his irregular
course, he saw that the state of the country generaUy, -with
respect to religion and morality, was most deplorable. Immense
masses of the people neglected the pubhc worship of Alnughty
God, and lived in ignorance and sin ; while others were atten
tive to the forms of religion only, without the power. The
general services of the clergy were feeble aiid inefficient ; many
-of the clergy were not even moral in their habits, and much less
sincerely religious. Having himself, along with his gifted
brother, attained to an experimental and saving knowledge of
God in Christ, so as to be made both holy and happy, his heart
yearned over the perishing miUions of England. He therefore

Methodism never included in the Established Church. 447
began to preach a present salvation from the misery and domi
nion of sin by faith in Christ, in the churches of London, to
which the people resorted by thousands. Many of them believed
to the saving of thefr souls, and applied personally to him for
spiritual counsel. The further occupation of the churches
being denied, because of his doctrine, and the inconvenient
crowding, he was compeUed either to be silent, or deliver the
Gospel message in the open air. All the irregularities of
Methodism foUowed in rapid succession ; such as the formation
of Societies ; the erection of Methodist chapels ; the preparation
of chapel-trusts ; the employment of Preachers, both Travelling
and Local ; the holding of Conferences ; the Deed of Declaration,
gi-ving a definition of the Conference, and specifying its powers ;
— arrangements which were aU made independently of the
Church's authorities ; so that Methodism grew up by the side
of the Church, but was never in it, properly speaking. Mr.
Wesley preached in the churches, where the clergy were friendly,
and invited him to occupy their pulpits. He attended the ser
vices of the Church on the Lord's day, wherever he happened
to be, and he advised the Societies in this respect to follow his
example ; but he never made attendance at church an absolute
condition of membership in his Societies, as he did meeting in
class. He himself was under the direct control of no Bishop ;
and the clergy, as such, were never invited either to officiate
in his chapels, or to interfere in the management of his Socie
ties. The proposal therefore that the services of Methodist
chapels should be placed under Episcopal control, and Meth
odist Preachers, being reordained, should have access to the
pulpits of parish churches and cathedrals, was rather a com
plete subversion of Mr. Wesley's arrangements, than a practi
cal adoption of his principles. It would have given him
greater pleasure to see his Preachers addressing the poor and
neglected in " the streets and lanes of the city," and in " the
highways," than flaunting in ecclesiastical and academic robes
before fashionable congregations in the first cathedrals of the
land. The truth is, he was driven into his independent course
of action by the hostUity of the Clergy, who closed their
churches against him, stimiUated mobs to oppose him in every

448 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
form of violence, while they themselves assaUed his doctrine,
character, and proceedings, both from the pulpit and the press.
Amidst aU this opposition his Societies increased and multi-
pUed ; yet many thousands of people included in them never
had any proper connexion with the Established Church, for they
had belonged to the outcasts of society ; and now to force them
into a strict and formal union with it was impossible.
There is reason to beUeve that these proposals were not gene
raUy approved by the Bishops and clergy, but were rather dis
tasteful to both. A little whUe before the assembling of the
Conference, at a meeting of the Northern Convocation, the
subject was introduced, but met with a decided opposition from
a Eight Eeverend Prelate and an Archdeacon, both of whora
declared their disapprobation of the Methodists generally, and
earnestly deprecated the introduction of their doctrine of per
sonal conversion into the pulpits of the EstabUshment.
In my letter to the Conference, therefore, I expressed a hope
that no attention would be paid to these unauthorized pro
posals, which were evidently impracticable, and, if adopted,
would certainly lead to greater evils than those which they were
intended to cure. The Church has never yet met all the
reUgious and moral wants of the nation : and, judging from
the past, it never -wiU, whatever improvements may be made
either in its constitution or in its administration. A separate
agency, therefore, like that of Methodism, wiU always be need
ful, adapting itself to the ever-varying circumstances of the
people, and unfettered in its operations as was the ministry of
the Apostles, when no restrictive canons existed, and nothing
was thought of, with respect to the Gospel ministry, but the
conversion and salvation of men, including even the vilest and
the worst.
To another subject relating to the EstabUshed Church I felt
it right to advert in my letter to the Conference ; the Church
being in a course of rapid change, not in its formularies and
legal constitution, but in its public services and the teaching of
the clergy. For three hundred years it had been regarded as
the Church of the Eeformation, essentially Protestant in its
character, recognizing the Bible as an inspired book, as the

Rationalistic and Ritualistic Clergymen. 449
only rule of faith, and the standard of appeal on all questions
of Christian beUef and practice. But at this time two power
ful parties had risen up among her clergy, bearing respectively
the names of Eitualists and EationaUsts ; names which very
inadequately express the real sentiments of the parties to whom
they are applied. The Eitualists not only affect the ceremonies
of Popery, but also avow their belief of some of its worst
tenets ; and the EationaUsts not only deny the plenary inspira
tion of Holy Scripture, but declare their disbeUef of some of
its most important doctrines, that of the Atonement of Christ,
and of the endless duration of the future punishment of sin,
in particular.
To the end of his life Mr. Wesley professed to belong to
the Church of England ; and the Conference, since his death,
though not sustaining the same relation, had never assumed
a hostUe bearing towards her, but professed a friendly feeUng
and attitude : always, however, 'with this understanding, that
the Church was orthodox and anti-Popish ; in other words,
that the Liturgy, Articles, and HomiUes of the Church are to
be understood in their plain, obvious, and grammatical sense,
and are to regulate the pubhc teaching of the clergy ; whose
subscription to these formularies, at the time of their ordina
tion, ought to be at least- as sacred as the oaths of office which
are taken by the servants of the State. For men to affix thefr
subscriptions to doctrines which they do not beUeve, and both
to preach and write against the tenets which they have pledged
themselves to uphold and are actuaUy paid to teach, is a
public scandal and a flagrant immorality. Such conduct
acquires a special aggravation when it is found in men whose
very office binds them to be examples of all that is blame
less, honourable, and truthful. The Eitualists at that time
were teaching the people to worship the consecrated elements
of the Lord's Supper, under the ambiguous name of " the real
presence ;" to practise auricular confession, and accept priestly
absolution in the Papal form ; and the EationaUsts were teach
ing them to doubt the truth of many parts of the Bible. Some
men high in office in the Church bore an open testimony against
these e-vUs, while others gave them direct encouragement and
G G

450 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
support. Several upright and godly Churchmen, both clergymen
and laymen, uttered their earnest remonstrances against these
enormities ; yet no effectual barrier was raised against them, and
hence they continued to spread, producing their deadly effects,
Popery and scepticism.
In the year 1834, when an attempt was made to place the
Methodist Body in an attitude of hostiUty to the Church as a
National Establishment, as it has been aheady stated, I delivered
an address to the Conference on the friendly relation to the
Church which the Connexion had maintained, both during Mr.
Wesley's lifetime, and since his death, earnestly deprecating any
change in this respect. The substance of what I then advanced
the Conference requested me to pubUsh, which I immediately
did, in a pamphlet, bearing the title of " The Church and the
Methodists." To the principles of that pamphlet I stated in
my letter to the Conference I still adhered ; but expressed an
opinion that unless the enormous evils just referred to were
arrested, the friendly attitude 9f Methodism to the Church
could not be maintained; inasmuch as Methodism is
essentiaUy orthodox and Protestant, and is bound every
where to bear an open and unflinching testimony against
unbeUef, superstition, and idolatry, by whomsoever they may
be sanctioned.
Nothing that I ever wrote or did produced an excitement like
that which followed the ¦writing of this letter, which was
addressed to the'Conference only, and never intended to meet the
eye of the public. A minister present at the Conference, by means
unknown to me, obtained possession of it, and in opposition to
my expressed •wishes sent it to the Times newspaper, whence it
was copied into other pubhc prints, metropoUtan and provincial,
and sent through the three kingdoms, producing no httle variety
of opinion : some regarding it as a declaration of Methodist
hostUity to the EstabUshed Church; some as a public recanta
tion of the writer's former sentiments ; while others spoke of it
as a friendly but earnest remonstrance against evUs which the
authorities of the Church had lamentably failed to resist and
correct. Finding that my views were misapprehended, that I was

Methodism and the National Church. 451
¦subjected to animadversions which I felt to be unjust, and that
in the prospect of a general election poUtical partizans were
using my letter for purposes directly opposed to my settled con
victions ; I sent forth a second letter in the public papers, stating
that the first was never intended for publication, but for the
'Conference only, the members of which hai long known my
sentiments concerning the relation of Methodism to the Church,
and were therefore not likely to mistake my meaning; and
hence I was less careful to guard against misapprehension than
I should have been, had my first letter been addressed to the
public. I stated also that my respect for the Church of
England, in its legal, orthodox, and Protestant character, was
unaltered and unalterable ; but that if the evils complained of
were aUowed to spread unchecked, so that from the pulpits of
the National Church the people should be taught to disbelieve
the Bible, and to worship the consecrated elements of the Lord's
Supper, it would be impossible to preserve a friendly relation
between the Church and John Wesley's sons in the Gospel.
Por against Popery and scepticism, by whomsoever recom
mended and propagated, it is their duty to bear an earnest
testimony, and warn their congregations, in every town, village,
and hamlet, 'with all possible zeal and fideUty.
The pubUcation of my two letters served to increase my
correspondence, and elicited a considerable variety of opinion.
Not a few of my brethren in the ministry gave me their thanks
for what I had done ; but some of my friends, when the first
letter appeared, presented unmistakable proofs of the with
drawal of their confidence and affection. From some Church-
people I received rebukes and warnings of the sternest kind ;
while others declared their approval of what I had written, and
hoped it would be of service to the Church they loved, but which
they saw to be betrayed by men who enjoyed its honours and
-emoluments. Had I known beforehaild what would ensue, I
should have hesitated long and with deep feeling before I com
mitted my thoughts to paper ; but now that the matter is over,
I feel that'I cannot repent of what I have done. Por a time I
lost the friendship of some persons whom I esteemed and loved •
but as an old Methodist Preacher, and a lover of honesty and
2 G 2

452 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
truth, I have borne a pubUe testimony against what I cannot
but regard as a great moral evil, which I think the country
ought not to tolerate. The subscription of a clergyman ought
certainly to be as sacred as the oath of a civUian. For ministers
of Christ to affix their signatures to doctrines which they do
not beUeve, — solJhinly to declare their assent to formularies
against which they intend both to preach and ¦write,-r-to live
npon Protestant endowments, and publicly to promote Popery,—
for anything I know to the contrary, may be in accordance
with the Jesuits' code of morals, but can never be reconcUed
with the precepts of Christ, whose charge to all His foUowers
is, "Let your yea be yea ; and your nay, nay ; " and an in
spired Apostle, expressing the mind of Christ, has said,
"Wherefore putting away lying, speak every man truth with
his neighbour." Prom these solemn injunctions I cannot
conceive that any Christian man, whether cleric or lay, is
authorized to claim an exemption.
I deem it right to avaU myself of the present opportunity to
place upon record the profoundest respect for the Church of
England which I have cherished through a long life, and which
has so often influenced my pubUc conduct. That respect is no
result of early prejudice and training, but solely the consequence
of my own reading and observation. It was in a Methodist
chapel that I perceived the true beauty and evangeUcal character
of the Liturgy, and felt its power as an aid to devotion ; and
when I had studied the history of the Eeformation, my venera
tion for the men who were a means of effecting that great change
in England was second only to that in which I held the
Hebrew prophets and the Apostles of our blessed Lord. K
is true they were not inspired, nor infaUible, but had the
ordinary infirmities of human nature; yet, considering their
education, the general state of Christendom at the time, and
the restraint that was imposed upon them by the despotic and
wayward man who then wore the British crown, their personal
character and pubhc services are beyond all praise, and entitle
them to the endless gratitude of posterity. They, gave the
people of England the entire Bible in their own language.
Can words express the full value of this boon ? Until, they

Services rendered by the English Reformers. 453
supphed the want, there was not a complete EngUsh Bible in
any church, in any school, in any family, from one end of the
kingdom to the other. They gave to the men and women of
England an EngUsh Liturgy, thus saving them from the
absurdity and folly of attempting to worship God in the use of
unintelligible forms, instead of praying with the spirit and the
understanding. They gave the people of England a weekly
Sabbath, sacred to devotion, instead of a mere holiday, which
Popery acknowledged ; and in respect of which the continental
Eeformers too closely foUowed the corrupt Papacy. They gave
to their countrymen a scheme of theology, truly evangelical,
recognizing the universality of God's love to fallen men, and of
Christ's redemption ; connecting the final destiny of individual
men -with their character as free agents, and not with such
absolute and irrespective decrees as are described in some other
Protestant Confessions of Faith. Having rendered these ser
vices to Christ and their countrymen, the Eeformers gave their
bodies to be burned, and took their place for ever in "the noble
.army of martyrs." The advocates of the Papacy execrate their
memory ; infidel historians " give the glorious sufferers Uttle
praise ; " and in these degenerate times clergymen living upon
Protestant endowments charge them with " heresy," and inti
mate that they suffered only a righteous doom ; but by every
lover of truth and Uberty the EngUsh Eeformers wUl be had ia
•" everlasting remembrance," as belonging to the highest type
of sanctified humanity, and worthy to be classed with the
greatest benefactors of their race. That there are seriously-
objectionablepassages in the Book of Common Prayer, especiaUy
in the parts which relate to baptism and the visitation of the
sick, I am free to confess ; and against these passages I have
often borne my testimony, both in the pulpit and the lecture-
room ; but taken as a whole, I never saw the equal of that
volume, considered as a manual of devotion.
With respect to the Church of England, which was consti
tuted under the direction of the Eeformers, — and, with the
¦exception of the reign of Queen Mary and the time of the
ijommonwealth, has continued some three hundred years, — far
ibe it from me to say either that its constitution is faultless, or

454 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
that its administration has been always unexceptionable ; but
with all its imperfections, defects, and sins, it has suppUed
some of the most renaai^kable examples of sacred scholarship
the world has ever seen; its general theological Uterature is
richer than that of any other reUgious community; and on
three momentous subjects it has rendered services of inesti
mable value, and above aU praise. So far as argument is.
concerned, its clergy have for ever annihilated the claims of
Popery; they have exhibited the e-videnees of natural and
revealed religion with unrivaUed clearness and power; and
they have most decisively vindicated, upon Scriptural grounds,
the doctrine of the Holy Trinity, so as to have cast into the
shade all that had been previously written on the same subject.. .
It is an easy matter for English clergynaen, with Dr. New
man and Dr. Manning at their head, to identUy themselves
with the Church of Eome, so as to adopt its tenets and rites ;
but which of them has even attempted to grapple 'with the
reasonings of WiUet, of Barrow, of StiUingfleet, or of the three
volumes of Gibson's "Preservative?" Which, of aU the per
verts of the age, whether great or smaU, dares to encounter
Barrow on the aUeged " Supremacy of the Pope," TiUotson on
" Transubstantiation," StiUingfleet on the " Idolatry of the
Church of Eome," or ChiUingworth on " The EeUgion of
Protestants ? " In respect of argument the battle of the
Eeformation has been fought by Episcopal clergymen, and
the 'victory won for ever. The truth is. Popery has nothing.
now to allege in behalf of its hoUow claims but pompous asser
tion, bold assumptions, images which are forbidden in Holy
Scripture, splendid robes, fascinating music, a gorgeous cere
monial, and spacious temples. It is at variance with the Bible,,
and therefore as much as possible ignores what it is eompeUed,
to acknowledge as the inspired Word of God.
The writings of Episcopal clergymen in opposition to Scep
ticism and Infidelity, whether in the form of Atheism, Pan
theism, or mere Deism, are equally decisive. Cudworth, More,
StiUingfleet, the Boyle Lecturers, and Paley, have for ever
settled the question concerning the truth of reUgion, and espe
cially of Eevelation; and Christian orthodoxy, in opposition

Episcopal Opponents of Scepticism and Infidelity. ^57
to the errors of Anus and Socinus, has been defended ¦with'
equal success by WaUis, South, Pearson, BuU, Waterland, and
the Lady Moyer Lecturers.
These are some of the services which the Church of England
has rendered to the cause of truth and righteousness ; and if
the preaching of the clergy was generally duU and inefficient in
the early part of the eighteenth century, when Methodism took
its rise, it had nevertheless, with the incomparable Liturgy,
preserved in the public mind a conviction of the truth of the
Bible, an appeal to which was generaUy acknowledged and
responded to when the Wesleys and their feUow-labourers
went through the land calling men from the mere forms of
religion to its power and vitaUty.
With these views, ever since I was capable of forming a
judgment on the subject, I have cherished a sincere respect for
the Established Church, have enjoyed the use of its Liturgy,
and deUghted in the study of its erudite divines : nor have I
ever attempted to conceal my predUeetions ; and sorry should
I be if the Eomanizers and sceptics, who at present undermine
her foundations and shake her whole fabric, should effect her
demolition, of which I conceive there is imminent danger ; for
" a kingdom divided against itseU cannot stand."
If in the indulgence of these sentiments I have been mis
taken, I have erred with John Wesley, who, under God, gave
us our theology and discipline ; -with his brother Charles, who
gave us our incomparable hymns ; with the saintly Fletcher,
who defended our tenets; with Dr. Coke, the father of our
Missionary system ; with Joseph Benson, Adam Clarke, Eichard
Watson, Eobert Newton, Jabez Bunting, and John Hannah,
who are among the chief ornaments of our ministry; and
in such company I am ^not ashamed either as an EngUsh
man, a Christian, or a Methodist. Happy should I have been
to see Churchmanship and Methodism, as distinct and inde
pendent agencies, without v.exing and en-vying each other,
directing all their energies against ignorance and vice, and
advancing the cause of sound evangeUcal reUgion ; as they were
harmoniously combined in the towns of Haworth, Shoreham,
and Madeley, in the days of Grimshaw, Perronet, aud

45^ Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Fletcher; and in Bradford, in the time of the godly
and erudite John Crosse, of blessed memory. FrPm what
took place in these parishes we see that Churchmanship and
Methodism are not necessarily antagonistic ; but to merge one
in the other, so as to place the agency of Methodism under the
control of the Bishops and the parochial clergy, would effectuaUy
destroy its Wesleyan character, and render it powerless for aU
purposes of good.
It may have been imprudent in me to say that if the process of
changing the character of the Chm-ch of England were carried
on, so that she shall cease to be the Church of the Eeformation, it
wiU be impossible to preserve in the Methodist mind a feeling of
friendly relation to her. It is nevertheless unquestionably true.
In this case the Church may be reverenced and respected for
what she has been and has done ; but no power upon the earth
can ever produce a friendly feeUng between genuine Methodism
on the one hand, and Scepticism and Popery on the other.
Spiritual religion, founded upon a cordial belief of the truth,
can never fawn upon Infidehty in any of its phases, or upon
ceremonies, however splendid and imposing, which can claim
no higher origin than that of heathenism.
As a spiritual son of John Wesley, most heartily do I join in
the sentiments of one of our patriotic and loyal bards : —
" Hail to the crown by Freedom shaped to guard
An English Sovereign's brow ! and to the throne
Whereon she sits ! whose deep foundations lie
In veneration and the people's love :
Whose steps are equity, whose seat is law.
— Hail to the State of England ! And conjoin
With this a salutation as devout.
Made to the spiritual fabric of her Church ;
Founded in truth ; by blood of Martyrdom
Cemented ; by the hands of Wisdom reared
In beauty of holiness, with ordered pomp.
Decent and unreproved. The voice that greets
The majesty of both shall pray for both ;
That, mutually protected and sustained.
They may endure long as the sea surrounds
This favoured land, or sunshine warms her soil."

Opening of a new Chapel at Market Weighton. 457
But, to be thus perpetuated and honoured, the Church must
withstand the deceitful advances of Popery and Scepticism, and
maintain her Protestant character, so as to be in reaUty, as weU
as profession, the Chuech op the Eefoemation.
In the autumn of this year (1868) I paid another -visit to
Yorkshire, partly to see my survi'ving relations and friends, and
partly to assist in the services connected with the opening of a
new chapel at Market Weighton, where I preached in the
evening of Sunday, October 4th, my brother Eobert having
occupied the pulpit in the morning. The chapel, which is an
«legant structure, weU- finished, and in an admirable situation,
was crowded to excess ; but so complete was the ventUation,
that no inconvenience was felt, either from the heat, or from
currents of air.
To me this was a day of deep and solemn feeUng. My
thoughts carried me back nearly eighty years, when I was a
little boy, and used with my elder brother to accompany my
father once a fortnight, on the Sunday afternoon, to hear the
Gospel in the sanctuary just vacated ; when groups of men and
women, religiously disposed, asking the way to Zion with their
faces thitherward, were seen wending thefr way along the streets
to the same place, amidst the jibes and hooting of scoffers and
Sabbath-breakers, who regarded religion as matter of contempt
and of loud laughter. The scene was now changed, and the
crowds of Methodist worshippers, come from distant places,
were treated with respect as they passed in companies to the
place of assembUng.
Just sixty- seven years had passed away since I obtained the
pearl of great price at a prayer-meeting held in the old chapel,
which was now superseded by the new erection ; and sixty- four
years since I left the neighbourhopd as an itinerant evangelist.
The numerous deeds and events of this long period, I remem
bered, are aU to be reviewed before the Divine tribunal ; and
the people -with whom I was famiUar and accustomed to
associate and worship more than half a century ago, I remem
bered, stiU Uve in a separate state, awaiting the final decision of
the "holy and merciful Saviour, the most worthy Judge
eternal." With no companion of my early reUgious days did I

458 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
then meet. Both by myseU and the people was I regarded as a
remnant of a former generation ; for my survi^ving brother, who
was then with me, was but a chUd when I left home.
At the request of the friends, on my return to London I pub
lished the Sermon I had preached in Weighton, under the title
of, " The Character of, the Ffrst Christians," and at the same
time I also pubUshed a volume on the "Institutions
of Christianity," containing the substance of what I had
addressed to the students at Eichmond on the Sabbath, the
Christian Ministry, the Sacraments, and the Christian Church.
This is likely to be the last pubUcation that I shall myseU send
forth into the world.

CHAPTER XXIII.
REVIEW OP LIFE : GEATITUDE POE A GODLY PAEENTAGE AND EAELY EBLIGIOUS-
TRAI|NING — PEEPABATION POK THE CHEISTIAN MINISTEY; CODESE OP STU
DIES; THE SOEIPTIIEES; ENGLISH DIVINES; CLASSICAL LITEEATUEE — CON-
TEO-VEESIES CONCEENINO EELIGION — CONTEOVEESIES ON ECCLESIASTICAL
0I4DEE — ECCLESIASTICAL HISTOEY — CHEISTIAN EIOOEAPHY — METAPHYSICS —
GENEEAL LITEEATUEE — PAVOOEITE AUTHOES — ATTITUDE AS A CONTEOVEE-
SIALIST — VIEWS AS TO THE INPLUENCE OP ESTABLISHMENTS ON CHEISTIAK
UNITY — METHODISM MISEEPEESENTED BOTH BY CHUECHMEN ANI) DISSENTEES.
— NECESSITY POB A -VIGILANT LITEBAEY POLICE; HONOUEABLE EXCEPTIONS
— SHOET STEICTUEES ON VAEIOUS -WEITEES WHO HA-VE CONCEENED THEM
SELVES WITH WESLEY AND METHODISM.
ON a re-view of my past Ufe I find a thousand things which
caU for my grateful acknowledgments to the Giver of aU.
good. I owe thanks to God especiaUy for my parentage. I.
was not born to the inheritance of wealth ; but was early sent
away from home to earn my bread as best I might. The con
sequence was that I acqmred habits of industry from my
boyhood, and could never bear to be unemployed. But for
this habit I could not have passed through the course of hard-
mental labour which during a long Ufe has been my provi
dential lot ; nor could I have rendered that service to others
which I have rendered, however imperfectly, in the study, in.
the pulpit, in the lecture-room, and through the press. This
ser-vice, in all its departments, has had a dfrect bearing upon
the spiritual and eternal interests of large multitudes of people,
both in this country and in heathen lands ; and I humbly hope
it has not been in vain in the Lord. Yet I cannot forget that
the service in which I have been employed has involved a vast
amount of responsibility ; for its consequences extend through
eternity. I trust that God, in the greatness of His mercy, wUl
accept what has been weU intended, and forgive what has been
defective and faulty.
My thanks are eminently due to God that I was born of

460 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
parents, from whose godly and upright example I have derived
the greatest benefits. Had they been irreUgious, or had they
made a profession of reUgion, and dishonoured it by acts of
immorality, or by a spfrit of faction in the Church, I might
weU be ashamed ; but they both lived and died examples of
Christian godhness, and of a pure moraUty, esteemed and
honoured by thefr Christian brethren, and also by " them that
are without." After the time of thefr conversion to God, which
took place when they were young in years, thefr Uves were
acknowledged to be without a stain. Their memory is there
fore fragrant as the rose. To be born of such parents is an
honour and a blessing ; and I cherish their memory with a
reverent and grateful affection.
My thanks to God are no less due for the reUgious instruction
which by His goodness and mercy was provided for me in my
childhood, and for the grace of the Holy Spfrit which led to
my conversion in the time of youth, when I was in the greatest'
danger of being led^into a course of frreUgion and sin. By
that all-important event a new character was impressed upon
me, the benefits of which I have enjoyed through a long life.
Being at that time made happy in the saving knowledge [of
God, and of Christ, I lost aU reUsh for the pleasures of the
world and sin, and have thus been preserved from a thousand
evUs into which I should otherwise in aU probabUity have
plunged, so as to bring upon myseU ruin both in this world
and the next. By God's blessing upon the faithful ministry of
Methodist Preachers I was effectuaUy " turned from darkness
unto light, and from the power of Satan unto God," and then
placed under the salutary restraints of the Methodist discipline.
In this manner I was prepared to serve God in such a way as
His providence might direct.
When I entered upon my work as an Itinerant Preacher,:!
was impressed with the supreme importance of a thorough
knowledge of the Holy Scriptures ; and that impression became
more deep vrith my advancing years and experience. I saw,
indeed, that some men, speciaUy gifted with fluency of speech,
might take a text of Scripture simply as a motto, and deUver
an impressive and useful sermon upon a given subject ; but

Systematic Study of the Bible. 461
that the sermons which consist mainly of an exposition of God's
word are likely to be the most conducive to the great end of
preaching, because they possess the greatest authority, and are
therefore the best adapted to lay hold upon the consciences of
the people. With these views I acquired a habit of taking long
texts, of which I never heard any complaint except from those-
chUdren of religious parents who were required to repeat from
memory every text that they heard preached from ; and these-
did sometimes complain because of the hardness of their tasks^
when I occupied thefr pulpits. Yet even these juvenile mur-
murers, I judged, were all the better for that more extensive
knowledge of God's Word which they thus acquired. The most
effective preaching, I have ever thought, is that which consists,
of a sound exposition of inspfred Scripture, faithfuUy applied
to the hearts of the people.
But then to excel in this kind of preaching I saw that a
superficial knowledge of the Sacred Volume would not suffice ;
and therefore set myself in good earnest to study the Bible,
employing the early part of every day in this most profitable-
exercise ; hoping, by means of the authorized version, and a
frequent reference to the sacred originals, and to a Greek and.
Hebrew lexicon and concordance, to ascertain the true meaning
of the "lively oracles." In addition to these appliances, I
avaUed myself of the various translations of the Scriptures,
whether in whole or in part, which have appeared in the
English language, both before the authorized version was
made, and since its publication ; constantly referring to the best
critics and commentators, several of whose works I read care
fuUy through ; setting also a high value upon every volume
that shed any Ught upon the Inspfred Books ; being anxious to
understand them in their phraseology, history, biography, pre
dictions, types, promises, threatenings, precepts, as well as. in
the doctrines which they reveal. When I met with a good
elucidation of any text, in a course of general reading, I took a
note of it for future use. Inattention to the peculiar forms of
expression used in Scripture I often found to be a fruitful
source of theological error.
In the prosecution of my BibUcal studies, next to the writings

462 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
of professed critics and interpreters, no author afforded me so
much aid as John Goodwin, who, having ascertained the true
principles of Scriptural exegesis by long and deep study, has
exempUfied them in the most admfrable manner. I refer not
exclusively to his controversial works, where many admirable
examples are found, but also to his practical treatises, where
Scriptural quotations abound, accompanied by observations
which place them in a light the most beautiful and instructive,
exemplifying what the old Puritans caUed " opening the Scrip
tures," and St. Luke caUs " reasoning " out of them. This
very able and gifted man often suggests to an attentive reader
a deep and hidden meaning, below the mere surface of the
letter, like that which our Saviour pointed out to the Jews,
when He showed them that the doctrine of the resurrection of
the dead, though not specified, is undeniably impUed in what
God declared to Moses out of the burning bush ; and when on
hearing the argument a body of scribes exclaimed, ' ' Master, Thou
hast well said ! " In the pulpit it was not my concern to ascer
tain what senses particular texts might be made to bear, but in
what sense the Holy Spirit intended them to be understood ;
for, as the very learned Joseph Mede has observed, to misin
terpret the Word of God is one mode of taking His name in
vain. To do this through levity and inattention is criminal in
no light degree ; and to do it designedly is an act of daring
presumption. It was the concern of the Apostles never to
handle the Word of Truth deceitfully, but by manUestation of
the truth to commend themselves to every man's conscience in
the sight of God.
Next to the Bible, my aim was to understand Christian
divinity ; viewing its various doctrines in detaU, and in thefr
connection with each other, as forming a compact and harmo
nious system. In this department of study I found important
help in distinct and separate treatises, written by devout and
learned men, and also in bodies of divinity, such as have been
furnished by the sanctified scholarship of Lawson, Piddes, John
Jjdwards, Eidgley, Doolittle, Boston, Thomas Watson, GUI,
Stackhouse, and others. Dr. Adam Clarke speaks disparag-'
ingly of bodies of divinity, and warns ySung men against the

Reading .- Divinity and Classical Literature, 463
use of them. In this respect I confess my experience does not
agree with his. I have found them to be of great utihty, espe
ciaUy as books of reference. If, as the Doctor complains, they
are sometimes dull and heavy, — bodies, rather than spirits, —
yet they suggest topics and arguments which a student may
turn to a good account.
The coUected works of our great divines have through life
occupied a large share of my attention. My soul has reveUed
in the tomes of Hooker, Andrewes, Jackson, Field, Jeremy
Taylor, Hammond, BramhaU, Ussher, Cudworth, More, Smith,
Eeynolds, Lightfoot, Pearson, Barrow, Charnock, Manton,
Stillingfleet, South, Farindon, Baxter, Howe, Home of Lynn,
Owen, and others, whose compositions surpass in value the
wealth of the Indies.
In classical Uterature I could never hope to excel, for want
•of early training ; but I thought that I might acquire a con
siderable knowledge of the Greek and Eoman mind by means of
the translations which have been furnished by competent scholars.
Hesiod, Homer, Pindar, Euripides, .^Ischylus, Sophocles,
Aristophanes, Theocritus, Herodotus, Xenophon, Thucydides,
Plato, Aristotle, and Plutarch, have aU been made to express
themselves in sterhng EngUsh; as weU as Lucretius, VirgU,
Ovid, Horace, Lucan, Terence, Livy, Tacitus, Cicero, Caesar,
PUny, Seneca, Quintilian ; and to the velumes of these men I
devoted a due share of time and attention. While I admired
the genius of these poets, historians, phUosophers, and moralists,
I saw in thefr compositions, admirable as they are in respect of
style and manner, an affecting confirmation of the Apostle's
words, " The world by wisdom tnew not God ; " and learned
more than ever to be thankful for " the Word of Truth, the
<TOsp.el of our salvation ; " by means of which miUions of
mankind have been rescued from the horrible vices of
heathenism, and even peasants and little children are made
incomparably wiser than the greatest men of either Greece or
Eome. The controversies concerning reUgion, and especiaUy those
which have been agitated in times comparatively modern, I
felt it my duty carefuUy to iavestigate ; and most of aU those

464 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
which relate to Atheism, Deism, Popery, Predestination,
Arianism, Socinianism, and Pelagianism.
On the Atheistical and Deistical controversies, originated by
infidels and sceptics of every grade, I found ample materials
for thought in the "InteUectual System" of Cudworth, the
writings of Eay, Derham, KeU, Nieuwentyt, Baxter's "Eeasons
for the Christian EeUgion," the Boyle Lectures, the Bridge-
water Treatises, the Burnet Prize Essays, and in the volumes
of Butler, Lardner, Skelton, Leland, Paley, and other men of
less note, who have rendered good service to the cause of truth
and religion.
The Popish controversy, begun at the time of the Eeforma
tion, I found to have been carried on 'with great zeal and learu'-
ing during the reign of Elizabeth, and that of the two succeed
ing monarchs ; and then renewed and exhausted towards the
close of the seventeenth century, when the infatuated James
attempted to restore the reign of "the man of sin" upon
EngUsh ground, and when a noble band of Episcopal clergy^
men put forth aU their power in opposition to the Papal form
of anti-Christian error, and were weU supported by Baxter,
Poole, and other able men belonging to the ranks of Noncon
formity. The learned treatises in defence of the Protestant
reUgion, published at this period by divines of the Church of
England, were afterwards collected and sent forth in three
folio volumes, to which the advocates of the Papacy have never
been able to produce even a plausible answer. These volumes
vrith the " Synopsis " of the indefatigable WUlet, and the pun
gent tractates of ChiUingworth and Baxter, leave scarcely
anything more on the same subject to be either said or
desired. The Socinian controversy was begun in England in the
time of the Commonwealth, by John Biddle, who was answered
by Dr. Owen. It was resumed and carried on with great
spirit towards the end of the same century, when Howe, and
Walhs, and South, and Sherlock, Jonathan Edwards of
Oxford, and John Edwards of Cambridge, and GastreU, and
BuU, with other master-spfrits of the age, appeared as the
advocates of Cathohc .truth, in opposition to the misguided

The Arian Controversy. 465
men who denied the Godhead and Atonement of our Saviour,
together -with the personality and Godhead of the Holy Ghost,
the Comforter and Sanctifier of God's elect people. At this
period the advocates of Socinianism generaUy concealed their
names, distrustful, as it would appear, either of the cause
they had espoused, or of their ability to defend it. Not a
few Socinian tractates imported from Poland then appeared in
an EngUsh dress. This controversy was renewed about a
century afterwards by Dr. Priestley, Lindsey, Wakefield, Car
penter, and Belsham, whose advocacy of Socinian error was
effectuaUy neutralized by Horsley, Burgh, Veysie, Eandolph,
Simpson, Fletcher, Jamieson, Magee, and Dr. Pye Smith ; men
who were not only " vaUant for the truth," but as able as
they were bold.
The doctrine of Arius, advanced in the fourth century, was
revived in England in the early part of the eighteenth by the
famous WUliam Whiston, John Jackson, and Dr. Samuel
Clarke, who was the friend of Sir Isaac Newton, and one of
the ablest men of the time. The errors of these Churchmen
were advocated at the same period by several Nonconformist
ministers, both in London and the west of England. Thefr
reasonings were effectuaUy refuted by Bishop BuU, Dr. Water-
land, Dr. Abraham Taylor, the Lady Moyer Lecturers, and
other able men both among the clergy and the Nonconformists.
At that period Dr. Watts also appeared as the advocate of a
modified Arianism; but his bewildering speculations, which
are usually denominated the " IndweUing Scheme," were very
ably confuted by Dr. Abraham Taylor and Mr. Da-vid Millar.
Since that time Arianism has been aU but extinct in England ;
the men who have subsequently denied the proper Divinity
of the Son and Spfrit of God having generaUy embraced
the Socinian theory of our Lord's simple humanity, and
regarded the Holy Spfrit as a mere personification of the
Divine power.
The controversy concerning the Divine Predestination, which
was begun by St. Augustine in the fifth century, was revived
at the time of the Protestant Eeformation ; Calvin and Melanc-
H H

466 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
then, Beza and CasteUio, differing from each other as to
whether God's predestination, according to which the final
states of individual men will be appointed, be absolute or con
ditional, — respective or frrespective of personal character and
conduct. On this question there was a difference of judgment
among the men who embraced the Eeformation in England,
some of them agreeing with Calvin, and others with Melanc
then. In Holland, at the beginning of the seventeenth cen
tury, this controversy, after having been warmly agitated
among the clergy, assumed a poUtical charater; the Synod
of Dort was convened, under the sanction of the ci-vU power
to decide the questions at issue ; and as the men who held
the tenets of Calvin affirmed that they only constituted the
Synod, and were supported by the Government, with Prince
Maurice at its head, they, of course, declared themselves to be
in the right, and condemned the foUowers of Arminius, who
differed from them. To give effect to the decision of the Synod
the Government sent the Arminian ministers into banishment,
and forbade thefr congregations to assemble even in the open
fields at midnight. To end the controversy, it also shed
the blood of Oldenbameveldt, one of the ablest statesmen
of the time, a man of pure patriotism and morals, who
had grown grey in the service of his country ; but he
patronized the men whom the Synod had condemned, and for
this unpardonable offence, mainly, he was doomed to die.
Por the same reasons the learned Grotius, another eminent
ci-vilian, was doomed to perpetual imprisonment. An
authentic record of these unrighteous transactions is given by
Gerard Brandt in the four foUo volumes of his " History of the
Eeformation in the Low Countries ; " every page of which I
read with intense interest.
This cruel persecution of the Arminians was the more
inexcusable, because the country in the preceding century was
drenched with Protestant blood by Philip of Spain, and his
representative, the Duke of Alva, of infamous memory, who
employed the Inquisition for the avowed purpose of slaying
every man, woman, and chUd that preferred New Testament

Persecutions of the Dutch Arminians. 467
Christianity to the dogmas and worship of Papal Eome.
Under his immediate dfrection this fiend in a human form
actuaUy murdered twenty thousand human beings on this
account, besides one hundred thousand who perished in the
various battles and sieges in their endeavours to secure national
independence and reUgious liberty. To render these predes
tinarians utterly inexcusable, WilUam the SUent, the Prince of
Orange, under whose valour and wise counsels they had
succeeded in casting off the Spanish and the Papal yoke, and
who had lost his Ufe in their service, was an earnest advocate of
universal Uberty of conscience. It was lamentable to see the
sons and grandsons of Protestant martyrs indulging a murder
ous hostihty to thefr own brethren, children of the Eeformation,
as learned, orthodox, and upright as themselves, simply because
they believed that Christ died for all men, and that the decrees
of God, according to which the future destiny of mankind will
be determined, are not absolute and unconditional, but respec
tive of personal character. EeUgious persecution is in itseU,
and in all circumstances, a hateful crime ; but when it is
carried on by men who have themselves only just escaped from
the fires of the Inquisition, it presents an aspect of special
odiousness and atrocity.
The persecutions inflicted upon the Dutch Arminians by-
thefr Calvinistic brethren, headed by Prince Maurice, the son
of WUliam the Silent, are the saddest example of intolerance
that ever occurred in any professedly Protestant community,
unless we are to except the case of the Scottish Covenanters in
the disastrous reign of the Second Charles. At this period the
Dutch advocates of absolute predestination were as fierce in
thefr opposition to the Arminians as the officers of the Inquisi
tion, dripping with Protestant blood, had been to the Eeformers
in thefr own couptry, and would hsten to no suggestions in
favour of religious toleration. The States , General pubhshed
an account of the charges preferred against Oldenbameveldt,
on the ground of which he was condemned to be beheaded, and
his property confiscated. The principal of these charges is,
that he had pleaded for religious toleration in opposition to
€alvinian unUormity ; had in the exercise of his official autho-
2 H 2

468 Recollections of my own Life cmd Times.
rity protected the Arminians ; and had opposed the holding of
the Dork Synod ; being apprehensive, as it would appear, of the
melancholy results to which it would lead.
The venerable statesman and martyr, who on these grounds,
mainly, was condemned to die on the scaffold at the advanced
age of seventy years, drew up an able and manly defence of
himself, setting forth the services which through a long Ufe he
had rendered to his country, appeaUng not to the mercy of his
judges, but to thefr sense of justice. This document was pub
lished, but with annotations by a predestinarian, intended to-
neutralize its effect. The concluding paragraph of the defence,.
and the annotation upon it, will show the spirit of the parties
better than any description that I can furnish. Having laid his
defence before the men who sentenced him to die by the axe of
the public executioner, the veteran statesman says, " I beseech
Almighty God in mercy to open your eyes, my good lords, and
with the blessing of His heavenly grace to strengthen and
confirm you in your prosperous and happy government. Front
the Hague, AprU 20th, 1618."
To this devout prayer the annotator, in the true spirit of his
creed, repUes, "And I, most mighty God, earnestly beseech
Thee, from the supreme throne of Thy majesty, that Thou-
wouldest be pleased to look upon Thy holy people, and the
faithful ministers of Thy church, and so fortify, protect, and
defend them against their insulting enemies wheresoever ; the
false brethren and prophets ; and especially the maintainers of
the Arminian wicked sect ; who seek to trouble and break that
union which Thou hast confirmed : that they whom Thou hast
predestinated to salvation may always have the upper hand,
and triumph in the certainty of thefr salvation ; but they whom
Thou hast created unto confusion, and as vessels of Thy most
just -wrath, may be thrust headlong thither, whereto from aU
eternity Thou didst predestinate them ; even before they had
done any good or evil. Even so, Father, because it seemed
good unto Thee. Thy word is truth. Thy word endures for
ever. Amen."*
* Bamevel's Apology ; or, Holland Mystery : with marginal Castigations..
Printed for Thomas Thorp, 1618.

The Predestinarian Controversy. 469
'Such was the spfrit of Dutch Calvinism in the beginning of
the seventeenth century.
Not many years after the infliction of this cruel persecution
upon the Dutch Arminians, the tenets of these oppressed people
were embraced and ably defended by some of the most distin
guished theologians in England ; among whom we may parti
cularly mention Mr. Samuel Hoard, Dr. Goad, Dr. Thomas
Jackson, John Goodwin, John Home, Dr. Lawrence Womack,
Dr. Thomas Pierce, Dr. Henry Hammond ; who were strenu
ously opposed by Dr. John Owen, Dr. ZendaU, Mr. Eesbury,
and Mr. Barlee, who defended the tenets of Calvin and of the
Dort Synod ; while Baxter, Ussher, and Davenant tried to find
a middle path between the contending parties. Of all the
English advocates of strict Calvinism at that period Dr. Owen
was the ablest. He wrote a very elaborate volume to prove
that our Saviour did not give Himself a ransom for all, as St.
Paul declares, but only for those who believe in Him, and will
be for ever saved. He was effectuaUy answered by John Home,
a man of eminent scholarship, and of deep piety, in a weU-
argued treatise entitled, " The Open Door of Man's Approach
to God," a volume which ought never to be out of print while
men are found who contradict the testimony of Christ and His
Apostles as to the extent of human redemption. Home
answered Owen, paragraph by paragraph, with perfect charity
and candour ; but with a logical acumen and power which set
at complete defiance every attempt at a successful reply, which
Owen never attempted, though he lived many years after the
publication of Home's volume, and was publicly challenged to
refute it if he could. John Goodwin was mighty in argument ;
and in the interpretation of Scripture he had no equal among
the men of his time, and scarcely of any other age.
The predestinarian controversy was afterwards revived by
two men of distinction in the Church of England, who lived in
times remote from each other, and whose characters were very
dissimUar, — Dr. Whitby and Bishop TomUne ; neither of whom,
¦properly speaking, was a disciple of Arminius ; and both of
them injured the cause they intended to promote. Whitby
assaUed the Calvinistic doctrine respecting "the five points ; "

470 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
but he attempted to substitute for it the Semi-Pelagian scheme
which stands inseparably connected with defective views of the
mediation of Christ, and of the work of the Holy Spfrit.
TomUne's " Eefutation of CaMnism " is indeed rather an attack
upon reUgious experience, than upon the pecuhar tenets of the
great Genevan Eeformer. It is, in fact, a defence of religious
formaUty. Eespecting Whitby it is but just to say that with
all his errors and the frequent change of his opinions, he
exceUed in theological scholarship, which Bishop Tomline
never did. Nor 'should it be forgotten, that Whitby did not
embrace the erroneous theories of Arius and Origen tUl he was
a very aged man, and perhaps his faculties were in a state of
decay. Whitby, as an anti-Calvinist, was answered in a tone
of indignation and contempt, by two men who in mental power
and sacred scholarship were scarcely inferior to any men of
their times, — Dr. John Edwards and Dr. Gill. Truth and
charity gained nothing by this learned dispute ; for aU the
parties were in an extreme. Bishop TomUne was answered by
Mr. Scott, the commentator, who opposed the Eight Eeverend
Prelate, on what he conceived to be Scripture ground, in an
octavo volume of enormous bulk ; and by Dr. WiUiams, who
opposed his metaphysics to the Bishop's unevangelical specu
lations ; which, after all, were not worthy of the labour that
was expended upon them.
The predestinarian controversy bore a very different charac
ter in the hands of Mr. Wesley, Mr. SeUon, and Mr. Fletcher ;
not one of whom, however, had an opponent that was worthy
of him, either in respect of temper, scholarship, or inteUectual
power. Sir Eichard Hill and his brother Eowland meant well,
but at the time they were mere boys, attempting to play the
theologue, knowing very httle of either Scripture, logic, or them
selves. They were confident of success when they engaged in
the conflict ; but no sooner felt the cold steel of the men whom
they rashly encountered, than they " fled murmuring." Ber-
ridge bad wit and droUery, but no argument. Toplady was
the ablest man among those who appeared as the advocates of
Calvinism; but he was rather a gladiator than a Christian
polemic, pleadmg for truth in the spirit of meekness and of

Calvinism and Metaphysics. 471
holy love. So far as Mr. Wesley is concerned, the most
charitable view that can be taken of Toplady -s case is, that he
was a monomaniac. Through a series of years he dehberately
published against Mr. Wesley things which no ingenuity can
reconcile with the precepts of the Gospel ; things which Eobert
HaU said he would not have uttered for ten thousand worlds.
The success of Mr. Fletcher was complete, both in respect of
temper and argument. Doctors Bogue and Bennett, and Mr.
Isaac Taylor, affect to despise his writings ; but they have pru
dently abstained from aU attempts to grapple with his argu
ments. He is one of the very few writers whose controversial
works are read for the purpose of personal edification. SeUon
had not the blandness and the genius of Mr. Fletcher, but he
was an able scholar and an acute logician, whose volumes may
be read and studied with great advantage. The eloquence, wit,
acuteness, and heavenly temper of Mr. Fletcher, are above aU
praise, and place him in the first rank of controversial writers.
His volumes are perfect gems of sanctified authorship.
The careful examination of this controversy, prosecuted
through many years, has produced in me a deep conviction,
that the system of Calvinism, properly so called, owes its prin
cipal support to metaphysics, and that the evidence of Scrip
ture in its behalf consists mainly of particular texts broken off
from thefr connexion, and understood in a sense different from
that which they were intended to bear. Thus the promise made
to the famUy of David, securing to them a perpetual existence
tiU the bfrth of the Messiah, who should establish an everlast
ing dominion, is appUed to the infaUible perseverance of the
saints, to which it has no proper reference. (Psalm Ixxxix. 3, 4,
20, 37.) A few verses in the ninth chapter of the Epistle to
the Eomans are constantly adduced to prove that some men are
absolutely and unconditionally appointed to the enjoyment of
eternal Ufe, and that others are no less absolutely doomed to
suffer the endless torments of heU, being created for that express
purpose. Whereas those verses clearly belong to a general
argument relative to God's casting away of His ancient people
the Jews, because of their unbeUef, and His acceptance of the
beUeving GentUes ; as the concluding verses of the chapter, in

472 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
which the Apostle sums up the argument, clearly demonstrate ;
especially when viewed in connexion with the verses at the
beginning of the chapter, by which the subject is introduced.
The words of St. Paul, " Who maketh thee to differ ?" (1 Cor.
iv. 7,) are perpetuaUy referred to in proof that in the process
of conversion men are in such wise the recipients of the grace
of God as in no just sense to make themselves differ from
those who hve in carelessness and sin. Whereas the Apostle
is there speaking of ministerial qualifications, especiaUy
those which are of a mfraculous kind, and not of conversion
at all.
Difficulties there doubtless are in this ancient controversy,
and difficulties which wiU only be solved in a future state ; but,
according to the best judgment I have been able to form,
the difficulties are incomparably greater on the side of Augus
tine and Calvin, than on the side of Arminius and Mr. Wesley.
If it be said that Arminians are Calvinists in j)rayer, it may
be said that Calvinists are always Arminians in the appUcation
of their sermons ; for I may truly say, that in the whole extent
of my reading I have never seen the doctrine of absolute pre
destination, as it is laid down in Calvin's Institutes, and in
the Westminster Confession of Faith, applied to any practi
cal purpose of a beneficial kind. The end of all teaching is
right practice ; and what, then, is a doctrine good for, if it
make people neither wiser nor better ? A mere intellectual
toy is not worth contending for ; and such I cannot but regard
the doctrine of absolute predestination to eternal life and eter
nal death, and the twin-doctrine of philosophical necessity.
What better should I be if I were to believe that I have no
power of self-determination, and can only act as I am acted upon
by external circumstances ? What conceivable benefit could I
derive from the belief that, ages before I was born, my destiny
either to endless happiness or endless misery was fixed by
an absolute decree which no conduct of mine can ever
alter ? If I am predestinated to Ufe, I cannot perish ; U
I am predestinated to death, I cannot be saved. I have
a deep and a solemn conviction of the essential evil of this
doctrine.

Pelagianism and Semi-Pelagianism. 473
When the late Dr. Chalmers began to excite pubhc attention
as an eloquent and earnest preacher, the Eev. Valentine Ward
was stationed in Scotland ; and having come to England to
attend the Methodist Conference, Mr. Ward stated in a company
where the Eev. Henry Moore was "present, that the Doctor was a
strenuous advocate of the doctrine of absolute election and
reprobation as it is laid down in Calvin's Institutes ; for he had
heard the Doctor avow and defend it. Mr. Moore said, " Did
you ask the Doctor to take his oath upon it ?" " No," repUed
Mr. Ward, " I did not presume to do that." " You should have
asked him for his affidavit," added Mr. Moore ; " and then you
might have compared his oath with that of Almighty God;
who, because He could swear by no greater, sware by Him
seU, saying, ' As I live, saith the Lord God, I have no plea
sure in the death of the wicked ; but that the wicked man
turn from his way and live : turn ye, turn ye from your
evil ways; for why -wUl ye die, 0 house of Israel?'" (Ezek.
xxxUi. 11.)
Pelagianism, whose principal tenet is the purity of human
nature, and the consequent denial of original sin, and of the
influence of the Holy Spirit, took ]:£e in the time of St,
Augustine, by whom it was strenuou sly opposed. The author
of this theory, as it is generaUy understood, contended that
the sin of Adam affected himself only, so that its consequences
are in no sense visited upon his posterity. The theory was
afterwards modified, and extensively entertained under the
name of Semi-Pelagianism ; which acknowledges that various
evils are entailed upon mankind in consequence of Adam's sin,
but denies that they derive from him an entirely depraved and
corrupted moral nature. This theory was revived in England
during the Commonwealth, by Dr. Jeremy Taylor, who was ably
answered by Dr. Henry Jeanes, and by Anthony Burgess. It
afterwards found an advocate in Dr. Daniel Whitby, and some
of his Arianizing contemporaries. Their writings called forth
replies from Dr. John Edwards, who had no mercy upon these
erring men ; from Dr. Watts, whose " Euin and Eecovery of
Mankind " is a beautUul example of close and consecutive
reasoning and of Christian temper; and from Mr. Eichard

474 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Taylor, who defended the opposite doctrine with earnestness
and fidelity.
A few years afterwards the doctrine of original sin was again
assaUed, and the purity of human nature defended, by Dr. John
Taylor, a man of subtUe genius, who proposed his views with
plausibility, and an afr of perfect candour, so that for a time
many were deceived by his reasonings, and even Bishops praised'
his book, not perceiving that it was a dfrect contradiction of
the formularies of thefr own Church, and intended in an indfrect
manner to supersede some of the essentials of Christianity, the
doctrine of Atonement in particular. The author's sophistry
was at length thoroughly exposed by Dr. Jennings, Mr. Samuel
Hebden, President Edwards, and especiaUy by Mr. Wesley, who
declared that Taylor's doctrine led to nothing beyond a refined
Deism, repudiating, as it did by necessary consequence, the
redemption of mankind by the death of Jesus Christ, and their
sanctification by the Holy Spirit, — doctrines which constitute
the very substance of the Gospel.
Controversies concerning ecclesiastical order have been
agitated with as much eagerness and warmth as questions of
doctrine which are strictly theological ; and the rival claims of
Episcopacy, Presbyterianism, Independency, and Erastianism,
have aU occupied my anxious attention, especiaUy since I was
appointed to assist in training the rising ministry of the
Wesleyan Body.
The examination of these and other subjects necessarUy
involved me in an extensive course of reading and of close study,
carried on through many years ; but to this labour it was my
duty to submit, especiaUy after I found myself daUy surrounded
by a body of young men, preparing to instruct others, and to
defend the truth, who looked to me for information on all these
difficult and complicated questions. Often have I felt that
" much study is a weariness to the flesh ; " but man is born to
labour both in mind and body, as weU as to suffer ; yet have I
found it to be no less true, that
" Labour is rest, and pain is sweet.
If Thou, my God, art here."
It has been observed that most philosophers place our chief

Ecclesiastical History : Biography. 475-
good in serenity or indolence ; which is a mistake. Indolence,
or rest, is inconsistent with our nature, and is not to be found
even in heaven but in a comparative sense. On the contrary,
our heaven wiU consist in a pleasing motion, a delightful exer
tion, a transporting progress, to aU eternity. The inhabitants
of heaven " rest not day and night, saying. Holy, holy, holy.
Lord God Almighty, which was, and is, and is to come."
Annihilation is the only absolute rest ; and this is the hope of
Heathenism, not of Christianity.
Among other subjects which it has been my duty to study is-
Ecclesiastical History ; which, with some happy exceptions, is a
sad record of heretical speculation, superstition, intolerance,
worldUness, ambition, and formality ; detailing, as it does, the
rise and progress of Popery, -with its corrupt tenets and morals,
and its deeds of cruelty and blood. It is also a record of the
misdeeds of other men, who had cast off the Papal yoke, in
theory recognized the right of private judgment, and yet did not
hesitate to " bite and devour one another " on account of thefr
differences of opinion and modes of worship. The history of
the Church is nevertheless full of instruction to a thoughtful
and reflecting mind, presenting many fine examples of faithful
men, who bore witness to the truth, and laid down their lives
in its behaU. Church history also exhibits no less distinctly the
connexion between erroneous doctrine, defective piety, and lax
morals ; and the consequent necessity of a firm adherence to
the truth as it is laid down in the Holy Scriptures ; seeing that
it is not by error, nor by human opinion, but by " the truth,"
that God is pleased to sanctify and save the souls of men.
Along with other subjects, I have devoted a considerable
portion of time to Biography, especially the biography of men
who haVe attained to eminence in personal godliness, in sacred
scholarship, in pubhc usefulness, or who have attracted attention
by any pecuUarities of character. Such narratives I have found
to be a relief from severer studies, and to suggest lessons of
practical instruction. The Uves of great and good men embody
the most important facts of Church history ; and even the lives
of bad men show the connexion between sin and punishment, and
contain solemn warning to all classes of people as to the conse-

-476 Recollections of my oivn Life and Times*
quences of an entrance upon a downward course. In addition to the
volumes of biography that I have pubUshed, I have drawn up brief
memofrs of the following Puritan ministers : Dr. John Lightfoot,
who by means of his profound Eabbiuical learning has thrown
much light upon the Christian Scriptures : WilUam Whately, of
Hanbury, one of the best practical '-writers of his age, and an
eminently holy man : Eobert Bolton, remarkable for the extent
of his scholarship, his daring ¦wickedness, his sound conversion,
his deep piety, his powerful and eloquent writings, his zeal and
usefulness as a Christian pastor, and his happy death : Andrew
WUlet, an accompUshed interpreter of Holy Scripture, and no
less to be respected as the author of one of the ablest books
against Popery that ever emanated from the British press:
John Home, of Lynn, one of the ejected ministers, a man of
exemplary piety, a good practical ¦writer, an able and unflinch
ing advocate of the Arminian tenets : Anthony Farindon, one
of the best men, and one of the best preachers in England during
the time of the Commonwealth : and Philip Skelton, an Irish
clergyman of the last century, a powerful theological writer, a
diUgent and faithful pastor, a genuine wit, an author of great
versatihty, and one of the most compassionate men that ever
lived, so far as the poor are concerned.
These biographical sketches have been inserted in the Wes
leyan-Methodist Magazine. Deeply have I often been affected
while perusing the records of former times,
" 'When illustrious men.
Lovers of truth, by penury constrained,
Bucer, Erasmus, or Melancthon, read
Before the doors or windows of their cells.
By moonlight, through mere lack of taper-light."
The metaphysics of Locke, of Dr. Peter Browne, of Eeid, of
Beattie, of Dugald Stewart, of Dr. Thomas Brown, and of Sit
William Hamilton, I have pondered With pleasure and edifica
tion; but the metaphysical theories imported from modem
Germany and France, which many unbelievers have substituted
for the Gospel of Christ, I could never even contemplate but
with horror. The awful words, uttered by the Son of God,

General Literature : Favourite Authors. 477
" He that beUeveth not shaU be damned," would never aUow
me to tamper either with " free thinking," or what is caUed
" free thought." It is indeed no business of mine to judge the
men who reject the Gospel, either in whole or in part. Some
of them, it is said, are above suspicion as to thefr moral conduct.
Be it so ; but something more than bare morality is required
of inteUigent man ; and He whose authority is supreme
has said, " This is the condemnation, that light is come
into the world, and men loved darkness more than light,
because their degds were evU." Whatever maybe said respect
ing the outward conduct of unbeUevers, their temper is declared
to be offensive to God, so as to bring them under " condem
nation:" and "condemnation" from Almighty God no one
can regard as a Ught matter. If God has " spoken " to men,
not only by prophets and apostles, but also " by His Son," for
men, of set purpose, not only to refuse attention to His voice,
but dfrectly to contradict what He has declared, appears to
me one of the greatest crimes of which a human being is
capable, — a crime the punishment of which it is fearful to
contemplate. To general literature, in the form of history, poetry, natural
and moral phUosophy, and criticism, I have not been inatten
tive, but have endeavoured to derive instruction from every
avaUable source; aware that those who undertake to teach
others must themselves be taught, whether they speak from the
pulpit, the press, or the lecture-haU.
Concerning my favourite authors I would say, that I have
always taken great deUght in the study of our old writfers, such
as Chaucer, Wickliffe, the EngUsh Eeformers, and the early
Enghsh translations of the Bible, not only on account of their
matter, but the help which they also afford in ascertaining the
exact meaning of words. I have strongly felt that within the
last three hundred years the English language has gained much
in copiousness, but it has lost much in strength. GeneraUy
speaking, no modem author expresses himseU with such energy
and force as did the men who first placed the Bible before the-
people of England in thefr own tongue. As an example I
would refer to the description of Leviathan in the Book af Job,

478 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
as it is given in the version pubUshed by Eichard Carmarden
in the year 1566.
In respect of style and manner I have greatly admired
WiUiam Law and Jeremiah Seed, as models of simplicity and
naturalness; South, for harmony, clearness, and power,
always protesting against his coarseness and levity ; and have
taken pleasure in contrasting the playfulness and grace of
Addison with the elaborate stateliness of such writers as
Hooker and Sir Thomas Browne.
In the correct statement of doctrine I have found no men
among the writers of former times, who, according to my
apprehension, exceUed John Goodwin, John Home, and George
Lawson ; and among the men who have exhibited the Christian
spirit in aU its mellowness and beauty, I have regarded Hooker,
John Smith, Archbishop Leighton, John Corbet, John Howe,
Mr. Fletcher, and Mr. Wesley, as standing at the head of their
-class; but have often regretted that the fine thoughts and
temper of Howe lose much of their effect by the long involved
and inharmonious sentences in which they are too frequently
expressed. No writer I ever met with, in respect of spirit,
style, and doctrinal statement, in my estimation, is equal to
Mr. Wesley, especiaUy in his sermons. I have heard the late
Henry Moore say that he read other writings to fill his mind,
¦but the sermons of Mr. Wesley to clear it. No volume I ever
met with, in respect of severe logic and perfect charity, surpasses
Mr. Fletcher's " Last Check to Antinomianism." The argu'
mentation is unanswered and unanswerable, and the spirit of
the ¦writer is angelic. It savours of heaven rather than of
earth ; and serves to confirm the doctrine of Christian perfec
tion for which the author so ably and eloquently pleads. One
of the most popular ministers of the present times is reported to
have told his hearers that they might pray for deUverance from aU
inward sin, but God would never answer the prayer tiU the
hour of thefr dissolution. He had learned this doctrine from
Calvinist divines, not from his Bible. We ask. In which of
the Inspired Books is the tenet recorded ? and if it is not found
-there, what is it worth ?
Many of Baxter's works I have carefuUy read, and have

Baxterlanism. 479
admfred his wonderful copiousness of thought and expression ;
¦his unrivaUed power in grappUng -with the human conscience ;
the surprising ability with which he has defended the Christian
Eevelation against the attacks of unbeUevers ; the strength of
argument with which he refutes the claims of a high and in
tolerant Episcopacy ; and the comprehensiveness of his views
in the treatment of moral questions. Yet his style is sometimes
inexcusably slovenly ; and he never appears fuUy to apprehend
the office of the Holy Ghost as " the Comforter." He never
recognises that direct and inward witness of personal adoption,
which is asserted by the best and ablest of our old divines,
Episcopal, Puritan, and Nonconformist ; and therefore leaves
believers in Christ to ascertain the fact of thefr filial relation
to God from thefr own personal character merely. The im
pression which his writings leave upon my mind is, that
happiness is rather an accident of reUgion, than an essential
element of it. Whereas, according to Apostolic teaching, "the
kingdom of God is " not only " righteousness," but also " peace
and joy in the Holy Ghost." Happiness is so far from being
a mere accident of religion, it enters into its very substance
and nature. It is by the direct witness of adoption that the
Holy Spirit kindles in the believing heart that love to God
which "is the end of the commandment, and without which a
man is dead while he Uveth." " We love Him, because He first
loved us." God makes the believer holy by first making him
happy in the assurance of His favour : for the love which
springs from that assurance is the principle of aU holiness.
"There is nothing higher in religion than this.
" In earth, in paradise, in heaven,
Our aU iu all is love ; "
and in order that we may love God, we must know that He
loves us. We cannot love Him as our angry Judge.
Baxter's theory of a middle path between Cal-rinism and
Arminianism, — ^between absolute and conditional election and
predestination, — I never could espouse, plausible as it may
-appear, any more than I could entertain the theory of absolute
reprobation. In his treatise on the " Universal Eedemption of

480 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Mankind " he reasons manfuUy and conclusively in favour of
that glorious truth ; but when he speaks of the appUcation of
the benefits of redemption, so far as the non-elect are concerned,
nothing can be more unsatisfactory than his argumentation.
He speaks of "common grace" as being imparted to these
hapless people, that they may aspire to the enjoyment of salva
tion through the blood of the Cross. But what does this
" common grace " amount to ? Just nothing : for, according
to his own showing, it never brought a human soul to salva
tion ; and he cannot say that it was ever intended to produce
that effect. It is not therefore the grace of the Gospel ; for
that "bringeth salvation." The only ascertainable effect of
Baxter's " common grace " is, that it augments the guilt of the
non-elect, and therefore plunges them into deeper misery.
Such refinements I can never entertain with the Bible open
before me. Eather let me sing, as I have often done, in honour
of the Father of mercies, —
" Thy undistinguishing regard
¦Was cast on Adam's fallen race ;
For ALL Thou hast in Cheist prepared
Sufficient, sovereign, saving grace."
The truth is, the perdition of Baxter's non-elect sinners, to-
whom nothing beyond "common grace" is ever imparted, is as
absolutely certain and unavoidable as that of Calvin's repro
bates. They can never secure an election to eternal hfe ; and
¦without such an election, according to his own theory, their
endless misery is inevitable. His narrow views of the grace of
God evidently affected his temper. He does not generally
write Uke a happy man. It could not be said of him, as it was
said of Mr. Fletcher, that his countenance and spirit were a
perpetual haUelujah.
Baxter was one of the most eager controversialists that ever
Uved, spending the greater part of his suffering hfe in earnest
and laborious attempts to correct what he deemed the errors of
other men, and bring them to an agreement with himseU ; yet,
in many respects, his own opinions were peculiar, and scarcely
in accordance with those of any religious community in exist-

A fluctuating Library. 481
tenee. He was neither a Calvinist, nor an Arminian, but a
compound of both ; or, perhaps, sometimes one, and sometimes
the other. To Independency he was decidedly opposed ; yet
he was neither an Episcopalian nor a Presbyterian, properly-
speaking, being a most formidable adversary of Diocesan
Episcopacy ; whUe, at the same time, he doubted whether it
might not be the design of God that, in some subordinate
sense, an order of men should so succeed the Apostles as to
exercise in perpetuity a control over the ordinary teachers and
pastors of the Church. He seems indeed to have been perplexed
by the subtleties of his own inteUect, making exceptions, dis
tinctions, and qualifications without end. In consequence of
this habit his very able contemporary Womack gave him the
name of Dr. Dubitans. The most formidable of his opponents
were Doctors Womack and Pierce, Episcopal divines of great
learning, the keenness and power of whose logic evidently
galled him. In his irritation he assailed the personal character
of Pierce, but in a manner which recoUed upon himseU ; for he
preferred charges which he could not substantiate, and which
were proved to be untrue.
Simplicity was a prominent feature in the character of this
extraordinary man, who has related so many anecdotes con
cerning himseU and his contemporaries, not only in the narra
tive of his life, but in his controversial and other works, as
would make a volume of profound interest, U they were collected
and properly arranged. Many a day have I spent in the
perusal of his voluminous -writings, where I have found a vast
amount of important instruction : yet I fully assent to the
counsel which he says was given to him by his inteUigent and
godly wife ; that he would have done better, if he had written
fewer books, and taken greater pains in the composition of
them. Notwithstanding the wise economy of my late wife, which I
thankfully record, I have often been compeUed to seU a
part of my books to purchase others that I wanted, to meet the
necessities of my family, and other calls that were made upon
me. Had I been able to retain aU the volumes that I ever
possessed, I suppose my library would have been twice as large
I I

482 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
as it was in the year 1859, when it was purchased by Mr. Heald,
and generously presented to the Wesleyan Theological Institu
tion. To part with rare and valuable works upon which my
heart was set, and which had been my companions and solace
in many an anxious hour, was often a sore trial ; but " necessity
has no law ; " and to murmur at that which cannot be avoided,
argues not only a want of self-possession, but of just thought.
The sale of my library when I resigned my charge at Eichmond,
and became a Supernumerary Preacher, was a seasonable
reUef; for I had no place where I could deposit the literary
treasures I had accumulated ; and the transfer of them to the
shelves of the Theological Institution was a public benefit. It
was also gratifying to me to know that books which I had
selected with care and difficulty, and forming a comprehensive
system of sacred knowledge, were likely to remain together in
perpetuity, and to be turned to a good account by successive
companies of tutors and students.
I cannot forget, on a review of my past Ufe, that I have often
trodden the thorny path of controversy, especially during the
eighteen years that I sustained the office of Editor of the
Wesleyan-Methodist Magazine. That periodical was begun by Mr.
Wesley, partly as a medium of religious intelUgence, as a means
of personal edification to his growing Societies, and also as an
organ of seU-defence; his assaUants being many, and some
times formidable : and certainly the warfare against his
character, his theological tenets, the reUgious agency to which
he gave his sanction, and the form of discipline which he
introduced among his own people, has not at aU abated since
the time of his decease. WhUe he Uved, " Wesley and Metho
dism " were a sort of target against which many who aspired
to be archers directed their arrows ; and their number to this
day has remained undiminished. Wesleyan-Methodism, occu
pying a middle position between strict Churchmanship and
Dissent, has hitherto been doomed to endure the hostUity of
both. It offers no dfrect opposition to either ; but pursues its
one object, the advancement of spiritual religion both at home
and abroad, leaving other parties to settle the question of
reUgious establishments ; yet from the beginning it has been

Methodism assailed from opposite Quarters. 483
-viewed -with jealousy, and has often been subjected to opposi-.
tion equally malignant and untruthful.
An opinion has extensively prevaUed, that a civil Establish
ment of religion is unfavourable to Christian unity ; so that
when Christians of one particular class are sanctioned by the
State, while others enjoy a bare toleration, the favoured class
are hkely to look down upon the tolerated sects with contempt,
instead of holding out to them the right hand of brotherly
feUowship, as belonging to the same Christian family, the
members of which are commanded to love one another, and to
Uve in unity and peace. On this as weU as on other grounds
it has been contended that religious Establishments are evils,
and ought to be aboUshed; so that aU classes of Christian
people, being placed on an equality, may not regard one
another with either jealousy or envy.
Such a theory may appear plausible, but it certainly does not
accord with fact. EeUgious equality wiU never of itself calm
the spirits of angry and intolerant disputants. Quarrels among
Christian communities do not so much arise from the relations
in which they stand to the State, as from their different opinions
concerning doctrine and forms of Church-government. The
English Dissenters and the Wesleyan-Methodists are tolerated
sects, and in this respect are on an equality ; yet the foUowers
of Mr. Wesley have encountered as bitter hostility from
Dissenters as they ever did from the most intolerant Church
man. The Christian Observer, and the Guardian newspaper,
organs of Churchmanship, are both unfriendly to the Wesleyan
Hody, and always have been ; but they are not more so than
were the Eclectic Review, and the Pmtriot newspaper, both
organs of Dissent. The Eev. Edwin Sidney, a beneficed
Clergyman, in the biographical works which he has published,
has treated the character of Mr. Wesley with flagrant injustice,
ha-ving laid to his charge things which are directly untrue, and
would have appeared to be so, had he looked into Mr. Wesley's
writings, instead of repeating the reproaches of his adversaries.
The late Mr. Josiah Conder, a popular writer on the side of
Dissent, has done the same thing. Mr. Gathercole, another
Clergyman, it wiU be confessed, has displayed no special
2 I 2

484 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
deUcaey in his treatment of the Methodists ; but Doctors Bogue
and Bennett, in their " History of the Dissenters," have mani
fested towards them a spirit quite as bitter and untruthful.
Dr. Pusey has placed to the account of the Wesleyan Body
tenets which they never held, and practices of which they are
as innocent as himself ; but with respect to one branch of their
economy, he has been outdone by Mr. Isaac Taylor, who, -with
out inquiry, has inexcusably confounded together two institu
tions of Methodism, — the bands and the classes, — and then, on
the ground of his awn misrepresentation, has advanced against
the entire body of Methodists the foulest slander that has
emanated from the British press since Bishop Lavington, more
than a hundred years ago, pubUshed his most offensive ribaldry,
which caUed forth the righteous rebukes of Mr. Wesley. The
weekly class-meeting is a service which all the members of a
Methodist Society are pledged to attend. Mr. Taylor states that
in every such meeting it is the office of the Leader "to demand of
each member an unreserved exposure of a week's sins and temp
tations ; " and he asks, " What is it that could be the product of
such disgorgements when each was solemnly enjoined, with a
remorseless disregard of deUcacy, to pour forth, before aU, the
moral ills of the last seven days ? The gross-minded and the
shameless wUl be prompted by egotism and by a bad ambition
to discharge the week's accumulations of their bosoms very
copiously," etc.* Hear this, ye maidens of Methodism; aged
matrons, and Methodist mothers ; young men, and fathers of
famiUes : if Mr. Taylor's statement be true, there is not one of
you, either man or woman, that is possessed of the ordinary
deUcacy of mind which is essential to a correct moral character,
to say nothing of religion !
It wiU be observed that Mr. Taylor here recognizes no differ
ence between the carnal and the spiritual mind ; between the
heart of a sanctified beUever, and the heart that is "fuU of
evU," remaining under the power of its native sinfulness ; but
surely they are not to be confounded together. " The pure in
heart," who are even now prepared for the beatific vision, and
to whom the promise of that consummate blessedness is made,
» " Wesley and Methodism," p. 252. Edit. 1851.

Mr. Isaac Taylor's " Wesley and Methodism." 485
are not to be confounded with the antedUuvian sinners, of
whom it is said, that " every imagination of the thoughts " of
their heart was " only evU continuaUy." Our blessed Lord has
aaid, that " a good man out of the good treasure of his heart
bringeth forth that which is good ; " and that " a good tree
cannot bring forth evU fruit." Whom are we to beheve ? the
world's great Teacher ? or the prejudiced author of " Wesley
and Methodism ? "
The conduct of Mr. Taylor is the more reprehensible, because
he affects to treat of Methodism phUosophicaUy, and not as a
reUgious partizan. It is the province of a phUosopher, in the
first place, clearly to ascertain his facts, and accurately to
describe them ; and then to deduce from them fair and legitimate
conclusions. In both these respects Mr. Taylor is at fault.
He has done neither the one nor the other. The classes gene
raUy consist of both men and women ; the bands, of men only,
or of women only ; for in them the men and women always
meet apart. A class consists generaUy of twenty or thfrty
persons; a band of three or four only. In the classes no
regard is paid to age or rank ; in the bands the members are
usually of the same age and condition. With the members of
the Society it is perfectly optional to meet in band or not ; but
no person can be a member of the Society who refuses to meet
in class. Persons are admitted to the class-meeting on the
simple condition of a desfre to flee from the wrath to come,
attended by fruits meet for repentance: whereas those who
meet in band are understood to be beUevers in Christ, who are
waUdng in the light of God's countenance, and are at least
^oing on unto perfection ; U they have not already attained to
the state in which they are enabled to rejoice evermore, to pray
without ceasing, and in every thing to give thanks.
Nothing can be more remote from truth and fact than Mr.
Taylor's representation of the character of those who observe
the band rules. So far are they from being the egotistic and
:gross-minded persons he describes, the truth is, that the most
•eminent examples of Christian godUness the Methodist Con
nexion ever knew, at any period of its existence, have belonged
to the bands, and have observed the rules relating tp them. Hely

486 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and inteUigent women especiaUy, such as Jenny Keith, Jan&
Cooper, Mrs. Le Fevre, Mrs. Fletcher, and Miss Eitchie, aU be
longed to this select number, and may be regarded as a specimen
of the persons to whom Mr. Taylor has applied some of the most
odious epithets that the language could supply. Such is the
power of party-feeUng, even in a man who assumed the
character and tone of a phUosopher.
The late Dr. Pye Smith, according to his pubUshed Lectures,
used to insinuate to the candidates for the Dissenting ministry
who were under his tuition, that the Methodist Body do not
hold the Protestant doctrine of justification by faith ; and that
Mr. Wesley had two creeds ; one for private use, and another
which he pubUcly avowed and defended. He has therefore
placed him in the same category vrith the Jesuit Bellarmine,
and another Popish -writer of the same class ; both of whom he
says held and denied that "Divine grace is unmerited and
absolute."* The tenets charged upon Pelagius, on account of which he
has been branded as a heretic for fourteen hundred years, are
a denial of original sin, and a denial of the Holy Spirit's influ
ence in the process of human salvation; and the late Dr.
Payne, another professor of theology in a Dissenting coUege,
was accustomed to declare to the students under his care, and
now declares to all the world in his published Lectures, that
John Wesley was " the great Champion of Pelagianism in this
country." t " Yet Brutus is an honourable man ;
So are they all, — all honourable men ; "
only, when speaking of John Wesley and his people, they were
apt to forget that there is an ancient command from heaven
which says, " Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy
neighbour," and, " Lie not one to another."
For eighteen years it was my official duty to repel attacks of
this kind, and to defend the living and the dead, in accordance
with the ApostoUc charge, " Let not your good be evU spoken
* " First Lines of Christian Theology," pp. 422, 601. Edit. 1854.
t " Lectures on Christian Theology," vol. i., p. 129. Edit. 1850.

Wesley charged with Pelagianism : Dr. G. Payne, 487
of." Whether I always resisted aggression in the spirit of pure
charity, I -will not say ; but this I can affirm, that in no con
troversy in which I was engaged was I the original assaUant.
Never did I wrrite a paragraph against either Churchman or
Dissenter, but in self-defence ; and had they been ¦wUIing to
live in peace with their Methpdist neighbours, they would
never have received an unkind word from me. Methodism and
the character of its Founder are indeed fair subjects of criticism,
and even of candid animadversion ; but when I saw them
assaUed in a spirit of reckless hostility, by men who never took
any pains to understand either the one or the other, and were
aUke regardless of truth and charity, I confess they touched the
apple of my eye. Judging from the past, it is my conviction
that in this free country the p eace of the Church cannot be
preserved without a vigUant literary police, who will bring to
the bar of the public every one who attempts to rob his Christian
neighbours of their good name ; and wUl secure the infliction
upon him of such chastisement as -wiU warn others not to offend
in the same manner.
Many honourable exceptions indeed there are, both in the
ranks of Churchmanship and Dissent, — men who breathe the
spirit of their Saviour, and on no account would " bear false
witness " against a Methodist "neighbour:" but this is not
the character of all. The press stiU presents undeniable proof
that there are readers to whom misrepresentation and un
truthful censures are highly palatable, and writers who are
quite ready to supply the savoury aliment.
Often have I found, however, that the men who are forward
to censure and condemn their brethren are themselves the
more guilty parties. An eager accuser is seldom an innocent
man. Dr. George Payne, who charges Mr. Wesley with Pela
gianism in terms the most unquahfied, and therefore with a
denial of original sin, was himseU, on this very subject, less
orthodox than the Arminian leader, whom he deemed himseU
authorized to brand as a heretic. Mr. Wesley's voluine on
original sin is in more perfect agreement with the doctrine of
Protestant Churches in general, — as it is laiddo-wn in their Con
fessions of Faith,— than are Dr. Payne's elaborate "Lectures"

488 Recollections of my own lAfe and Times,
on the same subject. The Doctor, who is so ready to condemn
Mr. Wesley, — whose -writings it is clear he never read, for he
ascribes to him words which Mr. Wesley never •wrote, — ^has
introduced in his discussion of this important doctrine some
refinements of a very dubious character, which have caUed
forth strong animadversions from the pen of an able Scottish
divine.''' With respect to Dr. Pye Smith's insinuated doubts concern
ing the doctrinal soundness of Mr. Wesley and his people, I
would observe, that not one of them has ever taken upon him
seU to tamper with the canon of the Old Testament, — to which
the incarnate Son of God gave His direct sanction, — as the
Doctor has done, or has expressed such low and unworthy
views respecting the inspfration of Holy Scripture, as are found
in some of the Doctor's writings, which have given great and
just offence to not a few of the wisest and best of his o-wn
brethren. On these points, at least, I affirm Dr. Smith was
less sound in the faith than the men whom he took upon
himself to censure as objects pf suspicion. Dr. Bmith is
worthy of aU honour as a learned and pious man, and as an
advocate of the Godhead and Atonement of Christ ; but he
has been justly accused of excessive lenity as a controversiaUst,
when questions of vital importance were at issue. He had
charity for English Socinians, who deny the Divinity of our
Saviour, and the reality of His Sacrifice ; and no less for
German sceptics, who throw discredit upon the entfre Bible ;
but he had not even ordinary candour for John Wesley, who,
in respect of the great verities of the Gospel, was as orthodox
as Dr. Smith, or any other uninspired man that ever Uved.
" See " The Edenic Dispensation : with Strictures on Dr. Payne's Lec
tures on Original Sin. By the Bev, James Meikie." 1850.

CHAPTER XXIV.
STUDIES INDUCED BY OFPICIIL DUTIES — -WESLEYAN-METHODISM : ESSENTIAL TO
THE -WELFAEE OF THE NATION; NEITHER THE ESTABLISHED CHUBCH NOB
DISSENT CAPABLE OF SUPPLYING ITS PLACE ; ITS -nTALITY DEPENDENT ON
THE EVANGELICAL CHABAOTER OF ITS MINISTRY — THE CLASS-MEETING: ITS
PRO-YIDENTIAL ORIGIN ; ITS IMPORTANCE TO METHODISM ; A NATURAL
RESULT OF RELIGIOUS LIFE — TEE CLAIMS OF THE YOUNG UPON THE PAS
TORATE — CONNEXIONAL DISTURBANCES : OFTEN TRACEABLE TO POLITICAL
CAUSES ; AGITATIONS IN THE ESTABLISHED CHURCH AND DISSENT LESS
\'IOLENT IN FORM, EUT MORE SERIOUS IN THEIR NATUBE — NOTES OF CON
NEXIONAL PROGRESS DURING THE LAST SIXTY YEARS AND UPWARDS — "MAY
IT LIVE FOB EVER ! "
WHEN I became a member of a Methodist Society, and when
at a later period I entered upon the Itinerant Ministry,
my knowledge of the world, of the Church of God in its various
sections, of theology, and of religious controversy, was con
fined within very narrow limits. I joined the Methodists
because they were the instrumentsof my salvation, and because
all their principles and institutions, so far as I understood them,
agreed with that new nature which I received when I behoved
in Christ, and felt " the love of God shed abroad " in my heart
by " the Holy Ghost given unto me."
My official engagements in connexion with the Methodist
Body have imposed upon me the duty of studying the cha
racter, the history, and the writings of Mr. Wesley, together
with the history and economy of the Connexion which bears
his name. Por more than half a century I have also had favour
able opportunities of observing the working of the system,
and the trials to which it has been subjected ; I have read and
considered many of the books which have been written against
it ; and have also read and pondered some thousands of volumes
written by men Uving in different ages, and holding almost every
variety of reUgious opinion, — BpiscopaUans, Presbyterians,

490 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Independents, Baptists, Predestinarians, and Arminians ; and
the result of the whole is a thorough conviction that I made a
right choice at the outset of hiy religious course, and have
hitherto been guided by a Hand Divine. According to the best
judgment I can form, in no other Christian community should
I have had equal means and opportunities of either receiving
or doing moral and spiritual good. Here, then, I intend to
lemain. " This people shall be my people, and their God shall
be my God." Where they live and worship, there wiU I live
and worship. In feUowship with them I intend to die. But
neither wiU death dissolve our happy union. With them, and
all who love the Lord Jesus Christ in sincerity, I trust to be
one in Him for ever.
As to the manner in which I have been employed in con
nexion with Methodism, I trust that I have been led by the
providence of God, to whose guidance I have felt it my duty to
surrender myself. I can say ¦with perfect truth, that the service
in which my life has been spent was in no instance chosen by
myself. I never entered into a pulpit as a Local Preacher till I
was urged so to do by the Superintendent Minister who was
over me in the Lord. At the recommendation of other men,
and not at my own request, I was appointed by the Conference
to the regular duties of a Circuit before I had given my consent
to such an arrangement, and before I was at my own disposal.
The office of Editor and, afterwards, that of Theological Tutor
were forced upon me in opposition to my sincere and earnest
remonstrances ; for in both cases I distrusted my own abUity
to discharge the duties connected with them. By a clandestine
press I have been accused of ambitiously aspiring to these posts
of honour, and of a tenacious adherence to them when obtained ;
but I can bear the accusation without a murmur ; for He who
made me knows that it is untrue; and that my highest ambition,
ever since I became a TravelUng Preacher, has been to spend
my lUe in Circuit work. , The duties of the Presidency of the
Conference, honourable as they were in themselves, were to me
irksome rather than otherwise ; for I was always conscious of
an inaptitude for matters of business. The study, the pulpit,
the class-room, the chamber of the afflicted, are the places

Personal Predilections overnded. 491
where I should have found my most appropriate and agreeable-
employment. In this, the prevalent desfre of my heart, I have
been overruled ; so that, if I have not pursued through life my
Providential path, the blame does not rest with me, but with.
the men with whom I was associated in the service of Christ.
An opinion has often been expressed within the last few
years, that Methodism was necessary a century ago, as a means
of awakening the Church and nation out of thefr guilty apathy
in respect of religion ; but that it has fulfiUed its mission, and
ought therefore to disappear as a separate agency, and merge
itself in the EstabUshed Church. In these views I confess my
inabihty to concur. There has indeed been a vast increase of
true religion in England within the last hundred years ; but
there has also been a vast increase of population ; so that there
are now, in aU probabUity, as many ungodly people in the
United Kingdom as there were when the Wesleys and Mr.
Whitefield entered upon their irregular labours as itinerant
and field preachers. During this period there has been a
gratifying increase of enhghtened piety and zeal in the Estab
lished Church, both among the Clergy and laity; but then
evils of fearful magnitude have also made their appearance
vrithin her pale ; and no adequate power to correct and remove
them has hitherto been put forth.
Suppose a young clergyman, thoroughly imbued -with the
Eitualistic spirit, to be entrusted with the charge of a country
parish, where he teaches from the pulpit the essential elements
of Popery, in opposition to which the Protestant martyrs bled ;
and to exhibit in his dress and gesticulations the fopperies of
the Papal ceremonial : what is to become of the poor people, if
there be not in their neighbourhood a Methodist chapel, to which
they may resort to hear the truth ? In many cases they and
their children ¦wUl first be confounded, and then prepared to
receive the pernicious teaching of " the man of sin." Oxford
sends forth semi-Eomanists, to prepare the unsuspecting
peasantry of England for such agents of mischief as the Papal .
authorities are prepared to employ and sanction, in thefr attempts
to inveigle unsettled and straying sheep into the fold of mystic -
Babylon.

492 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
Or suppose a young man, warm from the cloisters of Oxford,
going into a country vUlage, under Episcopal authority, to
e cho the sentiments of the EationaUstic party, as they are ex
pounded by one of the popular Professors now resident in that
University. He teUs the people that St. Paul's Epistles contam
a mixture of Gospel truth and of Jewish error ; that this famous
Apostle, to whom the Christian Church has paid a mistaken
deference for eighteen hundred years, is not entitled, as a teacher
of reUgion, to thefr entfre confidence, but that his Epistles must
be read with reserve ; that he wrote in Greek, of which he pro-
iessed to have an inspired knowledge, but it is doubtful whether
in every case he really understood the exact meaning of the
words he has used ; that he made a great mistake in the first
Epistle which he addressed to the Church of Thessalonica, and
had to write a second time to correct the error into which he had
fallen ; that Christ did indeed die, but not as a propitiatory
sacrifice for sin, though the Scriptures say He did; that
the testimony of Scripture on this subject is contradicted by
our own personal consciousness, which is a greater authority
than the Bible ; that a man may solemnly declare before God,
that he believes the doctrines of Christianity as they are under
stood by the Church of England and embodied in her formu
laries, though he has no such belief. If a Eeverend Professor
in the University may thus teach and thus act, why may not a
country Vicar foUow his example ? And are the everlasting
interests of an unsuspecting peasantry to be sacrificed because
the patron of a Uving has nominated such a man to a parish,
and the Bishop has committed to him the care of souls ? The
JEngUsh peasantry are shrewd enough to see that if one Apostle
is unworthy of credit, so are the rest, and so are the Prophets
of the Old Testament. What then is to be expected but Sabbath
¦desecration, drunkenness, profane swearing, andevery evUwork?
Let the people then have at least an opportunity of hearing
the Gospel, as Christ and His Apostles taught it, and as it is
understood by the great body of Christian people. If they cannot
hear it in the church, let them hear it in a Methodist chapel,
or from a faithful evangeUst in the mud-waUed cottage of a day-
labourer. At aU events, let the poor hear the Gospel as it is

Methodism essential to the National Welfare. 493
laid down in the New Testament, unmutilated and uncorrupted
by the rashness and folly of clerical sceptics, whether Eeverend
or Eight Eeverend.
The more I think on this subject, the more deeply am I
convinced that Wesleyan Methodism is an institution, the
maintenance of which is essential to the welfare of the nation ;
and that a Methodist chapel in every viUage and hamlet, as
weU as in the large to-wns, would be a pubhc blessing. Many
parishes are indeed favoured with clergymen who preach the
truth with fidelity, and are in every respect " ensamples to the
flock ; " but human life is brief and uncertain ; and who knows,
in any given case, what a faithful clergyman's successor may
be? whether "a good minister of Jesus Christ," a semi-
Papist, or a sceptic ? According to the popular teaching of a
numerous class of clergymen, mankind are saved not by personal
faith exercised in a penitent state of the heart, but by the
efficacy of the sacraments, administered by men who are in the
" Apostolical succession ; " so that aU whom they baptize are
regenerated, and all to whom they administer the Lord's
Supper are pardoned. The Methodist doctrine of the new
birth, and of personal conversion, they therefore declare to be
a delusion. In this manner the ignorant are misled to their
endless ruin. They are taught to substitute the forms of
reUgion for its substance ; to believe themselves to be the
children of God, when they are the chUdren of the wicked one ;
and that they are in the way to a blessed immortality, whUe
their hearts are unsanctified, and their Uves unholy.
Dissent, as it exists in England, is not likely ever to meet the
religious wants of the people in our agricultural -viUages and
hamlets. Independency is not in itself aggressive. When its
friends, therefore, under the influence of godly zeal, attempt
to extend the kingdom of Christ, either at home or abroad, they
are compeUed to deviate from their recognized system of Church-
order, and adopt the connexional principle, by the formation of
a general Society. But it wUl be a long time before they can,
by means of Home Missionary institutions, extend the benefits
of evangelical instruction to every destitute locality in the
land. After all therefore that has been done by the Church

494 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
and by the Dissenters, and after aU that can yet be done by
their combined efforts, there will still be a need of Methodism
as a distinct reUgious agency. Merge it in the Established
Church, and it wUl immediately lose its freedom of action, and
cease to meet the wants of the people where the Church teaches
Tractarian error, or a bewildering scepticism. To a consider
able extent the Church is a creature of the State, which imposes
restraint upon clerical action, such as the Apostles never
acknowledged, and Mr. Wesley could not brook ; confining the
ministers of Christ to their own parishes, forbidding them to
extend their labours beyond a prescribed boundary ; even
though the people beyond that boundary are perishing in sin
and ignorance, and are willing to receive the truth, by whom
soever it may be declared to them.
That Methodism may stiU fulfil its mission, it must be pre
served in its integrity, and in its primitive spfrit. Its ministry
must not be artificial, but plain, earnest, awakening, instructive,
practical, encouraging : in one word, thoroughly evangelical ;
adapted and designed to bring sinners to repentance, penitent
sinners to Christ as thefr Saviour, justified believers to a course
of practical holiness, and to a state of entire sanctification to
God. In order to its success, it must be ever exercised with
much prayer ; that the word, like that of the Apostles, may he
attended by a Divine power. Such was the ministry of the
Wesleys, of Thomas Walsh, of WiUiam BramweU, of Joseph
Benson, of Adam Clarke, and of aU the great men of Methodism.
They spumed the emptiness of an inflated rhetoric, of a sickly
sentimentality, and proclaimed the truth with a clearness, a
zeal, and an energy, which were aU but irresistible. " With
great power gave the Apostles ¦witness of the resurrection of the
Lord Jesus."
It was by the special Providence of God, I apprehend, that
Mr. Wesley was led to sanction the weekly class-meeting, as a
means of religious edification. It was not, in the first instance,
devised by him, but arose out of the religious yearnings of the
people who were awakened and converted under his ministry
and that of his brother. These simple-minded people, just
brought into a state of personal reconcUiation with God,

The true Philosophy of the Class-Meeting. 495
longed for Christian fellowship. They wanted to meet together,
with other persons like-minded, that they might declare what
the Lord had done for their souls, pray with and for each
other, and by mutual counsel promote each other's comfort and
edification. It was not sufficient that they attended the
ministry of the Word, and approached the table of the Lord ;
they felt that they could not live without Christian feUowship.
The same feeling prevaUed in the primitive disciples. The
converted people in Jerusalem, after the Pentecost, were " of
one heart and of one soul;" they assembled in one another's
houses ; and " continued steadfastly in the Apostles' doctrine
and feUowship, and in breaking of bread, and in prayers."
The believers at Thessalonica " comforted " and " edified " one
another. The hearts of the Colossians, of the Laodiceans, and
of Christian people everywhere, were " knit together in love."
The Hebrews who were " partakers of the heavenly caUing," for-
Booknot " the assembUng of themselves together " for thefrmutual
improvement in personal godUness and in good works. St.
Peter spent some days and nights in the company of heathen
soldiers ; but it was because he was bound to them by a chain.
As soon as he obtained his hberty, he went dfrectly, as by a
moral instinct, " to the house of Mary the mother of John,
where many were gathered together praying." Peter and John
were for a time imprisoned, and then arraigned as criminals in
a court at Jerusalem ; but " being let go, they went to
their own company." And so it always wUlbe ¦with spirituaUy-
minded people. Theirs is not the rehgion of form, but of love ;
and it is of the essence of love to make all one. Hence the true
philosophy of the class-meeting. During a long Ufe of observa
tion, and especially during the forty years in which I myself
had the charge of a class, I have invariably seen that in exact
proportion as the members are spfrituaUy-minded, and reli
giously in earnest, they prize these meetings, and deUght to
attend them ; and as they become worldly in thefr disposition,
and formal and lukewarm in the service of God, they are
indifferent to these means of grace, and seek , for excuses
io justify thefr non-attendance. As to myseU, I have
found it to be a great benefit to be compeUed, once a week at

496 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
least, to review my past conduct, to inquire into the state of
my heart with respect to God ; and I have every reason ta
beUeve that at this day I am a better man than I should
otherwise have been, in consequence of the weekly class -
meeting, which I have been accustomed to attend.
No relaxation with respect to this branch of the Wesleyan
economy I trust wiU ever be aUowed, whatever may be said to
the contrary, by men who are given to speculation and change.
Surely the experience of more than a hundred years, in which
the vast utiUty of these meetings has been manifest and
undeniable, is sufficient to secure for them the stamp of
perpetuity. They are equally beneficial to the young disciple
and to the aged believer ; and are proved to be as weU adapted
to the reclaimed savages and men-eaters of Fiji as to the con
verted people of civihzed England. Indeed, without some such
intercourse with each other as these meetings secure, it is
impossible for Christians completely to fulfil the duties which
they owe to one another. How can they otherwise realize "the
communion of saints ; " how "bear one another's burdens, and
thus fulfil the law of Christ ? "
Sound and effective preaching, attended by the awaken
ing and converting power of the Holy Ghost, wiU secure-
perpetuity to the class-meeting, but nothing else will
produce that effect. Pamphlets and tracts may be written and
cfrculated without end in favour of these weekly meetings
for the mutual communication of reUgious experience ; but if
the people have no rehgious experience to communicate, they
wiU be urged in vain to meet together for any such purpose.
If they feel no sorrowful conviction of sin, they wiU never
seek the sympathy and prayers of those who have passed
through the same painful process to the joys of pardon. If
they do not know thefr sins forgiven ; U they are unconscious
of any gracious change in thefr state and character ; if they
are not sensible of any spiritual conflicts, victories, and pro
gress ; they wiU never in the fulness of their hearts utter the
joyous exclamation of the grateful psalmist : " Come and hear,
aU ye that fear God, and I will declare what He hath done for
my soul."

The Class-Meeting a Correlative of a faithful Ministry. 497
It is by the faithful ministry of God's word, and by that only,
that these effects are ordinarily produced, and that men and
women are prepared for the communion of saints. " Give me
a place where to stand,'' said a vain man of ancient times, "and
I wUl move the earth." The minister of Christ is supplied
with a standing-place, and with a lever of sufficient power,
to produce a far more important and striking effect than that
phUosopher ever contemplated. The Gospel, rightly applied,
is " mighty through God." But it is the complete Gospel,
exhibiting, as the common privilege of believers, deliverance from
all sin in the present Ufe, so that the guilt of sin is cancelled, the
heart is purified from an evU conscience, and nothing remains
within contrary to the pure and perfect love of God. For
the notion, that entire holiness is obtained only in the article
of death, is as baseless a dream as the Popish purgatory ; both
of them having been derived, not from the Holy Scriptures,
but from the old heathen and Gnostic theory, that where there
is matter there is moral evil, which nothing can effectuaUy
correct and remove ; so that the body is necessarily a subject
of mpral defilement. Whereas, according to Apostolic teach
ing, the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth from all sin ; and to
that blest Fountain every sinner has freedom of access.
Many of the old Methodist Preachers were eminently success
ful in leading the people of thefr charge to realize its efficacy ;
and their sons in the Gospel, it is hoped, will be equaUy faithful
in maintaining this part of their testimony, and equally suc
cessful in bringing thefr hearers up to the true standard of
Christian hoUness. The weekly class-meeting then wiU be no
burden, but a source of joy and delight.
Indifference to the class-meeting, generaUy speaking, is the
direct consequence of rehgious declension, or of the absence
of a sound conversion. We never find this means of grace
either slighted or neglected by young converts in the sacred
ardour of their first love, nor by earnest believers who are
going on unto perfection. But when men have left their first
love, 80 as to have become lukewarm, or cold in their affections ;
or when they have assumed the Christian profession without
any deep conviction of sin, and have therefore never entered
K K

498 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
into the true liberty of the Gospel ; they cannot find joy and
delight in the fellowship of saints ; for this reason, that they
are not saints themselves. In real revivals of religion the
young converts, full of joy and peace in believing, flock to the
class-meeting like " the doves to their windows ; " and nothing
is wanting to render this ordinance as popular as it ever was in
Methodism but a copious effusion of the Holy. Spirit's grace.
It was when the Christians in Jerusalem " were all fiUed with
the Holy Ghost," that they were so blended and gathered into
one, as to be " of one heart and of one soul." The religion of
Christ is essentially social in its character. The kind and hea
venly affections, which it never faUs to produce, find their appro
priate exercise and play in sanctified intercourse with spirituaUy-
minded people.
I cannot but regard the mutual greetings which usuaUy take
place at the close of a class-meeting as second only in import
ance to the class-meeting itself. The members take one another
by the hand, inquire after one another's welfare, and thus indi
cate the kind affections with which their hearts are charged.
Words cannot express the cheering effect which these greetings
often produce in such as are anxious and sad. A poor
widow, struggling with adversity, and iU able to provide for her
helpless family; a labouring man, toiling hard to obtain
bread for his wife and children ; are taken by the hand, and
hear words of friendliness and sympathy from the lips of per
sons who are above them in social position, and are com
forted. Should it be suggested to individual members, that
they do not need for themselves the class-meeting as a reUgious
stimulus, they will do well to remember that it may be worth
thefr while to attend that service, were it only to look kindly
upon their brethren and sisters, and to speak a word in season
to such as may be ready to faint in the day of adversity.
Methodists should attend their weekly class-meeting, for the
purpose of doing good to others, as well as that of receiving
spiritual benefit themselves. When both these objects can be
secured at once, a double motive is brought to bear upon a
thoughtful and conscientious mind.
It has been objected to the Methodists, that they make attend-

The Ministry and the Youth of Methodism. 499
ance upon the weekly class-meeting a condition of Church-
membership ; which is not true. A Methodist Preacher baptizes
several children in the public congregation on the Lord's day,
--and then returns thanks to God for their admission " into the
-ark of Christ's Church." Do these, infants, who are carried
home in the arms of their mothers, meet in class ? or are they
deprived of their membership for their non-attendance ? Adult
persons of good moral character, who do not meet in class, are
admitted by ticket to the table of the Lord in Methodist chapels.
Do not these people belong to the Church of Christ, in the sense
¦which the tern; Church generaUy bears in the New Testament ?
'Who ever supposed that the Methodist Societies are commensu
rate ¦with the Christian Church ? These Societies, with their
weekly class-meetings, were formed for the purpose of fostering
and promoting spiritual religion, and have long been found
admirably adapted to secure this object ; but, even connected
with Methodism, it is undeniable that there are members of the
Christian Church, both infant and adult, who do not meet in
-class. Yet this is no reason why the Methodists should make
light of an institution which they and their fathers have for
ages proved to be connected with spiritual benefits of the
Jiighest order.
Some new and efficient arrangement is necessary to lead
the youth of Methodism to the enjoyment of the salvation of
God, and to secure their permanent connexion with this form
of Christianity. The Methodists, in common with the gene
rality of Christians, practise infant baptism, which they justly
regard as the Sacrament of admission into the Church of God ;
yet these members of the Church are not generally recognized
as such, unless in adult age they give signs of repentance, and
request admission to the class-meeting. This certainly is an
unsatisfactory state of things. If they are members of the
Church from the time of thefr baptism, their names ought to
be enrolled as such; and as soon as they are capable of
receiving Christian instruction, they should be regularly cate
chized and taught under the Church's sanction, as weU as by
their parents. The ministry which Christ ordained, according
to the tenour of the New Testament, comprehends not only
2 K 2

500 . Recollections of my own Life and Times.
preaching, but the pastoral oversight of the Church, — its junior
m'embers, as weU as those of adult age. It is not sufficient
that they are taken to Sunday-schools. They should be divided
into classes, and regularly met for the purpose of personal
instruction and encouragement, in respect of religion, if not by
Ministers themselves, by persons regularly appointed to the
service, and acting under the direction and sanction of the regu
lar Pastorate. On this subject my late brother Samuel bore a
solemn and earnest testimony for many years ; but his suc
cess was far from being proportional to his hopes and con
victions. The time surely wiU come when the case of Meth
odist children wUl receive more serious and practical attention
than it has yet obtained.
The agitations which have taken place with regard to
Methodism have, doubtless, created in many minds a feeling of
disgust ; so that thoughtful persons who have not understood
the facts of these cases have come to the conclusion, that
there must be something essentiaUy vicious in a system which
is connected with such outbreaks of evil as the nation witnessed
a few years ago. To those who entertain such thoughts I would
observe, that the disturbances which have dishonoured and
afflicted the Methodist Body may be often traced to political
causes, with which reUgion, properly speaking, has little or
no concern. Those disturbances have never related to matters
ofdoctrine, but always to Church- government ; and they have
invariably taken place in times of civil disquietude, and when
democratic elements have been in extensive operation.
The agitation which Alexander KiUiam promoted took place
at the time of the French Eevolution, when societies were
formed in England to overturn the monarchy, and to introduce
a republican form of government. The public mind was
unsettled ; existing governments were regarded as tyrannies ;
every one was talking about " the rights of man ;" and "the
people " were declared to be "the origin of power." It was
not to be expected that the Methodist mind would altogether
escape the democratic bias which extensively pervaded the
country. Dr. Warren's agitation occurred when the public attention had

Agitations of the Connexion often due to Political Causes. 501
lately been occupied with the question of ParUamentary Eeform,
and the people were everywhere clamouring for political power.
Such was the state of excitement, that when the Legislature
seemed tardy in its movements, one of the most popular of the
London newspapers caUed upon the people to learn the miUtary
¦exercise, and demand an extension of the elective franchise
with arms in their hands. Here again men of limited views,
who were given to change, thought that some new ecclesiastical
arrangements should be adopted by the Methodists, correspond
ing with what was called Parliamentary Eeform.
The last agitation of Methodism was at its height imme-
¦diately after the memorable year of 1848, when nearly aU the
thrones in Europe were shaken to their foundations, and a
passion for change was deep and widely spread.
Government, even in its mUdest form, is a restraint upon man
kind, and is often felt to be a cause of uneasiness to those who
.are under its power. It has therefore been justly observed, that
" He that goeth about to persuade a multitude that they are not
so well governed as they ought to be, shaU never want favour
able and attentive hearers." The government of Moses, though it
was conducted under the manifest dfrection of Almighty God, was
spoken against and openly resisted by many thousands of the men
of Israel, who shared in its benefits. Absalom, a worthless young
man, stained with the blood of his own brother, by plausible
speeches against the government of his father, succeeded in raising
a civil war for his father's dethronement, though that father was
known to be "the Lord's anointed." Amongthe first Christians
too we read of a Diotrephes, "who loved to have the pre
eminence ; " and who even "prated against " the Apostles " with
malicious words," impatient of any control even by inspfred men.
What wonder is it then that among the many thousands of people
who are connected with Methodism, a passion for novelty and
a spirit of insubordination should occasionaUy appear, especiaUy
in times when large masses of the community are seeking for
•social and poUtical changes ?
To form a correct judgment concerning Methodist agitations,
the manner in which they have been originated and carried on
must be carefully considered. Two or three Preachers, thinking

502 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
that their character and abilities are not duly appreciated, and-
mortified that they are not preferred to offices for which they think-
they are well qualified, set themselves to oppose and grieve the
men whom they regard as standing in the way of thefr advance-/
ment ; and under the influence of disappointed feeling persuade
the Societies that their rights are invaded, and urge them to
acts of resistance. In times of public excitement it is not
difficult, by such means, to produce " swellings and tumults."
Agents of mischief, in their attempts to promote strife and
division in the Wesleyan Connexion, derive great advantage
from the intimate union which subsists between the Preachers
and the Societies, and between one Society and another. A
quarrel between a Clergyman and one of his brethren, or between
two Dissenting Ministers, excites little pubUc attention, because
the parties are isolated ; but in the Methodist Connexion such
quarrels are felt from one end of the kingdom to another,
because the Preachers and the Societies everywhere feel that
they are one Body. Their compact unity gives them a mighty
advantage in thefr efforts to do good in the world ; because in
the erection of chapels, in Missionary operations, and in the-
extension of viUage preaching, they act simultaneously, putting
forth their combined strength in the cause of Christ. The
Connexional principle may be appUed to purposes of both good
and evil ; but the evU is accidental and temporary ; wbUe the-
good is inherent and enduring.
It has sometimes been observed that the Church of England
is the abode of peace, and is not afflicted by such agitations as
the Wesleyan Body has witnessed, to the disgrace of religion,
and even of civiUzed life ; men professing Christianity peram
bulating the country, speaking all manner of evU, in mixed
assemblies, against those whom they had for years acknowledged
as their brethren in the Lord. Dissent too, it has been aUegedj
presents no such outbreaks of maUgnity and rancour. On
these grounds, it has been suggested, that Churchmanship
and Dissent are both preferable to Methodism as forms of
Christianity. On this subject I would observe that if the Church of Eng
land is not agitated, it ought to be ; for many of its Clergy are-

Truth and Purity before Peace. 503
tainted with Popery, and others with Scepticism, evils which
would not be tolerated in Methodism; no, not for an hour.
Subscription to the formularies of the Church, in many cases at
present answers no purpose whatever, except that of securing
ordination and a living ; for not a few of the Clergy both preach
and write, without reserve, against the doctrines to which they
have declared their full assent. Whether a practice so immoral
ought to be connived at, and passed over in sUence, by the
professed members of the Church, may be left to the decision
of pure-minded and upright men. What would be thought of
statesmen, judges, naval and miUtary commanders, who should
thus openly disregard the pledges which they gave on their
appointment to their several offices ? Ministers of the Gospel,
being set for the conservation of public morals, ought, of aU
other men, to uphold the sacredness of truth ; so that for them
openly to violate their solemn engagement is matter of public
scandal, of which men who profess to have entered into the
labours of Christ and His Apostles ought to be ashamed.
The absence of popular agitation in the Established Church,
it may be further observed, is attributable to causes, from the
operation of which it is hoped Wesleyan Methodism will be
always free. Generally speaking, the clergy are independent of
the people, being neither nominated nor supported by them.
The people to whom they minister, have no guarantee as to the
personal piety or the doctrinal soundness of the men whose
teaching they attend, and from whom they receive the sacra
ments of Christ. Nor are the laity under any strict discipline
as to thefr religious and moral conduct, but are indiscriminately
admitted to the table of the Lord. When every one does what
is right in his own eyes, there is clearly no ground of agitation.
But the Wesleyan Connexion, it is earnestly hoped, wiU never
seek to obtain peace on any such terms as these. However
desfrable peace may be, truth and purity are of stUl higher
importance, and ought never to be bartered at any price.
Christians are charged to " come out from among " the ungodly
and profane; and are warned that every one who bids "God
speed " to an abettor of antichristian error is a " partaker of
his evU deeds." The doctrinal purity of the Wesleyan pulpit

504 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
has hitherto been sacredly guarded ; and the indiscriminate
administration of the Lord's Supper is never thought of in a
Wesleyan chapel, and it is hoped never wUl be.
That the Dissenters are also free from such wide-spread
agitations as that which lately afflicted the Wesleyan Body is
true, because of their isolation, their churches being independent
of each other. Yet Dissent has its disturbances, as well as Meth
odism, and as all voluntary Churches must have at one time or
another. Disputes which lead to divisions in Independent
churches are matters of frequent occurrence ; and within the
last few years the Dissenters of England have had among them
selves agitations far more serious in their nature and results,
though less violent in their form, than any that Methodism ever
knew. The late agitations of Methodism, which some Dissenters
assisted to exasperate, related only to matters of disciphne;
but those of Independency, which still exist, and are likely to
continue, relate to the truth of the Bible, and to some of the
essential doctrines of Christianity. It is in vain therefore to
imagine that in this world of sin and error men can, by embracing
any form of religion, avoid trouble and annoyance, and spend
their lives in absolute " rest and quietness." Such is the state
of human nature, and the power of the wicked one, " it muSt
needs be that offences come ; " and the concern of Christians
should be, not to avoid them, but to meet them in a spirit of
uncompromising fideUty, yet so as to exempUfy " the meekness
and gentleness of Christ."
Instability in religion is an evil upon which every religious
community must calculate. It is often witnessed in circum
stances the most favourable to piety. There was a time when
" many" of even our Lord's " disciples went back, and walked
no more with Him ; " and at the close of his life, St. Paul
mentioned it as a sad, but notorious fact, that all his spiritual
children in Asia "were turned away" from him, seduced by
one evil influence or another. In some of the seven churches
of Asia evils of enormous magnitude were tolerated ; and in all
of them there were discernible sad proofs of religious declension.
It is therefore no matter of surprise that ordinary ministers
sometimes mourn to see their hopes blasted, and the fruit of

The Oak rooted by the Storm. 505
their labour destroyed. In the purest and best organized
Churches, soon or late, " will men arise speaking perverse
things, to draw away disciples after them ; " and " many will
follow their pernicious ways," however earnestly they may be
warned by their faithful ministers and pastors. " The thing
that hath been, it is that which shall be ; and that which is
done is that which shaU be done : and there is no new thing
under the sun."
The troubles of Methodism have only served to give greater
stability to the system, and prepare it for more extensive use
fulness in the world. A man who has had to fight his way
through difficulties, discouragements, and opposition, usuaUy
possesses greater strength of character than the man who has
always Uved at ease, and has had everything provided for him
by the heads and hands of other men ; and just so it is with
religious communities. Methodism, assailed by many a storm,
both from the Church and Dissent, and often betrayed by faith
less friends from within, stands at this day in greater strength
and efficiency than at any former period of its existence. Men
of limited views aud of timid disposition would sacrifice every
thing, even Christian truth and order, to secure a temporary
tranquillity; but John Wesley and his hardy sons in the Gospel
have better understood their trust and caUing. At the Diet of
Worms Martin Luther, having placed his foot upon the rock of
Scripture truth, exclaimed before the most formidable powers
in Europe, " Here I stand : God help me ! "
To me it is a matter of thankfulness to God that I have lived
to see the Connexion, both at home and abroad, in a state of
peace, and of general prosperity and enlargement. F.acUities
are given to every Circuit to memorialize the Conference con
cerning any rule of the Body that is deemed injurious in its
operation ; but they have nothing to complain of, and are bent
upon higher objects than the modification of rules as matter of
mere theory and opinion. They are happily intent upon the
advancement of true religion by the spread of the Gospel in
neglected vUlages, in the crowded population of large towns, in
the army, the navy, and in the heathen world. JiTever were the
Societies generaUy in a state of more profound peace ; never

506 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
was such liberality manifested for the erection of new chapels
and the relief of such as are burdened with debt ; never were
the Preachers, so far as I am able to judge, more closely united
in the same mind and in the same judgment ; never were tha
Conference and the laymen of the Body more entirely one in
judgment, confidence, and affection ; never were the Foreign
Missions more prosperous, or more generously supported;
never was the cause of Wesleyan education in a more hopeful
state than it is at this day. This is the Lord's doing, the effect
of His gracious influence, copiously and widely vouchsafed;
and it is more than a compensation for the clamour of agitators,
and the reproaches which were lavished upon the Conference by
a licentious press, and by licentious tongues. Such are the
fruits of fidelity in the hour of trial, and the remembrance of
the promise, "The Lord shall comfort Zion : He will comfort
all her waste places ; He will make her wilderness like Eden,
and her desert Uke the garden of the Lord; joy and gladness
shaU be found therein, thanksgiving and the voice of melody."
Having been a party to the establishment of the Wesleyan
Theological Institution, watched its progress from the beginning,
and been officially connected with it for nineteen years, I feel
it my duty to record my testimony in its behalf. Much of the
prejudice against it which once existed has died away ; yet
many things have operated to its disadvantage ; and tUl very
recently it has not received from the Connexion generaUy the
countenance and support to which it is fairly entitled. A
serious error was committed when the last agitation was
at its height. Pew candidates for the ministry were then
accepted, under a mistaken apprehension that their services in
the Cfrcuits would not be requfred till after the lapse of some
years ; and therefore few were sent either to Didsbury or
to Eichmond, to be prepared for the public work. The
consequence was, that when a state of peace and prosperity
returned, and the Circuits called for additional labourers,
trained men were not forthcoming, and preachers were sent
forth to discharge duties for which they were not duly
qualified ; and the evil is still perpetuated. Young men are-
sent to the several Branches of the Institution, but are not

Theological Institution Libraries. 507
all allowed to remain there for the full term of residence ; sa
that the Institution has not assisted the Wesleyan ministry to
the extent that was expected at the time of its formation. It
has, however, been a mighty benefit to the Connexion, though
it has been thus cramped and impeded in its operations. Not
a few of those who have remained there three years.
have more than realized the hopes that were entertained
concerning them at the time of their admission. They have
acquired such a knowledge of the sacred languages as enables
them to prosecute thefr Biblical studies with pleasure and
success ; and such a correct and comprehensive acquaintance
¦with revealed truth as qualifies them, not only to appear with
advantage in the pulpit, but also to take thefr rank among the
best preachers of the age. Others of them are to be reckoned
among the most diligent and enterprising of Missionaries;
giving to savage nations the Holy Scriptures, and a useful
literature ; and promoting, even among cannibals, inteUigence,
civUization, and a pure form of Christianity.
At each Branch of the Institution there ought to be a good
library, worthy of the Connexion, for the use of the Tutors-
and of the Students, and such as would assist Uterary men in
the composition of works which have a direct bearing uport
morals and reUgion. Soon after the Institution was formed a
handsome present of books was made to it by Mr. and Mrs.
Parmer, including a fine copy of Walton's Polyglot Bible, and
other works of great value ; and they afterwards added to their
former gifts. Other persons have also made liberal additions.
to these sacred treasures. But the noblest donation to its
Ubraries is that of Mr. Heald, who gave the sum of one thou
sand pounds, out of which a purchase was made of the books
which I had coUected for my own use, in the course of fifty
years, consisting of seven thousand five hundred volumes ; and
these, with a further outlay, have added to two of the libraries
I presume more than eight thousand volumes. The munifi
cence of Mr. Heald far surpasses aU former example ; and it
may be hoped •wiU stimulate others to a generous emulation in
the same department of usefulness. It is indeed high time-
that the Connexion in general should assume a more literary

508 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
character than it has yet borne. The two Wesleys and Mr.
Fletcher set a noble example of Christian authorship, which
has been successfully foUowed by Messrs. Benson, Watson,
SutcUffe, Edmondson, Treffry, Farrar, Wiseman, Bishop, BeU,
G. Smith, Drew, and others ; and by Doctors Adam Clarke, Coke,
Etheridge, Eule, and Eigg. It is hoped that the succession of
Methodist authors wiU be perpetuated ; and that ample libraries
¦connected with the Wesleyan Theological Institution wiU aid
them in their honourable career. For nothing was Mr. Wesley
more remarkable than for sacred scholarship and the free use
of the press, and the men who have entered into his labours
cannot show a greater respect for his memory than by imitating
his example.
A Life of Mr. Fletcher, containing a history and analysis of
his theological writings, and a comparison of them with what
had been previously written on the same subjects from the
time of the Protestant Eeformation, would be a valuable boon
to a student. The narrative of his LUe which is at present in
circulation exhibits his piety to great advantage, but does not
even attempt to estimate his character as a theologian. No
controversiaUst ever had a more complete triumph, either in
respect of argument or of temper. His Arminianism was not
tbat of Whitby, or of Limborch, but was of the purest evange
lical type ; and the principles which he so successfuUy defended
must ever enter largely into the ministrations of men who
preach to bring sinners to their Sa-viour, and then to build them
up in holy love.
Within the last fifty years more has been done, by an apph
cation of the principles of genuine criticism, to obtain a pure
text of the New Testament, and to ascertain its true mean
ing, than the Christian Church has attempted at any former
period. Why should not the Methodist Mmisters and people
enjoy the fuU benefit of this vast amount of labour and sanctir
fied scholarship? WUl none of Mr. Wesley's sons in the
Gospel embody, in a readable and popular Exposition of the
New Testament, the substance of the sacred criticism contained
in some hundreds of modern volumes, which few are able to

sixty Years of Connexional Progress. 509
purchase, and fewer stiU are able to understand and appreciate
in thefr present form ? AU honour to the men who wUl under
take and fulfil this labour of love to Christ and His people !
Several cheap and popular manuals are also greatly needed
in the Connexion on subjects of deep and general interest ;
such as the Sacrament of baptism, and that of the Lord's
Supper. The principles of Church-government, as they are-
laid down in the Christian Scriptures, should be famUiarly
expounded, that the members of our Societies who have not
much time for reading, may be prepared to meet the ensnaring
suggestions of men who profess to be in what they are pleased
to call " the apostolical succession," to the exclusion of aU
classes of ministers who have not been ordained by Diocesan
Prelates. A concise volume is specially needed as an antidote
to Popery, showing that it bears aU the marks of the great
apostasy against which Christians are warned in the Holy
Scriptures ; exposing its fundamental errors in doctrine, and
the idolatrous character of its worship ; the abominations of
its confessional ; the evils connected with its monastic and
conventual system ; and especially the deeds of blood which
have been perpetrated under its sanction. Surely the people
of England only need to be reminded of these things, in order
that they may resist the woman on the seven hills, who is now
courting them with smiles and blandishments ; while such
men as Doctors Manning and Pusey are supporting her
claims, and a host of Clergymen avow their belief of her heresies,
are mimicking her heathenish ceremonies, and would make
Protestant England a land of graven images.
It has been my happiness as a Methodist Preacher for more
than sixty years to -witness the steady progress of the form of
Christianity with which I have been connected, and many new
arrangements introduced into its economy. Among these I
would particularly mention the organization of the Wesleyan
Missionary Society, and the consequent formation of successful
Missions in Ceylon, Continental India, China, South Africa,
AustraUa, New Zealand, the Friendly and Fiji Islands, Italy,
and the strengthening of the older Missions in the West Indies,
British America, and Western Africa. I have seen the annual

510 Recollections of my oivn Life, and Times.
income of the Missions raised from £2,212. 16s. Id,, to
-dgl45,750. 17s. lOd,, and the number of Missionaries from
stbfrty-two to many hundreds.
I have seen instituted the Fund for the Belief of embarrassed
''Chapels, and witnessed its successful operation; the Auxiliary
Fund, for the support of aged Ministers, and the widows of
Ministers ; three new Conferences created, as the heads of three
distinct Wesleyan communities, — one in Eastern British
America, another in Prance, and another in Australia. Under
the fostering care of the last of these Conferences are the pros
perous Missions in the South Sea ; in connexion with which
jfcbere have been such displays of the power of Divine truth and
¦grace as have scarcely been witnessed since the Son of God
issued the Apostolic commission. Many thousands of people,
in the most wretched debasement of savage Ufe, have not only
abandoned at once, and by general consent, the abominable
vices to which they were addicted, but have been enlightened
and sanctified, so as to have become spfrituaUy-minded, holy
and happy believers in Jesus Christ. In the Friendly and Fiji
Islands the Gospel, as delivered by Wesleyan Missionaries, has
achieved triumphs in some respects superior to those which
were witnessed in the time of the Apostles. The churches
which the Apostles planted in Jerusalem, in Eome, in Corinth,
in Ephesus, Philippi, and other places, so far as we learn, con
sisted of people who were civilized and acquainted with letters.
The churches planted by Methodist Missionaries in Tonga and
Fiji, were, before their conversion, in the lowest barbarism of
savage life. Men and women who, a few years ago, were
accustomed to feed upon the corpses of murdered persons, now
worship God in spirit and in truth ; live soberly, righteously,
and godly ; and set their affection on things above ! " What
hath God -wrought!" If in the age of one man these and
other objects have been aU achieved, what may not be expected
during the next hundred years -with an increased agency and
the advantages arising from past experience ?
From the beginning of Methodism its interests have been
greatly promoted by lay agency ; men engaged in business, and
not " separated to the Gospel of God," having been extensively

To retain its original Character the Safety of Methodism. 611
useful, not only as the Trustees of chapels, and as Society and
'Circuit-stewards, but also as Class Leaders and Local Preachers ;
and few things have given me greater satisfaction than to see
them more extensively employed in the management of the
various Funds of the Body ; so that their practical habits and
experience, as men of business, are rendered avaUable in pro
moting the interests of the Connexion. Members of the Con
ference they can never be ; the constitution of that Body being
determined by a legal instrument drawn up by Mr. Wesley,
-which cannot be violated without producing consequences of
the most disastrous kind ; and that legal instrument vests the
powers of the Conference in Ministers, and in them only. But
¦the general business of the Connexion is advantageously trans
acted by Committees consisting of Ministers and laymen, who
meet preparatory to the annual assembling of the Conference,
¦and at other times, as occasion requires. No room is therefore
left for any suspicion of partiality in the appUcation of the
Connexional Funds. The meeting of a body of respectable
laymen, convened from all parts of the Connexion, preparatory
to the assembling of the Conference, is a decided improvement
-upon the former practice.
As a spfritual son of John Wesley, I may be aUowed to
¦express my gratification that I have lived to witness the respect
-which is now generally paid to his memory, and still more to
the plans which he adopted for the good of mankind. I weU
remember the time when Archdeacon Wrangham published a
'Sermon which he had preached at a visitation of the Clergy,
and in which he contemptuously described " the field preacher "
as "beUowing to the vrilderness;" and I have lived to see
'Bishops preaching in the open air; and every means that
-phUanthropic ingenuity can devise called into requisition for
'the purpose of raising the people for whom Mr. Wesley speciaUy
cared — the most abject classes — to inteUigence and purity.
The present is an age of revolution. The dis-establishment
of the Church in Ireland may be fairly regarded as the fore
runner of other impending changes, whether for good or evU
¦ time only can show. Amidst them aU Methodism, it is earnestly
dipped, wiU retain unimpafred its original character, leaving

512 Recollections of my own Life and Times.
secular politics to secular men : its Ministers, guarding against.
a worldly spirit, wiU keep steadily in view their special calling,
so emphaticaUy expressed by the venerated Founder of their
Societies, " You have nothing to do but to save souls." Method
ism, as it was conducted by Mr. Wesley, stood aloof from strict.
Churchmanship on the one hand, and from systematic Dissent'
on the other; and its true safety and success reqiure that it.
shall never be identified with either. They would aUke divert
it from its real object, — the advancement of spiritual religion.
Strict Churchmanship would lead the Methodists to lay undue
stress upon forms, ceremonies, and clerical genealogies, and
confine its efforts within prescribed Umits; and systematic
Dissent would render them opinionated and disputatious. Both
of them have been equaUy hostUe to Methodism from the
beginning ; and the practical lesson to be deduced from their
past conduct is that which our Saviour addressed to His.
Apostles, "Beware of men," so as never to lose sight of your
peculiar calling.
The spirit of the times is not favourable to the advancement
of Christian godliness. The public mind is unduly occupied
by secular politics, stimulated by cheap newspapers. In many
quarters, where the Bible is not assailed by downright infi
delity, it is treated with a levity bordering upon profaneness ; .
some of its most important doctrines being denied, or explained .
away, superseded by human opinion, under the plausible name
of philosophy. Eailroads, with thefr excursion-trains, draw
the labouring classes from the house of God, and children
from their Sunday-schools ; " liberal " senators are anxious to
open the museums and other places of secular attraction on the
Lord's day, the quietness of which is interrupted by
cries in the public streets, tempting children and idlers to the
purchase of fruit and other objects, in defiance of law both
human and Divine, to the grief of God's faithful servants, and
compelling them to exclaim,
"¦Where now the beauty of the Sabbath, kept
With conscientious reverence, as a day
By the Almighty Lawgiver pronounced
Holy and blest ? ''

"Watch/" 513
Never were the solemn and emphatic words of the Son of
Gpd, addressed to His Apostles at the close of His life, more
appUcable to Methodist Preachers and to Methodist people
generaUy, than in these eventful times : " What I say unto
you I say unto aU, Watch : " meaning, as I apprehend.
Shake off all drowsiness, sloth, and inattention; and keep
your minds constantly and fuUy alive to your dangers, privUeges,
and responsibiUties. The establishment of weekly intercession-
meetings in the Circuit towns generaUy, the strict observance
of the quarterly fasts, and solemn fasting in connexion with
the ordination of Ministers, a practice which appears to have
been invariably observed in the Apostolic churches, would be
hopeful preludes of future prosperity. As to myself, I shaU
sppn disappear from among my Christian associates ; in the
prospect of which I would say, with my venerable friend Joseph
Sutcliffe, " May Methodism live ! and may it live foe ever !"
In order to this I would add, as ¦with my dying breath, "Eemove
NOT THE ancient LAND-MAKK " OF DOCTRINE AND OF DISCIPLINE
" WHICH THY FATHERS HAVE SET."

POSTSCRIPT.
Many readers of this volume are famiUar with the closing
scenes of Mr. Jackson's Ufe. But there may be many others to
whom a short account of them wiU be a welcome, if not a
necessary, addition.
The Conference of 1872 was held in London, and he gladly
availed himself of the opportunity of being present once more.
His brethren rejoiced to see him, and took the opportunity of
paying him a graceful compliment, by choosing him a second
time to be one of the hundred Ministers of whom the Legal Con-
erence is composed ; a distinction never before conferred on any
Methodist Preacher, and one which no Methodist Preacher
could more warmly appreciate. *
At the close of the proceedings, he made a point of being
present, to discharge in person the duty which had been again
devolved upon him, and to join in that most solemn last vote
which gives vaUdity to all which have gone before it.
"After the Conference," says the Eev. Dr. Jobson, t " aU he
* The Conference preserves its legal identity and completeness, by
electing every year, at its first session, so many Preachers as are
required to fill the vacancies caused hy death, retirement, or supernume
raryship of four years' duration. According to the then existing rule, Mr.
Jackson's place became vacant in 1866, and another was the same year
elected in his room. In 1872 he headed the Ust of seniors, and was on tbat
ground re-elected with acclamations.
t At the request of the " London Ministers," the Eev. Dr. Jobson con
ducted an interesting and edifying Memorial Service in the City-Eoad
chapel, about ten days after the funeral. The President of the Conference
took part in it, and a crowded congregation, many of them in mourning
attire, testified both by their presence and demeanour their sense of Mr.
Jackson's worth, and their wish to do honour to his memory. The
Preacher's theme was, " The law of Christ's kingdom, which connects dis
tinction and honour with active, humble, and benevolent service, and which
was so well illustrated in our departed father." From the biographical
portion Of this discourse, which was founded on Matt. xx. 27, 28, the para
graphs given above are extracted.

Postscript. 515
¦could think of as possibly reserved to him on earth was to enter
upon his ninetieth year. This also was granted ; and on the
eighty-ninth anniversary of his birth he gathered about him
his chUdren, grandchildren, and great-grandchUdren, distri
buted among them tokens of his love, and blessed them in
the name of the Lord. Domestic life had always been to. him
an enjoyment, and it was so still. Old as he was, he was a
gleeseme companion of Uttle children. He reserved presents
for them, welcomed them, related to them pleasant stories of
the past, and gave them, without dogmatism, instructive
counsel. As a devoted grandson has expressed it, he never
' talked good ' at them in the home circle, but by lo-ving words,
-and by his own beautiful godliness, showed them how to be
good. And when, towards the end, great-grandchildren tottered
to his bed-side, and kissed his hand, he had words of tender
love for them. Like Jacob, who gave commandment that his
burial should be in the field and cave of Machpelah, because
there Leah was buried, he directed that he should be interred
in the grave of his wife at Eichmond. Having made provision
for this, he had nothing to do but to die. A month before the
day of his death, a sudden chiU came over his shoulders as he
sat by the fire after dinner, and he remained there for private
prayer, instead of going up intp his room as usual. He tried to
write, but his hand bad forgot its cunning. After tea, he found
that he had not strength to rise from his chair, and it was with
much difficulty he was taken upstafrs to bed. Here he soon
¦became helplessly weak, but in all he maintained his cheer
fulness, and was as aforetime —
' All praise, all meekness, and all love.'
His old humour was in him stiU, and broke forth again and
again. When being raised in his bed, he said : ' Gently !
Eemember what Hood wrote : —
" Take him up tenderly, lift him with care." '
Nor did he lose his interest in pubhc affairs. He asked that
the ' old Times ' might be read to him, and expressed his
views on the Irish University BiU, then under consideration in
the House of Commons, and upon Popery. He requested that
2 L 2

516 Postscript.
Da-vid's Psalms and Wesley's Hymns might be read to him, to
afford him subjects of meditation in his waking hours. When
a psalm had been read to him, he would say, ' What a grand
psalm is that ! I wiU turn round and meditate upon it.' He
had not been accustomed to commit the hymns to memory, but
he knew most of them by frequent use, and said, 'In the
silent watches of the night I Ue and sing hymns to myseU
without uttering a sound. I have just sung all through
" WrestUng Jacob," and I find that I know it aU by heart.' It
was thus he had pondered the hymn of Charles Wesley, in
which the expression, ' the dreadful shade,' he said, was not
applicable to his view of death, adding, that ' the path could
not be dreadful to him which his Saviour had trodden.' Sun
beams fell upon him in his bed one afternoon, when, in an old
Methodist tune familiar to him and his family, he broke forth
into singing aloud, —
' The op'ning heavens around me shine,
¦With beams of sacred bliss.
If Jesus shows His mercy mine.
And whispers I am His.'
He bade his ever attentive daughter, or his loving grand
daughter, who watched alternately by him day and night, repeat
to him the hymn commencing —
' How do Thy mercies close me round ! '
and as long as it was possible for him to speak, his words were
those of grateful joyfulness in God. On the Saturday before
his death an evident change came upon him, and he was seen
to be descending into the mortal vaUey. He uttered, brokenly,
but in an earnest supplicatory tone, ' Draw me ! Draw me ! '
Mrs. Marzials gently drew him nearer to herself, supposing that
was what he desired, when, with looks which showed that this
was not his meaning, but to the everlasting arms he prayed to^
be drawn, he added, 'To ThyseU! To ThyseU!' His own
right arm by this time had become powerless, but, lifting up'
his left arm, and wa^ving his hand on high, he exclaimed,
' Moses ! Moses ! ' aUuding, undoubtedly, to a favourite verse
he had been wont to sing, and which he had quoted with
thrilling effect on several public occasions, —

Postscript. 517
' The promised land, from Pisgah'g top,
I now exult to see ;
My hope is full (0 glorious hope !)
Of immortality.'
To Mr. Mayer, who saw him afterwards, he exclaimed, ' Safe ! '
and lifting up his arm as before, and waving it, he repeated
the word, ' Safe ! ' To ,.me he had said he was in ' perfect
peace,' that he had no fear of death, and that from his bed of
death he sent his love to the brethren. Beatific brightness
beamed upon his countenance at times, as if the Ught of the
heavenly Jerusalem was reflected upon him more and more as
he approached it. No cold grey hue of death came upon him,
but with his own beauty of colour and expression in his counte
nance, he sank gently down as upon the bosom of his Saviour.
On the Friday foUowing he was borne to his grave at Eichmond,
.after a preliminary service in the Institution chapel, and was
committed to the earth 'in sure and certain hope of resur
rection to eternal life,' amidst a multitude who bowed their
heads in reverence over his precious remains, and sang together
one of his favourite hymns, commencing with the verse, —
' Come, let us join our friends above.
That have obtain'd the prize.
And on the eagle wings of love
To joys celestial rise :
Let all the saints terrestrial sing,
¦With those to glory gone ;
For all the servants of our King,
In earth and heaven, are one. ' "
The Eev. B. Prankland gives the foUowing narration : —
"On Thursday, February 27th, I went over to Shepherd's
Bush with the intention of spending an hour with our now
departed friend and father in God. Instead of finding him as
usual in his study, surrounded by books and papers, and ready
for discourse such as the ' old man eloquent ' loved to address
to his ministerial brethren, I was concerned to hear that he
was confined to his bed, where he had been several days. On
ontering his room, he took my hand, saying -with solemnity,
yet with a certain cheerfulness,
' 'Tis almost done, 'tis nearly o'er ! '

518 Postscript.
After a few sentences in reference to the circumstances of his
affliction, he began, though not able to articulate every word.
distinctly, to quote a verse, the last, of one of the poems entitled
' Preparation for Death,' by Charles Wesley : —
' ¦Walk with me through the dreadful shade.
And, certified that Thou art mine.
My spirit, calm and undismay'd,
I shall into Thine hands resign :
No anxious doubt, no guilty gloom.
Shall damp whom Jesus' presence cheers ;
My Light, my Life, my God, is come.
And glory in His face appears ! '
He paused at the end of the first line of this stanza,* observing,
with a smile, 'But I would alter that; it is not a "dreadful"
shade.' On my asking him what he would substitute for the
word 'dreadful,' which in its old sense of 'solemn,^ 'awe;
inspiring,' is in this place so appropriate, he resumed the quota
tion, saying, as he finished it, ' That is my testimony — my
testimony,' repeating the last two words, as was his wont when;
wishful to make a sentiment or word emphatic. He then added,.
' I have no great j oy, but I have perfect peace, perfect tranquUUty.'
A short conversation ensued on general subjects, in which he
showed his customary interest in passing public questions,
putting several inquiries as to Methodist affafrs, and making-
arrangements respecting one or two matters of private business-
which he hoped he might, perhaps, be spared to carry into
* " Those who are familiar with Mr. Jackson's Life of Charles ¦Wesley
will remember that the first portion of this verse is quoted by him, at
the close of his account of the last hours of the poet of Methodism.
The entire hymn consists of four verses, the first three of which are as-
follows : — ' 'Wam'd of my dissolution near.
As on the margin of the grave,
Jesus, with humble faith and fear,
I now bespeak Thy power to save :
Thou who hast tasted death for me.
Indulge me in my fond request.
And let a worm prescribe to Thee
The manner of my final rest !

Postscript. 519'
effect himseU. Prayer was then offered, at his request, during
which he responded with child-like simpUcity, but with holy
fervour, to the petitions made in behalf of himseU in his afflic
tion, of his family in their anxiety and sorrow, and of the Church
of Christ. He pressed me to allow my younger son, who was
in a room below, to come up, that he might see him ; thus
showing his interest in young people to the last. I returned
cherishing the thought that the time of his departure was not
fully come ; a hope which I indulged more readUy because I
had learned that, not long before, he had playfuUy remarked,
to one of his nearest relatives, that ' he was not going to leave
them just yet.'
" Por some days it appeared not improbable that his expec
tation of again enjoying his ordinary state of health would be
reaUzed ; but at noon of Saturday, March 8th, a telegram con
veyed the intelUgence that he was ' sinking fast, and not likely
to Uve through the day.' When I reached his bedside I found.
him conscious, during the brief intervals in which he was not
dozing, but scarcely able to do more than make feeble efforts
to express himself in speech. Opportunity was taken, when
he happened to be aroused a Uttle, to say to him, ' A friend is
come to see you ; ' and on my name being mentioned, he looked
' My feeble heart's extreme desire.
If now Thine eye with pity sees.
Whene'er ThOu dost my soul require,
0 let me then be'found in peace ;
In active faith, and humble prayer,
Eesign'd, yet longing to depart,
To rise, redeem'd from earthly care.
And see Thee, Saviour, as Thou art.
' Snfdce that more than threescore years
I have Thine indignation borne ;
Glad may I quit the vale of tears.
And, pardon'd, to Thine arms return !
The tokens of Thy pardoning love
The comforts sweet through life suspend ;
But, while I from the flesh remove.
Let hope and peace be in my end.'
(The Poetical Works of John and Charles Wesley, vol vii., pp. 374-5.) "

520 Postscript.
towards me, seeming partly to recognize my figure as I stood at
the foot of the bed. But the sight that had for its fourscore
years been keen was now aU but gone. He however put out
his hand, moving his fingers so as to indicate a wish that I
should come nearer to him. I went to his side, and held his
hand in silence for some minutes. It was a scene that ¦wiU not
soon fade from the memory. There, stretched motionless, lay
the venerable form, the home of a spirit passing through the
mysterious ' shadow ' by which the Christian himseU, though
promised by the Di-vine Son who is the ' Eesurrection ' that he
' shaU not see death,' must enter into his Master's Ufe. On
the waU opposite hung a portrait, an old engraving, of Mr.
Wesley, the Wesley — for though he loved Charles, he sat at the
feet of John — to whose marvellous life the Ufe now fast ebbing
away had been Unked on, both by several years in which they
were contemporary, and by conspicuous labours, continued
through a great part of a century, in the foremost ranks of the
Wesleyan ministry. As if nothing should be wanting to
complete a memorable and affecting picture, there too was age
itself ministering to age, his ' angel,' — as the father had been
used fondly to caU her, — who, as she spoke with tears and in
whispers of the meekness and patience of the dying patriarch,
waited on him with the loving reverence of a spiritual as weU
as earthly daughter, and the dignity of the Christian matron.
The sunbeams which were streaming in at the window could
but faintly set forth the purity and glory of the Ught, from a
higher than material source, which seemed to fiow around those
present. Here, surely, was the ' gate of heaven,' — one of the
few in that haUowed chamber just entering the city in which is
' no temple,' and the rest longing, had it been lawful, to foUow.
" I felt a strong desfre to exchange, if in such cfrcumstances
it were aUowable to make the attempt, a last word ¦with one
who had honoured me with his friendship, ere the final summons
should render aU intercourse impossible. I moved, therefore,
to the other side of the bed, and there, holding the servant of
Christ by his right hand, waited for an opportunity of speaking,
so as to eUcit from him some sign of personal recognition, and,
in the gladness of the ' fellowship,' some token of the abiding

Postscript. 521
of that faith in the Lord Jesus, and peace through the Spirit,
which he had enjoyed, unbroken, for seventy years. He lay for
the most part in perfect repose, his placid countenance betray
ing only occasionaUy that ' the body is dead ' — must suffer and
die — 'because of sin,' though 'the Spirit is life because of
righteousness.' Once, indeed, a transient uneasiness caused
him to start, and even groan, and to open his eyes. At length,
leaning over him, his head being incUned to that side, I inquired,
' Father Jackson, are you in pain ? ' He replied in a smothered,
but prompt, ' No.' Thus perceiving that he was sensible, and
knowing that he was no stranger to giving a Theocratic blessing
its full application according to Christ Jesus, I ventured to
address him in words taken from a passage of Scripture which
I had been revol-ving as I stood looking at him : ' Satisfied with
favour, and fuU with the blessing of the Lord ! ' I asked, ' ShaU
we say of you. Father Jackson, " Satisfied -with favour ? " ' For
a moment there was no response, and it seemed as if the man
of God had already escaped beyond reach of the associations,
though sacred and spiritual, of this ' mortal strife.' But ob
serving a slight— aU but imperceptible — setting of his features,
as if he were endeavouring to seize the allusion, I repeated the
words, adding, however, the proper name associated with them
in the Sacred Text, in order to help his recoUection : ' ShaU
we say. Father Jackson, " 0 NaphtaU, satisfied with favour ? " '
He instantly caught what was meant. His left hand was
clenched, and his arm energetically extended upwards, and so
held for several seconds— an evident reference to the exulting
words, spoken of aU the Tribes, which shortly after follow,
' The ETERNAL God is thy Eefuge, and underneath are the
EVERLASTING ARMS.' Doubtlcss, had he possessed the power of
speech, he would have once more exclaimed, with his own
Charles Wesley, 'None is like Jeshurun's God,
So great, so strong, so high :
Lo! He spreads His wings abroad,
He rides upon the sky :
Israel, His first-born son,
God, the' eternal God, is thine ;
See Him in thy help come down
The Excellence Divine.'

i522 Postscript.
Nor, if he could have spoken, would he have failed to add, this
time altering a word with joyous confidence,
' All the struggle now is o'er,
And wars and fightings cease ;
Israel now shall sin no more.
But dwell in perfect peace :
All his enemies are gone ;
Sin shall have in him no part ;
Israel now shall dwell alone,
With Jesus in his heart.'
The sign of his steadfast faith in God was, I could not but
feel, for myself, for his brethren — his sons — in the ministry ;
for that whole Methodism which he had loved to the end.
After this he lay still as before. I retained his hand a little
longer, thinking how precious the dust it was quickly to
become ; kissed the brow that was so soon to receive its won
drous crown ; and then left the veteran soldier of Christ and
of the Church till ' the times of the restitution of all things '
and ' the resurrection of the just.' No man could part better
-with his friend, no son with his father, than thus. The prayer
which is the burden of the hymn whence his ' testimony '
was taken is fulfilled ; and glorious, through the natural tears
of thousands of Methodists who have learned to honour him,
wiU appear ' The manner of his final rest.'
" He fell asleep at two in the afternoon of March 10th, 1873,
being a few months over eighty-nine years of age." *
The character of Mr. Jackson, which the Conference of 1873
has inserted in the annual " Minutes," may, perhaps, not
unfitly close this volume.
" Thomas Jackson, who was born at Sancton, in Yorkshire,
December 12th, 1783, and died near London, March 10th, 1873.
" This venerable Minister entered on his prpbation in his
rtwenty-first year, and died in his ninetieth, having maintained
:an unsuUied reputation through the whole period. For twenty
=* Wesley.an-Methodist Magazine for April, 1873.

Postscript. 523
years he laboured in some of our most important Circuits ;
then for nineteen years as Editor of the Connexional publica
tions ; for the next eighteen he was a Theological Tutor ; and
during the last twelve he was a Supernumerary. His spotless
character and high moral worth were based upon a sound con
version, and a rich, uniform, and growing experience of the
love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord. His minis
terial course presents a striking example of the value and
importance of steady and conscientious labour. Without
brilliant parts, and without educational advantages, he apphed
himself with aU his heart to the improvement of such talents
and opportunities as were granted to him, and with the Lord's
jpound he gained ten pounds. He gave ' attendance to reading,
to exhortation, to teaching,' he 'meditated on these things,
he was whoUy in them,' guarding against aU diversions from
the great work of his life; and his profiting appeared unto
aU. He acquired vast stores of knowledge, but he never said,
¦"It is enough,' and continued, to read, -write, and meditate
almost to the last day of his life. His preaching was sound,
instructive, and adapted to general usefulness; though most
¦distinguished by careful exposition. He did not affect
rhetorical ornament ; but his appeals to the conscience were
direct and powerful, and bursts of pious emotion enhvened
his discussions. He had the pen of a ready writer, and for
nearly sixty years it was kept in constant exercise, his various
productions being aU devoted to the service of religion. The
vindication of Methodist doctrine, experience, and discipline
were his favourite themes ; but his biographical and historical
writings have been highly and justly appreciated. As a Tutor
he was affectionate, painstaking, and perspicuous ; compre
hensive and copious in the treatment of his topics, and unutter
ably anxious to secure and perpetuate sound doctrine. As
Editor, he rendered valuable service by the labour bestowed
not only to sustain our periodical Uterature, but to provide
accurate and complete editions of our standard authors.
"It is not surprising that his brethren deUghted to do him
honour, or that he should have been t-wiee elected President of
the Conference. On the first of these occasions he was remark-

524 Postscript.
ably sustained and blessed of God in guiding and animating
the celebration of the Centenary of Methodism. His anti
quarian researches contributed much to the interest and suc
cess of the movement, but his devout temper far more ; making
the several meetings which he attended means of grace never
to be forgotten by those who Ustened to him ; and bringing
back those days of the Son of Man which he commemorated.
On the second occasion his passive graces were as conspicuous.
It was a time of severe trial ; but while firm in upholding our
discipUne, he maintained a Christian temper towards opponents ,
sometimes under very trying circumstances.
" His old age was eminently beautiful. Always calm, cheer
ful, benign, often overflowing with kindness and love, he
carried a happy influence wherever he went, and excited uni
versal love and admfration ; so that his hoary head was indeed
a crown of glory. Death had no terrors for him. Being merci
fuUy spared from hea'vy and long-continued suffering, he may
be said to have died of decay rather than disease ; and, Uke
Abraham, he went to his fathers in peace, and was buried
in a good old age."

LONDON :
PEINIED ET WILLIAM NICHOLS,
46, HOXTOK SQ-(JABE.

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