Of course these were designed for the use of Kingswood school. On the
subject of languages, Wesley writes: “The Greek excels the Hebrew as
much in beauty and strength as it does in copiousness. I suppose no
one from the beginning of the world wrote better Hebrew than Moses.
But does not the language of St. Paul excel the language of Moses, as
much as the knowledge of St. Paul excelled his? I speak this, even
on supposition, that you read the Hebrew, as I believe, Ezra, if not
Moses, did, with points; for if we read it in the modern way, without
points, I appeal to every competent judge, whether it be not the most
equivocal.”[163] It is a curious fact, that Wesley advised no one above
twenty years of age to think of learning Greek or Latin, on the ground
that he could then employ his time abundantly better.[164] French he
considered to be “the poorest, meanest language in Europe,” and “no
more comparable to the German or Spanish, than a bagpipe is to an
organ.”[165]
5. “Serious Thoughts upon the Perseverance of the Saints.” 12mo, 24
pages. This was a timely production, and, though concise, is written
with much calmness and ability. Wesley admits, that both sides of the
question are attended with great difficulties,—difficulties such as
unassisted reason is unable to remove; and, therefore, says he, “let
the living oracles decide. If these speak for us, we neither seek nor
want further witness.” He clearly shows, that Calvinists constantly
avail themselves of two fallacies. “1. They perpetually beg the
question by applying, to particular persons, texts which relate only
to the church in general; and some of them only to the Jewish church
and nation, as distinguished from all other people. 2. They take for
granted, as an indisputable truth, that whatever our Lord speaks to, or
of His apostles, is to be applied to all believers.”
6. Eleven volumes of the “Christian Library,” from Vol. II. to Vol.
XII. inclusive, and making altogether three thousand two hundred and
fifty 12mo printed pages.
Vol. II. contains a continuation of John Arndt’s “True Christianity.”
Vols. III. to VI., inclusive, are occupied with an abridgment of Fox’s
Book of Martyrs; and Vols. VII. to XII. with extracts from the works
of Bishop Hall, Robert Bolton, Dr. Preston, Dr. Sibbes, Dr. Goodwin,
William Dell, and Dr. Manton.
1752.
[Sidenote: 1752 Age 49]
The year 1752 is skipped by the whole of Wesley’s biographers; and yet
it was not devoid of incident.
Charles Wesley was now on terms of intimate friendship with the
Countess of Huntingdon, and frequently preached and administered
the sacrament in her ladyship’s house, to personages of great
distinction.[166]
Whitefield arrived from America in the month of May; in June set out
on a tour to Wales and the west of England; and in August to the north
and to Scotland. The last six weeks of the year he spent in London,
and began to take steps towards the erection of the Tabernacle in
Moorfields.
He was considerably annoyed at the publication of Wesley’s tract on
final perseverance, and, on February 5, wrote as follows: “Poor Mr.
Wesley is striving against the stream. Strong assertions will not go
for proofs with those who are sealed by the Holy Spirit even unto the
day of redemption.”[167]
Several of Wesley’s itinerants began to be disloyal to their chiefs;
and this led to the following document being signed with the names
appended.
“January 29, 1752. It is agreed by us whose names are underwritten,—
“1. That we will not listen, or willingly inquire after any ill
concerning each other.
“2. That, if we do hear any ill of each other, we will not be forward
to believe it.
“3. That, as soon as possible, we will communicate what we hear, by
speaking or writing to the person concerned.
“4. That, till we have done this, we will not write or speak a
syllable of it, to any other person whatever.
“5. That neither will we mention it, after we have done this, to any
other person.
“6. That we will not make any exception to any of these rules, unless
we think ourselves absolutely obliged in conscience so to do.
“JOHN WESLEY,
CHARLES WESLEY,
JOHN TREMBATH,
E. PERRONET,
J. DOWNES,
JONATHAN REEVES,
JOSEPH COWNLEY,
C. PERRONET,
THOMAS MAXFIELD,
JOHN JONES,
JOHN NELSON,
WILLIAM SHENT,
JOHN HAIME.”[168]
Seven weeks later, another document, dated March 16, 1752, was drawn up
and signed, chiefly through the influence of Charles Wesley.[169]
“We whose names are underwritten, being clearly and fully convinced,
(1) That the success of the present work of God does in great measure
depend on the entire union of all the labourers employed therein; (2)
that our present call is chiefly to the members of that Church wherein
we have been brought up;—are absolutely determined, by the grace of
God, (1) To abide in the closest union with each other, and never
knowingly or willingly to hear, speak, do, or suffer anything which
tends to weaken that union; (2) never to leave the communion of the
Church of England without the consent of all whose names are subjoined.
“CHARLES WESLEY,
JOHN WESLEY,
JOHN DOWNES,
WILLIAM SHENT,
JOHN JONES,
JOHN NELSON.”[170]
These are curious and important papers, showing that, to a great
extent, suspicion had taken the place of confidence, and that Methodism
was in danger from “false brethren.”
On Sunday, March 15, Wesley set out from London, on his long northern
journey, which, with his tour to Ireland, occupied his time for seven
months. All the way to Manchester, which he reached on March 26, he
encountered a continued succession of storms of wind and snow, but was
not deterred from preaching, even in the open air.
At Manchester, he went, on Good Friday, to the cathedral, where his
old friend, Mr. Clayton, read the prayers “more distinctly, solemnly,
and gracefully” than he had ever heard them read. He spent three days
in a searching examination of the members of the Manchester society,
and found reason to believe, “that there was not one disorderly walker
therein.”
At Birstal, he preached out of doors, and was surprised to find, that
those of the congregation who were a hundred and forty yards distant,
distinctly heard him. At Leeds, he preached in the new chapel. At
Wakefield, in the church, and writes: “Who would have expected to see
me preaching in Wakefield church, to so attentive a congregation, a few
years ago, when all the people were as roaring lions; and the honest
man did not dare to let me preach in his yard, lest the mob should pull
down his houses?”
At Sheffield, he preached “in the shell of the new house”; and
says, “All is peace here now, since the trial at York, at which the
magistrates were sentenced to rebuild the house which the mob had
pulled down.”
At Epworth, he found his coarse, ignorant, wicked brother-in-law,
Richard Ellison, who had farmed his own estate, reduced to poverty.
All his cows were dead, and all his horses, excepting one. For two
years past, all his meadow land had been flooded; his money and means
were gone; and Wesley recommended him to Ebenezer Blackwell, as a
fitting object to be relieved out of the funds disposed of by Mr.
Butterfield.[171] Nine years afterwards, Charles Wesley buried him.
On landing at Hull, the quay was covered with people, inquiring, “Which
is he? Which is he?” But, for the present, they only stared, inquired,
and laughed. At night he preached, “a huge multitude, rich and poor,
horse and foot, with several coaches,” being gathered together at
Mighton-Car. Thousands gave serious attention; “but many behaved
as if possessed by Moloch. Clods and stones flew on every side.” A
gentlewoman invited Wesley and his wife into her carriage, in which
were six persons, besides herself, already. Wesley writes: “There were
nine of us in the coach, three on each side, and three in the middle.
The mob closely attended us, throwing in at the windows whatever came
next to hand; but a large gentlewoman, who sat in my lap, screened me,
so that nothing came near me.” On arriving at his lodgings, the windows
were smashed, and, till midnight, he and his host were, more or less,
saluted with oaths, curses, stones, and brickbats. This was a rough
reception, and Wesley did not repeat his visit for seven years.
From Hull, Wesley and his wife proceeded to Pocklington, where he had
been announced to preach, though there was no society, and scarcely
a converted person in the town. The room, which had been provided
for the preaching, was five yards square, which Wesley reasonably
enough thought too small. A yard was looked at, but it was plentifully
furnished with stones, and Wesley’s experience taught him that these
might be dangerous artillery in the hands of the “devil’s drunken
companions.” At last, a gentleman offered a large commodious barn, in
which Wesley had the most blessed season of refreshing that he had had
since his leaving London.
At York, a magistrate had stuck up in public places, and distributed in
private houses, part of Lavington’s Papists and Methodists Compared;
and hence, as soon as Wesley and his spouse passed through the city
gates, they were saluted with bitter curses.
At Osmotherley, he visited a scoffer at all religion, who was either
raving mad, or possessed of the devil. The woman told him, that the
devil had appeared and talked to her for some time, the day before, and
had leaped upon, and grievously tormented her ever since. Wesley says:
“We prayed with her. Her agonies ceased. She fell asleep, and awoke in
the morning calm and easy.” Osmotherley tradition says, that the name
of this maniac was Elizabeth Whitfield.
Wesley reached Newcastle, the centre of his northern peregrinations, on
April 30. At Sunderland, he “found one of the liveliest societies in
the north of England. This,” says he, “is the effect of their being so
much under the law, as to scruple, one and all, the buying even milk
on a Sunday.” He preached at Alemouth, and made this remarkable entry
in his Journal: “How plain an evidence have we here, that even our
outward work, even the societies, are not of man’s building! With all
our labour and skill, we cannot, in nine years’ time, form a society in
this place; even though there is none that opposes, poor or rich; nay,
though the two richest men in the town, and the only gentlemen there,
have done all which was in their power to further it.”
At Wickham, he met with a remarkable case. Mrs. Armstrong, before whose
house he preached, was an old lady of more than fourscore years of
age. From childhood, the Bible had been her companion; but recently,
on mounting her spectacles, she was not able to see a word. She took
them off; looked again; and could read as well as her daughter could.
“From that hour, she could not only read without spectacles, but sew,
or thread the finest needle, with the same ease as when she was thirty.”
At Barnard Castle, the mob was numerous and loud. The rabble fetched
out the fire engine to play upon the congregation; but John Monkhouse,
great grandfather of the late Rev. Thomas Monkhouse, seized the pipe,
and diverted the stream from Wesley, so that, as he remarks, “not a
drop fell on him.”[172]
From Barnard Castle, Wesley made his way to Whitehaven, intending
to embark for Ireland; but the master of the ship set sail without
him. Upon this, he made an excursion into Lancashire and the west of
Yorkshire. He spent two days with his clerical friend, the Rev. Mr.
Milner, at Chipping, and preached in the parish church to “such a
congregation as was never seen there before.”
At Heptonstall, “an attorney endeavoured to interrupt, by relating low
and threadbare stories; but the people cut him short” in his harangue,
“by carrying him quietly away.”
At Todmorden, Wesley found the clergyman “slowly recovering from a
violent fit of the palsy, with which he was struck immediately after
he had been preaching a violent sermon against the Methodists.” The
following items appear in the Todmorden circuit book. “1752, June
9.—Received of Mr. Grimshaw towards the maintenance of Mr. Wesley and
others, in all, six shillings.” As further curiosities of Methodism
we give other extracts from the same book for 1752. “April 20.—For
William Darney, _foreside_ of his _waistcoat_, 7_s._” “For trimming for
his coat, 9_s._ 11½_d._” “To him for his wife, 20_s._” “May 5.—For
friends at quarterly meeting, 1_s._ 3_d._” “June 9.—Paid to James
Heanworth for Mr. Wesley and others, in all, 12_s._ 2_d._” “August
14.—Paid to William Marshall when in a strait, 5_s._” “December
14.—For writing paper, ½_d._”
At Mellar Barn, Wesley’s bedroom served “both for a bedchamber and a
cellar. The closeness was more troublesome at first than the coolness;
but he let in a little fresh air, by breaking a pane of paper in the
window; and then slept sound till morning.”
As a specimen of Wesley’s itinerant troubles, we give the following
extract from his Journal.
“1752, June 15.—I had many little trials in this journey, of a kind
I had not known before. I had borrowed a young, strong mare when I
set out from Manchester; but she fell lame before I got to Grimsby.
I procured another, but was dismounted again between Newcastle and
Berwick. At my return to Manchester I took my own; but she had lamed
herself in the pasture. I thought, nevertheless, to ride her four of
five miles to-day; but she was gone out of the ground, and we could
hear nothing of her. However, I comforted myself that I had another
at Manchester, which I had lately bought; but when I came thither, I
found one had borrowed her, and rode her away to Chester.”
By some means, he rode to Chester on June 20, where “a poor alehouse
keeper seemed disgusted, spoke a harmless word, and run away with
speed.” While preaching “in the square,” “a man screamed and hallooed
as loud as he could, but none regarded him. A few of the rabble, most
of them drunk, laboured much to make a disturbance; but the far greater
part of the congregation, the gentry in particular, were seriously and
deeply attentive.” A few days afterwards, however, the mob made the
Methodist meeting-house a heap of ruins. On July 10, Wesley and his
wife got back to Whitehaven.
In the midst of these labours and journeyings, Wesley wrote as follows,
to his friend, Mr. Ebenezer Blackwell.
“NEWCASTLE, _May 23, 1752_.
“DEAR SIR,—I want your advice. T. Butts sends me word that, after our
printers’ bills are paid, the money remaining, received by the sale
of the books, does not amount to £100 a year. It seems, therefore,
absolutely necessary to determine one of these three things:—either to
lessen the expense of printing, which I see no way of doing, unless
by printing myself; or to increase the income from the books, and how
this can be done I know not; or to give up those eighty-six copies,
which are specified in my brother’s deed, to himself, to manage them
as he pleases.
“The people in all these parts are much alive to God, being generally
plain, and simple of heart. Here I should spend the greatest part of
my life, if I were to follow my own inclinations. But I am not to do
my own will, but the will of Him that sent me.
“I am, dear sir, your ever affectionate servant,
“JOHN WESLEY.”[173]
Wesley set sail, from Whitehaven, for Dublin, on July 13, and, after
a passage of four days, arrived in safety. The new chapel was ready,
and he describes it as “nearly of the same size and form” as that
at Newcastle, with the exception, that on three sides it had deep
galleries. The society consisted of about four hundred and twenty
members, many of whom “were much shaken, chiefly by various opinions,
which some even of his own preachers had propagated.”
The following extract from a letter, written three days after his
arrival in Dublin, may be acceptable:—
“DUBLIN, _July 20, 1752_.
“DEAR SIR,—Finding no ship ready to sail, either at Bristol or
Chester, we at length came back to Whitehaven, and embarked on Monday
last. It is generally a passage of four-and-twenty hours; but the wind
continuing contrary all the way, we did not reach this place till
Friday evening. My wife and Jenny were extremely sick, particularly
when we had a rolling sea. They are already much better than when they
landed.
“Last month, a large mob assaulted the new house here, and did
considerable damage. Several of the rioters were committed to Newgate.
The bills were found against them all, and they were tried ten days
since; but, in spite of the clearest evidence, a packed jury brought
them in, Not guilty. I believe, however, the very apprehension and
trial of them has struck a terror into their companions. We now enjoy
great quietness, and can even walk unmolested through the principal
streets in Dublin.”[174]
Shortly after, he wrote as follows to his brother Charles.
“ATHLONE, _August 8, 1752_.
“DEAR BROTHER,—Some of our preachers here have peremptorily affirmed,
that you are not so strict as me; that you neither practise, nor
enforce, nor approve of, the rules of the bands. I suppose, they
mean those which condemn needless self indulgence, and recommend the
means of grace, fasting in particular; which is well-nigh forgotten
throughout this nation. I think it would be of use, if you wrote
without delay, and explain yourself at large.
“They have, likewise, openly affirmed, that you agree with Mr.
Whitefield touching perseverance, at least, if not predestination
too. Is it not highly expedient, that you should write explicitly and
strongly on this head likewise?
“Perhaps the occasion of this latter affirmation was, that both you
and I have often granted an absolute, unconditional election of some,
together with a conditional election of all men. I did incline to this
scheme for many years; but of late I have doubted it more and more:
First, because all the texts which I used to think supported it, I
now think, prove either more or less; either absolute reprobation and
election, or neither. Secondly, because I find this opinion serves
all the ill purposes of absolute predestination; particularly that of
supporting infallible perseverance. Talk with any that holds it, and
so you will find.
“On Friday and Saturday next is our little conference at Limerick. We
join in love.”[175]
No one reading Charles Wesley’s hymns will, for a moment, entertain
the accusation, that he sympathised with the Calvinian tenets of his
friend Whitefield; and yet, remembering, that he and the Countess of
Huntingdon were now living in terms of the most intimate friendship;
and, that he was frequently preaching and administering the sacrament
in her ladyship’s house, it is not surprising, that such a report
should have become current. As to the other point, that Charles Wesley
did not approve of and enforce some of the rules of the society, we
incline to think, that this was true; and that there was already
an amount of shyness between the brothers, which soon afterwards
threatened to become something serious.
The Limerick conference (the first in Ireland) was held on the 14th
and 15th days of August. Oddly enough, there are in existence two
manuscripts, written by preachers present at the conference, and
containing its minutes and appointments. One of them, in my own
possession, was given by an aunt of Philip Guier, to the Rev. Samuel
Wood, who published a copy of it in the _Irish Methodist Magazine_ for
1807. The other manuscript is in the handwriting of Jacob Rowell, and
is now possessed by Mr. John Steele, of Chester. It is from Rowell’s
manuscript that the editor of the new edition of the minutes, published
in 1862, printed the minutes of the Limerick conference contained in
that volume.
From these important documents we learn, that there was a general
decay of the societies in Ireland, partly occasioned by the teaching of
antinomian and Calvinian doctrines; partly by the want of discipline;
and partly by the misbehaviour of preachers. All the itinerants present
(ten in number) declared, that they did not believe in the doctrine of
absolute predestination; but three of them added: “We believe there
are some persons absolutely elected; but we believe, likewise, that
Christ died for all; that God willeth not the death of any man; and
that thousands are saved that are not absolutely elected. We believe,
further, that those who are thus elected cannot finally fall; but
we believe other believers may fall, and that those who were once
justified may perish everlastingly.”
Let Wesley’s letter to his brother be read in the light of this extract
from the Limerick minutes, and the one will help to explain the other.
We have here an instance of Wesley tolerating a difference in doctrine
among his preachers, so long as fundamental truths were not impugned.
This might be wise or it might not; but the fact itself is a fact worth
noticing.
It was resolved, however, that, in future, no man should be received
as a fellow labourer unless he thoroughly agreed to both Methodist
doctrine and discipline; and that, if any preacher revolted from this
agreement, letters should be sent to all the societies, disowning him.
It was, also, decided, that if a man was not able to preach twice a
day, he should be only a local preacher; that, of the two, it was
better to give up the evening preaching in a place than the morning;
that the congregations must constantly kneel in prayer, and stand both
in singing and while the text was read, and be serious and silent while
the service lasted, and when coming and going away. Persons not having
band tickets were not to be permitted to be present at the public
meeting of the bands, for this would make the tickets cheap, and would
discourage those who had them. Preachers were to be allowed £8, at
least, and if possible £10 a year for clothing; and £10 a year were to
be allowed for the support of each preacher’s wife. The preachers were
to preach frequently and strongly on fasting; and were to practise it
every Friday, health permitting. Next to luxury, they were to avoid
idleness, and were to spend one hour every day in private prayer.
Six preachers were admitted, one of whom was Philip Guier, concerning
whom we must say a word.
It is well known, that a number of Palatines, driven from Germany, had
settled in the neighbourhood of Ballingran; and that, though they were
in the first instance a sober, well conducted, and moral people, they
had, through having no minister of their own, and no German worship,
degenerated into an irreligious, drunken, swearing community. Amidst
this general degeneracy, Philip Guier breasted the wave, and, like
Milton’s Abdiel, proved faithful among the faithless. He was the master
of the German school at Ballingran; and it was in his school, that
Philip Embury (subsequently the founder of Methodism in the United
States, now a young man thirty-two years of age), had been taught to
read and write. By means of Guier, also, the devoted Thomas Walsh, of
the same age as Embury, had been enlightened, and prepared to receive
the truth as it is in Jesus. Philip Guier was made the leader of the
infant society at Limerick, and now, in 1752, was appointed to act as
a local preacher among the Palatines. He still kept his school, but
devoted his spare hours to preaching. The people loved the man, and
sent him, if not money, yet flour, oatmeal, bacon, and potatoes, so
that Philip, if not rich, was not in want. It is a remarkable fact,
that, after the lapse of a hundred years, the name of Philip Guier is
as fresh in Ballingran as it ever was; for there, even papists as well
as protestants are accustomed to salute the Methodist minister as he
jogs along on his circuit horse, and to say, “There goes Philip Guier,
who drove the devil out of Ballingran!”[176] Under the date of May 7,
1778, Wesley writes: “Two months ago, good Philip Guier fell asleep,
one of the Palatines that came over and settled in Ireland, between
sixty and seventy years ago. He was a father both to this” [Newmarket]
“and the other German societies, loving and cherishing them as his own
children. He retained all his faculties to the last, and after two
days’ illness went to God.”
After the conference at Limerick, Wesley proceeded to Cork, where he
examined the society, and found about three hundred, who were striving
to have a conscience void of offence toward God and man. At Kinsale,
he preached in a large, deep hollow, capable of containing two or
three thousand people, the soldiers of the fort, with their swords,
cutting him a place to stand upon. At Waterford, Thomas Walsh preached
in Irish, and Wesley in English, the rabble cursing, shouting, and
hallooing most furiously.
At length, after spending twelve weeks in Ireland, during which there
were not two dry days together, Wesley set sail for England; and, on
October 14, arrived safe at Bristol. Three weeks later, he came to
London, and here he continued the remainder of the year, preparing
books for the “Christian Library,” on which he had already lost more
than £200.
During this interval, Whitefield wrote as follows to Charles Wesley,
showing that distrust was creeping in among them:—
“LONDON, _December 22, 1752_.
“MY DEAR FRIEND,—I have read and pondered your kind letter. The
connection between you and your brother has been so close and
continued, and your attachment to him so necessary to keep up his
interest, that I would not willingly, for the world, do or say
anything that may separate such friends. I cannot help thinking, that
he is still jealous of me and my proceedings; but, I thank God, I am
quite easy about it. I have seen an end of all perfection. God knows
how I love and honour you, and your brother, and how often I have
preferred your interest to my own. This I shall continue to do. More
might be said, were we face to face.
“Yours, etc.,
“GEORGE WHITEFIELD.”[177]
It is far from pleasant to end the year with a note of discord; but we
shall unfortunately have to hear more of this in future years.
In concluding the chapter with the usual list of Wesley’s publications
during the current year, there must be noticed:—
1. The continuation of his “Christian Library.” Twelve volumes had been
given to the public already; seven more were issued in 1752, containing
extracts from the writings of Thomas Manton, Isaac Ambrose, Jeremy
Taylor, Ralph Cudworth, Nathaniel Culverwell, John Owen, and others.