The Call to Bristol
The Call to Bristol If the brethren, after prayerful direction, think proper, I wish you would be here [Bristol] the latter end of next week.
. I go away, God willing, next Monday Se'enight. If you were here before my departure, it might be best. Many are ripe for bands. I leave that entirely to you.
George Whitefield Bristol, May 21, 1739, while I was enforcing the words from Psalm 46:10—"Be still, and know that I am God'"'— our Lord "began to make bare his arm, not ina close room, neither in private, but in the open air, and before more than 2,000 witnesses. One, and another, and another was struck to the earth; exceedingly trembling at the presence of His power. Others cried, with a loud and bitter cry,
'What must we do to be saved?' and in less than an hour seven persons, wholly unknown to me till that time, were rejoicing and singing, and with all their might giving thanks to the God of their salvation.'"! For seven weeks, at an appointed time, I had been preaching at various places in and around Bristol.2 Monday afternoons at 4:00 I went to a brickyard, a convenient place near Bristol. That was the present setting.? This was the first time (as a result of my preaching) that such outward manifestations had affected people standing in the open air (putting to rest the earlier
1Works, Vol. I, p. 196.
2Wesley, in these early months of the revival, regularly conducted fourteen meetings indoors and eight to ten meetings outdoors each week.
3Wesley first preached in the open air on April 2 at another brickyard not far from the one mentioned here. On April 23 the location for the Monday afternoon preaching changed as the owner of the previous location withdrew his permission. For the exact identification, see
"Proceedings of the Wesley Historical Society," vol. 6, pp. 106f.
John Wesley: His Life and Theology objection that these were purely natural effects; that these people fainted away only because of the heat and closeness of the rooms).
In the evening of that same day I was interrupted at the Nicholas-Street Society. ""Almost as soon as I had begun to speak, one who was 'pricked at the heart,' cried out and strongly groaned for pardon and peace. Yet I went on to declare what God had already done, in proof of that important truth, that he is 'not willing any should perish, but that all should come to repentance.' Another person dropped down, close to one who was a strong assertor of the contrary doctrine. While he stood astonished at the sight, a little boy near him was seized in the same manner.
A young man who stood up behind fixed his eyes on him, and sunk down himself as one dead; but soon began to roar out, and beat himself against the ground, so that six men could scarcely hold him. His name was Thomas
With but one exception, "I never saw one so torn of the evil one. Meanwhile, many others began to cry out to the 'Saviour of all' that He would come and help them, insomuch that all the house (and indeed all the street for some space) was in an uproar. But we continued in prayer; and before ten the greater part found rest to their souls.
"I was called from supper to one who, feeling in herself such a conviction as she never had known before, had run out of the Society in all haste that she might not expose herself. But the hand of God followed her still; so that, after going a few steps, she was forced to be carried home; and, when she was there, grew worse and worse. She was ina violent agony when we came. We called upon God, and her soul found rest.
"About twelve I was greatly importuned to go and visit one person more. She had only one struggle after I came, and was then filled with peace and joy. I think twenty-nine in all had their heaviness turned into joy this day.''5
'Works, Vol. I, p. 196. Maxfield would become one of Wesley's strongest preachers.
SIbid., pp. 196f.
The Call to Bristol
These are fact. Let any judge them as they please. That "such changes were then wrought appears (not from their shedding tears only, or falling into fits, or crying out: these are not the fruits whereby I judge; but) from the whole tenor of their life, till then, many wicked; from that time, holy, just, and good.''° For those who would still object, I will show them more: one who "'was a lion till then, and now is a lamb; him that was a drunkard, and is now exemplarily sober; the whoremonger that was, who now abhors the very "garment spotted by the flesh.' These are my living arguments for what | assert, viz., 'That God does now, as aforetime, give remission of sin, and the gift of the Holy Ghost, even to us and to our children; yea, and that always suddenly, as faras I have known, and often in dreams or in the visions of God.' If it be not so, Iam founda false witness before God.
These things I do, and by his grace will, testify.'""
The revival had begun! For nearly two months I had been preaching to congregations totaling nearly 50,000 a week. Though the crowds attracted by Mr. Whitefield were even greater, our results were far more lasting.® By this time our first preaching house (the New Room) was under construction. New converts were being organized into Societies which were multiplying daily. Books had been ordered for the bands demonstrating the need for perfection.? Our first hymnbook was on the press and another was being prepared.!° God was accomplishing a mighty work. Let me describe its beginning.
8See Works, Vol. VII, p. 411, for a word concerning the lack of discipline among some of Whitefield's converts.
%By June, 1739, Wesley had already published an extract from the life of Haliburton. He prepared the preface and corrected the text in January and February, and by June 7, 1739, Wesley writes that twelve Haliburtons are already overdue in Bristol. On June 11, 1739, the words ''Christian Perfection' appear in the Diary for 6:00 and 9:00 in the morning.
This was one of the earliest appearances of the phrase apart from the references to the treatise by Mr. Law.
10Hymns and Sacred Poems, published in 1739 and the second published in 1740.
John Wesley: His Life and Theology Our last narrative left off as I was in route to Oxford,
October 9, 1738. While at Oxford I soon saw miracles performed in our midst. Within days, fourteen were added to our Society so that we increased to eight bands (again, small groups within the Society intending effectually to build one another up in love) consisting of fifty-six persons, all of whom sought salvation only in the blood of Christi2t I returned to London on October 18. Although more and more churches were closed to me, I continued to preach where I could (as best I could while nagging doubt still plagued me) and minister among the societies. Then, on November 30, Mr. Whitefield, after some months in Georgia (our ships, the Samuel bringing me in from America and the Whitaker taking him out, passed each other in the port of Deal), returned to England after an absence of just eleven months. As I was in the west country I did not learn of his arrival until December 11. Since I had not seen him for three-and-a-half years, I hastened to London where we enjoyed sweet fellowship the next day. We talked of Georgia until well past midnight (he was much too kind in his evaluation of my ministry there), Aldersgate, and Herrnhut.'? It was his specific intent to raise money for an orphanage in America. His popularity, however (prior to his leaving for America he had enjoyed great success), had won him not only friends, but enemies as well. Though he received the approval of the Archbishop of Canterbury to "The interrelationship of society to class to bands, etc., will be described in some detail later.
Relevant to Georgia, Whitefield writes (Whitefield's Journal, 18h 157): "What the good Mr. Wesley had done under God, in America, is inexpressible. His name is very precious among the people." While
Wesley no doubt needed this word of affirmation, Whitefield's comment was such an exaggeration that he omitted it from the later edition.
Regarding Aldersgate, although Whitefield dates his conversion from 1735, he writes in his journal for 1736 (while Wesley was still in Georgia): "About this time God was pleased to enlighten my soul, and bring me into the knowledge of His free grace and the necessity of being justified in His sight by faith only. This was more extraordinary, because my friends at Oxford had rather inclined to the mystic divinity .. ." (Whitefield's Journal, p. 62). The two men obviously had a great deal in common to talk about.
The Call to Bristol
plead his cause in any parish available to him, five churches were immediately denied, while four remained open (with a few more to follow, though frequently he was preaching a "strange doctrine to polite audiences''). For the next two months, Mr. Whitefield and I preached at every opportunity and continued our work among the Societies.13 Most of the remaining time was spent writing letters, the abridgment of Haliburton and its preface, and correcting the Hymns and Sacred Poems.
New Year's Eve found "Mr. Hall, Kinchin, Ingham, Whitefield, Hutchings, and my brother Charles, present at our love-feast in Fetter Lane, with about sixty of our brethren. About three in the morning, as we were continuing instant in prayer, the power of God came mightily upon us, insomuch that many cried out for exceeding joy, and many fell to the ground. As soon as we were recovered a little from that awe and amazement at the present of his
Majesty, we broke out with one voice, 'We praise thee, O lord; we acknowledge thee to be the Lord.''"'
On New Year's Day, 1739, I was at peace; yet, three days later I was deep in despair insisting (as has already been mentioned) that I was not a Christian since I did not at that moment feel it. True, the enemy had been mortally wounded, but his hideous threat still lingered. He held on tenaciously. I fought back thoughts of death. I began to experience the most unworthy desires. As I watched and listened to Mr. Whitefield, for example, I found myself somewhat envious. This caused me to reflect upon my own state of mind and heart, concluding that I not only lacked his gifts, but his love for God as well. Whitefield had a full assurance of faith.
I admired (and loved) him 13Wesley preached more than thirty sermons during this period and Whitefield is said to have preached fifty-seven times in fifty-six days.
14Works, Vol. I, p. 170. We are reminded that the Fetter Lane Society (like the others) was neither Methodist nor Moravian (as some suppose), but a new religious society with bands and love feasts attached to the Church of England, using the Book of Common Prayer, and taking the Sacrament of Holy Communion in the parish churches. Neither the Methodists nor the Moravians, as such, were organized in London at this time.
Zo John Wesley: His Life and Theology more than anyone I had known or seen, even in Germany. I could pay him no greater tribute. Yet, our talents were different. I lacked his eloquence and polish; whereas he could slay thousands simply by the way he pronounced
Mesopotamia. I was reminded of Apollos and Paul. I remember thinking (God forgive the unlikely comparison) I would be Paul. I would organize Methodist societies. I had a vision, a Cream. Even as I considered these thoughts I felt a surge of purpose. I would not only preach for conversion, but go beyond and gather those affected into the kind of body that would both nurture and sustain, insuring their perfection.
Much to my surprise, on January 211 began to see openly the fruits of my own preaching. 'While I was expounding in the Minories a well-dressed, middle-aged woman suddenly cried out as in the agonies of death. She continued so to do for some time, with all the signs of the sharpest anguish of spirit. When she had somewhat recovered, I requested her to call on me the next day. She then told me that about three years before, she was under strong convictions of sin and in such terror of mind, that she had comfort in nothing, nor had she any rest, day or night. She sent for the minister of her parish, and told him the distress she was in, upon which he told her husband that she was stark mad, and advised him to send for a physician immediately.
A physician was sent for accordingly, who ordered her to be blooded, blistered, and so on.
But this did not heal her wounded spirit, so she continued much as she was before. But the night before, He whose word she at first found to be 'sharper than any two-edged sword,' gave her a faint hope, that He would undertake her cause, and heal the soul which had sinned against Him." 15
I saw it again on March 6 (one of the most surprising instances of His power I ever remember to have seen), when I visited a Mrs. Compton, who was 'above measure enraged at this new way, and zealous in opposing it. Finding argument to be of no other effect, than to inflame her more and more, I broke off the dispute, and desired we
'STbid., p. 172.
The Call to Bristol
might join in prayer, which she so far consented to as to kneel down. In a few minutes she fell into an extreme agony, both of body and soul; and soon after cried out with the utmost earnestness, 'Now I know I am forgiven for Christ's sake.' Many other words she uttered to the same effect, witnessing a hope full of immortality. And from that hour, God hath set her face as a flint to declare the faith which before she persecuted.''?© These experiences had a strange effect upon me. The depression caused by my lack of full assurance subsided. I do not recall another season of deep despair for better than a quarter of a century.?7 I could even allow myself to think freely upon death without any great consequence. My ministry had been confirmed, authenticated. It was working! By God's grace, England would have its apostle Paul!
Mr. Whitefield had left for Bristol (again, collecting monies for his Georgia orphan house) on February 7.*° A week later he arrived, and with boundless energy (he was but twenty-five at the time, ten years my junior) began preaching, first in the prison and religious societies, but then (as the churches were closed to him) in the fields.1° I remember an article from the Gentlemen's Magazine (1739) tsibid.p. 179:
17 According to the Works, Wesley does not again express deep despair until June 27, 1766 (Letters, Vol. V, pp. 15ff.).
18[n route, Whitefield visited Wesley's mother in Salisbury. She wrote to Samuel, Jr.: "Mr. Whitefield has been making a progress through these parts, to make a collection for a house in Georgia for orphans. ..
. He came thither to see me, and we talked about your brothers. I told him] did not like their way of living, and wished them in some place of their own, wherein they might regularly preach, etc. He replied, 'I could not conceive the good they did in London; that the greatest part of our clergy were asleep, and that there never was a greater need for itinerant preachers than now.'
. I then asked Mr. Whitefield if my sons were not for making some innovations in the church, which! much feared. He assured me that they were so far from it, that they endeavored all they could to reconcile Dissenters to our communion.
. His stay was short, so I could not talk with him as much as I desired. He seemed to be a very good man, and one who truly desires the salvation of mankind. God grant that the wisdom of the serpent may be joined with the innocence of the dove!"' (George J. Stevenson, Memorials of the Wesley Family, London, 1876, p. 216).
Harris, a Welshman, had established a strong precedent for field preaching which Whitefield greatly admired.
John Wesley: His Life and Theology describing his ministry at this time: ""On Saturday, 18th inst., he [Mr. Whitefield] preached at Hannam Mount to five or six thousand persons, and in the evening removed to the Common, about half a mile farther, where Three
Mounts and the plains around were crowded with so great a multitude of coaches, foot and horsemen, that they covered three acres and were computed at 20,000 people; and, at both places, he collected fourteen pounds, ten shillings for the Orphan House in Georgia."'?°
While Mr. Whitefield had begun the work in Bristol I labored on, mostly in London, strengthening the Societies.
Then, toward the end of March, I received the following letter from Mr. Whitefield: "If the brethren, after prayerful direction, think proper, I wish you would be here the latter end of next week. Brother Hutchins [John Hutchings] sets out to-morrow for Dummer. Mr. Chapman brings a horse to London, which you may ride.I go away, God willing, next Monday Se'enight. If you were here before my departure, it might be best. Many are ripe for bands. I leave that entirely to you."' In a postscript, dated March 23, he adds:
"I beseech you, come next week; it is advertised in this day's journal... the people expect you much... our brethren advise you should go through Basingstoke and call at Dummer, and there take the horse Brother Hutchins rides thither. Whosoever you may appoint shall ride
Brother Chapman's. The Lord direct us in all things!''?! It would appear that Mr. Whitefield had left little to chance.
Yet, I was not convinced! Since it was a rule of the Society first to consult the bands, I sought their counsel (more especially the Fetter Lane Society, since this was the one to which I was particularly accountable.)?? Many in the Soci- ~ 20Gentlemen's Magazine for 1739, p. 162.
Vol. II, p. 156n. The mention of bands is significant. The letter is addressed: "The Reverend Mr. John Wesley, at Mr. John Bray's
(the location of Charles Wesley's conversion, May 21, 1738), a brazier, in Little Britain in Aldersgate Street, London."'
2Wesley's ties with the Society at Fetter Lane remained close until it was infested by a strange form of Moravian stillness (where one was asked to remain perfectly quiet or still, daring not to use even the means of grace lest they relied too much upon their own righteousness) so that Wi was forced to take a part of that society to the Foundery a year or so ater.
The Call to Bristol deren, ety, and especially my brother Charles, were opposed.*?
Furthermore, each time we consulted the Scriptures, they seemed to suggest that such a move would result in my martyrdom, so that once again (though without the despair that usually accompanied it) I became nearly obsessed with thoughts of dying.*4 I was certain that 1 was about to finish my course (I felt that the burden of ministry had finally taken its toll upon my entire constitution), but I was determined to do so with joy. So, all other things being equal, we resorted to casting the ''lot'' with the result that on Thursday, March 29, 1739, I left London for Bristol.
[ arrived in Bristol on Saturday evening and immediately met with Mr. Whitefield. It seemed that someone had said to him upon his return from Georgia: "If you would preach to the heathen, then go to the colliers of Kingswood (a short distance from Bristol)." In all of England these Kingswood colliers, or miners, were notorious for their godlessness and evil tempers. In the bitter winter weeks of February,
1739 (the coldest I remember for these fifty years), Mr.
Whitefield gathered out of doors a congregation of colliers on Kingswood Hill. Although the influence of his powerful sermons opened for a brief interval certain churches in Bristol, before the month of February closed he was once again excluded from every church. He then preached in the upper room of the Baldwin Street Society, in the meeting place of the Nicholas Street Society, and in the room of the Society outside Lawford's Gate (which was connected with the parish poorhouse), and at various villages around Bristol. He extended his labors to Wales, where he was associated with Howell Harris. Perhaps his most striking
23Charles Wesley writes: 'We dissuaded my brother from going to Bristol, from an unaccountable fear that it would prove fatal to him. A great power was among us. He offered himself willingly to whatsoever the Lord should appoint. The next day he set out, commended by us to the grace of God. He left a blessing behind. I desired to die with him."
24The Scriptures referred to were (as they occurred): "'Get thee up unto this mountain .
. and die in the mount whither thou goest up, and be gathered unto thy people" (Deuteronomy 32:49,50). "And the children of Israel wept for Moses in the plains of Moab thirty days'
(Deuteronomy 34:8). I will shew him how great things he must suffer for my name's sake'' (Acts 9:16). "And devout men carried Stephen to his burial, and made great lamentation over him" (Acts 8:2).
John Wesley: His Life and Theology successes, however, were won in the open air at Kingswood, including Hannam Mount, Rose Green, and the Fishponds. By the time of my arrival, therefore, a proper revival had begun, especially among these miners. As Mr.
Whitefield was about to leave for Wales I was determined to sustain this great work and follow the example of his remarkable ministry. I say remarkable mostly because of his strange way of preaching in the open fields, "having been all my life so tenacious of every point relating to decency and order, that I should have thought the saving of souls almost a sin if it had not been done in a church."
The following morning at 8:00, he set me a proper example for such field preaching at the Bowling Green, then again at Hannam Mount at 12:30, and again at Rose Green at 4:00, to crowds so large that I would have thought it impossible for one quarter of them to hear. However, all were as quiet as the grave and none, bless God, left without food enough on which to feast.
That evening, I expounded our Lord's Sermon on the Mount (one pretty remarkable precedent of field preaching, though there were houses of worship at that time also) to a little society which was accustomed to meeting once or twice a week in Nicholas Street.
The next afternoon at 4:00, speaking from alittle hillina parcel of ground adjoining the city, to about 3,000 people, I became more forceful than I ever thought possible and proclaimed in the highways the glad tidings of salvation.
The Scripture on which I preached was this: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he hath anointed me to preach the gospel to the poor; he hath sent me to heal the' brokenhearted, to preach deliverance to the captives, and. recovering of sight to the blind, to set at liberty them that? are bruised, to preach the acceptable year of the Lord"
(Luke 4:18,19). Surely this should be true of every sincere: minister of Christ.
Then at 7:00 I followed the natural sequence (which is: the genius of our Revival) and met with our society in Baldwin Street in order to gather the seed which fell upon: good soil for confession and prayer. Without this we be-
The Call to Bristol 257). come little more than a rope of sand.
Even as I speak it occurs to me that I should not give you the impression that those within the Societies were without blemish. In December, 1738, I noticed that the perennial problem of backsliding, even among the bands, had again returned. With the outbreak of revival and the formation of new Societies the problem increased. My only solution was the introduction of a doctrine of perfection which implicitly required a doctrine of perseverance. This brings us toa subject I hold dear—the absolute necessity of a doctrine which should be the distinguishing mark among the people called Methodist. It arose out of a practical need. It was not enough to emphasize only the Moravian concept of imputed righteousness. In order to survive spiritually the Christian needed to live his life in such a way that imputed righteousness might give rise to imparted righteousness. Involving both the teleiosis of Marcarius and Syrus and the holiness of Taylor, going on to perfection meant that the goal of life was holiness, fullness of faith, and the consecration of the whole self to God and neighbor in love. If one was not delivering one's whole life to God continually, backsliding was the inevitable result. I remember a letterI wrote on July 2, 1739: "It was incredible what advantage Satan hath gained here by my absence of only eight days. Disputes had crept in, and the love of many was waxed cold; so that all our society was falling in pieces." Again on July 23, I wrote: 'To guard young converts from fancying that they had already attained, or were already perfect, I preached on those words: 'So is the kingdom of God, and when a man casteth seed into the ground,... first the blade, then the ear, then the full corn'"" (Mark 4:26-28).25 As I endeavored to guard those who were in their first love from falling into inordinate affection, the preaching of perfection was the only answer.
As I conclude this part of the narrative, it must be said that the organization of the Societies (and the doctrines which sustained them) was not the only thing important to the beginning of the Revival. There was another sig25Works, Vol. I, p. 212.
John Wesley: His Life and Theology nificant influence as well—the building of our preaching houses. These gave both a stability and a high degree of visibility throughout. On May 9, 1739, just a month and ten days after my arrival in Bristol, we took possession of a piece of ground, near St. James' churchyard in the Horsefair, where we could build a room large enough to contain both the Societies of Nicholas and Baldwin Streets, and such of their friends who might desire to be present with them whenever the Scripture was expounded. On Saturday, May 12, the first stone was laid, with the voice of praise and thanksgiving.
I remember paying the workmen out of my own pocket.
This was the first of our Methodist chapels. Now there is not a county, and hardly a sizable town, without a similar room built specifically for expounding the Scripture and housing our Societies and bands. Shortly after our
Societies in Bristol were strong enough to carry on the work of the Revival independently of me, and had, in fact, raised up other shepherds to tend the flock, our ministry began to spread rapidly.
The Foundery, you might recall, was not taken over in London until 1740, after the Moravian split.