in we have been brought up; are absolutely determined by the grace
XVIII
A LONG JOURNEY
On April 3, 1752, John Wesley and his travelling companions left Bolton and rode to Bank House, near Rochdale.
As they go on their way we wonder if Wesley was aware of the existence of a form of agreement that had been drawn up on March 16 by Charles Wesley.
It was as follows:
We whose names are underwritten, being clearly and fully convinced, 1. That the success of the present work of God does in great measure depend on the entire union of all the labourers employed therein ;
2. That our present call is chiefly to the members of that Church wherein we have been brought up; are absolutely determined by the grace of God, 1. To abide in the closest union with each other, and never knowingly or willingly to hear, speak, do, or suffer anything which tends to weaken that union; 2. Never to leave the communion of the Church of England without the consent of all whose names are subjoined :
Charles Wesley, John Jones, William Shent, John Downes, .
Jobn Wesley, John Nelson.* We do not know when John Wesley signed this document.
The position of his signature suggests some delay on his part.
It will be seen that the agreement runs along the lines laid down in the paper which was signed on January 9, 1752, but the reference to the Church of England marks an important difference.
It manifests the spirit of Charles Wesley, and indicates 'the parting of the ways.'
We wonder that John Wesley pledged himself not to leave the Church without the combined consent of all those who had signed the document.
If he had formed the intention, one vote against him would have compelled him to abandon his purpose.
But we must remember his view of ' leaving the Church.'
In his estimation it meant 'to renounce all connexion with it, to attend the service of it no more, and to advise all our Societies to take the 1See John Wesley's Journal, iv. 11, note
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same steps.'
That was his definition of the term given in a letter to the Dublin Chronicle dated June 2, 1789.
As to his personal position as a member and minister of the Church of England, his letter in the London Magazine for 1760 reveals the opinion he held before and at the time he signed Charles
Wesley's document.
Replying to some correspondents who cried, ' You have left the Church ; you are no Ministers or members of it,' he replies : 'Ianswer, asI did fourteen years ago to one who warmly affirmed this:
Nothingcan prove that lam no member of the Church, till I am either excommunicated or renounce her communion, and no longer join in her doctrine, and in the breaking of bread, and in prayer.
Nor can anything prove I am no minister of the Church, till I either am deposed from my ministry, or voluntarily renounce her, and wholly cease to teach her doctrines, use her offices, and obey her rubricks.'
This is the answer he gave to the Rev. Mr.
Church's second letter, and it carries us back to June 17, 1746.
Using 1746, 1760 and 1789, as our guides, we can find the sense in which John Wesley used the phrase 'leaving the Church,' and can understand what he meant at the close of his life when he declared that ' he died a member of the Church of England.'* Wesley's tour among the northern Societies was full of interest.
It lasted until the middle of July, 1752.
His wife and her daughter accompanied him during that period with the exception of an interval when Mrs. Wesley was called away to the South by the sickness of her other children.
She soon returned.
In reading Wesley's records of this tour in his Journal we are constantly tempted to tarry, but the temptation must be resisted.
A few incidents, however, demand attention.
On Sunday, April 5, Wesley preached in 'the New House' at Leeds which was ready for occupation.
On Monday he preached in the shell of the new 'house' at Sheffield.
He says, ' All is peace here now, since the trial at York, at which the magistrates were sentenced to rebuild the house which the mob had pulled down.
Surely the magistrate has been the minister of God to us for good.'
On Sunday, April 19, he preached at Clayworth, where, a year ago, the mob carried all before them.
' But,' he says, 'an honest Justice quelled them at once ; so that they are now glad to be quiet and mind their
1 John Wesley's Works, xiii. 237, 8vo ed.
* Works, viii. 444; xiii. 352, 8vo ed.
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" own business.'
At Wrangle two days afterwards all was peace.
He must have been convinced that it was possible in some parts of the country to obtain protection from mob violence by appealing to the law.
In a letter written by John Wesley to Ebenezer Blackwell from Epworth on April 16, we see the effect produced on his mind by the absence of riots up to that stage of the tour.
He says :
After taking a round of between three and four hundred miles, we came hither yesterday in the afternoon.
My wife is at least as well as when we left London; the more she travels, the better she bears 'it.
. .. L was at first a little afraid she would not so well understand the behaviour of a Yorkshire mob, but there has been no trial.
Even the Methodists are now at peace throughout the Kingdom.
It is well if they bear this so well as they did war.
I have seen more make shipwreck of the faith in a calm than ina storm.
We are apt in sunshine weather to lie down and sleep; and who can tell what may be done before we awake ??
It was not long before the calm weather ended, and a fierce Yorkshire storm broke on the travellers.
On Friday, April 24, Wesley set out from Grimsby with his wife and daughter.
Some time before Mrs. Elizabeth Blow, of Grimsby, had been the pioneer of Methodism in Hull.?
Wesley had not previously visited Hull.
Hiscoming was noised abroad ; when he crossed the Humber and landed onthe quay he found it covered with people, staring, laughing, and crying out, 'Which is he?
Which is he?'
He attended prayers at three o'clock in Holy Trinity Church, 'a grand and venerable structure.'
Then, between five and six o'clock, a coach called for him, and he and his wife drove off to Myton Car, an open bit of country about half a mile from the town.
A huge multitude, rich and poor, horse and foot, with several coaches, soon assembled.
' With a loud voice and a composed spirit ' he preached from the searching words, ' What shall it profit a man if he shall gain the whole world and lose his own soul ? '
Thousands of people listened attentively, but 'many behaved as if possessed by Moloch.'
With unblenched courage he continued speaking, though clods and stones flew about on 1 Works, xii. 161.
work in Hull, at its commencement, was much assisted by Mrs. Sarah Snowden.
During fourteen years she furnished a house there for Wesley and his preachers.
See John Wesley's Journal, iv. 20, 331, notes.
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every side.
When the service was over he, with his wife, walked through the crowd trying to find their coach; but the coachman, unaccustomed to mobs, had driven
' clear away.'
The rioters surged around Wesley and his wife ; their peril was great.
But a gentlewoman, seeing their danger, invited them into her coach.
Wesley says, 'She brought some inconveniences on herself thereby, not only as there were nine of us in the coach, three on each side and three in the middle, but also as the mob closely attended us, throwing in at the windows, which we did not think it prudent to shut, whatever came next to hand.
But a large gentlewoman who sat in my lap screened me, so that nothing came near me.'
A mob of several thousands marched after the coach until it reached the house where Wesley was staying.
When he and his wife alighted and entered the house the rioters revenged themselves on the windows and smashed them with showers of stones.
The owner of the house went into the street and made his way to the residence of the mayor, who gave him
'fair words but no assistance.'
He then went in quest of constables, and secured two of them.
About nine o'clock, supported by these representatives of the majesty of the law, he so dispersed the mob that no two of them were left together.
Under cover of midnight the mob rallied once more.
But their stay was short.
They gave ' one charge more, with oaths and curses, and bricks and stones.'
After that all was calm, and Wesley 'slept sound till near four in the morning.'
He does not say anything about Mrs. Wesley's ' night thoughts.'
The next day, Saturday, April 25, the travellers mounted their horses and rode to Pocklington, where Wesley preached.
Describing the service, he says, ' None opposed or mocked, so that these made full amends for the behaviour of those at Hull.'
Then the travellers made their way to York.
They knew that another form of opposition would meet them in that city.
When Wesley was in Cornwall, in August, 1751, he went to a church, and must have been surprised to find that, by way of a sermon, the parson read an extract from Bishop Lavington's The Enthusiasm of Methodists and Papists
Compared.
Before he got to York, on the occasion we are now recording, he found that a somewhat similar plan of compaign had been adopted by a Justice of the Peace of that city.
1 John Wesley's Journal, iv. 21-22.
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aa Knowing Wesley was coming, he had caused to be cried about the streets, stuck up in public places, and even thrown into many houses, part of Lavington's attack on the Methodists.
As Wesley and his companions rode through the gates of York some bitter curses were hurled at them ; but that seemed to be the only result of the Justice's strategy.
In the evening an undisturbed service was held in Lady Huntingdon's Chapel in College Street; near the Bedern.
It was ' filled with hearers and with the presence of God.'
Wesley preached again on Sunday in York, and then rode to Acomb, where John Nelson had been so brutally treated.* ~ On Monday, April 27, Wesley reached Osmotherley—another memorable place.
We are now able to see more clearly his travelling companions.
In the old Stewards' Book, under the date April 28, 1752, appears the following entry:
' Laid out for Mr. John Wesley, wife, daughter, William Shent and John Haime, 5s. 2d.'
In John Wesley's Journal there is a photographic copy of this entry,? and it relieves our anxiety concerning Jenny Vazeille, whose name is sometimes omitted from the list of Wesley's companions in this far-extended journey.
During his visit to Osmotherley Wesley does not mention Mr. Adams, who first invited him to this interesting place.
On April 30 John Wesley and his companions reached Newcastle ; and after his long journey there was a rest for two days.
Then, on the Sunday, he preached to 'the best-dressed congregation'' he had ever seen in the Orphan House.
He does not give us any definition of the term ' well-dressed ' ; so we will venture to consider it a compliment.
For nearly a week John Wesley's Journal fails us.
But we are not left altogether without guidance.
It is probable that much of his time was spent in the little study on the roof of the ' House.'
The management of the Methodist Societies demanded constant attention, but that increasing burden was borne with extraordinary placidity.
When we watch him dealing with administrative difficulties we are reminded of what was said of George Washington during the American War by a shrewd observer : 'I reckon it among public blessings that God hath blessed General Washington with uninterrupted health, and given him a mind that can flourish upon care.'
The first 1See ante, 23.
® Journal, iv. 25.
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part of the sentence was not applicable to Wesley at the period we have reached, but the second indicates a fact for which the Methodists have still reason to thank God.
It is clear, however, that, notwithstanding his fortitude, he winced under Lavington's attacks on his personal character.
The incident at the gate of York could not be allowed to pass unnoticed, so we see him on Friday, May 8, wielding a busy pen.
On February 1, 1749-50, when he was in Canterbury, he had replied to the bishop's first attack and had followed up his letter by another, dated November 27.:
It is probable that the distribution of Lavington's publications among the people of York had shown him that it was necessary to continue to defend himself against the foul charges which had been brought against him by the bishop.
As we have seen, Dr. Lavington had published the gossip of a woman in Cornwall, and scattered it over the country.* Mr. Green, commenting on the letter Wesley wrote in Newcastle on May 8, 1752, says that it has no permanent value save to show how Wesley's good name was traduced, and how he was able to defend it.
We rate it more highly.
We must remember that both John and Charles Wesley were charged with grave offences against good morals.
Such charges still are peculiarly attractive when brought against Christian ministers, and we feel thankful for Wesley's vindication of his own character.
It is emphatic and convincing, but we do not suppose that it produced any effect on Bishop
Lavington.
In all matters concerning the Methodists he was a man possessed of an inconvincible mind ; but he was not the only person to be considered when John Wesley's honour was exposed to danger, and it had to be defended.
This disagreeable task being finished, and the letter dispatched to the printers, John Wesley turned his attention to other subjects.
On May 23 he wrote to Ebenezer Blackwell, to whom he often looked when in financial perplexity.
The condition of the Book Room at the Foundery cailed for immediate attention.
Up to 1753 its management was in Wesley's hands ; but it was clear that a change would have to be made, and we can see the beginning of the new arrangement at the point we have reached.
Writing to Blackwell, Wesley told him that he had received a letter from Thomas Butts, who seems to have been left in charge of the Book Room,
1See Green's Bibliography, Nos. 140, 152.
2See ante, 133.
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which contained the important news that, after the printers were paid, the money remaining arising from the sale of books did not amount to a hundred pounds a year.
Wesley knew that he was losing money on the publication of the Christian Library, but he must have been surprised to hear of the small profit realized on the sale of the other books.
It must be remembered that, by a deed which John Wesley signed at the time of his brother's marriage, he had engaged to give Charles Wesley a stated annual sum in recognition of the fact that the hymn-books sold at the Foundery contained such a large proportion of his brother's hymns.
That was a reasonable arrangement, but it was difficult to carry it into effect when the profit on the sale of all books was less than a hundred pounds a year, which was the sum that Charles
Wesley was supposed to receive.
Thinking over the dilemma in his study in Newcastle, John Wesley reached a conclusion which he laid before Ebenezer Blackwell : ' It seems therefore absolutely necessary to determine one of these three things:
Either to lessen the expense of printing, which I see no way of doing, unless by printing myself; to increase the income arising from the books, and how this can be done, I know not ; or to give up those eighty-six copies, which are specified in my brother's deed, to himself to manage them as he pleases.
Now which of these ways, all things considered, should you judge most proper to be taken.'?
Blackwell gave his advice.
Referring to the question two months later, Wesley, writing to him, says, ' I apprehend my brother is not at all desirous of having those copies transferred to him.
I cannot easily determine till I have full information concerning the several particulars you touch upon, whether it be expedient to make such an alteration, though it would ease me much, or to let all things remain just as they are.
Therefore, I believe it will be best to take no farther step till I return to London. ?
This correspondence, and Wesley's further consideration of the problem of the Book Room, had an important result.
On February 8, 1753, John Wesley makes an entry in his Journal that sounds like a note of triumph.
He says: 'A proposal was made for devolving all temporal business, books and ail, entirely on the stewards, so that I might have no care upon 1 Works, xii. 162, 8vo ed.
2 Works, xii. 163, 8vo ed.
A LONG JOURNEY
me, in London at least, but that of the souls committed to my charge.
Oh, when shall it once be!
From this day?'
He eagerly declares that so far as he was concerned there should be no delay in accepting this arrangement.
Acting on the decision of the London stewards, Thomas Butts and William Briggs, who were charged with the care of the Book Room, wrote and printed a circular letter which was sent to the stewards of the Societies throughout the country.
From its opening paragraph we may see the terms of their stewardship.
They say: 'Our minister, Mr. John Wesley, for good cause, and upon mature consideration, has intrusted the management of his books to the stewards of this Society, and to us in particular whose names are hereto subscribed.
He has, by a proper power of attorney, invested in us the whole care of printing, publishing, and dispersing them ; and has likewise given us full authority to receive all their produce, and settle all accounts with booksellers or others who are intrusted with the sale of them.'
This exordium is followed by ten regulations laid down for the guidance of the stewards of all the Methodist Societies.
They are full of the spirit of the practical business man.?
This change of management produced great results; one illustration of that fact may be given.
At the opening of 1754 a tract was issued which bore on its title-page the words,
'Printed and Sold at the Foundery, near Upper Moorfields.'
In process of time that became a familiar note on pamphlets, books, and other publications issued by the Wesleys.
The two stewards were well chosen. Thomas Butts was " a manas honest as honesty itself,' who had strong views on the subject of the speedy payment of just debts.
He had been the travelling companion of both John and Charles Wesley on several occasions during the early years of their itinerant career.
William Briggs had been a lay preacher.
In June, 1745, we find his name as a leader of one of the Foundery bands.
He settled in London, living in Great Tower Street, and holding a responsible position in the Custom-house.
On January 28, 1749, he married the daughter of Vincent Perronet, the Vicar of Shoreham.
In the Gentleman's Magazine of that year the marriage is recorded, the bridegroom being described as 'William Briggs, Esq., of the Custom-house, secretary to 1¥or these regulations, see Stevenson's City Road Chapel, 275, 276
He wa +
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Messrs. Wesley.'
Stevenson rightly describes him as 'a man \ of uncompromising integrity.'?
We have left John Wesley, for a few moments, in order that we might group together important facts concerning the Book
Room ; we must now return to Newcastle and to the month of May, 1752.
The gap in Wesley's Journal between Sunday, May 3, and Saturday, May 9, still tantalizes us; but Mr.
Curnock helps us by telling us the Sermon Register shows that during this interval Wesley preached fourteen sermons in Newcastle.
Some of these sermons must have been preached in the Orphan House, and we must be content to join the congregation.
We will try to see some of the people who worshipped there.
At some time during the week following Sunday, May 10, we know that Mrs. Wesley was summoned to Bristol by the sickness of her children.
On May 3 she would be in that ' best-dressed congregation ' to which Wesley refers.
_ Her daughter would be with her.
We cannot read Jenny Vazeille's thoughts ; but of one thing we may be certain—it never crossed her mind that, in a few years, her home would be in Newcastle.
Was William Smith present?
He was born at Corbridge, near Hexham, in 1736. In 1750 he was confirmed by Bishop Butler ; and, at a date we have not been able to ascertain, he was placed in business with a near relative in Newcastle.
He was induced to attend the services at the Orphan House, where he joined the Society.
When he was little more than twenty yearsofage John Wesley appointed him as the leader of a class ; and it is well known that he became one of the strong pillars of Methodismin Newcastle.
Itis possible that he may have seen Jenny Vazeille for the first time in 1752; but, passing from surmise to certainty, we can say that they were married on March 7, 1769.
On January 17, 1820, Mrs. Smith died, aged eighty-three years; and on May 30, 1824, William Smith passed away at the age of eighty-eight years.
Their 'family memorial' may be seen in St. Andrew's Churchyard, Newcastle.* It is certain that John Wesley held early morning services at the Orphan House during this important week.
We wish to catch sight of a Mrs. Scott, a member of the Orphan House Society, who, we have reason to know, was accustomed to 1Stevenson's City Road Chapel, 277.
? Stamp's Orphan House of Wesley, 119; notes by Rev. J. Conder Nattrass in W.H.S. Proceedings, viii. 79, 80.
A LONG JOURNEY
attend the five o'clock preaching.
She had two boys, the elder called William, who was born at Heworth, Durham, on October
17, 1745 ; the younger, named John, was born in Newcastle on June 4, 1751.
If we look into the 'Room' in May, 1752, it is probable we shall see her with William and her baby.
We know that she brought up her boys well, taking them to the services and giving them a Christian training.
As they grew up they developed voices which gained for them admission to the Orphan House choir.
That was a great honour, for the singing at the Orphan House was famed in the town.
Mrs. Scott must have listened with joy as they sang the Methodist hymns with a good courage.
As time rolled on what became of the boys?
William became Baron Stowell, who for many years was the Head of the High Court of Admiralty ; and John became the Earl of Eldon, one of the Lord
Chancellors of England.
Lord Eldon did not forget those early morning services.
Let us listen to Dr. Etheridge.
Writing in 1860 he says:
' I remember having been told some thirty years ago, by a gentleman in London, who was a member of the '' Committee for guarding the Privileges of the Methodist
Body," that on one occasion, when some business relating to their department had brought them as a deputation into an interview with the Earl of Eldon, then Lord Chancellor, they found the Duke of Cumberland sitting with his lordship.
When the gentlemen of the deputation were introduced, his Royal Highness did not leave the room, but stood apart at a bay-window, while they stated their business to the Chancellor. When this had been done, and they were about to take leave, the prince stepped from his retirement and joined their circle, as if he were pleased to have a little conversation with them.
'' These gentlemen," said he, "are of the Methodist communion, are they not?
I think I heard your lordship mention the name of Mr. Wesley.
Ah, I remember once, when a youth, to have sat in the same pew at St. James's with that great man."
'"' Oh, your Royal Highness,'' replied Lord Eldon, " that is nothing compared with what I can say ; for my mother, who was a Methodist, has often taken me, when a child, to hear Mr. Wesley preach at five o'clock in the morning. Gt
; John Wesley, with one interruption caused by a visit to 1 Etheridge's Life of Thomas Coke, 316.
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Bristol, continued his work in the northern counties of England until the middle of July.
It is only necessary to mention that on Saturday, June 20, he visited Chester.
He says that he preached in ' the accustomed place,' a little without the gates, near St. John's Church.
This was his first visit to the city.
But the phrase ' the accustomed place ' indicates the fact that the Methodist pioneers had been busy in Chester.
Among them the place of honour must be assigned to John Bennet.
Hearing that a Religious Society met somewhere in the city, he went there in 1747.
He found out their place of meeting, and the members asked him to preach to them.
He did so, and was pressed to stay longer or to visit them again.
The ~ result was that Chester was placed on his ' round.'
Once more we see a link uniting the ' Religious' and the ' Methodist '
Societies.!.
From this beginning the work spread.
When John Wesley went to Chester in 1752 he found that the Methodists had just taken 'a much larger house' near St.
Martin's-of-the-Ash Church.
On Sunday morning he preached init.
In the afternoon he was there again, but, as the ' House' could not contain half the congregation, he stood at the door and preached to the people in the "' House' and to those who had gathered in the square.
At four o'clock he went into the Square and preached to a large congregation, among whom were 'abundance of gentry.'
The next day, in the evening, he was in the Square again, and preached to ' a vast multitude, rich and poor.'
Wesley lingered in Chester because he was arranging with the captain of a vessel for a passage to Ireland.
His plans, however, were upset.
On Tuesday, June 23, he received letters which caused him to judge that it was necessary to be in Bristol as soon as possible.
So he set out, and did not reach Chester again until July 2.
He gives us no hint as to the character of the business that called him to Bristol ; and, as Charles Wesley's
Journal for 1752 is missing, we must leave the matter in the shades of mystery.
When he got back to Chester one of the first things he heard was that for the two previous nights the mob had been employed in pulling down the ' House' where he had preached.
He asked his informants, ' Were there no magistrates in the city?'
Several people answered him, ' We went to the mayor after the first riot, and desired a warrant
1 See Early Methodism in and around Chester, by the Rev. F, F. Bretherton, 27.
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to bring the rioters before him ; but he positively refused to grant any warrant, or to take any informations about it.'
Being undisturbed, the mob assembled again the next night and finished their work.
The new ' House '- being pulled down, Wesley preached on the Saturday in ' the old Room.'
On Sunday, July 5, at seven o'clock in the morning he stood near the ruins of the ' House,' and explained the principles and practice of the sect which was ' everywhere spoken against.'
Then he went to St. Martin's-of-the-Ash Church.
Mr. Bretherton thinks it probable that the Rev. John Baldwin, the Vicar of the church, conducted the service.
Wesley must have been astonished as he listened to the sermon.
The preacher began nearly in these words : ' The last Lord's Day I preached on "' Doing as you would be done to," in hopes of preventing such proceedings as are contrary to all justice, mercy, and humanity.
As I could not do that, I have chosen these words for your present consideration, " Ye know not what manner of spirit ye are of.
For the Son of Man is not come to destroy men's lives, but to save them."''
Wesley's wonder was still further increased as the preacher said in closing his sermon :
'Iam sorry any such outrage should be committed, particularly in this parish, where I have been teaching so many years.
And to how little purpose!
I will remove, as soon as I possibly can, from a place where I can do so little good.
Oh, what an account have they to make who have either occasioned or encouraged these proceedings!
May God grant that they may repent in time!
That they may know what spirit they are of!
That they may, before it is too late, acknowledge and love the truth as it is in Jesus!'
These noble words of a Christian minister deserve a high place in the annals of the Methodist Church.
It is pleasant to record Mr. Baldwin's protest.
It raises a hope that before long his example will be followed, and that ' ministers' mobs,' at any rate will cease to exist.
Lingering in Chester, we wonder if we can find another source of encouragement, whether we can see on the crest of the dark mountains the line of silver that tells of the passing of the night and the dawn of a peaceful day.
In many parts of the country the prejudice against the Methodists was so great that it was enough to say of a doctrine that the Wesleys preached it to provoke its condemnation.
Is it possible to find in the
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neighbourhood of Chester some man who announced evangelical truths in such a manner as won the attention of crowds, and compelled the opy dnents of the gospel to become its admirers ?
At the close of the year 1741 we see a traveller who is waiting at Parkgate, near Chester, for a ship that will carry him to Ireland.
This traveller had been in England for some years.
He was a musician, and had not prospered.
According to a local legend, during this time of waiting for a ship he was busy with the score of a musical composition ; he gave it a touch here and there, deepened its tone, added to it, brought it nearer to perfection.
We will forget the roar of the mob and look over his shoulder as he scans the pile of leaves.
These words arrest us:
There were shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flocks by night. Andlo! the Angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them, and they were sore afraid.
And the Angel said unto them, Fear not; for behold I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people; for unto you is born this day in the City of David a Saviour which is
Christ the Lord.
And suddenly there was with the Angel a multitude of the heavenly host, praising God and saying, Glory to God in the highest, and peace on earth, goodwill towards men.
The traveller is no longer a stranger.
We are in the presence of George Frederick Handel.
Those who carry the music of The Messiah in their heart, and who are familiar with the teaching of the Wesleys, will be the first to admit that, in his great oratorio, Handel has given musical expression to doctrines which those evangelists rescued from neglect.
The subject is wide and fascinating, but we must confine ourselves to one of its aspects.
Let us put aside prejudice, that stout defender of ignorance, and listen to the music.
At once we obey the command, ' Behold the Lamb of God that taketh away the sin of the world.'
We dismiss our wandering thoughts ; we fix our eyes on Him.
We watch Him in the hours of His humiliation ; we see Him as He hangs on the cross.
Our sympathies are stirred by the words, 'He was despised and rejected of men ; a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief.'
In the presence of that sorrow and grief we forget those who are near us ; we think of the anguish of the divine sufferer; we are alone with Him.
Then there
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comes the great revelation:
'Surely He hath borne our griefs and carried our sorrows!
He was wounded for our transgression ; He was bruised for our iniquities ; the chastisement of our peace was upon Him.
And with His stripes we are healed.'
Slowly the fact that our sins have nailed Him to the tree fills our mind. We forget all the generations of the past ; we think only of our share in the great tragedy.
We bow our head and assent to the condemnation, ' All we like sheep have gone astray ; we have turned every one to his own vay.' We think of our cruel abandonment of the Good Shepherd, of our own sins and evil ways.
But the chorus has changed its time, and the light begins to dawn.
'The Lord hath laid on Him the iniquity of us all.'
Hope that was drooping and dying within us lifts up its head.
'The iniquity of us all."
Then my sins were laid on Him!
As that conviction grows within us the venture of faith takes place ; and the peace which passes understanding, and the new love that casts out all fear, fill the heart.
No one who understands Wesley's teaching concerning conversion will doubt that, in 1741, he and Handel pointed out the same way to the cross.
One of the most severely attacked teachings of Wesley was his doctrine of assurance.
Does Handel differ from him?
In the third part of The Messiah there is an ' Air' which is not often sung in England.
The audience is supposed to be weary, and soit is omitted.
But its words are full of Christian confidence:
' If God be for us, who can be against us?
Who shall lay anything to the charge of God's elect?
It is God that justifieth ; who is he that condemneth?
It is Christ that died, yea, rather that is risen again, who is at the right hand of God, who makes intercession for us.'
There can be no doubt that the Wesleys and Handel were in agreement on a doctrine which, when it is believed and firmly held, ' drives all our fears away.'
It was fortunate for religion in England that those who would not listen to the Wesleys were allured to listen to Handel.
The influence of The Messiah in this and other countries is beyond all our powers of estimation.
Thinking of the subject we have only touched, we have wondered if the three men drew their knowledge of the evangelical doctrines from the same source.
Handel was so long in England that