The preaching of perfection he still regarded as of the utmost importance. He says: "This doctrine is the grand deposition which God has lodged with the people called Methodists ; and for the sake of propagating this chiefly he appeared to have
1 aised them up." In this connection another exIj-act is worth quoting: "To retain the grace of God is much more than to gain it. Hardly one in three does this; and this should be strongly and exl)licitly urged on all who have tasted of perfect love."
One of the subjects he most frequently and strongly dwelt upon in his last days was the danger of rich men, and their duty to be liberal. In 1789,
The Grace of Liberality. 205 in addition to the utterances on the same theme he had already given to the world, he published his rus, in which he addresses rich Methodists: "O liow pitiable is your condition ! And who is able to help you? You need more plain dealing than any men in the world, and you meet with less. For how few dare to speak as plain to you as they would to one of your servants! . . . O that God would give me accejDtable words, and cause them to sink deep into your hearts! Many of you have known me fi-om your infancy. You havelong—well-nigh frequently helped me when I stood in need. May
I not say you loved me? But now the time of our parting is at hand ; my feet are just stumbling upon the dark mountains. I would leave one word with you before I go hence, and you may remember it vhen I am no more seen. O let your heart be whole with God ! Seek your happiness in him and him alone. Beware that you cleave not to the dust
This earth is not your place. See that you use this world as not abusing it; use the world and enjoy God. Sit as loose to all things here below as if you were a poor beggar. Be a good steward of the manifold gifts of God.'"'
Again, in February, 1790, he wrote a sermon on " The Rich Fool ; " in July afterward, one on Jeremiah viii. 22, on " Why has Christianity done so little good in the world?" in which he gives it as 206 Life of John Wesley. one great obstacle, the refusal of professing Christians to give as they should. And again he wrote another sermon, September 21, on the text, "If riches increase, set not your heart upon them." In these last sermons he again and again enforces the duty of giving in the most solemn and intensely anxious manner. "O that God would enable me once more," says he, " before I go hence and am no more seen, to lift up my voice like a trumpet to those who gain and save all they can, but do not give all they can. Ye are the men, some of the chief men, who continually grieve the Holy Spirit of God, and in a great measure stop his gracious influence from descending on our assemblies. Many of your brethren, beloved of God, have not food to eat ; they have not raiment to put on ; they have not a place where to lay their head. And why are they thus distressed? Because you impiously, unjustly, and cruelly detain from them what your
Master and theirs lodges in your hands on jjurpose to supply their wants. In the name of God, what are you doing? Do you neither fear God nor regard man? Why do you not deal your bread to the hungry and cover the naked with a garment?
Have you laid out in your own costly apparel what would have answered both these intentions? . . .
This idle expense has no approbation either from God or your own conscience. But you say you can afford it. O be ashamed to take such miser; Gam, Save, Give All You Can. 207 able nonsense into your mouths! Never more utter such stupid cant, such palpable absurdity ! Can any steward afford to be an arrant knave, to waste his lord's goods? Can any servant afford to lay out his master's money any otherwise than his master appoints him? So far from it that whoever does this ought to be excluded from a Christian society. I am distressed. I know not what to do. . . . Is there no means to hinder riches destroying the religion of those that possess them ? I can see only one possible way ; find out another who can. Do you gain all you can and save all you can? Then you must, in the nature of things, grow rich. Then, if you have any desire to escape the damnation of hell, give all you can; otherwise I can have no more hope of your salvation than for that of Judas Iscariot. I call
God to record upon my soul that I advise no more than I practice. I do, blessed be God, gain and save and give all I can ; and so, I trust in God, I shall do while the breath of God is in my nostrils. But what then ? I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Jesus my Lord. Still,
I give up every plea beside Lord, I am damned, but thou bast died."
And once again, in a sermon written Septembei 25, 1789, he had thus adverted to one especial danger attending the love of money : " How great is the darkness of that execrable wretch (I can give him no bet^^er title, be he rich or poor) who will
208 Lije of John Wesley.
; who will barter hersell his own child to the devil own eternal happiness for any quantity of gold or silver! What a monster would any man be acoff-counted Avho devoured the flesh of his own spring ! And is he not as great a monster who, by his own act and deed, gives her to be devoured by certainly does (so far asthat roaring lion?—as he is in his power) who marries her to an ungodly
' But he is rich ; he has £10,000.' What ifman. it were £100,000? The more the worse; the less probability will she have of escaping the damnation of hell. With what face wilt thou look upon ' Thouher when she tells thee in the realms below : hast plunged me into this place of torment. Hadst thou given me to a good man, however poor, I . . . might now have been in Abraham's bosom.'
Man, woman, think what you are about. Dare you also sell your child to the devil? You undoubtedly do this (as far as in you lies) when you marry a son or a daughter to a child of the devil, though it be one that wallows in gold and silver.
O take warning in time! Beware of the gilded bait! Death and hell are hid beneath. Prefer grace before gold and precious stones; glory in heaven to riches on earth. If you do not, you are worse than the very Canaanites. They only made their children pass through the fire to Moloch ; you make yours pass into the fire that never shall be quenched, and to stay in it forever."
; A Cotistant Giver. 209
It was no idle boast of Wesley's that what he advised in this respect he practiced. He left no money at his death except what was on his person or in his bureau-diawer at Loudon, though he had gained large sums from the sale of his books. His biographer, Mr. Moore, writes : " Mr. Wesley's accounts lie before me, and his expenses are noted with the greatest exactness. Every penny is recorded, and I am persuaded the supposed £30,000
[the amount another had estimated he had given away in his life-time] might be increased several thousand more." And this too without spending any thing scarcely upon himself. From his account-book, for instance, we find that in 1782 he received £361 19s. into his own hands. Of this he spent £5 19s. for clothes, and gave all the rest away himself; and besides directed his book agent, John
Atlay, to give away a further sum of £237 13s. making £593 13s. for the year. In ] 783 he gave away in the same way £832 Is. 6d. ; in 1784, £534
17s."6d.; in 1785, £851 12s.; in 1786, £738 5s.; in 1787, including his traveling expenses, £961 4s. in 1788, £738 4s. At the end of his accounts for 1789 he writes: "I have given this year by myself
by George Whitefield, £560; traveling, £60.
But I can be accurate no [the sentence is unfinished]. 'Not as I will, but as Thou wilt.'
The faithful steward now drew near to render up his account. October 6, 1790, at Rye, beneath an ; 210 Life of John Wesley. ash-tree in the church-yard, he preached for tlie last time in the open air from "the kingdom of God is at hand," etc. An eye-witness writes : " The Avord was attended with mighty power, and the tears of the people flowed in torrents." On the evening of the same day he preached again at Rye.
At Colchester soon after, he found the society " lessened and cold enough" through the interference of a reverend gentleman who had used his utmost endeavors, and even made use of gifts and bribes to break up the Methodist society there. Wesley was annoyed, and said in his sermon: "I understand there is a sheep-stealer in Colchester who takes both sheej) and lambs from his neighbor's fold at will.
Now, I charge that man to desist, or to meet me and answer for his deeds at the bar of God in the day of judgment." The guilty man was present; and his subsequent conduct showed that he was not a forgetful hearer. One of his hearers thus describes his appearance: "He stood in a wide pulpit, and on each side of him stood a minister, and the two held him up, having their hands under his arm-pits. His feeble voice was scarcely audible but his reverend countenance, especially his long, white locks, formed a picture never to be forgotten.
There was a vast crowd of lovers and admirers.
It was for the most part a pantomime, but the pantomime went to the heart. Of the kind I never saw any thing comparable to it in after life." Still; Ill His Loved Employ to the Last. 21? he traveled and preached every day. At Yarmouth the poet Crabbe heard him, and was greatly struck with the reverend appearance of the aged preacher, with his cheerful air, and the beautiful cadence he gave to some lines that he quoted ; and after the sermon was introduced to him, and was received with benevolent politeness.
His last enti-y in his published journal is as follows: to a numer- "Sunday, October 24.—I explained ous congregation In Spitalfield's church ' the whole armor of God.' St. Paul, Shadwells, was still more crowded in the afternoon while I enforced that important truth, 'One thing is needful;* and I hope many even then resolved to choose the better part."
So he ended the year 1790. The new year saw him still laboring in his loved employ, though "in age and feebleness extreme." Besides preaching, he wrote various letters of consolation to bereaved letters— persons ; of direction for the work to his preachers of instruction to inquiring Christians. Among them was one to Ezekiel Cooper, one of his preachers in America, exhorting him to " lose no opportunity of declaring to all men that the Methodists are one people in all the world." The last sermon he wrote was about six weeks before his death, on " Faith the evidence of things not seen," though another, on " Life like a dream," was being printed on .the very day when his corpse lay in City Koad
2J2 Life of John Wedey.
Chapel. In both he muses deeply upon the unseen and spiritual world into which he felt he must soon enter. Imagining himself already a disembodied spirit, he thus soliloquizes: "Now that your eyes are open, see how inexpressibly different are all the things that are now around you! What a difference do you perceive in yourself! Where is your body? your house of clay? Where are your limbs? your hands? your feet? your head? There they insensible! What a change is in the im-lie—cold, mortal spirit!" And again: " How will this material universe appear to a disembodied spirit? Who can tell whether any of these objects that now surround us will appear the same as they do now?
What astonishing scenes will then discover thems«,lves to our newly opening senses! . . . Above all, the moment we step into eternity shall we not feel ourselves swallowed up of Him who is in this and every place, who filleth heaven and earth?"
He was soon to know. On Thursday, February 17, 1791, he preached at Lambeth. Returning home, he seemed unwell, and said he had taken cold ; but on Friday read and wrote as usual, and preached at Chelsea in the evening on the text,
"The king's business requireth haste;" but once or twice was compelled to stop and rest. Saturday he spent principally in reading and writing. On Sunday he rose at his usual hour, but had to lie down again at seven o'clock, and slept above three
Nearing the Other Shore. 213 hours; and in the afternoon he had to go to bed again and sleep. On Monday he seemed better, and went out to dine, according to engagement;
Tind on Tuesday resumed his usual work, preaching at City Road Chapel from the text, " We through the Spirit wait for the hope of righteousness by faith ; " after which he met the leaders. On Wednesday he rose at four o'clock and rode eighteen miles to Leatherhead, where he preached foi the last time, in the dining-room of a magistrate, from the words, "Seek ye the Lord, while he m?y be found; call upon him while he is near." The next day he rose again at four, and passed the day with his old friend Mr. Wolff, at Balham, where he was cheerful, and seemed nearly as well as usual addressed to Mr.and wrote his last letter—one
"Wilberforce, encouraging him to go on with his work in opposition to slavery. Next day he came home, and became so unwell that the doctor was sent for. February 26, 27, and 28, his strength gradually declined. Much of the time he slept; at intervals he would awake, and could be heard saying in a low, distinct voice: "Christ is all! he is all!" "There is no way into the holiest but by the blood of Jesus ;" " Ye know the grace of oui
Lord Jesus Christ, that though he was rich, yet foi your sake he became poor, that ye through his poverty might become rich," etc.; "That is the foundation, the only foundation; there is no other I"
214 Life of John Wesley. and such like expressions. On March 1, after a restless night, being asked if he were in pain, he said "No," and began singing:
"All glory to God in tlie sky, And peace ui)on earth be restored!"
But after singing two stanzas his strength failed. his" I want to write," said he. A pen was put into hand, but he could not use it. " Let nie write for you," said Miss Ritchie; "tell me what you wish isto say." "Nothing," he replied, " but that God with us." " I will get up," said he; and while his friends were arranging his clothes, he again sung,
"I'll praise my Maker while I've breath," etc., through two stanzas. Once more seated in his chair, he said in a weak voice: " Lord, thou givest strength to those that can speak, and to those that cannot. Speak, Lord, to all our hearts, and let them know that thou loosest tongues ; " and again began to sing his last song on earth "To Father, Son, and Holy Ghost, Who sweetly all agree."
But here his voice failed, and after gasping for breath, he said: " Now we have done; let us all go." Full of happiness, but utterly exhausted, he was put to bed ; when, after a short but sweet sleep, he opened his eyes and said to the weeping friends around, " Pray and praise;" and of course they complied. Then he gave directions about his fuHis Ti-iinupha)it Death. 215 neral, and again called out, "Pray and praise!" and again they prayed and sung praises to God. They then again approached his bedside, when he said with the utmost placidity, "Farewell, farewell!"
He tried to speak, but they could not make out what he said, except that he wanted his sermon on "The love of God to fallen man" to be "scattered abroad and given to everybody." Seeing they could not understand him, he paused; and then summoning all his strength exclaimed, in a tone well-nigh supernatural, "The best of all is, God .? with us!" And then after another pause, lifting his arm in grateful triumph, he reiterated, " The best of all is, God is' with us!"
Once more nature was exhausted. His siglit now was so nearly gone that he was unable to recognize the features of those by his bedside. " Who are these?" he asked. "Sir," said Mr. Rogers, " we are come to rejoice with you; you are going to receive your crown." "This is the Lord's doing, and it is marvelous in our eyes," replied Wesley.
(Miai'les's widow having come to see him, he affectiimately tried to kiss her, and remarked, "He giveth his servants rest," She wet his lips, when he repeated his usual thanksgiving after meals:
'' 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, forever and ever ! " Then pausing a little, he cried.
216 Life of John Wesley.
''The clouds drop fatness!" And after another pause: "The Lord of hosts is with us! the God of Jacob is our refuge! Pray and praise!" And again his friends fell on their knees.
Scores of times during the night he repeated the words, "I'll praise! I'll praise!" but could say nothing more. Next morning a few minutes before ten, Joseph Bradford, so long his faithful friend and traveling companion, prayed with him. " Farelast words he utteredwell!" cried Wesley—the and then, Avhile Bradford was saying, "Lift up your heads, O ye gates, and be ye lifted up, ye everlasting doors, and this heir of glory shall come in !
Wesley gathered up his feet in the presence of nis brethren, and without a groan or a sigh was gone.
He died about ten o'clock a.m. Wednesday, March 2, 179L As soon as he was dead, his friends stood about sisters,his corpse—as Wesley, with his brothers and himself had done about their mother's body—and Bung:
" Waiting to receive their spirit, Lo! the Saviour stands above; Shows the purchase of his merit, Reaches out the crown of love."
And then they knelt dow^n and prayed that his mantle might rest upon his followers. His remains were interred behind the chapel in City Road on the 9th of March, at 5 o'clock a.m.
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