The present book is intended to serve as a companion volume to “The Life
and Times of Wesley;” and to assist in showing the wide and gracious
results of a revival of religion.
In compiling the work just mentioned, I was compelled, by want of space,
to lay aside a large amount of biographical material, some portions of
which are embodied in the work now submitted to the reader; and other
portions of which may be published at a future time.
Memoirs of the two Wesleys and of Whitefield have been designedly
omitted, on the ground, that, their Memoirs, _in extenso_, are
already in existence. Still, those illustrious men are often noticed
in the following pages; and, I hope, the facts concerning them will
be both interesting and instructive. Of the other Oxford Methodists,
no biographies have been previously written, with the exception of
Hervey; and it is not censorious to say, that the two principal ones of
him,—Ryland’s and Brown’s—are far from satisfactory.
The information concerning some of the Oxford Brotherhood is meagre. I
have used all the diligence I could in obtaining materials; but brief
notices, and scraps, and a few letters are all that I have to give.
Fragmentary, however, though they are, I trust, they will not be regarded
as useless and irrelevant. The biographical sketches of Clayton, Ingham,
Gambold, Hervey, and Broughton, are more extended. It would have been a
satisfaction to have left Westley Hall in the shades of oblivion; but,
in telling the story of the Oxford Methodists, it was impossible not to
notice him.
A marvellous work was accomplished by the Wesley brothers and by
Whitefield; but it is a great mistake, and not a just acknowledgment
of the grace of God, to regard the results of the revival of religion
in the Oxford University, as confined to Methodism. Contemporaneous
Reformers, raised up by Providence, are seldom all employed in the same
kind of work. At the beginning of the Christian era, God “gave some,
apostles, and some, prophets, and some, evangelists, and some, pastors,
and teachers, for the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the
ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ” (Ephesians iv. 11,
12). Luther, Zuinglius, Melancthon, Œcolampadius, Erasmus, Calvin, Knox,
Ridley, Latimer, and Cranmer were all engaged, at the same time, in the
same great and glorious reformation; but the services they rendered
were as various as the dispositions and talents of the men themselves.
So in regard to the movement in the Oxford University. Among the Oxford
Methodists, the Wesleys and Whitefield will always be pre-eminent; but a
great work was also done by their associates. Clayton’s High-Churchism
was objectionable; but it is not unreasonable to indulge the hope, that,
his earnest piety exercised a useful influence upon the clergy among whom
he lived, and especially upon the young gentlemen who were favoured with
the instructions of his school. Ingham, as an evangelist, was exceedingly
successful among the masses in the North. The Moravian Church owes a debt
of incalculable gratitude to Gambold, for checking and correcting its
early religious follies. Broughton was efficiently employed in promoting
the translation of the Bible, in the work of Home and Foreign Missions,
in the distribution of religious tracts, and in the education of the
children of the poor, at a period when the present principal societies
for such objects did not exist. Hutchins, though retaining, at least,
a few of his High-Church doctrines, was a spiritually-minded, earnest
Christian; and, in the important office which, for so many years, he held
in Lincoln College, could hardly fail in moulding the minds and hearts
of some of the young students there. And Hervey was one of the first
clergymen of the Church of England, in the last century, who turned the
attention of the upper classes of society to religious matters. These
were not trifling services. Do they not deserve to be recorded?
The Oxford revival of religion was pregnant with the most momentous
issues. And so are most revivals. How often in the history of Methodism,
though on a smaller scale, have its revivals of the work of God resulted
in consequences bearing some analogy to those of the Oxford movement
of a hundred and forty years ago? Who will not pray, that such “Divine
visitations” may be continued and multiplied, not only in Methodism, but,
in all the Churches of the Great Redeemer?
The Oxford Methodists, up to the time of their general dispersion from
that seat of learning, were all (excepting, perhaps, Whitefield) Church
of England _Ritualists_. Their moral conduct was most exemplary. They
were studious, devout, self-denying, charitable. Their study of the Bible
gained them the nicknames of “Bible-bigots,” and “Bible-moths.” Every
morning and every evening, they spent an hour in private prayer; and,
throughout the day, habituated themselves to the use of ejaculations, for
humility, faith, hope, and love. They communicated at Christ Church once
a week, and persuaded all they could to attend public prayers, sermons,
and sacraments. They were constant visitors of the inmates of the parish
workhouse, and of the prisoners in the Castle; and it was the practice
of all of them to dispense in charity all they had, after providing
for their own necessities. They also observed the discipline of the
Church of England to the minutest points; and were scrupulously strict
in practising the rubrics and canons. Every Wednesday and Friday, they
fasted, tasting no food whatever, till three o’clock in the afternoon.
Though, perhaps, they never held the doctrine of the human nature of the
Divine Redeemer being present in the elements of the holy sacrament,
they held something approaching this, and spoke of “an outward sacrifice
offered therein.” They more than approved of the mixture of water with
the sacramental wine; and religiously observed saint days, holidays,
and Saturdays. They maintained the doctrine of apostolical succession,
and believed no one had authority to administer the sacraments who was
not _episcopally_ ordained. Even in Georgia, Wesley excluded Dissenters
from the holy communion, on the ground, that they had not been properly
baptized, and would himself baptize only by immersion, unless the child,
or person, was in a weak state of health. He also enforced confession,
penance, and mortification; and, as far as possible, carried into
execution the Apostolic Constitutions. In short, with the exception of
sacerdotal millinery, the burning of incense, the worship of the Virgin,
prayers for the dead, and two or three other kindred superstitions, the
Oxford Methodists were the predecessors of the present _ritualistic_
party in the Church of England.
The Oxford Methodists, however, had no desire to aggrandize themselves.
They had not the slightest wish to be considered superior to their fellow
mortals. They were sincere, and earnest inquirers after truth, and, in
the study of the Holy Bible, in prayer to God, and in other devotional
exercises, were an example worthy of imitation. God rarely leaves such
inquirers in the dark. Wesley, and most of his Oxford friends were
brought to a knowledge of “the truth as it is in _Jesus_;” and, being
so, their faith, their energy, their prayers, their toils, and their
cheerfully endured sufferings resulted in one of the most glorious
revivals of the work of God, recorded in the history of the Christian
Church.
May we not indulge the hope, that, what God did for the Oxford
Methodists, He will do for those at the present day, who, in most
respects, resemble them? Ought we not to pray for this? Indeed, has
it not, to some extent, been realized? Though the _leaders_ of the
Oxford Tractarian movement have unquestionably served the interests of
the Church of Rome, far more than the interests of the Church which
nurtured them; yet, is it not a fact, that some of the hard-working
evangelical clergy of the Church of England, now so successfully
employed in the spread of truth, began their Christian life as the
Oxford Methodists began theirs? And is it wrong to prayerfully cherish
the expectation, that, in mercy to mankind, others will be brought to
the same convictions? The Church, the Nation, and the World need their
energy, earnestness, diligence, self-denial, and devotion. Let them lay
aside their popish follies and proud pretensions and embrace the truth of
Christ in its simplicity and its purity, and, at least, some of them may,
under God, accomplish a work as great and as blessed as was accomplished
by Wesley and his “Holy Club.”
I have nothing more to add, except to express my obligations to the
descendants of the Oxford Methodists, for their courteous kindness in
responding to my requests for information; and to other clergymen and
gentlemen with whom I have been in correspondence.
The book is not a series of written portraits. I make no pretensions to
artistic skill. I have simply done my best in collecting facts, from
every source within my reach; and have narrated them as truly and as
lucidly as I could.