[253] Wesley says, “both the misplacing the commas, and the putting of
‘mankind’ for ‘this kind,’ were the printer’s fault, not mine; a part of
those numerous errors of the press, which were occasioned by my absence,
from it, and the inaccuracy of the corrector” (Wesley’s Works, vol. x. p.
332).
[254] Wesley’s “Works,” vol. x. p. 305.
[255] _Gospel Magazine_, 1775, p. 255.
[256] _Arminian Magazine_, 1778, p. 136.
[257] _New Spiritual Magazine_, 1783, p. 164.
[258] Hervey’s sermons, printed in his lifetime, were the following:—1.
“The Cross of Christ, the Christian’s Glory;” a Visitation Sermon.
2. “The Time of Danger.” “The Means of Safety.” And “The Way of
Holiness;” three Fast-day Sermons. After his death, the following were
published:—1. “The Ministry of Reconciliation.” 2. “The Grounds of
Christian Rejoicing.” 3. “Salvation by Christ.” 4. “Many made Righteous
by the Obedience of One,” two sermons. 5. “The Divinity of Christ,” four
sermons. 6. “On Repentance.” 7. “Search the Scriptures.” 8. “On Love to
God,” two sermons.
[259] Life of Venn, p. 332.
[260] The title of the surreptitious edition was, “Aspasio Vindicated,
and the Scripture Doctrine of Imputed Righteousness Defended against the
Objections and Animadversions of the Rev. Mr. John Wesley. In Eleven
Letters, written and prepared for the Press, by the late Rev. Mr. J⸺s
H⸺y, A.B.”
[261] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 334.
[262] The sermon was addressed to the second regiment of foot guards,
who, to the beat of the drum, marched to the chapel, with the Commander
of the garrison at their head.
[263] William Wogan was born in 1694; and, after being educated at
Westminster and Oxford, entered the army. In 1718, he married Catherine
Stanhope, of the family of the Earls of Chesterfield. He died at Ealing
in 1758. He was a Millennarian, but attended the daily service of the
Church of England, and advocated a strict attention to the Church’s
rubrics.—“Private Journal and Literary Remains of Dr. Byron.”
[264] A recent Bishop of the Church of England, on perusing this
manuscript letter, wrote: “It is a very interesting document, and leads
to many reflections. Mr. Broughton’s day, and the day of his once friend
Wesley, were more important in the history of our Church than many are
willing to believe. They disturbed, but they taught; and they led others
to think and teach. Whatever might be their errors, it was not for the
careless and thoughtless and the ignorant to be their judges. It might be
for the best that Whitefield would not take the advice in this letter;
but the affectionate strain is peculiarly pleasing, and the pious union
between two persons, who differed on some points, may be a lesson that
need not be lost even in our own day.”
[265] On this occasion, Broughton administered the Sacrament, and prayed.
[266] _Gentleman’s Magazine_, 1741, p. 387.
[267] A pet name.
[268] In the life of Venn, Broughton is called “Mr. _Bryan_ Broughton,
Secretary to the Society for Promoting Christian Knowledge.” This is a
mistake. There was a Mr. _Bryan_ Broughton; but he was not the man whom
the author meant.
[269] This was a most unaccountable and barbarous murder. The lady was
the wife of Captain Dalrymple. The wretched youth had lived in the
service of his master and mistress for the last five years. In the full
confession that he made, he stated, he had no dislike to the unfortunate
lady, and he murdered her, not from malice or for plunder, but solely at
the instigation of the devil. The details of the deed are too revolting
to be here recited. Suffice it to say, the murder was committed “of
Wigmore Street, Cavendish Square,” on March 25, 1746; and, that, exactly
a month afterwards, “Matthew Henderson was carried in a cart from
Newgate, and executed at the end of New Bond Street. He went to the
place of execution in a white waistcoat, drawers, and stockings. Two
clergymen, one of the Church of England, and the other of the Church of
Scotland, prayed with him, in the cart, for a considerable time. His body
was carried from the gallows, and hung in irons, on a common, about five
miles from London, on the Edgware Road” (_London Magazine_, 1746).
[270] A fourth edition of this pamphlet was published in 1763.
[271] The Society’s Report, for 1763, contains a notice, “To all Farmers,
Gardeners, and other Occupiers of Land in England,” from the Trustees for
the Charity Schools in St. Andrew’s, Holborn, to the effect, that, they
had been informed, the country was in need of labourers; and that they
were prepared “to bind Boys apprentices for seven years, to learn the art
of husbandry; and Girls for five years, to do household work;” and, that,
they would give £5 with every boy, and £3 with every girl so apprenticed.
The Boys had been taught reading, writing, and the first five rules of
Arithmetic; and the Girls to read and write, and “to do plain work.”
[272] They were begun in 1688, and were all supported by private
subscriptions. (Report of Society, for 1772.)
[273] The Rev. John Clayton, also, was a subscriber, of £2 2_s._ per
annum.
[274] Thomas Broughton, the Secretary of the Society for Promoting
Christian Knowledge, and Thomas Broughton, Vicar of St. Mary Redcliff,
Bristol, and Prebendary of Sarum, have sometimes been mistakenly
considered one and the same person. The latter, an eminent author, was
son of the Rector of St. Andrew’s, Holborn; and died, at Bristol, in
1774, at the age of 70. It is a curious fact, that, both the Thomas
Broughtons died in the same month of the year, and on the same day of the
month, and that the day was St. _Thomas’s_.
[275] Wesley’s Works, vol. xiii., p. 288.
[276] Ibid., vol. xii., p. 6.
[277] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 81.
[278] Supplement to Whitefield’s Answer to Bishop of London’s Letter, p.
8.
[279] Wesley’s Works, vol. viii., p. 335.
[280] _Methodist Magazine_, 1778, p. 177.
[281] Ibid., p. 176.
[282] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol. i., p. 129.
[283] The remainder of the letter refers to some arrangements to render
assistance to Mr. Fox, who accompanied Kinchin and Wesley to Manchester.
By Wesley’s advice, he had settled at Oxford; and it was now proposed to
subscribe £30, to pay his rent, and to establish him in business, as a
vendor of “fowls, pigs, and cheeses.”
[284] Another entry in the same Register is as follows:—“The parish
church of Thorp-Arch was rebuilt in 1756, and finished in 1762. William
Sisset, Esq., gave the stone. The Rev. Mr. Atkinson gave fifteen guineas,
and paid for the plastering. His mother, Mrs. Agnes Atkinson, gave the
font. Lady Hastings gave five pounds for the pulpit. Mr. Sisset built his
own and servants’ seats, and gave the painting of the pews. The rest was
done by the parishioners.”
[285] Even now, the united value of the two livings is not more than
about £400 a year.
[286] Wesley’s text on this occasion, was, “Unto him that worketh not,”
etc.; “the great truth,” he writes, “so little understood in what is
called a Christian country.” Whitelamb evidently understood it not.
[287] Wesley adds, “on my father’s tombstone.”
[288] The rich farmer, who married Wesley’s sister Susannah,—a brutal
fellow, who was reduced to poverty, and ultimately lived on alms, which
Wesley obtained for him, through Mr. Ebenezer Blackwell. The Rector of
Epworth used to speak of him as “the _wen_ of my family.”
[289] _Arminian Magazine_, 1778, p. 184.
[290] Wesley says, Whitelamb _offered_ it.
[291] Mrs. Wesley died about six weeks before this letter was written.
Kezziah Wesley died March 9, 1741, “full of thankfulness, resignation,
and love.”
[292] _Arminian Magazine_, 1778, p. 186.
[293] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 151.
[294] Clarke’s Wesley Family, vol. ii., p. 280.
[295] Clarke’s Wesley Family, vol. ii., p. 102.
[296] _Methodist Magazine_, 1845, p. 37.
[297] Wesley’s Works, vol. ii., p. 75.
[298] Ibid., vol. xii., p. 453.
[299] Clarke’s Wesley Family, vol. ii., p. 184.
[300] C. Wesley’s Journal, vol i., p. 69.
[301] Clarke’s Wesley Family, vol. ii., p. 106.
[302] Ibid., p. 110.
[303] James Hutton, the publisher,—an early friend of the Wesleys, and
one of the principal Moravians in England.
[304] Wesley’s Works, vol. i., p. 279.
[305] Ibid., p. 286.
[306] The Moravians.
[307] Clarke’s Wesley Family, vol. ii., p. 338.
[308] Wesley’s Journal, 1st edition.
[309] It is difficult to say what is meant by the word “writings.” Does
it refer to some newspaper correspondence? Or to published sermons,
tracts, or pamphlets? I have never met with anything published by Westley
Hall himself; or heard of anything except a poetical epistle to his son,
mentioned hereafter; and his sermon, preached at Salisbury, in defence of
polygamy.
[310] Wesley’s Works, vol. ii., p. 214.
[311] Dove’s Wesley Family.