238 Wesley's Last Labours. another journey to Ireland and Scotland ; his chaise and horses are sent before him to Bristol, and seats engaged for himself and his travelling companion in the Bath coach ; but the energy of his mind can no longer sustain his sinking body, and the design is abandoned.
On the Ist of February, 1791, he writes his last letter to America :
"To the Rev. Ezekiel Cooper, of Philadelphia.
"Near London, February 1st, 1791.
"My pear Broruer, "Those that desire to write or say anything to me have no time to lose; for time has shaken me by the hand, and death is not far behind. But I have reason to be thankful for the time that is past : I felt few of the infirmities of old age, for fourscore and six years.
It was not till a year and a-half ago that my strength and my sight failed. And still I am enabled to scrawl a little, and to creep, though I cannot run. Probably I should not be able to do so much did not many of you assist me by your prayers. I have given a distinct account of the work of God which has been wrought in Britain and Ireland for more than half a century. We want some of you to give us a connected relation of what our Lord has been doing in America, from the time that Richard Boardman accepted the invitation, and left his country to serve you. See that you never give place to one thought of separating from your brethren in Europe. Lose no opportunity of declaring to all men, that the Methodists are one people in all the world, and that it is their full determination so to continue— Though mountains rise, and oceans roll, To sever us in vain.
"To the care of our common Lord I commit you, and am "Your affectionate friend and brother."
"Thursday, February 17th, 1791," says the Rey. Joseph Last Sermon. 239
Benson, "he preached at Lambeth ; but, on his return, seemed much indisposed, and said he had taken cold. The next day, however, he read and wrote as usual, and in the evening, preached at Chelsea, from 'The King's business requireth haste,' although with some difficulty, having a high degree of fever upon him. Indeed, he was obliged to stop once or twice, informing the people that his cold so affected his voice as to prevent his speaking without those necessary pauses. On Saturday he still persevered in his usual employments, though to those about him his complaints seemed evidently increasing. He dined at Islington, and at dinner desired a friend to read to him four chapters out of the Book of Job, namely, from the fourth to the seventh, inclusive. On Sunday he rose early, according to custom; but, quite unfit for any of his usual
Sabbath-day's exercises. At seven o'clock he was obliged to lie down, and slept between three and four hours.
When he awoke, he said, 'I have not had such a comfortable sleep this fortnight past.' In the afternoon he lay down again, and slept an hour or two. Afterwards, two of his own discourses on our Lord's Sermon on the Mount were read to him, and in the evening he came down to supper.
"Monday, 21st: he seemed much better, and, though his friends tried to dissuade him from it, he would keep an engagement, made some time before, to dine at Twickenham.
In his way thither he called on Lady Mary Fitzgerald.
The conversation was truly profitable, and well became a last visit. On Tuesday he went on with his usual work, preached in the evening in the chapel in the City-Road, and seemed much better than he had been for some days.
On Wednesday he went to Leatherhead, and preached to a small company on, 'Seek ye the Lord while He may be found ; call ye upon Him while He is near.' This proved to be his last sermon. Here ended the public labours of this great minister of Jesus Christ."
240 Wesley's Last Labours.
"On that day," (Wed. 23rd,) says the historian whom we have frequently quoted before, "fell from his dying grasp a trumpet of the truth, which had sounded the everlasting
Gospel oftener and more effectually than that of any other man for sixteen hundred years...Whitefield preached' eighteen thousand sermons, more than ten a week for his thirty-four years of ministerial life. Wesley preached forty-two thousand four hundred, after his return from Georgia, more than fifteen a week."
..."On Saturday, the 26th, he wrote his final letter. It was addressed to Wilberforce, and was an _ exhortation to perseverance in his Parliamentary labours against the African slave-trade. By his 'Thoughts upon Slavery,' he had pledged himself to that great reform at its beginning under Clarkson and Sharp." The letter is too interesting and does too much honour to both these great men to be omitted.
"London, February 26th, 1791.
" DEAR Sir, " Unless the Divine power has raised you up to be as Athanasius contra mundum,* I see not how youcan go through your glorious enterprise in opposing that execrable villany, which is the scandal of religion, of England, and of human nature. Unless God has raised you up for this very thing, you will be worn out by the opposition of men and devils. But, 'if God be for you, who can be against you?' Are all of them together stronger than God? O, 'be not weary in well doing!' Go on, in the name of God and in the power of His might, till even American slavery (the vilest that ever saw the sun) shall vanish away before it.
" Reading this morning a tract, wrote by a poor African, I was particularly struck by that cireumstance,—that a man who has a black skin, being wronged or outraged by * "Athanasius against the world."
Last Letter. _ 9AL a white man, can have no redress; it being a law in all our colonies, that the oath of a black against a white goes for nothing. What villany is this!
"That He who has guided you from your youth up, may continue to strengthen you in this and all things, is the prayer of, " Dear Sir, " Your affectionate servant, "Joun WESLEY."
The closing scenes of Wesley's life are thus described by the Rev. Joseph Benson :
"Sunday morning (February 27th) he seemed much better, got up and took a cup of tea. Sitting in his chair, he looked quite cheerful, and repeated the latter part of the verse, in his brother Charles's Scripture Hymns, on 'Forsake me not when my strength faileth,' namely :—
'Till glad I lay this body down, Thy servant, Lord, attend ; And, O! my life of mercy crown With a triumphant end.'
Soon after, in a most emphatical manner, he said, 'Our friend Lazarus sleepeth.' Exerting himself to converse with some friends, he was soon fatigued, and obliged to lie down. After lying quiet some time, he looked up, and said, 'Speak to me; I cannot speak.' On which, one of the company said, 'Shall we pray with you, Sir?' He earnestly replied, 'Yes.' And while they prayed, his whole soul seemed engaged with God for an answer, and his hearty Amen showed that he perfectly understood what was said. About half an hour after,-he said, 'There is no need of more: when at Bristol my words were,
'J the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me.' "* * At the Bristol Conference, in 1783, Mr. Wesley was taken very ill: neither he nor his friends thought he could recover. From the R 242 - Wesley's Last Words.
"One said, 'Is this the present language of your heart?
And do you now feel as you did then?' He replied, "Yes." When the same person repeated, 'Bold I approach the' eternal throne, And claim the crown through Christ my own ;* and added, ''Tis enough ; He, our precious Emmanuel, has purchased, has promised all;' he earnestly replied, 'He is all! He is all!' After this the fever was very high, and, at times, affected his recollection ; but even then, though his head was subject to a temporary derangement, his heart seemed wholly engaged in his Master's work.
In the evening he got up again ; and, while sitting in his chair, he said, 'How necessary it is for every one to be on the right foundation !
'T the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me.'
"Monday, 28th: his weakness increased. He slept most of the day, and spoke but little; yet that little testified how much his whole heart was taken up in the care of the Societies, the glory of God, and the promotion of the things pertaining to that kingdom to which he was hastening. Once he said, in a low but distinct manner,
'There is no way into the holiest but by the blood of Jesus.'
He afterwards inquired what the words were from which he had preached a little before at Hampstead. Being told nature of his complaint, he supposed a spasm would seize his stomach, and probably occasion sudden death. Under these views of his situation, he said to Mr. Bradford, 'I have been reflecting on my past life: I have been wandering up and down between fifty and sixty years, endeavouring, in my poor way, to do a little good to my fellow-creatures: and now it is probable that there are but a few steps between me and death; and what have I to trust to for salvation? I can see nothing which I have done or suffered that will bear looking at. I have no other plea than this;
'I the chief of sinners am, But Jesus died for me.' "
" The best of all is, God is with us!" 243 they were these, 'Ye know the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that though He was rich, yet for your sakes He became poor, that ye through His poverty might be rich ; he replied, 'That is the foundation, the only foundation: there is no other.' This day, Dr. Whitehead desired he might be asked if he would have any other physician called in to attend him; but this he absolutely refused.
It is remarkable that he suffered very little pain, never complaining of any during his illness, but once of a pain in his left breast. This was a restless night.
"Tuesday morning: he sang two verses of a hymn: then, lying still, as if to recover strength, he called for pen and ink; but when they were brought, he could not write. A person said, 'Let me write for you, Sir: tell me what you would say.' He replied, 'Nothing, but that God is with us.' In the forenoon he said, 'I will get up.'
While they were preparing his clothes, he broke out in a manner which, considering his extreme weakness, astonished all present, in singing, 'll praise my Maker while I've breath ; And when my voice is lost in death, Praise shall employ my nobler powers :
My days of praise shall ne'er be past, While life, and thought, and being last, Or immortality endures,'
'Having got him into his chair, they observed him change for death. But he, regardless of his dying body, said, with a weak voice, 'Lord, Thou givest strength to those that can speak, and to those who cannot. Speak,
Lord, to all our hearts, and let them know that Thou loosest tongues.' He then sung, 'To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Who sweetly all agree, —'
Here his voice failed. After gasping for breath, he said, ' Now we have done all.' He was then laid in the bed R 2 244 Wesley's Last Words. from which he rose no more. After resting a little, he called to those who were with him to 'pray and praise.' They kneeled down, and the room seemed to be filled with the Divine presence. A little after, he said, 'Let me be buried in nothing but what is woollen, and let my corpse
- be carried into the chapel.' Then, as if he had done with all below, he again begged they would pray and praise. Several friends that were in the house being called up, they all kneeled down again to prayer, at which time his fervour of spirit was manifest to every one present.
But, in particular parts of the prayer, his whole soul seemed to be engaged in a manner which evidently showed how ardently he longed for the full accomplishment of their united desires. And when one of the preachers was praying in a very expressive manner, that if God were about to take away their father to his eternal rest, He would be pleased to continue and increase His blessing upon the doctrine and discipline which He had long made His servant the means of propagating and establishing in the world, such a degree of fervour accompanied his loud
'Amen,' as was every way expressive of his soul's being engaged in the answer of the petitions. On rising from their knees, he took hold of all their hands, and, with the utmost placidness, saluted them and said, 'Farewell, farewell.'
"A little after, a person coming in, he strove to speak, but could not. Finding they could not understand him, he paused a little, and then, with all the remaining strength he had, cried out, 'The best of all is, God is with us ;' and soon after, lifting up his dying arm in token of victory, and raising his feeble voice with a holy triumph not to be expressed, he again repeated the heart-reviving words, 'The best of all is, God is with us. Being told that his brother's widow was come, he said,
'He giveth his servants rest.' He thanked her, as she His Death. 245 pressed his hand, and affectionately endeavoured to kiss her. On his lips being wetted, he said, 'We thank Thee,
O Lord, for these and all Thy mercies: bless the Church and King, and grant us truth and peace, through Jesus Christ our Lord, for ever and ever!' Atanother time, he said, 'He causeth His servants to lie down in peace.'
Then, pausing a little, he cried, 'The clouds drop fatness !' and soon after, 'The Lord is with us ; the God of Jacob is our refuge.' He then called those present to prayer, and, though he was greatly exhausted, he appeared still more fervent in spirit. These exertions were, however, too much for his feeble frame ; and most of the night following, though he often attempted to repeat the Psalm before mentioned, he could only utter, 'I'll praise—I'll praise !
"On Wednesday morning, the closing scene drew near.
Mr. Bradford, his faithful friend, prayed with him, and the last word he was heard to articulate was, ' Farewell.'
A few minutes before ten, while several of his friends were kneeling around his bed, without a lingering groan, this man of God, this beloved Pastor of thousands, entered into the joy of his Lord."
His death took place on the 2nd of March, 1791, at a little before ten in the morning.
Mrs. Hester Ann Rogers, who was present throughout the last scene, writes, "The solemnity of the dying hour of that great and good man, I believe will ever be written on my heart. A cloud of the Divine presence rested on all ; and while he could hardly be said to be an inhabitant of earth, being now speechless, and his eyes fixed, victory and glory were written on his countenance, and quivering, as it were, on his dying lips. No language can paint what appeared in that face! The more we gazed upon it, the more we saw of heaven unspeakable."
He had requested in his will that his funeral should be celebrated without ceremony; no hearse, no coach, no '
246 Wesley's Character. escutcheon ; no pomp, except the tears of those who loved him, and were following him to heaven. These requests were strictly observed by his executors.
The day before his burial, his corpse was placed in the City-Road chapel, dressed in his gown, cassock, and band.
His countenance is described as singularly placid, wearing a "heavenly smile, a beauty which was admired by all who saw it." Multitudes flocked to see for the last time his venerable features, and it was deemed necessary to inter him before six o'clock in the morning, in order to prevent accidents from the crowd. Many spectators, however, were present ; and when the preacher who read the burial service reached the passage, '' Forasmuch as it hath pleased
Almighty God to take unto Himself the soul of our brother," and substituted the word father, the people were so deeply affected that from silent tears they broke out into loud weeping.
Wesley's remains were deposited in a vault which he had had prepared in the cemetery adjoining City-Road chapel.
There they repose, awaiting the resurrection of the just.
Westry's character might well demand a more profound and detailed examination than we-can here attempt. We must content ourselves with a brief outline of its principal features, regarding him as a man, a preacher, a writer, and an administrator.
In Wesley, the man is inseparable from the Christian.
Ilis whole life is only the visible embodiment of his faith Energy and Sincerity. 247 and his Christian experience, and the external was in perfect harmony with the internal. It was that long and painful course of preparation through which he was called to pass, and which was prolonged through the whole period of youth, that made him what he was. -A Christian life born amid such conflicts could not but be profound; a character formed in such a school could not but be energetic in the highest degree. Wesley was, in fact,eminent no less as a man than as a Christian. It only needs to study the sources of his life, in order to be convinced of that. Few men have lived so much in public.
His journals and his correspondence afford abundant evidence of his manner of life, and enable us to follow his course from day today. We find him perfectly frank in his dealings with himself as well as others. There is nothing to indicate the mere posture-master, who attitudinizes in the presence of the public. His transparent sincerity sometimes amounts to simplicity. He takes the public into his confidence, and relates incidents which an enemy might turn into a weapon against himself. He is absolutely wanting in that address by which some men know how to display their good qualities to the best advantage.
This perfect sincerity was displayed in the ardour and disinterestedness of his pursuit of truth. Warped by no influence of school or party, he interrogates facts simply in order that he may form his judgment by them. If he sometimes seems too uncritical in his selection of the facts by which he judges, if he too readily accepts the evidence of marvellous stories, let us remember that he lived in an age when such a man as Dr. Johnson believed in ghosts, and such a country as Scotland burned witches. Let us not forget, moreover, that the great movement of the eighteenth century could hardly fail to give birth to exceptional circumstances, such as could not then be coolly judged of, and cannot now be easily explained away.
248 Wesley's 'Character.
He records such facts in his journals generally without the slightest comment : and in this he gives no proof of the credulity with which he has been charged, but simply shows his regard for facts, and confesses that he has not yet extracted all its secrets from the invisible world. And further, it would be an injustice to Wesley to hold him responsible for any errors which may be discovered in the early period of his religious career, when he was not yet freed from the influence of the mystics.
This injustice has been committed by M. Taine and M. De Witt: they regard him from two widely-different stand-points, but they agree in reproaching him with having occasionally consulted the lot. But, besides that the example of the apostles authorizes the use of the lot in certain extraordinary cases, I am not aware that Wesley once had recourse to it after he had' reached the maturity of his religious life. And this remark applies to most of the instances of so-called enthusiasm with which he has been charged. Their date is a sufficient explanation.
Another accusation has been launched against him, which, if proved, would bea much more serious affair. According to Southey, one of Wesley's ruling motives was ambition.*
His whole existence appears to us to be a complete refutation of this statement. A rare and strange ambition that, truly, which prompts a man to renounce his most favourite tastes and pursuits, and turn field-preacher to the coarsest and most ungovernable rabble that the world ever saw!
To expect celebrity from such a fickle-minded mob, were as mere madness as it would be to write one's name upon * Southey's views on this point were very materially modified in his later days. In a letter to his publisher, dated 17th August, 1835,he says: " Mr. Alexander Knox has convinced me that I was mistaken in supposing ambition entered largely into Mr. Wesley's actuating impulses." Southey intended to make such alterations in his book as this statement required. Unfortunately, his death prevented this intention from being carried out.
Purity of his Motives. 249 the sands swept by the whirlwind in order to transmit it to posterity. True, Wesley wielded a vast sway over his
Societies and their preachers; but, on the one hand, such a superintendence was absolutely necessary, if the heterogeneous elements he had collected were not to be utterly dissolved ; and, on the other, it must be remembered that, though he retained the supreme control over his own work, he very early shared the responsibility with the Conference, and that more than once he endeavoured to devolve on others a burden which he found so oppressive.
This leads us to the observation that one of Wesley's most marked features was that perfect faith in the directions of Providence which we have so frequently met with in the course of his life, and which ill assorts with the theory of ambitious designs.
Besides, it is morally impossible for any one who has intimately studied his deep piety, to attribute to Wesley ambitious and selfish aims. If his whole outward life is a protest against such an imputation, his inward piety bears still stronger testimony. He possessed an humble and yet confident trust in the powerof Divine grace, and on that alone did he base his expectations of success. His works and writings breathe the fragrant odour of vital godliness : it is evident that he had completely thrown off the trammels of that mysticism which he had learned at Oxford, and which, if indulged in, would have been his ruin. Wesley was deeply indebted to the Moravians: not only had their influence brought about the decisive crisis of his spiritual history, but it had led him to assert strongly the reality of the internal operations of the Spirit of God.
Many facts related in this volume show Wesley to have _beena man of prayer. In this exercise he was mighty even to daring: he had continual recourse to it, and that in circumstances in which others would hardly have ventured
250 Wesley's Character. to do so. An account of the temporal and spiritual deliverances which Wesley notes in his journals as the result of prayer would be a most interesting record. It was more frequently under his prayers even than under his sermons that sinners were convinced of sin and obtained peace..
Wesley's piety was neither narrow nor intolerant. If it sometimes happens in the course of a polemical discussion that he is carried away by the ardour of the combat, he fully redeems such momentary failings by the largeness of his ideas and the catholic sentiments of his whole life.
His friendship with Whitefield continued, as we have seen, unbroken by the doctrinal controversies which arose between them. His sermon, '' Ona Catholic Spirit," shows that he was worthy to rank among the forerunners of the Evangelical Alliance. His heart was so large that he could not confine his sympathies within the limits of sect or party. Wherever he recognized the true spirit of Christianity, he did homage to it, however it might be alloyed by the admixture of error and infirmity. His liberality was so great that he edited for the use of his
Societies several works whose authors belonged to the Romish communion. He published also, in the pages of the Magazine and elsewhere, biographical notices of eminent
Catholic saints, such as Madame Guyon, the Marquis de Renty, Gregory Lopez, and others. This catholicity of spirit was often misunderstood by many sincere Christians, but it was one of those points on which he laid the greatest stress. The only limit he placed to freedom of thought among his Societies, was the respect due to the opinions of others. His sentiments on this head he explains in the following manner: "I have no more right to object to a man because he holds an opinion different from mine, than
Ihave a right to separate from a man because he wears a wig, while I wear none. But if he happen to take off flis Catholic Spirit. - «= 952 his wig, and shake the powder in my eyes, I shall consider it my duty to run away from him as soon as possible."
While Wesley's religious character was such as to gain the respect of all, it may be added that his natural and acquired abilities clothed it with an undefinable charm.
The internal peace he enjoyed seemed to shine forth in an amiability and serenity of disposition which won all hearts.
He carried into all his social intercourse so much ease and grace, he was so full of affection and cordiality, that the charm of his conversation was irresistible, and a brief interview was often enough to change his bitterest opponents into friends. Owing to his vast intellectual culture, together with his rare intelligence and incomparable fluency of expression, his society was courted by men of fortune and talents, and they esteemed it an honour to invite him to their tables: but he was not less at home with the poor country people among whom he was a frequent guest, forgetting himself, and enabling them to forget, the difference in their education. His correspondence, from which we have only been able to make brief extracts, places him in an amiable and friendly light, endowed with an exquisite and sympathetic sensibility.
Wesley's character, so interesting in private life, is only fully unfolded, however, in the vast theatre of his public activity, where it received its full development.
Having .studied the man, we must now contemplate the popular preacher. To speak the truth, his power resided chiefly in his preaching: by it he acted upon the masses, and by it he scattered broadcast over the face of the earth those imperishable seeds which contained the germs of such a future. In presence of the almost fabulous success that crowned his labours, a question occurs which seems at first sight an insoluble enigma. How did he, the Oxford graduate, who was all his life long a devoted student of the classical authors, and who read on horseback the 252 Wesley's Character. original of Homer and Virgil, how did he become the streetpreacher, the popular orator of the masses? Thirst for celebrity is no explanation, as we have already seen.
Love for souls, that pure and noble passion enkindled in the heart by the love of God, alone accounts for this otherwise incomprehensible phenomenon. 'This alone can explain, also, the indefatigable perseverance which prolonged such an apostleship beyond the bounds of half a century.
The conflicts of fifty years reveal great qualities in Wesley, of which a military commander might well have been proud. To speak the truth, the Anglo-Saxon race, with those practical qualities which constitute its distinguishing feature, never had a better representative than he. He knew how to yoke into the service of his religious principles the strong will and the unconquerable tenacity which have brought such success to English colonies. He vanquished the ill-will of the people by a perseverance which stood the test of all kinds of opposition.
What gave his preaching so much of originality was his perfect frankness: it may be truly said of Wesley that he '"'spoke as one having authority." He never flatters his audience : sometimes, indeed, as he tells us himself, he
"spoke strong, rough words :" he knows nothing of the art of disguising his thoughts, in order to render them more acceptable. His concise and expressive language aims directly at its object, and says exactly what he means. Many instances have been given of the almost magical effect produced on the minds of the people by his incisive utterance. Still more effectually, perhaps, did he wield this power over individuals. When he fixed his gaze on one of his hearers, it was a very rare thing if the heart did not quail beneath his glance. Sometimes a man would enter his congregation with his hat on his head, fully determined to put him to silence, but his countenance would change and his cheek pale as he encountered the Power of his Preaching. 253 keen eye that seemed to pierce to the depths of his being.
We must not, however, suppose that this influence of Wesley upon the masses in any degree resembled insolence or haughtiness. His authority was of a purely moral kind, and was attained through the slow but unerring operation of Christian faith and zeal.
It must be added that, in many respects, Wesley was admirably qualified for his mission as a popular preacher.
Besides that eagle glance and that flowing and flexible voice, he possessed qualities of mind most highly valued by the people, viz., clearness and precision. None knew better than he did how to familiarize the loftiest truths to the lowliest minds. None knew better how to employ a sprightly repartee ora happy expression, so that when a long harangue would have failed in its object, the '" witty proverb" penetrated like the point of a sword,
But let us endeavour to form a just idea of Wesley's oratorical ability. In the open street as in the pulpit of the University of Oxford, the style of this great preacher is simple and level to the understanding of every individual : his reasoning is logical and nervous; and, having once admitted his premises, you are carried away in spite of yourself, and compelled to accept the consequences he deduces from them. His argumentation flows in a full stream, but it is not circuitous, and does not overflow its proper channels. It is not overloaded with the vain and frivolous ornaments, by the use of which some seek to veil the poverty of their thoughts, nor with those» tangled digressions which hide from the hearer the principal aim of the discourse. His sole business is to produce conviction : hence he puts himself face to face with his opponent, and never neglects to answer his objections, generally showing how contrary they are to common sense. His aim is direct : he despises circumlocution, and never mistakes rhetorical artifice for argument.
254 Wesley's Character.
Though a profound logician, Wesley is far from being a wearisome dogmatist. Let any one be at the pains to compare him with Tillotson or Barrow, and he will understand the vast progress preaching has made through his influence, and the great revolution he has effected in a department that had remained stationary since the sixteenth century. He does not, like them, conduct an argument for argument's sake, straining himself to prove, by a grand array of syllogisms, some commonplace of doctrine or morality which nobody dreams of disputing. He daringly confronts those subjects which are the most strongly controverted, and at the same time, in his view, the most fundamental to Christianity. The subjects of which he treats are among the loftiest and gravest that can be brought into the Christian pulpit; yet they are stated with so much frankness, resolved with such admirable ease into their simplest forms, expounded and discussed with such marvellous lucidity, that the hearer, however uncultivated, is captivated and subdued, and with difficulty withstands the running fire of such powerful and burning eloquence. The rhetorical style of Tillotson and _ his imitators resembles those heavy batteries which, planted on the heights of some lofty citadel, await the approach of the enemy, and only prove their efficacy when he complacently advances within the range of their fire. Wesley, on the other hand, resembles the light artillery composed of fieldpieces, which follow the enemy to his farthest entrenchments. His sermons are generally short : his sprightly and compact diction always proceeds straight forward: his vivid thoughts come clearly before the eye of the mind, and frequently take the form of an aphorism which engraves itself upon the memory of the hearer.
Wesley has the great merit of having popularized, and, if I may venture to say so, humanized that austere divinity formerly known only to the initiated, and denominated
Style of his Sermons. 255 logic. He had a real respect for the people, which is utterly wanting to those preachers who talk to them as if they were children, giving them reasons that they do not want, or seeking to create a merely morbid sensibility on which no durable structure can be reared. The people insensibly rose to Wesley's level, because he knew how to come down to theirs.
As an orator, Wesley was certainly inferior to Whitefield.
But, besides this logical faculty of which we have just been speaking, he possessed an incisiveness of speech which was lacking in his friend, so that he sometimes carried conviction to hearts that had remained unmoved by the appeals of his eloquent friend. John Nelson tells us that he had often listened to Whitefield's sermons, and had been charmed by them, as by strains of incomparable music: he admired the preaching and loved the preacher, but no more.
Wesley's preaching produced a totally different effect. Let us hear the testimony of this eye-witness. " As soon ashe had mounted the platform," he says, "he stroked back his long hair, and turned toward the spot where I stood: I thought he fixed his eyes upon me. This single look filled me with inexpressible anguish : before he opened his mouth, my heart beat like the pendulum of a clock, and when he spoke, I thought his whole discourse was aimed at me."
It was, in fact, a striking characteristic of Wesley's preaching that his arguments were constantly interrupted by appeals to the conscience and the heart. Scarcely has he by thorough discussion discovered and dislodged a stone from the quarry of truth, but as a wise master-builder he is already working it into its place in the spiritual edifice.
While his contemporaries resemble a body of antiquarians, painfully occupied in collecting a store of rusty armour wherewith to establish a museum, Wesley no sooner lights upon these disused weapons, but he
256 Wesley's Character. remodels them for present use and turns them against the foe. He never forgets that he has to do with souls whom he must save from the wrath to come. When he argues, it is not to exhibit the frivolous spectacle of a brilliant theological or philosophical tournament : it is to establish upon immovable foundations the structure he wishes to build. His proofs are more commonly biblical than philosophical, and are addressed to the conscience rather than to the intellect alone.
The applications of Wesley's sermons are never indirect, but always straightforward and aggressive. By a frequent and felicitous use of the second person singular, which, as is well known, is in English reserved for biblical and poetical language, and is then always employed with the finest effect, he throws into his appeals a forcefulness which no translation can reproduce. This habit, together with that of the employment of a great number of scriptural expressions, not formally cited but inwrought into the texture of his periods, communicates to his sermons an archaic tinge, as well as a salient energy, which often recall the preaching of the prophets.
The success of Wesley's preaching gives us a lofty idea of the character of the Anglo-Saxon race, to whose moral renovation he devoted his life. The nation must have retained great and noble instincts in the depths of its moral being, otherwise such strong meat would never have suited it, and the success of such preaching would never have amounted to more than a momentary enthusiasm. A people capable of appreciating such sermons as these, and that at the very moment of their spiritual awakening, must have been a great one, whose future was in their own hands.
Compare them with another at the same epoch, crowding around those worldly abbots who were such favourites , at Versailles, and one may well ask where is the life, the vigour, the future, in a word, of such a people as Wesley as an Author. 257 this? The one nation, polite and amiable, will hear no Gospel except that of the. Vicar of Savoy, and, without suspecting it, is on the verge of a bloody revolution: the other, rude and coarse, receives the teachings of Wesley and his coadjutors, and gradually rises in the scale of being till it attains real greatness, and is ready for the work to which God, in the order of His providence, has called it.
Wesley influenced the age in which he lived not only by his tongue, but by his pen. More than any of his contemporaries, he understood the importance of popular literature, and he was one of the pioneers of those great societies which have flooded the world with religious publications in the present day. Notwithstanding his incessant missionary labours, he found time to publish about two hundred volumes, translated or abridged by himself, and treating of theology, biography, history, philosophy, poetry, grammar, medicine, etc., and always from a popular point of view. Large editions were sold at the lowest prices, and obtained an extensive circulation, through the assistance of his preachers, whose influence contributed greatly to the formation of a taste for reading among his Societies.
In his original productions, of which the principal are his "Sermons," "Journals," 'Notes on the New Testament,"
Appeals to Men of Reason and Religion," and his " Treatise on Original Sin," Wesley displays all the qualities of a superior intellect : his style is pronounced by competent judges to be excellent, being polished and yet powerful.
Deeply devoted to the study of. the ancient classical writings, and at the same time familiar with the principal modern languages, he acquired, in the course of his wide reading, a wealth of information and of thought which renders his writings interesting to the educated as well as instructive to the illiterate.
258 Wesley's Character.
While we find everywhere in his works traces of his classical lore, and numerous reminiscences of his Oxford training, there is no indication of narrowness or pedantry.
He writes not for the sake of writing, but in order to convince: he appears to care little for fine composition, as if wholly absorbed by the desire to be understood of all. He is neither a rhetorician nor a literary artist : he is a soldier of Christ, who never loses sight of his flag.
His style, like his thought, is energetic and compact: the one suits the other like a well-shaped garment, following every movement and rendering every modification of the form with scrupulous fidelity.
It is in argumentation that Wesley succeeds best. When we read his smaller polemical pieces, or even his more extended writings, such as his refutation of Dr. Taylor, of Norwich, we are struck with the variety and vigour of his talents as a controversialist. Of a logical rather than a philosophical turn of mind, he never loses himself in the regions of abstract metaphysics : he confines himself to safer and more accessible ground, and the blows he deals out to his adversaries rarely miss their aim. Whether he annihilates the arguments of his antagonists by appeals to common sense or draws out against them weapons from the armoury of Scripture, whether he speaks the language of rigid reason or has recourse to playful irony, we feel that he is conscious of his strength, and that he will probably succeed in gaining over the reader to his side.
We shall not enlarge upon Wesley's qualities as the founder and organizer of a system, although in this sphere he presents himself as a man of first-rate ability. All impartial writers who have studied closely the vast ecclesiastical system which bears the marks of his genius, have admired its well-planned organization. Buckle, the historian of English civilization, calls Wesley "the first of Qualities as a Writer. 259 theological statesmen." The illustrious Macaulay goes further still: "' Wesley," he says, " conducted one of the most wonderful moral revolutions the 'world ever saw : his eloquence and his piercing logic would have made him an eminent literary man ; and his genius for government was not inferior to Richelieu's."
Viewed as a whole, Wesley's character appears to us remarkably complete. He unites qualities which most commonly seem to exclude one another, but which in him are moulded into a harmonious whole. His life, like his mind, is crowded with multifarious occupations : one would say that several distinct personalities and existences must have been blended together to constitute this one personality and this one existence. His manifold cares and labours do not oppress him ; he bears the burden without weariness, even to extreme old age. Is not this marvellous adaptation of the workman to the work due to a special Providence? And does it not clearly manifest
Wesley to have been one of those men whom God Himself raises up and endows with extraordinary qualifications in order that they may accomplish an extraordinary mission ?
WESLEY'S WORK AND ITS RESULTS.
Westey's work had a two-fold result, the one direct and leading to the formation of a vast ecclesiastical system, the other more general and embracing the whole nation. It remains that we briefly describe this two-fold influence.
Methodism was the special work of Wesley's life: by its theology and its organization it satisfied the religious necessities created by the Revival.
Its theology was, in all essential features, that of the English Reformation, as summed up in the Thirty-Nine Articles. Fully harmonising with all other Evangelical Churches in the fundamental doctrines of the Trinity, the Divinity of the Son and of the Spirit, the Incarnation of the Son, and the mediatorial character of His work, Wesley was equally explicit respecting the doctrines of the Fall, and of Original Sin, and is wronged by those who accuse him of semi-Pelagianism. To be convinced of this, it is only necessary to read his refutation of the views of Dr. Taylor, of Norwich.
On the other hand, Wesley totally rejects the Calvinist doctrine of the limited extent of redemption. Believing the Scriptures to teach that Christ died for all, he always affirmed that "all may recover through the second Adam whatsoever they have lost through the first, and that no child of man perishes except by his own fault." Rigid
Calvinism, in Wesley's eyes, too often leads on to the deplorable abyss of Antinomianism, and he could, therefore, make no compromise with it. He upheld the responsibility
His Theology. 261 of man in reference to his own salvation, without in any degree weakening the doctrines of grace, and thus rendered an immense service to the Revival. The evangelical theology of our times is greatly indebted to his teachings, to which, indeed, it is constantly approximating.
The doctrines concerning the attainment of salvation occupy the foremost place in Wesley's theology. "Our chief doctrines," he says, "which include all others, are repentance, faith, and holiness. The first of these we consider as the way to religion, the second as the gate, the third, religion itself." The Methodists attach special importance to these vital doctrines, which have become the pivots of their theology. True, they have introduced no new ideas upon these subjects, but they have embodied them in more precise and practical formularies, and by bringing them down to the level of the humblest intelligence, have opened up the way to the consciences of men.
Repentance retains, in Wesley's view, its profound significance and lofty character. It is not a vain formality, but a deep sorrow for having offended God, manifesting itself not in tears only but in " fruits meet for repentance."
Faith is, in Wesley's system as in St. Paul's, the sole means of obtaining salvation. "It is not only," says he, "an entire assent to Christ's Gospel, it is a complete repose in the blood of Christ, a trust in the merits of His life, death, and resurrection ; a coming to Him as our expiatory
Sacrifice and our Life, who gave Himself for us, and lives Im aseA Everything in salvation—justification, regeneration, sanctification—is obtained by faith. Justification is simply the pardon of our sins: it completely changes a sinner's relationship to God. In regeneration, the Holy Spirit renews his very nature, changes his heart, and admits him
262 Wesley's Work and its Results. into the family of God by the bestowment of the " Spirit of adoption." Sanctification is the work of purification begun in the soul at the moment of regeneration. " Sanctification," he says, "begins when we begin to believe, and in proportion as our faith increases, our holiness increases also."
Wesley was early convinced by the study of the Scriptures that this work of inward purification and conquest over sin is fully accomplished in this life, and this was the doctrine which he preached under the Scriptural names of entire sanctification and Christian perfection. He describes this great blessing in the following terms: "It is to love
God with all our heart, mind, soul, and strength ; which implies that no evil disposition, none contrary to love, remains in the soul, and that every thought, word, and action is governed by pure love." The Christian perfection, then, to be realized in this life, is the perfection of love :
Christians who by faith attain this happy state, are 'not thereby exempt from ignorance and error. We have no more right to expect that aman should be infallible, than that he should be omniscient. None will be freed from infirmities and temptations till his spirit returns to God."
Another doctrine which occupies an important place in Wesley's theology is that of the Witness of the Spirit. He defines it as "an inward impression on the soul, whereby the Spirit of God directly witnesses to my spirit that I ama child of God; that Jesus Christ hath loved me, and given Himself for me; and that all my sins are blotted out, and I, even I, am reconciled to God."
This witness of the Spirit was not in Wesley's view the unconditional assurance of final salvation. He rejected the Calvinist doctrine of final perseverance as he rejected unconditional predestination, and to this he was compelled by a process of rigorous logic : asserting the freedom and responsibility of man at the outset of his religious life, he
Character and Effects of such a Theology. 263 could not afterwards despoil it of these perilous prerogatives, The possibility of apostasy, so clearly taught in the Scriptures, was also a warning to all.
Such is, in its main features, the theology which formed the basis of Wesley's work. Clear, simple, and practical, it contained within itself all the elements of success.
Expounded in Wesley's terse and transparent style, and propagated by his admirable sermons, it became the grand subject of his Preachers' study, and the 'theme of their ministrations, and thus afforded his Societies solid nutriment.
The best proof of its efficacy is to be found in the great religious movement which we have traced in this book, and which may be said to be the result of the faithful preaching of those Evangelical doctrines which Wesley had resuscitated.
In giving Methodism a theology which simply re-affirmed the great doctrines of experimental Christianity, Wesley laid a broad and stable foundation for the edifice he reared upon it. We have now to contemplate the edifice itself, i.e., the organization of Methodism, of which it will suffice to give such a general view as will show the results of the growth of half a century.
The basis of this organization is the Society, properly so called, comprising the body of believers who, in each locality, embrace the principles of Methodism. The sole condition of membership in this Society was "a desire to flee from the wrath to come," requiring adhesion to no doctrinal formularies whatsoever ; and in order to continuance in it, it was necessary to evidence that desire by Christian conduct, and to maintain Christian communion by attendance at the class-meeting.
The class-meeting, which is the very key-stone of Methodism, is an excellent method of exercising the ' cure of souls,' at the same time that it is a realization in the bosom of the Church of that fraternal fellowship so well understood in the apostolic age, and so deplorably neglected
264 Wesley's Work and its Results. in our own. A class is usually composed of about twelve persons, who are placed under the guidance of a leader, selected on account of his Christian experience and judgment. His business is to watch over the spiritual state of those committed to his care, not only by meeting them weekly to inquire how their souls prosper, but also by visiting them at their own homes. The class-meeting is thus, it will be seen, the nucleus of the Church; and, owing to its simple organization, it has often of itself supplied the place of other ordinances. By dividing pastoral labour, it has rendered it easier, and at the same time made the exercise of discipline more thorough.
By means of these weekly meetings an easy method was also provided of raising the necessary funds for the maintenance of the work ; and the leader, whose business it was to give an account of the religious state of the members to the preachers, also gave an account of their moneys to the local stewards. Thus the fiscal system was extreniely simple, and yet generally efficacious.
Another custom which Wesley adopted was borrowed from the ancient Churches. Eachmember of Society received periodically a ticket, inscribed with his own name and that of the preacher from whom he received it. This quarterly ticket served as a token of membership, and was to be presented at certain meetings of the Church in order to admission.
Besides the class-meeting proper, the Societies had other meetings, as the band-meetings, in which a more intimate association of the members was encouraged, but which, being optional, gradually fell into desuetude ; the lovefeasts, in which all the classes of a given Society met together to break bread, according to the custom of the primitive Church, and held free conference on their
Christian experience; the watch-nights, meetings for spiritual edification, which were protracted till midnight, and ° which were at first held monthly, about the time of the full
Organization. 265 moon, but now are only celebrated on the last day of the year, for the purpose of spending in prayer the hour that marks the close of the old year and the beginning of the new ; the renewal of the covenant, a special service held the first Sunday in the year, in which the members devot themselves afresh to God by a solemn vow. d
The administration of the Lord's Supper to the Societies was as yet rare, owing to the small number of ordained ministers that laboured among them ; but this anomaly did not long exist, and the Societies soon attained the full emancipation for which their Founder had prepared them.
On the whole, we have here a remarkable assemblage of means of grace, all tending powerfully to develop the spiritual life of the members, and to establish on sure foundations the unity of the Societies. Quarterly meetings of the office-bearers of the Church were gradually established, at which the spiritual and material interests of the work of God were discussed.
Besides the class-leaders there were other office-bearers of various-kinds. The trustees were those who undertook the management of the trust-estates. The stewards received the various moneys contributed by the Societies, and disbursed them according to their needs: their office in some degree resembles that of the deacons in other
Churches. 'he local-preachers were pious laymen who, possessing the gift of utterance, consented to devote their Sabbaths, and often their week-nights, to the work of the Gospel, without any recompense for their services. These useful labourers have multiplied in number, and become important auxiliaries, by whose aid Methodism is enabled with moderate resources to extend its evangelistic labours over a large field with a facility that other Churches may well envy.
We have narrated at some length the humble origin of 8 5 266 Wesley's Work and its Results. the itinerant ministry, that institution which, more than any other, has won for Methodism its position in the present.
It occupies a capital place in its organization, and of itself would suffice to prove the original and yet Providential character of the movement. 'hese irregular clergy whom Wesley called into existence by following the directions of Providence, sprang from the people, and therefore understood the wants of the people, and were in turn understood by them. This valiant militia, which was reckoned by hundreds at the time of Wesley's death, was constantly in motion: Wesley made intinerancy the very law of its existence, and by this means was enabled, not only to keep up its missionary zeal, but to multiply its % operations, and to achieve great results with a small number of men. He had divided Great Britain into Cireuits, so called because the preachers in charge of them were expected to visit successively the principal localities contained within their boundaries: their sojourn in each Circuit, also, was never to exceed three years, and at each Conference they might be called upon to change their spheres of labour, A ministry so well disciplined, and possessing the excellent spirit which Wesley knew how to inspire into his agents, could not but wield immense power ; and its success ought not to surprise us.
During Wesley's life, he was himself the living bond of this extensive organization. At his death the Annual Conference inherited that position, and became the supreme court in which the most important interests of the Societies were debated. Other modifications, chiefly in matters of detail, arose in the course of time: these it is not our business to discuss : suffice it to say that such changes have not in any degree cramped, but rather tended to consolidate, the work of Wesley's life.
This organization has proved its strength by a duration of more than a century, during which period it has followed Tits Permanence and Power. 267 the law of an ever-widening progression. It has commanded the admiration of all those who have closely studied the subject. While some of its features, as, for instance, those derived from Wesley's ecclesiastical position, have not escaped criticism, all impartial judges are compelled to admit that, as a whole, it is admirably adapted to the ends for which it was designed.
"The peculiarity of Methodism," says M. CuchevalClarigny, "and that which has made it so successful, is that it never leaves the Christian to himself, but continually supplies him with spiritual aids. In the absence of the regular ministry, the most isolated member of the Church finds counsel, encouragement, and consolation, from the exhorter or the class-leader. While the wisely-graduated hierarchy of Methodism enables it to extend itself even to "=" the farthest limits of civilization, by the same arrangement it reaches the lowest strata of society." *
The numerical strength of Methodism at the death of Wesley is summed up in the following figures : itinerant preachers, 511, of whom 294 belonged to Hurope, and 217 to America ; members, 120,233, of whom 71,668 belonged to Europe, and 48,565 to America.
These magnificent results demonstrated to Wesley the complete success of his mission, and amply compensated him for the sufferings through which he had passed, He went the way of all the earth, accompanied by the benedictions of more than one hundred and twenty thousand souls won from the ways of sin in the two hemispheres ; while on the eternal shore thousands more welcomed him as their spiritual father, who had been gathered in before him to the bosom of their God.
These great numerical results were themselves only the promise of still greater yet to come. Methodism was not * Revue des Deva-Mondes, 15th of August, 1859.
268 Wesley's Work and its Results. to die with Wesley. So far from that, it has displayed a marvellous vitality, and exists to-day in almost every part of the globe. Great Britain and the United States continue to be the principal centres from whence its influence is diffused. In the latter country in particular, it has had extraordinary success: the total separation of the Church from the State has there been most beneficial in its effects, and Methodism has become the first in importance and largest in number of the Churches of the land. The Methodist Episcopal Church North, the most considerable section of American Methodism, celebrated its centenary year in 1866 with a total of more than a million members, and its progress is so rapid that its increase since then exceeds a hundred thousand.* The Methodist missions, as sustained by the English and American Churches, are actually at the head of all other
Protestant missions in the number of their missionaries, the total of their Church-members, and the amount of their funds: they extend through all quarters of the globe, and are maintained at an annual cost of £300,000, contributed by the Societies.
It is calculated that the various Methodist churches and congregations throughout the world, which embrace the doctrines preached by Wesley, and retain the chief features of his ecclesiastical discipline, number in the aggregate some eighteen thousand travelling preachers, nearly three millions of communicants, and about twelve millions of regular hearers. Fora parallel to such success we should have to go back to the apostolic age.
To these direct and positive results of the Methodist movement, we must now add others which, though more general and indirect, yet are related to it as effect to cause.
All historians at the present day agree, that while the last century was for continental Hurope a period of decay * Or, in four years (to 1870), two hundred thousand,—Tr.
Regeneration of England. 269 and dissolution, in Great Britain it witnessed one of those beneficial crises which regenerate a nation's life and open up an era of indefinite progress. In fact, while everywhere else convictions were being stifled and character poisoned by the deadly breath of scepticism, this great people in their solitary island-home were rebuilding, step by step, the tottering edifice of faith and morals. Hence when at the close of this century the tocsin of revolution sounded, and ancient institutions shared the fate of the ancient principles on which they had been founded, amid the general ruin England alone stood secure.
This regeneration of England was the especial work of Methodism, and impartial history at length recognizes the fact. While the sagacious Priestley observed in his day that, " Methodism has not only Christianized but civilized that part of the nation which had been overlooked by a clergy too careful of its dignity," Macaulay, in our own, makes light of 'some writers of books called Histories of England in the reign of George II., in which the rise of Methodism is not mentioned," and says that in a hundred years "such a breed of authors will be extinct." Hven in France, writers who have studied the history of the century, have generally done justice to the paramount influence of Wesley and his work ; and these testimonies, coming from a quarter so thoroughly disinterested, are too valuable to be passed by.
M. Edmond Scherer calls Methodism "a movement which has changed the face of England," and he adds, " Yes, England, as we know it to-day, with its chaste and grave literature, with its Biblical language and its national piety, with its middle classes whose exemplary morality gives so much weight to the country, England is the work of Methodism. Methodism has done more than establish one sect, it has quickened all others: it has pervaded the Established Church with its influence, it has restored to 270 Wesley's Work and its Results. their due place the doctrines of the Reformation, it has aroused the clergy, and communicated to them its own missionary spirit."
The testimony of M. Cornelius De Witt is still more cordial: '' Wesley's faith was active and diffusive ; his courage was proof against ridicule as well as violence, and his organizing genius equalled that of the founders of the great monastic orders. Wesley had another merit, exceedingly rare amongst innovators. The spirit of reform did not destroy in him the spirit of genuine conseryativism.
In forming a religious Society, it was no part of his design to found a religious sect. A minister of the Established Church and an observer of its failings, he felt that to awaken the parish clergy it was necessary to create a clergy of another kind ; that to announce the Gospel to those who never went to church, or who only heard there frigid exhortations, it was necessary to organize an army of ardent missionaries ; that to reach the heart of the masses, it was necessary to seek them in the fields, the market-places, and the alleys of the large towns, and to preach to them in their own vulgar tongue.
"While his separation from the Anglican Church was wider than he wished, the benefit he conferred upon it far exceeds anything he could ever have hoped or conceived.
He did something more than stimulate its activity by exciting its jealousy: he acted on it by his preaching, his example, and the diffusive warmth of his faith. He did not merely inspire into it an ecclesiastical zeal, that kind of interested zeal which may co-exist with indifference to the salvation of souls: he resuscitated its spiritual life and renovated its moral efficiency. If the England of to-day no longer resembles the England of the early part of the eighteenth century, it is mainly due to John Wesley."* * French Society and English Society in the 18th Century, p. 237.
Testimonies of Historians. 201
Let us cite finally the opinion of M. Saint-Mare-Girardin :
" While France was more and more abandoning herself to the philosophical spirit, in England the religious spirit was being awakened and diffused through the influence of Methodism. When I read the lives of Wesley and Whitefield, I admire the power of individual faith. At the beginning of the eighteenth century, there had been in England a retrograde movement, tending to produce irreligion. Voltaire there caught the contagion of infidelity, and introduced it into France. This ascendency of unbelief did not for one moment daunt Wesley and Whitefield.
They resolved by thought and by speech to undo what thought and speech had done, and to oppose the freedom of faith to the license of godlessness. They preached and wrote, they were ridiculed and persecuted, they persevered until they conquered. Wesley and his disciples revived the Christian spirit in the breasts of those who opposed them.
English society was rendered stronger and more religious by the battles waged for Methodism and against it ; and, as that faith could not but be genuine which had been rekindled amid such opposition, when the question arose of the abolition of slavery, the same faith wrought for thirty years till it was accomplished."
These testimonies, coming from opposite quarters, agree in attributing to Wesley and Methodism a large share in the moral renovation of England. It was not a moral revolution only, but it affected all the interests of society.
The working-classes were the first to feel its influence : the lower quarters of the great cities, the manufacturing and colliery districts, where vice and misery reigned, were, as we have seen, a favourite field of labour for Wesley and his auxiliaries. These degraded populations, under the influence of evangelical preaching, were gradually transformed. Not only did numerous conversions take place, but the general standard rapidly rose: manners were
272 Wesley's Work and its Results. softened and improved, and a thirst for knowledge imparted. Kingswood, Cornwall, Staffordshire, Northumberland, in the course of a few years witnessed a marvellous reformation among their populations of miners and colliers, but lately abandoned to the worst excesses and dreaded for their brutality. Everywhere throughout the country chapels sprung up, and were filled by multitudes who formerly frequented the public-houses. Modest cottages, wearing an air of comfort and order, gradually replaced the hideous hovels where formerly many families herded together pell-mell. Public schools and libraries began to appear, as the intellectual needs of the people, hitherto unthought of, began to be felt.
As they rose in the scale of morals, the lower classes necessarily exerted an influence upon the upper, and the movement spread from the lowest strata of society till it reached the highest. The moral standard of the nation had risen so high that it of necessity imposed itself even on that corrupt and venal aristocracy which, at first sight, seemed so incorrigible. Under the pressure of the middle and lower classes, which rose rapidly in morality and dignity, it was absolutely necessary that the upper classes should make proportionate progress, if they wished to retain their ascendency. |Happily, such a change did in fact take place, and history*nowhere exhibits a more radical transformation.
The Anglican Church which, according to Priestley, had cared more for its own dignity than for the wants of the people, had long been accessory to the irregularities of the nobility, and had even encouraged religious indifference.
But it, too, was visited and transformed by the Revival, which introduced to its ranks such men as Perronet, Fletcher, Grimshaw, Romaine, Venn, Berridge, Newton, and by their means effected a remarkable improvement.
Conclusion. Te A similar change was brought about in the Dissenting Churches which, although not so hopelessly decayed, had lost their influence upon the masses. They became so imbued with the spirit of the Methodist movement that they recovered their ancient zeal, and, by their contact with the ardent missionaries of the Revival, were quickened into new life.
This grand work of reformation, in i the English nation renewed its youth, pervaded every circle,—social, political, intellectual, and moral. A chaste and healthy literature took the place of the impure productions of the previous age. Johnson and Goldsmith, with other writers, in creating a purer popular literature, doubtless contributed to this great revolution.
A great revolution truly, which, following on the heels of the political revolution of the previous century, has created modern England, that nation which has set the world an example of the power and permanence of liberal institutions based on the foundation of the Gospel.
Let us learn to admire those men who gave to humanity one of those salutary impulses which propel it along its heayen-appointed course. Admiration brings us nearer to them, and in a certain sense imbues us with their spirit, and causes us to live their life and share their work. And, remembering what they accomplished with resources so limited, we shall the better understand what we may do in the sphere in which we are placed.
Let us learn above all to remember that man is but God's instrument, and that to God alone belongs the glory of those mighty enterprises of which we, ignorant and short-sighted as we are, can only contemplate the human side. Wesley and Whitefield, like Luther and Calvin, and like all faithful teachers of the truth, knew that they were only God's instruments ; and what we must admire in them
274 Wesley's Work and its Results. even more than their great achievements is that profound humility which taught them to ascribe all the glory to God. 'This is also the sentiment that animates us as we survey the work of Wesley, and this sentiment is well expressed in the words with which our fathers loved to conclude their books, and which shall conclude ours :—
"To GOD ALONE BE THE GLoRY!"
HEOLOGY LISRARY LAREMONT, CALIF.
ROBERT NEEDHAM, PRINTER, PATERNOSTER-ROW. naraie a Pe cool ri. ee as he 49 —_ —_ Stanifaed atl Populae Warhs, PUBLISHED AT THE WESLEYAN CONFERENCE OFFICE, = — = TireOLlO GTC AL.
Arthur(W.) The Tongue of Fire; or, the True Power of Christianity. By the Rev. W. ArtHur, M.A. Royal 32mo. Price 1s.; Dunn (L. R.) The Mission of the Spirit; or, the Office and Work of the Comforter in Human Redemption. By the Rev. Lewis R.
Dunn, Minister of the Methodist Episcopal Church, U.S. Edited by the Rey. JoszrpH BusH. Crown 8vo. Price 2s.
Edmondson (J.) Sermons on Important Subjects; with an Introduction by the Rev. T. Jackson. Two Vols. Crown 8vo. Price 6s.
Fletcher (J.) An Appeal to Matter of Fact and Common Sense; or, a Rational Demonstration of Man's Corrupt and Lost Estate.
By the Rev, JoHN FLETCHER, 12mo. Price 2s.
Fletcher (J.) Five Checks to Antinomianism. By the Rev.
Joun FLETCHER, 12mo. Price 4s. 6d.
Fletcher (J.) The Works of the Rev. John Fletcher; with his Life, by the Rev. JoszpH Benson, Complete in Nine Volumes. x12mo.
Geden (J.D.) Didsbury Sermons: Being Fifteen Dis-. courses preached in the Wesleyan College Chapel, Didsbury. By Joun Dory GrepEN, Tutor in Hebrew and Classics, 8vo. Price 7s.
Gregory (B.) The Holy Catholic Church, the Communion of Saints: Being the FERNLEY LECTURE for 1873. With Notes, and:
Essays on The History of Christian Fellowship, and on the Origin of ' High Church' and'Broad Church' Theories. By the Rev. B. Grecory. 8vo. 4s.6d.
Gregory (J. R.) An Examination of the Doctrines of Conditional Immortality and Universalism. By the Rey. J, Rosinson Grecory.
Crown 8vo. -Price 2s, 6d. ae 70 2 PUBLICATIONS OF Hannah (J.) Introductory Lectures on the Study of Christian Theology : with Outlines of Lectures on the Doctrines of Christianity. By the late Rev. Joun Hannan, D.D.; to which is prefixed a Memoir of Dr. Hannah, by the Rev. W. B.Porz,D.D. Crown 8vo. Price 3s.6d.
Horbery (M.) An Enquiry into the Scripture Doctrine concerning the Duration of Future Punishment. By MatrHew Horsery, B.D. Reprinted from the Edition of 1744. Crown 8vo. Price 3s, 6d:
Jackson (T.) The Duties of Christianity; theoretically and practically considered. By the Rev. THomas Jackson. Second Edition. Crown 8vo. Price 4s.
Jackson (T.) The Institutions of Christianity, exhibited in their Scriptural Character and Practical Bearing. By the Rev. THomAS
Jackson. Crown 8vo, Price ss.
Jackson (T.) The Providence of God, viewed in the Light of Holy Scripture. By the Rev. THomas Jackson. New Edition with Improvements, Crown 8vo. Price 4s.