Proud children.--Edie.--Boys in Georgia.--John and
Charles Wesley in the wrong.--Signal
failure.--Disappointment.--Return to England.--Mr.
Wesley finds out something on the voyage home.--An
acrostic.
I WONDER if my readers know any boys or girls who sneer and look down
upon their school companions because they are not so well dressed as
themselves? It is a cruel, unkind, un-Christ-like thing to do.
I remember seeing a little girl, and it was in a Sunday School too, who
had on a new summer frock and a new summer hat; and oh! Edie did think
she looked nice. She kept smoothing her frock down and looking at it,
and then tossing her head. By her side sat a sweet-faced little girl
about a year younger than Edie. Annie's dress was of print and quite
plainly made, but very clean and tidy. After admiring herself a little
while, Edie turned to Annie and thinking, I suppose, that she might be
wearing a pinafore, and have a frock underneath, she rudely lifted it
up, and finding it really was her dress, she turned away with a very
ugly, disgusted look on her face, and said, scornfully "What a frock!"
Proud, thoughtless boys and girls never know the hurts they give, and
the harm they do.
The boys in Georgia were no better than some boys in England. At a
school where one of the Methodists taught there were some poor boys who
wore neither shoes nor stockings, and their companions who were better
off taunted them and made their lives miserable. Their teacher did not
know what to do, and asked Mr. Wesley for advice. "I'll tell you what
we'll do," he said; "we'll change schools"--Mr. Wesley taught a school
too--"and I'll see if I can cure them."
So the two gentlemen changed schools, and when the boys came the next
morning they found they had a new teacher, and this new teacher, to
their astonishment, wore neither shoes nor stockings. You can imagine
how the boys stared; but Mr. Wesley said nothing, just kept them to
their lessons. This went on for a week, and at the end of that time the
boys were cured of their pride and vanity.
Though Mr. John and Mr. Charles Wesley were so good, they were not
perfect. They said and did many unwise things, and only saw their
mistake when it was too late. One thing was they expected the people to
lead the same strict lives they did, and to believe everything they
believed. This, of course, the people of Georgia would not do, they
thought their ways were just as good as Mr. Wesley's, and I dare say in
some things they were. Instead of trying to persuade them and explaining
why one way was better than another, Mr. Wesley told them they _must_ do
this, and they mustn't do that, until at last they got to dislike him
very much. One woman got so angry that she knocked him down.
I am sure you will all feel very sorry when you read this, for Mr.
Wesley was working very hard amongst them, and thought he was doing what
was right. Mr. Charles did not get on any better at Frederica, where he
had gone to work and preach. Like his brother, he was very strict and
expected too much from the people. He tried and tried, not seeing where
he was to blame, and at last wearied and disappointed he returned to
England.
After he had gone, Mr. John took his place at Frederica, hoping to get
on better than he had done at Savannah. It was of no use; he stayed for
twelve weeks, but things only seemed to get worse and worse. At last he
had to give up and go back to Savannah. Things, however, were no better
there, and before long he too began to see that his mission had been a
failure, and he returned to England a sadder and a wiser man.
In spite of all their mistakes Mr. John and his brother must have done
some good in Georgia, for the missionary who went after them wrote and
said: "Mr. Wesley has done much good here, his name is very dear to many
of the people." It must have made the brothers glad to read this, for it
is hard when you have been doing what you thought was right, and then
find it was all wrong.
On his return voyage to England Mr. Wesley had time to think about all
the things that happened in Georgia. He was feeling dreadfully
disappointed and discouraged; he had given up everything at home on
purpose to do good to the people out there. He had meant to convert the
Indians and comfort and help the Christian exiles, and he was coming
back not having done either. Poor Mr. Wesley! And the worst of it was,
the more he thought about it all, the more he began to see that the
fault was his own.
There was another thing he discovered about himself on that voyage home.
They encountered a fearful storm, when every one expected to be drowned.
During those awful hours Mr. Wesley found out, almost to his own
surprise, that the very thought of death was a terror to him. He knew
then that there was something wrong, for no Christian ought to fear to
die. So Mr. Wesley went down on his knees and told God how wrong he had
been, that he had thought too much of his own opinions and trusted too
much in himself. He asked God to give him more faith, more peace, more
love.
He was always glad afterwards that he had gone to Georgia, and thanked
God for taking him into that strange land, for his failure there had
humbled him and shown him his weakness and his failings.
It is a grand thing when we get to know ourselves. Let us be always on
the look-out for our own faults, and when we see them, fight them.
I would like to close this chapter with an acrostic I once heard on the
word "Faith." It is a thing little folks, yes, and big folks often find
hard to understand, perhaps this may help you.
What is Faith?
F ull
A ssurance (confidence, having no doubt)
I n
T rusting
H im (Jesus).
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