Who knows but, by-and-by, God may utterly take it away ?"
Wesley always rejoiced to visit Newcastle : his Societies there grew and multiplied in the midst of difficulties of all kinds: everything tended to strengthen him in the conviction that his labour had not been in vain.
We have seen how in many instances the evil dispositions which he had at first to encounter gave place to better feelings. Mobs became less frequent and less difficult to subdue: Wesley often succeeded in gaining the upper hand through the influence of those on whom his preaching had produced beneficial effects. By degrees, respectable people, who had only been misled by false reports into taking part with the rioters, were restored to a sense of propriety and a peaceable temper, and thus served as a rallying point to the missionary. The unruly ones often found antagonists in those on whose support they had confidently reckoned. At times, the opponents of the night before, wearied out if not quite vanquished, quietly ranged themselves among the audience of the next morning. The irresolution, also, of the mob frequently betrayed itself in such a way as to lead to an easy victory.
After visiting the public-house of the neighbourhood, they would set out with drums beating and flags flying, promising themselves that this time they would make such an example of the preacher that he would never wish to set foot in that part of the country again. Wesley would advance to meet them, shake hands with the leaders of the mob, speak a few kind words to them, and finally ask them |
The Conquest of the Mob. 145 to join his congregation, which they not unfrequently did, so well pleased were they with the unexpected salutation.
Sometimes he contented himself with sending one of his friends, not even doing them the honour of interrupting the service on their account. Such was the case on one occasion at Reading, and the plan was quite successful. A large number of bargemen had assembled to interrupt the preaching. One of the friends, a Mr. Richards, came up and accosted them, and asked "if they would go with him and hear a good sermon, telling them, I would make room for you, if you were as many more. 'They said they would go with all their hearts. 'But neighbours,' said he,
'would it not be as well to leave those clubs behind you?
Perhaps some of the women may be frighted at them ?'
They threw them all away," and came quietly to the preaching. At the end of the sermon, their captain, who was a head taller than his fellows, rose, and looking round upon the congregation, said, "The gentleman says nothing but what is good: I say so; and there is not a man here that shall dare to say otherwise."
The populace were not always, however, so easily subdued. In many places their malevolence continued unabated, especially where it was fostered by the civil or religious authorities. At Shepton, for example, the mob, assembled by the beating of a drum, surrounded the house at which Wesley was staying, and broke all the windows. One of the ringleaders succeeded in effecting an entrance ; but, being separated from his friends, his courage failed, and he did not know what to do. A stone thrown from without struck him on his forehead, and inflicted aseyere wound, whereupon he became exceedingly alarmed, and kept as close as possible to Wesley, saying, € Q,. Six, are we to dieto-night ? What must Ido? What must 1 do?" "Pray to God," was the reply, "He is able to deliver you from all danger." The poor fellow took this
L "146 Rapid Progress. advice, and began praying as he had never prayed before While the mob were busy considering how to set the house on fire, Wesley succeeded in making his escape by a back door.
At Bolton, Wesley extricated himself from a similarly embarrassing situation by means of one of those happy inspirations which are so frequent in his history. '" We had no sooner entered the main street," he says, '' than we perceived the lions at Rochdale were lambs in comparison of those at Bolton. Such rage and bitterness I scarce ever saw before in any creatures that bore the form of men.
They followed us in full cry to the house where we went ; and as soon as we were gone in, took possession of all the avenues to it, and filled the street from one end to the other.... But they did not design to carry on the attack at a distance: presently one ran up and told us, the mob had burst into the house.... Believing the time was now come, | walked down into the thickest of them. They had now filled all the rooms below. I called for a chair.
The winds were hushed, and all was calm and still. My heart was filled with love, my eyes with tears, and my mouth with arguments. They were amazed, they were ashamed, they were melted down, they devoured every word. What a turn was this! O how did God change the counsel of the old Ahithophel into foolishness, and bring all the drunkards, swearers, Sabbath-breakers, and mere sinners in the place to hear of His plenteous redemption |"
While he could, if necessary, be bold asa lion, he could also manifest the sweetness and gentleness of a lamb. He could forgive as well as suffer injury, a power without which he could never have conquered the mob. At Dewsbury, 4 man overflowing with rage broke through the serried ranks of his audience, and, coming up to the preacher, struck him with all his might on the side of his
The Bolton Mob. 147 face. The blow was so violent as to bring tears into his eyes ; but without a moment's hesitation, Wesley, according to Christ's precept, turned the other cheek. Amazed and confounded, the fierce assailant fell back, and sought to hide his face. From that time he became the devoted friend of the Methodists, and on a subsequent occasion risked his life to save one of their chapels from destruction.
Meanwhile, the success of the movement had become unquestionable. The Revival was no longer a delicate germ lodged in a few faithful hearts: it was already a vigorous. and flourishing tree, destined to attain the most ample proportions. In the midst of this general prosperity there were some less pleasing features. Some of the Societies were infested with doctrinal and other errors, and with graver evils, which the moral condition of the nation explains though it cannot justify. Against these, Wesley contended with all his might. Along the coast, lax notions prevailed as to the rights of property: smuggling and wrecking were considered perfectly lawful by these untutored people, many of whom gained their living by such means. 'To reform such practices required time. By pointing out to his hearers the real character of these offences, and rigidly excluding from his Societies all who were addicted to them, Wesley did more for the suppression of such abuses than either the police or the customs. -_
Whenever Wesley heard of any disorder breaking out in a Society, he immediately hastened to visit it. At Bristol, owing to the exercise of discipline and some internal troubles, the number of members was reduced by one half. To remedy this state of things, he appointed a special fast, and, as a consequence, a revival took.place which fully healed the breach. The Norwich Society had collapsed through the defection of a preacher : with very great difficulty, he succeeded in raising a new cause. In L2 148 Rapid Progress.
Lancashire, a similar occurrence led to a schism which was deeply painful to Wesley's mind.
Another source of anxiety was the zeal with which certain false teachers strove to undermine the faith. Disputes more curious than useful, and debates on theological subjects, sprang up in various places and distracted the minds of the people from vital. and practical godliness.
Wesley was not long in declaring open war with the authors of the mischief: he knew full well that if once this spirit was allowed to reign in the Societies, it would soon put an end to theirexistence. Staffordshire suffered most from these evils : the Antinomian teachers made great havoc in that district. ' What a work would have been in all these parts," exclaims Wesley, "if it had not been for doubtful disputations! If the Predestinarians had not thrown back those who began to run well, partly into the world, partly to the Baptists, and partly into endless disputes concerning the secret counsels of God! While we carried our lives in our hands, none of these came near ; the waves ran too high for them ; but when all was calm, they poured in on every side, and bereaved us of our children."
These ultra-Calvinists professedly followed Whitefield, but they carried his doctrine to unwarrantable lengths, and deduced from it practical consequences which he would have indignantly condemned. Wesley was himself perfectly at one with his former fellow-labourer. Their hearts were too profoundly Christian to remain divided. They exchanged pulpits, and frequently visited each other. "Mr. Whitefield," he wrote, during a visit to London, "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." Wesley frequently met the leaders of Calvinistic Methodism: on one occasion he preached. before them at the house of Lady Huntingdon, and administered the Lord's Supper : among the communicants
Sources of Anxiety and Encouragement. 149 wete Whitefield, Madan, Romaine, Venn, Griffith Jones, and others.
When he reflected on the labours of these men of God, and of those immediately connected with himself, Wesley could not but be profoundly thankful for the great things God had wrought in the land. This sentiment finds expression in his journal about this time. "From a deep sense of the amazing work which God has of late years wrought in England, I preached in the evening on those words, 'He hath not dealt so with any nation,' (Psalm exlvii. 20 ;) no, not even with Scotland or New England.
In both these God has indeed made bare His arm ; yet not in so astonishing a manneras among us. This must appear to all who impartially consider : 1. The numbers of persons on whom God has wrought. 2. The swiftness of His work in many, both convinced and truly converted in a few days.
3. The depth of it in most of these, changing the heart as well as the whole conversation. 4. The clearness of it, enabling them boldly to say, 'Thou hast loved me ; Thou hast given Thyself forme.' 5. The continuance of it. God has wrought in Scotland and New England, at several times, for some weeks or months together ; but among us,
He has wrought for near eighteen years together, without any observable intermission. Above all, let it be remarked, that a considerable number of the regular clergy were engaged in that great work in Scotland; and in New
England above an hundred, perhaps as eminent as any in the whole province, not only for piety, but also for abilities, both natural and acquired ; whereas in England there were only two or three inconsiderable clergymen, with a few young, raw, unlettered men ; and these opposed by wellnigh all the clergy as well as laity in the nation. He that remarks this must needs own, both that this is a work of God, and that He hath not wrought so in any other nation."
Wesley had now reached middle age, without losing 150 Rapid Progress. anything of the ardour and activity of youth. He travelled at least five thousand miles a year, for the most part on horseback, without the least regard to inclemency of weather. He preached twice or thrice a day, and invariably conducted a service at five o'clock in the morning, all the year round. While traversing all the counties in England, he read works of every description : theology, history, literature, science, all had an interest for him, and he could at any time draw upon the resources thus accumulated ; his literary tastes were as strong as ever, the classical writers of antiquity being still his favourite study. Very few men were more widely read than Wesley: the observations on his reading which abound throughout his journals indicate an independent and, generally speaking, a sound and accurate judgment.
Endowed with a happy disposition, he lightly bore the weight of occupations so numerous that the catalogue seems incredible. Ten thousand cares, he assures us, troubled him no more than ten thousand hairs on his head. All contemporaneous witnesses agree in describing him as possessed of a sweet serenity of mind that seemed to communicate itself to all who came'in contact with him.
Alexander Knox, who, though not a follower of Wesley's, was for twenty years his intimate friend, says, "His countenance as well as conversation expressed an habitual gaiety of heart, which nothing but conscious virtue and innocence could have bestowed. He was in truth, the most perfect specimen of moral happiness I have ever seen, and my acquaintance with him taught me better than anything else I have seen or heard or read, except in the sacred Volume, what a heaven upon earth is implied in the maturity of Christian piety."
The simplicity and frugality of his habits enabled him to bear with ease privations and crosses which to ordinary men would have been intolerable. By dint of economy,
Wesley's Character and Habits. 151 he succeeded in keeping his expenses within such moderate limits that he was no burden to the Societies: indeed, he accepted nothing from them but the humble hospitality offered him while on his journeys. His publications, however, were a source of revenue which gradually increased as the progress of Methodism enlarged the circle. of his readers. But this multiplication of his resources only furnished him with the means of multiplying his liberalities. While he had thirty pounds a year, he lived on twenty-eight, and gave away forty shillings. The next year receiving sixty pounds, he still lived on twenty-eight, and gave away two-and-thirty. The third year he received minety pounds, and gave away sixty-two. The fourth year he received one hundred and twenty pounds. Still he lived as before on twenty-eight, and gave to the poor ninety-two. It is calculated that in the course of his life he gave away thirty thousand pounds. His mode of life was so simple that when the collectors of taxes applied to him, supposing that so considerable a personage must have a large quantity of plate, he replied as follows :—
"T have two silver tea-spoons at London and two at Bristol: that is all the plate I possess at present, and I shall not bay,more while so many of titspoor want bread around me.' Wesley had long thought that the itinerant character of ve his ministry necessitated his renouncing the idea of marriage. Celibacy was attractive to him, and in a pamphlet entitled, "Thoughts on a Single Life," he recommended it to all those who could devote themselves to it "for the kingdom of heaven's sake." His opinions on this subject underwent some modifications, and he was led to seek a companion for life. His thoughts first turned toward a widow lady residing at Newcastle, who appears to have possessed all the qualities necessary for his happiness. Unfortunately, several friends, among whom must
152 Rapid Progress. be mentioned Charles Wesley and Whitefield, somewhat hastily interfered, in such a way as to prevent the consummation of his wishes. Wesley felt deeply, and for some time gave up all thoughts of marriage.
Perronet, his counsellor and friend, brought the subject before him again in 1751, and introduced him to a Mrs.
Vizelle, also a widow lady, who appeared likely to make a suitable partner.
Wesley entered too heartily into his friend's views, and too precipitately asked the lady's hand. His offer was accepted, and the marriage took place. By this step he was, however, far from intending to circumscribe his sphere of labour. Hence, in the arrangements preceding the marriage he expressly refused to have any control over his wife's fortune, and also stipulated that he should not be obliged to preach one sermon or to travel one mile less than he had been accustomed to do. " If I thought it would be otherwise," said Wesley to the lady herself,
"much as I love you, I would see your face no more."
Unhappily, in giving her consent to this arrangement, Mrs, Wesley promised more than she was able to perform, and experience showed her husband that he had committed an irreparable error. All her good qualities were, in fact, neutralized by one great fault, viz., jealousy. Incapable of comprehending the loftiness and purity of her husband's spirit and aims, she allowed herself to be misled by her imagination into the most absurd and outrageous suspicions.
Finding that she could not induce him to adopt a sedentary life, which he would have deemed a flagrant violation of his special mission, she gave free course to her evil temper and her evil thoughts. Under the dominion of this unworthy passion, she sometimes travelled a distance of a hundred miles in order to watch him as he entered a town, and to see who was travelling with him. She opened his letters, searched his private papers, and sometimes
Wesley's Marriage. 153 handed them over to his enemies, in the hope of affixing some stigma upon his character.
This monomania so blinded the unfortunate woman, that more than once she left her husband's roof, and only returned at his earnest solicitation. At last, however, she took her final leave, carrying with her a portion of her husband's papers, and declaring she would never come back. This time the severance was complete. Wesley, who for twenty years had endured a daily martyrdom, wrote in his journal the following note. "January 23d,
1771.—For what cause I know not to this day, set out for Newcastle, purposing 'never to return. Non eam reliqui : non dimisi : non revocabo." * "Thus was summarily dissolved," says Southey, " this unfortunate marriage. Mrs. Wesley lived ten years after this separation, and her epitaph describes her as a woman of exemplary piety, a tender mother, and a devoted friend : but it prudently says nothing about her virtues as a wife." — a "During twenty years," says Stevens, "she persecuted him with unfounded suspicions and intolerable annoyances, and it is among the most admirable proofs of the genuine greatness of his character that his public career never wavered, never lost one jot of its energy or success, during this protracted domestic wretchedness." one igre
In the autumn of 1753, as a consequence of his excessive labours, Wesley had a dangerous illness: his physicians feared consumption, and ordered an entire cessation of his labours and retirement into the country. The Societies became alarmed at the news, and offered public prayers for his restoration. Everything seemed to point to a fatal consummation, and Wesley himself expected it, as is proved by the following epitaph which, "to prevent vile pane- * "T did not desert her: I did not send her away: I will not recall her."
. 154 . Rapid Progress. gyric," he composed himself: —"Here lieth the body of John Wesley, a brand plucked out of the burning: who died of a consumption in the fifty-first year of his age, not leaving, after his debts are paid, ten pounds behind him ; praying, God be merciful to me an unprofitable servant."
[He ordered that this, if any, inscription should be placed on his tombstone." | This illness called forth many testimonies of sympathy from all quarters, and showed the real sentiments entertained toward him by those who differed from him in their religious views. None of these testimonies were more precious than that of Whitefield. The letter written by the former fellow-labourer of Wesley does too much honour to both to be withheld. It proves also, what we have shown already, that every touch of bitterness had disappeared from the intercourse of these two servants of God, and that both were living in that lofty region where the evils of this world are as if they were not, because God is all in all.
" Bristol, December 3d, 1753.
" Ray. anD Very Dear Sirn,— "Tf seeing you so weak when leaving London distressed me, the news and prospect of your approaching dissolution hath quite weighed me down. I pity myself and the Church, but not you. A radiant throne awaits you, and ere long you will enter into your Master's joy. Yonder He stands with a massy crown, ready to put it on your head, amidst an admiring throng of saints and angels. But I, poor I, that have been waiting for my dissolution these nineteen years, must be left behind to grovel here below!
Well! this is my comfort; it cannot be long ere the chariots will be sent even for worthless me. If prayers can detain them, even you, Rey. and Dear Sir, shall not leave us yet ; but if the decree is gone forth, that you must now fall
Illness and Recovery. 155 asleep in Jesus, may He kiss your soul away, and give you to die in the embraces of triumphant love! If in the land of the dying, I hope to pay my last respects to you next week. If not, Rev. and very Dear Sir, Farewell. igo sequar, etsi non passibus wequis.* My heart is too big, tears trickle down too fast, and you are, I fear, too weak, for me to enlarge. Underneath you may there be Christ's everlasting arms! I commend you to His never-failing mercy, and am, "Rey. and very Dear Sir, " Your most affectionate, sympathizing, and afflicted younger brother in the Gospel of our common Lord, " G, WHITEFIELD."
Whitefield's fears were not realized, and Wesley was restored to health. Jor nearly forty years he was yet to be engaged in the service of God and of the Churches. His recovery was slow. 'The leisure thus afforded he made use of in preparing several works for the press. He finished the revision of various works destined to'form part of the " Christian Family Library," a series of volumes in which he had abridged the works of many eminent authors for the use of his Societies. From Lewisham he removed to the Hot-Wells, near Bristol, and there commenced his " Notes on the New Testament," a work which notwithstanding its conciseness of expression, abounds in valuable thought.
On the return of spring, Wesley resumed his ordinary labours with renewed vigour.
* "T shall follow, though not with equal steps."
INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL PROSPERITY: AMERICA.
Westey was almost a sexagenarian at the commencement of the decade upon which we are now entering: his activity, however, suffered no abatement. Though in years he was bordering on old age, in the ardour with which he prosecuted his work he was as young asever. That work had two important features, evangelization and organization.
Asketch of the latter, as gradually developed in his Societies, we shall reserve for a separate chapter. In this we shall continue to follow the course of Wesley's evangelistic labours. The success that had attended his long itinerancy was too marked for him to dream of relinquishing that mode of action : to have settled down into a sedentary life would not only have ill accorded with his own tastes but also have proved a death-blow to his Societies. At that period of their existence they more than ever needed the vital bond which his strong authority established and maintained among them. Had they been deprived of this at so early a stage of their history, they would, in all probability, have been reduced to total dissolution, through the influence of sectarian strife, and their providential mission have been frustrated.
Wesley's energies were still devoted to incessant journeyings : his parish comprised the three kingdoms, and ever widening, fell little short of realizing his own ideal, expressed in the memorable words, " The world is my parish."
In 1760, and several succeeding years, he had the happiness of witnessing a remarkable revival, which spread throughout his Societies. Wesley had from the beginning both received himself, and preached to others, the doctrine
Christian Perfection. 157 of Christian perfection : he believed and taught that it is possible for a Christian in this life to obtain a complete deliverance from sin. Even at Oxford, he had discovered among his favourite authors this precious gem, though its brilliance was clouded by the thick smoke of mystical imaginations. He had gradually restored it to its pristine purity, and to its place in the cabinet of Scripture truth.
According to his view, deliverance from sin, like all other blessings of the New Covenant, was the fruit of the redeeming work of the Cross, but, like them, it was to be attained only by the wrestling faith of the individual Christian.
This inspiriting doctrine, though held by Wesley from the beginning, was not of a nature to be immediately grasped, in all its comprehensiveness, by his people. It was necessary that his preaching should be mainly directed to the fundamental articles of the faith, providing first milk for babes and then strong meat for those of riper years. But when once the Societies were well grounded in the rudiments of our holy religion, it needed that they should be built up, and Wesley believed that this doctrine was "the grand depositum that God had committed to the Methodists, and that their special mission was to spread Scriptural holiness through the land."
The great revival which made its appearance in the year 1760, indicated that this mission was being taken up in good earnest. For a long time a considerable spiritual quickening was observable throughout the Societies.
- "Here began," says Wesley, "that glorious work of sanctification which had been nearly at a stand for twenty years.
But from time to time it spread, first through various parts of Yorkshire, afterwards in London, then through most parts of England ; next through Dublin, Limerick, and all the south and west of Ireland. And wherever the work | of sanctification increased, the whole work of God increased in all its branches,"
158 Internal and External Prosperity.
Wesley's journals of this period are full of details respecting the progress of this remarkable work. Wherever he goes, he finds that the Societies are strengthened -and increased under the vivifying breath of the Spirit of God, and while their internal life is thus developed, their external activity is more abundantly rewarded with success. In March, 1761, he called many of his preachers together at Leeds, in order to concert measures for the further promotion of this great movement : he saw plainly that in their preaching they ought to aim more than ever at encouraging and directing the people in their aspirations after holiness.
From these brethren he learned that the revival was extending over all Yorkshire and Lincolnshire. <A flame was kindled also at Manchester which he trusted "neither men nor devils would ever be able to quench." 'Many persons in London," he says, 'have experienced so deep and universal a change as it had not entered into their hearts to conceive." At Bristol, the Society was larger than it had been for many years. "God was pleased to pour out His
Spirit this year," he writes, "on every part both of England and Ireland; perhaps in a manner we had never seen before ; certainly not for twenty years."
"Our day of Pentecost," he writes again in 1762, "is fully come." In London alone there were four hundred witnesses of deliverance from all sin. At Liverpool, the Society was wonderfully quickened; and Wesley found a remarkable maturity in their piety. ' What do you want now ?" said he to a girl of twelve years. '" Nothing in this world," said she with amazing energy, "nothing but more of my Jesus."
The revival that broke out in Dublin, Wesley deemed the most remarkable of all. The main instrument of it was Jobn Manners, 'a plain man, of middling sense, and not eloquent, but rather rude in speech ; one who had never before been remarkably useful, but seemed to be raised up
The Great Revival of 1760. 159 for this single work. And as soon as it was done, he fell into a consumption, languished a while, and died." In one of his letters he writes to Wesley, "The people are all on fire. Such a day as last SundayI never saw. While I was at prayer in the Society, the power of the Lord overshadowed us, and some cried out, ' Lord, I can believe !'"
On visiting Dublin, Wesley found the truth had not been at all exceeded. 'In some respects," he says, " the work of God in this place was more remarkable than even that in London. 1. It is far greater in proportion to the time, and to the number of the people....2. The work was more pure. In all this time, while they were mildly and tenderly treated, there were none of them headstrong or unadvisable ; none that were wiser than their teachers ; none who dreamed of being immortal or infallible, or incapable of temptation ; in short, no whimsical or enthusiastic persons : all were calm and sober-minded." This eulogium on the work at Dublin involves a censure on that in London. We shall see presently that there was room for this.
At Limerick, Edinderry, and other places in Ireland, a similar work was being carried on in many hearts, and the presence of Wesley was as a spark to set them in a flame.
At the close of 1763, Wesley wrote, " Here I stood, and looked back on the late occurrences. Before Thomas Walsh left England, God began that great work which has continued ever since without any considerable intermission.
During the whole time, many have been convinced of sin, many justified, and many backsliders healed. But the peculiar work of this season has been what St. Paul calls
'the perfecting of the saints.' Many persons in London, in Bristol, in York, and in various parts both of England and Ireland, have experienced so deep and universal a change as it had not before entered into their hearts to conceive. After a deep conviction of inbred sin, of their total fall from God, they have been so filled with faith and 160 Internal and External Prosperity. love, (and generally in a moment,) that sin vanished, and they found from that time no pride, anger, desire, or unbelief. They could rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and in everything give thanks. Now, whether we call this the destruction or suspension of sin, it is a glorious work of God: such a work as, considering both the depth and extent of it, we never saw in these kingdoms before."
Wesley had, as we have said, good reason to complain of the mischief that had been done by certain enthusiasts in London. Among the local preachers was a military man, named George Bell, whose flighty imagination was so captivated by the doctrine of deliverance from sin as to betray him into dangerous errors. He pretended to be infallible, declared that he was free from temptation, and, fully possessed with the idea of his own superior spirituality, entirely revolted against the authority of a Christian of less lofty pretensions. He believed himself endowed with the gift of miracles, and accordingly attempted to heal a blind man. The failure that followed this exercise of his gift did not' by any means undeceive either himself or the simple souls that gave credence to his professions,
The fanaticism spread, and Wesley was grieved to see Thomas Maxfield, the oldest of his preachers, rallying round its standard.
The party thus formed taught that a person who is merely justified is not born of God, but that when once sanctified, he need no longer watch and pray ; his sole duty is to believe, and, further, that he can neither sin nor fall from grace. These errors spread with alarming rapidity, and, after trying in vain the effect of forbearance aud persuasion,
Wesley was compelled to exclude George Bell from the Society. A mad prophecy of Bell's, to the effect that the world would come to an end on the 28th of February,
1763, obtained such currency, that, for the sake of his Maxfield and Bell. 161 own reputation, and that of his Societies, Wesley was obliged to disown all partnership in it through the medium of the public journals.
The partisans of George Bell'were too far advanced'in their views to be at all disconcerted by the non-fulfilment of the prophecy ; they discovered all sorts of reasons, satisfactory to their own minds, for the delay of the grand catastrophe which they had so anxiously awaited. The exclusion of their leader from the Societies was the signal for their retirement ;and about one hundred and seventy resigned their connection with Wesley. To those who endeavoured to dissuade them, they replied, "Blind John is not capable of teaching us; we willkeep to Mr. Maxfield." he latter also, in spite of all the efforts of his old friend to retain him, completely broke with him, and became the recognized pastor of the disaffected ones.
It was manifest that, but for the exercise of discipline, the innovators would have destroyed the Societies. If, instead of leaving them to take the initiative, Wesley had from the first used his authority, he would perhaps thereby have avoided even the appearance of complicity in their excesses, as well as the danger of furnishing an argument to those who held that the doctrine of entire sanctification necessarily involved these dangerous consequences, But he hoped that mildness would avail more than severity.
One of his members said to him one day, "Sir, I employ several men. Now, if one of my servants will not follow my direction, is it not right for me to discard him at once? Pray, do you apply this to Mr. Bell." His answer shows the nature of his scruples: "It is right to discard such a servant; but what would you do if he were your son ?"
When the division took place, he felt it deeply. Maxfield having refused to preach in his turn at the Foundery, Wesley took his place and preached from the words, "If I - ; 162 Internal and External Prosperity. be bereaved of my children, I am bereaved." And he adds in his journal, "So the breach ismade ; but I am clear, I have done all I possibly could to prevent it."
Such eccentricities are not uncommon concomitants of a religious revival. They did not, however, in this instance paralyze the glorious work of which they were the parody.
"We have lost," says Wesley, "the dross; the pure gold remains: that is to say, faith which worketh by love; and we have good reason to believe that it increases every day."
Apart from these agitations, the work was generally in a prosperous condition, as Wesley found in the course of his journeys. He observed that the Revival slackened not in its onward march at any single point: not only was the work increasing on the old stations, but new ones were continually opening up. Wherever he went he met with ' the warmest reception, and his visits stimulated the zeal of the Societies already formed, and encouraged them to prosecute new enterprises. In many places his five o'clock services were so numerously attended that no place was large enough to hold the people ; and he was obliged to preach in the open air. At Birstal, the hill-side was crowded with a congregation of twenty thousand. At Leeds, his audiences were equally numerous, and a profound sensation was produced. At Newcastle, although the interest of novelty no longer existed, he preached in the public places to multitudes exceeding all he had ever seen; so much so, that his voice could not reach them all.
Cornwall always furnished immense and deeply attentive audiences, and there he was perhaps more at home than anywhere else. The natural amphitheatre at Gwennap was his favourite preaching-place in this county. In it he could address with ease multitudes who could not have heard him on level ground. There, on a peaceful summer's eve, while the setting sun cast its slanting rays
" Gwennap Pit" and '* Wesley Rock." 168 upon the scene, he would lift his clear and resonant voice, and then many thousands of human voices responded to his own, chanting one of his own or his brother's hymns to one of those sweet and simple melodies which England possesses in such abundance. At St. Ives, a lofty rock served for his pulpit, while the audience were ranged on a level sward that stretched far away to the sea. Wesley was by no means insensible to the advantages possessed by such spots as these: he knew how impressible the people were, and how eloquent to simple souls was the voice of nature.
In Ireland, great success still attended the preaching.
At Cork, the people seemed to strive to efface the remembrance of the trials to which he had been subjected there : the clergy and gentry crowded to hear him preach. At Dublin and Limerick, the congregations were larger than ever. At Kilfinnan he preached in the market-place, where nearly the whole of the population assembled, and he was afterwards accompanied to his lodgings by some of the congregation, to whom he addressed a second exhortation, and who would not leave him till the night was far
advanced. The next morning, before five o'clock, the crowd assembled again in the same spirit as before : tears flowed, sobs were heard in every part; some mourning under a'Nense of sin, others rejoicing to hear the good news of salvation.
Wesley continued to visit Scotland also, and his preaching always aroused a deep interest among this grave and staid people, though it did not produce the same visible effects as in other parts of Great Britain.
Populaz tumults now became more and more rare, and, when they did occur, they were by no means of so serious a character as formerly. There were no more of those scenes of confusion in which the life of the Missionary was at the mercy of a drunken and disorderly mob. m 2 164 Internal and External Prosperity.
Opposition had very generally sunk to the level of low buffoonery.
At Norwich, an attempt was made to interrupt the meeting by showers of stones thrown at the doors of the chapel ; but the patience of the Methodists outlasted that of their adversaries, and they decided to beat a retreat. At Barrow, Wesley was hooted by a mob; but "their hearts failed," and they let him pass unmolested. At Bradford, a curious incident defeated the designs of the assailants.
Their leader, a man who prided himself on his respectability, had filled his pockets with rotten eggs, and towards the end of the preaching raiseda cry as a signal for his accomplices to begin the assault. But, while he was preparing to make use of his missiles, a young man came, and, clapping his hands on his pockets, broke all the eggs at once. The laugh was turned against him, and the contemplated assault failed.
As he grew older, Wesley lost nothing of that authority of speech and demeanour which had contributed so much to the victories that attended his encounters with the mob. His whitening locks served to add to the authority he had gained by force of character. His utterance and his gestures. produced almost magical effects upon the people: When he spoke, it was to command, and his commands were generally obeyed. At Kilkenny, on one oceasion, a crowd of Catholics broke in upon one of his congregations with intent to disperse it. He simply fixed upon them a steady gaze, and then said, in a tone of determination, '" Be silent; or begone!" And silence was restored as if by the wand of an enchanter.
The authorities now also understood their duty better, and no longer became promotersof disorder. Almost everywhere, their firmness sufficed to repress tumult. At Stallbridge, however, it needed all Wesley's influence to constrain the magistrates to do their duty. For a long time the people
Authority over the Mob. 165 had committed great excesses, breaking the doors and windows of the houses where the Methodists lived, plundering their goods and attacking their persons, so that they could not walk in the street without being exposed to the worst indignities. In vain did they appeal to the magistrates: they were always deaf to their complaints. In despair of obtaining justice, they wrote to Wesley, who brought their case before the Court of King's Bench, where, after great expense and long delay, he gained the day.
This encouraged his friends, and proved to his adversaries that there was "law, even for Methodists."
The clergy retained their intolerance and ill-will longer than the magistracy. Many still' denounced Wesley from their pulpits, and repulsed the Methodists from the Lord's table, where the careless and worldly were admitted without - question; and some went tostill further lengths. In 1765,
Wesley was conducting an open-air service in a Devonshire village, when he saw the clergyman approaching in company with some of the neighbouring gentry. He began his sermon as follows :—'" There may be some truths which concern some men only; but this concerns all mankind." The clergyman interrupted by crying out,
"That is false doctrine; that is predestination;" thus proving that he had not understood the first sentence. Immediately, those who accompanied him began to talk and laugh in a noisy manner, and a huntsman, who belonged to the party, set on his dogs, that their barking might drown the preacher's voice. Another began to address him in grossly insulting terms, amid the applause of the clergyman and his company, who doubtless deemed all weapons lawful when employed against the "enemies" of the Church. Before such assailants, who if they did not respect his ministerial gown should at least have reverenced his grey hairs, Wesley retired, 'There being no probability," he says, "of a quiet hearing."
166 Internal and External Prosperity.
His journals, by their simple recital of 'facts, formed a serious though unintentional indictment against the fallen | clergy of the eighteenth century. He never forgets, however, to draw the moral, and to seek the profit of his readers. At Enniscorthy, he writes, 'The mob, encouraged by their superiors, beat and abused whom they pleased, broke open their houses, and did just what they listed. A wretched clergyman confirmed them therein, and applied to the Methodist preachers 2 Tim. iii. 6, 7....
After he had painted them as black as devils, he added, 'I have not time to finish now; next Sunday I will give you the rest.' But the next morning he was struck ina strange manner. He could not bear to be a moment alone. He cried out, 'Those hobgoblins ; do not you see them? There, there! The room is full of them!' Having continued thus some days, he screamed out, ' See that hobgoblin at the bed's feet! O that roll, that roll which he holds up to me! All my sins are written therein!' Not long after, without showing the least sign of hope, he went to his account."
While such blind and often dishonourable opposition was maintained against Wesley among the lower clergy, better treatment was generally accorded to him by the dignitaries of the Church. It was not always so, however ; and more than once, the example of violence and injustice was set by those who occupied the highest stations. About 1750, Lavington, Bishop of Exeter, attacked the movement in a pamphlet entitled, "The Enthusiasm of the Methodists and Papists Compared." In this angry document he represents Wesley's work as a covert return to Roman Catholicism, and accuses him of being a secret agent of the Jesuits.
These accusations were grounded on false facts, which Wesley himself easily contradicted and disproved.
Ten years later, Warburton, another bishop, entered the lists against Wesley, who, according to his view, " occupied a The Dignitaries of the Church. 167 a foremost place among "modern fanatics." Though this antagonist displayed more liberality than his predecessor, he proved himself equally incapable of understanding the religious movement that was taking place. Viewing it from the stand-point of an icy deism, he could not but condemn the birth-throes of souls that longed for peace and life. Wesley's answer is remarkable, both for its depth and for its form: he claims, as the basis of the work in which he is engaged, the mighty operation of the Spirit of God, whose influence he found it easy to trace in events that were taking place every day.
Another attack, which perhaps did greater injury to the work of Methodism, was the posthumous publication of the '* Hleven Letters" of Hervey, author of the " Meditations."
Having been early associated with Wesley and Whitefield when they were at Oxford, he had embraced the Calvinistic tenets of the latter, and taken an active part in controversy on that subject. Under the influence of a momentary irritation he wrote eleven virulent letters against Wesley, which he kept in manuscript: on his death-bed, he expressed regret for having written them, and requested that they might be committed to the flames. His executors, thinking of nothing but the profit that might accrue from a posthumous work of Hervey's, did not comply with this injunction, but employed a man named Cudworth to revise the manuscripts and prepare them for the press. This man was a violent opponent of Wesley, and, blinded by prejudice, he thought fit to interpolate sentences containing the most unjust accusations, palming them off upon the public as a genuine part of the work. This publication could not but inflict considerable injury on Wesley's cause ; and in Scotland, particularly, his enemies made use of it to his disadvantage.
The spirit of intolerance which raged against Methodism among the clergy resulted, in 1767, in the expulsion of six 168 | America. students from Oxford, "for holding Methodist tenets, and for praying, reading the Scriptures and singing hymns in private houses."
The co-operation and friendship of such a clergyman as Fletcher afforded abundant consolation to Wesley's mind under the malice and abuse of the dignitaries of the Church. Fletcher was now settled at Madeley, a poor, degraded parish in Shropshire, where he exercised a truly apostolic ministry, such as filled the minds of his contem- |. poraries with admiration. "Sir, he wasa luminary !" said
~Venn to a brother clergyman. "A luminary, did I say?
He was a sun / Ihave known all the great-men for these fifty years, but I have known none like him." The poet Southey said of him, "No century, no country has produced a man of more fervent piety or more perfect charity : no church ever possessed a more apostolic ministry." Thoroughly one with Wesley both in spirit and principles, Fletcher frequently accompanied him on his missionary journeys, and in his own parish employed the various modes of action peculiar to Methodism. His eloquent tongue and almost inspired pen were alike at the service of a cause he had so much at heart. We shall see presently how by his writings he fought side by side with his friend.
The close of the period we are now contemplating was marked by an event of great importance, viz., the introduction of Methodism into America. The workings of Providence are especially noticeable in the foundation of a Church which had so great a future before it. A few Irish emigrants, who had received the Gospel through the instrumentality of Methodism, landed at New York in 1760: a second detachment arrived a little later. Deprived of all religious privileges, they soon lapsed into indifference.
Happily, however, among these families there was one woman, Barbara Heck, in whom the hallowed fire burned Barbara Heck and Philip Embury. 169 with an ardour not to be damped by worldly influences.
One day, when several of the emigrants were playing at cards, she came abruptly into the room, and, filled with holy indignation, seized the pack of cards and threw it into the fire, at the same time adding some serious admonitions. Shethen appealed to Philip Embury, who had been a local preacher in his native country, and earnestly exhorted him to conquer his natural timidity, and begin to hold meetings at his house. This bold stroke took immediate effect.
Embury held the first meeting in his own house : it consisted of five persons. He also formed a class. Gradually this little band of Christians multiplied: religious convictions spread on all sides, and it became necessary to open a place of worship. Soon after, an English local preacher, called Captain Webb, who had been sent to America on military duty, encouraged the newly-organized Society by his presence and help. The powerful sermons of this preacher in uniform created a sensation in the country, and were the means of bringing about a great revival. All the places in which meetings were held became too small, and ' a chapel was built and dedicated to the service of God in 1768. Step by step, Methodism extended over various parts of Pennsylvania, Massachusetts, Maryland, and Virginia, everywhere following the openings of Providence and gathering strength.
By this time the various American congregations felt the want of a closer connection with the parent Society at home.
A pressing appeal was accordingly addressed to Wesley, and at the Conference of 1769, the question was asked, "Who is willing to go?" Richard Boardman and Joseph Pilmoor offered themselves. 'To defray the expenses of the voyage, a collection was made among the preachers; and these men, who were often themselves in want of the necessaries of life, contributed in addition fifty pounds towards the establishment of this first Methodist mission. On their
170 America. arrival at New York, the two missionaries found an organized Society, consisting of a hundred members, and a chapel capable of accommodating seven hundred persons, which was already so inadequate to the wants of the people, that many of the meetings were held in the open air. "There appears," says one of the newly-arrived preachers, "such a willingness to hear the Word of God in America as I never saw before."
Such was the beginning of the work which was to expand to such marvellous dimensions. In many respects it was a timely movement. Whitefield, whose energies had been divided between the Old World and the New, and who had done much to revive the Independent Churches in America, died in America in the very year in which Wesley's preachers commenced their mission. Incomparable as were his oratorical talents and evangelical zeal, he was wholly destitute of the organizing faculty, and could not weld into a solid system the elements that had been fused under his powerful preaching. The strong and wise administration of Wesley was to remedy this defect, and to gather into the bonds of a well-organized community a multitude of souls won from indifference and worldlymindedness.
The news of Whitefield's death filled the mind of his great fellow-labourer with profound grief. He was deeply touched when he learned that one of his friend's last requests was that he should preach his funeral sermon.
This request he complied with, and in the Tabernacle reared by Whitefield he pronounced a fitting eulogium on the virtues of the departed. Their early intimacy had long since been restored, and had been deepened by the experience of blessings and trials in which both had long shared.
ORGANIZATION AND DISCIPLINE.
Mors than thirty years had now passed since the commencement of the Methodist Revival in England, and fully five and twenty since the first Conference, which had established its unity and laid the foundations of its ecclesiastical system. In the interval, that system had been moulded, slowly and without any serious check, by those Providential indications which Wesley was so careful to follow; and, year by year, it had been the business of the Conference to note such indications, and thus to build up the Societies under their care into a. regular organization.
The successive additions thus made to the framework of Methodism we shall now briefly describe.
In Wesléy's view, as well asin that of his fellow-labourers, the Revival which they had been so largely instrumental in bringing about was rather a return to the doctrines and practice of the Church than an ecclesiastical reform.
Questions of organization with them were only of secondary importance, and were valued mainly as they bore upon the salvation of souls and the progress of the Christian life. It was this 'idea that ruled the early Conferences. Composed of Wesley's preachers, together with those of the clergy who were favourable to the movement, besides a few friends of Whitefield's, and, at times, a few laymen, these first Conferences were occupied in defining the doctrines they taught: justification, sanctification, and the witness of the Spirit formed the subjects of interesting discussions, the results of which are embodied in the " Minutes " subsequently published. Wesley's views on certain doctrines differed from those of some of his contemporaries, and hence
172 Organization and Discipline. arose the necessity for the luminous exposition which they thus received at his hands. This isnot the place to enlarge upon the clear and compact theology here presented to us ; suffice it to say that, throughout this second stage in the existence of early Methodism, his opinions underwent no change, save that they became clearer and stronger as years rolled by.
On the other hand, his views in reference to the organization of his Societies and their connection with the Hstablished Church, were greatly modified by the course of events.
We have already seen that Wesley commenced his labours in the hope that a cordial understanding might soon be arrived at between the clergy and himself. Everything tended to increase his desire for such a union—his family traditions, the cast of his mind, his natural sympathies, and even his interest in the work itself; and bitter experience alone disabused him of his generous illusions. It is interesting to trace this gradual revolution in Wesley's ecclesiastical views.
In his first Conference, composed in part of clergymen, he boldly defends the rights of Christian liberty against the extravagant pretensions of the Episcopate. At the second Conference, held in 1745, to the question "Is not the will of our governors a law?" he replies categorically,
"No; not of any governor, temporal or spiritual. Therefore, if any bishop wills that I should not preach the Gospel, his will is no law to me....1 am to obey God rather than man."
The right of independent action, thus clearly enounced, Wesley had already exercised for many years: to him it was a practical necessity before it became an ecclesiastical theory. This liberality was, however, connected with certain prejudices which sprang from his early education : he stil] believed in the dogma of apostolical succession, and he strongly defended the Anglican Episcopalianism. Still his
Views of Episcopacy. 173 opinions wavered even now on all these points. Lord King's work on the Primitive Church appears to have contributed largely to the progress of his views. "In spite of the vehement prejudice of my education," he says in 1746,
"'] was ready to believe that this was a fair and impartial draught ; but if so, it would follow that Bishops and Presbyters are (essentially) of one order ; and that originally every Christian congregation was a Church independent on all others."
The principles here somewhat doubtfully affirmed, were adopted unhesitatingly at the Conference of 1747. Wesley then declared that a national Church is "a merely political institution," and in reply to the question, " In what age was the Divine right of Episcopacy first asserted in England?" he replies, "'About the middle of Queen Hlizabeth's reign. 'Till then, all the bishops and clergy in England continually allowed and joined in the ministrations of those who were not episcopally ordained." He also held that the Church might modify its organization as time and circumstances required, without being under any obligation to find a pattern in the Church of the apostolic age.
Nevertheless, he still strove to combine with these principles a proper respect to episcopal authority. So strong was his desire to maintain such a harmony, that he even made certain concessions which might have proved greatly detrimental to the success of the work which God had committed to him. Hence, this same year he endeavoured to fix some limit to the development of the lay ministry, that it might give less umbrage to. the clergy ; and, still out of regard to their susceptibilities, recommended to his assistants to preach without forming any new Societies.
These perilous concessions, however, were far from. satisfying his opponents, and at the same time threatened the dissolution of the work: they were, therefore, soon abandoned. Besides, the clergy themselves, by their blind
174 Organization and Discipline. opposition, seemed determined to remove Wesley's last scruples, and to destroy all the prestige of that authority which he had been wont to revere.
The Societies themselves now began to be conscious of their strength, and made strong remonstrances on the subject : so early as 1751, loud complaints were uttered.
A grave question was thus raised, and one which created enormous embarrassment until the time came—and it was long before it did come—for its final solution.
In the meantime, while the Societies had their religious a wants supplied by the ministrations of the lay preachers, | for the Sacraments they were obliged to go to the Anglican _clergy. These were not only generally opposed to Metho- | dism, but were frequently men of no piety and of doubtful
morality : it is no wonder, therefore, that pious persons scrupled to receive the sacred elements from the hand that was raised to encourage the mob. It not seldom happened that they were repelled from the Lord's table, where scan- | dalous sinners were received without question. Both the Wesleys, as we have seen, had endured such treatment themselves.
Troubled thus, both by their own consciences and by the annoyances to which they were exposed, the Societies soon demanded the administration of the Sacraments by their own preachers ; but for a long time their request was not complied with. In 1754, several of the preachers, such as Thomas Walsh, and Edward and Charles Perronet, yielded to the solicitations of their flocks, and took upon them to administer the Lord's Supper. This circumstance was widely reported, and occasioned considerable controversy among the Societies. The Conference of 1755, at which 'no less than sixty-three preachers were present, found it necessary to take some decisive action. The question was stated in all its breadth: it was, whether they ought to separate from the Hstablished Church ; for all felt that this
The Societies and the Sacraments. — 175 was the real bearing of what had taken place. After a dispassionate and thorough debate, continued for several days, it was agreed by the Conference that, " whether it was lawful or not, it was no ways expedient." Walsh and his friends consented for peace' sake to refrain from administering the Sacraments. Wesley admired their spirit, but acknowledged that he "could not answer their arguments." In a letter to his brother Charles, who was hostile to these innovations, Wesley wrote, "Tf, as my lady says, all outward Establishments are Babel, so is this Establishment. Let it stand, for me; I neither set it up nor pull it down. But let you and me build up the city of God."
In 1758, Wesley published his "Reasons against a °) Separation from the Church of England," a pamphlet remarkable for its moderation and good sense. In it he justifies his attachment to the Established Church, an attachment as disinterested as it was ill-requited. So he found it to be in 1764, when, renewing his previous efforts, he addressed a circular letter to "fifty or sixty" Evangelical clergymen, to invite them, not to make concessions on any doctrinal point, but simply to endeavour after a more active co-operation in the work of reviving practical piety. This manifesto was treated with silent neglect: three clergymen alone were at the painsto answerit. About twelve, however, met him at his next Conference ; but they proposed aplan by which the Establishment would have entirely absorbed Methodism, and, under the pretence of embracing, crushed out its very life.
Wesley was grieved to see that, in these debates, his brother made common cause with those who counselled the sacrifice of the organization by means of which Methodism had achieved its success). He now fully understood that he must no longer encourage the hope of any assistance from the regular clergy, and decided to pursue the work of his life without seeking their co-operation.
176 Organization and Discipline.
The question of the administration of the Sacraments was still undecided, but it was necessary that in some way the wishes of the Societies should be met. Besides the direct assistance of a few of the clergy, Wesley had obtained episcopal ordination for some of his fellow-labourers. The Bishop of Londonderry, who encouraged Wesley's labours in Ireland, had laid hands on Thomas Maxfield, saying as he did so, " Sir, I ordain you to assist that holy man, that he may not kill himself with excessive labour." By Maxfield's defection, narrated above, Wesley lost this assistance.
In 1763, a prelate of the Greek Church, Bishop Erasmus, visited England, and was so much interested in the Methodist movement that he consented to ordain one of Wesley's preachers. This matter created a great commotion : it became evident that, if Wesley still believed in episcopal ordination, he regarded the exclusive pretensions of the Anglican Church as worthless.
The apparent indecision of Wesley's mind in reference to the Establishment has been severely criticized : he has been reproached with hesitation in regard to giving his people a distinct ecclesiastical status: on the other hand, he has been accused of having placed them in a false position through excessive reverence for the Anglican
Church. It is certain that, to an advanced period of his life, Wesley could not bear the idea of breaking with the Church to which he was attached by so many ties: that Church might abuse and disown him, but he retained for her the deepest affection ; and, even in his last days, he manifests returns of sympathy and tenderness that surprise us. But in this we see proofs of a delicacy of sentiment which sheds a vivid light upon his character.
He was one of those men who entertain a deep reverence for what is old. In the presence of a decrepit Church he displays the sublime modesty of a child, who respects the majesty of a father even though he be so degraded as Purity of Wesley's Motives. Ls to be unworthy of the name. He might perhaps have better served his own interests and those of his Connexion, had he from the first raised the flag of independence: he
would thereby have gained a definite position, and spared himself much strife: he would have achieved greater renown as the leader of a party ; but it is doubtful whether he would have been more useful. We should have recognized in him a more marked individuality ; but we should not have had to contemplate a character so exquisitely pure.
No longer reckoning on union with the Anglican Church, Wesley devoted his energies to the task of consolidating the bonds which united the Societies to their preachers, and united the preachers among themselves. Though the great question of the Sacraments was not yet solved, a solution was easy to be foreseen from the very existence of the unordained clergy. Their rights might be withheld for a season through excessive deference to established order, but were sure to be attained sooner or later by the mere force of circumstances. During the period we have now been reviewing, this body acquired such a compactness and unity that it could well afford patiently to await the future.
We have seen how, at his first Conference, Wesley declared that he only employed lay preachers "in cases of necessity," ,and how for a long time he continued to regard their vocation as merely provisional and temporary. The course of events led him to form a different judgment, and he now laboured with all his might to impress upon this institution a permanent and definite character. At the third Conference the following grave question was proposed :— How shall we try those who believe they are moved by the Holy Ghost, and called of God to preach ?"
The answer is, "Inquire, 1. Do they know in whom they have believed ? Have they the love of God in their hearts Do N 178 Organization and Discipline.
they desire and seek nothing but God? And are they holy in all manner of conversation? 2. Have they gifts (as well as grace) for the work? Have they (in some tolerable degree) a clear, sound understanding? Have they a right judgment in the things of God? Have they a just conception of salvation by faith? And has God given them
- any degree of utterance? Do they speak justly, readily, clearly? 3. Have they success?..Haye any received remission of sins by their preaching ?"
These inquiries were the first of a series of examinations which Wesley instituted into the qualifications of such as desired to enter the ranks of the intinerant ministry. These were only received by the Conference after having been subjected to a searching ordeal, accompanied by solemn fasting and prayer. The year that followed their entrance upon the work was considered as one of probation, and the following
Conference came to a definite conclusion respecting them.
The final admission took place without ceremony: the candidate was set apart for the work by the prayers of his brethren. In this respect, however, Wesley reserved his right of action, and declared that he only postponed for the present a more formal mode of consecration. ' We would not make haste," said he, "we desire barely to follow Providence, as it gradually opens."
Though Wesley regarded the religious life of his fellowlabourers as the primary qualification, he by no means overlooked their intellectual development. From the first he drew up for them a course of study and of regular reading. He never ceased to stimulate them to diligence, urging them to rise at four o'clock in the morning, as he did himself, that they might find time to prosecute their studies as well as their missionary labours. "Read the most useful books," he said in 1766, "and that regularly, and constantly. " Steadily spend all the morning in this \ employ, or at least five hours in twenty-four....'But I have
Character of the New Pastorate. — 179 no taste for reading.' Contract a taste for it by use, or return to your trade."
In order to keep his preachers in health, and to prevent their wearing themselves out by constant preaching in the same places, Wesley required them to change their Circuits frequently. The Conference of 1767 systematized , these changes, and rendered them obligatory. It was _ agreed, 'that the same preacher shall not be sent, ordinarily above one, never above two years together." At a later period, the term was extended to three years.
The preachers were genuine models of self-denial. If they did not take the vow of poverty on entering the itinerant ministry, they practised a voluntary course of selfrenunciation that was never excelled by the followers of St. Francis. One of the rules was, "Take no money of any one. If they give you food when you are hungry, or clothes when you need them, it is good; but not silver or gold. Let there beno pretence to say we grow rich by the Gospel." Receiving their daily supplies from the Society, the first preachers were only paid in money enough to defray their travelling expenses, and these were sufficiently modest, the greater part performing their journeys on foot.
One of them, John Jane, in that way travelled from Bristol to Holyhead, in order to join Wesley, having only three shillings in his pocket when he reached him ; and even this small sum exceeded the actual expenses of the journey, owing to the hospitality he everywhere met with on his way. On his death, his property was sold to meet his funeral expenses, and the proceeds of the sale were insufficient for the purpose, not amounting to forty shillings altogether. "All the money he had was , one shilling and fourpence." Wesley, who states these facts, adds, "Enough for any unmarried preacher of the Gospel to leave to his executors."
All the preachers were not disposed, however, like the nw 2 180 Organization and Discipline. brother in question, to remain single all their days ; and those who married suffered great privations. Many were even compelled to retire from the active work of the ministry, that they might find means to support their families.
The Conference of 1752 saw the necessity of remedying this state of things, and recommended that the Societies should, for the future, pay each preacher the annual sum of twelve pounds. This recommendation remained a dead letter in many instances ; and thirteen years later, in 1765,
York Society actually sent a deputation to the Con- " ference to request that they might be exempted from the necessity of paying their preacher this " large" sum.
With Societies so small, and in certain cases so wanting in liberality, the preachers would many of them have been in danger of starving to death, if they had not carried on some secular business in conjunction with their evangelical labours: several of them were compelled to labour with their hands in the daytime, while they devoted the evening to their ministerial work. Such a division of their energies was no degradation, sanctioned as it has been by the authority of St. Paul; but it was necessarily detrimental to their ministry, inasmuch as they could only devote to it a limited portion of their time and strength. The Conference of 1768 took cognizance of this fact, and agreed that, for the future, itinerant preachers should be entirely set apart to their holy work, and depend wholly for their support on God and His Church.
The year following it was resolved that preachers' wives should receive aid from the Societies, and that a kind of assessment should be made for this purpose : shortly after, there were forty-three wives in receipt of this assistance. A similar resolution was passed in reference to the children of preachers, who found in the schools established by Wesley at Kingswood a well-ordered institution, where they received a Christian education, the cost of lis Growth and Stability. 181 which was borne in part by the Societies. Thus Wesley endeavoured to relieve his fellow-labourers of the worldly cares which could not but militate against their efficiency.