John Wesley's Scriptural Christianity
The Life of the
Rev. John WesleyPart 2
We have now to follow these apostolic men into still more extended fields of labor, and to contests more formidable. They had sustained many attacks from the press; and some frowns from the authorities of the Church. By mobs they had occasionally been insulted both in England and Wales. But in London, some riotous proceedings, of a somewhat violent character, now occurred at their places of worship. With respect to these, the following anecdote is curious, as it shows that Mr. Wesley’s zeal was regarded with favor in a high quarter: — "On the last day of 1742, Sir John Ganson called upon Mr. Wesley, and said, ‘Sir, you have no need to suffer these riotous mobs to molest you, as they have done long. I and all the other Middlesex Magistrates have orders from above to do you justice whenever you apply to us.’ Two or three weeks after, they did apply.
Justice was done, though not with rigor; and from that time the Methodists had peace in London." 6
In the discipline of Methodism, the division of the society into classes is an important branch. Every class is placed under a person of experience and piety, who meets the others once a week, for prayer, and inquiry into the religious state of each, in order to administer exhortation and counsel.
The origin of these classes was, however, purely incidental. The chapel at Bristol was in debt; and it was agreed that each member of the society should contribute one penny a week to reduce the burden. The Bristol society was therefore divided into classes; and, for convenience, one person was appointed to collect the weekly subscriptions from each class, and to pay the amount to the Stewards. The advantage of this system, when turned to a higher purpose, at once struck the methodical and practical mind of Mr. Wesley. He therefore invited several "earnest and sensible men" to meet him; and the society in London was divided into classes like that of Bristol, and placed under the spiritual care of these tried and experienced persons. At first they visited each person, at his own residence, once a week; but the preferable mode of bringing every class together Wesley was at length adopted. These meetings are not, as some have supposed, inquisitorial; but their business is confined to statements of religious experience, and the administration of friendly and pious counsel. Mutual acquaintance with each other is thus formed; the Leader is the friend and adviser of all; and among the members, by their praying so often with and for each other, the true "fellowship of saints" is promoted. Opportunities are also thus afforded for ascertaining the wants of the poorer members, and obtaining relief for them, and for visiting the sick; the duty of a Leader being to see the members once in the week, either at the meeting, or, if absent from that, at home. In regard of this institution Mr. Wesley remarks, "Upon reflection I could not but observe, this is the very thing which was from the beginning of Christianity. In the earliest those, those whom God had sent forth ‘preached the Gospel to every creature.’ The body of hearers were mostly either Jews or Heathens. But as soon as any of these were so convinced of the truth as to forsake sin and seek the Gospel salvation, they immediately joined them together, took an account of their names, advised them to watch over each other, and met these kathcou>menoi., catechumens, as they were then called, apart from the great congregation, that they might instruct, rebuke, exhort, and pray with them, and for them, according to their several necessities." 7
Mr. Wesley now extended his labors northward. He first accepted an invitation into Leicestershire; and thence proceeded to Birstal in Yorkshire, where John Nelson, who had been brought to the knowledge of God in London by the ministry of the Methodists, had been instrumental on his return of doing great good. After preaching to a large congregation on Birstal Hill, and on the side of Dewsbury moor, and encouraging Mr. Nelson in his endeavors to be useful, Mr. Wesley proceeded to Newcastle-upon-Tyne, hoping to have the same fruit of his labors among the colliers of that neighborhood as he had seen among those of Kingswood. In returning southward, he preached in various parts of Yorkshire; and visiting Epworth, where a small society of Methodists had been collected, and finding the use of the church denied him, he stood upon his father’s tomb, and preached to a numerous congregation, who, as well as himself; appear to have been deeply impressed with the circumstance of the son speaking to then, as from the ashes of his father, on those solemn subjects on which that venerable parish Priest had faithfully addressed them for so many years. This was on Sunday, June 6, 1742. The following Sunday he preached on the same spot to a vast multitude from all parts, and with great visible effect. He left Epworth the following morning, and, after visiting Bristol, was recalled to London, to attend the last moments of his mother; who died a decided witness of the assurance of faith, — a doctrine which, in the later years of her life, she learned from her sons more fully to understand. She was interred in the Bunhill-field burial-ground.
The labors of Mr. Charles Wesley had been very extended and successful during the early part of the year 1743. From the west of England he proceeded to Staffordshire, Birmingham, Nottingham, and Sheffield. At Sheffield, especially, he was exposed to great danger from the fury of the mob. In his journal he observes, "Those at Moorfields, Cardiff; and Walsal were lambs to these." On leaving Sheffield, a number of persons waylaid him, and pelted him with eggs and stones. David Taylor, who was with him, was much hurt in the head by a stone; and as to himself, he says, "my clothes indeed abhorred me, and my arm pained me a little from a blow I received at Sheffield." Having reached Leeds he preached to thousands before Mr. Shent’s door, and found the people prepared for the Lord. The Clergy of Leeds treated him with respect and deference, and constrained him to assist them at the sacrament. He then went to Newcastle; and he remarks in his Journal, that never since he had preached the Gospel had he had greater success than at this time at Newcastle. Soon after this, his brother laid the foundation of a place for the public worship of the society, the size of which startled many; but he received such assistance, sometimes from very unexpected quarters, that he was enabled to complete it. During this year new societies were formed in the western, midland, and northern counties, while those before collected continued greatly to increase. In the latter end of the same year (1743) Mr. Wesley appointed in London visitors of the sick, as a distinct office in his society.
The same year was remarkable in the life of Mr. Wesley for his escape from one of the most dangerous of his encounters with deluded and infuriated mobs. The persecution was first excited by a sermon preached in Wednesbury church by the Clergyman. "I never," says Mr. Wesley, "heard so wicked a sermon, and delivered with such bitterness of voice and manner." The effect was soon visible, and was increased by the conduct of many of the neighboring Magistrates, full of what they called churchmanship and loyalty. At Wednesbury, Darlaston, and West-Bromwich the mobs were stimulated to abuse the Methodists in the most outrageous manner; even women and children were beaten, stoned, and covered with mud; their houses were broken open, and their goods spoiled and carried away. As soon as the intelligence reached him, Mr. Wesley hastened from Bristol, whither he had gone, to comfort and advise this harassed people. On his arrival, he preached at Wednesbury without molestation; but the mob soon after surrounded the house; and he was exposed to their fury for a considerable time. Mr. Charles, who met him at Nottingham, has inserted in his Journal a notice of their meeting, highly characteristic of the spirit of martyrdom in which both of them lived: — "My brother came, delivered out of the mouth of the lions! His clothes were torn to tatters; he looked like a soldier of Christ. The mob of Wednesbury, Darlaston and Walsal, were permitted to take and carry him about for several hours, with a full intent to murder him; but his work is not yet finished or he had been now with the souls under the altar."
Undaunted by the usage of his brother, Charles immediately set out for Wednesbury to encourage the societies.
In this year, Mr. Wesley made his first journey into Cornwall, whither his brother Charles had preceded him, and had preached to mobs "as desperate as that at Sheffield." Mr. Wesley followed in August, and came to St. Ives, where he found a society formed on Dr. Woodward’s plan.
They gladly received him, and became the nucleus of the Methodist societies in Cornwall, which from this time rapidly increased. In no part of England has Methodism obtained more influence than in the west of Cornwall. It has become, in fact, the leading profession of the people; and its moral effects upon society may be viewed with the highest satisfaction and gratitude. A serious persecution was, however, experienced in Cornwall, at the commencement; the riots in Staffordshire and elsewhere continued; and cruel was the treatment which the Methodists and several of the Preachers experienced.
The first CONFERENCE was held in June, 1744. The societies had spread through various parts of the kingdom; and a number of Preachers, under the name of Assistants and Helpers, the former being Superintendents of the latter, had been engaged by Mr. Wesley in the work. Some Clergymen, also, more or less cooperated to promote these attempts to spread the flame of true religion, and were not yet afraid of the cross. These circumstances led to the distribution of different parts of the kingdom into Circuits, to which certain Preachers were for a time appointed, and were then removed to others. The superintendance of the whole was with the two brothers, but particularly with Mr. John Wesley. The annual Conferences afforded an admirable opportunity of conversing on important points and distinctions of doctrine, that all might "speak the same thing" in their public ministrations; and of agreeing upon such a discipline as the new circumstances in which the societies were placed might require. The labors of the preachers for the ensuing year were also arranged; and consultation was held on all matters connected with the promotion of the work of God, in which they were engaged. Every thing went on, however, not on preconceived plan, but "step by step," as circumstances suggested, and led the way. To the great principle of doing good for the souls of men, every thing was subordinated; not excepting even their prejudices and fears, as will appear from the minutes of the first Conference, which was held in London, as just stated, in 1744. The ultimate separation of the societies from the Church, after the death of the first agents in the work, was at that early period contemplated as a possibility, and made a subject of conversation; and the resolution was, "We do and will do all we can to prevent those consequences which are supposed to be likely to happen after or death; but we cannot in good conscience, neglect the present opportunity of saving souls while we live, for fear of consequences which may possibly, or probably, happen after we are dead." To this principle Mr. Wesley was "faithful unto death," and it is the true key to his public conduct. His brother, after some years, less steadily adhered to it; and most of the Clergymen, who attached themselves to Mr. Wesley in the earlier periods of Methodism, found it too bold a position, and one which exposed them to too severe a fire, to be maintained by them. It required a firmer courage than theirs to hold out at such a post; but the Founder of Methodism never betrayed the trust which providential circumstances had laid upon him.
In August following, Mr. Wesley preached for the last time before the University of Oxford. His sermon evidently produced effect, and the Vice-Chancellor sent after him, and desired his notes, which he sealed up and sent immediately.
The year 1745 was chiefly spent by Mr. Charles Wesley in London, Bristol, and Wales. In the early part of the next year he visited Cornwall where he preached with great success, though in some places he suffered persecution. On his return to London, he visited the Rev. Vincent Perronet, the venerable Vicar of Shoreham, in Kent, of whose wise counsels the Wesley’s afterwards frequently availed themselves, in matters of difficulty. He then set off on a tour into the north, and in Staffordshire was exposed to the violence of ungodly men. Having visited Dewsbury, Newcastle, Hexham, and other places, he returned, through Lincolnshire, preaching in several places. He did not remain long in London before he set off for Bristol, and at devises had as narrow an escape for his life from a lawless mob, as his brother had experienced at Wednesbury.
Amidst such storms were the foundations of that work laid, the happy results of which tens of thousands now enjoy in peace. During the same period of two years the labors of Mr. John Wesley had been as unintermitting. He visited many parts of England, and on his return to London he revived with vigor the plan which he had occasionally acted on, of writing and causing to be distributed small religious tracts, by which the cause of religion was greatly promoted.
At this time the attention of Mr. Wesley was considerably directed to "the case between the Clergy and the Methodists," and to the discipline of the societies, and the means of making provision for their future welfare.
He felt that a case of necessity had arisen, calling upon him to provide a ministry and a government for the people who had been raised up, — a necessity which rested upon the obvious alternative that they must either be furnished with Pastors of their own, or be left without sufficient aid in the affairs of their souls. This led him closely to examine the whole matter; and the subject of church discipline was seriously discussed at several Conferences. At the Conference of 1745, a general view of church-government was adopted. A Minister of Christ was contemplated as commencing his labors in some given place. He raises a society. Then he visits other places in the neighborhood, where also his ministry is crowned with success, and he forms more societies, over every one of which he appoints some one to watch. These are Deacons. As the work advances, they require other subordinate Deacons to assist them, in regard of whom they are Presbyters or Elders, while the first Minister upon whom they all depend as their father in the Lord, and the common bond of union to them all with their respective charges, may be called the Bishop or Overseer of the whole. At a subsequent Conference it was concluded, that although this plan of government generally prevailed in the apostolic age, it was not absolutely binding in all its details on Christians in every period; that, if the great principles which it involves are duly secured, various modifications of the form, according to time and circumstances, are allowable. And one of those principles which Mr. Wesley held to be, if not absolutely essential, yet strictly scriptural and highly beneficial, (as the unbroken tenor of his subsequent life fully proved,) was the principle of a united ministry, and of a connection between the several societies founded on the union of their ministry and on their subjection, in all matters of general bearing to one common discipline. Having satisfied himself on the subject of church-government, and regarding himself as a scriptural Bishop, Mr. Wesley proceeded to call forth Preachers and set them apart or ordain them to the sacred office, for the purpose of establishing and extending that great work which he had the honor of commencing. Still he did not go beyond the necessity. He could make this scriptural appointment of Ministers and ordinances without renouncing communion with the established Church; and therefore he did not renounce it, nor did the Church itself see fit to interfere so as to exclude him. In these views Charles Wesley too, who was at every one of the early Conferences, concurred with him; and if he thought somewhat differently on these points afterwards, it was not John, but Charles, who departed from first principles.
In the month of August, 1747, Mr. Wesley visited Ireland for the first time; and found in Dublin a considerable society, which had been formed by Mr. Willams, one of the Preachers. Mr. Wesley, after remaining a short time requested his brother to succeed him, who found that a persecution had commenced against the infant society, and that a Popish mob had committed gross outrages. Some of the rioters were sent to prison, but the Grand Jury at the following assizes ignored the Bill, and this gave up the Methodists to the fury of a licentious mob. Mr. Charles Wesley continued in Ireland a considerable time, and societies were formed in various parts of the country.
While these indefatigable Ministers of Christ were thus exerting themselves to promote a general revival of pure religion, the Preachers under their direction, though laboring in more limited districts of country, were scarcely less laboriously employed. At this period one of them writes from Lancashire to Mr. Wesley: — "Many doors are opened for preaching in these parts, but cannot be supplied for want of Preachers. I think some one should be sent to assist me, otherwise we shall lose ground. My Circuit requires me to travel one hundred and fifty miles in two weeks; during which time I preach publicly thirty-four times, besides meeting the societies, visiting the sick, and transacting other affairs."
Of the Preachers some were engaged in business, and preached at their leisure in their own neighborhoods; but still, zealous for the salvation of men, they often took considerable journeys. Others gave themselves up, for a time, to more extended labors, and then settled. But the third class, who had become the regular "Assistants" and "Helpers" of Mr. Wesley, were devoted wholly to the work of the ministry; and, after a period of probation, and a scrutiny into their character, doctrinal views, and talents at the annual Conferences, were admitted by solemn prayer, into what was called "full connection," which was, in fact, their ordination. No provision was, however, made at this early period for their maintenance. They took neither "purse nor scrip;" they cast themselves upon the providence of God, and the hospitality and kindness of the societies; and were by them, like the primitive Preachers, "helped forward after a godly sort," 8 on their journeys, to open new places, and to instruct those for whose souls "no man cared." It might be as truly said of them as of the first propagators of Christianity, they had "no certain dwelling-place." Under the severity of labor, and the wretched accommodations to which they cheerfully submitted, many a fine constitution was broken, and premature death was often induced.
At the early annual Conferences, the doctrines which should be taught were one of the principal subjects of conversation. It is, however, proper to observe that the Clergymen and others who thus assembled did not meet to draw up formal articles of faith. They admitted those of the Church of England; and their principal object was to ascertain how several of the doctrines relative to experimental Christianity, which they found stated in substance in those Articles, and further illustrated in the Homilies, were to be understood and explained. This light they sought from mutual discussion, in which every thing was brought to the standard of the word of inspired truth.
The Minutes of the early Conferences contain not only the record of these conversations, but also the frame of the discipline of the body, growing up from year to year, and embodied in many copious directions and arrangements. The most important of these remain in force to this day, although some, in a maturer state of the society, have gone into disuse. It is worthy of remark, because it goes to show the importance which Mr. Wesley attached to an academical preparation for the ministry, that the "establishment of a seminary for laborers" was a subject of conversation at the very first Conference which was held in the year 1744, and was resumed the following year. In the manuscript copy of the minutes of 1744, it is asked, "Can we have a seminary for Laborers?" And the answer is, "If God spare us till another Conference." The year after it was inquired, "Can we have a seminary for laborers yet?" Answer, "Not till God gives us a proper Tutor." The institution was thus actually resolved upon, and delayed only by circumstances. The reasons why the project was not after wards carried into effect appear to have been the rapid spread of the work, and the consequent demand for additional Preachers:
Mr. Wesley also looked to Kingswood school as subsidiary to this design. In the mean time he enjoined on the Preachers the study of the original Scriptures, and a large course of theological and general reading. The doctrines and principal branches of the discipline of the body being generally settled, Mr. Wesley desisted from publishing extracts from the minutes of the annual Conferences for several years.
Mr. Charles Wesley married in 1749, yet still continued his labors with but little abatement. About this time some difference arose between the two brothers. The very success which had been vouch-safed to their labors seems to have operated on the prejudices of Charles in favor of the Church; and he sought to obtain a share in the government of the societies with his brother, and to adopt those plans which, by limiting the number of the Preachers, would have greatly prevented the extension of the work.
Mr. Wesley, discovering what were his views, felt little disposed to assent to his having co-authority with himself in the management of the Connection; and Charles afterwards withdrawing more from public life, the government remained with John more exclusively than before. In this difference, there was no unworthy jealousy between the two brothers, but they continued to cherish the most tender affection for each other.
Previously to this time, Mr. Wesley had formed an attachment to Mrs. Grace Murray, a pious and respectable woman; but his union with her was prevented by the interference of his brother. Still, however, believing that his entering the marriage state would promote his usefulness, he, in the year 1751, was united to Mrs. Vizelle, a widow lady of independent fortune; but the union did not prove productive of the comfort and advantages which Mr. Wesley anticipated.
A school at Kingswood, near Bristol, for the children of the poor, had been long built; but that neighborhood was also fixed upon by Mr. Wesley for an institution, in which the sons of the preachers, and those of the richer Methodists, should receive at once the best education, and the most efficient religious training. It was opened in June, 1748, and he published soon after a "Short Account" of the institution, with the plan of education adopted, particularly for those who were to remain so long in it as to go through a course of academical learning; and adds, "Whoever carefully goes through this course will be a better scholar than nine in ten of the graduates at Oxford and Cambridge." In this great and good design he grasped at too much; and the school came in time to be confined to the sons of the Preachers, and ceased, as at first, to receive other boarders. Indeed, from the increase of the Preachers’ families, the school was rapidly filled, and required enlargement at different times; and finally, it was necessary to establish a second school at Woodhouse-Grove, in Yorkshire. The circumstance of the Preachers being so much from home, and removing every one or two years from their Circuits, rendered an institution of this kind imperative; and, as it necessarily grew out of the system of itinerancy, it was cheerfully and liberally, though often inadequately, supported by private subscriptions, and a public annual collection throughout all the congregations. The most gratifying moral results have followed; and a useful and religious education has been secured to the sons of the Preachers, many of whom, engaged in professional or commercial pursuits, are now found filling, honorably to themselves, important situations in general society, and some, having afforded undeniable proofs of genuine conversion, and of a divine call to public labors in the church of Christ, have been admitted into the ministry, and are among its highest ornaments, or its brightest hopes. While it is cause of gratulation that an institution for the education of the junior Preachers is now determined on, it is, however, to be regretted, that the original plan of Mr. Wesley, to found an institution for the Connection at large, which should unite the advantages of a school and a college, has not yet been resumed with a view to its being carried into effect. Various circumstances, at that early periods militated against the success of this excellent project, which have gradually disappeared; and if in that infant state of the cause, Mr. Wesley wisely thought that Methodism should provide for all its wants, religious and educational, within itself, much more incumbent is it to do so now. Many of the sons of our friends, for want of such a provision, have been placed in schools where their religious principles have been neglected or perverted; and too often have been taught to ridicule, or to be ashamed of, the religious profession of their fathers.
In the autumn of 1753 Mr. Wesley was threatened with consumption, brought on, in the midst of his great and continuous labor, by repeated attacks of cold. By the advice of Dr. Fothergill he retired to Lewisham; and here, not knowing how it might please God to dispose of him, and wishing "to prevent vile panegyric" in case of death, he wrote his epitaph as follows: —
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.
During Mr. Wesley’s illness, Mr. Whitefield wrote to him in a strain which shows the fullness of affection which existed between those great and good men, notwithstanding their differences of opinion. The letter is dated Bristol, Dec. 3rd, 1753.
"REV. AND VERY DEAR SIR,
"IF 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, Rev. and very dear Sir, shall not leave us yet; but if the decree is gone forth, that you must now fall 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, F— a — r — e — w — e — ll. Ego sequar, etsi non passibus aequis. 9 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,
"Rev. and very dear Sir,
"Your most affectionate, sympathizing, and afflicted younger brother in the Gospel of our common Lord,
"G. WHITEFIELD."
From Lewisham Mr. Wesley removed to the hot wells, near Bristol; and, ever intent upon improving time, began his Notes on the New Testament.
For some time after this, he appears to have remained in an invalid state.
During his illness, Mr. Charles Wesley went forth to visit the societies, and to supply his brother’s place.
In 1755, at the Conference held in Leeds, the question was formally discussed whether the Methodists ought to separate from the Church; and it was decided that, whether lawful or not, it was not expedient. Mr. Charles Perronet and some others, for whom Mr. Wesley had great respect, were at this time urging him to make full provision for the spiritual wants of his people, as being in fact in a state of real and hopeless separation from the Church; and he did some years afterwards so far relax, as to allow of preaching in Church-hours under certain circumstances, as,
1. When the Minister was wicked, or held pernicious doctrine;
2. When the churches would not contain the population of a town, or where the church was distant.
In that case he prescribed reading the Psalms and Lessons and part of the Liturgy. And for this purpose, as well as for the use of the American societies, he published his abridgment of the Common Prayer under the title of the "Sunday Service of the Methodists."
In 1756 he printed an Address to the Clergy, plain, affectionate and powerful; breathing at once the spirit of an Apostle, and the feeling of a brother. Happy if that call had been heard! He might perhaps be influenced in this by a still lingering hope of a revival of the spirit of zeal and piety among the Ministers of the established Church; in which case that separation of his people from the Church, which he began to foresee as otherwise inevitable, he thought might be prevented; and this he had undoubtedly much at heart. Under the same view it probably was that in 1764 he addressed a circular to all the serious Clergy whom he knew, inviting them to a closer co-operation in promoting the influence of religion in the land, without any sacrifice of opinion, and being still at liberty as to outward order, to remain "quite regular, or quite regular, or partly regular and partly irregular." Of the thirty-four Clergymen addressed, only three returned any answer. From this time he gave up all hope of a formal connection with even the pious Clergy. "They are," he observes, "a rope of sand, and such they will continue;" and he therefore set himself with deep seriousness to perpetuate the unions of his Preachers. At the Conference of 1769 he read a paper, the object of which was to bind the Preachers together by a closer tie, and to provide for the continuance of their union after his death. They were to engage solemnly to devote themselves to God, to preach the old Methodist doctrines, and to maintain the whole Methodist discipline; after Mr. Wesley’s death they were to repair to London, and those who chose to act in concert were to draw up articles of agreement; whilst such as did not so agree were to be dismissed "in the most friendly way possible." They were then to choose a Committee by vote, each of the members of which was to be Moderator in his turn, and this Committee was to enjoy Mr. Wesley’s power of proposing Preachers to be admitted or excluded, of appointing their stations for the ensuing year, and of fixing the time of the next Conference.
This appears to have been the first sketch of an ecclesiastical constitution for the body, and it mainly consisted in the entire delegation of the power which Mr. Wesley had always exercised, to a Committee of Preachers to be chosen by the rest when assembled in Conference. The form of government he thus proposed was therefore a species of Episcopacy to be exercised by a Committee of three, five, or seven, as the case might be.
Another and a more eligible provision was subsequently made; but this sufficiently shows that Mr. Wesley had given up all hope of strict union with the Church; and his efforts were henceforth directed merely to prevent any thing like form a separation, and the open renunciation of her communion: hence he would not allow his Preachers to administer the sacraments.
About this time much prejudice was excited against Mr. Wesley in Scotland by the republication of Hervey’s Eleven Letters. He had three times visited this country; and, preaching only upon the fundamental truths of Christianity, had been received with great affection. The societies had increased, and several of his Preachers were stationed in different towns. Lady Frances Gardiner, the widow of Colonel Gardiner, and other persons eminent for piety and rank, attended the Methodist ministry; but the publication of this wretched work caused a temporary odium Hervey, who had been one of the little band at Oxford, became a Calvinist; and as his notions grew more rigid with age, so his former feelings of gratitude and friendship to Mr. Wesley were blunted. He had also fallen into the hands of Cudworth, a decided Antinomian, who "put in and out" of the Letters "what he pleased." They were not, however, published until Hervey’s death, and against his dying injunction. It is just to so excellent a man to record this fact; but the work was published in England, and re-published, with a violent preface by Dr. Erskine, in Scotland; and among some of the Calvinists it had the effect of producing very unfavorable views of Mr. Wesley.
Methodism having begun to make some progress in America, in consequence of the emigration of some of the members of the society from England and Ireland, Mr. Wesley inquired of the Preachers at the Conference of 1769, whether any of them would embark in that service.
Messrs. Boardman and Pilmoor, two excellent men, of good gifts, volunteered their services, and were sent to take the charge of the societies.
From this time the work spread with great rapidity; more than twenty Preachers had devoted themselves to it previously to the war of independence; and societies were raised up in Maryland, Virginia, New-York, and Pennsylvania. During the war they still prosecuted their labors; though, as several of them took the side of the mother country, they were exposed to danger. Others, with more discretion, held on their way in silence, speaking only of the things of God. After the war had terminated, political views were laid aside, and Mr. Wesley made a provision for the government of his American societies, which will be subsequently adverted to. They became, of course, independent of British Methodism, but have honorably preserved, in general, the doctrines, the discipline, and, above all, the spirit of the body. Great, and even astonishing, has been their success in that new and rising country, to the wide spread settlements of which their plan of itinerancy was admirably adapted. The Methodists are become, as to numbers, the leading religious body of the Union; and their annual increase is very great. It is also satisfactory to remark, that the leading Preachers and members of the Methodist Church in the United States appear to be looking forward with enlarged views and with prudent regard, to the future, and to aim at the cultivation of learning in conjunction with piety. Several Colleges have been from time to time established; and recently a University, for the education of the youth of the American Connection, has been founded.
The work in the United States has been distinguished by frequent and extraordinary revivals of religion, in which a signal effect has been produced upon the moral condition of large districts of country, and great numbers of people have been rapidly brought under a concern for their salvation. In the contemplation of results so vast, and in so few years, we may devoutly exclaim "What hath God wrought!"
The year 1770 is memorable in the history of Methodism, for having given birth to a long and very ardent controversy on the doctrines of Calvinism.
It took its rise from the publication of the Minutes of the Conference, in which it was determined, that, in some particulars then pointed out, the Preachers had "leaned too much to Calvinism." This is easily explained.
Mr. Whitefield and Howell Harris, the early coadjutors of the Wesleys, became Calvinists; but the affection which existed among this little band was strong; and as they all agreed in preaching, what was at that time most needed, the doctrine of salvation by faith, "an agreement" was made at a very early period, between the Wesley’s and Howell Harris, to forget all peculiarities of opinion as much as possible in their sermons, to use as far as they could, with a good conscience, the same phrases in expressing the points on which they substantially agreed, and to avoid controversy. Such an agreement shows the liberal feeling which existed among the parties; but it was not of a nature to be so rigidly kept as to give entire satisfaction. On these articles of peace, we find therefore, endorsed, at a subsequent period, in the hand-writing of Mr. Charles Wesley, "Vain agreement." Mr. Wesley’s anxiety to maintain unity of effort as well as affection with Mr. Whitefield, led him also, in 1743, to concede to his Calvinistic views, as far as possible; and he appears not to have been disposed to deny, though he says he could not prove it, that some persons might be unconditionally elected to eternal glory, but not to the necessary exclusion of any other from salvation. And he was then; inclined to believe that there is a state attainable in this life, "from which a man cannot finally fall." But he was subsequently convinced by the arguments of Mr. Thomas Walsh, that this was an error. These considerations will account for the existence of what Mr. Wesley called "a leaning to Calvinism," both in himself, and among some of the Preachers, and rendered a review of the case necessary.
Though the leaders had approached so near in "the very edge of Calvinism" on one side, and "of Antinomianism also," with safety, it was not to be wondered at that others should overstep the line. Besides, circumstances had greatly changed. A strong tide of Antinomianism had set in, and threatened great injury to practical godliness throughout the land. Dr. Southey attributes this to the natural tendency of Methodism; but here he shows himself only partially acquainted with the subject. The decline of religion among many of the Dissenting churches had scattered the seeds of this heresy all around them though not without calling forth a noble testimony against it from some of their ablest Ministers; and when they began to feel the influence of the revival of piety in the last century, the tares sprung up with the plants of better quality. The Calvinism taught by Mr. Howell Harris, and Mr. Whitefield, was also perverted by many of their hearers to sanction the same errors. Several of the evangelical clergy, likewise, who had no immediate connection with Mr. Wesley, were Calvinists of the highest grade; and as their number increased, their incautious statements of the doctrines of grace and faith, carried beyond their own intentions, became more mischievous. To show, however, that Antinomianism can graft itself upon other stocks besides that of the Calvinistic decrees, it was found also among many of the Moravians; and the Methodists did not escape. Wherever, indeed, the doctrine of justification by faith is preached, there is a danger, as St. Paul himself anticipated in his Epistle to the Romans, lest perverse, vain, and evil minds should pervert it to licentiousness; heavenly as it is in authority, and pure in its influence, when rightly understood. In fact, there is no such exclusive connection between the more sober Calvinistic theories of predestination, and this great error, as some have supposed. It is too often met with, also, among those who hold the doctrine of general redemption; though it must be acknowledged, that for the most part, such persons, at length, go over to predestination notions, as affording, at least, some collateral confirmation of the solitidian theory. That high Calvinistic opinions, in their various forms, were at this time greatly revived and diffused, is certain. The religious excitement produced gave activity to theological inquiries; and speculative minds, especially those which had some taste for metaphysical discussions, were soon entangled in questions of predestination, prescience, necessity, and human freedom. The views of Calvin on these subjects were also held by many, who, connecting them with vital and saving truths, were honored with great usefulness; and as the Wesleyan societies were often involved in these discussions, and in danger of having their faith unsettled, and their practical piety injured, by those in whom Calvinism had begun to luxuriate into the ease and carelessness of Antinomian license, no subject at that period more urgently required attention. For this reason, Mr. Wesley brought it before the Conference. The withering effects of this delusion were also strongly pointed out in his Sermons, and were afterwards still more powerfully depicted by the masterpencil of Mr. Fletcher, in those great works to which he now began to apply himself, in order to stem the torrent. Dr. Southey has fallen into the error of imagining that Mr. Fletcher’s descriptions of the ravages of Antinomianism were drawn from its effects upon the Wesleyan societies; but that mistake arose from his not adverting to the circumstance, that neither Mr. Wesley nor Mr. Fletcher confined their cares to these societies, but kept an equally watchful eye upon the state of religion in the land at large, and consequently in the Church of which they were Ministers. The societies under Mr. Wesley’s charge were indeed at no time more than very partially affected by this form of error.
Still, in some places they had suffered, and in all were exposed to danger; and as Mr. Wesley regarded them as a people given to him by God, that he might not only preserve them from error, but might also engage to bear a zealous and steadfast testimony "against the evils of the time;" in every place, he endeavored to prepare them for their warfare, by instructing them fully in the questions at issue.