wool that had been bought by the latter, and John determined to set up
for himself. He applied for a farm in Tory Street, and the landlord
would have accepted him, but his father intercepted the letter, and took
the farm himself for three years. John, highly incensed, moved into the
farm-house, and maintained his position there during all that time. His
father wished to dispossess him, but not liking to summons his own son,
he thought it better to suffer him to remain there.
On his way one night to Adwalton he was attacked by two men, who robbed
him of eighteen pounds. The men were apprehended but not convicted, and
John never recovered the money.
He took up wool-combing as a business, and engaged apprentices. One of
his apprentices, Benjamin Lockwood, involved him in losses, according to
his own account, and this led him to bankruptcy.
I give the next passage from his memoirs as it stands. It is vaguely
worded, and I do not profess to understand it. "He was about five years
an housekeeper previous to his marriage with the daughter of Benjamin
Appleby, of Fasseley Mills, near Leeds."
In 1819 John Wroe was attacked by fever, and was pronounced in danger.
Dr. Field, who attended him, advised Mrs. Wroe to prevail on him to
settle his affairs. The thought of death so moved and alarmed Wroe that
he entreated that some Methodist preacher might be brought to visit and
pray with him; but they refused, although his wife sent to four of them.
She then asked him if she had better not send for his parish priest, or
some of the clergymen of the Church; but he declined, saying it was too
late, and he begged her to read to him some chapters from the Bible;
"and," said he, "I will see what I can do for myself."
He gradually recovered his bodily health, but not his ease of mind, and
for some months he continued wandering about the fields with his Bible
in his hand, sitting down under the hedges, and spelling out easy
passages for himself; but still found no comfort.
Soon after this he fell into epileptic fits, and saw visions. In these
trances he became completely rigid, his eyes remained closed--the
eyelids as fast together as if they had grown to one another, and his
tongue stiff in his mouth. In this condition he remained sometimes
seven, twelve, twenty-four, or even thirty-six hours. After one of his
fits, his eyes remained closed for six days, but he recovered the use of
his tongue. The first of his trances came on in the morning of November
12th, 1819, at two o'clock, before dawn, as he was rambling in the
fields. He says: "A woman came to me, and tossed me up and down in the
field. I endeavoured to lay hold of her, but could not; I therefore knew
it was a spirit." Could this not have been his wife, impatient at him
leaving his bed and rambling about so early?
After this he was taken and put to bed. Whom by? Was it by this woman
who tossed him about? In bed he remained twelve hours.
On the 19th November, six days after his shaking, he had a fit, and lost
his sight and power of speech. On his returning to consciousness, he
wrote on a black board, in rude letters and abject spelling, the
revelations he had been allowed to behold. It consisted of oxen running
down a lane, tossing their horns, which frightened him to tears. "I
thought that I walked about a mile among these beasts, until I returned
to my former place, and there an angel met me, and he took me to a large
place, where I saw a great number of books, placed on their edges,
having gilt letters. There also appeared large altars, full of letters,
but I could not read them. I begged that I might be enabled to read and
understand what I had seen; and there appeared another, the letters of
which were black print or old English, with the word Jeremiah on the top
of it, and the letter L. I wrote on the wall with my fingers at the
time, as I lay in bed; the people who were present observing me,
concluded that I wished to write (I was dumb, for my tongue was fastened
in my mouth as before); they gave me a piece of board and chalk, and I
wrote Jeremiah, 50th chapter. I had never read this chapter, or heard it
read, or seen it before, to my recollection; but when I came to myself,
I could, without looking at it, repeat nearly every word in it."
On the 29th of November following he had another epileptic fit
accompanied with visions; and on the 14th of December "I was again
struck blind at about ten o'clock in the forenoon, and remained more
like a corpse than a living man for twenty-four hours, when I came to
myself by degrees, but continued blind for five days. After many things,
the angel said to me, 'Thou shalt be blind for six days, and on the
seventh day thy father shall come to thee, and many people with him; he
shall lay his right thumb on thy right eye, and his fourth finger on thy
left, as a token that he remembers his former sins and wickedness; and
if not, it will be a witness against him at the Day of Judgment, and
thou shalt receive thy sight.' During the six days that I was blind my
wife at one time was reading a hymn for me; when she had read it I
desired her to read it again; but before she had done so I fainted, and
saw the elements separated, and there appeared before me a large open
square; I saw our Saviour nailed on the cross and the tears trickling
down his face, and at that time I thought he was weeping for the wicked
people upon the earth. An angel then appeared holding a man by a single
hair of his head, who had a very large sword in his hand, which he waved
backward and forward. I then saw a pair of large scales let down to the
earth, and a great bundle, which was placed in one side of it, which I
thought was the sins of the people, and then saw a great number of
weights placed in the other; but the bundle was so much heavier that the
weights bounced out, and the scales were drawn up into heaven. Then the
man that was held by the hair of his head by the angel brandished his
sword six or seven times, as formerly, and disappeared. I afterwards saw
Moses and Aaron, accompanied by a great number of people, attended by
angels, and I heard such delightful music as it would be impossible to
describe. There was darkness over the place soon after, and I lost sight
of all in a moment."
He continued with his eyes shut for exactly six days, and on the seventh
his father came and placed his thumb on his right eye, and his fourth
finger on his left, whereupon John Wroe opened his eyes and then fainted
away. As soon as he received his sight the people surrounding him asked
if he really saw clearly. He found that with one eye he saw as
distinctly as before, but with the other only imperfectly, and this he
attributed to some one having three days before endeavoured to force the
eyelids open.
Wroe tells us in his Autobiography that his father, placing his thumb
and finger on his eyes in the manner indicated beforehand by the angel,
filled every one with astonishment; but from Joseph Wroe, his cousin,
we learn that the father did this according to the express orders of
John.
Samuel Muff, a spectator, says: "During the twenty-four hours that John
Wroe was in his trance reports of the circumstance frequently reached my
house, adding that he was likely to die. I accordingly went to see him,
and he came to himself when I was in the house, but was entirely blind.
On hearing my voice, he communicated many things to me which I cannot at
present recollect; but I remember his having said that he was blind, but
that he would yet see. He wrote me a few lines in the course of his six
days' blindness, desiring that I would come and see him at the time his
eyes were opened, and which he asserted would be at the end of the six
days; the letter was sent to me by one of my neighbours, who declared he
saw him write it; and stone blind as he then was, it is the best piece
of his writing I ever saw. I complied with his desire, and actually saw
his eyes open in the manner already related. After his father had placed
his thumb and finger on his eyes, he appeared to me for some time as if
he were dead. He afterwards came to himself, sat up in the chair, and
his eyes instantly opened. He and I were brought up within a quarter of
a mile of each other, and were schoolfellows, but the master who
instructed us never could teach him to spell or read, nor even to speak
plainly."
Joseph Wroe, John's cousin, says: "The first time I met with John Wroe
after the commencement of his visions, which was in the street in
Bradford, I said, 'I have been informed that thou hast begun to preach.'
He replied, 'Well, I do not know much about preaching, but I have begun
talking, and people may call it what they please.' I said, in a
contemptuous manner, 'I have also been informed that thou hast been
visited with visions or trances; what hast thou seen?' He replied, 'I
have seen a great deal too much to relate here.' He appeared reserved,
and would say no more. Some time after this a person came to my house,
and inquired of me whether I had seen my cousin John, adding, 'People
say he is blind, and has been so for three or four days.' I went to see
him on the following Sunday, with many others. At his desire I led him
to the door, and accompanied him to the house of a neighbour, named
Abraham Holmes: it was this man who wrote his visions, and part of which
was done on that occasion. We delayed there until it was dark, and I led
him back to his house. When I was about to return home he laid hold of
my hand, and would not suffer me to proceed until I had promised him to
return next day, as he asserted that he would then receive his sight. I
accordingly attended the same day; several persons did the same, and one
of them said to John, 'Art thou not afraid that thou wilt never see any
more?' He replied, 'No, I have not a doubt about it. I am as firm as a
rock in the belief that my sight will be restored at the appointed
time.' A few minutes before the time he requested that some person would
lead him to a private place, where he might have an opportunity for
prayer. I accordingly led him into the parlour, and withdrew; he soon
after returned, and ordered a chair to be placed in the middle of the
room, so that every person present might observe what was to be done. He
then called his father, directing him to lay his thumb and finger on his
eyes, and he did so. John said, 'You have done enough; take away your
hand.' He then stretched out his legs and feet, his head and arms fell
back, and he fainted, and his countenance appeared like that of a person
who was dead. He remained so for about a minute, when his eyelids began
to move, and suddenly opened: he came to himself and said, 'I can see.'
I inquired of him, 'How wast thou before thy sight was restored?' He
replied, 'I got a glance of that glorious place, and at that instant my
sight returned.'"
The following night he prayed that he might be guided in the choice of a
sect to which to belong. At about two in the morning he woke, and saw on
the tester of his bedstead a black board, on which appeared in gilt
letters, "A.A. Rabbi, Rabbi, Rabbi." He awoke his wife, and told her
what he had seen. He thought at first that Rabbi was the name of a town,
and that he was perhaps to go to that place and declare there what he
had seen; but afterwards concluded it was a sign that he was to go and
testify to the Jews. Afterwards he conceived himself to be commanded to
testify in England for three years, "with his hat on his head," and at
the expiration of that time to join the Jews.
Accordingly, in the same year, 1820, Wroe went to Liverpool by
Huddersfield, to visit the Jews there. At Huddersfield he was well
received by three Methodist preachers, who helped him on his way with
money. On reaching Manchester he lodged in a house, and was asked by the
person who let him his lodging whether he knew John Wroe, as he
understood that he came from Bradford. Wroe having answered in the
affirmative, the man continued--"What sort of a fellow is he?" John
replied, "Some give him a very indifferent character; but time proves
all things." He was then asked if he were John Wroe, and when he said he
was, he was told that he should be heartily welcome to his lodging and
victuals gratuitously as long as he stayed there.
The accomplishment of some predictions made by Wroe tended greatly to
increase his fame and impress the ignorant and superstitious with belief
in his supernatural mission. But it is as easy to account for the
accomplishment of these prophecies as it is to vindicate the natural
origin of his fits and visions. He predicted the speedy death of his
wife's brother, and he sent his wife to her brother, Joseph Appleby, to
inform him that before long he would be dead. Appleby was at the time
ill in bed: there is little doubt that the fright caused by receiving
this message killed him.
In the spring of 1821 the cousin of John Wroe, who employed him as a
wool-comber, refused to engage him or have any more of his
badly-executed work, telling him he was more fit to be a preacher than a
wool-comber. Thereupon John fell back in a fit against a bale of wool,
and when he recovered called all to witness what he said--"Take notice
of that young man," said he, pointing to the son of his employer, who
had been foremost in his complaints and abuse; "he will never more do
any work; he will never again pay any man wages." The young man was
immediately taken ill and died. In this case the lad was no doubt killed
by fright.
On the 14th of August, 1822, came the final summons to Wroe to go to the
Jews. As he was sitting in conversation with some dupes or believers he
asserted that he heard thrice a voice which cried, "Go to my people
Israel, and speak the words that I command thee." It continued speaking
for about a quarter of an hour, and was succeeded by beautiful music.
"He inquired of the aforenamed persons," we are told in his
Autobiography, "whether they heard anything? and when they answered in
the affirmative, and appeared alarmed, one of them said, 'The voice came
from beneath the second bar of the fire-grate.' Wroe said, 'This voice
is not come for my sake, but for yours.'" One regrets to hear this, for
hitherto Wroe seems to have been acting in sincere good faith, believing
in his visions; but on this occasion there is apparent deception. His
neglect had lost him his livelihood, and he was obliged to prey on those
deluded people who regarded him as a prophet, and to keep up the
delusion had recourse to artifice.
He was now convinced of the truth of the great revelation of Joanna
Southcott. Already, in August, 1820, he had had an interview with George
Turner, the prophet of that sect, on his visiting Bradford, on which
Wroe had informed Turner that he (Wroe) was sent exclusively to the
public, and that Turner was sent exclusively to the elect of the
Society; and on this understanding Turner had consented to shake hands
with him.
But in 1822 the Society of Joanna Southcott was in a state of
expectancy, awaiting the advent of the promised Shiloh on the 14th of
October in that year, and it seems to have entered into Wroe's head to
take advantage of this, and announce himself to the Society as a prophet
in place of Turner, who, he had the shrewdness to see, would be
discredited by the failure of the appearance of the Shiloh. He was
accordingly visited with trances, in which he saw Joanna "transfigured
before him in the open firmament, in the day-time, with the Child in her
left arm."
Accordingly, Wroe attended a meeting of the Society at Bradford on
August 25th, 1822, and he announced: "You are expecting Shiloh to appear
and be amongst you on a certain day; but I tell you He will not; and
many of the believers will fall off, not merely one or two in a society,
but whole societies will fall away. Yet I do not doubt that the
visitation to George Turner is of God; and as a testimony of which, I
will give in my name among you."
On the following Sunday evening he had one of his epileptic fits in the
meeting, and lay as if dead. On recovering he announced that he had seen
an angel, who had commissioned him to act as prophet. But only two
persons at the meeting believed in him, and the whole of the Society at
Bradford never thoroughly accepted him. He then went to Almondbury,
where was a meeting of the Southcottites, where also he met with
indifferent success.
On Sunday evening he reappeared in Bradford, and adopted the following
extraordinary expedient to impress the congregation:--Unknown to the
members, he caused two men to stand, one on each side of the archway
leading into the second room of the meeting-house--the house being
divided into three parallel apartments, which opened into each other by
an archway in each partition, thus forming a sort of narthex, nave, and
chancel. Each man held a sword, and the swords were united at the
points, so that the Friends, to enter, had to pass under the swords.
Wroe entered last of all. Then the men pointed their swords at his
breast saying, "The sword of the Lord is against thee." Wroe instantly
fell on his knees, and prayed aloud that if his mission were not Divine,
the swords might fall and smite him asunder.
Wroe then stood up and walked to the second archway, the men with the
swords stepping backwards before him, still with their swords at his
breast. Thus he stood and preached on his mission to the congregation,
who were amazingly impressed at this solemn farce. When all was over, he
bade those of the Bradford Society who believed in him to pass under the
swords; and the great majority of the congregation did so. This
naturally created a schism in the body.
Letters were written by the Committee of the Society at Bradford, by
Wroe's direction, to the Societies at Ashton-under-Line, Stockport,
Sheffield, and Colne, to inform them of what had taken place, and
requesting them to delegate two men from each congregation to come to
Bradford and examine the truth concerning the mission of Wroe. The
Societies at Stockport and Sheffield declined the invitation, but in the
following year nearly the whole of the body at Sheffield accepted the
prophetic mission of Wroe, and some at Stockport believed.
It was time now for Wroe to begin his mission to the Jews. He had a
large following, and was provided liberally with money by his dupes,
which he was not, however, suffered to touch himself.
After having visited Jews at Liverpool and London without success, on
April 27th he embarked in the brig _Doris_ at Liverpool for Gibraltar,
in company of Robert Harling, of Thornhill, and reached there on the
20th of May. But there Harling's heart failed, whether at the sight of
the "abominable idolatries" of the people, or because his faith was
shaken in Wroe, does not transpire. On the day following their landing
Harling returned to England in a vessel that was ready to sail; but
John, having visited and converted the local Methodist preacher,
remained with him two months. This preacher, Cooke, was greatly
exercised in spirit on the arrival of the Prophet; but having prayed
earnestly to the Lord, as he tells us, "The Lord opened my eyes to see,"
and he became an enthusiastic believer.
On Saturday, the 31st, Wroe appeared in the synagogue of the Jews and
delivered his testimony. The Governor of Gibraltar declined to permit
him to preach in public; consequently Wroe departed, having been offered
a free passage to England. Before he did so he had been turned out of
the synagogue, and had invaded the Roman Catholic Churches, where he
deposited his prophecies on the altar in Spanish. This is one of them:--
"I, Jesus from heaven, command thee, John Wroe, to warn the kingdom
of Spain that if they return not from their wicked ways of
worshipping images made with men's hands, and bowing before them, I
will draw my two-edged sword against them, and it shall turn every
way till I have destroyed them. But who is this that has caused
them to err? They have hearkened unto their priests instead of
hearkening unto me. Now, I will tell you what I will do unto your
priests: I will chase them as hounds chase a fox, until I utterly
destroy them, and the remnant that is left shall slay your king,
and they shall know that I have sent this unto them by my servant."
He began to address the Irish Roman Catholic soldiers on the Rock, but
the adjutant turned him out. In the two months he was at Gibraltar he
had succeeded in making many enemies. A woman threw a pitcher out of a
window at his head, but fortunately missed him, and he was several times
threatened with a pistol. One day that he was creating disorder in the
cathedral the priests took him by the shoulders, thrust him out, and
locked the doors behind him.
Wroe reached Liverpool on August 23rd, and then visited Ashton and
Birmingham. On October 12th he again sailed for the Continent, and
reaching Paris on the 16th, he began to preach his mission to the Jews
in the Palais Royal.
From Paris he and his companion, William Lees, went to Strasburg, where
they "attended the meeting of the Jews in their synagogue. These Jews,
not understanding English, conducted them to the house of the Rabbi, who
was not at home. His daughter could speak some English, but not
sufficient to admit of her understanding the whole of what John and
William wished to communicate. The Jews therefore requested to have the
purport of the message given to them in writing, which was accordingly
done. They behaved very well. On the following day, Sunday, John was so
ill that he was confined to the house, and sent William to the Hebrews
to receive their answer to his letter. William found a man who could
speak English. He said 'he had read the letter to the Rabbi, who was
very angry, and said he had power to imprison them for two years, but
had pity on them, thinking they were deranged.'"
After visiting Vienna, they proceeded to Trieste. One would like to know
what they thought of that glorious road over the Sommering Pass, and
down the valleys of the Murz and the Save, by Laibach and the weird
ashen-grey dolomite peaks of the Terglou and Dobratz; but no allusion to
the scenery escapes these dull travellers, except that they "durst not
proceed by night, through the apprehension of robbers, the road being
over the mountains."
At Trieste they visited the Jews and a Roman Catholic priest, who
treated them with good-natured contempt; and they went on to Venice,
where they again testified to the Jews. At Verona they left a letter
addressed to the Roman Catholic priests, on the altars. At Vicenza their
letter to the priests was returned to them unanswered. At _table d'hôte_
at the inn, where about forty gentlemen of different nations were
present, "the spirit of the Lord rested on John, and he stood up and
addressed them, and gave them two letters. _They appeared much
astonished._"
From Milan they made their way to Paris, distributing tracts and
prophecies among the Jews and Catholics, and strewing them on the altars
of the churches. Having deposited one of these prophecies, not couched
in the most sanguine and complimentary terms, addressed to the French
priest, upon the high altar at Amiens, they nearly got into trouble.
They were arrested at Calais, and their baggage overhauled by the
police, who had received orders from the Minister of the Interior to
search them for papers against the Government. But the police-officer,
having looked through their budget of tracts, observed, contemptuously,
that "they were all on religious subjects," and let them depart.
John then took all that remained of his tracts and denunciations of woe
against the idolators, in Italian and French, and tore them into small
pieces, which he scattered about the streets of Calais, saying "he was
commanded to do so as a testimony against them." On the 17th December
they embarked on the French mail, a sailing packet, and had a very rough
passage. It blew so hard that they could not reach Dover, but stood off
Deal beach, and a boat conveyed the mail and the passengers ashore. They
had to pay fifteen shillings each to the watermen, exclusive of their
fare in the packet. They were well drenched with salt water, but John
cheered on William by assuring him that before they reached home he
would see the young woman who was to become his wife.
On reaching London, Wroe visited some of the Believers, and prepared the
way for a future visit, when he would meet George Turner face to face.
He assembled the Friends at Gravesend and Chatham, and prophesied before
them, and William Lees at the former place saw the enchanting Cordelia
Chenne, whom he afterwards married, thus fulfilling the prediction of
Wroe in the billy-boat. The following year was an eventful one.