A skilful guide into poetic ground!
The flowers would spring where'er she deigned to stray,
And every muse attend her in her way.
Virtue, indeed, meets many a rhyming friend,
And many a compliment politely penned;
But unattired in that becoming vest
Religion weaves for her, and half undressed.
Stands in the desert, shivering and forlorn,
A wintry figure, like a withered thorn.
But while he never loses sight of his grand object, Cowper's poems are
not mere sermons in verse. He not only passes without an effort 'from
grave to gay, from lively to severe,' but he blends them together with
most happy effect. Gifted with a rare sense of humour, with exquisite
taste, and with a true appreciation of the beautiful both in nature and
art, he enlists all these in the service of religion. While the reader
is amused with his wit and charmed with his descriptions, he is
instructed, proselytised, won over to Evangelicalism almost without
knowing it. 'My sole drift,' wrote Cowper in 1781, a little before the
publication of his first volume,[816] 'is to be useful; a point at
which, however, I know I should in vain aim, unless I could be likewise
entertaining. I have, therefore, fixed these two strings to my bow; and
by the help of both have done my best to send my arrow to the mark. My
readers will hardly have begun to laugh before they will be called upon
to correct that levity and peruse me with a more serious air. I cast a
sidelong glance at the good-liking of the world at large, more for the
sake of their advantage and instruction than their praise. They are
children; if we give them physic we must sweeten the rim of the cup with
honey,' &c. To this principle he faithfully adhered in all his original
poems. He felt the difficulty of the task which he had proposed to
himself. He knew that he would have to break through a thick, hard crust
of prejudice before he could reach his readers' hearts. He saw the
necessity of peculiar delicacy of treatment, lest he should repel those
whom he desired to attract. And nothing marks more strongly the high
estimate which Cowper formed of Newton's tact and good judgment than the
fact that the poet asked his friend to write the preface to his first
volume. When he made this request he was fully aware that any
injudiciousness, any want of tact, would be fatal to his object. But he
applied to Newton expressly because he thought him the only friend who
would not betray him by any such mistakes.
It is from the nature of the case difficult to estimate the services
which Cowper's poetry rendered to the cause which lay nearest to the
poet's heart. Poems do not make converts in the sense that sermons do;
nevertheless, it is doing no injustice to the preaching power of the
Evangelical school to assert that Cowper's poetry left a deeper mark
upon the Church than any sermons did. Through this means Evangelical
theology in its most attractive form gained access into quarters into
which no Evangelical preachers could ever have penetrated. The bitterest
enemy of Evangelicalism who read Cowper's poems could not deny that here
was at least one man, a scholar and a gentleman, with a refined and
cultured mind and a brilliant wit, who was not only favourably disposed
to the obnoxious doctrines, but held them to be the very life and soul
of Christianity. Of course, to those who wished to find it, there was
the ready answer that the man was a madman. But the mind which produced
'The Task' was certainly not unsound, at least at the time when it
conceived and executed that fine poem. Every reader of discernment,
though he might not agree with the religious views expressed in it, was
obliged to confess that the author's powers were of the first order; and
if William Cowper did no other service to the Evangelical cause, this
alone was an inestimable one--that he convinced the world that the
Evangelical system was not incompatible with true genius, ripe
scholarship, sparkling wit, and a refined and cultivated taste.
* * * * *
If pilgrimages formed part of the Evangelical course, the little town or
large village of Olney should have attracted as many pilgrims as S.
Thomas's shrine at Canterbury did five centuries before. For with this
dull, uninteresting spot are connected the names not only of Newton,
and Cowper, and Mrs. Unwin, but also those of two successive vicars, Mr.
Moses Brown and Mr. Bean, both worthy specimens of Evangelicals, and
last, but by no means least, the name of Scott, the commentator.
_Thomas Scott_ (1746/7-1821) was the spiritual son of Newton, and
succeeded him in the curacy of Olney. There was a curious family
likeness between the two men. Both were somewhat rough diamonds. The
metal in both cases was thoroughly genuine; but perhaps Newton took
polish a little more easily than Scott. Both were self-taught men, and
compensated for the lack of early education by extraordinary
application. Although Scott did not pass through so terrible an ordeal
as Newton, still he had a sufficiently large experience, both of the
moral evils and outward hardships of life, to give him a very wide
sympathy. Both were distinguished for a plain, downright, manly
independence, both of thought and life; both were thoroughly unselfish
and disinterested; both held a guarded Calvinism without the slightest
tincture of Antinomianism; both lived, after their conversion,
singularly pure and blameless lives; both struggled gallantly against
the pressure of poverty, though Scott was the more severely tried of the
two. As a writer, perhaps Scott was the more powerful; Newton wrote
nothing equal to the 'Commentary' or the 'Force of Truth;' on the other
hand, there was a tenderness, a geniality, and, above all, a very strong
sense of humour in Newton which were wanting in Scott. Scott had not the
popular qualities of Newton, a deficiency of which he was himself fully
conscious; but he was a noble specimen of a Christian, and deserved a
much wider recognition than he ever received in this world. The 'Force
of Truth' is one of the most striking treatises ever published by the
Evangelical school, though we cannot go quite so far as to say, with
Bishop Wilson, of Calcutta, that it is equal to the 'Confessions of
Augustine.' It is simply a frank and artless but very forcible account
of the various stages in the writer's mental and spiritual career,
through which he was led to the adoption of that moderate Calvinism in
which he found a permanent home. The treatise is specially interesting
because it contains the history of a spiritual progress through which,
in all probability, many (_mutatis mutandis_) passed in the eighteenth
century. During the earlier years of his ministerial career Scott
wavered between Socinianism and Arianism, and he showed the same
conscientious disinterestedness which distinguished him through life, by
sacrificing his chance of preferment, at a time when his circumstances
sorely needed it, because he could not with a clear conscience sign
those articles which plainly declared the doctrine of the Trinity.
Slowly and laboriously, and without help from any living man, except
perhaps Newton, whose share in the matter will be noticed presently,
Scott worked his way from point to point until he was finally
established in the Evangelical faith. Burnet's 'Pastoral Care,' Hooker's
'Discourse on Justification,' Beveridge's 'Sermons,' Law's 'Serious
Call' (of course), Venn's 'Essay on the Prophecy of Zacharias,' Hervey's
'Theron and Aspasio,' and De Witsius' 'Two Covenants,' contributed each
its share towards the formation of his opinions. He describes with the
utmost candour his obstinacy, his prejudices, and his self-sufficiency.
Even while he was adopting one by one the obnoxious doctrines, he made
amends by sneering at and publicly abusing the Methodists for holding
those remaining doctrines which he still denied, till at last he became
in all points a consistent Calvinistic Methodist (so called).[817] The
'Force of Truth' enables us to estimate at their proper value the
judiciousness, forbearance, and gentleness of Newton. Scott tells us
that he had heard of Newton as a benevolent, disinterested, inoffensive
person, and a laborious minister.' 'But,' he adds, 'I looked upon his
religious sentiments as rank fanaticism, and entertained a very
contemptible opinion of his abilities, natural and acquired.' He heard
him preach, and 'made a jest of his sermon;' he read one of his
publications, and thought the greater part of it whimsical, paradoxical,
and unintelligible. He entered into correspondence with him, hoping to
draw him into controversy. 'The event,' he says, 'by no means answered
my expectations. He returned a very friendly and long answer to my
letter, in which he carefully avoided the mention of those doctrines
which he knew would offend me. He declared that he believed me to be one
who feared God and was under the teaching of his Holy Spirit; that he
gladly accepted my offer of friendship, and was no way inclined to
dictate to me.' In this spirit the correspondence continued. 'I held my
purpose,' writes Scott, 'and he his. I made use of every endeavour to
draw him into controversy, and filled my letters with definitions,
enquiries, arguments, objections, and consequences, requiring explicit
answers. He, on the other hand, shunned everything controversial as much
as possible, and filled his letters with the most useful and least
offensive instructions.' The letters to 'the Rev. T.S.' in Newton's
correspondence fully bear out all that Scott here relates; and one
scarcely knows which to admire most, the truly Christian forbearance of
the older man, or the truly Christian avowal of his faults by the
younger. The whole of Newton's subsequent intercourse with his spiritual
son and successor at Olney indicates the same Christian and considerate
spirit. Newton had, on the whole, been very popular at Olney. Scott was
unpopular. There are few more delicate relationships than that of a
popular clergyman to his unpopular successor, especially when the former
still keeps up an intimate connection with his quondam parishioners.
Such was the relationship between Newton and Scott; and Newton showed
rare tact and true Christian courtesy under the delicate circumstances.
Cowper was, perhaps, not likely to welcome very warmly any successor to
his beloved Newton. At any rate, he appears never to have cordially
appreciated Scott. Scott complains, not without reason, of the poet
charging him with _scolding_ the people at Olney, when neither he nor
Mrs. Unwin, nor their more respectable friends, had ever heard him
preach.[818] Still the coldness between the poet and the new curate
could hardly have been so great as Southey represents it, for Scott
tells us that 'The Force of Truth' was revised by Mr. Cowper, and as to
style and externals considerably improved by his advice.[819]
Though Scott was unpopular at Olney, it must not be supposed that the
fault was altogether his. Possibly he may not have had the elements in
his character which, under any circumstances, could have made him
popular. Indeed, he frankly owns that he had not. 'Some things,' he
writes, 'requisite for popularity I would not have if I could, and
others I could not have if I would.'[820] But at Olney his unpopularity
redounded to his credit. No man could have done his duty there without
being unpopular. The evils against which Scott had to contend were of a
more subtle and complicated kind than simple irreligion and immorality.
Spiritual pride, and the combination of a high profession with a low
practice, were the dominant sins of the place.
Scott's warfare against the perversions of Calvinism forms a conspicuous
feature in his ministerial career. On his removal to the chaplaincy of
the Lock Hospital in London, he met with the same troubles as at Olney,
on a larger scale, and in an aggravated form. 'Everything,' he writes,
'conduced to render me more and more unpopular, not only at the Lock,
but in every part of London ... but my most distinguishing reprehensions
of those who perverted the doctrines of the Gospel to Antinomian
purposes, and my most awful warnings, were the language of compassionate
love, and were accompanied by many tears and prayers.'[821] His printed
sermons show us how strongly he felt the necessity of making a bold
stand against the pernicious principles of some of the 'professors' who
attended his ministry. It required far greater moral courage to wage
such a warfare as this than to fight against open sin and avowed
infidelity. And when it is also remembered that Scott was a needy man,
and that his bread depended upon his keeping on good terms with his
congregation, and, moreover, that he had to fight the battle alone, for
he was too much identified with the 'Methodists' to receive any help
from the 'Orthodox,' his difficult position will be understood. But the
brave man cared little for obloquy or desertion, or even the prospect of
absolute starvation, when the cause of practical religion was at stake.
There is very little doubt that it was. Many who called themselves
Calvinists were making the doctrines of grace a cloak for the vilest
hypocrisy; and the noble stand which Scott made against these deadly
errors gives him a better claim to the title of 'Confessor' than many to
whom the name has been given.
In spite of opposition, the good man worked on, with very small
remuneration. His professional income (and he had little or nothing
else) hardly exceeded 100_l._ a year. For this miserable stipend he
officiated four times every Sunday in two churches, between which he had
to walk fourteen miles, and ministered daily to a most disheartening
class of patients in a hospital. To eke out his narrow income he
undertook to write annotations on the Scriptures, which were to come out
weekly, and to be completed in a hundred numbers. The payment stipulated
was the magnificent sum of a guinea a number! This was the origin of the
famous Commentary. There is no need to make many remarks on this
well-known work. As a practical and devotional commentary it did not
perhaps attain to the permanent popularity of Matthew Henry's
commentary, and in point of erudition and acuteness it is not equal to
that of Adam Clarke. But it holds an important place of its own in the
Evangelical literature of its class, and its usefulness extended beyond
the limits of the Evangelical school. Its immediate success was
enormous, perhaps almost unparalleled in literary history, or at least
in the history of works of similar magnitude; 12,000 copies of the
English edition and 25,250 of the American, were produced in the
lifetime of the author. The retail price of the English copies amounted
to 67,600_l._ and of the American 132,300_l._ One would have been glad
to learn that the author himself was placed in easy circumstances by the
sale of his work. But this was not the case; on the contrary, it
involved him for some time in very serious embarrassments. Scott died,
as he lived, a poor man. But one is thankful to know that his old age
was passed in comparative peace. His change from London to Aston
Sandford, if it was not a remunerative, was at least a refreshing
change. In the pure air of his country living he was liberated from the
unsatisfactory wranglings, the bitter jealousies, and vexatious
interference of his London patrons, whose self-sufficiency and spiritual
pride were, like those of many amateur theologians at the present day,
in inverse ratio to their knowledge and ability. He had the satisfaction
of seeing a son grow up to be worthy of his father. To that son we are
indebted for the very interesting biography of Thomas Scott, a biography
in which filial piety has not tempted the writer to lose sight of good
sense and honesty, and which is therefore not a mere panegyric, but a
true and vivid account of its subject.
From Newton and Scott we naturally turn to one who was the friend of
both and the biographer of the former.
_Richard Cecil_ (1748-1810) differed widely in point of natural
character from his two friends. He was perhaps the most cultured and
refined of all the Evangelical leaders. Nature had endowed him with an
elegant mind, and he improved his natural gifts by steady application.
He was not trained in the school of outward adversity as Newton and
Scott had been; but he had trials of his own, mostly of an intellectual
character, which were sharp enough. His delicate health prevented him
from taking so busy a part as his friends did in the Evangelical
movement. But in a different way he contributed in no slight degree to
its success. There was a stately dignity, both in his character and in
his style of writing, which was very impressive. His 'Remains' show
traces of a scholarly habit of mind, a sense of humour, a grasp of
leading principles, a liberality of thought, and capacity of
appreciating good wherever it might be found, which render it, short
though it is, a valuable contribution to Evangelical literature.
There are yet two names among the clerical leaders of the. Evangelical
party in the last century which were at least as influential as any
which have been mentioned. The two brothers, Joseph and Isaac Milner,
were both in their different ways very notable men.
_Joseph Milner_, the elder brother (1744-1797), lived a singularly
uneventful life. After having taken a good degree at Cambridge, he was
appointed, at a very early age, headmaster of the grammar school at
Hull, in which town he spent the remainder of his comparatively short
life. He was in course of time made Vicar of North Ferriby, a village
near Hull; and, first, lecturer, and then, only a few weeks before his
death, Vicar, of Holy Trinity, the parish church of Hull. Both his
scholastic and ministerial careers were successful and useful, but do
not call for any particular notice. His Calvinistic views rendered him
for a time unpopular, but he outlived his unpopularity, and died, at
the age of fifty-three, generally respected, as he deserved to be.
But it is as a writer that Joseph Milner claims our chief regard. His
'Church History' may contend with Scott's 'Commentary,' for the first
place among the Evangelical literature of the last century. The plan of
this important work was a happy and an original one--original, that is,
so far as execution was concerned; for the first idea was not
original--it was suggested by a fragment written by Newton at Olney.
Having observed with regret that most Church histories dwelt mainly, if
not exclusively, upon the disputes of Christians, upon the various
heresies and schisms which in all ages have distracted the Christian
Church, Milner felt that they were calculated to impress their readers
with a very unfavourable view of the Christian religion, as if the chief
result of that religion had been to set men at variance with one
another.[822] Mosheim, the fullest historian of the Church in that day,
seemed to Milner a notable offender in this respect. Milner therefore
purposed to write a 'History of the Church of Christ,' the main object
of which should be to set forth the blessed effects which Christianity
had produced in all, even the darkest ages, and which should touch but
slightly and incidentally, and only so far as the subject absolutely
required it, upon the heresies and disputes which formed the staple of
most Church histories. His history, in fact, was to be a history of
_real_ not _nominal_ Christians. He thought that too much had been said
about ecclesiastical wickedness, and that Deists and Sceptics had taken
advantage of this against Christians. Such a work was a 'desideratum,'
and had the execution been equal to the conception, it would have been
simply invaluable. If genuine piety, thorough honesty, a real desire to
recognise good wherever it could be found, and a vast amount of
information, in the amassing of which he was aided by a wonderfully
tenacious memory and great industry, were sufficient to ensure success,
Milner certainly possessed all these qualifications in an eminent
degree. But in others, which are equally essential, he was deficient. In
the first place, his work laboured under the fatal defect of dulness. Of
all writers, perhaps the ecclesiastical historian has most need of a
lively, racy style, of the art of selecting really prominent facts and
representing them with vividness and picturesqueness. The nature of his
subject is drier than that of the civil historian. He _must_ write much
which to the majority of readers will be heavy reading, unless they are
carried along by the grace and attractiveness of the composition. Milner
has not the art of setting _off_ his characters in the most effective
manner. There is a want of spring and dash about his style which has
prevented many from doing justice to his real merits.
Then again, he was rather too much of a partisan, to make a good
historian. With every wish to give honour where honour was due, his mind
was not evenly balanced enough for his task. Holding, as Milner did, the
very strongest and most uncompromising views of the utter depravity of
mankind, he can allow no good at all to what are termed 'mere moral
virtues.' Indeed, he will hardly allow such virtues to be 'splendid
sins.' He is far too honest to suppress facts, but his comments upon
facts are often tinged with a quite unconscious unfairness. Thus, he
admits the estimable qualities which Antoninus Pius possessed, but
'doubtless,' he adds, 'a more distinct and explicit detail of his life
would lessen our admiration: something of the supercilious pride of the
Grecian or of the ridiculous vain-glory of the Roman might appear.'[823]
A kindred but graver defect is Milner's incessant depreciation of all
schools of philosophy. Instead of seeing in these great thinkers of
antiquity a yearning after that light which Christianity gives, he can
see in them nothing but the deadliest enmity to Christianity. 'The
Church of Christ is abhorrent in its plan and spirit from the systems of
proud philosophers.' 'Moral philosophy and metaphysics have ever been
dangerous to religion. They have been found to militate against the
vital truths of Christianity and corrupt the gospel in our times, as
much as the cultivation of the more ancient philosophy corrupted it in
early ages.' The minister of Christ is warned against 'deep researches
into philosophy of any kind,' and much more to the same effect. It was
this foolish manner of talking and writing which gave the impression
that the religion which the Evangelicals recommended was a religion only
fitted for persons of weak minds and imperfect education. Such sweeping
and indiscriminate censures of 'human learning' (at least of one
important branch of it) not only encouraged contemptuous opinions of
Evangelicalism among its enemies, but also tended to make many of its
friends think too lightly of those gifts which, after all, come as truly
from 'the Father of lights' as these which are more strictly termed
spiritual. It was a very convenient doctrine for those who could
certainly never have attained to any degree of intellectual eminence, to
think that they were quite on a level with those who could and did:
nay, that they had the advantage on their side because intellectual
eminence was a snare rather than a help to Christianity. It is all the
more provoking to find such passages as those which have been quoted
from Milner in Evangelical writings (and they are not uncommon) because
the Evangelical leaders themselves were very far indeed from being
deficient either in abilities or attainments. Perhaps none of them can
be classed among the first order of divines; but those who assert that
the Wesleys, Romaine, Newton, Scott, Cecil, and the Milners were fools
and ignoramuses, only show their own folly and ignorance.
Another defect of Milner as a historian is, that he is rather too
anxious 'to improve the occasion.' Whatever century he is treating of,
he always seems to have one eye steadily fixed upon the latter part of
the eighteenth century. He takes every possible and impossible
opportunity of dealing a sideblow to the Arminians and Schismatics of
his own day:[824] for Milner, though he was called a Methodist, was a
most uncompromising stickler for every point of Church order.
His Calvinism led him to give undue prominence to those Christians of
the past who held the same views. Thus, for instance, although the great
Bishop of Hippo richly deserves all the honour which a Church historian
can bestow upon him, yet surely he was not so immeasurably superior to
the other Fathers, that he should have 145 pages devoted to him, while
Chrysostom has only sixteen and Jerome only eleven. But 'the peculiar
work for which Augustine was evidently raised up by Providence, was to
restore the doctrines of divine grace to the Church.'
Having frankly owned these defects, we may now turn to the more pleasing
task of recognising Milner's real merits.
Strong Protestant as Milner was, he showed a generous appreciation of
the real good which existed in the Church of Rome: a most unusual
liberality in theologians of the eighteenth century--High Church as well
as Low. He warned his readers most seasonably, that they 'should not be
prejudiced against the real Church, because she then [in the time of
Gregory I.] wore a Roman garb,' for 'superstition to a certain degree
may co-exist with the spirit of the Gospel.' And he certainly acted up
to the spirit of his warning. Of course, his chief heroes are those who
were more or less adverse to the claims of the Roman See, such as
Grossteste, Bradwardine, Wickliff, and Jerome of Prague. But he can
fully appreciate the merits of an Anselm, for instance, whose 'humble
and penitent spirit consoles the soul with a glance of Christian faith
in Christ;'[825] of Bernard, of whom he writes, 'There is not an
essential doctrine of the Gospel which he did not embrace with zeal,
defend by argument, and adorn by his life;'[826] of Bede, who 'alone
knew more of true religion, both doctrinal and practical, than numbers
of ecclesiastics put together at this day.' And he owns that 'our
ancestors were undoubtedly much indebted, under God, to the Roman
See.'[827]
The excellence of his plan, to which he faithfully adheres, might atone
for more faults than Milner is guilty of. We may well bear with a few
shortcomings in a Church history which, instead of perplexing the mind
with the interminable disputes of professing Christians, makes it its
main business to detect the spirit of Christ wherever it can be found.
It is a real refreshment, no less than a real strengthening of our
faith, to turn from Church histories which might be more correctly
termed histories of the abuses and perversions of Christianity, to one
which really is what it professes to be--a history of the good which
Christianity has done.
Joseph Milner died when his history had only reached the middle of the
thirteenth century; but his pen was taken up by a hand which was, at
least, equally competent to wield it. The fourth volume of the history,
carrying the work down to about the middle of the sixteenth century, was
compiled by his younger brother Isaac, of whom we may now say a few
words.
_Isaac Milner_ (1751-1820) was the one solitary instance of an avowed
and uncompromising adherent of the Evangelical school, in the last
century, attaining any high preferment in the Church. Indeed, his claims
could not have been ignored without glaring injustice. He was the Senior
Wrangler of his year, and First Smith's Prizeman, and the epithet
'incomparabilis' was attached to his name in the Mathematical Tripos. He
continued to reside at the University after he had taken his degree, and
was appointed Professor of Mathematics, President of his college
(Queen's), and finally, Dean of Carlisle. Isaac Milner's services to the
Evangelical cause were invaluable. Holding a prominent position at
Cambridge, he was able to establish a sort of School of the Prophets,
where Evangelical ministers in embryo were trained in the system of
their party. But, besides this, he helped the cause he had at heart by
becoming a sort of general adviser and referee in cases of difficulty.
For such an office he was admirably adapted. His reputation for
erudition, and his high standing at Cambridge, commanded respect; and
his sound, shrewd sense, his thorough straightforwardness and hatred of
all cant and unreality, his genial manner and his decidedness, made his
advice very effective. He acquired a reputation for conversational
powers not much inferior in his own circle to that of Dr. Johnson in
his; and this, no doubt, added to his influence.
There was only one man at Cambridge whose services to Evangelicalism at
all equalled those of Isaac Milner. It need scarcely be said that that
man was Charles Simeon, the voluntary performer of that work for which,
of all others, our universities ought most carefully to provide, but
which, at least during the eighteenth century, they most neglected--the
training of our future clergymen. As Simeon's work, however, is more
connected with the nineteenth than with the eighteenth century, it need
not further be referred to.
It is difficult to know where to draw the line, in noticing the clerical
leaders of the Evangelical party. If all the worthy men who helped on
the cause were here commemorated, this chapter would swell into
outrageous dimensions. Dr. Conyers of Helmsley, and subsequently of
Deptford, the friend and brother-in-law of J. Thornton; Mr. Richardson
of York, the intimate friend of Joseph Milner and the editor of his
sermons; Mr. Stillingfleet of Hotham, another friend of Milner's; Mr.
Jowett, a voluminous and once much admired writer, would claim at least
a passing notice. But there is one more Evangelical clergyman whose work
must not be ignored.
_Thomas Robinson of Leicester_ (1749-1813) was the friend of all the
Evangelical leaders of his day. Having taken his degree with credit at
Cambridge--he was said to be the best _general_ scholar of his time--he
served for a short while the curacy of Witcham, a village near
Cambridge. Here he raised, by his reputed Methodism, a sensation which
extended to the whole neighbourhood, and even to the University itself.
'His tutor and friend, Mr. Postlethwaite, hearing that he was bent on
turning Methodist, from the kindest motives took him seriously to task,
exhorting him to beware, to consider what mischief the Methodists were
doing, and at what a vast rate they were increasing. "Sir," said
Robinson, "what do you mean by a Methodist? Explain, and I will
ingenuously tell you whether I am one or not." This caused a puzzle and
a pause. At last Mr. Postlethwaite said, "Come then, I'll tell you. I
hear that in the pulpit you impress on the minds of your hearers, that
they are to attend to your doctrines from the consideration that you
will have to give an account of them, and of your treatment of them, at
the Day of Judgment." "I am surprised," rejoined Robinson, "to hear this
objected. It is true." Robinson got no further explanation from the
tutor, but that the increase of Methodism was an alarming thing.'[828]
From Witcham, Robinson was removed to Leicester, where he spent the
remainder of his life, and where he passed through very much the same
sort of experience which attended most of the Evangelical clergy of the
period: that is, his 'Methodistical' views raised great opposition at
the outset; but he lived it down, became a very popular preacher, and
took a leading part in every scheme for the amelioration of the temporal
and spiritual condition of Leicester. Mr. Robinson was also well known
as an author. His 'Christian System' and 'Scripture Characters' were
once much read and much admired books, especially the former, which is
still found in most libraries of divinity collected in the early part of
the present century.
It was said above that Dean Milner was the solitary instance of an
Evangelical clergyman of the last century, who gained any high
preferment. Some may think that Beilby Porteus, Bishop of London, also
formed an exception to the rule. But, strictly speaking, Bishop Porteus
can scarcely be said to have identified himself with the Evangelical
school. It is true that he did not share the prejudices which many of
his brother prelates conceived against the Evangelical clergy, but, on
the contrary, was on terms of the closest intimacy with many of them,
and always used the commanding influence which his position gave him in
their favour. He threw himself heartily into all their philanthropical
schemes--the promotion of Sunday-schools, the agitation for the
abolition of negro slavery, and the newly reawakened zeal for foreign
missions. But he never so far committed himself as to incur the reproach
of Methodism; he did not bear the brunt of the battle as the
Evangelicals did, and therefore can hardly be reckoned among their
number.
Hitherto, our attention has been turned mainly to the _clergy_ who took
part in the Evangelical movement. But this sketch would be very
imperfect if it failed to notice the eminent laymen who helped the
cause. The two Thorntons, father and son, William Wilberforce, Lord
Dartmouth, Lord Teignmouth and others, who regularly or occasionally
attended the ministry of John Venn, the worthy Rector of Clapham, were
called in derision, 'the Clapham sect.' The phrase implies a sort of
reproach which was not deserved. These good men had no desire to form a
sect. They were all, in their way, loyal sons of the Church of England,
content with her liturgy, attached to her doctrines, and ready to
conform to her order. Perhaps, like most laymen who take up strong
views on theological subjects, they were inclined to be a little narrow.
None of them had, or professed to have, the slightest pretensions to be
called theologians. Still, they learned and practised thoroughly the
true lessons of Christianity, and shed a lustre upon the Evangelical
cause by the purity, disinterestedness, and beneficence of their lives.
Of the two Thorntons little need be said, except that they were wealthy
merchants who in very truth looked upon their riches not as their own,
but as talents entrusted to them for their Master's use. The princely
liberality of these two good men was literally unbounded. It has been
seen that the Evangelical clergy were almost to a man debarred from the
emoluments of their profession, and lived in very straitened
circumstances. The extent to which their lack was supplied by John and
Henry Thornton is almost incredible. John Thornton regularly allowed
Newton, during the sixteen years the latter was at Olney, 200_l._ a year
for charitable purposes, and urged him to draw upon him for more when
necessary. Henry Thornton, the son, is said to have divided his income
into two parts, retaining only one-seventh for his own use, and devoting
six-sevenths to charity; after he became the head of a family, he gave
two-thirds away and retained one-third for himself and his family. It
appeared after his death, from his accounts, that the amount he spent in
the relief of distress in one of his earlier years considerably exceeded
9,000_l._
The character and career of _William Wilberforce_ (1759-1831) are too
well known to need description; it will be sufficient here to touch upon
those points in which the great philanthropist was directly concerned in
the Evangelical revival. Only it should be distinctly borne in mind that
the main work of his life cannot be separated from his Evangelical
principles. His earnest efforts in behalf of the negro were as plainly
the result of Evangelicalism as was the munificence of the Thorntons or
the preaching of Venn. When Wilberforce was first impressed seriously,
and was in doubt what plan of life to adopt, he consulted, like many
others, John Newton. He could not have had recourse to a better adviser.
Newton counselled him not to give up his proper position in the world,
but to seek in it opportunities for employing his wealth, talents, and
influence for his Master's work. The wise old man saw that the young
enthusiast could help the cause far more effectually as a member of
Parliament and friend of the Minister, than ever he could have done as a
parochial clergyman or as an itinerant.[829] Hence, Wilberforce, instead
of becoming a second Rowland Hill, as he might easily have been
persuaded to do, became the staunch supporter of the Evangelical cause
in Parliament, and the successful recommender of its principles in
general society.
Evangelicalism had been gradually making its way upwards among the
social strata. The earlier Methodism had been influential almost
exclusively among the lower and lower middle classes. Good Lady
Huntingdon's efforts are a proof, rather than an exception to the rule,
that Methodism in this form was out of harmony with the tastes of the
upper classes, and had little practical efficacy with them. But
Evangelicalism was beginning to excite, not a mere passing curiosity
such as had been created by Whitefield's preaching, but a really
practical interest among the aristocracy. No one contributed more
largely to this result than William Wilberforce. Here was a man of rare
social talents, a thorough gentleman, a brilliant orator, and an
intimate friend of some of the most eminent men of the day, not only
casting in his lot with the 'calumniated school' (as Hannah More calls
it), but straining every nerve to recommend its principles. It has been
said, indeed, that Wilberforce was not, properly speaking, an
Evangelical.[830] This is so far true, that Wilberforce did not identify
himself entirely with any religious party, and that he was, as Thomas
Scott observes, 'rather afraid of Calvinism.' But it would be robbing
Evangelicalism of its due, to deny that Wilberforce's deep religious
convictions were solely derived (so far as human agency was concerned)
from the Evangelical school. He was early impressed by the preaching,
and perhaps the private counsel, of his schoolmaster, Joseph Milner.
These impressions were afterwards revived and deepened by his
intercourse with Isaac Milner, whom he accompanied on a continental tour
just before the decisive change in his character. He was then led to
consult John Newton, and was advised by him to attend the ministry of
Thomas Scott at the Lock Hospital, from which he himself tells us that
he derived great benefit; and he afterwards attended regularly the
ministry of J. Venn. Surely these facts speak for themselves. The
religious character of Wilberforce was moulded by the Evangelical
clergy, and he was himself to all intents and purposes an Evangelical.
If further proof were needed, it would only be necessary to refer to
Wilberforce's best known publication, entitled in full, 'A Practical
View of the prevailing Religious System of Professed Christians in the
Higher and Middle Classes in this country, contrasted with real
Christianity.' No book, since the publication of the 'Serious Call,'
had exerted so wide and deep an influence as the 'Practical View.'
Wilberforce took up very much the same position as Law had done; and it
would be difficult to award higher praise to the later work than to say,
as one justly may, that it will bear comparison with the earlier. Not
that as mere compositions the two works can for one moment be compared.
In depth of thought, strength of argument, and beauty of language, Law's
is immeasurably superior. But, on the other hand. Wilberforce had on
many points a distinct advantage. To begin with, the mere fact that the
'Practical View' was written by a layman--and such a layman!--gave it a
weight which no book of the kind written by a clergyman could
possess.[831] The force of the latter might always be broken by the
objection that the writer was swayed by professional bias, and that his
arguments, whatever might be their intrinsic merits, must be taken _cum
grano_ by the lay mind. But besides this 'coign of vantage' from which
Wilberforce wrote, there were also points in the books themselves in
which, for the purposes for which they were written, the preference must
be given to the later work. It was not unnaturally objected against Law,
that he did not sufficiently base his arguments upon distinctly Gospel
motives. No such objection can be raised against Wilberforce. Then
again, though Wilberforce was a thoroughly unworldly man, he was in the
good sense of the term a thorough man of the world, and knew by
experience what course of argument would tell most with such men. What
Law writes from mere theory, Wilberforce writes from practical
knowledge. It would be difficult to conceive men of powerful intellect
like Dr. Johnson and John Wesley, who had really thought, deeply and
seriously on such subjects, being so strongly affected by the 'Practical
View' as these were by the 'Serious Call.' But men of powerful intellect
who had thought deeply and seriously on religious subjects, were rare.
The 'Practical View' is strong enough food for the general reader, while
at the same time its unpretentious earnestness disarmed the criticism
and won the hearts of men of genius like Edmund Burke. Wilberforce was
no theologian; he was simply a good man who read his New Testament in a
guileless spirit, and expostulated affectionately with those who,
professing to take that book as their standard, were living lives
plainly repugnant to its principles. The success of Wilberforce's
attempt was as great as it was unexpected. The publisher had so poor an
opinion of the project, that he would consent to issue five hundred
copies only on condition that Wilberforce would give his name. But the
first edition was sold off in a few days; within half-a-year the book
had passed through five editions, and it has now passed through more
than fifty. The rest of Wilberforce's useful life, extending as it did
some way into the nineteenth century, does not fall within the scope of
the present inquiry.
Among Evangelical laymen, Lord Dartmouth held an honoured place. He did
good service to the cause by advocating its interests both among the
nobility and at Court; he was one of the very few who had the
opportunity and will to advance the Evangelical clergy; and among
others, he had the honour of promoting John Newton to the rectory of S.
Mary Woolnoth.[832] He himself was a standing witness that 'Methodism'
was not a religion merely for the coarse and unrefined, for he was
himself so polished a gentleman that Richardson is reputed to have said
that 'he would have realised his own idea of Sir Charles Grandison, if
he had not been a Methodist.' It was Lord Dartmouth of whom Cowper
wrote, 'he wears a coronet and prays:' an implied reflection upon a
large order, which the poet was scarcely justified in making.
Lord Teignmouth was another Evangelical nobleman; but, strictly
speaking, he does not come within the range of our subject; for it was
not until the nineteenth century had commenced that he settled at
Clapham, and became a distinguished member of the so-called Clapham
sect, and the first president of the newly-formed Bible Society.
Among Evangelical laymen are we to place the revered name of Samuel
Johnson. His prejudices against Whitefield and the early Methodists have
already been noticed; and the supposed antagonism between 'Methodism'
and 'orthodoxy' would probably always have prevented one so intensely
orthodox from fully identifying himself with the movement. But, without
entering into the controversy which raged, so to speak, round the body
of the good old man, there can be little doubt that towards the close of
his life he was largely influenced by the Evangelical doctrines. His
well-known fear of death laid him open to the influence of those who had
clearly learned to count the last enemy as a friend; and there is no
reason to doubt the story of his last illness, which rests upon
unimpeachable testimony. 'My dear doctor,' he said to Dr. Brocklesby,
'believe a dying man: there is no salvation but in the sacrifice of the
Son of God.' 'I offer up my soul to the great and merciful God. I offer
it full of pollution, but in full assurance that it will be cleansed in
the blood of the Redeemer.'[833]
It will have been noticed that, with the exception of Lady Huntingdon,
no female has been mentioned as having taken any prominent part in the
Evangelical Revival. The mother of the Wesleys, Mrs. Fletcher, Mrs.
Newton, Mrs. Cecil, and perhaps Mrs. C. Wesley, were all excellent
specimens of Evangelical Christians; but their influence was exercised
solely in private. Neither by writing nor in any other way did they come
prominently forward. This is all the more noteworthy, because, so far as
the principles of Evangelicalism were concerned, there was no reason why
there should not have been many Lady Huntingdons among the Evangelical
leaders. That there were not, is, perhaps, owing to the fact that there
was a certain robustness of character common to all the chiefs of the
party. One can scarcely conceive Venn, or Newton,[834] or Scott, or the
Milners being led by women. There is, however, one exception to the
rule.
_Hannah More_ (1745-1833), by her writings and by her practical work in
a sphere where such work was sorely needed, won an honourable place
among the Evangelical worthies. Her accomplishments and attainments, her
ready wit and social talents, gave her a place in society higher than
that to which her birth entitled her, long before she came under the
influence of the Evangelical party. It was by slow degrees that she
embraced one by one the peculiar tenets of that school.[835] Perhaps to
the very end she never thoroughly identified herself with it, though
her religious character was unquestionably formed under Evangelical
influences. She formed a sort of link between Evangelicalism and the
outer world. The intimate friend of David and Mrs. Garrick, of Dr.
Johnson, of Horace Walpole, of Bishop Horne and Bishop Shute Harrington
on the one hand, of John Newton, Wilberforce, the two Thorntons and
Bishop Porteus on the other, she had points of contact with people of
very different ways of thinking. It was this wide sympathy which enabled
her to gain the ear of the public. 'You have a great advantage, madam,'
wrote Newton to her; 'there is a circle by which what you write will be
read; and which will hardly read anything of a religious kind that is
not written by you.'[836] The popularity of her writings, which were
very numerous, was extraordinary. Her 'Thoughts on the Manners of the
Great' (1788) showed much moral courage. It was published anonymously,
not because she was afraid of being known as the author, but simply
because 'she hoped it might be attributed to a better person, and so
might produce a greater effect.' The secret of the authorship was,
however, soon discovered, and the effect was not spoiled. To the credit
also of the fashionable world, it must be added that her popularity was
not diminished. The success of her effort exceeded her most sanguine
expectations. Seven large editions were sold in a few months, the second
in little more than a week, the third in four hours. Its influence was
traceable in the abandonment of many of the customs which it
attacked.[837] In 1790 a sort of sequel appeared, entitled 'An Estimate
of the Religion of the Fashionable World,' which was bought up and read
as eagerly as its predecessor. Nine years later another work on a
kindred subject, entitled 'Strictures on Female Education,' was equally
successful. Nor was it only on the subject of the higher classes that
Hannah More was an effective writer. The wild licence of the French
Revolution, while it filled sober, respectable people with perhaps an
extravagant alarm, seemed at one time not unlikely to spread its
contagion among the disaffected classes in England. One result was, the
dissemination among the multitude of cheap literature full of
speculative infidelity, as well as of abuse of the constituted
authorities in this country. To furnish an antidote, Hannah More
published, in 1792, a popular work entitled 'Village Politics, by Will
Chip,' the object of which was to check the spread of French
revolutionary principles among the lower classes. So great was the
effect of this work that it was said by some, with a little
exaggeration, no doubt, to have contributed essentially to prevent a
revolution in England. Her success in this department of literature
encouraged her to write a series of tracts which she published
periodically, until 1798, under the title of the 'Cheap Repository
Tracts.' Hannah More was well fitted for this latter work by her
practical experience among the poor. Like most of the Evangelicals, she
was a thorough worker. The spiritual destitution of Cheddar and the
neighbourhood so affected her, that she formed the benevolent design of
establishing schools for the children and religious instruction for the
grown-up. Such efforts are happily so common at the present day, that it
is difficult to realise the moral courage and self-denial which the
carrying out of such a plan involved, or the difficulties with which the
projector had to grapple. Some parents objected to their children
attending the schools, lest Miss More should acquire legal control over
them and sell them as slaves. Others would not allow the children to go
unless they were paid for it. Of course, the cuckoo-cry of Methodism was
raised. The farmers were bitterly opposed to the education of their
labourers, and the clergy, though generally favourable, were not always
so. But Miss More was not without friends. Her sister Patty was an
invaluable assistant. Wilberforce and Thornton helped her with their
purses. Newton, Bishop Porteus and other clergy strengthened her with
their counsel and rendered her personal assistance; and at the close of
the eighteenth century, the neighbourhood of Cowslip Green wore a very
different aspect from what it had worn twenty years earlier.
If we were to judge of Hannah More's writings by their popularity, and
the undoubted effects which they produced, or by the testimony which men
of approved talents and discernment have borne to their value, we should
place her in the very first rank of eighteenth century writers. 'Her
style and manner are confessedly superior to those of any moral writer
of the age.' She is 'one of the most illustrious females that ever was
in the world. 'One of the most truly Evangelical divines of this whole
age, perhaps almost of any age not apostolic.' Bishop Porteus actually
recommended her writings both in a sermon and in a charge. A feeling of
disappointment will probably be raised in most readers who turn from
these extravagant eulogies to the works themselves. They are full of
somewhat vapid truisms, and their style is too ornate for the present
age. Like so many writers of her day, she wrote Johnsonese rather than
English. She loved long words, and amplified where she should have
compressed. However, it is an ungracious task to criticise one who did
good work in her time. After all, the truest test of the merits of a
writer who wrote with the single object that Hannah More did, is the
effect she produced. Her writings were once readable and very
influential. If the virtue now appears to have gone out of them, we may
be thankful that it lasted so long as it was needed.
To conclude this long chapter. If any think that the picture here drawn
of the leaders of the Evangelical Revival is too highly coloured, and
that in this, as in all human efforts, frailties and mistakes might be
discovered in abundance, the writer can only reply that he has not
knowingly concealed any infirmities to which these good men were
subject, though he frankly admits that he has touched upon them lightly
and reluctantly. He feels that they were the salt of the earth in their
day; that their disinterestedness, their moral courage in braving
obloquy and unpopularity, their purity of life, the spirituality of
their teaching, and the world of practical good they did among a
neglected people, render them worthy of the deepest respect. It would
have been an ungracious task ruthlessly to lay bare and to descant upon
their weaknesses. That was done mercilessly by their contemporaries and
those of the next generation. There is more need now to redress the
balance by giving due weight to their many excellences.
It seems all the more necessary to bring out into full prominence their
claims upon the admiration of posterity, because they have scarcely done
justice to themselves in the writings they have left behind them. They
were not, as they have been represented, a set of amiable and
well-meaning but weak and illiterate fanatics. But their forte no doubt
lay more in preaching and in practical work than in writing.
Again, the stream of theological thought has to a great extent drifted
into a different current from that in which it ran in their day, and
this change may have prevented many good men from sympathising with them
as they deserved. The Evangelicals of the last century represented one
side, but only one side, of our Church's teaching. With the spirituality
and fervency of her liturgy and the 'Gospel' character of all her
formularies, they were far more in harmony than the so-called 'orthodox'
of their day. But they did not, to say the least of it, bring into
prominence what are now called, and what would have been called in the
seventeenth century, the 'Catholic' features of the English Church. They
simply regarded her as one of many 'Protestant' communions. Distinctive
Church principles, in the technical sense of the term, formed no part of
their teaching. Daily services, frequent communions, the due observance
of her Fasts and Festivals, all that is implied in the terms 'the
æstheticism and symbolism of worship,' found no place in their course.
The consequence was that while they formed a compact and influential
body which still remained _within_ the pale of the Church, they also
revived very largely, though unintentionally, the Dissenting interest,
which was at least in as drooping a condition as the Church of England
before the Evangelical school arose. But every English Churchman has
reason to be deeply grateful to them for what they did, however much he
may be of opinion that their work required supplementing by others no
less earnest, but of a different tone of thought.
FOOTNOTES:
[Footnote 708: More true than the assertion which follows--'and Count
Zinzendorf rocked the cradle.']
[Footnote 709: He was, however, sometimes tempted to use unseemly
language of the clergy. See extracts from his journals quoted in
Warburton's _Doctrine of Grace_.]
[Footnote 710: 'Remarks on the Life and Character of John Wesley,' by
Alexander Knox, printed at the close of Southey's _Life of Wesley_, vol.
iii. p. 319.]
[Footnote 711: In the Minutes of Conference, 1747, 'What instance or
ground is there in the New Testament for a "_national_" Church? We know
none at all,' &c. 'The greatest blow,' he said, 'Christianity ever
received was when Constantine the Great called himself a Christian and
poured in a flood of riches, honour, and power upon the Christians, more
especially upon the clergy.' 'If, as my Lady says, all outward
establishments are Babel, so is this establishment. Let it stand for me.
I neither set it up nor pull it down.... Let us build the city of God.']
[Footnote 712: But he asserts the rights of the civil power in things
indifferent, and reminds a correspondent that allegiance to a national
Church in no way affects allegiance to Christ.--(Letter in answer to
Toogood's _Dissent Justified_, 1752. _Works_, x. 503-6.)]
[Footnote 713: See Bogue and Bennett's _History of Dissenters_, vol. i.
p. 73.]
[Footnote 714: Bishop Horsley, in his first Charge to the Diocese of St.
David's, 1790, expressly distinguishes between a High Churchman in the
sense of 'a bigot to the secular rights of the priesthood,' which he
declares he is not, and a High Churchman in the sense of an 'upholder of
the spiritual authority of the priesthood,' which he owns that he is;
and he adds, 'We are more than mere hired servants of the State or
laity.']
[Footnote 715: To the same effect in 1777.]
[Footnote 716: So late as 1780 he wrote, 'If I come into any new house,
and see men and women together, I will immediately go out.' This was,
therefore, no youthful High Church prejudice, which wore off with
years.]
[Footnote 717: See Southey's _Life of Wesley_, ii. 85.]
[Footnote 718: Id. 101.]
[Footnote 719: _John Wesley's Place in Church History_, by R. Denny
Urlin, p. 70.]
[Footnote 720: 'You have often,' said Wesley to the Moravians in Fetter
Lane, 'affirmed that to search the Scripture, to pray, or to communicate
before we have faith, is to seek salvation by works, and that till these
works are laid aside no man can have faith. I believe these assertions
to be flatly contrary to the word of God. I have warned you hereof again
and again, and besought you to turn back to the law and to the
testimony.']
[Footnote 721: 'Do you not neglect joint fasting? Is not the Count all
in all? Are not the rest mere shadows?... Do you not magnify your Church
too much?' &c., &c.]
[Footnote 722: 'I labour everywhere to speak consistently with that deep
sense which is settled in my heart that you are (though I cannot call
you, Rabbi, infallible, yet) far, far, better and wiser than me.']
[Footnote 723: And also his strong feeling that the doctrine of
reprobation was inconsistent with the love of God. 'I could sooner,' he
wrote, 'be a Turk, a Deist--yea, an atheist--than I could believe this.
It is less absurd to deny the very existence of a God than to make Him
an almighty tyrant.']
[Footnote 724: In March 1741 Mr. Whitefield, being returned to England,
entirely separated from Mr. Wesley and his friends, because he did not
hold the decrees. Here was the first breach which warm men persuaded Mr.
Whitefield to make merely for a difference of opinion. Those who
believed universal redemption had no desire to separate, &c.--Wesley's
_Works_, vol. viii. p. 335.]
[Footnote 725: 'If there be a law,' he wrote in 1761, 'that a minister
of Christ who is not suffered to preach the Gospel in church should not
preach it elsewhere, or a law that forbids Christian people to hear the
Gospel of Christ out of their parish church when they cannot hear it
therein, I judge that law to be absolutely sinful, and that it is sinful
to obey it.']
[Footnote 726: See Tyerman's _Life of Wesley_, ii. 545.]
[Footnote 727: See Tyerman's _Life of Wesley_, ii. 334.]
[Footnote 728: Southey, ii. 71. In 1780 Wesley wrote, 'You seem not to
have well considered the rules of a helper or the rise of Methodism. It
pleased God by me to awaken first my brother, then a few others, who
severally desired of me as a favour to direct them in all things. I drew
up a few plain rules (observe there was no Conference in being) and
permitted them to join me on these conditions. Whoever, therefore,
violates these conditions does _ipso facto_ disjoin himself from me.
This Brother Macnab has done, but he cannot see that he has done amiss.
The Conference has no power at all but what I exercise through them'
(the preachers).]
[Footnote 729: Letter of Mr. J. Hampson, jun., quoted by Rev. L.
Tyerman, _Life of Wesley_, vol. iii. p. 423.]
[Footnote 730: Robert Southey, _passim_.]
[Footnote 731: In a letter to Mr. Walker, of Truro, 1756.]
[Footnote 732: To the same effect in his _Short History of Methodism_
Wesley wrote, 'Those who remain with Mr. Wesley are mostly Church of
England men. They love her articles, her homilies, her liturgy, her
discipline, and unwillingly vary from it in any instance.']
[Footnote 733: See also Wesley's _Works_, vol. xii. p. 446, &c.]
[Footnote 734: For this reason, among others, not much has been said in
this sketch about Wesley's opinions, because they were different at
different stages of his life. Moreover, though Wesley was an able man
and a well-read man, and could write in admirably lucid and racy
language, he can by no means be ranked among theologians of the first
order. He could never, for instance, have met Dr. Clarke, as Waterland
did; or, to compare him with one who was brought into contact with him,
he could never have written the _Serious Call_, nor have answered
Tindal, as Law did.]
[Footnote 735: 'I retract several expressions in our hymns which imply
impossibility; of falling from perfection; I do not contend for the term
"sinless," though I do not object against it.' And in a sermon on the
text, 'In many things we offend all,' 'We are all liable to be mistaken,
both in speculation and practice,' &c. 'Christian perfection certainly
does admit of degrees,' &c.]
[Footnote 736: But, as a staunch Churchman, he agreed with the Baptismal
Service. In his _Treatise on Baptism_ he writes, 'Regeneration, which
our Church in so many places ascribes to baptism, is more than barely
being admitted into the Church. By water we are regenerated or born
again; a principle of grace is infused which will not be wholly taken
away unless we quench the Spirit of God by long-continued wickedness.'
The same sentiments are expressed in his sermon on the 'New Birth.']
[Footnote 737: See _inter alia_, T. Somerville's _My Own Life and Times_
(1741-1841). 'He [J. Wesley] had attended, he told me, some of the most
interesting debates at the General Assembly, which he liked "very ill
indeed," saying there was too much heat,' &c., pp. 253-4.]
[Footnote 738: See Tyerman, iii. 278.]
[Footnote 739: Southey, i. 301, &c.]
[Footnote 740: So said Charles (see Jackson's _Life of C. Wesley_).
John, however, gave a different account. 'My brother,' he said to John
Pawson, 'suspects everybody, and he is continually imposed upon; but I
suspect nobody, and I am never imposed upon.']
[Footnote 741: 'I seldom,' he wrote to Fletcher in 1768, 'find it
profitable for _me_ to converse with any who are not athirst for
perfection and big with the earnest expectation of receiving it every
moment.'--Tyerman, iii. 4.]
[Footnote 742: 'With my latest breath will I bear testimony against
giving up to infidels one great proof of the unseen world; I mean that
of witchcraft and apparitions, confirmed by the testimony of all
ages.'--Id. 11. See also T. Somerville's _My own Life and Times_, p.
254. 'On my asking him if he had seen Farmer's _Essays on Demoniacs_,
then recently published, I recollect his answer was, "Nay, sir, I shall
never open that book. Why should a man attend to arguments against
possessions of the Devil, who has seen so many of them as I have?"']
[Footnote 743: Tyerman, iii. 252. It should not be forgotten that at the
beginning as well as at the end of their career the Wesleys met with
great consideration from some of the bishops. Charles Wesley speaks in
the very highest terms of the 'affectionate' way in which Archbishop
Potter treated him and his brother, and John seems never to have
forgotten the advice which this 'great and good man' (as he calls him)
gave him--'not to spend his time and strength in disputing about things
of a disputable nature, but in testifying against open vice and
promoting real holiness.']
[Footnote 744: Id. 384.]
[Footnote 745: Id. 411.]
[Footnote 746: Mr. Curteis (_Bampton Lectures_ for 1871, p. 382) calls
Wesley 'the purest, noblest, most saintly clergyman of the eighteenth
century, whose whole life was passed in the sincere and loyal effort to
do good.']
[Footnote 747: This passage on the contrast between Wesley and
Whitefield was written before the author had read Tyerman's _Life of
Whitefield_; a similar contrast will be found in that work, vol. i. p.
12.]
[Footnote 748: For some well-selected specimens of Whitefield's sermons
see Tyerman's _Life of Whitefield_, vol. i. pp. 297-304, and ii. 567,
&c.]
[Footnote 749: _Life and Times of the Rev. G. Whitefield_, by Robert
Philip, p. 130, &c.]
[Footnote 750: Whitefield's _Letters_; a Select Collection written to
his Intimate Friends and Persons of Distinction in England, Scotland,
Ireland, and America, from 1734 to 1770, vol. i. p. 277, &c.]
[Footnote 751: See Whitefield's _Letters (ut supra), passim_.]
[Footnote 752: Even Warburton owned, 'of Whitefield's oratorical powers,
and their astonishing influence on the minds of thousands, there can be
no doubt. They are of a high order.'--_Life of Lady Huntingdon_, i.
450.]
[Footnote 753: See _Memoirs of the Rev. C. Wesley_, by Thomas Jackson,
_passim_.]
[Footnote 754: See Tyerman's _Life of John Wesley_, vol. iii. p. 310.]
[Footnote 755: This was written before the author had read Mr. Tyerman's
_Life of Whitefield_; indeed, before that life was published. Mr.
Tyerman informs us that the dispute arose because some of the preachers
informed Wesley that his brother Charles did not enforce discipline so
strictly as himself, and that Charles agreed with Whitefield 'touching
perseverance, at least, if not predestination too.'--Tyerman's _Life of
Whitefield_, ii. 288.]
[Footnote 756: Gledstone's _Life of Whitefield_, p. 439, but surely Mr.
Gledstone is scarcely justified in adding quite gratuitously, 'John
Wesley was not a man with whom it was easy to be on good terms; his
lofty claims must have fretted his brother and created uneasiness.'
Charles Wesley was quite equal to cope with John if he had preferred any
'lofty claims' beyond those which an elder brother might naturally have
upon a younger. But, in point of fact, there is no trace of any such
rivalry between the brothers.]
[Footnote 757: See _Life and Times of Selina, Countess of Huntingdon_,
by a member of the houses of Shirley and Hastings, vol. ii. pp. 71, 72.]
[Footnote 758: For a fuller list of the 'brilliant assemblies' which
Lady Huntingdon gathered together, see Tyerman's _Life of Whitefield_,
ii. 209, &c., and 407, &c. Mr. Tyerman takes a more hopeful view of the
good that was done among these classes than is taken in the text.]
[Footnote 759: See Gledstone's _Life of Whitefield_, p. 304.]
[Footnote 760: _Letters of Horace Walpole_, from 1744 to 1753.]
[Footnote 761: Not so Garrick's brother actor, Foote. The 'Minor' was a
cruel attack upon Whitefield. Foote spoke an epilogue in the character
of Whitefield, 'whom he dressed and imitated to the life.'--(See
Forster's _Essays_, 'Samuel Foote.') Foote defended himself on the
ground that Whitefield was 'ever profaning the name of God with
blasphemous nonsense,' &c.]
[Footnote 762: _Marchmont Papers_, ii. 377.]
[Footnote 763: _Lady Huntingdon's Life_ (_ut supra_), ii. 379.]
[Footnote 764: See the _Christian Observer_, Oct. 1857, p. 707.]
[Footnote 765: Indeed, Lady Huntingdon appears to have been the
originator of lay preaching among the Methodists. Of Maxwell, the first
lay preacher, she wrote to John Wesley: 'The first time I _made him_
expound, expecting little from him, I sat over against him,' &c.--See
_Life and Times of Lady Huntingdon_, i. 33.]
[Footnote 766: _Life of Lady Huntingdon_, ii. 490.]
[Footnote 767: Id. i. 309.]
[Footnote 768: _Life of Lady Huntingdon_, ii. 126, note.]
[Footnote 769: Id. ii. 325.]
[Footnote 770: Id. ii. 236.]
[Footnote 771: Id. i. 324.]
[Footnote 772: _Life of the Rev. Rowland Hill_, by the Rev. E. Sidney,
p. 65.]
[Footnote 773: _Life of Lady Huntingdon_, ii. 315.]
[Footnote 774: Id. ii. 467.]
[Footnote 775: Gladstone's _Life of Whitefield_, p. 465.]
[Footnote 776: _Life of Lady Huntingdon_, ii. 423.]
[Footnote 777: Id. ii. 521.]
[Footnote 778: Lord Lyttelton's _Letter to Mr. West_, quoted in _A
Refutation of Calvinism_, by G. Tomline, Bishop of Winchester, p. 253.]
[Footnote 779: Not, of course, that he waited until the death of
Whitefield before reopening the question; for Conference met in August,
and Whitefield did not die until September 1770.]
[Footnote 780: Extracts from the Minutes of some late Conversations
between the Rev. Mr. Wesley and others at a Public Conference held in
London, August 7, 1770, and printed by W. Pim, Bristol. 'Take heed to
your doctrine.']
[Footnote 781: _Life of Lady Huntingdon_, ii. 236.]
[Footnote 782: Id. 240.]
[Footnote 783: Id. 240, 241.]
[Footnote 784: _Life of Lady Huntingdon_, ii. 243, &c.]
[Footnote 785: Id. 245. Berridge said the contest at Bristol turned upon
this hinge, whether it should be Pope John or Pope Joan.]
[Footnote 786: And of his own writings he said: 'A softer style and
spirit would have better become me.'--See _Life of Rev. R. Hill_, by
Rev. G. Sidney, pp. 121, 122.]
[Footnote 787: Id. p. 122.]
[Footnote 788: Southey's _Life of Wesley_, ii. 180.]
[Footnote 789: See the abuse quoted in the _Fourth Check_, pp. 11, 42,
121.]
[Footnote 790: See _Fourth Check_, p. 155.]
[Footnote 791: _Works of A.M. Toplady, with Memoir of the Author_, in
six volumes, vol. i. p. 100.]
[Footnote 792: But at the same time a very modest and moderate one.
'Predestination,' he wrote, 'and reprobation I think of with fear and
trembling; and, if I should attempt to study them, I would study them on
my knees.' (Letter, dated Miles's Lane, March 24, 1752, quoted by Mr.
Tyerman in his _Oxford Methodists_, p. 270.) And again: 'As for points
of doubtful disputation, those especially which relate to _particular_
or _universal_ redemption, I profess myself attached neither to the one
nor the other. I neither think of them myself nor preach of them to
others. If they happen to be started in conversation, I always endeavour
to divert the discourse to some more edifying topic. I have often
observed them to breed animosity and division, but never knew them to be
productive of love and unanimity.... Therefore I rest satisfied in this
general and indisputable truth, that the Judge of all the earth will
assuredly do right,' &c. This, however, was written in 1747 (see
Tyerman, 254). Perhaps when he wrote _Theron and Aspasio_ some years
later his views were somewhat changed.]
[Footnote 793: Mr. Tyerman, however, thinks otherwise. 'After the lapse
of a hundred years,' he writes (_Oxford Methodists_, p. 201), 'since the
author's death, few are greater favourites at the present day.']
[Footnote 794: Boswell's _Life of Johnson_, vol. v. p. 93.]
[Footnote 795: See especially _Meditations among the Tombs_, p. 29, the
passage beginning, 'Since we are so liable to be dispossessed of this
earthly tabernacle,' &c.]
[Footnote 796: 'I dare no more write in _a fine style_,' he said, 'than
wear a fine coat.... I should purposely decline what many admire--a
highly ornamental style.']
[Footnote 797: Hervey's _Letters_ in answer to Wesley were published
after his death, against his own wish expressed when he was dying.]
[Footnote 798: Hervey's _Meditations_, &c., _ut supra_, _Life_.]
[Footnote 799: Toplady's _Works_, i. 102.]
[Footnote 800: 'My writings,' he wrote to Lady F. Shirley, 'are not fit
for ordinary people: I never give them to such persons, and dissuade
this class of men from procuring them. O that they may be of some
service to the more refined part of the world!']
[Footnote 801: _Life of Hervey_, prefixed to his _Meditations_, _ut
supra_.]
[Footnote 802: See Kyle's _Christian Leaders of the Last Century_.]
[Footnote 803: See _Life of Lady Huntingdon_, i. 374.]
[Footnote 804: _Life of Wilberforce_, by his Sons, vol. ii. p. 137.]
[Footnote 805: See _Life, Walk, and Triumph of Faith_, by W. Romaine,
especially pp. 28, 40, 98, 99, 102, 149, 158, 182, 192, 227, 229, 232,
233, 274, 275, 286, 287, 321.]
[Footnote 806: 'Memoir of the Author,' prefixed to Venn's _Complete Duty
of Man_ (new ed. London, Religious Tract Society), p. xiii. preface 3.]
[Footnote 807: Or perhaps we should have said 'of the Evangelical
school;' only, Law can hardly be said to have belonged to that school.
Bishop Wilson's _Sacra Privata_, and other devotional works, and some of
Bishop Ken's devotional works, rank, intellectually at any rate, far
above Venn's _Complete Duty of Man_.]
[Footnote 808: Here again we must except Bishop Wilson, who hardly seems
to belong to the eighteenth century. He was as one born out of due time.
We must except, too, some of the works of those High Churchmen of the
old type, who lived on into the eighteenth century, but who, in their
lives and writings, reflected the spirit of a past age--a spirit which
breathes in every prayer of our Liturgy, but which is very rarely seen
in the eighteenth century, or, for the matter of that, in the
nineteenth.]
[Footnote 809: Southey's _Life of Cowper_, i. 117.]
[Footnote 810: See 'Biographical Sketches' in the _Christian Observer_
for 1877.]
[Footnote 811: _Christian Observer_ for February, 1877.]
[Footnote 812: See, _inter alia_, _William Wilberforce, his Friends, and
his Times_, by J.C. Colquhoun, pp. 90, 98.]
[Footnote 813: See Newton's _Works_, in six volumes, edited by Cecil,
_passim_.]
[Footnote 814: See especially his fourth sermon on 'The Messiah' in the
series suggested by Handel's Oratorio. There is not a taint of
irreverence, but no one but a man who had an exquisite sense of humour
could have written the first two pages of that sermon.]
[Footnote 815: See Taylor's _Life of Cowper_, p. 426.]
[Footnote 816: Id. p. 139.]
[Footnote 817: Not, of course, a 'Methodist' as distinguished from an
'Evangelical,' but according to the indiscriminate use of the term
common in his day.]
[Footnote 818: _Life of Scott_, 216.]
[Footnote 819: Id. 127.]
[Footnote 820: Id. 261.]
[Footnote 821: Id. 238.]
[Footnote 822: See Milner's _History of the Church of Christ_ (new ed.
four vols. Cadell, 1834), _passim_, and especially Introduction, and
vol. i. 110, 131, 136, 137, 156; ii. 415; iii. 73.]
[Footnote 823: i. 156.--See also i. 131, &c.]
[Footnote 824: See i. 136, 137, 325, 457.]
[Footnote 825: ii. 597, &c.]
[Footnote 826: iii. 73.]
[Footnote 827: ii. 441.]
[Footnote 828: See the _Life of the Rev. T. Robinson, Vicar of St.
Mary's, Leicester, and sometime Fellow of Trin. Coll., Camb._, by Rev.
E.T. Vaughan, p. 50, &c.]
[Footnote 829: See _Wilberforce, His Friends, and His Times_, by J.C.
Colquhoun, p. 102.]
[Footnote 830: Sir James Stephen, _Essays in Ecclesiastical Biography_.]
[Footnote 831: 'Mr. Wilberforce's "Practical View,"' writes Thomas
Scott, 'is a most noble and manly stand for the Gospel; full of good
sense and most useful observations on subjects quite out of our line,
and in all respects fitted for usefulness; and coming from such a man,
it will probably be read by many thousands who can by no means be
brought to attend either to our preaching or writings, especially the
rich.'--_Life of T. Scott_, 311.]
[Footnote 832: Newton's 'Letters to a Nobleman,' published in his works,
were addressed to Lord Dartmouth.]
[Footnote 833: See _Life and Correspondence of Mrs. Hannah More_, by W.
Roberts, Esq., i. 395. The _Quarterly Review_ vehemently combated the
notion of Dr. Johnson's conversion. In reference to the passage in
Roberts' _Life of H. More_, it said, 'This attempt to persuade us that
Dr. Johnson's mind was not made up as to the great fundamental doctrine
of the Christian religion, until it was enforced on him _in extremis_ by
sectarian or Methodistical zeal, cannot redound to the credit of Mr.
Roberts' understanding,' &c. Those who care to enter into this bygone
controversy may be referred to the _Christian Observer_ for May 1843,
pp. 281-287.]
[Footnote 834: One of Newton's bon-mots was, 'The place of honour in an
army is not with the baggage or among the women.']
[Footnote 835: See one of Newton's characteristically tender and
sympathetic letters in answer to Hannah More's description of her
spiritual state: 'What you are pleased to say, my dear madam, of the
state of your mind, I understand perfectly well; I praise God on your
behalf, and I hope I shall earnestly pray for you. I have stood upon
that ground myself. I see what you want, to set you quite at ease; and
though _I_ cannot give it you, I trust that He who has already taught
you what to desire will in His own best time do everything for you and
in you which is necessary to make you as happy as is compatible with our
present state of infirmity and warfare; but He must be waited _on_ and
waited _for_, to do this.' Hannah More had before this expressed her
liking for Newton's 'Cardiphonia, though not for every sentiment or
expression which it contains.' See Roberts' _Life_, i. 236.]
[Footnote 836: Roberts, ii. 260.]
[Footnote 837: See _Life of H. More_, by H. Thompson, p. 81.]
* * * * *