ence of 1778, and had made an application to the Justices

ence of 1778, and had made an application to the Justices

A NEW ROOM IN BRISTOL

know when, and by whom, the endorsement was made, but it is possible that it expresses Charles Wesley's private opinion.

At a later stage we shall have to deal with the important question of the registration of Methodist preaching-houses.

At this point it will be enough to say that John Wesley was soon obliged to face it.

He watched the course of events; and, during the troubled times that followed the action of Thomas Richards, he was compelled to guard his people, in some places, against the attacks made on the preachinghouses in which they assembled for public worship.

It was not until November 3, 1787, that he was thoroughly convinced, during a conversation with Mr. Clulow, his solicitor, that it was the safest way to ' license' not a few, but all his chapels.*

During the interval between 1750 and 1787 some of them had been registered, not only with his consent, but by his advice.

In proof of this fact we will quote a letter he wrote to Samuel Wells, one of his lay preachers, on January 28,

1779.

Samuel Wells was appointed to Tiverton at the Conference of 1778, and had made an application to the Justices for the registration of a chapel.

They refused to grant it, and so he reported the matter to John Wesley, who sent him the following letter :

According to the Act of Toleration:

1. You are required to certify to the Registrar of the Bishop's Court, or the Justices, the place of your meeting for divine worship.

This is all you have todo.

You ask nothing at all of the Bishop or Justices.

2. The Registrar, or Clerk of the Court, is ' required to register the same, and to give a certificate thereof to such persons as shall demand the same; for which there shall be no greater fee or reward taken than sixpence.'

I advise you to go once more to the Sessions, and say, ' Gentlemen, we have had advice from London.

We desire nothing at all from you ; but we demand of your Clerk to register this place, and to give us a certificate thereof; or to answer the refusal at his peril.'

Answer no questions to Justices or Lawyers, but with a bow, and with repeating the words, ' Our business is only with your Clerk.

We demand of him what the Act requires of him to do.'

If you judge proper, you may show this to any of the Justices.

What I have written I am ready to defend.

P.S.—You led the Justices into the mistake by your manner of addressing them.

Beware of this for the time to come; you have nothing to ask of them.?

4 John Wesley's Journal, vii. 339.

2 Wesley's Works, xii. 496-497.

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. i Wesley evidently was quoting words which had been given to him by a competent lawyer.

The subject will have to be treated more fully when we describe the events of later years.

In the meanwhile we must be content with saying that it was soon seen that the registration of Methodist preachinghouses was far from being ' needless, useless, and senseless.'

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WE must now return to Ireland, where we left Charles Wesley and Charles Perronet at the opening of the year 1748.

The question of acquiring the preaching-house in Skinner's Alley, from which the Moravian congregation had been ejected, had become urgent and had to be settled.

On January 19 Charles Perronet told the Methodist Society that he intended to ask

Cennick, who was then in Dublin, if he had any further pretensions to the ' House'

; if not, then he said he would take it himself for the Methodists.

He seems to have carried out his resolve without consulting Charles Wesley, who was much disturbed when he heard the news.

On February 5 Charles Wesley had an interview with Cennick.

Asking him if he had any hope of the ' House,' Cennick answered that he had none, and that he believed the trustees would never let it to the Moravians again.

Charles Wesley, strongly sympathizing with him, promised that he should have the ' House ' to preach in whenever he pleased.

Cennick acknowledged his kindness, and assured him that he had acted fairly throughout the business.

By the acquisition of the Skinner's Alley Chapel the Methodists gained an important centre for their work in Dublin.

The 'Winter Number' of The Methodist Recorder for 1904 contained an article by Mr. David B. Bradshaw, full of interesting particulars of the old ' preaching-house.'

It stood about half a mile from the cathedral, in an alley which has become Newmarket Street.

The old alley is described by Mr. Bradshaw as ' an obscure little lane which runs from the Coombe to Newmarket, so narrow that two vehicles can scarcely pass.'

In this lane Mr. Bradshaw discovered the remains of an ancient building which, in his opinion, was the old Skinner's Alley Chapel. The chapel was given up in 1752, when a new ' House' was opened in Whitefriar Street.

1Charles Wesley's Journal, iis 1-2

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ay Charles Wesley's visit to Ireland was prolonged from September 9, 1747 to March 20, 1748.

For six months the Societies had the advantage of his supervision, and the lay preachers were inspired by his example as a fearless evangelist.

It is no wonder that the foundations of Methodism in Ireland were firmly laid. Two incidents of his visit must be recorded.

Athlone occupies a distinguished position among the towns in Ireland which responded to the preaching of the first

Methodist pioneers. A Society had been formed there, and the place, when Charles Wesley visited it, was an important centre of work.

On Monday, February 8, Charles Wesley preached at Tyrrell's Pass, where a great reformation had been effected in the lives of people, some of whom had been ' wicked to a proverb.'

Nearly one hundred members had been gathered into the Society, and Charles Wesley, when he preached to them, was greatly refreshed.

The next day he rode seven miles to Templemacateer, the residence of Mr. Jonathan Handy, the brother of Mr. Samuel Handy, of Coolalough, in the parish of Ardnurcher, Westmeath.

These two Irish gentlemen were prominent Methodists.

On Wednesday, February 10, we see seven horsemen setting out from Mr. Jonathan Handy's house.

We notice in the cavalcade Charles Wesley, the brothers Handy, their brother-in-law, Mr. Stephen Fouace, of Tyrrell's Pass, and John Healy, one of Wesley's lay preachers.

We follow them as they ride along, Charles Wesley being a little in advance.

They break the line now and then to allow people to pass who were running in great haste towards Athlone ; especially when a man on horseback, riding at full speed, galloped in the same direction.

The line was formed once more ; they went on, singing hymns.

When they got within half a mile of Athlone Samuel Handy and John Healy were in front.

Mounting a little hill, three or four men appeared at the top and told the horsemen to go back.

Charles Wesley and his companions thought they were jesting with them, and went on their way.

Then suddenly they discovered that danger threatened them.

Stones flew through the air; one of them struck John Healy with such violence that he fell from his horse and lay on the ground, ' without sense or motion.'

Mr. Samuel Handy, setting spurs to his horse, charged through a group of five or six ruffians ; then, wheeling round, he scattered them again ; but from all sides men were

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streaming towards the spot, intent on attacking the Methodists.

The man who had knocked down John Healy determined to finish him ; he struck him on the face again and again with a club.

Charles Wesley cried out against his brutality, and he ceased to batter the prostrate preacher.

The assailants were soon reinforced.

In preparation for the attack heaps of big stones had been gathered and piled at the roadside, and the crowd flung them at the Methodists with all their might.

One hit Charles Wesley on the back and knocked the breath out of him.

Another struck Mr. Fouace on the head; but Mr. Handy marked the man who had flung it and rode at him, knocked him down, and disabled him for a time.

This departure from the practice of ' passive resistance' seems to have had some effect ; but the flight of big stones still continued, and the question of the advisability of returning home was discussed.

But Charles Wesley asked if they were to leave John Healy 'in the hands of his murderers'

; that ended the discussion.

They had been driven back down the hill, but they returned to 'the field of battle."

Then they found that the Roman Catholic contingent of the rioters had retreated because their Protestant comrades had risen against them.

This miserable scene is not without its touches of light.

When John Healy was stunned and fell on the ground, the man who had disabled him drew his knife and prepared to complete the murder.

He was the Roman Catholic priest's servant, and had ridden to the fray on his master's horse.

The secret of the sudden rising of the Roman Catholics against the Methodists is easily explained.

The priest had delivered an altar harangue in which he had denounced the Methodists, and it is no wonder the servant's zeal was kindled.

As he stood over Healy with his knife in his hand, a poor woman came out of her hut and stopped him.

She swore that he should not 'cut up' his victim.

Arrested in his attempt, he picked up Healy's whip that lay on the ground and struck her with all his might.

The blow half killed her, indeed, as Mr.

Crookshank says, ' From the effects of it she afterwards died.'

But she stood her ground until help came.

A Protestant named Jameson ran up with a pitchfork and drove it into the clerk's shoulder.

Wrenching it out, he struck him again ; but Mr. Handy came up, and probably saved 'his enemy's life.'

The woman and her husband carried John Healy into

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their hut, where Charles Wesley and his friends fotind him.

At the sound of Wesley's voice the wounded man opened his eyes and recovered his senses.

He was carried to Athlone, where a surgeon dressed his wounds, and 'took nothing for his pains.'

We do not know the name of the valiant woman whose deed of kindness we have recorded.

But in thinking of her we seem to see a ray of light that lingers on the hillside near Athlone.

If Charles Wesley had started from Templemacateer somewhat later in the day he and his companions might have escaped this painful experience.

The priest's denunciation and the plot to murder the Methodists were made known to the local authorities, who had ordered the soldiers to meet and guard the preachers.

But a mistake was made concerning the time of their arrival, and the scheme for their protection failed.

The soldiers, however, marched.

At the sight of them the rioters fled.

The man who had attempted to kill John Healy was caught and handed over to a constable, who immediately released him.

It would have been at the peril of his life if he had put the priest's servant in jail.

The people of Athlone were indignant at the treatment the Methodists had received.

Charles Wesley walked down to the market-house and found that it was filled with those who had come to hear him preach.

He was told that hundreds of people had been unable to obtain admission.

Therefore he went to a ruined house, stood at a window which commanded the market-place, and preached to more than two thousand hearers.

The Protestant minister and many gentlemen were among his hearers, and listened earnestly to the sermon.

When the service was over, and Charles Wesley had returned to his inn, the minister and one of the officials came to see him, and to inquire about the wounded man.

They asked for information concerning the assault, and promised that justice should be done.

The clergyman spoke of the sermon, and said the doctrine which had been preached was the doctrine of the Church of England; he accepted some of the Methodist publications, and wished Charles Wesley

' God speed.'

When Charles Wesley and his friends left Athlone they were accompanied by a crowd of the people of the town, and by many of the Methodist soldiers.

They moved on very slowly

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for the sake of the wounded man.

Then they reached ' the field of battle.'

It was stained with blood.

There they halted.

They sang a song of triumph and praise to God, "who had given them the victory through our Lord Jesus

Christ.'

As we listen to the sound of singing we think we can catch some of the words of a hymn that was then so often sung :

Omnipotent Redeemer, Our ransomed souls adore Thee ; Our Saviour Thou, We find it now, And give Thee all the glory.

We sing Thine arm unshortened, Brought through our sore temptation ; With heart and voice In Thee rejoice, The God of our salvation.

Then they said farewell to their faithful guards and rode on their way to Moate, and to Mr. Jonathan Handy's house.

Arriving there, they sang a song of 'joy and thanksgiving,' and magnified the God by whom they had escaped death.

The second incident which arrests our special attention occurred towards the close of Charles Wesley's long stay in Ireland.

We record it, not only for its interest, but also that we may realize more distinctly the condition of the times in which the work of the Wesleys was done.

It is well known that they considered the prisons as a part of their ' worldparish.' From the Oxford days onward they never forgot the wretched people who crowded the jails of this country.

They visited them and preached to them.

In some cases they accompanied those who were condemned to death to the scaffold, and helped them to bear their heavy fate by speaking words of comfort to them before they were launched into eternity. It must never be forgotten that during the eighteenth century men and women were executed for offences against the law that, in the present day, would merit comparatively light punishment.

If we keep our eyes on that fact we shall have no hesitation in accepting Sir Spencer Walpole's verdict that 'nothing was more anomalous, more unfortunate, and 1See Charles Wesley's Journal, ii. 2-5; Crookshank's History of Methodism, i. 26-28.

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more indefensible than the Criminal Code which disgraced the Statute Book.'

It is an astounding fact that the men who were bent on reforming that code had to labour in vain until the nineteenth century was well on its way.

Certain changes had been made, but it was not until March 2, 1819, that the reformers won their first great victory.

During the earlier years of the nineteenth century the punishment of death could legally be inflicted for more than two hundred offences.

Walpole says:

It was a capital offence to pick a man's pocket; it was a capital offence to steal five shillings from a shop; it was a capital offence to steal a fish ; it was a capital offence to rob a rabbit-warren ; it was a capital offence to cut down a tree; it was a capital offence to personate a Greenwich pensioner ; it was a capital offence to harbour an offender against the Revenue Acts.

It would be possible to extend almost indefinitely the list of offences for which men could be legally hanged at the commencement of the nineteenth century.?

It is certain that during the whole of the Wesleys' mission the prisons contained crowds of persons who were condemned to death by the extraordinary laws of the Criminal Code of that time.

It was not likely that the great religious reformers would overlook the condition of the prisons, passing them by as places with which they had no concern.

Let us follow Charles Wesley as he makes his way to Newgate, the Dublin prison.

In the prison there is a woman in chains, who is brooding over the approach of a horrible death.

Only a week of life is left to her.

She has been in the grip of the law before ; now there seems little hope of escape.

Although the evidence against her was not very full, her life and character were taken into consideration at her last trial and she was condemned to die.

She was found guilty of 'coining.'

This crime was included in ' petty treasons,' and for women the punishment was death by burning.

Lecky describes the process in restrained language.

The description fills us with disgust at the cruelty of the age.

This is what he says :

A stake ten or eleven feet high was planted in the ground.

An fron ring was fastened near the top, and from it the culprit was hung while the faggots were kindled under her feet.

The law enjoined that 1 History of England, ii. 132.

1 istory of England, ii. 132.

See also Lecky's History of England in the Eighteenth Century, ii. 135-137, Vil. 315-323.

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she should be burnt alive, but in practice the sentence was usually mitigated, and she was strangled before the fire touched her body.

A horrible case, however, occurred in 1726 at the execution of a murderess named Katherine Hayes.

The fire scorching the hands of the executioner, he slackened the rope before he strangled ler, and, though fresh faggots were hastily piled up, a considerable time elapsed before her agonies were terminated.!

No one possessing even a trace of humanity can read this description without a shudder ; but in the eighteenth century these wretched scenes attracted multitudes to gaze upon them.

Sensitiveness to human suffering was latent in the average Englishman of that time; in innumerable cases it was kept under remarkable control.

It is no wonder that the maiming and murder of a few Methodists was a matter of insignificance in the eighteenth century.

Charles Wesley devoted himself to the case of this woman in the Dublin prison.

At first he seems to have been disappointed with her ; but he tried to lead her to the Cross.

The Methodists prayed for her, and at last the answer came.

With deep repentance she found her way to the Saviour, and found Him, as ever, a lover of penitent women.

Then a Romish priest came to see her.

He bade her pray to the Virgin Mary, but she replied, 'I have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus

Christ the righteous.'

The Ordinary also visited her for the first time, and she told him ' the reason of the hope that was in her.'

At the end of the week the news arrived that a reprieve had come, and a pardon was expected.

Charles Wesley hastened to see her, but was surprised to find her full of fear and trouble.

She was afraid that her release would lead to the loss of her new-found experience.

On March 1 Charles Wesley met her.

She was 'released from her chains, both soul and body.'

She threw herself at his feet and cried, ' O, sir, under God, you have saved my soul.

I have found mercy when I looked for judgement.

I am saved by a miracle of mercy.'

On March 8 John Wesley landed in Ireland, and some days afterwards Charles Wesley returned to England.

His hard work in Ireland had much reduced his strength.

On landing in Wales, he made his way to Garth, being convinced he could not hold out for three more days of riding.

It is not difficult to divine an additional reason for his change of route.

On March 25 he arrived at Mr. Gwynne's house; and, through the 1 England in the Eighteenth Century, ii.,

135-130.

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aS care that was taken of him in that pleasant home, he recovered.

On Saturday, April 9, the eve of Easter Day, he arrived at the Foundery in London.

The detention of Charles Wesley in Ireland had given the two brothers an opportunity for conversation on the position of the work in Dublin and the other places in which Methodist

Societies had been formed.

John Wesley had been accompanied from England by Mr. Meriton and Robert Swindells, a lay preacher who did the work of an itinerant for more than forty years.

We can imagine the topics of their conversation in the house in Cork Street, ' vulgarly called Dolphin's Barn

Lane.'

One of them must have been the acquisition of the Skinner's Alley House.

John Wesley was not satisfied with the way in which the building had been acquired.

He sympathized with the ejected Moravians.

So late as April 16, 1748, he wrote a letter to his brother, who was then in England, which contained these words:

'Skinner's Alley House' is now, as it ever was, a millstone about my neck.

I shall shake it off as soon as possible, and do as I would be done to.

I can never get over " We laid out so much money and have not had a penny returned." ':

He felt that an injustice had been done to those who had paid for the ' fitting-up' of the 'House,' and he was disquieted by seeming to be a party to such a proceeding.

There was another subject which also deeply concerned him.

Glowing accounts of the progress of Methodism in Dublin had been sent to him, and from them he was prepared to rejoice with the workers who had toiled so successfully.

He never overestimated the value of mere numerical prosperity, but thenews of advance, in the midst of persecution, delighted him.

On his arrival in Ireland he immediately began the work of visiting the classes.

The result is shown in the following entry in his Journal under the date March 16:

I inquired into the state of the Society.

Most pompous accounts had been sent to me, from time to time, of the great numbers that were added to it; so that I confidently expected to find therein six or seven hundred members.

And how is the real fact?

I left three hundred and ninety-four members, and I doubt if there are now three hundred and ninety-six!

Let this be a warning to us all how we give in to that hateful custom of painting things beyond the life.

Let us 1See W.H.S. Proceedings, iii. 46.

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make a conscience of magnifying or exaggerating anything.

Let us rather speak under than above the truth.

We, of all men, should be punctual in all we say, that none of our words may fall to the ground,

John Wesley's second visit to Ireland occurred at a time when he was worn down with work and illness.

But he filled up his days with toil.

He cared for the Societ: - he preached in the ' Rooms' in Cork Street, Skinner's Alley, Marlborough

Street, and Ship Street ; also in Newgate and on Oxmantown Green.

His pen was never idle.

He wrote his final letter in the ' John Smith' correspondence.

It is dated Dublin, March 23, 1747-8.

He must have been relieved when the controversy was closed, as it had ceased to maintain the high standard with which it commenced.:

After sending off his letter, he prepared for an expedition into the country in which Mr. Meriton and Robert Swindells were to be his companions.

In Crookshank's History of Methodism in Ireland, we find interesting particulars of thistour.

It is clear that new centres of Methodist work were being created by the enterprise of the lay preachers ; but our attention must be fixed on those with which we have become somewhat familiar.

At Philipstown, in King's County, as no room would contain the congregation he was obliged to preach in the street, which was soon filled with those who flocked from every side.

The next morning he held a five o'clock service, and had a large and serious congregation.

Then he spoke 'severally' to those of the Society of whom forty were troopers.

On April 2 he reached Athlone.

His intention to visit the place was known, and two or three hundred people prepared to meet him and bring him into the town 'in state.'

But he came two hours earlier than expected, and so escaped the greatest part of the crowd by arriving at Mr. Alder's, where he was to lodge.

At six o'clock he took his stand at the window of the unfinished house, opposite the market-place, from which his brother had preached on that memorable day.

He says, "I scarce ever saw a better behaved or more attentive congregation.

Many of the better sort followed us to Mr. Alder's, and gave us abundance of thanks and good words.

So civil people as the Irish I have never yet seen, either in Europe or America.'?

1 For the correspondence see John Wesley and the Methodist Socteties, 272-273, 276-280, 289-290.

* John Wesley's Journal, viii. 155.

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aK The next day was Sunday.

John Wesley surprised the people by holding a five o'clock service; but at least three hundred people were there.

Then he walked about a mile from the town to visit a poor woman who was sick, and nearly a hundred and fifty persons attended him.

We think this woman must have been the brave defender of John Healy, for on his way to the house he passed the spot where his lay preacher had been struck down.

He stopped there; the people clustered round him, and they sang a hymn of praise to God.

After praying with the poor woman, he was unwiiling that so many persons should ' go empty away'; so he chose a smooth, grassy place near the road where they all kneeled down in prayer ; then a psalm was sung and a short exhortation was given.

In this manner they called to mind the great deliverance wrought out for them during that day of wild assault.

After attending the morning service in the church, at which a plain, useful sermon was preached, Wesley went in the afternoon to the Connaught side of the town, where, as he was informed, there were only six families of Protestants, all the rest being Papists.

But a large congregation assembled.

Many had come from the country round about, and all listened eagerly to the sermon.

At six o'clock he preached in the same place to a larger crowd.

He was told afterwards that about three in four were Roman Catholics.

They had come there in spite of the prohibition of their priests.

He was convinced that all the seed had not fallen by the wayside, or on stony ground.

On Monday he preached once more at five o'clock.

He was much impressed with Athlone.

All the town appeared to be moved.

But, with his usual caution, he refrained from prophesying permanent success.

He thought that ' the waters spread too wide to be deep,' so he suspended his judgement.

Yet there can be no doubt that in Athlone he saw on that spring day signs of a future harvest.

Leaving Athlone, "he rode with his companions to Moate; and then, after dining at Templemacateer, they went on to Tyrrell's Pass, where they stayed with Mr. Stephen Fouace.

As we read Wesley's description of his visit to Tyrrell's Pass we feel we are in the presence of a most hopeful Society.

After preaching at five o'clock he examined the classes, and found 'a surprising openness among them.'

The members spoke about their spiritual experience in such a heart-moving fashion

_ THE MISSION TO IRELAND

that the 'examination' gave way to a prayer-meeting, in which, for above an hour, they wrestled with God in behalf of a woman who was full of ' affliction and dismay.'

Prayer for her was answered ; she was filled with joy-unspeakable.

Four young women also were 'cut to the heart,' and cried aloud 'to Him that is mighty to save.'

Mr. Jonathan Handy accompanied Wesley to this meeting.

He was not ' far from the Kingdom,' but was sorrowing almost without hope.

He listened to the experience of the members and to the prayers that were offered for those who were in distress.

Then came to him the moment of glad release, and he also was enabled "mightily to praise God.'

In the evening Wesley preached on ' He healeth those that are broken in heart.'

Many of the neighbouring gentry were present, and most of them desired to stay to the meeting of the Society.

Once more we listen to the singing of joyous songs celebrating the glory of the God of our salvation.

This was the kind of Methodism that John Wesley longed to see in Ireland; he shared the joy of the singers.

The next afternoon he bade farewell to Tyrrell's Pass, expecting to see the people again before his return to Dublin.

We find from his statement that the Society at Tyrrell's Pass then consisted of about a hundred members.

Nine were Papists, and several were Quakers.

On April 6, at their earnest desire, he baptized seven of them.

He confesses that when he said good-bye to these lovable people they hardly knew how to part.

As we follow John Wesley in this tour among the Irish Societies, we often hear him sound a note of disappointment.

It is not enough to remember that, at the time, he was a weary man.

We must go farther.

We shall never understand his disappointments until we measure his ideals.

His standard was determined by his own spiritual experiences.

Was it too high?

Let those who remember his journey to the Cross, and the great deliverance that came to him in the room in Aldersgate Street, answer that question.

His experience there, and the scenes he had afterwards witnessed all over England, had fixed his standard.

He could not be content with anything less than the conversion of the people to whom he preached.

It is true that he was patient with those who were trying to find their way to Christ.

He sympathized with them and encouraged them as they advanced slowly through

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ae the twilight, but he ever urged them to travel towards the perfect day.

It was with deep joy that he saw them kneeling at the Cross in the light of the ' opening heavens,' listening to the Saviour's assurance of their personal forgiveness.

On Good Friday, April 8, John Wesley returned to Athlone.

The next day he held a service in ' a lone house ' in Connaught.

The people listened, 'but did not appear to feel anything.'

He doubted whether the time had come for preaching in the place. We watch him as he stands, in a somewhat melancholy mood, on the shore of Lough Rea.

The lough is an expansion of the Shannon at a point about thirty miles from the source of that king of rivers.

The Shannon is indeed a noble river.

Leaving Lough Rea, it flows past places abounding in interest.

It spreads into big lakes, and then sweeps on until it reaches its marvellous estuary and is lost in the Atlantic.

It captures us by its majestic beauty.

But the sad note that Wesley sounded on the shore of Lough Rea persists.

Speaking of the Shannon, he says:

' There are many islands in it, once well inhabited, but now mostly desolate.

In almost every one is the ruins of a church ; in one the remains of no less than seven.

I never saw so many ruinous buildings in any country as in all parts of Ireland.

I fear God hath still a controversy with this land, because it is defiled with blood.'

He was not the only man who has sighed over the desolations of Ireland.

While we sympathize with John Wesley, and can understand his lamentation over departed glories, it is impossible to forget that a ruin has a note in its voice that should stir a man who is a pioneer in an attempt to effect a religious reformation.

He mentions the seven churches, and undoubtedly refers to Clonmacnois, which stands some miles below Lough

Rea.

Dr. George T. Stokes, in his History of Ireland and the Celiic Church, enables us to see that famous sanctuary.

After stating that Clonmacnois once occupied a position second only to Armagh itself in popular reverence, he says:

To this day it presents us with some of the most genuine specimens of early Irish churches.

Two round towers, numberless crosses covered with elaborate ornamentation, three of them still standing, an ancient castle, a well-preserved cashel, the ruins of seven churches, all genuine

Celtic monuments, with but few traces of English work, unite to make Clonmacnois a most interesting spot for the historian or the archaeologist.

The churches all seem specimens of the true old Irish style.

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One alone out of the seven has a chancel attached.

They are all oblong structures, and most of them very small.

One is larger than any of the rest.

It was the Great Church or cathedral.

It is still in a fair state of preservation, owing doubtless to some repairs executed during the wars and confusions of the Commonwealth.

It was the Danes who desecrated Clonmacnois when a tide of paganism overflowed the country.

But those who now visit it will recognize the signs of its ancient splendour ; and, if well instructed, will recall the work of the men who went out from this place to preach Christ and His salvation, not only in their own country, but in far-off lands.

If Wesley had been more fully acquainted with the ecclesiastical history of Ireland he would have found inspiration on the Shannon shore.

But, turning from the past, if he had been able to look a little way into the future he would have banished his melancholy mood.

In this country tour Thomas Williams was one of his companions.

In 1749 we see Williams in Limerick.

He is preaching in the open air to a vast crowd.

We notice some men in it who are listening with strained attention.

They are not Irishmen.

At the close of the service they gather together.

What are they saying?

' This is like the preaching we used to hear in Germany.'

They are Palatines, and we shall meet them again.

They, on this or some other occasion, interviewed the preacher, and invited him to visit Ballingarrane, the little town where they lived.

Let us move on to 1752.

John Wesley is in Limerick.

One man, a Palatine, listens to his preaching and is deeply impressed.

He goes home, and thinks much about what he has heard.

Then, on Christmas Day, the light comes to him, and he rejoices in Christ his Saviour.

His name is Philip Embury, and that name is not likely to be forgotten by the millions of American

Methodists.

If Wesley could have seen these golden links that were to bind the years together, the depression from which he suffered for a time when he looked on the Shannon and its islands would have vanished.

Before John Wesley left Athlone he had reason to revise his opinions concerning the religious condition of the Society in that place.

Easter Sunday was a day of great 1 Stokes's History of Ireland, 260.

Dr. Stokes gives us interesting particulars of the work of St. Patrick in the neighbourhood of Clonmacnois.

It will assist us to determine dates if we remember that he founded the See of Armagh in the year 445, a century and a half prior to the foundation of the See of Canterbury.

THE MISSION TO IRELAND

KS encouragement.

At thechurch there was an attendance ofcommunicants such as had never before been seen in Athlone.

He preached to a crowd in the afternoon.

Many Papists were present.

In the evening they came again, to the alarm of the priest, who disturbed the service by driving his people away before him 'like a flock of sheep.'

It was a somewhat dangerous proceeding, for the captain of the dragoons and his soldiers who were present were strongly inclined to stop him.

The next day he preached to the Society, and the change for which he had longed came at last.

In his record of the evening service we hear the note for which we have listened.

He says:

'In the evening there appeared more emotion than ever I had seen before ; but it was in a manner

I never saw; not one here and there, but in all.

Perhaps God is working here in a way we have not known, going on in a slow and even motion through the whole body of the people, that they may all remember themselves and be turned unto the Lord.'

A glimpse of that manner of working had been given him in Cornwall; but at Athlone he seemed to have seen a light which often cheers a faithful minister who is tempted to say, 'I have laboured in vain; I have spent my strength for naught.'

John Wesley got back to Dublin on April 15, and prolonged his stay in Ireland for another month.

He cared for the Society in the city, but never ceased to hear the voice that called him into the country.

In an imperfect letter that has happily escaped the ravages of time, and which is dated April

16, 1748, he says, 'I must make another journey into the country.

Our Societies there already consist of 350 members ; but they are most of them raw, undisciplined soldiers, and without great care will desert to their old master.'

And so on April 28, in pouring rain, having only recently risen from a sick-bed, he set off on horseback, and managed to reach

Tyrrell's Pass.

His country tour lasted until May 11, when he got back to Dublin in the evening, ' faint and weary.'

He rested for two days; and on Sunday, May 15, finding his strength greatly restored, he preached twice on Oxmantown

Green.

At the evening service an incident occurred which is significant.

A man in the crowd, after listening for some time, cried out, shaking his head, ' Aye, he is a Jesuit ; that's plain!'

A Roman Catholic priest, who happened to be near,

_ THE MISSION TO IRELAND

replied aloud, 'No, he is not; I would to God he was!'

Wesley was intending to sail for England after this service ; but the boat was detained until the Wednesday of that week.

Then he went on board, and the day after landed at Holyhead.

John Wesley arrived in Bristol on Wednesday, May 25; and on Whit-Sunday, May 29, he preached in Weavers' Hall at about four o'clock in the morning and at the ' Old Orchard ' at seven.

At two o'clock he preached under the sycamore-tree at Kingswood.

At five o'clock he preached again in the "Qld Orchard.'

Then he rode to Kingswood,and closed the day with a love-feast.

The visit to Bristol raises a question which has often been in our mind when watching the visits of John and Charles Wesley at this time to Ireland.

From August 8, 1747, to May 18, 1748, their chief attention was paid to the new mission.

One or the other of them was in Ireland during a period of nine months.

Were there any circumstances which gave them opportunities for such an absence from England?

So far as Bristol was concerned, during the latter part of the time, the answer is easy.

The Bristol 'Room' was being rebuilt, and was not ready for use until September, 1748.

In Cornwall the work of Dr. Borlase and his confederates had been so successful that the presence of the Wesleys there was not helpful to the success of the work, but it was carried on by the lay preachers, the exhorters, and the members of the Societies.

Cornwall's extremity was Ireland's opportunity.

Newcastle Methodism was well organized, and we note that at the Conference of 1747 an exceptionally strong appointment had been made.

The lay preachers at the Orphan House for November and December, 1747, were Thomas Richards and Joseph Cownley, two men who possessed John Wesley's confidence.

At the beginning of the new year the arrangements for further stationing were in John Wesley's hands.

He would take care that suitable men were sent to the great northern outpost of Methodism.

As to London, the plan of alternating the visits of the two brothers to Ireland met the difficulty.

It will be seen, therefore, that the time was opportune for helping Ireland, and for commencing a work that was to have a profound effect on the future of Methodism.

VII

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On April 16, 1748, John Wesley wrote a letter from Dublin in which the following sentence occurred:

' The Conference must be in London this year, in order to the meeting of the stewards of all the Societies.'

It is natural to conclude that some important question had arisen which needed to be discussed, not only by the Conference, but by the stewards of the Societies.

At this point our difficulties are increased by tantalizing blanks in the Journals both of John and Charles

Wesley.

We have no record of a general meeting of stewards, or of the Conference.

Our perplexities are not lessened by William Myles's positive statement that the Conference of 1748 was held in Bristol.:'

It is fortunate that we possess John Bennet's copy of the Minutes of the Conference held in London.

John Wesley had much on his mind during his second visit to Ireland.

The care of the Societies was upon him, but he carried that burden with wonderful equanimity.

He must, however, have been disturbed by a conversation with his brother during the time they were together in March.

Charles Wesley opened his mind to him on the subject of Miss Sarah Gwynne.

Charles Wesley tells us that the idea of marriage was then 'a distant first thought ; and was not likely to come to a proposal, as he had not given the least hint either to Miss

Gwynne or the family.'

But a keen-eyed onlooker must have seen the growth of his affection ; and doubtless John Wesley had observed it. When the revelation was made he ' neither opposed nor much encouraged' his brother's intention.

But that 'intention' suggested a serious prospect.

Charles Wesley's marriage might mean that the fascinations of domestic life might restrict his wanderings as an itinerant evangelist.

He was an invaluable pioneer, a stormer of strongholds, a 4 Myles's Chronological History, 65. Fourth ed.

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fearless facer of mobs, a man whose presence was an inspiration to the persecuted, a leader of forlorn hopes, whose example kindled and sustained the courage of those who risked their lives in the high places of the battle-field.

John Wesley may be forgiven if he detected the possibility of 'a parting of the ways. But there may have been anotherreason for his reticence.

We wonder if he exchanged confidences with his brother.

Did his own thoughts wander towards England?

Subsequent events lead us to judge that in Dublin he said nothing to Charles Wesley about the growing attractiveness of the Orphan House at Newcastle.

On Thursday morning, June 2, John and Charles Wesley were at the Foundery in London.

John Wesley was suffering from the plague of Georgia.

The attacks of intermittent fever which had weakened him in Ireland continued.

As we watch him making his way with his brother towards Soho our sympathy is excited.

The Bennet Minutes say that the Conference of 1748 was held at the Chapel House in Tower

Street.

The back of West Street Chapel was in Tower Street ; there was in that street an entrance to the Chapel

House.

We must now consider the business transacted at this important Conference.

When it commenced in the morning of Thursday, June 2, the following persons were present :

John and Charles Wesley and two other clergymen, William Felton and Charles Manning, the Vicar of Hayes in Middlesex.

Six lay preachers were with them: Thomas Maxfield, John Jones, Thomas Meyrick, John Trembath, Edward Perronet, and Jonathan Reeves.

Later in the day Richard Thomas Bateman, of St. Bartholomew's, John Green, who became a clergyman, and William Tucker, a lay preacher, joined them.

John Wesley, as usual, had prepared a clear agenda.

In addition, he had made an elaborate sketch of the special business that was to engage the attention of the Conference at its final meeting on the Saturday morning.

At the outset of the first day's ' conversations' it was agreed that, as the time would not permit the examination of points of doctrine, only two subjects should be considered at this Conference—discipline, and the settlement of all things relating to the school which was to be opened in a few days at Kingswood.

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AAS The first topic discussed concerned the relation of the Societies to the Church of England.

It is well known that clergymen and others who were beginning to be friendly with - the Methodists sometimes asked John Wesley to preach in their churches ; they, however, objected to the formation of Societies in their parishes.

On the subject of the formation of Methodist Societies, special pressure was brought to bear on him, not only in 1748, but during several subsequent years.

The Conference faced the question, and gave counsel that influenced Wesley's action.

From the conversation we find that the plan had already been tried.

For more than a year the Methodists had preached without forming Societies in a large tract of land stretching from Newcastle to Berwick-uponTweed ; and ' almost all the seed had fallen by the wayside ; scarcely any fruit remained.'

It was agreed that the clergymen's suggestion could not be accepted for many reasons.

Among others: '1. Because the preacher cannot give proper exhortations and instructions to those who are convinced of sip unless he has opportunities of meeting them apart from the mixed, unawakened multitude.

2. They cannot watch over one another in love unless they are thus united together.

Nor, 3. Can the believers build up one another and bear one another's burdens.'

From this position John Wesley was never moved ; and by his firmness the stability of Methodism was secured.

The next question has a look of 'modernism' in it that attracts attention.

It was asked, 'Ought we not to have a longer time of probation for the rich before we admit them into our Society?'

The uncertainty concerning the piety of rich men haunts our own times, and we regret that we have only a meagre report of the eighteenth century conversation on this subject.

Those who have studied the writings of John Wesley are aware that no one spoke more plainly to rich men.

But he possessed a discriminating mind.

He valued a consistent Christian man even although he suffered from an abundance of wealth.

The Conference decided that it did not seem necessary to make the suggested extension of the period of trial; but the conversation led to the adoption of the rule that the time of probation for rich and poor should be three months.

Another regulation was passed at this point. It was resolved that every other meeting of the Society,

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either at the Foundery, the Chapel,: Bristol, Kingswood, Newcastle, or elsewhere, should be ' inviolably private, no one stranger being admitted on any account or pretence whatsoever.'

It was also directed that public notice of this rule should be given in every place.

On the alternate nights, "strangers might be admitted with caution.'

When we remember the early days in London, when ' strangers ' invaded the meetings of the Society and caused much angry discussion, we see the wisdom of this rule.

On two other subjects of permanent interest the Conference passed resolutions.

It was determined that 'a relapser into gross sin' must not be readmitted into the Society until after three months, but that he might attend the Society meetings on those nights when strangers were admitted.

'In order to purge and quicken the Society,' it was also agreed to examine the leaders strictly, both with regard to their grace, their gifts, and their manner of meeting their several classes ; and a direction was given to the preachers to meet the leaders weekly before preaching at Wapping, Snowsfields, and Deptford.

It had been the custom for the leaders to attend the weekly meetings of the stewards in order that they might pay to them the moneys they had received in their classes , but in the resolution of the 1748 Conference, we note the point of a new departure inthe direction ofthe leaders' meeting, which now occupies so prominent a place in the Methodist organization.

At the close of the session on Thursday a very important question was raised.

We have suggested that the Wesleys' residence in Georgia had seriously affected their health.

In Ireland John Wesley's work had been done under depressing conditions, and a note in John Bennet's manuscript Journal reveals the fact that at this Conference John Wesley's attack of intermittent fever still continued.

The members of the Conference watched their chief with anxiety.

In addition, the perilous work carried on by the Wesleys in the midst of ruthless mobs made their leadership uncertain, and caused the question of their successors to arise in the minds of those who understood the supreme importance of their mission.

It is clear that those who were present at the session in the Chapel House were convinced that Methodism had taken its place

The Chapel' was West Street Chapel, in London.

It was invariably so called in the earlier days of Methodism.

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sy. among the organizations which were carrying on Christian work in England.

Is it eay wonder that the question was asked, 'If it please God to take our present ministers away, who should succeed in their place?'

That question again emerged in later times.

For nearly forty years it remained unanswered.

During that long interval the reply of the Conference of 1748 was found to be sufficient :

' We cannot tell yet. God will make it plain whenever the time shall come.'

On June 3 the Conference resumed its sessions in the Chapel House.

Samuel Larwood, James Jones, and William Shent, three lay preachers, were added to the company.

It is with special pleasure that we record the fact that Howell Harris was also there.

In Myles's Chronological History there is 'A list of all the Itinerant Methodist Preachers who have laboured in connexion with the late Rev. John Wesley, and with the Methodist Conference.'

In the first race of those preachers we find the name of Howell Harris.

Myles marks him as being associated with Wesley from 1747 to 1750.

During that term the relations of John Wesley and Howell Harris were exceptionally close.

In glancing over the business of this day we regret that we have so brief an account of the proceedings.

Most of the time was given up to the consideration of one subject, and we have to exercise the art of 'reading between the lines.'

We will deal, first, with an act we can easily understand.

On this day seven assistants were ' received into the work.'

Among them was William Darney, who was then making his way from the North to the Conference in the company of john Bennet.

After this business was transacted the whole of the day seems to have been devoted to the consideration of the question, ' What can be done in order to a closer union of our assistants with each other?'

The answer shows that the time had come when there was a danger of misunderstanding and disunion, and that it was necessary to face an unpleasant subject.

The Conference agreed on the following answer:

'1. Let them be deeply convinced of the want there is of it at present, and of the absolute necessity of it.

2. Let them pray that God would give them earnestly to desire it ; and that he would fulfil the desire He has given them.'

The importance of the subject thus raised no one will deny who is acquainted with the history of Methodism during its most

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critical years.

In those times one of the most effective safeguards of the Methodist Church has been the unity of its ministers ; and it was well that so early as 1748 the danger of disunion was perceived.

The next question yields more light on this matter of vital importance.

We must remember that in 1748 the lay preachers served John Wesley as ' sons in the gospel.'

They cheerfully faced the dangers of the campaign; they were often the pioneers who risked their lives in preparing the way for the coming of the clerical evangelists.

Some of them gave up their business; out of fervent love for their work they conserted to serve without any money allowance.

They were content to depend on the hospitality of the Societies for their daily food and shelter.

The best of them took their orders from John Wesley without demur, and went to the places to which he appointed them.

It was in their own power 'to depart from the work' when they chose, and Wesley had the right to dismiss them.

The early Methodist preachers were loyal men, true to their chief and devoted to their work.

Some of them were inclined now and then to criticize Wesley's directions; but it is well to remember that the free criticism of governors is one of the consolations of the governed.

The proceedings of the Conference of 1748 reveal the fact that the lay preachers had a legitimate grievance which called for immediate redress.

Some of them resented the practice of certain preachers and members of Society, who conveyed to Wesley unfavourable opinions of their fitness for the work in which they were engaged.

They also thought that he too readily accepted such reports, and thereby did them an injustice.

The days were approaching when 'objections to preachers ' would be stated in, and judged by, the Conference ; but that time had not arrived.

The promise of its coming may be heard if we listen to the conversation in the Chapel

House on Friday, June 3, 1748.

The questions and answers on the subject are contained in the Bennet Minutes, and are as follows :

Q. Ought not the ministers to have as much confidence as may be in those who serve as sons in the gospel ?

1In Jacob Rowell's ' Notes' of the proceedings of the Leeds Conference held in 1753 we find the following entry on May 24: 'Q.2. Have any of you any objections to the life or doctrine of any Itinerant Preacher?

(Whose names were then mentioned one by one, and their behaviour severally considered.)'

See Minutes of Conference, vol. i., 719.

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ey: * Oe) A. It is highly expedient they should.

Q. Would it not, then, be well that they should be exceeding unready to believe any evil report concerning them ?

A. They ought not to believe it till they have seen them, or written to them and received an answer.

Turning to the other side of the question—the criticism of Wesley by some of his preachers—the following questions and answers are recorded.

Q. Suppose one of our assistants should be tempted to think evil of us, and should mention it to another, ought that other to mention it to us?

A. Not if it was spoken only as a temptation.

And if he thinks it a thing of moment which we ought to know, still it may be best to wait a little till he who was under that temptation comes to town, and then let him speak it himself.

The conversation, which had a direct bearing on the unity of the Methodist preachers of that day, closed with these advices to the Assistants : ' Let them beware how they despise each other's gifts, and much more how they speak anything bordering thereon.

Let them never speak slightingly of each other in any kind.

Let them defend one another's character in every point to the uttermost of their power.

Let them labour in honour each to prefer the other to himself.'

That advice was accepted ; and it has proved a fourfold bond which has secured the unity of the Methodist preachers in times of peace and in days of tempestuous weather.

On Saturday, June 4, the Conference reassembled in the Chapel House, Mr. James Erskine being added to the company.

He was a Scotsman, a D.C.L. of Oxford, and a friend of Lady Huntingdon and the Wesleys.

The subject of discussion on this day appealed to him.

The whole of the time was devoted to the question of the new school which had been erected near the school for colliers' children at Kingswood, and was ready to be opened.

Before the Conference met John Wesley had drawn up a plan on which the new school was to be conducted.

Those who study it in the present day will be surprised at its wide range.

It is an eighteenth-century example of ' the Higher Education.'

In looking at it we detect signs of the influence 1See John Wesley and the Methodist Soctettes, 314.

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of men trained at Charterhouse and Westminster.

We also are reminded of the fact that John Wesley, through his friendship with Dr. Doddridge, had ascertained the course of study pursued in the best Dissenting Academies, and that he had visited the Moravian settlements, and some of the Universities of Germany.

; The ' plan' as it stood after full consideration by the Conference of 1748 is contained in the first of the Publications of the Wesley Historical Society.

We will indicate some of its principal points.

The name of the school was soon fixed.

It was to be called ' Kingswood School.'

Its 'design' is clearly stated.

The object aimed at was ' to train up children there, if God permit, in every branch of useful learning, from the very alphabet till they are fit, as to all acquired qualifications, for the work of the ministry."

In other words, it was to be a school of the highest class for the education of the sons of Methodists, and a place in which suitable young men might receive an education which would fit them for the work of the ministry.

Let us look at the first part of the plan.

Ordinarily, the boys were to be taken into the school between the ages of six and ten years.

There were seven classes.

When a boy had passed through them all he was expected to have acquired a knowledge of reading, writing, arithmetic, French, Latin,

Greek, Hebrew, rhetoric, geography, history, logic, ethics, physics, geometry, and algebra.

In the Bennet Minutes the stages of the advance in learning are set out; the list should be consulted.:

It will be sufficient to mention the subjects taught in the seventh class:

' Mr. Law's Serious Call, which they translate.

Milton, which they repeat.

Tully, de Natura Deorum, which they translate.

Casimir.

Xenophon's Cyrus—translate.

Plato's Dialogues, Homer's Ilad— repeat.

Now also they make Greek verses.

And to declaim.

Hebrew grammar.

Hebrew Bible.

Vassiz Rhetorica.'

Training in religious knowledge received special attention.

The boys on their upward way read The Pilgrim's Progress, a suitable book for such a journey.

St. Augustine's Confessions, Thomas 4 Kempis, Haliburton's Life, Law's Christian Perfection and his Serious Call, and other books, the practical value of which had been proved by the Wesleys.

Southey, 1 See Publications of the W.H.S., No. 1, 54-55.

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& evidently impressed by the programme of studies, declared that 'the things to be taught at Kingswood Schcol make a formidable catalogue in the founder's plan.'*

To that statement we shall all give our consent.

But this question arises :

'Was there in England at that time any other school which gave its boys a better chance of acquiring a complete education in the higher knowledge?'

We may put the 'plan' aside as the production of an ' idealist' ; but we have learned that 'idealist' is sometimes only another name for a far-seeing

* prophet.'

When we turn from the scholastic to the disciplinary arrangements of the plan our confidence in its composer's wisdom is lessened.

Fortunately, time has proved itself on the side of the boys.

It is well known that the discipline of the school was intended to be exceptionally severe.

The prohibition of all ' play' and of all ' holidays' still fills us with amazement.

Southey carries us with him when he says that Wesley had learnt the sour German proverb, ' He who plays when he is a child will play when he is a man,' and that he had forgotten an English one, proceeding from good nature and good sense, which tells us by what kind of discipline Jack may be made a dull boy.

We regret that Wesley did not define 'play.'

At the Charterhouse, at Oxford, and in Georgia, he found time for pleasant relaxation.

He certainly worked when he was a man.

The Conference decided that French was to be taught when a boy had ' gone through the school.'

We note that three masters were proposed as teachers of 'the languages,' and three as teachers 'for reading, writing, &c.'

Southey says, "So little was economy in education understood in those days, that there was an establishment of six masters for the twentyeight scholars ' who entered the school during the two or three months after it was opened.

If he had recognized the fact that three of the six masters, John Jones, Thomas Richards, and Richard Moss, were poorly-paid lay preachers, he might have mitigated the severity of his criticism.

Another fact should also be noted.

John Wesley considered that John Jones and Thomas Richards, who afterwards became clergymen, were fitted for the position of teachers of languages. iLife of Wesley, 345.

Bohn's ed.

It is probable that Wesley's prohibition of ' play ' was derived from the Moravian chool rules,

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When we also remember that, at the first Conference, ' assistants ' were recommended to read the Greek Testament, and more than a dozen books of Latin and Greek authors, we are reluctant to accept the legend that the lay preachers of that day were all illiterate men.

Those who in the dusk can see the first touches of the dawn will detect the importance of the section in Wesley's ' scheme ' which deals with boys who have ' gone through the school.'

Reading it, we conclude that he thought he had reached a solution of the difficult question of 'The Seminary for Labourers.'

He believed in a trained ministry ; he held that belief throughout his life.

In 1748 he imagined that Kingswood School would help him to accomplish his purpose.

It was 'a devout imagination,' but it excites our sympathy.

Let us look at the pathetic programme.

When a boy had gone through the school, and had shown signs of moral and spiritual fitness for the work of the ministry,

Wesley intended he should receive a further training in the school for five years.

The first year was to be devoted to the study of the Hebrew Bible and the Greek Testament, with Franke's Manducatio.

In addition, he had to study the Apostolic Fathers, especially Tertullian, and an abridgement of Pearson On the Creed, which Wesley was to prepare.

Aldrich's Logic, among other books, had also to be read.

In the second year, Origen, Clemens Alexandrinus, and St. Cyprian had to be read, together with Pascal's Thoughts.

Wesley had also to abridge Dr. Gell's Works for the use of the students, and 'Our Tvacts' had to be studied.

We look with some amazement at the next item—Universal History.

A Compendium of Ethics, and Euclid's Elements, close the list.

The third year's men were to enlarge their acquaintance with the Apostolic Fathers by studying Chrysostom's De Sacerdotio and St. Augustine's Works.

Their labours were lightened by a perusal of Spenser's Faerie Queene.

Then they had to turn their attention to a History of the Council of Trent and Burnet's

History of the Reformation ; also to algebra and physics.

In the fourth year Ephrem Syrus and St. Jerome had to be read ; also an abridgement of Nelson's Sermons.

In history Rapin and Clarendon, and in metaphysics a compendium had to be studied.

In their fifth year St. Basil, Forbes's Instructiones 4 See John Wesley and the Methodist Socteties, 218.

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ee Historico-Theologice, and Heylyn's Tracts, engaged their attention, and completed an education of remarkable breadth and variety.

Wesley's 'scheme' for the education of his preachers was never realized during his lifetime, but it is impossible to read it without admiration of his foresight, and sympathy with him in his disappointment.

On Monday, June 6, the Conference, changing its place of meeting, assembled in one of the rooms of the Foundery.

In glancing over the company we note certain additions to its number.

John Bennet and William Darney have arrived from the North.

They started from Chinley, in Derbyshire, on May 29, and rode to London, getting there on Friday,

June 3. They do not seem to have gone to the Conference on Saturday; but, from John Bennet's MS. Journal, we find that he preached at Snowsfields on the Sunday.

Another face is familiar to us.

We have lost sight of it for some years, but do not forget the service rendered to Charles Wesley by William Holland on May 17, 1738, when they began to read together Luther on the Galatians.1

Holland subsequently joined the Moravians; but in 1747 he seems to have separated from them.

The Wesleys would welcome his presence in the Conference.

Three other men are there whose attendance attracts our special attention.

We know one of them.

He has acted as a lay preacher for a time ; but in 1748 he attended the Conference as one of the stewards of the Society at the Foundery.

His name is William Briggs.* He is accompanied by William Welch, another Foundery steward.

Near them we see another steward, Patrick Thompson, of Newcastle-onTyne.

We have no record of the stewards' meeting which John Wesley mentioned in his letter from Dublin, but the presence of these stewards in the Conference suggests that such a meeting had been held.

The first business of the Conference concerned the leaders of the classes.

On June 2 a resolution had been passed which referred especially to the weekly meeting of the leaders at Wapping, Snowsfields, and Deptford.

The Conference on June 6 directed that the leaders near Short's Gardens should meet the preacher there every Monday night after preaching ; and, further, that the leaders should converse with the preachers

1See John Wesley and the Religious Socteties, 190.

? William Briggs in 1753 was appointed the first book steward at the Foundery, in conjunction with Thomas Butts.

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'as frequently and as freely as possible.'

Among other directions to the leaders the following is of permanent significance :

"In meeting classes let them diligently inquire how every soul prospers: not only how each person observes the outward rules, but how they grow in the knowledge and love of God' ; it was also suggested that the classes should be made

'lively and profitable to those who meet.'

As we are conscious of the fact that after the Conference of 1748 we shall lose the guidance of the Bennet Minutes, it will be of service if we show the geographical divisions of the Methodist Societies at the time when the London Conference of 1748 was held.

There were nine divisions.

We will give them as they stand in the Bennet Minutes, venturing to correct the spelling of some of the place-names :

I. Lonpon: including (1) London itself; (2) Kent and Surrey; (3) Essex; (4) Brentford; (5) Windsor; (6) Wycombe;

(7) Oxford ; (8) Reading; (9) Blewbury; (10) Salisbury.

II. BrisToL: including (1) Bristol itself; (2) Kingswood ; (3) Bath ; (4) Bearfield (Bradford-on-Avon) ; (5) The Devizes ;

(6) Road; (7) Coleford; (8) Oakhill; (9) Shepton Mallet ; (10) Middlezoy ; (x1) Beer Crocombe; (12) Taunton.

III. CorNWALL: including (1) Tavistock; (2) Plymouth Dock; (3) Trewint; (4) St. Ewe; (5) Gwennap; (6) St.

Agnes; (7) Illogan, &c.; (8) St. Ives; (9) The Western Societies.

IV. IRELAND:

including (z) Dublin; (2) Philipstown ; (3) Tullamore ; (4) Tyrrell's Pass ; (5) Ballyboy ; .(6) Athlone.

V. WALES: including (1) Cardiff; (2) Fonmon; (3) Llanmaes, &c.; (4) Llanishen.

VI. STAFFORDSHIRE : including (1) Stroud ; (2) Cirencester ; (3) Stanley ; (4) Evesham ; (5) Wednesbury ; (6) Shrewsbury ;

(7) Leominster.

VII. CHESHIRE: including (1) Cheshire itself; (2) Nottingham; (3) Derbyshire; (4) Lancashire; (5) Sheffield, &c.

VIII. YorKsHIRE: including (1) Leeds; (2) Birstall; (3) Keighley ; (4) Acomb; (5) Sykehouse; (6) Epworth; (7) Hainton ; (8) Grimsby; (9) The Fens.

IX. NEWCASTLE : including (1) Osmotherley ; (2) Newcastle itself; (3) Sunderland; (4) Biddick; (5) Burnopfield; (6) The Spen; (7) Swalwell; (8) Horsley-on-Tyne ; (9) Plessey ; (t0) Berwick-upoh-Tweed.

THE FIFTH CONFERENCE

The names in the foregoing list rouse many memories of hard and dangerous work done by the Wesleys, their lay preachers, and those who were associated with them in their work of reforming the nation.

When we survey the field of battle with sin, ignorance, violence, and prejudice we find it difficult to conceive that this advance had been made within the short period of about ten years. We chasten our exaltation by remembering that such success is always accompanied by danger.

If we for a moment overlook that fact we are reminded of it as we turn once more to the proceedings of the Conference.

Here are two questions that were asked:

'1. How may we have a more exact knowledge of the state of the Societies in each division?

2. Would it not be of use if all the Societies were more firmly and closely united together?'

The answer to the first was:

' Let the preachers, assisted by the stewards in each society, take an exact list of them every Easter.

Let these lists be transmitted within three weeks after Easter to the persons appointed in each division to receive them.

Let this same person at the same time diligently inform himself of the spiritual and temporal state of each Society.

And let him bring these lists with him to the following Conference and give an account of all.'

That pian, in its main provisions, has proved its value up to the present time.

Some of the critics of Methodism have attributed the habit of 'numbering the people' to a desire of the Methodists to ' bulk large' in the estimation of other churches, and they have warned them, by the example of David, to shun a dangerous process.

But the motive of such 'numbering' is revealed by the question and answer we have quoted.

The second question, concerning the usefulness of ' more firmly and closely' uniting the Societies together, suggests more than the answer contains:

'It would be much to the glory of God, to the ease of the minister, and to the benefit of the Societies themselves, both in things spiritual and temporal.'

We look beyond the boundaries of the reply, and remember that at this time, the ' United Societies of the People called Methodists ' were in peril. The proceedings of the 1748

Conference on the second day of its sessions show that John Wesley's management of some matters was being subjected to criticism.

We are not able to name the critics; nor is it necessary.

The original Methodists, as we may call them,

THE FIFTH CONFERENCE

were devoted to him.

They had come under his personal influence; and, through his preaching, many of them had entered into a new world of religious experience.

But as the work spread, persons such as those who had belonged to John Bennet's and William Darney's Societies were received into the Methodist Societies to whom Wesley and the Methodist preachers were comparative strangers.

It was inevitable that this should have an effect.

We shall have to return to the subject ; and, for the present, will content ourselves with this suggestion concerning difficulties which were about to arise.

The years have shown that the ' firm and close' union of the Methodist Societies has ever been their shield of protection.

One of the last questions asked and answered at this Conference has a special attraction in the opinion of all who seek the welfare of children: 'Q. Might not the children in every place be formed into little Societies?

A. Let the preacher try by meeting them apart and giving them suitable exhortations."

The experiment was made, and it succeeded.

Like every other arrangement, it has passed through various forms, but the leaders of Junior Society classes in the present day may look back to 1748 as a year in which they are specially interested.

After the journeys of the assistants had been fixed, this important Conference ended.

As we watch its members disperse we close John Bennet's copy of its Minutes, with an acknowledgement of our obligation to him for the help he has afforded.

Vill

PROGRESS AND PERSECUTION

NOTWITHSTANDING the feebleness which had resulted from his long attack of fever, John Wesley, on Sunday, June 5, 1748, the day before the Conference closed, preached in Moorfields both morning and evening.

There had been much tumult on the preceding Sunday, but, he says, ' All was quiet now, and the power of God seemed even to compel sinners to come in.'

The Sunday after the Conference he designed to preach 'in the fields' at seven o'clock in the morning, but a great thunderstorm and heayy rain prevented him.

At eleven o'clock, however, he went to St. Bartholomew's, Smithfield, and preached.

He was delighted with the conduct of the congregation.

On Wednesday, June 15, he again preached there.

The following Sunday he took his stand in Moorfields, morning and afternoon, and addressed crowds of serious people.

The toils of the day being over, he began his journey to Bristol.

It was not advisable that he should mount his horse ; so a sympathetic friend sent his sedan-chair to the Foundery, and he was carried to Brentford.

The next day after preaching at Reading, he rode to Hungerford.

On Tuesday, June 21, he arrived in Bristol, and preached to a host of people in the Old Orchard.

Before describing the important events which occurred during John Wesley's visit to Bristol we must say something about the owner of the sedan-chair.

In following the progress of Methodism at this time, it is essential that we should bear in mind the work that was being done by George Whitefield and others under the protection of Lady Huntingdon.

The Methodist doctrines were influencing many persons who moved in 'the upper circles' of English social life.

Lady Huntingdon's drawing-room meetings were attended by men and women whose names are familiar to those who are acquainted with the history of this country at that time. The spread of 'Methodism' go

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gI extorted a cry of alarm from Horace Walpole.

We never take him too seriously ; but in his letter to his friend, Sir Horace Mann, we detect a genuine note of terror.

On May 3, 1749, he writes: 'If you ever think of returning to England, as I hope it will be long first, you must prepare yourself with Methodism. I really believe by that time it will be necessary ; this sect increases as fast as almost ever any religious nonsense did.'

This may be a flash of Walpole's frivolity, but there is reason to doubt such an explanation.

In 31741 Lady Mary Hastings, Lady Huntingdon's sister-in-law, had startled the fashionable world of London by marrying Benjamin Ingham, who itinerated among the Societies he had formed in Yorkshire and elsewhere.

We can imagine the flutter in the coteries of the West End when the news was told.

The chatter has died out long ago, but Walpole's words remind us that at the time they were written Methodism had found a sphere in the drawing-room, and was not confined exclusively to 'fields' and ' preaching-houses.'

Those who attended the meetings held in the house of Lady Huntingdon in 1748 would have seen there a Colonel in the British army.

He had listened to the preaching of Whitefield.

He had come under the influence of the Wesleys; he had_ conversed closely with Lady Huntingdon on spiritual religion, and had been led into the light.

A phrase describes him:

'He is really a second Colonel Gardiner.'

That was the verdict of Lady Huntingdon and Dr. Doddridge.

It was he who thought of John Wesley's physical weakness and sent his chair to the Foundery.

It is pleasant to watch Colonel Gumley.

At this moment, however, we must lose sight of him and think of his wife.

She occupies a high place in the affection of those who know the kindness of her heart.

We have reached the time when Kingswood School was to be opened, and we must mention an illustration of Mrs. Gumley's generosity.

When John Wesley was entering on his design of erecting the new school at Kingswood he met Mrs. Gumley, probably at Bath.

They talked together about the project, and she was so pleased with it that she went to her desk and brought him five hundred pounds in bank-notes, desiring him to accept them and enter on his plan at once.

He did so.

After a lapse of time Wesley met her again.

She asked how 4 Lecky's England in the Eighteenth Century, iii. 123.

PROGRESS AND PERSECUTION ..

the building went on, and if he required any further assistance.

He told her that he had laid out all the money he had received, and that he was three hundred pounds in debt.

He apologized for mentioning this fact, and entreated her not to consider it as her concern.

She immediately retired from the room, and then returned bringing him the sum he had mentioned.

Wesley never forgot her kindness.

He told the story in after years; and two of the Methodist preachers who heard it related it to William Myles, who records it in his Chronological

History of the People called Methodists.

Wesley does not seem to have mentioned the name of the donor.

Southey says she was Lady D'Arcy Maxwell; but as Wesley did not meet her for the first time until May, 1764, that guess must be dismissed.

One of the best informed and most careful of our Methodist antiquaries was the late Mr. George Stampe, of Grimsby.

In his annotated copy of the fourth edition of Myles's Chronological History we have found the missing name.

Mr. Stampe enters it in two places.

We have no hesitation in accepting his decision.

In later years Mrs. Gumley showed great beneficence to Charles Wesley.

That fact is well known; but her gifts to John Wesley when he was projecting and building Kingswood

School had remained a secret for many years.* It is difficult to follow the proceedings of John Wesley after his arrival in Bristol.

He makes no entry in his Journal on June 21 and 22.

We turn to Charles Wesley's Journal, but get no light.

He does not mention the opening of Kingswood School, although he composed a hymn for the occasion.

It is not difficult to account for his silence.

When he arrived in Bristol on Monday, June 20, he found that 'Mr. Gwynne and Miss Sally had got there ' a little before him.

The information to be gleaned from his Journal for several days after that event is slight.

In the absence of precise entries in the Wesleys'

Journals we turn to Myles's History.

He says that on June 22 'the fifth Conference was held in Bristol.

Seventeen preachers were present, among whom was Mr. Philip Gibbs, late Baptist minister of Plymouth, who at that time was stationed on one of our circuits."

We now know that the fifth Conference was held in London ; but that mistake need not cause us to doubt the fact that immediately after the 1 Myles's Chronological History, 66-67; Southey's Life of Wesley, 346, Bohn's ed.; John Wesley's Journal, v. 71, note.

2 Chronological History, 65-66.

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London Conference another was held in Bristol.

Myles gives no information concerning the business transacted.

On Friday, June 24, 1748, the new school at Kingswood was opened.

There was a large congregation of Methodist people, many of whom had ' come from far.'

John Wesley preached from that difficult text which lays down a rule to which there are not a few exceptions:

' Train up a child in the way he should go: and when he is old, he will not depart from it.'

Charles Wesley was present.

To-day we listen to the far-off sound of the singing of his hymn.

Words reach us that express the spirit of the Wesleys and those who most completely sympathize with their ideals :

Unite the pair so long disjoined, Knowledge and vital piety ; Learning and holiness combined, And truth and love, let all men see In those whom up to Thee we give, Thine, wholly Thine, to die and live.

After the sermon the Wesleys administered the Lord's Supper, and the memorable service closed.

In connexion with the opening service, a meeting was held at which the rules of the school, prepared at the London Conference, were considered and settled.

They were afterwards published.

From them those who sent their boys to the school had an opportunity of knowing the conditions under which they were received.

We can picture the groups that inspected the school.

Let us join one of them.

We see that the building makes no pretence to architectural beauty.

It is a plain, high oblong of five stories, with an abundance of windows.

We judge the number of stories to be five after inspecting a picture of © the school which appears in Jonathan Crowther's Portraiture of Methodism.

Above the dormitories there is a window, close to the roof, which reminds us of Wesley's study at the Orphan House, Newcastle.

It is an improved specimen of that structure, but it looks like the calm retreat of which Wesley sometimes speaks.

Standing in front of the school, we notice above the door a tablet which bears a Latin inscription.

It states that the school was dedicated by John Wesley for the use of the Church and the nation.

As the school had been so long in. building, it is probable that on dedication day the gardens were in order

PROGRESS AND PERSECUTION

as represented in the picture; at any rate, we hope that the fine avenue of branching forest trees gave a welcome shade to those who walked there on that summer day.

Those who watched John Wesley on the day when Kingswood School was ' dedicated' must have felt much concern for him.

During his visit to Ireland in March he had suffered from fever, and it was still upon him.

He had found no time for rest ; his days had been crowded with work.

There are some busy people who have mastered the art of ' making time' for rest, but Wesley's skill in that direction was limited.

As we watch his ceaseless activities we have sometimes wondered if he was afraid to be idle.

Those who are acquainted with his more intimate correspondence will remember some sentences which seem to favour this theory.

In a letter written in 1746 he says:

' To this day I have abundantly more temptation to lukewarmness than to impetuosity ; to be a saunterer inter sylvas Academicas, a philosophical sluggard, than an itinerant preacher.

And, in fact, what I now do is so exceeding little, compared with what I am convinced I ought to do, that I am often ashamed before God, and know not how to | lift up mine eyes to the height of heaven.'

This is an almost startling revelation.

But this letter is not the only place where he makes a similar statement.

Whatever may have been his natural love of ease, he conquered it.

No man has more fully realized the ideal of the worker contained in Ignatius Loyola's Life.

He read that book on his way from Evesham to Bristol in August, 1742, and he must have consented to the declaration:

' the workers in the Lord's vineyard should have but one foot on earth; the other should be raised to travel forward.'

When trying to estimate the weight of the burden resting on John Wesley at this time we must remember that, in addition to his evangelizing work, and his care of all the Societies, he was either engaged on, or preparing for, important literary work.

If we glance into the schoolroom at Kingswood we shall find evidence of that fact.

We shall see English and Latin books which he has compiled for the use of the boys.*

It is with special interest that we note the publication of the second volume of his Sermons on Several Occasions.

In John : } See Green's Bibliography, Nos. 112-117.

In 1749 he added to the list. See Nos.

128-130.

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Wesley and the Methodist Societies we explained the reasons why these volumes of sermons were published' but we must now emphasize a feature of this second volume which is often overlooked.

We are so accustomed to regard the First Four Volumes of Wesley's Sermons as containing ' a code of doctrine ' that we fail to remember the fact that, out of the twelve sermons in the second volume, nine are Discourses on our

Lord's Sermon on the Mount ; and that in the third volume, published in 1750, four more sermons on the same subject appear.

When Wesley put aside his pen on December 11, 1749, he considered that he had 'finished' the task which the Conference had asked him to undertake.

Three volumes containing thirty-six sermons had been prepared in order to show to the world the character of his own preaching.

Of that number, thirteen were plain, practical ' discourses' such as he was accustomed to give in his early morning services, and in the Religious Societies before he separated from them.

Yielding to importunity, in 1760, he issued a few sermons in a fourth volume, noting that probably they were the last he should publish.

Without entering into a controversy which has been settled by the decision of the Wesleyan Methodist

Conference, it is well to remember that Wesley's Standard Sermons differ from such a code of doctrine as is contained in 'The Thirty-nine Articles' of the Church of England, and in 'The Articles of Religion' which have been adopted by the Methodist Episcopal Church of America.

The publication of his Sermons was a duty which Wesley discharged because, by so doing, he complied with repeated requests, and rendered a much-needed service to the Methodist

Societies.

After the Conference of 1748 he wrote a letter to his friend Ebenezer Blackwell, who was a partner in Martin's bank Lombard Street, and who had often helped him in his enterprises.

His country residence was at Lewisham, in Kent, and his pleasant home and beautiful gardens became Wesley's calm retreat when he wished to hide himself from the world and write for the Press without distraction.

About the time we have reached, Wesley was brooding over a project which roused his enthusiasm.

On August 14, 1748, he wrote to Blackwell about it.

The letter must have amazed him.

We think we can see his uplifted brow when reading these words :

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'I have had some thoughts of printing, on a finer paper, and with a larger letter, not only all that we have published already, but, it may be, all that is most valuable in the English tongue, in threescore or fourscore volumes, in order to provide a complete library for those that fear God. ... Whenever

I can procure a printing press, types, and some quantity of paper, I can begin immediately.

I am inclined to think several would be glad to forward such a design; and, if so, the sooner the better.'

We think it probable that, notwithstanding hissurprise, Blackwell encouraged him to proceed ; for out of the suggestion came the Christian Library, the first volume of which was published early in 1749.

We mention this ' prodigious' undertaking in order to show the projects that were engaging Wesley's attention in 1748, and will content ourselves by quoting Mr. Green's description of the complete scheme.

He says that the ' Library consists exclusively of pieces of "' Practical Divinity,'' beginning with the " Epistles of the Apostolical Fathers."

The rest is selected from wellknown English and a few Continental writers.'

He continues, 'It is impossible to read over the list of authors and subjects without being impressed with the wide range from which the extracts are taken.

The labour of condensation must have been very great.

Many a folio has been brought down to the limits of Wesley's favourite handy duodecimo.

. The work was prepared for the Press just as he could snatch time in travelling.

He did not transcribe the passages, but only marked with his pen those which he wished to be printed, altering or adding a few words here and there.

As he could not correct for the Press, that duty fell upon others; and he tells us that a hundred passages were left in that he had scratched out.'?

Wesley lost {200 in carrying out this costly experiment.» Kingswood School being opened, John Wesley turned his face towards the North.

He preached in Birmingham on June 29.

He met an old friend there, Dr. Thomas Walker, of Steelhouse Lane, who had known him at Oxford, and who had found a room for the Society.

On July 1, Sheffield was reached.

In John Wesley and the Methodist Societies* we have described the riot in Sheffield, in May, 1743, in which the first preaching-house was destroyed.

The year following, *Green's Bibliography, 62.

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