This was an exceedingly characteristic piece. With terrible severity,
he lashes the vices of the age; the slothfulness of people of fashion;
the increase of luxury, both in meat, drink, dress, and furniture; and
lewdness of every kind. He writes: “A total ignorance of God is almost
universal among us. The exceptions are exceeding few, whether among
the learned or unlearned. High and low, cobblers, tinkers, hackney
coachmen, men and maid servants, soldiers, sailors, tradesmen of all
ranks, lawyers, physicians, gentlemen, lords, are as ignorant of the
Creator of the world as Mahommedans or pagans.”
4. The _Arminian Magazine_. 8vo, 680 pages. Here we have an engraving
of the new chapel in City Road, with portraits of George Story, etc.
About forty pages are filled with a continuation of Wesley’s
translation of the Dialogues of Castellio on Election and Free Will.
There are long extracts from Wesley’s “Survey of the Wisdom of God in
Creation”; and from Dr. Watts’s Treatise on the Passions. Remarks upon
Locke’s Essay on the Human Understanding make a part of every number.
Memoirs and happy deaths are more numerous than ever. There are sixty
letters, and as many poems. There are six original sermons by Wesley
himself. One, on “Redeeming the Time,” is a vigorous enforcement of
the principles propounded in his letter to his niece in 1781.[442]
Another is a remarkable homily on “Dust thou art, and unto dust shalt
thou return”; and another, equally striking, is on God’s six days’
work. Then there is his magnificent sermon on, “Not as the
transgression, so is the free gift.” And, lastly, there is his
terrific discourse on the Punishments of Hell. If the _Arminian
Magazine_ had done nothing more than give birth to sermons like these,
it would have rendered incalculable service to the cause of Christ.
In addition to the above, the magazine contains several original
articles, by Wesley’s pen, of great interest and importance. In one,
on Persecuting Papists, he says: “I set out in early life with an
utter abhorrence of persecution in every form, and a full conviction,
that every man has a right to worship God, according to his own
conscience. I would not hurt a hair of the head of Romanists.
Meantime, I would not put it into their power to hurt me, or any other
persons whom they believe to be heretics. I would neither kill, nor be
killed. I wish them well; but I dare not trust them.” In another
article there is an onslaught on the “Divinity and Philosophy of the
highly illuminated Jacob Behmen”; concluding thus: “May we not
pronounce, with the utmost certainty, of one who thus distorts,
mangles, and murders the word of God, That the light which is in him
is darkness; that he is _illuminated_ from beneath, rather than from
above; and that he ought to be styled _Demonosopher_, rather than
_Theosopher_?”
This was savage; and Wesley’s old friend, Mr. Harry Brooke, of Dublin,
wrote him a letter of earnest remonstrance; to which Wesley replied as
follows.
“_April 21, 1783._
“DEAR HARRY,--Your letter gave me pleasure and pain. It gave me
pleasure, because it was written in a mild and loving spirit;
but it gave me pain, because I found I had pained you, whom I
so tenderly love and esteem. But I shall do it no more. I
sincerely thank you for your kind reproof. It is a precious
balm, and will, I trust, in the hands of the Great Physician,
be the means of healing my sickness. I am so sensible of your
real friendship herein, that I cannot write without tears. The
words you mention were too strong. They will no more fall from
my mouth.
“I am, dear Harry, affectionately yours,
“JOHN WESLEY.”[443]
This may serve as an _erratum_, belonging to the _Arminian Magazine_
of 1782.