Josiah Woodward's plan. As these were Societies in his
299.
A MEMORABLE CONFERENCE
,..
Josiah Woodward's plan.
As these were Societies in his parish, he constantly gave them his own personal attention, and his influence predominated in the conduct of the meetings.
His influence spread beyond Truro.
He formed a union among 'the pious clergy in his neighbourhood, for the purpose of mutual edification, encouragement, and advice, as to pastoral duties.'
The original number of members was seven ; afterwards it increased to eleven.
They met for the first time on March 18, 1755.
The little group became known as ' The Parson's Club.'
Sidney says, 'A great outcry was, however, raised against it, on the alleged ground of Methodistical bias ; a charge most unfounded, as every one of its members was sincerely attached to the doctrines and discipline of the Church of England.
. Many fluctuations took place in this happy union, occasioned by deaths, removals to distant places, and in two instances by a fear of the violent opposition they had to encounter ; still, upon the whole it conferred upon the clergy who belonged to the club, and their parishes, a lasting advantage."
This brief description of Samuel Walker's ' Societies ' and ' Club' will suggest that before long he would be brought into friendly relations with the Wesleys ; and such was the case.
In Tyerman's Life of John Wesley we find that a correspondence between Wesley and Samuel Walker commenced in 1755.
Walker had written to him, speaking his mind freely on the subject of the separation of the Methodists from the Church of England.
Being in Bristol on September 24, Wesley replies; and, from his reply we get insight into his opinion concerning the conversation that had taken place in Leeds.
John Wesley's record of the proceedings of the Leeds Conference in'his Journal is as follows:
' The point on which we desired all the preachers to speak their minds at large was, " Whether we ought to separate from the Church ? "
Whatever was advanced on one side or the other was seriously and calmly considered ; and on the third day we were all fully agreed in that general conclusion—that (whether it was lawful or not) it was no ways expedient.'
At last we have clear light on the two subjects of discussion.
Two subjects had been before the Conference; one had not been settled ; the other had been unanimously approved. *
1Sidney's Life of Walker, 77.
* John Wesley's Journal, iv. 115.
A MEMORABLE CONFERENCE
In Wesley's letter to Samuel Walker we find that the entry in the Journal represents the case accurately.
Wesley in his letter to Walker says:
' All that you say concerning the inexpediency of a separation from the Church I readily allow ; as, likewise, that the first and main question must be, Is it lawful to separate?
Accordingly, this was debated first, and that at large, in seven or eight long conversations.
And it was then only, when we could not agree concerning this, that we proceeded to weigh the expediency of it.'
After stating some of the reasons assigned by the preachers why they ought to separate from the Church, Wesley's letter increases in interest, as it enables us to see his own opinion on the subject.
He says:
I will freely acknowledge that I cannot answer these arguments to my own satisfaction ; so that my conclusion, which I cannot yet give up, ' that it is lawful to continue in the Church ' stands almost without any premises that are able to bear its weight.
My difficulty is very much increased by one of your observations.
I know the original doctrines of the Church are sound ; and I know her worship is, in the main, pure and scriptural; but, if ' the essence of the Church of England,' considered as such, consists in her orders and laws (many of which I myself can say nothing for), and not in her worship and doctrines, those who separate from her have a far stronger plea than I was ever sensible of.
At present, I apprehend those, and those only, to separate from the Church, who either renounce her fundamental doctrines, or refuse to join in her public worship.
As yet, we have done neither ; nor have we taken one step further than we were convinced was our bounden duty.
It is from a full conviction of this that we have—(1) preached abroad ; (2) prayed extempore ; (3) formed Societies ; and (4) permitted preachers who were not episcopally ordained.
And were we pushed on this side, were there no alternative allowed, we should judge it our bounden duty rather wholly to separate from the Church than to give up any one of these points.
Therefore, if we cannot stop a separation without stopping lay preachers, the case is clear: we cannot stop it at all.
But if we permit them, should we not do more?
Should we not appoint them, since the bare permission puts the matter out of our hands, and deprives us of all our influence?
In great measure it does ; therefore to appoint them is far more expedient, if it be lawful.
But is it lawful for presbyters, circumstanced as we are, to appoint other ministers?
This is the very point wherein we desire advice, being afraid of leaning to our own understanding.
It is undoubtedly needful, as you observe, to come to some resolution on this point, and the sooner the better.
I therefore, rejoice to hear
A MEMORABLE CONFERENCE
that you think, 'this matter may be better, and more inoffensively ordered ; and that a method may be found, which, conducted with prudence and patience, will reduce the constitution of Methodism to due order, and render the Methodists, under God, more instrumental to the ends of practical religion.'
This, sir, is the very thing I want.
I must, therefore, beg your sentiments on this head ; and that a as particularly as your other engagements will allow.
Tyerman says that the contents of this letter prove three momentous facts.
1. That the Conference of 1755 could not come to an agreement as to the lawfulness of separating from the Church of England ; and that the only point settled was as to the present expediency of such a separation.
2. That the arguments used in favour of a separation were arguments which Wesley was not able to answer to his own satisfaction.
And, 3. That rather than give up open-air preaching, extemporaneous prayer, forming Societies, and permitting men not episcopally ordained to preach, Wesley would wholly separate himself from the Established Church.
These conclusions are sound.
It is surprising that Tyerman does not give more prominence to the suggestion concerning the 'appointment ' of lay preachers.
It looks in the direction of ordination by presbyters; but many years passed before that problem was solved.
As we look along the path subsequently travelled by John Wesley we have no hesitation in saying that the Leeds Conference of 1755 marked the commencement of a new era in the history of the Methodist
Church.
XXIII
ENGLAND IN DANGER
LEAVING Leeds with his wife, John Wesley began a tour among the northern Societies.
On May 13 he reached Newcastle, and did not find things there in the order he expected.
Many were on the point of leaving the Church; some had already left.
He was annoyed by rumours that he approved of such secessions.
A few days afterwards he spoke to the members of the Society severally, and found far fewer who were prejudiced against the Church than he expected.
They numbered about forty.
During this visit he had the joy of meeting his friends Dr. Gillies of Glasgow and Mr. Wardrobe of Bathgate, both of whom preached for him in the Orphan
House, to the no small amazement and displeasure of their zealous countrymen.
We find John Wesley, during the opening days of June, at York.
We must pause there for a few moments.
Immediately after his arrival he preached in the ' Room' in Pump Yard.
It was' like an oven through the multitude of people.'
We are watching his pilgrimage during his convalescence with considerable anxiety, and are reassured by his statement that in this service he felt no want of strength.
The ' Room' in Pump Yard accommodated about one hundred and twenty persons, so we presume that many stood outside and were able to hear the sound of his voice.
This little 'Room' arrests our attention.
In Dr. John Lyth's Glimpses of Early Methodism in York there is an extract from Davies's
Walks through the City of York.
Davies says that in July, 1754, William Horsman, Elizabeth Gray, Nicholas Baldock,
Mary Bayocke, Ebenezer Harrison, Ann Falkner, William Shipton, and John Thorpe ' certified to the Court of Quarter
Sessions that they intended to make use of a house of John Elwick, junior, and others, situate in Newgate, as a place of worship of Almighty God for Protestant Dissenters.'
ENGLAND IN DANGER
s&s Explaining the step that had been taken, Dr. Lyth says that the applicants, who without doubt were all members of the Society, were constrained to adopt this course for the peaceable enjoyment of their religious priv'leges.
Within a few months afterwards Sam Stow, a mariner, and Sam Penrose, a wheelwright, were held to bail for ' purposely and contemptuously disturbing the congregation assembled at a meeting-house in Newgate.'
When we recall the incidents marking the introduction of Methodism into York and its neighbourhood we see the wisdom of the step taken by the men and women who secured the registration of the 'Room.'
Dr. Lyth's statement enables us to add another instance of the ' recording ' of ' Rooms' in addition to those we have mentioned, Wesley was still busy with the problem of his relation to the Church of England.
In 1753 Dr. Thomas Sharp, who was Archdeacon of Northumberland, published a book entitled
The Rubric in the Book of Common Prayer, and the Canons of the Church of England, so far as they relate to the Parochial
Clergy, considered in a course of Visitation Charges.
This book came into Wesley's hands, and he studied it while he was in York.
On June 6 he says in his Journal:
'I read Dr. Sharp's elaborate tracts on the Rubrics and Canons.
He justly observes, with regard to all these: (xz) that our governors have power to dispense with our observance of them;
(2) that a tacit dispensation is of the same force with an expliczt dispensation ; (3) that their continued connivance at what they cannot but know is a tacit dispensation.'
An ecclesiastical lawyer would probably challenge the correctness of Dr.
Sharp's conclusions ; but John Wesley was impressed by them.
Acting on the supposition of their correctness, he says, ' If it be, he has himself answered his own charge against the Methodists (so called).
For suppose the Canons did forbid field-preaching, as expressly as playing at cards and frequenting taverns, yet we have the very same plea for the former as any clergyman has for the latter.
All our governors, the King, the archbishop, and bishops, connive at the one as well as the other.'* We think that in his eagerness to impale the archdeacon on the horns of a dilemma Wesley did not give sufficient weight to the fact that field-preaching, except in duly registered places, was in opposition to the law of the land, and that *Lyth's Early Methodism tm York, 81.
2 John Wesley's Journal, iv. 120.
ENGLAND IN DANGER
kings, archbishops, and bishops may not connive at the breach of laws, so long as they stand on the statute-book.
However, Wesley got in his stroke; and perhaps it gave him some satisfaction.
John -Wesley got back to London on Thursday, June 19.
He stayed there until the last day of the month.
Then he set out for Norwich, and reached that city the next evening.
As a large congregation was waiting in the Foundery he could not but preach, 'though weary enough.'
During the two following days he spoke to each member of the Society.
He returned to London, and there reviewed the events of May and June, two exceptionally important months.
It is probable he thought of certain valedictory words he had spoken at the close of the Leeds Conference.
His visit to York had impressed him with the fact that the increasing success of Methodism was attended with danger.
When he left York he says, 'I took my leave of the richest Society, number for number, which we have in England.
I hope this place will not prove (as Cork has for some time done) the Capua of our preachers.'
He dreaded the seductions of Capua.
During his sickness the preachers in England and Ireland had been deprived of the inspiration of his example, and there can be no doubt that the aggressive work in some neighbourhoods had suffered.
It has been said that ' loyalty is part of the definition of a Methodist'; it certainly was one of John Wesley's leading characteristics.
He was loyal to the King ; he was a passionate lover of England.
At the time we have reached an event was approaching which strongly moved him.
Those who have studied the history of this country in the eighteenth century are aware that England and France were at war together from March 31, 1744, to April, 1748.2, It is convenient to keep these dates in mind; but if they cause us to think that there was peace between the two countries until war broke out again in 1756 we shall be misled.
Confining ourselves, for the present, to the conflicts that disturbed the two nations during the interval between 1748 and 1756, we look across the Atlantic.
In America, England and France were constantly at war.
The English colonies in America lay on 1 For his searching address see Minutes of Conference, i. 711.
2See John Wesley and the Methodist Societies, 179.
\ my
ENGLAND IN DANGER
s&s the eastern sea-border of the great continent.
On the north they ran up towards Canada, then in the possession of the French ; on the south, Georgia touched Florida, which was
Spanish territory.
The English colonies at many points were hemmed in by the great mountains that rose on their western frontier.
Beyond that rampart spread forests and prairie lands that reached the Pacific.
The French claimed this immense -wild country as their own.
That claim was disputed by the English settlers ; and verbal disputes ended in wars.
No one has told the story of these wars so carefully and vividly as Francis Parkman, the brilliant American historian.
In a series of books beginning with The Pioneers of France in the New World and ending with The Conspiracy of Pontiac he has unveiled the history of four centuries.
His fine literary style was associated with an extraordinary capacity for minute and exhaustive research, and for remarkable power of exact statement.
The brilliant historian does not always possess the confidence of his readers ; but whatever we may think of some of Parkman's opinions, we may confidently say that he is always ready to indicate his authority for his facts.
In the seventh chapter of Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe we read the tragic story of an event that caused intense excitement in England in 1755.
The conflict between the French and English colonies in America reached a crisis so severe that England had been compelled to send regular troops to assist the colonists in the constantly recurring wars.
We are only concerned now with one fight in which these troops acted.
The British force sailed from England under the command of Major-General Braddock.
It landed in America, and, after considerable delay, a small army was gathered together.1
On June 10, 1755, Braddock left Fort Cumberland and commenced his march towards Fort du Quesne.
He struck into the broad wilderness.
It was along trail.
The progress was slow.
He was not accustomed to accept advice, but, finding his march delayed, he listened to the suggestion of a Virginian officer who thought it would be wise to split his column in two, leaving the less able-bodied troops to act as a reserve.
We listen to the voice of the 1In Smollett's Continuation of the Complete History of England will be found a careful account of this unfortunate expedition.
We have collated it with Parkman's description.
See Smollett, i. 256-261.
ENGLAND IN DANGER
Virginian officer with intense interest.
It is the voice of George Washington.
In the company left behind we notice two men who are worth watching.
They are talking about a country across the big mountains from North Carolina which one of them, at the risk of his life, has visited.
It was a country occupied by Indians; it abounded in thick grass, rich food for horses and cattle wearied with picking up mouthfuls from the pine-barrens.
The daring explorer was John Finley, who is described as a Scotch-Irishman.
His companion listened to him, and asked if Kentucky was a good hunting country ; he was assured that it was ' the best in the world.'
The two men made a compact that, when Fort du Quesne had been taken, they would make their way to Kentucky.
They had to postpone their arrangement.
The man who talked with Finley amongst the wagons was Daniel Boone, the maker of the famous Wilderness Road that runs over the mountains to the West.
We must hasten after the troops that are piercing the dense woods on their way to Fort du Quesne.
A narrow road had to be cut for them, their baggage, and the ten pieces of cannon with their ammunition, and for the provisions needed for the troops.
Smollett says that Braddock marched on with so much expedition, that he seldom took any time to reconnoitre the woods or thickets he was to pass through; as if the nearer he approached the enemy, the farther he was removed from danger.
It is time we got a nearer view of Braddock.
Let us see him through the eyes of an Englishman :
He was undoubtedly a man of courage, and expert in all the punctilios of a review, having been brought up in the English guards ; but he was naturally very haughty, positive, and difficult of access ; qualities illsuited to the temper of the people amongst whom he was to command.
His extreme severity in matters of discipline had always made his soldiers dislike him ; and the strict military education in which he had been trained from his youth, and which he prided himself on strictly following, made him hold the American militia in great contempt, because they could not go through their exercise with the same dexterity and regularity as a regiment of guards in Hyde Park, little knowing, or indeed being able to form, any idea of the difference between the European manner of fighting and an American expedition through woods, deserts, and morasses.
Before he left England, he received, in the handwriting of Colonel Napier, a set of instructions from the Duke
1See H. Addington Bruce's Dantel Boone and the Wilderness Road, 3.
ENGLAND IN DANGER
| a: of Cumberland.
. .. Above all, his royal highness, both verbally and in this writing, frequently cautioned him carefully of an ambush or surprise.
Instead of regarding this salutary caution, his conceit of his own abilities made him disdain to ask the opinion of any under his command ; and the Indians, who would have been his safest guards against this danger in particular, were so, disgusted by the haughtiness of his behaviour, that most of them forsook his banners.?
We have selected Smollett's opinion of the character of Braddock because it is written with a self-restraint not discernible in other writers.
It is easy to guess the probable result of his leadership.
We will not dwell on the incidents of the catastrophe for which he was mainly responsible.
The French had a large number of Indians acting with them.
On July 9, stealing along the forest track-ways, the Indians formed an ambuscade.
The forest where they were concealed was silent.
Then they heard the tramp of the troops who were marching to the sound of the drum.
Suddenly the English soldiers were encircled by the hidden host.
Fire was opened on them.
Our men were shot down as they | marched in their ranks ; Braddock received his death-wound ; a panic set in; the soldiers, after fighting in vain, fled; and a horrifying massacre began.
Some of the colonial troops fought the enemy in their own forest fashion, regardless of the scorn that had been poured on it.
They did something to stop the pursuit, but the defeat was past repair.
Among those who attempted to rally the troops once more we see George Washington.
The retreat was at last checked.
On Sunday, July 13, Braddock died.
He was buried the next day in a grave dug in the forest road.
Parkman says that "men, horses, and wagons passed over the grave, effacing every sign of it, lest the Indians should find and mutilate the body."?
When the news of the defeat and massacre reached England it increased the excitement that had prevailed for many months.
The fears of an invasion had been roused by the fact that in the naval dockyards at Brest it had been discovered that many ships were being built.
There seemed to be only one explanation—the French were preparing to land an army in England.
Immediate steps were taken to strengthen the 1 Smollett's Continuation of the History of England, i. 256-257.
2In after years Fort Pitt took the place of Fort du Quesne.
At present the site of the Fort is covered by part of the great town of Pittsburgh.
ENGLAND IN DANGER
defences of the coast ; and, without waiting for a declaration of war, battleships and privateers set out to guard the Channel.
A large number of French prizes were captured and brought into English harbours.
The route to America was patrolled in order that French warships might be captured which were carrying troops to fight against the British in that country.
Several escaped; but in May an action was fought off Cape Race, in Newfoundland, when two French warships were captured.
Smollett thinks that the commencement of the war may be dated from the taking of these ships, but the declaration was still delayed for a year.
It was not until May 18, 1756, that England declared war against France ; on June 9 the French declaration was made.
The Seven Years'
War that followed has been described as the most terrible conflict of the eighteenth century.
'It convulsed Europe and shook America, India, the coasts of Africa, and the islands of the sea.'?
This long period of irregular warfare brought a severe strain on the temper and endurance of the English people.
The symptoms that were so pronounced in 1744 reappeared.
The dread of invasion took possession of the people, and the danger of panic was imminent.
But the country prepared for the inevitable war.
In a letter written by Charles Wesley on Sunday afternoon, December 7, 1755, we get a glimpse of a remarkable fact.
Writing to his wife, he says:
' My brother tells me the French are expected every hour, by General Hawley, in battle array; that the Government have not the least doubt of the invasion, but will do their best to repel force by force.'
Then follows a sentence that arrests us:
'I question whether my brother's soldiers, with all his pains and haste to train them up, will not be too tardy to rescue us.'?
It has been thought by some that John Wesley's offer to raise a company of soldiers for home defence was an invention of an imaginative mind; but the fact rests on a solid foundation.
In the Standard Edition of his Journal there is a note that puts the matter beyond dispute.
In the Wesleyan Methodist Magazine for 1848 there is a copy of a letter from John Wesley to the Hon. James West, in which he offers, if acceptable to His Majesty, to raise
"a company 1 Parkman's Montcalm and Wolfe, i. 352, Boston ed.
2 Charles Wesley's Journal, ii. 200.
ENGLAND IN DANGER
of at least two hundred volunteers to be supported by contributions d4mong themselves, and to be ready, in case of invasion, to act for a year, if needed so long, at His Majesty's pleasure, only within —— miles of London.'
If his offer is accepted, he asks for a loan of arms from the Tower, and sergeants to train the corps of Methodist 'territorials.'
This letter is in the British Museum; it is endorsed ' March 2, 1756, Mr.
Westley.'
It will be seen that the formal offer to the King was delayed, but the scheme of raising the company was formed before the time when Charles Wesley's letter was written in 1755.
He does not give the year, but Sunday, December 7, fixes it.?
In the midst of the excitement produced by the fears of invasion and the startling incidents of the war John Wesley held on his way.
His experiences at the Leeds Conference must have opened his eyes to the fact that the burden of the management of the Societies rested on him; and that, notwithstanding his physical weakness, it must be borne.
That fact was emphasized by the refusal of his brother to visit the Societies in Cornwall.
He may also have heard the rumour which Charles Wesley mentions in a letter to his wife, written from London, on September 13, in which he says,
' The people here have taken it into their heads that I should never come to them again.
Had it been so, many of our oldest and best children would have followed me to Bristol or America ; and such as could not would have withdrawn from the Society.'* The suggestion of the possibility of Charles Wesley's migration to America at such a time opens up vistas in which speculation freely wanders; but the settlement in Bristol is not without significance.
It is with relief we record the fact that in this month of September, John Wesley finished his Notes upon the New
Testament.
Charles Perronet was in London ; and, as Jackson says, he had charge of the works John Wesley was passing through the press.
That fact diminishes our elation.
In a former chapter we have given some account of the commencement and character of this important book ; but as a copy of the first edition now lies before us it is necessary to add some supplementary remarks.
John Wesley's placid mind must 1 John Wesley's Journal, iv. 150=151, note.
2 Jackson's Life of Charles Wesley, ii. 87-88.
ENGLAND IN DANGER
have been ruffled during the printing of this book.
This thick quarto volume, which so strongly reminds us of ' the big ha' Bible' of ' The Cotter's Saturday Night,' has at the end an appalling collection of ' Errata.'
It occupies, as we have said, two and a half pages of closely packed double columns.
Passing over mistakes in the 'text,' we glance at some in the ' notes.'
Let us look first at 1 Tim. iii., in which the characters of a bishop and a deacon are described.
We dwell with interest on Wesley's comment on the absence of any mention of presbyters in the list of church officers given by St. Paul.
Here it is:
' But where are Presbyters?
Were this Order essentially distinct from that of Bishops, could the Apostle have passed it over in silence?'
That question lights the way on which Wesley was travelling, and which led to a well-known action in his later years.
There was no need to alter that query.
But, in the description of deacons, words that ought to have been inserted in the Notes had been omitted, and it was necessary to restore them in the ' Errata.'
The tenth verse had been made to read, ' And let these be proved first, then let them minister, being found blameless.'
But Wesley had written:
' Let a trial be made how they behave, then let them be fixt in that Office.'
That seems like a shortened form of what Wesley had written in his manuscript.
Among the ' Errata' the note stands thus:
'Let a Tryal be made how they behave and That they outwardly adorn the Gospel (ver. 8); That they inwardly experience the Power of the Gospel (ver. g).' The omitted words reveal the Methodist position, and are of muchimportance.
Wesley's attempted amendment of this note in the first edition was in vain.
The editors of succeeding editions seem to have overlooked his correction.
In estimating the value of the first edition of the Notes upon the New Testament we must bear in mind the large number of errata which Wesley appended to the book.
He made no claim to infallibility.
He was thankful when a man whom he respected saved him from error.
For instance, on June 28, 1755, he wrote to Mr. Richard Tompson acknow ledging a letter he had received from him.
He says it came 'exceeding seasonably, for I was just revising my " Notes"' on the fifth chapter to the Romans: one of which I found, upon a closer inspection, seemed to assert such an imputation
ENGLAND IN DANGER.
of Adam's sin to his posterity, as might make way for the "horrible decree."
I therefore struck it out immediately.'
We shall see that Wesley was not contented with the first edition of the Notes.
In 1760, 1761, and 1762, he issued volumes which bear on their title-pages the words,
' The third edition, corrected.'
As this edition possesses exceptional importance we will reserve our comments upon it.*
We have seen that John Wesley, when his brother declined to visit the Cornish Societies, set out himself on Monday,
August 18.
He was not fit to undertake such a journey, but it brought him unexpected relief.
He was absent from London until October 25, when, notwithstanding all the forebodings of his friends, he was in at least as good health as when he commenced his long tour.
His wife did not accompany him; and Charles Wesley, who supplied his place in London, had the advantage of her society.
On August 31 we find John Wesley at Redruth.
We note that early in the evening he preached to several thousands of people assembled at Gwennap.
After he had closed the service the rain poured down till about four o'clock the next morning.
We presume that in the evening he was stormbound in Redruth, for we see that he occupied his time in writing a letter to his friend Ebenezer Blackwell, who had done so much to promote his marriage.
On May 12, after the Leeds Conference, he rode with his wife to Northallerton.
He says nothing in his Journal that gives us any knowledge of what occurred during that ride, but someihing did happen that strained the relations between husband and wife.
The Redruth letter may give us some light.
The editor of his Journal says that the letter to Blackwell shows ' the kind of irritations which, coupled with jealousies, were straining to breaking-point the relations between two persons who ought never to have become husband and wife.'
We have glanced at this unpleasant subject occasionally ; but it will have to be faced.
Omitting the last paragraph, the letter is as follows :
Experience confirms your advice both ways.
In my last journey into the North, all my patience was put to the proof again and again ; and all my endeavour to please, yet without success.
In my present journey I leap as broke from chains.
I am content with whatever 2 Wesley's Works, xii. 451.
Third ed.
2 See W.H.S. Proceedings, ix. 97-113, xiii. 103-105:
ENGLAND IN DANGER
entertainment I meet with, and my companions are always in good humour, ' because they are with me.'
This must be the spirit of all who take journeys with me.
Ifa dinner ill-dressed, a hard bed, a poor room, a shower of rain, or a dirty road, will put them out of humour, it lays a burden upon me, greater than all the rest put together.
By the grace of God, I never fret.
I repine at nothing ; I am discontented with nothing.
And to have persons at my ear, fretting and murmuring at everything, is like tearing my flesh off my bones. I see God sitting upon His throne, and ruling all things well.
Although, therefore, I can bear this also, to hear His government of the world continually found fault with (for in blaming the things which He alone can alter, we, in effect blame Him) ; yet it is such a burden to me as I cannot bear without pain ; and I bless God when it is removed.
Wesley was writing to a friend, and pours out the suppressed feeling of years.
Writing later to Blackwell from St. Ives, he says, ' We have hitherto had an extremely prosperous journey: almost everything has been just as we desired ; and I have no care upon my mind, but what properly belongs to me—to feed and guide the flock of Christ.'
Then the ominous note is sounded once more:
' Charles Perronet being out of town last Saturday, my paquet, directed to him, fell into other hands.
This has raised a violent storm; for it contained a few lines which I writ to Mrs. Lefevre, in answer to a letter she sent me a week before concerning Mr. Furly.
It is pity!
I should be glad if I had to do with reasonable people.
But this likewise is for good.'
In these letters we have a view of the causes of Wesley's domestic troubles.
Fretfulness, suspicion, raging jealousy!
Blessed are the people to whom such an experience is incomprehensible.
Wesley enjoyed his freedom during this tour.
Watching him as he moves about, we sometimes indulge the hope that he has found his lost youth again.
He preaches constantly, and finds time for occasional rest, and for healthful relaxation.
We know that he was highly sensitive to the appeal of the wonderful and to the beauty of natural scenery.
We see him walking on the Cornish coast near St. Agnes, and rejoice as he explores the caverns.
He grows enthusiastic as he looks from side to roof and catches ' the glitter that is bright and ruddy as gold.'
He pauses in the dim light of the cave until the colours are more clearly defined.
There is a fine sky-blue; and yonder a patch of enamel 'exactly like 1 Wesley's Works, xii. 167-168.
ENGLAND IN DANGER.
KR mother-of-pearl'; and, again, 'a great crust like alabaster.'
Those who know the Cornish cavernsat the Lizard will understand his delight.
It was during this journey, when he found himself in Somerset, that he heard the call of Glastonbury Tor.
He admits that the hill is extremely steep, and of an uncommon height, but he says that it commands the country on all sides, as well as the Bristol Channel.
The call was irresistible.
He and his companions dismounted, and climbed the hill.
When we stand there at the present time, we see much that was hidden from the eyes of Wesley.
We think of the time when the Tor was an island in the midst of the blue sea; we watch the retreat of the waters, until land appears.
The expanse is dotted here and there with lakes, in which we catch sight of dwellings that are still yielding up their secrets to the patient antiquary; we look across to the Cheddar Cliffs, those monuments of dim and distant ages; and then we turn towards the Channel and see the 'flat' and the "steep ' islands, which remind us of the aspect of the old world.
Much has vanished, but the hills remain.
Yonder is ' Wearyall-hill,' where, so says legend, the pilgrims from Syria rested before descending into the valley; and there are the ruins of the beautiful abbey, which is haunted by bright memories of a later time.
And this valley, is it not the Vale of Avilion ?
Where falls not hail or rain or any snow, Nor ever wind blows loudly ; but it lies
Deep-meadowed, happy, fair with orchard-lawns And bowery hollows crown'd with summer sea.
But Bristol has to be reached, so Wesley and his companions rise ; descend to the plain; mount their horses and ride on their way.
John Wesley stayed for about a month jn Bristol.
We note that he preached on the south-west side of the city, that is, in Bedminster.
Although, in his opinion, a considerable part of the congregation had hardly ever heard a sermon in the open air before, all the listeners were serious and attentive.
He bears his testimony to the fact that in Bristol there was at that time 'no rudeness.'
He also preached once more in Stokes Croft.
He does not specify the spot on which the service was held.
We wonder that he did not go to ' The Old Orchard,' but availing ourselves of the light which Latimer va
ENGLAND IN DANGER
has so often shed on our Bristol difficulties, we think we see sufficient reason for the change of place.
He says:
About the close of 1755 a square was laid out on the slope of Kingsdown.
' The New Square,' for it was seldom styled King Square until some years later, was one of John Wesley's favourite preaching stations.
Several wealthy families then inhabited it...... Contemporaneously with these upper-class erections, a number of dwellings were rising in the ' Old Orchard' of the Dominican friary—an estate which fell to the Penn family through the marriage of the famous William
Penn with Hannah, a daughter of Thomas Callowhill, a Bristol Quaker.
New built ' houses in Callowhill Street are mentioned in a local paper in 1755.
In March, 1757, another new dwellirg was offered 'in a street named Penn Street, in '"' The Old Orchard." '
Philadelphia Street was built a few years later.?
On Saturday, October 25, John Wesley arrived in London.
The next day he entered on his ' London duty.'
Let us see what he did.
He read prayers, preached, and gave the sacrament at Snowsfields in the morning; preached and gave the sacrament at noon in West Street Chapel ; met the leaders at three; conducted a funeral at four; and preached again in the Chapel at five in the afternoon.
Then he met the Society, and concluded the day with a general love-feast.
On Wednesday, November 5, an incident occurred that brightens the pages of his Jouvnal.
He makes this record:
"Mr. Whitefield called upon me.
Disputings are now no more ; we love one another, and join hand in hand to promote the cause of our common Master.'
John Wesley found London suffering from apprehension of the coming war with France.
The excitement was greatly increased by the news of the terrible earthquake in Lisbon.
It occurred on November 1.
The story is well known.
A large part of the city was destroyed.
The lowest estimate of the loss of life was ten thousand.
When these calamities occur the sympathies of England are stirred, and the better side of the national character appears.
Help was sent at once to the survivors.
Charles Wesley notes the fact that no English lives were lost.
He says that on the day of the earthquake there was to have been an 'act of faith,' that is
'a bonfire of Jews and heretics.'
It was usual on such occasions for most of the English merchants and their families
1 Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century, 318.
ENGLAND IN DANGER,
to go out of town lest they should catch sight of the disgusting spectacle, and be subjected to the insults of the Roman
Catholic crowds.
Smollett mentions this fact, and also says that the quarter in which the English chiefly lived, and where they had their warehouses, suffered the least of any part of the city.
Being much importuned, John Wesley wrote a tract entitled Serious Thoughts on the Earthquake at Lisbon, which soon ran into six editions, and Charles Wesley preached on The Cause and Cure of Earthquakes.
His sermon has been attributed to John Wesley; but in Thomas Jackson's Recollections the mistake is corrected.
John Wesley had much to occupy his attention during this visit to London.
He was expecting the publication of the Notes upon the New Testament, and must have wondered if his pains and expense would be rewarded.
During the year the concluding volumes of the Christian Library had been issued, and that literary adventure had brought him serious loss Then the city was throbbing with excitement, and all work had to be done under high pressure.
No man in the country was better adapted by original constitution to endure these severe tests, but he was suffering from overstrain, and was liable to sudden physical collapse.
Those who watched him became anxious, and the expected happened.
On December 12 his malady suddenly returned ; and for a time he seems to have lost heart.
He shall tell the story himself.
"I came as well as usual to Moorfields: but there my strength entirely failed, and such a faintness and weariness seized me that it was with difficulty I got home.
I could not but think how happy it would be (suppose we were ready for the Bridegroom) to sink down and steal away at once, without any of the. hurry and pomp of dying!
Yet it is happier still to glorify God in our death as well as our life.'
But the time had not come for him to sing the Nunc Dimittis.
He was soon at work again with a courage that inspired his loving people.
1 See Charles Wesley's Journal, ii. 201; Smollett's Continuation of the History of England, i. 293
XXIV
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
On December 23, 1755, Parliament adjourned, and did not meet again until January, 1756.
We are interested in the adjournment, for the proceeding enables us to catch sight of John Wesley.
We see him in the robe-chamber adjoining to the House of Lords; he is watching George II as he is being prepared for the adjournment ceremony.
Wesley's sympathies were excited during this process.
The King was seventy-two years of age ; he was pressed down by the burden of a great anxiety.
' His brow was much furrowed with age and quite clouded with care.'
He was a small man, and when his robes were heaped on him, and the crown was placed on his head, Wesley thought, 'Is this all the world can give to a King?
What a bauble is human greatness!'
These are not the usual platitudes with which we soothe ourselves in the presence of persons of higher social position.
John Wesley had a great regard for the King.
He knew that he had used his influence to prevent the persecution of the Methodists, and that his interference had restrained the magistrates of Middlesex, although it had failed to stop the riots in many parts of the country.
George II knew the value of Wesley's work.
There are few historians who praise him ; but his declaration that 'no man in his dominions should be persecuted on account of religion while he sat on the throne' lives in our memory.?
It is no wonder that the King was oppressed with care.
It must be remembered that Hanover as well as England was on his mind.
Each country was in serious peril.
At any moment they might be attacked by overwhelming forces.
His thoughts at the time of the adjournment of the British Parliament were engaged with the peril of Hanover; he was
1 John Wesley's Journal, iv. 145.
2See John Wesley and the Methodist Societies, 39.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR 4.
trying to secure a treaty with Frederick the Great of Prussia which would lessen the danger threatening his Continental possession.
On January 16, 1756, a convention of neutrality was signed by the two Kings which seemed to meet the Hanover difficulty, but the English problem was not easily solved.
Lecky, in his England in the Eighteenth Century, declares that nothing could be more deplorable than the condition of England at that time.
In his opinion the years 1756 and 1757 were among the most humiliating in the history of this country.
It was common news that there were only three regiments in England fit for service.
The rising alarm of the people was swiftly approaching danger-point.
In the words of Edmund Burke, 'The nation trembled under a shameful panic too public to be concealed, too fatal in its consequences to be ever forgotten.» The convention with Frederick made it possible to employ Hanoverian and other Continental troops in England; and the spectacle of foreign soldiers practising the Prussian drill in Hyde Park was afforded to indignant
Londoners.
Recalling incidents in the American Revolution, we experience no slight shock when we notice the presence of Hessian troops in some of our coast towns.
When Parliament reassembled, the House of Commons, on January 21, turned its attention to the laws then in being relating to the Militia.
It was found that they were insufficient.
A new Bill was prepared; and, after receiving many amendments, it was passed and sent up to the House of Lords.
Smollett, suppressing his feelings, records its fate.
He says:
But several objections being made to it by some of the peers, and it seeming to them, as they said, that some farther amendments were still necessary, which they thought they could not in that session spare time to consider so maturely as the importance of the subject required,
negative of fifty-nine against twenty-three was put upon the motion for passing the Bill; though every one must have been sensible, not only of the propriety, but even of the absolute necessity of such a law, which was ardently desired by the whole nation.?
Parliament, when it reassembled in January, had to face a critical condition of national affairs.
Wesley was in full syrmpathy with those who took a serious view of the perils that threatened the country.
On January 1, 1756, 1Lecky's History, ii. 362.
* Smollett's Continuation of the History of England, i. 302-303.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
there is this entry in his Journal:
' How much are men divided in their expectations concerning the ensuing year!
Will it bring a large harvest of temporal calamities or of spiritual blessings?
Perhaps of both—of temporal afflictions preparatory to spiritual blessings.'
He seems to have had no doubt that ' temporal afflictions ' were advancing on the nation, and he was not mistaken.
As a loyal Englishman he determined to take his share of the burden.
We have seen that before the close of the preceding year he had formed a design of assisting the Government by raising a company of volunteers who would be ready to act in case of invasion.
The scheme was maturing in hismind.
On March 1 he wrote the letter to the Hon. James West containing his offer of the company.
The letter seems to have been read and pigeon-holed.
Nothing came of the offer.* On February 6 a national fast was observed.
Such a fast in London had not been seen since the Restoration.
Business was suspended, and churches and chapels were crowded.
On March r John Wesley set out for Bristol.
When he arrived, he found the city 'all in a flame.'
An election for a Member of Parliament was proceeding.
In Latimer's Annals of Bristol in the Eighteenth Century we get particulars of those exciting days.
The Tory candidate was Mr. Jarrit Smith, an eminent local attorney; the Whig candidate was the Hon. John Spencer, afterwards Earl Spencer.
Latimer says that Wesley was said 'to have worked energetically on behalf of Mr.
Smith'; but from a letter written to Ebenezer Blackwell we find that Latimer was mistaken.
Here is the letter :
BristTo., March 4, 1756.
Dear Sir.—If the election of Mr. Spencer be a thing of any consequence, then it was extremely ill judged to prevent his coming down.
He ought to have been here at all hazards if he were not very dangerously ill.
His absence will probably turn the scale ; and, if the Jacobites gain one member now, they will have two the next time.
Whereas there is reason to believe, had Mr. Spencer appeared, there would have been no opposition.
Last night, I desired all the freemen of our society to meet me after preaching, and enlarged a little upon His Majesty's character, and 1 In an editorial note in Wesley's Standard Journal it is recorded that such a ' company' was actually raised early in the next century; it was billeted within a stone'sthrow of the 'New Room' in Bristol; it held prayer-meetings at which, as in John
Wesley's days, soldiers': were converted and received into the Methodist Society.
Journal, iv. 151 note,
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR «\
the reasons we had to spare no pains in his service.
I believe all who had been wavering were fully convinced.
But some had absolutely promised to vote for Mr. Smith; it having been confidently reported, that both the candidates are equally acceptable to His Majesty.
The whole city is in confusion.
Oh what a pity there could not be some way of managing elections of every sort, without this embittering of Englishmen against Englishmen, and kindling fires which cannot be quenched in many years !?
It will be seen that John Wesley supported the King and the Government; but, after a close contest, continued for fourteen days, Mr. Smith was elected by a majority of fifty-two votes.
The city was the scene of constant disorder.
After the poll was declared, a triumphal arch was erected in College Green.
One of its ornaments was a carved representation of the royal arms of the Stuarts which was borrowed from All Saints'
Church.
This decoration, being without the heraldic blazon of the Hanoverian family, was held to be a token of sympathy with the Pretender ; it caused so much excitement that it had to be removed.
The Young Pretender was supposed to have figured in this election.
Dr. Josiah Tucker, a prebendary of the Cathedral and the rector of St. Stephen's Church, writing to a friend, says: 'I have been pestered all day with a lot of Methodist preachers who insist upon it that they have started and are now hunting a strange kind of game called the Young
Pretender, and have fairly tracked him to Mr. Jarrit Smith's house at Ashton, where -he is at present under cover.'
It was with difficulty that Dr. Tucker prevented his informants from making a deposition before the judges of assize.*
John Wesley stayed for a few days in Bristol.
Then he set out on a visit to Wales and Ireland.
He reached Brecon on March 18, and preached in the Town Hall.
The next day he rode to Trevecca to see his old friend, Howell Harris, who had settled at his birthplace, after seventeen years of hard work as an itinerant evangelist.
A few people who had received a blessing through his ministry gathered around him.
He preached to them two or three times a day, and they expressed an earnest desire to stay with him.
In April, 1752, he laid the foundation of a house; and in 1753, a part of the building being finished, a great number of people flocked
1The letter appears in Tyerman's Life of Wesley, ii. 235.
It is copied from the Methodist Magazine, 1848, 777.
2 Latimer's Annals of Bristol, 318-319.
. SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
to Trevecca from all parts of Wales.
Some stayed for a time, others returned home; but a number remained to enjoy the privilege of the preaching.
At the beginning of 1754 there was 'a settled family' at Trevecca consisting of about a hundred persons.
The next year several families came to the place, some to live in the house; others took farms in the neighbourhood in order that they might have a more convenient opportunity of attending the preaching.
Gradually 'a family' gathered around Harris which had to be maintained, and which must have caused him some anxiety.
But _ he was a man of strong faith, and he cast his burden on the Lord.
In 1756 we see him surrounded by his people.
The outbreak of war caused him concern.
He brought the matter before the young men of the 'family.'
Five of them went to Hereford and joined the 58th regiment.
Subsequently they embarked for America, and fought at Louisbourg and at the taking of Quebec.'
The visit to Trevecca must have reminded Wesley of the old days in Georgia, when he formed a ' Christian family' in the parsonage in the woods.* There was one subject, however, which weighed on his mind, and he determined to have a talk with Harris about it.
So he went to Trevecca again.
The story of Harris's experiences in connexion with the building of the 'House' and the maintenance of ' the family' much impressed him.
He says, 'Except in the case of the Orphan House at Halle, I never heard so many signal interpositions of divine Providence.'
But he' wanted to know why his friend ' did not go out and preach as usual.'
So on his second visit he raised the subject.
Harris told him that he had preached till he could preach no longer, his constitution being entirely broken.
While he was confined to his home ' he had been pressed in spirit to build a large house, though he knew not why or for whom.
But as soon as it was built men, women, and children, without his seeking, came to it from all parts of Wales.'
And so he had given up his itinerant life, and devoted himself to the care of his large
'family.'
Wesley had to be satisfied with that explanation, though he must have felt a pang of regret as he thought of the lessening of the number of the old itinerants who had been his
1See A Brief Account of the Life of Howell Harris, second part, 77-84.
John Wesley and the Religious Socteties, 158.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
comrades in the early days of the Methodist Revival.
We, who can see further down ' the corridors of Time,' know that the itinerating days of Howell Harris were not ended. Towards the end of 1759, during the Seven Years' War, the dread of invasion once more disturbed the minds of English people.
At this point Harris, who was deeply concerned for the welfare of the Kingdom in general, was offered a commission in the Brecknockshire Militia.
After seriously considering the matter, he accepted the offer on the condition that he should have full liberty to preach the gospel wherever he should go.
This permission was granted.
After making all necessary arrangement for the care of the household during his absence, he, with twenty-four men of the ' family,' were embodied in the Militia for three years' service at the beginning of 1760.
He paid for three years the cost of arms, clothing, and maintenance of twelve of the volunteers he brought with him.
He began as an ensign and ended as captain.
The understanding about preaching was observed.
He preached in his regimentals in many places during the years when he was in the army.
Wecan see him at Yarmouth, in the towns about Brecon, in Bideford, Torrington, Barnstaple, and Plymouth.
When the war was over he returned to Trevecca and spent the remainder of his life with his large 'family'; but he took ' a few rounds now and then,' and preached both in England and Wales.*
John Wesley made his way to Holyhead and crossed to Ireland.
He had not been there for nearly four years.
The condition of his health was the cause of his absence for so long a time.
On March 30 he found himself once more in Dublin.
The next day he had a conversation with many people, and was surprised to find that they considered that Ireland was in perfect safety.
He says: "None here has any more apprehension of an invasion than of being swallowed up in the sea, every one being absolutely assured that the French dared not attempt any such thing.'
He had his own thoughts about that matter, and it was not long before all his suspicions were confirmed.
The Government in England seems to have arrived at the conclusion that it was possible that the French, instead of trying to land a force in England or Ireland, might
: » Methodist Magazine for 1825, 308 ; Williams's Welsh Calvinistic Methodism, 125126.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
make an attack on some other part of the British possessions, We see, about April 7, a fleet of ten English ships, under the command of Admiral Byng, making its way slowly towards the French coast.
It had been swiftly andinefficiently equipped.
Its destination was Minorca, an island which was in British possession at that time, and was considered as 'the key of the Mediterranean.'
It was compelled to stop at intervals for absolutely necessary repairs, also to secure troops from the Gibraltar garrison.
As to the latter, Byng appealed to the commander in vain.
It was not until May 15 that the British fleet appeared off Minorca.
What had happened in the interval?
On April ro a French fleet, with an army of about fourteen thousand men, sailed from Toulon, and on April 17 this army landed in Minorca.
The little English force of about three thousand men quickly abandoned the open towns as indefensible, and concentrated in the Castle of St. Philip, which was at once besieged by the French.
Under General Blakeney the castle held out until the English fleet arrived.
On May 20 the French fleet attacked it, and a partial and indecisive engagement was fought.
Byng saw that, until he was strongly reinforced, it was hopeless to continue the attempt to recapture the island. He called a council, and with its unanimous assent he drew off his fleet to cover
Gibraltar, and to await reinforcements.
The troops in the Castle of St. Philip watched the ships sailing away.
After a brave resistance the castle was taken on June 28; and thus, says Lecky, ' Minorca, which contained one of the finest harbours in the Mediterranean, and which was one of the most valuable fruits of the Peace of Utrecht, passed into French hands.'
It is well known that Admiral Byng was brought before a court-martial, tried, sentenced to death, and, on March 14, 1757, was shot.
His execution, says Lecky, 'reflected much more real discredit upon the nation that demanded it than the military disaster that caused it.'
John Wesley's visit to Ireland occurred during the months that immediately preceded and followed the breaking-out of the Seven Years' War.
When he landed as we have said, he was concerned at the unprepared condition of the island in such a time of peril.
The people smiled at the thought of the possibility of invasion.
Then they gradually awoke.
On wa History of England in the Eighteenth Century, ii. 363-365 ; 372-375A
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR *~
Monday April 5, we find this entry in his Journal: ' To-night the sleepers here began to open their eyes, it being rumoured that an express was come to the Lord-Lieutenant to inform him the French were hastening their preparation, being determined to land in Ireland.
And so they will if God gives them leave; but He has the reins in His own hand.'
This was not the first warning the Lord-Lieutenant had received.
Several weeks before he had received a message from England informing him that His Majesty had given express orders to put the kingdom in a posture of defence against the intended invasion, and telling him he was empowered to raise what men he pleased.
Wesley's informant, who told him this piece of news, ended his statement with the words:
' And nothing has been done since ; so that we conclude the whole to be a grimace, a mere trick of State.'
On April 19 Wesley wrote to Ebenezer Blackwell.
In his letter he says, ' While you in England are under I know not what apprehensions, all here are as safe as if they were already in Paradise.
We have no fortifying of sea-ports ; no military preparations ; but all is in absolute peace and safety.
Both high and low seem fully persuaded that the whole talk of an invasion is only a trick to get money."
It has been said, with a tincture of malice, that England prepares for war after, not before, it breaks out.
It is not impossible to find some justification for that criticism.
John Wesley was not accustomed to wait for ' favourable circumstances' before beginning his work; with his usual steadiness of mind he faced the situation in Ireland and concentrated his attention on the condition of the Methodist
Societies.
We will content ourselves by recording a few of the outstanding events of his visit.
On Sunday, April 11, when he was in Dublin, he met about a hundred children who were accustomed to be catechized publicly twice a week.
Thomas Walsh, some months before, had begun the practice, and the fruit already appeared.
Work among the children was after Wesley's own heart.
But Thomas Walsh's ' children's classes ' was a new departure.
We feel the glow of Wesley's admiration when we read this record in his Journal: ' What a pity that all our preachers in every place have-not the zeal and wisdom to follow his example!'
On Good Friday, April 16, he held a solemn service for 'the renewal of the covenant.'
Near 1 Wesley's Works, xii. 169, 8vo ed.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
four hundred of the members of Society assembled ' to follow the example of their brethren in England.'
The next week the preachers came together to hold the second Irish Conference.
We have no record of its proceedings, but they were characterized by a spirit which gave Wesley great encouragement.
He says:
' I never before found such unanimity among them.
They appeared now to be not only of one heart, but likewise of one mind and judgement.'
Passing by many incidents of Wesley's visit to Ireland which find a record in his Journal and in Crookshank's History of Methodism, we note that on April 28 he set off on a country tour.
In its course he was joined by Thomas Walsh.
At Kilkenny a dragoon regiment was quartered.
One of the soldiers soon found him out.
Wesley says, 'A few, both of the army and of the town, are joined, and constantly meet together.
I preached in the barracks, in one of the officers' rooms.
Still, in Ireland, the first call is to the soldiery.'
With Thomas Walsh he rode to Waterford, and spent some time with the Society, striving to remove " misunderstandings and offences.'
It was not lost labour.
The Society had been reduced to twenty-six members ; but before night the number was increased to fifty-seven.
As there seemed to be a ' general call to the city,' he left Thomas Walsh there for a time.
He went on to Clonmel, and was charmed with the beauty of the town.
He declared that it was the pleasantest town, beyond all comparison, he had up to that time seen in Ireland.
On May 12 Wesley was in Cork, where he preached in ' the new house.'
It was nearly as large as the Whitefriar Street chapel in Dublin, and far better finished in every respect, though at four hundred pounds less expense.
Like the 'Houses' in Newcastle-on-Tyne, Bristol, and Whitefriar Street in Dublin, it had rooms overhead, in which the preachers resided and classes met.
This arrangement seems to have been approved by Wesley, but in after years it was strongly condemned by Adam Clarke, that famous
Irishman.
He declared that it contributed much to his own ill-health when he was stationed in Bristol.
He says that 'all the Ilcdging-rooms were over the chapel, and the noxious effluvia from the breath of so many hundreds of people who assembled there throughout the week made the place extremely unhealthy.
The plan of building all the
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
lodging-rooms over the chapel and on which several of the original Methodist preaching-houses were built, was greatly prejudicial to the health of the preachers and their families.'
A visit to the ' Room' in Bristol will convince the spectator that Adam Clarke's judgement was sound.'
Having spent three weeks in Cork and its vicinity, Wesley set out for Limerick, where he again met with Thomas Walsh.
While in Cork he received from Dr. Gillies the sad news of the death of their friend Mr. Wardrobe.
The loss was great ; it was impossible to contemplate it without sadness.
But the imperative voice of duty spoke to Wesley, and sent him on his way.
On June 16 we find him, for the first time, in Ballingarrane.
Those who are able to see the patterns woven on ' the loom of Time' will pause for a few moments as they stand in the street of this town.
Many of its inhabitants were Palatines who came to Ireland in Queen Anne's time.
Wesley, in describing them says : ' They retain much of the temper and manners of their own country, having no resemblance of those among whom they live.
I found much life among this plain, artless, serious people.
The whole town came together in the evening, and praised God for the consolation.
Many of those who are not outwardly joined with us walk in the light of God's countenance; yea, have divided themselves into classes, in imitation of our brethren, with whom they live in perfect harmony.'
He met the Methodist Society on the following evening.
He felt himself under a special influence, which so overpowered him that he was obliged to pause several times.
The words of the plain, honest people came with so much weight as frequently to stop him for a while.
Then a general cry rose from the lips of hearers.
What did Philip Embury say in that solemn meeting?
And what said Barbara Ruckle?
And what said Wesley to them?
We have no record, We must be content to watch the movements of the 'loom of Time'
; then we shall see Philip Embury and Barbara Heck in a land that lies far from the waves that break on the rocks of Ireland.
It was towards the end of June that Wesley had a strange experience.
He preached in the churches at Hollymount, Castlebar, and Newport with the consent of their clergymen.
Then, on Monday, July 14, he crossed the border-line of Ulster.
1 An Account of Adam Clarke, LL.D., i. 276.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
His preachers had been labouring there for nearly six years, and had met with much success; but this was his first visit to the province.
On July 23 he rode to Belfast, and preached in the afternoon in the market-house.
At this time Belfast had a population of eight thousand five hundred and fortynine.
Most of the houses were thatched.
There was only one Episcopalian place of worship, the ' old Corporation Church ' in High Street, and three Presbyterian meeting-houses, the minister of one of which was an Arian.?
On Sunday, July 25, Wesley was in Carrickfergus.
He preached at nine o'clock in the upper court-house ; after the service, according to his usual custom, he went to church and heard 'a lively useful sermon.'
Many people were surprised at his attending a church.
He tells us that after dinner ' one of our brethren asked if I was ready to go to meeting. I told him, "' I never go to meeting.""
He seemed as much astonished as the old Scot at Newcastle, who left us because we were mere
Church of England men.
We are so, although we condemn none who have been brought up in another way.'
His answer to the man who wished to direct his movements on that Sunday afternoon has been much misunderstood.
His reply was not the utterance of a narrow-minded bigot, but a statement of his invariable practice.
He always went to the church when it was possible for him to attend its services.
But it will be remembered that his advice to the dissenting members of his Societies was that on Sunday they should attend their own chapels.
In Scotland, as we have seen, he worshipped in Dr.
Gillies's Presbyterian church.
His sermons on 'A Caution against Bigotry' and ' Catholic Spirit' had been published, and in them his opinions had been expressed.
In the latter sermon, speaking of the great variety of forms of worship, he says i How shall we choose among so much variety?
No man can choose for, or prescribe to, another.
But every one must follow the dictates of his own conscience, in simplicity and godly sincerity.
He must be fully persuaded in his own mind; and then act according to the best light he has.
Nor has any creature power to constrain another to walk by his own rule.
God has given no right to any of the children of men thus to lord it over the conscience of his brethren ; but every man must judge for himself, as every man must give an account of himself to God.
1 Crookshank's History of Methodism, i. 115.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
ne a te Although, therefore, every follower of Christ is obliged, by the very nature of the Christian Institution, to be a member of some particular congregation or other, some Church, as it is usually termed (which implies a particular manner of worshipping God ; for ' two cannot walk together unless they be agreed'); yet none can be obliged by any power on earth but that of his own conscience, to prefer this or that congregation to another, this or that particular manner of worship.
I know it is commonly supposed that the place of our birth fixes the Church to which we ought to belong ; that one, for instance, whois born in England, ought to be a member of that which is styled the Church of England ; and, consequently, to worship God in the particular manner which is prescribed by that Church.
I was once a zealous maintainer of this ; but I find many reasons to abate of this zeal.
I fear it is attended with such difficulties as no reasonable man can get over: not the least of _ which is, that if this rule had took place, there could have been no Reformation from Popery ; seeing it entirely destroys the right of private judgement, on which the whole Reformation stands.
I dare not, therefore, presume to impose my mode of worship on any other.
I believe it is truly primitive and apostolical: but my belief is no rule for another.
I ask not, therefore, of him with whom I would unite in love, Are youofmyChurch? of my congregation?
Doyou receive the same form of Church government, and allow the same Church officers, with me?
Do you join in the same form of prayer wherein I worship God? I inquire not, Do you receive the supper of the Lord in the same posture and manner as I do? nor whether, in the administration of baptism, you agree with me in admitting sureties for the baptized ; in the manner of administering it; or the age of those to whom it should be administered.
Nay, I ask not of you (as clear as I am in my own mind) whether you allow baptism and the Lord's supper at all.
Let all these things stand by; we will talk of them, if need be, at a more convenient season ; my only question at present is this ; 'Is thine heart right, as my heart is with thy heart?"!
We have almost forgotten Carrickfergus as we have been transcribing these noble words.
But at intervals we have been reminded of the declaration of an Irishman who possessed much of John Wesley's spirit.
He was a Professor of Moral Philosophy in the University of Dublin, and a preacher of sermons that have lingered in our memory through long years.
Here is an extract from one of them : ' The sheepfold of Christ's flock is no material or visible inclosure ; it is the circle of love which is traced in the eternal mind of the good Shepherd
Himself, and whose compass is known to Him alone.
We know that the history of the people of Christ is a history not written in any earthly volume; there are no statistics of 2 Wesley's Works, v. 496, 497.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
this holy nation ; no record that can be numbered and understood by every cursory inquirer.
The Father, '' who seeth in secret,' will reward openly ; but this life is not the season of that reward.'
William Archer Butler's deep and quiet words tranquillize the mind.
They call us away from the disputes of the sects.
They lead us to the heights from which we think we can see something of the beauty of the Good
Shepherd's ' circle of love.'?
Having preached and gone to church in the morning, Wesley went to the Carrickfergus court-house in the evening.
He found that the congregation was so large that no room would hold the people.
He received a message from the prison that touched him.
It was that ' the prisoners desired to hear him' ; so he went into the street and took his stand near the prison door.
Speaking ' plain and home,' he urged upon the crowd his great message, ' Ye must be born again'; and ' the prisoners were listening."
There was some interruption among those assembled outside, but the tone of satisfaction in Wesley's entry in his Journal is evident.
On Monday he returned to Belfast.
When he got there he found Thomas Walsh, who told him a story that filled him with sympathy.
Walsh had visited Newtownards, and had been badly treated.
Attempting to hold a service in the open air, he began to pray, and at once a man seized him by the throat and dragged him down.
He was the leader of a large mob.
A Mr. Beers compelled the ruffian to let go his hold ; but soon the would-be rescuer was beaten to the ground.
Walsh once more tried to preach ; the mob assailed him, and he had to fly for his life.
He hurried through the fields to a mountain.
The rain came down in torrents.
Crookshank says that he then received 'a wetting which laid the foundations of the disease that hastened him to the grave.'
Leaving Belfast, John Wesley made his way to the south.
He reached Dublin on August 5, and then, about a weck later, he arrived in Cork and made ready for his voyage to Holyhead.
His travelling companions to England were Thomas Walsh, John Haughton, and James Morgan.
We cannot leave Ireland without noting an event of great importance which occurred at Coolamain, in the parish of Ballynaslaney, Wexford.
When we stood on Glastonbury Tor we looked across the plain and 1 W. Archer Butler's Sermons, 318-319, second series.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR...
saw hills which lie near Cheddar.
What connexion is there between those hills and Coolamain?
In August, 1756, we see a little company of people gathered in a barn at Coolamain ; they are listening to a Methodist preacher named James
Morris.
In the small congregation we see a youth nearing his sixteenth birthday.
He is the son of a major in the army, a Westminster boy, who has come to Ireland with his widowed mother, who had claims to an estate in that country.
The lad listens eagerly to the plain man, who is preaching from Ephesians ii. 13:
' But now in Christ Jesus ye who sometimes were far off are made nigh by the blood of Christ.'
A new world gradually opens before his eyes.
On that evening he realized the forgiveness of his sins.
Recalling his experience, two years afterwards, he says, ' Strange that I, who had so long sat under the means of grace in England, should be brought nigh to God in an obscure part of Ireland, amidst a handful of God's people met together in a barn, and under the ministry of one who could hardly spell his name.'*
But what has that to do with the hills of Somerset ?_ When we mention the name of the boy who listened to James Morris in the barn at Coolamain we shall cease to wonder.
He was Augustus Montague Toplady.
And in after years when the thunderstorm broke upon him in Burrington Coombe, he took shelter in a deep recess of a precipitous crag of limestone, and the lightning played about him in vain.
We alli know the story ; and blessed is the man whose heart is ' strangely warmed' when he sings :
Rock of Ages, cleft for me, Let me hide myself in Thee !* Wesley and his three preachers had a pleasant crossing from Cork to Holyhead.
In addition to themselves they had five other cabin passengers, 'all civil and serious.'
As for the sailors, they 'behaved uncommonly well.'
On Thursday morning we see Wesley and his preachers on the quarter-deck.
We hear them as they begin to sing.
Their fellow passengers, as well as the captain, with the greatest part of his men, clustered around them.
Wesley gave an exhortation.
He says:
' We then spent some time in prayer.
They all kneeled 1 Crookshank'
History of Methodism in Ireland, i. 117.
2 See Telford's The Methodist Hymn-Book Illustrated, 257, revised ed.
SHADOWS OF COMING WAR
down with us ; nor did their seriousness wear off all day. About nine o'clock we landed at Holyhead, after a pleasant passage of twenty-three hours.'
Having hired horses for Chester, they rode to Bangor.
The scenery between Bangor and Penmaenmawr filled Wesley with delight.
Those who know the road will share his enthusiasm.
When he reached Conway Castle he declared that it was the noblest ruin he had ever seen.
The country made a strong appeal to that inextinguishable sense of beauty which often transfigured the commonplace surroundings of his life.
On Wednesday, August 25, John Wesley reached Bristol.
The next day he held a Conference there, which was attended by about fifty of the preachers.
His account of the proceedings is brief.
Describing the business transacted on the first day, . he tells us that the Rules of the Society were read over, and carefully considered one by one ; it was found that none of them could be spared.
It was unanimously agreed 'to abide by them all, and to recommend them with our might.'
Afterwards the question of the necessity of keeping in the Church, and using the clergy with tenderness, was discussed.
Wesley says, ' There was no dissenting voice.
God gave us all to be of one mind and of one judgement.'
The next day the Rules of the Bands were considered one by one; and, after some verbal alterations had been made, all agreed to observe and enforce them.
On the Saturday the Rules of Kingswood School were considered, and it was agreed that a short account of the design and then present state of the school should be read by every assistant in every Society, and that a subscription for it should be begun in every place, and, if need be, a collection made for the school every year.
Wesley also informs us that he and his brother closed the Conference by a solemn declaration of their purpose never to separate from the Church ; and that ' all our brethren concurred therein.'
We are indebted to Myles's Chronological History for light which will be welcomed by those who are interested in questions which concern the origin of the financial arrangements of the Methodist Societies.
He tells us that at the Conference of 1756 the nature and necessity of the yearly subscription was fully explained, and that the subscription was earnestly recommended to the Methodist people.
It had been made in a few of the Societies before that time, but at this Bristol